Chapter 1: Wanderings In the Dark

[Will]

OOC: I agree with Tom.

So what's the plan here?

[Shadow Shack]

Grelude climbs into his console station and straps in, securing his vacc helmet. He flips the activation and charging circuits on, and as they power up he toggles the comm "Grelude in position. Let's try not to get things overly complicated here. Strap into your stations, pointy end of your weapon goes into the other ship."

[Terl Obar]

With the ADF/MR of 1/1 for the Pelican, it's not going to be very maneuverable and if it comes in too fast, with simply make a pass and be out of the fight. I don't remember what the performance of the Hind is but the Nightingale will be by far the most nimble of the ships.

I vote we come in at a medium speed (10 or so hexes a turn) and make a pass as a group, focusing fire on the largest of the pirate vessels. Beyond that all planning is useless and we'll see what plays out and coordinate as we go.

[umungus]

Mantin checks his vac suit over once again. He straps in, Then he checks all torpedoes again. (he doesn't want to mess up on his first scrap on this ship)
(ooc: I assume, since Mantin is an officer that there is a crew that mans the rockets and torps?)
Mantin calls his crew on the com, "Rocket crew. I didn't get a chance to address you all in person yet. As you are all Marines that is all I need to know. Keep the Rockets and Torps hot and loaded and rest assured I'll shoot them straight!"

Mantin begins a sensor sweep of the area, ready to lock topredoes onto any enemy ships.

He soon becomes more calm through the ritual of training and procedure. He takes comfort in his place in command. The cold pragmatic duty and sacrifice that is the lifes blood of his race....

[Terl Obar]

Tanar straps in on the Pelican's command deck and fires up his console. "This is the part of the job when I don't have much to do and have to trust the others to do their part," he thinks to himself as he settles in. "One good thing about being on the tender, though. She can take more of a beating than any of the other ships." He'll monitor the battle through the ship's sensors and relay any info gathered to the other ships. He'll also continue to try to contact the asteroid via normal and subspace frequencies and see if he can find a way to burn through and WNB system once they are closer.

[Will]

With the ADF/MR of 1/1 for the Pelican, it's not going to be very maneuverable and if it comes in too fast, with simply make a pass and be out of the fight. I don't remember what the performance of the Hind is but the Nightingale will be by far the most nimble of the ships.

I vote we come in at a medium speed (10 or so hexes a turn) and make a pass as a group, focusing fire on the largest of the pirate vessels. Beyond that all planning is useless and we'll see what plays out and coordinate as we go.

OOC: Agreed.

[Shadow Shack]

Grelude toggles the switch to hail Tanar. "Grelude to Tanar, try to keep the communication channels open to my comm and scan all frequencies. If they're speaking pirate cant over the space-waves I might be able to pick up on some of their flight plans."

[Terl Obar]

"Roger that Grelulde," Tanar replies. "I'll try to keep you in the loop." He leaves the comm channel open and starts working the computers and signal processors to see what he can find and try to pick up any stray comms from the attacking ships as they close in on base.

[jedion357]

OOC: just an update about the turn advance- slightly delayed by sick kids and wife going away for a conference. I should have it posted by midnight or 1am my time.

[jedion357]

IC: Slightly over 20 minutes from Wandren the white noise cuts out and a videocom hail arrives.
The message is from Knightblade and the voice matches that of the pirate captain but the image is a black bearded and eye patched and rotund human over the age of 60 years.
"Marine craft stand clear, we're recovering our stolen property and nothing else. If you don't stand clear and engage us and we will radio detonate the nuclear torpedo taken from this ship that was placed in the heart of the Streel compound. The choice is yours but you will be responsible for the loss of innocent life. Out."
The white noise immediately kicked back in after the transmission from the pirates.

Tanar had been busy for hours trying to cut through the the static but got no where but when the static ended he managed to detect com lasers between the two visible pirate ships and a small object in high orbit positioned geo-synchronosly directly over the Streel site as well as a 3rd com laser from the small object hitting something on the ground. He reports their presence and his inability to tap into them (not without getting a receiver into the beam and that sort of thing would be a tip off to the com tech that it happened).

