Play@YSDC

Have a seat and start to throw your ideas around. Let's begin with the mess hall itself. What do we need here? Food storage is full and sufficient for three months of salvaging operations.



@http://wraithdt.deviantart.com Great work!

We have to start the build process.
Here are a few ideas: So, while we sit around the table and sip coffee scented beverages, we should start to draw up a plan.

My favourite landing vessel is this little gem from Alien.

The Sevastoplol from where the Nostromo was launched. Correct me if I'm befuddling with Aliens.

I'm watching Outland and I believe this is one of the sets for Alien as well, right?

How big is Nostromo?

I'd say three stories high. 2.40x3 looking at the cross section.
It's just an example. What we're building could be something completely different.

We're starting with the galley. Food station and recreational area. What do we need?

Some sort of simulator that could be used for both training and recreation would be nice.

I see. A VR simulator that can be serial connected between 2-6 subjects. Also a parallel bridge for battle sims, would be nice. This one would be connected to a CPU disconnected from the main on-board CPU. No HAL issues that way. I hope.

1. Galley/lounge/recreational

2. Food storage. Minor cargo bay for life support, water and food.

3. VR-sim. X-bridge.

4. Bridge proper.

Hi Lee!

Hi Dave, missed your post,sorry. Was trying out my new phone.

What is the tevh level? Is there artificial gravity (rather than simulated by centrifugal force, for instance)?

Oh, on Ceres it's 2,8% of Earth's gravity. It has a very thin atmosphere and you'd almost would need to have magnetic shoes to stay grounded on a metallic surface. The centrifugal force, you talk about would be needed for a base that could be tethered to the rock. Oxygen and hydrogen for use for air production and engine fuel can be mined from the planet as it holds water beneath the surface.

Which is the main reason for you guys to pick Ceres in the first place.

There are quite some elevation differences on the surface with craters and mountain ridges. A crater would be ideal to build an an-surface base on.

If I'm correct, we have crew members Carnell, Handy and Hattingh aboard the ship?
You need to give yourselves some proper names and job titles.

Then we can add more features to the ship and work on the design.

I'll be Ben Dawson, the helmsman.

Could we have a means of rerouting command functions from the real bridge to the X-bridge in the event of an emergency? If I remember correctly, Captain Davies's UMCP ship in The Real Story had an auxiliary bridge that was put to use.

That would be an override that could be implemented, for sure. A manual override will be in place, of course.
Good job, Pilot, NavEngineer Dawson!

To be honest, I'm rusty on all the arcs in the series. Good to have accumulated knowledge on board.

Thanks. I haven't read it myself in seven or eight years, but some things stuck with me.

The FTL sickness stuck with me. And the grey layers of alignment in the characters. Chaotic Good comes to mind.

To use a trope that would work fin in the scenario, let's say Dawson is the first to arrive to the ship via a programmed needle shuttle, sent from Earth. All paid for by UMC. The affiliation with UMC is needed to be granted mining privileges. Then, the crew may choose to double-cross or steal from UMC as they see fit.

Dawson has yet to spot any incoming trajectories. But, then again, no ETA has been issued.

The crew had been assured that they upon arrival at Ceres, would have free hands to tailor their vessel as they see fit.

Dawson, the reins are yours.

Do we have a picture from the data files?

What about a medical bay? I would like to be a medical officer.

Dr Hattingh it is. A Med Bay is fitted to the frame. It's located aft from the sleeping area and lounge.
What's your character's name?

Umm... is this a 'prospecting'/'mining ship'?

We'll, we'd need, a hold - or two which can be compartmentalised.

Engineering Section- including workshop(s) - probably needs easy access to the holds for maintenance of mining vehicles.

Life Support Section - how long is a typical 'voyage (prospecting run?)' - say enough life support for 10 people for 10 weeks? What would be the actual crew complement - max of 8 but minimum of 4 (for safe operation?).

I'd think that the bridge would need 4 stations each one to control : helm, comms, tactical, engineering or perhaps some of those functions could be doubled up.

Two more ship possibilities:

The last one looks great! Two cargo holds and living area at the spine aft. Right?
Do you have deck plans for those?

No deck-plans, I created the hulls in blender. I'll see if I can rustle something up.

Thanks! I'll have a stab at it over the weekend. I think we have what we need to get things started.

