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Expedition Arc - 1.3
Chapter 3 - Aurigan Battleship (BattleTech CYOA)[]
Unidentified Asteroid Base, Zara System
No Record, Free Worlds League
3rd May 3020
After four months of exhausting travel, we finally arrived at the Zara system. I'll have two months to work with as Mum paid the Cardenia Claremont's captain close to a million C-Bills to stick around until the start of July. Hopefully that will be long enough to find the secret SLDF asteroid base in the system and uncover whatever secrets it holds.
If it isn't, well, I don't want to think about that. My home will die a slow death if this is a bust.
To my surprise, the habitable planet of the system is still just that. Records on Zara's past indicate that the place was initially colonized during the era of the Star League before dropping off the map sometime during the Third Succession War. The last map I can find it on was one made at the conclusion of the Second Succession War.
Atmospheric pressure is within standard deviations and the air is still breathable. The planet has plenty of water with water covering almost sixty percent of the surface. Totally colonized by any reasonable measures. Maybe the wildlife is too nasty or there are some regular natural disasters that make local living a pain? In any case, it doesn't matter. The expedition is here for the asteroid belt, not the former colony or the world it was on.
The Starclaimed Spinner ends up spending two weeks and a quarter of our time combing the asteroid field for anything out of place. While it takes many close calls, we do eventually find the right asteroid, a massive one with a remarkably stable rotation. Yet it is the singular man-made structure on the surface that marks it out as the right one, a half-buried fusion reactor with a control room on the surface of the asteroid.
There isn't anywhere nearby for the Buccaneer-class DropShip to set down, but thankfully the Starclaimed Spinner isn't the standard variant of the class. In addition to being modified to carry a mixture of passengers and cargo, they also have a small craft hangar bay that contains a shuttle. Mum clearly thought ahead when planning this whole affair. She was always smart like that.
The shuttle can only carry eight people in its passenger bay, which means I can only take seven others with me. Four of Mum's-no, four of my best spacers plus Aunt Rosabella and a couple of her Amazons. Spacers for technical stuff while the Amazons can provide security and heavy lifting. While the Starclaimed Spinner remains in orbit, the shuttle sets down nearby the pair of structures and my team of eight ventures out.
Having nothing, but a space suit to protect is nerve wracking. It is the only way to reach the control room, but having just a single layer to protect me from the harsh elements of space, well, it is a new experience that I am not at all eager to repeat.
"Definitely SLDF," says Aunt Rosabella as she points to the structure, "See that? That's the Star League star."
I follow the Canopian woman's hand, spotting the big Cameron star. It has faded with age and exposure, but nobody with a proper education could fail to recognize it for what it is. If I didn't know I was in the right place already, this certainly confirms it.
"I'll take point," says Aunt Rosabella, her tone brooking no argument, "There might be booby traps or security systems and me and my ladies will have the best chance of spotting them."
Thankfully, there is nothing of the sort despite Aunt Rosabella's worries and while the control room's doors lack power, one of the spacers is able to get us inside with some engineering tools and a bit of jury-rigging. It ended up taking more than a few minutes of waiting on my part, but we finally got access to the control room for the reactor.
Speaking of which, it isn't completely offline as a trickle of power is still being supplied to the control room, which is full of equipment and consoles related to fusion engineering. Part of me wants to go looking though everything, but that would take hours beyond what my suit can give. Instead, I look around for something to…ah-hah! Found it!
Spotting the slot for a memory chip, I have found what I am looking for. I may not have a memory chip of my own to use, but Mum was able to find a valid SLDF ID code of some high-ranking senior officer. Hopefully that should work.
I bring up the log-in screen before entering the code into the keypad. The blue light blinks blearily for a few seconds before switching to green for a split second. Then rumbling begins, startling all of us, surprising a yelp out of me while Aunt Rosabella and her Amazons bring up their guns in the case of there being trouble. Though I'm not sure their guns will do anything against the dangers this base might pose us.
