P:AE Group 1, Team R89

Dusty shook his head, thinking. "No, didn't have much time t' get acquainted before we got put to sleep...Ugh, that'd explain why the one in hydroponics was givin' me such odd things...Don't...Think I could see anything that'd hide you for long...You got that file, right? I guess you c'n make 'em, but...I dunno, that might buy us some time if it comes down to it...Hmm..." After a moment, he had an idea...Raising his voice to be heard through the door, he called out to the guards. "Ah, so while we're trying to get this thing open, what kinda things were you lookin' for anyhow?" Maybe if he could get the guards talking, he could find out whether or not Astral even -needed- to hide. Still, he glanced around, looking for a loose panel, something...Heck, maybe he could jam her in a locker or something? That'd certainly be uncomfortable, but if she was in trouble, she was their only link to Stella...Where -was- she, anyhow? Was she doing something!?

Persuasion: Go on, tell the semi-suspicious stallion what you're looking for so he can hide it...:

The mare apparently in charge, waiting impatiently in front of the door, turns to answer Clover.  

"We're in the middle of an investigation, door's giving us a bit of difficulty though."

She practically shouts to answer Dusty's question.

"We're looking into some odd occurrences around the ship.  There's been some odd computer activity and magical anomalies that Commander Strike believes might be a security threat.  We're wondering if you've seen anything odd lately."

"That goes for you too,." she glances back at the Diamond Dog, to be thorough- or perhaps figuring Clover was an occupant of the room too, given that she seemed to be waiting outside as well.

She hesitates, but seems to be convinced to continue.

"But that doesn't explain why we're here, specifically. "  She sighs.  "We wouldn't be barging in here without a reason.  Said computer activity, and anomalies were detected on this deck- Archives, to be exact.  The system was accessed without logging on, and files were sent to this room.  Not accusing anypony of anything- this doesn't mean any of you have done anything wrong.  We have other leads to inspect if this one doesn't check out- such as similar incidents in the Cargo bay. I just want to hear if you know anything, and take a quick look around- We'll certainly be less of a bother than this door is being right now."  

Locker's seem a bit small- though perhaps you could fit Astral in.  It wouldn't be very comfortable.  And it would be hard to explain if Security decides to check the lockers.  There does seem to be a loose panel you could try pulling off the wall- 'course according to the blueprints it's not concealing a good hiding spot, but you could always pull it off and see for yourself.

Clover shakes her head slightly, a small frown on her face. "Nothing's seemed too weird to me so far." She thinks for a moment longer, before adding, "Well, 'sides the bug with the difficulties at the doc's. As for files...well, we just got a transfer, so maybe the files on 'em were delayed coming or something?"
She looks at the security force for a moment more, before thinking to introduce herself. "Oh! I'm Clover Paw with Group...uh, Group..." She motions for the guards to wait just a moment before retrieving her ID and reading it to them. "R-89. The uh...team you're checking on."

"Computer anomalies, huh? Well, I dunno about on this deck, I know the botany section one floor up's actin' funny, saying we have more seeds than we do. I know they were full when we got on this ship, so somethin' ain't right there." While he shouted back, he trotted over to the panel, trying to pull it loose. It was...Probably for the best to cooperate at least a little. He didn't know how long the door would be malfunctioning. "Ah, come on! Don't tell me I'm stuck in here!"

They see me rollin'. They hatin'.:

[b]Appearance: Dull and Drained [/b]

Astral Arc tried to open the panel to see if there could be some way she could manage to fit inside. She definitely needed to hide.  Assuming the panel didn't work, she would try the locker. No way they weren't going to haul her off if they found her as it was. All it would take were a few calls to the right ponies to verify that there had been no transfers into this room (she could alter the computers all day, but that didn't change any pony's memory), and any ruse she put up would be seen through.

There was no way she was going to some sort of space pony jail. She knew how the unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi treated their prisoners, and there was no way she was signing up for that. Then again, maybe those standards had improved since her time? But she had no proof of that, and she wasn't about to risk it. Then again, she could probably escape any sort of jail on the ship, she could actually hack the computers with her elemental powers, which didn't require her to touch them or use the unicorn magic interface. But what if they had no intention of imprisoning her? She looked like a stowaway, and she had no idea how ruthless the ponies she was dealing with actually were.

