>>21887708
Sleeping, checking the database about the rovinar thing, making sure the Terrans don't wander where they aren't supposed to, and finishing up more power armor training.

>>21887775
I think that is it.

>>21887708
Try to contact command to see how the battle is going.

>>21887708
Get our knees checked by a proper doctor.

>>21887708
>Always wanted to ask this: Did you expect us to keep Kavos around?

>>21888002
You recieved some minor medical attention while searching the last few sectors. Still, it would be a good idea. The first day into the flight the ship's doctor carries out some minor repairs to the musculature and tendons that the device had repaired. It seems to be an ideal system for field work, allowing someone to get back into action but it does not create a long term fix. Eventually things would have torn apart under stress.
You're ordered to take it easy for a few days.

>>21888161
I figured the odds were 50/50 and you didnt have to.

>>21887775
>Rovinar thing
The second day into the flight you, Kavos, the ship's doctor and one of the marines investigate the mysterious obsidian cylinder the landing team found in the teleport capsule. Wearing sealed suits the three of you get ready to help the doctor if necessary. The doc begins by taking detailed scans to determine density and composition.
"Maybe its a storage device filled with classified materials?" You wonder.
"Or it could just be a sculpture." ventures Kavos.

"You're both wrong." announces Heikler closing down the scanner. "Its organic. Similar to the Krath operative we had aboard the Bittenfeld. I would have to say that this a form of bio stasis. I have no idea how to revive it but it is alive."

[ ] Find a way to revive it
[ ] Let the Krath and Rovinar deal with it later
[ ] Other

>>21888288
>[ ] Other
Do we have any Rovinar buddies we could ask for input on this?

I don't remember if we have worked with them, or some other species.

>>21888288
[ ] Let the Krath and Rovinar deal with it later

Don't want to accidentially kill someone. Do not fiddle with stuff you dont understand.

In addition to >>21888337, I agree with >>21888348. Let's be careful, I'd hate to kill somebody after they've survived for 300 years.

With all the shit we are finding i think opening up an exploration and salvage company after we've served our time in the military might really be worth it. Now we just need the money to buy a fleet of exploration ships...

>Pack up keyboard for return to the store
>Get everything ready
>step out door
>Realize that a family member has my car
Fuck.
>Try to borrow keyboards from other PC's
>None of them have USB connectors, mine only has USB ports.
FUCK.
>Consider going on foot to nearest store 3km away
>Rainstorm
So, typing on my notepad for the time being. Expect terrible spelling mistakes.

>>21887928
You wont be within communication range until the last day of the flight.

>>21888448
well... sucks to be you.

>>21888416
What I'm really wondering about is how you can have a whole universe of semi-civilised nations and still get a seemingly stagnant tech base.

>>21888448
Spend some time talking with the guys we rescued, then. Ours and the Terrans.

>>21888467
Maybe when we talk to the Terrans we could ask if they know where to pick up more fuel cells for our little plasma pistol?

>>21888467
Well, its kind of a space opera setting. I also imagine more money goes into making sure the factions stay balanced than into research.

>>21888288
>I figured the odds were 50/50 and you didnt have to.

It's great we got to keep him around. Kavos is awesome and probably very much responsible for Sonia's continued existence.

>>21888288
We also need to speak to the Terrans we forcibly rescued. Preferably while the other Terrans we bought from that crime lord are present.

>>21888467
Tech is advancing just much more slowly than we're used to in a society where computers roughly double in power every couple of years. Look at how long laser and fusion reactor development has taken.

Advanced shields are available now that are twice as powerful as the best used in the Faction Wars. Point defense weaponry has much longer range, etc.
The shields used on light attack ships like the Scarab or LST's are requiring less room and power meaning they can be mounted on smaller vessels. Even without a major breakthrough starfighter grade shields should be available in another few centuries.
>>21888557
>Space opera setting
Yeah a bit of that too.

Okay, I have a vehicle again. Leaving for real this time.

>>21888660

how about we keep the darn thing for House Jerik Deraime.

We were not supposed to recover it, and there is no need for us to take any rash decisions with it. We will need a secure location. Just in case this is a bio-nuke or a equivalent and it goes off.

>>21888288
What are standing orders and SOP on things like this for House Jerik-Dermine?

>>21889076
Because we might be able to trade it for something we can actually use.

>>21889076
Well, from what we know its very likely a krath from the Factions war. Having the Krath in your debt is always a good idea, they are fucking scary with their shapechanging and super stealth technology.

>>21889136
Given how secretive the Krath are, this thing could yield information on Krath biology that no one else has. Having the Krath in our debt is one thing, but this might turn out to be as valuable as schematics for SP Torpedoes. I'm not really expecting that, but I do know that any stellar empire worth its salt would pay handsomely for the potential to develop their own shapeshifting operatives.

>>21888288
Let the krath and rovinar deal with it.

>>21889511
Dead Krath probably aren't THAT hard to come by. All you have to do is kill some Krath.

>>21889511
You are right. We might want to keep the Obsidian thingy until we are back at our house and let them decide.

>>21889614
Do what we always do. Get some genetic data, then turn it in for the reward.

>>21889676
Seconded

>>21889598
This is not a dead Krath. It's a (probable) Krath in stasis. There's a limit to how much you can learn through dissection, particularly when you're studying a shapeshifter.

>We also need to speak to the Terrans we forcibly rescued. Preferably while the other Terrans we bought from that crime lord are present.
Most the the Terrans are either hanging around the mess hall with some of the survivors of the other ship or are in the quarters temporarily assigned to them. Off duty crew have been keeping an eye on them to make sure they dont stray into restricted areas of the ship.
A couple of the Terrans have requested access to communications but as you've been operating behind enemy lines that's been denied. None of them have any backgrounds in communications or intel that would let them get hold of the friendly forces without detection.

Heading down to the mess hall you decide to check in on them, making sure that the ensignia on your duty uniform are clearly visible first. No point in them thinking you're just another member of the crew taking a break. A lieutenant is the highest ranking officer present, and a junior one at that.
"I thought I'd see how you were all doing. We should link up with one of the Terran fleets in another three or four days." You tell them.

"We're grateful for you having rescued us Captain." The LT answers. "Even though it must have been more than a little inconvenient. Paying most if not all of a ransom on us and dealing with a few of our more um, survivalist oriented crewmen."

"How's your man doing that was stunned?"

"Annoyed both for making an ass of himself and not doing a better job of evading pursuit by your marines. I'm not sure which of those is at the forefront. We all know you didn't have a lot of time to recover our people. Thanks for setting your weapons to stun."

"The gang that captured you, they didnt get any information?" you ask.

"No, not enough time. After the first few hours of us just answering with name rank and serial number they got bored and decided to just sell us for ransom."

File: 1354662284665.jpg-(10 KB, 506x256, White Knight vs Black Knight.jpg)

>Maybe when we talk to the Terrans we could ask if they know where to pick up more fuel cells for our little plasma pistol?
"A smaller plasma fuel cell? The engineering crews of some of our super heavy cruisers equipped with Republic built Plasma cannons would know more about that. I'm sure if you gave them a few fuel cells from anti-tank guns in return they could build a couple for you."


>Do we have any Rovinar buddies we could ask for input on this?
They would likely tell you to just hand it over.

>>21889097
>What are standing orders and SOP on things like this for House Jerik-Dermine?
I cant say it's come up much. Krath are sentient life forms with an FTL capable civilization. Once (if) it wakes up and requests to be put into contact with their government you'd be in the same position as having someone from any other species. You can either violate current treaties and secretly imprison them, or do as they've asked. While few in number there are bound to be powerful people in the House to support either action. Some of which might be willing to pay you a lot of money.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BQ89NQX

>>21890376
I selected "pass the buck," because this is really not the sort of thing we have the resources to investigate ourselves. However, given how Winifred felt about the SP Torp data, I think I know what she'll be inclined to do about this.

>>21890469
Knight Commander never gave us a bad order, i think she is qualified to deal with this.

>>21890376
None of the Terrans were separated or abused by the gangers?

... we should report these gangers as exceptionally polite and naive.

File: 1354664306960.jpg-(8 KB, 262x193, images.jpg)

>>21890749
If they were they're not telling you about it.

May 4, 4024
1700 hours

You're less than a day out from the nav relay when you manage to establish communications. The other two ships you sent ahead will only arrive an hour before you and Alex do because of their lower speed while towing. The Terran and Kavarian fleets present at the relay are well aware of what's happened in House Lat'tham space and inform you that hostilities have ceased more than a week ago.
Communications remain patchy at times but traffic has resumed and the four badly mauled Expeditionary fleets are being repaired. There are Rovinal fleet elements present so you transmit the sensor scans your ships took indicating their missing Veckron weaponry was indeed aboard the captured Terran supers. You'd hate to be in the room when their admiralty finds out.

Sending off a text message to the House fleet appears to be the only option with current bandwidth restrictions. A short message stating your location, force composition and a request for orders is enough for now. A response may take a few hours if things havent entirely settled down with the Lat'tham forces.

The other piece of news that seems to be making the rounds is that a cease fire has been reached between both sides in the Republic Civil war. A shake up among the political leadership of the government forces is suspected. A sudden and recent exodus of Mercenary and pirate forces from Republic space since the announcement have many thinking the war may be over.

