Traveller Writeup Again!
Feb. 21st, 2009 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
realsorienAnd here it is, the 12th Traveller writeup. Enjoy!
We enter with out heroes gathered with the two BOLO units, Benji and Nancy, and Commander Graves- The discussion is what comes next, and the last event was the destruction of the Pelinoboc headquarters. Commander Graves is informed of the apparent methodology of the Pelinoboc forces- control of their 'drones' via a command ship or agent! Also discussed is the limited, but devastating, information that Keisha got from Jeff and the Pioneer- the invasion is Imperium-wide.
They determine that the most likely vessel to have the control system (or agent) will be the one furthest out from the planet- Deyn, Maddox and Keisha head to the ship while Luke is off to get missiles to reload the Silhouette. The BOLO tanks and their pilots have located a weapons depot relatively close by that should have compatible missiles to those normally carried by the Silhouette.
Luke crosses the 180 kilometers in about 30 minutes, arriving safely at the depot. The rest of the crew take about two hours to get back to the silhouette with the BOLO, Nancy, as they have to move significantly slower and run into some resistance. Not that the resistance lasts all that long against the BOLO's firepower. He finds the bunker to be an unconcealed structure, made of heavy duraceramic. It is a hardened emplacement, surrounded by overgrowth. The access road to the bay doors are overgrown with fast growing trees and brush. He attempts to code his way in, and the several-year old code he tries works! He buttons it back up and clears a space with his cutlass so the ship can land.
Keisha and the crew finally reboard the Silhouette. Maddox reactivates Percy while Deyn fires up the ship, then turns control over to Maddox as Percy passes around water cheerily. They quickly lift off, reaching the bunker in about 15 minutes; as they take off, Nancy fires a missile at something in orbit... They touch down in the clearing prepared by Luke, who says "What took you?" upon their arrival.
Luke fools with the door for a bit, going in and then closing the door... Before Deyn and Maddox can get in. Maddox covers for Luke a bit, then ends up having to command the door as Luke manages to scramble the command. Once the doors are reopened, Luke goes to get the missiles. In the first chamber he finds a command-and-control console with displays of what happened onworld in the invasion- he calls Keisha, who dispatches Deyn to collect the information. Luke has a bit of trouble too- two doors, and no code- its an army depot. He asks around, and none of the others can help- then Percy pipes in with a code, and it works! "Did you program that into her, Commander?" Deyn asks Maddox. "I don't rightly recall..." In fact, Maddox DIDN'T program that in- Percy is exceeding her original operative parameters! Not knowing that fact, but definitely knowing that Percy is NOT acting like a 'simple' Personal Assistant Bot, Deyn is becoming concerned about Maddox's creation.
Maddox joins Deyn at the consoles to analyze the attack- he's possessed of the requisite fleet-tactics training. With this assistance, Deyn starts trying to identify the lead vessel of the attack. They don't find that, but they DO find how the enemy was cutting through the Imperial forces. They're using the capacitor-drain attack that the pirate-cutter used against the Silhouette way back at Tegganau!
Loading of the weaponry begins, and Luke discovers that there are antimatter missiles! This is good news- with just minor modifications to the launcher they can fire them! They take what they can: a full load of nuclear missiles, a full stock of A-M missiles... And of course, EVERYTHING ELSE in the Depot... ALL of it. Percy didn't discriminate.
They have 15 cases of ACR's plus the ammunition, the missiles (nuclear and A-M), three cases of TDX and detonators, and... A missile sled. Think an antigrav version of a half-track with dual multi-tube missile launchers. Amazingly, it all fits, if barely. They head to space, informing Benji of their plan- to lead other ships into the range of the BOLO's Hellbore cannons and perhaps take a few down themselves.
