Mothership - Titan

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: For the GM and Cooper

Finn turns to his compatriots. "Here's my idea for a plan:

"We break into two squads of three; you three," Finn indicates three of the officers, "would be the Alpha Squad and the rest of us are Omega. Alpha team breaches the cargo hold through a side wall and slowly works their way forward towards the bridge. After five minutes, once the defenses have deployed towards us, the sub detaches and Omega breaches adjacent to the bridge.

"We will maintain contact, and depending on how the occupants react, we either engage the defenders from two sides or make an end-run to the bridge.

"Once Omega has taken control of the bridge, we will make an announcement over their PA system that they are surrounded, under arrest, etc. If the crew surrenders at that point, then Alpha Squad and peacefully disarm the remaining cultists and we can wait for transport.

"If they don't surrender, Alpha Squad should join Omega Squad in the bridge, and we will hold a defensive position until relieved.

"Along the way, it's hard to predict what phenomena we may encounter. We're just going to have to play that by ear. Depending on what we find, we may have to shutdown their operations with extreme prejudice. Keep in mind that this goal, if it arises, takes precedence over all others. Even our survival.

"After the second squad has boarded, the sub should disengage from the visitation site and loiter in the area. We may call for a pickup at either of the original entry points, or here," Finn indicates the absolute tip of the bridge. "If things go very very badly, you," Finn indicates the pilot, "will have one final duty: breach the visitation site in as many locations as possible and flood it.

"What do you think, Coop? Do you have any suggestions or alternatives? Or is it once more into the breach?"

OOC: I'd like to have requested four demolition charges and give two to each team. I'm guessing they should be readily available with all the mining going on. Each squad member gets either a demolition charge or is responsible for maintaining communication with the other teams.

 

[Brock Savage]

OOC: Pardon the lack of reply, work has been hectic and my PC is non operational until Sunday. On a related note I am running Mothership: Dead Planet for the wife and friend.

 

[Séadna]

OOC: Since this is a simultaneous strike and you are all in radio contact and there are only the three of you, I'll pause until Sunday

 

[Brock Savage]

OOC: I finally got a chance to get my PC up and running. Apologies if this has delayed the game.

 

[Edgewise]

OOC: I finally got a chance to get my PC up and running. Apologies if this has delayed the game.

No worries; it's been like the calm before a storm.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Cooper and Finn

The officers grip their submachine guns nervously while nodding to Finn's plan.

"After the second squad has boarded, the sub should disengage from the visitation site and loiter in the area. We may call for a pickup at either of the original entry points, or here," Finn indicates the absolute tip of the bridge. "If things go very very badly, you," Finn indicates the pilot, "will have one final duty: breach the visitation site in as many locations as possible and flood it.

He stares at Finn for a moment before looking at his controls blankly.
"Got it...things go south, I'll do it...gotta say I admire your bravery"

"What do you think, Coop? Do you have any suggestions or alternatives? Or is it once more into the breach?"

The officers look nervously to Cooper.

"You were a marine Sir" one of the says "How's this gonna go?"

OOC: I'd like to have requested four demolition charges and give two to each team. I'm guessing they should be readily available with all the mining going on. Each squad member gets either a demolition charge or is responsible for maintaining communication with the other teams.

OOC: No problem.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

Lassiter's teams check their guns and comms as they ready themselves. A dull hum comes from the cult base

 

[Brock Savage]

Cooper finds the plan to be sound and says as much to his comrades, "Yea, i was in the Corps back in the day. If everyone stays cool and does their jobs we'll get out of this in one piece."

OOC: Is it too late to requisition light body armor, an SMG, and tear gas/non-lethal grenades?

 

[Séadna]

OOC: Is it too late to requisition light body armor, an SMG, and tear gas/non-lethal grenades?

OOC: That's no problem. Consider them supplied under Koga's orders

 

[Séadna]

All teams at all locations indicate they are ready to go. Just waiting for the signal (OOC: Any of you three can give it)

 

[Smith]

"All teams, green light, let's move".

 

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: For the GM and Cooper

"Got it...things go south, I'll do it...gotta say I admire your bravery"

Finn puts his hand on the man's shoulder. "If we don't succeed, the entire colony is at risk. Civilians, families, children...the whole lot. We're stopping a bunch of crazy cultists who got their hands on ridiculous space-bending technology. There are almost no limits to how bad this can get if we don't shut it down. At the end of the day, we're just not important compared to our mission.

"You were a marine Sir" one of the says "How's this gonna go?"

