Mission Day:   9

ECEI:          6
Morale:        7
Supplies:    76%


  The Sharshana arrives at the Sestos system after a week in jump-space, and although the list of needed maintenance and repairs has gained a few more entries during that time, the overall number of unresolved issues has been shrinking more or less steadily.

  There's not much worth seeing on the planet itself unless you have an interest in chemical extraction or trade in its products; the sealed city-states are too focused on necessity to offer much in the way of luxury. The starport is a similarly functional affair, with just enough amenities to service the shipping that comes through.

  At least refuelling shouldn't be a problem, although the starport lacks the refining capacity to deal with the Sharshana's needs. It will take at least a couple of days to refine enough to jump out for the mandated meeting at Mtensc.

  Aside from transit and refuelling, the Sharshana's time is essentially its own here: two to four days to use as the captain sees fit...


The captain (with advice from the staff, of course!) can decide what to do with the free time. There are no specific intelligence alerts for the Sestos system so intel-gathering will be routines unless the captain and/or intel officer directs it to be otherwise.

Patrol duties would be entirely within reason. Various exercises are also an option. Diplomatic/political opportunities are likely to be scarce but making a good impression never hurts. Other ideas can be considered per staff creativity!


Colonel/Intel: Investigate (Int or Edu), Average difficulty (8).

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:52, Tue 11 Aug 2020.

"Chief Engineer Tsetsegmaa to the Captain-Baron Reziilka

The engineering team has been focusing on GGRP (Gas Giant Refuel Procedures). We've been working with Astrogator Yune to find which one of the 3 GGs of the system is closer to the Starport - that'll be Sestos VIII. We've been sim' the GGRP on this planet with Chief Pilot Standarsson.

Thus, we respectfully submit the following plan : after refueling 3/4th of our capabilities at the starport, we move to Sestos VIIIs - during the M-Drive journey duration, we could :

• refine enough to jump-2 - thus, testing our refining capabilities
• scan the vicinity of the planet, looking for ToO (Targets of Opportunity)

Once in the atmosphere, we practice the fuel scoop of 1/4th of our tanks for a few [1d6/4? hours - whether we do it slowly, or simulating scooping while in the middle of a battle is up to you.

Thus, we could jump to Mtensc at J+12 at the latest, and arrive there with 2/4th refined fuel in our tanks."

Hrolf will recommend to the captain that they proceed immediately to the gas giant nearest the mainworld and conduct a full or three quarters frontier refueling exercise.  They can conduct purifying operations on the normal space transit to the port and then finish refueling in orbit at the high port.

He will also note that the engineering and piloting operations teams are ready to go.  The sooner they conduct this potentially stressful exercise the sooner they will flush out any operational or equipment shortcomings which can be fixed during the transit in-system.

---

When the ship breaks out of hyperspace Hrolf will take control of the ship from Jacqueline and conduct an independent evaluation of their emergence. "We're right on position and vector Captain.   Request permission to proceed as planned."

Now the sheer size of the gas giant Sestos VIII (the natives surely had another nickname for it. Iita didn't care) filled the sensors screen, without zooming. The Sharshana was approaching the giant with the sun behind the ship, to add visual aid to the otherwise blind flight.

The chief-engineer repressed her doubts. Both departments (flight+astro & engineering) had been cross-training for this GG scoop for a week, as soon as the captain approved the exercise, and the sims were set on the exact parameters of Sestos VIII.

So, basically - and barring the unforeseen differences between sims and reality, they already had refueled 5 times here. This was going to be very interesting...

Iita gave the start to the GiRMoSI procedure (gas GIant Refuel MOnitoring - Simulations Improvement). During the exercise, the engineers will carefully log the parameters such as gravity, radiations, speed and position of the ship... you name it... in order to raise the accuracy of the next simulations. So far, the emulator of the BC2M GRYH-14 Y00 interface gave accurate predictions.

She hopped CP Standarsson would not change the flying style he showed during the simulations, and would not forget he wasn't piloting a Gazelle cruiser this time. People were less predictable than machines...
This message was last edited by the player at 12:37, Sat 15 Aug 2020.

Refuelling is a drives problem, not something in which Mammady has any expertise, instead he went looking for Colonel BS to have a word.  He begins with a visit to Colonel's office.

Reziilka gives a nod at Hrolf.

"Take us inSub-Lieutenant. All personnel prepare for gas giant refueling."

He peered out at the monitors towards the gas giant in front of them.

"Also do a sensor sweep. Let's see if there are any cockroaches about to flee before the might of the Imperium."

Hrolf nodded.  "Commence gas giant refueling aye sir." He released the M-drive control and activated the normal space engines.  His fingers danced across the controls. "Drive engaged thrusting to maximum G's."  Hrolf set them on a minimum type orbit to the atmospheric entry point.  Once he was satisfied with the vectors and engine performance he snapped in the course.  "Locked in sir, we're headed inbound to the refueling point." As before Hrolf smiled at the rapid response of the ship to the thrusters.  It was as if the ship were eager to be underway.

With course set for now Hrolf switched gears and brought the sensor array up in the nearby display. "Passive sensors sweeping Captain, do you wish to go active immediately?"

OOC: Set course for the refueling start point and activate passive sensors.

  The Sharshana's dives into the gas giant's atmosphere are almost graceful despite its bulk, and a stark contrast to its erratic flight performance during the flight trials. There are no alerts, no errant systems, no sudden surprises of any kind, and the crew remains alert and efficient throughout. If it weren't for the fact that this level of professionalism is expected of the navy, an observer might well be tempted to applaud.

  The refining process gets underway as the Sharshana moves back into an orbital position around the gas giant and prepares for a sweep of the area before heading toward the inner system. Nothing untoward had shown up on the sensors on the way in - the few contacts that had been made so far appeared to be belter ships of no immediate concern - but a more thorough sweep and an inspection or two would remind everyone that the navy was everywhere.

  And if there were just belters out here then that reassurance would certainly outweigh any brief inconvenience.

Hrolf sighed with relief as they broke free of the upper atmosphere of the gas giant for the final time and boosted up and out of the radiation belts and magnetic fields.  He glanced at his board quickly to confirm.  "Refueling completed, all stations report nominal status Captain.  We're slightly ahead of Astrogator Yune's schedule sir.  Do you want to go 'hunting' and manage a few inspections?  We can exercise the small craft as well."

Jacqueline would have just as happily refueled at the starport; gas giant refueling was an extra difficulty, and it wasn't as though the navy didn't have the money. But the captain no doubt knew what he was doing. Hrolf was doing quite well with the maneuvering, anyways, and all the crew seemed to have handled the situation well. Jacqueline kept her eye on the route and monitoring the sensors for anything that would require course adjustments. She tapped some commands into her tablet. "I'll give us the best search pattern in the limited time we have."

