Alpha Dawn
        Crash on Volturnus
Campaign:Alpha Dawn
Adventure:Crash on Volturnus
Turn Number:2.3
Turn Start Date:600189
Turn End Date:600192
Send To:alphadawn@championsoftheempire.com
Combat Turn?No
Subject:Onward Through the Caverns

Name

Lethal

NL

Current

Armor

Screen

Luck Pts

Fate Pts

Alyson Worth

0

0

40/40

Military Skeinsuit


/

/

Alzarix

0

0

50/50

None

None

1/1

/0

Carter d'Marshian

16

0

18/34

None

None

1/1

/0

Ciara Anne Preston

0

0

60/60

None

None

1/1

/0

George Fury

6

0

46/52

Military Skeinsuit


1/1

/0

Gorman Blake

0

0

45/45

None

None

/

/

Jim Jitsu

0

0

45/45

Civilian Skeinsuit


1/1

/0

Mykel Dronvere

8

0

47/55

Military Skeinsuit


0/1

/0

S'lch Vatal

0

0

35/35

None

None

/

/








NameNotes
AlysonMilitary Skeinsuit (50/50)
Alzarix
CarterBlack Skeinsuit (50/50)
Ciara Anne
GeorgeMilitary Skeinsuit (44/50)
GormanBlack Skeinsuit (50/50)
Jim JitsuCivilian Skeinsuit (50/50)
MykelMilitary Skeinsuit (41/50)
S'lch
GM: My apologies for the general slowness for the past few weeks and especially the last week. A few weeks ago I took an intense class to prepare for a PMP certification exam and have been studying for hours every day in preparation for it. I finally took the exam on Friday and passed so things should move along a bit better now.

With the Lake of Fire behind them, the group presses on until they are tired and then they rest for the night. Your water supplies are starting to run low again but food is not as much of a problem as before. Many of the caverns and tunnels host various types of molds, fungi and mushrooms and Ciara has found some that are edible. Some of the mushrooms are huge with stalks as thick as small trees.

The following day, the group continues their trek through these endless passages. Towards the end of the day, the group hears the distant sound of water lapping against a rocky shore. Soon thereafter, you round a bend in the corridor and see an underground sea. You move forward to where a wide ledge runs along the shore of the sea for a couple hundred meters. The sea is dimly illuminated by large deposits of phosphorescent minerals running through the walls and ceiling of the massage cavern that holds the sea. The far shore is some one and a half kilometers away. To the right, the sea ends in the vertical walls of the cavern about a kilometer away but stretches quite a distance to the left. About half a kilometer away and slightly to the right can be seen a rocky island covered with thick vegetation. A kilometer or so directly across the lake, a ledge emanates from the otherwise vertical walls and a passage can be seen at the back of the ledge. There could also be more exits from the underground lake off to the left.

Ciara determines that the water is fresh and drinkable. The depth just off the ledge is some 10 meters, as measured by a weighted rope.

GM: Your three obvious options all including going out into the lake, either swimming or building some sort of raft. You could visit the vegetation-covered island, you could strike directly across the lake for the opposite ledge and the exit on its far side, or you could head to the left exploring more of the lake.

GM: Let me know what you want to do.

ALYSON: Alyson says,"Let's take a look around before crossing."

JIM JITSU: Jim nods in the affirmative at Alyson's suggestion.

CIARA: Ciara congratulations the group on their teamwork and perseverance through the Lake of Fire. "I'm going to remember that experience for the rest of my life!"

CIARA: After surveying the lake, Ciara offers a few thoughts. "I think it's worth looking around before we decide anything. I'd like to see if there are any signs of passage or other man-made markings out there. I'm not keen on trying to cross the lake as our first option."

CIARA (GM): I'd like to search out any sort of trail or other obvious sign that the pirate passed a certain way. I'm curious if the vertical walls to the right have a trail along them or if they're a dead end. I don't want to go too far to the left for now. Say no more than 30 minutes unless we see something promising.

CARTER: Any signs of what the pirates did or did not do upon reaching this area?

S'LCH: As the other discuss paths and the plan to move forward the vrusk gets to work refilling the groups water supplies, once it was deemed safe to do so.

ALZARIX: I can use my if goggles to see if I can find anything out, like maybe if there are any creatures in the water he can see or such. I was also thinking get maybe S'Lichs small friend could do a reconissence fly around quickč than we could walk.

