Eclipse Phase: Glory

[Dog Pants]

Okay Shoggy, deal.

It could be that we're not the only ones looking for Yu and the tech. If it was the Khanhs then he'd be dead, but it could be the criminal (or official) interest from Vishnucam. It could also be that he had a visit from a Router and thought better of it. Maybe we need to pay him a visit later, but we have bigger fish to fry at the moment.

[Joose]

Shoggy gives you the access codes to the ship he is lending you (assuming you digitally sign the agreement that is being lodged with Nomic as discussed) and the location of the airlock it is attached to. He says he has thrown in a couple of standard vac suits for the non-synth members of your team (p333 of the main rules. They are not the smart material type.) and some disassembly tools (p330 of the main rules) in case the Keysrah's power is out and you need to horse your way in to get it running again. He does expect them back when you return the shuttle, but understands that there may be some wear and tear involved.

What's next?

[Dog Pants]

I'm still in two minds to press Wong while I have him in front of me.

Is something bothering you Mr Wong? You were very keen to discuss alternative careers earlier, can I ask what has changed your mind? Understand that if it is something which may affect us and our mission then it may be in your interest to share so we can be of mutual assistance.

[Joose]

Wang. Its Wang. Wong is Wrong.

Yeah, I was interested when it was a low rent gang and some stolen mil-tech. When it turned out to involve mad cannibal cults, Exhuman terrorist attacks and...

He pauses for a second, looking like he is considering whether or not to carry on. He sighs.

Look, when Yu asked for the stuff I could tell she wanted it to jack some data. So I was curious. I know, I should have left it alone, but I wanted to know what she was getting all wet over. So I fitted a QE comms kit to transmit a copy of whatever she downloaded into Achilles to my servers here. I had a fork of myself analyse the data that was sent over, it was still running when you met me earlier. Now, I don't know what my fork got and frankly, I don't want to know. Just before I was due to merge the fork back with me he deleted all the transmitted data from our local server and then deleted himself. You get what that means? He committed suicide rather than let me know what was in that information. He didn't want me to know, and he was me, so I don't want to know. You want my advice? Leave it the fuck alone. Ciao.

He disconnects.

[Dog Pants]

Awesome. So Yu has the data she wants, and she might even still be alive. Sounds like some nasty shit, but then that's what Firewall do. Maybe Wang wasn't up to the job after all.

Are we all backed up and ready to go in then?

[FatherJack]

Can we just walk into a clinic or use a kiosk to get backed up?

[Joose]

Can we just walk into a clinic or use a kiosk to get backed up?

Yep. You all get given a months free backup insurance as part of your initiation to Firewall (after that month you are encouraged to sort yourself out with something) so you can just walk in to any affiliated backup/resleeving clinic and update your backup immediately for free. Somewhere the size of Casa Arturo will definitely have at least one clinic of its own, somewhere like Locus probably has several to choose from. Choosing a nice one is only really relevant for resleeving though, as that is the riskier side of things. Backing up is almost entirely risk free, and doesn't take long. 10 mins for a biomorph, 5 mins for a pod morph and effectively instant for a full synthmorph. You all backing up then?

[Dog Pants]

Most definitely. I'm not confident we'll come back in one piece.

[fabyak]

Absolutely! I can't see this working out in a non-death kind of way for us!

[Joose]

Righto, consider your backups updated. Ready to head off?

[fabyak]

I guess. Any chance of broadcasting this as live suicide art to make a few extra credits?

[Joose]

I guess. Any chance of broadcasting this as live suicide art to make a few extra credits?

Not sure your superiors in your secret, illegal, sometimes viewed as terrorist organisation would be keen.

[Dog Pants]

Lets rock then. You guys got your suits? Fab, got your bits?

[Joose]

You guys got your suits? Fab, got your bits?

Suits and bits are on the shuttle Shoggy is lending you. So! Lets goooo!

The shuttles system asks for a destination as soon as you embark. I assume you are giving it the rough location that Vasquez gave you, then scanning for the Keysrah once you get there using the codes Shoggy gave you? Or do you want to do it differently? Anything you want to do on the way?

[Dog Pants]

Yep, that's the plan. I can't think of anything I'd be doing in a little shuttle other than clutching my railgun.

[fabyak]

Did I do the rolls for getting into their systems to try and take control of the air locks/ power type things? If not can I do them to try and delay our deaths (Would my lab tech be best or even the right one to use for this?)

[Dog Pants]

Hopefully we won't do any dying if you can pull off the hack. We can scout the place out though at least. Maybe Yu killed them all and is chilling there for a bit.

[Joose]

Did I do the rolls for getting into their systems to try and take control of the air locks/ power type things? If not can I do them to try and delay our deaths (Would my lab tech be best or even the right one to use for this?)

Firstly, you need to be in range of the Flowers mesh to be able to hack it. At the moment you are on your way to its approximate location with the hope that you can then locate the Kesyrah and that will lead you to the flower. I think everyone is done with things they are doing en route, so I'll skip ahead to your arrival in a second, but either way you are not yet in range.

When you are in range you will need to hack in (as you lack any legitimate access to their systems) to be able to do anything. Hacking uses the InfoSec skill. Yours is 50, but don't forget that you can take your time to add up to a further +30, and Usagi can help you out for a +10 (DCOM cant as he hasn't got the Infosec skill) as well, meaning you have to roll under 90 to get in before modifiers. Unless they have some pretty hefty mesh security that's pretty good odds.

So, your shuttle approaches the estimated position of the Flower, cutting engines and running minimal systems to hide. A mix of using gravity wells from nearby large asteroids and perfectly timed release of cold gas slows you very gradually. Its a hell of a lot slower to change speeds this way than it would be using regular engines, but it should make you near undetectable. You pick up the signal from the Kesyrah using the codes Shoggy gave you after only a few minutes scanning. Its pretty close by, anchored to a largish rock, in an indentation on its dark side. If you didn't have the code you would have flown right past and never known it was there.

The Kesyrah is a sleek, stealthy ship with larger than normal engines for its class (which, by the way, is a SLOTV. I cant remember what that stands for. Its basically synonymous with "shuttle" though). The fuselage is matte black with strange angles to defeat radar, and Nameless can identify some meaty cold gas manoeuvring jets. This thing would be capable of some serious speeds whilst remaining almost entirely invisible. Its pretty badass. The only markings are double Xs in dark grey on the port and starboard engine pods. You can see that the starboard airlock has been blown open, with some scarring on the hull that makes it look like its been cut open from the outside with a plasma torch. It seems that the systems are all online and functioning, and you can mesh into it with full access thanks to the access codes Shoggy gave you.

Not far away, on the other side of the rock the Kesyrah is anchored to, your systems have detected a hab. Its not on any map of the area, nor is it broadcasting any ID. Its hardly hiding though; its large enough to see pretty easily with the naked eye, it is pissing out heat all over the shop and the engines are a giant glowing radioactive blob on your displays.

You cant pick up a mesh signal from here, but that's probably just because you are too far out still.

[Dog Pants]

Cool. Looks like there's been a bit of a rumble here already. Hopefully half the job's been done for us. Can we get anything out of the Keysrah? Cameras, journals, damage reports? Can we piggy-back its mesh to relay to the hab? Also, DCOM might not do infosec, but Ignacio does.

[FatherJack]

Usagi has infosec of 55 I think. I just got a roll on my
phone of 52, but it might be good to have the others help out as well as taking her time in case it's tight.