Most of the transports had in addition to their cargo large numbers of self loading freight, AKA refugees. The station is swamped with the number being offloaded and all available marines are needed to help with security.

Ghetto fences once used by the slavers that held the station have been set back up to help hold all of the crews and passengers from the transports. It will take a few days for security and intel to sort through them all and until then there just isn't anywhere else secure to put them.

"This is a mess." you whisper to Arthur as the two of you head through the station arms. The Commander asked to meet with you at one of the establishments frequented by civilian ship Captains, mercenaries and officers from other Houses. You hope she has good news.

Reaching the central section you head up one of the curved ramps leading to the upper arm. Rather than having two different types of station arm modules the central connector just uses artificial gravity on ramps that slope upwards or downwards to match the orientation of the connected sections. People less accustomed to three dimentional construction often just use solid walled lifts so they don't have to see the orientation change.

You pass a mixed squad of Marines on patrol, two of their number equipped with power cell armor.

"Do you really think we'll be able to get enough of our Marines back to conduct boarding operations?" Asks Arthur.

>What say?

>>22737161
Depends if we can find a place to put the refugees.

>>22737189
Basically this. Fortunately, power cell armor makes them more effective and better protected, so we might soon be able to get more done with less, and lose fewer of them besides.

"If they need room why don't they just shuffle them between the transports then? Its not like they don't have space."
Wonders Arthur.

You shrug. "I think the engineers are still checking them for sabotage the crews might have been able to do while the marines weren't looking. I'm wondering if the Commander will just give us a smaller number of Marines but with power cell armor."

The pair of you approach the restaurant you were told to meet at. Tables and chairs have been set up both inside and "outside" in the promenade area. Planters with fake trees mark the boundary of the outdoor area. On the way in you spot a few of the commander's bodyguards nearby.

There are close to two dozen people present scattered around an area intended to seat two or three times as many. It must be a slow time of the day or everyone is on duty to help deal with the refugee problem. Most Knights or Officers you see are from allied Houses but half of the people here are in civilian dress, some in business suits others in casual wear.

"Lieutenant Reynard, Knight Moton, please be seated." Says the Commander as you approach. Pulling out a chair each you sit down.

>>22737189
This, add: "And besides, i have the feeling command doesn't even want us to do much more boarding after this. The repair backlog should be huge, even with the captured shipyard running again."

>>22737378
Eventually the expeditionary fleet is just going to become a junk ship dealer.

Hey Op long time reader here I've mainly been reading the archives up until now.But I finally have enough free time to participate, so keep up the good work ye' hear.

>>22737351
is this a what do?

The Commander leans forward and steeples her fingers.
"As you're well aware your recent activities have proven a bit more successful than we're prepared for. The amount of traffic to and from the station as a result of your latest acquisitions have delayed a number of upgrades I had hoped to make. That is only a minor part of our problem. Training Marines takes a very long time and only one in five from our infantry are selected to become Marines. We do not have a true manpower shortage but there is a temporary bottleneck. It will be another month until the new Marine divisions being deployed reach the front, until then we're limited."

"Are you ordering me to cease boarding operations sir?" you ask.

"No. Your heavy strike team will be returned before the end of the day but the rest will take longer. We lost too many people in Lat'tham space so we've been forced to seek alternatives."

You frown getting the idea of where she's going with this.

"The Mercenaries that survived the fighting in Lat'tham space have formed a new elite unit and are in negotiation with the PCCG to create a full blown mercenary guild. We can hire units from them as needed or for extended periods. They're flexible on arrangements at the moment meaning we can either hire troops to supplement our Marines, pilots for any spare ships, or for a higher cost ask them to bring their own ships."

"I'm less then happy about the idea of putting mercs on my ships sir." you admit.

"There are also units from other Houses which can fill the same roles. Be aware that Mercenaries are more... flexible. Ship units from other Houses will demand larger salvage claims for their contributions." The older woman stands and gestures to those sitting at the tabes around the restaurant.
"You've almost certainly worked with a few of those present. There is no regulation stating you need to deploy with Marines aboard all your ships. Think it over. This is the place you'll find people to recruit."
With that the other Knight leaves, her bodyguards departing along with her.

>>22737524
Will do

>>22737555
No, its a me not getting enough stuff prepped ahead of time.

>>22737803
I don't wanna. Maaaaybe some marines from another house, but not more on each ship than we already have there. Don't want another Lath'tham after all.

I don't see the need for more ships or pilots.All our good ships are either operational and in use or getting repaired. The Wing has proven that it can hit most threats without further reinforcements, and if we end up needing them we just take a carrier or cruiser squadron from an allied house on short notice or bring in the battlecruiser formation.

>>22737803
Recruiting mercs isn't really a bad idea. The Commander's right that we have more options with them, both in how we pay them and how we use them. However, since they are mercenaries, they'll want more pay if we send them into absurdly dangerous situations.

Then again, we don't have to care as much when they die.

>>22737925
I really don't want to put merc marines on our ships. If they decide that taking over our ships gets them more money than honoring the contract who is gonna stop them? Our non-available own marines?

>>22737885
I think the Commander pointed out that our only real option for getting more marines in the short term is to hire mercs. If we don't want them on our ships, we can have them bring their own.

The Wing may have a good mix of ships already, but having a "reserve" of mercs will decrease turnover time, because we'll be able to do missions even when we're losing House ships to the docks.

We definitively need to get mercs to supplement our marines given we won't have that many for awhile.

>>22737991
We have marines, just not enough for real boarding action. How many mercs we take (if any) and how we house them is up to us. We could keep them locked up if we really didn't trust them.

I think it would be much less risky for the mercs to flee in a ship they've boarded and taken over than for them to try stealing a House ship. Our marines are much better-trained and often better-equipped than pirates.

>>22737994
And we will pay out of our ass for them to attach themselves for us for a longer time. Its far more efficient to just hire them for one mission if we notice we need support.

Can we hire small-time mercs to handle the refugees on station to free up marines?

We could use mercs to help with assaulting and gaining control of hostile planets given how long we have to wait for house troops to arrive.

>>22737991
Pulling that would mean never being able to get a merc job again. Anyway, we need to take a look at available mercenaries.

>>22738053
Our marines of who we only have a single squad over the whole wing? Well, they may be power-cell armored, but they sure as hell aren't going to stop the mercs if they set their minds to it.

Thats what i am assuming, of course.

Oh, and thus far every anti-merc post was me, so please don't count it as several votes for the purpose of reaching a decision.

>>22738059
Thats not a bad idea given that they are just going to be doing garrison duty it should be quite cheap as they are not really on the front lines.

>>22738082
I am sure the pirates would take them with open arms.

>>22738059
This makes more sense.

>>22738105
Looks like the best option is to keep the mercs on their own ships if we have to bring them.

I'd love to avoid using mercs but OP has been saying for a while that using mercs is a way to avoid our manpower shortage, which has only gotten worse as time has marched on. I say we look at various rates before deciding.

Mercs
Hiring Mercenaries can be broken down into the following

1)Pilots
Training among mercenary pilots can be extremely variable but most are competent. You can find people capable of flying almost anything.

2)Troops
While most are equipped with whatever guns they've found or salvaged others have outfitted their teams with ridiculously expensive gear in the hopes of keeping them alive. Veterans from the now disbanded Flag Snatchers are known to carry Fusion Guns.

3) Starships (Planetary Assault/ Boarding)
Most of these ships revolve around getting in close to the enemy and either grappling with them or bringing LST and light attack ships into the mix. Nearly all of them are equally suited to deploying troops to the surface of a planet.

4) Starships (Space Combat)
The leaders of several merc units were granted salvage rights to a number of starships in the Yineput system once combat operations ended. Not all of their new ships may match the quality of yours but their contribution should not be underestimated.


House Forces
Requesting assistance from other Houses has worked for you in the past but once you begin to rely on them to board enemy ships expect their salvage claims to increase.

Troops - Putting troops from another House on your ships can work but expect them to distrust your deployment plans. This is mitigated somewhat when recruiting from Houses you have long worked with.

Corvettes - Fast escorts, the few ships that can keep pace with your units. They only have room for one or two shuttles.
Frigates - Largely used as troops transports, this is how most large scale boarding teams are deployed.

>>22738347
We have an excess of ships right now. Putting them to work under either merc or allied house forces is my preference And will hopefully allow us to bring our squadrons up to full strength. As for boarding troops, I'd prefer mercs. Either way, I want to get underway before that mission with the two medium cruisers disappears.

>>22738059
>Can we hire small-time mercs to handle the refugees on station to free up marines?
Yes but only some. Intel still wants enough Marines keeping an eye on things.
You could potentially free up 120 Marines without compromising security. More could be problematic or it might not be.

>>22738330
I had no long term intention of forcing you guys to use mercs. Then you captured all of those transports last week knowing smugglers had fled there with people evacuated from an entire colony.
You did this to yourselves.

>>22738621
Good. Getting 120 marines means we can hire another 120 merc-marines without compromising security.

>>22738489
Almost all of those ships don't fit into our wing without modifications or repair anyways. So not our problem how we use them.

>>22738715
That said, how many marines are we usually using across the whole wing?

>>22738715
That's horrendously inaccurate.

We should try to get as many former flag snatchers as we can I think, given we worked with them before I believe.

>>22738740
I think having a 1:1 ratio of marines to mercs if a good rule of thumb. Backed with the limited skills of our crewmen that sort of opposition should nip any hostile takeovers in the bud. I hope.

>>22738621
hey man can you give us the current status of our wing its a bit hard to see what we need when we need to know what we have.

>>22738788
No, I more meant that we have:
4 attack corvettes, 4 Dagger corvettes and 4 standard corvettes in reserve. Plus 4 attack cruisers, to escort carriers and 6 fast frigates of various types undergoing repair and refit. All of which can keep up with our unit.
which means:
>Almost all of those ships don't fit into our wing without modifications or repair anyways. So not our problem how we use them.
is simply wrong.

