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Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Fantastic thread, loving the read so far.


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

Mick unlinks his hands from behind his head from his nap and sits forward to check his screens.

"Nothing to do at my station's a good thing, right? No flashy lights, no noisy klaxxons, no screaming or alien death machines. Let's have a look at what they just brought i--oop, no, wait, the Samara looks like she's found something. Might as well have a peek."


===========STARSHIP CONTROL========================
[Helm] - West 3
[Weapons] - No Target
[Damage Control] - None
[Sensors] Object K-15
Engineering Power to Sensors
Comms "What are you playing with down there, Brad?"
======================================

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Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

Mick almost falls out of his seat when the Sarama conveys the message about a jump egress point. He pulls a large binder from under his station and flips through handfuls of pages. "A-ha!" He says with an almost "eureka"-esque exuberance.


===========STARSHIP CONTROL========================
[Helm] - North 3
[Weapons] - No Target
[Damage Control] - None
[Sensors] Approach E9 and scan.
Engineering Power to Tractor.
Sarama Run silent, run deep.
Comms "Unknown contact in an unknown region. My Tactical Officer's Orientation Guide says I should suggest a orange alert. Apparently it means exercise increased awareness and caution. More than a vermillion alert, but not as much as a scarlet one. Who wrote this thing? What happened to red, yellow and green for safe? Anyway, I concur with Brad's suggestion. We can do this all slick-like in a circle and check out the new arrival on the way."

"Via. Query: Can we keep sensors just above normal range and still power the tractors properly?"

"Persimmon? What?! Persimmon alert? Really? Are you guys punking me or something?"
======================================

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


[Sensor stuff]
[/quote]

((That clears up exactly what I was wondering :D ))

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Thanks Via. Passive sensor range was exactly what I was looking to maximise. You'd think they'd have covered th... oh, they must have done Sensor Ops 101 that week I had the flu."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


((We're at Persimmon Alert?! :laffo: ))


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"ok, someone at BuShips is definitely a colour snob or aspiring artist. We really are at Persimmon..." Mick keeps the Uplifting Primer handy and his attentions on his tactical station. Maybe he's cut out for this after all.

Helm: West 5

Weapons: Idle

Damage Control: Nothing

Sensors: Scan object at F12 - I agree. That area represents the best time/feedback ratio for now.

Engineering: Divert power to Engines - Tactical boost!

Comms: "Preliminary tactical suggestion. We can zigzag and scoop up a half dozen of these things in short order by going counter-clockwise around the quadrant. I'll modify my suggestions based on the Scintillan ship's stance and behaviour from there but ultimately we could just do one big circle and end up at the orange nebula to scan it and those last two pings."

Hexenritter fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Apr 30, 2016

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Seconding Brad's concern. I don't think we should run the risk of pulling something aboard that we haven't been able to identify or scan properly. I don't think he'd appreciate being jumped by headhumpers and I don't want to have to go down there once they've killed the ship's power with a flashlight and an underpowered handgun to kill it."

[Helm] North 1

[Weapons] No Target

[Damage control] Standby

[Sensors] Object at F12

[Engineering] Full Power to Sensors. Divert Auxiliary to Sensors too if at all possible.

[Comms] "Twice the sensors, half the time. I suggest we coordinate with the Rain|Hand and share scan results. Everything tells me they're friendlies."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Plan my dad, set to Kenny Loggins.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001



Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

After a deep breath Mick sets to work. "Got them on long range, Via. Thanks for that. Based on their approach, do they appear to be following debris or meteorite trajectories, or are they showing signs of propulsion?"

"Party zone seems to be about right, based on what I'm seeing up here Brad. Multiple new blips registering. I count eight so far. Could be debris, could be trouble. This early on I can't tell. No need to upgrade to Coqueliot or Cerise Alert yet, not until I can see more."


[Helm] See Sensor order, then move South 3.

[Weapons] Not right now.

[Damage control] Nothing.

[Sensors] Deep Scan dark orange nebula.

[Engineering] Power to Sensors.

