Play@YSDC

Day 2
12th March 2189
11:25 Earth Central European Time
Barnard's Rest Colony, Titan

The corridors are empty as they head towards the Security Office. Things seem earily quiet. The door to security stands ajar, the five-by-five bank of monitors along the wall show only static.

Down the centre of the floor and through the open door to the detention area is a large smear of blood, like something, or someone has been dragged through it. Beside the blood sits a mangled stun baton, obviously damaged beyond use.

The door to the barracks area is closed. A weapons locker lines the other wall of the Security Office, it is also shut.

Down one side of the detention area are reinforced metal doors, probably cells, all but one are closed. One is half open, it is oddly deformed, with several convex distortions the size of softballs protruding from the interior face of the door.

“There’s been plenty of action here. Let’s see what weapons are stored here and then get out before anyone or anything finds us.”
Nicole says in a low voice as she heads to the locker.

Nicole will take the pistol back and look for more ammo.

“Agreed. I hope there’s something with a wide ballistic spread, ‘cos I’m a terrible shot,” Kiara replies.

She also inspects the dented door.

“Looks like something’s tried to get out of here. Question is; is it human or not?”

She tentatively presses her ear against the door.

[28] = 28
Listen 20 d%: [ 28 ] = 28
No, I’m not spending 8 luck!

"If I can find another pistol and some bullets for it, you can have my shotgun," whispers Sam. "You're right, something tried to bust out." She also goes over to the locker.

Did I get any additional hit points back?

Jojo examines the door. "It could quite possibly have been the alien crystalized life form that attacked me. The shards it used to penetrate my chest could have done this type of damage. We need to grab whatever we can and keep moving. The longer we stay in any one place, the easier it will be for whatever is out there to find us and attempt to stop us."

Jojo will stick with the cutting torch rather than any other conventional weapons.

Studying the cell door it becomes clear that whatever made those dents made them from the outside. Maybe trying to get into the cell, which now stands open. Inside the cell is bathed in blood, with another smear indicating a body has been dragged out into the corridor. Towards the rear of the cell, near the ceiling, is a metal vent, the grille has come off and is in the corner of the room. Around the vent opening it is blackened and scorched.

-----

In the weapons locker there are seven 12-gauge semi-automatic shotguns and eight boxes of 20 shotgun shells, all marked 'riot rounds'. There are also seven shock batons.

Nicole can't find any ammunition for her pistol.

Oh go on, have 1 HP

"Shotguns and shock batons all around, I guess," says Sam. "I've already got a shotgun."

Nicole looks up at the blackened ceiling vent and then the blood and the dents.
“Virgil was up in the ducts wasn’t he?”
When she can’t find any pistol ammo she takes a shotgun, shells and a baton.

Grabbing, and somewhat inexpertly loading, a shotgun, Kiara looks up at the vent and shudders.

"Oh, right..."

She sighs a grim sigh.

"Come on then, let's go."

Sam slings a shock baton from her belt and follows Kiara after taking any shells that the others leave.

Eschewing the shotgun, Jojo will keep the torch and will put a shock baton in his medical bag.

“Let’s go to the transport hub but we’d better find some bags for the weapons so no one stops us.” Nicole looks around for some non-descript, gun-length holdalls. “They’re usually black.”

Nicole finds a pair of long metal cases and loads the shotguns inside.

-----

They leave the Security Office and walk back through the deserted corridors to the Transport Hub under the Administrative Complex.

In the Central Hub Station three rails converge on a central turntable which allows a magnetic trolley to be angled and launched down three tunnels. The first tunnel is marked 'Pumping Stations 2-4', the second 'Pumping Station 1', and the third 'Pumping Station 5'. All the gleaming silver maglev trains are stationary and seem to be shut down, with the sliding doors of the transparent plasglass tubes firmly shut and the lighting off.

There are also signs marked 'Landing Bay' and 'Garage', pointing to two different reinforced metal doors. Under the former the word 'Copters' has been scrawled in marker pen and under the latter it says 'Surface Rovers' written in the same way. Underneath this last sign it also appears to say 'Pumping Station 6', although this has several lines drawn through it, crossing it out.

