Six hours of planning and preparation. Six hours in which the muddy waters might become slightly more clear... or not.

In reply to Gvoellaekh (msg # 1):

     "Just how low is the Sharshana going?" Ishakhi asks, "We planning on making a direct landing, or are we going to hold position over the 'Port, where we can provide covering fire for our Marine Landing?"

Jacqueline nervously looked from person to person. Finally, she managed the courage to speak.
"Um, I, this... this may sound unusual, but should we see if we can contact the insurgent leaders? A combination of force and diplomacy might end the situation with a minimum of bloodshed. I think we want to avoid any additional damage to the spaceport if possible... it would further damage the planet's economy and probably increase support for the rebels, and on a planet of 90 billion people that's a serious concern."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:46, Mon 09 Nov 2020.

In reply to Jacqueline Yune (msg # 3):

"I agree with Lieutenant Yune", added Iita, with an encouraging smile; "covering fire on the starport actually means punching many large holes on buildings already crumbling. We simply don't have enough material on board to rebuild the starport from scratch.

Also we could present an ultimatum to the insurgents and gangs squatting the premises, urging them to evacuate or be blasted out with heavy damages. They might evacuate, probably they won't, but at least they would have been warned, so they won't hate us and they might retreat after a baroud d'honneur - last stand.

Plus, coordinating our actions with the two Imperial nobles is good diplomacy - One, they'll be informed, so they won't loose face, and ultimately they'll give good reports of the captain's intervention - but, two, they could also provide valuable insight into this mess.

Of course we'd loose the effect of surprise, but OTOH, a 50,000 tons cruiser in the sky...", she blinked.

The Baron nodded at Yune and there was a flicker of a smile on his lips. It seemed he and his protege were thinking along similar lines.

"See if you cannot find a communication channel to contact the insurgency. Barring that we will broadcast on all channels. The insurgents will be ordered to withdraw from Imperium property or risk an orbital bombardment on their positions.

Tactical prepare targeting solutions for missile bombardments of insurgent positions near the starport. Any damage to the starport is unacceptable but civilians and noncombatants surrounding the starport are necessary collateral damage.

Contact the local government and see if there are any reports of insurgency bases of operations that are potential target options. I don't intend to win this war for the local governments single-handedly but if necessary our threat of force might need a more teeth behind it than just targets surrounding the starport."

In reply to Iita Tsetsegma (msg # 4):

     "Yes, but..." Ishakhi interjects, holding his hand out over the table and tapping a finger on it "Many of the Insurgents seem to be getting onto the 'Port through that abandoned section.  And, if the area is abandoned, anyways, couldn't bombarding it just be considered...Urban Renewal?"

     "Plus, as has been mentioned, abandoned or not, if we determine that dropping a missile on any part of the 'Port becomes necessary, it's Imperial property we're destroying, not Local."

     Ishakhi turns to look to the Captain,

     "My recommendation here, Sir, would be to make our first priority getting in contact with the the local Imperial Nobles--this planet is, after all, their responsibility--and seek their input.  If they are unavailable--or worse, dead or captured--only then should we consider the actual use of force on the locals."

     "Send our Marines down now to recover the Imperial Nobles, and get them up here, if possible.  That's my recommendation.  Sir."

"I agree about contacting any stranded Imperial Nobles but we are not a troop carrier. Our ability to deploy boots on the ground is very limited currently and I will not have our marine contigent cut off at the knees right at the start of our patrol.

As I said any damage to the starport is unacceptable but we need to be evaluating other potential targets. Nobody is pushing any red buttons, Lieutenant, however if action is required I do not want there to be any hesitation on our part.

Deliver me targets and firing solutions now so if they are needed they are ready, understood?"

"If I may suggest..." As usual, Gvoellaekh's cadence was ponderous as usual as he stirred from studying the screen in front of him. "The threat of force, and perhaps a show of force, may be more useful than fully employing it. A well-timed warning shot while our marines relieve starport security. It doesn't have to destroy anything significant. It just has to look impressive."

"I still want those firing solutions just in case. And sensor sweeps to detect any potential ground weaponry that the rebels might have but if it is a show of force with minimal collateral damage then why don't we give the locals here a real show.

Sublieutenant Standarsson, plot a course for us to enter the upper atmosphere over the starport. Make it bearing 235 mark 45 so that the Sharshana blocks out the sun. Maybe we can resolve this without having to waste a single round of ammunition."

