The Assault on Deck 1, December 9, 1998

 
[OOC]

Okay, once again a very interesting turn of events. I look forward to seeing how you respond.
.....
I liked Telgar's pondering of the phasing of Gwarth so much, I'm putting it
in the official turn, AND I bought the company, too! :)
OOC
    As Telgar hears Gwarth say his remarks, he looks down the hatch, only to
see Gwarth phase into Rolgar.  This was strange:This was not Strange.  He
knew Gwarth:He knew Rolgar.  This had always been, but never had been.  He
smiled to himself and felt a small twinge of excitment and contentment...
The universe had just shifted, but no one noticed except Telgar.  But even
so, his memory was now being replaced with the new reality.  Gwarth was
Rolgar (or was it the other way around?).  Soon, that was all that he would
know... Gwarth would never have existed...  Things like this happen every
now and then.  We just learn to move on with our lives...  and Telgar
continues on with his ascent up the hatch :)

[IC]
    After hearing the announcement of the status on Deck One, Telgar jumps
up into the hatch leading to Deck One, yelling to his comrades and
chronocom, "Change of plans!  I'm not letting them take the crew down while
I just sit in Deck Two.  You know they'd help us in the same circumstance.
I'm going up to Deck One instead.  Raleigh, Rolgar, come on, they need our
help up stairs!  Deck Two, keep your position until we return.  We will
either be victorious or need to fallback.  Just be there when we get back...
Telgar out."
    Telgar races up the hatch contemplating his next move.  With his arm
burned and in pain, he thinks to himself that nothing, nothing can make him
stand by idle while the crew is captured.  He knows that he may not be at
full strength, but is banking on the fact that the intruders on that Deck
have been worn down with their firefight, and he hopes that they will be
able to take them out, even with one of them possessing an albedo screen.
Determination swells in his chests as he prepares to enter the Deck and face
his adversaries. He begins to climb the ladder that leads to the hatch of
Deck 2.
    Rolgar intently listens as Telgar requests his help in clearing deck
one.
Being extremely brave, even for a Yazirian, Rolgar immediately proclaims "I
am with you Telgar, till the end" and begins to follow Telgar up the hatch,
while at the same time checking his energy level on his wartech psitol.
Although feeling no physical hesitation with regards to charging up the
hatch, Rolgar could not help but feel a little apprehensive with regards to
the uncertainty which would follow.

    Raleigh winces from the pain in his arm as he searches the dead
Yazirian.  Knife, money, whats this?!!  A Headset?
    Raleigh immediately puts it to his ear and hears the tail end of what
can only be the boarders conversation.
    "Hold up you two." he calls to Telgar and Rolgar, already headed for
the level one hatch, "I have an idea."
    Placing his fingers over the transmission mike, he flips the headset
to transmit and sends a broken transmission to the pirates, hoping
that his fake static and garbled communication will fool the boarders.
    Raleigh runs his fingers over the mouthpiece(hopefully to create a
static like sound) as he thumbs the transmitter button...
"...Lower deck here, had...schhhhhh...difficulty
taking...schhhhhh...two down, including....schhhhhh...could use a
medic down here, over!"

[Intuition Rolls - Secret]

After a moment, Raleigh shrugs, "Let's go."

--- Deck 3 ---

    Lyrium glances around and frowns faintly. She brushes the back of her
free
hand across her forehead and sighs softly. Looking to whoever is closest
she says in a voice tinged with worry, "Should I head for the other
sections and see to the wounded? I mean.." she swallows lightly, "Im
neither a full blown medic or a fighter, but I know a bit of both, so I
might make it. And if I don't try and someone I could have helped.. died.."
she glances away and shrugs, "I should try.. right? But then if I do leave
and you guys get hurt.." she shakes her head, voice full of uncertainty as
she glances at the faces of those who may be paying attention to her, "What
should I do?"
        Kah'liss sits, listening to the screams ... the hiss of laser
hitting
flesh ... the raging battle ... and finally the exuberant success.  Yes.
Wait ... Reports of the upper deck begin to come on ... it's not looking so
good.  Deck 1 isn't in good shape, Telgar is wounded badly, this is not
going as good as it could.  Kah'liss shifts in his suit, looking around at
the others.
    Thoughts race through his head as to what he could do ... what they
could do ... weighing the possibilities ... the decisions....
    He hears Lyrium begin to speak aloud and listens to her as she mirrors
some of his distresses, but in her own rumblings, he comes to a decision...
    "Lyrium, I think it would be best if we both remained in our current
location.  While your expertise in areas of science are without precedence
in our group and far in advance of your age, do not take offense when I
suggest that your medical skills would be lacking and thus of little true
value to the wounded for more than bandages and quick cures.  Do take
resolve in that I, who could be of use, will not be leaving here either.  I
know I am no combat expert and would be easy prey.  We still have one
assault force unaccounted.  If either of us were to run into them ... I
would not be pretty.  In addition, those still fighting, do not have much
time to stop and get bandaged correctly, let alone healed.  No, it would be
best if we remained in the safety of this bay, until such time as all the
invading forces have been depleted.  If any members of our group are wounded
bad enough to desire our help, they know where we are."
    He then settles back into his seat, not happy about the reality, but
satisfied that it is the right choice.
    Lyrium listens to Kah'liss as he voices his thoughts. She sighs deeply
at
his words, tossing her pale gaze around the room, unhappily. She does not
say anything for a few seconds after he stops speaking. Finally looking
back to him she nods her head, "My head knows you are right, my heart
though.." she shrugs, "You are correct about one thing, I wouldn't be able
to do much good.." Lifting her right hand she brushes back a few stray
strands of hair, pushing them behind her ear. Using her sleeve she wipes
the sweat from her brow, "Damn.." she murmurs, shaking her head.
 

