Chapter 5 - On Our Own

GM:
At the third discharging of the stutterwarp drives, Hendrix announced to everyone that The Crystal Marble would continue her journey from this point under her own power. Power and service umbilical cords were removed by the crew of the Darkening Star. Those same manipulator craft that had docked the 'Marble into her cradle two weeks earlier gracefully detached her now, pushing her to a distance of 1000 meters aft of the Darkening Star. With a curt goodbye from the Darkening Star, she disappeared, stutterwarping away to finish her own journey. Left alone, in orbit around the outer body of the system, the crew of the Crystal Marble could truly say, "We're on our own."

'A' watch was on duty, two hours into the shift, at the time of separation.

Hendrix: *[French] Engineering, status. *

Ben: *[English] Everything's green down 'ere. The drive is on line and the plant is at full output. *

Down in Engineering, Valerie quickly translates the Chief's response for Karl. Ben seems to speak English only when Karl is present. Checking over some of the readouts on an auxiliary panel, Karl nods agreement to the Chief's report.

Hendrix: *[German] Very good. Doron, is the course laid in? *

Doron: *[German] Ja. We're ready to go. *

Hendrix: *[French] Van, Gunter, anything on the broadcast frequencies? *

Looking at the readouts in front of him, Gunter looks up at Van, who is floating slightly behind him.

Van: *[French] No, Captain. All is quiet. *

Hendrix: *[French] Very Well. Computer, prepare to get underway-general announcement.*

_[English] Attention all personnel. Prepare to get underway. All 'A' watch personnel to their duty stations. All 'B' watch personnel to secondary stations. _

The computer repeats its message in French and then German.

Hendrix: *[French] Phillipe, Take us out. *

Phillipe: *[French] Oui, my captain. We are underway. *

Standing behind Lisa, Vladomir quietly watches the auxiliary workstation readouts.

Meanwhile, down in the cargo bay:

Auren: "[French] Okay, that was better. Let's run through it one more time."

Secondary duty stations seem to be the cargo bay today, where Auren is leading the second watch, including Sali, Jack, and Anton in p-suit drills. Everyone is having some trouble putting on the suits as the bay is in total darkness except for the dim light of a few readout panels. The lack of available floor space is also hampering efforts as people bump into each other constantly. Having had enough of this, Jack grabs his suit and pushes off towards the top of the bay this time. With room to maneuver, he dons his suit faster than anybody else, winning Auren's praise and a lot of groans from his colleagues as they are told that they have to do it one more time.

Finally the drills are complete and the bay lights come back on. The additional fuel tankage seems to take up almost all of the available space. What little space it doesn't is covered in crates stacked to the ceiling. Only the ramp area and a bit to each side of it is open.

GM:
The Crystal Marble has been stutterwarping for just over 5 days. Shortly into 'B' Watch, the threshold gradient of Transit System Alpha One (TS-A1) was reached.

Saad: "[English] Threshold gradient reached, Auren."

Floating to the side of Saad, Anton watched the workstation readouts as the drive efficiency dropped off.

Auren: "[English] Erika, Position?"

Erika: "[English] Approximately 0.613 au off of our discharge point."

Auren: "[English] Course and ETA?"

Erika: "[English] Course laid in. ETA is 15 hours 55 minutes"

Auren: "[English] Saad, take us in."

Hendrix: 
*[French] We've completed the first leg of our solo journey, having arrived at TS-A1. The system contains a single world inside the threshold gradient of the primary. That world has three satellites orbiting it, with one at a distance of 45 planetary diameters, about 405,000 km. That is our intended discharge point. We'll reach it in about 16 hours. *

The crew busy themselves for the rest of the shift running sensor scans and performing routine tasks.

GM:
Note: The sensor suite of the Crystal Marble has been modified for interdiction duty by the installation of deep system scan (DSS) and gravitational scan sensors. In addition to the necessary hull mounted hardware, the processing units are located in the cargo bay in a sealed modular container. These sensors can be run off of the navigation workstation, but are usually run from the auxiliary station.

Approximately 2 hours until discharge point:

Standing behind Lisa, Vladomir sees an anomaly flash across one of the screens of the workstation. Raising an eyebrow, he quietly asks Lisa, "[English] Vhat vas that?"

Lisa: "[English] What was what?"

