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>>4361109
And the unhappiness aboard the trawler continued, when what was then thought to be negligence resulted in the death of a crewman, the maiming of another, alongside two non-critical injuries. Believed to have been responsible for that negligence, you interrogated the junior engineer, Jobbs, who showed you evidence of an act of sabotage, a counterfeit instruction manual, with instructions to do exactly as he did. While you originally thought that this exonerated Jobbs, a conversation with Quimbix, your mystery novel loving Quartermaster, raised the point that the evidence only cleared the engineer of negligence, but not of sabotage. Having nearly condemned the man once, you were not going to rush to judgement again, though you can find no holes in Quimbix’s reasoning here, and again are treating Jobbs as a suspect.

With ammunition for the point defense weapons across the fleet running lower after two separate attacks, you made the decision to return to your port of call. Deploying buoys that establish your claim over the Derelict and the uncharted planet that it sits over, you successfully and safely managed to jump to hyperspace. You have just gotten off of the ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic communicator with the commander of the Mammon, your injured tanker, who has indicated that the rest of the ship is structurally sound, and that the cause of the accident is clearly evident.

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>>4361114
>Day 9 of Terminated Expedition/Hyperspace to Kindling/21:00 Hours
>Hallway in Officers Quarters on the Aethereal Vulture

Having just gotten off of the line with the Commander of the Mammon, to receive their report of the impact damage to the tanker, you decide that it would be best to discuss if the insurance that you beggared yourself to carry for the next two months will cover the damages sustained by your aged tanker. While this is not exactly the purview of the Fleet’s Clerk, considering that the companies barrister remains in his office in the Roost, he is the most qualified individual on hand to speak on these matters. You page your concierge to meet you in your quarters as you head there.

You had just hung up your lucky hat and were debating if it was warm enough in here to warrant removing your overcoat when he arrived at your door. You ordered dinner, whatever they would be having tomorrow in the officer’s mess. Two servings worth, with two settings, and then asked him to find the Fleet’s Clerk for you. You tell him that you wanted to touch base with him over dinner about the insurance situation, considering that he is probably the most qualified individual in the fleet to discuss it.

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>>4361118
>Captains Quarters on the Aethereal Vulture

As you are in your quarters, and intend to stay in here for the night, you remove your two Third Grades, and reunite them with the third, in the lacquered wooden box they came in. An Old Earth strain: teak, you believed it is called, but whatever its name, the grain is beautiful. While the craftsman who made it wasn’t attempting to be ostentatious by any means, in your quarters, with the bare steel walls and furniture (whose only difference from the other sets of officer’s furniture on this ship is the crown of the hat rack you mounted to its top) it sticks out like a sore thumb. As you go to close the box and return it to its place, your eyes glance upon the inscription that Mother wrote there for you, when you left home, little more than a decade ago now.

To my King of Kings, may all those who stand against you die screaming as you vivisect them.

The settings on these disintegrators were extremely fine-tuned compared to other models; there were settings for insulated and uninsulated, which controlled the size of the aperture, and with it the relative focus. There were also settings that controlled the penetration; you could either take a lot out of a small portion or a little off a large portion. On the uninsulated setting, you could choose between taking a grapefruit sized chunk out of someone (minus the bones) or flaying off half of all their skin and marring what they had left with deep, spidering scars, radiating outward from the removed portion. Shooting limbs off required setting it to insulated, with bones being less ‘squishy’ then flesh, combined with their honeycombed construction it made them hard for the unit to chew through.

All of them even had an underslung captive bolt, running the length of the barrel, so you could finish off downed foes without wasting one of the three shots. You didn’t expect the bolt to be big enough to reliably euthanize a human, but you’ve used the bolt multiple times across several occasions, and only once did it fail to do its job in one hit, and that was more your placement then its power.

Mother always gave the best gifts.

>>4361121
You should really send her a card.

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>>4361124
Several minutes later, the Fleet’s Clerk knocks on the door to your quarters. You invite him inside and ask if he has already eaten. When he replies that he has not, you tell him that you have ordered two servings, and he can stay and eat here with you. You sit down, and motion to him to take a seat. You reiterate that you have called him in here to discuss the insurance situation; you understand that he is not a barrister, and that he is not responsible for representing the company like this, but as the most qualified member of the fleet on hand, you want to hit the ground running when you make it into Old Scrimshander on this. Turning around in your seat, you are able to reach a drawer, and pull out a paper copy of the insurance policy that you took out for this operation. As you hand it to him, you begin the process of recounting the report that you received from the commander of the Mammon on the damages, and ask, in his unprofessional opinion, as to how best to proceed from here.

After a minute or so of silence, as the man reads the document, he looks to you and speaks. “The sticking point here, boss, is the question of what exactly qualifies as incidental. The pump was damaged by debris, while the fleet was in orbit around a planetary ring made up of debris. The minute we try to get them to pay up on this, they are going to latch on to that, to deny payment. That means there is going to have to be a legal challenge here. Is Bors done with the Belliveau suit?” Bors, who is the entirety of the legal team for the Starving Vultures, to the best of your knowledge was not done with that suit; you were still trying to squeeze payment from that fucking chop shop owner, but the whole process had been bogged down in legal legwork. You had hoped to get some money, or at least something or someone from that bastard’s machine shop, before you went on the expedition, but Bors was still working on it.

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>>4361127
Obviously, you are not going to make any decision right now but dropping another case on Bors might just ensure that neither of them go well for you. Or three, the claim to the planet. Still, despite your concerns about his ability, the truth of the matter is that he is the best that you could afford; namely he was willing to work for room, board and a cut of whatever settlements he landed. In the same way that doctors could be licensed, and university educated surgeons, or alternatively freelance apprentice educated sawbones, barristers could be licensed, and university educated attorneys, or they could be freelancing advisors, like Bors. He was not great, he was not even good, but ultimately, he was yours, and that is what counts. Hopefully.

Talk switched over to the Derelict, and what it meant for the company’s future.

Ten minutes or so later, a knock at the door announces the arrival of the dinner. A filet from a presumably fishlike animal, served on a bed of greens. As to what those greens are, you are not entirely sure, though the whole meal tastes delicious. There is even a smallish loaf of freshly baked bread, you eat yours plain, as to not ruin it with the almost soapy taste of the synthetic BuTTER-e. Your clerk does not seem to have the pallet that you do, and somehow manages to enjoy his with the spread. After a moment, you realize that it is entirely possible that the man has never eaten proper butter in his entire life. Hmm.

The two of you quickly finish the relatively delicate meal, but as you exchange pleasantries, he mentions that the report on the haul is still delayed; “Engineering is playing with their food and not eating it”. Hopefully, ‘playing’ means that they are taking their time with the autopsy, not that they are being reckless. Glancing at your chronometer, you realize that it is too late to call down now, everyone but the skeleton crew will be of shift. You resolve to deal with the delays when you wake up, and declare your intent to do so to the Fleet’s Clerk. He nods along, but then he stops abruptly, looking like he is really mulling over what to say, or perhaps to say it or not.

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>>4361132
“Boss, it might not be the most neighborly thing, but those bodies you mentioned, they might have stuff on them that still working, or still worth something to someone. I know it might sit bad with a lot of people, but I mean, things are tight. While I am not about to go around saying this, you know, upsetting anyone, but we are probably some time out from seeing any serious talents coming in from this wreck. We are going to need to make ends meet somehow until then. Just a thought.” You promise that you will think on that thought, wish the man a restful sleep, and open the door for him to leave.

The thought had occurred to you too, that it was probably going to be some time before you broke even on the costs of outfitting that expedition, considering how slow progress was going, and how dangerous the wreck was. The thought of looting the bodies had also occurred to you, though you had not given it as much thought, with everything else that is going on here. There is so much you need to decide on, and soon.

But now, it is time for bed.

>Day 10 of Terminated Expedition/Hyperspace to Kindling/05:34 Hours

Well, you managed to sleep the night through, so that means there were not any crises unfolding while you slept. Or at least, any that your men noticed or cared to tell you about. You page your concierge for breakfast, and then you sit up, remember everything you need to do, and feel an unfortunate temptation to fall back into bed. However, you can’t slack around here. You have several things you can start doing immediately.

>You can contact the Quartermaster, to discuss your options in rebuilding the drones.

>You can head to Engineering, to see how the autopsy is going, as well as the Lucid Drone builds.

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and try to get some answers.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and simply ask for a report.

>>4361141
>You can head to Engineering, to see how the autopsy is going, as well as the Lucid Drone builds

>>4361155
Alright, I will be closing and writing a trip to engineering right now.

>Engineering/05:58 Hours

After eating a light breakfast, you decide to address the situation with the engineers ‘playing with their food’. As you head into Engineering, Sunsbuck greets you formally, though when you ask him for a progress report on the ‘autopsy’, he becomes noticeably fidgety. “There was a slight complication sir. No one was hurt.” You can almost physically feel the presence of the coming ‘but’, as if it was a tangible object, right out of your line of sight. Weren’t things complicated enough here already? You are struggling to even think of what could have gone wrong with the drone. “However-”

Oh God, it is even worse. It is not even 06:00 Hours, this is much to early for ‘howevers’, let alone ‘buts’. Resisting the urge to cradle your head in your hands, you return your attention to Sunsbuck. “-we at least know enough not to do that again. Basically, while the tank had been emptied, the line to the applicator had not, and when we tried to detach it from the body, the ceramic, in a slurry form, just started pouring out of the ‘Foreman’ like it was some sort of stuck pig. We tried to clean it up, but … The long and the short of it is that the ‘Foreman’ has been cemented in place to the hangar. Everyone is trying to get those tools from the slaved utility drones working, to try to chip away at it, but it is going to take some time.”

He goes on to stress that nothing seems to be damaged, or broken, it is just going to take a bit longer to work on this thing. How are you going to handle this?

>Well, get me an accounting of everything that is not cemented down right now, then get to work freeing the rest. (Accounting for the Find: identifies salvageable components, small chance for discovery. Will be done by the end of the day)

>Well, at least the drone is properly secured. Access what remains of its mainframe and try to figure out how it ticks (Research the Find: chance to discover blueprints, weaknesses, inventions. Will be done in approximately four days)

>Well, if it is pinned down, then it will be easier to take apart. Odds are we will get our hands on a better specimen later, and we will know enough to drain it in the vacuum. (Salvage the Find: removes salvageable components from the wreck, tiny chance for discovery. Will be done by the end of the day.)

>>4361254
>Well, at least the drone is properly secured. Access what remains of its mainframe and try to figure out how it ticks (Research the Find: chance to discover blueprints, weaknesses, inventions. Will be done in approximately four days)

I'm going to grab dinner. When I get back, I'll close the vote, or in the case of a tie, I'll roll for it.

>>4361271
Sunsbuck acknowledges your order, and then passes it along to a junior engineer to send to Attenborough, who is apparently already at work on the ‘Stuck Foreman’. Behind him, you can see what must have been one of the tools that was dropped by the ‘Slaves’ of the ‘Foreman’, strapped down to work bench, and hooked up to several diagnostic devices; clearly the intent here was to ensure that there was nothing ‘smart’ about the tool, that using it or connecting it to our systems would open the fleet up to some alien 'Trojan Horse' virus…

Alien? The thought had come to you, completely unbidden. You have seen nothing that would indicate that this craft was not built by human hands. The only reason that the thought had even stuck with you like it has was that the naval architect responsible for this ship had a complete disregard for efficient engineering and economizing their build. And that was it! That was all there was; nothing even remotely indicated that this was anything but an overbuilt wreck. So why was it so hard to dispel that fantastical, asinine notion that this was an alien craft?

You realize Sunsbuck has been looking at you while you were of in your own thoughts. After realizing that you hadn’t been paying attention, he tactfully repeats himself; he is offering to show you how the rebuild of the ‘Lucid’ Drones is progressing, though he understands if you have more important matters at hand. It is at this point, you become acutely aware of the absence of Attenborough. While you suppose that it is good that he is presumably supervising things, manners, if not protocol dictates that he should have stopped and come met you by now, as you are in his department, in person no less.

>Ask after Attenborough.
>See the ‘Lucid’ rebuild.
>Leave and attend to other matters.

>>4361373
>>See the ‘Lucid’ rebuild.

>>4361483
Alright, I'll consider this closed.

when from now are we expected to pay for the loan on the Clean Sweep? How long does travel between Port and the Derelict take?

>Have the people ok with salvaging the corpses do it.
>Give a speech to the fleet about how we'll use to funds and materials we get from the bodies to do what they couldn't do, by conquering the Derelict, and send their bodies to their next of kin once this is all done and said. Hopefully that might reduce the odds of morale loss.

>Engineering; Skunkworks and Holding

Sunsbuck leads you through the relatively tame chaos of the computer and electronical engineering area, through a door into a bedlam of workbenches, equipment and experiments of the Mechanical Skunkworks. Following him requires a bit of squeezing through in spots, and while this room might be warm enough to warrant taking of your ubiquitous black overcoat, you’ll keep it on, as it cleans much easier than the rest of your clothes, and does a passing job of hiding stains.

Some the equipment that you are getting intimate with is in a state that you would consider at least nominally operational, but most of it is in some state of disassembly. Part sharing, no doubt. To get one piece of equipment in working order, drives and sensors and the like would be pulled from multiple units. Then when that piece of equipment was no longer needed, those parts would be shuffled around some more. Rob Peter to pay Paul. Take from the planer to give to 6-axis.

It is no wonder that it was next to impossible to get anything built that was more advanced than a door stop, but on the other hand, this stuff was all either paid off or recovered. You had hoped that the settlement from the Belliveau suit would be able to at the very least upgrade something in here; considering that the man had no talents left at this point, equipment from his machine shop seemed like the next best thing, but Bors was still working on it. You hope that it would be resolved by the time you make it back to port.

Finally, out of the shop floor, you head into the smaller rooms towards the back. If you remember correctly, this is where the fuse-computer units for the mines were stored, back when the Aethereal Vulture was still in service as a minelayer. These rooms were reinforced and in consideration of the sensitive cargo they originally were intended to carry, they had built in faraday cages around them. All things consider, this was the perfect place to rebuild a previously hostile drone. The only reason that the ‘Foreman’ wreck was not in one of these rooms was that it couldn’t fit through the door in one piece, though neither could this ‘Lucid’ drone; it had to be carried through the door as parts and assembled. Once it has been safety checked, it will be dismantled again, and rebuilt in a hangar, so it can be fueled and deployed.

>>4361613

You are pleasantly surprised to see that it is already rebuilt, and it is just being tested at this point. The team responsible for the rebuild has even had enough time to paint the drone in the Starving Vulture’s company colors. If you had said, that less than 24 hours ago, this was a wreck that had been presumably built by another wreck, you would not have believed it at all. Sunsbuck is happy to talk about this unit and is cautiously confident that when completed it will be able to carry 5 additional subsystems without further modification to the build. All in all, you are really impressed with the progress that has been made here, under his leadership.

And you are beginning to have more and more doubts about Attenborough. You are not blaming him for the slurry spill that slowed down the ‘autopsy’, but between his malaise yesterday, and today his lapses in courtesy by not meeting you when you arrived in his department in person, you are beginning to wonder if there needs to be a reorganization of Engineering.

>Do not go lighting anymore fires, until you manage to put at least one of them out. Move on to other things for now.

>Talk to Sunsbuck right now, and ask him his professional opinion about the Lead Engineer

>Find Attenborough and confront the man about your concerns.

>Ask to have Attenborough speak with you at his convenience, nominally about the status of the ‘autopsy’, but actually about his new demeanor.

>>4361550
>When from now are we expected to pay for the loan on the Clean Sweep?
First payment is due within 24 hours of returning to port. I have all of that calculated out somewhere, I'll find it and get back to you.

>How long does travel between Port and the Derelict take?
Three days.

>Give a speech to the fleet about how we'll use to funds and materials we get from the bodies to do what they couldn't do, by conquering the Derelict, and send their bodies to their next of kin once this is all done and said. Hopefully that might reduce the odds of morale loss.
A good idea, but remember, you can only give speeches right now to the Aethereal Vulture's crew compliment. You can't broadcast audio to the other ships while you are in hyperspace.

>>4361550
Here it was, from the first thread:

>Let's see. The Clean Sweep is the cheapest jump-capable hull in the fleet (jump capability and not size is what distinguishes ships from shuttles); a replacement would cost 16,000 double-talents. The title to the ship was used as collateral for a medium term loan of 12,000 double-talents, with a 5% payment every month for 3 years, starting when the fleet returns to Old Scrimshander. (Remember that it takes 3 days to get to the wreck from Old Scrimshander, and vice-versa, which while uncommonly long is still possible to do as a direct jump). The base value of scrap is 200 double-talents, which means that you would need just three units of scrap to cover the cost of a payment, but still, money is tight, and you never know what is going to happen.

>>4361616
Low key mention reorganizing engineering to someone that'll spread the word among the engineers. That aught to get Attenborough to shape up. If not then we'll find someone better.
What do they know about the composition of the ceramic? Is it heat resistant or impact resistant? It's ceramic, or maybe taking a pick axe like tool to it might work.

>Talk to Sunsbuck right now, and ask him his professional opinion about the Lead Engineer

>Three days.
But we've been traveling and it's been longer that three days.

>You can't broadcast audio to the other ships while you are in hyperspace.
If the corpses are on this ship, we'll give the speech and tell them to do it, then give another to the rest of the fleet when we reach port. If it's on another ship then we'll deliver the message when we reach port.

>12,000 double-talents
FUCK

is there an archive with previous parts?

>>4361719
+1 to the rumor drop, make sure the CE doesn't know the rumor came from us though

>>4361719
I'm seeing support for spreading rumors of an impending reorganization, in hopes of lighting a fire under Attenborough; that should be simple enough to do.

>What do they know about the composition of the ceramic? Is it heat resistant or impact resistant? It's ceramic, or maybe taking a pick axe like tool to it might work.
The unknown ceramic acts remarkably similar to metal, it will deform instead of shattering like a conventional ceramic, that is why it took the engineers by surprise when they figured it out. They'll try everything, don't worry.