01:26, Today: Jacqueline Yune rolled 7 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 4,4.  CEI.

Mammady returns to Colonel's office and knocks once more.  This time, if it's not occupied, he'll enter and look around, trying to find out what it is that Colonel does and why he's so hard to find on a ship this side.

Reziilka gives Hrolf the affirmative.

"Yes, Sub-Lieutenant. Let's start with active sensor pings and see if anyone tries to rabbit. Prioritize any ships that are not running active transponders and then if there are no likely targets assign some junior personnel to run their registrations and look for any discrepancies or outstanding warrants. When it is time for our patrol we will need to quickly assess and prioritize targets so what better time to practice that routine then here and now when we are ahead of schedule."

There was a hunger in the Captain's eyes. It was clear that power and command was something that he craved and what better way to demonstrate it than to wield it as a weapon. Woe be the first smuggler or pirate that they fell upon as mercy would not be in the Captain-Baron's playbook. At least not at first contact.

Mammady draws Colonel into an airduct and gives him an oral message to pass on to the XO.

Hrolf smiled encouragingly to Jacqueline and then turned back to the captain.  He flicked a master switch to change the sensor condition.  "Going active on all channels now Captain."  he glanced at the displays.  "It will take a few minutes to build a picture of local space, stand by."

With the ship going active, Sidare took steps to enhance the ship's normal state of readiness.  While in-system, point defenses, defensive beam and sand turrets along with screens were always manned; missile and fusion barbettes were at 75% readiness.  It would be good to alert her teams that they might be needed for action shortly.  Sidare keyed her comm.

"Attention all gun-crews, this is Lieutenant Commander Dinsha.  Prepare for active scanning.  Make ready all missile turrets and fusion barbettes.  Point defense, sandcaster, screens and beam crews - confirm readiness.  Spinal mount to weapon status two.  Gunnery sensor team, standby to lock targets as directed.  This is not a drill," she said into her handcomp as she made her way to the gunnery direction center.  Dinsha occasionally glanced at her display as teams checked in.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:25, Tue 18 Aug 2020.

In reply to Sidare Dinsha (msg # 15):

     Back in the Command Bridge, Ishaki looks over a Tech's shoulder, and observes the sensor screens set for monitoring Near Space.  Since these sensors are scanning a much smaller/shorter area of space, the results come in faster.  Ishakhi reaches up to tap his comm-headset, activating the microphone,

     "Traffic Control reports Near Space Traffic is clear, no close signals detected, no objects of concern detected, at this point.  Conditions are clear to begin small craft operations, as required."

  It was neither the best of times nor the worst of times in the vicinity of the gas giant.

  It wasn't the worst of times because, after hours spent sweeping, and occasionally sending small craft for routine inspections, it could safely be said that there was no sign of pirate activity among the belters.

  It wasn't the best of times because, while the ship and crew appeared to have made a modestly-positive impression on the belters, there wasn't any guns-and-glory action to be had from it.

  That is not to say that nothing was gained. Aside from the reputational benefit to the navy of being seen to ensure security, even among out-of-the-way areas, talking to the belters, both on comms and during inspections, appeared to confirm that there had been a slow but steady increase in shady activity in the region. No immediately-actionable intelligence, but the logs and reports might well prove to be useful down the line...


  +1 DM to Intelligence rolls relating to smuggling activity in the mission zone.


  The transit to Sestos took just over two days, and communication with the highport indicated no immediate trouble in the area. A few more hours on patrol, and perhaps a brief visit to the highport or some of the cities, might be in order. The admiralty wants the Sharshana to maintain a visible presence, and either or both would make the Sharshana's presence very visible indeed...
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:05, Fri 21 Aug 2020.

The Captain-Baron looked over the intelligence on Sestos and frowned. The local government had balkanized so there wasn't a unified government presence on the planet, at least not in practice. He flipped through the reports on who was in charge to see which nation or leader was the main point of contact between Sestos and the Imperium. Barring that, which of the leaders were the friendliest towards the Imperium.

Once had a name he ordered communications to put him in contact with the local leader.

"This is Captain Reziilka of the I.N.S. Sharshana. We will soon be docking with your highport to take on fuel and supplies. If you would like to make arrangements for a meeting to discuss the current situation with the local system please make arrangements with my secretary."

Some might find it a little bold to invite oneself to dinner but Reziilka made it seem easy. As a noble he was used to special treatment and that pervaded his tone and speech. Of course the local governments should want to discuss wine and dine the senior crew of the ship and especially the nobility on board. Never mind the Sharshana was only a cruiser or that Reziilka was only a Baron...

The engineering & maintenance teams were invited to the performance room for the presentations of the "sensor/detection enhancement proposals". The 189 engineers, technicians and maintenance crew - plus the department's officers would fill in the amphitheater, but some were on shift or had other duties (such as the medical exam...). For those, the "show" was recorded. The Lieutenants Tsetsegmaa and Kaouthrak were the presiding judge/jury.

Iita called the first candidate of "Shasharna's got talent". A handsome young ensign named Norris Shuwvell stepped on the scene showing a lot of self-confidence, and sent an image to the giant holoscreen, a portrait of a blood-drooling demoniac face, with horns and fangs to match.

"In the country of Lalaland - on my home planet Giranima - the peasants worship the arch-demon Krath. They say Krath lives in the space between the stars, and He knows all that is happening, has a kind of x-ray sight enabling Him to scan the ships, discover their content, and read the secrets in every heart of their officers. Krath then shares His knowledge to the most zealous of His worshipers. On Giranima the data obtained fall into the weather category, but you can ask Him anything."

The lecturer suppressed a smirk and went on : "Therefore, as an out-of-the-box and cross-disciplinary approach regarding the identification of pirates, smugglers and other never-do-wells, it is advisable that we constitute a cell of Krath worshipers on our ship, chanting our prayers and wishes 24/24 to the know-all Demon, asking Him for insight and trajectories. The cell will work in three shifts of course. Here are the prayer words"

Everybody could read the lines that Shuwvell sang:

"Hare hare Krath
Hare hare Thenroy
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Reziilka Sharshana wgah'nagl fhtagn
Jhdp zgzr gpôhpi qwerty Tse Tse Gmaa Gmaa abdul Reziilka
Akhbar Kaouthrak rashtul Tsegmah"

At this point the audience was roaring with laughter, the ensign doubled up on his own prank and couldn't go on to sing his version of the imperial hymn.

Iita laughed heartily but asked for order and called out the presenter :

"Stop there before you commit a... er, blasphemy ! Ensign Shuwvell, your proposal is rejected. All the proposals submitted here have to be based on science only, reproducible and measurable results. You shall... meditate on the requirements and rules of the Scientific Method that we follow here, during your double shift week that lieutenant Akhbar Kaouthrak will set for you ASAP...". A grim silence fell on the audience. "OK, make it 5 days, one day removed out of respect for... your religious creed, and another one for the good laugh that we sorely needed", she added with a smile.

