Traveller (Inactive)

Game Master trawets71

Allen returns to the ship and immediately syncs up his neural system to the ship's internet comms. Once that is complete he has his computer tie into the ships systems as well.

"Ok, all hooked up and ready to go!", he sends over the internal comms

"We seem to be the only ones still docked, this is either good or bad, either way, we should get ready to depart." he looks at those around him to make sure everyone is ready for this trip

"To be honest my friend, it's just the System & Naval Base that's fully deployed; civilian starport activity is exactly what you would expect ... which means the Notice to Air Missions are probably much much more significant than they are indicating."

Rion pauses to think for a minute.

"Lucian & Crawford, get sensors on that moon-blip which is almost for sure the Absolution. Figure its trajectory & velocity as well as you can, and let Axel know if there's positioning you need for more information. Given that we don't have clearance to violate the No Fly Zone they're lying about, we'll need to stay in-bounds. Plot a course to intercept the Absolution: we need to get BEHIND her and approach from the stern/tail."

Having double checked the sensors, Lucian grunted, and looked out the window towards the docks. As things are getting ready, he hears Rion as for sensors on the the blip, quickly looking over to the admiral, Lucian replies, "On it."

After locking the sensors on the 'blip', he starts getting the course set to move in behind the absolution.

Sensors 8+: Sensors + 2, Education + 1: 2d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6, 1) + 2 + 1 = 10
Astrogation 8+: astrogation + 1, Education +1: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2, 4) + 1 + 1 = 8

Lucian looks at the sensors and see it is only being detected in the visible and IR systems. It is shown in the System Traffic system as an unknown ship that is not squawking and it is waaaay out there, about a light hour and heading vaguely in system though it is hard to tell at this distance precisely where.

Lucian enters in the planned course and destination. All that is needed to leave port is the flight plan filed and permission to leave requested.

Pilot+3,Dex+2: 2d6 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4, 1) + 3 + 2 = 10

Having laid in the course Lucian turns towards Axel and asks, "Admiral, what can I do to help get her underway?"

He nods from his sea "We need to check comms, just to make sure there s no emergency broadcast, sensors to make sure our path is clear for the voyage and we dont have unwanted guests when we arrive" he advises, but obviously any other ideas from his companions would be welcome, this isnt a military operation after all

He nods from his sea "We need to check comms, just to make sure there s no emergency broadcast, sensors to make sure our path is clear for the voyage and we dont have unwanted guests when we arrive" he advises, but obviously any other ideas from his companions would be welcome, this isnt a military operation after all

Rion smiles, just a touch, listening to the team's flight prep.

"YOU Mr. Black will need to decide on exactly what flight plan you will be filing ... and whether we will be keeping to it."

"We need to get to the potential salvage ship. As our navigator has plotted the course. I do not have any need to alter it." he nods at Rion then at Lucian

"We need to get to the potential salvage ship. As our navigator has plotted the course. I do not have any need to alter it." he nods at Rion then at Lucian

"Well then hopefully the dockmaster hasn't had much coffee today, because if I saw a flight plan out to an established No Fly Zone, I might question its motivation. This isn't Naval Operations Admiral, and I am well aware of our need to get to the ship, just concerned about announcing that we will be doing so. My thought had been something more along the lines of filing an FP that shows us heading for a jump point in the area, and then, ... yep I am going to say it ... deviating to intercept the Absolution."

Rion smirks just a little

"The perspective is mine, the choice is yours, and the only other point of information I will add is that we already saw that the entire system fleet is deployed. You were in the Navy, remember? Would you want civilians flying into your operation?"

Ignoring the two 'senior partners' bickering, Lucian moves to the sensors, again double checking to make sure everything was 'a go.'

Sensors 8+: Sensors + 2, Education + 1: 2d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3, 4) + 2 + 1 = 10

Lucian checks the sensors again but sees nothing different from before.

