Traveller Scout Campaign Ep6 - Initial Survey Complete/Plan planet survey

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YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/UZ4M6rj3Plk

During the week in transiting jump space, Carol kept the crew busy checking everything - ship systems, survey systems, survey gear, and planning. No one complained based on the mishaps that had already occurred. And as she expected, there was a problem.

Mary was reviewing the survey drones with Bob's assistance. During the checks, they found a problem with 9 out of the 10 survey drones that were onboard. Mary explained, "While we were at the base, maintenance came aboard and said they had some upgrades for the drones, both software, and chips. They were able to get through 9 of the drones but kept getting pulled off the work by other base priorities. Also, I got the impression the 2 techs were rather junior based on some questions I asked them. In their hurry, they did the upgrades first and then were going to circle back and test them after they were all done. They never got that far. Bob and I are troubleshooting and hope to have a solution or workaround soon, hopefully before any planet surveys. The 10th drone is fully operational - they hadn't touched that one."

Great, thought Carol. Sending junior techs to do the work and then pulling them off the job. Sure recipe for disaster. She planned on having a talk with the Base Commander about this - but it was too far in the future to worry about now. "At least we have one operable drone for high guard when we refuel at a gas giant," she said. "If you can't get any of the other drones operable, then we may not be using our remaining drone for planet surveys." Mary said "Understood Captain, we'll do our best," while glancing at Bob who nodded in agreement. "Thanks, keep me informed. Keep doing ship system and gear checks also and hopefully nothing else comes up," Carol added. Luckily no other problems were found during the rest of the jump transit.

"Prepare for emergence," Carol announced. All the crew were at their stations. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, emergence," she announced. "Close range scan - are we alone?" she asked. Bob remained silent for a few seconds then announced "No close contacts, extending scan." After a few minutes Bob added, "Still no contacts detected, we appear to be alone." Carol replied, "Very well, spin up the ship's Densitometer and EMS array and begin passive system scans." "Begin passive system scans, aye," both Bob and Mary replied. This was going to take a while so Carol left the bridge for a cup of coffee. 

She bumped into Sonny on the way, and complimented him on nailing his part of the jump. "How did the J-Drive perform?" she asked. Sonny, acting a little less formal than earlier during their in-system dry run replied, "Everything seems nominal, but I will be running checks until we start moving in-system. Both you and I know our assistance from the Base seems to be a bit less than nominal. I was surprised who the Base Commander was - we both have history with him." Carol nodded in agreement and then shifted the topic, "Come join me for a cup of coffee and we can discuss the M-Drive status?" "Sounds good," Sonny replied.

Around 1600 Galactic Standard Time (GST), Mary and Bob were ready to give their initial system report. Mary summarized, "The distant companion star is a type K Orange star, and only has 2 small gas giants and a planetary belt. The Main Sequence star is a Type M Red and only has one planet in the inner system region. The outer system is similar to the Companion - three large gas giants, 3 small gas giants, and a planetary belt. But even though there is only one planet, it appears to be very interesting. Size 5 with a thin but breathable atmosphere and a little over half the planetary surface is what appears to be water. So far we have detected no evidence of technically advanced life - but we will continue scanning going forward. Recommend a Class II survey w/probes if available, possibly developing into a Class III dirtside survey."

"Agreed," said Carol. "We still need to resolve the drone question while we are inbound, but if they are ultimately inoperable we can consider a Class III survey depending on what we find." "Sonny what's our fuel status." Sonny replied, "We used 10 tons for the jump so we have approximately 13 tons remaining." Carol decided, "Let's top off our fuel tanks before we start the survey. Set a course for that first gas giant in the outer system at 2G. We'll top off our fuel and then proceed to the inner system and the survey planet, which I am designating Kotori-Prime for now. I want someone on the scanners the entire time of our transit, so Bob set a rotation and include me." Everyone chimed, "Aye Captain," and proceeded to carry out her orders…


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