fanchergw wrote:

Getting the gate upright to roll wouldn't be too tough. However, rolling it and keeping it upright while rolling is bound to be a challenge - especially over uneven ground.

That's the idea behind attactching a set of "training wheels" (possibly made from the tires, wheels, and axles of the beaten up Humvee), or attacthing two together. A tricycle arangement or two side-by-side would be more stable.

Ok, since we seem to be going round and round with ideas, I'm going to tell you what Max (i.e. me) is thinking and what he's going to do regardless of what every else is/will be doing.

1) Forget any idea of charging/taking/moving/doing any damn thing else with the Gate right now. As far as we know Mesa Negras will be irradiated for the next 10,000 years.
2) Check the Mantaship for tech and intel.
3) Leave the Gate site with everything that is man-portable, burying and/or camouflaging everything else for future use. I'd also like to booby trap the caches in case anyone goes snooping around.
4) The Nerd Herd follows my orders and we're moving to a better-defended position, military escort or not.
5) Once at said new camp, the Nerd Herd will be examining the tech devices taken off the Others.
6) Profit

I'm with Dieter, mostly. We should still rig the Gateway for charging while the science team salvages, but after that we bug out.

Gatac

Dieter wrote:

Ok, since we seem to be going round and round with ideas, I'm going to tell you what Max (i.e. me) is thinking and what he's going to do regardless of what every else is/will be doing.

1) Forget any idea of charging/taking/moving/doing any damn thing else with the Gate right now. As far as we know Mesa Negras will be irradiated for the next 10,000 years.
2) Check the Mantaship for tech and intel.
3) Leave the Gate site with everything that is man-portable, burying and/or camouflaging everything else for future use. I'd also like to booby trap the caches in case anyone goes snooping around.
4) The Nerd Herd follows my orders and we're moving to a better-defended position, military escort or not.
5) Once at said new camp, the Nerd Herd will be examining the tech devices taken off the Others.
6) Profit

Where do you get the idea that MN is nuked? Dietrich got it pretty damn bad, but Semo and Max were both engaged in combat around the Gate a minute later, and leither of them is exactly showing radiation signs. I think whatever radiation it was, it's half-life is pretty short. Sure, they screwed the first generator truck pretty bad, too, but it was no mushroom cloud. I think you're being way, way, too pessimistic. As for the Nerd Herd, Hugh has the persuassive skills to (maybe) sway them right out from under you, if need be. You want to strike out alone, that's fine, but taking all of the Nerd Herd with you is a no go. Actually, how about somebody IC runs a Gieger counter around then over the truck that got atomized? That'll give us an idea of how bad the radiation'll be on the other end.

Here's your executive decision.

Gatac

All right then. By "rig up something for the Gate," do you mean hooking up a generator and leaving it to charge or some sort of frame to take it with us? Also, we'll need some kind of stretchers or cart to carry the wounded. What're we taking?

I mean rig up a generator.

As for stretchers, we're not going far, so we can make multiple tours with the one we should have as standard medical gear. I know, we'll split our forces doing that, but we've got way too many important things to carry anyway.

Gatac

OK, then. Best bet for a generator is parts from the second truck's original one, and then the engine of one of the Humvees or the truck. (We could do it to the truck without needing to take it out, just hook a belt/chain to the shaft and then a second shaft into the new dynamo (which is apparently the technical term)).

ADS, it's my understanding that Mesa Negras was flash-fried by the Mantaship. Given the fallout coming out our end of the Gate, would it be correct to assume that all of Mesa Negra Gate command was "nuked" by the blast? I mean, Max was standing right there so he (of all people) could accurate gauge how bad MN got hit, right?

I'm just trying to get a "for all intents and purposes" sort of estimate of just how screwed Mesa Negras currently is.

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Game related link of the day:

Dragon Skin armor is teh sux0rs

Quote:

Alright, for-the-molment stuff. First, can Luis bring the Unknown back to concioussness without him being able to move? A muscle relaxant, a nervous system inhibitor into the main nerves beyond the trunk. Leave him able to breath and talk, move his head, but not lift a finger.

Yes, in theory. In practice, I have your orders not to use more than 2 WD on your medical roll. I can always default you to "conscious but zip-tied".

Semo - you mention that you're taking one of the swords. It's a nice blade, well-balanced, much like a Celtic war dagger or Roman gladius. Meant for close-in, stabbing attacks.

