Contact Lost

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Wait...St. Clair, exactly what did you do there?" Stern asks.

No one ever briefs me on anything.

"Well, never mind that for now, I'm willing to take your word for it. So, the assassin killed the commodore and stole some information. She's either headed to restore power to the comms array or to escape in a shuttle; we're going far too fast for her to jump out in a suit."

Stern ponders this for a moment, trying to guess the enemy's next move. "The power loss was likely caused by the same sort of brute-force EMP that she used to disable the marine, which means it'll be a lot of effort to repair a specific system, even if she knows what she's doing. Hudson, you take half the marines here and go join Clyne in the hangar bay. Terminate anyone attempting to leave in a spacecraft unless I give them clearance first. St. Clair, thank you for your assistance; go back to the bridge and help Melern with the power systems. I'll take the rest of the team and keep an eye on the power relays."

He sends a communication to Melern once again, asking "Mr. Melern, I have an engineering question. If someone wanted to restore power to only the external comms and then use them without alerting the bridge, where would they go to do it?"

[Elvith Jars]

Once Alfred finished up, Hudson steps outside again, checking the marine and then reports.

"Yes Sir," Hudson says in response to the skipper's orders.

"Coonts."

"Yeah?"

"Just in case, make sure nobody tries to come through the open hangar door."

"From the outside in? Huh. Ok boss."

"I'm coming back down there with reinforcements and swap places with you again. Clancy, Brown, keep sweeping. I want two fire teams in the bay guarding the shuttles, fighters, and the outer door. I also want another two teams guarding the airlock(s) from the ship to the bay."

"Clancy."

"Brown."

There'll be roughly a squad of marines in or near the hangar on guard duty.

Before heading out, Hudson does a quick search of the room to find the dead marine.

Search: 1d20+1=8
Spot: 1d20+1=19

[estradling]

Alfred

Facing the Sterns he said, "Sir I saw the assassin's face both with and without the disguise, if I can get the computers to work and get access to the personnel files I might be able to put a name to this person and an image for you to work with."

[Dustyme]

To Stern on command channel:
"Sir, I think it would be best to send 2 of my commo team with an engineer and a marine escort to start physically checking over the comm's system. I want them start working their way from that end to here. I think we need securtity posted there while that team makes its way back junction box by junction box."

Zell details two (male) commo personnel to the detail. (If the internal sensors just came up I will next work on the computer but only bring it online once I can make sure it is slaved to bridge access only.)

Originally Posted by Dustyme

Zell also sets up a monitor and block within the communication system that will alert him and LCDR Stern to any messages that seem suspicious. He sets the system to have the duty officer notify him of a message without alerting the officer of what the message contains or why. The alert message will read as a generic systems test notification with a key phrase. ((Main objective is to see if anyone is sending messages ahead of us to warn who/whatever is occurring & Halt the message before it leaves the ship.)) Computer Use (1d20+6)[17]

(The Comp Use roll was a 17 )
As soon as we get the computer system up Zell checks to see if this worked or not. Zell will check any and all inbound/outbond messages for the last 48 hours with special care towards messages by females. He will also lockdown anything/everything the Commodore had access to and check it for recent access as well as check to see if there are any dummy accounts for sending/receiving messages. Zell also checks for any tampering with of every system as it comes online (Starting with the scanners).

Spoiler

Did I fix the scanners? If so...
Computer Use: Scanners (Internal) (1d20+6)[17]

To Stern:
"LCRD Stern, I am locking down all systems I can as we bring them up. This intruder may not be trying to escape yet. She or they may have accessed the Commodors link to gain information about something onboard they are going after. Either stored information or a peice of equipment. I suggest we send security teams to the computer core mainframe room and any other sections or storage areas the commodore kept off limits. He probably has a safe or secure storage unit in his room. Also don't forget that his personnel file was intensely secure when I was reviewing crew files. I suspect that there is something contained in them you might have access to upon his death as the senior officer and now expedition Commander."

(The post is on page 1 from wizard. P.S. Would the escape pods work in hyeperspace? What about the fighters are they in th main hangar too?)

