Subset Games Forum

Chickengames wrote:The whole thing sounded pretty unbelievable. Kyrie had been listening to Duston's story with the others. They seemed to want to jump in immediately, or with a new ship at least. But there were some things that Kyrie still wasn't sure about. "Never mind the money! How do we even know you're telling the truth? You just crashed in an escape pod and said you were from the federation. How do we know you didn't make this all up or that you aren't just trying to get us to go back to the Feds just to be arrested? I need to see some proof before I agree to this."

"Kyrie does have a point on this' he said, "I mean we did commit a big criminal act and now they want to use us for a mission...can't blame us for at least wanting a slight bit of proof"

"Can you get in contact with the feds...maybe we could meet on a neutral station, if things go wrong, we run" Bren offered

The Engi slowly pulled a small SD card from his uniform pocket.
"The only file in here is an FTL Nav file. Go to the coordinates listed there. Then you'll see I'm telling the truth."

The others looked around nervously. Jake took the SD Card, and without another word walked to the piloting room. He slid the card into the appropriate slot, and opened the Nav file. Just to be sure, he did a standard virus scan before opening the file, even though virus scans on a ship this old would do nothing to any modern-day computer viruses.
Sure enough, the Nav Computer displayed a Jump beacon, just one jump away. Jake compared the beacon with the charting computer. According to the Star Chart of this sector, this beacon was marked a a defence point for Federation Military fleets. This is a Federation Military fleet...

He went down, walked straight up to the Engi, frowning angrily. "This..." He threw the tiny chip at the man sitting on the bed. "Is a beacon intended for a Federation military fleet. We go there, and we'll be arrested immediatly. Nice try." Jake started to walk away.

"If you're so skeptical, go in with me as a hostage." Duston said, eerily calm. "You get to the beacon, and signal any Federation cruisers that may arrive that you have taken me hostage."

Jake pondered this for a moment, scowling. "Everyone to their stations. We're jumping. Now. Duston, come with me to the airlock." As everyone filed out of the room, Jake escorted Duston to the airlock room, behind the engines. That way, if he somehow escaped, the people manning the engines (and above) would be able to stop him. Once Duston was in the airlock, Jake disabled the inner airlock controls, and used the outer airlock controls to shut the doors. When he went to the piloting room, he made sure that all doors were operational, so he could vent that airlock any time. Then, he activated the jump sequence. Was he really going to kill Duston? No. But if some Fed cruisers showed up, it would buy them enough time for a direct jump to the Exit beacon.

The jump completed. And there! On the scanner! Two Fed cruisers closing in! Jake was about to sound the alarm and get on the comms, when suddenly he realized that those were'nt two cruisers. They were two halves of a larger Fed ship. Split down the middle. Torn in half. The two huge chunks slowly floating away from each other. Further scans showed that there were no life signs. Uh oh! Here it comes! A Federation Dreadnought! (The largest class of ship. One in every major military fleet.) But no, it was too small to be a dreadnought. (Even though it was absolutely massive) Jake realized that is was only the front section of the massive ship. The entire back section, engines and all, was torn off, nowhere to be found. But there! To the left! A Fed scout, closing in. But this one was only the back section. The cockpit was gone... All the ships... simply pieces... ripped up and totally destroyed. No life signs at all.

Jake decided to take a wide-band scan. It took a few minutes, and all other sensors were disabled, but Jake had to see the extent of the damage. Hundreds of ships. Thousands maybe, torn to shreds like confetti. And across the entire beacon... all those thousands of ships... their ship had the only life signs. A massive Federation fleet, destroyed.

Jake stormed over to Duston in the airlock. For the first time in ages, he felt tears stream down his face. "This fleet had almost 1,000 vessels, according to my calculations. No survivors. How?"

Duston chuckled, in a sad and weary tone. A tone that said 'I know.'

'One Rebel Scout. One Rebel Scout took them all out, before jumping away - without a single hit. This is the power of black hole technology."

Eyesight Technology wrote:The Engi slowly pulled a small SD card from his uniform pocket.
"The only file in here is an FTL Nav file. Go to the coordinates listed there. Then you'll see I'm telling the truth."

