Arrived Marastan- Glisten 250-1105 Imperial September 7, 5628 Earth Date
Marastan is a rich, agricultural world with improving living conditions due to a bustling agro-economy.
- As an agricultural world, this world is a near-ideal environment for producing quality foodstuffs of plant, animal, and other forms. Quality foodstuffs are a major export commodity for this world.
- This world is rich with high-grade living conditions, a good climate, and a non-harmful environment. Immigration registration for this world is always in high demand.
- This is a "Puzzle" world designated as an Amber Zone. Caution is advised since the world has an environment, laws, customs, life forms, or other conditions that are not well understood and might be a danger to a visitor.
- This is a "Reserve" world with restricted access, either to protect the indigenous life forms, to protect available resources, or other reasons.
- It is a member of the Third Imperium in the Glisten Subsector of Spinward Marches Sector in the Domain of Deneb.
- This world contains an Imperial Scout Base, capable of handling IISS starships and personnel.
- Some of these are now extinct in their home environment but survive on Marastan in carefully segregated reserves.
- This Imperial collection, available only for research by accredited scholars, is one of the largest in the Imperium.
- Although the Emperor has never visited the collection, it is reported that action holographs of it are used for decoration and entertainment at the Summer Palace on Umgadin (Core 2320)
2231 Marastan (Imperial)
Starport: Class II.
Diameter: 7,846 miles (12,600 km).
Atmosphere: Dense oxygen-nitrogen.
Hydrographics: 80%.
Climate: Cold.
Population: 92 million.
Government: Multiple societies.
Control Level: 1.
Tech Level: 6.
World Trade Number: 3.5.
Starport
| D | Poor: No Construction, Minor Repair, Unrefined fuel | |
| Size | 8 | Large (12,800 km) |
| Atmosphere | 6 | Standard |
| Hydrographics | 8 | Wet World 80% |
| Population | 7 | Moderate (90 million) |
| Government | 7 | Balkanization |
| Law | 2 | Low Law (no energy weapons) |
| Tech Level | 5 | Industrial (mass production) |
Once the ship exits jump, the marines and scouts prepare to go back to their respective ships. Basic tactics, scouts, quiet, no shooting, subterfuge, recon. Marines, they are stealthy, but a bit too straightforward in shoot first, ask questions later. They got lured out and then picked off.
While the scouts and marines have departed, something seems to be off. Unloading has begun, but reloading seems to be at a stop. One of the cargo hands comments, “ The containers are loaded in a certain order so that, the ones that get off loaded next, are at the top of the stack. We are waiting on one of our subcontractors to show up with some containers. They are late and we can’t really proceed until they show up. Well, we could, but, it would be a mess when it comes time to offload at the next stop. The purser and captain are trying to figure something out.”
Hamilton Asks, “anything I can do to help?”
“All hands, briefing in the auditorium in 10 minutes. Cargo hands and Mr. Creek remain at your posts.”
“I think we are about to find out what you can do to help…”
The captain addressed the assembled crew. “Good, morning afternoon ladies and gentlemen. As you probably know, we were supposed to take on cargo from one of the other ships of the line. She was supposed to meet us several hours ago. Long story short, her wreckage has been spotted roughly 6 hours away. The scouts are sending a cutter to board her and asses what happened. We are going to meet them there and see what we can do with the ship. And by we I mean a few of you. Anna, I know you’re keen to move up to unlimited master but I need you to lead the salvage team. I recall you once served as first mate on the Celine Ventoux.”
“Yes, I was first mate for 8 months under Captain Fisher.”
“As I was saying, Anna, you will lead the team. I am asking the Doc, Mr Tsu, Mr Leeds, Mr Chew and Mr Mustafa to join you. Doc, its obvious why I picked you. Mr Tsu, and Mr Lees, you two will asses the drives and power plant. Mr Chew, see what you can do with the computer. Mr Mustafa, your expertise in hazmat and damage control will also be valuable.
