[Archived] Act 3 — Shadow of the Hunted

[Starbeard]

Welcome back! At the moment, no. He only knows that the ship was hit; the presence of heat and smoke coming from the Jefferies tube, the difference in klaxon alerts, and the proximity of the explosive sound all let him know that he was very close to the blast.

[Inferno]

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

The Janus has been hit.

With calm determination, Nadix continues racing back to the bridge. If he encounters any injured crew, he will stop to aid them as best he can.

[Grognardsw]

"Photon torpedoes Captain?" asks Ensign Barry urgently, his finger on the button.

[DadsAngry]

Dr. Ryerson:

The doctor picks himself off the floor and looks around for anyone else needing help up.
"Damn it! When is Starfleet going to install those safety harnesses that engineer Cayley proposed several years ago at the Casperia Prime conference!"

[Pulpatoon]

MN(14): [4d6] = 17

"Che Cavolo!" swears Dorotea de Mattio, smacking the console of her station.

[Starbeard]

USS Janus: The Bridge
Stardate 2271.3.23: 0215h (round 10)

De Mattio smacks the side of her console station’s main input device, mincing oaths in Italian. The red lights tracking empty space on her small screen suddenly turn green! She cannot help but demonstrate her confidence with a characteristic gesture, plotting in the S.S. Arcadia’s coordinates instantly. The pirate’s communications officer still has a thing or two to learn about scrambling incoming scans, it seems! With the help of her “sonar” trick, De Mattio has obtained a good a lock on the enemy vessel as one can hope to have.

Captain Wyse rises from his seat and points dramatically at the menacing vessel now before them. ”Fire photons!"

The crew watch the view screen as the Janus comes screaming in toward the S.S. Arcadia. Ensign Barry masterfully fires off the charged photon torpedo and emits a devastating spray of phaser fire, then banks the Janus steeply out of the way. The weapons fire connects with the pirate ship in a blaze of glory that rocks even the Janus from thousands of kilometers away.

At the same time Arcadia trades in its own volley of high-energy destruction. A single phaser lashes out in vain to cut the photon torpedo before it strikes. Two disruptor bolts slam into the starboard side of the Janus, and the shields on that side flicker out almost entirely. The crew are shaken, but remain standing.

The the enemy's devious nuclear warhead continues to gain speed and turns toward the Janus in hot pursuit.

Dr. Ryerson sees the Vulcan Communications Officer T’Leia at his feet, and helps her back to her chair. “Thank you, Doctor,” she says, and gets straight to work without missing a beat. “I am ordering a report of personnel casualties during the strike. It seems that there are three confirmed wounded on Deck 6. The brig station is not responding to communications, either. Doctor Ryerson, do you have orders?”

T'Leia suddenly brings her hand to her earpiece. "Turbolifts on Deck 7 are now partially repaired. Movement through the lower levels of the ship will now be less congested."

Meanwhile, Nadix calmly races his way back to the bridge. He passes no wounded or mechanical damage, leading him to believe that the hit must have been behind him rather than ahead of him. He enters the bridge just in time to feel the blast of the disruptor hits. His eyes instinctively glance over the ship's readings and finds that the shields are almost entirely depleted on all sides.



Rolls…

Initiation rolls:
[*]Barry/Janus [1d6+5] = 3+5 = 8, Costello [1d6] = 4, T'Leia [1d6+1] = 1+1 = 2
[*]De Mattio [1d6+2] = 4+2 = 6, Needles [1d6+1] = 3+1 = 4
[*]Wyse [1d6+3] = 4+3 = 7, Endilev [1d6] = 1
[*]Pirate helm [1d6] = 1, Pirate weapons [1d6] = 6, Pirate science [1d6+1] = 2+1 = 3, Pirate captain [1d6+1] = 5+1 = 6
[*]Pirate communications [1d6+2] = 6+2 = 8, Pirate engineering [1d6+1] = 5+1 = 6

