Salvage ops

[robject]

Salvage on Sharmun and The Ship in the Lake gave us two classic salvage situations: one was lost payroll funds, while the other was survey data.

I'm more interested in salvaging an actual ship. But abandoned ships are rare - why abandon something worth millions of credits? I suppose it could be bait set out by pirates, but only if it's high profile, which automatically sounds like a bad idea for pirates.

So we have an abandoned ship. What can go wrong with recovery?

Parts can be irreparable.
Local critters could have taken up residence.
It might be in a very difficult to access location.
The region might be embroiled in war.
A rival group may be trying to recover it.
Someone else actively might be seeking to destroy the ship, or otherwise not want it recovered.

 

[aramis]

It might not count as abandoned, if perhaps someone is in a low berth aboard.
It might be holding dormant microbes or other toxics.
It may have illicit parts in key systems. (EG: the transponder isn't legit, or the drive's psionic in the OTU)
It may be designed for different species from the recovery team.
It may require special equipment to operate.
It may be in a proscribed area. (EG: it crashed on Psaydi, in an area of Anola habitat...)
It may have software issues that don't show up until late in recovery.
It may not want to be recovered - it's happy with its retirement, and wants the crew to leave it alone. (Which is also indicative of other issues...)

 

[flykiller]

It might not count as abandoned, if perhaps someone is in a low berth aboard.

"there goes our salvage, guys ...."

 

[Timerover51]

Salvage on Sharmun and The Ship in the Lake gave us two classic salvage situations: one was lost payroll funds, while the other was survey data.

I'm more interested in salvaging an actual ship. But abandoned ships are rare - why abandon something worth millions of credits? I suppose it could be bait set out by pirates, but only if it's high profile, which automatically sounds like a bad idea for pirates.

So we have an abandoned ship. What can go wrong with recovery?

Parts can be irreparable.
Local critters could have taken up residence.
It might be in a very difficult to access location.
The region might be embroiled in war.
A rival group may be trying to recover it.
Someone else actively might be seeking to destroy the ship, or otherwise not want it recovered.

The ship, of the Ship in the Lake, is described as a "tourist excursion
steamer", so is not a starship and therefore would have considerably less interest for a major salvage operation. Depending on what it is built off and how it is powered, it may have minimal salvage value even on the planet where it was built. Also, is it presently owned by an insurance company which paid off for the loss? That is not mentioned in the write up. It is in a large lake, which means an extended search may be required, and the area is presently contested with local guerillas. The contract, given the situation, is not that attracted.

The ship, in the Salvage on Sharmun, is described as a "destroyer", presumably of the Imperial Navy. If the Imperium operates similar to Real World navies, the destroyer is still Imperial property, and any salvage party is going to have to deal with what do they do once they salvage it. The Imperium may pay their salvage fees, or may simply say "Thanks", and repossess the ship. The stated location of the ship, and the local situation would make any ship salvage extremely dangerous. There is also the high likelihood of the local government letting the salvage proceed to near success and the seizing with ship, with the salvers being offered their lives in exchange for finishing the job. A party also would have to have sufficient funds to attempt this strictly on speculation. All in all, it does not make for a very attractive salvage job.

 

[savage]

My first Traveller campaign i participated in was salvaging a ship from a Forbidden game reserve world "red zone". The ship soft landed but the crew was killed on planet by locals. The primitives didn't find it. We tried to keep it legally, but we're given a high finders fee since it was a sub merchant. We danced around the forbidden world rhetoric waving the noble get of jail free card.

As far as savaging war relics goes, battle zones are very, very dangerous places.

I'd say the Kinunir is the best example. So that is what i did to my first player group. Put then on the tale of a Kinunir class ship but it's low berth was occupied after the rebellion.

 

[kilemall]

Hmmm, how about a mutiny-murder scene, the remains are all as they ended each other and the ship drifted on without beacon or alert being issued, now the players must solve the murder mystery or the last trap on board the ship will cause the loss of the salvage- possibly their lives.

Or same thing, only they will miss the really valuable item on board without solving the mystery.

 

[mike wightman]

Referee notes from A1:

Battlefield Salvage: The area of space where the Battle of Two Suns was
fought could have starship wreckage, both of Kinunir class ships and of other ships
involved, in salvagable condition. Serviceable parts for the restoration of the
Kinunir could be available.
Another Lost Ship: One of the Kinunir class ships could be down and
disabled on a planetary surface somewhere in the subsector.

And this from the library data in the same adventure:

The battlefield is still posted as a dangerous area, littered with debris, and
avoided by interstellar transportation.

Still active automated defence systems.
Smart missiles that have malfunctioned and are lying dormant waiting for a target.

Last time I ran the Kinunir I had the computer in charge of robot repair drones and security robots, and it could also remotely activate and control the marine battle dress...

 

[robject]

Several very good ideas here. Thank you.

 

[savage]

There is a terrible movie called the Drift. Every seen it? I liked the premise.

The power supplies that make FTL possible fail after something like the Empress Wave. All ships are left where they are beyond rescue and the people on board go into survival mode. The scouts/salvagers are out hunting for more power supplies and find survivors...etc.

Also, Firefly has a couple episodes with salvage operations. Star Trek might have a couple.

 

[Timerover51]

Another factor is quite simply, who is going to pay the up-front costs? Depending on what is required, salvaging a space ship may be a very expensive proposition.

