The crew has for the most part been solemn and silent, the mood fostered by the five of them generally working in separate areas of the ship and, perhaps, the relocation of your corpse to an empty cryo-tube just recently. Now all but two of them sleep, resting on cots in the medbay just off cryo after a long ‘day’ of repairs and evaluation. Only Dr. Dai and Lt. Ivanova remain on duty, the former needing far less sleep than a standard human and the latter claiming to be used to long shifts. Somewhat fortunate though, as you had a matter to discuss with your second-in-command anyway.

Gazing through one of the bridge observation lenses you observe the lieutenant as she works. Floating upside down under a console, she has been replacing broken circuitry in the nav control stations for the past two hours. Her uniform’s jacket and an EVA suit float nearby, and despite the low temperature maintained on the bridge you can see a sheen of sweat across her face, arms, neck, and shoulders. Occasionally she will stop to tap at one of the datapads floating near her, repair bot control hubs used to direct the restoration of larger tanks such as repairing the hull.

“Lieutenant, a word with you if you would.” Your disembodied voice flows through the bridge speakers, your normal method of communication now.

“Of course, sir.” she responds, twisting two wires together with her left hand and giving a slight wince. As she pushes off from the console and rights herself you note that the flesh around her stitches is flushed and slightly swollen, though you quickly switch to the matter at hand as she salutes toward one of your optics.

“Lieutenant, I would like your thoughts on the automatic distress beacon. It activated automatically when repaired over three thousand years ago, yet the signal has clearly either not been received or not been heeded by the Empire. I would hear your opinion on ceasing broadcasts.”

Her brows knit and she reaches up, wiping away sweat from her face and leaving a greyish smear instead before responding, “Are you sure that it is operational, sir?” You give an affirmative and she grimaces, “Then for some reason I would say that the fleet is... either not picking it up or not able to aid us. Either way, though, if a hostile picks up a distress signal we would be in no position to resist them now.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly before continuing, “It is my professional opinion that we should cease broadcasting of any type until we are at least mobile, sir.”

“Thank you, lieutenant. How are the bridge repairs progressing?”

“Well enough, sir. There was no significant damage from the attack so deep into the ship so only normal aging and fatigue from the temperatures has been a problem. I believe I will be able to have all critical components replaced by the time we need them.” As she speaks her eyes slowly take in the bridge, pausing on various subsystems before finally settling on the captain’s chair. “Sir, if I might ask... what do you think our chances are?”

>>15527597
"Honestly? I have no idea.
"But, given that the cryo systems have lasted us this long, the reactor is now stable, and the drives are still salvageable, if worse comes to worst, we can plot a course to the nearest planetary system and get there via sub-light if need be. It'll simply be a very, very boring trip for me, then."

>Void Quest 2
Perfect, was just looking for this. Commencing reading.

Think I will use this as the OP image from now on and update it with places you find and your location.

Also, I missed a question last thread:
>How big is the Harbinger
You are an octahedron with one point elongated.
800 meter beam
2700 meter length
720,000 cubic meters in volume
>subject to change, considering changing the beam:length ratio.

>>15527709
Chief Dai is still working on the engines, right?
Those are the sub-light drives, I assume.
What about the FTL system? What's its condition?

>>15527728
The regular drive is capable of FTL at maximum output, just not fast enough to get between starsystems in a reasonable length of time.

The FTL system hasn't been fully assessed yet because, honestly, you can't use it until the hull is completely sealed anyway or else the ship will break apart in transit. Also you said to work on hull, cryo, nav, life support, reactor, and engines last thread. Only so much you can do in a given timeframe.

If you want to shake down the FTL systems then post up.

>>15527584
>>15527709
>OIS_Harbinger
Not too dissimilar to how I pictured it. Figured it'd be a bit more rounded but straight and angular lines have always worked well.

>>15527597
>“Sir, if I might ask... what do you think our chances are?”

Our chances? I'd say they're pritty good if we can make it to any kind of star system and find raw materials to repair the ship. If necessary we put everyone back into cryo for a few centuries and I try to not go mad while we wait to arrive.

>>15527576

We oughta work on making sure life support and navigation are fully (or close to) operational as we can before we start to tackle the problems of getting back to where ever. Need to know where we want to go and would like to not die on the way there before we achieve being able to get there.

“In all honesty I can’t be sure, but if we can make it to a star system I would say pretty good. The cryo systems have lasted us this long, the reactor is now stable, and the drives are still salvageable -- if worse comes to worst, we can plot a course to the nearest planetary system and get there with normal sub-light speeds. It'll simply be a very, very boring trip for me and I’ll need to find some way to not go mad.” you finish, trying to inject at least a little humor into the prognosis.

And failing, it seems. Lt. Ivanova’s mouth turns down in a worried frown and she shakes her head, “That would be a disaster, sir. If you were driven insane there would be no way to assure the crew’s safety or reanimation.”

“That was a joke, lieutenant.” you sigh, noting that Dr. Dai has left the engines and is making his way toward the medbay.

“Oh. I- I see, sir. Noted.” She glances to the open console, massaging her arm and flexing the hand slowly, “Will that be all, sir?”

>>15527973
>“That was a joke, lieutenant.”

>>15527973
Make sure she gets her arm checked again by the doctor. Can't take that risk at this point.

Do we have a decent idea on what kind of supplies we have on the ship and if it's worth trying to revive more of the crew?

>>15527973
"Oh, make sure to see the doctor about your stitches. We can't afford to lose anyone right now, and I'd hate for someone to become incapacitated because of an infection. That goes for everyone else, as well. Well, except for me and Chief Dai, I suppose."

Okay, I believe we can timeskip until more systems are brought back online and the hull is repaired.

>>15528063
>Okay, I believe we can timeskip until more systems are brought back online and the hull is repaired.
Agreed unless the chief has something of intrest to bring up.

>>15528057
Lt. Tynes has been compiling a report of supplies and gone through several holds, but with most of the bots being used in repairs it's slow going. You know oxygen is fine and that enough consumables have survived and been logged so far to sustain 30 people for six months. Eight months with minimal rations.

>Okay, I believe we can timeskip until more systems are brought back online and the hull is repaired.
Uh, by the way, I mentioned last thread you're going to need specialist talent to seal some of the breaches and get some of the more complex systems back running. Unless you plan to spend a few years (decades?) floating and having Chief Dai do it alone, that is.

Definitely insist that she gets herself looked at. She's showing signs of being feverish and developing a secondary infection. It's more important for our second in command to be of clear mind than performing physical labor. We should make it clear to her how valuable her input is, and that she has to take care of herself.

More active crew would improve the speed and quality of the repairs. We should get a status update on the supplies and living quarters available. If possible I'd like to see more people brought out of cryo.

What's our timetable looking like? How far have the repairs come, and what's the estimate for when we'll be able to make for a star system?

>>15528098

They can't all sleep in sickbay cots. If we wake up everyone, or most of everyone, what would it take to set up at least minimal crew quarters again?

>>15528140
Valid concern.
>>15528098
Minimal rations is a bad idea, it will just stress already fatigued minds.

I vote for waking specialists to speed repairs. After the doctor sees to our 2nd's infection, of course.

>>15528140
Main crew quarters are sealed again, though still in disarray from decompression. There is a major breach near them, though, and while all the minor breaches have been repaired you have only been able to seal the major breaches without someone who has indepth knowledge of the structural mechanics of starships. Critical breaches (of which there are two) can't even be sealed without said knowledge and are still open to space, one is near the engines and the other is forward near the shield and weapon batteries.

>What's our timetable looking like? How far have the repairs come, and what's the estimate for when we'll be able to make for a star system?
Go get report from Chief Dai after finishing with Lt. Ivanova, y/n?

>>15528159
To be more exact, specialists who can aid in sealing the breaches. Given how valuable every person is in this situation, we need to render as much of the ship as possible safely navigable by crew.

Also, forgot to support idea of turning off the beacon, if it hasn't been done already.

Finally, do we have a way to scan our interior? We've been out for a long time, do we know if... anything else has decided we might make a good home?

>>15528178
Yes.
Dai can also give us a list of the specialists he needs thawed out in order to get the major repairs underway.

>OIS Harbinger
>Harbinger
>Sentient Starship

Tell me we have a Spectre on board as a trophy.

>>15528202
I was wondering when someone was going to comment on that.
>>15528178
>Go get report from Chief Dai after finishing with Lt. Ivanova, y/n?
Y

>>15528178
Yes.

If someone could roll 6d10 I would appreciate it.

rolled 4, 4, 2, 7, 1, 6 = 24

>>15528355
Whew, thought you'd been text banned for a second there. Sure thing.

rolled 4, 2, 2, 9, 5, 3 = 25

>>15528355
rollan

rolled 4, 5, 7, 1, 10, 8 = 35

>>15528355
Rolling.

>>15528365
Why would he get banned?

>>15528375
Word filter. You dont get a warning anymore, it's an insta 24h ban, though you can appeal it now apparently.

>>15528409
Ouch, that's rather harsh.

>>15528365
>>15528366

“Not quite, lieutenant. I notice you favoring your left arm, is there a problem?”

She quickly drops it to her side and shakes her head, “No sir. I’m left handed and have been using it lately, it’s just a bit sore.”