Order of Initiation:

• Pirate communications officer attempts to counter lock-on (needs ≤14): [3d6] = 10
  • Janus now requires a skill roll to lock on.
• Captain Wyse uses his command skill (3) to boost Barry’s initiative +3, from 3 to 6.
• De Mattio attempts a lock-on skill roll, getting two attempts for the sonar trick (needs ≤15): [3d6] = 6
  • Lock-on successful, just in time!
  • Pirates weapon officer fires phaser at the photon torpedo (need 7+): [1d6] = 3 (missed)
• Pirates engineering chief attempts to draw emergency power (need ≤14): [3d6] = 11 (+1 to front shields)
• Barry fires photon torpedo and phasers, and automatically hits the ship, thanks to De Mattio’s lock-on!
  • Photon damage [6d6] = 14
  • Phaser damage, short range: [4d6] = 17
  • Pirate ship shields: 4 points x 5 = 20 damage soaked up, 11 - [1d6] = 2 damage gets through!
  • Pirate ship takes 9 damage!
• Pirate ship fires disruptors at Janus, automatically hitting for [6d6] = 20 damage.
  • Starboard shields (5 points) soak up (5 x 5 =) 25 of that, leaving 1 point of shields.
• Janus moves 5 spaces.
• Needles helps T’Leia back into her chair.
• Pirate ship moves and pirate science officer maintains a lock-on.
• T’Leia checks on personnel damage in the ship
• Pirates shuffle their shields

USS Janus
Engines & energy: warp A (20/20), warp B (0/20), impulse (4/5)
Hull CT: 13/18
Shields: 0/5 (fore), 0/5 (port), 1/5 (starboard), 2/5 (aft) (draws 3e)

Phasers (A): takes 2e to charge (front, port, & aft arcs)
Phasers (B): takes 2e to charge (front, starboard, & aft arcs)
Photon torpedos: not charged (draws 5e)
Tractor beam: offline

Current Speed: 5 (draws 10e)

Basics: online (1e draw)
Crew efficiency: engineering (79%), sciences (84%), security (80%)
Energy Spent: 14/24

Phaser banks: 1-2 to charge, stored until used/deactivated. Can be overloaded with 1-2 extra energy for +50%/+100% damage, with risk.

Photons: 5 energy to charge, once charged will draw 5 energy until fired/deactivated. The ship can only load one torpedo at a time.

Tractor beam: draws 1-5 energy when in use (user decides how much power to use).

Shields: draws 1 energy per 20% of shield strength, in each of 4 quarters that surround the ship (fore, aft, port, starboard). All shields may be boosted to as much as 200%, but anything beyond 100% can damage the systems with increasing risk.

Tactical (impulse) speed: rated 0-10, and costing 2 energy per speed rating.

Basic essentials (generally on at all times): 1 energy is drawn for basic life support, sensors, computer, transporters, etc.

Current damaged turbolifts: Deck 5 (0% fixed), Deck 6 (50% fixed) Deck 7 (0% fixed), Deck 8 (0% fixed)
Deck repair schedule:

Deck 5: 50% at 0245
Deck 8: 50% at 0315
Deck 6: 100% at 0415
Deck 7: 100% at 0515
Deck 5: 100% at 0615
Deck 8: 100% at 0715

[Grognardsw]

"Can we lock on that nucleur warhead?" shouts a sweaty Ensign Barry, perhaps too loudly. "Shoot and explode it?"

[Inferno]

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

Nadix calmly observes the viewscreen of the deadly space battle.

He placidly moves to his station and, seeing that De Mattio is acquiring target locks, deftly moves three orange hands across the control panel to break the enemy vessel's target lock on the Janus.

"Commander Vek, the brig has been hit. Do you know the condition and whereabouts of our prisoners?" he asked serenely.

[DadsAngry]

Dr. Ryerson:

"Send a medical team to Deck 6 Lt.. I'll see what's happen to the personal at the brig station. It's better than just standing around here pick up people off the floor."

