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18:44, 21st May 2024 (GMT+0)

Kaya Wilden.

Posted by Editor-in-ChiefFor group 0
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1151 posts
Mon 17 May 2021
at 03:12
  • msg #42

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 41):

You nailed this one.  It was an 8

The Gryffin slips over and around the various rocks like a well made shirt sliding on to your skin.

You hear Rokzi whistle in an appreciative manner over the comm.

"Beacon 3 tagged.  Getting vibes on beacon 4..."</orange>

Beacons 4 to 7 are fairly pedestrian.  You've flown similar turns during the early training days back at the academy.

Peri shakes her head as you are about to tag 7.  <Brown>"Okay.  This is messed up.  Beacons 8 and 9 are live.  And they're on a timer.  We have 2 minutes to clear both."

You glance at the course map Peri feeds you.  Beacon 8 is hidden in the middle of a clump of rocks in various sizes.  Beacon 9 isn't too far away from where you are now.  The trick is going to be sliding into the area beacon 8 is in, tagging it, and slipping back out to get to beacon 9.  There's also a small rock not far from beacon 8 which is going to make that turn back towards 9 tricky, to put it mildly.




Another crappy flat map


r         R          RR                  r   r     r    R
                   RRRRRR         r                              R
   r   r            RRRR               b8       R  r       RR          r    r
                                          r   R          RRRRRR
      r   R       r           r       rR         r        RRRRR

r                 r   R  R         RR       r                r
                                RRRRRRRR
                                  RRRRR     R    r      R
                                   RRR

      R      b9

r    r        r        RRR                 b7
                     RRRRRRR
                      RRRRR                              G
Kaya Wilden
player, 22 posts
Mon 17 May 2021
at 18:35
  • msg #43

Kaya Wilden

Cool :)
Oh and maps are pretty good actually.

While she was aware of the whistle, Kaya didn't react to it much: she was focused on her piloting for the time being, there'd be time later on to appreciate it. For now though, she frowned as she considered the next two beacons, particularly the eighth with its accompanying rock.

After a second, she decided to pivot the ship in such a way that she was going to negotiate the turn not on the ecliptic plane, but perpendicular to it: this was space after all, manoeuvring at 360° was not only possible but quite expected. It wouldn't allow her to dodge the rock entirely, but it should make it easier, particularly if she went near it on the way in, not on the way out to the ninth beacon.

I hope anyway.
So, question: does the switch of plane help? Does it allow Kaya to completely ignore the rock or not so much?
Are there any other difficulties besides the rock?
By default, without taking the plane thing, how does it compare to the one at beacon 1?
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1156 posts
Tue 18 May 2021
at 19:15
  • msg #44

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 43):

Beacon 8 is kind of wedged into a little alcove of rocks.  Think of it like a catcher's glove and the beacon is inside.

Going in from a different plane does alleviate some of the pressure, yes.

The issue isn't getting inside the little alcove.  For Kaya, it would be as difficult as a nasty parallel parking job.  The real issue is the turn back to beacon 9.  Doing it carefully will eat up a lot of time.  You would probably have to cut down to ISS 1 or 2 to hit beacon 8 and then reaccelerate to zip back over to beacon 9.

I would need to know the order and speeds you handle things.

How fast will you approach each beacon?

How slow will you go when you go inside beacon 8's alcove?

I will assume you take the easiest route in entering the alcove.

Any other tricks/questions you want to try/ask?

Thanks
Kaya Wilden
player, 23 posts
Wed 19 May 2021
at 19:26
  • msg #45

Kaya Wilden

Hmm, that's where it gets a bit confusing: adjusting the speed affects both the TN and my "roll" to the point where I could get some really counter-intuitive results.
Well, the die fucked me anyway: low roll plus low speed = no way to meet the TN...
So I'm going to go with 2 + ISS2 + 2 = 6

Instead of privileging the easy approach to beacon 7, with a hard turn towards beacon 8, Kaya decided to take the opposite direction: she was going to take the "harder" approach to the seventh beacon, but do it slow: she wanted to position herself in the best possible way to be able to have a clear shot to beacon eight without having to slow down past beacon seven.
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1159 posts
Thu 20 May 2021
at 21:00
  • msg #46

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 45):

Figuring the speed is part of the equation.  I think I will only use this system sparingly.  At more 'dramatic' moments as it were.