>>22738767
>We should try to get as many former flag snatchers as we can I think, given we worked with them before I believe.
The former Flag Snatchers CO "Crazy Legs" has been placed in charge of the new Merc guild's troop contingent. Not many of their original team survived but those that did now form the core of the new unit. Thanks to fighting at Kaartinen they have experience both in ship boarding and planetary assaults.

>>22738895
But all of them are either being repaired or refitted at the moment, at least as far as i know. So they aren't available.

>>22738999
Scratch that, the reserve ships are available. I don't see why we need to use them though, they are in reserve for a reason. To replace other ships of us that get blown up.

>>22738999
The 4 attack corvettes, 4 dagger corvettes and 5 standard corvettes are available immediately. There is also a J/ACRV available, but I'm not exactly sure what that is.

>>22739025
Reasons are as follows:
1. It's much cheaper
2. We have a full squadron of better ships under repair so we do have an effective reserve anyway.
3. We can integrate them into our wing structure better rather than have them as a separate unit doing its own thing.

File: 1358892161543.gif-(33 KB, 1770x1098, 3rd Wing RP & ORG 06.gif)

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>>22738731
>That said, how many marines are we usually using across the whole wing?
43 shuttles worth just among your cruisers. That's 860 Marines not counting your heavy strike team and those carried by the Frigates and corvettes.
There are usually a few extra Marines as security.

>>22738893
>hey man can you give us the current status of our wing its a bit hard to see what we need when we need to know what we have.
Good point.

>>22739099
But we have pilots and crew from most of the ships in the repair yards. Wouldn't it make more sense to stick them in the reserve ships instead of using unreliable and expensive mercs?

Other than that you make good points.

>>22739113
Okay then here is my shopping list:
Pilots/ships: 4. I'll leave it to others to decide if we want mercs or House Posat. We still have pull there, although not as much as we used to.
Landing forces: I'd prefer as many of our house's troops as we can get and to fill up the rest with mercs.

>>22739154
Except we don't have crew for them. Manpower is kind of a problem right now.

>>22739113
My list would be about 200 mercmarines plus whatever we need to free up our 120 marines on the station.

We don't need pilots, just stick the crew of the damaged ships on the reserve if we want to use it. We will need to start hiring pilots as soon as the new pocket carriers finish their refit, though.

>>22739274
Most of the damaged ships are big, even if the majority of their crews died there would still be enough left to fly a corvette.

>>22739318
Except none of our damaged ships have crew.

>>22739342
A good point. Unfortunately, only two of the damaged ships have ever been a part of our wing, the two vengeance types we crewed with then damaged ships for our moonbase insertion. The rest we captured damaged and have been under repair since.

>>22739358
Just noticed you are right. I derped and didn't check which ships were in reserve. So i assumed they were shot down ships from our wing, not the ones we captured. Shamefull display on my side.

Current progress on Wiki articles

-Wing status & Station upgrades [ Previous pic, no page up yet ]
-Sonias estate/finances [Just what you saw last thread]
-Dramatis Personae 50%
-Factions/History
>Dominion 70%
>Terran Alliance 50%
>Kavarian Imperium 50%
>Rovinar 10%
>Krath 0%
>Republic 20%
>Shallan 50%
>Neeran 90%
>Other 0%


>>22739342
Most ships currently in reserve were captured not ones you were previously using. If you have a pilot available for them you have a crew available.
>>22739435
It happens.

>>22739252
>>22739318

Survey to hopefully figure out what all we're taking.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/66BWT88

Be back after dinner.

>>22739538
Can we also get a survey up to decide if we are crewing 4 additional ships (enough to fill out the wing) like some suggested?

>>22739600
I think now that i noticed i derped i agree to that suggestion. Would mean we wouldnt need a survey since everyone is in agreement.

Another quick survey as requested to see if you want a couple of those corvettes crewed.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZDRN6V3


Spending some time at the restaurant you manage to locate the former CO of the Flag snatchers who contracts some mercenaries for use by the House. The first group will help cover the refugees freeing up some of your Marines, something you're deffinitely greatful for. The second group will be assigned to assist the wing in boarding of enemy ships. Only a small group, 200 in total. You're confident after your last batch of boarding drills your crews could repell that many Mercs if it came down to it.

"It's a pleasue doin business." Says Crazy Legs as you part ways.

It should take an hour or two for the troops to be redeployed and the wing to be cleared for launch. You know a few of your pilots have been greatful for the extra time in dock. Not all of the damage had been completly repaired from the Wing's run in with the rogue Republic fleet unit.

Heading back through the central core with Arthur close behind you see a few of your pilots hanging out at another of the restaurants.

Roll 1d20 for perception

Rolled 20

>>22740498
Right. What did we do about those rumours about Sylvan agian?

>>22740518
Its always a 20 on non-combat rolls isn't it.

>>22740544
Strangely yes... Though our rolls really had much better outcomes since the implementation of the best of three system.

>>22740518
You decided to warn your people about bad blood between units and/or insubordination.

>20
You notice a Norune in civilian clothing in one of the side corridors nearby aiming what looks to be a camera at the rest of your pilots sitting in the restaurant.

What do? (No you don't need to roll again.)

>>22740592
Confront the guy with the camera. Remain polite, but find out what he's doing.

>>22740632
"Arthur, watch my back for a second."
You change direction and quite unintentionally sneak up behind the Norune. You're certain of the species at least, with the bone white extremities and features giving it away.

"Excuse me." You say, loud enough there's no way it misheard you.

The alien slowly turns to face you careful not to make any sudden moves. "Can I assist you Dominion Knight?" It asks.

"I was wondering if you could tell me why you're taking pictures of my pilots?"

It seems to consider its options for a moment before answering.
"Private investigator. Hired to look into connects between Commander Knight and attack pilots by Jerik-Dremine official. Legitimate business. I have ID."

>What say?

>>22740884
Well, if that isn't a surprise. First of all, check his hide. Second, see if we can get more information out of him.

I'm interested in who's he investigating, and why.

>>22740884
Check its ID. Signal Arthur to get in touch with the Knight Commander.

Then press it for more information.

>>22740884

I think we should detain it as a possible saboteur and spy, at the very least someone has some explaining to do to us.

After the incident with the bounty hunters, fuck Norunes. Even if I'm paranoid that the Knight Commander and Drake were separated from the rest for a very murky reason.

You sigh and ask for its ID which seems in order. "Don't move and we wont have a problem, we're going to search you for weapons. Arthur?"

The other Knight does a quick pat down and finds a small pistol.
"Defensive weapon. Have to visit many dangerous places." The detective tries to explain.

"Right. Well I'm inclined to detain you as a spy or sabatour. Arthur see if you can get in contact with the Commander but feel free to take your time. I think the detective might want to share some info before the call gets through?"

It takes a second for him to catch on at which point he begins talking. "Rivalries between Royal Houses are common correct? Rivalries within Houses are just as common. I am to locate descendants of Jerik-Dremine Expeditionary force Commander for employer."

"So what have you found?" You ask.

"One potential match." He holds up the camera showing an image of Katherine Drake.

"Uh, did you want me to put that call through or not?" Asks Arthur.

>>22741180
I'd say we let him go, there's after all no law he broke, but inform the commander of it. Other than taking our beloved battlecruiser, she's always treated us well.

>>22741180
"You are going to tell me everything, now that you've admitted to spying on one of my pilots. Employer, reasons, evidence, the works. You visit dangerous places, after all."

No one fucks with Sonia's pilots.

I assume that Knight Commander Winnifred isn't the "Commander" this Norune is speaking of, and that we know the name of the House Commander?

>>22741224
>>22741293
"I'm inclined to let you go." you tell the detective.

"Really?" Says both him and Arthur simultaniously.

"After you tell me eveything you know to make sure I'm not making an enormous mistake. Employer, reasons, evidence, start talking."

Within the Dominion it is not uncommon for the children of powerful nobles to be raised by others, often to protect potential heirs from assassination by rivals families. In much the same way illegitimate children are sometimes hidden away as well to protect them from their siblings. Siblings who may want to kill off brothers or sisters to acquire a family fortune.
At other times these children may simply be the result of a bad mistake, sent into adoption to protect the parent from political fallout.

The detective seems to be relatively competent and had systematically searched every section of the House Expeditionary fleet. Still, he hadn't gotten very far and was in the middle of taking high resolution scans of your pilot to compare facial features before bothering to attempt recovery of DNA. You hadn't noticed it before but Drake actually does look a lot like Winifred with some minor differences.

"Already ruled out previous best match through DNA comparison, male human in Marines. Pilot was next best candidate."

"How many more? How many others did you need to check still?" You ask, trying to keep your voice down and drawing attention.
"Three, but they are of lower chance to be descendant."

"Who is your employer?"
"Dont know. Contracted through third party. No names but provided security clearance to be on bases."
Shit. You get the feeling he's telling the truth but you can't be certain.

Do you let him go, hand him over to the commander or let him compare their DNA and take the data for yourself?
Or something else entirely?

>>22741679
Turn him over.

>>22741679
>Or something else entirely?

If we have the commander take care of the investigator, his employer will know we're on to him... would it be possible to pay this guy off to make the whole issue go away? No DNA matches in our wing, and he simply has to move on.

His employer might also have somebody spying on the commander, so involving her at this moment might not be a good idea either.

>>22741679

We should just kill him. We personally have a bounty on our head, as do our pilots, if I'm not mistaken. I'm sure no one will blame us for killing this bounty hunter spy as he reached for a weapon.

>>22741813
Honestly, I think that's a bit too much.

>>22741754
>>22741776
>>22741813
Three very different ideas of what to do.

For those of you voting by phone.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z3NK9D8

Survey for crewing a few of your corvettes with mercs is still tied.

>>22741754
We've always turned this kind of thing over to our CO's and we've never gone wrong with it. I say stick to our guns.

Turning him over after saying we'd let him go if he told us everything doesn't seem very sporting.

>>22742392
Inclined to let him go.

