The Gwarth character is still going to go by the name "Gwarth" for this one turn - I
do not yet have the new player's info - he's friends with Jason (Raleigh), and
I at least know how to run the character for this turn. So for one more turn here he is still known as Gwarth.

I have updated the Serena Dawn Maps, placing icons where your character is. I took liberty on Deck 2 --- but you have time to fix it if the locations weren't quite what you had in mind, Zhirrzh, before the next turn. The icons on Deck 1 are guestimates; none of you know exactly where the crew is positioned. If I have completely missed the mark, let me know and I'll correct it.

All Die Rolls are using Brenon's (Bryan Morrow) little die roll program he wrote up. I did not alter ANY die roll, which is both good and bad, as you will read below. (Yikes, what a fight...). Any complaints about the die rolls should be addressed to him :)
 

[IC]
    Telgar speaks to the groups as well as into his chronocom, "Ok, here's
my plan:  Brenon, Raleigh, and I will go to Deck One and guard the air-lock
since I believe this will be the main point of attack.  Kah'Liss and Gwarth
will remain here to guard Deck Two and the Shuttle.  Zhirrzh and Lyrium will
go to Deck Three and guard the airlock there.  The Dawn's crew will stay on
the bridge while we all keep our chronos on for communication.  Balou, is
there anyway to lock down the air-locks?  If so, I'd like everyone to get
where they are going and then lock all air-locks except for the one on Deck
Three nearest the shuttle and connecting to the adjacent hallway.  Under no
circumstance should the other airlocks be opened.  That should buy us more
time.  If anyone needs to fall back, use the hatches and go to Deck Two.
When they come through, we will blast at them in anyway we can.  When an
area is cleared go check on the other air-locks and help out.  I figure we
only have a short time before they catch on to us, so after about three
minutes, we'll need to eject all the life boats we can, with only the
absolute necessary ones for evacuation.  Hopefully, this will distract the
cruiser and fighters.  Then I say the Dawn makes a dash for the far side of
the planet and atempts a landing.  The cruiser can't land and there
shouldn't be too much left to follow us.  Now, if worse comes to worse,
Kah'Liss, you take off the best you can in the shuttle for planetside and
with as many of us as you can without compromising safety.  The rest of us
on Deck one will find a way to get out and the Crew will have the forward
life boats.  Remember, the air-locks should be locked, so you can pass
through them except to get to the shuttl on Deck Two.  Now, I suggest
everyone arm up with something they are comfortable handling and get two the
pre-designated spots... That is unless someone else has a better idea."
Looks around for any feedback.
    Raleigh begins readying his pack, attaching his laser rifle and pistols
to its weapon ports. As he continues to grap an healthy stash of weapons, he
notices a few glances from the others. "Hey, Im not going to get myself shot
on a lack of not shooting back." He notices Zhirrzh's armament of Projectile
weapons. "Zhirrzh, Captain said no PGS. Cmon, in the bag with it!"
    Zhirrzh grunts and holsters his auto-pistol and grabs whatever beam
weapon is available from the weapons locker. He also grabs two extra clips. He places
one clip in the beam weapon and places the other clip in his bandolier. He
set the weapon to 1 SEU. Looking around, he tries to determine what the best plan would be.
    "I've got an idea." he announces to the team. "Everyone but Kah'Liss can
line up in front of the airlock leading into the cargo hold. When the
airlock opens, Brenon and Raleigh can toss a doze grenade each into the
middle of the boarding party. Meanwhile, the rest of us can lay down cover
fire to keep them inside the range of the grenades. After the grenades
explode, Kah'Liss can hit the ignition switch and start the engines for the
shuttle as the rest of us fall back to take up cover positions. The shuttle
noise should disorient the boarders who refused to take a nap and we can
then pick them off. Any comments?"
    Brenon nods as he rummages through the equipment, procuring a laser
rifle, some ammo, and
an assortment of grenades: 3 Doze grenades and 2 fragmentation grenades. "It
sounds
good to me. I like Zhirrzh's idea."
        Kah'liss listens to the plan forwarded by Zirrzh, and is forced to
comment when it seems that this idea may be accepted.  "While there may be
no definitive solution at this moment, I must disagree on the validity of
this plan.  It would seem quite logical to me, if I were an assaulting
troop, to board a ship in nothing less than an environmental suit, perhaps
even a full environmental suit like a spacesuit.  If they are wearing either
of this items, the doze grenades will be completely useless for anything
more than a mild dissolution of the local visibilty, which could easily be
overcome with optical enhancements.  Furthermore, the creation of the line
provides a solid defense, for melee warfare.  For Ranged warfare, It
guarentees a hit no matter where the opposition fires.  I think it would be
wisest to either resort to defined area of guerilla style warfare, or the
zoned areas of control for defense.  Although, Doze gas is flammable, if I
remember correctly ... and could be used to create burning columns of air
... a suitable diversion at the very least.  Those are my less than
qualified opinions on the current plan of defense."