Spoiler

BTW I loved the triple threat post there Nerd

[Storm Bringer]

Zell's face is a furrow of total concentration. He is sure that he sensor systems are fine physically. Someone is blocking his access with a software hack. It's a good hack, very good. He's having trouble even working out it's their, let alone trying to bypass it. Zell started to use tricks the tutors at the TASC acadeamy didn't know eh knew. He started to use tricks he didn't know he knew. but it was to no avail, the hack was blocking him at every turn....except one. he managed to figure out that the hack had been rebuilt not long ago, incorporating new data. Finally, after a lot of brute force and dirty coding he managed to extract the authorisation codes used in the hack.

Zell blinked. They were the commodores’. It took him a moment to process this. The hacker was using the commodores’ access codes to shut down the sensor systems, the exterior comm...... they must have got hold of them somehow. At any rate, it was now clear that he'd need a long time, hours, possibly days, to get this hack out the way and talk to an exterior source.

However, the hack was built with no by-passes in it. the assassin would have to hack her own hack if she wanted to try and talk to someone.

The personnel files are not blocked off, but so fragmented as to be useless for the moment in time. Zell sets the system to recover what it can and pass it to St. Clair, but there is little to go on.

Considering the Lt Cmdrs question, the best place to insert a pirate broadcast would be at the comm array itself outside the ship or the main comm. Line just below it form inside. Both these sites are accessible, if a little out of the way. However, getting power to the systems in the first place would mean a trip to engineering and some subtle tweaking of a few power relays in the engine room itself. It would be next to impossible to hide the power up form the bridge.
ooc:

Spoiler

Would the escape pods work in hyeperspace? What about the fighters are they in the main hangar too?

The ship is still in ‘realspace’, its just travelling much faster than everything else. A person leaving the ship would need to lose about 80% of his speed to have a chance of being picked up by a conventional drive ship. A pod hasn’t got the sort of power to go lose that speed and get anywhere: it can brake to a halt, but not speed up again. The shuttles however, can meaning the pick up vessel can be a lot futher away, and so easier to hide. Also, since the shuttle is armed, a vengeful crew could use it to attack and destroy a escape pod. Ergo, it’s easier to escape via the shuttle. The fighters are also in the Main bay, but are not prepped to launch. It would take several people a couple of minutes at least to get them ready.

The pods might do In a pinch, but a shuttle would be a much better option.

And yes, I am aware that there is no top speed in space. But this is si-fi, so there is.
Oh, btw, you only just failed the opposed roll to break the hack.

more to come in the morn.

[estradling]

Alfred

As the files started to show on his neural net hookup. The engineer realized it would take much to long at its current speed to defragment the files. However he didn't need all the files... Just ones meeting a certain very limited physical profile, he could skip large chunks...

So in his head he rewrites the sorting algorithms to speed it up and only give him matches for the assassain.

Spoiler

Computer use (1d20+11)[21]

[Dustyme]

Command Channel:
"LCDR Stern, there's some Black Ice blocking access to vital systems it is going to take hours and possibly day for me to crack it. I suggest we get a programing expert up here on the double that I can assist in clearing this up. Someenoe more skilled may have more luck than I. Whomever did this job used the Commodores codes to set it up so we know at least some of the info they got away with, The only good news I have is that the Mutinous Dog(s) locked themselves out as well. What info on the personnel files I have I'm sending to Ensign St. Clair."

ooc:

Spoiler

I just had to use the phrase "Mutinous Dogs!!" Arrrhh!!
BTW Storm Bringer since I specifically reveiwed all the personnel files at the begining of the trip is there a feasable likelyhood that I could either:
A: Have some, many, most or all (basics) stored on my wrist comp? (This would make sense due to the fact that I was reveiwing these lists o glean tidbits of info that could help dealing with crew members plus the fact that I'm paraniod and expected some B(!) to turn on us (LMAO, both the PC and me the player expected it).
B: Assist St Clyne in reveiwing the records due to my prior experience with them.

