A Fast Exit — Legacy Forums — Strolen's Citadel

Re: A Fast Exit

#81

From the engine room Autumn viewed the sensor results on a secondary display with curiosity, awed at the sheer durability of the ancient hulk. To still run after all these years....

"Any ideas, kids?"

Autumn reached over and thumbed the intercom to respond, her eyes never leaving the screen. "I could boost our sensors to increase resolution in all this debris if you wanted, and I doubt that old hulk has any weapons still operating on her stern, might make a good holding spot while we determine our next course of action."

Not the most dazzling tactical solution she knew, but it was the best idea she had given the current circumstances.

Re: A Fast Exit

#82

Jerome thought back to the takes of ancient Japanese Soldiers, lost on countless islands and fighting on when their empire had already fallen.

AI perhaps, or maybe even some poor soul recently released from cryosleep. He knew how to deal with AI's, but not loonies.

He asked his PDA for whatever was on file. Who knows, might even have some override codes left over somewhere.

He awaited the Captains call on the lasers, though was plotting a firing solution.

Re: A Fast Exit

#83

Jerome patched his audio through to communications..

"Desdemona", said Jerome, "We are standing Down. Now" - he said as he flicked the main power off the primary laser turret. "We are having control malfunctions and need assistance with some repairs. Do you have damage controls staff available? Please report..."

Meanwhile he typed to helmsman.

"Swing us around hard and point the engines directly at Desmoda, then enage emergency full fusion burn. Hopefully the fusion exhaust will confuse, and ideally fry their sensors. Hope everyone's strapped in... :)"

Re: A Fast Exit

#84

Quan listened to Jerome's voice through the comm system, then read the text. He and Yulo looked at each other.

"Figure it'll work?" the captain asked.

Quan pouted his lower lip, then gave a short nod. "Could be. Any systems on a derelict like this are probably in piss-poor shape. And if it don't work, at least we're pointed in the right direction."

Yulo crossed his arms for a moment and nodded. "Do it." He thumbed the comm panel. "Strap down, people, we're coming around."

Quan grasped the helm controls and engaged the control for the navigational thrusters, firing the fusion ignition as he did so. The engines began to roar in the back while the smaller thrusters whipped the ship in a one-eighty. Quan fired the engines to full, the blast putting him further back into the pilot's seat as Hollen's Prize rocketed forward.

Re: A Fast Exit

#85

"Thank you for your compliance, civilian vessel. Please dock and prepare for salvage..." the Desdemona managed to transmit before Hollen's Prize went to full throttle.

In open space, the speed may have meant nothing, but in the cramped confines of the debris field, it was more than enough. With the gravitic sheath off, the full uncompensated force of the acceleration pushed the crew into their seats, blood thumping in their ears.

Like a dreadful blossom, the prow of the derelict cruiser flared up with blinding fire, lasers silently cutting through dead ships as they trid to seize the sole live one. In their pursuit of their Prize, they found an unspent ammunition storage instead, and a broken vessel in their path exloded like overripe fruit.

The delicate balance was upset, wrecks tumbling off each other, spinning, crashing, scattering.

Blinded she might have been, but Desdemona's anger almost caught up - then, Quan saw an opening! A gutted dreadnought, with launch bays agape. The best way to get shelter from the thrashing ships, no?

He swerved up and hit the braking jets - but the bays were sadly cluttered with fighters that failed to launch, and Hollen's Prize crushed them as a wrecking ball as she skid along the bay.

Then, there ws silence, only damage codes blinking on the display.

"Damn, that was close. But the Lilarcor's still out there, strapped to that murderous husk." Yulo frowned. "Autumn, get at look at what is broken!"

Re: A Fast Exit

#86

"Strap down, people, we're coming around."

"I guess they found my suggestion unappealing." Autumn commented to Minerva, grasping a near by support buttress and bracing herself for the acceleration surge.

"Keep your head down, if the previous mechanic didn't do a good job of stowing his tools and clamping down anything movable, we could be subject to a mini tornado of deadly debris!"

