Deciding you're going to give them little choice but to surrender or die you move the Bittenfeld into a position to rain down artillery fire from orbit via your flak guns. Should make a mess of things wherever they hit despite their small caliber. The artillery specialists ask you to give them a minute to recalibrate the targeting systems.

Before you can contact the Captain of your House Carrier about your plan you're hailed from the surface.
"This is colony Administrator Vars to whichever ship is preparing to begin a bombardment. Please respond immediately."

"This is Squadron Leader Sonia Reynard with House J-" you start to tell him but you're cut off.

"I dont care what House you're with, they are all the same to us. Leave now and spare us all more trouble."

You're momentarily taken aback by the demand.
"We're here to help liberate this sector of any pirate or insurgent forces. House Posat still holds claim over this area, I'm sure they'll help you rebuild once the Pirates are gone."

"We've been Liberated a dozen times before by many different Houses. They always leave and we're left to fend for ourselves again. We've been paying protection for ten years now and it is far more successful in preventing incidents. We have nothing but ocean farms here but even raiders need food. Leave us alone and the insurgents will do the same."

>What say?

>>19637339
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. The whole sector is in the process of being cleared of any pirate presence. And to be honest, we probably wouldn't even have come here if we hadn't had received a distress signal from your planet in the first place. Furthermore, the pirates have beung to employ slave implants on a large scale, so I guess it would be only a matter of time, until you and your population got one as well."

>Sorry if the replies are slow and horribly written. I'm trying to catch some sleep between updates and my day has been rather mediocre.

I expect that our House has given us no prep for such a message.

Clearly, we seek some advice from the Knights that came as our support.

>>19637427
additional thought:

if we need to stall for the Knights to debate this extreme heading change:

"What are you and the frigates upon your surface offering?"

>And to be honest, we probably wouldn't even have come here if we hadn't had received a distress signal from your planet in the first place.

"Probably the work of the old planetary militia." The administrator tells you. "They've been opposed to this scheme since the start. They move around, transmitting from old ice cracking stations trying to contact outsiders for help that we don't need."

Sure enough according to sensors the signal is being transmitted from a remote outpost on the night side of the planet far from civilization.

>Furthermore, the pirates have begun to employ slave implants on a large scale, so I guess it would be only a matter of time, until you and your population got one as well.

"We have had no such trouble since we began supplying them on a regular basis. None of our people have been taken unwillingly."

>Contact Knight
Knight Captain Kim Yu is unavailable for the moment, overseeing his damaged ships. The Captain of the House Carrier in system however will contact you in a few minutes.

>"What are you and the frigates upon your surface offering?"
"I- what? Are you-" he drops his voice is though that might make some difference. "Are you asking for a bribe?"

Alex contacts you with some better quality scans of the surface. The enemy Frigates are both parked near population centers and appear to be loading cargo aboard in a orderly if slow fashion.

"Those are algae and kelp processing plants they're near." Alex tells you indicating a number of buildings on the surface.
"The shields on the Frigates are extending a protective bubble close to 1km across. Kinetic bombardment would be fine and shouldn't be a treaty violation but do you have enough ammo to breach the shields of both ships?"

You're not certain, your converted flak guns have expended more than half their ammo in fighting starfighters so far.

>>19637539
>Bribe.
No.

>Rest
As we said, the sector is being cleaned out and we're on a major offensive against the pirates.

There's not really anything either the administrator or we can do about it.

He's going to be "liberated", if he likes it or not. But if he wants to keep face, in case the pirates come back because the local house can't keep the sector secure, we'd be more than willing to inform our superiors of his displeasure about the removal of the pirates from his planet. And how willing he was to work with them for the safety of his population.

>>19637631
"Do what you will but leave us out of it. Expect me to hold all of you responsible the next time they return." Vars closes the link from his end.

"Message incoming from the carrier for you sir."
You tell your coms officer to put it through.

"Squadron Leader, I notice you're in position to bombard the colony." Says the Carrier's commanding officer, a woman in her late thirties.

"Not the colony sir, just this ships. I have flak guns that should be able to hit the frigates with a minimum of collateral. I think we should offer them the chance to surrender or get blasted to smithereens."

"I've been talking to the leader of the pirate ships on the ground. They say they have hostages and I'm reluctant to begin a firefight if it escalates into nuclear scale weaponry while near population centers. Especially since it would constitute a treaty violation. They're demanding safe passage until they're far enough away to jump at which point they'll release the hostages."

From the scans you've looked over of the surface and the conversation with the administrator you've seen no sign that some of them had been taken hostage. Ground vehicle traffic seems light but the colony isnt very large. Transport vehicles on the surface moving supplies to the ships seem normal enough, mostly small delivery trucks.

[ ] Go along with the Commander's plan
[ ] Blast em
[ ] Investigate hostages
[ ] Other

>>19637598
>bribe
"You've asked us to leave you be to supply enemy forces with the means to continue making war. Either you're declaring yourself a hostile planet and thus a target, offering compensation, or a fool. Which is it?"

>>19637761
>[X] Investigate hostages
Let's see if they actually have any hostages.

>>19637761
[x] Investigate hostages
[x] Infiltrate?

Would it be possible to get a shuttle down to the planet without it being detected? If we do liberate the colony, can we guarantee them any protection?

>>19637761

What are the other enemy ships up to?

"I have reason to believe that the pirates are bluffing and the planet is supplying hostile forces with war material willingly, based upon the transmission I received. I believe we should allow them into orbit and then destroy or take them."

We should also contact command with the sit rep, perhaps ask if they wish to send additional forces to take this planet as a base/supply depot or if we should just leave it.

>>19637804
>>19637808
"The only way to tell for sure whats going on down there would be to go in on foot but if they spotted a shuttle incoming the Frigates would either go turtle or take off early." Says Kavos.

"Wait. The air traffic control sensors for the spaceport are located here and here." points out Arron indicating points on the map. "They're older models. Hitting those with a jamming signal would put them out of action. If we had starfighters take destroy or jam the other scanner sats in orbit as well they'd be blind over the horizon. A shuttle could land a few km out."

Kavos looks at the sensor officer then back to you."We could then move a team in on foot or borrow some local transport. Workable but tight on time. We have few Marines that didn't take part in boarding that assault transport."

>>19637817
>We should also contact command with the sit rep, perhaps ask if they wish to send additional forces to take this planet as a base/supply depot or if we should just leave it.
Forces from another House will arrive in 10 hours to conduct thorough sweeps of the planet and be certain its secured. They'll likely be stationed here for a few weeks until the rest of the run is cleared.

>>19637929
See if the carrier captain is on board with this plan.

If the colony will go back to being unprotected after smuggler's run is cleared, there's not much point to this. We should see what we can do about getting them some lasting defense.

>>19637929
>destroy or jam
I'd prefer it if we didn't damage our, or our allies, future property too much.

Otherwise, the plan sounds good to me.

>>19637817
>>19637963
You bring up both plans.
"I have reason to believe that the pirates are bluffing and the planet is supplying hostile forces with war material willingly, based upon the transmission I received. I believe we should allow them into orbit and then destroy or take them."

"Sounds risky. If it turns out they do have hostages if would mean we were responsible for their deaths.
On the other hand sending in a team or teams on the ground is dangerous for those taking part but less so for the civilians and would still leave us the option to intercept in orbit if they failed. If you're prepared to risk the lives of your Marines you're free to do so."

>>19638024
Wouldn't the easiest way to see if the pirates have taken hostages to go in with our cloaked power armor and actually see if anybody's there?
No need to risk the marines' lives until we know.

>>19638024
We'll proceed with the infiltration, then. The carrier's starfighters will jam, not destroy the scanner satellites in orbit.

We can go along, right? We do have that nice powered armor.

sounds like infiltration time.

We should pass a suggestion to command: "If the pirates regularly use this planet for food supplies, could we use it as an ambush point by not securing it?"

>>19638024
Can we go? We have that power armor camo suit to use someday...

