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Post by Game Master on Jan 24, 2014 3:21:34 GMT -6
Six days later
The refurbished Turian vessel blinked into existence before the unimaginably gigantic mass relay, the surrounding prismatic stellar gas parted like ethereal water. Within that same moment, all lights extinguished around and with the frigate. The Valiant disappeared, becoming one with the natural darkness of space. It was as if the ship was never there. Almost everything was shut down, including the active sensors.
Many of the crew rushed to the windows, staring out in vain hope to catch a glimpse of the coming Collector vessel. But it never came. Only the corpse of dead stars greeted them. It was like this for over an hour, the Valiant drifting further and further away from the mass effect relay. No danger. No movement. No sign of anything.
As strange as it may sound, it was safe.
Passive scanners were picking up faint comm traffic, encrypted with signals identified as those that the Collectors use. The source of the signal was close to Ploba, maybe a moon. No other signals were present.
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[GM Note: it is battle time. What the PCs will do is up to you. Esteban will insist on time being of the essence, favoring an immediate strike.]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2014 8:07:25 GMT -6
Parr whined in the dark, breaking the tense silence of the ship. There seemed to be a collective held breath as the crew waited for the first strike from this almost completely unknown enemy. Iskra could feel her own skin tingle with nervous energy.
It had hardly been the first time she had waited in the dark, wondering if death was stalking in the dark for her or if it was only her mind playing tricks on her. Though she found herself with a unique advantage now, having undergo the surgery to see the hanar speak in their true form allowed her to pick up some of the most minute changes in the black. It was hardly night vision, but she had an easier time navigating in the dark than most on the ship.
A form shifted from across the room, Meldom. He had been in the lab with her for most of the last few days helping her with Dr. Solus’s data. He had been more than extremely helpful during the project and she found herself enjoying working with another scientist once more. He had occasionally broken away to be more social with others on the crew or train and she left him to it, comfortable with continuing alone.
Contact with the crew had been at the minimum, the doctor finding herself only needing to leave the lab when she was hungry and none of them, besides Meldom or Bridges, came of their own accord. She would hardly call their visits social though, the former only returning to help her work through formula and the latter simply requesting status updates.
Iskra sighed. The work had kept her busy and out of her own memories, now the mental barrier was gone and all they had was the silence and dark. She had not messaged Corwin, still could not bring herself to acknowledge the pain they both were going through with Benewan’s passing. She could not even bear to talk to River, keeping her promise to Corwin by sticking to the shadows as she occasionally seeked out the girl, watching her for a small time from the distance, and then returning to the lab.
Whining again, Parr nudged her hand with his nose...
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Post by dargene on Jan 24, 2014 9:03:32 GMT -6
Meldom was sat in the lab at a desk running final checks not even paying attention to the darkness he enjoyed being in the lab and had forgotten what it was like, he also enjoyed working with Doctor Iskra, she was extremely smart even according to salarian standards, his face was only lit in the dark room from his datapad he was checking that the formula was indeed correct, watching data and editing it "Different physiology, need to edit accordingly.. could conflict with stims or medication.."
He placed the datapad down and leaned back in his chair "Always hated last checks when it came to work, you would always find something wrong, or something that is unneeded or could be improved, however worse when you finish and someone else finds something wrong.." he sighs thinking of conversational topics "So..what made you spare the varran, most would kill it because they think of it as a pest ?" his voice had a twinge of worry as if he was almost afraid of the dark.
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Post by Maelstrom on Jan 24, 2014 13:05:05 GMT -6
"I don't like just sitting here, Emily," Maelstrom grumbled from the pilot's chair. As he had been for much of the past six days, he looked over what information there was on the Collectors in the Cerberus files he still had, hoping to glean one final insight into their behavior. There was not much on their biology or technology, but their tactics were covered in reasonable detail. It seems they want their bases prepared in case the Collectors develop a specific interest in them.
"Then I would suggest moving to a different chair," his VI responded. As human as she sometimes seemed, she was still just a VI.
"No, I mean floating here in space with our lights off, pretending no one will see us," Maelstrom said. "Sure, we're more difficult to detect at range, but if there's an enemy ship patrolling this system, it's only a matter of time before they pass close enough to get a reading on the heat our life support system generates. And if there's not a ship here now, each minute we spend not doing our job gives our enemy another minute to show up in their ship and blast us out of the sky."
He checked again to make sure his assault rifle and sniper rifle were in the correct place. He wanted them close at hand.
Emily's image flickered for a moment. "Simulations run. Agreed. 'Sitting here,' for an extended period of time would not appear to be a sound tactical move."
Maelstrom nodded. "What we need to do is get the team on the planet and hide this big chunk of warm metal somewhere with natural shielding. A canyon or something."