“I see...” you say, but instead of dropping the matter activate your infrared sensors. The results are unsurprising.

“Lieutenant, I’m showing you with a fever of 101 degrees and your arm appears to be inflamed. That is more than ‘a bit sore’ in my view. You should see Dr. Burr immediately.”

“Sir, I must say that I am well enough for now and will rest soon. I’m a soldier and have had much worse wounds before, right now it is my opinion that the ship should be the priority and I should return to my work.” she replies, stone faced.

“That wasn’t a request, lieutenant, it was an order. Go see Dr. Burr and have him examine you. If he thinks you are capable of working then so be it, but it is not your call here. Understood?” Your voice is unyielding and full of command, making it clear there is no room for argument or protest.

After a short pause she gives a sharp nod and salute, “Sir.”, before turning and collecting her gear. You remain long enough to watch her stow the datapads and begin donning the EVA suit before shifting your attention to the medbay and its residents. Dr. Burr seems to have woken and is presently dining on reconstituted bean paste with Chief Dai, occasionally trying to make smalltalk but being frustrated by the engineer’s gruff grunted replies.

“Chief, doctor, good morning.” you begin, “Chief, do you have the status report and list of engineers to reawaken?”

The bionic man grunts and shifts, a compartment in his side popping open and revealing several notepads and sheets of paper filled with crabbed script. He sifts through them briefly before drawing two out and placing them on the table.

“Repairs are slow. Need more men, engine is still breached and needs to be repaired rather than sealed. Jumpdrive’s a mess, won’t be able to hop more than three to four thousand ‘years until we reach a shipyard. Probably won’t destroy the ship, though. Hull needs the men on this list,” he taps the second sheet of paper, “or I’ll need four months or more to seal the big holes.”

He finishes off his tube of paste and stands, clomping over to a bench to the side of the room and sitting ponderously, “Good news; life support for main areas online tomorrow, reconnected some databases; engine should make about 60% output once venting issue solved. Bad news, shields are bad off. Heat dumping low overall, enough for normal operation but 10% combat dispersal at best; weapons still offline, haven’t checked them for damage yet; sensors repaired enough for local some but reactor output still too low for interstellar, also still too damaged. Anything you want to know specifically?”

>>15528445
-Increased efficiency for repairs vs. increased resources consumption for activating additional crew members.

-Reactor output needed for interstellar sensors.

Yes. Based on current knowledge of our manifest, do we have the supplies necessary to effect all those repairs? What does /he/ suggest we prioritize?

>>15528445
All of that should be enough for us to get a good idea of where we are. We only need passive sensors to get starfixes. Worst case we should know enough to be able to get to the nearest solar system.
Should we wake those guys up ASAP or wait until tomorrow when life support for main areas is brought back on? It's only 1 day but I say bring them out now.

>Jumpdrive’s a mess, won’t be able to hop more than three to four thousand ‘years until we reach a shipyard. Probably won’t destroy the ship, though.
MWAHAHAHA! Erm, he means our ship can insta-jump at a range of a couple thousand lightyears per go right? If we ever get this thing fixed up proper hot damn!

>>15528445
Bring the men that the chief indicated out of cryo; they'll need a day to get acclimated and get over any cryo-sickness, which will mean they'll be ready in time for when life support comes back online tomorrow.

Also tell Dr. Burr to expect Ivanova in a few minutes; her stitches appear infected and she's running a fever.

Prioritize getting the engines back online, and the hull repaired. Then we can move on to the reactor and the Jumpdrive.

>>15528596
The engines depend upon the reactor right?

Mind you, this might have been addressed in an earlier thread, but how much will repaired engines drain the reactor?

Also, when getting the reactor/engines repaired, we will need our heat dissipation improved. It might work enough to keep things livable now, but I'm not sure that means it will be able to keep up with a live engine/reactor.

Also, question for Dai if we don't know this already, though it won't come up for awhile. Assuming we enter a solar system, do we have capable landers? If we cannot reach a shipyard (if none exist anymore), do we have ways of securing planetary resources for ship repairs, or at least ensuring we get the crew safely onto a habitable planet (before we the captain inevitably go down with the ship, or provide orbital support).

“Yes, from the logs we have so far do you think you can make all the repairs you listed, and-” you begin, but are cut off by the man choking!

Or... wait. No. He’s not choking. You wish you had a face so you could narrow your eyes at the man as he continues his coughing laughter.

“Impossible. Didn’t have the resources for a full ship repair from this level of damage even with bays full. Just light to medium combat repairs. Need to get to a shipyard to restore fully. Could also start stripping parts from dead systems, reworking them.”

Wonderful. “Well then, Chief, what would you advise we make the priority?”

He grunts as he sits back and pops free a heavy cable from one of his compartments, turning and attaching it to a medidroid recharge station. “Hmm. Seal hull, repair as much as we can, get jumpdrive up, and get reactor back up to minimum needed for a jump. Should be 30-35% for the jump, 3-4% more if you want to keep everything running while doing it. 1-2% more on that if you get all 6000 repair bots up and have them running in case there are... problems.” He shifts a bit, almost nervously, before continuing, “Would probably be able to get it up there safely for one jump, maybe two. Only can maintain about 20% until we reach a dock or get specialized tools. More risks breach.”

You mutter an assent and think briefly before speaking up again, “What about more men for repairs weighed against the resources they will consume? Do you think it’s worth it?”

The mostly metal man gives an odd, clanking shrug, “Don’t know, your call. Would say getting the ship running again was the thing to do if I had to answer, though.”

“Until we know where we are though, Captain, I don’t know if we should take the risk...” chimes in Dr. Burr, looking up from his beans. “There’s no guarantee we’re close to a station or settlement with human-friendly food, water, or even oxygen.”

“And what would it take to get the interstellar sensors online?” you prod, but the man simply shakes his head, “Won’t happen. 60% power drain at least for minimal readings. Maybe 80% for full sweep. No way.”

As you consider this you note Lt. Ivanova reaching the outer door to the improvised airlock you’ve made. “Doctor Burr, lieutenant Ivanova is going to be here in a moment. She’s running a fever and her gash is infected, I would like for you to see to her and ensure she’s well before allowing her to leave again.”

“Ah, of course Captain.” the balding man responds, standing quickly and heading to a cabinet. He opens a drawer and several folded racks blossom out of it, holding a large array of chemicals. He quickly selects one and begins preparing to receive his new patient as you turn back to Chief Dai.

“What about the engines? You said 60%, how much of a strain would that put on the reactor?”

“Ehh,” the man lifts his arm in reply and taps a few numbers into the enhancements embedded there. “Operating at top efficiency was ten percent max sublight, fifteen FTL. In this state probably about eight to ten percent. Would need to see performance charts after starting it for more accuracy. Say twelve for conservative estimate.”

>>15528651
>Assuming we enter a solar system, do we have capable landers?
Yes, you have (well, had) a fully stocked drone fighter complement and several atmo-capable shuttles both piloted and drone.

>>15528409
Is there any way of telling which words are banned? And what kind of appeals work, "I said it accidentally"?

>>15528895

What woud it take to get just a local reading from the sensors array? We're not looking to get to a shipyard immediately, that's a more long-term goal. Our immediate problem lies in having limited resources, and anything we could scavenge from a hulk out here would probably be pretty welcome.

>>15528871
Okay.
The doctor has a point; until we find a planet where we can get more food, water, and oxygen, those supplies are going to be our biggest worry.

I suggest we thaw out the minimum number of specialists we need to seal the hull; without that done we won't be able to Jump at all. Then let's check our sensor logs for any radio transmissions to help us locate a civilization we can contact for supplies.

>>15528975
What do you mean, a local reading? There's nothing around but space locally.

>>15528981
Seconded. We need to get this ship out of the interstellar void either way.

>>15529040

Well, 'interstellar' would imply that we have no long-range sensor capacity presently, but that doesn't say much about short or mid-range sensors. But apparently I am wrong!

>>15529040
I think he meant to just take snapshots of the stars to attempt to correlate them with things in our navigational database (corrected for stellar drift, of course).
Also, I think he means using IR and radar to see if there's anything floating close by us that we could use as raw materials; asteroids and such.

>>15529040
He probably means passive scans. "You cant stop the signal" as they say, the real trick is filtering out all of the galaxies background radiation put off by stars and such. We should optical grade have detection equipment onboard that could detect a star's wobble to tell if there's planets around it. We have that capability today with simple optical and IR telescopes on Earth and in orbit.
FTL sensors would be a huge power hog apparently but doing the computer equivilant of using your eyes only takes time, observation and data sorting.

Ah.

Well, to clarify, your active sensors are divided into Interstellar Scanners and Local Sensors.

Yes, your local sensors are online and yes, you will be able to pick out where stars are and via calculations about where they are located Close enough to jump and then only be a short hop on regular engines away, at least.

Active interstellar sensors would do things like give you system layout, composition of stellar and planetary bodies, any large power sources or stations, transmissions and signals within the system, ect. all in real time.

Well it looks like theres not much we can do except wait for an update.

Anyway, final decision on who to wake up?

Dai's list includes all four remaining lead engineers, two of the mech engineers and one of the electrial engineers.

