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Quentin Verill "Well, it's not like we can just leave them to die. Just...try not to get our ship stuck too."
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Oct 19, 2016 01:52
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 07:42 |
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Burning toward the signal at best speed, the Drake makes good time--all systems are nominal. After some trial and effort, you're able to establish contact with the Arcadian. source "Oh, thank the Stars! We thought we were done. This system's always emptier than a Zho prison." Behind him, you can hear faint cheering. "I'm Gant, Bill Gant. Third Officer here on the Arcadian. Four, five days ago, we were lining up for refueling operations and this ship comes out of the rings, no IFF, nothing. First pass blew a hole in our cargo, didn't do much real damage, but the second pass got Engineering. Killed both our engineers and tore the Captain up good. They were lining up for a third pass, and we figured we're done, when something blew up on their ship and they broke off and disappeared back into the ring. Haven't seen 'em since, praise Stars, 'cause we've been all-hands trying to jury-rig the M-drive. J-drive's working, but we're so far down in the gravity well here jumping out's a last resort. Truth, before you showed up we were close to risking it." Gant and the Arcadian's First Officer, Nim Garekki, are frequently on the comms as you power toward the gas giant. They're noticeably more excited as you get closer. After a long 3-days-and-change, you arrive at extreme sensor range for the area where the damaged ship should be. Feel free to chat with Gant and/or Garekki; you've got a bit over 3 days before you reach them. What do you do now?
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Oct 19, 2016 04:50
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Jyff The first day, Jyff grumbles about wasteful charity, walking into ambushes, and having to tend the "snufflers". Days two and three, his paranoia kicks in. A frenetic Jyff spends his free time practicing with one of the ship's handguns, and his duty shifts pouring over sensor readings. Jyff votes loot! Murderhobo-aside, I think we should try to squeeze the poor victims for some sensor/general navigational info and keep a weather eye out for attack ships. Sensor Roll: 2d6+1 5 Failed that sensor roll. Don't think I'm going to succeed many rolls with Jyff's skills. tokenbrownguy fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Oct 19, 2016 |
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Oct 19, 2016 08:59
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tokenbrownguy posted:Sensor Roll: 2d6+1 5 Failed that sensor roll. Don't think I'm going to succeed many rolls with Jyff's skills. Actually, it was an Easy 4+ roll, so you succeeded.. though barely. The space around the merchant vessel seems clear, though it's hard to get a reading into the rings--there's a lot of matter floating around obscuring things. Still, within your sensor range at least, it looks as if it's just you two out here. The sensor sweep of the ship reveals damage pretty consistent with their story: damage around the cargo hold, a through-and-through in Engineering. The damage suggests some kind of energy weapon, given the scoring around the hastily-applied hull patching. The Arcadian appears to be a Baarnekki-class Fast Trader, though your Imperial ship registry doesn't have a listing. What do you all intend to do?
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Oct 19, 2016 23:37
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Henry The approach gave Henry plenty of time to bring the ship in at a nice course to get up along the Arcadian. As well as ask some questions. "Seeing as how we're helping you out here, how about some help for us? It sounds you come out this way fairly often but its our first approach. A little lay of the land wouldn't hurt. And sending us a copy of your sensor logs of the battle would help as well if it comes back."
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Oct 20, 2016 02:33
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Jyff Jyff skulks just out of the visual transmission's frame. He hisses, "Ask if they're going to ambush us." ooc: Vote we help them out, would be nice to have an ally somewhere around these parts.
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Oct 21, 2016 18:06
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The Arcadian is more than happy to share sensor data with you; you receive the equivalent of the basic system scan from them--physical characteristics and locations of the major bodies in the system, including the mainworld. The mainworld is apparently empty, though the merchanter doesn't have any detailed scan data on the planet. As for the attack, their sensor data is a bit scrambled from the battle damage, but it's clear that the ship that attacked them was in the 3-400 ton range, armed with a large plasma or fusion weapon of some kind and a much lighter secondary laser weapon (that scored no damaging hits during the fight). The sensor logs contain course information for the corsair leading into the ring system of the gas giant, nominally in the direction of two of the larger moons in the giant's planetary system. "Well, Jyff, I suppose they could be fixin' for another ambush, though unless they've managed to repair their damage it'd be a close thing between you and us, particularly since we're aware of them now. They could try it, I guess, but it'd be a long shot and pirates usually aren't the type to try anything but a sure thing." As you approach the ship, it's definitely on course to impact the gas giant, probably within 12 hours unless you can somehow alter the trajectory of the merchanter. Halting it would be even better but even just pushing it out of the gravity well would be a help.
