Cold Fusion

[Luna]

"Understood, moving to dock," Nyxia shut off the channel. "New expansions, avoid," she muttered to herself. She pulled the ship around carefully angling it. The ship entered the hanger and soon roughly hit the ground. Several lights went off as the hanger closed and breathable air got released into the hangar. She reached under her chair and brought out an SMG wrapped in a thick coat. Nyxia put on the coat and put the gun in the specially made straps on the inside of the jacket. Standard procedure for her. When the lights turned off she opened the doors and walked out, smiling a little at Luna's low gravity. The doors the led into the hangar opened.

[Vinyl]

The trip now over, Erroneous Contingent sped off to the much more minor gate to Titan, not too much farther away.
"Anytime now, we'll be docking to the facility and getting our pay."
"I'm just glad we've not had any complications, unlike the last time you took a contract like this."
"Hey, it wasn't my fault they didn't want to risk their own men!"
Connoly rolled his eyes and left for the cabins.

[Professor Fenway]

I see Ivan. Let's clear this up; Missile tubes are like torpedo tubes, you load them, fire, then reload. Missile racks are external/internal racks, requiring a complete change in racks for the missiles.

You can have 16 internal racks then.
___________________________________________________________________________________________[CvN]
A man in a suit was waiting for Nyxia as she stepped out. As she did so, he signaled to a group of people near the front of the hanger, who began preparations to unload the ship. They took out several mounts and a crane from a storage area on the side. Behind the man, close to the hanger entrance, were two security guards, talking to each other. A C.F Coilgun pistol was visible on the nearest one's hip. "Miss Kester," the man said. "I'm the dockware manager. We'll be discussing your payment while the cores are unloaded. Please, follow me."
____________________________________________________________________________________________[Vinyl]

"Erroneous Contingent, we have you on record as delivering water and soil samples from Earth. Please advise."

[Archduke Daynel, PhD]

The Laras besi eventually arrived at the night-side of Venus, a hundred km or so away from the planet, precisely on the coordinates given to them by their employer.
A large ship, custom built and covered in weapons, approached them and made contact.

"You are late" said the pirates' spokesperson.
"And we're very sorry," Edmund responded, "there was a police patrol in the asteroid field, and-"
"We want 50% off on the AIs."
Edmund sighed and rolled his eyes. The Tengkorak Yang always tried shit like this, and thought being covered in weapons was enough to enforce it.
"No deal. Full price or nothing."
From the radio came laughter.
"Then we will just leave, and your.. employer will be very disappointed, have you executed."
"Listen, if this were your boss talking I might consider one word he said. But the only reason I'm even doing business with you guys is because my employer said to do so. I know people on Luna who would give me a way better price for these, and buy that junk we're carrying too. So if you don't deal, I doubt my employer will mind the extra cash."

There was a moment of radio silence.
"Maybe we should just blow your ship to shreds and sell the salvage?"
"If this ship is destroyed, a message will be sent to all police units on and around Venus containing your ship's energy signatures, documentation, markings, schematics, the works. And this won't just be some tiny patrol ship trying to arrest you, this will be fucking military warships and what not. So I suggest you stick to the deal, if you value your own shitty life enough for it."

Five minutes later the deal was through, and the crew of the Laras Besi were on their way back to Jupiter.

[Ivan2006]

Good, changed to 16 internal missile racks (1 rack can hold 1 anti-ship or planetary bomardement missile or 4 anti-fighter missiles (since they are smaller), VLS-style, is that okay?)

[Professor Fenway]

2 anti fighter per, 4 is a bit much.

[Error]

And then error experiences rocks fall everyone dies from meta gaming as smooth as sandpaper.

Even if the FTL thing is the biggest Chekhovs gun ever.

>giant spaceship appears out of nowhere
>nowhere near acceleration gate
>tells me to bugger off
>vanishes
>no visual cloaking in this universe
>not sure what else it could be m8
>[logic intensifies]

[Ivan2006]

But Fenway, Real-live america can do so, why shouldn't 2080s superpowers with fusion tech since the 50s have the ability to make anti-fighter missiles that have less than half the diameter of anti-ship missiles? (which is the required reduction in size if we go for square cells)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIM-162_ESSM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_41_Ve ... nch_System
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... _Types.gif

[ACH0225]

Hey Fen, can I get some info on where I am and what I am doing?

[Julo]

"I told you, that it is an illusion."
Mr. Lota seemed to be pretty upset, that his mind was tricked like that. They looked at the 3D photograph and saw, that the face like structure, was actually just an optical illusion. However, the 3D photo also showed, that the structure of the asteroid was definitely not natural.

"Pluto HQ wants us to take a chemical sample."

"Alright captain, in my opinion we should take multiple samples and contain them differently."

"What do you mean, Mr. Lota?"

"The asteroid is pretty small and different types of containment might help with later analyses. Maybe we should take one sample and contain it in a vacuum inside the ship, one in an atmospheric environment, and one outside of the ship, effectively in it's natural environment."

"Alright, Olga (Pilot) get us close to the asteroid and prepare the manipulators, we will take as much with us as possible."

Two minutes later, the Orion X-5 was in position to grab and cut the asteroid.

"The manipulators are in position to cut the asteroid, Captain."

"Alright, fire them for 3 seconds on level 5."