ENSIGN FURY: "Yes, I had forgotten about your scouting robot, S'ch. Does it have the range to scout the lake for us?"

S'LCH: The vrusk looks up from collecting water when they talk about Vod. "He is autonomous... so his range is limited by his power consumption. Things like headwinds and tailwinds and active scans all require different levels of power. So there are too many variables to give a solid answer..." He takes a moment to look at a panel on the drone... "He is pretty much fully charged, but this area is huge... so were would you like him to start first?"

ENSIGN FURY: George looks somewhat dubiously at some of the giant mushrooms and then asks Ciara, "Do you think we can make some sort of raft out of these mushroom stalks?"

CIARA: "Quite possibly, but we'll need to look more closely at the stalks to see if they have the proper characteristics. If they're more like wood, we should be in good shape."

The group spends some time looking around the ledge for as far as it extends to the right and left but, other than the omnipresent molds and fungi, the only things of interest they find are some discarded trash that likely came from the pirates. That would indicate that they too passed this way. They might of even had a boat of some sort.

ALZARIX: "Well I guess it is time for a mushroom boat. Who has the sword? It time to go fell some mushrooms...."

CIARA: Ciara nods and pats the sword sheathed at her side. She then leads the group over to investigate the mushrooms further.

CIARA (GM): Do we have any other tools in our possession that might work to cut down the stalks outside of the sword? I certainly wouldn't attempt to cut down a tree with a sword but if the mushroom stalks are like the ones we know as players then it could be totally fine.


JIM JITSU: Jim tags along with the party harvesting mushrooms for stalks to lend a hand. He's already considering assets for boat construction; rope, mesh bags, ion bonding tape from tech kits and wire.

JIM JITSU: Jim makes a LOG check to suggest the best construction method [rolled (20) Success]

The group takes stock of their equipment but finds only two items suitable for cutting, Ciara's sword and Alzarix's vibro knife. So they start examining the fungi. They quickly determine that some types of mushroom stalks don't work at all as they absorb too much water and end up sinking but they do find some types, that are typically a bit thinner and harder that do work. Cutting fresh ones down with a sword and vibro knife could be difficult but they find a number of down stalks that may have been felled by the accumulation of age and various fauna and some of them float.

The group sets up camp on the shore of the lake and prepares to spend the next day constructing a raft.

Meanwhile, S'lch considers sending Vod out to do some scouting. No one had any specific ideas of where to scout first so he decides to go with the closest location first, that being the nearby island. Vod ascends into the cool air of the cavern and heads out over the water. S'lch is not too concerned about radio transmissions being overheard outside the cavern so directs Vod to report over a chronocom frequency.

When Vod reaches the island a few minutes later, he reports that the island is heavily overgrown with various molds and fungi. The robot notes that there are half a dozen fungi that seem to release a cloud of spores every few minutes into the air. The spores are heavy and don't travel far before dropping to the ground. Vod has no capabilities for analyzing the spores.

The island is not large and it takes no more than a few minutes to scout it so S'lch directs the robot to fly across the lake and take a look at the ledge on the far side. Vod reaches the ledge a few minutes later and its reports make it clear it is very similar to the ledge on this side - mostly rocky with the same type of fungi growing there as on this side, and no sign of the spore-shooting fungi. Vod scouts down the tunnel at the back of the ledge. S'lch loses the radio signal with Vod for about two minutes until the robot comes back out of the tunnel.

"An inflatable raft is setting in the tunnel twenty meters in," Vod reports by radio in his typically calm and mechanical voice.

GM: The opposite shore is a bit less than a kilometer.

MYKEL: Does anyone know how to swim? A quick trip across and come back with the raft would make things much easier for everyone. Of course, I’m presuming that the raft is unguarded since Vod did not report a guard.

ALZARIX: "Well we could just make a smaller raft with the downed stalks and go get the raft. Does Bid have any type of sensors that may be able to find anything living or swimming in the lake? Maybe including So he of said creatures?"

ENSIGN FURY: "With some of the heavy gear we have," he says eyeing the heavy toolkits carried by some of the group, "I like Mykel's idea to have a couple people swim across and fetch the raft.

GORMAN: "I'm not so much worried about the swimming distance. I'm more concerned about what might be in the water that might consider us food. But I guess there is risk no matter what so I am for having a couple swim across and paddle the raft back. Maybe they should take some of that ion bonding tape too in case repairs are needed."

CARTER: We should be able to cross by swimming, assuming there is nothing in the water to nibble on us...