"If we can contact the rebels, sir, is there anything we want to communicate beyond the demand to retreat?" Jacqueline asked. "Also, will we want to send any Naval personnel down to the surface, either with the Marines or in the aftermath?"

The Baron shook his head.

"The Imperial Navy is not needed to intervene on behalf of local governments. It is their responsibility to preserve order. Our only concern is with damage and disruption to Imperial property.

We will keep the marines prepped but undeployed for now. Let's see if they have any defensive weaponry and if they're willing to use them. I will not have our only squad of marines picked out of the sky en route."

Communicating with the insurgents on the way in proves to be challenging on two fronts: first is simply establishing contact, and second is the fact that they aren't a professional fighting force: several 'leaders' exist among them - perhaps no surprise given that they're civilians making a rather precarious attempt to gain some leverage over their government.

Negotiations via comm channel and the dramatic arrival of the Sharshana overhead are enough to convince most of them to cease pressuring the command center, but they're largely unwilling to abandon the starport. Not without some kind of reassurances, at least: without anything to use as leverage, the planetary government is likely to enact lethal justice. More troublesome are the few who take the Sharshana's impending arrival as a sign that they need to capture the control center now so that they aren't facing the double jeopardy of an angry government and an angry cruiser without something to use as insurance.

That effort, forceful but now undermanned and just as haphazard as ever, succeeds only in adding a few bodies to the count by the time that the Sharshana arrives overhead. They're not going to take the administrative building by any means, but they're a wild card in what might otherwise be... well, still a tricky situation if the insurgents conclude that they have nothing to lose.

Still, you have the upper hand for the moment, and there's no sign of any heavy weaponry in their hands. They'd probably have made more progress in taking the facility by now if they had that kind of firepower!

"Lieutenant Kimpasherki. Begin decoy deployment maneuvers. Put real marines on the third transport down but keep small craft going continuously."

Reziilka leaned over to Gvoellaekh to ask him a question.

"How extensive is the ship's armory. We only have a single squad of marines but do we have the gear to equip crewmen like they were marines?"

     "Affirmative, Sir." Ishakhi nods in compliance--starting to turn his chair away from the conference table--then swinging back, to address the Captain.

     "Sir?" Ishakhi calls out, "The Marine Commander will want to know--is the use of Lethal Force, by his Marines, in order to take control of the Port command center Authorized, or not?"

Jacqueline looked increasingly uncomfortable. This was not how she had hoped things would work out, and things were shaping up towards potential considerable violence and loss of life.

"Either way, I'd suggest we issue as many stun grenades and stunners as the armory has" she suggests in response to the talk about lethal force.

"Are we going to try to keep them talking, or wait until they call us to surrender?" Jacqueline asks. She knew more about this than weapons loadouts.

Rezillka nods at Yune before responding through the comms.

"Lethal force is authorized if necessary but nonlethal force is recommended if possible. The fewer bodies we add to their insurrection the better."

Iita is communicating with the procurement office, so as to reply to the Captain's question : "do we have the gear to equip crewmen like they were marines?". Anything that could help irregulars combatants parade martially in a non-fighting location; cooks, mechanics... She reviewed all dress uniforms or spacesuits or hazards suits that could look like Marines' advanced combat gear/exoskeleton. The more signs and numbers on it, the better.

The same creativity was called upon the engineers. Even if a broom or a vacuum cleaner could look like a disintegrator from away, this would do the trick. And of course, Iita'd lent her saber to the most fearsome-looking "officer".

Captain Reziilka got on the comms to begin issuing orders to the rest of the crew now that he had a plan in mind.

"Gunnery, I want full power to every weapon station we have. If they do an energy reading of our ship I want it to blow out their sensors. Marines, get ready for a hot drop into potentially hostile territory. The LZ should be clear but once our landing craft start making trips the rebels might decide to put a stop to it.

Small craft I want anything that even looks like a landing craft doing nonstop round trips. Make those rebels thing we're deploying a full troop complement.

Sensors, continue to scan and monitor for communications. If the rebels start calling for orders or reinforcements I want those frequencies and I want them intercepted.

We have Imperial property down there and I'll be damned if we let those rebels think for a second that their little uprising with the locals is any excuse for threatening the the Empire's infrastructure.

Remember, you are the sword and shield of the Imperium. Now is the time to put that duty to the test."


Captain REziilka gives a rousing speech as he issues orders!
09:26, Today: Baron Thenroy Reziilka rolled 11 using 2d6+4.  soc/leadership.

CEI Result: 10.

