Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ross Vernal]

If they're legitimate merchants, something is very badly wrong. Merchies don't sit around being a drifting black hole in space in which their money flows unless they have no choice in the matter.

Depending on the nature of the catastrophe that caused such a state, having a bunch of craft and crew on hand immediately could definitely be a good thing as far as survivors go.

Otherwise, having a few thousand people working together to dismantle and loot the leftovers will save time and money.

[Ozarck]

So, have we decided?
My current understanding is: we are sending the Vanguard and Corvettes into sensor range (I'd suggest closer than max range), while using some of the PC's fighters as message relays, and having the ship with the marines on board go along, maybe stay in alpha until we know more, when we could have a fighter hop up into alpha to shoot them a message either way?

[Knave]

So, have we decided?
My current understanding is: we are sending the Vanguard and Corvettes into sensor range (I'd suggest closer than max range), while using some of the PC's fighters as message relays, and having the ship with the marines on board go along, maybe stay in alpha until we know more, when we could have a fighter hop up into alpha to shoot them a message either way?

Sounds like a good breakdown of the plan!

[Ross Vernal]

Three old, half-looted League Megafreighters, long since abandoned.

One might possibly function. The other two are scrap. You can totally loot, both by interstellar laws and the lack of anybody to enforce any laws where you are. Most of the leftover cargo isn't going to be worth all that much, but there's a few compartments that have not even been touched yet.

You can literally start scrapping the ships and saving spare parts to help fix stuff later, too. Even if the cargo is mostly spoiled food, iron, moldy books, and obsolete guns, it's still conceivably worthy to spend time taking everything of value regardless of whether or not it's welded into place.

[Ozarck]

Let's leave the Cossack and Corvettes to do the looting salvaging and act as guards while a skeleton crew from these ships repairs the drive for transport. While we are at it, let's look for crew rosters, and ship IDs, to notify the families and respective governments of the situation. We can send  back for the Corvettes i we think they'll be necessary for our job (sure, it'll be a ten day turn-around at best, but why not?

Think the Corvettes would be enough escort for this? If our ships maintain low profiles, we shouldn't be spotted out there, unless the pirates routinely come through that area.

[Ross Vernal]

18 fighters and 2 Corvettes should be enough to discourage pirates, yes. Probably a little overkill; it might be a good idea to give the Viper's Nest a few of the Cossack's fighters for the extra missile punch.

Why not leave all of the civilian ships behind? Admiral's Courier can take off as soon as it's done with the information and wait around at the point; the rest can immediately start processing and repairing, then set out after a couple of days towards either the planet / a predetermined point in space.

[Rolepgeek]

Since Ozarckus and Markus are probably the ones who started the company together, more or less, would it be appropriate for Ozarckus' character to be fine with Markus calling him 'Oz'?

[Ozarck]

Since Ozarckus and Markus are probably the ones who started the company together, more or less, would it be appropriate for Ozarckus' character to be fine with Markus calling him 'Oz'?

It would. I would assume Oz would call Markus by his given name as well, though in meetings he might be more formal and stick with Captain Heaks (though I may likely forget).

18 fighters and 2 Corvettes should be enough to discourage pirates, yes. Probably a little overkill; it might be a good idea to give the Viper's Nest a few of the Cossack's fighters for the extra missile punch.

Why not leave all of the civilian ships behind? Admiral's Courier can take off as soon as it's done with the information and wait around at the point; the rest can immediately start processing and repairing, then set out after a couple of days towards either the planet / a predetermined point in space.

I was thinking of leaving the Corvettes with their contingent of fighters, which is six, and leave the PC's twelve fighters with that ship. I see, you mean the Corvettes' six and the Cossack's twelve. Yeah, send six of the Cossack's fighters with the main fleet. The Cossack is not in the IC OP, so I tend to overlook it.

As for the other civvie ships, leaving them behind is fine if we don't fear pirates, which seems likely with what you said about the Corvettes being enough. With that, we could strip the two hulks completely, get the one in semiworking order and not fear losing our support in the initial confrontation with whatever Rift contingent is sent against the Planetary CEO.

