PHASE 9 - 00:22
The entire station shakes as the five remaining bombs explode (Midnight successfully disarmed this one). All of the lights go out as do the artificial gravity plates in the floor of the station.
MIDNIGHT (OOC): I've never had a character go out in a blaze of glory; this came too close for comfort. Thanx Surge for dropping all of that chatter and helping Midnight!!!!
MIDNIGHT: "Thanx for the lift, Jack, my flight's not quick enough by a long shot. Plus, I don't know that I have it in me right now. Surge, thanx for your help, that was way too close." Midnight tries not to relax too much knowing they may be at full battle stations as soon as Rock undocks from the station.
JACK: Jack braces himself in place in case a section nearby was opened to hard vacuum and the atmosphere tries to blow him out the hole, but when nothing happens he grabs Midnight and starts maneuvering in the now Zero-G conditions back out toward the docking ring. Could be comical to have Surge grab on and provide steering jets with his flight while Jack provides the bouncing thrust with his leaping ;)
JACK: Given we are not positive there are not more devices, I think we still need to evacuate. Jack awaits confirmation of everyone's status through Surge.
All of the bombs have detonated. The structure of the station is still intact but there has been a lot of damage. There have also been a lot of deaths and injuries. Some of the bombs penetrated the hull of the orbital but automated damage control kicked in to reseal the breaches. It seems obvious that the main intent was not to destroy the orbital, but rather to cause a lot of panic and confusion.
KYLE: Kyle would like to stay and help with the injured.
OMEN: Vareq looks at ROCK's sensor screens as his prey gets away. "Another day. Another day." He pulls Mek out of his pocket. He searches for any mental powers at work on Mek. Then he does Telepathy to ascertain there are no post-hypnotic suggestions.
TECH: Discrminatory Mental Awareness [rolled 7]
Activation roll telepathy 15- [rolled 8]
ECV 10 (ego should have returned by now) [rolled 11]
Telepathy [rolled 6 5 2 4 5 4 5 5 1 6 5 3 6 4 1 - Total: 62, Body: 16]
OMEN: going deep (+30) to make sure that the Anubi or anyone else didn't sneak in any hypnotic suggestions or anything else.
GM: As Vareq pulls Mek out of his pocket, he notes that Mek is injured. There is blood on him, though not a lot. Vareq sees no active mental influences on Mek right now. He activates a deep mental probe and begins searching his memory and subconscious for any signs of tampering, but finds nothing.
JACK: Presumably someone finally tells Jack what Mek's status is, and we get him checked on by Kyle, at least briefly. If he can be awakened safely, he could even help with search and rescue in piles of rubble or something.
With so much death and destruction at Black Moon Orbital, the team decides to remain behind and help where they can. And a lot of help is needed. After the bombs go off, there are many people trapped and dying. The group is especially well-suited to aiding the victims of the bombs.
JACK: Jack doesn't really hesitate to help, but he does occasionally worry about all the attention we're getting this close to the Black Moon MULE.
The first priority is to make sure there are no more bombs that are going to go off. Surge and Midnight form the Bomb, Find and Disarm Team.
SURGE: With a lack of gravity, Surge will provide the movement for the two zipping around the station, even in pitch darkness, honing in on any more bombs they might find.
SURGE: After the bomb scan has been completed Surge will assist with getting power and gravity systems back online for the station. He'll use his EM senses/skills to probe the station's infrastructure for the points of damage and memorize them. He'll also establish radio contact (or try) with the Station's administration to coordinate his efforts with theirs.
The second priority is to rescue people who are trapped, injured and dying. Omen's mind scans are of great value here, as are Jack's ability to survive in a vacuum long enough to reach trapped victims and then protect them once he does.
JACK: I'm sure Omen's mind scans are key to making sure this all takes a lot less time than simply sifting through all the rubble looking for survivors. Jack is grateful for his help, he'd have had to spend weeks searching on his own.
Kyle quickly sets up triage and finds volunteers that are able to help him. With lights and gravity plates out, the triage is set up in the orbital's medical ward, where emergency generators are functioning and providing a minimal level of light and gravity.