If option A floats then He should have a lot more to work with instantly (Here's hoping for a Situation Bonus!).
If option B floats then Computer Use to assist (1d20+6)[17]

[Storm Bringer]

Zell and Alfred, working together, manage to narrow the shearch to about a half dozen crew files. of them, two were at their stations at the time of the power failure (confirmed by other crew), one was asleep in her bed (confirmed agian by other crewmembers), one was wounded in zero-g accident and was in sick bay under sedation at the time, and two unaccounted for: A brown haired cook who has a good resemblance to the assassins disguised look, and a blonde engineer who is a dead ringer for the assassin's 'real' face. Quick enquirys to thier section chiefs reveal they have not been seen since the power failure.

However, a lot of the crew is still unaccounted for by thier chiefs and are spread thoughout the ship dealing with local problems. the mid-rankers are working to organise the situtation and account for everyone, but as it stands, these two are the most likey covers for the assassin.

ooc:

Spoiler

everyone apart form elvith make a will save.
andrews: (1d20+3)[13]

[estradling]

Alfred

Turning to LCDR Stern he says, "Sir please be advised that what I did in the Commodore's quarters is not admissible in any court. I did what I did to save the ship, you still have to build your case and have evidence for your reports. That being said this person is who the assassin disguised herself as. She could be in danger, she is being set up to take the fall and evidence might be found with her." Using the available gear St Clair makes sure Stern get the information on the two.

"This one is a dead ringer for our assassin. I think your best chance to find evidence is to find the neural link down loader she used to get the Commodore's comm codes and who knows what else. Hopefully she still has it and hasn't purged the data beyond recovery."

The ensign paused to let his commander have time to take in the information. "If you have nothing else for me sir, I'm going to get to work removing that command block hack that we found."

Spoiler

Assuming his is not ordered to do something else
Computer Use to remove the hack
(1d20+11)[18]

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Right," he responds to St. Clair. "If we're lucky, our quarry will resist and we won't have to worry about trials. I hate saboteurs. Right now, I'm just concerned with finding her. Head back to the bridge and report to Melern. I'm going to Engineering."

And hopefully, that means we've covered all of her possible exits.

[Dustyme]

---Zell---

Ensign Melern has the marines immediately let Ensign St. Clair onto the bridge and assists him in clearing the computer block.

Spoiler

Will Save (1d20+3)[6]
Computer Use (Assist) (1d20+6)[24]

[estradling]

OOC: I totally spaced needing a will save... Sorry Will Save - (1d20+4)[5]

[Nerd-o-rama]

Will Save - (1d20+4)[13]

Whoops.

[Elvith Jars]

Back at the hangar, Hudson addresses the squad:

"All right boys and girls, listen up. Nobody in or out of the hangar. If they're not authorized by me personally, shoot them. If they stand back up, shoot them again. Obviously I have authorization so don't shoot me. We'll continue rotating fire teams in and out of the hangar but that slows down as of now. We also might be taking a jaunt outside to guard the external comm array, so be prepared for that. Stick to your training and you'll be fine.

Switch to data comm Bravo fiver and do not accept any incoming data requests, not even the commodore's. If you don't know what channel that is, pay more attention to the day's channel rotations and ask your buddy. We're isolated from the command channels as of now. You answer to me and to the skipper, nobody else. Anybody gives you flak, send em my way.

Lock and load and stay on your toes. Nobody goes anywhere alone."

Hudson readies his M-82A1 Longbow, its capacitors growl in anticipation.

[Storm Bringer]

Hudson is about half-way to the hanger when his suits NBC warning light activates. a few quick quireys shows that an unknown chemical is present in the air. the system chugs a bit, trying to work out what the agent is, and finally comes back with a return: it's a Hallucinogen. a very uncommon one. It oversitumlates the certian areas of the brain, causing the person to percive a mutliude of horros conjored up form his own mind. the effects are not crippling, but do impact proformance.

ooc

Spoiler

everone who failed (under 12), it's a -2 on all roles due to fear. oh, and the walls are crawling with gribbleys.....

[Elvith Jars]

Beep...beep...beep Hudson's NBC alarm goes off as he approaches the hangar.

