Chapter 3: Mutiny!

[rredmond]

Will was going to push Lily down (to give him a good look at what's going on) but instead he'll push her over to the safety of Artie no problem. If Artie's comment doesn't distract the gunman then Will more calmly will say "shooting that gun off in here will kill us all, I'm sure the Fatherland wouldn't want to lose such an agent as yourself."

Meanwhile Will looks for a way to disarm the attacker as, correct me if I'm wrong, escape is not a possibility in either a macro- or micro-sense. He really could kill us all with a fire arm here, and Will is in between the gunman and his prey. I believe Dr. Ringstrom is seated at the table behind me.

[rredmond]

Also Will whispers to Artie, "do you see Leftenant Neville anywhere" as he keeps his eyes firmly on the gunman, remembering the boarding interaction this morning, and starting to worry that there isn't just one operative on board ship.

[Solomoriah]

"Stand back," said Brandon, turning slightly (as he had stepped somewhat past the long table). "You are nothing to me. Ringstrom is my only concern." Turning toward the Captain's table, but keeping the others in his peripheral vision, he shouted "Stand up" and leveled the gun at his target. Dr. Ringstrom crouched as best he could behind the table, but it gave him precious little cover.

"Artie, do something!" Lily said quietly, regaining her feet. Artie looked around the room, but the only weapon he saw was the gun in Brandon's hand. It was obvious that Brandon would fire shortly; only Dr. Ringstrom's meager cover behind the Captain's table was protecting him.

...

The only crew member in the lounge was Brandon, Will realized. Neville was a helmsman, Will remembered, and he hadn't seen him since brunch. He wondered if he should have been a trifle more inquisitive at the time.

But it was too late to bemoan that situation. Shortly, it would be too late for the old engineer. Brandon was a bit taller and broader than Will, and armed besides; Will considered striking him with a chair, but the low, broad lounge chairs looked quite unwieldy.

Looking around quickly, Will saw that all the other passengers seemed frozen in fear. Violet and David were both on the floor, trying to hide beneath the table; it would have been comical at any other time. Jean-Paul likewise seemed to be frozen, sitting very still with a cigarette in one hand and his book in the other, staring at the gunman.

Then both Will and Artie spied the golden knife, lying at the corner of the table, in easy reach over Michael Lloyd's crouching form...

click here for current situation map

GM Note: In response to rredmond's comment, the gun is not particularly dangerous to the ship. Morgana is lifted by helium, which is a fire extinguisher rather than a fuel, and does not fly high enough to make depressurization any sort of a risk.

[crazycrypt]

Tommy looked at the clock. 11:15pm, and still no Lt. Sullivan. Not that he minded being alone, but it seemed very strange that it would take him twenty minutes to eat his prime rib, knowing that he was running late already. Tommy wondered if he should pick up the telephone and call someone. The Captain, maybe? He might not even be asleep yet, mused Mansel.

He was still considering what to do when he felt Morgana shudder. What was that? he thought. Looking at the instruments, he quickly noted that the tachometer for the #1 engine was reading zero, and the airspeed indicator was rapidly falling.

Looking at the instruments, Tommy notices something wrong asap and will quickly look and see what direction the wind is blowing. He will pick up the phone and call Lt. Briggs hoping that he hasn't already gone to bed after finishing his prime rib (and if necessary to name a room he will call the crew mess hoping that Lt. Briggs is still there eating his prime rib). While waiting for Lt. Briggs to answer Tommy will look at Lars and say, "Do something Lars, get us back up and running properly."


Depending on what Lt. Briggs says or if he does not answer, Tommy will point the Morgana towards the wind to help hold up the ship while Lars does whatever he needs to do to get us up and running again.