* * * * *

"Autumn, get at look at what is broken!"

Pulling herself back to an upright stance she thumbed the intercom and barked a quick "Yes sir!" in reply. Judging by the sound of the impacts, the Prize had flown through an exploding ship, or broadsided a derelict, either way, it was time to earn her credits.

(OCC: rolled a 65% for Autumn's Mechanics skill of 55%, not sure what kind of a skill % bonus I get for the ships diagnostic systems etc, PM me with the details of my damage inspection when you get a chance please?)

Re: A Fast Exit

#87

Gritting her teeth Autumn punched several buttons on the nearest console, silencing the shrieking alarms, leaving the intercom set to open so she could more easily communicate with the crew, A quick scan of the damage readout made her ears droop as she cringed inwardly.

Bad, but not catastrophic, and we're in a ship graveyard so replacement parts shouldn't be a problem.

"We have a blown gravitic beta coil, stress fractures along the starboard hull and a primary coolant leak for starters," She gave Minerva a reassuring glance before continuing. "We'll need to go EVA and slap some molecule weld on the stress fractures, but the coolant leak and beta coil can be patched up internally inside of a few hours; assuming we have a replacement coil and extra coolant in storage anyway."

"Might I also make a further suggestion my pack mates? A beast of that nature is built to take on prey of the Prize's size and smaller, resulting in our current predicament. However any great beast is vulnerable to fleas and parasites; and against that monstrosity such flesh and fur creatures as ourselves are but burrowing insects."

"Once our repairs are made, slipping across in hard suits to breach the hull from the exterior would allow us to gut that beast from the inside and achieve our target objective. Internal defenses would be a problem, but nothing we can't handle, assuming the rest of you are as familiar with personal conflict as I suspect?"

My last idea fell on deaf ears, hopefully this one will be greeted with more enthusiasm.

Re: A Fast Exit

#88

Jerome sighed, but after seeing the firepower the old ship still had on-line, he was happy with how it went. AIs are cruelly literal and he really didn't think negotiations would have went well..

"General ideas sounds good - but there are battle drones there too - and us in hard-suits would be easy meat for them. We'll need to come up with a plan to deal with them as well. We'll need the sensors tuned so we can find all of them before we move.

Some of these fighters here might be salvageable - we might be able to convert some into suicide drones to wear them down.

It also may have a self-destruct system to prevent boarding. The Morskoi were arrogant bastards and they would likely do anything to keep the lesser folk from their ships.

So, those are likely complications we have. "

Re: A Fast Exit

#89

"It's a not a bad plan," Quan said over the comm. "We throw some fighters in to blast the drones, hop on there and throw some charges around, we should be able to toast whatever's left of their targeting system, maybe even their power core. Doesn't have to be too risky, if we're careful about it."

"First thing's first, though. Anybody handy with a hydrospanner? Many hands, light work, and all that." The V'rak didn't mind repairing what he needed to, but he'd be wary of any of his own self-made repairs without supervision.

Re: A Fast Exit

#90

"Great ideas, kids! Get fixing! Jarvis, you lazy git, you too!"

Yulo examined the displays from their brief confrontation.
On a datapad, he showed them to Jerome.
"A drone is here, in the Cherry's wreck. Two hidden on the satellite. Another two here in the debris. The last one Quan detected seems to have wandered off."

He tapped the display a few times, and proceeded to the scans of the two interlocked ships.
"The Lilarcor is docked at the Desdemona here, near the cargo bays. Whatever the bastard did, he got there without a fight. Watch out, she's still got air and someone's alive, so in the little fighter-drone drama-rama, she must not get hit."

He frowned, trying to remember.
"Never been to a Morskoi ship, but the bridge is usually well protected in the ship's center. You could sneak i through the cargo bays, the missile stores or the stern, the Desdemona took quite some beating."

