>>18754650
Approaching the fleet you note that large numbers of ships from the other battlegroups seem to be deployed elsewhere. Entire squadrons of older corvettes are arriving or jumping out at any given time.
An Estuary class Heavy Carrier has joined the fleet since you were last here, her internal starship docks already taking on damaged vessels. IFF checks also show the presence of the 9th Royal Guards Cruiser squadron patroling the area. Only one other group of ship from your squadron is in parking formation, the rest off on missions.

Do you wish to do anything or make any RP purchases before you get some rest?

>>18754710
See if we can unwind by training our combat skills a bit more, or with a bit of general exercise.

>Purchases
What are starfighters armed with?

I can't help but feel that torpedos are useless, but the paranoid player in me expects us to need them for dropping some sort of mega-shooty defense station that outranges us and will eat our shields and hull without question.

Voting to grab 5 torpedos for 250 RP.

Damned expensive, useless torps.

>>18754770
Yeah, munitions seem severely overpriced. We effectively shot 260RP at the enemy in the last mission.

>>18754744
Most starfighters are armed with 2-4 micro phase cannon and can carry 2 missiles or 1 torpedo.
Dedicated attack bombers like the Type-4 carry 4 or more cannon and 4 torpedoes.
They are best used in overwhelming numbers to make up for their individual weakness verses starships. Most Factions prefer to save them for use in planetary assaults or to act as interceptors defending fleets from enemy attack bombers.

>See if we can unwind by training our combat skills a bit more, or with a bit of general exercise.
You can train with some of the Marines aboard or take a shuttle over to one of the larger ships to make use of the holo booths onboard.

How much RP do Alex and Mike have and what are they spending it on?

>>18754710
pop some stims and check on the damage status. then shut eye. we dont really need to be spending stuff right now. not until we can trade in for a attack cruiser , or buy teleporter or power armour.

>>18754857
>take stims, then sleep

This seems like a bad idea to me.

>Nuclear missiles cost 10
>Torped 50
>spam Nuclear missiles like a bawz

>>18754843
Ah, okay. Seems like buying starfighters isn't really something we should do.

Let's try out getting some training in the holo booths. Preferably something we could not train with our marines or on our ship.

>munitions seem severely overpriced
I admit they're coming off as a bit pricey but most munitions being used are from existing stockpiles belonging to the House. Your House doesnt currently have manufacturing capacity for torpedo weapons, most of weapons are left over from the massive stockpiles produced in the Faction wars.
>imagine if you'd stolen those SP Torps from that transport in the first mission?

>>18754846
Alex and Mike are saving up RP for larger ships and only spending on upgrades or in Alex's case Torps. Pleade dont make me calculate an actual number I'm sure its in the few thousand range somewhere.

>>18754889
Anyone else in favor of hopping a shuttle over?

>>18754971
Yeah, let's do some holo training.

I think we should purchase more nuclear missiles and hold of on torps for now.

>>18754857
Most of the damage to the outer armor is superficial, it just makes the ship look a bit unkempt. The repair crews are going to fix the few dents that could cause a problem later then finish up the scrapes and nicks on the weapons.

>>18755027
Is there any intermediate armour between our current suit and the power armour?

>>18755043
There's a semi-powered supportive armor that would let you carry slightly heavier stuff but wouldnt give you any real boost to strength or speed. It's not carried by the House however so you'd need to order it in which would require money. The kind of money you dont have.

> Your House doesnt currently have manufacturing capacity for torpedo weapons, most of weapons are left over from the massive stockpiles produced in the Faction wars.

Now we know what we need to remedy! the three musketeers, lead by their fearless lady shall make themselves rich , noble Knights for being the only producers of torps and assorted ammo in our house, as well as the odd gear, exotic hull and weapon systems!

>>18754971
Who does have the capacity to manufacture torpedoes, and how difficult is it?

>>18755123
Well, how can we make some money? I guess our pay is mediocre at best?
Do we get any interesting investment opportunities as a pilot and men-at-arms?

>>18755139
Mid sized houses and larger generally do but even they preferr to just buy them off of the black market or from surplus resalers. The Terran Alliance has been attempting to sell off their stockpiles of older torps to be replaced with newer SP Torps for a very, very long time.
It's not terribly difficult to make them but it is resource intensive. Your House could manufacture them if they wanted to but industry is too tied up with building everything else a space navy needs to fight a war.

>Do we get any interesting investment opportunities as a pilot and men-at-arms?
Not just yet.


After setting things onboard in order you hop a shuttle over to the Concordance along with a few other crewmen and Marines that are off duty. You doze off on the trip over, one of the Marines being nice enough to wake you up when the shuttle arrives.

After grabbing an energy drink from a vendor you head for the holo booths, the attendant telling you to keep an eye on the time limit. Stepping into the booth you scroll through the available programs that training aboard ship couldnt cover.

>Shuttle training, thrust vectoring basics
>Simulated fleet battle vs Super heavy
>Power armor training
>other

>>18755362
THRUST VECTORING!

but i think Superheavy action is more important, so that we can wax any future encounter better then the last one.

