Ambuscade in Repair Bay Astor

Clearing the Docking Bay access port, the crew of the Belgrave dived deeper into the guts of the space hulk.  An eery silence pervaded the corridors, the only sound coming from the movements of the crew.  After what seemed like hours Shino S spotted a flickering sign indicating that they had arrived at Repair Bay Astor.

A dim light emanating from a fusion reactor lit the repair bay as the crew entered, their eyes struggling to adjust to the gloom.  Wells raised his hand signalling to the rest of the crew to be on their guard, his keen ears picking up the sound of soft padding footsteps.

The bark of Wells` autogun sounded as he located the shape of a deformed mutant trying to sneak up on Shino S.  The high-powered bullets sent the pulped mutant`s body flying, but a few stray rounds fractured the fusion reactor.  Alarms in the bay sounded as the ancient reactor suddenly went into melt down.  The sparking and spluttering from the reactor revealed the presence of three more mutants.

The filth encrusted mutants hissed as they charged towards the crew of the Belgrave.  Okunishi Blue stepped forward opening fire with his las-pistol drawing the mutants away from Shino S and DCL-74 as they tried to stabilise the reactor.

Sweat dripped from DCL-74 as he worked on overriding the safety switches of the reactor, one false move could blow himself and his crewmates to pieces.  The surgeon was so focused on the task at hand that he failed to notice the mutant as it raised its weapon to cut him down until the purple light of YT-75`s laser sword flashed out and the mutant`s head rolled onto the floor.

Okunishi Blue feinted away from the first mutant, twisting on the spot and catching the second mutant with a reverse slice.  Too late, he realised that he was wide open to the first mutant and his luck had finally run out.  A wave of heat spread towards the first mate as he waited for the killing blow that never fell.  Looking up he saw that the Bosun, Hanley had set the mutant alight with his underbarrel flamer.  Okunishi Blue nodded his head to Hanley in appreciation.

With the threat of the mutants finally dealt with the crew were able to turn their attention to the fusion reactor.  The rapidly pulsing reactor was on the brink of detonating when it was finally brought under control by Mandrake.  He was able to locate the emergency cooling valve controls and flooded the reactor with coolant.  Audible sighs of relief could be heard from the crew members as the emergency sirens cut out.  Another danger averted; they could continue with their exploration of the hulk.

Plunder at Peverell

 Plunder at Peverell

Standing outside the Docking Bay access port, YT-75 smiled to herself as she remembered the image of the space hulk appearing on the scanners.  Fresh salvage, probably enough archeotech to clear their debts and see them sitting pretty for the foreseeable future.  Best of all, the Belgrave was the first ship to come across the hulk, and they were not going to waste this opportunity.  YT-75 broke out of her moment of introspection as Shino S opened the internal bulkhead doors, releasing a cloud of hydraulic fluids.

The atmosphere of the Docking Bay access port was thick with ion and the floor crackled with sparks of electricity.  Shino S turned to the rest of the crew and said “watch where you stand, the floor is live.  I should be able to isolate the issue from one of these maintenance ports.”  The engineer set about trying to cut the power from the live conduits but in her efforts, she set off the security system.  The lights in the Docking Bay access port changed to red, and six ancient security droids appeared from lifts in the floor.

The security droids moved slowly forward on their creaking millennia old servos.  YT-75, and Wells, the Master-of-arms, opened fire with their autoguns.  The sounds of the shots  rebounded off of the walls of the chamber but the bullets could not penetrate the armour of those ancient weapons of war. 

Frustrated at their inability to move, the first mate, Okunishi Blue, and the Helmsman, Mandrake tore open other maintenance ports looking for a way to cut the power that was coursing through the floor, only for both of them to be electrocuted for their efforts.  Okunishi Blue slumped to the floor almost losing consciousness.

Whirling and clicking sounds came from the security droids as they tried to fire their malfunctioning guns.  Stepping out from their pointless cover, Wells and YT-75 unleashed a fusillade of bullets at the droids, taking two out of commission. 

On the opposite flank the second group of security bots bounded towards the waiting crew members of the Belgrave.  DCL-74, the ship`s surgeon, ignored the pain of the electricity as he moved to help Okunishi Blue. 

Shino S shouted to her crew mates “I think I`ve got it!”, and the electricity coursing through the floor ceased.  Hanley, the Bosun, let out a roar and charged towards the axe wielding droid, firing his las-gun on full auto.  The beams of light burnt holes through the chassis of the ancient robot and it collapsed, the light in its photosensors dying out.

Being free to move without fear of being electrocuted, the crew members of the Belgrave quickly dealt with the remaining security droids.  The final one`s body collapsed to the floor as a shot from Okunishi Blue`s las-pistol tore through its CPU.

Looking at the display terminal that Shino S had managed to bring back to life, YT-75 sighed, the ship was much bigger than she had first thought.  The only way to deal with a problem this big was through a strategic plundering of the ship.  They would have to choose the highest value areas to loot first.  Turning to her crew YT-75 barked out an order, “we are heading to the repair bay.  We should find some items of value there.  Check your weapons and stay frosty people.”