Allen logs onto his computer to see what he can find out from the control and get a feeling as to what is happening.

Computers: 2d6 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5, 6) + 3 + 2 + 1 = 17
(+3 skill. +2 equipment, +1 Int)

Allen is trying to access the space control system to see what he can find out about the other ships in the system and what might be moving out towards the ancient warship

Allen checks SpaceAware and sees traffic in most parts of the system. The no fly area is being given a wide berth much larger than the area. There is no traffic showing around the derelict ship. The ship is currently about 1,000,000,000 km out and generally heading in system at an angle and would pass though the system without entering the inner system where the planet is. There are a few ships heading roughly in that direction all within the 100 diameter jump distance of the planet. When you check them they all have destinations out of the system.

I posted a quick answer and then took a shower. While in there something dawned on me. I think is some ways are information systems of today are beyond Traveller. I remember I was playing around with FlightAware the other night and what information I got from that. As long as you are docked you would have access to the ports "internet" and their version of FlightAware. If you have never played with FlightAware it gives you a look at worldwide air travel. I have a feeling you get different information from different countries but in the US you can see all private and commercial air traffic and where they have been. Commercial will also give you a destination.

Is it possible to hack into the port's system to post a fake flight plan and give us "special" status from the government so our flight is given privileged status?

You could take that risk if you wanted to. It is not something done quickly and has risk. 1d6 x 10 hours. Special and privileged are a bit vague what precisely would you want to get out of it?

I was thinking of spoofing the system so that it looked like we had permission to examine the wreck from some part of the government or perhaps from an imperial source. Not too sure we have that much time to do it...even if I do try to speed it up, but it could solve some of our problems about worrying about what the planetary government might think :-)

It is possible to do something like that from the dock. You will just need to say what you want and from whom so if you succeed we know what is in the computer. I don't need word for word.

Having checked the sensors and not seeing anything different, Lucian takes a moment and switches the computer screen back to the astrogation program. Pausing for a moment he double checks his figures, and then begins working on the 'alternative' flight plan that Rion had recomended.

Alternative flight plan, as needed
astrogation 8: Astrogation + 1 Edu + 1: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1, 5) + 1 + 1 = 8

Having tailed Rion uneventfully back to the ship, Jagger boards and proceeds to do crewman things to assist with their loaner ship's departure. He gives an ear to the crew's internal comm channel in case any orders come his way. Otherwise he simply moves around the ship confirming various status indicators for different systems are green and no alarms are flashing red on any panels. He moves to a few different stations around the ship checking the exact same indicators and alarms on each display and records any differences between them (ideally they all show the exact same information).

Axel hasn't posted so I'm going to move things along.

The ship having been prepared and the course worked out. Axel requests permission to depart from Traffic Control. Control replies "Gluttony glad to see you heading out to stretch your wings, so to speak. You are second in line for departure and there will be a slightly longer delay than normal as you are heading out in the same general direction. Need to make sure there is enough room so there are no collisions."

I am assuming no matter what flight path you file it will be in the general direction of intercepting the vessel as going in a different direction totally will make your trip much longer. If I am wrong let me know.

Axel nods as each station gives their okay
"Set a course closest to the objective, once there report we are deviating. Then we will approach our quarry to start preliminary scans to verify its name"
Once it's been done he takes the ship out and on its way

Axel nods as each station gives their okay

"Set a course closest to the objective, once there report we are deviating. Then we will approach our quarry to start preliminary scans to verify its name"
Once it's been done he takes the ship out and on its way

Having checked the sensors and not seeing anything different, Lucian takes a moment and switches the computer screen back to the astrogation program. Pausing for a moment he double checks his figures, and then begins working on the 'alternative' flight plan that Rion had recomended.

Alternative flight plan, as needed
astrogation 8: Astrogation + 1 Edu + 1: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1, 5) + 1 + 1 = 8

Shifting towards Axel, Lucian responds, "Laid in Admiral. Ready for your verification and execution."