>But we've been traveling and it's been longer that three days.
Yes, but we weren't just traveling during that time, we were stopping and scanning, and trying to find something to sink our teeth into, and more over, we had already begun heading back into port when we wound up in the system with the ship.

>If the corpses are on this ship, we'll give the speech and tell them to do it, then give another to the rest of the fleet when we reach port. If it's on another ship then we'll deliver the message when we reach port.
All of the remains are still on the Clean Sweep, presumably they have been moved into a separate hold.

>FUCK
Oh, it gets worse. There is a difference between the amount of a loan, and how much it will ultimately cost. The loan was for 12,000dT, and was secured with the title to the Clean Sweep, which had roughly an equivalent value. But a loan shark isn't going to just hand out money, and let you repay it over time, no. 5% of 12,000dT is 600dT a month. Over the three years of the loan, that is a total of 21,600. The loan shark holds the difference between the total value of the loan and the value of the title to the Clean Sweep as a 'passive' 9600dT lien against the rest of the company (unbeknownst to the company, as you've done this all illegally). For reference, you have ~6000dT left in the company coffers.

>>4361732
>is there an archive with previous parts?
>>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4327821/
>>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4344401/

It is later than I realized, so I'll start the thread tomorrow with getting the rumor mill going.

>>4361839
So so long as we pay a minimum of 600dT this month we should be fine? Can we pay early to reduce the total cost of the loan? Is the 5% per monthly charge fee for the total of the original loan, or for the current balanced owed?
>ex: take a loan if 1000dT with a 5% interest per month
>if I pay 500 this time, do I have to pay 50dT or 25dT the next time i need to pay off the loan?

>>4361839
Statics and combat wise, how effective is power armor, and is it for sale?

>>4361839
If power armor is just as hard to acquire like large caliber guns, then what about exotic suits, or simply putting armor over vacsuits?

>>4361877
To make it easier to keep track of everything, I think I am going to stay away from partial payments. So to answer your question, yes, so long as the 600dT a month is covered, you are in the clear. If there was a significant windfall, and you wanted to make a payment on another month, for 550dt on top of the 600dT for the month that was coming due, then I could manage that. But anything further into the weeds is a bit to much, at least, I think.

>>4361924
Power armor is for sale, and as it is considered a protective suit, so long as there is no integrated weapon, or ready-built mounting for weapons, it is considered outside of 'munitions and armament' and therefore not subject to the harsh manufacturing restrictions. Models with integrated weapons exist, though they are hard to come by, just like the recoilless rifles, and are subject to the same restrictions.

The basic suit, the 'longerjonhs' worn by the all of our men on EVA have a CR of 6, which means any attack over a 6 will destroy the suit, and most likely kill the wearer. Rolls of 3 to 5 will damage the suit, rolls of 1 and 2 will not. The suits can take two non-critical hits. And I should point out, that enemies can have much more than a 1d6 to attack you with.

There will be different models, but at the very least, there should be something with a higher CR (like 10) and would be able to take 4 or so non-critical hits.

>Officer’s Quarters: Console Bank/07:19 Hours

After seeing the work that Sunsbuck has done on the Lucid Drones, and with more and more concerns over Attenborough’s abrupt change in attitude, you have decided that something needed to be done. Nothing direct, at least not yet. But you have an inkling of an idea on how to do something indirectly, to get a fire lit under Attenborough. Perhaps if he thinks that his position is on the line, he might manage to pull himself together. On your way back from Engineering, you swing into a conference room, dominated by a bank of full-service consoles. Unlocking and bringing your personal console to standby, you compose a brief text message to the Fleet’s Clerk, telling him, when he has time today to contact Engineering for a full list of engineers, their current positions, salaries (if they were salaried instead of indentured) and skills. You tell him that you need the information for a possible reorganization, but you explicitly say to not tell this to the engineers.

Well, that is as good as it is going to get. If you ask someone if you are being reorganized, and you only get “I can’t say”, that is probably more alarming than being definitively told that you are going to be playing musical chairs with your livelihood. No doubt that the message will spread through Engineering; the junior engineers who they have mind the phones and acts as the department gophers are notoriously chatty and gossipy. With any luck, everyone is going to work their hardest, including Attenborough. And if he does not, well then, you already have all the information you would need to actually reorganize the department on hand.

After sending the message, you remain seated in front of the console, trying to compartmentalize everything that you need to do today. As you are thinking it over, you realize that there is a private message addressed to you account that you have not read; it was sent after you fell asleep. It seems that Hexdricks already filed his report. When Engineering gets the ‘Foreman’ cleaned up, you should get a picture of Hexdricks and the two riflemen in front of their kill.

Now, what to do next…

>You can contact the Quartermaster, to discuss your options in rebuilding the drones.

>You can read Hexdricks after-action report.

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and try to get some answers.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and simply ask for a report.

>>4361969
If ship mounted laser weapons are super fucking illegal, then theoretically, what if we were to build an Obese drone around it, have it be controlled via cable method in addition to siphoning power through the cable, and have it function as a disguised external drone turret thing?

Would solar panels and a big battery bank be enough to fuel the firing capacity of a ship grade laser weapon?

How much will it cost to repair the chain net?

Are there any simulators (totally not VR game sets) we can buy for our Vac/security forces to improve their odds of not fucking up in combat or in space?

If some suits or power armor have integrated weapons in them, I wonder if any of the corpses have those.

>>4361994
>You can read Hexdricks after-action report.

>>4361994

>You can read Hexdricks after-action report

>>4361996
>If ship mounted laser weapons are super fucking illegal, then theoretically, what if we were to build an Obese drone around it, have it be controlled via cable method in addition to siphoning power through the cable, and have it function as a disguised external drone turret thing?
Yes, that would be a perfectly acceptable way to disguise the weapons.
>Would solar panels and a big battery bank be enough to fuel the firing capacity of a ship grade laser weapon?
It would have to be a lot of solar panels.
>How much will it cost to repair the chain net?
You'll have to roll for it when you eventually get the report from the Clean Sweep
>Are there any simulators (totally not VR game sets) we can buy for our Vac/security forces to improve their odds of not fucking up in combat or in space?
I hadn't thought about stuff like that, but I don't see why you shouldn't be able to train dedicated units.
>If some suits or power armor have integrated weapons in them, I wonder if any of the corpses have those.
It is possible

While you nominally require that all of your men be literate, you are fairly certain that a worrying portion of your crewmen are ‘unlettered’, and many of the engineers and officers write very poorly, grammatical and spelling errors all frequently present on fleet-wide white papers, and are occasionally present in the extremely important instruction manuals. There is a real ambivalence present; if you understand what is being said, then does it really matter if it is not being spelled correctly?

Compared to the rest of your men, Hexdricks was an excellent writer; you had given some thought to making him some sort of fleet wide technical writer, but you had never figured out how you wanted to make that work. Still, the report he has written here is up to his high standards. There is, however, a strange corollary to the report. Written almost as a personal note, as opposed to the formal and standardized format, Hexdricks writes at length about what he believes was movement through his peripheral vision. He says that he has reviewed the footage from the onboard cameras of him and the two riflemen who were with him at the time, none of them were able to see anything definitive.

But the clip that he sent in with the corollary shows what Hexdricks believes is the disturbance caused by the passage of a drone or some other object. The resolution on the suit’s camera is terrible in the best conditions, and dust blowing everywhere is not helping things, but you can sort of make out some disturbance overhead, maybe. Hexdricks is worried that if it is a drone, that the only way it could have hid is if the tessellating walls opened for it to pass through, and then closed behind it. It is a worrying thought and considering that there is evidence that the interior wall can ‘reshuffle’ themselves, one that is not that farfetched.

Still, there is little that you can do about it now beyond keep it in mind. Now, what were you going to do next?

>You can contact the Quartermaster, to discuss your options in rebuilding the drones.

>You could request one of the 'Foreman's' slave drones be sent to you, so you can look it over, while the engineering department works on the autopsy and the rebuild. (You did start out as an engineer after all)

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and try to get some answers.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and simply ask for a report.

>>4362304
>>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and try to get some answers.

lets try to close this case properly

>>4362304
>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and try to get some answers.

>>4362304
>You could request one of the 'Foreman's' slave drones be sent to you, so you can look it over, while the engineering department works on the autopsy and the rebuild. (You did start out as an engineer after all)

>>4362348
>>4362350
Shouldn't we do that until we reach Port? We'll be doing this over telegram so we wont know for certain who we're talking to, and it wont be too secure.

>>4362304
>>4362380
>You could request one of the 'Foreman's' slave drones be sent to you, so you can look it over, while the engineering department works on the autopsy and the rebuild. (You did start out as an engineer after all)

Fair enough

>>4362398
>>4362380
>>4362350
>>4362348
Alright, voting is closed, and I'll start writing for that.

>>4362530
Actually, I will need two rolls of 1d20 and one roll of 1d20+1, to see how well the process works out.

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4362533

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>4362533
GOD FUCK

Rolled 11 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4362533

Rolled 5 (1d20)

rolling for super gay sex

>>4362709 roll of 5 for Engineers
>>4362876 roll of 15 for you disassembling the unit
>>4363209 roll of 5 for you investigating the unit.

I'm going to grab a late dinner, and then I'll write this post up.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /10:29 Hours

Well, this could have gone much, much better.

(From 5/20) The engineer who pulled the unit from the ‘Foreman’ wreck managed to seriously hurt himself carrying the drone. Apparently, he tripped while carrying it to the Officer’s Quarters, lost his grip on the unit and ripped his hand open on the ragged twisted metal around the hole from the 75mm round. Then he completely dropped the unit, straight on his foot, possibly breaking it. He needed to go to the Infirmary, which considering it is in a state of lock down, was a complicated affair that would only lead to potentially inconvenient questions, such as ‘what the hell is going on here’. (1/3 failures until Slave-1 is unusable for research purposes)

(From 15/20) At least you were able the drone into the table in the conference room without maiming yourself. This unit was in relatively decent condition, but still, it was quite clear that it was not in a state that it could be rebuilt. It felt good to break out your tools from the old spacechest at the foot of your bed and work on something with your own hands, but you’d be lying if you said that you took the remains apart. A more truthful accounting would be that you gently prodded at the remains, taking photos, and eventually it just fell apart. Some of the damage was clearly caused by the 75mm that this unit was killed with, but some of it was drop damage, from the unfortunate engineer. (Rolls to dismantle ‘Slave’ Drones now receive +1 from successful procedure)

(From 5/20) However it seems that complications continue to plague any and all attempts to understand these units. The internals of this ‘Slave’ remain inscrutable, and your pickings have taken at toll on the specimen. You doubt that it can take any more of this before this unit is only fit for scrap, or maybe if you are lucky, parts. Still, you have ten of these things to work with, hopefully that will be enough in the future. While it is true that it could have gone much, much better; it could also have gone much, much worse. And it was a nice change of pace to work with your hands again. (2/3 failures until Slave-1 is unusable for research purposes, failed to find anything, investigation progress is 0/?)

Well, you can leave this ‘Slave’ here for now, at least while you decide what to do next.

>You can contact the Quartermaster, to discuss your options in rebuilding the drones.

>You could continue to pick at 'Slave-1', and hopefully have a better time of it.

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and try to get some answers.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and simply ask for a report.

>>4363421
>engineer is having a bad day
Fuck sake. Ok. We getting safety equipment I mean COME ON! Goggles, helmets, thick protective gloves with rubber pads, thick work boots, utility belts. Also trollies and LOTS of standardized safety procedures.

>You could continue to pick at 'Slave-1', and hopefully have a better time of it.
What bonuses do we have beyond the +1 just now?

>>4363702
That is it for now, as far as bonuses to dissembling this type of drone. As far as the safety checking goes, that is probably a good idea, though it will probably take time and effort to break bad habits across the fleet, not to mention money to safety-check everything and implement those better practices.

>>4363421

>You can contact the Quartermaster, to discuss your options in rebuilding the drones

How much a good drone sells for? The wreck has a seemingly unlimited supply.

>>4363836
Drones that are approximately equivalent to the 'Mad' drones we have been facing off against would go for about 2500dT each on the open market.

You page the Quartermaster into the conference room to discuss various builds for the 'Lucid' Drones. As you wait, you put aside the remains of the 'Slave' drone and pack up the tools. As you are considering returning the tools to your room, the Quartermaster, Quimbix is already at the door. You spend several minutes bringing him up to speed on the rebuild job that Sunsbuck had done; and his belief that when complete, the drones should be able to carry 5 additional subsystems (5 slots to build out off of). He grabbed a physical, paper copy of a price sheet (the man seems to have an odd affinity for paper) and passes it over to you.

>Lucid Drone CR is 8, takes 2 non-critical hits, standard tank carries 10 moves worth of fuel. Cost to buy equivalent unit; 2500dT.

First, you will need to decide how you want the drone to operate. There are three methods:

Autonomously (2 or 3 slots, 500-650dT). When a drone is autonomous, it can operate independent from human instruction, though it still needs some way to communicate, in case an operator needs to take control or issue overriding orders. In terms of both equipment and cost, this is the most expensive option. Requires 2 of the 5 slots: Drone Brain Package (200dT) and Vision Package (200dT). It is recommended to have either a Transmitter-Receiver Package (250dT) or Comms Hardline (100dT) to communicate with the drone (both would take up another slot).

Teleoperation (2 slots, 300-450dT). When a drone is teleoperated, it is being controlled remotely by a dedicated human pilot. While autonomous drones are also able to be controlled by a human pilot, the difference between an autonomous drone and a teleoperated drone is that the teleoperated drone cannot operate independently. Requires 2 slots: Vision Package (200dT) and Transmitter-Receiver Package (250dT) or Comms Hardline (100dT).

Manually. (1 slot, 250dT) When a drone is manual, it is strictly speaking, no longer a drone, but a small shuttle, operated directly by a human pilot, on an external command console frequently called the ‘hot seat’. With a human pilot sitting at the helm, there is no need for the more expensive control, vision, or communication packages. Of course, with a human on board, either the drone is no longer disposable, or that unfortunate pilot has become disposable. Losses of Manual drones run the risk of incurring morale penalties. Requires 1 slot: External Command Console (250dT) (‘Hot Seat’)

>>4363918
After making the decision on how the drone should operation, you'll need to consider locomotive upgrades to the simple rear mount thruster system that the drone already has.

Second Fuel Tank; (1 slot, 100dT). When a ‘complex’ drone has a second tank, it can operate for 150% longer before resupply is necessary. Standard Lucid Drone has 10 Fuel, so a Lucid Drone with a Second Tank has 25 Fuel. Drones can be moved (as well as refueled, deployed or retrieved) without using any on Fuel, by conducting an EVA, though this takes more time then using the fuel. One turn to deploy with Fuel, two or three to deploy by EVA.

Mounting for Drone Solid Boosters; (1 slot, 100dT then 20dt for each booster) When a drone has solid boosters, it is able to increase its speed dramatically. This can be used to dodge suicide attacks at the last second, run away from enemy drones, move out of an enemy’s range or alternatively, launch a suicide or counter-suicide attack of its own. Single use item, Drone Solid Boosters must be replenished back at a ship and are purchased like munitions. (Moves Unlocked: Dodge, Disengage, Suicide and Counter Suicide moves)

Dampeners. (1 slot, 200dT) When a drone has a weapons system attached to it, to properly aim and to account for the effects of recoil, a system of microthrusters called dampeners are used. Engaging the dampeners removes the ‘Undampened’ malus (-2) from the Vulcan and Improvised Organ attacks and gives the ‘aimed’ bonus (+1) to small aperture laser attacks. When dampeners are active, every attack will now use 1 Fuel as well. (Moves Unlocked: Engage Dampeners, Disengage Dampeners)

>>4363921
Finally, there is the consideration for the weapons. While there is an Optician that makes lasers on Old Scrimshander, you'll need to get a special dispensation to legally buy newly made lasers; or alternatively, find someway to get into their graces to the point that they become willing to take the risk an illegally sell you the units.

What you know for a fact will be available are 88mm Vulcan Vacflack cannons. Additionally, Quimbix has point out that the supply of recoilless rifles can be (illegally) built into a crude organ gun, to volley fire, though considering we have 8 on hand (one of which may be damaged), this will mean that expeditions are going to be lighter armed than they otherwise might be. The upside, is that considering you already own the rifles and a supply of ammunition, these weapons would be free.

Drone Mounted 88mm Vulcan Vacflack Cannon; (1 slot, 400dT). When facing small, fast or under armored enemies, vacflack is the undisputed king in cost per kills. As with any weapon that relies on volume of fire, it chews through enemies, reducing the likelihood that anything usable will be left behind. (Moves Unlocked: Vulcan’s Hammer: damage 2d6, 1 attack, range 3)

Drone Mounted 88mm Vacflack Autoloader; (1 slot, 200dT). Used in tandem with the Vulcan Cannon, it carries additional ammunition and reloads the cannons, allowing for 4 attacks, instead of just 1, between resupplies at a ship or munitions barge.

Drone Mounted Improvised Recoilless Organ Gun; (1 slot, 3 recoilless rifles (8 on hand)). When facing larger, slower or armored enemies, this improvised weapon manages to punch up something fierce. Three vacgrade recoilless rifles are mounted to the drone, and an improvised mechanism to fire and reload them is built. The mechanism is not particularly fast and can only fire every other round. A cheap, drone mountable answer to armored enemies. Carries 3+1 rounds for each rifle. (Moves Unlocked: Organ Grinder: damage 2d6, 4 attacks, range 8)

>>4363929
Something to consider; all of these things are what is guaranteed to be in stock and available for sale, there is a chance that other things will be available for purchase.

Happy shopping!

>>4363933

So many options. Good stuff Scrapperbro, but can I have how much $ we got, costs, interests and the like? Im not sure what we can afford rn
not sure if you posted it earlier I phase in and out between days/posts

>>4363833
Something to ask the head engineer (new head) and our detective novel loving friend about.

So it would be more effective to give the drone to an engineer to study because they could have an effective +2?

>>4363918
How have the mad and obese drones been able to propel themselves?
Are there mods to add additional armor to the drones?

What's our total morale stat for each crew type? I could had sworn we originally had +2 and +1.

