Setting Off

[BD Cerridwen]

Seb ponders the situation briefly, and then calls out on the open interlink channel, "Anyone else find it a coincidence that the 'vettes are Streel models? I mean, right here in their home system where Obar Enterprises is experiencing pirate issues? Sounds like Streel doesn't like the idea of OE muscling in on their turf..."

"Interesting observation Seb," Malcom notes with a chuckle. "Let's file that under 'things to look into if we live'." He shoots the pilot a wink too, just for good measure. I'm handing these out like candy today, he thinks. I must be more nervous then I thought!

[BD Cerridwen]

Again Gren pauses in thought then states out loud, “Wish I had some of those beanbags right about now.”

"Dude, speak Pan-Gal, will ya? What's a beanbag?"

[cliff]

"Dude, speak Pan-Gal, will ya? What's a beanbag?"

"We had this Tech in my Platoon back when I was a Marine, after we had boarded this frieghter converted to a weapons platform, it also had a large boarding crew, we had a prolonged fight to take that ship. Well, he came up with this idea of filling an old boot sock with ballbearings and tucking about 10g of D19 in the center with a 5 second delay fuse." Gren pauses, "As everyone should know, sonic grenades and concusion grendaes don't do much in zero atmo. These boot socks filled with ballbearings resembled beanbags, they don't do a lot of structural damage and probably won't kill anyone either, but its a lot easier to get them to surrender when they're buisy patch'n holes in their vacc suits and not shot'n at ya."

B'Looone turns to face Gren with (what for a Dralasilte would be) an evil grin. "I can make any machine explode. Setting the engines to overload is easy, but getting them back under control if they've been damaged could be a problem. We won't know for sure until we get there and I can assess the state of their engines."

"I think we should consider the spook if B'Loone believes he can control the engine overload, but I think we should have a backup plan just in case, once on board, we're kinda committed to it."

[BD Cerridwen]

"Gren, if you ever see that tech again, give him a big wet kiss for me. Leo, can you pull up the inventory of the Glory's engineering storage closets? We need ball bearings or rivets or screws or even paper clips plus a baggie of some sort since we don't have spare socks handy."

It felt good to have a plan, even if it might not need to be implemented. With B'Loone helping with the Glory's damage control, Malcom decided to work up some rough numbers for the explosives needed to punch a hole in the cruiser's hull.

... military grade armor ... secondary systems between the hull and crew compartment ... 1kg might be enough. (OOC: a pessimistic average of 440 structural points of damage per kg if my math is correct). ... but we need to be in with one shot. When B'Loone has more time to work the math, I'll suggest a 1kg minimum and let him work up from there. He can get that stuff while I put together a beanbag or two... maybe a little more then 10g of D19 in each though- just for effect ...

[cliff]

"Grenix, Gren here, does the Morning Glory have a Brig? or a portion of the ship that can be secured and used as a brig? If we take prisoners, we'll need a place to keep em." "and interogate them." Gren finishes under his breath giving his version of an evil smile.

[Will]

"When it broadcasts its demand for us to surrender," Maria replies,"we'll have our radio link. You're the comp expert, it's up to you to see if we can do anything with it."

"Do you really think a 15 second call is enough time for any astrogator to compromise such a fundamental part of a spaceship?" Leo was pretty sure she just hadn't thought it through. Such a glaring security hole would make space travel next to impossible.

"I always thought astrogators could pull off those kinds of miracles," Maria quips. "'Sides, given our velocity's greater than his at the moment, it's probably a moot point anyhow."

"And you can continue going off the sanitized, unclassified, redacted reports of what they told you, or you could talk to someone that went toe to toe with the worms."

"And, that would be Karl Reider, right?" she asks. "I'm sure he'd have something to say about your special friend other than the old 'he was hypnotized by worms' excuse that weakling liberals like you always resort to to defend traitors who should rightly be shown the inside of an airlock and the outside of space, without a suit."

