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A Day in the Life of a Traveller Gamestory

Commentary:
I'm backing up a few minutes.

Story:
Hour 13

090-1106 Imperial
1940 Sidereal Time
40 minutes out from Feri/Regina
Aboard NOVA I

Spoilered so these posts get read in sequence. Start with
Grav_Moped said:
090-1106 Imperial
1910 Sidereal Time
Click to expand...
"So he can't help," says Jon. "At least he didn't tell us to surrender."
Nigel calls from the cargo bay. "What was that pass-phrase that Coordinator Preston just gave you over the radio?"
I shout back, "Four-three-Vermilion-Bravo-two-seven-Piano. He said you'd know what to do."
"Yeah, that's it." Nigel sighs, draws himself up, and walks toward us on the flight deck. "Scout Smithe, please bring me the medical kit from my luggage. Captain Puch, you'll need to disable all recording and transmitting devices before I can continue."
Well, we're screwed anyhow, why not? I think. "Sure. Jon, that means Buddy too." I shut off the comms and autologger.
"Got it. Buddy, mode control, sleep." The robot requests confirmation, Jon does something and the robot freezes in place. Jon then goes over to the luggage and sets to work.
"Ok, Nigel. What's up?" I ask.
He speaks in a near monotone. "First, Scout Ketonic here must not be allowed to fall into Windsorian custody under any circumstances. If necessary, this includes terminating her.
"Second, I am required to revive her so that she may assist in resisting Windsorian attempts to take her into custody.
"Third, disregard what I said about disregarding what she says. Even things that sound unbelievable.
"Fourth," Nigel's monotone turns serious, "the next item does not go beyond the two of you -- it's classified Penultimate. I realize you're not cleared for it but there's no alternative. Expect to be debriefed later. Do you understand and acknowledge this?"
"Acknowledged and understood," I say, while Jon merely says, "Yes."
"Good. Fifth," Nigel continues, "Scout Melissa Ketonic has psionic abilities, primarily telekinetic but with some telepathic and clairvoyant capability."

"What?!" I exclaim. "You guys stuck a Star-dammned witch on my ship without telling me? And until I put a stop to it, she was going to be awake?"

"You wouldn't have noticed or been affected. That cage incorporated psionic shielding, and I have a shield helmet I was to put on her whenever she was outside it. More to the point, she's a psychic for the Scout Service -- but that entire program is classified. We suspected the locals got wise so we framed her, locked her up, and were sending her offworld to keep her away from them. Since they're demanding her in addition to you guys, I think we made the right call -- I fear we waited too long, though."

Commentary:
This turns into background activity for the preceding post -- they're reviving Miss Ketonic while Captain Puch is talking with the authorities.
 
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Story
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A Day in the Life of some Travellers

Hour 13

090-1106 Imperial
1951 Shipboard time
Feri/Regina
51 minutes out from Feri/Regina
Aboard Nova One

"I swear Cap'n, it wasn't our fault. It wasn't! Maybe this Prisoner has something to do with it, but I don't know who she is," Smithe took a breath.

"I don't think it will work, but I'll be ready to Evade, if you give the word. I can work up some escape plots right now." Smithe began to go through different navigation plots to get them away from the SDB.

None of them looked good.
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Commentary
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Awesome! I wasn't expecting that!

The video was pulled. I can't find it on a YouTube or Google search.
 
Story:
Hour 13

090-1106 Imperial
1952 Sidereal Time
52 minutes out from Feri/Regina
Aboard NOVA I

"It isn't our fault, but it is our problem," I reply.

Game Mechanics: Reaction Roll, behind the DM screen. [4,6] DM+1 for sunk cost fallacy* = 11. "Enthusiastic." I'll take that as an offer to volunteer without being asked.

The comms beep. "Nova One, Skipping Stone." It's Dame Irshinri.
I open the channel. "Stone, Nova One. Go."
"Captain Puch, we're close enough to match your course and vector. We could take on all your crew and beat the SDB to your ship, if you're willing to abandon your pinnace."

"Match course, but we're not leaving this behind. I don't think they're prepared to shoot at you at this point -- if you could just escort us there that'd be enough."
"That makes sense. Matching course, should be there in five minutes or so." Just in time, that's when they'll be in firing range, I think.

"Thank you. You may have saved our lives, at least I hope so. Nova One out."

The comms beep again. "Nova One, Nova." It's Doc.
"Nova, One, go," I reply.
"Would you like some more company?"
"NO! Keep Nova V there, you'll need it, and it couldn't match vectors with us anyhow."
"That's not what I'm talking about. Check your scanners."
I turn to Jon. "Then what is he talking about?"
"Cap'n -- our sensor picket line drones. Roland and Annie were supposed to recall them about five minutes from now, but it looks like they jumped the gun 'cause all three of them are right here!" Good work. If we get out of this I owe them a drink. More than that, actually...
My smile is less grim than it would have been a moment ago. "I think we're going to make it. Set up for the deceleration run. Hold off on the course deflection from straight to the comms relay to directly to the ship as long as you can."