The others looked around nervously. Jake took the SD Card, and without another word walked to the piloting room. He slid the card into the appropriate slot, and opened the Nav file. Just to be sure, he did a standard virus scan before opening the file, even though virus scans on a ship this old would do nothing to any modern-day computer viruses.
Sure enough, the Nav Computer displayed a Jump beacon, just one jump away. Jake compared the beacon with the charting computer. According to the Star Chart of this sector, this beacon was marked a a defence point for Federation Military fleets. This is a Federation Military fleet...

He went down, walked straight up to the Engi, frowning angrily. "This..." He threw the tiny chip at the man sitting on the bed. "Is a beacon intended for a Federation military fleet. We go there, and we'll be arrested immediatly. Nice try." Jake started to walk away.

"If you're so skeptical, go in with me as a hostage." Duston said, eerily calm. "You get to the beacon, and signal any Federation cruisers that may arrive that you have taken me hostage."

Jake pondered this for a moment, scowling. "Everyone to their stations. We're jumping. Now. Duston, come with me to the airlock." As everyone filed out of the room, Jake escorted Duston to the airlock room, behind the engines. That way, if he somehow escaped, the people manning the engines (and above) would be able to stop him. Once Duston was in the airlock, Jake disabled the inner airlock controls, and used the outer airlock controls to shut the doors. When he went to the piloting room, he made sure that all doors were operational, so he could vent that airlock any time. Then, he activated the jump sequence. Was he really going to kill Duston? No. But if some Fed cruisers showed up, it would buy them enough time for a direct jump to the Exit beacon.

The jump completed. And there! On the scanner! Two Fed cruisers closing in! Jake was about to sound the alarm and get on the comms, when suddenly he realized that those were'nt two cruisers. They were two halves of a larger Fed ship. Split down the middle. Torn in half. The two huge chunks slowly floating away from each other. Further scans showed that there were no life signs. Uh oh! Here it comes! A Federation Dreadnought! (The largest class of ship. One in every major military fleet.) But no, it was too small to be a dreadnought. (Even though it was absolutely massive) Jake realized that is was only the front section of the massive ship. The entire back section, engines and all, was torn off, nowhere to be found. But there! To the left! A Fed scout, closing in. But this one was only the back section. The cockpit was gone... All the ships... simply pieces... ripped up and totally destroyed. No life signs at all.

Jake decided to take a wide-band scan. It took a few minutes, and all other sensors were disabled, but Jake had to see the extent of the damage. Hundreds of ships. Thousands maybe, torn to shreds like confetti. And across the entire beacon... all those thousands of ships... their ship had the only life signs. A massive Federation fleet, destroyed.

Jake stormed over to Duston in the airlock. For the first time in ages, he felt tears stream down his face. "This fleet had almost 1,000 vessels, according to my calculations. No survivors. How?"

Duston chuckled, in a sad and weary tone. A tone that said 'I know.'

'One Rebel Scout. One Rebel Scout took them all out, before jumping away - without a single hit. This is the power of black hole technology."

Bren sighed seeing all this, but then noticed something and ran to the other air lock putting on an old air suit, "Guys Don't leave yet, I'm going to head out and salvage some of the scrap, I noticed a burst laser on one of the floating pieces and I think I could reach it" he called out, waiting for the ok to head out and try and retrieve it

(I know I know, sorta a cop out to get a decent weapon but I think now is a good place to salvage and maybe get a slight upgrade)

Lux's jaw dropped at the devastation.
Father! I hope you were not a part of that fleet! she thought to herself. She started to give out a small laugh "Yeah... you're probably on some other front... Tully did say he was far away from the Academy..."
She looked to Bren "Can you do me favour... when you go out salvaging, can you collect any dogtags you find..." her left eye was twitching in a creepy fashion "Just as a personal favour Bren. Those families... need... to know... that their fathers... and mothers... won't make it back..."
Please Dad, don't be a casualty. Please be elsewhere. Please have the Swallow be intact and not fighting such a weapon.

stylesrj wrote:Lux's jaw dropped at the devastation.
Father! I hope you were not a part of that fleet! she thought to herself. She started to give out a small laugh "Yeah... you're probably on some other front... Tully did say he was far away from the Academy..."
She looked to Bren "Can you do me favour... when you go out salvaging, can you collect any dogtags you find..." her left eye was twitching in a creepy fashion "Just as a personal favour Bren. Those families... need... to know... that their fathers... and mothers... won't make it back..."
Please Dad, don't be a casualty. Please be elsewhere. Please have the Swallow be intact and not fighting such a weapon.

