Let's Play Aurora: Join the Terran Space Navy and Live* a Life of Adventure

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Let's Play Aurora: Join the Terran Space Navy and Live* a Life of Adventure

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Rawkking: Sep 4, 2011

Signing up as Rawkking of What a Horrible Night to Have a MIRV

# ? Jun 14, 2018 05:39

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 16:09

Jack2142: Jul 17, 2014; Shitposting in Seattle

More ships

Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Jun 14, 2018

# ? Jun 14, 2018 06:09

Radio Free Kobold: Aug 11, 2012; "Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."

Jack2142 posted:

More ships

What do you use to make these?

# ? Jun 14, 2018 06:13

Jack2142: Jul 17, 2014; Shitposting in Seattle

Radio Free Kobold posted:

What do you use to make these?

Paint.net

# ? Jun 14, 2018 06:14

Affi: Dec 18, 2005; Break bread wit the enemy

X GON GIVE IT TO YA

Entirely carnivorous species creating a space faring civilisation?

Im smelling a corporate plot.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 06:27

Anticheese: Feb 13, 2008; $60,000,000 sexbot

Not gonna lie. I'm pretty stoked to see the Manatee, her unique engine shape, and what I assume are big sensor antennae on the sides.

No, I don't have any filk music to put into this post. I'm just enjoying having survived a close encounter of the sixth kind, and having had the high-res sensors necessary to capture it in glorious HD. :sun:

# ? Jun 14, 2018 06:49

wedgekree: Feb 20, 2013

Yay, we survived! Well, some of us did.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 07:04

Veloxyll: May 3, 2011; Fuck you say?!

wedgekree posted:

Yay, we survived! Well, some of us did.

Excuse me, we clearly WON.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 09:21

wedgekree: Feb 20, 2013

Veloxyll posted:

Excuse me, we clearly WON.

We won a battle. There is still the war to wage.

And we know not the outcome of the war beyond the first skirmish.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 09:48

Cobra Lionfist: Jun 4, 2013

Put me on the waiting list, Captain: Cobra Lionfist, of the ship: I See What You Did There.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 13:26

Innocent_Bystander: May 17, 2012; Wait, missile production is my responsibility?

Oh.

Please spacedorf me and give me a boat named Frictionless Plane

Innocent_Bystander fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Jun 14, 2018

# ? Jun 14, 2018 13:48

Tactical_Torpedo: Feb 26, 2017; When all else fails?

FIRE EVERYTHING!

Then bravely run away.; Grimey Drawer

A) Neat, it looks like i�ve got Rank for the new Squadron.
B) WotW has taught me that this is going to end really badly for me.

Hopefully I only get my ship nearly destroyed, and have to sit out the final battle for this chapter repairing everything.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 13:59

Crazycryodude: Aug 15, 2015; Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?

Tactical_Torpedo posted:

Hopefully I only get my ship nearly destroyed, and have to sit out the final battle for this chapter repairing everything.

Can confirm that this is a very good way to not only survive a war but also become the highest ranking goon on the board.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 14:02

Drone: Aug 22, 2003; Incredible machine

Signing up as Drone of the starship It's Life Jim, But Not As We Know It

# ? Jun 14, 2018 14:10

scavy131: Dec 21, 2017

Scavy read the recently submitted autopsy report with a steadily increasing frown. These datapoints were way too scattered to get a precise picture of what kind of creatures they had just encountered. The matching blood type was extremely worrying, specifically if they had the ABO enzyme type. He made note to hae all live and dead specimines and copies of all reports to be sent along towards TSN command once the remans of the flotilla had met up with their reinforcements.

Lots of this doesn't quite add up and I definitely don't get payed enough to figure this out alone.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 14:14

frankenfreak: Feb 16, 2007; I SCORED 85% ON A QUIZ ABOUT MONDAY NIGHT RAW AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY TEXT

#bastionboogerbrigade

I realize that I didn't provide a ship name when signing up. Please reserve Universum Universalis for me.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 14:35

Pash: Sep 10, 2009; The First of the Adorable Dead

Sign me up! Captain Pash of the Drop Shields For Free Cake!

# ? Jun 14, 2018 15:04

Morrow: Oct 31, 2010

Affi posted:

Entirely carnivorous species creating a space faring civilisation?

Im smelling a corporate plot.

Not everything is a capitalist plot.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 15:10

Decoy Badger: May 16, 2009

Please sign me up as Captain Decoy Badger of the Test Ship Please Ignore!

Can't wait to see what exciting diseases we'll exchange with these unquarantined aliens! I'll bet that they're just dripping with prions!