>>21891089
>A sudden and recent exodus of Mercenary and pirate forces from Republic space

I wonder how many of them are coming toward us.

File: 1354666519219.jpg-(3 KB, 144x129, superheavy formation.jpg)

May 5, 4024.
0600 hours

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuNxxdGHlwE

You and Alex drop out of FTL near the nav station and begin efforts to track down the others then find a repair berth for your crippled ship.
"My ship will need a lot of repairs so we should get them started as soon as possible." says Kuritz while standing off to the side of the bridge.

"Even if we only manage to rebuild the forward super structure that would be enough. The torpedo armor could be equipped later after rejoining the House Fleet." Kavos points out.

"Heads up, Expeditionary fleets off the starboard bow." Says Arron drawing your attention away from the mob of civilian ships crowded around the station.

You look over and are momentarily taken aback by the sight. Dozens, no hundreds of super heavy cruisers fill space a few million km away from the station. The vast majority of them are holding in what looks to be a tight sphere formation but given the distances there is bound to be plenty of room between them. Checking the sensors there's a smaller Terran fleet built around a dozen of their own supers hanging close to the larger Kavarian one in a much looser formation.

"We could always ask them for repairs." Says Arron breaking the silence.

>>21891473
They're fleeing in all directions. Some towards South Reach, some towards the Pandora Cluster and any remainder in your direction towards the Centri Cluster. If any of them were originally from the Smugglers Run area there may be an upswing in pirate activity two weeks from now.

>>21891570
Do it

>>21891570
I suppose we have nothing to lose by asking. We can also talk to someone with the Terran fleet about getting these Odyssey crewman off our ship.

The Knight Commander is relieved to know you're still alive given the casualties taken by the House Fleet in the fighting. Arthur managed to not get the rest of the Wing killed while you were away, responding to requests for fire support when the combined fleet assaulted part of the Yineput III orbital defenses.

Knight Verilis Rah'ne, the CO of your Wing's first squadron is alive and back on duty after a week spent captured by Lat'tham forces. Likewise Captain Sylvan was released having proven to be one of the more troublesome to hold, going so far as to steal a guards clothes and sabotage base defenses.
Siri Thal your Fourth squadron leader was recovered on a Lat'tham world in another system along with some of the crew from her U-Haul. The ship was completely destroyed and 70% of the crew were killed.

There have also been promotions. Nearly your entire heavy strike team have been given a serious increase in rank and are being given priority for new equipment. Formerly Sergeant Major Jing Ki has been Knighted though there hasn't been time for a formal ceremony.

Captain Saputo has been designated the fleet's Senior Knight Captain and has been placed in command of House Attack Wings making him your new boss. He is now next in command after the Knight Commander.

>>21892043
>There have also been promotions.

Anything about knights who saved the fleet's ass?
If we have time, try to contact Vista.

>>21892043
Don't forget to let our higher-ups know about that favor we have coming for tracking the missing Veckron weaponry.

File: 1354669468009.gif-(12 KB, 976x653, NAV DRH 3-REP 3.gif)

>A short message stating your location, force composition and a request for orders is enough for now.

There's a short message from the Captain along with deployment orders.

"Reynard I don't have much time to record this. You're competent enough in the field that you don't need me looking over your shoulder. Still, I'm assigning more people to help look after the logistics of Third Wing. Talk to them ASAP.
The Fleet is going to be launching from Lat'tham space in five days in an attempt to get our momentum back. We'll hit the Nav Relays on this side of South Reach in force at the same time the Kavarian and Terran fleet does from REP 3. That wont give you a lot of time. Your ships are just fast enough to make it back here before we jump. Either get moving to join the Wing now with what ships you have or accompany the Kavarians and link up with us there.

It's your decision but let me know. I'll be expecting you to look into your Wing's organization remotely unless you tell me or your subordinates otherwise.

PS: Can I take that Centurion custom off your hands?"

>>21892255
Anything neat at nav drh 2?

>>21892255
Let's join the Wing now. We need to take stock of what we have. Unless the Captain is offering something interesting in trade for the Centurion, giving it to him means we'd be down one ship, and we can't have that, can we?

>>21892255
Join the wing

File: 1354671523834.gif-(15 KB, 976x653, NAV DRH 3-REP 3 -B.gif)

>>21892219
>Anything about knights who saved the fleet's ass?
Yep. Its too bad you've been absent and unable to accept awards. I'm sure they'll catch up to you.

>Don't forget to let our higher-ups know about that favor we have coming for tracking the missing Veckron weaponry.
Done.

>>21892343
>Anything neat at nav drh 2?
That would be House Lat'tham space. Map updated.

>>21892386
With your four ships needing to move out immediately you'll need to leave the damaged one in the care of the Kavarian expeditionary fleet. They'll look after the repairs and you'll be able to get it back from them when your Wing has time to link up in the DRH 3 area.

Unless you would like to trade it that is? The J-type may have been unpopular at the time of its construction but with the Terrans providing limited numbers of SP weapons to the Kavarian fleet its 6 torpedo launchers mean it can almost rival a battlecruiser. They have spare C and E types they could trade you now.

>>21892731
Trading it sounds like a good idea, but we should ask the remaining crew about it just to be nice.

What are the differences between the C and E types?

>>21892731
Do the Terrans want to be dropped off with the Rovinar?

File: 1354673025906.jpg-(1.17 MB, 1632x2326, Edmund_blair_leighton_accolade.jpg)

>>21892219
Before I forget, Daska has been nominated to become a Knight.
In addition to his promotion Jing Ki has been offered a position with the Knight Commander's personal guard. If you ask him to stay though he will.

>>21891723
>We can also talk to someone with the Terran fleet about getting these Odyssey crewman off our ship.
While towing the crippled cruiser over to the Kavarian fleet you contact the Terrans. They're more than happy to send a shuttle over to puck up their crewmen.

"What happened to the Odyssey, was she destroyed?" You ask while still on the channel.

"No, she lost most of her bow sections due to torpedo hits but returned to base. It'll be in repair dock for a month."

>>21892795
C-Type
4x Torpedo launcher
2x Spinal Mount phase cannon
1x Phase cannon turret (aft)

E-Type
4x Torpedo launcher
3x Phase cannon turret (1 Dosal, 1 Ventral, 1 Aft)

J-Type (One of the slowest ships in your unit)
6x Torpedo launcher (4 Forward, 2 Aft)
5x Phase cannon turret (2 Dosal, 2 Ventral, 1 Aft)

>>21892731
>Trading the J-type
Pilot's call. After all, it is his (half of) a ship.

>Where to?
Let's link back up with the House and our wing.

>Rescued Terrans and Recovered Rovinar Dead
Contact the Terran fleet and ask if they'd like the recovered crews dropped off here or brought back to the other fleet. Same goes for the Rovinar?

>>21893133
Does a spinal mount cannon have more firepower than a turret?

>>21893133
Let Jing Ki go if he wants to.

And take the E-Type. I'd prefer something with better point defense.

>>21893133
If the C-Type is faster, suggest to the pilot he take it.

Let the Knight Commander have the ship she wants, we'll keep Jing Ki. Send him a letter of congratulations. Does he have power armor yet? If not we should see if we can help him acquire some.

We'll deal with the Krath and the Rovinar after we get back to our guys.

>>21893133
>Daska's nomination for Knight-hood
Support. Daska has the right stuff, even in the face of our prior relations with Alex and Mike.

>Jing Ki promotion
We'll have to constantly send him messages about how his replacement just isn't the same...

>>21893190
Spinal mount weapons have a slightly better chance of penetrating shields. They can be trickier to bring to bear for obvious reasons. Turrets offer much more coverage.

File: 1354674127718.gif-(28 KB, 1770x1098, 3rd Wing new organization.gif)

Preparing for transit the Wing needs some reorganization. You and Kavos start going through the notes.

While the 1st and 3rd attack wings will resume front line deployment with the fleet as soon as possible the 2nd Wing has been recalled. With their sustained casualties and already lower than average number of cruisers and frigates the Knight Commander has requested the unit be rebuilt with assault corvette usage in mind. A squadron of prototypes are even now being transported to the front to bulk up the 2nd Wing, but they need experienced pilots.

You've been forwarded a request that two of the pilots from your Wing, and their pre-prototype assault corvettes be transferred to the 2nd. They'll assist in training the new pilots up to combat levels and may end up commanding some of the squadrons.

"Wait, shipped to the front? They're not being flown?" You wonder.
"It says these are prototypes. The design and test teams have not had enough time to perform a full range of drive systems testing. Until they have, the prototypes will hitch a ride on Moliminous Class Transports. I don't know how much time you spent on Jehtot Kharbos' prototype but there is very little free space on the Assault Corvettes. There is talk of crew having to practice hot bunking because of all the equipment jammed in."

>>21893434
Can we get some of their ships in return? If they are going to an all corvette force, they are presumably dumping their attack cruisers.

>>21893434
We could also donate like ten attack corvettes to whoever wants them while we are at it.

>>21893543
Actually we have six reserve pilots we need to give ships

>>21893562
Oh we can only donate nine then.

