“Hey Mors!” said Dallas over the phone, putting an encouraging note into his voice, the aural equivalent of a large, fixed grin. “How are we all doing down there? Now, don’t you worry about anything, we’re gonna have this little problem solved any time now!”
He put his hand over the receiver and turned to one side, where Ariadne was tapping away frantically at the keyboards.
“What the freaking hell is going on, girl? Get my men out of there!”
“Look, geez, give me some damn space, will you?” said Ariadne. She tuned her headset into the Shehazarard’s radio system. “Finn, any luck?”
“Buggered if I know what the problem is,” said Finn. “In forty years of operating experience I’ve never seen anything like this,” he went on, unaware that Ariadne was silently mouthing the same words as he spoke, mockingly.
“Ok… well, you got the new link ready?”
“Yup, all is smooth and pretty.”
“Right. Dallas, we’re ready to try again. New exit at the Hampton Bridge.” Dallas nodded.
“Ok Mors,” he said into the phone again, “here’s what we’re going to do. There’s a bridge just a couple of miles out of your way…”
Fifteen minutes later.
The screeching sound wails inside the Shez again, though this time Ariadne has removed her headset in advance.
“What that the same damn thing again?” asked Dallas. He leant forward to look at the code on Ariadne’s screens, seeing where Mors had just been propelled out of the phone line again. “Oh, for the love of… someone give me some answers here!” Ariadne did not reply. She was looking at Mors’ coded form.
-
“Still no luck?” Marduk was saying to Finn.
“Zero,” said Finn. “It makes no sense. The hardlines are working. Roland and his crew just used that exit. The transmission is fine. The link is fine. It’s just… spitting them back out each time they try. And go through.”
“If it’s not the lines,” said Marduk, “and it’s not the transmission, then it can only be one thing. The people.”
-
“Oh hell…” said Ariadne.
“Hey there Mors, still a slight technical hitch, one moment…” said Dallas into the phone, before turning towards Ariadne again. “What? What? What is it?”
“They’re trapped in there,” she said, nervously.
“Trapped? Trapped? How the hell can they be trapped? Look!” said Dallas, pointing at the sleeping forms of his crew. “THERE they are! Right there!” He walked over to Mors and tapped his head. “There’s the brain. No-one has stolen it. His mental image is being broadcast into the Matrix. Projected inside, yeah? If it is being broadcast in, then we must be able to bring it back! How can we not?”
“It’s them!” she said. “They’ve been changed. Re-coded. Something has been added to their representations in the Matrix!”
“Huh? Then get rid of it!”
“I can’t! I haven’t the first clue how it was done, let alone how to get rid of it! I can’t just alter the code of an object existing in the Matrix! The only way to get rid of it would be to re-load them into the Matrix from scratch.”
“Well, do that then!” says Dallas. He thought about that for a moment. “No, scratch that idea, Ariadne. That wouldn’t work. You’ll have to do better than that.” Ariadne rolled her eyes. “Well look,” says Dallas, “you can’t just re-code things in the Matrix like that. Even the System can’t do that, they can only re-write software hooked into their set-up. If you could just re-write someone’s code then Agents could turn us into puppy dogs when they saw us! It’s just not possible to affect code that way.
“I know,” says Ariadne. “Well… except for Ne… no, you’re right, you can’t.”
“So then?” asked Dallas. Ariadne returned to tapping away at the keyboard.
“It’s some sort of encrypted corruption that has been added to them,” says Ariadne. “It triggers whenever they access a hardline, and it crashes the link. Every hardline they access shuts down when they try and access it.”
“Ahhhhhhh…” says Dallas. “Kinda like strapping a plank of wood to someone’s back so they can’t fit through a doorway, huh?”
“Err… yeah, I guess…”
“Ah, hell, Ariadne!” said Dallas.
“What?”
“This means they’re trapped in there!” Ariadne stared at Dallas again.
“Yeah… you’re right, Captain,” she said, resignedly. Dallas returned to the phone.
“Ok, Mors,” he said. “We’re going to back out on this whole ‘returning to the ships’ thing for now… tell you what, I’ll get Ariadne to find you guys a motel to stay at somewhere whilst we get ready to head to meet Jericho. I am sure you guys will be fine in the Matrix for a few days!”
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"
Details: This is not a Zion briefing. This is an on-the-spot situation update
Despite the various trails, tribulations and weird happenings, your basic mission has actually remained on course. Although not in the way you expected or would have liked, the Oracle’s advice has indeed put you on the apparent path to find Jericho.
To remind you of your mission- Jericho and his crew clearly form a potential risk to the operational safety of Zion, as proven by the incident at the airport. You are to find Jericho, and discover what is happening. Peaceful contact should be made if possible but do not hesitate to put him and his crew down if need be. Whilst it would be nice to have answers to some questions, like what exactly is the deal with Jericho, his crew and his ship, why is he working for Melitus etc., it is better the problem be dealt with than any risks are taken to find out why. But of course, the more you can reasonably discover, the better.
You now have a good lead on Jericho- that he works at the Circe Computer Company headquarters in the city’s commercial district. He is there between 8 and 12pm once every three days. This Assignment will start as you arrive at that building at about 10 am on the next day he is supposed to be there. During your rest in the three days between, whilst some of you still have troubling injuries, it is enough for you to have effectively healed all damage, save for Coeus and Celsius (Jedi and Kosta are unavailable for play right now) who stay at the Motel as their persistent injuries rule them out any possible fighting.
