Recap & Disposition

Team Space Trek

Persephone, severely damaged by an internal munitions explosion, has limped its way into Venusian orbit. Its communications remain jammed by an unknown but doggedly persistent source -- a problem that has remained ever since their encounter with the strange chitinous vessel that followed them into the Sol sector.

Kayla, captain of the vessel, has activated its adaptive armor to cloak the shuttle from unwanted attention. Though low on supplies and carrying a critically wounded crewman, she is unwilling to risk the violent response she expects to receive should Persephone fail to respond to Venusian hails while approaching port. Venus is controlled by SAGE forces, and they do not take intrusion lightly.

She is standing in the cockpit, waist deep in wiring and electric panels that once constituted the shuttle's communications system. A silhouette of the system is being projected in the air above her from her bracer, courtesy of the increasingly enigmatic AI Dynamis.

Rebecca and Fiernas do what they can to help, though some of their time is spend trying to figure out how to avoid having their status as fugitives from SAGE detected once the ship does manage to dock.

The remaining crew consists of:

*Gestalt -- former (?) Honcho of the AoS
* Susan Darling -- heiress, had been kidnapped for ransom by the AoS
* Wendy Tyndall -- daughter of the UN Speaker, also kidnapped for ransom by the AoS
* Holt -- auger and former AoS agent who has been in a coma for days
* Penny -- former IDA agent who has been dead for days
* The Cyberpups -- Fiernas's beloved dogs

"What a mess," Kayla gripes, crouching down to connect an exposed wire to a nearby circuit board. "It might be easier to disarm a missile, tie a white flag to it, and shoot it at the nearest port."

***

Team Kamikaze

The rest of the team is in no better shape. Alone, outnumbered, and outgunned aboard Faust's flagship, Goethe, as it lords over the shattered asteroid that once served as the IDA's Near-Earth Hub, Billy and Xander are poring over their remaining options. Presumably, Viceroy is somewhere outside, still doing battle with drones from the newly mobilized Factory.

They stand, battered and bruised, before a gaping chasm set just below the ship's ruined Central Core. The rest of their away team -- Durst, Timon, and Muse -- were lost during an explosion caused by Muse's valiant final stand. Though the Central Core was successfully destroyed, and the ship's AI successfully disabled, it cost all three of them their lives.

An important-looking crystal was flung from the explosion, and now rests in one of Xander's many pockets.

Abraxas has sustained significant damage, and will not be able to function properly without a prolonged stint in a maintenance bay. Still, Xander is convinced he can at least get the legs moving again with just the parts on hand.

The only problem is time -- and it's a pressing one. Emergency lighting has been the order of the day ever since Goethe lost its AI, and the ship has been noticeably listing for a while now.

Somewhere above, the sounds of a prolonged firefight and dozens of heavy boots can be heard. Team Kamikaze may not be the only unauthorized guests visiting Faust's flagship today...
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:28, Fri 28 July 2017.

Billy, perched atop Abraxas's disabled shoulder climbs close to the section of ceiling he carved into to drop on one of their former assailants, "So, is the big guy dead?  If we aren't gonna be able to fly upstairs I'll take my chances on climbing through a hole."

Fiernas stares out at the planet below them, trembling with rage.  Picking up on something coming off of him, Leo and Phillip huddle in the corner nearby, tails tucked, only venturing out to occasionally lick Fiernas's hand.

"Kayla, Rebecca.  I want to make something very clear.  The very second we can get away from this place, that's what we do.  I won't hear anything about it being immoral to steal a ship, or scientific curiosity about the work they're doing, or anything else.  When we can break orbit and head out without fear of starving or freezing to death, that's what we do."

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 3):

"It would only be immortal to steal another ship if you intended to leave this one behind afterward."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:27, Fri 28 July 2017.

In reply to Dynamis (msg # 4):

"We're not gonna leave you behind, D," Kayla says, her voice somewhat muffled by the bank of equipment she's currently laying beneath to tinker with their underside. "Don't worry about that."

She makes a few more adjustments, then bangs her hand against the console lightly.

"Damn. It. Ok, new plan," she says, sliding out from under the panels and hauling herself to her feet. "I'm suiting up and sweeping the outer hull for unwanted hardware. Maybe we've been bugged."

Kayla begins heading toward the equipment locker to don her EVA suit.

"Someone who can drive needs to stay behind in case we need to get out of here quickly, but I'd appreciate any other eyes you might be able to spare."

Fiernas settles in smoothly behind the controls.  "I think I can handle it.  Rebecca can shift through the hull anyway.  More efficient than me."

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 6):

Team Space Trek

Kayla and Rebecca suit up and head outside, the former using magnetic clamps to haul herself over the outer hull.

"I know you did a sweep before," she comms to Rebecca. "But the problem's not inside. I don't know where else to look."

