Patrick Spens posted:

What's the range on our sensors, can we deep scan that SKES cruiser?

HBar posted:

Judy Chiang, Nav Officer


[Helm]: West 1. I'd rather be heading south, but not by crossing the jump egress.
[Engineering]: Boost Damage Control
[Damage Control]: Cargo Bay 2
[Sensors]: Scan T03
[Weapon]: Hold your fire.

[Majkaüe]: OK, you can come back now.

[Comms]:
[to Gar'xx'tuur]: Deepest apologies for the mixed messages, this is the chaos that results from having a crew of ignorant singlebrains instead of a glorious mentity. It's agreed, we won't dare approach your carrier and its fearsome railcannons. Now let's kill some Skes.

[to Golden Spear]: They actually agreed, so long as we stay clear of the carrier. Looks like it's time to focus on the Skes.
Our sensor range is ten subsectors, and the Skes cruiser is 16 subsectors away at the moment. So we can't yet, but that's something we want to do as soon as possible.

Abyssal Squid posted:

Not that I'm complaining, but since when did Athene get her shield strength upgraded to 20, from 15?

Comms posted:

[to Garx] Dear friend, of course, of course. As long as you're willing to distance your podships away from the ship named Athene. I'd suggest you move them south at maximum speed.

[to Garx] Here's an idea for a truce: you haul rear end out to the east and pray that the Skes don't follow. We're crazy enough that we might hunt down every last podship anyway, so you'll want a head start.

Gar'xx'tuur posted:

>>>>!!!!!>>>><

[to Gar'xx'tuur] Deepest apologies for the mixed messages, this is the chaos that results from having a crew of ignorant singlebrains instead of a glorious mentity. It's agreed, we won't dare approach your carrier and its fearsome railcannons. Now let's kill some Skes.

[to Golden Spear] They actually agreed, so long as we stay clear of the carrier. Looks like it's time to focus on the Skes.

Golden Spear posted:

Undestood, Lacustine, fire will be halted and focus will be shifted.

Sarama posted:

Hey guys, we're back and HOLY poo poo!!!

…Why is it I'm always saying that when I jump in for you people? Anyway, sorry for the delay, took a while to get our friend here to agree to jump into potentially certain death.

Madcoil posted:

HASF Cruiser Madcoil here, against better judgement. Be advised this vessel is equipped with a prototype Theanterium power cell, we have orders to test it in combat at the earliest opportunity.

…My OSC is telling me you've got a TIM unit aboard? I guess you're calling the shots on this one, then.

TIM posted:

Guess that Qura'xxo has more fight left in it than I thought. Still don't think it'll last much longer though.
---------------------------------------------
• Golden Spear (Shields boosted)
- 4x Pulse Cannon (D6|R5) () () () ()
- 2x Heavy Mass Driver (D10|R6)()()
---------------------------------------------
• QXO JumpCarrier
- 4x Heavy Railcannon(D10|R5)(6)(9)(7)(2)
[24 damage to SKS Cruiser's shields]
---------------------------------------------
• QXO T142 Podships
1x Mag Cannon (D4|R3) (Boosted) (4)
2x Mag Cannon (D4|R3) (3) (1)
[8 damage to SKS DD-A'a shields]

4x Mag Cannon (D4|R3) (Boosted) (4)(4)(4)(4)
[16 damage to SKS Cruiser's shields]
---------------------------------------------
• SKS CRUISER
1x Unknown weapon (Boosted) (12)
[12 damage to gar'xx'tuur]
-Bridge hit
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Golden Spear posted:

Lacustine, presently a Skes destroyer lies within optimal range for our guns. Should we begin the attack now, or abstain?

VOTE 1
A: YES - Strike while they are out of position!
B: NO - Wait and give us more time to shield up and prepare while the Skes concentrate on Garx
C: NEITHER! - Deep scan that Cruiser instead...

my dad posted:

Juan Maria de Marte

fake edit: I agree with the attempt to intimidate our skexy foes.

e: Not going to vote on plan of attack until we get a general idea of how to approach this. I vote for attacking, since every extra second Garx lives is an extra second his podships spend covering his retreat.

Abyssal Squid posted:

Malda Hiyre, Redshirt
VIA, how long would it take for the Skes fleet to retreat into Skes territory and bring back reinforcements, compared to how long it would take for their command to notice and respond to us having obliterated their expedition?

VIA posted:

Well, their Destroyers do not have Jump drives, but the Cruiser they just brought in might. Oh okay, TIM is telling me it almost certainly does.

That ship would be able to jump out with the coordinates of the core as well as safe egress coordinates for reinforcements if it were allowed to escape.

Allowing that Cruiser to jump out would probably bring the swiftest retaliation, though it's hard to guess how long that would take, I suppose it would depend in the readiness of any QRF the Skes have waiting.