    The hatch on Deck 2 flings open, Telgar pops up, pistol ready. The
corridor on the deck was empty. He knew the team waited through the airlock
on the left, and there were probably intruders somewhere through the doors
to his right. Must continue up, though. They sounded like they were in
trouble up there. Zapguns were a bitch; one hit from an Electrostunner could
render you unconscious, or stunned, for a good long while. He thinks briefly
what would have happened if all of the boarders had them. He'd be out now,
that's for sure. He began his ascent to Deck 1...

    On your chronos, a soft coughing. What sounds like Nayden's voice,
softly, "....I'm...mmmph..."
    Zhirrzh, waiting in the cargo hold, only listening to the action so far,
calls out for Nayden, asking for a response. There is none. The Yazirian
growls deeply, anger beginning to boil through him. He understands the
importance of securing the hold here, but didn't like being left out of a
firefight, especially one that didn't appear to be going that well.
 

    Telgar begins working on the hatch, Rolgar and Raleigh standing below
him. His smoke grenade hanging at his waist, Telgar runs it through his mind
what he'll do when the hatch opens. Grab the grenade and throw...
 

--- Deck 1 ---
    The hatch near the elevator opens. A Yazirian sticks his head up,
glances around, then climbs onto the deck. Directly before him is a human,
unconscious against the open airlock door. Through the door he sees another
body, this one a female Yazirian, crumpled against the wall. He smiles.
Rising from
the hatch, he helps a Vrusk climb up as well. Looks clear. Now with the
business on Deck 3 to take care of.
    The other hatch opens. Telgar tosses his grenade towards a human he sees
standing in front of the airlock looking over a pile of bodies near the
door. He snaps up and glances Telgar's way...

[Roll for Surprise - Results secret]

[DieRoll - Telgar]    Grenade toss
    Base Column 0
    +1 Dex Modifier
    Modified Column /0
        Roll    87    miss
        Grenade Bounce Roll = 2 (overthrow) BUT,
            Does it hit the Airlock door? [Yes/No] = YES

    Telgar hurls the grenade down the hall. Immediately he knows he's
overthrown. But the grenade crashes against the airlock wall and begins
bellowing smoke.

[Die Roll - Human Stamina check - Results secret]

    Telgar quickly scrambles onto the deck, allowing room for his comrads to
come up. He then immediately sees several others through the door leading
into the
forward section of the Dawn. They all raise their weapons and rush forward
to get into the fray.
 

[Turn 1]
    Initiative Roll
        Team = 16
        Enemy= 15
    Team has initiative.

    Telgar quickly raises his pistol against the human with the Electrostunner. He saw movement to his right, but counted on Rolgar and Raleigh to be there to intercept whoever they were. He fired just as the human beared down on him.
[DieRoll - Pistol]
    Base Column = +2
    Stamina Check = 86 FAIL  --> -2 CS
    Point Blank +1CS
    Adjusted Column = +1
        Roll=    92    miss
        Roll =   2    hit    (Cobalt 80 dmg)

    Telgar fires twice. His second shot hits; he sees the brief flash of the albedo screen, but there wasn't enough power to absorb the entire force of the blast. The human becomes momentarily airborne and crashes roughly onto the floor.
    Rolgar hoists himself on deck as quickly as he can, knowing he's coming straight up into another firefight. He raises his rifle just as a Yazirian makes his appearance at the airlock entranceway.
{Die Roll - Rolgar}
    Base Column /0
    Point Blank +1 CS
    Stamina check=51 Fail  -1CS
    Adjusted Column = /0
        Roll = 87    miss
        Roll = 9    hit    (Cobalt dmg 48)

    Yanking the trigger of his rifle, He drops the Yazirian. Immediately replacing him, however, is a large Vrusk who lunges at him with a Stunstick. Raleigh makes his way up the hatch, just in time to see the melee erupt practically on top of him.
[Die Roll - Vrusk]
    Base Column +1
    Stunstick Bonus +1 CS
    Adjusted Column = +2
        Roll = 68    miss
        Roll = 85    miss

    Rolgar rolls to the side and avoids the Vrusk's attack. He sees Raleigh climb from the hatch, and also sees two more humans appear at the open door. Talk about close quarters! The thick smoke from the grenade continues to spread towards the now crowded corridor.

