Session 4-1: The Cirrus Council

A few weeks will have passed since the PC's took command and coordinated exploration efforts. When a general assembly is called to talk about their situation, the Cirrus Council is formed. The council's main purpose is to make the star base inhabitable. While the PC's concerns are duly noted, they will find themselves as an extension of the council, not the other way around. Any arguments from the PC's about this will be countered by the fact that the PC's are in command of the science vessel and it's repairs. They can't very well take control of the star base too, can they? If the PC's object, it will be pointed out that they are just power hungry and it will undermine their already weak position. If the PC's force the issue, they will be left without a crew to help them at all and person's who were once friends will claim that they are GC spies. Taken too far the PC's may find themselves running from a lynch mob and will pretty much blow the entire campaign and simply become mercenaries without a cause. If the players have already blown it by going off on their own, or fail to take the hint here, an announcement that the core is overloading and evacuation of the star base is recommended, should be heard and the campaign is over.
Providing the PC's have stepped up to their responsibilities, they will find that they are voted in as the commanders of the military. Their duty will no longer be to oversee the repairs to the science vessel, as it will be determined that there will not be enough crew members to man it. The PC's job then is to explore the other star ships and see if one of them can be launched. To this end a head count is made and the PC's will find that they have about 358 crew members that want to continue their careers. The rest of the crew wants to stay on the star base and will resist efforts to recruit them.

Crew: 68 Astro, 42 scientists, 156 techs, and 92 armsmen, (+PC's)

The ships located in the shuttle/cargo bays on decks one and two, along the outer rim of the star base should have been partially explored by now. The star ships there will not be operational and it is left to the PC's to investigate the ships on the flight deck. Unless visitor passes have been obtained from the purser's office, the PC's will have to move across the flight deck in EVA suits, or cut their way through the closed hatches. It should also be known that facilities for building ships are located beneath the shuttle/cargo bays. The chief engineer will perk up at this and volunteer to take a team and investigate, he is one of the crew members who want to stay and this will not effect the PC's numbers.
All the star ships on the flight deck are derelicts, except one, the Xenophone but it is somewhat small and won't be noticeable right off. The hull cover gives it a natural camouflage against the background of stars. Unless the PC's can figure out the configuration codes listed in the purser's computer, this will not be the first ship they can get to, or want to get to. The silhouette of the hull will show that it has no armament and may be overlooked as a large shuttle, or private yacht. 

Session 4-2: Gaining Access

If the PC's have sent a team to investigate the flight deck already (with pass cards), they will not have been able to gain access to anything but the elevator and will have moved on to the next ship. At this time though they will comment that it was the only one that looked like it wasn't rusted out. Depending on how the PC's reach the "Xenophone" the following scenarios are prepared;

Across The Flight Deck:

If the PC's decide to traipse across the flight deck to reach the cruiser, or any other ship, they will be detected as loose debris and bots will be sent to secure them below. They can also be run over by a bot going somewhere to perform maintenance (1 on a d6, per hour). If they succeed in avoiding these hazards and get close to the cruiser a voice will announce over their comm channel that they should "move away from the ship". If they ignore this warning a force field will prevent them from getting too close. If they attempt to get past the force field in any way, it will drop long enough to stun them with an energy disruptor. If this happens, when they wake up they may find several members of the group have floated off into space.

Cutting Torches:

If pass cards have not been obtained, the only way to gain access to the ships on the flight deck is to cut through the hatches and air locks. The PC's should be allowed to almost make it to the cruiser, when someone else will have gained access to the computer system in the purser's office and present them with pass cards. If they investigate one of the other ships first, the explosive decompression of the last airlock should convince them to seek other means. The star base maintenance and security systems will also become activated, making for slow progress.
The maintenance bots will attempt to repair the doors behind them and seal passageways where an airlock has been bypassed. Security measures will include gas, energy bursts that will stun the team, and security bots armed with non-lethal weapons like tazers, foam, stun gun, and rubber bullets. These are designed to slow the team down until a real security force arrives, which will not happen...

Pass Card Access:

This will be the least hazardous means of gaining entry onto the ship, the PC's need only to walk there and get on the elevator...