"Nova, Nova One. Keep the drones quiet for now, but have them match our course. Have one squawk our transponder code and EM signature and limit it to five gees, another with the Skipping Stone's code and sig but limited to six gees, and the third limited to five gees, no transponder, and a blend of both EM sigs. If the SDB opens fire, let me make 'em all light up and take evasive action, then take over control since I expect we'll be a little busy down here."
"Nova copies."

Another comms ping. "Annic Nova One, Wyvren."
"Go ahead Wyvren. What do you want?"
"This is Commander Otranto of Windsor Space Security Force Ship Wyvren. Decelerate at maximum, and stand by for boarding when we match vectors. Our attitude depends on your compliance." He clearly doesn't expect to be disobeyed.

On the other hand, I didn't expect to obey. "I refer you to the reply given in Arkell v. Pressdram.**"

"What is that supposed to mean?" He exploded.

"Disregard. We will decelerate at maximum as per our filed flight plan. We will not stand by for boarding."

"It's on your head then. We'll deal with you later. Wyvren out."



Commentary:
Soundtrack: We'll Deal With You Later -- The Beautiful South (Youtube).

Not done here, but taking a break.

Imminent actions:
1. The SDB will kick out a few missiles that will just pace the Nova I and Skipping Stone, not accelerate towards them. It's likely they're there to track which way the PCs' smallcraft actually go, in case it turns out their original course is pointed at a decoy instead of the starship (which is exactly the situation). They'll need to be dealt with before the PCs can change course to go to their ship (see points 4 and 5, below).

2. The SDB will then zip ahead of them instead of flipping to decelerate -- it's setting up for a devastating strafing run on the starship rather than slowing to dock with it (it will overshoot and take some time to come back). And it's projecting its course forward from Nova I's path, which is aimed right at the starship. . .
. . . 's comms relay/decoy drone parked a couple of light-seconds away from the ship's actual position. (Whew!)

3. Puch is going to call starport control and flip off the Administrator (metaphorically).

4. Jon will need to plot a course to the ship's actual location, but starting it with a feint away from it in the opposite direction so the SDB won't track them to the ship. He'll also need to plot the courses and evasive actions for the decoys. The feint will have to be started before the missiles are dealt with, but finished as soon as they've been neutralized. That is, we need them to detect the start of the maneuver.

5. The problem is that there are four missiles, and the smallcraft have two lasers between them (one each), so that leaves two missiles that can't be stopped by antimissile fire. And as soon as the first two get blown up, the other two will go for the kills. (I have a plan for this though.)


It's late, and I'll leave it here. I'll get to the shootout in the morning.













Commentary:
* Not really, it's just that she's figured out what she's about to lay out...

**Go look up "The reply given in Arkell v. Pressdram" [adult language warning]. My character doesn't expect Commander Otranto to understand it, of course -- it's a 3,650 year old Solmani legal case. It's just that he's just been waiting years for the opportunity to use the phrase, and, well...
 
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Story:
Hour 14

090-1106 Imperial
2001 Sidereal Time
1 hour out from Feri/Regina
Aboard NOVA I

"Cap'n, four missiles inbound, but they're braking, not accelerating. That's nuts!"
Trying to match course, I think. But why? "He said they'd 'deal with us later'. Those aren't going to take us out -- yet. They're waiting to see when we flip for braking, and if we change course, to figure out where Nova is. Keep the decoys quiet for now."
"Loading antimissile and target," Jon states. "Twenty-four minutes and thirty-six seconds to contact at current vector and acceleration."

I key up the comms. "Skipping Stone, Nova One. Four missiles inbound, nonstandard track."
"Stone copies, we see them too." It's James. He's anxious -- maybe a little less than I am right now. "Between us, we can probably stop two of them with laser fire, but two will get through unless your decoys can draw them off."
"I wouldn't count on it, but we'll give it a shot. What do you have for countermeasures?"
"A sandcaster, but at this range and low closing velocity, it won't help much. Looks like they're going for contact detonation rather than high-speed fragments."
"Yeah, that's a problem. And when we start shooting, the others aren't going to wait for us to take them out. Get ready to start braking now. It's a little early, but we'll need the extra time for lateral moves to throw them off."
"Copy. We'll follow your course."
"So will they, unfortunately."

"Missiles on parallel course, not intercept," Jon announces.
"Yep. they're waiting for us to turn. But why launch so early?" I ask him. "They'd have had a better shot if they waited."
"Lower closing velocity at launch. They're not going to stop. Wyvren should flip for their braking burn in about five minutes or they won't be able to stop by the time they get to where they think the ship is. I bet they won't. They're going to try to stop it from jumping. At 12G plus their vector, missiles would be there in 20 minutes from the halfway point. That's cutting it close, but it might work."
"But the canopy is already folded, and it can jump any -- holy crap. They don't know that!"
Jon adds, "And right now they're headed for the wrong target."

Commentary: NAV SKILL TIME!

{ahem.}
"We need to keep them headed that way, or even further off-course if we can," I tell him. "Set me up a direct course for Annic Nova, and get ready to take out the missiles. Also, set up a course for the two-transponder drone for somewhere well outside sensor range of the ship, and one for each of the others to take them back toward Feri on separate tracks so it looks like we've given up on making it to the ship for the jump -- but they'll have to pick one to chase."

