[EVENT] The Rescue: Day One

[trpmods]

Welcome to The Revival Project's August Event: The Rescue. The event will start TONIGHT, Wednesday, August 5, and continue through the rest of the month, with new updates every Wednesday. Each week, we'll ask your characters' group to make at least one Major Decision and report it to us by Sunday night; the next week's update will be a direct result of the decisions you made.

Each week of real time that passes OOCly corresponds to one day for your characters on the ship. Therefore, although this event will last all of August, only four or five days will pass for your characters in the game.

As the first post for a new event, there is a lot of information below the cuts. We know it's a lot of reading, so please take your time and check the FAQ at the end if you're still confused. You can, as always, ask questions as well, here or on Plurk.

For reference, the event setup post is here, which explains the three groups your characters have now split into: Rescuers, Investigators, and Defenders. Each group will have a different path laid out before them and a different set of options and choices they must make each week. Remember, there is no switching between groups except during sanctioned events, which we'll announce. You have until the first time you post or comment with your character during the event to finalize which group you'd like them to be in. Then, that choice made, you'll find there are many more...


THE RESCUERS

You’ve heard Ga Re’s message and you know what you have to do. You get whatever weapons you have and set off, out of the shuttlebay and into the ship’s main hallway. The ceiling is high and there are no lights except the pulse of what must be an emergency system along the walls and floor. It is a pale yellow and lights your way well enough. Still, some real lights would be helpful.

You are walking blindly, which is never a good idea. If you had a Communications character, you would notice there are markings on the wall. You would be able to read them as well. As it is, you follow the hallway until you get to a large, open area. There are two hallways and a screen in the center. The screen blinks and, when you touch it, Tony Stark’s face appears. Turns out, he’s hacked into the ship’s comm system. You’re now connected to the Defenders, who have access both to a map and to a Communications expert. You now know where each hallway leads.

Thank you, Tony Stark; this will save you valuable time.

But now... you have to choose one.

If you choose Hallway A: There is only one door at the end of this hallway: the Bridge, which is the perfect place to create distractions. Using the Defenders’ experts, you can access the systems to

- Turn the lights on
- Sound a shipwide alert
- Scan for other ships
- Have a pilot chart a course for the ship

All, some, or none of these options can be taken. However, scanning for ships will let you know that there are two smaller ships nearby. They each have signs of life inside and the capability for attack. Neither is moving.

On the Bridge, you will also have access to the ship-wide scanners. This will let you pinpoint where every group is. It will also tell you where the intruders are. At this time there are ten and they are all together in a large space called the "Green Room" in the center of the ship, which appears to be the giant pane of glass you saw from the outside; apparently it is home to all the Agrii agriculture there is left. The intruders are on the move but will remain there for at least a little while. (This last bit is OOC knowledge, but your characters won't have to worry about the intruders leaving the area during the first week/day of the event.)

From the Bridge, your Major Decision is based on the final system you find: force fields. It looks as though the Agrii have some sort of containment system for key areas of their ship. One of those is the Green Room. By turning the force fields on, you will trap the intruders. However, this will also put force fields up all around the ship, restricting movement for the Investigators.

The choice is yours, Rescuers. But maybe you should phone a friend?


If you choose Hallway B: Following this will lead you to the Medical Bay. You have a medical expert in your group, so going here will allow you to stock up on supplies. You'll get access to

- Sedatives
- Surgical equipment

You can use these to make weapons if you wish (and if you're creative). Going here will also reveal who the intruders are. Apparently one of the (now-disappeared) Agrii crew got a scan of them at some point and the information is still available on one of the screens. Once again, Defenders save your hide and can translate if you send this information to them. This will tell you that the intruders are roughly human-sized, if a little taller and more muscular.

They look like... Well. They look like teddy bears with oversized, red eyes and a pug mouth. Honestly, it sort of gives them a Precious Moments vibe, if your character knows of such things; cute and vaguely sad. Also a little terrifying since, according to the scans, they are far stronger than a human and spit toxins. They are also incredibly, embarrassingly stupid. You’re not being rude thinking that: it is written right there on the scans. Hopefully they are accurate.

From the Medical bay, your Major Decision is whether or not to use the available formula left by the Agrii to inoculate yourself against the intruders' toxins. Wait - why wouldn’t you? Well, there are side effects: inoculating yourself means a slowed reaction time, which could be bad if you need to act or think quickly.

