IC - 20 - Waystation - Everyone except Kiara

[Mephistophilis]

Day 3
13th March 2189
00:45 Earth Central European Time
Waystation, Titan

Sam tries to analyse the rhythmic sound, she's not sure whether there's a message encoded there or not, it does seem to be being transmitted from somewhere deeper inside the Waystation complex, and it's being broadcast on a wide range of frequencies, but not particularly on the usual ones used for communication.

Once Isabella has parked up the rover between the imposing shuttle and the much more dainty outline of the copter, everyone disembarks.

Leaving the magnetised ladder of the rover their boots settle loosely on the black bitumen runway. The shuttle is a dark bulk silhouetted sinisterly against the low light of the sun. Metal steps reach down from the fuselage to the runway, the door to the shuttle main cabin is sealed shut. The only sign of life is a faint glow from the windows of the cockpit. From the outside, to all intents and purposes it looks like any other interplanetary shuttle, and as a Richter Dynamics Arcturus-II model it is largely the same as the one they arrived in two days ago.

The group trudge carefully towards the steps, the clusters of lamps on their suits sweep beams back and forth, cutting through the shadows cast by the shape of the shuttle. At the base of the steps something is illuminated. It looks like a man. He's dressed in a flight suit and helmet, without a surface suit, covered in a layer of frost.

I see at the beginning of the last thread this was the disposition of weapons:
Nicole - Pistol, only 2 rounds left in the magazine and no further magazines on her, shotgun, stun baton
Jojo - Cutting torch (9 charges), stun baton
Moses - Incinerator (1 shot left), shotgun, stun baton
Isabella - Shotgun, stun baton
Sam - Incinerator (2 shots), cutting torch (8 charges), shotgun, stun baton

The shotguns are all loaded with 5 shells. There are loads of spare shotgun shells (riot rounds only) - seven boxes of 20 shells. The cutting torches have ten charges each then the tank needs to be changed.

Obviously Moses's equipment is available to whoever wants it now. In terms of what you can carry, in your surface suits you'll be able to take something in each hand and probably attach things to your belt since gravity is low that won't be an encumbrance problem. There's probably also kit bags you can stuff things into.

[Mr. Handy]

Reasoning that the signal can wait until they've gotten their bearings and found Kiara, Sam goes over to inspect the dead pilot and the shuttle. She checks to see if the pilot has any identification or anything unusual on him.

[Mephistophilis]

The guy's dead. Cold and dead. He's frozen, completely rigid, his skin covered in a layer of frost. He's a man in his twenties or thirties, dressed in a Richter Dynamics flight suit and wearing a full flight helmet, which is not something Sam has ever seen on a civilian shuttle pilot before, assuming that's what he is. There's no obvious injury she can see and she wonders whether he just froze to death given he doesn't have a surface suit on. Although his face suggests something a bit more sudden. Sam rifles through his pockets but there's nothing in them, which she also thinks is a bit odd.

Roll Spot Hidden

[Mr. Handy]

Sam notices something during her search.

Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) examining the dead pilot:
d%

[Starspawn338]

Jojo will follow the others to the shuttle and watch as the dead pilot is examined.

"Looks like there is more of the infection here. Jojo muses out loud. "Where do you suppose Kiara is? That's the copter she came in."

[aine]

Nicole stuffs a kit bag with Moses’ incinerator and 3 boxes of shells for their shotguns. She follows the others out to look at the body.

“Another Moses-type attack do you think? Or something more hands on?” She circles warily with the shotgun.

[Mephistophilis]

The corpse's clothing is stiff and frozen, and Sam struggles to get his flight suit open to take a look underneath. But she does manage to pull up his sleeves and find a small tattoo. Something about it looks familiar.

The symbol of the Colonial Marine Corp is immediately familiar. Given the flight suit and military-style flight helmet this guy is either ex-military or was in the Marines. If he was a Marine, the way he's got no identifying paperwork seems odd. And if he came in the corporate shuttle that's pretty unusual, they'd usually use their own vehicles. The Marines are rarely seen in the colonies, Colonial Marshals and the Colonial Security Service cover most eventualities. The Marines are more for insurgencies and uprisings, not routine security matters.

[Mr. Handy]

Sam can't place the tattoo.

EDU roll (75% skill) about the tattoo:
d%

[aine]

“He’s a marine.” Nicole says, “That’s the colonial Marine Corp badge. It’s odd that he’s on his own; and why haven’t his buddies rescued him, they wouldn’t have left him like this. And it’s odd if he came in this shuttle and not in a military ship. And he doesn’t have any papers or ID.” Nicole shakes her head, mystified.

[Starspawn338]

EDU 80
1d100

"Ah yes, I recognize that symbol." Jojo confirms. "I wonder if he was hired by Richter to investigate this. Would be easier to keep things quiet with your own private mercenaries."

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe he was operating undercover, suggests Sam.

[aine]

“So something was going down here at Waystation, something probably illegal. Let’s quickly check the shuttle is ready for takeoff and then we’d better find Kiara.” Nicole heads over to access the shuttle.

[Mr. Handy]

Sam nods and follows her to the shuttle.

[Starspawn338]

"I'll just stay out here and keep an eye open." Jojo says as he shuffles around at the bottom of the shuttle's steps.

[Mephistophilis]

The steps are just about wide enough for two to walk abreast and Sam and Nicole clank up the stairway, the cluster of lamps on their suits flick back and forth across the steps as they walk. Nearing the the top of the steps they approach the cabin door. While the rest of the shuttle fuselage is covered in thick encrustations of frozen methane, the door itself has only a thin layer of frost. In the centre of the door are the door controls, a dim red light blinks on and off indicating that it is locked.

After watching the other two climbing the steps for a minute, Jojo starts to mooch around the base of the steps, carefully avoiding the frozen corpse.

Can you give me a Spot Hidden roll

[Starspawn338]

Spot Hidden 50
1d100

Jojo wanders around the base of the stairs absentmindedly looking around and stumbles across something.

[Mr. Handy]

"Want me to try unlocking it?" asks Sam.

[aine]

Nicole nods,
“Call me paranoid but I feel we might want to leave here in a hurry and this shuttle might be our best bet. And we won’t want to be messing around with lockpicks at that point.”

[Mephistophilis]

Shuffling around the base of the steps and studying the methane snow that has blown across the tarmac surface of the runway, Jojo notices two sets of footprints leading away from the shuttle and towards the main Waystation complex. Checking his own boots he confirms that these match the Titan surface suits. He doesn't know too much about the exact atmospheric features of Titan but he suspects that the snow doesn't settle for long in the winds of Titan so the steps can't have been there for a particularly long period of time.

After pressing a few buttons Sam manages to pop out a simple keypad from the lock mechanism and attempts some basic overrides to try and open the shuttle door. Unfortunately it just flashes red and refuses to open.

Roll a Hard Computer Use to try and get the lock open, anyone standing at the top of the steps can also roll a Hard Spot Hidden - I think that's Sam and Nicole

[Mr. Handy]

Sam is too busy trying to bypass the lock to notice her surroundings. "I wish Kiara were here," she says.

Computer Use roll (55% / 2 = 27.5% skill) to bypass the lock:
d%
Spot Hidden roll (55% / 2 = 27.5% skill) outside the shuttle:
d%