March Harrier Session 10: Deep Space Ambush

Player Characters:

Everett de Clisson (Adam), Medic and Engineer

Ganidiirsi Ashran (Ben), Steward and Cargomaster

John Matrix (Nick), Broker and Captain

Sacha Bright (ChaoticNeutral), Pilot and First Officer

PCs Temporarily Run by the GM:

Gvoudzon, Vargr Gunner and Pilot

Significant NPCs:

Marc hault-Oberlindes, CEO, Oberlindes Lines

Arrlanroughl, VP, Oberlindes Lines

Lars Svelberg, Captain, Oberlindes Patrol Cruiser Guardian

Karla, Diirgiirii, Captain, Oberlindes Free Trader New Horizons

Dates: 

118-1105 to 163-1106

Worlds:

Aramanx/Aramis (Spinward Marches 3005)

Deep Space between Aramanx and Feneteman (Spinward Marches 3105)

The crew was invited to a meeting with Marc hault-Oberlindes at Oberlindes Subsector Headquarters on Aramanx Highport, but when they arrived, they were met by Arrlanroughl instead.  Baron Marc was busy leading an investigation into an attack against the Oberlindes freighter Bottom Line.  Arrlanroughl reviewed the recent attacks against Oberlindes ships and bases, and concluded that Tukera had started a tradewar to push Oberlindes out of the Aramis subsector.  He said they had an idea to get Tukera to back down, and would like to hire the March Harrier to carry out the plan.  Arrlanroughl said that the March Harrier would not be carrying passengers or cargo for a few weeks, but Oberlindes would pay them for the equivalent of a full load, plus expenses, plus 10% of any profit from the venture.

Arrlanroughl turned to Captain John, who spoke with his crew, and when there was no dissent he agreed to the venture.  Arrlanroughl then called two Oberlindes captains into the room, and went into detail.  Oberlindes had acquired the coordinates of a deep-space breakout point, used by jump-1 Akerut freighters when traveling between Aramanx and Feneteman.  They would like to disguise March Harrier as a Tukera or Akerut ship, using an (illegal) reprogramable transponder and a new coat of paint.  The March Harrier would find freighters when coming out of jump and vulnerable until they had transferred fuel and plotted course for their next jump, then distract the freighters while a heavily armed Oberlindes Patrol Cruiser would induce them to surrender or, if necessary, attack them.  The ships could then be searched for information, their crews captured and interrogated, and prize crews could take any intact ships to a rendezvous point.  Arrlanroughl said that a Hercules-class freighter could be briefly crewed by four people, and that the March Harrier, the Patrol Cruiser Guardian, and the Free Trader New Horizons could be packed with a total of 48 extra crew at double occupancy, thus allowing the capture of up to 12 ships.  Arrlanroughl said that the operation could continue for up to 3 weeks, since it would take a week to notice the first missing ship, maybe up to a week for Tukera to get suspicious and organize a response, and then a week for the investigators to jump.

Arrlanroughl asked if the March Harrier needed anything before the mission, and said that Oberlindes would pay half (as half-owner of the ship), with the crew's half coming out of the mission profits.  Gvoudzon noted that the ship's two turrets could each use a third beam laser.  There was some debate among the crew, with Everett mentioning that missile racks or sandcasters could also be useful, but eventually they agreed with Gvoudzon that triple lasers were the simplest.  Arrlanroughl arranged for the extra lasers, the new transponder, and plenty of paint.  Meanwhile Gani stocked the ship with enough provisions for an over-sized crew for several weeks, and John asked for ammunition resupply for the crew's personal weapons, just in case.

The March Harrier took on its extra crew, and then flew past the 100-diameter limit of Aramanx.  Before jumping, the crew and some of the Oberlindes extras put on their vacc suits and went outside to do some deep-space repainting.  The March Harrier then jumped to the deep space point, where they communicated with the Guardian and New Horizons to set up positions, and then switched their transponder to the Tukera setting.  The next day, they picked up their first prey, the Akerut freighter Colossus.  March Harrier sucked them in with a fake distress call, then mentioned that the Patrol Cruiser would be launching a volley of missiles.  The captain immediately surrendered.  The Patrol Cruiser launched its 20-ton Assault Craft full of marines, who boarded the ship and then radioed that the ship was secure.  Most of the March Harrier crew then flew over, interrogated the captain, and dug through the computer.  When they were satisfied, the Akerut crew were locked in their staterooms and the prize crew brought over to jump the ship to a rendezvous point.

The ambush worked successfully three more times the first week, with the Titan, Sauropod, and Elephant all captured.  The Titan had some interesting data in its logs, about the meson guns that had been transferred to the Mammoth, and Jelika Chan's tour as chief engineer.  There was also an xmail from the ship's captain to Vemene subsector head Aran Ashkashkur about the need for Vemene agents to also be competent in their cover duties so that they don't destroy any starships.

In the second week, the ambush induced four more freighters to surrender: the Megalodon, the Galaxy, the Rhino, and the Mongo.  Unfortunately, two captains resisted, which meant the Mondo and the Amazon both perished to volleys of missile file.  The Mondo damaged March Harrier with its lasers pretty significantly.

The captains of the three ships agreed to keep going for a third week, during which they captured a Type S Scout, the Nebula.  Logs indicated that the Nebula was a Vemene courier and had been moving records of a scientific base from Pretoria/Pretoria to Lewis/Aramis, an interdicted planet.  Apparently Tukera had land on Lewis, and was allowed exceptions to the interdiction.  In addition to the computer records, the Nebula had carried one VIP passenger to Lewis, a female Vargr scientist named Gharukh.  The Nebula's logs also contained a poorly-encrypted xmail from Sylvie Mobutu to Aran Ashkashkur.  The xmail said that the March Harrier had been watched carefully since it was discovered that Gvoudzon and the brooch were on board, and that it was apparently working for Oberlindes.  Mobutu suggested that a Vemene ship ambush the March Harrier, under the pretext that it was a routine tradewar ambush.

After capturing the Nebula and sending it off with a prize crew, the ambush bagged two more freighters.  The Albatross resisted and was blown to bits, though its pinnace survived and was captured with two crew aboard.  The Whale surrendered.  After three weeks, with a total of nine freighters and one scout captured and three freighters destroyed, the captains of the three ambushing ships agreed that it was time to return to Aramanx.

After reaching the Aramanx system, the March Harrier crew repainted their ship back to its original colors, and then flew to the starport.  They they met with Marc Oberlindes.  He congratulated them on the successful mission, told them the captured cargo had been appraised and their 10% was being deposited in their account, listened closely to the news about the Titan and Lewis.  He then suggested possibly infiltrating Tukera's base on Lewis to learn more.  The crew was receptive to the idea, so Oberlindes said he would have his people gather more information, then they could meet again in a few days to make a plan.  Oberlindes also agreed to repair the remaining damage to the March Harrier's hull.

GM's Notes:

This session involved the campaign's first space combat.  The Patrol Cruiser Guardian seriously outgunned the Akerut ships, so their captains needed to make morale checks to surrender, but three of them were a bit too brave for their own good and decided to fight.  March Harrier sustained significant hull damage once, though, showing that maybe the tactics used weren't the best.  Perhaps the more heavily armored Patrol Cruiser should have been the only one within laser range of the freighters.

Was having ten starships captured and three more destroyed enough for Tukera to call off the tradewar?  We'll see next time.