The lasers hit the asteroid and sparks flew away from it, some smaller rocks of molten material surrounded the area where the laser hit the asteroid.
3 seconds later, the lasers went offline, but what the crew saw behind a cloud of dust and molten material was very surprising.

"C… captain, the lasers were not able to get through the second layer of the asteroid!"

"WHAT?!"

"We only came 152mm deep. It seems, that the second layer reinforces itself naturally, depending on how much energy it receives. Like some sort of adaptive armor."

"But if our lasers are not able to get through it, although we have some of the strongest lasers, which are not military, how do these cuts get there, which are certainly deeper than 152mm."

"I don't know captain, but it reminds me of a project, I've been working on. My team an I were supposed to build a type of armor, which could absorb the maximum amount of damage."

"And how does your science project get into the Kuiper belt, and inside of an asteroid, Mr. Lota?"

"I don't know, but we should get this thing to Pluto, where it can be analyzed with better equipment."

"Is the asteroid small enough for us to carry it with us, Olga?"

"Yes, we are able to, but it will increase our weight quite a bit."

>>Message to Pluto HQ
-We were not able to get a probe of the asteroid, as it contains a material, which adapts to any kind of incoming damage.
-We will bring the asteroid to Pluto, for further research
-Await our arrival in 20 minutes.

[DeadlyMiddie]

Julius and Admiral Thrace boarded the shuttle bound for the Vindication.

"Where did you get pulled out of to watch me?"

"Special Fleet Operations. They decided that you needed direct supervision."

Julius gave her a long stare, then said, "Have you ever been in a fleet engagement, Admiral?"

"I can't say that I have. I've been in small engagements with criminals"

"Then you have absolutely no idea what goes on in a situation like the one that I'm here because of. Out in the void, it's life or death. No if, ands, or buts. It's about accomplishing the mission and getting your crew home alive. My mission at the time was trade lane patrol. Civvies were under direct assault. You can't just "disable" a pirate's engines and expect them to give up. Just remember that when the shit hits the fan, and I'm shooting to kill."

They stepped off the shuttle into the small cargo bay of the Vindication

"I'll try to remember that, Captain."

Thrace and Julius walked up to the bridge, where the frigate cast off and went through the acceleration gate to Venus for a convoy escort to Mercury.

[Shadowcatbot]

Heading to Jupiter

[Professor Fenway]

I don't know why you're fighting me on this Ivan, but here goes;

Unless they're dumbfire missiles, they are ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED to have RCS systems and gyroscopes to track targets. These can't be miniaturized without sacrificing power; it's a fact of life. So here's your choice; 4 missiles a tube with very limited tracking abilities, or 2 missiles with decent tracking abilities.
____________________________________________________________________[ACH]
You're initial assignment is delivering a shipment of Yttrium metal to Mercury from Earth (kek)
____________________________________________________________________[Daynel]
Main boss guy wants to speak with you, personally.
____________________________________________________________________[Julo]
>Laser communication established from: Pluto HQ

-The box must be a stolen high-security military crate, using Liquid Armor
-They are impossible to open without highly specialized and confidential equipment.
-If you deliver the box to us, we will ensure it's return to the proper military and pass on the reward to you.

((OOC wise, Liquid Armor is a thing but SUPER expensive, and not the best spaceship material at all despite it's qualities (we have it today). It hardens under stress. This crate was stolen, couldn't be opened, then hidden in a roid to be gotten later.))

On the surface of the box, a device began transmitting a highly focused laser transmission somewhere. ((OOC, direct laser transmission cannot be intercepted unless you're in it's way, and even then, it's unlikely you'll pick it up)).
__________________________________________________________________________________________[Middie]
The convoy is 3 ships carrying a large shipment of Orbital Railguns, for use in military installations on Mercury.

((Also, Thrace has been in combat (otherwise, how rear admiral?) but never a full scale engagement; neither have you. There hasn't been any major space wars. Also, Thrace isn't an unfriendly/harsh person, but is merely there to make sure your orders are followed instead of completely disregarded, like all the time. She isn't out to make enemies.))
__________________________________________________________________________________________[Shadow]
((When you get to Jupiter, you can look for contracts. Or, you could browse the freight listings on the Solar Net for jobs))

[ACH0225]

Dmitri slowly approached the jump gate, the gate control relaying his position to him. His cargo hold was full of Yttrium, bound for some advanced research lab on Earth. He didn't really like this sort of science; "One day", he kept telling all his friends, "they'll break into another dimension full of hyperaggressive owls". Nobody believed him, but he knew one day that science would fuck everything up, and he intended to be far at the edge of the system when it happened. He had made the fortunate purchase of a large asteroid, a few dozen kilometers long and wide, a few years ago with the intention of selling it to some prospectors, but realized he could use it for a base. Nowadays he stored crates of canned goods, spare parts, and mosin ammo there in a room he had a buddy who owed him a favor make, but one day he would hollow it and fit it with some proper point defence, shields, and rooms, and then live out his retirement in it guiding his descendants in proper trading. Hopefully.

The Strela made her approach to the gate, and was flung at high speeds to the Venus gate, using his command chair's massage function en route.

[Error]

Alternis shook his head, clearing it, as Memory left the acceleration gate over Neptune.

Angling his nose, he fired the drives and set his orbit towards the Neptune-Jupiter gate. As the ship cruised, he pondered. Was it actually FTL? Some kind of cloaking device? One hell of a hoax?

No bloody way to know now, what with the military involved. *.