2 people for letting him go
4 for handing him over to the commander
Seeing a surprising lack of airlock related suggestions.


As for our other vote
5 out of eight are for the Merc piloted corvettes.

Roll 4d100 for quality of your pilots

Rolled 74

>>22742392
Hmmm, Sonia usually stands by her wrod. To be honest, I think it would be best to hush the whole ordeal up.

>>22742424
>4 for handing him over to the commander
We should at least guarantee his physical safety. I don't think the commander would try anything, but it would make turning him over after promising to let him work a bit less... unsavoury.

>First roll!

Rolled 13, 4, 87, 95 = 199

>>22742424
rolling

Rolled 9

>>22742480
>Roll no. 2.

>>22742392
we said that we were INCLINED to let him go, not that we would.

Honestly, I can't believe that you guys are willing to let this PI go and knowingly allow one of our pilots to be put in a dangerous situation in doing so.

Sending our pilots into dangerous combat is our job, but allowing someone to plot against them because we're too cowardly to do anything to stop it? I have no words for my contempt at such a thought.

Rolled 93

>>22742494
>Ouch, third one.

Rolled 7

>>22742500
>And the last one.

Rolled 22, 51, 51, 52 = 176

>>22742424

Rolled 100

>>22742486
Two great pilots, two horrible ones, it is!

We should run them through the simulators before giving them the ships. Just to make sure they can actually fly the corvetts without ramming anyhting.

>>22742540
>Rolled 100
Ooops, forgot to remove the dice. Well, at least the simulation results should provide us with some accurate insights, right?

Rolled 54, 86, 34, 53 = 227

>>22742424
not that it matter, but rolling for pirates.

74, 51, 93, 95

You've managed to hire some rather good pilots from the Mercenaries. Among your reserves you have the following ships to stick them in.

1x Jenning Assault Corvette (excellent weapons and maneuverability, shit armour)
4x Attack Corvettes (Twin linked phase cannon, easily requisitioned)
4x Dagger Corvettes (Torpedo launcher, 360 weapon coverage, no replacements)
5x Standard Corvette Upgraded (Outclassed ancestor of the attack corvette)

>crash. NTSB
Captcha stop foreshadowing

>>22742760
Put the best pilots in the Jenning and a Dagger. The other two can have Attack Corvettes.

>>22742809
works for me.

File: 1358906219219.gif-(34 KB, 1770x1098, 3rd Wing RP & ORG 07.gif)

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Recurring Missions

R&R
People need time off occasionally. As you've just come off of a 48h leave this shouldn't be necesary for a few days.

Knights of House Jerik-Dremine
Your would be Knights are training whenever they have spare time available but if they're in constant combat this may take longer.

Weapon trajectory analysis program
With only limited time to familiarise themselves with the program many of your people haven't gotten the hang of it yet. They'll continue to train whenever the unit is out of combat for more than 12 hours.

Mining Op
Needing a break from constant front line action? This is it. Protect the Mining barge from any potential dangers while it collects ore for the refineries.
This mission will be available at most times.

Recon
Allied ships are scouring sectors but they could always use some more help.
Roll 1d100 for each sector you want to scan down.

Fleet support
The main taskforce needs fast strike elements in the larger battles they're facing. Attack Corvette units from numerous Houses are being rotated out to keep them fresh. Your fast ships would be a welcome addition, even if only for a short while.

Regular Missions

Smuggler Colony
Time Remaining: 3-5 days
Return to Tourta and ensure that Pirate forces cant use the planet as a base. Command doesn't care how you do it provided you don't violate ROE. (Dont nuke the planet.)

Independent Colony
Threat level 3-4
Time Remaining: 2-3 days
A planet where you recovered one of your pilots and his command crew. They were less than hospitable on your last visit, don't expect that to have improved. A small modular station in orbit would be a convenient rally point for pirate forces in the region.

Contact Mission
The Free Planets League is rumoured to have ships, facilities and colonies in this dwarf galaxy. Command wants to find ways to minimize our ship losses. Provide assistance to them and they may return the favour.
Be advised, the League is known to use any means necessary to win, which includes violating the Factions Treaty. Be careful you do not jeopardize your career.

Enemy Asteroid mining site
Threat 4
Time remaining: 24 hours
A pair of refit Terran Medium cruisers are guarding the mining ships. A refinery base has been established on the surface of a moon nearby. The base is modular and could be repacked in a day or two.

Sensor Array
Threat ?
Rovinar Scouts have detected a sensor array scattered around the edges of a nebula. A control station may be somewhere in the interior. The 4 largest arrays are heavily guarded. Destroy either the arrays or the control station to reduce its effectiveness.

Asteroid mining site

>>22743029
>Enemy Asteroid mining site
I think we should do this one.

>>22743078
I'd agree with that. Also, as a suggestion didn't we just claim a world for our house? Why can't we just offer the refugees the chance to be settlers for the colony?

File: 1358908887437.gif-(7 KB, 1366x679, Belt attack.gif)

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>>22743292
Intel is still checking the refugees and crews for anyone that might be of use or a security threat.


A hundred thoughts flash through your mind about what to do with the detective. Part of you even wants to let him go despite the chance it might get one of your pilots killed some day.
"Arthur get someone from the Commander's guard detail down here. They can figure out what to do with him. We have an enemy to fight out there."

A minute later a pair of Marines arrive and take the detective into custody.

"Now what?" Asks Arthur. "Should we tell Drake? There might be more of them."

"I'll talk to the Commander about it later, we need to get out into space and end this war.
The sooner we do that the sooner we can start watching our backs full time."


Three hours later Third Wing arrives at the edge of the target system and begins scans.

"We're seeing the pair of medium cruisers." Reports Arron after confirming it with the other ships. "There are three mining barges tearing into an asteroid while Y-Type transports shuttle the collected ore back to the refinery."

"Any other defenses?" You ask.

"The Refinery has shields and point defense, no other weapons. Small tugs are moving smaller rocks around and helping to tractor in escaping debris. There are several dozen of them. There may be corvettes or other hidden defenses we cant see."

"Those tugs could be outfitted as ram ships." Warns Kavos. "They could throw asteroids into the path of our ships."

>Your orders?

>>22743789
2nd squad, with the blackbird attached uses speed and maneuverability to sidestep the medium cruisers, trying to separate them and flush any hidden defenses while launching recon drones to scour the asteroid field. Once that has been accomplished, the remaining wing will pounce on one of the medium cruisers and take it out before the other can help.

Lance Class Medium Cruiser
Users: Terran Alliance, Pirates

One of the lightest Medium cruisers in tonnage, they were designed primarily to counter smaller starships rather than equivalent ships. Their phase cannon and heavy phase canon arrays have excellent coverage but its performance is underwhelming in other areas.
In the Faction Wars they were used to good effect against Batlecruisers and Attack Cruisers but were incredibly vulnerable when fighting near Super Heavy Cruisers. The Kavarians used this knowledge to good effect decimating the Terran fleets in the early days of the second war.
Despite its shortcomings the Terrans continue to utilize the design though they have upgraded it several times. Pirate gangs are known to have salvaged older models from battle sites.

>>22743789
Starfighters and corvettes should have better luck dodging rocks. Larger ships can duck behind the refinery.

I recommend 1st and 2nd Squadron stage an attack on the refinery while the remainder of our forces, including the newly-crewed corvettes and carrier-launched fighters, sweep in from the other direction to assault the mining teams.

>>22743936
>>22744030
A pair of rather good plans but one precludes the other it would seem.

>>22744158
I don't actually see the location of the medium cruisers. (Also, most of the merc corvettes are with 1st and 2nd squad)

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>>22744239
Yes sorry about that.

I hope I've accurately represented the two plans presented thus far.

Rolled 1

>>22744435
Both could work very well. I'll let a die decide:
1=>A
2=>B

>>22744512
I'm fine with this.

>>22744512
Thirding

We have consensus.

>>22744582
>>22744547
>>22744512
If you guys are certain, they are both good plans. Still just in case.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/59RHQ5R


While continuing to conduct scans of the system in the hopes of finding other defenses not previously detected you have every ship send over sensor probes for Second squadron to launch while making their pass. This is one case where the large aft facing landing bays on Daska's Scorpion will come in handy.

"Daska you ready for this?" You ask her.

"Ready. Though I wouldn't mind if Alex were to give me his two SP torps. Speaking of which, do you want us to save them or use them against one of those cruisers?"

[ ] Use them, you wont get a better chance
[ ] Hang onto them unless you really need them
[ ] Give them to me so I can sell them at the torpedo emporium
[ ] Save them, we might need to hunt down an entire fleet of super weapon toting monsterous horror ship... things.

Roll 5d20

Rolled 17, 9, 20, 9, 7 = 62

>>22744840
rolling

Rolled 20, 17, 1, 16, 13 = 67

>>22744840
[x] Hang onto them unless you really need them

Pilot's discretion.

Rolled 20

>>22744840
>[ ] Give them to me so I can sell them at the torpedo emporium
I'm really tempted..... but let's go with
>[X] Hang onto them unless you really need them
instead.

>First roll.

Rolled 15

>>22744879
>2

Rolled 2

>>22744890
>3

Rolled 4

>>22744902
>4

Rolled 9

>>22744915
>5

>>22744878
Well, let's hope that 1 is not too leathal, and that the other wings are willing to put their great rolls to use by saving those unlocky sobs.

"Marines and Mercs, suit up." You order.

"Way ahead of you ma'am." Answers the leader of the merc contingent.
"Heavy Strike team ready for deployment." Responds Ecord.

"Second squadron you are clear to go. In the event of the Blackbird being unable to cut through any jamming that springs up just keep them distracted as long as possible. We'll be jumping in regardless."

"Understood."Answers Daska. "Second squadron begin first jump."

Your old squadron jumps in system before realigning to come in towards the base and mining ships from another direction. You hope putting the two less experienced Mercs with them was a good idea. With any luck the more experienced flight leaders will keep them alive.