>>4363921
Can Dampeners be applied to the ships?
Do we have to make a roll to determine if the reloaded drone successfully reloads all the guns? If the answer if yes then I'm this close to strangling you.

>>4363929
Crude organ guns? We got 8 guns? What calibers are these 8 guns? Are they smaller than 73 and 75mm? If the 8 guns are of the same caliber as the 73 and 75mm's then I think they might be worth more as stand alones, or not.

>damage 2d6, 4 attacks. That's four attacks for three rifles in a turn.
Very tempting.

>>4363964
>For reference, you have ~6000dT left in the company coffers.
This is excluding the net worth of the salvage we've found that we might sell.

Until we get a pastebin's worth of a shaping list, and figured out how much it's going to cost us to mount a laser on the drone, I'll want to hold off on our phases for now. Modify these drones are going to be heavy investments, more on the drones part since they cost 2500dT and have ONLY 2 health effectively. That or 1 health if they get hit with a crit. If they get hit then that will be 2500dT and possibly more money down the drain.

What do you think about simply arming up our voidmen with power armor and vac grade rifles? We have a total of 8, 1 of which is in need of repairs, that we can give our armsmen for the next time they need to go inside the ship. If they get ganked I'm pretty sure PA would be more useful than a drone, considering how god awefully expense crippling it would be to use one and the tight confined spaces within.

>>4364022

Shouldnt we focus on more fleet firepower to keep safe; scrap and learn what we can, and then board with units later when we have ensured general operational safety (no ships blowing up)

>>4364273
Maybe? What we definitely need to get is a laser weapon to build a drone around and the Dampeners, in cause theres a super large wave of drones that threaten to overwhelm us, in addition to buying specialized munitions.

>>4364022
>How have the mad and obese drones been able to propel themselves?
They have a rear mounted thruster system, which was more or less rebuilt as it was. It allows them to move fairly quickly, but at higher speeds they become relatively hard to maneuver.

>Are there mods to add additional armor to the drones?
Hmm. Well, there should be. give me a minute, and I'll write up an armor option.

>What's our total morale stat for each crew type? I could had sworn we originally had +2 and +1.
You are correct; Officers and Crewmen have +2, and Engineers have +1.

>Can Dampeners be applied to the ships?
The ships already have Dampeners, which is why they don't receive the 'Un-Dampened" malus. More advanced Dampeners for the ships might be available, which could provide an aimed bonus for kinetic weapons like the Vulcan and the Janus.

>Do we have to make a roll to determine if the reloaded drone successfully reloads all the guns? If the answer if yes then I'm this close to strangling you.
Well, lucky for me, you don't need to roll for that.

>Crude organ guns? We got 8 guns? What calibers are these 8 guns? Are they smaller than 73 and 75mm?
Yes. Yes. There are 3 73mm, 3 75mm, and 2 76mm. No.

>damage 2d6, 4 attacks. That's four attacks for three rifles in a turn.
Well, that would be tempting, but it is 4 attack before it needs to be reloaded, not in a single turn. Also, I know I said that it needed to take a turn in-between attacks, but I've thought about it, and I think that is a bit too nerfed, so forget that. Still, it has more than twice the range of a Vulcan.

>This is excluding the net worth of the salvage we've found that we might sell.
That is correct, with the engineers busy on the rebuilds and the research into the 'Foreman', there isn't a complete report on the take for this expedition. That said, give me a minute, and I will go back, and calculate what we have so far.

So while you two don't agree on the direction to take when it comes to upgrades and the like, both of you are in agreement of holding off on building out the drones for now. Alright, we can move on for now.

>What do you think about simply arming up our voidmen with power armor and vac grade rifles? We have a total of 8, 1 of which is in need of repairs...
It is worth noting that you don't know if it needs repairs or not.
Actually, you don't know that for sure, its is still sitting around Engineering, waiting to be looked at. Both of the engineering teams are at work. You could pull a single engineer off one of the teams, but they wouldn't receive the morale bonus to their work. Alternatively, you could look over the rifle to see if it needed to be fixed, and then if you could, fix it, but you don't get morale bonuses either.

>Personally fix rifle as next action (1 roll of 1d20)
>Have a single engineer fix rifle (1 roll of 1d20)
>Wait until an one of the engineering groups is finished, then have them work on the rifle (eventually 1 roll of 1d20+1)

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>4364355
>Personally fix rifle as next action (1 roll of 1d20)

>>4364355
So, here are the structural modification options. I don't know if they are balanced, but I'm sure they will be fun to play with.

>>4364397
Structural Modifications:

Two Headed Mount (1 slot, 3 units of scrap or 600dT, limit 1) By rebuilding the internal and external superstructure of the drone, you can squeeze in one more subsystem.
Light Small Drone Armor (1/2 slots, 2 units of scrap or 400dT, limit 2.) By reinforcing the internal and external superstructure of the drone, you can improve its survivability. (Trait Unlocked: Armored, +1 to CR and +1 to hit points)

Small Drone Armor (1/2 slots, 4 units of scrap or 800dT, limit 2.) By building out redundant reinforcements to the internal and external superstructure of the drone, you can noticeably improve its survivability. (Trait Unlocked: Armored, +2 to CR and +2 to hit points)

Heavy Small Drone Armor (1/2 slots, 8 units of scrap of 1600dT, limit 2.) By a complete rebuild of the internal and external superstructures of the drone, you can significantly improve its survivability. (Traits Unlocked: Armored, Heavy Build (fuel capacity drops by 1 to reflect reduced efficiency, increased size allows an extra 1/2 slot), +4 to CR and +4 to hit points)

Super Heavy Small Drone Armor (1/2 slots, 16 units of scrap of 3200dT, limit 2.) By a radical rebuild of the internal and external superstructures of the drone, you can dramatically improve its survivability. (Traits Unlocked: Armored, Super Heavy Build (fuel capacity drops by 2 to reflect reduced efficiency, increased size allows an extra slot), +8 to CR and +8 to hit points)

>>4364371
Listen, I hate to be a stickler, but we have to vote then roll for what we vote for. Otherwise, everyone would just chose the option that they know did the best. I understand that the way that I worded it here was ambiguous enough to cause confusion, so I will allow it this time, considering that it is my fault. If no one else votes (or votes and rolls in the next ten minutes), I'll just take yours

Got a bit delayed there. Closing vote, and writing.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /13:59 Hours

After a long discussion with Quimbix, as well as a light lunch, you were unable to come to a definitive conclusion on where to spend the remaining 6000dT; while you had originally been in favor of building out the drones, questions about their survivability dumped cold water over your original plans. You and your Quartermaster we both of the opinion that ‘Glass Cannons’ should be used sparingly, if at all, in a combat support role, as opposed to a mainline combat role. However, the two of you could not come to a definitive opinion on what the monies from this operation and the company coffers should be employed towards.

After the incredible success of C1 Warrant Officer Hexdricks, you had wanted to put more money into crewman combat units, but Quimbix thought that it would be both more effective and safer use of the money available to upgrade the ships themselves. The conversation was constructive and thoughtful, but ultimately it did not result in a unified vision. You were not willing to dismiss the points that Quimbix was raising out of hand or after careful consideration, but you did not feel that they were compelling enough to abandon your position either.

However, after lunch concluded, Quimbix had done some ‘back of the envelope’ calculations to figure out the costs of structurally modifying the drones out, so that they would be more resilient. The numbers looked promising, and the fact that it could be done with the materials that are on hand is also very attractive. But for now, the two of you decided that you would hold off on making any decisions, until you see what is in stock at what price when you get back to Old Scrimshander.

Quimbix left after saying that he would spend some time making a full tally for the haul from this expedition, minus whatever was on the ‘Foreman’. You thought about mentioning the remains of the doomed expedition as a potential opportunity, but you held off at the last second. Something tells you that he would be unsettled by the idea, and you did not want to end this meeting on a sour note. You need to figure out a way to sell it first, to your more, well, ‘sensitive’ men.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /15:40 Hours

After giving some thought as what to do next, after the conclusion of your meeting, you remembered from Hexdricks’ report that one of the rifles from the away team got a bit roughed up. As engineering was going to be busy for the foreseeable future, you figured you would step up, and look at it, to take something off Engineering’s plate. You paged your concierge and had him bring up the Vacgrade 73mm Recoilless rifle from the weapons locker. In the end, there was some damage, to the front sight and the anchor points, as well as a bit of cosmetic scarring to the muzzle break of the weapon. It took some time, but you eventually convinced yourself that the rifle was still safe to fire, though you make sure to have it tested before you send it out on another away mission, of course.

It took time, and some bits and pieces that you had to send your concierge away to collect for you, but you managed to repair or rebuild everything that was damaged on this particular rifle. Good as new. Or rather, considering that it was purchased second-hand, then ‘good as used’.

>You could continue to pick at 'Slave-1', and hopefully have a better time of it.

>You could speak to Hexdricks, and the riflemen, about what they think of returning into the hull.

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and try to get some answers.

>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and simply ask for a report.

>>4364502
>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and simply ask for a report.
make a routine status check. don't let him know our suspicions. see if he volunteers any relevant information.

>>4364536
Alright, I'm going to have a quick dinner. If no one else votes, then I will go for this. If someone votes for something else, I'll roll to break the tie.

>>4364538
bon appetit!

>>4364502
>You can call over to the commander of the Clean Sweep, and simply ask for a report.

After finishing the rebuild, you give the Concierge the rifle to take back to the weapons locker. Which means, that this is probably the time to send a message over to the Commander of the Clean Sweep and ask for a standard after-accident report. If you were to hold off on this any longer, than that by itself might look as suspicious, possibly more, than asking pointed questions about what the hell happened with the pylon-articulation control unit. You are going to be careful, keeping your suspicions close to your chest, considering that there is no way to know for sure who is on the other end of the line, and who is listening in, due to the unsecured nature of ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic communications.

>Officer’s Quarters: Telegraph Capsule/14:02 hours

You have been giving it some thought, and have decided that you are going to be the one to call over and attempt to raise the commander. Your logic here is that you might be able to pick up some disturbance in the frequency of the connect, that could (emphasis on could) indicate that someone else was listening in. If you had your concierge raise the commander, and then page you when he was on the line, similar to what happened when the Commander of the Mammon gave you his report, you would miss out on this opportunity. The capsule is a tight fit for you, but still, you manage to draw all of yourself inside, and close the door, and even going as far as to pressurize the seal to make sure that you have complete privacy.

After using your Officer’s Key to activate this particular system, you begin the process to raise the Commander of the Clean Sweep.

>(Can I have one roll of 1d6 and one roll of 1d20, the first to determine what happens while the commander is being raised, and the second to determine if we are able to correctly identify what is happening?)

>>4364540
Thanks!

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4364574

>>4364583
Hmm. One of the tamer options. If the next roll is 'good', 16-20, then I'll post the all of the possibilities for those interested.

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>4364574

File: neat.jpg (46 KB, 600x589)

46 KB JPG

>>4364608

File: tegaki.png (7 KB, 400x400)

7 KB PNG

>Officer’s Quarters: Telegraph Capsule/14:04 hours
From roll of 3: There is another party on the line, listening in.

After a moment, you manage to key in the Clean Sweep and successfully raise her on the ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic communicator. You hail the commander and wait for a response. After a minute, there is a jump in the frequency of the connection, indicating that a console has become active on the other ship, and will be able to send and receive messages. But less than two seconds later, there is a second, smaller jump. Jumps and dips in the frequency are typical of the unstable nature of hyperspace communication, where the level moves up and down, but will average at a consistent frequency over the course of the communication. But this is clearly a ‘step’, indicative of when a communicator comes online and stays online, where the average frequency increases. Considering that the value of the step was not as large as the first, it is possible that the communicator has had the transmitter function shut off, to make the ‘step’ less pronounced, so it would be harder to detect on your end. That, and considering that it came on within seconds of the first communicator, it was clear that whoever was on the second communicator was trying to conceal their presence on the call.

And if you had not been looking for it, they very well could have managed it. There is no log for the frequency, if you are not keeping you eye on the gauge, then you could have missed the two distinct steps entirely, and with them, definitive evidence that there is someone else listening in. That might be something to consider for the future; have a personal ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic communicator built that had a log of the frequencies. You could have Quimbix look into getting something like that when you get into port. Or maybe, you could bring an Engineer into your circle, and have them build something. Attenborough if he pulled himself together. Sunsbuck if he did not.

But right now, you need to figure out how you are going to deal with this. Whoever is on the other line is still composing a message.

>The plan was to simply ask for a report. That is all you were going to do, and that is all you are going to do.

>The presence of another party on the line changes everything; confront this spook.

>While a confrontation with the spook is not advisable, his presence means that there is a serious conspiracy present on your trawler. Some more direct questions are warranted.

>>4364688
And as promised, the other possibilities, considering that you did well enough on the roll:

Possibility 1: The commander can not be found.
Possibility 2: There are two active lines, both claiming to be the commander.
Possibility 3: There is another party on the line, listening in.
Possibility 4: There is some disturbances that could be another party.
Possibility 5: The commander is not immediately available.
Possibility 6: The commander is raised without issue.

I know most QM's don't like to show anything behind the curtain, so to speak,

>>4364700
>I really need to stop using the timer to post
but I don't mind it. The occasional peak behind the curtain on other Quests is what convinced me to start trying to run them myself.

>>4364688
>The plan was to simply ask for a report. That is all you were going to do, and that is all you are going to do.
this development is all the more reason to keep our cards close to our chest

>>4364724
I'll leave this up for about 15 minutes or so, then close it and write. If it is a tie, I will roll for the tiebreaker.

>>4364738
Closed and writing.

>Officer’s Quarters: Telegraph Capsule/14:05 hours
Well, this is not exactly how you wanted things to go. But it is how you had feared they might, and it was in consideration of that fear, that you made the original plans to simply ask for nothing more serious than a report. So, the presence of this spook changes nothing; if anything it makes it more important to simply appear to be going through the motions, nothing more. At least, that is what you hope. Finally, the surprisingly brief message comes across:

start consider this receipt of message stop cmdr-r online stop whois raising stop end

Took him awhile to type out a fairly basic receipt and inquiry to your hail. Is there something else going on here, or is he simply a slow typist? Maybe he is thinking over what he is saying? But then, as far as he knows, there is nothing out of the ordinary of this call. He should have been expecting it. Is he nervous? Is this even the real commander?

You realize that you are catastrophizing here. You need to focus on what you know, and what you can control. As you take a deep breath to calm yourself, an idea comes to you. Originally, you had planned on openly identifying yourself in response to the ‘whois raising’, but maybe you’d raise less suspicion from your spook if you said you were someone else. Or maybe you’d just complicate things.

Who do you say you are?
>Nameis OO : You identify yourself honestly.

>Nameis QRT: You identify yourself as Quimbix, your Quartermaster

>Nameis AE/HE/S: You identify yourself as Sunsbuck

>Nameis CON: You identify yourself as your Concierge

>>4364819
>Nameis OO : You identify yourself honestly.
confirmed something spooky is up, time to go aboard the Clean Sweep personally and sort this out next opportunity we get. No one leaves, either


looking at the drone upgrades, cool stuff. if we blow enough money into these it looks like we can turn them into zero g technicals/light tanks, assuming we can fit a human pilot, superheavy armor, and an adequate gun in the chassis. my vision for these is to use them as heavy fire support when exploring the derelict, as they seem to be small enough to maneuver in tight spaces. heavy armor is a must, a human pilot makes it no longer expendable. I'd like to rebuild one drone with these specifications if possible
>Given 5 slots a drone
>human pilot (-1 slot)
>dampeners (-1 slot
>extra fuel tank (-1 slot)
>vulcan autocannon (-1 slot)
>vulcan autoloader (-1 slot)
>superheavy armor (-1/2 slot)
>2 headed mount (+1 slot)
By my understanding this would leave us with a half slot of free space (which hopefully we could use for ammo) and would cost us 1050 dT base cost. Armor would run us (3 scrap/600 dT) for the mounting system and (16 scrap/3200 dT)
for the actual armor. I'd prefer to have the best armor possible but it is expensive.

>>4365150
>i wanted dual miniguns but it was that or armor, and there's no talking a pilot into one of these if there's no armor

>>4365150
FFS. The idea for a tank build is great, dont get me wrong I like the idea of armoring it so much that it can ram the fuck out of pleb drones, but we just dont have the funds for it when we could invest our money in other things.

>Nameis OO : You identify yourself honestly.
As far as purchases go, we'll reserve some cash for 4 to 6 suits of power armor, so some idiots can play hulk in space, or space hulk sans the tyranids. That's 200 to 300 dT which isnt a bad investment.

As far as specialized 88mm vac cannons go, we should get 50 Cored (150dT, does 2d6+1 damage and lowers the CR of any armored opponent by 3) and 100 Frangible (300dT, does 2d6 to unarmored and 1d6 to armored; its benefit is that the enemy will founder at the CR instead of being destroyed). The idea is to hit the all Mad Drones with volleys of Frangibles first so they're more recoverable/repairable, while we hit the Obese Drones with a 'soft' volley of Cores before finishing them off with more Frangibles.
Wait actually the Obese ones are unarmored. If anything we'll keep the Cores for rainy days in case we ever encounter any armored drones.
In addition to armor and munitions, I will adamant about this, but you're right about the need for drone. I recall our current limit regarding drones is four or six in our hanger (QM is the 4-6 limit for our entire fleet or just for our main ship?), so I'm thinking we get one last drone, and one Hot Seat drone like you suggested, but not quiet as expensive.