Mr Glick and I are heading to the planet surface to make arrangements for the Celine’s cargo and disposition of the ship. Mr Creek, you will be in command here with Claudia Kniver as your first officer. Any questions?”
Hamilton, “Do we know anything about the condition of the ship or the crew, sir? other than the wreckage I mean, sir.”
“No, I’m sorry Mr. Leeds. That is why the scouts are going in first”
Tsu says to you later, “Bummer. Anna is bucking for first mate. Hell, she qualifies for an unlimited mate’s license but she doesn’t have enough time in. She should have gotten the temporary captain. In fact, the first mate should be the one leading our team. But considering Anna has been on that ship before she is better qualified to take it over. And she has a limited Master’s license so she can captain a ship under 1,000 tons. "
“so we’re in good hands then.”
“now all we have to do is get that boat moving.”
“Yes. But she’s probably unhappy that she is stuck in a spot 2 levels below her skill set. But yes, she is a hell of a pilot. Mr Mustafa is a ship’s boat pilot as well so he is our back up pilot.”
As you head off the trip takes almost the full six hours. There is a cutter just coming along side of it. It is a 200 ton far trader. The starboard engine section is gone.
Blown out? or does it look like it was attacked?
oh most certainly blown out.
“oh hey Hamster. This is something we should have asked about before you got picked. Um, how are you with zero g environment?”
‘uhhhh….what?’
“OOPS. OK, important safety tip, if you feel like barfing, stick your mouth over the nozzle to your left. The one on the right is for water, remember?”
“Yeah, its gonna suck if you puke no matter what. So, my advice is, don’t.”
“Docking in 10 minutes boys. Well then, Mr. Leeds, the sooner you and Mr. Tsu get the power plant up and the gravity on, the better for you.”
‘uh…i’m nervous.’
“Don’t be. Or you’ll puke. And you don’t want to puke in a vacc suit.”
The scout ship is docked on the port side. you are cleared to dock on what’s left of the starboard side
Scout ship moving in to dock.
The scouts meet your team at the air lock,
The scouts will help seal the hull breach. But they have to wait for Planetary Customs and Imperial Ministry of Commerce to inspect the ship first. Accident investigation. Then, the scouts will help seal the hull breach. After that, the PC and MOC teams will look around for more clues once the hull is pressurized.
Once all the pictures and samples are taken, Hamilton can start working on the power plant. They will also observe and help a bit. As they want to know why it went off line. Turns out, point of origin was an explosion in one of the shipping containers in the cargo hold.
This ship can hold 18 cargo containers plus pods and pallets. Four of the containers are missing.
It takes most of a day to seal the hole. Anna says, “Well, I have bad news and worse news. A tow ship is on the way. Now that you have the power up, we’ve checked the electronic manifest and we are missing 4 containers. One of them seems to have had a bomb in it. Which ruptured the hull and the ensuing decompression sucked them out of the ship or destroyed them. It wasn’t placed properly otherwise the whole ship would have been destroyed. Probably an amateur from what the investigation says in the preliminary findings. So, we need to get this ship to ground and have the remaining cargo inspected and the ship repaired. Though, we will have to hire crew for it or maybe transfer crew to it for now. Arrangements are being made for repair and crew. As well as, pick up of the remaining cargo. But it gets better. The part of this cargo was a secure shipment. There was a security team on board. They were killed with everyone else it seems. We did find 4 bodies. Two crew and two of the security team. Died of exposure to vacuum.”
Hamilton exclaims, "DAMN! Any idea what the secure shipment might have been? or who it’s going to?"
“Um, yeah. Remember when I said there was bad news and worse news? That was the bad news. This is the worse news. If you read the planet briefing, you’ll notice that this is an amber zone and that the government is balkanized. There is no uniform planetary government. It is divided into countries. The largest country is Rendova. It is part of a coalition with Marstal, Asiland and a couple of other countries. They have a kind of economic union. Well, its election season for Rendova. The secure cargo was electronic voting machines. It has been a biter election season and there was so much distrust, they imported the voting machine tech from off world. There are already riots breaking out and no one knows about this mishap yet. And, we have to land on this planet. The Captain and Glick are already on planet dealing with this. Insurance will cover it but reputation to the company, well, that’s going to be sticky.”