"I''ll see what I can do" he said nodding his head, seeing how this was hurting her, he felt bad about this too but he didn't have the connection Lux did

BrenTenkage wrote: "I''ll see what I can do" he said nodding his head, seeing how this was hurting her, he felt bad about this too but he didn't have the connection Lux did

"Bren, you are go for E.V.A," (Extravehicular Activity. It's a fancy space term for "you can go outside now") Jake sighed, as the doors to the airlock opened and Bren's transponder disappeared from Internal Sensors.

When Bren was gone, Jake put his head in his hands, and began to cry. No... sob, actually. Almost a thousand ships. He did the math. But he was too afraid to look at the final number on his calculator - the estimated casualty number.

So many... He thought to himself.

"This is why we need you Jake. This is why the 'Feds,' as you call them, need you." Duston said as he walked in. Jake leapt to his feet, holding back the urge to solute, like they did to teachers in the academy. "Listen to me Jake. Right now, you and your motley crew of delinquents are the Federations last hope before total annihilation. Find your way to the Abandoned Sector. Find the Black Hole Induction technology. Destroy it." Duston tossed Jake another SD Card. "Your fate awaits you, young....... Captain Jake."

To Jakes awe, Dustons body stiffened up, and he gave Jake a solute. "Good Luck." He said.
"I don't understand, arn't you coming with-" Duston ran off, and crammed himself into the medbay airlock. On the far side of the ship from where Bren was. By the time Jake caught up to the Engi, he had locked himself into the airlock. "I must be with my fellow officers. The officers died for this cause. I will lay to rest with my people." He said, solemnly. He gave Jake another solute, before pulling the lever on the airlock and thrust out into the depths of space - floating lifeless among the debris of the Federation fleet. Jake collapsed to the floor, sobbing before the empty, open airlock.

1 Hour Later

Jake explained all that had happened to the rest of the crew, when Bren returned from EVA. They looked at the files on the second SD card, a small beacon 1 jump away from the Entry beacon in the next sector. The coordinates were labeled: 'Get a new ship here. Tell them Duston sent you, and give the code-word 'Collins Tully'. They will give you a state-of-the-art Federation ship.

Eyesight Technology wrote:

BrenTenkage wrote: "I''ll see what I can do" he said nodding his head, seeing how this was hurting her, he felt bad about this too but he didn't have the connection Lux did

"Bren, you are go for E.V.A," (Extravehicular Activity. It's a fancy space term for "you can go outside now") Jake sighed, as the doors to the airlock opened and Bren's transponder disappeared from Internal Sensors.

When Bren was gone, Jake put his head in his hands, and began to cry. No... sob, actually. Almost a thousand ships. He did the math. But he was too afraid to look at the final number on his calculator - the estimated casualty number.

So many... He thought to himself.

"This is why we need you Jake. This is why the 'Feds,' as you call them, need you." Duston said as he walked in. Jake leapt to his feet, holding back the urge to solute, like they did to teachers in the academy. "Listen to me Jake. Right now, you and your motley crew of delinquents are the Federations last hope before total annihilation. Find your way to the Abandoned Sector. Find the Black Hole Induction technology. Destroy it." Duston tossed Jake another SD Card. "Your fate awaits you, young....... Captain Jake."

To Jakes awe, Dustons body stiffened up, and he gave Jake a solute. "Good Luck." He said.
"I don't understand, arn't you coming with-" Duston ran off, and crammed himself into the medbay airlock. On the far side of the ship from where Bren was. By the time Jake caught up to the Engi, he had locked himself into the airlock. "I must be with my fellow officers. The officers died for this cause. I will lay to rest with my people." He said, solemnly. He gave Jake another solute, before pulling the lever on the airlock and thrust out into the depths of space - floating lifeless among the debris of the Federation fleet. Jake collapsed to the floor, sobbing before the empty, open airlock.