The next presenter was Engineer Shauna Leary. She had stage fright at first, but with an earnest conviction she started to tell how she had been working all of her life toward creating a discipline that merged psionics with engineering. "Psionics do exist", she argued, "science proved its existence". She then went on to elaborate how recruiting psionists - including Zhodani fugitives - and training them into "psychodetection" and "psychosensoring" could help to further the captain's objectives. She claimed every human aboard probably had latent psionics waiting to be woken up and trained, giving herself as an example of wakening telepathic abilities as she could now hear conversations. Then Iita stopped the presentation.

The audience was silent and dismayed as it was painfully obvious that Engineer Leary was not joking and sincerely believed her plan was helpful.

"I'm sorry but we can't continue in that direction", Iita explained kindly. "Engineering... and the Navy rely on machines - with some human supervision - because machines don't sleep, machines can be repaired. The psionic processes can't be automated. You can't base our sensor or our defenses on men and women that can fall ill. Shauna please get back to your seat. The next presenters are warned that proposals based on religion or human... possibilities and limitations will be rejected."

On her notebook, Iita requested an immediate mental examination of Engineer Leary by Dr Lassila. The chief doctor's report would arrive the next day, reporting that the woman was suffering from an undiagnosed mild schizophrenia type illness, but that she had somehow been functioning reasonably well for the nine years since she joined the Navy.

The third - and last candidate for the time slot - was a young PO named Hans Niedermeyer. He mumbled while exposing the issues with scanning behind bodies in a system : "when you scan one side, you don't detect the possible pirate vessels hiding on the other side". So the plan he drafted was to have batteries of lasers send beams to bounce off other near bodies, saturate the volume of space and analyze the beams that hit something on the way back from this 3D cushions billiard.

Members in the audience immediately reacted by pointing the faults in the reasoning; someone compared the idea to "raking a surface with a stick instead of a rake", and another wondered if, with the multiple lasers emissions, the Shasharna would radiate more light than the local star. Iita chimed in to stress the importance of scanning every side of a celestial body - and their "shadow". The scan "shots" had to be  simultaneous, as a ship trying to avoid detection would maintain its orbit around his "screen" in opposition to the Sharshana.

The discussion was heated, ideas and objections rocketed, but eventually cooled down. Iita concluded : she designated Nobina Nkrumah - a senior scan analyst - as project coordinator, and she promised to invite the Smallcraft Ops Cmdr Kimpasherki to be part of the team, as he would bring with the specifications of the range of his boats.

Then the meeting was adjourned. Iita invited Mammady to share a bucket of ice-cream in the officer's mess before his shift. She confined in him, how disappointing she felt the meeting had been, how all her expectations rested on the last project, and above all, how she hoped that the captain would be too busy to remember his demand of submissions on how to find targets of value to engage...

(Thanks to Mammady's player and credits go to him for the proposals ideas!)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Tue 25 Aug 2020.

  Gvoellaekh arranges for a token quantity of supplies, mostly falling into the category of 'local curiosity', to be taken on at the starport - the Sharshana is scheduled for a resupply at the next system, after all - as much as anything to give a few members of the crew an excuse to stretch their legs here and there (even if the highport isn't much to look at) and in the process make some informal observations about the situation (which the Intelligence department promptly adds to its files).

  Meanwhile, Thenroy works the Sestos dinner circuit. A tour of the ship here and there - carefully avoiding any areas that are experiencing difficulties, of course - adds to the glamor. Subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) emphasizing the ship's capabilities as a regional patrol vessel during these visits counts towards the admiralty's visibility directive even if nothing is currently being blown to pieces by its guns!

  No major issues are revealed during the captain's soirees, but a host of minor matters do come up during discussions. Nothing warranting immediate action by the navy, but more fodder for the Intelligence machine, and more material for Thenroy's report to be forwarded to whatever higher-ranked noble cares to read it. For the most part it's simply a chance to socialize, both between the navy and the locals and between locals who usually stick to their isolated settlements. And with the media reports on the visit generally being favorable, what's not to like about it?

  Unless perhaps you're one of the harried crew members who has to prepare for and clean up after these little engagements!



  Thenroy's diplomatic efforts were reasonably successful. No outstanding effects were achieved, but it furthers the underlying 'make an impression' mission directive. And there weren't even any incidents to complicate your lives!
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:52, Wed 26 Aug 2020.

before or during the jump to Mtensc, at 0901, PO Nobina Nkrumah of the engineering department announced itself to the door of the Small Craft Operations office, Main Hangar, portside, where the lieutenant Ishakhi K. Kimpasherki, commander of the Small Craft Operations, was filling out performance reports.

N'Krumah was an aged, non-imposing, black man, with a gray beard, evoking the image of a wise marabout from ancient Terran Africa.
Kimpasherki realized he'd seen the Petty Officer before, quietly working his shift in the sensor data and intelligence processing chamber behind the main bridge. Kimparsheki thought that, if the crew hadn't been brought together so recently, he'd   certainly knew N'Krumah better.
Nkruma accepted whatever was offered to him, sat down, and - as expected - was soft-spoken. Ishakhi associated this melodic, gravelly voice to some audio reports, of which he appreciated the courtesy, brevity and relevance.

"the captain-baron wants us to submit proposals to improve the ship's efficiency in tracking pirates and smugglers", exposed Nkrumah. "The Chief Engineer - we met aboard the INS Zatsernem when she was ACE - designated me to lead a team working on finding original solutions to old issues like this."

"The ship is straight out of the naval base, so it's already equipped with the lastest sensor equipment technology. Though the ship has it's 'bad days', most of the time it's working efficiently and as expected. It's my 4th term as sensor tech, 2nd term as senior sensor analyst, and all that's left for me to do is operate tiny adjustments to the sensor settings. Since we're nearing the peak of the technical possibilities, we need to attempt new approaches to improve our operations. Let's sort the detection ops between the different configurations ; say 1.the search of asteroid belts and 2. the search in the vicinity of a gas giant."

"Say I'm the captain of a pirate ship in the Sestos system. I hide my ship near Sestos VIII, a Gas Giant popular for stingy merchant vessels who want to scoop the fuel for free. When my prey glide into the Giant's atmosphere, their sensors display become blurred ; my ship rockets to them, undetected, and attacks them while they exit the atmosphere. That's the rough plan."

"Now, instead of civilian ship, it's the INS Shasharna who's jumping at 100D of my giant ambush. It doesn't go undetected, so I detect it. For some reason, I don't want to rush on the opposite direction until I reach 100D and can jump out of the system securely."