Time to figure out if you think it’s worth it.


THE INVESTIGATORS

You waste absolutely no time. Whether you stick together or splinter off into smaller groups is up to you. Either way, you are on a mission and have a communications expert on your team who can guide your movement. Having them on the team means that you can immediately see markings in the hallway. It is dark and illuminated only by a pulse of yellow light. That is handy to hide your movements in case you run into anyone. The markings in the hallway tell you where you can go. One direction will send you to the ship's Center with continuing hallways to the Bridge and the Medical Bay. The other way will send you toward the Aft with access to The Green Room, Engineering, and Hero Control. The Rescuers, without a communications expert, took off toward the Center, so that leaves the Aft to you.

As you pass The Green Room, you hear what sounds like low, rhythmic mooing on the other side - as though a cow has learned the tempo of slam poetry. Is that... talking? Perhaps it is the intruders. Best to leave that area to the Rescuers.

This leaves two options for where to go and what information to potentially gain:

If you choose Engineering: You know from Ga Re’s message that she is at the core. If that is anywhere, it would be in Engineering. Going and talking to her could give you knowledge about the Agrii, as well as information about how you were brought to Agra 10. As long as Ga Re is willing to talk, of course.

In Engineering, the entire room looks quite simple. There are buttons here and there that blink but, on the whole, it doesn’t look the way you would expect. There doesn’t look like a great deal can be done from here, like the ship takes care of itself. You can access a database here and try to learn more about the ship. This will need to be filtered through a communications expert, so send it to the Defenders or use the one on your team. You will learn in what you can uncover that the ship is only about 200 years old. It is out here on a mission to search. What that search is for will require more digging from a pilot and a communication expert. You can send it to the Defenders to do that research while you keep looking around.

In the back of the room is a steel door. It is wide and locked tight with no way to see inside. As you get closer, you can hear singing. You can also hear movement. This is the door leading to the core, and Ga Re is there. But how do you get to her?

The Agrii network is still down, but you can talk to her through the door. She is happy to hear you but says the door is ‘gel-e’. It takes a little bit to understand that she meant ‘jelly’ since she thought that was the same as ‘jammed’.

The door is jammed.

If you have weapons, maybe you can shoot it? If your engineering expert is here, maybe you can hack it? Or maybe you have superpowers and can try to use those? The choices are up to you to try and get through that door with absolutely no assistance from the other side.

But once you get through, Ga Re is there, thrilled to see her ‘He-Rows’ in person. She is exactly as she looked in the image you saw before, just taller. When she goes to hug you, you find out Agrii skin is slightly moist. Yes, I said moist. The room she is in looks completely empty other than a giant tube in the center. Singing comes from above where there shines a brilliant light. You can’t get up there but Ga Re is here and you can finally talk to her, face to face.

Your Major Decision will be: What do you ask her?

(Each character is allowed three questions.)


If you choose Hero Control: This room sounds pretty awful. Or maybe just intriguing? Either way, you can’t not go there. What do they mean by control? You have to walk quite some way to get to it. On the way you pass residential rooms for the crew. If you go inside, you will get an idea of how the Agrii live.

The rooms are small and look the same as the abandoned hotel on Temba. There is a long bed, a closet carved into a wall, and some assorted bottles and what might be abandoned food. A communications expert will know the bottles to be "skin oil" and "cleaning spray." They both can be used on humans without harm. Aside from that, every few rooms you will hear movement behind the door. Going inside will reveal what must be pets. They are about the size of a coffee table, covered in multicolored, pastel fur, and have six legs that each end in a paw. They also have glowing eyes and a tiny horn in the center of their head, but otherwise look like a St. Bernard and a Chow Chow had a baby. A pastel, horned, six-legged baby. But hey, they at least seem friendly! Too friendly.

You might now have someone following you.

When you finally get into Hero Control, you see what looks like a giant lab. One whole wall is covered in screens that show every inch of Temba. There are controls scattered around that seem to be able to move cameras (or whatever is capturing these videos). On every surface there are dictionaries for every language you can imagine. Tablets are filled with scribbles for different ways to spell things: "sup lis," "soo plis," "soup lyes," "soup lies." In the corner is a glowing portal that has a variety of random items around it. There is a blank screen beside it waiting for ask.

The original Whale Comb banner is hanging opposite the screens.