Oops.

the more I look at the Wing's strength image, the more I wonder how nightmarish the supply train for our wing is.

>>21893504
They'll trade a Rapier and a newer model Pandora class Frigate. 2 Frigates for 2 Assault Corvettes.
If you want you could just have the ships transferred and keep your pilots.

Also, going through the lists here and it seems that Cristina Pozzi was KIA.

>>21893543
>>21893562
>>21893626
While I would not recommend donating all of your corvettes if you wanted to donate some then sure go for it.

While you've been busy the civilian shipyard back in the Smugglers Run have been modifying some of the docks to begin building cruisers. Engineers from Tarketta have been assisting and they're already assembling a few ships out of suitable scrap from the ship graveyard. For the time being the availability of scrap will result in increased production speed but decreased quality as many of the parts are old.

You have been informed by command that you can request 1 new cruiser for your unit. With Siri Thal's ship having been destroyed she will want to get hold of a vehicle quickly.

You can choose 1 from the available ship classes.
>Cont.

>>21893761
The trade sounds good. We should keep the pilots if we can.

I think we can spare at least five corvettes from the reserve, as well. Maybe more.

>>21893804
I'd say we sell at least some of them for RP. Because I'm willing to bet we need to spend a ton of RP to re-armor our ships and replace our fighter losses

>>21893761
Trade for the frigates and keep the pilots.

>>21893804
We should send our two Assault Corvette pilots to 2nd Wing. If the unit is going to be filling with rookies, the experienced pilots have a chance to help keep them alive.

our wing can afford to train some rookies.

>>21893933
Agree

File: 1354676350037.gif-(9 KB, 892x271, Cruiser selection.gif)

Vengeance Type
Weapons: 2x Heavy Pulse cannon (Spinal Mount)
4x light phase cannon array
2x light pulse cannon turret
1x Torpedo launcher
A classic fast attack ship you're more than a little familiar with. Your first cruiser the Bittenfeld was typical of the class in almost every way. You can request custom weapon configurations but expect to lose things in return.

Vengeance Type B
Weapons: 4x Heavy Pulse cannon (Spinal Mount)
4x Missile Batteries
Skirting the edge of what can be called an attack cruiser this version of the Vengeance type is much bulkier, often considered crude. It has more engine power to compensate for increased mass but loses some of its maneuvering capacity. It has 2 larger aft facing landing bays.

Clarent Class
Faster than their parent design Clarent class ships are well suited for attacks on the flanks of enemies, with their turrets able to provide excellent coverage in all directions. A common criticism is its over all lack of firepower, doing little better than a Combat Frigate. Customization options can be discussed.
Clarent A
4x phase cannon turret
4x missile launcher

Clarent B
4x phase cannon turret
2x torpedo launcher

>>21893133
>Before I forget, Daska has been nominated to become a Knight.

Sounds okay. As long as she becomes a lower knight than we are. Or Sonia's been getting a raw deal with her promotion.

>Jing Ki
Ask him where he wants to go.

>>21894010
I would recommend either a Vengeance or a Vengeance B with additional turrets (mass drivers, if they are available). If we go with the B-type, turrets are especially important, because otherwise it has no point defense.

>>21894010
Regular Vengeance Type

>>21894010
Which one does she favour? It makes little sense to put her in a ship that doesn't play to her strengths.

>>21894010
Vengeance.
Bittenfeld needs a brother/sister

>>21894010
Vengeance

File: 1354677056285.jpg-(9 KB, 306x133, Engines.jpg)

Kavarian Attack Cruiser
One of the most common attack cruiser designs ever built, they rely heavily on their torpedo armament for damage dealing. The C and E models are equipped with either a pair of spinal mount phase cannon or ventral and dorsal phase cannon turrets. Sublight engines on these ships differ from those built by most other Factions. Their rectangular exhaust ports are subdivided by vertical slats which house special repulsor systems. These serve to increase the speed at which fusion plasma is ejected from the ship.
NOTE: When operating alongside the Kavarian Expeditionary force the C and E types will be repaired much more quickly. Conversely engine repairs to more conventional ships will take slightly longer.
Your House has begun assembling their own custom version of the venerable design using scrap from the Smugglers Run. These are being built with high output conventional drives designed by DHI. The EX-K is the lead ship of this class but at the moment is the only one carrying afterburners. With test data collected by your ship the system should be available in a matter of months.

C-Type
4x Torpedo launcher
2x Spinal Mount phase cannon
1x Phase cannon turret (aft)

E-Type
4x Torpedo launcher
3x Phase cannon turret (1 Dosal, 1 Ventral, 1 Aft)

EX-K Type (6 day delay in deployment)
4x Torpedo Launcher
4x Spinal Mount phase cannon
1x Phase cannon turret (aft)

>Derp Field too long.

>>21894230
Variable Module Conveyor AKA "U - Haul"
A Tarketta design that's earned some attention ever since 3rd Squadron pilot Siri Thal had one rebuilt into an Attack Cruiser. This former freight hauler was intended to compete with Kavarian Y-Type transports for faster routes. With upgrades to the six sublight drives and no cargo modules to weigh them down the U-Haul can keep up with attack cruisers. With the extra hauling capacity they can also be rebuilt to act as Escort Carriers, doing so will remove any offensive capability.

Attack Cruiser Conversion
2x Heavy Pulse cannon (Spinal Mount)
2x phase cannon
2x torpedo launcher

Escort Carrier Conversion (4 day delay in deployment)
2x light phase cannon
48x Starfighters

>>21894242
I think Vengance. What do they plan to do with those we don't grab? Sell them to allied houses?

File: 1354678070248.jpg-(34 KB, 357x569, 1354554402634.jpg)

>>21894016
>Ask him where he wants to go.
"I would like to go on vacation. Since we met I've lost 4 legs, 1 arm, an eye and more non vital internal organs than I can count."

"Wow. I'm surprised you haven't been forcibly retired yet."

"The kill/loss ratio for most of our House marines are better than average simply because we cant afford to retire people after being wounded a few times. Besides, I only just had a chance to test that power cell armor in the field. If the Commander is paranoid about future incidents I might even be given a set of real power armor. I think I'll take the position, but let me know if you have a problem that calls for more marines. I'm sure I could get some time away."

>>21894510
Well, we'll surely miss him. But it's completely understandable if he chooses the gig with the commander.

>>21894510
>Since we met I've lost 4 legs, 1 arm, an eye and more non vital internal organs than I can count.

It's awesome (and creepy) that with regen treatments, you could lose the majority of your body, over and over again, and keep on fighting.

>>21894769
The wonders of the future!

File: 1354679511050.jpg-(74 KB, 600x290, bb_vf-4finishedpic2.jpg)

>>21894375
>What do they plan to do with those we don't grab? Sell them to allied houses?
They'll be available to 1st Wing at the same rate as yours. The remainder will either be sold to other Houses, used as test ships, or used to build up a reserve unit should something happen and you all die horribly.

Just to make sure of some of these questions, survey time. The answers to at least one of these was quite clear from voting in the thread. Others not so much.

Before you vote answer the following and I'll still have time to add questions: Will Sonia be directly commanding the 4th Squadron, or will Siri Thal be back to it as the CO and you just going where needed?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HFQK8D6


Also for those wondering, the Z5L won the vote for personal starfighter with 9/14 votes.

>>21895005
Remember to put in a request with the salvage crews for our needle.

>>21895171
I thought it was in so many pieces we couldn't possibly put it back together again. BTW what did our house get out of the Run?

File: 1354680566694.gif-(409 KB, 500x375, Typicalrequisitionsmeeting.gif)

>>21895229
The super heavy cruiser Forbearance (under reconstruction), Torpedo manufacturing capacity, 1 or more abandoned colony worlds, 1 or more established colonies (under negotiation), shared salvage rights to a couple of the grave yards, and shares in the civilian shipyard now producing attack cruisers and Medium cruisers.

Not counting all of the starships salvaged from combat operations and mining rights in some systems.

>>21895005
Assuming the general consensus is to have Siri command the 4th squadron, is there a hard limit on the number of squadrons we can have?

General idea is to take a couple fast ships from the reserve, plus some reserve pilots to form a small command squad around the EX-K. We could hang back and direct the action, and then rush in when needed. Would this be at all possible?

>>21895424
I'd prefer to use our reserve pilots to bring our current squadrons back up to strength, as they are currently somewhat undermanned.

File: 1354682396819.gif-(30 KB, 1770x1098, 3rd Wing new organization 2.gif)

>>21895424
> is there a hard limit on the number of squadrons we can have?
No more than six, though you might be able to get away with a bulked up command squad.

There isnt much time if you want to make the rendezvous before the rest of the House Fleet jumps. Kuritz discusses a trade with the Kavarian fleet that will mean losing his more brawler oriented ship but will recieve a much faster one. He wont have to worry nearly as much about straining the engines or overheating them.

Transferring a skeleton crew over to the newly acquired vessel buys time for the rest of your ships to refuel for the first time in close to two weeks.
"I'm assigning some extra personnel from each of our other ships to help make up for the casualties." Kavos informs you.

