Turn 3 Home Away from Home

[Pale Rider]

Date:Tuesday August 29, 2179, 1400 UTC
Location: Bordino Sector, Hadley’s Hope
Conspiracy Level: 1
Tech Level: 1
Mission Time Index: 0:04:00

The Eights had made contact with an unknown hostile. Lt. Knudson had loaded his team in the APC and moved to them to the ghost town of Hadley’s Hope. They had rolled into the main concourse and located the scenes of multiple conflicts. Several of the rooms were burned out. When they entered the second level the rooms are disheveled and standing water from where many of the outer windows were shattered and rain had flooded the interior. The stench of rotting food filled the air.
They took the stairs until they reached the bottom level. A sign near the door read Quarters. Dried blood showed along the wall and examining it they realize the doors have been welded shut and it would take too long to enter.
Retreating back along the corridor they find an entrance that isn’t blocked. Entering they can tell that some major crap had gone down here. Shell Casings littered the area. Bullet holes pierced the walls, and large irregular gaping holes were all over the place. Signs of a fire were evident around a ventilation shaft, the flames had burst outwards engulfing the walls. They made their way into what remained of the medlab and set up camp there.
<Actions>

[- JR -]

Sara picked up one of the casings. "Whew. USCM. Looks like the other fellas were through here." She let it fall back to the floor and glanced at the bloodstains. "Let's, uh... Let's hope they're okay." She prodded at one of the gaping holes with her foot. "This don't look like grenades though. More 'a them critters, I reckon."

She stepped back and waved the motion tracker around. "Don't wait for the beep now," she cautioned. Seems they can sit real still when they want to." She buried her nose in the device again, looking for any sign of the marines, the colonists, or more the strange lifeforms.

<Tag Squad>

[Hayden Knutson]

Lieutenant Knutson had prepared a strategy. Corporal Sykes had lost a lot of blood, and needed some real medical attention, not some hurried treatment on the floor of a bouncing APC. He had been hoping to set up in Operations, with the medbay nearby for easy access. However, Operations had clearly been the site of a serious firefight. The floor was riddled with massive holes so big you could fall into them. The north exit was welded shut, but the south door seemed to have been torn open by some incredible force.

The medbay was more intact, with only a few small holes in the floor. There were signs of water damage, the sprinklers had apparently gone off in the operation room. The window connecting the two rooms had been shot out as far as he could tell, and glass littered the floor.

Knutson had brought three sentry guns with them. He made Jonsson, Ragnarson, and Wang lug the massive crates, being three of his strongest marines. He ordered his marines to take 4-hour shifts of sentry duty, always having two on duty at a time.

"Wang, take Honeysett and set up one sentry gun to defend each door to the Medbay." he ordered.
<Tag Wang and Honeysett>

"Jonsson, Pitt, Ragnarson, Caleija, I want you to investigate Operations and report back anything you find."
<Tag Jonsson, Pitt, Ragnarson, Caleija>

"Hall and Grayham, you two take the first shift of sentry duty."
<Tag Hall and Grayham>

"Perez, with Sykes out of commission, you are Squadleader for Second Squad."
<Tag Perez>

[- JR -]

Knutson had brought three sentry guns with them. He made Jonsson, Ragnarson, and Wang lug the massive crates, being three of his strongest marines. He ordered his marines to take 4-hour shifts of sentry duty, always having two on duty at a time.

"Wang, take Honeysett and set up one sentry gun to defend each door to the Medbay." he ordered.

"Yessir!" Sara fastened the active motion tracker to her belt next to her Geiger counter and rushed to set up the defenses, waddling toward the nearest door with the large crate.

[JuanPerez]

<Location: Hadley's Hope, Medbay>

Perez wasn't in the mood of talking during the rest of the short trip in the APC. He summoned a protein bar out of a pocket and ate quietly. The Lieutenant ordered Priest to drive to Hadley's Hope. That made quite sense, because there was far better medical equipment. After chewing up the bar, he used the time of driving to pack two bags full of m56 smartgun detachable drum magazines. One for the 1st squad's smartgunner, Caleija, and the other for himself. If he should buy it at this rock, it would'nt be because he ran out of ammo.

