[001] - A Spot of Gardening

[ybn1197]

Benedict "P1LF3R" Alder (HP: 3/3, AC: 14)

He comes out of his reverie briefly when Stavros speaks. "Hmm? Keen mind, oh, yes. Very good." He sighs and holsters the pistol, though he keeps his hand resting on the butt. He murmurs half to himself. "Oh, if my brothers could see me now. I wouldn't be the one wearing the dress, I can tell you that!"

Pilfer gives the trader a sidelong glance clearly stating "Too much information!"

As they make their way amongst the bustling stalls and storefronts, he gives his full attention to his companions for the first time since acquiring the magpistol. He raises his voice to be heard over the vendors hawking their wares. "So, this Nina Rose person. What do we know about her?"

"Stavros didn't find anything on the 'net aside from her being a pharmacologist. We've got some time once we go into flight, I can take a deeper look from the shuttle.

[eirei]

As the rest of the crew examines their quarters and the engine room, Silas makes his way to the bridge. He drops into the pilot's seat and grunts approvingly - high quality synth-leather. Almost comfy. His hands go through the motions long since embedded in them, flicking switches and typing commands into the terminal without conscious thought. As he does so, the ship's intercom comes alive, and Damian's voice can be heard:

"I can see if I can get you some extra boost from down here, Captain."

He nods to no one in particular and pushes the "transmit-to-all" button: "Mighty kind of you, mr. Stavros. If no one has any pressing needs to attend to, I'm going to begin the pre-launch procedures."

A few more buttons toggled, and soon enough the lights flicker. As they do, the interior of the shuttle is filled with a pleasant droning noise, and the sound of the hangar doors closing can be heard in the distance.
"We could get to the Flowerbed in two days' time... if we played it safe. Which is boring. Now, with the engine boost mr. Stavros is kindly working on, I believe I can shave off half of that time."

---

Silas sets the destination using the coordinates that have conveniently been pre-entered into the nav system, and as soon as everyone is prepared for takeoff, slams the propulsion lever into cruising speed. Guiding the shuttle through the undocking procedure is an effortless job - the whole thing is basically automated.

Soon enough the small shuttle finds itself in outer space, ready for the spike drill.

"Let's hope that engine overclock gets us the juice we need. Buckle up, friends!"

Another switch flicked disengages the safety and the lever slides into its final position. Stars stretch into indescribable shapes before finally vanishing as the vessel makes its ascent into the metaspace.

Piloting (1) + Int (0) + Assist (1) [2d6+2] = 10+2 = 12

[Faanku]

The Flowerbed, Deep Space, Ankanju Ratri System
Wednesday 19-01-3200
22:11

The shuttle's engines are indeed factory stock, with not a wire unchanged since she was rolled out. In fact Damian is pretty sure that the noise-dampening plasteel housings surrounding the engines haven't ever been opened; until now. He slides open the access panel and spends a few minutes applying some of his learned tweaks to the flux circuitry, minor fixes that don't seriously impact the overall output of the drives but will allow an experienced pilot to push her harder than the space-yard warranty would strictly allow. Perhaps with enough time he could cross-rouse the dynamic coils or something even more exciting, but for now these minor alterations should do the job.

Humming to life, the shuttle executes its automatic startup checks swiftly and in a matter of minutes Silas has her airborne, the powerful sublight engines lifting the ship vertically out of the spacious docking bay. Holographic arrows and directional prompts dance across the front canopy as an available flightpath is derided through the teeming airways of the Sleepless Market, until the bridge is bathed in a pleasant green light, and a few seconds later the shuttle breaches the atmosphere and reaches orbit. Automated messages wishing you a safe journey from various commercial stations arrive and are promptly ignored, alongside one clearing your departure sent from one of the two huge Arx-class governmental installations that lay in orbit on each side of Mejo. Then a few minutes later, just the vast, empty silence of endless space.