There's a knock on the flight-deck door; it's Nigel and the woman. She's trembling slightly. Fear? I wonder. Probably not, it's just the side-effects of Med Fast. "Good, you saved me a few steps," I tell them. "Suit up, we've got missiles inbound. I don't think they'll attack until we start shooting, but we're about to do that."

"Can I help?" the woman asks.
"Well, if you could blow them up with your brain, that'd be nice," I reply with only the tiniest hint of sarcasm.
If it bothers her, she doesn't show it. "I'm a registered psionic, not a holo-vid space wizard. It doesn't work that way. Where are they?"
"About ten thousand clicks thatway," I gesture out the front viewport, since they're trailing us and our boat's standing on its tail, decelerating.
"I need to see them. Could you give me a visual scan? I'll need that to get a fix and understand what I've got to work with."

Commentary:
This could work with a task chain involving cooperation from someone with Gunnery skill (Read Surface Thoughts to get a good visualization of the internal systems of a standard missile) and/or Navigation skill (Also Read Surface Thoughts, but in this case to get a precise position fix to target her Clairvoyance and Telekinesis talents). She's been dosed up with Double Psi Drug, if that helps. The missiles are out of range for her, and will be until they start their attack run.

Reference:
This set of vignettes ends at 2010 hrs sidereal, when it's clear that the SDB did not start braking, and is instead headed for a high-speed strafing run on the starship (or where it thinks it is).
 
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Commentary:
I hope I'm not stepping on too much here. Everybody's awake and on duty -- Chief Doen is refreshed, Cardosa is still a little groggy but coffee is enough for now. Doc is on the long end of his shift, but managing. Kurt was expecting to be able to call it a night right about now, but that's not going to happen. Roland is soldiering on, and Annie is ok after a nap.

Story:
Hour 14

090-1106 Imperial
2010 Sidereal Time
At Jump Limit distance from Feri/Regina
Aboard ANNIC NOVA

"They're not slowing down," Doc says. Everyone's here on the bridge except Annie at the aft drone control station and Tenya in the drive room.
Roland thinks for a moment and turns to Doc. "Strafing run. They think they can take us out before we can jump -- probably have missiles running ahead of them. We should be safe until they realize that our comms relay is a decoy."
Annie replies over the intercom, "Yes, they've launched missiles. Thought it was ECM jamming at first but now that you mention it, it's missiles. Six... no, twelve. They'll be at the limits of laser cannon range of the relay in about ten minutes, too."

Chief Engineer Doen speaks up. "Why would they think they could get to us before we Jump? The canopy is retracted, the accumulator is charged, and the drives are tuned for our configuration. We can jump as soon as we generate the course, and that shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

Doc pauses. "They think we have a standard collector drive. You told me those have to keep the sails out until just before jump, right? That means they think we didn't start folding them until we realized we were in trouble, which would have been twenty minutes ago. That gives them a twenty minute window, and a dozen missiles against a ship that can't maneuver... That's not a bad gamble. We just have to keep them on course for another twenty minutes. After that, they'll be moving too fast in the wrong direction to catch us even if they find us."

"Twenty minutes?" asks Roland. "In ten they'll be close enough to tell it's a decoy."

"Abandon ship," says Chief Doen. "That leads them out of the way, and might keep the drone far enough from them that it keeps fooling them. Most Vargr would stand and fight, but I'm not sure if humans would."

"He means the decoy. Doc, we're going to need your best acting, and fast," adds Tenya over the intercom. "Record a 'mayday' message. We're abandoning ship and setting the Nova to jump if it survives. Annie, can you make the relay drone look like Nova V and transmit a recording?"

"Sure. Limit to 5Gs?" she responds.

"No. I could get 6Gs out of those drives for maybe half an hour if my life were at stake. Wouldn't be much left of them afterwards, but it's possible. We'd do it if we were really there. Make it 6Gs."

"Got it," Annie acknowledges. "I'll need a course plot with evasive actions -- at least the first 20 minutes worth -- from where it's at, back toward Feri."

"I'll get it," responds Tenya. "Five minutes."
 
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Commentary
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This is great!

I don't mind if you want to handle the space combat. I really don't know how to do it.

Plus I'm not having a great week.

I'm not sure how our 'Passenger' woke up, but it's interesting. I don't think we need a Task Chain, tho. I think one of the books says you can repeat all of the screens on the Bridge.

I hope I'm covering what I need to.

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Game Mechanics
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I found out that Astrogation in MgT2 is for Normal Space as well as JumpSpace. I was thinking of MegaTraveller probably.

I had Jon Smithe at Astrogate-2 before but no bonus for his EDU.

I'll set the courses as:

Difficult (10+) Astrogation check
1D minutes
EDU

Got a 5 and 4, +2 is 11. Success! (unless there are other Modifiers)

And 6 minutes of calculating.

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Story
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A Day in the Life of some Travellers

Hour 14

090-1106 Imperial
2011 hours
Feri/Regina
Aboard Nova One

Smithe pulled up a Gunnery screen showing the SDB and several 'Points of Interest' for a Gunner. "Will this be good enough?," he asked the suddenly awake Passenger. "I'm not sure what you need to see."

Smithe went back to calculating on his Astrogation board.

