			    TRAVELLER Digest 109

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) The Cassilldan	by "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>
  2) Brief History of the Alliance	by KenHagler@aol.com
  3) Challenge 75 Errata	by tek@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (Random Dude))
  4) Bag of many things :)	by roger.myhre@niva.no (Roger Myhre)
  5) Files sites	by lakes!raven@galois.nscf.org (Knight Hawk)
  6) Clip-art	by roger.myhre@niva.no (Roger Myhre)
  7) 	by count@easynet.co.uk
  8) Another AM Thing	by "Les Howie"  <lhowie@192.219.29.90>
  9) Rocket Fuel Clarification	by bonn0015@itlabs.umn.edu (STEVEN M BONNEVILLE)
 10) TRAVELLER digest 108	by Hugh Foster <100326.446@compuserve.com>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 1994 16:13:57 -0500
From: "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: The Cassilldan
Message-ID: <sed0c6a9.012@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>

 I am doing some research on the human minor race known as the
Cassilldan. Other than a picture of one on page 24 of Solomani and
Aslan, I can find no description of them. Can anyone help me out on this
one?

  Thanks in advance,
  Harold D. Hale



------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 1994 19:24:17 -0500
From: KenHagler@aol.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Brief History of the Alliance
Message-ID: <941121191009_4424097@aol.com>

Mark Fletcher asks:

> Excuse my ignorance, but what is the Alliance? Why all the talk about AM. 
> Anyone want to tell a confused (and hungover due to Raisin Sunday) TML'er?
> Howsabout an FAQ?

Here's a summary I wrote and posted to the XTML a while back. Some of the
info here has since been rewritten, but this still gives the general idea. A
real FAQ is on my list of things to do--but not high on it, I'm afraid. :-)

The Alliance is an outgrowth of a TCS pbem game Steve Higginbotham ran. The
game was based on the "Island Cluster" from the TCS book, which is located in
subsectors J and K of the Reft Sector. In the pbem game, the Alliance was
formed by group of countries in the Old Islands subsector (Reft K), plus a
small one from the New Islands (Reft J). After several years of game time,
the game ended in 5631 AD (1110 Imperial). At this time, the Serendip Belt,
one of the major non-Alliance powers, kicked off a major war which drove most
of the other countries into the Alliance, and cost over 10 billion lives
(including almost all the Serendip Belt folks).

At this time the pbem game ended, with Steve indicating that the Imperium was
about to send the whole Corridor Fleet in to annex the Cluster. At the time
the game ended, Amondiage, a non-Alliance (but friendly) country, had been
fighting a war with the Imperium--and winning, up to that point. When the
Amondiage Navy destroyed Cyril (the local Imperial capital) with an
antimatter bomb, the Emperor himself stepped in and decided to annex the
whole Cluster.

I'd previously decided that the background being developed in the pbem game
was much more interesting (not to mention believeable) than that "Virus"
crap, so I decided to work out what happened next. I've set a "start date" of
5650 AD (1129 Imperial) for role-playing campaigns set in this background,
and have been working along with others from the game (mostly Steve) to work
out the "future" of the Alliance. So far, it goes something like this:

The Alliance in 5631 doesn't have any hope of beating the Corridor Fleet. The
Alliance and Amondiage (which was by that time almost a de facto member) had
an extremely active R&D community, and had developed or were in the process
of developing technology that would give their ships a big advantage over the
Imperium. Unfortunately, most of the new technology was at best only in the
prototype stage. To buy time, the Alliance and Amondiage decided to pretend
surrender to the Corridor Fleet.

Three worlds in the Old Islands (New Home, Sansterre, and Amondiage) had
defenses capable of holding back even a major Imperial attack for many years.
These three became the "safe worlds." All the new technology was moved to
these worlds, along with the Alliance's best ships and personnel, and all
records of the new technology on the other worlds (and there wasn't much) was
either removed or destroyed. A recent addition to the Alliance, Joyeuse,
pretended to go over to the Imperium and would act as a sort of Imperial
surrogate during the Occupation.

