Star Trek RPG - Mission #1: "On the Brink"

[Pleonast]

"Let's keep an eye out for Jefferies tubes or other maintenance accesses," hopes Fujishiro.

[Zuul]

"Excellent idea," Pourtash agrees.

[Elendil's Heir]

Does the expanded boarding party - now eleven of you - remain together while this scan is prepared and then run? It may take awhile to find the proper method to penetrate the somewhat sensor-impermeable alloy of the interior hull of this ship. Off the top of his head, Delaney knows of no method by which a phaser and a tricorder may be used together for a more intrusive or penetrating scan.

[What Exit?]

"Let's move forward and keep and eye out for hatches of all sort." If everyone's suit checks out, I begin work on the door to the voided compartment.

[Elendil's Heir]

Delaney decides that the best thing to do would be to open the hatch in front of you a little bit at a time, after first closing the next hatch down the corridor behind you, so that the loss of atmosphere where you stand won't be explosive. The front hatch is locked, he learns, and cannot be opened with a variable electronic pulse as the previous ones were.

By now everyone is in spacesuits with helmets on, sealed and secure. Collins ensures that all helmet-installed communicators are functioning. There is persistent interference, although not as severe as in your recent offship communications. You each have six hours of breathable air, with an additional one-hour emergency air supply. Starfleet SOP requires that, if at all possible, you return home without ever tapping your emergency supply.

Despite the comm interference, after consulting with Lt. JG Nilo Coimbra, the Yorktown's metallurgical specialist, Fujishiro figures out a way to adjust her tricorder scan to compensate for the alien ship's odd hull alloy. She is now able to discern the corridors, crawlspaces and access points for 30 meters in every direction, although sensor acuity is still not ideal, and some areas seem to still block her scan. She reports to Delaney that there are decks both above and below the boarding party's current location, and that there are two hatches on either side of the airless corridor beyond the locked hatch now before you.

[What Exit?]

"Time for some cutting people. I am going to work on the door, but just in case, call over for another Cutter Beam and let's get two of you working on the deck." Delaney goes to work with his Hand Welder on the door frame. If the door was hinged, I will work on the hinges, if it is a pocket door, I will work on the locking side and call back for a pry bad and a set of jaws of life. If this all seems hopeless, I will call for some shaped charges, specifically Thermolytic would be preferred due to ease of use and prior experience.

[Elendil's Heir]

Tricorder scan shows that the door, which is a pocket type, can be cut through with a hand welder or phaser-2 in less than two minutes.

[anyrose]

Collins readies her phaser, "Show me where to shoot" she says to Delaney

[Pleonast]

Once her structural scans are complete and while waiting for the door, Fujishiro will do some electronic scans. She's looking for communications lines or maybe even a network node that could be used to eavesdrop on the information infrastructure of the ship.

[Zuul]

"Do you still want me to call over for that other cutter beam?" Pourtash checks, ready to do so.

[Elendil's Heir]

Using her tricorder, Fujishiro finds that, based on EM emission patterns, at least three conduit-enclosed bundles of what appear to be communications cables or wires pass along the ceiling of the corridor. There is no network node or its equivalent within scanning range.

Delaney doesn't believe that another cutter beam is necessary, at least not at the moment.

If the sealed door is to be cut or blasted open, remember that the next hatch down the hall behind you is still open. Explosive decompression, even in a spacesuit, is No Fun At All.

[Pleonast]

Fujishiro will begin recording what she can from the communication bundles. Too bad Hayes had to beam back, she thinks.

[What Exit?]

"Seal that hatch to the rear please. The cutting should allow for a slow reduction in air pressure in our current chamber."

The second, heavy cutter was for the deck. I doubt a Phaser II is a good tool for such a job.

[anyrose]

Collins motions to two of the Security Detail to take care of the open hatch. She stands ready to fire on Delaney's say so.

[Elendil's Heir]

Fujishiro finds that her tricorder merely registers the presence of low levels of energy in the three conduits. She is not a Communications officer, and doesn't have the skills either to tap into them or to interpret the contents of any signals they carry.

De la Paz and Nivens seal and lock the other nearest hatch.

