Spin responds to the comm demands in the soothing, frustrating feminine voice of every automated error message made in the history of mankind, "I'm sorry, Waco, the subordinate you are attempting to contact is indefinitely fvcked the hell up. All operators are busy at the moment, but you are important to us. Just remain on the line and an operator will be coming for you sooner than you'd like to consider. Thank you, and remember.. don't ever take my sh!t again."
He flicks the comm's speaker unit to 'mute', hoping Waco—in all his idiocy—will think he's turned it off. Then he grins to Rai, "I'd say they're prolly headed this way."
There is silence on the comm for a moment before you hear the original dumbfounded voice come over the line, Who the fvck are you? What...
A growling voice you recognize cuts him off - Waco.
SHUT IT, Clem! Izzat you, Spin? You bit off more'n you can handle here. Boys, get in there and show him a good time. He's a tricky bastard so watch for that. I'll be along directly... soon as I finish my 'calisthenics'. I'm warming up my new engineer for her job.
He leaves the comm open and you hear the wet sounds of a rough beating with fist and boot punctuated by the occasional feminine grunt of pain. The comm goes mute.
Spin's smile drops, though he's able to resist responding to the man. "Bastard is sucking all the fun outta this."
"Look on the bright side, he can't beat Moon up too badly... otherwise he'll have no one to fix this heap."
Over the comm, the silence is periodically broken:
#$&(@&!!! Too many damn hatches on this boat...
Shaddap! You got your orders, now move it!
A'right. By the numbers. Go!
The right-most iris valve cracks and is quickly cycled open by hand.
Spin slides over to the now-open valve, waiting until it's almost big enough for someone to try to come through before he jams his shottie's barrel in toward's the nearest man's chest. he yells as he white-knuckles the trigger. The shottie lights up the darkened hallway like a strobe light at a rave.
Spin can't see anyone in the dark hatch way. Nevertheless, he fills the corridor with steel sleet as the shotgun speaks three times in short order.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosive echoes in the enclosed space leave Spin's ears ringing... but he's fairly sure he hears shouts of pain and moaning.
Capitalizing on Spin's offensive, Rai scrambles across the floor until he can see down the corridor. The shot has to be accurate and far enough through the doorway that Spin isn't caught in the blast. Rai eyes the two armored men bleeding in the causeway. With a muffled whump, the grenade launches, smacks the lead thug in the chest and detonates.
A healthy explosion lights up the corridor and sends a column of flame and shrapnel past Spin. When the smoke clears, both men are down and motionless.
The smoke and explosions mask the opposition's entrance. Spin spies a set of mercenaries coming in heavy bearing assault rifles from the furthest iris valve. One dives across the floor and rolls to a standing position, enjoying cover from the engine nacelle. He steadies the long barreled rifle against the machinery and squeezes the trigger...
The other, a fan of too many holos, stalks forward growling, "Kill that rat-fvck sumb@#+#!" before adding his own lead to the wall of death being spun by his partner.
The chatter of full auto weapons fire is complemented by the spang of rounds deflecting off the walls and the spack of slugs impacting and piercing the pilot's armor.
Distracted by the hail of bullets seeking his teammate, Rai doesn't even notice the soldier opening the hatch behind him. Spin doesn't have a chance to warn him before bullets stitch up his back.
The impact evacuates all air from Spin's lungs, and he tries to gasp as he spins to face the new-comers... pulling a grenade from his belt as he does so. "Dammit!" he grunts as he whips the live grenade towards the idiot standing in the open , trying to duck through the valve Rai cleared with his own grenade only seconds before.
"We're in a killbox! Two by the far wall!" Spin yells to Rai, making sure the soldier knows about the additional two combatants, "Get clear or find cover!"
Spin drops a grenade that peppers both gunmen with shrapnel. In the ensuing confusion, he escapes into the corridor littered with the moaning remnants of the first breaching team.
Rai nods curtly, flips the selector switch on his ACR to 'Auto' and charges to the open rear hatch, coming face to face with his attacker. He sets the gun in his shoulder and empties half a clip into the man's armored faceplate. Blood and bone spray, illuminated by the strobing weapon flare. The meat that hits the ground isn't identifiable any longer. Rai growls back, "Door clear." and pivots, ready to turn the space between them into a killbox.
The mercenaries advance on either side of the engine space - covering each other from unseen threats. One fires short bursts of bullets through the iris valve where Spin hugs the wall. The slugs rebound down the long corridor. The other gunman, sliding along the wall, steps clear of the covering nacelle and sends rounds down-range at Rai in the rear hatchway. His rounds spang against the walls.