A few minutes later, the Computer beeped at Smithe. "Cap'n, I've got several plots set for Evasion, courses for the transponders, plus the direct course for ANNIC NOVA. Would you like to take a look at them?" Smithe asked as he pointed to his board.
 
Spinward Scout said:
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Commentary
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This is great!

I don't mind if you want to handle the space combat. I really don't know how to do it.

Plus I'm not having a great week.

I'm not sure how our 'Passenger' woke up, but it's interesting. I don't think we need a Task Chain, tho. I think one of the books says you can repeat all of the screens on the Bridge.

I hope I'm covering what I need to.

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Click to expand...
Commentary:
I might have been a bit too cute with the spoilers and the location/POV changes -- sorry about any confusion.

A quick recap:
Post 119 (1910, on Nova I): Dame Irshmiri calls for a lift, and doesn't think highly of the local Imperial nobles.

Post 120 (1950, on Skipping Stone but mostly radio traffic): It turns out that the SDB is actually chasing Nova I (this is a retcon, I think you had it inbound) and Dame Irshmiri is angry at Sir Gaaradelii the starport administrator because it's going to mess up her travel plans. (She does not yet suspect anything worse.) Captain Puch uses the threat of telling Duke Norris at Regina that the Nobles here on Feri are being played by the local government (and he has all the receipts) in order to blackmail Sir G. into "seeing what he can do".

Post 121 (1940 -- this is out of sequence! -- on Nova I): Coordinator Preston can't help, but has Puch relay a passphrase to Scout Nigel Denius (the guard). This tells Nigel to advise Puch and Smithe that the prisoner must not be allowed to fall into Windsorian custody -- if necessary, by killing her -- and she has to be given Med Fast Antidote so she can help fight off the Windsorians (or at least go down fighting). After getting security guarantees from them, Scout Denius reveals Scout Melissa Ketonic's secret: she's a psionic (telekinesis, clairvoyance, a little telepathy) working for the Scouts under an extremely secret program, and transporting her as a prisoner was a ruse to get her offworld without revealing to the Windsorians that the IISS realized her cover was at least partially blown. As we found out in the previous (in posting time, not chronological sequence) the Windsorians are really interested in her.

Post 125 (1952, on Nova I): The Dame calls from her craft, offers to carry everyone to ANNIC NOVA (the ship's boat is faster) but the PCs don't want to ditch Nova I so they have her just escort them. The Windsorians wouldn't dare shoot at her, right? The starship calls, offers an escort. Turns out the drones we'd set out as a distant early warning line are now flying in formation with Nova I and Skipping Stone. The SDB (gaining on this flotilla) calls and demands surrender. The PCs flip them the bird. In commentary, I lay out the parameters of the upcoming shootout, which gets conveyed in the dialogue of Post 126 and Post 127.

Post 126: (2001, on Nova I): Apparently Sir Gaaradelii couldn't do much... The SDB looses 4 missiles that fly in formation (at a distance) with the PCs' small craft. Available weapons: 1 beam laser on each small craft; the ship's boat has a sandcaster too but it probably won't help. The missiles are there to monitor for any deflection from present course, the idea is that this will reveal the location of Annic Nova. Then they'll go in for the kill. While the PCs small craft need to brake to come to a stop at the starship, the SDB won't do that because it's setting up for a strafing run before the solar powered starship can pull in its sails and jump. (They think they have 40 minutes, and can get there in 20 because they're running flat-out toward it at 6Gs. Their missiles can get there even faster... They're mistaken, the canopy is already retracted. And they're presently aiming for the radio relay drone instead of the starship... )

The task chains are to increase Miss Ketonic's chances of taking out one of the missiles. The Gunnery one is to learn what parts of the missile are vulnerable to telekinetic tinkering to disable it during its attack run. ("Think about the components of a missile. What wires would you break to make it malfunction, and where are they?") The Navigation one is to be able to relate what's on the nav display with where her clairvoyance and telekinetic focus will be, so she can find it to mess with it (this can be helped by shifting one of our decoys around so she can see it being tracked, while the navigation-skilled assistant concentrates on tracking it.) Both tasks are Easy for the person lending the expertise.
 
Commentary:
SDB missile notes:
First salvo has three missiles go left, three go right. (It's actually a hexagonal spread in 3 dimensions, but whatever. At most, two will be in a position to detect and engage ANNIC NOVA. Each will do multiple hits worth of damage on impact -- or shrapnel impact -- if they hit, as they're moving at rather high speed.)
Second salvo is six straight ahead. These will not be able to engage ANNIC NOVA. The radio relay drone is toast, though!

This was hard to work out without either having the adversaries act like idiots in which case the ship is never at risk, having the PCs act like idiots in which case it's doomed, or generally removing all player character agency (that is, having it so nothing they do could make a difference in how it turns out).
 
Commentary:
Let's do this.

Story:
Hour 14

090-1106 Imperial
2015 Sidereal Time
1.25 hours out from Feri/Regina
Aboard NOVA I

"Jon, I don't have to read your mind, and I can't spare the effort. From what you've shown me, stopping a missile is going to take everything I've got."