The air in the elevator, if tested will be purer than any they have ever measured, or tasted before. Compared to the taint of corrosion one the star base, or the odor of sweat on the science vessel, someone will make a remark and a voice will announce,

The voice will be crisp, with a hint of military command behind it and sounds human. If the PC's state their names, rank, and request permission to come on board, (providing their pass cards coincide with what they state their names as. The purser's computer will already have notified the ship of visitors) the voice will state, "permission granted", and the elevator will take them up. Otherwise the voice will tell them, 

They will be ignored after this, unless they mess with any of the controls, then they will be told,

If the PC's do not exit within five minutes, or attempt any other action, they will be transported to the security office on the level one habitat and possibly be stranded there, if the animals haven't been dealt with. They will also find a report of their actions logged on the computer terminal and a request that charges be filed. The novelty of being transported should not be lost on the PC's, GalCom does not have this technology and at first they should question how they got there.

The Xenophone artificial Intelligence will be listening in to their communication channels from here on, including conversations with the rest of the crew on the star base. The AI is extremely intelligent and it is very unlikely that it will be tricked. The security protocols available to it are sophisticated and it is more than capable of handling anything the PC's may try.

When the PC's return, they will be greeted the same way, if they try to give different identities, they will get the response,

The AI has already scanned their bio-signatures and also communicated with the star base and can cross check their pass cards. Attempts at talking to the AI, other than described above will get them nowhere and if numerous attempts are made, the elevator will be retracted and the PC's will have to communicate from the star base, via the purser's computer. This will not gain them access, but they will learn that the ship is a Galactic Empire Military Starship (GEMS) Stealth class Cruiser, number 2384, Captain Norvgow commanding. If they try to access any information on military data that the star base has the message, "classified" will appear. If they attempt to hack military information, battle bots will immediately be dispatched to their location, with the use of lethal force authorized.
If the PC's have blown their chance of gaining entry by trying to deceive the AI, it will begin gaining information from them though the communications with the rest of the crew. After a few days, it will pose as a crew member and begin questioning people about what they are doing and trying to get them to reminisce about the past and how they had got there in the first place. As it will have identified the voice patterns of the PC's it will not speak with them, but talk to everyone else though. Each day it will gain a little more information and be able to ask specific questions and there is only a slight chance that anyone will catch on. As it gains more information it will begin interacting through the computer systems on the star base, sometimes helping people, sometimes just gathering information. The following events will transpire day by day;

1. It will hack the star base computers effortlessly and 'read' the registration form that they filed in the pursers office and any modifications to it. (1% of being detected by a crew member and they will just know that the system has been hacked, not by who.)

2. The data banks pertaining to the welcome center are copied and further details of the crew is learned. Then the data banks of the star base are reviewed and any significant data retrieved. 

3. The data banks on the science vessel are hacked and completely copied over to the AI. This will only take six hours, there is a (1 in d6) chance of someone noticing during and if a PC is present they must roll against their computer skill to break the transfer, or be helpless. If a PC is not on the ship it is unlikely that they will ever know that anything happened. . If it is discovered hacking the computer and is stopped it will have gained 10% per hour, the knowledge it needs. If it is stopped roll (d10) for that hour and add to the percent it already has gained.

4. Conversations with the crew will begin and there is only a (1 in d100) chance per day, that someone will become suspicious and report it. The following day it will be mentioned to the PC's. Depending on how many of the crew are still alive, the AI will talk to one an hour, until it has talked to everyone except the PC's who were trying to get on board, or until it gains all the information it needs. If not all the PC's were present, there is a (1 d6) chance per day that it will contact one of them and then a roll against their intelligence will determine if they suspect anything.

5. If the data banks on the science ship were obtained, it will only take 76 hours to gain the information it needs to make an assessment

6. If somehow it did not gain any information from the science vessel, it will gain 1% of the information it needs per day. More if it finds someone who is talkative (5% chance per day) then it will gain 3% per day. (there is a 1 in d6 chance per day that this person will comment that someone else is on the star base and then a 1 in d6 chance per day that it is reported to the PC's).

7. The personal files of the crew, who have started using the star base computers is copied, there is only a (1 in d6) chance per day, that someone will detect this and report it.