Spin braces the left side of his shotgun barrel on the iris valve as he waits for an opportunity… planning on spraying the first attacker who steps into full view or attacks him.
Rai fires a short burst at the soldier's head before ducking into an indent of the Jump Engine. His bullets go wide.
The mercenary rolls across the floor, attempting to get the drop on Spin... and catches a burst of shotgun sleet for his trouble, wounding him. Rai flinches as more of the steel shot speckles the engine around him as well. He glares at Spin, clearly not a fan of friendly fire.
The merc makes it painfully to his feet and fires another burst through the hatch - missing high. The second merc slides across the gap and goes back to back with his partner. He lets loose another burst of lead at Rai. Only the engine takes damage.
Rai flips the selector to 'Rock 'n Roll' and squeezes the trigger. The rifle chatters for a long moment. Bullets riddle the mercenary. His bloody form collapses against the far engine.
With the second gunman down, Spin decides to finish the fight. He steps up to the last man (angling to the side so as to not pepper Rai), and delivers another point-blank burst of shotgun blasts.
Shotgun shells slam into the engine cowling as the mercenary just manages to knock Spin's barrel aside with a sweep of his rifle. Seeing he is alone, surrounded, and facing heavy firepower in a no-win situation... he drops his gun and surrenders.
Spin kicks the gun aside and plants the butt of his shottie in the man's temple, already looking for a way to tie the man up.
Improvised Attacks (Clubbing someone with a gun)
Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of using a weapon as intended - a broken bottle gets used as a knife, a pistol gets used as a club, etc. In cases like these use the character’s attack and damage rolls as if the object were the equivalent weapon used. So if your character is using a pistol as a club, the attack roll would be based on the characters Bludgeon skill and the damage would be the base club damage plus the character’s might.
Assisted Healing (Medic)
Once per day, a character with Medic training can attempt to patch up a comrade. Roll a Medic check. The wounded character regains BP based on the table.Aid Another
In certain circumstances, characters with the same skill can attempt to help one another complete a common task - such as repairing an engine. The assisting character rolls their dice for that skill then divides the result by 3 and rounds down. The number remaining are the ‘pip’ points that are added to the primary person’s roll to perform the action.Skill Roll/3 = AA Pips
/3 = 4 pts
Spin checks to make sure no bullets pierced his armor before helping Rai work his first aid magic.
Spin looks at his own medical handiwork, "Sorry, man, best I can do... this never was my gig."
Spin, after a surprised pat-down of his own intact torso, heads to check the other open iris. "I guess it doesn't make much sense for Waco to be holding Moon in the cockpit," he whispers as he looks for possible routes deeper into the ship.
He stops, considering, "Although... that'd be one good way to screw up his ship all the more."
There is another long corridor.
Spin looks down both corridors, then moves to the center iris valve, tapping it lightly with a gloved finger. "Whaddaya think's through here?" He looks for the crank mechanism, seeing how difficult and how long it would be to open.
"At a guess... probably the main cargo hold."
Spin looks at the three doors, then shrugs, "I say we move towards the cockpit." He grins at his friend, "You're the soldier... you take point. I'll watch your six."
Seeing Rai delay (or not understand), Spin shrugs and takes lead, being as quiet as he can in all the armor... eyes peeled.
Rai slips into the lead position and slides from wall-to-wall and cover-to-cover as he advances up the long corridor.
Spin and Rai creep forward cautiously and well, taking advantage of cover as best they can. Unfortunately, their routes are limited and Waco Red is no fool. Rai signals a halt, then points forward and to the left followed by waggling a couple of fingers. He confirms what Spin's hearing had also determined... that there are a few hostiles in the open area ahead, just aft of the bridge - likely to the left. They are attempting to be quiet but failing.
Your team continues to creep forward cautiously, looking for better cover.
[ooc] circum
circum
Luck never lasts. As you creep up the hall, the opposition gets the drop as you are about to duck into alcoves. You hear someone yell "now". A man in combat armor swivels into view clearing the hatch and raising a blocky, large rifle trailing a long belt of shells. There is a sound like fabric ripping - it is the cacophony of a machinegun firing at full auto.
The gunman sprays the corridor liberally. Dozens of slugs slam into bulkheads, carom off the walls, and spray slivers of steel. Spin and Rai duck and cover, avoiding any direct hits.
Waco pops out from the other side of the corridor. He leans against the doorframe and puts his red-dot laser sight on Rai's chest. There is only a faint buzz as a pulse of light burns a hole through Rai and continues down the corridor. The soldier gasps but manages to keep moving.
~ Round 1 ~
RESULTS
Plot Time: 59 min
Divert Power Time: 56 sec, -2 on Jump TN
Misjump: No; up to 8 steps closer to target distance