S'Krllk takes his hand from the keypad and queries his bodycomp as he enters the password to get into the Sathar system.
"Computer, pattern matching subroutines. Consider the written orientation being right to left, using the most used characters on the keypad, and considering 'top, bottom, middle, middle' as the entry sequence, do any of the likely combinations match the symbols on the sticky note."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:21, Sun 22 Jan 2023.

Keeping a watch on the hallway with Orvo, Desi calls back inside, "How we doing?"

Orvo gets out another frag grenade in one hand while his laser pistol remains in the other and he keeps watch, keeping as much cover as he can since he is still close to death.

Desiraye glance back to Orvo and then back to her section of the hallway.  "How bad Orvo?

You toss that frag after I start firing!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:43, Wed 25 Jan 2023.

Orvo has 19/60 STA.

Orvo says he'll survive-hopefully. He sure hopes the tech guys can get out the prisoners or all this is for naught.

Sorry, but I feel like we left on a cliffhanger, so I want to wrap this up a little bit.

S'krllk enters the password into the Sathar system using his bodycomp, successfully matching the subroutines. The cell doors "ding" with a beep and then open, freeing the prisoners.

By now, the alarms are going off and you know the Sathar will be coming soon en masse. Luckily, you have figured out the underground tunnel beneath the main floor. Taking the prisoners, you get them down into the tunnel. and move back to the area with the ship in the southeast area (in the place marked "Sathar" on the map).


You help everyone into the ship. The doors to the hangar are opening and several large combat robots and Sathar enter with guns raised. Suprisingly, they do not shoot. Your piloting skills allow a quick exit with the vehicle. The vehicle starts heading outside the shielded area and you pic up comms with your Eleanor Moraes.

You hear voices yelling back to you, "They found us! There must have been some tracking on the items found in that sunken ship. We are evacuating! They are firing missiles. You need to--"

The voice is suddenly cut off by a loud explosion. Even from where you fly tens of miles away, you see the explosion. The Eleanor Moraes is no more. Anything, and anyone, on board must now be dead. The blast radius leaves no doubt of that.

But before you can wrap your head around that, the controls on your stolen ship begin blinking. The ship begins to turn up. You strap in.

Checking the consoles, you see that the ship has been set to autopilot to return to the mother ship. This is the same ship that shot down the UPF Wyland.

Quick reminder of what happened before:

"Crew of the Moraes. We were sent as a rescue operation, to recover LeGrange, and to deal with the local threat. We are the UPF Cruiser Ridley Weyland. We have been--"

His voice suddenly cuts off with a loud explosive sound behind him. He picks up again:

"We have been ambushed by a Sathar Destroyer of unknown origin that seems to be guarding this territory. Our engines are out. The Captain has ordered everyone to abandon ship. The smaller ships and escape pods are loading for escape. We have called in for a rescue team but the nearest ships are three weeks out. I need to get to my escape--" He pauses, gasps, and when he speaks, he may have forgotten his comm unit is still on. "Dear God, what is that? Another one?"

You hear another person in the distance respond to the question. "That's a Sathar mothership. Obsolete. Small but highly weaponized Class D destroyer."

Another voice, presumably the captain: "Abandon ship. Get to your escape pods. Their cannons are trained on--"


You are now on a small Sathar scout ship leaving the atmosphere of the planet and headed on autopilot to a Sathar cruiser in orbit. Given that the robots and Sathar did not shoot, they may have not realized that you were on board and think you are Sathar returning to the ship. They are probably too egotistical to think non-Sathar can pilot one of their ships.

But then again, maybe they know exactly what they are doing.

If you are all still here and are interested in continuing, we can pick up from there. I will try to actively post and think I may have bandwidth to do so now. It should feel like we are transitioning to a new adventure, so you don't have to remember much of what happened before.

Will be here when you're ready.

To quote Short Round, "Hang on lady!  We going for a ride!"

"Did we perform that maneuver humans term 'bug out'? I don't think it was my first time."

Desiraye takes a seat in one of the chairs after she watches the Sathar not fire a shot at them.  Although maybe a bit uncomfortable, she looks around the cabin, "Didn't fire a shot, huh?  Not sure if that's good or bad.  We better get ready for the worse case scenario!"

