[001] Welcome to Birach

[joertexas]

Captain Dubois nods at Vee "Yes, Ma'am", she starts to turn and then pauses and turns back, her brow furrowed "What was that wail? Active scanning should not have that effect, unless...maybe it was a condensed data burst, being sent to someone else out there, such as the Birach Navy. Do we have a recording of that noise?"

"Let's focus on catching that life pod before it drops off our sensors, shall we?" Vee nods toward the navigation plot. "Then, we need to get away from that warship."

The Sensor Ops Officer nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. We'd need some help breaking it all down, though."

Captain Dubois turns to Vee

"With respect, I don't disagree that we have to recover the pod, but I'm guessing that of everyone in this room I'm the one that has the most actual ship-to-ship battle experience. My skills are best employed on the bridge. I can help navigation with plotting a course, or assist in decoding the message, which could contain vital tactical information about that warship and the general situation in the system. If that data contains information on the warships systems, I should be able to work out what is wrong with it and how we can take advantage of that."

Is Dubois the Lady's captain? That's who Vee was supposed to be addressing...

[Leitz]

The bridge lets Zhenya know the airlocks are secure, and there are no boarders expected. Whomever is talking to her, however, seems pressed for time.

The Steward stopped by. He seemed stressed as well. "Is everyone in your berth accounted for? Two children have gone missing, and one of the escape pods launched."

Quick questioning revealed that the Lady Perelandra entered realspace in the middle of an active battle. Local military command ordered them to engage evasives and evacuate the AO. They are complying.

[Leitz]

Captain Jameison motioned to Gauvain for a private conference. He seemed to expect Vee would join them.

"Comte, I have a good crew. They are not Navy, by far, but they serve each other well. Whoever Miss Alba is, she gave a battle order from a Birach Merchant Marine vessel. That means she has active command of every one and every thing in this space. Technically, she could order the research station to shut down and abandon ship, and they would have to comply. If we rescue the children, we violate that order. If we continue to the research station, we violate that order. If we attempt to assist Miss Alba, we violate that order. We can do so, on your authority. That means you assume the risk for all of us, and whatever else happens."

He lowered his voice even more. "My crew isn't Navy, sir, but by God if you say engage, we will do so. We are spacers, sir, and we are not dead."

[shaidar]

Is Dubois the Lady's captain? That's who Vee was supposed to be addressing...

No, the Lady's captain is Jameison Smythe, Dubois is my retired SCN Captain. That explains some of my confusion. Sorry if I confused things. Do we want to go back and tweak our posts? I think we can do it quite easily without changing the intent of things .

[joertexas]

Is Dubois the Lady's captain? That's who Vee was supposed to be addressing...

No, the Lady's captain is Jameison Smythe, Dubois is my retired SCN Captain. That explains some of my confusion. Sorry if I confused things. Do we want to go back and tweak our posts? I think we can do it quite easily without changing the intent of things .

Sorry, this was my fault. Yes, I'll go back and edit my posts to address the correct captain. <sigh>

[shaidar]

Sorry, this was my fault. Yes, I'll go back and edit my posts to address the correct captain. <sigh>

no worries, I can make some simple adjustments to my posts as well.

[shaidar]

With Rock arranging the recovery of the pods and Foix and Vee having a private conversation with Captain Smythe, Captain Dubois heads over to Subensign Fevre to assist with the decoding of the data. She finds an unused console and settles down to the task, with help from Elvira.

Computer (1): [2d6+1] = 10+1 = 11
Comms (1): [2d6+1] = 9+1 = 10
Engineering (2): [2d6+2] = 11+2 = 13

[The Bindoner]

Edited to include things posted as I wrote.

The bridge lets Zhenya know the airlocks are secure, and there are no boarders expected. Whomever is talking to her, however, seems pressed for time.

The Steward stopped by. He seemed stressed as well. "Is everyone in your berth accounted for? Two children have gone missing, and one of the escape pods launched."

I am indeed accounted for, thank you. Where are the people in charge of looking for the lost deti?

Having established there is no direct attack Zhenya looks for something useful to do with her adrenaline. Following up talk of an escape pod that needs recovery she finds the team in the lounge. Still in armour but carrying her helmet she listens.

by BackworldTraveller » Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:12 pm

I head to the lounge and outline my ideas...

OK - My thinking is we anchor using clamps at this end, and either jump and tether or (if someone brought a manoeuvre pack aboard) fly and tether - and then we winch in as fast as we can. As soon as we get the pod inside, we slam the bay doors, tell the ship they can go for it and then re-pressurise and recover.

I look at the team...

Anyone else got a better idea? 'Cause I'm possibly a bit close to the passengers to be totally objective at this point.

And (reading their name-tags) I work round putting each on the spot.

Assuming that they agree: OK, Mr Cargomaster...who is best at which job?

I have a mobility-pack. Zhenya indicates the thrusters mounted on her matte black Combat Armour. I have had some practice in such matters lately.

[Tiglath]

Captain Jameison motioned to Gauvain for a private conference. He seemed to expect Vee would join them.

"Comte, I have a good crew. They are not Navy, by far, but they serve each other well. Whoever Miss Alba is, she gave a battle order from a Birach Merchant Marine vessel. That means she has active command of every one and every thing in this space. Technically, she could order the research station to shut down and abandon ship, and they would have to comply. If we rescue the children, we violate that order. If we continue to the research station, we violate that order. If we attempt to assist Miss Alba, we violate that order. We can do so, on your authority. That means you assume the risk for all of us, and whatever else happens."

He lowered his voice even more. "My crew isn't Navy, sir, but by God if you say engage, we will do so. We are spacers, sir, and we are not dead."

Foix replies “Captain, I am grateful - you and your crew do yourselves great honour. You are indeed not dead and it is my duty to keep you as alive as I may”.

Then the Comte's bonhomie evaporates as Général Foix, the man called Le Diable, looks Jameison right in the eye with the gaze of a man who has not just studied death down a yard of steel but waded through it daily, worn it like a cloak and known it like a lover. “Captain, I carry the name of every man killed under my command on my back. That you make such a commitment so lightly suggests to me that you do not truly understand the weight of such a burden or the horror of your pledge. I do. If there is cause for some of you to die I will let you know - you will not see me flinch. However, I will not throw lives away in a futile attack nor trade them for a research station that, as you suggest, Captain Alba should have quite properly evacuated”.

“What I need now,, Captain, is not useless sacrifice but information with which to plan - supply me with that and we may yet be able to help the situation. Captain Alba seems able to distract the Cruiser and, incredibly, avoid certain death. It appears that this Cruiser has less capabilities than one might expect. I see no secondary or tertiary batteries, fighters or other small craft which is indeed odd”.

“Captain, you may plot a provisional course to put us in the asteroid field behind the Cruiser and out of the arc of its spinal mount - we will stalk it like a heavy tank. Based on the continued survival of the brave Captain Alba the spinal mount seems to be its only functioning weapon. If we launch a missile attack in her support we may further distract the Cruiser and make it use more energy in a turn”.

“However, your priority is the rescue of the missing children. Send a tight beam Mayday to Birach system controllers and advise we are effecting our own rescue”.

[BackworldTraveller]

I have a mobility-pack. Zhenya indicates the thrusters mounted on her matte black Combat Armour. I have had some practice in such matters lately.

It seems I am to be overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers. Any other volunteers? - Two are safer than one.

[Leitz]

[1437.003.0917 (Ship Time)] Lady Perelandra, Birach System

It takes less than four minutes for Anne to download the data, and less than ninety seconds to gain access.

"Why is everything so open?" Elvira asked. Anne could see the lady pouring through logs at speed. "I would have thought a military ship would have encryption."

"Because they expect to die," Anne replied. "The research station couldn't admit to having Birach codebooks, so the data is sent to them so they can read it. They don't expect to live through this, and they want to give as much as they can to the others."

Elvira nodded, grimly. "I'll focus on the merchant, you work on the warship."

Anne knew the stress of command, and the time criticality. After the first data rush, she asked Comte de Foix and Captain Smythe to join them.

"Sir, there is a lot of data to process. Here's what we have so far," Anne said. She nodded to Elvira.

"BMM-100644, Lieutenant Sir Wilbur Lefron, commanding. Ordered directly from the Birach Merchant Marine Academy to assume command and perform an emergency medical supply run to the belt. While at MilPort, ordered to invesitgate the assumed destruction of a belter site. They were given battle authorization. Sublieutenant Alba Domici assigned as First Officer, also straight from the Academy." Elvira smiled. "Her paperwork is confused, she is also referred to as Alba Lefron."

Anne nodded. "Giving a newly minted officer battle command is unusual, but not impossible. Giving a newly minted officer nuclear warheads is very unusual."

She brought up a hologram of a ship. "Scan data, unknown origin. Not SCN, not Atrean that we know of. No one else around here builds anything that big. It is on a straight vector to the research station, ETA a day and a half. Their initial contact with the warship resulted in a very one sided battle. Their scan data suggests the weapons are totally computer controlled, and they believe life forms aboard signalled for assistance. Minimal to no active scan capability on the warship. Their Captain and Chief Engineer boarded the warship to establish contact."

Anne paused. "It seems like Birach uses torpedoes differently than we do, the Captain and Chief used one as a fast attack vehicle. Unfortunately, they have not been heard from since."

"The Merchant is also configured to work as a tug," Elvira picked up. "They are pushing asteroids into the line of fire of the big gun, and then doing a data burst to attract attention. There's a short time between the data burst and the warship's ability to fire, and they maneuver out of the line of fire in that time."


"Energy output from the main gun is down thirty-eight percent, and scan data suggests their gravity fields they use to focus the weapon's energy are losing functionality. Even well maintained major guns are not made to fire this often, for this long," Anne said. "They've been doing this for two days straight. Their fleet isn't due here for another two days. The warship will reach the research station in a day and a half. It's defensive laser fire could destroy a small fleet. If the warship can't find the research station it may turn on the planetary signal output."

[joertexas]

While Gauvian speaks with the captain, Vee makes a quick inventory of what small craft the Lady possesses, and determines how many noncombatants are aboard.

[SpinwardMarch]

Cmdr. Taheri

When the claxtons sounded, Taheri was getting ready for the day (or reading something on a tablet, which ever works).
Oh, shit. Better see what the Compte wants. She finishes the task and grabs her sword on the way out, heading towards the bridge. Ya' never know...

[Leitz]

Captain Smythe met Gauvain's stare. He leaned forward and spoke such that only the Comte could hear. "Perhaps you do not understand space, sir, nor the courage it takes to risk her every day. Our deaths are seldom glorious; we cannot look our foe in the eye nor risk all on steel against steel. Soldiers can breath without worrying about air supply. They can lay on the ground and not worry that the junior mate checked pressures. They can let a near miss go by without risk of losing hull integrity and dying a slow, cold death."

Smythe stood tall. "A launch can recover the children. Anyone who wishes to join the effort can do so. Will you order us to assist the Birach Fleet, sir?"

[shaidar]

Captain Dubois

Anne looks between Captain Smythe and the Comte

"Sirs, the data collated by Alba is excellent, and there is still a lot to go through that might give us the tactical advantage. I have determined that there is no indication of change of speed or course of the warship, it seems to be drifting. This means we have a day and a half before it arrives at the station. I would advise we spend more time analysing the data before determining our final course of action. I also recommend trying to achieve tight bean comms with the station, assuming there is information in the data that would allow us to locate it. Their sensor techs would make light work of the data, giving us more time to plan. "

[BackworldTraveller]

Rock
OK - Complete change of approach on retrieving the pod...we are going in a ships cutter.

We'll need an emergency airlock as the pod won't fit through the cargo-lock on that duck.

We'll still need an EVA team for fitting the lock. But we'll need a boat-pilot now: And better take full vacuum emergency kit and extra water in case for when the ship has to rabbit and we end up heading for the nearest rock!

Any questions on this plan?

[Tiglath]

Foix

Foix eyes both his Captains “It is true that I am a soldier so I understand less of space than ground warfare. Unless, Captain Smythe you were suggesting that I do not understand courage – perhaps you believe I lack for it?” A fuming Foix lets that question stand - Smythe is one response away from immediate unemployment and a likely a duel.

If Smythe has learned anything of Foix at all he'll be aware the Comte has now reached the end of any tolerance he had for his insolent and insubordinate attitude. Foix has no idea quite why the man would choose to pick a quarrel with the both the “owner aboard” and his direct employer at a time like this but it speaks further to the man's utter lack of any sound judgement (which seems further confirmed by his tactical approach).