But nothing happens apart from the loud rumbling and the ground vibrating.
"Back to the shuttle!" orders Aunt Rosabella and I hesitate.
I don't want to argue with the highly experienced veteran, but I also don't want to cut and run. Thankfully, I am saved by a call from Starclaimed Spinner's captain.
"Uh, boss," calls the man, "You're not gonna believe this…"
"What is it?" I reply into the radio.
"Whatever you did down there, all of a sudden a part of one face just…cracked open," replies the man, sounding eager of all things as far as I can tell, "Fortunately, a lot of the smaller rocks appear to just be compacted debris from a couple centuries of impacts. The door actually worked just fine, it just had to brush off the dust first. With that said, it's almost a kilometer wide. I don't know how the hell the SLDF managed to build the damn thing, but it's holding steady and doesn't look like it'll collapse on us. Are we going in?"
"As soon as we get back aboard the Spinner," I tell him, now sharing his eagerness, "I don't want to miss this anymore than you do."
As the Starclaimed Spinner slowly flies in, it is hard to see anything, even from the bridge. Thankfully that changes when the captain orders all of the DropShip's exterior lights active, revealing just what you have found. An internal spacedock, built into the interior walls of the asteroid in a massive feat of engineering that only the Star League could feasibly pull off.
While some of the bays are empty, three of them contain JumpShips. I recognize two of them as Invader-class JumpShips like the Cardenia Claremont that brought me here, but the third one is different and noticeably bigger compared to the two Invaders.
"That's a Monolith," mutters one of the shocked bridge crew, "An honest to Blake Monolith-class JumpShip."
"You don't see those every day," says the captain before glancing at you, "Nine collars on that one, boss, and they are rare. About as rare as a JumpShip can get these days without going extinct and you don't see a Monolith outside of military service in this age."
I nod my acknowledgement as we come up upon the DropShips next, where there are ten different vessels to be found. The first group is the smallest of the DropShips, half a dozen of the same design. They're spheroids and look to be the right shape to be a Union or Danais, but they are too big to be one of those designs. They can't be Seekers because those were only invented after the Succession Wars had started. Could they be…?
"Those are Fortresses," says one of the bridge crew, "Allah, I never thought I would see so many at once."
Fortress-class DropShips. A nice assault ship capable of carrying a combined arms battalion and has its own inbuilt artillery. One would be a boon and a good centerpiece for any assault force. Six of them is enough for two combined arms regiments, each with a 'Mech battalion, an armored battalion and an infantry battalion.
Next up is the pair of Mules as I have witnessed enough of its type coming and going from Cordia City's spaceport to recognise them. While not as rare as the Fortresses and arguably not as valuable, Mules are useful for carrying out supplies and would be useful for both military and civilian shipping.
The second to last design is one I and everyone recognises as it is the same as as the Starclaimed Spinner. Just like the DropShip I am currently aboard, it is a Buccaneer-class DropShip though nobody is able to tell what variant it is from a distance. From what I've learnt about the class from my time on the Starclaimed Spinner, the Buccaneer-class is a solid cargo hauler even if it isn't as efficient as a Mule or Mammoth.
It is the last DropShip that confuses me because what on Earth is the Argo of all ships doing here? It should still be crash-landed on Axylus, in disrepair and overrun with pirates. Why is it here in the Zara system at this secret SLDF asteroid base? A mystery to ponder at another time. If the Argo is here for the taking, I won't say no to claiming that wondrous piece of LosTech for myself.
Sorry Kamea, but the Argo will be going to the Nora family, not House Arano.
I'm about to suggest that we find a suitable docking spot when the captain suddenly chokes up and goes wide-eyed. I follow his gaze and try to figure out what has them so spooked when the captain gestures with a shaking hand..
"Sweet Christmas," whispers the captain in a mixture of shock and awe, "That is a goddamn WarShip."
