Under Siege, Down, Siege! Down, boy! Options

[Kagetenshi]

[Siege]

*ROFLMAO*

I was wondering what the hell Dim Sum had been smoking.

Anyway, yes: it would take some massive killing to eliminate the crew to allow your pirates to run the ship.

I don't even want to guess at the required skeleton crew to run a ship under emergency conditions.

Any hint of something hinky and you'd best be prepared to deal with at least one SEAL team (or the relative equivelant thereof). It's the HOKYAG contingency: Hang On, Kiss Your Ass Goodbye.

The big question is: what the frag are you going to do with the ship once you snare it? Catching something and keeping it are two entirely different matters.

-Siege

[Dim Sum]

Hehehe, Siege, I don't smoke. The weed available here in Singapore is atrocious and my wife would kill me if she smelled it on me! :D

On to your mail ... yep, hanging on to the ship is a whole different ballgame after you've seized it. Hence my earlier post asking "What next?" assuming you took the ship to sell on to another buyer, especially the missile armaments on board (nuclear warheads?).

I figured you'd need at least 4-5 riggers to operate the vessel as a skeleton crew if enough of the systems are automated: 1 to pilot the ship, 1-3 to monitor system operations, and 1 to crew the weapons.

Sail the sucker to a remote hideout or direct to the buyer.

[Siege]

That's the catch, isn't it?

I'm not sure what the US Navy's protocol is for losing contact with a ship, but I'm thinking it would be unpleasent, even by 2060 standards.

They might as well just stick to liberating cargo from unsuspecting ships and similarly soft targets.

Besides, it would be tough to sell parts of US navy ships without having the parts traced back..."These are the droids we're looking for..."

-Siege

[Dim Sum]

I've skimmed through the USN protocols for losing contact with a vessel and it struck me then as it does still that the reaction is pretty slow (lots of checks have to be made, reports go up the ladder, decisions come back down, more checks are made, then assets are tasked to try to locate the missing vessel). I realise the Navy does want to MAKE SURE in the first place that a ship is missing and I guess the reaction is time is comparatively fast relative to the size of such a monolithic organisation but it's usually a good 36-48 hours before anything is really done about it and then it takes time for assets to be re-directed to a SAR operation. I figure hijackers have about 72 hours before the heat gets a little unbearable, depending on where in the world they hit the ship.

As for selling the vessel and her armaments, I envision selling the vessel to people who don't care about pissing off the UCAS in any case (like rebel forces, terrorists, corps with enough money to hide/use the ship but not enough or not sanctioned to buy one from the military contractor). I don't really see ANY runner group hanging to such a vessel no matter how good they are - too expensive to maintain and operate for one, and just waaaaaay too dangerous to hold on to for another. I also don't envision selling off parts of the ship for the very reason you put forward in your mail - the risk of it being traced by the navy would significantly negate the value of individual components (eg. using the Tico-class CGs: the SPY radar system, the turbine engines, the AIWS, the VLS launchers without which the tomahawks can't be launched, etc.). No, you'd sell the ship as a whole.

These complications are why my first choice when I was playing in my buddy's game was to hijack an SSN or SSBN - easier to use such a platform and easier to hide so even if you don't sell it, you can still use it as runners. :D

[Kagetenshi]

The problem with selling to a corp not legally allowed to have them is that then you're a major potential liability, and a quickly-eliminated one at that.

~J

[Dim Sum]

That's true enough, Kage. But I guess the question then is whether or not it's worth the risk to pull off such a job. There are a lot of potential loose ends (like other runners you need to hire to do the job shooting their mouths off or getting picked up by the authorities) but the pay-off may be VERY worth your time and efforts. Even if you sell the ship (armaments and all) CHEAP for, say, :nuyen: 250 mil and you managed to pull it off with a 25-man team, that's :nuyen: 10 mil a piece ....

[Dim Sum]

Of course, you don't have to sell the ship. You might seize it to effect other purposes. For example, you could approach the Yucatan rebels and offer to aid them for a small sum of :nuyen: 250 mil to fire 40 missiles at a target of their choice. If the ship was carrying nuclear warheads, can you imagine the clout that would suddenly give the rebels or just how much damage they could do to their enemies.

Naturally, you'd have to be a pretty cold-hearted SOB to even consider firing nukes at whatever targets designated by the rebels but then, you aim to please, don't you? :grinbig: :D :grinbig:

[Kagetenshi]

Well, I wouldn't fire at ANY target...
Just any target that isn't my hometown or upwind of it.

~J

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Kagetenshi]

Again, still not safest. You'll get hunted down anyway, but killing them will force a certain style of hunt.
If you can Control Thoughts some crewmember frontmen to take a fall, so much the better. Your best bet may be to dump the sub and then allow the public to have their revenge on a set of patsies.

~J

[Lilt]

I agree that comms are a priority, but remember that the main ship's comms aren't going to be the only comms. Lifeboats will probably have emergency radios good for broadcasting to the shore, so too will any aircraft (AFAIK even fairly small craft have heli-pads). You need to either jam it with a massive jammer (the effects of which may even be felt back on the shore) or ensure to take every comm system out physically. What you want is a high-force extended area-effect "radio silence" spell...

