The Sharshana's time in jump ends mere seconds from the original estimate - a bullseye by any astrographical standard - as it drops into the Taomina system's outer reaches, just beyond the 100-d perimeter of what is either a barely-dwarf planet or an asteroid with pretensions of grandeur. At this distance from the star - a point of light in the distance - it is very cold outside, and there's definitely no kind of atmosphere to speak of down there.

There are two vessels in orbit, however: a patrol corvette and a yacht, judging by their profiles, though only the former has a power signature. There are also signs of a small complex of structures half-buried in the rockball's surface.

The half-minute or so that you've had hasn't been enough to get any more of a read than that before the patrol corvette signals you; apparently someone over there wants to talk.

Jacqueline stood and punchd the air in triumph. "Yes!" she said, extremely proud of her astrogation in this case. She then blushed and sat back down. "We're right at the arrival coordinates, sir. Looks like two ships present... a base, perhaps?"

The Baron was at his chair, fingers drumming on the armrest. When the signal came through he put on his most Imperial and stoic visage.

"Open a communication line, let's see what they have to say..."

Iita watches the sensors reports of the planet-oid, wondering who could establish an outpost so far from the sun, if not pirates. Well at least there's not a welcome committee of Rosax/pirate fleet firing at the Sharshana...

"Yes sir." Jacqueline said. "Patrol vessel, unknown yacht, this is INS Sharshana. State your status and intention" she said as authorities as she could muster as she contacted the two vessels.

The corvette responds rather promptly.

"I.N.S. Sharshana, this is the Rosax Guardian," an even female voice begins crisply - and, sure enough, the transponder ping is returning that identity. "Are you here searching for this yacht? It bears Navy markings. We were hired to investigate disappearances in the area, and just found this wreck out here. I'm not sure what that complex is down below; they haven't responded to us, so far."

There is a short pause. "If you do intend to take over search operations, I'll stand down the team that we're readying to go over there, but I do want us recognized as the finders, if so. You may see it as mercenary, being navy, but we aren't bankrolled by the Imperial treasury, and this find could have been our payday."

"Sensors team, do you detect anything on the planetoid?" inquired Iita.
The Sensor team rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((3,2))

"Understood, Guardian. Standby" Jacqueline transmitted. Omce they were no longer broadcasting, she looked to the captain. "A navy wreck, and Rosax security here.. that's ominous."

The Baron's posture and demeanor changed in an instant. A smile crossed his face, almost even a proud look and his tone shifted from its typical iron hard edge to the friendliest tone that anyone on the crew had ever hard the Captain use.

"Rosax Guardian we are here on routine patrol. The Imperium appreciates your attempts to conduct a rescue. Your efforts will be duly noted and I will pass the message along to get your salvage claim recognized.

Hold while we get into position just in case an emergency evacuation is needed. If you have rescued any survivors please start prepping them for transfer once we arrive. Sharshana out."

As soon as the comms were cut the familiar anger and tension rippled through Reziilka, and when he issued orders there was that gleam in his eyes as he sensed the prey before him.

"Lay in a course for the wreck. Keep our weapons and systems offline but the second we get within optimal firing range we are going to power up and lock onto them. They think they can raid an Imperium ship and have the audacity to claim it for salvage? They really must think we are idiots.

Marines, stand by for boarding actions. Weapons, prepare firing solutions to target their engines but you must do it only with passive sensors. The second we fire up the targeting systems proper they will likely bolt.

With any luck we can take them alive and bring them back to high command for a proper and public execution for their crimes. But barring that a burial at space would work as well."

The Chief-Engineer was surprised by the captain-baron's tone. To anyone who knew him, this speech was out-of-persona and bad acting, but to any other, it may almost look the part [OOC: although if I was the GM, I would still ask the player to roll for Deception, to see if he breaks character on a 2 ;)]. While she checked the passive sensors and fire-control data feed, she felt the captain's ruse was very relevant and his orders were the best tactical option to choose.

"Acknowledged, Sharshana."

The corvette remained quiescent as the Sharshana began its approach. Its weapons were offline and there was no jump-surge; the M-drive was powered but idle.

While pinpointing them at this distance was out of the question, there were low-grade power emanations from the structures on the planet, consistent with the sort of generators that would be deployed to run a small rockball facility. Visually, the outlines indicated a landing area surrounded by outbuildings, though perturbations in the landscape signaled that there were areas completely belowground as well.

