Nero face was close to the camera, filling the frame. His breath was audible even though the audio filters that cut out background noises in order to add clarity to the speaker. All standard features for a holo streamer but amateur software like he was using could hardly handle a battle happening in the background.

"Nero-knights, this might be my last transmission. We're in...I don't know, some dinky asteroid belt mining system. Boreman or something. As you know from my last transmission when we jumped we interrupted a pirating session, two ships attacking a merchant. We blasted one apart and drove away the others but it seems they're back with a vengeance! We've just been hit! The whole ship is shaking and the...wait for it..."

He pointed the directional microphone towards a side wall where it could pick up the rising hum of electricity before the abrupt zap as the capacitors for the ion cannon discharged. He spun the phone so his face was back in frame.

"We're fighting like hell but how many pirates can we we take down before we're overwhelmed by sheer numbers? If we don't make it, I've already sent specification for memorial merchandise to Grief Tanks online store. They're the official sponsors for all current and future Nero Knight merchandise. Also don't forget to like and subscribe for more updates straight from the front lines of pirate hunting!"

He began turning it off but at the last second remembered one last bit.

"Also don't forget to donate to the Pansy Paws Legal Fund. Just because I'm facing death in the face doesn't mean I'm forgetting my morals and principles. Every credit donated will help fund the Pansy Paws legal team to defeat those absolutely bogus terrorism charges they're facing. We can't let the be scape goated! Fight for the truth by donating now. Link is on the sidebar!"

He shut it down and quickly fired up his laptop for editing. If this was his last update like hell would it be stuck on his device where nobody could see it. He figured if they did die it would be worth a million views easy.

Ship A is in little position to defend itself as you take out your aggression Silver.  Tepha, it doesn't matter any longer as visual scans are enough to confirm BB's laser has torn a good hole into the hull.  Looks like whoever is left on Ship A is having enough problems trying to keep from decompressing to fight any longer.

Nero, you have to photo edit a cowlick off the back of your head in several frames.  Annoying as all get out, but you finish up rather quickly.  As you go to upload to the net, you get an error message.  The outbound signal is being jammed.

Oh my Silver.  You certainly showed that disabled ship who's boss.  You're always so tough provided someone else has beaten the snot out of 'em ahead of time, right?

But you know what?  Today's a good day for you.

Send me over the ones doing the videos.  And I won't blow your ship up.

How's that for a deal?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:34, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

Silver started to reply but the comms were cut from the bridge. Growling she punched up the ship's inner comms.

"Let me talk to him."

"Why? Silver I need you focusing on keeping us alive not venting to a serial killer."

From the other turret BB piped in. The perks of being an unofficial or auxillary crew member.

"Wait, a what? Who's a serial killer?"

"Siri. The pirate mouthing off. Siri...short for Serial as in he leaves a trail of bodies everywhere he goes."

BB didn't respond but she sure kept listening.

"Silver...I...we don't have time for this right now. Trash talk once we're clear. Or dead. And what does he mean the one taking videos?"

"I don't know. That's not code for something."

BB's comm activated. There was a slight hesitation before she spoke.

"Well...here's the thing about Nero..."

Nero was still trying to figure out how to upload his video when the tone sounded. Someone was calling him on the ship's comm. He turned the channel on and then immediately regretted it.

"ARE YOU FILMING OUR FIGHTS?"

Uh oh. Sounds like someone finally discovered social media. He paused, waiting to see if that grouchy captain was going to keep going or not. When there was silence indicating it was an actual question and not just rhetorical Nero responded.

"Well. I might have mentioned them in passing. I have a channel to maintain."

There was a long pause. At first Nero thought it was because the captain was struggling to figure out what to say but it sounded like instead he was issuing orders for countermeasures to another of the crew. Finally the angry voice came back.

"Stop. Just stop. Thanks to you a serial killing pirate is demanding that we turn you over and I'm half inclined to agree."

Nero rolled his eyes and flapped his hands mimicking the captain talking. His dad had disapproved of his career too. He figured the two old men would love one another getting to talk about how the younger generation doesn't know the meaning of a hard day's work. He had heard these lectures before and between the terrorist attacks and the other pirate attack he wasn't worried. No way a straight lace like Ledo would deal with a pirate. Empty threats bounced off Nero like asteroids off the ship's hull...apparently.

He zoned back in and realized the captain was still ranting about something called "opsec" or "hopsack" or something. Nero was back at his bunk continuing to try and mess with the internet settings. He heard the telltale phrasing of a question and a long pause and gave his stock answer.

"Fine. Sorry. Whatever."

He turned the comms off and went back to work not waiting to hear the response.

Ledo was hauling back on the controls trying to keep the crippled ship between them and the incoming ship. If the incoming ship would fire missiles they would have to path around the derelict giving them room to maneuver. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the light wink off indicating Nero had closed the comm channel.

"That little shit! I...fuck..."

Whatever the rest of that thought would have been was lost as Ledo had to focus on keeping them alive long enough to deal with a snot nosed brat streaming their location to every pirate and mercenary in the sector. One problem at a time...

