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[PyroDesu]

((Somehow, I doubt that ~1/4 of your remaining delta-V (That's not even counting the fuel needed for matching position and velocity!) will be enough to get to them and help them in time, Radio.))

[Sean Mirrsen]

((In space, maneuvers don't actually take a whole lot. Getting to space in the first place takes most of the effort. But it's true, if they have about 15 minutes till apoapsis you'll probably never catch them without expending more fuel than strictly necessary. Not without, say, just plain crashing into them to stop, then picking up their corpses and flying into something resembling orbit so that the incoming shuttle from the Sword can pick you up.

Orbital rendezvous is a lot easier when you don't have to take care not to smash yourself or the target.

And 1/4 of the Gilgamesh's delta-v is still a whole damn lot. Note, it recently pushed itself and a roughly equal mass up a shaft, with some instances of hovering along the way. It's got ridiculous TWR, and if those maneuvers used up only 3/4 of its fuel, it is almost a shuttle in its own right. 1/4 of its fuel would be sufficient to lower the orbit, pick up two people, and raise the orbit back, easy. The problem is that the people don't have the time to wait for the Gilgamesh to do a full orbit to pick them up.))

[PyroDesu]

((~1/4 of the remaining delta-V (The amount you can safely expend, allowing you to accelerate, decelerate, accelerate back, and decelerate again) vs. the hundreds of miles distance.

And that's without maneuvering delta-V.))

[Sean Mirrsen]

((Um. Hundreds of miles have no meaning in space. For instance, if you are currently at a... say, 2000km circular-ish orbit, sort of halfway to geostat, and you need to dip down to a 200km orbit to pick someone up. You need to.. *consults formulae* expend about 880m/s delta-v, for injection and circularization, to get there. This is just about a minute and a half of 1g acceleration, and the Gilgamesh did a lot more than that, and for quite a bit longer. The problem is that the orbital period is measured in hours, and there's no time for a simple Hohmann transfer.))

[Zako]

((Sean has a point about the distance thing. Gilgamesh only needs to get up to speed and then can just stop firing engines and drift all the way there. There is no air friction or gravity to slow you down in space, which is why I was offering to give the shuttle a push with my small rockets. Normally, they would just mash me against the unmoving mass of the shuttle but in space, the whole shuttle will move in the direction that I push with no problem at all since there's nothing holding it in place.

The real problem is what Sean said: Actually being in the right place at the right time for the pickup. It's really, really difficult to pull off at the very least to get to the right place and having to get there in a time limit and at just below orbit to do something tricky? That's just piling on the hurt.))

[PyroDesu]

((The distance does determine travel time. With limited delta-V, you can only get going so fast. That's more what I meant. He can reach, but not in a real timely fashion.))

[Radio Controlled]

((It all depends on how far they are away from us. If we juuuust made it into stable orbit, while they fell juuust short, they may be closer than we think.

Also, maybe I use Bishop's and Milno's fuel to supplement my own?
Be warned that I'm not planning on risking Miyamoto's life if I'm not decently sure I can pull it off.))

[Zako]

((I don't think we have the equipment required for transfering fuel between rockets in the shuttle, not to mention that we would have to do this in zero g and in space, which complicates things. I don't think it can be done in time either, maybe we could do one pack, but not both. This is of course presuming that the fuel in the MKIII's is actually the same stuff used in the delta-V's, and if it's not then mixing fuels that don't match is a bad idea.))

[Parisbre56]

((Okay, first, let's get some music to get the heart pumping and the mind working. I love these kind of challenges. I actually have so many ideas I don't know which one to choose. Too bad I didn't put any points in handiwork. Maybe next mission... or character. Let's hope those days I spent playing Orbiter pay off. And even if I fail though, I've thought out of a way to die while doing maximum science .))

"Incompetent UWM fools. Who the fuck recruits and trains these guys? First they forget to refuel, while it should be the first thing you do on a hostile world, and then they get mindfucked? Fucking amateurs..."

"Okay. Jack. Contact Steve and give him our coordinates and velocity. In fact contact everyone who can help and ask for help. I want Steve to get a shuttle here to pick us up as fast as possible, no more than 40 minutes, even if that means we get splashed across the windshield like bugs. Tell him to keep his sensors on the ship and watch it for movement." said Flint as he shoved Jack to the long range comms and then returned to the console.

Action if Yoink doesn't post: Jack will go to the long range comms and try to contact Steve or anyone else who can help via regular comms (boosted through the ship if necessary) and give him the above info and message/call for help. If that fails due to sharkmist interference, he will search the last called numbers (or future tech equivalent) for the Sword's number and call that through the quantum entanglement device, if the ship possesses one. He will accept any help from Miyamoto or other teammembers if possible and request an ETA for the shuttle.