>>15529116
While the chief and his engineering team work on the hull, let's get to work on those star charts.
We need to identify approximately where we are, and what systems have planets that we can try to Jump to once the Jumpdrive is online.
And of course, if there's anything in local space near us, such as an asteroid that we can mine for raw metals.

Finally, do our sensor logs have anything that might be radio or EM transmissions? Any FTL communications from Fleet Command, such as General Orders or anything?

Wake up Two of the Lead Engineers, and One of the Mech Engineers. Hopefully that will be enough to start with, without putting too much of a strain on resources.

>>15529134
I vote to wake up the people on Dai's list.

>>15529134
1 vote for waking them up. We need them to seal the hull and make the ship capable of surviving a jump.

Proposal:
Once we've made it to some system we can use the drones to mine asteroids for minerals and what have you. If necessary the crew can go back into stasis for that time while we have drones fix the ship more. Once we get to that stage we could repair the recycling systems until they can support the crew and synthesize base nutrients.

>>15529150
>anything around
No. Void. Empty. Simply space.

Your sensor logs register passing through a nebula some time ago, roughly 1.3 lightyears away. Still, that's a loooong way away without FTL capacity.

>coming on /tg/ to find the Void Quest thread
>Void Quest is the first thread
>the music you should listen to when
reading this quest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koj-Cnxf-hc

>>15529191
Ah, Lustmord. I approve.

>>15529150
No, but sensors were pretty well completely fried for a several thousand years by being caught in inside two exploding stars. As for EM, you are picking up quite a bit. None of it seems intelligently modulated and even if it was... inverse square law applies. Your own interstellar comms work on a directed tightbeam basis for just this reason.

>>15529184
Awaken what crew we need for important repairs.

Consider if it's possible to utilize our weapons to crack asteroids, or if our drones could be repurposed to mine and refine materials. Could we theoretically construct/mock-up emergency manufacturing equipment?

This is all worst case scenario stuff.

I vote for waking up the crew members that Dai will need, getting the ship as well repaired as we can should take the greatest priority. What does it matter if the food stores don't run out as quickly, when they'll still run out period?

Looks like we'll be waking up the people on Dai's list, then.

We're going to need to make this Jump count; if given access to the base raw metals, would the automated repair systems and Dai be able to repair the Jumpdrive and the reactor to the point where we can safely execute Jumps without the risk of a breach going up each time we Jump?

Maybe we should see if any of the commanding Staff who aren't necessary or repairs or supplies are willing to temporarily reenter cryo.

>>15529277
Vedibere mentioned last time that it's very risky to enter cryo again before at least a month has passed. Besides, putting them in and taking them out again will just drain more energy and resources. At least, in my opinion.

rolled 2 = 2

>>15529294
Well damn. Are there any environmental rooms that we could repair to introduce new rations and if so could we dedicate one of the released engineers and some repair droids to it.

>>15529328
You mean a hydroponics room?
That depends on if there are any viable seeds onboard this ship.

>>15529372
I figured any environmental since we could re-purpose them for growing since a lot of repairs are required and it's hooked up to systems for supporting plant life.

Question guys, do you tell the awakened crew the situation? If so, personally or through their superior officer?

>>15529328
>hydroponics, ect.
No, this is a warship.

>Blast asteroids
Easily

>Drone harvesters
It might be possible, though obviously it would stop them from being able to do most repairs.

>Smelt metals
I'm sure the engineers could rig up something with what they have, but it won't be fabricating starship-grade unisteel or anything remotely close. The creation of advanced alloys is a fairly precise process. Also you would have to allocate space for it, such as a cargo bay or one of the machine shops for fabricating replacement parts.

>>15529391
That we have the capabilities to manufacture components given base materials is good. It means we aren't totally screwed.

Regarding telling the crew...they don't need to know anythign about the date. Relevant information regarding repairs, supplies, and that we're "lost" for the moment will do.

Oh _fuck_ yes.

>>15529391
We've got one damaged cargobay we could pull the remaining supplies out of. There are also some crew quarters no longer being used that could as as storage space for any left over cargo.

>>15529391
Tell them personally.
Also allocate a workshop once the major hull repairs are done.

rolled 10 = 10

>>15529404
That won't work considering the size of the working crew and their duties we're probably better off letting the people in charge of those situations know that morale needs to be sustained among the crew so we should save the announcements regarding these things until Repairs are as complete as possible.

>>15529411
>>15529419
You understand that this will require several engineers working exclusively on that project, right? Not saying you can't, but just making sure you understand.

Confirm Y/N?

>>15529441
No.
We need the hull repairs and the stabilization of the reactor and Jumpdrive first.
Once we can make more Jumps safely, and have a way of getting more consumables, then we can allocate engineers to this project.

>>15529450
Agreed.

Inform awakened crew of the situation personally. They deserve no less, and keeping them in the dark is impossible. We need their labor and their loyalty to pull through.

When we wake them up, pipe our voice into the room they're in. Have the doc check them out for anything, too.

>>15529450
>>15529461
I agree with these two, ship movement capabilities are of prime importance right now. And it would be impractical to keep any crew member in the dark.

Secrets have a way of always coming out, and the longer you hide them the more damage they do. We should inform the crew as to the situation. Though it wouldn't hurt to remain a little vague beyond "over ten thousand years" and a little delicacy wouldn't hurt.

"We've been adrift for a very, very long time. There may be no one coming for us. But we are alive, and we will stay alive if we all work together."

Also, I'm in favor of the full list of suggested vital personnel. This is no time for half measures.

Is there an archive of the first one?

rolled 9 = 9

>>15529554
if you mean suptg then yes
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15474877/

>>15529554
Yes, there is.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15474877

Okay, 10d10 please.

rolled 4, 7, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 5, 3, 10 = 41

>>15529620
here

rolled 1, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 2, 5, 1, 3 = 50

Hope this works...

rolled 2, 4, 3, 8, 3, 1, 5, 6, 1, 7 = 40

-

>>15529630
>>15529633
>>15529637
>None above 50% average

rolled 2, 9, 7, 7, 10, 2, 5, 10, 10, 6 = 68

anyone here?

>>15529798

Nope!

>>15529798
Vedibere quest. Waiting is half the fun.

rolled 2, 3, 7, 1, 6, 9, 10, 2, 5, 9 = 54

Rolling

>>15529821
I do hope he gets his post up soon. But I shall have patience for his brilliance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFVufWdP4YI&NR=1

Is better for atmosphere, OP.

He may have left.

>>15529936
You best be trollin.

You wait several hours as Dr. Burr tends to Lt. Ivanova. You note he is forced to reopen her stitches and directly apply various medicines to her arm... again without anesthetic, thanks to how recently she left stasis. She gives the same cold look of detachment as when she received them, though you do note her white-knuckled grip on the bedrail. Fortunately, though obviously infected, the wound has not turned septic. Dr. Burr simply shakes his head and confides that if she had gone another week without treatment it very well could have meant losing the arm.

Soon he finishes and you inform him of your orders to reawaken the crew on Dai’s list. By this time both Lt. Tynes and Lt. Parson are awake as well, so you call a brief staff meeting to lay out what the crew will need to know. Lieutenants Ivanova and Parson are quickly at odds over telling the crew about the date, with Ivanova weakly insisting from her bed that telling the crew will only damage their morale while not providing any benefit, as well as pointing out that as soldiers they are on a need to know basis only; while Parson insists that they /deserve/ to know and that keeping the system date away from engineers is a fools task in the first place.

Eventually you’ve had enough and decide that it’s simply not practical to keep them in the dark. Especially since the lead engineers have access to the timekeeping system itself.

Orders given, the engineers are slowly awakened and Chief Dai seems exceptionally pleased, going so far as giving a small smile as they are brought out. You brief them on damages, the situation, and allow for a day of recovery before they begin their duties, though some of them are forced to sleep in the medlab chairs or deactivated cryopods. Or in some cases not sleep at all, staring at photos of loved ones or tossing and turning in their pods.

Still, the repairs progress. More and more drones come on line now that there are specialists available to pinpoint problems and fix their systems, and repairs are greatly sped up. Indeed, the repairs to the database and reference banks that Dai mentioned before even speed your nav calculations, and on the 16th day after reawakening you manage to locate your location.

It seems you leaped about 7400 lightyears from your last known location The closest Imperial Home System is 20293 LY away, but you have the locations of several outposts, claimed territorial worlds, subject worlds, and even a depot station which are closer. Sadly, only one uninhabited territorial world, one outpost, and three subject worlds are within 5000 light years.

Finally, the hull repairs, sealing of critical damage, and engine repairs are completed on the 26th day after reawakening. The crew and your officers have been working nearly round the clock for almost a month and are clearly fatigued, both in body and mind, but finally -- finally! -- you are ready for transit once more. Now... where shall you choose to go?

Sorias: Territorial world, claimed by Phllias Mining Conglomerate. Nitrogen-Sulfur atmosphere, Significant deposits of Gallium, Nickel, Tungsten, Platinum, and various silicates. Nonintelligent, nondangerous bioforms present.

Orrin: Ophidian outpost; sponsored by Ingress Devri, Devrian Patriarchate. Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere. Deposits of most terran metals. Humans present.

