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http://houseanddominion.wikia.com/wiki/HouseAndDominion_Wiki
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=House%20and%20Dominion

Last week you finished up your assigned strike mission, destroying an incomplete shipyard and a larger fuel tanker before preparing for a larger target. Locating a Neeran Super Heavy that didnt seem as well prepared for combat you called in support and waited for a combined Factions fleet to arrive to destroy the vessel.

Several ships from your unit were lost in the fighting, including your own "The Unnamed Guard," an upgraded Tenth Dynasty Royal Guard Cruiser. Despite losing most of the engines and outer armor you struggled to save the ship, remaining aboard with a skeleton crew to attempt repairs. Ultimately there wasn't enough time to fix everything as it would have cost the lives of your engineering crew to get the damaged drive core online before the arrival of Neeran ships.

Instead opting to use the emergency teleporters you had Kavos set the ship to self destruct. If any Neeran boarding teams entered your ship soon enough to preempt the count down timer they would still have found a nasty surprise. Anyone without authorization entering command areas would have caused the timer to skip to zero.

After teleporting out you and your people soon found yourselves on a Shallan colony world still undergoing terraforming. It took a few hours and some calls but you soon reached a settlement and from there have been attempting to secure transport.

There's little in the way of fast transports headed out of the system at the moment there after getting in contact with the PDF it seems there are jobs that need doing which could help out in that regard. With the planetary defenders concentrating on repelling a Neeran invasion on the ground they've been too busy to deal with black marketeers bleeding the populace and refugees dry.
They have to be getting their supplies in somehow and that means a ship.

Seeing an ideal opportunity to see how your body double Ella Rufaro could handle an infiltration mission you sent her to tail some of the suspected profiteers and locate their ship or base of operations. Your last contact indicated she was boarding an atmospheric transport bound for another city.

Before you can get anything else from her you were forced to be on the move again. Neeran troops are moving closer to the outpost and the populace is being evacuated.

A spaceport official directs you to one of the landing pads outside just before the shuttle you're being loaned comes into view.

It's a rickety looking bucket but you've seen worse. Making a slow final approach it pivots in place using thrusters and makes a relatively soft landing. An anti-tank team rushes down the ramp and off towards one of the doors that the same official who directed you here has opened for them. Once they're out of the way you climb aboard and head to the front. A logistics officer is waiting to talk to you once aboard.

"Max Salick." Says the Shallan standing near one of the cockpit jumpseats. "The rest of the pleasantries can wait. How many more are we taking on this flight?"

There's seating for 10 more people if you wanted to take on refugees, but you could probably fit another twenty into the shuttle. It'll be quite cramped though.


At the end of the last thread most people wanted to take on some mercs to help in your planned black market raid along with as many refugees as could still fit.
>Do you want to make any changes to this?

>>27282462
nah, looks good

Seems fine, pack em in but keep our men by the doors in case we need to de-ass the shuttle.

>>27282462
Sounds good to me.

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Getting the attention of one of the dock workers you have them get hold of some of the mercs nearby looking for a ride out of here.

"This shuttle going off planet?" asks the squad leader when they climb in.

"No, we're going to go bust up a black market ring. You want in?"

"Sorry, but you look more like a squad of technicians than cops. Maybe we should opt out."

"I'm a Knight Captain in the Dominion. I can pay you out of my own pocket if necessary."
You check your mass driver rifle's ammo level, set it for safe mode, then lock it into a weapon rack to secure for transport.

"I think we're in then." The Mercs begin to take their seats.

"Just cover the doors in case we need to cover the civies when we land."

The group of civilians that are brought in secure themselves to the floor restraints or take the couple of remaining seats in the aft compartment. You climb into the cockpit and take the jumpseat opposite Mr Salick.

After liftoff the shuttle heads southeast out over a series of small seas or larger lakes, you're not sure which, before turning south. After reaching an ocean you turn east and come in towards one of the larger cities. You can see the edges of the city shield light up in the distance from weapons fire. That cant be good.

"I thought we came here to get clear of the front lines." You say to both the pilots and the logistics officer.

"It's a primary transit hub for most of the continent. People and cargo brought in here can be quickly sent to other cities using supersonic trams." Says Max.

"We also need to refuel." adds one of the pilots. "We can in from another area before this."

You look to the Shallan logistics officer. "Why hasn't the enemy cut the tram lines yet?"

"Most of them are buried to protect against orbital bombardment. You don't know much about Shallan history do you?"

"Just that you're the new kids, relatively speaking."

"Yeah, the height thing doesn't help with that." He mumbles then continues. "In the Neeran Incursions just after your Faction Wars one of the twin Homeworlds was bombarded from space. Half our species died. We know how to conduct evacuations if given time to prepare."

After the shuttle sets down the refugees are lead off for evacuation and refueling crews get to work prepping the shuttle.

There was a burst transmission recorded from Rufaro that her mode of transport had touched down somewhere in the city but she's otherwise stayed out of contact. Getting out to stretch you notice that the city itself seems to make use of a climate control system to regulate the otherwise dense atmosphere and high carbon dioxide levels. Asking around it seems that most of the major cities are ringed with atmospheric processors and containment fields.

>Is there anything you want to look into doing while waiting for Rufaro to report in?

>>27283307
>>Is there anything you want to look into doing while waiting for Rufaro to report in?

-See if we can ruin the day of some people profiteering from this situation.
-Try to get in touch with the alliance.

>>27283346
>See if we can ruin the day of some people profiteering from this situation.
So, send Linda and a team to scout out the city markets that are still open selling supplies?

>Try to get in touch with the alliance.
You want to do this while the others check markets?

>>27283398
>So, send Linda and a team to scout out the city markets that are still open selling supplies?
Sounds good.

>You want to do this while the others check markets?
Yes, please.

>>27283440
Roll 2d100

Rolled 72, 10 = 82

>>27283473

Rolled 89, 6 = 95

>>27283473

Rolled 8

>>27283473
>1

Rolled 35

>>27283693
>2

>Did they change the time between posts to 60 seconds?

TSTG, whats stopping the Neeran from tying up a large portion of the Alliance/Faction fleets with the use of Stealth Fields?

They seem to be widespread enough that the Neeran can deploy Stealth Field generating ships to mining operations with a relatively low escort.

So whats stopping them from parking several stealth generating ships to cloak a large vital area along the front and assume an attack posture. While in reality there would only be a small number of ships that would harass any attempts to attack the cloak. Wouldnt the Alliance/Factions also dedicate a large number of ships to block such a posture?

And while this diversion were in place they could move several fleet elements under stealth to attack the relays and effectively cut off the Factions/Alliance Fleets in Shallan Space.

Unless of course the Neeran dont have that many ships to pull off such a manouver.

You tell Kavos to take Linda, a few others and half the Mercs to search for some of the black market locations. Max goes as well since he's familiar with most of the major cities and can provide clearance to get the team into secure areas if necessary.

Meanwhile you try to get in contact with the Alliance again. Local bandwidth is still at a premium it seems and its some time before you can get any response.

To: Maj. Sonia Reynard
Message received. All assets currently occupied. Enemy offensive in progress. Secure transport ASAP.

"Really helpful." you mutter.

Heading back to the shuttle you recieve a call from Kavos.

"Our would be detectives have found a number of places selling supplies that are supposed to have restricted numbers per customer for money instead of through rationing."

"Have they found the distributor?"

"Not yet but they're getting closer."

You get another call coming through so you tell Kavos you're putting her on hold.

"This is Rufaro, I think I've found the ship. I had some problems though so I may only have a few hours until they realise their supply network has been compromised." She sounds a bit shaken but continues. "I've been able to get into position where I can monitor people coming and going from the dock they're using. I can get facial recognition on most of them so they can be tied to the operation."

You can either gather up your Mercs and hit the dock they're using now, or wait and see if any more people from the sites Linda has scouted can be linked to the larger operation.

[ ] Strike now
[ ] Wait for more data
[ ] Other

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>>27284476
Meant to post pic.

>>27284374
>So whats stopping them from parking several stealth generating ships to cloak a large vital area along the front and assume an attack posture. While in reality there would only be a small number of ships that would harass any attempts to attack the cloak. Wouldnt the Alliance/Factions also dedicate a large number of ships to block such a posture?
Most of the cloaked ships currently on deployment are being tied up right now checking systems where the Neeran have deployed cloaking fields. When there aren't enough of them Battlecruisers are sent to investigate. That's where all of the Terran Excalibur class ships are since they have the longest range and enough torpedo launchers to shoot their way out of trouble.
Some Houses are deploying stripped down older corvettes with skeleton crews to help with recon as well.

>>27284476
[X] Strike now.

More people will no doubt show up while we are making our way there.

Get facial scans of the sellers and then group up to hit the distributor. We have records so we can implicate everyone after the fact.

>>27284476
>[X] Strike now

It's go time.

Choose your weapons loadout!
>NOTE: You are currently wearing Marine Armor and will deploy with it unless you recall Rufaro before the attack.

>Melee weapon
HF-Blade [Equipped]
Monoblade
Republic bayonet
Repulsor gauntlet **
Smart Grapple **

>Ranged
Fusion Gun
X-ray Laser (+MicroRPG launcher)
Mass Driver Rifle [Equipped]
Shotgun (Grenades, AP Slug, Flechettes, Incendiaries, other)
Phase rifle (Has stun setting)
Silenced Carbine* (+Splinter rounds)

Plasma Pistol [Equipped]
Forearm MicroRPG launcher **
Republic SMG*/**
Forearm SMG*/**
Submachine pistol*
Pulse Pistol (Has stun setting)
Pulse pistol (Holdout) [Equipped]

* = silenced weapon option
** = Prevents usage of similar marked weapons on same arm (AKA, Max of 2)

>Grenades (max 6)
High explosives
Frag grenades
Stun Pulse grenades
Flashbangs
Half moon (Breaching charge)
Claymore mines
GP mines

>>27284954
I would say:
HF-Blade
Phase rifle
Plasma Pistol
2 Half moons
2 Stun pulse grenades
2 Frag grenades

If at all possible we should stun/knock out as many people as possible, but have our handy dandy Plasma pistol for when we need something to die.

>>27284954
Also, once we get into position we should have Rufaro proceed to stealthy infiltrate and knock out as many people as possible without being detected.

>>27285225
Sounds good to me.

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The others takes as many facial scans as possible before heading for the landing pad. You and the mercs load up as well.

"Try to stun as many of these people as possible. For all we know some of them might just be dock hands caught at the wrong place and the wrong time."

"Phase rifles, got you."
"What's your plan if they unload anything heavy on us? Harsh language?" One of them asks, to the amusement of a few others.

You hold up your sidearm. "Anti-tank gun."

"What, you mean to say that kids toy is going to knock out a tank?"

"It'll drop a Neeran." you reply calmly. "But if you want to brings some extras."

When the others arrive you waste no time in getting airborne. Max contacts the authorities and informs them you're about to conduct a raid. Thankfully the city is under martial law at the moment so you don't need a warrant or anything so annoying.

From the data Rufaro has sent you the dock is one set up for handling Frigates though there are currently 3 light transports inside. Most of the interior is packed with stacks of ground standard shipping containers and cranes to move them.

There are 4 main entrances. Two cargo doors facing the city that ground vehicles use, another connected to an abandoned dock thats closed for repairs, and the wide open main entrance where the starships come in.

You could bring the shuttle in through any of those 4, try to use the entrance ways for people on foot, or make your own with the shuttle's weaponry.

[ ] Front door(s)
[ ] Side Door
[ ] Ship entrance
[ ] Move in on foot
[ ] Make own entrance
[ ] Other

>>27285276
Roll 2d20 for Rufaro's sneak attack

Rolled 15

>>27286275
>[ ] Other
I'm afraid to ask, but do we still have that grappling hook?