"Captain permission to leave the bridge to investigate the silence at the brig station."

[Starbeard]

USS Janus: The Bridge
Stardate 2271.3.23: 0216h (round 11)

"Permission granted, Needles," says the Captain. "Let us know how things are going down in the lower decks." The Doctor dashes off to the brig. As he runs by, T'Leia informs him that she has relayed his orders, and expects his medical crew to retrieve the wounded and take them to sickbay shortly (2 rounds). (Continued in Deck 6 thread…)

Ensign Barry asks about targeting the nuclear warhead. The Captain responds, “We could try targeting it with our phasers. Staying more than one space unit away should protect us from the radiation. Being so close to the planet, we’ll have spend a few days cleaning up the mess, but it’s worth the risk. Fire at will.”

Ensign Barry fires both phasers, still noticing the slight delay caused by the depleted crew. Both beams slash across space, barely missing the crude but nimble ball of atom-splitting death. It continues to gain speed and hurdle towards them! Perhaps he was distracted; he was worrying about his old pals Laurel & Hardy, stuck on brig guard duty when the ship was hit. (Continued in Deck 6 thread…)

Chief Science Officer Nadix serenely begins standard counter-targeting measures to protect the ship from further attack. He easily isolates the opponent's scanner signal and jams it, leaving the Janus free from the threat of another targeted barrage.

Planetary specialist and engineer Dorotea di Mattio continues to hone in on the S.S. Arcadia, and yelps in surprise when the ship flickers off her screen! The enemy has cloaked! She quickly flips over to her modified scans and relocates the ship. They may be cloaked, but they cannot hide from her relentless scanning. She sees that they appear to be breaking away from the chase momentarily.

Scattered about the bridge's console stations are a few read-outs of the Janus and its shielding system. The readouts quickly move from the red zone into the yellow and green zones, as down below Chief Engineer Endilev brings the deflectors back online.





Rolls…

Initiation rolls

• di Mattio (targeting) [1d6+2] = 5+2 = 7
• Costello (shields) [1d6] = 6
• Janus moves (5)
• Barry (weapons) [1d6] = 3
• Pirate engineering (engines) [1d6+1] = 2+1 = 3
• Pirate ship moves (3)
• Warhead moves (3)
• Endilev (engines/repair) [1d6] = 2

Misc. Actions

• Nadix counters the pirate’s targeting.
• T’Leia sends rescue crews to retrieve wounded.
  • Turns taken to move wounded to sickbay: [1d6-1] = 3-1 = 2
• Needles travels to the brig.
  • Turns taken to reach the brig: [1d6-1] = 2-1 = 1
• The Captain attempts to add his command to Barry’s phaser attack.
  • Wyse command roll (12): [3d6] = 13 (nothing added)
• The pirate captain attempts to add his command to the science officer’s counter-targeting.
  • Pirate command roll (12): [3d6] = 9 (di Mattio’s targeting attempt is at -1).

Initiated Actions

• Di Mattio attempts to keep a scanning lock on the target.
  • Two tries (15-1=14): [3d6] = 13 [3d6] = 11 (LOCK HELD)
• Costello shuffles shields.
• Janus moves 5 hexes.
• Barry fires phasers at nuclear warhead, pirates cloak, pirate ship & warhead move.
  • Starboard phaser! (need 6): [1d6] = 2 (MISS)
  • Port phaser! (need 6): [1d6] = 4 (MISS)
• Endilev attempts to boost shield output.
  • Engineering (9): [3d6] = 9 (Shields temporarily boosted by 2)

USS Janus
Engines & energy: warp A (20/20), warp B (0/20), impulse (4/5)
Hull CT: 13/18
Shields: 2/5 (fore), 3/5 (port), 4/5 (starboard), 5/5 (aft) (draws 12e)

Phasers (A): not charged (front, port, & aft arcs)
Phasers (B): not charged (front, starboard, & aft arcs)
Photon torpedos: not charged
Tractor beam: offline

Current Speed: 5 (draws 10e)

Basics: online (1e draw)
Crew efficiency: engineering (79%), sciences (84%), security (80%)
Energy Spent: 23/24

Phaser banks: 1-2 to charge, stored until used/deactivated. Can be overloaded with 1-2 extra energy for +50%/+100% damage, with risk.