Kuril: Subject world; Ophidian traffic only. Home to the Avarai, late 4rd degree civilization. Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere. Significant deposits of Iron, Nickel, Tungsten, various silicates. Intelligent, subject bioforms present, humans present. Subjugated OY 19227.

Palalion IV: Subject world; Sealed. Home to the Palaxi, early 5rd degree civilization. Sulfur-rich atmosphere. Small deposts of most terran elements. No bioforms present. Subjugated OY 19229. **Warning: Hazardous molten terrascape; planetary bombardment circa 19229.**

Kraxus: Subject world; Sealed. Colony of the Palaxi, early 5th degree civilization. Sulfur-rich atmosphere. Large deposits of most terran elements. Intelligent, subject bioforms present. Population <100,000. Subjugated OY 19229.

Bright red dot: Your current position.

Teal dotted line: Territory of the 100-worlds rebellion, circa OY-19381.

>>15530094
Can we get confirmation that the local fauna and flora are compatible with human digestive systems on Orrin and Kuril?
Also, ask Chief Dai what metals we would need the most of for emergency battle repairs to most systems and for stabilizing the reactor and Jumpdrive for more Jumps.
Depending on his answer, we can choose between Kuril and Orrin, since they have human-breathable atmospheres where we can get more air, hopefully water, and more consumables.

>>15530118
That image really helps to put space into perspective; it took me a few minutes to find our position.

rolled 9 = 9

>>15530094
I say we go for Sorias since the presence of Any mining technology will allow faster repairs since we don't have the proper equipment for major excavations even with the danger presented by the advancement of the existing wild-life.

>>15530094
...what? How do we know all these locations? Surely our databanks are obsolete. How far are each of these worlds? Do we have anything of worth to sell for repairs?

>>15530118
Wait. Isn't that a green square?
Is OP colorblind, or am I?

Also, I agree with the above poster.
The outpost is always a viable option though, depending on whether or not we think our culture survived.

>>15530191
This is the information based on our databanks so really only Palalion IV is probably still up to date considering the molten landscape.

Since the human empire glassed the home world of the Palaxi, Palalion and Kraxus are off the list right away. I'd also discount Sorias. The sulfur atmosphere means it may have seen Palaxi expansion, going by their home and colony world data.

That leaves the human outpost of Orrin and Kuril, the homeworld of the Avarai. What records do we have on the Avarai, what is the significance of "Ophidian traffic only" on a listing, and how large a human population did it take to have both listed?

Unless the records say very good things about the Avarai, I'd lean towards Orrin. The mineralogical readout is good, we may not have to immediately worry about alien contact, and it's the most likely to have records about the years of history we've missed.

>>15530094
>Sorias: Mining Conglomerate
Against this one. Worried they might have gone Caldari without oversight if they're still around. If it's abandoned I'm willing to bet the system will have been stripped.

>Orrin: Ophidian outpost; sponsored by Ingress Devri, Devrian Patriarchate. Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere. Deposits of most terran metals. Humans present.
Leaning towards this.

Kuril: Subjugated OY 19227.
>Palalion IV: Subjugated OY 19229. **Warning: Hazardous molten terrascape; planetary bombardment circa 19229.**
>Kraxus: Subjugated OY 19229.
Against these atm.

>>15530200
There is a bright red dot.

You just have to find it.

Civilization Types:

Level 1: Proto-society with agriculture and small cities and low sustainable population. Ex. Mesopotamia

Level 2: Established society with established agriculture or equivalent and large territorial control and beginnings of industry. Ex. Rome, France, Great Britain.

Level 3: Industrial and technological society with ability to exploit natural resources and technological ability. Ex. USA, USSR.

Level 4: United planetary body with high technological ability and spacefaring ability up to system level. Ex. World Union

Level 5: Inter-system spacefaring capability and colonies, may or may not be unified. Ex. System's Union, Palaxan Brotherhood

Level 6: Unified multi-system civilization with developed worlds and spacefaring capabilities up to light speed. Ex. Torvax Assembly, Ophidian Union.

Level 7: Multi-system civilization with FTL capability. Ex. Early Ophidian Empire, Gondia, PaTarn Slae

Level 8: Advanced multi-system civilization with FTL capability and power projection, up to harnessing advanced spatial drives. Ex. Ophidian Empire of Humanity, Charn (extinct)

Level 9: Advanced multi-system civilization with jumpdrive capability and singularity drives. Ex, Ophidian Empire of Humanity, Hundred Worlds Alliance

Level 10: The Ophidian Empire of Humanity. (no known comparables)

>>15530212
After tens of thousands of years, they're almost certainly obsolete. I see no reason why we should pick one of these worlds instead of heading for the nearest trade port or something for rations and up-to-date information.

>>15530118
My bad, I meant bright green dot. I had it red at first but it didn't show up well. Bright GREEN dot is your current position, as it says in the top left.

>>15530277
These are the only planets in our navigational database that we can go to with our Jumpdrive in its current state and the reactor at its current output.
We can't go any higher, and doing more than one Jump introduces an escalating probability of a catastrophic reactor breach.
We have no communications, we don't the protocols in use currently, we don't have currency, and our weapons and shields are barely operational.

Please make a suggestion that is actually viable and has some thought grounded in our current situation.

>>15530224
here, I'm deffinitely voting for Orrin

>Also, ask Chief Dai what metals we would need the most of for emergency battle repairs to most systems and for stabilizing the reactor and Jumpdrive for more Jumps.
Unisteel, exotic alloys, ect. You have a repair stock but hardly enough to fix everything.

Raw elemental materiel has its place too, of course, but fact is raw iron or copper just doesn't have the kick needed to deal with the kinds of stresses a vessel of this level undergoes.

>Why do we have these blah blah
I figured you would want to check the database for nearby planets so preempted you. This is what came up.

>Ophdian traffic only
It means the system is, basically, under the direct control of the Ophidian Empire and only human ships can be present in the system. A combined military, economic, and political stranglehold basically. Typical for alien races that tried to resist becoming subject states at first but later gave up.

>>15530407
Are there any transmissions we can pick up at all? You said there was nothing on the EM spectrum, but what about FTL?

>>15530433
FTL is broadcast in tightbeam transmissions, strictly point-to-point.

So it looks like Orrin then.

Is there anything you guys want to check or do before going, during going, or after arrival? Any special commands, orders, things to look out for, blah blah.

>>15530407
>require unisteel and exotic alloys
We can't just take raw platinum and copper and fashion a plasma power relay.
So we need to use our crude tools to fashion better tools, and then those better tools to fashion more precise tools.

....Alright then, let's get cracking on that, before we end up looking God in the eye.

>>15530487
We Jump to the edge of the system, and scan it locally as soon as we finish transitioning in.
Be on the lookout for any EM transmissions, and signs of civilization.

If the coast is clear, enter orbit around the planet that is in our database as the primary outpost world, and begin scanning for any traces or remnants of high technology.

>>15530487
Oh, before we Jump, make sure that the drone fighters are readied. Not all of them, but at least a few, in case we end up in a hostile situation.

>>15530577
Well, look at that, and here I was writing it so that you didn't have any weapons readied when you jumped in. I wonder if it will matter, eh?

Give me 10d10 please.

rolled 5, 7, 5, 3, 7, 3, 3, 1, 7, 10 = 51

>>15530642

rolled 2, 2, 8, 10, 1, 9, 2, 7, 6, 7 = 54

>>15530642
So are the drones prepped and ready in their bays?

>>15530672
Yes. I'm honestly pretty surprised nobody suggested finding out what weapons systems were online and could be powered, though.

Too late for that now, by the way, jump in progress.

>>15530688
>Too late for that now

>>15530688
I didn't because Dai already said that the shields were pretty much shot and that we could do much combat-dumping of heat due to our reactor being at low output and the radiating systems damaged.

I assumed that we would act as a carrier rather than a front-line assault cruiser, using our drone fighters rather than ourselves for engagements, until the shields and radiators are repaired enough to handle our regular weapon systems.

>>15530745
>we could do much combat-dumping
*couldn't

rolled 8, 8, 7, 2, 10, 3, 7, 4, 4, 7 = 60

>>15530642

It is time.

You’ve sealed the hull as best you can and ordered the crew to stand by in the engine room and reactor room with most of the drones... just in case. Chief Dai signals his readiness in the reactor core, beginning the overcharge required to execute your jump. The first jump you’ve made in over 64,000 years.

On the bridge Lt. Ivanova sits in the second’s chair, a holo-screen pulled down in front of her tracking power draw and readiness. Sixty seconds to jump, she counts them down out loud smoothly and surely. Seated in the IntOps chair is Lt. Parson, sweating but wearing a grim smile nonetheless. His hands expertly flick over the station, readying the sensors to sweep across the system upon arrival. Lt. Tynes sits at the Weapons Officer’s station. Though out of his element he may be, he nonetheless remains calm and breathes deeply, readying to put his management skills to use in rearming expended munitions on drone fighters.

In medbay Dr. Burr sits calmly, patiently, occasionally rising to adjust the sheets on the beds and double-check that his surgical instruments are ready. Medi-droids whisk back and forth, sterilizing and preparing for the worst.

