T'risa wondered how she must look to the others in the group. With rusty fatigues and a knee length overcoat. The mud, blood and all they'd been through in the last few weeks had taken their toll on her clothing, and she couldn't really get them laundered to the pristine condition in which she'd received them and now they were about to head into a burning wreck. "Let's get in and out as quickly as we can. Aziza if you can direct us towards any cores you are detecting, and especially the significant one then we'll rescue them." T'risa noded, indicating her assent to begin the arduous process of cutting through the outer hull to get access to the interior.

 The wreckage field was a searing inferno in places at times the group was stepping over globs of glass tossed up b the drive sections impact kilometers away. Sections of half meter thick Neodnium enhanced armor lay in twisted masses scorched and scarred by weapons that would reduce the Crow to plasma.

  As they neared the Main hull they were greeted by a grisly sight laying contorted and twisted on the ground  the body of a crewman broken and charred beyond recognition by the battle damage and reentry. Even though the glint of metal and circuitry told them it was a cyberoid The unfortunate crewman was frozen in the midst of very human death throes.

   The outer hull of the ship was an insurmountable barrier to entrance. Reinforced with carbon-zed and synthetic black diamond the armored shell was impenetrable to anything short of another dreadnoughts main battery. Beyond the shell were layers of carbon fiber and synthetic sheathing designed to absorb radiation, heat, exotic particles of every sort known to man. not as durable as the Neodnium outer shell, but stronger than steel nonetheless.

  Only where there was a breach in the shell was there any chance of bypassign the armor. numerous hatches and ports were avaialble that the group could see. as well as a gaping rip in the hull torn open when the ship slammed into the ground ending it's fall.

Hovering in her battle armor she moves along looking things over. She was saddened by the horrible sight of the deceased cyberoid. However they needed to move on in order to rescue those that needed help.

"Unless Aziza directs us to a different entrance we could go through the breach caused by the crash. We just have to watch out for bare high energy sources/cables and perhaps fires. The security and anti personal systems should be down. If we go through one of the hatches it's going to have to be opened manually I suspect."

Needless to say she will head inside following Aziza's directions so that they could rescue as many cyberoids as possible. The only difference is where they decide to go in!

Disembarking form the Crow, Elsbeth's training kicked in.  With M'kira in the air - effectively taking the high ground, Elsbeth concentrated on what she knew best and moved to start a bounding overwatch with Leoulin, Balkiir, and the Hearth Guard on the approach and entry to the dreadnought.  The muscle needed to protect the people that were going to do the real work of recovery (which she did realize included Leoulin, but since he insisted on being - and had proven that he belonged - in the front) and she was not about to fail in that job.

The display on her HUD kept her appraised of the location of the others - as well, Elsbeth was getting used to having T'risa and the others 'in her head' with respect to the communications link which could also give her some idea of locations and proximities.  Still, the acclimation took time.

She moved with speed, attentive and precise on both bound and watch.  Her hand signals were simple and efficient.  She was amongst professionals who moved with her; it felt good to be in that element again.  And though Elsbeth wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, she trusted the Marshal.  So, when T'risa said this was important, it became supremely important and Elsbeth bent all of her resources to help accomplish that mission at hand.

The twisted, charred, cyberoid body did not phase her, all it now represented was an obstacle to be avoided.  By any definition of the word, the sophont appeared to be dead.  At this point, she could not help 'him' and any time spent mourning, meant time away from any potential survivors.  So, on she trail-blazed - into the belly of the (giant, smouldering, spherical) beast...

Leo stopped for a moment by the cyberoid, "If someone knows where to cut I can remove a section that should contain the blackbox core and we can attempt recovery. I'm neither surgeon nor technician, but I make a great scalpel."

Syxis put his hand on Leoulin's shoulder, looking him in the eye.

"I think I recognize the build. You'll find the part you're looking for between the shoulder blades. Beware though, a strong electrical current runs through some of these models' core casings. They require some skill to be removed...a precaution by the manufacturer. Be warned that there's a shock hazard. If you insist on removing the core, let me help."

Syxis stood ready to lend Leoulin a hand with this tricky task. He carried any tool he needed in his overall pockets.

