LG101: Day One - This Is Not A Drill

[Kasimir he/him]

LG101 Day One: This Is Not A Drill

The announcement went on and on.

Or at least it seemed to. Kethen wondered what they were going to do about it, figured it was the sort of thing buried in small font or a footnote of the security manual, the sort of thing you did drills about every two year contract cycle or so and then forgot about because it meant nothing for the day-to-day functioning of the Fourth Bridge, only suddenly it was relevant after all because the Scadrians had decided that anything near the edge of contested space was something they wanted their own guys on.

Kethen sort of got the idea. Control issues, right? He’d dated someone before like that. Maybe that explained the Scadrians. Wasn’t the sort of theory he’d voice to Security though. As it was, he’d gotten one hell of a debriefing as the Chief of Security, the Chief Engineer, and the Captain pored over his extracts, collectively raised their heads every couple of minutes to scowl at him as though he were personally responsible for the fact the Scadrians had control issues, and then went back to poring over the extracts in the apparent hopes that the collective heat of their disregard would command the Scadrian recording to please be something as stupid as the Fourth Engineer persuading the latrines to play the Blackthorn March simultaneously while the shuttle did a re-supply run.

“If this is real…” the Captain said, with the sort of glare that cowed lesser beings than the Chief of Security and the Chief Engineer.

“It is,” retorted the Chief. At the same time, the Chief of Security said, “Don’t be a fool. We know the Scadrians love to stick their noses into everything.” Control issues, Kethen thought, sagely. “It was only a matter of time before they figured a research station on the edge of the Teneb Cluster was the sort of thing they wanted their own look at.”

“So you think the Scadrians have their own plants on the station?” the Captain wanted to know. 

The Chief of Security said, after a long and pointed glance at Kethen, “I think we’re better off having this conversation in private.”

Which suited Kethen just fine. He really didn’t want to be pulled into the designs of the high and mighty anyway. Just wanted to sit out the rest of his contract, no fireworks, and then goodbye to station life, he’d kiss the dust of Urithiru in gratitude the moment his shuttle landed.

As he palmed the door shut, he heard, just behind the creak and whoosh of the door seal engaging, “It’d explain some of the things my team have been picking up…”

And now there was the announcement, coming, for most, like a sudden highstorm warning on a clear and still day. Only Kethen had known it was coming, but said nothing to the rest of the crew. Sure, the Fourth Bridge was a purely research and commercial enterprise, but they were Rosharan. The moment there were Scadrians on the station, the whole thing blew up. That wasn’t okay. No one was down for Scadrian espionage. And the way Kethen saw it, Scadrian espionage was the sort of crem that escalated quickly into Scadrian sabotage. Especially on an isolated station like the Fourth Bridge.

“This is not a drill,” intoned the speaker, moments after the emergency address signal had gone off across the station. One of the cafeteria speakers was broken though; had been for months. It meant the address coming out of the speakers here sounded weird. Tinny and crackling with static on one side, normal on the other.

“Security has discovered the presence of Scadrian infiltrators on board the Fourth Bridge. All crew are to proceed directly to your emergency stations where your team leaders will brief you on what to do. The Captain will address everyone shortly. This is not a drill. Please proceed to your emergency stations…”

Kethen mashed the chunks of what was supposed to be axehound stew into the bottom of his bowl with little enthusiasm and stood up to make his way to his emergency station. Figured he wasn’t missing anything worth missing, anyway.

 

 

The Day has begun! It will end in 48 hours at 2330hrs SGT (GMT+8) on the 22nd July! PMs are open.

Please let me know if you have not yet received your GM PM! Noting also I am rescinding the 'please wait for playerlist' thing as it's not gonna work with the new merge system. I'll just add things to the bottom of this post and get with the times.

Captain's Bulletin:

Quote

• The Fourth Bridge wins if neither the Crew nor the Saboteurs have won by Day Five.
• The Lieutenant wins and is removed from the game if none of the Lieutenant's buddies are dead by daylight the end of Night Two.

Crew Manifest:

Spoiler

1. @Aeternum
2. @Aeoryi
3. @Coffeecat
4. @Ashbringer
5. @DrakeMarshall
6. @xinoehp512
7. @RoyalBeeMage
8. @The Unknown Order
9. @CadCom

 

Edited July 20 by Kasimir

[xinoehp512 he/him]

When the announcement came, Jacks was ready for it.

He strode out the door of his quarters, which were -conveniently enough- located right next to his emergency station. He took position and flicked the button on his communicator.

"Jacks to Command," he spoke. "Escape pods secure. Awaiting further instructions."