Right after the hail from the pirate a burst transmission from a com laser originating from the south pole of Wandren lases the Pelican.
"Royal Marine ship, this is SMS Barstowe, Captain Jonas, I have direct orders to relay this message from Streel Security, these yahoo's have a Thruster class on the ground with robots and warm bodies engaging security and ripping open shipping containers. You'll also want to know that we had and open land line to the RM base and your boys there survived the attack to take out their transmitters, though they are trapped underground. The land line was cut when they strafed us and I got out the 'Stowe out by the skin of her teeth. We're down in crater 2689 near the pole and we're carrying back up encrypted banking records don't shoot we're one of the good guys."
The com laser winks out and there is nothing further.

OOC: The following map is just what I whipped up and you can BIC specify actions from 21 hexes out which would be just after the hail from the pirate. Ships are traveling in the direction of their nose which I oriented to a hex side. This is a top down view ie you're looking at the north pole.

KH Battle01.png (99.05 KiB) Viewed 44 times

[Shadow Shack]

Grelude mutters into his comm link, "I don't hold Streel in high regard, but that just isn't right..."

He snaps to. "Okay fellas, let's go get some!"

[Will]

Grelude mutters into his comm link, "I don't hold Streel in high regard, but that just isn't right..."

He snaps to. "Okay fellas, let's go get some!"

"Nor do I," Lyssa replies, forced to agree with the gunner, even as she vectors her ship towards Knightblade.

"We may have to split up and target the transmitters on all three ships," she remarks. "Assuming the detonator isn't set up on negative control."

[simplymenotu]

"Tanar, is it possible to jam the radio signal so one-eye can't detonate the nuke? If not I don't see how we can just barrel in. (Hoping their is a Vrusk on board) "Anyone think he is bluffing?"

[Will]

"No," Lyssa replies. "I think he's deadly serious and we have to act on that basis."

[jedion357]

Name: Savrax Gunus
Player: Inigo (Troy)


*Savrax Gunus during his first
boarding action. Image captured
on internal security camera.

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Handedness: Right
Description: 1.8m tall (6’) and 93 kg (205lbs)
Blue eyes, short brown hair. Very athletic and in good
physical condition, but not overly muscular looking.
Profession: Royal Marine/gunner (beam)
Employer:

STR/STA: /55
DEX/RS: /50
INT/LOG: /60
PER/LDR: /45
IM: 5
RW:
MW:
PS:

Movement
Walking:
Running:
Hourly:

XP (spent): 15/20/3?
XP (earned):

Racial Abilities:

PSA's
Primary PSA: Military
Secondary PSA: Technician
Secondary PSA: Scout

SKILLS:
Beam Weapons: 2
Energy Weapons: 1
Projectile Weapons: 1
Unarmed Combat: 1
Cinematic Martial Arts: 1
Tech: 1
Navigation: 1
Survival: 1


Equipment Carried:

Equipment in "Foot Locker": (This is easily accessible but not carried)

2 military skien suits (Royal Marine uniform BDU, camo schemed skien suits are available for all variety of environments and are issued as needed)
1 dress uniform (civilian skien suit),
1 issue ships jump suit (just coveralls but still a uniform).
1 laser pistol
1 clip
1 Pressure suit
1 Suit of space suit armor
Spare pressure suit patches (2)
spare pressure suit life support
magnetic shoes and velcro booties
1 gas mask
1 chronocom and ID card
1 RM combat harness 5kg and
1 RM Combat Helm 2kg (see equipment folder for description)

Credits:

Background:
Savrax was born and raised in the suburbs on the eastern shore of the sea next to Valentina. His father, Kelron Gunus is a “corporate officer” at Nova Nuclear. To be honest, neither Savrax nor his mother Lannia knows much about Kelrons job. He is a pretty quiet individual; a trait that is shared with Savrax. His mother and father divorced when he was 15. It wasn’t a messy thing. They just seemed to have grown apart. She asked for a divorce and he stoically submitted after a few months. Things are still amicable despite the fact that Lannia remarried the following year.

Bereen Makrott is Savrax’s stepdad. They get along well even though they are two distinctly different personalities. Bereen is an outgoing, fun-loving man whom Sav is sure was the life of the party in his younger days. Bereen works for Eversafe. He manages accounts in the eastern region of Valentine. It was one of Bereen’s close friends who introduced Sav to a martial arts form known as Troda Dea. Master Melke said it was a fighting style customized by a group of humans from Kdikit over a century ago, buts its true origins are unknown.