"Good idea. I'll call ahead and request additional crew be ready to transfer over. Oh and have some Marines armed with Fusion guns cover the docking hatches while we're refuling."

Kavos smiles at this but none of the bridge crew laugh.

"I'm transferring the Rookie over to the Assault Corvette Wing like Command asked. Even with the replacements though the other squadrons need pilots more badly than second squadron."

Kavos looks at your current setup. "Serth and Drake are still operating in the same squad? Both are flight leaders wanting to be squadron leaders."

"I know, it's not ideal."

>Any changes to Wing layout?

>>21895815
They'll have to deal with it for now. It's not permanent.

>>21895850
In addition to that, tell them we know it's not an optimal solution and we'll try to resolve into something more adequate as soon as possible.

>>21895815
Gonna have to stay that way for now, 2nd Squadron is short as it is.

>>21895815
Nope, but we need to check on Alex. See how his PTSD is doing.

One of the last things to take care of is the new ship request. You order a Vengeance type with the standard weapons layout. It seemed to work well enough and has enough redundancy if sub standard parts fail. You also order it be equipped with emergency teleporters. With the amount of fighting that's been going on command has no idea how much RP to assign the surviving forces. At the moment the House is pulling whatever supplies it can from Lat'tham stockpiles while competing with a hundred other fleets doing the same.

Keeping the civilian supply seperate from the military is going to become a nightmare soon. Even as you get ready to jump a new directive is being issued. Lath'tham space is being declared a logistics sinkhole, all supply will have to pass through the REP 3 corridor once operations into South Reach begin.

"It's time to move people, I want to be at the rally point with time to spare. Moving out at J-22."

With the extra speed a nearly five day flight is cut down to just a little over four.

>>21896043
You talk to Alex in flight and while he claims to be doing fine you really cant tell. Not that you're one to know, the only time you really take breaks from flying, training or other work is to eat, sleep or shower. You rationalize that you spend plenty of time talking to the others when on the bridge on these longer flights.
You're probably fine.

>>21896270
Hey, we went kayaking with Linda. Twice, if you count the simulation.

>>21896270
I am now remembering something about PTSD points or what not being brought up at one point.
Anything we should be worried about?

>>21896427
Tstg never actually put the info regarding those on the wiki, so I'd guess we're doing at least okay-ish for now.

File: 1354686296371.jpg-(19 KB, 400x295, normal_Broadsword_TRO_pose.jpg)

With the extra time upon arrival you're able to send a shuttle over to the Commander's flagship which at the moment is still one of the Carriers. On board is a stasis tube contain the Krath object you found. Your CO can deal with this, you have enough to worry about. You also transmit the test data for the EX-K's engines. With all of the combat usage the ship has seen DHI should have everything they need to begin mass production of the afterburner systems. This should roughly halve the cost of installing them on your ships since they wont need to be bought from other Houses or even other Factions.

The rest of the Wing welcomes you back, greatful that there wont be any question as to who is in command. Things seem a bit different now, not just because of the added rookies, new ships or lack of other protytypes. You cant place your finger on what.

A newly repaired and freshly painted LST with your House markings signals for permission to dock with your ship.
"Permission to come aboard sir?" Asks Rob Ecord, your jump jet armor specialist now promoted to Sergeant Major to replace Jing Ki. You're surprised he wasnt promoted to Knight as well all things considered. Still you're greatfull some of your strike team is back.

"That doesnt look like our LST docked topside." You observe once Ecord arrives on the bridge to report in.
"Its not sir. The Ruling House gave us a brand new top of the line model to replace the one we lost. I was also asked to personally give you this."

He hands over a small package.

"Oh god, its not a bomb is it?" you ask half joking. Arron and Linda both lean back a bit upon hearing this.

>>21896532
From my experience the words "You're probably fine" are when things start to go crazy or are a warning sign at the very least.

>>21896606
I bet it's dragon dildos.

>>21896606
>On board is a stasis tube contain the Krath object you found

Ask them to keep us updated on it, please.

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>>21896642
I smirked but no.

Opening the small box you find an odd disk and a letter sealed with melted wax. Breaking the seal you unfold the vellum paper and read the contents. Its a bit hard to make out with the flowing scrips but you get the gist of it.

"Knight of the House of Jerick-Dremine, you have rendered a great service to greater Houses than your and in doing so have earned our gratitude. With this item you may seek out the reward of your choosing. Silver or Gold, you may choose only one, though it matters not to us which."

Looking at the disk one side is covered in a silver moonscape, the other in the golden rays of a G Type star. There's a seam that bisects the disk which, with some effort, would allow it to fold closed one way or the other.
"What is it?" Asks Kavos, genuinely curious.

You flip over the note and check the back.
"Its a key. Either for a Royal Guard Cruiser or an Errant Knight's Hunter Cruiser."

"That makes sense, you could not have both. The Ruling House alone awards new Guard Cruisers, where as the Seven Major Houses award the other."

"So what are you going to pick?" Ask Linda.

>>21896930
Well, it's not a decision we should make hastily. Stats for these ships would be nice to begin with.

>>21896930
Voting for guard cruiser now without a name...

>>21896930
Royal Guard Cruiser.
The Bittenfeld already outclassed the hunter cruiser when we flew it, might as well choose the other one.

>>21896930
I would say Guard Cruiser for my vote, but stats would indeed be a nice thing to see!

>>21897038
NOTE: Stats for the Hunter that are on the wiki need to be revised (or retconned). For now I'll say that there's ample room for customization. The spinal mount weapon is kind of a thing with that class though.
Options for the spinal mount weapon vary widely.
Phase beam or pulse weapons are more common though fusion cannons are not unheard of. Slightly more exotic Rovinar beam weaponry is possible. While their civil war may be over, Republic Plasma cannons do appear on the black market.

I seem to have lost my stats on the Guard Cruiser...

8x Spinal mount phase cannon
6x phase cannon turrets
2x torpedo launchers
20x point defense mounts
2x Shuttles
2x Starfighter

>>21897289
I stand by my vote on the Guard Cruiser.

>>21897289
So yes, anways will pick this up in the morning.

If you guys have some ideas for crazy custom redesigns of the Hunter go for it, you've got 7 of the 8 most powerful Houses in the Dominion paying for the thing if you do select it. Perfectly understandable if you go for the Guard cruiser though.

And to be clear you would 100% own this starship which ever you pick. Not like the others where you might have a majority claim via salvage rights but would still have to pay the House for the rest of the ownership.

>>21897289
How do they compare in terms of speed and survivability?

>>21893761
>Also, going through the lists here and it seems that Cristina Pozzi was KIA.

No hope she escaped with the emergency teleporter?

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>>21897389
Guard cruisers carry fuck tons of engines and armor for their size, and maneuver accordingly. Superficially similar to Light cruisers they have 1.8 times the mass but two and a half times the engine power. They're basically cut down battle cruisers. Apart from from a couple of the officers quarters these are not luxurious ships to live aboard, its their job to protect the ships with those kind of accommodations.
Knight Captain Saputo was able to upgrade an older model found among the graveyards to keep up with his Attack Cruisers so it doesn't take much. Rumor is that he replaced a couple of the point defense mounts with emergency thrusters to make hard maneuvers easier. From what you saw in the simulation against him it did the trick.

Hunters are normally less massive though their armor is still of good quality. Good turning speed and mobility, though maybe not as good as the Bittenfeld or the EX-K. If you wanted it could be turned into a hulking beast of a ship or remain lighter weight like your attack cruisers. Its as custom as you want it to be.

Haven't seen too many pics of shark like starships around.

>>21897663
Roll 1d100 to see if she pulled a James Bond.

Guard cruiser, unless we can customize the hunter class with a giant mouth that eats scrap, since i recall it looks like a shark

Rolled 98

>>21897836

>>21897985
Sorry... She lived

>>21897836
>Its as custom as you want it to be

Then I want it to be a megalodon.
And Sonic.
And Batman.
In ship form.

File: 1354696235985.jpg-(94 KB, 1024x768, james-bond1.jpg)

>>21897985
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmqF4kzbaS8

>>21897836
Guard Cruiser with all the bling and emergency thrusters we can fit to it. I mean, its a cut down battlecruiser that can move at attack cruiser speeds. Whats not to like about it? Also, first own ship, yay!

>>21897985
We really need to do some R&R with our team the next chance we get to.

I've just noticed the Helios Siege Cruiser is about as long as the Hunter Class (1.300 - 1.200)...

Can we mount a Helios Siege Gun on the Hunter Class? That would be rad...

Get the hunter if only we can add a ton of engines to it and a working mouth that can chew through corvettes and cruisers. Than we paint it all yellow

Okay, whats the difference between Phase Cannon Turrets and Phase Cannon Arrays?

I would have an interesting set up for a Hunter Class, would like to know if it is possible like that:

1xBattleship-Grade (Princeps-Class, preferably) plasma cannon
At least 2 (possibly more) torpedo launchers at the front, aft torpedo turrets aren't very usefull for attack ships
3 phase cannon arrays for all-round coverage
2-4 Spinal mounted Heavy Pulse cannons (those are important, i would hate to only have a plasma cannon for punch, those things are very ammo reliant)
Some point defense turrets

Best Shields, Torp-resistant Armor, Emerg. Teleporters of the highest Level, Afterburners, Emerg. Thrusters

If we can get all of that and the same agility and speed as an attack cruiser the ship would be absolutely deadly at any range, possibly even better than a Guard Cruiser.