The crew reboards, going out at-speed with all weapons live. Quickly they reach low-orbit, and have a spread of four possible active opponents, ranging up to about 600 tons. Maddox pilots an evasive intercept to the first vessel, Deyn jamming the enemy's targeting- the enemy fire goes wide, and their return shot destroys the vessel completely! An A-M missile is far more power than the enemy's black globe effect can absorb! The missile fired at them impacts the planet... "Damn..." says Deyn, wholly inadequately for the event.
Their second engagement likewise removes a vessel... However, they are hit in return. Deyn closes the viewshields just before two missiles impact, as well as ineffectual hail from turret fire. The Silhouette takes damage but survives... But the blast shields stick shut! Given that the closing of the shields likely saved their eyes, Deyn receives no recriminations. Luke says "I can target with instruments," but Percy volunteers to go out to free them. Maddox gives the go-ahead, and before the next engagement the shields slide free once again.
There are now two ships left, and the further out of the pair gets a lock on them! Rather than conventional weapons, it initiates an energy-drain on the Silhouette! This is the enemies undoing; Deyn and Maddox rapidly shut down everything nonessential aboard the Silhouette, letting the enemy draw all the power they can hold... And far more. Deyn, seeing the blast coming yells "Look away!" And the vessel detonates in a tremendous flash! One ship left... But it sits unmoving in space aside from momentum.
They watch the vessel for activity, and Keisha scans it- she gets the ragged end of a shriek, then nothing... There's life aboard, but no mental activity aside from autonomic functions. It seems to be dead, and drifting. They power back up, and Maddox plugs Percy into the ship's systems, as it seems that the effect drained her batteries entirely.
Keisha has Deyn call down to the BOLOs. First Benji indicates that military activity on the part of the enemy has stopped, then Commander Graves confirms- they've nailed the lead ship! The enemy has ceased the attacks!
Maddox is anxious to board the vessel, so that they can learn more of the enemy from their computer-systems. Deyn initially objects, given that Maddox is their best pilot, but rapidly relents when Maddox makes the point that he is ALSO the best suited to deal with the casualties aboard the other ship. Maddox docks the Silhouette with the extendible airlock, and he and Luck cross over. Within, they find 40 unconscious crew. Aslan, Human and Vargr make up the compliment, and Maddox confirms that they are, indeed, all comatose. In the bridge, he starts to download the ship's datalogs. Shortly however, Luke notices a sound and a red blinking light, and points this out to Maddox. "I don't like little beeping..." Says Maddox, and they charge back to the Silhouette!
Deyn wastes no time, and as soon as they're within the airlock he rips the Silhouette loose, spins hard-about and runs at high-thrust away from the likely self-destructing vessel. This gives Maddox and Luke a fairly terrifying ride in the open airlock, but Luke does get it sealed eventually. "Sorry, Commander. I knew you were safe and I felt that we should be well away," Deyn comments over the commlink.
It takes 10 minutes, but then.... It detonates. As do all the remaining vessels. Maddox curses under his breath, as he knows what they've lost in terms of intelligence resources. But he did get something before they had to leave.
Back in communication with the BOLOs, they learn that the ground troops simply... Stopped. A rendezvous is arranged at a beachfront, which seems to be a growing refugee area- there are civilians armed with military gear, and all three BOLO's show, making impressive entrances. Benji in particular is notable, coming out of the lake like some nightmare trivid-monster!
They're greeted by some of the people,who are stunned to see the supplies that are being carried by the Silhouette- the ACRs and the missile sled, as well as 15 nuclear missiles- they keep the eight remaining A-M's though, and enough nukes for a reload of their racks.
What they're faced with is a goodly portion of the planet's civilian population, all gathering at this point for mutual support and survival. Many of them are injured, ranging from minor scrapes all the way to sever radiation burns and blast-injuries. Seeing this, Maddox goes off to assist in treating casualties, while at Deyn's suggestion the remaining crew of the Silhouette head to the ruins of the naval base to recover any remaining medical stores.
