Humanity has spread out into a massive sprawling empire throughout the galaxy. The edges of the sprawl remain poorly guarded and sparsely settled after all humanity throughout a thousand stars has always been alone. This like all things will change.2724 Gazelle system 708 days from EarthYou are Lieutenant Commander Tobias Cromwell, the captain of the aging corvette Forgone Mist. You sit in your chair staring glumly out at the inky black void next to the small mining station that was slowly churning out titanium ore from the barren planet below you. It was your opinion this posting was a waste of perfectly good men and supplies. The outer ring was desolate pirates didn't strike out here and no misguided rebel would want unprocessed titanium ore yet you were stuck here on orders of the sector admiral. The ship's XO taps you on the shoulder and hands you a steaming cup of coffee, swiping it from the man's hand you take a sip, the stale beans used to make the drink giving it a foul aftertaste far less pleasant than you hoped, you huff and lean back in your chair. You grumble at your position stuck on the ass end of human space nearly two years distant from earth on the fastest transport, with supplies that didn't last and ships that were antiquated when your grandfather was a young man. It was a single accusation of cowardice during a pirate raid that saw you bumped down two ranks and shunted off to finish your career aboard a corvette. The corvettes dual torpedo mounts and twin coil gun cannons were nothing compared to the heavy cruiser you once had captained and the battleship you were meant to captain as the crescendo of your career in the navy.1/2
>>61234992/2You take another sip of your stale drink and sigh, leaning back in the command chair with even more eyes trailing over the tiny CIC of the Forgone Mist which was only half staffed, a necessity when half of your bridge crew doubled as maintenance staff. Your eyes lock onto the young man who was working on the sensor station, a deep frown covering his face as he fiddles with various knobs on the old school monitor. “Ensign Richard, what is it?” You say not even bothering to sit up at all from where you leaned back in the chair. “Sir I think I may be detecting a jump signature coming from the outer system jump point” This makes you sit up a bit turning to look at your XO he shrugs you. “No patrols out that way right now sir” You then turn back to the ensign “Is the Station expecting a freighter today?” He taps away at the console for a moment “ Negative Sir”He turns to look at you with a worried look on his face ”Sir that's a jump point leading away from settled space; they don't have a single record of anything ever coming through.”This thread will be mostly testing and such for the mechanics of the quest with Tobias here being not too important to the overall quest and the outcomes here not affecting the quest as a whole all too much, expect mechanics to change potentially. I will note english is not my first written language so please expect syntax, grammar and the occasional spelling mistake. I am always open to write-ins and I do try to post every day.>remain stationary>move between the jump point and the station>Write in
>>6123500- Move between jump point and station - write in: on all frequencies give out the standard ‘’who is this’’ message while getting whatever cameras or sensors on the ship, and go onto yellow alert.If nothing else it’s a good excuse to brake up the monotony of boredom.
>>6123500>>6123560Supporting this.
>>6123560what ever it is hasn't quite exited jump space yet but you can attempt hailing once it does
>>6123560+1>Hail the ship once it has exited Jump Space.
>>6123576Then I change it to- Hail the ship as soon as it leaves Jump Space. Also have Med bay ready- this might be a trap- a nothing burger- a damaged vessel- keep it ambiguous if it’s a drill or not if it’s a nothing burger
>>6123499700 years and the coffee still tastes like shit.>>6123560+1, we should try communication before the shooting
>>6123647>+1Nothing ever happens.
>>6123647+1Must be some adventuring jockey getting lost on a trip.
Tapping the armrest of your chair with one hand the other still holding the cup of awful coffee you think and then act. “Helm take us to between the station and the jump point, Comms g-” Halfway through your order you embarrassingly realize your Comms officer is currently somewhere in the bowels of the ship doing maintenance “Ahem Xo take comms and prepare to hail whoever the poor bastard is coming through an unsurveyed jump point” Leaning over and flick a switch on the command console next to your chair you turn on the ships ancient PA “Medbay be prepared to possibly receive wounded and all hands to your stations” Sitting back in your chair the old engines of the ship slowly push you between the station and the jump point which is just starting to show the first signs of activation. The large swirling greenish light spilling out of a seemingly random point in space. You of course know the spot is not random even if you don't know the exact math behind it, the location having something to do about gravity and how reality bends just enough for a powerful enough energy source to pop into jump space and cheat the limit of the speed of light. The Jump point starts to open and the light that spills out is enough not only to blind your regular cameras but also the aging sensor suite of your ship. It's only after about 10 minutes and your ship arrives in front of the station the light dims and you are left with an alarming sight.The ship that has exited the jump point is odd unlike the angular blocky forms of nearly all but the most expensive of pleasure yachts of human space this ship is sleek not a single line out of place looking like an insanely large dart. You look over to your XO for an answer to already see him quickly sliding through the ship register for any fighting ship or civilian vessel that matches the ship.”XO leave the register an attempt to hail” He moves over the screen containing the comms equipment and begins to attempt to hail the vessel. While he does that you look over to the young man on the sensors “Sensors tell me what we are dealing with” The young man taps away at his suite before looking up “Approximate of light cruiser tonnage and she's got one serous power source for her size im seeing several sections of plate were energy seems to be stored possibly direct energy weapons” You lean back in your chair swallowing a bit of bile that rose in your throat fighting off panic at the realization the vessel easily out weighs yours by nearly five times.>Move in to attack>Hold position hopping to hail>retreat for the other jump point behind you>Write in
>>6123980>Hold position hopping to hailGoing up against an unknown ship 5 times our size is not a good idea, at least not with our current weapons. Anyway that doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare escape pods just in case
>>6123980>>Hold position hopping to hail
>>6123980>Hold position hopping to hailHow many people are aboard the space station?Does the space station have any defenses? Are any ships docked with the space station? Are they FTL capable? Any other planetary bodies in the vicinity we could use for cover?
>Hold position hopping to hailIf we have one, prepare a deadman message/probes/Ext to send a message to command if we are attacked;Unknown ship of unknown model, origin, and make *include tonnage, estimated power, shape, and if possible, picture* arrived.Have the same message saved to the computer to send to command via FTL communication at the press of the button
>>6123980>Hold position hoping to hail.>Use our exterior lights, or any other form of output which should be detectable by sensors of other spacefaring vessels, to signal simple morse code.If in case their comms are down, we might be able to communicate that way.
>>6124192Support in addition to mine.
>>6124192+1
>>6124134The station has around 200 people onboard and you have 30 people on your own ship, The station has basic anti debris guns but they are even weaker then your won coilguns, The station has a couple of barges that arent capable of FTL and the only planet in system is the one the station orbits >>6124185You can attempt to send a message to command but that would require you to get close to an open jump point
>>6123980>>Hold position hopping to hailYeah attacking seems a little premature
>>6124192Support
>>6123980>retreat for the other jump point behind youIf its weapons need like to spool up go we have any emergency comm bouys to send out a warning to human space? If not better to escape alive to warn humanity than dying forgotten and leaving human space vulnerable.
“Anything?” Your XO looks up at you, your question breaking the silence that had fallen on the bridge in the last few moments. “Negative sir nothing on normal radio” Your mind turns to training half remembered from your academy days on alternate ways to communicate with a ship. “Helm flash out docking lights in morse and XO try the tight beam laser aswell maybe we can get lucky and they have a military spec receiver.” Your crew set to work trying out the various ways to communicate to a vessel without comms and your eyes trail over the CIC. The bridge crew has slowly filtered in to save for the comms officer who was still missing your tempted to make the incredibly short trip to engineering to find him but you can't leave your post right now even if you can see the door to engineering from the CIC’s door. The silent work of your crew somewhat maddening you look for anything to distract you but the only thing of note in the CIC was the plaque hanging above the main viewscreen stamped with the words FORGONE MIST NEW HANOVER SHIPYARDS 2662. The words have taunted you for the last six months of your posting almost mocking you with the age of the decrepit ship you commanded.You turn to your command terminal and begin to search through the ship register for anything that looks like the vessel in front of you. THh search turns up nothing anywhere close and on a lark you flip the register to a section dedicated to warships from the last AI uprising. Your own grandfather had fought in but even amongst the eclectic designs of mad AIs nothing even remotely resembled the ship. The AIs were even more utilitarian than humanities and looked more like floating boxes with guns than whatever was before you.“Sir movement!” The sensor officer cried, eyes torn from the terminal back to the viewscreen, seeing indeed the ship had begun to move its engine flaring to life. “What's her speed Ensign?”He taps away on the terminal doing the calculations manually “I figure just below our cruise speed sir and heading our way no doubt about it”>remain here not allowing it to get closer to the station>Ready for combat and advance>head for the jump point something isnt right
>>6124586>head for the jump point something isnt rightIts probably more interested in the station than us, can we let out a warning to the station staff and then just observe
>>6124586>head for the jump point something isnt rightIf it attack we need to gtfo and warn other systems with all the things we have recorded.
>>6124586Since it's not even close to anything in the ship register, it might be a prototype of a secret project, a black operation?But simultaneously, it's not responding to our communications attempts. It might be on an automated trajectory.Perhaps it has some kind of tech that allows it to warp through solid mattter, thus not reacting to us being in its direct path?>Remain here not allowing it to get closer to the station.
>>6124692>Perhaps it has some kind of tech that allows it to warp through solid mattter, thus not reacting to us being in its direct path?There are better ways to test than seeing if we experience catastrophic hull failure as it collides with us
>>6124586>Let's shift our position slightly to see what it's interested in. If the unknown craft remains on its current course it wants the station if it changes to follow us then it wants us. What's the planet like? Habitable? Can the station evacuate to the planet if needed? Can the station relay a message for us? How do our torpedoes work? Are they programmable? Can they target independently? How many do we have?