>1

Rolled 18

>>27286331
>2

>>27286275

Are any of the ships in there armed with defensive weaponry that could be used in the dock?

Do we have a way to block the ships from escaping like locking down the main door?

Rolled 4, 9 = 13

>>27286275
[X] Side Door

Rolled 15, 16 = 31

>>27286275
>>27286331
Well it was on the equipment screen, but i'm not sure if we equipped it.

I'll go with side entrances as there seems to be more cover thanks to the containers.

>>27286331
Well it is on option on the list but nobody seemed interested in taking it. Then again so far there's only been 2 votes on your equipment and weapons loadout.
>>27285225
>>27285276

>>27286369
>Are any of the ships in there armed with defensive weaponry that could be used in the dock?
Most Constellations carry a couple of particle beams or if they're worried about local laws a high end com laser since it's easy to get away with. So yes, though they would need to power them up.

>Do we have a way to block the ships from escaping like locking down the main door?
Locking down the doors might slow an escape attempt.
If one of the ships could get off the ground they could ram through the roof, walls or doors, though they would likely take damage in the process.

>>27286559
>Well it is on option on the list but nobody seemed interested in taking it. Then again so far there's only been 2 votes on your equipment and weapons loadout.

That's unfortunate, but I guess I was simply too late.

>>27286676
You're on the shuttle. Your equipment is still on the shuttle. If more than 2 anons want to bring the grappling hook along go for it.

>>27286391
>>27286501
2 votes for the side door

>>27286759
I say no to the grappling hook because my policy is that we can only use it while wearing powered armor.

We only have two knees left after all.

>>27286823
This is the main reason why I didn't suggest it on the list.

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"We'll come in through the abandoned dock next door, set down there and move in on foot. I want the shuttle covering the escape routes once the team is in."

"Good luck! I'll be here." Says Linda.

"Maybe you should bail out in case the shuttle is targeted by any weapons on those ships." You suggest.

"R-right. Nice and secure on the ground."

Most of your people, while trained to help repel boarding parties are still not front line material. They'll cover your entry point and watch your back but wont advance unless you order them to.

The shuttle swings in from the ocean front, entering through the open doors, the pilots doing what they can to maneuver around the gantries holding damaged sections of the roof in place. It looks like a Frigate must have crash landed on top of this bay at one point.

"Stand by to disembark!" Warns the copilot.

The shuttle touches down and you all pile out the aft doors. Checking that your rifle is still set to stun you sprint towards the doorway which is partly covered by a tarp, now being whipped up by the engine exhaust. Looking around there are catwalks and cargo cranes everywhere in this dock.

"This is Reynard, we're in. Rufaro whats your status?"

"I've downed about thirty people sir. Only a dozen of them were armed. I'm moving towards the ship closest to the hanger doors."

Do you want your people to go for the ships, try to close the hanger doors or cut off the other entrances? Or something else entirely?

>Your orders?

>>27287379
Closing the hangar doors sounds like a good move for Rufaro while the rest of us secure entrances.

Also POLICE GET DOWN ON THE GROUND

>>27287379
If we close the hanger doors it might give them a heads up that something is wrong so I say we take the ship closest to us and have Rufaro take the one closest to her.

If we are lucky we can take both without raising the alarm and then take the last one.

>>27287452
>>27287481
Do we have a 3rd opinion on this anyone?

>>27287696

do we know where we'd need to send someone in order to secure the doors?

>>27287452
I'm not sure if announcing "That we are here to shut you down" is a good idea.

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>>27287734
It looks like there are control booths on either side of the doors up near the ceiling. There's a catwalk that connects them which looks like it can be retracted so larger ships can fit into the bay.

>>27287771
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI67dSs3dXU#t=5m5s

Hmm well we need to keep a perimeter up or else they will escape. But we also have to secure the ships or they could bust out of here or start shooting. Plus the ships have the evidence on them.

Maybe send Rufaro to the control booth? She has the best chance of making it there undetected.

>>27287481

I think we should do this plan, but with a minor change.

We send 1 [though I'd prefer 2] of our people forward to either close the dock's main door or to pin down/flank anyone that comes out of the 3rd ship.

They can act on their own initiative, especially if we just send 1 person, as they'd have no cover as they went for the doors

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>>27287452
>>27287481
>>27287734
>>27287771
>>27288056
>>27288199
So, we going for ships, doors or control booths. Or a combination?

>>27288382

Just out of curiosity, we should know the general layout of a default one of these ships, correct?

They seem like they'd carry few crew and that any more than 2-3 people assaulting them would basically cause a 'can't miss' scenario for defenders?

Hmm okay maybe send Rufaro up to close the main doors and then have her hit the ship on her side. Meanwhile the people on our side split 2-2 and hit the ships. The last guy secures the other control console.

That leaves no one to sweep the stacks but with the doors shut anyone in there would have nowhere to escape.

>>27288382
I still say go strike fast and hard to capture the two ships and then close the hanger door before the third one can figure out what is going on.

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>>27288449
>>27288449
>Just out of curiosity, we should know the general layout of a default one of these ships, correct?
Yes, though they can vary quite a bit since they're built everywhere.
>They seem like they'd carry few crew and that any more than 2-3 people assaulting them would basically cause a 'can't miss' scenario for defenders?
If they were ambushed a chokepoints near the bridge or the engineering spaces, thought that's the case on any ship really.

>>27288479
>>27288607
Two squads hit each of the ships on the left side, Rufaro goes for the doors then doubles back to hit the ship on the right?
Any additions/changes?

>>27288686
Not seeing a no so lets get some rolls so we get off this planet while its still dark in this timezone.

Roll 4d20

Rolled 3, 10, 7, 6 = 26

>>27289015
Rolling for no-knock SWAT

Rolled 4, 20, 4, 18 = 46

>>27289015

>>27289060
Team 1 raids the wrong house
Team 2 kills a mildly threatening dog and secures the living room
Teams 3 and 4 have difficulty opening the sliding back door but eventually secure the kitchen

Rolled 10, 18, 9, 19 = 56

>>27289015

Breach and Clear!

"Lets do this! First and second squads with me, third and fourth squads hit the closest transport. Rufaro I want those doors closed."

"Yes sir!"

Everyone runs for their objectives trying to hold off on opening fire as long as possible. Kavos directs the remaining mercenaries to head along the wall so they can make a run at the other control booth. Hopefully they wont be needed.

Rounding a large stack of shipping containers you spot a group of workers coming down the ramp from your target ship. One of them points at your squad when you're still fifty meters away.

"No choice, open fire!"

Energy pulses from all eight of your weapons flash across the distance, some of them striking their targets others missing. A few of the workers turn and run, diving through the cargo doors of the ship. Still its not so bad, in a few seconds you're up the ramp in time for you and your people to be pelted with titanium shotgun pellets.

"Suppressing fire!" Orders the merc behind you. The others quickly fill the open spaces with fire long enough for you to toss a stun grenade around the corner and the others to toss flash bangs. After the flashes of light have faded you resume your charge, trying to reach the bridge to the transport. Recovering your grenade and resetting it only takes a second but its still too soon to use it again. Pulling out the other one you catch up with the first squad of mercs who are firing up a set of stairs leading to what must be the command deck.

Crew are camped at the top of the stairs with shotguns, making life difficult.
"This is the captain to all hands, we've been boarded by pirates!" shouts someone over the intercom.
Pellets are ricocheting everywhere, off walls, the floor, pipes and panels, which is only making you all more nervous about other crew trying to sneak up from behind.

>>27289894
Enough of this. You toss your other stun grenade up the stairs, wait until it goes off then charge up. Both crewmembers are down for the count, though more arrive soon after, firing a mix of small arms. One of the mercs are wounded but it isnt bad. Still, this intersection is not one that provides a lot of cover.

"My people have got this, take the bridge." The Merc squad leader tells you.
Only a few steps away you're at the doors to the bridge which are sealed.

[ ] Breaching charge
[ ] Try to talk down the captain (what say?)
[ ] Other

>>27289940
POLICE THIS IS A RAID

Then breaching charge

>>27289940
[X] Breaching charge

No time for diplomacy.

>>27289940
By order of the Shallen Police open up this is a raid

>>27289940


[x] Breaching charge

>>27289940
The shark attack is on and we got breaching charges.

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"POLICE THIS IS A RAID."

You hear some screaming coming from the other side of the door but none of it is coherent so you set the detonator and back away around a corner.

After a sharp crack you step back out and through the smoking crater that once was a door. A woman in her thirties is on the floor, unconscious with blood streaming from her nose and ears but she should be fine.

Hitting the intercom you broadcast to the rest of the ship. "This is Major Sonia Reynard to all hands, this ship is being siezed on behalf of the Shallan police forces and everyone aboard is being placed under arrest. Surrender immediately."

Checking in with the others the 3rd and 4th Merc squads report that one of the other ships is secured and they're powering up the dorsal particle beam turret just in case.

Rufaro initially had some trouble reaching the control booth on her side, having to wait for a lift to arrive without raising suspicion. She reports that there is a squad on the ground below the booth she's just entered along with a power loader which thankfully isn't armed. It was enough of a delay that the other team reached the control booth first and have closed the doors.

"This is Kavos, we have sighted power loader on the side of the bay opposite the main doors. It is armed."

A muzzle flash lights up the other side of the bay clearly marking the position of the loader as it opens up on the doors your teams entered through. Kavos and a few of your other people curse as they take cover.

>Your orders?

>>27291052
See if the mercs can use that dorsal particle beam turret on the loader.

>>27291052

Turn this vessel's particle weapons on that armed lifter.

Can we pilot this ship behind the unsecured one and eliminate the armed lifter's cover from our position? It should be a simple shot even if our gunner still has to compensate for the momentum of the ship, and that loader is going to have a bad day when a particle beam or two put a hole through the pilot.

I believe we'll also be able to redeploy our forces on this ship to the opposite side of the dock by such a maneuver.

>>27291052
Have Rufaro engage the squad and unarmed power loader with supporting fire from the other squad at the control room

Everyone else stick to cover and try to get the armed loader into the arc of the particle turret

>>27291052
>another connected to an abandoned dock thats closed for repair

Wait a minute....that would be the perfect place for a black market operation! Should check that place out.

See if the mercs can take it out with the particle beam turret and if not looks like it's time for another crazy stunt from sonia.

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Rolled 13

>>27291101
>>27291186
>>27291199
>particle beam turret on the loader
>Have Rufaro engage the squad and unarmed power loader with supporting fire from the other squad at the control room
k

>Can we pilot this ship behind the unsecured one and eliminate the armed lifter's cover from our position?
You're in the next ship over. I realised I should have put that there after I had posted it. You could still move the ship as a distraction, or even land it on top of the other one.
Do this Y/N?

Roll 3d20 for the other teams

>>27291309
Land our ship on the other ship to establish our ship's dominance and superiority

Rolled 12, 17, 18 = 47

>>27291309
Do it to ensure it knows our ship the alpha ship of the dockyard

Rolled 2, 12, 19 = 33

>>27291360
also dice

>>27291309
well, does our ship have particle beam turrets that we could fire up and use for the same plan?

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"Try to take that thing out with the particle beam." you advise the other marines.
Meanwhile you punch up some of the controls for the ship and bring the reactors and repulsors online. The sound from the ballistic Gatling weapon being fired by the loader echoes through the corridors from the ship's open cargo bay doors.

"Hey, Sergeant I-forget-what-your-name-is, is there any chance one of you guys could get topside and see if there's a gun turret you could point at that power loader?"