"I see the vector the cruiser is taking, so I can predict its trajectory. Let's say my pirate ship - the Emperor Eduardo's Revenge - is hidden behind one of the 79 natural satellites of Sestos VIII which are longer than 1.5 km and provide enough concealment. I compute my orbit around this flying stone so as to always be in opposition to the cruiser, and the satellite shields me from detection"

"bear with me. The Shasharna's tactic is to go straight to the gas giant, wave after wave of active sensors blazing, and send your boats - Lieutenant - near the ships it detected, to check if their transponder ID corresponds, or any other reason. Then the cruiser goes round to the other side of the gas giant to complete the sensor scan of the other hemisphere of space, so to say."

"Meanwhile, the two other ships of my pirate flotilla - didn't I tell you it was a whole pirate fleet? This is Nkrumah Graybeard we're talking about!", smiled the sensor tech with his eyes gleaming. "There's one pirate ship near every of the three gas giants, to cover all the refueling sites. The two ships on the gas giants not approached by the Imperial cruiser have plenty of time to jump out, or reach and hide into an asteroid cluster, be it a belt, Trojan or Greek or at another Lagrange point."

"Now back to our naval role. We could circumvent the predictability of the cruiser's
trajectory by implementing an unpredictable, random-looking path, through the Giant's system. This trajectory however minimizes the distances between a lot of satellites, which the cruiser can proximity scan... The paternity - or more accurately the maternity - of the idea belongs to Itaa; she even wanted to plan a route for the shakedown cruise that would not go simply from a world to the nearest, one parsec beyond... This has to be arranged with the pilot crew."

"What could you do with your boats, lieutenant, if we imagine that your boats' sensors were enhanced? Could you send them to the other GGs? How far can they go? Could you position your crafts so you scan the other side of the moons simultaneously as the cruiser scans the side it faces?"

[Armored Cruiser INS Shasharna.  Small Craft Operations office, Main Hangar, portside.]

     Ishakhi sat back in his chair, idly tapping the stylus he'd been using to fill out performance reports on the desktop--his honey-amber colored eyes glazed over in what's classically called a 'Thousand Meter Stare'--as he considers an answer to the Petty Officer's question.

     As a Combat Fighter Pilot, Ishakhi was quite familiar with the methods and tactics of scanning for enemies while on patrol with a small craft.  But, as a Combat Fighter Pilot, Ishakhi also knew that more than half of the time locating those same enemies on scanners was pretty easy--because they were often flying right at him, while trying to shoot him out of space!

     "The Shasharna carries twelve small craft, that's just over an entire squadron of Naval Launches, Petty Officer." Ishaki responded, after a few moments of thought, "As you might know, some are configured for specific tasks, others can be reconfigured into whatever is needed, given time.  Being Naval Launches, their systems are a bit more advanced than the standard Launch, but, in general, the performance is about the same."

     "Our Launches top acceleration is the standard One-G, and flight performance is only better because our Navy Pilots tend to be better than their Civilian counterparts.  Our power plants do produce more power, and while the sensors on a Naval Launch are slightly more refined than those on a Civilian craft--mostly due to superior analytical software--it's still only a twenty-ton platform."

     "Onboard fuel tankage allows for about four weeks of independent operation--but we rarely send a Launch out for longer than one week.  So, in answer to your question of 'could I send them to the other gas giants?', the answer is a confident 'Maybe'.  It would depend on how far away the Giant is, and whether the Launch would be expected to get itself back to the Cruiser, or if the Cruiser would be coming along to collect it."

     "Our Launches can travel a billion kilometers in just over seven days--or about one-point-nine billion kilometers in two weeks, then they would have to turn around and come back the same distance, in the same time, before their fuel tanks are empty.  Or, they can go about three-point-eight billion kilometers before the tanks run dry.  Then the Shasharna would have to go and pick it up."

     "To perform Anti-Piracy patrols around two separate gas giants in the same star system--as you've suggested--with the resources available to the Shasharna, the cruiser would have to go to the first Giant--either Jumping there, or via M-Drives--and once there the cruiser would drop off a Patrol of Small Craft, then the cruiser would have to move to the second Giant--again, either via Jump or M-Drive--and then patrol around that Giant, itself."

     "And, given the distance between Gas Giant planets, on average, there would be a communications lag between the Small Craft Patrol and the Shasharna of anywhere from a dozen minutes to a few hours."

     Ishakhi gives PO N'Krumah a stern look,

     "Personally, given the limited combat capability of my Launches, I would strongly recommend against any such isolated Patrol duty, for them."

     "We could do what you want to do--station the Shasharna on one side of a Giant and one-or-two Launches on the opposite side, then coordinate their scans to create a sensor net around the Giant and it's satellite system...actually, that would probably require four, maybe five, Launches, equally spaced around the Giant, with the Shasharna...."

     "But!", Ishakhi brought up his right hand, index finger raised,

     "There would be a delay between the arrival of the Shasharna in orbit around the Giant, and the launch and placement of the auxiliary craft, before the sensor net you're looking to establish would be finalized.  There is just no way to avoid that, because one way, or another, some of the ships will have to maneuver, and getting into position will take time--a few hours, easily."

     "That's time when anyone looking to misbehave will be able to either hide themselves, or get the frack out of town."

PO Nkruma nodded his head. (thanks for the info, Ishakhi player!)

"That's very interesting. I thought so, but never had the curiosity to ask why. And of course, unless the naval command knows that the star system is a nest of pirates, it's highly unlikely three cruisers could be gathered to jump in, almost simultaneously, next to the three different gas giants of our example system." Nkruma reflected a little.

"This is how I think a pirate ship would react to the appearance of our cruiser.
Please correct me along my thought process. If a pirate ship orbits a Gas Giant - but not the one next to where the Shasharna jumps in - then this pirate won't feel the urge to jump out. After all, jumping means wasting one week, and it's not even certain the cruiser would visit precisely the gas giant the pirate is orbiting. And if the pirate observes the cruiser changing its trajectory to one leading to "his" GG, the pirate will have plenty of time to run away. Am I right?"

"So to sum it up, with a single cruiser in a star system, it's only possible to surprise the pirates around one GG. Correct?"

"So, in a star system where there are several GG (such as Sestos), it's better to know which Gas giant is the most often plagued by pirates, before jumping (next) to it. If we don't have a recent, relevant information of this kind, perhaps we'd better jump at equal distance of two close GGs, and message the local planet authority requesting the latest data on piracy location. What do you think?"

"Now, let's focus on the nearest Gas Giant, to which we jump in close, with some element of surprise. I'm picturing a Gas Giant far from the local star ; not a GG only 70,000,000 klicks from the star, without satellites, submitted to the star flares and magnetic fields and other dangers. What a pirate wants is a GG with a lot of satellites, say several dozen, some big as telluric planets, some just asteroids.