>>19638024
By the way. Would it be possible to invest some RP in better protection for our marines? Or are they already equipped with the best stuff short of power armor?

Since the initial boarding action for the transport some Marines from the Carrier have gone aboard to help manage the captured crew. One shuttle load of your Marines have returned, mostly wounded but a few that are not.

You talk to Sergeant Ki about heading down to the surface and asks if he can spare anyone just in case.
"I can spare me and three others right now. Might as well take Duncan too, he figured it would take twelve hours to crack the encryption on that ship so he's hopped up on stims."

You collect your Recon armor and check the camo and silent movement functions before heading out.
"Squadron leader Reynard this is reckless, you have only a limited amount of training with your power armor so far. Even less with using the holographic camouflage." Instructor Dowaire tells you. He and armor technician Levi Nxesi are following as you head to the launch bay.
"You won't be able to make full use your suit with your current training." The tech warns. "You should still have the strength bonus along with most of the basics but you shouldn't expect to pull any super hero stunts with it."

Dowaire is still concerned about you going into a combat zone with little backup and suggests you merely clear the way for the rest of the team.

How do you plan on handling this action?
[ ] Solid Snake
[ ] Part of the team
[ ] Other

>>19638317
Part of the team, we're not snake (yet)

>>19638317
[x] Part of the team

The pirates are unlikely to expect someone with Recon armor, so we don't have to go full Solid Snake, and we would probably fail due to lack of training. Let's just scout as stealthily as possible and break necks when practical.

>>19638123
Passed along

>>19638229
There are minor upgrades that could be made I suppose but the armor Marines get is already pretty good.


Weapons and Equipment Loadout
Recon Light Power armor + Holographic camo
Ballistic Carbine + Silencer & Splinter ammo
Pulse Pistol (Change y/n?)
>Available: Silenced Pistol, Silenced SMG, Laser pistol, Gauss pistol, Other
Backup small pulse pistol

A forearm length combat knife is available for your Power Armor, choose one.
-Monofilament blade
-HF blade (Vibroblade)
-Standard combat Knife

>>19638317
>[ ] Other
Scout ahead, see if there are any hostages aboard. Freeing them on our own should be impossible, but if we could unlock a few doors, or see where the enemy defenders are stationed, and how many there are, it should make the marines' job a lot easier.

If we aren't good enough for that, we should still be able to scout ahead for the team.

>>19638317
we have cloak, so we should support the team with advanced scouting, beeing a vanguard and ensuring they dont get detected, as well as buttfucking any enemy gun emplacements or barricades if they happen, or kill all pirates around the hostages- if there are any, before the marines storm in.

basically deus-ex with a team ad going for maximum stealth, and only breaking it to ensure survival of team mates and hostages.

>>19638380
I take it the vibroblade is more effective against armor, but loud? If so, go with the monofilament.

>>19638380
>>Available: Silenced Pistol, Silenced SMG, Laser pistol, Gauss pistol, Other

Sorry to ask, but could you give some details on those?

>A forearm length combat knife is available for your Power Armor, choose one.
Same question.

>>19638380
I say we go for the Vibroblade. - a good Power armour assassin tool and in lieu of power armour, our own power armour should be enough to crush windpipes and break necks without much problem, if they lack power armour, not even needing to deploy the arm blade.

>>19638380
Is there a non-leathal CC option available? A built-in taser, or something like that.

rolled 41 = 41

Snake

Pulse Pistol - The sidearm you've made the most use of due to its stun option. The bright burst of energy it fires combined with its noise makes it bad for stealth missions, though its utility can be handy.
Silenced Pistol - Fires conventional chemically propelled rounds but can be suppressed.
Silenced SMG - Fires conventional chemically propelled rounds but can be suppressed. Has higher rate of fire than pistol but is less accurate.
Laser pistol - Fires a laser. Can be tuned to frequencies that are less visible for most species. Less effective against armored targets.
Gauss pistol - launches magnetically propelled slug. Cant be silenced due to projectile speed.

>Tazer
You don't currently have any aboard ship. Most non lethal actions are handled with pulse pistols or rifles.

Monofilament blade - A knife with a blade one molecule wide. They are incredibly dangerous but have a tendency to wear out quickly, soon dulling to sharpness more in line with a regular knife.
HF blade (Vibroblade) - More durable than monofilament weapons HF weapons are known for their signature hum once activated. The sound dampening systems on your Recon may or may not be able to silence the noise this weapon makes.
Standard combat Knife - Its a knife

>>19638571
Test the effect of Recon sound dampening on the HF blade before leaving the ship.

>>19638571
Seems like the Silenced SMG is the best option for us, as we've got accuracy covered with the rifle.

>HF blade (Vibroblade)
Well, let's ask our trainer if our armor can mask the sound or not.

>>19638594
>>19638601
Roll 1d100 for sound dampening

rolled 48 = 48

>>19638615
>/tg/ dice
Well, this is going to be good.

rolled 71 = 71

>>19638615
rolling

The shuttle departs with you and a few Marines aboard. Starfighters and corvettes are already beginning jamming. The pilot tells you a shuttle from the Knight Captain's cruiser has also launched, possible heading for the other Frigate.

"We're hiding in among a starfighter squadron until we're far enough over the horizon, that way they wont figure out what we're doing."

"Jamming seems good we're going in."

Dropping into the atmosphere on the frigid night side you can hear the air rushing past on of reentry. A few minutes later the engines cut out.
"Using repulsors only for the rest of this leg to cut down on chances our engine flare will give us away."

The shuttle coasts in near the edges of a smaller town 10km outside the main city.

"Now to find a vehicle we can jack and take farther in." Says Ki.
Roll 1d20 for carjacking.

Stopping for dinner, brb 20 minutes.

rolled 10 = 10

>>19638687
>1
>You set off all car alarms in a 45km radius.

>>19638704
No face when everybody is so afraid of /tg/ dice they stop rolling after a 10.

rolled 12 = 12

>>19638687
Leeeeeeeeeeroy Jjjjjennnkins!

rolled 18 = 18

>>19638687
Let the dices roll

As you hit the ground you notice the Marines throwing their helmets and rifles into sports bags and throwing on baggy clothes to hide their armor.

"Everyone watch out for hypoxia, the air is a little thin. Say something if you're about to throw your helmet on so we can keep watch."

Walking into the town you activate your camo, hanging behind the others as they check out some of the parking lots. Most of the vehicles are smaller 2-3 seat electric ones for local commuting but others are pickups used by the few miners on world.

"Found one." Whispers Duncan breaking out a decryption pad to hack the lock. When he finishes he pulls the door handle but nothing happens. Noting a well worn dent mark in the bottom of the door one of the other Marines kicks it and the door pops open. He has an easy time getting the vehicle to start and everyone climbs into either the cab or the open bed.

You're 100m away when someone runs out of the building it was parked in front of waving and shouting in your direction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5UQE3QnZwI

"Not seeing any police reports." Ki tells you. "The jamming must be interfering with all wireless broadcasts."

Can we retroactively started making sounds that make it seem like it was a bunch of redneck stealing the car for giggles?

>>19639276
I'm sure they'll just blame it on the planetary militia who are basically the same thing.


The drive into the city is uneventfull. Traffic seems just as light as it did from orbit but there are still plenty of signs of life in the city itself. Pedestrian traffic seems normal in the denser areas you pass through. Most of those sections would have been hard to make out as there are reflectors strung above those streets pointed towards the star to provide more light. They can probably be rotated to help give the impression of a day night cycle.

The shield bubble is plainly obvious from your current position in the city, making the air look darker hazier where you can see it.
"We're close enough now. We should decide how we're going to do this. Try to go straight in on foot from a position near the ship, follow a delivery truck from the processing plants or take a delivery truck from the plant ourselves."

[ ] Go in on foot
[ ] Follow delivery truck
[ ] Steal delivery truck
[ ] other

>>19639386
I suggest going in on foot.

