To Steal a Battleship (Rifts Earth Adventure):

Hook: Golden Age Weaponsmiths found the old American Battleship U.S.S. Alabama and the decided to refit it. The refit is virtually complete and Golden Age has decided to sell the vessel to the Coalition. The Coalition has offered two and a half billion credits and to assist the company in their own security. The Coalition offered the large amount of money because of their heavy losses and the enemies of the Coalition are very nervous about the Coalition putting the battleship off their shores.

Line: Until the battleship is officially taken over by the Coalition, it has only a caretaker crew from Golden Age Weaponsmiths and a few Coalition observers. A group (Government, Military, or Bandits) has decided that this gives an excellent opportunity to steal the Battleship Alabama. Any power that could get possession of this vessel would get an incredible boost in their naval power. The group fronting this expedition could be Free Quebec, the New Navy, the REEF, or any other interested party including pirates. The player characters mission is to spearhead the mission to capture the vessel. If the characters are in the military, this could be an assignment but if they are mercenaries, the pay will be extraordinary. The actual strike team will be fairly small, about 12 to 20 soldiers but they will be fairly elite. To crew the ship, there will be about 60 to 100 personnel but most of these are technicians not really combatants (virtually all will have at least hand to hand: basic and at least one weapon proficiency.) This crew is to small to operate the main guns but missile launchers and half of the lighter guns can be used. The mission is planned to use stealth more than direct fighting to get the vessel itself.

Sinker: Two problems with the mission, the Entry and the Exit.

First, most ways to get to the shipyard are heavily protected. There are several roads into the shipyard but they are guarded by both personnel and armored vehicles. The roads themselves are mined with command detonated mines to prevent large vehicle assaults. The ocean entrance has several layers of sonar emplacements to detect submarines and divers. The ocean entrance is also protected by command controlled ocean mines and the entire harbor is surrounded by electrified nets. The shipyard is surrounded by a variety of ruins and swamps. The swamp makes it almost impossible for any large vehicle to get through and contains a variety of supernatural creatures which makes travel difficult. The facility is completely surrounded by electrified M.D.C. razor wire fences to stop creatures from getting into the facility. Finally, the facility is surrounded by powerful radar systems and is protected by multiple missile launchers and anti-air gun emplacements. The inside of the facility is heavily patrolled.

Second, the escape has a variety of impediments. The minefield can easily prevent ships from getting out as well as attacks from the ocean onto the shipyard. The minefield must be disabled or at least a large hole must be blown through it so the battleship can escape. The netting around the shipyard is also a danger because if it gets fouled into the propellor, the ship’s speed will be reduced. The long and medium range missile launchers around the shipyard can be used against the battleship as well so they need to be disabled or destroyed as well. Finally, both Golden Age Weaponsmiths will send out ships to try and capture or destroy the ship. Golden Age can send one destroyer, three frigates, and about a dozen patrol boats to capture the vessel. They can also send four squadrons of fighters. The Coalition can send a larger force which could include the fighters from a carrier. For ships, there could be as many as two cruisers, four destroyers, a submarine, and several frigates. The employer expects this kind of response so they have prepared an escort but if they have told the players is up to game master. The force will be several hundred miles offshore where the ocean gets deep. The whole plan of capturing the battleship could be to draw out the Coalition naval forces. The escort will mostly be submarines but may have fighter support to deal with the Coalition fighters.

[ Altarain TM, Bandito Arms TM, Brodkil TM, Chipwell Armaments TM, Coalition States TM, Cyber-Knight TM, Federation of Magic TM, Free Quebec TM, Golden Age Weaponsmiths TM, Horune TM, Iron Heart Armaments TM, Kankoran TM, Kittani TM, Kydian TM, Larsen’s Brigade TM, M.D.C. TM, Mechanoids TM, Mega-Damage TM, Megaversal Legion TM, Millennium Tree TM, Mutants in Orbit TM, Naruni Enterprises TM, Naut’Yll, New Navy TM, New Sovietskiy TM, NGR TM, Nog Heng TM, Northern Gun TM, Phase World TM, Psyscape TM, Rifter TM, SAMAS TM, S.D.C. TM, Shemarrian TM, Splugorth TM, Stormspire TM, Sunaj TM, Tolkeen TM, Triax TM, Wellington Industries TM, Wilk’s Laser Technologies TM, Xiticix TM, and Zaayr TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

[ Beyond the Supernatural®, Heroes Unlimited®, Nightbane®, Ninjas & Superspies®, Palladium Fantasy®, and Rifts® are registered trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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