"Well," Yas says with a lopsided grin, "I'll defer to the expert in this case, Miss Saskia Blake."

A moment passes where she tried to not burst out laughing, or possibly fighting some digestive issue.

"I'd say we keep everyone aboard and go to low orbit.  From there we can back up the Imperial troops - that sure won't just roll over either way - by picking off fighters that would attack others, while being close to space allowing us to, if it SNAFU even more, use a pre-plotted emergency jump to safeguard our passengers, and ourselves, preferably."

Jago sits quietly and listens to his crew talking over their options, while still keeping half an ear on the comm, alert for new developments.

Finally he comments, "We have about four hours before the invaders make orbit."

"I don't want to offer the passengers the opportunity to leave.  I feel that they're safer aboard Profit Margin than they would be on the ground, once word gets out of what's happening.  Add to which that part of the terms of their passage is that we will protect them to the best of our ability."

He settles more comfortably before continuing, "I'm also not prepared to allow the Sword Worlders to board us.  We are in Imperial territory, operating under Imperial license and Imperial law, and the Sword Worlds commander has no legal authority to demand that his troops be allowed access to this ship, its crew, passengers, or cargo."

"I'm also betting that the Imperial squadron in orbit is currently gathering data, and awaiting an order to fight back.  I don't believe they'll stand down."

His unlit cigar wanders from one side of his mouth to the other.

"My plan is to wait until the battle starts, then run away from it while the squadrons are distracted, and Jump to Extolay, where there is a Naval base and a garrison fleet.  Of course, I might need to change the plan at a moment's notice...  Ash, make sure you have a Jump plotted and ready, quick as you can let me have it.  Saskia, I assume that everything's good to go on your end.  Yas, Tylen... weapons armed and ready please."

"And Shui... let the passengers know what's going on, and reassure them that we'll do everything in our power to defend their lives and property."

"It looks about even up there." Tylen comments reporting on the state of the two war fleets  "The Swordworlders have the numbers, we have the technology." he shrugs as he comments.

Tylen has already been running checks on his systems, so he grins back at Jago.  "Sure ..."

Since it sounded like the rest of the crew was not inclined to be boarded, Ash was already working on the plotting solutions for any number of exit strategies.  "Already on it, Cap'n" the lanky navigator noted dutifully, though his eyes never left multiple streaming lines of data that scrolled down his screen.  His fingers never stopped working either as they continued to push and pull various portions of the calculation to and fro as they were worked upon.

He pushed the preliminary calculations to Jago's console, but of course, continued to refine the numbers.  Ash was actually working on three different sets to Extolay; all completely different approach vectors and velocities to the 100-D limit (and thus, the jump point) that he thought would be the best for them (and the furthest away from the bulk of the incoming Sword World contingent.  The elegant sweeping arcs of the proposed routes rezzed into existence on both piloting screens.

The fact that all three of the calculated routes made sure that the primary gunships of the Imperial Naval squadron were conveniently between the Profit Margin and the foreign aggressors' main force was probably pure happenstance.  Probably.

Jago turns in his seat and punches the volume on the comm.  A different voice, female this time, fills the Bridge, "... commanding INV Indomitable, to all Sword Worlds vessels.  This system is under the protection of the Third Imperium.  Your presence here constitutes an act of aggression.  We will not surrender.  You are ordered to alter course, return to your entry point, and power down.  Failure to comply will result in our taking action to ensure that you do so."

"This is Captain Elta Zaldana, commanding INV Indomitable, to all Sword Worlds vessels.  This system is... "  Jago mutes the speakers again, and transfers a sensor feed to the main screen.

The Sword Worlds ships are out towards the 100 diameter Jump limit, while the Imperial ships are close to the planet.  Vector lines extend from the approaching ships, indicating their most probable course, based on the most recent data.  A red circle expands outwards - the wave front of Zaldana's message.  It reaches, and passes, the invading ships.

Seconds tick by, and some of the Sword Worlders do change course, but only to spread out a little.

Lines start to emerge from the ships in near orbit, fuzzy and ill-defined at first, but becoming clearer as those ships accelerate and their courses become more definite.  They are moving to intercept...

As the Swordworld ships start to spread out, Tylen starts to analyse the data treams coming in, trying to identify the various models and sizes of ship.  Once he has a understanding of the composition of the Swordworld fleet, he tries something similar on the Imperial fleet.

However, he concentrates on the edges of the fleets, as he tries to spot strengths and weaknesses. He is not trying to get a full tactical understanding of the battle, but he is trying to identify areas where the Swordworlders are weaker than the Imperials. If he can spot a region where the imperials have an advantage, he will feed that data to Jago and Ash - on the basis that those areas might give them the best chance of slipping through without serious combat.

Between times, he makes sure that his sand and missile systems are fully prepared, and his laser is hot.

