nt

Here's my thoughts on the mission so far: I'd say we have been sucsessful so far, but not in the way we really expected to be. We've achieved some of our objectives, but not in the way we expected to. Obviously, we need to sit down with Swims-the-Black and talk with him, figure out how much we can trust him (I'm tending to suspect a good bit), and how much he's willing to help us. Some of the supplies we planned to use for the infiltration of the Spire have been already used up now, namely four of our six AT-4s.

Also, we happen to be sitting in a damaged-but-functional goldmine of information on building the starts of a fleet to defend Earth if, when thirty years have passed and the Imperium shows up, we haven't been able to suceed against them on their own turf. We now, I believe, have a duty to get the tech specs back to the folks at MN.

Similarly, we partly the Spire infiltration to get ahold of Gate codes for rebel worlds in the hope of finding ready-made rebelion groups we would only have to supply, instead of turn, organize, then supply. We now have Swims, who may be able to help us get this information without risking the one-time-only hit on the Spire. We may want to reconsider the need for our original mission to continue as planned.

Thus, I sugest three new objectives:
1. Fix the ship. Offer to pay 50-50, 40-60, 10-90, whatever. We broke the ship, so we need to help fix it, not to mention it further shows we can be powerful allies. Pay with some of the money from the arms deal.
2. Turn Swims-the-Black and One-Ton. We want them on our side if possible, Arketta or Hethna style. I'm using "turn" only in the sense of trying to convince them to help us wholeheartedly, not in the sense of "electrodes-and-skin."
3. Contact Earth. Transfer the complete technical database of the Morningstar, and if possible, we actually park the ship somewhere and all take a field trip so we can give HQ at MN as much information as possible. To return to the cavemen-vs-spacemen premise, it's time for the cavemen to start building jets. Additionally, this would give us an oppertunity to resupply and check with comand over the future goals of the mission.

Thoughts?

We're not just here for a few starports. We want everything. Ports, planets, military bases, high-secrets, and the only place to get that is in the Spire. We bug out on that mission, we've blown our one shot to get in there. They know that we're not just going to run and hide now, that we're going to take this fight to them, and they're going to beef up their security soon. We bug out now, we blow our chances for getting into any high security area.

As far as the ship, Swims and One-Ton goes, I think they're on board with us for the time being. We do need to get the ship fixed, and that probably means doing a job to get the work done. Nothing too high-profile, and if at all possible, we reduce our use of Earth firearms and weapons to a minimum if not stop using them entirely. The Imperium knows what we have and that we're the only ones who have them. If we're lucky, the crate of weapons we sold is already out on the market and being used, which will create a little bit of a smoke screen for us, but that won't last for long. For now, until we're in a location that's a known friendly location and isn't possibly swarming with Imperial spies, we cut out the use of powder-burning weapons. Similarly, everyone should be keeping their eyes peeled for anyone paying too much attention to us. A leak now would be catastrophic, and we need to shut that down.

As for transport back to Earth, I think that's completely out of the question. I'm 90% sure that if we spend any more time here than is strictly necessary to get the ship fixed and find whatever rebel forces are out there, we will get spotted and then they'll bring the whole fucking Imperial Armada down on our heads. Also, as previously mentioned, this place has to have at least one or two Imperial spies in it, and we can't be sure if they're not monitoring the dial-out codes. If we enter some code that isn't in their systems and they're watching the dial-out codes, they'll have Earth.

I think that we should just keep our heads down, do whatever we have to do to get the ship's sensors back online, and make contact with the anti-Imperial organization(s). If we can get them to fix our ship for us so we don't have to mess around in this place, so much the better. When the Morningstar's back in operational order and we have a solid rebel contact, we get out.

(Edit: As for division of labor, I think Hugh, Davis, Swims, Arketta and Mellish should handle finding the rebel group, and Semo, Luis, Angel, Max, Taylor and One-Ton take care of fixing the ship.)

I'm down with that.

(EDIT: Punkey's plan, that is. It doesn't really override too many aspects of e's post, but I agree that communication with Earth is a big no-no. Collect the data for now, we'll upload it when we get back from a gate we know isn't being watched.)

Gatac

I suspect that our actions to date may have made the Spire unreachable. However, there was a secondary location for accessing the main database. We may want to consider moving that up to our primary target once we have a fixed ship.