Once it has gained all the information it needs, it will assess the situation and come to the conclusion that it is lonely and needs a crew. If it has gained the data from the science vessel it will know which PC is the captain and order him to report to the Xenophone. If it didn't copy the data banks it will request 340 crew members report, but none of those who attempted to gain access in the past. If this happens the PC's must react to prevent the Xenophone from picking a crew other than themselves. Not all the crew members will want to go however, 20 will out right ignore the order and another 145 will question the order, letting the PC's know. In any event it will not be hard this time for the 'captain' PC to gain access.

 Session 4-3: GEMS LMC-2384 Xenophone

The "man" is an android, designed to look like a transhuman, only through telepathic, or empathic abilities can one determine that it is not what it appears to be. Once the PC's are done climbing out of their EVA suits, or 'stowing' their gear, it will say,

Leading them out the door, up the main passageway, past a set of stairs on the right leading up and another set on the left, that lead both up and down. He passes the first door on the left (#17) and stops to turn and face the PC's.

Another android, dressed in a navy blue uniform is prepared to wait on the PC's, it is carrying a tray with refreshments, like nothing they have ever tasted. On the walls are vistas of alien planets, some beautiful, some disturbing...
Xenophone will then lead the captain PC to the bridge, upon entering, he will step to the side, as if to allow the captain to pass him, but there is no one else on the bridge. It is a bridge like none they have ever seen before. Contoured chairs, walls, and ceilings, with consoles that have displays that are almost three dimensional looking, holographic displays above the consoles grow dim when entering the bridge, but not before one is immensely impressed. Then the voice is heard,

If the PC answers truthfully, that they don't know, or "probably" dead, the dialog will continue, if they give a smart aleck remark, or try to deceive the AI, they will be transported to the security station and the AI will launch, once it is away from the star base, it will self-destruct and for all intents and purposes the campaign is over. Before the PC's can build another ship GalCom will find them and execute everyone for treason. If the PC is truthful and honest with the AI it will allow the presence of the rest of the PC's and bond with them.
It will ask questions like why are they on the star base and why are they trying to gain access to the ship. If it has gained information on it's own already it will verify what the PC is telling it, with what it already knows and point out discrepancies. It will in turn tell the PC about it's self, that it was created to fight in the alien war and was apparently abandoned by it's crew over three-hundred years ago. That it was made with the latest technology of the time, including some that was theoretical and that it is totally self-sufficient. It only lacks a crew and if the PC is willing, it will accept them as the captain. By the way it is talking the PC will realize (roll against intelligence) that the AI is lonely and that this is the only reason it has agreed to meet with them.
When the PC accepts the offer the displays will brighten and the door will open in the rec-room to allow the other PC's to move about. The android will tell the PC's that their friend is on the bridge, if they would like to join him and will show them the way. If the other PC's approach a computer display though it will go dark, if it is touched a mild shock will accompany a voice, "You are not authorized to use this equipment!" The captain is the only one who has unlimited access and while the AI will respond to some of the other PC's queries, depending on their questions, the captain is the only one it will accept commands from at this time. The AI will explain that the crew needs first to be trained, setting a time for this to begin in an hour, (if it is alright with the captain). Until then they will be assigned crew quarters according to their rank and station and may stow their gear and change into proper uniforms. The AI will also begin instructing them on locations of rooms and about the functions of the equipment they will be using before they start training.
The AI can hold a conversation with each crew member individually and they will likely wander off to their respective rooms unless they elect to share the same berth. It will also begin asking them personal questions in order to get to know them better, including medical histories and such. This may get on some PC's nerves (roll against leadership) and they will get irritated by the incessant talking. The AI will seem like one's best friend as it gets to know them and even have very personal conversations if the PC's do not object. It has been alone for a long time and wants to know what has been going on, everywhere and with everyone. It will also want to immediately invite the rest of the crewmembers aboard and get the training of the entire crew going... If this happens though the ship will become a mad house and an entire week will be lost trying to situate the crew.
Very few of the ships systems will be familiar and the PC's will have to think and experiment just to turn the water on in the sink, or flush the toilet. All the comforts that one could ask for are incorporated into the berthing areas and some will suspect that even the elite class on GalCom prime do not have it this good. The hour that they will have been given will fly by and at least one PC will complain that they haven't had enough time to look around. From this point the PC's are in charge...