    Zhirrzh listens to Kah'liss carefully and then shakes his head,
incredulous at the lack of military sense. He can see a discussion
starting, and time is running out.
    "I'd be inclined to agree with you under normal circumstances. For this
instance, I do not. From their actions, I believe they plan to take the
ship with maybe a prisoner or two for questioning. They have to be
wondering what we're doing in uncharted space. That means fighting with the
passengers and crew. To do this, they'll need to be able to move freely. A
space suit or an environmental suit is not known for allowing the wearer to
move freely and a trained fighter would be stupid to want to fight in a
space suit when its likely that your opponent will not be in one. Not only
are a fighter's movements impaired, but his field of vision as well.
Something extremely important in a fight, ranged or melee. These are
pirates we're dealing with. I'm reasonably sure of that."
    He pauses and grins. "As such, they're probably not as smart as your
average sentient. However, I don't think they're stupid."
    Raising his free hand to head level and holding up one finger, he
continues. "Now for what you said. As for the line, I didn't suggest a
solid line where we stand shoulder-to-shoulder. That would indeed be
stupid. Of course we'll spread out. But why did I say line? So everyone has
a clear picture of what I have in mind."
    He raises a second finger. "As for guerilla warfare. The form of attack
of guerrilla warfare starts with surprise and fury. Irresistible, it
suddenly converts itself into total passivity. The surviving enemy,
resting, believes that the attacker has departed; he begins to relax, to
return to the routine, when suddenly a new attack bursts forth in another
place, with the same characteristics. The fundamental thing is surprise and
rapidity of attack."
    He stares directly at Kah'liss and sweeps his hand around to indicate
the cargo hold. "Do you see where we can surprise the enemy, disappear, and
attack from a new direction?"
    Zhirrzh continues without waiting for an answer from the literal Vrusk.
"I don't believe they'll come in wearing suits, and I don't think guerilla
or zoned tactics are an option. Even if they come in wearing suits, we
couldn't possibly be any worse off. It'll be a fight either way."
    Zhirrzh nods to Kah'liss and agrees on one point. "Switching to tangler
grenades might be a better idea though."

Raleigh, unnerved by the seemingly casual conversation taking
place, exclaims...
    "You know, I hate to break up this wonderful debate on the finer
points of ship defense and tactics, but I think we might need to be
moving with a small sense of urgency here!"
    "Now, I agree with Kah'liss that guerrilla warfare is the way to go.
Zhirrzh, that was a vey pretty definition and all but you have to also
keep in mind that most of us are not shooters.  e.g. I will not find
myself in a chicken shoot with a bunch of space thugs."
    "With that in mind, and god knows we are running out of time here, I
say we use the ship and do some hit and fade tactics.  A stand in the
shuttle bay doesnt really seem like my cup of tea."
    With that, Raleigh grabs yet another powerbackpack...just in case, and
awaits some form of democratic resolution.

    Telgar sighs heavily as he checks his Wartech rifle again.   "Well, I
agree with Raleigh and suggest we go with my plan.  I don't believe staying
on one deck and waiting for all the visitors to find us is
wise.  If we /do/ split up into three groups though and each take a deck, I
believe we stand a good chance to win.  After all, if we split up we'll only
have about four guys to take out per level where if we wait, we will have to
take out about 12 of them at the same time.  I don't feel like making their
work easier for them.  Now, we don't have much time left so I'm going to
Deck One and if one or two of you would like to follow, that would make
defending a lot easier!  Raleigh, I'd be honored to fight alongside you if
you'd care to join me."
    With that, Telgar heads for the hatch in the adjacent hallway pausing
only for a moment to see if Raleigh will follow, and to briefly see the
reactions of his fellow team members to his statement.  Almost for a second,
it seems a smile crosses Telgar's face...