You don't have time to see if the mercs acknowledge you, lifting the ship and trying to get across the cargo bay before the other one can take off. You're partially successful. The though the other transport does retract its ramp and begin to hover, its crew reverses straight into the closed door once they see you.

The metal around the main door crumples from the impact but doesn't give way enough to tear. Coming about you bring the nose of your craft up high enough that you break some of the catwalks and gantries.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Yells the merc sergeant, holding into a railing near the door.
"Just hang on."

Cutting repulsor power the transport's nose drops, slamming down on the body of the other ship grounding both of them.

"Third ship is down." Reports Kavos.

Outside to your right there are a pair of explosions. One of them had to be the power loader as the area it was standing in is now on fire as are a few dozen containers filled with food and supplies.

"I don't think that was supposed to happen."

The commandeered ship with the particle beam is now sporting a smoking hole in its hull near the turret that looks to be the result of an anti-tank shot.

When the dust begins to clear you see Rufaro climbing into the seat of the other power loader. She stops once she sees the mess that used to be the other one.

"So much for that plan. I wanted to run around the crate stacks and grab the other loader from behind with this one. I thought it might keep damage to a minimum."

"Maybe we can keep the loader." You suggest. "I mean we did break this black market group for the locals."

"Oh no, what have you done?!" Says Max over the com channel. "We need to get fire suppression teams in here or we're going to lose a lot of these supplies!"

You think for a moment. I could land this ship on top of the burning area to smother the flames... or even use a short pulse from the sublight dr-"

"NO!" you hear practically everyone still on the same channel shout.

"Calling in emergency services."

Police, Fire and medivac arrive in short order and you pile up the few confiscated weapons. Most of them are just the common weapons an average crew might collect over the years. The police have no idea how they got hold of the weapons for the power loader.

Meeting up outside Max shakes his head. "We lost a lot of containers in that loader explosion. Do your operations always end up like this?"

>What say?

>>27292323

"My last mission as a trainee in a corvette was to protect Loran II [correct if I'm wrong] from a Warlords raid. My training squadron was sent to escort a handful of ships on an SP torp run against a super heavy.

If that taught me anything, its that some days are just full of shit."

>>27292323
Not always, we're usually pretty good with salvaging things mostly intact

>>27292323
Yeah most of of times theirs actually more damage

"Not always, we're usually pretty good with salvaging things mostly intact."

"Mostly? Mostly intact, are you serious?"

"Look at it this way, we damaged less than 10% of the supplies here. If I captured most of my ships with only 10% damage I'd be rich. Well, rich-er.
My last mission as a trainee in a corvette was to protect Loran II from a Warlords raid. My training squadron was sent to escort a handful of ships on an SP torp run against a super heavy.

If that taught me anything, its that some days are just full of shit."

Air raid sirens go off followed by additional audio warnings telling citizens to take cover, and avert their gaze from the sky.

The sky dims, a result of the city shield turning opaque and blocking out light from outside.

"What was that?" Asks Linda.
Moments later a ground quake causes everything in the area to rumble. From your brief deployment on Gesaur you recognise it to be the result of a nuke going off outside the planetary shield.

Max reaches for his communicator which is going off. He only briefly glances at it. "I've been recalled. Thank you for your help, but I'm needed elsewhere. One of my superiors will contact you shortly."

Kavos finishes talking o the mercenaries then walks over to you, glancing back at the sky. "Sonia, we should leave. Soon."

Well you should be able to lay claim to one of the three light transports for certain, the question is which one? The most heavily armed one has a hole in the bridge doors and external damage from a plasma anti-tank weapon hit. The other two may or may not have structural damage from your impromptu body slam, though the top one would have suffered the least.

>>27292832
The top one is the alpha ship as we have already established.

Let's take Kavos' advice and move quickly.

>>27292832
The antitank hit is probably superficial and the bridge door isn't a big deal. The firepower on the other hand might be necessary.

Anything or anybody we need to round up before we leave? We bought a bunch of stuff IIRC.

>>27292832
As much as I want to say the Alpha ship I the armed one is our best bet

>>27293089
>>27293139
Walking back into the docking bay (now with fires extinguished) you look over your handywork. One of the light transports is still parked half on top of the other. You're tempted to spray paint some obscene graffiti on them to mark the occasion but there's work to do.
Those two are not going anywhere without being re-certified after your stunt, and their weapons consist of com lasers. The other one had particle beams but has some damage of its own.

It's a good thing you just happen to have some experienced damage control personnel with you. After working on the Unnamed guard this should be a piece of cake for them.

Locals get to work unloading the remaining containers and shipping them out towards the city center and the rapid transit network. The Mercenaries and some of their colleagues shipping in from the outlying areas are requesting passage off the planet when you go. It would certainly cut down on your fees for having hired them.

>>27293089
Your people managed to sell off a lot of it and Linda stashed the rest in the overhead weapon/equipment storage racks on the shuttle.

"Somebody call that shuttle down here! It still has some of my stuff! And... guns and things too, I'm sure. Valuable military stuff we need to take back."

At the mention of valuable military stuff Arron reappears.

"Where the hell have you been?" you ask.

"With the DC party, not getting shot at. Are we going to salvage the bridge teleport capsule? Its worth quite a bit and there were some weapons and survival equipment we left that there wasn't room to carry aboard that civie shuttle."

[ ] Lets try for it, this ship has point defense
[ ] Lets not risk it
[ ] Other

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MW6P96B

See you guys tomorrow. I'm not actually sure when I'll be resuming.

bump

We should contact the local forces for a situation report on the region our pod landed.

If there are Neeran in any number in the area, the pod isn't worth the lives of the crew with us or risk of capture.

And the Alliance will have to replace it anyway.

Really, the question should be if we have the balls to find out of one of those attack frigates is lacking a crew and something we could bring back to the alliance to get them salivating over. They might decide this world needs more of their attention if they like it...

Sorry about the lack of updates. Be back after 4pm EST

bump

>>27297079
>We should contact the local forces for a situation report on the region our pod landed.
>If there are Neeran in any number in the area, the pod isn't worth the lives of the crew with us or risk of capture.

There were starfighters detected in the area but no ground forces have been sighted that far north.

Currently at 4 for not risking it and 2 for attempting salvage. You could always just mark the location and tell the locals they can salvage it later if they can. The capacitors could be retrofitted for use in any number of vehicle grade weapon systems.
When the light transport is finished being offloaded and everyone else is busy on repairs or system checks Rufaro comes to see you.

She is... distraught would be the best word.

"I killed a civilian sir." she confesses.

Well things in that firefight were pretty hectic.

"Not in the hanger, on the shuttle in. He came out of nowhere. It was just so easy, I didn't even mean to, and then he was dead and I had to take the remaining pilot hostage and force him to bring the shuttle the rest of the way in. "

>What say?

>>27299914
>What say?
I know this will sound incredibly hollow to you at this moment, but the most important thing is you didn't want it to happen. It wasn't your intention to kill him. Believe me, I know how much more fragile people become while you wear that armour. It was an unfortunate accident. That these things happen is one of the unpleasant realities of this job.

I can also promise you will most likely lose quite a bit of sleep over this in the coming months, sorry. I'm sure everybody in the wing has their own set of demons keeping them awake at night by now. It seems to be unavoidable in this kind of situation, I'm afraid.

If you feel the need to talk about this to a professional, just say so, I'll make sure you'll have the chance to do that as soon as we're out of here.

And I'm sure I'm breaking every rule about how officers are supposed to behave when I say this: In case you need somebody to talk about it, I'm here for you.

>>27299914
Did you complete your mission? Yes, you did and that is what matters in this situation. Sometimes things happen or you have to make some very hard choices to complete the mission. I have had my own accidents while using the power armor so I know how easy it is so if you feel like talking about it i'm sure we will have some time on our hands waiting to get back to the alliance. (Note: Invite Valeri as her also has some experience in this field)

The only other thing you can do is practice with the suit more and don't be scared of telling Mr Nexi what you just told me as he helped me through my problems and accidents with the suit.

(Alcohol should be acquired for when/if she comes to talk as alcohol fixes everything!)

Also, if she is having trouble sleeping i'm sure we could get her one of those sleeping headbands.

>>27293597
Now as for whether or not we will be taking the Mercs with us I doubt anyone has problems with taking them along with us.

Just a few more people to keep in mind for when we are choosing security personnel for our home/base of operations.

>>27299914
Random question of the evening: How large would you say that research facility that we inspected was?

You close the door so you're not disturbed.

"I know this will sound incredibly hollow to you at this moment, but the most important thing is you didn't want it to happen. It wasn't your intention to kill him. Believe me, I know how much more fragile people become while you wear that armour. It was an unfortunate accident. That these things happen is one of the unpleasant realities of this job.

I have had my own accidents while using the power armor so I know how easy it is.
I can promise you will most likely lose quite a bit of sleep over this in the coming months, sorry. I'm sure everybody in the wing has their own set of demons keeping them awake at night by now. It seems to be unavoidable in this kind of situation, I'm afraid.Sometimes things happen or you have to make some very hard choices to complete the mission.

If you want to try and prevent it from happening again though, the only other thing you can do is practice with the suit more and don't be scared of telling Mr Nexi what you just told me as he helped me through my problems and accidents with the suit."

"You murdered someone?" the other woman asks.

Honestly, you don't know anymore. There were certainly situations where you might have taken people alive but killed them because they were armed or would have raised an alarm. Killing an unarmed civilian with your hands or with a blade though? It's just as likely you've killed a thousand times that many with orbital bombardments.

"If you still need to talk about this to a professional, just say so, I'll make sure you'll have the chance to do that as soon as we're back at a base.
Until then, I'm sure I'm breaking every rule about how officers are supposed to behave when I say this: if you feel like you need somebody to talk to about it, I'm here for you. We may have a long flight getting back to the Alliance."

I hope that was ok? I stitched the two together as best I could.

>(Alcohol should be acquired for when/if she comes to talk as alcohol fixes everything!)
You vaguely recall the Knight Commander's extensive collection of alcoholic beverages. Huh.

>>27301469
>Also, if she is having trouble sleeping i'm sure we could get her one of those sleeping headbands.
By now most of the Marines and many of the crew have either requisitioned some (if they're in important positions) or just bought some. As your doctor has told you sleep headsets are a temporary measure not intended for long term use. It is a crutch not a cure.

>Random question of the evening: How large would you say that research facility that we inspected was?
It was rather big. There was a whole city built inside that planetoid. It's company controlled though so you wouldnt see the kind of sprawl like you would in say Omega in the Mass Effect series.
A population of 1 million isn't out of the question.

Well the vote remains unchanged at a total of 6. A 7th person looked at it but didn't vote/just used the other feature.

>>27297079
>Really, the question should be if we have the balls to find out of one of those attack frigates is lacking a crew and something we could bring back to the alliance to get them salivating over. They might decide this world needs more of their attention if they like it...
Do you want to attempt this?

>>27303698
>I hope that was ok? I stitched the two together as best I could.
Yeah, it worked nicely.

>Do you want to attempt this?
Nah, I'd prefer to get back to our wing. I'm sure we'll have to do quite a bit of damage control.

>>27303698

as the person that posted the attack frigate suggestion, I have a possible alternate to it.

Could we ask about snagging one of their attack frigates that is heavily damaged but capable of FTL and bringing it to the Alliance for both repair and giving the vessel a chance to prove itself in their hands?

If they still have a shortage of crews, they'll likely be taking survivors of damaged ships from their skirmishes and putting them into new ships instead of sending them back out into damaged ones. Sure, they might lose a damaged ship in the short run, but if it isn't going to be in the fight any time soon, is it really a loss?