As it turns out, its a LOT of medical stores! Knowing the standardized design of a naval installation helps Deyn in locating the bulk of usable stores. They load up and bring it back, quickly unloading so that they can head out again to loot the remains of the scout base. They recruit help in the form of a grizzled Belter named Harvey Bellinger- Deyn talks to him first, and when Harvey finds out that Deyn isn't the captain, he hauls off and punches the Vargr! Unfortunately for his hand, Deyn is in armor- his hand is badly broken, but being a stoic he ignores the injury.
Once at the scout base they recover what they can, mostly food this time and survival gear. This proves to be almost more useful than the medical supplies, as there is a desperate need for housing for the rapidly-growing city of survivors. They take off for one more load, this time from the ruins of the civilian base. Harvey flies on the way out, proving to be an adept pilot despite his injured hand. Deyn slows out for the trip, knowing that someone needs to be fully rested. Keisha remains awake with the Belter. This time they mostly find food stores and general emergency-stores like wall-mounted first-aid stations. Deyn flies them back.
While the Silhouette is off gathering needful things, Maddox ends up pulling 24 hour on, 10 hour off surgical shifts, and starts forcing sleep on the rest of the medical personnel on site to make sure they stay capable. One in particular, a Dr. Phil, has been running on stims for far longer than is safe- he refuses Maddox's order to rest, and gets tranked for his troubles. When he finally wakes hours later, he's much more reasonable and actually grateful for the rest. Luke, who has remained behind, makes sure that triage and protocol lines are followed; some people believe that their problems take priority, when in reality there are other people in far worse shape, and a Marine in Battle Dress is just the thing to maintain order. With each load from the Silhouette, coffee is also supplied to Maddox.
Finally, the Silhouette returns with her final load. Deyn makes another coffee delivery to Maddox accompanied by Harvey. Deyn introduces the Belter to Maddox, and it turns out that Harvey knows Maddox' family! Maddox treats the hand, after Deyn with some horror watches Harvey break it yet again so that the pressure-suit glove can be removed, rather than waiting for it to be cut off! "Belter." Maddox comments, and treats the injury. Small talk is put off til later, and Maddox goes off shift. From there, Deyn goes to assist in the triage-line.
The crew remain assisting as best they can for two days. They determine at that point that they've really done all they can, and they should look towards heading out. Before they can, they need to repair the damage to the Silhouette. Commander Graves has provided them with the coordinates of an intact ship's supply depot where they should be able to get what they need to effect basic repairs. Unfortunately, the planet's shipyard was one of the first things destroyed. Since the encounter with the ship-draining attack though, Percy is not recharging. She tries to be of assistance, but due to her being unable to recharge, she's of limited utility.
With Maddox's prompting, Keisha gets the fabricator to produce a new battery for Percy, with the strange little robot operating with a power cord run to the ship. She's stuck in the cargo bay for the time being. Maddox has some work in surgery to finish up, Luke has been drilling civilians as a militia. Deyn continues with triage.
When the time comes to return to the ship, Maddox is just finishing up surgery. And there's Percy with coffee! He's pleased for both the robot's functionality and for the coffee. He takes a break, thinking it will be for just a moment, but he's out cold as soon as he sits down.
Finally, the crew gather once again at the Silhouette. As they do, the third BOLO, named Arthur, arrives. They let him know that they're heading out, and he congratulates them on 'their' city. They demur, but he still makes the gesture. Goodbyes are said, and the Silhouette grabs air and makes for the supply depot. As they approach, Deyn detects energy signatures and many IR signatures- there are people there! The ship gets hailed on civilian radio channels- "Attention... Ship. What's your business here?" Deyn informs them that they intend to repair their vessel. "Uh... Okay, land over in the clearing there." Its quite obvious that they're NOT legitimate, just a ragtag band of opportunists who've turned pirate.