After waiting 10 minutes you are given the green light to depart. The port unlocks from your ship causing station power, air and data links to be turned off. Axel maneuvers the ship out of port and lays in the course.

It is roughly a 3 day trip from the port to the quickest intercept of the ship. Just let me know how much of a detour you are making before turning toward the ship so I know about how long it is going to take.

I'd say half a day

Watching as the information is communicated to the 'station' Lucian sits patiently until the docking clamps are unlocked. As the Admiral 'takes her out' Lucian unbelts his chair and stands up and stretches. He smiles nodding back towards the port, "Not the fastest departure." His smile widens, "Not the slowest either."

Gesturing towards the rooms behind the bridge, "Let's check out the living quarters."

Looking in the first room he realizes it's clearly the 'captains quarters' the second room being double occupancy and the last two rooms singles. Pausing he assumes that sleeping arrangement will be based on percentage of 'ships shares' so he nods towards the 'double occupancy' "I assume the 'kid' and I will split the bunk beds?" as he looks towards Jagger, his smile returns. "I call the bottom bunk."

The ship

Watching as the information is communicated to the 'station' Lucian sits patiently until the docking clamps are unlocked. As the Admiral 'takes her out' Lucian unbelts his chair and stands up and stretches. He smiles nodding back towards the port, "Not the fastest departure." His smile widens, "Not the slowest either."

Gesturing towards the rooms behind the bridge, "Let's check out the living quarters."

Looking in the first room he realizes it's clearly the 'captains quarters' the second room being double occupancy and the last two rooms singles. Pausing he assumes that sleeping arrangement will be based on percentage of 'ships shares' so he nods towards the 'double occupancy' "I assume the 'kid' and I will split the bunk beds?" as he looks towards Jagger, his smile returns. "I call the bottom bunk."

The ship

Rion's voice sounds amused when he responds to Lucian over comms

"I'll try not to drink too much water before bedtime." Jagger gives Lucian a wink.

"Yeah those rooms are huge! I could fit everything I own in one small corner. In fact, I was just going to setup a cot in the computer core so I could tinker with the systems!"

What are you guys doing as you fly out. You've got 12 hours until you make your turn. Is there anything specific you are going to do?

What are you guys doing as you fly out. You've got 12 hours until you make your turn. Is there anything specific you are going to do?

Are there any specifics we should do?

chuckling at Jagger's comment, Lucian nodded in agreement, Compared to a 'scout' the ship was huge. Nodding towards the stairways, "Should we check out the rest of the yacht?" As he spoke he headed towards he steps.

Yeah, let's check it out. This is my first time on a ship like this...I want to see how the "other" half live!"

He grabs his duffle and hardcase of computer parts and follows the ex-scout to examine the rest of the yacht.

Will think about what they need to do in the next twelve hours.

Moving towards the steps he thumbs the comms, "Rion, we're headed your direction. Where are you at?"

Will think about what they need to do in the next twelve hours.

Moving towards the steps he thumbs the comms, "Rion, we're headed your direction. Where are you at?"

Curious as to what the 'Socialite' had in mind, Lucian turned and shrugged at the others and waived that direction. "Let's go see how the other half will live."

As he moves through the 'passenger' portion of the ship he notes several of the rooms and amenities, wondering if the ship they are purchasing will be this nice.

Arriving at the 'passenger lounge' he nods to Rion, "This is a nice ship, is it similar to the one we are purchasing?"

Curious as to what the 'Socialite' had in mind, Lucian turned and shrugged at the others and waived that direction. "Let's go see how the other half will live."

As he moves through the 'passenger' portion of the ship he notes several of the rooms and amenities, wondering if the ship they are purchasing will be this nice.

Arriving at the 'passenger lounge' he nods to Rion, "This is a nice ship, is it similar to the one we are purchasing?"