"Oh man we are so screwed,"
“YUP! I’m waiting for the tow to arrive and to hear from the captain. And, hello? Sensors picked up a ship heading our way. Yay!”
Meanwhile…
X0: Engineering diagnostic report – MULTIPLE SYSTEMS OFF LINE.
X1: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: POWER SYSTEMS
STATUS: ONLINE
X2: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: POWER SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: BATTERIES
STATUS: ONLINE
X3: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: POWER SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: FUSION POWER PLANT
STATUS: ONLINE
X4: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: POWER SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: HULL RADIATORS
STATUS: ONLINE
X5: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: POWER SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: POWER DISTRIBUTION NET
STATUS: OFF LINE FAULT IN NODE 23-35
X6: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: FUEL SYSTEMS
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING FAULT IN STARBOARD FEED
X7: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: FUEL SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: FUEL SCOOPS
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING STARBOARD SYSTEM OFFLINE
X8: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: FUEL SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: FUEL PURIFICATION PLANT
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING STARBOARD SYSTEM OFFLINE
X9: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: FUEL SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: FUEL PUMPS
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING STARBOARD SYSTEM OFFLINE
X10: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: FUEL SYSTEMS
SUB SYSTEM: FUEL TANKS
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING STARBOARD TANK 7.9.11 LEAKING
X11: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MANEUVER DRIVE
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING NO RESPONSE STARBOARD DRIVE UNIT
X12: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MANEUVER DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: THRUSTER PLATES
STATUS: ONLINE NO RESPONSE STARBOARD DRIVE UNIT
X13: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MANEUVER DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: THRUSTER CONTROL
STATUS: ONLINE NO RESPONSE STARBOARD DRIVE UNIT
X14: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MANEUVER DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: ORIENTATION CONTROL
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING NO RESPONSE STARBOARD DRIVE UNIT
X15: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MANEUVER DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: ORIENTATION CONTROL – AUXILIARY THRUSTERS
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING NO RESPONSE STARBOARD DRIVE UNIT
X16: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MANEUVER DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: ORIENTATION CONTROL – ATTITUDE CONTROL
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING NO RESPONSE STARBOARD DRIVE UNIT
X17: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MANEUVER DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: ORIENTATION CONTROL - GYROSCOPE
STATUS: ONLINE WARNING NO RESPONSE STARBOARD DRIVE UNIT
X18: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: JUMP DRIVE
STATUS: OFFLINE
X19: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: JUMP DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: HIGH-YIELD FUSION POWER PLANT
STATUS: OFFLINE
X20: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: JUMP DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: HULL RADIATORS
STATUS: OFFLINE
X21: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: JUMP DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: ENERGY SINK ARRAY
STATUS: OFFLINE
X22: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: JUMP DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: JUMP GOVERNOR
STATUS: ONLINE
X23: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: JUMP DRIVE
SUB SYSTEM: HULL GRID
STATUS: OFFLINE DAMAGE TO STARBOARD HULL SECTIONS D5-9
Z4: COMPENSATING FOR UNBALANCED LOAD
(Part of the system is not performing properly and the remainder
is diverting some of its performance to compensate. Could be due
to bad weight distribution.)
Z5: CONTROL PROTOCOLS INVALID
(When a control signal is sent from the main computer to the local
CPU it is replying that the command sequence is invalid – and so
wont do anything. Bridge controls are routed through the main
computer. This situation can be caused by a problem with the
control wiring, but is more likely to be caused by a software
glitch at either end.)
Z6: DAMAGED FUEL BAFFLES
(The fuel manifold is partitioned into a number of fuel tanks.
This stops the fuel sloshing about when maneuvering, prevents
refined and unrefined fuel contaminating each other, reduces the
amount of fuel lost in a tank rupture, etc. These partitions are
called fuel baffles and some, or all, have been damaged.)
