As usual, the hyperjump alarm sounds after 156 hours in hyperspace. Just four hours later, the hyperspace alarm signals you are dropping out of Hyperspace.

Ahead looms a large orange gas giant, with a blue ball with speckles of green and white dwarfed by it's presence. Three small rocks orbit the blue ball.

In reply to Fate (msg # 1):

Petty Officer Gun, as always on the sensors for emergence, is quick to scan.

"No obvious ships, sir. Wait, a small scout coming around the moonworlds horizon. She has activated a rebel IFF. Permission to transmit a response?"

Lewis patches into sensors from his station and flicks the switch of his comm unit to green. His hand rests on the alert button, in case he needs it, to notify the gun crews. "It's a lovely sight, innit?"

a. The crew best be at battle stations!!!!

Go ahead and send Gun Da Bin ... Lewis, keep guns on him just in case...
This message was last edited by the player at 19:30, Tue 20 Sept 2016.

"Aye aye Cap'n." Lewis brings the nose turrets online, and activates the targeting computer, locking on target.

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 5):

As soon as the IFF is sent, the vessel returns to orbit.

"We have engaged a hostile warship and shot down his fighters, but our beams could not penetrate his armour and our missiles were shot down.  He has landed here on this planet. We are short on supplies, so we ask that you stay here until he is neutralized or relief arrives. "

You note that the typical scout configuration of 2 heavy turrets has been replaced with 2 double light turrets, an inner light turrets with triple beams followed by an outer ring with triple missiles, in both the belly and dorsal position on the 300 dTon flying saucer.

Where is this enemy ship? We will deal with him if we can ... when is your relief due in? We can provide missiles if needed...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 7):

"We think you are our relief. You were sent to deal with the rogue destroyer, right. Sending you planetary scan with his co-ordinates...."

The planet is about 3/4 covered by water, with a number of islands, some of which are marked.
This message was last updated by the GM at 23:27, Tue 20 Sept 2016.

Lewis attempts to use the data sent to generate a concise map and terrain features of the coordinates sent.

Very well ... but we aren't staying here until relieved.

OOC: success by 1
"'ave a look 'ere Cap'n."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:21, Tue 20 Sept 2016.

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 11):

Three locations are marked. One is a medium sized Island with a large burnt section. The second is a mountainous region, whilst the third is a lovely small island with a mountain lake.

Nice, where is the damn destroyer?

"Let's get in a closer orbit and see if our sensors can pick up anything, from the marked regions?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Wed 21 Sept 2016.

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 14):

"The burnt section is where he crashed. We managed after about a week of shooting at him to hit his Manoeuvre drive. Whilst our gunnery has improved, I think he has repaired the damage. Ok, so perhaps it was not a week of shooting, but it seemed like it...If you have some supplies we can wait a little longer.

The other two sites marked seem to be primitive settlements. One has been attacked and probably does not have to many left. A few tanks will do that. They have 4 Shuttles they use as transports too. Seems to be a company down there, and they can do what they like. The primitives seem to have negligible arms."

"Cap'n, they'd be sitting ducks against the both of us, plus our fighters!" Lewis interjects gleefully.

So Captain luv, should I take her down to see what we can find?"

We'll share ... two is always better than one ... get us a list of absolute necessities, as we don't carry a lot of supplies either and we have 35 Labrysians aboard as well. Once he is no longer a threat, we'll kill the tanks... Let's put the fighters up... we can then provide him more missiles than he can stop... do you still have a few left?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 18):

"Of course, in order to shoot at him through the Atmosphere, we would have to get within range of his Dorsal turret. I notice the Scout is conspicuously is staying on the other side of the planet to himself..."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:30, Wed 21 Sept 2016.

Laughing... He is a scout after all... his job is to report, not fight. Can't we put missiles through the atmosphere?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 20):

"We can, sir, but due to the atmospheric pressure creating resistance on their hulls, they will overheat and trigger the detonators if they go over 740 mph. Since they self-detonate after a minute, this reduces their range somewhat! This also makes them very vulnerable to point defence fire, which is probably why the scout is staying away.

Missiles designed for atmospheric operations, such as the TML, have shorter ranges in space, but longer in atmosphere as they are designed to overcome this problem."

"So lets go find them and launch the missiles at close range."

Yes, since we don't need line of sight for those.


OOC - Are the Fighters capable of working in the atmosphere?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 23):

"Disturbingly, the Dastavka, her fighters and her ships boat can all travel faster than that in the atmosphere. So too, could the Destroyer they are targeting, and the shuttles, as all are designed for atmospheric  operations. Only space missiles are not, no doubt to save costs...But of them only the Dastavka and her ships boat are armed with anything other than space missiles. Oh, and the APC, but it does not fly or float well."

He pauses. "I guess Tanyas grav bike with a Mortar could be considered armed as well."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:20, Wed 21 Sept 2016.

Laughing   I think we'll leave Tanya's bike aboard.  But the destroyer is stationary... so the missiles might still work? Digging in with Lasers means it's just DASTAVKA as all the fighters only have missiles. That's a crappy contest.

"Cap'n, I could take the boat down, with a small team, and do some scouting, while you remain in orbit. Might be good to see who these primitives are first, before we make contact, or try to arm them."

You did hear that the Government destroyer put some tanks down there?

"Yes, Cap'n. but up here, we have an "eye in the sky". It would be doubly effective with a coordinated ground, effort."