Finn coughs mildly. "Don't worry lads, we were both in the corps. I was an officer in command of a platoon with two dozen men. Small unit actions like this were my bread and butter, and I always brought my men home safe," he says, stretching some details to shore up their confidence.

"All teams, green light, let's move".

Finn starts suiting up in his armor. "Visitation site team initiating operation now."

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

The teams lift open the shutter doors and enter the base.

Within the halls are actually have beautiful furnished wooden floors with comfortable chairs and expensive looking carpets. There are even fire places at either end, one near the dorms and another near the Kitchen.

Luckily due to the time of night only one cult member is roaming the olds, an women with slightly greying hair in her 40s. One of Charlie team points an SMG right at her while the other instructs her to stay calm and quiet and brings her down on her knees.

"Here looks secure Marshall Lassiter. Alpha and Bravo proceeding"

Alpha heads for the Comms room and Bravo to the AI server room.

OOC: Just holding there for what Lassiter himself does before proceeding

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Cooper and Finn

The submarine approaches the vessel slowly and attaches to the hull.

"I'm going to take this slowly, minimise the sound" the pilot says.

As the hull is cut through, Alpha team fidget on their feet, rub their faces with their hands and just appear nervous in general. Then a dull thud and an Iris valve on the submarine opens into the cargo bay. From what you can see it is a massive open space with gangways along the walls. Some large boulders with a purple glow remain in the hull, tied down by steel ropes.

Alpha team rush through.

"Let's hope we meet at the bridge" the last member confirms as they run out.

When the five minutes pass Finn and Cooper get a message.

"No resistance so far, but there's heavy security up ahead for getting into the bridge section. The old doors have been outfitted with biometric locks"

The pilot looks back at you.

"Ready to detach, will I take you three to the bridge?"

 

[Brock Savage]

Spoiler: Cooper's activity

Cooper wipes sweat from his brow and defers to Finn because he was an officer. He is always tense before action, not fear or anxiety, more like a racehorse in his stall ready to be let loose.

 

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: Visitation Site operation

"No resistance so far, but there's heavy security up ahead for getting into the bridge section. The old doors have been outfitted with biometric locks"

Finn replies via communicator. "Hold tight and let us know if you see any activity when we start cutting into the hull. Or earlier. When we give the signal, assault the doors and blow them with a demo charge, then proceed to the bridge."

"Ready to detach, will I take you three to the bridge?"

Finn nods at the pilot. "Great, proceed to the next phase."

Looking at Cooper, Finn smiles. "The fun is about the start. Thanks for having my back, buddy. This is a job for the ages."

OOC: I'm assuming that the officers have been briefed on the nature of the threat (i.e. teleporting cultists). If not, I would want to have filled them in so they don't completely lose their shit if (when) that happens.

 

[Smith]

Spoiler: Lassiter

The teams lift open the shutter doors and enter the base.

Within the halls are actually have beautiful furnished wooden floors with comfortable chairs and expensive looking carpets. There are even fire places at either end, one near the dorms and another near the Kitchen.

Luckily due to the time of night only one cult member is roaming the olds, an women with slightly greying hair in her 40s. One of Charlie team points an SMG right at her while the other instructs her to stay calm and quiet and brings her down on her knees.

"Here looks secure Marshall Lassiter. Alpha and Bravo proceeding"

Alpha heads for the Comms room and Bravo to the AI server room.

OOC: Just holding there for what Lassiter himself does before proceeding

Spoiler: For GM

Lassiter nods for Alpha and Bravo to keep moving, and tries to read the woman's reaction.

OOC: She scared? Or does she seem completely calm with the situation?

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Cooper and Finn

Finn replies via communicator. "Hold tight and let us know if you see any activity when we start cutting into the hull. Or earlier. When we give the signal, assault the doors and blow them with a demo charge, then proceed to the bridge."

"Roger that"

The submarine pulls off after a quick blast of sealant to close the breach. They swing round and attach to the hull adjacent to the bridge section.

Again a dull thud and the Iris opens. The officer with Finn and Cooper gets into position behind them. Inside they see a long corridor with flickering lights. They can clearly hear heavy footsteps from the floor above them, running.

The corridor extends past machinery and pipes with two doors on its right wall. It then terminates in a hatch door.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

OOC: The woman seems scared

Alpha and Bravo teams break into the Comms room and the AI server room respectively. From the Comms room Lassiter hears shouting and from the AI server room he hears shots being fired...

OOC: Lassiter's action.

 

[Smith]

Spoiler: For GM

Lassie moves to the Server room to assist.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

As Lassiter enters he sees the two Bravo team officers taking cover behind a large blue crystal structure emitting a vibration he can feel in his bones. An AI's Quantum Computer core, Lassiter has seen them before.