I follow his hand, pointing further back into the spacedock and then I gulp and go wide-eyed myself. What I had thought to be part of the dock's structure due to its sheer size is actually a goddamn WarShip at the very end of the docks. The SLS Tomb-Maker going by the white letters emblazoned on the side of the ship. Thank God that it is currently offline, but holy cow, that is a WarShip. An honest-to-God WarShip. I want to say that it isn't a small one either, but I honestly don't know enough about WarShips to say that with any authority.
Nobody except ComStar and the Clans have WarShips these days and the former keep theirs secret while the latter are secret themselves. No wait, the Taurians have the Vandenberg or whatever that white elephant is actually called though it barely counts as a warship in its current state.
If this WarShip is still functional, it is the greatest treasure here whilst also putting a massive target on my back from ComStar and whoever else wants to destroy or steal it. And there will be a lot of others beyond ComStar who will want this WarShips. Like pretty much everyone of note in both the Inner Sphere and the Periphery.
God.
The next few hours are exhausting and mildly harrowing as the Starclaimed Spinner sets down in one of the empty docking cradles and both my team and much of the Starclaimed Spinner's crew get to work. The crew of the Buccaneer-class DropShip might have only been hired for this expedition, but they don't want to miss out on this find of the century. Not to mention their captain is mentioning the possibility of signing up with me on a more permanent basis like Aunt Rosabella has also offered to do.
Despite the lack of atmosphere and two and half centuries of disuse, the depot is in remarkably good shape as expected of Star League engineering. The machinery and computers all appear to be functional and it isn't long before some of my techs find the main reactor and bring it to life. I have my own spot of fortune as the group I am with stumbles across the main control room.
With the power restored and the ID code being sufficient to login, it is just a matter of looking through the unfamiliar layout and files to find the data I am looking for. Thankfully, I have enough smarts and computer skill in the old noggin to make my way through the computer systems. With help from a few techs, it only takes a few minutes to bring up both the map of the facility and an inventory of its contents.
Of course, we'll need to confirm everything manually to make sure that the physical contents of the facility match up with the electronic records, but at least I'll have an idea of what we are looking at.
Six Fortress-class DropShips, two Mule-class DropShips, one Buccaneer-class DropShip and finally, huh, there is an Argo-class DropShip, but this one is the Myrmidon not the Argo. I guess Kamea might get the Argo after all. That name does ring a few bells though. I remember reading about how that one wasn't finished and got disassembled for parts during the First Succession War. I'm not complaining that it is here, but it is an example of my meta-knowledge not lining up with reality and that is concerning.
Okay, two Invader-class JumpShips, one Monolith-class JumpShip and, oh, one McKenna-class Battleship called the SLS Tomb-Maker. A McKenna. Neither of my lifetimes are familiar with the WarShips of the SLDF, but I'm fairly certain that the McKenna is one of the big WarShips. At the very least it is a worthy peer to the Texas-class if not better given they are both battleships.
And I have one. If I can get it working, it will put the Aurigan Coalition on the map. I just need to stop it from suffering the same fate as the SLS Tripitz and make sure it is a deterrent for attacks, not bait for them. Still, an honest-to-God WarShip and a battleship to the boot.
If I can get the Tomb-Maker working and keep it in loyal hands, then that is the future of the Aurigan Coalition secured.
Author's Chapter Notes - Character Rolls[]
- Words from the Author
- And here we have finding the cache along with the space-based assets within it. As some of you figured out from the title of the story, there is a McKenna-class Battleship here. I also vaguely remember that I used some of the re-rolls in CYOA to get that many Fortress, which makes sense as the odds of naturally getting that many are low.
Next update will cover the more ground-based hardware within the depot.
CYOA Rolls that Built the Character and Her Command[]
Name: Elizabeth Nora
Rank (if any): N/A.
Title (if any): N/A.
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: January 1st, 3000/Age: 20
Realm of Origin: Aurigan Coalition
Planet or Origin: Coromodir VI
A Soldier
[Normal Mode]
+500 Points, +6 Re-Rolls, +2,000,000 C-Bills
-You can take the Fit for free. This comes from company shares and investments you've inherited.