Here, you are able to see how the Agrii are keeping tabs on you. Your communication expert can translate their notes and you can read what they have written about each ‘He Row’. Apparently: "Sieve Rod Jers" enjoys agreeing to things "Buk Key" wants, despite doing the opposite. Especially when it comes to safety. Conclusion: Sieve needs watching."

Interesting. Wonder what it says about you?

On the other side of the room are several beds. They look almost medical in nature and much shorter than the ones you saw in the crew quarters. There is also a screen that looks very, very different from the rest, tucked into a corner. It has all the people in Temba listed out. Actually, no - they're ranked. And it seems to be updating, even now.

Your Major Decision here is an important one: you can clearly see there is information stored here about you. And you can see that this is the heart of how they monitor you. You have the option to destroy the room or to download what you have found to your communicators to bring home for further investigation.

Choose wisely.


THE DEFENDERS

You’re holding down the fort. You are the essential group that have been entrusted with people’s babies and/or pets, as well as the whole group’s only way off this ship. Once the other groups have left, you are able to explore the shuttlebay. It is large and your shuttles take up only a small section of the space. Further in, you can see that there are more shuttles that look the same as yours stowed all the way in the back. They have names like Red Fish, Tourist, and Huntress. It is clear they haven’t moved for a very long time and are open for you to investigate. They are the same as your shuttles in every detail but hey, more protein gel!

In the center of the bay is a very large control panel. Tony Stark, thanks to his Extremis, is able to access and use this immediately. This panel has a map of the ship and lists every available system and where it can be accessed from. From the same panel, you are able to watch through the sensors where each group is going. You are also able to see the intruders and where they are. And thanks to Tony, you can use the panel to speak with and advise the other groups of heroes.

You can also see... ships? There are two strange ships outside? These are the intruders’ ships. At least you can keep track of those, too, although you can’t see if there are any life signs aboard.

Unlike the other groups, you all have the advantage of time. There are no hallways to walk through or intruders to avoid. You have the ability to look through the computer systems and find options available to you. At this moment, these are all the things you can do:

- Make shipwide broadcasts
- Activate fire suppression in localized areas
- Obtain data from other teams and assist with translations
- Scan the entire ship
- Pull up the cargo manifest

Cargo manifest? That’s right. The shuttlebay is also the cargo bay. It explains the boxes scattered around here and there and all of them are chock full of supplies. What sort of supplies?

- Food
- Clothing (although it's Agrii clothing)
- Machinery
- Various odds and ends (we're leaving some of this up to you!)

If it’s on the registry you can locate it and put it onto one of your shuttles. I mean, as long as you're here... and there's room on your ships.

But the more you use the control panel, the more you wonder: if you can see the systems, does that mean you can control them, too? Maybe it is worth a shot. And since you have an engineering expert, you will succeed. Just keep in mind one thing that the engineer will uncover: success will mean that you now have remote control of every system on the ship to provide long-distance support. However, for some reason, when the control panel has full access turned on, ALL hero communicators lose connection for the rest of the day.

This is your Major Decision, then: Do you exercise full control of the ship and leave your fellow heroes to rely on the ship’s communication system (limited to comm panels in Aft and Central)? Or do you avoid using the control panel to retain communication and let the groups access the systems they need directly from the required location?

If that isn’t a decision you want to make yet, there are other things you can do. Since there is an engineering and a communications expert in your group, you can make full use of the machinery that is scattered around and in boxes. This means you can make:

- Traps
- Additional weapons
- A backup communicator connection (if you choose to do this, then starting next week - the next day in game - you’ll be able to communicate remotely even when the control panel is on)
- A mobile force field generator
- A teleporter (more like a portal machine, really, because the philosophical conundrum of whether or not dissolving and reassembling atoms of a person means you killed the original and made a copy just makes my head hurt. Let’s skip that.)

Or you can make

- Ship upgrades

What?! Ship upgrades? Really? Yes. These are only limited by your imagination and can be whatever the group decides. Do you want more speed? Do you want weapons? Do you want to expand the environmental controls? Do you want a replicator for food instead of the gel? You can do anything to these ships, as the material you need is here.