# ? Jun 14, 2018 16:22

Crazycryodude: Aug 15, 2015; Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?

Morrow posted:

Everything is a capitalist plot.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 16:38

scavy131: Dec 21, 2017

Morrow posted:

Not everything is a capitalist plot.

Everything is a Capitalist plot, not everything is a Corporatist plot.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 16:52

Added Space: Jul 13, 2012; Free Markets
Free People

Curse you Hayard-Gunnes!

Added Space reporting for duty on the good ship Line Item.

Human tatoos? Clearly these things are GELFs, probably some black project of the big three megacorps run amok.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 18:25

Bremen: Jul 20, 2006; Our God..... is an awesome God

Mission 2

We still know little about the beings encountered in the Hector system. But the Ptolemy had no weapons or defenses, nothing that could have made them seem like an aggressor. Yet the logs recovered from the wreck indicate they were attacked without warning.

The inner Tau Ceti system contains two civilian asteroid miners, as well as two unarmed transport vessels attached to provide fuel and missile reloaded for the task force on its expedition into Hector. Do everything you can to make sure the tragedy of the Ptolemy is not repeated.

Word is racing down the jump chains towards Earth; while most who hear it are skeptical of claims of "aliens", the evidence gathered in the Hector system will be enough to convince all but the most conspiracy-minded. Reinforcements will be arriving in a steady flow.

Unfortunately, Fleet analysts agree that alien reinforcements will arrive first. Even assuming the Hector system is no closer to their worlds than ours, the Ptolemy missed her scheduled check in weeks ago. That gave them a head start getting word out. You are advised to avoid a standup fight whenever practical.

Instead, try to make use of the home field advantage. If the enemy is truly alien, they likely have no idea where the jump points in the Tau Ceti system are without a survey; they will have to spread out through the entire system looking for both the jump points and civilian craft, and you can take advantage of this to ambush smaller groups or lure them away from the civilians.

If they do locate a civilian ship, you will probably only be able to defend them for so long before being brought down by weight of numbers. Though we do not currently know the enemy's sensor capabilities, a TSN Peregrine class scout is capable of detecting an Atlas class asteroid miner's drive plume from over 80 million kilometers away. Try to keep enemy scouts beyond that distance.

Denali: 1 Atlas class Asteroid Miner
De Beers Cordoba: 1 Atlas class Asteroid Miner (see Corporate Directive)

This is a map of the system. Distances are large enough that ships may require in-flight refueling from your auxiliaries if they engage in multiple maneuvers. Missile Destroyers may also refill their magazines from two of the auxiliary ships; the auxiliaries attached to frigates do not include missile reloads due to budget concerns.

Primary Objective: Make it out of the Tau Ceti system with as many vessels as possible.
Bonus Objective: Protect the civilian ships and unarmed transports as they retreat.

Corporate Directive: One of the asteroid miners is owned by the De Beers Megacorp and has a senior manager on board; the manager has ordered it to proceed to the jump point towards Terran space at maximum speed and deactivate its transponder. Its location will be unknown unless picked up on sensors and it will not willingly decrease its speed or divert its course even if you find it.
Before going dark the Manager transmited a message to TSN fleet units demanding they drop everything to protect the ship, bluntly pointing out that De Beers' fees pay the fleet's salary.
The second asteroid miner is owned by a co-op from Earth and is much more willing to follow orders in hopes the Navy will protect them.
Command Directive: The 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron is enroute at maximum speed, and will arrive in 18 days. However, Command is worried about heavier units being surrounded and defeated piecemeal so has ordered that it hold at the jump point when it arrives.

3rd Destroyer Squadron

7th Frigate Squadron

Main Squadron

With time and the spare parts on the transports, the Batteries Not Included could probably repair everything except the armor and spinal laser. But without the spinal laser or its external missiles, it has nothing but a single light laser cannon.

code:

Atlas class Asteroid Miner    39 650 tons     336 Crew     1310.2 BP      TCS 793  TH 2000  EM 0
2522 km/s     Armour 1-103     Shields 0-0     Sensors 14/14/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1
Cargo 5000    
Asteroid Miner: 4 module(s) producing 80 tons per mineral per annum
Fuel Capacity 1 000 000 Litres    Range 34.2 billion km   (157 days at full power)

Small TH Passive Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km
Small EM Passive Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

