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CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 4, JUMP POINT 12

The Engi Merchant at this beacon has a very interesting array of items. Missile systems and a Fire Beam! Both present compelling advantages, but both come with challenging considerations as well.

A Hull Breach missile system would be devastating for any enemy, by both inflicting incredible damage to the hull and systems in an area, but also punching a large hole into the ship, sucking out all the air from that room making repairs even more difficult. Unfortunately, the amount of power required to run the missile system would likely mean one of the Ion-Lasers would have to be removed from its hard point and the second Ion-Laser would be powered down at the beginning of an engagement. Although, after the initial missile was launched, it would be a simple thing to swap power back over to the Ion-Laser with its quick recharge rate.

The addition of a second Fire-Beam would be absolutely devastating. The effect of two Fire-Beams operating simultaneously would more or less guarantee an enemy ship to be engulfed in flames, providing the remaining armament on our ship was strong enough to punch through their shields in the first place. While tempting, I don't believe this configuration would be strong enough to take out the Rebel capital ships, let alone the Flagship itself.

We bring the Hull Breach missile system on-board and begin upgrading our weapons-control systems to handle the additional requirements. While we are here, we take on another unit of fuel and patch up a few dings in the armor plate of the X-9.

Hopefully soon we will be able to improve our shield systems and drone-control capacity so we can make use of that Defense-Drone Mark-II.

Jump drive charged, plotting course for the exit-beacon.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 4, JUMP POINT 13

We jump in and recognize a well known slaver ship. He offers us “laborers” for cheap, but we all know what this really means. We will give this slaver a lesson instead. Hopefully, we can negotiate for a cease fire and save the lives of all the captives on board, but that decision will be on the slaver's head, not ours.

Shields up! Weapons online, drone control on standby.

Eoin carefully targets the slaver ship, a Mantis-Scout class, with our new toy, the Hull Breach Missile.

TARGET LOCKED: LAUNCH WINDOW OPTIMAL

Eoin punches the authenticate key and with a low, short rumble, the missile is off the rails and streaking towards its target. It only takes a few seconds before the huge missile impacts dead-center into their Shield-Bay, absolutely crippling the module and creating a huge gaping hole in the side of their ship. The Burst follows up with a triple-shot into their weapons-control module, completely obliterating the entire room and engulfing it in flames. A split second later, the Fire-Beam cuts across the starboard side of the ship, igniting raging fires in their engine room, life-support, and med-bay. In just seconds, the battle is over before it even started.

Coms open up and a strained, cracking voice pleads, “We surrender! Take one of our slaves as tribute! If you destroy us, they will die anyway!”

I give Eoin the wave-off and we accept their terms.



We welcome an Engi, O'Regan, onboard and assign him to our engine room. The Engi have a strong aptitude for getting the very best out of their systems and equipment and no one is faster at repairing damaged equipment.

AJ and Kozar are reassigned to the teleporter pads as our boarding/assault crew. I'd rather have Mantis and Rockmen for the job, but we have to go with what we have.

As we are completing our minor reorganization, there is a flash of light outside our viewscreen. The slaver ship has lost the battle against the internal fires and something critical has detonated. The ship breaks apart, all hands are lost.

We sync up with the long range FTL beacon and prepare for the jump. We can continue through Engi-controlled space or try our luck with the Rockmen in a Rock controlled Sector. Perhaps we can pick up a valuable Rock crew member. Our Fire-Beam will be less valuable in this Sector, due to the Rockmen's body armor and ships being nearly impervious to fire. So, I swap out the fire beam for the second Ion-Laser we've had in the cargo bay.

Sorry fellas for disappearing. Had some family medical crisis stuff to work through. Promise to get the rest of this uploaded soon.

Glad you are back.

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 5, JUMP POINT 1

We’ve been intercepted by a Rock Salvage Operator. They don’t seem to mind that we are still on board while they junk our ship.

Shields up! Weapons online. Drones on standby.

Damn, we have made a grave mistake! During our retrofit, we failed to properly hook up the missile launching system to the pre-igniter. We will have to rely on our Burst and the dual Ion-Lasers. Eoin fires the Burst into their shield-bay but is able to only temporarily disrupt their dual-layer shield system. The Ion-Lasers follow through, targeting the ship’s weapons control suite, but the Rock ship is more agile than we bargained for, and side-slips the plasma bolts just barely.

