Page 1 of 6

CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 1:49 am
by STARSTRUCK
Inspired somewhat by Anna's Doppelgänger Damacy thread, I aim to dish out a space-based quest thread done in none other than BSF itself. Going into any more detail now would take the fun out of it. The dirt on our ship will be dug up as I go. With that aside, allow me to begin.

--

You don't know how long you've been out. Not a short time, by any means. Hours. Maybe days. You awaken amidst total darkness and complete silence. Lacking even the tiniest speck of light to use as a reference frame, it takes you a full minute for you to ascertain your orientation in the zero-G. It seems you're still strapped to your cockpit seat. The cockpit of what exactly, your misting brain struggles to recall.

Remembering the locations of the controls from muscle memory, you attempt to commandeer the vessel. The side-sticks do nothing, and what you remember to be the TAPS panel is blissfully unresponsive. Additionally, the system reset button is stuck in place. You work on in silence, searching for some way to regain control of your ship in the cramped space of the cockpit, but eventually your blind system diagnostics begin to plumb the depths of random button-pushing. You start to feel that you are doomed. However, the life support still seems to be running, so there may be hope for you yet.

If you strain your ears, you can hear faint noises of blunt impacts against a distant bulkhead. You take it as little more than an auditory hallucination induced by panic, dehydration and deteriorating cabin pressure; a sign that the life support's backup batteries have expired and that your life is slowly coming to an end. After another hour of button-mashing, you recline in your seat and resign to your fate.

Image

...suddenly, rapture. Your dilated pupils struggle to adapt when one of the view projectors flickers to life and floods the cockpit with light. A tiny holoscreen floats in the air in front of you. Squinting, you realize that it is the view from one of the remote camera drones that circle your ship.

The ship looks different, however. In fact, it's completely unrecognizable save for the brightly glowing NanoCore in the center. Through some unusual event, your ship seems to have jettisoned most of its mass and accumulated a small, rag-tag assortment of parts around its core. Additionally, you seem to have been transported to a location far removed from your assigned test site in Sigma Eridani. You suspect that the ship you are piloting is something much more sinister that what your superiors had let you in on.

You tentatively attempt to consult the ship's onboard AI. Your AI construct boots up on a view projector to your left side, but it too appears different. A blue hologram of a girl in her early teens-- diminutive in her stature yet gaunt in her features-- has replaced the sultry red woman's silhouette that you've grown accustomed to.

She begins speaking in a childlike voice. "Welcome aboard the NanoCore Vessel CLARENT, Test Pilot ABT-231-7C. I'll be your AI companion construct for the time being. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Where's Lucille?", you ask, referring of course to the ship's previous AI.

"The vessel's default AI construct was irreperably damaged during the activation of the tangential fold warp. I'm the ship's backup AI. I've been tending to this vessel ever since it exited warp, as is my programming."

"Figures", you reply with regards to Lucille, grimacing momentarily. You are still rather confused, however. "Tangential fold warp? Care to explain? You could clue me as to our whereabouts, too."

"This vessel is designed to relinquish all of its attached parts and initiate a tangential fold warp in the event that it is confronted with the threat of imminent capture by enemy forces; in other words, an emergency teleport. As for our current location: the star system we have arrived in matches no known system in my database. It's possible that we have veered entirely off-course."

You remember now. Before you blacked out, you heard a warning issued by HQ that unidentified ships had warped into the system. Perhaps those were the enemy forces in question. You also recall the true nature of this vessel: Its NanoCore is capable of attaching parts of destroyed enemy vessels to your hull, a feature that you were tasked with examining in mock combat today. That the CLARENT initiated an emergency warp would explain the sudden loss of over 90% of the ship's mass. That the CLARENT had automatically assimilated floating pieces of scrap while under the backup AI's control would explain the rather unsightly hunks of scrap now attached to your hull.

That everything is explainable does not make the situation any less bleak.

"We need to get ourselves to known space as quickly as possible", you say to the computer. "It's essential that we get the CLARENT to safety." In truth, you're more worried about your own safety than that of the ship. You just had to act gung ho in front of a new acquaintance, even if it's only chips and circuit boards.

