OK, since the planet/moon is basically conquered, why don't we pick up Meir and company... I assume the other ships will close up now.
A brief conference could occur and we could evacuate the Humans, or not and head back to tell the boss and or Labrysians the news ...

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 956):

The planet is far from conquered. here is still a sizeable Government force there, and whilst you have dealt with the the forces in orbit, digging out the troops in bunkers and caves in ravines and mines is another matter entirely.

The other (Labrysian) ships are, as you will find, very busy dealing with the research colony.

OOC: I guess this is the best chance I can offer as GM for a longer period of ground conflict. The rebel forces here are outnumbered, and your control over the space is pretty tenuous given its proximity to the homeworld. It will initially be a case of smaller forces with orbital superiority against larger ground forces. Of course, if you prefer, we could skip to the part where you assist in the final push against the Research colony, but really most of the space combat for Dastavka in this war is over, so you would be sent in trips to explore new worlds. The capital ships will be used with the full rebel fleet to hold this world once the research colony falls, as that will blockade the homeworld completely until they get Jump-2 drives...if they ever do. So logically, that is really just capital ship action, and Dastavka would really just be peripheral in those battles.

OK, so perhaps we need to get the information out, while fighters and other ships cover the ground effort. The sooner the Labrysian's know, the sooner they can respond.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 958):

Exactly. Though the trip back to the Labrysian high command just one jump away is unlikely to be super exciting. Hence the thought that you as players switch to ground troops, and character to match, might make for a more interesting side note. A brief spell from the starship, if you like.

In reply to Fate (msg # 959):

That's fine with me.

Though I do already have Samantha, depending on where she is.

Meanwhile, the recon team is in the thick of things without any real idea of what's happening.
It's been a wild ride right up there in the front seat, so we've been able to make a few assumptions (bit hard to miss armoured vehicles blowing up all around you), but beyond immediate, first hand observations, we know nothing of the big picture.
We don't have any long range comms set up at the moment either so getting a message through will be problematic.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 962):

Samantha and Gloria went with the James Brown, and the thread died with a AWOL chacracter... Think we can fast forward that a little to say that those two managed to get off the planet and escape back to Chrysolite with some Vilani pirates, before getting a ride back to work for Kalishnoikov again. Can put them back in the picture for you and Cyril in that case...or you can create new character.

I was going to bring in those two later in a mission for the Dastavka going back far behind the Vilani lines to retrieve them, but I will come up with something else. There is still the rest of the crew...

As You wish ... there is also Duke ... probably a useful person on this moon right now...

As I can't see the security dudes... don't have much to choose there ...  but we could each take one and play along with Meir.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 964):

Yeah, Duke would be a good and interesting option for you. Illiam may be a good option for Kat, too, or Officer Sigorney, who I think she has used before in similar situations.

Who are the guys with Meir?

Private Tonkin, Sergeant Thornhammer, and Tanya who's been extremely quiet (not a single post IC).
Our equipment is limited to only what we would need for the recon, plus some light weapons for defence - our heavy weaponry consists of just two 84mm disposable LAWs plus 25mm grenade launchers.
Both Tonkin and Thornhammer are capable soldiers with Thornhammer the only manportable heavy weapons "expert" (if you can call a 12 expert).
Running away is our preferred response to danger, but that's not exactly possible at the moment, not when there's a Lab AFV just 20 metres away and looking in our direction. :/

So I could run Thornhammer if that works for the game...  Kat could run Tanya, since the player seems gone... although a quick check says he/she/it logged in on the 8th, but haven't posted in almost two months.

In reply to Cyril Zotmund (msg # 968):

Yeah, I am not sure what to do about him for that reason. Actually I posted for him that time. He has not posted in something like six months...

Have moved Tonkin and Thornhammer to you guys for now, just so you can be involved in what is happening, but we can change them as more troops land...
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:58, Thu 13 July 2017.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 967):

Samantha was a medic but I could make up a security type.

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 970):

That is fine.