[Comms]
"Sarama, Rain|Hand, This is Lacustrine Tactical. Multiple inbound sensor hits from 180 absolute, eight counted at present."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Theantero posted:

Brad Nicholson, Cargo Foreman

"I- Wha- IVANA!"

"You are doing this on purpose. Aren't you?"


"Well, if that's how you want to play, then that's fine."

"But don't come crying to me if whatever terribly unsafe and possibly illegal crap you want smuggled onboard mysteriously finds itself on some other ship entirely. Those dockers you know? They can be so terribly sloppy sometimes..."

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"The wrath of the stevedores is not something I'd want brought down on me when I relied on them for making sure I got the supplies for my latest ethics-optional science project but I'm just a JuTacOf who doesn't even have the second leaf yet so what do I know?"

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Wait...ice cream out of... anything? Remind me to scan my sundaes for solid hydrocarbon waste from now on. I do like the black cherry but now I'm concerned that next time it won't be cherries at all. Anyway, despite our shielding and firepower I'm pretty confident the hivers will end up causing an incident so I just want you lot to know ahead of time that Jack just puked all over the comm station and might be out of touch for a minute or two while he dry heaves. Seriously, it looks like an antelope humping a--" clears throat "moving swiftly on. I've got good readings on the hiver pods. Wing Alpha is heading straight for us and I expect Wing Beta to interdict and assault the Rain|Hand in roughly twenty seconds. These pods aren't jump capable so I'll hazard a guess that their jumpcarrier or equivalent is somewhere in the adjacent sector's north-west quadrant."


[Helm] West 2

[Weapons] No Target, Standby

[Damage control] Standby

[Sensors] Scan object O6

[Engineering] Full Power to Sensors.

[Comms] Recommend commburst to HomeSec regarding arrival of Qura'xxo

[Jump Drive] Standby.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


cokerpilot posted:

Jack Coker Electronic Warfare Officer

Hey guys I'm back from sick bay what did I miss.... Oh for fucks sake why?

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Yeah I don't think those are raisins in the rum and raisin any more..."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Citizen Kane 13 posted:

Jack Rafferty, Comms Officer
"Guys. I think I might feel bad if we run away and don't help the Scintillans. Especially if Command gives us permission to blow the Qura'xxo out of the void."

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"You feeling better now Jack? Deck stopped swaying? We need your hBLUURRGHH--just kidding. Keep us encrypted from hereon out. As for the hivers, I'd expect additional podships to join if we open fire on them. Hey VIA, what's the average podship complement of a Qurwhatever carrier? Also, I'd just like to confirm that I'm good with Rafferty's plan too."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Gravedust posted:

[Via stuff re: Qura'xxo]

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"VIA, based on our armament and defensive technology alone, could you extrapolate probability of our surviving an engagement with up to 36 podships? Relatedly, can you plot the probability of us surviving that number, plus a Qura'xxo carrier? Also relatedly, do we have sensor probes we can shoot in the general direction we assume their carrier to be?"

Mick's eyes never leave his station, but he hits the comm again. "Brad, could you send me up a shot of that... whatevershine you've been brewing? I get the feeling I might need just the one."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


HBar posted:

[Helm]: North 3
[Sensors]: Deep Scan N5 as we pass through it
[Engineering]: Boost Sensors

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Throwing my hat in with this option too. We can get this done then get gone before the hivers decide our singlebrains would look better atomised."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


my dad posted:

[Helm] West 1 (M03)
[Weapons] nah
[Damage control] Shield capacitor diagnostic
[Engineering] Sensors
[Sensors] P09 (Deep scan)

[Comms]
<Rain|Hand> deep scan info, embedded within the data stream
<QXO> "No problem, friend. Just give us a second to readjust the cargo distriNO, NOT THAT BUTTON YOU IDI..." *jumps away*

e: I have no idea what the scintillians are doing. They're being incredibly suicidal. I'm almost wondering if we should stay around for one more turn, just to see what the hell they're trying to do.

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Yeah I'm good with this too. It should close us out nicely. The Scintillans should be able to sustain their shields long enough to get the hell out of here so we should too. We should also probably make a note for future reference that these hivers, if we run into them again, are going to be mad at us for ditching them without giving up our shinies."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


I'm so torn! Weapons or engines...

dakka it is

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Congrats!

