• NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.

Babylon 5: Outrageous Fortune

Ashley scowls at herself as she continues and shakes her head. "And Sarhat's a pilot...all right, all right...everyone to the bridge then, once Kirth's on board."
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Sarhat shakes his head. This is not going right he thinks to himself as he heads to the bridge. I will try to initiate the controls, but I might need translation help.
 

With care, Kirth makes it back to the Lashaiaj without incident and once he is back on board you head for the bridge, guided by Cheshana. A mix of fear and nervous excitement radiates from the Ensorrians.

The command section of the Markab liner is in the non-rotating core. Access is via the transport tube system, and you feel the pseudo-gravity fade away to nothing as the tube reaches your destination. Since the Fortune has no artificial gravity (highly primitive in the eyes of Sarhat and Croft), you are used to the sensation, if not necessarily comfortable with it. Only Sarhat moves with grace and ease as you pull yourselves along the hand-holds to the bridge.

The heavy-duty hatchway to the bridge hangs open, rocking ever so slightly under the action of the rotating section and its counterweight. Inside is a strange sight, and Cheshana makes a shocked sound. The Ensorrians give off a pulse of terror.

Monitor lights indicate that the ship's systems are still functional, and seem to be within safe parameters - there are no blaring warnings or the like. But in the centre of the bridge somebody has assembled bones, skulls and wiring into a macabre sculpture, a memento mori composed of dead Markab. The bones are scraped clean, bound together by parts of the ship and stacked in the centre of the bridge.

[sblock=OOC]
Untrained Pilot check, Take 10 = 11 for Kirth performing a "Return to Base" maneuvre (DC 10).

Computer Use 18+9+2 for Kirth to access central core.

Finally found a good resolution picture of the Kar'Ti (from Confessions and Lamentations). The Lashaiaj is simialr design, but the inner part is smaller than the outer prongs. The bridge is where all the lights are at the middle front.
[/sblock]

Kar%27ti-01.png
 

Kirth Warren

Kirth looks up at the shocked Ensorrians and Ceshana after he has successfully returned the ship to base. "Not exactly a 'lively' crew we have here, but everything seems to be going about as well as possible, under the circustances, wouldn't you say, Ceshana? Is there some 'cleansing' or something that we need to do now?"
 

Croft raises a painstakingly manicured eyebrow at the assemblage of bones and considers it a moment as an art object instead of the remains of this ill-fated ship's crew, while taking out his bit discreetly. "I could find a buyer for that, but it might take a week...give or take." He look at the Markaab while the others bustle around doing the "pilot" thing. "Was this ship property of the Markaab government or privately owned? Because I could find a buyer it as well." None of the others can understand how someone could shift gears during this type of situation so seamlessly, but the Centari manages to pull it off somehow. "Should we even bother to see if what we came to find is still here? Or, are we assuming that whatever we are now following was it?"
 

Kirth Warren

"I'm all for looking around here first. That would be much, much easier, and carry far less risk as well."
 

Sarhat pushes some bones out of the way as he makes his way to the flight consoles. It was a macabre sight but nothing that'd really bother a warrior. He starts as quickly as possible to initiate the flight systems.
 

Kirth Warren

Kirth looks about for the gunnery controls, if there are any. It would be very unfortunate if such were necessary, but, he supposed, better to be prepared for the worst.
 

Cheshana is stood with his head bowed whilst everyone fires questions at him. Finally, he touches his closed fists to his chest, then his forehead, some kind of ritual gesture, and looks at Croft.

"This... not... Markab work," he says. "This... not our way with dead." He winces visibly as Sarhat clears the bones out of his way, then tries to adopt a professional demeanour. "This ship, all her crew, must become part of our great memorial," he says firmly. "ISA law say that all Markab artifacts not be sold. President Sheridan make law himself." He looks suspiciously at Croft, perhaps remembering that the Centauri Republic is not part of the Interstellar Alliance. Then he sets to helping Kirth and Sarhat interpret the controls.

The ship has weaponry, but mostly defensive. Compared to the single particle beam of the Fortune it is practically a warship, but fighting would still need to be done at close range.

All systems seem to be good, a quick diagnostic shows that everything is still ticking over and working within safe parameters. The sensor array shows the Fortune still heading towards the jump point but there m ight still be time to intercept her.

The engines haven't been fired for years, so Sarhat brings them online slowly. Main thrusters are heating nicely. Maneuvre thrusters ready to fire. Then:

Kkrr-Booommmmmmmm

The ship is rocked by a huge explosion. Vented gas and debris can be seen out of the bridge viewport jetting into space from the rear. The ship's aspect lurches violently, moving the gas giant further into view in front of you. The superstructure groans under the sudden violence, and warning lights suddenly begin flashing on the engineering console. Waves of fear and surprise emanate from the Ensorrians. Markab bones drift loose and float around the bridge.

"Damage to docking thrusters," says Cheshana. "But... system fine before. No reason to go wrong!"

[SBLOCK=OOC]
The ship can still be flown, and the damaged area has already been sealed off. However, lacking some of the fine control she is going to be a pig to maneuvre. Assuming nothing else explodes. Oh, and the orbit has shifted. She's now got about 3 days before being dragged down by the gas giant.
[/sblock]
 

Ashley bit down on a swear as she was rocked nearly off her feet; only a quick grab at a railing saves her from being dumped.

"There's no time," she snapped. "Once the Fortune gets into hyperspace we will -lose her- if we're not in right on top of her. We have to get there as close to her as possible."

She took a deep breath. "Okay, Sarhat, we need you to pilot and Kirth you need to run ops. Cheshana, they'll need you for translation. That means Croft and I will have to search this ship as we go and make sure there's no more unhappy little accidents."
 

Into the Woods

Remove ads

Top