    Raleigh watches as Telgar heads for the hatch, Zhirrzh only snorts in
dissatisfaction.   "Ok, stop right there!" Raleigh begins. Now here is the deal, and wether
you all like it or not we have to compromise."
    "We break up into two teams...thats right, two!  And here is why...
Three groups of Pirates are going to be coming into this ship at
differing locations.  We seperate into two groups and ambush the two
groups of Pirates that come in, one here and the other one would be
whichever is closer to us as opposed to the crew on the bridge.
    "Now, I used to play this laser tag game (ignoring Zhirrzh's snicker)
where two groups would be let lose on one another.  It basically
turned into a chicken shoot or an ambush.  Lets avoid that!
    "Instead, we take out two units with ambush tactics and that leaves
us one left...presumably the one that hits the bridge.  If all goes
well, we merge on the bridge, back door the last group, and everyone
is happy.  Worst case, we hit and fade to the shuttle and make a break
for it.
    "Now, heres the kicker, our two shooters need to be in the shuttle
bay.  Reason being, this section must be secured in case team two
needs to fall back.  Telgar, myself, and two others will go to another
location and see if we can get the jump on the bad guys.
    "Now, unless we have any other objections, lets "Kick the tires, and
light the fires boys!!!"
    Raleigh waits a moment for some volunteers.
    Lyrium glances to the others, biting the corner of her lip nervously.
Finally, she pats her hand on her blaster, shrugs slightly. "I'm a
scientist. I'm not sure I'd be much help out there. I prefer to remain
here."
    Gwarth nods, acknowledging Lyrium's statement. He graps a Laser Rifle and Pistol, and trots towards Telgar and Raleigh, adjusting his power backpack. "I'm with you two, then."
    Raleigh pats Zhirrzh on the shoulder and wishes him luck and then
speeds off through the hatch with Gwarth, chasing after Telgar.

    Zhirrzh watches part of the team leave. He slowly shakes his head and mutters something about "human death wish" and adjusts his weapon to 2 SEU. Out loud, he says, "I don't know what the rest of you plan to do, but as I see it, our chances of survival just went down. Telgar and Raleigh are thinking like the planet bound. Here, we are a strong group; we have at least some cover using the shuttle and the cut-outs in the wall and the enemy has a narrow entry point. Instead, they want to move into the open, narrow corridors, where they have less room to maneuver and a better chance of getting hit. Telgar is worried about taking out 12 at once huh? Not likely. It's more likely they'll split into groups of about four and clear each deck. Their commander probably considers the crew compliment to be between 4 and 6 judging by the size of the ship. What I'm certain they don't know is that there are an addition 7 armed passengers, prepared and waiting. Their main focus will probably be the bridge. If we wait and take out the ones on our deck, then move up to the bridge and help the crew deal with those, that'll hopefully leave only another four left. Our best bet is to divide and conquer the enemy, not ourselves."
    He stops to look at each remaining member of the team. "I plan to make my stand here, where I have the best chance of survival. Afterwards, I'll make my way up to deck 1 and see about clearing the bridge of intruders. Who's with me?"
 
    Kah'liss pretends to not hear the plan.  He is going to remain right
here, in the shuttle, with his nifty 5 SEU Laser Pistol and PowerPack and
Deadman's Switch.  He adjusts his position in his spacesuit and awaits the
arrival.  If someone happens to try to talk to him about where he 'should'
be, he has decided to claim that the suit clamps are locked, and the
communications seem to be malfunctioning ... and then pretend to try and fix
them.  Yeap, he staked here first, he is staying here.