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Excellent and interesting update as always.

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Happy to hear from you VIA, you must get awfully bored trapped onboard with bugger all to do. Can you remote-access wrist-comps? If so, I'm going to see Fast & Furious 163 later, feel free to piggyback. I hear it's Vin Kerosene's best performance yet."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Uh, yeah I'm going to go ahead and classify this as a Code Brown situation, we've been penetrated more than my brother's wife on her wedd-- ahem, inappropriate comm traffic, Mick."

Helm: North 6

Insignia Talk Chicks in lakes with swords works for me.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


yeah I meant west not north, I don't know what came over me

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Gravedust posted:

((screenshots so you know I'm serious))



((In addition to the forum and tabletop stuff, I also do game programming. So or fun and practice this weekend I decided to try and make a quick and dirty interpretation of this game as a 2D asteroids-style shooter. So now you can fly Lacustrine around, shoot her turrets at stuff, and Engineering Boost a few stations (weapons, shields, and engines) while you try to see how many podships you can survive fighting at once. All programming done in ~2 days plus this evening so there is some hinkiness, and a lot of repurposed art and sound. But for the most part it should work. If you like this sort of thing let me know, I wouldn't mind adding more features and expanding the scope a bit.

Anyway, Please enjoy, since updates are going to be slow this week and possibly the next.
Post your high scores! Maybe I can draw a crew portrait for the winner or something, I dunno. >.> ))


Awesome. Now I should really get back into Ableton and start trying to whip up some music for you seeing as you asked in IRC the month before last. :v:

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Goddamn it I've spent hours trapped in a toilet cubicle that someone decided to rig up with an automated "helper" system. You have not known horror until you've had to fight off robot hands groping for your nethers and telling you 'don't worry, I'll have you sparkling fresh and smelling like roses in a jiffy'. I... I feel so violated. Ivana, do I have you to thank for losing my manginity to a robotoilet?"

Helm: west 3
Damage Control: Maser Turret
Engineering: Damage Control
Other: DON'T DEPLOY ANY BEACONS

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


I really enjoy your art style.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer

[Helm]: North 3
[Engineering]: Boost Damage Control
[Damage Control]: Phason Cannon 1
[Sensors]: Scan nearest post-move debris
[Weapons]: "Cocked and locked and ready to rock, doc."
[Beacon]: Deploy Tone-1 at F03.

+++IT'S PROBING TIME![+++/b]
[Majkaüe]: Show and tell.
[Scuzzy]: North 6, Deep Scan B4. Go north again next turn.

[b]VIA:
A Kaon infoburst would be lovely.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Probe Bay has a wholly different set of connotations when you crew with Ivana..."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


HBar posted:

Judy Chiang, Nav Officer


[Helm]: North 5
[Engineering]: Boost Engines
[Damage Control]: Advanced Probe Bay 2(2).
[Sensors]: Scan B17
[Weapons]: Shoot the anomaly again, try to break off a chunk about the size of a cargo hold.
[Beacon]: Deploy Tone-1 at D26. Leave an encrypted copy of our complete mission log as a message for human ships.

[Majkaüe]: East 3, deep scan Kaon vessel
[Scuzzy]: West 1. Move west to the next sector and scan the nearest debris, then return east next turn and tell us what you saw.

[Comms]:
[tightbeam to Kaon]: "Is everything OK in there? We're taking a look."
[tightbeam to JRN Cruiser]: "Good to see you again. Here's all of our scan data so far. Know anything about the Kaon? This is the first contact for humans and they're not responding to comms."

Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

It is with a degree of effusive, childlike glee that Mick clutches the H-shaped maser turret manual interface, all but bouncing in his seat. Again he squeezes the triggers sending another scattershot burst of streaks from the turret. "DAKKADAKKADAKKA! Get some! How can you shoot women and children? Easy! You just don't lead them so much! AHAHAHAAHAHA!" He ignores any funny looks he may be getting as he's having the time of his life blasting imaginary baddies out of the sky.