He handed the bag to her ... "Here ya go, kid. We might need 'em badly" ... while preparing himself for the dispersal. Slingin the ammo bag, takin a last nip of the canteen. Check the smartgun once more and clipping in a fully loaded magazine.

They reached the main entrance area without further complications or contacts and Priest haltet the APC. The Lieutenant ordered to take three sentry gun cases with them. They left the APC and entered the colonie's main building. It was obvious at first sight, that something really bad happened in there. Lots of damage, makeshift barricades, burnt-through holes from the ceiling to sub-levels, blood. There was no doubt, that these bugs had overrun the colony. But something was strange. He could not say what exactly at the moment. Slowly, they made their way to Medical. It seemed, that Lieutenant Knutson had figured some sort of a plan. He assembled the marines and issued out orders ...

"Perez, with Sykes out of commission, you are Squadleader for Second Squad."

"Yes, Sir."

he turned to 2nd squad, after Knutson had finished ...

"Wang, Honeysett, you heard the man, report back after each one of the sentry guns had beed deployed"
<Tag Wang, Honeysett>

"Hall and Grayham, i want you to check the medical area's perimeter, but you stick together, no solo-flights, got that? Everything, that has more than two legs is shot on sight, that's an order. If you notice somethin strange, report back. Now, move out. Stay sharp. In 4 hours, you will be relieved."
<Tag Hall, Grayham>

after he issued out the orders, it suddenly struck him, what it was, that made him feel so strange before and he walked up to the Lieutenant ...

"Sir, got a couple of seconds for me?"
<Tag Knutson>

[maxvale76]

Samantha Hall still felt terrible about inadvertently causing damage to a fellow marine, but she was glad the wounds didn't appear to be too serious. Still, the guilt was gnawing at her and she vowed to be more careful about shooting those things if they were near fellow marines in the future.

When the LT gave the orders, she was a bit surprised to be paired up with a member of 2nd squad, but with an apologetic shrug to Pitt, she looked back at the Officer and said; "Aye-aye Skipper"; and moved off to take up Sentry Duty.

Before she left the others though, she had a thought; "Hey, I just had an idea. Does anyone know if we have any Riot-control grenades? You know, de type wid de rubber pellets?"; she asked in an excited, fast tone that brought her accent out more. "I was tinkin' dat maybe if one of those bugs gets too close to a fellow Marine, we blast it off wit' da riot 'nades. Tink' it's worth a try?"

<Tag LT>
<Tag Everyone>

[Hayden Knutson]

Lieutenant Knutson considered Hall's suggestion. "It's not a bad idea. The only problem is to get the riot grenades, we'd have to trek back to the APC. There's a few more defensive meausures I would like to have here, but we have to weigh the risk of sending marines out there and splitting up the group again. If we have to go there for some other reason, make sure to grab a few."
<Tag Hall>

Knutson turned to Perez. "I have time, Lance Corporal. Do you want to talk here, or should we go somewhere private?"
<Tag Perez>

(OOC: If your character wants to say something in private, you can always say (Roll:Whisper) or something like that and send it in PMs. That also allows other players to roll and have a chance to overhear the conversation.)

[JuanPerez]

<Location: Hadley's Hope, Medial Bay>

"I have time, Lance Corporal. Do you want to talk here, or should we go somewhere private?"

"No need for a private chatter, Sir. Just two questions.

First, the easy one, who of the Team is handy with a motion tracker, besides Wang? It might be a good idea to pair an expert with a guard for sentry duties, Sir.

The second is more a .... uh .... curiousity. Obviously those bugs created havoc in here. Must have been hell of a fight. And our boys gave 'em hell, too, according to the number of shell cases, piled up over there.

But ... ah .... there is something strange. Where are the corpses? I did not see a single body, Sir. There supposed to be over 150 colonists. Just wanted to point this one out to you, Sir.

That is all, Sir."
<Tag Knutson>

Then he awaited his reply, as Hall suggested to use riot grenades. He turned to her ...

