Airlock

*Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Galaxy at War*

*See also: GaW Bases and Battlestations*

An Airlock is a room used to link a Battlestation to spacefaring craft such as Starships, escape pods, satellites, and other Battlestations. An Airlock creates an airtight seal between the two vessels that prevents the air from either one escaping into the vacuum. The Airlock is pressurized by internal air vents and serves as a Corridor between the station and the other vessel. Typically, an Airlock consists of a 2-square-by-4-square room with a few simple benches and two to six storage lockers bolted to the walls. Pulling a bench off a wall requires a DC 30 Strength check; each bench (10 Hit Points; DR 5) provides Low Cover when tipped on its side. Inside each storage locker is a standard zero-gravity-capable Space Suit, two lengths of liquid cable, a grappling spike launcher, a Medpac, and two Glow Rods. A 2-meter-tall door seals the hatch to the access tunnel, which can be opened only when the Airlock's sensors detect a sealed, pressurized connection on the other end.

The Airlock is connected to the rest of the Battlestation by a standard Blast Door (750 Hit Points; DR 10; Damage Threshold 40; Strength DC 70/Break DC 45). Someone inside the station can force entrance into the Airlock by overriding the command code to open the door, which requires a Medium Mechanics check (if the door connecting the Airlock to the outside is closed) or a Hard Mechanics check (if the door connecting the Airlock to the outside is open). The difference in the checks is caused by the Airlock's fail-safe controls, which can be overridden only with great difficulty, ensuring that a breach into the vacuum remains sealed off- and that raiders using the Airlock as a point of entry have more trouble breaking in. Forcing open the Airlock door that leads outside the station (50 Hit Points; DR 10; Damage Threshold 30; Strength DC 50/Break DC 35) requires a Heroic Mechanics check due to the Battlestation's hard-coded fail-safe mechanisms. However, since the Airlock door leads to a vacuum, even the slightest breach can rip the door from its hinges. If the door takes more than 40 points of damage, it is torn away, exposing the Airlock to the cold reaches of space.

If the Airlock door is breached or opened to space, characters in the Airlock can try to grab handles mounted on the walls to avoid being sucked out into space (a DC 20 Climb check). The room is completely emptied and becomes a Vacuum in 1 round, and if the door to the interior of the Battlestation is also open, atmosphere continues to blast out of the Airlock with great force. Any round the interior door remains open, a character holding on to the handles inside the Airlock can make a DC 20 Climb check to reach the emergency magnetic containment (Magcon) activator, which causes a magnetic field to appear where the Airlock door used to be. Once the field blocks the exit to space, the Airlock refills with air and resumes normal pressure in 2 rounds. In the event of such a breach, alarms sound in the Airlock's Control Room, on the Command Bridge, and the entire deck where the Airlock is located.

If a character is exposed to Vacuum or sucked into space, he or she might begin to Suffocate.