The plan was that the safe worlds would refit the old ships with the new
technology, and build new ones. When the ships were ready, the Alliance Navy
would sortie from the safe worlds (and the Joyeuse Navy would turn on its
supposed allies) and drive out the Impies. The plan was somewhat desperate,
and had plenty of room for failure, but it was all the Alliance Council could
think of--and events elsewhere helped it work.

In the GDW history, the Corridor Fleet played a key role in driving back the
Zhodani attack on Rhylanor during the Fifth Frontier War. That didn't happen
here. Instead, although the Zhodani still got pushed back, their 40th Fleet
made it home intact and the Zhodani were ready for another try a few years
later. The Sixth Frontier War was only the start of the Imperium's troubles
though. In addition, the Solomani took grave exception to the invasion of the
Island Cluster, since it's the only known enclave of "ethnically pure"
Solomani anywhere in the galaxy--they expressed their disapproval by kicking
off the Second Solomani Rim War. On top of all that, the Aslan had been
skirmishing with the Imperials in the Trojan Reach for some time.

As a result of all this pressure, the Imperium withdrew most of its garrison
forces from the Islands in 5640. The local commanders had reported that the
locals where up to something, but the whole area had been quiet, there was no
proof, and the top brass were at that point more concerned about trying to
keep back the Zhodani and Solomani.

As soon as the bulk of the Imperial force withdrew, the Alliance moved. The
Cluster Liberation War was just the sort of quick and brutal onslaught that
the Alliance Navy favored, resulting in the remaining occupation forces being
crushed in less than a month. The Imperial Navy tried to counterattack with
forces drawn from Gushmege, but the Alliance had found their staging area and
hit it. The CLW ended in a total victory for the Alliance.

The Imperials could have retaken the Alliance if they'd tried hard enough,
but they didn't. Doing so would have called for a massive diversion of ships
from the other fronts, which would have allowed the Zhodani and Imperium to
make substantial inroads into Imperial territory. More than that, though, the
Cluster Liberation War had broken the morale of the Imperial Navy personnel
who had been involved. The Alliance had hit them so hard, so fast, and with
such sophisticated weapons, that the Imperium had lost enough ships to make
up a Fleet without inflicting _any_ losses on their enemies. The Impies were
simply terrified of the Alliance Navy.

The Alliance told the Imperium that they wanted only to be free, and were
willing to end the war--the Emperor, with other crises demanding his Naval
resources, agreed. The Alliance had expanded after the CLW to include all the
Island Cluster systems except Topas, and slowly expanded to include some of
the systems between the Islands, the Trojan Reach, and the Riftspan Reaches.
During this period (which lasted through 5644) the Alliance Free Trade
Agreement was increasing the Alliance Navy's budget in leaps and bounds, and
new ships were being built. Aslan immigrants were also being invited in, with
over 300 million Aslan arriving in the first two years.

In 5645 the spinward border of the Alliance (which was technically a
federation by this point) was at Browne, the new technology was fully
implemented, and Alliance naval budget had just broken Cr40 trillion. The
Alliance Council decided to implement its long-term strategy for dealing with
the Imperium, which called for fighting (and winning) a small skirmish with
the Imperium every so often to keep the Imperial Navy afraid of the Alliance
and convinced that the Alliance was a deadly opponent. It would be a delicate
balancing act, though, because the Alliance couldn't push the Imperium hard
enough to start a major war (which the Alliance would lose).

The Sarage system (Trojan Reach 2938) was an Imperial client state, and held
an Imperial Naval base established to watch over the route across the
Riftspan Reaches. The Alliance wanted the system, which would complete a
route for ships equipped with Helson-Canomaar Overdrive between the Island
Cluster and the main Aslan territory.

