[003 Rescue Operations

[joertexas]

Keeping the threads a reasonable size...

1437.003.1430

The entire group has been working for the past hour to take Mother's people off the stricken cruiser. Foix and Rock have turned one of the homes into a surgical suite, where they have stabilized the three wounded people. Hiro is still pressing his rescuers about investigating the forward section, although he is also working hard to help everyone evacuate.

LeFron's ship arrives, and the sub-lieutenant reports that she is taking fire from the same cargo hatch. She instantly returns fire with her laser turret, and reports that, whatever fired on her, it's probably dead. At that range, the lightly armored cargo doors stood no chance against a shipboard laser, while the starship's tough hide easily turned the projectiles. LeFron maneuvers her ship to a position a hundred meters behind the cruiser, where the pinnace rendezvouses with the light merchantman. They can take on forty people, and then they will be at their life support limit.

The Lady is still maneuvering, and she will arrive in two hours. Captain LeFron's ship's boat will arrive in thirty minutes with more life support packs and some hull patches for the perforated pinnace.

Mother's avatar stands and watches the proceedings with an inscrutable expression. Then, she steps up to Foix, Rock, and Vee, who are taking a breather after the third of three difficult surgeries. "My fuel is gone. I can keep life support running here for no more than thirty minutes on emergency power."

[BackworldTraveller]

Mother

The life support situation. This is also the same with the Master's zone?

Captain LeFron
When you targeted the cargo hatch, were you able to get any information of the space behind it? Would that be a viable entry point for a boarding team to bypass the Master's main defences should that be attempted?

If you were to pass a cable, this vessel could be slowed and diverted from the station (admittedly at a very small acceleration, but any acceleration is enough to build cumulatively). This may be an alternative to risking life and limb. After all, when the fleet arrive, their marines could operate at greater advantage than our small group. Although they are likely to be less compassionate.

[joertexas]

Mother

The life support situation. This is also the same with the Master's zone?

Captain LeFron
When you targeted the cargo hatch, were you able to get any information of the space behind it? Would that be a viable entry point for a boarding team to bypass the Master's main defences should that be attempted?

If you were to pass a cable, this vessel could be slowed and diverted from the station (admittedly at a very small acceleration, but any acceleration is enough to build cumulatively). This may be an alternative to risking life and limb. After all, when the fleet arrive, their marines could operate at greater advantage than our small group. Although they are likely to be less compassionate.

Mother shakes her head. "I do not know. From my calculations, they are probably out of fuel, as well."

"The Caladia has been in range of the station for hours, and the tiny amount of change we could exert will not change that, nor can we keep it from being captured in the LaGrange point's influence. It's here to stay, Sir." LeFron pauses for a moment. "A rescue ball just launched from the cargo bay!

"Contact! Captain LeFron, in the approaching boat, replies. "We need to be careful about how we approach them. Comte, we are obligated to pick them up. What are your orders?"

[Tiglath]

Foix replies "Captain LeFron my understanding is that you are still half an hour away and twenty people here plus my party have thirty minutes of life support remaining onboard. Tag the rescue ball with your sensors and mark it for later recovery by another inbound vessel. There will be fewer people within it than require immediate evacuation from this ship and those aboard currently have better life support than we do".

He adds "Whoever recovers it must exercise extreme caution as every act so far from the forward areas of this ship has been hostile. It is not impossible that this rescue ball could be a mine or contain hostile forces".

(OOC: I hope I've done my life support maths right. If Lefron and the pinnace took off 40 then 20 + Foix & Co remain aboard. This must be more than can fit in a rescue ball? Maybe they'll stop and rescue us! )

[joertexas]

Foix replies "Captain LeFron my understanding is that you are still half an hour away and twenty people here plus my party have thirty minutes of life support remaining onboard. Tag the rescue ball with your sensors and mark it for later recovery by another inbound vessel. There will be fewer people within it than require immediate evacuation from this ship and those aboard currently have better life support than we do".

He adds "Whoever recovers it must exercise extreme caution as every act so far from the forward areas of this ship has been hostile. It is not impossible that this rescue ball could be a mine or contain hostile forces".

(OOC: I hope I've done my life support maths right. If Lefron and the pinnace took off 40 then 20 + Foix & Co remain aboard. This must be more than can fit in a rescue ball? Maybe they'll stop and rescue us! )

"Copy," LeFron says. "I am obligated to remind you that the regulations state that we have to at least attempt a rescue during the rescue ball's estimated duration. Given it's age, I'd suggest we wait not more than three hours."

[Tiglath]

Foix replies "The Lady will be on station by then and has small craft able to bring the ball aboard but our main effort now must be to save as many people as we can".

