New Horizons (IC)

[Lord Of Mantas]

Nova Forte - Core Unit
Central Core, Robotics Bay
June

Ji-Yun gratefully took the offered pistol.

"Thank you, Graham. Fix up the communication lines to Merlin first, then, got it."

She turned back to Ace. "Looks like we have a plan. Let's get working."

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Now that Graham's had a chance to throw in his two cents, Ji-Yun, using the roll in the previous post, will assist in programming the droids to get started on those items.

[PepperP.]

Nova Forte - Deployment Unit 1
Collapsed Security Corridor
Armitage/Miranda

"That was Shankbot, and we do not have time to be sitting around with him on the loose. We escaped, but others may not be so lucky. We need to find this Lt. Gore and get back to the Mongoose and take that shanky basterd out. Let's get moving!" Used to bossing her squad around, Miranda naturally assumed control of the situation and encouraged the others to dig in and keep moving, leading them in the direction Merlin indicated was the best way to get to the Central Core. She purposely evaded half of the woman's question, she had no idea who had set shankbot on the ship, much less why and she didn't have time to think about it at the moment.

[Tychris1]

Nova Forte - Deployment Unit 1
Collapsed Security Corridor
Armitage/Miranda

"My bones....." Armitage groaned as he slowly stood himself up and shook the dirt and dust loose from his debris ridden body. Stretching his ligaments he helped make sure Allison was in one piece before nodding along with Miranda's assessment. "Good moniker," He noted"Very apt and to the point. I assume you named it." Taking out his tonfa once more he gripped it tightly in his left hand as he quickly but carefully advanced.

"This... "Shankbot" is some kind of a menial servant or slave to a farther away entity of some kind. But in truth it doesn't matter Allison. Whoever or whatever made that thing is irrelevant to us for the time being so lets just focus on reconvening with whomever constitutes as central command at this point in time."

[Jade_Tarem]

Nova Forte - Deployment Unit 3
Stasis Bay T7
Abram/Deneb/Ellie

Merlin is quick to reply. "The Reactor Core in the central hub, if you please. There is a task there that I will need all of you to work on, in order to prevent enemy reinforcements from arriving." He drops vocal chatter after that, instead sending you reactor schematics, code segments, and various authorization referrals - all with the express purpose of causing, or at least faking, a catastrophic fusion bottle failure.

Nova Forte - Deployment Unit 1
Collapsed Security Corridor
Armitage/Miranda

The pair find their path back to the mongoose only occasionally impeded by battle damage, and the sounds of Shankbot grow dimmer as they move aft. Allison is the first to pose the question, "...w...what is Lt. Gore going to do? What kind of attack could even hurt that thing? It was a monster."

The pair are spared the need to answer by Merlin. "There's a plan, Miss Allison. In fact, you in particular need to get to a radiation shelter immediately. I've sent the path to your implant. The other two of you are still needed to put the enemy mechanical threat down."

Nova Forte - Core Unit
Central Core, Robotics Bay
Graham/June

The drones work swiftly, as they are meant to, while Ace ponders the plan in question while waiting on some of his diagnostic software to boot up. "You know, a lot of thought gets put into shielding electronics from radiation, especially out in space with no natural planetary protection in place. You can make electronics that are just inherently resilient, but they're always a couple generations behind... if the enemy drones are relying on some kind of material shielding, then if you could crack that before the fusion bottle goes..."

"Just so." Merlin's voice flickers back into existence. "Well done getting communications back up here, by the way. Lt. Gore, Dr. Seong-Ziegler, there have been additional developments. Two other passengers have retrieved Dr. Moon, so the most efficient thing for you now is to head directly to the reactor core."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Nova Forte - Core Unit
Central Core, Robotics Bay
June

June double checked the ammunition count on the pistol Graham had given her, then reholstered it before speaking aloud.

"We're on our way, Merlin. I just want to take a look around for a second, first..."

June then looked to see if there were any drones that had not been committed to the repair effort.

