Posted May 6, 2021, 2:15 p.m. by Gamemaster Deus Ex Machina (GM) (Luke Hung)
Posted by Commander Garinder’Jen th’Jir (Executive Officer) in Bridge Main Sim
Posted by Gamemaster Deus Ex Machina (GM) in Bridge Main Sim
Posted by Lieutenant Auleraine Brison (Engineering Officer) in Bridge Main Sim
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻Snip
Revna listened, “I’m not sure the entertainment will go over well. Alfo isn’t interested in creature comforts, in his words ‘I can get those myself.’ It might be useful for minor trading with individuals though. Or since they find Ferrite Gems so worthless we might exchange such for that. So we have a low level replicator, dilethium crystals, but then with that at varying levels a reworking of their engine core, their plasma relays or the introduction of, structural integrity improvements, small ship design. They can polarize their hull, so shields.” She was adding it all to a PaDD and at the same time working on an encryption that only D’Vash would get.
The search for the answer has begun you must ask All Father’s Son.
As was asked of King Heidrek
What creature is that
which cradles men,
it bears a bloody back,
and shelters fighters,
from shaft and point,
gives life to some,
and lays its self
inside a soldier’s grasp?And then for good measure a second one:
Would that I had now
what I had yesterday,
find out what that was;
mankind it mars,
speech it hinders,
yet speech it will inspire.Revna looked up, “What else have we got?”
Lt Edman, CounselorOOC: Tolkien .. nice ..
After perhaps another 10 minutes of probe cruising. The fighters fell back a little and there was a weapons lock placed on the probe.
GM
OOC: Ohhhhhh …
IC:Jen moved about the bridge, restless and not wanting to sit. He didn’t like negotiations like this. It wasn’t his strength. He distinctly relied on others for that, but then that was good. He couldn’t do it all and couldn’t be expected to. But his concern at the moment had to be the ship and, if need be, to pull the Captain out of whatever fire they got too close to. They could limp along with the damages they had taken, but, why if they could get a repair? He didn’t trust the pirates and would rather take precautions to mitigate any .. issues. He looked at the status on the screen. Something had changed.
“Tactical. Report.”
Jen, XOLera shook her head. “I can’t think of anything else, can you?” She looked at Revna. “I think this is about as good a list as we can come up with.”
When the XO called for a tactical report, she frowned. “What’s going on?” She glanced to the front of the bridge where the XO was standing.
Lera
EngineerThe two fighters had been flying along side the probe for the length of its search pattern… seemingly for no reason one fighter cut across the flight path of the probe and slowed almost getting in its way, while the second pulled back and moved into the ‘slot’ what was classically the ‘ideal’ firing position for a fighter to fighter engagement. Of course the probe wasn’t a fighter, so it wasn’t necessary to be in this position to negate the probe, old habits died hard.
GM
“Cmdr we have the PaDD ready if you can get them to agree to let us beam it over.” Revan spoke up, and then glanced at the screen with the probe and fighters, “That’s odd behavior. It’s like they’ve never seen a scientific probe before…or a benign one anyway.”
Lt Edman, counselorJen nodded absently, his focus and antennae looking at the display. “Have we touched on a sensitive area of space I wonder? Display and scan of what is ahead of the probe now. I want all data before they … ” His voice trailed off and he smiled. “And evasive maneuvers on the probe but keep pushing it forward. I want to see how good these pilots are before they knock out our eyes.”
- Jen, XOThe annoying part of the asteroid field was the scanning problem. That’s why there was the need for the probe. At this juncture the sensor scans were not producing anything useful. The probe scans placed on full forward still wasn’t giving anything aside from more rocks floating ahead.
The evasive maneuvers caused the fighter cutting back and forth in front of it to break off. Whoever was in the fighter didn’t seem to want any part of an unmanned ship moving erratically. The fighter aft of the probe wasn’t as nimble as the probe either by choice, ability, or craft limits. But every time the probe made a move it was back in some sort of firing position in two or three seconds.
At this point the trailing fighter took a single shot that missed the nose of the probe by 50 meters.
GM
“OK, that wasn’t very nice.” Lera frowned. “I am wondering if everything they have ever seen here has been a threat and they simply don’t understand.” She was musing out loud, not realizing she had stood up and was stepping towards the center of the bridge. “Maybe if we stop the probe. Let his warning shot stop it. Make him stand down,” she murmured under her breath with luck. “We may need more dialogue,” she laughed as an afterthought.
Lera
Engineer“They’ve followed the probe quietly for some time even after an adjustment of its course,” Jen said. “A quick stop is possibly in the works but this is very instructive. What is in the area that they suddenly don’t like? Or .. have things not gone well on the ship with the Captain? But .. this tells us a lot about the skill and tactics of these pirates, in particular these pilots. Are they making moves in line with practiced and trained fighters or are they ramshackle and amateur?” He looked at Lera. “My guess is that if they don’t take out the probe then they will destroy it if we bring it to a halt. But let’s have some fun and watch closely in the meantime. And then talk to them. They don’t know that we have control on the probe - we can say that the probe detected a potential hostile formation and went into an automatic evasive programming.” He pointed to the one at the rear. “That one looks skilled. That pilot is always there with a minimum of effort.”
- Jen, XOLera nodded. “That makes sense. Evasive maneuvers and forward as well. If we are getting close to something, maybe we can get readouts on it before it is destroyed, if that’s their plan.” She turned back to her console to be sure the feed was coming in as it was being recorded. She didn’t want to chance missing something if she was right and they destroyed the probe. “And if they destroy it, it also gives us a chance to open a dialogue by way of an apology, perhaps.” She changed her voice to sound as if she were naive and innocent. “We’re so sorry. We were trying to get readings of the area. Have we crossed into something we shouldn’t have? Is it dangerous? Perhaps it would be better if we knew so we could be sure to warn others who came here.” She broke out into a giggle that was quickly stifled as she realized how silly she was being.
Lera
Engineer
((comic? perhaps.... innocent? Not a chance!))“You, Counselor, are enjoying this,” Jen said, amused.
The probe began its pattern of jinks and other maneuvers. Being unmanned and small made it a hard target. The fact that it was only using pre-programed and/or delayed course changes remotely delivered made it a little less effective. The fighter pilot took another shot, this time missing the probe by about 10 meters. With this level of precision shooting it was likely that any time the fighter wanted to negate the probe it could.
GM
From the look of it, the probe was not going to last too much longer. “We already know we’ve got their knickers in a knot just because they are firing on it. Let’s see what happens when we reverse course and come back the way we came. That can be as telling as if we tried to go farther. That fighter is too good for my probe’s comfort.” Turning to tactical he said, “Reverse course on the probe. Bring it back home. Continue evasive if they keep firing even after it is coming back.”
- Jen, XO
The fighters seemed sufficiently mollified by the course change. The fighters returned to their previous position loosely behind the probe at a relatively unassuming distance. It best could be described as ‘flying casual.’ As long as the probe continued it’s reverse course there were no further firing incidents.
GM
© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service
Version 1.15.11
RSS Feed