Vladomir:
Reaching over to press a button, he waits a second while the screen replays. "[English] That."
Looking over the screen, Lisa's hands fly rapidly over the panel.

Lisa:
"[German] Doron, take a look at this feed."

Doron:
"[German] Wait a second. [English] Captain. We're picking up a very faint emission in the vicinity of our discharge point"

Hendrix:
"[English] Another ship?"

Doron:
"[English] I don't think so, it's too faint. It'd have to be a maximum output of 0.01 MW to produce the signal we're getting."

Hendrix:
"[English] Drone. or missile?"

Doron:
"[English] Possibly."

Van:
"[English] Captain! I'm picking up a signal on the distress frequencies."

Hendrix:
"[English] Type?"

Van:
"[English] Data only. It appears to be an automated beacon. It's repeating at regular intervals on all frequencies. "

GM:
Think black box (20th century Terra analogy).

Hendrix:
"[English] Damn!"
*[English] Computer, Page Auren. *
*[English] Attention all personnel. We're about 2 hours out from our discharge point and have picked up energy emissions and a signal from an automated ship beacon. We're going to have to investigate this. All off-duty personnel assemble in the crew lounge in five minutes. *

Five minutes later.

Hendrix:
*[French] we've pinpointed the source of the beacon call to a debris field about 3000 km ahead. This field is new and that's bad; it means something happened here and we don't know what. We're going to have to send EVA teams out to locate the beacon and retrieve it. Any volunteers?"

Jack:
[Lapsing into English]"I guess that's what I get paid for, is there a need for weapons?"

Anton:
Anton erects somewhats. [English] " Eyh, I'm not an expert EVA guy (smiling) but I actually would wanna move around a bit."

Gunter:
[English]: "I'll go also."

Karl:
"[French] Count me in."

Auren:
"[French] Good. Jack, you and Anton will take one of the scooters. Karl and Gunter, another." "[French] Vladomir how about you? Want to pop outside or would you rather help out on the ship? ...we can use you in either place." "[French] And you, Sali?"

Sali:
Sali shifts uncomfortably and then asks, [French] "I hate to display my ignorance, but what is needed for the EVA teams?"

Auren:
"[French] Our sensors can only give an approximate locations. The actual pinpointing and retrieval will have to be performed by the Extra Vehicular Activity teams. Each team will be composed of two individuals who will take a scooter out to search the field. If you would be more comfortable shipboard, we could use an extra hand to assist with ship-to-scooter communications during the search."

Sali:
[French] "Since my experience in these matters is so small, I think I would best assisting with communications."

Vladomir:
Rubbing his chin for a moment, Vladomir gives a curt nod. [French] "Yes, I am thinking there is being no better place than the field for seeing how yer training has vorked." With that he looks up as his hat and sighs, moving to secure it before putting on the P-suit.

Auren:
"[French] Excellent!" 
*[English] Lisa, head to the cargo bay, you're going out with Vladomir as the third EVA team. Sali will replace you at the auxiliary station. *

Lisa:
*[English] 'kay. Meet you there Vladomir! *

Jack:
"[French] You know how vital commo is to us out there Sali, we can't see anything sneaking up on us. I'd feel safer knowing that someone's watching our backs." Jack turns and goes to the lounge to suit up, he has more or less reserved a suit for himself as he feels wearing someone else's suit to be disgusting. He slides in and his sense of humour reasserts itself. "[French] Hey Anton! Want to go for a walk? How about first team to contact the target get's free drinks from the other?" When Jack goes to the airlock to hook up his EVA rig, he makes sure to get a rocket stake.

Anton:
[French] " Yeah, done as long as its whiskey !!!"

Sali:
Sali smiles, a trifle awkwardly, and nods, responding in French, "Well, better than my untrained self firing a bad thruster and sending you off towards the sun, no? I don't want to do my on the job training at the expense of you all." Her tone betrays an awkwardness or discomfort. Turning back to Hendrix, she asks, "So, shall I occupy the sensors or what is the best role for me?" 

Auren:
"[French] Sali, take Lisa's place at the auxiliary workstation on the bridge. Doron will get it set up for communications with the EVA teams and tie in the sensor feeds."

"[French] Eva teams proceed to the cargo bay and suit up. Lisette and Stuart will assist you in breaking out the EVA gear. We'll close to a distance of about 2000 m from the edge of the field and launch the teams from there. I'll be down to the bay before you head out to update you with any more information we can gather."