She powers down unnecessary gear and checks her kit.

And Short Round just won an Oscar last year!

Huh... Everything Everywhere All at Once... I'll have to check that one out.

Just watched it a couple weeks ago. Interesting and strange. Worth a watch, but definitely not mainstream. I liked it; my wife hated it.

So glad you all are still here. I'm surprised...and flattered.

Please add 5 XP to your characters for updating them. For those who may not remember exactly, you can update your primary stats, such as stamina or dexterity, or you can update your skills. If your skill is one of your core skills, then it is half the cost compared to something you are not trained in. You can get more details in the "Improving Characters" section of the game wiki. The general rules on PSAs and skills can be found here: https://starfrontiers.fandom.c...Category:Skill_Areas

Don't forget that there is a general game wiki online too: https://starfrontiers.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page

Currently on the ship, we have Desi, Vadim, Orvo, and S'krllk, along with Winston Marlboro (human Moraes captain), Pradi Innesti (Moraes engineer), Captain and Dentin (human Osprey Captain).

Per the Mutiny on Eleanor Moraes book: "Captain Marlboro is seriously injured (-35 stamina points), but not beyond treatment. A successfully applied freeze field will preserve him until he can receive major surgery in the proper facilities on the ship. The characters can also use a freeze field on lnnesti (-15 stamina points). A shot of staydose followed by two shots of biocort in the next 24 hours will also preserve him."

There is one freeze field in the ship that can be altered to use on Captain Marlboro, who is too injured to think rationally until he is properly healed. Engineer Innesti has a serious broken leg and had to hop to the ship after rescuing, but he is fully alert. You put Marlboro in the freeze field, and Innesti says he will stay to watch the ship and the captain when all this plays out until you can get out of there. As an engineer, he will also try to learn the controls of the ship while you do whatever it is you do.

Then there is Captain Dentin. Innesti says the Sathar performed some sort of procedure on his head. You look and see that he has a scar on his head indicating the same sort of implant that you saw previously (on Dark Side of the Moon module). It allowed the Sathar to take control of individuals like slaves. Something seems wrong with Dentin's thinking process. He seems to have lost much of his ability to think--like an automaton. He will need the implant surgically removed, and hopefully then, there won't be long term brain damage.

The ship you are on is identical to the scout ship you discovered buried in the river back on the planet.



The computers indicate 50 minutes until you dock with the mothership.

12:00 p.m.

19 DAYS UNTIL QANTARIATE INVASION

DAY 7 ON MAHG MAR (now leaving Mahg Mar atmosphere).


If we have any other players who want to rejoin (or new players who want to join), now is probably a good time. If new, we can have them be additional rescued prisoners from Dentin's crew. (Remember that Dentin's ship was supposed to be your rescue team, but they were shot down by the Sathar mothership, and he and some of his crew were captured or killed.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:17, Thu 18 Jan.

STATS:

PRADI INNESTI, ENGINEER, Eleanor
Moraes Expedition (Star Law Ranger)
RACE: Yazirian
STR/STA 50/50* PS 3   Walk 10m
DEX/RS 60/55   IM 6   Run 30m
INT/LOG 45/50  RW 30
PER/LDR 50/50  M 30

*-15 in crash
Special Abilities: Gliding, Battle Rage (15%), Night Vision

Skills: Technician PSA, Engineering 4, Technician 5, Computer 2, Beam Weapons 2

An undistinguished but reliable ship's engineer, lnnesti is a seasoned veteran. He knows everything about the Eleanor Moraes that is worth knowing. He has memorized every detail of her blueprints and specifications, and can quote from them as though they were sitting in front of him. He is shy and quiet, and seldom speaks unless spoken to. He can be relied upon to improvise repairs or jury rig equipment in emergencies.