I do want to try it on at least one combat run.  But we'll finish the piloting portion here.

The TN was a 9.  But you specified taking it slow, so I actually adjusted down to a 7.  You ended up being not too far off.

You take Gryffin down a peg on speed before you enter the little grotto of asteroids and tag beacon 8.  You think you hear Peri sigh, but can't be sure.

The straight shot to beacon 9 is smooth as greasy waxed floors.

You head out of the course, returning to the starting line for Peri's run.

The prelim results of your run flash up.

Damage to ship:  1.8%

Your Run Time:  5:58

Average Run Time:  7:05

The analytics aren't ready yet, but you suspect you picked up some time by taking that beacon 7 to 8 run slow.

Peri is jacking into her comm chair.  "Very respectable," she tells you.

She starts to run through a rather quick flight check.  Very quick.

Aarav sends you the damage report.  It's fairly minor.  The usual dents and dings on the hull from small rocks.  To be expected in an asteroid field.

There was a little bit of stress on the exhaust manifolds.  That's not uncommon when you're switching between ISS's on such short notice.  Gases build up unexpectedly.  Put strain on the system.  Damage to exhaust manifolds is the common cold of fighter ships.  So you would expect to see some stress showing in a damage report.

The 1.2% here seems a tad high.  You would have expected more like .6 or .7%.

Peri thumbs her comm.  "Boil!"

Before you know what's going on she's taken off into the course.

They've changed up the beacon sites for her.  You see them pop up on your screen, now that you're playing navigator.  Beacon 1 and 2 are milk runs.  Beacon 3 is a climb straight up the side of one of the larger rocks in the belt.  Peri handles that pretty well.

She blasts through beacon 4 and 5.  Five is pretty easy.  Four was pretty tight on the turn.  Proximity alert flashed yellow for the entire time of the turn.  She got you too close to the rock.

You see beacon 6 coming up.  As you start to confirm for her...

She's coming in too fast.  To make the turn to Beacon 7, she'll have to do a hard left at the edge of the rock nearest beacon 6.  But she's going in so fast, the hard turn is going to be very tricky.  If she doesn't hit it, Gryffin will probably spin sideways into a small rock.

Peri seems to guess you might be worried.  "It'll be fine.  I got this."
Kaya Wilden
player, 24 posts
Sun 23 May 2021
at 19:57
  • msg #47

Kaya Wilden

“Not too shabby.” Kaya nodded distractedly as she studied the numbers. Not so much of her own performance - even though she was pleased to be more than a minute below average - but those handed over by Aarav. No damage, or at least no damage other than what was expected, was a good thing of course though she hadn't been too worried about that, but she was frowning at the exhausts stats.

In the end, she nodded, “Alright, we'll go for run two, then we'll pause for a moment while we analyse those numbers. I want to know if it's a piloting issue or something related to the ship itself.”

Though, as she saw how Peri started her run, she was wondering who was the more aggressive of the two... It certainly didn't appear like it would tell her anything about piloting styles impacting or not the exhausts' stress at any rate.

Still, while she wasn't particularly fond of the position, she performed the basic duties of a navigator, merely pointing out the beacons to Peri as she had done to her. She tried not to wince visibly on the fourth beacon, wondering if it had been a voluntary but aggressive move, or if she had tried to make the most of a mistake.

By the time they reached the sixth one, she was strongly leaning for the former however. She was briefly tempted, seriously, to take control back and avoid the accident she was seeing coming, but in the end she decided not to: she had to trust her crew. She needed them to know she trusted them. Still... “If you scratch the paint, you're on painting duty at our next stop.” She commented, trying to appear unconcerned.

Despite that, she had the hands near the controls: if at any point it seemed that there was no way Perri was going to be able to prevent the collision, she was going to take back control and try to make sure the Gryffin wouldn't need anything more important than said paint job.
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1163 posts
Mon 24 May 2021
at 02:10
  • msg #48

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 47):

Peri starts to bank...

You watch on the screen, realizing a microsecond before she misses the turn that she's going to miss the turn...