Deyn acknowledges the directions at Keisha's agreement, and Maddox puts the Silhouette down at the indicated area- a rough circle, cleared of debris, a short distance from the storage buildings. Luke goes out in full battle dress, and when THIS is seen by the pirates, they become a bit more apprehensive in their command of the situation. They basically decide to 'allow' the Silhouette to gather what they need, and indicate the nearby building as the location where they can get what they need. However, the crew has to get the parts themselves.
At their directions, Luke goes and sees what's there with a video feed back to the ship, then comes back, fetching Percy and a grav sled to retrieve the gear.
While this goes on, some discussions go on about Percy, mostly between Deyn and Maddox. Maddox, almost sheepishly explains that Percy's programming is apparently a blend of Maddox's programming and that of the assassin droid that Deyn obtained from Gaffer! Percy is actually developing as an AI, and is far more capable than she should be. Deyn indicates that if Maddox trusts Percy, Deyn can abide with that. In actuality, there is more going on, but Maddox is keeping that to himself.
And then... The crew in the bridge are surrounded by men with guns! Both Maddox and Deyn hit the antihijack, but they and Keisha all get shot- Maddox is down with two hits, Deyn is still up with two as well, and Keisha is hit once. Moments later, the antihijack hits, bouncing the invaders off the ceiling then slamming them to the floor! They're out, at least the ones in the bridge. "Security off, Lockdown protocols engaged- gas the ship!" Deyn orders. "Seal the bridge!" The bridge doors close, slicing an invader in half while the gas flows inside the vessel. As soon as the bridge is sealed, Deyn starts first aid on the badly wounded Maddox.
Outside, Percy informs Luke that the antihijack has engaged! "How many are aboard?" Luke asks. "... 40." is the response. Luke looks at the situation, then announces over the foe's citizen's band radio: "Attention Bad Guys. I have 40 of your men trapped in the ship, and control of your base. If you WANT THEM BACK, you will surrender, move to the center of the clearing and lie on the ground face down!" Of course they don't. This results in all those outside dying in the flames of a FGMP-15.
All of the foes aboard were taken by the gas, and while Luke fights outside Deyn does what he can to stabilize Maddox. Soon, Percy and Luke are back aboard, and Percy treats things as best she can, focussing on Maddox. However, the Silhouette's medical stores are totally empty. As soon as he's able (after Percy plugs the holes), Deyn flies the ship back to the tent city sending an emergency medical call ahead of their arrival.
They arrive without further incident, and Dr. Phil runs aboard as the militia take control of the prisoners. Most of the crew (sans Luke, who only got a bit rattled) end up on medical slow and in surgery.
A day passes, and people recover- Luke ends up partially dealing with the kangaroo court arguing as to what to do about the privateers- He says 'find a lawyer' rather than appointing a group of the arguing monkeys to make a decision. This of course doesn't sit well with the people who've taken the leadership positions in the tent city.
He returns to the ship and explains what's going on. Keisha realizes, much to her chagrin, that due to her BEING a lawyer, she's obligated to serve in the situation. Now recovered, Maddox and Deyn leave Keisha to deal with the legal quagmire. They take the Silhouette back to the depot to get what they need for the ship. Upon their arrival they find no lifesigns and start gathering what they need.
Once done, they head back. Naturally, they haven't quite weaseled out of the legal mess, and are required to stand as witnesses. Deyn provides his own recordings of the event, as well as the ship's records.
In the end, The formed jury decides after a thorough trial adjudicated by Keisha, that each of the prisoners will be judged individually. 30 receive the death penalty, 7 more are recommended to be released due to their reluctance to participate and the evidence that they were coerced; they end up being 'recruited' to assist the militia, as they have some knowledge of combat and weaponry. Keisha isn't happy having to make such a decision, but is following the writ of the law.
Some time passes and the bulk of the absolutely necessary repairs are done. They set out, and Keisha puts Maddox in command(!) and hides in her room with a bottle- "See how YOU like it!" she says, and course is set back to Ontar. Hopefully, there'll be something there when they arrive.