The journey into the unknown is comfortable and uneventful, and the freshly-formed crew have ample opportunity to become well-acquainted in the day spent in transit as the shuttle's autonav handles most of the piloting. Thanks to Damian's engine adjustments and Silas' knack for flying, the shuttle vastly outperforms itself and see them approaching the Flowerbed in a shade under 24 hours. The station itself is even more hidden than expected, Benedict only finding it on sensors thanks to his proactive searching, and it comes into view attached to an enormous asteroid. 3 ships are docked at the functioning external berths, 2 beaten shuttles and an incredibly vicious-looking, heavily modified free merchant hull that prominently features several large weapons.

After the crew have checked their vacc-suits and other equipment, Silas moves the shuttle towards the strangely inactive station where comms are suddenly bombarded with an odd, looping transmission originating from inside the Flowerbed:

Code: Select all

...01001101 01000101 01001100 01001001 01000100 01000101 01010011 00100000 01010000 01010101 01010010 01000111 01000101 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01110101 01110100 01111001 00100000 01000011 01001100 01000101 01000001 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 01001101 01000101 01001100 01001001 01000100 01000101 01010011 00100000 01010000 01010101 01010010 01000111 01000101 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01110101 01110100 01111001 00100000 01000011 01001100 01000101 01000001 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 01001101 01000101 01001100 01001001 01000100 01000101 01010011 00100000 01010000 01010101 01010010 01000111 01000101 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01110101 01110100 01111001 00100000 01000011 01001100 01000101 01000001 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 01001101 01000101 01001100 01001001 01000100 01000101 01010011 00100000 01010000 01010101 01010010 01000111 01000101 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01110101 01110100 01111001 00100000 01000011 01001100 01000101 01000001 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 01001101 01000101 01001100 01001001 01000100 01000101 01010011 00100000 01010000 01010101 01010010 01000111 01000101 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01110101 01110100 01111001 00100000 01000011 01001100 01000101 01000001 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 01001101 01000101 01001100 01001001 01000100 01000101 01010011 00100000 01010000 01010101 01010010 01000111 01000101 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100100 01110101 01110100 01111001 00100000 01000011 01001100 01000101 01000001 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100...

Other than transmitting this message, the station doesn't appear to react to your arrival at all.

[Enoch]

Odo frowns at the readout. "That's odd. They ought to be hailing us by now, or at least transmitting a clearance code. I don't know what that is--"he points to the binary output--"but that doesn't look like any clearance code I've ever seen."

[ybn1197]

Glancing at the code, Benedict re-routes the code to his comm-pad and attempts to translate it from binary code to something more easily read.

Program (1) + INT (0) [2d6+1] = 5+1 = 6

[explosiveghast]

Agnahr spits, "They must know that we are here. That is a hostile ship. Maybe not pirates... someone else."

He gestures toward the mooring area. "Can we squeeze in there?"

[Marullus]

I'm assuming converting to ASCII is a simple base ability and both PILFER and Damian succeed. I appreciate that the GM took the time to give us authentic binary!

Damian Stavros (HP: 1/1, AC: 14)

With the ship well-tuned and Silas at the controls, Damian take a nap and the settles into chores and preparations. He's tweaking and oiling the mods on Odo's new hand cannon when they space station comes into view through the forward screen. He watches, facing the ominous silence impassively as they approach.

He frowns deeply as Agnahr spits on the ship interior, then tosses the rag he was using on the gun at the bulky warrior. "Clean that up, eh? This isn't your barn. And nobody wants your phlem floating around when we're in zero-G."

He passes the machine-language through his standard compad filters, getting the translation up shortly after Benedict does.