Alliance Intelligence prepared the arena by secretly meeting with the Sarage
government, telling them about the generosity of the Alliance (members
routinely tossed around huge sums to aid the development of less advanced
systems) and pointing out that the Alliance Navy could protect the system
much more effectively than the Imperium could. The goal of these preparations
was to help the locals realize they'd be better off under the Alliance, a
goal which was reached rather easily--the Imperium didn't even help out its
own worlds, let alone clients.

On March 15, 5645, Alliance Navy TF11 (led by Fleet Admiral Sir Isaac Connor,
the Alliance's best commander) entered the system and attacked the CruRon
stationed there. The Battle of Sarage ended in 20 minutes with only Imperial
couriers escaping intact. The couriers made it to Tobia with a report on the
performance of the Alliance ships. Imperial Intelligence analyzed it, and
realized that the force seen in TF11 was more than the local forces could
handle.

A message was fired off to the HQ of the Spinward Marches Fleet, but before
any response (or help) could get back, TF11 itself showed up in orbit around
Tobia. The Imperial Navy had begun to gather forces in Tobia, but there
weren't enough. After establishing control over the system, FAdm Connor
delivered the Alliance's terms for ending the war--give up claim to Sarage,
and end the war now, and the Alliance would repatriate all prisoners, return
all ships captured intact (there were a few hulks left), and pay the
replacement cost of the dead CruRon. FAdm Connor also showed the Imperial
Duke the full planetbuster bay aboard his flagship, the _Sansterre_.

The Duke new a good offer when he saw one. Sarage wasn't exactly a vital
strategic interest of the Imperium, and it wasn't often that someone offered
to pay for ships destroyed in battle. The Sarage Campaign ended with Sarage a
new Alliance Protectorate, and the Imperial Navy once again convinced that
the Alliance people where all ten feet tall.

The Alliance continued to expand in the Trojan Reach, adding two new
Associate Members and five new Protectorates in the next two years. In 5648,
Tisilli (Trojan Reach 2137) became a full member of the Alliance--the first
high population world to join since Browne became a member in 5641. The Navy
budget had broken Cr80 trillion, and ships from the massive post-CLW building
program where joining the fleet in increasing numbers. The Imperium was
starting to get an edge over the Zhodani, and the Alliance Council decided to
start a new skirmish to keep the Impies off balance.

This one would be a bit more serious. The Alliance Navy was much stronger
now, and wanted to seriously disrupt the Imperium's war efforts so that the
Zhodani could regain the initiative. The target was Quiver (Reft 2534), a
world on the edge of Imperial space which had asked to become an Alliance
Protectorate. Quiver's people had decided that they'd be better off as part
of the Alliance, and the Alliance hoped that helping them would make other
Imperial worlds think about seceeding.

Quiver declared its independence from the Imperium on June 8, 5648 (1127
Imperial), and requested Protectorate status from the Alliance. By
"coincidence," Alliance TF23 showed up the next day. TF23 chased the ships at
the IISS base out of the system, and settled down to wait. A courier was sent
to Vlad (the new Imperial sector capital) offering to end the war, offering
reasonably generous terms. Alliance Intelligence also allowed the Order of
Battle of TF23 (which was small, and had nothing larger than a BC) to leak,
along with information implying that the Alliance Navy wasn't very
enthusiastic about holding Quiver and might just go away if a large Imperial
force showed up. The Imperials assembled a sizeable portion of Gushmege Fleet
for backup, and went into Quiver thinking a show of force would retake the
system for them. It was a trap.

The Alliance had tracked the passage of the Imperial ships. When they jumped
into Quiver, they found the entire Alliance Third Fleet (commanded by FAdm
Mordechai Sackett) waiting. For this battle, the Alliance had deployed
something new--ANS Macross, the second Alliance Star Destroyer. Named for a
type of "super battleship" in an ancient science fiction film, the 2.5
million ton _Macross_ had the firepower of an entire squadron of smaller
Alliance battleships, built around a Star Trigger meson gun. 

The battle was quick. The Imperial admiral had realized that he'd been
tricked as soon as he saw what his sensors had detected, and ordered his
whole force to run for it. It was to late for many of his ships--before they
could jump clear, Third Fleet got off its opening salvo, which left many of
the Imperial ships destroyed or too badly damaged to escape.