He can't see around the core to what's on the other side of the room as it spans about 20 foot in width and 10 in height. The walls and ceilings are pocketed with blue crystals: memory modules.

"Sir, two cultists on the other side of this thing. One's got a pistol, the other a laser cutter" one of the Bravo team officers shouts

 

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: Visitation Site operation

They can clearly hear heavy footsteps from the floor above them, running.

On the comm channel: "Rapid movement heard on the level above; be advised that the opposition is moving to engage, target unknown."

The corridor extends past machinery and pipes with two doors on its right wall. It then terminates in a hatch door.

Finn says to Omega Team: "Watch those two doors while I check the hatch."

Finn heads over to the hatch to determine:

• Is it heading towards or away from the bridge?
• Does it open to another part of the craft (vs. outside)?
• Can anything be heard on the other side?
• Is it locked?

 

[Smith]

Spoiler: Lassiter

As Lassiter enters he sees the two Bravo team officers taking cover behind a large blue crystal structure emitting a vibration he can feel in his bones. An AI's Quantum Computer core, Lassiter has seen them before.

He can't see around the core to what's on the other side of the room as it spans about 20 foot in width and 10 in height. The walls and ceilings are pocketed with blue crystals: memory modules.

"Sir, two cultists on the other side of this thing. One's got a pistol, the other a laser cutter" one of the Bravo team officers shouts

Spoiler: For GM

"I'm not an officer, don't call me sir." Lassie instinctively grumbles.
"Oi, listen up!" Lassie yells in his loudest, gruffest tone. "We have you surrounded. Your bosses don't care if you live or die but I do. I am sure you have families, friends, people out there who would miss you. Put your weapons down, come out with your hands up, and we can resolve this peacefully."

OOC: Trying to talk them down as best I can

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Cooper and Finn

• Is it heading towards or away from the bridge?
• Does it open to another part of the craft (vs. outside)?
• Can anything be heard on the other side?
• Is it locked?

Through a small glass window Finn can see a corridor beyond with two doors on its right and one larger one on its left.
The doors on the right are marked with "Kitchen" and "Mess", the larger door on the left says "Main Bridge".

It's not currently locked.

Finn can see the corridor ends in a set of stairs down which he can hear footsteps coming, one set particularly heavy and slow.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

"I'm not an officer, don't call me sir." Lassie instinctively grumbles.
"Oi, listen up!" Lassie yells in his loudest, gruffest tone. "We have you surrounded. Your bosses don't care if you live or die but I do. I am sure you have families, friends, people out there who would miss you. Put your weapons down, come out with your hands up, and we can resolve this peacefully."

OOC: Trying to talk them down as best I can

"Jesus man, maybe we should give up this is the Colony guard..."

There's a pause.

"Alright we're coming out..."

A pistol and Laser cutter are kicked forward to where Lassiter is along either side of the AI core

 

[Smith]

Spoiler: For GM

Spoiler: Lassiter

"Jesus man, maybe we should give up this is the Colony guard..."

There's a pause.

"Alright we're coming out..."

A pistol and Laser cutter are kicked forward to where Lassiter is along either side of the AI core

"Good choice lads. Step out slowly, with your hands up."

OOC: If they acquiesce, I will motion for the two squaddies to apprehend them. Assuming that goes smoothly:
"Alpha, give me a sitrep," Lassie says as calmly as he can into the local radio.

OOC: I assume we have a short-wave and long-wave separate bands

 

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: Visitation Site operation

OOC: Brock Savage I'm worried that I am doing too much of the talking and commanding...I have a tendency to do that if I don't check myself. You don't seem bothered but please let me know if I'm jumping any guns.

The doors on the right are marked with "Kitchen" and "Mess", the larger door on the left says "Main Bridge".

Finn turns to the squad and nods, pointing forwards, as he mouths the word "bridge" with exaggerated slowness.

Finn can see the corridor ends in a set of stairs down which he can hear footsteps coming, one set particularly heavy and slow.

OOC: Is this referring to the corridor we're in, or the one I'm looking into? I'm assuming the latter.

Finn gestures up towards the stairs on the other side of the door, mouthing the word "company." He motions for the rest of the squad to move to the sides of the hatch, while he takes a grenade from his belt and stands near the side that opens.

Whispering to Cooper, Finn says "Someone's coming. If they open this hatch, I'll toss a grenade through and we can pull it shut. The bridge is on the other side, so if we do this, we should hit it fast."

He then gets into position to peek through the window to spy whoever is coming down the stairs.