"That is a brilliant question Lucian; the answers are YES and also NO, and also MAYBE." Rion seems to smile at his own joke

"A 200ton hull is a 200ton hull, systems are systems, bridge is at the front, engineering in the rear. These things are like universal constants. To be honest, it is more of the middle that I want to talk about, and us as a team as well. This is ship is "nice" for sure, and I would call her 'well appointed' --- for someone like me, that is not the same as giving her a thumbs up operationally. In a minute, we can take a walk and look at our Luxe Stateroom. It's brilliant, truly wonderful. But the ship isn't fully fitted for luxury service, so it either needs those fittings, needs a Steward, or possibly both. Yes, I have every intention of serving as our steward, but that doesn't replace having sexi soap." He smiles rather wistfully at that too

"There is also virtually no space for cargo, and that concerns me a lot. We are about to come into a massive payday, which would set us on the path of doing some extraordinary speculation. The kind that would have us set for all of our retriement ... or whet our appitites for the 'chase' - I want to know what we want as a group. We will be VERY successful as talent for hire, even these few days already show that. But we have to know we want to. We could be extramely profitable if we want to be. We could be extremely comfortable if we want to be also."

"But at the end of the day, I am Jason Prince, and rest assured, what I want is to be BOTH. Let me hear what you all think please."

As he asks this, Axel walks in from the bridge's direction. Calmly taking a seat and taking a deep breath

"Well, the ship is flying steady. No need for any crazy maneuvers at the moment."

He then looks over to Rion "I believe with any ship that's similar to the one we have we can hopefully start a type of special travel accommodation. Not just VIP but we can add in protection services along with it. We could potentially transport very high class people that will be willing to pay quite well for such escorts"

"Well, well, well...just look at this place! Never been in such a posh ship before. Can see why you rich types like to keep the rest of us down! Just joking, but still, very nice digs!"

The ex-criminal walks around the salon and peeks his head into some of the luxurious rooms muttering to himself about the toiletries being worth more than his entire neighbourhood's combined yearly income!

"So we are gonna become servants to the rich and famous! Sounds good to me...I like taking money from the rich but I am not the kind to bow and grovel for their entertainment. I'ves got dignity and such you know!"

listening as Rion explained some of their options, Lucian turns as Axel added they could transport folks that needed security, they would be able to charge an arm and a leg for that as well.

Chuckling at Allen's comments, Lucian asks, "When we set up these transports will we also look for 'other' things to transport?" He wanted to add 'things of an illegal nature' instead he said, "Allen and I are both 'streetwise' enough to possibly find some customers that want small items shipped. You know, the way the 'scouts' carry the mail."

He smiles slightly, "And if it takes some time to set up customers maybe we can do a little bounty hunting." He'd always wanted to be a bounty hunter, but it seemed like every ship he was on had a schedule.

"I am sure we can find some rather small and valuable items that may need to travel from one system to another. But we can also maybe clear out some space and use it for more storage...like maybe one of the suites? Sorry I am not a spacey type, but perhaps I can help make the connections to get these items!"

Jagger appears a bit uncomfortable by all the luxury and showy opulence that surrounds them. He quietly tries to follow along with the discussion of what comes next, but as he's never really been in a position to make the kind of money which several of his new partners seem familiar, he doesn't even know what he can add.

His heart races as he tries to accept the idea actual wealth could come his way!

Smiling at Allen's comment, Lucian new 'small and valuable items' was a polite way of saying 'smuggling.' Which Lucian was totally fine with. It still frustrated him that some of the 'more advanced' systems had laws and rules that made no sense and just seemed to be there to punish folks not from there.

Setting the idea of smuggling aside, it clearly seemed like the lawyer had a clear vision for the ship. Whatever Rion's ideas were, the man clearly knew how to make money, and that was all the aging scout was worried about for the moment.

He smiles at Rion, "Comfortable sounds nice, but extremely profitable sounds even better."

