BardicHeart
SOC-12
Yeah, but keep in mind, the argument so far has been that using things like Striker and TCS, that planetary systems could afford dreadnaughts of their own. So we wouldn't be talking necessarily about it being Imp dreadnaughts, these guys could be locals. But either way, that wasn't the point I was making here. The point was to illustrate the kind of questions I'd be asked... if there are dreadnaughts in system, regardless of who owns them, I'm fairly sure those questions would come up. So its nice to have thought out some answers in advance.
::raises hand:: that was me.
Part of my early "theory" was that the Imp Navy would be stationed in major systems and would patrol along major trade routes as part of their routine maneuvers, training exercises, etc. In these areas I don't see piracy being a problem... at all.... zero... none.... nada. System patrols rarely even see a real smuggler, its more likely somebody with a small amount of minor contraband. More likely than that is the drunk freighter pilot, or the drunk rich kids out in daddy's yacht for a party.
But outside those major trade lanes are thousands of worlds that only occasionally see an Imp cruiser come through. Their security is their own problem. They see real smugglers, sometimes they see real pirates... and they still get the drunk freighter pilots and the rich brats too.
Then there are the border worlds. They see the Imp Navy ALL the time, they get to watch them pulling maneuvers, training exercises, using asteroids for target practice, fighters doing strafing and bombing runs on an airless moon. They set up sensor nets and listening posts, which is nice cause they usually pass on the heads up to your patrol. Pirates aren't much of a problem here either... not with that striker carrier group around. But smugglers are a routine problem, so are skirmishes between two pissed off ships over "spacelane rage"... and patrol gets the job of dealing with it.
Depends on who you are going up against, how far out is back up, what kind of opposition might you expect, etc. DEA patrols off Miami in speed boats with no machine guns, but they do have a group of agents on board who are tasked with boarding and inspecting. Further out you have coast guard who carry specialized divers for doing hull inspections on large ship (looking for illegal cargo in sealed containers attached to the outside of the ship hull under water). US Coast Guard, (to my knowledge) doesn't carry US Marines, but they do have CG security details. Not on all boats, but depending on the mission and deployment, they do sometimes have them. US Navy patrolling foreign waters most definitely use security details and marines. However, keep in mind guys, what is a Traveller Marine... a soldier trained in boarding actions in SPACE. This isn't a job you want just anyone doing. If the boat you're boarding in a wet navy enviroment sinks, you can swim away... try that in space... oops.
So consider the environment. You're sent out on patrol. A pirate might be in anything from a converted armed Beowolf to a Corsair to a 800 dt Mercenary Cruiser. Your patrol base is on some nearby planet or space station. Nearby is a relative term, its 5 hours away. Most of your duty is routine radio challenges to incoming traffic. Sometimes you pull over some yacht doing reckless stunts... just rich kids, lucky brats. Sometimes you catch a smuggler... most of the time they don't put up a fight, they're out to make a few extra creds not get killed... but every once in awhile you get a "live" one. Sometimes its a drunk pilot, freighter pilots get bored too you guess. Then come those rare days when things get exciting... its an actual pirate in a 400 dt Corsair. Days like that you're glad you're in 400 ton boat with heavy armor and enough firepower to match them in a slugfest. Standard SOP is to take out their engines and guns, disable them, move in close, grapple, then let the marines board. You're glad the marines get that job... talking about a hostile evironment. Ships are generally depresserized, lights are out or intermittenent which makes things even more confusing, bulkhead doors might have to be blown with small specialized charges. You heard a marine talk about a rooky who used too much once in an interior corridor... the overpressure took out himself and his fire team... messy way to die. Your suit gets a hole in it, you got seconds to patch it, they drill at watching out for each other, patching each other, covering each other. Personally, you're glad you aren't a marine. They go in first, secure the place, finish off anyone dumb enough to still fight... then make arrests and medics take care of the injured (there are always injured). You hear some poorer systems use pinnances for patrols, some don't even have regular marine detachments for boarding... that's gotta suck. Five hours out from base with no back up in a pinance with no major weapons, little armor and no marines... not even a medbay... poor dumb bastards, guess they make do with what they got, but you hate it for them. Most days out here your enemy is boredom... hell, those drunk rich kids skimming the atmo of an outerplanet are almost a relief... something different to do. But then there are those days when the shooting starts and things get heavy. Days like that you appreciate what this boat can do.
Main point is this...
You are system patrol
Back up may be hours or even a day away, not minutes away.
Most days you will be bored out of your mind.
One day in a hundred you will have something exciting to do.
It is exciting when someone is shooting at you... you cannot be bored while being shot at. If you are, see the base shrink when we get back to port.
You are on your own out here.
You must be self sufficient.
You must be self reliant.
Get to know your fellow crew, they are now your family. They are the only back up you can count on out here.
Be nice to your ship medic, he or she is the only doctor you have for several hundred thousand kilometers. If you get shot, your life will be in the hands of your medic. If your medic gets shot, you are all screwed.
Keep your weapons in good working order. Going into combat with an unreliable weapon is like going into a port whorehouse with a cheap condom. You deserve what happens to you.
In space, there is no air except what you bring with you. If you lose that air, you are dead. Space is a very unforgiving environment. It is a hostile environment.
Do you get me? Yes Sir. I can't hear you. DO YOU GET ME? SIR, YES SIR! GOOD
You are system patrol. Good luck out there.
Yup, and depending on their mission assignment, sometimes they still do. Its coast guard personnel, but in Traveller terms they're still guys trained and tasked for boarding. When they aren't boarding they might be the ships cook, etc. For example, coast guards boats in the Berring Strait are more likely to be equipped with rescue divers and medics because that's a significant part of their mission. Coast Guard cutters patroling south of the Florida Keys are more likely to have a security detail for boarding actions because that is a significant part of their mission. Boats doing harbor patrol tend to be smaller with fewer crew. Cutters patroling 50 miles off shore tend to be larger with more crew and are able to handle a wider range of problems. Same reason, 50 miles off the coast, it might be an hour or more before "back up" can get there, so it pays to be better prepared.
Anyway, this is me working on "painting" a clearer "picture" of what routine system activity is like, how things work, who does what.
o: 