The Plasmatic Spifull isnt' moving any closer.  It's keeping a good size rock between your two ships.  Close enough to pursue.  Far enough and with enough cover not to get shot at.

Siri pings you.

"I'm not hearing a nooooo...

"C'mon.  Hand them over with the film. And we can alllll get on with our lives."

Ledo paused for a second and then hit the comms to return.

"Let's talk then. How much?"

Ledo gave a nod to Tepha to keep scanning. They needed to find a channel they could broadcast out on to alert the Navy and get reinforcements. Until then he figured stalling Siri wasn't a bad idea.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 51):

Tepha, you guys are close to being outside the jamming net.  But finding a clear channel in this field...

Sounds like a Sensor/Int check to me boss

Siri chuckles back at you Ledo.

"Really?  How much?  Tell you what.  If you give 'em up in the next minute, you can all keep all your organs inside your body.  For every minute that passes after the deal, you all get to lose one organ.

"I'm gonna count 60 Solomanis.  Ready?  One Sol-e-mahn-e. Two Sol-e-mahn-e.  Three..."

In Traveler, it's one solomani, two solomani instead of one Mississipp, two Mississippi

Tepha scanned the frequencies but couldn't find a break.

OOC:

15:23, Today: Tepha Pezal rolled 5 using 2d6+1.  sensor/int.


She turned to look at Ledo with a worried look but before she could even speak, he just shouted back at her.

"KEEP TRYING!"

She turned back and redoubled her efforts...



15:24, Today: Tepha Pezal rolled 11 using 2d6+1.  try #2.

In reply to Tepha Pezal (msg # 53):

At last, you find a clear band Tepha

You latch on to a Naval bot and broadcast out.

After a moment, a woman wearing a navy uniform comes online.  Something's wrong.  She's got a bandage wrapped around her forehead.  Behind her, you can see what looks like a circut board hanging from a wire on the ceiling.

"Naval Comm Center.  What's your emergency?"

Tepha's voice comes out in a hurried rush as she doesn't bother trying to keep the panic from her voice.

"This is the Tiamat's Flight reporting an emergency. Resting is under attack by pirates. I repeat Resting is under siege. Siri's pirate group have set up a jamming field around the system. Four pirate vessels were engaged with two corporate defense ships. One of the pirates is down and another is pursuing us. Send the fleet!"

Ledo could have corrected her that most likely a cruiser and some support ships would be dispatched. A fleet would never respond to an asteroid base being attacked by a couple of pirate ships but he was focused on piloting and figured Tepha had things under control and she didn't need him backseat SOSing for her.

In reply to Tepha Pezal (msg # 55):

The naval officer shakes her head.

"Tiamat's Flight.  We are currently at an Orange 3 status in Bowman sector. Repeat. We are at Orange 3 status.  Run.  We are advising all ships to flee the sector."

Ledo, a Red 2 means an active military situation.  If it's an Orange situation, that means the Navy is on the defensive.  The stages come in seven levels.  The closer to a 1, the worse it is.  A 3 is the level right before a retreat is ordered.

Siri pops in on the line.

"Interesting conversation you're having there.

"Tell me.  Do you really think I'd attack a corporate base if the Navy was free to make a house call?

"So I'm guessing you want to do this the hard way, huh?"

"Cut the crap. We both know you're not onboard that ship so go on, send another bunch of your men on a suicide run."

Ledo had taken the foot off the gas and was positioning them to make it look like they were running for a jump point. Truth be told with the extra fuel they had topped up with at Bowman starport they still had enough to make the J2 to their next destination but that would mean forfeiting their dairy run and, more importantly, possibly surrendering a small port to the tender touch of Siri and his pirate armada. If they could punch through and break the siege they could save dozens of lives which would go a long way towards clearing his conscious from the mess on Wyltz.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 57):

Ledo, the immediate choices are

Run upwards towards the top of the belt and then angle back down towards Resting.  It's the longer route, but would give you the most cover.

Run downwards towards the bottom of the belt and then angle back up towards Resting.  That is the quickest way out of the rocks if you wanted to take on the pirate outside of the asteroid field.

You can go straight at the pirate.  You'd have to exchange fire but it is the quickest way to Resting.

To give you the best visual I can of your situation:

This is a side view of the asteroid field.  The - indicates the belt.

T is Tia.  P is Pirate.  R is Resting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------R------------------------------
---------------------T---P---------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Clear as mud?

Ledo flipped the ship around. His goal was to make it look like they were going to flee to get Siri to pour on the juice to catch up to them, then Ledo would flip the ship around and accelerate with the afterburners straight past the pirates and to Resting. Once there he could regroup with the mercenary guards (assuming any were still alive) and they could present a more unified defense of the station.

OOC:
16:46, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 13 using 2d6+2.  naval tactics + INT .

So something like this?  Assume the x are Tia's flight path.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxR------------------------------
-----------xxxxxxxxxxT---P---------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

You rev her up Ledo and peel off.  Siri's ship fires up and pursues.