"In the meanwhile, perhaps we could doctor up some of our missles some, to make them orbital air-to-surface jobs? give them some sort of insulation on the nose, perhaps...."

"You provide the mortar, I'll provide the grav bike."

In reply to Tanya Weaver (msg # 30):

"That might just take longer than we have. They would need to be streamlined and be made of different materials. Actually a 64mm shaped charge mortar would likely do a lot of damage to either a starship or a tank, if you have those rounds, Tanya."

[Secret to Tanya Weaver: The mortar was installed on the grav bike following action against Vilani troops. As such, you do have some of those warhead. They are on your char sheet.]

Very well Duke... at the moment the Starship is the biggest threat... let's do what we can to disable it, then we can bring DASTAVKA down a bit and fry the tanks...

"So we going down now?" she says with a smile. "Oh, I got a Dragonfly Ultralight I can fly to scout but it is not much for combat"

Lets go down, but not in sight of the destroyer...

"Good thing I picked up that grav belt in aegir, and trained in something a little heavier than my trusty pistol.." Lewis pats his sidearm.

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 35):

As you approach the other side of the planet, the sensors start beeping.

"Actually, sir, I have just picked up a three shuttles travelling in convoy. Destination unknown, but they seem to be heading towards an Island marked on the map as having primitives. They are beyond the horizon from the destroyer, and heading further."

"Do you think it's a raid?"

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 37):

"Hard to tell, sir. Three shuttles is a bit much for a scouting trip or foraging for food, I would think. Could contain 4 APCs with 64 Troops, 2 Scout tanks and a Medium tank, or there could be a couple of guys out hunting for lunch. Can't say."

"I'm going to see if I can pick up any comm signals.. it was mentioned the primitives were using radios."

Lewis attempts to hone in on broadcasts, but turns up nothing. "Nothing but static..."

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 39):

"Heheh, you forgot to open the wide bandwidth Lewis. Here, let me help you.

Yep, picking up something....checking the frequency. It is encrypted...decoding...that's odd, that is the same encryption as Terrans used last century. What is the chance of that?

Locking in the source, sir.

Got it. Small island."

"Heh heh heh... blast! well done!"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 08:05, Thu 22 Sept 2016.

OK, Lets take out the three shuttles ... bust 'em all. Lasers should do it, but if we can use a missile, feel free.  Kat, try to avoid their fire but let's nail these dudes.

Lewis calls the gun crews to their stations.

In reply to PO Gun Da-bin (msg # 41):

Gun Da Bin... make contact and let them know we are friendly and human.  Lewis, get the shuttles.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Thu 22 Sept 2016.

"Aye Cap'n. Right! Let 'em have it!"

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 46):

The beams strike all three shuttles, disabling them. Travelling low above the water, they splash down spectacularly and keep sinking below the waves.

Hopefully they have no submarine capability... Lewis, you'll need to take a few Humans and the Labrysians... I need all gunners to remain aboard as well as the fighter pilots. Take our shuttle down with the APC.  Tanya, if you'd like to go, you have permission ... I will OK any other officer or PO that wants to go down. Duke, You may want to look at the technology and see what we have here... don't screw anything up! That Includes any females ... at least until we know what we are dealing with...

Kat flies after the shuttles and then heads for the island. "So, I can't bring back a souvenir local?"

I didn't say that you couldn't... but so long as that Destroyer is functional, you stay here to fly this thing ... we may need every skill we have.

Lewis calls the troops and will hand-pick a team, then take them to the armory to be equipped. He then calls for the shuttle and vehicle to be prepared.

Gun Da Bin, keep scanning... I don't want any surprises.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 52):

"Sir, just recalibrated the scanners to use the survey module sensors to give some idea of what is underwater. Can't get a clear picture, but there were some movement, indicating they are continuing on their previous route, though more slowly now...

Given they are just 150 miles from where we were getting the radio signals from, that is probably the nearest land anyway.

Made radio contact with the 'primitives', and they use accented English, ableit a little dated! Asking us to identify ourselves..."

OK, Give them Ship name and the fact that we are Terran... find out how many there are.


So we need to finish those damned Shuttles... let's go back and make them stop permanently.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 54):

"Beams won't work very well underwater, sir. Of course, neither will plasmas or flamers...or mortars, sorry Tanya. Or LAWs for that matter. Where is a torpedo when you need one. Or a depth charge...like a Limpit! Duke, do you have any of them?"

His eyes light up for the last bit.

In reply to Illiam Jones (msg # 55):

"Sir, the are identifying as the Generation ship 'New Tel Aviv'! They say there were 4 bases, but the one around the old ship was attacked a few days ago. They are asking for assistance to repel the next attack, and requesting we inform Terra!"

News to Terra will be slow, and a response slower... we are it for the moment.  How many inhabitants are there? ... we do have medical facilities and contact with a bigger base. We can either evacuate you or have some support move in... we are trying to dispose of the attackers now.

We have some Limpit mines alright... 30 of them if memory serves me... but getting them attached will be an issue.

"If we've the resources aboard, I could adjust some of our turrets to fire blue-green beams, Cap'n. That'll get 'em, under the water!"

Lewis thinks for a moment, and nod to himself. "I also have another idea, about improving our lasers... But that's for an officers meeting."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:45, Fri 23 Sept 2016.

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 60):

"They say there are about 600 of them left scattered over 3 bases. They do not want to be evacuated, but rather properly armed."

