Voyage 4: Sketchy Notes vers. (pt. 1)
Traversing the Alliance
At its thinnest point, Alliance Space is 117 star systems wide, and is shaped like a melting snowman. I am going to make the tangent that the Intrepid and Aurora must cross ±d50 of that. With their small crews, they can jump 2 Systems a day while the antimatter holds up. I will add a d6 for the number of jumps into the frontier required at the end. Thankfully Molly robbed them of a dozen tons of antimatter... I am going to say that a ton of antimatter is actually mostly containment materials. Actual Antimatter itself is only a few kilograms in every ton. A ton is good for about 40/SZ jumps (20 for our explorers), and expended antimatter containment can be sold at most stations for a discount on fuel. So, the Independent and the Aurora, assuming Mr. Jenkins sold them with a full tank, have about 140 jumps in them before they run out of fuel.
Let's see how long this jump is going to take....
117-67+95 = 150 jumps, 75 days, plus a couple of days to refuel. Or 50 if they hire at least one more crew. So plus 3 jumps on the frontier. For a total of 78 or 53 days of travel
As for the Frigate they are funding, that has to circle around the smallest lobe of the Alliance, so it has a base of 117𝛑 +_d50 (I will not bother mutiplying my d50s by Pi... they have a head start, after all).
I got 347 jumps. But with the superior engins and shift crew, a Frigate can jump 4 systems a day, giving them 86 days With that time, it would be easy to set up an ambush, maybe even hire some mercenaries on the Frontier...
...Or to intercept them much earlier where they might not be able to get help. The earlier the better in that case.
Let's assume they can interept them any day afyer the 64 day mark by changing course.
A day spent in non-pursuit activities costs them 1.5 days off the Intercept window.
I will treat the Alliance like Civilized Terrain in D&D. I will only roll encounters when they stop for some reason.
For Frontier space, I will give it a 2-in-6 chance of there being a station, and a 1-in-6 chance of a Frontier encounter. I will use the d300 space encounter table from the Codex.
Getting Underway
Frigate Arrival: 83 days.
First, the crew travels two days makes a stop at Jacinto station to look for recruits before heading for the Alliance. Let's see who's available for hire:
- Hookyo: Chaotic Soldeir Nuhenni Technician (Investigator)-1 Str 9, Int 13, Wis 7, Dex 7, Con 10, Cha 10; reaction: 9
- Q'Adan: Neutral Kitat Rogue (scum)-1 Str 9, Int 11, Wis 11, Dex 12, Con 9, Cha 7; reaction: 10
- Willem: Neutral Scoundrel Human Warrior (officer)-1 Str 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Dex 10, Con 14, Cha 15; reaction: 6
- Velle NX-8: Lawful Vath Commoner Psychic Adept (Psychic Mystic)-1 Str 15, Int 7, Wis 12, Dex 8, Con 13, Cha 12; reaction: reaction: 12
- Reda Meson: Human Scoundrel Rogue (bounty hunter)-1 CE. Str 10, Int 9, Wis 9, Dex 13, Con 11, Cha 9; reaction: 7
- Bandi: Lawful Brosk Vehicle Operator Explorer (adventurer)-1 Str 11, Int 8, Wis 17, Dex 13, Con 12, Cha 10; reaction: 8
Looks like I need to create a new alience race or two.
A Lot of Dice Rolling, Ahoy
Galactic Space Grid... I guess the Alliance is starting to enforce access between itself and the Frontier now... this is a new development. Logically this would still be under construction, and there is probably a gunboat or gruiser overseeing interdiction temporarily. It could mean a major plot thread! But let's verify.
Scene 1
Chaos roll... 9
Oracle:
- Is the defense grid made by the alliance? 87 No?
- Is it an ancient ruin? No! 77! Event! PC Positive (Austin) Carry Outside
- Is it a new militarized system-state? Yes
Okay...
The Aurora and the Intrepid explodes into N-Space in a stoem of light and immediately are assaulted with a storm of alerts as active targting systems and automated comms start pouring in.
Austin and Molly in separate cockpits check the scanner network and see a grid of small objects with scanners, weapon signatures, and interdiction jammers that prevent hypserspace jumps. Clumps of mines can be detected throught the system.
So Where are We?
2526 Ashadha
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Star System Generator by drow
http://donjon.bin.sh/
So what does the codex have to say about this fortified state? A Psionic Unity.
An automated message begins: You have entered the Unity of Ashadha's space. Follow beacon series-C to a stattion for inspection. Failure to comply will lead to immediate destruction.
NX: Velle NX-8, currently resting in a berth on the Aurora sits up and grips her head. "They are scanning us with powerful psionics, Commodore. Many minds. I can tell they cannot hear you, and feel uneasy."
Mo: "That seems to be the reaction I get from most Psionic beings... Do I unsettle you, Velle?"
NX: "I find you a challenge, Captain. Communicating using only social cues. No sense of what' going on in your head. And no noise. You are the quietest person I have ever met. It makes being around you... peaceful."