"Linda how is the jump plot coming?" you ask.

"There's a lot of fluctuation in the gravity wells from asteroids passing near each other, but we should be fine."

You watch the sensor readouts as 2nd enters the asteroid belt, closing to weapons range before opening up with phase cannons and the occasional torpedo barrage. The farthest Medium returns fire putting out a fairly tight groups of beams that would seriously threaten any of your bulkier cruisers. Both Vengeance types take some hits but the four frigates in the squadron lay down missile fire while the Blackbird uses ECM to make targeting even more difficult without line of sight.
At the closest point of their pass the squadron ducks behind some smaller asteroids, dodging some that are being moved by tugs and heading on towards the refinery at maximum thrust.

A relay beacon one of your ships dropped just as they entered the field is already beginning to network with some of the sensor probes being dropped. From what you're seeing the shields on the far Lance took some bad hits but are recovering. No telling if or how many backup shields the ships might be equipped with.

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"Its too bad they didnt just try to steamroll that Medium when they had the chance." Comments Arron.
"They would have taken hits to do so, bad ones." Replies Kavos.

The damaged but recovering Medium and a number of the tugs are beginning to relocate towards the refinery. A few transports that were nearby are setting down on the surface docking pads and raising their shields to suplement the base defenses.

"Sir its working, but the the second Medium is beginning to relocate as well, along with the Mining Barges. We need to get in there." Says Rah'ne over the command frequency.

"All ships jump. Carriers do your thing once you arrive on station."

Your other three squadrons and Escort Carriers jump in just above the plane of the asteroid belt. If it were a little less dense you would have been able to jump right into the midst of it. Third squadron reverts in the best position and begins to launch missiles from beyond maximum range, planning to detonate them once the Cruiser spots you.


>Uh, okay problem. I drugged myself about an hour and a half ago because I have to leave for work in six hours. Because of this my brain has ceased compiling flashy action scenes properly so I will have to continue tomorrow.
Will hopefully get back around 4pm EST

>>22745692
take care, slow typing guy.

As always, thanks for running this mad house.

>>22745692
Bump, hope you'll get all the sleep you need.

Bump.

>>22750647
bump

bump

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Back. Resuming shortly.

>>22755332
Neat. At some point there needs to be Gundam and/or Macross mods of this game.

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>>22756394
heh, being led by a Flight Team Leader Reynolds, maybe the devs pay attention to your threads.

The starfightes are forming up just back from the rest of the Wing, the Escort Carriers staying with you long enough for the remainder to launch.

Watching the sensor readings provided by the probes you can see that the Mining Barges are starting to move towards the far side of the asteroid they were mining, likely so they can overlap shields. More worriedly is the score of asteroid tugs that are moving smaller rocks towards the same location. If the rest of your squadrons dont enter weapons range soon it could be a problem. Despite the urge to move out ahead using afterburners you stick with the rest of the unit, not wanting to compromise the formation and give the enmy more warning.

Just in time the probes pick up a broup of tugs closer to your position just before they move into your flight path.
"Break formation." you order.
The squadrons swing out wide, evading the tugs or firing upon them from safety while passing.

"Entering weapons range." Warns Arron. Third squadron chooses that moment to detonate the missiles. The spherical explosions block line of sight with the Cruiser but you can live with that. Heavy phase cannon fire flashes through the blasts, missing most of your ships but managing to graze a few from First and Fourth.

"Cruisers make sure to leapfrog." You don't want a repeat of what happened to the cruisers in the Logistics base fight. Arthur might not have been there but he's certainly seen the recordings of the battle. You hope Verilis doesn't have a panic attack after what happened to her last CCD Bulk Cruiser.

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Those of your pilots that take hits drop back and duck behind less damaged wingmen. This is more difficult for the cruisers obviously but their tough shields tend to be harder to damage in the first place. You're glad second squadron took the Blackbird with them but that same ECM could have helped you right now. Its too bad one of your Journeyman lost their ECM disk in the Yineput system.

Even while trading fire with you the Closest Lance class is attempting to move away towards its slightly battered twin. Against a dozen cruisers with twice as many corvettes and frigates backing them up they're outmatched by themselves. As the main shield fails a Torpedo barrage by the fighters weaken the secondary ones. Concentrated fire from Fourth Squadron penetrates the aft shields and destroys the Medium's starboard engines. Twin linked fire from the Attack corvettes in the wing cuts through the rapidly failing defenses scoring critical hits and disabling the heavy guns.

Your next combined missile and torpedo barrage tears into the topside hull, blasting open armor along the spine of the ship and crippling the remaining weapons.
"Cease fire!" You shout before your pulse cannon equipped vessels can break the ship in two.

Rounding the asteroid are all three mining barges with the other Lance moving up to support them at full burn. The Barges are pointing their forward mining beams at your unit.

Your orders?

>>22757303
So those mining beams can shoot us with rocks, right? Other than that, are the barges heavily armed? I think we should attack them full frontal, with all nuke and fighter coverage we can get. Once we are in close, focus fire on the lance. If its down we can run circles around the barges.

>>22757303
Have the fighters hit the mining barges before the lancer gets there, they can't have much PD. Ships outmaneuver the barges and go for the lancer

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>>22757303
Industrial mining lasers are strong enough to significantly damage our shields at any reasonable time?

If so pick them off before we engage the cruiser since they are lightly armored, otherwise ignore them for now and focus on the lance class

Mining beams
A complex array of beam weaponry, tractor, repulsor and shield systems, these large devices take up thirty percent of the interior space of most modern mining barges. Much of the technology used was spawned from the Republic built Harmonic Resonance Repulsor weapons developed in the Faction Wars.
The modified beams used to help break up asteroids have as much punch behind them as a dozen phase cannons but can sustain their fire an order of magnitude longer.

>>22757388
>So those mining beams can shoot us with rocks, right?
Thank god no. That would take some serious modification but it has been done before.
>Other than that, are the barges heavily armed?
They have tough shields and powerful engines but when loaded down with ore they're understandably sluggish.

>>22757397
>Have the fighters hit the mining barges before the lancer gets there, they can't have much PD.
They don't have any weapons other than the mining beam.

>>22757452
Yeah, pin the mining barges down with fighters and go after the lance class.

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>>22757388
> I think we should attack them full frontal, with all nuke and fighter coverage we can get. Once we are in close, focus fire on the lance. If its down we can run circles around the barges.
1 for evading the barges and hitting the second Lance first.

>>22757397
>>22757565
2? for having fighters deal with the barges while the rest evade and go after the Lance.

>>22757410
And 1 for taking out the barges first thing.

Should I post a survey?

>>22757620
I guess

>>22757565
Seconding this. But make sure to get stuck in as soon as possible, the closer we are to the sluggish to turn barges the harder it will be for them to hit us with their spinal Mining beams.

>>22757620
Fighters occupy barges with a squad of corvettes in support, all others fuck that lance up

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Roll 4d20

Rolled 9, 15, 12, 11 = 47

>>22757768
rolling

Rolled 13, 20, 14, 11 = 58

>>22757768
Roll 2

Rolled 3, 12, 17, 7 = 39

>>22757768
rolling

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Rolled 13, 19, 4, 1 = 37

>>22757768
Rolling

Rolled 2, 20, 8, 12 = 42

>>22757768
They see me rollin'

"Starfighters disable mining barges, everyone else just concentrate on keeping clear of their forward beams. Once we're past them concentrate fire on the Lance."

Splitting up, First squadron swings out wide ducking behind some of the smaller asteroids. A few of them being ones the Tugs had been moving into the area. Third and Fourth go above and below respectively in the hopes of splitting enemy fire. Its only partially effective. One barge holds fire lacking a shot but the other two open up on first squadron, shattering a few of the asteroids in their way and showering the attack ships with debris.

Third squadron deftly avoids the few tugs forming a defense behind the barges without any hits then launches missiles to blind the sensors on the Lance. Fourth does much the same, but the units Clarent isn't quite as nimble, grazing a smaller asteroid then losing her topside turret to a heavy phase cannon shot.

"She's turning broadside." Says Arron as the aft thrusters on the Medium light up, kicking the stern out to the side and bringing more of her phase cannons to bear.

"First squadron evade, you'll be coming in right on her port side."

Rah'ne curses and scatters her ships to make them harder to hit. Even while evading her people land some good hits but take a few in return, battering the cruisers worst of all. Your other squadrons dump fire into the forward shields eventually collapsing it.

Arthur pulls a ballsy close pass at point blank, raking the cruiser's topside with his four heavy pulse cannons. You along with the rest of third make the best of it, landing hits while the gunners are distracted by the bulky Vengeance B flashing past. With all shields beginning to collapse any ships in the Wing that haven't completed a pass concentrate on the ventral turrets which are still firing, even managing to land a hit on the EX-K.

The now dying Lance still gets in some hits on your unit as its engines begins to lose power. Kuritz swings around and torpedoes her drive section once more, sending the vessel tumbling out of control.

"Kavos find someone to take the Cruiser in tow before it drops into the gravity well of an asteroid and collides with it."

"Sir, the starfighters have expended their ammunition but one of the mining barges is still operational."

The HUD flashes a warning as the projected path of its beam weapon sweeps over you and one of the flights from third squadron.
"Evade!" Arron starts to yell out, but is cut off as shield piercing torpedo flashes past you. The Torp strikes the bow of the barge causing half of the mining system to explode outwards in a shower of debris and plasma. The other half of the device sputters out just as it begins to fire.

"It looked like you really needed it." Says Daska as second squadron approaches from the direction of the Refinery.

"What's the status of the Refinery?" You ask Daska once things have calmed down.

"Their shield is sufficient to keep second squadron out but against the entire Wing I suspect it won't hold. I didn't bother sending our few fighters under the shield because of point defense."

You have three mining barges, and a pair of badly crippled Medium cruisers to secure, in addition to dealing with the refinery and its transports. You only have enough troops to secure one of these at the moment. You'll need to call for reinforcements for the rest.

