04-20-2011, 08:51 PM
Pursuit of the truth
![[Image: conflagration.png]](http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/1471/conflagration.png)
Previously
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The day was rough, the crew of the Terminus had to repel several assault crews from the Planetary Express Luxury Liner Sun's Dawn, boarding parties affilated with the Phantoms. The Terminus was moored in orbit around langrange point four of the typical garden type planet, Planet Lazarus, in the Omicron 45 system, trying to repair the many hull breaches caused by the detonation charges of the assaulting party. Several members of the crew of the Terminus were killed, many were wounded in the initial conflagration that caught several crew members working in the engine room. The level of radiation onboard was above standard aswell, for the fact that the element zero core, while being highly reliable, was instable for the missed planned discharge.
The lower levels of the Terminus, in which the medical bay was located had a bad day, lacking plasma and other valuable equipment and items lost in the fight, that could have saved many other crew members. The leader of the Terminus' marine unit, Major Richard Hackett, was badly wounded after that several pieces of shrapnel from the glass door that gave access to the docking bay was hit by several rounds from the assault rifles of the enemy, penetrating the armor layer that protected his chest. Near him, the executive officer of the ship, Amanda Blake, was suffering from third grade burns across half of her body. The butcher's list was long and sad to read for the chief medical assistant.
A small team of marines were still searching for the colonel, last seen on the bridge of the ship, but lost contact with since the initial attack, due to the fire that the detonation charges on the hull of the Terminus caused. Nobody knew if he managed to survive the initial blast, or if the enemy assault crew reached him and the rest of the executive officers.
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Previously, in the commander's quarters
The thick door leading to Aubrey's quarters was sealed after that the security protocol was automatically activated by the artificial intelligence of the ship in case of enemy boarding forces, to protect the bridge crew and the commander from the assailants. But from what Jack and several other members saw, the enemy was rigging the door with explosive to break it and pour inside, where the Cerberus main archive server was located.
Occasional flashes of light, coming from a damaged ligh source above their heads illuminated the dark ambient around them, the main power generator for the bridge deck was offline apparently, and the armor plating around the windows were, as of procedure, inside their socket, thus leaving the sieged crew trapped inside.
Three shock troopers of the Terminus' marine unit turned upside down a sofa in front of the door, while Jack, the navigation officer and several other crew members made up some improvised barricades. The armory officer, with one of the marines transported the metal crate of a light support machinegun towards the main barricade. The situation was dramatic, as Aubrey could see from the InfraNet support in his quarters, many sections of the Terminus lost vital support, and the remaining marine units of the Terminus were struggling to close the docking bays, while the gunnery crew were ripping a new one on the Luxury Liner for their ruse of war, hitting them with everything that the Terminus still had online in terms of weaponry.
Sergent Hans Schröder: Sir, I've managed to connect my iNECT interface to a working security cam outside from here. Seems like they have planted some nice candy.
Navigation Officer Clarissa Pullock: Candy? You must be joking me. You tend to joke in the worst situation. I do want to know if you did the same thing when you was in the Rheinland Military.
Colonel Jack Aubrey: Calm down you two, and keep your heads down. As for the door Hans, be ready to engage the airlock protocol, or we'll die for the lack of oxygen. *He turned towards the two marines branding the machinegun* You two, man that machinegun and keep them pinned from entering in here. Use the EMP discharger to discharge any incoming grenade, watch out for the shrapnel.
Corporal Winston Prescott: Julian, where's that shotgun, throw it to me.
Private Julian Robertson: You have four rounds in it left, keep it if the situation goes off hand.
Armory Officer Christian Dancourt: Remember to watch out for the heat coming from that monster, you need to change the barrel when the temperature is about to reach 240 C°, or you should expect to be cooked like cake in an oven. You have four thousand rounds in that thing. Screw up and I'll slice your throat myself. I won't die against a bunch of paramilitary mercenaries who are tearing a new one to the Terminus. Did I made myself clear, soldier?
Sergent Hans Schröder: Time to rock, the charges are set from what I can see. Everyone put your heads down now!
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An explosion was heard across the Terminus
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Previously, LRC deck
The Long Range Communication systems were offline, due to a strange interference of the array, probably caused by some unknown technology onboard the enemy liner. The Terminus was isolated, away from home in the newly discovered system of Omicron 45, discovered four months ago by a Zoner exploration team by activating a dormant jumphole in Omicron Lost.
The control room was the first systems of the Terminus to be wiped clean by the assailants. The bodies of the operators covered the floor, and their blood flooded the small operational center. But with one last struggle of hope, a surviving operator launched a message to the nearby zoner colony of Tel Vos, on Planet Vernaris.
[font=Arial]This is the CFS Ter*/static/* requiring immediate assi*/static/*, unknown */static/* forces from the PELL Sun's Da*/static/* ruse of war */static/* docking ports open */static/* boarding team inside */static/* lost vital support to several sections. */static/* */static/* Status report sent */static/* I repeat */static/* we require */static/* immediate assistance.
Status Report____________________________________
Main Deck Battery System ONLINE 70%
Engine Deck Core [color=#FF6666]OFFLINE
Engine Fuel Pump OFFLINE
Oxygen Pumping Systems DAMAGED
Oxygen Filter Unit ONLINE
Vital Support LIMITED - Lost life support to several sections
Radar and Communication Systems DAMAGED
Hull Integrity DAMAGED
Docking Bay Ports Status OPEN / JAMMED
Secondary Storage Bay Ports CLOSED / LOCKED
Radiation onboard +4.62%
Medical Bay Status OPERATIVE