In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 19):

Tepha, you catch a transmission on your sensors.  An audio and its response.

Boss.  A swing and a miss.  They got J Bird.  We got crippled.

There's a minute before they get a response.

Here's your next order.  Run fucktard run.  You dropped the ball and you hailed me on an unsecured channel.  I'm going to enjoy myself when I get to you.

You can't tell much about the first voice.  The signal it came from soon disappears.

The second voice.  Well that's Siri.  No doubts about it.  He must be somewhere in the belt, because you can't get a fix on his location.  All you can tell is, he's somewhere ahead.

---

Tia hums along the corpy highway without much hitch.  You're about two hours out from Resting when you pick up an incoming.  Ship going the other way than you along the highway.

It scans as a yacht.  High end model.  Built for sports running, at least that's what it seems from the power it seems to support for an M Drive.

The yacht pings you with its long range and then peels off the highway, heading upwards.  It seems to be trying to avoid you by heading away from the belt.

So far so good. If they wanted to keep their distance, so much the better. With knowledge the Siri was in the system and actively hunting for them Ledo was having Tepha compile a report and beam it towards that naval captain they met earlier. With any luck the Navy would take a patrol through the asteroids and scare off any potential ambushes while they finish up their run.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 21):

The yacht races away.

Tepha, you beam the information to the nearest navy bot.  But it seems like all units are busy:  the pirates launched another massive attack close to WesRim.

---

Tia makes the 1 hour mark to Resting.

Ledo  you are having trouble finding Resting's signal beacon.  There's a lot of interference across the bands.

Then you latch on to it.

Then you latch on to another.

There are two seperate beacons hitting.  Each one saying they are the beacon for Resting.

And they are leading in two different directions.

They're both in the same quadrant, the quadrant Resting is supposed to be in.  One is sitting just on top of the belt.  The other is underneath it's surface by a couple of clicks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:40, Sat 20 Feb 2021.

Ledo leaned back and considered the options. A coin flip, huh. Maybe there was a way to reason it.

It seemed likely that the pirates doing this ploy weren't stupid and the point on top of the belt seemed the easiest to get to. A little too easy. If he was a merchant captain and didn't know where to go, he would avoid going into the belt as well. Which makes that point the better ambush spot for the pirates.

He pointed the Tia towards the point inside the asteroid belt hoping an asteroid station was inside the asteroid belt.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 23):

Not long after Tia dives into the belt, Tepha, you notice the other signal, the one that had been on top of the belt, is moving.  It seems to be on an intercept course.

Suddenly, the comm network goes to static.  Tia has wandered into a jammer zone.  All comms external to the ship are being snuffed out.

It looks like someone's set up a ring of jamming stations around Resting

Fritz pops up a map.  It shows Resting seated in the middle of a septagon.  It seems there's seven points that are emitting the jamming signals.  Tia is just on the inside edge of the rimward side.

Tepha, long range sensors show Resting is under attack.  Four ships are down. Either dead in the water or blasted into itty, bitty bits.  Five ships are scrambling around the rock Resting is sitting on.  It appears its two corpy security jobs against three pirates.

That on-top-of-the-belt signal that peeled off after you has moved so it's coming in behind you. Still too far off to engage you.  But it's obviously trying to seal off your avenue of escape.

It hasn't just yet though.

Ledo slams the ship back around making for the nearest edge of the jamming zone.

"Oh fuck. This is bad. We need to alert the Navy ASAP! Tepha, as soon as we clear the jamming zone broadcast an emergency message on all channels that Resting is under attack with at least four pirate ships still actively engaging.

Silver, warm up the EMP. BB, you're in the turret again. Rig, quit throwing up because we're going to need you!"

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 25):

Poor Rig.  He can operate at a -1 penalty considering he's been nursing himself.

Ledo you spin Tia around, heading for the nearest border of the jamming net.

One of the ships attacking Resting peels off, or tries to.  The corpy interceptors manage to delay him by trying to blast him to bits.

You hit the edge of the border and begin spraying off SOS.

The ship that was dogging you is bearing down.  It seems to have Tia listed as a priority.

You slip into the belt....

There is currently one ship on your tail.  Let's call it A.  There may be at least one more coming.  It will depend on how the dog fight back at Resting goes.