>Lucid Drone CR is 8, takes 2 non-critical hits, standard tank carries 10 moves worth of fuel. Cost to buy equivalent unit; 2500dT.
>(5 slots to build out off of)

>fleet restricted drone: somewhere more than between 700-850dT, only needs to bleed close to fleet.
Teleoperation (2 slots, 300-450dT). Requires 2 slots: Vision Package (200dT) and Transmitter-Receiver Package (250dT) or Comms Hardline (100dT).
>Dampeners. (1 slot, 200dT)
>Laser. (? slot, ???dT)

>power armor squad support drone: I think 2650dT, +20x dT depending on how boost caps work.
>Manually. (1 slot, 250dT)
>Second Fuel Tank; (1 slot, 100dT).
>Mounting for Drone Solid Boosters; (1 slot, 100dT then 20dt for each booster)
Is it 1dT or 20dT for each boost ammo? Is the 20dT upgrade to increase the max capacity of times it can boost?
>no need for Dampeners since it will be inside the ship
>Drone Mounted 88mm Vulcan Vacflack Cannon; (1 slot, 400dT).
Wait a fucking minute. Theres nothing stopping us from modifying drone 80mm Vulcan Vacflacks into power armor.
>Drone Mounted 88mm Vacflack Autoloader; (1 slot, 200dT). x2 (1 Cored, 1 Frangible)
Two Headed Mount (1 slot, 3 units of scrap or 600dT, limit 1)
Small Drone Armor (1/2 slots, 4 units of scrap or 800dT, limit 2.)
F. For the armor option I hope we have drone parts left. I recall there being a fuck ton if drones we demolished.

So current shopping list consists of PA suits, two drone loadouts, a crap ton of 88mm munitions.

>>4365203
What else what else. I hope Power Armor space suits = you also get armored backpacks to carry more shit. Like ammo. Because if that's the case then that would be very useful if people need to get inside the ship. So 20 rounds for each gun, that's 160 boolets. Rifle ammo is disgustingly expensive so that'll come out to be 320dT.

In addition to everything above, we need to save some cash for:
>buying planetary scanner suite + drones to scan the planet (fuck might need to make an armored scout drone for the planet)
>buy more advanced censory equipment
>get better electronic warfare suite to better understand the foreign drones to possibly combat+disable them (think you said they're wild and uncontrollable)
>BBQ equipment and food to party on the planet I'd it's safe
>more fuel unless the insurance covers it
>better workshops for engineering so they can do more advanced stuff, bonuses for crafting/disassembling for studies, etc.
>improve living conditions/renovations for people sleeping on mattresses in the hallways for some sweet sweet moral boosting
>better safety training for engineering in addition to safety equipment (goggles, gloves, boots, hard hats, shit guards, secure tool belts, those orange green vests I guess)
>better medical facilities and training for Medics.
>

>>4365161
Wait a second. +1 slot for the super heavy armor. Ok you idea has some good points.

>>4364819
If we have the facilities, can we modify a drone to have the super heavy armor mod if we have the scraps, or does the modding have to be at a station?

How much for more refined space debris harvesting equipment?

>>4365203
>So current shopping list consists of PA suits, two drone loadouts, a crap ton of 88mm munitions.
seconding this
we are winning individual engagements, but lacking long turn endurance
action item #1 - more ammo
>>4365210
my assessment:
action item #2 - we don't know what the fuck we're dealing with here. need to buy specialized equipment and recruit some trustworthy science personnel (if possible)
action item #3 - the situation on board the Clean Sweep needs to be uncovered, dealt with and prevented from recurring. either carrots or sticks could work here.

Hey guys, I'm back. Really overslept there. I'll need to do a few things around the house before I can get working on writing the next post, just wanted to let you guys know.

Also, as per the discussion about the armor, I was unclear. The limit 2 is per drone; so a small drone with both Super Heavy Armor would have the following stats: fuel drops by 4, +16 to CR and 16 to hit points, 2(1) extra slots - 2(0.5) extra slots = provides +1 slot, at a cost of 32 units of scrap or 6400dT.

>>4365203
So the 4-6 limit was per small hangar bay; currently there are 4 hangar bays in the fleet; 2 on the freighter and 2 on the flagship (though one is at half capacity, considering the 'Foreman' is stuck on its floor). There is a medium hangar bay on the flagship as well, but it is currently taken over with the lifeboats, the attack shuttle and the modified mine-layer equipment, so it can not take any further craft. Teleoperated drones require additional equipment back on the ship to pilot them, so 4 can fit in a small hangar bay. For autonomous or manual drones, that equipment isn't needed, so the number is bumped up to 6.

>>4365549
All of the armor that is mentioned here can be done with scrap, and by your engineers in decivilized space. There are other more advanced armor types that must be built in port. And I am still trying to balance the cost of the improved debris harvesting equipment

>>4365967
Oh, also, I wasn't clear, I'm closing it for identifying yourself as yourself.

>Officer’s Quarters: Telegraph Capsule/14:06 hours

start nameis OO stop req accident rpt stop end

Well, you have committed yourself now. You are saying that you are you, and all you want is the standard accident report, like the one you got from the Commander of the Mammon. You keep your eyes on the frequency gauge, to see if there is anyone else who attempts to listen in. The frequency trembles and shudders up and down, but there is no ‘step’ indicating another set has come on the line. Several minutes pass, and there is nothing coming on the other end. On one hand, this might be expected; the Commander of the Mammon was ready with their report, and remember, they called you. On the other hand, the Commander of the Clean Sweep was just put on the spot; perhaps the report isn’t complete, or they are still going over the specifics. There is also a question of liability; if there was a report on an accident that you needed to file with a hypothetical superior, you’d want to look it over to make sure that you didn’t take on any personal liability or responsibility that you were not expected to take.

start rpt reads as follows pylon articulation diagnostic run improperly stopped stop ju eng j on con w gross negligence broke stated prot stop casualty damage j responsibility stop j liability decomm adv stop pylons nets slightly dmg stop replace hrdwr sftwr purchase spare netting

Well, that is to be expected you suppose. The commander is placing the blame completely on Junior Engineer Jobbs. Without the exculpatory evidence you have sitting in your room right now, the counterfeit instruction manual, you would completely agree with the assessment of the commander. Considering that you have decided not to do anything more than ask for the report, you are not going to tell the man about the existence of the counterfeit. The line ‘broke stated protocol’ however, is of interest to you in your investigation here. It implies that the original, true instruction manual was still in place, and was consulted when this report was being outlined, which gives further credence to Jobbs’ testimony about the manuals being swapped out, and then swapped back.

Still, Quimbix would point out that while Jobbs is now cleared of negligent conduct, he is still a suspect in the sabotage. Moreover, there is nothing in the report that can clear or implicate him further in the sabotage that took place. You are not going to ask pointed questions, but you still have the commander on the line, and some other lines of inquiry might bear some fruit…

>ask after the remains of Droustein
>ask after the take in the trawlers hold
>ask why the Head Engineer believes spare netting will be needed
>conclude the call

>>4366019
>ask after the take in the trawlers hold
the identity of the human remains may have implications re. opsec for when we get back to scrimshander
re. netting - the obvious explanation is that a spare net would have enabled us to resume trawling more quickly after the incident, and allowed a greater scrap yield?
even if there were an ulterior motive, i think that's the cover story we would get...

>>4366019
>ask why the Head Engineer believes spare netting will be needed

>>4366058
>>4366090
If there isn't a tie breaker, then I will roll in about 20 minutes. If there is someone who votes for a third choice, that is fine too, I will just do a three-way tie breaker.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4366090 1
>>4366058 2

>>4366141
Alright, I will get to writing.

>>4366143

Yeah boy how do you do colours

>>4366143

>ask after the take in the trawlers hold

We care about money first. We hungry vultures!
Free jobs he innocent i told y"all

While there is certainly a lot going on that you do not understand, the newest one is the request for spare netting. The titanium ‘chainmail’ that your trawler uses as netting is extremely expensive and considering that all told the net is a full square mile the idea of just keeping a second one sitting around seem insane. Keeping some on hand to ‘patch’ the net might not be a bad idea, but you would just need the ‘chainmail’ not completed nets; swapping out the damaged links for the sound ones would ‘stitch’ the net closed.

On top of this confusion, is the uncertainty of where the Head Engineer stands in all of this. Whatever exactly happened on the Clean Sweep, it was at least partly precipitated by the preposterous system he cooked up with the pirated software, and the emergency nodes. Then there was the discrepancy between the contemporaneous communications you had with the Commander of the Clean Sweep, who mentioned that Jobbs volunteered for the EVA, and Jobbs account, who mentioned that the Head Engineer ordered him on it. It is entirely possible that the commander believed that Jobbs had volunteered but had actually been ordered to deploy by the Head Engineer; but it is equally possible that someone is lying. Finally, there is no indication that the man is going to take any responsibility for what happened here, which does not make him look particularly trustworthy.

While you are not in a position to press him to take that responsibility, considering that you signed off on whatever he built, it is still coloring your opinion of the man. So, you are not sure if this is somehow linked to the conspiracy on board the Clean Sweep, but it seems to certainly be something worth asking about.

blue]start whatis purpose of spare net stop end[/blue]

File: tegaki.png (7 KB, 400x400)

7 KB PNG

>Officer’s Quarters: Telegraph Capsule/14:14 hours

A minute passes. Then another. Then several more. You are not receiving a reply. It takes another several minutes before you think to rewind the ticker and reread the message from the Commander of the Clean Sweep. It seems that you were so focused on the spook and to the conspiracy, you were not paying enough attention to the commander, or at least what exactly he was writing. The broadcast had been interrupted, a premature drop. There was no ‘stop’ to indicate the end of a sentence, or for that matter, there was not ‘end’ to indicate that the message had, well, ended. Again, ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic communication is susceptible to these disruptions. The whole reason why ‘start’ ‘stop’ and ‘end’ were used here like this was because transmission drops were a common enough problem that this was warranted.

Still, with the conspiracy looming over the Clean Sweep, you are not going to take anything for granted. You wait several minutes more, but there is still no reply. Glancing at the transmission, it is still around the same average value that it has been at since the spook came on the line. So, there is still some sort of connection here; is it possible that there was an equipment issue on their end? Now that you think about it, it is possible that the issue is on your end. This particular capsule does not have any built-in diagnostic readouts, but maybe you could attempt to diagnose it yourself, with your tools. They are still out in the Requisitioned Conference Room. Or you could stay and wait, or resend the message, or even disconnect and attempt to raise them again. Alternatively, you could have your Concierge take care of this, and you could do something else.

>Get those tools and see if you are able to diagnose any issues with this unit.
>Sometimes these connection issues resolve with time, so that is what is needed here. Wait it out.
>Start sending them messages, trying to get an answer from them.
>You should try shutting it off and turning it back on. Raise them again, from scratch.
>You should try shutting it off and getting someone else to take care of it. Have your Concierge get them back on the line, and then page you.

>>>4366329 well, I accidentally went and showed you, because I somehow managed to lose a bracket along the way. I should point out, that I think the color text as well as most of the fancy formatting tools are limited to the OP of the thread

>>4366341
>Get those tools and see if you are able to diagnose any issues with this unit.
engineer time

>>4366341
>Get those tools and see if you are able to diagnose any issues with this unit.

>>4366358

Support.

God damn what a captain gotta do to get some respect around here?! I know we are tight on money but i feel some sackings are in order.

so blue/red instead of spoiler brackets? Tyy scrappermann

>>4366387
>>4366368
>>4366358
Alright, one roll of 1d20, with no modifiers to see how we do.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>4366471

>>4366527
Alright! Ill get to writing.

>Officer’s Quarters: Telegraph Capsule/15:50 hours

It takes more time than you thought it would have, but you managed to get the unit out, piece by piece and look it over really good with your tuners. You were always more of a mechanical than electrical, or even a mechanoelectrical engineer, but this is a simple enough unit that you can manage here. It really helps that your Concierge was able to find the actual blueprints for this unit; you had no idea, but apparently this was actually a kit-built unit. Might explain why the transmission drops, but on the other hand, it is remarkably accommodating to end-user repair, as only end-user assembled articles can be.

Even better, is that you think you have figured out a way to build an integrated diagnostic unit into this relay; it should be considered an experiment, but if successfully, you could have a proper blueprint drawn up, and upgrade all of the other kit-built relays of this type with the internal diagnostic unit. If deployed across the fleet, repairs to the ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic relays will be easier (+1 to rolls for repairs ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic relays), though if you are being quite honest, you aren’t sure if deploying them across the fleet would be worth the cost or the effort. Nearly half of the units, those that were not kit-built later additions, but either came with the ship or were some other model that was grafted into the communications subsystem, have equivalent diagnostic units, and there are still delays and issues with the equipment.

But for your personal (well, the Officer’s) relay, a diagnostic unit might be worth it, if issues like this continue. After testing and then safety checking all of the sub-components, cleaning the interior of the unit and even color-coding the wiring, you tested the unit with the help of your Concierge, who had arranged for the Mammon to transmit a broadcast test at this time, (calling them on another unit). The Mammon’s message came through perfectly. But when to tried to raise the Clean Sweep, you did not receive a reply, nor did you see any changes of frequency that would indicate that someone was attempting to make a connection, or had a connection but was unable to transmit.

>>4366606
Again, this is not unheard of. The Mammon is close to the Aethereal Vulture, much closer than the Clean Sweep, and distances do play a role in the strength and duration of disruptions in ship-to-ship hyperspace telegraphic communications. Losing a connection with a ship in the middle of a call, and then not being able to raise them for a few hours is common. Frustrating, but common. The only reason that you are concerned here is that the ship in question has already had one successful act of sabotage committed against it. And with the evidence (if not proof) of the existence of a spook, you are concerned for the safety of your trawler. But right now, you cannot do anything. You will have your Concierge keep trying to raise them, and page you if he manages to get them on the line. Until then, you have other things to concern yourself with.

As you are trying to decide what the next step will be, you receive a page from Engineering. The first progress report on the research into the ‘Foreman’ Drone.

>Can I get two rolls of 1d20+1 for the engineers? The first is for them working away at freeing it from the floor and the second is for actual research into the parts that are accessibly situated above the hardened ceramic that has cemented it to the hangar floor.

>Experimental Blueprint gained for Improvised Diagnostic Unit for Kit Telegraph Relay (Build a prototype with this experimental blueprint. If the prototype works, then the experimental blueprint becomes a normal blueprint, and the article that it is for may be produced at whatever scale you desire. If the prototype does not work, further research will be needed before a second attempt at a prototype can be made)

>>4366527 good roll; you picked up a blueprint in the process

Rolled 1 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4366613

>>4366649
Well, this certainly is familiar.

Rolled 16 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4366658
>hello darkness my old friend
rolling again since no one else seems to be around

>>4366684
>>4366649
Alright, give me a minute or two, I'm going to have a late dinner and then get this post up.

>Officer’s Quarters: Hallway/15:51 hours

(From 2/20) To say that engineering is having a hard time getting the ‘Foreman’ free from the floor would be an understatement. While there had been some observations as to how similar the ceramic behaved to metal, it seems that one particularly dim specimen of an engineer decided to see if he could cut the ceramic with a plasma torch, ignoring the significant distinctions between acting like a metal and being like a metal. He managed to damage the longerjohns he was wearing, the floor of the hangar (cosmetically, at least), some actual metal parts of the ‘Foreman’ Drones undercarriage, and the plasma torch head itself. What he did not manage to damage is the ceramic. (0/? progress until ‘Foreman’ is freed, 1/? until ‘Foreman-1’ is unusable for research purposes).

(From 17/20) That said, the actual research part of the operation here is going much better. While the phrase ‘slave’ had been used to describe the smaller socketed drones, the research has confirmed that they were in fact ‘slaved’, that is to say directly controlled by the autonomous ‘Foreman’, without any autonomous capabilities of their own. What is interesting, is the drones were able to function after the presumed ‘death’ of the ‘Foreman’. If this means that in its last moments, the ‘Foreman’ shifted over control of the units to another, unseen ‘master’, then that is both an interesting lead and a dangerous development. If there was a transfer, then that means that the ‘slaves’ were being controlled at a range that it might be possible to disrupt communications at, as a means of incapacitating or capturing them. It also means that not only is taking down the ‘master’ not enough necessarily to stymie the ‘slaves’ but it means that there was another unit close enough to seamlessly take control of these units. You recall Hexdricks’ corollary. And if no transfer of command took place, then it is uncertain when the “Foreman” died, though Engineering swears that it is dead now. (Investigation process is 2/?)

Well, you have to take the good with the bad, you suppose. Regardless, you need to keep moving forward, there are other things to do.

>You could continue to pick at 'Slave-1', and hopefully have a better time of it.

>You could speak to Hexdricks, and the riflemen, about what they think of returning into the hull.

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You could try to think up new avenues to investigate the Clean Sweep Debacle.

>You could contact Engineering and explain the issues that you are having with raising the Clean Sweep, to see if there is a solution that they have.

>>4366834
I'm going to get some shut eye right now, but I should be up in the morning (Eastern Standard Time)

>>4366834
>You could speak to Hexdricks, and the riflemen, about what they think of returning into the hull.

>>4366834
Do Area of Effect or direction signal jammers exist?

>You could speak to Hexdricks, and the riflemen, about what they think of returning into the hull

>>4366936
>>4366965
Alright, two votes and five hours later, consider this one closed. I'll get to writing after breakfast.

>Do Area of Effect or direction signal jammers exist?
Yes, but they are expensive to deploy, and they won't work against autonomous drones like the 'Foreman' or the deaf and dumb 'Mad' or 'Morbidly Obese' drones. Not to mention, they aren't something that is commonly available.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /16:02 Hours
Well, at least some progress is being made on the ‘Foreman’ autopsy, and considering its size, it can probably take a bit more abuse than the unfortunate ‘Slave’ drone that you have sitting in the conference room right now. Setting this stuff aside for now, you decide to call upon Hexdricks and the two riflemen, to discuss further operations into the hull of the Derelict. Hexdricks and one of the riflemen were in the room within a minute or two of having them paged, but the other rifleman was on guard duty in the infirmary, and it took longer to recall him.

You begin the conversation by congratulating them for their successful ‘hunt’, 1500dT worth of magnets, and a ‘Foreman’, all in exchange for less than two dozen recoilless rifle rounds, and some odds and ends to repair the 73mm. One the riflemen looks both relieved and embarrassed at this announcement, presumably he was the one who damaged it in the first place. Hexdricks simply looks pleased with himself. The more professional of the two riflemen looks uncomfortable and uncertain, and as you start talking about future expeditions into the hull, looks more and more ill at ease. At a lull in a conversation, this rifleman asks permission to speak.