Tepha, looks like Siri is targeting Tia.

I think they're keying up a round of missles

As if on cue, Siri releases a barrage.

Outrunning them would be easy...if it weren't for the asteroid belt.

So the rocks are going to be the real impediment here.

Just to streamline things a bit:

Let me know if the missle barrage changes any of Ledo's plans.  I wouldn't think so.  But let me know.

Let me know if Silver/BB are goign to fire off a round. If so, make rolls please.

Make me a navigation roll with a -2 penalty and a luck check with a +1 bonus.

Thanks

Ledo had figured they would take some damage in the burn around. He was crossing his fingers that the Tia would be able to survive long enough to get them to safety. She hadn't let them down so far but there was a first time for everything...

OOC:

13:10, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 6 using 2d6+02.  pilot check.
13:11, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 6 using 2d6+01.  luck check.

So afterburners + Mdrive = 4g movement

Spending 1G for evasive action (first attack is +1 difficulty due to pilot skill)
Spending 2G to reduce movement band from Medium -> Short
Spending 1G to reduce movement band from Short -> Close (zooming right on by!)

BB sense the missiles coming and readies her turret for point-defense operations.

Woot! If I'm doing this right her final check is a 16 so whatever the difficulty is, 16-that = # of missiles popped.


13:17, Today: BB Nova rolled 16 using 2d6+8.  point defense - +4 beam laser +1 short range +2 skill +1 dbl turret.

Nothing is going to stop Silver from unloading her turret on Siri's ship. Ledo kept saying he wasn't onboard but she couldn't help but imagine he was and put everything into disabling that ship.

OOC: Hits 12 for 60 ion damage
13:19, Today: Silver rolled 12 using 2d6+3.  +2 skill +1 short range.
13:19, Today: Silver rolled 6 using 2d6.  x10 ion damage.

Meanwhile Tepha was doing her best to try and feed Ledo nav points to get them back to Resting as quickly as possible.


13:21, Today: Tepha Pezal rolled 11 using 2d6+01.  sensors (navigation?).

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 61):

BB, you manage to pummel quite a few of the barrage.  Two make it through...

I need to recheck my calculation on that.  I think I'm right, but I'll post the missle damage tomorrow after I'm sure.

Siri's ship fires off a couple of cannon blasts, raking along the side as Tia makes her turn.  Whoever his gunners are, they're good. Rig, you get damage reports coming in.  Looks like one of the shots took out targeting systems on Silver's ion cannon -2 to further targeting rolls.  More importantly, the hold took a hit.  Damage reports show the low berths might have taken some damage.  You'll need to inspect those manually.

Tia flings herself past, Siri's ship now having to stop and make it's own turn.

Tepha, you find a path...

Tepha's roll would be a nav check since she's trying to plot a course.  Doesn't matter.  You made it.

I'll give you a choice.  You can either use her success to mitigate a bad luck check or you can use it to reduce the travel time to Resting by one turn.

Once you've decided, make me a luck check.  You're still jetting around an asteroid belt.

Thanks

Ledo made a mental note: Cannons? Check. Missiles? Check. No beams or pulse turrets, thankfully.

He used Tepha's coordinates to plot a quick route to Resting.

OOC: Going to use Tepha to reduce turns to Resting by 1.
16:56, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 7 using 2d6.  luck check.

Rig was still hurting from the food poisoning. It would take him awhile to get back to the berths but those were the priority. Getting Tepha's ion cannon was secondary to making sure their hold of actors and actresses didn't die on them mid-battle.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 66):

One of the missiles makes it through BB's barrage.  It strikes Tia's aft.

The ship rocks from the impact.  Ledo, nav goes down for a moment.  Fritz flips the back up systems on.  But the proximity alerts start blaring.  You've got another rock, this one bounces off the hull...

BB, you keep your seat as the ship rocks.  But suddenly that crew member you haven't met yet...Fritz was his name?..pipes in.

Incoming to turret one.  Swing turret three quarters turn rimward.  Now

He wants you to rotate your turret three quarters of a turn.  It sounds urgent...

Rig, more screens light up from the missile hit. J Drive's safety protocols have been knocked out.  You can fire up J Drive, but not safely.  The back hull has a nasty bruise.  But there's still integrity.

Then there's a thumping sound.  A new report comes up about number one turret...

I can't recall if BB was introduced to Fritz or not.  I am assumed not for this post.  Will edit it if I have that wrong.

BB needs to make a gunner/edu or int check (your call on the stat).  She is not firing the cannons.  She would be just making the maneuver Fritz is asking.

Of course, she can ignore him...

Tepha, Siri's ship is starting a brake and turn maneuver.  Ahead, you can pick up signals from Resting.  Seems like the attack has been broken off.  If you guys can make it there, you should be safe.

Maybe.

Ledo winces as he feels the explosion reverb through the ship. That was going to take a healthy chunk out of their profits this run. Everything was going to shit around them and all he could do was hang on and put the proverbial pedal to the metal.

ooc:
Using the 4 thrust to increase their range band from short to medium and then Evasive Manuever 2