Sea of Stars - IC

[Destro_Yersul]

Felidae rapidly found that, unlike the shuttlecraft she was used to from the old days, Aquila landers had not been built with airlocks. With no way for her to get outside without venting atmosphere, that plan was shelved in favour of grabbing a handful of utility shuttles and making a few trips to rescue the sruvivors. There were quite a few; the old Frigate still had a working hydroponics bay, and between that and hunting nameless vermin in the deep holds, they'd managed to keep a fairly large group safe and alive. Very few of them, however, had void suits. There were only twenty fully working ones aboard, and ten more in various states of disrepair. The rest were unsalvageable, or locked off in unknown corners that hadn't been seen in decades.

Everything the survivors had was salvage. They had two shuttles that might work, if they could clear the bay they were in and get the doors open. The mechanism had failed after being closed, and they'd never been able to fix it. Exterior excursions for salvage since then had been conducted the way the Hollow Men travelled: by putting on void suits and using a thruster pack to navigate the tunnels of Blight. There were three or four scrounged medkits, all running low on supplies, and an assortment of survival gear. Just about the only thing the men and women of the Sword had in abundance was weaponry. They had pried open an armoury early in their occupation of the frigate, and it had yielded up plenty of small arms and even a heavy weapon or two.

[Haval]

'Not cannibals then. That's reassuring. I presume we're taking the shuttles with us if we can get the bay working properly?'

[Kaptin Keen]

I should still go over there - with a salvage team - once they're all out. Send a last shuttle, with a void suited crew, so we can get to work over there. We're not getting those shuttles anyways, if we don't go in, and work on opening the bay.

[PotatoGolem]

The shuttles may be useful, if we can open the doors without too much time. We're not spending more time here than we have to. The salvage team is a good idea, though- it sounds like they have plenty of armaments, and those are always useful. On that note, no one is getting on our rescue shuttles armed. It appears they're not cannibals, but I'm not trusting some unknown voidfarers on my vessels with a rocket launcher.

[rax]

"What would we be wanting to drag along a pair of decrepit shuttles for? They've been stuck in that bay and falling to pieces for Throne knows how long. They'll just be a waste of resources. Better to keep moving and go for what we're really here to find. As for the guns, just have them send them out first in crates and we can fly them out in a separate lighter."

[Haval]

'I imagine those things are expensive. More importantly, if they still work, they might help us evacuate these people faster. I don't want to hang around here any longer then necessary.'

[Kaptin Keen]

On the other hand, the easiest way to open the bays is to blast down the doors - which isn't ideal for maintaining the atmosphere inside the wreck.

[Leon]

++Depending on the condition of them parts are always useful++ ++but yes this is a trivial side quest that has sprung up in our main quest of get that Engine and im all for skipping side quests if needed++

[rax]

"Yeah, so what's it gonna be? Go inside, try to get a look at the shuttles and - assuming they're in working order - wrestle them outside and fly out the survivors...or head back outside, vox the Sting and the Fury to scramble some lighters, and come back and evacuate the beggars?"

[Destro_Yersul]

The immediate problem, that of transferring between the frigate and the Sting, was solved by taking a brief detour to return for shuttles more suited to boarding. Macharius didn't own any assault boats, but a handful of the utility shuttles had airlocks at the very least. Thus armed, the group returned to the crashed frigate, Hannabel guiding them in through the labyrinthe of tunnels. Their small fleet hung in the inky blackness outside the frigate, stablights from the shuttles and a few small lights from the frigate itself the only sources of illumination this deep within Blight. The Selenite void suits they'd picked up all carried impellor units, and Macharius had a jump pack, so for the crew of the Sting transferring to the frigate would be very easy. Felidae had neither, and would need to either be carried along by one of the others, trade her armour out for a void suit, or jump and hope her aim was good.

[Haval]

'We only take them if we need them then. If for instance there happen to be more survivors then can be easily ferried to the Sting in one go.'

