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KDF and allies go to Vendor sector to check on the clues regarding the Rhombus Group…
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Shift Time: Sunday, Jul 4, Alpha -1
Audience: KDF and allies
Event Type: exploration, possible combat
Starting Point: Starship bridge
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GM: @gulremal
Mission Log
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> After dealing with the Kinshayan blockade of Nimbus (and cashing in a nice paycheck), the team has regrouped and continued their search for the new Rhombus Group. With Spade’s help, they managed to reduce the search area to a small zone in the Vendor sector that contains only a couple of system of note. One of them, Hadrian system, had some activity 10 years ago, though exact details were not available during a short search. However, while flying to this location, team had enough time to make some preparations…
[Team]Egzo@HF_Mud:(So who goes first? :)
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:I can go first!
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Spade: to Aestae, as they check something on their PADDs I think this is the best we can do, for now. Tal Shiar most likely updated their cyberwarfare, but I doubt they have lots of resources to make any significant upgardes anymore.
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“I am still unable to ascertain the exact mission of the USS Nobel, but there is reliable information on a Star Empire research facility in the region which Starfleet was involved in shutting down in 2409.”
[Local]Aestae Vali@crystyl:“It’s better than we had to begin with, so if nothing else it’ll do to get us someway I’m sure”
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“The timing is unlikely to be a concidence and the Nobel’s mission was most likely related, though I cannot find any specific data on the research conducted by the station or Starfleet’s interest in it.”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Spade: nods I’ll distribute the software modifications to other ships. to T’Vek Starfleet, poking their noses everywhere, eh?
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:“And I managed t’ find us some help… cutter name a’ Nobar the Red, remember him from the thing with the Widrab?”
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:“Sharp cutter, figured out they was bein’ set up, wanted no part of it.”
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:“Anyway, Podo clan’s got their hands full right now with /whatever’s/ cookin’ off back in the core, but they passed his name along an’ we got in touch.”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Spade: If we are getting into Tal Shiar turf, any assistance will be welcome.
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:“Bringin’ himself and a few ships, should be here right about–”
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:<FX> merc squadron drops out of warp
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:"-- now."
[Local]Aestae Vali@crystyl:“This cutter always have such a sense of timing?”
T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris looks to Spade, “Officially, the region is Romulan Republic territory at the moment, but the Republic does not appear to maintain much of a presence here. Starfleet has patrolled the area in the years directly after the Nobel incident but seems to have lost interest now as well.”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Kem: We’ve got them on sensors, but just barely. Seems they are using the energy dampening trick, though they are letting us see them. Lead ship is hailing us
Egzo@HF_Mud chuckles at Aestae, then nods to Kem. “On screen.”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Screen switches from the starts in the background to the massive nausicaan in blood red, spiky armor in the command chair.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<Nobar> Ey, boss. We ar’ ere, az promised. Wat’z da deal?
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:<C> Little fight, little fun and the rest of your pay later. The usual.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<Nobar> Did a quik scan of da system on da way 'ere. Lotsa komm traffik for da “empty” system, arright?
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<Nobar> No targets on skenz, but da traffik iz goin’ to a single place - a krushed moon in da orbit of da second planet.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<Nobar> Lotsa debris dere, gud place ta set up da shop, if ya want no vun snoopin’ aboot.
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“We should approach the moon carefully. The debris will be an ideal place to set defenses and traps, if someone has installed a base on the moon’s remains.”
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:<C> That’s our boyz. So 'ere’z 'ow we’z gonna play it…
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Spade: And most of it will be cloaked. Guess we should prepare antiproton sweeps.
[Team]Egzo@HF_Mud:Orkz iz orkz :)
[Team]Nadum@gulrema:zug zug
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:hehe
Egzo@HF_Mud taps at his chair’s arm-rest keypad, and starts drawing on the tactical plot.
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:<C> We come in on this angle… and you, on /this/ one.
