Sancho and Kojo both have adequate space on their hand terminals to download the video footage.

Kojo does a count of the troops seen and comes up two short. Either they are on one of the two ships or are not in view of a camera. His attempt to manipulate the bay doors for the smaller dock is an effort in futility as it appears that the work station he is at is only for the docking clamps for this small section of the dock.

Sancho looks through the data files and finds nothing of interest that he hasn’t already seen.

Both men review the camera feeds to further look at the damaged frigate. Whatever combat action ship was in it was pretty intense as there are also signs of shrapnel damage that could have come from a torpedo, or debris from a ship. The damage wasn’t enough to completely destroy or disable the vessel, as all four PDC’s were seen firing at and disabling docked ships. What is puzzling is why it didn’t go back to wherever it considers home after getting shot up, which would have been the norm for any specialized UNN or MCRN ship.

OOC: You two still around?

Sancho held up the data file and said "So what now ? Do we go back wait and hope someone turns up ?" He continues to watch the ships and their crew through the feed.


-

Kojo shrugged.
He was still struggling with the numbers and clearly was at a loss about how to proceed.
"We cannot pick a fight. We need to get off this station. We need allies. But gosh, I don't even know if anyone is still there to be considered a potential ally."

Kojo and Sancho wait knowing they don't have the firepower to go up against the men guarding the ships.

While in the server room the two see a drone exit from the ladder/shaft they had climbed down from.

OOC: Sorry for the wait IRL. I've had some busy weeks.

As an FYI, another player is operating the drone. Feel free to either hide from it or get its attention.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:32, Sat 12 Mar 2022.

Kojo's mind ran furiously and he hissed to his companion.
"Did you see anyone of those goons use a drone? I did not. This could be a potential ally."

He stepped forward to draw the drone's attention, then indicated the terminal where they had found the information about the assailants to let the user of the drone immediately get a notion what they were up against

Sancho follows suit and also tries to get the drones attention, more to show there is more then one person present. He then makes sure they are not bing observed by anyone else on the ground.


-
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Sat 12 Mar 2022.

Kojo leads the drone to the security station (it follows), where the Earther then points to the video screen and flips through the three camera feeds.

Kojo then signalled that they news help to overcome those enemies to leave the station

The drone goes into a standby hover mode indicating that the operator is probably doing something else at the moment such as climbing down the long ladder/shaft.

This prompts Sancho and Kojo to go back to the server room to see if how may be arriving.

After about 30 minutes four people come out from the ladder/shaft. A man of Asian descent (Van), a Caucasian woman (Alis), a woman of undeterminable ancestry (Kattalin), and a woman of Latin descent (Kala).

The four new arrivals are greeted by a man of African decent (Kojo), and a man of Hindu/Latin descent (Sancho).

OOC: For the new arrivals there is a game map for you to look at.

In reply to Darkside Trooper (msg # 59):

Van, an Asian belter dressed in CPM body armour, stepped out from behind Alis. He was armed with a submachinegun slung across his chest. He kept his hands away from his weapon.

"I am Van. Not with CPM, was disguise. This is Alis. That is Kattalin, and that is Kala. More are coming. Several are armed. Small arms only. Drone is mine.

"Am Captain of cargo vessel Svetlana Savitsakaya, registered here in Eros. Is berthed here in this bay. But have reason to believe engines are now disabled.

"Earlier, saw on CCTV corvette gunship guarded by six sentries. Is now only four. Am intending to set diversion, take out sentries, take control of gunship. Am believing you are of similar intent?"

Kojo smiled.
"Indeed we are. Intent to leave this station, that is. And from the information we were able to gather, those two ships are the only way out. As the larger one is damaged I'd prefer the smaller one but am open to other ideas. The two of us cannot take on those villains. With you, we might succeed."
"I am Kojo, this is Sancho."

"Yes that was what we were thinking. We only have handguns as well." He watched the small group form up.


-

Alis nods, as she looks around at the server room and the two folks awaiting them. As Van and Kojo speak she looks over the CCTV feeds again and scratches her chin.

"That's four on the outside, but...how many inside will be the real kicker. What ever plan we suss up needs to get is inside before they can 'close up shop'." She points out.