Mo: "Thank you. So why am I so disliked by people like the Ak'htari?"
NX: "The Ak'htari have their powers from birth and a culture built around them. They relate to one another using them. They find someone with no psychic field a terrifying premise. They have ghost stories and horror movies about it."
Mo: "I'll put one on my list..."
Their chater is interrupted by an incoming communication.
Se: "This is the security office of the Ashadha collective. Please Identify yourselves."
Mo: "This is Commodore Molly Hyaline of of PEV Inrepid I am the leader of this expedition."
Au: "Captain Austin Verill of the PEV Aurora, second in command."
Mo: "We are on an expedition that is on its way to Librae. We weren't aware that the Ashadha system was restricted space."
Se: "Stand by."
Au: "Nothing here registers as older than a few months, Captain. And I've never heard of the Ashadha Unity. Guessing we may have just drifted into a new micro-state."
Se: (a different voice): Disadvantage I hear the name Austin Verrill? Austin Verrill of the flying fifth?"
Au: "That's right."
Reaction roll 8... The person on the other end knows Austin, and is willing to let him go for some help...
Se: "We hold the light and the line."
Au: "I recognize that voice..."
Se: "How you doing, Chief? This is Aiden Pire."
Au: "1st Lieutenant Pire?"
Se: "I've moved up in the world. Round these parts I'm a Colonel."
Au: "Same, same. I get to play Captain now."
Mo: Molly texts Austin [Care to explain?]
Au: [Military psychic. My unit carted him around on 5 ops. back in '98 - '01.]
Se: "It was six, actually, but you were grounded for one of them."
Au: "I see out cybersecurity is not up to snuff."
Se: "Your's isn't. Your Commodore is locked up tighter than a drum in more ways than one."
Mo: "I Pride myself on taking good care of my electronics, Colonel."
Se: "I'm more interested in knowing how you lock up your brain."
Mo: "Brain damage, I'm afraid. I'm lucky I didn't come put of the experience a drooling eejit or a weathergirld."
Se: "That is very speific damage. And I am afraid psychic shielding of any sort is highly illegal in Asharah."
Mo: "Does it help if it is involuntary."
Se: "That is a case for a Magistrate."
Au: "Now hold up, Colonel. Maybe you can overlook it once in exchange for something that would be of great interest to you collective. "
Se: "What exactly do you have in mind, Austin?"
Au: "I have schematics for a psionics based sensor and targeting array based on Enkindler tech."
Se: "And if you had something like that, why wouldn't I just take it when I searched your ship... or strip it out of your shittily protected system?"
Au: "Because I am not stupid enough to keep it on my system. I do have it in an offline data canister, which I am pointing an ion pistol at right now. Seems pretty simple to me... you make my life hard, I melt the only copy of these schematics not held by a dangerous and paranoid secret society, and you miss put on advancing your psitech by about a thousand years..."
Se: "I'm listening. "
Au: "Or you give me a polite escort to the far edge of the sector, and then I hand you this canister the moment you shut down the interdiction field."
Se: "That's a hell of a bluff."
Au: "You never bluff a psychic."
Morale roll... 9
Se: "... You still play one ballsy game, Chief. Switch to following beacon series-AQ, and a ship will meet you at the end of the route."
Mo [Well played. Now patch your Firewall.]
Chaos Factor 🔻4
Scene 2
Chaos Roll... 10
At the edge of 2526 Asharah, the Aurora and the Intrepid watch as a heavy gunship slow.y moves to intercept as they pass the outer shell of Q-Comm controlled attack satellites.
A haven for psionics who are no longer willing to be exploited by inner systems, the propaganda they picked up on the radio said. Scans of the ship show it is junk. A triple-sized shrike with cheap, big guns. Molly is confident that the Intrepid could tear it to shreds.... it reeked of a banana republic. But why? What was going on on the Alliance? Did she even watch to know?
Austin stands with an ion pistol and the data canister in his hands. Velle NX-8, to her credit manned the gunnery station with a breather on, in case she needed to scuttle the ship while she was docked.
The man who crossed the docking bay was not Aiden Pire, but an Ak'htari in oddly simple garb for its kind. It simply held out its hand for the canister.
Oracle:
- Are they going to rusk something underhanded? Yes.
After a tense moment Molly's voice crackled over the comm.
Mo:"The Interdiction field is down and cooling. Hand it over so we can get out of here."
Austin hands over the canister, and the being steps out of the airlock. He holds his breath until the ship's are decoupled
Then comes the pain.
Every crew member but Molly drops from an agonizing psychic attack. Molly knows about it only as Braki suddenly Screams. Then Molly charges the gauss weapons nearly as fast as the blasters begin to turn on the Intrepid. Ion weapons meant to disrupt, rather than destroy.
Hammerhead Class Gunship
Rolling Initiative HP 150 ▪️ AC 13 ▪️ SPD 6 ▪️ SIZE 2 ▪️ MAN 0
Armament: Heavy Ion Pulse Canons (range: 900, Damage 1d10 x10)
Cargo: up to 24 tons or 1 small craft
Special: Reduced hyperspace capabilities
Value: 130,000cr0cr
Rolling Initiative
The psionic attacker focuses.
