From: Randall Case <tgunner@e...>
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 09:00:25 -0600
Subject: Breathing FT life into a description
Hey, I'm running a RPG based off the show Space: Above and Beyond. I have a good RPG system, however I'm looking for a good space combat system to run my occasional space battles. I want to use FT because I know the system and because I have some RPG conversion rules for it (complements of The EarthForce Source Book). However, I want some tips to better modify FT to fit my vision of space combat. Here is a description of a space battle. Read it, and give any tips you want. Thanks ahead of time:) Scott On board the USS Pensacola, Wolf 3725 Star System, 7 light years from Vesta Colony. Sunday, April 15, 2063 0915 hrs GMT. Commodore Jeffrey Owens sat in his chair on the ship's flagbridge, and was very bored! Owens could never quite get use to these 'new fangeled' starships. They were just too odd to him as there was no feeling of motion at all. In the blue water navy, you could feel the rise and fall of a ship, even on a 10,000 ton cruiser, in even gentle seas. That feeling of motion gave you the feeling of progress, like you were getting somewhere. However, starships were a different matter. There was no feeling of motion in space, atleast, not with the ship's dampers (coming from the ship's faster than light drives) and artificial gravity generators on. Everything thing was a steady, and boring 1 G. And with no waves... you never felt like you ever went anywhere! Throw in the terribly dull routine of anti-piracy/anti-AI patrols and star system surveys... Jeff began to wish that he never left the blue navy. But... things do change. Here he was, Jeff Owens, a Commodore, commanding cruiser division 22 on a deep space patrol. And here he was... bored out of his mind! Normally, Jeff commanded four ships: the USS Pensacola (SCGN-31), the USS Astoria (SCGN-33), the USS Virginia (SCGN-44), and the USS Truxton (SCGN-45). However, on missions like this one, his division was split up into task groups. The Virginia and the Truxton were escorting the battlecarrier Yorktown, while he patroled with the Pensacola, the Astoria, and a quartet of destroyers, and a pair of frigates. Now even that small group had been split up to cover several systems, and the Astoria developed problems with its FTLD... sending her and the frigate Samuel B. Adams back to base. All Jeff had with him was the Pensacola and the destroyer Patterson. Just two little ships, and not much to do... "Sir" chimed a voice behind him. Jeff slowly turned his chair around and looked at his young commo officer. "What do you have Cathy?" Jeff asked. "Captain Dillard on intercom" she said. "Okay, switch 'em on" Jeff turned his chair to face the smallish commo screen. Captain Jessica Dillard's face quickly appeard, and she seemed rather tense. Might be something interesting... "Sir" she snapped quickly, " passive sensors have detected a group of unidentified starcraft emerging from the system's debris field, and on a rapid approach vector toward us. Time to contact, six minutes!" Jeff arched his eyebrow, "What the hell do you mean, 'unidentified'?" "Just that sir! Only two ships match general profiles as being heavy transports. The other... profiles are UNKNOWN! None of the ships are transmitting positive IFF codes. I recomend that the task group goes to general quarters!" Jeff considered that for a second, and nodded. "Javis, signal the Patterson- General Quarters. Captain Dillard, bring you ship to General Quarters and launch your ready five fighters. Vector CSP to intercept the bogey force, and tell them to get a visual on them. However, NOBODY is to FIRE unless instructed by ME! Understand?" Dillard nodded, and her face vanished. "Cathy, bring up the tactical tank for me. Lets see what LIDAR has for us." "Aye sir!" In seconds, the large holo tank in front of Jeff burst into light, showing the system's primary and its simple debris field. Wolf 3725 wasn't much of a system, just a primary and several debris belts. It was a still born system... a little engine that billions of years ago 'couldn't'. Soon, small colored blips appeared, suspended in space. Just outside the main debris field, four blue blips with American flags emerged with small tags identifying them: the Pensacola, her escorting destroyer, and two tiny blue dots representing a pair of SA-43 Hammerhead fighters on combat space patrol (CSP). A couple of feet away, a small swarm of red blips appearded. Three were the size of the Patterson's blip, and two had tentative tags identifying them as heavy transports. The third had a single word under it- UNKNOWN. Around these three ships were three trios of tiny dots, the size of fighters, all tagged UNKNOWN. A single thin red line linked the two clusters of ships, and it shrank constantly- showing the bogie's approach. Jeff activated his throat mike and spoke into it, "Captain Dillard, have the bogies responded to hails?" Her voice filled his small head set, "No sir, no response." "Okay, stand by." "Cathy, bring up the task group push" "Your on sir." "This is Commodore Owens, the Patterson will take her anti-missile position and fighters from ready five will assume close escort duty. Task group will alter course to an approach vector toward bogie group. All weapons will be at stand-by. Pensacola will lock onto targets labeled Alpha and Bravo. Patterson will lock onto Charlie and assume close defense duty. There will be no firing unless the command is given. That is all." Jeff turned back to the open channed to Dillard, "Keep up the hail, what's the status on our CSP?" Dillard snapped back, "CSP is on approach to bogie group, ETC is one minute. Ready five fighters are being launched... NOW!" Outside the cruiser's hull, lights flashed as the