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Oct 23, 2016 02:48
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Henry Henry mulls over his computer, looking at options. They're pretty deep in the planets gravity field, but there is still time. "Arcadian come in. We have a plan here. The Francis Drake will close in and stay on alert for the pirate ship, in case it decides to attack. Meanwhile we will be launching our ships boat and docking directly with you. Then we'll use its thrusters to maneuver you out of the gravity field, or at least into a more stable orbit. It that fails, well at least we'll be able to evacuate your crew. We're on approach now, but what we need is for your engineering team to do a quick space walk and reinforce the docking mechanism with whatever they got on hand."
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Oct 23, 2016 22:25
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"Uh, we don't have any engineers, Drake. They were in the compartment when it was holed, remember?" Your engineers put their heads together and come up with some quick and dirty braces, plans for which they send over to Arcadian as you approach. They reinforce the landing struts of the ship's boat and instruct the other crew to weld some C-shaped hooks onto the other vessel for you to hook the modified struts into. The merchant crew start to work on them frantically as you match velocity with the damaged ship. The gas giant draws nearer; the computer estimates 9 hours until the Arcadian is too deep into the gravity well to retrieve. OK. Henry, I'm guessing you're piloting the ship's boat? We've got a task chain for you! First, Average Engineering roll for the engineers to come up with bracing plans. Second, Average Pilot (Small Craft) to dock with the modified docking rig. Third, Average Pilot (Small Craft) to maneuver the conjoined craft or stop it (your choice) once you're docked. First task happens during your approach. Second and third tasks will take 1dx10 minutes per attempt. First, the engineers success at communicating the bracing plans: Brace the docking sections: 2d6 10 Success, with a +2 effect, so you get a +1 DM to your Pilot (Small Craft) roll to dock the ships' boat with the merchant ship and start to apply counterthrust. Give me rolls for the docking maneuver and then check the chart on p60 for the DM for your braking maneuver based on the effect of that roll. Hypnobeard fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Oct 24, 2016 |
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Oct 24, 2016 14:32
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Henry The walk down to the ships boat is tense for Henry. Its a dangerous maneuver he'll be attempting, one he's never tried before. On the way he summons Tazmin Evans and Jyff through the ships comm system. "Tazmin you'll be coming with. That'll save us the trouble of making another flight over to assist with the drive repairs. Jyff, you're coming with for security." Once they've loaded up and flown out of the docking bay, Henry's worries start to fade away. Being in cockpit seems like the most natural thing in the world. He comes in on a quick burn, before applying retrothrust and hooking into the docking mechanism of the Arcadia. "Okay Arcadia, we got you. Preparing to escape the gravity field in 3, 2, 1..." Henry chimes into the com. It takes around 40 minutes but Henry is able to tease the wounded ship up and out onto an escape vector, roughly in the direction of the jump point. He leans back and relaxes for a second, before hailing the ship again. "We are clear. Stand by receive our engineer to repairs." Off com he says, "Alright Taz head in there. Keep your eyes open though. Jyff, you're going with. Try not to piss them off, eh?" Docking approach: 2d6+1 9 Docking approach time: 1d6*10 10 Gravity Escape Assist: 2d6+2 9 Gravity Escape Assist time: 1d6*10 30
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Oct 24, 2016 19:50
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Jyff "Ain't no problem. That's why I'm here, ya?" Jeff checks his gun and straps his ungainly scrap blade to his hip. "For that fancy gabbin'. Diplometrics. Rondy-vooz and whatnot."
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Oct 24, 2016 20:14
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The docking and braking goes startlingly smoothly. Henry's able to slot the reinforced struts on the ships' boat (the Judith) neatly into the hastily-constructed mounts on the Arcadian. A gentle touch, and what seems hours, and the merchanter eases into an orbit taking it out of the gas giant's gravity well and on course . Tazmin and Jyff board the ship after the braking maneuver, and her inspection of the M-drives is brief: "They're shot. No way to repair short of some yard time, unfortunately." They're back on board the Judith inside of an hour. Gant and the rest of the merchant crew (all three of them) are effusive in their praise despite the assesment. "We're out of Collace, and you've free drinks if you're ever there for as long as I live. I'll talk to HQ when we're back and see if there's anything we can do. We're a small co-op, but we'll see what we can do. We should be able to clear a jump to Bantral in a day or two once we're clear of the 100D limit." Henry detaches the boat as gently as he mated it the first time, and heads back to the Drake. He, Jyff, and Tazmin are just exiting the Judith onto the docking level when an alarm sounds on the. "All hands, all hands, unknown ship exiting debris field. Presumed hostile. Repeat, presumed hostile. Henry, Jyff, get up to the flight deck."
