29/01/2015 – Run Away! (3)
The crew talk to the Zen computer, but it seems to ignore them. Orac sarcastically points out that simply using the title “computer” and expecting an answer is dangerous, as the word is used very often. From now on they must address the ship’s computer as Zen for it to response. Orac also points out he will not respond to the title “computer” either, as he is far superior to any other computer they will ever have encountered.
Battlecruisers Closing
Looking around on the sensors, they see that Mika’s Frigate is right next to them, with two smaller mining ships close by, one of which is damaged. There are three Battlecruisers closing in, two from the direction of Dyvers and one from Derwyn, the last of which is not travelling very fast. There are also four pursuit ships holding off outside weapons range, waiting presumably for the capital ships to catch up.
Tarrant checks the Engineering console and Liberator is very low on power, all the energy banks are nearing empty and they seem to charge slowly.
Grant decides to answer some of the pending communication requests. He talks to Mika Hunt first, who is angry and points out that Liberator is his ship, he paid for it and got it built. Orac was also his and it will betray them. He invites them to join forces and attack the incoming Dyvers Navy ships. Liberator is a powerful ship and they could take over this entire solar system and oust President Starmann. Grant refuses and ignores Mika.
Grant then talks to Admiral Travis. He seems suspicious but helpful. He suggests they register their ship and fit a transponder, so that it will not appear as an illegal and unauthorised. Grant welcomes this, until Travis says he will need to board Liberator to do this.
Cyrus discusses the possibility of getting a transponder sorted and asks Orac about registering the ship. Orac arranges for a back-dated registration to be set up, showing the ship was registered 90 years ago in Federation space, which this sector has lost contact with.
Drent experiments with the pilot controls and begins to work out how to make the ship move in simple directions using the Manoeuvre Drive.
As the first Battlecruisers approach weapons range, Mika’s ship begins to withdraw. Drent moves the Liberator upwards slowly, off the same plane as Mika’s Frigate, to determine which of the approaching ships is coming for them and which are after Mika.
It soon becomes clear the first Battlecruiser from Dyvers is heading for Mika’s frigate. It launches pursuit ships after the frigate. The second ship from Dyvers, which is actually a larger Battleship called Retribution, probably Admiral Travis’s flag ship, is heading for Liberator, as are the pursuit ships holding off outside weapons range and the Battlecruiser Austerlitz from Derwyn, which has now picked up speed and closing but still outside weapons range.
Power levels remain low and their options are limited. Grant decides to bluff it out with Admiral Travis and holds the Liberator stationary on minimum power output while the ships close from extreme to medium range, which takes about 30 minutes.
Travis now demands that the Liberator submits to boarding and inspection to determine they are not drug dealers or pirates. Cyrus warns they just want to seize the ship and imprison everyone.
Run Away
A plasma bolt is launched as a warning shot and Grant agrees to an inspection. The Retribution launches a transport shuttle that Zen estimates could hold up to 20 soldiers on board. Grant decides to run and has Zen move the ship away from the hostile ships at maximum speed.
The Battleship, Battlecruiser and now six pursuit ships all launch plasma bolts, but Liberator is so fast they cannot catch them. The two capital ships open up with particle cannons and there is not enough power to raise the force wall, causing damage to the hull, the sensors and the Manoeuvre Drive. Liberator slows from Standard by 12 to Standard by 10, but that is still fast enough to out run the ships following them.
As they get out of weapons range, Grants has Zen slow to Standard by 3 as there is little power left. Orac announces he has managed to disable the Manoeuvre Drives on the Pursuit ships for a time. They continue on their course away from the military ships and after an hour or so it becomes clear that they have given up the chase.
They slow the Liberator to Standard speed and coast along for a while, waiting for the power banks to slowly re-charge. It will be several hours before there is power enough to jump, as there are also repairs to carry out.
The crew go off and do their own thing, relaxing and sleeping. Tarrant points out that they left the flight deck unmanned for at least an hour, not a safe thing to do and suggests they organise a rota.
Grant has Zen pilot a jump to Gauda, where they have been before. It will take four hours to jump there. A normal Federation ship would take 4 days to jump there, so they will have plenty of time even if they are pursued.