The Ion-Lasers quickly recharge and the Rock Ship is vulnerable, with only one of their shield-layers back online. Wap-wap, they fire off a double shot. One of the plasma bolts strikes home, disrupting the remaining shield layer but the second shot again misses the mark.

They have a giant missile tube sticking out of their ship. If we are unable to take their weapons control suite offline soon,we will have to deal with whatever is going to be coming at us.

A third volley, this time the Burst has charged and the hail of shots is enough to land several damaging hits, just as the missile system appeared to be ready to launch. Eoin deftly begins switching targets back and forth between their shield-generator and weapons control center. Enough hits get through that a fire breaks out in their Shield-Bay. That won’t be a problem for the sturdy Rockmen to handle, but it should prove enough of a distraction for Eoin to keep dissecting their systems.



Under the withering fire, their systems are beginning to fail. Their Captain hails us, “Alien vessel, cease your attack. We will pay.” The offer is ridiculously low. They must be taught a lesson. I give Eoin the authorization to fire at will.

The final volley slams home and the ship breaks apart. Salvage efforts bring back more than double what those stingy bastards were offering for their lives!

We stop to reconfigure the pre-igniter system to accommodate our missile platform before moving on.

FTL drive charged, jumping out.

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 5, JUMP POINT 2

We passively scan a small Rock station that is next to the jump-beacon. However, they must not have appreciated our curiosity, as a ship pulls away from the station warming their weapons and sensors detect a teleporter signal as well!

Shields up! Weapons charged, drones on standby. Prepare for boarders!

WARNING: INTRUDERS DETECTED

Three Rockmen have beamed aboard our ship, two of them nearly filling the weapons-control suite and the third next-door in our teleportation control room. In the weapons control suite, Eoin and Matt’s eyes go wide with a fear that no one would blame them for. A surge of adrenaline pushes Eoin out of his fear and into action. He slaps the missile-launch authorization key and turns the weapons-control over to Betty for auto-targeting. Matt has taken cover behind a row of control panels to avoid taking a direct blow from the massive Rockman stalking him.

In the next room over, AJ and Kozar have the advantage. While one distracts the giant Rockman, the other flanks him and keeps blasting away at his armor-like skin.

TARGET LOCKED: LAUNCH WINDOW OPTIMAL – MISSILE AWAY

The system has initiated a pre-programmed sequence of attack, sending the massive Hull Breach Missile into their shield-bay. The missile drills through the Rock Fighter’s armor and hull, creating a massive hole in the side of their ship, before detonating in the room and completely obliterating everything in it. With their shields offline, the Burst connects with their weapons control center, knocking most of their offensive capabilities offline. The Ion-Laser follows up the missile’s hit with a charged plasma shot, damaging the repair efforts and keeping the shielding system offline. Our missile system, successful in its assigned duties, powers down and is replaced by the second Ion-Laser, which is also tasked with hammering away at their Shield-Bay, in order to keep it offline permanently.



The hand-to-hand combat continues in our port compartments. AJ and Kozar are getting the upper hand on their single opponent but Eoin and Matt are not faring as well. Eoin, as an Engi, is simply not cut out for any kind of hand-to-hand combat situation. Matt is holding his own but has taken a terrible blow from the massive Rockman and is sent reeling across the floor of the weapons control suite.

Weapons are fully charged and another barrage is let loose on the Rockman’s ship. The destruction is nearly catastrophic, with every shot landing squarely. The Rock Captain hails us with a familiar script,“Alien vessel, cease your attack. We will pay.” The offer of fuel-cells is quite substantial, so we accept his offer of cease-fire. Both because we can use the extra fuel, but because I do not wish to subject our crew to a continued battle with the Rock boarding party.

The Rock Fighter quickly jumps out. But, in their panic to get away, they have left the boarding party on our ship! They don’t let us try to negotiate our way out of the awkward situation and instead decide that they will fight their way out.