"Aye, it's their home. They came in a generation ship...Incredible."

I concur ... Andrew needs to make this his next base.  Load the Shuttle with what AT and such weapons that we have, leave some for us... split the rest three ways... we'll drop some off to each group or let them spread them around; make sure they know how to use them.  Gun Da Bin... keep tracking the shuttles... sooner or later they become vulnerable again.  And let's not forget the Destroyer.

"Aye aye Cap'n." Lewis returns to the armory and obtains the following: half the stock of grenades, thrown, and launchable, along with the attachments for the rifles they go with, as well as half the gauss weaponry, which he has a feeling they would be able to use best, providing they aren't up on laser technology. and 20 of the mines. he procures half the ammunition as well, and finally takes a laser rifle and a cache of cells for himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:45, Sat 24 Sept 2016.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 63):

"Sir, I lost the shuttles going down when they reached 50 yards deep, but the water here is 130 yards deep, so they may well be crushed at that depth. Four APCs and what appears to be a Medium Tank seems to have escaped, though, and remain at 15 yards depth. Unfortunately too deep for our Beams, which will unlikely penetrate more than 7 yards if we were just above them, and much less from in orbit.

If we deal with these tanks though, then we will have bought time to be able to send a freighter with more weapons for the colonist. I am sure Andrew will be glad to find more customers, and send Terra the bill!"

[OOC: Not having exact details other than they do not work in water, I will say Beam weapons loose 1d damage per yard of water they travel through. From Orbit, they do half damage to something on the surface.

Lewis, please feel free to copy the inventory and then indicate how many of which items you are taking down in the ships boat. Remember, the Labrysian weapons will be difficult for humans to use, and since they bought some with their own cash, they will be reluctant to give them up!]

We will not take any weapons from the Labrysians... not my guidance. That would be theft. We will share about ⅔ of what we have... half the limpits is fine ... perhaps some of the anti-material stuff, if they can use it.

Lewis gives 5 mines back to the personnel and gives them clearance to the armory, ordering their return.

"I would like to go, sir.  I could use a change of scenery."

You certainly may do so... I thought you might want to go, but avoid the gin trees. Let's go back near the underwater travelers, as soon as the shuttle is away,  and try a couple of missiles... not ideal but given the shallow depth, they should be effective.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 69):

"I would have to be the best option to fly the shuttle. I would suggest then that we take all of the Security and Gun crew, except Rodney and Ivan as they are best on Beams, down with us as well. Marcus can drive the APC and Natalie might be a bonus to negotiate if we have to. Tanyas bike is still in the APC from last time."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:21, Sun 25 Sept 2016.

You may fly it... But I want all turrets manned, not just two... no DASTAVKA, No way Home. Gun Da Bin, contact the Scout and see if it will relay the message to Aegir about this Century ship here. They can resupply there too.

Lewis explains the situation of the colonists to the labrysian rebel captain, that they are unaware of the rebellion, and may be frightened upon seeing them, so to use tact. He also suggests to Gun Da-bin, that he make the colonists aware that we have labrysians with us, but they are on our side, as they are rebels against the ones that have been attacking them.
"Everythin's a go, Cap'n."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:28, Mon 26 Sept 2016.

OK, On your way... stay in contact... like constantly... this is a pretty fluid situation...



[Private to GM: Plasma weapons have normal or reduced effectiveness in the atmosphere? I expect Lasers are degradd some?  OH, and are we(DASTAVKA) in the atmosphere now or still in low space orbit?... I thought the last... ]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Mon 26 Sept 2016.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 73):

Dastavka drops of the shuttle and returns.

[Secret to Cyril Zotmund: Dastavka is where you tell it to be. I had thought was in the atmosphere.

Range of all direct weapons is divided by 500 in atmosphere. So beam  turret will have a range of 59/139 miles in atmosphere if fired into atmosphere. A space plasma turret, such a medium tanks have, will have a range of 19/59 miles in atmosphere if fired in atmosphere.]

OK... then to keep you and I on the same track.... lets say she is in the upper atmosphere...

Kat flys the ship "Guess I got to stay here. I do want to meet the locals at some point"

As would I... but we have to eliminate the threat first...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 77):

As you approach the location of the vessels underwater at an altitude of 10 miles, now about 100 miles from the island, Gun notices something.

"Sir, the larger one, presumably the tank, is approaching the surface. It will surface within a minute."

OK, All guns, Greet that tank with every laser we have, do not let it transmit, so start when it is still a meter or two deep....

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 79):

As you are waiting for it to reach the surface, PO Gun becomes alarmed.

"Sir, they are still 10 yards down, but powering up the main weapon! We are under attack!"

[Secret to Katherine 'Kat' Steele: Kat, need a Piloting(Aerospace) roll. Well, actually a dodge roll, which is Piloting(Aerospace)/2 +1 for combat reflexes, if appropriate...]
This message was last edited by the player at 05:30, Mon 26 Sept 2016.

Shoot them, Kat evade, Fire a couple of missiles.

Kat pilots the Dastavka so as to avoid being hit and to give her gunners a good shot.

19:23, Today: Katherine 'Kat' Steele rolled 9 using 3d6 with rolls of 2,1,6.  Piloting(Aerospace)/2 +1.

