The makeshift ram slammed into the wall and came to a sudden halt. Gregory, for one, did not, letting slip the container and crashing into the wall. Remarkably, the failure of his plan didn't make him feel worse, but more invigorated. He collapsed against the wall, laughing to himself.
"Guy," he was speaking to the group now, "little help here"
Nozomi, after sitting down for a while to get the nausea down. She took a deep breath and swallowed a bit of salava in her mouth went to Gregory's aid and doing her hardest to ignore her nausea.
"I'd like to remind everyone that we're locked in because of a potential hull breach and that busting willy-nilly through walls to get at God knows what may not be the best idea ever, assuming we can even get through," Laszlo pointed out.
Not that he expected anyone to listen, really. Nor could he really get out of moving to assist, so he took his place with the others to prepare for the next attempt.
Given that almost everyone has talked to me, in one way or another, about the vacuum outside this room possibly extending to the cargo hold next door through the flimsier temporary wall, I think I'll wait to have other characters' approval to proceed. The situation is that Laszlo has mentioned it, I'd expect the other characters to react to Laszlo's comment.
"Well if you'd prefer I could open the door to the hallway and we can see how long we can hold our breath for. I think this is the best chance we have of getting to the spare vac suits."
Nozomi then takes a seat, "Well, I guess we are all trapped in here, forever. In a run down clunker. I'd rather NOT open the door into the vacuum of space and hold my breath"
"Believe me, I've considered the possibility. Way I see it, we stay trapped in here until the supplies run out, or we risk punching into the next room. Unless you have any other ideas, I'd rather possible death than definite." He looked at the others. "If no objections, on three..."
All four grabbed the big bulky box. Gregory counted and they achieved double the speed of last time.
This time, the object thundered onto the wall with much vigor. The impact resonated through the bones of those holding it... The effort was monumental and took its toll on your bodies. More of this is sure to be strenuous.
Before even looking at what sort of damage was achieved, Nozomi and Laszlo noticed something. The impact seemed to have shuffled something that was leaning against the wall in the cargo hold on the other side, enough that the sound of stuff falling to the floor was heard by the two of them...
As for the wall. It was damaged ever so slightly, although not breached. Two of the large horizontal sheets of aluminum-like material seem to have shifted a bit. The damage was very small, but it was there. By the look of things, it would be possible to eventually get through using this method, but it may take at least 20-40 tries, and this would tire them out and require periodic breaks. In brief, it would take upwards of half a day. But it was possible.
Mechanics and rolls
Spoiler:
I've used the same mechanics as in last post, except I gave you an all-out-attack "determined attack" on the wall (see cheat sheet for details) which gives you bonuses and stuff. Basically it became impossible to miss the wall unless I rolled a crit failure and I didn't. I also made you give an "extra effort" which cost Fatigue Points (FP). It's the only way you guys will damage the wall in any way and that's what's portrayed up there (everybody loses a FP point for the current effort)
With double the speed you did a bit more than double the damage as last time and managed to damage it a bit over its DR (damage resistance) with 6d6
If you decide to keep ramming it as a method to get out, I will simulate it with just a few rolls and check for possible injuries. But it seems like it should eventually succeed.
Oh and also I made Hearing rolls to hear the stuff shuffle on the other side
"Well, on the up side, no vacuum." Laszlo looked around at the others, smiling.
"You guys... didn't hear that? Something fell over on the other side of the wall. I heard it, anyway. Sound doesn't carry in a vacuum, I heard something fall, ergo, no vacuum."
Gregory stared at Laszlo for a few seconds. "No sound in a vacuum. Of course I knew that." He decided not to mention he had heard nothing - never good to argue with your doctor.
"A few more rounds with this wall will do it in, but I'm not sure which will fall first - it or me. I'm game to continue if you lot are, but if anyone can think of making it easier, I'm all ears."
Everyone started doing the ram maneuver, time after time. The chest was heavy. The group managed 10 good rams in the first hour, everyone was fine but they had to stop to regain some strength and consume some of the water and food inside their battering ram... They literally had to stop for one hour; the extra efforts that were put into this were above their bodies' capacities and taxed every muscle fiber they had. The third hour, was basically the same as the first one; more ramming. Followed by another hour of break.