            --------------------------------------

    Telgar quickly fills the crew in on their plan via chronocom; both decks 2 and 3 are covered; Deck 1 will be left up to the crew...for now. He wrenches the hatch leading down to Deck 3 open and is the first one down. He lifts his wrist to his mouth again and addresses the Engineer.
    "Grynh, could you kill all lights on level 3? We're going to use darkness against them." He gestures for Raleigh and Gwarth to turn their goggles on as well.
    The Chrono comes to life again, the voice of the Engineer. "Roger, lights out on 3rd deck. Just to let you all know, I think I'll have lasers ready in a few minutes..."
    Balou's voice chimes in over your chrono. "Great, Grynh, standby. We'll see how we need to use it in a few minutes, I'm sure. Good luck all."
    Telgar takes his place next to the elevator door. He crouches on one knee and leans against it's edge, ready with his rifle.
    Raleigh trots forward to the Storage Bay door, punching the console to open it. He takes position on the inside of the bay, using one wall as cover. He watches as Gwarth spends a few more moments opening the airlock, then take cover in similar fashion.

--- A slight tremor against the wall. The shuttle has docked. ---
 
    The lights drop and the three on third level see through the greenish tint of their IR goggles. Raleigh takes a deep breath and glances back towards the elevator. If they needed to retreat, he had the longest dash to the hatch and would probably be the last one up. With a shuttle full of invaders behind him, that option is something he hopes will not be necessary. He readies his rifle as do the others. It would still be a few minutes, probably, before the invaders defeat the security on both the outer and inner airlock doors.

    Waiting was always the hardest part.
 

    Staring at the red light on the Airlock door, listening to the near deafening silence. When the lock is defeated, the light will change, and the invaders, whoever they may be, will burst through the door. Telgar notes Raleigh's position, gives him an encouraging nod. A bead of sweat begins a lazy stroll down the side of his face. Soon....soon. He raises his rifle and aims at the airlock, using the side of the elevator shaft as a prop and for cover.  His two pistols are ready in case he needs them, one on his waste and one in his shoulder holster, but he feels confident that the adversaries on this Deck will not last that long.

    A few dull clangs on the airlock door. Everyone takes bead on the door. Fire on the second man through, that was the plan. Each man's finger tightens its grip on the trigger of their weapon. A high pitched wine sputters from the airlock console; Raleigh notices the small display present scrambled patterns. Yes, indeed, it would not be long now. They had almost defeated the lock. Ready...
    The light on the console shifted to the green. The Airlock was unlocked. For innumerable moments, the three stared at the door. What were they waiting on? Were they coordinating with the other shuttles, going over their boarding plan again? Come on already, bastards. Open the damn door. We're waiting.
 
    The silence is shattered by the hiss of the airlock as it slides open quickly. As soon as it clears, a human stands on the other side and immediately tosses a grenade through the door. There is a bright flash and boom directly in front of the door - a flash grenade. Due to their own nervousness, or because of a simple mistake, the grenade went off directly in front of the door. Raleigh shields from the bright flash, reaching for his eyes. He feels a thick wave echo through his head. Shake it off, quickly. He looks up again in time to see second invader stumble through the door. He raises his rifle and reaches for the trigger...
    The bright flash of light causes Telgar and Gwarth to quickly look away. Not close enough to be affected by the blast, they both blink a few spheres of light out of their view. Plenty of time, as the first two attackers stumble into the corridor, shaking some cobwebs out of their heads and raising weapons. Telgar sees they have IR goggles situated above their heads, but they were not on yet. Perfect. He aims at the second man and fires; Gwarth's rifle echoes with his own shots.

[COMBAT]
Raleigh, Gwarth, and Telgar are behind cover, an additional -2CS for the attackers

[DieRoll; Telgar's Shots]
    2 shots, 10 SEU
        Roll 1: 08 hit     160 dmg
        Roll 2: 93 miss

    Telgar's first shot hits the second invader square in the chest. Raleigh briefly notices the human's chest explode in a mixture of gore and laser flash before taking aim on the next target. He misses.

[DieRoll: Gwarth's Shots]
    2 shots, 3 SEU
        Roll: 17   hit     12 dmg
        Roll: 54   miss

    Gwarth's first shot hits the second assailant as well, ripping into the human's side. He
crashes backwards into the wall and falls into a silent, unmoving heap on the floor.