To Felidae, 'If everyone is already out they can do without atmosphere. But it's possible that Ravia or myself could get the bay doors working fairly easily. I assume they've made do here without a proper Tech Priest.'

[rax]

"Hello in there! We're back, and this time we've brought some extra rides. Is there anywhere besides the shuttle bay where our lighters can cosy to your wreck and connect directly? If not, suit up as many of your people as possible, give us an exit point where we can pick you up and we'll meet you there. Once you're safely on board, we can cross over with some extra void suits and get the last of your people out. Oh, and one more thing - crate up all your guns and send them out first. You won't be needing them where you're going," Hannabel voxes to the survivor leader.

OOC: I figure if there are smaller exits than the shuttle bay, then we could perhaps dock our lighters there. That would make void suits for all a safety precaution but not a necessity to move from the frigate to the lighters. If that's not possible, the survivors ought to be able to come out and board the lighters through the air locks without venting any atmosphere. Which should leave a smaller group left to whom we can send over either our own extra void suits or have the survivors we've taken on board give up theirs.

[Destro_Yersul]

"We've got a few working airlocks. There's one near the damaged lighter bay. It's not fitted with a docking collar, so best we can really do is jump between them, but if you've got any rope or cable we could rig up a sort of bridge. If you want us to give up our guns, though, you'd better post your own guards. We'll be an easy target while anybody's in transit."

[Leon]

++I am sure that i can formulate a temporary "docking" hook with cable++

[rax]

"Sorry friend, if you want to keep your guns you'll have to take it up with the Lord Commander. He's antsy about letting desperate and heavily armed strangers on board his ships, you see. What sort of attack are you expecting anyway?"

[Destro_Yersul]

"Hollows. What else? They don't usually come down this far, but the activity could easily attract them. We'd feel a lot better with someone watching all our backs. Get this done as quickly as we can, yeah?"

[Kaptin Keen]

I will gladly guard the transfer - I've demolished quite a few of these tin cans already. Felidae is unsure whether one bolter - no matter how fine - is enough if a full squad of hollow men chose to visit. But she sounds very sure of herself over the vox.

[Haval]

Anika was not enthusiastic about meeting those things again, 'Do these lighters have guns on the outside? Seems like a missed opportunity if not.' To the survivors over the vox, 'I believe there was talk that you found a heavy weapon somewhere? I don't suppose we could borrow it?'

[Leon]

++Unless Modified Arvus class lighters are unarmed, Aqulia's tend to be armed with a single heavy weapon++

[rax]

"Yeah, the Aquila has an autocannon. Should be able to take out these Hollow Men easy enough, but if this cavern is full of lighters when they show up, someone is likely to get caught in the crossfire, so let's call that plan B. We ran off a bunch of Hollow Men before, but our marines' lasguns weren't doing much to 'em. What're you lot packing that'll help if they show up?" Hannabel asks.

[PotatoGolem]

They can have armed guards on their own side to fire at Hollows if they wish, so long as they leave their guns before they cross to our ships. An, of course, subject to the understanding that if they take this opportunity to shoot at my ships or men, I will leave them here. And blow holes in their ship.

[Haval]

They can have armed guards on their own side to fire at Hollows if they wish, so long as they leave their guns before they cross to our ships. An, of course, subject to the understanding that if they take this opportunity to shoot at my ships or men, I will leave them here. And blow holes in their ship.

'That seems only fair.'

[Leon]

++It would wonderful if we could obtain one of the "hollow men" for study somehow++
++I'm sure it would add significant insight to my projects++

[Destro_Yersul]

"Multi-lasers, mostly. We pried them off a pair of dead chimeras and rigged them with tripods. We have one missile launcher, but we're down to only a few krak missiles left. There's also shotcannons, more than we could ever use, but they've got zero stopping power on something like the Hollows. Range is too damn short to do much, anyways. We'll crate everything else."