[Rosisha]

Lars nods "I'm checking our telemetry. We could have instrument failure." He quickly locates the service manual series and flips to the engine section (OOC: Service Manuals were available at this time, but I don't see anything listing them as Emergency Procedures, so I'm having Lars go for the standard reference available to use that to guide his actions). He will quickly go through the systems, trying to see if the problem is coming from the bridge. "Sir, if I might be so bold, I suggest you issue a general quarters and get the crew to stations." He immediately checks: Fuel, Air Speed, Altitude, Power, and all other systems. As the Airship heads into the wind he will note any changes. "We have one engine left, if this gauge," he points to the RPMs, "Begins to spike, you need to begin tacking. We can't afford to loose both engines."

With that he will make final notes on some paper, grab his wrench and head for the back of the ship. On the way he is going to check the ship, feeling for wind, looking for obvious physical damage. He will also check for smoke, and look out for fire. If the radio operator is still working on the radio, he will check in quickly and try to ascertain radio status, inform the radio man of current telemetry and proceed to the back. Here he will quickly gather his pistol up, and shove it in his belt. Something has gone seriously wrong, and it shouldn't have. He immediately suspects sabotage. However, he will keep his wrench out while he gathers his weapon. After that he will begin trying to diagnose the system.

OOC: Questions:

1) Is there anyway Lars would be aware of what was going on in the lounge? The Bridge is underneath the lounge, could he have heard anything? Moving around? Loud thumps? If so I might have a different actions instead of fixing I might just grab my gun and go investigate.

2) Are the engines mounted on the outside of the craft, and if so, what is the best location for viewing them? If yes, Lars will head there to get a visual on the engine. During this time he will keep his eyes open and stay alert. needless to say, except for the wrench, he has dropped all the other tools for now.

3) If there is a large hole or fire or something, Lars wants to fix it. However, he will alert the bridge asap to the danger before attempting anything.

[Solomoriah]

The bridge door burst open, and Captain Pelton stepped in, clad only in white boxers and a sleeveless undershirt. "Here now, men, what's going on?" Upon being apprised of the situation by Lars and Mansel, he turned back to the open bridge door. The crew stood there, some in uniform and others in the same state of undress as the Captain. "Mister Markwell!" he called out, opening the radio room door. "We may be in need of a distress call!"

"No good, Captain," he replied, tubes and transformers in hand. "The radio has been expertly sabotaged. I have parts to repair it, but it will take some time."

"Well, carry on, then." The Captain looked at the amassed crewmen, then said "I see everyone here save for Sullivan, Neville, Lusk, and Brandon. Mister Brandon should be with the passengers, and I'll wager he has his hands full. Sullivan should be here, on duty. We have a failed engine and a sabotaged radio. Gentlemen, there are saboteurs aboard!"

"What do you want us to do?" asked Lt. Briggs, who was still in uniform.

"Well, to start with, until I tell you otherwise, consider Sullivan, Neville, and Lusk suspects. If you see them, detain them." The Captain turned, looking at the instruments. "Good man, Mister Mansel, you've thought ahead. I'll wager something has been done to number two, so before we lose it, shut it down!" Turning back to the rest of the crew, he said "Alright, Mister Briggs, take Mansel, Green, and Lars with you. We don't know where our saboteurs are, or what they are about. I understand Mansel is handy in a fight, so I want Chapman at the helm and Mansel with you. Briggs, take your sidearm. You and Mansel, escort Green and Lars to the engine room. The saboteurs might be there, so be careful. If they aren't there," he said, looking grim, "leave the engineers to work out the engine problems and go hunting."

Briggs saluted. "Okay, you men, with me. My Browning is in my locker, I'll get it on the way. If you need any tools, get them now."

[rredmond]

...
Then both Will and Artie spied the golden knife, lying at the corner of the table, in easy reach over Michael Lloyd's crouching form...