Following the Battle of Quiver, FAdm Sackett offered the same terms as
before. The Alliance would keep Quiver, and in return would promise to keep
out of Reft and Verge in the future and pay for a new Scout base. This time,
no lost ships would be paid for. With their available force crushed, and the
danger that other border systems would follow Quiver's example, the Imperium
had no choice but to agree. Before returning the captured Imperial admirals,
the Alliance treated them to a demonstration of Star Destroyer firepower,
using three of them (one an unfinished ship under external power, not that
the Impies knew that) to turn a gas giant into a small star.

With this dramatic example of Alliance power, the Imperium began rethinking
its priorities. There weren't any new ships to send to the Alliance border,
with the Imperial Navy losing grounds on all fronts, but there was new
technology. Up to that point, the Imperium had copied some of the Alliance's
technology, but was using it only against the Zhodani, who where (they
thought) their most dangerous enemy. Now, the Imperium began shifting its
efforts to upgrade its ships to the Alliance Front.

Following the Quiver Campaign, the Alliance added a new associate member and
three new protectorates. In addition, the antimatter production facility
under contruction in Besancon was nearing completion. In 5649, most of Third
Fleet was upgraded with antimatter power and jump drive. The new ships went
on line with AM power at the beginning of 5650, and more ships went in for
refitting.

And that's how it goes so far. Of course, this is still being worked
on--changes are inevitable.

Mark also asked:

> P.S. How does a star trigger work?

Well, the Alliance version uses three really big meson guns firing beams
which converge inside a star. The Darrians have two version, one which works
and one which doesn't. As I recall, the one that works uses two meson beams
converging inside a star with a stream of vaporized metal from a probe.

Ken

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 94 16:42:17 -0800
From: tek@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (Random Dude))
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Challenge 75 Errata
Message-ID: <9411220042.AA10211@penzance.cs.ucla.edu>

I would like to know more about the errata in Challenge 75.

Is it for lots of different T:TNE products or just FF&S?
Is this different from the upgrade booklet in FF&S?
Is this errata available anywhere else (maybe by writing to GDW)?

Will the Missouri archive be integrating this into their errata 
list? (any comments Joe Heck?)
	

-ted

Ted Kim                           Internet: tek@ficus.cs.ucla.edu
UCLA Computer Science Department  UUCP:
...!{uunet|ucbvax}!cs.ucla.edu!tek
4760C Boelter Hall                Phone:    (310) 825-8524
Los Angeles, CA 90024             FAX:      (310) 825-2273

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 22 Nov 1994 08:41:10 +0200
From: roger.myhre@niva.no (Roger Myhre)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Bag of many things :)
Message-ID: <eaa06820@smtplink.niva.no>


     Evyn.Gutierrez@highsierra.wmeonlin.sacbbx.com (Evyn Gutierrez) wrote: 
     
>On other topics, does anyone remeber where, if at all, what EM signiture 
>was assocated with breakout from Jump now that the lanthum hull grid is 
>non-canon? 
I do think the grid exist still, but it isn't mentioned directly. Remember
that  the jumpdrive do take hull area.
     
     
     
     
Mark Fletcher <mf1@st-andrews.ac.uk> writes:
     
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the Alliance? Why all the talk about AM. 
Anyone want to tell a confused (and hungover due to Raisin Sunday) TML'er? 
Howsabout an FAQ?
I would also like to know what this alliance is. I can't say I have heard 
about it yet. AM is Anti-Matter or Alien Module :)
     
P.S. How does a star trigger work?
It doesn't.

 


From: Derek Smith <Derek_Smith.LOTUS@crd.lotus.com> wrote:

>I have examined them.  The lasers were designed in a manner typical 
>of the way GDW designs the examples they offer.  Mediocre.  But, 
>unfortunately, you still can't get a reasonable small arms laser to 
>have a non-nil penetration.
     