Having one on hand could prove useful for any additional work.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Not sure if this is worth a skill challenge. June wants to see if there are any spare droids that she could take along with her. If there are, she will quickly instruct it to follow her (and I will roll in the OOC if needed). Whether there are or there aren't, her next stop will be to head towards the reactor along with Graham.

[PepperP.]

Miranda

"I don't know, I haven't met him yet." The anxious crease in her forehead belied Miranda's nonchalant tone and she seemed relieved when Merlin suggested another path for the civilian woman.

"Merlin will steer you to safety. Good luck." She spared a moment to bid the woman her well wishes and then jerked her head in a let's-go motion to Armitage.

"Show us the best route to Lt. Gore, Merlin, please. It's time to meet my superior officer."

[Nefarion Xid]

Nova Forte - Deployment Unit 3
Stasis Bay T7
Abram/Deneb/Ellie

Deneb briefly went cross-eyed downloading the info dump from Merlin, then hurried down the path to the reactor core.

"Hey, Doctah Moon, you got any kids? I mean, I saw your TED Talk, but it's not like you mentioned you had a family or nothin'. Not that I'm offerin'. I like smaht guys, but I'm engaged!"

[Othniel]

Ellie

"Reinforcements sounds bad," Eleanor muttered. "Especially if they aren't our reinforcements. Oh dear, I do hope Dr. Novoski will be all right."

[zabbarot]

The momentary distraction of the dara load nearly made Abram forget his question. Thankfully Deneb brought him back with a question he really didn't want to think about.

" I'm sorry, what does it mean by reinforcements? What's attacking us? And why will faking a fusion bottle failure get rid of them? Do they just want to make sure we're all dead?"

[Jade_Tarem]

Nova Forte - Core Unit
Main Reactor

Spoiler: Image

Show

The reactor was cavernous, utilitarian, and even ugly - moreso even than the rest of the central orbital unit. The control room, high up on one wall and, despite leaning at an odd angle, remarkably intact, seemed tiny by comparison. The seven active passengers gathering within quickly found that it was still large enough to comfortably seat all of them. Merlin wasted little time jumping to business, having made sure that everyone was on the same proverbial page on the way over. Merlin also wasted no processing power on fancy augmented-reality avatars, instead choosing to stick to information link and let the humans talk among themselves. Still, the opening thoughts were his.

You've been made aware that the situation, while improved, is still grim. Our opponents still possess sufficient firepower to wipe us out at any time. However, I have finished my analysis of the attacks so far and have determined that, much like all of our foes up to this point, they are all artificial. Our enemies are reacting, strategically, with the kind of intelligence I would expect of a level two or three AI - capable of adapting to gross changes in stimulus but making highly suboptimal choices in doggedly logical but inflexible pursuit of their goal, which I continue to believe is the preservation and capture of the lives aboard this vessel.

This is why I believe this plan, of which I have provided a general outline, has a chance of success. Faking a catastrophic reactor breach, however convenient and unlikely, will deny them their goal and likely send any reinforcements we may have to fight into a standby state. They will not think to confirm the destruction visually if their sensors dictate that the ship could not have survived, at least until a superior intelligence suspects otherwise - if one even exists that would guide them.

To that end, you have two tasks. The first is faking the reactor breach itself. I can guide you in this, but there are still four drones unaccounted for and I believe they will converge here, where the largest number of active life forms are, once the breach is beginning. Additionally, the large enemy mechanized opponent known as Shankbot is still at large. All of these foes must be destroyed, or else the enemy will have contradictory evidence to our demise. The drones can be dispatched with conventional weaponry, but Shankbot is a swift, dangerous, and well armored opponent. Fortunately, you do not need to obliterate it entirely - cracking the outer casing will allow the radiation burst emitted when we fake our reactor explosion to ruin more the delicate electronics within.

Even so, the timing is such that you will need to divide into two groups. My personal recommendation is that Lt. Gore, Mr. Armitage, and Cpt. Rodriguez make the assault on Shankbot while Mrs. Deneb, Dr. Moon, Dr. Seong-Ziegler, and Dr. Stewart remain here to stage the fusion bottle failure.