"Yes, Captain Lanza.  Ms. Blake."  With a nod, she excuses herself - the others are busy, and efficiency takes precedence over politeness.

Shui moves off to the galley, composing herself.  She takes a moment to consider, then stands straight, shoulders relaxed, and raises her dataglove.

+ Attention, passengers.  Attention passengers.  Please attend until the end of the announcement, then return to your quarters if you have exited them +

She waits a beat.

+ The Sword World Confederation Space Force has entered the Phlume system.  They have issued an order for all vessels to power down and prepare to be boarded for inspection. +

Her voice hardens.

+ Captain Lanza will not permit this violation of our rights and your safety. +

+ Imperial forces are in orbit.  They are prepared to resist.  Once the conflict begins, the Profit Margin will Jump from the system to an area of relative safety.  Our priority is the safety of this ship and the lives of those on board - the crew is working to the best of its ability to safeguard those lives. +

+ We will see you through this. +

+ Place your trust in the skill and dedication of the crew - in Officer Orgesh and Security Chief Crow on weapons, preparing to defend us all.  In Pilot Tescali on helm, to navigate us to safety.  In Engineer Blake, and her meticulous maintenance and tuning of the ship's systems to peak performance.  And most certainly in Captain Lanza, whose decisions and choices will lead us from this system. +

+ Now, please secure yourselves.  If you have any questions, a need for refreshments or medical attention, or simply wish to speak, contact me directly.  Do not leave your cabins. +

+ Hold fast. +

+ Steward Tiesi, out. +

A flick of the switch, then Shui sags.  She wipes the tears from her cheeks, proud in a way that her voice remained steady and strong throughout the address.  Proud, also, of the crew.  So very proud.

Medbay is already warmed up from their recent problem.  Everything is ready.  There is nothing more to do...than ensure the crew has the energy it requires, and to bring an element of stability and comfort.

Turning to the supplies, she begins preparing their favourite drinks and a small tray of sandwiches.

"Totally frelling not surprised!" declares Saskia as she watches the Imperial ships start to move.  "See?  The Swordie made a big mistake, telling the IN ships to frelling surrender.  That's just going to annoy them and make them want to fight more."

Then she turns to Jago.  "What?  Oh.  Yes.  Everything is running at peak.  And the Margin's a good ship.  Could go head-to-head with that garbage scow that the Swordies call a cruiser and blow the dren out of it."

Moving to activate the panel at her Bridge station, she transfers Engineering control to that station.

"Navy never backs down from a frelling fight." she declares proudly, "Especially not before it's even started."

He watched as the dozen and a half blips representing the Imperial spaceships streamed outwards towards the other set of blips representing the almost two dozen Sword World craft.  His fingers continued to tap out a rhythm as he worked trajectory vectors for the jump calculations.

Ash shook his head ruefully, musing to no one in particular and everyone on the bridge, "It's a desperate gambit for the Swordies.  With that ultimatum they need to win, it's a one way trip since most of them'll need to refuel before jumping again ..."

He grimaced; for while, they may be the enemy, that didn't mean that he had to hate them.  Or that Ash didn't feel some sympathy for those that had little choice based on the whims of  other individuals that who had a much higher pay-grade (though not necessarily a commensurately higher level of intelligence).

Three possible routes out of system appeared on the main tactical display of the bridge, Ash's preliminary calculations complete based on the tentative trajectories.  All of the routes tried to keep a fair distance from any projected fighting and tried to keep the bulk of the Sword World ships as far as possible from the Profit Margin.  A relatively easy thing to do, given the vastness of space.  The only wrench possible, was if someone really had a bee in their bonnet for the Margin specifically - any military grade ship could probably out-maneuver them.

But really, who would want to specifically target as tramp trader like them?

A proximity alarm sounds, and Jago announces, "Three ships just lifted without clearance.  No, make that four.  Traffic Control is... unhappy."  He takes a few minutes to select the course he likes best from the selection displayed before him.

Then he puts in a request for emergency clearance and, without waiting for a reply, ramps up the thrusters' power to maximum.

"This might get a bit rough." he warns everybody within earshot.

It doesn't seem too rough... the grav plates and inertial dampers mean that the ship might as well be sitting on the ground, as far as its occupants are concerned.

Profit Margin climbs vertically, heading directly out of the atmosphere by the shortest possible route.  As soon as the ship clears the atmosphere, Jago swings her into a low, fast arc that will swing her around the planet to connect with one of Ash's course plots...

The tactical display suddenly blooms with clouds of red and amber, as more vessels suddenly appear.  "Both sides have launched fighters!"

Tylen's analysis of the two fleets flashes up on a secodary display alongside the first main one.  The Sword Worlders have a cruiser, tentatively identified as Götterdämmerung Class, four destroyers, most likely Valkyries, plus a Siegfried Class frigate, and a number of assorted escorts.