Since you're taking control, another test.

Peri is hitting this at ISS4.  She was trying to make what was essentially a 70 degree angle but didn't start counter thrusting in time, nor did she use enough thrust.  The Gryffin is going to drift wide and turn, colliding with the rock along it's back end.  Visiual would be:



                              G
                            G
                          G
                     R  G

The back end of G-the Gryffin-is swinging to the left.

Solutions I can see might be:

-Gun it.  But to do so, you'll have to cut the counter thrusters.  This would shoot you forward but you'd be going at a breakneck speed.  You'll have to dodge anything that might be in your way until you can get it under control.

-Apply pressure at the other point of the fulcrum.  In other words, start thrusters near the top, probably around the second G down.  Try to swing your nose to the right.  If you gun it hard enough, you should flip around and the tail end would miss the rock.  Barely.

In this case, I'm going to say you don't really have time to change speeds.  So you're stuck with the ISS4.

There is another option:

-Let it hit.  The rock will probably do some hull damage.  But it shouldn't be enough to cause decompression.

If you can think up another solution, go for it.  Unless you chose letting it hit, make a test or ask a question.  Thanks.
Kaya Wilden
player, 25 posts
Mon 24 May 2021
at 20:44
  • msg #49

Kaya Wilden

Alright, well, Kaya will try to go for the second option (the idea being that barrelling through the range full speed might be even more dangerous and I don't believe in escaping one bad situation by creating an even worse for the future to deal with...), with the caveat that she'd rather scratch the paint rather than take too many risks.

As for the roll: 3 + ISS 4 + 2 = 9

That was the difficulty I was estimating, so hopefully I'm not too far off.
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1167 posts
Mon 24 May 2021
at 20:56
  • msg #50

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 49):

It was a 7.  Normally, I would call it a 4, but the split second decision and emergency situation did ramp it up. I did say 'swing your nose to the right' when I meant 'to the left'.  But same idea.

You hit the starboard thruster hard.  Gryffin groans in a way it shouldn't, but the ship moves.  There is a brief thud.  A distant sound like someone slammed a door hard at some other end of the ship.  The proximity alert blares only for a moment.  Then the ship is clear.

"Minor impact...it dinged us.  Nothing a little buffing won't fix," Aarav chimes in.

Peri swivels around in her chair.  "I had that!"  She shuts her mouth and spins back around, and starts going for the next beacon.

She takes the rest of the course in an easy fashion.  Gunning it early on had gotten her some time.  But beacon 6 and the safety-first rest of the run cost her.  She clocks in at 6:58.
Kaya Wilden
player, 26 posts
Tue 25 May 2021
at 20:44
  • msg #51

Kaya Wilden

Damn, I really tend to overestimate the difficulty of things... And to make matters worse, I had that 7, snif.
My poor ship :'(

Kaya answered Aarav's report with a grumble, then harshly said “Focus!” to Perri when she turned in her direction. For the time being though, she didn't say anything else, and let her copilot finish her run, pointing the beacons in order...while trying to think of how she was going to handle that.

As it turned out, Perri was competent, but she wasn't aggressive: she was reckless. Which, she supposed, could explain some of the bad blood between her and Aarav: if there was someone who liked a ship being damaged even less than her captain, it would be its engineers. And if Peri had an history of this...

When Perri finished her run, Kaya stood from her chair and went to pick a drink, giving time both to Peri to unwind, and to Aarav to compile the data he needed. When she came back on the bridge a couple of minutes later, she looked Peri straight, “First, you'll do well to remember that this is my ship. Even if you had it, you do not complain if I take command.” She paused there, wanting to make sure the point landed strongly suspecting that she'd have to draw a line in the sand as far as Peri was concerned. “And among other things, it means that until and unless proven otherwise, I'm a better pilot than you are. Which in turn means that...”

“Second, no, you didn't 'have it'. You were missing the turn. Had I waited even a fraction of second more, we'd have impacted that rock. More than we actually did anyway. And if you're not convinced, play this through on the simulator, starting from the moment I took command. Even knowing what you know, four times out of five you're going to crash if you follow through with your first intention.”