>>18755362
Simulated fleet battle. Let's test the effectiveness of great numbers of nuclear missiles rather than smaller numbers of torps.

rolled 10, 8 = 18

>>18755451
>>18755476
Screw it, why not both?

rolled 6, 13 = 19

>>18755451
Taking things slow with the flight training you listen to the automated insructions as they guide you through the process of lifting off with just the engines. Its tricky work but you slowly get the hang of it, rotating the shuttle in place then practicing altitude changes.
You doubt you'd want to try using anything but repulsors in combat but its a deffinite improvement.

>>18755476
After the last fight you were in its time to figure out just how effective nukes really are. Loading up the sim you select a republic Missile Boat. For such a small craft 16 missile launchers seems to be a little overpowered so it should be perfect. The sim drops you into the middle of some battle in the Faction wars with swarms of ships similar to your own attacking one of the infamous Kavarian warships.
You test out using volley fire and then rapid single fire with the launchers. Neither seem to be very effective but the added fire seems to be doing something. In the end you cant quite bring the target's shield down, but you do find that you can blind the enemy to your presence by detonating the missiles early. The ball explosions dissipate quickly but they provide enough time for your fast moving ship to get the hell out of the way. You last a good 8 minutes before your light corvette sized ship is speared by heavy phase cannon fire.
You'll have to try this again against other ship types.

>>18755734
Forgot to turn off Dice.
Anything else before you head back to the ship?

>>18755745
officers bar or something .

I am certain there should be Happy Hour at the on board TGIF bar...

else sleep

>>18755856
You stop by one of the bars on board that seems to be frequented by navy officers and the occasional Knight. You're a bit low on the rank spectrum compared to most present but you do command your own cruiser which technically makes you a ship captain.

Most present are discussing either the fleet situation or inter-House politics. After a short conversation with a few other pilots about how overpriced Torpedoes are you head out.
A doorman hands you a small pack of what looks like tic tacs on the way out. They're a rapid sobriety pill.

Getting back to the ship without incident you spot something outside your quarters. There is a package stowed in a crash harness net next to the door. There's a note from the Chief on it.

"Picked up a few of these sleeping headsets along with the other RP purchases. Should help out on extended deployments."

Opening up the box you pull out what looks like a bulky set of headphones someone might use for noise cancelation while listening to music.

Sleep headsets might not be as effective as tank beds from LoGH but every little bit helps. 3-4 hours with a headset on should work out to 8 hours worth of sleep, including accelerated REM cycles.
Not reccomended for use beyond 14 days in a row. Side effects may vary.

Testing out the headset you wake up 4 hours later feeling a little messed up but not the least bit tired.

You head to the bridge to check on things.

"We still have a few more hours before we're allowed to head out again." Kavos informs you. "The debris impact and overheating damage to the weapons will be repaired long before that though. The Engineers are wondering about looking for a new cooling system for the heavy pulse cannons. They're a bit on the old side and while powerful we've been firing them in combat a bit faster than they can handle. The cooling systems we'd need are nonstandard and would have to be shipped in to the fleet. If we ordered them now I'm sure we could get them before the end of the week."

>New RP option available: weapon Cooling systems - 200 RP

>>18756202
Sounds to me like a much better purchase than four torpedoes. I suggest we order them.

RP purchases are still available before departure.
>Choose your assignments from what intel is making available. Take their info with a grain of salt though, dont be surprised if something has changed since the reports were filed.

Available assignments:
*Recon Probe
Fleet sensors are having trouble tracking enemy ship movement with background radiation and local traffic fouling our subspace readings. Command is requesting ships to assist in deployment of Recon probes that will hve a better look.
Threat Level 1
Intel: Enemy ships are traveling at low FTL speeds to reduce the drive flare visible to long range sensors. Ensure the probes survive.

*Royal Logistics Depot
The Royal Logistics branch are responsible for coordinating long range resupply of Dominion fleets outside of friendly territory. While many Houses may provide the transports and cargo ships it is this group that keeps them organized.
At the moment the First Expeditionary Fleet is close enough to its home galaxy that resupply is not an issue. This will change as the fleet moves farther away.
To head off any future problems Royal Logistics wishes to secure a cargo depot in the Ulatt Dwarf Galaxy.
Threat Level 1
Intel: All cargo ships native to the system the depot is in are believe to have been stolen in the opening wave of Pirate activity. Most local defenses were destroyed and the remainder may have been stripped. Only items of value remaining are the depot and ground side algae processing plants.

*Metals refining facility
Refineries of this type are far from rare but with the fleet likely facing active combat for an extended period both armor and structural materials will be at a premium. The processing centers at this site can handle the mining output of a dozen starsystems if they havent been badly damaged.
Threat Level 1-2
Intel: This base has been raided twice before, the last time being eight years ago. At the time it was left relatively undamaged, presumably so that it could be raided again in the future. There have been no reports of the locals having resumed operations, caution is advised.

>>18756309
Metals refining facility.

