Play@YSDC

“So we can take choppers or trucks or both.” Says Nicole.

Do we have our pilot with us still?

"The more vehicles we take, the better," says Sam. "That way we have backups in case something happens. Let's make sure they're fully fueled before we leave. Taking a chopper would give us a good view of our surroundings too."

“We’ll need Li to pilot the chopper, unless she’s infected,” Kiara replies.

“With CENTRAL down, maybe I can connect my pad to the sensors via an access point and try to locate her.”

Kiara connects to the colony network and identifies the location of Ling Li in the Corporate Suites. While she's looking at her datapad there is the sound of all the datapads pinging in unison. An all channels broadcast is incoming. It is marked as coming from Richter Dynamics Security Division, the turnaround from Kiara's mayday has been about 60 mins:

'Transmission acknowledged. Possible contaminating biohazard in Barnard's Rest Colony.

Titan now under system-wide quarantine. Do not attempt to leave surface of Titan. Take refuge in biosafe area.

Rescue shuttle and decontamination crew enroute. ETA T-minus 100 hours.'

"Taking the chopper may technically be leaving the surface of Titan," says Sam, "but I'm sure they meant not to try to leave Titan period. Of course, they did order us to take refuge in a biosafe area, which Waystation is most definitely not. Still, who's to say we actually saw their orders? My screen's a little blurry, how about yours?"

“Funny that; so’s mine,” replies Kiara with a crooked smile.

“Knowing how the company works, I’d say we have about eighty hours before someone arrives to ‘decontaminate’ us, if you catch my drift. Let’s get to Waystation and put an end to this, if we can.”

“See if you can get Li to meet us down here right now and then we can be on our way.” Nicole asks Kiara.
“Who has experience driving in the conditions out there?”

“I’ll send her a message now,” says Kiara as she typed on her pad. “But I’m no driver myself; more a passenger.”

Kiara sends a message and within seconds Li's scowling face appears on the datapad. She brightens significantly when she hears they need a pilot, 'I'm on my way.'

Looking flushed and agitated Moses says 'I've driven a surface rover before, been a few years, but I'm not going out there. You heard them, find a safe place, not drive halfway across Titan in a tin can.' He opens one of the metal cases and takes out a shotgun.

Isabella walks up to him, 'Well if I'm going to die here I want to know what is going on at Waystation.' She grabs back the shotgun. 'You won't be needing this.'

"I don't drive them, I just fix them," says Sam.

"I am just exceptional in medicine, not transportation." Jojo says. "But we need to take care of what's at Waystation."

“I’m going in the chopper with Li.” Kiara declares.

How many does the ‘copter hold?

“Okay, I’ll take the ‘rover then. Sam, will you come with me in case it needs fixing? If it’s a standard model there should be room for one or two more if there’s no space in the chopper.”
Says Nicole.

Kiara opens the door to the Landing Bay and enters the darkened room. Through the windows she can see two copters outside the colony building, sitting on the smooth white surface of the landing pad. They are dimly lit by the external lighting and the limited illumination of Titan itself. Both seem to be standard two-seater surface copters. Quick and relatively easy to fly in the thick atmosphere of Titan, it'll likely only take a few hours to cross the great methane sea of Ligeia Mare.

There isn't much in the landing bay apart from a few crates of spare parts and a line of six Titan surface suits. These have heavy magnetic boots and multiple head-lamps built into the helmet to counteract the perpetual twilight of Titan. They're designed to be easy to put on or take off, with the main portion of the suit (complete with attached gloves and boots) being pulled on like a bulky pair of coveralls and zipped up the front, an insulated flap snapping into place to protect the zip from freezing. The helmet screws into a reinforced collar, and the air supply and batteries powering the suit’s lamps and heaters are worn like a backpack. Strapped to the leg of the suit is a can of instant sealant. It'll take a bit of coordination jumping up into the cockpit of a Copter in such an unwieldy getup.

From behind her Kiara hears a stern voice, 'Now that's more like it.' She turns to see the pilot Ling Li with a most uncharacteristically cheerful look on her face.

-----



Sliding open the Garage doors reveals a large warehouse-like space ending in a big translucent plastic door looking out onto a Titan surface rover parked directly on the crisp methane snow, a mammoth six wheeled juggernaut with enough space in the cab for at least six people in surface suits and even more room in the back for more passengers and equipment. Its bright headlights illuminate the smooth orange surface of Titan. Not the fastest vehicle and with the indirect route needed to skirt Ligeia Mare it is likely to take nearly half a day to reach the Waystation site. While not exactly hard to drive given the miles of featureless wasteland over the Titan surface there is a certain skill in keeping the wheels on the ground in the feeble gravity.

The Garage is filled with crates, pieces of machinery, spare parts, fuel canisters, and even a power loader exosuit. There is a line of eight Titan surface suits. Moses, who has followed the others in, despite his words, lets out a gasp, 'Woah, I'd forgotten how big they are.'

Roll Zero/Low G to get the suit on, take a bonus die if someone is helping, if the helper has a higher skill they can roll and take a bonus die instead. Suits provide 4 armour but you don't want to take a penetrating injury outside. Jojo doesn't need a surface suit if he doesn't want one, he's an android and the atmosphere of Titan is sufficiently Earth-like that he won't take any injuries from being exposed to it. Just a reminder that all Spot Hidden rolls in Titan's atmosphere (outside the base) are hard due to the thick hazy atmosphere and you're likely to have to roll Zero/Low G to do anything complicated due to the difficulties of operating at such low gravity in bulky surface suits without any benefit of magnetised flooring.

"I think there's something wrong with mine," says Sam, as she tries to put on one of the larger suits.

Zero/Low G roll (50% skill) putting on the suit:
d%
I hope someone can help!

Sam is still having difficulty.

Bonus die:
1d10*10
Well, at least it's just a normal failure and not a fumble.

[80] = 80
Zero G 40 d%: [ 80 ] = 80

“Um… little help?”

Kiara is also struggling, having somehow gotten her arm into one of the legs of the suit.

Ling pulls a face, somewhere between amusement and disgust. She helps Kiara into her suit, although once she gets her arm out the leg she can manage most of it herself, 'Not worn one of these before?' She points out the basic controls, including the radio, and she powers on the batteries and life support systems. She then then effortlessly slips into her own suit. Crackling through Kiara's radio she says 'You hearing me?'

d1d10 - that's a success

-----

Looking at Sam trying to put the suit on back to front Moses lets out a long sigh and steps forward to help her. 'Jeez, can't leave you guys alone for a second. I thought I saw you put one of these on yesterday, you forgotten already?' He then helps Isabella into hers after she jams the zip. She glares at him as he awkwardly tries to untangle the mess she's made.