>>6124698I would like this but there is no write-in option given
>>6124702Yea if write-in isn't allowed I'll vote for >remain here not allowing it to get closer to the station
>>6124702oh write ins are always fine I just forgot the option >>6124698The planet is a barren rock with no atmosphere and while some stations can use comms buoys to activate and then transmit through jump points this one cantyour torpedoes are a fire and forget affair but due to the nature of how ships move you can draw up a solution to hit from pretty far away while not as accurate as missiles they hit incredibly hard and are designed to be hard to detect
>>6124586Just to confirm, if the ship maintains its current heading, will he close with us? If not, position our ship between the planet and the other ship. Call general quarters, get ready to tickle her tonsils if it looks like she's gonna ram us. Keep trying to raise it on the coms.
>>6124951It seems as if they are heading straight for you or the station directly behind you
>>6124698Switching, its not shooting at us straight away but it is probably not safe to be on its path
>Let's shift our position slightly to see what it's interested in. If the unknown craft remains on its current course it wants the station if it changes to follow us then it wants us.There is a moment inside your head where you panic, order full ahead and run to the jump point but you resist this panic. It's thinking like that saw you moved out here and if you do it again you expect to be put up against a wall and shot. You calm your breathing before speaking. “Helm! Take us two kilometers to our starboard at full ahead! Damn thing is probably an automated drone or something and cant see us” The ship at full burn slides to your starboard quickly the aging reactor being taxed so hard with the burn you feel the gravity generator weaken a bit. The Unknownship continues forward for a few moments more before turning its heading slightly to fly between you and the station to your portside. Your XO frowns staring at the ship as its heading changes and looks back at you with concern etched on his face. “Sir that looks like an at-” The sensor officer suddenly shouts cutting off the XO “Armored plates opening up! I'm seeing turrets with a hell of a lot of juice in em!” The magnified lens of the view screen shows the turrets lowering themselves from inside the ship they are sleek just like the rest of the ship sharp pointed triangles, eight of them arranged in a pattern around the hull to have a full 360 arc of fire. Your XO looks down at the comms “Sir the station is asking if they need to evacuate, they say they can have everyone loaded onto a sublight barge in 5 minutes and we can tow them to the jump point.” The Weapons officer makes himself known at this point aswell “Sir both coilguns are crewed and loaded and I have the torpedoes warming up”. The ship is at most 3 minutes away from you and the station which means if it means to fight you have to hold for 2 while the station loads up in the barge. Or you could save your command and run. Your mouth is dry and for the second time in your life you fear for your life.>Stand and fight until the station evacuates>Run and save your command>write in
>>6125152>Stand and fight until the station evacuatesIt's do or die now.
>>6125152>>Stand and fight until the station evacuates
>>6125152>>Stand and fight until the station evacuates>>6125004
>>6125152>Let's see if we can get this craft to chase us. Fire a salvo then run towards the planet. If it follows we can use the planet as a cover, anytime the ship comes over the horizon we fire torpedoes and duck back behind the horizon. If it doesn't pursue stay at our maximum engagement range and harass it so it doesn't get free reign of the station. Does the mining colony use explosives in their operation? Are there any on the station?
>>6125152>Stand and fight until the station evacuates
>>6125302+1We may die but we can at least delay it and tear chunks out of it.
>>6125302They have some smaller handheld explosives but nothing they can deploy at range most of the mining is done with large drilling rigs down on the planet
>>6125491Have them have a bunch pile up set to explode-If these Fers try to dock- we can blow them out of the stars.If they just blow up the station- we’ll- worth a shot
>>6125152>Stand and fight until the station evacuatesEvasive maneuvers, the one advantage of our ship is that its harder to hit
>Stand and fight until the station evacuatesThe fear gnaws at you the idea of going into battle alone against odds beyond imaging stoking it, but there is something else that stirs a sense of duty to not just your crew but the men and women onboard that station. You are going to buy them the time they need. “Helm move us two kilometers to the port, comms tell the station they have five minutes to get on that barge.” You reach over to the PA switch, flicking it again. “All hands man your battlestations and prepare for combat!”Enemy???? “Dart” Class Light cruiser 50/50FreindlyForgone Mist Rapier Class Corvette 15/15(These numbers are more of an abstraction of your ships damage to better convey your situation once you hit 0 your going to do a good impression of the sun for a short amount of time) Your ship slides back infont of the station blocking the ship's path. The enemy ship which you were tentatively calling a dart class shifted its heading again to just barely miss you as it approached. The lighting shifts inside your ship and you feel the gravity generator lessen in power aswell as all non critical sections went under minimal power. You go over your tactical options in your head. Your ship was probably faster so aggressive maneuvers would work but would mean you couldn't run a torpedo solution as accurately and trying to brawl with that thing would be dangerous but would make your torpedos far easier to aim.Available WeaponsCoilguns 2d6Torpedos 2d30Own Stationary DC 75>Aggressive maneuvers and pepper him with coilgun fire while trying to aim the torpedoes +5 to own DC>Brawl with the
>>6125665Note tomorrows post will more than likely be 12ish hours past my regular posting time
>>6125668Your post cut off, methinks.
>>6125665>Aggressive maneuvers and pepper him with coilgun fire while trying to aim the torpedoes +5 to own DC>Brawl with the coilguns and risk the wrath of this thing while aiming the torpedoes -10 to own DC +10 to hit>>6125686Nice catch because I sure as shit didnt catch it
>>6125688>Brawl with the coilguns and risk the wrath of this thing while aiming the torpedoes -10 to own DC +10 to hitwe're a corvette and I like these numbers
>>6125665Impression of the Sun for short amount of time? What does that mean?
>>6125665>Aggressive maneuvers and pepper him with coilgun fire while trying to aim the torpedoes +5 to own DC>>6125765Reactor go boom
>>6125688>Brawl with the coilguns and risk the wrath of this thing while aiming the torpedoes -10 to own DC +10 to hit We 'probably' think we're faster, no guarantee, so we might as well do what's best for our torpedo aim.
>>6125688>>6125665>>Aggressive maneuvers and pepper him with coilgun fire while trying to aim the torpedoes +5 to own DC
>>6125688>Aggressive maneuvers and pepper him with coilgun fire while trying to aim the torpedoes +5 to own DCWe are buying time not trying to kill it. Delay damage to ourselves as long as possible.
Rolled 14, 75 = 89 (2d100)>Aggressive maneuvers and pepper him with coilgun fire while trying to aim the torpedoes +5 to own DC“Helm ahead full up and over the bastard!” You shout and the helmsman slams the ships throttle down and begins to speed toward the enemy ship. “Weapons get me the besy you can for the torps and tell the coil guns to go to work!” The Dart class light cruiser slows down and opens fire with 2 medium laser turrets 2d10 (my roll)Friendly DC 80 enemy DC 50 (75)I need three 1d100s from two players please and
>>6126242and if I stop forgetting the rest of the postThe DC for torpedo hit is 75 would you like to fire your two torpedoes? >Yes>NoTurn 1/3
>>6126243Yes.FIRE EVERYTHING!
>>6126242>I need three 1d100s from two players please andSo 3d100 from two people? Or just two people rolling 1d100 in three separate posts?
>>6126243How many torpedo ammo do we have? We can't blow our load too soon with that high DC.
>>6126362ah my bad I just need two 1d100s from two people>>6126575You have a total of two the nature of your torpedo launchers mean you cant reload them in combat
>>6126242Would we get a better firing solution for our torps if we wait? How much point defense does the enemy cruiser have? What warhead does our torpedo have?
>>6126876yes if you wait the solution will get better and you have no idea what enemy point defense looks like and your torpedos have quite large conventional warheads( 1d30 per warhead)
>>6127039Should we just fire one now to test the point defense?
Rolled 58 (1d100)>>6126243>No>Firing main cannon roll>>6127053Nah save the ammo till the DC gets lower and catch the ayys by surprise from sudden torpedo attack. Plus if we miss the point defense might not activate and we burn a tool surprise.
>>6126243> No. Conventional wisdom for torpedo runs suggest that as long as we're above the arming distance there's no such thing as "too close".
Rolled 41 (1d100)>>6126243Also, for our coilgun shotsI'm not expecting those to hit - we're too far away for those to be effective due to muzzle velocity, recoil, dispersion, and whatnot, but we NEED to keep the pressure on the hostile ship. (Aka we're basically Sammy B in the Battle off Samar now)... right, do we have decoys and/or jammers?
Rolled 3 (1d6)rolling for the damage on the one hit>>6127127destroyers tend to but corvettes like yours are more else glorified sensor buoys
>>6127147What are we rolling for again? Which one from whom hit? And why is it a d6?Also, do we have energy shields / tensor fields / hull polarization or whatnot? If yes, then concentrate all shields on the one side facing the enemy.
>>6127151the enemy missed you and you managed to hit with one of your coilguns your coilguns are small affairs only dealing 1d6 hp damage and no shields aren't really a thing its armor or dodging to survivereal post for the day in 9 hours or so
>>6127147Back in WWII even PT boats have smoke generators, and IIRC most modern corvettes and frigates tend to have electronic warfare systems.... So... we really drew the short straw here didn't we?
>>6127154Quick question: what does the second DC on the enemy ship mean again?
You come head on at the light cruiser and at the last second before three of the laser turrets fire doge to the side the gravity generator straining to just maintain a quarter of a G as it fights the sheer force of the maneuver. The cruisers laser turrets and flash back at you not even close to striking you. The dual coil gun turrets one on the top of your ship and one the bottom open up on the cruiser sending magnetically launched shards of tungsten tipped steel at the ship only one burst landing the sure fire signs of a breach being obvious with plumes of atmosphere shooting from the strikes. The sensor officer pipes up from his position. “Those turrets pack a serious punch sir!” The enemy turrents did seem to lack much movement meaning they only seem to be able to target you with three maxEnemy???? “Dart” Class Light cruiser 50/47 DC 50FreindlyForgone Mist Rapier Class Corvette 15/15 DC 75>keep up the maneuvers +5 to own DC>Make a torpedo run -10 own DC -10 to enemy DC>>6127155if you were in a modern corvette you probably would have a good EWS or decoys but your flying a ship manufactured before your father was even born>>6127157The second DC is for your torpedoes to hit and do damage
>>6127318>keep up the maneuvers +5 to own DCKeep running circles.