The Yorktown beams over a heavy phaser cutter from Engineering. It's about as big as three tricorders put together; Delaney knows from his own scans that it will be more than sufficient to go through deck plating.

[What Exit?]

"Get cutting on the deck. We'll let the pressure leak slowly in the meantime and prepare to continue pursuit forward. Collin's lead the team forward and good luck, I'm going to find the engine room, load stations and pumps and anything else of interest."

[anyrose]

Coliins points the phaser at the door and cuts two pin holes about a meter apart to allow for slow depressurization. When it can be determined that it is sae to do so, she will cut the door the rest of the way open.

[Elendil's Heir]

The air pressure quickly, but safely, drops in the corridor where you stand, and within five minutes it is airless, just like the corridor beyond. With her phaser set as a cutting beam, Collins also makes quick work of the door lock mechanism, and in another two minutes the door is completely open. As noted earlier, there are two hatches on either side of the airless corridor beyond the now-open door before you.

Dr. Brownlock says that his tricorder shows the corridor directly below you all is apparently still pressurized, and asks, "Should we be cutting into the deck now that we're in a depressurized section?"

[WES]

Dr. Brownlock keeps a close eye on the boarding party. He does not really trust these spacesuits and will pipe up if he notices even the slightest problem.

[What Exit?]

"We will cut a few holes to bleed the air slowly and then continue on."

[Pleonast]

With not being able to directly help with the cutting, Fujishiro will keep trying different variations on her scans. Once she has the structural maps done within range, she'll concentrate on detecting energy or power variations, in the hope of discovering activity by the opposition.

[Elendil's Heir]

Delaney cuts a few holes in the deck and a steady flow of air begins coming up. After three minutes, Fujishiro detects no reduction in either the amount or the velocity of the escaping air, suggesting that the corridor below you is open to a large space, perhaps even the rest of the ship. She obtains no immediately useful readings on energy or power variations in the ship's systems.

On a hunch, Collins kneels on the deck and puts her helmet against the deck plating. From that direct contact, she can just barely hear the repeated sound of what might be an alarm below, but different from that which she heard when she and her Starfleet comrades first beamed aboard.

The entire boarding party is now in vacuum, and the temperature in the corridor is dropping. Dr. Brownlock can and does access the vital signs readouts - pulse, temperature, respiration, blood oxygenation, brainwaves and perspiration - of every member of the party with his tricorder, and so far he sees no cause for concern.

Then the lights in the corridor go out.

[Zuul]

Pourtash sighs as the lights go out. It's not insurmountable, but it is a new stumbling block.

[anyrose]

"Delaney" Collins signals her crewmate, "I have a sinking feeling about that repeated sound. It's too faint to be an alarm. It could be a timer. Worst case scenerio, it's the ship's self destruct counter. Can you get more info?"

[What Exit?]

"Activate suit lights, lets all move forward, hatch by stinking hatch. Going down is not a viable option at this point." He pulls out his powerful flashlight to supplement the suit light and adjusts the headband for hands-free use. Delaney begins scanning for potential explosions but does not expect to find anything. "Let's move people, Collins, please lead us forward. When we reach the next hatch, we'll start cutting bleeder holes and hope for the best."

Delaney then calls back to the Yorktown, "Delaney reporting in, is there any chance yet of beaming to another portion of the ship? We are running into many obstacles."

[WES]

Dr. Brownlock activates his suit light, grateful that it works. He has a hard enough time finding his way around as it is. He will follow his fellow officers closely. He checks everyone's bio-scan readings for the umpteenth time. Better safe than sorry is his motto.

[Elendil's Heir]

Everyone has helmet lights that work fine. Ens. Delaney need not carry a flashlight in his hands.

The communications interference is so bad now, however, that he can barely understand as Capt. Singh puts him through to Science Officer Roble, who says, "We're having the same difficulty scanning the interior from here as you are with your tricorders. Something to do with the alloy of the hull. I would not advise beaming you elsewhere in the ship without knowing what's there. I suppose that...." The rest of his words are lost in a burst of static. Try as you might, you cannot reestablish communications with the Yorktown.

Dr. Brownlock sees that all of the boarding party remains healthy, although some are now a little more nervous than before, judging by respiration patterns and heart rate.

