Sir Walter listened to the group as they made plans to assault the pyramid. "Serge? Would it be alright if I took a look at your jump drive to get some of the repairs going while the rest of you check out the strange vessel?"

In reply to Walter Zeller (msg # 124):

> Would it be alright if I took a look at your jump drive

- Of course. Here is the key.

Just as Vonon finishes his transmission Khea slaps his shoulder "What did I say about the fuel?"

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 126):

"Wha-a-a-a-t?" Vonon objects to the slap, "He's the Captain! I'm supposed to tell him! Besides, what're the odds that there's any significant amount of fuel, over there? This ship is a hulk; dead in space! If it had any fuel it would be moving! 'Course, there is the whole massive gravity field thing - how's that getting power? But still..."

Vonon already had one of the drones open the interior airlock... that's how he knew it was an airlock. The problem with the drone going into the airlock and trying to open the inner door is that it would have to close the outer door, which probably means Vonon would lose contact with it.

As the second drone approaches and examines the 'fuel dispenser', it can't confirm that the 'nozzle' would dispense hydrogen fuel. The drone can confirm that there's no trace of hydrogen present, but it also sees that there is no opening in the end of the nozzle.


Meanwhile, Walter goes to inspect the Scout ship. He can see just from observing the outside that a section of the lanthanum grid is missing. It looks like it has been removed as opposed to having been damaged in some way.

There's enough spare lanthanum in a ship's locker to make patches but not nearly enough to replace all that is missing.

Seeing the missing section of the lanthanum grid, Walter took a closer look to see how it was removed. Something does not look right here, Serge would be rather hard pressed to remove an entire section by himself. he thought, looking at the connections on the hull.

Went with Engineering (Jump)/Int for the check. If it is EDU, then add 1 more to the roll.
21:23, Today: Walter Zeller rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,3.  Inspect grid.

Clearly the Scout ship couldn't have gotten here without its grid intact, which means one of two things: either it got here already in the hold of the pyramid, or else the grid was removed once it was in the hold.

Walter can tell that the section of grid was removed methodically and precisely, yet there's no indication that the job was left unfinished.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 130):

As soon as Serge learns about the grid was removed, he will check current coordinates and date, and will compare it with the coordinates and date in the logs of Elusive at the moment right after misjump.

OOC:
I did not attempt to jump after misjump but before I got into Pyramid? Could you make a chronology of events after Elusive initiated its last jump?
This message was last edited by the player at 08:59, Mon 28 Aug 2017.

+++Walter to :ongShot, move the vessel farther away from the Pyramid! It appears to have surgically removed the grid from the scout. Not sure if it is something in the bay or some kind of drone that did it but lets not find out the hard way.   Suggest checking our drones to make sure they have not been compromised and bring them back.+++

Vonon's eyes are wide, as he looks around the Bridge,

"Uh, you want I should answer the man, or would you rather, Sam?"

"I think we're safe, myself. We're not in physical contact with the pyramid and, hopefully, we'll see any drone or armature come out of the bay, before it reaches us. We're safe, here. I think."

"As for our drones, well, they have been in contact with the pyramid. It's possible they could be compromised. Safer to leave them over there, for now, I think."

"Sharik." the diminutive navigator of the Longshot introduced herself to Serge, offering a perfunctory hand in introduction as they walked.  There was a crooked smile on her face as Baklanov talked of being 'discharged' - you could take the Marine out of the Service, but the service never left the marine.  "You never 'leave' the IISS, Serge..." Shar noted with a slight shake of the head, "You may get deactivated, but like the mob, you never get out..."  It was pretty simple.  The auburn-haired ex-Scout flashed her own ident tags that she still wore around her neck before tucking them back under the collar of her coveralls.

Sharik listened to the chatter over the crew line, her brow furrowed slightly.  She was more worried about Walter than the drones - as Vo had noted: they could leave the latter on the alien hulk indefinitely, but Walter less so.  Still, they'd already let Serge on.  So, whatever (if anything) was contaminated, quarantine protocols were already potentially compromised.  Anything no caught in the standard airlock decontamination and re-pressurization procedures wasn't going to be caught by them at this point.