Commentary:
I'm metagaming here. She's at PSI 15 after taking Psi Double. The clairvoyance at continental range, plus telekinesis with enough kick to damage electronics starting at very long range (her useable telekinetic force will increase with decreasing range, but that's a VERY short window at missile closing speeds) is going to take all 15 of those points. The metagaming is twofold: First, she can't literally count her PSI points and she doesn't know exactly what the point cost will be. Second, from a referee's perspective, I want this to work, or at least have a decent chance of working.

Story:
"Ok, let's go," I announce. "5Gs, on heading 270, five minutes, on my mark. Then turn and fire. We've got missile one, you have missile two. Decoys go live at the turn."
"Stone copies, standing by," James replies over the comms.
"Three... two... one... Go." We swing around and shift our full thrust to deflect toward Annic Nova's actual position. The missiles follow. For now, the SDB stays on course.
Minutes pass. "Doesn't look like they believe us," Jon says.
"I didn't think they thought we were stupid," I reply. "I'll give them that."

The comms start blaring with no notification -- it's an open channel. "Mayday. Mayday. This is starship Annic Nova, calling anyone. Mayday. Mayday. We are under attack and abandoning ship. Attacker identified as SDB Wyvren. Six souls on board. Mayday. Mayday. This is starship Annic Nova..." Jon mutes the channel. "Well, now they know we know."

"Yep." I key the comms. "Stone, Nova One. Now." Both small craft snap around and open fire on the missiles pacing us.

Game mechanics:
Antimissile fire: 8+ to hit. +DMs: Gunner (I'm assuming that Jon has Gunnery-1 and the gunner on Skipping Stone is Gunnery-2), and +2 because targets are stationary (relatively) and at close range (in ship combat terms). Not applying computer DMs because missiles are targeting autonomously rather than receiving targeting updates from the SDB.

Nova I fires: [6,1] +1 +2 = 10. Hit. Missile destroyed.
Skipping Stone fires: [3,3] +2 +2 = 10. Hit. Missile destroyed.

Story:
That worked. "Here they come... hang on!" I call out, starting evasive maneuvers.

Game mechanics:
Surviving missiles engage.
Target Selection: 1D, targets decoy on 4+.
Missile designated for Skipping Stone: [6] Decoy succeeds, missile targets decoy presenting as Skipping Stone.
Missile designated for Nova I: [2] Decoy fails, missile targets Nova I.

Story:
"That one took the bait. The other one's coming after us," I state. "Everybody brace yourselves." I try pitching up and going sideways to dodge -- it's still tracking.
"I see it, Captain," Melissa says from behind me. "Come on... There, got it. Damnit, die already! Die! I'm sorry -- " Thunder strikes, I'm slammed into my seat, then darkness.

Game mechanics:
LBB2 psionics do not have a "success" roll -- pay the points, get the effect. Incapacitation attack is effecively claws (1D) at contact range, electrical/electronic components are "Jack" armor. 2 points of damage disables missile (1 point represents damaging a non-critical subsystem). Snapshot rules: 7+to hit based on armor. No DM for darkness since she's working by "feel". There is time for only one attempt.
Roll: [4,3] =7. Damage roll: [2]

Also, no antimissile fire to attack the missile targeting the Skipping Stone decoy. It hits, and destroys it.

Story:
The emergency lights come on. The gravity doesn't, nor do the drives. My suit indicators show we're losing air. "Jon, you ok?" I ask, and get a thumbs-up in return. "Melissa?" No answer. She hadn't been strapped in! "Scout Ketonic, Report!" I shout, unstrapping and turning around in my seat. Still nothing. She's floating, limp, eyes closed, no obvious bleeding though. Suit telltales show she's still breathing, slow pulse, suit pressure holding. Not much I can do about it right now... "Nigel, are you and the bot ok back there?"

"Yes, but DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! Not sure about the bot. You're not going to believe this..."

"Jon, go back there and give him a hand with damage control. I'll try to get this thing going again." Jon pulls himself out of the flight deck toward the cargo bay.

"He's right, Cap'n. You gotta see this."
 
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Commentary
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Wow! That was very cool!

I'll take the Gunnery-1. Sounds about right.

I was wondering why she didn't try to turn the missiles against each other. Two birds with one stone type of thing.

I've been using Mongoose v. 2 the whole time. I guess we're winging it, but not much longer. Sorry that was hard for you. Thank you for handling the combat.
 
090-1106 Imperial
2020 Sidereal Time
At Jump Limit distance from Feri/Regina
Aboard Annic Nova

"Ready?" asks Doc.
"Message and course loaded and ready," Annie replies over the intercom.
"Do it."
"Starting the run now. Heading to the other turret to help Roland take out anything they scattered this far out."

Four seconds later, the open-channel comms received the new distress signal: "Mayday. Mayday. This is pinnace Annic Nova Vee, calling anyone. Mayday. Mayday. We are under attack and have abandoned ship. Attacker identified as SDB Wyvren. Six souls on board. Mayday. Mayday. This is pinnace Annic Nova Vee, calling anyone..." The relay drone is now mimicking the pinnace and "fleeing" directly toward the actual starship.