19:23, Today: Katherine 'Kat' Steele rolled 8 using 3d6 with rolls of 3,2,3.  Piloting(Aerospace.
[Private to GM: She made the Piloting(Aerospace by 10. She made the dodge by 1. ]

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 81):

The plasma bolt flys past as Kat jerks the Dastavka in impossible directions to get out of its way in ways a fighter pilot would be proud of. Incredibly, she succeeds, and the bolt seems to warm the armour as it passes.

A salvo of missiles flies down to respond, but the tank sinks to a lower depth again and simply runs away from them. The beams simply light up the water uselessly.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:35, Tue 27 Sept 2016.

OK, lets watch the tank... next time, I want his backside fried...


OOC - Interesting that his plasma bolts seem less affected than our beams and missiles ...  all which should have hit with a second or so of firing (ie when he was shallow).

Transmission from Lewis: *PSSHT* "Cap'n, we're in position. We've armed the colonials, and we've laid a mine field across, what I believe to be the only viable way up, from the beach. What can you tell us about our quarry?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 02:13, Tue 27 Sept 2016.

Well they are pressing on and have taken a pot shot or two at us ... may be a while before they get to you ... we need to loop back and check on the Scout and Destroyer ... we'll be back.

Transmission: "Understood, Cap'n." *PSSHT*

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 87):

The scout is half way to the jump point, but in order to check on the Destroyer you will have to go around the planet, putting you in range of his guns unless you put some distance between you.

At their current rates, you estimate they will be another 3.5 hours. You still have 2 fighter pilots and three missile fighters aboard.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:05, Tue 27 Sept 2016.

In reply to Fate (msg # 88):

IIRC one fighter is Hor's de combat... or have we fixed it?

I think we'll come in low and rather fast, instead of high ... our lasers do better than his plasma weapons, our computers are faster and he has had some level of damage... the two fighters can use our distraction to try for a few good hits from other directions. We know where he is/was... Assume the Scout can confirm that? He doesn't get much warning of direction or incipient attack.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 89):

Scout confirms where he was. All but 2 Pilots are all with the away team, or flying Dastavka.

Fighters flying low can get pretty close due to planetary curvature. Close enough to launch missiles...

Kat continues to fly, keeping an eye for any other ships.

In reply to Fate (msg # 90):

Are you using active sensors as you do your attack run on the Destroyer? Also, referring to the map for group 0, what direction are you and the fighters making the attack runs from? Run me through what you plan. Kat, you may need a piloting roll, perhaps worth rolling it ahead of time.

Passive at first... active when it's obvious we are coming... Dastavka will enter between the 10 and the 20 headed along the shore line ... Fight 1 comes from the other side of the hill following the far shore line until it launches, then evades out of there.  Fighter 2 will try to come in on a line from METAL to the number 40 and leave. Fighter one initiates, then Fighter two down low and Dastavka a bit higher using the hill for cover. I expect both fighters to use the terrain to cover their arrival and retreat, Dastavka will Jam for a second or so just as the  fighters break cover, and then shut it down.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 93):

OK, we will be using regular combat now, rather than Space combat. Ie, 1 sec rounds, main ships guns fire every other round, missiles move at 370, Dastavka moves at about 3,000, and Fighters at 2274! That means you have a -19 to hit travelling at full speed, and they have a -19 to hit you. However, all space weapons have +30 Acc (Normal sAcc = Acc+30, they are more accurate due to space distances) That means at full tilt, you add +11 to hit, and the Ship adds +11 to hit you. The reason we do that is because there are at least a couple of scout tanks, which use regular plasma cannon...

As the fighters approach on their run, they send in a full salvo of missiles. Most are shot down by a combination of the scout tanks that reveal their positions on the north and south ends of the hill despite the Jamming neutralizing any benefit they may have had from targeting, and the Dorsal turret of the downed destroyer. One missile hits the northern scout tank, however, destroying it completely before the fighter flies back behind the lee of the hill.

Dastavka side turrets open up on the Scout tank whilst launching a full salvo of missiles, with Jo and Mao cutting the scout until the plasma core of the gun erupted spectacularly.

At this point, you are about to have 8 birds fly over the hill. You and the Destroyer are not able to fire at each other due to the hill, but both will be able to simultaneously once you rise above it/cross it.

Roger... do we have any benefit for being TL 10 vice TL 9?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 95):

Better computers, Guns that do more damage, smaller power supply allowing for bigger engines, ie higher speed...and that is probably not all...

It is basically a heavily armoured metal hunk sitting in a burnt out forest with a heavy plasma turret on top. Not sure what you are looking for...

Do you plan to stay in the lee of the hill, reducing the chance of the missiles to hit due to the controllers not having a clear picture of what is going on, or rise over it for full line of sight, and risk a salvo from the Dorsal turret?
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:12, Wed 28 Sept 2016.

Kat waits for orders.

We intend to use our speed and multiple targets to try and finish this quickly ... it's a risk, but not knowing their condition makes them too big a risk to leave unattended. They have to be dispatched.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 98):

Kat, going to need a dodge...

Kat flies like a madwoman and tries to avoid getting hit.

(ooc- Katherine 'Kat' Steele rolled 5 using 3d6 with rolls of 1,2,2.  dodge.)

 Cyril grabs and holds on  Hot Damn Woman... That'll keep 'em guessin' ... Hopefully the gunners can still get a bead on the Damn Destroyer.'