>>21897836
Can we get some additional crew comforts installed on the ships?

>>21900498
Such as a sauna and massuese?

>>21897836
I like the Guard Cruiser but I imagine a poll will probably be in order.

Call the Republic guy whose ship we recovered, and ask him what he's planning to do, now that the civil war is voer.

>>21900183
So you want to be like pacman?

Also im quite surprised, a fair number of people responded overnight. Normally its just bumps

File: 1354722058585.jpg-(68 KB, 800x600, what the hell.jpg)

>Heh, they'll need a 98 or higher on the first roll for her to have survived.
>98
MFW

>>21899044
Wait, what? I 'll have to look into that. The weapon itself on the Helios siege gun is 1km long and +300m across. So no, you wouldn't have room.

>>21897954
>>21900183
>giant mouth that eats scrap
>a working mouth that can chew through corvettes and cruisers
I'm now picturing scaled up vibroblades for teeth. There are so many thing that could go wrong with that.

>>21900401
Amazed nobody asked this sooner. Phase cannon for the most part act as a carrier beam for charged particles. Phase cannon arrays increase the particle storage area meaning that for each shot they pack more punch than a normal turret. This is especially handy for ships that only have enough room to mount light phase cannon but still have enough external surface area for the weapons to be upgraded to arrays.
The leading wing edges of the Bittenfeld are too narrow to mount full size phase cannon turrets but using the entire length of the edge the light turrets can be(and are) upgraded into arrays. Most of the Heavy Phase cannon on larger starships use an array type configuration but not always.

1x Plasma cannon
4x Torpedo launchers at the front (2 forward, 2 aft)
3x phase cannon arrays
2x Spinal mounted Heavy Pulse cannons
12x point defense turrets

This seems reasonable. Be advised, you could get the larger plasma cannon but it would greatly increase the mass of your ship and impact speed and maneuverability.

>>21901743
Would it be possible to investigate if the Lat'tham guy we talked to at the ball managed to survive the rebellion?

>>21901743
Er...
4x Torpedo launchers (2 forward, 2 aft)

>>21901008
You put a call through to Cascading Fury to check up on her Captain. "So you've heard the good news about the Civil war?" You ask.

"Yes and it looks like the cease fire will last. I've told all of my remaining ships they're free to return home. We're still engaged in recovery operations though so that may take awhile."

"What about you Captain? What do you plan to do?"

Thebe has a determined look on his face. "My ship and my crew will continue our mission; confront any power that could pose a threat to the Factions. Until the Pirate Warlords are wiped out or scattered they're our target. Its not an easy job but one that needs to be done."

You wish the Captain and his crew good luck before signing off.

>>21901743
The Hunter Cruiser we have here is faster and more maneuverable than the Royal Guard Cruiser, has more Torpedos and an insane range with its Plasma Cannon.

The Royal Guard Cruiser has more armor and i'd guess also more firepower (6 Phase Cannons vs. 1 Plasma Cannon and 2 Heavy Pulse Cannons, 6 Turrets vs. 3 Arrays) It also sports more Point defense.

It is a hard decision if you ask me, though plasma cannon goodness makes me sway toward the hunter.

>>21901852
I mean 8 phase cannons on the Royal Guard Cruiser. That makes it even more even....

File: 1354723409650.jpg-(35 KB, 537x424, Just in case.jpg)

>>21901811
Unknown. They're having a hard enough time corralling prisoners at the moment let alone sorting out which clones are around. Especially with multiples of some officers and crews.

>>21901924
Hmm, didn't consider that. What's the opinion on the clone rebellion on the homefront?

Hm, was the knight commanders medium cruiser salvagable or a lost cause?

The battlecruiser does provide options to tease the knight commander

>>21901852
>The Hunter Cruiser we have here is faster and more maneuverable than the Royal Guard Cruiser,
More maneuverable yes but straight line acceleration is fairly close.

>>21901980
There's been a media blackout which all parties have agreed to but word is spreading fast. PR nightmare would be putting it mildly.

The Ruling House and the 7 have not dissolved House Lat'tham yet though there have been calls for it. Listening in on the House command channel it seems there's some evidence that not all of their nobles were killed fighting the Pirates and were instead captured. The cloning systems the Lat'tham forces used are also missing.

The Commander informs everyone that an investigation is underway by the other Houses. All officers and Knights with the clearance will be informed when there are some results.

>>21902029
Yes. Getting a larger plasma cannon would not only make the ship slower but bump it up into the Battlecruiser size range.

Will be back in a half hour. Is there anything else you would like to do before the fleet jumps out? Test your starfighter?

>>21902029
We'd definitely have to get a parking spot right in front of her window if we choose the battlecruiser.

>>21902135
We need to get a picture of us posing with the ruling house letter for our parents so that they can rub it in to that nasty bitch of a neighborer down the street. Also posing in front of our new ship as soon as we get it.

I.E we need to start documenting our swag.

>>21902135
Yes, testing the starfighter is a good idea, who knows when we will have to shoot down a nuke again.

I think we might want to place a call with DHI or look into our contract if we are allowed to give the Ex-K to another pilot. We are after all going to pilot our gifted ship from now on.

>>21902164
That's nothing compaired to that mechanic who wants a rematch.

>>21902135
Test starfighter, investigate options and possibilities for upgrading starfighter.

Try to do something relaxing too if time permits, read some poetry maybe.

>>21902135
How many people do we have in our wing in total?

>>21902135
> Is there anything else you would like to do before the fleet jumps out?
See how our investments are doing.

>>21902135
Fighter shakedown, check up on all of our pilots. We need to know what happened with everyone and who might need to be pulled off front line duties for stress or other psych reasons.

Alex, Siri, and the guy we recovered(?) seem like good candidates for lighter duties, off the top of my head. It is also a good chance to try and figure out why Drake was seemingly separated from the rest of her crew...

>>21902381
I'm not sure we are able to judge who needs to be pulled off, we should just order all pilots to take a psych evaluation the next time we get a chance. That includes us, of course.

"Sonia?" Linda waves a hand in front of you. "Are you daydreaming?"

"Sorry, I was thinking about how I might be able to get a Hunter customized versus a Guard Cruiser. I'll have to think about it."
You pause. "Hey wait, somebody take a pair of pictures of me with this thing. I want to send them to my parents."

You have two pictures taken showing both the letter and each side of the disk, then get one with all of the bridge crew in it. Once that's done you take one of the Sergeant in front of the display screen which everyone quickly dubs "the recruitment poster."

>>21902209
>I think we might want to place a call with DHI or look into our contract if we are allowed to give the Ex-K to another pilot. We are after all going to pilot our gifted ship from now on.
Remember you don't have the gifted ship yet. With the test data transferred they likely wouldn't be as angry if you gave the EX-K to another pilot now.

>>21902279
>That's nothing compaired to that mechanic who wants a rematch.
Oh shit, and you're a long way out from House space. Maybe they'll be transferred to one of the repair stations later on?

>>21902337
Pilots or total ship crews?
Not counting marines average crew sizes are as follows.
Corvette = 80 crew
Frigate = 150-450
Attack Cruiser = 450-780
Escort Carrier = ~1200

>>21902523
>Show up to boxing match in power armor
advicereynard.jpg
>u mad mechanic?

>>21902523
Total crew plus marines. I was thinking we should throw a big party/bacchanale once we've finished the campaign against the pirates. We have to start planning at one point.

>>21902617
Do we announce our plan to take over the Dominion at it?

>>21902670
I guess by the time we can afford a proper party for that many people, we already own a substantial part of the dominion.
No need to (officially) take it over at that point.

>>21902480
A commander needs to be able to make judgement calls on the mental state of subordinates. Psych evaluations will likely be a scarce luxury during the times when our pilots are most vulnerable to having mental breakdowns, and especially in the case of squadron and flight leaders, such events could have devastating results for our forces.

that said, psych evaluations for everybody while we have time! As for the mentioned pilots, perhaps we should ask them if they'd like a bit of extra R&R or be assigned to help out 2nd squad's rookies for a bit?

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>>21887708
>41st century

>>21902617
You are talking about 20,000+ people, aka an entire Division, or the entire student population of the average state university.

Are you sure you are prepared to party that hard?

On another note holy shit we're in charge of twenty thousand people

>>21902792
I say we capture a superheavy and repurpose it as a party ship. It shall be glorious.

>>21902344
>Investments.
You check your cash reserves and how your investments are doing. As expected there was a bit of a hit from paying for volunteers in the pursuit mission. With the number of people the House military keeps employed its amazing they don't go bankrupt.

The shipyard isn't really making money to speak of but its only just gone into operation. If anything they'll need more money invested before you start getting any back.
House Possat armor production is another story all together. When communications were restored with Lat'tham space numerous Houses started demanding armor for their more important ships to protect against torpedo fire. Your initial investment has been repaid in full and then some.

>>21902381
>>21902480
>Mandatory psych evaluation
There is much groaning and complaining at the news of this but is mitigated by the fact it will be next week at the earliest before this can take place.

