FTL Online: Turn 1

Title: Bugs In The System!

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DMCI: Turn: +1 (Turn: 1)
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Lt. Vanguard: It's a good thing we got out when we did! Any later and we'd definitely have been in trouble.

Capt. Antony nods his head in agreement.

A holographic message somehow generated by the vital data now stored in the Ship Computer appears in the form of a Federation Admiral…the one that Capt. Antony met weeks ago upon his arrival.

Lt. Vanguard: We're going to have a hell of a time getting this information anywhere, though. Our ship really isn't equipped for this kind of journey. We barely even have enough fuel to make it through the next sector...

The hologram proceeds to speak: "The data you carry is vital to the remaining Federation fleet. You are our only hope! I am downloading coordinates into your Ship Computer of beacons where you can acquire additional supplies for your journey. Unfortunately, you will have to explore each sector to gain more, but be cautious!"

Lt. Vanguard: Well, that'll help, I guess. Hopefully we can find what we need.

The hologram continues: "The Rebel fleet will no doubt be in pursuit of your ship so be sure to make it to the long-range sector jump beacon before your ship is over-powered and boarded allowing the vital data you carry to fall into Rebel hands where they will use it to eliminate their exposed weakness. Many Engi lives were sacrificed in obtaining this data." The image then shows Rebels entering the room that the holo-recording took place. The Federation Admiral's body slumps on the floor as it receives blaster fire from several directions.

Capt. Antony looks at Lt. Vanguard.

Capt. Antony: How on Earth did you manage to secure the vital data within your camera drone and make it here in time?

Lt. Vanguard: I know it looks bad that I ran for it after the Rebels showed up, but the Admiral had warned me that I needed to get that recording out safely, so as soon as the Rebels appeared, I headed straight here...He also gave me the access codes we'll need if we ever get to Federation HQ, and told me not to let them fall into Rebel hands at any cost. I can only imagine the trouble they could cause with those codes. I'll upload them into the computer now that we're safely away, so we don't have to worry about losing them on the journey.

The Kestrel and crew continue to travel within the confines of this beacon.

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The ship shudders as it is hit by a shock-wave from a distant explosion.

Capt. Antony pulls up a view of the aft camera feed and the reason becomes apparent. Evidently, the Admiral had set a fail-safe self-destruct protocol in the event that they were boarded so as to protect the vital data which now sits solely inside The Kestrel's Ship Computer. Capt. Antony accesses the Ship Computer's terminal and checks the status of all systems as they currently stand.

The screen hums to life and the ship's stats are displayed.

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Capt. Antony hits a button to pull up each crew member's vitals in the computer.

Capt. Antony pulls up his own vitals.

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Capt. Antony pulls of the vitals of Lt. Vanguard.

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Capt. Antony pulls up the vitals of Ens. McAliber.

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Capt. Antony pulls up the beacon map of the civilian sector in which their journey has begun.

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The Kestrel crew travels through space considering their next course of action.

Capt. Antony examines the Dock Manager's data-pad clipboard that was found on the floor in the port airlock.

Capt. Antony looks at Lt. Vanguard.

Capt. Antony: We need to know how many Rebel ships are at this beacon.

Capt. Antony docks the standard data-pad clipboard into the cockpit data-pad interface and has the Ship Computer extract all pertinent data. The computer begins the task of processing the information stored on the data-pad. After a short while, the information that Capt. Antony was looking for begins to surface. The Hangar Ship was boarded by one Rebel ship. A Rebel Boarding ship transporting an elite Rebel boarding platoon.

Capt. Antony activates the short-range sensors and scans for any other ships at this beacon. The short-range sensors reveal nothing other than the debris of The Federation Hangar ship and the Rebel Boarding ship that came along side it to allow the elite Rebel boarding platoon to take over the ship attempting to acquire the vital data contained within. Fortunately, it was just one Rebel Boarding Ship and not the entire Rebel fleet.

Capt. Antony punches in some numbers into the computer using the data from the data-pad that recorded the speed of the Rebel Boarding ship as it approached the Federation Hangar Ship.

Capt. Antony: Evidently, these Rebel ships can only move through the sector the distance of one parsec for every beacon that The Kestrel performs a “faster than light” (FTL) jump throughout this sector. We should be able to stay well ahead of them.

Capt. Antony looks at Lt. Vanguard and raises Ens. McAliber on the comm so that he can listen in.

Capt. Antony looks at the beacon map and ponders.

Capt. Antony: We have three beacons in range of an FTL jump: one at heading 085, another at 120 and...hold on a second...is that a nebula at heading 210?