Photons: 5 energy to charge, once charged will draw 5 energy until fired/deactivated. The ship can only load one torpedo at a time.

Tractor beam: draws 1-5 energy when in use (user decides how much power to use).

Shields: draws 1 energy per 20% of shield strength, in each of 4 quarters that surround the ship (fore, aft, port, starboard). All shields may be boosted to as much as 200%, but anything beyond 100% can damage the systems with increasing risk.

Tactical (impulse) speed: rated 0-10, and costing 2 energy per speed rating.

Basic essentials (generally on at all times): 1 energy is drawn for basic life support, sensors, computer, transporters, etc.

Current damaged turbolifts: Deck 5 (0% fixed), Deck 6 (50% fixed) Deck 7 (0% fixed), Deck 8 (0% fixed)
Deck repair schedule:

Deck 5: 50% at 0245
Deck 8: 50% at 0315
Deck 6: 100% at 0415
Deck 7: 100% at 0515
Deck 5: 100% at 0615
Deck 8: 100% at 0715

[Starbeard]

USS Janus: The Brig (Deck 6)
Stardate 2271.3.23: 0217h

Continued from The Bridge (round 11)

Dr. Ryerson makes amazing time, sliding down Jefferies tubes and luckily grabbing one of the half-repaired turbolifts down the Deck 6.

He rushes to the brig, and discovers the scene he was hoping wasn't the one waiting for him. The rubbled corridor lights flicker in and out of total blackness. The force fields covering the cells flicker sporadically, as well. They are all empty, save for Leigh Moore. One of the security guards, Ensign Laurel lies motionless, a burn in his chest and blood trickling from his temple.

Next to him, Ensign Hardy rolls on the floor groggily, his own head throbbing with a bloody bruise. He instinctively reaches for his phaser to find that it is missing.

[Grognardsw]

"They escaped," grunts Ensign Hardy painfully. "They must have taken my phaser!"

He glances over at the dead Ensign Laurel.



"Stan - no!"

[Grognardsw]

"Damn!" mutters Ensign Barry under his breath.



He fires again.

Ensign Barry phasers [1d6] = 2, [1d6] = 6

[Inferno]

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

"If they are truly attempting to escape, Captain, then they have our Romulan prisoner on board their ship." Nadix states placidly, noting the disabled deflector shields could have permitted transporter use.

As DeMattio tracks the cloaked ship, Nadix attempts to achieve a sensor lock on the approaching nuclear torpedo, to aid Mister Barry's phaser attack.


Initiative: [1d6+4] = 1+4 = 5
Sensor lock on plasma torpedo: Mental: (14): [3d6-5] = 10-5 = 5

[DadsAngry]

Dr. Ryerson:

The doctor rushes over to Ensign Hardy. "Relax Ensign you're hurt. Stay down. Try not to move."
Needles assess Ensign Hardy condition then glances over to Ensign Laurel motionless body.

[Starbeard]

Needles quickly scans Ensign Hardy and applies a standard hypospray solution to invigorate him, reviving him to full capacity.

Ensign Laurel, he finds, is beyond help. Life gas already left his body.

[Starbeard]

USS Janus: The Bridge
Stardate 2271.3.23: 0217h

The bridge is hot. The noise of the engines fills the chamber as Ensign Barry attempts to outrun the warhead.



In the middle of the chaos, Nadix stoically uses the defensive scanners to target the warhead. It locks on.



Barry fires the starboard phasers as he pushes the Janus to higher speeds. The glowing warhead erupts in a ball of atomic annihilation!