*Colony in Distress
While not many worlds in this dwarf galaxy are naturally habitable some two dozen have been terraformed. A rare few require orbital support platforms to prevent the environmental conditions on planet from deteriorating. (See: orbital shroud) The world of Robrinaan offers little strateigic value but it does have a large civilian population.
Threat Level 3
Intel: Robrinaan has already been raided once in the opening wave of pirate activity. The shroud was boarded and held for ransom which the worlds inhabitants paid with freighters, food, medical supplies and financial transfers. The locals have since moved the shroud into a temporary close orbit to protect it with planetary shields. A mixed fleet of pirate ships has been reported attempting to knock down the shields. One Taskforce from the fleet has already been dispatched to stop them.
NOTE FROM KNIGHT LT SYLVAN: I would normally deploy at squadron strength to assist but too many ships from our unit are away on other duties. I wouldnt reccomend joining in just yet.
Be aware that the taskforce sent belongs to a rival of ours, House Erid, and any losses they take will strengthen our position.

>>18756382
Agreed.

>>18756411
>NOTE FROM KNIGHT LT SYLVAN: I would normally deploy at squadron strength to assist but too many ships from our unit are away on other duties. I wouldnt reccomend joining in just yet.

Does this mean that this mission will stay available if we don't take it?

>>18756434
For awhile, though the situation in system will change.

>>18756458
Still going with the refinery, then.

"Mike, Alex, I was thinking we could check out that metals refining facility this time around."

"Sounds good." replies Mike, sounding like he really wouldnt have minded any assignment.
"What about that colony?" Asks Alex.

"It sounds a little too hot for us to handle." you answer. "We could bring it up next time when the LT says the rest of the squadron might be available."

You double and triple check crew and system readyness and get a littl bit more rest before its time to head out.

It takes three jumps to get you to the target system taking about 30 minutes.

The system is centered around a small yellow dwarf which only barely falls into that class. A pair of gas giants are on opposite sides of the system at the moment. Three large asteroid belts dominate the inner system with sizable leading and trailing trojans off the inner most gas giant.

"Thats a lot of rock."
"Yeah, easy to see why they built a refining station here." You reply.

Alex starts scanning and soon you find the station you're looking for. All of the docking bays are clustered on one side of a 90km asteroid.

[ ] approach on shortest line to target
[ ] approach from side opposite bays
[ ] other

>>18756851
[x] other

We take the Bittenfeld straight in, while Mike and Alex go around. Our ship is much more likely to withstand an attack resulting from charging in. If we need support, Mike and Alex will be in position to circle around and hit our foes in the back.

>>18756896
Okay. Anyone/everyone else in favor of this?

>>18756991
sounds good to me.

back sorry, had a minor medical emergency. almost done typing next bit.

"Sounds good just dont forget to ask for help."

You slow your approach to give the others time to get into position. The docking bays are all located on side facing 'backwards' on the asteroid's orbit. Probably to cut down on the chances any head on collisions might breach the shields and hit the bays.

There are some external docking ports that could accomodate medium cruisers visiting the facility but otherwise everything seems to be geared for freighters no bigger than the 1km long Y-type.

"Guess the builders knew what kind of business to expect?" You say out loud.

"Not many people require docks big enough for a heavy freighter or transport. Whose going to use them?" Points out the Chief.

"Coming into range of the docking bays." reports sensors. "I have a visual on a docked ship."

You magnify the image showing the main bay. The flat profile of a Kavarian Attack Cruiser stares back, light from the ship's engines firing reflecting off the inside of the bay.

"Its launching from the bay. Shields are going up."

"Whats it armed with?" you ask, lining the enemy up so that you can fire your pulse cannons once in range.

"E-Type attack cruiser... 3 phase cannon turrets and 4 torpedo launchers."

>Your orders?
Roll 1d20 for evasion

rolled 6 = 6

>>18757333
Have Mike and Alex circle but hug the asteroid so the cruiser won't see them. They'll be shooting it in the ass as soon as it leaves the bay.

That is, assuming we survive this evasion.

rolled 19 = 19

>>18757333
Oh fuck, be sure not to forget to check if there are other ships around.

>>18757333

I have no idea if I should be giggling at the thought of crushing this ship or if I should be screaming for engineering to get us out of here

rolled 9 = 9

>>18757333
Go upwards or downwards on the x axis and turn to the target - since the main guns and tubes are spinal, it wont be able to return fire until its out, while we get one or two volleys free, while at the same time evading enemy fire, depending on distance.

>>18757538
shit, forgot to deactivate dice.

"Full shields forward." You order as you prepare to evade incoming fire. Rather than charging ahead as usual you'll have to hang back to give the others time.

"Mike, Alex, there's a cruiser launching. Come in low and fast."

Your 4 light phase cannon open up at maximum range and the ship starts to shudder under return fire of 2 of the enemy's cannon.
"The third turret is on the tail, most of their forward firepower is from the launchers." Kavos tells you.
"Speaking of Torps, four incoming."
You fail to dodge the first volly miserably, droping your shield below 60 percent.

