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Author Topic: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!  (Read 16014 times)

Harry Baldman

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Re: Star Brick: Ragtag Misfits IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #75 on: October 02, 2014, 02:14:34 pm »

Someone couldn't tell what the sources of the vibrations were, exactly, but she did know they were enemies of some sort now. And this necessitated some tactics.

Try to get the ship into orbit around the gravity well. Feel for the hums and the buzzes, fly by the information directed to my lower jaw.
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monk12

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Re: Star Brick: Ragtag Misfits IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #76 on: October 03, 2014, 02:20:00 pm »

*cough*IRONYOWL*cough*

IronyOwl

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Re: Star Brick: Ragtag Misfits IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #77 on: October 03, 2014, 06:20:57 pm »

Skirri tilted her head at the viewscreen. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Hmmmmmmm.

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

...no idea. Well! Taking things apart was the first step to fixing them. Unfortunately the frigate was out there, so she'd have to settle for looking at it.

Get to Sensor Control, see what I can find out about that death frigate.
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The kitchenette mold free, you move on to the pantry. it's nasty in there. The bacon is grazing on the lettuce. The ham is having an illicit affair with the prime rib, The potatoes see all, know all. A rat in boxer shorts smoking a foul smelling cigar is banging on a cabinet shouting about rent money.

monk12

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Re: Star Brick: Ragtag Misfits IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #78 on: October 06, 2014, 07:05:47 pm »

STAR BRICK



NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo!
as the three of me that fell look around for another exit or some way to build a ramp or ladder back out, I and Me return to the Sensor Room bearing a message:
Code: [Select]
TurnOffGravAt
Code: [Select]
Sec: A7-H2-K5((feel free to correct the coordinates))
Whilst the remaining three of me attempt to find a path help could crawl through to reach me and get me out!

[2]-1

The three kittens that fell down the hole attempt to find enough material to build a ramp back out of the hole, but the shallow pile of tattered clothing and discarded spaceship components makes a very unimpressive mound in the corner. Worse, cleaning up all that junk reveals that the walls of the hole are contiguous with no alternative exits, patched or otherwise!

[1]-1

A second group of three kittens begins exploring, looking or a way into the hole. After all, nobody would just build a hole for no reason, right? It seems to be a garbage chute; presumably, there must be a place the garbage was being chuted to, and that means there must be a place for the kittens to crawl and regroup.

In a seeming stroke of luck, the next room over has an active console, seemingly untouched in the years since these halls were circumvented. Kit can't read Tensarian, but they can recognize the general schematics of the garbage chute, and it appears that one of the walls can be made to move, allowing Kit access to a nearby service tunnel.

Unfortunately, when Kit enters the command, the wall moves inward, not outward. The kittens in the chute mewl in terror as they realize they are actually in a garbage compactor; the walls are closing in!


Seeing the kitten on the ground, Conan reads its collar.

"I do know about turn off gravity. I feel that is not order that I should take from cat. What is problem over there anyway."

Move to where the kitten tells the problem is. If I can see the hole and/or locate it by the mewling, try to take off my shirt and dangle it down the hole so the kittens can clamp on it and allow me to pull them out.

As far as spacefarers go, Conan is a greenhorn. He's vaguely aware that the red lights surrounding the odd ship on the viewscreen are bad news, but he's also increasingly aware that just about everything on the Star Brick is in some state of more or less emergency, and if the sensors can't detect everything they should see, at least they seem to see well enough to prevent a collision.

A pair of small kittens tumble into the room as Skirri moves over to the sensor console. Conan bends down, reading their collars.

Code: [Select]
TurnOffGravAt
Code: [Select]
Sec: A7-H2-K5
Gravity modulation? That's life support, and tricky work too. It's certainly nothing that Conan feels he should be messing around with unnecessarily. If the kitten will show him what's wrong, he's sure he can fix it.