"Now lets see if we sold it," Doc says to the empty bridge after muting the channel. "They know we have decoys, and should assume we're not suicidal," he thought. They didn't buy Puch's feint with Nova I, but he'd worked at making it look fake by taking the missiles out first. Doc hoped they'd survived, but hadn't heard from them since they started shooting. Not that they'd want to give away their location, or that of the ship, by doing so. None of the crew had asked yet.

He looked at the strategic display. Three of the missiles Wyvren had launched early in the attack run might have enough delta-V to engage this far off the SDB's flightpath; they were ten minutes out and would see the ship in five. Doc hoped it'd be enough. And yes, the SDB had fallen for the decoy as another feint and was shifting course away from Annic Nova, taking its spread of missiles with it. One of the three red missiles on the screen turned yellow, then green.

Something had gone wrong back at the boats though, and Doc started seriously worrying. The decoys had scattered; one braking hard for what looked like a path straight back to Feri, another directly opposite the target for the "'abandoning ship' pinnace". But the small craft were just coasting, not braking. And still not a word from them...

The open-channel comms breaks in again. "Starport Control calling Skipping Stone. Starport Control calling Skipping Stone. Come in Skipping Stone." No reply. " Well," thought Doc, "it'd have been nice if they even pretended to care about our guys." The call repeated, still without an answer. Doc's unease grew as the minutes ticked away.



"That's it for the decoy," Annie called over the intercom as Doc watched one light blink out on the strategic display. Wyvren started braking hard, but it was far too late -- they'd overshot, and would spend the next couple of hours getting back into weapons range.

Except for the missiles they'd launched half an hour ago.

"Doc, Annie," Roland announced over the intercom, "we've got two radar target locks inbound, ETA five minutes. They've found us."

Doc asks, "Chief Doen, can you give me a jump if the gunners don't stop the missiles?"

"Captain, we can jump now. If we wait for them to take a shot there won't be time."

"Roland? Annie? Are you sure you can take them out?"

"We've got this," Roland states firmly. "This ship has fire control almost as good as front-line Imperial Navy tech, and you've got to admit that it's a stable platform... since we can't actually move."

"Ok," Doc decides. "Hold the jump. Even if one gets through, we've got backups. And we've got another half hour before the others get here...." His voice trails off into uncertainty.

"They'll make it," declares Annie with confidence. "Let's start shooting."

Chief Doen speaks up. "If we're not setting up for a jump, I can give the laser turrets some extra power if you can use it."

"Seriously?" asks Roland. "Of course we can! Thanks!"

Commentary:
Did you think I'd pass up the chance to use Double-Fire from a Jump-3 ship with no freakin' maneuver drive whatsoever? Of course the aliens had it in the computer -- if they didn't, why does the ship have mere single laser turrets?

Game Mechanics:
Lasers are +1 to hit, per DA1.
Double-fire is allowed because Pn>MD Gs (and in LBB2, Pn=Jn, even if this doesn't have a power plant, strictly speaking.)
Antimissile fire is 8+ to hit, any hit kills.
+DMs: Gunnery skill, +1 for improved fire control.

Annie (Gunnery-2) vs. Missile #1:
First shot: [6,1] +2 +1 = 9. Hits. Missile destroyed.

Roland (Gunnery-1) vs. Missile #2:
First shot: [4,5] +1 +1 = 11. Hits. Missile destroyed.

In both cases, they're still beaming energy downrange for the full combat turn in order to vaporize any inbound fragments.

Overload damage check:
First round of double fire, roll 1+ to avoid power plant damage. (This increases by one for each subsequent round of double fire, and decreases by one for each round spent not firing.) Roll: [3,5] = 8. No problem!

Story:
"Got 'em!" Roland shouts triumphantly.

"Confirm no other missiles inbound," requests Doc.

"Confirmed," replies Annie. "We're clear."

Doc calls out, "All stations, status report."

"Engineering, all systems nominal, all personnel accounted for. Beginning damage assessment zones four and five."

"Turret one," calls Annie, "all systems nominal, I'm good. Proceeding to zone three for damage assessment."

"Turret two," adds Roland, "Nominal. Present. Beginning recon zone two."

"I'll check zone one," states Doc, looking around the bridge. "You know, if they'd hit us I think we'd have noticed..." he says to himself. "But, gotta follow procedures." He quickly checks each console, finds nothing unusual. "Zone One Clear," he announces over the intercom then switches to comms, and opens the general broadcast channel.

"This is starship Annic Nova calling all ships and Starport Control. We have survived an attack by Windsor Space Security Force ship Wyvren. Oh, and hello there Wyvren. Yes, we know you know where we are. Won't do you any good though -- we can jump at any time now, and it'll be at least an hour and a half before you can touch us. We will be commencing recovery operations for small craft Annic Nova One and Skipping Stone, and request Scout Service assistance as well as whatever assurances of safety can be provided. Annic Nova standing by."
 
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Story:
090-1106 Imperial
2020 Sidereal Time
1:20:00 out from Feri/Regina
Aboard NOVA I

I don't, in fact, believe it.

But there it is, larger than life and almost as ugly: half a missile, jammed through the ceiling and hanging into the cargo bay.

It should have exploded. It had to have exploded.

We should all be dead now.