Emily's image flickered again. "Simulations run. Inconclusive. Without more definite data on the capabilities of Collector vessels, it is impossible to estimate the effectiveness of 'natural shielding.'"
Maelstrom grumbled under his breath, "Still better than sitting here."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 25, 2014 0:38:31 GMT -6
In the near-darkness of the engine room, Shala fidgeted as nervous energy ran through her. Running a ship at the bare minimum of power was a new experience for her. The Fleet was far too large to conduct their operations in secret; just getting all of the ships through a mass relay would often take several days.
The captain wants to keep our presence hidden from the Collectors, she realized. But wouldn’t they have been alerted by the activation of the mass relay when we entered the system?
“You okay, Shala?” said Daniels. “If you want, I can come over there and comfort you.”
“Knock it off, Daniels,” Chuck snapped.
Shala sighed. In the six days since departing, nearly all of his remarks had been laced with innuendo. The only thing that had kept her from sabotaging his sleeping pod was that he was actually quite good at his job, not that she would ever tell him that; he was arrogant enough as it is.
Attention like this was nothing new to her; when she came on the Neema, she had been roomed with three males: a marine, a hydroponics expert and a doctor. Surprisingly, it was the marine who was kind to her; the others were constantly vying for her affection. When placing single crewmembers together, every effort was made to group them by gender, but there were no open female rooms; however, she was promised that as soon as there was an opening in one, she would get it.
Moments passed as they continued to drift, with Shala waiting anxiously for the moment when full power would be restored.
Although that would probably mean the Collectors have detected us and now we’re either fighting them or fleeing from them, she thought. And she found herself not really caring which one it would be, she just wanted the waiting to be over.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2014 1:41:50 GMT -6
“Did you know Hanar forbid animal fighting?” Iskra murmured back in answer, her hand running over the varren’s head. “They believe it makes people less empathetic to others.”
“Maybe that is when I first came to respect all living things. We need each other to survive and are connected more with the life around us than just the ability to breathe the same air.” She sighed, getting the feeling she was starting to rabbling. “To answer your question though, I don’t kill unless it is necessary to survive. Simply condemning a living being to death because the majority of the galaxy finds its ability to survive annoying is not something I am capable of doing.”
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 25, 2014 4:08:57 GMT -6
Esteban walked the long hall away from the cockpit, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. How could he not be? He was close to Ploba. Close to his prize that was stolen from him. Now he brought experienced mercenaries rather than blindly trusting an ad-hoc security force. Esteban was confident they would win... so he wasn't sure why he felt nervous. He shook his head and heaved a sigh, trying to release the tension.
"Paris," Esteban shouted over his shoulder at the pilot. "Active all primary and secondary systems. Get the FTL drive up and operational. If this is a trap, I want to get out of the system in a second's notice."
"Aye aye sir," the pilot replied, almost casually reactivating the once dormant systems. "It'll a minute to get the engines fully operational, but we have navigational thrusters."
"Good," Esteban walked around the Command Station, taking his place at the head. "Take us out of her Paris. Nice and slow."
One by one, the Valiant's systems began activating. It didn't happen all at once, but within a period of thirty seconds. Lights within rooms gradually lit up, holographic interface systems formed out of nothing, the engines roared back to life. The dormant ship awoke. And Esteban turned on the comm channel for the ship.
"This is Esteban Bridges," the businessman stated into the holographic interface. "Commander of the Valiant. We are about to leave the stellar cloud and have a look around the system to make sure it is clear. Do not activate any system that will broadcast our presence until you have the all clear. Any questions?"
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Post by dargene on Jan 25, 2014 17:50:01 GMT -6
“To answer your question though, I don’t kill unless it is necessary to survive. Simply condemning a living being to death because the majority of the galaxy finds its ability to survive annoying is not something I am capable of doing."
"Interesting, most people would, want to avoid social stigma of not" he lifts his arms to make a hand gesture "Fitting in" just after he finished his sentence the power could be heard booting up all over the ship, eventually the lights to the medbay flashed on, Meldom squinted his eyes for them to become accustomed to the new light "suppose we will be arriving soon" he looks at the datapad "Hope formula works.."