Sali:
[French] "Right, I am off then." Sali propels her self towards the bridge as quickly as possible, trying not to look too clumsy. 

[ooc: Terry, I believe you mentioned EVA scooters, or are the teams using EVA packs? What do these look like?]

GM:
Scooters will be used to transport the teams to a closer vicinity and carry equipment. Packs or sticks (not stakes) are necessary for individual maneuvering. For packs, think about something similar to the current NASA eva packs.

Gunter:
[French]:"Are we leaving an EVA team on board for safety, or will the Crystal Marble perform any emergency pickups? Any dangerously high levels of radiation detected?"

Auren:
"[French] Stuart and myself will stay on the Crystal Marble as a fourth team. If there are any emergencies, we'll go out and perform any retrievals or such. It's too dangerous to bring the ship close in to the field due to collisions and damage from the debris." "Radiation levels appear to be normal."

Auren:
"[French] You can pick your own equipment from the stores available. Use your own experience and those of your team mates and ask questions if you are unsure. Remember that the scooters are limited to 250 kg. If you overload the scooter, it will become uncontrollable. Though it shouldn't be necessary, you can each draw one melee weapon and one firearm from the ship's weapons locker. If you don't see something, ask... we might be able to dig it up."

Jack:
Jack is suiting up when he's eyes fall on the Dunarmco CAWS. "[English] G'day mate! Look who's hiding in the cupboard!" He says as he picks up one of the weapons. "[French] Now this is the way to settle disputes at close range! Never disagree with a DAC-CAG!" He replaces the weapon in the rack and starts sorting through the EVA equipment. "What's the general consensus on an EVA loadout? If we are going near a derelict I'm thinking weapons might be the go. Do we have any better idea of what the beacon is?"

Auren:
"[French]: The beacon is part of the 'black box' installed on all space and star craft. The 'black box' contains various data recorders and is used to determine the causes in the event of something going wrong. The beacon is the transponder component of the 'black box'. It weighs about 20 kilograms." 
"We are concerned because beacons only activate and broadcast for one of two reasons--tampering or destruction of a vessel. Pirates sometimes trigger a beacon to attract other craft who think they are answering a legitimate call. That is one of the reasons that the Crystal Marble will stay well out of the field--it gives her a better chance at detecting another craft. And if it is a legitimate call, that means that a craft broke up, which is also not good. By interstellar law, we are required to investigate in any case."
"It is possible that there may be sections of the hull that are intact, but they would be fairly small--we're not getting any signatures larger than 5m."
"Typical EVA operations in this scenario would involve using the scooters to reach a position much closer to the beacon source. Sensor data from the scooters will be relayed back to the Crystal Marble where it will be analyzed and further guidance given to the teams. Once in the areas, EVA packs or sticks should be used to approach the beacon and retrieve it; bringing it back to the sled. It will also be necessary to retrieve any bodies or escape pods. Its always a good idea to take tools and cabling for securing people and cargo; it's better to have it on the scooter than to have to come back to the ship to get it."

Jack:
"[French] Okay, there is little chance of us needing the shotguns if there's nothing bigger than five metres across. I assume the Crystal Marble has enough weaponry to dissuade a hostile craft? Please don't tell me it's a dispenser!" "I think we are ready by the sounds of it" he looks at the other EVA team members, "do you agree?"

Gunter:
[very poor English]: "I vill take zee laser pistol. I do not wish to have to vorry about recoil in zero-G. What do you think Jack? Perhaps a look see run first? Two teams searching and one hanging back as back up?"

Auren:
"[French] All three teams will go out. That will reduce the search time so that we can return to our task of getting to Tango-7."

Gunther:
Gunter pulls on an EVA worksuit, straps on the P-3 laser, several stik kits. [English]:"I think I will steer clear of the rocket stake and EVA stick, and stay with the EVA pack." Gunter grabs a beacon for the scooter.

