Turning FTL playthrough into a captain's log/blog (Hardwood)

[spongebobsaget]

CAPTAIN’S LOG: SECTOR 6, JUMP 11

We find a severely damaged civilian space station at this jump point. They hail us and ask if we might have any extra drone parts we could spare to help them speed up their repair efforts. Because we have had a drone recovery arm for most of our mission, we have an extreme surplus of drones and are glad to exchange them with the station for salvage and scrap. We can use them to modify the ‘Wood ourselves, or stop at the nearest Merchant port and barter for upgrades and weapons there.

Thankfully, sensors show a Merchant port just a single jump away. Hopefully they will have a much needed weapons upgrade available. I don’t think we will have continued success in combat for much longer as we get deeper into this conflict and encounter stronger craft.

Course set, jumping out.

[spongebobsaget]

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 6, JUMP 12

This is getting frustrating. None of the Merchants have had anything useful. We already have a drone recovery arm, and have little need for a reverse ion defense system.

Instead, we set to work on hastily upgrading our internal systems. The engines will produce more power, the life-support system has been strengthened to withstand hacking attempts or minor damage, the Med Bay has been upgraded to heal our crew with greater speed, and the Teleporter has received some standard upgrades to improve the charge rate.

The exit-beacon is next. Jump drives engaged.

[spongebobsaget]

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 6, JUMP 13

All quiet here. The only available Sector jump point is Engi controlled space. It will be the last Sector we travel through before reaching Federation Headquarters. Hopefully, we will find some much needed upgrades in this Sector. I fear without substantial improvements to our armament, we may not be able to complete our mission

[spongebobsaget]

Whew! Made it though Sector 6

[tremor3258]

Have to say I've been enjoying this.

[spongebobsaget]

Have to say I've been enjoying this.

Thanks mang! It's been fun to do. A bit of work, as it really slows down playing the game (gotta pause every couple seconds to write down everything that's happening!)

But it's been a good project. I feel obligated to see it through now that there's so many views, haha.

Between these forums and the blog, over 2000 views in about a week.

Wasn't expecting that in all honestly, but I love it that people are enjoying it. Makes it all worth while

[spongebobsaget]

And on that note... on to the next Sector!

[spongebobsaget]

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 7, JUMP 1

We stumble across a forward scout of the Rebel fleet! He immediately begins powering his FTL drive. We cannot afford to let him escape.

Shields, drones, weapons online. Engage.

Mort and Shelton teleport over to the enemy's bridge to try and delay their nav-computations. The Burst is set by Oni to target the enemy's engines but with just three shots, it will not be able to damage the engines directly. We will have to depend on a lucky hit from either the beam-drone or the Arty Beam to disable the enemy ship.

The Burst opens up and strikes their shields, taking them down. The beam-drone fires into the ship but manages no critical damage.

Arty Beam online and firing. A cut across the center of their ship damages their weapons suite, shield and Med Bay but not the engines or the bridge. If we can't score some immediate gains, I will have to bring Mort and Shelton back over so we don't lose them if the ship manages to charge their FTL drive.

The Burst fires again, taking down their triple-layered shield. The beam-drone fires, scoring a direct hit on the bridge!

ENEMY FTL JUMP DELAYED

Mort and Shelton are hurt, but as long as they stay on the bridge of the enemy ship, they cannot repair the damage and will remain unable to move. I keep them on board for as long as I can manage before ordering them back to our ship for medical assistance.

Another volley from the Burst takes down their shields and the beam-drone carves up their life-support systems.

Their ship is equipped with not just one but two repair drones. The bridge is back up and functional already! Unbelievable.

WARNING: FTL JUMP IMMINENT

Come on, we almost have them. Where is the Arty Beam?

Arty Beam 97%

Glancing feverishly back and forth between the enemy ship's jump status and the Arty Beam's charge rate. It is a race against time that will be decided in the next split second.

The Arty Beam begins to hum. The enemy ship begins to phase out as it starts the jump out. A blinding flash of light causes us all to turn our heads away and when the glare clears, the Rebel Scout is gone. The Arty Beam has detonated their core at the peak of their engine's power-up for their jump and the ship simply doesn't exist any more.

We all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Every bit of advantage we can keep over the advancing Rebel Fleet is crucial, especially this early in the Sector.

We collect what little scrap we can and set our nav-computer on a heading towards a nearby distress call.

[spongebobsaget]

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 7, JUMP 2

Immediately after jumping in near the beacon, we detect a pirate ship ready to pounce. It's a trap!

Shields, drones, weapons powering up.

Scans show this Mantis scout-class ship is a 3-Engi crew. How incredibly. Odd. Their ship only has 2 shield layers. They have a Burst Mark-II and a beam weapon of unknown type. If we can disable or damage their weapons suite before the beam charges, we should be safe. Even then, there will only be a small window in which we are vulnerable to damage from their beam weapon and that would require an extraordinary level of expertise on their part, that, judging by their craft, I doubt they possess.

They have beamed aboard a single attacker. Engi are not known for their hand-to-hand combat prowess. So, despite beaming into our Shield Bay and being faced by an equally lacking opponent in our two Zoltan crew members, Aasten and William will surely be able to handle the engagement without any support.

The Burst fires, but one of the bolts is off angle and shoots wide. The remaining two bolts impact the shield barriers and bring them down, with just enough time for the beam-drone to fire, but, where is the beam-drone? It must have been shot down by a lucky shot from the pirate ship. Damn. I authorize the launch of a new drone but it is too late.

Artillery Beam 72%

Mort and Shelton are kept in reserve in the teleport-launch pads. As soon as the Arty Beam charges and fires, we will send them over to mop up the remaining crew.

The Arty beam comes alive and reaches across the gap, cutting a wicked path of destruction. Their weapons, Med Bay, life-support and engines are all hit, left in various states of damage and destruction.

Now is the time. I deactivate the Arty Beam, place a hold on the Burst from firing and send in Mort and Shelton to do their work. The Engi are clearly no match for our two seasoned boarders. They take a terrible beating before retreating to their Med Bay for healing. Mort and Shelton set to fully disabling their weapons systems, tearing out panels and shooting control systems.

Their ship still has enough hull integrity to withstand a few shots from the burst laser, so I order Oni to target their Med Bay with the two Engi in it. At a minimum, I hope to disable the Med Bay so our boarders can move in for the kill. The actual result is much more catastrophic to the pirate vessel. The Burst Laser scores a direct hit, causing a massive engulfing fire to break out! Shelton, as a Rockman, is impervious to fire damage. I send him in and leave Mort behind to continue disabling their weapons systems.

The fire takes its toll on the Engi and they flee the Med Bay. One runs through the weapons bay in a panic, only to become instantly headless as Mort clips him with deadly accuracy and speed. The second retreats to the life-support room next door. Shelton follows him and finishes the job. The ship, captured intact, proves to be a huge source of scrap, salvage and upgrade parts. Probably due to their past piracy activities.

The improved Med Bay is working wonders. Mort and Shelton are patched up in record time and resume their posts on standby in the Transporter room.

We power up and jump out to what looks like a hub beacon. Hopefully we can find a Merchant ship nearby to upgrade our ship.

[spongebobsaget]

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 7, JUMP 3

A cluster of Engi satellites in orbit of a nearby planet are the only clue the mechanical species was ever here. Sensors are detecting a Merchant nearby!

Despite already having an enormous supply of barter-grade materials, the decision is made to hit one, perhaps two more jump points before stopping at the Merchant.

Hopefully they have the upgrades and supplies that we so desperately need.

We power up and prepare to jump.