The young lieutenant squinted, “In fact, you'll run those simulations when we're en route to Little Giant. If you do better than that, I'll admit I may have misjudged it.” Even if she was Peri's CO, she had to offer an olive branch after all. Plus, they both knew that it would be vastly easier on the simulator now but she was banking on Peri admitting to herself at least that considering how difficult it was even then, it very likely would have gone much worse had Kaya not taken controls back.

And she was pretty sure she wasn't going to hear anything about it any more: Peri might be reckless at the controls in some circumstances, but she still had to be not only good but a decent officer overall. Once she cooled down anyway. The question would be to know if she managed to do better but wouldn't say anything, or if she'd crash and burn and apologize. Kaya would have to check on those simulations: if nothing else, it would tell her more about her copilot not just as a pilot but as an officer.

“Alright Aarav, talk to me.” She finally instructed her engineer.
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1172 posts
Tue 25 May 2021
at 22:08
  • msg #52

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 51):

Peri listens to you with a tight lipped face.  But she takes a deep breath when you're done and nods.  "Understood. And yeah.  I know.  I got stupid.  I'll do the sims."

She sounds somewhat sincere.  Maybe.  You can't quite tell.

Aarav sends you a diagnostic.  The damage isn't extensive.  "We're doing a combat run, right?" he asks over the intercom.  "Why not let Peri and Rokzi prep for that and, if you don't mind, come down here to the engine room.  Might be easier to show you than try to explain."

Peri waits until you hang up the intercom and glances at you. "That's his way of saying he wants to talk to you alone.  I'll prep us for the next run."

She hails Rokzi and starts to run through the flight check.

Aarav is studying a vid screen.  He doesn't say anything as you walk up, just points at the screen.

The screen seems to show the interior of some part of the engine.  A tank of some kind.  It seems to be filled with a translucent gas.  The pressure inside the tank seems to suddenly contract and the gas shoots out when a valve opens at the rear of the tank.

"Computer.  Freeze.  Rewind 10.  And..."  He glances at you, pointing to an area of the screen>  "Watch.  Computer, resume play."

As you watch, when the pressure changes and the gas expels, part of the wall seems to bulge outwards. It's just for a moment.  But it definitely does.

"That's not the exhaust manifold.  Well it is.  But it's for that side thruster you ramped up to avoid that rock.  Not the main engine"

He sighs.  "And..no.  It's not supposed to do that.

"I didn't wanna say anything.  Especially over the intercom.  But...I had thought this when I did my inspection yesterday.  Now I'm much more certain.  The thrusters aren't the original engines.  The main engine is.  It's hard to yank out the main power core and replace it without making it obvious.  But the thrusters caan be taken off and new ones welded on.  And I think...about 90% sure...someone did that on the Gryffin.

"Problem is...well.  Anything related to an engine is tough to replace.  They're very finicky.  It has to be calibrated perfectly when the new part is plugged in.  The thrusters on us were calibrated...just not perfectly.

"I checked the registration on this ship. It was built two years ago.  It wasn't commissioned.  It was serving as troop transport in neutral zones.  It didn't see any action and all it's repair logs are clean outside of the usual maintenance and some dings here and there.

"I didn't see any reason why someone would replace the thrusters.  More to the point, I didn't see any evidence anyone did replace the thrusters.  It's not on any of the repair logs."

He shrugs.  "Not my place to wonder why all that is.  Tag.  You're it.

"Anyway.  What this means for you and Peri driving.  Whenever you guys need to use the side thrusters.  Until I can figure out a patch, don't gun it hard for longer than a few seconds.  You're fine using 'em.  Just try to avoid slamming on 'em for long periods of time.  If that manifold blows, we'll lose the thruster completely."  He scratches his jaw and shrugs.  "But I think it'll hold for a while.  The fact it bent back into shape means the plastimetal in the walls is still malleable.  We're still flyable.  Just nurse the side thrusters when you can.  And when you can't, don't lean on them any longer than you need to."