“I think we need to head to Pumping Station 6,” says Kiara. “CENTRAL was very evasive when I asked about it.”

Jojo concurs with Kiara. "That's the one."

"Yes, Pumping Station 6 is Waystation," says Sam.

“So we can take choppers or trucks or both.” Says Nicole.

Do we have our pilot with us still?

"The more vehicles we take, the better," says Sam. "That way we have backups in case something happens. Let's make sure they're fully fueled before we leave. Taking a chopper would give us a good view of our surroundings too."

“We’ll need Li to pilot the chopper, unless she’s infected,” Kiara replies.

“With CENTRAL down, maybe I can connect my pad to the sensors via an access point and try to locate her.”

Kiara connects to the colony network and identifies the location of Ling Li in the Corporate Suites. While she's looking at her datapad there is the sound of all the datapads pinging in unison. An all channels broadcast is incoming. It is marked as coming from Richter Dynamics Security Division, the turnaround from Kiara's mayday has been about 60 mins:

'Transmission acknowledged. Possible contaminating biohazard in Barnard's Rest Colony.

Titan now under system-wide quarantine. Do not attempt to leave surface of Titan. Take refuge in biosafe area.

Rescue shuttle and decontamination crew enroute. ETA T-minus 100 hours.'

"Taking the chopper may technically be leaving the surface of Titan," says Sam, "but I'm sure they meant not to try to leave Titan period. Of course, they did order us to take refuge in a biosafe area, which Waystation is most definitely not. Still, who's to say we actually saw their orders? My screen's a little blurry, how about yours?"

“Funny that; so’s mine,” replies Kiara with a crooked smile.

“Knowing how the company works, I’d say we have about eighty hours before someone arrives to ‘decontaminate’ us, if you catch my drift. Let’s get to Waystation and put an end to this, if we can.”

“See if you can get Li to meet us down here right now and then we can be on our way.” Nicole asks Kiara.
“Who has experience driving in the conditions out there?”

“I’ll send her a message now,” says Kiara as she typed on her pad. “But I’m no driver myself; more a passenger.”

Kiara sends a message and within seconds Li's scowling face appears on the datapad. She brightens significantly when she hears they need a pilot, 'I'm on my way.'

Looking flushed and agitated Moses says 'I've driven a surface rover before, been a few years, but I'm not going out there. You heard them, find a safe place, not drive halfway across Titan in a tin can.' He opens one of the metal cases and takes out a shotgun.

Isabella walks up to him, 'Well if I'm going to die here I want to know what is going on at Waystation.' She grabs back the shotgun. 'You won't be needing this.'

"I don't drive them, I just fix them," says Sam.

"I am just exceptional in medicine, not transportation." Jojo says. "But we need to take care of what's at Waystation."

“I’m going in the chopper with Li.” Kiara declares.

How many does the ‘copter hold?

“Okay, I’ll take the ‘rover then. Sam, will you come with me in case it needs fixing? If it’s a standard model there should be room for one or two more if there’s no space in the chopper.”
Says Nicole.

Kiara opens the door to the Landing Bay and enters the darkened room. Through the windows she can see two copters outside the colony building, sitting on the smooth white surface of the landing pad. They are dimly lit by the external lighting and the limited illumination of Titan itself. Both seem to be standard two-seater surface copters. Quick and relatively easy to fly in the thick atmosphere of Titan, it'll likely only take a few hours to cross the great methane sea of Ligeia Mare.

There isn't much in the landing bay apart from a few crates of spare parts and a line of six Titan surface suits. These have heavy magnetic boots and multiple head-lamps built into the helmet to counteract the perpetual twilight of Titan. They're designed to be easy to put on or take off, with the main portion of the suit (complete with attached gloves and boots) being pulled on like a bulky pair of coveralls and zipped up the front, an insulated flap snapping into place to protect the zip from freezing. The helmet screws into a reinforced collar, and the air supply and batteries powering the suit’s lamps and heaters are worn like a backpack. Strapped to the leg of the suit is a can of instant sealant. It'll take a bit of coordination jumping up into the cockpit of a Copter in such an unwieldy getup.

