Mongoose Traveller (Inactive)

Game Master Daniel Stewart

Ben spends the time getting to know the coms systems a little better and tries his level best to get to know the rest of the crew, especially the new additions to his little circle of friends.

Could have sword I put an OOC bit on the bottom of my post saying i take the bonus to sensors, relying on Myrian's already professional skill level for Medic

LOL..I was gonna ask you what skill she chose!!

Sorry for the delay..lets get back on track!!

The week of jump-time actually goes by fairly quick, with all of you busy on your various tasks and learning how to operate this new vessel. By the time you finally emerge at your destination, you are all much more proficient in areas of your employment.
From the comms you get the following message.

"Telemon-class ship, designator Jeramiah welcome to the Grant system. For your safety, please steer clear of the planet, as this is a Red-Zone system. Your orders arrived and you are clear for salvage. This is Scout Base 1125-A, designate Helios. Nice to have some visitors."

The signal is coming from orbit around the second gas-giant in the system. A small space station made up of several cutter modules seems to be the scout base Helios.

There is also a second, powerful signal coming from the system, a navy warning beacon.

WARNING....WARNING....THIS PLANET IS UNDER IMPERIAL INTERDICTION....TRESPASSERS WILL BE DESTROYED....

The message repeats, on an endless loop. Your sensors can pickup several satellites in orbit around the planet.

"This should be fun," Marissa says to whoever may be hanging about the common room. "Do the scouts have any clue where our ship might be, or are we on out own?"

To communications. "Ahh, good to hear another voice outside this ship as well. And a pleasant greeting is always nice. Have you seen our wayward target by any chance?"

To the captain. "Captain I have coms from station. They welcome us and advise against planetary exploration."

"Okay, lets see what else is out there"
Scan for any ship or debris based anomalies, anything that may disturb sensors and need further investigation or any other hint of our missing ship.

@ Ben - "Nope, but we hardly have the sensor array that your ship is suppose to carry!! Best of luck, and if you get bored, feel free to drop by, fuel up and have a chat!!"

The captain come on the intercom system.

"Very good Mr. Kas. Give them our warmest thanks. Navigation and sensors begin sweep of the system."

Ok, this is gonna take some time!! The system is huge, and there are lots of places for a ship to disappear. You get 4 sensor rolls each day, and it will take 6 successes (total)to pinpoint the location. This is a formidable task (-6 to rolls), but this is somewhat mitigated by the exceptional sensor suite on the ship (+2). So you may make your daily check (4 rolls) and if anyone else wants to do anything during this time, go ahead, otherwise we can just roll until we get our 6 successes.

Myrian spends the first day adjusting sensor controls, poring over results and snapping at anyone who breaks her concentration.

Day 1 Sensor Operation (presuming Int-based, if Edu based reduce results by 1)
Sensors: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 5) = 10(+1sensors,+1familiarity, +2Int, +2Suite, -6difficulty)
Sensors: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5(+1sensors,+1familiarity, +2Int, +2Suite, -6difficulty)
Sensors: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4(+1sensors,+1familiarity, +2Int, +2Suite, -6difficulty)
Sensors: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8(+1sensors,+1familiarity, +2Int, +2Suite, -6difficulty)

Can't really complain at the progress, given the difficulty, should I keep rolling until passed, or give people a chance to post each day?

Well that is what I was asking. We can do it day by day and people could post their daily activity, or we can just say you are busy working and such and just let you roll until we get our 6 successes..of which now we only need 4!

Myrian spends a long day at the sensors control panel, scanning the millions of km of space, searching for any sign of the missing ship. A few times she thinks she might have something, only to lose the signal, or have it turn out to be some other piece of space junk. Still she feels confident that you are closing in on the ships location!"[/b]

"Ever hear the legend of the Beowulf?" Charlotte asks, seeking to pass the time.

"Indeed, Charlotte. A great mystery that one, no one ever did find the source of that transmission." Chief Mora says looking up from his astrogation charts.

Posting a further 3 days of rolls, enclosing in spoilers if anything wants to happen in the meanwhile.

After her successes the first day, Myrian hits the sensors early, hoping to get a number of leads sorted out. While making some routine adjustments, she somehow overpowers the main relay and shorts out half of the main panel.
Will take an Engineering (Electronics) average (+0) roll to repair

"Yep" Charlotte nods, "A ghost ship that has never been found. Stories say that on long, lonely runs, you can sometimes still hear her last transmission..."

Cue radio crackle :)

Calling Chief Mora to the sensors array...Chief Mora to the sensors array...that is all

lol

Myrian gets surprisingly inventive with her cursing as the panel shorts out, and climbs under the consoles to get it fixed.
"If any of you know your way around sensitive electronics I could use a hand."

Engineering-Electronics: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2, 4) + 1 + 1 = 8 Electronics + Education

Chief Mora walks over to where Myrian was cursing amongst several tendrils of smoke rising from her instrument panel.
"Unfortunately, I'm more of a grease monkey, Myrian, all valves and magnetic containers and such. I'm not much use around ciruit boards."

Oops..forgot Myrian had electronics....my bad...fixed!

Meanwhile Mr Kas is working on his new hobby, painting using electronic pads. He isn't very good yet, but everyone needs a hobby.

Solomon runs around the ship trying to do a million things at once.

Sorry, work has been kicking my tale the last few days...