Questions?
Kaya Wilden
player, 27 posts
Thu 27 May 2021
at 20:22
  • msg #53

Kaya Wilden

Kaya nodded with a slight approving smile when Peri admitted she'd been stupid. She sure hoped she was sincere and wanted to make her copilot aware that she wasn't a bitch, but even if she actully weren't sincere… Well, it didn't matter all that much. When Aarav mentioned talking to her privately, she glanced at Peri then shrugged, “Well, I better go see what it is then.”

The young lieutenant listened attentively to what her engineer had to say, watching the recording - and wincing when the wall bulged outward - before finally rubbing her lips pensively. “If we ignore the problems you've noted,” she started to ask, “which I really hope you'll manage to fix…” She paused for a second there, an eyebrow cocked, obviously hoping for his confirmation, “what would those new thrusters change for the ship? I assume they'd be supposed to perform exactly as the normal ones would? Could the switch have been intended to change our signature?”

After a couple of seconds, she frowned, “Finally, could that defect have been added intentionally or is it something that was only noticed today because we went through more…extreme…maneuvers than would have been tested?”
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1176 posts
Fri 28 May 2021
at 00:55
  • msg #54

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 53):

Aarav frowns and scratches the back of his neck. "So..."

He lets that hang in the air a moment and then pushes forward.

"Fixing it is going to be a thing.  The best fix is to patch on new thrusters.  But that's a good chunk of change.  And I haven't seen anything about an upgrade budget yet.  So I'm guessing that means they didn't give you one."

They didn't.

"Which would bring us to second best solution which is recalibrating those thrusters. That would dry dock us a couple of weeks.

"I'd also have to repatch part of those manifold walls.  Not as expensive as new thrusters obviously.  But still not in the usual maintenance budget.

"For now...I can play around with the fuel mix.  Try to find a good range of inert gases to help take some of the pressure off.  You'd lose maybe a tenth of a click of speed, but it would still keep us within the defined ISS speed levels.

"Ignoring it is an option.  If this were a normal cargo ship, I wouldn't sweat it too much.  But us being us...the big concern is loss of side to side movement.  Going forwards and backwards isn't an issue.  It would be turning port or starboard that would be an issue.  Once that wall blows," he taps the vide screen.  "That thruster has given up the ghost.  It has to be replaced then.  The more stress we put on that wall, the sooner that will happen.

"As to it being added intentionally...you'd have to tell me.  They didn't tell me about it.  And they deleted it from the inspection and repair history.  But they didn't really try to hide it either.  When I fired them up for a test the other day, I noticed the thrusters resonance image didn't match the main engines, which is what made me wonder.  If they wanted to hide it, all they had to do was a better job of recalibrating the thrusters.  I probably wouldn't have known until it was too late."
Kaya Wilden
player, 28 posts
Fri 28 May 2021
at 15:44
  • msg #55

Kaya Wilden

“Dealing with it is not that difficult, we'll prefer roll plus pitch over yaw.” Kaya didn't seem all that concerned: it would mostly use the main thrusters for that, but they were more powerful than the side ones so it was usually more efficient anyway. “Still, once we're done here try to find the best mix of gases to alleviate the problem, more options are always good.”

Her eyes on the monitor, but not really seeing it, she stayed pensive for a moment, “So basically, it was done in such a way that we wouldn't notice it before taking possession of the ship, but would hardly miss it later on, right? Which means,” she shook her head, pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed, “Which means this is likely all a test.”

She squinted, “Alright, send me the plans you have and what you'd need for each one both in terms of budget, facilities, personal and so on, as well as risks, drawbacks and such. I'll think about it, thanks.” If this was a test, then it meant that she could find ways to deal with this, not just ignore it. Well, ignore it would be a way to do it but… No, she was betting it was a way to tell her to be creative, work out solutions on her own and judge how she'd done it. To what end exactly she didn't know, but… they were going to be dealing with smugglers, right? Well… They wouldn't complain if they made a donation for Fleet's benefit, right?

Back on the bridge, she said to Perri, “Alright, there's a small defect on the lateral thrusters. Nothing too serious, but we should avoid to use it for heavy maneuvering: better use roll & pitch over yaw.” She paused for a second, wondering what kind of other tests were waiting for her. Peri seemed one. Would every members of her crew be one, on top of the ship and the mission?