In reply to Fate (msg # 971):

Which is fine :)

In reply to Katherine 'Kat' Steele (msg # 972):

Making up a security type from one of the other ships.

Not as much as you think. In fact, pretty much not at all.
Explosives burn when subjected to heat. They need sudden and extreme pressure to set of an explosion.
It's actually rather difficult to make modern (and more powerful) explosives actually explode. Takes more than just sticking a detonator in it - usually needs a intermediate primer charge.

Older, less stable and less powerful explosives are another matter, but they stopped being used in munitions about a century ago for the most part.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 974):

To state the obvious, in reality we really don't know the effect of plasma rounds on modern munitions, as they don't exist yet. They are listed with having the sur effect, which is basically an EMP effect in addition to burning damage. Combined with an extreme heat shock wave, I would think they have every chance of providing both the heat and the shock wave required to set of any explosives. They are basically described as small fusion reactions in an unstable field flying through the air at high speed. I am not going into the discussion of why they do not suck in the hydrogen around them to create a massive nuclear blast (probably less than a critical mass to the uneducated) but I sure would not like to be around modern munitions if one was to hit nearby! But in game terms, that is taken into account in their Acc values, which are pretty high. So in game terms, either they are as accurate as a laser cannon, or even a near miss would be classed as a hit due to the destruction caused. (Both the space plasma weapons from G:ISW, which these are using, and the UT Laser cannons have an Acc of 18). Given their unstable nature, I have opted for a larger damage radius...

There is probably only one Scout tank left within 150 yards of you positions...

Well, actually we do know what plasma can do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)

No.
Modern explosives are specifically designed to avoid being detonated by exactly this sort of thing. Also, heat is not a factor in setting off an explosion in most cases, certainly not in military explosives - they will only burn, slowly, much like a piece of wood or plastic.

Detonators are another matter - they need to be unstable. The main (Tertiary) charge on the other hand, which forms about 99%+ of the mass of a munition simply won't go off. You need a burn rate of between 3,000 and 9,000 metres per second (depending on the explosive). The fastest bullet has a muzzle velocity of only around 3,000 m/s (and drops off fairly quickly due to drag and other factors). Basically, the speeds required result in a shattering effect (how high explosives are classified) rather than pushing effect (low explosives like propane and gunpowder). Any projectile (solid or gaseous) travelling at those sorts of speeds is likely to break up on firing (or accelerate so slowly as to be useless as a weapon).

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 976):

Yes, but they only need to set off the primary or secondary explosives. Many detonators are electric now, and hence even an EMP has to be considered. Of course, steps are taken to mitigate this, but the fact those steps are needed says something.

The plasma physics, by the way, is theoretical. No one actually has a working plasma gun that they are talking about!

Well, actually....
Look up the Marauder program. Although there's been little information released since the early 1990's, they had been fairly successful with their experiments. Ok, they did need several hundred tonnes of electronics and massive capacitors for the HUGE energy requirements to shift even a tiny projectile, but they seemed to be on track.

Getting back to the original issue, the plasma grenades we have are effectively useless against armoured vehicles. The base damage is unlikely to do much beyond burn a bit of paint off, and as military vehicles are generally shielded from EMP type effects, the surge effect won't do much either.
Ok, the Labs are generally a little backward technologically, but given their plasma knowledge, it seems obvious they'd have also developed effective countermeasures to the surge issue.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 979):

Hmmm, Marauder is interesting, I must say...

Yep, that is true. The Plasma mines would go well against troops, but would be less effective against vehicles, even taking into consideration less armour underneath. The plasma cannons on the disabled tanks nearby might be another issue, but Duke is the one who would have fun with that, and even he would need some time.

Of course, the Gatling plasmas on the APCs can be carried around on the quad bikes, and you might even have a chance of powering them using the Quad bikes generators (just dont try to drive at the same time!), but they only do about 6dx5 damage...it would take a lucky shot to penetrate the Armour of a scout tank, and they would not penetrate the APCs without a critical hit and rolling very good damage! So yeah, missiles and LAWs are the best option...