“We were lucky boss, really lucky, to get that ‘Foreman’. Everything lined up perfectly for us; there was a safe spot to engage from, there was environmental cover, the enemy had its back turned to us, we could readily see unreinforced vitals, and most importantly, the drones were all busy, focused on the wall. And even with all that luck, all those advantages, the damn thing almost managed to limp off on us.” The man pauses here and looks down at the table. Either he is uncomfortable about the topic, or he is simply uncomfortable speaking. After a few seconds, he continues, still looking at the table.

>>4367566

“We can’t start counting on the luck we had. I know you want repeat performances, hell, I wouldn’t mind keep taking trophies like that one, but if we are in the hull, and we come across another ‘Foreman’, I don’t think were going to be able to take it. In fact, if it had the mind to attack us, I don’t know if we’d make it out of there.” Hexdricks interjects here. “We do have more rifles.” But the professional rifleman is not convinced, and lifts his gaze from the table, to directly address the warrant officer. “The only reason rifles were able to kill it is because we got lucky with the position. We have what, about a dozen rifles?”

You have 8, and it has become increasingly difficult to find ammunition for them.

The rifleman continues; “Hunting, or God forbid, fighting, one of those things, especially in closer quarters than the ‘Trainyard’ with those rifles is not going to be enough, even if we deploy all twelve. And we don’t have any idea what other kinds drones are flitting around inside that wreck. We have all this trouble, and we have still yet to see anything that is purpose-built for combat.”
He looks to you again. “I know this isn’t my call, but we aren’t equipped to operate in the hull. We need more small arms, and we need one of those rebuilt drones that I have been hearing about outfitted to carry some heavier weaponry.” After an awkward silence, he looks down at the table again. “Least, that’s what I think.”

>Thank him for the input.

>Thank him for the input and say that you will take his words into consideration.

>Thank him for the input, but say that you can not promise more or heavier armaments.

>Thank him for the input, and commit to earmarking one of the ‘Lucid’ Drones as infantry support for expeditions inside the hull

>>4367568
>Thank him for the input, and commit to earmarking one of the ‘Lucid’ Drones as infantry support for expeditions inside the hull
88mm is easier to obtain and hits harder. if we can deploy it on future expeditions inside the derelict, we should do so.
more small arms would also be good, if there are any to be had.

>>4367604
This is kind of a big decision, so I would prefer to have at least one more vote on it. But if there are no additional votes by the time that this post is about half an hour old, I'll close it and move on.

>>4367568
>Thank him for the input and say that you will take his words into consideration.
88mm cannons on power armor lads.

What's the CR and hit points for power armor? Remind me how CR and hit points work again?

>>4367604
We should totally see if we can manufacture the components to make small arms munitions, or get the liscensings to do so. Maybe since we just recently layed claim to a planet it might be easier.

>>4367834
>88mm cannons on power armor
right, forgot we can do this..
>Thank him for the input and say that you will take his words into consideration.
changing to support this. we don't need to commit right now but I'm liking the fire support drone idea.

>>4367837
yeah, a reloading facility on board one of our ships would be a great asset.
we should speak with our barrister when we get to port and figure out how feasible it is, legally speaking.
i'm thinking the planet is going to be more of a long-term investment. if we try to start colonization before the derelict is reliably paying out, we could be bled dry... but yeah, maybe the claim alone will come with some benefits.

File: Picture of the Vulcan's A(...).jpg (103 KB, 793x599)

103 KB JPG

>>4367886
>>4367834
While it would be possible to (illegally) build a crewed recoilless rifle capable of firing the 88mm shells for the Vulcan, it isn't possible to put a Vulcan on a suit of power armor, consider the relative size of the gun to a human. The Vulcan is modeled after the German 88mm FlaK 36' (pictured related. The name is a contraction for Flugabwehrkanone 36), and for all intents and purposes is simply a space-capable version of this gun. The Vulcan sits outside the hull of the ship, there is a unit built into the cannon that allows it to be aimed from inside the ship, and the mouth of the auto-loader is inside of the ship, and will carry the rounds through the hull into the vacuum, and then load the gun. You'd be able to mount it to the drone, or maybe even a powered barge, but it is too large to mount to a suit of power armor.

>>4367834
What's the CR and hit points for power armor? Remind me how CR and hit points work again?
The exact CR and hit points will depend on the power armor itself. I had a post or two on the previous thread about this stuff, give me a minute, and I will port it over. As for CR and hit points; space is an extremely dangerous medium, and relatively little damage is capable of being fatal. To reflect this, there are CR, critical rolls. When the damage output of an attack is high enough, (at or above the CR value) the enemy is just destroyed outright, regardless of how many hit points they have remaining. Rolls that are close to the CR, but still under it can 'cripple' a target, which means that enough damage has been done to impair the operation of the target, as well as lower the CR, as it has been weakened.

>>4367837
You are on to something there. Once your preliminary claim has been established, you will find yourself approached by industrial or commercial interests. They will all be interested in learning about this new planet (and the opportunities for them that it might bring) but these connections will prove invaluable in future efforts to legally produce your own weapons, and for that matter, in finalizing your claim and developing the planet.

>>4367898
As indicated above, the preliminary claim will bring opportunity. The finalized claim will bring the tangible benefits. Also, good instinct about not overreaching. I'm not going to run interference for you guys. If you bite of more than you can chew, you'll choke, and potentially die.

Considering that the Vulcan on the powered armor isn't an option, I will reopen voting on this question.
>Thank him for the input.

>Thank him for the input and say that you will take his words into consideration.

>Thank him for the input, but say that you can not promise more or heavier armaments.

>Thank him for the input, and commit to earmarking one of the ‘Lucid’ Drones as infantry support for expeditions inside the hull

Also, if you wanted to go the weapons on barges route, you can, just know that the barges have 1 slot, CR 5 and can take a grand total of 2 hits, in their current state still working on how much fuel they should have to be balanced. You can link two barges together (to have a Vulcan and an attached auto loader), and the barges can magnetically anchor themselves to metal surfaces (if you can find any) so they don't suffer the undampened malus when firing.

Convoys of crewmen with riflemen mixed in, and several barges, some with consumables some with equipment and others with weapons, lead by a dedicated combat craft, like the attack shuttle would be a well rounded and secure means of operating in the hull in relative safety. If someone wants to, they can roll >1d6+2 to determine how many barges the fleet has on hand.

>>4367970

>Thank him for the input, and commit to earmarking one of the ‘Lucid’ Drones as infantry support for expeditions inside the hull

>>4367970

>Thank him for the input, and commit to earmarking one of the ‘Lucid’ Drones as infantry support for expeditions inside the hull

If I wasn't clear, if you already voted, you can vote again, considering that your position may have changed, considering this new information.

Also, someone can roll 1d6+2 to determine how many powered barges there are in the fleet.

Rolled 4 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

>>4367991

>>4368136
>>4368134
>>4368086
Alright, there are 6 barges across the fleet. With two votes, I don't think there is going to be enough to overcome that majority in another hour or so, so I will call it now.

>>4368145
>While it would be possible to (illegally) build a crewed recoilless rifle capable of firing the 88mm shells for the Vulcan
So The issue is a stable enough platform or means to fire it with a crew. Maybe a modified Vulcan with a some computers, stabilizers, and thrusters slapped on it so it can be sorta categorized as a "Manually" controlled drone. It just so happens that the drone is mostly gun. A 88mm Vulcan Vacflack Cannon, at least when mounted onto a drone costs 4000dT assuming the cost of labor is also factored into that, which I hope is the case, because if it was it would be almost cheaper to do the bare minimum drone modding to it.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /16:14 Hours

You spend nearly a full minute mulling it over silently. While outfitting a drone would be a significant expense, it could ensure that expeditions could safely move more equipment further into the hull. Additionally, if it were not designed to be operating outside in the vacuum, facing off against suicide rushes (and possibly enemy fire) it would not need the most expensive armors. You will settle on the exact load out later, but for now, you will consider one of the ‘Lucid’ Drones earmarked for an infantry support role inside of the vessel, as well as looking for additional equipment and weapons to outfit riflemen. You say as much to the three men present, to the visible relief of the professional (and shy) rifleman. You thank them for their time, and dismiss them, leaving you alone in the conference room. Well, you suppose that you have the remains of ‘Slave-1’ for company. There is still so much that needs to be done.

>You could continue to pick at 'Slave-1', and hopefully have a better time of it.

>You could speak to the Quartermaster and the Fleet’s Clerk about creating a separate core of riflemen.

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You could try to think up new avenues to investigate the Clean Sweep Debacle.

>You could reminiscence about your youth over your favorite dinner

>You could contact Engineering and explain the issues that you are having with raising the Clean Sweep, to see if there is a solution that they have.

>>4368207
>You could speak to the Quartermaster and the Fleet’s Clerk about creating a separate core of riflemen.

>>4368149

Oh, remember. There are other types of drones; barges are the absolute cheapest, but there are others between the barges and a drone that is equivalent to 'Lucid' Drone that we have on hand.

>>4368216
Alright, that is one vote. I'm going to take a break to cook an early dinner, and if there isn't anything else when I get back, I'll run it. If there is a tie, I will roll for it.

>>4368207
>You could speak to the Quartermaster and the Fleet’s Clerk about creating a separate core of riflemen.

>>4368207
but more importantly are the riflemen cute
>You could speak to the Quartermaster and the Fleet’s Clerk about creating a separate core of riflemen.

>>4368222
I was unaware that a barge was a kind of drone. What sets it apart from the lucid's? They have to be piloted as a requirement? Are they of roughly the same dimensions?

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /16:14 Hours

You page both the Quartermaster and the Fleet’s Clerk to discuss the formation of a rifleman core, separate from your crewman core. Quimbix is eating dinner, and the Fleet’s Clerk is working on the preliminary paperwork for the insurance claim. Both of them will be ready to meet soon, just not right now. You can pick another quick option to bide your time until both are ready to meet with you.

>You could continue to pick at 'Slave-1', and hopefully have a better time of it.

>You could try to think up new avenues to investigate the Clean Sweep Debacle.

>You could reminiscence about your youth over your favorite dinner

Sorry to do this, but I don't have the time that I'd thought I'd have right now to do a longer post, especially with conversation (which always takes longer for me). I'd rather give you guys something than simply duck out for hours on end. The vote for discussion over creating the rifleman core is still good, I'm just postponing it for now. I'm still going to be running tonight, I just don't have the static blocks of time to sit down and work on a post for an hour or more.

>>4368485
>You could reminiscence about your youth over your favorite dinner
let's get to know our protagonist a little better

>>4368555
I'll close voting for this in about half an hour. Ties will be rolled for, so feel free to vote for something else if you feel so inclined.

>>4368555
sure +1

>>4368641
>>4368555
Sorry for the delays, consider this vote closed. I'll get to writing.

>>4368555
This

>>4368773
What are barges?

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /16:34 Hours

With a bit of time on your hands for dinner, you directly page the kitchens (as your Concierge is still presumably in the relay capsule, trying to raise the Clean Sweep) and order your longtime favorite meal since childhood for dinner; gyros. While the ones from the kitchens here in the fleet are made of much lower grade meat, or occasionally, synthetic MeAT-E, as opposed to the much higher quality cuts that were used in your youth, the difference was not particularly noticeable. The most noticeable difference between the childhood favorite, and the your kitchen’s current take on the dish, is that due to material and space constraints, the meal that you ordered was made with pita bread, which was what the wrap of a gyro was typically, as opposed to the lavash bread that you had growing up.

While you would never say as much to your family, you found that you actually preferred the thicker, doughier texture of the pita to the thinner lavash. And it was superior ‘structurally’ (an admittedly strange word to describe food). The pita held the warmth, the sauce and juice together much better than lavash, not to mention the entire wrap itself. The only thing that was not up to par with your cook’s version of the dish was the Tzatziki sauce, the kitchen couldn’t seem to get it right, though you supposed that was because they were using alternatives to yogurt and olive oil. Ah, olive oil.

What made the meal memorable in your childhood was that, considering that it was a light wrap, it was for more informal, ‘picnic’ style meals, either on family trips or sometimes, when Father wasn’t home to insist that everyone eat in the Hall, just under an olive tree in the terraced orchard that overlooked the family Estate. When your mentor would hear you talk about your youth, he’d laugh and joke about how he was surprised that you didn’t manage to choke, being born with such a silver spoon so far back into your mouth. He didn’t know the half of it at the time, and it took a while for you to open up further and explain to the man how right he was.

Your family had been among the first wave of settlers to this particular galaxy, and unlike many of the other new arrivals, came over as free laborers and specialists, as opposed to indentured laborers (seemingly as close to de facto slaves then as they are now). Because they had the freedom to seek their own opportunity, they were able to move around and seize upon them as they came up, unlike the rest of the arrivals, who were bound to a company and kept in one portion of one planet. As could be expected, they did extremely well for themselves, and became a prominent family in the first generation of human settlement in this galaxy. The next generations managed to further expand the wealth of the family.

>>4368995

Typical of newly wealthy families, yours hired a genealogist to create a family history, and hopefully find some connection to some movers and shakers of yesteryear, back on Old Earth. Many of these genealogists would on occasion, stretch the truth a bit to create an impressive family lineage, linking back to historical or even semi-mythical figures; a similarly wealth childhood friend belong to a family that claimed to be descendants of King Arthur. Yours was a slightly more believable claim, that family were direct descendants of the Artaxiad dynasty, the last family to hereditarily rule Armenia, about 2000 years ago. You mean, you were at least Caucasian, but you do not see that much typical Armenian in your appearance. The nose, maybe.

While most families have the sense to recognize these self-aggrandizing family histories for what they were, something worth keeping around in a family library, to show the next generation where they come from (or at least, where they can say they came from), your family took a much more extreme position. Since the report came out, generations of your family had been presenting themselves as if they were scions of Armenian royalty; eating only Armenian food, or Armenian takes of more common dishes (hence the lavash instead of the typical and objectively superior pita), choosing baby names from lists of Artaxiad royalty (which is why you and several living, as well as about a half-dozen deceased, family members are all named Tigranes), the list just goes on. Most people do not even know anything about Armenia, let alone Old Earth. Your family could have said that they come from the line of kings that ruled Antarctica, and most people would be equally impressed, because most people do not know much of anything about Old Earth’s history, and ultimately, they really do not care about it that much either.

That did not stop your family though. In fact, they-

There is a knock on the door to the requisitioned conference room; a porter from the kitchen has brought you your meal. You thank the man, and clear off a portion of the conference table to allow him to set it. Once done, the man gives you a number to page him by, so he can pick up the dishes, to let your Concierge continue to work on raising the Clean Sweep. You thank the man, and as he departs, you decide to stop reflecting on the more frustrating aspects of your family life and history. As you eat the gyro, all you let yourself think of as the informal dinners in the olive orchard; sitting in the shade of an olive tree, feeling the breeze, watching clouds pass over the valley. This reflection is a nice change of pace from all of the stress associated with this wreck. Its been years, but it would be nice to go back, for a visit sometime. After you’ve salvaged out this Derelict, and they planet has been formally claimed…

>>4368998
Theres an idea. Create a little piece of home on the planet if we live long enough to settle it and the Derelict.

Nuts, dropped the name.

>>4368988
>>4368311
Barges are very, very basic drones. They are manually operated. The smallest ones, the ones that we are talking about here, are square platforms, that are about 1/2 of the length of a 'Mad' Drone (or 'Foreman', remember, they are equivalently sized). They are incredibly fragile, and the basic models that you have don't have dampeners strong enough to counteract kinetic weapons recoil. They also don't have the power-trains that the 'Mad' Drones have, they are relatively slow moving, and will not be able to outrun anything. The models that you have on hand have 1 slot, CR 5 and 2 hit points. I am still working on balancing out how much they should cost, as well as how much fuel they should carry. There will be several models for sale when we get into port.

As an additional piece of information for reference, the fleet's salvage rig, Old Ironsides, was a larger barge that had all the necessary parts grafted onto the hull to turn it into a jump-capable vessel; if players wanted to build out the fleet with some more 'specialist' ships, this would be a cheaper way to do it then buying a proper hull. Though it should go without saying, that if you buy a barge, your are paying for a barge; that is to say, not that much. So don't expect much out of ships that are made out of barges either.

Time really got away from me tonight guys, I'm sorry. I'll go to bed, and then when I get up and am ready to continue, I'll start with the Quartermaster and the Fleet's Clerk discussing forming a rifleman core.

I'm back. I'll get to writing the next scene, the meeting of our character with the Quartermaster and the Fleet's Clerk about the formation of a rifleman core for the fleet.

>>4369792

Based and gyros pilled

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /16:51 Hours

By the time you have finished the fourth and final gyro, both the Quartermaster and the Fleet’s Clerk are available to meet with you. You page for the porter to come and get the dishes, then page for both officers to come in. The Quartermaster, Quimbix arrives first and looking at the remains of ‘Slave-1’, asks how your ‘autopsy’ is going. You admit that you had not made significant headway, considering all the other issues and tasks you have been juggling today. But you make a point to say that some progress has been made, and you think you have found a trick to getting them opened in one piece (a reference to the +1 bonus to disassembly that you unlocked for all ‘Slave’ drone ‘autopsies’).

The porter arrives next, to collect your dinner dish. You thank him one last time, and then send him on his way. He seems to take his new duties seriously, but all the same, you would prefer to have your Concierge back, as it would mean that the Clean Sweep has been raised. Quimbix makes small talk by asking about your dinner; while you answer him honestly, you omit that gyros are your childhood favorite. It is not that it is privileged information or anything, but you do not feel comfortable appearing so sentimental. One of the lessons you learned from your mentor is that in leadership, it is better to be respected than liked, and sentimentality is readily likable. In the end, Men will like equals, and respect superiors; this was the basic arithmetic of command that the Vulture taught you.

Finally, the Fleet’s Clerk enters the room, carrying an alpha-tablet with him. As you have already explained the premise of this meeting, the Fleet’s Clerk begins by clicking through the tablet, until he gets to whatever readout he is looking for. Once he settles on it, he begins the conversation. “Until we better understand what the Derelict is still capable of, it will presumably be safer to explore and pick over the damaged or otherwise compromised areas inside the ship, as opposed to just proceeding with typical ship-breaking. So, creating a dedicated core of combat focused crewmen, riflemen, makes sense. The question here, is how many do we want, and how much exactly do we focus on them?”