S'LCH: The vrusk listened as the others responded to Vod report. After thinking a bit he opens the channel to Vod. "Queries: Does the raft appear functional? And if so Second Query: Would you be capable of bringing it to us without comprising it?" The second bit was something that could go either way. Vod wasn't all that big or powerful, but inflatable rafts were generally light weight and maneuverable. S'lch could probably answer his own question if he could see the raft but all they had was the Vod's verbal report.

CIARA: "I'm willing to swim but I would also be concerned about something in the water. I like Alzarix's idea to make a smaller raft for 2 or 3 of us to head over to fetch the life raft. Let me analyze the water before proceeding though."

CIARA (GM): What is the water temperature? I want to know if the water temperature will be an issue. Also, she'll want to scan it to make sure it's not toxic or unsafe to swim in.



S'lch queries Vod and learns that the raft has a collapsed section on the starboard side aft. The raft seems to have a total of four separate air chambers so it will almost certainly still float and can probably be repaired.

S'LCH: Perfect. :) Due to the way the instruction was worded Vod never got to the 'can he move the raft' question :)

S'LCH: The vrusk make sure everyone knows about the damage and relays any other question (like does it have paddles)

S'LCH: Once the group is happy with the details S'lch order Vod to return while observing the water as best he can for signs of dangerous animals or things.

Ciara checks the water temperature and finds that the water is definitely cool - 16 degrees Celsius.

GM: Those with Technician skill can send a Gadgetry roll to see good of a raft you can build. Those with Survival skill can similarly send a Improvising Shelter roll (I know it's not a shelter but the concept is the same).

CIARA (GM): I see you suggested the survival roll which I'll include but I also see there's a making weapons/tools skill roll too that might make sense. Survival: [rolled (89) Failure]

ALZARIX: With Jim he lays the supplies gathered for the raft and starts arranging them to look like a raft in a dry run / concept session before final assembly. Design raft gagetry roll of [rolled (4) Critical Success!].

CARTER: Gadgetry - 45% [rolled (64) Failure], Making Items - 55% [rolled (64) Failure]

JIM JITSU: Jim [rolled (68) Failure] gadgetry roll for building a raft

JIM JITSU: [rolled (46) Partial Success] for repairs if we get the inflated raft.

JIM JITSU: Jim asks, "Did VOD spy any paddles? I believe I saw a holo once of white water rafting and if I remember correctly the proper mode of locomotion for a raft is paddles?"

JIM JITSU: [rolled (64) Failure] to make some paddles out of existing supplies and fungi.


JIM JITSU: Jim is not having any success and his failure to accomplish anything is frustrating. He takes a moment to meditation and do a martial arts kata.



The group gets to work making a raft to cross the underground sea. While Ciara, Alzarix, Carter and Jim all work together, contributing their ideas to the endeavor, it is Alzarix who is the most inspired and whose ideas always seem to work the best. In a short time, the group has a small raft suitable for a couple of people. Jim created a couple of paddles out of native fungi and modern supplies but is not sure how well they will hold up.

Meanwhile, S'lch asks Vod to return to the raft and look for paddles. When Vod returns to contact range, it reports that it does not see any paddles but they could be under the raft, as it is lying upside down.

In the end, it is Ensign Fury and Ciara who will make the trip across the lake. They set out on the raft while the others watch. The distance is not great so they will never be out of visual contact range. George and Ciara attempt to use the paddles but they do not hold up well and, in the end, George jumps into the water and pushes the raft while swimming. After a bit, he and Ciara change places, with George shivering on the raft from the cold water. In this manner, the two take turns pushing the raft across the lake. No monsters from the deep make an appearance and so it is with relief that the others see the two reach the opposite short and climb onto the ledge. They disappear into the tunnel on the far side and return a few minutes later carrying a lightweight raft. They spend a few minutes using the ion bonding tape on the ruptured chamber and refilling it with air. Once the repair seems to hold, they launch the raft into the water and climb aboard.

There were no paddles with the raft but there was something even better - a small, jet drive motor that forces air at high pressure through a tube below water level to provide momentum. The motor is powered by a powerpack that shows 12 SEU remaining. It only takes 1 SEU to cross the lake leaving 11 remaining.

The group loads up their supplies and gear and boards the raft, which is large enough for all. They cross the lake and unload the raft on the far side.

GM: My assumption is that you will not take the raft with you, but you will take the powerpack that powered the jet drive, now with 10 SEU remaining.