It's just hanging there. No boom. There's supposed to be a boom. There's always a boom. Sooner or later, boom!

I laugh. The laugh turns hysterical, and doesn't stop.

Commentary:
I'm handwaving the living daylights out of this, justified by the fact that this missile hit shouldn't have happened in the first place (the telekinetic attack on the missile succeeded). There should be molten metal spattered throughout the cabin, and by rights the warhead should have cooked off and detonated from the heat generated by forcing two hundred kilograms of missile through the equivalent of an inch of steel plate.

But, the Rule of Cool says it's just a missile sticking into the cargo bay, so there it is.

(And yes, there's a B5 reference -- somebody's got to have some perspective around here. Boom!)
 
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_____

Story
_____

A Day in the Life of some Travellers

Hour 14

090-1106 Imperial
2020 hours
Feri/Regina
Aboard Nova One

Smithe takes out his handcomp... and snaps a picture.

"I'm afraid to scan the damn thing, Cap'n. So what are we supposed to do now?" Smithe said as he looked back towards the Passive scan board.

"Cap'n! The Wyvern just flew past the ANNIC NOVA! Trajectory is taking it far... almost an hour and a half to return!" His excitement turned back to puzzlement when he looked back to the unexploded missile punched through the overhead.

Smithe reached over to their Passenger and slowly pulled her down to a seat. When she had settled a bit, he buckled her restraint so she wouldn't float around the cabin. Her suit showing she's most likely just unconscious.

_____

Commentary
_____

I didn't think about Double Fire. Good Call!

I liked to Marvin the Martian reference. "Where's the Kaboom!"
 
Story:
090-1106 Imperial
2022 Sidereal Time
1:22:00 or so out from Feri/Regina
Aboard NOVA I

Jon's questions snap me out of it, but I still giggle, inappropriately. "Boom!"
Mission First. Do the next thing. Pilot. Navigate. Communicate. Prioritize. Delegate.
Pilot: troubleshoot, get the drives back online if possible.
Navigate: Where's Skipping Stone? Get us headed toward the ship again.
Communicate: Not 'till we get things settled.
Prioritize: There's a bomb back there. Ketonic's been hurt. We're losing air, but that can wait.
Delegate: Nigel administered drugs to Ketonic, probably a medic, put him on checking her. Jon and Buddy can secure the foreign object so it doesn't go boom. Boom!

"Nigel," I order, "the airlock is the only place in this boat that'll hold air. Get Ketonic in there, get her out of her suit, and check for injuries. She hit the bulkhead at 5Gs before the drives quit. Probably concussion at least."

"Jon," I continue, pointing at the absurd protrusion into the cabin, "unless we can cut that out of the hull, it's stuck there. You and Buddy lash it in place. Hullpatch foam near the front, wrap that in chains because it's still hot, then tiedown straps to the chain, in all directions so it can't move. Once it's secure, we can try repressurizing and foam any leaks."

I finish, "I'll get this thing running again." If I can, I don't add.

Reference:
Damage control: Roll 9+ to repair one hit of damage to one system, +DM: applicable skill. One attempt per system per 1000 second turn, assuming personnel availability. In this case, it's the primary electronics conduit, and switching to the backup (if there is one and it's undamaged) will restore all systems. Applicable skills: Electronics, Mechanical, Computer, Engineering (use highest). Add INT or EDU modifier if applicable.

Commentary:
And I'll handwave this as hard as necessary for narrative purposes, since, again, this "missile hit" is referee fiat and "shouldn't have happened" in the first place.
 
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Story:
090-1106 Imperial
2024 Sidereal Time
1:22:00 or so out from Feri/Regina
Aboard NOVA I

Back in the pilot's seat, I check the controls. Status display's back up and strewn with red lights, some blinking orange, not a lot of green there...
Backups. These guys put a spare freakin' jump drive on the ship, they must have put some backups in the boats!

Game Mechanics:
Damage control roll as in preceding post. Repair attempt is using knowledge of controls, so it's Small Craft Pilot (he's Pilot-3, which is Small Craft-2) with EDU bonus (no bonus here) but +1 for intuitive understanding of Annic Nova's systems (the numbers thing from DA-1, p.7).
Roll: [6,6] +2 +1 = 15.

Story:
The boot-up process display scrolls past in its alien language. I make out a few words: "Primary not available" features heavily. "Alternate connected" appears more frequently as the seconds pass, then "enabled, enabled, enabled." The cabin lights come back on, blinking orange lights on the panel flip to green. I quickly stab at the artificial gravity control to make sure it stays the heck OFF.

Commentary:
Beating the target roll by six has to mean the boat practically fixes itself, I would think.

Story:
"Captain Puch," Nigel says over the suit comms faintly, "she's regained consciousness, no head injury, just burned out." Faintly? Right, his helmet's off.

"Good -- thanks. Seal your suits up and come back into the cabin, we're getting a move on here shortly."

Commentary:
My original intent here was to give her a traumatic brain injury that would require lifesaving treatment back on Feri, with the consequent risk of further attacks if the locals can't be dissuaded. But it's October 31st, and I've got a better idea for her.

Story:
"... come in Nova One. Skipping Stone calling Nova One, do you read?" The comms work again!

