Rbz5: The Office
General Summary
With the antidote rollout well underway within the habitat, the colonists of Cerberus have started accepting the crew of the Rubezahl as their own. Another day cycle begins as Quinn preaches atop a fruit crate in the market sector to a growing audience of colonists:
The disaster that befell Cerberus was because you have turned from the way of the Gardeners. The monstrous Parasect was an abominable beast created through unnatural genetic manipulation. In order for things to return to normal, the beast must be destroyed!
The colonists mutter their agreement. And as he goes through the movements of his katas, Reinhard thinks much the same. He must have another chance to slay this beast that has eluded his grasp!
Though the colonists themselves seem reluctant to venture into the unknown depths of Cerberus Station themselves, Wynne soon arrives with a gift for our heroes -- one of their shiny, red fire engines . Having heard of the crew's exploits and their clever use of fire extinguishers, surely a great fire engine will help them bring the beast to heel.
And now would be their chance! Coincidentally, Wynne also brings fresh news of the Parasect. It had burst into a computing center in the outskirts of the habitat and taken a bite out of the equipment. Eager for a bit of the spotlight, Benesh accepts the generous gift and perilous quest on behalf of the team. But it is Reinhard who is the most excited for the new toy. The warrior climbs eagerly into the rescue bucket -- the "gunner's copula" as he calls it -- ready to charge into battle at the head of the truck.
It was clear on arrival that the Parasect was here. Through the glass doors of the computing center, the crew could see that an entire corner of the room had seemingly caved in and fallen down below, as if a giant bite had been taken out a corner. Even with the flickering lights, they could see telltale claw marks on the wall and across the equipment. The room had been the surveillance monitoring center, a computer tech explains, but unfortunately, it had no surveillance of its own. But the crew thought the conclusion was obvious. As Benesh walks up to the edge of the crater, he could see that the tunnel crashes through the lower level as well, and onto some sort of concourse further below. He and Echo go to question the tech in a nearby printer room -- the tech wanted to be nowhere near the tunnel. However, she proves less than useful. Apparently no one ventures "down below". It wasn't clear how one might even reach the concourse below; it's not like there were stairs down. Frustrated, Benesh insists otherwise, but is interrupted by a sudden, violent rattling of the door. The silhouette of a hand slams against the hex-frosted glass window, and the trio jump back as they recognize its distinctive tree-like shape. Benesh shushes the others and moves to bar the door, motioning frantically for the others to push the printer over as a barricade. Echo immediately sends the real jump-scare of a clip to others using his implant, calling for help. But before either of them could move the printer, the door bursts open and a tree zombie pounces onto Benesh, pinning him against the table. Out of instinct, Echo grabs the tech and hurls her out into the doorway as a distraction, and then kicks the zombie away, pulling Benesh to safety. There is a scream from the hallway as a zombie drags the tech out of sight before more threaten to force in through the door. Meanwhile, the others receive Echo's frantic messages on their comms. Saskia and Reinhard rush in to rescue their friends, while Quinn heroically stays behind to ensure the fire engine's safety. The two open fire into the crowd of approximately 32 zombies -- Reinhard with his repeating rifle and Saskia firing from the shadow with her pistol. They cut down many of the creatures, stopping them from swarming the doorway. But the zombies turn at the noise and rush the two of them. Inside, Benesh and Echo are forced back into the room. As Benesh struggles to fend off the one zombie, Echo turns to grab a weapon, pulling a laser cutter off the plastic-paper cutting rig. But before she could do much with it, there is a flutter of scratching, crumbling noises from the ceiling. Then suddenly, the entire ceiling crashes inward and more zombies fall out into the room. Just as the situation turns dire, there is another crashing noise as window bursts open as Quinn drives the rescue bucket through the wall. "Get into the chappel!" he shouts, referring to the bucket. Benesh hardly needs any further encouragement. In the chaos, he grabs Echo's collar and heaves the two of them into the safety of the bucket. Outside the room, Reinhard continues his rampage. Drawing his sword, he cleaves through the tide of zombies like whirlwind, scattering branches and limbs in his wake. Saskia was finding more trouble though. She gets cornered by a few of the zombies. She manages to take several out before being knocked onto her back. A stray shot richochettes off a wall and punctures a pipe of some sort, and an ominous gas begins to hiss into the room.
Quinn, still in command of the bucket, turns on the fire engine's offensive arsenal. With a resonant rumble, the truck's pumps start up and the hose sprays a powerful jet of retardant foam. The jet mows down the zombies and leaves them in puddles of slippery goo, leaving them easy prey for Reinhard as he walks a lap to finish them off. But they weren't all out of the wood yet. Saskia, still on her back, finds it increasingly difficult to breath. The slippery foam makes it hard for her to get onto her feet and she nearly passes out as gas fills the room. Seeing the leak, Benesh and Quinn debate whether to try to seal the leak with the foam spray. But even as they are still talking about it, Reinhard goes back in and grabs Saskia, pulling her to safety.