Shaking her head, she focused on the problem at hand. “Everything set for our third run?”
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1182 posts
Mon 31 May 2021
at 00:43
  • msg #56

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 55):

Rokzi buzzes you back.  "Ready to jam."

Peri nods.  "Control is signalling we can proceed when we are ready.  They will start drone release after we enter the field.  Two waves."  She studies her screen, then glances at you.

"They want to confirm that this run should be unarmed drones, right?  You wanted to save the armed drones for the next run?"

Rei signals you.  "Should I remain in quarters for the combat runs?"

Aarav signals you.  "Ready to boil."
Kaya Wilden
player, 29 posts
Mon 31 May 2021
at 20:26
  • msg #57

Kaya Wilden

“Alright.” Kaya nodded to acknowledge Rokzi's answer as she sat in her chair and transferred command of the ship back to herself. “That's confirmed yes. Let's try to calibrate everything before we try to chew too much at once.”

When she heard Rei's message, the young lieutenant actually turned in her direction, obviously taking a moment to think about it, “Right now it doesn't matter much, if you want to watch and see how we do it, be my guest. It might come in handy down the road anyway for you to know how it works.” She frowned for a second, “We'll have to make sure you know the whole procedure in case we do go in combat and what to do in those situations though.”

She turned back towards the front, “Alright, let them know we're ready and set the countdown.” She signaled Peri, focusing on her commands.

This time however, she was less focused on time and instead was going to focus more on giving the best shots she could to Rokzi while evading as much enemy fire as she could of course. Or avoid giving the drones good positions from which they could easily fire on them since they wouldn't fire at all this time anyway.
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1184 posts
Mon 31 May 2021
at 23:06
  • msg #58

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 57):

The run starts pretty clean.  Then again, they aren't firing at you.

Gryffin handles better.  It would be nice if you could lean on those side thrusters a bit more, but it's not too large a handicap.  How Peri's AI will adapt is an unknown.  Until they recognize a compenent as damaged, they tend to have trouble adjusting to not using it.  Peri will have to make up that difference herself.

Rokzi is a pleasant surprise in the turret.  He's obviously too used to running with an AI pilot.  The ship moves in predictable ways with an AI, at least for a gunner.  But Gryffin moves as a much different animal with you at the helm.

His accuracy is decent to start with.  It improves as the course continues to run and he gets used to you.  You'll have to wait for the final analytics, but you're guessing he's running at about a class 4 turret grade.  Sixty to seventy percent of his shots are connecting.  While he gets a couple of single shot kills, he's taking two to three shots to kill on most of them.  Even with drones that is well above the norm.

Peri proves to be a decent nav and birddog.  Maybe she's trying to make up for her earlier actions, but she's pretty focused and on point right now.

There's only two drones left when her head snaps up.  "Hold on.  Drone 8 is-"

Before she can tell you, you see it.  Drone 8 has turned and starts opening fire.  Drone 9 peels off.

"I thought this was a non-combat run."

"That's what we ordered!  Nine is trying to swing wide and come up behind us.  Weapons systems on the drone are activating."

Gryffin shakes slightly.

"Sonuvabitch!  We're taking some hull damage."

"Control is signaling.  They have lost connection to the drones!  They ain't flying them!"

Another test it seems.

How about them apples?

You have two drones who have live weapon systems.  Here's a map



    r       RR                r               r
          RRRRR        r                                      r    r
          RRRRR                       r
            RR                R

r                  D8

                                G       r     RRR
                                            RRRRRRR
                                            RRRRRRR      D9
r            r                                RRRR

Drone 8 had turned as is coming at you.  You are currently heading towards 8.

Drone 9 has swung around that large rock, probably trying to come up behind you.

I am assuming you are at dogfighting speed, ISS3.

How do you want to handle?  If you are going to keep going at Drone 8, I will need you to make a test just to establish how much you leave yourself open to Drone 9 coming up behind you.

If you want to change course, you pass that automatically.  But if you want to give Rokzi the best field of fire, I will need a test.

If you want to do something else, you can of course do so.  Make a test if you feel the need.  You can call for tests at any time.