"By the way, numbnuts," she adds to Malcom,"put me in a nice, safe launch, and I might be tempted to take it and leave you hanging."

[BD Cerridwen]

"By the way, numbnuts," she adds to Malcom,"put me in a nice, safe launch, and I might be tempted to take it and leave you hanging."

"Oh Darlin'," Malcom says with more then a hint of sarcasm, "please don't leave me! What would I ever do without you?"

Sure, go ahead and add fuel to the fire. Malcom thinks. You are a numb-nuts!

"Fine Maria," he says half apologetically. "Look, I'm not the enemy, Leo's not the enemy. B'Looone might be the enemy, I'm not sure yet." Mal shoots a wink at the Dralasite. "Just kidding buddy. Anyway, we all listened to your ideas and determined that an assault on their bridge is our best tactical option. You don't have to like us, but you friggin' better figure out a way to work with us."

[estradling]

"And, that would be Karl Reider, right?" she asks. "I'm sure he'd have something to say about your special friend other than the old 'he was hypnotized by worms' excuse that weakling liberals like you always resort to to defend traitors who should rightly be shown the inside of an airlock and the outside of space, without a suit."

She was so far off as to not even be in the same system, "So you think it is a weakling excuse? Very well, then I suppose you'll have no problem volunteering to be an example when we are all done here. After all I am sure many of the others would like to see how it done, see how someone can be twisted and what can be done to defend against it. And if it is as weak as you assume it is, you got nothing to fear."

[cliff]

"Gren, if you ever see that tech again, give him a big wet kiss for me."

“His name was Private Kloonen, from Outer Reach. We had been deployed to Zeta Gamma 6, a large moon with a breathable atmosphere out in the rim. It was being colonized when Streel and the CDC swooped in and both laid claim to resource mining. Hostilities brook out between the colonists, Streel and the CDC. We were deployed to help Starlaw keep the peace. About a week after our arrival, my platoon came across a village under attack by some Mercs hired by Streel; of course Streel denied any fore-knowledge of the attack and claimed the Mercs acted on their own accord. The village had no military value; it was an Ag community of about 300 persons. I quickly deployed my platoon to defend the civys…a furious firefight broke out…Private Kloonen came over the comm, said he could here the frightened calls of children and he ran to the nearby school house which had come under Merc fire…the school house was being hit by rocket fire and automatic weapons…the schoolhouse collapsed before I could get my squad to him…he saved all but 5 or 6 of the children…Private Kloonen…” Gren closes his eyes and shakes his head, “he just had too many holes in em…” Gren opens his eyes, but they are glazed over, lost in a distant memory, “…we took no prisoners that day.” After a long pause, Gren looks to Malcom, “The best I can do is place a stone on his grave marker for ya.”

[Will]

"By the way, numbnuts," she adds to Malcom,"put me in a nice, safe launch, and I might be tempted to take it and leave you hanging."

"Oh Darlin'," Malcom says with more then a hint of sarcasm, "please don't leave me! What would I ever do without you?"

Sure, go ahead and add fuel to the fire. Malcom thinks. You are a numb-nuts!

"Fine Maria," he says half apologetically. "Look, I'm not the enemy, Leo's not the enemy. B'Looone might be the enemy, I'm not sure yet." Mal shoots a wink at the Dralasite. "Just kidding buddy. Anyway, we all listened to your ideas and determined that an assault on their bridge is our best tactical option. You don't have to like us, but you friggin' better figure out a way to work with us."

Maria draws her weapon at that point, aiming it straight for Numbnuts' faceplate.

"You ain't in charge, and I don't gotta do creet, that I don't wanna do. Care to force the issue?""

"Numbnuts?" she adds.

[Will]

"And, that would be Karl Reider, right?" she asks. "I'm sure he'd have something to say about your special friend other than the old 'he was hypnotized by worms' excuse that weakling liberals like you always resort to to defend traitors who should rightly be shown the inside of an airlock and the outside of space, without a suit."