Delaney and Fujishiro are getting no energy readings with their tricorders that might indicate a potential explosion. The power output of the ship, to the extent you can scan and interpret it, appears stable.

As there are now eleven of you, five from the original party and six Security officers, please give me your marching order. The corridor is wide enough to advance two abreast, if you wish.

[anyrose]

there are 2 security personnel at the rear of the group - I am probably right behind Delaney with one other security person. the other 3 redshirts are spaced between the player characters

[What Exit?]

Marching order, when single file required, left side is first.

Collins Delaney
Pourtash Mahmoud
Russell Fujishiro
Dr. Brownlock
de la Paz Bartlett
Nivens Dodson

[Elendil's Heir]

You advance, two abreast, into the corridor before you, passing the earlier-mentioned two doors on each side. Tricorder scans show that the two on your left appear to be for storerooms, and the two on your right lead into machinery compartments. All are airless. The next door ahead is also locked, and the corridor beyond it is pressurized. There are still no lights on.

Each of you tries to reestablish communications with the Yorktown on your suit communicators, but fail. Based upon a subspace frequency scan, Fujishiro suspects but can't be sure that your signals are being jammed.

[Elendil's Heir]

Deleted - duplicate post.

[What Exit?]

"Collins, please cut some bleeder holes for the forward door. Mr. Mahmoud, please work on the aft machinery room door and I will work on the forward. Mr. Russell & Mr. de la Paz work on the storeroom doors."

[WES]

While the others are dealing with the doors, Dr. Brownlock scans the atmosphere around them for any potential toxins or other nasty surprises that might create a bloody mess for a compromised spacesuit. These MYT's may not be as advanced as Starfleet, but he does not want to take any chances. Never underestimate your opponent, he thinks to himself. Never....

[anyrose]

Collins aims a narrow beam at the forward door as requested.

[Elendil's Heir]

Collins cuts the bleeder holes without any problem, and a steady flow of air begins coming through. Dr. Brownlock determines that the air is the same as that which you breathed when you first beamed aboard, with no measurable toxins, biological hazards or other nasty surprises.

The doors on either side are locked, but are easily opened with phaser-2s. The machinery rooms have waste-recycling and environmental machinery. The storerooms contain miscellaneous shipboard supplies - what appears to be alien clothing, ration packs and small machine parts.

[What Exit?]

Delaney says, "Doctor, could you check some of those ration packs for more information about this race please? I will quickly analyze the machine parts. Collins & Mahmoud please keep working on the forward hatch. I would like to get through it."

I will check out the machine parts and also look at the environmental machinery to see if I can control the air pressure either in the corridor we are in or going forward.

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. Brownlock scans the ration packs and finds that they are suitable for humanoid lifeforms such as the aliens you've already observed. There are meat, vegetable and fruit-based dishes, with some ingredients that aren't in the Starfleet Medical database. A minority of the rations would be edible for humans.

Delaney finds the machine parts are consistent with what he's observed of the technology of this ship. He discovers a large packing case of spare parts for doorway opening and locking mechanisms, for instance. The environmental machinery is going to take some time to puzzle out; at a glance, however, it does not appear to be useful for controlling corridor air pressure.

Collins and Mahmoud make additional bleeder holes in the door ahead; more air rushes out and then gradually diminishes to nothing. The corridor beyond the door is now also airless.

Fujishiro is growing increasingly aware of the spookiness of the situation, as she becomes acutely conscious of being in a narrow corridor with no lighting other than the every-which-way movement of everyone's spacesuit helmet lights, subject to attack by hostile aliens at any time, out of touch with her own ship. She is beginning to feel a bit anxious. This is not apparent to anyone else... yet.

[What Exit?]

Are there any auxiliary lighting objects in the store rooms? Otherwise, we'll open the next hatch and keep moving forward.

[WES]

Dr. Brownlock makes sure that he saves the ration pack scans to his tricorder for further study later. He'd love to snatch a few of them to take back to the ship, but he realizes that's not a priority under current circumstances. Perhaps once the alien vessel is under their control? Brownlock will continue to monitor the boarding party and atmosphere at regular intervals and report any changes -- however slight -- to Ens. Delaney immediately.