>>27303698
I liked how it turned out.

Clearly the Knight Commander knows whats up and we should look into creating a collection of our own. (Because adding alcohol collector seems like the next logical step of things we will collect)

So "hypothetically" would it be possible to try and emulate that kinda of installation...Oh...say under our house as an "expansion" to the bunker. I only suggest this because we have a couple of "black" projects that we have under wraps for in the future and if we can work out the details with the Knight Commander we could have that R&D facility we have been thinking of right where we can keep an eye on it. It would also ensure that we have a hand in the research of the SP torps and the Battleship level cloaking devise.

The hard part would figuring out the controls and getting it out of the area without being shot at. But....I wouldn't mind taking a look to see if it's possible. Might want to ask our merc friends if they are up to hijacking one.

>>27303883
They're fairly new so they don't have all too many of them.

Roll 1d100

>>27303947
Though thinking about it we should most likely get out of here while the getting is good.

Rolled 17

>>27303958
Rolling.

Rolled 96

>>27303958

Rolled 77

>>27303958

Rolled 28

>>27303958

Well then I'm sure they'd love to draw wider faction attention to the benefits of both investment in and safeguarding of production facilities for the vessels?

Rolled 76

Rollin thunder

>>27303698
We should identify Rufaro's victim. If he has any family or relatives who depend on him, we should be able to at least get rid of their financial troubles. If there's ever been a good reason to put Sonia's vast wealth to use, this is it.

>>27303993
It appears there's one that's damaged but usable, though the Shallans are reluctant to part with a prototype. They'll have a small contingent aboard to keep an eye on things. You'll also be saddled with a group of kids that had applied for entrance into a training academy and been accepted but the facility is now in enemy hands.
The PDF wants them to join the Alliance or some other group that has a training center outside Shallan space.

When you get into orbit to inspect the ship itself it seems to still be in sturdy enough shape. The forward pulse cannons are set close to the main axis of the ship like on the Dusk class but the wings narrow much more quickly as they sweep out to the sides, making it look like a kids toy version of the Attack Cruiser. One cannon and the starboard wing is caved in from plasma weapon fire while the port most engine has been removed. There's a notch cut into the ships underside that deepens as it approaches the slot for the missing engine. Maybe it was rammed?

>The hard part would figuring out the controls
According to your conversations with Mike, the controls shouldn't be too different.
>and getting it out of the area without being shot at.
Timing is the key here. You and your people wait until a raid on the Neeran landing ships is in progress then run for the edge of the gravity well. Linda doesn't want to trust the navigation system on a prototype ship so she uses the light transport to plot the jump, leading the way. The locals have provided what data they have on the surrounding corridors of space and friendly bases between here and the nearest Alliance position.

Roll 4d4
Lower is better.

>>27304002
There are other shipyards producing the same prototypes, though not a huge number of them. They were hoping to get enough test data from the various locations to rush the ship into mass production.

Rolled 3, 2, 4, 2 = 11

>>27304540

I guess they did increase time between posts.

>>27303947
>Oh...say under our house as an "expansion" to the bunker.
On Dreminth, the capital world of the House? Are you out of your m- I mean, yes you could probably build a hidden mini R&D lab out there in the mountains. You wont be able to make it as big as you would in space were gravity and the crushing weight of rock is less of a problem when mining.

Getting all of the fill out of the area after digging those tunnels without people figuring out whats going on will be your biggest challenge. A larger facility would require more industrial support in terms of mining equipment to get it done quickly, and roads or landing pads for transport vehicles. All of this attracts a lot of attention, even with a good cover story.


>>27304169
Do you want to bring this up to her?

Rolled 4, 1, 1, 2 = 8

>>27304540
LOWER

>>27304624
How I see it is there was that once piece of tech that was under wraps for about 5 years when we went on that mission (The one with the experimental cloak ship that we had to hunt down) and this gives us time to slowly expand our underground facilities over that time. Of course before that happens we will have to hire/ build some guard post around the property to make sure there is no security breach. We can always work out the cover story with the commander who will no doubt think we are crazy.

I'm not sure about bringing it up and all it would do is put a face and name to the person.

>>27304624
Also, it's not "that" crazy when you compare it to when we thought about building a "City ship" instead of a house....You know....a city ship would be a pretty good idea for a research base...

Rolled 1, 4, 1, 2 = 8

>>27304540

>>27304624
>removing fill being the largest problem

Actually, wouldn't hiding the extensive power and environmental control stuff be a bigger challenge? Once you put things that generate industrial levels of heat under ground... you're certainly going to start having a very large IR signature somewhere...

>>27304976
I think I must have missed that one.

>>27305179
Ground source heat pump. If your facility gets too large for that to work you're building it too big.

Slightly off topic, but what ever happened to that bunker/ island we converted into a resort for the upper classes?

Was it constructed? Are we making some money or political points off it?

>>27305296
I have to find that thread now, but if memory serves we were argueing about whether to have the house a simple hunting cabin or something like a castle. Someone brought up ;utting a castle onto a ship posted something from 40k I believe.

You're not complimentary about the directions you were given because it takes two days of jumping through systems in the same galaxy, bouncing between so called safe zones to reach the nearest Alliance base. After that it takes a day to get resupplied and link up with a refugee convoy headed for a location closer to the Nav Relay. That last flight takes two more days.

In the down time you've taken the opportunity to do a tour of the Frigate. It's smaller and more cramped than the Cruisers you've become used to, though its pointed out that may just be a result of the slightly shorter crew.
Even with the stop overs at various bases the ship will still need time for repairs and for technicians to look it over.

Coming in to dock at a modular station the transport is directed to set down in an enclosed bay attached to the larger than average central module. An escort is sent to greet you with a Human starship captain meeting you halfway to a briefing amphitheater.

"Major, welcome aboard, I'm Captain Jarred Wescott. I'll be bringing you up to speed on events since your departure."

"I'm sorry to interrupt but what's the status of my Wing?"

"Your people are fine Major, we even picked up some of your other ship crews that survived the battle. Daska Rna has been the Acting Captain for the unit and is looking after your people. We've been keeping them in reserve or using them to back up others that need it."

"Daska, not Arthur Moton?" you question.

"I don't know the exact details, there was some footnote about a mock duel. The thing that's really important is the fallout of your last mission. That little skirmish cost us five Mega class super heavy hulls when the Neeran brought the hammer down with that ambush. It wasnt an isolated incident either. The enemy have been pulling back in sections of the front so they can then gain local superiority and wipe us out wholesale. Its been difficult to track them because of the cloaking fields."

>>27306015
>That little skirmish cost us five Mega class super heavy hulls

...in return for how many kills?

>>27306015
Holy shit we pulled 5 super heavies into an ambush and none of them made it out.

Let's stick to small unit tactics for a while.

Well most of the fault lies with the cloaked scouts who listed this as a "target of opportunity".

I hope someone pays us back for those SPs...

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>>27305812
Oh right, yeah I posted the 40k ship I think. I wasn't really being serious about it.

>>27305765
Lets take a look at the old results... 8/14 people wanted to grab as much land as they could. With what's been going on I'm going to say that any development on the resort has been halted, though restarting it isnt out of the question. Given its distance from Shallan space it may still be of use for the rich trying to get out of the area.

will resume shortly.

>>27306015
Holy shit we lost all 5 supers? And he says this isn't an isolated incident either?...That's not promising.

>>27306015

>lost 5 supers

So, about that petition the Kavarians were passing around...

"Why havent they done it before now?" you ask.

"Because they're still learning, figuring out just how many ships they need to field to kill each of ours. And it's getting easier for them now that we have so few SP torpedoes remaining. There's a bunch of new battleship designs just about to enter production that should help us out on that front but they're still making last minute adjustments to the prototypes.

New ships designs won't make a hell of a lot of difference if there's no fleet left by the time we start fielding them. We've lost ten percent of our super heavy cruisers in the past seven days alone. It's got the whole damn fleet in an uproar. If we keep taking these kind of losses we're not going to have any way to stall their advance let alone push the Neeran back. To compensate we're only deploying our Megas in groups of twenty but that means we're limited in what we can defend. We're looking at seventy six primary battlegroups."

"That's... not very much." you realise.

"No it's not. Republic Centurion Wings are going to be our stop gap. Wall formations using the Republic's high output plasma cannons can bring down the shields on Neeran ships more effectively than anything else we have. Getting them to their target is the problem. The those ships are not known for their armor being the greatest.
A mix of other ships will be tasked with guarding their backs so they enemy cant shoot them in the ass when they put shields forward and overlap. Right now that means Dominion corvette units and whatever else we can find to fill the gap. It used to be the Republic could guard their rear with Frigate units but their nukes just don't do enough damage to kill enemy corvettes quickly enough."

Your group enters the amphitheater which at the moment is empty. A map off to the side displays suspected enemy force concentrations through Shallan space.

"Do you want my unit backing up Centurion formations?" You ask, more hoping that you could go back to hit and fade operations.

"Maybe, it's certainly an option if you want it." The captain turns on the main projector for the room which lights up with numerous Faction ship designs and their specs, specifically those from your Wing.
"You and your people have more experience with mixed ship units than a lot of others. Meanwhile the Alliance is being tossed a bin full of scraps and people want us to work miracles with them. You've seen what the enemy can do now, I've read your reports hunting isolated units in the Pandora cluster. It's not quite as easy out here is it?"

"Not quite." you answer, though if you had the rest of your Wing present you're sure hit and fade missions would be ended a lot more decisively.

"I'll give you a choice Major. Go back to hit and fade missions, we'll provide some ships and crews to bulk up your unit again. Help train some mixed Strike units using ships and crews from the other Factions and get them working together with effective tactics. Or you could always help cover Centurion units. Goodness knows the line units need all the help they can get.
Unless you have a better idea?"

[ ] Hit and fade
[ ] Training Allies
[ ] Cover Centurions
[ ] Other

>>27306975

[x] Other:

"I need to know what kind of damage my-... J&D's 3rd Attack Wing has taken before I answer."

&

"Where are -our- Neeran friends in this cluster fuck, sir?"

>>27306975
[x] Training Allies

Our mixed formations have been scary effective on our good days, and the Alliance crews are supposed to be the best the factions have to offer.

We can seriously make a name for ourselves and have a major effect on the war effort if we can get them into effective strike units.

>>27306975
While i'm sure if we went back to hit and fade missions we could be pretty effective I say we stay behind and go for.
[X] Training Allies

If we can get other units to be as effective as we are then it will help the whole war out.

>>27307039
>"I need to know what kind of damage my-... J&D's 3rd Attack Wing has taken before I answer."
Roll 7d100

>"Where are -our- Neeran friends in this cluster fuck, sir?"
"They're mustering their fleet. Two units are currently stationed at the edges of Republic space ready to intercept any Neeran Empire ships from getting into the larger Republic. Their first actual combat unit is supposed to arrive in Shallan space in two more weeks but there may be additional delays due to politics."

"Politics sir? We're being shot at."

"There's some debate over what any intervention by the Isolationists will result in. Some say it will only confirm that we're the ones fighting under their command. That this is all a big conspiracy. And while that may sound like a line of bullshit a lot of people are ready to believe it. The Neeran may like to take the high ground and say they don't meddle in our affairs but we don't know that. Hell, we know less about them than we do the Krath."

The Captain exhales and walks over the to display, changing to an external view of the station.
"If things don't start to turn around real soon people upstairs in the Shallan government and the Factions from the Centri cluster are going to start pushing for a ceasefire agreement. One that won't end well for anyone living in the Republic. The Hune won't surrender to an external power without one hell of a fight. But they just went through a civil war so they're still vulnerable.
The Alliance brass knows that if the Neeran take down the Republic all of us are finished. All it would take is for the rest of us to just stand back and do nothing."