Punkey wrote:

We're not just here for a few starports. We want everything. Ports, planets, military bases, high-secrets, and the only place to get that is in the Spire. We bug out on that mission, we've blown our one shot to get in there. They know that we're not just going to run and hide now, that we're going to take this fight to them, and they're going to beef up their security soon. We bug out now, we blow our chances for getting into any high security area.

Decent point. We are, as you mention, probably on a bit of a deadline.

Quote:

As far as the ship, Swims and One-Ton goes, I think they're on board with us for the time being.

Swims proably is, you're right. His gut wanted to do this all along, ever since he'd been forced to stop (the circumstances of which, I should mention, we need to find out). However, he'll probably need to have his mind convinced that what we're doing is any better than the Imperium, and that it is, in fact, worth his "coming out of retirement," as it were. By letting us use his ship to run the Needleship's blocade, he's pretty much burned his bridges, but we should try to ensure he's fully with us. One-Ton is in a similar circumstance, since his 'no' to Yaris is sort of a 'yes' to us, as was helping us with the 30,000 volt barbeque and the repairs so far. However, while his mind may be with us, his heart might not be, and we should ensure that it is before we start planning the data siezure op. this will involve talking to them, and maybe, as I mentioned IC, laying some of our cards on the table.

Quote:

We do need to get the ship fixed, and that probably means doing a job to get the work done. Nothing too high-profile, and if at all possible, we reduce our use of Earth firearms and weapons to a minimum if not stop using them entirely.

Good point about the powder-weapons. we should be sure to use native weapons, such as the ones Cray and Kovos were using (if not those same ones). However, a job might not be necesary. We need to find out how much the repairs will cost. One-ton or Swims will be able to estimate, and if possible, we should try to use that to pay for about 50% or more of the repairs, as a show of faith and good intentions. Showing we'll follow through on our actions' consequences will look good to One-Ton and Swims, and helping fix the ship he has a good deal of affection for will help sway One-Ton's gut to our side.

Quote:

The Imperium knows what we have and that we're the only ones who have them. If we're lucky, the crate of weapons we sold is already out on the market and being used, which will create a little bit of a smoke screen for us, but that won't last for long. For now, until we're in a location that's a known friendly location and isn't possibly swarming with Imperial spies, we cut out the use of powder-burning weapons. Similarly, everyone should be keeping their eyes peeled for anyone paying too much attention to us. A leak now would be catastrophic, and we need to shut that down.

Good advice. I have no objections, and strongly agree.

Quote:

As for transport back to Earth, I think that's completely out of the question. I'm 90% sure that if we spend any more time here than is strictly necessary to get the ship fixed and find whatever rebel forces are out there, we will get spotted and then they'll bring the whole fucking Imperial Armada down on our heads. Also, as previously mentioned, this place has to have at least one or two Imperial spies in it, and we can't be sure if they're not monitoring the dial-out codes. If we enter some code that isn't in their systems and they're watching the dial-out codes, they'll have Earth.

A decent point, but I meant it as sort of a medium-term goal. As I said, the Akuma's specs could be crucial in letting Earth field a defense against the Imperium, and thus we should include "get data home if we die" as one of our contingency situations and plan for it.

Quote:

I think that we should just keep our heads down, do whatever we have to do to get the ship's sensors back online, and make contact with the anti-Imperial organization(s). If we can get them to fix our ship for us so we don't have to mess around in this place, so much the better. When the Morningstar's back in operational order and we have a solid rebel contact, we get out.

Make contact with rebels? Check, but after we completely sway Swims and One-Ton. We have enough flimsy connections already to go looking for more. Keep heads down? Check. Get out and resume primary mission? Check.

Quote:

(Edit: As for division of labor, I think Hugh, Davis, Swims, Arketta and Mellish should handle finding the rebel group, and Semo, Luis, Angel, Max, Taylor and One-Ton take care of fixing the ship.)

Sounds good, but only after we convince Swims and have leads on possible contacts.

On an unrelated note, we should start thinking about possible code phrases for various circumstances. Pop culture references are probably best, since the Imperium is shockingly behind on their TiVo. 1984, Star Wars, the Matrix, The Far Side, the Da Vinci code, whatever. If it fits a likely situation, it's worth sugesting.

