Iron Stars - reuben

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02:14

Reuben wakes up to a message from Greystar command on his compad terminal. It has been some time since the government has bothered to contact him for much of anything. Not much use for smugglers when the group you're working for goes legitimate they told him. but they would "keep his resume on file" To his surprise, it seems that they were actually earnest. The message line is Eyes only. Destroy after reading.

02:15

Operative, 

Report to the Operations Room as soon as possible. A matter has come to our planners that requires your unique expertise

Reuben swipes the delete function and tosses the compad aside. Getting up, he pours himself a cup of coffee and shuffles to the door, savouring the first sip. Having slept in his clothes and never bothering with his hair, he wanders out into the main corridor and heads toward Operations.

Operations is naturally a dark room, with the only light coming from the holotable, bathing the room in a soft ambient blue. Panels on the wall show the spread of various Greystar patrols- most of them, including the venerable Veles- the Slyth titan Greystar calls its flagship are deployed around Danae- and as you admire the images you feel a gentle hand on your shoulder A naval officer is standing there with a sheaf of papers under his arm. "Reuben Quen? I'm a naval attache here in operations and we have something sensitive we'd like to get your opinion on- and participation if you think this is something you can do"

"That's me." Reuben takes a swig of coffee. "A bit early for complex cerebrations -- anything beyond staring at pretty holoships really -- but let's see what we can rustle up." He nods toward the papers, taking mental note of the stack size, what it means. "Those all for me, or do I get the attache-narrated edition?"

“You do” he smiles. “We are going to erase the nav data in one of the free merchants we use for trading normally. The Blue Rain Freeguild has been a thorn in our sides ever since we first encountered them at Dura-In. Their defense fleet and Arx platform headquarters itself are tough nuts to crack and we just can’t spare the ships to throw against it”

22:46

“We do however have a job fit for a smuggler like yourself. You’re going to pose as just that. A smuggler. Among the contraband cargo you’ll try to sell them there will be a few crates of hidden teleport beacons. Once on the station, and them being taken inside, those beacons will allow us to sent combat drones over to the enemy vessel

22:46

These drones will be commanded by bot wranglers aboard stealth shuttles and will utterly tear the place to pieces so when you hear gunfire that’s your time to get out “

A small smirk grows on Reuben's face as he listens to the plan. An old thrill. This is the kind of thing he learned to fly for, a space rat slipping unnoticed among cats. The fire was in him, his raison d'être fed after months of bland work that failed to engage his full suite of talents. At last. "Just me, or a pickup crew?"

“Two pilots since someone’s going to need to man the controls when during spike space , you as the captain, and two laborers to pose as your loadmasters”

“We don’t need to risk more people than necessary for the infiltration , so the drone controllers will be on other ships.

He scratches his cheek, drains his coffee, thinking it over. "It's a good plan, assuming they're interested in the goods. What is it I'm selling?"

“They’re going to be interested in the fine liquor and building materials your hold will be packed with to help hide the real cargo”

Reuben nods. "I expect they will. Well, I'm ready to make way within the hour. Anything else I should know?"

“That’s all. The less you know about the technical side of it the better. You’ve got free reign to get onto the station and get them to buy in. We won’t contact you once you set off, but as soon as we get the message from you that the teleport crate was taken aboard , Get out of there as fast as you can. Shoot your way out if you have to

"That said, I have one more person i want you to meet before we shove off. Allow me to introduce @Svenka [Tig/M’Ranni] . It's her drones we're going to be expending on this, and she's going to be our shot caller for the drone control teams shadowing you into the system. When this goes off, its her and her team that are going to be the cavalry, and your cover to escape"

Svenka is dressed in a Greystar-issued set of coveralls, holding a datapad connected to a storage unit. She looks up from her work as her name gets mentioned. She is tall, lanky, slightly grey-skinned with the pointed ears and features of a Taros. “Like little chunks of soon-to-be scrap into the metal-blender!” She smiles, exuding a bit of confidence as she offers her hand.

Reuben wipes his hand on his shirt before clasping Svenka's, empty coffee cup held in the other. "Generous of you. I'm glad you're not too put out at the potential loss of assets -- I envy your attitude." He smiles, lets out a breath in self-admonishment. "Glad to have you at my back. I'll do my best to get you through the door."