The older man takes a seat. "I sure do wish we could just chuck all of those tall gangly bastards across the boarder though. You know, we're going to need a nickname for the isolationists? If we start seeing more of them up here towards the front coms are going to get confusing."

>>27307441

"Clowns. May as well insult them since this shit is their fault."

Wizards maybe? Mysterious, inscrutable, and frustratingly vague about everything.

File: 1379560356297.gif-(27 KB, 1182x992, 3rd Wing - Split unit 7.gif)

27 KB GIF

>>27307441
>>"I need to know what kind of damage my-... J&D's 3rd Attack Wing has taken before I answer."
Roll 7d100

Rolled 63, 50, 39, 36, 18, 11, 30 = 247

>>27307441
?

>>27307773
rolling

Rolled 73, 16, 57, 40, 45, 5, 75 = 311

>>27307441
>>27307773

crap

File: 1379560471699.png-(770 KB, 536x855, MetroLastLightDarkOne2.png)

770 KB PNG

>>27307791
whoops lost my image

Rolled 33, 43, 37, 60, 39, 8, 97 = 317

>>27307773
We "could" contact our wizard friend about the naming thing...I wonder where he is at the moment.

Ask the good captain if our "friend" is around.

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>>27307934
>Ask the good captain if our "friend" is around.
"There are a bunch of them on the Command ship, though I haven't had the pleasure personally. The amount of traffic on and off that one ship is becoming enough to give security people nightmares. I'm surprised nobody has tried for an assassination attempt yet. One less reason to go near it. By the way, here's the data on your pilots."

He hands you a datapad.

Looking through it you see that Biran Edah has been hospitalised, having nearly died either from teleport shock or injuries beforehand. She should eventually recover. Two of your other pilots have been confirmed dead and some were wounded.

The crew from the experimental Rapier was recovered by Second squadron after it limped most of the way to the taskforce. The ship itself had to be abandoned and there wasn't time to save the weapons systems. Unfortunate as it seemed effective against enemy internal systems.

When it became apparent that the fleet was going to be encircled and that they were out gunned Daska took her remaining ships along with any allied corvettes and retreated. She had the starfighters launch once again and fire another volley of SP torpedoes to help cover the retreat and if possible buy time for the rest of the fleet.

The TCS Lombardia fired the single Veckron torpedo they had on board into one of the enemy supers blasting a crater 8km across. Lombardia then attempted to ram to exploit the damage done by the torpedo but failed to penetrate the enemy shield, breaking up on impact. Most of the crew escaped with emergency teleporters beforehand.

You now have 5 House pilots in reserve an addition to yourself. Looking through the data on your ships it seems that the EX-K has been repaired and is being moved up to the front lines. It could be here within a week. There's also the Marauder, or you could try to loan a ship off the Alliance.

>>27308438
We can always take the Marauder for now and wait for the EX-K to make it our way and switch to that. As for our other pilots I say we have them get into assorted frigates. Once we have changed over to the EX-K one of the pilots can take over Marauder.

>>27307934
>We "could" contact our wizard friend about the naming thing...I wonder where he is at the moment.

Sending of a text message to the number you were provided there isn't an immediate response.
Screw it, you send off some suggestions, whats the worst that could happen?

>>27307543
>Clowns. May as well insult them since this shit is their fault.
>>27307727
>Wizards maybe? Mysterious, inscrutable, and frustratingly vague about everything.
>>27307791
>DarkOnes?

A few hours later you get a response from Svidur stating that he read through all the data on the Dark Ones and found it interesting. Also that calling all of his people wizards would be misleading since many lack the time or interest to develop talents suitable for combat, theatrics or diplomacy. However that works.

"Dark ones. You know with darkness so often being associated with negativity, at least by humans, I should think most of my people would prefer you call those from the Neeran Empire Dark ones. Their forces certainly have the appropriate demeanor what with blocking out light with their cloaking fields. I hope you've been keeping out of trouble, or just far enough away from trouble so as to avoid getting killed. I know it can be a rather difficult task some times in the military.
I'm keeping quite busy trying to get my people to send warships. A difficult task since many have been converted into residences over the centuries. They can fight at a moments notice but their population can be another story."

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PGH7RJ5

The next day Daska and the remainder of the unit arrive at the station. Picking up the remainder of your pilots you head aboard the unit's Marauder which has only seen some minor modifications thus far. It's still a fine ship and could hold off another attack cruiser but you wouldnt expect to dodge anything with it.

"A bit of an odd design." Says Arthur when you talk to him. "The units old one that got shot to pieces in South Reach had underside mountings that could either be used for heavy cargo lifting or as weapon mounts for broadside guns and bombardment weapons. This one just has a more reinforced undercarriage."

"So, do you want to talk about what happened with Daksa?" You ask the other Knight.

"Not especially sir."

>Press the issue Y/N? (If yes, what say?)

Meeting up with Daska and Kavos in the briefing room it seems both of them have been hard at work as usual. The younger Dro'all gets right into it.
"Sir, I've been sending training data back and forth with Alex along with system specs and ship data the engineers have been working on. Thanks to our, I mean your... the current arrangement with the Alliance we should be able to get hold of parts and equipment necessary to upgrade some of our ships."

"I have looked through the data as well." Adds Kavos. "Some of our older ships are poorly optimized. We can fit more weapons in addition to shield upgrades. For some anyways."

Daska resumes. "Mikes ships can only upgrade the weapons or the shields, not both because of the afterburner systems. Its the same with Vaughn's cruiser, the modified weapon systems take up too much space to allow an afterburner upgrade. You'll need to decide which is more important, power systems to keep multiple shields up, more weapons, or afterburners. A few ships still have room to fit two of those."

>>27309597
"That's fine for the Cruisers, what about our Frigates and corvettes?"

"There isn't much room aboard to fit many upgrades." Kavos admits. "We might be able to get the shield mods on them."

I hate this shift setup for running games. I'll post in the morning and then resume after 4pm EST.

>>27309597
I say for those with afterburners already should go with weapon upgrades if they can. Those that still do not have them yet should go for shield and then weapons in that order.

If Arthur doesn't want to talk about it that is fine. Just ask Daska about it alone when the meeting is over and if we STILL don't have an answer I say call the two into a room to force the issue.

Though I have to say i'm not really surprised by this turn of events. Hell, Daska has been gunning for our job since the smugglers run.

>>27304624
>Do you want to bring this up to her?
Sorry it took me so long to reply to this but I was asleep. We should probably wait until she had the chance to speak with a professional, and then ask his opinion on this.

>>27309597
>>Press the issue Y/N? (If yes, what say?)

If you promise me there won't be any problems between the two of you, I won't press the issue. However, you will have to tell me eventually.

>>27309769
I'll back this its pretty reasonable

>>27310645
bump

>>27310114
>We should probably wait until she had the chance to speak with a professional, and then ask his opinion on this.
With the Wing about to transfer to another station soon you hold off bringing it up for the time being. You'll look into it in a few days time.

>If Arthur doesn't want to talk about it that is fine. Just ask Daska about it alone when the meeting is over and if we STILL don't have an answer I say call the two into a room to force the issue.
After Kavos leaves you put the question to Daska; what happened?

"Well after we linked up and got most of our ships operational again there was the question of what to do until you showed up again. We're both the same rank as well as being nobles, and I've put a lot more effort into training our people with various size unit tactics. Also Arthur has bad luck, you've seen it sir, it wouldn't be good for morale.
So I challenged him to a duel for temporary control of the Wing. I already knew that he favoured heavier swings so I just evaded or deflected them and slowly started to land hits with a holoblade. Wrist, upper arm, lower back, then he wasn't able to keep up because of the injuries.

It was a private match and nobody was really hurt and it wasnt broadcast. Afterwords he realised he shouldn't have accepted but our Knights haven't had many challenges for duels so he was out of practice. He isn't happy but if that means he trains harder all the better."

>>27312903
I'm not suggesting we should form a secret duelling society. But we should definitely form a secret duelling fight club and shark appreciation society. We need to socialise with other nobles outside of combat.

>>27312903
Know you're enemy. It's a good thing you could read him and react accordingly. Keep it up.

Also... how would you feel about an unofficial underground fight club?

>>27308438
>Biran Edah has been hospitalised

Sonia should visit her, if that's possible.
Also, call the commander to give her an update on our situation.

>>27313351
Unofficial underground fighting club?

Surely you meant to say the Wing Nobility's Private Duelling Society... ?

>>27314175
Unoffical underground knight improvement society? Not good with names, but something that seems a bit more open to many things. "Dueling", armed and unarmed fighting, ship combat, command scenarios.

>>27313731
I also 100% agree with this.

Not sure about anyone else but I find it pretty amusing how Daska blatantly wants to take our position. This has been going on for quite a while and is now to the point where if/when we take our break from the was Daska would volunteer to look after everyone while we were away.

Of course she is going to be stuck with us for awhile until we get our next promotion or get reassigned to someplace else.

>>27314935
It'd be a problem if she wasn't so competent. As it stands the job is hers to have as soon as we end up elsewhere.

>>27315053
Maybe we should see about getting her a separate command as more ships become available?

Should we put Rufaro on suicide watch? Or does she have some fancy military implants that allow us to make sure she's not harming herself over this?

>>27315507
We can keep an eye on her sure, but I don't know if it's gotten to that level yet.

>>27315376
We'll have to ask her what she thinks about sharks first!

>>27316457
Clearly it is the most important question when choosing who will lead a group of people.

>Not sure about anyone else but I find it pretty amusing how Daska blatantly wants to take our position. This has been going on for quite a while and is now to the point where if/when we take our break from the was Daska would volunteer to look after everyone while we were away.

If you hant gone down to the surface of Gesuar you would have had to directly compete with her for command of second squadron when it was formed. It would not have been easy.

Then you took the infiltration side mission which put you on the fast track to becoming a Knight.

CMD: Daska Rna, we're giving you command of a corvette squadron.
DR: Yes! Lets train these guys to be the best ever!
CMD: Oh sorry, we're giving your squadron to another pilot that already has a cruiser, a personal fortune, and a sponsor to become a Knight.

"Sonia was here, Daska's a loser!"

>>27317120
It's like we are a constant road block in Daska's road to advancement. For every time she advances we will always be in a spot to give her orders.

>Forever her superior officer.

>>27317232
>>Forever her superior officer.
"Fuck yeah, I finally became Knight Commander of House Johnny-Dredd, too bad my old CO disappeared one that weird infiltration mission. I wonder if Sonia's still alive, guess she couldn't be my superior officer forever, heh.

Aanyway, I shpiöd have time to think some more about that while I sit in the background of the peace talks with the Neeran Empire."

"Oh, hey Daska! Long time no see."

"Sonia? What are you doing here? Not that I'm unhappy to see you. And what's with that outfit?"

"Eh, it's a rather long story, but to make things short.... IkindabecomeEmperessoftheNeeranEmpire."

"..."

>>27317434
>>shpiöd
>should

I really have to change the key to switch between different keyboard languages.

>>27317434
It's going to be even worse when we take our handy dandy life extension injection. Her superior officer to the end of her days.

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>>27317620

>>27313731
>>27314818
You check on Edah to see how she's doing. While no longer in critical condition she remains unconscious. It's clear she's been through surgery with sections of new artificial flesh covering parts of her left side, but she's still missing an arm and a leg. Concerned there might be a shortage of cloning units you ask the medical staff and find out that additional procedures may still be required. To prevent complications they've held off replacing the missing limbs.

"How long until she's fully recovered?"

