SCENE NINE: Sending Out An S.O.S.

THE RUN-DOWN

The third floor has to be entered through the roof of the elevator.

The power generator is found on the third floor and requires a little maintenance to turn it back on.

As soon as power comes back on, doors will open and shut again, lights will flicker to life and the main comptiter will come back on line, restoring the atmosphere.

THE SET-UP

The mercs are going to have to crawl through the emergency trap door located on the roof of the elevator in order to get into the third floor. The panel slides aside quite easily. The elevator itself is empty. Once they enter get inside the elevator, the door has to be pushed aside with brute force. (Remember that crowbar?)

The room that holds the power generator is dusty, dark and dirty. There are no signs of spiders. There are footprints in the dust that match the mercs' boots. A little set of tools and a greasy rag are in the corner.

THE ACTION

The spiders do not have access to this level. There are airducts that connect the second and third level that allow young adults to move freely, but the airducts that link this level with the others are too small for the young adults to move through.

It's a simple procedure to bring the power back on line. The nuclear reactor located three more miles down under the third floor has an "On/Off" switch - completely dummy-proof Once the power has been turned back on, the systems will also begin to turn on.

If there are mercs left up in the control center when the power comes on (resourceful mercs will think of doing this), they will be able to take full advantage of the computer and monitoring stations. They will also be able to use the communication system.

If the mercs scan for passing ships, they will notice that there is indeed a ship passing by. He's moving at a sub-light speed and he's also rather surprised to get a call from the planet. His name is Bremma Dthale and he's a smuggler. While he's not very keen on dropping down to pick up a bunch of mercs (with lots of guns and machismo), he's willing to listen to reason. In other words, the mercs are going to have to pay.

They can promise him whatever they want, but they're going to have to convince him to drop down to pick them up. His ship is large enough to put the entire drop-ship in the hold, so offering him a few of the transports might be in line. If the players really blow it, Dthale can offer to tell the officials where they are... right. If the mercs believe him, then they are really in trouble.

FOLLOW-UP

Once the power comes back on, the spiders are going to begin to panic. The planet is a pretty dark one, and they are not accustomed to floodlights. The mercs will hear scurrying over their heads and behind walls as the spiders move for cover, and they'll hear a lot of it.

Now that the power is back on, the mercs will be able to open and close doors easily along with the fact that in one hour the atmosphere will become breathable again. All they have to do now is wait for Dthale to show up, but then they've got a big decision to make.

Afterward: If I Go There Will Be Trouble

With ARM showing up at any time, the mercs have a big choice to make. Capture of ARM equipment, ships and personnel (dead or alive) is worth a lot to just about any government. ARM is expecting to arrive and pick-up a bunch of mindwiped or dead mercs, not cognizant mercs who have a telepathic link to the spider population.

The mercs could just take off when Dthale shows up, or they could take some real action. It's up to the mercs from here. If the mercs go back to ask Alice for the information she's got, she'll tell them that the ship is only an hour away. She's been in contact with the ship and she's informed them that the mercs were in cryo ready for pick-up. She is programmed to protect them, after all. When ARM does show up, it'll be a big ship with forty commandos and four commanders.

There are enough spiders to distract the commandos for a good while so the mercs can either engage in hand-to-hand with ARM or they can peg them off from a distance.

What happens here is really up to you. If your players handle the situation well, give them the benefit of the doubt and let them take out the ARM guys. If they lose their cool, kill'em without reservation. However, if they've gotten this far, they're probably a good batch of players who deserve a little bit of a reward. If you feel they didn't perform their best, don't allow any prisoners. If they perform even worse than that, have the ARM guys retreat and blow up the ship. If they do even worse than that, get them captured and enslave the spiders and laugh at them.

The booty they get from this trip should be more than enough to justify their hidden pasts. Besides, now you've got a real good beginning to a new campaign. They've got a ship and a reward and new friends. Sure, the spiders don't look all that friendly, but in Battlelords, sometimes that's the best kind of friend to have.

BattleLords of the 23rd Century An Old-Fashioned Bug Hunt (Part 2)

Introduction
Scene One: The Frying Pan No Good Enough?
Scene Two: The Control Center
Scene Three: A Letter to Home
Scene Four: From the Belly of the Beast
Scene Five and Six: Who's in the Kitchen with Dinah and The Elevator Shaft
Scene Seven: The One You Warned Me Of
Scene Eight: Mommy Won't Wake Up
Scene Nine: Sending Our an SOS and Afterward
Map of Driscoll VII Research Labs (slow: 102K)

BattleLords of the 23rd Century An Old-Fashioned Bug Hunt by John Wick, et. al. (Part 1)

GM Information
Scene One: Spiders, Spiders, Everywhere
Scene Two: Jane Fonda's Nightmare
Scene Three: The Living Quarters
Scene Four: Lost Little Alice
Scene Five: Waking Up Hatter
Scene Six: Goodies
Scene Seven: Putting The Hatter To Sleep
Scene Eight: Getting Some Wheels
Map of Starship Gamera (slow: 103K)

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