I hustle into my place in the trans-mat and prepare myself as best I can, knowing this will be disorienting.
You find a space in the space, and hear Toni completing the litany. Then abruptly you feel something you remember as if from a dream--as if every molecule in your body were being torn apart, but not painfully, a feeling of disintegration you know you've felt before but never when awake.
--M. J. Young
That's about what I expected it feel like. Still unpleasant though. You know that feeling you get when you have been really sick or depressed for awhile, then you go to bed and sleep for a REALLY long time, and you wake up feeling distinctly disheveled (nut usually better than you had been feeling)? I imagine I feel like that. Like Rip Van Winkle just waking up; tired and trouble focusing for a bit, and quite disoriented.
I'll orient myself as quickly as I am able, hopefully as quickly as my team mates. As soon as I am able to focus, I'll analyze the area for immediate threats, and draw the kinetic blaster into my left hand.
You are in a vacant hall with visible pipes and conduits and spare lighting.
George puts a hand on your weapon. "Keep it handy but hidden. We'll blend better if we don't look like we're looking for a fight. We'd like to be unseen, but unnoticed is good enough."
Tom still looks nervous.
After a glance at each of you, and one in each direction of the hall, George starts heading one way. He stops at the first door and reads the placard, which gives little more than a room number and the word "Electrical". He nods, turns around, and says, "This way," as if he now knows where he is.
"You sure?" Tom says.
"Sure enough," George says. "I could be wrong, but if I am I'll find out soon enough."
"As long as we don't find out by running into security."
"Not much security down here, really. Try to look like an electrician or something, O.K.?"
--M. J. Young
"Won't it be pretty difficult to pass for an electrician with these harnesses on? And with me holding this staff?"
I follow close behind George, keeping an eye out for trouble as inconspicuously as I can.
"Well, it might if we wind up in conversation with an electrician, but face it, no one knows what a transmat harness looks like except the few people who have been aboard Destiny, and no one is going to know that that lovely staff of yours isn't a special tool for some purpose like clearing conduits or something. The weapons they'll recognize, if they notice them, but most people aren't going to look at another worker to see if he's carrying a weapon. They'll look at your face, respond to your friendly-but-busy appearance in kind, and keep moving. At least, most of them will."
He continues for what seems like a quarter of a mile, and then stops.
"O.K., Tom, work your magic. This is our first stop."
Tom takes about three seconds to get past an electronic locking system, and the door slides open. George enters, a look of awareness about him; Tom is more concerned about whether anyone is coming, and he says, "After you," before (presumably) following you into the room.
"Watch the door," George says, and disappears into the maze of pipes and conduits in this rather large high-ceilinged bay, taking one the small explosive charges out of his bag and arming it as he does. Tom closes the door and follows him.
--M. J. Young
All right, I'll do my best to conceal the kinetic blaster, but I have no experience with disguise work.
I appear visibly impressed when he opens the door so quickly.
I'll follow on George's heels, watching closely for other people-any people.
Not much for me to do yet, hmm?
You wait nervously by the door, staff in hand, blaster somewhat hidden.
You hear voices, or more precisely a voice, outside the door. You can't quite make out what he's saying, and it occurs to you that there is a background noise of pumps and bubbling and other sounds of liquid in this room that you had ignored. The voice is a man, and he's shouting, but in the sort of friendly way one does when talking over a background noise or trying to be heard at a distance. He seems to be standing right outside the door.
--M. J. Young
I'm pretty busy lately. I'm going to have to bow out for awhile. Pick this up later, OK?
Thanks for letting me know. Post when you return. (You can save a link to the thread to make it easier to find.)
--M. J. Young
I have a problem picturing where I am right now.
Is this right: We stepped through a door Tom opened, and behind us back the way we came from, someone showed up, saying something I can't quite hear, from beyond the door we stepped through?
If that's right, I'll look back and see if I can see him.
The piece you're missing is that the door is closed. You are standing next to it, but it is a solid door. (Windows are not necessary for it because it slides into the wall when it opens, so there's no danger of hitting someone when you open it.)
--M. J. Young
Ohh. So we all went through the door, it closed, and THEN someone started talking right outside, presumably to someone else who is also on the other side of the door? Ok.
Then, I'll look to George for leadership. If he doesn't hear it, I'll indicate the door, and and hold a hand near my ear, miming 'I hear something out there'.
Eesh, I am NOT good at pretending I belong where I really don't. I'm usually too honest for that sort of deception. I hope it doesn't come to that.
While you are trying to spot George somewhere in the mess of pipes, the voice says something else and moves off while it is speaking. It becomes quiet outside.
--M. J. Young
I'll scramble to catch up with the group, and when I get back near the front, let out a relieved sigh. Then I'll stay close to the front, probably behind our front man. I listen and look really close for any more people, as before, as we continue to our destination.