[ ] Cruisers
[ ] Barges
[ ] Base
[ ] Try something else

>>22758912
"Thanks for the save Daska. Everyone else: Good job. Even more salvage, command will love this!"

>>22759087
I don't think the ships are going anywhere at the moment, i hope they have been thouroughly disabled. We need to secure the refinery before someone blows it up or does some other desperate shit.

Make sure to call in either mercs or our marines to capture the ships, i dont want no trouble with rival houses over salvage claims.

>>22759087
Simply ask command what they would prefer. I'm not sure what would be of more use to our house in the current situation.

The cruisers are very useful, but will require extensive repairs.
The barges could help our mining operations a lot.
And the base/refinery could be a great boon to our logistics.

>>22758912
Cool. We captured two more medium cruisers. Also, a few threads back we captured "One and a half Centurion, two Frigates and six corvettes" right before the moon mission. Did they ever show up in the salvage cue?

>>22759087
[Barges]

Disable all the weapons on the cruiser, see if any barges are operational, if they are siege the shit outta that station and drop rocks on it, if none are operational, drop rocks on it.

>>22759087
Demand everyone's surrender. And call for additional troops.
To Knight Commander:
Good news for logistics, I've seized control of a mining facility!
Bad news for HR: I also captured a pair of lance medium cruisers more or less intact.

>>22759308
We didnt seize control of the facility yet. They could still blow it up.

>>22759367
Seized the space around the mining facility?
>>22759207
If we can get the crew to surrender, we won't have to blow up the weapons, which should speed up their repair.

If this keeps up any longer they'll have the sonia Medal soon.
Its the medal that gets awarded for Aquiring TOO much salvage.

Anyway, on topic do >>22759308

>>22759190
One of the Centurions did and the frigates. I don't think the corvettes did.

>>22759153
>>22759308
After telling all of the disabled enemy ships and the station to surrender you contact Command. They say they'll send out a standard corvette squadron and a Frigate unit to deal with the Medium Cruisers until salvage teams can be deployed. While they don't have many troops they will be able to conduct SAR and toss survivors in the brig. A Battleship from another House should arrive to assist the salvage teams and to take custody of the prisoners since we just don't have the capacity to deal with them at the moment.
Command believes you should have enough troops to secure the Mining barges, if the starfighters didn't work them over too badly that is. Still, they'll be stranded in system for awhile.

As for the Refinery Command says that's up to you.

Conveniently enough the administrator of the Refinery is trying to contact you.

A Kavarian Female appears on screen when you take the call. Without preamble she starts in. "Look we don't want to get involved but we have a contract with these people we have to uphold. You want valuables don't you? Everyone does around here, we're used to it. Time is money but so is equipment. We'll give you all of the tritanium we've refined since arriving here if you let us pack up our station equipment and leave. If that doesn't suit you, keep the station and let us leave with the metal."

"I'm usually a fan of when you surrender everything and we send you packing." You admit.

The other woman gives you a dark look. "I have cobalt nukes I can use to irradiate everything if you prefer."

[ ] Take the Metals
[ ] Take the Refinery
[ ] Try to take everything
[ ] Other

>>22759694
Take the refinery.

>>22759694
Explain to me why you have to uphold it, exactly.

I'm wondering if our house can't employ them in some fashion. I'm willing to bet we have a strong bargaining position.

>>22759694
The refinery should be worth a lot more.

Anyhow, offer her to work for us instead. I'm sure we can use an experienced refinery crew.

>>22759763
>I'm wondering if our house can't employ them in some fashion.
>>22759782
>Anyhow, offer her to work for us instead.

"I would be more than happy to negotiate the use of our services. After my company has completed its current contract."

>Explain to me why you have to uphold it, exactly.
"I agreed to a legally binding contract. I can't break it without considerable financial backlash regardless of what you might think of my employers. My family has not broken a single contract in ninety years, we're not going to start now because of some silly war."

>>22759895
Sounds reasonable. I'd vote to take the metal because we can actually use it.

>>22759782
Also say:
"'These people' won't be around to accept any shipment from you, which will leave you without a customer. How about we just take over ownership of the contract for them? I'm sure they won't mind."

Sound good?

>>22759895
Any you didn't include an act of war clause? You need better lawyers if your employers aren't in violation of their protection duties effectively terminating the contract anyway.

>>22759977
"If we had better lawyers we wouldn't be out here in the ass end of space."

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DBW6J79

>>22760153
a very important question...

where do the various ships docked at that refinery fall in this and how many are there?

>>22760333
There are 8 Kavarian Y-Type transports docked around the Refinery that were being used to ferry materials back from the barges. The station teams would be using them to transport either the metals or the dismantled refinery out of the system if you let them.
There are enough stockpiles of refined materials buried underground near the base to fill the transports to capacity.

>>22760414
If there are no combat ships, I have no problem with letting the ships go.

Our house has the ability to move the refinery in some manner, I hope?

5 for take the refinery
1 for take the metals
1 for try to take everything
1 for getting their contact info for later
and 1 for blowing up the transports as they leave which I was surprised more people hadn't suggested.


>>22760451
>Our house has the ability to move the refinery in some manner, I hope?
Yes. There are enough transports of some kind or another to disassemble and move it. Especially since you just captured a ton earlier which just happened to be filled with refugees. At some point they'll be cleared for service.

>>22760552
>1 for getting their contact info for later

I voted for taking the refinery, but this sounds like a great idea in addition to that. +1

The squadron of standard corvettes arrive in one hour while it takes four hours for the Frigates to make an appearance. Most of second squadron continues to guard the space above the Refinery to make sure the civvies don't try anything.

The marines and Mercenaries were able to secure the damaged mining barges. Two of them were crippled with the sort of accuracy you've come to expect from starfighters while the last is in rather bad shape after being hit by the SP torp. They'll all need an overhaul in a medium cruiser grade shipyard before they can be put back to work. Still, the hulls are largely solid and it should be possible to jump them to the shipyard next door with only minimal drive repairs.

The pair of Lance class ships are in a sorry state with armor and hull tore open through most major sections. Your people made sure to disable all of the weapons when their shields went down so that's something else that will need fixing. Its easy to see that the Terrans took shortcuts in designing them. Meant to be mass produced and relying on firepower to keep them safe, not unlike some Republic designs.

Your shuttles have been assisting in rescue work, with armed damage control teams securing each section and evacuating survivors that didn't use the few emergency teleporters aboard.

Twelve hours later a Battleship from House Ceres arrives. Her Marines will be taking the captured troops to one of their bases later but are otherwise offering little assistance since they're not being compensated much.

Twenty hours after arriving in the system you're contacted by the Refinery crew and informed that they're now departing aboard the transports with their metal.
"Provided there are no other disruptions we should be contacting your House within the week. The Kelshier Family appreciates your business offer."

>>22761106
"We'll hold on to your refinery for you."

>>22761106
Time to RTB I suppose. Kinda surprised our house still has standard corvette units in our expeditionary force.

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May 27
1900 hours
After more than a day since your last departure the Wing returns to base. Salvage teams are on site pouring over the barges and cruisers you've been guarding for them.

You haven't heard anything from the mercs about long hours but that's only a matter of time. You do know that one of the hot shot merc pilots that had been added to first squadron took damage to his ship. He is now cursing about having to extend his contract.

Damage to the Wing is as indicated. Some ships got a bit banged up but you came through the fighting rather well.
Both of the Vengeance type afterburner customs have been repaired much to the relief of Rah'ne who wants to swap out her current cruiser for one. Katherine Drake would also like one of them which would free up the Bittenfeld for someone else.

You have 8 WRP available, though the station central module cant be upgraded at this time because of station traffic being too heavy and the refugee problem.

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>>22761325

>>22761350
I propose
3 Munitions, 4 Point defense, 1 Training

Get yer ships inna green zone

>>22761350
Return all our squads to green. 7 WRP
Upgrade training. 1 WRP

>>22761325
Spend 3 rp to bring munitions up to green. One RP to improving 2nd squads PD. two to improving weapons and one each to training and medical.

>>22761380
I lend my support to this plan

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At the moment it seems that the majority support upgrading the heck out of the squadrons along with increasing training resources by one. As I wouldn't be able to create a survey without it becoming a snarled mess of questions and options I'm just going to go for the in thread vote.

After docking for repairs and seeing to requisitioning equipment for the wing you go and help Kavos and the aids Captain Saputo assigned deal with several hours worth of paperwork. The nightmares of command. You almost think you'd prefer horrible flashbacks to the bloodiest parts of your past missions to this stuff.

The stations training facilities have been upgraded to level 2 adding a large number of options for pilots, officers, marines or crewmen to keep their skills sharp and get practice in areas they might be lacking in.

You've received a new message!
A Chief mechanic recently arrived from the homeworlds has challenged you to a boxing match. More specifically a rematch. More than six months ago you challenged a Chief mechanic to a boxing match in order to stop a bar fight that would have landed your fellow pilot trainees in the brig. In the end the fight was a tie largely because your opponent, a much larger Dro'all, was going through a hormone swing.
You can either try to keep the match private or have it televised to the bars around the station. You could also delay if you felt you needed practice or refuse it outright.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y9VWCPW

>>22761811
Should put the new training facilities to use so that we can at least lose the match with some dignity.

>>22761325
There's also a
>What do?
on ship assignments. Did you have anyone in mind for the afterburner equipped cruisers? Or just go ahead and give them to whoever wanted them. Also, the question of who to assign the cruisers they're leaving. or at least what squadron to attach them to.

>>22761962
Whats the time remaining on the Colony missions?

>>22761811
>http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y9VWCPW
>Boxing rematch
>1. How much are we upgrading the Squadron?
Erm... yes.

> You could also delay if you felt you needed practice

We should probably do it during our next extended shore leave. Wouldn't want for any bruises we might sustain to impact our performance during a mission.

>>22761962
I think we were going to let it be the pilot's choice. It might have been Daska who wanted one of the cruisers.