The man who started the salvage operation for the sunken German High Seas Fleet ships at Scapa Flow in the late 1920's and early 1930's barely broke even. The same thing happens with a couple of guys who salvaged a stranded Tanker in the Delaware River, they got the ship and barely recovered their costs.

Marine salvage is governed by the principal of "no cure, no pay". I can only assume that will hold true with star and space ships as well.

 

[flykiller]

Depending on what is required, salvaging a space ship may be a very expensive proposition.

indeed.

"it's a 400 dton cargo boat, all we need to do is replace the jump drives and we can get it out of here and it's ours!"

"how much are those?"

"32MCr ...."

 

[savage]

Another factor is quite simply, who is going to pay the up-front costs? Depending on what is required, salvaging a space ship may be a very expensive proposition.

The man who started the salvage operation for the sunken German High Seas Fleet ships at Scapa Flow in the late 1920's and early 1930's barely broke even. The same thing happens with a couple of guys who salvaged a stranded Tanker in the Delaware River, they got the ship and barely recovered their costs.

Marine salvage is governed by the principal of "no cure, no pay". I can only assume that will hold true with star and space ships as well.

Very true. Also, legal entanglements for competitive organizations, owners, etc.
In space we do not have rust which obliterates the usefulness of many objects. However, we do have cold, radiation, and a vacuum. All of these can create other problems in the salvage. Kinunir was sealed. Other vessels being salvaged may not be in that condition. And salvaging a grounded ship suffers the consequences of any natural damage incurred on that celestial body.

A space vessel may be carrying water or other chemicals that are eating away at the ship. It could get messy.

 

[G Sanz]

I think how difficult a salvage operation is going to be depends on the objective of the salvage, what works and doesn't work on the ship and the resources available.

Some questions I'd have as a PC if we were considering or planning for this mission:

1. How big is the ship?

2. Am I planning to salvage the ship or just components off it? Do I know in advance what is likely repairable or salvageable off the ship? How could I find out?

3. Is it space-side or planet-side?

4. If it's planet-side does the salvage need to escape atmosphere on its own power? Is it structurally sound for this?

5. Is there anything dangerous on the surface? Or on-board the ship? Is piracy an issue in this part of space?

6. If it's space-side, will it be easy to board or is it rotating on one or more axes? Is dangerous EVA activities required?

7. If it is rotating how can I stabilize it's attitude so that work can commence? Do the maneuver drives still work?

8. Does the ship still hold air? Is there any danger it might explosively decompress? Do I need it to hold air? Is the airlock accessible?

9. Does the ship's power-plant still work and do I need to use it? If not where do I get power? Is the reactor leaking? What about heat management systems? Does the ship have fuel and/or is still able to hold fuel?

10. Are we planning on jumping the derelict out of the system? Does the jump drive work? Can I survive a week in jump-space on the derelict? How are the life support systems?

11. How long will this work take? Are there drop-dead time constraints?

12. How do we finance the mission and what do we need to supply ourselves with to succeed? What is our break-even figure and is it achievable?

13. Is there any legal or political liabilities I need to worry about in salvaging this ship? Might there be anything on-board that gets the salvage confiscated?

14. Are there any X-factors I need to worry about (evil AI in the ships computers, space-nazi gold, dangerous illegal alien cargo, etc etc.)

 

[kilemall]

Another reason for abandonment and difficulty of salvage- radiation.

Which I suppose could be 'cured' by nuclear dampers, but I believe that would cause neutron embrittlement and reduce the lifespan/utility of the ship or it's parts.

 

[The Pakkrat]

The derelict, grounded or still amid the black is salvageable but only for a short time. The containment of the power plant is about to go explodey in 2d6 hours and is irreparable. How much can the Travellers salvage and still make it to mimimum safe distance before the derelict destroys itself?

Add archetypical beautiful Nobleperson in an emergency Low Berth and some valuable luggage-cargo (1dT for her High Passage) and save the family heraldry, jewelry, signet, etc.

From the writers' desk on Roethoeegaeaegz (Knoellighz 1726), this is the Pakkrat.

 

[BlackBat242]

But, has the inherent conservatism of the Vilani resulted in a requirement for the power plant to have an jettisonable power core - for safety reasons?

If so, then while the ship may not be too badly damaged afterwards, it would likely start cooling down fairly rapidly - with the resulting increase in brittleness of components, and of eventual liquification/freezing of the atmosphere (or vacuum-welding of metallic components if the atmo is vented).

 

[aramis]

But, has the inherent conservatism of the Vilani resulted in a requirement for the power plant to have an jettisonable power core - for safety reasons?

If so, then while the ship may not be too badly damaged afterwards, it would likely start cooling down fairly rapidly - with the resulting increase in brittleness of components, and of eventual liquification/freezing of the atmosphere (or vacuum-welding of metallic components if the atmo is vented).

There isn't that much plasma to cool down, and the drive components can't be at plasma level working temps - they'd melt.

So the couple kilos of plasma in the AHL are going to quickly flash fry the engine bay, but the relief crew's biggest issue is likely to be dealing with the crispy corpses.

 

[Enoki]

If the engine room is relatively air / liquid tight venting the atmosphere in it and then flooding it with liquid hydrogen (or other available liquid) would take care of most of the heat problem for quite some time.

Of course, you'd need the liquid available to do it...