It is a challenging operation, but the crew of the Sharshana is up to the task: the small craft land with only minimal interference in the form of scattered gunfire from the surrounding buildings; anything more serious is effectively forestalled by the ominous and overwhelmingly armed presence of a heavy cruiser overhead. It doesn't take long for the ground force to press into the administrative section of the starport, either; the rebel forces are horrendously outmatched by heavy arms and battle dress, and for the most part, don't even try to contest their advance.

They don't simply flee the starport however, instead retreating into the dilapidated sections. Some sensor blips indicate a few bursts of gunfire within those sections, perhaps the result of less-than-peaceable meetings between groups of rebels and some of the resident scavenger gangs.

Jacqueline stays on the comms, trying to convince the rebel leaders to retreat from the starport before lives are lost.

03:00, Today: Jacqueline Yune rolled 8 using 2d6+2.  Soc/diplomat.

Iita shows up on the bridge, and manages a sensor technicians backup team, to re-parameter the sensors designed for scanning space and spaceships. Together they push the algorithms to the limits : their Marines colleagues could fall into an ambush, or be hit by an IED! The blips positions and moves have to be precise, as the maps of the dilapidated sections.

Also Iita is careful to always offer an escape route to the enemy - nothing is worse than a desperate enemy with its back to the wall.

Iita Tsetsegma rolled 6 using 2d6+1.  Int/Sensors

Hrolf doesn't find his experience with deep space ship combat of particular use in this situation but still works to guide the massive cruiser down into the atmosphere and then into a hovering presence over the center of the star port.  He watches the combat play out.

"Captain, we can probably use ship's weapons on the derelict houses as the only inhabitants are criminal gangs.  A few blasts from our laser turrets will provide very localized damage.  We can redeploy the bulk of our troops using the small craft to cut off any retreat while Jacqueline works on them to surrender."

Between Jacqueline's Diplomacy and the crew's supporting Advocate...

Jacqueline's efforts to discuss the matter with the rebels is complicated by their lack of any central coordination and the relatively chaotic nature of their withdrawl into the derelict sections. Some of them seem inclined to simply quit and take their chances if allowed to do so - and indeed, scans of the area show a few people making tracks from the starport on foot or in light vehicles - several of them raise the point that if they simply quit the starport without any leverage, most of them will wind up being executed by the planetary government... unless perhaps the navy is willing to intercede on their behalf.

The planetary government would be well within its rights to do just that, so talking them out of it - if Thenroy is even inclined to do so - could be troublesome. Trying to arrest the entirely of the rebel force under Imperial jurisdiction would be theoretically possible but logistically challenging; arresting just the leaders would be more practical, and perhaps give the crew more leverage over the outcome.

The no-frills approach of pounding the derelict sections until everyone gives up and flees is still an option, of course. The potential complications would come later.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:32, Sat 19 Dec 2020.

Jacqueline closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself and try to calm her nervousness. She speaks up, although her voice is soft. "It looks like the rebels aren't going to surrender without some assurances that they won't be executed by the local government. That would be the worst possible outcome-nothing creates martyrs like mass executions. There'd be a million rebels tomorrow, and they'll fight to the death if they think surrender means execution.
I think perhaps we could arrange a formal surrender to us. The rebels are on Imperial property at the spaceport and the government here formally requested our intervention, so that should give us the authority. If we disarm and parole the rebels as part of the surrender, arrest their leaders under imperial authority, that should preclude further action against them.."

The Baron nods at Yune to patch him through.

"Rebels threatening the Imperial starport. This is Baron Thenroy Reziilka, Captain of the Sharshana. You will cease conducting any aggressive operations on Imperial property or we will be respond with lethal force. As you are committing crimes against Imperial property if you would prefer to surrender to the Imperial Navy we you can set down your weapons and proceed, unarmed, to the landing pad at <coordinates> where our marines will take you into custody for processing.

You have one hour to either withdraw or surrender before we open fire."

Hrolf nodded in agreement with Jacqueline's idea. "I think that best Captain.  We might be able to arrange an exile for the leaders and take them to one of our next port calls.  That would get them off the planet."

"Should we draw up formal terms of surrender, sir?" Jacqueline asked

In the end, the strategy worked. At least for the most part.

Between the choice of being brought to trial by the navy, or being brought to trial - if one happened at all - by the planetary government, most of the rebel forces reluctantly chose the former. A few more people scattered and some were undoubtedly still hiding out in the derelict sections, but the majority were soon under marine guard in the landing area; the remainder were too few to pose a threat to the starport authority.