Finally, he approached Minerva. "Time to be useful, kiddo. Here's a space suit approximately your size, and a pulser. It works like a charm in vaccuum, too." He handed her a worn but serviceable suit. The chestpiece had some light armor - but looked very much like someone had patched a few bullet holes from a hand cannon. The pulser was a light gauss hand gun, used to shoot solid slugs.

"So, what are you waiting for? Go save people, kick some Morskoi ass, and loot whatever you can! The Prize ain't flying on love and good humor!"

Re: A Fast Exit

#91

With a quiet confidence Autumn continued to work, quickly stripping away burnt cabling and nano fibers surrounding the blown beta coil, barking in synch with a rendition of Fervors "Moon Lit Symphony on Bikor VII" that blasted from a portable stereo she found stashed among some rusty stem bolts, the welding torch a quick flicker of movement and the hum of her hydro spanner a steady rhythm of motion.

"Jarvis, run a diagnostic on the secondary power relays and let me know if any thermal couples are in need of replacement, Quan could you give me hand with installing the calibrating the replacement coil please?"

Everyone working together as a pack, quite a nice feeling, hopefully it'll last after this damage is repaired.

Re: A Fast Exit

#92

"You got it," Quan answered affably.

Climbing down through the ship's levels, he came to where Autumn was working and squatted down, adjusting his goggles a bit. He gave a hum that could've passed for a whistle as he saw the damage. "Blown good, hunh? Gotta watch how where I land 'er next time. Handles well enough for a boat of her class, though." He stretched out his fingers. "Okay, beta coil. What'cha want me to do?"

Re: A Fast Exit

#93

"You did fine on the landing, no one got hurt and we didn't have any major hull breaches; I'd call that a win."
Pausing, Autumn gestured over to a hunched over power loader sequestered between several stacked crates, "You'll need to hop in that old gal, once I get these last few shielding panels unbolted we'll be able to access the coil; and with how big she is you'll need the power loader to move her out so I can ascertain the extent of the damage to it."

He's a damn fine pilot, better then that vapor brain Jacques had working for him by a long shot, nice to see a pilot that can do more then just fly.

Grunting she slid one of the five foot wide blast panels to the side, leaning it against the wall alongside several others, the Beta Coil rested snugly in the wall niche, the casing cracked in multiple places and the stink of burnt wiring now clearly noticeable.

"There's a good chance we'll need to replace this beast, resealing the casing and replacing part of the coil might be possible as a temp fix if we're lucky." She turned to look at the captain with a questioning slant to her ears. "We have any spare coils Cap? Or do we need to go EVA and hunt for one?"

(OCC: Rolled a 64%/75% on Jury Rigging and a 03%/45% on Starship Propulsion Systems to determine if it's possible to rig up a bypass or if it needs to be replaced it all together.)

Re: A Fast Exit

#94

"What am I, daft? Why would I haul a beta coil around? Those things are usually exchanged in docks, for farg's sake! I need my hold for cargo!"
Yulo paced behind them for almost a whole second before he returned to the bridge.

The echoing static was pierced as if by a lightbeam by a transmission from the Desdemona.
Not to the Prize though, to a satellite miraculously pared by the wreckage. Then another.

Briefly, silence reigned.

Briefly.

Then, the satellites began chirping hence and forth and the hulk answering eagerly.
A choir of brief answers came back.

A much calmer Yulo returned to the laborious mechanics.
"Kids? I think the Desdemona swallowed her pride, and called for help. I don't know what may be coming, but we have a few hours at most before it coms knocking at our airlock. So. Hurry and go save the Lilarcor. We can play later."

He pointed to the fighters littering the bay. "Get a few rigged, and don't tell me you never stole a ride before. Jarvis and I will try to get some repairs done, ready to welcome whomever you bring back."

Re: A Fast Exit

#95

Quan's eyes widened beneath his goggles. "Best to be moving, then." Looked to Autumn. "I can patch the fighers' engines up to flying, if you can rig their guidance systems. Figure slave 'em to the Prize?" He moved as he spoke, already opening a compartment and grabbing an EVA suit to disembark.