The surge rocks the Janus, and some of the crew are flung from their seats. Energy waves fly back, traveling up through the phaser beams and back into the ship's electronics systems, causing a overload of feedback. The piloting and weapons control station explodes in fire!



Ensigns Barry and Ensign Costello are tossed from their chairs, shielding their eyes from the burning heat. Those who quickly rush to their aid find their faces burnt and lifeless, dead before they hit the ground.


Meanwhile, Di Mattio continues to trace the cloaked vessel. It appears to be swerving away from the planet, on a path toward the outer reaches of the solar system.

The Captain agrees with Nadix. "Yes, they could have beamed them away while shields were down." He presses the button to reach the brig. "Ryerson, are you at the brig? What's the situation?"

Rolls…

Proximity of the blast gives 6D damage to the console operator and 5D to the neighbouring operator.

Barry takes 6D6 damage: [6d6] = 20 vs [1d6] = 4 = 16 hits (he has 9 CT). Dead.
Costello takes 5D6 damage: [5d6] = 16 vs [1d6] = 3 = 13 hits (he has 8 CT). Dead.

USS Janus
Engines & energy: warp A (20/20), warp B (0/20), impulse (4/5)
Hull CT: 13/18
Shields: 4/5 (fore), 4/5 (port), 4/5 (starboard), 4/5 (aft) (draws 16e)

Phasers (A): b]not charged[/b] (front, port, & aft arcs)
Phasers (B): not charged (front, starboard, & aft arcs)
Photon torpedos: not charged
Tractor beam: offline

Current Speed: 3 (draws 6e)

Basics: online (1e draw)
Crew efficiency: engineering (79%), sciences (84%), security (80%)
Energy Spent: 23/24

Phaser banks: 1-2 to charge, stored until used/deactivated. Can be overloaded with 1-2 extra energy for +50%/+100% damage, with risk.

Photons: 5 energy to charge, once charged will draw 5 energy until fired/deactivated. The ship can only load one torpedo at a time.

Tractor beam: draws 1-5 energy when in use (user decides how much power to use).

Shields: draws 1 energy per 20% of shield strength, in each of 4 quarters that surround the ship (fore, aft, port, starboard). All shields may be boosted to as much as 200%, but anything beyond 100% can damage the systems with increasing risk.

Tactical (impulse) speed: rated 0-10, and costing 2 energy per speed rating.

Basic essentials (generally on at all times): 1 energy is drawn for basic life support, sensors, computer, transporters, etc.

Current damaged turbolifts: Deck 5 (0% fixed), Deck 6 (50% fixed) Deck 7 (0% fixed), Deck 8 (0% fixed)
Deck repair schedule:

Deck 5: 50% at 0245
Deck 8: 50% at 0315
Deck 6: 100% at 0415
Deck 7: 100% at 0515
Deck 5: 100% at 0615
Deck 8: 100% at 0715

[Starbeard]

On the wall panel, the intercom comes to life. It is the Captain hailing from the bridge. "Ryerson, are you at the brig? What's the situation?"

[Inferno]

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

The serene Edosian stands up and steps down to the center of the bridge. Without emotion, he checks the pulses of the helmsmen with his three hands. Then he quietly reports, "They're dead, captain."


With apologies to Bones and Needles.
Star, are there other helmsmen on the bridge? If not, what skills or stats are needed to help fly the ship and fire weapons? Thanks.

[Starbeard]

Generic ensigns can be called up to the bridge to replace both, and anyone currently on the bridge can settle into piloting, navigation, shields and/or weapons without penalty (you've all pulled helmsman duty as some point during your careers). The relevant skills are Instrumentation (for piloting), Weaponry, Generator Theory (for shields), and Navigation.

Note that until the front console stations are assessed and repaired, all actions involving these stations will be difficult (4D6 tasks instead of 3D6 tasks, or they take longer to perform, depending on context).