Capt. Antony strokes his chin.

Capt. Antony: That is quite fascinating. Fascinating indeed. I found myself in a situation like this in the past when I was smuggling some contraband and was being pursued by a pirate ship whose turf I was violating. I was able to lose them by jumping into a Nebula. Maybe...

Capt. Antony scratches his head as he strains to think of a great way to get a jump on the pursuing Rebel Fleet.

Capt. Antony: Surely, the nebula will affect the Rebel Fleet's sensors making it twice as difficult to trans-locate our ship's jump signatures. We could use this to our advantage so that we can explore this sector for more supplies for our mission. The downside is...

Capt. Antony gulps.

Capt. Antony: Our own sensors will be useless in the nebula.

Capt. Antony turns his attention to the power reactor display.

Capt. Antony: Hello, hello. It appears as if our reactor had been upgraded while on the Federation Hangar Ship. I came in with a standard level 5 reactor. It has been upgraded to level 8. They must have upgraded it so that we can power up the two new weapons that they installed. If only we had 1 more unit of power to fully power our level 2 engines. It will give us a 5% increase in our evasion ability boosting it from 10% to 15%. That's a 50% increase. We need to analyze what systems we are currently not using and see what we don't need powered at the moment. This sector is filled with slavers, and who knows what else. It would be great to have as high an evade ability as possible.

Capt. Antony considers all of the options given the systems The Kestrel has along with the resources, crew and power units available. In addition, Capt. Antony considers the pros and cons of jumping into a potentially dangerous nebula leaving the ship completely without sensors.

The weight of this very important mission and the responsibility of command begin to weigh down on Capt. Antony's shoulders as he feels that all the decisions are on his shoulders.

Capt. Antony looks at Lt. Vanguard and listens on the comm device for any suggestions. The comm system hums as nothing is said by anyone.

Capt. Antony pulls up the "Captain's Log" out of total utter boredom and realizes that it needs to be updated per Galactic regulations. He looks out of the cockpit window and sees a beautiful vista of stars and a nearby planet. He updates the "Captain's Log" and uploads his data-pad into the Ship Computer.

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Capt. Antony brings The Kestrel into orbit at the planet at this beacon.

Capt. Antony: It is entirely possible that survivors made it off of the Hangar Ship via escape pods and are in need of aid on the planet where the wreckage of both the Hangar Ship and the Rebel Boarder ship crashed. At the very least, we may be able to find either ship's "flight recorder" and/or computer core. Either could give us some valuable information regarding what happened moments before the boarding incident. Lt. Vanguard, Ens. McAliber, let's take a trip down to the surface in Shuttle #1. I’ve been dying to take it for a spin since its sub-light engines were upgraded.

Capt. Antony, Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber head down to the Lower "Cargo" Deck of The Kestrel and gain access to the vehicle hangar bay. The crew gain access to Shuttle #1 and begin the pre-flight checklists and power-up the shuttle. All set to leave, Capt. Antony hits a button in the shuttle cockpit that begins to depressurize the vehicle bay and open The Kestrel’s aft doors. The extendable aft ramp extends partway in order to make for easier shuttle egress and ingress. Shuttle #1 leaves The Kestrel and begins its descent to the planet's surface. The computer on Shuttle #1 and The Kestrel's Ship Computer stay connected.

Capt. Antony hails The Kestrel's Ship Computer.

Capt. Antony: Ship Computer, please run an orbital scan for life form signatures on the planet surface.

The Kestrel's Ship Computer acknowledges the request and begins scanning while in orbit.

Ens. McAliber: Do you think there's a good chance we'll find anything down there? That self-destruct sequence looked pretty final...

Capt. Antony: Lt. Vanguard, what do our shuttle sensors show? Are we anywhere near the debris field?

Lt. Vanguard: It looks like we'll be coming down a little east of the main wreckage, but that's probably a good thing. Most of the terrain looks pretty rough over there.

Capt. Antony: I agree. This may be just a waste of shuttle fuel.

Ens. McAliber: I just hope nothing else goes wrong.

Capt. Antony pulls up a readout transmitted to the shuttle by The Kestrel’s Ship Computer. Its orbital scans have come back. No life-forms detected. Also reported is an extreme amount of interference from an unknown source.

Capt. Antony: So it seems nobody managed to escape.

The shuttle lands smoothly on a piece of flat land between two enormous struts which were torn loose from one of the ships above.

Capt. Antony checks the shuttle's read-outs in regards to the outside atmosphere.

