IC - 19 - Barnard's Rest - Kiara

[Mephistophilis]

'If that keeps them out for the next few minutes we'll be able to get away' says Ling Li and she starts to purge the air from the Landing Bay. Freezing Titan atmospheric gases flow through the vents, creating a freezing orange fog that frosts the exposed surfaces.

She approaches the external door, waiting for the pressures to equalise before she can open it. The door panel counts down. Kiara picks up the box of flares and follows Li towards the door.

The countdown reaches zero and the door mechanism flashes green. Li presses it and the door starts to slide open.

-----

Kiara steps forward, the magnetised soles of her boots snapping to the metallic floor. She steps again and finds her foot twisting uncontrollably in the air as if the floor has moved beneath her. There is a squealing, grinding sound, and the external door slams shut, but doesn't fully seal, the frame seemingly warped and obstructing it from fully closing.

She gazes around her trying to make out what is happening, Li's voice crackles over the radio, 'Tremor!' In less than a minute the lighting blinks out. Eventually the dull green emergency lights kick in, casting strange elongated shadows through the hazy air.

From behind Kiara she hears a whining, motors straining against some impediment. Turning she can see a crack appearing in the interior door that leads into the corridor.

[jp1885]

Kiara runs, or more likely lumbers, as fast as she can towards the chopper.

[Mephistophilis]

Kiara and Li thud along the floor to reach the external door. Li jabs the red flashing button over and over, but the door doesn't move, 'It won't open, it's stuck.'

Behind them, the interior door into the corridor whirs louder and glancing back Kiara sees the crack is now a few inches across and she can see something like a crowbar jammed in the gap.

[jp1885]

“Oh crap…” Kiara’s fingers skitter feverishly over her datapad.

“Look for a manual override: there should be a way of opening the door in the event of a power failure. I’ll try to connect to the door controls directly.”

Kiara attempts to force an open command into the door controls, whilst bringing up the fire suppression menu, just in case…

[Mephistophilis]

It looks like the quake has deformed the doorframe, there's no automated way to open it that Kiara can see.

Li rips open a panel revealing a red handle and lots of warning signs. She pulls the handle and turns it. The red light on the flashing button turns to green but the door doesn't open or close. 'It's not opening.'

[jp1885]

“Maybe we can force it open,” says Kiara, desperately looking around for something to lever the door open with.

[Mephistophilis]

Sounds like a Luck roll to me

[jp1885]

[65] = 65
Luck 60 d%: [ 65 ] = 65

Nothing useful can be seen, alas.

[Mephistophilis]

Li slips the thick fingers of her suit gloves through the gap in the door and starts pulling - there's a tiny bit of movement but nothing significant.

Warnings appear on the door control panel, 'Landing Bay airlock functioning compromised. Titan atmospheric gases contaminating colony life support circulation.'

Glancing at the interior door, it is almost open far enough for someone to get through, and Kiara can see a number of people swarming around the gap, arms reaching through and grasping at empty air.

[jp1885]

“Oh no… nononono, stay back!” Kiara yells at the crowd through her helmet, before redoubling her efforts to open the door.

[Mephistophilis]

How?

[jp1885]

Um… I dunno! Frantically scrabble at the door I guess!

[Mephistophilis]

If you want to help Li pull the doors apart try a STR roll

[jp1885]

Kiara puts all her strength into prying the door open, huffing encouragement to Li as she does so.

[30] = 30
STR 55 d%: [ 30 ] = 30

[Mephistophilis]

Between them, Li and Kiara manage to heave the doors open wide enough to squeeze out onto the Landing Pad. Once the doors separate more than a few inches an alarm begins to sound and the door control panel rapidly flashes red, 'Colony life support circulation compromised. Sealing breach in 5, 4, 3, 2...'.

By now the internal door has been wrenched apart wide enough for several people to have staggered through and they start running towards Li and Kiara, their breath producing billowing clouds of condensing water vapour. As they reach the centre of the Landing Bay they slow down and stop, looking puzzled, a slight wind seems to ruffle their clothes. Across their exposed skin and the surface of their overalls a delicate patina of white frost begins to form and their eyes look even wilder before their skin takes on a grey, icy complexion and they collapse to the floor, Kiara thinks she sees a hand shatter into tiny pink pieces.

'1, sealing breach.'

What looks like a heavy metal blast door drops down across the internal door, catching the limbs of several people, leaving them scattered and severed just inside the doorway. The blood rapidly congeals as the limbs freeze in the icy Titan wind blowing through the external door into the Landing Bay.

SAN check 0/1d4

[jp1885]

[21] = 21
SAN 64 d%: [ 21 ] = 21

“Oh God, I’m sorry…” whispers Kiara, horrified by what’s happened but, worryingly, not extremely disturbed.

She turns to Li, her expression grim.

“What could we have done?” she asks rhetorically before nodding towards the chopper. “We’d better go.”

[Mephistophilis]

Li shrugs, her face impassive. Over the radio she says 'Someone breaches atmospheric integrity without a suit they freeze or the blast door gets them. That's on them.'



Approaching the copter that is lit up, it's rotors languidly turning in the take-off configuration, Li presses something on the side and a set of broad broad metal steps emerge from a hatch and unfold to form a ladder while the transparent side of the cockpit slides open. She carefully climbs the steps and then settles into one of the two seats. She starts jabbing at the control panel, 'Nothing's been damaged by the quake, take off in two minutes.'

Kiara follows her up the ladder even more carefully, the sensation of her magnetised boots sticking to the rungs is disconcerting. Eventually she is able to clamber into the cockpit and take her seat in an ungainly fashion.

After a minute the cockpit doors slide closed and the rotation of the rotors ramps up. After another thirty seconds Li places her hand over the control panel and the rotors spin even more fiercely, the copter vibrates and trembles slightly until it starts to lift up from the smooth white landing pad. Li slides her hand up the control panel and the copter soars into the atmosphere, and Kiara finds she can begin to get a sense of the layout of Barnard's Rest for the first time. There's the central hub with the maglev tubes radiating in several directions, from the hub project standard modular habitation units which presumably hold the maintenance and commercial sectors among others. Beyond is a field of huge methane storage tanks and then the Shuttle Bay with its large atmospheric dome.

Give me a Spot Hidden with a bonus die (extra 1d10 to replace the tens on your roll if better).

[jp1885]

[65] = 65
Spot hidden 37 d%: [ 65 ] = 65

Bonus roll
[10] = 10
1d10: [ 10 ] = 10

[Mephistophilis]

Staring down at the Shuttle Bay, Kiara thinks it looks wrong somehow, like it's moving. And as she looks harder she sees a crack opening along the length. The sealable atmospheric dome is opening, gusts of condensing vapour billowing around the seam. It looks like there's going to be a shuttle launch.

That's 05 which I think is an extreme success

[jp1885]

Kiara stares at the opening dome, her emotions conflicted.

First and foremost she is angry that she’s lost her only ticket off this godforsaken planet. Any lingering, if increasingly unrealistic, dreams of fulfilling her mission and retiring a rich woman (whilst simultaneously sticking it to her smug family) are dissolving.

Vying a close second is the feeling of relief. At least some people have managed to escape the nightmare. Barnard’s Rest will soon be nuked, but someone might live to tell the tale.

Finally: fear and guilt. Who knows how many infected people are onboard the shuttle? Should she; could she; somehow abort the launch remotely? Isolating mankind from possible infection but dooming the passengers in the process?

She gnaws her fingernails, wracking her brain for a solution to her conflict.

“Li, what’s the registration of the shuttle?” she asks.