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 26, 2014 5:58:10 GMT -6
Esteban worked the controls on his holographic console, entering in a small series of commands. His brow furrowed, his eyes narrowed in concentration. He wanted to make sure he got this right, as there was no room for error. He was about to activate the Valiant's radar and ladar systems. The high resolution visual scanners were already locked in on the small Ploban moon called Barce. Esteban had the VI keep track of all movement to estimate the number of Collectors waiting for them, as well as a basic layout of the battlefield. The radar and ladar would tell him if there were any ships in the area. But the problem was, it would light up the Valiant like a Christmas tree in a cave if anyone was looking for them. He hesitated for only a moment before activating it. Esteban held his breath, ready to tell Paris to activate the FTL drive... ... ..... ........ ............ No ships detected. Esteban released the breath and examined the readouts. - 10 Collectors at the dig site
- 5 Collectors at the observational post
- 25 Collectors at the outpost
- 3 Collectors at the turrets
- 10 Collectors patrolling the area
The images were worrying for Esteban. The turrets appeared to come from the Blue Suns' ship that was shot down, but heavily modified with Collector technology. There would be no way to know if the shuttle could survive a direct hit from that. So any landing would have to be some ways away from that. The outpost really looked like the prefab labs that military and civilian outposts used (think of the labs found in the Rogue VI runthrough in ME-1.. that layout appeared everywhere), so there would not be any surprises there. Overall, Esteban felt confident that this mission would go relatively without a hitch. So he pulled up the map as well, and made sure to send all the information to everyone on board... making sure they all knew what the data said. [Note: I picture the map being about the same size at the maps from ME-1... which covered roughly 25 square miles (I think)]
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Post by Eric Lysander on Jan 26, 2014 23:03:48 GMT -6
The N7 alumnus pored over the map Esteban provided on his omnitool.
'Kay, not the first time you've had to go in with last minute intel - let's see... mmm, box canyon with the prize down at the bottom... if we have to cut our losses, my little rabbit's foot should turn it into a soup bowl. Bury the ruins again like in that assault centuries ago...
Observation post gives an excellent vantage point over the entire area. Good spot to set up a com antenna as well, broadband or line-o-sight...
Turrets - modified - can cover the ground as well as provide surface-to-air... but can they do both at the same time? Hmmm...
That canal pushing up to the north would make a great choke point against ground forces... at least until their air support arrives.... the swarm or the mothership...
All assuming these things are about as smart as we are, at best...
Eric engaged the nearest intercom.
"Hey, Mr. B. Eric here. I have a question and a request. First the request: if it's possible I'd like to get some telemetry on Barce's orbit and rotation in relation to our position, plus the rotation-orbits of the nearest three to five moons outward from. Just humor me on that. Now my question: [assuming that Eric does not get to speak with Thomas Torrez and/or learn about his flying skills in Chapter 2] just how good is your pilot?"
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Jan 27, 2014 0:42:54 GMT -6
Shala considered the map the captain had sent out. She knew she would not be part of any assault on the outpost itself; that could be left to the more combat-oriented members of the team.
That left the observation post and turrets. Taking out the turrets would certainly prevent the mission from ending before it even started...
*****
“What do you do when you’re attacked?” her father asked her.
They stood in a virtual reality combat simulator, having just finished several different scenarios. She was gasping for breath and covered in sweat, while he didn’t seem fatigued in the slightest.
“Fight back?” Shala said.
“What else?” he asked.
She thought about his question for a minute before shaking her head.
“You heard me calling out different threats and targets, yes?” he said. “Communication, always maintain communication with your team. Without that, you are reduced to a group of individuals, and individuals can easily be wiped out.”
*****
She typed out a message on her omnitool and sent it to the rest of the team.
I volunteer to participate in the attack on the observation post. If we take it out first, the Collectors will have less time to react to our attack and we also shut off any possible communications with reinforcements. Who will go with me?
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Post by Maelstrom on Jan 27, 2014 0:46:57 GMT -6
Damned turrets are going to make approach a real pain, Maelstrom mused, as he stared at the three dimensional readout Emily was projecting in the main compartment of his shuttle. The projectors could fill much of the room, useful for when a crew was using the vessel for a prolonged mission and needed to hold briefings in it. It was also convenient for letting him feel more immersed in the data. Could use my nuke launcher (the same weapon used in Maelstrom: Betrayal, not an actual nuclear weapon launcher) but that thing's expensive and a pain to reload. Not to mention I'm almost out of ammunition for it. I don't think we'll want to expend those rounds on those.
Not much grade to the landscape. We'll have to approach no more than a few meters above ground and drop either in the northwest or southwest of the area, in one of the lower elevation areas, if we want stealth on our side. Otherwise, we'll have to be prepared to go in at full force, outnumbered more than four to one.
"The bright side of things is that transmissions to and from the Vengeance should be relatively unimpeded by the landscape and current radiological and meteorological conditions," Emily offered.
"I'm going to need my grenades," Maelstrom decided. He rarely fought on an open field. They would be less effective than in closed quarters but still invaluable. "A lot of my grenades..."
"New message," Emily announced.
"Display," he replied.
The map was replaced with a message from Shala'Bekk, I volunteer to participate in the attack on the observation post. If we take it out first, the Collectors will have less time to react to our attack and we also shut off any possible communications with reinforcements. Who will go with me?
He liked her outlook. "Emily, compose response. 'I'm in. -Maelstrom' Send."