With the zombies taken care of, it was easy enough to find the valve to shut off the gas. As Quinn patches up Saskia, conversation turns to the question of getting down to the concourse below. Benesh had wanted to find an entry way, but Saskia thinks they have one already. They need but widen it a bit. She produces a pair of explosives that she had pilfered from the police station earlier -- apparently this was something she just does. She and Reinhard talk about how best to throw them at the wall to maximize damage. Benesh looks horrified by the idea, and they decide to set it up for remote detonation... by rifle fire. Saskia warns the others to stay back. But Quinn was way ahead of them, and was already backing the truck toward the end of the block in an abundance of caution. As Reinhard sets up for the shot, Benesh puts a 50 cred bill on the dash. "I bet he misses." Maybe the goading all the motivation the warrior needed because the shot hits dead on. But rather than a violent explosion, the charges sputter in a controlled flame, burning a neat hole through the wall and collapsing the floor down in a makeshift ramp! There is wild cheers and even Benesh applauds at the feat, though when he looks back to the dash, his bill was gone!
"And now, he's just always going to be in the 'gunner' seat."
It was clear on arrival that the Parasect was here. Through the glass doors of the computing center, the crew could see that an entire corner of the room had seemingly caved in and fallen down below, as if a giant bite had been taken out a corner. Even with the flickering lights, they could see telltale claw marks on the wall and across the equipment. The room had been the surveillance monitoring center, a computer tech explains, but unfortunately, it had no surveillance of its own. But the crew thought the conclusion was obvious. As Benesh walks up to the edge of the crater, he could see that the tunnel crashes through the lower level as well, and onto some sort of concourse further below. He and Echo go to question the tech in a nearby printer room -- the tech wanted to be nowhere near the tunnel. However, she proves less than useful. Apparently no one ventures "down below". It wasn't clear how one might even reach the concourse below; it's not like there were stairs down. Frustrated, Benesh insists otherwise, but is interrupted by a sudden, violent rattling of the door. The silhouette of a hand slams against the hex-frosted glass window, and the trio jump back as they recognize its distinctive tree-like shape. Benesh shushes the others and moves to bar the door, motioning frantically for the others to push the printer over as a barricade. Echo immediately sends the real jump-scare of a clip to others using his implant, calling for help. But before either of them could move the printer, the door bursts open and a tree zombie pounces onto Benesh, pinning him against the table. Out of instinct, Echo grabs the tech and hurls her out into the doorway as a distraction, and then kicks the zombie away, pulling Benesh to safety. There is a scream from the hallway as a zombie drags the tech out of sight before more threaten to force in through the door. Meanwhile, the others receive Echo's frantic messages on their comms. Saskia and Reinhard rush in to rescue their friends, while Quinn heroically stays behind to ensure the fire engine's safety. The two open fire into the crowd of approximately 32 zombies -- Reinhard with his repeating rifle and Saskia firing from the shadow with her pistol. They cut down many of the creatures, stopping them from swarming the doorway. But the zombies turn at the noise and rush the two of them. Inside, Benesh and Echo are forced back into the room. As Benesh struggles to fend off the one zombie, Echo turns to grab a weapon, pulling a laser cutter off the plastic-paper cutting rig. But before she could do much with it, there is a flutter of scratching, crumbling noises from the ceiling. Then suddenly, the entire ceiling crashes inward and more zombies fall out into the room. Just as the situation turns dire, there is another crashing noise as window bursts open as Quinn drives the rescue bucket through the wall. "Get into the chappel!" he shouts, referring to the bucket. Benesh hardly needs any further encouragement. In the chaos, he grabs Echo's collar and heaves the two of them into the safety of the bucket. Outside the room, Reinhard continues his rampage. Drawing his sword, he cleaves through the tide of zombies like whirlwind, scattering branches and limbs in his wake. Saskia was finding more trouble though. She gets cornered by a few of the zombies. She manages to take several out before being knocked onto her back. A stray shot richochettes off a wall and punctures a pipe of some sort, and an ominous gas begins to hiss into the room.
Quinn, still in command of the bucket, turns on the fire engine's offensive arsenal. With a resonant rumble, the truck's pumps start up and the hose sprays a powerful jet of retardant foam. The jet mows down the zombies and leaves them in puddles of slippery goo, leaving them easy prey for Reinhard as he walks a lap to finish them off. But they weren't all out of the wood yet. Saskia, still on her back, finds it increasingly difficult to breath. The slippery foam makes it hard for her to get onto her feet and she nearly passes out as gas fills the room. Seeing the leak, Benesh and Quinn debate whether to try to seal the leak with the foam spray. But even as they are still talking about it, Reinhard goes back in and grabs Saskia, pulling her to safety.
With the zombies taken care of, it was easy enough to find the valve to shut off the gas. As Quinn patches up Saskia, conversation turns to the question of getting down to the concourse below. Benesh had wanted to find an entry way, but Saskia thinks they have one already. They need but widen it a bit. She produces a pair of explosives that she had pilfered from the police station earlier -- apparently this was something she just does. She and Reinhard talk about how best to throw them at the wall to maximize damage. Benesh looks horrified by the idea, and they decide to set it up for remote detonation... by rifle fire. Saskia warns the others to stay back. But Quinn was way ahead of them, and was already backing the truck toward the end of the block in an abundance of caution. As Reinhard sets up for the shot, Benesh puts a 50 cred bill on the dash. "I bet he misses." Maybe the goading all the motivation the warrior needed because the shot hits dead on. But rather than a violent explosion, the charges sputter in a controlled flame, burning a neat hole through the wall and collapsing the floor down in a makeshift ramp! There is wild cheers and even Benesh applauds at the feat, though when he looks back to the dash, his bill was gone!
"But you're not going to be 200m away though..." "... Wits is not her strong point."
Report Date
10 Jul 2021
Primary Location
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