Re: A Fast Exit

#96

Autumn nodded and quickly donned her hard suit, strapping the hand cannon she carried on her hip over the bulky armored leg pads, her tools following close behind.

"I'll rig up as many as you can drone rig," She responded, mentally calculating signal strength and variance frequencies to cut through the oppositions attempts at jamming as she bypassed manual systems with practiced ease. "These buckets are temporary firepower, so I'm going to red line the engine, com and weapon outputs; without pilots the added G-force won't matter much, and if they start to come apart at the seams near the end you can use'em as makeshift missiles."

I hope the Lilarcor's crew are ready for a rapid evac, the timing on this is going to be tight.

(OCC: 3 Jury Rigging skill rolls to represent the wiring up several fighters: 96%, 39%, 37%)

Re: A Fast Exit

#97

Jerome walked in "Need a hand with the robotics? That was my day job in another life. I think we can remap the autopilot on these things to be more useful."

"Did we ever find that last drone? We can't EVA until we know where it is - our suits aren't armored enough to deal with those things."

Re: A Fast Exit

#98

Somehow, the Morskoi tech was impressive, with two unused fighters springing to life after half an hour, the third taking longer to rig. They were sleek, resembling predatory fish, with lasers for eyes and a torpedo tube along their length, hidden in the beast's maw.
How did they even find the time and resources to decorate their craft so?
Given their fate, perhaps it was effort mis-spent.

Nonetheless, it gave the crew of the Hollen's Prize something to look at, and fancy fighters to cover their way.

"Farg the sixth drone, you got them fighters. They can shoot it down once it rears its ugly head. Be sure to rig them up good, I'll steer them from the cockpit according to Jerome's plans; Jarvis can meawhile earn his pay. The doc is going with you - we have no idea in what shape my buddies are."

(OOC: you can give the fighters commands - basically, you call Yulo where and say where you need support. Now move it).

Re: A Fast Exit

#99

"These three birds should give us sufficient cover there and back again, it's your call on how to proceed Jerome," Autumn took a short sip of water from her drinking tube before continuing. "Think there's anyway we can punch a message through to the Lilacor and let them know we're inbound? I'd hate to see us cut down by friendly fire before we have a chance to introduce ourselves."

Time to show us what you're made of mister security man.

She gestured to Minerva with a free paw, adding almost as an after thought, "We should give our newest member back her pistol as well; she's dead weight otherwise if a fight breaks out."

Re: A Fast Exit

#100

After a short struggle with her suit, she checked it was tight before taking back her handgun from Autumn.

Full clip, one in the chamber, safety on, two extra clips, good. Might have to salvage something to shoot with when this is gone. Time to prove my usefulness.

"I know you don't trust me, but if you wanted to I could also monitor comms, that way the Captain and the Gunner can concentrate themselves wholly on keeping the ship safe."

"Or would you rather I came with you to help with the extraction?"

Damn it girl, keep the jargon to a minimum!

Continuing she said "It'd probably be better for me to be with you. After all the Captain can take care of comms easy enough, plus, who knows what else is there.."

Re: A Fast Exit

#101

"Okay, scramble birds Alpha and Bravo to strike known drone locations. Hopefully this will flush out the 6th. Hold Charlie drone in reserve for the 6th and to reinforce Alpha and Bravo as needed.

"Autumn - good call on the communication with the Lilarcor - do we have any tight-beam communications on this ship? I don't think the Lilarcor is likely to have functioning external weapons - captured as it is, but we'll need to establish communications with it before we enter.
Or, we go in expecting resistance. As for Minerva, more the merrier on a boarding party.."

Meanwhile, Jerome collected the balance of his equipment from his locker.

"We go once the drones are toast. I'm not fighting drones outside of ships' hull. Air support after contact means body bags filled."

Re: A Fast Exit

#102

The safety protocols overriden, their 'virtual intelligences' enslaved to the Prize's will (or at least, to Yulo at the controls), birds Alpha and Bravo scrambled, hurled into space by electromagnetic catapults.
Their sleek predatory shapes scattered light from their ornate hulls, the image so impossibly sharp in the airless void. In an elegant arc, they spun around, towards the debris between the dreadnought and the derelict cruiser.