Suddenly another thought occurred to her. "Dusty, wasn't Stella good at tech stuff? Like me? What if whoever is doing this is targeting ponies who are skilled with computers and electronics? I should have put something else on my file expertise. I need to change that, and I really really need to hide. If I'm right, and the technology experts are being targeted and somehow confined or removed from the ship to cover something up, then I might be the only one who can figure out what's going on."

Yes, maybe she was. Perhaps Astral Arc could solve the mystery of this space ship and save everyone, and then Star Swirl would see! Everyone would see! She blinked a few times. Maybe she really did have some sort of problem, but now really wasn't the time to address that.

But none of this would work if she didn't stop herself from getting captured right now. What could she do to stop that? Nothing. If the guard found Astral Arc, she would arrest her, and given their rather abysmal choices for hiding places, she would probably find Astral Arc. Unless she didn't! What if she didn't find Astral Arc?

"Okay, Dusty I think I have a plan. I'm going to look up one of the other Crystals in the files, then switch their pictures with pictures of me, and give that security mare their name, and say that I met you in the cafeteria and came back to talk to you about your farming technology. I can do this really fast if I activate my electricity affinity. I can even keep the door shut at the same time. But the only thing I'm worried about is her seeing me or the other Crystal again later, but I suppose it might be best to cross that bridge when we come to it. For right now, I think it's our best option."

Astral closed her eyes, tapping into the electrical currents around her and causing one of the computer screens to change it's display again. Small bolts of electricity flew off the screen as it quickly scanned through the files. She needed a Crystal Mare that was preferably on the other side of the ship, ie: one that couldn't just come walking down the hall, and one that didn't work with the guards, so she wouldn't be recognized. As long as the guards didn't know every pony on sight, this plan stood a decent chance of working, at least in the short-term.

Mechanics to Pry off the Panel:

Technology to Find Another Female Crystal's File and Hack It:

Power Activation:

When Link awoke, it was in a slight state of confusion.

He had been sparing with Clover... only to have her gain the upper claw (paw?) for a moment with him hitting the mat...

Then all he remembered was blackness. Blinking a little as his sight began to clear up, the hippogriff started to look around to see just where the hell he was and to hopefully get some context about what the hell had happened.

Perception roll:

Dusty manages to pry the panel loose.  And indeed, there does seem to be space behind it, where there shouldn't be.  Wires appear to have been deliberately rerouted to make a small nook, barely large enough to fit a pony- but nothing's there right now.

Meanwhile, Astral finds a suitable file- another Crystal pony, that had in fact been in the cafeteria at the same time as Dusty, in case the Security team was that thorough (and paranoid).  How convenient.  She figures out how to get the computer to take a picture of herself, to replace the other pony's profile picture.  Her name is Amethyst Aurora.  

The security officer doesn't take long to figure out what Clover means by "bug".  "Don't put that in the report." the mare tells the unicorn, who indeed did seem to be writing up a report while waiting for the door.  He nods in understanding.  

She seems much more interested in what Dusty has to say about the discrepancy in the seed records.  "Thanks, we'll check that out once we're done here."

And then the power goes out.  Lights extinguished, the hum of electricity silenced, and the vibrations of the ship's engine stilled.  

Emergency lights, dim but enough to see by, are lit after a few moments.  You hear with relief the air circulation come back online as well.  

"Nopony panic, you're not trapped in there." the security mare calls into the room.  And indeed, the earth pony guard stops working on the doors' circuitry (which is now offline), and begins pushing the door open manually, now possible since the door was no longer actively trying to force itself closed.  

-----

Link finds himself in the infirmary- clearly the sparring session had been harder on him than he thought.  A doctor was nearby, looking at the changeling you had seen in the gym.  You overhear their conversation partially- the changeling in particular seems to be speaking quietly  though.  The doctor says something about the sleeping equipment not agreeing with most changelings on board, and for the changeling to take it easy as it might take her longer to readjust to waking life, and the changeling seems to be insisting that some problem she's having is not related.  

The changeling seems to go into a panic right then, covering her face and ears with her hooves, as though trying to block out a loud sound, bright light, bad smell, or headache.

The power goes out, and comes back on (as noted above).

Clover takes a moment to appreciate the hallway's new resemblance to a tunnel with its half-light, and is lost in a bit of longing for home before realizing the task has become more her speed. "Oh! Lemme help with that." Provided they don't stop her, she puts her hands on the door and leans her weight into opening it. "I'm not much on circuits...but this bit I can definitely handle."