Otherwise, if one of the Destroyers gets away, it could presumably link up with a JumpCarrier to relay the news, or even other Skes ships in the vicinity to attempt a direct counterattack. If the Skes were serious about their attempt to blockade the Core, they almost certainly have more forces in the area than a single Cruiser and a Destroyer squadron. Fortunately, the comms interference is probably preventing them from communicating effectively.

Thanks to that same Comms interference, if we manage to defeat all the Skes ships without any of them getting away, it could be quite a long time before the local commander discovers his ships are missing.

HBar posted:

[Probe]: DO NOT DEPLOY. Don't approach the carrier that closely, even with a probe. The Qura'xxo might break the ceasefire, and they also might waste a shot on the probe when we want them to concentrate everything on the Skes cruiser.

Comms posted:

[to Madcoil] Good to have you here. The cruiser near you, Golden Spear, is friendly, and we expect them to stay that way. The Quoraxxo was hostile, but agreed to a truce with us after our friends crippled its carrier, and should not be considered hostile for now. The other cruiser and the destroyer fleet are hostile to everyone present and are the main threat. We are going to try to deep scan the enemy cruiser, but this fight is beyond our weight category. Also, that glowy thing over there might have something to do with the Big Bang, so please try to avoid shooting it unless you have a backup universe in your pocket or something.
[to Madcoil] Welcome to the party! Here's our logs of everything that happened so far. Jiron are friendly. We have a ceasefire with the Qura'xxo so long as we don't approach their carrier. And the Skes want to kill us all and impose a total quarantine on the core. We recommend boosting your shields and concentrating fire on SKS-DD-A. Then move on the the SKS Cruiser after the carrier dies.
[to Madcoil] - Good to hear about your Theanterium Power Cell, we tested ours and it worked exactly as described. We managed to scoop up a second theanterium slab somehow, if you can somehow pick it up I'm sure you could use it a lot more effectively than us.

Madcoil posted:

So… Don't shoot the cueball, don't shoot the Jiron, Shoot the Skes and don't shoot the Qura'xxo… yet. Roger that, moving to engage.
…I don't think we can load an outside power cell, however, so just put yours to good use.

[to Sarama] You got off easy. We're stuck in a perpetual state of sancta excremento even since this mission started. Get your jump engine going, someone is getting out of here ASAP, we just need to figure out who.
[to Sarama] Probably wishing for a pony here, but you didn't hear any word on more reinforcements, did you?
[to Sarama] Thanks Sarama, you and Madcoil are saving us all. Can you start charging your jump drive again while escorting the Athene? Get ready to deliver them to safety at a moment's notice. I see the Madcoil is about as big as the Athene and the Lacustrine put together. Is there any chance you could jump us both at once if we find a way to attach together?

Sarama posted:

Ehh. Doublejumping is a great way to win the Galactic Hide and Seek Championships by disappearing in Phase Space forever. Not recommended unless there is literally no other option. But I'll start spooling up, sure. I really doubt we'll getting anything more in the way of reinforcements, though. Don't get me wrong, there'a whole battlegroup at Typhon but they can't do anything until the Council authorizes it.

[to Athene] Looks like the heat's off and you can start scanning the core again, just don't get too close to the carrier. Can you get full data on the core by scanning for a long time at range, or are there things you can learn up close that you'll never be able to discover at a longer distance?

Athene posted:

Understood, resuming scan now. …I'll admit with all the excitement I forgot all about it. As for the scan, I will greatly oversimplify matters by saying that the closer this ship can get and the longer it can stay there, the better.

Gar'xx'tuur posted:

>>HA>HA>><
>>>STUPID>>>>STUPID>>SKES>>><
>>KILL>>ME>>IF>>YOU CAN>><
>>BUT>>YOU>>AND>>>I>>WILL>>ALWAYS>>>REMEMBER>>><
>>I>>DENTED>>YOUR>>STUPID>>CRUISER>><
>>AND>>AT>>THE>>END>>I>>MADE>>>YOU>>>RUN>>>><

TIM posted:

The Qura'xxo is losing lots of ships and clades, it's probably starting to effect it's integrity. At some point there won't be enough Clades left to support the mentity. When it finally collapses the remaining Clades will go semi-comatose all at once. That's the nice thing about fighting Qura'xxo: No such thing as mop-up. I've never been allied with one, though. Having all their forces drop at the same time will probably be annoying.

Comms posted:

[to Gar'xx'tuur]: How close is too close? May Madcoil continue directly south in pursuit of the Skes, or should they take a detour to the west? Please let Madcoil know immediately, before they move. Hope you can pull through, […] we're cheering for you now in spite of everything. Whatever else happens, I bet we can kill DD-A right now with concentrated fire against it.