About an hour later, the group comes to a wide section of tunnel with passages leading off to the southwest and the north. They choose the north passage and travel for the rest of the day. The following morning, they continue on. A couple of hours later, they see that the tunnel, which has gotten quite narrow, widen out into a larger cavern.

The group awakens. Apparently everyone fell asleep after entering the cavern. You have no memory of anything after stepping into the cavern. Alyson, Carter and Jim, who had suffered minor wounds at the Lake of Fire, are fully healed. Your canteens are full and you feel like you just ate.

ALYSON: Alyson says, "I feel great. I just like to know what the heck happen when we slept."

S'LCH: When the vrusk realizes he has some missing time he check Vod's records to see if that has anything useful.

ALZARIX: He sit up and stretchs. Well I guess it's time to get going. Then he stops and looks at his small injuries from the lava crossing. Looking around he takes in his surroundings.

ALZARIX: What does our surroundings look like? Is it the same cavern we last entered? And were we all bedded down like normal or is everyone just laying down on the ground haphazardly?


CIARA: "What the..." Ciara starts realizing something just happened that she couldn't explain. She quickly checks her gear and her clothing for any signs of disturbance. "Um, did we just wake up? Does anyone recall going to sleep or anything else strange? I certainly don't."

CARTER: Is glad he's healed but he will check his tablet and other instruments to see if he can determine if they were moved or still in the same area they fell asleep in.

JIM JITSU: Jim Wakes up examines his wounds and other inconsistencies and says, "Very Strange."

JIM JITSU: He then does a martial arts kata to limber up and stretch.

The group looks around and tries to piece together what happened. They appear to be in the same cavern that they had just entered before they fell asleep. Nothing is missing and no one has any bruises that indicate that they fell to the ground. The best intelligence comes from Vod, who was not impacted. S'lch questions him and learns that the group entered the cavern and then everyone laid down on the ground and went to sleep. They slept for just over 3 hours. Just after falling asleep, a large biped creature entered the cavern from the opposite direction. He stopped and examined each member of the group. For those who were injured, he ran his hands over the injuries and, after a bit, the injuries began to healing at a rapid rate until, a couple minutes later, all signs of the injuries were gone. Then the biped departed back the way it came. Vod did not recognize the race of the bipedal creature. It had two arms and two legs. The legs were shorter and thicker than human legs while the arms were longer and thinner. The torso was large and barrel like. The creature was hairless.

Unsure what to make of their friendly benefactor, and some suspicious that perhaps not all is as benevolent as it seems, the group eventually presses on. For much of the previous day, after taking the right branch at the intersection after the lake, they traveled mostly north. However, the tunnel curved westward and then continued to curve so that the group is heading back to the south. They reach another large cavern with exits to the north, south and east, in addition to the west entrance through which the group entered. It feels like they are back close to where they started the previous morning.

As they consider which direction to take, they hear sounds from the south passage like a sudden tumble of rocks that lasts for a few seconds and then ends. They decide to investigate.

After walking for a few minutes in a gradually widening cavern, they see movement up ahead in the semi-darkness. Scouting more carefully, they move a bit closer and are surprised to see a robot!

The robot does not notice them. S'lch identifies it as a standard, rough terrain, utility robot. It is anthropomorphic in design with two long metal legs, a large torso with two long metal tentacles for arms that each end in a grasping hand. On top of the torso is a metal head. The utility bot was designed to carry heavy objects over uneven terrain but, as the group watches, it is clearly suffering from some defect of programming. It is picking up rocks and stacking them. Some of the rocks tumble as they are stacked though the bot does not seem to care about it. Clearly it is caught in some sort of faulty programming loop that has it picking up rocks and stacking them a few meters away in an endless loop. S'lch wonders how much life is left in the parabattery that powers the bot.

S'LCH: "I am thinking I should try to disable it and gain control... If for only for spare parts, power, and what it might have in its memory banks. As a utility bot it should not have any real attack or defense programing... But it is glitching and it can still hurt us simply with mass and momentum." The vrusk is willing to do what he has been trained to do but he looks to the group for their support and approval of this course of action.

CARTER: If S'lch can gain control Carter can possibly reprogram it or at least determine what the problem is...

GM: It doesn't look like Carter has any skill with programming robots - only computers. Robotic programming requires Roboticist skill, which only S'lch has.