Meta:

"Okay, what th' hay is goin' on? Now the ship's flickerin'? Ugh, this just gets worse and worse. Can't wait to get down to ground, this is gettin' to me..." Dusty muttered the last part, thinking. "Somepony made themselves a cubbyhole here...I'd bet my bottom bit we got someone messin' with the ship itself!" Dusty looked at Astral for a moment before trotting over to look out. Though, what Astral said made sense, and he kept thinking for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, you're right. She was good with tech too...You really think someone's trying to make sure they can't be traced or countered, then...?" He didn't have many answers right now, just a lot of questions, and no real way to follow up on them for now. He supposed the only thing to do was what he did when he was stumped; just move forward one step at a time and let things sort themselves out as he went.

Finding himself coming to in a medical bed, Link decided to do the wise thing and take things easy for the moment. He wasn't completely sure why he had blacked out so easily and pushing himself to hard to fast may just result in a repeat. Settling himself for a bit of a rest and listening in on the conversation between the on duty doctor and the changeling, he found himself wondering what might have been ailing the bug pony when the lights suddenly died along with a couple of other electronics for a moment before the emergency lights kicked in alongside the back up generators powering the more vital components to the ship.

Merely having to wait a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sudden change of lighting to see just as clearly in the dark has he had when the main lights were on, Link looked around before letting out a loud sigh. "Well bugger. If I know my horror stories, this will be the point where alien life forms start bursting out of ponies, intent on eating and laying eggs in the rest of us. Fun times shall be had by all."

As Clover joins the Security pony, the door begins to budge- and the Earth pony, figuring he's getting in the way moves aside and the door slides back into the wall- making more of a "squeak" than a "whoosh".  The unicorn has created a magical floating light, which he sends into the room to provide better illumination than the emergency lighting, and the other security guards have taken out flashlights.  

The head of the security team nods, apparently pleased to see that nopony was hurt during the power outage, but seeming at a loss what to do.  

"Well, it seems like we have bigger problems right now.  Not that we can really investigate anything here with the computers offline at the moment.  Still, it'll be another minute before communications are back up and we can find out what just happened:  So if there's anything else any of you would like to share, now would be a good time, given the circumstances.""

-----
Infirmary
-----
"And if I know my horror stories, that's about the worst thing you could say at a time like this."  the doctor chuckles in a poor attempt to hide his concern at the current situation.  "Good to see you're up- your Diamond Dog friend dropped you off not too long ago, apparently you overexerted yourself.  Lucky your situation wasn't at all serious- otherwise this power outage might have been trouble."

The changeling, which had been completely still, practically in shock since the power went out, flinches back into motion as link says "bugger"- probably mistaking the light swear for an anti-changleling slur.

She shakes her head.  "No- no aliens.  Just what we brought with us."  She tilts her head slightly, as if listening for something- not that there seems to be anything to listen for, with the main engine still silent.  "They're gone now at least." she sighs with no small relief.

Clover tilts her head in confusion, and says (more to the unicorn than the others), "Can't you just...magic up communications?"

Link shrugged a little with a playful grin on his face. "At least you can be assured that when the alien is eating my face first, you'll have time to either run away screaming or shoot it in what you're guessing is its face. Just please promise me that you won't just stand there, looking like an idiot?"

Turning his head to look at the changeling that they were sharing a room with, he tilted his head a little as the confident smirk lost a far amount of its confidence... and didn't exactly look like a smirk anymore either. "For those of us slightly out of the loop, what isn't there anymore?"

Clover wrote:"Can't you just...magic up communications?"

"Ah, I'm afraid that's not really my specialty." The security unicorn says with some embarrassment. "I should probably work on learning sometime..."

"Yes, I think you should. Still, somepony back at command should know how to: there must be plans for situations like this."

No magical message has yet appeared though.


-----

Link wrote:For those of us slightly out of the loop, what isn't there anymore?"

The changeling looks pale with fear. At least you think so, it's hard to tell since she's quite darkly colored, as most changelings are.
"I... might be mistaken. I hope I'm mistaken. But... it's hard to mistake. I think the Hive was here."

She's now huddled up into a ball, and doesn't look like she wants to talk anymore.

"Well, how 'bout this for an icebreaker?" Dusty indicated the hole in the paneling. "I was tryin' to find a way to get to the wires for the door, but look...Looks like somepony could stuff themselves in here, doesn't it?" He tilted his head. "I'm...Thinkin' we might have some stowaway problems." After all, holes like that weren't normal to his knowledge, and things had been far too strange to just dismiss as coincidence.