Since 4th Squadron only has three cruisers, I think they should get first pick. Then 1st and 3rd.

>>22762057
Time sensitive Missions

Giant Asteroid Tug (NEW)
Time Remaining: 10 days
The large asteroid mover that you have a salvage claim on has been in use clearing out the blocked lane into the the local Nav station. Their job is almost finished but there are signs not everyone will be happy handing it over to your House. Such a ship could be useful to dozens of Houses for moving anything from cargo and mining asteroids to the relocation of battlestations.
Understandably command wants that ship. Send a small escort to make sure nothing happens to it once its job is finished.
If fired upon by a "friendly" you are authorized to return it.

Smuggler Colony
Time Remaining: 2-4 days
Return to Tourta and ensure that Pirate forces cant use the planet as a base. Command doesn't care how you do it provided you don't violate ROE. (Dont nuke the planet.)

Independent Colony
Threat level 3-4
Time Remaining: 1-2 days
A planet where you recovered one of your pilots and his command crew. They were less than hospitable on your last visit, don't expect that to have improved. A small modular station in orbit would be a convenient rally point for pirate forces in the region.

>>22762075
>We should probably do it during our next extended shore leave.
Send the Chief a message to this effect?

>>22762152
>Since 4th Squadron only has three cruisers, I think they should get first pick. Then 1st and 3rd.
Noted. One of the flight leaders in 4th squadron who has been piloting a (now damaged) Rapier class has reached a skill level suitable for cruiser piloting. Likewise there is another veteran level pilot in the unit commanding a Frigate but both have slightly less experience under their belts than the pilots in the other squadrons.
Then again they did survive the battle of Yineput.

Schedule training with the afterburner systems? Or assign them the cruisers the more experienced pilots would be leaving?

>>22762413
Independent Colony then/and Smuggler Colony. Wrap em up in two days, 3 days training, the fight, 3 days recovery, leaves 2 days on the tug.

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Okay, I'm thinking of picking this up tomorrow though I'll check back in a bit tonight.

It's been a bit of a screwed up week. Feel free to decide which combat mission we should hit up next. All of the recurring missions listed earlier in the thread are still viable its just the time sensitive missions being updated in the previous post.

>>22762413
>Send the Chief a message to this effect?

I don't see why not.

>Schedule training with the afterburner systems? Or assign them the cruisers the more experienced pilots would be leaving?

Give them the cruisers without afterburners. However, suggest that they put in some sim time learning how to operate them anyway, because we tend to swap ships quickly in the wing.

If we can find a good timeslot, we should stage a simulated battle either with squadron against squadron or pitting this wing against another, allowing pilots to try out new ships and possibly show off skills they wouldn't display otherwise.

>>22762604
I'm fine with this.

>>22762751
Any week you run this on multiple days is more than good enough.

>>22761811
Just friends and officesrs. Wear power armor

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>>22763114
>Wear power armor

MFW

Bump.

Bump.

Vote is 7/10 for just friends and officers.
2 voted for televising it. I'm assuming you're making enough money off your finances to not want to bother with profits from it being aired and the resulting betting pools.

People from DHI have sent you a message about the afterburner ships. The engines aboard the captured cruisers were mostly Aries built. They're just about the only Corporation around that would risk selling anti-proton injectors and the modified engines to civilians. Aries engines can be a bit temperamental and use lot of fuel but they have some of the best output.

DHI wants to know if you would like the drives switched out for their new model based on the prototype drives the EX-K is equipped with. They've just entered mass production so there are only enough to equip 1 ship at the moment. It will take 8 hours to swap them out.

If you want to upgrade other ships that don't have afterburners already it will cost 1 WRP per ship. They're not cheap.

Think it over I'll be back from work in ~6 hours.

>>22768707
Lets go for upgrading one of the ships with the better burners. Might as well use them as we have confirmed their quality.

>>22768707
>Vote is 7/10 for just friends and officers.

I think it's something semi-private between the mechanic and Sonia. Going into a battle with an audience in the room is something entirely different from broadcasting it on tv. At least in my opinion.

>>22769026
I think we should wait until one of them is inevitably in the shop.

>>22768707
refit the ships with the DHI engines. We've proven that they are definatly worth it and we have an idea of how they work.

>>22769202
I think we should only refit one ship. The other we will buy Aries engines for. I want those ships operational, they add a lot of punch to those of our wings that need it. I don'T want to wait until DHI produces another one for the second. And Aries engines aren't bad either. I think we even used them on the bittenfeld for quite some time, though i may be mistaken.

bump

bump

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Majority seems to be for refitting 1 ship with the drives available. There should be a new shipment in a few days for the other one.

>>22770462
>The other we will buy Aries engines for.
They already have Aries engines installed.

It takes eight hours for the engines to be swapped out which also provides time for crews and pilots to transfer between ships. The damaged Rapier is going to remain behind during your next deployment as the engineers are a bit leery about the main structural spar and will need more time than usual to check it. A few Frigates and corvettes are also swapped out with ones from the reserve to speed up deployment.

Before the Wing departs you receive a message from the command ship. The commander would like you to schedule an appointment to see her whenever you have time available but it isnt urgent. Apparently a Norune detective arrested for suspicious activity the other day was killed while attempting to escape a short time ago. Station security will also have some paperwork for you after your appointment with the Commander. They have a few questions regarding the original arrest.

>>22774650
If we have time before departing, go see command.

>>22774650
Are you sure those numbers for munitions and PD are right?

>>22774650
>'killed while attempting to escape'

note to self do not piss off the knight commander

>>22775034
Yeah, sucks to be that guy.

>>22774943
Its listed as not urgent.

>>22774972
Knew I forgot to update something. Should be all green.

Taking a quick cut outside the spiral arm of the dwarf galaxy you head back to a system you briefly visited to haul Sam Kuritz' ass out of the fire. Apparently he won a ground vehicle in a game of chance and traded his body armor for some local clothing to outfit his command crew and blend in. He was a bit dissapointed to be leaving the vehicle behind but considering the locals were ready to vaporize the recovery shuttles it was best to make it look like they weren't stealing anything.

The local station has become a bit more crowded since the last visit. Outfitted to handle thirty corvettes and a few Frigates at most additional non standard modules have been added to the base to expand its capacity. Some of the ships that fled your current home base are here, mostly smaller ships. A handful of attack cruisers are either docked with the station or hanging nearby. There are a pair of modified Razor battlecruisers which have traded the minimal aft facing phase cannons for more sublight drives and better forward weapons.

Nothing else really stands out from the other unremarkable frigates and corvettes present. There are enough to nearly match you for numbers.

"Wait." Says Kavos drawing your attention to a smaller transport that looks like a mini Y-type.

You old wingman speaks up before Kavos can finish. "This is Alex, I'm seeing an Assault Transport rigged as an Escort Carrier docked on the topside of the station."

"We'll also have to worry about ground based fighters. We know the colony has plenty." Points out Rah'ne.

You orders? I'm going for dinner, feel free to come up with a plan.

>>22775068
Sounds problematic. How are our chances to knock out the station with coldlaunched torpedos before it can get shields up?

There is imho one way to do this: Try to do as much damage as possible before they manage to get the fighters out (which would mean jumping in with the whole wing as close as possible and basically hit and run attacking them) and then pulling the fight away from the planet so they can't refuel them fast enough. Focus fire on the Escort Carrier and the heavier ships.

>>22775068
I don't like even odds. Get Sylvan on the line. Ask him if we could borrow a flight of Battlecruisers.

>>22775233
Preferably the Gungnir types, for their long range and carrying capacity.

>>22775174
>How are our chances to knock out the station with coldlaunched torpedos before it can get shields up?
Rather poor. Unless there are serious problems with its sensors and those of the ships nearby the systems used to detect hazardous debris in orbit will pick them up. Stealthed torpedoes would be ideal for this but they're expensive and are useless if the station accidentally raises shields for any reason of which there are plenty. Its why they're not a big seller.

There is another option. The three or four SP torps you have left would easily crack the station in two. Hell if its built poorly enough a single well placed one could do it. There is still the problem of the others ships and the starfighters though.

>>22775233
>>22775359
You contact Captain Sylvan who has been hanging around the other Logistics base as part of the defense force for the pase few days.

"I could spare a flight of my ships to help you out. It's certainly more interesting than guarding an astersteroid full of cargo crates. My Knights should be able to handle things here with the rest of the squadron."

>>22775647
Yeah. So we get big S himself. Cant say i am too happy about that. Anyways, i still advocate a all out attack, focussing on the bigger ships, carriers and the station. Use the bombers to harass small ships until the enemy starfighters scramble, then pull them back. I trust in our recently upgraded point defense

>>22775647
Sounds good. Also, can we assume that we swapped in the 4 frigates for attack corvettes since they are a strait upgrade?

>My wireless is about as sensitive to bumps as nitroglycerine. God damn.


Sylvan arrives near your position with a pair of Gungnir type battlecruisers and a heavily modified and rebuilt Razor. Wait that's not a Razor, its closer to the original design the Kavarians built for House Kryptah but with a much larger cannon port on its center line.

"Lets test out this design theory of yours Reynard." Says Sylvan over the command channel. "I sure hope they rebuilt the structure around the plasma cannon so that it won't collapse under the strain of it firing. At least you managed to find one of the newer ones that have more reach than the older models most Centurions are equipped with."

>>22775864
Uh, no everyone seemed more focused on the cruisers. Just in 3rd and 4th squadrons there are 7 corvettes not counting mercs. Who should get what?

>>22775860
> i still advocate a all out attack, focussing on the bigger ships, carriers and the station. Use the bombers to harass small ships until the enemy starfighters scramble, then pull them back

Is everyone else okay with this plan?

>>22775860
I'm okay with this except the bombers.

Thats just plain waste of bombers. Bombers will get eaten alive if we do that.

>>22776442
3rd and 4th each get two

>>22776521
Why should they? Frigattes and corvettes usually have shit point defense, and if we get them back to their carriers before the planet scrambles its space fighters they could be very usefull...