But the day only has so much time. Your decision is what to do, and in what order. In one day of game time (one week OOC), your group will be able to use the control panel to do whatever you need and, in addition to that, choose one of the following:

- Use the machinery to build one of the items on the list
- Make one upgrade to all your shuttles
- Make two upgrades to one shuttle

If you do nothing with the control panel other than use it to communicate, you can instead choose one of the following:

- Use the machinery to build two items from the list
- Make five total ship upgrades (split up among ships however you want)

This decision is up to you and your group.




OOC INFO AND FAQ

What the actual…

Don’t panic. Here are the answers to the top things we believe you will ask:

- Your GROUP does not all have to agree on one path. Your CHARACTER, however, does. No character will have time to choose both options.

For Rescuers this means: You will either choose Hallway A or Hallway B
For Investigators this means: You will either go to Ga Re or Hero Control
For Defenders this means: Not as much. You need to pick an upgrade decision, whether you are turning on the control panel, and/or what sort things you want to build

Defenders are the only group that will always have more time and will thus be able to do multiple options - but never all of them. Their decisions will also likely impact the most people throughout the ship, so be nice when you call them.

- For now, your characters can talk to each other. Your communicators are working and there is also an internal system communication from hard-wired panels in certain locations.

- You can OOCLy switch groups until you post/comment with your character. Once you have posted, you are locked in.

- The Major Decisions that IMPACT THE SHIP need to be made in a consensus. e.g., Bucky can’t decide to destroy Hero Control while Wanda decides to download the information. It has to be either or.

- The Major Decisions that IMPACT A CHARACTER can be made independently. e.g., You can choose if your character opts to get inoculated against intruder toxin or not.

- Your character CAN decide to do none of the options in the Major Decision, but why would you do that? Live dangerously.

- Every Major Decision has a consequence that will be revealed in the weeks to come, once the mods know your characters' choice for each week. If you have any questions about an outcome of some action OUTSIDE of the Major Decision, just put it in the questions thread on this post (or each week's info post).

- A Major Decision can be handwaved as long as the mods are informed which option was chosen. e.g., No one wanted to write out turning on the control panel but you all want it on.

- Realize that, while the mods have given you a lot of information here, this crazy infodump is so your character can fully explore for the week without stopping to ask the mods what they found at every turn. Feel free to exercise additional creativity with the spaces how you wish! Want to put something weird in an Agrii room? Go for it. Want to find an animal in one of the crates? That’s super fine. Details can be added however you wish.

- Keep in mind what your character does and does not know: If all the Rescuers decide to go to Hallway B, you WON'T know about the two ships outside or the location of the intruders unless the Defenders tell you.

- That said, the other groups are your support. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help or ask questions, especially keeping in mind the Defenders. Thanks to them having an engineer, a communications expert, and a character talent that skipped a whole step that would have taken a full in-game day, they have a LOT of information at their disposal (which means it's at yours, too... if you ask).

- Seriously. Throw a party for your Defenders at the end of this.

- Defenders, you will likely have every answer that is asked of you, based on this post. But of course, please contact the mods if you’re unsure of something important.

- Have fun!


Okay. What about the mingles and stuff?

To consolidate your activity, we have provided mingles in the main comm. You don't have to use them but you are welcome to do so. A top level under the mingle will count for AC the same as a top level in the comm.

Right now, plan on using the same mingle log throughout the event, with new threads inside that mingle for each week. If that gets too weird or bogged down, let us know and we’ll adjust with new mingles!


And this post?

In the comments below, you can plot and discuss Major Decisions. Each team has a specific area to talk about their choices.

We also have the questions thread. Anything and everything can be asked.

The feedback thread is for anything you think is working well or isn't working well. Don't be afraid to put anything in there. This is a new event style and there could be some learning that needs to take place. We're open to it!

The Major Decisions thread is where your group will put whatever Major Decisions they made for that week. Only one player needs to report the result of the Major Decision; individual players are welcome to also list their characters’ individual choices, but this can also be reported by a group representative. Basically, the mods just need to know SOME players opted for inoculation, not the specific people (unless they feel like reporting in, which is fine).


So how will this work?

In this post, we've listed your decisions for the week and the activities your team can do. For a week you can play it out before you get an update based on your choices.

To get the update, a Major Decision needs to be reported as soon as you have it. We ask that you provide the option your group has chosen for the appropriate Major Decision BY SUNDAY NIGHT. If no decision is provided, we will assume the activity was skipped. For example, if there is no message saying the force fields did or didn't go up, we'll assume no one interacted with that option and no choice was made.