Z7: DAMAGED ROTOR
(The rotor part of the fuel pump has been damaged. Either it has
lost some blades, or come off its bearings, etc.)
Z8: DAMAGED THRUSTER VENTS
(The auxiliary thrusters, which are used for station keeping, work
by venting a miniscule amount of fuel into open space. At the
moment they don’t work. The nozzles have been bent/destroyed,
etc.)
Z9: ERRATIC POWER SUPPLY
(The flow of power is not coming smoothly, sometimes surging,
sometimes fading out. This is BAD NEWS for jump drives!)
Z10: EXCESSIVE IMPURITIES DETECTED
(Traces of fuel have been detected in the gunk tank – in other
words, whatever you are trying to use as fuel is not going to
work.)
Z11: FRACTURE IN CRYSTAL(S)
(The energy needed for a Jump Drive is banked up in the jump
capacitors or “energy sink”. This energy sink is made of Zuchai
crystals. Unfortunately they are cracked. This means that when
charged they are as unstable as nitro-glycerine – and will either
release their energy erratically and/or explode very violently.
If the energy sink currently has a full charge then remaining
aboard could be hazardous to your health!)
Z12: FRACTURED MOUNT
(The thruster plate mountings have been damaged. If you try to
use them the damage will get worse and eventually the plates could
sheer off.)
Z13: FUEL LEAK
(Somewhere there is a hole in the fuel manifold, and you are
loosing fuel through it. The loss should be minimalised by the
fuel baffles but there could be secondary problems of fire, etc,
if the leak is into an atmosphere compartment.)
Z14: FUEL LINE RUPTURE
(The auxiliary thrusters, which are used for station keeping, work
by venting a miniscule amount of fuel into open space. At the
moment they don’t work. The fuel line supplying them has been
damaged.)
Z15: INSUFFICIENT CHARGE FOR JUMP DRIVE
(For some reason there is not enough energy to create a jump
field.)
Z16: INSUFFICIENT CHARGE FOR POWER PLANT
(For some reason there is not enough energy to initiate fusion.)
Z17: LOSS OF CONTROL
(The local CPU has failed. Either it has been damaged or the link
to the main computer has become severed.)
Z18: LOSS OF SPEED
(The ship’s main orientation gyroscope is not revolving fast
enough to be effective. You’ll have to rely on auxiliary
thrusters to orientate the ship until the problem has been fixed.)
Z20: MISALIGNED AXIS
(The ship’s main orientation gyroscope is not aligned as it
should, it may be tumbling. This makes steering the ship
difficult and erratic. You’ll have to rely on auxiliary
thrusters to orientate the ship until the problem has been
fixed.)
Z21: MISSING GRID ELEMENTS
(Part of the jump grid is missing. It may be possible to
compensate and still create a jump field though at greater risk.
If it is possible, ask yourself “do I feel lucky?”)
Z22: MISSING RADIATORS
(The heat produced by the fusion reaction is removed to the
radiators and then into space. Some of these radiators are
non-functional, and thus the reaction chamber may overheat.)
Z23: PARTIAL FAILURE OF FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM
(The fuel is not being properly injected into the reaction
chamber. This means that either too much fuel is going in –
causing overheat, or too little – causing energy loss.)
Z24: PLATES OUT OF ALIGNMENT
(The thruster plates are not aligned as they should and cannot
operate at peek efficiency. What did you hit them with?)
Z25: POSSIBLE SHORT CIRCUIT
(Energy is not going where it should, it must be shorting out
somewhere.)
Z26: PRIMARY COOLANT LEAK
(The heat produced by the fusion reaction is removed to the
radiators by coolant fluid. The coolant fluid system has sprung
a leak – if there is too much lost then it will cease to be
effective and the reaction chamber will overheat.)