“Twenty one. Twenty. Nineteen. Eighteen.”

Your second in command continues to count and you ‘feel’ the titanic energies building within the singularity reactor, the containment fields straining against the massive coaxed buildup of power. Power enough to rend space and time, the very fabric of the universe itself. Power enough to send you hurtling to your salvation -- or doom -- in an instant.

“Eight. Seven. Six. Five.”

A soft hum runs through your metal body, the Jumpdrive spinning up, its twelve rings of Iridite-laced Unisteel spinning, one within the other, until they become a solid white-hot metallic blur. The spatial rift building within them. The Jump.

“Two. One. Jump.”

A terrific sound of impact, felt in bones of both flesh and steel. The rings snap into line. The universe stretches, bends.

A second crack and it rights itself, even your insanely fast information processing unable to mark the moment the surroundings changed. The rings spinning again, winding down, dry ice slowly sheeting from them.

“Jump complete.” Lieutenant Kateryna Ivanova finishes, closing her eyes and slowly exhaling.

“Incoming transmission!” Parson. You flick your attentions to the comm and process it even as he reads it off.

“Commonspeak. A warning to all civilian craft to divert and not approach the planet or gate. Ophidian Navy ident code at the end. Second part, encoded. Uh... we... have the code in our banks. Decrypting.” The Intelligence Officer sounds confused, and for good reason. Sixty-four thousand years and still the same codes?

“Decryption complete. It reads: ‘Attention all Ophidian Navy ships, this is Captain Charles Devri of the OIS Glorious Destiny, Marquis-class fast attack destroyer. Employ Jump travel to and from this system only, the gate has been sealed and colony vacated by order of High Command. Praise be the Regent, may we die in his name.’”

Frowning, he looks up, “Transmission originates from a satellite in orbit around Orrin. Uh, sir, who is the Regent?”

You try to shake your head, only to find you don’t have one. Annoying. “I don’t know lieutenant. What else can you tell from the readings? I’m picking up a large station situated on one of the system LaGrance Points, several satellites in orbit around the planet, and a dozen automated defense platforms.”

The officer looks back to his console, “Yes sir. The platforms have also responded to our IFF transmissions and are now marked green.”

Hmmm... what to do?

>>15530745
Very true. Still, surprised me nobody took stock of your selection of boomsticks.

Also: Everything went better than expected!

>>15531128
Do nothing further beyond scans of the planet until we can confirm that the Jumpdrive is operational.

Then scan the station and the defense satellites to match them against our ship database to try to get a match.

Finally, open communications on a Navy encryption cypher, using our codes, with the station. Try to get a response.

"This is the OIS Harbinger, Harbinger-class Assault Cruiser. We are badly damaged and require assistance."

>>15531153
Alright, now would be a good time to get weapons system check done. At least we've got the right IFF codes; we can probably use the station as a safe haven, depending on what's down on the planet.

Also, what's the status of our drone lander and atmospheric drones? We may need to check stuff down on the planet that our sensors might not have registered.

How much else is familiar besides the codes. Do we recognize "Marquis-class" as a ship type? What's this about gates, is that known tech? A way for ships without jump drives to travel between systems?

While we're at it, does the transmission come with a time stamp encoded? Is there a GPS-equivalent broadcast in the system that would let us get some idea what calendar these people are using?

>>15531168

I'm absolutely against opening communications until we have a better idea what's going on. "Praise be the Regent, may we die in his name." suggests to me a civil war in progress. We don't want to draw attention until we're sure we won't be fired upon as an enemy or captured as a weapon for one side.

Check Weapons and see if we can salvage some raw material for repairs to shielding and weaponry

>>15531168
Do NOT report that we are damaged until we get a clearer idea of whats going on here.

>An ancient starship, badly wounded in battle, finally finishes emergency repairs and reawakens a thousand years later.

Reminds me a LOT of boloquest. Whereas boloquest had this "alone... in space" vibe, this one has the very interesting additional aspect of several crew characters to explore. I like.

>>15531224
>I'm absolutely against opening communications until we have a better idea what's going on. "Praise be the Regent, may we die in his name." suggests to me a civil war in progress. We don't want to draw attention until we're sure we won't be fired upon as an enemy or captured as a weapon for one side.

A good point, though I'd observe that it's highly unlikely - given the looongcat timeframe - that those stations are still manned by living beings. They're probably running on computer automation. There was likely a Civil War during the fall of the empire (which I think we can safely assume has happened by now) but if the stations are unmanned and on computer control, then a green IFF code is good enough for me.

Besides, we can spare a drone shuttle to visit, and if it gets BLAMMED nobody suffered anyway, right?

>>15531224
And how do we gain such information without opening communication with the computer system aboard that station?

Passive scans won't tell us anything that detailed, and that's why I said to have the Jumpdrive readied before opening communications in case we need to escape.

Besides, it's been 64,000 years and they're still using the same codes as us as well as the same language; I find it more likely that this civil war already is over and this is just an automated beacon, since no one answered OUR emergency beacon for 3,000 years that it was transmitting.

>>15531207
This.

ALSO:

1. Link to first thread, please?

2. We seriously need to investigate the possibility of waking a Chief Weapons Officer or similar technician - perhaps not bridge crew, but a high-ranking tech who can get his hands dirty with the weapons systems, and can also use them decently well in a command role. We're already perilously low on Boom. Bad enough to fight with barely any shields and a handful of remaining weapon systems, some of which are damaged or prone to damage if not used carefully. Even worse to expect results with such limited ability from an engineer or medical officer. Not only do we need at LEAST one person who can assess and repair weapons systems, but can also make the most of them should we need them.

Yes, this does consume more consumables for a crewmember who won't contribute at all to repairs, but we now chart a course through the ruins of a now unknown galaxy. Who knows what successor states rose in the wake of the Empire, what barbarians now roam the stars? One crewman is not too much to ask.

This seems to be an automated beacon (if not, disregard).

Do not respond to it. Stay low, until a direct transmission is received. Just all around, be cautious.

I'm assuming an FTL jump isn't very stealthy, so if someone DID detect our presence, we should hear from them. If not, scouting ahead with a drone might be prudent, but reading green is a good sign: maybe it's not worth it if time spans are too long.

>>15531307
>1. Link to first thread, please?
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15474877/

You could have bothered to look it up in the archives, took like 10 secs.

Honestly, I figured after 64,000 years, we'd be so alien and underteched that combat would be useless for us if we ran into hostiles.

I suppose there might be some lower tech civs though.

The received transmission must surely have a date explaining when it was written, how long ago did it start to be sent? If we're in system, we're surely within the light bubble of any on planet EM transmissions (radio waves, etc), can we pick up any comms or electrical activity that doesn't sound like planetary noise?

>>15531307
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15474877/

>>15531320
Also possible that the galaxy plunged into dark age, and we have the best tech around. Too early to tell without more info. Therefore, we need to make with the info gathering.

>>15531128
Wow. Our time keeping has to be fucked, tens of thousands of years and there's zero change in tech, protocol, political organization, language, etc?

We might as well get closer and investigate, cautiously of course. I'm guessing a large ship warping in is pretty hard to miss, nothing to gain by remaining hidden.

>>15531307
All of your concerns are secondary compared to the primary problem of our FTL Jumpdrive, which maybe only has 1 more safe Jump in it. Any more and the chances of a critical core breach escalates with each Jump.

>>15531285
>Besides, it's been 64,000 years and they're still using the same codes as us as well as the same language; I find it more likely that this civil war already is over and this is just an automated beacon, since no one answered OUR emergency beacon for 3,000 years that it was transmitting.

YES, THIS.

There's a few important things we can (possibly) extrapolate from this:

Civilization did not well survive the collapse of the Empire. If it had, then we'd be like a Roman galley rowing into New York Harbor and hailing the USS Iowa. In 64,000 years, nobody has sailed in with more advanced ships and swatted away pesky remnants of an ancient civilization to colonize a fairly valuable planet... or even managed to get aboard (with PLENTY of time to try) and re-purpose those weapon stations for themselves. They've just sat there for 64,000 years, just as they were when they were abandoned. That's pretty chilling.

Of course, the planet might've been glassed during some war or another and nobody's bothered to come back since.

Maybe there was something more sinister? An invasion from beyond?

I'm thinking something along the lines of demons invading the webway, what with the gate being sealed.

>>15531341
>All of your concerns are secondary compared to the primary problem of our FTL Jumpdrive, which maybe only has 1 more safe Jump in it.

And THAT is secondary to obtaining more food, water, and oxygen to keep the crew alive - and currently, we have, like, one person who's primary job description is "go into dangerous places and kill hostile people."

And any mission to the ground to retrieve biomatter for food processing, water, and oxygen is going to involve risking contact with locals who may very well cave your skull in as soon as they look at you. A single unmanned Automated Weapons Platform to escort the ground squad would certainly be useful.

The jump drive thing is all true and good, but we've made that call already. Now we need to maximize the gain from that jump while minimizing losses.

>>15531349
Unless there is FTL communications, it's also possible that there just wasn't anyone within 3,000 light years of us while it was broadcasting.

>>15531378
Oh you.