GM: In order to get at the robot's mission and functions (which are both likely to be faulty), S'lch will first need to deactivate the robot, which means that he will need to get at the internal circuitry that is protected by a metal plate on the front of the robot's torso. S'lch does not see any security on the plate so it should be a simple matter of flipping the safety release of the plate, opening it up, and shutting down the bot. Most bots are programmed to resist this unless given a predetermined security signal so the bot might attack whoever tries to open the plate.

GM: If the group wants to try, the best bet is for S'lch and one other person to approach the bot and then have the other person attempt to open the plate (requires 1x DEX roll if the bot resists). Once open, S'lch can attempt to deactivate the bot. Deactivation is 100% but because the bot might be resisting, S'lch will need to make a 1x DEX roll to shut it down.

GM: Let me know who will approach with S'lch. Alyson and Alzarix have both shown themselves to be very dexterous. Once you decide, that person can attempt a DEX roll. If successful, S'lch can also attempt a DEX roll.

ALYSON: Alyson says,"Let's do this."

ALYSON: Round 1: [rolled 95 vs. DEX 75, 2x roll] for opening the robot panel.
ALYSON: Round 2: [rolled 13 vs. DEX 75, MADE BY A QUARTER!!!]

S'LCH: When Alyson volunteers the vrusk points out the panel on the robot and gives her any details that might be relavant.

S'LCH: Follow up Dex roll [rolled 100 vs. DEX 45, 3x roll]

S'LCH: Dex roll [rolled 89 vs. DEX 45, 2x roll]
S'LCH: Dex roll [rolled 3 vs. DEX 45, MADE BY A QUARTER!!!]




Alyson and S'lch approach the robot carefully. The bot ignores them completely until Alyson makes a sudden move forward and attempts to open the access panel. Alyson fails to open the panel but also avoids the robot's attack. She presses in again and this time is able to open the panel. S'lch immediately moves forward and attempts to shut down the robot but fails. The robot tries to hit him with its large fist as S'lch continues his attempts to shut down the robot. Fortunately the robot fails to connect and, on his third attempt, S'lch is able reach into the robot's torso through the access panel and shut it down. The robot immediately goes mostly lifeless, maintaining just enough power flow to keep the gyro-balancers working and preventing the robot from falling over.

Once shut down, S'lch breathes easier. He moves in and studies the internal circuitry and readout screen. He displays the robot's mission and functions and, as he suspected, the mission programming has gone haywire, likely through some sort of internal surge. The functional programming is still okay but will need to be altered to respond to different voice prints.

GM: S'lch will need to make an ALTERING MISSION roll (50 + (20 due to Roboticist level) - (20 due to robot level) = 50% chance of success). If he fails, he can spend time studying the robot and try again after 20 hours.

S'LCH: [rolled 49 (Success)]

S'lch spends about 10 minutes on the tiny, internal keypad fixing the scrambled mission code before issuing grunt of satisfaction. "The mission is restored, which is to respond to allowed voice commands to pick up, carry and put down objects. It can also hold and apply pressure as commanded. It is currently programmed to accept voice commands from 8 different voices. I will remove them and replace them with our voices."

JIM JITSU: Jim quips, "Great, we now have a lunk head that can 'pick things up and put them down.'"

ALYSON: Alyson says,"I would put in two to three people voice prints into this thing."

S'lch gets back to work, this time working on the functions.

GM: Normal chance for ALTERING FUNCTIONS is (60 + roboticist level - robot level) but this is a very simple alteration so you have a +20, giving you an 80% chance. Go ahead and send rolls for everyone you want to be able to give voice commands to the robot. There are 9 people in the group so if you want everyone to be able to give it commands, send about a dozen rolls or so. Each attempt takes 1d10 minutes so let's just say it will take 5 minutes per person.

GM: Remember to use the vroll command (vroll-80)

S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (100) Blunder!!!]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (77) Success]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (64) Success]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (35) Success]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (47) Success]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (8) Critical Success!]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (11) Critical Success!]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (26) Success]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (94) Failure]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (98) Absolute Failure!]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (35) Success]
S'LCH: ALTERING FUNCTIONS [rolled (14) Success]


S'lch runs into a problem right away. He can't figure out how to remove the existing voice imprints. The process seems simple enough but he simply can't get it to work. After spending close to an hour on it, he finally gives up and says, "The existing voice prints seem to be resistant to removal. There is only room to add two more voice prints. I will add myself and Carter and then spend time on it later trying to remove the old ones. It is concerning because if we run into pirates, and their voice prints are among the allowed ones, they can give commands to the robot that might cause us problems."