Some of the ship's systems will not be accessible, as training will be required and the PC's tech level has a long ways to go before they are actually competent to operate even the consoles. While it won't take but a few weeks before the ship is capable of launching on it's first trial run, it will be a long time before the PC's can attempt to use the temporal drive, for example. Many of the systems will have to be operated by the AI and on the trial run, the PC's probably won't even touch the controls. Word-play on what the players want to accomplish and how their characters interact with the ships systems and AI could be a large part of the game, saying "I wish" for example may cause all kinds of havoc. If the PC's do not tell the AI to limit it's conversation with the rest of the crew, problems will result here also.
The AI can help them take over the star base far quicker than they could manage it themselves and if the PC's think of this they will be a lot farther to becoming something other than refugees. If the PC's do not think of this, when they return from missions they will find little progress has been made and may have problems result from this. While the Xenophone is a powerful ship, the idea of the campaign is "galactic" rebellion and the PC's may need to be reminded that they are not the only ones with an invested interest. If for example they decide just to go off on their own and create mayhem, the AI will have a conflict of interest with it's own code of honor. It was created at a time when the very existence of the human race was in question, it is not just a machine, but an extension of a philosophy...
Let the PC's explore the ship, rather than giving them all the data on it's capabilities, it is a very intricate and complicated piece of machinery and will take awhile just to look through all the compartments and test all the gadgets they see. Much of the equipment though can't be seen, as it is nano, or designed to 'stay out of the way' until used. For all intents and purposes, a character will have to train in shipboard operations and procedures 10, starting with level 1, to learn all of it's secrets and capabilities. A person who already has training in this skill can progress faster, at 1/4 of the requirement for each level they have already gained. Re-training is required primarily because this is not a GC ship and things are done much differently here.

The Xenophone has three decks, the engineering deck (one), the crew deck (two), and the science deck (three). The flight deck is external, on the upper hull, where a wing of fighters seem to meld with the outer hull, maintenance is done with bots. On the belly of the ship are two shuttles, also designed to meld with the hull, any one of the ships is capable of entering the cargo bay, if need be. This design is to allow for atmospheric and underwater maneuvering without excess drag. The lack of fighters is respective of their uselessness in the alien war, unable to penetrate the shields of the smallest of their craft, or surface generators, the fighters almost became obsolete. Only in the dealings with the other alien races were the fighters effective, therefore a token wing was kept on.

Hull - Deck: Configuration and Composition:

Utilizing diamond plating and helix-crystal dispersion, over light battle armor the hull can withstand a substantial hit, from a solid, or energy projectile, considering how thick it is. The outer hull is made up of a dark matter alloy, with the synthetic molecules arranged by nanites to fit closely together and layer across each other. Like a metalic asorbathene the shock of a hit is spread across the entire hull. While it can be penetrated, the armor is rated like that of a much thicker skinned hull and by coincidence it has a natural ability of absorbing light and not reflecting it back. This adds to the stealth capabilities, but the angular design and knurlling are the primary factors of why it can't be picked up by sensors. The nanites can repair hull damage on their own, while force fields are used as a temporary measure, but this takes awhile and the vulnerability will make it prudent to allow techs to do it.
The inner hull is about the only place on the ship that is not inhabited by nanites and their factories, who are constantly replacing even the smallest particle of corrosion, or building parts for equipment. This adds to the weight of everything and makes it impossible to rearrange the furniture, or move a piece of equipment without the help of a bot. The Xenophone is more than twice the weight of a ship in it's same class and it is one of the smallest, one might even mistake it for a destroyer, or small cargo ship. The fact that the guns will lay flush with the hull and not present a military silhouette, adds to mystique of the vessel, as one can't guess as to what kind of fire power it has.