For the Imperials, Indomitable is a Ghalalk Class cruiser, accompanied by five Midu Agasham Class Destroyers, two Fer-de-lance destroyer escorts, plus a mix of smaller vessels, including several close escorts and a couple of scout ships.

"According to this, the main fleets'll be in combat range in a little over two hours." Jago explains, gesturing towards the display.  "They'll be about 700,000 km out from Phlume.  Should start to pick up the fighter engagements about fifteen or twenty minutes before that.  By the time they start we'll be about 1.1 million km away from them, and about a third of the way to the 100 D limit and safety.  Unless anything interferes."

For about twenty minutes the Captain concentrates on the instruments.  Then he notices an anomaly.  "Look at these fighter groups."  Four clusters of markers on the display are tagged with new information, and their projected courses start to shift.  "They just altered course to avoid the battle.  Looks like they might be moving to intercept the fleeing civilians.  Not us... some of the other ships don't have Profit Margin's legs."

Shui slips onto the bridge just in time to catch the last comment, and shakes her head.  "Sad," she whispers, moving around like a ghost to place people's personal favourite - non-alcoholic - drink in the appropriate space nearby.  The sandwiches, she carries on a tray in-hand with some small disposable plates, and offers to every crewmember here.

"And perhaps not the best idea," she continues. "Detaching part of one's force to secure civilian objectives mid-battle removes a portion of one's strength from the battle itself.  I don't make claims to great strategic ability, but that doesn't seem to be the wise choice from a military standpoint."

"Probably a feint.  Trying to draw some of the Imperials away to defend the civilian traffic.  Then the fighters scatter, leaving the Imperial ship to try and catch up with its fellows." Jago opines as the battle plays out on the main display.

"Of course, if the Imperials don't fall for it, then it could turn out to be a real attack soon enough."

Stealing glances at the battle display in between keeping an eye on the Engineering instruments, Saskia suddenly lets out a surprised cry.

"One of the destroyers!  It's Shata Lunoqi!  My old ship.  Look at the transponder code." and her voice is filled with pride, "Now the Swordies are in frelling trouble.  Old Shata won't stand for their dren!"

Ash frowns slightly, his eyes never leaving the screen, "Is there anything we can do to help ensure the safety of the other civvies, Cap'n?"  For his part, Ash was already seeing about any course alterations that might help to divide or draw off some or all of the attacking fighters.  He knew that the military-grade fighters would be much faster then the Profit Margin; so, that was a losing proposition to flirt with engaging them in any way, shape, or form.

But, in his opinion, it was worth a look - even only a cursory one, especially if he could would work out a route that allowed the Imperial ships or fighters to intercept more effectively.  Of course, the Swordies would probably anticipate that type of ploy probably - meaning that they likely wouldn't fall for something like that, either.

So, really, the lanky navigator and ex-Navyman likely had to trust that his former service colleagues would attempt to protect the civilian traders of their own volition.  It would be most prudent for the Margin to not get involved at all in any of the engagements or maneuvers.  And Ash had no desire to be back ont the front lines of a battle.  He'd had enough of that in a previous life...

Tylen sits back and watches the  battle form on his monitors as he listens to the conversation in the cabin proper.  Jago is probably right about it being a ploy by the Swordworlders, but he half expects the  navigators from the merchant men to do the maths and decide whether it is safer to head back to the planet and into the atmosphere, or try and outrun the fighters, although it also wouldn't surprise him to see a squadron of imperial fighters launched either.  If only to keep the swordworld  fighter-jockeys honest.  After all, if there is a dog fight over to the side, it won't affect the main battle, but then nor will a few fighters likely affect the main battle much either. The big boys have better armour and weapons than that.

However, he smiles when Saskia identifies her old ship, and grins at her continuing faith in her old colleagues.  It must be nice to have that level of faith in the past.  His ships, on the other hand, had been like vessels passing in the night.  Rarely on one for more than a few months, and most of those small and very lightly armed.

Still, he monitors his sensors, and runs a few calculations on the sword world fighters.  They would be out of range for most of the weaponry, but his missiles could have the sort of range that could bother them

Looking at the display, Jago asks, "You can remember a ten digit transponder code for a ship that you haven't served aboard in the last four years?"

Then he looks at Ash's course plots and shakes his head.  "If we had a ship capable of 6Gs we could probably get close enough easily.  At 2Gs we've got a slight chance, but then the fighters might decide that they need to teach us a lesson.  And there's guarantee that they actually intend to attack anything.  As I said, it's most likely a bit of misdirection."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:50, Tue 22 Dec 2015.

At this point of the conversation Tylen chooses to offer up his own speculation "Well we could lob a missile in their general direction, to see if that discourages them.  But maybe we should wait until we can reach the jump point before they can get to us ...."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:04, Sat 26 Dec 2015.