The two gunners of the ship train their turrets and lock on... or at least one of them does. The ancient gunships targeting fails and one of the turrets goes temporarily blind (11 and 1 on computer)
Molly simply fires freely and hammers the gunship with flak accelerated to near-light speeds, The gunships shield generators crackland hiss.
Round 2
A Frigate arrives Iim 4 rounds
The crew wakes in 3 rounds
An ion beam (Attack 24) rakes the Intrepid dealing 20 damage
The second gunner reboots his computer and (17) gets a lock.
The psychic blasts Molly (7)... Molly doesn't feel it. The psychic is out of tricks.
The pilot prepares evasive maneuvers
Molly fires again! 17! Their pilot tries to evade... 9, another 100 damage! Molly demolishes the cargo bay, setting a cutter adrift.
Morale 4... failure is not an option.
Round 3
A Frigate arrives in 3 rounds
The crew wakes in 2 rounds
This ion cannons scream, though it is clear that The second cannons system is not functioning as well as expected. The zintrepid takes 50 damage.
The pilot weaves.
Molly fires again. (23)... their pilot curses as hectries to evade (8) but he just isn't fast enough;
The blast rips the gunship apart. Molly cajn see the space-suited survivors scrambling for the cutter, and for a savage moment she considers blasting it out of the sky. She refines her notion...
Round 4
A Frigate arrives in 2 rounds
The crew wakes in 1 rounds
Molly narrows her aim carefully setting it with the computer precisely (Computer 22
Round 5
Mo: "Shake a leg, Braki. Austin, if you are on comms, get your arse sorted and set x jump.
Molly blasts the cutters thrusters (110 damage) .
Round 6
Austin staggers to the controls as Velle begins Navigation.
Then a hulking Frigate appears, weapons warm as it drops to engagement speed.
Does the Frigate stop to aid the cutter? No.
Round 7
Distance 1000
Molly accelerates (Speed 2) the Intrepid
Austin follows, (Speed 2) Activating the warp field and moving to screen.
The Frigate arrests to lock weapons weapon each to the Aurora and Intrepd, but her computer is still adjusting (4 and 9)
Braki begins calculating a hyperjump; (18).
Round 8
Distance 600
Braki struggles with the nav computer (no progress)
Molly and Austin and accelerate to 4.
The Frigate continues targeting sweeps and gets a lock on the Intrepid.
Round 9
Distance 700
Simultaneous Action!
Molly and Austin Accelerate to 5 and behind evasive maneuvers
Velle takes over nav control and makes no progress
Braki targets the Frigate and locks on.
The Frigate locks on to the Aurora.
It fires on the Intrepid, but misses.
Round 10
Distance 600
Simultaneous Action
All ships are now moving at 6!
Braki fires on the frigate 14! The Frigate's pilot evades.
Velle curses as she cannot make progress on plotting a course
The Intrepid is hit for 150 (-70hp ) the laser sweeps the fore of the bridge. The systems all around crackles electronics burn out. Molly is thrown from her seat and goes face-first into a control panel, cracking an eye socket. The nav link is lost.
Austin evades attack..
Round 11
Molly staggers back into her chair, disoriented and e gages her breather.
Braki fires again, and misses.
The Aurora moves to screen the Intrepid.
Velle starts navigation over and gets 1 success.
Au: "Molly, if we want out of here, we need to abandon the aurora. Grab your bag, and jump, if you can."
The Frigate hits the Intrepid again, and the forward laser punches through the hole, hitting antimatter containment. Austin is unable to screen. The intrepid explodes in a sphere of light.
A dense particle barrage arcs past the Aurora.
I gave Braki and Molly each a 1 in 20 chance of survivinf No dice.
Round 12
Simultaneous Action!
Austin accelerates the Aurora to 7 and takes evasive action.
Velle NX-8 struggles with the nav computer.
The ship's belly turret fires on the Aurora and Misses.
The forward cannon locks onto the Aurora.
Round 13
Distance 700
Austin Evades
The Frigate cannot hit the Aurora.
Velle manages to get success 2/5 to prepare a hyperjump.
Round 14
Distance 800
The Frigate fires twice, the forward cannon misses, Austin narrowly evades the belly gun.
Austin evades
Velle NX-8 takes a deep breath and focuses the dives into the nav computer (Nat. 20! I will grant 2 successes for 4/5)
Round 15
Distance 900
The Frigate keeps firing the forward laser makes a hit for 170 damage! There is a horrible wrenching noise as the hull is hit in a weak spot (-1 AC).
Velle NX-8 shouts victorious as she lays in a course.
Austin punches the hyperdrive, and they escape.
End of Combat
Molly hp 0/0 0/11 CON | Austin hp 1/1 7/7 CON |
Braki hp 0/0 0 CON |
Velle NX-8 hp 12/25 17 CON |
Intrepid hp 0/140 Destroyed! | Aurora hp -30/140 Weak Spot Damage |