Inside the ship, white lights glare off panic and steel. Security clamps onto Ben and hauls them away from the Martins before the family can reach back.
At a welding station, armored techs bolt fresh plating onto Ben's frame and mount a heavy shotgun rig across their small body. Sparks spit across the floor.
The Security Officer
You are ramp defense now. Hold that threshold until the ship clears.
Ben
Ramp defense.
Ben catches one last glimpse of Cid, Martha, Amy, and Rachel being pushed deeper into the ship, swallowed by the crowd and the hatch light.
Rachel
Ben, move! Don't let them through!
The armory crew snaps the last brace shut. A red warning tone starts up somewhere outside, and the boarding ramp shudders under the first impact from the swarm.
+ Scene Quest Added
Hold the boarding ramp until the ship clears
+ New Item Acquired
Heavy shotgun rig
“Standing side by side by other worker drones, it will take formation to perform three line shooting coordination at the enemy.”
FAILURE (Fair Marksmanship, rolled -2)
The ramp buckles hard enough to rattle Ben's shotgun mount. Two worker drones near the line lose their footing, and the neat firing row breaks into a scramble.
A crack of light flashes through the seam outside. The first figure in the swarm hits the barrier, and the whole formation shies back from the impact.
The Security Officer
Hold the line, not the crowd! Give me a lane!
Ben
The ramp is shifting. The spacing is wrong.
Ben pivots to the nearest worker drones, but one is already backing away, dragging their weapon low instead of shouldering it.
Rachel
Ben, left side, now!
Rachel points past the wobbling line toward a side brace where the emergency shutter starts to drop, cutting the bay into a tighter choke point.
The Security Officer
Pick a side, drone. We lose this lane in seconds.
“Ben will see an assault rifle on the ground and will attempt to fire it”
SUCCESS (Fair Marksmanship, rolled +2)
Ben snatches the fallen assault rifle off the deck and swings it up before the next shove hits the lane.
The first burst kicks loud in the bay. A worker drone at the edge flinches back, and the crowd behind them stutters under the fire.
The Security Officer
Good, keep them off the ramp!
The emergency shutter grinds lower, leaving only a narrow slit of space for the defenders to use.
Rachel
Ben, that side lane, keep it clear!
Muffled impacts slam through the plating outside, but the line holds. The ship still has room to pull away.
Cid
Ben, do not let them through!
+ New Item Acquired
Assault rifle
“Will fire on the closest murder drones”
SUCCESS (Fair Marksmanship, rolled +0)
Ben squeezes the trigger in short, brutal taps. The nearest murder drones jerk in the slit, one spinning back into the crush as sparks spit off its wing blades.
The lane opens for a heartbeat. Bodies scramble in the bay behind the shutter line, and the pressure on the ramp finally breaks.
The Security Officer
That is it, keep them pinned!
Rachel
Ben, look up, the ramp is moving!
Outside, the boarding ramp rattles free of the last impacts and starts to lift. The emergency shutter keeps dropping, turning the fight into a thin, desperate window.
Cid
Ben, you did it, now do not let them grab the door!
The ship is clearing. The slit is all that is left between the swarm and the evacuees.
Quest Complete
Hold the boarding ramp until the ship clears
Skill Upgrade: Marksmanship Good→Great
