Finding and capturing the Aran

[smitj]

Are boarding pods necessary to capture it or can Marines do it by spacewalking ? I have been using my Ares to search for it but many sectors are infested with Xenon or Khaak and the Ares is limited in firepower, you can only carry so many missiles.
So I'm trying with my Osaka and hoping I can spacewalk my troops.

[Alan Phipps]

If this is X3TC then you can find and board many Arans via UFJD, if it is X3AP you can board it only once and then you will not find any more (you can RE that one at the PHQ to build more though).

The usually recommended boarding kit is an M7M with pods and 20 all-round 3+ star marines. Marines damaging the hull to destruction is a real risk. Other M7M missiles do the self-protection bit.

You will need to use the suit repair laser on the Aran in the pre-operation phase to get it to turn hostile so that you can board it and maybe even to improve the hull points a bit.

There are Aran capture guides that you can Google the forums for and other advice posts such as here.

[jlehtone]

The usually recommended boarding kit is an M7M with pods and 20 all-round 3+ star marines. Marines damaging the hull to destruction is a real risk.

X3AP: it is safe to fail an Aran boarding operation. Just collect the marines that eject from the (near) wreck and proceed to next UFJD sector. New Arans will show up until you succeed to board one.

I had inexperienced engineers, so they did damage several Arans before I admitted that I must train them first. I had hopes that they would at least learn to fight, but unfortunately escaping from empty collapsing hulls does not make marines any wiser.

[smitj]

I finally found the Aran and I have been blasting away at it with my repair laser for over an hour and absolutely nothing as happened. It's still invisible to my sensors. Any ideas?

[western]

I have just experienced the same, I ejected and started to repair, it beeped as becoming an enemy and it still didn't appear?

[Alan Phipps]

You cannot target it until it becomes your ship. Once it is definitely hostile from being 'illegally' repaired, just issue the piracy command to the M7M and it should pick it as the nearest hostile target. Alternatively, just visually point the M7M directly at the close by Aran and launch the pods at it manually.

[smitj]

So there I was, repair laser and my temper overheating when I had done it all the time! Thank God for this forum, the Aran is now docked at my HQ. Thanks to all for the advice.
(He was now master of the universe and he didn't know what to do next, but he would think of something) (Arthur C Clarke)