Questions?
Kaya Wilden
player, 30 posts
Tue 1 Jun 2021
at 19:32
  • msg #59

Kaya Wilden

Alright so, the idea is not so much to change course, but to manoeuvrer to not be in the same position. Basically, it's a sort of roll, getting "altitude" while doing so. It would point in the same direction but not in the same position (so weapons would miss, sort of like rolling around the line of fire) all along, which would allow the gunner to keep the target in his sights easily.
The manoeuvrer in itself is not that hard I think, the harder part being to do it fast enough that the drones would miss, while keeping the ship stable to give Aarav the best shot at the target, and there are no rocks in the vicinity to make that harder, right?

I don't think there are too many interesting questions to ask, so I'm just going to roll. I'm going to assume it's a 5 or 6, and since I often overestimate the difficulty I'll go with a 5: 3 + 3 - 1 = 5. Though of course this time it'll be a 6?

Despite the chatter around her, Kaya stayed focus on her piloting. Not that she wasn't cursing a few superior officers in the privacy of her own mind, but that was something else. Plus, it wasn't like complaining was going to achieve anything.

Instead, without missing a beat, she started rolling around the probable firing targets of the drones hoping she would both avoid their fire by taking both by surprise with her unexpected fast manoeuvrer while allowing Aarav to keep the eighth drone in his own line of fire.
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1188 posts
Tue 1 Jun 2021
at 22:01
  • msg #60

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 59):

No, I think you nailed it this time.  I would call that move a 5 in this situation.

You spin the ship.  Rokzi obliterates 8 and 9 in quick order.

Peri looks at you.  "Control is saying the drones had some kind of malfunction.  They want to postpone the next combat run so they can check the drones they had slotted.

"They wanna know if we can come back tomorrow."
Kaya Wilden
player, 31 posts
Thu 3 Jun 2021
at 14:27
  • msg #61

Kaya Wilden

Kaya snorted, still intently focused on her piloting distractingly answering “If you believe this was an accident, I've got some very nice things to sell you.” All more imaginary than the others of course.

“And no, we can't come back tomorrow. Places to be, people to see and all that.” Kaya shook her head. “Let's finish this. And we'll go through the next run as planned when we have Aarav's green light, and deal with the drones as if they were armed and dangerous. For real, not just for show, because they very well might be able to draw blood.”
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1192 posts
Thu 3 Jun 2021
at 19:15
  • msg #62

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 61):

There's a moment of silence.  Then Rockzi chimes in.

"So...what you're saying is I can go all out.  Right?"

Peri relays your response to Command.  After a few minutes she looks back at you.  "The advise against it. But they're prepping the drones.  They want five minutes."

Aarav announces he's ready to boil.

It takes ten minutes, but the run starts.

Command tells you they are releasing the drones in three waves of five after you enter the field.

The run starts.

This run, I am giving you a map showing starting positions.  You tell me if you want to go after the drones and in what order, wait for them to come to you, or what have you.



R      r             r                        D1                   D2       RR
            r              RR          r                                  RRRRRR
                                                                            RR

r   r        r    r             RR
           r                  RRRRR                                             D3
                               RRR

RR           r                               Gryf       r            RR
RRR   r            r                                        r      RRRRR
RR                           r                                     RRRRR          r
        D4                                                           RR     r

                r               RRR              r                     r
  r                           RRRRRR                        r
                               RRRR

                  D5

Just need to know your basic strategy here.  YOu don't need to get too detailed unless you want to.

Thanks.
Kaya Wilden
player, 32 posts
Fri 4 Jun 2021
at 11:03
  • msg #63

Kaya Wilden

“I'd be disappointed if you didn't.” Kaya answered Rokzi, then “I'm sure they do.” to Peri. But Kaya didn't believe in coincidences: this had to be another test, and she simply couldn't refuse to participate. Or, well, she could, but it would tell exactly the wrong things about her.

When the run started, Kaya quickly studied the field then gunned it. “Alright, keep an eye on the drones and warn me if they do something unexpected. Or if the next wave starts early.”