>>19639405
Seconded. Scouting the situation on foot sounds good. If the ship is too heavily guarded, we can still try to sneak on one of the trucks.

"Park nearby, I'll scout out the area." You tell the others.

After pulling into an out of the way parking lot behind a set of appartments you hop out and head for the nearby landing field. You have to slow down a few times to make sure the crunching of gravel doesnt alert nearby pedestrians but otherwise the suit seems to dampen the sounds of your footfalls enough that they cant be heard.

Climbing over a low wall seperating a road from the spaceport's ashphault surface you belateldy realise that its a bit further down on the other side. The suit's built in repulsors while weak are enough to cushon the landing preventing injury.

The Frigate is parked nearby next to a maintenence tower. Manipulator arms and cranes powerful enough to lift sections of hull armor into place sit securely stowed.
Bay doors on the flanks of the Frigate are sitting open, lowered to act as a landing ramp for support vehicles. Forklifts are in the process of unloading pallets and crates from the back of a rather ordinary delivery truck. They seem to be taking their time.

A second truck pulls up and waits for the first to be finished unloading, the drivers each waving to the other.
Security seems light. A pair of guards are at the top of the ramp and another few at the bottom helping direct the lifters.

>What do?

>>19639694
See if there is any more security around and then report back to the team to discuss the best approach to this situation.

Skirting along close to the retaining wall you sneak around to the far side of the frigate. The opposite bay door is also open but some mechanics are working on it, evidently trying to get one of the servos that close the door to work.

With all of the jamming you cant get a signal through at your current range so you head back until you're close enough to raise the others.

"This is Reynard, security looks light." You describe the area around the ship.

"No wonder they're not in a hurry, they don't want to lift off with a big hole in their hull. We should go in on the damaged side, the rest of the crew should be concentrating on moving the cargo aboard."

The Marines climb over the wall and repel down at a point where the maintenance tower shields them from view.

"How do you want to do this?" Ki asks you. "Everyone open up with silenced weapons or do you want to get inside the bay first and we hit them from both directions?"

>Either of the above ways or do something different?

>>19639920
We should try to see if we can find out if they actually have hostages or not before we attack.

>>19639920
We should use our Recon armor to maximum effect, and try to get inside without being seen. If we do manage to get in the frigate undetected, we'll have more options. If not, we open fire anyway.

rolled 5 = 5

Number to beat = above

Roll 1d20 for sneaking.

Also your suit sound dampening cuts down on 60% of the noise generated by your HF blade. Did you want that or the mono blade?

rolled 7 = 7

>>19639979
>>19638687
couple these two with a two pronged ambush as son as we get detected. no need to not have a security net.

>>19640021
I still suggest taking the mono blade.

"This should be interesting. I've never worked with someone invisible before." Mutters Ki as you move out.
"Or not while knowing about it." Duncan quips.

You sneak closer to the door being worked on. Every so often it will attempt to raise up slightly, fail, then lower back to ground level.

"I know there's a short I just dont know where it is!" Shouts one mechanic. You step onto the door just as they trigger it almost losing your ballance but recovering before you can fall. The guard on the ground next to you looks over where your foot scraped the metal a bit when you shifted but doesnt seem to notice anything.

"Hurry up you guys."
"Ten, no twenty minutes tops, serious this time."

You get inside and find the bay to already be filled with stacked crates. A lot of them.

Taking the opportunity you head deeper into the ship to make a quick check for the hostages. Your HUD shows guest quarters are marked three or four decks up.

>Are we checking on the hostages first or taking out the guys in the bay?

>>19640256
-See if we could collapse one of the stacks to delay their departure, or if we can do any damage to the ramp mechanism without being noticed.

-How long will it take us to reach the guest quarters.

>See if we could collapse one of the stacks to delay their departure,
Yes you can
>or if we can do any damage to the ramp mechanism without being noticed.
Not without being noticed

>How long will it take us to reach the guest quarters.
Five minutes tops.

>>19640383
If possible, try to nudge the crates to far that they'll collapse the next time a forklift comes close.

Investigate the guest quarters afterwards. Make sure we're able to communicate with the rest of the team from inside the ship.

>>19640383
Collapse a stack, then. Bonus points if we can use the domino effect to collapse more, or if we can use it to injure one or more of the pirates.

>Make sure we're able to communicate with the rest of the team from inside the ship.
Should be fine? You're not sure.

You pull on one of the pallets supporting crates on a taller stack. It all weighs quite a bit thankfully the suit give you just enough of a strength boost to manage it. As the stack starts to fall you make a dash for the doors leading deeper into the ship. You rush through just as you hear the mechanics yelling and screaming.

Using a stairwell rather than risk a crowded lift you make it up two decks before voices start to call out over the intercom.
"Medics and all available loading workers to the starboard cargobay! We've got wounded from fallen cargo! Port side lifters get over here ASAP, we dont have time to get the other ones out."

Steping out on what you hope is the right deck you head for the objective. A few crewmen rush past and its all you can do to stay out of their way. The ship hallways are cramped like on most ships. Not by design but from equipment being bundled to the walls. Spare gear for life support, fire fighting and damage control is the most common.

You enter the guest quarters and find a dozen men and women, Human, Dro'all and Kavarian, with gazes fixed on a display monitor showing the cargo bay.

"Shouldnt we get down there?" a woman your age or younger asks.
"No point, half the crew is there by now and they actually know what they're doing." Another answers.
They all seem to be quite young and none that you can see are armed.
>What do?

>>19640651
I'd guess those aren't hostages but recruits.

>>What do?
Any idea how to deal with this situation without escalating it into a bloodbath?

>>19640651
Keep listening. They don't seem to be hostages, at least not the traditional kind.

>>19640707
If we could take control of the bridge and/or engineering stealthily, we would then have the ability to deny the pirates use of their ship. Using the environmental systems, we might be able to knock out some of the crew as well. The best thing we could do is take this ship without the other frigate being notified, but that would require more than a little luck.

I think we should head for the bridge.

rolled 13 = 13

>>19640707
>>19640708
I dont think we have time here. we should see if we can cut communications and then subdue them.

they are not armed so we can kick them into unconsciousness fairly fast, after destroying any kind of communications and blocking the door, and then asking the marines to do a silenced push/ assault, so that the other pirates cannot warn the other pirate craft, in case they can- shoot anyone who does not surrender, stun/bind and gag everyone else.


In less then a few minutes they will be wanting to skedaddle and now we dont have time for stupid shit.
I assume we have everything we see recorded by the PA so that in case these are the sons or something of the local administrators, making the whole planetary higher admin in cahoots with the pirates a thing, barring the militia reistance

>>19640749
Whatever we do, we can't risk having those youngsters join the fight. The planet's population will never warm up to us if we kill their children.

>>19640799
Agreed.

>>19640783
of course the captain of the pirate craft could have a nuke with a dead mans switch as well, but considering these people dont do anything and their reactions i dont know, but i seriously doubt it...

>>19640707
>>19640708
You listen in but hear very little from the crowd as their attention is focused on work in the hold. You're beginning to suspect there may be no hostages at all, just recruits.

>>19640749
>Take control of the ship

Once you're a safe distance away and back into an empty stairway you contact the others.

"Bit of a mess you're causing. We've moved back a piece and thrown our civie clothes back on top in case they send a patrol out. I think one of the mechanics or guards might be dead, not sure."

"Sergeant, I don't think there are any hostages, or I haven't found them yet. What would be the best way to take over the ship?"

"The best way would be to get Duncan to the bridge controls." he tells you. "We could fight our way in through the port cargo bay with most of the crew now at the starboard or... if you can find some cable and open one of the topside airlocks we could rope over from this tower."

>>19640783
>>19640799
>>19640816
>Stun the recruits/hostages
You still have your backup which has a stun setting. You currently have insufficient training with your armor to prevent landing lethal blows most of the time.