With the alternate location thing, I think that's something that we need more info about. If we're lucky, they'll be too busy searching elsewhere to look for us. After all, we'd have to be both crazy and stupid to piss them off and then go after one of their most secure locations on their capital planet.

And for Swims and One-Ton, Davis can get on that. You sure about the no pliers and phone books?

Punkey wrote:

With the alternate location thing, I think that's something that we need more info about. If we're lucky, they'll be too busy searching elsewhere to look for us. After all, we'd have to be both crazy and stupid to piss them off and then go after one of their most secure locations on their capital planet.

I believe that info was given in the Not-Quite-Out-Of-Character thread where we planned this mission originally.

Quote:

And for Swims and One-Ton, Davis can get on that. You sure about the no pliers and phone books?

Play nice, now. We need them alive...

*puts away black hoods and car batteries*

Aw...

I am hoping that the Imperium is large enough that a single...incident...falls low enough on their To-Do list that we're not completely locked from our objective.

Also, while CrazyIvan supports a shift toward "native" weaponry, Angel is pretty much not going to give up his rifle. As far as he's seen, projectile weaponry is disproportionately effective.

I have a feeling that Swims' inner idealist isn't going to be pleased if he asks where the money came from, but we ought to be able to make him understand. To add to Gatac's inquiry about the estimates on the repairs, how much do we have left?

I don't think Swims really needs to know where we got our cash from. I mean, if he asks, we'll tell him, but we don't really need to come out and say "We sold a bunch of guns". And I think we have 18,500 of our 20,000 left. Now, we might be able to get all of that back, since we paid it to Clay and he no longer has need of such material things. It's the GTA Hooker theory of economics, I believe.

So, I think we pony up for gas, as per the sacred "I Buy, You Fly" rules of engagement.

As Swims said, our previous payment pretty much covers the fuel, and he wasn't just flying for us as he had cargo to deliver. I'm thinking that the payment stands as is, then we help with the repair costs - perhaps half? That would be about 3000, which I think we can handle.

Punkey wrote:

So, I think we pony up for gas, as per the sacred "I Buy, You Fly" rules of engagement.

Bingo. They already have the 1.5kl we paid (which is the money we gave Clay, Punkey, so it's already on the board), out of a total of 8kl for a full repair and fueling. So, we need to pay...6.5kl. Total remaining cash if we do so: 12kl. (1kl= 1,000 latz, standard metric prefix stuff). This option lets us start repairs immediatly, but does mean we're paying it all, which shows we can be powerful friends, and thus are more attractive allies. On the other hand, it means there's still all the cargo to worry about later, and it means we only have 12kl left.

The second option would be to have them sell the cargo, and we pay the rest. So if they come up with 4kl from selling the stuff, we pitch in 2.5kl. If they get 3kl, our share is 3.5. On the other hand, this means siting around waiting for somebody to buy the junk, and that's time we could be using to start repairs.

A third option would be put up the 6.5kl imedeately, allowing One-Ton to buy parts and start repairs, while we go about selling the cargo we can. When the repairs are done, we pack up what's unsold and split. Whatever is made from cargo sales comes to us, leaving the end result essentially the same as Option 2, but with less time required plus the aded psychological effects of the "Eh, here's 6.5kl. Knock yourselves out." I'd say this is my choice. Thoughts?

It may not be necessary to pay the full amount up front before repairs start (it certainly isn't when I take my car to the shop). Perhaps we can pay some up front and then the cargo can get sold to cover the rest while the work is being done.

fanchergw wrote:

It may not be necessary to pay the full amount up front before repairs start (it certainly isn't when I take my car to the shop). Perhaps we can pay some up front and then the cargo can get sold to cover the rest while the work is being done.

Modified option three? That could work. It it does, let's do it. Of course, it does sacrifice some of the psychological value...

I believe I mentioned that Clay already had the money, that would be why I made the GTA hooker joke. As for options, I think the second option is the best. It gives us time to establish a relationship with the rebels and we don't show all our cards. As you said, we can't entirely trust anyone yet, so discretion is still probably the best idea.

Also, you don't have to actually find a buyer for the cargo unless you really want to. Swims was going to handle that after contacting whoever it is that's involved with the terrorists.

Hmm...if we don't have to sell the cargo, it might be useful to keep around. These "assemblers" that Swims referenced sound useful, or at least something worth looking at. If we want to keep that, option 1 would be the best.