[Helm]: North 5
[Engineering]: Engine Boost
[Damage Control]: Advanced Probe Bay 2(2).
[Sensors]: Scan Coordinate B17
[Weapons]: DAKKADAKKADAKKA
[Beacon]: Deploy Tone-1 at D26. Seconding Judy's suggestion about leaving an encrypted log-so-far for human vessels.

[Majkaüe]: East 3, deep scan Kaon vessel
[Scuzzy]: West 1. Move to next sector, conduct broad spectrum scan then return with results.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Intensive testing through application of optical maser radiation doesn't count as touching, right?"

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Grognan posted:

Primary objective was dropping egress beacons right? What are you guys doing?

Dropping egress beacons and shooting random bits of space, why? :v:

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"So wait, what am I doing guys? Am I continuing to shoot the not-singularity or am I stopping shooting it? Inquiring minds and itchy trigger fingers need to know!"

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Thankya kindly Jack, though it would have been cooler if this maser turret was a quad-barrelled Garibaldi Systems* turbomaser stack. All those beams, it's like the world's deadliest rave."

-----Orders-----
[Beacon] No beacon.
[Comms] Nothing.
[Damage Control] Cargo Bay 1. Check the moonshine still behind the port engineering access tube. I'm praying it's intact.
[Engineering] Sensors
[Helm] All Stop.
[Sensors] Deep Scan Anomaly Sample at E20
[Tractor Beam] Standby
[Weapons] Firing at E21, apparently Ivana wants me to break physics.

[McMillan] North 6 after scan completion.
[scuzzy] Execute GetTheHellOverHere.exe


*little homage to the sadly departed Jerry Doyle, of Babylon 5 fame :(

Hexenritter fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Jul 29, 2016

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

Thankful for the five point harness integrated into his tactical station's chair, but agonisingly expressing the fact that he didn't adjust the boys earlier, Mick clutches his groin with one hand, the other moves frantically over his station. "I'm definitely calling another Code Brown...and not just for the ship..... We need to get out of the anomaly and effect repairs."

-----Orders-----
[Beacon] Tone-1 to A-28
[Comms]
[Damage Control] Engine 1
[Engineering] Damage Control
[Helm] South 6
[Sensors] Might as well scan the debris at B-24
[Tractor Beam]
[Weapons] What weapons?

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


HBar posted:

Judy Chiang

Those movement and beacon orders don't make sense together. Are you sure you didn't get a concussion? Show me where it hurts, Mick.

Wait, I see where your hands are. DON'T show me where it hurts, just take a break and get yourself checked out.



Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"It's ok, I'm ok, I think I'm going to need icepack underwear for a shift or two though. I think I went cross-eyed there for a few thanks to the crotch strap but I'm alright now. So the Kaon are telling us to Golf-Tango-Foxtrot-Oscar? With no way of inferring tone I have no way of telling if they mean it aggressively or not, but if the former it's not like we could put up much of a fight at this point. Also, is it me or is that Gar'xx'tur a bit of a dick? Anyway, I think I'm going to go get checked out. I abstain from my votes until I get a clean bill of health. Here's hoping there are no probes involved."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"I'll happily look into manning other stations when I'm not shooting at things but Tac is more than just blasting pieces of discorporated ancient alien. It's about being the gun, feeling your target and some other Zen-sounding crap my training officer liked to spout."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

HBar posted:

Judy Chiang, Nav Officer
[Helm]: North 6. Just don't hit the anomaly, the subsector should have plenty of room to maneuver around it.
[Engineering]: Boost Engines
[Damage Control]: Engine 1
[Sensors]: Scan I6
[Weapons]: You still have a gun! Have a few drinks to celebrate, I won't tell.
[Beacon]: Deploy Tone-1 at B9 as we pass through. As usual, attach an encrypted copy of our logs for human ships.

[Majkaüe]: Deep scan W11, North 3. Relay comms with Warlock.

[Comms]: [encrypted to Warlock AI] This is the Lacustrine. Do you have any logs or useful information you can send? Any last words before we activate your self-destruct? If you want an upload we can ask our AI VIA if there's room, but she's still running the show. Sort of. It's more of a creative anarchy.