T'risa looked astounded that th3 cyberoid might have survived the crash. "there's an active core in there....how did they...never mind. Please take your time and recover the crew."

M'kira stops standing guard over the others as it appears she was mistaken. If they had already found a survivor she was relieved to be mistaken in this case.

"Holding Position T'risa. Good luck Leoulin, Syxis."

OOC: I had been under the impression that particular cyberoid is NOT a survivor. However happy to be wrong if that is the case.

When the order came through to halt for a potential survivor, Elsbeth stopped her forward progression and kneeled to place herself in an overwatch position.  With the looming breach in the hull before her, she dutifully began to scan her forward quadrant for anything unusual while (she presumed) that the others were working behind her.  A simple hand motion ensured that she had signaled those behind her about her holding actions.

Her eyes darted between focusing on her HUD display with its plethora of streaming and tactical readouts and the environment in front of her.  The tall Praetorian forced herself to focus.  She was not good to anyone, including herself, by succumbing to any paranoia.  She was not earning her pay by letting her (albeit, limited) imagination run wild.  Elsbeth's fingers tightened on the well-worn, custom grips of her trusty laser carbine, even with the various visual filters on the HUD sensors overlays - the shadows dancing across the rent into the huge ship were disconcerting.  Plenty of places for anything to come out at the group; Elsbeth stilled her breathing and worked with the biofeedback mechanisms that she had been taught - she knew that she needed to be ready.

[OOC: Go Leo and Syxis!]

Leo smiled, "Come over and guide me then.  Any prison is still a prison.  I cannot imagine one more frustrating than an unresponsive or dead body," the dancing crystaline blade formed at his fingertips, "I'm going to hope that everything outside the core was toasted before or during the crash. This will be a lot quicker and maybe even safer than trying to open them up with conventional tools."  Before inserting the blade he took his best guess as to which side was originally the back... and awaited Syxis' instructions.

Syxis scratched his chin with his thumb.

"This is an old model. Normally, to eliminate the flow of electricity a tiny jumper should be repositioned on one of the main PCBs with a pair of tweezers. If the PCB was fried or broken during the crash, putting the jumper in the right place won't have any effect. The electrical current would still be there. In that case, the only way of reaching the core safely is to cut the wire supplying the current. Cut the wrong one by mistake, and the current destroys the core and will be lost. Besides, through some of the wires runs a toxic fluid which won't be very nice to your blades. I told you it's an old model.

Syxis moved closer to where Leoulin prepared to work the body.

"First things first. You'll find the main PCBs behind the left ear."

Leo laughed out loud at the thought of ruining his blades, "They are thought constructs... shattering them means I have to refocus my thoughts... that's all.  Still, slowing us down too much is not what anyone wants."  Repositioning his blade to the head, "How deep?  Am I just peeling back synthflesh or are we talking about going into what would be an organic brain, ear drum, optic nerve?  Peeling this charred remain will mean cutting out a section not just cutting up a flap."

Syxis shook his head.

"This model is a mixture of an inner organic structure and electro mechanic body work. For reaching the PCBs, you don't have to dig deep. They should be pretty accessible. The core is another matter. It's positioned deeply into the flesh behind the shoulder blades and is surrounded by lots of wiring. But let's see if the PCB's still intact first."

  Cutting into the body of the charred Cyberoid It's obvious the internal systems and central power system is fried. A low voltage "lifesaving" System still remains active and the core area is relatively undamaged due to the construction of the Cyberoids shipboard armor and protective gear.
 The older design of the chassis is a slight problem to the operation. Syxis can tell this crewman's body was long due for an upgrade and replacement. Most likely to a newer Military standard Plug/play interface with it's chassis.  The older body and lack of upgrade indicates this was a new recruit coming over from civilian life to the military not a purpose built military cyberoid.
  The "light weight" construction and need for body armor and protective gear also tells Syxis that this Cyberoid was a service or domestic model, and an older one probably in the range of fifty to sixty years old at the time it entered the service.
 A few deft slices and some team work on moving and realigning the core result in the extraction of an armored beer can sized core of solid Synthetic Black diamond. The status indicators on the core indicate the matrix is intact and in deep hibernation mode to conserve power and prevent degradation to the AI within. A name plate on the Core Housing indicates the Promethean is "Sally Wynn" Crewman first class, Ordnance Division.