Lt. Vanguard: So it would appear. I guess we should take a look though, to be sure…especially with all of this interference.

Capt. Antony: The flight recorders of either ship should have transponders. We're going to need suits and scanning equipment.

Ens. McAliber: The atmosphere's bad, I take it. Alright then. Hopefully this will be a short walk then...

Capt. Antony, Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber jump into space-suits and exit the shuttle with scanning gear. Each grab a blaster from the shuttle armory closet...just in case.

Capt. Antony: These suits have limited air. We need to make sure that we recharge them after each use. We could have had more exploration time out here if they were all fully charged; however, the invasion of the Hangar ship interrupted that. It’s great, though, that all of the suits aboard the shuttle equalize their rate of charge such that they all have the same quantity of life support. I will set my suit alarm to go off slightly before the point-of-no-return.

The landscape as far as can be seen is tangled with smoldering wreckage.

Capt. Antony activates his suit comm.

Lt. Vanguard, Ens. McAliber and Capt. Antony start to move through the debris field looking for any sign of something useful. The scanner doesn't seem to be responding.

Capt. Antony: Lt. Vanguard, Ens. McAliber.do you read me?

Lt. Vanguard: There's a bit of static, but I can hear you alright.

Ens. McAliber: Catching a bit of static here too. Not too bad, though.

Lt. Vanguard: Might have something to do with the remnants of the Hangar Ship’s detonated drive-core nearby...That must have thrown out all kinds of interference.

Capt. Antony: Let's set our suit cameras to "record mode" just in case we miss anything. Ship Computer, do you copy?

Ship Computer: "Yes, Captain. Video and audio link has been established and both are being recorded."

Ens. McAliber: Well, sure. But from what I'm seeing there's not much to miss...

Lt. Vanguard: I just thought of something. Do you think the interference might have messed with the scans we did on the way down? I'd hate to be walking into a mess without knowing it.

Capt. Antony: What are you thinking we'll run into?

Ens. McAliber: Indigenous life perhaps?

Lt. Vanguard: Well I have no idea, but a wreck like this could bring all kinds of scavengers….

Capt. Antony: Ship Computer! Activate short-range sensors and keep me notified if any Pirates or other ships enter orbit.

Ship Computer: "Yes, Captain."

Lt. Vanguard: Even if no one survived, there might be some kind of carnivores coming to clean up the dead, as well. Keep alert is all I'm saying...

Capt. Antony and Ens. McAliber (in unison): Acknowledged.

Capt. Antony, Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber enter deeper into the debris field.

Capt. Antony: My suit scanner is picking up multiple faint life signatures ahead due East/North-East approximately 3 clicks away as well as one behind us.

Lt. Vanguard: That...is worrying. That could be something coming between us and our shuttle.

Ens. McAliber: Or even just heading to our shuttle.

Capt. Antony: The signals are relatively stationary.

Lt. Vanguard: That makes things a little less worrying, at least. We'd better check it out though, if that's all we've got.

Ens. McAliber: From the looks of things in this mess, I'd be stunned if anything survived.

Capt. Antony: I’m picking up a very large signal ahead. It could be one of the two ship’s flight recorders...

Capt. Antony, Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber continue travelling East/North-East towards the signal. The three men come upon the source of the signal.

Lt. Vanguard: How's the signal looking now, Captain?

Capt. Antony (yelling through the increased static): We're on top of it!

Ens. McAliber: Well, what do you know.

Lt. Vanguard: I guess we were closer than I thought!

Capt. Antony: It's giving off a lot of interference to our comm and scanning units.

Lt. Vanguard: Doesn't sound like a flight recorder, if it's doing that...Although, with what it has been through, who am I to judge? What's your call, Captain?

Suddenly from the three men's right, a gigantic worm with a large toothy maw erupts from the ground and lunges towards them. Rock and earth fly everywhere.

Capt. Antony: Run!!!!

Ens. McAliber (whilst running): Oh fantastic! Time to see how fast we can move in these stinking suits!

Lt. Vanguard: Over there! There's a cave within that rock outcropping!

Capt. Antony, Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber briskly enter the cave. Lt. Vanguard leans against the wall, catching his breath. Ens. McAliber checks his space-suit for any signs of damage. Capt. Antony feels as if he has lost something.

It doesn't take long to figure out that they are not alone.

Ens. McAliber: I hope there's...nothing nastier...in here.

From the shadows...a Rebel emerges in his space-suit with blaster in hand.

Capt. Antony: Oh, crap!

Lt. Vanguard mutters "Of course" under his breath.