It's not currently locked.

OOC: Is there a locking mechanism of any sort on this side? I'd love to seal the hatch if we toss the grenade through.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

"Good choice lads. Step out slowly, with your hands up."

OOC: If they acquiesce, I will motion for the two squaddies to apprehend them. Assuming that goes smoothly:
"Alpha, give me a sitrep," Lassie says as calmly as he can into the local radio.

OOC: I assume we have a short-wave and long-wave separate bands

The two men behind the AI core come out. One is a nervous looking young man, but quite tall and well built with thick curly black hair. He matches Aegeus's description of his brother.

"Alpha here Marshall, we have the Comms secure. Seems they were getting a request for reinforcements from that wreck your pals are at"

 

[Smith]

Spoiler: For GM

Once the two cultists are handcuffed, Lassie will approach them and say in his most comforting voice, "you did the right thing. Your families would rather have you with them in this universe," and he looks pointedly at the brother, "trust me."

He steps away and indicates that Bravo should take these two into the main hall. "Good copy on last, Alpha. Start corralling all prisoners in the main hall under Charlie's Watch. Alpha and Bravo, once you've dropped your respective prisoners off, begin sweeping the north and south sectors room by room. Alpha takes the northern half, Bravo takes the south. How copy?"

He steps towards the consoles within this room, to examine what it was they were using the AI core for. He especially looks for any security elements that cover this compound, and the sister sites that are being hit.

While investigating, he comms into his long-range radio. "All teams, this is Lima team. Green on status. One of my squads is reporting that they intercepted a request for reinforcements from the Foxtrot Charlie Team's position. All teams, report in on status."

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Cooper and Finn

OOC: Is this referring to the corridor we're in, or the one I'm looking into? I'm assuming the latter.

OOC: Indeed the latter.

OOC: Is there a locking mechanism of any sort on this side? I'd love to seal the hatch if we toss the grenade through.

OOC: Locking mechanism there. Essentially when you close the hatch there's a handle you pull up to seal the door. It doesn't lock it as such. It could still be opened from the other side, it just seals it airtight and slows down opening it on the other side

He then gets into position to peek through the window to spy whoever is coming down the stairs.

Down the stairs come four cultists in everyday clothing, jeans and t-shirts. Two are carrying rigger guns, the harpoons a polished black. Two others carry shotguns. Behind them however comes a fifth individual moving slowly. Finn can tell what it is from the boots alone, even before the rest of him would come into view (OOC: This is from military experience, same for Cooper). The stripped purple and yellow, the mechanical pistons mounted into boots. A Jovian atmospheric marine. A common elite troop among the Jovian mining Zaibatsus and part of GECI's military (OOC: GECI is the union of Jupiter's moons, a sort of hybrid government shared between the Ziabatsus and a civil service)

He lugs a huge particle accelerator in both hands as he slowly descends (OOC: Again from military experience, you both know it emits a continuous stream of confined radioactive particles and can melt through a tank given 10-20 seconds)

OOC: Although Cooper isn't looking consider that this could be conveyed very fast with "AtmoMarine" or similar slang

 

[Séadna]

Over the intercomms Cooper and Finn hear from Lassiter:
"All teams, this is Lima team. Green on status. One of my squads is reporting that they intercepted a request for reinforcements from the Foxtrot Charlie Team's position. All teams, report in on status."

Then comes the Lab team:
"Fine here. Dr. Coombs and all are safe and sound. Nothing tampered with as far as we can tell"

From the team headed to the main church:
"Rowdy crowd here. Claim what we're doing is illegal, free of expression and so on. Just seems like a very academic mass" he laughs a little when saying 'academic'

 

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: Visitation Site operation

A Jovian atmospheric marine.

OOC: Do my grenades or SMG have any chance of penetrating the armor? Does it also have boosted strength?

"Jovian atmospheric marine," Finn reports unhappily.

Handing two grenades to the officer and pulling out his demo pack, Finn mutters "I've got an idea. If they start coming through, toss the grenades and pull the door shut. Then run like hell once they go. I'll wait there," he says, pointing at one of the doors, "and strap this sucker on big boy's back. No matter what, hit the bridge after the boom."

"All teams, this is Lima team. Green on status. One of my squads is reporting that they intercepted a request for reinforcements from the Foxtrot Charlie Team's position. All teams, report in on status."

Finn transmits on the mission channel and the squad channel:

"Visitation Site team, omega squad. No time to talk; it's about to get hot."

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

He steps towards the consoles within this room, to examine what it was they were using the AI core for. He especially looks for any security elements that cover this compound, and the sister sites that are being hit.

