Eclipse Phase - using social skills in combat

In my latest run, I was in a unique situation with my mental state being hijacked by an NPC and turned against my fireteam. I knew that my fireteam would easily outgun me in a combat scenario, so I utilised deception to fool them into dropping their guard. It worked only briefly before the fireteam saw through the ruse.

The concept was novel, and I’m glad the GM allowed the tactic.

Our GM uses a three-step process to decide the success of social tests. The first and most important element is having a convincing in-story argument. It’s not good enough to tell a simple and transparent lie. You need a con that is believable given the context. In my example above, my character turning rogue opened up plenty of opportunities. The next step is the roll based on your skill, and finally the opposed roll.

I liken the steps to a play, and your argument is the script. A good script can go a long way, think Hamlet vs Dora the Explorer. But even a good script is ruined by poor delivery, and a bad roll might mean your character mumbles "to be or not to be" in an unconvincing fashion. Finally, even a well-delivered script might fall upon deaf ears to the weary.

The scenario above made me think about how else deception, and by extension, all social skills, could be used in a combat scenario. This is important to me because my character is combat weak,

Chucks Wiki describes Deception as follows:

"Type: Active, Social
Linked Aptitude: SAV
What it is: Deception is your ability to act, bluff, con, fast talk, lie, misrepresent, and pretend. Accomplished users of deception are able to convince anyone of nearly anything. This skill does not include using a physical disguise to appear to be another person (the Impersonation skill covers that area).
When you use it: Use this skill whenever you want to deceive someone with words or gestures. A successful skill test means that you have passed off your deception convincingly. At the gamemaster’s discretion, someone who is actively alert for signs of deception may make an Opposed Test using the Kinesics skill.
Specialisations: Acting, Bluffing, Fast Talk"

The above description does not seem to prevent deception from being used in a combat situation. It even makes me think about how the use of deceptive gestures might be used in combat to distract or deceive an opponent. For example, I can use hand gestures to signal to a non-existent player in order to throw the enemy off?

I expect that using social skills in combat will often be up to the discretion of the GM due to its novelty. So be prepared to have a backup plan.