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:<C> Catch 'em inna pincer.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<Nobar> Arright, ya wanna’s go in all da sneaky like, or present a klear target?
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:<C> I suggest sending at least one ship in to reveal traps before they are aware of our presence.
Egzo@HF_Mud nods to the Vulcan. <C> We’ll handle that part. You - (here he looks to Nobar) - jump in when they play their hand, ya?
[Team]Egzo@HF_Mud:(The heroes - term used VERY loosely - should be the ones who take the active role :)
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<Nobar> Got it. Silent an’ deadly it iz.
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:<C> Premium is standing by to proceed when ready.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Shlaak: Cyberwarfare ssuite modified.
Egzo@HF_Mud looks around. “Errybody set?” He nods, and chops his hand down. “Hag’lhr, acting!”
[Team]Egzo@HF_Mud:So I believe we have a three ship element, on our side - Hag’lhr, Premium, and uh Aestae’s ship?
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Yeah!
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Both squadrons move under stealth towards the ruined section of the moon of the second planet in the system. Almost a third of the moon is creating an asteroid field in its orbit, and comm traffic is leading towards the sparser area of the field. Soon, both squadrons reach that part of the field. Passive sensors show nothing save comm traffic that goes deeper in the field.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Spade: Considering the amout of comm traffic, whatever facility is receiving it, I doubt it is cloaked. Its defenses are another matter entirely.
Egzo@HF_Mud nods, and sighs. “Time t’ play bait.” Suddenly this part of the plan doesn’t sound so fun.
Egzo@HF_Mud gestures to his helmcat. “Take us in, Rritt. Real careful like.”
[Tell]Nadum@gulrema:you want to stay cloaked or decloak and do a full scan?
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“We have antiproton sweeps ready on your mark.”
[Tell]ToNadum@gulrema:The latter. Not our usual thing, but we have Premium, and a part to play
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:“Shlaak, stand by on active scans. Aaannnd… drop cloak.”
[Team]Nadum@gulrema:everyone who wants to abandon stealth and do scan, please gimme a sensor roll.
[Emotes]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:rolls 24 (1-100)
[Emotes]Egzo@HF_Mud:rolls 9 (1-100)
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Of course only B’Atar does well on sensor rolls…hehe
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:She always gets great sensor roles for some reason
[Team]Egzo@HF_Mud:bah. rerolling THAT.
[Emotes]Egzo@HF_Mud:rolls 36 (1-100)
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Hag’lhr and Premium drop stealth and perform a sensor sweep.
Egzo@HF_Mud grumbles at the static on the plot. “ehhhh, what is this… Shlaak, can’t you clean that up?” As some of the ‘snow’ clears: “Better. Lessee…”
[Local]Egzo@HF_Mud:<C> ‘Kay, so, found our target, about 500 thousan’ kellicams ahead… and mines, here, here and here. Looks like plasma.
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“I am detecting the mines as well. There is also an unusual asteroid which may be part of the defense network. I suggest we keep an eye on it, if not target it.”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Shlaak: Incoming energy ssignaturess detected!
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> All ships detect 5 energy ripples in front of them emerging from the asteroid field. As the newcomers decloak, sensors detect…3 Hag’lhr’s and 2 Premiums on intercept course?
T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris raises a brow, “Holographic decoys, or perhaps holographic disguises.”
Egzo@HF_Mud smirks. “Cute. Real cute.”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Spade: We are being hit by a comm signal! They are trying to send us the present!
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“As we expected. Are the software modifications sufficient to protect us?”
[Local]Aestae Vali@crystyl:“Guess we’ll soon find out”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:As the “fakes” move in, charging their weapons, Hag’lhr, Premium and Morakos are hit by the virus!
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:-- ROUND 1 –
[Team]Nadum@gulrema:science rolls plox
[Emotes]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:rolls 11 (1-100)
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Hmm…
[Team]Egzo@HF_Mud:Here’s where I suck. :(
[Emotes]Egzo@HF_Mud:rolls 51 (1-100)
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Should I reroll…
[Team]Egzo@HF_Mud:This would be a bad time to get knocked out of action.