With the issue of weaponry settled, the Absalom shuttles moved in closer to the old Sword. Hannabel held the shuttle steady, near the indicated airlock, while Ravia worked to set up a cable bridge, so that everyone who wanted to cross would have something to hang on to. As she was finishing up, the airlock's outer door opened, revealing a pair of void-suited scavengers lugging a crate. One of them waved to the shuttle, then pointed at the crate and mimed shooting. His partner pointed back into the airlock chamber, where another few crates could be seen waiting. The crates inside the airlock were floating slightly off the ground, drifting gently upwards. Grav-plating malfunction, most likely.

[Haval]

++It would wonderful if we could obtain one of the "hollow men" for study somehow++
++I'm sure it would add significant insight to my projects++

'Perhaps some sort of net?'

'Hannabel is busy and I would rather have Felidae available to shoot things if there is a need, so I suppose I can cross over and make sure those crates are properly tied up if we have to take them with us.'

Spoiler

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I'm assuming we aren't close enough to the Sword that the crates can't be easily tossed across.

[Kaptin Keen]

I know I'm being paranoid, but that is kind of part of the job description, isn't it? Can we scan the crates? I'd really hate for them to be packed with explosives or some such.

[rax]

"You better talk to the Magos then, 'cos this hand's flying," Hannabel answers Felidae.

[Haval]

I know I'm being paranoid, but that is kind of part of the job description, isn't it? Can we scan the crates? I'd really hate for them to be packed with explosives or some such.

'No you're right. I wouldn't expect sane decision making from anyone living here.' Anika will scan the crates with her auspex and, assuming she finds nothing concerning about them, will use her void suit to cross over before tying them up with cables.

Spoiler

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Tech-Use with auspex to spot anything not visible to human senses.
vs. Int 53
(1d100)[33]

[Destro_Yersul]

Anika ran an auspex scan from the shuttle, looking for chemical explosives or anything else unusual. What she found was typical for a crate filled with guns; charge packs and ammunition. Taking the bridge across to the airlock and examining the crates physically confirmed the contents. The survivors had packed up their small arms, and were sending those across first. Once the first few crates were across and being secured in the shuttle's hold, the survivors cycled the airlock, bringing through another load of crates and the two multilasers. These were carried by void suited crew, and fixed to extendable tripeds with magnetic clamps on the base. They stomped across the outer hull, magboots allowing them to treat it as effectively a floor, and set up their guns. These they kept trained on the tunnel entrances nearest the ship, nervously tracking them back and forth, thin beams of light from lamp packs fixed to the barrels playing across the rock.

Inside the ship, endless dark corridors stretched on, dimly lit by emergency lighting where they were lit at all. Barricades were frequent, many sections of the ship cordoned off by metal spars and bulkhead doors welded to the decking. The survivor's world apparently consisted of the hydroponics level; the ancient and slowly failing drive core, combined with portions of engineering; and a handful of utility and living spaces. The majority of the ship remained dark and cut off, explored sporadically for materials through the few openings that the survivors had left. It was a bleak thoguht, to be confined to such a space, without any hope of ever finding something better.

The shuttle bay with the two working lighters was something of a mess, the space inside dotted with the occassional floating barrel or tangled hose idly drifting through the air, a casualty of failed grav plating. The two shuttles were secured to the deck with heavy clamps, rusted but functional. The heavy blast doors to the exterior were another matter, solidly immobile despite working power. Something must have gone wrong somewhere in the mechanisms that opened the vast gates.

[PotatoGolem]

Macharius has remained in the command shuttle with Hannabel. The derelict ship looked dirty, squalid, and not actually dangerous enough for any sort of thrilling heroics. He directs the shuttle fleet via the vox network, ensuring that the shuttles left as soon as possible and that rescue shuttles and arms recovery shuttles did not mix.

Anika, do you think the doors can be opened in any sort of rapid manner? We have a fair number of shuttles already, so there's no sense in waiting for hours to get two more, eh?