GM: S'lch adds himself and Carter so that they can give commands to the robot.



The group rests for the night and then presses on in the morning. They have only two options and one seems certain to lead back to the underground lake and the ledge they arrived on so they choose the other option.

Four hours later, with Ciara and Alzarix in the lead and illuminated by the light of a magnesium flare, a beam from a laser weapon suddenly lights up the darkness and barely misses Alzarix. The group, not particularly alert from the days and days of tramping through these dismal caverns, is suddenly very attentive and dives behind rocks, pillars and outcroppings of rock that line the tunnel walls.

As the group scatters and hides, no more laser fire comes there way. All is silent. The magnesium flare casts ominous shadows on the walls.

GM: Let me know how you want to respond. The laser blast came from at least 50 to 100 meters ahead.

MYKEL: The wearying slogging through the endless dark had taken it’s toll on Mykel – he was completely taken aback by the sudden laser fire and quickly dove for cover. “Is everyone all right?” he calls out quietly.

CIARA: The young scientist jumped at the sudden laser blast and dove for cover. "Did anyone see where that came from?" Lacking any experience in these matters, she took her cue from the combat savvy companions.

ALYSON: Alyson takes cover as soon she hears or sees the beam of laser light.

S'LCH: Having dived for cover the vrusk waited until it stopped for a good bit. Then after collecting his wits he asks.... "Why did it stop?"

ALYSON: Alyson says,"I wonder if it. Is someone firing or maybe robot control."

ALZARIX: taking cover he wished that the torch was not so bright. He tries to either put it behind some thing so he can use his goggle IR capabilities to see if he can see any heat signature across the cavern. Especially in the direction that the laser blast came from.

GM: My assumption is that Ciara is holding the magnesium flare.

The single laser shot does not repeat. After the one shot, all is quiet. The tunnel is well illuminated around the group by the light of the flare though everyone is currently under cover. Ciara does her best to shield the flare. There is no light coming from up the tunnel from which the laser shot came from. There is also no sound.

ENSIGN FURY: George whispers, "I'm thinking we should try to toss the flare down the tunnel and see if we can illuminate them. But whoever tosses it is probably going to get shot at."

CIARA: "Okay," Ciara whispers back. She steels herself and tosses the flare toward the tunnel.

CIARA (GM): Let me know what sort of rolls you need.


ALYSON: Alyson loud enough for her group to hear,"Let me start crawling. That way when you throw it i can be closer to the shooter."

ALZARIX: (GM) do I see any heat signature , with the IR setting on my alien tech goggles. in the direction of the laser shot or of the left and right of that spot? Or has the flare messed that all up?

GM: At this point, the magnesium flare is making the use of the IR very difficult. Alzarix does not see any heat signatures. If, instead of tossing the flare down the tunnel towards where the shot came from, Ciara carries it back down the tunnel away from where the shot came from, the Alzarix might be able to see a target.

GM: To set the stage, the group is in a tunnel that is ranges between 5 to 8 meters wide and about the same high. The shot came from further up the tunnel. You are not in a cavern. You are in a tunnel.



Alzarix whispers his idea to look ahead with the IR vision in his goggles but that would entail moving the torch back down the tunnel rather than forwards. The group agrees and Ciara passes the torch back. The last person in line is currently Jim, so he retreats under the cover of various rocks, fungi and stalactites. After moving about 20 meters back, he takes cover again and shields the torch behind some rocks.

Alzarix carefully pokes his head out, exposing as little as possible, and studies the tunnel ahead. No shots come his way. After a moment, his eyes adjust and he can clearly see two distinct heat signatures about 50 meters ahead. The one of the left is holding a rifle, almost certainly a laser rifle that is still showing hot. The other is on the right side of the tunnel. Both of them look human to Alzarix. The one with the laser rifle is peering down the barrel of the weapon, clearly waiting for a clear shot.

ENSIGN FURY: Once Alzarix whispers what he sees, George says, "We either need to deal with these guys or find another way and I don't think we have any more options on this side of the lake so we would have to cross back. How about if someone tosses the torch down towards them and then we follow after it. Hopefully the torch will prevent them from seeing and targeting us until we are upon them."

CIARA: Ciara thinks we should stick with moving forward through this tunnel. Not being experienced with combat, she doesn't know how hard it would be to rush upon their position but she likes the sound of tossing the torch just before them to affect their ability to see us moving up.