As an Artificial Intelligence, I can offer all the expertise and information I have, but I cannot give orders for you to attack at a specific moment and I certainly can't do something like override the ship's safety governors on a system like the main reactor. The exact method by which you will accomplish these tasks - things like the ambush locations, where you plan to seek shelter from the radiation burst, how you will handle the localized AIs that will try to stop you, etc... these tasks must be left to you. Time is of the essence, as it has been since you awakened, but you will only have one chance at this - Shankbot is unlikely to be swayed from pursuing a group that launched an all-out assault, and the fusion bottle failure, even staged, will disable the main reactor until a full team can be awakened to work on it, so be sure of your plan before you launch it.

[Othniel]

Ellie

Three scientists and a social media star against killer drones didn't sound like such a great idea to Ellie, but she preferred that to whatever "Shankbot" was. "What will happen to those currently inside pods while the main reactor is disabled?" she asked instead.

[Lord Of Mantas]

June

June began rubbing her chin once again, trying to think things through.

"You mentioned that you can't make the choice for us, Merlin, but can you outline some areas of the ship that have shielding good enough to protect us from the radiation?"

While awaiting the answer from the AI, she began trying to recall what she knew about nuclear fusion reactors in general. Even with Merlin's guidance, this would go smoother if she had an idea of what to expect beforehand.

Spoiler: Actions

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Ji-Yun will roll on Intelligence, STEM, and Engineering to try and recall what she knows about fusion bottles, and how (theoretically) one would go about faking an explosion versus actually causing one.

(2d6+5)[17]

[TheDarkDM]

Graham

Entering alongside Doctor Seong-Ziegler was a young man a tattered naval uniform, the insignia of a second lieutenant on his lapel. Grey eyes looked out from shadowed sockets at Merlin's ragtag group of survivors, as a pale hand rose to rub the dust out of a military crew-cut. His hair might have been brown, if not for the electrical burns.

"Second-Lieutenant Graham Gore - I'll be leading the strike force. I need to know your capabilities and any whether any of you have already encountered this...Shankbot."

[PepperP.]

Miranda

"Captain Miranda Rodrigues, Sir." The magenta-haired woman stepped forward as she relinquished her own perceived command of her squad, even if it was only Armitage. Previously experienced in battle, she knew better than to salute her better on the battlefield. Besides, her arms were full with the Carbine. Though she could have held it with her bionic arm alone, it and a small but deep scar across her temple belied her toughness despite her small stature, or perhaps because of it.

"Armitage and I have encountered the Shankbot." She flicked her head towards the other man.

"It was before we procured the Mongoose and we thought it prudent to engage in evasive maneuvers at the time, with Merlin's intel reinforcing that decision." Faced with a superior officer, she was suddenly embarrassed about running from the motorized killing machine.

"What I do know is that the Shankbot is armed with four electromagnetic linear rail cannons, as well as two lazer weapons, maximum range unknown. The armor is of an unknown composition but covers all smooth surfaces and some of the angular ones. The legs are even more heavily armored than the body and Shankbot has been observed using them to intercept incoming attacks. I would suggest we set up an ambush using the Mongoose." Finished with her report, Miranda shrugged and waited for the lieutenant to take it all in and make his decision.

[Nefarion Xid]

Deneb pulled up her hood and tightened the pull cords so it scrunched around her face. Unlike the others, she'd found the time to change clothes and wore a mostly zipped up white hoodie, a pink crew-neck tee, black tights and white sneakers. The shoes looked new. She spent far less time on the treadmill than she claimed. She sat down on her wheeled pink luggage and tried to make herself invisible. Not for the last time, she felt uneducated and unskilled. The new girl even had purple hair. Magenta. Magenta was way cuter than just purple.

Pouting, she held her newly printed sidearm over barrel-first for someone more competent to take it. Someone who'd fired a gun outside of a video game.