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Might as well! 11 is probably- yeah
[Emotes]Aestae Vali@crystyl:rolls 1 (1-100)
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:hehe
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Woah
[Team]Aestae Vali@crystyl:lol
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Okay /definitely/ reroll that haha
[Emotes]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:rolls 1 (1-100)
[Team]Aestae Vali@crystyl:yus
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:Woah
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:I think the dice broke hahha
[Emotes]Aestae Vali@crystyl:rolls 25 (1-100)
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:at least your reroll is better!
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:I rolled the 1s out for you!
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:drops dead
[Team]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:hehe
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Hag’lhr and Morakos manage to fight off the virus. Premium’s cyberware suite didn’t handle the modifications well, and the virus sneaks in and starts infiltrating the systems.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Premium’s weapons are weakened!
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:-- Egzo’s action –
Egzo@HF_Mud points at the lead fake. “Start with him.”
Egzo@HF_Mud <FX> Hag’lhr opens fire at its opposite number.
[Emotes]Egzo@HF_Mud:rolls 87 (1-100)
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Evading the minefields, Hag’lhr rushes in, surprising the enemy and scoring direct hits on the lead fake Hag’lhr. Shots beach whatever shields the vessel had and score direct hits on hull.
Egzo@HF_Mud nods approvingly. “Stay with 'im.”
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> As predicted, the image of a BoP shimmers for a couple of seconds revealing the true form of the vessel…
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/8/8b/Romulan_drone_ship_(quarter).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120403015535&path-prefix=en
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:-- Aestae’s action –
Aestae Vali@crystyl tries to configure their targeting to match the revealed BoP profile, firing on the nearest fake.
[Emotes]Aestae Vali@crystyl:rolls 40 (1-100)
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Morakos moves in to attack another fake BoP, but whatever holotech they are using is messing up proper target locks. Morakos’ fire does manage to score multiple shots, and enemy shields are down to 50%.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:-- T’Vek’s action –
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“The virus has slipped into Premium’s systems. Our weapon power is dropping. We will provide covering fire while attempting to analyze the vessels closely.”
T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris | Premium moves in, laying down covering fire on the ships as announced. It tries to close in to the one Hag’lhr damaged, using its still fully operational sensors to scan past the damage and get a detailed profile of the ship’s armaments and potential weaknesses.
[Emotes]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:rolls 86 (1-100)
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Premium’s fire doesn’t do much, but it manages to get a good scan of the enemy ships…
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Fake Hag’lhr’s focus on the real one, but Rritt’s crazy moves keep the nimble BoP outta harm’s way.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Fake Premiums flanks the Morakos, their disruptor beams and plasma torpedoes missing by a small margin.
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> Two asteroids sprout multiple plasma turrets and spray real Premium as it does the scanning pass, scoring some surprise hits and dropping Premium’s front shields down to 25%.
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“The ships are automated frigate-weight vessels of Romulan design. They are each armed with four disruptor arrays, two torpedo launchers which are loaded with plasma torpedoes and a tractor beam.”
[Local]T’Vek of Vulcan@anncaris:“Taking out the forward sensors should disable their holoprojection and allow for more accurate targeting. I suggest aiming for the front of the vessel when possible until the projections are down.”
Egzo@HF_Mud grumbles, “yes maw,” intent on the imposter that (the real) Hag’lhr is chasing*
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Shlaak: Another sssignature to our aft!
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<FX> As the Egzo and the squadron engage the “fakes”, another, much bigger vessel decloaks behind the line of battle…
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:Tal Shiar Khnial Adapted Battlecruiser - Official Star Trek Online Wiki
[Tell]ToNadum@gulrema:(Early heads up, will direct Nobar to attack that.)
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:<Unknown> Now now, what flies have entered the spider’s net?
[Local]Nadum@gulrema:-- CLIFFHANGER –
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