MYKEL: “If you get a good toss on the torch, we can start to move forward. We’ll probably just have to rush them the last bit, but we should try to stay at least a little bit in cover as we move up.”

ALYSON: Alyson was crawling looking for cover as she tries to get closer.

ALZARIX: "I'll let you guys with the skin suites go first. Maybe the ones with the black suits can try sneaking a bit closer before the torch is tosses?



With the exception of Alzarix with his IR goggles, the group is blinded by the darkness. Alyson had planned to crawl forward but cannot see well enough to know where she might find cover so holds for now. Once the torch is tossed down the tunnel, there should be enough residual light to be able to move forward and find cover on the way.

Jim passes the torch back up to the front, with everyone staying in cover. Mykel moves forward, exposing himself only briefly but no shots are fired. He takes the torch and then, taking a deep breath, he steps out of cover slightly and tosses the torch as far as he can down the passage with the hope that it will land next to the two men that Alzarix spotted with his goggles. Teh yazirian tells Mykel that the passage is relatively straight and to toss it straight and true and about 50 meters if he can.

GM: Mykel can send both a PS and DEX roll to see how well he does in tossing the torch.

MYKEL: Dex Roll: [rolled 32 vs. DEX 60, 1x roll]

CARTER: Will be ready to charge down the hall with his trusted Nightstick as soon as he hears the signal.



As Mykel steps out and throws the torch, another laser blast shoots down the tunnel towards him but misses. Mykel tosses the torch down the tunnel back in the direction the laser blast came from and then darts forward into the cover of rocks about 10 meters further down the passage. Alyson crawls forward staying in cover as much as she can. The torch lands a bit short and neither Mykel nor Alyson are able to see the shooter but it is also likely that the shooter is not able to see them. Both scramble another 15 meters down the passage with no shots ringing out.

Behind them, the rest of the group also advances staying behind cover as best they can.

Mykel and Alyson are now about 20 meters from the torch, which is lying in the middle of the tunnel. If they move any further forward, they will be illuminated by the torch.

Suddenly both of them see a human face peer quickly out from behind a rock up ahead and then withdraw. His position is about 5 meters beyond where the torch lies.

GM: Basically you have 25 meters separating you from where you saw the man. Any further movement forward will make you easily visible in the light of the torch. Let me know what you want to do. Some options including darting forward from cover to cover and risking several shots, or you could simply rush all the way up hoping to make the distance before the man looks out again. Alzarix mentioned seeing two heat signatures so the assumption is that there are at least two of them and there could be more.

ALYSON: Alyson has a gyro jet pistol is it in range?

GM: 25 meters is medium range (-20) for a gyrojet pistol. If you want to shoot, go ahead and send your attack and damage rolls.

CIARA (OOC): We could have someone shoot some suppressive fire down the tunnel while Mykel rushes forward. It would be key to make sure the shots don't come close to Mykel. If someone further back does it, then Alyson and Mykel could both rush forward, Alyson ready to fire at anyone that breaks cover.

GM: Just waiting for combat action from Alyson (let me know if you want me to make the rolls).


ENSIGN FURY: When he sees Mykel charge forward, George will also charge forward. He has no ranged weapon so his plan is to get into melee range and use his martial arts.

MYKEL: As soon as the flare settles, Mykel charges forward, keeping himself doubled over to make himself as small a target as possible and trying to get into melee range as quickly as possible.

CARTER: Will also charge, but down the opposite wall avoiding Allyson to get into Nightstick range.

ALZARIX: He will advance along the walls behind those that have a skeinsuit on asbhe has no protection on. He will wait till after the engagement has started to decide what to do.

GM: I was waiting for Alyson's attack action since she wanted to shoot at one of the pirates but I will go ahead and make her rolls:

ALYSON: Initiative [rolled 11], Need 58 or less to hit not taking into account modifiers [rolled 7], Damage [rolled 6 5 - Total: 11].

Alyson shoots her gyrojet pistol at the pirate closest to her and hits. The damage is partially absorbed by the pirates skeinsuit.

With the shot, Mykel, Carter, Alzarix and Ensign Fury all rush forward. None of the four reach the pirates before the end of the turn.

I haven't seen a turn from Jim but I would assume that he will also move forward.

Pirate 1 shoots at Carter with the laser rifle and hits for 16 damage. Laser damage is not reduced by a skeinsuit so Carter takes the full amount.

Pirate 2 uses his gyrojet rifle to shoot at Mykel as he runs forward. His shot goes high and misses.