How does the pirate ship react when the Shasharna jumps in 100D to that giant. ?
- run away to 100D and jump out? One week lost at least, and the risk that our cruiser thrust 6 catches up on it with his thrust 2
- jump out ASAP, inside the 100D limit? Misjump risk.
- hide behind a satellite and orbit it so as to have the satellite screen it? Let's consider this."

"The Shasharna tactic to optimize the sensor sweep could be the following : coming closer to the GG. Droping your launches. Going on to the other side of the GG system and, while doing that, travel along trajectories that passes by points where simultaneously the cruiser and a Launch could scan every side of the satellites."

"- for the smallest satellites (<1.5 km) : two launches could scan both sides
- for the biggest satellites (of Galilean size) : the Shasharna on one side, 3 Launches on the other"

"this of course calls for very complex vectors and trajectory changes, but the pirates would be confused and from the outside it would look quite random".

"Your invaluable input is already appreciated and thank you for your patience.", Nkruma added with a grateful smile.

[Armored Cruiser INS Shasharna.  Small Craft Operations office, Main Hangar, portside.]

     Ishakhi leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on his desk, a serious demeanor upon his face,

     "Petty Officer N'Krumah, when considering the operational--and tactical--methodologies for what we're talking about, you must first understand that...how shall I put this?...you must understand that there are many...High Ranked Officers...who are of the opinion that..."

     Ishakhi suddenly screws up his face, and then speaks in an altered voice,

     "There is No Difference between a Regular Patrol and an Anti-Piracy Patrol!  We are Always Looking for Pirates!"

     Ishakhi clears his throat and grins, before continuing.  Nobina may have heard from his fellow Engineers, those assigned to work for Ishakhi on Shasharna's small craft, that the almost too-young looking Lieutenant believed that he performed a fairly decent impersonation of the Shasharna's Captain--which must be what that thing he'd just done with his voice had been.

     Ishakhi does not do a 'fairly decent' impersonation of Captain the Baron Reziilka.  Not at all.

     "The two Operations are very different, I can assure you." Ishakhi continues, "I started my naval career as a fighter pilot--I've participated, right up on the sharp end, in both types of Ops.  They do have a lot of similarities, at a casual glance, but it's the depth of commitment that's different."

     "A really good example that explains this is--do you know what a 'Nun' is, Petty Officer?"

     "In case you don't, A Nun is a person who takes a Vow of Service to some Faith or Religion, they dedicate their entire lives to it.  Nun's are also often placed in charge of orphans.  Everybody trusts Nuns, see?  So, the difference between a Regular Patrol and an Anti-Piracy Patrol goes something like this..."

     "While on Patrol, you and your wingpartner spot a Nun and a bunch of orphans to the side of the road.  They look over at you in obvious surprise--apparently they hadn't seen you approaching."

     "Now, on a Regular Patrol, your Mission is to 'Make Your Presence Known' and to 'Help Where Needed'.  So, in this case, on a Regular Patrol, you and your partner wave hello at the Nun and the kids, and you ask them how they are doing.  They wave back, smiling, and say they are doing fine.  You and your partner then continue on with the Patrol.  All Is Well with The Imperium."

     "Now, if that had been an Anti-Piracy Patrol, it would have happened like this..."

     "When you and your wingpartner first spot the Nun and the kids, you both rush right over to them, without saying a word.  They are obviously startled by your sudden appearance.  Only when close to the Nun and the kids,  do you identify yourself to them, then you require them to not only do the same, but to actually produce verifying identification.  If there is any hesitancy in their compliance, or they actually refuse to comply, you and your partner go Weapons Hot and then demand that they identify themselves immediately, or you will both open fire.  And, more often than not, even if they do immediately identify themselves, you'll likely still end up frisking the Nun."

     "You see, Petty Officer, with the average Patrol we are looking to see if there is any trouble around--whether something has been reported, or not.  We are just there to make sure everything is safe and secure, we're there to help out.  But with an Anti-Piracy Patrol, we already know that there is trouble in the area--Pirates have been reported in the area we are Patrolling.  We are not looking for them, we are searching for them.  See the difference?"

     "And because Pirates can be anywhere, and they pretend to be anyone--because they will smile to your face, then stab you in the back--we must assume a different tactic, a different posture.  When Pirates are reported in an area, we move in fast and hard, we dominate, we intrude.  We pause to inspect every little thing we encounter, we flip over rocks, we shine light into cracks, we kick over dirt mounds.  We question everything, and we question everyone."

     "Because, Petty Officer, as cowardly as Pirates are, they don't run--they hide.  When they see us coming, they straighten up their clothes, put on a smile, hide their weapons, and claim to be just innocent bystanders, not doing anybody any harm.  Or they jump into a hole, and try hard to pull the hole in after themselves.  Pirates know that if hey run, they expose themselves as being guilty...of something."


     Ishakhi smiles a rather predatory smile,

     "And, like any good Predator, Petty Officer, The Navy chases down anything that tries to run from it."

     "So, the point I'm trying to make, here, is that your tactical thinking, Petty Officer N'Krumah--trying to increase our search area by sending out Launches to help in the search, as well as watch for 'fleeing' Pirates--while very well thought out, just wouldn't be very effective against experienced Pirates."

     "First, one of our Launches, by itself, doesn't have a lot of sensor range--most Pirates will probably spot them, before they spot the Pirates--and our Launches squawk Military Transponders.  A Pirate sees that, and they'll clean up their act real quick, and start pretending to be a legit ship.  And if our Launch shuts down it's Transponder--which Military vessels can do--then any Pirate will assume the Launch is just some other, stupid, Pirate, and blow it out of space."

     Ishakhi frowned at the PO,

     "That helps us locate the Pirate, but it sucks for the Crew of the Launch, wouldn't you agree?"

OOC:  My apologies about my previous Post.  Yes, I was rambling...sorry.  The worst part is--I wasn't finished  ^xo^x  I got called away from my computer, and when I got back to it, it was the end of my shift and I had to pack up and go home.  So I sent what I had done, planning to add to it when I got home--but when I got home, things there ended up taking the rest of the day....
     Why can't Real Life be more like On-Line Life, eh? ^_^  Anyway, I'll try not to make this one so long...


[Armored Cruiser INS Shasharna.  Small Craft Operations office, Main Hangar, portside.]

     "Anyways, Petty Officer, what I'm getting at is that, as far as I am aware, this ship is currently on a routine Patrol while simultaneously conducting a shakedown cruise.  So, while we may encounter Pirates--and pity the poor fool Pirates that cross this ships path!--we aren't out here specifically hunting them down."