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Oct 25, 2016 22:55
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Henry Henry grunts at the announcement. "About what I was expecting. Looks like the gunners will be earning their salary today." He makes his way back up to the bridge at a quick trot, before taking the pilots seat once more. "Jyff, see what you get on sensors. Lets see if they completed their repairs or just making a last ditch attempt at their prey."
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Oct 26, 2016 00:08
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Quentin Verill "You know, not to disappoint our gunners, but I think perhaps it'd be best to avoid a shoot-out this time. If they are still heavily damaged from before, then they may be sober enough to see reason." Quentin gives a sheepish shrug "...or we could hail them, pretend to want to negotiate, and then blast them. I can go either way, honestly."
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Oct 26, 2016 03:38
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Jyff: Sensors are showing an approximately 400 ton ship, roughly matching the sensor scans that the Arcadian gave you, coming at you around 2G acceleration from the edge of the debris field. They're currently around 50000 km away (so Very Long range). Uncertain about the repair status of the damage; Arcadian's logs were unclear as to what exactly the damage looked like as that end of the fight was corrupted by the damage to Engineering. Average Electronics (Sensors) using INT will get you more information. Quentin: You're receiving a hail though the sender is not identifying themselves. Henry: They're coming in at 2G, your engines are warm but you're still sitting still. We're not quite into combat rounds but it's soon if Quentin can't talk things out.
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Oct 26, 2016 03:46
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Jyff Jyff in his odd, loping gait, sprints to the bridge. He dive/slouches into the engineering station and begins punching in the memorized sequence to scan ships. "Blue, toggle, up-right dial..." Sensor Roll #2: 2d6+1 3 Snake eyes. No luck!
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Oct 26, 2016 03:53
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Jyff: "Error. Error. Error." The computer's bleating is constant and overlapping at the sensor station, and the station panel itself is momentarily overwhelmed with flashing error popups before you manage to find the reset button. The data is pretty minimal, still--you're not able to get anything but a grainy visual on the ship, enough to see there's some damage and scarring but not enough to discern any fine details, like whether or how many turrets are present and active. "Beginning sensor station reset." A low, dulcet "booong" echos in a brief moment of silence on the bridge. "Thank you for choosing GlistenSensa for all your sensor analysis suite needs. Performing self-checks, performance may be degraded while checks are running. Thank you for your patience." You'll have a DM -1 while the reset checks are running--it's usually taken ~5 minutes or so for them to complete before.
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Oct 26, 2016 04:06
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Quentin Verill Quentin gives a restrained fist pump when the unknown ship decides to contact them first. The fact they wanted to talk first before coming in guns blazing said a lot. Scans weren't picking up any useful information, like how damaged the other ship is, but hopefully their own scans were just as useless. After waiting a moment for the error message to quiet down, Quentin answers the hail in the most self-assured voice he can muster. "Unknown vessel, this is the Francis Drake, state your intentions. If you continue your approach, our vessels will be forced to open fire." Sure, the Arcadian was in no shape to fight, but hopefully the enemy was still too far to confirm that for themselves. No one is eager to get into a two-on-one, even if one of your opponents is still damaged. Lying about Arcadia's ability to fight. Got a 5, so uh maybe those gunners are going to earn their pay?
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Oct 26, 2016 17:34
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 The message comes across in a mangled version of Anglic: "Note that unauthorized ships. You are ordered to stand, ready to board the ship and seized in accordance with the orders of the Spaceborne Belgardian Sojourn. Non-compliance would result in the categorization of hostile entities and would take appropriate measures to enforce compliance. You have five minutes to answer." Library data on-board shows no record of the "Spaceborne Belgardian Sojourn."
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Oct 28, 2016 01:28
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Quentin Verill poo poo, that's not good. They just made contact with some highly aggressive backwater "empire". Getting out of this without fighting would be impossible without abandoning the Arcadian to its fate. Promises of trade were probably meaningless to them, and they probably had too much pride and too little experience to be intimidated. Which left one option: hit them first. "This is the Francis Drake, in order to help foster goodwill between the great people of the Spaceborne Belgardian Sojourn and McClellan Factor's, we will comply with your request. You may approach." Turning off the comms, Quentin turns to the rest of the crew. "As soon as they get close, we blast 'em. And if they think something is wrong and don't get close, we still blast 'em. And if I have to say 'Spaceborne Belgardian Sojourn' with a straight face one more time, we're definitely blasting 'em. Any objections?" Luring the other ship closer to our guns, got a 7.
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Oct 29, 2016 00:56
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Jyff "That's my kind of gabbin Verill." Jyff straps himself to his station. "Gonna be some lootin' tonight!"