Note you are not setting up an ambush or some form of assault. Fighting in the Triad district of Chinatown is one thing, but starting a war in the midst of the commercial district is a sure fire way to attract at fist police and then System attention. By all means you shall be proceeding armed but your primary objective is to locate Jericho and then fight if you must, not arrange his execution now. The good news is that, should Jericho prove to be hostile, he will have to play by the same rules, lest he suffer the same problem.
As for his hostility… you do not know. Medea’s actions at the airport seem to suggest that these people are not hostile to you, but Melitus seemed very certain that a fight would result if you tried to find him. You will have to find out for yourselves.
A reminder, Jericho’s team consists of himself, his first officer Khali, and his crewmates Medea, Loomis, Tyr and Sinister.
COMMENTS- by Dallas.
“I know this situation ain’t ideal and there is all sorts of shit going on, but don’t you guys worry your little heads about it. Those of us in the real world will sort out all the technical difficulties, and all of us can work out what the deal with freaky iron lung guy is later. Right now, we still have a mission to do and we are not going to fail it! We have to find and deal with Jericho.
“Now, what you have to understand about Jericho is that he is a nut. Thinks too much, like Morpheus. But he’s a clever nut and he’s been on the lines for a long time. Watch out. And should you have to go toe to toe with him… well… heh, he’s no Dallas! But he’s good enough. Very much into the whole Samurai thing as well. Nut.
“But the one you should really look out for is Khali, and not just because she was Jericho’s heavy duty crewmember. Khali is… unhinged. I don’t think she was a very nice kid to start with but the whole trauma of being pulled out the Matrix affected her badly… she’s a disturbed girl. Genuine sociopath. In a war, it’s very handy to have someone like that on your side but in this kind of situation… well, I’ll just say… if anyone is going to not hesitate to pull the trigger on another human, it’ll be her.
“So just stay focussed, ignore all our other troubles, and do your job.”
SPECIAL RULES: None
ESTIMATED DANGER LEVEL: High, should it come to a fight.
NOTE TO PLAYERS! Your characters do not know this but I shall warn you out of the goodness of my heart. This is an EXTREMELY dangerous Assignment. You have been warned.
TIPS:
Again, you will have to think on your feet during this one. It is hard to give specific advice. Based on your experience so far, take a loadout that allows use in a wide variety of situations.
ROLES:
None. Again, you cannot plan for a situation that you have no control of the parameters over. Trying to account for or plan things in advance will most likely leave you a critical man short at the wrong time. If things turn nasty, then you should have enough experience of each other by now to know who should be doing what.
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"
You are standing by the Hampton Bridge, having just been told that you aren’t going home.
The phone rings… and a few moments later, standing by you guys, is a tall guy dressed in a smart shirt tied at the top, with mirrored shades, and wearing a perfect copy of a genuine Texan ten gallon hat.
“Hey there, boys!” says Dallas. “Sorry for all the hitches, you know what life is like…” Dallas is carrying four large and VERY heavy bags full of… stuff. He puts them down and opens them up.
Guns. Lots of guns.
“Take what you need,” says Dallas. “Throw the rest into the river.” His phone rings. He answers it, and you hear Ariadne’s shrill tones on the other hand. He mimes a talking mouth with his hand as she talks, and hangs up. “Yeah. I gotta go,” says Dallas. “Ariadne seems convinced I am about to lose my signal and die. Or something. Well, good luck!” The hardline rings, Dallas answers… and he is sucked back into the real world, and you can only look on enviously.
-
Here you may chose what you are, will be, or have taken into the Matrix whilst on Assignment
When you load up for this mission, you must worry about two things
1. How much you can hide (Bulk)
2. How much you can physically carry (Weight)
Everything you carry with you has a weight and bulk rating. If you go over weight, you start losing skill and speed. If you go over bulk, the fact that you are carrying fourteen tons of artillery with you may be noticed. If you are under bulk then your weapons will not be spotted except in a detailed search or security scanner.
The maximum amount of bulk you can carry is 14 points worth. This assumes you are wearing one of those huge trenchcoats. If you are not carrying much, you can chose to wear something slimmer. Trinity, for example, wears an outfit that cannot conceal a damn thing...
Do remember, though, that you only need to worry about bulk IF YOU INTEND TO CONCEAL THE OBJECT!
The amount of weight you can carry is three points more than your strength- so a strength 7 character can carry ten points of weight, a strength 10 character can carry 13 points worth, and so on.
Remember you must take account of these two separate numbers
Once you guys are done choosing a loadout and have talked over anything you want talked over, I shall begin play at the point you arrive at the CCC building.
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"
Freebies and the Mors' Katana, that is all I require. If I need a gun we can get some from the car.
Somebody care to choose the loadout for the car? We're still using the Fastback, since we haven't left the Matrix.
"I'll be on the phone for a moment," Mors says to the others. "And remember, if something goes wrong and you can't reach me, look to the other Veterans." He takes out his cellphone and dials.
"Ariadne, were you watching the code while we were disinfected before talking to Melitus? Could that be the source of the problem? Do you suppose that is why Melitus wants us to come back after we're done with Jericho?" Mors asks over the cell phone, the other hand on his katana's hilt. "This is a grave situation. If we get in a fight that we can't win, we can't simply run to the hardline."
__________________
THIS IS WHAT WE'VE WAITED FOR
THIS IS IT, BOYS, THIS IS WAR!
"Errr, no..." says Ariadne. "Did you forget that you guys vanished as soon as you went through that door by the lift in there? We didn't see a damn thing! So I can't tell you anything."
I guess I shall kick this off tomorrow...
__________________
"We've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa burgers and not one of you buds has the midi-chlorians to stop her!"