With a short window before the fleet jumps you head for the launch bay and ready your fighter for a quick flight. Careful to avoid the shuttle parked in the cramped bay you get clear before kicking in the engines. It's certainly different from the Needle fighter which had a heavier aft end. This one's center of gravity is square in the middle and the wider set engines make sweeping turns slightly easier.

"Second squadron, set your point defense for simulated fire mode. I want to see how long I can evade."

Roll 1d20

Rolled 18

>>21902879
rolling for catching bullet with our face

>>21902879
Does DHI or anyone else make starfighter scale anti-proton afterburners?

Rolled 10

>>21902879
topgun sonja

Rolled 11

>>21902879
And the third roll.

>>21902879
Hm, should we leave our money with house Possat or sell while the price is high and invest more into the shipyard?

>>21902981
Hmmm, do we know when to expect the upgraded torpedoes?

Depending on how expensive they'll be, we might sell our shares before the announcement, and then simply buy our stock back at a lower price.

File: 1354730641234.png-(16 KB, 331x342, Antimatter.png)

>>21902935
No. Reactors that small just aren't powerful enough for antimatter generation. It might be possible to use a setup similar to a plasma weapon fuel cell. Have a larger starship fill a container then have the fighter empty small amounts of it as needed. The downside is you'd be carrying around enough antimatter to nuke a small city if the containment vessel failed in any way. So if your fighter blew up ejecting would be pointless.

>>21902995
>Hmmm, do we know when to expect the upgraded torpedoes?
A few more months.

>>21903112
>So if your fighter blew up ejecting would be pointless.
What if we installed a teleporter on our fighter?

File: 1354731985416.jpg-(35 KB, 571x314, Mod-Homeworldshot.jpg)

>>21903129
They're not available in that size range and again the fighter doesn't have enough juice to power one.

>>21902914

Closing in on second squadron Daska gives you the green light for simulated weapons. They must have replaced most of the missing guns because a storm of false beams fill your sensors. Ducking to the side you evade the opening wave but the streams of weapon fire track after you. In a few seconds you're being boxed in despite your range. If only you could see where they were aiming before they fired.
A program kicks in on your eye HUD predicting where the weapons fire is about to converge to help avoid it. It buys you a few seconds more before eventually an engine registers a hit followed by the cockpit.

"Not bad sir, you lasted eighteen seconds against the entire squadron." Compliments the captain of one of your Escort Carriers.

You make a note to upload the program from your HUD implants and test its effectiveness with your starship. At the very least it should help against heavier weapons like Plasma Cannons.

>Commander's medium cruiser salvageable?
Sort of yes? Its going to take months to rip out the damaged parts and rebuild it. Think the work that had to be done to the Bittenfeld but an order of magnitude worse.

Returning to the EX-K only takes a minute but getting the fighter back into the bay without clipping a wing on the door or the shuttle again proves tricky. These ships were just not designed with carrying an extra starfighter in mind. You ask Kavos about this when you get to the bridge.

"I believe the extra space was for a pair of IFV's, one of which could be loaded into the back of the slightly larger Kavarian shuttles. Speaking of that, with all of the running around the marines were forced to do on planets the past few weeks you might want to requisition a light vehicle our shuttles could carry. Repulsor bikes or a Light recon vehicle?"

One more thing to think about on the flight.

"All ships we're commencing jump in sixty seconds." Warns the Command ship.

Two Dominion Super Heavies, one Terran and a mixed force of six heavy cruisers from the various fleets are the largest warships accompanying the force. Akagi and Enterprise are both covered in a patchwork of armor repairs. There was some protest about them being taken along while so many smaller ships needed repairs they could assist with, but the fleet going into combat is already deprived of mobile assets.
Most of the House Helios fleet is remaining behind to help relocate a captured asteroid base to the Yineput system where its repair facilities will be used.

File: 1354733735380.jpg-(950 KB, 3000x2400, Project Orion.jpg)

>>21903112
>The downside is you'd be carrying around enough antimatter to nuke a small city if the containment vessel failed in any way. So if your fighter blew up ejecting would be pointless.

You know, I think we can negate the second downside by using the first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Lxx2VAYi8

Would trying to get a bunch of group pictures of the Wing's pilots, bridge crews, gunnery crews and so on be frowned upon by command? It might be a goofy enough exercise to help our crews blow off some steam and just generally cope with the little rebellion event.

and we'll get plenty of goofy pictures to send home or make a goofy calendar out of.

The fleet jumps and you get to work on trying to figure out what else you may need. The Heavy strike team is at 30% strength at the moment, with the difference being made up for by regular Marines. As more power cell armor is repaired or replaced the effectiveness of your boarding team(s) will increase.

The LST docked to your topside hull, like the one it replaced, is specialized towards ship boarding actions. It can still land on planets and deploy some vehicles but can't handle larger tanks or walkers. There is room for 4 IFV's, each one could be replaced with 2 LRV's or 5 repulsor bikes.
The launch bays on your cruiser are limited by what your shuttles can carry, so LRV's or repulsor bikes.

On the flight you do some sparring against Ecord practising with your power armor. Catching up with the other marines who had been away fighting takes some time as well. Showing them the smart grapple you end up having to tell the tale of your first test with it which earns some laughter.

"We could have used your help retaking all of those ships sir." one of them says.

Likewise you could have used their help in storming the Loreto.

"Before I forget sir, one of the other Houses is supposed to have sent another set of holographic camouflage our way." the Sergeant informs you. "While technically its for me we're thinking of rigging it to a set of power cell armor once we actually get it since camo on a jump jet suit is like... throwing a blanket on a phase cannon."

>>21903815
No reason it would be frowned upon. You could even send some to the PR department to help with morale.
Consider this motion passed, unless anyone objects?

The ruling house must be totally out of escorts, given the damage to their cruiser force.

>>21903957
"That might be a better idea, yeah."

>>21904008
Do that, the more pictures the better.

Any chance the Rovinar offered some form of thanks for recovering their dead, or did we pass them up to the knight commander as well?

And out of curiosity... did that Royal Guard commander from the party manage to survive or should we consider some means to pay our respects to him? He did save our little escape party.

>Any chance the Rovinar offered some form of thanks for recovering their dead, or did we pass them up to the knight commander as well?
Just a letter of thanks to you and your crew.
>And out of curiosity... did that Royal Guard commander from the party manage to survive or should we consider some means to pay our respects to him?
He was killed shortly after being shot by a tank.

Morale seems to have improved a bit if com traffic along the Wing and the fleet are any indication.

A few hours before the scheduled arrival you're called to the bridge.
"Fleet wide alert sir. We're going to be dropping out of FTL one AU away from the local nav station so command is expecting trouble."

You start going through the systems checks and contact the other ships in the Wing to make sure they're ready. Everyone reports status green, though the rookies take a little longer to respond.

Linda frowns. "I'm showing a gravity well ahead where there shouldn't be one."

You look over. "Is it a fake? I remember a noble telling me about false gravity wells at the party."

"No its real, and we can't avoid it without breaking formation with the other fleets."

The com goes off. "Winifred to all forces, obstruction ahead. Prepare for early reversion and immediate combat!"

>>21904476
... I hope we have loaded up on ammunition and our fighter contingent is filled up.

>>21904476

... wait, what the hell can generate a gravity well on the course of a nav relay jump? Shouldn't anything like that be mapped?

>>21904722
They stole our RnD project before we even started working on it, the fiends! Or some super big asteroid base got pulled there. Or, alien worldship.

File: 1354739826272.gif-(9 KB, 976x675, obstruction.gif)

>>21904515
>ammunition
You never asked. Given you had enough time though I'll say that you received a refill.

"A large portion of the fleet is going to miss the gravity well and continue on towards the station." Warns Linda.

"All squadrons tighten your formation." Orders the Commander. "We need intact units when we revert."

Second squadron, Fourth squadron, and the escort carriers drop out near your position. First squadron is off to port and third squadron is out ahead farther to starboard. The core of the fleet has been stopped dead in its tracks and will have to perform a number of micro jumps to approach the station. Something the super heavy cruisers will take a long time to do.

"I thought it would be a large asteroid or small moon in our way but its a bunch of smaller asteroids. Together they're creating a gravity well strong enough to pull ships out of FTL." Observes Linda.

"We've got enemy transports fleeing the area on the other side of that slag heap." Reports Arron.

"The rest of the fleet might be in trouble if we can't link up with them." Says Kavos. "We should either move to help them as quickly as possible or do something about those transports."

Either way it seems you'll either have to fly around the debris, through it or try to micro jump to another location where you'll have line of sight to your target. Keep in mind there are hundreds of ships from other Houses in the way of a possible micro jump.

>>21904804
I say our squadron uses its superior speed to leave the other ships in the dust, once there are none in the way anymore we microjump around those obstacles and engage the transports.

>>21904874
And with squadron i mean wing.

>>21904874
>>21904894
Sounds like a plan, voting this.

>>21904874
>>21904909
Roll 4d20

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L25K7QW
Just in case though, survey link.

Rolled 16, 3, 79, 47 = 145

>>21905025
okay...

