TGFT is in the process of organizing traders and combat defenders to complete hauling contracts into gray space

The universe is changing and there is a growing demand for materials. Several groups and factions are trying to corner the market. To stay ahead of the competition Council Member Obsidian has secured contracts for TGFT guild members, probationary members and any other available pilot.

Our goal is to work effectively to move the cargo to gray space with a minimum in loss of ships, equipment and goods. Pirates will be hunting us and there is a good change of failure, however we must persist and strive to overcome all obstacles.

The next contract is Saturday at 11am CST (4pm GMT)

Please respond to this thread and I will contact you with further information
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ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Duration: 30-45 mins
Location: Can vary, should include 3-5 wormhole jumps, preferably in gray space so player pirates can participate.
Number of Players: 4 to 32 (multiple teams of up to 8 players) Pirates are not considered part of a team
Summary: This event is a player run convoy. Players take on roles of cargo haulers and escorts. This convoy does not get NPC escorts but may encounter GM created NPC pirates and possible player-pirates. There is an itinerary to follow
Roles available to participants:
Escorts/Scouts/Healer- defend the haulers, scout WH sectors, heal damaged players and possibly attack player-pirates
Haulers- Transport cargo to the designated station
Navigator- Plots the route for the convoy
Escort Leader- Communicates with the Escorts/Scouts/Healers and assigned them to various locations as needed. Has the following commands “CONVOY HOLD!”, “ESCORTS TO THE WH!’, ‘ENGAGE ALL HOSTILES!’, ‘RUN FOR THE WH!”
Convoy Leader- Communicates with the haulers and escort leader, has the following commands “CONVOY JUMP!” “CONVOY SCATTER!”, “CONVOY SELL!”
Pirates (optional)- attack all other non-pirates and collect their tag widgets to redeem for bonus points.
Rules:
1) Participants must follow instructions from the guide, escort leader and convoy leader
2) Haulers must wait for the team sell command before selling any cargo
3) Haulers must wait in the hold sectors in each system until they are authorized to enter the WH sector.
4) All players can return to the event if killed as long as there is time remaining. There is no penalty for death other than loss of cargo and /or equipment
5) There is no competition between teams, the teams are for communication purposes only.
6) Special convoy commands
CONVOY HOLD!- Haulers are to report to the hold sector in this system
“ESCORTS TO THE WH!- escorts are to jump to the WH or through the WH and report the status for those sectors
ENGAGE ALL HOSTILES!’ – escorts are to attack and destroy all hostiles in the sector
‘RUN FOR THE WH!”- the are a number of hostiles in the area but the escorts are distracting them so the convoy can proceed to the WH at full speed
CONVOY JUMP!”- The convoy may head to the next sector in the route
“CONVOY SCATTER!”- hostiles are approaching, take evasive steps to not lead the hostiles to the hold sector. This may mean making multiple jumps through empty sectors.
CONVOY SELL!”- Players can sell all cargo at that station.
7) Pirates /msg the GM with confirmed player kills to earn XP and credits.

Now this looks interesting. As an unaligned UIT-supported trader, I rarely have the benefit of an escort, and such large contracts are normally inaccessible. My experience with heavy cargo transports should prove useful for the Hauler division, and my contacts on the stations in unaligned space should prove useful when pirates appear.

(Do note that there's no "if" to the pirates- it's a "when". One of my sniffers found that some untraceable queries about this contract were routed through the Orion datanets, with an attempt to brute force the time-lock password on the convoy route file. The inelegance of the latter doesn't match the skill of the former, so I strongly suspect that it was just to keep the Firewall AIs busy while the real attack was carried out. I'd put the odds at 80% that they got away with a partial copy of the route, 15% that they got a full copy of the route.)

Whats a GM?

Game Mistress, i.e the one running the event.

[Now this was an event! It was a spectacular run, at least for me. Time for a breakdown.]

The Convoy got off to a rocky start when the escorts and haulers not only split into their own groups, but also made their own official channels, thus completely muddling communications from the get-go. [I suggest we keep just one channel instead of two for the next time.] To make matters worse, the escorts all promptly ran off to scout ahead, leaving us poor haulers out in the open, wondering if the thing had started yet in our tiny group of three. Keep in mind, we hadn't even left the starting line in Nyrius at this point.