"Shit these things actually pack a punch when used in numbers!" you exclaim trying trying to barrel roll around the next volley. Three more hit, along with the phase cannon fire bringing you down to 25%.

Alex and Mike's ships pop up from the horizon of the asteroid firing away just as you get into pulse cannon range and open up. The attack cruiser rolls and attempts to dodge but most of your heavier fire lands on target. Two more torps hit you, with the other two missing, being forced to loop around.

"Sensors watch those torps!" orders Kavos.

With both of you closing in so quickly you decide to get out of the way, thrusting to the side while trying to keep your guns on target as much as possible. It only partly works and does nothing for the two torps that catch up, dropping your main shield just a second after you equalize front and back.

>>18757690
As the enemy ship zips past you all three of its beam weapons switch to targeting you, hammering your secondary shield.

Bringing the Bittenfeld about and cranking the throttle to full you're able to kill your momentum and get back up to speed just as mike and Alex catch up.

"That thing's as fast as us!" Mike exclaims.
"Or awfully damn close if it isnt." seconds Alex.

After a few more seconds of your secondary shield dropping dangerously low the main shield restarts.

The three of you persue the now rapidly fleeing ship as it heads deeper into the belt. As it draws closer to a denser region the ship fires torpedos into some of the smaller asteroids, causing them to shatter.

You're going to risk collision with asteroid fragments if you continue to persue at full speed.

[ ] All out persuit (Roll 4d20)
[ ] return to the station
[ ] other

>>18757924
>[x] other

Have Mike get behind us as we use our weapons to destroy any large fragments. Continue pursuit.

Send Alex back to check out the station, and secure it if possible.

How many dice for this plan?

rolled 8, 20, 4, 9 = 41

>>18757924
[X] All out pursuit

>>18757924
>persuit
pursuit
Swear to god, the easier the word is the harder it is to spell some days.

>>18757965
2d20 and you'll deffinitely want those to roll high.

rolled 9, 13 = 22

>>18758015

>>18758041
>A large rock smashes through the bridge screen, killing everyone

rolled 6, 13, 9, 10 = 38

>>18757924
Charge!

>Okay we've got 1 for all out pursuit, 1 for sending Alex back to the station.
>We're going to need a tie breaker.

Is what I was about to say until >>18758064
posted.

>>18758088
Damn, was about to vote for the station idea.

"Put shields to full forward again we're going after him." You announce.

Your gunners open fire, phase beams cutting through some rocks and pulse cannon causing others to explode. The shields start to flicker with an increasing number of impacts.

"With all due respect, do you think you could dodge the worst of them?" Says Linda.
"I am. Try and figure out where he's headed."
"Oh. I'll see what I can do."

"Guys, you might want to drop back behind me, just mind the engine wash." You tell the others.

Doing your best to blaze a trail you try to avoid the biggest chunks. Your wingmen in their smaller ships are better off in this situation, able to make use of their smaller profile.

A few bigger chunks drift into your path faster than you can make the gap, your beams only managing to cut them in two but not alter their course. The impact is enough to drop your shield by a quarter and reduce your speed.
"More power to the defelction repulsors. I dont care where you get the power just find some."

Dozens of smaller rocks continue to pelt the shields even with the increase.

"Why are these asteroids so close together!?" you ask.

"They must have been moved into parking orbits until the refinery can get around to grinding them up."

Despite the setbacks you havent lost too much ground on the other attack cruiser.

"Picking up something on my scanner." Says Alex. "I thought there were some torpedo launches earlier but no explosions."

"...you think he cold launched?" you ask, trying to spot any objects out of place in the storm of debris hitting you.

"Its a good bet. EVADE!"

What had to have been a torpedo strikes your shield and Mike's too. A second one hits you again soon after.

"It never rains when it can pour."

Alex drops farther back and increases power to his scanner in an attempt to guide you through. It's partially successful but you still take a few hit here and there. Some smaller asteroids make it through your secondary shield at one point when your main shield cuts out damaging the armor on your wing engines.
"Nothing that wont buff out I hope."

You take a deep breath when you and your quarry eventually break free of the belt.
"We're catching up I think he's strained his engines staying ahead of us but we dont have long until he can jump." says Alex.

Roll 1d20

rolled 10 = 10

>>18758618

rolled 19 = 19

>>18758618
Dice

>>18758635
>>18758709
Not a bad average, for once.

Then someone rolls a 1

You have a lot of distance to cover to catch the ship but its not impossible. If you'd done any worse though, had you been forced to slow down, things would have been different.

"You know all those stories about how Kavarians are famous for fighting hard for five minutes then running the hell away for fifty? Yeah, I'm starting to think those werent just made up."

Alex fires a trio of torpedoes as you enter weapons range again. Your gunners open fire as you start taking beam hits again. Four torpedos strike your shield shaking your around again but not slowing you down.
"I have had it with this bastards torp lauching bullshit!" You exclaim, holding down the trigger on your pulse cannons and watching the heat levels start to spike.