Alright, so strategy. Assuming the plan is seen from above, D3 is 'east', D1 is north, etc.
Kaya will try to avoid to have to face more than two drones at once. She'll gun it to the big rock east, then go around it from east of the rock to south but instead of continuing east she'll go below to directly exit north. She plans to avoid D3 that way and find D2 close by and D1 not too far away easier, in good positions for Rokzi to take them down.
She'll then swing around the rock north west of the ship's starting position and do more or less the same with D4 and D5, then deal with the lone D3, possibly when before that when it gets close with the same flip front/back she did on the first run but this time not to go to a different beacon but to allow Rokzi to shoot the drone.
She'll try to finish the first wave near a big rock, which offers more tactical opportunities and not in the middle.

Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1200 posts
Sun 6 Jun 2021
at 21:21
  • msg #64

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 63):



So as I am understanding it (the - and / are flight path)


R      r             r                        D1                   D2       RR
            r              RR          r                                  RRRRRR
                                                                            RR

r   r        r    r            RR
           r                  RRRRR           //////////////////////////////// D3
                               RRR
                                                                          -
RR           r                               Gryf -     r            RR   -
RRR   r            r                               -        r      RRRRR  -
RR                           r                       -              RRRRR -        r
        D4                                            - ----------   RR   - r
                                                                   -------
                r               RRR              r                     r
  r                           RRRRRR                        r
                               RRRR

                  D5

Understanding that the other drones are moving towards you location.

Sound strategy.  Make a test for me.  You'll succeed (unless you really bomb it).  But I just need to figure out how much of an advantage you give Rokzi.

Let's say for the rest of the combat, you give me a test after I post the last test results until all the drones are dispatched.  You can change the strategy at any time, but if you don't say anything, I will assume you keep on the same path/strategy.

Thanks
Kaya Wilden
player, 33 posts
Mon 7 Jun 2021
at 16:42
  • msg #65

Kaya Wilden

Almost (I'll try to draw what I'm thinking about directly next time, should be clearer than trying to explain):
R      r             r                        D1                   D2       RR
            r              RR          r                                  RRRRRR
                                                                            RR

r   r        r    r            RR
           r                  RRRRR           /////////////////////////        D3
                               RRR                                    |
                                                                      |
RR           r                               Gryf -     r            R|
RRR   r            r                               -        r      RRR|R
RR                           r                       -              RR|RR          r
        D4                                            - ----------   R|     r
                                                                   ---|
                r               RRR              r                     r
  r                           RRRRRR                        r
                               RRRR

                  D5
With the | being 'under' the rock (or 'above', same thing). The idea being to give the drones the impression that she was going to go the route you put, but instead takes them by surprise by taking that one, which would among other things, leave D3 behind her and trying to catch up all along (and when it gets close, she flips for Rokzi to shoot it with the main gun).
And indeed, of course assuming the drones move to the ship's position…or at least where they think the Gryffin is if none of them see it (I'm assuming they communicate with each other).

So I'm going to assume that the first roll is for the turn above / under the big rock to avoid D3 and get Rokzi a good shot at D1 & D2. There a heavy maneuver involved there, it's not overly complex but the timing is important since Kaya can't start too early nor can she finish too late since it'd render the whole point moot.

I'm going to call it a 7. Roll: 4 + ISS3 (dogfighting) + 0 = 7
Editor-in-Chief
GM, 1201 posts
Mon 7 Jun 2021
at 18:47
  • msg #66

Kaya Wilden

In reply to Kaya Wilden (msg # 65):

Gotcha.  Thanks.  That helps.

You climb up the asteroid and flip around, coming on drone 3's backwash.  Drones 1 and 2 have passed by already, almost meeting up with 4 and 5.

Rokzi cracks down on 3.  It takes him a couple of shots, but that seems to mostly be because you were overturned to one side.  A quick correction lines him upcorrectly.

Drones 4 and 5 hurtle towards you.

Peri shakes her head.  "Not sure what 1 and 2 are up to. They went straight.  They aren't swinging around."

Updated map


R      r             r                                                     RR
            r              RR          r                                  RRRRRR
                                                                            RR

r   r        r    r             RR
           r                  RRRRR        Gryg
                               RRR

RR           r                                          r            RR
RRR   r            r       D4                                r      RRRRR
RR                           r                                     RRRRR          r
                                                D5                   RR     r

                r               RRR              r                     r
  r                           RRRRRR                        r
            D1   D2            RRRR


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