"Well, at last, a use for these feckin' suits, eh?" grunts Kala dropping the heavy vac suit she's been lugging for what seems like six months but in reality is probably only an hour or so.

"Though I don't fancy our chances against those guys with just these pop guns. Not unless we can catch 'em totally by surprise. And even then, that armor looks . . . tough."

Neither the first down the ladder nor inclined to rush her assessment of the situation Kattalin skips past the introductions entirely and dives right into the problem.  ”We don't exactly have an alternative, if we can get a communication link to the ship we have the access codes to or even to one of the others we might be able to make them into a distraction of sorts, or at least make entry easier once we do neutralize the guards.”

Van spoke into his hand terminal.

"All clear down here. They are friendly. Please come as soon as you are able."

He spoke to Kojo and Santo, "we have one seriously wounded. And other non-combatants. If my ship is not spaceworthy, that corvette does seem tempting. It seems we have two sentries unaccounted for. Is it possible to rewind CCTV and determine where they went? Or other possible crew of gunship?"

"Katt, please ping Svetlana. See if you can get in, determine ship status."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:45, Fri 18 Mar 2022.

Kojo shrugged.
"We have pretty much tried to locate those unaccounted for but were unable to track those. And we have also been unable to determine how many might be on board. We do think time is of essence as those entering the station might return soon."
"Feel free to check.", he said.
He was pretty confident among themselves they had learned all there was to learn but essentially they were strangers and surely wanted to verify for themselves.
Since he was uncertain if all these people were a joint crew he held back for if they were they most likely were working togetjer like a well calibrated avionics system.

Alis will take a closer look at the feed of the silvery armored individuals, zooming in is able to see if she can get an idea of their kit. She will do the same for the ship looking for PDC panels, external pickup (camera locations etc.) Or at the PDC's themselves if they are deployed.

OOC She looking to see if A (optimal) she knows what it/they are, and thus capabilities) or B: What does she think it's most similar to, so she can get an idea of what they are up against.

Assuming that is the name of the ship she was given the access codes to Kattalin pulls out a hand terminal and begins sorting through some options, intent on her task rather than the conversation around her.
[Private to GM:
Trying first to connect to the security terminal to see if it is already linked to the ships, or if not directly from the combined power of the hand terminal network to the ship directly.
Kattalin Zubiri rolled 16 using 3d6+8 with the AGE System with rolls of {5}, 2, 1.  Technology (Hacking).]

In reply to Kojo Botha (msg # 67):

"Have a few minutes wait while everyone arrives down shaft. Can check."

He nodded at what Kojo was saying. There were six sentries before, now there were four. Unless those two guards literally vanished they could be tracked from the time stamp established back when they saw them on the monitors in the Pur'n'Kleen offices. Either way they had a few minutes while they were gathering their strength.

"Ok, I have feeling these mercenaries will not be impressed with our CPM disguise. IF connection can be established with ship, like Svetlana, then it can be used to create distraction. Like using thrusters, venting reactor coolant, water, steam, waste? Distraction allows one group to get into position to provide crossfire?

"Anyone think of anything better?

"Can push large objects in front of us, to absorb fire?

"Any way to let infected into docking bay, more targets to shoot at?"

"Does your ship mount any PDCs?" Alis asks, almost in saleswoman mode, almost.

In reply to Alis Syn (msg # 71):

"The Svetlana has one PDC. Magazine at 75% capacity. She is not a warship, but has enough to give a pirate pause."

A large Caucasian man with Slavic features appears next from the ladder/shaft, who has a large backpack on that appears to have been modified to carry an unconscious man.

The next person to arrive is an Asian man, who quickly removes the unconscious man from backpack.

The Slavic man then goes back up the ladder/shaft.

[Private to Dr. Abang Kaos: The wounded man's sutures are only slightly loose, an easy fix.  A quick check of his internals with your medical equipment will show that there is no additional internal bleeding.]

Alis looks over the armed individuals. The armor is a type never seen before, and the SMGs appear to more along the lines of a 4.6mm PDW made by Heckler & Koch but appear to be highly modified with an integral flashlight on the left side and a laser sight on the right side. The armed individuals also have a holstered pistol, and web gear that has magazine pouches, and two grenade pouches. Looking at the ships they are a type she’s never seen before.

