Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: DAWGIE on 02 July 2009, 07:26:30 PM
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AND here is . . . TROUBLE WITH TETHYS.
INTRODUCTION
At 1500 hours , LOCAL TIME, WEAVER STATION's signals and detection duty techs were alerted to the "ripple effect" that is a normal occurence whenever a ship (or ships!) enters or exits the normal space time continuum to/from jump - space. Size of the "ripple effect" was
indicative of a single vessel, two (2) light minutes out and entering from above the plane of the ecliptic. Since there were no scheduled vessels, WEAVER STATION's duty manager immediately notified the manager, and sounded the GENERAL ALARM . . .
"WHAT SHIP? WHAT SHIP?" Queried the comm techs.
Almost instantly, the vessel's transponder signal was recieved, identifying the ship as the free trader TETHYS. Since the automatic transponder already was blatting upon breakout, this was quite normal given the time lag involved and did not indicate response from a real live human.
HOWEVER when the voice transmission from the non-sched was recieved it was anthing but routine.
" . . . . DAY . . . . MAYDAY . . . MAY . . . FR . . . . . .DER . . . THYS . . . TH . . . . . . . . TETHYS . . . MAYDAY . . . AY . . . . DE . . . GENCY . . . . TE . . . EM . . . . . . MAY . . . DAY . . . ."
After exchanging startled glances with the others, the duty com tech responded with,
"TETHYS, TETHYS, WHAT IS THE NATURE OF YOUR EMERGENCY? OVER."
The reply from TETHYS was of no help in determining the nature of the emergency.
" TETHYS. . . . FR . . . ADER . . . TETHYS . . . MAYDAY . . .DAY . . .MAY . . . . EMER . . . TETHYS . . . EM . . . DAY . . ."
Although the transmission was broken up and distorted by distance, the speaker appeared to be on the verge of a complete panic.
"TETHYS, TETHYS, STATE THE NATURE OF YOUR EMERGENCY. OVER"
The only response was a repition of the same garbled message.
"DAMN! pre recorded closed loop transmission, BOSS! there is no one sending from the TETHYS."
So, as a matter of precaution, the station manager decided to immediately abort all atmospheric / orbital operations and to close down the refinery operation, in spite of the loss of productivity and place the refinery on RED ONE status, ie, general alarm stations for all pesonnel until further notice.
"BOSS, TETHYS, is moving toward and on a collision course with BIG RED (the nickname of the red giant). She is coasting along in a trajectory that seems to indicate that she entered jump space at about 1-G". This was from the senior of the refinery's sensor ops who had replaced his junior at the sensor array console.
"DATA on the TETHYS, BOSS!" sang out a tech running a ship search. "400 metric ton, BEOWULF CLASS FREE TRADER , built 20 years ago for TRANS-SOLAR ENTERPRISES. Sold 3 years ago to a pair of free traders named WEST and GOLD. Port of registration is TERRA. Lightly armed at time of sale. Fitted with fuel scoops and inboard refinery equipment, standard power plant, thrusters, FTL unit and fuel tankage for her class at time of sale. Basic elecronics for her type at time of sale. No BOLO (be on the lookout) or SOS (shoot on sight) or other postings for her. minimum crew of 7 bods, can carry a small number of passengers in cabins, more in low berth, and fair amount of cargo. Streamlined for space to ground ops. No auxiliary craft at the time of sale".
"And GOLD and WEST payed for her in full at the time of sale, too, " noted the head of the refinery security division.
After consulting another computer station, the refinery's second in command announced,
"Tis possible to catch up with TETHYS, board her, find out what is wrong, and evacuate any crew or passengers if needful before she meets BIG RED. Not sure if a salvage is possible, hey, but who knows! once she is boarded, anything is possible!"
Visions of the shares of salvage monies to be award by the courts, even after the corp got its cut danced in the heads of one and all . . .
"HOKAY! let's do it! CHIEF, break out one of your cutters for a "rescue". I think we can arrange additional help for towing if needed from our own fleet if it is needed!"
THE RESCUE/SALVAGE MISSION
Delaying long enough to load necessary additional lifesupport, consumables, rescue/salvage supplies and equipment , a 5 bod Security armed response team, 1 medic, 1 scoopship pilot,
1 scoopship engineer, 1 power division engineer, 1 com tech, 2 maintenance hands and 2 deck hands, ENFORCER ONE launched and began the high-G stern chase of TETHYS.