Capt. Antony: That must have been his escape-pod signal that we were detecting….probably inside the stomach of that huge thing outside.

Capt. Antony reaches down to his belt searching for his blaster. He finds nothing.

Capt. Antony: Dammit! I lost my blaster!

Lt. Vanguard: You must have dropped it during the mad dash to this cave...I suspect it's probably in the stomach of that vile worm also.

Lt. Vanguard tosses his blaster to the Captain, who is closer to the Rebel. Capt. Antony notices that the Rebel is gasping for air.

Ens. McAliber: Maybe we won't need a blaster after all. His suit must be damaged...

Capt. Antony: We don't have enough reserves to even attempt to help him AND make it back to the shuttle.

The Rebel falls to his knees dropping his blaster in front of him.

Lt. Vanguard: I don't think these suits were designed with sprinting in mind...

Ens. McAliber: ...And I'm not sure we'd want to help him anyway. Who knows what he'd do?

Capt. Antony: Suffocation is no way to die!

Ens. McAliber: Agreed. Shall we put him out of his misery?

Lt. Vanguard: Being put down now would be better than the suffocation and atmospheric poisoning that he must be currently suffering. I might not want to save him, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone...

Capt. Antony blasts the Rebel's space-suit helmet shattering the glass and melting it to the occupant's face. He checks his scanner for any life-signs.

Capt. Antony: That appears to have done it.

Ens. McAliber: I never get used to how..."effective" those things are at close range. Ugh.

Capt. Antony: Nasty bit of business, that. Poor sod!

Lt. Vanguard: Well, I don't think we're in any state to keep looking through the wreckage at this point.

A beep in the Captain's suit signals that they must head back now to the shuttle before the suit runs out of air.

Ens. McAliber: Yeah, what with the state of our suits and that worm outside.

Lt. Vanguard: Exactly. Perfect timing, suit "Point of No Return" alarm. Mine just went off too.

Capt. Antony: Maybe we can distract the worm using the body...

Lt. Vanguard: Either way I'll need a blaster back. Do you want to keep mine or take the Rebel's?

Capt. Antony tosses Lt. Vanguard's blaster back to him.

Capt. Antony: Here's yours.

Capt. Antony takes a liking to the Rebel blaster and is amazed that it fits perfectly in his holster.

Capt. Antony and Lt. Vanguard drag the dead Rebel outside the cave while Ens. McAliber keeps watch.

With the body just outside the cave mouth, the three men make a dash back to the shuttle. The earth rumbles beneath them along the way.

Capt. Antony: Just in time!

Capt. Antony, Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber dive into the shuttle and close the shuttle hatch. Capt. Antony dives for the controls to take off. As they lift off, the worm bursts from the ground beneath them, missing them by seconds.

Capt. Antony: Phew!

Lt. Vanguard: I'd be quite happy not meeting any more giant worms for a while.

Capt. Antony and Ens. McAliber both nod in acknowledgement.

Shuttle #1 docks with The Kestrel.

Ens. McAliber: Thankfully the shuttle has docking auto-pilot and can reverse itself back into position with ease.

Lt. Vanguard: We're lucky we got out of there as cleanly as we did.

Capt. Antony: Yes….extremely.

The three men exit their suits, set them to recharge and exit the shuttle after the vehicle bay re-pressurizes. Capt. Antony grabs his memento from the adventure, the superior in design and power Rebel blaster, and keeps it in his holster.

Lt. Vanguard: I say we just plot our next course and get as far from this accursed rock as we can.

Capt. Antony: Agreed.

Capt. Antony, Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber exit the shuttle and head up to The Kestrel's cockpit. Capt. Antony, again, pulls up the beacon map for this sector.

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Lt. Vanguard: I'd advise against heading into the nebula, Captain. An ion storm would be a seriously bad thing to hit right now...Especially with so much debris from the detonation still nearby.

Capt. Antony: Sounds good to me.

Lt. Vanguard: Wouldn't want to run into anything else unprepared.

Capt. Antony: OK.

Lt. Vanguard and Ens. McAliber head to their assigned stations to prepare for whatever lies at the next beacon.

Capt. Antony: Ens. McAliber, how do we sit with our new weapons?

Ens. McAliber: Charging them up now, Captain.

Capt. Antony diverts power from Med Bay to Engines and activates the navigation computer to jump to the beacon at bearing 120.

Capt. Antony: Here we go!!!!

The Kestrel get's ready for it's very first FTL jump after being refitted from a smuggling transport ship to a well-armed combat vessel.