>>4370077

You interject here, and explain your promises to the shy rifleman, about loading out a drone to infantry support, and ensure that any expeditions are equipped. Quimbix looks pleased that at least part of his earlier suggestion was acted on, but the Fleet’s Clerk looks frustrated. There is not any procedure or protocol in place for the formation (and outfitting) of a new personnel core in the fleet, though it seems that the Fleet’s Clerk does not appreciate being left out of the loop like this. You will concede, to yourself at least, that he probably should have been consulted before anything was earmarked or otherwise promised, but you were put on the spot. Not doing a particularly good job of hiding the sound of frustration in his voice, he asks what exactly was promised, so he can understand the current situation here.

You elaborate on the promises to be best of your ability, though admittedly they were vague in the first place. The rifleman believed that there were a dozen recoilless rifles, and he believed all of them would not be enough to reliably deal with the hostile drones that may be lurking in the Derelict. When you promised that an expedition would be suitably outfitted, you are not entirely sure what he thought suitably outfitted meant. For that matter, you aren't sure what you think suitably outfitted means. Quimbix suggests that if the drone is outfitted for infantry support inside the Derelict, the current number of recoilless rifles may be sufficient, but concedes that more would be better. The Fleet's Clerk is more concerned about the suits that would need to be modified or purchased for a combat role. No one at the table has suggested illegally manufacturing the rifles, though all three of you are acutely aware that it is an option if it comes to that, and you know that both you and the clerk have separately thought of picking over the bodies, which as distasteful as it may be to some, could provide a cheaper alternative to outfitting a new core with suits, though you can't imagine that they'd be thrilled with wearing rebuilt gear like that.

There is a bit of back and forth on the optimal size of the core, if they should be stationed entirely in one ship (probably the Aethereal Vulture) or spread out, and if being designated as a combatant would require contract renegotiations. On this last point, Quimbix is of the opinion that it would, though the Fleet’s Clerk, who is more familiar with legal proceedings believes that it the contracts are ambiguous enough that you could weasel out of it. He also makes a point that most of the crewmen are functionally illiterate and are unlikely to know that they might be entitled to anything more than you give them. The discussion here covers many topics, but no decisions are being reached. After the better part of an hour, the Fleet’s Clerk tries a new tact.

>>4370099

“Instead of making all these decisions at once, let’s do them one at a time. First, do you want to hire new men on, or do you want to redesignate some of the crewmen we already have as riflemen? Hiring new men on will mean hiring bonuses that need to be paid out, and they'll probably want more than the current crewman shares of the take. On the other hand, if we aren't willing to bring in fresh bodies, then we will reach the limit of the number of riflemen that we can field at a time sooner; as we only have so many redundant crewmen around. How we are gonna get 'em will decide the number that we can have, so this decision comes first."

>Bring on those fresh bodies (+3dT hiring bonus, and 3 shares of of the haul* for each new rifleman, limit 41, and can deploy up to 41 at a time)

>Keep it all entirely in house (no additional costs, limit 20 riflemen, can deploy up to 15 at a time)

>Hire some, and then reorganize the rest (+3dT hiring bonus, and 3 shares of of the haul* for each new hire, leads into second vote to determine payment for existing crewmen)

>>4370155
>and 3 shares of of the haul*
Wuzzat mean

>>4370160
So, no one is paid a regular salary, instead they are paid a hiring bonus; 1dT for Crewmen, 3 dT for Engineers (and hypothetically, riflemen) and 10dT for Officers. They are also entitled to a piece of the action. From the period that the contract (and the expedition) starts to the time it ends, there is a running total of the net take. Per the company charter, the split of this net take is 70% goes back into the business (available for you to spend with no strings attached), 15% goes to the owners (you are entitled to a portion of this portion, as you are an Owner-Operator), and 15% to the men on the expedition. The 15% that goes to the men is divided up into equal shares. With the death of Droustein, there are 140 men in the expedition: 89 crewmen, 30 engineers, 20 officers and yourself. Each crewman is entitled to a single share, the engineers are entitled to 3 and the officers are entitled to 10. You are entitled to 70 shares.

So, (89*1) + (30*3) + (20*10) + (1*70) = 449 total shares of the 15% of the net take. So, if the total net take was 3000dT, then that would mean that the 15% share that goes to the men would be 450dT. 450/449 is approximately 1, so each share would pay out 1dT. A crewman would therefore receive 1dT, an engineer would receive 3dT, an officer would receive 10dT, and you would get 70dT (personal funds). Additionally, you own 17% of the company, which entitles you to 17% of the owners pay out as well; 450 * 0.17 = 76dT. Now, if there were 40 riflemen in the company, that would change everyone’s pay out; which is why simply throwing men at something isn’t the most viable option. (89*1) + (30*3) + (40*3) + (20*10) + (1*70) = 569 total shares of the 15% of the net take that belongs to the men. Of the same 3000dT haul, you are still going to pay out 450dT, but everyone is going to get less. A Crewman gets 0.8dT, an Engineer or a Rifleman would get 2.4dT, an officer would get 7.9dT, and you would get 55.3dT. You would still get the same 76dT from your shares of the company. You can use your money to buy things for the company (how selfless! especially considering you aren't going to get paid back), spend it on yourself, or attempt to buy more shares of the company.

>>4370229
>>4370229
It is complicated to be sure, but you can save money over paying a standard weekly salary. Additionally, pirates, rougher privateers and freebooters historically used similar payment schemes for their crews, as they were never certain when they would be back in port, or what kind of take the outing would bring. It is also worth noting, that in then end, all you really need to concern yourself with is the 70% of the net, everything else I will calculate for.

As one final note on this, you have two ways to pay out the portions for the owners and the crew. You can either split the money as you make it, or you can split it at the end. Both have advantages and potential complications. Splitting it as you make it means that you are never going to run into an issue where you owe your men money that you can’t immediately pay them, but you will only ever have 70% of the net profit of whatever you sell. Splitting it at the end of the contract period means that you can access 100% of the net profit of whatever you sell, but there might be grumblings (though there is no need to worry about those for the immediate future, as you have already promised a bonus which should last the men at least two or three trips to port) and you could find yourself owing your crew money at some point, which if you couldn’t reconcile could potentially lead to mutinous behavior. Or if you owed the other owners money, they'd probably try to have you removed; depending on which owner is the one that is dealing with you on behalf of the others, being 'removed' could range from being fired, to being sued, to being arrested or to being assassinated. It is a gamble, really. At the end of the contract period, are you going to have enough money to cover your responsibilities to the other owners and the crew?

>>4370236
>Hire some, and then reorganize the rest (+3dT hiring bonus, and 3 shares of of the haul* for each new hire, leads into second vote to determine payment for existing crewmen)
Then only hire on about ten more. Infantry rifles are exceptionally expensive and rare, so if we dont have enough guns and drones to be manned for each rifleman, then theres not much of a point to get too many of them.
What do our two officers think?

>>4370261
Hiring is kind of an important decision, so I'll let this sit while I get dinner. If there are no other posts against hiring on 10 riflemen and asking our officers for further input, I'll close it when I get back. If anyone else votes for anything else, then I will be more than willing to let this sit a bit so there can be discussion. It has been 5 days since the thread went up, it isn't bumping anymore, so I'm going to start letting things sit just a bit longer, if possible.

Remember, you can send in additional crewmen to support the convoy too, so you aren't limiting yourself to expeditions of 10.

>>4370155
>>Keep it all entirely in house (no additional costs, limit 20 riflemen, can deploy up to 15 at a time)
WE dont even have enough rifles, and ammo is not cheap

>>4370334
People can get hurt from expeditions if they're not outright killed, so it takes time for people to recover = less number of total riflemen that are able until the injured men have fully recovered.

>>4370345
Unless told otherwise, I am going to interpret this a yes vote for the outside hiring of 10 riflemen.

>>4370345 Hire 10 (?)
>>4370334 Don't Hire Any (?)
>>4370261 Hire 10

Alright, consider this part of the vote closed. Give me a couple minutes.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer's Conference Room /18:23 Hours

“We should hire outside of the company; while there will be an upfront cost, and these new hires will command additional shares, there are not enough redundant crewman available for us to viably reorganize a new core out of ‘thin air’. How does ten to start with sound?” Both of your officers agree; Quimbix looks enthused about the prospect of further expeditions, but the clerk, recovering from his earlier frustration at being kept out of the loop, is a harder read. He makes several notations in his alpha-tablet before he looks up and speaks. “Alright, ten is a good start. With that few, there is no need to spread them out across the fleet, they can be berthed comfortably on the Aethereal Vulture. Well, that leaves one question; who should have command of the Riflemen?”

>Hexdricks has proven himself, and as he already is an Officer.
>The shy but diligent rifleman seems like a strong choice.
>Let the new hires elect a leader from themselves.
>Look for a professional soldier in port to lead; if we can’t find one, revisit this vote.

>>4370561
>Hexdricks has proven himself, and as he already is an Officer.
The shy guys is competent, but competence doesn't always equate to a leader.

>>4370561
>Hexdricks has proven himself, and as he already is an Officer.

>>4370636
>>4370687
Alright, closing that vote. I'll be leaving the next vote up overnight...

Well, so much for an overnight vote; I would have sworn I posted it. I'll get it up when I can.

>>4371975
gib hot man ass

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer’s Conference Room /18:24 Hours

Hexdricks, you will go with Hexdricks here. The man is already an officer, so he has demonstrated that he has the ability to lead. More important than leadership skills, however, is the willingness to think, to operate independently in the framework provided by a superior’s orders or a mission’s stated objective, and the competency to see that independent thought executed successfully and safely. With the ambush of the ‘Foreman’ Drone, you are comfortable in saying that Hexdricks has both. He does not possess either of these traits to excess, however. Mind you, he made several calls to the bridge during the first part of the expedition asking for further input. But both of these traits; independent thinking and general competence are demonstrably present in the man enough that designating him as the head of the new core strikes you as the best option.

The other options you had thought of, all had some merit as well, but they all either raised enough concerns or brought enough complications that Hexdricks became the most attractive candidate for leadership here. You convey this to the two of your officers present here. Unlike the last time, both are noticeably pleased by your choice, it seems that Hexdricks is well liked across the officer core. With that final decision complete, for the first time in the history of the company, there is a dedicated combatant core; the Fleet’s Clerk is tapping away at his alpha-tablet, your Quartermaster is smiling while looking on.

At this moment, you think back to a fleetwide broadcast you made a little more than a day ago now; the one that you emphasized the fleet’s fighting ability. One line is sticking out to you; “By trade, we are scavengers, not predators. We might not be used to fighting for our 'food', but that does not mean we cannot.” The part about the trade of scavengers, as opposed to the trade of predators is what is giving you pause. Aggrandizing speeches aside, you are not in the business of fighting for your ‘food’, generally, it does not provide the return on investment that scavenging does, to say nothing of the relative safety of scavenging over ‘predation’. The only reason that you are committing to fighting like this is because before you, in the form of the Derelict lies a mass of potential wealth, wealth that may only be actualized by fighting for it.

>>4372467
But, if that potential wealth cannot be materialized, then you are treading a dangerous, easily fatal path for nothing. Men dying from scavenging in decivilized space is a possibility. Men dying from fighting is practically guaranteed, especially in decivilized space. And this is a fight; why, you might as well be pirates or freebooters for all the fighting that is in your future. You are committing to a course of action, where to ‘eat’, you must fight. And if you are to fight, then men will die; it will no longer be a question of if, but when, and how many.

You are going through with this new course of action, but to say that you are undaunted would be a lie.

Both of your officers are looking at you now; they must be waiting for you to dismiss them. Everything that needs to be said about the rifleman has already been said, hasn’t it? Well, everything except the question of how to vet the new hires, to make sure that you aren’t precipitating more sabotage. That could be addressed now or later, with Quimbix. Or you could bring in the Fleet’s Clerk into your circle and ask him for ideas here.

>Dismiss the two officers, and discuss with the Quartermaster about vetting later.
>Dismiss the Fleet’s Clerk, and discuss with the Quartermaster about vetting now.
>Keep both here, and bring the Fleet’s Clerk up to speed about the situation on the Clean Sweep.

Hey guys, sorry for going radio silent like that. I'm working from home still, and I wasn't able to take breaks like I normally do write updates. The good news is that pushed through a glut of work, so I should be able to go back to the updates throughout the day model like I have been. Thanks for your patience, if something like this comes up again, I'll promise to do a better job of communicating it.

>>4372475
>Keep both here, and bring the Fleet’s Clerk up to speed about the situation on the Clean Sweep.
I think we should withhold from hiring people for the day, and spend the first day at port investigating the Clean Sweep and all involved. If we find our suspects then that'll make it easier to figure this whole thing out.
Actually we should delay shoreleave for a little while. We we dock we'll tell the Clean Sweep and the rest of the fleet to not disembark until we're done, and to monitor anyone trying to use the radios and other such communication terminals.

>>4372475
>Keep both here, and bring the Fleet’s Clerk up to speed about the situation on the Clean Sweep.
no problem OP, desu I'm just worried that the quest is gonna die though qm burnout with the level of detail you put into everything

>>4372835
was supposed to be desu but fuck it I'm Japanese now

>>4372842
this is some fuckery
desu
Desu

>>4372843
S e n p a i
4chan is weird. It auto turns s e n p a I into desu.

>>4372852
Worldfilters, son. From short of family, to short of to be honest, and spanish me - strange magics have taken hold to distort that shit. Tbh senpai onions.

>>4372475
>Keep both here, and bring the Fleet’s Clerk up to speed about the situation on the Clean Sweep.
>>4372817
i believe we can go aboard as soon as we drop out of hyperspace. i think we should do so (with armed escort) as soon as possible, and aim to apprehend the culprits before we arrive at scrimshander, thus depriving them of potential reinforcement.

>>4372817
>>4372835
With two votes, closing for bringing both up to speed.

>>4373188
Yes, once you leave hyperspace, you can operate comms and broadcast normally, as well as send an armed party over to the trawler. But who are the culprits?

>>4373190
>But who are the culprits?
1. cui bono?
1a. could this be connected to our illegal loan using the same ship as collateral?
2. if Jobbs isn't lying, Droustien is a confirmed member of the conspiracy. do we know anything about the man? loyalties, associations, etc...
2a. ditto Jobbs, we can't rule him out and the tears could be an act
3. the author of the fake manual is a confirmed conspirator.
3a. whoever did it is literate and knows the workings of the pylon control system well enough to exploit two obscure bugs. this should eliminate most crew and maybe some engineers and officers?
3b. does the printer have a log we can check?

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer’s Conference Room /18:25 Hours

After several moments of thought, you decide that this is the best time to get Chaucer, the Fleet’s Clerk on board with what is going on here. You stand, but as they rise, you ask them to remain sitting. You head to the door and close it and lock it. You pressurize the seal of the door and lean in to put your ear to the door to confirm that all you can hear is the sounds of the system cycling. You have not spent that much time with your Fleet’s Clerk, but you feel that he is normally fairly guarded. Guarded perhaps, but not impregnatable; he looks noticeably alarmed and confused by this sudden development. Quimbix, who has presumably figured out what is going on is just waiting for you to start. You explain the debacle on the trawler was not an accident, but an act of sabotage. You explain about the counterfeit manual, with the wrong instructions that had been swapped out, and the evidence that you had from your interrupted call with the Clean Sweep that the original manual was in place again. The situation in the infirmary, where the injured are is explained; Jobbs claims that there was already an attempt on his life. At this point, Quimbix comes in, and explains that with the information and evidence that we have is not enough to clear or condemn Jobbs, or anyone else.

While it might seem like stating the obvious, you make a point of mentioning how this complicates the hiring process. As Quimbix starts spit-balling ideas about how to vet the new hires, a thought that you hadn’t had before occurs to you; the same ship that you used as collateral in the loan you used to outfit this expedition was targeted in a deliberate, premeditated act of sabotage. You do not know what would happen if to the loan off of the top of your head, if half of the collateral was destroyed or rendered useless, but you can’t imagine that whatever would happen would be to your benefit.

You return your attention to the conversation. Chaucer, who as the Fleet’s Clerk is responsible for hiring new contracts is explaining practical issues with Quimbix’s ideas for vetting. Getting a unified work history for new hires, particularly crewmen, is much more difficult than your Quartermaster believed. The sticking point here is the cost of hyperspace communications; checking up on references is an expensive and time consuming endeavor; and after all of the effort, there is no guarantee that even if the reference is genuine you will be able to find and confirm indenture; if the fleet is out of their port or if they have gone out of business.

>>4373646
And that does not take into consideration if whoever was organizing this managed to fabricate work history. Or for that matter, if they managed to convince someone with genuine history to work for them. You are talking about arming these men, putting them in charge of thousands of double-talents worth of equipment and pinning the success of this operation on them. It is in this moment of despair that you remember what Quimbix mentioned in your earlier discussion about Jobbs; you have a supply of Quarcan, the new model synthetic opiate. In higher dosages, it can act as a truth serum, though afterwards they would almost certainly be addicted.

But would that be a bad thing? So long as you were able to supply them regularly enough with the drug to keep them ‘level’, they would not lose any combat effectiveness. Plus, you would have a great way of controlling a potentially dangerous core of men. And it is not unheard of either, pirates and freebooters use drugs like this as a means to keep fleets together. The flagship will be ‘clean’ or at least, free from the harder more addictive drugs, while the rest of the fleet is doped up, dependent on the captain’s stockpile to keep them ‘level’. It was common enough practice that there was even an officer position for the trusted individual who disperses the drugs, called a Narcomaster, typical of equal rank to the Quartermaster.

While it was common on pirate fleets, and not unheard of on legitimate fleets, it might rub some of your men the wrong way. With a bit of luck, you would be able to justify it to them, and avoid any penalties to morale. But even if you were not, wouldn’t it be worth it?