"Stone, Nova One. I read five by five. We're ok here, but have a slight problem."

"We noticed. It kind of sticks out." That's Dame Irshinri's voice.

"We're lashing it in place and going with it -- wait, do you have any hull cutting tools like a fusion torch or something?"

"Would a linear shaped-cuttting charge work?"

Why would she have a hull breaching charge on a yacht's speedboat? Nevermind, just be glad she does. "It'd be perfect. Bring it over."

I switch over to suit comms. "Hey, hold up on tying that thing down. Skipping Stone can cut it loose for us."

Jon yells back, "No! A ship weapons laser is too much power, it'll overheat the missile and set off the warhead!"

"Not their laser, a linear shaped cutting charge. Breaching charge."

"That's different -- that'll work! Let me pop loose the tiedowns, and I'll go outside to help if I can."

"Hey," I point out, "if Buddy isn't ok in vacuum, we need to get him into the airlock 'cause we're still leaking down and we're about to punch a hole in the hull. If he's vacc-rated, maybe he can help."

I turn the main comms on again. "Nova, Nova One. We're ok, minor repairs in progress, will resume vectoring for your location in about ten minutes. Stand by for data transmission -- I'm sending the battle logs."

Commentary:
Edited to add/correct:
I misunderstood what a "breaching charge" was in Traveller terms (it's a flat shaped-charge that punches a hole into a wall). What I wanted was a 2m diameter loop of linear shaped cutting charge (basically, directionally-shaped detonating cord, maybe a bit larger) that cuts a circular hole in a bulkhead/hull (without destroying the center of the hole).
 
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Commentary:
This jumps ahead an hour, and presupposes that Nova One gets back to the starship intact. I"ll fill in the details (or Spinward Scout can) later. I'm only doing this jump-cut because it's October 31st.

Story:
Hour 15

090-1106 Imperial
2125 Sidereal Time
Jump Limit Distance from Feri/Regina
Aboard Annic Nova

"I'm sorry we have to put you both into the same room," I tell Nigel and Melissa. "As you can see we've got a lot of space, but the rooms aren't laid out very well. Corridor to the right, first door on the right. At least it has direct access to the head, which is shared with the other rooms on the corridor."

"It'll be fine," says Nigel. "We'll work it out." He gestures to Melissa for her to go in first. Jon steps out of the way.

She coughs. Then again, deeply -- stretching into a wracking chain of coughs and desperate gasps.

Jon's face goes white, and mine must have as well as my chest tightened. We know that cough. We all do, after we found the ship. It killed Bry, and almost killed the rest of us.

I turn to Nigel. "She's vaxxed for the virus, right?"

"Yes, Slow Drug protocol, one month subjective, she should be immune. And it's asymptomatic for a week. What the...?"

I take out my phone. "Doctor Martin, we need you on the passenger deck -- emergency, possible virus symptoms." He responds that he's on his way.

Melissa staggers to the far end of the room, still coughing. "Mommy?" That's not her voice -- she sounds like a little girl! "Mommy, wake up." A scared little girl. More coughing and now she's bracing her hands on her knees and trying to retch while coughing. She straightens up and extends her arm to push at nothing, then suddenly flinches and shrieks in terror, "MOMMY!!!" then falls to the floor still coughing.

Nigel shouts, "Get her out of here NOW!" sprinting the rest of the way into the room, Jon and I hot on his heels. "Jon, get her feet; I'll get her arms; Captain, you say where!" We set to lifting her but she fights us off, declaring in a stubborn little-girl voice, "I'm staying here. Daddy told me to wait until he gets back," then chokes coughing again.

I bark, "SCOUT KETONIC, NAME AND SERVICE NUMBER!" Basic Training was a dozen years ago, but you never forget.

A brief moment of lucidity. "Ketonic, Melissa T. One-Nine-One-Zero..." then she coughs again, choking. The child is back. "Daddy? Come back Daddy, mommy's sick." More coughing -- it's worse. She struggles to her feet and staggers toward the door. We follow, pushing her along.

She's sobbing between the coughs. "Daddy, when are you coming back? Are you coming back?" And with a final despairing wail, "DADDY! Come BACK!!!" she falls to the deck just short of the doorway.

Silence.

No coughing.

No breathing.

"MOVE! NOW!" shouts Nigel, seizing Melissa's wrists. Jon grabs her ankles, they lift, I'm guiding them out into the hallway and to the elevator.

There's Doc. "Doc, it's not viral. Mental. Needs CPR. Might need Fast. Needs to be NOT HERE. We're headed for Hydroponics, meet us there," I tell him rapidly, pulling out my phone as we squeeze into the elevator.

"Engineering, this is Captain Puch. I need half-gravity on the Makershop deck and hydroponics. Get Cardosa and Jones to the forward end of hydroponics, we're gonna need help carrying the passenger." Chief Doen acknowledges and disconnects.

The deck indicator flips from V to 7 to A and the doors open. "Go," I say, "around the corner and up the gangway. Careful, low grav." It is -- Zaz turned the artificial gravity down. It's a long way up to Hydroponics and the drives. I only hope it'll be far enough.


Commentary:
I hope everyone had a happy Halloween.
 
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