"Ask Priest, how many we got of those in our APC. He supposed to know best."
<Tag Hall>

Then he turned to the LT again.

[Apachetear]

"Wang, Honeysett, you heard the man, report back after each one of the sentry guns had beed deployed"
<Tag Wang, Honeysett>

Jacob moved to the order.

What had happened here? Was it the creatures? where were the bodies?

Taking a sentry gun, he hefted it up and manouvered it to where it was supposed to be and started setting it up. every movement he made setting it up was accompanied by a small wish that the process worked, and that these machines would be able to protect them.

Sykes was out. It had looked like a pretty bad wound. It would no doubt leave a scar, a bookmark to forever allow him to remember that creature by.

Leaving the sentry gun deployed and working, he moved back to rejoin the squad. Perez was the leader now, seemed like a sensible move to him. The man seemed to have his shit together.

Wonder how many of us will walk out of this place. One squad has made contact once, and barely made it away.

"Perez is right, where are the bodies?" He cast his eyes around. He didn't think that all the marines had made it out, and judging by the carnage, he wouldn't think they'd have had time to collect their dead. Something was wrong here.

<Tag Perez, Tag Knutson>

He strained his ears to hear for sounds, ended up thinking he heard scrabbling and scratching, but quickly convinced himself that it must be the recesses of his mind trying to unnerve him. It was working, sadly.

He followed his ritual, the way he prepared for combats. He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose, and out through his mouth a few times. He opened his eyes and ran the tip of his tongue over the ridges and valleys of his teeth, and bounced from foot to foot very lightly. It made him smile, reflexively, and he suddenly felt better about things.

Weird how those little actions could help provide clarity. They were in the unknown, and a very dangerous unknown at that, the universe didn't give a shit - it was up to them, he was sure that he wasn't going to allow anything to end him or his unit just yet, not on their first mission together.

"What next boss?" he asked Perez. While running another quick rifle check. The centre of his chest was starting to tighten like a winch. Looks like he chose the wrong week to quit smoking...

<Tag Perez>

[Medic Guy]

Clint took in all the scenes of a previous battle or battles that had taken place within the colony's main structure and found it very odd that there were no bodies from either side, human or whatever these scorpion like creatures are. There were signs that both sides had taken damage by the blood splatter and irregularly shaped holes cut into floors, ceilings, and walls where acid had etched into or through the surfaces they had touched. He was beginning to get the feeling that the marines would have had a hard time of it with the APC and dropship both taken out. The colonists wouldn't have stood much of a chance at all if the marines were not already present. From the state of the facility so far, he found it very unlikely that any human was likely here still. He listened to the talk of the others as he attempted to sterilize instruments to work on Sykes' leg wounds. It seemed that a fair amount of the medical instruments were still available.

He started two IVs to begin getting fluids back into the corporal and went to inspect the medbay's whole blood and plasma availability to see what might match up with Sykes and whether or not it was still usable.

He then began removed Sykes pants to get better access to the wounds and began disinfecting the area to reduce the likelihood of sepsis. He examined the wounds closely to determine the next course of treatment.

<Tag Pale>

Clint saw Dirk and called to him, "There may be schematics for the facility on the intelligence unit that I brought, if we could hook it up to a functional monitor it may make planning a fighting strategy a little easier. If there's not a functional monitor I've got my data pad, but everything would be much smaller to read."

<Tag Dirk>

[JuanPerez]

<Location: Hadley's Hope, Medical Bay, First Floor>

while he awaited Lieutenant Kuntson's response, Private Honeysett came around. He had also noticed the missing bodies. After performing a quick weapon's check he asked ...

"What next boss?"

... as Kuntson seemed to think about his reponse, he turned to him ...

"All Sentry Guns workin? Nice job, Jacob.