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 101):

It is not needed. As the Dastavka screams over the ridge, Kat slews the vessel sharply to the right. The dorsal turret fires to the left, leaving scorchmarks up the side of the Dastsavka. However, that means they make no attempt to shoot down the 8 missiles that the Dastavka launched. With a clear line of sight to the stricken destroyer, all eight missiles slam into it, destroying the turret and the bridge. Sensors also indicate a major radioactive leak initiating in the area...

OK, I think that should put paid to them, Circle back Kat... Gun Da Bin, give me a comprehensive scan... about a minutes worth... we need to be on our way... the Fighters  can rejoin for now and save fuel.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 103):

As you circle back. Gun does a comprehensive scan of the wreckage and island.

"Apart from about 30 Labrysians scattered about the island, some of whom have been shooting at us with AM guns, there does not seem to be much left functioning in the destroyer. A number of possible life signs inside, but I can't be sure with all the background interference."

As you circle over the mountain, a lucky shot hits the hull near the cargo bay, causong minor damage. The engineers think they will have it patched within a day...

OK, let's get the ship out of here...  back to the setteler's island.

Kat turns the sship and heads back towards the island "OK, I am going to need a good drink after that, who wants to join me? I got some fresh made gin"

No one until we have things under control love ... nor you ... we may have to do it again...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 107):

The trip back to the colony is timely. A Labrysian APC is just disembarking troops as you arrive. Scans as you approach do not reveal the other two APCs, however.

OK, lets blast the APC and surrounding troops. ... Guns we need to find the others... may be working around the other side...

Lewis transmits his position and those of the other groups to the captain, so if they fire, to avoid those areas, where we are.

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 110):

Dastavka flies in, the nose turrets identifying the Labyrsian APC at 10 miles. Ivan, on the triple gun in the nose, hits the APC squarely, causing it to fall into the water, disembarking doors open. The remaining Labrysians scatter, with three being killed by the beam strafing as you approach. Only Rodney holds his fire as he looks for the other APCs.

As you get within 5 miles, the Labrysians do not return the favour. Four missiles streak towards you. (Kat, dodgex2!)

Kill the missiles Rodney...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 112):

Rodney uses one barrel for each missile, and takes down three. One is still on its way...

Kat flies the ship around to avoid the missiles.

22:05, Today: Katherine 'Kat' Steele rolled 5 using 3d6 with rolls of 1,1,3.  Dodge.
22:05, Today: Katherine 'Kat' Steele rolled 9 using 3d6 with rolls of 4,1,4.  dodge. [Private to GM: Made the first one but missed the second one by 1]

Cyril grabs for something to hang onto as Kat flings the ship around again...  Damn Woman... feel like a frog in a blender.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 115):

The quick barrel roll strains the artificial gravity, and the missile passes where the left wing was during level flight, giving a fright to the fighter pilot there, who are still standing by in their crafts.

"Hey, you want to hold on or take a missile up your ass?" she says as she laughs, like she is having too much fun,

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 117):

"Don't celebrate too fast. I found those other two APC's I think. They are surfacing about 2 miles out from the colony, one to the East and one to the south west. They look like they are making a break for the colony..."

OK, all the missiles on one and use the beams on the other... let's cut them up...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 119):

At this point you are about a mile from the island, about 6,000 yards from one and 5,000 yards from the other. Launching a full salvo of missiles at the more distant one, the Dastavka's Beams focus on the nearer one.

Whilst Rodney’s turret jammed, Ivan sliced the weapon neatly off the top of the APC with his triple beams, cutting down into the craft. Whether it was Ivan's shot that caused the craft to splashdown, or the other beams that cut it up is hard to tell, but it soon came to rest in about 30 yards of water about 2400 yards off the shoreline.

The craft under attack from the missiles faired better. Incredibly, its Plasma Gatling was remarkably effective at dealing with the slower missiles in the atmosphere, shooting down seven of them. Unfortunately for them, you launched eight. The last missile slammed into the front of the APC, causing such an explosion that the surge knocked out all power, bringing it down just 500 yards off the shoreline in 12 yards of water.

OK, Both are down in fairly shallow water, the one to the SE seems about a mile or so off shore, the other around a ¼ miles off shore. I suspect that they'll be able to disgorge troops, but we'll see,

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 121):

"Confirmed, sir. The one to the South West is about quarter of a mile offshore in about 30 yards of water, and the other is about a mile offshore in about 12 yards of water. As they are about 9 ft high, it is only about 9 yards below the surface. Neither depth is lethal to Labrysians, as far as we know. We really need sonar to see if there are individuals leaving the APCs."

 Transmission:"Cap'n, taking the APC, to check out an eastern heading. Enemy APC one mile offshore.." *PSST*

Roger, let's go see the one to the southwest... maybe we can do more. ,
This message was last edited by the player at 22:01, Mon 03 Oct 2016.

"Do we have anything we can convert to something like a depth charge?"

The missiles... but not especially effective it seems. On the other hand, exposed troops in the water would be seriously affected by the concussion.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 126):

"I concurr. The APCs and the other vessels seemed to have extremely heavy armour for vehicles, comparable to warships. Troops don't, and though they have normally have heavy armour by human standards, missiles have very heavy warheads, especially if spread out!"

"So can anyone do that? I don't have munitions skills, if we can convert them into concussion bombs it might work"

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 128):

"I don't think we would need to...we just fly them into position and detonate them. No conversion necessary, but the gunners controlling the missiles need to know what they are doing..."

[OOC: Just require a Gunner(Missiles) roll by the gunners at the turrets controlling the missiles.]