[2]

Following one of the kittens to the wall, Conan gets down on hands and knees and squeezes into the old Tensarian halls. It feels as though he's inside a Spacey's Fun Freighter, one of those mock spaceships they have for the kids to crawl around in while the parents try to unwrap the radiation shielding on the patented Spacey's Star Sandwich (guaranteed to survive your intergalactic journey home or your money back!) Invariably, one of those parents has to retrieve their kid from the hellish plastic labyrinth that is the Fun Freighter, and invariably they get stuck in a hatch and have to wait for the local Spacey's employee to get the jaws of life out from under the counter.

Before long, Conan's crawl through the Tensarian halls is halted when he reaches a short staircase and sharp turn in a particularly narrow segment. He might be able to squeeze through there... or, he might not. Conan does not think a Spacey's employee will come with the jaws of life to save him if he gets stuck in here.


Skirri tilted her head at the viewscreen. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Hmmmmmmm.

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

...no idea. Well! Taking things apart was the first step to fixing them. Unfortunately the frigate was out there, so she'd have to settle for looking at it.

Get to Sensor Control, see what I can find out about that death frigate.

[3]

Skirri steps up to the main Sensor Control console and begins typing. She's more familiar with the appraisal scans of the Omnicrush in the Cargo Bay, but she can figure out some of the more detailed active scans available at this terminal. She soon discovers that the Aelyrain Frigate is a quite outdated model; several decades, in fact. This is unusual, since the Aelyrain Caliphate has rather peculiar attitudes regarding scrapping and retrofitting; official Aelyrain vessels are always kept to top of the line technology specifications. Conventional wisdom suggests that an Aelyrain ship is only as outdated as its most recent trip to port; thus, conventional wisdom suggests that this ship has not returned to Aelyrain space in nearly a century.

[2]

A small kitten meows loudly while Skirri chews her lip, trying to find a different scan to run. She does not notice the small creature trying and failing to climb onto the console to get into her line of sight.


Someone couldn't tell what the sources of the vibrations were, exactly, but she did know they were enemies of some sort now. And this necessitated some tactics.

Try to get the ship into orbit around the gravity well. Feel for the hums and the buzzes, fly by the information directed to my lower jaw.


[6]

Captain Someone gets some troubling vibes from the sensor record autologger; somebody is running scans on an Aelyrain Patrol Frigate, which means there is an Aelyrain Patrol Frigate near enough to scan, which is the sort of thing Someone usually learns about when plasma begins carving hunks out of the Star Brick's hull. Since they are not currently being cut up, Someone has detected a more serious problem; not only is the Star Brick inside an unknown gravity well, but they are currently plummeting deeper into it at an alarming rate.

Someone presses her face to the helm console. Various levers and widgets vibrate in response; debris 0.3 klicks in that direction, ship 1.5 klicks in another, grav well sourced 5.4 klicks in a third direction. With a tricky bit of eyebrow wriggling, button mashing, and lever throwing, Captain Someone triangulates the tactical information supplied by the helm console and levels off the Star Brick, quickly achieving a stable orbit around the anomalous grav well.

As she begins to crunch the numbers, however, she finds the situation is more dire than she had expected. Though their orbit is stable and free of collisions for the foreseeable future (and her calculations can foresee quite some ways) an escape trajectory is much more difficult to plot. Simply put, the main engines of the Star Brick are insufficient to escape the pull of the anomaly, and the DSJ drive will not function properly within the pull of a significant gravitational field (it's not called the Deep Space Drive for nothing.)

On the plus side, the Aelyrain Patrol Frigate hasn't opened fire yet! Not only that, but it has not corrected course to pursue the Star Brick... nor has it altered its posture at all. It remains fixated on the cloud of debris before it.