[DieRoll: Raleigh's Shots]
    2 shots, 5 SEU
        Roll: 84    miss
        Roll: 62     miss

    Raleigh fires twice at the second target, seeing the first barrage of shots destroy the intended second attacker. His shots crash into the walls near the human, but fail to make their mark. He sees a Dralasite barge into the corridor, Laser pistol in hand. A Yazirian remains in the Airlock, dropping his goggles down. The three are delayed as they drop their goggles and try to home in on their target.

[Turn 2]
Initiative Roll - Team - 16
                        Them - 7

[DieRoll - Raleigh
    2 shots, 5 SEU
       Roll:  99   Critical Miss! --> Weapon malfunction
        Damage - 2d10 --> 16
 
    Raleigh takes aim at the Dralasite only 4 meters from him and lets loose with his rifle. He pulls the trigger and feels a searing heat as his rifle flares briefly. The rifle shatters in a flash of light. Raleigh grunts as he feels the heat burn in several places. He can't help but curse aloud at laser weapons. He can't wait until he's planetside, and can use some REAL P.G.S. stuff. Simple musing, as he feels the pain of the weapon.

[Die Roll - Telgar]
    2 shots, 10 SEU
        Roll: 58 miss
        Roll: 56 miss

    Telgar fires his rifle, the shots dance around the human but somehow miss their mark.

[Die Roll - Gwarth]
    2 shots, 3 SEU
        Roll: 10,     48 dmg
        Roll: 48, miss

    Gwarth fires and hits the human somewhere in his midsection. He lurches backwards and drops to the ground, [DieRoll against Stamina - PASS] he slowly begins to rise and levels his pistol down the corridor...

[DieRoll - Human --Severely Wounded (-4CS)]
    (Roll to see who he is shooting at - Telgar or Gwarth --> Telgar)
    2 shots, 3 SEU
    Roll: 43,     miss
    Roll: 01    Critical Hit 125% Damage  (YIKES!!) - 45 dmg
    Special Damage table --> Primary side arm wound.
    Roll if weapon destroyed: 1d100 = 37% - no loss.

    Just as Telgar was readying to drop the wounded human once and for all, he saw the flash from his target's weapon. In an instant he felt a tremendous burn in his left arm.  The laser blast entered through his forearm and slammed into his bicep. Crouching further down and yelling through gnashed teeth, he rolls deeper into the elevator shaft, momentarily safe. He forces himself to look at his arm, knowing from the pain that it was not going to be pretty. Through his charred and smoking sleeve, he sees that a pool of blood is beginning to collect at his elbow. Damn. Not good. Not good at all.

[OOC]
    That bites - even using a -4 column shift, a 01 roll is a critical hit. Boy, don't you hate it when battles start going against you? First the weapon, now this crazily insane chance hit. Yeek, I'm glad I'm not in your shoes :-P  A severe arm wound yields you the following charming penalties: -3CS to hit with that arm, cannot use rifles...So, you're stuck with
-3CS using your primary arm, or a -1CS for using the wrong arm.

[IC]
[DieRoll: Dralasite]
    2 shots, 3 SEU
        Roll: 92,    miss
        Roll: 43,    miss

    As the Dralasite fires a few covering shots, the Yazirian bolts from the airlock and heads towards Raleigh. [DieRoll - Battle Rage - fail] The Yazirian weilds a Sonic Knife and lunges straight into him.

[DieRoll: Yazirian]
    1 attack, Sonic Knife
        Roll: 55    miss

    Raleigh, still recovering from the rifle malfunction, dodges out of the way of the enraged Yazirian without a scratch.
 

[OOC]
Well, that was a pretty intense 12 seconds, huh? I tell you, when you first destroyed that guy that walked through the door, I thought it was going to be a mop up. But then, damn, fate just went against you in the last 6 seconds. Boy, what to do, what to do...

Okay, yes, there is a heated fight going on, and yes, those on Deck 2 haven't hit it yet, and yes, there may be a fight going on right now on Deck 1. Point is, everyone does not know all of this, so please act ICly and don't play that your character knows what he/she doesn't. You do have your chronocoms, BUT, we are now real time, 6 second turns, and if you go into big monologues, I am going to take all of that into consideration. So, Raleigh, you shouldn't start a discussion on hand to hand fighting against knives with Zhirrzh right now. Not the time. :)

Well, that was fun for me. And believe me, I AM pulling for you... :)