>I tried *everything*.  I tried high-drain (enhanced output) 
>betteries. I tried PFC's (!), I tried both of the standard methods.  
>I even looked at PNF.
     
>The best I came up with was a straight DEI laser.  It's mass (plus 
>battery, HPG, and cooling system), came out to something like 68 
>kg.
     
>This was the smallest thing I could build with a non-nil penetration.
     
>And it had a ROF of 1.
     
>It doesn't even make a good Squad Support Weapon.
     
>The only advantages to it were:
     
>1)  You could fire it about 300 times without recharge (!)...  This 
>didn't contribute much to the mass (it was the goddamned COOLING 
>SYSTEM and the stinkin' HPG), so it didn't seem to hurt much to 
>allow a large "magazine".
     
>2)  Anyone you hit with it was *COOKED*, even someone in Battledress.
     
>Trouble is, use it once and guess who's everyone's number 1 target?
Post it!!!!!!!!!!!
     
     
     
     
     StarWolf


------------------------------

Date: Tue, 22 Nov 94 01:57:52 EST
From: lakes!raven@galois.nscf.org (Knight Hawk)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Files sites
Message-ID: <6uJ7Vc1w165w@lakes.trenton.sc.us>

I was wondering is there anyplace to put files to make available for 
others?  I have been trying to design a Starship using FF&S and keep 
running into problems and was wondering if there was someplace to put it 
up at ina textfile for other to get and check out to see where I may be 
doing something wrong.  I tried to put it on the engrg.uwo site but it 
didn't take and have lost the site address since then. could someone tell 
me of all the FTP sites that currently carry info on Traveller.

On a note I was wondering if you are using multiple computers with 
different control multipliers do you average them or take the lowest 
multiplier to use for maintenance ppurposes.

also are there any fully detailed workups that I can Get from ftp sites 
for comparison breakdown to see what I might be doing wrong?
raven@lakes.trenton.sc.us

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 22 Nov 1994 09:51:49 +0200
From: roger.myhre@niva.no (Roger Myhre)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM, hiwg-list@io.com
Subject: Clip-art
Message-ID: <eaa16c80@smtplink.niva.no>

     I need SF related clip-art. Do any of you guys know any sites where I 
     can get some of those?
     
     StarWolf

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 22 Nov 1994 14:38:57 +0000 (GMT)
From: count@easynet.co.uk
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: xboat@MPGN.COM
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.90.941122140516.4244C-100000@master>


on the 21 Nov 94, Evyn.Gutierrez@highsierra.wmeonlin.sacbbx.com wrote:
(appeared in traveller@mpgn.com, but is applicable to xboat)

>On other topics, does anyone remeber where, if at all, what EM signiture
>was assocated with breakout from Jump now that the lanthum hull grid is
>non-canon?

I don't know if it mentioned anywhere but there are hints in High Guard 
(CT) and MT (I don't know how much is mentioned in FF&S or TNE).

High Guard mention how much capacitor-charge is available to the ship due 
to normal jump drives.  If my memory serves me right - 0.25%?? of ship mass 
per jump number - don't quote me on that!!

MT gives a value for the storage charge per cubic metre of 'capacitors' - 
"raw energy".

Reading DGPs Starship Operators Manual vol1, they mention how the jump 
drive is simply an oversized, extremely inefficient fusion powerplant.

Fuel usage from MT and High Guard (and Striker and Book 8 Robots if you 
want to use some obscure sources) give a relationship between fuel 
consumed and power output.  CT and MT (does TNE - I'm not sure) give time 
from starting the jump sequence to actualling jumping.  This is the time 
it takes the powerplant to power up the capacitors.  Engine efficiency 
can be worked out from this.

>From there, there are two possible philosophies we can follow.
1) The jump (fusion powerplant) engine consumes energy at a continual, 
consistent rate for the rest of the jump - keeping the ship in jump space 
and moving.