From behind her Kiara hears a stern voice, 'Now that's more like it.' She turns to see the pilot Ling Li with a most uncharacteristically cheerful look on her face.

-----



Sliding open the Garage doors reveals a large warehouse-like space ending in a big translucent plastic door looking out onto a Titan surface rover parked directly on the crisp methane snow, a mammoth six wheeled juggernaut with enough space in the cab for at least six people in surface suits and even more room in the back for more passengers and equipment. Its bright headlights illuminate the smooth orange surface of Titan. Not the fastest vehicle and with the indirect route needed to skirt Ligeia Mare it is likely to take nearly half a day to reach the Waystation site. While not exactly hard to drive given the miles of featureless wasteland over the Titan surface there is a certain skill in keeping the wheels on the ground in the feeble gravity.

The Garage is filled with crates, pieces of machinery, spare parts, fuel canisters, and even a power loader exosuit. There is a line of eight Titan surface suits. Moses, who has followed the others in, despite his words, lets out a gasp, 'Woah, I'd forgotten how big they are.'

Roll Zero/Low G to get the suit on, take a bonus die if someone is helping, if the helper has a higher skill they can roll and take a bonus die instead. Suits provide 4 armour but you don't want to take a penetrating injury outside. Jojo doesn't need a surface suit if he doesn't want one, he's an android and the atmosphere of Titan is sufficiently Earth-like that he won't take any injuries from being exposed to it. Just a reminder that all Spot Hidden rolls in Titan's atmosphere (outside the base) are hard due to the thick hazy atmosphere and you're likely to have to roll Zero/Low G to do anything complicated due to the difficulties of operating at such low gravity in bulky surface suits without any benefit of magnetised flooring.

"I think there's something wrong with mine," says Sam, as she tries to put on one of the larger suits.

Zero/Low G roll (50% skill) putting on the suit:
d%
I hope someone can help!

Sam is still having difficulty.

Bonus die:
1d10*10
Well, at least it's just a normal failure and not a fumble.

[80] = 80
Zero G 40 d%: [ 80 ] = 80

“Um… little help?”

Kiara is also struggling, having somehow gotten her arm into one of the legs of the suit.

Ling pulls a face, somewhere between amusement and disgust. She helps Kiara into her suit, although once she gets her arm out the leg she can manage most of it herself, 'Not worn one of these before?' She points out the basic controls, including the radio, and she powers on the batteries and life support systems. She then then effortlessly slips into her own suit. Crackling through Kiara's radio she says 'You hearing me?'

d1d10 - that's a success

-----

Looking at Sam trying to put the suit on back to front Moses lets out a long sigh and steps forward to help her. 'Jeez, can't leave you guys alone for a second. I thought I saw you put one of these on yesterday, you forgotten already?' He then helps Isabella into hers after she jams the zip. She glares at him as he awkwardly tries to untangle the mess she's made.

"Thanks," said Sam. "Yeah, I did just put one on yesterday. I guess I just didn't sleep well. Strange dreams..."

Zero Gravity 20
1d100
Bonus Die if someone will help
1d10

Or he will wait for someone to dress him.

Jojo will attempt to get into one of the suits. Although technically he doesn't need to, he doesn't want to advertise to anyone who might be looking that he is not human.

Kiara grins ruefully at Li through her visor.

“Yeah I hear you - thanks.”

“So I guess we fly on ahead? I guess we don’t have enough fuel to circle around while the others catch up in the rover. If we want to arrive at the same time, should we wait?”

Nicole chooses a suit and deftly slides into it. She checks her seals and air. Then she clumps over to anyone else who still needs a hand.
“Buddy system?” She checks their suit over too.

ZeroG 70 roll: 33, bonus die :2

Im kind of glad Virgil isn’t here; he would have been a liability with just his office skills.

"Guess I'm with you then, Nicole," says Sam.

“Don’t worry, it will be fun!” Nicole grins. “Moses, you coming with us? I don’t know what’s best, Kiara. You could give us a head start maybe but be ready to fly out if there’s any trouble here. Can we carry extra fuel for you?”