>>22776442
I'd say replace the dagger corvettes in 4th and 1st with frigattes since daggers are inferior to combat frigates in almost any ways. Then maybe bulk up 3rd by exchanging 2 Attack corvettes for the other frigates still left (if they are repaired). 3rd is lacking in cruisers at the moment.

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Your starfighter forces now number above 200 fighters.

The station and its docked ships should be able to field a maximum of 80 but the planet based squadrons could easily rival a pair of Carriers. 500 would be a conservative estimate. They could have more if they're producing them locally and selling them.

Kavos and Arron believe you should have five minutes of fighting before alert fighters could reach orbit at which point things could turn against you regardless of point defense.

>>22776521
Alternative plans?

Unless there are any other serious modifications to unit deployment roll 5d20.

>>22777004
Thats a lot of fighters. Okay, forget my attack bomber plan, just pack as many interceptors as possible.

We may also want to contract a mercenary carrier flight before doing this. Being overwhelmed by fighters would be a ignoble end.

Rolled 1, 10, 19, 19, 13 = 62

>>22777004
Hope you don't mind if I roll now, about to head off to sleep.

Rolled 13, 7, 15, 8, 16 = 59

>>22777004
Rolling

As much as I would like us to capture another station. I think busting up the place might work out much better. The place is pretty much all hostiles and no civies after all.

Rolled 20, 4, 16, 20, 18 = 78

rolling

>>22777171
Seconding.

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>>22777121
A good portion of your fighter force includes attack bombers. When planning ahead of time to engage other fighters they just carry more missiles.

>>22777171
If it makes you feel any better its a fairly small affair and easily replaced.

Last thing, what are the condition under which your people are to use the last few SP torps? Or will you just blow up the station itself with them?

>>22777377
Station and/or the battlecruisers, should we be unable to flank them properly. If not any other valuable targets. I want them gone when the planetary fighters scramble.

>>22777377
save the SP torps for when we need them, We can easily win this without them and if we spend them now at the start we have no more options left.

After giving the Captain a minute to get caught up on the tactical situation you ask him about his plans.
"Have you decided what to test your main gun on yet sir?"

"I had been thinking about one shotting a few smaller ships so we wouldn't be wasting much time on them but.. it might be better if I just focused on the station. It's not exactly going to dodge on me."

"Has the gun actually been test fired?" You ask him.

"Yes, but not in combat and only while the ship and the targets were stationary. What could go wrong right?"
You close then channel then roll your eyes. With any luck he didn't just jinx it.

"This is going to be a fast attack run everyone. Get in and get out before the enemy fighters reach orbit. If you take a hit call for help. Remember to make use of your new point defense against missiles and torps."

"Jumping in five." says Linda.

The fleet jumps to the edge of the gravity well, your attack ships putting full power to engines to close the distance. Sylvans battlecruisers hang back slightly, the heavier weapons able to engage from range. It would also take longer for his ships far longer to escape the gravity well if they went in close like yours. The carriers hang back with the battlecruisers, using their bulk for protection.

"They've seen us. The station is directing their shields towards us to give the other ships time to launch."

Sylvan's first plasma cannon shot impacts the shield, a fraction of it penetrating to hit the central core of the station. Spinal mount Heavy phase cannon fire cant quite match the weapon in terms of damage but they do help in battering the energy defenses even as your ships begin to add their fire.

Return fire from the enemy ships attempting to organise a response starts to be thrown out into space in your general direction. Some of their crews must be panicking but not all. Fire from the heavier starships, especially the attack cruisers seems more focused but your pilots simply spread out more and begin to evade.

The station shield collapses as the first torpedo volley impacts but it manages to stay up long enough to detonate most of the warheads. There's nothing to block Sylvan's next barrage a second later. The plasma cannon beam punches through the central core, out the other side, and strikes another station module behind it. Phase cannon fire both heavy and not hits the docking arms, penetrating the hull with little effort along the entire length of the base. Secondary explosions from the stations damaged reactors and fuel stores light up the interior with flashes until the entire structure tears itself apart in a vaguely station shaped fireball.

Ships still docked and those nearby are thrown clear by flame and debris, completely disrupting any semblance of a fleet formation. The blast also has the unfortunate effect of obscuring half of the enemy ships from view.

The pair of modified Razors that had been hanging near the back of the station drop into your field of view just below the edge of the explosion. Each of them open fire with not two but four heavy phase cannon turrets each, rapid firing and launching volleys of torpedoes.

"Second squadron watch yourselves."

Daska and her wingmen are already orienting on the ships, Day firing off a plasma cannon shot that shakes up one of them.

As the cruisers in Second begin to take heavier fire than even their tough shields can handle Alex decides to fire off his last SP torp. The warhead flies true, getting through the shield and destroying the torpedo launcher on one of the ships.
"This is Daska, re-tagged the custom Razors as fast battleships."

You have your own problems for the moment. A Norune built attack cruiser and some of the corvettes break clear of the station's expanding gas cloud headed straight for you. The ship leading the unit has an even smaller profile than the Kavarian built ships which makes targeting difficult as both of you attempt to evade with emergency thruster bursts while shooting. Kavos targets the torpedoes to make things easier for you.

One of the enemy Frigates explodes under focused fire from part of first squadron, and you at last manage to land a hit. Your phase cannons shear off one of the heavy pulse cannons the unit leader was equipped with, still his shields haven't completely collapsed when you flash past each other.

Another ship appears on sensors ahead of you when entering the cloud, drawing your attention away from the others. The damaged assault transport survived the station exploding but is trying to launch fighters while retreating towards the surface. You and most of first squadron make sure that doesn't happen, blasting the ship's engines and most of the cargo compartments.

Sylvan and his ships are now trading fire from the three enemy Battlecruisers which are trying to stick together for added protection. Daska was forced to take her unit into the debris and gas cloud while firing nukes for cover. The Blackbird has begun blasting ECM at ships trying to target them so that they'll have a chance for their shields to recover.

The battle around the remains of the station is turning into a confused brawl. Your fighters are mopping up the minimal enemy force that was able to launch but they don't have quite as much punch because of the missile heavy load out. Most of the ships in your wing are showing hardly any damage outside of second squadron but that can't last.

Missiles being fired by both sides into the expanding debris cloud are making target tracking difficult. Even with the sensor upgrades to most of your ships it would be hard to find anything in this mess without the Blackbird acting as a coordination ship.

You hang back just behind First squadron, adding fire to their unit while they chase down stray ships to kill or disable. A good portion of the enemy fleet is attempting to make their way towards the trio of heavier ships as they pull back into a lower orbit. The one older battlecruiser in their fleet is starting to rack up damage while its slightly heavier cousins continue to tank the worst of Sylvans fire.

A minute later things have shifted back in your favour. Your squadrons have been able to chase down most of the lone enemy ships with the exception of a couple of attack cruisers that linked up with the battlecruisers. Sylvan finally hulls the older ship with his plasma cannon wrecking its mid section.

"Shit." You hear Arron curse under his breath. "Advance fighter force arriving from the surface."

"What? We should still have more time." You insist, the clock showing a full minute left.

A vehicle schematic pops up on the secondary HUD showing Z5's fitted with a pair of boosters to their engines.
"Fast launch units, they've been modified with disposable booster engines to get them into orbit more quickly and they're carrying torps."

[ ] Everybody pull out now
[ ] Try to deal a bit more damage to those fast battleships (roll 2d20)
[ ] Other

>>22779005
Disengage, but only far enough that the fighters have trouble reaching us. Then lets start assembling fighter strength and ground forces from our allies.

>>22779005
We've got our licks in and haven't taken any losses. Let's not press our luck.

"Reynard to all ships, time is up early pull back to the edge of the gravity well. I repeat all forces pull back. Feel free to get your parting shots in."

You hang back slightly making sure the rest of your ships are covered as they break off. You're a bit concerned about a few of the ships in second squadron after some of the fire they took but when they kick in the engines they seem to be able to match pace.
Sylvan's ships reverse engines and continue to fire their weapons but the cluster of enemy ships use their tractor beams to drag the damaged battlecruiser into the path of the worst fire. The plasma cannon lands a rather solid hit on one of the wing engines of the now crippled shield ship.

"Son of a bitch, I was hoping to salvage that later!" Curses Sylvan over the command channel. Thankfully only the five of you in command positions can hear his comment.

You make sure to stay just ahead of the fighters using your afterburners while watching the back of the other ships in the Wing. The Escort Carriers pull back to a safe position well outside the gravity well and the rest of the wing soon joins them.

"Enemy Fighters are forming up into larger formations in preparation to push out beyond the gravity well. They could take a swing at us any time in the next um... right now."

You order the wing to keep pulling back for the moment. Sylvan warns you his ships wont be able to keep pace before making a short microjump half an AU away from the planet.

You sigh. "Time to call in the fleet."

>>22779603
Are there dedicated starfighter killing gunboats of some kind? Something in the frigate to light cruiser size range bristling with low-damage but long range and highly accurate weapons?

Could pull double duty protecting capital ships from torpedo volleys maybe.

>>22779603

can't plasma cannons opt for a huge, shotgun-like spread shot?

would that put the hurt on starfighter formations?

>>22774650
>Apparently a Norune detective arrested for suspicious activity the other day was killed while attempting to escape a short time ago.

ಠ_ಠ

>>22779753
None of the main Factions have used dedicated ships in that role for a very long time. Most of the time they were found to be too vulnerable to fire from other starships. (The Terran military had almost phased out corvettes and frigates entirely at the time of first contact with the Dominion.) There are likely private warships configured like this though.

>>22779864
Republic Plasma cannons are optimized for shield and armor penetration. Fusion cannons can be adjusted on the fly but dont have as much punch because they're throwing around lighter material.

Your wing continues to dance with the enemy fighters until they break off and return to the planet. Meanwhile Captain Sylvan contacts the Commander about the situation and the reduced enemy fleet strength.