[Private to Kojo Botha: These people seem to be mish mash of groups, and not quite working together like a a well calibrated avionics system. ]

Kattalin plugs a hand terminal into the security terminal. The terminal is only for controlling the six docking berths a Dock 2 Delta. Only the 2nd and 3rd berths have ships docked (the two stealth ships of an unknown type). The two guarded stealth ships are not fully docked in that neither ship has docking clamps attached to them. Trying to gain remote access to Van’s ship, the Svetlana Savitsakaya is successful, which is over on Dock 2 Kilo. [Private to Kattalin Zubiri: You finds that the ship is unpowered and is running off of emergency batteries. The ships single PDC doesn’t respond, and about all Kattalin has access to are the emergency thrusters which are not powerful enough to break the ship loose from its docking clamps.]

---

After a while, a total of 17 people have climbed down and out of the ladder/shaft. As people come down, they are told to be quiet. All in all, there are 19 people present. Eight appear to be employed by the Pur’n Kleen Water Company. Three appear to be employed by Shíyàn Nóngyé, which specializes in both flora and fauna in microgravity environments, registered and headquartered out of Eros and is an independent subsidiary of Pop-Sanchez. Everyone else doesn’t appear to be affiliated with either of those companies.

[Private to Nguyen Van Loc: If you go into the airlock (see the game map) and look out of its window you can see your ship on the far end of the docks. The ship is venting gasses.]

[Private to Asha Blackburn; Dr. Abang Kaos; Shinsato Hirotsugu: If either of you three go down into the airlock (see the game map), you can see that the special dock for the Zhidao is open. But the Zhidao is not there.]

OOC: There is a game map for this thread.

Ok all the player characters are now in this thread. After posting, please wait for your fellow player characters to post before posting again. I would like to avoid several characters carrying on a conversation and leaving others behind in the brainstorming/planning to gain control of the ships. HINT: There are enough PC’s and NPC’s to crew up both ships, but everyone can fit on the big ship without any issues.

While I have listed everyone below, I am going to list all the PC’s and NPCs in the first post of the Equipment thread. For weapons across all the PC’s and NPC’s there are four long guns (an auto rifle, 2 SMG’s and a shotgun), and 10 pistols.

Player Characters

• Dr. Abang Kaos (Wearing clothing that indicates he works for Shíyàn Nóngyé)
• Alis Syn (Not wearing a Pur’n Kleen jumpsuit under CPM armor, and armed with an SMG)
• Asha Blackburn (Wearing clothing that indicates she works for Shíyàn Nóngyé)
• Kala Sui (Wearing a Pur’n Kleen jumpsuit, armed with a pistol)
• Kattalin Zubiri (looks a little beat up, armed with a pistol)
• Kojo Botha (armed with a pistol)
• Nguyen Van Loc (Not wearing a Pur’n Kleen jumpsuit under CPM armor, and armed with an SMG)
• Sancho Castro (armed with a pistol)
• Shinsato Hirotsugu (Wearing clothing that indicates he works for Shíyàn Nóngyé)

Named NPC’s

• Yuri Ivanovich (Not wearing a Pur’n Kleen jumpsuit under CPM armor, and armed with an Shotgun)
• Kaeya (Teenage Belter girl, seems to be Ms. Hirotsugu care taker)
• Ms. Hirotsugu (old frail woman, Shinsato Hirotsugu’s mother)

Unnamed NPC’s

• Unconscious an on stretcher (Wearing a Pur’n Kleen jumpsuit, has bandage across stomach)
• Woman with arm in sling (Wearing a Pur’n Kleen jumpsuit, armed with a pistol)
• Man wearing CPM body armor, and armed with an auto rifle
• Four other individuals (Wearing a Pur’n Kleen jumpsuits, no race/gender identified yet, three armed with pistols)

The assessment is quick, likely to quick, then Kattalin looks up from the terminal to report her findings.  ”Without access codes to any of the other ships the hardware we have can't hack into them, and the one ship we can access is almost completely powered down.
 I can rock it around a little bit but not much more than enough to spook anyone on board or provide a momentary distraction.  Even if we do get in it will probably take longer to power up enough ship systems to do anything with even assuming they are undamaged so we should inspect the other ship and hope it isn't cold.”