Lassiter does recognise biochemical data amongst the hoards of data being number crunched by the AI. It's very similar to the types of calculations he saw in the teleportation lab.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Cooper and Finn

OOC: Do my grenades or SMG have any chance of penetrating the armor? Does it also have boosted strength?

OOC: You'd know that close proximity to the blast (read: Critical Hit, I'm giving grenades triple on a Crit) of a single grenade is likely to hurt him, possibly wound him, but not kill him.

Handing two grenades to the officer and pulling out his demo pack, Finn mutters "I've got an idea. If they start coming through, toss the grenades and pull the door shut. Then run like hell once they go. I'll wait there," he says, pointing at one of the doors, "and strap this sucker on big boy's back. No matter what, hit the bridge after the boom."

The officer takes the grenades, clearly sweating.

"You...you got it"

Beyond the door, two of the cultists head into the bridge, another two remain with the Atmosphere marine. He stops at the base of the staircase and holds the particle accelerator up, pointed toward the door. Then his voice comes on on an intercom near Cooper.

"Shah, you're ex-military. I read up on you. Boarding and salvage. Same here, I just do it in the clouds not the vacuum..." he laughs a little "...so we both have similar experience and we know how this is going to go down. You might blow some of these cult lunatics to kingdom come. But you'll have a tough time taking me out. The Zaibatsu's will wire you a decent payment, if you get back on that sub and say you saw nothing of interest. Give us time to run a clean up job.

Just one little thing. Hand over that investigator with you. I'll need to have a talk with Mr. Cooper myself"

 

[Smith]

Spoiler: For GM

Spoiler: Lassiter

Lassiter does recognise biochemical data amongst the hoards of data being number crunched by the AI. It's very similar to the types of calculations he saw in the teleportation lab.

Lassie sees if there is a way to pause or stop the function.

 

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: Visitation Site operation

OOC: Is Finn still in the hallway, or did he yet duck into one of the closest door? Either way, FYI my intent was to keep out of the line of sight of the hatch window.

Also, would there be a general communications channel through which I could address this guy?

Finn looks around quickly to see if there are any security cameras in view.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Lassiter

Lassie sees if there is a way to pause or stop the function.

Shutting down the computer seems to require an authorisation password.

 

[Séadna]

Spoiler: Cooper and Finn

OOC: Is Finn still in the hallway, or did he yet duck into one of the closest door? Either way, FYI my intent was to keep out of the line of sight of the hatch window.

OOC: My apologies! He's ducked in.

Also, would there be a general communications channel through which I could address this guy?

The room Finn has ducked into is small, with a desk, computer, some files and two toolboxes open with various wrenches, welding torches, etc in them. An intercom through which the atmosphere marine is speaking is on the wall and allows two way communication if you hold a button at the base.

OOC: There is another such intercom next to Cooper out in the hall

Finn looks around quickly to see if there are any security cameras in view.

There are none in the small room Finn is in, nor are there any in the hall he just left.

OOC: Just a little map:

 

[Edgewise]

Spoiler: Visitation Site operation

OOC: Thanks, that map clarifies things a lot!

Finn works on prepping his demo charge with a six second fuse while he toggles the intercom on.

"Let's talk, soldier. There's no rush and nobody is going anywhere. We'll sit tight for now. I won't ask you your name, but is there something I can call you instead of 'hey you'?"

After the man introduces himself, Finn continues.

"I take it that you're a merc. I'm not sure if your employers have told you, but every Inner Way facility is being raided as we speak by Titan authorities. Let's make a deal: together, we'll try to find the way that gets us both out of here alive and free.

"Now, how do you propose I hand over Mr. Cooper and the rest of our team without both of us doing hard time in the mines, given that we're all in communication with headquarters? In case you can't think of anything, I have a counter-proposal for you that will get you out of here without a jail sentence. I think you can guess what I have in mind. What's your endgame, <whatever name he gives>?"

While Finn waits for an answer, he toggles off the intercom.

OOC: [EDIT] Realized this should be outside the spoiler...

Finn transmits to the operation and team channels:

"Visitation site omega team pinned. There's an elite Jovian atmospheric marine in full power armor mercing for the culties. He's between us and the bridge. We could use some relief, alpha.

Coop, if he busts through the hatch, throw the grenades and run through the other door."

 

[Edgewise]

OOC: I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I'm going to be leaving for Guyana this evening and I will be there until Wednesday. I'm yet to know how feasible it will be to check in to this game. We'll have to see. OTOH my PC may die in a blaze of particle cannon glory very shortly, so the issue may be moot.