In reply to The Watcher (msg # 804):

"What the..." Kayla gapes, shifting the viewport to a complete 360 of their immediate surroundings with a flick of her fingers. There is nothing to be seen except the lingering aftereffects of ionic energy associated with the gate's use.

Despite the lack of visual contact, it seems that something has followed you through after all.

 "...guys? I don't think we lost whatever was following us with out stunt earlier."

She pulls the adaptive armor lever with one hand and sinks back into the pilot's chair. The viewport shimmers as the armor takes effect, and the starfield becomes slightly hazy -- as it always does when undercover.

"I think they just stopped pinging back to base with their location. Until now."

Kayla glances over at the weapons systems, hovers a finger over the button that would bring them online, and then presses down on the comms switch instead.

"Command crew to the cockpit, please. We have a situation on our hands."

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 805):

Team Space Trek

No sooner has Rebecca and Fiernas both reached the cockpit (if indeed they were ever elsewhere) than they see a shimmering form emerge from the blackness of space not 5 areas from their current location. Holt, Gestalt, and Penny rush in moments afterward, though Darling and Tyndall remain in the lounge.

"What on Earth..." Kayla breathes in awe.

The vessel is clearly NOT of Earth, constructed of what appears to be chitinous fibers that range from browns and greens to dull yellows. The craft looks a bit like a wing-less, stingless bumblebee, with a squat central area and twin bulbous spheres toward the fore made of a yellowish glass-like material that gives the impression of compound eyes. In place of the "stinger" is narrow shaft that ends in a broad tailfin running perpendicular to it.

The vessel isn't a capital ship, thankfully, nor even a heavy cruiser, but it's larger than a freighter by about a third -- and that makes it quite a bit larger than Persephone.

The bursts of static are coming over your comms much more frequently now -- nearly once every 10 seconds or so.

They may be hailing us, Dynamis proffers. Not that we can understand what language this is meant to be.

"They know too much," Holt rumbles dispassionately. "Gotta destroy them."

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 806):

Penny nods vigorously.

"Agreed. They might not know for sure that this is our final stop, but...if they didn't know, why would they break their cloak? We have to assume the worst."

She glances over at Kayla, who has not yet taken action.

"What're you waiting for? Activate our weapons and give us more space to use 'em!"

In reply to Penny Brighton (msg # 807):

"What, and declare war on whatever race this is just like that?" Gestalt counters. "They haven't harmed us yet. Maybe they're just curious, like that granite golem was?"

In reply to Gestalt (msg # 808):

"Doesn't matter," Holt rumbles. "Red's right. We can't take the risk."

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 809):

"I strongly advise against a direct assault on a ship that outclasses us in every known metric -- tonnage, stealth technology, familiarity with space battles -- and potentially more on unknowns levels."

The synthetic voice waits a beat.

"Captain, we should flee."

In reply to Dynamis (msg # 810):

Kayla looks conflicted, but does begin nudging Persephone into a wider, faster orbit.

"If those static bursts ARE comms, maybe they've already called in their location," she says. "I'm not sure what..."

She glances over at Rebecca and Fiernas.

"What do you think we should do?"

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 811):

Hail them... See if we can get them to talk.  They have no idea if we are at our final location or not.  We could continue through the next nearest jumpring and lead them away.


Have to do something about supplies though. 

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 812):

"The next-nearest jump ring is weeks away, near Mars," Kayla reminds everyone. "It would take a long time to get there, unless we stumble upon another uncharted ring like the one Muse found."

She hits the outboard comms toggle.

"Greetings, fellow traveler! Persephone here. Going our way?"

She waits for a few bursts of static to pass by, but no other response is given. In fact, the ship seems content to press onward into the system, zipping past the jump ring and Persephone alike at a moderate speed.

Kayla stares after it, conflicted.

"Ok. So...they don't want to blast us out of the sky. That's good. But we can't just leave them to explore the sector, can we?"

After a long delay of consulting various gods and oracles, the battle with the AI begins in earnest:

[Hacking vs. Data Spike: Success]
This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Wed 12 July 2017.

In reply to Xander (msg # 814):

We have two options, either, we let them or we stop them... physically.  Not sure how we would go about that...  Holt any ideas?  Otherwise we initiate the plan and hope the Amgine can deal with any reprecussions of this event.  Or we can follow them for a change...

Dynamis scan and take photographs of that ship.  I want every detail we can get off of it

Now its down to business.  Nightmare lapses into calm, organized, but extremely rapid action.  She taps on her datapad while calling in Tyndall to cockpit.

First is a call to Billy, followed by an email to the group notifying them of the current situation.  She will use personal accounts when possible.  She also challenges Billy to another game of Spy vs. Spy.

She tosses a spare datapad to Gestalt.  Check the Earth news, tell me any salient information that is going on.

Once Billy and the group pick up or don't and she is convinced none of the avenues are going to work she then turns to Tyndal to call home.

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 815):

Team Space Trek

Holt blinks mutely at Rebecca's question, as if surprised he needs to say what's on his mind aloud.

"We have to stop it."

Penny and Gestalt nod in agreement, though Kayla makes a noncommittal shrug.

"If we even can," she murmurs. "But all we have are missiles. They're more 'destroy' than 'stop'. Is our secrecy worth it?"

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 816):

She puts getting in touch with Tyndall's father on hold until this is resolved but game request and emails will still fly from her fingers.  She looks at Fiernas.

You're the tracker and the hunter.  How do you stop a spaceship?

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 817):

Xander attacks Goethe with a neural stab that deftly dismantles a portion of its defenses.