Once the power levels are enough, plus a little in reserve, Grant orders Liberator to jump. Zen then reports that pre-jump checks indicate that the jump engines have become dangerously misaligned and it is not safe to jump. It will take between 12 and 18 hours for a full re-calibration.
The crew are all very hungry again now and do not want any more human meat. They are forced to wait it out while the repairs are carried out. This does allow the energy banks to re-charge.
Jump to Gauda
Finally it is safe to jump and the Liberator makes a hyperspace jump to the Gauda system. When they arrive, Grant gets Space Traffic Control to allow them to orbit Gauda Prime and use a shuttle to reach the planet, as recommended by Cyrus. Docking at the space port could attract more attention and risk them being boarded.
They interrogate Orac further about what he can do and how much he will help them. He agrees to clear any holds on their bank accounts, but dismisses more ambitious requests as a waste of his time and resources. Despite appearing to dismiss the request, he sets up a link between Drent’s Comms implant and Zen.
Orac reminds them that a lot of what they want is not the purpose for which he was designed. When they ask what he was built to do, he tells them it was to investigate the mysteries of the Universe. One of the things he is investigating is the disappearance of the Ancients. This sector of the Galaxy seems to contain the most evidence of Ancient ruins and he is trying to determine why they disappeared and where their home world is.
Money, Food and Supplies
They decide to leave Orac to his musings and take a shuttle down to the Gauda Prime. They head for a bank and get money out, then go on an eating binge at various places depending on their taste.
Once they are satisfied, they set about getting the supplies and resources that Liberator needs to be fully operational. Grant works out this will cost them about 100,000 Credits, but he has enough in the company account to do this.
The crew arrange accommodation and eat, drink, have sex and take drugs that night to relax.
Catch Up On News
They also try to catch up with news in the Sector since they have been gone. They discover that the Alien ship that attacked them in the Phosos system has been seen since in a number of places. It seems to mostly ignore ships it encounters, never responding to hails, but sometimes it does capture one. The sector authority managed to confront this ship with several Battleships and a battle ensued in which several ships were destroyed and damaged, including the Resolution under Captain Angela Kryn, which took heavy damage. The Alien ship was also damaged during this exchange and it withdrew. Ships from Dyvers were not present with the Sector Authority in this battle, as President Starmann’s actions concerning Derwyn had caused relations to become strained.
The fate of Derwyn and Zonnos Hunt’s death at the hands of the Dyvers military is the next news they catch up with. Forces from Dyvers blockaded and then bombarded Derwyn’s main city, Telcos, when Zonnos Hunt refused to rescind Derwyn’s declaration of independence.
Derwyn Occupied
Troops were sent in on the ground, causing in total more than 1,000 marine and up to 20,000 civilian deaths. Zonnos was killed in the attack on the Derwyn Mining Company offices and control of the company and all its assets were transferred to the government in Dyvers, effectively nationalising it. Buzz Kennedy was appointed by President Starmann as the new CEO.
There has since been a terrorist insurgency on Derwyn, which means the planet remains under martial law. Military barracks have been attacked and marines killed, usually by bombs. There are some parts of Telcos that are “no-go” zones unless the military send in a lot of well-armed marines.
The leaders of some of the other Seven Systems objected to this rough treatment of civilians by the Dyvers authority and President Starmann was censured. He retaliated by suspending Dyvers co-operation with the Sector Authority and has begun making alliances with some of the outer worlds.
Tempest has continued to spread its use throughout the Sector and remains a major social problem. It is becoming harder for authorities on a number of planets to contain the levels of violence that are happening.
Father Imprisoned
Grant also spots a news item that says before the military became involved on Derwyn, Zonnos Hunt apparently “found” Bill Kennedy hiding on Derwyn and as a loyal citizen handed him over to the Dyvers authorities. He is Grant’s father. By Presidential Decree, despite his status as an ex-Governor, Bill Kennedy was then incarcerated on a penal asteroid – punishment usually reserved for serial killers, paedophiles and other extreme criminals.
The crew discuss what to do next. Dirk wants to go after Mika as he lied to them and is clearly a bad guy. Grant wants to help his father and most of the others agree that should be their next mission.