Once we realized that we were rapidly being left behind, we finally hit the turbo and zipped along peacefully until the edge of UIT space. The escorts, now only a little ways ahead of us, reported the first bits of pirate contact in Edras. After clearing the wormhole in, we jumped, and quickly made our way into position for the next big leap through the Edras<->Pelatus wormhole. That was when disaster struck- at least for me.

Right there, in the middle of the event, I was stricken with a horrible case of diarrhea. Faced with a blockade of the new NPC pirate clan at my head, and an equally nasty situation at my behind, things had never looked more grim. Spurred onward by a newfound sense of urgency, I jumped to the wormhole and started a long circle around it to draw away the NPC pirates before diving in. I passed, as did my fellow hauler Wild Gramps, but John Eldritch got caught by one of the blackhearted curs. Now reduced to only two haulers, hanging on to their widgets by a mere thread, we slowly made our way through Pelatus. This gave me the time to take care of my unforseen difficulties, though my cargo bay will never be the same again. [I really did have this problem. Real Life forcefully intrudes at the absolute worst times.]

Finally getting the all clear, me and Gramps dove for the wormhole and passed through, though as I closed in, trouble again menaced from behind- this time, in the form of Death himself- at least for Rats, that is. I made it through the wormhole just fine, but running off on the Bractus side came far too close for comfort. I practically played the drums on my nav console, turning my route into a green mass of lines and leading the Death of Rats on a five sector jump chase before managing to shake him. My work was nearly undone, because a few minutes later he jumped in to the empty sector I was hiding at, locating me through pure luck. Luckily, I was far enough off the beacon that he couldn't reach me, and another jump put my far enough off that he was shaken for good. I rejoined Gramps, who had a much easier time of it than I.

The final, and most difficult, wormhole jump still awaited us. The wormhole to Odia was crawling with pirates, waiting for us to pass through so they could pounce. Sure enough, as soon as we jumped, I nearly ran right over two of them- Mephostopholes, and Black Talon. Some of the convoy escorts were still around, and one promptly engaged Black Talon, but I was left alone to face Mephostopholes. He had a Orion Hornet armed with rails, and one touch would mean death to me.

I had prepared for this eventuality, installing the finest weapons my contacts could provide me, but my battle prowess was severely lacking. The Hive had been my only target up to now, and a proficient pirate was a whole new level. The whine of the positron accelerator, the shuddering thuds of the missiles, the sharp click and thud as mines armed and detached, and then...

One of my missiles came around and neatly lodged itself in his thrusters. The entire backside of the Hornet just... ripped open. I think I could hear the whine as his railguns' overcharged magnetic accelerators promptly shorted out, sending a pulse back into the power cell, with the grim results that entails. I keep telling myself that it was him or me, but even now I find myself wishing that it hadn't come to that. Not because I feel regret or sadness, but because I feel nothing.... And that disturbs me far more. They speak of blood on your hands, but I feel none there. Perhaps I am not the man I thought I was...[First player kill for me. Damn you Meph, you ruined my prefect no-kill record! Why did you have to suck so much?!]

Still, I joined Wild Gramps at the destination, where we received our just payment for transporting the shipment. Somehow, we had both managed to pass through without even chipping our ship's paint, though Gramps had a far easier time of it than me. I suppose when the options are either "Come through in perfect condition" or "Explode- messily", I'd pick the former any day.

I retired to a Tunguska station soon after, the presence of some old miner friends letting me sleep easy. I think I'll be taking a short vacation with my pay, though I don't feel like doing anything much. It's just as well, though. The cleaning bots are going to be busy for a while in my ship.

[Mission successful! Now I need to go lie down and hope my intestines stay internal. Lousy stomach viruses.]

Heh , It was great fun , good to see folk joining in .

Thanks for running it obsidian.

Don't worry IRS, it gets easier. Look up the best if you'd like to go the rest of the way.

-Vehement
1304 and counting

[ONE] is advertising their services to escort UIT traders through space?