Space in front of the attack cruiser starts to tear open for less than half a second as its shield fails. A heavy pulse cannon shot rips into the drive plates set into the ship's tail just as they start to power up. The other shot hits the portside sublight drive. The undamaged starboard plates flash but to little effect, the drive core cutting out looking like a bubble around the ship had just burst. The ship starts to spiral out of control but continues firing.

[ ] Shoot to kill (Roll 1d20)
[ ] Disabe and board (Roll 4d20)

rolled 14 = 14

>>18758968
>[x] Shoot to kill (Roll 1d20)

rolled 19 = 19

>>18758968
Shoot to kill

"Signal them to surrender. If they give up now they wont be harmed.

Reversing engines you reduce speed somewhat so that you dont run into the damaged ship. Alex swings out to port while Mike goes starboard.

"Destroy the weapons and engines so he cant try anything." you order, but the ship is still rolling as though out of control. The twisting movement is giving your gunners are hard time landing hits on the remaining engine bank.

"That thing has every single one of its tractor beams locked on us." the sensor operator tells you.

The last engine bank flares to life as the roll starts to appear more controlled, its movement starting to drift towards you. You realise they're going to attempt to ram.

"Kill it!" You yell, pulling the trigger for your main guns again.

Your guns shred the unshielded ships bow destroying the launchers and one of its phase cannon turrets. Mike's beam hits the already damaged tail destroying it while one of Alex's torps penetrates the hull near the last engine and explodes somewhere close to the center of the ship. If there was a secondary explosion you couldnt tell it apart from the first one.

>>18759298
We could easily disabled the ship with those rolls.

rolled 7, 20 = 27

>>18759387
Assuming the next two rolls were just as good. Let's test.

>>18759402
Damn man, nice 20.

Attempt to salvage anything useful from the debris before heading back to the station?

>>18759437
Yeah, if we'll have to roll for anything, just use these>>18759402.
If we can't just carry on with the mission.

>>18759437
Would it be best to have Mike and Alex stay here to attempt salvage while we take the station, or the reverse? I'm down with either.

The three of you try to herd the escaping debris using your tractor beams as much as possible to keep it in a smaller area.

Alex attempts to scan down anything of value that might have survived. There are some useful drive components that might be worth repairing, and a couple of survival pods which turn out to be empty. You also find about twenty torpedoes that must have been in a secondary storage bay. You and Alex split them.

The shuttles do what they can to drag the cracked and destroyed remains of the drive plates to the same place and tether them so they dont drift apart. A marker bouy is left with them to help future salvage teams locate the remains.

"Lets get that station secured then call in the experts."

>>18759466
Meh, was easier to just have everyone stick together.
Returning to the station dock you all make extensive scans to check for traps, mines or other devices that could get everyone killed. Especially the way that cruiser crew were dropping shit for you to run into.

After docking you looking over available info on the station you start to realise that you may have a problem with securing a facility this big. The schematics show some sections extending 50 km into the asteroid interior. While most of that is processing and storage space there are hab blocks larger than some cities listed here.

>your orders?

>>18759851
I'm assuming the station is populated. If so, can we tell how many people are aboard?

I suggest we send a message back to Dayton and tell him that, while we've disposed of the defending cruiser, we don't really have enough marines to comb the station in a timely manner.

>>18759851
Secure the docks, we don't have enough time or manpower to secure the whole thing ourselves. Just make sure the salvage teams are not killed by booby traps when they land.

>>18759851
Secure the dock and request reinforcements to do a proper sweep and clean.

>>18760042
>>18759936
>>18759937
You contact the fleet and request additional troops along with salvage teams and engineers.

The Marines from all of your ships secure the docks and begin sweeps of the surrounding areas. A team that reaches the traffic control room sends back what info they can find. All docking and communication logs have been wiped but parts of the computer network is still intact.

According to census info the onboard population should be around 1.8 million. They also found signs that the cruiser that had been in dock was using the remaining stockpiles of refined material to repair their ship.

Your contacted by your Marine sgt from the control room. "We're attempting broadcasts to the hab blocks but we're getting no response. With your permission I'd like a take a team down there to investigate. We can be back in two hours barring any major hangups."

>Send recon team Y/N ?
>Any other orders?

>>18760113
Send the team.

Get an idea on how much usage material is left, and what the state of the refining machinery is.

>>18760113
Someone will have to check the hab blocks out sooner or later. Might as well do it now.

>>18760155
>>18760177
inb4 marines get eaten by aliens or demons.

First Mike then Alex undock from the station to keep watch for the incoming fleet. You get ready to depart as well, expecting the docking space will be needed by other ships. Still, there are parts of the station that should be investigated ASAP.
"Chief if we have any damage control teams that we can spare we should get them armed up and out holding the docks so the Marines can continue to deeper into the station."

Within an hour a second team of Marines begin investigating the cargo lifts leading to the first stage refineries.
"We're not seeing a lot of damage, even raw materials have been left. Most equipment lockers have been stripped though. Small portable equipment, anything that could be carried off is gone and I mean anything. Support and maintence vehicles if they're small enough seem to be gone. I think it'll be easy to get things up and running again if we dont run into any major damage. We'll check in at regular intervels."