++I don't like it.++  Shar typed quickly into her dataglove adding her two credits, ++Our own grid integrity hasn't been compromised, has it?++  Could that have been what forced both ships out of jump?  The physical mechanics boggled the mind; let alone the technical implications of such precision.

"Serge," she asked casually, "Our own EVA and drone inspection shows that your jump grid damage seems to be something a little more targeted than an 'accident'..."  She outlined the technical aspects of a 'surgical removal of a specific portion of the lanthenum matrix in the hull' and with a raised eyebrow directed his way, prompted her fellow Scout to elaborate on anything that might now be affecting all of their chances of getting home in one piece.  Something in the sequencing didn't make sense and she simply hoped that the stranded man had overlooked something.  Getting both ships home without more lanthenum was going to be a significant issue.  Even her basic engineering training told her that without the hydrogen bubble integrity maintained by an intact jump grid j-Space couldn't be traversed (without spreading your atoms all over j-Space - which then bled them back into n-Space).  And there was no way in Hell that they could traverse n-Space back to civilization in any meaningful timeframe.  Sharik agreed flatly with Serge, "It may be necessary to leave the Elusive behind ..." Potentially even permanently if they needed to cannibalize anything critical; more was at stake than Serge's career at this point.

To Vonun she said "I think your right, but you know doing what people want sometimes stops them being distracted, and it doesn't affect us in any significant way moving back out"

Sam manoevres the Longshot back about 50 metres and triggered comms "Roger that Walter, complying. Keep yourself clear of teh Pyramid as well."

She continued to Vonun "I suggests continuing with the Drones, they are expendable after all"

As she spoke she set up a feed from the open bay to her console on permanent feed so she could see anything emerge

The Scout ship was 'parked' atop the Long Shot now, fastened to it piggyback style.

Nothing emerges from the interior of the pyramid.

"Here's a thought," Jones said. "You may have all noticed that there's no lanthanum grid on the outside of the pyramid, and I don't believe the drones have detected one."

"So, if the ship has one, it either has to be under the hull plating or part of it. Since our sensors can't penetrate the hull, we can't confirm this one way or the other."

"But... can the jump grid function through the neutronium? My gut feeling is that it can't. Which means one of two things: either this pyramid can't travel through jump-space on its own, or else it has a translight drive that isn't based on jump travel."

He let that sink in for a moment before he continued.

"Either of those options would offer a reason for them to remove part of the lanthanum grid... they were examining it, trying to determine what its function was."

That would mean that there is still an intelligence active on board the pyramid. Either a computer or life forms, maybe hold in stasis until needed."
Khea looks over all feeds from the drones. "Have the drones detected anything that could remove the grid? And lets not forget the third possibility that this ship and its pilot are not what they pretend to be."

"Theres a lot we don't know about this thing. In fact we don't know anything much for sure. So lets assume its dangerous until we find out otherwise."

Noting Shariks comms she ask Khea "Can you confirm our J Drive is still operational, please?"

ooc
Vo seems to think the Pilots in charge when Captains not about. I think I have asked this before but did we ever finalise the chain of command? If so can smoemone remind me where it is or could we get it as a sticky someplace?

In reply to Samantha Kilgore (msg # 139):

OOC: Not exactly accurate...for various reasons we all agreed Darrel would make the best Faceman/Captain for the Group/Ship. This next I'm not sure about, but I think Walter is the XO because of his Legal/Administrative/Trading Skills. I may be wrong about that.

However, lacking the presence of either the Captain or XO (whoever they may be) on the Bridge, Vonon is treating whoever is sitting in the Pilot's Seat - thus "The Pilot" - as being the Officer In Charge ... on the Bridge.

In the current situation, the person sitting in the Pilot's Seat also just happens to be the Senior Pilot - and, I think, Sam is also the Second Officer, after Walter. Or is it the other way around, and Sam is First Officer and Walter is Second Officer?

Either way, on the Bridge, whoever is sitting either in the Command Chair (the ST "Conn") or the Pilots Seat (in stated order of precedence) is "in charge" on the Bridge.