A. ENFORCER ONE CREW; all REP-3 Security Division spacers. pilot, copilot /gunner, and cargomaster. all are wearing normal Security uniforms, with light body armor, personal comms, personal weapons, ammo, armored vac-suits w/8 hour air supply and personal thruster
attachments available from the cutter's equipment locker. Armament is the same as for Security response team.
B. SECURITY RESPONSE TEAM; team leader is a REP-4, other four members are REP-3s. Normal security uniforms, light body armor, personal comms, vision enhanement gear, personal weapons and ammo. Armored vac-suits w/8 hour air supply and personal thrusters are available for all.
1. Team leader is armed with a flechette pistol, a flechette SMG, restraints, crash axe and utility knife.
2. Other team members are armed as the team leader.
3. Medic, normal company uniform with medical insignia on her chest, back, and both arms. Backpack medi-kit, personal comms, a flechette pistol and utility knife. Standard issue vac-suit w/8 hours of air and personal thrusters. REP-2.
4. Scoopship pilot and engineer, normal company uniform, personal comms, flechette pistol, crash axe and utility knife. Standard issue vac-suit with 8 hour air supply and personal thrusters.. REP-3
5. Power plant engineer, normal company uniform, personal comms, flechette pistol, crash axe and utility knife. Tool kit. Standard issue vac-suit with 8 hour air suppy and personal thrusters. REP-2.
6. Com-tech, normal company uniform, personal comms, flechette pistol, crash axe and utility knife. Tool kit. Standard issue vac-suit vac-suit with 8 hour air supply and personal thrusters. REP-2.
7. Maintenance techs, normal company issue uniform, personal comms, flechette pistol, crash axe, and utility knife. Standard vac -suit w/8 hour air supply and personal thrusters. Tool kits. REP-3 and REP-4.
8. Deckhands, normal company issue uniform, personal comms, flechette pistol, crash axe, and utility knife. Standard vac suit w/8 hour air supply and personal thrusters. Tool kits. REP-3 and REP-4.
9. ENFORCER ONE. This is a standard InterstellarExploration and Exploitation Security Division patrol cutter. Armed with a pair of pulse lasers and a single rotary barrel HMG in a chin-turret. Fitted with a detention low berth, auto-doc, and rescue/salvage equipment. Currently has two 10-ton disposable fuel tanks fitted to the outer hull to extend her "legs", crammed with extras, and additional crew. One double size airlock on the port side, with collapsable pressurized transfer tunnel.
END PART ONE, ON THE EDGE; TROUBLE WITH TETHYS.
ON THE EDGE; TROUBLE WITH TETHYS, PT #2
RENDEZVOUS WITH TETHYS
ENFORCER ONE boosts from WEAVER STATION at 5-Gs, flip -flops at mid point and decelerates at 5-Gs, making an uneventful rendezvous with the still silent TETHYS.
All attempts at commo during the stern chase have failed, as have all atempts at commo after arrival alongside.
Sensor scans confirm the TETHYS power plant is running hot and normal, yet the ship is slowly tumbling end over end, out of control, in non powered flight.
Visual scans, as well as MK I human eyeball scans by vac-suited crew on ENFORCER ONE'S outer hull disclose no exterior hull damage.
Due to the end over end tumbling, it is impossible to pull alongside TETHYS and connect airlocks with the ENFORCER ONE'S extensible boarding tube. The boarding party will have to crossover wearing vac-suits fitted with individual EVA thruster packs and bring the tumbling
vessel under control before this is possible.
EXTRA VEHICULAR ACTIVITIES SPECIAL EQUIPMENTS
For scenario simplicity, all vac-suit EVA thrusters are rated for 12"burns", ie 12 turns max, of using fuel to speed up, slow down, change direction, etc.
Each vac-suit has an attached tether 24", with a D-ring snap on the end, that is deployed or retracted via a utility belt mounted spool.
All vac suits are hard torso with flexible limbs. Count as body armor. Each vac-suit comes equipped with tanked air and a rebreather good for 8 hours, limited water supply, emergency rations, limited bio waste storage, personal comms, radiation detectors, helmet light (range 12"
with 1" radius at the end), personal repair kit (ie, pressure patches), a small tool kit, vac-suit medi-kit, a useful utility knife, and a very handy crash-axe/cargo. Bootsoles, elbows,and knees
are magnetic to aide in 0-G ops. Once inside the TETHYS vac-suit comms are line of sight only!