The Interstellar Space Access and Enforcement Treaty guaranteed the rights of all ships to go wherever they wanted in space, but allowed planetary bodies to be claimed by maintaining a permanent human colony. An unintentional result of this was the rise of asteroid mining; MegaCorps claimed all of the valuable worlds, but they couldn't stop whoever wanted to from mining the asteroids in those systems.
The Atlas class is an enormous ship, very slow, and completely lacking in stealth. If an enemy vessel gets near it, it will stand out like a spotlight even with its drive on low power. It is also completely unarmed and unarmored; despite its size, even a few hits will be enough to destroy it.

code:

Van Gogh class Auxiliary Transport    4 000 tons     37 Crew     367.4 BP      TCS 80  TH 200  EM 0
2500 km/s     Armour 2-22     Shields 0-0     Sensors 14/14/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2
Fuel Capacity 1 500 000 Litres    Range 509.0 billion km   (2356 days at full power)

Artemis Light Missile (72)  Speed: 48 000 km/s   End: 4.4m    Range: 12.8m km   WH: 4    Size: 2    TH: 176/105/52

Small TH Passive Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km
Small EM Passive Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

The Van Gogh class of Auxiliary Transports provide resupply for frigate and destroyer squadrons during long patrols. The all in one craft carries fuel, ammunition, and spare parts for maintenance and repairs. However, it's slow, and therefor usually left behind during actual combat operations.
It is completely unarmed, but unlike the Asteroid Miners is at least lightly armored and reasonably stealthy.

Planning

This is a much more open ended mission than the last one. Toss out some plans for what to do with your ships, and then I'll hold a vote.

Bremen fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Jun 15, 2018

# ? Jun 14, 2018 18:47

Z the IVth: Jan 28, 2009; The trouble with your "expendable machines"; Fun Shoe

Decoy Badger posted:

Can't wait to see what exciting diseases we'll exchange with these unquarantined aliens! I'll bet that they're just dripping with prions!

The last lot tasted quite good with melted butter. Maybe we can try broiling?

# ? Jun 14, 2018 18:50

Drone: Aug 22, 2003; Incredible machine

Until an overall plan seems to have coalesced, I put forward the notion to gently caress De Beers. The Denali's crew has shown the understanding necessary to trust the Navy to protect it and is willing to follow instructions for its own safety. The De Beers Cordoba represents an unstable element that is absolutely not needed in this situation -- who knows what kind of completely nonsensical orders the corporate suit on board will give in a moment of panic. Of course we should defend them, but the priority should clearly be placed on evacuating the Denali.

Beyond that, the presence of 3rd Destroyer and 7th Frigate at the Tom's Star jump point has the potential to give away a valuable Earthward jump point location should the enemy ping them with actives. I recommend, at the very least, setting up an alternate picket point within passive sensor range of the Tom's Star jump point, to at least SORTA conceal the JP's location.

Drone fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Jun 14, 2018

# ? Jun 14, 2018 18:56

Zanzibar Ham: Mar 17, 2009; You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.; Grimey Drawer

We shouldn't expend special efforts to find the elusive De Beers vessel, but if we happen to spot it we should put in at least some token effort to keep it afloat, so to speak.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:02

Jack2142: Jul 17, 2014; Shitposting in Seattle

So the solution is we find the DeBeers ship and blow it up. We make it look like the aliens did it with their weaponry and use its destruction as a rallying cry to secure funding for Anti-Alien military programs. We then set up of shell defense company who is "dedicated" to developing anti-alien weaponry. Instead all the money is siphoned away via third part subcontractors all with Terran Space Navy captains on lucrative "consulting" contracts where we enrich ourselves while fighting the aliens. Nothing will be developed and we can skin the corporates for our retirement funds. By the time its unraveled humanity is either conquered by aliens or we are heroes and they will be unable to find a jury to prosecute us. Even then a trial would take years to unravel and we walk away rich, and given what I assume are now minor slap on the wrist fraud penalties we spend a few years on a "prison planet" which is actually a resort... or turn space pirate!!!

Who is with my poorly thought out plan!

This plan was a joke please don't support this.

Jack2142 fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Jun 14, 2018

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:10

scavy131: Dec 21, 2017

This isn't going to be a tactical engagement so much as a month long operation or short campaign. We've got about 25 days until the miner can get out of system at full speed, so the goal is to try and delay for as much of that time as possible, with as few losses as possible.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:11

Jimmy4400nav: Apr 1, 2011; Ambassador to Moonlandia

Jack2142 posted:

So the solution is we find the DeBeers ship and blow it up. We make it look like the aliens did it with their weaponry and use its destruction as a rallying cry to secure funding for Anti-Alien military programs. We then set up of shell defense company who is "dedicated" to developing anti-alien weaponry. Instead all the money is siphoned away via third part subcontractors all with Terran Space Navy captains on lucrative "consulting" contracts where we enrich ourselves while fighting the aliens. Nothing will be developed and we can skin the corporates for our retirement funds. By the time its unraveled humanity is either conquered by aliens or we are heroes and they will be unable to find a jury to prosecute us. Even then a trial would take years to unravel and we walk away rich, and given what I assume are now minor slap on the wrist fraud penalties we spend a few years on a "prison planet" which is actually a resort... or turn space pirate!!!