1 Hour Later

Jake explained all that had happened to the rest of the crew, when Bren returned from EVA. They looked at the files on the second SD card, a small beacon 1 jump away from the Entry beacon in the next sector. The coordinates were labeled: 'Get a new ship here. Tell them Duston sent you, and give the code-word 'Collins Tully'. They will give you a state-of-the-art Federation ship.

(my recording went well, so I'm gonna say I did well here LOL)

Bren's bounty was impressive, he had collected 7 different dog tags, around 60 scrap, a burst laser (Mark 1) 4 missiles, an auto repair drone, and an assortment of different rations

"This was the best I could get safely, first thing we buy, a scrap collector arm, much easier to collect scrap when you don't have to go out and do it yourself' he said leaning against the wall wiping his forhead

"So I saw Duston's body fly out...let me guess he wanted to die with his fellow federation crew men...I suppose I could respect that. " he said

'So i'm guessing we also are gonna do this mission. But we need more supplies, crewmen, even more ships, we might need more then one ship to do this job...so I have an idea...I happen to know the location and the code word to lock us into the FTL beacon to get there...its neutral ground, neither federation or rebellion, we could go there maybe see about hiring a second ship or at least get someone to help install this burst laser onto our ship." he explained

(My thoughts, we start a small armada, one ship might not be enough for this job, just throwing that out there)

There seemed to be little word from Lux except for a bunch of strange mutterings under her breath as she looked through the dogtags Bren brought back.
"I think we should look into more medical equipment" she suggested "This medbay can hardly get its job done as of such"

The sensors displayed several huge masses floating freely. Smaller pieces floated amount them. Kyrie had to look out the window to confirm it. The sensors were unfortunately correct. She gasped and her eyes went wide when she the destruction. Huge dreadnoughts slowly drifted by, and smaller ships surrounded them. Kyrie couldn't take her eyes off the scene. One of the larger ships had its name printed on the side. Devourer. Another read Edmund Fitzgerald. Still another: The Centauri. Some of the names she recognized from the academy. They had learned about these state of the art warships that had all the newest technologies. And yet here they are, all ripped apart. Any doubts she may have had were gone.

Bren came over the comms, asking to go out and salvage. Kyrie didn't hear him or notice him come back. For the first time since they had left the federation academy, she thought about her family: how they were all federation officers. Any one of them or all of them might have been in these ships. They could all be dead. Kyrie turned around and slid down the wall sitting holding her knees to her chest. She stared at the wall with the same wide-eyed stunned expression she had since looking out the window.

Eventually she got up with no idea how long it had been. Kyrie walked into the medbay where she was vaguely aware of Lux muttering something. She sat down on the floor and resumed staring. Kyrie suddenly felt exhausted, all the time spent running or fighting finally catching up. It had been a day? two days? a week? since she had slept. Curling up into a ball, she dozed off on the medbay floor.

Jake was still shocked at the suicide of Duston. But still, Jake was the captain. And he had to act like one. He wiped away the shocked look from his face, replacing it with a blank look. An empty look. The look of a killer. Jake considered all of the options submitted by the various crewmen. They gathered together, once again, in the medbay.

"Duston's final act was to tell us where we can get a state-of-the-art Fed ship. It's the first jump from the Entry beacon in the next sector. That's three jumps, with no Fed opposition. We'll just do an auto-jump sequence directly to there. I'm done with this stupid sector.

Once there, me and Lux will find the place we need to go, to get the new ship. We'll give the Feds the code-word Duston gave us, and they'll hook us up with a brand new ship. Or at least, that's what Duston's instructions said. When we get our new ship, we'll talk about upgrades. There is no logic in upgrading this ship without knowing what we'll get from the Feds 'state of the art' ship. We might want to ditch the Robin, we'll see. But I think Bren has a point - a small fleet of multiple ships may be a smart idea.

As far as hiring new people: remember, we're just kids. I doubt that anyone would want to be employed by a bunch of teenage thieves. So that pretty much rules out hiring anyone, other than people our age who are dumb enough to accept this crazy mission," Some others in the room chuckled. "Allright, let's move. According to the Jump calculations, we'll be there in an hour if we get started now."