OK Guns, talk to them and we'll send a few ...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 130):

"Detonate 10 yards from bottom, spread 30 yards in a pattern 2 deep by our wide, right? That would cover an area 120 yards by 60 yards with enough explosives to punch through their armour."

OK, Let's give it a shot...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 132):

"Very well sir. Launch Missiles.

Which APC are we targeting sir?"

The missiles launch.

The one to the SE ... per Msg 124

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 134):

The missiles launch, and the seas seem to erupt as they detonate. As you are not configured to detect rock like creatures on the ocean bed, you cannot tell what effect it has though.

"Can we scan the floor of that water?"

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 136):

"The survey sensors are only set up to scan depth. They are ill suited to looking for creatures there. But we are closer than orbit, so perhaps they can be altered..."

OK, if it's not too much trouble... and we can switch back quickly

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 138):

"It will take 10-20 minutes to reconfigure the survey sensor array either way. That me be too late to contribute..."

Probably, lets go assist the away Team and we can keep an eye on the beach for anything wandering out.

"OK, boss, what me to go in high and then drop down, just in case?"

Sure, that will be fine... the lasers won't much care against troops in the open.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 142):

The only action so far is with the Labrysian squads under Ronovan to the north-west. Unfortunately, they have a lot of cover in the bush.

Kat heads over and stays high as they scan the area.

Looks Like the Government troops are trying to turn the Rebels flank ... they may not know it... let's put a bunch of laser fire on them, at least it will warn Ronovan and we may kill off a few as well; Guns, can you pick up their APC?... might be good to make damn sure it dead too. Watch for Missiles sent our way.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 145):

"APC seems dead in 4 ft of water where we last left it. No activity around it for now...but it is a sitting duck if you want to take pot shots at it.

There seem to be several more teams behind the ones coming in contact on the ground, tough foliage makes it hard to be sure...no missile locks detected."

In reply to PO Gun Da-bin (msg # 146):

Officer Sigorney and Petty officers Jo, Peter and Mao target the enemy fire team 4, with limited success. Whilst they hit most of their targets, they also hit what they were hiding behind and start the foliage on fire as well. It seems to burn well.

Good enough gunners ... any surprise they hoped for should be gone. Anything else we can effectively deal with for them?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 148):

"The fire is a two-edged sword. We can't see much now, and our visibility will drop as it grows. I think there were more nearer the beach, but it is hard to tell."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:13, Sun 09 Oct 2016.

Any information from the away team?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 150):

"They seem to be aboard the ships boat, sir. Except for the Labrysian contingent, who are engaging troops."

OK, Thanks Gun Da Bin ... Keep an eye on things ...  That Tank or survivors from the APCs could be a bother...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 152):

"Yes Sir. By our calculations, the tank won't be here for a few more hours yet..."

I understand, but that's not a surprise I fancy right now.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 154):

"Aye, Sir. Will keep a watch for him."

Kat continues to move the ship around to make it a harder target.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 156):

You continue high above in evasive manoeuvres, but nothing is seen or reported for at least ten minutes.

Guns... has anything come up from those APCs we splatted?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 158):

"They are staying underwater for now in the east if there are any survivors, though those few reported coming ashore are from the one in the southwest that we also hit with a salvo of missiles. From the numbers reported, there are either a lot we got or a lot more still to come. The first APC we hit that was landed disgorged a number of troops that the Labrysian agents dispatched."

In reply to PO Gun Da-bin (msg # 159):

"Sir, scanning for those that are in the treeline is extremely difficult using the regular scanners due to the Labrysians similarity to the surrounding rocks, both in temperature and apparent composition, but I can use the survey scanners to scan for the metals in their vests and weapons. It will only be accurate to within about 10 yards, though. Not enough to fire on them accurately. It will take a minute to calibrate the scanners for that..."

He moves to the sensor arrays and begins typing away furiously at the keyboard, broken with the occasional electronic beeps and buzzes.

But that allows the colonist and away team to know where the threat is... which will help them defeat it.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 161):

"Yes Sir. Working on that now...

In reply to PO Gun Da-bin (msg # 162):

After about ten minutes, Gun stops typing furiously.

"Got them sir. I have got 9 signatures between the treeline and the beach. Two groups of four, it seems, at the treeline and one other reading back towards the beach."

OK, when the one headed toward the beach gets to the beach, gun him down ... not sure what he going for, but he isn't going to make it...  pass the locations of the others to Lewis, the shuttle and he APC

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 164):

"Yes sir. The one nearer the beach is heading inland, sir. Perhaps a straggler?"

"I could land on him" she says with a giggle.

In reply to PO Gun Da-bin (msg # 165):

Can we still zap him with out causing a huge fire?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 167):

"We could, sir, though there is still the chance of a fire, and it may be Lewis."

How the hell would Lewis get down there? OK, hold your fire... it's not worth the risk I guess.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 169):

"His last transmission was something like...'Fine. FINE! this has dragged on long enough!' before heading down to the treeline and disappearing from our sensors. It may not be him, but it may too."

*Transmission* "Aye, that was me. Since I seem to be the only one with chameleon capability, I decided to do some scouting of my own. Besides, NTA colonists are starting to chafe me."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 03:54, Wed 26 Oct 2016.

In reply to Lewis Eugene Grey (msg # 171):

"Ah, sir. About half of the signatures seem to be moving back towards Lewis' position."