As the group charges forward, pirate one yells a warning that the group is charging. This prompts three other pirates to charge forward from the darkness of the cavern behind the pirates.

Pirates 3 and 5 are armed with axes while pirate 4 has a sword. All five of the pirates are wounded. Pirate 2 is badly wounded (down over half his STA).

On the second turn, pirate 1 shoots at Carter again but misses. Carter reaches pirate 1 and can attack.

Mykel is within the minimum range of pirate 2's gyrojet rifle so he drops it and pulls out a knife. Mykel can attack pirate 2.

George, Alzarix and Jim continue forward and encounter pirates 3 and 5. Pirate 4 stops to help against Mykel with his sword. (Let me know if Mykel will attack pirate 2 or 4.)

GM: To summarize, I need attack rolls from Carter, Alzarix, Jim, George and Mykel. The melee combatants make it too dangerous for Alyson, Gorman, Ciara or S'lch to attempt to use ranged weapons.

ENSIGN FURY: Attacking pirate 5 with martial arts (2 attacks)
ENSIGN FURY: Initiative [rolled 8], Need 47 or less [rolled 4], [rolled 46], Dmg 5

ALYSON: Alyson will join in the melee. Backing up Carter.

CIARA: Once the others charge forward, Ciara draws her sword and follows keeping to the left side of the tunnel. She will look to move up and help fight the pirates.

CARTER: will wince as part of his skin is blown off and he will attempt to cave in the offending pirate's skull in retaliation. Attack the pirate with his trusted (bloddy) Nightstick.

CARTER TECH: Initiative [rolled 14], Need 55 or less to hit [rolled 86], Damage [rolled 3 7 (+2)- Total: 12]

ALZARIX: Triggering his Vibroknife he attacks Pirate 3.

ALZARIX: INIT: [rolled 9] SC [rolled (62) Failure] DMG [rolled 2 4 (+3)- Total: 9]


MYKEL: Charges forward and attacks with the nightstick.

MYKEL: Init [rolled 7], 1 attack, need 55 to hit [rolled 59], Dmg [rolled 9 7 (+3)- Total: 19]

MYKEL (GM): When I was researching old posts to find what roll to use for his attack, I discovered that Mykel should also have a laser pistol? Is that correct?




Mykel is facing two pirates, one with a sword and one with a knife. Mykel attacks the pirate with the sword but misses. Both of the pirates hit him. The sword causes 17 damage, but Mykel's skeinsuit absorbs 9 points so he only takes 8 points of damage. The pirate with the knife hits for 7 points of damage and a knockout blow. Mykel has Combat Luck at level 1 giving him 1 Luck point so my assumption is that he uses it to force the pirate to reroll the attack. The reroll is a miss.

GM: And yes, Mykel has a Laser Pistol. The clip has 14 charges remaining.

Ensign Fury is facing one pirate armed with an axe. The pirate hits George for 12 points but this is reduced to 6 points by his skeinsuit. George retaliates with martial arts, hitting twice for 5 damage each. The pirate is wearing a skeinsuit so each attack does only 2 damage, but one of the attacks is a knockout blow and the pirates collapses to the ground.

Jim and Alzarix are facing pirate 3 armed with an axe. Alzarix misses with his attack but so does the pirate.

GM: I have not received attack rolls for Jim yet. Go ahead and send them or let me know if you want me to make the rolls for you.

Carter is facing pirate 1 armed now with a knife, having dropped the laser rifle. Carter misses with his ominously carved nightstick. Fortunately the pirate also misses.

Alyson moves up behind Carter but the cramped space prevents her from getting in to help Carter. She has put away her gyrojet pistol and is ready to employ martial arts given the opportunity.

Ciara, Gorman and S'lch all move forward. Ciara is armed with a sword and moves around to her left to attempt to find a way to assist. She moves behind George and around the rock that pirate 2 had been taking cover behind. She will be able to attack pirate 2 on turn 3.

GM: This battle represented the first use of a Luck point in combat. Mykel used his one and only Luck point to force the pirate to reroll a knockout blow. Note that bad guys can also have Combat Luck (and thus, Luck points) but usually only significant bad guys such as leader types.

GM: Pirate 5 is down due to a knockout blow from Ensign Fury. George can move up next turn to assist Mykel.

GM: I just need attack rolls from Jim to finish resolving turn 2 but everyone else can go ahead and send their actions and rolls for both turns 3 and 4 now.
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