Until next time, that's all!
We enter with out heroes gathered with the two BOLO units, Benji and Nancy, and Commander Graves- The discussion is what comes next, and the last event was the destruction of the Pelinoboc headquarters. Commander Graves is informed of the apparent methodology of the Pelinoboc forces- control of their 'drones' via a command ship or agent! Also discussed is the limited, but devastating, information that Keisha got from Jeff and the Pioneer- the invasion is Imperium-wide.
They determine that the most likely vessel to have the control system (or agent) will be the one furthest out from the planet- Deyn, Maddox and Keisha head to the ship while Luke is off to get missiles to reload the Silhouette. The BOLO tanks and their pilots have located a weapons depot relatively close by that should have compatible missiles to those normally carried by the Silhouette.
Luke crosses the 180 kilometers in about 30 minutes, arriving safely at the depot. The rest of the crew take about two hours to get back to the silhouette with the BOLO, Nancy, as they have to move significantly slower and run into some resistance. Not that the resistance lasts all that long against the BOLO's firepower. He finds the bunker to be an unconcealed structure, made of heavy duraceramic. It is a hardened emplacement, surrounded by overgrowth. The access road to the bay doors are overgrown with fast growing trees and brush. He attempts to code his way in, and the several-year old code he tries works! He buttons it back up and clears a space with his cutlass so the ship can land.
Keisha and the crew finally reboard the Silhouette. Maddox reactivates Percy while Deyn fires up the ship, then turns control over to Maddox as Percy passes around water cheerily. They quickly lift off, reaching the bunker in about 15 minutes; as they take off, Nancy fires a missile at something in orbit... They touch down in the clearing prepared by Luke, who says "What took you?" upon their arrival.
Luke fools with the door for a bit, going in and then closing the door... Before Deyn and Maddox can get in. Maddox covers for Luke a bit, then ends up having to command the door as Luke manages to scramble the command. Once the doors are reopened, Luke goes to get the missiles. In the first chamber he finds a command-and-control console with displays of what happened onworld in the invasion- he calls Keisha, who dispatches Deyn to collect the information. Luke has a bit of trouble too- two doors, and no code- its an army depot. He asks around, and none of the others can help- then Percy pipes in with a code, and it works! "Did you program that into her, Commander?" Deyn asks Maddox. "I don't rightly recall..." In fact, Maddox DIDN'T program that in- Percy is exceeding her original operative parameters! Not knowing that fact, but definitely knowing that Percy is NOT acting like a 'simple' Personal Assistant Bot, Deyn is becoming concerned about Maddox's creation.
Maddox joins Deyn at the consoles to analyze the attack- he's possessed of the requisite fleet-tactics training. With this assistance, Deyn starts trying to identify the lead vessel of the attack. They don't find that, but they DO find how the enemy was cutting through the Imperial forces. They're using the capacitor-drain attack that the pirate-cutter used against the Silhouette way back at Tegganau!
Loading of the weaponry begins, and Luke discovers that there are antimatter missiles! This is good news- with just minor modifications to the launcher they can fire them! They take what they can: a full load of nuclear missiles, a full stock of A-M missiles... And of course, EVERYTHING ELSE in the Depot... ALL of it. Percy didn't discriminate.
They have 15 cases of ACR's plus the ammunition, the missiles (nuclear and A-M), three cases of TDX and detonators, and... A missile sled. Think an antigrav version of a half-track with dual multi-tube missile launchers. Amazingly, it all fits, if barely. They head to space, informing Benji of their plan- to lead other ships into the range of the BOLO's Hellbore cannons and perhaps take a few down themselves.
The crew reboards, going out at-speed with all weapons live. Quickly they reach low-orbit, and have a spread of four possible active opponents, ranging up to about 600 tons. Maddox pilots an evasive intercept to the first vessel, Deyn jamming the enemy's targeting- the enemy fire goes wide, and their return shot destroys the vessel completely! An A-M missile is far more power than the enemy's black globe effect can absorb! The missile fired at them impacts the planet... "Damn..." says Deyn, wholly inadequately for the event.