Finally, it was during their fifth hour that they seemed to achieve something. No one had gotten hurt, although it was likely some muscles would be sore the next day. One of the horizontal wall sheets of aluminum-like material was bent outward into the cargo next door, enough to leave a crawlspace between it and the sheet above it. It was clear by now that the other room was not in a vacuum of course. Everybody sat down, leaning against some other parts of the wall, and they had to take another hour to recuperate and consume more. There wasn't much water left, but ample food was available. At least nobody was nauseous anymore.
Eventually, they crawled into the cargo room next door. It was a rather tight area. It was basically a giant walk-in closet into which one usually entered from the circular corridor (again, refer to map in OP). The walls of the walk-in closet were covered in shelves that held various items. Most of these were for personal use and daily life (blankets, soap, cleaning products, etc.). Of course, part of these shelves were now strewn across the floor as the violent activity of the group had thrown stuff all around the place.
The main exit was the door leading out into the corridor (closed right now of course, it looked exactly like the door leading out of the Life Chambers area). However, there was also, at the other end of the room, a hatch with a wheel on it (like in a submarine). Main accesses to floors A and C were in the briefing room, but there were also emergency accesses in different rooms. This one, being on the floor, led to Floor C. However, it was sealed shut...
Right next to the door leading into the corridor (closed right now of course), there was a contingency box containing security equipment. It was obviously opened and slots were empty, however, it was far from being empty...
Stuff left in the contingency boxes:
- A normal "civilian" vacc suit and an accompanying bubble helmet
- A heavier "reflex" vacc suit (reflex is a liquid type of armor that solidifies when hit) and an accompanying sealed combat infantry helmet (sealed when visor is down)
(TL9 vacc suits are actually close-fitting pressure controlled suits, not giant space suits like older tech levels, they come with functionality like biomedical monitoring, climate control, etc.)
- 6 "C" batteries, about the size of a pistol magazine (powers various stuff including vacc suits (2 per suit), SOME beam weapons and heavy electronics).
- A nightstick
- An assault laser rifle with its chemical power pack (worn externally, no need for battery) and an extra power pack. These packs are relatively heavy.
- Two electrolaser pistols (beam pistol, sort of a stun gun, uses C batteries)
- A Personal Defense Weapon 5.7mm PDW (this a small SMG with ammo running down its side and a grip that protects the hand, it fires miniature rifle-like ammo) with 2 clips of 100 bullets
- An ablative armor jacket (protects the torso against laser shots (it vaporizes in contact with laser) but nothing else really).
- A full suit of reflex body armor (a bit like the vacc suit, except it's not sealed)
- (Reserve the right to put more if I have a reason)
Of course, all across the room there are other familiar objects that could be useful but I'm not going to list everything found in a bathroom closet and such.
EDIT: although you do find:
- A lot of neatly stacked crew clothes with the insignia of the mission. They are all of various dark colours. It could be an opportunity to wear more than the wetsuit-looking stasis chamber suits.
- Lots of belt pouches and personal backpacks and suitcases. Various forms of personal containers...
Ways out:
- The door leading to the corridor
- The hatch on the floor that looked like a submarine hatch with a wheel on it to turn and unlock
- The torn up wall that they just tore open
Spoiler:
(NOTE: I started a "GURPS JARGON" section in the OP, not much there yet, but as I use acronyms and such, I'll stop always explaining them and build up the JARGON section)
Before you start grabbing this stuff and whatnot, probably discuss with the others, I fear a free-for-all here Also note that a lot of this stuff comes from the book Gurps Ultra-Tech, if you want to know everything about the equipment and use it to the maximum, it'd be better to find this, I don't really want to re-type everything from the book here, I already gave a lot of detail and it took time (PM me about book...)
Nozomi takes notice of the two electrolaser pistols, the 6 C batteries, the nightstick, and reflex vacc suit set. She then picks up the nightsitck and says to herself " It's not a kunai, but it would do for now" Nozomi then picks up three of the C batteries, the electrolaser pistol, and the reflex vacc suit. Then went and picked up the belt pouch.
