Daneel locates Mercifuge's berth, about a quarter of the way around the station's perimeter. It is berthed alongside two armed merchantmen. Daneel discovers that the ship had a few minor repairs done to its port fusion manifold while at the Skull. He can't discover any deliveries that might be due, but he thinks he -might- be able to find a crew manifest if he indulges in a little electronic breaking and entering.
Daneel throws a map of the station layout on a screen and points to a spot on the edge of the graphic. "There she is. Not too far from here." He highlights their current berth. "I can't see any incoming deliveries, but I could try and crack their security and dig around a bit deeper." He looks at Jerry, "It might tip them off, though. Whaddya think, Captain?"
Jerry rubs his chin for a moment, trying to recall if the port required them to declare the crew roster.
"I wonder if we could find someone in port or security who has access to the crew roster," he says to his companions.
The berthing spaces are enclosed, opening to permit ships to enter or leave, one set of doors opening to a by that permits one to four ships, depending on tonnage. Going outside the highport would mean you'd still have to find a way back into the bay.
"Let's just keep it simple. Maintenance workers would work...let's go with that. Just need some service jumpsuits and tools. Let's see what we can find on the docks, shall we?"
Jhoolz heads out of the ship and onto the companionway.
Byron goes drinking to get some people drunk and "borrow" their uniforms.
Using her knowledge of the port and a little sneaking, Jhoolz goes looking for uniforms of the port authority and work crews to outfit her team.
Streetwise:
Daneel tags along with Jhoolz. "It might be handy if you have a lookout watching your back."
Jerry connects to the public station network and tries to understand how materials and people are moved to a berthed ship like the Mercifuge. Or, their own ship, for that matter.
Byron and Jhoolz/Daneel, give me a little narrative to go along with those rolls, please!
Jerry, you can order almost any service on the Skull and have it delivered directly to your berth. -HOW- they are moved is a little more opaque, but it becomes obvious that there are service corridors, service elevators and service bays where supplies are kept and moved. These are all separate from the public areas. Access appears to be controlled by two-factor encryption, requiring both a key-card and a DNA scan.
Armed with information, Jerry scans the system to get an idea of exactly *how bad* it would be to get caught bribing a station employee to bypass the security controls to enter the service corridors.
Byron laughs at the group of janitors as they talk about the crazy stuff they have to deal with on the station. "Wait...you got that much slime on you? Man, you must need to burn your clothes. Who washes em?"
Byron listens and tries to direct the questions to what happens to the dirty uniforms and how the stations handles the crazy stuff that you would get on them with the different aliens, ships, foods, and other items passing through the station.
Jerry learns that security on the Skull doesn't much care where you go and that many of the staff are on the take. Getting caught with bribery probably merely leads to bigger bribes. But bring weapons into play and they're swift and deadly.
Byron, the janitors tell you that there's a central laundry that handles all the uniforms. The staff has to pay for new uniforms, but soiled or stained uniforms are simply exchanged for new ones. Laundry robots handle most of the processing. You think it'd be easy to snag some service uniforms.
Byron heads off to find the robots ands see about getting some clothes. He will try and snag several outfits without being seen once he finds them.
Jhoolz finds a comfortable seat where she can watch the various people of the spaceport travel to and fro. She takes note of the various services and lax security within the port. Soon she has narrowed her search down to a single group of people...the stevedores. These men and women seem to be able to go wherever they wish...as long as they have a signed invoice.
Jhoolz strikes up a number of conversations with these workers until she is able to find one who would be willing to show her the ropes and supply them with the proper uniforms.
"Now if'n yer caught with this contraband, you don't know me and I don't know you, Sokka!?
Jhoolz heads back to the ship with her arms full of uniforms and her bank account slightly emptier.
Streetwise:
Daneel lets Jhoolz take the lead and follows her from a few dozen meters back - keeping in touch via their comms. He is somewhat disappointed when he realizes that actual larceny wouldn't be involved, but quickly sees that bribery is the smarter course of action. He keeps an eye out for any sign of law enforcement, or anything else that might interfere with Jhoolz' negotiations.
Jerry prepares a suitable cover story, should he and his companions get stopped.