Updates will come out EVERY WEDNESDAY. Some will have choices, some will not. Each week, from Wednesday to Wednesday, is one IC day for your character.

Some decisions will lead to failure of your group's mission. You won't know that until the end of the event, though. Unless you push the red button. Don't push the red button.



Rescuers mingle | Investigators mingle | Defenders mingle

Comments

Questions

[trpmods]

[deal_me_in]

Is it safe to assume Cayde wouldn't be affected by alien pug toxin? Not that a shot would really...work on him either. XD

[trpmods]

I just reread your app and, yeah. As long as the toxin can't sink into skin you're impervious which....you don't have skin. So yeah. You're good.

[in_extremis]

Nowhere near making this decision, but: if the Defenders end up opting for full control of the ship, does this knock out the individual communicators, or the actual network?
~*network questions*~

[trpmods]

I SEE YOU, TONY!

It knocks out the network that the communicators are on.

[beholding_archivist]

Question for the Rescue team:
Can the group split to go both ways?

[trpmods]

Yep! The group does not need to make the same decision. Just the character.

[out_of_order]

Piggybacking off of Jon's question- can teams split within teams? Or does it solidly have to be Path A or Path B for an entire group?

[beholding_archivist]

AND ONE MORE!
...since you like to point out that no one in our team would be able to translate and I'm wondering.

Jon's Understanding ability canonly lets him understand any language without speaking them. Which has been a major reason to not originally have him pick Communication as his expertise back when he went Medical. Soooo... Is this ability disabled for this event...? Or even in general?

Re: Questions

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa is an investigator but she has to leave her child with the Defenders and come back to pump milk and well, see her baby. Can she go back and forth or is she stuck? Because if she's stuck I have to move her to Defenders

Re: Questions

[doubled_speed]

Putting a bug in your head early, before it's likely that it will be relevant. Tommy heals at an accelerated rate (and pushes toxins out of his body fast, poor not getting drunk boy), and Teddy has a healing factor that basically let him survive a gunshot to the head (he had moved his brain elsewhere in his defense).

How this interacts with the 'bad guy' toxin may come up.

[rage_on]

Are the other ships in the hangar functional? Can they be flown out or are they locked down or something?

[in_extremis]

Is there a crew manifest?

[beholding_archivist]

Your Rescue crew on the bridge is wondering about potential weapons the ship may be equipped with. Any enlightenment on what they may or may not find?

[seeingscarlet]

Inquiring psychics on the investigation team want to know: anything unusual Wanda would pick up on? She's heading with the team to engineering.

Major Decisions for Week 1

[trpmods]

RESCUERS

[brooklyn_boy]

Force Fields will be turned on.

INVESTIGATORS

[out_of_order]

The majority of the team will be going to Engineering to assist Ga Re. This includes Tommy, Wanda, the Mandalorian and Cal. Wanda and the Mando will be able to do some database digging as our token communication and piloting experts. Questions for Ga Re will be forthcoming.

The Soldier and Sansa will be heading to Hero Control to check things out on that side. BD-1 is accompanying them for any technical assistance and scanning all the things. They are not destroying the room but are going to gather any information they can.

DEFENDERS

[in_extremis]

Defenders are taking full control of the ship, knocking out comms.

We're also doing some ship upgrades, details still hazy.

Plotting for Week 1

[trpmods]

Team Rescue Plotting!

[beholding_archivist]

Okay, frands~
Let's come together and see where our little band stands and what each character's personal thoughts on their hallway choice are so we can figure out our Major Decision.

Investigations! Where we at?

[out_of_order]

All right, I know planning's kinda split everywhere between Plurk and Discord but might be good to have main points in a stationary place here.

We have some interesting options for this first leg so who wants to do which?

Feedback

[trpmods]

Communicate to the Defense Team!

[plate_builder]

Hey Rescuers and Investigators. Was there something you needed the Defenders to do? Something that needs translated? Something you wanted help with?

Please leave a quick OOC blurb here about what you need/may communicate/will ask for and a member of the team will let you know we've got the info. We'll also let you know if Tony won the argument Communications have been shut down thanks to Defense Team decisions.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa will be going back and forth by necessity once per day so she can smuggle things back and pump breastmilk for her child. If there's any information threaded or non-threaded that the team wants passed back to Investigators and you don't want it over comms, she can do that.

She will be doing this alone most likely.