Savrax is exceptionally smart. He was able to graduate a year ahead of his peers. He has always been a quiet person. People assumed (and some still do) that he is just shy. That is not the case. He is a meticulous thinker and has a very zen-like persona. Sav is quite confident in himself. Much of that confidence has to do with his growing up in the Youth Scouts. As a young boy he was turned on to nature and his place in it. He quickly mastered orienteering and knot tying and ploughed into wilderness survival. In fact, after graduation he enrolled in an insanely serious survival program where they teach you skills for three fourths of the year and then drop you off, butt naked and empty handed at the base of the Roskov Mountains, near the Crown Reserve. A month later they come back for you at a predestined spot. If you show up, you pass. Sav considers that experience to have been the highlight of his life so far.

His friends were not surprised to hear about him joining the Royal Marines. Savrax is the quintessential marine. He is fiercely loyal to the crown and very dedicated to his sense of fairness and order. In his spare time he reads, meditates and tinkers with things. One day he intends to refurbish an old SpeedHawk 350 (an internal combustion coup) ground car that has been oxidizing in his storage unit for the last 3 years.

Medical Record:
Savrax has no medical history to speak of. No broken bones, serious illnesses or surgeries.

[jedion357]

"Tanar, is it possible to jam the radio signal so one-eye can't detonate the nuke? If not I don't see how we can just barrel in. (Hoping their is a Vrusk on board) "Anyone think he is bluffing?"

OOC: some points to consider:
this is the "numbered Swiss accounts" location of the region and of incredible importance to every pirate and criminal outfit in this region of space for a distance of at least 1 void jump and possibly two jumps going in some directions. It is a sore point with the Crown and the RM that STreel does this but they haven't been able to put a stop to it. If they do nuke the site several things could be expected
1. every other criminal outfit and fence will have it in for them
2. They hit star law's and space fleet's radar big time, as a knee jerk reaction to a nuke the fleet would instantly deploy a task force here and the sheer increase in naval hulls in system would make it very hot for pirate operations. (White Light is a commercial hub and far more profitable than say K'tsar Kar or Madderly's Star)
3. Does he have a Nuke? Is he bluffing? Hard to say. Your data base shows the Moonbright Stinger class as carrying seekers not torpedos but its always possible that the ship was modified.
4. His own men and shuttle have to be at ground zero as well, very cold blooded but the value of a HS 2 armed ship can easily approach 1 million

The above information may allow you to put a com laser on him and counter bluff or just call his bluff if you like; plus you can rub his nose in the fact you know what he really looks like (Tanar's saving of records from the Cloverdale allows for a voice scan and it confirm to a 98.9 certainty that it is the same pirate captain seen on the Cloverdale's bridge)

As for counter jamming IIRC the pelican has a White noise broadcaster as well and it will jam radio/ videocom signal which is what he specified.
As for the tight beam com lasers they have set up the weak link there is the com satellite over the STreel and RM sections of the planet. it does not move and one hit any weapon will take it out.

[Will]

"Mister Tanar," Lyssa asks,"you did say all three pirate craft were beaming a continous signal to the device, didn't you? If that's the case, interrupting the signals may be as fatal to those down below, as letting them send the detonation signal."

[Admin]

Sorry about all the multiple posts. I had a computer error on the server and the disk was full and then when it cleared, it attempted all the posts for every time you clicked submit. I've cleaned most of them up. If you don't want the character posted in this thread I (or jedi) can delete the post here. I've removed the duplicate from the character section.

[Terl Obar]

Actually I was thinking of Jedi's point #4 before I even saw his note. Plus if he sets off a nuke on the ground he loses whatever he came here for. I'm for calling the bluff.

"Folks," Tanar cuts in. "If Captain Jonas's report is to be believed, with a ship on the ground the pirates can't afford to set off a nuke even if he has one. He'll loose the ship, his crews, and whatever it is he's looking for. I say we call him on it. Vector the Nightingale around the back side of the asteroid over the compound, it can take out the satellite with it's LB at point blank range and then hit the Knightblade with it's assault rocket as it swings around. There rest of us go straight for the kill on the Knightblade. We'll worry about the armed shuttle and the ship on the ground once the Knightblade is out of action.

"Plus, if you want, I can comm laser him back and tweak his non-existent beard," he adds at the end.

Responding to Lyssa's query, "There is a beam connecting them but it could just be a carrier signal. There's no way to tell if there is actual data transmitting. You'd expect there to be some sort of signal to maintain the link."

[simplymenotu]

"Tanar, that is an excellent plan. Captain, your approval?"