I repeat that subs would be your best bet. They are expected to maintain radio silence, and there are probably going to be less comm systems that can reach the shore, so the loss of the sub isn't going to go noticed until it fails to turn-up back at port (which may take months).Finding the sub would be the problem. Putting a tracer in the sub would be your best bet. Ritual tracking or ritual locate-person (targeting a member of the crew) would also be perfect.

[Birdy]

Some more ideas:

Ship in distress

IIRC naval ships will help those in distress (exspecially their own citizens). And if that wreck of yours is sinking, they'll have to take you aboart. Sure, they'll closely guard you but there are at least some of you on board. Now use:

The Marines

Or whatever they are called. They are part of yet distinct from the crew. And they require far less knowledge to impersonate[1]. On smaller ships this is a 20-40 person group. Maybe they all (or at least some persons) can be replaced. Chance is, the end up guarding group I. Now you have weapons.

Buy a warship

Old ships are sold (often for "scrap") Get yourself credentials as a minor nation/scrap wharfs and try to buy an old warship. Sure, you'll get a Class 124/OHP/Krivat/... class near-wreck. Still with some fresh paint it will be enough to scare the hell out of the average fighter. Even a WWII destroyer will be sufficient.

Sink the ship

If you are only after the weapons, you might just kill the warship resonable close to coast (luring it there by a MayDay?) and salvage the weapons. After all, they are stored in a way that should minimize the dangers of explosion.

Steal a relict

Some nations keep old warships "in reserve" yet on open display (i.e. the Brits have a WWII cruiser at the tower brigde). Sure, those a oooold craft and it will take some work to get them at least partially filled up. But IIRC the brits still check the engines occassionaly and keep the ship "potentially seaworthy". An 5inch main guns are the third best thing for piracy[2]


Michael


[1] Average Sammy-Boy is closer to an infantrieman than a soldier. And soldier skills are easier to learn on the required level (you don't need fieldcraft etc for this job)

[2] The second best are 15cm main guns. The best are 15cm secondary guns...

[Buzzed]

Illusions could aid greatly in this effort. A boat load of ritual mages could probobly muster up enough power together to create a massive fog illusion to encapsulate the entire ship. Add some illusions of cabin fires and big mean sea creatures for added fun. Later on, distract the crew by setting up illusions on their radar, sonar, and sat image screens. :eek:

[nezumi]

[Pavlov]

Hell, if you want a non-Riggerable comissioned target go for the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston :P

[Lilt]

Another idea is to get a great-form storm spirit to conjure-up a storm around the target. I'm pretty sure a nasty storm would minimise the chance of people in the water surviving (waves ETC beating them against the hull of the ship) even without resorting to storm strikes, and would probably also help the jamming effort.

Big swells & electrical storms would soften the crew a bit (& keep them in-doors) for whatever assault you're mounting. With all the crew in-doors; a small team (2 or 3 ppl), guarded & concealed by a spirit of the same force or higher, should be able to get on-board during the storm and sabotage stuff.

[Austere Emancipa...]

[Backgammon]

Maybe stealing a pirate ship would be easier. Have someone get recruited by the pirate crew (quicker than getting in the Navy), and then unleash a tailored virus or nannites to kill everyone within minutes.

Or you could enlist the aid of a dragon. Or Harlequin. Maybe he owes you for saving the world at some point.

[Lilt]

[FlakJacket]

Quick question, are you only considering UCAS ships? Unless they've got something that no-one else has, why not rip someone off that has less of a reach to come after you? IIRC, Rigger 3 mentions that the Canton Confederation in what used to be China bought six new Soohong-class destroyers for something like 250 million a piece.

I figure they're worth more than enough to make a good profit out of. Plus, they're likely to have less crew, less defences and possibly not even any Marines like a Tico would. Add in the fact that the CC has less resources to track you and the mess Asia has become, and finding a place to hide out and buyers shouldn't be a problem. :)

[Kagetenshi]

It's more fun to steal from the UCAS.

~J

[Rasta Rigger]

Ok i just happened across this thread and I don't understand a few things.
for context, I presently serve aboard a US aircraft carrier.

1 why would you want the damn thing.
its only use is to carry an air wing, as a conventional warship its crap.
As a pirate vessel, there are several small guided missile patrol craft that would be much more useful and much easier to hide and evade capture.
The chinese houdong fast attack craft is armed with two saccade anti ship missiles and can be a threat to ships as large as a carrier.

2 if you want the equipment then you would need to capture it with the air wing aboard. thats about 5000 perssonel to subvert or subdue.
3 a really powerful mage with a mass mind control spell is the best bet there, tho I dont think its possible.

4 only the wealthiest first world countries have carriers and thats probly not going to change. The US who has a bunch has demonstrated that they will not ransom captured ships. which is why Korea ( thats from memory I think its korea) still has one of ours.

4 the oliver hazard perry class FFG is not the smallist ship in Nav inventory there are smaller coastal patrol boats and minelayers and of course the Seals have several small go fasts including their RHIB.

[Shanshu Freeman]

[FlakJacket]

Speaking of small, yet decidedly deadly ships, something like the Israeli Eilat Sa'ar 5's might be worth a look as well. Small, stealthy, packs a punch and clocks in with only 70 or so crew-members. Sounds like a winner to me. :) Of course, the Israeli's do tend to have a habit of getting a little tetchy about people messing with their stuff.