     "And, as I said, our Launches--though much tougher than their Civvie counterparts--are still, individually, no real match for the kind of crazy paramilitary firepower that Pirates manage to shove into their ships.  It's safer to consider using them less like a Hunter, and more like a Sentinel--kind of like for Picket Duty, but mobile..."

     Ishakhi suddenly straightens up in his chair, a thoughtful frown creasing his swarthy brow,

     "Wait...that sounds familiar, somehow...Picket Duty, but Mobile..." Ishakhi says quietly, more to himself than to Petty Officer N'Krumah,

     "Picket Duty...an asteroid belt...Frigates--No!  Gunships and a Destroyer!  Yes!  Yes!  Got it!"

     Ishakhi grinned at Petty Officer N'Krumah,

     "There may be something to your idea to use the Launches to extend Shasharna's reach, after all, Mister N'Krumah, but we're going to need a Consult...."

     Ishakhi swiped his hand across a small section of his desk, as he spoke, activating a holographic control panel.  He then pressed a combination of controls, opening a connection to the auxiliary bridge, in the stern of the ship, where Chief Engineers all across the Navy were known to hang out.

^{COMM START >>>}  "This is Small Craft Operations, Lieutenant Kimpasherki, speaking," Ishakhi pronounced his family name as 'kim-PASHER-ki', "I'm with Petty Officer N'Krumah, and we're looking for Chief Engineer Yune.  Does anyone there know where we might locate her?"  ^{<<< COMM END}

During the Lieutenant's speech, Nkruma kept his smile, but his eyes gazed a little. The senior sensor analyst lost the thread at the impersonation, then at the nuns allegory. He resolved to take mental notes of the bullet points of Kimpasherki's lecture.

- difference between patrol and anti-piracy mission. You've got to know if pirates are at large in the area. Like, looking for the latest info before jumping, and contacting the local authorities on arrival. Wasn't it what Nkruma suggested?

- on anti-piracy patrol, you rush menacingly to the ships. The pirates hide, they don't run away. This was good. Seeing through the lies of a pirate was not Nkruma's job. It was another team's.

- according to Kimpasherki, the crew of the Launches would be in danger because the pirates shoot at them. However, the scenario Nkruma presented was of a pirate ship hiding because he had detected the cruiser. Would the pirate ship want to reveal its presence by firing at the cruiser's boats? But Nkruma understood that the small craft commander took care of his pilots. This was commendable.

- Kimparsherki eventually considered the launches as beaters in the hunt. They didn't have to come within the firing range of a pirate ship to scan it, did they?



Nkruma chimed in, and said in a hushed voice "If I may... Jacqueline Yune's position and grade is astrogator, sublieutenant - not Chief Engineer".
This message was last edited by the player at 14:42, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

In reply to Iita Tsetsegma (msg # 26):

[Armored Cruiser INS Shasharna.  Small Craft Operations office, Main Hangar, portside.]

     Ishakhi grimaces when N'Krumah corrects him,

     "You're right!  Shuukli!" Ishakhi vents a quiet curse at himself, "I'm always seeing SubLieutenant Yune's name on Sensor Reports...and then you and I get to talking about setting up sensor nets...I guess I just got it all mixed around.  Thank you, Mister N'Krumah."

     Ishakhi touches the holographic control to reopen the channel down to Engineering,

^{COMM START >>>}  "This is Lieutenant Kimpasherki, again.  Apologies to the Chief Engineer for my mix up, a moment ago.  However, I would still like to speak with the Chief Engineer--Lieutenant Tsetsegma--at her earliest convenience, please."  ^{<<< COMM END}

     Ishakhi lets up on the holographic comm button, but continues to stare distractedly at the desk's top,

     "That was indecorous of me, to forget the name of such a highly placed Officer as the Chief Engineer." Ishakhi mumbles, thinking out loud, "It will require me to do something special to recover from this shame..."

     Ishakhi looks back up at N'Krumah,

     "You work in Engineering, Petty Officer N'Krumah...can you tell me--does Chief Engineer Tsetsegma enjoy Poetry?"

Nobina Nkrumah smiled warmly. He started to feel how to handle the young-looking Smallcraft Operations Commander. Ishakhi was undoubtedly a formidable fighter pilot and a fantastic Navy officer, but when it came to personal relationships, you had to repeat the information to him.

"I work in Engineering yes... and also, did I mention Iita and I spent a couple of years aboard the INS Zatsernem where she served as Assistant Chief Engineer?", he smiled. "I know her well enough to be certain she does not like any other poetry than the music of equations, graphs and formulas. The Chief Engineer is simply the typical geek. What would please her is that you solve this sensor enhancement issue, and I feel you're working towards that, pretty efficiently it seems, and that'll earn her respect. Sir, nobody will tell the Lieutenant you mixed up her name with Yune's. We the crew know each other for what? One week, nine days? Everybody does that kind of mistakes."

At that moment, the contact was established with the Chief Engineer. She sounded enthusiastic. "Lt Kimparsheki" - Iita butchered his name, as to prove the PO's point - "what can I do for you? Have you meet Nobina - Nkrumah?" she added.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:53, Wed 09 Sept 2020.

In reply to Iita Tsetsegma (msg # 28):

[Armored Cruiser INS Shasharna.  Small Craft Operations office, Main Hangar, portside.]

^{COMM START>>>} "Yes I have, Chief Engineer." Ishakhi responds, "Petty Officer N'krumah is here with me now, in fact.  We've been discussing ways in which the Launches aboard Shaharna could help to assist in search or patrol operations."

     "I've been explaining that using our Launches for Patrol duties is an excellent idea, but only at ranges where the patrolling Launch can expect rapid aid, should it encounter hostiles.  The P-O was thinking to send Launches to the far side of a planet--a Gas Giant, specifically--to scan for the presence of ships engaged in illegal activities.  A fine idea, and quite workable--however, with the Shasharna being the only back-up a Launch on such a patrol could expect...between the communications lag, and the travel time for even a Cruiser to get to the far side of a gas giant planet, one of our Launches is just too vulnerable.  If we had a few Fighter Interceptors around as a Rapid Response Force, maybe..."

     "But, the reason I called you, Lieutenant Tsetsegma," Ishakhi handles her name rather well, "Is that while we were talking I recalled an old War Story my Grandfather told, about something he observed during the Third Frontier War, when he was a Junior Gunnery Officer aboard the INS Holmesford, Destroyer-class."

     "As my Grandfather told the story, the Holmesford had been detached from it's DesRon, and placed as lead ship in a picket force made up of eight Gunships--basically heavily armed and armored Light Frigates, used mostly as escorts.  This little squadron was supposed to monitor an approach vector to some planet where the rest of Grandfather's Assault Group was operating."

