USH'S MATRIX GAME: SECOND ASSIGNMENT: 'Ghost Hunt'
FULL ASSIGNMENT DETAILS
Assignment Name: Ghost Hunt.
Objective: To locate Captain Jericho and the rest of the crew of the Bounty.
Details: A vitally important Zion operation was recently compromised in action and the team involved was lucky to escape without casaulties. The failure of this mission has de-railed our current counter-strategy against the machines and ruined monts of surveillance work.
The failure of the mission was caused by the unforseeable presence of another team of Rebels- that of Captain Jericho and his team from the Bounty. THis team was attempting the same objective in competition to our own and this clash alerted the system to our presence.
That Jericho's team was there without permission is not the most unsual thing. That they are there at all, considering that the Bounty was destroyed with all hands six months ago, most certainly is.
Jericho was one of our most senior and valued Captains and his team- Medea, Tyr, Loomis and his first officer Khali- constituted an elite operations force, perhaps our best. Their loss was a serious blow to our struggle. Now this simple tragedy has turned into a deep mystery. Either Jericho and his crew are not dead, or something extremely odd is going on.
Either way, that this situation has already casued the failure of one of our vital missions demonstrates that accurate information about this situation is essential- one way or another, something like this must not happen again.
Your mission is simply to locate Jericho and his team. After that, the situation must be analyzed- if they can be negotiated with and an answer found do so. Should they prove hostile, however, the Council agrees that termination of this problem is preferable to leaving it be for the dubious and uncertain benefits of finding out what has happened. The safety of operations launched from Zion comes before answers- but get answers of you can.
COMMENTS- by Locke
"This situation has created an inevitable amount of speculation and wild theory, You know my opinions on such things. I know the Matrix is an odd place but I will not accept extreme suggestions of answers unless they are backed by solid evidence.
"We have two main options. The first is that Jericho is not dead, and that by extension that the Bounty has not been destroyed. This certainly fits the facts we have before us. Unfortunately, this question raises more problems than it answers.
"Why would Jericho fake the death of his ship and crew? What could he- and they- possibly gain from it? How was he capable of doing so? The destruction of the Bounty was confirmed by the Hammer at the time. They found its wreckage and the shells of Sentinels killed with an EMP blast during a chase. Our analysts suggest that faking of such a situation is possible, but doing it without genuinely alerting the machines would render it ludicrous.
"The questions get still worse the more we look at this situation. Where are his crew getting food and water from? Where is his ship getting power from? All of our ships have to regularly return to Zion for recharge. It is one of our greatest liabilities that we have been unable to remove. We would be interested in knowing an alternative.
"Perhaps most galling of all- if this is the given situation, how could they stay alive without regular intelligence updates from Zion and other ships? How do they evade sentinels? Most critically of all- how can they have found a broadcast point that is not only safe from Sentinel activity, but that we in Zion do not know the existence of either?
"From what we know, these problems are insoluble. However, the alternative is, if anything, worse.
"The alternative is that the Bounty was indeed destroyed, yet Jericho and his team are still there. One such option involves these not being the people we once knew, but simulations of them in the MAtrix using their RSIs. Intelligence can think of no possible benefit this would bring the Machines or why they would be doing what they seemed to be doing when observed- this included trying to steal information from the system and mtaking aggressive action against an Agent.
"Another option involves Jericho's crew somehow being still alive in the Matrix after physical death. I would remind people that this is impossible for two reasons. First, without your brain you have no mind and cannot survive in or out the Matrix. Secondly, alive or not, without somewhere to broadcast into the Matrix from, you cannot exist within it. You cannot become 'trapped' in there, by any means.
"Other equally objectionable scenarios exist. It seems we have a choice between many impossibles. It is for exactly this reason that we are sending you on this mission. It is my recommendation that you assume Jericho and his ship are indeed still intact and find out why this is possible, rather than assuming the even more ludicrous other options. Some of you may not agree- as I say, I will want evidence before I believe different.
"Because of the extreme mystery surrounding this situation, and that we have no clues or starting points, I have agreed with the recommendation from Captains Dallas and Marduk about how to start.
"You shall consult the Oracle."
SPECIAL RULES:
Normal Mission: This is a normal mission. There are no special rules. You must obey bulk and weight rules as normal. I wouldn't normally bother saying this, but this is the first normal misison you have had!
ESTIMATED DANGER LEVEL: Medium. Which means they have no idea; Matrix life can be dangerous but you are not going to attack a System base, or something.
TIPS:
As you may have noted, this is not a specific situation but a general 'thing' during which 'other things' will develop. So be ready for all possibilities.
Listen to what the Oracle says. And if you think that is a 'duh'... there IS reason for me to say that.
You are not limited- save by Bulk and Weight- about what weapons you can take, so make sure you are covered for all eventualities you want to be able to deal with.
ROLES:
None. However, you may wish to designate people to do the talking, or have people with pre-assigned roles (e.g. 'Burn, you stand at the back and shoot the crap out of anything hostile that comes my way"😉 as time goes by.
If you have any questions, ask me.
I have a question for you. You cannot ALL go to see the Oracle- you would not fit., Therefore I want an Oracle visting 'team' of a number you think is appropriate. You can argue that out amongst yourselves.