Toomas Amk"Very well."
Take the access console, be prepared for necessary shenanigans.
You slide into the access console's seat, pressing the keys necessary to wake the sleeping machine. Computers are odd things, as far as machines went. Not only did the Technocracy restrict much of knowledge about, but they were far more than the sum of their parts. Each piece, each component of the machine, was something that you understood well enough. Yet, working as a whole, bound together by Technocrat codes, they formed something that was far greater than seemed possible. Strange, not many thought of them as more than black boxes full of Technocrat miracles, but the truth made them all the more impressive. Unfortunately, it also made them a little incomprehensible.
The computers panoramic screen brightens, and you scrape a thin film of wax off the surface. Hardscreens were out of vogue for the technocracy, but they did tend to be more reliable than holographics. The process is painfully slow, and its clear that the systems time encased in wax has damaged it somewhat. Still, the machine appears to boot up without any real problems, which is fortunate.
"You in?"" Rob asks, twisting his neck to get a look at your screen. "Good, enter the first code and I'll enter mine. We unlock the outer layer on three."
You nod and comply silently, punching in the string of numbers. Dual control codes always seemed so strange. Perhaps they'd made more sense once, but it seems they could be defeated with relative ease by a single person and a long piece of a metal. Still, Technocrats thought in manners of high technology, the simplest, crudest, solution didn't often occur to them as a problem.
"Ready?" Rob says as soon as you finish getting set up. "One... two... three!" The pair of key in the code simultaneously, and, for a moment, all seems to be going well. Then the electronics bank connecting the access and control consoles begins clicking angrily. Both computer screens flash red, displaying a simple warning.
Error Code: #M001539
Failure in Mechanical Security Layer. Please contact maintenance for assistance or use administrative bypass.
[Mechanics 20+1] Mechanical Security Layer refers to a component of certain hardened Technocrat systems that made them somewhat resistant to hacking, it was a essentially a circuit that had a strip of metal built in that could be moved to either break or complete the path. Simple, but generally effective at buying time if nothing else. They did, however, have a tendency to break when with filled with Wax.
Health: 587/590 -[1,6]
Degeneration: Near Nil
Carried Weight: 57 /120
Attire: Plain Technician Uniform, White. Annwn CFUS (50/50, 15lbs)
Eldjotnar Shotgun (4/4 A, 12/12 E, 10lbs)
Energy Cell x3 (Fully Charged)
20 gauge gauss canister x12
Portable Welding Kit (20lbs, Plasma, 100/100)
Mechanical Bypass Kit (10 lbs, 10/10)
Mechanic's Utility Knife (1lb)
Pad (Charged, significant free space, 1lb)
Status: Fine
---
Dominique WakemanDom clenched her fist and looked at it. "...I'm a lot stronger than I look. I could probably break your nose and knock you out. Or we could use the sedatives. Your call."
Dom goes with whichever plan Nathan decides, then unmutes her coms and puts her helmet back on.
[Luck 15] Moore shakes his head. "Sedatives. I don't think getting punched will make me much less pretty, but we can't afford to have me bleeding or be seen breathing while unconscious," he says quickly trotting off to one of the other doors out of the airlock's bay. You think there might be some merit to his concerns, but, despite his cavalier attitude toward the matter, it's also possible that he just doesn't want to have you punch him in the face.
He's back in fifteen seconds, a pair of needles in one hand and a smaller object in the other. He tosses the small object to you and you catch it on reflex. It's a round black pill, about as large as the last digit of your thumb.
"Not a suppository," the lieutenant adds comfortingly as you look at the massive pill. "Time release, just stick it in my cheek to counteract the sedatives. Might take a while though, I've never used one like this." He shrugs and injects the first syringe into a medical slot in is armor, then follows immediately with the second. He shivers slightly, but looks you in the eye. "I don't believe you are who you say you are, Harlequin. We will have to have words when all of our mutual enemies are dead. But..." he staggers, going down on one knee. "for the moment... I... trust you... enough for this." He sways, looking a mixture of tired and sick. "I probably shouldn't have mixed those two," he mumbles, barely audible. Then the lieutenant shudders, pukes on himself, and keels over.
You hadn't exactly expected... that. You adjust his head slightly- to keep the man from choking on his own bile. You have no idea what the man injected himself with, but it was potent. And, since you can't even tell if he's breathing anymore, probably dangerous.
It takes about a minute of waiting for the airlock light to turn green, and it opens before you can reach it. Fennec stands there, with short young woman at his side. You recognize the woman as one of the engineers, at least originally, but Fennec is barely recognizable. He's wearing armor now, heavy combat material inlaid with a grey and silver pattern. You know that pattern, you wore its plateless twin when you raided the supplies on board the Virtue. He smiles when he sees you, confident and calm. "A pleasure, Harlequin Aoibheann," He says, the smile never wavering. The expression does flickers briefly into a grimace when he eyes Moore's messy 'corpse'. "I see the good lieutenant has taken some bad medicine. Clever. Man had a reputation for being nasty in straight-up fights." Fennec kneels down and inspects Moore body. "I, Arbiter William Fennec, pronounce the sentence death for Nathan Moore to have been carried out legally and in good faith. Justice is do-"
"He's not dead," the short woman breaks in quietly, interrupting the arbiter.