     "Well, according to my Grandfather, the senior Sensor Officer was some hotshot wave-particle scientist, before the war, and he convinced the Captain of Grandfather's Destroyer that he knew a way to increase the sensitivity of all the sensors on every ship in that picket force.  Now, as you probably know, Lieutenant, sensors weren't that great, during the Third Frontier War, but the hotshot Sensor Officer had the squadron assume a formation with all eight Gunships in a circle, equally distant from each other, with the Destroyer in the center of that circle."

     "Each Gunship orbited around the Destroyer at a distance that put them squarely in the middle of the Destroyer's active sensor Long range, and the distance the Gunship's maintained from each other was such that their active sensors overlapped at Long Range, as well.  Then, with each sensor sweep, all the Gunships sent their sensor data straight to the Destroyer, which had the greater computing power, as well as the more sensitive and up-to-date analysis gear."

     "In essence, the squadron formed an Extended Array, with the Destroyer committing half of its sensor resources to simply receiving the data from the eight Gunships while performing normal scans with the remaining resources, and the Gunships committing  all their sensor resources to full scans, but not using any other resources to analyze the raw data.  This had the extra benefit of allowing the entire squadron to move while conducting these scans.  Slowly, Grandfather said--he wasn't privy to piloting data, but he said he always thought the squadron was doing just under One-G."

     "So, when I remembered that story, I thought we might try to duplicate it--and I'm thinking we'd need to modify the telemetry on any Launches we used, to facilitate the bandwidth requirements of the sensors data stream.  After that, it's just a question of my Launch Pilots keeping station with the cruiser, and the Flight Tech's keeping the sensors running, and the data stream pointed at the Shasharna.  Would you agree?"

     "My thoughts are that we modify from three to as many as six Launches to do this with.  I would prefer to use only three, as that would affect other Small Craft Operations the least, but admit that six would give far more detailed results."

     "What do you think, Chief Engineer Tsetsegma?  Does this sound like something we could do?" ^{<<< COMM ENDS}

Iita listened attentively, then joked : "Your grandfather was a fantastic observer. Do you think we could recruit him on this ship? And the SSO as well..."

She checked her notes. "OK, two questions. First, your grandfather was probably reasoning in 3D and not in 2D, so the 8 Gunships may have been arranged differently than a circle, probably being placed on the 8 corners of a cube" - she showed both of her hands and long fingers to the camera, folded both pinkies and drew the shape of a cube with the points of the remaining fingers. "though, if the mission was to monitor an approach vector, the Gunship were probably arranged to form a half-sphere...". Iita positioned again 8 fingers in the air, found out that it wasn't clear, called a shared sketching grid to the screen and began to draw a half-sphere, little dots and ovals on the surface of the sphere. Then she erased the ovals and drew bubbles.

"But we probably need to cover our backs, so a sphere of sensoring it is, with a Launch at the back of the ship, trailing, to scan the things we missed and the space bodies that orbited and/or rotated after the forward scan." She drew a dot behind the sphere, then connected four of them. "We could start with a tetraedron-ic volume shape, so four Launches converted to antennas for Sharshana to start with. That's not much, but is enough to validate the idea. Which leads to my second question : why do you think the Holmesford's scientist set the Gunships, quote, squarely in the middle of the Destroyer's active sensor Long range? Does that mean the sensor range of the Gunship were half of the range of the Destroyer?"

In reply to Iita Tsetsegma (msg # 30):

     Ishakhi nods in agreement, as Iita makes her points,

     "Yes, it's very possible that Grandfather wasn't, actually, describing a specifically circular flight pattern for the Gunships." Ishakhi responds, "As I think about it, now, I seem to recall that his exact words were something like--'positioned around my Destroyer, like in a circle'--or words to that effect.  So the pattern you've describe could quite easily have been what he was trying to describe."

     "As I've said, my thoughts were that this operation could involve anywhere from three to six launches.  The ideal flight formation, I'm thinking, would be six launches arranged around the Shasharna in an octahedral pattern--one forward, one sternward, one off to port, one off to starboard, one abouve, and one below.  While that formation would offer complete, omnidirectional coverage, it would also take up to fifty percent of my available boats and half my flight crews."

     "It's the Flight Crews that present the problem, for me.  On any given shift, I have one-third of my pilots cycling through various Bridge Duties.  With half of my crews out flying Sensor Sweeps, I should be having the other half of my crews off-duty, resting and preparing to switch out with the pilots on-duty and out flying.  But doing that would prevent me from sending some of my pilots to perform shifts on the Bridge, which would then affect Bridge performance and....you can see why using six launches would be a big problem, for me.  Doable, but problematic."

     "The four boats you're suggesting are probably as many as I could run, without starting to degrade operational efficiency in other areas.  Three would be better, for me, but...oh, well."

     "And, if I remember correctly, Grandfather did say that the old INS Holmesford was a two-thousand ton Destroyer, and he always described the Gunships as being 'a little less than half the Holmesford's size', so, maybe somewhere around seven- to nine-hundred tons?"

     "It has been my experience that larger ships--with their greater power generation, greater number of sensor receivers, and usually greater computer capability--have greater sensor ranges than smaller craft.  As an example of this, back when I was flying a Vampire Strike Interceptor, I would often receive calls from my Carrier telling me they had detected something that was nearby me, which my Vampire's sensors hadn't, yet, picked up.  INS Inshon Gaalu was eighty-thousand tons, while my Vampire was only twenty tons.  You see?"

     "So, I think that placing those Gunships out just short of the limits of the Destroyer's sensor's long range limit, put them at less than a light-second away, for comm lag, while the Gunship's sensors were overlapping the Destroyers more extreme sensor ranges, thus improving the scan detail within those extreme distances, for the Destroyer, and maybe even extending it a little bit.  As you called it, they were acting as remote 'antennas', and were able to send their data back to the Destroyer in under a second--basically giving the Destroyer accurate 'real-time' scans all the way out to the very fringes of what the Destroyer could do on its own."

Iita winced while hearing the story of the fighter craft who didn't detect something that his Carrier did, far away.

"I tell you what. We need only a single craft of yours as proof of concept. We'll fill it with a much more powerful sensor - we've got spare sensors for our cruiser, and fitting it in a Launch boat would be like forcing an apple into a nut" - she winced again - "but we have to try. We also need to take into account the pilot's minimum space, so I'll designate a Flight Engineer you recommended..." she called the transcript of the Space Trial reports on her pad - record everything, always write down ; this habit saved her career when she had been on a diplomatic mission years ago. "...Petty Officer Kristoff... Then you position this Launch forward of the Sharshana, and we try different distances, so as to obtain the best combination between sensor overlap, sensor range enhancement, and communication delay.

Nobina, you shall reconfigure the sensor computer to handle the additional data of this POC Launch.