"You know this reminds me of the time I played the protagonist in Apollo 31. I managed to fix an anti-gravity device with a sock, some rubber bands and a whole lotta duct-tape, he he he." said Flint to himself as he hurriedly checked all available systems.

I need a list of everything on board, how much fuel/energy they have, where they are and what they do, anything that can even remotely be used to save me (that does not include bibles (except if they're rocket bibles or anti-gravity bibles)). Specifically, I need info about: Oxygen (or any other pressurized gas) tanks, maneuvering thrusters (How many are there? Do they use fuel or do they simply expel gas?), artificial gravity systems (does it use the rotation method or the manipulator method? If it uses the manipulator method can it be reprogrammed?), fire extinguishers, explosives, escape pods, coil guns/Gauss guns , VR machines (I hope I kept at least one of those, everyone in the HMRC knows those are always essential (and no, I'm not gonna tinker)), emergency fuel tanks, any leftover rockets, directed energy weapons, the ship's power production method, EVA suits, solar sails, wire rope, extra UWM space suits, self destruct mechanisms, bungee cord, toolboxes and duct tape. In short, anything that Wile E. Coyote could use to catch the Roadrunner.

Accept help from anyone. Requesting ETA for apoapsis and ETA for planetfall. ((I hope this info gathering and help calling take less then a minute.))

[PyroDesu]

((I don't think we have the equipment required for transfering fuel between rockets in the shuttle, not to mention that we would have to do this in zero g and in space, which complicates things. I don't think it can be done in time either, maybe we could do one pack, but not both. This is of course presuming that the fuel in the MKIII's is actually the same stuff used in the delta-V's, and if it's not then mixing fuels that don't match is a bad idea.))

((... Delta-V isn't referring to any craft or anything. It's the measure of the amount of "effort" that is needed to change from one trajectory to another by making an orbital maneuver.))

[Radio Controlled]

((This explains delta-V

In short, V is velocity, and 'Delta' is used to describe the difference between two states (e.g. going from 1 to 5 km/h in a straight line gives you a delta-V of 4 km/h).))

[Yoink]

"Oh, damn. Argh. Right right right."
Jobasio nodded his head at Flint's words, glad someone had some kind of plan, and hurried to the comms.
He felt awful; this had been, at least partially, his idea- now he would just feel foolish if he'd traded an easy end to the mission for a horrible death all over some half-baked thought of escape.

He glanced back to Flint as he jabbed at buttons, aiming to contact the Sword. "Somehow... Somehow I'm not sure they'd bother sending us a shuttle even if they could. Anything's worth a shot, but still. I hope you have some other plan, however desperate."

>Do as Flint says and attempt to contact the Sword.

>Describe our situation and give a vague idea as to our position, then try and find a monitor or such displaying more exact coordinates. If found, relay those as well.

>If I get all that done and we are still alive, hug my gauss rifle.

"We're going to get out of this," Jobasio whispers to his rifle, trying to reassure himself as much as anyone, "Don't you worry."

[piecewise]

Hum the Blue Danube.

Can't let you do that, Dave.

((Are they still within comms range? Because if so: ))

Try to get into contact with our space cowboys and assist them with their escape by providing technical assistance if I can. If needed, use our shuttle's comm device to reach them. Also check my fuel levels.

((It's a long shot, but worth the try no?  Also, altered my action.))

(I should point out that the planet you all were on was only about .6 G)

Your fuel levels are at just a hair less then half.

>You would be able to catch them. But here's the thing; it would mean a full power burn straight towards a point in their descent. No slowing down, no real maneuvering. At best you would do a flyby, catch them, or more realistically use something to skewer them, and then proceed on an uncomfortably low skim of the planet and into a gravity slingshot out into space. At which point we hopefully catch you.

((Okay, first, let's get some music to get the heart pumping and the mind working. I love these kind of challenges. I actually have so many ideas I don't know which one to choose. Too bad I didn't put any points in handiwork. Maybe next mission... or character. Let's hope those days I spent playing Orbiter pay off. And even if I fail though, I've thought out of a way to die while doing maximum science .))

"Incompetent UWM fools. Who the fuck recruits and trains these guys? First they forget to refuel, while it should be the first thing you do on a hostile world, and then they get mindfucked? Fucking amateurs..."

"Okay. Jack. Contact Steve and give him our coordinates and velocity. In fact contact everyone who can help and ask for help. I want Steve to get a shuttle here to pick us up as fast as possible, no more than 40 minutes, even if that means we get splashed across the windshield like bugs. Tell him to keep his sensors on the ship and watch it for movement." said Flint as he shoved Jack to the long range comms and then returned to the console.

