[Taocow PBEM] [Koba, Carlos, Lyle, Talas] Book 3 - Chapter I - Engine Room

[Aaron Clausen]

> > [GM]
> > Just as Koba predicted, the lights dim and sputter.  The two fishmen
> > quickly scrabble up, but within moments can be heard hacking
> > and coughing in their odd, aquatic way.  They're grasping at the
> > tubes, clearly trying to figure out what's going on, and they don't
> > look at all well.
> >
> > More interestingly, the organic eye thing seems to turn several
> > shades of white.  It seems, whatever it is, it's energy was being
> > taken from some sort of electrical source nearby, and without it,
> > the thing, whatever exactly it is, isn't doing too well either.  After
> > a few seconds it shrivels a bit and falls off.
> > [/GM]

> [Carlos]
> "Now Koba!" Carlos shouts.  "Get that door open."  He opens fire
> on the fish creatures with a vengeance, spraying them until they
> fall over dead.
>
> "I'm out of e-clips!" Carlos declares grimly as he looks at the smoking
> creatures.  "Anybody care for some fish and chips?"
> [/Carlos]

> [GM]
> They do not appear to be out of trouble yet, however.  Three
> crewmembers are coming towards them, climbing up the passage
> and firing.
> [/GM]

OOC: Glad to see you back, Troy!!!!

> [Talas]
> Seeing how poorly a large weapon such as a rail gun performs
> in such tight quarters Talas switches weapons and pulls out his
> P-Beam pistol. Talas also activates his Armour of Ithen and puts
> himself between the crewmen and the rest of his party. Talas will
> hold off an firing at the crew. In the hope that the door can be
> quickly opened.
> [/Talas]

[GM]
While Talas pulls out his other gun, one of the crewmembers manages
to get a shot off [Strike: 15].  Talas cannot dodge [Dodge: 14] and the shot
strikes his Armor of Ithan [Damage: 28MD].  Talas, in turn, returns fire
[Strike: 6].  The short is a poor one, but the crewmen, actually have to climb
up, have little opportunity to dodge, and the shot hits the leading one
[Damage: 120MD!].  The crewmember is killed and his body falls back down
the passage, hitting the hatch to the bridge with a dull distant thud.
[/GM]

> [Koba]
> With the fish men out of the way and the eerie eye no longer
> blocking the way, Koba will attempt to open the hatch and get
> the group through while Talas is holding the crew back. As soon
> as everyone is through, he will attempt to bar the door shut with
> a lock or anything available on the other side. Now they will try
> to make it to the actual engine room.
> [/Koba]

[GM]
Despite Koba's best efforts, the wheel doesn't seem to budge.  It would
almost seem something on the other side is holding it shut.

Meanwhile another crew member fires at Talas [Strike: 12], but Talas's
easily moves away from the shot [Dodge: 21] and returns fire again
[Strike: Natural 20!], literally blowing the crewman to bits [Damage: 180MD].
[/GM]

> [Lyle]
> Lyle scrambles out of the whole after barely dodging that blast. He
> heads for the door and starts to spin the wheel.
> [/Lyle]

[GM]
With the combined strength of Lyle and Koba, the wheel slowly turns,
though it feels like someone has coated the inside with gravel.  With a final
turn the hatch unlatches and out pours a horrible, chlorine-like smell and
greenish vapors that make the interior all but invisible.
[/GM]

[Carlos]
Carlos pauses for a moment, trying to get a reading off the sensors in his
shattered armor.  "Damn." he says.  "Readings are indistinct, but I don't think
the gas is poisonous... in the short term."  With that he flips down the visor
on his helmet and steps through.
[/Carlos]

[GM]
The rest of the team follows Carlos through.  Lyle can tell pretty quickly that
none of this is normal.  The green vapors are backlit by the emergency lights,
giving the whole area a sort of dreamlike quality.  The vast hulk of the reactor
can be barely made out, though it can't be more than twenty feet away.  Voices,
like those of the fish-men they had encountered a few moments before, can
be heard, some to the right, and some straight ahead, by or on the reactor.

Beside the door are oxygen masks and small tanks for anyone who doesn't
have environmental armor.  Beside the masks is a large blinking red display
with "Danger - Potentially Lethal Gas".

It's hard to tell, but it looks like the fish-men may be modifying the reactor.
There's the light of an arc welder, as well as some tubes or pipes that may
very well be made out of the same strange fleshy material that had closed
the engine room hatch.  A more disturbing sight can be seen to their left,
where several fishmen are using blow torches to cut into the hull, making
a circular opening about ten feet in diameter.

Then the mists clear ever so slightly and reveal a truly bizarre and revolting
sight; a giant floating brain, three eyes on venous neural-like stalks.  Organic
tubes poke into various points along what must the frontal lobes and cerebral
cortex.  A strange black orb is shoved between the two hemispheres, and out
of it comes a booming voice that is clearly in the fishman language.

It does not appear that anyone has noticed the four adventurers... yet.
[/GM]

[Carlos]
"Alright boys," Carlos whispers, his voice muffled by the oxygen mask,
"what now?"
[/Carlos]

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com