X70: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: BEAM WEAPON (port pulse laser)
STATUS: ONLINE
X71: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: MISSILE WEAPON (port turret loaded)
STATUS: ONLINE PORT TURRET LOADED STANDBY MODE
X72: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: ELECTRONIC SYSTEM (specify)
STATUS: ONLINE
X73: Engineering diagnostic report
SYSTEM: ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
STATUS: ONLINE
“Uh oh. Hmm, it’s a pretty big blip coming our way. And, it seems to be launching something. Hey Hamster, how much power we got? Mustafa, is the port side turret working?”
Hamilto, you are still patched into the comm feed. So you hear, “Unknown craft, unknown craft. This is the IISS cutter 33, you are ordered to identify yourself. I repeat, This is the IISS Cutter number three three. You are ordered to identify yourself.”
On a different circuit you hear, “Power up the turrets. Vanday team, we are detaching. Have also signaled for back up. Stand by…”
“See how much power you can give us to the turret. I know the circuits lit up like a tannebaum.”
You hear all kinds of chatter over your head set.
“Targeting system is really slow, not sure if I can get a lock on.” Mustafa
“Contact! two craft at bearing one one four mark zero three zero. Scanners are weak so can’t tell how long they’ve been there. They are closing on our position. Prior contact is at two niner niner mark zero zero five and closing. One big ship and possibly four fighter craft. Contact! Multiple contacts at one one eight and closing. All contacts are on an intercept course with us.”
Hamilton, "Oooooooohhhh shit. ok. I'm diverting power to the turret and see if I can boost speed to the targeting system. There's not much to work with but I've managed to get battery power for now."
Meanwhile, “Contacts are closing. They are definitely fighters of some sort. Not newer ones. Surplus is my guess. Probably mercs.”
To recap, there are three groups closing on the Celine position. Like a Y with the Celine in the middle. The top left, has a big ship with what they are guessing are old fighters of some sort. No contact with the right or the bottom groups.
It now seems, the ships at the bottom of the Y, are launching small craft at the fighters heading your way.
"oooo, someone is fighting over us hehe"
Mustafa says,”It will be interesting to see how it played out. We're far enough away so there will be a time lag."
“This is the Imperial Naval Battleship, George Hammond. Unidentified craft, you are to move off from the cutter and merchant. This is a rescue operation. Move off or we will open fire.”
Meanwhile, the group at the top right of the Y, has launched one fighter. And it’s heading across the Y. Straight for the other fighters. Seems to be ignoring you.
BTW, you see all of this from your station monitor. It has a bridge feed, that surprisingly enough, is working
Mustafa says, “Are you checking the scanners? Some lunatic in an old sprite is going after six havocs. It looks like two merc companies with a beef. And I can see the tow coming up on us with an escort.”
Yes, you can see the tow with 8 fighters escorting it to your location.
The tow arrives. Meanwhile, you can see the sprite take out four fighters before the remaining ones bug off.
“need me to stay where I am, Boss?”
“Hang on, we are going to meet you in engineering.”
They show up with 4 other guys. They are part of the tow team. They consult with Hamilton and Anna. Between his Engineering skill and her naval architect skill, they find the tow points to attach the necessary cables. "The fun will be seeing how well the cables and tow equipment survive reentry. Normally, we'd just tow the ship to the orbital station. But because of the nature of the cargo and the investigation, we need to get this thing on the ground. The tow ship also emits a gravity field. (tractor beam) That's why they are so much bigger than you would think. All the power requirements for that sort of thing."
So, off to the planet you go!
“Yeah, we’re going to have to make planetfall. The ablative foam should keep the hull from burning up as we enter the atmosphere. Just in case though, keep your suit on and oh hey, you’ve never used a reentry kit have you Hamster?”
They look something like this. Think of skydiving in space.
“uh…aren’t we going planetside in the ship?”
“Oh, yeah, we are going in the ship. But you know, shit happens. We may have to bail out.”
“Dude, what you frelling with him for? If there’s a catastrophic hull breach, we won’t have time to bail out.”
Hamilton replies, "Oh great."
“OH relax, it will be fun.”
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