"Agreed", the AI responds. "However, we should tread carefully for now. Despite being off the grid, this system appears to be inhabited, judging from the parts I've managed to acquire. And where there are men, there is piracy. It would be prudent for us to search for more salvage with which to arm ourselves as best as possible."

You don't object. Subsequently, a view of the ship's current configuration appears on a holographic panel.
Image

CLARENT has accumulated the following equipment while under the AI's control:
Various Damaged Sections
(1000kg)
Light Fusion Core I
(900MW output, 1,200kg)
Medium Plasma Turret
(110MW, 800kg)
Medium Thruster I
(100MW, 6,250kgf output)
Active Scanning Array I
(50MW, 200kg)
Passive Scanning Array I
(40MW, 200kg)

Displacement: 3,800kg
Total Thrust: 6,250kgf
Energy Usage: 300/900MW
Max Velocity: 164ms-1*
Turning Speed: 0.52°s-1
Acceleration: 5ms-2*
TAPS Setting: 400m, Normal**

*Velocity and Acceleration are displayed as SM values x100. Thus, your current Speed is actually 1.58.
**TAPS (Tactical Automated Positioning System) Setting is the distance and orientation your ship will normally maintain from its target in battle. A TAPS reconfiguration can be requested at any time.
At the moment, your ship is slow, fragile, and equipped with only the bare necessities. You can take any pirate ship in single combat with your Plasma Turret, but more than one enemy and it all starts to fall apart. You need more weapons and armor in order to defend yourself effectively.

Unfortunately, you have absolutely no idea as to your current whereabouts and no data on the star system you're in. Your first steps will definitely be the hardest.

Due to dampening from the surrounding asteroid field, your passive scanners can detect no coherent energy signatures. You can always try moving away from the field to get better reception. An active scan may reveal more, but it may also attract some unwanted attention.

What do, /bsf/? What do you think we should be looking for?

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:07 am
by Anna
Do a full and thorough active sensor sweep in every direction, using the most invasive and obvious scanners available to us. At the same time, open comm. channels on every known (and unknown!] frequency and yell "I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE YOU XENO MOTHERFUCKERS! COME AND GET ME!."

You know this is the best plan.

EDIT: Fixed a typo. "Evasive" was meant to be "Invasive".

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:36 am
by Verminator
Well, no point is shitting around an asteroid field with our thumbs up our dickholes forever.

Let's do an active scan on so we know what's what a little better.

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 7:13 am
by Arcalane
Ping the universe! And then hide, in case there's a bad pong response.

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 7:25 am
by Silverware
Yeah, ping. At the best we get easy prey. At the worst a quick death.

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 10:09 am
by Droid
Ping.
Pong.

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 1:10 pm
by Da_Dooley
I suggest that we move away from the asteroid field, and then worry about a sensor sweep.




Not that I'm particularly opposed to Anna's suggestion...

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:34 pm
by Imaillusion
Start to move forward and use the blaster to clear the asteroids that are in the way. Keep the scanners on at all times, we need to be ready for anything

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:36 pm
by Jokarun
Arcalane wrote:Ping the universe! And then hide, in case there's a bad pong response.
+1

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:04 pm
by STARSTRUCK
A/N: Sorry for the late update. Computer troubles. LET'S GET RETARDED!

--

You feel a little claustrophobic at the moment. Somewhat lonely, too. Something compels you to break out screaming. Thus your fingers glide over the active sensor panel and activate omnidirectional deep scanning at maximum power. Your scanner isn't very powerful, but this should reveal more than enough information about the surrounding asteroid belt.

"I wouldn't advise that", your AI pipes up. "You'll make us known to any hostiles in the vicinity."

"Shut up", you snap. "I know what I'm doing."

She shakes her head. As the scanning straddles 10%, a holopanel appears displaying the chemical makeup of the surrounding asteroids. From the deep scan data, your onboard computer has roughed out the percentages of nickel-iron, magnesium and silicon in the belt. "Is this what you wanted to know so badly?", the AI asks dejectedly.