At this time, the crew is sitting around the mess hall table. Cups filled with black slug resembling a caffein drink, leaving vapors in the gloom room. Not enough power have been allocated to the living quarters as the ship is under construction still. Most power is used up by a group of bots working along a framework dry dock encompassing the core structure of the ship.

Ship's name: Undesignated

Mission: Ceres - Project Copernicus

Pre-Briefing: UMC has forwarded a message via the inter Sol transmitter. A bounty is rewarded those who investigate Rock F242-Z which is seven days away from Ceres location.
Upon opening the message, the crew will be pinged as the primary actor on the job, receiving 80% of the bounty, should the mission be successful. The second crew who accepts get secondary priority and 20% of the bounty.

To view the entire briefing, the crew must agree to a number of clauses to get proper directives. Upon not accepting the read briefing, the team will receive a budgetary mission on the next occasion a job is forwarded. At the moment, as a new operator, the crew has a classification as Type H crew. The designation goes from A-O with H being the median designation.

Designation: Hale Crew

********

"Good Morning, Travelers.", the ship's computer greets the assembled crew.

"Good morning. Are we ready to start?"

I've been trying to work out some facts 'n figures for the ship.

Cargo capacity: 32,000 m[sup]2[/sup] (16,000 m[sup]2[/sup] per hold)

Bunkerage/life support/stores: 20,000 m[sup]2[/sup]

Engines/engineering: 10,000 m[sup]2[/sup]

Hanger/Garage/Workshop: 3,000 m[sup]2[/sup]

Central Spine: 5,000 m[sup]2[/sup] (across 3 decks, accommodation etc )

The sticking up bit at the rear: 4,000 m[sup]2[/sup]

I've based this on 90m max length 90m max width

Too big, too small, about right?

"Good morning, computer," says Ben Dawson unnecessarily. Though the computer is programmed to seem human, it of course has no actual feelings. "Let's have that briefing. If we want this job, we'd better snag it fast before some other crew beats us to the punch."

"Good morning, sir." Rona greets Ben Dawson and sits down for the meeting.

"Good morning, Rona," says Ben, taking his own seat.

OOC,That brings up another consideration. Who is in charge?

@Lee, I have trouble getting the square meters to add up. You wrote the bulk size is a 90mx90m square, right? This square is U-shaped with the bottom being the spine in the pictures.
Had the entire 90x90m space been hull, it would give 8100m2.

Now, only 1/4 of the space is used for each of the cargo holds, being the forks of the U. 22x70m app. 1540m2/cargo hold.

Having five floors for the living area will add up to some m2. The cargo holds should be maximum two floors with high ceiling height. That would give 6000m2. Converting it to m3 would better show the cargo capacity.

I might be misunderstanding the scale, and completely calculating it wrong.

I'm good with the 90m length and 90 m width. It's the floor area I'm struggling with.*

***********

"Certainly, Ben.", the computer relays.

A holographic altitude map of Rock F242-Z is shown hovering beneath the screens centered in the ceiling above the mess table.
Quick facts is printed in mid air in neon green over a deep pitch backdrop.

"A hardcopy of the details is available at the printer."

The Copernicus Project was launched by UMC and UN about five years ago. A month ago, reports form the base stopped being transmitted.
(The table is scrollable.)

Background for the Copernicus Telescope:

SN1987 A was discovered in the 1980's when it was about sixth magnitude. It was the nearest and brightest supernova observed since 1604. The star that exploded was identified as a twelfth magnitude blue supergiant, known as Sanduleak -69° 202. Maximum magnitude, reached in mid-May, was near 2.8, easily visible with the naked eye. In 1999, a pulsar was detected within the remnant of SN1987A. Post 2014, the base on Rock F242-Z was built. Dr R. Stahl was the mission leader.

The Magellanic Clouds are two small, irregular galaxies, which are satellites of our own Galaxy. They are visible as hazy patches in the southern sky. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is in the constellation Dorado and is about 170,000 light years away. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), in Tucana, is about 210,000 light years distant. In 1987, a bright supernova, designated SN 1987A appeared in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The clouds are named for Ferdinand Magellan, who saw them in 1604 on his journey around the world.

Objectives of Operation COPERNICUS are three-fold:

• To obtain up-to-date intelligence on the Copernicus Project.
• To determine if the Copernicus Project is engaged in developing WOMD.
• To contain and prevent the spread of any biohazard present.

The assigned crews of this operation are authorised to use all necessary force and methods in accordance with the UMC and UN directives in achieving the aforementioned objectives.