[Elendil's Heir]

There are no auxiliary lighting objects in the storeroom that Delaney can find, although there are actually very few loose objects on the shelves; most of the goods are in metal storage boxes with what appear to be the same as-yet-indecipherable lettering as you saw on the ducting and doors earlier. The ration-pack box was already partly open. Do you wish to open any more of the 60-some other boxes of various sizes?

Dr. Brownlock sees no cause for concern in her monitoring of the boarding party's biosigns. There is no atmosphere to scan where you now are.

[What Exit?]

Delaney goes to the forward hatch himself and gets it open to continue forward as instructed earlier.

[Pleonast]

Fujishiro occupies herself with her tricorder scans.

[anyrose]

Collins follows closely behind Delaney, phaser drawn.

[Elendil's Heir]

Delaney and Collins get the door open and proceed forward, side by side. The rest of the Yorktown boarding party follows, two by two, as Ens. Delaney earlier ordered.

The dark, airless corridor extends ahead as far as your helmet lights reach. There are no doorways to be seen, but the ducting on either side is now larger and more complicated in its construction. About 20 steps down the corridor, and there is a brilliant burst of whitish-blue light which blinds Delaney, Collins, and Mahmoud, and leaves Pourtash seeing stars. You hear it over your comm headphones, too: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzap! Those farther back in the party are briefly dazzled. At that moment, Collins is struck by a powerful discharge of energy and falls to the deck, unconscious. None of you can see where the bolt of energy, which leaves an afterimage in Pourtash's mind like a small but intensely bright lightning bolt, came from.

[Pleonast]

Fujishiro moves to the side of corridor and crouches to lower her profile. She works her tricorder to see what kind of energy that was. Was it a directed weapon or a release of power from the ship's infrastructure?

[WES]

Dr. Brownlock is at Collins' side in an instant. He trusts the others to provide them both with cover as he deals with Collins' medical needs.

[anyrose]

Collins suddenly finds herself surrounded by clouds in assorted pastel colors. A figure approaches her through the haze. As she watches, the figure becomes her mother, who has been dead for many years now. She looks at the apparition in disbelief. The figure reaches out a hand, smiles, shakes her head in mock sternness, and says "You've returned. My, my. What have you done to yourself this time?" Collins takes the hand of the woman in front of her and the two float among the pastel clouds, while Peruvian Pan Flutes play softly in the background. Collins feels herself merging with the clouds and it gives her a calm peaceful aura.

[What Exit?]

Delaney races forward snaking and evading from who knows what. He tries to get to the next hatch.

[Elendil's Heir]

Security Spec/1 Russell, phaser drawn, covers Dr. Brownlock while the young physician attends to Collins. A quick scan shows that her heart has stopped due to a high-voltage electrical shock. She has also sustained a severe burn to her front right shoulder, and her spacesuit is actually burned through. His fingers fumbling just a little through his spacesuit gloves, Brownlock draws instruments and a hypospray from his medikit and quickly restarts Collins's heart, ensures that she is still breathing, and administers a painkiller. He directs Russell to seal the spacesuit's 3-centimeter-wide burn hole at once with a patch from Spec/2 Bartlett's emergency kit.

Fujishiro's scans reveal a small, lopsided, alien-looking box which was, it seems, recently concealed among the ducting to the party's right, and rigged to release a massive electrical discharge. She cannot, at least at first, figure out the triggering mechanism. It now appears inert.

Delaney, still blinded, tries to run ahead but trips over something underfoot and goes sprawling, about 20 meters beyond the boarding party. Ens. de la Paz goes at once to his assistance.

Mahmoud sits down where he is, moaning quietly. Nivens kneels to help him.

Pourtash, blinking quickly, feels his vision returning, although things are still spotty. He feels a headache coming on.

[WES]

"Bloody spacesuits," Brownlock mutters under his breath. He checks on Mahmoud and Pourtash, scanning them briefly. He reaches Delaney and says, "We need to get Collins back to the ship right away." Nigel notices his own labored breathing and checks his bio readings. Elevated pulse and respiration. He lets out a loud sigh. "Mr. Delaney, might I suggest that we all get the bloody hell out of here or at least call for more assistance?"