Smiling at Allen's comment, Lucian new 'small and valuable items' was a polite way of saying 'smuggling.' Which Lucian was totally fine with. It still frustrated him that some of the 'more advanced' systems had laws and rules that made no sense and just seemed to be there to punish folks not from there.

Setting the idea of smuggling aside, it clearly seemed like the lawyer had a clear vision for the ship. Whatever Rion's ideas were, the man clearly knew how to make money, and that was all the aging scout was worried about for the moment.

He smiles at Rion, "Comfortable sounds nice, but extremely profitable sounds even better."

"Well I will tell you a secret Lucian: comfortable actually costs a LOT less than cargo tonnage, and I am honestly relieved that no one has said we should try to compete as independant merchants. I think we would do fine, but our hearts wouldn't be in it. We really can be extremely profitable by both reserving staterooms for our own smaller cargos, and also taking on Protective Charters as Axel suggested. We have obviously waded into the shallow end of the Consulting Services pool already, and a referrence at the end of this job will be worth almost as much as the million credits. These are elite, niche markets that all of us will be able to generate leads for."

"But most importantly, none of those require a large hold for cargo, and that's a good thing."

"It would be my suggestion that for the remainder of this voyage, we all plan to live down here on the passanger deck; enough of you have commented on how "the other half live" so let's have you live it. Let's see what you think. The crew quarters upstairs are excellent, and our high passage stateroom down here are exceptional. You may have noticed that one of my fondest keepsakes from being a plantary administrator is mounted on the wall of our luxury cabin: a Droyne Ambassador gave me Mechanical Wings as a token of his admiration ... and they look unbearably cool."

I will need an astrogation check and a pilot check at minimum to change course.

Axel now again at the helm, waits for the correction and the new path to be locked in,

"Let's do this boys and girls, off to see how much of a salvage this find actually is worth" as he steers the ship to its new destination

Pilot 3 Agility 2: 2d6 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3, 2) + 3 + 2 = 10

Satisfied with the long term plan for profitability, Lucian figures he can leave the details to the lawyer. Meanwhile he focused on the short term plan for profitability, gesturing back the way they came, "We should probably get to the bridge and start changing course."

Taking his seat on the bridge, Lucian switched the screen to the astrogation chart, punching in the numbers he enters the new destination. Nodding to Axel, "Ready admiral."

While Axel makes the maneuver, Lucian switches the console over to the sensors array, Curious to see if they were being followed, or if there were any other ships moving toward the ancient derelict.

astrogation DC 8, astrogation + 1, edu + 1: 2d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4, 5) + 1 + 1 = 11
sensors DC 8, sensors + 2, edu + 1: 2d6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3, 3) + 2 + 1 = 9

Lucian plots the new course and sends it to the pilot station. He then switches over and begins to look at the traffic in the system. He notices there are two ships that appear to be heading to the derelict ship.

Once Axel receives the new course he enters it in and maneuvers the ship onto it.

.. He notices there are two ships that appear to be heading to the derelict ship.

Can he tell anything about the ships from the sensor scans?

Double checking the sensors, Lucian informs the others, "We have two other ships headed towards the derelict ship."

Edit: I'm reading the sensors table on page 144, I guess I should have asked the distance from the two ships also.

Jagger follows Lucian as he makes his way to the bridge.

After Lucian's announcement regarding the other ships, Jagger locates the feeds from their ship's cameras for the approximate coordinates in the void the ships should be and pops up two separate windows on the bridge display to monitor them if and when they come into visual range.

"For your convenience, Admiral," Jagger says trying to sound casual but probably still sounding like a Navy crewman trying to impress his commander.

He nods as he begins to tense up. Focusing on the screens

"Do we know if they are hostile? Or even on an interception course? Just in case. Make sure the guns are ready. Once the fight starts I will be too focused on flying this bucket of bolts to be able to direct us"

With that he starts to increase the speed of the vessel, he didn't want to speed up only when the shooting starts. Best be prepared beforehand