OOC:   Whoops, cubed.... I meant cubed... what a klutz. Each hold 20x50x18 ... I'll mark up a plan. Below are the actual views, the other image was misleading (due to foreshortening).

"No doubt it'll be dangerous," says Ben, "but it also must be lucrative. Think we should take the mission?"

Michael Cooke

Michael taps in a couple of queries into his mini-comp, tasking another sip of 'java' and managing not to grimace at the extremely bitter taste. "We'd need at least eight hours before we could get under-way, all of the control runs were installed and tested a couple of days ago... the port-side hanger doors are still not sealing properly but the internal locks are fine... we can keep that hanger under vacuum for the time being. Well actually we don't have enough 'life support' to pressurise anything apart from the central section. I've prioritised our shipments of general stores and those will be available within an hour but we can't fill all of the lox tanks till the day after tomorrow. Ohh and the cost of water has gone up another 3%; we might want to provision more of that... elsewhere?" he raises an eyebrow, inviting comment from his fellow 'ship-owners'.

"It might be worthwhile to harvest our own water," says Ben. "Not only would we save money, but we'd also be less dependent on anyone else to supply it. We may not be ready leave yet, but we'd better claim the mission right away if we're going to take it. The lion's share of the bounty goes to whoever signs up first, the second gets a quarter of that, and there's no prize for third place."

"I agree, on both accounts, we need to find our own water, but we also need to claim the mission first, even if we are not ready." Dr. Rona Maritz mentally goes over her medical inventory, her supplies are enough for the moment. Hopefully after this mission, there will be enough money for some medical equipment she wants for medical bay, some of it are "outdated".

"High risk earns high reward. Updates and upgrades to the ship will be affordable when UMC pays for the Copernicus Assignment. I have a couple of other assignments in the log, should you want to look at the pre-birefs before accepting the Copernicus?"

The computer goes quiet and the maps are replaced with two new titles.

1. Needle Investigation. Multiple needle shaped crafts have been sighted passing Mars and some havoc has occurred at a solar array in orbit.
2. Outer planet recog-run. UMC wants a crew to scout three unmapped locations for possible mining sites.

Michael Cooke

"I agree, we've got enough water to get by for weeks if it's just the three of us... we've got to take a job, we desperately need the money..." Michael taps some more commands into the mini-comp, "Fusion two is online, diverting that output to charge the power ring, we'll need the capacitors topped up for the jump drive... we're taking the first job right... sounds like it'll pay the most?"

"I'm for taking the Copernicus job," says Ben. "What do the rest of you think?"

Michael Cooke

Michael nods enthusiasticly "Definitely, you're the 'face' of the outfit.... so go for it!"

Ben pushes the select icon for the Copernicus Assignment.

OOC:   I'm allowing a 90% chance that you get dibs on the lion share. [dice]0[/dice][ 90-100 is awarded 2nd place.

"I'm forwarding the status for your crew to UMC so they can approve a backup crew. What's the assigned name for this vessel? Should I stick to the id:number for now?" The computer confirms.

"I don't think we've actually named her," says Ben. "Let's just stick to the ID number until we come up with something."

OOC,Another minute or two of hesitation and someone would have beaten us to the big prize!

Michael Cooke

Once the decision is made Michael sets about the task of prioritising their incoming stores, deciding on making use of both main holds, they can store things once they are actually under-way.

"Do we get any more information or instructions?" he asks ...

Dave wrote:

OOC:   Scuse the hold up, I'v e been busy signing a work contract. I'm now officially Principal Dave!

That's awesome! Gratz!!

OOC: [Sorry, guys for being late, stupid me didn't see we carried on to page 3, thought the game stalled at me on page 2(I have been checking in everyday, learned my lesson)/]

Dr. Rona Maritz gives a relieved sigh, they got the first prize job, YES.
"I agree, let's see how she performs and then give her name."

Apologies
Guys, I hate to break this to you. I have taken over a year 5 class with serious problems in the group. I really need to focus on the kids. This means, I have zero focus on the game.
Can I put this on hold till Easter? I'll continue where we leave it today.

I'm sure you will have other commitments.

Keep on gaming and be happy.

Not counting the sales of my apartment and the prepping for the chief-gig, I feel a bit overwhelmed.

For me personally, when having little to do at work or when things run smoothly at home, I have lots of time for gaming. That is not the case now.

Cheerio!

Sure Dave - I'm happy to wait RL comes first!