All I know for sure is that as Tactical Officer and soon to be Drone Operator-Apparent, Vonon is, like 5th or 6th in the Chain of Command - after the Cook...which I think is Kaengarr ^_^

PS - it's kinda late, I'll post what Vonon programs the drones to do, when I get up. Later, Taters!

Being pulled back into the reality to being a ships engineer instead of a treasure hunter Khea marches off the bridge towards the engine room but just as she leaves she stops and leans back in to tell Vonon "Have one drone circle our ship to see if anything attached to the hull. When our scanners cant penetrate the pyramid we might also not be able to detect any drones made from the same material.".

With that she hurries to the engine room to not only run a diagnostic on the J-Drive, but also to check the logs fir any unusual activety like fuel levels decreasing too fast or any disturbances on the outer hull.

Today: Kheaiftouaw rolled 6 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,2.  Jump drive diagnostic Edu+1 Eng skill +1.

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 141):

"Okay," Vonon says, "the drones down in that assumed boat bay have managed to locate and semi-activate a number of devices that appear to conform to the function of equipment we would expect to find in a fully equipped boat bay - so yes, Samantha, there may be the capability, in that bay, to remove the entire lanthanum grid from a vessel, just like Walter says happened to the scoutship. Maybe those devices can extend beyond the boat bay, I don't know, but the Longshot is way too big to fit down in the bay."

"One drone is sitting at the edge of the surface hatch into the boat bay - it is generating the magnetic signal that made the hatch...well...fade away. I'm keeping that drone where it is until we're finished, here.  Two other drones continue to explore the outer surface; I'm going to leave them on task, as well."

"The three remaining drones in the boat bay, I'll send to the airlock. I'll send one inside, while the other two wait outside. I'll program the one to go into the airlock, close the outer door, then try to open the inner door - and hope that the simple act of trying to open the door will begin the airlock cycle system. If the airlock cycles and the inner door opens - and assuming we have lost contact with the drone - the drone will be programmed to just sit there and take environmental readings, including audio and video. After two minutes it will close the inner door, and try to leave the airlock, coming out to give us a data dump of what it recorded."

"If the outer airlock door does not open after three minutes, the two drones still outside will try to open the door from the outside."

"Meanwhile, I'll activate Diefenbaker and have it begin an external diagnosis of the Longshot's lanthanum grid. Diefenbaker is a Repair Drone, rather than a Mining Drone, and it has had no direct contact with the pyramid."

"That sound good to everyone?" Vonon asks his companions on the Bridge.

---

OOC:
Vonon Ronkunu rolled 9 for a Drone Operation Skill check using 2d6(6,2) +0(Drone Op) +1(INT) to activate Diefenbaker the repair Drone and have it begin a simple external diagnosis of the Longshot's lanthanum grid.

Vonon Ronkunu rolled 12 for a Drone Operation Skill check using 2d6(6,5) +0(Drone Op) +1(INT) to program a Mining Drone to enter the airlock, cycle it, then take environmental readings for 2 minutes, then cycle the airlock, come out and send data dump to Drone Control.

Vonon Ronkunu rolled 8 for a Drone Operation Skill check using using 2d6(6,1) +0(Drone Op) +1(INT) to program remaining 2 Mining drones to wait 3 minutes after airlock closes, then, if airlock has not opened, attempt to open it using previously recorded magnetic signal.

OOC:I had to dig it out a bit but I think we are working on a chart that was created in Msg 116 that was modified in 119 (OOC2). I am not sure if we had agreed on the organizational chart as I have not noticed any posts after that point (Jan 2016). I had the chart with Samantha as the XO (Ship operations) and Walter as the Admin officer (Trade). In a later Post, Darrell was thinking of me being the XO (Msg 118). I am not sure if we had made an agreement on what we were going to do and since Darrell (The player) has not posted since January of this year, it might be time for a new Captain. (Starting to wish there was a search function to help keep track of the posts as it seems the organization chart discussion was on three boards.) 

Sam nodded at Vonun "What you said, and we'll hold off anything else until we get a report on the Longshot"

returned discussion to OOC - should have posted it there to start with tbh

> You may get deactivated, but like the mob, you never get out...