Quote:

ADS, it's my understanding that Mesa Negras was flash-fried by the Mantaship. Given the fallout coming out our end of the Gate, would it be correct to assume that all of Mesa Negra Gate command was "nuked" by the blast? I mean, Max was standing right there so he (of all people) could accurate gauge how bad MN got hit, right?

I'm just trying to get a "for all intents and purposes" sort of estimate of just how screwed Mesa Negras currently is.

---

Game related link of the day:

Dragon Skin armor is teh sux0rs

First, re: Dragonskin. I gave that armor out because I saw some badass tests on Futureweapons and on the internet. Evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, I think we can all agree that the armor's useless against the alien weaponry. At the very best, it gives you one shot before it blows apart/melts off you. If you want to save 40 pounds, drop your vest.

Now, about the manta ship, its primary weapons, and Mesas Negras:

1. The two sunballs it fired into MN were NOT the same projectile that it fired at the first generator truck. The sunballs were just that; golden spheres of energy. Think, I dunno, photon torpedoes if you need a Star Trek reference.
2. Semo tackled Max and the nerd herd as the balls passed through the Gate. They were in the dirt underneath the portal and as such were sheltered from the deathlight. Imagine a spotlight. Semo, et.al. are prone right underneath the light. No light hits them. Dietrich is standing right in the spotlight. He gets fucked.
3. The Gate portal is ONE-WAY for matter, TWO-WAYS for energy. There could've been all manner of shit going down in MN that couldn't get back to your side. The radiation/energy/whatever clearly COULD travel back through the portal.
4. The sunballs were dangerous enough that the manta fired a solid slug round at the first generator truck rather than loose another sunball. The truck was shredded due to good old kinetic energy. A MASSIVE amount of kinetic energy, mind you, but still, not a radioactive blast. I couldn't describe it that well because hey, you can't see the bullet. The ship makes a "whup" and then the truck explodes.

This information is filtered through Max's (impressive) Science roll, and altered based on his as-written opinions regarding the matter. That's how I'm running the revelations here - I give out a basic level to everyone, and then a smart person gets a roll to discern more.

Okay. So MN is as frakked as he thought? Dang.That's a problem. we'll want to move out and leave the Gate area for sure, then. (I know we already were, I'm just saying I agree now.) If we're not going to be here, the dynamo might not be as good of an idea as the lightning rod, it's more likely to need maitenaince to work reliably. And sending out feelers to speak with the Chiefbeast of the Whirr might not be bad, either. We may be able to trade metal or gear for food (assuming it tests as non-toxic). Our armor may be no good against the Others' guns, but I'm betting it's twenty times better than whatever the Whirr are using in their struggles against other clans.

As for Screwed-Up Hunk of Meat (Shom from here untilhe gives a better name), I think he might be better concious-but-tied than anything else, provided we double his restrainsts over a normal human (despite appearences, the last thing we want to find out is that the Others feed their human soldiers steriods for breakfest or something). Provided the rest of the team agrees, how many WD will it take?

It turns out it takes 1 WD to bring "Shom" back to consciousness. Your first aid on Hugh was much more successful, bringing him back to 4/6 Wounds and 14/14 Shock. The remaining 2 Wounds will come back over 3 days.

Bear with me if I get anything wrong in the IC post. There was a lot of planning.

DUN DUN DUN!

Gatac

They've been sitting there watching you talk to each other for what, a couple of days? They've got mentat jellyfish, it would make sense that they'd work on your language during the downtime. This guy ain't their primary translator, I can tell you that.

All righty, I made some rolls, and it cost Max 2 wild dice, but he can remove the (alleged) power pack thingy from the housing. It'll take some time, and in the meanwhile the conversation with Meatbag #1 needs some time to catch up.

Who? Shom? Okay.

Semo is busy enough with packing and moving. That's his assignment and he's not particularly interested in what the others are doing. In this heat, he's having to suck down a fair amount of water from his Camelbak just to keep going.

Taking the wounded in the first load?

Also, Max's plan involved tinkering with the alien tech once you got moved. What did you want to start with, or will that wait till after you've had a chat with Shom?

admiralducksauce wrote:

Taking the wounded in the first load?

Also, Max's plan involved tinkering with the alien tech once you got moved. What did you want to start with, or will that wait till after you've had a chat with Shom?

We'll talk with Shom before tinkering with the alien tech.

You wanna stay back while they get the other loads? It's probably a good idea to have -someone- stay at the new camp anyhow, considering you've got wounded and a prisoner. You'd get, say, 20 minutes for the return trip, then another 40-45 while they hump the gear back. That's an hour to figure out the language barrier and maybe get a leg up on the alien tech.