Gar'xx'tuur posted:

>HE>HE>HE>><
>>YES>><
>>>WE>>><<<<
WE>>WILL>>KILL>><
>>THEM ALL>><
STARTING>WITH>>
>>><>>>>WITH<<
>>>THAT>>
ONE>THOUGH><
>>>><<

[to Golden Spear] Do you want to pursue? You could cripple the destroyer or wound the cruiser, but the counterattack may be fierce if the carrier dies next turn. But if we do nothing, their shields will recharge and we'll be at a disadvantage for the rest of the fight. Neither option is great but it looks like the best choice is to pursue now and cripple DD-A to take some enemy systems out immediately, then retreat if you take too much return fire and let Madcoil take the point while you recharge.

Golden Spear posted:

We believe that with the Qura'xxo's help we can perhaps disable the destroyer though swiftness of action. We will press this advantage.

[to Madcoil] Careful, this could be a feigned flight. Expect all five Skes vessels to converge against you at once if the carrier dies and the podships go dormant. Consider repositioning to the west this turn and letting the Spear take the lead for a moment. Especially since the carrier is still alive for now and going directly south would bring you too close. Although if Gar'xx'tuur doesn't mind, this is the best time to pursue directly south and shoot your phasons at DD-A while the destroyers are too far away to respond. Unless they're going north, but then you can put your lances to use too.

Madcoil posted:

Shields are still low and we're looking at a lot of potential counterfire. I'll push up to stay on-line with Spear and take any shots of opportunity but I don't want to stick my neck out just yet. Should be be combat-ready soon.

Gar'xx'tuur posted:

>>>>DID>><
><<<>>><<<<<<<<<
>>WE>><<<<
>><>>>>><><<<<<<<>><
>>>DID>>I>>>?>><
>>><>><<<<><<<<><<<<
>>>I>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<
<>>><<>Can't>>><<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<>><<<<<<<<
>see><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

TIM posted:

Well, that's a mentity disintegrating. Funny. Normally they just swear at you.
Looks like we've got the Skes all to ourselves, now.

Sarama posted:

Our jump drive is just about hot, let us know who you want to ship and when.

VIA posted:

I'll include that as an optional vote.

Madcoil posted:

Our shields are just about stabilized. What now?

Abyssal Squid posted:

(Plasma Lance has a range of 3 there, but 4 in TIM's readout?)

HBar posted:

Patrick Spens posted:

You need to route power to the sensors in order to deep scan, you can't do that and move six in the same turn.

Abyssal Squid posted:

VIA, what's Command's stance on taking prisoners? I'm not counting on the Skes surrendering or being valuable if they did, but Garx might be useful. Rescuing a mentity from Skes hostility could buy the Human Alliance some gratitude from the Qura'xxo, and heighten tensions between the Qura'xxo and Skes. If it's even possible to revive a mentity after it loses a quorum of clades, or they have any interest in funerals.

And don't worry, your joke hit its mark. Humans just show their appreciation for puns by getting angry.

VIA posted:

I'm afraid once a mentity collapses there's no way to restore it. There have even been experiments with cloning coma-Clades to reach high enough number to reform a quorum, but it seems that when whatever shared brainwave exists between the clades of an active mentity is gone, it's gone forever.

Official HASF policy regarding prisoners is that high-value individuals only are to be retrieved. If a ship surrenders it should be disabled by destroying it's Weapons, Shield Generator, and Jump Drive. (in high-radiation or otherwise hazardous environments, the shield may be left intact) After that point it can be either escorted to a collection point where it's crew will be disembarked and interned, or simply left to it's own devices, depending on circumstances.

Attempting to capture enemy vessels by boarding is strongly discouraged, with the help of an OSC it is very easy for even a skeleton crew to defend a starship effectively.

I'll keep that in mind about puns, though!

VIA posted:

I'm afraid once a mentity collapses there's no way to restore it. There have even been experiments with cloning coma-Clades to reach high enough number to reform a quorum, but it seems that when whatever shared brainwave exists between the clades of an active mentity is gone, it's gone forever.

Patrick Spens posted:

You're right, my mistake.

More importantly, with Gar'xx'tuur down we cannot win this fight. Those destroyers can send out 66 damage each turn, as compared to 77 for us, Madcoil and Golden Spear. And that cruiser probably has about the same amount of guns as our two cruisers. We are outnumbered and outgunned. We need to retreat. Samara should pull the Athene ASAP, and then return for the Golden Spear. Madcoil can jump itself out, and we should grab our probes, run north, and try to hide out in black nebulas until we can figure out another plan.

my dad posted:

Juan Maria de Marte

Judy, are you intentionally sabotaging efforts to deep scan the Skes cruiser? That's some valuable information that our tacnet is lacking right now.

[Abe]: South 6, Deep scan Skes cruiser

Abyssal Squid posted:

...all kinds of stuff…
Basically, don't worry about targeting other ships if you end your turn out of range, and don't worry about being targeted if you start your turn out of range. That about right?)