>>15531379
We have a drone lander, a bay full of drone fighters ready, and more automated drones that can do ground-side gruntwork.

Also, since the only satellites and defense platforms in this system all respond to our IFF, we can pass by them safely, and it means that no one on the surface has developed the technology to attack them or clear them away.
Which means that it is highly probable that there isn't a civilization on the planet that can threaten our drones as they prepare to get the necessary consumables.

>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFB3SS9-qa0

“Lieutenant Parson, give me a full scan of the planet and only the planet.” you order, opening a channel to Chief Dai in the reactor room.

“Chief, what is the situation?”

“The, the reactor is operational and should be stable. Still assessing effects of the jump.” He sounds out of breath, and you give a mental frown before switching optics on. The sight is organized chaos, with four engineers quickly running between panels every few seconds and Chief Dai himself linked directly into the reactor’s control mainframe. But the truly amazing sight is the reactor itself, the containment field shimmering in hues of green and violet around it, flowing like water between the upper and lower containment generators.

“Chief, what is the reactor’s integrity?” you inquire, more severely this time.

“Stabilizing, we almost lost it during the overpower but he’s coming back into line now.”

“And what are the chances for another jump within the next few minutes? Or within the next hour?”

You can see the data flow the Chief is transmitting to the reactor cut off, then restart. There is a long moment of silence before he finally responds, his voice grave, “Another jump is possible Captain... but not recommended.”

“Understood, keep me posted on the reactor status.” With that you cut the connection and switch to the launch bays.

All eight of them are responding, and a solid third of the drone fighter complement is online and ready to be launched, though some of them are a bit worse for the time elapsed. The space-to-space interceptors are in the worst condition, whereas the space/atmo hybrids, while smaller in number overall, have a higher ratio of operating vessels. Likely because they were made to withstand punishing reentries in addition to the high-g’s of their brethren. Likewise, both the remote and piloted shuttles are both in a relatively good state.

Eventually you shift back to the bridge as a subroutine informs you Lt. Parson is finished; “Sir, I’ve finished my scan. There’s, uh, nobody there sir. At least as far as I can tell. Plant life, I think some fauna. No people, no aliens. There’s a sealed military base -- empty -- planetside and the colony reported in our databanks is completely overgrown.”

“Any idea what the ‘gate’ they were mentioning is?”

“No, captain.” the young man responds.

“Sir, if I may?” Lt. Ivanova speaks up, and you tell her to go ahead, “Optical sensors read that the station over the LaGrange point is a gigantic ring, large enough for a cruiser or bulk freighter to pass through. I think it might be prudent to have Lieutenant Dai come review it.”

“I agree, sir.” Lt. Tynes chimes in, “I, well, I can’t be sure but I think I heard something about this from a friend of mine in R&D. If anyone would know it would be him.”

>>15531411
On that note, can we run a scan for any operating orbital stations? The warning does say not to approach the planet, and with our skeleton crew and limited supplies (even with automated drones doing the fighting), even a light skirmish could fuck us up.

Stealing from spacebound stations has 2 advantages: 1) Easier access to supplies, and more likely worthy materials to salvage for our own repairs and 2) We're much closer to offer support if things go poorly, however little we might be able to do.

>>15531411
>We have a drone lander, a bay full of drone fighters ready, and more automated drones that can do ground-side gruntwork.

THAT'S good news. I just checked the crew roster from the first thread, and it's not like we've got a complement of Marines or anything. Perhaps we can divert an engineer to checking on that stuff and making sure it's up-to-par.

>>15531424
"Lt. Dai was a little preoccupied when I spoke with him, but once he's available again, I will have him take a look.
"Now, anything on passive from the station or the defense satellites? Make, model, does anything match what's in our databanks? Is there a tactical datanet of some kind that we can listen in to?
"And that transmission, is it still transmitting, or did it get triggered by our Jump into the system?"

>>15531434
Once the reactor has been stabilised and the Jumpdrive looked over, yeah, we should have one or two engineers go over the drones and look them over.

>>15531433
We only picked up the gate, some satellites, and a dozen weapon platforms. Are you suggesting we go to one of the satellites and strip it for parts?

Also, I think we should investigate if the computers here are dumb (non-sapient), or if an EI was placed in charge of keeping up this quarantine.
If it's not plague, it could be an AI that went rogue.

>>15531424
"So then. We have a heavily fortified military installation and colony, completely bereft of population, broadcasting an clear warning message and venerating an unknown Regime.

Well fuck."

At least we may get our salvage and repairs.

>>15531424
>“I agree, sir.” Lt. Tynes chimes in, “I, well, I can’t be sure but I think I heard something about this from a friend of mine in R&D. If anyone would know it would be him.”

Aaaah, so this tech was at least in the theorized, or perhaps prototyped stage when we were taken out of action. Hopefully it's not too far beyond us, then, though there's no telling how long the Empire lasted after we were blown to hell.

>>15531424
Check if Tynes friend was one of those awoken. If not, consider waking him and checking it out.

Worse comes to worse, we should be able to restock on the planet.

Don't tell me they opened up subspace nodes and the shivans came after them!

>>15531466
My apologies, I might have been unclear. Tynes was saying he heard about something that might or might not have relevance from a friend in R&D, but that if anyone would know exactly what this is then it would be Chief Dai. Legendary scientist and engineer, over 500 years old, highest clearance of anyone on the ship, and all that.

It appears we are in no hurry, aside from dealing with the reactor.

Once that is done, have Lt. Dai check out the gate, and get a check on the drones (possibly the other engineers).

Sending attack drones in might be seen as an act of aggression. Send an unmanned shuttle to a space station with one or two noncombat drones on board to check out the situation. Escort with attack drones, but don't act hostile.

If that goes over well, probably attempt to dock at the station, or funnel what resources and information we can.

>>15531479
Oh, ok then.

Do we have projection systems? We could give a description and ask for a theory to work off of until such time as he is free to inspect and give us a more thorough report.

>>15531452
Possibly, though depending on their size the weapons platforms may be more useful, if the system really is dead.

And, since I doubt we share parts, I'm more wondering to what degree our repair drones are able to make repairs without having replacement parts handly. IE: If we can find a collection of Unisteel somewhere, can they refashion it for use in repairs or not. Either way, we could stand to gain from stripping otherwise dead systems for our own use.

Let's take stock of the immediate situation.

There are a dozen automated defense platforms. They are almost certainly set to respond to any unauthorized approach to the planet or the installations in orbit around it. However, the platforms have at acknowledged the standard IFF transmissions and are currently registering us are friendly.

So the question now is this. Since they're still using the same codes as us, can we transmit command IDs that they will accept? Basically wave our rank in their face and get them to salute and ask for new orders.

Actually, the question before that is, do we think we can take them in a fight if they react badly to the attempt.

Weeelll, our course of action seems pretty clear.

Send a few remote-control drones with a few robotic manipulators/loaders or whatnot towards the station to dock with it, and see what's what. Before we do that, hail the automated stations and see what's popping. We should be out of range where we are, and if we're not, well, we're fucked anyhow. Then we can send the shuttle in and see if it gets BLAMMED.

Pending info from the station databanks, we can decide what to do vis-a-vis the planet.

As for salvage potential, there seems to be quite a bit:

>Defense station in orbit
>several automated defense satellites
>military base on planet, (sealed up)
>colony (overgrown, might be decayed to hell)

At the very least we should find more repair stock - lets just hope the planet doesn't have the SuperVirus on it or some shit.

>800 meter beam
>2700 meter length
>720,000 cubic meters in volume
7,700,000,000 cubic meters isn't it?

>>15531557
Oh dear, how could I do that.
576,000,000 m^3 actually, and that's a rough estimate since the beam length is actually the hypotenuse and the volume of a pyramid needs base area. I'll calculate it more exactly next thread.

Still, the spatial displacement doesn't really matter so much thus far.

>>15531608
As a vessel of war, we have the right and duty to remain functional. If this means confiscating civilian property, reprogramming stations, strip-mining planets, so be it. In an emergency situation, this is even more true. I'm pretty sure this entire everything qualifies as an emergency situation.

>>15531626
Very true. As the possible only survivors of the mighty Ophidian Empire, it is up to us to continue it's glorious legacy. If we are all that is left of it, the remnants of the Ophidian Empire is ours by rights.

>>15531626
Yes, however, these are military defense satellites, and they could be enforcing a military quarantine which we do not have the authority to override.

It would be far better for us to see if there's an onboard databank on the Gate or if there's a control satellite, and first see what this whole quarantine was about before we start taking stuff apart.

>>15531650
Well, yeah, I think we want to go about everything as cautiously as possible until we determine what's up.

As a side note, don't get UltraMegaSpaceDeathVirus, if that was why everything died. Until that has been ruled out as a possibility, treat everything with proper contamination protocols.

“Very well, when Chief Dai finishes his duties with the reactor I’ll have him come up here to review. For now, new orders. Tynes, you are free to stand down from your station for the moment. I need a list of components we need, listed in order from highest priority to lowest. Ivanova, you will have the bridge for now, keep us on the edge of the system and gather information. Parson, pull up everything you can from the databanks. Experimental, prototypes, whatever. Dismissed.”