>Hire as you would normally, but try to get men that you can locally vet. (No changes)

>Deep dive into each of the potential new hire's background; (Begins Vetted Guns Storyline, +1dt to the hiring bonus per hire to reflect increased cost)

>If drastic measures are not warranted here, then when would they be? (Begins Drugged Guns Storyline; carries one time chance to decrease morale by 1 across fleet)

>>4373658
>Deep dive into each of the potential new hire's background; (Begins Vetted Guns Storyline, +1dt to the hiring bonus per hire to reflect increased cost)

>>4373658
would it be a bad idea to hire a comfort pet for each fleet? A cat, dog, bird, snake? Would they boost morale.

>>4373683
I am assuming you mean each ship in the fleet? Yeah, that could be something to look into. However, there is a complication; Your port, Old Scrimshander is a cluster of space stations above a cyrovolcanic world with no traces of life however, so you wouldn't just be able to swoop in and find animals to adopt. On the frontier, on planets that can't support life, or in space stations generally, non-livestock animals are considered luxuries, and are priced accordingly.

>>4373658
>>Deep dive into each of the potential new hire's background; (Begins Vetted Guns Storyline, +1dt to the hiring bonus per hire to reflect increased cost)

>>4373690
how common are space rats and pests? Rats are pretty smart and if domesticate make for decent pets.

>>4373690
>non-livestock animals are considered luxuries
I got it! What about pet chickens or dogs or similar? chickens or whatever kind of egg laying mammals are stables to live stock, and space communist china probably has dog on the menu. So chickens, ducks, or livestock similar to dogs could work. Oh and rats.

>>4373658
>Deep dive into each of the potential new hire's background; (Begins Vetted Guns Storyline, +1dt to the hiring bonus per hire to reflect increased cost)
>>4373683
yeah a ship's cat (or cat-like creature) for luck
we have also just discovered an apparently earthlike planet, which might have cute animals on it (or angry venomous ones)

>>4373775
>>4373694
>>4373673
With three votes, polls closed for this one. Writing now.
>>4373708
>>4373775
I haven't flushed stuff like that out; but I could definitely see some alternatives to shelling out pet prices for animal friends.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer’s Conference Room /18:46 Hours

No, things are not so hopeless to abuse Quarcan like that; it should be and will remain the proverbial ‘nuclear option’ if things go entirely off the rails. And even then, in this (hopefully) hypothetical doomsday scenario, you are not entirely sure if you would be able to bring yourself to use it like that, on presumably innocent people, just as a way to clear them. But if you caught someone red-handed; then that would be an entirely different discussion entirely, wouldn’t it?

“For the time being, let us simply focus on improving the vetting, to be as through as practical. Prioritize hiring locals, or those who were employed locally, so we can actually speak in person with colleagues.” You focus on Chaucer, the Fleet’s Clerk. “I know this is outside of your stated responsibilities, but can you consider taking the lead on this?” The man nods affirmatively. Alright, that should be everything for-

But Quimbix is already speaking. “Why I don’t understand is why this is all happening now? If this stuff started awhile after we found the Derelict, then it would make sense as some one trying to stop us from running the salvage operation. But for all of this to be happening, nearly immediately after finding the, without a return to civilized space in between for saboteurs to infiltrate or receive orders, that is what I cannot wrap my head around. We found the ship by complete accident, didn’t we?”

Ah. Not knowing about the illegal loan, Quimbix is trying to connect the sabotage to the discovery of the wreck, which as he is saying, does not make much sense. Or at the very least, it makes less sense than the idea of your loan shark setting you up for more and more debt. Quimbix, not knowing about the loan, is operating under the assumption of a ‘unified conspiracy’; where the concealment of the wreck, presumably by the Port Authority, is somehow connected to the sabotage of the Clean Sweep. With your knowledge of the loan, you had been leaning towards ‘distinct conspiracies’, where the wreck was being hidden by the Port Authority and the sabotage was done on the orders of the loan shark.

>>4373865
You don’t want the other members of your trusted circle here to head down the wrong path; on the other hand, you are not keen on spreading knowledge about the illegal loan around, even too people you explicitly trust. Though now that you think about it, maybe Quimbix has a point here. We had been out for eight days; and no sabotage (assuming that the depressurization of the external pump on the Mammon was an accident like that vessel’s commander stated in their report). On the ninth day, in the presence of the wreck, then there was blatant sabotage. And there was an opportunity too, the trawler runs those diagnostic packages every time it enters a new system, to make sure that nothing important was degloved by hyperspace. Maybe they were waiting until there was stuff in the net. Were diagnostics run at any other point when the netting was filled, or was in danger of being filled?

But none of this matters, because the ship was found by accident. Safe gravity wells (solar harbors) were picked at random and jumped too. Well, at least, you gave orders to ‘island hop’ systems randomly, looking for salvage. But is it possible that it wasn’t a random jump that lead you here? It sounds really out there but, you do not know anymore … Your thoughts trail off a bit, and you realize that both men have been looking at you patiently, waiting for instructions or to be dismissed. How much do you direct them? How much do you tell them?

>If you trust them with the saboteur, you can trust them with the loan. As far as you can tell, they are both good and honorable men; you trust them with the company’s money. You should tell them about the loan. Direct their attention towards two ‘distinct conspiracies’.

>It is not that you do not trust them, it is just that you do not need to trust them. You can direct them in the right path without spilling the proverbial beans on the illegal loan you have taken out in your name. You do not want anyone holding that over you. Direct their attention towards two ‘distinct conspiracies’.

>Quimbix might be on to something here. People really do not get this lucky, perhaps something is truly going on. Again, there isn’t any need to spill the proverbial beans on the illegal loan you have taken out in your name, because it might not be connected to the loan at all. Worst case scenario, Quimbix and Chaucer are not able to completely put everything together not knowing about the loan, and you need to take their theory either back to the drawing board, or across the finish line.

>>4373867
Oh, that last choice should also read:

>direct attention towards one 'unified conspiracy'.

>>4373865
>Or at the very least, it makes less sense than the idea of your loan shark setting you up for more and more debt.
>assuming that the depressurization of the external pump on the Mammon was an accident like that vessel’s commander stated in their report
THAT MAKES A WHOLE LOT OF SENSE! We gotta look for people related to our loan shark. Do we got a fleet list of everyone here?

>If you trust them with the saboteur, you can trust them with the loan. As far as you can tell, they are both good and honorable men; you trust them with the company’s money. You should tell them about the loan. Direct their attention towards two ‘distinct conspiracies’.
We wouldn't had need to take the loan were it not for the damage to the Mammon. We were set up for failure and we need to find that damn mole.

>>4373940

Horrryyy shit

>>4373867

>If you trust them with the saboteur, you can trust them with the loan. As far as you can tell, they are both good and honorable men; you trust them with the company’s money. You should tell them about the loan. Direct their attention towards two ‘distinct conspiracies’.

>>4373867
>It is not that you do not trust them, it is just that you do not need to trust them. You can direct them in the right path without spilling the proverbial beans on the illegal loan you have taken out in your name. You do not want anyone holding that over you. Direct their attention towards two ‘distinct conspiracies’.
>>4373940
>We wouldn't had need to take the loan were it not for the damage to the Mammon.
i think this is incorrect - the loan was taken out before the Mammon's fuel tank "malfunction"

>>4374604
>>4373940
>>4374407
I'll jump in here, >>4374604 is correct, the loan was taken out to secure funding for this expedition, before the Mammon's tank failed.

I'll leave this up for a bit, in case that information changes anyone's vote.

>>4374692
Alright, so with the additional two hours and no changes in votes, consider this particular vote closed.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer’s Conference Room /18:53 Hours

Sorry for the delay, this is a longer one. And dialog posts are always harder for me

It might be unpleasant, but you need to tell them about the loan. You have entrusted the two of them with the safety of the fleet by bringing them into your confidence like this, you can’t afford for them to be chasing moonbeams. They need to be playing with the full deck here, so (to continue with the card metaphors) you must place yours on the table. “I don’t believe that the sabotage is connected to the discovery of the wreck.” Both men are looking at you; Quimbix looks on expectantly, while Chaucer looks on blankly. “As both of you may be aware, the past three expeditions, fiscally, did not break even. What you might not be aware of is that those expeditions were completely funded with ‘Fleet’ money.”

Quimbix interjects here. “What do you mean, ‘Fleet’ money?” Before you can answer, Chaucer explains. “This fleet is not the entirety of the Company; in addition to the ships, there are small scale industrial and naval rental properties and property management concerns, as well as rental equipment and crews, elsewhere in the galaxy. The Company also has a branch that makes tooling and dies for small scale industrial use, and on top of that, the company has its own stock portfolio. All these branches, the rental division, the property management division, the manufacturing division, all of them, are headed by a Branch Operator.” At this point he gestures to you. “And our boss here is the Fleet Operator. Him and all of the other Operators are under the Board of Fiduciary-Directors, who are charged with operating the company in the best interests of the owners. Things are slightly complicated on this point, as our boss is also an owner, hence his composite title ‘Owner-Operator’ instead of the typical ‘Fleet Operator’.

“Each of the branches have different levels of independence from the board; by the nature of the work we do here, the Fleet is the most independent. While most branches send all of their net profit directly to the Board’s purse, who will then distribute the money that back to that branch, for whatever it needs to operate on a semesterly basis, the Fleet maintains a separate purse, controlled by the Fleet Operator, instead of the Board. Additionally, the board is expected, if called upon by the Fleet Operator, to put money into the Fleet’s purse to help fund expeditions, as successful expeditions would provide significant return to the owners. We are in essence a company inside of another company.

>>4375121
Chaucer turns to you now. “You said that the past three expeditions were funded entirely with the Fleet’s Purse? We got nothing from the board?” Well, you knew it was going to come to this. “No, the last five expeditions were funded with ‘Fleet’ money. One small profit, one wash, and then three busts. It seems that a voting majority on the fiduciary board have become convinced that our deep dives into decivilized space were less of an investment and more of a gamble, and so they are unwilling to fund any expeditions. They wanted us to do contracted recovery work in the interior, have us work for peanuts, so long as they were reliable peanuts!” You take a moment to breathe, to calm yourself down, but are only partially successful, your voice is still noticeably agitated when you continue. “If we went that route, I’d have to sell ships and contracts. I was there, on the ground floor when the Vulture built this fleet and this company. After he sold his remaining shares, he told me that he could sleep easy in retirement, because his ‘child’ was in my hands. I was not going to let them dismantle my mentor’s life’s work because the money it makes isn't as a reliable source of income as some fucking rental properties.

You draw yourself up in your chair to your full height and look directly at your two officers. “There was not enough money left after the fifth self-funded expedition for a sixth. Moreover, in a little over two months, the Board will meet. As there has not been any money coming in from the expeditions, and with my refusal to work in the interior as it cannot support the fleet at its current size, I may be fired.”

You said it, out loud, and to two other men, no less. The prospect still does not seem real, and after a moment of reflection, you realize that even after a year, you still had not accepted it. There was no ‘may be fired’, you would definitely be fired.

“To a certain extent, this is a deliberate torpedoing. By denying additional money for the expeditions, we were not able to operate deep enough or long enough in decivilized space to find something to turn a profit, which is enough for them to 'prove' that these expeditions are dangerous gambles. They would either force my hand when the monies ran out or force the issue at the board meeting if I didn’t comply with their ‘requests and helpful advice’. My 17% share of the company is not enough to protect me against a vote for removal. To keep the Fleet together, I needed money for a proper expedition into decivilized space, so I approached a loan shark, and used the Clean Sweep as collateral for a loan. That is how we were able to fund a proper, two-month expedition, like the kind we used to have when we had board support.

>>4375127
“And then, the same ship that I used as collateral for an illegal loan is targeted by a deliberate act of sabotage. A man is dead, another is maimed, two more injured. And I believe there is another saboteur on the trawler.” You take this moment to explain the evidence of the eavesdropper on the line with the Commander of the Clean Sweep. Both men have been exchanging looks this entire time, but it is a few moments before either of them speak. Chaucer goes first. “What would happen if the collateral that the loan was secured with was destroyed, or otherwise disappeared?” Sighing, you reply that you do not remember off the top of your head. The loan document is in your office back at port. After some additional questions, Quimbix starts off on his theory crafting.

“Do you suppose that the loan shark is working with the Board? Or that he sold the information to them?” You had not thought about that, but it seems unlikely. Chaucer puts your feelings into words. “No, that isn’t likely. I have been on hand at board meetings, with Bors and the Boss to represent the fleet. They are elevated stylus tappers, not criminals. Some of the owners themselves are bit shady, but even still you should consider this from the point of view of the loan shark. If he tells them about an illegal loan, he will almost certainly lose the chance to collect on it.” He turns to you again. “How much was the loan for?”
“12,000dT with a 5% payment each month for 3 years, with no interest. All told it will cost 21,600dT.”

Quimbix noticeably winces, but Chaucer maintains a straight face. “That is a lot. If the loan shark knew of the internal issues of the board, he would be more likely to blackmail you than sell the information to the Board. The risk of the Board refusing to bite is too high. Why would they need to shell out double-talents for dirt on you, when they are already positioned to fire you? Keep in mind, to make selling the information worthwhile, he'd need to ask for more than the loan was worth, as the Board wouldn't allow him to collect on it”.

But Quimbix is still not ready to let this point go. “You said yourself that the owners are shady, and it seems that some of them have it out for the Boss, otherwise their pet fiduciaries would not be making these moves.” It is his turn to turn to you. “You said that you used the Clean Sweep and part of your stake in the Company as collateral, right? Doesn’t that strike you as a bit strange? I grew up on a developed world in the galactic center. A real urban kind of environment. My neighborhood was lousy with hustlers, bookies and loan sharks; and time to time you’d hear about business owners getting in with them, and getting taken to the cleaners. But not once did I ever hear of a shark accepting stocks as collateral. Their whole deal is to avoid a paper trail, how can they accept payment in ‘paper’?

>>4375136
Having not grown up around such characters as Quimbix did, you had not considered that it was strange, though not missing a beat, Chaucer points out that the kind of shark who can put out 12,000dT is a bit more of a mover and a shaker than a neighborhood ‘hustler’, and that perhaps the shark has access to some manner of front or fence capable of working with the aforementioned ‘paper’. The two go back and forth for a while; but ultimately, you are going to have to chose which possibility you focus on. You interrupt the dialogue, and take a minute or two to give them all of the information you know off the top of your head about the shark. Not for the first time, you feel really out of your depth here. While the three of you are going to do what investigating you can in the remaining time in hyperspace, you will need to decide on a line of investigation into the conspiracy here.

>The loan shark is doing this by themselves (Begins Sharkbait Storyline: focuses investigation entirely onto loan shark, higher chance for investigation success, but will leave issues with the Board unresovled).

>The loan shark and the Board are in it together (Begins Chum Bucket Storyline: investigate the Board and the shark both. Lower chance for investigation success, but if you manage to implicate the Board, you might be able to blackmail your way out of termination).

>>4375136
Of course I managed to foul up the formatting. Anyway, I am going to take a break for dinner. I'll be back soon.

>>4375137
>The loan shark is doing this by themselves (Begins Sharkbait Storyline: focuses investigation entirely onto loan shark, higher chance for investigation success, but will leave issues with the Board unresovled).

Well, I will leave this up overnight. If no one else votes, then I will close it and continue.

>>4375137
>The loan shark is doing this by themselves (Begins Sharkbait Storyline: focuses investigation entirely onto loan shark, higher chance for investigation success, but will leave issues with the Board unresovled).
let's go for the quick win, clear up our operational problems and start monetizing the derelict free from distractions. with luck, this should ensure we have at least some allies on the Board.

>>4375696
How do we but shares of the company?

It seems that an issue with me leaving this up overnight is that I frequently oversleep.

Stocks of the company are either held by the owners (for now, unobtainable), or traded freely on the market. When looking to purchase shares, we will need 2 rolls of 1d2 and 2 rolls of 1d6; the first to determine how many shares are available on the open market currently.

There is a baseline of 15% of the Company being traded on the open market. The roll of 1d2 determines if the deviation is positive or negative, and the roll of 1d6 determines the value of the deviation, from 1 to 6. A roll of 1 and 3 would represent a change of -3, meaning that 12% of the company is available for sale on the open market. Due to the recent under performance of the Fleet division, the current baseline price for 1% of the company is 3250dT; though if news of the successful operation got out there, the price would almost certainly rise to a higher baseline. The rolls of the second set of 1d2 and 1d6 determine the deviation of the price from the baseline. The same roll of a 1 and 3 would represent a change of -600dT, meaning that the price for 1% of the company is trading at 2650dT. Additionally, selling shares lowers the price by 100dT and buying shares will raise the price by 100dT for every 1% that we buy in one sitting.

While our character could raise monies for the fleet by selling some of his shares, there are two issues. First, that is his money, and he gets no additional portion of the total take for spending it, meaning that he will almost certainly receive less than he puts in. Second, the privileges afforded to owners when it comes to the Board kick in once they pass the threshold of owning 15% of the Company. If he drops beneath that, he will have a much harder time of keeping the Fleet together in face of the Boards interference, so he is unwilling to drop beneath that benchmark.

I am going to take a quick walk, eat something, and prune my tiger-lilies, and then I'll get to writing!

>>4376351
Is there a way we can slightly underperform while still appeasing the board enough to keep our position within the fleet? I want to lower our stock prices so we can buy en mass. If we can keep the Derilict on the down low for a while, we should be able buy more shares before they get interested in our going ons?

>>4376351
>The loan shark is doing this by themselves (Begins Sharkbait Storyline: focuses investigation entirely onto loan shark, higher chance for investigation success, but will leave issues with the Board unresovled).
Do rubber bullets or 40mm rubber slugs exist? Some smaller smaller arms that can be used within ships might be useful one day.

>>4375137
>>The loan shark and the Board are in it together (Begins Chum Bucket Storyline: investigate the Board and the shark both. Lower chance for investigation success, but if you manage to implicate the Board, you might be able to blackmail your way out of termination).
We need to secure our position in the company .

>>4376610
Why not look for the mole in our fleet, then do the board quest? It would be easier to accomplish if the mile is caught.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer’s Conference Room/19:01 Hours

“Until we have evidence to believe otherwise, we are going to assume that the Board is not directly involved with the loan shark, or for that matter, directly involved in sabotage. Chaucer’s point about the Board not needing to take on additional risks to undermine our position is solid; all of the maneuvering they are doing is to ultimately mitigate risks by restructuring the Fleet as a rescue-recovery outfit. The level of liability they would be taking on to coordinate with the loans shark is out of line with their position against ‘high-risk, high-reward’ deals. If you consider the fact that so long as the expeditions keep busting out, they do not need any additional justification to have me removed, then it is even more unlikely that they would take on this additional risk.