>>6127318>>keep up the maneuvers +5 to own DCWell, our torps are a hail mary and i don't want to find out how much damage their turrets do.
>>6127318How many guns do they have in total? Are there any noticeable weakspots we can exploit? If the Dart have fewer guns in one direction then maneuver into that direction, if any side of her have thermal radiators then try to hit that side, etc. Also, are we about as close to the Dart as we can get?
>>6127365I wouldn't say "hail Mary" given Forgone Mist is somewhere between an overgrown Elco boat and a faster WGT, so the only weapons we have that can do more than scratching the enemy's paint ARE the fish in our tubes.
>>6127318>keep up the maneuvers +5 to own DCOnly 14 more hits to go
>>6127318>keep up the maneuvers +5 to own DCSee if we can get a feel on the enemy ship and probe for weaknesses. >>6127419We aren't 14 time harder to hit than them though.
>>6127369the enemy has 6 turrets total three on the "Top" and three on the "bottom"
>>6127318>keep up the maneuvers +5 to own DCContinue poking them and save the torps
>>6127568>>61251528 turrets in total, 3×dorsal (top) turrets, 3×ventral (bottom) turrets, I'm assuming another secondary(?) turret port (left) and starboard (right) each? Can we infer anything about their maximum traverse and elevation angles? Grated it's likely to be about ±135+ for traverse and -5-+85 for elevation if modern naval architecture is of any indication so... yeah, we're most likely not going to be able to find any weakspots in enemy firepower....I'd save my torps as long as we can get even closer. 60% hit rate for guided munition is still way too low for my liking, and 60% mass driver hit rate is also pretty bad. Kinetics are good at close quarters brawl where their higher dispersion and lower muzzle velocity would matter a lot less, and the closer we get the worse their guns would be at tracking us.
>keep up the maneuvers +5 to own DCAlright I need 2 1d100 and would you like to use your torpedoes? (currently 70 DC to hit) >Yes>No
Rolled 5 (1d100)>>6127879>No
Rolled 92 (1d100)>>6127879>No
>>6127879>No
Rolled 3 (1d6)>>6127940>>6127970>Norolling for coil gun damage and could I please get a 3d100 please I forgot the cruisers rolls
Rolled 48, 56, 75 = 179 (3d100)>>6128098Low rollin'
Rolled 71, 89, 59 = 219 (3d100)>>6128098No crito us
>>6128253We'd have survived if not for your roll you lil' *bleep* !
>>6128108only need the one roll no hits real post in about 9ish hours
Rolled 62, 1, 52 = 115 (3d100)>>6128098
>>6128286?
>>6128286That's for the enemy ya? Fuck em nat 1 kek watch their torpedos slam into unopened torpedo pods.
>>6128289Oh I can't read I thought it was 3d100 best of 3. /shrug
Sliding behind the cruiser engines going full blast the gravity generator completely giving up at this point shutting down due to the stress. The enemy turrets flash again their singular rear gun and the top and bottom turrets on the rear flash at you, one of them so close the laser leaves a superficial burn along the underside of your ship. Deciding to return the favor your own turrets open up the dull reverberations of the guns thumping throughout the ship. The steel shards fly through space one burst of which finds its mark sending more plumes of depression from the enemy hullEnemy???? “Dart” Class Light cruiser 50/44 DC 50FreindlyForgone Mist Rapier Class Corvette 15/15 DC 75>Keep kiting the bastard and peck at him Aggressive maneuvers +5 to own DC>Strike him now with the torps -10 own DC -10 to enemy DCTurn 2/3 The barge should be loaded at the end of the next turn
>>6128494>>Keep kiting the bastard and peck at him Aggressive maneuvers +5 to own DCHome stretch now so we just need to survive one more turn and we can escape.
>>6128494>Keep kiting the bastard and peck at him Aggressive maneuvers +5 to own DCOur objective isn't to destroy the enemy ship but to provide time for evacuation
>>6128494>Keep kiting the bastard and peck at him Aggressive maneuvers +5 to own DC
Speed it up. Too many rolls.
what is the megaton range if we time it so that as soon as we ram our ship into the alien ship- our reactor go critical?
>>6128494>>Strike him now with the torps -10 own DC -10 to enemy DCOur arti-grav generators are fucked, so violent maneuvers like we're doing before might result in us (along with our entire crew) turned into a fine red paste on the bulkhead. So... quoting from Taffy 3, “This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”
>>6128494>Strike him now with the torps -10 own DC -10 to enemy DC>>6128591 has a point. We may end up suffering recoil damage in every sense.
>>6128641Less "recoil" and more "over-G". IIRC there was a scene in Knights of Sidonia E4 where a violent evasive maneuver caused significant damage to the interiors and mass casualties to its inhabitants. So the actual question is..... how many Gs did we actually pull in our evasive maneuver? If it's less than 7 Gs we can think about continuing evasive maneuvers, but if it's anywhere above 9 and we don't have pressure suits we'd have a problem. If it's above 15 then continuing evasive maneuvers would be a death sentence. Also, how come our turreted guns maxed out at 60% hit rate when we're literally at knife-fighting range?
>>6128494>Strike him now with the torps -10 own DC -10 to enemy DC
>>6128663>Also, how come our turreted guns maxed out at 60% hit rate when we're literally at knife-fighting range?your crew are pretty inexperienced and everything is done manually including aiming as automated systems onboard star ships are very illegal
>>6128780Not even something like a WWII/Cold War era radar gunfire control? Bonus point for the Dart is bigger than us. Yeah, we are even worse off than Sammy B at Samar - even Sammy had gun directors and ballistic computers worth a damn, while we're flying what's basically an Elco boat.
>>6128494>>Keep kiting the bastard and peck at him Aggressive maneuvers +5 to own DCYeah let's keep him busy
>>6128780Do we at least know how many gravities our last maneuver was?
>Keep kiting the bastard and peck at him Aggressive maneuvers +5 to own DCalright 2D6 please also do you guys feel like we hit to lightly or there are too many rolls?>>6128895you saw during that last one the Gs hit about 5 yours gravity generator is more for maintaining gravity in non combat so you aren't losing much with it shut off
Rolled 6, 3 = 9 (2d6)>>6129078the amount of rolls is indeed too much for the amount of action that is happening. especially just that on a larger scale you might want to scale back on the detail.
>>6129090alright for the next combat we have Ill work something out thats less roll heavy
>>6129078> also do you guys feel like we hit to lightly or there are too many rolls?Hit too lightly? No. We are flying a grossly outmatched ship armed with basically peashooters against a heavily armored cruiser, and us doing pitiful damage plays into the desperation well enough. Also, if the enemy cruiser have things like an armored citadel or unpressurized outer hull then it wouldn't be too unreasonable for us to have a 60% max hit chance - it's not that only 60% of the shots connected with the enemy, but rather only 60% of the shots struck anything important without being deflected by armor or passing straight through a non-pressurized compartment and came out the other side unhindered. (Historically autocannons like PT boat deck guns would be stopped by any armor thicker than a splinter shield, and that's why most post WWII torpedo/gun boats carried rocket launchers and/or heavy recoilless rifles to boost their close-quarters firepower; at least we have coil guns so penetration wouldn't be an issue, although given their small caliber after-armor effects would still be rather poor.) Too many rolls? Perhaps, but my biggest nitpick was lacking important information when asked to make decisions. Without knowing G-forces we cannot know for sure whether evasive maneuvers would damage the ship or the crew, for example. ... just the local sperglord rambling about naval history, pay no heed.
Rolled 5, 3 = 8 (2d6)>>6129078Lots of rolls for a single ship battle but this is an important battle to handle personally as its the tutorial.
Rolled 4, 2 = 6 (2d6)>>6129078
>>6129101It's very "Sammy B raking the superstructure of Chikuma with AA fire"Anyway is there a way to get inside their guns so they can't depress them enough to hit us?
>>6129156Hugging the enemy ship's side could work, but only if the Dart doesn't have side turrets. (How many turrets does the Dart have again? >>6125152 mentioned that there are eight turrets, while >>6127568 mentioned there are three dorsal and three ventral turrets....)
>>6129173six main guns three dorsal and three ventral with two smaller turrets on the fore and the aft
Turning hard to starboard around the cruiser's engine the sensors screaming as the hard turn pushes you up to near 7gs your guns rattle off again and this time as your bursts strike near its engines there's a flash as some sort of secondary explosion happens. Your ship despite the danger of overtaxing the old engine speeds past the cruiser which seems to have slowed down somewhat. The XO pops his head up from the comm terminal. “Sir the station has finished loading onto the barge” nodding you order the helm to take you close enough for the barges magnetic clamps to latch onto your ship. The camping process is nerve racking as you watch the pursuing light cruiser come closer to the station until finally the station manager gives the go ahead and you haul ass toward the jump point to the next system with people known as Honest. The cruiser reaches the station and soon begins to lay waste to it with its laser turrets blazing away at the now empty mining station. As your ship towing its civilian cargo comes to the jump point the other jump point lights up glowing with its ethereal light again something else starting to come through as the cruiser keeps laying waste to the station. >stick around to see what comes through>escape now
>>6129608>stick around to see what comes throughIt's our responsibility to see how bad this hostile contact is.
>>6129608>escape nowIf we have a probe- lunch it to go to the far edge of the system and to record the system.
>>6129608>>stick around to see what comes throughWe reached our jump point so we can bug out after we recon the new threat coming in. Also the ayys must be very embarrassed they could not blast us while we scratched their paint job.
>>6129608>>escape nowWe have civvies on board, so it's definitely NOT a time to get involved.
next post will most likely be late by 8+ hours had a work thing come up
>>6129608>>6129646+1
>>6129608>escape now
>>6129608>>escape now>>6129646Supporting>>6129749Yeah we fought for a reason, we gotta evacuate the station.