While the Fourth Bridge floated through space, the escape pods were more or less the only way off (barring travel through Shadesmar, but that came with its own set of issues). Knowing that... well, the crew of the Fourth Bridge may have been vetted for excellence, but you never really knew how someone might react to the vacuum of space. If someone lost their spheres after too much time floating in the endless void and tried to make a break for it, it was Jacks' responsibility to... persuade them otherwise.

Of course, it might not be a panicked crew member this time. It might be a Scadrian infiltrator, terrified that his cover had been blown and desperate to escape before he was caught. Of course it had to be Scadrians, Jax mused. In his estimation, the whole planet was nothing but trouble.

That being said, they made mighty fine coins. Spheres were nice and practical, but you couldn't exactly flip them.

Edited July 20 by xinoehp512

[The Unknown Order he/him]

Hello!

[Aeoryi she/her]

Hello

[The Unknown Order he/him]

1 hour ago, Aeoryi said:

Hello

Copycat

Burn her with fire

[Aeternum they/them]

I did not realize this started today

[Coffeecat she/her]

Hello 

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

ceci n'est pas une drill

[The Unknown Order he/him]

52 minutes ago, DrakeMarshall said:

ceci n'est pas une drill

Nao falo... francês?

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

1 hour ago, DrakeMarshall said:

ceci n'est pas une drill

pourquoi ce n'est pas une perceuse

19 minutes ago, The Unknown Order said:

Je ne parle pas français?

J'ai d'abord corrigé votre devis. Deuxièmement, parlez-vous espagnol?

5 hours ago, Aeoryi said:

Hello

Bonjour

[The Unknown Order he/him]

14 minutes ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

J'ai d'abord corrigé votre devis. Deuxièmement, parlez-vous espagnol?

Rude. Falo um pouco de Português. Estou aprendendo português. 

En cuanto al español, aparte de un poco de español de obras, necesito el traductor de Google.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Relve was on the hunt for a Scadrian plant.

There was just one slight problem. He wasn't quite sure how those differed from regular plants. He vaguely remembered someone saying that Scadrian plants looked a little like Shin plants, but that wasn't helpful insofar as he needed to tell apart Shin and Scadrian plants. Bah. What did he look like, a storming plant expert??

He was not. He was in fact the station's solitary barkeep. Still, the station's hydroponics bay wasn't very far, on account of how it was next to the kitchen. Maybe the folks around there could help? They probably knew the difference between a rockbud and a plain old rock, at least, which was more than Relve could say on most days.

He jogged down the hall, following the signs, which glowed a soft green from Stormlight-infused gemstones. They would keep on glowing for a long time, so long as the station's power didn't cut out. A miniature perpendicularity, if you'd believe it. It wasn't exactly free Stormlight, but as long as the engineers did their job nobody else had to worry about it. On a smaller vessel, the same perpendicularity might enable travel in addition to just keeping the lights on, but the Fourth Bridge was far too massive for that, of course.

But how did a Scadrian plant even get on board? They don't exactly just grow out in space... Do they?

Relve narrowly avoided bumping into another crewmember, too lost in his thoughts to look where he was going. "Hey, look where you're going!" he yelled after them.

At last, he arrived in hydroponics. He banged on the door.

"Hey, anybody in there? I have some serious questions about taxonomy."

39 minutes ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

pourquoi ce n'est pas une perceuse

It's also not a pipe.

[Ashbringer he/him]

The alarm for emergency stations blared, and the Fourth Bridge burst into motion. Or most people did. Ara didn't. She instead circled in her usual chair, staring at an indicator panel that suggested to the casual observer that they find a more interesting panel to look at. Most people would agree outside of emergency stations; Ara would vehemently oppose, even as each light appeared to be a vibrant, verdant green. As would the Captain, she assumed. He considered life support systems relatively important. 

Ara scowled at the panel of lights. It was green. It was bright. The captain would call it excellent. Most other Bridgemen would call it perfect. Ara, accounting for the mass movement of crew around the ship, might hazard to call it acceptable. Each light was specially configured, one for each room or general area of the ship. Perfect emerald-Stormlight green meant that precisely the amount of oxygen ducted to that room was being used up by the breathing individuals within that room. If the color tended yellow, that meant that not enough air was getting to the room; if it tended blue, that meant that there was too much. Red meant there was a leak somewhere within the room.

Red didn't happen often, but it still seemed to be the color most people worried about.

Technically speaking, it was Ara's job to make sure that any yellow on the indicator was solved before it became a problem and any red on the indicator was solved sooner than that. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd had to do any of that - honestly she could count on one thumb how many times. It was also her job to sit in this chair for 8 hours a day to watch the indicators for any major changes. The job did come with some neat perks. She did like not having to stand around all day.