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Post by dargene on Jan 27, 2014 3:46:29 GMT -6
Meldom looked at the map data available "Quite plain..hardly any vantage points.. observational outpost best location for snipers" he continued to study the map as his omni tool flashed with a new message.
I volunteer to participate in the attack on the observation post. If we take it out first, the Collectors will have less time to react to our attack and we also shut off any possible communications with reinforcements. Who will go with me?
Meldom closes his eyes and breathes a sigh of relief "Good won't have to try take it myself.." he mutters as he types his reply.
Observation post best elevation for sniper would be beneficial for me to be there.
He sends the message to the quarian.
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 27, 2014 6:26:38 GMT -6
Esteban pulled up a data the Valiant was able to collect on the moon and studied it. He searched through the hundreds of mundane data points, trying to find the information the former Alliance officer wanted.
"Sending the information now, Mister Lysander," Esteban said, transferring the data to Eric's omnitool with a simple press of a button. "As for Mister Torrez, he is an exceptional pilot. One of the best on the Citadel." Esteban paused for a moment, considering what it was that Eric was asking. "Why do you ask?"
[GM Post: We'll assume that the data that was asked for will have at least one moon which fits whatever plan Eric has nearly perfectly]
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Post by Eric Lysander on Jan 27, 2014 8:28:26 GMT -6
Eric confirmed receipt of the data.
"Thank you, sir. Gimme a few minutes to look this over, plot a few angles, crunch a few numbers. If I like what I see, your pilot will come in very handy for this little offensive I'm drafting up."
The demolitions expert paused a second for effect.
"I'll just say this much: if the Collectors are anything like us, they're both anticipating and are well prepped against a coordinated reprisal. How good would they be against an act of God?"
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 28, 2014 5:56:18 GMT -6
"Eezo can be spared," Esteban replied into the comm system, turning to look over at a nearby screen. He reached out, tapping an icon on it to pull up the ship's inventory. Fortunately, he made sure to have plenty beforehand and he was trusting there was a plan in place. "The engineering team will deliver as much as you require. Just keep in mind that the dig site and anything recovered must be protected. What plan is in place for that?"
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Post by Eric Lysander on Jan 28, 2014 9:12:07 GMT -6
Eric sat down on the deck with his back against a bulkhead, switching back and forth between the map of the dig site area and the telemetry on Barce and moons near its orbit. He whistled a bright, chirpy tune [theme from "The Flintstones"] as he scrolled up a customized artillery app and fed in the data for Barce and a moon some distance away that lagged just a little behind but more or less matched its orbital velocity. As Eric then input the site map and the intended target - the observation post - the app ran its calculations and determined the trajectory window available, the required projectile size needed as well as the speed it must attain to hit the target with the intended effect. Eric re-ran the simulation of the projectile strike a few more times accounting for a few feet of displacement from tidal forces, moon rotation and projectile tumbling. Pleased with his findings, he stood up and activated the intercom again.
"Hey, Mr B. Eric again. At the risk of sounding like I'm taking charge, I wanna go ship-wide with this. Mind you, it's a very tenative plan subject to change with everyone's input but I think it's got potential. A two-phase plan I call Operation: Eight Ball... and we're gonna put the Collectors behind it!"
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Jan 28, 2014 10:02:13 GMT -6
Esteban cracked a phantom of a smile at the former Alliance Officer's assertiveness. He respected men of action. And the name, along with the information request, told him to expect something powerful. Plus, he would not dream of second guessing anyone who has an expertise in planning and executing operations like this. There was only one answer he could give.
"Please do," Esteban replied with a touch of humility. Only a touch though. "I defer to your expertise."
With that, he quieted down to listen to the plan.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 15:52:33 GMT -6
Iskra studied the map quietly as Meldom spoke to himself. The observational point would be an easy hit with 3 or 4, they wouldn’t require her on that. The Widow still laid where she had set it down a few days ago. The weapon looked barely used, its gleaming dark finish pristine. It had been used more as an ability to scout than its more deadly purpose, not to say it hadn’t taken life. Throwing it over her shoulder, the weight felt almost comforting especially when about to jump in the unknown. Her priority was the turret. Three enemies would hardly present a challenge to her if she kept to the ridge west….
She shook her head, walking back out to the Salarian. She wasn’t alone anymore and was in charge of taking care of these people, she’d have to go where they needed support, not where she thought would be the best for her.
“Do you need another application of stims before we leave?” She addressed Meldom quietly.
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Post by dargene on Jan 28, 2014 16:40:13 GMT -6
Meldom was slumped over the table studying the map, almost as if he memorizing every tiny detail "Quite a few collectors.." he muttered.
As he studied the map he noticed Iskra move in the corner of his eye, he heard her spoke.
“Do you need another application of stims before we leave?”
Meldom turned to smile at her before shaking his head "Leg almost completely recovered, not in front lines so should not provide a great risk.. thank you for concern, appreciate it."
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