Roger, Lewis, did you get that? You have company coming... seem to be  four of them.... not sure how they knew you were there, so be aware that they seem to have.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 173):

"Probably Lewis' active transmissions, sir. I am getting plasma fire in his location, but the heat applied to the other group is causing most of them to double back to their friends. Sensors are also indicating numerous radio transmissions from both groups."

Lewis, Sounds like you need to not transmit anymore and get your butt out of there while you can.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 175):

Gun moves over to the regular sensors to try to pick up Lewis, but the Chamaleon suit make it very difficult...until he get s transmission.

"Sir, the biometrics on his suit has activated an emergency distress. It looks like he has taken a hit. I am getting a hot object that seemed to be the target of the plasma guns...if that was him it may be more of a body recovery operation."

OK, lets gun the rest of them... fires be damned. Shuttle, do you have anyone aboard that could recover Lewis? We need to do a quick snatch.  Duke, I need you and Ronovan to move out and put a lot of pressure on these Government guys.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 177):

"Aye. We have Listing Armstrong and Tanya, Joan and Ronny"

OK, we'll cover, try to extricate him without taking a lot of damage.

She looks at the Captain "So, does that mean I need to take her down?"

Might help to get a little closer... but not too close lest we get shot at... Guns, can you give us a 360 x 360º scan just to make sure we aren't surprised.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 181):

"Aye, Sir. Scanning now..."

He works away for a few seconds...

"Nothing coming up sir..."

Understand Duke... bring him to the colony for burial.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 183):

"OK, Duke, Illiam, lets get everyone back up by the colony. We are scanning and so far seem to have no further targets. Let's get a quick update on the colonists, their history and what they may need. I'd also like to know how they got here, as we had to go through a good bit of Vilani Space to get here."

Kat takes the ship closer but keeps it moving.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 185):

"Sir, I have a weak radar signature just 4 miles out, coming in fast. It is coming from the north."

[OOC: Original attack came from NNW]

Roger, General Quarters... Kat get us around toward North ... Guns, can you give me an altitude?

Kat turns the ship and heads north. "Aye Captain"

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 188):

"About 100 ft sir. Small, but not that fast. Actually, pretty slow..."

OK, so we should be well above it... let's get a good ID before we do anything...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 190):

Petty Officer Gun taps away, going from one screen to another, and then back again.

"No IFF, no radio, no targeting system I can detect. No armour, either. Looks like a small scout plane of the colonists."

I imagine from another island ... just track it, but presume it friendly for the moment.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 192):

"They are passing underneath us now, heading in. They are about 3 miles from the colony island."

Roger

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 194):

After a few minutes, Gun gives an update.

"Sir, have visual analysis confirming it is small scout craft from last century, often carried on generation vessels. Terren design recognised. They seem to veer off to loiter around 1 mile from the colony..."

"Should we go down and talk with them?

Why, we should be able to talk from here... Guns, any markings we can use to hail it?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 197):

"Not that I can read from a mile away...perhaps if we get closer..."

Use the fancy sensors Guns... we can scan a world for gnats from 100,000 miles away, surely you can see this craft and count rivets if need be.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 199):

He laughs.

"Yeah, probably. Can you get him to stop moving relative to us then while I adjust the high powered Telescope?"

I am not stopping while there are enemy is out there."

Reduce the power to acquire it, then zoom to se it better... Kat, let's stop evading for a few moments.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 202):

" There seems to be a designation Bis8 on the roof. Sir, we could always use the same radio channels the colonists were using. It would seem more logical..."

Yup... try those Channel s and use that BIS-8 as a call sign.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 204):

Gun turns the radio to the channel initially used by the colony.

"Bis eight, Bis eight this is starship Dastavka above you. Please respond, over"
This message was last updated by the player at 09:15, Thu 03 Nov 2016.

"If you say so Captain" Kat slows the ship

In reply to Fate (msg # 205):

"This is bee one ess three. Are you human? Over."

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 207):

"Affirmative. Trade ship Dastavka from Terra, also known as Earth. This is Petty Officer Gun Da-bin, a Korean born in the USA."

He turns to Cyril.

"Guess I misread that marking. BIS8 and B1S3 look pretty similar..."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:22, Thu 03 Nov 2016.

"Need help. Eight hundred miles from here at the main settlement. Many wounded. Most dead."
The ultralight abruptly lost altitude as it went into a dive.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:08, Thu 03 Nov 2016.

Tell him to land on the island... it is safe. We'll get help organized and sent.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 210):

"B 1S 3, this is Dastavka, the island is secure and the Labrysians there are not hostile. Please land and report position of base, and we will organise a mission to assist. Over."

There was no response as the light craft fell rapidly towards the ground.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 212):

"Uh, Sir, he seems to be in a rather rapid decent for such a flimsy aircraft. He might be in trouble..."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:20, Sun 06 Nov 2016.

Crap... not much we can do..... Illiam, Theres a small aircraft of some sort to the north of the island, can you go to it's aid? It seems to be in distress.

Kat turns towards it, she tries to look to see if she could try and get to it.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 215):

Given your height and theirs, most unlikely...safely!

You mean a Mach 15 space ship zurping under them would allow them to safely come aboard?

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 217):

If the sonic boom did not smash it, the rapid decelleration probably would. He was only about 100ft up to start with, you were about a mile!

Only? ... I would have figured more like 10-20 miles...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 219):

At least a mile. I was not sure how close you had come during previous maneuvers...

I was just asking. :)

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 221):

So do you guys just hover for four or five hours?