"If we're prepared then" the naval attaché begins "I believe its time to set out. The umbra shuttles and their programming teams are standing by. If we do this, we open up the entire northern border of the Confederation, and we can bring even more planets into the fold"

Svenka nods “Better than sending people in. Good test of closer to mass combat with drones. Ready to go!”

Four umbra shuttles, and the Free merchant full of trade goods the Confederacy has determined are sacrificial are loaded up, and prepared to go. Briefings with the smaller programming teams have just concluded and Svenka's drones are finishing loading aboard the shuttles. A few hours later, the five-strong fleet of ships sets out, Reuben taking command of the Trade 2- though all marks of Greystar allegiance have been scrubbed to better sell the illusion of Reuben being an Itinerant free trader.

20:28

(I dont know if any of Svenka's ships have stealth fittings or not, but your program is also beast, if you wanted the wings or something to come as well, we can do so boss)

(Wings is good - I don’t have anything else yet.)

(It would be wings or just J- chillin on one of the stealth shuttles)

21:10

(wasn't sure what you wanted to risk)

(Stealth Shuttle then - wings is not stealthy!)

(and we have 3 days of downtime on the flight from Acastus to Espinoza, where we will refuel for the second half of the journey)

(Svenka will fiddle with drones)

(Reuben can let us know what he's up to for the 3 days, but we'll move the scene on as well)

18:41

Espinoza is a tropical world with a small Greystar colony, and after taking on fuel here- along with performing some final checks on the cargo and teleport anchors- the green light is given for mission begin. Another 2 day spike jump to Dura-In ends with the 5 strong ship formation appearing at the edge of Dura-In space, veiled in a thin nebula cloud. No system patrol craft have been spotted yet, but there are many of them, and that is likely to change soon. the umbra shuttles begin to scatter, engaging their stealth and emissions dampening systems to better hide their presence here

(So the station gets a -5 to detect the Umbra shuttles and they get a +3 to hide based on hull size. Against the other ships they get the +4 from fittings and +3 from size. Before including any skill/attribute modifiers)

(Yep, just waiting for everyone to catch up and make final preparations before I do anything else. Distance ring wise we're nowhere close to its detection range either)

Svenka works the controls, eying distances and making adjustments as needed to ensure their stealthy approach. Her personal drones have undergone their final checks and the small army of her older, expendable drones is ready to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. She thinks about how silly it is to think about them like living things and chuckles to herself. “On approach, careful, keep to the blank spots, maintain distance and silence from here on out. Good luck everyone.”

(During downtime Reuben spends time getting to know the ship so he seems familiar with it -- getting in character)

05:35

"Affirmative. See you on the other side." Reuben reviews the ship's manifest once more as the umbra shuttles peel off and prepares to hail the station when in range.

The free merchant moves past Dura In 5, the furthest planet and as the merchant clears the far moon of the planet , a system patrol ship emerges from behind it. It is a patrol boat, a very small vessel but one designed for interception. A small light chimes on the control panel at the comm station

(Does the Trade 2's transponder give an associated name? What's it down as in the logs?)

(They scrubbed any identifying greystar information, so to them, the ship will appear as whatever name you say it is, since the Freeguild wouldnt have information on that anyway)

14:39

(the actual ship stats are pinned in the channel though)

Reuben runs a hand through his hair, takes a breath, sniffs. Ok. He opens com. "Hi there, this is captain Ahlberg of the merchanter Gosling. At the end of our route with a bit of cargo left and thought we'd push out a little farther -- looking to see if we can't trade it and refuel before we turn around."

Gosling we see you coming in from the system south. Lots of civilization out that way, not all of its friendly to us. What was your port before this one?

"Last port Espinoza, Acastus before that, but they weren't interested in my cargo." Reuben lets the sentence hang, waiting to see if the officer picks up his meaning.

Coming from Greystar space? We will need to check the ship then before we let you close to the station. A quick exterior scan should do

22:27

(Program/int)

(Rolled a 6. Seems like Greystar is the only place I could have been approaching from the south, no?)

(They're just doing their due diligence, you didn't do anything wrong )

One of the programmers from the nearby stealthed shuttles must be helping. The scan is redirected and passed. Alright Gosling. Proceed to Dura-In 3 and wait for the system runner there. They will guide you into port. Everything looks good

Reuben smiles. "Confirmed, thank you kindly." He lets go the com button and shares a look with the pilots, lifts his eyebrows. "In we go."