The team sent to check out the hab blocks is able to report in using the station's network. "They're gone, all of them. We havent seen one person, hell we havent seen any bodies either. Plenty of signs of weapons fire near the entrances to the block. Blood in some places too but no more than you might get in your average riot gone bad. If I had to say it looks like they were trying to get their hands on experienced refinery crews they coud put to work back in their home territory."

Two hours later the Marines sent to the hab block finally return having extended their investigation of the surrounding area. They have a prisoner with them.

"We found this one on the way back. We were all but certain he was a pirate even before he confirmed it. Says that the ship we just fought undocked while he was still onboard. It fits since we caught him running towards the hab block. There may be more left behind to operate the machinery when they were repairing their ship. We'll be at the docks soon so let us know what you want done with him."

The Battleship Taskmaster along with an escort of cruisers and Frigates arrives soon after. Within five minutes more than 300 Marines have landed at the docks. Engineers are shuttled over next to double check the landing bays before the Frigates dock.

[ ] Hand over the prisoner to the Taskmaster
[ ] Take him back to the fleet with you
[ ] Other

Anything else you'd like to investigate before you leave? The teams from the other ships wont tell you to get lost even though some of them might prefer it.

>>18760798
[X] Hand over the prisoner to the Taskmaster

Pass that buck right up the chain like a good junior officer.

>>18760798
>[X] Hand over the prisoner to the Taskmaster

He might provide valuable information and I guess it will take longer to coerce him to share it if we take him back to the fleet with us.

>Anything else you'd like to investigate before you leave?
Nothing that I could think of.

After recalling your Marines you inform the Battleship's commander you're sending a prisoner over and that you believe belonged to the ship you just defeated but you're not 100% sure. He promises to have one of his people look after it before suggesting you head back to the fleet.

The Frigates begine putting crews aboard the station as the last of your marines come back onboard. A few starfighters from the battleship head off to the wreckage of the attack cruiser to recon the remains.

"We came, we saw, we kicked some ass. Not a bad day." Mike concludes.

"And we didnt spend all of our RP on missiles and torpedoes." say Alex.

"We still have a bunch of other sites to check out guys." You point out.

Mike laughs. "With any luck we'll find an arms manufacturing site then you two can stop worrying about ammo."

The three of you jump out headed back to the fleet.

>End Mission 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reBuz97GgBM

>>18761065
Reusing music, eh?

>>18761084
More like forgetting to use it for a long number of threads.


In looking over ship classes I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that the Dominion as a whole lacks a good domestically produced Attack Cruiser. I mean yes there's the Aries attack Cruiser but they're only built in small numbers.
There's the Light cruiser which is too slow and the Frigate which doesnt have the kind of firepower an attack cruiser does.
It does kind of fit considering the tactics of most Houses consist of 'Throw more corvettes at it', but not so great when you've got a House like Jarik-Dremine where I've been trying to give them better gear simply because they cant afford to take heavy casulties.
Ideas?

>>18761148
Well, guessing from the setting's parallels to feudalism, lots of cheap and expendable ships combined with very few high-class vessels makes kinda sense.

>Attack cruiser
We wanted a chance for Sonia to make some money. An investment opportunity.
I guess we just found one. No idea how to include it in the current storyline but that's luckily not my problem. :p

>>18761148
Engines can be upgraded, and reactors and gun mounts can be added. If a ship is too slow or too undergunned, produce a variant.

Is domestic production really necessary, though? There must be ships left over from the Faction Wars, and, while buying new or used from another faction has drawbacks compared to making ships yourself, it also has advantages.

>>18761219
Yes, when I belatedly realised that you guys would likely get your hands on the Bittenfeld I was kinda dubstruck at how overpowered it could be with the right upgrades.
I mean it's not broken like some Terran warships are in this setting but still pritty powerful.

>>18761330
Pretty powerful it may be, but that just means our COs will eventually wise up and start sending us up against targets worthy of that kind of ship. They don't seem too familiar with what a good Bittenfeld can do when it makes a forceful breakthrough.

Incidentally, did we ever think about painting it red?

>>18761375
If I remember, the highest rank we can attain is that of Baron. So yes, I'd say a red ship might eventually be very fitting.

>>18761247
>Is domestic production really necessary, though?
Most of the Attack Corvettes sent by your House to the Expeditionary fleet are brand new.
With the Factions declaring war against the Pirate Warlords and beginning to mobilize their space fleets a few new ships here and there are going to be in demand. Neutral colonies, Mercenary Guilds, and the Houses (who have never really stopped fighting) have been a slow but constant draw on starships over the years.
That and the Pirates stealing every ship they possibly can.

>>18761375
Nobody mentioned it. It's currently white except for House markings and the heavy guns which are violet.

>>18761441
Let's give the Bittenfeld some red stripes.

Aren't the ship designs currently in use actually quite old?

>>18761512
Red? We are the black lancers!

>>18761559
This.
And if we ever acquire a new ship it should of course be named the Königstiger. Along with a name change to Sonia von Bittenfeld.