>>6129608>escape nowThe barge is sub-light so we need to tow them into and out of FTL, simple as that. Supporting >>6129646 's decision to launch recon drones, sensor bouys, or whatever autonomous sensor platforms to record what the *fridge* is going on.Right, did we radio the high command about the situation? Also, how long does it take to FTL from one system to another?
You have a lot of conflicting responsibilities that are fighting for control, the responsibility to your crew and the civilians to see them out but also the responsibility to the navy to gather as much intel about this enemy as possible. The decision is made in your head a compromise of the two. “XO see to it a sensor buoy is deployed and have it set to gather all data possible” You turn to your helmsman. “Helm start the drive get the point open I want to get the fuck out of here” The XO sprints off and the helmsman activates the large machine in the bowels of the ship that will focus a beam of energy on the weak point in reality to open the jump point. The ship shudders as one of your two aging probes is launched from its moors on the side of the ship and soon the ethereal sickly green light begins to spew from the jump point, the rip in reality soon stabilizing.The order given you secure for entering the point, your ship pushing its way past the entrance and soon entering a dimension where the limit of the speed of light was merely a suggestion and everything around the ship had a sickly green hue. It will take several days to travel to Honest system where the local fleet was currently but hopefully the admiral will have an idea what to doTomorrows post we will begin building our actual character also honestly I did not expect tobias here to survive this but yall played it well>>6130513travel through jump space varies depending on the distance and how fast a ship is this jump will take a couple days
2724 Honest system 702 days from earthBleary eyed you are awoken by the shrill sound of your alarm reaching over you smack the top of the clock silencing it and slowly sit up. You swing your feet over the side of the bed and stand up on the cold plating of the ship in an almost robotic way. You walk toward your cabins small insuite shower and stop as you come face to face with the plexi glass door with a note taped to it reading. “WATER RATIONED, REMEMBER” The note jogs your sleep addled mind of the fact your ships water purification system was down and water was being strictly rationed onboard. You turn away from the shower and reach for your uniform which has a somewhat musty smell to it due to the lack of washing. It doesn't take you long to get dressed and step out of your cabin and begin the trek to the CIC which was thankfully not too far from your cabin. The air smelt somewhat rank as you made your way through the halls, the air filtration system on its last legs as well.The doors to the CIC come into view alongside the two members of the ship's marine complement who always guarded the heart of sector 63 of rimward command, your sector. They give you a crisp salute and mutters of good morning admiral as you step past them and take the deck. The ship's executive officer Issac Cherigov delivers a crisp salute, the career rimward officer, possibly one of the only officers in the entire rimward command to be happy to be posted here. “Admiral on deck!” He shouts, sending the rest of the bridge crew scrambling to stand and salute. “At ease” The bridge settles as you stroll over to the leather chair at the rear of the CIC that was your seat sliding into the seat you look up at Issac. He holds out a tablet “The nights reports Admiral”The reports are much the same: engineering had continued to fail to repair the broken and the locals of the nearby inhabited world of Honest were continuing to fight you about the price of purchasing some of their excess water production. The rest of your ship is in the best condition you can manage with your supplies which was a testament to your training at.Selecting starting flagship>Luna Naval academy home of the terra battleship fleet ( a century old Plato Class Battleship)>Naval aviation school at Alpha Centauri (An half century Toucan class Escort carrier)>Hansa Naval academy at Wolf 359 (a two decade old Malta Heavy Cruiser)
>>6130804>Naval aviation school at Alpha Centauri (An half century Toucan class Escort carrier)Not too new, not too old.
>>6130804>>Naval aviation school at Alpha Centauri (An half century Toucan class Escort carrier)New ships from the naval budget? Ha, Century old ship? Might as well be rust at this point.>>6130733Tobias may be demoted for a mistake but he is still a captain when backed into a wall.
>>6130804Any specs on those ships? Main armament? CIWS systems? Sensor suite? Electronic warfare capabilities? And for the carrier, how fast are our planes compared to a typical starship? How much damage can they do?
>>6130877in terms of CIWS they are all comparable sensors are garbage for all but that's normal amongst rimward ships as corvettes do most of the sensor work EWC is almost strictly focused on anti smart missile technologyThe fighters and strike craft onboard the carrier are probably some of the newest craft in the entire sector and are faster than a corvette, pilots have be outfitted with augmentations to fight extreme G forces The strike craft carry mix of torpedos and dumb bombs which are known to be almost as deadly as a corvettes torpedo armament
>>6130804Then ofc >Naval aviation school at Alpha Centauri (An half century Toucan class Escort carrier)Outrun what we can't outgun, and bomb to cinders what we can't outrun. >>6130888... how many planes can a Toucan carry?
>>6130855Welp, the ONE good quality of the Forgone Mist is its agility, so close-range harassment attacks and buying time for evacuation would definitely be within its capabilities. >>6130804Hmmm... will Toby make a cameo later or would he become one of our subordinates?
>>6130804>>Naval aviation school at Alpha Centauri (An half century Toucan class Escort carrier)>>6130733The most cautious and most reckless soldiers survive when everyone else perishes. Why not be both at once?
>>6130890The air wing of the toucan is 24 craft 12 fighters 12 strike craft>>6130964Hes one of many of your subordinates scattered around the sector doing patrols
>Naval aviation school at Alpha Centauri (An half century Toucan class Escort carrier)The aviation school had been great, not as stiff and proper as Luna but not as much of a backwater as Hansa. You learned how to fly a fighter and learned the ins and outs of carrier command and had gotten a great jump start afterwards as the CAG for an escort carrier, one of the more modern types than the one you command now. The Toucan class were built during the surge of piracy following the end of the AI wars and had proven themselves useful in dealing with the larger pirate bands. The well kept chair creaks as you lean back, eyes skimming the myriad of engineering reports with the largest reports involving the water system which had fallen apart in the last few months, parts for the aging escort carriers being somewhat rare on the fringe like this. The reports are just more of the same besides that a small brawl broke out in the quarters but marines and MPs had handled it. The crew and the marine complement continued to advocate for liberty to the colony on Honest however you knew far better than to let a bunch of sailors and marines down to the ultra religious Honest colony with its insane splinter branch of mormonism.The reports finished trailing your eyes around the CIC the CAG over by his desk making sure the small patrol of fighters maintained the cordon around the fleet. The comms officer worked diligently at her station to also maintain the cohesion of the small fleet you had in orbit. Your mind turns to how your once hopeful career as a carrier captain had found you admiral of a backwater fleet. >Love, you secretly married the child of a Fleet admiral (+crew respect)>Fear, After a large battle against a rebel fleet your nerves are shot(+fleet size)>Hope, You were born here and requested the posting (+Local Respect)>Anger, You angered several people by pushing for new technologies in the fleet and were exiled here (More modern ships)
>>6131317almost forgot Im also taking name suggestions for your flagship, I am partial to the Halo naming conventions
>>6131317>>Love, you secretly married the child of a Fleet admiral (+crew respect)Sure why not>>6131362Essex
>>6131317>Love, you secretly married the child of a Fleet admiral (+crew respect)> Glacial Sunset(A combination of USS Glacier and USS Sunset, both Bogue-class Escort Carriers)
>>6131366We're flying a 24-plane rustbucket of a jeep carrier (so much for a flagship!) and you wanted to name her after THE definitive fleet carrier?
>>6131492I mean, look at what happened to the Wasp as a name since ww2Maybe they keep the name around or off habit but as it gets farther from the 20th century it gets assigned to progressively less important vessels
>>6131583>out of
>>6131366+1 Sure, that or hope. Fear would just get us discharged and anger doesn't make sense that we push for tech but get sent to a backwater with it.>>6131492Essex class was cheap and mass produced for the AI wars so we had to get the bargain bin ships.
>>6131317>Anger, You angered several people by pushing for new technologies in the fleet and were exiled here (More modern ships)>>6131751Maybe the Admiralty is hidebound Victorian after a long peace and we are too combative. >>6131454Glacial Sunset sounds neat
>Love, you secretly married the child of a Fleet admiral (+crew respect)It was stupid honestly you had fallen for the child of one of the Fleet Admirals, a whirlwind romance over the course of two months during a naval exercise and then both of you refusing to break it off when found out. They got disowned and you got sent here under the excuse of diversifying your command experience. It's not all bad honestly though your spouse has nice accommodations on Bevel the home port of your fleet and you still have a fleet. The crews of said fleet actually respect you in an odd way seeing you as kindred heart when it comes to sticking it to Highcom.The next page of the reports are comm reports that came in during the night mostly just regular check ins with the occasional report of a pirate sighting. You flip to the next page after that detailing the status of your fleet at large and begin to study it. The majority of your fleet were dregs from the last war but you had some friends in the navy and were able to pull some strings when you came to the rimeYou were able to bring a few ships with you to supplement your fleet when you came to the rim please select one>a pair of modern light cruisers>a single AI war era Heavy cruiser rescues form a junkyard>4 last generation Destroyers>6 modern corvettes Ill leave the flagship vote open for another day
>>6132068>6 modern corvettesWould like to have some up to date equipment
>>6132068>>a pair of modern light cruisersI agree with >>6132070 but I feel as though the cruisers are going to have a more sophisticated sensor package than the corvettes that may offset the fact that there's only 2 of them to the 6 corvettes.
>>6132105Thats fair, my reasoning is that we already have a cruiser
>>6132068>6 modern corvettesThe heavy cruiser sounds cool but speed is what saved us in the last encounter
>>6132068>6 modern corvettesCorvettes in this 'verse double as AWACS, and as a carrier we NEED the extra sensor range to plan airstrikes. >>6132121 >>6131751Our ship is a Toucan-class CVE. >>6132105See to >>6130888
>>6132068>6 modern corvettesA carrier needs it screen.