"All marines, seal your armor now!"

"What the f*ck, Chevy, you rip one?"

"Wait one, Brown, just get your guys sealed."

"We're ok in the hangar," Coonts replies, "got a fire team cycling through now though."

"Bridge," he says as the Apache's medicomp IDs the contaminant, "we've got foul air. RoboDoc identifies it as some kind of hallucinogen. Got any neurotox to flush the air out with?" Then he remembers everything is offline.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Dammit! Everyone, find a rebreather or a suit!" Stern shouts, too late. Still, he shakes off the effects of whatever it is and concentrates on determining what it's doing to his security complement.

[Dustyme]

Zell watches as the command chair stands up on its own and walks 10' away he goes to sit in it to hold it down but once again it moves. When he hears the news about the hallucinogen in the air system he decides that the crew needs some music to help relax them and keep them concentrating at the same time he finds some Mozart on his wrist computeries it into the bridge audio system unfortunately Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is what come on instead and every time he tries to change the music his wrist computer skitters up or down his arm to get away from Zells fingers. Giving up on that he turns to St. Clair and attempts to assist with programing again.

"We need to get the filtration system back online St. Clair. I'll make the call and pay for it later if needed."

Computer Use (Assist) (1d20+4)[19]

[Storm Bringer]

The marine's armour grants them protection form the airborne agent, sealing automatically if not already sealed. As hudson had not unsealed his armour since he left the hangar, he had not been exposed to the agent. An enquiry to the sick bay reveals that an antidote exists, but that none is ready to use on the ship due the uncommon nature of the toxin agent used. They can whip up enough to inncoulate the crew. given an hour or two warning, and start to prepare a batch, with enough to cover the commander staff (i.e. you) in about a quarter hour.

The good news is that the concentrations present in the air are low enough that continued exposure would not significantly affect the crew after the first few minutes of exposure (which have already passed), so protective gear is not nesscary (in that it would not really change the affects).

The bad news is thats some 80% of the crew have recived significant doseage of the drug before donning protective gear. the effects can vary significanly, depending on the persons mental state at the time.

There appear to be mutilple release points in the life support system, presumable after the air is filtered. once the release cannisters have been removed and the filters programed to check for it, the agent would be scrubbed form the air in a few cycles.

ooc:

Spoiler

okay, answering a few questions thrown at me:
all rolls before I posted the NBC light going on stand as is, no -2. The gas hasn't taken affect until that point.
gas masks and such are kept on hand at most crew stations, but as noted, they won't affect the outcome at this point, fluff or mechanics (the stuff is in the blood already). I may allow a re-save later, but i doubt it'd be needed.

for those two of us that saved, no need to roll agian unless the exposed to a higher doseage of the gas. trying to remove the canisters, for example, would need suits.

oh, just to be clear, everyone apart form elvith is seeing vivid and horrorfiying images everywhere. It's just me and the lt cmdr are currently able to force the fear down somewhat better at this point. feel free to discribe was your character is seeing crawling out the god-damm walls.....

[estradling]

Alfred

St Clair helplessly watched as Zell and the rest of the crewmen in the same room began to decay in front of them. Their hair fell out, and skin tightened and outlined their bones like morbid shrink wrap. Then Zell turned toward him and while accusing him saying, “You did this,” he drew a way oversized firearm and shot Alfred right in the face.

With a startled jerk St. Clair snaps back. Everything was fine. He hears Hudson warn of some kind of hallucinogen in the air, and Stern’s order to grab a rebreather. He goes to grab one when his implants decide to grow on him. Sprouting tendrils they burst up out of his flesh and quickly surround him, binding him in place.

Like some kind vid record being played back really slow St. Clair hears Zell try to tell him something. He makes out something about filters and puts the rest together.

Doing his best to focus he tries to get the air filters back.

Spoiler

Man failing will saves suck
Computer Use with the failed will save - (1d20+9)[11]

[Elvith Jars]

“Ok honcho, we’re all scrunched up tight,” Clancy says, “I’m scraping a couple guys off the ceiling but we’re ok. You should see the squids though, they’re going ape sh*t. I stuck a fireteam outside of Engineering just in case, and Ensign Melern’s got another team babysitting some techies as they work through the com system. Gonna go find the assassin now with that supersuit of yours?”