Code: Select all

MELIDES PURGE serve duty CLEANSE melides protectMELIDES PURGE serve duty CLEANSE melides protectMELIDES PURGE serve duty CLEANSE melides protectMELIDES PURGE serve duty CLEANSE melides protectMELIDES PURGE serve duty CLEANSE melides protectMELIDES PURGE serve duty CLEANSE melides protect

"“All his life he had controlled machines, bent nature and the forces of nature to man and man's needs. The human race had slowly evolved until it was in a position to operate things, run them as it saw fit. Now all at once it had been plunged back down the ladder again, prostrate before a Power against which they were children.” Stavros says to himself before raising his voice and turning the compad to show the others. "I suspect that the inmates are running this asylum, gentlemen... we are not hailed because the people have been dealt with and the computers are in charge."

[explosiveghast]

Agnahr Roulos (HP: 8/8, AC: 15)

Unsure of his breach of etiquette, he shrugs and obliges. He mops his phlegm from the deck and tosses the rag back to Damian.

"Who is Melides?" He searches the faces of the crew to see if any are alit with spark of recognition.

[eirei]

Soon after plotting the course, Silas managed to find a bottle of liquor stashed somewhere in the cargo bay. As his buddy in the army always used to say, "Make sure both the engines and the pilot are well fueled". Good old Renald. Wonder what he's doing now. He kept it secret from the rest of the crew, though. No one ever believed him when he said he flew better with some extra help.

The bottle didn't last long, though, and then there was hell to pay. It would seem that with the alcohol leaving his system, some of the cheer left his voice, as well.

A day later, give or take, Silas is considerably more sober, for better or worse, and the ship at its destination.

The incoming binary transmission manages to get his mind off the last traces of the head-splitting hangover that just doesn't seem to want to leave.

"Can't say I've heard of this... Melides.", he mutters.

[Faanku]

The Flowerbed, Deep Space, Ankanju Ratri System
Wednesday 19-01-3200
22:14

The looping broadcast is simple binary, and both Benedict and Damian are able to translate it into comprehensible language with ease. Doing so doesn't provide much in the way of useful information, however, as nobody on the ship has any idea who or what Melides is. The shuttle continues its cautious approach to the station, the half-dozen reaper batteries and the ominous looking pair of mag spike arrays thankfully unmoving. In fact, nothing seems to respond to the crew's arrival at all, despite the shuttle's active transponder sending several docking requests. If Silas wishes to anchor at one of the Flowerbed's vacant berths, it seems as though he'll have to do so unaided; a daunting task even for an experienced pilot.

Without docking assistance from the station, you'll have to make a DC 8 Pilot/Dex check to safely connect the shuttle to the Flowerbed.
There is no outward sign of damage to the station other than that suffered during the Scream, and Benedict's sensor scans are detecting energy emissions expected of a Callaway 16 operating normally; it seems as though power and life support is functioning normally inside the Flowerbed.

Something I forgot to mention that may come into play later on regarding sensors and detection: By default every starship, station and installation will have their transponder set to ON, which is expected of all ships in most spacefaring systems. This means that unless you actively announce that you're turning your transponder off and 'running silent' then everything in the region you enter will detect you automatically, and likewise you will detect them. Hiding has its benefits, but being caught running silent by authorities, especially around planets or important installations will probably subject you to a thorough cargo scan at best, and boarding and potential arrest for questioning would not be uncommon. This is the easiest solution I can think of to ease the otherwise constant detection rolls I'd have to make every time you moved regions.

[eirei]

Silas looks at the sensor readouts and frowns.
"The station seems to be fully operational." Perhaps Damian's outrageous theory wasn't so far-fetched after all.

"I'm going to have to do this manually. I recommend you find something to hold on to."
He switches the thrusters into manual override and takes in a deep breath.
"Tightly."

[2d6+2] = 11+2 = 13 Docking (Piloting + Dex)

[Enoch]

Looking alarmed, Vyrner Odo quickly straps himself into a jump-seat, alternating leaning forward to watch through the fore viewscreen with wide eyes and sitting back with his head against the headrest, eyes tightly shut.

"Are we about to crash?"