She was so far off as to not even be in the same system, "So you think it is a weakling excuse? Very well, then I suppose you'll have no problem volunteering to be an example when we are all done here. After all I am sure many of the others would like to see how it done, see how someone can be twisted and what can be done to defend against it. And if it is as weak as you assume it is, you got nothing to fear."

"Soo defensive," Maria tells him. "You must really have liked the taste of him."

"And," she adds, trying not to flinch at the memories the soft civ astrogator's idiot comment just dredged up,"you can try messing with my head. Anytime."

"Just be sure to notify your next of kin first."

[estradling]

Maria draws her weapon at that point, aiming it straight for Numbnuts' faceplate.

"You ain't in charge, and I don't gotta do creet, that I don't wanna do. Care to force the issue?""

"Numbnuts?" she adds.

Leo was going to comment about her various issues when she drew the gun. That changed thing in all kinds of ways, "No one forced you to accept this job. You did that of your own free will and choice. Knowing full well it would involve working with each and every one of us. If you can't do that you need to quit." He didn't add the or we need to get you fired because that was a given.

[Terl Obar]

OOC: Sorry about the delay again but great role-playing in the bridge

BIC:
The lone corvette, now out classed and out gunned by the pair of Assault Scouts, desperately tries to get around to bring its Laser Cannon to bear. It lashes out with its Laser Battery scoring another hit on the Excalibur, this time ripping a ragged hole in the hull. The assault scouts return fire with their laser batteries and the corvette never completes it maneuver as it is sliced into three pieces by the massive blasts. Their foes vanquished, the scouts turn and race toward the Morning Glory and the cruiser.

In the mean time, the cruiser pulls a high gee turn to come up behind the super-freighter. Malcom watches as the target cross hairs of "his" laser battery line up on the bow of the cruiser. The battery lashes out and he sees a blinding flash on the cruiser's disruptor cannon as it is slagged into uselessness. The other laser battery lashes out striking the cruiser's hull and leaving another gaping hole.

The cruiser's remaining weapons lash out at the Morning Glory. The laser battery strikes a glancing blow to the body of the freighter near the torpedo launcher but the energy bounces harmlessly off of the reflective hull. Malcom's console flashes a large red "INOPERATIVE" warning as the cruiser's electron battery rips into "his" laser battery and takes it out of commission. The proton battery just misses the remaining laser battery as the beam passes within mere meters of the Morning Glory's hull. Suddenly you are all thrown hard against your restraining straps as a huge explosion rocks the back end of the ship a mere 30m behind you. The shock sends Maria's gun flying out of her hands to clatter across the room. As the shock subsides, you realize you are now floating weightless in your crash couches. Looking at the monitors, you realize that the both the cruiser's torpedo and rocket battery exploded withing the hollow formed by the freighter's eight engines. While it looks like there was no serious hull damage, the shock and shrapnel from the explosions have completely knocked the ship's engines offline (0 ADF and 0 MR).

"Engineering, status" you hear Terl call over the comm circuit.

"We're still here," D'narr calls out. " Area effect burst from both the torp and the rockets, went off right in the middle of the engine cradle. As much as I hate to admit it, it was a beautiful shot. Shock waves knocked out all the engines, working on getting them back on-line."

Just then a transmission comes in over the radio. "TSSS Morning Glory, this is Admiral Christiansen, be advised that the larger vessels is most likely a rogue UPF light cruiser ... " "We figured that part out already," you hear Terl snarl over the comm. "... the UPFS Rampage, The commander is Captain Mark Carlson and we believe he is still in command of the vessel. A warning went out by subspace about 17 hours ago but it looks like you missed it in the jump. We have ships in pursuit in your area already and they should be arriving shortly. You should hear from them as well. If possible avoid contact as long as possible ..." "Too late for that, " Terl mutters. "... while proceeding toward Pale. Christiansen out."