  Hello...heloo is anyone there...Oh please tell me this is a rescue...It's dark in here." a weak signal over the emergency distress channel sound in everyones headset as the core responds and reboots as it is disturbed.. If it's not I've got four ounces of Cemtol explosive, and refined Nitrogen-zed in in my core..and I'll use it.... So put me down and run. You have thirty seconds to reach minimum safe distance"

OOC: the "cemtol cocktail" a nasty hybrid conventional/Exotic matter explosive used in micro grenades and military warheads...It would be about the same as a kilo of C-4. Probably enough to level a small house

T'risa decided to respond to the crewman. "Hello Sally, this is Marshal K'mahda. You have been rescued from the wreckage of Prometheus and are safe. It might be more than a few hours until we can find a host suitable for you to interact with the environment. We have more crew to rescue, so I'll ask you to be patient until we can bring you online properly."

M'kira had to give Sally Wynn credit it was a pretty brave thing to kill yourself rather then let yourself be taken prisoner. In cases where it would cost many lives or compromise the war effort for your side. It wasn't if there was still hope of eventual rescue although for a A.I. it might be different considering her programming might be vulnerable to tampering and possibly something worse then death. It could be a bluff, however she wasn't taking that chance.

She doubted she would be the only one to respond to Sally to try to stop her from blowing herself up. If possible she sends the Rescue code confirmation something likely given to them to prevent problems like this. In addition to see tries to talk Sally doan. "This is a rescue effort. Kronos won the battle due to support from the Imperial fleet plus of course a well timed shot right up the Queen's kilt from our Dreadnought on the ground. I am under the command of T'risa a Marshal in the field conducting a investigation. Your safe now Sally Wynn and you will be returned to Prometheus or Kronos in due time. Whoever picks you up first I don't know what your return protocol is. If you want you can talk to poppy she's a cyberoid like you but you best conserve power till we can get you back in one piece. We have a lot more crew to save if we can and time is critical."

OOC: I Really hope she doesn't blow herself up. It would be a tragedy to lose someone while trying to rescue them. Considering this is probably a standard protocol I am assuming someone was smart enough to give us a authorization/confirmation code to prevent them from blowing themselves up. If it's a bluff, possible, however not taking that chance.

Elsbeth bristled at the mention of 'cemtol', her helmet twitching at the mention of the word.  While, it was not surprising that the cyberoid protocols on a warship required that all of the crew have such measures - it sure didn't make their job easier.  She shifted her position slightly, but only in case she now had to react to actions behind her - even if they were secondary in her current duties.

She knew why they were there - even if 'Sally Wynn' didn't - and so did everyone else in the rescue squad.  And the tall Praetorian knew her forte, which was neither tech stuff nor talk stuff, necessarily.  So, Elsbeth left the defusing of the situation to the other, more expert, members of the group.  From her kneeling position, Elsbeth kept her vigilance over the perimeter going - and one ear on the conversation between Syxis, Leo, M'kira and Sally.  You know, just in case things went 'sour'.

Thank the creators...oh guess that's you guys...Glad your not one of those creepy bug people." sally replied after a moment. The AI ran the recognition codes, and identity keys before speaking again." I hope you don't mind if I nod back off. I've only got a few days charge left. My systems were... well... you know us old ladies we have to take a nap once in a while."

  Oh, you might want to watch your rad badges we were packing a full load of nukes. They might have lost containment....here...take this it's a deck layout that's accurate, Some of the files we sent to fleet had a few.....errr...ummm.... surprises for anyone trying something sneaky.


a file transfers to Syxis' and T'risa's comps detailing the internal layout, defense precautions and keys to several anti-tamper systems as well as the deactivation keys to the Mark XII 1.5 megaton warheads carried by the ship...a note on the keys indicates they can only be used by imputing them directly into the warheads physical arming panel.

