Fallout PbP: Giants in the Playground (In Character)

[Gentry]

"How come they got a bridge underground?" Hondo wonders softly while trying to make sense of the map. "A bridge to what? And this map still don't tell us where the kids are at."

[MilitiaJim]

"They think they're on a boat?" Alice wondered aloud before padding off down the corridor, away from the elevator, looking for the stairs down.

(click to show/hide)

Sneakin' an' lookin'. (1d20+7, 1d20+5=[12, 7], [17, 5])

19 to the Sneak, and 22 on the Search.  So where are those stairs...?

[glimmerrat]

Alice carefully picks her way along the corridor, stepping through open bulkheads as she goes. She passes a number of rooms along the way, all either open and empty, or locked and labeled with black marker pen. The labels appear to be names, surname first, and military ranks. All of the ranks are either Private, Private First Class or Corporal.

After a few minutes, Alice finally spots an open hatch in the floor. There is an identical reinforced hatch in the ceiling above it, and they are linked by a set of stairs. Just as she is about to engage in a silent victory celebration, a hatch opens right next to her and with a barely suppressed yelp she tip-toes out of the way, hiding in a nearby nook. A pair of figures in odd-looking jump-suits step out, hurriedly closing and locking the door behind them. The one not focused on the door says “Hurry it up, man! We got ten minutes to get suited up, and if we’re late for parade again the sarge will have the whole squad polishing the engines with our sorry butts!” The other man turns to face him, adding “And panicking like a bitch is really helping, isn’t it? Come on, let’s go.” The two run to the stairs and head up. Alice lets out a long sigh of relief.

[MilitiaJim]

"Hooooly crow.  That was close," Alice whispered into her Pip-Boy.  "C'mon guys, down the hall and stay by the stairs down, I'll go see what's what."  Transmission complete, Alice left the microphone on and carefully descended the stairs.

(click to show/hide)

Sneakin' an' lookin' some more. (1d20+7, 1d20+5=[7, 7]->14, [20, 5]->25) Damn stairs.

[Bill Whitmore]

"Agreed, if they went up to parade, we should go down to avoid them."  Marcus crouches to the side of the stairs going up and watches the hatch in the ceiling.

[Gentry]

"Right," agrees Hondo in a whisper, moving to help Marcus keep a lookout.

(click to show/hide)

I spend an action die to render mister technician-in-a-terminal-situation unconscious, just in case. 

I'll carry the guy for now. He doesn't encumber me.

[MilitiaJim]

Treading mouse quiet down the stairs, Alice looked around, hoping this stairwell went all the way down to the robotics/sump level.

[glimmerrat]

You all move down to the next deck, Alice carefully leading the way. The next level is very different to the first; crowded with machinery, with a walkway that winds between stacks of cabling and electronics, if you wish to explore this deck then you'll need to walk single-file, and Hondo will be at a significant disadvantage. However, the stairwell does continue down, apparently one more deck, and peering down you see that it looks very similar to the deck above you.

(click to show/hide)

Alice notices that a lot of this machinery is old, and whilst it has been maintained, they haven't done a very good job. Some of it is currently running, but a lot seems to be in standby mode. These are not the electronics of a Vault either - they look like the sort of things you've seen in the schematics of ocean-going vessels.

[MilitiaJim]

Alice looked up the stairs, and back down the hallway and cursed quietly. "Hondo, you're not gonna like this passage," she stage whispered up the stairs to her large friend. "I think this is the right level."

Looking around, she consulted the marginal map that is now on her Pip-Boy, and cursed the lack of a floor plan before quietly leading off towards where she hoped the prisoners, computers, and robots lurked.

(click to show/hide)

Sneakin' an' lookin' some mo'. (1d20+7, 1d20+5=[14, 7], [10, 5])
Sneak = 21
Notice = 15

[Bill Whitmore]

Marcus followed cautiously behind Alice, content to let her lead the way, while keeping his eyes and ears open for anything dangerous.

[Girlfriday]

Elsie picks her way down the stairs, walking as if she's in high heels that she isn't used to.

[Gentry]

"I'll make it work," Hondo whispers. "Maybe we oughta look for a place to stash this punk-ass I'm carryin'. But are you sure this is the right level?"

[MilitiaJim]

"We might be one up from the kids," Alice whispered.  "But I want their computer core.  We can take over this place!"

[glimmerrat]

You carefully pick your way along the cramped hallway, occasionally passing side room overflowing with bundles of wires and hissing pipes. After at least 100 ft. you come to another bulkhead door; it doesn't have any locks on it or even a porthole, just a pressure wheel in the center. Alice carefully eases it open...

...and comes out onto a gantry overlooking a chamber easily as large as a Vault's main atrium. It is split over at least three levels, and each one bustles with activity. Technicians in suits identical to the one that your prisoner was wearing are everywhere, and they are fussing particularly over two massive towers of machinery. Each tower has a shaft with a diameter of around 15 ft. attaching it to an outside wall, and they rumble ominously. The one on the left is labelled 'Forward Port Machinehead', and the one on the right 'Forward Starboard Machinehead'.

A voice blares over a tannoy system: ALERT ALL PERSONNEL! LOCKDOWN IS NOW IN EFFECT! TEST-FIRING COMMENCES IN T-MINUS 10 MINUTES! In response, many of the suited figures begin assuming positions at computer terminals and workstations.

[MilitiaJim]

"Well sheeeeeit.  I dunno what they're test firin', but that can't be any sort of good.  We've got ten minutes if we want to stop them, but how?"  The budding mad scientist stared at the shafts, wondering if Lady Joan could "convince" the missiles, if they were missiles, not to launch AND not to incinerate her and her friends.

(click to show/hide)

Notice and something else to try and figure out what the heck those tube things are. (1d20=11, 1d20=7) Mechanics maybe?