[Taocow PBEM] [Oz] Book 3 - Chapter XVIII

[Aaron Clausen]

>>> [Oz]
>>> Oz shrugged. "If anybody's on board, they're cold and quiet. No
>>> heaters or comms are online." He nodded at Vesper. "Let's try to
>>> head to the bridge. They should have a manifest up there so we
>>> can see what they were hauling. We might be able to turn the
>>> power back on, as well, and read the captain's log." He gestured
>>> at the closest hatch leading into the bridge tower looming over
>>> the deck.
>>> [/Oz]

>>> [Veronique]
>>> "That sounds like a good plan, if power can't be restored from
>>> the bridge then our next stop should probably be engineering. A
>>> lack of detectable heat makes me wary that we might find undead
>>> or entities".
>>> [/Veronique]

>>> [Vesper]
>>> "We will have to keep alert for such things, along with creatures
>>> who prefer this cold and may not give off heat. Hopefully turning
>>> things on won't cause further problems, but light and heat would
>>> be nice.
>>> [/Vesper]

> [Alex]
> With her environmental body armor, the temperature does not really
> bother her. "Reminds me a lot of back up in Xiticix territory."
> Since Vesper knows her reasonably well, he can sense a certain
> sadness. "Hopefully it turns out better than that did."
> [/Alex]

>> [GM]
>> Getting to the bridge proves a bit of a struggle. The heavy listing
>> of the ship means the company have to almost "climb" their way
>> aft. It takes a few minutes, but they finally reach a stairway.
>> There's an elevator right beside it, but that seems
>> non-operational. All the while the wind blows, and the unearthly
>> metallic sounds rumble through the ship, as the ice exerts enormous
>> pressure on the hull.
>>
>> The bridge is dead quiet, and the only lights are a few glowing
>> indicators. The reactor is indeed offline, and whatever power there
>> is on the ship is being supplied by batteries. There's a "hull
>> condition" map that indicates the hull has been breached in three
>> locations; two starboard near the bow, and one midway on the port
>> side. The reactor does appear to be intact, at least from the
>> indicators.
>>
>> It takes a bit of hacking but Oz is able to pull up a manifest. The
>> ship is carrying:
>>
>> - 5,000 tons of grain
>> - 1,000 tons of frozen beef (containers have their own freezers
>>   that are likely good for another few days)
>> - 1,000 tons of frozen produce (lettuce, carrots, cabbage, etc.)
>> - 3,000 tons of vehicle parts (specifies a long list of part
>>   numbers)
>> - 500 tons of electronics (computers, televisions, surveillance
>>   equipment)
>> - 5,500 tons that is marked simply "SbP". This is the largest
>>   amount of goods on the entire ship
>> [/GM]

>> [Lenny]
>> "I wonder what 'SbP' means?" the Battle Magus asks. "There's a lot
>> of it, that's for sure."
>> [/Lenny]

>> [GM]
>> As the company is looking through the manifest, a shudder runs
>> through the ship. There's another much larger metallic groan, and
>> then a snap, like a steel cable breaking. The shudder is almost
>> enough to throw people of their feet. On the hull status monitor,
>> the port breach looks to have spread, a long crack in the hull
>> that runs right to the keel. Another sensor goes off, registering a
>> small of water has entered the hull, a few hundred gallons per
>> minute, not an immediate worry, but it does show the ice where the
>> ship is is thin, and the ship is still in contact with liquid
>> seawater.
>> [/GM]

> [Veronique]
> Veronique responds "I'm curious myself, but our immediate concern
> should be those vehicle parts. Perhaps we should send a list of part
> numbers back to the ship and see if they recognize any of them as
> being useful. If they don't understand the listing system we'll have
> to check them out in person"
> [/Veronique]

> [Vesper]
> "I hope they have big heavy coats and mittens in the hold."
>
> He smiled to the others though it was clear he was honestly cold.
> Vesper remained alert as they moved and seemed very concerned when
> the hull gave more and water was coming in.
>
> "No matter what we do, we should do it fast."
> [/Vesper]

> Oz OOC: Weren't we running out of food and supplies for the crew on
> the ship?

OOC: Yes

> [Oz]
> Oz nods at Veronique and Vesper and gets on the radio back to the
> ship, telling them about the available supplies and sending part
> numbers as Veronique suggested. He also sent along a map of the ship
> and cargo locations so they could focus their efforts once the
> ship's crew came aboard to offload what they could use.
>
> He cracked open his faceplate so he could talk to the group in the
> control room as well. "I don't know anything about ships and ice,
> but is it normal for the hull to just split open on its own like
> that?" He continued to check out the computers. "Let me see if I can
> get the reactor back online so we can turn on the heat."
> [/Oz]

> [Alex]
> "I think somebody needs to get down there and fix that hole fast. If
> we don't, that cargo will likely be at the bottom of the ocean
> pretty quickly. If there is welding equipment aboard, I might be able
> to do it?"
> [/Alex]

> Alex OOC: Ships that develop holes are really bad things. Also, even
> civilian ships usually do have welding equipment aboard and other
> emergency repair supplies.

> [Ted]
> "Agreed," Ted said with a hint of nervousness about the condition of
> the ship. He had some experience with making engine repairs and
> other kind of work. "May I see the parts list? Maybe I can figure out
> what we need."
> [/Ted]

[GM]
The parts list is huge, and seems to refer back to a lot of different 
equipment, mainly Triax. There's parts for hovercycles and other hover 
vehicles, aircraft, tanks, ATVs, equipment to repair rail guns and heavy 
energy weapons, replacement sensory equipment, targeting computers and 
other electronic systems for all kinds of Triax vehicles. There is a 
plethora of stock electronic parts.

There's also what appears to be several dozen conversion kits for Borgs, 
the chemicals necessary to produce juicers, as well as what appears to 
be some biowizard items from Atlantis. There are two 50 megawatt fusion 
reactors, along with replacement fuel and other parts to probably keep 
each one working for about ten to fifteen years with minimum 
maintenance, with each having enough output to power a good sized town.

Finally, there is a good supply of armaments; E-clips for both Triax and 
North American weaponry, a lot of guns of Triax manufacture, and even 
what appears to be a container filled with grenades and explosives.

A separate list has all the parts for the machine shop, which is well 
stocked (apparently the ship had just left port a few days before and 
had only made one stop in Ireland before it got stuck out here). There's 
certainly the capacity to repair the ship, at least temporarily.

The radio operator on the leyline vessel whistles when he gets word of 
what they've found. "If we could claim salvage on something like that, 
we could all retire. At any rate, the Captain says concentrate first on 
food, then grab a good collection of electronics and electrical, so we 
can keep the ship's systems in decent repair. Hovercycle repairs parts 
would be good, it sounds like there's enough there to build a few. We've 
got some room in the hold, enough for a few tons anyways."

Meanwhile, Oz has identified the locations of the most necessary 
supplies in the hold. Alex and Ted both have found a ship map that shows 
where the engine room, machine shop and the damaged hull is.
[/GM]

[Lyle]
"Are you guys actually going to try to keep this thing afloat?" he asks. 
"How are you going to deal with the fact that we're surrounded by miles 
and miles of ice?"
[/Lyle]

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com

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