“””Sir.””” the three respond, and you shift. The engineers on standby at the engine are ordered to the drone bays to begin whatever last minute repairs are possible, with you aiding them. At the same time, however, you begin transmission of a coded FTL squirt to Ophidian stations inside the system.

"Attention all Ophidian personnel, this is the OIS Harbinger, Harbinger-class Assault Cruiser. Please respond.

"I repeat, this is the OIS Harbinger, Harbinger-class Assault Cruiser. Please respond."

All that answers you is static.

################

>>15531769
Is there more? or are you waiting for suggestions?

>>15531769
>All that answers you is static.

Well, maybe they are trying to contact us, but we don't understand them!

Then again, maybe not.

Your command staff stands around the three-dimensional holographic display on the bridge. Floating above it is a view of the ring station along with several of the defense satellites.

Tense silence hangs in the air along with it.

“Yes,” Dr. Dai grates, finally, “I think that’s the gate. Eliphim Ketro was working on the theory for a relay-based jump system when we left. Highest classification. But it was still just theory, numbers on paper. This...” he trails off before giving one of his typical grunts, “I’d like to get on. See how it works.”

“The sats?” Tynes asks, but this time it is Parson who speaks up.

“Not in the databanks, new as far as I can tell. Automated and completely self contained.Two strange things, though.” He steps closer and points out several objects on the holos, “These weapons. Rail cannons for the most part, with standard point defense lasers. Only one energy cannon, and it looks like a medium at that. Another thing,” he waves his hand and the image zooms in, “here, and here, and here are the shield projectors. Which means the reactor must be here. But there’s no containment signature.”

“Vents. Cyclic recombiner.” Dai adds, pointing to some flanges on the side, “Likely a hyperstate reactor of some type. Would barely be able to fire the gun.”

“And the Marquis class?” you ask, but this time it’s Ivanova who responds.

“Sir, I believe I remember something that might have gone by that name.” Eyes and optics both turn to her, and she shrugs, “Just a rumor when I was being assigned, but it was said that there were plans for a new destroyer class planned. Harbinger was expensive, advanced. Intimidating. Maybe too intimidating for the Consuls, always worried about the Armada’s political power.”

“I wasn’t aware those outside High Command knew about the production of Ophidian warships.” Parson remarks dryly.

Ivanova shrugs again, “Is just what I heard.”

>>15531812
Sorry, fucking post length.

Done now though. Official >wat do

>>15531514
>>15531516
these two.

>>15531827
>>15531822
Okay, no taking apart the defense satellites, then; they're more advanced than us, and since they have their own reactor, probably a fail-safe system meant to self-destruct when tampered with.

I think we should attempt to open a computer link between us and some of the defense platforms, the other satellites in the system, and with the Gate itself. We need to try to figure out what was being contained on the planet.

If nothing comes up, then we should try to make contact with the military base on the planet, and try to get an automated startup sequence fired up.

>>15531822
"Before I can authorize a boarding mission, I want a drone serviced and prepped to do a thorough runthrough of the complex.

If there are automated defenses online, who knows what state the interior is in. Once the drone's done a sweep, then we can see about getting people onto it.

Our crew to limited to risk losing people to accidents."

The defense satellites don't seem much more advanced, actually. More like shitty substitutes. They barely have teh power to fire the gun according to Dai, and it's not even a heavy battery.

>>15531822
We should loot everything we can. Since they've recognized us as friendly, we should see about gaining physical access and try to take control of the network.

Our reactor is damaged, and we have before us another operational reactor. We should investigate the possibility of transplanting it onto our ship.

We can find out what state the supplies are in.

Though there may not be any people here, we can at least use the area to conduct repairs and restock.

If we're really, REALLY lucky, they may even have a ship we can repurpose into a supply vessel.

>>15531848
>defense satellites[]; they're more advanced

From what I understand, they're actually a lot less advanced than we are.

Basing this on the comment that they would be barely able to fire their single medium energy cannon.

>>15531876
You mean from the defense satellites?
Dai said that they would barely be able to power all of its weapons; I doubt that it would have an output equal to our own capital ship-grade singularity.

>>15531827

Time to fish or cut bait. Cut loose an unmanned shuttle loaded with some servobots to approach the central station for docking, see if it gets BLAMM'ED or not. The info seems to suggest the Empire switched to lower-powered weapons and ships for socio-political reason (or a combination of those and expense issues as the Empire crumbled) so we're not in as much danger from potential friendly fire as we thought.

No crew responding, so we may as well start transmitting automated docking requests and such and see if the doors open and close when we send the proper codes and such.

>>15531848
>they're more advanced than us
Actually, about that, sorry if it didn't convey well but Dai was fairly scornful of the things. They have a tiny reactor, a single medium energy cannon It could barely fire. For reference, you have 36 heavy mounts with dual heavy cannons on them, either one of which would be around 5x stronger than a medium, and you could fire all 48 of the forward-facing cannons at the same time if required.

These are fairly light defense sats by your reckoning, in other words.

We probably can't outright replace the power from our singularity, but we might be able to siphon some off?

what we want to do if find out if it we're going to get fired at if we get closer. even if the defense platforms are shitty, we are in no state to sustain damage.

>>15531888
That's just power output for its size.
Just because it has a lower power output, doesn't mean that it's less advanced.

>>15531918
If we wanted to, we could target one gun at each of them and blow them to shit at teh same instant.

They're little threat if we want them to be. However, I wouldn't mind salvaging them.

>>15531920
Please see
>>15531915

tl;dr Your text comprehension sucks.

>>15531876
>>15531848

Why bother taking apart any satellites at ALL, at this point? Chances are good that we have SERIOUSLY lucked out so far. If we want to protect the Harbinger from any nosy spacefaring races with guns, all we need do is park her next to the defense station and let the defsats do the talking. That buys us security and time, woohoo.

>>15531930
The issue is that these satellites have been here for over 60,000 years. And nobody has found them.

By the sound of it, should the Harbinger be restored to be combat-capable, it would be the second-best Destroyer-class ship in the fleet at the time the message to jump was recorded.

>>15531930
Camp here to what end? We could use them for defense for the time being, but we're going to leave eventually - what's the point of leaving them behind?

Better yet, we should see about scooping up the satellites when we're done. Might be handy in the future.

>>15531959
First best, actually. The Marquis is a cutback, the Harbinger class considered too monstrously powerful to be allowed in the hands of even their own military, judging from the description

>>15531959
Harbinger is a cruiser, and was the most advanced model ever built at the time of your little accident.

There were of course bigger toys out there, but they were pretty much all battlestations located at key points or over important worlds like Earth, which had 4 orbiting it and was considered an invincible fortress.

Of course, no telling how things have changed in the time you have been gone.

in before our accident caused the empire to fall.
[spoilersdontworkontg]Just as planned[/spoilersdontworkontg]

>>15531967
Not camp, but conduct repairs. It's useful as a resupply point while we branch out. We don't have the manpower to crew this place, but by god, there's a functioning shipyard, tools, and supplies to restock periodically if we can't find any other locations.

All in all? A fuckawesome haul.

>>15531982
Vedi, you considered an IRC for this?

God, not more of this IRC shit. It turns the whole thing into one big circle jerk and nothing is archived.

>>15531915
>be around 5x stronger
Change that to at least.

Basically, these sats are defense pickets and you are a full fledged heavy warship.

>anyway
Wat do? Drones on station? Explore planet? Cannibalize sats?

>>15532005
I hope not, rarely does irc make quests better. Usually worse.

>>15532015
Don't cannibalize the sats yet, but can we do both of the first two? They don't seem mutually exclusive.

>>15532015

Leave the sats where they are, at least for now. I don't think we have any use for them at the moment.

Exploring both the station and the planet seem like good ideas. Do we have any kind of drones that might take care of these task without endangering the crew?

>>15532015
>wat do
this
>>15531847
tl;dr: make sure we're not going to get shot at, loot anything useful, get information from databanks if possible to figure out next step: possibly reviving more crew, and likely conducting major repairs.

>>15531967
>Camp here to what end? We could use them for defense for the time being, but we're going to leave eventually - what's the point of leaving them behind?

When we eventually loot all there is to loot and leave, we can investigate the possibility of breaking those sats down and re-assembling them elsewhere as portable sentry guns, (GunBoy lol) but that's low on the priority list - i.e, after we've looted and repaired and are ready to leave.

For now we can benefit from them just by parking amongst them; and even that's being paranoid since they've apparently been untouched for the last...

... hmmm. Vedibere, consider this a new suggestion: scan for debris or signs of battle in the area, if our sensors are up to providing the requisite resolution for that task. Lets see if anybody came a-wandering and got BLAMMED for not having the proper codes.

>>15531999
As far as we know, there's just a military base, I see no mention of a functioning shipyard. Once we've done all the repairs we can, I don't think we should revisit this place.

>>15532015
Send in a drone as a scout first. If it's safe to approach, we move in and visit the base. Leave the sats for now, we'll scoop them up and carry them with us when we leave.

Don't forget to paw through the records of the military base, if we can use one of our specialists to access them - or do it ourselves. Maybe we can get some clues.

>>15532015
>Wat do? Drones on station? Explore planet? Cannibalize sats?