In contrast, the yacht appeared completely lifeless, which took on a more ominous implication when Gvoellaekh, speaking from his duty station at the aft bridge, stated - a little more slow-spoken than even his usual, as if punctuating every word - "Sir. That is the Sunburst Scatter. Our entry in the Trin-Deneb yacht race."

The Baron gave a slow nod. So far so good. If Rosax had no idea they had been found out the Sharshana could pull right alongside them and punch a hole right in their M-Drive before a fight could even start. Then they could proceed with the boarding and "enhanced" interrogation.

Not that anyone else knew it right now but seeing the Sunburst Scatter in such a shape meant that he wasn't expecting any of the Rosax crew to survive. He would get what he needed from them and then let the cold vacuum of space dispense the appropriate justice.

"Damn" Jacqueline said quietly, and closed her eyes for a moment, mourning and praying for the crew of the Sunburst Scatter.

"When will we be issuing the demand for the Guardian to surrender, sir?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:41, Mon 09 May 2022.

The Baron was studying the tactical map, the intensity in his eyes as if he was hoping he could close the gap through sheer force of will.

"If they let us we will engage at optimal firing range for our batteries. If they show signs of running earlier then that is when we strike."

All was quiet as the Sharshana steadily closed the distance on the Rosax Guardian, which was holding its position near the wreck of the Sunburst Scatter. The distances clicked down, one diameter at a time.

The ship was nearing that optimal firing range when all hell broke loose planetside.

Tactical systems began to signal warnings as the ship's sensors detected multiple missile launches from five positions across the rockball's surface, and fusion signatures flared in several locations as minor vessels powered up - without doubt, skipping a checklist or two along the way - and put power to their M-drives. It was probably no surprise that the Rosax Guardian's drive systems came to life a moment later, thrusting hard away from the planet at a perpendicular angle to the Sharshana's course.

Chasing it down wouldn't be a problem. Though still some distance off, the streams of incoming missiles, along with who-knew-what from the gaggle of vessels rising from the surface, might be.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:34, Thu 12 May 2022.

The Baron transitioned smoothly into his battle stance.

"Gunnery stations open fire. Defensive batteries prepare for missile and small craft interception. Nuclear screens on standby if radioactive weapons are detected. This is it. Today we wipe out Rosax for the glory of the Imperium! Remember, we are the spear of the Imperium!"

Jacqueline gasped. Odd as it might sound, she seldom thought of naval service as something dangerous; it was there to engage her mathematics and let her see the galaxy. Who was going to challenge the Imperium this far into Imperial space? A navigation specialist, she did not quite know what to do with herself in a fight and concentrated on plotting potential courses the enemy could take and trying desperately not to look frightened. She looked over at the captain and tried to take inspiration from him.

The Sharshana came about and sped toward the Rosax Guardian, easily outpacing the far smaller vessel; moments later several of the fusion bays lit the void between them, easily hulling the smaller vessel and reducing much of it to slag; flames plumed briefly from the wreck as the air mix from the life support mingled with hydrogen in a high-pressure and high-temperature context, though the invading vaccum quickly snuffed all trace of it.

Gunnery was also tracking a mass of incoming missiles. There were - if sensors were catching everything amidst the confusion - five points of fire on the planetary surface, very likely buried beneath it, all of them launching without cease. Stopping that would mean spinal strikes, but that wouldn't be an option until they came about and drew closer.

As for the mass of smaller vessels that had begun to take off... they weren't heading for the Sharshana. No, they were clearly scattering, presumably with the intent to jump out as soon as they reached even a partially-safe distance. There was no reasonable way to catch them all, and more of them were likely to escape due to the Sharshana's bolt away from the planet in pursuit of the Guardian - very possibly a calculated move on the Guardian's part, buying the others more time to escape!

There wasn't any other activity from the main surface facility; either everyone was trying to abandon the place on the smaller vessels, or they were keeping any further tricks in reserve.

"The rats are leaving the ship...", mused  Lt Tsetsegmaa, with a scorn worthy of her captain himself.

Thenroy nodded with satisfaction as the smaller ship was knocked out.

"Dispatch recovery vehicles to capture any survivors. I want a bay full of prisoners to take back to high command and stand trial for what they've done. Come about and prepare for bombardment of the asteroid. If they think this is a fight they can win then we will will have to change their minds one bombardment at a time."

Jacqueline felt a thrill of excitement during the battle, none of the moral qualms she had back on Beaxon. She calmed down a bit and wasn't so nervous when the enemy vessel was destroyed. Always good to remember the Imperial Navy had no rivals... not this far into Imperial space, anyways.