Lets see some dice rolls, 1d20 for stunning. If you want we can include that roll as well.
>>19640783

rolled 8 = 8

>>19640947
I'm not too sure about this, because the noise of the pulse pistol might compromise our position. Rolling, anyhow.

>>19640947
Cant we simply engage the emergency locks on the guest quarter's doors? I would hate to roll a 1 and slaughter them all.

rolled 20 = 20

>>19640947
>rolls
Well, here goes nothing.

>>19640983
You make a mental note to have Duncan show you how to do that when you have some time off. This suit needs some serious intrusion programs if you're going to be running around enemy ships.


Pulling out your backup and checking that it was recharged and set to stun after its last use you walk back to the guest quarters. Everyone is still in the common room and are taken by surprise when you open fire. Two try to rush you for whatever good that does while another attempts to hit the wall intercom. You're forced to break her arm to keep her from hitting the button then stun her. The remaining Kavarian throws a table at you almost knocking the pistol out of your hand. If buys enough time for him to open the door to his quarters but not enough to open a gun rack.

As you go to leave you hear a crewman approaching the door.
"Hey whats all the racket guys- Oh shit." he says as he rounds the corner then raises his hands.
"I surrender?"

Walking forward you pick him up by the front of his uniform. "Where are the hostages?" You demand.
"Ohmygodpleasedontkillme!"
"Where are they?!"
"What hostages we don't have any! These are some new guys that just signed aboard today."

>>19641154
Take him into the room and close the door, then question him. Don't stun him yet.

>>19641196
I doubt we'll have time for that.

>>19641208
Why is that?

>>19641222
The ship was supposed to take off in 10 minutes before we engineered the crate accident.

>>19641085
>Dat 20
Added to the next roll.

>>19641196
He appears to be just some lowly crewman and tells you about half the crew have been recruited from this world. Their Frigate usually doesn't see any combat, just taking care of moving cargo around for one of the larger gangs in the area.
"The pays pretty good and they don't even ask most of us to do much fighting. Half the time its just cargo runs with food supplies to different locations."

>>19641239
That particular door was supposed to be fixed in that length of time. The other bay wasn't quite full yet. Considering the accident in the starboard bay the ship is now behind schedule.

The Marines want to know what your plan is. If you intend to capture the ship you'll need to get your intrusion expert aboard.

>>19641239
The crate accident will halt their attempt to repair the door, the time for which was 10-20 minutes, if I'm reading it correctly. If we have enough time to find a cable and set up a zipline, we have enough time to question this crewman.

>>19641273
Ask him where we can find a cable, and if the topside airlocks are secured. Then stun him. We'll bring the marines in from the tower.

>>19641295
We should also ask about the other frigate, but otherwise - seconded.

He doesnt know anything about the other Frigate or even that other ships were still on the ground. You find out where to find some cable is but he knows nothing about the airlocks. After stunning him you head for the forward sections, gabbing some cable out of an equipment locker on the way. The only airlock you can find is below the parade bridge. The controls are basic, the same as those on any Frigate or corvette built in the Dominion.

Taking a moment to be certain you glance through the thick viewports of the parade bridge to be sure no one is there. Hooking one end of the cable to the handle of the airlock you toss the other end across the gap to the closest level of the tower that lines up. The Marines arrive shortly after and secure the cable on their end.

"I'm not getting paied enough for this." One of them mutters into his helmet mic as they use the cable to climb across. "That drop could kill someone as soon as look at em."

"Enough bitching, lets hit the bridge." The Sergeant tells the others then extends his arm for you to lead the way. "After you sir."

Roll 1d20 for securing the bridge!

>>19641575
>paied
paid
Goddammit.

rolled 6 = 6

>>19641575
I hope our stealth holds.

rolled 12 = 12

>>19641575
Secure that bridge!

rolled 6 = 6

Charging through the corridors you have to slow down as your Marines have no real way of tracking your progress.
"Right, invisible."

You shoot two armed members of the crew at a security checkpoint near the bridge. The body armor they had proving insuficient for your new carbine ammo. The others arrive at the entrance to the bridge and you wait until Duncan opens the door then step through, weapons at the ready.

An old and very overweight Dro'all sits in the captain's chair groaning about crew who cant even load a cargo bay right. He glances at the open doorway and squints.
"Security, discepline these crewmen for being improperly dressed. You most of all." He adds pointing to where you're standing.

A firefight ensues as the bridge door opposite the one you entered opens and three troopers rush in. A pair of operations officers also draw firearms to defend the captain. Realising the captain is the only one who can see you, you quickly gun him down and move to another position. One of the Marines curse but the keep up a steady fire, taking cover outside the door.

The ops officers die first but the enemy troopsers have a bit more armor and weather some hits, or at least live longer after taking mortal wounds. The last takes cover behind a console and you step in and cut his head off with your mono blade.

"Bridge secured." you announce

Duncan rushes in and plugs a hacking module into an operations console.

>>19641887
>he last takes cover behind a console and you step in and cut his head off with your mono blade.

Was that really necessary? I never figured Sonia to be the senseless violence type. Breaking one of his legs or arms should have been enough.

>>19641927
We just killed the entire bridge crew, as well as the security response squad. This man was just the last to die. I think we've done this pretty much the same way as we do everything, except stealthier.

>>19641927
I suppose ripping the gun out of his hands and then breaking all his arms and legs when he didn't surrender was an option.

>>19642000
Kay. I kinda assumed he would surrender after we had slaughtered the rest of his friends.

It takes six minutes to gain complete control of the ship systems. Half way through the Marine seals the bridge and activates the fire suppression systems in the engineering section. Pressure suit storage is hit next along with areas surrounding the bridge. Minutes later the remaining sections of the ship are sealed other than the cargo bay doors. With them already open and one still damaged there wouldn't be much point in attempting to trap crew that way.

You activate the intercom.
"All Pirate forces aboard, your Captain is dead. We are giving you the chance to surrender. Failure to do so will result in your deaths. As this ship has not had the most active pirate career I expect most of the crew will be eligible for parole after a short period of time. Don't let a few troublemakers ruin it for the rest of you."

>is this ok y/n?

>>19642111
Yes. Can we find out if the other frigate is alerted?

>>19642111
Add that they will be treated fairly and without violence if they surrender and that we've already taken out one of their security teams as well.

You send a lasercom message to one of the ships in orbit telling them one of the Frigates is secure. The other one does not seem to have been alerted though they've sped up loading operations.

Twenty minutes later you hear that a delivery truck unloaded a cargo of marines into the other Frigate's cargo bay and stormed the ship. They likewise found no signs of hostages only a handfull of new recruits. Additional shuttles with starfighter support arrive within ten minutes and Marines from the Carrier soon take the surrendered pirates into custody. Frigates from the Knight Captain's squadron, damaged or otherwise, set down at the space port to assist.
Some of the career pirate members of the crew, knowing a fair trial would only end in their executions, decided to make a run for it and are now at large in the city.

You hand control of the ship over to spare crew from the allied Frigates an hour later and inform the Carrier's commander about the situation with the pirate crew.

"That's going to complicate matters, especially with the new recruits. We'll have to set up a military tribunal with some of the other Houses and try them here. That's going to be a pain but it should keep the locals from going into an uproar which is what would happen if we were to just execute them."

we can send a signal to our forces in orbit, right?

"No hostages. Repeat, no hostages. World is providing crew and food for the pirates."

I'm not up to par on the rules of war in this setting, but I'm fairly sure that such things allow us to tell the other frigate "fuck you" via orbital bombardment.

>>19642376
The other frigate's already secure. Besides, the very reasons we decided to shuttle down and take them over are the justification for refraining from orbital bombardment.

Its late in the day when you set foot on your ship again, helmet under your arm. A few of the marines that have returned from the assault transport cheer your team even as they make way for the wounded members.

Your return your suit to the ships armoury and check for damage. There are a few pings where you were hit in the bridge firefight. The operations officers were paying close attention to where the captain was pointing. You clean the blood off your monofilament blade before returning it to its case.