“Actually, in some ways, your gear is better than mine. We’ll deal with the insurgent once we find her.”

Standard Marine assault gear was in some ways better than what the scout snipers carried. While both groups carried the M-4 plasma rifle- the modern day equivalent to the OICW Assault Rifle that replaced bullets with plasma rounds, the M-4C scout sniper version lacked the mini grenade launcher but was more compact for easy carrying.

Regular marine fireteams also had the M-60 Squad Automatic Rail Gun (SARG). Unlike the newer M-82A1 Longbow, the M-60 had fully automatic capability. In the right hands it could deliver devastating amounts of damage, but unlike the Longbow, the SARG was at the pinnacle of its development.

While lighter than a Somatic Combat Vehicle, standard marine Space Combat Armor (SCA) was bulkier and harder to get around in. It made up for its bulkiness by integrating a zero-gee maneuvering unit and a pair of boot-mounted jump jets for planet-bound leap frogging, both features the SCVs presently lacked. Plus, the SCA had better stopping power than the SCV. However, Somatic Combat Vehicles had better strength, more maneuverability, and more sophisticated electronics. They were stealthier too, and continued upgrades would allow SCVs to meet and exceed standard power armor capabilities.

[Dustyme]

Zell watches as snakes slither in and out of St Clairs empty eye sockets and sees a snake move into his mic set.
"Holy crud!"

Zell turns his headset mace off and reaches out and snatches off St. Clairs set as well.

"Snakes in the grass Man! Snakes in the grass! She's listening in on the command channel. We need to shut her out of or commo. Screw the vent's she thinks we're looking at them now. We need to setup new secure command channels."

Zell grabs his wrist computer not letting it get away anymore and sets up a new encrypted algorithm for the commo.

Computer Use (1d20+4)[19]

He waves to another marine on security.

"Corporal, Turn off you commo." Zell waits for him to do so. "I want you to take this to LCDR Stern and tell him that the" Zell shakes his head as the Trix cereal rabbit with bloody stumps and no paws crawls up the back of the marines armor and dances on the mans helmet. "the commo is a bust, it's compromised. This is the new algorithm to use and well adjust it again as soon as we can. We need to keep chatter on the old one and maybe direct her to an area we can catch her unaware. Do pass this info on to SGT Hudson. No one is to talk about this on an unsecure channel. That includes your private lines. Got it? Two more things before you go." Zell looks at the rabbit again. "How many rabbits feet are you carrying and would you turn the music off for me please. " Zell holds out his wrist computer to the marine...

[Storm Bringer]

Alfred and Zell manage to figure out the dispersal points for the gas, and a several suited crewmen are duly dispatched to remove and space the gas. the filters are programmed to remove the gas, and you reckon it will be flitered out soon enough. The effects should wear off in an hour or two. Also, dispite the gas, you make progress with the software hack, when the figures on the screen still still. You start to get a track on what doors are being opened by whom, and even managed to turn the music off.

Stern arrives at the Engine room to find lt. Clyne, up to his waist in a power conduit, with tools in hand with one of his hanger crew (not present in the hanger when the door blew) helping him. a quick cough from his aide brings him up. He takes a second or two to focus on Stern, as if having trouble seeing.

"Oh, thier you are, sir. We've tracked the power failure to this segment here. seems to have given under stress, but I can't rule out sabotage. The feedback kicked the back-ups, hence the outage. Just clearing the fragments out before we install the new parts. The crew Chief is just down......" Andrew points over his shoulder to a crawlspace hatch"thier, checking the main reactor feeds." He sounds to be calm, though his eyes don't really appear to focus on anything.

He looks around vaguly, and then looks at his hand. "just checking here," he says, holding his hand up and wiggling his fingers "I havn't actaully got a bleeding stump here, have I?"

ooc:

Spoiler

three things:
1) first, let me see if i've got everyone place right:
Stern: engineering
Clyne: engineering
Melern: bridge
St Clair: bridge
Hudson: hanger bay

correct me if i got this wrong

2) Is st. clair actually the higest ranked enginnering section crewman on broad, or shall we have a NPC chief engineer (possibley as a unseen for a new play to claim later)?