IMPORTANT! Note that when vac-suits are removed only Security Division personnel are considered to have light body armor, everyone else is wearing cloth over skin!
Utility knife ( 12" long overall, with 8"blade) counts as a knife in close combat! fixed double edge blade with a section of saw teeth on one edge as well.
Crash-axe/cargo maul. This is a one handed tool (think of a futuristic looking tomahawk or camp hand axe) fitted with a very sharp, curved blade on the front side and a sturdy hammer head on its back side, axe is used to hack through things in an emergency, the hammer is used to
release cargo container dogs.
EVA grapple guns are carbine sized weapons that use compressed gas to launch a magnetic grapple attached a ether 48" long, that is in turn attached to a self powered spool. Requires two active turns for the spool to rewind the grapple and there after release or missed shot! can be used as a weapon at short range; RANGE=12", TARGET=1, IMPACT=3
Laser-cutters are man-portable, large, bulky, self-powered tools that will slice through anything known to man with ease. RANGE= 0" - 2", TARGET=1, IMPACT=0 and armor penetration 6!
BOARDING PARTY WEAPONS AND CLOSE COMBAT
All Security Division personnel have been trained in micro-G / 0-G ranged and close combat. use normal REP when shooting or fighting.
All other use REP with a -1 when shooting or fighting combat in micro-G or 0-G environment, except refinery spacer, deck and maintenance division personnel. It is possible these have acquired some expertise in micro-G or 0-G brawling during their travels (GM choice!)
Treat flechette pistols as normal machine pistol, but with TARGET-2, and IMPACT=2 .
Treat flechette SMG as normal SMG, but with IMPACT=3.
OR
Alternatively, flechette pistols could have a target rating of 0.5 " radius for single shots OR
1" radius for autofire bursts
Alternatively flechettes SMG could have a target rating of 0.5" radius for single shots, or use the shotgun radius for autofire bursts.
Treat all flechette shoooters as recoilless weapons in a 0-G or micro-G environents.
Flechette shooter have no capability of penetrating any starship hull, overhead, deck, or bulkhead!.
BODY ARMOR. Light body armor is available for all Security Division personnel and can be worn under a vac-suit.
VAC-SUIT, EVA, AND THRUSTER USE TEST
Test vs REP when using Vac-suits and EVA thrusters to move between ships. Spacers (flight crew), all Security, refinery deck and maintenance personnel test using 3D6 (they have been trained and have practical experience as well), keeping the best two dice, all others test using 2D6.
It is possible for more experienced members of the mission to attempt to jet across the gap between ships with a less experienced person strapped to them!. If this is done, reduce more experienced character's chance of success by a minus-1. Only the experienced character checks vs REP, but results effect both characters!.
PASS 2D6 = NO SWEAT! THE USER EXPERIENCES NO PROBLEMS AT ALL!
PASS 1D6 = TRY AGAIN! THE USER MISJUDGES SPEED AND DISTANCE, REBOUNDING FROM THE HULL IN 12" IN A RANDOM DIRECTION! NO VAC-SUIT OR EVA THRUSTER PROBLEMS!
PASS 0D6 = OH NOOOOO! THE USER BADLY MISJUDGES SPEED AND DISTANCE,
HEAVILY IMPACTS WITH THE HULL, AND REBOUNDS INTO SPACE 12" IN A RANDOM
DIRECTION. IMMEDIATELY ROLL 1D6 AND CONSULT TABLE BELOW!
FAILED VAC-SUIT, EVA AND THRUSTER TEST RESULTS
If there are two characters strapped together for the crossing, check them both seperately for results of the failure!
1= Vac-suit helmet or helmet visor smashed by impact!. User is dead, dead, dead !
2= Heavy impact with hull!. User is stunned and cannot test for recovery until next activation!
3= Vac-suit comm unit is smashed!. User cannot communicate with other boarders except by sign language, written message or helmet to helmet contact!
4= Vac-suit thruster controls are damaged by impact!. User zooms off into space at 12" per turn in a random direction and cannot turn off the thrusters!
5= Vac-suit is torn! ( tear is located at vac- suit; 1-2, front, 3-4 arm or leg, 5-6 back). User has 1D6+1 turns to apply a pressure patch before all air is vented into space through the tear!.