JACK: Can Surge help with the power issues or does he spend hours and hours searching for bombs? Midnight could even potentially help with providing gravity to a section of the orbital temporarily while we move people out of it. Is Kyle's triage ward well supplied?
Vamperina helps where she can. She moves quickly through sections of the orbital that have not lost atmospheric integrity, looking for people who need help, using her speed and her knowledge of first response medicine to great effectiveness.
All of this takes time. The actions of the group come to the notice of the administrator of the orbital who is only too happy to have the group helping out. Jack tells him that a group of terrorists is behind the attack and gives them a description of their ship.
JACK: Jack cooperates with the administrator where he can, asking where he wants the large rubble stored for later re-use or disposal, checking if any supplies are critically low, or in sections that are cut off by hard vacuum.
JACK: What mention of our mutancy is made by either survivors who are seeing it in action or the administrator? No news is good news I guess, but hopefully we're getting some good press here, even if it is only among the people we help.
Eventually, after several hours, power is restored to the orbital. By this time, the trapped and injured have all been found and recovered. A temporary mortuary has been set up and the grim task of recovering the dead is underway.
Using PEBBLE and other system vessels, the task of recovering the lifeboats begins.
JACK: If pilots are needed, Jack will help, assuming his higher priority tasks are complete (search and rescue), but it sounds like he would also be very helpful in removing large rubble during the search for the dead as well.
Thirty six hours have passed before some semblence of order has returned to the station. The number of dead, initially thought to be in the hundreds, is eight four. Several of the wounded are in critical condition but the fast actions of the group, and modern medicine, make it likely that they will all survive.
GM: Let me know if everyone is fine with this turn and, if not, what you want me to change. Also let me know what you want to do next.
SURGE (OOC): Other than what I mentioned above it sounds fine. If Jack requests Surge help in another manner, he'll do so. He also is in agreement with the approach of minimal visible powers and only where it's needed. The most visible power for Surge that they are likely to see is his flight. All of his other powers that he'll be using are IPE by nature.
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MIDNIGHT (OOC): Fine with the turn. Just curious if we found any more bombs.
GM: You did not find any more bombs.
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OMEN: Before dropping his mental probe on Mek, he will scan Mek to
1) find out what happened on board the ship when he was 'posessed'
2) find out how he met the Anubi, or if he's aware of any connection with them
3) What happened on the station
OMEN: When that's over, he will turn Mek over to Kyle for medical attention, and help finding the surviviors with mind scans as Jack suggested.
OMEN: Others may notice that Omen looks pale and exhausted like he did after the fight on Quantseqr.
GM: At this point Mek is still very unconscious and wounded. Omen has no problem delving deep into Mek's mind though the results are not particularly helpful.
1) Mek does not know what happened an board the ship when he was possessed.
2) He also does not know anything more about the Anubi. Mek was ordering his drink and he turned and Brother Gray was sitting on the stool next to him. Brother Gray said "Hello, I am Brother Gray of the Anubi Brotherhood." The next memory Mek has is of the battle when he came out from under Brother Gray's domination.
3) Mek left ROCK, booked passage on the SOLAR SUNS, dumped his gear there, and then went to the bar where he met Brother Gray.
GM: Others will definitely notice that Omen looks pale and exhausted as he helps to find survivors. However, his mind scans definitely save some lives as he is able to find those still living, allowing Jack to concentrate his efforts on the living, reach them, and protect them with his biofield as he pulls them from wherever they are trapped.
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The team remains subtle in the use of their powers during the emergency. At no time do they shirk from using their powers where not doing so would cost lives, but nor do they use them when not necessary or flaunt them in anyway. Most of the team is all too aware of existing biases against mutants. In this case, there is little in the way of bad reactions since the team is too busy helping out for anyone to be able to say anything bad. And, as Jack put it, this provides the chance for a little positive publicity. The perfect mixture of judicious display of powers, and never making any big deal about them, goes a long ways towards altering some people's views of mutants.
Kyle tends to Mek and determines that he is not badly injured. However, he also tends to many other people and so, when he returns some time later to check on Mek, and finds his diminuative patient gone, there is little he can do. There are a lot of others who need his help. Next time he sees Jack, he simply reports that Mek is gone. |