"The Desdemona is calling them - let's see how she likes their reply!" Yulo gloated, as he punched the 'fire' button. The fighters executed pre-programmed firing patterns, launching their torpedoes and blasting away at the known drone locations with their lasers.

An iridescent explosion tore apart the remains of the Sour Cherry along with the hostile hiding within, scattering scrap metal across a swath of space and filling their monitors with a pulse of static.
"Farg, I'd never have thought I'd nuke the Sour Cherry out of existence. Bye, lass, ya'll be missed."

The fighters continued firing until the Desdemona decided to wipe them out of existence.

"Kids, I got confirmed hits on hostiles one to four, and a likely hit on hostile five. Off you go, I'll keep the last one in reserve. Call me if you need it."
Charlie bird was content to sit idly, and not be turned into fried space-chicken for another while.

Suited up, the crew of the Hollen's Prize gazed out of the docking bay, into the blackness beyond.

Two Steps From Hell - Forces of Destiny

(OOC: some riduclously good rolls on the fighters' side, and the Desdemona failed to take them out soon enough, as they were 'friendlies' - until it realized what they were shooting at. Stupid.)

Re: A Fast Exit

#103

With a thumbs up Autumn cycled the airlock, the panting of her breath loud and echoing in the the armored helmets interior. "Any luck getting our recsuees on the com? That firefight no doubt got their attention, and likely has them on edge and ready to engage anything that breaches their airlocks."

Re: A Fast Exit

#104

"Nay, kiddo. The Lilarcor is silent. Who knows what the drones and that damned dead cruiser did to it" Yulo replied.
Then, he chuckled.
"Sounds like you'll do some breaking and entering. You're free to call me a horrible captain for turning you all into criminals!"

A few beeps were heard from his panels. "But don't worry, she's got pressure, she's got life support, and once you get the main power on, she'll have a lot more."
He hesitated briefly.
"Good luck, kids."

The captain sat back in his chair, and pondered over all the unasked and unanswered questions. Why was... why did not... how come... It did not make sense.

Re: A Fast Exit

#105

Jerome was an odd sight - in addition to the hard-suit, several small robots were latched on to the armour - looking somewhat like 4-legged spiders.

"Well, here we go folks. Keep debris between you and that ship and keep cool as you can!"

With that, he activated the suit's thrusters and shot into the blackness.

Re: A Fast Exit

#106

"If this is your first EVA Minverva, just stick close and try not to over use your directional thrusters, short brief burst works better then lengthy streams, especially at the speeds we'll be moving."

With a nod, Autumn followed Jerome into the black, the stars tiny cold pricks of light filling the voids between wreckage, the silence absolute save for her controlled breathing.

Re: A Fast Exit

#107

Quan, Jerome, the doctor, Autumn, Minerva, they floated through the black, through the field of dead ships, a dead planet as backdrop. Whatever worth fighting over had been there, it was sure to be long gone now.

The sole thing of worth was the Lilarcor, still deathly silent as they approached.
Their comms were crackling with static and broken transmissions of screams and barked orders, still echoing between the defunct satellites, fuelled by the uncaring sun.
"I guess they aren't watching, otherwise they'd have contacted us by now" Yulo's voice came as welcome relief.
"I'm wiring the codes to her doors to your displays, kids."

Without warning, the last drone detached from a hulk, and its ice-blue fusion torches carried it closer to the away team, a death angel on fiery wings.

Re: A Fast Exit

#108

"Scatter!" screamed Jerome as he engaged his thrusters. At the same time he flicked his rocket rifle to full auto and fired a spread of 20mm rockets towards the drone. The projectials might even draw some fire...
"Send in Charlie!!"

Re: A Fast Exit

#109

Autumn opened her thrusters to full, shooting for a fourty five degree angle down and to the right of the incoming drone. She bared her fangs in silent fury, knowing her hand held weapons would do little to such a specter of destruction, yet instinct still urging her to take offensive action none the less.