Time to re-evaluate the situation. AJ and Kozar take out their solo Rockman in seconds and are ordered to the Med Bay for emergency medical attention. Matt and Eoin will not survive their engagement without help, so I order to abandon the weapons control suite and withdraw to the adjacent teleporter room to secure it while reinforcements are mustered. With no enemy ship to fight, the loss of the weapons control will be manageable.

AJ and Kozar are quickly patched up by the Medi-room and rush back to the aft compartments to confront the injured Rockmen boarders. The Rockmen are absorbing an incredible amount of punishment but the battle is edging in our favor. Bloodied and badly injured, Kozar lands the killing blow on his enemy and turns his attention to the remaining Rockman locked in combat with AJ. It seems that the battle is all but won when the Rockman summons one last surge of strength, rips up the control panel AJ has been using for cover, grabs him with his massive arms and begins crushing him. Bones crack and splinter and AJ goes limp. As the Rockman drops his lifeless body to the floor and turns to face Kozar, he is greeted with a blaster shot to the face and his life is forfeit as well.

After everyone has a few moments to collect themselves and inventory their injuries, some solemn words are said and we commit AJ’s body to the void.

With a determined but subdued silence, the crew prepares for our jump.

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 5, JUMP POINT 3

A motley collection of Rock ships are stationed around this beacon. They seem to have taken to a life of piracy! Defensive maneuvers!

Shields up! Weapons charged, drones on standby.

TARGET LOCKED: LAUNCH WINDOW OPTIMAL

Eoin expertly feeds in his optimization routines into the weapon control suite and hits the launch-authorization key.

MISSILE AWAY

The massive Hull Breach Missile leaves the rails and tracks towards the Rock Fighter. At the last second, the pirate ship jinks hard to the left and the missile tracks wide, missing the mark. The Burst is re-targeted for their Shield-Bay and fires in tandem with the Ion-Laser. The combined barrage is enough to burn through their dual-layered shields and damage the shield generator, but the system is still active.

They have deployed a large missile-tube of their own and it appears to be searching for a lock on our ship. Their double-laser has charged and fires. One shot lands squarely, taking down our outer shield. Liu throws the X-9 into a heavy rolling evasive and the second shot flies wide.

The dual Ion-Lasers and the Burst are fully charged and Eoin unleashes a brutal barrage into the Rock ship, taking out their Shield-Generator and severely damaging their weapons control suite.

The Ion-Lasers continue to pound their Shield-Bay, reversing any repair efforts and keeping the door open for the Burst to continue landing punishing blows. Under the relentless fire, the Rock Fighter breaks apart, unable to swing the fight back in their favor.

We collect some salvage and plot our jump to the next beacon. Wait, there is a Merchant nearby! We will jump to his location and peruse his wares.

=====

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 5, JUMP POINT 4

A Rock envoy hails us, a rarity, especially considering he is returning from a diplomatic mission. Apparently, they know of our mission and support our cause against the Rebellion! He pulls up along side and allows us to look at his collection of modules and upgrades to see if we’d like to barter.

They have a cloaking device, which would add a lot of defensive value to the ship. They do also have an automated re-loader augmentation, which would allow our weapons to recharge considerably faster. Yes, this is the better long term decision. We will purchase the automated re-reloader and also sell the Fire-Beam to finance improvements to the ship’s reactor core and shield-generator.

We are still in need of additional power from our reactor-core and will have to sacrifice some engine power for the sake of our third shield layer, but hopefully we will be able to gather the necessary supplies in the next few jumps.

Jumping out.

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 5, JUMP POINT 5

As we jump into this system, a Rock Captain hails us, “It is improper for me to contact off-worlders, but this is an emergency. We were on our way to deliver our passenger to her new husband – the Grand Basilisk of Numa V – when our FTL drives have broken down. Will you take possession of her and deliver her to Numa V?”

Checking our star charts, it appears Numa V is on the way to exit-beacon and only a short FTL-jump away. We accept.

“You surprise me, off-worlder. Thank you. Your passenger will be with you shortly.” She refuses to enter the main hold and instead waits in the cargo hold.

FTL powered up, time to race the Rebel Fleet to the exit-beacon.

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 5, JUMP POINT 6

A vast tunnel-network near the surface of Numa V indicates an advanced Rock civilization. This must be where we were asked to deliver the passenger.