The rest of the day is spent filling out reports both on the actions in space and on the ground. When the ocupation fleet arrives at 3 am the next morning your squadron is given the green light to return to base for repairs.

A message comes in from Knight Captain Sylvan after you dock.
"Just wanted to let everyone know that the Third attack wing are not the first to lose a ship in the run so far. It looks like the Second Wing ran into a bunch of Republic Mercenaries and lost two corvettes to plasma cannon strikes. Be careful, those spinal mount plasma guns can tear through most light ships. Keep your corvettes out of their forward arc if you can. Sylvan out.

>>19642310
>especially with the new recruits

They were a bunch of stupid children whose only chance to get off this backwater world was to join the pirates and have adventures in space.
Some leniency during their trials might buy us a lot of goodwill with the locals.

>>19642563
The Carrier commander says she'll look into doing what she can.

Jan 30 0900

Your squadron is fully repaired and ready for deployment once more.

Your currently available RP 5920

New items added to RP list:
Upgraded Sensor package -200 RP (1 Available)
SRP additions
Recovery teams are still going over the Assault transport you stopped from escaping but it looks like they'll be able to recover quite a few torps.
+200 torps added to squadron inventory!

Do you need to see the entire RP list y/n?

Also, did you wish to put salvage claims on any of the ships from the battle or let the Frigate squadrons have them?

>>19642789
Ask Alex and Mike if they'd like any of the ships to be salvaged.

>>19642789
>did you wish to put salvage claims on any of the ships from the battle

Well, which of the ships are in a shape where salaving might be worth it?

>>19642789
can we claim the ship we captured on the planet's surface?

It might be nice to have a frigate in reserve or as an upgrade for one of our pilots, since we took it intact! (or we could sell it)

>>19642801
Alex has expressed an interest in the Kavarian C-type attack cruiser already claimed by the squadron which should be repaired in a few more days.
Mike is happy with his corvette for the moment not having seen anything else he'd like.

>>19642809
At this point there are 3 Frigates (2 from the surface virtually unscathed) all of them rigged for cargo transport that could be salvaged quickly.
There's a scarab that's a bit beat up but could be fixed.
Lastly the Assault Transport is wanted by the Carrier squadron to help bolster their numbers.

Other than the Scarab none of the ships are fast enough to keep up with your squadron but they could be worth a good deal of RP or SRP.

>>19642939
if the frigate on the ground was rigged for cargo transport, could it use that extra space to act as a sort of pocket carrier?

>>19642939
>Other than the Scarab none of the ships are fast enough to keep up with your squadron but they could be worth a good deal of RP or SRP.

Let's coordinate with the other squadrons. Maybe they would be willing to trade something if we're willing to refrain from exercising our salvage rights?

>>19642789
That upgraded sensor package sounds good. Would it be of any use on our cruiser?

>>19642939
I forget what our plans for the C-type were. I think it's best to let the frigate squadron have the frigates, because they need them more than we need RP, by my reckoning.

File: 1340769382667.gif-(61 KB, 1730x1318, Smugglers run Local South 05b (...).gif)

The multiple route map proposed by 1 anon last time suggested tackling these 4 system next.

>>19642957
Yes, it could be rigged for that.

>>19642976
>Let's coordinate with the other squadrons. Maybe they would be willing to trade something if we're willing to refrain from exercising our salvage rights?
The Cruiser and Carrier squadrons have nothing to trade you at this time and the attack wings wouldn't want them. Really they're better suited for House Logistics.

>That upgraded sensor package sounds good. Would it be of any use on our cruiser?
Yes, it would cut recon time for each sector to 6 hours. There is currently only 1 available to the squadron at this time. Alex also has a sensor package on his corvette.

>>19643134
>map
I'm okay with thtat.

>The Cruiser and Carrier squadrons have nothing to trade you at this time and the attack wings wouldn't want them.
Well, they can have the assault transport. It wouldn't be of much use to us anyway.

The scarab sounds a bit interesting, though. Could we upgrade it beyond corvette, or even frigate levels?

>>19643134
Get the sensor package. It's cheap for what it does.

>>19643177
The Scarab light corvette is an older model armed with 1 phase cannon and options for missile or torpedo racks. The only way to upgrade it would be to rip out its FTL systems and get some parts from the newer ones built on Gesaur which have tougher shields, better weapons but no FTL.

Roll 4d100 for recon

>>19643134
an alternate question of that frigate...

We wouldn't be allowed to take such a ship and rig it as a sort of salvage vessel lite, would we?

>>19643260
You might but in the end it would just get reassigned to a dedicated salvage unit since you're a combat squadron. However something like a boarding Frigate might not be out of the question. I'll have to think about that.

rolled 91, 7, 35, 20 = 153

>>19643255

rolled 7 = 7

>>19643255
>4d100
1

rolled 4 = 4

>>19643462
Ouch.
2

rolled 22 = 22

>>19643468
The fuck.
3

rolled 73 = 73

>>19643474
You've got to be fucking kidding me.

>>19643479
That was roll number 4, btw.

File: 1340771439483.jpg-(89 KB, 531x500, 1337899183314.jpg)

So you're absolutely right, decapitation was not the way to go with that one security team member. This would have been much better.

>these rolls
WTF am I reading.jpg

rolled 38, 46, 96, 21 = 201

>>19643255
>Hopefully improving the average.

1st Flight -Alex Encounters enemies and trades fire at long range. Both sides break off.
Sensor readings detect an abandoned base that would be idea for use by Logistics!
2nd Flight -Daska fails to report back in at scheduled time
3rd Flight -Mike calls for assistance not long into their run. You and Alex completing yours early rush to
Sensor scans have found an abandoned colony world. Its atmosphere is being stripped by solar wind which will leave it uninhabitable in 1000 years.
4th Flight -Us Encounters enemies and trades fire at long range until the enemy escapes.
Sensor readings detect what could be a smuggler base on a planet!
Threat rating 2-3

Daska's flight is overdue!
How much of the squadron do you wish to take to investigate?

>>19643653
Take all of it. I have a bad feeling about this.

Will we need to clear the area Alex scouted or has the enemy retreated completely?

>>19643653
All of them

>>19643653

full force, report Daska's flight overdue to our CO and request support and SAR be on standby.

>>19643681
The other areas have been scouted sufficiently.

Roll 1d20

rolled 14 = 14

>>19643760
>1
>It turns out Daska wandered into a ship-exploding minefield. So have you.

>>19643772
"I dunno, there aren't any minefields on the charts for this area."
Says Alex.

"Charts. Right, because everything we know about the Run isn't so badly outdated we have to use attack squadrons to deploy sensor probes." Replies Mike, sarcasm evident even over the grainy channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3_1gwzbV84

You jump in at one of the locations Daska was supposed arrive at and find your long range communications jammed. Short range are still able to use line of sight.

The new sensors light off showing drifting debris of five or six ships and sure enough they're surrounded by mines.
"Those Mines are active seakers!" Warns Alex as engines on the devices light off.

"Point defense!" you order and the incoming warheads are pelted with metal. A few of the multi nuclear warhead weapons make it through the barrage and impact the shields but fail to penetrate.

"Contact, starship elevation 80 degrees." Reports sensors. You roll the Bittenfeld and bring your weapons to bear but the ship is at long range and already fleeing.
"Norune warship identified. Its the same one we fought before." Confirms Arron.
It jumps out but the jamming doesn't cease until you locate some satellites nearby and shoot them down.

Daska's distress signal is now able to reach you through the debris.

"They jumped us when we got near these wrecked transports then disabled our ships. We couldn't breach their shield and the tractor beams were too powerful to escape."

You call in salvage teams to recover the three crippled corvettes and the remains of the transports.

>>19643997
Well, I'm glad no ships were lost. Any serious injuries among their crews?

>>19644043
You look over the casualty reports. More than twenty dead among the three ships and repairs will take days. Mostly a result of getting in replacement parts. The sublight drives on all 3 ships will need to be pulled if only so they can be repaired more easily.