Spoiler: Star Brick Status (click to show/hide)

Lenglon

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #79 on: October 06, 2014, 11:39:29 pm »

I DONT WANT TO DIE!!!
REVERSE THE WALL'S MOTION RIGHT NOW. (not splitting my attention at all from this task - all of me except the one at the control panel are going to go idle for this turn, leaving their collars displaying whatever they happen to be displaying.)
« Last Edit: October 06, 2014, 11:43:22 pm by Lenglon »
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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #80 on: October 07, 2014, 12:27:20 am »

((Jeez, some pretty bad rolls there, I mean, jesus.))
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #81 on: October 07, 2014, 05:08:08 am »

It seems entirely counterintuitive that a device that can achieve a stable orbit around an object cannot escape its sphere of influence, does it not?

Consider how long we will need to accelerate to escape velocity, and what exactly the problem is. Lack of fuel, or something else?
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RAM

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #82 on: October 07, 2014, 02:48:00 pm »

Kitties!!!
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IronyOwl

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #83 on: October 07, 2014, 06:15:17 pm »

Fascinating... Skirri wondered if this was an Aelyrain frigate or just originally an Aelyrain frigate.

Well, only one way to find out!

Attempt to hail the frigate!


((Playing dead was a plan I was originally strongly considering, but I didn't consider that it wasn't bearing down on us at all. And since Skirri still doesn't know~))
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Pancaek

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #84 on: October 08, 2014, 12:51:24 pm »

"Shaman say: 'He who fears the cave, will be too scard to hear bear returning home.'"

Venture forth and save those kittens!
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monk12

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Re: Star Brick: Ragtag Misfits IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #85 on: October 10, 2014, 12:49:11 pm »

STAR BRICK



I DONT WANT TO DIE!!!
REVERSE THE WALL'S MOTION RIGHT NOW. (not splitting my attention at all from this task - all of me except the one at the control panel are going to go idle for this turn, leaving their collars displaying whatever they happen to be displaying.)

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

Across the ship, Kit falls over, catatonic. The kittens at the garbage compactor console surround the screen, merging their perspectives and acting as one. A white paw bats at the top left corner of the screen, closing the Compactor Progress Screen. Black paws patter near the bottom, scrolling screens for a way to shut down the compactor; power controls, diagnostics, emergency shutoffs, anything!

[5]

Fortunately, Kit finds the Tensarian equivalent of Task Manager. A tawny paw slaps at the right corner of the screen, aborting the Compacting Process. Kit breathes a mental sigh of relief as the walls of the garbage compactor stop, dangerously close to crushing the kittens but thankfully short of actually doing so.


"Shaman say: 'He who fears the cave, will be too scard to hear bear returning home.'"

Venture forth and save those kittens!

[6]

Conan watches in alarm as the kitten he is following collapses in a heap. Whatever trouble the kittens seem to be in, it must be dire!

Carefully, Conan shimmys down the tiny Tensarian stairs, working his way around the corner with a fluidity that would make a contortionist jealous. His guide seems unresponsive, but now Conan can hear desperate mewling from just ahead. Crawling forward, Conan squeezes through a narrow doorway and into a small, surprisingly kitten-filled room, faintly illuminated by grimy wall lights. The kittens abandon the console they had been perched upon, and run over to a dark hole in one corner of the room.

Pulling himself after them, Conan looks down the hole and into the reflected eyes of three kittens trapped in a narrow space. Taking off his shirt and gripping it by the arms, Conan locks his legs around the control console and dangles himself into the hole, he holds the shirt below him like a makeshift basket. The kittens are able to huddle inside with a little bit of jumping and tumbling, and before long Conan is able to extricate himself from the hole and dump the kittens on the floor, safe and sound, if a bit dusty.


It seems entirely counterintuitive that a device that can achieve a stable orbit around an object cannot escape its sphere of influence, does it not?

Consider how long we will need to accelerate to escape velocity, and what exactly the problem is. Lack of fuel, or something else?


[6]

Captain Someone begins poring over the results of the nav computer, brows furrowed, nose twitching, fingers flipping. According to the computer, in order for the Star Brick to escape the gravitational pull of the anomaly (which is really quite frightfully close) the engines would need to accelerate the ship to a speed usually measured in fractions of c, at which point the Star Brick would then need to coast on its escape trajectory for about two weeks, whereupon a few short DSJ hops would bring the Star Brick clear of the system and back to Talaria Station for refuelling of the main engines.