* * * * * * * *

WINSTON MARLBORO, CAPTAIN,
Eleanor Moraes Expedition (Star Law Ranger)
RACE: Human
STR/STA  55/55*  PS 3  Walk 10m
DEX/RS   45/50   IM 5  Run  30m
INT/LOG  55/55   RW 23
PER/LOR  55/65   M 28
*-35 in crash

Special Abilities: None

Skills: Technician PSA, Pilot 4, Technician 6, Computer 2, Psycho-Social 2, Beam Weapons 2

Always addressed as "Captain Marlboro;' the Captain is a rather distant and formal character. He is experienced and well trained, though unimaginative and conventional. He was selected for this expedition on the basis of his unblemished record of successfully completed missions. However, he reached the peak of his capacity and is now coasting downhill.

* * * * * * * *

LIEUTENANT GREGOR DENTIN, CAPTAIN RACE: Human
STR/STA 60/65 PS 3
DEX/RS 50/50 IM 5
INT/LOG 55/55   RW 25
PER/LDR 45/55 M 30

Special Abilities: None

Skills: Technician PSA, Technician 6, Com¬puter 2, Robotics 2, Pilot 3, Engineering 1

Tenacious, aggressive, rough background. Driven by personal pride and loyalty. Fanatic hatred of Sathar. Overwhelming ambition to capture one alive, or at least an intact space vessel. (His hate is only enhanced by his recent capture and experimentation on him by the Sathar.)

Desiraye slings the gauss-rifle over her shoulder and takes a minute to think about options.  "I'm just going to throw this out there.  We have only one freeze filed to use.  Captain Marlboro is the most seriously injured, I say he gets put in it.  Unless we can find another one in this ship's stores, I would like to see the captain placed in it.

Innesti has volunteered to stay behind and monitor the ship with a broken leg and look after Marlboro.  We need to decide what to do with Dentin.  He may be a liability if we take him with us to do anything on the mothership once we connect with it in less than an hour.

Since this looks like the same ship we got from the lake, everything should be in the same place.  Let's see what kind of gear we got, if any.  No telling if they got those little bots on board either.

Thoughts?"

Vadim nods eager to save his captain, "Who has medic training?"

"I'll see what I can find on the ship."
Wasting no time, S'Krllk scurried off to see what they might turn to their advantage aboard the ship.

"That should be Orvo, Vadim."

Orvo says, "I can't tell you how happy I am to be off that planet. Even though we're now headed for an even worse Sathar ship." He raises his hand. "Yes, I am certified in level 3 medical training." Orvo will take what actions he can for the captain and the wounded. He will also assess if he can tell anything else about their condition after a thorough exam.

Hopefully, we will have everyone with us, and maybe I should add one or two more.

You get settled, do some healing, and so forth, but have very little time. The ship is leaving atmosphere at up to 5 Gs, so you get strapped in and let it take you outside the atmosphere. Once you have broken free of the planet's gravity, the thrusters go off, and you find yourself in zero gee.

Innesti is going over the computers and ship when a message suddenly comes through.


To those manning the Sathar Scout ship. This is Commodore Karl Raider from Clarion Base, White Light. The Moraes sent us messages and codes just a couple hours ago. We monitored what happened and the dispatch of your ship. We have been able to use recovered codes to make it appear that you are a routine scout ship returning to the mothership. The mothership has non-Sathar who have slave implants, and if you act accordingly, they should think you are just part of their automaton slaves. This information should keep you alive, but we do anticipate at some point that our interference and use of old codes will be discovered. We don't know how long you have.

You have approximately 30 minutes until you dock with the mothership. Clarion base is sending back up to take down the mothership's defense ships and rescue you, but it will not be there for several hours. I am sending a file of missions we would like you to accomplish if you can.

We have to act now while we can surprise them, and that means boarding the Sathar installation mothership, codenamed Base Alpha. The boarders must neutralize the garrison and any self-destruct device. We will deal with any armed ships in the system. We don't have enough men and robots to pull the mission off unless you help from the inside. If we capture Base Alpha, it will be the first major capture of a Sathar installation. We'll learn vital information that could save countless Federation lives. It's that important. If you do this, you'll earn the thanks of the Frontier Worlds.

Transmitting files now. Thank you. And good luck.

After the transmission ends, a file is downloaded for their desired outcome.