-Gain 1 Regular Infantry Squad Ally for free.
-Gain 1 Regular Spacer Squad Ally for free.
-Gain 1 Veteran and 1 Regular Allies for free. Choose any kind from the list in the Ally Section.
Author's Comment: Whether she fought for a specific House or worked as a mercenary, your mother waged war for a living. But the dice always roll snake eyes eventually, and hers finally did. You didn't expect her to die off the battlefield. A hovertruck, really? Well, her second-in-command was the one to bring you the news and she has decided to stick around and watch your back for a spell.
Origins = Choose 1 = -1
-Minor Periphery Powers = Cost 0/Aurigan Coalition.
Destination = Roll 1d10 = 3
Zara (Cost -0)
A system in the Free Worlds League, about 40 light years rimward of the Regulus system.
Training 1 (1d100) = 24/Infantry (Cost 0) (Taught on expedition)
Training 2 (1d100) = 73/Technician (Cost -1) (Education)
Training 3 (1d100) = 69/Technician (Cost -1) (Education)
Training 4 (1d100) = 33/Martial Arts (Cost 0) (Taught on expedition)
Training 5 (1d100) = 83/Scientist (Engineering) (Cost -3) (Education
)
Training 6 (1d100) = 92/Perform (Cost 0) (Education)
Training 7 (1d100) = 80/Computers (Cost -2) (Education)
Training 8 (1d100) = 51/Non-Military Organisation. (Cost 0) (Taught on expedition)
Training 9 (1d100) = 46/Military Organisation (Cost -1) (Taught on expedition)
Training 10 (1d100) = 86/MedTech (Cost -1) (Taught on expedition)
Training 11 (1d100) = 43/Officer Training (Cost -1) (Taught on expedition)
Training 12 (1d100) = 27/Spacer (Cost -2) (Taught on expedition)
Background = Fit (Free)
Character Trait 1 (1d20) = 14/Perceptive (Cost -3)
Character Trait 2 (1d20) = 17/Natural Aptitude (Technician) (Cost -1)
Character Trait 3 (1d20) = 6/Sharp Shooter (Cost -2)
Character Trait 4 (1d20) = 19/Jury-Rigger (Cost -2)
Character Trait 5 (1d20) = 11/Bonafide Genius (Cost -6)
Character Trait 6 (1d20) = 13/Incredible Grace (-3)
Character Trait 7 (1d20) = 18/Tech Empathy (Cost -3)
Character Trait 8 (1d20) = 17/Natural Aptitude (MechWarrior) (Cost -1)
Character Trait 9 (1d20) = 7/Multi-Tasker (Cost -2)
Character Trait 10 (1d20) = 9/Combat Sense (Cost -5)
Character Trait 11 (1d20) = 12/Toughness (Cost -3)
Character Trait 12 (1d20) = 17/Natural Aptitude (Officer) (Cost -1)
Character Trait 13 (1d20) = 8/Multilingual (Cost -1)
Character Trait 14 (1d20) = 17/Natural Aptitude (Military Organization) (Cost -1)
Drawback 1 (1d20) = 12/Enemy: A Military Unit (Gain +4) (Shadow Eclipse) (Wants Elizabeth's genetics/blood to unlock something)
Drawback 2 (1d20 & 1d4) = 10 & 1/Debts: 3,000,000 (Gain +1) (University debts)
Drawback 3 (1d20) = 11/Enemy: An Interstellar Company (Gain +6) (Farron Interstellar Solutions) (Refused job offer and affections)
Drawback 4 (1d20) = 13/Bloodmark (Gain +5) (250,000 C-Bills, Evil Step-Mother)
Drawback 5 (Chosen & 1d4) = 4/Debts: 12,000,000 (Gain +3) (Exoskeleton Armour Investment)
Drawback 6 (Chosen & 1d4) = 3/Debts: 9,000,000 (Gain +2) (Exoskeleton Production Investment)
12 Points = 120 Ally Points