Until her ships are back up and running Daska wants to make use of the 3 upgraded standard corvettes held in reserve for the squadron. They don't have as much punch but should be enough to keep the unit at full strength.

Do you wish to report these or investigate any of them yourself?
>Abandoned Colony
>possible Logistics Base
>Smuggler base on planet. Threat rating 2-3

>>19643997
Are 60k-80k creds really worth that much? The repairs to their ship and the mines/satellites alone must have cost a lot more than that.

>>19644192
We should report and investigate all of them. Every one of those sounds interesting.

File: 1340776585189.jpg-(13 KB, 276x183, images.jpg)

>>19644194
Considering the munitions they've been using on you the bounty is a rather small one. Perhaps they're in it for the challenge?

>>19644214
>Abandoned Colony
The planet is orbiting a giant star and seems to have suffered a close pass from another large body in the not so distant past. It could have been from a rogue planetoid but is impossible to say at the moment. In either event the orbit has been shifted closer to the parent star and increased solar wind will soon render the planet uninhabitable.
Placement of planetary shields could make the colony viable again or at least long enough to exploit any natural resources.

>possible Logistics Base
Wary of more attacks you swing the squadron past to investigate the possibility of a logistics base before your move on the smuggler site.
The base is located on a large moon orbiting a smaller gas giant planet. A team sent down finds evidence it was built by the 10th Dynasty Ruling House early in the Faction wars. Its likely been abandoned since the rise of the current ruling House.
Your report gets the full attention of House forces and soon a Frigate squadron is sent out to reactivate the base.

>>19644479
>Smuggler base on planet. Threat rating 2-3
How long will the repair on Daska's squadron take? I doubt we should attack them with the standard corvettes, the last 2-3 fight was hard enough.

>>19644591
A couple of days.


Jumping into the last system on your current check list you and Alex both pick up activity that can only be ships belonging to local smugglers. There are numerous FTL capable light starships, a few transport types you arent familiar with, and some custom jobs with frigate size cargo sections and drives you would normally see on Light Cruisers. They might not be as fast as your ships but they'd give anything else a run for their money.

"Most of them have been coming and going from that one super terestrial." Says Alex watching the flight paths.
You own sensor officer agrees. "Mostly a silicate based planet, the density is low enough that gravity shouldnt be too far above normal."

Most of the smuggling ships are small and not outfitted for fighting but cruiser sized ones might actually pose a threat. Some have light pulse or phase cannons in their aft arcs to discourage pursuit but there's no real telling what they might do when threatened.

And I will pick this up in the morning.

bump

>>19641887
>"Security, discepline these crewmen for being improperly dressed. You most of all." He adds pointing to where you're standing.

Guess he got a good look at her, huh? So the light bending effect of the armor doesn't work right for Dro'all?

>>19646959
Do they wear underwear under that power armor?

>>19642789

regarding the captives ,we could forward s asugestion that they be given only a slap on the wrist if they agree to one mission. - one last delivery of goods and return trip.- put them in with a few new marines- turned pirates from our last mission or others as new recruits and the most senior recruits posing as captains, due to a daring raid of militia killing the other ranked officers, and claiming the ship by right of conquest.

they could deliver delayed dispersal, stealth incubation action bioagets to simply take out massive amounts of crew in the pirate fleets once dispersal is at maximum and incubation period is done, leaving multiple ships undermanned and out of veteran crew.

that ore more tracking agents , that are embedded in the very being of the crew. - although i prefer the biostrike. - the recruits obviously oblivious to the extra delivery items...

>>19644479
>>19644214
you know, we could have keept quiet about the abandoned colony, and after the war establish ourselves there , with mike, alex and perhas Daska as our LTs and us as a de facto baron - once that is done and some infrastructure and population is set up , we could claim it officially in the name of House Jarik-Dremine with us as Baron and our LTs as Knights, or at least middle class for Mike.

>>19647379
>you know, we could have keept quiet about the abandoned colony, and after the war establish ourselves there

Can we hand in a salvage claim on the abandoned colony?

>>19646959
>>19646969
You tell your armor tech about the incident.
"He might have been blind in the normal visible spectrum and seen something beyond that. I'd like you to hold off on using the camouflage until I've run some tests on it."

>>19647379
>Bio agents
>Infiltrate trackers
You pass the ideas up the chain of command. At this point though I don't think they'd be willing to trust any crew from a pirate ship to work for them.

>Salvage claim on colony
At this point you cant claim colonies for yourself. The resources to resettle it and install planetary shields are well beyond your means. The Houses involved in the Smugglers run will likely conduct negotiations for who is in a better position to look after such a planet.

Do you wish to call in reinforcements before tackling the smuggler base or would you prefer to return later, once your squads is back at full strength?

>>19648147

We should wait until we're back to full strength and request at least carrier support for the attack on this base.

Note: Previous search plan partially blocked by enemy presence.
Select 4 sector to scan down then roll 4d100
Do you wish Alex's or your group to scan down additional sectors provided other squads no not require assistance?

>>19648240
just to keep my bearings with the map while I ponder/stall on where to search,

the icons in certain sectors are:
G (gray, above "our" end of the smuggler's run) = ship graveyard [is there anything left in there or is it just cover now?]
L (gray, recently scanned sector) = ??
X (gray, recently scanned sector) = ??
C (yellow) = colony we just killed pirates at?
C (gray, near 2nd wing) = abandoned colony?
the 1-2 threat sector is the minefield?

>>19648354
>>19648354
Yeah I should update the legend for the player map. Fixed.

>G (gray, above "our" end of the smuggler's run) = ship graveyard [is there anything left in there or is it just cover now?]
Yes its a ship graveyard and its mostly debris and scrap that can be recovered now but there is a lot of it.
>L (gray, recently scanned sector) = ??
Logistics base
>X (gray, recently scanned sector) = ??
Abandoned Colony
>C (yellow) = colony we just killed pirates at?
Yes. Colony being secured, cant really be called friendly yet.
>C (gray, near 2nd wing) = abandoned colony?
Ignore, left that there accidentally.
>the 1-2 threat sector is the minefield?
Its a sector recently scanned down by a Rovinar Cloaked ship at the request of 2nd Wing.
Jammers have been detected in the area.

File: 1340811038245.gif-(62 KB, 1730x1318, Smugglers run Local South 06b.gif)

>>19648474
captcha ate the image I swear

>>19648534
bah, the map keeps corrupting when I try to save it.

Scanning:
Our flight to scan the black hex down/left of the Abandoned Colony; secondary sector to be the black hex down from it.

Mike's flight to scan the black hex up/left from our primary.

Alex's flight to scan the black hex's above and to the left of Mike's sector.

Daska's flight is to stay with Alex's and respond to any other flight that calls for reserve. (I'm not comfortable sending stock corvettes out alone with that bounty hunter ship about...)

Alternatively I could just modify the route the other anon proposed so it goes around that section?

Roll 4d100 guys, gotta leave for work in 2 hours.

rolled 54, 53, 91, 31 = 229

and 4 rolls

would it help if I made the map smaller you think?

>>19648756

I'm fairly sure that its just 4chan being wonky for me, I've opened and edited maps of yours before.

File: 1340813480681.gif-(63 KB, 1730x1318, Smugglers run Local South 07.gif)

>This time with the image!

1st Flight -Alex encounters smugglers at long range who flee before he can get ID's on them.
Scans have detected civilian ship in distress!
2nd Flight -Daska sticks with Alex and helps assist the civilian ship after they pick up its signal. In a few short hours they're able to help it with repairs and jump it out to safety.

3rd Flight -Mike while searching discovers stasis cylinders on an abandoned ship. The crew are recovered and taken back to base.
Sensor readings show the sector is clear, only a few House Posat ships are present.
4th Flight -Us 31 You're engaged by a battlecruiser and some corvettes at long range. You manage to keep the enemy at range until Alex can arrive to assist at which point the Pirates rethink their plan and jump out.
Scans have detected private com buoys in the area broadcasting contact information for a group of local mercenaries. Contact them yourself or relay information up chain of command?