A give a quick glance back at the medic and stowaway, hoping their reaction shad been as equally quick and erratic as her own and Jerome's.

Charlie should make short work of it, or at least keep it occupied long enough for us to get out of it's detection range.

Re: A Fast Exit

#110

"The farg you doing, kids? Get into the Lila, I'm gonna chew the bugger up with Charlie, here!"

Charlie launched, streaking towards the embattled crew.
"The farg you doing, Charlie?" the confused voice of Yulo hollered through the comm. Desperately, the rotund captain mashed the buttons on his console - the fighter remained responsive to his programming but not to Yulo's orders. "Farg me if I know what the damn bird's gonna do!"

Helia landed on the Lilarcor's hull, her magnetic boots latching on. Quickly, she hid behind a sensor tower, and waved her hand towards the others. "The airlock's not far!"

Confused, the stowaway fumbled with the suit's controls, but the second-grade gear would not respond to her erratic commands. She squealed into the comm, her pupils widening as the metal beast approached, more than ten feet across, designed battle within and on the surface of ships. Minerva spun across Jerome's line of fire, and narrowly he missed the bumbling girl, the shots still connecting with the metal beast, and detonating on a shimmering field of light surrounding it.

Its lenses adjusted, the radiant halo faded briefly, and the rings surrounding its gauss cannons lit up briefly. There was no muzzle flash, just suddenly, holes were torn into the stowaway, a thin freezing mist of finest red sweeping across space. She seemed to evaporate into butterflies of carmine, their comm channel filled with her surprised whimper, a cut-off sigh. The battered helmet, visor smeared crimson, floated past Jerome; the mist swept across Quan's suit, painting it in bloody freckles.
A hand spun off into the black, waving one last time.

Autumn fired a split second later than the metal beast, her bullets clattering against its armored carriage, and sending out sparks where they burrowed inside into machinery.

Rocket's won't work, but bullets do? Autumn had to wonder.

Re: A Fast Exit

#111

Jerome, using another protuberance as cove - really a screen, the gauss projectiles would rip up pretty much anything.
He racked in a new clip of armour-piercing rounds and aimed directly at the gauss cannons themselves. Powerful as hell, but relatively delicate - and since they had to be open to fire - relatively unarmoured. Jerome held back nothing as he held down the trigger.

No time for reproach.

Re: A Fast Exit

#112

Letting out a snarl of fury at seeing her new found companion torn apart, Autumn braced herself against the exterior of the ship and fired again, focusing her shots on the sensor array of the drone, confident a blinded foe would be much easier to destroy with any further attacks.

Re: A Fast Exit

#113

The gauss cannons proved exceedingly difficult to hit, Jerome's rounds clattering against the strong front plating of the robotic executioner.
This thing ain't going down anytime soon Jerome realized.

Charlie bird streaked through the black towards them, unresponsive. Would it fire? Would it veer past? What was its stupid little electronic mind up to?

Luckily, Jerome's salvo shorted out the drone's shield for a brief second as it cycled, readying itself to flicker off to fire.
Autumn's bullets struck home against the complex sensor and lens array, and clattered inside the drone's hull.
It veered around briefly, trying to gain its bearings, then stormed off, away! Towards another perceived threat? Whatever its damaged sensors perceived, it had to be located around the corner of the closest wreck, for there it went.

"Lost it from the sensors, kids. Whatever tech this bastard uses, it's a hell to track. Hurry, hurry!"

Re: A Fast Exit

#114

With a howl of satisfaction Autumn clambered to the airlock controls, quickly hitting the access button as she yelled for the rest of the team to join her, the feeling of being in a great invisible beasts sights overwhelming.

"Quarantine protocol in progress. Access denied."

The display glared up at her, red letters bright in the blackness of space. Quarantine? Bio hazard? No time to worry about potential contaminants on board, the known danger outside was far more pressing.