Almost as soon as that transmission ends, a Vrusk voice is heard. "TSSS Morning Glory, this is Captain T'knarr of the UPFS Invictus. We are three zero minutes out from your estimated position at current velocity and acceleration. Please advise status if possible." Terl transmits a short reply giving your position and a quick run down of the engagement so far.

And then the OE assault scouts are there. Having approached in the shadow of the Morning Glory they swing out to engage the cruiser. The cruiser's weapons lash out in defense but the sudden appearance of the scouts seems to have thrown off their aim. The beam weapons go wide but the cruiser's rocket battery scores a solid hit on the Excalibur and the scout explodes in a small nova as it's engines overload and fail. As the Excalibur vanishes, you hear outbursts of shock and rage over the comm circuit. The Courage launches another assault rocket and fires its laser battery. The assault scout's weapons are joined by the remaining laser battery from the Morning Glory as well as another torpedo.

Both laser batteries fail to penetrate the reflective hull of the cruiser and reflect off without causing any serious damage. A cloud of ICMs rise from the cruiser managing to detonate the assault rocket harmlessly but the torpedo continues to drive in, carrying with it the vengance of all the OE crews' anger at the loss of their sister ship. It strikes the cruiser near the middle of the ship and explodes, ripping a huge hole in the hull. You see several decks exposed and bodies drifting away from the ship.

Severely damaged, the cruiser turns tail and begins to pull away from the drifting freighter. The laser batteries from the Morning Glory and Courage reach out again but again seem to have no effect. As a parting gesture the cruiser launches another torpedo at the Morning Glory as well as all of its remaining beam weapons and a salvo of rockets at the Courage. The laser and proton beam battery miss but the electron beam battery strikes the Morning Glory right near your deck. You feel your hair stand on end even within your suits as the power surges through the ship. Warnings flash on your consoles, "Computer damage, combat control systems malfunctioning". The torpedo slams into the neck of the ship near the airlock and explodes rupturing the water tanks used by the ship's masking screen. The water dampens the shocks and isolates the explosion from the rest of the ship preventing any further damage.

The Courage is not so lucky. Unable to maneuver out of the way, the rockets explode all around it ripping holes all through the hull. It looks like it is barely holding together (14 HP damage). With the Morning Glory currently unable to maneuver and the Courage severely damaged, there is nothing you can do to prevent the Rampage from getting away. Instead you all turn toward getting your ship up and running again.

Terl's voice comes on the comm circuit once again, "B'loone, Sebastian, Maria, I want you three to drop down a level and help D'narr and Grenix get the engines back on line. I know Sebastian and Maria aren't trained spacecraft engineers but your tech skills will be helpful. Leo and 'Ting, K'la-tar is enroute to your level. Meet him at the computer room and help get the targeting problems worked out. Malcom, Gren take control of the remaining weapons, just in case. Luckily we had no hull breaches in the deck areas and we'll be repressurizing the ship shortly."

[Shadow Shack]

"That could have gone better," Sebastian mutters under his breath. "Still, can't expect a civilian ship to hold out against a military cruiser. I'd say we fared well under the circumstances."

Sebastian releases the restraints of the command chair and floats away, pushing off the bulkhead he aims for the elevator. "Rogers here," he calls out on the interlink, "We're on it. We'll do what we can to help out."

[Bonehead]

Terl's voice comes on the comm circuit once again, "B'loone, Sebastian, Maria, I want you three to drop down a level and help D'narr and Grenix get the engines back on line. I know Sebastian and Maria aren't trained spacecraft engineers but your tech skills will be helpful. Leo and 'Ting, K'la-tar is enroute to your level. Meet him at the computer room and help get the targeting problems worked out. Malcom, Gren take control of the remaining weapons, just in case. Luckily we had no hull breaches in the deck areas and we'll be repressurizing the ship shortly."

"On my way!" B'Looone snaps into his comm. He unfastens his restraints with ease and activates his magnetic boots to "run" (as nearly as he can) toward the lift after Sebastian.

