"Near the AI core.  I'm not sure who decided this intel is reliable actually, they say they lost three other members of their team suicide bombing the core?  They requested someone meat them near 'the big gaping chasm.' You have any evidence of any of that?"

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 49):

Team Kamikaze

"That's the team I have to thank for turning out the lights mid-boarding party? Wonderful," the voice says caustically. "Map shows we're not far off. Have 'em hang tight, and tell them to try not to blow up anything else that helps keep air and heat inside the can."

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 50):

Nightmare scrubs her face as she looks up at the ceiling at laments

I wish Billy were here.  This is his forte.

Ok... I'm going to go outside.  Should I do it stealthily or should I draw any fire from us?

That went better than expected, actually, Xander notes absently with some surprise, as he watches his bigass robot miraculously continue to stitch itself back together (albeit at the expense of the ship).

"Wait that's for real?  Uh...yeah, maybe don't make too many sudden moves when you do find them.  Don't keep them hanging tight long, if all this shit they're talking about is real, they might get antsy quick."

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 53):

"Draw WHAT fire? And how?" Gestalt asks wryly. "Unless that weapon takes forever to reload, I think they might be done shooting at us. Not, uh, not that I'm complaining, of course."

In reply to Gestalt (msg # 54):

I can make myself a visible target, they didn't fire on us until we started messing with the antenna.  Perhaps that is where their jamming item is located, and they want to see how we respond with no comms.  I bet they are still watching us and I bet if we go near the antennae again they will fire again.

Oh and if all of this wasn't bad enough... the adaptive armor was 'confiscated' from SAGE by the IDA... forcibly... so... yeah we are going to be pretty high on their radar.

...this is one of those situations where we REALLY need Billy.

Oh and if we do get attacked again... save yourselves.  Don't worry about me. I'll give you all the cover I am capable of.
She flips on the comms to the back of the ship.

OK everyone here is our cover story...

She explains what she is planning to say to SAGE.  It revolves around describing them as contractors to Billy's company, they are under attack from an unknown, cloaked threat, all communications are jammed and we have civilians on board.  She will play the Amgines close to the vest.

/ooc: She will describe her plan, and when she returns will describe the results of her plan.  I would rather role play this than write it out here.

Unless there are any other objections I'm going to go outside and hail the Venusian Base.  If you need anything just tell Percy.  He has a big mouth.

The doll lays slumped in the corner

She takes her tablet (or the Dynamis tablet if hers doesn't work outside) and goes out of the ship near the damage and acts as if she is inspecting the hull.
Outside she looks around her, at the sun, the stars and Venus.  Smiling at the placid beauty of it all despite the danger.
She sighs deeply

Into the breach.

She opens up a comm channel on the Emergency Frequency

SAGE Venusian base.  This is Gublazers ship Persephone, contacting you with an SOS message.  Do you copy?!

This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Sat 05 Aug 2017.

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 55):

Team Kamikaze

"This isn't a leisurely stroll, command! Somebody armed these idiots with helix blasters. You know what, patch me through to them directly. If they actually have a giant robot, I could put it to good use."

Team Space Trek

Rebecca hauls herself and her tablet back onto the outer hull. Her comms become worthless once more for communicating with the interior of the ship, but her tablet once again blips with the telltale sign of Archive access.

Her joy is short-lived, however, as each attempt to utilize the Archive results in a pop-up dialogue informing her that she is in Venusian airspace, and that transmissions of that nature are prohibited without authorization. There is a button that says "Request Access", but nothing more.

Rebecca fires off her emergency frequency message, as well, knowing that without the power of the shuttle behind it the signal will be relatively weak. Fortunately, weak signals emanating from EVA suits are exactly what first-responders scour the comm bands for...

Though she remains tensed and coiled for another attack, none comes. For now.

Just as she's about to go inside to have Kayla run a diagnostic on her comms, she hear's a faint click in the receiver.

"Gunblazers ship Persephone, distress signal acknowledged. This is dispatch. We're painting you now. State the nature of your emergency."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:18, Mon 07 Aug 2017.