Note: cannot apply pressure patch to tear located on the back side of the vac-suit!. A buddy must do it for the user!
6= Hard landing!. User sprains or breaks a limb on impact with the hull!. Roll 1D6 to determine injury location 1-3 =foot, ankle or leg; 4-6 hand, wrist, or arm. Roll 1d6 again to determine type of injury recieved. 1= badly broken bone(s)! 2-5=minor sprain! 6=badly broken bone(s)!
BADLY BROKEN BONES; serious injury. User goes into shock, experiences terrible pain, cannot use broken limb at all, there is a chance every turn of activity that an unsplinted break may become compound fracture!. Cannot walk unassisted if the break is in a foot, ankle or leg!
ARRIVAL ON THE OUTER HULL OF THE TETHYS
All personnel and cargo airlocks are closed, but not locked by the TETHYS control room. It is possible to open the outer door and cycle through them!.
BUT, characters will note that there is a bright green flourescent circle painted around the all of outer hull airlock controls and inside this circle, on the door to the airlock controls, is a smear of
yellow grease. This is not normal and any member of the boarding party with EVA experience knows this!.
What does it mean, though?.
INSIDE THE TETHYS
The lighting is either completely off, dialed down very low, or flickering off and on in a dim fashion through out the ship. The emergency beacons over the inner airlock doors, airtight interior, iris valves , bulhead, deck and overhead hatches are rotating furiously, splashing op-sided yellow light about.
If anyone is so bold as to crack their visor or remove their helmet, TETHYS is reeking wtih the odors of death and decay through out!.
The inmmediate area outside the inner door is a spacer's bad dream come true, trashed out as far as the eye can see!.
SEARCHING THE TETHYS
GM will need to have prepared overhead view deckplans of the TETHYS in advance, scale
1 square or 1 hex equals 1", use commercially produced deck plans or deckplans available from the www, or the ever useful SPACE HULK or LEGIONS OF STEEL tiles.
The TETHYS interior is in a mess!. A compartment by compartment, passage-way by passage-way, hold by hold, utility duct by utility duct etc, Search will disclose; broken furniture and dishware, scattered clothing, shoes and boots, garbage, tools, kitchen and dining cutlery, spent cartridge casings, discarded magazines (both empty and fully loaded), broken or abandoned weapons, evidence of bullet impacts on overhead, bulkheads, and decking, evidence of fire and fire suppression, dried vomit, feces, blood and finally human corpses are all over the free trader.
Some compartments will have closed airtight doors and non airtight doors (score 1 on 1D6), others will be found gaping open (1D6 score 2-5), or smashed down (1D6 score 6) light weight interior doors, not airtight hatchways or iris valve are the ones that are smashed down.
Ship's daily log and communications log is accessible from the bridge (control room), engineering/lifesupport log is accesible from engineering comparment, crew, passenger, and cargo manifest from the bridge, captain's cabin, or the cargo-master's office/cum cabin, medical
log accessible from the ship's sick bay RAM dump from the computer room only.
Evidence of a real fight taking place in both engineering and the bridge areas, with some instrumentation junked out or damaged. There is a corpse in engineering and two corpses on the bridge.
Two very dead corpses in the free trader's sickbay, murdered in their beds, apparently. Scatterd, broken medicne containers, injector, bandages, medical instruments, machines and etc...
A badly wounded man and woman are in the low berths as well as a very battered and bruised individual. wearing retraints.
The free trader's strong room (where mail and other valubles are kept during transit) is sealed and locked tight. Nothing inside is missing.
Free trader's armory (located across from captain's cabin) has been ransacked, with spilled magazines and burst open boxes of cartridges, weapons maintenance tools and etc, tossed about, etc. The pistol rack and rifle rack are both empty (8 slots each), and the passenger
personal weapons and ammo lockers has been force open (literally shot open) and are empty.
The standard emergency vac-suits for the passengers are mostly in their cabins, the crew vac suits, air tanks, and EVA gear is in total disarray inside the EVA prep compartment. A very nasty looking corpse that has been hacked to bits by what appears to have been a crash-axe.
The crew and passenger cabins contain personal items, something of value on 1D6 score of a 1 (GM determine what this is.
END PART TWO, ON THE EDGE; TROUBLE WITH TETHYS.