[Ozarck]

Our IC debate sparked an interesting thought in my mind.

How do we handle benefits and death payouts for our crews? Do we have a fund, are they payed hazard pay, or are we so business minded that we skimp on those things as much as possible? I favor at least a fairly generous package (as in, more than subsistance level), with a goodwill payment made to a designated beneficiary upon death of crew member.

This world is cold and cruel, and here in America, it is getting a bit colder for low end workers, who are getting squeezed financially more and more over time. Why this is, I'll leave for another thread, but I'd like to think our company is a little better than that, or at least tries to be. If times are tough, it's tough all the way up, and if times are good, it's good all the way down.

Of course, with the diversity of characters, I can understand quite divergent views here.

One last thought: I recently read a warning not to base one's game characters on oneself, and I struggle with that. It's hard for me to role play a lot of different types of people, just because I can't quite get past myself. I think it stifles me a bit in game, but in other ways, I am fine with it.

[Kashyyk]

I'd say we have the same amount of benefits as any modern sailor would. Not that I know what they get.

Role play wise, I generally find myself playing myself but with a few changes. More of a dick, by the book, etc. Once you start getting used to these changes you can get more adventurous.

[Ross Vernal]

How do we handle benefits and death payouts for our crews? Do we have a fund, are they payed hazard pay, or are we so business minded that we skimp on those things as much as possible? I favor at least a fairly generous package (as in, more than subsistance level), with a goodwill payment made to a designated beneficiary upon death of crew member.

I figured that there was an additional bonus pay for hazardous conditions, combat, etc, added to standard pay. That some fractions of the monetary value of salvage or prize is divided by all crew. I figured death pay was a part, too, as would retirement and medical. You guys are trying to attract skilled professionals, after all.

You guys are pretty damn rich, though. Like, multi-billion rich, individually. Setting aside a few million dollars for the crews out of pocket seems  to be the kind of thing that you  could do and not particularly miss the money. Probably in some kind of Space 401k, mutual funds,  or some other forms of putting a lot of money together so it multiplies. (in other words, you have a decent chance of slowly having more money. If you all decide to throw some more money into financial stuff, then you might end up with a LOT of money, or wind up losing it.)

This world is cold and cruel, and here in America, it is getting a bit colder for low end workers, who are getting squeezed financially more and more over time. Why this is, I'll leave for another thread, but I'd like to think our company is a little better than that, or at least tries to be. If times are tough, it's tough all the way up, and if times are good, it's good all the way down.

Of course, with the diversity of characters, I can understand quite divergent views here.

One last thought: I recently read a warning not to base one's game characters on oneself, and I struggle with that. It's hard for me to role play a lot of different types of people, just because I can't quite get past myself. I think it stifles me a bit in game, but in other ways, I am fine with it.

I am not super big on Awesome and Sexy Fantasy Me, but it makes sense to me that my literary offspring and I have traits in common.

I am fond of "interviewing" my characters. You always seem to end up with more character depth, some of which you didn't expect.

[Rolepgeek]

Well, we're mercenaries.

Merc companies tend to be fairly equal in pay between top and bottom, simply out of necessity and to facilitate comradery, since they don't have a big nation standing behind them for their authority.

I mean, the Kai are still Kai, after all, but still.

[Ross Vernal]

I figured that it started out with a pretty decent pay for enlisted, with the gap between "officer pay" and "top officer pay" is more or less  the same gap as between enlisted and officers. Gotta give people incentives.

https://www.navycs.com/military-pay.html

Hazard pay, family separation pay, diving, career, special duty, all sorts. I figured that planetary leave was either "Stay in the company reserved hotel for free, or we'll give you some money to handle it yourself."

[Knave]

I figure Knavikov and The Duchess would be well-suited to salvage duty. We don't have a repair bay, but the mining and construction modules along with plenty of free crago space will probably make short work of the wrecks. A few marines detached for the salvaging would definitely be advisable. Who knows if anyone is left on board if there are a few untouched compartments.

[10ebbor10]

On a side note, I'm a bit intrigued by the fact that a 25 year old design is described as obsolete. How long does the average ship last before being considered obsolete.