Who is with my poorly thought out plan!

Ain't no such thing as stealth in space, even the most rudimentary sensor will it its us blowing them up.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:17

Jack2142: Jul 17, 2014; Shitposting in Seattle

Thats why we destroy everything that isn't in on the plan!

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:18

Crazyeyes24: Sep 14, 2014; Your good vision is your fatal weakness!

The exec is actively hindering our abilities to do our jobs, and we should be broadcasting as much to them. Going along with his idiocy would set a terrible precedent. Leave the Senior Manager to do as he will, but do not actively abandon/target him.

We should keep our moves direct and efficient. I don't see why we should need any oddball maneuvers around the system. Group the fleets together and keep them positioned between the Miners and the Hector JP at all times, everyone burning for the JP at best possible speed. MAYBE add a couple course changes to obscure the JP position, but we need to get our intel back home and the civvies to safety. It's still a race against the clock.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:22

Drone: Aug 22, 2003; Incredible machine

Oh and we should totally also split off the Peregrines and have them do some stealthy long-range reconaissance for us.

Edit: do we actually have a starmap of known space? Might be useful to know just how far this is all taking place from Earth, though I get if Bremen wants to hold onto that info for a bit.

Drone fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Jun 14, 2018

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:32

Added Space: Jul 13, 2012; Free Markets
Free People

Curse you Hayard-Gunnes!

What's the scale of the system, in km and travel time?

# ? Jun 14, 2018 19:44

pun pundit: Nov 11, 2008; I feel the same way about the company bearing the same name.

Is it possible to put some life pod becons on some missiles and fire them off in a random direction as a diversion? Although we ran out of missiles... maybe a frigate can pop off and drop a bunch of life pod beacons on an irrelevant heading? The aliens seems to have captured or killed the Ptolemy's life pods, so this may work.

Also, Spacedorf me. Captain Pun-Pun of the Sarrukh

# ? Jun 14, 2018 20:15

winterwerefox: Apr 23, 2010; The next movie better not make me shave anything

Ignore the de Beers orders, dont ignore their need for protection if we do find them. Send a few ships in the opposite direction from Tom's Star JP, loudly, make it look like our jump point is in that direction.

Cpt Winterfist of the "Don't Shoot, They May Be Friendly"

# ? Jun 14, 2018 20:21

scavy131: Dec 21, 2017

Alright, here's the best operational writeup I've managed so far.

quote:

Operation Shenandoah

Objectives: Evacuate Civilians, Uhl Specimens and Military Assets from Tau Ceti Secondary Objectives: Delay discovery of further JPs into Terran space and potentially gather further intel on Uhl capabilities biologically and technologically.

Timetable: Approx 25 Day until Civilian Evac. 18 Days until 3rd CL arrives.

Orders for Civilians are to make direct line at all possible speed towards Tom's Star JP.

Military Operational orders:
Main Squadron
ATs Ashton and Rabindranath will refuel, resupply, and rearm accompanying vessels before proceeding towards halfway point between Hector and Tom's Star, they will await there until needed or the order is given to withdraw further towards Tom's Star JP.

SF Manatee will maintain a sensor watch of the Hector JP at a distance to alert of any transits in system.

DD Batteries Not Included , DD Homestar Runner, and FF Terminal Velocity (Renamed Tau-Ceti Squadron) will remain outside of sensor view of the Hector JP on the other side of the Tau Ceti asteroid belts. This squadron shall be prepared to jump upon any survey craft that begin to sweep through the Tau-Ceti system before they can report back to other Uhl craft or get back to the Hector JP, and they will be tasked with ensuring any craft they engage will be completely destroyed. They are not to engage against dedicated combat craft or a larger flotilla if able.

JD Thermodynamics Be Damned will take all Uhl samples and specimens aboard as well as any officers of the fleet who lost their command vessels and begin heading at full speed towards Tom's Star JP to proceed reporting findings.

Once multiple hostiles have been detected in system, or once the Tau-Ceti Squadron has exhausted missiles or 40% of fuel stocks, whichever comes first, they will proceed to rendezvous with the Ashton and Rabindranath wherever they are located in system.