[Jade_Tarem]

Rather than responding directly, Merlin patched in someone new to the conversation via implant communication, and a swaggering female voice with a thick Russian accent floated through their heads in response to Ellie's question. It didn't take much additional context to figure out that it had to be Dr. Novoski. "Please, Doctor Stewart. These pods are my creation! They keep occupants safe from anything as long as they function. The stasis is a temporal dilation. They are - almost - frozen in time while the pod remains. The only biological process is on entry and exit. Harmful radiation will be trapped in the boundary field and disposed of during the pod's cycle-down process."

[zabbarot]

Dr. Moon

"I... huh. Fusion isn't really my area of expertise. I'm not sure I've worked a fusion problem since I got my PhD. Merlin, can you send me the operations manual and the safety procedures? Hopefully what we're not supposed to do will jog my memory."

[Othniel]

Ellie

"Ah! Dr. Novoski. It is a pleasure to hear you alive and hopefully well," Ellie responded. "Your expertise will be needed. How are things where you are?"

[TheDarkDM]

Graham

Nodding along to Miranda's report, Graham endeavored to hide his discomfort at his sudden command. Rescuing errant survivors had been one thing, but he hadn't led a tactical outside of simulations.

"Thank you Captain. I agree with your tactical assessment - given the drones' simple pattern so far it shouldn't be too difficult to set an ambush. Especially if Merlin's plan draws their attention towards the reactor."

He turned towards Armitage.

"And what are your capabilities, soldier? If the Captain mans the Mongoose, you and I will have to distract the drone and disable its leg shields."

[Jade_Tarem]

Abram and June quickly work out between them (and the materials provided by the ever-helpful AI) that it's actually really hard to get a fusion bottle to fail in a way that endangers the ship or the surrounding environment even superficially - one of the reasons the designers of this class of colony vessel chose it as the main power source. The end goal is to to keep the fusion reaction running for a short time while also opening the access shielding between the reaction point and everything else. There are several fail-safes that have to be disabled, certain settings that have to be in place, a few hardware bypasses that need to be completed, and even a guardian Level 3 AI hard-coded to prevent exactly this scenario that will need to be defeated or bypassed somehow. To make matters slightly trickier, the final steps would need to be somehow automated, because when the final breach-into-shutdown sequence occurred, everyone not in a pod would want to be in one of the ship's radiation shelters. There was one here in the reactor control area, of course, but if there were other survivors aboard...

On her end, Dr. Novoski just snorts. "How do you think? Terrible. I have kept myself busy by troubleshooting failing pods, but would welcome a more productive task. You have something in mind?"

[Tychris1]

The Pale Man nodded his head along with Miranda's report, his paler hair flopping on the side of his head in the process, and though he bore a stoic face of understanding he was not entirely present. No he was elsewhere. Perhaps not in a physical but a metaphysical way he had felt as if he couldn't ever truly stay in the same place. It was like standing on pins and needles. Or being forced to walk a road one had driven down a hundred times.

Unconscionably long.

No rather he felt himself in that place over places, the teflon wrap that hovered an inch over reality, and was painted with the hearts and intentions of every living being to be graced with higher thinking. He tasted the unreal air around him, felt the electricity pulsing through the room, and buckled at the living psychic rod that turned directly before him. He felt his skin peel, his skull unravel, and a hundred photographs of lives once given flash in a burning display before his eyes. In a second it was over, reality was just as it was to the majority of the people standing in the room, and Armitage felt blood pool in the front of his face and trickle unhealthily down his nose. Eye twitching, he reached up to clean it off with rote precision, and effectively began to keep his head still after a brief sojourn into wobbling feet and spinning hair.

"That's unnerving." He stated plainly "Very unnerving. I'm Special Watch Operator PRN Alpha XX. I'm more fit for interpersonal combat and espionage, sir, and have little experience with machinery beyond what has been integrated."

[Nefarion Xid]

Still sitting on her wheeled suitcase, the woman in athletic apparel scooted loudly so she was behind Dr. Moon as he talked things over with June.