Jhoolz nods gratefully as Daneel watches her back as she concludes the transaction with the seller of the uniforms. As they move away from the seedier part of the port she smiles at her companion.
"See, nothing to it. Just need to know where the grease needs to go and how much is needed is all!"
She begins to whistle a jaunty tune on their way back to the ship.
Jhoolz and Daneel return to Nemesis with several maintenance uniforms. Shortly thereafter, Bryon returns with several janitorial uniforms.
"Who will be dressing as maintenance or janitorial?," he asks his companions.
"Use those to get close and then hack the ship's security to get on board. How does that sound to you?"
[ooc]We can have two groups. Some of us in janitor's clothes can keep watch and come if needed. The rest in maintenance gear can get into the docking area. Maybe set off a very low end alarm and claim to be checking on it. As long as real maintenance doesn't show up at the same time that gives us a way in. Someone who can talk will need to be ready to go in the docking area."[/b] Byron suggests.
"Well I will go with Daneel here to get onto the ship. He has the technical skills and I have the blarney! I kile the idea of having support outside, so janitors cleaning just outside will make me feel much better. Well, we ready to go??"
As she is talking, Jhoolz begins to strip to her undergarments and then re-dress in the maintenance suit. By the time she is finished talking she is ready to go.
Jhoolz will take nothing but her winning smile and sultry voice...lol
Daneel wears the maintenance uniform over his ballistic cloth armor (TL 10). He grabs his computer and his starship engineer tool kit (TL 12). Just in case, he slips his laser pistol into the tool kit.
Okay. The team makes its way towards the bay where Mercifuge is berthed. Sounds like a pair of janitors and a pair of maintenance workers.
You've noticed that the whole asteroid (the Skull) is a red-flagged zone under the protection of the Widows.
You can see from distance that the ship, a 400-ton armed salvager, is locked up tight.
Stealth:
Byron tries to not be noticed.
Jerry is not stealthy, not in the least. He is, very much, the epitome of non-stealthy.
Instead, he tries chatting up the nearby guards and workers to provide a distraction for his companions.
Stealth isn't Daneel's strong point, so he takes his cues from Jhoolz.
But what he does have is an eye for details, so he watches the Mercifuge for signs of patrols and other security measures.
Jhoolz nods and smiles as the mechanic slides silently up beside her just outside the bay the Mercifuge is berthed. She notices his watchful eyes and again nods as she too scopes out the area for any signs of security.
Recon:
There are no guards on obvious duty, but Mercifuge is powered up and it's likely that someone is at home.
"The ship is powered up. Miria may have left some crew on board. Could we somehow contact them and presuade them to permit us on board?," Jerry asks his companions.
"Is it worth trying?"
"Okay," Jerry addresses his companions. "Going in with guns blazing will simply get us killed, hopefully in a quick blaze of ignominous failure. Instead of a long, protacted death as an example."
Jerry shakes himself to get off that morbid train of thought.
"Ideas, people! We need ideas!," he says in an attempt to encourage his companions.
"How else might we do this? What can we do to give ourselves any advantage? There are no bad ideas except, of course, going out in a storm of laser fire."
Jhoolz answers back on her Nural link.
"Well let's just see who is in and if I can bamboozle them into allowing us on-board before we give our lives to a frontal assault!"
Jhoolz moves towards the entry port on the ship and buzzes those inside.
"Hallo!? We are here...are you going to let us in or what??
Daneel shakes his head. "With the type of security this ship probably has, I'd need hours to have a chance to crack it without getting caught. Maybe we should stake the place out - see who comes and goes?" He turns to see what Jhoolz thinks, only to see her walking away, towards Mercifuge. He looks around, then hurries after her.
Byron pushes around a mop in a corner that allows him to keep an eye on whatever his crewmates are doing to get in, but far enough away that he is not sure why Jhoolz seems to have taken off with a trailing Daneel.
There's a long pause before the comms light up. "Who the f@%& are you? We paid to be left alone."
Jhoolz waits for Daneel to catch up and grins at him as she turns back to the speaker. In a bored-sounding voice, she replies.
"Sorry to disturb ya yer grace, but you have a little problem out here. Looks like your coolant has sprung a leak. Want us to take a look at it for you before Port Authority climbs all over you and charges you a cleaning fee?"
Deception: