Starflight (SF)

[Agent Langley]

STARFLIGHT - 1
Captain Dmitri Alistratov​

04:56 System Time, Serrantis System

Serrantis Prime is under siege.

The bombardment is surprisingly restrained, for a surprise attack.

There have been no warnings, however. No open transmissions. No requests. No demands. No terms of surrender. No responses to hailing attempts.

The SDF didn't stand a chance. The picket had been eradicated before they could even fire a distress beacon, and Serrantis Prime's orbital platforms hadn't fared much better once they became the front line.

Captain Dmitri had to admit, this looked like a bad situation. No, that was an understatement. The nearest Alliance fleet - Third Fleet - was some five hours out. Even then, Third Fleet hardly had the firepower to help, here. The black ships had come from nowhere, red and orange beams carving up the SDF platforms like a butcher going to work on a fresh carcass, or a pathologist on an autopsy. Methodical. There were unconfirmed reports that one or two of the attackers might have been crippled, but it didn't look good.

Not that it mattered how fast Third Fleet would arrive. Strategic Control's feeds were going a mile a minute, and casualty reports were already coming in. The ships had hit across the entire Alliance, all at once. First Fleet had fought hard, but seemed to be routing. Second was already a write-off, with an 84% loss rate and climbing. Third was en-route to Prime, but would be too late. Worse, they couldn't change course now, and would be riding into the jaws of a waiting armada. Fourth and Fifth were MIA, presumed lost - no contact from their sectors in the last four hours. He could go on reading, but elected not to.

Dmitri was currently in charge of the Alliance Recon Destroyer Nova Prime. She had some firepower, sure. But not much. Nowhere near enough, and for that matter Alliance Strategic Command had already given him explicit orders. He was to hold at his current position - a rendezvous point - for no more than thirty minutes, then initiate a slip to the Aragan System. Backwater. Why there? That made no sense, he knew that much. But it was the highest priority order he'd ever seen land on his list, which meant...

He didn't have time to ponder; the Tactical Command Display was lighting up with new short-range contacts. Four ships were en route to his current position. Alliance warships. Well, two of them were. Arclight-class corvettes, the Helventas and Inditrand. The other two were transports. Medical transports, Bishop-class, by the registries. TacCom immediately tagged them as Bishop-1 and Bishop-2 for simplicity's sake.

Sensors showed something worse, after a moment. A handful of red contacts had appeared, hot on the heels of the friendlies. One of the black ships, and a flight of their fighters. The ship was a small one, about the size of a small Corvette, or maybe a large Cutter. It didn't have the range to hit its prey yet, but it was closing fast.

A lieutenant at the communications board broke the silence; "Captain. The Helventas is hailing us."

Dmitri considers their options, briefly. The black ship was almost within range of the Nova Prime's main guns, but almost blocked by Bishop-1. A narrow shot, but the Nova Prime's guns should have enough power to make the black ship reconsider, perhaps even enough to force it to withdraw. The corvettes are at full burn, and would have no time to bring their own guns to bear.

How best to proceed?

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[_] - Accept the hail. Order the transport to clear your firing lane, and open fire..
[_] - Accept the hail. Warn the transport of your plan. They may not trust you and try to evade anyway.
[X] - Fire without warning. Sure to cause some panic, but offers the best chance of surprising the black ship.
[_] - Other?

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​

Fleet Captains

Captain Dmitri Alistratov
Assignment: ARD Nova Prime
Confirmed Invader Kills: 2
Human, Male, 33
A moderately experienced captain, Dmitri has earned his rank through putting down pirate raids on several occasions. So far, he's proven decisive and confident.
Decisive - Dmitri does not hesitate in the face of tough decisions. He acts, swiftly yet wisely, and has the respect of many for that.
Bold - Dmitri is not afraid to engage in risky maneuvers, when he feels it is worth the danger.

Captain Constantin Stoica
Assignment: ASC Helventas
Confirmed Invader Kills: 1
Human, Male, 24
A raw recruit, more or less straight out of the Officer's Academy. Constantin has yet to see any serious combat - discounting his rapid departure from the Serrantis Stardocks alongside the rest of Task Force 03.
Unquestioning - Constantin is loyal, perhaps to a fault. He follows orders to the letter, and could prove inflexible under pressure or if called to operate without guidance from higher up.
Fresh Meat - Constantin is only a few months out of the Serrantis Officer's Academy. He passed with flying colours, but has yet to be tempered by field experience.

Captain Katarina Tamm
Assignment: ASC Inditrand
Confirmed Invader Kills: 0
Human, Female, 26
Held back from at least two promotions by her temper, Katarina takes it out on pirates. She's earned quite the reputation as an aggressive attacker, willing to take risks and use bold maneuvers.
Hot-Tempered - Katarina is uninclined to formal speech and diplomacy. She speaks simply, and prefers aggressive, direct solutions.
Aggressive - Katarina is prone to aggressive combat maneuvers. Whilst this often takes her foes by surprise, she can end up overextending herself.

Captain Viktor Petrovich
Assignment: AHF Perundene
Confirmed Invader Kills: 0?
Human, Male, 51
Referred to as the 'Old Bear' by his peers, Viktor has certainly earned the title; he's one of the oldest active captains currently on duty. Whilst he lacks the vigor and speed of his younger self, he has shown himself to be a steady and methodical captain who never buckles under pressure.
Unbreakable - Viktor's certainty in all things lends him and his crew a certain 'do or die' mentality. They are significantly less likely to break, rout, or panic.
Getting A Little Slow - Viktor's age is starting to show, and he doesn't keep up with high-speed battleplans as well as he used to. Speed has less of an influence on combat performance.

Fleet Support Personnel

Lieutenant Yeva Morozov
Assignment: ARD Nova Prime
Human, Female, 26
The Nova Prime's communications/sensors officer, and Dmitri's second-in-command.
Second-in-Command - If anything should befall Captain Alistratov in the line of duty, Lt. Morozov is assigned to take over.
Perceptive - Very little gets past Lt. Morozov. She'd be a bad sensors officer otherwise.

Fleet Assets

Zenith-class Destroyer Nova Prime
Combat Style: Sniper
Alliance Recon Destroyer. Fast. Sleek. Powerful. Deceptively so, for its size; most other destroyers have at least twice the crew complement of the Zenith-class. Her primary weapons consist of two triple-gun turrets fitted with Particle Lance Cannons, along with four forward-facing Helios torpedo tubes and six point-defense autocannons. The design favours hit and run tactics, picking off important targets.
Crew: ~350

Arclight-class Corvettes Helventas and Inditrand
Combat Style: Skirmisher
Alliance Standard Corvette. Arclight-class ships are mostly used for policing, picket duty, and light patrols. They are armed with three double-gun turrets with Particle Pulse Guns, a pair of Helios torpedo tubes, and two forward-facing forty-tube Longbow Racks. Three point-defense autocannons.
Crew: ~120 each.

Stormlight-class Heavy Frigate Perundene
Combat Style: Brawler
Alliance Heavy Frigate. Stormlight-class ships are unrepentant sluggers, designed to get into fairly close-range fights and trade volleys with multiple opponents at close range, though they can also snipe fairly effectively. Unlike most four-pod ships, their extra engines are for redundancy, not speed. Each broadside consists of two pairs of double-gun PLC turrets, and a five-tube Archer VLS Array. Eight point defense turrets provide excellent coverage.
Crew: ~600

Bishop-class Transports Bishop-1 through Bishop-5
Standard multipurpose Alliance Transport, used for both civil and military shipping. By default, a Bishop-class possesses two point-defense autocannons and one double-gun turret with Particle Pulse Guns.
Crew: Whilst this class has a nominal crew of 20-30, Bishop-1 and Bishop-2 are currently transporting evacuees and wounded military personnel. Estimated passenger content of 1,000 per transport. Bishop-3 through Bishop-5 are transporting military crews from the Melara Academy, approximately 800 crew each.

Identified Hostiles

Black Cutter - the smallest, fastest black ship of capital class. Armed with two anticapital beam emitters in limited-arc, forward-facing ball-turrets. Anti-strike defenses unknown.
Confirmed Kills: 3

Black Frigate - a lightweight Black Ship. Current combat performance and loadout unknown.
Confirmed Kills: 0

Black Striker - swarming drones that accompany all of the black ships, though not all Black Ships seem to be capable of actively maintaining them. Armed with a single weak pulse beam. Unlike Alliance strikecraft, they are capable of independent FTL transit.
Confirmed Kills: 0

Terms/Glossary/Useful Info

FTL Technology
"Slip" - FTL travel. Also referred to as jumping. Alliance strikecraft cannot commence FTL by themselves. Objects in slipspace cannot interact with objects in realspace and vice versa.
"Jumpshock" - FTL travel is not for the fainthearted. Unless a ship possesses Jump Insulation (and most ships don't, unless they're huge), most systems are disabled after emerging from a slip transit.
Deep Scan - Looking into or out of FTL transit is nigh impossible; the best most ships can manage is a 'deep scan', which can reveal large objects. Essential to avoid rematerializing inside of solid objects.

Particle Weapons - Solid allrounders, also sometimes called Plasma Weapons. Spectrum ranges from violet (weakest) to red (strongest).
Particle Lance Cannon - A midweight anticapital gun that fires a fairly powerful particle blast. Hits hard, but is slow to fire.
Paticle Pulse Gun - A lightweight anticapital gun that rapidly fires fairly weak particle bolts. Good for overwhelming defenses.

Missile Weapons - Most effective against solid hulls, missiles tend to be slow but powerful, dishing out massive damage at the cost of being vulnerable to point defense.
Longbow Missile - Standard lightweight anti-hull missile used by both capital and strike craft. Fairly fast, but generally ineffective against capitals unless fired en masse.
Helios Torpedo - Thermonuclear warhead torpedoes of undisclosed megatonnage. Devastating, but slow and vulnerable to point-defense.

 

[theorion]

[] - Accept the hail. Order the transport to clear your firing lane, and open fire

 

[Secretariat]

[X] - Other: Fire without warning, THEN accept the hail

Given the black ships' combat effectiveness, assume they have some way of tapping into our communications. We can let the medical transports know our intentions once we have fired our opening salvo, and the transport captains, once informed, should be able to tamp down on any panic -- they're professionals.

 

[Diomedea]

[X] - Fire without warning. Sure to cause some panic, but offers the best chance of surprising the black ship.

I'd rather decide whether or not to try to calm them down post-surprise after seeing what our shots do.

 

[veekie]

[X] - Fire without warning. Sure to cause some panic, but offers the best chance of surprising the black ship.

 

[Agent Langley]

Author's Note - 1​

Some advice/a warning; the default options may not always present the best possible outcomes, they are more like 'starting points'. Thinking and planning will be your greatest weapons here.

Do not be afraid to ask questions, either. I just don't want to splurge infodumps and exposition everywhere without good cause.

 

[Night_stalker]

[X] - Fire without warning. Sure to cause some panic, but offers the best chance of surprising the black ship.

 

[AZATHOTHoth]

[X] - Fire without warning. Sure to cause some panic, but offers the best chance of surprising the black ship.

 

[theorion]

Could we send a coded message that the other ships would understand? Like blinking our ships lights on and off in Morse code? Or use a communications laser between us and the other ship that the black ship can't intercept?

 

[Agent Langley]

Could we send a coded message that the other ships would understand? Like blinking our ships lights on and off in Morse code? Or use a communications laser between us and the other ship that the black ship can't intercept?

Click to shrink...

In theory, yes. In practice, it would be exceptionally risky; in the time it would take for the message to be received and interpreted correctly (accounting for civilian ship crews), the Black Cutter would almost certainly be capable of accurately* firing upon Bishop-1 and/or Bishop-2.

*Weapons have an 'optimal' firing range. Whilst they will deal significant damage should they hit at any range, accuracy eventually degrades to unacceptable levels. When one is throwing around high-velocity slugs, missiles, and energy weaponry, any of which could level a city block in a single shot, a certain level of minimum accuracy has to be maintained. Especially when fighting near populated planets. Even the black ships seem to be fairly reserved about their firing solutions.

Edit- update will be coming later "today" (the 9th) depending on circumstances.

 

[Agent Langley]

STARFLIGHT - 2
Captain Dmitri Alistratov​

Dmitri takes only moments to decide on his plan of attack. The order is given. Fortunately, his gunnery crew knows better than to question his decisions; together, they have fought through some of the worst pirate ambushes in recent memory.

The distant whine of charging accelerators fills the CIC. Dmitri watches the TacCom as the mark indicating the black ship edges closer and closer to the Nova Prime's optimal gun range. It only takes a few seconds more...

The CIC's lights flicker and a series of tremors reverberate through the hull as the Nova Prime discharges her Particle Lance Cannons; two turrets with three guns apiece. It didn't look formidable until it fired, great crackling yellow-green lances streaking through space. Dmitri always had a fondness for that part- ships this small usually had to fit guns this big as fixed mounts, not turrets.

Bishop-1 jukes, or tries to. It's much too slow to effectively evade PLC fire at this range, but it doesn't need to. The transport flashes green and her port-side outrigger's plating glows red as the bolts streak past.

What happens next catches everyone offguard.

The first volley splashes across the hull of the black ship, leaving fresh, orange-red craters. The vessel breaks sharply to port, starting to roll lazily, and its fighters scatter. But it's too late. The second volley hammers across its hull; secondary explosions ripple across the craft moments later, haphazardly ejecting chunks of glowing metal into space. The fighter escort falters, briefly.

And then they slip out, as the black ship slowly tumbles out of control. That was disconcerting for an entirely different set of reasons.

Dmitri's turn to break the silence. "Lieutenant. Open a channel to the incoming group."

Her response is a curt "Aye, sir." Moments later, Dmitri is face to face with four ship captains. Bishop-1's captain looks like he almost fainted. Confusion, anger, and relief wavers across the faces of the other three.

"My apologies for the abruptness, captains. Dmitri Alistratov, Captain of the Recon Destroyer Nova Prime." Formal enough, he hopes. "How can I assist?"

The Helventas' captain is the first to speak up. Sharp lad, looks to be only a few months out of the officer's academy. "Captain Alistratov," he acknowledges, "We're all that remains of Task Force 03. StratCom ordered our force to escort transports to this location. We were the only ships that made it out of dock in one piece."

Dmitri examines the display. Both the Helventas and Inditrant were in good condition, at least. Perhaps no less than 90% total integrity. The transports were a little worse for wear, but they'd fly. For now.

"They told us we were to form up with the highest-ranking officer at the location and await their command," the Helventas' captain continued, "...what are your orders?"

Another moment's pause. Highest ranking officer..? Nova Prime was the only ship at the RV. Not good. Focus.

"Strategic Command has ordered us to proceed to the Aragan system," Dmitri's reply was calm and measured, "Form up on the Nova Prime and prepare to jump."

"Aragan?" the captain of Bishop-2 interjects. "But that's out in the Spinward Void!"

Dmitri is about to comment when the Inditrand's captain cuts in herself; "Good. That means it's the last place they'll come looking for us."

Dmitri holds up a hand to quiet them both. "Strategic Command wouldn't order us that far out without a plan, Captains--"

TacCom chirps. Six incoming contacts. Five of the same ship as before, in an arrowhead formation around a larger craft that looked to be on par with a Heavy Frigate. Plus fighters. Two dozen, at least. Dmitri's tone shifts, sharply.

"--we need to leave. Synchronize drives with the Nova Prime and prepare for jumpshock. Captain Alistratov out."

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Brace yourselves for a barrage of decisions!

[MANDATORY] Determine the best course to the Aragan system;
[_] Direct
or
[X] Indirect

A fundamental decision. The black ships may give chase or attempt to intercept. The Aragan system is several jumps out even by a direct route, and they may try to cut you off or even lay a trap in the system itself.

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[OPTIONAL] Name the Captain of the Helventas: _____________________________________
[OPTIONAL] Name the Captain of the Inditrand: _____________________________________
[OPTIONAL] Name a Nova Prime, Helventas, or Inditrand crewmember?: _____________________________________
[OPTIONAL] Assign a reporting name to the Black Cutter, a small warship: _____________________________________
[OPTIONAL] Assign a reporting name to the Black Striker, a light fighter: _____________________________________

Alliance names tend towards Russian and Eastern European. The Nova Prime itself has a bridge crew of around 16, with a bare minimum crew of 100-120. Her current complement is some 350 personnel, 32 of those being a platoon of Alliance Marines.

The Nova Prime's bridge crew roster varies, but currently includes the Gunnery Chief, Communications Officer, Sensors Officer, Science Officer, and assorted others. Named crewmembers do not necessarily need to be part of the bridge crew; they could even be one of the marines. If you do name a captain or crewmember, you are welcome to submit written pieces from their point of view. This may even provide bonuses to actions involving that character.

For reporting names, the Alliance has no currently established precedent. If you want inspiration for a structured approach, I suggest looking up lists of NATO reporting names for Russian/Chinese equipment.

First post will be updated with additional useful information soon.

First post has updated accordion-style data; Fleet Personnel, Fleet Assets, Enemy Data, and Terminology/Glossary/Useful Info.

Dmitri gained both his current traits due to action selection; strong preference of the bold, decisive option. The other two captains have been assigned traits based on their backstory and mannerisms.

 

[Night_stalker]

[X] Indirect

 

[veekie]

[X] Indirect

 

[Diomedea]

[X] Indirect

[X] Name the Captain of the Helventas: Constantin Stoica
[X] Name the Captain of the Inditrant: Katarina Tamm
[X] Name a Nova Prime, Helventas, or Inditrand crewmember?: Lt. Yeva Morozov

So, Romanian and Estonian for the captains, and a Russian Name for our Lieutenant mentioned in last story post. (our XO? Comm Officer?)

Coming up with reporting names is a bit more difficult, since I'm not sure what range of ship classes exist in universe.
I'm guessing ship classes go something like this, in order of smallest to largest (GM, please chime in if I'm wrong)

Spoiler: Ship Classes

Very Small: Crew <10
Fighter (Used to harrass small vessels and screen bombers)
Bomber (Anti-Large Ship)
Shuttle (For Surface to Ground transport for vessels unable to enter Atmosphere)

Small: Crew < 100
Cutter (Anti-Fighter Vessels)
Corvette (Fast Pursuit Ships)
Frigate (Smallest "Independent" Operational Vessel)

Medium: Crew < 1000
Destroyers (Escort, picketing, and recon vessel)
Light Cruisers (Commerce Protection/Commerce Raiding vessel)
Escort Carriers (Assuming dedicated carriers exist and small craft are not standard for all ship classes large enough)

Large: Crew 1000+
Heavy Cruiser (Screen for other capital ships/Independent Operational Vessel)
Battleship (Main Fleet Combat vessel)
Dreadnought (Extra Large Fleet Combat Vessel. Flagships, etc.)
Carriers (Again, assuming dedicated carriers)

Potential Misc:
Freighter
Survey/Scout Vessel (probably not needed)
Minelayer/Minesweeper (depending on usefulness of "Mines")
Fleet Ammunition Vessel
Fleet Repair Vessel
Dispatch/Courier Vessel (depending on reliability of FTL comms)
Troop Transport
Q-Ship (Would only exist if commerce raiding was common)

Another difficulty with reporting names is that for Aircraft they'd name them after the first letter of their class (F names for fighters, B names for Bombers, H names for Helicopters, etc.), but we have doubles(Cutter, Corvette, Carrier. Fighter, Frigate. Destroyer, Dreadnought) so that doesn't work well, and Ships would name them after the first of their class (since that was usually public or easy enough to discover).

 

[Agent Langley]

(GM, please chime in if I'm wrong)

Click to shrink...

Gladly.

The Alliance classifies ship by purpose, not tonnage or crew. The Nova Prime is a Recon Destroyer because she is fast (Recon) and possesses remarkable firepower (Destroyer), especially for a ship of her size.

Spoiler

Cutters and Corvettes are small and light patrol ships. Both are the lightest slip-capable warships; cutters tend to be light+fast whereas corvettes are better armoured.
Frigates are midweight all-rounders.
Destroyers are ships with lots of oomph, but not necessarily good defenses.
Cruisers go fast, and are otherwise balanced.
Battleships are ships with lots of firepower and defense.
Battlecruisers swap defense for speed, and still pack firepower.
Dedicated carriers are a thing. Only the largest warships can generally afford to fight well and maintain at least one/two flights of fighters for CAP duty.
There are myriad other miscellaneous classes (e.g. battlecarriers), hybrid classes (such as the Nova Prime herself) and civilian classes (e.g. transport).

 

[theorion]

[X] Indirect

[X] Name the Captain of the Helventas: Constantin Stoica
[X] Name the Captain of the Inditrant: Katarina Tamm
[X] Name a Nova Prime, Helventas, or Inditrand crewmember?: Lt. Yeva Morozov

 

[Diomedea]

Gladly.

The Alliance classifies ship by purpose, not tonnage or crew. The Nova Prime is a Recon Destroyer because she is fast (Recon) and possesses remarkable firepower (Destroyer), especially for a ship of her size.

Spoiler

Cutters and Corvettes are small and light patrol ships. Both are the lightest slip-capable warships; cutters tend to be light+fast whereas corvettes are better armoured.
Frigates are midweight all-rounders.
Destroyers are ships with lots of oomph, but not necessarily good defenses.
Cruisers go fast, and are otherwise balanced.
Battleships are ships with lots of firepower and defense.
Battlecruisers swap defense for speed, and still pack firepower.
Dedicated carriers are a thing. Only the largest warships can generally afford to fight well and maintain at least one/two flights of fighters for CAP duty.
There are myriad other miscellaneous classes (e.g. battlecarriers), hybrid classes (such as the Nova Prime herself) and civilian classes (e.g. transport).

Click to shrink...

Hmmm. You still have a tonnage classification, if only through capability requirements. The reason tonnage or size classification is generally used is because you can immediately tell what sort of capabilities you have/are facing. 5 tiny Destroyers who have a single spinal mount gun, vs 5 Giant unarmoured Destroyers bristling with offensive weaponry are two very different ships with very different roles, but both could be described as having lots of oomph and not very good defenses. There's also identification issues. Size is usually much easier to ID than capabilities. If I see an unidentified ship, I can immediately see it's size, but it'll take time to suss out specifics. I can go, oh It's a mediumish ship, so it's probably a destroyer or cruiser. If it's completely capabilities based, then you probably wouldn't even get it's class until the after-action report when you have time to analyze all your sensor data. You'd probably report unknown vessels based on their tonnage alone, and end up designating them something like Bogey-1, Bogey-2, etc.

A little table showing combinations if you want to continue to base them around variations in Speed, Firepower and Armour:

Ship Class	Speed	Firepower	Armour
Frigate	+	+	+
Battleship	-	+	+
Cruiser	+	-	+
Battlecruiser	+	+	-
Corvette	-	-	+
Destroyer	-	+	-
Cutter	+	-	-

*shrug*
In the end, it's your game so rule zero pretty much applies. I'm just semi-addicted to world building.

 

[Secretariat]

Question: Are these actual Eastern European/Russian names, or should they just be inspired by them? That is to say, are names that reference Earth and human culture as we know it allowable, or should we use something more generic?


ETA: Also, what is our supply situation? How well-equipped are our stores of consumables and ammunition, who or what is aboard the transports, and is there any special or interesting equipment in our stores we should be aware of?

An indirect approach has costs in endurance and sustainability, and at some point, we will have to consider what happens when we run out of missiles and drone parts.

Finally, can we rig a few of our torpedoes as mines by rigging them for proximity detonation?

 

[Agent Langley]

*snip*

Click to shrink...

Which is where modifiers (e.g. Heavy, Light, Recon, etc.) come into play. It's certainly not an ideal system, but these things rarely are.

-------------------------------------------

Question: Are these actual Eastern European/Russian names, or should they just be inspired by them? That is to say, are names that reference Earth and human culture as we know it allowable, or should we use something more generic?

Click to shrink...

Either's fine, as long as the names aren't patently ridiculous or obscene.

-------------------------------------------

ETA: Also, what is our supply situation? How well-equipped are our stores of consumables and ammunition, who or what is aboard the transports, and is there any special or interesting equipment in our stores we should be aware of?

An indirect approach has costs in endurance and sustainability, and at some point, we will have to consider what happens when we run out of missiles and drone parts.

Click to shrink...

I'm hesitant to pin down specific numbers (if only to avoid torpedo inventory mishaps) but most ships are in good supply order (though also somewhat shaken in terms of morale). Bishop-1 and Bishop-2 are carrying refugees and wounded military personnel, approx. 1,000 per transport.

First post has further Fleet Asset information.

-------------------------------------------

Finally, can we rig a few of our torpedoes as mines by rigging them for proximity detonation?

Click to shrink...

They would be very obvious mines, and given the distances involved, probably not very effective ones. Minefields need lots of mines to be really effective.

-------------------------------------------

MAJOR EDIT
I forgot to mention- you can name any number of personnel from the ship crews aside from captains. Unless you're contesting a non-captain's name, you don't need to second any name votes. The only limit is one non-captain naming per poster.

This is mostly for @theorion but I figured the rest of you should be aware as well.

 

[Secretariat]

I'm hesitant to pin down specific numbers (if only to avoid torpedo inventory mishaps) but most ships are in good supply order (though also somewhat shaken in terms of morale). Bishop-1 and Bishop-2 are carrying refugees and wounded military personnel, approx. 1,000 per transport.

Click to shrink...

OK, so that's about 2000 people. I'm assuming we don't have to worry about feeding and housing them for the long term? Do we have sufficient medical supply and staff to treat the wounded? (Is there a convenient supply depot a slip or two away?) (Is this too much detail?)

------

Also,
[X] DIRECT

Tactically, this is the worst possible choice. We'll have invaders on our tail, and we may very well be blazing a trail for the invaders to hit a key Alliance asset hidden away in a backwater.

The rationale for this choice is, however, not tactical. We were given the highest priority order: wait for no more than thirty minutes, then jump.

That means that getting to Aragan is a time-sensitive task, and the worst possible thing would be to arrive and find a bombed-out colony or slip into a cloud of wreckage that we could have averted, had we been on time. Plus, we have two thousand refugees that we don't have the facilities to support for long periods of time; we need to get them somewhere safe, where they can get proper treatment and care.

 

[Agent Langley]

Which is where modifiers (e.g. Heavy, Light, Recon, etc.) come into play. It's certainly not an ideal system, but these things rarely are.

Click to shrink...

Briefly, to expand on this; enemy ships are generally classified by first glance of their behaviour/structure. In a "we have no -ing clue what it does" situation, the general-purpose 'warship' (or simply 'ship' for unverified noncom/logis) applies.

----------------------------------

OK, so that's about 2000 people. I'm assuming we don't have to worry about feeding and housing them for the long term? Do we have sufficient medical supply and staff to treat the wounded? (Is there a convenient supply depot a slip or two away?) (Is this too much detail?)

Click to shrink...

Yes/no/maybe. I don't want to spoil things but you probably want to do your best to keep the transports alive right now. The transport crews are the ones that need to worry about the patients and evacuees/refugees, not you guys.

I'll give you a hint, though; I love to weasel in shoutouts and references to all kinds of scifi. The first - the shorthand for ship classes (e.g. ARD, ASC) is a nod to Freespace and the GTA's tagging of ships (e.g. GTD, GTCv, SD, SC). Some of these shoutouts and/or references may be meaningful or relevant to future events in some fashion. Note that it will never be crucial that you get them - you won't be missing out on anything super-cool or risk falling into an inescapable failure-state because you missed some obscure reference - just that a few of them might foreshadow where certain plot-elements are headed, and cunning players might be able to plan accordingly or at least have a vague idea of what to expect.

----------------------------------

EDIT- update probably sometime tomorrow afternoon (~18-24 hours from now).

 

[Agent Langley]

STARFLIGHT - 3
Captain Dmitri Alistratov​

05:07 Sector Time, Serrantis System

The Black Ships are gaining fast, but Alliance slip drives charge faster; the Alliance formation shimmers and departs in perfect synchronization.

Captain Dmitri has plotted a semi-indirect path to Aragan. It won't get them there quite as fast as the most direct route, but it does at least allow them to stop through a couple of Alliance systems along the way instead of jumping straight in and out of deep space points.

---------------------------------------------------------​

08:10 Sector Time, Melara System

The Alliance force rematerializes on the outskirts of Melara some three hours later - a fairly routine transit, all in all. Melara itself is a small agricultural system - or was; judging by the lack of long-range sensor and passive comm returns, the Black Ships have already passed through the system.

Melara System

Melara Prime
Melara Prime's earthlike conditions, great size, unusually low gravity, and proximity to Serrantis made it an ideal agricultural world to help feed the Alliance's growing capital/homeworld. Serviced by a handful of orbital elevators around the equator, the amount of food the planet produced was truly staggering.
No transmissions detected.

Melara Secundus
Melara Prime's moon, Melara Secundus is an unremarkable reddish-brown dustball, heavy with iron-oxides and streaked with grey silicates. It has a thin atmosphere and low gravity, and has been extensively mined in order to provide the raw materials needed for silicon and steel-based ship components.
The 'beacon' signal is coming from the vicinity of the moon.

New Kostya
One of the Melara system's only domed habitats (and, in fact, the only one off Melara itself), New Kostya is an Alliance Marine Training Facility. The higher-than-standard gravity and unpredictable temperatures make it a taxing environment, but those that survive go on to become the Alliance's finest marine forces.
No transmissions detected.

Heron's Belt
Named after a famous explorer, this dense asteroid cluster was first mapped out some 120 years ago by its namesake. It's a favoured hiding place of smugglers, pirates, and others who would wish to conceal themselves from anyone passing through the system... the metallic asteroids act like chaff for long-range sensors.
No transmissions detected. Long-range scans impossible.

Dmitri is about to address the Task Force remnants when Lt. Morozev calls for his attention. She's the closest thing Dmitri has to a second-in-command at this point, and he pauses. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

"We're getting a faint long-range return," she starts. "It's intermittent, but it's an active emission, not passive. Three pulses with three seconds between each, and a longer pause. Could be a distress beacon, but it's not broadcasting a proper signal, just a ping. What are your orders?"

[_] Investigate the possible beacon.
[_] Move on. It could be a trap.
[_] Other.

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First post updated with named personnel. The option for naming additional crewmembers remains open, but as before, the limit is one per poster. Reporting name options remain open for the time being as well.

Edit- updated with system info.

 

[theorion]

[X] send one ship to investigate
-[X] If possible, use a sensor or recon drone
-[X] All other ships move to the next jump point and wait for a response from the ship/drone

 

[Diomedea]

Hmmm, I actually think the odds of it being a trap are lower than if it was a proper distress beacon. It's either black ship activity, which means we might gain valuable information (in exchange for attention and probably loss of a ship), or actual people who need rescued.

However, our orders are to proceed to the Aragan system without delay. Not rescue every single person we find. Do we even have a place to stuff people if we do find civilians/allies? What if there are more people than we can lift? That could cause a potential riot. There's also the problem of lifting them to spaceships, and the time this costs us as we stay in system (this will cause hours of delay, minimum). The black ships probably were close enough to follow us one jump. If we can leave system before they arrive, we might lose them

[X] Move on. Our orders are clear.

 

[Secretariat]

Three pings, followed by a pause, is not characteristic of a communication beacon; it's characteristic of an automated system. If this was a human signal of some sort, it would be jury-rigged to broadcast some kind of varying signal in the Alliance equivalent of Morse code.

My hunch is that this is a sensor beacon, either ours or theirs. Is it possible to spoof or send a sensor decoy jumping off in a different direction, as we GTFO?


(The other alternative is that this is a Black Ship distress beacon, in which case it is very much Not Our Problem.)