Ch.2 Exxon Pumping Station #31

[Philulhu]

Boyd stared out into the desolate, snow-covered landscape. The wind howled and the snow stung his face. It felt like being at the end of the world.

Behind him, he heard Gavin shout for him to go back inside, but he couldn’t face going back in there, with the blood, with the body, just yet.

OOC:   Just waiting for a response from Harold…

”You mean the bear that attacked the camp? No, I didn’t see it, and I kept hidden until I I saw you guys go past, just in case it was still hungry!” said Bill to Gavin when he entered the pump room.

When Randy joined them, Bill pointed out whether the main power cable to the console had been ripped out. He then showed them where the pump maintenance hatch had been removed and a large pry bar had been used to bend the main gear shaft. The bar, which also looked bent out of shape, was still wedged in there…

When Gavin looked out, he saw Boyd stood in the middle of the compound, staring off into the distance…

[Snapper]

"This doesn't make sense. Eco-terrorists might destroy the equipment but it doesn't seem likely they'd also tear people to shreds, does it? Surely they'd lose all public support and get locked up for life into the bargain."

"Bill, would your people have been willing to smash equipment up like that?"

[BoyBlunder78]

" 'Bears' dont use tools." Gavin said as he looked toward Boyd. "YOU SEE ANYTHING OUTHERE BUDDY?" He hollers.

[kabukiman]

" 'Bears' dont use tools." Gavin said as he looked toward Boyd. "YOU SEE ANYTHING OUTHERE BUDDY?" He hollers.

"Something of terrible strength has made this and I doubt it was bears because it is not simply a question of using brute force; it means something had a purpose. What could do this?"

[BoyBlunder78]

"From what we've seen and experienced,
whatever this thing is, its intelligent and viscious, no creature i know of springs to mind." Gavin says.

[Philulhu]

Harold SAN (49) 1d100
Harold CON (45) 1d100
Harold SAN loss 1d100

OOC:   Nothing from Lost King so I’ll NPC Harold until he returns. Speaking of which…

Harold climbed the stairs to the room above. ”Where’s the radio…” he started to say before his eyes widened in shock as he took in the blood, then settled on the decapitated head that stared at him from its resting place on the floor.

He went white, his knees buckled, and he slid down the stairs on his backside, disappearing from view once again… …

Bill snorted. ”You work for a company that rapes the environment for profit. We’re not murderers but anything else is fair game!” he snapped.

They heard a noise from the stairs and saw Harold sliding down on his ass. Dragging himself to his feet, he staggered towards the door and outside from where the sound of throwing up could be heard…

Boyd heard a commotion behind him and turned to see Harold stagger out into the snow, blinking against the driving snow. He managed a few steps before falling to all fours and throwing up… …

[Snapper]

Randy watched Harold then turned to Gavin and Bill. "OK, I'm not going up there."

[Joajackson]

"Harold! Dammit."

Amanda went down following the engineer, mostly to ensure he hadnt gotten wounded from failing down the stairs.

Once down she spoke to those in there.

"Decapitated body, and the radio Is half destroyed, we want Harold for him to check if it can work."

[Philulhu]

From outside, the sound of Harold wrenching could be heard… …

[Snapper]

"Good luck with that."

[BoyBlunder78]

At seeing Harold's reaction, followed by Amanda's flowing description, Gavin rubs his leg. "Ooh, yeah...don't think my leg will make it up them stairs....."

[Mr. Handy]

Benjamin.png (54.08 KiB) Viewed 177 times

Benjamin follows Amanda downstairs to help Harold.

[Lost_King]

OOC:   Hey, sorry for my unexpected sabbatical… I really am sorry, I should have given some advance notice. See my message in “the Debrief” for full details. I should be good now (mostly).

After a long moment spent wrenching, Harold finds some (clean) snow to wash his face and mouth with, and walks back inside, still looking very shaken up, his face a deathly pale and slightly green...

“I did not sign up for this shit…”

Harold trudges back to the radio room, his jaw clenched tightly as he prepares to take in the scene for the second time.

How much Sanity did Harold lose? Also, is there any significant damage sustained from the fall down the stairs?

[Philulhu]

With Benjamin’s help (and a baleful glare from Amanda), Harold carefully climbed the stairs again.

Focussing on the radio and ignoring the blood, Harold could see the casing had been ripped open. Peering closely, he tried to determine the extent of the damage beneath…

Can I have an Electrical Engineering roll, please?

His SAN loss is recorded on your character profile. He’s got bruising but no significant damage from bumping down the stairs.

[Mr. Handy]

Benjamin.png (54.08 KiB) Viewed 149 times

"Think you can fix it?" asks Benjamin, hoping the answer is yes.

[Snapper]

"Hey Ben, once you've shown Harold where the radio is, want to come and have a look down this shaft with me? At the very least to clear it, so we know there's no nasties ready to sneak up behind us."

"There's evidently a basement level with power. It might be a good place to hole up for the night? And the grate is undamaged, so it doesn't seem like anything nasty actually did get down there. We might even find survivors."

Randy headed back to the grate and shaft, and started experimenting with moving the grate.

[Mr. Handy]

Benjamin.png (54.08 KiB) Viewed 141 times

"Permission to go back down and back up Randy, ma'am?" Benjamin asks Amanda.

[Lost_King]

Science (electrical engineering) 66%

1d100

Success!

“The radio has sustained a non-insignificant amount of damage, but the important mechanisms might still be solid. I might be able to work with this…”

[Philulhu]

Harold managed to remove the casing to see the extent of the damage beneath. Whatever had caused the damage had gone through the casing and torn wiring and wrecked the power supply.

Harold was pretty sure he could fix it, but he was going to have to find some spare parts.

Downstairs, Randy found that the grate was heavy, but easy enough to lift out of the way. Other than the hum of machinery, there was no noise from the basement below, and the light was steady, with no shadows suggesting any movement below.

[Lost_King]

“Guys, I’m going to need some spare parts, but I think we could get this working if we can find them… if we get this thing working, we could probably get a rescue team out here in a day or two.”

OOC:   Is there anything in particular that I can see needs replaced, or are we just looking for miscellaneous spare parts?