The arbiter is upright in an instant, hand to weapon. The smile is gone from his face, and his eyes lock with yours. "Cadet Taiya, please explain." His eyes never leave you. There's no malice there, but you're certain that the peaceable nature of this conversation hinges on Taiya's next words.
"The heart is still beating and the lungs are still moving, though exceptionally slowly. There is still neural activity, but..." The woman shakes her head. "He's fading. I'm sorry Arbiter, I shouldn't have brought it up. He isn't dead, but he is dying."
Fennec relaxes, breaking his gaze with you to look at Taiya. "No, it was a good thing that you spoke. How long before he's dead completely?"
The cadet concentrates, her eyes unfocused. "More than ten minutes, less than thirty... It's difficult to say."
The arbiter nods. "Get a pair of men up her to put him in a sleeping pod, quickly. We can preserve him long enough to get him into a city."
Taiya salutes immediately and jogs back through the airlock. Fennec shakes his head as the young woman leaves. "I apologize for the delay, Harlequin. I'm perfectly fine with field arbitration, but the Cadet... Well, I'd rather have her see things done right before she has to see them done messy. Moore will be alive for his trial, and be executed once justice is served. A small difference, but an important one for the girl to learn, don't you think?"
The question is offhand, but genuine. You're certain he outranks you, but he's asking your opinion. Odd, but you haven't ever stood around and talked with and arbiter before. Maybe they're all like this.
Health: 96/128
Stamina: 120/120 (+14)
Carried Weight: 124/210
Attire: Harlequin Uniform, Styx Assault Armor (150/150, 60lbs. Integrated Power cell charged 3/3, Internal Ammunition Supply [Cerico, 14])
Inv:
Dominique's Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [6, 8lbs]
.50 pistol clip (7 0.2lbs) x5
Artemis Railgun (3/3 A, 3/3 E 18lbs)
Size S-3 rail spike pack (3, 0.6lbs) x2
Cerico Shotgun (24/8 A, 16lbs)
12 gauge shells (8, 0.3lbs) x5
Stun club (50/50 11lbs)
Advanced Medical Kit (10/10) (5lbs)
Energy Cell (Full, 0.5lbs) x5
ORS (3) x2
Chitin Nodule
Status: Fine
---
Ashley Fey "Alright harry I think I agree with you, dom can take care of herself, can't help her if we are dead either"
Ash tries to get back
You quietly slip away from Dom and Moore while they're planning on how to play dead for... whoever is on the other side of that door. This isn't a fight you can help with, and, in all honesty, you haven't exactly been doing a great job of keeping suspicion away from Dominique. You need something from this station, and she needs something from this station, but you don't need the same thing. Perhaps it's better this way. At least, that's what you tell yourself while you head down into the belly of the ship, looking for one of the smaller airlocks designed to let suited personnel get out into space. You don't have a suit, but you should find some ready to go when you get there. You hope.
[Navigation 15+1+4, familiar with design] You bless your time spent studying Technocrat designs, you're able to find the room you seek on the first attempt. You strap on a space suit quickly, check the seals once, and hit the cycler on the airlock. With luck, the power fluctuations should prevent your leaving from being noted. It might raise suspicions with those who saw you enter, but Dom would handle it, somehow. The airlock finishes cycling, and the doors out into space open. The door is short but wide, designed to let people out of the ship to perform repairs on the outer hull, and it affords you a good view of space and the exterior of the station. It's pretty, in an unimaginably vast way. You're on the dark side of Zeus at the moment, but you can still see a number of its moons. You breathe deeply and step out into space, twisting so you can set a foot on the ship's hull. The suit has maneuvering thrusters for unbound work in space, but the suction surfaces on the hands, knees, elbows, and boots didn't ever run out of juice. Best to conserve thrust until you need it.
You clamber across the underbelly of the larger vessel, finally getting a view of Dominique's own shuttle after a decent crawl. You should be able to just jump across, land on your vessel, and then have Harry find a new dock while you hang on for dear life. [Luck 1] A slight flicker in the vacuum above your head, however, puts a cold knot in your stomach. Combat shields would be down while docked, but lighter shields, designed to intercept and destroy random fast moving space debris, would still be active. Normally, they'd only respond to objects of a sufficient velocity, but these shields don't look stable, flickering on and off rapidly. Even a slow moving object, like a suited individual making a space jump, might be intercepted if they happened to cross the shield threshold at the moment the shields initialized. There were horror stories told about that.
((Seriously, remember what happened to Trol when spent several turns in the beginning making actions with no clarification?))
Health: 159/159
Charge: 159/159
Carried weight: 115/150
Attire: Plain gray under armor padding. Midguard Hardened Armor (112/140, 60lbs)
Inv:
Garou Repeating Cannon (9/12) (19lbs)
15 MM bonding charges x1 (12)
Ashley's Leanashe Assault Rifle [10/30 18lbs]
4.73 mm Caseless box mags x1
Cirri Light pistol [20/20 4lbs]
Energy cell x2
basic medical supplies [1/5] (5lbs)
Manticore Pistol [9/10 6lbs]
Mechanical Bypass kit 1/5 [3lbs]
Author
Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things. (Read 536202 times)