Perhaps the rookies in our wing should not join in this dangerous stunt we're attempting to pull. I imagine mistakes here will have very bad results

>>21905137
Well, those are bad rolls. Someone feeling like improving this?

>>21905137
Twenty not one hundred.

Rolled 7, 14, 8, 14 = 43

>>21905214
Oh, sorry. Now i feel dumb.

Rolled 16, 18, 20, 15 = 69

>>21905025
rollin

Rolled 3, 7, 3, 13 = 26

>>21905025
Third roll for just incase.

Rolled 1, 7, 11, 19 = 38

>>21905025
Dangerous, questionably sane stunts?

incoming 1,1,1,1!

>>21905289
awesome roll.

You need to find a hole through the friendly fleets to take your unit through. From there it'll just be a pair of simple micro jumps.
"All squadrons form up on me, Coms get me the blackbird."

"Hafnar here sir. What can I do for you?"

"We need a clear lane out of this mess so the Wing can jump. Can you do it?"

"This should be easier than getting through some of the fighting at Yineput. Stand by for waypoint updates."

The first waypoint marker pops up as third squadron arrives, having to swing around a corvette squadron headed for the edge of the debris field. The entire fleet is in motion now and the Admirals can't keep up. Terrans and Rovinar Admirals order all of their ships to reverse course in an attempt to avoid the situation entirely.

Putting on the speed you want to reach the holes in the fleet while the pilot of your ECM bird still knows where they are. You reach the first waypoint marker and turn towards the second even as a formation of Light Cruisers pass through the space you just vacated. The next marker takes the Wing between a pair of corvette units but they're spaced far enough apart that collision isn't a serious risk.
"Mind the Medium cruisers." warns Hafnar in the middle of a course change.
A trio of Crescent are hanging back slightly farther than the other ships and you have to cut the turn short. Second squadron comes the closest to them and they're all experienced enough to have handled it regardless.

Diving between a few more minor House fleets gets you clear without any incidents.
"Commence micro jump."

"Dropping us out just on the other side of the gravity well." Says Linda as she readies the second jump.

The Wing reverts a few thousand km away from the closest group of fleeing transports. Some have already begun to micro jump off in other directions.

"Break by flights and shoot to disable. We'll need some of those ships to clear the debris field later."

The Wing splits up, each group going after a separate target. You join up with one of first squadron's flights that are down a ship.
"I'm your wing, lead the way."

Edah does just that, angling towards a pair of flatboats travelling in close formation. Only a few shots take down their shields and precise torpedo hits cripple the sublight drives.

"Next target." The flight leader turns towards the largest enemy ship in range. It looks like either a scaled down Heavy cruiser or scaled up siege gun. In either case it has enough docking arms and engines to move a 10km asteroid. The first pass does little to its shields and some heavy phase cannons return fire forces you to pull back to a safe distance for a moment.

"Designate this thing a priority target." You order.

The other smaller transports in the area haven't stood much of a chance against the rest of the wing and 70% of your ships are now closing in on your position fast. You're almost certain they'll get here before the transport can jump.

[ ] Wait for them
[ ] Continue attacking with conventional weapons
[ ] Launch your SP torps

>>21906111
... How much salvage is this thing worth?

>>21906111
[] Continue attacking with conventional

Draw its fire for now but pull back so we don't take any lasting damage.

>>21906133
Its a heavy cruiser!!!

I suppose we won't get a better use out of our SPs in a while. Use some of them.

[]Launch your SP torps

Target the engines

>>21906111
[X] Continue attacking with conventional weapons
Got to keep up the pressure.

>>21906202
Its somewhere between a heavy and a medium cruiser, but I'm not sure if it's anything more than a glorified tugboat.

>>21906295
Well, if those bounty hunters managed to turn a glorified tugboat into a battle barge i imagine our house should be able to do that too, on a grander scale.

"Continue attacking but watch yourselves, those heavy cannons pack a punch." You warn the other two in the flight.

"Yes sir, we'll keep the pressure on."

You and Edah dump torpedo and energy weapon fire onto one section of the shield near a turret, slowly starting to batter it down. The quad linked phase cannon on the Attack Frigate is just powerful enough to punch through to disable the turret.

"Good job, they have a blind spot now."
Evading isnt nearly as difficult now with one of the turrets disabled but the shield haven't collapsed. Fire from the twenty other ships of Third Wing closing in solves that problem. Once the shields go down phase cannon fire cuts into the engines preventing the transport from jumping.

Attack corvettes from other fleets are starting to engage the other transports.

[ ] Jump to the station
[ ] Continue to interdict remaining transports
[ ] Other

File: 1354748171927.gif-(9 KB, 976x675, obstruction 2.gif)

>>21906111
>>21906617
And both times the pic gets eaten.

>>21906617
[] Jump to the station

we only need some of the transports to get rid of the asteroid field after the battle, i think the rest of the forces should be perfectly capable of microjumping around them for now.

>>21906617
[X] hit any nearby transports
[x] Signal Knight Commander to send boarding parties to capture the disabled heavy transport
[x] Request notification of when we are to jump, I assume it is better for our force to jump in as groups, not in wing-sized units.

>>21906782
seconding.

>>21906617
So how valuable is the thing and can our house grab it?

>>21906909
I imagine a ship able to move a 10km object is of quite a bit of use. The house could use it to move small, captured mining facilities say... next to friendly logistics bases or repair facilities. Or convert it back into a warship.

>>21906782
I third this course of action!

>>21906617
Jump to the station

>>21906782
"Message received Wing Leader." Acknowledges one of the fleet coordinators.
"We'll launch transports as soon as possible. Be advised, the First attack Wing and Second Cruiser squadron should be ready to jump in five to ten minutes. Current estimates are that it could take twenty to thirty minutes for the entire Expeditionary fleet to reposition."

"Fine. We'll keep hitting transports until then." You change channel back to the Wing. "All squadrons we're going to keep hunting transports for the time being. Be ready to break off at a moments notice."

You hang back while the others break off to chase transports again. This job is overkill but it will be handy to have the transports later.

"Arron, what's the status of the fleet elements that didn't get dragged out of FTL?"

He shakes his head and winces. "There's a pair of enemy super heavy cruisers on this side of the nav station. They're just now accelerating and will be ready to jump in ten minutes time. Any of our forces that tried to approach have been driven off by their guns."

You look at the scans and are dismayed at what you see. The heavier starships are targeting command vessels that made it through and small units of pirate starships are jumping the disorganized Fleets. Allied ships are retreating but they're taking losses.

>>21907140
Well high command certainly tossed this one up.

We should form up with first wing and the cruisers and get in there

>>21907140
shit, our expeditionary fleets in this group just can't catch a break.

our House's force was entirely stopped by this asteroid deal, I hope...

>>21907445
>>21907462

I just hope the pirates ain't got veckron torps. Because i would use them to block of that chokepoint at the navigator station.

File: 1354751688594.gif-(7 KB, 931x555, Relay Battle.gif)

First Wing gets a clear line to jump five minutes later. The cruiser squadron still needs three more minutes due to their slower sublight speed. Any remaining transports have long been disabled or escaped. Fleets from five minor Houses on the edges of the formation jump in to join the fighting and turn the rout into a counter attack.

"Saputo to Reynard we're ready to jump. How many SP's do you have?"

You're about to ask why when you figure out what the other Knight must have in mind. Attacking one of the pirate held supers. Neither of them are Terran models thank goodness which means they're far less likely to have torpedo launchers, just missiles and beam weaponry. Still it's going to be dangerous as fuck unless all of the enemy gunners are drunk at their stations.

Your ships should have one SP torp for each launcher.
[ ] Enough to give a Super Heavy a bad day
[ ] Not much. (Go after the smaller enemy ships)
[ ] Other

>>21907592
[ ] Enough to give a Super Heavy a bad day

>>21907536
that would be quite a desperate move, if they wanted to win and use this nav relay to launch an eventual counter-attack.

those super-heavies aren't any of the captured Terran ones, are they? We shared the ID data of those ships we chased with our people for the purpose of going "oh shit run"?

>>21907592
One for each launcher should be enough, we really don't want to do more than a single pass anyways.

Try it.

Don't forget to make gratuitious use of nukes to blind it.

>>21907592
[x] Enough to give a Super Heavy a bad day

Gotta hit them pirates back. We keep winning skirmishes but our fleet is getting bloodied in every major engagement.

>>21907592
Enough to hurt a super-heavy, but not enough to survive doing it unless we have more than just our fleet.
[x] grab renforcements

>>21907592
Going for giving Super Heavy a bad day
also we need to go to 1865 for a hat cuz captcha said so

>>21907592
[X] Enough to give a Super Heavy a bad day
[x] We'll need covering fire
[x] No Rookies Allowed

We could try using the supers blindspot again. Would need a fucking precision jump to hit it, though. Is it worth it?

>>21907592
[ ] Enough to give a Super Heavy a bad day

After all the trouble they've been giving us, lets teach them why messing with a House is a terrible idea.

Rolled 16, 2, 18 = 36

"Enough to give a Super Heavy a bad day but we wont survive any more than a single pass against those ships. We need backup."