>>6132068>6 modern corvettesDefend the mothership.Defend the mothership.EWAR EWAR SCAN SCAN
>>6132068>a pair of modern light cruisers
>>6132068>>6 modern corvettes
>6 modern corvettesYour fleet was a motley collection of vessels, your flagship the Essex in a tongue in cheek way named after the definitive fleet carrier being no exception. Along with your small fighter and strike craft compliment you also had 2 AI war era light cruisers, 10 destroyers that are nearly 50 years old, 6 AI war corvettes and 6 modern corvettes you had arranged to come with you when you first came to the rim. This small fleet wasn't your entire command, just the ships you massed as an escort for your flagship when on patrol.Sighing you look up at Issac your XO “What of our water supply?” He scrolls through his tablet for a moment “Quartermaster says we've got three days of drinking water, just enough for us to make it to Cartha or Rhino to either salvage a new purifier or buy one from the Zoros” He chuckles “I guess if we tell the crew to lick condensation off the walls we could push it four days” The older Russian executive officer gives you a mirthful smile. "Unless you have some brilliant idea-">Sir>Ma,amthe idea of naming a escort carrier after a fleet carried is peak
>>6132705>SirI don't think a woman would be a fitting protagonist for this kind of quest, also our galactic government is so incompetent we can't even afford water
>>6132705>>SirYeah
>>6132705>Ma'am
>>6132711You sound goofy AF for saying this shit. >>6132705>Ma'am
>>6132762>Woman>Getting penalised for sleeping with someone's son>Commanding fleets of warshipsAlso we are already 160 posts in, its a bit late for a meaningless do you put the toilet seat up or down vote. I think in most cases preset characters are preferable, take Diesel Crash from pizza quest for instance
>>6132769Bold of you to assume the admiral's kid is a boy....
>>6132800Oh do you want to vote for that too, might as well name the protagonists dog too
>>6132881"Campbell", after the Essex fighter ace David McCampbell.
>>6132705>SirMan I thought the captcha timer was for certain boards. Didn't know it was the whole site
>>6132705>sir
>>6132769>What I thinkIt doesn't matter what you think! Qst itself suggests blank slate MCs. That's the normal format.
>>6132996How many of the quests in the catalogue are active?The normal format is chargen at the beginning of the quest, make it brief and get it out of the way with, because chargen is the least important part of a quest.
>>6132705>>Sir>>6133028Its brink's second ever quest so he does not know the normal routine for quests.
>sirThe CIC of the Essex is consistently a busy place with men and women running around doing various tasks required to keep not only the carrier and her air wing complement running but also the formation of escorts as well. The large room, unlike smaller ships had multiple stations for each section, from Communication to sensors or even the ships small weapon complement were controlled here deep in the bowels of the ship. The head of your comms section stands up from his deck and strolls over to you and isaac. “Admiral one of the picket corvettes is picking up a possible jump point activation coming from Gazelle” Raising an eyebrow you look at Issac with a questioning look. He taps at his tablet for a moment. “That's Tobias’s patrol Admiral” You grunt in response Tobias was an ok officer but was known to be very skittish perhaps he had gotten scared off by a pirate or maybe the floating junkyard he captained was falling apart. Looking to your comms commander “Which of the corvettes detected it?” The officer taps away at his own tablet before responding “One of the modern ones admiral so we've got probably an hour before tobias shows up screaming bloody murder”>deploy some of your Corvettes near the jump point in case they need help>continue about your day as normal>Write in
>>6133139Based on the information this admiral has I don't see any reason to deploy more than one Corvette.>Write in, send one corvette to great Tobias
>>6133139>deploy some of your Corvettes near the jump point in case they need help
>>6133255+1 this.
>>6133139>>continue about your day as normal
>>6133139>>deploy some of your Corvettes near the jump point in case they need helpWe have Tobias in our patrol so he would have told us about the sudden alien attack in the far reaches of space.
>>6133642Oh I thought we had a timeskip changing >>6133642to>>6133446Since we assumed Tobias is pulling a Tobias.
>>6133139>>deploy some of your Corvettes near the jump point in case they need helpIf we are worried about his ship falling apart, it seems reasonable.
No update for today had some things come up
>deploy some of your Corvettes near the jump point in case they need helpWhile Tobias cromwell was a known coward who would jump at every shadow it was also just as likely instead of getting spooked by something his ship had suffered some sort of failure. These old ships were in a constant state of failure. Your own flagship included a fact that was hammered home by the rank smell that had permeated the ship since showers had been stopped nearly three weeks ago. “Issac see to it that a couple of the corvettes head over to the point, Tobias is probably going to need help with whatever problem he's having” He nods to you and heads off with the comms officer to see it done.The corvettes move into position and then it's just a matter of waiting. The hour passes quickly as you work on some of the reports you're required to send to the grand admiral in charge of the rim. While finishing up one of these reports the jump point suddenly begins to glow with the ethereal green light and with a bright flare Tboias’s command the forgone mist exits jump space. The aging corvette looks normal to you at first but soon you realize he's towing what appears to be a sunlight barge. “Comms please radio Tobias and figure out why he's playing as a freighter”. Tobias’s response doesn't take very long and brings some worrying news. He was not just attacked but attacked by some unidentified ship with some serious energy weapons that were relegated to stationary stations with massive reactors normally. Your order tobias to drop the miners off on the nearby planet and to join your fleet as your intelligence officer pours over the recorded spec for the unknown ship.>Order the fleet into tight formation>attempt to set up and ambush at the jump point>write in
>>6134646>write-in: Order the fleet into a 90 degree "elevated" perpendicular position looking down at the jump point. Take up a tight formation aiming down at the jump point. Have a two corvettes assigned to sensor duty to find any PD defenses.The plan is having our troops in a tight grouping to only have to deal with 3 laser cannons at a time so we don't spread out and deal with 15 lasers if we surround them. With the "elevated" position the dirty ayys jump into the system facing the sun to give us a few seconds of fire before the ayys can react to the sudden attack. This should cripple the ayy but if they are coming in a group then we should get closer for torpedoes but that is up to you guys.
>>6134646>>6134703+1Can't think of a better idea.
>>6134703>>6134796Agreed
>>6134646>attempt to set up and ambush at the jump pointPark a torpedo squadron at minimum range (hereby defined as "the closest range where our torpedoes would reliably arm") from the jump point. The second the cruiser shows up they'll get a dozen torps and a hundred railgun slugs to the face.
>>6134838Addendum: Park the ambush squadron between the jump point and the local star, or otherwise use asteroids/debris for cover.
>>6134838>>6134848So a prong assault? The fleet at 90 degrees to attract attention while the squadron uses the sun to cover their approach as the ayys turn to face us?
>>6134703If our ships are too close together we might risk them interfering each other's evasive maneuvers, or have their shots missing one ship but hitting another.
>>6134853Space is big enough to avoid collisions and friendly fire and spreading out too much will allow the ayys to gain more vision to add more laser fire at us. This fight is not the size of a lake as we got a lot more space to move.
>>6134851Right, we're a carrier.... mix our fighters and bombers into the ambush formation (the ones using the sun for cover), and have one of our new covettes to the side conduct electronic warfare and jam the enemy's sensors. (While performing evasive maneuvers and pelting the Dart with mass driver slugs)The idea is to cause as much damage in the shortest time possible, and destroy/cripple the enemy ship before they even got a chance to return fire.
>>6134858The enemy ship uses beam guns with a near-luminal muzzle velocity. The further we are the easier it is for their turrets to track us - and IIRC that's why Toby was fighting at point-blank range.
>>6134861What about behind the jump point? So when they come out, we're already on their six. They'd have to maneuver to engage us with more than 1 or 2 turrets.
>>6135016Three, one dorsal primary, one ventral primary, and one stern secondary
>>6134646>attempt to set up and ambush at the jump point
Rolled 66 (1d100)>>6134646>attempt to set up and ambush at the jump point>write-in: Order the fleet into a 90 degree "elevated" perpendicular position looking down at the jump point. Take up a tight formation aiming down at the jump point. Have a two corvettes assigned to sensor duty to find any PD defenses.Tied vote ill do a mix of both of these could I please get a 1d100 best of three pleasealso rolling for the enemy
Rolled 96 (1d100)>>6135375
>>6135401Torps away! Rohr Eins, Los! Rohr Zwei, Los!
Rolled 1 (1d100)>>6135375dirty ayys came looking for trouble>>6135401For being banished to the rim we still got the skills of a real commander.
>>6135401>>6135413Duality of rolls
Rolled (1d00)>>6135375>>6135413Not looking good
Rolled 83 (1d100)>>6135421Well I am retarded
The holding of a jump point is one of the fundamentals of spaceborne combat and is drilled into the head of every officer in the navy thus setting into motion one of the formations used by the victorious fleets during the AI war.The main body of the fleet will an “orbit” above the point brining massed fire down onto it while a picket of sensor ships give telemetry and identify priority targets. The only real problem with using this method is the fact it was designed around the main guns of heavy cruisers and battleships which you have neither of. Its with that fact you decide to modify the tactic somewhat and have the sensor picket also come into range of the point with their torpedoes so they can fire when the enemy ship appears and then back off to allow your Light cruises to make use of their large Coil guns to pepper whatever survives half a dozen torpedoes. With the plan set in place your orders are given and you begin to setup mean while you also begin to prep a report for HIGHCOM about this event, which reminds you that you need to make sure to give Tobia a glowing commendation in your next report for not only fighting a superior foe bu also saving his command and the minersIt's maybe an hour after Tobias’s arrival when the corvettes report jump point activation begging and the CIC is covered in a soft red light as general quarters is sounded. Leaning back in your chair you watch as the point glows with its sickly green light and a ship appears. The information that flows in front of the corvette picket shows it's clearly the same type of ship if not the exact same ship. “Issac inform the corvettes they may fire when they wish” The three corvettes loose their torpedoes and begin to back off from the ship and with bated breath you watch them fly toward the enemy Light cruiser. It tries to avoid the spread but its boxed in and slow after exiting jump space so three of the massive weapons slam into it ripping the ship twain with a massive explosion.The bridge crew is silent for a moment watching in awe before breaking out into cheers which is quickly shushed by shouts from the comms officer. “CORVETTES REPORT ADDITIONAL CONTACTS EXITING THE POINT!” Its with horror you watch as nearly twenty vessels slip out of the jump point all pointed similar to the light cruiser you had just destroyed and many of them far larger than even your flagship. The bridge breaks out into panic as sensors and comms try to shout over each other “Two battleship sized craft and two cruisers as well i'm seeing even more ligh-” The comms officer shouts over the report of smaller vessels “Corvettes are asking if they should retreat!”>Order full retreat>order all vessels to open fire and deploy your craft>write in
>>6135443The priority is getting as much information to HIGHCOM as possible. I say we at least try to bloody their nose here. >order all vessels to open fire and deploy your craft
>>6135443>order all vessels to open fire and deploy your craftCorvettes: modern corvettes cover the older ones with electronic warfare and focus all coil guns on the enemy CLs, if any 'vettes still have torps left, use them on the battleships. (how many ships do we have again?)Light cruisers: begin evasive maneuvers while taking potshots at the battleships and CAs. Carrier: stay behind nearby celestial bodies or debris and maintain EMCON, fighters strafe any ship with point defense then strafe any enemy destroyers and corvettes (if they have AA missiles mix them in, they might not hurt anything bigger than a DD but they'd wreck havoc on PD guns), bombers target their battleships and cruisers (order of priority: BB >> CA >> CL)We Taffy 3 now.