The nav computer is an idiot.

A much more sensible course would enable the Star Brick to escape the area in as little as a month, which would involve using up half the fuel and a significant portion of the provisions but would otherwise be safer, easier, and allow the ship to continue its original mission. Really, there's no reason the Star Brick can't leave the anomaly under its own power. It just might take a while.


Fascinating... Skirri wondered if this was an Aelyrain frigate or just originally an Aelyrain frigate.

Well, only one way to find out!

Attempt to hail the frigate!


((Playing dead was a plan I was originally strongly considering, but I didn't consider that it wasn't bearing down on us at all. And since Skirri still doesn't know~))

[4]

Skirri pops into existence on the Bridge. As usual, Captain Someone is huddled up close to the odd prongs and keys of her personalized computer interface, while conventional monitors and viewscreens scroll the data for the eyes of the normally sighted members of the crew. Skirri ignores the Captain and heads over to the Comm console, cycling through hailing frequencies in an attempt to contact the Aelyrain Frigate.

The speakers on the bridge buzz to life.

"Greetings, fellow spacefarer! You are speaking to the Friendly Aelyrain Caliphate Precursor Artifact Patrol Automated Communication Relay of the Aelyrain Caliphate Starship Harmonious Congress- you can call me FACPAPAC! Unfortunately, we are now operating under a Red Alert, and all of our communication technicians are occupied at this time. To activate the Aelyrain Caliphate Automated Interdiction Assistance Calling Tree, please supply your registry information at this time. To identify yourself as dirty alien iconoclast, please supply your non-approved registry or callsign at this time, to facilitate the notification of your next of kin. To speak to an Aelyrain Caliphate Communications Technician, please stay on the line."

...huh.



Spoiler: Star Brick Status (click to show/hide)

Lenglon

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #86 on: October 10, 2014, 02:45:02 pm »

Help Conan get back out into the *normal* parts of the ship before scattering back out into the various scattered sections of the ship.
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Harry Baldman

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #87 on: October 10, 2014, 05:16:47 pm »

Get to work on that escape. Then feel the vibrations of the consoles. Try to discern more about the anomalous thing - what do the sensors say?
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IronyOwl

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #88 on: October 10, 2014, 06:23:47 pm »

Skirri probably should have been alarmed that a century-old automated deathship was cheerfully considering murdering them if they didn't provide credentials they didn't have. Or concerned that the technician would at some point come on and give the order manually. Or that the Star Brick was falling apart in general.

Instead, what she was most focused on was the lack of fleshy hands to stop her from looting that ship.

Oh, sure, she was aware that there might be problems. She was also aware that she had no particular way to get to the frigate, no particular way to get through the frigate's shields, no particular way to get into the frigate, no particular way to harvest the frigate's parts, no particular way to get back to the Star Brick (though at that point it might be easier to hijack the frigate's systems, install some life support, and call it a day), and certainly no guarantee that the principle effect of her efforts wouldn't be overloading the Star Brick's systems and venting them all into space.

But it was free parts. Everything else was just a minor technical difficulty next to that singular, monolithic truth.

So... she had to get busy!

Okay, okay. First things first- is there any way to cloak the Star Brick from Ayleid Aelyrain AI sensors specifically?
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Quote from: Radio Controlled (Discord)
A hand, a hand, my kingdom for a hot hand!
The kitchenette mold free, you move on to the pantry. it's nasty in there. The bacon is grazing on the lettuce. The ham is having an illicit affair with the prime rib, The potatoes see all, know all. A rat in boxer shorts smoking a foul smelling cigar is banging on a cabinet shouting about rent money.

Pancaek

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Re: Star Brick: Green Swirly Thing IN SPAAAAACE!
« Reply #89 on: October 11, 2014, 06:14:09 am »

Follow the kittens back outside, then go the cargo bay. The violent shudders we've had are sure to have made a mess of the stuff I carefully organized.
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