Realizing arrival is imminent, our passenger, silent so far, begins to plead with us not to hand her over. Her emotional appeal is interrupted by the Grand Basilisk’s Chief Aide on comms, “To the alien vessel holding the Basilisk’s wife. Deliver her to us. You will be rewarded… well.”

Great. What was supposed to be a milk run has now gotten exceptionally complicated.

Well, I’m not about to hand over some woman to an unknown fate, especially when she’s begging me for help.

Liu, get us out of here, now.

The FTL drive begins powering up as if Liu was anticipating trouble.

The passenger addresses us again, “I was led to believe your kind did not know mercy. I will join you. My name is Ariadne. But quickly, we must jump away. They will not tolerate…” Her sentence is cut short by weapons fire from the Basilisk’s escort! Looks like this just got even more complicated.

Thankfully, our shields were already online and absorbed the 'warning' shots. Drones still on standby. We're going to have to fight our way out of here.

Eoin, get me weapons pre-ignited, now!

Without even asking for launch authorization, Eoin has the Hull Breach Missile system powered and with a short rumble, the missile is off the rails on the way to the Rock Escort ship. I can see our weapons tracking and locking onto their shield-bay and weapons-control centers. The Rock Escort maneuvers hard but is unable to avoid the streaking missile. It plows through their armor plate and hull, detonating inside the shield-bay. The damage is catastrophic. Their entire shielding system is offline and their shield-bay officer is nearly dead.



Eoin follows up the missile strike with the Burst targeting their weapons-control center and the Ion-Laser on auto-fire into their shield-bay to keep the repair effort squashed. The Burst slams home, tearing off chunks of the Rock ship’s thick armor plate and damaging their weapons control suite. Their missile tube loses power and is brought back inside of their ship. The blue-plasma of the Ion-Laser strikes home and creates even more havoc in the shield-bay. We must finish him off quickly or the entire Grand Basilisk fleet will be after us!

We could probably send over a boarding party and finish off the crew, but we don’t have that kind of time. I give Eoin the order to finish the battle as quickly as possible. The missile system is powered down and now the dual Ion-Lasers are working hard. The automated re-loader is making their already short reload time even deadlier. A near constant stream of blue-tinged plasma slams into the center of the Rock Ship again and again. The Burst powers up and sends the final crushing blow into their forward decks, detonating the ammunition cache. The ship explodes with a huge flash.

His escort eliminated, we overhear communications from the surface of Numa V. The Grand Basilisk is dispatching his entire fleet after us! We grab a couple of quick salvageable items and Liu firewalls the throttles. Time to get out of here.

FTL charged, jumping out.

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 5, JUMP POINT 7

As a naturally warlike species with few intergalactic ties, the Rock people have garnered quite a reputation as fearsome pirates. We stumble across one of their ships at this beacon and they quickly live up to the type-cast, powering up their forward batteries and turning to engage us.

Sensors show this pirate ship is fishing in waters entire too deep. He is armed with a single ion cannon and a single missile tube. Our Defense Drone can easily handle the missile system, assuming it is a single-missile system and not one of the prototype double-missile tubes I have heard about. The ion-cannon poses little to no threat to our ship, as we have more layers of shields than it can disrupt.

This will be a good training exercise for our crew and give them the chance to learn how to maximize their efficiency working together against a harmless target.

So we don’t scare him away, Eoin is instructed to only use one of our Ion-Lasers. If they try to run, he can open up with both Ion-Lasers to disable their FTL drive.

As expected, our anti-ballistic missile defense system works flawlessly and one by one all their incoming missiles are shot down. After a while they stop firing missiles, either because they are out of warheads or because they realize the futility. Meanwhile, Liu and O’Regan work on their combined skills, improving their teamwork and coordination with each dodge of the enemy’s fire.

After a while of this, I give the order to finish off the amateur pirates. We can’t have them selling information to the Rebel Fleet on our whereabouts. It’s not personal, it’s just business.

Eoin, finish them off.

A full barrage and it is over. The pirate ship cracks in two.

Passive sensor scans show we are ahead of the Rebel Fleet’s search but not by much.



FTL drive charged, jumping out.