2) The jump drive releases more energy at the reentry stage - to 'break 
through into the 'real' universe.

in 1) it is easy to work out the EmLevel of the ship at breakout.  Find, 
or guess, some figures on the time it takes to complete the transistion 
back to normal space; multiply by the power output of the jump plant 
during the normal jump flight and add this to the powerplant of the ship 
(assumed to be running on full - ready to manoevre) - hey presto a new 
output level to calculate the EmLevel of the ship.

in 2) things get more opinionated.  Really its simply a matter of what 
you like, but I would suggest that it requires the same energy to 
traverse the jump/normal space barrier in either direction, if it takes 
any to exit (which personally I am in favour of).

Therefore, the process is even simpler - if you agree with the 'same 
energy either way' concept.  Just calculate the energy output of the jump 
engine at entry to jump space, and that is the energy output of the jump 
enginer at exit from jump space.

Another argument that can be put forward in support of this theory, is 
that of forced re-entry into normal space.  In the words of various books 
- I don't have my bibliography here to access - ships that try to jump 
inside of the 100 diameter boundary re-enter "..violently.." at the 
boundary.  It is my view that as the engine is not actually running at 
any higher rate (not programmed to re-enter at that point in time/space), 
the energy required to re-enter is 'taken' from the ship itself.  This is 
manifested in either temperature and/or physical changes.  The structure 
gets stressed, is warped in shape, heats up or cools - whichever...!

I know the physics theory is not there but we are dealing with jump 
space/FTL drives.  We all know that the physics theory for those is not 
there either so...it's all a matter of opinion anyway.

Anyway, if anyone has got comments or additions they would be interesting 
to read - please do tell.  //count@easynet.co.uk



------------------------------

Date: Tue, 22 Nov 94 11:06:10 AST
From: "Les Howie"  <lhowie@192.219.29.90>
To: xboat@MPGN.COM, traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Another AM Thing
Message-ID: <9411221506.AA12268@Prograph.Com>

My particle physiscs, such as it was, happenned a LONG time ago.  Is there such 
a thing as an anti-neutron?  If so, would it not be possible to develop an 
AM-NPAWS?  Should be a pretty nasty weapon...



------------------------------



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Date: Tue, 22 Nov 1994 10:36:01 -0600
From: bonn0015@itlabs.umn.edu (STEVEN M BONNEVILLE)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Rocket Fuel Clarification
Message-ID: <199411221636.KAA11698@landshark.itlabs.umn.edu>

Here's a possible clarification from FF&S on fusion rockets, and
in fact rockets in general....

The paragraph on fuel consumption for rockets in the section on
maneuver systems doesn't seem to make much sense.  It should 
read something like the following:

To find out how many kiloliters (cubic meters) of fuel are required
per tonne of fuel required for a rocket, *divide* the number of
metric tonnes of fuel by the density of the fuel.

For example:
           
    1 tonne hydrogen
    ----------------  ==  14.29 kL == about one displacement-ton.           
     0.07 tonnes/kL 


  Steve Bonneville
  <bonn0015@gold.tc.umn.edu>


------------------------------

Date: 22 Nov 94 14:35:57 EST
From: Hugh Foster <100326.446@compuserve.com>
To: "INTERNET:traveller@mpgn.com" <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: TRAVELLER digest 108
Message-ID: <941122193557_100326.446_BHG90-2@CompuServe.COM>

>>P.S. How does a star trigger work?<<

1. You create a star-proof probe. 

2. Shoot it into the sun.

3. Irradiate with the beams of special meson widgets.

4. Gurgle with joy as a 10 parsec radius is reduced to smoking rubble.

Oh, yeah, it's a good idea to Jump away real fast...

More seriously, these are the rules I'd worked out...


THE OPERATION OF THE STAR TRIGGER


Step 1: Evaluation

	Before the trigger can be deployed, the star involved must be carefully
studied in order to properly calibrate the weapon. The ship must be positioned
in a solarsynchronous orbit at precisely 10,000,000,000 (ten billion) kilometres
from the star. This massively distant orbit may seem to make the process
extremely long, but it is the safest place to be when the sun is about to
explode - on detonation, the first eight orbits will be wiped out in less than
an hour. See the end of this article for details.
	First, a sensor reading of the target sun must be taken. 