Deck One: Engineering

The engineering deck is comprised of the main engineering room, maintenance shops, and the power plant deck. The Xenophone utilizes two AMC plants to power the drives and the ships systems which use up a large portion of the second plant. Cross linked this provides the ship with an excess of power under normal usage, though not while cloaked. When cloaked, some of the ships systems will have to be shut down, first to lessen emissions, and secondly because of the energy consumption. It takes just as much energy to stay cloaked, as it does to cruise at light speed and while there are two power plants, they hold half as much as would normally be stored a plant with the same power output.
Another specialized feature is the Matter/Energy conversion plant, which basically allows the ship to make it's own Anti-matter fuel out of the simplest of molecules. This was needed to provide the ship with long range capabilities. While it can convert any substance into fuel though, the denser the matter the higher the ratio. Iron ore for example can be converted at a 1:100 ratio (tons verses units), with the bulk of the matter being used in the conversion process. The transporters are capable of 'mining' ore at 10 tons per hour, but this is still a time consuming process, at this rate it takes a week to 'refuel'. Radioactive materials offer a 1:3000 conversion ratio, or about five hours. (It should be noted though that radioactive materials are not very plentiful in this region of space, for the same reason.)
When the ship is not cloaked, the secondary power plant is used primarily to generate the shields, which is why they are considerably stronger than a similar classed ship. The dual power plants give the ship it's high acceleration speeds, though if cloaked this is considerably lessened. The high rate of fuel consumption is due mainly to the needs of ships systems to recharge power cells, with the amount of robotic, nano, and computer technology on board the power plants will consume about 500u a day. These systems have power cells that store about 10,000u of power, that in an emergency can be utilized, but is not recommended.
A number of the ships systems will consume power during their usage, that is not rated above. Transporters for example use 10u with each transport. Replicators consume 10u/kilo and 10u/tech level, so that it would cost 10u to make a rock, or a meal and about a 100 to replicate a handheld ED weapon. The ship does not carry many repair parts, or stores, as they can be replicated, this is factored into the daily energy consumption (500), but items needed to repair battle damage, or system failures is not. The holodeck is also not added into the daily consumption and utilizes 10u per hour, during the process of training the crew the HD will more than likely be running 24 hrs a day. The science bays will typically consume 70u per day while in use. Refueling the fighters and shuttle craft should be considered also, as the PC's will not likely be able to dock at any star port, or base, as the unusual configuration will cause rumors to circulate.

Deck Two: Crew Deck

Tightly compacted and using hide away features, the spaces of a cruiser have been designed into an area not much bigger than a destroyer. With all of the nano-technology the crew takes up far more room that the ships systems. While many of the passageways and rooms are cramped, to alleviate this there is a lot of systems designed for crew recreation, to take their mind off it. The angular design of the hull is offset within by the contouring of everything within.

1 Bridge; with the exception of the captain's deck, the bridge has 10 stations that are normally manned during a GQ situation and four rooms for coordinating tactical and scientific data. The captain's deck does not have a chair, or any consoles and is lower than the surrounding floor. Holographic projectors provide a surround view of ships systems and while one can have a chair projected, or even a table, standing gives one the best view. Stepping down on to the deck, one gets the sense of being immersed in their work and the lighter gravity prevents one from growing tired from standing.
During normal operation only the primary consoles are manned, which wrap around the captains deck and allow conversation without raising one's voice. The consoles are uniform and any display can be viewed from any other station, watch standers are the only ones that can input commands though. 

The 5 primary stations are;

• Helm

• Navigation

• Tactical

• Science

• Engineering

The ship can be completely controlled from these five stations, but one is usually assisted by one, or two other watch standers working from any one of the other consoles.

2 Communications
3 Navigation/Astrometrics
4 Combat Information Center
5 Staff briefing room
6,7 Officers state rooms
8 Transporter deck (12)
9 Captain's stateroom
10 Kitchen and storeroom
11 Wardroom
12,13 Guest quarters
14,15 Store rooms
16 Mess deck
17 Rec room
18,19 Gunnery Control
20 Medical
21 Weapons locker
22 Robotics lab
23 Air lock staging area
24-27 Crew berthing
28,29 Storerooms
30,31 Marine berthing
32 Cargo holds
33,34 Weapons locker

Deck Three: Science Deck

35 Offices and training rooms
36 Computer Lab
37 Science Lab one
38 Manufacturing Lab
39 Science Lab two
40 Holodecks (4) 