OOC:
If you are "retired scout" then yes, but what if you are ejected from the carrier due to generation process? :)

IC:
- Oh, another fellow Scout, I presume, - Serge shook offered hand and smiled heartily. - Of course, who else would find me in this strange place. By the way, may be you can brief me on the mission of Longshot?

> It may be necessary to leave the Elusive behind ...

- Well... Do you think the Elusive was contaminated by some sort of nano-disassemblers? I hope it is too fantastic assumption.

Sharik simply smiled as she walked with Sergei and he mused about being ejected.  The man was allowed his illusions.  As was she, as far as the diminutive dilettante was aware no matter your physical, mental, or social status you never truly got discharged from the IISS; the Scout Service was both egalitarian and authoritarian like that.  You were simply placed on 'inactive' status pending reactivation at any time.  And while, it was likely true that the probability of reactivation depended heavily on factors such as your physical, mental, and social status at discharge and reactivation time.  Shar suspected that only death exempted an inactive IISS member from getting the call (and she was aware of at least one occasion where that wasn't even enough, potentially).

Her auburn-colored ponytail bobbed slightly as she shrugged in response to her fellow's scouts query about abandoning his ship.  "Contamination is definitely a question, of course." Sharik conceded, "But I am simply stating that we don't carry any spare lanthanum to repair the grid on the Elusive.  Unless we can recover the material that has been taken, your ship is stuck without an intact jump grid."  The navigator of the Longshot gave Baklanov a sidelong glance, "You aren't seriously entertaining a jump attempt with a damaged L-grid..."  It was almost guaranteed to be suicide (assuming you could even enter j-space), a misjump was almost a certainty with a distorted hydrogen bubble around a ship.  A recipe for disaster.

But, in some senses, it wasn't her call.  If it had been, they wouldn't be having this conversation.

In reply to Sharik Kaagira (msg # 146):

Serge took data wafer from his pocket.
- I have logs copied here. Lets look at them once more.

Analysis of the Elusive logs revealed that:
***
Elusive didn't actually misjump... the route it was taking put it on the same course as the gravitic anomaly, which Serge was supposed to be investigating anyway.

He didn't know the source, and wasn't aware exactly where it was, since it wasn't a planet.

So when his path intersected the gravity source (the pyramid ship), he was knocked out of jumpspace.

That's when his sensors registered the pyramid. That was 1 month ago.

Since he was supposed to investigating it anyway, he surveyed the pyramid for a few days without getting any response or intel. He finally decided to land on it and check it out up close.

That's when the bay door opened up and pulled the Elusive inside. Once inside, it closed up again, trapping Serge inside. He tried to open the bay door again, but couldn't. He also couldn't get any further inside the pyramid. If there were any doors or hatches inside, he couldn't find them.

Serge probably waited for a few days before finally deciding that in order to conserve his supplies, he'd go into suspended animation in a cold-sleep chamber. He set the device to revive him in 30 days to see if anything had changed. If anyone had found him, they could have revived him sooner.

It was apparently during those 30 days when the section of the lanthanum grid was removed from the Elusive.
***

- Okay, my guess is that Pyramid has some automated algorithm, so when Elusive got inside, Pyramid considered it as a salvageble wreck and started mining required resources - namely lanthanum. We can check this guess if we put Elusive again into the bay and watch what will happen.

Sir Walter maneuvered back to the Longshotafter inspecting the scout ship. Making his way to the airlock, he pondered what caused the grid section to be removed from the vessel. None if it made any sense to him but science was not his strong suit other than what was needed to know about drives. "Guess we will have to have that pyramid checked before we go anywhere since we know little about it." he thought as the lock finished cycling.

Heading back to his room to remove the vacc suit, he then stopped by Darrel's cabin to update the Captain of his findings from the inspection. Entering the cabin, Walter found Darrell slumped over his desk, a trickle of blood dripping from his nose.

+++Medical Emergency in the Captains cabin, Dr. Lavaud. I repeat, Medical Emergency in the Captains cabin, this is not a drill.+++ erupted over the ships intercom as Sir Walter did a quick check to see if there was a pulse in Darrell's body.