"This is Sylvan, the Commander said a force will be here in about four hours. She'd like us to keep the planet under survielance until they arrive. Once they're on station they could use a hand with fire support. I passed along that your ships are outfitted with low caliber mass drivers. Good timing with that upgrade right?"

Sonofa... "Right, good timing." you respond.

"Still the Commander said we could return to base once the fleet gets here. They probably wouldn't need many ships for support."

"Copy that sir."

After an hour of waiting the sensor contacts in orbit of the planet change direction.

"Enemy movement, all ships on alert." Says Hafnar.

You snap out of it and check the displays. The Battleships and one of the attack cruisers are swinging around to the far side of the planet, likely to make a run out of the gravity well so they can jump. This is al but confirmed a moment later by a few squadrons of starfighters moving in that direction a moment later. If you were to jump to the edge of the well on that side of the planet you'd be flying into a face full of starfighters.

"Can we track them after they jump?" you ask Linda.

"Yes, but it'll be close. We would need to relocate to a better position before they go."

[ ] Let them go
[ ] Pursuit (How many ships are you taking with you?)
[ ] Other

>>22780331
>[x] Other:

Send Sylvan after them, with one of our squadrons if he wants. We've gotta stay here and provide fire support after all.

>>22780368
Sounds good to me. Supported.

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"Captain, we can keep watch around the planet until the fleet arrives. Did you want to deal with those two fast battleships? I could send an escort."

"Definitely. I can't believe my ships guns weren't able to crack their shields in that exchange. Some backup would be handy. One of your squadrons should do the trick."

You start to contact Arthur then think better of it. Thal hasn't had to put up with the Captain yet.
"Fourth squadron, watch the Captain's back. And for gods sake don't follow too close if he tries to charge an enemy."

"Understood sir."

"Was Thal at Gesaur?" You ask Kavos.

"Yes, but her ship was disabled early on in the fighting and spent most of it waiting for repairs."

The Captain and Fourth squadron head out after the enemy ships, jumping off to who knows where.

Three hours later the fleet begins to jump in. A Lance class Medium cruiser and a pair of Rovinar Battleships form the backbone of the fighting force. Three carriers groups each from a different House follow soon after. Frigates and standard corvettes are providing escort.
Last to arrive are a pair of Moliminous class transports, each loaded down with 6 Heavy lifters and being escorted by Cruiser and Frigate squadrons.

All enemy fighter forces pull back into the atmosphere and even your sensors can see the planetary shields are now up protecting the main cities. The few remaining starships entered the atmosphere an hour ago and are sitting grounded at the spaceports.

What will you commit to assisting the invasion force?

[ ] Starfighters to protect the troop ship landings
[ ] Orbital fire support with your larger ships
[ ] Low altitude fire support with your smaller ships
[ ] Your LST's and/or shuttles to help ferry troops & vehicles to points on the surface
[ ] All of the above
[ ] Other

>>22780908
[x] Starfighters to protect the troop ship landings
[x] Orbital fire support with your larger ships
[x] Low altitude fire support with your smaller ships

Our LSTs are more suited for boarding ops, and our marines are our marines and the fleet has their own.

Our guns, on the other hand, are ready to receive target coordinates.

>>22780908
>[ ] Starfighters to protect the troop ship landings
Are our starfighter pilots trained for this?

>[ ] Orbital fire support with your larger ships
Definitely

>[ ] Low altitude fire support with your smaller ships
Are they trained for it? I'd also prefer not to commit them until we know what kind of defences they'd face.

>[ ] Your LST's and/or shuttles to help ferry troops & vehicles to points on the surface
Once our forces have secured a landing zone. I'd hate to lose any of these.

>[ ] Other
Offer the enemy to enter negotiations for their surrender. They're badly outmatched, and we should be able to find a solution that doesn't result in countless deaths.

>>22780998
>Our LSTs are more suited for boarding ops, and our marines are our marines and the fleet has their own.
Most of your LSTs are, but not all.
>and our marines are our marines and the fleet has their own.
Your LSTs would be moving equipment and troops from the fleet, not your people. They have shields which shuttles do not and are far more nimble than Heavy lifters which make them handy for this work.
>>22781016
>I'd hate to lose any of these.
This is also a good point. LSTs are valuable ships and not many yards produce them.

>Are our starfighter pilots trained for this?
Planetary assault or defense is one of the primary roles of starfighters. They have training, but the ones with fighters less suited to atmosphere wont take part unless there's an emergency.

You contact the commander of the fleet, an Admiral Forrester from the Terran Alliance, and ask if the people on the planet have offered to discuss terms.
"Not yet. From our intel this planet rebelled against the various Houses that used to hold the area no less than a dozen times before the Pirates swept through. The Warlords probably offered to leave them alone in return for buying starfighters off of them at a discount.
They're either collaborating with the Warlord forces or have ties to the extremist Free Planets League. Maybe both. Once we have troops on the ground in a position they can't push us out of, then we'll force them to the negotiation table. The Dominion wants their worlds back as part of the terms for maintaining this alliance. If you have a plan that will put this world back under Dominion control without another rebellion forcing them off a month from now I want to hear it."

>>22781363
Do we know why they rebelled so many times? I don't suppose there are a dozen lists of grievances in our database.

If we want to keep them from rebelling, we can either use overwhelming force and fear, which is expensive and unpopular, or try to work with them and understand what they want.

>>22781363
We could always offer to leave them alone in return for buying starfighters off of them at a discount.

>>22781458
A small but determined percentage of the populace decided that the Dominion needed to go from their planet by any means necessary. The problem is its hard to tell how many people native to the planet were responsible and how many were Free Planets League backed terrorists.

>>22781465
Which in theory should work well. Unfortunately none of the Factions can claim the world isn't being used as a staging ground by enemy forces and would ultimately need to station troops there to prevent that from happening anyways. If you hadn't a fleet from another House was going to attack the planet in another day with the intention of taking it.

Really its a bad situation all around.

>>22781752
What do we know about the Free Planets League?

>>22781752
Couldn't we just use one of the unpopulated islands as a military base? They can keep their government, the dominion gets military control over the planet, and if we choose the island well enough, nobody should get bothered by the presence.

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>>22781901
They began as a terrorist organisation about 60-80 years ago in this area and attempted to drive the forces of numerous Houses off of the habitable worlds any way they could. Over the years they increased in numbers and sophistication and began to receiving funding from the first Pirate Warlords.
The Warlords used the League to weaken the defenses of the local Houses before driving them from the area completely over the past few decades. Once that was done the Warlords had no more use for the organisation and slowly clamped down on control of a number of systems, especially the shipyards and high population areas.
Since then the Free Planets League has begun fighting the Warlords. They are known to have bases and fleets in this dwarf galaxy. Most Houses are understandably reluctant to work with them but some minor Houses are desperate enough to do so, reasoning that it will get more rebels killed in the process.

Anyways survey link up for multiple options.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TD57D6N

It's not impossible to negotiate a solution but it is bloody difficult.

>What do they want. What would they be willing to negotiate about.
They dont want to be involved in the power struggles between the various Houses.
They want Independence, not to be ruled over by the Dominion or barring any of those the right to self govern.
When rogue Dominion Houses got their asses kicked trying to invade independent colonies in the PCCG people on many worlds decided to attempt much the same thing on worlds the Dominion aleady held.
Even before that some Houses have worlds within their territory that self govern and hold elections, etc and so on. This is a small number but they do exist.

>What is absolutely not up for discussion.
They get to choose their leaders.
Their people cant be forcibly conscripted by any House.

>What were their problems with the last (few?) houses controlling the planet. We don't want people killed, they don't want people killed. There should be a way to make this work.
The usual, martial law, crackdowns, but power struggles between a few minor Houses really got things rolling. This world didn't have things so bad but other planets did and refugees from them ended up here. Many extremists are known to have been drawn from this core group. They may not stop until they've achieved all of their objectives.

I will be ending things here for this week in this quagmire of an issue, which is unfortunate.

>>22782744
Hey, no problem. Thanks for running the quest for three days. See you next week.

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Reminder: next weeks game is Monday.


>Negotiate [Greedy Houses vs Determined Terrorists]
>I suggest that any Free Planets League aligned worlds be enrolled into an autonomous area under the Dominion. They get to choose their leaders. (Optional. Can they just give us like a list of candidates for the important spots and we can make our choice?) (Local leaders like municipalities and state congressmen are A-okay) Their people can't be forcibly conscripted by any House but they need to have some sort of defense for their autonomous area. (Like an organized fleet instead of individual planetsry defenses.) They pay in money and goods instead of soldiers. A LOT of money. Like we get someone to compute the money value of their conscripts. (Taxes) Money goes to ... i dunno the ruling house? major house? (Selling point to greedy houses) Sonia's house gets a slice though, proportionaly big for her house slice. If she can actually sell her idea of peace and taxes, she deserves it. Maybe set up a few bases for dominion ships or make a deal with the locals to use their docks. As incentive, the more planets they help liberate(Acting as a Fifth column), the larger area the Free Planets >Autonomous Region(Name needs work) will be in the long run, Ruling House will probably like this one too. Screws over any house looking to expand territorialy. The people looking forward to Psycho Sonia's next romp will like it, since the fifth column will probably have valuable intel that they need to sneak back to friendly forces. And oh look its the invisible chick with a sword fetish, well the fusion and plama gun might eclipse it since they're our new toy. Legally, probably have laws more in line with Dominion ones? Is the Dominion cool with slavery? That may have to go. Economically, most of the trade will be within the autonomous area and the dominion. (Trade Barriers)

This is some high level shit. You'll need to get in contact with the Ruling House and convince enough of the seven.

>>22787360
Yeah, I don't like that. Mainly because it doesn't do much for our house.

>>22782744
Thanks for running this, TSTG.

>>22787360
>>22787360
I have to say I find this idea very compelling.
While it gets our house and the Dominion a reliable source of income and trade.
If we could pull this off we would have something else to add to our list of accomplishments.