Data Spike: Offline

Damage (Goethe): 10

***

Guards E and F rush forward, arriving at CC-2. They glance over the wreckage, take stock of the situation, and attempt to shoot Muse in the Central Core.

[Agility: 15, 22]

Sadly, both of their shots spatter harmlessly off the nearby rubble.

***

Goethe begins to feverishly repair its subsystems, its efforts assisted by the onboard AI.

[Healing (Data Spike): 24]

It then attempts to repel the invader from cyberspace.

[OS (Xander): 70]

Xander winces as liquid fire courses along his synapses.

[MP Damage (Xander): 30]

***

~~ Disposition ~~

Central Core: Muse, Durst, Guard C, Guard D, Guard A, Guard B, Timon, Sarge
CC-1: (GAPING CHASM)
CC-2: Guard E, Guard F
CC-3: (none)
CC-4: (none)
CC-5: (none)
Belowdecks-2: Xander
Belowdecks-3: Billy

Please pay attention to the various areas for targeting purposes. "CC-4" means "Central Core (4 areas out)" for nomenclature purposes.


This message was last edited by the GM at 14:47, Thu 13 July 2017.

"Xander!  Plan?!" Billy shouts at the mech looming behind him as no answer seems forthcoming to Muse's request.  "Scrub the plan. don't die!" He offers over the comms to Muse.

[OOC - Not sure which request you're referring to, and can't seem to find something relevant. What request are you talking about again?]

Muse, stay alive, retreat if you have to. Try to draw the reinforcements away from the data core. If I can knock the AI offline again, I might be able to affect a permanent takeover at range if I can selectively dismantle the server with an AP round.

Abraxas continues to follow Billy, widening the hole accordingly.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:46, Wed 12 July 2017.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 819):

"Is that all you scissor sisters got?" Muse sneers at his knife-wielding assailants. "C'mon, hit me."

Muse again readies himself to absorb their onslaught as helices from down the hall fly past his head.
He regards them as iridescent butterflies.

Karma to Red
[Big Guard: 49 + 37 = 86, +1CS]

[Armor: 140]

He regains a lost bit of vitality.

[Health: +10]
This message was last edited by the player at 20:48, Wed 12 July 2017.

"Maverick bullshit?  Are you fucking with me right now?  You know when was not the time for maverick bullshit?  About five seconds before we rushed the AI core you didn't need to be in and triggered an alarm to sic the whole goddamn crew on us. Or hell, how about when we were being peacefully escorted exactly where we wanted to go without anyone getting shot or run over by a giant robot, that seemed like a good time for no maverick bullshit. But right now, surrounded by lethal numbers of armed guards with our side falling like dominoes, this is an optimal time for maverick bullshit.  Now if you would stop following me I am trying to convince Faust to divert some armed forces away from this trainwreck and it will be a lot harder if the giant obvious mech makes a giant obvious path that doesn't go where I'm telling him!" Billy cries over the team's comms.  "I don't know what you think you're doing and it hasn't stopped me so far.  You'll just have to work around not reading my mind." With that he progresses through another wall.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 822):

Team Kamikaze


Sarge studies Muse's defensive posturing and frowns thoughtfully behind his helmet.

"You three, keep him occupied," he says, motioning toward Guards A, C, and D. "Come with me," he says to Guard B.

Guard B follows Sarge over to the edge of the Central Core, at which point Sarge gestures to the Guards E and F and points at Muse.

"There's a large, heavily damaged mech down there," he says simply. "We're going to go decommission it and arrest the pilot. You two help deal with the monster here. Get on the comms and send some folks belowdecks from the other side, too. Now!"

With that, Sarge and Guard B hop down into Belowdecks-1.

***

Guards A, C, and D slash at Muse with gusto, but are unable to pierce his formidable defenses.

"Wait for us next time!" Guard F calls out from across the chasm. "We'll do it together."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:46, Thu 13 July 2017.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 823):

Kayla shakes her head slightly, then pulls hard on the control yoke to break Persephone out of its orbit.

"Whether we decide to shoot them or not, we'd better follow them," she says, nudging the shuttle into a course that tails the strange ship from a modest distance.

"But we'll need to decide pretty quickly. Nightmare's right about the supply situation. We're a couple weeks from a decent supply depot and we have less than 2 weeks of food at full rations."

She tucks a loose strand of dirty-blonde hair behind an ear absently.

"Plus, that 'nearest depot' is in SAGE's airspace...so that's something we can all look forward to, as well."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:45, Thu 13 July 2017.

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 824):

Nightmare Groans again.

Fine.  We follow them we don't shoot them just yet... We can always escalate.

Nightmare sends and email to Both Dr. Stence and Charlie (Billy's brother) seeing if they can arange for a resupply from SAGE space.  Or if they could give us some contacts at SAGE with whom we could speak about a resupply.

She smiles warmly at Tyndall

All you have wanted since we rescued you is to call home.  Go ahead.  When you are done with him please have Dynamis patch him through to the bridge.

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 825):

"Billy, Xander -- you've got company. Two guards, one with a rifle. Get Abraxas ready to fry. Can you manage?" Muse calls over comms.

"Manage what?  Disarming one more guy?  Apparently guys without rifles are also a problem?" Billy responds with an awkward blend of confusion and frustration.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 827):

"I'm letting you know you're going to get shot and stabbed. Be ready."

In reply to Muse (msg # 828):

Team Kamikaze

Billy takes a gander at the room he just cut into -- partitioned walls, cramped bulkheads, lots of pipes. This is probably a bathroom or locker room.