[Marullus]

Damian Stavros (HP: 1/1, AC: 14)

The mechanic straps in, appearing to be in placid meditation while the pilot attempts his risky maneuvers.

Once docked, he unbuckles and moves with purpose to begin triaging the storage locker for useful things in the presumed robotic scenario.

Are there any drones he could use to surveil? Even primative ones would do. Some solid Type B batteries and spare parts that he could rig as a localized EMP field effective against electronic foes? He considers all options, grateful the ship's lockers are full.

[Enoch]

OOC: Odo has the ability to see a single moment (up to a minute) anywhere within the next day, and can generally do this twice a day. If we pause before doing anything where we're not sure what will happen ("OK, I'm not sure if there are hostile robots on the other side of the door, but I'll go in anyway"), Odo can have a vision of what will happen.

I bring this up now because we're likely to be facing concrete decisions based on incomplete information very soon!

[Faanku]

The Flowerbed, Deep Space, Ankanju Ratri System
Wednesday 19-01-3200
22:31

Heeding Silas' warning, the crew brace for a strong impact... which never arrives. The former military man executes a smoother docking procedure unaided than many pilots will ever achieve assisted, and after hearing the satisfying hiss of compression modules locking the shuttle in place the yet unresponsive Flowerbed is now accessible; at least in theory. After the crew has raided the shuttle's supply holds for anything relevant and donned their vacc-suits, they encounter a second obstacle blocking their path, literally in this case. The twinned blast doors that form the station's airlock are sealed firmly, and a cursory attempt to activate them via the external command panel is met with failure.

To clarify, you leave the shuttle's airlock down a kind of boarding tube to get to the station's airlock, it's not a large enough instalment to have it's own interior docking bay. If you ever played X3 imagine it's like docking at one of the smaller stations there. I hope that poor explanation helps you visualise it.

Overriding the airlock to gain access to the station will require a DC 8 Hacking (Program/Int) roll, or you can come up with alternative methods of gaining entry.

[Marullus]

So... is that assumed success? Do I have access to a drone? Mods for it? Can I rig EMP grenades from batteries or are they standard?

Stavros, his first thought being towards potential robotic adversaries, tries to rig some Type B batteries into grenade-like EMPs.
Rig EMPs [1d6] = 2[1d6] = 3[1d6] = 3 (best 2+2)

He grabs a some spare parts, Laz patches, and other things they might need just in case and then preps the ship's drone. Disappointed to find all ports hardwired in, he simply hefts his duffle on his shoulder and activates the controller for the drone so it is ready when the portal is opened.

[Enoch]

Odo slaps his thighs and laughs delightedly before unbuckling from the crash seat. "Well, that was a fine docking! Silas, you are to be commended, surely."

He walks over and starts rummaging through the locker. He calls over his shoulder. "So! What do you think this 'Melides' is? Think the station has become self-aware? Seems like it would have greeted us one way or another if it had. Inmates running the asylum, maybe?"

[explosiveghast]

Nodding at the others as they prepare, Agnahr regards the command panel. He hopes to to dislodge or pry it loose enough for the more technically minded to gain access to what lies behind. On some previous excursions he has seen little boards, ceramic modules, glittering pins, gelatinous nodules and even wires behind devices such as this. He has even been electrocuted once. The specialists on the team always seem to know what to do next.

He cautiously applies himself to the task, twisting, testing and prying at the command panel. He does his best to avoid looking like a primate but is resigned to the inevitability of his efforts. Someone with some proper electronics knowledge will surely correct him.

[2d6] = 5 Exert
Not sure if any attribute bonuses can help that.

[eirei]

After making sure the maglocks are engaged and the ship secure, Silas joins the others in the airlock.

He readies his pistol and watches as Agnahr handles the door panel with the exact opposite of surgical precision.

"Are you sure that's... safe?"

[Marullus]

so, we're looking for a post from ybn1197 for Benedict?