No, we circle in a large path allowing us to see out and still track their surrounds. We let the crew stand own to eat and do things while still maintaining alertness and limited defenses.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 223):

Sensors are all clear, and preliminary patrols by fishing craft (equipped with sonar) indicate any survivors have left the immediate vicinity of the island.

"OK captain Boss hubby, what you want to do now?"

Do the survey... it's going to require some precise maneuvering... honey

She starts maneuvering the ship for the survey.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 227):

Over the next three days, the Dastavka does a detailed planetary survey.

Aquitaine is a large planet, 8,100 miles (13,000 km) in Diameter and with gravity slightly larger than earths as well (1.07g). It has a Dense Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere and is covered by 74% water, but there are 7 considerably large continents. The Climate is a comfortably cool 40 to 60 F, or 4 to 15C.

You have radio contact and the shuttle can dock and depart, but are otherwise unable to manoeuvre while this operation is carried out, unless you want to risk loosing a large number of hours.

Understood... given no emergencies, we finish the survey.

"Well, this is sooo boring. I hate doing surveys"

Yes, but also so informative...

Kat is sooo bored, she starts making some sensor scans.

Today: Katherine 'Kat' Steele rolled 10 using 3d6 with rolls of 4,1,5.  Electronics Operation/TL10 (Sensors). Made by 2

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 232):

Kat finds that this is a lovely planet with many life forms, large ravines and spreading rainforests, as well a expansive tundras with large herds of beast on them of some description.

"Cyril luv, we should take a trip down to the planet and do some exploring. I am bored up here"

Perhaps, when we have things mostly under control... Kat, we are close, but not quite there.

"OK, I was just hoping. It would be nice to go down and have a picnic, don't you think?"

I'd like to know more about the place myself.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:30, Thu 15 Dec 2016.

"Yes, we spend too much time in this metal thing. I would like to explore some"

How about a Boat trip, Kat?  Seems the locals need some qualified fighters aboard. We'll put Dastavka down at the main colony for maintenance and Let Duke manage that and some conversions with the ships shop available.  Illiam can take is to this boat of theirs.

She grins Cyril "That would be great. Lets do it and see what they got here"

OK, Put us down by the colonist camp.


Illiam, bring Duke and meet us at the colonist camp, you can bring a few of us back to work as security...  Duke gets to oversee maintenance and that power supply conversion.

OK, Let's head for that Colony landing spot.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 242):

You arrive back at the Colonial fishing base, which is starting to return to full operations again. Despite loosing a couple of small craft, they managed to keep most of the fishing boats away from the action, probably due to the interception of the Government craft on the way.

Illiam returns to the colony soon after.

We gather up most all our gear, He'll bring everything except his safe, mini computer and Space suit. He leaves the Gauss rifle and brings the storm carbine with grenade launcher. He does bring the Grav Bike, and Grav belt both, as they may offer scouting, transportation and emergency help.

Bringing Electronics tool kit Power tools kit and Small arms tool kit as well ...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:58, Fri 30 Dec 2016.

After landing the ship, she packs up some stuff and goes out to see where Cyril. "So my luv, where should we go? You have a grav bike?"

Yes dear, just in case, but we'll be going with Illiam...

"Wow, I didn't take you for that type. But that might be fun" she says with a smile.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 247):

"You can count me in. All aboard..."

He departs, and you are able to make use of the grab bike to leave the shuttle and joined n the ship while it is at sea...

Ooc, with a piloting(grav) roll of course...

Cyril immediately crashes into the sea killing both Kat and himself ..... even as a default skill from high performance piloting.

Then the ghost of Kat will haunt the Dastavka

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 250):

Lol, if he know s he can't drive the grab bike, it would be reasonable to ask Kat, the pilot to drive! Failure would only mean an embarrassing swim...

Well since there is no such skill that I can find, it's a crappy deal ... I have decent piloting skills although certainly not Kat's level. And since it is my Grav Bike, one would assume I can ride/fly it...

And that's why you DIED!

Yup! and took you with me too !

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 254):

Try piloting(contragrav). It is the high tech equivalent to Driving(Automobile), so if you have the latter, I would let you swap for it. Most folk would have it if they have a grav car...

In reply to Fate (msg # 255):

Thanks, I do have it... but at 11 ... the 14 DR is the killer, unless Kat can seize control (Bike built for two?)

Do I need to make a roll to save our butts?

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 257):

lol, no.

You make it down, but rather roughly. There may be some carpentry work for you to start with on the stern deck. The skipper is not terribly impressed, but the damage is quite minor. A re-inforced deck would have withstood it just fine, as did the bike.

"I guess you are not the pilot on the starship, huh?"

Not Hardly... but this lady is...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 259):

"So the pilot is riding passenger for a guy who can hardly drive...brilliant! My wife will show you to your rooms, and we should put the toy down in the hold for now. I am expecting reasonable weather, so we should make way while we can."

Turning to one of the kids aboard, he orders them to hoist the mainsail and get under way.

You get confused ... she can pilot the hell out of a space ship but knows nothing of these Grav vehicles ... and I haven't had much opportunity to use it in space. We all get rusty without practice.   Cyril gives him a smile, despite his gaffe.

"Luv, I fly ultralights. I can fly this. Next time you can hold onto me" she says with a smile as she grabs her bag.

Oh I have no issues with doing that my dear...  although this doesn't work like that.

"I am sure about that"