Commpoking (D4 EM)

[Alison Rodríguez]

The morning after a battle. Well, seemed like a very one-sided battle from what Alice could make out of it from her spot way away from front lines, but a battle nonetheless. And there was looting to be done! Sorry, salvaging. Not for Alison though. At least not yet. For her there was something far more important. And she would rock up to it in style if the weather didn't keep being ice cold!! Ice did not make for good heels weather. It annoyed her.

Still, she managed to at least look good even if she had to wrap up still, arriving at the outpost wearing jeans and a stylish black bomber jacket. Her trademark purple shades were of course on her face. She knew at least to begin with she had to resist blowing a bubble (militaries really are sticklers for bubbles).

"Kay, time to check this place out" she said to nobody in particular, swinging her bag around a little as she made her way inwards, looking for someone to direct her to the main comms part of the outpost.

(Using PC token for thread)

[GM Yuusha]

There were a trio of infantry just inside the front doors of the main comms building, guarding what had been a historic checkpoint. They looked tired. One of them was sitting by a portable radio and another was eating some kind of food bar.



"Hold up." The third walks over, assault rifle dangling at her side from a strap across her torso. She claps her own cheek and stifles a yawn. "I need to register who is entering and why." She holds up a clipboard. "Sorry."

[Alison Rodríguez]

"I don't get asked who I am often" Alison said with a chuckle "Alison Rodríguez. Come to check out what's still usable in the comms and tech inside. How's it looking in there?"

[GM Yuusha]

"Alison... Rodriguez... here to ascertain what's working. Okay."

She points up to the working lights. "Power's on. The lance that took the front didn't take out the generator, so we have power. That's the good news. Bad news is that grenades and explosives had to be used to clear some of the rooms. There was also weapons fire. We've cleared out the bodies, but..." She shrugs like only a soldier can. "There will be some mess and damaged tech-stuff. Still, be our guest. Everything's sign posted in English, so you'll find what you're looking for."

[Alison Rodríguez]

"Shame, but hopefully it won't be too bad! Cheers" Alison gave the woman a thumbs up then once approved she made her way into the comms tower and followed signs to get to the main communication room to assess the state of it.

[GM Yuusha]

It takes a few corridors. There are bullet marks on the walls and blood stains on the floor. Alison could detect the faint scent of gunpowder in the air.

Arriving at the main communication room, she slips through the damaged doors. A grenade had gone off in here. Then some live fire. It might be best if Alison didn't look too closely at some of the debris on the right side of the room. The equipment on the left was working however. Comms consoles and computers. Headsets and loose papers. It was all a mess, but the machines had power as their lights were on.

[Alison Rodríguez]

Alison was a smart girl. She knew that if she poked around she'd likely regret it. Plus, her only focus was that lovely big comms console and computers! Ignoring the rest of the room, she moved to the machines and started firing them up, doing a basic diagnostics to see that they were indeed functional before she would go any further. If they were fried or worse after all you'd get nothing useful from anything.

D4em computers/int to check computers state: 8d10o10k4 30

[GM Yuusha]

Some were definitely functional. The main problem, she quickly figured out, was that the site was designed to pass on a lot of communications. That needed personnel. Some communications would be checked first and others required manual work, possibly even some way of moving the receivers. For one person it meant she would need to limit her scope, such as focusing on communication along certain frequencies or sending messages out in a certain direction. There would, no doubt, be many smaller relay points somewhere in the countryside, but finding them would be difficult without a map. Perhaps there was one? Regardless, not all of them would necessarily be manned once the satellites were down. There was also certainly a main communication base, since this site was only for relaying military communications more widely across Southern Akos. There might also be civilian communication channels the Militia could put to use. Radio stations. Phone lines. Point to point mobile communication vehicles.

It was a lot to think about.

[Alison Rodríguez]

"Hmph."

Alison blew a bubble with her gum as she thought. There was too much for one person, even one who (in her own humble unbiased opinion) was as brilliant as she was.

The bubble popped as she had an idea. Moving over to the main computer, she plugged her wonderful octopus plushie in, then fired up some of her hacking programs to see if she could trace the last communications sent from the comms. It would be a good starting point.

D4EM computers/int with special item for some hacking: 9d10o10k5 27

[GM Yuusha]

There are records of the last communications in the system. Time sent, destination and/or signal frequency, encryption status, priority status, etc. However, there was no data on the contents. Someone had smartly wiped that. Looking through the last communications sent, there was a steady amount in the morning and then a slight lull before a spike that immediately plummets to zero. There had likely been efforts to inform others, request reinforcements or query what was going on. Something. It had all been for naught.

The last communication had been to the Barracks in the region. She could tell that much.

[Alison Rodríguez]

Knew it, I'm a genius.

Alison smiled to herself. Sadly she wasn't going to get what the communications were, but she found where things were being stored. It was a start! Now to start pushing her luck a little more as she delved into the communications section more to find any communications going to or from the Weapons research site. Maybe she could find something juicy in the files about what they were working on!

D4EM computers/int with special item to dig for Weapons research info: 9d10o10k5 29

[GM Yuusha]

It takes half an hour before she figures out the specific site address for communications to Budai. Checking the logs, there weren't many communications sent to or from the Weapons research site.

There was no trace of historic correspondence. No images or sound files had been kept.

The impression left was that of a site that was as off the grid as possible.

[Alison Rodríguez]

Bastards.

Sighing, she looked to the other computers. Considering for a few moments, she instead decided to start digging through to see if there were any signs of stored details on the sites. Maybe she could find a link to a database of details?

D4EM computers/int with special item to look for shared databases: 9d10o10k5 43

[GM Yuusha]

There was nothing like that kept on site. The information she had access to was limited. It was mostly to do with overview categorisation of past messages. Logs of their receipt and forwarding. Acknowledgements of orders received. Details of those orders, the units receiving them or where they were, or sites that may be, were nowhere to be found.

The equipment was nearly all to do with responding to communications and passing messages on.

[Alison Rodríguez]

Bah! So basic!

"El burro sabe mas que tu!" Alison huffed, annoyed. Giving up with the computer database, she turned herself back to the comms. If she couldn't get past knowledge, she could get current knowledge! She checked the systems over before testing the comms connection to see if it reached the outside world.

(ooc - not sure if this is computers still? Want to do this anonymously if possible)

[GM Yuusha]

The site could pick up communications easily. That was part of its primary purpose. She could definitely listen in on things.

[Alison Rodríguez]

And connect on she does! Time to listen in after all

[GM Yuusha]

There is a lot. Military and civilian. She can even pick up crackled communications with interference, which was likely encrypted bits from the Angels and others.

What would Alison do next? A general listen in or searching for something more specific?

[Alison Rodríguez]

Alison frowned. What a mess. At least it was a good comms tower!

She focused her attention on trying to get more from the military. Trying to see if she can pick up anything from the barracks in particular

[GM Yuusha]

(Roll computers [perception] please)

It would take some time to home in without knowing exactly what settings to use. She at least knew how it worked and some of what she was looking for. It would be down to how perceptive and analytical she could be.