To place a vessel in a solarsynchronous orbit: 1
Difficult, Pilot, Navigation, Dexterity, 10 minutes

To take a preliminary calibration scan: 1
Routine, Sensor Operations, Navigation, 24 hours absolute  (uncertain)
Referee: If the system is binary, this task becomes Difficult. If the system is
trinary, the task is Formidable.

	After this, the probe must be calibrated with these settings.

To calibrate a Star Trigger probe for a particular star: 1
Routine, Computer, Electronics, 1 minute

	Note that the Star Trigger will NOT function properly if deployed into a
Dwarf star of any kind. 

	Step 2: Deployment

	The probe must be launched from the ship and guided into the star. The
course is pre-laid, although adjustments may be made in flight; this involves a
time lag of up to 30 minutes, however. The flight itself takes 227 hours (9 3/4
days) at 6g standard.

To deploy the Star Trigger probe into a star: 1
Routine, Navigation, Education, 227 hours absolute, fateful
Referee: A failure on this task indicates a course error, correctable with the
next task; a fumble indicates the probe  has crashed into the star and burned
up.

To correct the course of a deployed Star Trigger:
Difficult, MAX(Sensor Ops, Commo, Forward Obs), Navigation, 1.5 hours 

	The probe's propulsion unit is solar powered, and therefore cannot be
detected by neutrino trace. Standard procedure is to arm the device only when it
is within 1,000,000 kilometres of the sun. After that it is possible to track
the probe with neutrino sensors; the proximity to the star makes such tracking
impossible with any other sensor.

To arm a Star Trigger at 1,000,000Km from Ground Zero: 1
Routine, Sensor Ops, Commo, 12 hours absolute

	After the probe has been deployed into the star, there is an absolute
limit of about eight days before the shielding gives way and the probe burns
up.

Step 3: Lock on 

	Once the probe is deployed to Ground Zero, the ship's sensors must be
used to lock the meson beam generator on to the homing signal. 

To lock on to a deployed Star Trigger after stellar entry: 1
Difficult, Sensor Ops, Education, 24 hours absolute

Step 4: Detonation or abortion

	The final stage is the detonation. Only the ship's Commander may execute
this step; a suitably dramatic perspex-lidded red double toggle switch is
provided. Note that if ANY of the tasks marked 1 above have failed, or if the
survival time has passed, detonation will not follow.

To detonate the Star Trigger, assuming success in the above:
Simple, Commo, Gunnery, 12 hours absolute, unskilled OK

	To abort the operation after stellar entry, simply repeat the arming task
above to disarm the probe and wait until the survival time has expired.

Step 5: Aftermath

	Detonation will be accompanied by an almost immediate flurry of sunspots.
This indicates success, and is the signal to leave; the first flares will begin
almost immediately. The initial flares will sweep across the first eight orbits
within less than an hour, rendering inoperative and roasting any space vessel
caught in open space. The only defence is to jump, and keep jumping until the
ship is outside the radius of destruction.

Final Notes

	At first glance, the activation of the Star Trigger might seem a rather
impossible task in a hostile system; at best, it cannot be achieved in less than
300 hours, or 12.5 days. The Ariadne class is, however,  a) very well armed and
armoured and b) usually very heavily escorted. It also has TL 16 masking, making
it very difficult to spot at 10 billion Km; the probe is almost completely
undetectable as it is indistinguishable from a small meteoroid until too
late.
Finally, remember that the whole theory of the star trigger has to be based
around the working of the reaction, rather than strategy; and that the basic
concept of the Special Arm is to threaten the devastation of the 'Trigger. No
one else knows that the Trigger takes 12 days to fire, just that it exists;
no-one in their right minds is going to risk finding out...

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End of TRAVELLER Digest 109
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