"A week at the earliest, though she could be in therapy for twice that long." the nurse answers.

"Let me know if she needs anything. If money is a problem I'll take care of it."


>Also, call the commander to give her an update on our situation.
Contacting the Commander you let her know you and the wing are accepting a position with helping to get the Alliance strike units in order.

"Good. Stay off the front as long as you can. The rest of your wing is helping to prepare the Fourth for combat. Once we can deploy both of them I'll call for our remaining ships to be pulled from the front, it will get around the new edict."

"I'm sorry sir I've been out of contact, what new edict?"

"The Emperor has decided that the Neeran pose too great a threat to the continued existence of the Dominion. Until or unless a ceasefire agreement is reached the Dominion is now in a state of total war. Any House that refuses to mobilise will be excommunicated and listed as an enemy stronghold free for any other House to attack and conquer."

>>27318981
Typically that kind of thing would be unsettling but Neerans are some serious shit.

Any notable Houses not mobilizing? FPL?

>>27319015
>FPL?

If they're lucky, they're still in the process of negotiating with the Dominion and not listed as a house, yet.

>>27318981
>the Dominion is now in a state of total war.
I was wondering when this was going to happen. At least with the other houses getting into the fray, it'll give us some time to catch our collective breaths and rebuild the losses we recently took.

>>27318981
>the Dominion is now in a state of total war

We should make sure Dad is kept away from the front, and that our sister doesn't sign up for anything too idiotic.

>>27318981
>In a state of total war
Shit just got real.

>>27319159
Yeah, this should be right at the top of things we need to do

>>27319272
>Yeah, this should be right at the top of things we need to do

Now that I think of it, wouldn't it be the easiest thing just to put them in a stasis field for the duration of this war? We could defrost them for occasions like Christmas Eve or Thanksgiving so they don't lose touch with important developments.

>>27318981
I think our wing has to be pulled off rather soon-ish or we will face some problems with 'combat fatigue'
and 're-adjustment issues'.

I have this nagging suspicions that TSTG keeps track of PTSD points secretly and will use them to fuck up social rolls once we get back home by acting as we did in combat, when we see something similar to that situation. meaning stabbing people, ramming ships, taking over vehicles and running things over, and excessive use of explosions.

That may or may not put a dampener on social situations, from courting someone, to a businesses meeting, bonding with a sister, or a political rally.

>>27319355
>That may or may not put a dampener on social situations, from courting someone
Any man who doesn't like Sonias work doesn't deserve her attention. It'd be disappointing if a Reynard wedding didn't have a few minor explosions.

>>27318981

"Won't our forces qualify to be pulled off the lines for combat fatigue any day now anyway?"

Actually, I have to wonder if our people aren't already seeing the early stages of combat related fatigue and stress. Perhaps we should have the Commander or the Alliance do psych evals on our people before we start training people, might identify people that could do more harm than good to the new guys.

>>27319355
There is a way to make Sonia even crazier? Sounds like TSTG has quite a challenge ahead of him.

>>27319355
Why is this a nagging suspicion? Pretty sure we learned at some point that PTSD points are a thing.

>>27319542
Indeed, it has been confirmed that they are a thing.

>>27319336
>>27319355
>>27319272
I see Psycho!Sonia is still alive and kicking.

>>27319159
Yeah, I think a call to our family is in order.

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>about to make several long posts
>Windows has shut down to protect your computer!
>Text file didnt save before the crash either!

The rest of the House fleet hasnt been do so great. The Cruiser squadrons have been reformed into additional escorts for the Carriers. Frigate units are now only being used to assist planetary assaults. Carriers and the medium cruisers are sticking close to the larger battlegroups.
1st Wing is undergoing a refit, mostly for repairs but also to upgrade the systems to run additional shields much like you're doing. Captain Saputo has sworn off Fleet engagements until those upgrades are in place.

On returning to the ship you tell Kavos about your conversation with the commander.

"The Emperor declared An'uar?" Kavos stops and thinks about what you've told her. "That changes things."

"How so?"

"It's been more than a thousand years since the last time it was declared. Back towards the dawn of the previous dynasty, centuries before the Exodus even."

"So, what happened back then?"

"147 new Houses were created and in the span of a decade we conquered the First Kavarian Imperium. Things are different now, we are less unified and the Ruling House is comparatively weak. It's not out of the question that there could be a rebellion back home if enough Houses refuse. Or some Houses could just send the minimum requirements then strike at the others that have taken too many casualties on the front lines."

>>27319989
"I wonder how much choice he had. The other Factions were probably unhappy with a good portion of our houses sitting this out."

>>27319989
Well this isn't good. Our house is taking hella losses at the front lines.

>>27320123
I thought we were much stronger than we used to be.

>>27320075
"More likely the Houses already committed were even more unhappy."

>>27320142
>I thought we were much stronger than we used to be.
You are, for now.

The wing arrives at a system that was once home to a mining and refinery operation until the war. The Alliance has co-opted the local station and is expanding it. Manufacturing lines are bring brought in to produce starship parts and armor, while docking facilities are expanding to accommodate a small fleet. It's still a bit short on repair equipment and weapons at the moment. All repair yards are in use working on patching up a few attack cruisers from the other Factions.

After docking and going aboard you're directed to a secondary hub where the commanders of the other units present are located. The first you run into is a fairly thin human male in a Terran uniform who approaches and extends a hand in greeting.
"Jed Enright. I remember you guys, we both fought in South Reach. We made a run at that one Heavy Carrier above the broken moon shipyard."

You recall a unit comprised mostly of Scorpion class Attack Cruisers that seemed to have a few too many SP torpedoes to burn at the time.

"What's the situation here?" You ask him.

"Everyone present are the remains of several units pulled off the front lines after being mauled. I'm down to three cruisers for my squadron, though the fleet sent me some Gamma's as backup. The others you'll just have to take a look. Alliance command is strongly in favour of adopting Dominion strike unit tactics based on corvette usage. That's all well and good but doesn't work so well when it comes to larger ships that dont necessarily fit together in terms of performance. There are ex-pirates, mercenaries here on assignment for the PCCG, Rovinar ships, Kavarians. Its a real mix and everyone is used to doing things differently. The equipment will be a problem too with how varied it is."

>>27320390
"Fair enough. Mind you we've had to learn to deal because our house can't really afford to get additional attack cruisers in any other way than salvage, So we had to learn to make a necessity into a virtue." inset joke about logistics hating our guts because of all the ships we have.

>>27283307
>"In the Neeran Incursions just after your Faction Wars one of the twin Homeworlds was bombarded from space. Half our species died. We know how to conduct evacuations if given time to prepare."

Buy stock of every Shallan company that's currently losing its value quickly because the companies assets are immediately threatened by the Neeran invasion. If people don't know they've such extensive plans in place for this situation, they might overestimate how hard this is going to hit many companies.

If we limit how much money we spend on this, and spread out our investments well enough, it should be possible to make a profit unless they entire Shallan territory is lost. If we buy only stuff that's really cheap, even that scenario shouldn't be too bad for us. Might get the rights to some IP if the entire company folds under the current attacks.

After all, the trick to making money is to buy when there’s blood in the streets.

>>27320664
I'll second investing in the Shallans. They appear to be hardy motherfuckers.

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"Fair enough. Mind you we've had to learn to deal because our house can't really afford to get additional attack cruisers in any other way than salvage, So we had to learn to make a necessity into a virtue.
The downside is that my logistics people may have sent assasins to blow up a station and kill me."

Enright raises an eyebrow but otherwise says nothing.

"Any Republic units?" You ask.

"No none, though they're sending some pilots and crews. Their fast Frigates just dont hold up well to the kind of fighting we're seeing so the Alliance wants them out of the Strike units. Still if we end up with a few that's better than having no ships at all."

Entering the makeshift fleet command center for the local units you see status displays showing the numer of ships present with each group, what Faction they're from and prefered formations.

"Knight Captain Rya Stemi is in charge of a Dominion corvette wing. She recently lost her Aries built Attack Cruiser so watch yourself. Her House was able to return the unit to full strength a day ago.
Kalah Farhaz commands the Kavarian unit. They had to start adding Firestorm Frigates even before the invasion because their few shipyards couldnt keep up with the losses. Most of the cruisers are older models and need to be upgraded. The Mercs have fought along side him have taken to calling him "Fahrenheit" though they wont tell me why."
Jaro Quol heads up the Rovinar group. Used to be with the convoy raiding groups.
Şivan Berwari is another human with the South Reach pirates, that unit's an operational disaster. Chaos in motion.
The PCCG sent some Mercs with mixed cruisers, frigates and upgraded Jenning Assault corvettes. I didn't catch the name of their new unit commander yet."

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>>27320664
>After all, the trick to making money is to buy when there’s blood in the streets.
Pic related?

>If we limit how much money we spend on this, and spread out our investments well enough, it should be possible to make a profit unless they entire Shallan territory is lost. If we buy only stuff that's really cheap, even that scenario shouldn't be too bad for us. Might get the rights to some IP if the entire company folds under the current attacks.
Any particular types of companies you want to focus on?

>>27321104
I'm seeing a lot of potential here. Mixed units are great.

>>27321104
We need files on all these guys.
It might also be prudent to schedule meetings with each of them as well. Just to gauge what kind of personalities we'll have to deal with, and what level of commitment we can expect from them.

>>27321148
What's the assault corvette we have? I'm not sure if I remember the specs.

>>27321148
>Any particular types of companies you want to focus on?

I doubt it'll be worth it to invest in anything that's essential to the war effort, their government will most likely keep those on a short leash.

I would suggest to focus on all the stuff nobody cares about right now.

Anything that has to do with terraforming and removing damage caused by orbital bombardment has the potential to prove very useful in the future.

Or companies who might struggle during the war, but will be in huge demand once it is over, regardless of its outcome.

Another idea would be to buy stock in companies that hold patents to stuff not essential for the war effort, as their patents are most likely not going to be revoked just to aid our fleets against the Neerans.

The basic idea is to buy stuff nobody considers a priority right now but that will be essential as soon as the war is over.

By the way, what are the Shallans good at when it comes to their industry?

>Pic related?
Yes, it's glorious.

You look over the files on the other squadron commanders. Before the warlords campaign few of them had much in the way of defining moments.

Enright was just given command of his ship three years ago after serving as a bridge officer on a battlecruiser for the previous five. Early on in the campaign he found that he was a better pilot than half of the helmsmen the Terrans assigned him.
His ship stayed behind to undergo modifications, initially missing the Lat'tham coup attempt. As a result he was among the first reinforcement wave to reach the Relay once communications were restored.
He is known for taking on high risk strike missions to help decisively end engagements. When most of his people couldnt keep up with him he assigned former starfighter pilots to helm all of the ships in his unit.

As you look up from some of the data the Terran officer speaks up. "The Shallans haven't been able to spare anything or I'm sure they'd contribute. They have as much reason as anyone to support the Alliance."
Enright stops and looks at one of the displays now showing readouts on 3rd Wing. "Is that a Shallan attack cruiser in your group? And what the hell, is that a prototype Frigate?"

>>27321312
>What's the assault corvette we have? I'm not sure if I remember the specs.
Daska picked it up when retreating from the battle where you got shot down. It's a Terran Assault corvette attached to the Alliance and since she was technically in temporary command of an Alliance unit she didn't feel the need to let it be reassigned.

The Jenning class that used to be in your unit was owned by a Merc that bought it off the House back in the Smugglers Run. He left back in the Pandora cluster taking the ship with him. Actually, one of the trio of modified ones from the PCCG unit looks to have the same markings... and anti-torpedo armor.
Shit that's the same guy, apparently he got a promotion. Cant for the life of me find the guy's name in the archive.