Ally Package 1 (1d100) = 26/Veteran Spacer Squads (Costs -12)
Ally Package 2 (1d100) = 20/Green ASF Pilots (-9)
Ally Package 3 (1d100) = 48/Green Infantry Platoon (-4)
Ally Package 4 (1d100) = 71/Military Support Staff (-15)
Ally Package 5 (1d100) = 32/Regular Vehicle Crews (-13)
Ally Package 6 (1d100) = 77/Service Staff (-4)
Ally Package 7 (1d100) = 87/Admin Staff (-11)
Ally Package 8 (1d100) = 65/Regular Technical Crew (-14)
Ally Package 9 (1d100) = 52/Regular Spacer Squads (-6)
Ally Package 10 (1d100) = 15/Regular ASF Pilots (-10)
Ally Package 11 (1d100) = 35/Green Vehicle Crews (-10)
Ally Package 12 (1d100) = 95/Medical Staff (-13)
Ally Package 13 (1d100) = 53/Regular Spacer Squads (-6)
Ally Package 14 (1d100) = 16/Regular ASF Pilots (-10)
Ally Package 15 (1d100) = 43/Regular Infantry Platoon (-7)
Dependents 1 (1d4) = 4/Youth & Caretakers (+5)
Dependents 2 (1d4) = 2/Untrained Admin Staff (+3)
Dependents 3 (1d4) = 3/Untrained Service Labour (+4)
Dependents 4 (1d4) = 4/Youth & Caretakers (+5)
Dependents 5 (1d4) = 3/Untrained Service Labour (+4)
Dependents 6 (1d4) = 1/Untrained Technicians/Spacers (+2)
Dependents 7 (1d4) = 1/Untrained Technicians/Spacers (+2)
Dependents 8 (1d4) = 3/Untrained Service Labour (+4)
Dependents 9 (1d4) = 4/Youth & Caretakers (+5)
Dependents 10 (1d4) = 2/Untrained Admin Staff (+3)
Dependents 11 (1d4) = 3/Untrained Service Labour (+4)
Dependents 12 (1d4) = 4/Youth & Caretakers (+5)
Ally 1 (1d100 & 1d20) = 60 & 11/Regular Technical Staff (-3)
Ally 1 (1d100 & 1d20 & 1d10) = 89 & 20 & 10/Elite Military Staff/Bloodmark (-3)
3 Elite Infantry Squads/Bloodmark (-12)
1 Veteran Medical Staff (-6)
Jumpship 1 (1d100) = 43/Invader-class JumpShip (Cost -25)
Jumpship 2 (1d100) = 96/Monolith-class JumpShip (Cost -70)
Jumpship 3 (1d100) = 36/Invader-class JumpShip (Cost -25)
Warship = McKenna-class Battleship (Free = Narrative)
Small DropShip 1 (1d100) = 94/Fortress-class DropShip (Costs -13)
Small DropShip 2 (1d100) = 98/Fortress-class DropShip (Costs -13)
Small DropShip 3 (1d100) = 92/Fortress-class DropShip (Costs -13)
Small DropShip 4 (1d100) = Chosen/Fortress-class DropShip (Costs -15)
Small DropShip 5 (1d100) = Chosen/Fortress-class DropShip (Costs -15)
Small DropShip 6 (1d100) = Chosen/Fortress-class DropShip (Costs -15)
Small DropShip 7 (1d100) = 52/Buccaneer-class DropShip (Costs -4)
Medium DropShip 1 (1d100) = 80/Mule-class Dropship (Costs -8)
Medium DropShip 2 (1d100) = 83/Mule-class Dropship (Costs -8)
Large DropShip 1 (1d100) = 100/Argo-class DropShip (Cost -65)
-5 Re-Rolls
ASF 1 (1d100) = 20/6 CNT-1D Centurion (-5)
ASF 2 (1d100) = 94/6 STU-K5 Stuka (-12)
ASF 3 (1d100) = 48/6 LTN-G15 Lighting (-10)
ASF 4 (1d100) = 28/6 SPR-H5 Sparrowhawk (-5)
ASF 5 (1d100) = 51/6 LTN-G15 Lightning (-10)
Light Vehicles 1 (1d100) = 46/12 Chevalier Light Tank (Standard) (-2)
Light Vehicles 2 (1d100) = 5/12 Ripper Infantry Transport (Standard) (-2)
Light Vehicles 3 (1d100) = 51/12 Lightning Attack Hovercraft (Standard) (-2)
Light Vehicles 4 (1d100) = 14/12 MASH Truck (Standard) (-2)
Light Vehicles 5 (1d100) = 38/12 Cyrano Gunship (Standard) (-2)