Shui listens as the conversation swirls around her.  The thought of the ships actually attacking the civilians sits in her stomach like lead.  For a moment, she finds herself agreeing with her father and his philosophy: there are better, neater methods for dealing with this sort of conflict.

More surgical.

The doctor silently shakes her head, rejecting that thought.  One life, one thousand, in the end it's wrong either way.  All she can do is pray, here, that the loss of life is kept to a minimum, military or civilian.  There is no hope that no casualties will occur, no hope at all.

So now it's off to the ventral turret to offer refreshments to Tylen.  Moving up to it, she knocks on the hatch.  "Mr. Orgesh.  Sandwiches?"

The hatch is open, as it generally is when the ship is not in combat, and Tylen turns when Shui knocks  on the door frame.  Rather than watching the rest of the crew, he had been watching the screens -  although there really isn't all that much to see at the moment, and the default alarms will warn him of anything that needs urgent attention.

"Thank you, Shui." the gunner responds as he takes a disposable plate and takes a handful of sandwiches.  However, he is careful to peak inside to make sure that he gets some with the fillings he prefers, and leaves the more vegetarian options for the others who like that sort of thing.  After all, it would be rude to leave sandwiches that they can't eat.  Well, that is his excuse and he will defend it robustly, if required.

"How are the passengers getting on?  Any of them said anything yet?" he asks the steward casually.

Jago thinks for a moment, studying the main display.  Then, "Good idea Tylen.  Prep three missiles, just in case.  Can't see us hitting much from the distance we'll be at when we launch, but it might discourage them some."

Seconds, then minutes, tick by, until, "Hello.  Looks like you old colleagues have been given new orders Saskia.  They're changing course to intercept the fighters."

On the display, the line representing Shata Lunoqi's projected course blurs and becomes an expanding cone as that course becomes uncertain.  The cone starts to swing around its apex, where there is a point and an alphanumeric tag representing the destroyer's position.

The majority of the Imperial squadron continue accelerating towards the incoming Sword Worlders.

"Jago.  The transmitter in Tylen's panel broadcasts on a frequency used by the Navy, and we always keep it turned off.  If Tylen switches it on for a couple of seconds, it'll broadcast a coded signal on a Naval frequency.  The frelling Swordies won't have time to decode it, and even if they do it'll be meaningless telemetry.

"Then we'll switch it off again.  With any luck the drannits'll think it was a Navy ship, or maybe a half dozen of them, in low emission mode, and that some thoddo of a tech is about to be spaced for hitting the wrong control and accidentally giving away their position.  Might shake them up a little."

The Engineer has outlined her idea nervously, unsure of whether it's worth even trying.  But at the end of it, she smiles and asks, "What do you think?"

Tylen doesn't have much to do, the weapon systems are prepped anyway, although he does just check that everything else is ready to go if required.

He considers Saskia's suggestion for a moment or two, wondering how the false reading would affect the Imperial Fleet, but then decides they would probably work out who they were and what was happening from the transponder coded buried in the signal.

"That's a good idea too." Jago confirms, "We're far enough away that we could Jump before anybody reaches us."  And then he has an idea of his own, "I'm altering course.  The system data download from Traffic Control reported an asteroid about an hour away from us.  If we're close to that when we trigger the transmitter, then anybody looking will see a large mass, big enough to be a cruiser, at about the right location to be the source of the signal."

He makes the course correction and shuts down the thrusters.  "Now we'll just drift over there, nice and invisible."

Time passes, as the crew go about their duties.  On the main display the fighters still make for the civilian ships, which start to scatter.  With only 1G of acceleration they're going to find it difficult to avoid their attackers.  One by one they adjust their courses and make for the approaching Imperial destroyer.

"Ah, good.  In their position I'd be thinking of Shata Lunoqi as safety too."  Jago glances around the Bridge.  "Thirty five minutes until we put on our performance."

"Shui, go and check on the passengers.  They can come out of their cabins for now.  We're in no danger this far out, so there's no sense keeping them locked in.  Let them know that if any of them are interested, I can feed this over to them." and he waves a hand in the direction of the display.

Answering in the negative to Tylen's question, and appreciating the thanks, Shui moves on.

Time passes, as it is wont to do.

"Yes, Captain," Shui replies to Jago's instructions.  Immediately she moves off the bridge, heading for the lounge and keying her dataglove.

+ All passengers - while the matter at hand is not completely resolved, the captain has determined we are now out of danger.  If you would like to join me in the lounge for refreshments, we can - if interested - watch a live feed that captures the situation.  Or, should you desire, you may do the same in your quarters - simply send a message, and I will see about granting access. +

Arriving in the galley, she picks up more of her prepared sandwiches and heads for the lounge.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Tue 05 Jan 2016.