>>27321604
"Remember when I said logistics may have tried to kill me? That was after the Second Superheavy cruiser I helped capture for the house. My unit probably captured more warship tonnage than our entire house fleet."
I'm pretty sure that those two super heavies alone equal at least 200% of our prewar fleet given that we had 3 medium cruisers to start things out.

>>27321699
Those are a secret

>>27321705
What? No they aren't. Especially since we are selling the second one.

>>27321736
Pretty sure Forbearance is something the Knight Commander wants to keep on the down low

>>27321374
I bet there will be a large government stimulus package focused on infrastructure in the aftermath of the war, so investing in construction and prefab manufacturing firms right now, when they are not getting much business, will probably be smart.

That, and consumer goods firms back in the Dominion. A total war economy will see a huge decease in their production, so the larger ones will most likely be nationalised/ forced into war production for the government. We should target smaller firms there with patents or consumer R&D think tanks, both are organisations that will likely fold if the war goes on for a while, giving us a glut of tech and info to play with in the aftermath.

>>27321752
That spec Ops Terran battleship when right by it during the smugglers run chase scene.

>>27321752
That's common knowledge to every one who was involved in the smugglers run campaign. Which means the Terrans, Rovinar, Republic, and like six dominion Houses.

When is the rest of our unit scheduled to show up again?

>>27321885
The rest of 3rd Wing that stayed behind in the Pandora Cluster? Uh... they weren't going to. Also I screwed up something back here.
>>27318981
>The rest of your wing is helping to prepare the Fourth for combat. Once we can deploy both [the Second and Fourth Wings] I'll call for our remaining ships to be pulled from the front, it will get around the new edict."

>>27321811
Correct. Forbearance is a local landmark since it's been stranded there for ages. You cant take the fastest lane through the Run without coming within sensor range of it. The locals had been known to block the Run occasionally with their minefield but since that leaves the station poorly defended they didn't do it often.

Back to unit commanders.
Rya Stemi is from another Minor House. Very little information. Took part in a string of fleet actions while you were busy in the Smugglers Run and then after that didnt see action again until Operation Typhoon. Again, little of note but the unit took very little casualties. Overall her wing shows a higher weapons accuracy, and since there are only attack corvettes in her squadrons that means they can probably punch through shields quite effectively with twin linked fire.

The Kavarian Kalah Fharahz is very by the book, but especially has an eye for knowing when to retreat. According to some of the mercenaries who talk to you they use "Fahrenheit" to gague how a battle is going. When he runs for it, so do they. Other that he's a rather average commander.

Jaro Quol the Rovinar convoy raider is the oldest officer aboard any of the ships present. He spent most of his career using cloaked ships hunting pirates, though in Operation Typhoon he was reassigned to more heavily armed vessels that would be unable to mount a cloak so as to lead larger units to strike were it was most needed. Few Rovinar ships have been outfitted with the type of emergency thrusters you use, relying instead on shields and point defense. All of Quol's ships have been heavily modified to make use of them and he wants to learn how to train Rovinar crews to better integrate into Alliance strike units.

Everyone except for the mercenaries have been avoiding the Pirates. Captain Şivan Berwari has a reputation as a hotshot, using a Vengeance Type C built at one of the shipyards you captured or destroyed. Despite this reputation the records you have show that Berwari is actually an accomplished mathematician. He deploys his ships in a seemingly randomised attack posture he's jokingly nicknamed "Chaos Theory" making it difficult for enemies to accurately target individuals. In reality each ship is given a deployment envelope using a modified version of the TAP Heads up display system that they have to stay within to avoid collisions with friendlies.
Two South Reach League captains assigned to his unit from other commands have tried to kill him after being unable to cope.

Fine, have to make up a new name for the guy.

Alosh Amila was one of the longest serving mercenaries in the 3rd attack wing, known for using a Jenning that had been upgraded with better armor and higher output engines to make up for it. A Hune, Alex reported him to be a capable pilot but otherwise didn't stand out much. Then again most of your people preferred to keep House pilots in command of each ship flight, using Mercenaries only for backup.
Amila has rounded up a few survivors from the "Mythal League" mercenary unit and others that used to fight along side you. According to records they saw action a few days ago assisting an attempt to put troops aboard a Neeran Super Heavy. While ultimately successful they lost half their ships.
The group was called in to attempt to bridge the gap between the pirates and other units here and because of their experience in mixed units. The Alliance isnt certain if they're here just to pad their own resumes or to actually help the PCCG get some units together.

When Kavos enters the command center you wave her over. "Take a look at this."
You point to the mention of a boarding attempt.

"Do you have clearance to find out what happened?"

[ ] Of course I have clearance (Roll 1d10)
[ ] Better check with the Alliance first
[ ] That data might be sensitive, better check back later.
[ ] Other

Rolled 9

>>27322892
[x] Of course I have clearance.

>>27322932
Can't argue with the that roll...
Let's see these files!

What happened to the corvette group that got under the neeran super heavy shields? Did they all get iced?

"Confirming identification. Major Sonia Reynard. Strike Command."

The insertion teams used a combination of cloaked warships like Rovinar Silent Hunters and smaller attack craft like the Delta and Scrab modified to carry troops instead of weapons. Apparently the Alliance didn't think normal LSTs would be fast enough.

After blasting a hole through the shields of a super heavy some of the ships made it inside with one of the silent hunters remaining outside beneath the shield to provide a means of escape. It could also act as a com relay should the boarding teams transmit useful data but be unable to get back outside.

The interior of the ship is a network of docking spaces for corvettes and HLV's with starfighter and shuttle bays located near the main outer doors. Internal defenses for the docking sections rely on starfighters and light attack ships similar to the wheeled ground vehicles the Neeran use. The defenders used blast doors to box in the boarding craft and then attempted to incinerate the locked down section with plasma from the one remaining corvette.

The troops were able to breach the walls with a boarding torpedo and abandon their vehicles before the section was incinerated.

The last reports from the teams indicated that something seemed to be draining their energy weapons and power cell armor. They estimated that hand weapons would be dead in an hour or two while their suits might have 4-5 hours. Power armor equipped with micro fusion reactors faced similar problems, and the more the user increased reactor output the more energy would be drained.
The surviving ship crews had detected similar problems on the attack craft but hadn't commented on it until after this, previously assuming it was instrumentation. The Rovinar ship lost contact with the boarding team a few minutes later.

FLAG SNATCHER MERCENARY STATUS: MIA

Kavos is more than a bit disturbed by this report and requests some time to look through the database for anything similar.

[ ] No/Your help with the wing is too important right now
[ ] The Alliance is working on it by now/ Only if it doesn't interfere with duties
[ ] Go for it, you might see something they missed
[ ] Other

>>27323263
>What happened to the corvette group that got under the neeran super heavy shields? Did they all get iced?
Actually some of them escaped. They've underdone debriefing from both the Alliance and their House and are currently trying to assemble a pair of new corvette wings to teach the other pilots how to repeat the tactic.

If you want the Alliance could probably get hold of a couple of the pilots for you for awhile.

>>27323765
I vote go for it. It looks like they've got some kind of energy leech absorbing everything. Could be using the energy to materialize ores or parts. We need to figure this out and how the neeran aren't effected.

Wait, didnt the big guy we fought do some kind of energy leech thing from the stuff around him as well?

>>27323825
>Wait, didnt the big guy we fought do some kind of energy leech thing from the stuff around him as well?
The armor in question absorbed energy weapons fire that struck it (or the heat generated by them) and then transmitted heat into nearby objects to bleed off that energy.

>>27323765
Go for it.

>>27324034
So their ships are reverse designed to absorb energy from the surrounding and bleed it off into their capacitor or weapon system

>>27323765
>Actually some of them escaped. They've underdone debriefing from both the Alliance and their House and are currently trying to assemble a pair of new corvette wings to teach the other pilots how to repeat the tactic.

We should get in touch with these guys and write up a report on how to get past the gelatinous shield. Using nothing but SPs is not as efficient as punching a hole for them with regular torpedoes and weapon fire first.

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>>27324034
This was me.

>>27324485
You send them a message letting them know what you're up to and ask to keep in contact with them.
So, your available squadron/unit commanders consist of

Sonia Reynard
Daska Rna
Arthur Moton
Mike Serth

Jed Enright (Terran)
Knight Captain Rya Stemi (Dominion)
Kalah Fharahz (Kavarian) Nickname: "Fahrenheit"
Jaro Quol (Rovinar)
Şivan Berwari (South Reach)
Alosh Amila (PCCG/Privateer)

Many of the ships provided are of older design and as such could undergo upgrades. Upgrades can focus on Shields, Weapons or Afterburners.
At the moment Cruisers can only focus on 2 of these while Frigates can only take 1.
Corvettes can also take 1 upgrade but are limited to shields of afterburners. They're just too small to mount more weapons other than external missile racks or equipment pods.

These limitations may be overcome through R&D.

How did you guys want to start tackling the cross training? You've never done anything like this before, it was mostly just adding 1 or 2 ships here and there and trying to adjust slightly to the changes in the unit.

>>27324534
Oh and how did the corvettes escape from the shield? Was it shut down at some point or is the shield directional?

We have such an odd mix of ships that we can't guarantee a squadron will have a specific mix. So for training it's best to start with small units. Organize ships into wings of 3 similar ships and have them practice as a group. Once they have that down we can start combining them into squadrons for larger group tactics. And then after that mixed groups with different ship types working together..

>>27324645
Will you be making use of the simulators more or actual flying with the ships?
Most sim combat is done aboard station with holobooths, but sometimes fleets will practice maneuvers in the field with weapons at low power settings. This can be dangerous if there are obstacles like stations or asteroids, but these are threats pilots and crews have to face when they're in combat.

Simulators sound like a good idea because it allows us to rapidly pair off pilots and crews with different ships without wrangling with the logistics of moving the real ships about.

>>27324809
Always start with the simulators before you move into live exercises. Don't want a simple mistake cutting on of our ships in half.

Big ships can be tanky while little ships can be swift. Love to find a way to r&d a better gun with penetration so we can throw it on our ships instead of adding more guns.

>Oh and how did the corvettes escape from the shield? Was it shut down at some point or is the shield directional?
Most shields are unidirectional, these ones are not. The Neeran eventually opened a hole for some of their ships around one of the bay doors at which point the surviving corvettes made their escape. They took scans that the Alliance are analysing to try and find other ways of breaching the shield.

>Using nothing but SPs is not as efficient as punching a hole for them with regular torpedoes and weapon fire first.
Conventional torpedoes detonate on contact with the exterior just like regular shields. SP torps are able to cause more damage to the shield protection when they detonate inside the shield.

>Organize ships into wings of 3 similar ships and have them practice as a group.
3 similar ships each drawn from different units?
Trying to not fall asleep and failing. Looks like we still have plenty of posts left before autosage. Try to think of ways you want to train the unit.

May as well dive right in if we are using simulators.

- At the start we should run some basic scenarios with each faction as a separate team. This will give everyone a good idea of how each faction usually does things.
- Then we start with the small unit training. Groups of 3 random ships to start and rotate them out between exercises so that everyone gets used to different ally ships.
- Once this has been going on long enough we can switch to having groups of 3 similar sized ships (but still from different factions). This gives a chance for the pilots to compare notes about how their ship interacts with other types.
- And then for the fourth round of training we start using bigger randomized units of 6 ships.

Once this is complete we should be able to take stock of the situation and see if we can move to live exercises.

>>27324534
>How did you guys want to start tackling the cross training?