[cliff]

Both laser batteries fail to penetrate the reflective hull of the cruiser and reflect off without causing any serious damage. A cloud of ICMs rise from the cruiser managing to detonate the assault rocket harmlessly but the torpedo continues to drive in, carrying with it the vengance of all the OE crews' anger at the loss of their sister ship. It strikes the cruiser near the middle of the ship and explodes, ripping a huge hole in the hull. You see several decks exposed and bodies drifting away from the ship."

"Hope nobody I served with is on board that ship...if so, damn them."

Terl's voice comes on the comm circuit once again, "B'loone, Sebastian, Maria, I want you three to drop down a level and help D'narr and Grenix get the engines back on line. I know Sebastian and Maria aren't trained spacecraft engineers but your tech skills will be helpful. Leo and 'Ting, K'la-tar is enroute to your level. Meet him at the computer room and help get the targeting problems worked out. Malcom, Gren take control of the remaining weapons, just in case. Luckily we had no hull breaches in the deck areas and we'll be repressurizing the ship shortly."

"Yes sir!" snaps Gren in military fasion, then takes a seat at the torpedo launcher controls. "By the way," he says looking at Malcom, "nice shooting."

[BD Cerridwen]

Gren looks to Malcom, “The best I can do is place a stone on his grave marker for ya.”

"Sorry to hear that ma - er, Doc," Malcom says solemnly. "Maybe you can give that kiss to Sebastian then. He looks like he could use a good kiss."

Maria draws her weapon at that point, aiming it straight for Numbnuts' faceplate.

"You ain't in charge, and I don't gotta do creet, that I don't wanna do. Care to force the issue?""

"Numbnuts?" she adds.

The shock sends Maria's gun flying out of her hands to clatter across the room.

Malcom gives Maria a steely stare that only a seasoned veteran of one too many close fights can give. His voice is low and level and dripping with sincerity and danger. "Sweetheart, next time you pull a gun on me, just start shootin'."

Malcom watches as the target cross hairs of "his" laser battery line up on the bow of the cruiser. The battery lashes out and he sees a blinding flash on the cruiser's disruptor cannon as it is slagged into uselessness. ...

The destruction of the Disruptor pulls Malcom back from the tiff with Maria. "Blast it! That was MINE!"

"Malcom, Gren take control of the remaining weapons, just in case."

"Roger Cap'n." Malcom looks at the display and sees LB II is still functional. He rapidly fingers his chair mounted controls switching his station to interface with LB II. He keeps the corner of his eye on the range readout to the Rampage while trying to direct his targeting piper onto the remains of the Excalibur. Maybe, just maybe, he might be able to spot a survivor.

"Yes sir!" snaps Gren in military fasion, then takes a seat at the torpedo launcher controls. "By the way," he says looking at Malcom, "nice shooting."

"It sure was!" says Malcom. "I just wish it were me pulling the triggers on that one! I gotta find that gunner and get him to teach me a few things before we get to Pale!"

[BD Cerridwen]

After the others leave and the aux bridge pressurizes, Malcom checks to make sure his comm is off and speaks to Gren.

"That chick seriously needs a Staydose injection. Maybe we can rig her bunk on the Dart with a Freeze Field and only let her out when we have the need for a rabid saber-cat. Friggin' bikers are 95% bluff and bluster, but it's the 5% that you gotta watch for. Never know when that line gets crossed until it's too late. First time that I've ever had one on my side - if she's actually on our side. Know what I mean?"

[Will]

Maria calmly picks up her gun.

"I'll go when I wanna go, Astro," she spits in retort at Leo.

"And," she says to Malcom, staring the kiddie merc down, "I'll remember that, for tomorrow."

She then joins the Minotaur and the Innie blob down below.

[estradling]

Hearing the new orders Leo turns to the Vrusk, "Looks like we got some computer work to do." He moves carefully in his mag boots to meet up with K'la-tar.