7th Frigate Squadron
JD Incoming Fire and AT Mira will remain at Tom's Star JP in accordance with Fleet doctrinal requirements. SFs Clovis and Dominion will move at best speed towards the Hector JP. They will refuel with ATs Ashton and Rabindranath from the Main Squadron if the opportunity is available. Clovis will provide a sensor picket at approx 1bn km from Hector JP in direct line between Hector and Tom's Star JPs (or potentially minorly offset).

Dominion will keep similar watch between Hector JP and nearest possible JP survey location(s).

FFs Spacebote and Thunderchild will remain on alert between Clovis and Dominion and be ready to pounce on any single vessels detected heading outsystem from Tau-Ceti or provide assistance to Clovis and Dominion if either is forced to withdraw due to detection or hostiles.

3rd Destroyer Squadron

3rd Destroyer will move as a single flotilla to rendezvous with Ashton and Rabindranath at approx halfway point between Hector and Tom's Star JPs. In the event of larger hostile incursion, Squadron will proceed in system to provide cover for civilian miners as necessary, however unless detection of miners is likely, 3rd DD will not seek out encounters unless hostile warships or survey craft approach.

Phase 2-halfway
Once the miners have been confirmed at having reached halfway to Tom's Star JP, 15 Days have passed, or multiple hostiles have been detected coming from the Hector JP, Tau-Ceti Squadron will begin withdrawal towards Tom's Star JP from Solar North, making an indirect route if necessary to avoid detection by potential hostiles (commander on scene will use best judgement based on battlefield conditions). SF Manatee will also begin withdrawal, potentially from Solar South or whichever direction would avoid hostile encounter.
Once the Tau-Ceti Squadron has reached the rough picket line of 7th FF's SFs, 7th FF will begin a likewise withdrawal towards halfway point picket held by 3rd DD. Tau Ceti and 7th FF may resupply from ATs Ashton and Rabindranath at this point if able. ATs will then withdraw towards Tom's Star JP.

Phase 3-Approx Day 20 through 30

3rd CL Squadron will maintain active watch over Tom's Star JP and attempt to locate incoming mining vessels. Based on ETA to Tom's Star JP, picket forces of Tau-Ceti, 7th FF and 3rd DD squadrons will withdraw towards Tom's Star JP giving miners several hours leeway of arrival before military assets arrive, once any remaining assets have arrived at Tom's Star JP, forces will withdraw from system.

General Rules of Engagement: All friendly lifepods will attempt to be gathered if able, if possible Uhls will likewise be rescued provided such does not endanger the lives of the rescuing crew. Lifepods will not be targeted during or after combat operations. Any unidentified vessels (barring the two noted mining vessels) in the Tau-Ceti system are to be considered hostile and may be targeted accordingly provided it does not interrupt operational plans.

Observation and non-direct confrontation are recommended as hostiles are reported to have similar capabilities in terms of speed and firepower, units are ordered to refrain from engaging unfavorable odds. Any engagement against hostile vessels, particularly confirmed military vessels should be done with a numerical advantage if at all possible

Edit:Minor Text Fixes.

scavy131 fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Jun 14, 2018

# ? Jun 14, 2018 20:23

sniper4625: Sep 26, 2009; Loyal to the hEnd

Preemptive vote against any of this nonsense about blowing up our funders in a labyrinthine plot to ???

# ? Jun 14, 2018 20:25

Morrow: Oct 31, 2010

It's worth noting that I believe only the Thermodynamics Be Damned and Terminal Velocity have missiles remaining. There are no reloads because all the remaining ships are using external mounts. Batteries Not Included should be dispatched with the alien specimens towards the JP to Tom's Star, and Thermodynamics should remain with the Tau Ceti Squadron.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 20:32

Drone: Aug 22, 2003; Incredible machine

I'd also like to submit a tertiary objective of: get the captured aliens and their remains to our people as soon as possible. It's been heavily hinted that politicians back on Earth don't really believe in this nonsense, and I want someone to toss an alien corpse on the Secretary-General's desk as proof (or whoever is running the Terran Navy show, I guess).

# ? Jun 14, 2018 20:38

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 16:09

Zanzibar Ham: Mar 17, 2009; You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.; Grimey Drawer

I've no mind for grand strategy (tell me where to aim my ship and I'll do it), but I'm certainly against betraying our corporate ~~overlords~~benefactors.

# ? Jun 14, 2018 20:38

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Let's Play Aurora: Join the Terran Space Navy and Live* a Life of Adventure

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