>>18761658
I think you're overdoing the animu thing.

>>18761512
>Aren't the ship designs currently in use actually quite old?

They are. Newer more efficient forms of equipment, weapons and power systems are all constantly being produced but most improvements are small. Most forces simply improve upon their existing designs and upgrade older ships, but that doesnt mean new ships are never developed. With the Factions being at relative peace for so long there's been no real need for sweeping fleet wide ship replacements. There are exceptions to every rule though.

When it comes to equipment like high end weapons and shields from the Faction wars they are now considered merely average.

>>18761658
>Along with a name change to Sonia von Bittenfeld
I sure hope you're kidding.

>>18761722
So, perhaps the solution to the House's lack of a good domestically-produced Attack Cruiser is simply an unusually new design?

>>18761670
>>18761722
I was being sarcastic. Blame English not being my first language for that not showing.

>>18761773
For a second there I considered slapping 3 Attack Corvettes together.

>>18761781
sorry man.

>>18761976
Take a regular Frigate, add four pylons, and put Corvettes on those pylons.

>>18761994
Getting a bit bulky at that point but its an interesting idea.

>>18761976
Will there be space technicals at one point?

>>18762064
Make a sport version with only two Corvettes.

Need extra point defense? Glue some turrets to your hull and mount fighters on them.

Do pirates make mashup ships?

>>18762089
A fair number of the pirate Frigates you fought in the Loran system had jury rigged this that and every other thing stuck on them to shoot. I wouldnt be surprised it some had mass drivers in place of their torpedo tubes.

>>18762159
Your hull and power systems can only support so many additional weapons. Bittenfeld is currently maxed out for weapons.

>>18762218
Fighters have onboard generators for their weapons. Unless turrets require a lot of power just to rotate...

>>18762218
Can we get a Spess Tarbo or some such to boost our output?

>>18762218
That only means we need to get more hull and additional power systems.

>>18762235
>>18762242

You could upgrade the other 4 lower output drives that would give you some more power but wouldnt do much for extra space. I suppose you could rip out the missile racks and torpedo launcher and put stuff there.

>>18762323
We could just graft on some fins or miscellaneous armor pieces.

>>18762344
Or trade in our ship for a newer, faster, bigger, shinier one.

>>18762323
How would the jamming capabilities of an ECM suite compare to a nuke volley?

>>18762344
...I suppose.

>5 months later in game.

>>18762365
Well, that can wait. First thing we need to do is to get Alex promoted to knight so we can get the better job with the knights errant.

>>18762365
Trade in Bittenfeld? Not unless there are more than two cruiser options. We need to board more ships.

>>18762375
Remember, you're in control here. It's not at all difficult to come up with a good reason to limit us to a certain number of weapons. Just make sure it's a GOOD reason.

>>18762367
ECM is best used at long range or to mask your approach to a target.
Nukes are better used to break line of sight once you've already been spotted. Think smoke bombs and flash bangs. Which reminds me, does anyone know what elements would give off high intensity radiation for a minute or two after being exposed to a nuke?

>>18762378
I think you may mean Mike.

>>18762461
Yeah. The poorfag.

>>18762461
Could upgrade our nuke launchers from external racks to some kind of internal magazine?

And you mentioned mass drivers, how good are those?

>>18762563
>And you mentioned mass drivers, how good are those?
Not very. Weather you're using magnets, repulsors or cordite you cant only fling a piece of metal so fast given the length of a barrel. You only see them on defense platforms or some rare ship spinal mounts. They used to be fairly effective until everybody got sick of Humanity's shit and upgraded shields to take a kinetic shock better.
You were crashing through some rather large rocks today.

>>18762688
Hmmm. Say, does AI exist in this setting?

Yes, but they have heavily restricted programming. Think AI slavery.

>>18762807
Just precautionary or have there been some bad experiences?

>>18762876
Precautionary. I've tried to stay away from the whole thing for the most part.

Okay, sketched out a possible attack cruiser design. Stats wise it would be another 8 engine job.
Weapons loadout of 2 twinlinked phase cannon and then a bunch of optional hardpoints.
4-6 Point defense mounts
2 spinal mounts (Beam or pulse)
4 hardpoints for either Torp launchers, phase cannon turrets or light pulse cannon turret.
The main body's a bit small, not sure how much room there'd be for shuttles.

>>18763017
I doubt it would even need shuttles except maybe one.
I'd picture it more as a pure attack ship than anything else.

>>18763017
I'd do a counter proposal on it, think of it as a Terran Battle cruiser from StarCraft design.

8 Extended Engines, (function as with Fusion Drive upgrade - Actual Fusion drive upgrades are give 50% less performance on this design due to overlap)
6 core mounts (spinal, heavy pulse,) exchangable for two guns over its weight class - all or nothing you either get two guns over your wieght class or 6 heavy mounts.
6 PD mounts - 4 on raills streatching accros the length of the nacelles shileding the main body and engies, 2 at each end of the hammer head. (full PD to the front, half pd to the sides, 66% pd upwards, downwards and backwards.)
2 Phase or beam turrets, topside and downside, on protusions, able to focus fire forwards, backwards, and to the flanks.