[joertexas]

Foix replies "The Lady will be on station by then and has small craft able to bring the ball aboard but our main effort now must be to save as many people as we can".

"Copy," LeFron replies.

[joertexas]

(OOC: I hope I've done my life support maths right. If Lefron and the pinnace took off 40 then 20 + Foix & Co remain aboard. This must be more than can fit in a rescue ball? Maybe they'll stop and rescue us! )

LeFron's ship has just arrived, so they're taking the 40 aboard from the pinnace. LeFron's boat is in company with the Lady's boat, and they are 30 minutes out.

[Tiglath]

Foix observes "Mes amis, we enter the final act of this ship's tragedy. Even if we had undertaken offensive operations to somehow rescue people from the forward section then it seems there would have been insufficient life support for them in this section of the ship. I still maintain that such an action was never a viable military option. You must be satisfied that we did all that we could".

He issues orders for the retinue to hold their defensive positions pending the arrival of the boats and be prepared to switch to their vac suits if the cruiser's life support seems taxed / begins to fail.

He directs that as soon as the pinnace is unloaded onto LeFron's ship then those remaining on the cruiser begin to transfer to the pinnace to further stretch out / buffer the available life support.

(OOC: This should make the half hour wait a little less nervous).

[BackworldTraveller]

Rock
This does not seem to be particularly defensible - should we consider barricades? If those bots get a clear line of sight to this airlock then we are stuck. And Mothers defenders at the choke point just left!

[The Bindoner]

There are those infernal devices we have been carrying around. One of them in the chokepoint should suffice. If the Master's machines try to reach us we detonate.

[Tiglath]

There are those infernal devices we have been carrying around. One of them in the chokepoint should suffice. If the Master's machines try to reach us we detonate.

Foix replies "Now we don't need to care too much about the effect on the ship's stressed hull that makes good sense".

[joertexas]

There are those infernal devices we have been carrying around. One of them in the chokepoint should suffice. If the Master's machines try to reach us we detonate.

Foix replies "Now we don't need to care too much about the effect on the ship's stressed hull that makes good sense".

"There is no longer power to the hangar deck lift, or anywhere else," Mother puts in. "My core system will not last much longer, but this avatar can run for approximately twenty hours."

Bren and Hiro stop for a moment. "Mother, will you not come with us?"

The avatar sadly shakes her head. "I am simply part of the Caladia, my children. I have done my job by delivering you safely to Birach. Those were my orders."

[The Bindoner]

Mother, can you preserve your core in a hard copy for retrieval? We could upload you to another system to continue guiding your people.

[joertexas]

Mother, can you preserve your core in a hard copy for retrieval? We could upload you to another system to continue guiding your people.

"This avatar has as much information as I can transfer to it," Mother replies.

[Tiglath]

Foix replies "Mother you have done your duty and should accompany your people to see them to safety. I believe it would be a great comfort to them".

[joertexas]

1437.003.1515

LeFron has arrived with Princess Two (the Lady's ship's boat) in company. Princess One (the shot-up pinnace) has docked with Attica, LeFron's ship, where the crew is conducting hasty repairs to the fuel system in a bid to restore power to the craft. The Lady Perlanda herself is an hour out, having taken a shorter vector to reach the ongoing rescue operation.

Aboard the Caladia, the lights finally go out, and the ship is dark and quiet. The atmosphere in the "village" is stale, but still breathable now that everyone has exited. Mother's avatar gazes back while she waits her turn to board Princess Two. While she needs no vacc suit, the android's cooling system is only rated for an hour in vacuum.

I didn't find a name for LeFron's ship in the notes, so she's now the Attica.

The PCs are presumably working to gather everyone onto the two boats.

Actions?

[Tiglath]

Foix will place himself, Taheri and Zhenya as the outer cordon of the defences withdrawing back towards the exit hatch. Grimaud flanks Vee and assists those departing the Caladia at the hatch.

Foix calmly says to his fellow pickets "Use your weapon's advanced sights but in this situation your hearing is more effective".

[joertexas]

Foix will place himself, Taheri and Zhenya as the outer cordon of the defences withdrawing back towards the exit hatch. Grimaud flanks Vee and assists those departing the Caladia at the hatch.

Foix calmly says to his fellow pickets "Use your weapon's advanced sights but in this situation your hearing is more effective".

To clarify, the only path to the forward hull leads through the hangar bay, which is 14 decks below the village. The after lifts are all inactive and locked out. At the village, the only access to defend is the lift doors.

[joertexas]

SLT LeFron comes up on Foix's comm channel. "Comte, I have some information on the Caladia."