>>19648940

I'm thinking report to command, but such a thing should probably be voted on by more than just myself.

Do we have more time until Daska's flight is back in their upgraded ships?

and secured sectors have sensors to inform us of enemy movements?

>>19649049
>Do we have more time until Daska's flight is back in their upgraded ships?
Yes, more than a day.

>and secured sectors have sensors to inform us of enemy movements?
Yes.

Select 3 (or 4?) sectors to search next and roll as many d100's as the number of sectors we're searching.

rolled 90, 78, 90, 41, 7 = 306

Alex's flight to scout the black sector between the 2-3/1-2 hostile forces; secondary scout of the sector below that.

Daska's flight to stay with Alex's and act as a reserve if another flight requires aid.

Mike's flight to scout the sector below the 1-2.

Our flight to scout the yellow sector below the 2-3; secondary is to scout Alex's secondary if Alex runs into forces, or to scout the yellow sector below PM if Alex's force moves to their secondary.

5 rolls, then?

1st Flight -Alex & Daska's initial recon scan encounters no hostiles, just some escape pods whose emergency beacons have long burned out. Searching them finds some desicated remains along with some jewelery and small ingots of valuable metals.
Sensor readings detect the presence of Privateer forces using House Posat IFF's.
The two squads have no incidents scanning the next sector, just more House Posat forces. They report their main communications relay in another sector is being jammed and havent been able to report the region as cleared.

3rd Flight -Mike finds the remains of two corvettes that have been adrift for some time. The crews of both seem to have killed each other fighting over a nearby asteroid rich in precious metals.
Long range scans pick up more House Posat forces.
4th Flight -Us The first sector you check has some smugglers present with a few gunboats who trade fire with you. Privateers flying House Posat IFF's soon arrive hot on their tail and disable or destroy the ships.
"Thanks for the assist, you slowed them down enough for us to catch up."
Sensors show little else of intrest in the sector.

With that incident taken care of you jump on to the next sector. The main system is home to a ship graveyard but you soon find it to be occupied. Without realising it you've stumbled into the center of local operations! Your long range coms are soon jammed and a mix of ships are now blocking the fastest means of escaping the system.
"Dominion ship, you've walked into the wrong neighbourhood. Kill your engines now and we might just let you live."
Threat rating +3
Your squadron will come looking for you if given enough time.
[ ] Retreat deeper in system (Roll 3d20)
[ ] Try to punch through and escape (Roll 3d20)
[ ] Surrender
[ ] Other

>>19649378

does the graveyard take up the whole system or can we retreat "deeper" and make our escape on the far side of the system?

And roughly how long could we scramble sensors via "close in" detonations of our nukes and torps? (for the squadron?)

>>19649485
The graveyard takes up much of the system intermingling with the main asteroid belt and some of the Trojan asteroid points of the closer gas giants.
It may be possible to escape out the other side of the system using the debris belts for cover. You could also try to escape above or below the systems plane of the ecliptic but you would have no cover.

>And roughly how long could we scramble sensors via "close in" detonations of our nukes and torps? (for the squadron?)
You have no nukes but your torps could be configured to do so. They could blind sensors for 1-3 seconds depending.

rolled 17, 3, 12 = 32

>>19649571
no cover you say?

good thing we're fast sons of bitches, eh?

voting to escape above/below systems plane of the ecliptic (whichever sensors show has the fewest/weakest enemy forces), since we're fast as hell

Preferably, set course to avoid anything that outguns us, and go head-on with a "lesser" enemy squadron if it doesn't slow our escape.

We use anything and everything we have that will blind enemy sensors as we pass, and we try to get our flight members out before ourselves.

I feel the need.
the need, for speed!

>>19649635

>3

Talk to me, Goose...

Okay, as this is likely going to be rather dangerous either way I'm going to have to wait for input from more players.

No idea how long that will take. If there's enough before I leave for work I'll try to get something typed up.

>>19649733
I'm fine with this, as it means I didn't just kill our wingman.

rolled 4, 15, 20 = 39

>>19649635
>>19649571

if we use the torps as sensor spoofers, wouldnt it be better to punch through ane escape ? since its a shorter ride- trying to escape would see us having to run a longer distance and allow them time to recalibrate sensors and try for a tac jump to intercept in case they can.

I say we punch through but before that we feint a retreat , then with torps spoof the sensors and make a 180* and punch through- not even bothering to finish them or anything, just get us through their ranks.

>>19649733
Go ahead for it, also if we survive this I say we report the mercenary to our superior officer

>>19649733
I don't really like the idea of trying to punch our way through the blockade.

We've got an excellent sensor package and speed, so it should be possible to play hide and seek long enough to find a way to escape.

whqatever it is, lets do it.

bump

>>19649635
>>19650370
2 for taking off at a right angle

>>19649635
1 for taking things head on

>>19651780
and 1 for playing hide and seek in the debris and asteroids until we either find an escape route or reinforcements arrive

After seeing the rather dangerous looking number of ships the locals have out in space ready for combat you decide that perhaps now is a good time for running the hell away.
"Kavos, can we reconfigure the torps to detonate early and blind sensors?" you ask,
"Yes, but it will only work for seconds at a time."
"So? Thats seconds they're not accurately shooting at us."

Increasing throttle you pull up. Your wingmen each fire off a pair of nukes, evidently they decided to keep a few on hand. The missiles blind an old salvaged Kavarian Battlecruiser as it attempts to target you with a burst from its forward guns. Most of the enemy ships on hand are in rough shape, most missing chunks of armor or superstructure. They must be assembling them from much smaller pieces of left over scraps.

A pair of missile boats launch a cloud of nukes at your flight and you order your wingmen to use your ship for cover. The point defense guns, reloaded the last time you were in port open fire, streams of solid slugs filling space in the path of the missiles. Half are shot down the remainder impacting on your shield. Its a good thing you show down as many as you had, 6 torpedoes hit you next followed by phase cannon fire from three Light cruisers. More ships pour out of the nearby wrecks, starfighters, cruisers and everything in between.

"Not good. Keep the speed on." You urge the others as you watch you shield levels drop under sustained fire.

There are only two ships that give you real cause for concern. A Terran Scorpion class attack cruiser and a Rovinar [Bow Shock] class Light Cruiser. For all intents and purposes the Rovinar ship falls into the attack cruiser category. Both are on an intercept course along with some Standard Corvettes and some kind of Kavarian Frigate.

Scorpion Class Attack Cruiser
Length 720m
Weapons
2x Heavy Pulse cannon (Spinal mount)
2-4x torpedo launcher (2 forward, optional 2 aft)
4x phase cannon turret

Bow Shock class Light Cruiser
Length 750m
Weapons
2x heavy pulse cannon /or/ 2x heavy spinal mount E-Beams
4x spinal mount phase cannon
1x torpedo launcher

The two fastest enemy ships can match your speed and are coming in at an angle that will drop them in behind you to use their heavier forward weapons. As it is you're already being peppered with more phase cannon fire from them. Long range missile fire is still a problem and your point defense guns havent had a chance to let up.
The main shield cuts out to be replaced with the secondary.
"Main shield recharging." reports Kavos.

This is going to be tight you're quite sure.

Katherine speaks up over the channel. "Sir, Amm and I should turn back and slow them down so that you can escape. Our House can always replace corvettes."

"Thats a negative, the Bittenfeld can take some hits. That was the whole point of keeping you in my shadow."

A burst of pulse cannon fire flies past you and strikes Kat's ship, knocking down her shield and blackening the armor in some places. She quickly maneuvers back into cover. A new burst of phasecannon and torpedo fire hits your shield droping your secondary and eating through your tertiary.
"Main shield is almost recharged."
"How long until we can jump?" you ask.

"Another minute." Linda tells you. "There's too much debris and half of it still has artificial gravity."