"Coming about, aye." she responded to the Captain.

"Pretty loyal for a bunch of mercenaries... sacrificing themselves to let their comrades escape" Jacqueline said. "I think there's something more to them than we know. Especially with this whole base... seems like quite a setup"

The Sharshana undertook a stately half-spin to face the asteroid as the drives worked to slow and then reverse its momentum. The first of the missiles were closing rapidly, and it appeared that there were many more yet to come.

The small flurry of ships that had lifted off were indeed scattering, clearly intent on making it to the jump limit (or at least a less-dangerous distance for an emergency jump) rather than on intercepting the Sharshana. Getting a solid read on them for later identification would be problematic, however: the sensor stations were thoroughly occupied with the task of jamming as many of the missiles as possible, and taking even one or two off of that task would greatly increase the amount of ordnance that made it through. Comms was likewise wrestling with the task of trying to pick out any information from the midst of the chaos.

Gunnery was ready on both fronts: the main batteries and the spinal cannon were all ready to fire on Thenroy's orders, distance allowing, and the point defense systems and turrets arrayed all over the ship were close to first engagement with the incoming fire. Everyone would soon learn the worth of the preparations and drills that had followed the news of the missing missile shipments.


"I agree with Lieutenant Yune," Gvoellakh spoke, ponderously as was his custom, over the holo-comm system between the aft bridge - where he was stationed per standard protocol - and the main one. "This is a strategic operation. For intelligence purposes, I recommend capture of the base rather than its destruction, Captain."

Thenroy considered Gvoellaekh's musings and then gave a nod.

"Gunnery, hold fire on the spinal weaponry. If we can contain their barrages with our defenses then we will try and capture the base intact. However if their weaponry proves a danger to the ship then we will destroy them and focus on the wreckage for intelligence.

Besides, it is likely if they are abandoning that base they have rigged it with traps or explosives to cover their tracks."

"Captain, may be the spinal mount could do a demonstration of force, blasting out a near asteroid, and then you'll threaten the same, and negotiate a surrender." She reflected one-half second more: "Of course you don't have to fulfill your promises to scoundrels."

Gunnery officer Sidare spoke up as well, having scrutinized the layout. "Sir, we should be able to strike the areas that they're launching missiles from without hitting the main base. If those launchers are powered from the base then it might cause them some issues, but unless they're actually running an ammunition feed all the way out to each of them then the structure itself should survive."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:05, Thu 14 July 2022.

Jacqueline smiled gently. Between her success astrogating the ship here and her insight getting the XO's approval, she felt like she was on a roll. The captain pointing out the base was probably trapped certainly ruined any plans to explore it, though.

"I mostly agree, but we won't get a lot of surrenders if we go back on negotiations" Jacqueline responded to Iita.

"Those launcher should be easy to turn into ash" she said confidently. All the same, she flinched as the missiles approached.

In theory, the ship's protections should prevent any damage to the crew. In practice, who knew what advanced weapons the pirates managed to smuggle? Iita broadcasted an image of herself putting on her vacc suit.

"Tsetsegmaa to the Damage Controllers. Remember to cross-check the damage with human reports. Sometimes the damage also impacts the alerts, so if there's no alarm in a section, that does not mean it's safe."

She remembered she had a career to take care of. "Trust the crew and the captain.

Be confident people. The INS Sharshana is redoubtable and has already refused to give up and die even when gutted by enemy fire. She got her crew home many times and she’ll do it again!", she recited from an old engineer's rant. [All checks connected with emergency damage control (but not proper repairs) gain a +1 DM. There is no physical reason for this; it is a manifestation of the crew’s confidence in their ship’s ability to survive anything. Thus the crew will approach damage control with greater confidence and attempt tasks that might otherwise be given up as impossible.]

Thenroy bobs his head back and forth, visibly weighing the options being presented and then finally nods.

"Update. Gunnery target the launchers but try to avoid collateral damage on the main base. If possible. If not...so be it."

The Sharshana's point-defense systems and turrets provided a close-range display of destructive firepower and resulting pyrokinetics against the missiles that reached engagement range; it was either a spectacular or unnerving show depending on one's level of confidence, although the occasional stray warhead did make it through, producing a discernible thud that reverberated through the struck section of the ship, though the Sharshana's armor kept the damage at bay save for the occasional knocked-over deskware or other loose item sent tumbling. A lighter vessel, or even a squadron of such, would have been in very deep trouble.