She glances down at glassy surface as reflected star shine off it. "This adaptive armor is really cool," she breathes, stirring herself to move closer to the external broadcast antenna and receiver relay. "But it's not really magnetic, is it? These clamps are almost useless on this alloy."

Kayla begins to tinker with the relay system.

"These look OK to me," she says at last. "Hey, Fiernas? Try to broadcast something, would you?"

She waits for a moment, but nothing happens...at which point she puts her gloved hand to her helmeted forehead and sighs.

"Aaaaand he can't hear me, because comms aren't going through."

Kayla taps her bracer, now snapped into place on the exterior of the EVA suit.

"D, I need you to get a message through to Fiernas in the cockpit for me."

"I...cannot do that, captain," a synthetic voice echoes through Kayla and Rebecca's comms, but no others. Its flat monotone still manages to convey a growing sense of dread. "I cannot establish a connection with Persephone from here at all."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:33, Mon 31 July 2017.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 7):

Fiernas carefully holds the shuttle steady while Kayla and Rebecca explore the hull. An urgent beeping sound on the console soon arrests his attention, however.

"Cloaked threat detected!" a synthetic voice says. "Pilot, reverse thrust and turn 90 degrees to starboard. NOW!"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:36, Mon 31 July 2017.

In reply to Dynamis (msg # 8):

Team Kamikaze

The sounds of a firefight continue to be heard overhead. It's hard to tell if it is moving closer, further away, or remaining constant.

The emergency lights remain on, bathing the world in cacophony of steely grays and angry reds.

Fiernas is about to haul on the controls, but remembers the tiny forms crawling all over the slick hull.  He does his best to execute the computer's suggested maneuver gently, gritting his teeth against possible incoming fire.

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 10):

Percy sits implacably in the copilots chair, hand lazily on one of the joysticks.

Nightmare looks around rapidly and finds a place where she wont do too much damage and activates her spikes digging into the surface of the ship.  In Kayla's head she hears

KAYLA ACTIVATE YOUR MAGNETS!  NOW!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:21, Mon 31 July 2017.

[Piloting - Evasive Manuvers vs. Cloaked Threat: 75 - Yellow Success]

Xander stands up from the cockpit, surveying the scene from a position balanced half-in, half-out of his wrecked mech. The machine sparks around him, and he winces as if in physical pain himself.

He shakes his head in response to Billy's question.

I can get him limping again, but it will take a moment. In the meantime, let's see if we can have Sophia figure out who our enemy's new enemy is. Maybe the old adage will prove true.

Can you hail them on one of their secure lines, Soph?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:50, Tue 01 Aug 2017.

"It doesn't sound like they're in a position for a friendly chat," Billy observes, "You give that a try, I'll see what's what." He says as he expands on the missing section of ceiling until he has a hole big enough to fit his shoulders through.  As long as there's no immediate sign that he's cut someone's leg off, he attempts to haul himself up from Abraxa's shoulder to have a look at the scene above.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 14):

Team Space Trek - Cockpit

Fiernas deftly completes the maneuver, wrenching the shuttle into a higher orbit and taking care not to whip his crewmates off the shuttle's hull in the process. At the same moment, a shuddering rattle reverberates throughout the ship -- a telltale sign of minor impact.

A wireframe of the shuttle appears near the empty copilot's chair, the bulk of the ship outlined in healthy green lines. Toward the rear of the ship, however, a streak of yellow-orange can be seen.

"We've been hit," Dynamis informs him. "Adaptive armor inoperable."

True to form, faint ripples streak outward across the viewport -- the usual hallmark of the adaptive armor coming online or going offline.

All sensors remain jammed. Relying on optic observation alone. Previous attack entered the visible spectrum here.

A faint aura-like coloration appears on the viewscreen, roughly 3 ship-scale areas distant.

Unknown if the source is mobile. Likely, source is cloaked.  Pilot: Remain prepared for additional evasive maneuvering.

Moments later, the sound of heavy footfalls heralds the arrival of Gestalt, Tyndall, and Darling at the cockpit.

"What's happened?" Gestalt says, slipping into the copliot's seat but carefully avoiding any of its controls. He looks at the wireframe and grows concerned. "I thought we were done making sudden movements. Are we under attack?"

Darling and Tyndall look at each other wordlessly, eyes wide with fear.

Team Space Trek - Spacewalk

It seemed like something small -- a flicker of light out of the corner of her eye. Kayla had just resolved herself not to tear her attention from the work at hand when she heard Rebecca's warning.

She activated the magnets, weak though they were, and soon found herself stumbling against the hull as Persephone broke into a banking turn she had in no way anticipated. Rebecca fares neither better nor worse, and she too remains safely on the outer hull.

"What the hell, D?! Why would -"

Captain, the stern!