OPERATION BACKDOOR
Mission Objectives:
1. Capture a live Sather prisoner.
2. Capture Sather technology and artifacts.
3. Capture Sathar mothership intact (no self destruct).
4. Make notes and video records of all information gathered. Ensure that this information is immediately relayed via this secure channel to headquarters in case mission unit (i.e., all of you and the mothership) is lost.
5. If the capture attempt fails, destroy the mothership.
S. Arrange for any information, artifacts, or prisoners to be recovered by later units if assault personnel are captured or killed.
6. Determine and investigate any connections with the Qantariate and the planned extradimensional invasion.


The file has additional information they were able to gather regarding the mothership:


Self-destruction is usually achieved by engine overload; either the bridge or the engineering section might control the self-destruction program. You must get past the docking area as quickly as possible, or be prepared for the Sathar to explosively decompress it if your cover is blown.

We estimate 32 crew members of Clan Y Sathar. There may be any number of non-Sathar race slaves. Try to preserve them, as they are innocents, but they may be directed to attack, so use discretion.

MOTHERSHIP KNOWN STATS:
All compartments and passageways are covered by cameras, audio sensors, and sensitive atmosphere testers. These sensor systems may be monitored at any computer terminal throughout the ship or through the personal robots in link with the main com¬puter, but access to this information is rou¬tinely controlled by officers. In an emergency, access is not limited.

SECURITY ALERT
There are three stages of security alert. Banks of lights surround each hatchway in all compartments and passageways of the ship. These flash the appropriate colors to indicate the alert status.

Code Blue: Combat Alert. All shifts to battle stations in space suits (scout crew in armor) with personal weapons. Airtight hatches are sealed and code-locked (no access without password). Computer lockout.

Code Amber: Attack. All compartments are depressurized except the bridge and scout headquarters. The self-destruct sequence is started. Computers destroy sensitive data; the most crucial data is sent to hidden storage.

Code Green: Self-Destruct. Atomic drives are overloaded. All computer files are destroyed.

SELF-DESTRUCT PROCEDURE (If activated)
Previously, Sathar vessels have self-destructed before they could be boarded and captured. You do not know how much time you have to capture the ship before it is destroyed. If engaged, a Technician can successfully bypass computer security to ask how long ago engine overload began.
Once the self-destruct order is given, the ship's atomic drives will explode in 55 minutes. This means that the player characters must jettison the engines within 45 minutes of the time the self-destruct program is activated. Remember that it takes 10 min¬utes for the engines to drift to a safe distance before detonation.

MOVEMENT IN ZERO-GRAVITY
The mothership is designed for operation in both zero-gravity and acceleration environ¬ments. All compartments, elevators, and passageways are equipped with travel rails and grips for Sathar tentacles. Movement is at walk rate, half this if magnetic shoes are worn.


Further information will be provided as we continue to search the mothership records through our backdoor channels.

You search the scout ship and find following:

Tornadium D-19 (3 charges)

Subspace radio (able to relay information in #4 above)

1 "Spider II" Personal Robot (Level 2; MV 60m; IM/RS 5/50; STA 50; ATT 50; DM 4d10 arms or Special; electrostunner with 20 SEU, sonic stunner with 20 SEU)

Space suits
Space armor
Research and test gear that can be used to gather information.


The scout ship suddenly accelerates up to 1 G. The mothership has taken over remote control of the scout ship's approach.

20 minutes until renezvous with mothership
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:51, Wed 24 Jan.

Vadim quickly reads up and hurries to get a space suit on with space suit armor.  He looks around, "I don't have demolitions training, does anyone?"

Desiraye begins to take inventory of what is available to them.  She looks to Vadim, "Minimal here."

"Minimal is better than none," Vadim says with a smile.

NOTE:
With you should also be:

Bartja (robotics expert) (am checking with his player)
Orvo
Vadim
Desi
S'krllk

I may put out an ad for a couple more to see what interest there might be.

I am hoping Bartja's player will rejoin us. He would be great with the Spider Robot as a sidekick.

Porter was killed back on the planet along with any other PCs whose players don't rejoin us.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:25, Thu 25 Jan.