0-18 or torp launchers in the hammer head at exchange with the heavy mounts at a 3to 1 exchange.

0-1 Shuttle, depending on space (if it uses ammo, it will have to loose some) .

Emergency thrusters (max 16) are a popular upgrade for increased mobility doing faux thrust vectoring for greater mobility to keep up with corvettes in manoeuvres.
considering the Throw more corvettes at it approach of the Dominion houses in their wars and skirmishes, you need a fast heavy puncher with them, and due to the obvious lack of torp production and the low position of the house you'd go with a ship that can cover three mission parameters while being able to keep up with your main combatant force.

thus a cruiser that can keep up with or even outpace corvettes and can be configured as the usual cruiser gunboat, a gun on engine for taking out the stations and things to heavy for corvettes, or missile boat.

>>18764380
>0-18 or torp launchers
0-18 missile or torp launchers

>>18764380
the 3 to 1 exchange is due to taking the place of out fire control and cooling system for the spinal beams that surround its fire mouth in the hammer head, while using the spinal mounts tunnel in the main body for ammo and resupply.

>>18764380

there is no way in hell anyone is going to waste 900 RP every torp volley


on the other hand, 18 torps a pop could sure pass through the pd and shields of a super heavy, especially if the cruisers are in a squad , supporting or supported by a corvette wing, since they only have 2 small guns that can fire in all direction, aside from PD. , well, unless the missiles and torps can be launched ahead and make a U or L turn. if they do then its a total corvette killer if you fit it with missiles all over.

Its still 180 RP a pop if you go for the full launcher load out, and you cant do more than a bit over two and a half full spreads of missiles before you reach the break even on RP gain since you only get 500 RP per mission.

>>18764704
indeed. here, remastered:


>8 Extended Engines, (function as with Fusion Drive upgrade - Actual Fusion drive upgrades are give 50% less performance on this design due to overlap)
>6 core mounts (spinal, heavy pulse,) exchangable for two guns over its weight class - all or nothing you either get two guns over your wieght class or 6 heavy mounts.
>6 PD mounts - 4 on raills streatching accros the length of the nacelles shileding the main body and engies, 2 at each end of the hammer head. (full PD to the front, half pd to the sides, 66% pd upwards, downwards and backwards.)
>2 Phase or beam turrets, topside and downside, on protusions, able to focus fire forwards, backwards, and to the flanks.

>0-12 or torp launchers in the hammer head at exchange with the heavy mounts at a 2to 1 exchange.

>0-1 Shuttle, depending on space (if it uses ammo, it will have to loose some) .

although if you slap some external racks you could get to 18 or 20 again, at least for the alpha strike.

>8 Extended Engines, (function as with Fusion Drive upgrade - Actual Fusion drive upgrades are give 50% less performance on this design due to overlap)
>6 core mounts (spinal, heavy pulse,) exchangable for two guns over its weight class - all or nothing you either get two guns over your wieght class or 6 heavy mounts.
>6 PD mounts - 4 on raills streatching accros the length of the nacelles shileding the main body and engies, 2 at each end of the hammer head. (full PD to the front, half pd to the sides, 66% pd upwards, downwards and backwards.)
>2 Phase or beam turrets, topside and downside, on protusions, able to focus fire forwards, backwards, and to the flanks.

>0-12 missile or torp launchers in the hammer head at exchange with the heavy mounts at a 2to 1 exchange.

>0-1 Shuttle, depending on space (if it uses ammo, it will have to loose some) .

derp typo again

>>18764748
that looks like a monster of a cruiser. probably vulnerable to corvette swarms, but considering its supposed to act with friendly corvettes around it and provide big punch in different configuration it may just fit the role of space gun/arsenal on engines.,

regarding kinetics, would the GM consider Shield-breakers down the pipeline?

>>18764748
You're looking at something in the battleship or even medium cruiser range with that kind of firepower.
If it was really bulky you could get it down to 1000m in legth.

>>18766210
No. There's already enough weapons that compromise the usefulness of shields. Twin linked phase cannon and spinal mount plasma cannons already get a boost to shield penetration. Heavy phase cannon on larger ships have a good chance of slicing through corvette shielding in 2 hits.
There's a heavy torpedo weapon that I suppose technically could be a shield breaker but they're freaking huge.

>>18766476
that is .. weak. you should be able to take something your own weight class in less then two full alpha volleys.


else you are a crappy ship.


also the
>>18764748
ship, considering your scales is somewhat a bit bigger than our vengeance or the other 14000 RP range cruisers, at least in size. in cost it could be reaching 18000 if not 20000 due to modularity, and other things.

>>18766512
>that is .. weak. you should be able to take something your own weight class in less then two full alpha volleys.
>else you are a crappy ship.

By that reckoning you shouldnt have survived the head to head with that enemy attack cruiser.

>>18767234
Air combat aficionado or suicidal tenancies.