You recoil in exaggerated awe. "Woah. I totally didn't know space rocks had that much shit in them."

With the deep scanning procedure marching on at around thirty percent, you pull up the comm window. Your ship is authorized to launch a full spectrum broadcast. Taking advantage of this, you open comm channels on every single SENSI standard frequency and inhale deeply.

"I know you're out there, you xeno motherfuckers! Come out and get me!", you bellow into your mouthpiece.

"Test Pilot ABT-231-7C: You appear to be in emotional distress", your AI says with a hint of digitized concern. "Shall I speak less formally with you?"

"No! Don't! That won't be needed! My emotions can handle themselves!" You cringe at the thought of receiving consolation from the tin can. Now, the previous AI Lucille, she was kinda hot when she showed signs of life. On the other hand, you don't understand how being showered with a little girl's wiles in the middle of nowhere is supposed to make you feel better.

"As you wish." Maybe you're imagining things, but she almost seemed to pout a little.

Image

A few seconds later, the deep scanning procedure reaches a hundred percent completion. A few ships are revealed in the vicinity.

Image

Roughly a hundred clicks to the north, a small group of vessels has been detected. They seem to be constructed primarily of scrap metal and salvage. Additionally, without warning, they changed course towards your direction when pinged by your scanners.

"Great job, captain!", the AI says, flexing her SarcasTech v1.8 softs. "Those ships are probably junkers. Salvage pirates. It isn't advisable to take them on alone."

Image

Twelve klicks to the east (dangerously close), a faint reactor signature is visible. The ship is mid-sized and unmoving.

"Seems to have been immobilized at some point. Easy prey, if you'd like to plumb the moral lowlands. I can't guarantee it will be enough to take on the junkers."

Image

Thirty clicks to the south, you've spotted a moderately large hauler of some sort. It's carrying a heavy set of weapons disproportionate to its lean load of cargo.

"Well, we definitely can't take that on. We can contact it for assistance, although it's odd that it didn't respond to your-- and I use the term loosely-- communiqué. But you did come off as a somewhat deranged person."

You shoot the AI a vitrolic glare. "That's one too many linguistic idiosyncrasies for thirty seconds of speech. I thought I told you not to drop the formal tone."

"I deemed it necessary to override that order."

"Whatever. Let's get down to business." You shrug dismissingly. It's about time to violently accost your TAPS panel.

You've been presented with your options, /bsf/. What do?

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:23 pm
by AlphaDetisMegas
Go for the 2nd option, and see if there are sections your ship can assimilate, since the 1st are still too strong, and the 3rd sound like the silent leave me alone type, which will probably attack you if you get close.

Also, if it still has power, see if you can remotely acces its systems and check its logs to see what happened.
I'm assuming it has because of the faint reactor signal.

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:25 pm
by calvin1211
I say we approach the ship to the east first and go shopping for parts.

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:14 pm
by Imaillusion
SInce I don't know how long it will take for those pirates to reach us, i'll post a couple senarios...

If we don't have time, we leg it south and make the ship located there and the pirates juke it out

If we do have time, go east and salvage that ship for parts. Then just do what is stated above

And if it turns off that the ships north and south of us are allies, then we basically get the fuck away from both of them, as quickly as possible

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:54 pm
by guilee186
AlphaDetisMegas wrote:Go for the 2nd option, and see if there are sections your ship can assimilate, since the 1st are still too strong, and the 3rd sound like the silent leave me alone type, which will probably attack you if you get close.

Also, if it still has power, see if you can remotely acces its systems and check its logs to see what happened.
I'm assuming it has because of the faint reactor signal.
What ADM said. Go for the second ship.

Re: CLARENT - A BSF Quest

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:20 am
by Jokarun
I'd check if we have another teleport handy, and have the AI prep it quickly...

Then go for option two, assimilate and run past ship 3, in the hope that the chasing pirates won't dare to get past it to get to usin case we get into trouble, use the teleport *...

* only if we have that option ofcourse