We relieve Hall and Grayham in four hours, until then, we will take a closer look around here. There must be some clues, of what had happened. Did you see any signs of a fire in here? Sprinklers had been actived obviously, but i did not see why at first sight. It doesn't look like a fire has burned here. Let's examine that. Maybe we unding something usefull for survival or learn something new about the show, that happened in here."
<Tag Honeysett>

OOC: If Knutson has nothing to say, fine. Perez and Honeysett will start to investigate the Medical Area in detail, starting in the room, where in the movie Ripley and Newt got attacked by the stasis-released facehuggers. Perez is courious, what triggered the sprinklers. As there is nothing to find, because Ripley did it with her lighter, he will investigate the room in detail, opening drawers, lockers, look under crap and all that stuff.

if needed, roll Awareness Level Professional each time available

[Hayden Knutson]

Lieutenant Knutson listened patiently to his men. "I think Wang is the only one who's certified with the motion tracker, but I'd hope you all could use it as long as she sets it up for you."
<Tag Perez>

"As for the bodies, maybe the creatures ate them all? I don't know. If anyone survived they might have buried the bodies. Nobody could have survived the explosion of the Atmosphere Processor, though."
<Tag Perez, Honeysett>

[Dirk Pitt]

Dirk looked around for a moment before starting off towards operations. There was a fight that had happened here, and he wasn't sure who won. He couldn't really tell where the signs of battle ended and the damage from the AP explosion started.

"You heard the orders. First squad, on me we're heading to operations" He said as he lit a cigarette.
<Tag first squad>

Clint saw Dirk and called to him, "There may be schematics for the facility on the intelligence unit that I brought, if we could hook it up to a functional monitor it may make planning a fighting strategy a little easier. If there's not a functional monitor I've got my data pad, but everything would be much smaller to read."

<Tag Dirk>

Let's hope that something is still working in operations. Maybe it can answer a few questions or atleast let us know where the missing Marines are."
<Tag Clint>

Getting his M41A ready, Dirk moved through the darkness towards operations.

[Nicole Grayham]

"Hall and Grayham, you two take the first shift of sentry duty."
<Tag Hall and Grayham>

Yes, Sir."

She looked to Hall and nodded slowly. She didn´t knew much about Hall but for now she was her life insurance. Niki didn´t forget what has happened at the apc, her legs were still hurt. And she knew how fast and dangerous this bugs were.

"Hall and Grayham, i want you to check the medical area's perimeter, but you stick together, no solo-flights, got that? Everything, that has more than two legs is shot on sight, that's an order. If you notice somethin strange, report back. Now, move out. Stay sharp. In 4 hours, you will be relieved."
<Tag Hall, Grayham>

"Yes, Sir." She looked again to Hall. "Let's go."

While they were patroling Niki tried to stay sharpened and alerted, but honestly, she was a little bit tired. Maybe talk would help, but she didn´t know what about and if this startled the bugs. So she silently walked around the parameter. While doing this she was thinking about this bugs. She had the dubious pleasure of seeing it from near. And this thing had a plating and two mouths. What kind of animal had two mouths, acid blood and a plating? She didn´t know if this thing had eyes already. And now thinking about it, she was sure it hadn´t had eyes. How could it see them? This were good questions, maybe she should ask Perez later. But in her opinion these things were straight from hell like demons, maybe they were demons. She didn´t know, but it made her worry and if they were hellbugs, they maybe had a hive one big cluster full of them. No ... they weren´t from hell, this was hell.

<roll awarness>
<roll scouting>

[maxvale76]

Samantha nodded at the responses to her question about Riot-grenades and tapped into the comms to ask the android Priest about it. "Priest, mon...this Hall from 1st squad. If you can find a case of Riot-control grenades, could you bring dem to us? Tanks."

With that, she took up her assigned duty of keeping a watch with Grayham. Seeing the woman limping a bit and with a dark look in her eyes; Samantha at first just respected her privacy. After awhile though, her guilt and sense of compassion overrode her and she whispered; "If you're hurtin', I'm cool with you leaning againt the wall or sumting' for a minute"; she said kindly while glancing at her legs. "I don't tink we ever really met...I'm Samantha...call me Sam. I'm from de New Kingston Colony. How 'bout you?" she asked in a quiet voice; even as she kept a brisk perimeter walk/watch, her senses on full alert....

<Tag Priest>
<Tag Grayham>
<Roll Awareness>