The trip into Dura-In 3 has your flanked by the Umbra Shuttles, constantly keeping formation and checking, re-checking, and checking yet a third time their various controls and drone operation programs. Once the operation begins there is no pulling back from it. At Dura-In 3, another patrol boat, and this time a corvette accompanying it fall into an escort formation around you, keeping you from doing anything but moving forward. The docking bay at the Arx Class super-station the Blue Rain Freeguild call home is proud against the system sun, and to your surprise, the Bruxcellus-Class battlecruiser they're working to repair looks to be nearly completed. Thousands of workers scramble up and down the hull- the legion's worth of welding torches look like a starfield in miniature against armor plating. A docking bay ahead begins flashing its signal lights, and the shadow of the platform falls over you as the lip of its dorsal armor blocks out the sun. You'll only have a few moments to make any final preparations before the inspection team comes aboard

As the ship enters the docking bay, the crew seems to be snapping into preparations on their own. (anything you need to do before we kick this off then Svenka?)

(All good here - ready to bring drones to bear! Am I using my new ones or the legacy models?)

(The legacy ones from the Veles. I think we were dumping the entire contents into this since we have a space station and battle cruiser to take apart )

As the ship enters the docking bay, Freeguild marines, five of them, along with a member of their quartermaster corp come aboard, and begin looking around. Notice is passed on the Umbra shuttles that the plan is moments away from being executed, and the teleport pads undergo as much of their warm up process as possible without giving off emissions. There are still system patrols, and they'll undoubtedly have a better chance at finding the hidden ships once their computer system turn on to coordinate the drone assault.

Svenka is on comms, looking at the planned deployment and the stats for her army of drones, a number armed with shear rifles, flop rifles and MGs. A number of demo drones on standby in case things go south. She has 4 of her MG walker drones ready and connected. “Ready all teams.” She clicks off her comms “Die well.”

Its not clear what messages pass between Reuben, and whatever internal security measures are aboard the station, but whatever happens, it seems like the first part of the plan is proceeding. The crates are offloaded from the ship, and one by one, the four teleport beacons go live, all in the main hangar. In time, they'll be taken deeper into the station, but the longer we wait, the more likely it is someone will discover the false bottoms

“Ready for go. Standby pending move of cargo. We want to be inside before we start. At least one beacon.” Svenka stands, razor-focused on her readout. Drones on standby, a small army of controllers ready to go on a word.

(I've rolled this out in the background since we've had no word from the other player who was on this mission with you. I suppose we'll just have to put the broken ends of this together Svenka) You're not sure what words pass inside between Reuben and the inspections officer. The talks must have been long, or the inspection of the goods must have been thorough. Whatever the reason, you can see the locator tags on the crates are beginning to move through the station-carried either by hand, or by a trolley. There is a signature, ghosting nearby of a warship trying to scan the nebula where all of you are hidden, but it moves on, not getting a whiff of any of your vessels. From the hangar- Greystar Trade 2 begins emerging, hold emptier, and it barely clears the docking bay when the locators finally stop moving. The teleport beacons go live- as their pre-arranged timer runs out

Svenka sits at the ready, direct connection to the drones live as they teleport over. The resulting transference is jarring, but she had practiced this and was ready. “We are live - quick, methodical attacks. More can be brought in as long as we have those beacons. GO!”

)what’s the first wave of drones going on)

(As in types? - Heavy for suppression fire and a number of flop-equipped to try to minimize loss of life with the option to bring in full shear-rifle squads if we are up against armour.

The first wave of Crazy Ivan's reclaimed from the veles (to be replaced with the first gen of Nezhits) , teleports over to the freeguild station, and the operators go live as the heavy machine guns begin tearing everything in the hangar apart.

19:35

Another wave teleports in behind them, replacing a few that have been shot down by freeguild marines, setting landed shuttles and lighters aflame, and destroying ground machinery

Svenka watches, detached from the sheer violence she is perpetrating on the station, swallowing her resolve and directly controlling her squad of drones.