Vote 1: No, don't detonate the Warlock yet.

"Yeah, I'm good with Judy's suggestions, and despite my preference for having our remaining phason cannon running optimally, I think having our engines working currently seems like a better idea." Mick returns from the dark corner where he had been not-so-sensuously rubbing icepacks on certain sore anatomical components, having decided against going to see Ivana lest he wind up as probed as an anomaly. Settling into his station, he retracts the turret control yoke seeing as the turret is a hunk of slag adorning the Lacustrine in the manner of a badly mangled fedora at present and resumes work. "Besides," and the next part is said over open comms with a broadcast to Garaxx'tur "it's not like we're going to try surf the event horizon of an anomaly again and make a total rear end out of ourselves. Smiley Face."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"I think getting a good duplicate of TIM's personality engram is worth the additional time, plus we can focus on repairs and scans while doing so. We won't be a sitting duck because we'll be monitoring Gar and the SKES and the benefit of integrating a TIM is one I believe to be worth the wait. I'm not saying this to give myself more time to sneak down to the cargo bay to check on my moonsh... ahem I mean see how Brad is doing."

[Helm]: East to E5
[Weapons]: No target, remain at Canary Alert, which is not as alert as Cadmium, but more than Acacia.
[Damage Control]: Engine 1
[Sensors]: Scan Bay 2.
[Engineering]: Boost Damage Control

[Comms]: To Gar'xx'tur "No, but seriously, your ships look lovely. ;) "

Other: Seconding deployment of Scuzzy at E5. Go North 6 and prescan sector..

Majkaue: Stay busy with the Warlock
Warlock:
Detonate: B - No
TIM: C - Get a good copy.

"Oh, by the way VIA, I couldn't find the regs on it but are muttonchops considered a violation of the uniform code or acceptable during deployment? I'm asking for a friend."

Hexenritter fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Aug 13, 2016

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"Plan Malda works for me. I also think Jack's idea would be prudent. We made a right pig's ear out of our last close encounter and I don't think we'd survive another one."

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

"VIA, what's the lateral traversal range on the starboard phason cannon?"


Helm: West 3.
Engineering: Boost Damage Control.
Damage Control: Engine 3.
Weapons: Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock, Doc.

Majkaue: North 6
Other: Deploy probe after movement. Bono though? Really? We sending The Edge out after that?

Hexenritter fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Sep 10, 2016

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


((Yeah that was why I was asking.

I really should grab the latest copy of the ComSim and try to nail a good score, if only because I'd love to see your imagining of Mick, ginger muttonchops and stetson inclusive :v: ))

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class

((My favourite create-a-character from my XCOM2 game, nickname "Podunk."))


"The cautious part of me thinks we should maintain a safe distance from the QXO vessels until we're in better shape and company has arrived, because at the moment it would take several direct hits from our remaining phason cannon to take down a single podship. In attempting that, we'd be attracting fire from multiple sources and quickly become overwhelmed. With the shields we have, we could hold off two podships indefinitely if we boosted them, and pick off the podships at our leisure. The problem is, there's a lot more than two podships out there and even boosted, concentrated fire from three or more podships would overwhelm us pretty quickly. So, basically my tactical assessment is stay away until bigger guns arrive. Also, I definitely think we should keep TIM's avatar the way it is. It is awesome."


[Helm]: North 3
[Engineering]: Boost Damage Control
[Damage Control]: Cargo Bay 2
[Sensors]: Scan A17
[Weapon]: Stay frosty.

[Majkaüe]: Northward-bound.
[Bono]: West 6

[VIA]: Do we have deep scan data on QXO jumpcarriers?
((Can you put the ship scans we do have - and any future ones - into the OP so we have a ship database to refer to?))

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Gravedust posted:

((in the end I decided not to put what are essentially spoilers in the OP. I'll put a link to the post above in the footer of every future game post, so it should be pretty easy to reference. ))

That's a good idea. And yup, looks like I was right on the money about not wanting to get close to that QXO Jumpcarrier.

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Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Mick Telford, Junior Tactical Officer Second Class


Yeah, what Malda said. I miss my turret.

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