Nozomi then looks at the submarine hatch and says, "The otherside better not be a vacuum"
Spoiler:
Rub, you might want to fix the image links at the OP since the character stats aren't showing up
Fraser gives a short cheer as they finally break through the wall "Hurrrah!". Entering the storage room he is pleased to see most of the stuff is still there, although the two missing crewmates had obviously already been through there. Noticing Nozomi hurriedly putting on one of the only two vac suits and arming herself left he interrupts saying "What's the hurry Nozomi? I don't think we have to worry about fighting anytime. Let's concentrate on getting the ship back up and - hey change of clothing, and my back pack!".
Fraser changes into a spare uniform, then pauses and picks up the assault laser rifle and brings it over to the backpack hanging above a bin of equipment with his name on it which should have some spare batteries in it. "If anyone finds a charged B cell batter please let me know." [searches backpack and personal container to see what they have]
A few notes: the images work for me, I'll check on them later because I'll probably update them with all the stuff you guys picked up
Alex was right of course... In such a type of big walk-in closet, there would be a very large supply of all kinds of batteries up to size B... So there you go. On top of one of the shelf were neatly stacked batteries. There were a lot of AA, A, and B batteries...
Most of the backpacks and pouches were empty, they were just there to be filled with stuff before an expedition and whatnot.
Spoiler:
An example of how I may not think of something that could plausibly be there
Also I've noticed that people usually post only once before I update. It may be because I update too quickly or fast enough, but anyway, don't hesitate to exchange posts (especially discussion) between updates. Also we'll have to find a way to be more clearly assertive when the whole team has to decide something together, so that I know when a decision has really been taken for the team.
Fraser sadly finds the backpack to be empty but finds a fresh B cell battery which he plugs into the what he is dubbing the Pipboy from a post nuclear apocalyptic novel he read once. He turns it on to see exactly what it can do and find exactly what is wrong with the ship.
Alex looked at the small computer. He pushed in two B batteries that clicked satisfyingly on the side (B batteries are the size of pistol cartridges). The computer was actually worn around the arm (like a pipboy, however...), it was flat and flexible, including the screen, it was barely noticeable except for the faint light that started to be emitted upon being powered on. The unit was functional.
It started to communicate with the ship's mainframe computer. These units were meant to have up to date information on the crew's activities, act as a personal diary and reminder, medical monitor, and contain important security information, task assignments communications, change in plans, etc. Basically an interactive intercom system. Many of the functions were currently unavailable. Apparently, mainframe computer was on its lowest activity setting to save power to the ship. It could be powered back on to full capacity but doing so could only be done from the control room (on floor A, above them). The computers on the vacc suits were similar and also connected to the same network.
That being said, it didn't currently offer much input. The only functions that were availabe were text transmissions between computers (radio system was off), and emergency info screen, which was the one screen that these units and mainframe computers tried to maintain no matter what...
EDIT: (noticed you already specified you were looking at what's wrong)
Alex opened the menu for security and ship integrity. A diagram of the ship, divided in three, appeared. The good news was, all the hulls were still attached together and seemed to be alright. Front hull, the main living space, had sustained some damage of unknown origin. Alex accessed the Front Hull menu and a blue-lined diagram of the 3 floors appeared.
Floor A, with the control room, seemed to be intact.
Floor B where most of the ship's crew space was (and where they were now), seemed to be breached (see map in OP); The laboratories section was flashing red, so was the whole circular corridor. The factory also appeared to be in a vaccuum. Access to the control room were found in the briefing room (main access) sick bay (emergency) and factory (emergency). However, only the emergency entrances had special airlocks that would allow a transition to the control room upstairs without compromising its atmosphere.
On Floor C, below them: The Fusion Power plant was alright, but the hangar where the vehicles were held was in a vaccuum. This was the room below them right now that is accessed with the wheel hatch. Accesses to the other hulls of the ship were on Floor C.
Alex ponders the map and informs the crew of the situation adding "It seems our best bet is for two of us to suit up and go down the hall to the sick bay then through the emergency access to the control room, I should be able to find out more information there and hopefully seal up and refill the hallway with air for the other two."
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Also note that a lot of this stuff comes from the book Gurps Ultra-Tech, if you want to know everything about the equipment and use it to the maximum, it'd be better to find this, I don't really want to re-type everything from the book here, I already gave a lot of detail and it took time (PM me about book...)