Their second engagement likewise removes a vessel... However, they are hit in return. Deyn closes the viewshields just before two missiles impact, as well as ineffectual hail from turret fire. The Silhouette takes damage but survives... But the blast shields stick shut! Given that the closing of the shields likely saved their eyes, Deyn receives no recriminations. Luke says "I can target with instruments," but Percy volunteers to go out to free them. Maddox gives the go-ahead, and before the next engagement the shields slide free once again.
There are now two ships left, and the further out of the pair gets a lock on them! Rather than conventional weapons, it initiates an energy-drain on the Silhouette! This is the enemies undoing; Deyn and Maddox rapidly shut down everything nonessential aboard the Silhouette, letting the enemy draw all the power they can hold... And far more. Deyn, seeing the blast coming yells "Look away!" And the vessel detonates in a tremendous flash! One ship left... But it sits unmoving in space aside from momentum.
They watch the vessel for activity, and Keisha scans it- she gets the ragged end of a shriek, then nothing... There's life aboard, but no mental activity aside from autonomic functions. It seems to be dead, and drifting. They power back up, and Maddox plugs Percy into the ship's systems, as it seems that the effect drained her batteries entirely.
Keisha has Deyn call down to the BOLOs. First Benji indicates that military activity on the part of the enemy has stopped, then Commander Graves confirms- they've nailed the lead ship! The enemy has ceased the attacks!
Maddox is anxious to board the vessel, so that they can learn more of the enemy from their computer-systems. Deyn initially objects, given that Maddox is their best pilot, but rapidly relents when Maddox makes the point that he is ALSO the best suited to deal with the casualties aboard the other ship. Maddox docks the Silhouette with the extendible airlock, and he and Luck cross over. Within, they find 40 unconscious crew. Aslan, Human and Vargr make up the compliment, and Maddox confirms that they are, indeed, all comatose. In the bridge, he starts to download the ship's datalogs. Shortly however, Luke notices a sound and a red blinking light, and points this out to Maddox. "I don't like little beeping..." Says Maddox, and they charge back to the Silhouette!
Deyn wastes no time, and as soon as they're within the airlock he rips the Silhouette loose, spins hard-about and runs at high-thrust away from the likely self-destructing vessel. This gives Maddox and Luke a fairly terrifying ride in the open airlock, but Luke does get it sealed eventually. "Sorry, Commander. I knew you were safe and I felt that we should be well away," Deyn comments over the commlink.
It takes 10 minutes, but then.... It detonates. As do all the remaining vessels. Maddox curses under his breath, as he knows what they've lost in terms of intelligence resources. But he did get something before they had to leave.
Back in communication with the BOLOs, they learn that the ground troops simply... Stopped. A rendezvous is arranged at a beachfront, which seems to be a growing refugee area- there are civilians armed with military gear, and all three BOLO's show, making impressive entrances. Benji in particular is notable, coming out of the lake like some nightmare trivid-monster!
They're greeted by some of the people,who are stunned to see the supplies that are being carried by the Silhouette- the ACRs and the missile sled, as well as 15 nuclear missiles- they keep the eight remaining A-M's though, and enough nukes for a reload of their racks.
What they're faced with is a goodly portion of the planet's civilian population, all gathering at this point for mutual support and survival. Many of them are injured, ranging from minor scrapes all the way to sever radiation burns and blast-injuries. Seeing this, Maddox goes off to assist in treating casualties, while at Deyn's suggestion the remaining crew of the Silhouette head to the ruins of the naval base to recover any remaining medical stores.