>>6135443>>order all vessels to open fire and deploy your craft>>6135564Supporting
>>6135564your current ships are1x Escort Carrier2x AI ERA Light cruisers10x Destroyers7 old Corvettes6 Modern corvettes
>>6135800And what are their respective loadouts and ammo reserves?
>>6135564If the enemy have home-on-jam systems have the modern corvettes cycle their jamming. Say, Corvette-1 was currently jamming the enemy fleet, and the enemies fired anti-radiation missiles against it (assuming such things exist in this setting), then have it turn off the jammer while Corvette-2 takes over the jamming duty. Maintain enough electronic warfare against the enemies that they cannot effectively fire back.
>>6135816The light cruisers each have three medium coil gun turrets and the corvettes have two light coil gun turrets aswell as 2 torpedoes each half of which have already been expended. The destroyers each have three torpedoes and have access to electronic countermeasures and a sort of chaff "smoke screen" that can hide you from most sensors
>>6135830What's the difference between the 7 old corvettes and our 6 new corvettes?Also, which of the corvettes have their tubes half--empty?
>>6135830Let's have the DDs do torpedo runs on the four larger ships, 2 each onv their CAs and 3 on their BBs, then start EW/jamming (assuming they can't reload in combat)Corvettes do the same with their smaller vessels, more to keep them busy than to wipe them out. Once we can't do a torpedo run, retreat with the Essex covering the formation, hopefully we can hide behind an uninhabited planet or in an asteroid field while we reload and prepare to engage them a second time.
>>6135833The older corvettes have far worse sensors and cant reload their torpedoes in combat the modern corvettes are the half empty ones as they were on the sensor picket
>>6135835So... the old corvettes still have their torps fully loaded?
>>6135835Are all the ayys pointed to the sun and do our torps have a bonus to hit mod as the ayys just exited the jump point?Can our bombers hit during the corvet torpedo run or are they too far away?>>6135834We could hide behind the plane and use it to land and launch our bombers from underneath their ships to hopefully knock out their engines and have gravity drag them down.
>>6135837Yes>>6135851The surprise of and advantage of striking at the point has been spoiled by the corvettes launching the second they saw the light cruiser (the 1 you rolled was the cause of that)
>>6135834Use one or two of the DDs as a PG/PT squadron leader, using their jammers to cover the corvettes' torp run then retreat and regroup (and wait for our modern 'vettes to reload their tubes then do it again). Also use the DDs' jammers to cover our strike squadrons. Otherwise supporting >>6135834We're on a numerical and tonnage disadvantage, so we need to lose as few ships and strike crafts as possible.
>>6135851Unless their ships are in VERY low orbit and below orbital velocity then no. Plus, the second they lost thrust we can just park a corvette (or even a fighter) straight behind its drive cone and blast away into its reactor space.
>>6135443>>order all vessels to open fire and deploy your craft
Rolled 42 (1d100)alright im seeing a mix of having the corvettes and some DDs run torpedoes then retreat under a smoke screen, meanwhile you'll launch your air wing and then hide behind the nearby planet could I get a 1d100 best of three please rolling for enemy
Rolled 66 (1d100)>>6136070Rally!
Rolled 4 (1d100)>>6136070Wish me luck
>>6136087.... well then.
Rolled 92 (1d100)>>6136070
>>6136095Sally forth!
>>6136070Ayys: "This will be an easy fight as soon as our entire fleet drops in the ape will flee.">>6136095Humies: "Charge! We have nowhere else to run!"
The shouting continues as your command is throw into chaos at the reveal of such a large force. The enemy force has far more capital ships than you and clearly intends to fight but there is bad news for them, you have a lot of torpedoes and enough insane captains to use them. Slamming you hand into your armrest you yell “QUIET!” The shouting stops and your bridge crew all look at you. “I want two of the destroyers pushed forward alongside the rest of the corvettes with full tubes after they dump their fish with a focus on the heavies. I want a smokescreen to cover their retreat. Meanwhile I want the airwing to get out there and hit them and helm get us the fuck out of the line of fire behind the planet.” The crew takes a moment to process your orders and then set forth to obey. Two the destroyers along with all but two of your corvettes push from the picket line in a line abreast formation. The enemy who seem to be having some issues forming into a coherent formation with the debris of the light cruiser in the way cant seem to really respond to the attack yet. Your airwing decide to come in from above the friendly formation hoping the enemy wont notice them amongst the focus on your corvettes and DDscould I get 1d100 best of three pleaserolling for successful torpedo hits
Rolled 90 (1d100)>>6136108
Rolled 16 (1d20)>>6136108Apparently the enemy ate my roll, what powerful creatures
>>6136109WAAAGGGHHHH ! ! !
Rolled 80 (1d100)>>6136108
Rolled 16 (1d100)>>6136108and the third d100 is here.
Two the destroyers along with all but two of your corvettes push from the picket line in a line abreast formation. The enemy who seem to be having some issues forming into a coherent formation with the debris of the light cruiser in the way cant seem to really respond to the attack yet. Your airwing decide to come in from above the friendly formation hoping the enemy wont notice them amongst the focus on your corvettes and DDsThe enemy opens fire on your corvette screen and their DD escorts and thankfully they miss all of them, but what is alarming is what they fired at them with the light cruiser fired its smaller lasers but the sheer energy that comes off the enemy battleships and the two heavy cruisers is insane. Your eyes meet your sensor commanders after the large lasers fire and he just gives you a confused shrug and turns back to his team. The corvette screen reached the edge of their effective range loose all 20 of their remaining torpedoes. The Destroyers accompanying the screen turn in on the abreast formation and begin to lay a cloud of metallic chaff behind them to confuse enemy sensors and rangefinders as the line turns and beats a fast retreat toward the planet you've found refuge behind. Your Airwing meanwhile begin their own attack run on the smaller light cruisers and any other smaller vessels they can. They do decently well at this lay low one of the light cruisers but something odd happens while they aim to strike the other light craft. The light vessels of the enemy force begin to fly as fast as possible toward the incoming spread of torpedoes and with reckless abandon ram into them whenever possible. This destroys many enemy ships but keeps all but one of the enemy capital ships safe. A battleship one that was not saved by the suicidal move by the lighter ships is struck by three of the torpedoes and begins to vent large amounts of atmosphere and its lights begin to wink out one by one as whatever monstorus reactor powers the vessel shuts down. There are many cheers on your CIC as nearly all of the enemy vessels are destroyed except for one battleship, the two light cruisers and one light cruiser. The cheers are interrupted as your sensor commander shouts “Their running, jump point activation!” >Chase them>remain on station >write in
>>6136581>write inDo we have any unmanned probes or recce drones on hand? If so, send one after them to track their destination. Or maybe send a recce starfighter if it is warp capable.Also, can the enemy battleship be boarded?
>>6136581>>remain on station
>>6136598You have a sensor buoy back in Gazelle that tobias left you should actually be able to recive comms from it once the point opens and no starfighters are jump capable
>>6136602Okay, then>remain on stationand>write inBoarders away to the disabled battleship.
>>6136581>remain on station>write inIf we have good boarding parties, clean out its inhabitants (this may be a fierce fight given the enemies might be eusocial or even a gestalt hivemind, they're unlikely to be mechanical/AI though given they still need atmosphere) then tow the ship back.
>>6136581>remain on stationThis will be a decisive victory if we can nab this ship.
>>6136581>>remain on stationReposition so they can't just assume we're in the same place where we started>>6136603>>6136654Supporting. We need to find out what we're fighting and maybe take some survivors for interrogation/research Also send for backup, asap.
No post till later tonight but I see we are aiming for a boarding action
Boarding? I hope you guys know what you doing! And as for the warp drive? I not talking about all those bullshit.
The ethereal swirling light appears as the last three unharmed enemy vessels begin to transit to jump space leaving behind their crippled companion. “Issac get the marine company prepped for a a boarding action, CAG spool up the shuttles and Helm take us within shuttle range, Comms I want someone to hold the point open so we can receive comms from the sensor buoy in gazelle”Your ship moves out from behind the planet surrounded by your escorts while one of the destroyers moves over to the jump point and holds it open awaiting the other side to open and the comm buoy could report in. Boarding actions are far more common out here on the rim than pretty much anywhere else in human space which is why you have nearly a hundred marines in your complement. The humble rim marine is one of the only ground forces that has seen significant combat since the end of the AI wars over a century ago. They are armed with handheld coilguns and armored pressure suits they should be a force to be reckoned with but a ship of this size your boarding would normally have a crew of nearly 3000 which dwarf your boarding party. It may be prudent to send in some of your sailors pressed in as impromptu marines so even the numbers although it would risk losing your well trained crew and risking regular operations onboard. >Send only the marines>Send sailors as well >write in
>>6137514>Send sailors as wellSurely there are plenty of nonrates among the crew.