Let's start with some simulator scenarios for each individual unit to get an idea how they actually perform. Attacks, defensive actions, and scenarios requiring them to know when to retreat should be usefuls. Split the simulations evenly between missions where it's just their unit, and missions where they're part of a larger strike force.

That should give us some idea of their specific strengths and weaknesses.

Bump.

>>27326621
I'm realising this is going to take a lot of dice rolls. And I'm needed at work until 7pm. Fuck my job.
I'll try to post on my break.

You start by seeing if the Terran unit can handle themselves when you take away their SP torpedoes.
Roll 4d20 to get the ball rolling

Rolled 10, 18, 3, 6 = 37

>>27328216

Rolled 3

>>27328216
Rolling.
>1

Rolled 9

>>27328382
>2

Rolled 4

>>27328393
>3

Having to wait 60 seconds between posts is a bit annoying...

Rolled 19

>>27328402
>4

And the dice hate me today, it seems.

Rolled 12, 12, 16, 18 = 58

>>27328216

bump

Jed Enright (Terran)
Attack 12
Defense 18
Orderly/Fighting Retreat 16
Large unit 19

The Terrans have proven to be good all rounders, though they're not quite as good when it comes to attacking enemy positions or formations. You presume it must be a result of their reliance on SP weaponry.

Looking across the command center you see that most of the other unit commanders have gathered to discuss plans for training. You've already made it clear to everyone that you'll be mixing some of the units using similar ship types after they've all completed a simulator assessment.

The pirate Berwari is talking when you come over.
"Welcome Major. I was just saying that if you wanted to ensure proper distribution of pilots getting experience with other units I could punch out a quick randomiser to match everyone up."

"Could we NOT listen to the mad scientist over here?" Interrupts Knight Stemi

"Oh please don't act so high and mighty because of a bloodline. I could probably trace mine back to Selahedînê Eyûbî, Chingis Khan, Elizabeth the Third, and Cole Weston."

Enright scoffs "Yeah, you and half the humans in South Reach could claim to be a descendant of Admiral Weston."

Berwari points with both hands across the table at the Terran commander. "This man knows what I'm talking about."

"Enough." says Fharahz. "Major, are there any areas we could help your own people improve upon?"
>What say?

Back to work. We're going to need 4d20 rolls for each of the following. So a total of 20d20. God that's a lot. You guys determine how you're planning to do that, I'll be back after 7pm.

Knight Captain Rya Stemi (Dominion)
Kalah Fharahz (Kavarian) Nickname: "Fahrenheit"
Jaro Quol (Rovinar)
Şivan Berwari (South Reach)
Alosh Amila (PCCG/Privateer)

Rolled 16, 4, 20, 13, 3, 16, 17, 20, 18, 18, 11, 2, 16, 4, 17, 7, 4, 14, 2, 2 = 224

>>27331189
what's the limit on rolls per post I wonder

>Things our people could work on
We tend to stick around in some fights longer than we probably should, so maybe talk to the Kavarian about getting a feel for when things are about to go poorly. Also it usually seems like our fighters and larger ships don't really work together much and are typically both doing their own thing

Rolled 18, 6, 19, 9 = 52

>>27331189
>Knight Captain Rya Stemi (Dominion)

I'll roll 4d20 for each of the formations. I think rolling 20 1d20 would kinda clog up the thread.

Rolled 17, 9, 18, 5 = 49

>>27331301
>>27331189
>Kalah Fharahz (Kavarian) Nickname: "Fahrenheit"

Rolled 10, 5, 10, 3 = 28

>>27331189
>Jaro Quol (Rovinar)

Rolled 2, 17, 5, 10 = 34

>>27331189
>Şivan Berwari (South Reach)

Rolled 14, 7, 16, 19 = 56

>>27331189
>Alosh Amila (PCCG/Privateer)

>>27331262
Rya Stemi: 16,4,20,13
Kalah Fharahz: 3,16,17,20
Jaro Quol: 18,18,11,2
Sivan Berwari: 16,4,17,7
Alosh Amila: 4,14,2,2

Rolled 13, 14, 2, 12, 15, 10, 4, 3, 3, 12, 20, 17, 10, 11, 16, 11, 12, 5, 7, 5 = 202

>>27331189

>>27331301
>>27331352
>>27332015
Rya Stemi: 18,14,20,13
Kalah Fharahz: 17,16,18,20
Jaro Quol: 18,18,20,17
Sivan Berwari: 16,17,17,11
Alosh Amila: 14,14,16,19

As expected, experienced lizardman convoy raider knows his shit.

>>27331189
>>What say?
We could definitely use some serious help when it comes to our fighter tactics. We seem to restock torpedoes and fighters at the same rate more often than not.

Bump.

>>27332196
>Jaro Quol: 18,18,20,17
Everything went better than planned.

>>27333832
>We could definitely use some serious help when it comes to our fighter tactics. We seem to restock torpedoes and fighters at the same rate more often than not.
Everyone looks to the Rovinar officer who has been keeping quiet up until now.

"Starfighters are like a pick or a hammer, incredibly useful and good at what they do but that doesn't mean they're to be used in every situation. Starships can often jump in on a target, quickly engage and then retreat, often before you would have been able to launch fighters and let them engage."

"How would you use them then?"

"Prolonged harassment of fixed locations. Hide carriers in system near a target and allow them to deploy on their own. Starfighters appearing out of nowhere can be very startling.
If you must use them with your ships what you call leapfrog is very effective. Pull friendly ships back so they are not in the way, hit an enemy with torpedoes launched from fighters then pull them back. When fighters are clear re-engage starships. It does not solve newer problems with Neeran ship weapons, but proper distraction and deployment may give fighters time."

>>27331189
>The Terrans have proven to be good all rounders, though they're not quite as good when it comes to attacking enemy positions or formations. You presume it must be a result of their reliance on SP weaponry.

Assesment of your allies Continued:
The Dominion Corvette units are lacking in their defensive action and large unit battle skills compared to many of the others. Mind you they're still an ace level unit and can still out perform many regulars in the same areas.

Fahrenheit's one weakness is defensive actions simply because they're not something you can just run away from. Despit this reputation his people are good and have drilled extensively to take part in large unit actions, specifically in fighting around friendly super heavy cruisers.

The Rovinar convoy raider hasn't fought in as many large fleet battles but still gives a strong showing. Unsurprisingly he knows when and how to cut and run, making a pursuit by enemy forces suicidal.

The Pirate's many calculations prove to be unable to hold up well in large scale battles. There are too many variables to take into effect. His pilots and command skills are still able to give them a strong edge in any other engagement types.

Alosh Amila's unit proves to be above average but they don't really hit their stride until they simulate the larger battles. In those they fare as well as the Terrans did, almost able to keep up with the Kavarians.

Rolled 96

After getting a good idea of what everyone is capable of you get down to the real hard work. Putting it all together. As your mother used to say "Baby steps" ...while trying to encourage your sister.

>- Then we start with the small unit training. Groups of 3 random ships to start and rotate them out between exercises so that everyone gets used to different ally ships.

Splitting up the established units is something that everyone has been waiting for and dreading. Not all of these pilots and crews are team players. Your own people are going to be split up among them. You impress upon 3rd Wing that some of the other squadrons have skills they could pick up and not to act like they're the only ones who know how to fight in a mixed unit.

This is going to be their first time out so rolls will be at a -2 modifier. You sure hope you don't have to break up any fights between units.

Roll 7d20

Rolled 20, 15, 12, 17, 11, 20, 8 = 103

>>27337128

Rolled 18, 15, 2, 20, 8, 13, 13 = 89

>>27337128

I think that in actual deployments we shouldn't break up the various faction groups beyond the flight level. So like a squadron of two flights of Rovinar and one each of Pirates and Kavarians would probably work but a flight with a Terran cruiser, a Merc frigate, and a Dominion corvette is likely to have problems

Rolled 59, 17, 77, 10, 31, 59, 10 = 263

>>27337128

Rolled 10, 18, 20, 18, 14, 15, 5 = 100

>>27337305
Woops! Wrong dice

>Love to find a way to r&d a better gun with penetration so we can throw it on our ships instead of adding more guns.
Working on increasing the penetration value of phase weaponry has always been a priority among the Factions. Given the strength of Neeran shields R&D efforts to increase the damage of beam weapons are likely being tackled with renewed urgency.


With pilots constantly rotating between each flight, some of them getting used to working with wingmen, there just isn't time for any disagreements to break out between crews.

After three days of drills you and the other officers meet to look over the results.

Sonia (J-D) 20
Enright (T) 18
Kt Stemi (D) 20*
"Fahrenheit" (K) 20
Jaro (R) 14*
Pirate (W) 20
Amila (M) 13

Your people are in their element, they were born for this. The Kavarians and the Pirates also seem to take a liking to operating in the 3 ship units much to their surprise.
Knight Stemi's corvette crews initially have trouble getting used to operating with larger ships. From their reactions they're more used to bypassing slower Light Cruisers so they can go about their business. Their leader never operated with wingmen when there was still an attack cruiser in the unit, possibly the reason it was destroyed by the Neeran. Still they get their act together.

The Rovinar and mercenary crews have above average results but still the lowest overall. It goes to show what kind of people the Alliance recruit when what would otherwise be elite crews anywhere else are considered to be average here.

Jaro says that his crews are trained from day one to operate along a certain set of engagement procedures and that are not quite as flexible. They're still very efficient but not the best when working with other crews and ships.
Amila meanwhile claims that some of their pilots are still getting up to speed.

Do you want the Rovinar and Merc pilots to spend more time training in small mixed units, or push on?

>>27337641

I think we should move everyone on as a whole, unless either the Rovinar or Mercs feel they absolutely aren't ready. We can always mix small unit stuff in to the future training

>>27337641
lets move on.

>>27337768
>>27337778
Next up on the schedule is same sized ship units. Corvettes, Frigates and Cruisers will each be working with similar sized units.

Enright, who has been working with the Alliance logistics people, informs you that some additional ships have been made available. If you wanted it would be possible to rotate more of the pilots through on corvettes, assault corvettes and Frigates though this would still take longer to do.

Some of the other unit commanders are for it as it will give crews more experience on a wider variety of ships. The others are of the opinion that too much time will be spent on training as is, and they need to get back to the front lines as soon as possible.

[ ] Stick with the current ships (2 days total)
[ ] Use some of the reserve ships, extend training (3 days total)
[ ] Other

>>27338011

[x] Use some of the reserve ships, extend training

If sacrificing a day gives our people even a minor increase in their skills, it could be the edge that lets them go on to train the next wave of Alliance pilots.

>>27338011
[X] Use some of the reserve ships, extend training (3 days total)

Rolled 36

Roll 7d20

Rolled 6, 7, 1, 3, 16, 8, 18 = 59

>>27338326

Rolled 12, 1, 15, 9, 20, 3, 18 = 78

>>27338326

GM rolls are scurry

Rolled 38, 96, 80, 13, 16, 94, 7 = 344

>>27338326

>>27338550
You're about 7d80 too high once again.

Rolled 3, 16, 19, 3, 9, 12, 17 = 79

>>27338550
I should really stop rolling 100s

Things seem to go well at first with the Rovinar pilots showing off. Their combat rigged Silent Hunters or Jaegers are technically a Frigate but fit in well with assault corvette units, and even some corvette groups. Their pilots prove capable on any of the other platforms.

Training among some of the cruiser crews grinds to a halt as some of the kavarian pilots end up in an argument with both of the Pirate and even a few of your cruiser pilots. Before long you have a half dozen pilots out of the simulators on the verge of a brawl.

Mike tries to shoulder through the rapidly growing crowd, yelling to you that someone just hit one of his pilots.
Not good, if Mike enters the brawl things might actually get worse.

>Your orders?