The only problem in all of this was that there were well over a hundred of them. While directly arresting and putting the leadership (such as it was) in the brig would be simple enough, cramming them all onto the Sharshana was out of the question; some would have to either be kept on-site and under guard until a transport could arrive to pick them up, or let go... or turned over to the planetary authorities with some sort of terms in place.

"The Engineer Corp can build a detention center in the derelict parts of the starport, Captain. I assume you wanted to stay on Beaxon at least a couple of weeks anyway, rebuilding the port and bringing back prosperity (and lower local tensions)"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:32, Sat 02 Jan 2021.

Hrolf tracked the progress of the rebellion and the number of rebels captured. "Can we stuff the rebels into emergency low berths?  Each one will take up to four individuals. That could allow us to handle the excess."

After consultation with the ship's legal consul and chiefs the captain issues his decree.

The rank-and-file are going to be given a very stern warning and slapped on the wrist. Whether that means some minimum fine for trespassing or damages caused is determined on a case-by-case or completely arbitrary purpose. The overall point is that the bulk of the rebels are quietly released to slink back to whatever lives they had left behind.

The officers and leadership of the rebels, are formally arrested and detained in the brig. Messages are sent to planetary leadership and Naval high command about the arrests and the Baron will have his XO make arrangements about whether they would drop the prisoners off at the next Naval base on their patrol or rendezvous with a prison transport.

Either way their brig was full and the matter was resolved, at least according to Reziilka.

Jacqueline closed her eyes sighed and sagged against her chair in relief. "Thank God that's over." she said quietly. It looked like as few people as possible would die today. "Should I assist with the surrender, sir, or return to my regular duties?" she asked. She did have advocate training, and she wanted to make sure the captured rebels were treated fairly, but part of her wanted to forget the whole matter and bury herself in her mathematics again.

Iita felt her team was starting to have pins and needles in their legs. She called the captain on the Officers' Reunion conference.

"I suggest we stay a few more days around, so the rank-and-file do not reinvest the starport when we move. Captain, requesting permission for the Engineering Corps to go down, search the facilities, list the damage done, uncover weapon- or any other kind - caches and repair the bare necessities? Good job Commander Dinsha, by the way, for the swift Marines operation!"

Then she turned in the direction of the Lieutenants Standarsson's and Yune's avatarq
"Oh by the way, is anybody interested in visiting the officers of the civilian ships before they leave the starport? Exchanging news and stories about pirate activities and the like? This might be useful to set our next destination", she added, excitedly. Information! More information! More data to consider and allow for an elaborate guess!
This message was last edited by the player at 09:03, Sat 09 Jan 2021.

Hrolf spoke up.  "I'd be interested in talking to the civilian ship crews.  I've done some patrolling work on previous assignments.  We could learn a great deal."

The Baron waved his hand dismissively at Tsetsegma.

"So long as it does not compromise operational efficiency of the ship we can deploy our marines and a detachment of engineers to put a report together while we continue our patrol within the system.

We have a duty to the entire star system, not just port so we need to resume standard patrol and refueling operations but yes, while we are transferring prisoners if you would like to reach out to the civilian ships for information that is permissible."

The Baron raises an eyebrow when Yune raises her question and Reziilka shifts to giver her his full attention.

"Sublieutenant Yune, if I recall correctly you have a background in legal matters and someone needs to take charge of all the logistics involved in processing prisoners so where do you think you could best be of service to the Imperium?"

Once again he had delivered a "test" for the young officer.

Jacqueline was distressed and fidgeted nervously; because of her shyness she did not want to take the lead in such a way, but she did not have much of a choice now that she was on the spot. "I, I think it would be most helpful if I took the lead in arranging that" she replied, although she certainly didn't feel that way.

Iita also had the urge to get a breath on a planet, so she transported down with some Marines changeover and a team of Engineers.

She offered Hrolf to join the shuttle : "hey, why don't you talk to the civilian's ships' crews face to face? With a few Marines, we could also turn this visit into an inspection. You can imagine that with a derelict starport as this one, it's an open avenue for smugglers..."

She extended the invitation to Kimpasherki. She wanted to flex her diplomacy muscle, but also keep in constant contact with the engineers, so she gladly took second place in the interactions.

Hrolf nodded.  "Let's definitely take the marines along as they'll be helpful if we do find anything odd.  I'd guess that there may be rebels trying to flee the system as well as those looking to smuggle things inbound.  Still, we'll have to tread lightly or the civilian captains will clam up if we show too much force."