Jack:
"[English] Sounds like a good idea there Gunter, a rapid reserve sounds just the go. If we are picking up a transmitter floating in space a weapon will be a waste of time, but a room broom is a powerful persuader if you have to go indoors but you have to remember to brace. I think we should probably take a rocket stake each 'cos they are a good zee-gee weapon if it comes down to it, an EVA pack, magnetic grapple of course and the rest depends on whats out there." He leans over and hits the communicator. 
*"[French] Sali, do you have any idea of what we are looking at here? Is it a hull?"*

Anton:
Anton dresses up in an EVA worksuit, takes a M-57, some stik kits, imitating Gunther and says: [English] "Djack, do you want me to bringk something more ?".

[ooc: assuming Sali has reached her station.]

Sali:
[French] "Wait, let me see. Oh yes, team, please keep all communications in French, I understand all your languages, but not everyone does. A little language discipline will keep us from having confusion"

[ooc: Chef, please tell me what Sali can tell the team....]

Karl:
Heading to the cargo bay, Karl though over in his mind what he should bring with him. By the time he had reached the bay, he had a good idea. Quickly suiting up, he checked the biomonitor readouts and that communications with the others teams and Sali was possible. Checking over the scooter, he noted the controls, sensor readouts and cargo areas. With Gunter's assistance, he loaded the scooter with the following items and secured them.

magnetic grapples – 2
zero-G tool kit – 1
extra EVA pack – 2
EVA sticks – 2
rocket stakes – 2
stik kits - pouch with a variety of types
electronic repair tool kit –1
Reels of cable – 2

He helped Gunter with his EVA pack and then waited while Gunter secured his own. Checking the fit, he gave Gunter a thumbs up. Walking to the selection of weapons, he picked up a taser and clipped it to the belt on his suit. Looking at Auren he gave him a thumbs up, indicating that he was ready to go.

Lisa:
Lisa is wearing a standard EVA work suit from which a small tool kit is attached. An EVA pack is secured to the back of suit. She works with Vladomir to assemble the cargo for their scooter. she chooses no firearm, but does take a powerful portable strobe light.

Lisa:
"[English] Nothing like a blinding light in the face to spoil your aim."

Lisa:
Lisa helps Vladomir assemble their sled cargo so that it is the same as Gunter and Karl's, plus whatever Vladomir brings along.

Vladomir:
Vladomir basically sits back and lets the more experienced folk equip the scooter. But he will follow Lisa's lead by taking a light. He looks to the weapons rack for a moment, then shakes his head leaving the weapons alone

Jack:
Jack loads the same loadout, he wears an EVA pack in case tight manoeuvring is required over distances the EVA stick cannot manage. The shotgun is stowed on the scooter but he can't think of a situation where he'd need it. He asks Anton if there's anything else he can think of. *"[French] I have the kitchen sink but I'm short on plumbing."

Anton:
Laughs shortly and adds [French]: " Hell, we could use a advanced medkit, extra EVA packs and probably spare oxygenholders, but... I don't think Karl and Gunther wanna carry it !"

GM:
With all teams suited and the scooters ready, Lisette leaves the cargo bay. Auren and Stuart finish getting into their suits and check each other over, using the time-tested buddy system.

Auren:
*[French] Bridge, we're ready for launch down here. *

Hendrix:
*[English] Understood. Doron, what's our position relative to the debris field? *

Doron:
*[English] We've reached a position approximately 2000 m off and 500 m above the debris field. *

Phillipe:
*[English] All stop, Capitaine. *

Hendrix:
*[French] Very good. Auren, launch when ready. *

Auren:
*[French] Understood. Prepping for launch. *

Pressing some buttons on the control panel, Auren initiates the launch cycle. A loud siren sounds in accompliment with flashing strobes as the bay atmosphere is rapidly pumped out. As it leaves, the sound of the siren diminishes until only the strobes remain. Simultaneously, the lights in the bay switch to a soft red glow. The strobes stop as the overhead bay doors slowly open. The edge of the doors are marked by luminescent strips that clearly show the exit to space.

Auren:
*[French] Jack and Anton, you are EVA Team 1. Karl and Gunter--Team 2, Vladomir and Lisa are Team 3. In the event that it is necessary, Stuart and myself will be EVA Team 4. Sali will be primary contact for the search on comm channel A. General ship communications will be on comm channel B. Sali, Van, and myself will be monitoring comm A and B. Teams will launch at 30 second intervals and proceed to a distance of 100 meters from the Crystal Marble upon which they will hold for instructions from Sali. Good Luck. *

Securing his suit, Auren moves to the side as the first scooter prepares to launch.