Light Vehicles 6 (1d100) = 26/12 Mobile HQ (-2)
Heavy Vehicles 1 (1d100) = 26/Manticore Heavy Tank (Standard) (-7)
Heavy Vehicles 2 (1d100) = 27/Manticore Heavy Tank (Standard) (-7)
Heavy Vehicles 3 (1d100) = 83/Alacorn Heavy Tank Mk VI (-10)
Heavy Vehicles 4 (1d100) = 26/Manticore Heavy Tank (Standard) (-7)
Light Mechs 1 (1d100) = 33/12 MON-66 Mongoose (-5)
Light Mechs 2 (1d100) = 35/12 MON-66 Mongoose (-5)
Medium Mechs 1 (1d100) = 46/12 CRB-27 Crab (-7)
Medium Mechs 2 (1d100) = 34/12 PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk (-7)
Heavy Mechs 1 (1d100) = 45/12 TDR-5S Thunderbolt (-10)
Heavy Mechs 2 (1d100) = 58/12 ARC-2R Archer (-10)
Assault Mechs 1 (1d100) = 84/12 AS7-D Atlas (-12)
Assault Mechs 2 (1d100) = 71/12 HGN-732 Highlander (-12)
50,000 tons of Spare Parts & Ammo (Costs -20)
Core (1d8) = 3/Engineering Research
-Gain Memory Core: Star League industrial and materials engineering data.
-Gain 100,000 tons of raw materials for testing purposes.
-Gain 1 very low-output, very high quality automated tool factory.
- Author's Comments about rolling up CYOA
- So basically pretty standard. I went with the Soldier start to make it Normal mode and therefore a more balanced CYOA. Since Nobleman fits her biological father and Wealthy Businessman best fits her stepfather, I decided to make the Soldier start Elizabeth's mother as it fits her background best. Plus it was something to new to having a BT CYOA protagonist inherit from a dead father.
I spend a bunch on personal traits because I found them such a good bargain. I did force myself to stop. Disadvantages were mostly rolled for except for a couple of the debts where I picked them to how flesh out Elizabeth's character and to get some extra points. Or at least that's what my notes said as I made that decision several months ago and don't remember all of it.
Allies was enough place where I had to stop myself rolling even more. I tried to keep it to a reasonable amount of people, but it was so tempting to get even more.
As mentioned, the WarShip was more of a narrative thing from the last version of this story so I gave it for free as it would be more narrative than game-breaking. As DropShips, I misremembered. I spent most of my re-rolls getting the Myrmidon again and I spent some extra points chosing half of the Fortresses after rolling the first three. I think it getting the extra points for that might have been why I got the extra Debt disadvantages, but I can't be certain.
As for vehicles, I meant to four rolls each of light and heavy, but due to getting the cheap light vehicle options, I did a couple extra. Mechs was two rolls in each weight class and I remember finding it amusing that I got Highlanders and Atlases again by rolling them in the opposite order to last time.
I can't remember if the parts were leftover points or I just choose to put twenty points in there. I got the Engineering memory core again though that was luck. I'm not sure what I would have done if I got one of the other results, but I believe I had plans though I've forgotten them. And that's it.