hanger bays opened to the vaccum of space. Then, one after another, two small ships flashed out of the bays, their thrusters flairing into the cold night. At the same time, all along the hulls of the two human warships, sensors missile cannisters, and cannon were brought to bear toward the inbound ships. Radar and LIDAR pierced the night, active and pulsing, straining to 'see' the fleet. Dillard's voice soon filled Jeff's headset, "Commodore, active LIDAR feed coming up. We can confirm that two bogies are modified heavy transports, similar in configuration to AI raider craft! Remaining bogies don't match any know profiles. We are adding them to the threat catalogue now." "Understood Captain. Order the CSP to take a quick look at the unknown craft and burn back here, QUICK!" "Fire control, this is Owen's speaking. You have my permission to get targeting solutions on AI craft! All commands, stand by to fire!" "SIR!" yelled the Air officer, "Bogie fighters are breaking away from the main group and are heading for our CSP! Fifteen seconds to contact!" Owens spun back to the holodisplay, damn... "Dillard, get the CSP out of there!" "Can't sir! Bogies are too close!" "Commodore! Delta leader has given 'talley-ho'!" "Damn... Air officer, vector all remaining fighters to aid CSP, tell them to disengage as soon as possible and to fall back to the task group, NOW!" Damn, Jeff muttered... I loosing control over this. Damn... All of a sudden, the ship's alarm klaxons went off!! "Flag, this is CIC! We have active LIDAR beams locked on us... HOLY SHIT!!!! MISSILES OFF THE RAILS!!!!" Owen's felt all of the color fade from his dark face. Damn it, gotta do something! "CATHY! Get a commo off to fleet command: Have encountered hostile silicate forces, three light warships and nine fighters. Are engageing! Send it!" Jeff looked quickly back to the display as it showed a swarm of missiles racing toward the Pensacola. Fifteen seconds! "CIC, knock the vampires down! All commands, this is task group: Commence FIRING! REPEAT, COMMENCE FIRING!!!" The dark void of space suddenly broke into a fit of hellish violence as missiles raced from launchers scattered all over the Pensacola and the Patterson. Small, fast anti-starcraft missiles sped toward the in-bound missiles. Soon, other larger missiles, Phalanx II missiles flashed from their launchers from the Pensacola. Brillant streaks of flame belched from their thrusters as they poured into space. These mammoth missiles activated their sensors and followed then LIDAR tracks radiating from the enemy ships. However, other froms also raced from the depths of space. They were small, and vaguely triangular as their three wings grew from a small, thin hull. In groups of three, they tore past the small pair of CSP SA-43s- leaving the earthly craft in balls of flame as bolts of blue-white plasma belched from their nose cannons. These fighters, unlike anything any human had ever seen, tore after the two larger human ships firing plasma bolts into the human ship's armored hulls. Jeff watched in silent fascination as his task group's missiles slammed into the enemy's incoming missiles, all of them exploded on the holo tank. The explosions were like a small field of blooming dandylions... in seconds, the field of deadly flowers vanished from sight, and soon the heavy human Phalanx II's reached their targets. The small AI ships poured laser pulses and streams massdriver fire into the approaching missiles. Some vanished in massive globes of fire and metal, but too many made it through, slamming into the tiny hulls of the silicate ships. The transports, even with their slapped on armor, were torn from stem to stern. Large sections of their hulls were torn open, and in seconds the ships disengrated into huge slabs of metal and expanding gas as reactors spiked and weapons burst into flames. They were like mini super novas, blasting all of their energy into the cold void of space. However they were short lived, in seconds their globes of energy and light dissipated, and the only clue of their existance in the universe were slabs of melted steel, spinning through space. The remaining ship, the unknown ship, spat streams of plasma bolts into the earthly missiles, killing most of them. The single suvivor was suckered away from the wedge shaped craft by jammers and decoys. With its consorts dead and dying, the remaining bogie turned quickly and raced back to the debris field. Jeff felt his own ship shudder as bolt after bolt slammed into it. However, the attack was short lived. Turrents on both warships quickly acquired the fast moving fighter fights, and they blasted away at them with bolts of pure energy and streams depleted uranium. Tracers and energy bolts filled silent sky above the two ships, and soon they found their targets. Three of the dull grey invaders flashed over the Pensacola's hull, as they past its stern, tracers from the cruiser's point defense cannons converged on two of their number... both blossomed into fiery flowers of death. Another craft vanished in flames as it raced past the Patterson, its life claimed by a fast moving missile. Then, as quick as they came, the remaining ships raced away, back into the depths of the debris belts while being chased by defensive fire. Jeff snapped over the com, "All ships, this is command! Cease firing, repeat, cease firing. CIC, report!" A young lieutenant's face appeared on the monitor, his eyes wide with fear but his voice was calm, "This is CIC. We have confirmed kills on six fighters and the two transports. Remaining craft have retreated into the debris belt and have activated ECM. We lost all four Hammerheads. We will relay damage reports to you as soon as they come up. CIC out." As quickly as it started, it was over. Jeff sat, stunned in his seat. What the hell happened?