Action if Yoink doesn't post: Jack will go to the long range comms and try to contact Steve or anyone else who can help via regular comms (boosted through the ship if necessary) and give him the above info and message/call for help. If that fails due to sharkmist interference, he will search the last called numbers (or future tech equivalent) for the Sword's number and call that through the quantum entanglement device, if the ship possesses one. He will accept any help from Miyamoto or other teammembers if possible and request an ETA for the shuttle.

"You know this reminds me of the time I played the protagonist in Apollo 31. I managed to fix an anti-gravity device with a sock, some rubber bands and a whole lotta duct-tape, he he he." said Flint to himself as he hurriedly checked all available systems.

I need a list of everything on board, how much fuel/energy they have, where they are and what they do, anything that can even remotely be used to save me (that does not include bibles (except if they're rocket bibles or anti-gravity bibles)). Specifically, I need info about: Oxygen (or any other pressurized gas) tanks, maneuvering thrusters (How many are there? Do they use fuel or do they simply expel gas?), artificial gravity systems (does it use the rotation method or the manipulator method? If it uses the manipulator method can it be reprogrammed?), fire extinguishers, explosives, escape pods, coil guns/Gauss guns , VR machines (I hope I kept at least one of those, everyone in the HMRC knows those are always essential (and no, I'm not gonna tinker)), emergency fuel tanks, any leftover rockets, directed energy weapons, the ship's power production method, EVA suits, solar sails, wire rope, extra UWM space suits, self destruct mechanisms, bungee cord, toolboxes and duct tape. In short, anything that Wile E. Coyote could use to catch the Roadrunner.

Accept help from anyone. Requesting ETA for apoapsis and ETA for planetfall. ((I hope this info gathering and help calling take less then a minute.))

>I'm afraid a shuttle isn't going to be able to reach you in time. They're simply not fast enough. Even if the other team's shuttle till had fuel it wouldn't be able to make it, you're moving at high speed away from us on a failed orbit path after all.  I've rerouted the shuttle on it's way toward your teammates and set it to full burn. If you can manage to get yourselves up and out of that ship, up a little higher, we might be able to make it.

As per your available materials:
Oxygen storage tanks connected to a filtration and re-breather system
4 multi-directional maneuvering rocket pods, each with their own built-in fuel systems, mostly full. Not very strong individually.
Gravity manipulator: a preprogrammed manipulator designed to create an artificial field of gravity in one direction. Note that this field does NOT effect the manipulator itself, just everything around it.
Fire extinguishing system based on pressurized tanks, but built into the ship itself, like overhead sprinklers but with a flame retardant foam.
No explosives or weapons, besides your own.
No VR machines
A single extra spacesuit, but it has no maneuvering system.
No emergency fuel tanks (already emptied those)
Power supply for the ship is a small scale fusion reactor, but it's so entrenched in the ship you're never gonna be able to do anything with it.
A supply of tools, cable, wire, and other things used to repair minor problems on the ship.


Apoapsis ETA: 13 minutes. Planetfall: 30 minutes till impact.

[Radio Controlled]

((Darn, I'm really doubting right now. Hmm. Don't want to die so close to the finish line...

Ok, so first you guys need to make sure you get as high as you can. Maybe, if it's enough, I won't need to go on a suicide errand.

Secondly, Bishop, would you lend me a hand? Any extra thrust, even for a little while, would be very welcome.))

[Parisbre56]

Give Jack the second monorazor so that he can get us some gas tanks. If it is possible to do something like a maintenance unlock for the rocket pods through the ship's computer first tie them up with some wire, then eject them, then go outside and collect them. Else, go outside and start chiseling and monorazoring to get to them (remember to disconnect the electronics but leave them intact). Either way, use the wire to make a few loops to hold them together if I manage to get them all out.  Contemplate if there is any way I can move the gravity manipulator to cause the gravity to affect the ship (for example moving it lower and making the bottom of the ship face away from the planet or turning it upside down, putting it higher and making the bottom of the ship face the planet). Continue working until we get at 7 minutes until apoapsis, when I will reexamine the situation. Accept help from any willing teammate (Steve can act as a relay if necessary).

Edit: If there is danger of drifting through space or not enough leverage tie myself onto the hull if this thing doesn't have magnetic boots or micrpthrusters or something.

"Jack, two things: First we need some kind of maneuvering thrusters to control the rocket I'm making. 2 would be fine but I'd prefer 4. Take either the fire extinguisher tanks or the oxygen tanks and see if their size is managable and if there is any way to open and close them electronically or even mechanically, so they can act as maneuvering thrusters. Take whichever would be best for maneuvering our makeshift rockets out of the walls and get ready to take it outside. Second, see if it is possible to vent the reactor material, fire extinguishers or the oxygen from the back of the ship so as to give us thrust, but don't do it yet. If you finish in time, come help me."