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Oct 30, 2016 21:47
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"Excellent. Your deadline is appreciated. Any attempt to flee or fight with extreme prejudice will be fulfilled." The Belgardian ship approaches, maintaining a steady 2G acceleration. At this rate it takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 hours for them to close--more than long enough for the Arcadian to lumber further away; it's now at Long range from the Drake. You'll need to assign these roles for this combat: Pilot Captain Sensors Gunners and Engineers are already set, unless you guys want to replace one of the NPCs. I'll need some rules of engagement for the gunners; the engineers will basically do damage control (if necessary) unless you want them to do something specific with the engines or power. You have achieved surprise, so you'll get a round of actions before they can react. Please take a gander at Mongoose Trav 2e p155 and following for the space combat rules; available actions outside of piloting and gunnery start on p160.
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Oct 31, 2016 04:14
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Henry will work as the Pilot.
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Oct 31, 2016 18:28
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He's no pro, but Jyff can take sensors.
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Oct 31, 2016 19:44
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Quentin Verill Once the enemy ship gets close enough, Quentin activates the ship's intercomm. "All guns, prepare to fire. Full missile salvo first, then beams. Let's make this count!" This plan could backfire horribly if they didn't manage to do enough damage in one strike, as the Francis Drake had to remain still in order to draw them in, making them just as easy targets. Well, bit late to get paranoid now. "Fire!" Since I have no space combat skills, Hypnobeard is letting me control the gunners for now. As soon as they are in short range, we're going to open up with a salvo of six missiles first in order to take out their armor, then use beams to try to get critical hits. DM for the beam turrets should be +1 from short range, +4 from Beam Laser, +2 from Gunner's skill, so +7 in total. Missiles get up to +5 if all six make it to the enemy ship, although I don't know if they have enough time to deploy countermeasures or not.
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Nov 2, 2016 22:32
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After what seems an interminable, tense wait--punctuated by the occasional broken-Anglic repetition of the instruction to cease resistance and prepare for boarding--the Belgardian vessel approaches close enough for a visual. source There's some obvious damage, hastily repaired, around the main turret; it's unclear whether that turret is actually functional. At Quentin's terse order, the Drake's turrets spring to life, unleashing focused x-rays from the triple-mounted beam lasers and near dead-firing the half-dozen missiles in the two missile banks. The approaching ship seems to have been suckered completely by Quentin--they're not even reacting to the weapons fire. OK, give me three gunnery rolls, Astus. You've got the right DMs for the beam lasers, but the missiles are actually at +7 (+6 for surviving missiles, +1 for range). Each 8+ hits; the beam lasers do 1D+2+Effect per hit. The missiles will do 4D*Effect damage if you hit.
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Nov 3, 2016 03:26
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Missile attack roll: 11 Beam attack 1 and 2: 12 and 14, so all attacks hit. Missile damage: 17*3 = 51 damage. Beam damage: 8 and 9 thanks to rolling low, however the second beam hit had an effect of 6, so if it does any damage past armor it is also a critical hit. Critical hit location: Armor. Edit: Apparently they don't have armor, so rerolled the crit location Actual Crit Location: Crew. Random guy on their ship takes 1d6 damage. And three more crits from damage done: One to Weapons, two to Hull, so one of their weapons suffers a bane when used, and they take 8 more damage to Hull. Astus fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Nov 3, 2016 |
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Nov 3, 2016 05:08
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Jyff Jyff, as the ship approaches and Quentin opens up, slaps the terminal. "No. No! Not now ya piece of scrap." He starts furiously jamming away at his console. "drat corps! Why they gotta make everything awful?" After a minute, Jyff finally regains control of the device. He reaches for his comm. "Quent.! Quentin baby! Tryin' a target lock. Lemme know if ya get tone." Sensor Lock on the baddies: 2d6+1 12 (minus one b/c of the critical failure earlier for a total of 11)
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Nov 3, 2016 07:44
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Quentin Verill As explosions ripple across the other ship and the Francis Drake starts to move again, Quentin contacts the representatives from the Spaceborne Belgardian Sojourn. "Enemy vessel, now would be a great time to surrender. We still have plenty more missiles in stock. You have five minutes to comply."
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Nov 6, 2016 20:10
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There's no response to Quentin's communication, save the other vessel swerving away, angling back toward the ring debris. The sensor panel lights up as the enemy ship attempts to break the lock Jyff's got on them. The warbling tone of electronic warfare murmurs under the alarms from the computer: "Warning! Warning! Active weapons on enemy vessel." OK, time for initiative. We'll need a Tactics (Naval) roll from Belkis (someone do this, as I think ForgedIron has dropped out): 2D 8+, Effect is a +DM to the initiative roll. Initiative is 2D+Pilot+4+Tactics.
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Nov 8, 2016 16:44
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