The Sharshana spends the remainder of the week carrying out patrol duties within the Beaxon system; if there was any hope for excitement in the doing, it's quickly dashed: word of the uprising made it out before the Sharshana arrived, and it'll be another week or two before ships start to return this way.

Most ships, that is. An x-boat makes its way through the system, undertaking a routine circuit of the cluster. A single subsidized merchant, the Aldyssar's Fancy, puts in an appearance at the gas giant, having planned to refuel and jump onward to Noghon; they're out of position for a stopover this time, but the captain expresses some relief at the fact that they won't have to bypass Beaxon on the way back.

Nevertheless, the Sharshana's presence might well be what keeps the situation planetside relatively... stable. How long that will last once it has departed is anyone's guess, but smart money would say not long.

The starport's functioning areas suffered relatively little structural damage during the attack since it was mostly a matter of small-arms fire. Broken windows and battered siding are relatively easy to replace. The extensive dilapidation beyond that core would take more than a small team of engineers with limited stores to deal with, but it's clear that nothing much has been done about the place despite the ducal relief package, and the staff (somewhat quietly) confirm as much: a few halfhearted and quickly-abandoned attempts at repairing a building or two, a few new pieces of personal equipment... either the aid was far more token than announced, or too many tokens ended up 'misdirected' en route.

The staff and the crew of the merchant ships are at least able to give a full accounting of the attack, complete with logs and records; the only cargo on any of their manifests that's worthy of a raised eyebrow was a small shipment of heavy weapons... destined for the armories of the government of Beaxon. Legal, yes, at least in the hands of a planetary government, although the price tag associated with it must surely be in excess of everything spent on the starport's "upgrades". Fortunate, too, that the rebels never managed to seize it, or things might have  turned out very differently.

Piracy? Not especially problematic in this system - especially of late, Beaxon is in such a mess that it and its shipping don't present a tempting target - but between them the spacers' comments about recent events in the area validate the admiralty's concerns about increased lawlessness: in the last month there have been several raids by small but heavily-armed spacecraft, seemingly targeting isolated vessels in outsystems, or small communities, monitoring stations, and the like; targets that starport-based system defense forces can't quickly reach.


I made the relevant checks rather than delaying things any further by asking everyone to roll them; you had a reasonable level of success - and the Sharshana's stay definitely made an impression on people.

Jacqueline did not much enjoy helping process the prisoners. Dealing with the law was an interesting mental challenge, it was true. But she found it difficult to actually deal with the prisoners, and the responsibility made her nervous. If she had to actually speak to prisoners, she made sure to be very polite and respectful and not let her shyness show. She could only hope she was doing right and impressing the Captain.

Iita writes a report on the corruption of the local government, based on:
- the engineers' report on the starport
- interviews with the prisoners (crosschecked)
- talk with the staff and crew of the merchant ships (the regular visitors, not the first timers)
- local medias (incl. those of the opposition)
...and personal deductions and elaborations.
She sees the economy like just another kind of machine to fix, especially when she examines the input/output grand table. Thus she can determine what imports Beaxon is lacking, and what exports still are rotting on the docks...

She sends the report to the Captain, so he could beef up the report to the Duke.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:13, Tue 19 Jan 2021.

The Baron spends his time during patrols socializing with other nobility and high command. He spends a large amount of time spending and receiving communiques, especially looking for opportunities to "spin" the suppression of the rebellion into something grander than it really turned out to be.

Otherwise he was focused on their next stop and looking to see the route in place that would put them in line with real piracy and not just general lawlessness.

Hrolf will participate in patrols in the small craft and interviews with what ship's crews are available.  Otherwise he'll train on piloting and astrogation.

"Captain, requesting permission to interview the prisoners, with some officers who volunteer. This should be a 'sweet' questioning, since I'd like to know what their reproaches towards the government are. Of course I shall then sort the true from the propaganda... but what we learn from protesters may end up in a report I intend to write and submit to you", Iita explained laboriously.

Between dealing with the prisoners and her ordinary duties Jacqueline is very busy. But when she can find the time she offers to help Iita write her report, although she probably won't sign it.
She helps teach Hrolf about Astrogation when she can spare the time, although it's not always easy to keep up with her she talks about it; she is quite talented in her field. Jacqueline is much more relaxed and less shy when she talks astrogation; it's all an interesting intellectual puzzle for her. Still, Hrolf gets the feeling that she is a little nervous he might be better than her in her field.