As it turns out, its a LOT of medical stores! Knowing the standardized design of a naval installation helps Deyn in locating the bulk of usable stores. They load up and bring it back, quickly unloading so that they can head out again to loot the remains of the scout base. They recruit help in the form of a grizzled Belter named Harvey Bellinger- Deyn talks to him first, and when Harvey finds out that Deyn isn't the captain, he hauls off and punches the Vargr! Unfortunately for his hand, Deyn is in armor- his hand is badly broken, but being a stoic he ignores the injury.
Once at the scout base they recover what they can, mostly food this time and survival gear. This proves to be almost more useful than the medical supplies, as there is a desperate need for housing for the rapidly-growing city of survivors. They take off for one more load, this time from the ruins of the civilian base. Harvey flies on the way out, proving to be an adept pilot despite his injured hand. Deyn slows out for the trip, knowing that someone needs to be fully rested. Keisha remains awake with the Belter. This time they mostly find food stores and general emergency-stores like wall-mounted first-aid stations. Deyn flies them back.
While the Silhouette is off gathering needful things, Maddox ends up pulling 24 hour on, 10 hour off surgical shifts, and starts forcing sleep on the rest of the medical personnel on site to make sure they stay capable. One in particular, a Dr. Phil, has been running on stims for far longer than is safe- he refuses Maddox's order to rest, and gets tranked for his troubles. When he finally wakes hours later, he's much more reasonable and actually grateful for the rest. Luke, who has remained behind, makes sure that triage and protocol lines are followed; some people believe that their problems take priority, when in reality there are other people in far worse shape, and a Marine in Battle Dress is just the thing to maintain order. With each load from the Silhouette, coffee is also supplied to Maddox.
Finally, the Silhouette returns with her final load. Deyn makes another coffee delivery to Maddox accompanied by Harvey. Deyn introduces the Belter to Maddox, and it turns out that Harvey knows Maddox' family! Maddox treats the hand, after Deyn with some horror watches Harvey break it yet again so that the pressure-suit glove can be removed, rather than waiting for it to be cut off! "Belter." Maddox comments, and treats the injury. Small talk is put off til later, and Maddox goes off shift. From there, Deyn goes to assist in the triage-line.
The crew remain assisting as best they can for two days. They determine at that point that they've really done all they can, and they should look towards heading out. Before they can, they need to repair the damage to the Silhouette. Commander Graves has provided them with the coordinates of an intact ship's supply depot where they should be able to get what they need to effect basic repairs. Unfortunately, the planet's shipyard was one of the first things destroyed. Since the encounter with the ship-draining attack though, Percy is not recharging. She tries to be of assistance, but due to her being unable to recharge, she's of limited utility.
With Maddox's prompting, Keisha gets the fabricator to produce a new battery for Percy, with the strange little robot operating with a power cord run to the ship. She's stuck in the cargo bay for the time being. Maddox has some work in surgery to finish up, Luke has been drilling civilians as a militia. Deyn continues with triage.
When the time comes to return to the ship, Maddox is just finishing up surgery. And there's Percy with coffee! He's pleased for both the robot's functionality and for the coffee. He takes a break, thinking it will be for just a moment, but he's out cold as soon as he sits down.
Finally, the crew gather once again at the Silhouette. As they do, the third BOLO, named Arthur, arrives. They let him know that they're heading out, and he congratulates them on 'their' city. They demur, but he still makes the gesture. Goodbyes are said, and the Silhouette grabs air and makes for the supply depot. As they approach, Deyn detects energy signatures and many IR signatures- there are people there! The ship gets hailed on civilian radio channels- "Attention... Ship. What's your business here?" Deyn informs them that they intend to repair their vessel. "Uh... Okay, land over in the clearing there." Its quite obvious that they're NOT legitimate, just a ragtag band of opportunists who've turned pirate.