I think between us we've lost the setting. As I understand it
- You materialized, got your bearings, and headed down the hall following George's directions.
- You came to a door and once Tom opened it you entered.
- You were assigned to watch the door while Tom and George placed the explosives in this rather large room filled mostly with plumbing.
- While you were watching the door, there was a voice on the other side, but whoever it was apparently was diverted from entering before doing so.
Which if you agree with that summary, they will do in a moment, Tom will open the door, look both ways without appearing surreptitious, and head back into the hall, letting George again take the lead.
--M. J. Young
"You were assigned to watch the door while Tom and George placed the explosives in this rather large room filled mostly with plumbing"
I missed this somehow. looking up, I see it now: here it is: "'Watch the door,' George says, and disappears into the maze of pipes and conduits in this rather large high-ceilinged bay, taking one the small explosive charges out of his bag and arming it as he does. Tom closes the door and follows him."
OK, then I'll have been watching the door, then nervously clutching my staff when the voice spoke, then relieved when they returned with no trouble, and now that we are leaving, I'll fall back into place and follow.
The three of you return to the corridors and start walking. This time you pass several work crews putting in lighting and walls in one section, but they don't do more than nod acknowledgment of your presence, which George casually answers with a nod or wave.
You reach the next destination, and again Tom has the door open very quickly. This room is all electronics panels--meters and dials, considerably smaller than the last. George looks at you and nods at the door which he closed behind him, then turns his attention to his work.
--M. J. Young
I'll see if there is a spot where I can stand and watch the door, but not be easily seen by someone who is next to the door, such as someone who walks through it. If I find one, I'll stand there. If I don't I'll casually lean somewhere near the door and pretend I'm taking a break; such as someone hiding from their supervisor.
There is nowhere to hide, but there is a convenient place to lean on a blank wall close to the door.
While you are standing there, the door opens, and someone in a white technical jacket with something like a hand-held electronic clipboard comes through, staring at his clipboard. He stops about three steps into the room, focused on the panel as if trying to read something that isn't entirely clear to him.
Tom, looking terrified, and George, looking uncertain, have both frozen in place and are staring your direction.
--M. J. Young
I start walking towards him stealthily (but trying not to appear stealthy), and when he notices me I say: "Hey, how you doing? Focused on your work eh?" When I get close enough, I'll be sure to stand where, in order to look at me as we speak, he is not looking at my teammates.
If he does not notice my quiet approach and I get all the way next to him, I'll take him out with a strike to the back of the head:
Difficult knockout skill, requires unaware OR incapacitated opponent-without which has an incredibly large negative sit mod. Will result in either a knockout, or minimal damage, or miss entirely. How could we make this work?
You get within reach of him when he suddenly looks up at you.
Difficult knockout skill, requires unaware OR incapacitated opponent-without which has an incredibly large negative sit mod. Will result in either a knockout, or minimal damage, or miss entirely. How could we make this work?
Let's start by inverting it--it is a difficult skill with a sit-mod penalty, but is bonused if the target is unaware or incapacitated. It is a special damage skill that does base annoying damage (makes it damaging in the style) plus opponent must make a successful stamina check (RS=S/D/N) to remain conscious. That would mean that if you missed it would do nothing (even if technically you "hit" him), but if you hit you would do about as much damage as a standard punch, but he would have to make a check--simple if your successful roll does not exceed 50, difficult if it is 51 through 80, and if you manage to roll successfully over 80 he doesn't get a check. I'm inclined to think that it's a -10 penalty on chance of success but +20 bonus if you surprise him.
I also need to determine how good you are at this (Skill Ability Level).
--M. J. Young
I'd say about 1@3. I've had practice over the years, but most of my martial skills are low, particularly the maneuvers it's hard to test out on sparring partners without causing injury. I taught myself from books and a few pointers from chance meetings with practitioners.
Anyway, since he did in fact notice me, I'll say what I was going to say earlier, which is:
"Hey, how you doing? Lots of work to do today, eh?" I say this while unobtrusively moving to a spot where my team is not as readily noticeable while he is looking at me.
I smile as warmly as I can, and wait for an opportunity to take him out, such as when he turns around or looks back at his datapad again, or otherwise stops looking at me. then I will use the above skill on him. In the mean time, I will continue talking with him.
I would surmise that's the MV equivalent of a bluff check (appearing friendly while actually not) followed by the attack.
The automatic door closes.
He eyes you warily.
"I was just here to log--I thought this room was done?"
George calls from across the room, "Well, the boys down in engineering say they were getting some strange readings, and would we check the wiring to make sure that everything was routed the right--"
And as he says this, the man turns toward him, and you attempt to hit him.