“So, we will focus on the loan shark. We had no new hires for this expedition, which means that the saboteurs are either indebted to the shark, or there are stowaways, though considering the size of the fleet, that is unlikely, especially when you consider that the compliment of all of the ships in this fleet are constant, even over the course of multiple expeditions.” Chaucer interjects here. “Then we should focus on figuring out who among us has debt to your loan shark. I have two ideas on this front. First, we could wait until we are back at port, and then run a credit check on all of the men; might take some time, and there probably be a small fee involved. Or we could offer to buy the debt of the crewmembers. Some outfits will do that; they will buy debt and use it to restructure indenture’s contracts into something more advantageous to the holders. While we could conceivably do it right now, or hold off until we reach port, and if we did not follow through with it, it wouldn’t cost us anything, the issue is that it is a bit blatant. But that might be a good thing. Someone might come forward, looking for a way out. Obviously, this should be your call, Boss.

>Try making a false offer to buy debt from your men immediately. (Can be immediately acted on, whatever results it has will be relatively quick in coming, it is free, and it is blatant)
>Try making a false offer to buy debt from your men when they get to port. (Will be acted on when fleet exits Hyperspace, whatever results it has will be relatively quick in coming, it is free, and it is blatant)
>Try running a credit report on your men. (Will be acted on after fleet is docked in port, whatever results it has will be slower, costs 250dT, presumably undetectable).

>>4376695
Can we kill the loan shark? They own us a whole lot of money.

>Try making a false offer to buy debt from your men immediately. (Can be immediately acted on, whatever results it has will be relatively quick in coming, it is free, and it is blatant)

>>4376710
Yes, though it will be difficult; you've dealt exclusively with intermediaries. And no doubt the shark has made contingency plans if anything was to happen to them.

>>4376730
Well, I generally don't like closing a vote with just one "ballot" cast, especialyl for something like this, if there isn't any other votes up, I'll close this when I get up tomorrow.

>>4377204
We must kill the shark and loot the body

>>4376695
>>Try making a false offer to buy debt from your men when they get to port. (Will be acted on when fleet exits Hyperspace, whatever results it has will be relatively quick in coming, it is free, and it is blatant)
While in hyperspace it's way to dangerous.

>>4377293
Fair point. What if we do it immediately after exiting hyper space?

>>4377387
That would fall under
>Try making a false offer to buy debt from your men when they get to port. (Will be acted on when fleet exits Hyperspace, whatever results it has will be relatively quick in coming, it is free, and it is blatant)

If that is what you are looking for, then we have a 2 to 1 break, and I can get to writing the next scene.

“As far as I can figure, time is the limiting factor here. We need to get a handle on this before anything else goes wrong. Even if it might ‘telegraph’ our intentions, we have to move forward as soon as it is practical to do so. Quimbix, prioritize writing up an announcement for this little scheme; we will broadcast it as soon as we can after leaving Hyperspace. Chaucer, I want you to pull up the roster of the Clean Sweep’s compliment; at this point, everyone is a suspect on that ship. Try looking at the reports and requests that were filed from the trawler, I am not expecting anything, but maybe we will get lucky, and something will jump out at you as strange or even suspicious.

“And one final thing; whether Droustein attacked Jobbs, or Jobbs attacked Droustein, the fact remains is that these saboteurs are willing to kill, if they think they can get away with it. Considering how blatant we are being in searching for indebted crewmen, it is possible that they may target us.” This is a bit of a fib, to be honest. While it is true that they may target all three of you, your two officers are presumably in greater danger than you are now that you have roped them into this. At the end of the day, the debt was in your name, so the saboteurs presumably have explicit instructions to leave you alive.

Well, if you were orchestrating this, then that is the order you would give, and in adversarial situations like this, you always assume that your opponents are as smart or smarter than you, until you have reason to believe otherwise.

“Anyway, the point is to be on your guard. Are either of you armed?” Both of them reply that they are not, which you would expect as much. Both of them work in back-end logistics, and while they might get their hands dirty now and then, at the end of the day they are stylus squeezers. And while neither of them looks sick or deformed, they do not look particularly fit or martial either. Hmm…

>The threat to their person is minuscule, giving them a weapon is making a cave out of a weevil-hole. Not to mention, you do not want to scare them unnecessarily, it might impede how well they work.

> You have two dueling knives on your person , one for each boot. Or now, one for each confidant. It is better than nothing, and you have spares. They can keep them, and they probably will not hurt themselves. I mean, they are just knives.

>You can take a trip down to the weapons lock-up and sign out some hardware for the two them. You’ll be able to get something a bit more powerful (and significantly more ranged) than a knife, but there will be witnesses, and a paper trail, if the saboteurs had access to the requisition reports.

>You have three disintegrators; you really only need one. You’ll loan them out until you get to port, and then you will use some of your own money to buy them their own sidearms (1dT). The issue is that now you will need to worry about something happening to them and the shooters.

>>4377500
>stylus squeezers
beautiful OP
> You have two dueling knives on your person , one for each boot. Or now, one for each confidant. It is better than nothing, and you have spares. They can keep them, and they probably will not hurt themselves. I mean, they are just knives.
also OP why is our character so strapped up for a scavenger?

>>4377500
Would it be possible to do the announcement, in addition to shilling the 250dT to do the in depth background check while making sure no one leaves the fleet or opens communications?

>You have three disintegrators; you really only need one. You’ll loan them out until you get to port, and then you will use some of your own money to buy them their own sidearms (1dT). The issue is that now you will need to worry about something happening to them and the shooters.
I recall this having two modes: wall punching and flesh shredder. Which of the two is the least lethal? I'd imagine the flesh shredder if aimed at the legs?

>>4377500
>You have three disintegrators; you really only need one. You’ll loan them out until you get to port, and then you will use some of your own money to buy them their own sidearms (1dT). The issue is that now you will need to worry about something happening to them and the shooters.

>>4377715
Our character's family once was one of the wealthiest families in this galaxy, during the first generations in the Deluge, the period where there was an ample supply of strange particles that allowed for hyperspace travel between galaxies. Most of the families wealth, however, was invested in colonizing, land speculating and developing other galaxies. When the supply of strange particles petered out unexpectedly and abruptly, ending intergalactic travel, and leading to a period of violent upheavals called the Drought, most of the families wealth effectively evaporated overnight, as they found themselves permanently cut of from their investments. They were able to consolidate what resources remained to them in this galaxy, and managed to ride out Drought without getting themselves killed, or having most of their wealth requisitioned away. Ultimately, they entered the Post-Drought period as wealthier-than-average landed gentry of several of the more rustic core worlds, with a few relics to remind themselves (and others) of their historical wealth and prominence.

Their family was large, as gentry goes, and as such, they had a difficult time ensuring that what remains to them is not diluted. There is a fair deal of internal family politics that are played, and it gets violent during succession. Our character's father was the youngest of six brothers and half-brothers; to claim the head to his branch of the family, he killed them. More on this later; but the point is that the character grew up under a constant threat that something could happen to his father, and then he and his brothers and half-brothers would be at each other's throats in a minute. When he came of age, at 15, he decided that he was unwilling to play these kind of games, and abruptly left home to enter the working classes instead, to make his own way as an independent scion, much as his ancestors did upon their arrival in this galaxy. It is also worth noting that if anyone figured out who he was, he'd be a target for abduction and ransom, or potentially assassination (though for reasons I'll get into later, that is unlikely) .

>>4377974
You would be correct, though be warned that while the disintegrator will cauterize any damage that it does, by the nature of how the weapon works, death by shock is a serious risk. Make sure that you get medical attention for anyone who is hit; even at the lowest energy settings and lower penetration setting, this still is something to worry about.

I'm going to eat dinner, and if no one else votes, I'll roll for this, so we can move along.

>>4377974
Oh, sorry, I skipped over the first question. Yes, you could definitely do both. Should I consider your post as a vote for both, then?

>>4378192
Wait, no, that vote is closed. Sorry, I got confused. We can have another vote later, when the announcement goes live to do the credit check.

Man, I'm spamming my own thread here.
>>4378172 Somehow missed this one. I'll eat dinner, and then I will get working on the post.

>>4378199
If we a totally pay for some of the depts, would that increase morale?

>>4378243
Yeah, but odds are that it will get really expensive really quickly. Also, if we were to actually buy the debts, we could use them to renegotiate contracts, and reduce the shares that the indebted crewmen take, which in turn would increase your cut of the net take.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer’s Conference Room/19:05 Hours

After a moment of thought, you unholster the two disintegrators, and then unclip the holsters themselves. You reholster the shooters, and then pass on to each of the surprised officers. “If the saboteur or saboteurs have access to requisition reports, both of you signing weapons out at the same time, indefinitely, with no stated reason might raise some flags. At this point, they would have to assume that I am at least suspicious; and two of my closest officers suddenly arming themselves might draw some unwanted attention down on you. Besides, these are better than anything in the lockup, anyway.

Chaucer accepts his loaned shooter without comment but with some hesitation, but Quimbix seems much more interested. “I knew you carried, Boss, but I didn’t know you had disintegrators.” He taps the reinforced housing of the core. “This is pretty heavy, is this a second-gauge?” “It is a third, and they are ‘grades’, not ‘gauges’. Please be careful with them, they are family heirlooms. When we get to port, I’ll buy you two your own sidearms to keep, but for now, you keep those on you at all time.” Quimbix and Chaucer nod along; Quimbix looks really impressed, Chaucer is harder to read, but if you had to take a guess, you might say that your Fleet’s Clerk is not comfortable around weapons. Might be something to talk about privately, at some other point.

You spend several minutes explaining how to operate the shooters properly and reiterate safety lessons that you were taught years ago by Mother, when she first gave them to you. With the two of them with the sidearms and their instructions, you dismiss the both of them, with the reminder that talking about their assignment here will only put themselves at greater and greater risk.

Well, honestly, that went much better than you would have expected it to. You take the sheathed dueling knife out of your left boot and place it on your hip. While there is still so much that needs to be done around here, for the first time since you jumped into Hyperspace, you feel like you are finally getting a grasp on everything that needs to be done here. Yet there are still several hours left before you will need to retire to bed, and you intend on spending them productively.

>You could continue to pick at 'Slave-1', and hopefully have a better time of it.

>Alternatively, you could pack up the remains of ‘Slave-1’ and move them into your quarters for safekeeping overnight.

>You can head down to the Infirmary, to speak to Jobbs, or the other crewmen.

>You could try to think up new avenues to investigate the Clean Sweep Debacle.

>You could check in on your Concierge, and see if he has had any success at all with raising the Clean Sweep.

>You could contact Engineering and explain the issues that you are having with raising the Clean Sweep, to see if there is a solution that they have.

>>4378400
>You could try to think up new avenues to investigate the Clean Sweep Debacle.
We know for certain that some involved parties are within the Clean Sweep. Perhaps once we get the chance we can send out a drone to thoroughly examine the exterior damage to the Mammon.

>>4378400
>You could try to think up new avenues to investigate the Clean Sweep Debacle.

>>4378496
>>4378986
Alright, I'll consider this vote closed.

>Officer’s Quarters: Requisitioned Officer’s Conference Room/19:12 Hours

You spend a few minutes straightening up the remains of ‘Slave-1’, then head over to your quarters, so you can arm yourself with your remaining disintegrator. You doubt that you, or your confidants will need to use them, but you are not willing to stake your life on that doubt, or their lives either, for that matter.

>Officer’s Quarters: Owner-Operators Quarters/19:13 Hours

Having rearmed yourself, you sit your desk, and stare at the primed metal walls of your Quarters. You really need to figure out some way to get to the bottom of whatever the hell is happening with the Clean Sweep. The issue is the only thing that you still have not tried is administering Quarcan to Jobbs. You do not want to ruin the man, but at this point, as you still unable to so much as communicate with the trawler, you really cannot think of anything else to move the investigation along. Additionally, the spook on your terminated line with the commander could have been destroying evidence unchecked this whole time. Hell, they could be at it right now. If the evidence is all destroyed, then it is possible that you may never know if Jobbs is innocent or guilty at the rate you are going here.

You rack your brain for nearly twenty minutes, but you cannot think of anything else to try. If you are not going to dope Jobbs (or anyone else) then there is nothing else that you can do until the Clean Sweep can be raised on the relay again.

>It is unpleasant; but it is the only way to move forward at this time. Use Qarcan as a truth serum on Jobbs. If he is innocent, and he gets addicted, so be it. Sometimes you have to do bad things to good people for a higher cause.

>Still not happening. Instead, you will head over to Engineering instead, and explain your troubles getting the Clean Sweep on the line, without explaining why it is so important for you to do so. You doubt that they will have any miracle fixes, but they might have a solution for the future, so you don’t have to deal with this again.

>>4379160
>>Still not happening. Instead, you will head over to Engineering instead, and explain your troubles getting the Clean Sweep on the line, without explaining why it is so important for you to do so. You doubt that they will have any miracle fixes, but they might have a solution for the future, so you don’t have to deal with this again.
Fuck truth serum.

>>4379160
>Still not happening. Instead, you will head over to Engineering instead, and explain your troubles getting the Clean Sweep on the line, without explaining why it is so important for you to do so. You doubt that they will have any miracle fixes, but they might have a solution for the future, so you don’t have to deal with this again.
now if we caught the loan shark agent....

>>4379160
>It is unpleasant; but it is the only way to move forward at this time. Use Qarcan as a truth serum on Jobbs. If he is innocent, and he gets addicted, so be it. Sometimes you have to do bad things to good people for a higher cause.
We can always put in the effort to slowly wean him off the drug. Whatever it would cost to ease the addiction over time would cost significantly less than any of the efforts the senators could do if they continue unmolested.

Hey guys. What if we hail the Clean Sweep and tell them about the guy or people within the fleet trying to sabotage us?

>>4379160
>Still not happening. Instead, you will head over to Engineering instead, and explain your troubles getting the Clean Sweep on the line, without explaining why it is so important for you to do so. You doubt that they will have any miracle fixes, but they might have a solution for the future, so you don’t have to deal with this again.
>>4379366
>Hey guys. What if we hail the Clean Sweep and tell them about the guy or people within the fleet trying to sabotage us?
there are technical problems with the comms at the moment. also, doing this could warn the conspirators that we are on to them - our last call to the Clean Sweep was eavesdropped on. it would give them the chance to destroy evidence, or eliminate witnesses

>>4379160
>>Still not happening. Instead, you will head over to Engineering instead, and explain your troubles getting the Clean Sweep on the line, without explaining why it is so important for you to do so. You doubt that they will have any miracle fixes, but they might have a solution for the future, so you don’t have to deal with this again.

>>4379509
>>4379501
>>4379263
>>4379194
Still not happening

>>4379366
It is unpleasant

Well, that is a strong consensus. I'll get to writing it up.

>Officer’s Quarters: Owner-Operators Quarters/19:31 Hours

No, you still are not willing to use the ‘nuclear option’ like that, even if it means putting the investigation on hold. You have to believe that there is a better path to the truth, and as hard as it is, you will just have to wait until it appears. However, there might be things that can be done, looking to the future to prevent situations like this from happening. You will take this moment to speak with Engineering, to see if there is some way to improve communication between ships during jumps through Hyperspace.

>Engineering/19.34 Hours

For the second time today, you return to Engineering. This time, Attenborough is present, and he seems to be going over the reports with a handful of junior engineers. Besides Attenborough’s little gaggle, the department, or at least, what you can see of Engineering is empty. You do not have enough engineers for a third shift, so the department shuts down for the ‘night’. Those on the second shift are either off duty or have move to their emergency posts at critical points throughout the ship. In a lull in the conversation, your Chief Engineer spots you, and acknowledges your presence with a polite “Boss!”. He goes to wave away the junior engineers, but you insist that he finishes with them first. Partly not to disrupt the protocols and procedures of the department, and partly to ensure that these junior engineers will be dismissed. You aren’t planning on sharing anything sensitive with Attenborough, but the less that the fleet is aware of what has your attention, your focus, the better.

After the reports are concluded and the juniors dismissed, your engineering chief turns to you. “I heard that you were down here this morning, Boss. I am sorry that I missed you, but I was tied up working on that ‘Foreman’. Is that what you came for?” Well, it is not actually, but there is no reason that you should ignore a progress report directly from the mouth of your chief.

>Can I get 2 rolls of 1d20+1 for engineering’s continued research into the wreck? The first it for getting it freed, and the second is for the actual studying. You are currently at 0/? progress until ‘Foreman-1’ is free, 2/? until ‘Foreman-1’ can not be used for research anymore, and 2/? on investigation progress.

Rolled 1 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4379877

>>4379914
even if im allowed to idk if i want to roll again

>>4379918
Well, it has been long enough. If you feel up to it, you can. If not, I understand.

Rolled 1 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>4379877
nat 20

>>4380015
>>4379914
life is pain

>>4379877
>>4379914
>>4380015
I'm so fucking done with this quest I swear to moot

>>4379877
Wait a fuxking minute you chuckle fuck. What about our +1 research notes? Dont engineering get a +2 instead of a +1, for a cumulative +3?
Give rerolls you shid!

>>4380131
Pwease gib rerolls.

>>4380131
Unfortunately, those notes were for dismantling the much simpler and more conventionally designed 'Slave'-type drones, not complex and exotic 'Foreman'-type drones.

However! Upon consultation with my notes, I realized that the roll in >>4366834 of 17/20 should have provided a +1 to the 'Foreman' Research roll; and because everyone has been such good sports, I will allow that to be re-rolled.

One roll of 1d20+2 please, for the 'Foreman' Research roll

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23 KB JPG

Rolled 7 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>4380185
What about the other roll?

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224 KB GIF

>>4380199
At least it's not a 2.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>4380199
Sorry, it still stands.

>>4380458
the rolls are angry
WE need the blood of our enemies to flow to make them happy