Clover cocks her head and rapidly moves to the hole in the wall, before sticking her head inside and giving it a deep sniff, trying to find a lingering scent if something had actually been in there.

Sniff Test:

Link blinked a little as the changeling mentioned something about the Hive. While he might not understand how Changeling's worked on either a personal or sociological level, Link could help but bring his clawed hand up to his face so he could stick his face into his palm. "Why do I suddenly feel like we are all about to get screwed over by bullshit politics and zealous insanity all of a sudden?" Once he found the strength to remove his hand from his palm, he turned his attention towards the doctor. "So do I have to stay here for a while or am I free to go whenever?"

"Oh, yes, I'm quite sure you're fine now, run along." The doctor says to Link, clearly more concerned about the panicked changeling in his care.

-----

There's not much for Clover to smell, as whatever had been put in the hole was long gone. But this itself gave her some information to run on- whatever had been stashed here had been taken out before everyone was supposed to have woken up.

She does however pick up a scent in the room that does not belong to any of its current occupants: some of it lingers around the hole, but it's most strongly smelled at one of the four beds: The one that had been empty when the three of you woke up.

Sniffing as she goes, Clover makes her way over to the bed, before turning to the security ponies with a questioning look. "...you wouldn't just happen to know who our fourth was, wouldja? Before...uh...shiny here." Clover gestures to Astral Arc over her shoulder with a thumb extended from an otherwise closed paw. She turns her head to the crystal pony and grimaces a little, saying, "Sorry, I forgot your name again...somethin' with a few "A"s, isn't it?"

Meta:

Link offered the doctor a mock salute before turning and walking out the door of the infirmary, leaving the doctor and his changeling patient to their privacy.  

As he exited the room, Link paused for a moment as he looked around... despite the fact that the poor lightning wasn't a factor to him, he still had no idea where he currently was on the ship and he needed to get back to his room in a hurry to pick up a few things. Link might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed. He could admit to himself that if it came down to it he was most likely a spoon, but all that meant was that he knew how to dig into something even if it took him a while. If there was one thing he knew it was military and police tactics. While the darkness wasn't a factor to him, Link knew full well that not everyone had similar vision. Turning off the lights and a few important but not vital machines would be a devastating diversion in order to achieve a greater goal.

The fact that there might be stowaway changelings on board opened up quite a large number of options as far as possible end goals could go. Right now, he needed to ensure that his team wasn't murdered, abducted or replaced by changelings... and he wasn't clear on where he was in relation to the rest of the ship. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and focused on Clover. Out of the three beings who were part of his group Clover was the one he knew the best, she had some brawn and could see in the dark making her a fine choice to hook up with first. There was also the benefit that she would hopefully know where she was in relation to their room and he could get his equipment.

Link didn't know how he did it but according to his mother it was a gift that he had inherited from her and her family. Something about having unicorns in the family tree had caused it to start bearing some rather strange fruits... One moment he was standing in front of an infirmary door with his eyes closed, the moment he opened his eyes he was standing beside Clover the diamond dog in their room with the other two members of his team... as well as several members of security. It wouldn't be an announced arrival or anything like that; As far as anyone in the room would be concerned, a full grown male hippogriff would have simply arrived somewhere that they hadn't been focusing their attention on and thus missed his arrival.

With a half hearted wave, Link went over to his bed and started to look through his stuff. There wasn't really that much there, just a few keep sakes to remind him of where he had come from and his parents... a small but very much loved stuffed dragon toy named Spike was briefly inspected before loving placed on his bed...

Finally he found what he was looking for. With care, Link removed the sword his father had passed down to him. Giving it a quick inspection to make sure it was in good condition, the now armed Link turned to look at those in the room, his sword resting against his shoulder. "Alright, I'll make this quick and simple. There is a real chance that we have stowaway changelings running around doing who knows what for who knows why. This is a situation that needs to be resolved. Until then, everyone who is staying in this room is sticking together until further notice. Any objections to this can be directed over towards that wall. Sound good?" The instruction session was finished with Link pointing towards one of the walls of the room.