A bomber drone group comes online, shredding a fighter trying to take off from the hangar and causing a compartment breach. Svenka ‘s group comes online somewhere in the connecting booms between the station and the battle cruiser

“Pushing forward to take the battle cruiser.” Svenka wordlessly controls her drones into position, firing carefully and selectively. Looking forward to the indefinite operation of the new line, knowing more can be brought online as needed, but conscious of sacrificing her troops.

A squad of techs tries to hold the armored hatch of the battlecruiser, buying time for those aboard to try to start its massive pre-tech engines.

17:49

The vessel and the gangway leading down to it shakes as the first attempted firing is not done correctly.

Svenka pushes the assault, queuing up another squad of the shear-rifle drones at the teleport point - pressing a full assault on the doors with 4 HMGs - the additional shear-equipped drones moving up using their expert systems and preparing to be taken over when the way is clear and the HMG drones are on the Battlecruiser.

(i dont think there's any reasonable resistance they could mount) A sensor ping shows two of the Freeguild escorts ghosting in the nebula, coming close to the shuttles they might only have a vague idea are there.

20:41

"Not sure how you're planning to handle those. if they find us this fight is going to be over real fast"

Svenka lets the other operators push in, getting her drones to a safe spot, laying down suppressing fire and keeping an eye on the approaching ships to actively hide the small fleet.

(Program/int)

(13)

(8, the floatilla remains undetected for now)

Svenka presses the attack, making a measured push to take the battlecruiser

The bridge, reactor, weapon decks, and engineering sections of the ship have locked down when news of the attack began, a new squad of drones is passed over to you in the hopes your expertise can break the hold on at least one of them

Svenka elects to try to take the reactor, the connection instantaneous to the new drones

(i thought we were getting rid of all the old hundreds of drones from the veles for this?)

(Yes... did I say something wrong?)

(i thought new meant like the nezhits for some reason, i tripped over myself)

17:15

Two bombers, a shear drone, and two crazy ivans come on as the old ones are passed off to other handlers. Ahea,d a small squad of marines is trying to hold the thick bulkhead, combat rifles primed

(Oh, ok - yeah, I don’t think i have any of those built - would be cool to have them in action, but this is a good goodbye to the old ones)

17:17

Svenka pushes the Ivans to suppress the marines, while the shear rifle-equipped one takes focused shots on any that stray out of cover, the bombers on standby until a way is cleared

The suppression is quick. An ivan is lost, but the remainder stand victorious over a corridor cleansed of organic life. THe bulkhead doors remain closed, and one of the techs loads 5 more bombers onto the teleport pads for whatever happens once the doors are breached

Svenka positions the bomb drones to take out the door. Ensuring adequate space between the remaining shear drone and the blast.

As one, the five of them surge down the corridor, and there is a mighty explosion as the door is breached- and the defenders behind it are scattered. THose that arent already red smears on the deck, that is. Reactor core ahead, destroying it will level the cruiser, and the station- once and for all.

((Option to disable?))

(dont really want either of these things falling into anyones hands)

(Is there a way out of this that doesnt involve mass-murder - AOK with not getting the facilities - can I give them time to evacuate or is that a really bad idea?)

(all you're going to do is ensure more ships and people are out there preying on Greystar shipping and anywhere you're weak)

Svenka arrays the bombers around the heart of the battle cruiser, pauses. “Patch me through to their command. Piggy back on one of the expert systems.”

There is no link to any sort of command section.

(Not even a chance for an angry speech and then blowing them up?)

03:16

Svenka blows them up

(we didnt take the command section, so that assault is not done, no PC to lead it)

The signal from the hundreds of drones aboard the battlecruiser and platform ends at once. From this position hundreds of kilometers away, there is nothing more than a bright flash of light, signaling the battle's end as the reactor aboard the battlecruiser goes supercritical, and explodes. There will no doubt be a debris field, and possibly some survivors, but the threat that the Blue Rain Freeguild has posed to Greystar's northern border is gone for good, along with the old model drones that are soon to be replaced. (6xp, 10000 credits, and one unit of pretech salvage)

03:34

The attending fleet would have no doubt seen the same thing, scattering into the void toward other neutral ports now that their main base has bene destoryed, though several lighter docked craft have gone up and added to the explosion

(and we can continue this in your thread. Reuben has been removed for inactivity)