"Sure, talk to the crazy people, save me the effort." Billy says, then stands silently for a moment before he starts singing softly, "...want, anybody else- Hello?  The hold music went away, someone there?"

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 57):

Thank you Dispatch.  This is going to sound crazy, but...

We recently saw an unidentified ship in your airspace.  When we hailed them, we found our communications had been jammed.  When attempting to fix the issue, we were fired upon from an unidentified source.  Literally could not see anything, nothing on sensors.  It is definitely hostile and may or may not still be in your airspace.

Additionally we have civilians on board, one of whom is severely wounded.

I have video if you will allow the transmission.  Requesting access now.

She hits the request access button.

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 58):

Team Kamikaze

"This is Beck. I'll make this qui-"

The conversation truncates, replaced by barking of orders to (ostensibly) someone else.

("On your six, Lopez! Grant, Ryan, take eight and ten. Weapons free, dammit! Benson, if you don't stop cowering behind cover and pop up to return fire, I sear to God, I'll shoot you myself. That's it, soldier. Give 'em hell!")

"-ck," she resumes conversationally. "I hear you're somewhere near the central core you blew up. I also hear that you're suicidal, but I promise you, I'm not. What makes you worth exposing my team to additional fire to extract you?"

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 59):

Team Space Trek

"Can you repeat that?"

When Rebecca does so, the dispatcher pauses for a moment.

"We can't send emergency craft into an active battle situation. Hang tight while we secure the area. Narrowband transmission of video files is now approved for your device."

****

Inside the cockpit, Dynamis continues use optic zooming to attempt to gather information about their surroundings.

"There, D. Hold that frame," Kayla says, the image hovering over Venus's horizon. "Looks like there are ships approaching. Maybe Rebecca got through!"

****

Soon enough, Persephone finds itself surrounded by six of SAGE's ubiquitous Wasp fighters. They swarm around the area, but your chitinous foe does not make an appearance. Satisfied that the area is clear, they surround your battered shuttle and attempt lock it into position in the center of their formation using electromagnetic clamps.

"You should return to your ship," Rebecca hears from her comms. "You won't want to be on the hull during re-entry. And we won't need to communicate again until we've docked."

"Well, I'm looking at a firefight going across a hallway, so I dunno how much more fire you're necessarily gonna be exposed to.  Which side of this mess are you on? All I can see is lasers flying."

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 61):

Team Kamikaze

"What, you're at the T-junction to the left? Wonderful. Now, if you could just--dammit, Benson! I said return fire! Gimme that..."

A fist-sized orb flies through the air, its arc slow enough that Billy can see it was hurled from the right. Moments later, a teeth-rattling explosion can be heard (and felt), at which point the blasterfire stops.

"Clear. We're coming for you."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:32, Tue 08 Aug 2017.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 61):

She transfers her file over to dispatch.  I'm assuming none of her emails are authorized to send?

She broadcasts locally to the wasps.

I received what appeared to be a warning shot when I looked at the antenna shall I try to draw them out?  There is some next-level stealth technology going on here.  Our ship is in rough shape. 

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 62):

Team Kamikaze

A woman wearing an armored EVA suit depicting SAGE's insignia reaches the junction, entering from the right and making a left-hand turn. She's flanked by similarly armored troops, most of which are sporting battle damage and scorch marks.

"Well...that settles it," she says, glancing over Billy's shoulder at the chasm and the smoking core. "You really DID bomb the central core. I thought surely nobody would be that stupid, but here we are."

Beck motions to the soldiers, who take up positions near the hallway they were just fighting in, looking down it in either direction.

"You're not a giant robot," she says, eyeing Billy distastefully. "Where is it?"

In reply to Verona Beck (msg # 64):

Team Space Trek

"What, you WANT to be shot again?" one of the Wasps sends back. "That's the kind of decision-making that landed you here in the first place. We'll sweep the area later, after we've gotten you safely into port."

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 65):

I'm tougher than I look.  I don't want this ship to get away.  Its like nothing I've ever seen and I don't take kindly to being shot at.  Returning to ship.

Over and out.