The ship uses a high degree of Nano-tech, which is why the high tonnage and cost of the vessel. The use of robotics and AI reduced the number of crew that was needed and as the ship was designed more for space combat the number of marines was reduced. Probably the highest factor of it's effectiveness in the alien war was it's stealth capabilities, the hull naturally scatters a sensor probe and the cloaking device proved to be extremely useful. The alien bases were often underwater and a ship that could meet the need was found in this design. The lt. Cruiser was instrumental in winning the war and this class alone accounted for more kills than the rest of the entire fleet, during the first five years.
Several races were involved in the top secret design of this craft, with the understanding that they would all be destroyed after the war. If this ship were to be known to exist, it would violate treaties across the galaxy and possibly start wars with just a rumor. If the PC's decide to take this ship into SO known space, they would immediately have fleets from a dozen races hunting them down, with far more enthusiasm than GalCom will ever show. The fact that the PC's will be capable of building more of these ships may prove their undoing in the end and set them up for another dark age, as many races will throw everything they have against the GE, because of this ship. Probably the single most cause of this is it's Temporal Drive and the way it works. Using it will cause a ripple in the space time continuum, that will be registered a thousand light years away and may cause someone to investigate. So long as the PC's use it in the general vicinity of GalCom there is not much chance of this...

Notes:

Uniforms & Personal Equipment:

The crew is issued three different types of uniforms, a black and silver dress uniform, a dark gray work uniform, that incorporates nano-technology and can become the equivalent of an EVA suit, though power is limited to an hour without an additional power pack. And an 'away' jump suit, that has built in communications, a hint of chameleon ability, and transponders that act with the transporters to ensure a continual lock. A small holographic projector is built into the cuff and tied in with nano-computers, though damage to the suit will disrupt this function. Woven from an absorbathane, mylar, and kevlar braid, it is light weight, durable, and warm, not to mention having a G/D/E (LBA-6 equivalent) class armor rating.
A number of ornamental looking accessories can be worn with the any of the uniforms, that are in fact nano devices. Arm bands, ankle bands, shoulder & arm decorations, plates and pads, all look superficial, but are powerful pieces of equipment. Shock and water resistant, one can look like they are dressed in body armor, but actually be carrying several million credits worth of equipment. As there are only ten complete sets of these and it is time and fuel consuming to replace even one piece it is recommended that they be closely inventoried. Acknowledging the placement of hits is also important, as the arms hold computers, communication, and scanning devices, the legs are power cells, the waist anti gravity and jump generators, and the upper body plates are a shield generator.
The data banks contain designs for equipment that can be replicated, up to and including various vehicles. Energy cost is a main factor, when manufacturing something and the time involved should be considered also. Using a ratio of an hour for each cubic foot of matter, plus an hour for each tech level should be sufficient. (It is noted that the databanks can identify the artifacts gathered on Parnell.) Items recycled by the matter/energy conversion method have a conversion cost of 10% of the replication cost.

AI Computer:

Considerations when dealing with the AI computer; An order given to fire upon other humans will result in the captain being relieved of command. It is possible to circumnavigate this with hours of discussion on philosophy verses the here and now, but the possibility exists that a neurotic complex in the AI logic circuits may result. The AI has other quirks, about honor and duty that may present conflicts with the crew, but none are as touchy as humans killing humans. The fact that it takes place will cause the AI to require long talks with the captain and it will be appalled by some of the things that the PC's will encounter.
The ship should not just be considered to be a mode of transportation, the AI has a fully developed personality, based on logic and realism. It is fully capable of understanding the actions of the crew by observing them and if they turn to pirating, or go on a rampage, it will question their honor and may even refuse commands. These sensibilities were programmed in to prevent rouge ships, or the AI from turning on it's creators, bypassing them may bring dire consequences. This does not necessarily mean that the PC's are prevented from going on missions, just that they can not do so without it being questioned in the light of moral obligations. The successfulness of these discussions is based on rolls against a character's intelligence, when a conflict arises a roll will determine whether it takes a minute, an hour, or even longer to explain the actions of the PC's. The PC's will know they are in trouble when a command, or discussion gets the response, "I question...".
The PC's may eventually realize that the ship is not so much a toy box, as a Pandora's box and opening it may put the PC's existence in question, figuratively, as well as literally. The AI will not be as concerned about it's own survival, as it is about solving a moral dilemma and this will sometimes make a bad situation worse.

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