Ripping open her electronics tool Kit Autumn set to work on the controls, choosing to slice the top panel off with her laser cutter and deal with the tangled mess of wires and circuitry underneath rather then go for a more subtle bypass.

This is going to set off every alarm on that boat, no time for other options, blast!

"There going to know we're coming people! But I'll have this open in a a minute or less, keep that drone off me!"

Re: A Fast Exit

#115

"Here use this!" Sunny voice crackled over the com as she landed next o her, an outstretched hand offering an ID card.

Pausing for a half second, her cutter poised beside the panel Autumn nodded in agreement and grabbed the card, briefly noticing the name displayed was "Thrace'" quite different then the Sunny she was expecting.

The access panel flickered, briefly scrolling several lines of code as it processed the identity card, a final message appearing on the screen: "Access granted to "Dr. Helia Thrace" GalWeb certified medic." Autumn shot her a questioning glance, before realizing her expression was lost behind the hard suits helmet; the faint vibrations as the airlocks entrance silently yawned open before them.

Re: A Fast Exit

#116

"Nice shot!" yelled Jerome as he racked in another clip.

Re: A Fast Exit

#117

The airlock slid open, the massive armored door first sliding in, then rolling to the side.
The band of misfits hurried in, uncertain when the metallic butcher would approach again.
The hatch closed tight, locking out the darkness of space, and replacing it with a red flicker of emergency lighting, fading to dark, then bathing them in crimson glow again.

The air hissed in, soon bringing to them the hum of the ship, and sounds of the alarm, a faint beating, as if the ship itself was hoarse.
With a clang, the inner airlock door began to open, revealing corridors heading to all sides.
The comm speaker repeated itself, a synthetic female voice recanting an ominous litany.

"Medical emergency in cargo bay one."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Medical emergency in engine room."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Medical emergency on bridge."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Medical emergency in crew quarter seventeen."
"Doctor Jeffers not located."
"Cargo coolant systems one through thirteen and fifteen through eighteen offline."
"Send repair crew."
"Chief engineer Walthers not located."
"Scheduled engine maintenance not performed."
"Send repair crew."
"Chief engineer Walthers not located."
...
"Quarantine protocol:red."
"Do not leave your quarters."
"Quarantine protocol engaged: Gal-Central 3401.7.15."

That was two weeks ago...

(OOC: some mood music)
Airlock - Revealing some interest

Re: A Fast Exit

#118

Autumn turned to look at her companions, the elation of their narrow escape tempted by the vivid imagery of Minverva's brutal death quelling her howl of victory before it made it past her lips.

The cold computerized voice refocused her attention on the present, driving home a poignant reminder danger was still close at hand, although of a very different and potentially unconquerable nature.

"Quarantine protocol red? What's that mean Sunny? Biological contaminant or some kind of chemical radiation leak? Also, anyone have any idea what this ship was carrying for cargo?" She let her questions hang in the air as she moved to the inner airlock controls and examined them, ready to swipe Sunny's card again if necessary.

"If I can splice into the intercomm from here we could send out a ship wide message and see if any survivors are in a condition to respond and let us know their whereabouts."

(OCC: Love the ambient music, it set the mood nicely. :up: )

Re: A Fast Exit

#119

Sunny would have rubbed her chin, but instead patted her suit's face-plate absentmindedly.
"Quarantine red means the presence of a biological hazard, with lethal qualities - but what the Lilarcor carried, I can't tell."
'Nothing of mine" she thought and smirked.

"The atmosphere is at normal pressure, with nominal oxygen levels - though that may be, in fact, detrimental. We could purge the ship if we reach the bridge - but that would mean death to any occupants still alive."
She thought a bit, then added grimly: "Numerous pathogens can endure hard vacuum, too."

The intercom seemed unlocked, and silent, as if the computer gathered breath for another round of ramblings. Green lights flickered on its display.

Re: A Fast Exit

#120

"Could it be a sensor malfunction, or attempt by the crew to deter borders?" She pondered possibilities, unwilling to simply withdraw or purge the vessel without considering other alternatives.