[ ] Keep going
[ ] Send the Corvettes back
[ ] Surrender (Yeah right)
[ ] Other

>>19657548
our wingmen fired their nukes to blind them for some time, now its our turn with the modified torps- lets buy some more time.

also could we slave flight control to the lead corvette- slave controll of all ships, delayed only by the speed timeing we all have.- once you do that the lead should be able to fly a perfect formation (only delayed by time needed to get to the same x coordinates for each asset to execute the same move , a thing the lead pilot has to keep in mind). - or simply dont time it so that we all move at the same speed in the same direction, relative to the initial x axis, of course (something the pilot has to keep in mind).

>>19657697
You want to slave the controls for the 3 ships why?
To prevent them from being hit from enemy fire when we maneuver?

Also was going to do this all last night after getting back but moot had the boards down.

>>19657697
or we could cut acceleration, do a 180* rely only on thrusters and slave all the others to our flight control without time delay (so mirror actions from them relative to the initial x axis, flight control was slaved,) - this way we can present frontal shields and pump some fire and even pump more torps in a timeframe( we have what 4 tubes? say 30 s for a reload, time-delay them at 6 seconds from each others launch and we are in buisness. - if two volleys are enough to keep them semi blind , that would give us a minute- provided nuke sensor spoofing and sensor re-locking on us does not reassert itself in less then 6 s for the enemy.)

heck if we cut acceleration, after we do our trick with the nuke jamming and the shields are gone we can spin around like mad and try to absorb hits across the armour, - neting us another 20 or so s.

>>19657780
You have 1 torpedo launcher with a 4 second reload time. Each torp will blind a target for 1-3 seconds.

Anyone else having trouble posting?

>>19657780
So did you still want to follow through with this plan despite the limitation of the torpedo launcher?

>>19657697
>>19657780
Neither of these really answer why it would be necessary to slave control of the corvettes to your ship. They could easily match your turn speed.

So, are we going to pull a quick 180 and drop some fire into the pursuers then resume our run, or just try to escape as quickly as possible?

Roll 3d20

rolled 5, 18, 12 = 35

>>19658287
I'd say just run...

>>19658405
Seconded.

I'll refrain from rolling, I haven't had any luck with the dice this thread and a 35 is still above average for 3d20.

>>19658405
Let's just hope the ship which gets the 5 will make it.

File: 1340902232894.jpg-(38 KB, 1360x550, Time to Jump out.jpg)

"Redline your engines, we have to get far enough away to jump."

You crank your own drives past 100% then resume firing torpedoes at the Attack Cruisers still keeping pace. They may not do much but a couple of seconds where they cant accurately target you is a blessing at this range. One thing's for sure, being hit with fire from 4 heavy pulse weapons is a pain in the ass. Even with the main shield coming back online starships were not designed to handle so much incoming fire.
"Shields failing, attempting restart on secondary."

"Jump the second you're clear!" your order the others.

The shields choose that moment to fail and three torpedoes strike armor, detonating before they can penetrate. Phase cannon fire from the Rovinar ship drills one of your wing engines causing it to explode while a pulse cannon shot impacts the main body blasting away layers of armor in those sections.

Katherine jumps out without taking any more fire. Amm takes a hit that drops his shield and grazes the armor before he jumps out as well. Another torpedo strikes the centeral aft section of your hull before you jump. Thankfully that section was armored as well or it might have caused damage to all 4 engines in the main body.
Linda presses the throttle forward and you make a five second jump to safety.

>>19658605
Fuck yeah!

>>19658605
We're going to be known for needing so much repair (at least we don't die)

>>19658605
Note: In case there's any confusion, you have 1 forward facing torpedo launcher but you can fire "over the shoulder" shots. They just have less range when fired that way. As you were being pursued that wasn't really an issue.

>>19658648
I'm okay with that. It should go hand in hand with a reputation of keeping our squad alive.

It is Feb 1, 1230 hours when the Bittenfeld docks at the station for repairs. The rest of the squadron has returned to base along with you for the moment.

Damage to the engine mount will take a good 12 hours to fix. The armor damage is almost trivial by comparison. You also lost one of your particle beam point defense turrets. None of the 8 barrel versions that you normally have on the ship are currently available only the standard 4 barrel version.

Available RP 6120

1x PD Turret - 100 RP

Select a replacement Fusion Drive(s) for the wing engine you lost.
Prices listed are Per unit
GE = Tough, easily repaired, parts compatibility
-Best Quality 500
-Good Quality 320
-Average 250

Aries = High output, poor effeciency, less compatible
-Best Quality 450
-Good Quality 350
-Average 300

Iratar = Cheap, easily repaired, parts compatibility
-Best Quality N/A Kavarian Military only
-Good Quality 250 <Current model in use for other 3 wing engines.
-Average 150

DHI = Similar stats to GE, mostly parts compatible, House approved
-Best Quality 400
-Good Quality 350 *
-Average 300

>>19658905
>None of the 8 barrel versions that you normally have on the ship are currently available only the standard 4 barrel version.
Grrrr.

>GE = Tough, easily repaired, parts compatibility
>-Best Quality 500
This one, please.

>>19658943
Did you want to sell back the other 3 Iratar Drives and buy replacement GE ones for the other wing engines?

>>19658963
I didn't consider that. Let's just replace the damage drive with the same model.

>particle beam point defense turrets
Let's do some research if there is a better model than the 8 barrel version out there.

>>19658905
No choice we need the PD even if it's worse than what we have. we'll upgrade later.
As for the engine just replace our with the same one, we don't have the rp to make a full upgrade to best GE right now

File: 1340905579486.gif-(85 KB, 800x569, macross-missilelaunchers.gif)

>>19658984
Particle beams are preferred for anti-starfighter work as they have more punch behind them than lasers or micro phase cannon but better range than mass drivers.
A handful of companies have production rights for the most common 4 barrel version which dominates the market. The 8 barrel version seems to be the most powerful one out there.

Something that could also be fitted on the turret mount though is a pop-up box launcher for missiles of varying size. There are even some that use the engine off of a larger missile as a first stage which then deploys 3 interceptor series anti-starfighter missiles closer to their target.

You talk to a requisition officer about getting hold of another turret like the one you lost and are informed that they could get one delivered in about 2-3 weeks.

>>19659148
Okay. I guess missile turrets would run out of ammo rather quickly.

Can we put some additional armour on our PD turrets? They are usually the first thing we lose in combat.

>>19659177
I suppose putting more armor on them is an option, though I don't recall you losing any before. Maybe when fighting the cloaked ship but that was a bit of a fluke.

>>19659177
Well they are add-on not built in so they'll always be more at risk

While searching for replacement weapons for your ship you stumble upon some worrying information. The House is currently suffering from supply shortages as a result of rapid mobilization and expansion of the fleet. Requisition currently assigned to the third attack wing is still closer to what it was when the unit was a single squadron. Thankfully repairs are still well in hand.

All Dagger class corvettes in the House inventory have undergone upgrades and are now assigned to active duty. There are no reserves of these ships left and any left on the black market are being bought out quickly.
Aries has cut us off for purchases of starships for the extended future. After making some bribes our House received a few attack cruisers ahead of others rather than months later. It might be a year or two until we can order more.

Other than ships salvaged or recovered in the field all replacements will be limited to the designs our House can mass produce.

Starfighters: Z5, Z5H (Experimental)
Light Corvette: Scarab LC4023 (Former Rebel produced version)

Starships:
Standard Corvette
Attack Corvette
Factions Frigate (Cargo/Combat versions)
Light Cruiser
Dominion Carrier

To bolster our fleet strength DHI has been working day and night to design a new Assault Corvette that could be produced using the captured facilities on Gesaur. As they have only had access to the factory for one month it will still be some time until prototypes enter the field.


While I was hoping to get more recon done this week that looks like it'll be about it. See you all next Tuesday.

>>19659419
That's fine it was a nice run...

>>19659610
I've got to agree.