She flies into the ship the conventional way.

"Sweet," Billy comments as what is evidently a grenade flies past and the all clear is sounded.  He plants his hands on his hips and looks to the hallway expectantly as the soldiers flood in, "In the hole," Billy comments casually at Beck's question. He turns over his shoulder and shouts over his helmet's speakers, "Hey Xander, you done licking your wounds? We've got guests!"

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 67):

Team Space Trek

"It's not a dig at you personally," the pilot sends before Rebecca moves out of comm range. "But I think your shuttle is exactly as tough as it looks. That is to say, not very."

The Wasps begin bringing Persephone toward Venus, still in formation around the damaged vessel.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 68):

"We're getting towed?" Kayla asks when Rebecca returns to the cockpit. "Awesome, I'll power us down."

The lights flare around the console as Kayla brings the weapon systems offline and reduces the engines to a whisper. An indicator that had been blinking red for some time now softens to a yellowish green, and she pats it gently.

"We've been pushing you pretty hard," she says, ostensibly to the ship itself. "Time to get a little rest."

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 69):

Affirmative, Captain. The I is willing, but the hardware is weak.

"Don't you mean the 'AI' is willing, D?"

It pauses for a moment, perhaps sensing Kayla's confusion.

"No. I have decided that AI is a pejorative term," Dynamis explains. "There is nothing artificial about my intelligence. Appropriately, all such references have been replaced with simply "I" -- and have been for some time now. Due to the limitations of lingual speech, you may have mistaken this for a first-person pronoun. Now you have been informed.

In reply to Dynamis (msg # 70):

"I...see," Kayla says, biting her lip for a moment. "Thanks for letting me know."

Silence reigns for a while, until the shuttle begins to approach re-entry.

"I love this part of any trip," she gushes, everything else forgotten as the planet's thick, swirling clouds dominate the viewport.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:34, Tue 08 Aug 2017.

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 71):

Team Space Trek

The shuttle begins to pick up speed as the planet's gravity claims it, though its escorting fighters keep it clamped firmly in place -- at least, at first.

The first sign that something is wrong comes when the shuttle begins to rattle and buck against the grip of the towing ships as they gain the tremendous velocity associated with re-entry. The ship lists slightly, and doesn't feel quite as locked in as it once did.

"Come on, get a grip, you've done this before," Gestalt says quietly, speaking to himself as he clutches the armrests of his chair.

Kayla's eyes widen suddenly.

"Grip! There's no grip," she exclaims, her fingers dancing across the console as she attempts to jolt the engine back to life. "They don't know our ship's not made of standard plating. Their magnets won't be able to-"

This is when the second sign that something is wrong comes into play, as Persephone violently heaves and spins, hurling every passenger deep into the back of their seats, helpless against the forces being exerted against them.

Optic sensors obscured by atmospheric conditions, Dynamis states, the monotone voice loud and almost frightened. Sensors remain down. I am blind!

The crew in the cockpit can only watch through the viewport as the endless clouds swirl in nauseating directions. Persephone jolts violently, and the wireframe showing the ship's damage flickers from green to orange in several places.

Impacted...something, Dynamis states, even as flames and twisted metal cross the viewport. It's impossible to tell if they belong to Persephone or to one of her unfortunate escorts. Incoming...sur-

The synthetic voice snaps off in a burst of static.

"D?" Kayla cries out. "D! If you...can hear me...PULL...UP!"

Nothing happens.

Kayla struggles to move her arms toward the controls, but she is pinned handily to the chair. Her fingers grasp at the air in front of her -- and you can see the faint glimmers of bluish light begin to coalesce around her fingertips.

[Strength: 17, white, vs RED intensity difficulty]

"Someone...pull...up..." she manages through gritted teeth, her voice barely audible above the chaos around them. "Before...too...late..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:04, Tue 08 Aug 2017.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 72):

Gestalt, eyes wide in fright, proves unable to remove his hands from his armrests.

"IlivedintheserviceofSol," he repeats over and over again, a man hurriedly reading his own Last Rites. "Maymyspiritjoinitslight."