He realizes the blow is coming, though, and swings back around, deflecting it off his shoulder.
You are in your vital area style, which gives you another attack this minute and a significant defense bonus. He does not appear to be a trained combatant.
--M. J. Young
All right, I need something more reliable, so I'll go for a pain inflicter.
The general idea is to make them unable to act due to severe pain, and force them to move their body in certain directions (depending on which spot you hit), to make follow up maneuvers easier. Doesn't really do much conventional damage, just takes away their turn if you succeed and bonuses a follow up move.
Oh, and only usable on beings whose pressure points I actually know the location of, and the manipulation method. Which means just humanoids, for now at least.
I certainly understand the concept of pain inflictors; if the attack is successful, the opponent cannot act without making a will power check. Your description suggests that you know several such attacks but would prefer to incorporate them as one maneuver--which saves me work, assuming that they all have the same level of difficulty and the same practical effect--but not if, for example, you intend to use them to prevent someone from standing, or from using his right arm, or in some other way focus the pain on a specific part of the body, in which case I think we would have to individualize them. If the sense is only, "I'm going to hit the character/creature on one of the known pressure points such that he/it is in severe pain and unable to take action without a successful will power check", we can put it down as a single skill and not worry so much about where you hit.
Your call on that.
--M. J. Young
Yes, I know quite a few such maneuvers. My most commonly used one is a torso shot that forces them to bend down and forward a little from the pain. Stops them from doing anything, and subsequently makes follow up maneuvers easier. Which is the one I am using. So: Stun, and follow up moves easier, resisted by willpower.
EDIT: BEHIND THE SCREENS ANSWER: 1@8, roughly. It's my best move, but I'm not a pro.
He's obviously trying to defend himself, and your blow slams into the electronic clipboard, knocking it aside.
George fires his kinetic blaster, slamming the man forward, and as he hits you hard he collapses, a gurgle in his throat telling you his body is broken.
"Unfortunate," George says, "but we couldn't let him scream."
He stands looking for a moment looking at the body, and then turns back to his job.
--M. J. Young
I stare in total shock, first at the dead man, then at George. Was killing really necessary!? I Have based all of my combat skills, my entire lifestyle, on using the least amount of unpleasantness necessary to settle disputes, even violent ones.
I Lay the dead man down gently, close his eyes, bow my head for about three seconds (pressed for time, or it would be longer), then quickly move him to an unobtrusive location. If they are still setting up the bomb, I make eye contact with one of them and nod at where I'm taking him, so they know what I'm doing.
I hope there IS somewhere to hide him.
Then I return to the team, extremely shaken, and a little bit mad.
"Sorry," George said. "It had to be a good shot so it wouldn't risk hitting you."
It's not a good room for hiding places--it's all electrical panels, dials and switches and readouts and knobs on flat metal walls linking one next to the other, as if it were part of some huge power station or something. It's also not that big--maybe twenty by thirty feet total, and open in the middle. You could try lifting the body onto the overhead conduits, or pulling a panel off the bottom and seeing whether there's space in the wall, but unless you're going to risk dragging him out into the hall and looking for somewhere out there or in an adjacent room, your best bet is to lay him on the floor in a corner and hope no one finds him before you're done.
--M. J. Young
I see. I will lay him in the corner hardest to see from the door. Then I tell George: "We'd best hurry, because he will probably be noticed missing quickly. He was sent here to check something, I think. They want a report."
Then I take the datapad (or so I think it is; you described it as a sort of "hand held electronic clipboard") and examine it. I keep hold of it as we leave, and pretend it has something to do with work I am doing for the station (to make me look more like I belong here).
"Datapad" is probably a good name for the electronic clipboard. It appears that it was used for logging readings--this technician was supposed to copy values from several readouts into spaces on a form to be entered into records later. It looks routine.
"Well, we're done here, I think," George says. "We've just got the mechanical room to hit, and we're out of here."
"I knew something was going to go wrong," Tom says.
"You always know that, Tom," George says. "And sometimes things go wrong. That's why we have you. Sorry about the kill shot, Brock. Probably some people are going to die, and it would be better if there were few civilians among them, but it really is war, and people really do die. No, you don't get used to it, in case you're wondering, but at least you accept that sometimes it's you or the other guy, and from your perspective he's part of the problem and you're part of the solution, so you're the one to keep."
He finishes setting a timer on a hockey-puck like bomb and says, "Let's go," as he heads for the door.
--M. J. Young
I frown, then follow, holding the datapad.
You move through the halls following George, and you have to pass through a construction area where a dozen men are putting up wallboard. They nod and smile at you, but Tom looks particularly nervous about this. George keeps going.
--M. J. Young
I look up from the datapad, look at them, smile and wave, then look back at the datapad, continuing to follow, pretending to be busily on my way somewhere.