But Ara had an additional perk for this job. She had the Fourth Heightening. A useful tool, especially since she could buy more Breath with her salary, and a few more flights could get her a ticket to immortality. Not that she needed it, but it could come in handy. However, it meant she could see the slightest hints of blue or yellow in the lights. The slightest sliver of inefficiency.

Ara's real job was to hit the right series of buttons controlling valves and switches and ducts to get all the lights a pure emerald-Stormlight green. She'd managed it three times in the past five years. Each time had lasted no longer than a second. And each time had been glorious.

She was still trying, flicking a few levers. But she did have Scadrians on board to worry about. Best to focus on that.

You never know what those Scadrians can be up to, mused the inner voice of Technician Ara Ra'Ash.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Right as Jacks began to feel the urge to start flipping coins to pass the time (which is to say, about two minutes later), his communicator buzzed to life.

"Heliodor Ten to Ruby One. Confirm location and situation."

Jacks repressed a snort at the codenames. "Location: still the escape pods. Situation: still uneventful."

"Glad to hear it, Jacks." There was the soft plink-plink of fingers on control spheres. "We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, no Scadrian cremlings shooting their way through the ship."

Jax grunted. "Bad news, no Scadrians shooting though the ship."

"Exactly. It would seem they've decided to lay low for now. In light of that information, we've decided to give you a more... dynamic assignment. I'll disclose more information later, when we can talk in private. For now, just make a round of the ship. Keep your eyes open for suspicious activity."

"What about the escape pods?"

"Set the locks to security clearance level three."

Jacks raised an eyebrow. "And if we get hit by an asteroid?"

"The rank and file will simply have to depend on their loyal officers to save them."

Jacks couldn't repress a chuckle at that.

"I know, I know. Look, we have more pressing issues at the moment. We don't have time for you to sit around doing nothing. Set the locks, make your rounds, prepare for further instruction. Copy?"

"Copy," replied Jacks as he tapped on the wall terminal.

"Excellent. Heliodor Eleven out."

[Aeternum they/them]

Assuming all posts so far are NAI, so let's get things going!

The Unknown Order

[Kasimir he/him]

Captain's Bulletin

Quote

• The Fourth Bridge's win con is pegged to the beginning of Day Five rather than the end of Day Five. This is distinct from the Lieutenant.
• The Intelligence Officer can force a role with charges to expend their charge.
• The Intelligence Officer can also force a role to target no one.
• The Lieutenant's doc does not have to be anonymous. 

Edited to add:

Free reminder you are an hour away from Rollovet!

Edited July 21 by Kasimir

[xinoehp512 he/him]

"Jacks!" buzzed the communicator suddenly. "I need your expert opinion on something. Who among the crew is most suspicious?"

Jacks grunted. "How would I know? I don't exactly spend a lot of time socializing. And you haven't given me enough time to-"

"We don't have time," interrupted the speaker. "Just give me a name."

Jacks blinked. "<Name> (RoyalBeeMage), I suppose. But why-"

The communicator feel silent. Jacks pulled out the coin and started reflexively flipping it. Now what had the Security Officer meant by that?

[Aeternum they/them]

Well, this has been very quiet so far.

[Coffeecat she/her]

Well well, perhaps xino trying to save TUO?

I Just want to see what happens

[Ashbringer he/him]

So I’m realizing the odds of me ever being online for any rollover are… uh, low. I’m around still, but rollovers may be tricky.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

I bet the hello gang contains at most 1 evil.

[Aeternum they/them]

Just now, DrakeMarshall said:

I bet the hello gang contains at most 1 evil.

I bet you three cookies

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

1 minute ago, Aeternum said:

I bet you three cookies

Deal, you're on

Three (3) all-natural relatively spike-free chocolate chip cookies

Ok but hear me out

What if everyone whose name starts with an A is non-village-aligned

Kas made all of the A-names elims or third party just because he enjoys my suffering

[Aeternum they/them]

40 minutes ago, DrakeMarshall said:

Deal, you're on

Three (3) all-natural relatively spike-free chocolate chip cookies

Ok but hear me out

What if everyone whose name starts with an A is non-village-aligned

Kas made all of the A-names elims or third party just because he enjoys my suffering

The packaging says all-natural chocolate chip cookies*
*may or may not contain spikes

I can confirm that at least one A name is town, thankfully. Why do you bring this up...?

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Because Kas has cursed me for my hubris and my work is never finished