You guys have slipped into an asteroid belt, so you have some options.  Ducking and weaving around the rocks, trying to find some place to hide, or making a run for it.  I can come up with a belt map if that helps.  Let me know if you want to run, hide, or fight.  Or some other option I haven't thought of.  Thanks

Ledo had an idea. The best defense was a good offense, right? He turned the ship and made it look like he was bolting with just his M-Drive but he kept an eye out for a the right asteroid to loop around. Instead of just dodging around it when he reached the far side he would hit the afterburners and suddenly burn right around to charge the incoming pirates and blast them square in the face with his EMP.

OOC: I imagine that will require a roll or two :P

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 27):

Tia pushes into a burn, sliding around the asteroid like a blood sample swinging around inside a medical centrifuge.

You come up under A's belly Ledo.

Despite being bleary eyed, your shot scorches across BB>.  Silver,, your shot lands solidly as well.

But A continues forward, and passes by as Tia shoots upwards behind it, both ships continuing on their flight paths.

Tepha, sensors show objects dumping out of A's back end.  Missles.  They're veering upwards, heading for an intercept course.

Ledo...

We haven't really played with Luck yet have we?  Ledo...make me a luck check.  2d.  No bonus.  I'll let you know what happens depending on your results.

Take whatever actions you deem fit.

Ledo pulls back on the throttle trying to adjust their course to put an asteroid in between them and the missiles.

OOC:
12:32, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 5 using 2d6+2.  pilot check.

12:32, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 10 using 2d6.  luck check.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 29):

...pulls upwards, barely able to keep Tia from rubbing her upper plates off the surface of the rock.

As Tia shoots upwards, you can see A has flung forward, temporarily losing sensor lock on the asteroids around them.  The pilot of A barely manages to pull out from a rock that is right in front of him.

Ledo, you aren't able to bring Tia back around in time to take advantage of his bout of user error.

Thanks for rolling a 5

Tepha, Fritz shoots up a scan of A's condition. They took some damage but the EMP does not seem to have fazed their much.  They still seem to have nav and weapon systems online.  They must have shielding.

Siri does learn when he assigns his ships to missions.

Next round.  They were too busy trying not to crash into a rock to return fire.

I will also need a luck check each round.  The luck check will determine how the surrounding asteroids play into the coming dog fights, if at all.

Questions?  Thanks.

Ledo's ship proves to be considerably more maneuverable at the expense of burning through their fuel like crazy. He splits his time from setting up his own crew for shots and avoiding incoming fire.

OOC: With 4 thrust he'll add +2 to enemy shots and +1 to his own crew firing

14:19, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 7 using 2d6.  luck check.

Tepha tries to establish a target lock but with all the asteroids and the wild combat maneuvers she is unable to score a full lock.

14:23, Today: Tepha Pezal rolled 7 using 2d6+01.  sensor lock.

Silver lines up a shot and fires off the EMP barb as Ledo lines up a shot for her.

Silver hits a 9 (10 if short range), +1 for Ledo's piloting for 70 ion damage

14:26, Today: Silver rolled 7 using 2d6.  ion damage x10.
14:19, Today: Silver rolled 9 using 2d6+2.  emp turret shot (raw).

BB isn't doing so hot but then again, she is in a beam turret which is known as one of the easiest things in the world to fire and hit with.

OOC: BB rolled a 4 (+4 beam laser, +1 Ledo, +1  short range? -1   for being sick) = 8/9   for    5 damage

14:20, Today: BB Nova rolled 4 using 2d6+2.  raw beam turret roll.
14:30, Today: BB Nova rolled 5 using 1d6+1.  beam  laser damage.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 34):

A's gunner seems to have recovered.  As you both tear into A Silver and BB, Tia rocks as they score a hit...but it fails to penetrate to any real depth.

Ledo, you manage to swing Tia around before getting too close to another rock.  A does as well.

A still seems to be up and running, though Tehpa you notice some of their systems are powering down.  Just not nav, weapons, or life support.

Another round.  Besides the Luck check, let's have Tepha make a general sensor sweep.

Ledo keeps weaving through the asteroid belt trying to get a good angle on the enemy ship but he is suddenly struck with an icy chill running down his spine.

OOC:
10:11, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 9 using 2d6+1.  pilot check.
10:11, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 2 using 2d6.  luck check.

Tepha continues to sweep the sensors to keep aware of their engagement zone.

OOC:

10:11, Today: Tepha Pezal rolled 8 using 2d6+1.  sensor sweep.

Tepha, you see another ping on long range.  Looks like another ship incoming from the direction of Resting.

Ledo, you start to turn Tia, coming around to line up the guns.

That's when the proximity sensor goes off.