A generous orb of unstable energy plows through the rear of the shuttle, leaving an angry furrow several inches deep in its wake as it whizzes past.

Electricity sizzles from the furrow, and Persephone's glassy, reflective surface snaps back to its normal coloration almost immediately.

"Where did that come from?" she exclaims, looking around at the nothingness in frustration.

Trajectory suggests it came from a point 80 degrees from your vantage point, likely from within nominal naval combat range. Not from Venus. But I can't be sure, Captain. I cannot access the bulk of my processing power from here. Whatever jamming array is at work against us is formidable indeed.

Kayla nods, then points at Rebecca.

"Phase inside and figure out what's going on. I've already climbed all the way out to the antennae, and I'm not heading in until I'm sure I can't fix them from here."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:59, Tue 01 Aug 2017.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 15):

Team Kamikaze

Billy slices his way to the "surface", so to speak, and pulls himself up when he's sure it's safe.

To his left, he can see the hallway leading to the ruined Central Core. It is entirely filled with smoke and slag, and inaccessible without leaping over the hole in the floor approaching it.

To his right, the hallway continues to extend toward a T junction. He can see blasts of light crisscrossing from this space, indicating that the combatants must be facing one another from either side of the hallway running perpendicular to this one.

***

Xander looks over at Abraxas, slumped like a wounded thing, and tries to figure out a good starting point for making his field repairs.


Meanwhile, Sophia gets to work attempting to make sense of the various communication channels available to her.

There are 3 distinct bands, she says primly. One uses our classified IDA encryption. One uses the SAGE protocols we discovered on Ceres. I can't make heads or tails of the third. Which should I try first?

Fiernas grits his teeth, barely moving as he stares out the cockpit viewport.  Only his eyes flicker around the starfield.  His body is coiled tight, superhuman reflexes ready to spring at the slightest warning.

He keys the comm.  "Rebecca, Kayla, get back in here."  Unsurprisingly, only static answers.

He spares a glance down to the worried dog face hovering at his elbow.  "Leo, get your brother and get into those padded crates we made up for you.  Like we practiced."  Leo licks his arm mournfully before he trots off to the cargo area.

"Good news is there's not a firefight over our heads.  Bad news is, I don't know where the belligerents are.  Maybe try the SAGE channel?" Billy suggests as he approaches the T-junction.  He stops a couple feet from the end of his hallway to look at the crossfire appraisingly, not quite stupid enough to literally stick his neck out.  He quietly debates the merits of making himself known vs. waiting to see who wins.

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 17):

Nightmare grabs Kayla by the shoulder.

Sorry, I'm not leaving you out here to get shot by whatever that is.  We need you too badly.

[Phasing: 5+86 Karma, Red Success]

She phases herself and Kayla through the hull of the ship into the main area like a creepy Mary Poppins.

Everyone please engage emergency procedures again.  EVA suits on and strap yourselves in.  This is the real deal.  Once in EVA suits I need Gestalt in the cockpit and the noncombatants strapped in.  Take care of the dogs, and secure Holt as best you can.

/ooc can Holt be put in an EVA suit without further damage?

We got a partial reading on the location of the ship from outside.  The adaptive armor is shot and it wasn't worth a darn anyway.  How do we fight something we can't see.  Dynamis do you have any high res video of the attack?

Also please go for missile lock on the area where the ship was before, lets see how it reacts to being painted by a laser. 
This message was last edited by the player at 18:18, Tue 01 Aug 2017.

"I don't know," Fiernas growls in response to Rebecca's rhetorical question about not being able to see.  "I don't know how you people live like this."

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 20):

"Wha-hey, leggo!" Kayla says as Rebecca drags her back to the cockpit, phasing them both directly through the hull.

Gestalt, Darling, and Tyndall are already there when the pair arrive, though the latter two bound off after the puppies to put on their EVA suits, as Rebecca has commanded.

"I don't think we should be firing missiles in random directions this close to Venus," Kayla says, motioning toward the shrouded planet in the distance. "Even though we're out of their airspace."

She walks over to the wireframe of the shuttle and swears.

"Dammit. RIGHT through the actuator! That adaptive armor was hardly useless, Rebecca. It was keeping SAGE from noticing us until we could actually respond to their hails. They could be calling us right now and we'd never know it."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:16, Tue 01 Aug 2017.

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 21):

"Yeah, but we're visibly damaged now, right?" Gestalt says, pointing at the wireframe even as he stands to surrender the copilot's seat to someone more suited to the role. "So if they come check on us, they might understand why we didn't call them back."

He blinks.

"Should we trash the upper antennae to sell it better?"

In reply to Gestalt (msg # 22):

You will refrain from inflicting intentional harm to my hull.

The voice comes from the bracer and from the console at roughly the same time, but the phrases are pronounced differently enough that the dichotomy is noticeable.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:25, Tue 01 Aug 2017.