Lieutenant... may I call you Ishakhi when we're not in a formal meeting? ... Does that suit you? I mean, would you agree? Your input and experience are very helpful." Remembering her diplomatic mission made her realize that the ex-fighter pilot may perceive her as too much domineering, due to the Vilani-Solomani cultural differences, and language nuances.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:28, Tue 15 Sept 2020.

In reply to Iita Tsetsegma (msg # 32):

     "You are the Chief Engineer, of course you may address me as Ishakhi in less formal circumstances." Ishakhi replies with a small grin, "Aboard ship, you are a Senior Officer, in command of the entire Engineering Department--so it is totally appropriate for you to call me by my public name.  Aboard ship, I am just a Staff Officer, and though I may command a semi-autonomous unit, ultimately, Small Craft Operations is just one part of the Flight Operations Department.  So, though we may both hold the same Rank, aboard the Shasharna, you hold the greater authority."

     Ishakhi's grin suddenly drops to a wide-eyed frown, along with a very quiet exclamation of "...Oh..." in a disappointed sounding tone.  This is followed, almost immediately, by Ishakhi clearing his throat, in apparent embarrassment, before speaking,

     "I apologize, Chief Engineer, if you think it was inappropriate of me to be wasting your time by explaining the obvious, to you.  You would, of course, already know that."

     When he says this, the previous relaxed, almost bantering, tone to Ishakhi's voice has been replaced by the more formal tone he usually adopts.

     "As an operational concept, your idea about trying to improve the sensor capabilities of a Launch with sensor equipment designed for a Cruiser may be possible...given the exhibited skill of your Engineers.  But I would point out that, like the anecdote about my old Vampire fighter, the available power source and computing power aboard a Launch will be significantly less than what those Cruiser parts are designed to make use of--by a couple of orders of magnitude."

     "But, except for my concerns on those issues, I am fully behind the plan to modify a single Launch and then conduct a few trials, in order to see if the concept is viable." Ishakhi says--then pauses a moment, to consider an idea that has just come to him,

     "Might I suggest, Chief Engineer, that since we are already doing significant electronics work on Boat Eleven, we assign that Boat to the program, and combine the repairs with the modifications?  Perhaps installing a sub-processor designed for a Cruiser might stop the frequent burn-outs of the Tertiary processor, from which Boat Eleven is suffering?"

Iita was bemused by how hard it seemed for ex-fighter pilot to answer positively the rhetorical question ; calling co-workers by their first name was a way to ease relationship, speed communication and increase productivity. Only in the triD shows series did the officer still call each other "Mister" after spending 5 terms adventuring together...

She made eye contact through the camera with Nkrumah, who was behind the Craft Commander and shrugged with a light smile.

Iita resolved to "unfreeze" the uptight officer at the nearest occasion, at the officer bar when celebrating their first success; she'll try to make him drink, tell his adventures, dance, exchange compliments on the beauty of their eyes, get drunk, lower his inhibitions, kiss, whatever.

When Ishakhi stopped talking, she allowed herself to throw her hands in the air and replied : "Argh ! This cursed Boat Eleven ! Of course we'll use it, as it's already useless for your missions and I planned to have it dismantled and reassembled anyway. And don't worry about the power consumption, I considered only passive sensors. Well", she sighted "I guess it's settled. Thank you for your improvement to the project and joining the project's team led by Nobina... PO Nkrumah... as a consultant - THE consultant" - her candid smile showed she didn't realize how heavy-handed she was. "Until the next workshop then... Looking forward for our next breakthrough in Imperial sensortech!" and still smiling she offered her hand as to shake it through the monitor.

OOC now Gvoellaekh, the roleplay time is over... who rolls what skill? ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Tue 15 Sept 2020.

In reply to Iita Tsetsegma (msg # 34):

OOC: Ishakhi Kiikag Kimpasherki rolled a Tactics (Naval) check, getting a 9 using 2d6 +1(Tactics) +1(INT).  CEI Roll for Sensor Development Project.

9 : "a decent performance, but not enough to warrant a +1 morale bonus"

the CEI is still at 2d-1 then... though, since Iita created a dedicated team, and added Kimpasherki and selected engineers like Kristoff, I'll consider a 2d roll.

Iita Tsetsegma rolled 8 using 2d6.  Engineer's CEI roll for Sensor Development.

Iita was prepared for a spectacular failure for the reconfiguration of a Launch, and she was ready to request the use of a 50-ton Cutter instead, but the results were inconclusive.

[I assume we modified the boat 11 during the 9-days in hyperspace, then started a real field sensor development test at Mtensc, under the captain's orders. That is : a standard scan, plus this extra Launch.]

Iita pinched her nose and closed her eyes. She already invested much of her energy into the various projects and felt empty - and no space combat had happened yet... She videocalled the lieutenant not caring about the image she projected.

"Ishakhi", she winced, "I think we need to borrow another of your boats, maybe a Cutter this time - biggest capacity to bear with all the stuff we want to fit in -, and we would deploy that boat behind the cruiser and confirm the POC... hopefully.
While the techs examine the logs of our first... experiment, and since we're stuck in this system for a whole fracking week, shall we organize the next team brainstorming meeting in the officer's lounge? 12 hours from now?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Sat 26 Sept 2020.

OOC:

OOC: Yeah, I was assuming the same thing--so, the following conversation would be taking place right after the Shasharna went looking for the missing supply ship.  Right?


     Ishakhi frowned as he listened, but nodded in agreement as he spoke.

     "I concur, Lieutenant Tsetsegma, we need to analyze the input from the modified sensors down to the quantum level." Ishakhi says, "And we can't discount the possibility that whatever the base issue with Boat Eleven is, it could be influencing these sensor results."

     "Hmm.  Boats One, Two, and Three are my Fuel Boats, so I don't dare use one of those--the Captain would blow a gasket if I had to tell him we can't refuel at top capacity."

     "Boats Four and Five are configured for passenger transport--I could possibly spare one of them, but I'd rather not.  Six through Twelve--with the exception of Boat Eleven--are all configured for cargo transport..."

     Ishakhi silently consults his boat logs for a few seconds,

     "Let's go with using Boat Twelve.  It just came off the Ready Boat cycle, and is scheduled for light maintenance.  So, I wasn't planning on using that boat for the new resupply plan."

     "Also, if you think it's at all possible, let's not recycle any equipment or software from Boat Eleven--just to eliminate the chance that it's something to do with that Boat's problems, and not an issue with the concept, itself, which is corrupting our results.  Since we solved many set-up issues configuring Boat Eleven ... Let me see, here ... Configuring Boat twelve should go quickly ... Hmm ... Yes.  A 'brainstorming session' in twelve hours will be ideal.  In the meantime, I'll have Boat Eleven set aside, and assign our best diagnostician to looking it over--oh wait, that's Kristoff!  The best is already assigned to Boat Eleven."

     "Alright, then.  See you in twelve hours, Chief Engineer."