The Sharshana's main gun powered, released, and cooled several times in succession, blasting into the planetoid's crust and sending material showering both across its surface and even into space. Two hits were enough to take out one launcher, producing a far more impressive chain-reaction explosion as the remaining missiles ignited; drilling down to the next launcher over took three, and the next one, its structure perhaps weakened by the tremors released by the other two, went up in a single hit.

Two more launchers remained, but the price of chasing the first ship and focusing on the launchers was that the other vessels had gained enough time to scatter and make jumps - not all of them at a completely safe distance, but far enough out that they'd probably made it somewhere.

The base itself appeared to be weathering the impacts relatively well; there was still power, and there had been comms operating right up until the last ship jumped. This implied that they still had people down there, and that their stay-behind was part of an organized (albeit perhaps improvised) plan; this was definitely not the work of a ragtag band of desperate cutthroats.

Iita silently cursed the captain. She told him the base wasn't going anywhere, and that they'd better chase the other pirate ships. Now they were escaping, to kill elsewhere, and all sensors were focused on the 'roid, so they didn't even record engine signatures...

This was also the reason why two ships had to travel in concert. Some navy tactics were still true after Ks of years...

Jacqueline worked to assist with sensors and communications and ran some numbers on possible locations for the fleeing enemy vessels. It was easy and comforting to lose herself in mathematics, and it helped keep her calm as the occasional thud reminded her that this was not the exploration mission it sometimes felt like for her and that death was not far away.

"Enemy defenses should be cleared out soon" she said. "Then we can try to chase them down or investigate the base and try to get to the bottom of this."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:14, Wed 17 Aug 2022.

The Baron watched the fleeing ships without much passion or emotion. Sure it stung his pride a little bit to not get a complete victory but here it seemed to be perfectly good enough for the report. The largest of the enemy ships crippled, the enemy hideout smashed. The cockroaches would scatter for that is what they did but it would be hard to imagine Rosex making another strike after what had happened.

More likely the scraps of this organization would be eaten up by the vultures, eager to cannibalize their fellow thieves and murderers rather than tangle with the Imperial Navy.

"Sensors, run a revised sweep of the asteroid. Once we've confirmed that it is no longer a threat we can prepare boarding operations. If they don't surrender this could get ugly. I do not relish the idea of finding out what kind of booby traps they have set behind them. Better to make them come to us.

Also, sweep the wreck of the corvette for survivors or data. Note anything interesting for further investigation. It is unlikely they had time to clean their systems, maybe we'll get a trail for our next target."

He paused and turned to communication.

"Comms, prepare a notification for high command. Inform them of the loss of the  Sunburst Scatter, the destruction of the Rosax Guardian and their asteroid pirate base."

The Sharshana closed on the asteroid, its main gun pounding the remaining launchers into explosive oblivion one by one, and took up a position that watched over the base itself. There was still power there, though whoever had been left behind had chosen to go radio silent. The Sharshana's marine complement boarded the shuttles and headed down on a mission that promised to be dangerous despite the now-lack of ship grade weapon fire. Battle dress could stop a great deal, but a high powered hand weapon (or just a really lucky shot) was still potentially lethal.

And sure enough, there was a rear guard waiting for them; marine command suddenly had its hands full as gunfire swept the landing party's approach.

In reply to Gvoellaekh (msg # 33):

Can the engineering team quickly devise a weapon, or modify an existing weapon, to help our boys over there, such as a microwave wave, or "aimed weapon that makes just the enemy
vomit" ? :)
This message was last edited by the player at 08:05, Fri 26 Aug 2022.

Or is there a position for some precision bombardments to break up enemy defenses?

The thought of getting her hands on all the data down there tempted Jacqueline, and she almost asked to go with the landing party. As soon as the shooting started, though, she was glad she hadn't. Instead, she busied herself sending the communications the captain had requested, and trying to analyze the structure of the enemy base, although it was rather out of her area of expertise.

As soon as one Marine passes by a network plug, he plugs a transmitter in. Then, the transmitter will emit (through radio) information about the pirate network, and impatient techs will try to hack the network (or bring in down).  Standard Operating Procedure in this age of technology... :)

The advance into the base was professional but predictably messy. Small-arms fire wasn't much of a threat to someone in battle dress, but lucky shots could and did happen, and the defenders had some heavier gear as well. Nevertheless, the Sharshana's forces pressed forward and inward; the landing area was soon under their control, the outbuildings swept, and the main structures under contention.