>>6137514>>Send sailors as well
>>6137514>Write-in: Fire off a few coilshells to cause more atmosphere venting, sending in marines as shocktroops first, then use sailors to hold perimeters or cause more vent breaches.They need air so space the fuckers and we can round up the survivors later. If we control the doors, we control death.
>>6137514supporting >>6137785Control the reactor space and weapon batteries first so they can't try to power up and shoot us. Also, use the normal sailors to run logistics so our marines in the front have constant access to fresh ammunition.
>>6137514>>6137785+1
Rolled 60 (1d100)>Write-in: Fire off a few coilshells to cause more atmosphere venting, sending in marines as shocktroops first, then use sailors to hold perimeters or cause more vent breaches.>Send sailors as wellopening the ship up a bit more could I get 3d100 best of the three you have a 10+ to the roll due to adding the sailors
>>6137514>>Send only the marinesWe're not trying to secure the entire ship, we basically just want a few bodies, living or otherwise, and then we can leave.Also maybe tow the hulk away from the jump point and put it somewhere we can explore at our leisure?
Rolled 61 (1d100)>>6138234
Rolled 74, 6, 94 = 174 (3d100)>>6138234
Rolled 75, 32 = 107 (2d100)>>6138241Forgot the other 2.
Rolled 60, 13, 60 + 30 = 163 (3d100 + 30)>>6138234
>>6138234>>6138301>>6138263>>6138244>>6138241So that's 84, 85, 104 after the modifier so I'd say we probably are doing okay.
Your marines are gathered in the pressurized hangar along with another 200 sailors you can spare from ship operations armed with your ship's somewhat limited armory of small arms. The marines and sailors are loaded into the shuttles and once you're within range the corvettes have sprayed down the hull of hostile battleship again with their coil guns although there are far fewer atmosphere plumes when they do so. This does worry you but perhaps they lost large amounts of their bulkheads or maybe they drained air as an anti fire measure. You had heard of some large freighters doing that in an effort to save on the costs of fire suppression systems.The shuttles make quick time traveling from your ship to the stricken battleship and soon latch onto it. You make use of one of the marines helmetcams to watch as they begin to cut into the ship the plasma torches taking many minutes to make a hole large enough for the marines pressure suit clad forms to squeeze in. The nearly meter thick sheet of metal floats away from the cut and the marines begin to move inside. The interior corridors are nearly pitch black only the occasional blue flickering light an emergency light of some kind probably. Everything in the ship seems large. The ceilings are easily four meters tall and the doorways are well above 3 meters and the few items floating in the halls seem meant for very large hands. The team you're watching is the one who's meant to look for the ship's bridge and the leader of the group asks an important question. Do you take prisoners?>yes>No
>>6138821>NoDoubt we have enough space to securely contain the specimen and keep it alive, and I also doubt if we can get any information from a completely unknown species.
QM, do we have mecha?
>>6138821>NoBut only AFTER we try interrogation and thoroughly comb the vessel for information. Any information.
>>6138821>>yeswe need information. every person alive should be taken and tortured for intel.
>>6138821>yes, but only if possible otherwise light them up.
>>6138821>>yesTaking prisoners is the point of the exercise. We want to know what we're fighting as much as possible. Obviously we're being reasonable and prudent about it as possible but if they seem cooperative or are already incapacitated we want them alive.>>6138871Macross?
>>6138821>>yes, but only if possible otherwise light them up.We only need a few alive and not a truck load of them.
>>6138836We're not taking prisoners out of an abundance of humanitarian concern, we need to know what makes them tick. Literally. Live samples will give us a better idea of their basic biological functions, and we can figure out what parts we need to shoot to put them down for good. It doesn't matter too much if they aren't gonna live very long in captivity.
>>6138871Ground based mechs exist but thats more of an army thing and the marine corp is far to poor to afford them
>>6138821>yesWe Need to know what we're dealing with.
>>6138821>yes
>>6138821First priority is the lives of our sailors and marines, but if we can capture one alive safely then do so.
Rolled 3 (1d100)The rules for prisoners out on the rim are theoretically the same as the rest of the navy however the lack of prisons to keep or courts to try pirates means the sentence is almost always a bullet, however these arent pirates you bet and as such a couple of prisoners would be best. The teams slowly float through the ship heading for the center of the ship where CICs tend to be when through the helmet came you seen a rapid set of slashes from the darked hallway and one of the marines is suddenly struck by several projectiles a mix of air and sublimating blood begin to shoot out from the marines suit as the the rest of the squad take cover as more flashes come from down the hall. The squad leader swears and asks over his squad comms “Is this dumb bastard using a regular gun?”. Regular chemical based projectile weapons while not uncommon in human space were far more rare than the coilguns your own marines wield. They were even more rare onboard a spaceship where overpenetration was a risk and the coilguns were far more useful with their modular power. The squad begin to methodically fire their coil guns and move up the corridor in pairsmight I have a 1d100 best of three please
Rolled 67 (1d100)>>6139390
Rolled 43 (1d100)>>61393903? Oh boy.
Rolled 78 (1d100)>>6139390
Rolled 78 (1d100)The spray of fire from down the hall seems unending at first but one of your marines leans out from behind cover and puts a burst of high velocity steel covered tungsten slugs right above where the muzzle flash appears and it stops. The team's corpsman turns back and begins to work on the downed marine while the rest of the team pushes up to the waiting corpse. The creature is huge in comparison to your own marines, easily two and half meters tall and if the bulk of its pressure suit was an indication was heavily muscled. Thick globules of blood occasionally float out of the three holes punched in its upper chest the wound may not have been immediately fatal for all you know but the exposure to vacuum more than likely killed it if not. The thing's body is not the only strange thing; the weapon it holds looks like something from the old wars on earth, a large belt fed affair the gun wouldnt have looked all that odd on the battlefield of the Somme or verdun with its large liquid cooled barrel and massive projectiles. The squad secure the weapon and zip tie the hands of the dead creature as a precaution. They move on while the corpsman evacuates the unconscious shot marine to one of the shuttles that had been repressurised to be used as a medical evac.The other squads report the occasional contact like the one this squads encounter but they are easily handled, the enemy seemingly scattered and unable to react properly. A squad does find what they believe to be the engine room however they report one of the torpedoes must have struck this area and nothing seems really intact. The squad destined for the bridge does eventually encounter a pressurized section of the ship near were they think the CIC may be. The act of breaching a sealed section isn't very hard for your marines and they even have a jury rigged system for transferring from a depressuresid section and one still with air. A box is brought in by another squad and is attached to the bulkhead and creates an impromptu airlock as one of the marines cuts a hole in the door and breaches. The pressurized section has not only air although richer in oxygen than really comfortable but also lights some sort of backup generator most likely powering this section.Alright one last 1d100 best of three please for the breach of the bridge
Rolled 51 (1d100)>>6140091Of course it would be tough.
Rolled 18 (1d100)>>6140091Low tier kinetics for defense but high power for lasers? Maybe they didn't discover railguns?
Rolled 95 (1d100)>>6140091For Humanity
>>6140187you fucking hero with that roll.
The marines, like the well seasoned professionals they are, begin to clear the pressurized section. This section with its lights makes seeing the details of the ship far easier. The corridors are straight and well designed; however, it seems poorly kept stains and dust cling to many surfaces and things seem in a somewhat consistent state of disrepair. Things clearly still function properly but it seems as if the crew just do not care about the condition of the ship, the crew that's anothering thing the marines find while searching the section several bodies are found not covered in pressure suits or marred by vacuum exposure you get your first good look at them.They are large bipeds covered head to foot in feathers and all seem to have a set of vicious claws which your marines summarize to be the cause of death for these dead crew, many of whom have had their feathery necks torn out. They all seem extremely muscular either thats just how they are naturally or this ships crew just were. The marines who seem to be laser focused on the mission dont really seem to react to them but your own bridge crew have all seemed to have stopped their work on the bridge to gawk at the first confirmed sentient life ever found. It takes you XO Isaac several minutes to wrangle the crew back to work meanwhile the marines continue to clear the section.The marines come to what must be the ship's bridge but it looks far more like a charnel house. bodies lay all over many of whom are covered in their own blood and the blood of others. Near the center of the room kneels a single of the creatures ripping chunks of flesh from one of the dead and stuffing a needle like fang filled mouth with hunks of flesh. It doesn't even notice as one of the marines slowly floats over to it and delivers a savage blow to its head with the butt of his rifle. “Bridge secure we will wait for a portable airlock to bring this thing in” Tomorrow will be the second half of the update
We're stepping into some real shit. You said they got feathers and fang-filled mouths? Man, I'm good man. We gon murk these niggas. Oops, I mean these n-words (because mods).
>>6140712We should recover as many of the bodies as we reasonably can, as well as the live sample. If nothing else, we know what it eats.Maybe send a message back to the Mormons about building some sort of containment facility on the planet for the captive? And send a message to the fleet telling them what we've discovered.
The marines offload the wreck with their prize in tow. Your two light cruisers begin the task of pulling the shredded bulk away from the jump point into a stable orbit around the planet. That will take some time as the ships massive bulk easily outweighs both light cruisers nearly 10-1. Its while this is happening the link to Tobias’s buoy back in Gazelle is established and you hear your sensor operator swear loudly. He waves you over to look at his screen and wondering why he did send it to yours you approach and your face goes pale when you see it. The somewhat grainy picture sent by the buoy shows the system, the open jump point, destroyed station and nearly 80 ships, almost a quarter of which seem to be battleship sized and larger. You try to turn away from the screen to give orders when he grabs your shoulder and points to the screen, specifically the part showing the open jump point where a ship had clearly arrived in the system. “This is the fifth picture from the buoy, each one has a new ship coming through the point.” The enemy outnumbers your fleet 1 to 4 right now and god knows if that number is going to keep growing or not. You have enough torpedoes to resupply your corvettes again but the real concern is you dont really have enough water for your flagship to keep operating for longer than three days.>Plan a retreat>try to make another stand>write in
>>6141252>Plan a retreatWe have to notify the government of Honest to start planetary evacuations. Is it worth trying to tow the battleship through the jump point or would it be too slow?
