Eclipse Phase: Glory

[fabyak]

Does that door look like it can be opened from both sides? I don't want to go in and get trapped. Is there a window I can peep through?

[Joose]

Does that door look like it can be opened from both sides? I don't want to go in and get trapped. Is there a window I can peep through?

Most likely yes. Its hard to tell from this side, but you should be able to tell just by opening it. You wouldn't have to go through to make sure there is a mechanism on both sides. Theres no window though.

[fabyak]

I'm going to open the door, cover the entrance would you? Want to make sure we won't get locked in there

[Joose]

The door is pretty heavy and quite stiff (hehe). You can open it easy enough, but its quite a shock when you are used to motorised doors of one form or another. Its pretty thick and appears to be basically solid metal cut into a door shape.

The room beyond takes up the final 10 meter length of the module you are currently in. It houses the drive that gave the hab its original push from near Earth to take it out to where it is right now, but that old chemical based booster has been mostly dismantled to make way for a couple of other drives that look like they have been cannibalised off another ship. They look a lot more powerful than the single drive that was removed.

Fab, the specifics of drive tech are a bit out of your area of tech knowledge, but these things look nuclear to you. Which is odd, because nuke drives basically work by using a nuclear reaction to superheat something to provide thrust, and there doesn't appear to be any storage tanks for anything to use as thruster mass. Instead, there are two large pipes running from the utility conduit that runs through the length of this section and appear to be part of the stations water supply. Using the stations water supply for thrust would be fucking bonkers though, as to get this thing moving they would burn through all the stations water supply, leaving nothing left for people on board.

The door does indeed have a mechanism to open it from the other side. More to the point, its completely manual so if you don't close it yourself it will just stay open anyway. You going in?

[fabyak]

I'll have a look in there but I don't fancy going in

I really don't know what the hell to make of this place but it seems like a giant trap. Something that can make this place go while using all the water and a proximity alarm that doesn't give any discernible warning does not fill me with glee

Any movement out there? I get the feeling we're going to be ambushed

Perception 45

Roll(1d100)+0:
26,+0
Total:26

[Joose]

There is no movement or sign of anyone around. However, you do now notice that you are starting to feel a little unwell. At roughly the same time you notice that the two nuclear powered thrusters on the other side of the door have next to fuck all radiation shielding.

Fab, Unlabelled has taken a mild hit of radiation poisoning. Well, its a shitload of radiation really, but a reasonably short exposure so far. If he were in our world he would be in significant trouble, but in EP terms it is serious but totally treatable. A quick trip to a properly equipped med bay will get you straightened out in a couple of hours at most, as long as you don't get hit with too much more. In game terms, take a -5 to your SOM to represent the slight weakness and nausea.

A quick note: The physical damage from a little radiation poisoning is treatable with the fancy futuretech of EP, and even if the body was too melty to recover you can always get resleeved. However, long exposure to really high radiation levels are still pretty scary as it can start buggering up your brain, and even potentially can fry your cortical stack, meaning they would have to go to your latest backup instead. Avoid radiation.

Pants, thanks to being in a synthmorph you are much more resistant and suffer no ill effects at this kind of exposure. In fact, if Unlabelled doesn't mention it you probably wont even notice till you get back to civilization and some local authority gets uppity about you giving off nastiness in their hab. Radiation can still be bad for you, as very high levels could damage your cyberbrain, but this isn't high enough.

[fabyak]

BACK UP! We got shitloads of radiation from in there... you can lead for now, I don't feel so hot. We should shut that door and make sure it can't be opened

Is the radiation better further away?

Unlabelled starts heading back the way they came with a small wretching noise that almost sounds like he's saying 'reavers'

[Joose]

Unlabelled starts heading back the way they came with a small wretching noise that almost sounds like he's saying 'reavers'

Yeah, the radiation is definitely coming from the engines themselves. The big bulkhead with the heavy door blocks the majority of it. Now you are looking for it your suits sensors can tell you that, away from the engine room, you should be fine.

Well, maybe not "fine". You wont get any worse than you are now though.

[fabyak]

Right, I will head back to where we came in and try the other side

[Joose]

I presume you mean where you came in to the hab, rather than the room you are in right now.

You get back to the utility module without incident. The airlock on the other side of the room (facing towards the "front" of the hab) hisses slightly when opened as the atmosphere equalises. It would appear that this door held closed when you flushed the place.

Beyond it is a short connecting corridor between the utility bay and the area marked on the map as "Machine Shop/Drone Bay". The airlock on that side is open, and through it you can see a large, warehouse like room.

You can see docking clamps for harvester drones (drones designed to patrol around the hab and collect ice and other useful materials from passing space rocks. Theres space for 10 total, 5 are currently in their bay charging, the other 5 are presumably out and about.

You can see the area used as a machine shop pretty easily. In it there is a large format cornucopia machine (a big nanofabricator for making large components/machines), a number of smaller makers for tools etc and a pair of rocket sleds (basically forklift equivalents for use in micrograv). There are two flexbots racked on the wall too, both look in decent condition (flexbots are general purpose utility droids usually. The one Yu brought with her had been custom built for her use).

There are two big service airlocks on one wall, with a bank of vacsuits next to it. Looks like they havent been used in a good long while.

The centre of the room is a giant axle. This is where the crew torus is attached and is the point it rotates around. Think of it as being almost hourglass shaped, with the walls in the pinched area being the axle itself. The four spokes of the lift shaft are accessible from here: Two contain lifts and the other two contain ladder rungs up dimly lit open floatways.

The rest of the room is taken up with cargo cages filled with various kinds of junk. It is immediately obvious to you that one of these, close to the workshop area, contains large chunks of military satellite. One of the largest pieces is connected up to a power supply from the workshop.

Both of you roll me a perception test and Fab roll a Harware test too (whichever Hardware skill you want).

[fabyak]

Perception 45

Roll(1d100)+0:
82,+0
Total:82

What do you mean we're on a ship?

Hardware: Electronics (50)

Roll(1d100)+0:
88,+0
Total:88



What's an electricity?

[Joose]

Wow.

Pants?

[Dog Pants]

Note to self: Remember to do this when I get home.

[Joose]

Note to self: Remember to do this when I get home.

I dont think this note worked.

[Dog Pants]

Perception 45:

8, 6: 86 Severe Failure!

What space?

Can I use Ignacio's electronics skill?

5, 9: 59 Failure!

Eesh.

[Joose]

Wow. Ok then. Carry on.

[fabyak]

I dont mean to alarm you but i think we're on a spaceship of some kind

I'll enter the room stickinf to the edges

[Dog Pants]

DCOM would look puzzled if he could pull an expression. I'll cover Unlabelled and move around the other wall.

[Joose]

As you move into the room Unlabelled's Muse pings up an alert, pointing out that the satellite parts match the information you have about the military hardware that Yu was sent to recover (which it also reminds you is your objective along with recovering Yu herself).

Other than that, nothing happens as you enter the room.

[Dog Pants]

You want to cover while I do the command room? Then we can work out how to do the hab ring.