Will internally takes a deep breath (I know Mak might not be available, so I don't want to step on his toes or actions, Artie is likely more courageous than Will, but does have his hands full but he may be the one to jump to action quicker...) and curses inwardly, carefully not to give any sign but of being paralyzed by fear like the rest of the passengers. I'm no good in a fight but I've stabbed people in the back before... not quite so literally though, he thinks to himself. Will waits for the slightest, and best, opportunity (ie: one in which he won't die), especially if he gets a good view at Brandon's back as he's passing, and will grab the knife thrusting high in the back, preferably the neck (Will's not a killer, but he's no innocent either) but targeting where he's sure to hit. Too hard to get money from a dead man, he'll think to himself for motivation.
OOC: Uncharacteristic, yes, but the motivation is strong, and it does look like he'll have the best opportunity as Brandon closes in on Ringstrom.

[Solomoriah]

He immediately checks: Fuel, Air Speed, Altitude, Power, and all other systems. As the Airship heads into the wind he will note any changes.

Airspeed has fallen to just over 60 kph, about half Morgana's cruising speed. Fuel pressure is fine, and fuel levels are high (as the voyage has only just begun). Altitude stands at 4,000 meters, the standard crusing altitude for the ship. There's no indicator for "power."

1) Is there anyway Lars would be aware of what was going on in the lounge? The Bridge is underneath the lounge, could he have heard anything? Moving around? Loud thumps? If so I might have a different actions instead of fixing I might just grab my gun and go investigate.

He heard several muffled thumps, from falling passengers, but since then there have been no unusual sounds.

2) Are the engines mounted on the outside of the craft, and if so, what is the best location for viewing them?

The engines are in a room within the envelope, at the extreme rear; they are arranged in a V formation, with their mainshafts feeding into a large gearbox. From there, a larger shaft carries power up at an angle to a distributor box in the tail; shafts from there carry power to the upper and lower rotors.

[crazycrypt]

"Good man, Mister Mansel, you've thought ahead. I'll wager something has been done to number two, so before we lose it, shut it down!"

"Yes sir," and with that Tommy will attempt to shut down engine 2 while the Captain continues talking.

Turning back to the rest of the crew, he said "Alright, Mister Briggs, take Mansel, Green, and Lars with you. We don't know where our saboteurs are, or what they are about. I understand Mansel is handy in a fight, so I want Chapman at the helm and Mansel with you. Briggs, take your sidearm. You and Mansel, escort Green and Lars to the engine room. The saboteurs might be there, so be careful. If they aren't there," he said, looking grim, "leave the engineers to work out the engine problems and go hunting."

Briggs saluted. "Okay, you men, with me. My Browning is in my locker, I'll get it on the way. If you need any tools, get them now."

After shutting down the second engine Tommy will hand over the controls to Chapman and will then draw out his Luger pistol, which he keeps on him in a holster. He will then look at Lt. Briggs and say, "Let's go." He will then start heading towards the engines, and while Briggs stops to get his pistol from his locker, Tommy will take over the lead and continue heading the engineers towards the engines.

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When they get to the engines, assuming noting happens on the way, Tommy will open the door first pointing the pistol first and will look around the engine room for anyone there. If anyone is in there he will naturally yell, "FREEZE!" If nobody is there he will he will turn to Lt. Briggs and say again, "Let's go," and then will head back down the long corridor to the spiral staircase, checking any other rooms on the way if there are any. He will then head down the stairs to the next level (you said two sets so I'm assuming now that I am back on "A Deck" at the stairs). He will then look at Lt. Briggs, assuming Briggs is still with him and tell him, "You check out the washrooms and overlook and I'll check the bedrooms on the way to the Main Lounge. Catch up with me as soon as you can," and will head off towards the bedrooms. (All of this is of course if the rest of the crew is not already onto "A Deck," and if when going from "B Deck" to the engine level they do not hear or suspect anything on "A Deck" that would cause them to take a detour.)

[Solomoriah]

"I say, Mister Mansel, hold up a bit. Let's not forget who's in charge," said Briggs, noting Mansel taking the lead. "We don't know where the saboteurs are, now do we? I'll go up the stairs first, and you follow; stop on the A deck landing and keep watch while the engineers follow me up. If nothing untoward happens, follow them up, and we'll regroup in the tank room. Then, if you want to lead on to the engine room, I'll bring up the rear."