"I can maaaybe deal with a Level 3 AI. And I can probably shove some kinda macro into the reactor terminal. We'll probably need some physical storage? But, I know a little bit about that." She added quietly through the small hole of her hoodie. "I got a, uh, mastah's degree."

[Lord Of Mantas]

June

Turning around and taking a look at Deneb, June blinked as she professed to have the ability to deal with the AI. Looking her up and down, a brief look of skepticism crossed her face - which was then replaced with a look of acceptance.

This is a life-and-death situation, Ji-Yun. It is neither the time or place to judge people by their looks.

"If you can pull your own weight, you're more than welcome to come along. This is not going to be an easy task, and the more hands working on it the better. For my part, I mostly program drones nowadays, but I'm sure I can whip something up to help batter the AI into submission with your help."

[Othniel]

Ellie

"We need a way to protect any other living crew or passengers not currently in pods from radiation," Ellie explained to Dr. Novoski. "Without alerting the...robots."

[Jade_Tarem]

"I believe there are radiation shelters throughout the ship, no?" Dr. Novoski replies. "What would it take to activate a ship-wide hazard alarm?"

"Access to the bridge." Merlin cuts in smoothly. "And Dr. Novoski is correct. Even if the network is down in large sections of the vessel - and it is - the audible alert should get anyone conscious and mobile to take cover, as was discussed during orientation. If not... the casualties will still be preferable to allowing the drones free reign in the ship."

[Nefarion Xid]

"Hey, Mistah Wizahd, sidebar aright?" Deneb waved for the voice in her head to follow her away from the group to talk in private, despite the fact she could obviously communicate non-verbally with her neural interface.

"I'll be honest. My hacking experience is, ya know, like, limited? These Russian guys gave me a game to practice on, but it's all in Russian and I kind of super exaggerated my proficiency with Russian. I said I was a two. I'm like a zero-point-five. Tops. Eto pechal'no. Um, so, I can maybe, maybe outsmart a Level 3 AI? But if you could give me a little... you know what? Just access port 80085135. Nah that's a joke. I joke when I think I'm gonna die. It's... I'll ping you. It's fine. Just take a look around. See what you can do for me, champ. There. My firewall is down."

[Lord Of Mantas]

June

June steadied her breath, then made a cracking motion with her robotic limbs.

"If nobody has any more questions, then I suggest we all move out." She gave a nod of finality, a resigned smile on her face. "Best of luck, everyone."

And with that, motioning those who were assigned to help fake the reactor failure to come with her, she set out.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Ji-Yun, unless anyone has anything else they wish to do, will accompany Team Hackerz to go and try a find a terminal/access point that will allow them the ability to break into the reactor's controls and begin the process of simulating the reactor fake shutdown.

[TheDarkDM]

Graham

Overcome by a sudden pressure in his skull, Graham clutched at his forehead even as he turned to face Armitage. Seething through clenched teeth, he barely noticed the other man's own consternation, instead desperately trying to drown out the sudden scream that threatened to tear him in two. He staggered back when the noise abruptly ceased, reaching out to the nearest bulkhead for support as he slowly processed Armitage's reply.

"That could still prove useful, Operator. The psychic connection connecting these drones is a weakness that could give us the edge we need. If you can distract the...Shankbot, it could give Captain Rodriguez and I a clear shot to eliminate it."

[PepperP.]

Miranda

Miranda stood back as the men grappled psychically, the carbine slung insouciantly over her shoulder.

"Yeah.... so maybe we could set up an ambush in the hangar? There's lots of room to set up the Shankbot to trigger the Mongoose. What do you think, Sir?" She cocked an eyebrow at her superior as he braced himself against the bulkhead and gathered himself.

[Tychris1]

"Makes sense to me. Though, to be entirely clear, if you have a definitive shot against this "Shankbot" whilst I'm distracting it, and I'm potential collateral; Take the shot." Armitage stated to Miranda in a low yet serious voice. His eyes filled with a defeated resolve yet his mouth betrayed a smile. "Merlin, do any of the comms in the hangar still work?" He inquired as he reloaded his nonlethal weaponry and moved towards the hangar.