“That’s a great idea Nicole,” Kiara replies. “Let’s make sure we keep in radio contact, in case you need us to fly out earlier.”

After helping Jojo into his suit, as Isabella continues to look daggers at him, Moses slowly and clearly reluctantly suits up himself. He ensures that everyone is tuned into the same frequency on their suit radios and tramps into the Landing Bay to do the same with Ling Li and Kiara. 'The suit radios aren't long distance so make sure you tune in the copter to the same frequency and we should be able to pick you up in the rover if the weather stays settled.'

'Of course' says Ling. 'Don't bother with trying to carry any fuel for us, I'm not risking refuelling out on the surface, we're going straight to this Pumping Station 6 over the methane sea. If you're not there we're leaving without you. I suggest you find someone to help you drive that rover' she says to Moses. He mumbles something and hauls himself back to the Garage, his magnetic boots clanking as they get pulled down to stick to the metallic floor with each step. 'Anyone else able to help me out with driving this thing?' he asks, studiously avoiding looking at Isabella. There's a sound somewhere between a sigh and someone blowing a raspberry over the radio, 'I've driven one of these once or twice' says Isabella. Moses doesn't say any more but the look in his eyes through the suit visor shows this was not what he was hoping for.

So Moses, Isabella, Sam, Nicole, and Jojo are heading out onto Titan's surface to drive the long way to Waystation in a rover? That's going to take 10hrs or so. We'll split off into a thread for the journey. What equipment are you taking, which of the weapons are coming with you and which with Ling and Kiara in the copter? So the copter will take about 3hrs - are you staying around the colony for 7hrs then leaving? What do you want to do while you're waiting? All travel times are approximate and might depend on what happens including piloting/driving rolls. Someone asked about fuel for the copter - it'll have enough to get to Waystation and back if the journey isn't much longer than 3hrs each way - it won't have enough to circle over the rover on its journey. The rover will have enough fuel to get there and back.

I'm bringing my medical kit and med supplies. If we can get an isolation/quarantine pod or two in the back of the rover, I would like that. I have a stun baton and a cutting torch as weapons.

"I think we should try to time it so we get there at the same time." Jojo says to the others. "It may be dangerous and we should all be backing each other up."

“Agreed. Tell us when your ETA is around two and a half hours and we’ll take off. In the meantime we’ll ascertain the state of the rest of the colony and maybe find a way to neutralise the infection.”

Kiara slings her shotgun awkwardly over her shoulder.

“Li, have you got a weapon?”

"Maybe the chopper should plan to arrive shortly before we do," says Sam. "That way you can scout from above before we drive into whatever may be there."

“Yeah, makes sense. Contact us a little earlier then,” Kiara replies.

Moving here.

As the other seal the Garage in preparation for boarding the rover, Kiara and Ling Li return to the Landing Bay. 'I don't have a weapon' says Li, 'What are you expecting?' She starts to initialise one of the copters, the lights on the landing pad brighten to illuminate the aircraft. 'Isn't she a beauty' Li mutters rapturously.

So weapons - this is my understanding:
Kiara - Cutting torch (9 charges), shotgun
Ling - Unarmed

The shotgun is loaded with 5 riot rounds. There is a box of another 20 shells, also riot rounds. The cutting torches have a max of ten charges each then the tank needs to be changed, Kiara has used one charge.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Kiara can’t help but smile at Li’s enthusiasm, despite the grim circumstances.

“So we’ve got a little time before we need to catch up with the rover. Perhaps I could run some more tests on the alien material.”

She stops, suddenly realising that Li hasn’t witnessed the recent, horrible, events.

“Actually, you’d better sit down for a minute…”

She proceeds to tell Li about what has transpired.

By my reckoning, the only material Kiara has is a sample of is a fragment of the crystal shard they pulled out of Jojo. Does that sound right?

'Shit' says Li, simply. 'So that's what that all channels broadcast was about. They said we should sit tight, wait for the cavalry to arrive.'

“I’m not sure the cavalry is coming,” Kiara says ominously. “I want to run some more tests. Let’s try to get to the sickbay and grab a sample of the infected material. Then we’ll take it from there.”