Myrian is able to find the problem with the sensor array and after searching the parts locket, finds the necessary piece needed to get the system back up and running. While losing the better part of the day, she makes it up the following day by getting a solid lead. By the fourth day, she has led the ship to the outer asteroid field, and there, drifting without power, you find the Machii.

Any signs of what happened that we can tell from outside? Physical damage, debris, odd sensor readings?

I need a pilot roll to get close to the derelict vessel before you can tell any more. Sensors show no power and the interior atmosphere has be vented to space.

Pilot: 2d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3, 3) + 2 + 1 = 9 +2 skill, +1 Dex

Charlotte deftly maneuvers the vessel into position.

"XO to Captain: we've located the ship. Salvage operations on standby."

"How do you want me Drake, shall I suit up, or monitor your team from here?

From your new position it is clear to see that the Machii has suffered a number of strikes to her hull by asteroids. You can even see one of the space rocks embedded in the forward sandcaster turret.

Charlotte maneuvers the ship expertly into position, keeping you just out of range of any floating debris.

"Thank you XO. All crew to the common room for salvage briefing in 10 minutes."

Charlotte reports to the common room as instructed, climbing into a vacc suit.

Ben rushes to the common room at a good clip, eager as he is to do something other than paint and watch coms for signals.

Marissa suits up in the common room.

Jenvan, the salvage foreman, arrives in the commons room. Lai Po is suited up to pilot the cutter.
"Ok captain, I will take it from here. Who among you has 0-G training and can function in a Vacc Suit?"

Chief Mora nods where he sits on the command deck. Reaching over he keys in some commands that starts the ship's boat departure protocols. "Just in case." he says to himself, then rises and joins the others in the commons.

"None and none" Chief Mora responses. Seeing a couple surprised looks, smiles "I know, 20 years in the navy,you'd think I have at least some training in either of those, but cooped up in engineering didn't have much chance for shenanigans outside the hull."

"I've done a bit of zero-G," Marissa says. "And I'm used to Vacc Suits."

"What's a vac suit? This question might have been taken for a joke if it wasn't for the serious look on his face.

"I've basic training in Zero-G, no skills in a Vacc Suit though."

Jenvan looks the group over.
"Alright then. Marissa, Charlotte and Solomon you will come on the cutter with me. Myrian you will co-pilot the cutter with Lai Po. The chief and Benjamin will be in Cargo Bay 2, maning the extendable airlock and ready to unload from the cutter. Everyone clear on what they need to do?"

Charlotte completes her checklist for her vacc suit and gives a thumbs up.

Marissa makes final preparations and boards the cutter.

"Aye Sir"

Once all are aboard, the cutter releases from it's sling and with a few gentle nudges, heads towards the crippled ship. As you approach, you notice that the power must be completely out, for no warning beacon comes on to warn you that you are too close to the vessel. Also, the automatic docking port does not light-up.

"Well I guess we could not expect this to be easy!", you hear over your helmet's comm system from Jevan.
"We will have to manually activate the docking port. Lai Po, hold the cutter steady about 20 meters from the portside docking ring. I'll need one of you to come with me. Which of you has some electronics training?"

Sorry Solomon was MIA. He does have VaccSuit and ZeroG training. He also has Computers 0 and Mechanics 2, but nothing for Electronics. Jack of All Trades?

Suited up and ready Solomon pats Myrian on her vacc-suited behind. "I believe that's you Myrian."

"Yes, I do." Myrian steps forwards.

"No, Myrian, you need to stay with Lai Po and help co-pilot the cutter. Solomon you will have to give it a go, as you are already suited up."

It is a difficult (-2) roll, and go ahead and use your Mechanics skill for this test. You will also need to make a zero-g roll (average) to get the the control panel on the side of the ship.

@Myrian- please make an average pilot roll to assist Lai Po in keeping the ship stationary relative to the Machii

Meanwhile, down in the cargo bay, Benjamin and the chief discover a power loader (think Aliens!!) that could be used to help unload and move anything the salvage crew can find, but will need to figure how it works and get one of them suited up!

This will be a Battledress-1 skill, which can be defaulted to an average (-2DM) EDU skill check

Pilot: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 1) + 1 = 8, not sure if I get any further bonus from an attribute, the book doesn't seem to say.

Securing and checking his tethering, Solomon heads to the control panel...
Zero-G: 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (1, 4) + 0 = 5

Mechanics: 2d6 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (3, 4) + 2 - 2 = 7

Pulling open the loader's cockpit, Chief Mora grabs the instrumentation guide from beside the cushioned seat. Poring over the complicated instructions,nodding to himself he climbs in and begins familiarizing himself with the controls.

Battledress-1 Education 2d6 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (5, 1) + 2 - 2 = 6

Trying to maneuver, Solomon gets himself turned around and takes twice as long to get to the entry port. Still struggling with moving in zero-g, it takes a long time for him to access the door controls and open them with the manual override. With the door finally open, the salvage team can get into the main part of the ship and start investigating.

Meanwhile, the chief seems to have mis-read some of the instructions and has frozen one of the arm controls. After a little fiddling with it, he finally gets it working again, but has had little time to practice with the loader.

I have uploaded the maps for the Machii. They are under the Campaign Info tap at the top of the page. You are breaching into Cargo Bay 3 on B-Deck.

"Cheif, it's all ready for you and Ben to head on over. Charlotte and Marissa standby to join them."