>>6141256You can try but that means your towing it the entire trip back to your home port
>>6141252>Plan a retreatDo we have mines or can we booby-trap the damaged ships?
>>6141252>>Plan a retreat>>6141256>>6141349I support trying to do both
>>6141252The list of priorities should be to prepare an evacuation and get in touch with our fleet command. We should try to send a corvette ahead of us to see if we can't get some reinforcement down the line, because we are outnumbered and outgunned.>>6141275We're going to have to try. I disagree with driving it to explode, it seems to be antithetical to why we're grabbing it in the first place.
>>6141349>Plan a retreat>Also rig any mines at the jump point.Leave the battleship behind as we need speed to evacuate our civvies as fast as possible. We don't need dead weight to kill our survivors of the battle. Tobias gave us a warning, now we need to ensure the rest of humanity knows.Also damn our paranoia saved our asses throwing down beacons and holding discipline.
>>6141252>Plan a retreatMines! Would scuttling the hulk in the jump point impede it in any way?If we leave the hulk behind, have the naval boarders pry loose any interesting equipment on board, like computers, communication devices and small sensors. Take photos of weapon mounts, engineering stations and the CIC.And where is a fleet tug when you need one?
>>6141349Your light cruisers have racks of old semi mothballed mines but they should still work but to lay them your going to have to ditch the wreck >>6141256You should be able to evacuate all roughly 2000 souls on Honest although they wont be happy about it
>Plan a retreatYou cant stop a force that large with your small fleet that's a fact. The light cruisers are ordered to drop the wreck and begin laying mines around the jump point; hopefully the debris from the earlier battle should mask them. The rest of your fleet are ordered to begin evacuating the planet and you try to decide how to exactly structure your retreat. If this was a normal situation you could just sail your whole fleet back to Cartha your home port however your flagship did not have a functional water purification system which means you will need to stop every three days to either find water or find a replacement. You can bring your entire fleet with you on or order the ships carrying the civilians to Cartha and just take some escorts and travel alone.>Travel as a fleet>send the majority to Cartha and travel with just escorts
>>6141734>send the majority to Cartha and travel with just escortsToo bad about the hulk. Oh well.
>>6141734>>send the majority to Cartha and travel with just escorts
>>6141734>send the majority to Cartha and travel with just escorts
No post tonight but vote will stay open
>Travel as a fleet>send the majority to Cartha and travel with just escortsThe majority of the fleet will be carrying the civilians from honest and you dont know how long its going to take your flagship to make it to Cartha so you detach off all but your six modern corvettes one of the light cruisers and a pair of your destroyersNEW FLEET COMP 1 Toucan Class Escort Carrier1 Light cruiser2 Destroyers6 Modern Corvettes You wished you could take more of the DDs but they will be needed to carry many of the civilians. The process took the better part of a day but by the end of it you wished the captain of the light cruiser True Honor well in his trip to Cartha and you prepared to figure out your next move. You had to options within range of your water supply from Honest the ship graveyard and breaker yard of Bevel where you can maybe find a replacement water system or the system of Novo where you could resupply on water but you will have to make multiple stops after that to resupply aswell>Bevel>Novo
>>6143056Breaker yeard. They should have something, even if it's not from our ship class that we have to jerry rig.
>>6143056Also did we send the birb with the evacuation fleet or is it on our flagship? Do they at least have some evidence why we retreated?
>>6143068You kept the prisoner but you sent several bodies and as much technical data as you could to Cartha
>>6143070It's kinda fun to speculate on what the Birbs are making of all of this. In both fights so far, we slapped the teeth out of their beaks with inferior forces and made them quit the field, then immediately cut and run. Add on to that, their first impressions of human society are going to come from observing Brigham Joseph Jeffers XXVIII and his seventeen sister-wives in captivity after they refused to evacuate, which is going to create a number of misunderstandings about how human society functions.>why do the humans scream "taffy three" over the comms net before they start an attack run?>do they use robots instead of people in their ships? The Jeffers are made of meat but everyone says the sailors are made from Tin Cans
>>6143164Not that I assume everything will go our way, but the threat escalation on their side, from 1 cruiser to a fleet of 30 including 4 line ships, to a fleet of 80 ships with at least 20 line ships, says that our intensity of resistance was a really nasty surprise.
>>6143056>>Bevel
>>6143056>BevelWe need to rectify this issue as much as possible.>>6143164We're probably faring much better than any other first contact on their end.
>>6143197>>6143197Also, we are so lucky our colonists are Mormons."Hey guys, we just made contact with hostile alien life forms. Grab your bugout bags and about a week's worth of water, head to your temple, and your Elders will oversee getting everyone to the space port. We have about three days to evacuate the planet."And they'd actually have the capacity to pull it off with minimal involvement on our part.Also, >high oxygen environments >enemy is covered in feathersThat magnesium enriched napalm is going to smell so sweet. ...And imagine the depleted uranium sabots going through their shipsAnd imagine the thermobaric rocketsImagine pumping their ships full of methane.This war is going to be fun.
>>6143285They may have accounted for the indomitablity of the human spirit, but did they account for our love of explosions?
>>6143056>>BevelWe need replacement or will die from dehydration as we run back to human space.>>6143164burd: "How did one ship survive a duel and how did their smaller ship fleet wipe out ours so badly that they had to call in a new fleet?!"humies: "Spite and knowing we couldn't run with guns pointed to our back"
Its only a day and a half to Bevel where the sector's lone ship graveyard was and hopefully something comparable to your old water purification system is. Your flagship along with her much smaller escort make their way over to the nearby jump point that would lead to the Bevel and begin preparations for jump.Its while you're reviewing a dispatch from one of the corvettes when you receive a message on your command tablet that your presence was requested down in the brig. You rise from your seat and release control of the bridge to Issace who gleefully takes to ruling your bridge with an iron fist as you leave. The idea of a flag officer traverse a rim sector ship alone without escorts would be insane on most ships however you have no fear of your crew who in general trust and like you. The summons to the brig wasn't urgent and you think about making a stop along the way.>The Canteen>The Pilots Lounge>Go straight to the Brig
>>6143610>The Canteen
>>6143610>>The Canteen
>>6143610>The CanteenGet a meal, i suppose. We're going to poke and prod the birb?
The enlisted sailors canteen onboard the Essex like any other fighting ship was the beating heart of the vessel; there were always sailors inside even at this late in the evening. The various enlisted men and women give you curt nods as you walk in but what draws your eye is a small crowd of men watching a section chief painting a portion of the back wall of the canteen. The wall had various black paintings of the outline of ships, some looked like warships, others modified freighters but the newest ones looked very similar to the ships your air wing had torpedoed earlier in the day. The practice wasn't quite official but most ships in the navy marked kills like this and you were in full support of it. The little markers were amazing for morale and you would be lying if you said you didn't find the slowly filling wall as a good example of your skill as a commander. Having made yourself known in the mess hall you turn to head out.>The pilots lounge>The brig
>>6144166>The brigYeah let's do this. Love the pilots, but presumably, we have an alien life form to antagonize
>>6144166>>The brig
You figure you've been seen plenty here and not really wishing to talk to the fighter jocks you make your way to the aft of the ship where the brig was located. The brig wasn't a common place for you to visit but you knew a decent amount of your sailors had sat its small cells for a day or two sleeping off hangovers. While drink wasn't contraband onboard navy ships it was however against regulation to become drunk. The bulkhead door to the brig swings open and you hear a aloud almost constant screeching coming from within, stepping inside you see the commander of your marine contingent captain Franklin who has both his hand cupped over his ears a motion you somewhat copy now that you're in a confined space with the sound. He sees you and nods his head to you and motions for you to follow him to the cells. The sound was coming from the only occupied cell which a marine stood across from seemingly unphased by the sound and the vicious long claws the occasionally slashed out from between the bars. The shouts over the screeching “Damn thing broke everything in the cell” He gestures at it and you get your first in person look at it.The creature is still much the same as it was on the wrecked battleship coated in the blood of its fellows and what the marine said was true the cells cot was broken into a dozen chunks and the cells sink had been ripped from its mounting on the wall something you don't even think the drunkest sailor could have achieved. Captain Franklin upon seeing it gestures to the hallway outside and you follow happily to be away from the noise.The bulkhead is shut and the sound fades he turns to you and says “Damn thing woke up an hour ago and all its done is make that damn noise and trash the cell” He leans against the bulkhead “it hasn't tried to speak or do anything I've got one of the bleeding surgeons from medical up here every hour demanding we let them treat it for the head wound one of my boys gave it but I'd rather it not let it eat the medic and the poor bastard we send in with them as security”Part 1/2 second part tomorrow
>>6144644Man they need earplugs. And maybe a double watch and a fully armed squad posted in the guard room for if things get interesting
He sighs shrugging “I figure skipper I can keep the surgeons out but I have no idea what to feed that damn thing besides its own folks. What I'm getting at skipper is do you want me to just shoot the damn thing or try and figure it out?” This question isn't very surprising as prisoners are a rare thing in peace time and you weren't entirely sure if this thing truly counted as a prisoner of war or not. You scratch your chin thinking “let me think on it for a bit Captain legally Im not sure if we can kill it or not yet” You make your way back to the bridge and take your seat as the jump points maw opens and your ships begin the one day travel to Bevel. The fate of your prisoner on your mind.>Keep the prisoner as it is your POW>kill the damn thing and save your marines the trouble