That's when comms received and played a message - apparently a one-and-done transmission rather than an attempt at dialogue - stating tersely, "I.N.S. Sharshana. Please be advised that the crew of the Sunburst Scatter is being held within the compound."

Baron Thenroy was surprised by the good news. He had already been mentally composing a message to high command about the complete loss of the Sunburst Scatter. If the crew was still alive...


"Lieutenant Tsetsegma. What is your analysis of the Sunburst Scatter? Would it be possible to get it repaired in time for the race?"

In all the excitement of doing battle with the pirates he wasn't sure if the chief engineer had time to look at the sensor readouts from that particular part of space.

The Engineer-in-chief was busy checking that the weapons worked, that the shield held, the heat was building within the limits, that the alarms were properly taken into account and reset, and that the damage control team was... well... controlling damage. As much as she did not want to yield to superstition, the Sharshana was solidly built, and seemed to just plain refuse to give up. All checks connected with emergency damage control (but not proper repairs) gain a +1 DM. The crew had confidence in their ship’s ability to survive anything. Thus, the DC teams approached damage control with greater confidence and did marvels.

And now the captain's head was somewhere else, focused on prestige, but not in the ongoing struggle to minimize the damage!?
Still she had to answer the question.

"Er, a moment captain, I need a few minutes to recalibrate the sensors", she stated, though a cursory glance had been sufficient.

She let the captain wait five full minutes, then submitted her analysis, with images and graphs, as the baron-captain liked it - it gave him a feeling of control.

"Significant and severe damage was inflicted on the Sunburst Scatter. The holes you can see here... and there... indicate a probable near destruction of the M-Drive. Then there are multiple weapons damages to the energy production plant... and I don't want to think about the damage to the systems. The living quarters look rather intact, but what the Sunburst need, is a long reconstruction in a shipyard.

Even if we managed to push the ship back into the race, it would be a patched wreck crawling towards the finish line, arriving last by much. So, technically, there's no chance it can participate and carry high our colors."

The Baron wasn't particularly surprised by the news. It would have been a welcome change of fortune if the ship was salvageable but he, and by extension high command, would have to settle with the eradication of the pirates plaguing this system.

Red>"Marine command, what is the status of the capture operation for the pirate base?"</red>

He turned to flight control and shot out another command.

"If we're bringing back hostages make sure we have transports clear. Alert medical that there might be injured or tortured civilians being brought in."

He turned and cast a sidelong look at Tstesegma over at engineering.

"If we cannot save the Imperium's pride we can at least save it's crew, right?"

He applauded himself internally for taking the time to acknowledge that civilian lives might be on the line. In truth it didn't matter much if the ship didn't race. The damage was done and rescuing a few civilians wasn't going to be remembered as much as the failure of protecting the ship in the first place. Still, the bleeding hearts on his ship would probably enjoy the morale boost of doing a 'good deed' as it were. Logically he acknowledged that such people had a right to exist and served some purpose to humanity but in truth, the good deed here wasn't the rescue of civilian lives but the ending of criminal ones, one way or another.

Jacqueline closed her eyes and said a quick prayer. She admired the captain's decisive decision making, but the idea of him handling a hostage situation made her nervous. But so far the enemy hadn't made any kind of demand or indicated they were threatening the captured crew, and she prayed that would continue and the crew would be rescued without incident. Just in case that wasn't the case, however... Jacqueline carefully monitored the comms traffic and kept her headset on. Anyone who knew her well would know Jacqueline was worried since she wasn't even distracted by her mathematics. She passed on the captain's alert to the medical staff.
She smiled at Captain Thenroy when he said it was important to save the crew. She had all be worried over nothing, the captain did care, and she admired him more than ever, entirely oblivious to his actual feelings about the crew.

Iita exchanged a glance with Jacqueline, and guessed the latter's relief. But then she thought it over : if the pirates held the crew, why did they not use it as a bargain chip?

She called the captain : "Captain, maybe their message is a trick, so that we hold our punches. Shall we demand a proof of life?"

Baron Thenroy looked at Ita with a raised eyebrow.

"Demand proof of life from whom? It was a one-and-done transmission, right? We don't even know if this is the pirates or some deep cover Imperial agent or what. They didn't even make a demand, just informing us that this is the case. We'll have the marines adjust tactics and scan for friendlies but otherwise we'll proceed as normal.

If comms can pinpoint the origin of the transmission we factor that in but ultimately this changes nothing for our course of action."