[Turn 2]
    Roll for Initiative
        Team = 12
        Enemy = 13

    No doubt about it, Rolgar was in a fistfight. And having a rifle wasn't the easiest thing to fight with. He levelled the rifle, hoping to get in a quick shot, but the Vrusk was faster on the draw. He swings with the Stunstick...
{DieRoll - Vrusk}
    Base Column +1
    Stunstick Bonus +1 CS
    Adjusted Column = +2
        Roll = 1    hit    Critical hit --> Stun; no extra damage
            3 Stamina Damage
            Rolgar roll against current Stamina -- 8 PASS!  No effect
        Roll = 83    miss

    The Vrusk connects against Rolgar's head; a good right hook. He feels an intense vibration througout his body, but immediately shakes it off. Ha, not this time, he muses. On someone else, the hit could have definately stunned. Not him, though. He beat it.

{DieRoll - 2 humans}
    Picking target --- Human1 vs Telgar or Raleigh - (50/50) - Human1 attacks Raleigh.
    Looking at the developing fight, the human picks what should be an easy target; he sees Raleigh, rising quickly to his own feet. He had just come up that hatch. Poor guy, he should have stayed down there. He brought his pistol to bear and fired.
[DieRoll - Human]
    Base Column +1
    Point Blank +1 CS
    Adjusted Column = +2 CS
        Roll = 39    hit    (Yellow dmg 9)
        Roll = 25    hit    (Green dmg 17)

    Raleigh falls hard against the floor as 2 beams from a blaster make contact. He grunts in pain, then takes several quick breaths. Was it just him, or were the lights dimmer? The pain was almost something distant, seperate. But he knew it was there, and it wasn't good.
    The human grinned. Easy enough. He focuses attention to the melee directly in front of him.

    [OOC Raleigh, you've got 1 Stamina left. The only thing you'll want to do is get OUT of the combat...this is tight....]

    The second human takes aim against Telgar. He levels his Sonic Stunner and fires as Telgar begins to draw bear on him...
[Die Roll - Human2]
    Base Column +1
    Point Blank +1 CS
    Adjusted Column +2CS
        Roll = 24    hit    Stun
            Telgar's Stamina check = 98, fail
            Stunned for (d100) 29 turns.

    Telgar raises his rifle, determined to take another of these bastards down. He sees the flash of the stunner aimed at him, the next instant his body tightens up. His pistol drops. He manages a few indecipherable mumbles before collapsing to the floor.
    Rolgar misses both of these disconcerting events. He was caught in a struggle with this Vrusk.
[DieRoll - Rolgar]
    Yazirian Battle Rage check - 70 - fail
    Base Column /0
    Firing Rifle in Melee -3CS
    Adjusted Column -2CS
        Roll = 61    miss
        Roll = 92    miss
    Rolgar fires twice, but the rifle is just too bulky. He misses both shots.

    Raleigh....

[Referee's Notes]
    Wow, gang, guess I'm just the bitch, huh? :)
    This turn is not over - Raleigh gets his part of the turn. I wasn't quite sure what you want to do from here, so I'll let you decide. You can still fire off 2 shots, possibly striking that fatal blow, BUT risking the next round of retaliation if you don't win initiative for the next turn. So I'm going to let you decide how you want to respond this turn. At least I'm granting you that - I don't want to seem the complete bad guy! :) --- and I did give you ONE less damage point, to be nice. You had 18 Stamina left, and the second shot was supposed to cause exactly 18 damage. I just couldn't do it. If it had been by a large margin, you would have bought it. But one point....I remember back to Senior Year English, begging the teacher for just ONE point. What's one point, after all? So, you're still alive....
    Firing the Rifle in Melee (Rolgar) is a steep penalty, but under the circumstances, I think that would have been the best option. The fight was going downhill and a couple of fine placed shots could have turned it once again. The two rolls I made would have been misses anyway, regardless of what attack plan I chose. But now you get to decide what to do.
    I have updated the Serena Dawn picture to reflect your position on Deck 1. Check it out. The smoke cloud is still growing. The Xs mark spots of dead/dying/stunned bodies...except for the crew - they are all down, but I gave them light blue icons. The others are labelled by name.

Telgar, valiant effort, you dropped yet another one, but this time they got ya. At least it wasn't a weapon going for damage; you may be dead rather than just stunned.

Rolgar, a tight melee going on right now, and luckily your Stamina check prevented yet another of you from being stunned. In case you need some melee tips, here's some of your options:
    1) Simply punch, kick, etc. Your punching score is 4 damage per hit.
    2) Wrestling - one attempt per turn. If you succeed, you inflict your punching score in
        damage automatically each turn - your opponent can do nothing but try to break the
        hold.
    3) Disarming - make him drop that damn stunstick - at a -2CS modifier. Either of you can
        attempt to pick it back up, so hope you get initiative next turn.
    4) Defending - just say you are defending, giving your opponent a -2CS modifier to hit. You
        cannot strike out if you claim you are defending
    5) Keep firing that rifle at a -3CS penalty
    6) Use the Rifle Butt - max 22 damage, but at a -1CS modifier.

Okay, hope that helps. You all hear this stuff going on your chronos, but you can't make out any specifics... so play accordingly.

Jeff