"Don't worry this is merely a parting shot. If we were to cripple or kill that would be an added bonus. My communications officer is trying to convince a few corvette squadrons to join us but we'll have to be careful not to bunch up. My fleet will attack from above, yours below. Retreat once your torpedoes are away. See you on the other side."

Unless otherwise stated your escort carriers will break off and deploy their fighters after the jump.

Roll 4d20

Rolled 10, 2, 4, 20 = 36

>>21907788
time to roll badly

Rolled 10, 7, 1, 6 = 24

>>21907788
That sounds like a good plan... Lets not fuck this up.

>>21907592
use micro jumping to come in from behind, targeting the Heavy closest to the Nav Station, as it does not have a close escort. Cripple the Engines with SP torps then GTFO.

Rolled 13, 3, 7, 5 = 28

>>21907788

> the 1's

>>21907853
>>21907809
lordy, second and third squadron are in for a ride...

Rolled 13, 20, 19, 15 = 67

>>21907788
rollin

>>21907709
>We could try using the supers blindspot again
>>21907816
>use micro jumping to come in from behind, targeting the Heavy closest to the Nav Station, as it does not have a close escort. Cripple the Engines with SP torps then GTFO.

This would be difficult for a number of reasons. First is the size of the blindspot. It is difficult to fit a pair of cruisers into it let alone thirty.
Second is that the broadside mounted phase cannon turrets from their sister ship would be able to target you. This wasn't possible in FTL where each was in its own drive bubble.
Thirdly, these ships have five engine banks. The main aft drives and the four lateral engine banks which are used both for maneuvering and to accelerate the ship. (This helps to reduce strain on the forward superstructure.)

>>21907913
fuck, i'm too late.

>>21907922
It is not your fault, but mine for my failure to properly court the dice with the third roll.

Just like every other micro jump you've been through this one takes a fraction of a second. The Escort Carriers turn hard and start lauching fighters, the smaller craft form up nearby waiting until they have enough strength to threaten starships. Your ECM boat starts jamming enemy sensors but against beam weaponry you're not sure how effective that will be. The added ECCM should make sure your torps make it to their targets.

"Above" the third wing several squadrons of corvettes jump and and strafe the enemy escort cruisers, drawing some away along with the attention of the gunners of the larger ship.

"All units that's our signal. Let them have it." You pull up as the rest of hte Wing does the same, firing phase cannon from maximum range. Lorraine Day and her counter parts in First Wing fire their Plasma Cannons, impacting the shields with the other beams striking the shield.
"Missiles and Torps... fire!"

Fifty torpedoes of various makes and models fly out from Third Wing followed by a cloud of missiles. You dont get to see how many First Wing launched before the nukes begin to go off.

"Break by squadrons and pull back to a safe distance."

Even as you begin the turn along with 4th squadron return fire lances through the explosions. You and some of the others in the squadron take normal phase cannon hits that fail to drop your shields. First squadron narrowly avoids any serious damage, armor being grazed in places.

In second squadron three of the cruisers are hit, mostly consisting of engine damage. Mike takes the worst damage, losing half of his sublight drives to concentrated fire. Drake swings over and uses her tractor beams to help him get out of the area.

File: 1354756713815.gif-(31 KB, 1770x1098, 3rd Wing new organization 3.gif)

>>21908394
Third squadron takes a mix of damage to most of their ships but must can still fly well enough to escape. Samuul Kuritz' brand new cruiser lost both of the starboard launchers but is still in action. Arthur's bulky Vengeance type takes a really bad hit. Two of the sublight drive sections are either torn open or sheared off completely, sending it into an out of control tumble.

You hit your thrusters and change course, letting the others continue their retreat.
"Any ships with spare missiles or launchers give me covering fire, I'm going after Arthur's ship."

Turning on the afterburners you make a beeline for the wounded cruiser, dodging back and forth to make targeting difficult. Once close enough for tractor beams you cut back on the throttle enough to match direction then grab hold on the damaged side. The good engines are still firing meaning its possible to build up some speed away from the battle and eventually get to a safe distance.

"Arthur cut your engines," you order. "we're far enough away now."

"They're not receiving us." Reports coms.
Arron does a more detailed scan. "Most of their coms arrays were destroyed and that hull damage isn't looking great. The engines are still at full burn so the sooner they're shut down the better."

"We'll have to send a team over." Kavos concludes. "One of the shuttles or the LST?"

>>21908543
Whichever can be there sooner, with the other one on standby

>>21908543
[x] The Fastest Option

is Arthur's ship in any condition to make an assisted or towed jump out? Are any of the other crippled ships able to do it, or will we need to assign undamaged ships?

Same of Mike's ship.

>>21908684
>is Arthur's ship in any condition to make an assisted or towed jump out?
"Maybe but you'll need to get coms, and sensors under control for the one and the engines turned off for the other.

With the LST already prepped for boarding operations you order it launched. The flight crew uses the tractor beams to move from the back of one ship to the other and latch on.
As the Marines begin to board an all clear for the immediate area is issued by the fleet. The super heavy you helped attack launched missiles of their own at the last minute in an attempt to blind the incoming torpedoes. It was only partially successful and large sections of its port side were damaged. With assistance from its sister ship she was able to jump but only barely.
The Admiralty wants to assemble a task force to go after them before they can reach a friendly port and effect repairs.

>Are any of the other crippled ships able to do it, or will we need to assign undamaged ships?
Mike and Daska's ships are both unable to jump without assistance from squadron members.

>>21908903
Were we able to tell if both super-heavies were in the same FTL bubble or their speed?

Would it be possible to do a blind-spot assault on the ship's engines while friendlies recover our damaged ships?

>>21908543
Okay, ermm, sorry if I missed it, but what does a red dot mean?

"Any chance some of the other ships can catch up to that enemy fleet and engage them at FTL?" You ask.

Coms redirects this query up the chain of command and you get a response before any new reports from the marines come in.
"A pair of battlecruisers are being sent off to follow them but don't expect to be able to engage them at FTL sir."

"Why not?"

"They had escorts." Kavos points out.

In a few more minutes the Marines reach the bridge and reestablish communications. Most of the bridge crew were knocked unconscious but should recover. The ship was recovered just before the Smugglers Run campaign but had never been through the sort of serious structural upgrades and replacements other ships had. Other than some engine damage in Lat'tham territory the only problem has ever been armor repairs.

The rest of the Fleet is either beginning recovery operations around the site of the battle or moving on to assault the station directly. Did you want to wait here with Arthur's ship until the station has been secured or leave the LST behind to look after things while you moved on?


>>21909159
Damaged but still mostly operational.

>>21909291
>Did you want to wait here with Arthur's ship until the station has been secured or leave the LST behind to look after things while you moved on?

Could we help securing the station? And where would we move on to?

>>21909325
Move on to help with securing the station I meant. Once friendly forces are certain there aren't a horde of pirates ready to steal any ship brought in to dock the station repair facilities can be used to assist the fleet.

>>21909291
Can we make sure no one wanders off with that heavy-medium cruiser we disabled? How good a ship was that anyway?

>>21909433
In that case, let the damaged ships wait for Arthur along with those craft that wouldn't handle an assault on the station too well.
The rest should form up and prepare to attack the station.

>>21909291
Is 1st Wing in a position to rally on us, or did they take some damage as we did?

If both wings have crippled ships, perhaps we should rally the crippled ones together to await assistance by friendlies while the combat-ready ships move on?

Our wings will be more combat effective working together if we're in position to continue the fight

>>21909466
>>21909470
I like it. Also how about we assist with securing the station interior with our marines? Could be a good chance to try out our shiny new plasma pistol.

>>21909466
>>21909470
You contact the Captain and ask about gathering all of your damaged ships nearby one another so they can be protected more easily and picked up by salvage ships. After a brief description of the damage you took Saputo tells you to move your ships to his location as yours are more mobile and in less pieces.

It takes a few minutes to rally everyone and then decide who will wait behind as escort. One carrier from each wing will remain behind while the others push on. With 2nd squadron down three ships you attach yourself to the unit again and assume temporary command.

>>21909453
As ECM wouldnt be especially effective against Navigators Guild station defenses you send the Blackbird back to keep an eye on your salvage claim.

Most of 1st and 3rd Wings micro jump closer to the station to find that a large contingent from the fleets are now orbiting it. Normandy and Concordance have taken up positions on either side of the station ring and occasionally fire on weapon emplacements that begin to track friendly ships.

"The station shields are down and Shuttles are beginning to land troops. There's no sign of the guild defense fleet present."

You sigh. "Then it's going to take awhile for us to secure that thing. Signal all ships to prepare to board the station. Coms, find out which sections our House is being tasked with clearing."

"Yes sir."

>>21909599
Go aboard with the Marines? Y/N

>>21909599
I think that for once, we should not throw our marines at an enemy stronghold. Securing the space around the station and possibly crippling a few enemy ships to salvage for our wing seems like a better choice to me.

>>21909830
I think the answer would be quite obvious!
Time to head out with our men to clear the place out.

>>21909830
[x] No

We should stay with our ship. The enemy has demonstrated that they were expecting us, which may mean that they have a reserve force ready to strike as our forces assault the station. We're a pilot first.

same anon as >>21909834