3)nerd, you and I are making spot checks:
Mine: spot (1d20+4)[14]
edit: curd. Nerd, if you don't get a good roll, I'm gonna really have to get creative here......

[Dustyme]

Originally Posted by Storm Bringer

Alfred and Zell manage to figure out the dispersal points for the gas, and a several suited crewmen are duly dispatched to remove and space the gas.

Zell has the crewman store the canisters in the airlock with careful handeling to preserve evidence rather than outright space them. (Keeping them in vacuum storage with the airlock guarded and sealed.)

Spoiler

P.S. I posted some stuff while you were typing look up Storm

[Storm Bringer]

Spoiler

I noticed. you managed to post again while i was editing my post to account for yours.

btw is the 'changing comm channels cos of snakes in the line' a fluffy "I'M SEEING THINGS!" thing, or a serious action just dressed in those terns?

[Dustyme]

Originally Posted by Storm Bringer

Spoiler

I noticed. you managed to post again while i was editing my post to account for yours.

btw is the 'changing comm channels cos of snakes in the line' a fluffy "I'M SEEING THINGS!" thing, or a serious action just dressed in those terns?

Spoiler

Both kind of. I'm implying that he what Zell saw with a snake moving into the mic made him come to the realization that she is probably listening in on the communcations lines using the commodores access codes.

[Elvith Jars]

{{OOC: Yup, Hudson is in the hangar.}}

[Nerd-o-rama]

(Main Engineering)

Spot Check - (1d20+4)[8]

"No, your hand's fine. And I'm pretty sure those spiders crawling all over everything are also figments of my imagination." Stern looks around over the engineering bay. "Look, we need to keep the power to main comms offline for another little while. Whoever's behind this might be attempting to beam intelligence off the ship, and it's possible she'll try to scuttle us once she's done."

((Dammit, sorry. I think I'm going to switch to the IC roller, because this is getting ridiculous)).

[Storm Bringer]

"Hey, no probem. It's gonna be a while before we get main power back anyway. gonna be a right swine to get the spare part in here....."

andrew looked at his hand again, then shook his head.
"Jesus, man, what is this stuff? I feel like I've eaten one too many of Jimmy Dobson's cookies" andrew asks, refering to a cadet at the TASC academy that was caught with a rather large suppily of drugs not long before graduation. the crew-woman helping him, a latin american armements tech, began talking very fast in spanish, fear clear in her voice. andrew turns to her, and also begins speaking spanish, trying to calm her. Stern looks around, and sets off to find the Chief, leaving andrew to his work.

Suddenly, Coporal Wayland, who was stood beside Stern, wispered "Boss". Stern look round at him, and he nods towards the main reactors. "That gantry on the starboard reactor, working that control panel. It's Blondie."


Looking closely, Stern realises that the woman working the panel is indeed the blonde engineer form the suspect shortlist. The woman glances around, and catches stern looking striaght at her. A look of absolute horror passes over her face for a split second. Before stern can do anthing, the woman's turns and bolts, nearly knocking a cerwmen off the gantry. Wayland brings his plamsa gun to bear and snaps off a shot, but the hasty aimed shot goes wide, leaving a ugly burn on the celing and shorting out a light. the woman jumps over the side of the gantry, falls a good 15 feet to the floor, rolls and is back on her feet in a flash, running for a side door. Stern finally gets his gun out of his holster and is just bringing it to bear when she disappears into the side corridor, another shot form wayland slamming into the wall next to her.

ooc

Spoiler

Well, I had the NPC make the spot roll, since we both failed.

hint for all you budding DMs: never plan a adventure that relies on a PC making a single skill check at some stage.

[Nerd-o-rama]

(That's what DMPCs are for).

"Damnation! Everyone, spread out and cut off her escape routes." With that, Stern dashes off down the hallway after her, pistol held close.