For his part Foix has had about enough of this “civvy sailor” and his kamikaze option for the entire ship's company - seemingly without an ounce of compassion for the non combatants aboard. The Legion had spent more than enough time and blood putting out the fires caused by such unimaginative commanders. And, yes, he'd expect a Legion NCO or trooper to speak to him directly with brutal candour and honesty but they had earned the damn right!!!

He consciously stops his hand from straying near his sword hilt, takes a breath and continues levelly “Because I understand less I rely on advice. I am fortunate to have two Captains to aid me – one is even a Navy veteran and understands space combat. Her advice helps me work the problem of dealing with an opponent fifty times our fighting power and from whom, unlike Captain Alba's tug, we have no means of protection. My other Captain seems to advise an immediate and futile attack virtually guaranteeing the destruction of this ship and all aboard”.

Grimaud hovers with a tray of Buck's Fizz muttering quietly as he moves about the bridge. He sets the tray down and pauses nearby.

Foix continues “Captain Smythe, please prepare the lifeboats and the ship's small craft and ensure that those non combatant passengers and crew are safely aboard. Only volunteers will remain on the ship. The evacuation boats will require a commanding officer. Captain, will you remain here and help us prosecute a viable solution to Birach's dilemma or will you be that officer? I leave the decision entirely in your hands”.

Consulting the bridge crew at large he asks “Mes enfants, it seems Captain Alba pilots a tug, no? If she were to stop throwing rocks and tow the space station into deep space at a speed slightly higher than that of the Cruiser could she buy the half day's time required for the Fleet to arrive? Is this a feasible plan?”

(OOC: Smythe may have been in independent command/his own boss for too long but has he never learned to deal with nobility whilst employed by House Foix??? Just a small effort towards treating his boss (who is also a Count and a frikkin' General!!) as rating slightly higher than cabin boy would be at a minimum "civil" if not just plain "common sense"! Is he a secret ruddy revolutionary??? Search his room for guillotines!!!

He and Foix seem to have got off on the wrong foot - neither my nor Foix's intent but I'm rolling with it.)

[shaidar]

Captain Dubois again looks from Captain Smythe to Foix and back again

"Comte, I am sure this is just a misunderstanding, we will need the bridge crew, who I am sure will perform excellently under their captain. Sir, the station is capable of limited movement itself, I'm not sure how much quicker Alba's ship might make this without further analysis. However, I believe there is further useful information to be found in the data burst, which may yet provide us with more options. I suggest that I focus my attention on assessing any further data on the warship and to understanding why the captain and chief engineer decided to board it, while Lieutenant Pike and Lady Harmersbach see if they can use it to determine the location of the research base so we can attempt to establish communications."

(Anne glances at Juliette to see how she reacts to be being addressed by her rank)

Assuming this is a go then Anne will load the data into her hand computer to analyse, while Juliette joins Elvira at the ops panel

[Tiglath]

Foix

Perhaps unusually Foix seems to immediately heed Captain Dubois' words and cools his ardour somewhat. Having listened to her report he nods sagely adding "I wish you all speed with your ... he waves expansively "... calculations". He sweeps up a glass offered by Grimaud, downs it and immediately fixes his man with an accusatory gaze betrayed by the twinkle in his eye "Fruit, Grimaud! Far too much fruit in good champagne!" He then takes post watching the plot of the Cruiser's progress whilst absently fishing a silver cigar case from an inside pocket and preparing a cigar. He ignores the "no smoking" advisory.

[SpinwardMarch]

Cmdr. Taheri

She arrives at the bridge just as everyone is dashing about madly. Reporting for duty, my Lord. I apologise for the slight delay, sir. I was almost run down by the Baron* in the corridor. What would you have me do, sir?

*Rock

She knows that when dealing with touchy nobles, the best thing to do is to address them by their titles. It soothes them. She can tell there is tension in the room.

She takes a look at the monitors, and figures out much of the situation quickly.
Oh, I see. I wonder why the warship is behaving like that. It almost seems to be on auto-pilot. The ship's maintenance part of her mind is mulling over the information.
Ships... if you know what makes them go, you can figure out how to stop them. Huh.