In a moment you enter the last room, the mechanical room. This appears to have levers and hydraulics systems on a rather large scale in a huge circle.
There are two men working on the mechanisms as you enter. George scans the room; they don't pay any attention to you, but he signals back to the door and returns to the hall.
"We've got a problem," he says, looking at something that might be a watch. "The plan says we have to place a dozen explosives on critical points in that mechanism, to cut out the failsafe on the reactor so it doesn't shut itself down when it starts to overheat. We're not going to be able to do that with those two men in there, and we don't know how long they're going to be. We could wait maybe twenty minutes, and then we'd be hard-pressed to finish and get out of here on time, particularly if something else goes wrong, before the devices start detonating.
"So we need a plan to neutralize or eliminate both of those mechanics. Thoughts?"
--M. J. Young
"Hmm. A dozen critical spots? No way we could place them without being noticed, so we have to take them out. How about a bluff? Can we send one guy in, have them pretend there is an emergency somewhere in the base, and lure them away? As long as we wear the harness, the transmat can still remove us from the base, right? No matter where in the base it is?"
"If so, we need to fabricate a story that is plausible, and is an emergency enough to dash in there looking for help, but not enough to set off base alarms, and a place to take them that can last long enough to distract them for the duration. Or, we could set up an ambush point and lead them straight there. Thoughts?"
"We could trigger the fire alarms," Tom says. "They'll have to evacuate the sector, because it will seal itself off and smother the fire to save the oxygen."
"It's good," George answers. "It's not something they're likely to check by com. Destiny will have to pull us out quick, though, because we probably won't be able to place the bombs and get past the containment walls in time.
"To answer your question, yes, but with a couple of restrictions. One is that if we're in a room that's radio shielded it will interfere with the transmat. Don't let anyone know that, because the Federation doesn't know. The other is that if the Destiny is involved in combat it might not be able to pull us out because of power and maneuvering issues. Hopefully it's not and won't be. But if we're willing to take those risks, the fire alarm might be the best way to do it. Everyone agreed?"
Tom looks a bit less sure, but then, it was his idea so he's probably reluctant to object.
--M. J. Young
"That is a good idea but...will the lockdown containment fields interfere with the transmat? Plus, won't they send people to investigate when no fire is there to put out?
I am still more comfortable with sending someone in who acts panicked, with a story to lead them away, and then set the explosives while they are gone. But...is there a way to quickly seal the door when we enter? We could simply walk in, seal the door, take them down, set the bombs, and hold the door until the transmat takes us out. I mean, it the last room, right? I'm not as comfortable with that idea, but I'm simply brainstorming here.
Are there any other distractions we can use that won't seal us in?"
How far away are we from the room where we killed the technician? if it's far enough, we could maybe call in the murder ourselves, and everyone would rush over there. May be plausible, depending on distance, and whether or not we have a way to call it in, and whether or not they would recognize the caller as out of place right away. No...wait, they might discover the explosives when they investigate. Can't have that, never mind.
George addresses most of the questions. "Lockdown is simply sealing the airseals on the doors, first step to reducing the oxygen supply to quell the fire. They won't send a team in to investigate for an hour, and by then our bombs will have detonated so we'd better be off or we're in trouble, too.
"The big problem with a story to lead them away is finding a story guaranteed to work. If we suggest a big emergency, they'll get on the com and ask why they haven't received instructions, and our cover is blown. If we go with something small, not knowing exactly who they are or what their assignment is, they might just tell us that they're work is more important--and it might be, if those cooling rod systems aren't working properly. But I'm open to suggestions. Man hurt? They'll tell us to call for a medic. Help moving something? They'll tell us where to find lift equipment.
"We could try sounding the abandon signal. The other team was going to do that when they were finished their task anyway, so that the civilians would be headed for the lifeboats before the bombs detonate. Thing is, we'd have to have major computer access to do that, and since I'm not Phil that means I'd have to be in the secondary control center down here. That's also where the lifeboats are, and it might be manned, so we're talking about taking out an unknown number of people some of whom may be armed, triggering the abandon signal, working our way back here against traffic, and setting the bombs, in a very limited amount of time."
Tom makes a suggestion. "We could just forget the mechanical room."
"No," George says, "the failsafes would probably work to stop the meltdown, and then we won't have accomplished our main goal of crippling the listening post. All three targets are necessary, and have to be pretty close to simultaneous to really work right."
"Well, why don't you two just, you know, take out those two?"
"I like that. Why don't you help?"
"You know I'm really not good at that kind of thing."
"Well, unless one of you has a story that is likely to get two techs to leave their assignment and let us have the room, we either have to kill them or set off one of the alarms. Have I missed something?"
Tom looks clueless; George is looking at you.
--M. J. Young