Deyn acknowledges the directions at Keisha's agreement, and Maddox puts the Silhouette down at the indicated area- a rough circle, cleared of debris, a short distance from the storage buildings. Luke goes out in full battle dress, and when THIS is seen by the pirates, they become a bit more apprehensive in their command of the situation. They basically decide to 'allow' the Silhouette to gather what they need, and indicate the nearby building as the location where they can get what they need. However, the crew has to get the parts themselves.
At their directions, Luke goes and sees what's there with a video feed back to the ship, then comes back, fetching Percy and a grav sled to retrieve the gear.
While this goes on, some discussions go on about Percy, mostly between Deyn and Maddox. Maddox, almost sheepishly explains that Percy's programming is apparently a blend of Maddox's programming and that of the assassin droid that Deyn obtained from Gaffer! Percy is actually developing as an AI, and is far more capable than she should be. Deyn indicates that if Maddox trusts Percy, Deyn can abide with that. In actuality, there is more going on, but Maddox is keeping that to himself.
And then... The crew in the bridge are surrounded by men with guns! Both Maddox and Deyn hit the antihijack, but they and Keisha all get shot- Maddox is down with two hits, Deyn is still up with two as well, and Keisha is hit once. Moments later, the antihijack hits, bouncing the invaders off the ceiling then slamming them to the floor! They're out, at least the ones in the bridge. "Security off, Lockdown protocols engaged- gas the ship!" Deyn orders. "Seal the bridge!" The bridge doors close, slicing an invader in half while the gas flows inside the vessel. As soon as the bridge is sealed, Deyn starts first aid on the badly wounded Maddox.
Outside, Percy informs Luke that the antihijack has engaged! "How many are aboard?" Luke asks. "... 40." is the response. Luke looks at the situation, then announces over the foe's citizen's band radio: "Attention Bad Guys. I have 40 of your men trapped in the ship, and control of your base. If you WANT THEM BACK, you will surrender, move to the center of the clearing and lie on the ground face down!" Of course they don't. This results in all those outside dying in the flames of a FGMP-15.
All of the foes aboard were taken by the gas, and while Luke fights outside Deyn does what he can to stabilize Maddox. Soon, Percy and Luke are back aboard, and Percy treats things as best she can, focussing on Maddox. However, the Silhouette's medical stores are totally empty. As soon as he's able (after Percy plugs the holes), Deyn flies the ship back to the tent city sending an emergency medical call ahead of their arrival.
They arrive without further incident, and Dr. Phil runs aboard as the militia take control of the prisoners. Most of the crew (sans Luke, who only got a bit rattled) end up on medical slow and in surgery.
A day passes, and people recover- Luke ends up partially dealing with the kangaroo court arguing as to what to do about the privateers- He says 'find a lawyer' rather than appointing a group of the arguing monkeys to make a decision. This of course doesn't sit well with the people who've taken the leadership positions in the tent city.
He returns to the ship and explains what's going on. Keisha realizes, much to her chagrin, that due to her BEING a lawyer, she's obligated to serve in the situation. Now recovered, Maddox and Deyn leave Keisha to deal with the legal quagmire. They take the Silhouette back to the depot to get what they need for the ship. Upon their arrival they find no lifesigns and start gathering what they need.
Once done, they head back. Naturally, they haven't quite weaseled out of the legal mess, and are required to stand as witnesses. Deyn provides his own recordings of the event, as well as the ship's records.
In the end, The formed jury decides after a thorough trial adjudicated by Keisha, that each of the prisoners will be judged individually. 30 receive the death penalty, 7 more are recommended to be released due to their reluctance to participate and the evidence that they were coerced; they end up being 'recruited' to assist the militia, as they have some knowledge of combat and weaponry. Keisha isn't happy having to make such a decision, but is following the writ of the law.
Some time passes and the bulk of the absolutely necessary repairs are done. They set out, and Keisha puts Maddox in command(!) and hides in her room with a bottle- "See how YOU like it!" she says, and course is set back to Ontar. Hopefully, there'll be something there when they arrive.
Until next time, that's all!