Iita noticed that during battle, the Captain-Baron was less grandiloquent than usual. Which was good. She thought to herself "Deep cover Imperial agent, my ass. Which agent does not identify themselves in order to authenticate their communication?"

She nevertheless forwarded the tranmission's recordings to the Security Officer, for him to try to find an authentication code inside the message.

Iita poked Jacqueline to pinpoint the origin of the transmission.

Jacqueline nodded and started work on trying to pinpoint the transmission. "I wish I had done more work with comms at the Academy" she said quietly to Iita. "It didn't seem like it would suit me, but I've found myself doing that more and more." Jacquline's shyness had made her wary of a field that involved so much talking, but it seemed to work surprisingly well for her.

"That is... fascinating, Sublieutenant.", uttered the Chief-Engineer with an even tone, focusing on the pattern of the base's missile launch sites, and trying to figure out the CCC location from it.

Jacqueline blushed a little as she realized she's been getting rather chatty for a battle situation, and renewed her efforts on the electronics.

The Sharshana's ground forces pressed into and through the Rosax base as the defenders made a fighting retreat through the facility rather than allowing a conclusive engagement. As their options for further retreat grew slim, there was a sudden lull in the fighting as the defenders seemed to draw back entirely, leading to some uncertainty as to their intentions. Were the Sharshana's marines being baited to rush into a trap? Had the defenders slipped away through a hidden exit? It was the sort of thing that called for gritted teeth and a careful advance into the last wing of the facility.

The minutes ticked by...

And then the Marine Commander half-turned from their workstation to address the Captain, sounding a bit taken aback by their own announcement... and what was probably a formality of a request. "Sir. We have secured the facility. It appears that the OpFor has surrendered to and is in the custody of the crew of the Sunburst Scatter. Permission to transfer to ours?"

A smile curled on the edge of the Baron's lips. In his heart he knew that victory was inevitable in the face of the might of the Imperium but it was still good to be reminded of that.

"Proceed. Have security process them and send word to Intelligence to begin interrogations."

He paused, looking at Sublieutenant Yune and then added an additional  request.

"Commander, was there any report on the crew of the Sunburst?"

Jacqueline let out a whoop of victory that was a little unlike her, but she felt relieved; it was nerve wracking when you were up here and didn't know what was going on down below. She tried to look busy as the captain's gaze settled on her.

"Captain, requesting permission to go down with a team, and try to recover the incriminating intel they may have been trying to delete", said the Chief-Engineer immediately after Yune's outburst, to switch the attention.

The Baron took a deep breath, inhaling as a way to stall the conversation and giving him a split second in which to consider the engineer's request. On the one hand having a chief engineer go into hostile territory was most likely ill advised. That was what subordinates were for. Then again, they had just completed a grand show of force which always put Thenroy in a good mood and he could probably frame this as a learning opportunity one way or another. If it turned out to be a smart decision then he is the one that granted it, if it blows up in her face then it is a way to give her some real experience on 'what not to do'.

He exhaled and synthesized those thoughts in the split second it took the air to rush out of his lungs.

"If you think that is the best use of your time and you don't have a team that can handle it for you...so be it."

Iita left her position to her second, then ran to pick up her space suit. She ran because that was a way to release the pressure, and it was also an opportunity for the asteroid-belt native to walk on low-gravity rocks again. Plus, it was too nerve-racking to watch things happening to the Marines and the subordinates without her intervention - she had to prove she was not a desk-officer to her team and herself.

In no time, a team of engineers eager to explore a pirate base was headed for the landing secured by the Marines!

Iita will use a lot of her skill while in the base. Primarily Investigation, but also her own knowledge of an 'roid life (Belter). Mechanics and Robotics shall help to evaluate how things worked in the shipyards. Vacc suit to hang around properly, and Leadership to coordinate the team work - and particularly the computers guys who could find in the date where the elusive pirate ships just escaped

Maybe I should ease the GM's job by rolling :)

Looking for the pirates' secrets: Investigation (INT +2)- rolled 5
check the status of the life system on the 'roid: Belter (INT +1) - rolled 9
examine the pirates' machines : Mechanics (INT/EDU - same bonus +1) - rolled 3
examine the pirates' droids : robotics (INT/EDU +2) - rolled 10
Vacc suit - "A Traveller will rarely need to make Vacc Suit checks under ordinary
circumstances – merely possessing the skill is enough."
Lead the explorer's team : Leadership (SOC +1) - rolled 4