OOC: Magic Point:

"Where in th'-...Nevermind, we'll discuss that later. You said th' bugs may've snuck on?" Dusty was aware some changelings had signed on for this...Them, he had no problem with. It was the idea some had infiltrated that worried him. "That explains the weird placing of th' wires, I suppose...Ugh, not good. Had enough trouble with 'em back home. Still, prob'ly for the best to stick close then. Harder to replace somepony when they're around others, right?" Dusty grumbled incoherently under his breath, trotting over to his things and fetching a well-worn shovel. "Jus' in case...Best to keep somethin' close, right? Anypony have the foggiest what they'd be doin' other'n being a pain?"

On hearing Link, Clover's tail wags a little as she turns to smile gently at the returned hippogriff. Which on her large maw is more like an oddly toothed grin.
On hearing his theory about the changelings her face drops though, before slowly turning to an excited grin as she says, "Wha...seriously? I mean, it sounds like somethin' those bugs'd do, but I wouldn'ta thought they'd do somethin' that bold."

Appearance: Dull and Drained

Astral Arc took a deep breath as she looked at the security officer. This wouldn't be so hard. She just had to convincingly lie to the security officer about a pony that she knew nothing about and keep it up until--- Astral Arc blinked a few times. The engines had stopped humming. Although Astral Arc had possessed absolutely no knowledge about ships, engines or electronics until less than five hours ago, she was pretty sure that was a very bad sign.

"Umm... am I the only one who's noticed that the engines seem to be down? I'm fairly certain that's cause for serious concern." Astral Arc blinked a few times remembering her cover. "N-Not that I know much about that..." She laughed nervously and looked at the Security Mare. "My name is Amethyst Aurora, I'm just here to talk to this fine, lustreless stallion about his agricultural endeavors."

Idly, Astral Arc wondered if Crystal Ponies still referred to other ponies as "lustreless" or if that had changed. She quickly dismissed the notion. Of course they did. It wasn't an insult, after all, it was simply a statement of fact. Other ponies just weren't shiny. It wasn't their fault or anything, but that didn't change the truth.

Although she couldn't say anything about it outloud, Astral Arc then began to try to come up with reasons that the engine might have suddenly stopped working, and what the full implications of the ship no longer having main power could possibly be. As well as, of course, possible ways to fix it.

Persuasion Roll:

Technology Roll:

((Holy shit, guys! The ENGINES stopped working! Maybe we should be worried about that? You know, just MAYBE???

Also... sorry I was gone for so long. I was busy moving to another country and stuff. Still, I know the DM personally, there's really no excuse for how long I was gone...))

The security ponies all stared at Link as he spoke, surprised that they could have overlooked the hippogriff, even in the dim emergency lighting.  

"Changelings?  Are you quite sure?" says the nervous-looking security pegasi.

"It shouldn't be possible- but it seems to fit the bill all right.  Mysterious computer activity, missing seeds, and perhaps other overlooked material hidden in secret compartments, sudden power failure- If anypony, changeling or not had snuck aboard, I'd imagine they'd be trying to get off right about now."

The security team chief sighs.  

"The Commander's going to have a field day with this.  She thought the 'changeling detector' sounded too good to be true, even though it worked on every changeling that was supposed to board, and even managed to catch a few trying to sneak on.  I agree it does sound too bold- I'm surprised any had even tried, given the Commander's reputation."

She turns to "Amythyst Aurora" as she speaks, looking concerned- though you don't think about your lies.  She also seems too preoccupied to notice what you just called the earth pony.

"Oh?  This isn't your team then?  The hippogriff's right though, you had best stick with this lot though."

She froze as you mentioned the engines.  

"We had best be prepared for emergency evacuation then.  I'm going to round up everyone on this floor and make sure nopony's missing- I'll make sure to let your team know where you are, miss Aurora.  Then get a message to the rest of the ship as soon as possible, personally if need be.  See you planetside, hopefully."  She nodded to the rest of the security team and they all marched briskly out of the room.  You can hear them knocking on doors and gathering up the other occupants of this floor towards the cafeteria.  

Astral Arc - Technology Roll:

A look of consternation comes onto the diamond dog's face. Something weird is definitely happening, and it's not just the changelings. Well, it's mostly the changelings, the dirty blighters. But something about the crystal pony's name, and the fact that she said that she's just here to talk with the...whatever that long word means. Probably something about the earth pony, doesn't seem to be an insult.

Turning to the crystal pony, she half-states half-asks, "You're...not part of our team...?"

((Not a problem, glad to have you back! Also, new country?!))