There's at least one there, probably two. Besides, we need them to do the whole "orbital gun platform/secure the orbital gates" thing, because if there's not one there now, there sure as Hell will be once we start blowing things up on the surface.
Even if you end up needing two Needleships, I'm not running 2 separate teams of PCs trying to hijack two at the same time. It'll be way too confusing. So with that out of the way, I suppose I need to know who wants in on the Napai raid and who would rather attend the Boranai party? And if you're in on Boranai, do you want the spacejacking part (which can easily join the ground assault after the orbitals are taken) or do you want in on the ground raid from the Gateport?
Semo will be back in NPC form, and would probably either be a good choice for Napai or the spacejacking. Something where his close-quarters skills and fortitude will come in handy.
Here's the version of the plan as Punkey and I see it:
1. Settle questions of intelligence with a quick recon mission. No need to RP, just have the rebels get a local to let us now how many Needleships there are in the system, and any other pertinent information.
2. Insert Napai team using fake Turai plan.
3. Use boarding parties to spacejack any Needles. (In accordance with ADS's note, if more than one Needle in-system according to recon, other boarding party consists of NPCs)
4. Gain control of SpaceGates. Connect outsystem Gate to insystem Gate and keep cross-connected to create "busy-signal" blockade. The Needleship/(s) will be used for space superiority and ground fire support if we can spare it/them. Blitz on Boronai Gateport, bomb to cut off Spire Gate escape route.
5. Napai operation executed, using public chaos about Boronai as cover.
6. Profit.
This is probably going to be the Plan after all. I'm going to try to set up the IC mission(s) in the next day or two, so if I don't hear preferences on who wants in on what part of the attack(s) I shall pick for you.
Davis - Napai
Luis - Napai
(edit: swapped Luis, holding off on Semo until more votes are in. If we're all going to Napai then it's a no-brainer)
Who from the NPC roster is going on what mission? I was about to make a post when I realized that hasn't been settled yet. Don't hold off on any more background stuff, getting rolling is more important than further RP indulgence on my part.
Since I'm kind of flying blind here, I'll leave the decision of Semo's assignment to others. Hell, he's big on following orders anyway! Fits his character perfectly.
Can someone either provide or link to a summary of the Boronai needleship-jacking plan? It would be really helpful to have some idea what Semo is supposed to do and when.
In order to get close enough to the Needleship, the team has been put through Imperial Turai basic training and full indoctrination so they will pass as a Turai quad under close inspection. The team flies up to the Needleship in a stolen Manta as reinforcements and replacements, and then head as close to the Engineering and Bridge as they can get before forcibly taking command of the ship. We only need to hold engineering and the bridge to take control of the ship, so we'll give the crew a chance to surrender peacefully, and if they don't, we vent the ship's atmosphere from everywhere except engineering and the bridge, clearing the decks. To prevent Imperial reinforcements from coming through the gate, we dial the gate on the outskirts of the system using the gate above Boronai, tying them both up.
That sounds about right to me, except the whole "ask them to surrender" thing is new. Which is fine with me, but you should give thought to
1. You're giving them time to put spacesuits on and go Die Hard on you if they're inclined not to surrender.
2. If they DO surrender, who's going to watch them? You can't shunt them through a gate - while a personal gate would fit on a Needleship, there's no guarantee there'll be one. The orbitals will be tied up with dialing each other.
Suggestions:
1. Vent the entire Needleship as quickly as possible.
2. Start venting the atmosphere as quickly as possible, but vent it so you herd survivors towards the lifepods. You run the chance that herding them towards where they keep the spacesuits could increase the chance of a Die Hard scenario, but if you vent quick enough you might bank on the crew's survival instinct winning out ("jump into pod, hit red button") over loyalty to the Imperium ("struggle into spacesuit, attempt to organize resistance and take back the ship from people who have sealed themselves into the places that make the ship go").
3. It probably wouldn't be bad to have a handful of rebel ships on hand after you take the needleships. They could board some extra crew, but in this scenario they could handle prisoners perhaps. The drawback to not doing it all yourselves is that you'll need to dial out to bring in those reinforcements before you can tie up Boranai's space gates by dialing them to each other.
Another suggestion: if you could take the Needleship quickly enough and covertly enough (like wipe out engineering and the bridge in one, MAYBE two rounds, and with silenced firearms or something other than Imperials energy weapons), you could just give the order to abandon ship. If the crew doesn't know you're not their commanders, why would they disobey? :twisted:
punkey