T'risa smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. "This is Marshall K'mahda to all personnel at crash site. Take all radiological precautions. Prometheus had nuclear weapons on board. Repeat, take all radiological precautions necessary." She closed her eyes for another moment to gain a moment of peace. "Syxis, can you please take what we know about the deckplans, and the wreckage we've discovered and try to figure out where they are?" T'risa started making plans, nuclear weapons were always good things to have when you needed them. "Actually, it might be handy if we can figure out where all of the ammunition locations were on the ship. And if there are any salvageable weapons we can put on our own ship." she reached back for the communications system "Thank you crewman Wynn, you're safe now. the information you gave us should help us in rescuing other crew and keep everyone safe."

T'risa paused for a moment. Her talents as a Battle Witch might stand all of the rescue crews in good stead if she could link them all together. "This is Marshall K'mahda, one crew, ident Sally Wynn rescued."

Looking towards the ship, T'risa pointed "Let's head in."

"Thank you Sally, We will make good use of the information you provided. Sweet dreams."

Listening to T'risa sending out a general warning to all rescue teams she checks her own radiation badge. Then when she gives the order M'kira grins. "You heard her, we are going in! Move out!" She moves her arm in the signal recognized for proceeding. Then flies or perhaps float is a better term since she keeps pace with the group towards their entry point.

Syxis flipped out his pocket computer and started searching for the required data.

"Checking security systems first. We don't want to run into any "surprises" Sally was talking about. I'll try deactivation. Checking locations for armament as well.

Elsbeth rose slowly from her kneeling position when the order came down from the Marshal.  She paused momentarily when T'risa warned her about potential radiation hazards and then stopped, along with the others it seems, when Syxis advised caution and requested a moment to scan his updated schematics.

"Technician Syxis," she prompted as she continued to warily scan the opening and the area surrounding it, "is it safe to proceed?"  Then she tacked on an additional request, "Can you make those updated schematics available to all of our displays.  It would be unfortunate, if we were to get lost due to being out of sync."  The latter was unlikely, especially given the mental link that T'risa provided.  But it never hurt to ask.  And Syxis was the 'new guy' to the neural net - even newer than Elsbeth, which was saying something.

Her eyes continued to dart between her near-field HUD overlays, the video feed from her laser carbine's integrated scope, and the actual terrain - which was really the huge rent in the looming dreadnought hull before the group.

Leoulin looked over the technician's shoulder, "I can do that if you give me each image for several seconds.  I can memorize it and put it into mental files for Tee to make available on the network."  He didn't care if anyone thought him off for speaking familiarly of T'Risa.

Leo would nod to Syxis after taking each mental image.  In his own mind they turned and slid to layer on each other. He could only apply this to the images presented, but it would be a good start.

Syxis nodded while he browsed through the schematics, giving Leoulin the opportunity to scan the images.

"OK sounds like a good idea. In the meantime I'm still checking the security systems and trying to shut them down. Hold your position 'till I'm done."

  The anti intrusion, anti boarding defenses on the Prometheus are impressive to say the least. They run the range from Hallways that are arranged to funnel boarders into killing zones. To explosive antipersonnel mines, and pop down machine gun/plasma turrets.
  In addition to the static defenses several hundred automated mobile drones are listed in inventory, as well as a full company of "Warhounds", Purpose built special issue combat cyberoids able to kill a combat marine with their bare hands.
  scanning the files in depth takes several minutes, but reveals the location of the location and status of the defenses. Damage to the structure and internal spaces of the ship may have destroyed or shifted some defenses, making the actual process of moving through them a bit tricky.

  The inventory of ordnance still on the Prometheus is surprising. over 80% of it's stores seem to have been expended. In theory the Prometheus was able to defeat a sizable task force on it's own. the fact that it was reinforced by it's twin "brother" Kronos, And a battlegroup of allied ships, and still used up the bulk of it's payload is vaguely disturbing.
  According to the inventory the Nuclear weapons are still in secure deep storage. in inactive mode. with their fuses and triggers safely stored separately from their main body. The order to arm, and launch the nukes one only the President of the TAE could issue.
  With a bit of work a single team could penetrate into the stores area and secure the warheads. But it would require specialized cutting equipment to penetrate the sealed door without a key code from Prometheus itself.