The rock is only the size of a shuttle.  How it got missed by the sensors neither you nor Tepha can figure out.  Not that you have a lot of time to puzzle it.

It is positioned in just the worst possible place...

Since you made the Pilot check, I will give you a choice.

...right against Tia's belly.  It's going to scrape along the hull.  That in itself wouldn't be horrible.  But...

Fritz flips up a warning.

If you finish manuever execution, damage to sensor relays D4 and C4 assured.

Reading that message is all the time you have Ledo. What does that mean?

There's no time to call Rig or query Fritz.  You have to move.  Now.  You can either finish out the maneuver or roll Tia around, letting the rock scrape and hoping for the best.

I wasn't sure Ledo would reasonably know enough about the individual parts of Tia to know what Fritz's warning meant.  I will leave it to you.  Would Ledo have detailed knowledge about all the various parts of the sensor network?  If you want to roll for it, and can think of a reasonable skill like Engineering, that's fine.  If he does, let me know and I will give you more detail.

Otherwise, your choices are:

1) Take the hit to the sensors without knowing how extensive that damage will be or

2) Take a scrape across the hull and trust your luck/Tia's defenses.  Keep in mind you are going at an insanely fast speed.  So that may work against you here.

Dog fighting in an asteroid belt.  Whatcha gonna do?

If it makes you feel any better, Ship A got a 4 on their luck check. I have to figure out what happened to them in a moment. 

Ledo figures that Fritz wouldn't raise a warning unless it was important so he pulls Tia into a roll hoping the armor takes the hit instead of their sensor array.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 39):

Figured you wouldn't take the bait. But wanted to give it a shot.

The sound of the rock scraping across Tia's hull reverberates throughout the ship.  No matter where any of you are, its a sound that stops you in your tracks for a moment.  There's always that idle thought:  is the hull about to come open?

Damage reports light up your consoles Ledo and Rig.  The gouge is pretty deep.  But it didn't cut through the armor to the underhull.  And it missed any important fuel or electronic lines.

But now Tia has a seven meter open wound on her under carriage.  A shot hitting there will penetrate a lot of her armor automatically.

But what are the odds of that happening, right?

Ship A has its own troubles.  It didn't bank hard enough on its dive.  A rock also scored along their hull, but it hit topside.  Sensors show they've probably taken damage to their nav.  You aren't totally sure yet.

Tepha, the other ping is confirmed.  Another bogey incoming.  Its not broadcasting any kind of call and its blocking any hails you send its way.  It also looks to be hardened around the nav, engine, weapons, and life support system.

After a moment, you can get an ID.

Its the ship you saw before.  The Plasmatic Spifull

The Spifull suddenly sends out a hail.

"Siiiiiiiil-ver.  You there?".

Siri's calling.

Ship A is still functional, but you aren't sure how functional.  Tepha can try to scan them with a sensors test.

The Spifull will arrive in two rounds.  Less if you try to charge at them.

Your move.

Ledo maneuvers to put the soon-to-be wreck of the one ship between the Tia and the Spifull. Ledo was trying to the long game, buying time until the navy could head on over and clean up or at least spook the raiders into turning tail and run.

He was about to order radio silence when he saw a transmission going outbound...from the turret Silver was operating.


OOC: Easing off the afterburners a round. Need enough fuel to make it to station after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

Sillver was having enough of Siri's little mind games and she wasn't the kind of person to suffer quietly.

"Cut the shit, Siri. Everyone knows you're too chicken shit to do anything on your own. How many more ship's you gonna lose before everyone else realizes you're the fucking loser we know you are."

Maybe not the most eloquent but to prove a point she pumped another ion blast into the semi-disabled ship in front of them.


15:07, Today: Silver rolled 8 using 2d6+2.  ion turret.
15:07, Today: Silver rolled 6 using 2d6.  ion x10.

BB was just about to ask about target selection but seeing the sensors light up as Silver let loose another blast, BB kept on pulling the trigger, sweeping the laser beam across the pirate ship near them. If possible she was trying to aim for the gash they had from clipping an asteroid.

OOC: +2 skill, +4 beam, +1 short range = +7
15:11, Today: BB Nova rolled 10 using 2d6+7.  beam turret.
15:11, Today: BB Nova rolled 3 using 1d6+1.  beam damage.

Tepha had her sensors trained on the incoming ships but as Ledo mentioned to her that the ship they were firing on was slowing down she quickly adjusted them to point at the near ship to see how disabled it was.

OOC:
15:13, Today: Tepha Pezal rolled 6 using 2d6+1.  sensor scan.