Drones on station for sure. Prep a planetary landing mission but don't send the shuttle till we can get a look at the stations databanks and see why it was declared verboten. Ask the Engineers if they can use anything off the sats, and if they want them, let them rip 'em apart. We can get more value from them as scrap or salvage then as defense pickets; considering the pain-in-the-ASS it would be to disassemble/reassemble weapons stations never meant to be portable.

Also, I suggest we make a point of being more proactive about giving "orders" so Vedibere doesn't have to badger us for input. He's done a fantastic job of working with less-explicit instruction then almost any quest-thread author I've heretofore seen, but still.

>>15532038
>... hmmm. Vedibere, consider this a new suggestion: scan for debris or signs of battle in the area, if our sensors are up to providing the requisite resolution for that task. Lets see if anybody came a-wandering and got BLAMMED for not having the proper codes.

As your command staff discusses the situation, you flick your sensors to active mode and begin scanning the system rather than simply the planet itself. You receive immediate results, detecting a vast field of debris scattered in a semi-regular sphere around the system... roughly at the edge of the defense sat's effective range.

Detailed analysis reveals scattered metallic fragments and dozens of gutted and shattered hulls, some too mangled to even be recognizable as more than a heap of scrap metal.

Finally, amidst it all you pick up eight tiny objects, orbiting regularly slightly outside the debris field.

>>15532080
>dozens of gutted and shattered hulls

Do we recognise the designs of any of these?

>Finally, amidst it all you pick up eight tiny objects, orbiting regularly slightly outside the debris field.

I guess our scanners can't detect what these are. Can one of our drones scan them and pick them up if they're harmless?

>>15532080
WELL.

Looks like this is the equivalent of the Garden of Khadesh or some shit. And are those...probes?

>>15532091
Send a probe? Recover them?

>>15532091
looks like we might be in more trouble than we thought.

maybe not, maybe it's just some weakling spacefaring race without correct codes?

Take no chances.

First order of business is to find out what the deal is with those objects.

Second order of business is to see if a scout ship gets BLAMMED while entering that radius.

>>15532091
>You receive immediate results, detecting a vast field of debris scattered in a semi-regular sphere around the system... roughly at the edge of the defense sat's effective range.

WHELP. Answers THAT question. Planet hasn't been ignored, and in 64,000 years nobody with the tech level/firepower to swat down what is (to us) picket defenses has wandered along.

Perhaps our worries of encountering MIGHTY ENEMIES is a little premature. They might be out here, but everybody in this 'burg is small fry.

Can we attempt to connect to the automated defense systems?

New order: Dispatch a drone fighter towards the closest of the eight orbiting objects to get closer visuals. The fighter drone's on-board targeting scanners should provide higher resolution then our currently damaged sensors can.

Politely inform the crew of this.

Smart money: monitoring satellites dropped off by another nearby civilization.

This thread is giving me serious Space Empires withdrawal. Also, this would make a FANTASTIC computer adventure/strategy game: budgeting numbers of wakened crewmembers against remaining consumables, repair bot priority, etc. while seeking out hints and clues of what happened to the Empire long ago, an interstellar mystery investigation, searching for the thread that will lead to a working or repairable shipyard. Instead of constantly upgrading your abilities or building new units, in this game that advancement curve is replaced by repairing/activating more and more of the ship, and more powerful/power intensive systems.

rolled 7, 9, 9, 5, 9, 9 = 48

>>15532123
I wouldn't be so certain. Just because we can't see any evidence of more powerful visitors doesn't mean there hasn't been.

>>15532162
Whoop, didn't mean to roll there.

...something bad's going to happen now, isn't it?

>>15532178
Given thats a fucking phenomenal roll, I doubt so.

>>15532123
>>15532118
In all honestly, the debris doesn't mean shit. There's a whole spectrum of possible explanations. Send a scout first, then decide.

>>15532194
>There's a whole spectrum of possible explanations.
>circle of debris all orbiting at the furthest extent of the defensive satellites range

nnnnope.jpg

Void Quest participants' state of mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdsa5vrOLnI&t=5m2s

>>15532249
If there aren't any Humans left, I'd suggest we simply adopt the Zoq-Fot-Pik.

gogdamnit, i must sleep but this is too interesting.

>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gVOZnNRcJM&feature=related

“--ell us how you came by that information then. I’m sure that inquiring minds want to know.”

“Like I said, lieutenant Parson, is just something I picked up. Should be asking more about why it is you are so interested, da?”

The young lieutenant rolls his eyes, “Oh, sure, deflect and question me when it’s a simpl--”

“Enough.” You end the discussion. “I’ve detected traces of what I estimate to be over a hundred destroyed ships in system.” After a brief moment of shock all of your officers begin taking at once, and you wait for them to subside before continuing. “No, I do not know their definite origin, they don’t match any ships in the database. Some do appear decidedly alien in design, however.”

Instead of frenzied discussion this latest announcement is met with silent thought before Lt. Tynes speaks up, “Their composition, sir? If we could harvest them...”

“Negative, at least for now. I’m launching scout drones to sift through the field -- I detected some objects on a regular orbit -- and attempt landings on the station and the base. Lieutenant Parson, if you will please man comms and prepare to transmit access codes?”

“Sir.” At that simple word the group gathered at the holoprojector disperses, each taking up a station on the bridge or, in the case of Chief Dai, departing for the reactor room.

It is several long minutes as you launch three shuttles with fighter and interceptor escorts, one to each target; Base, Station, and Unknown Objects. Drawing closer to the unknown objects, however, you immediately see why passive sensors did not pick them up: they are employing passive sensors of their own -- at least, that’s what it appears from the arrays of observation devices on them. Monitoring probes. None of them react as you approach, and you hover the shuttle near the first one as you decide what to do with them.

The second mission is far more tense. The first hail comes from the defense satellites, the nearest three turning to face their weapons toward the approaching group. Parson sends the codes, and you watch as the group passes through the debris field. No hostile actions yet. Slowly you approach, interceptors leaving formation and holding position as the shuttle, manned with a pair of utility drones, draws closer to the station. Still no attack.

After another few agonizing minutes your shuttle approaches the station itself and initiates docking protocol. You hold your proverbial breath as the ID is authenticated and... success! Access is granted and the seals overriden on your authority.

As the second shuttle zips past the station heading toward the planet, the two hovering drones board the station.

>what do?

>>15532295
>Monitoring probes
Can we get a reading of how old these are?

>board the station
Explore stuff!
F5F5F5F5F5

>>15532295
Start accessing the databanks, see what we can learn about the history of the station. Also look into what automation is available to us; we're a small crew, so we'll definitely need lots of it.

>>15532295
Beautiful. Test atmosphere, check hangars, supplies, etc.

Get a full rundown of what conditions are like on board the station. Is there a docking ring the Harbinger could fit to, as well?
Eagerly awaiting.

>>15532295
Access the station's databanks, find out what happened. Scout for resources.

Alert the crew to the monitoring probes. Are they of known make? Any insight as to what they are transmitting to?

>>15532295
>wat do?

Make a beeline for the computer core with one of the drone bots. From there we should be able to pull supply manifests, records of the final days of the Empire, all SORTS of good shit - depending on what memory banks are still readily accessible without repairs or maintenance needed.

With the second drone we can explore the ship, see if there's signs of hasty evacuation or a more orderly shutdown.

>Monitoring probes

CALLED IT. We could drag one back to the ship for detailed analysis; see if we can evaluate the tech level of the people who dropped it off.

This does let us know that somebody, at least, is going to be along shortly to see what's jumping.

>>15532295
Kill/capture/study the observational probes. We do NOT want anyone know we are here or how to access the station behind us, after all if our probes can enter so can we.
Secondly after removing observers GET BEHIND THE KILL WALL ASAP. Since it is proven that we can, we need to enter the defensive ring to enact safe repairs/scrounge up materials for extra repairs/get info on WTF has gone down in 64k years.

>>15532295
Can we scan the other planets in the system? Maybe some kind of civilization managed to develop there?

>>15532295
I think we should keep the drones headed for the planet back for now, if those are monitoring probes we need to be ready to pull as many of our drones back to the Harbinger in case we have to jump away from hostiles. Besides, we're getting plenty of good shit from the station, why not redirect them there so they can help check it out?

>>15532346
We might not be able to salvage food from the station. Best to keep our exploration somewhat broad just in case.

>>15532352
Would wine survive for 64k years if preserved in a vacuum?

>>15532365

Wine? No.

But that DEL-ICIOUS MILITARY-ISSUE BEAN PASTE? YOU FUCKING BETCHA! Food stocks on the ship certainly lasted long enough, woohoo!

>>15532373
at this point, anything is of use, even air.

>>15532373
We'll have to discover a way to derive alcohol from millennia old bean paste, then.

>>15532384
>We'll have to discover a way to derive alcohol from millennia old bean paste, then.

Chances are excellent that empire military crews figured that out a thousand years before we were ever born.

Seriously. My uncle had a rather productive still going underneath a deck plate in the engineering section of the John C. Sperry. And of course, there was Torpedo Juice.

You whisk the drones about the station, exploring it rapidly and thoroughly. Atmosphere is hard vacuum, shuttle bays completely empty, and all systems are completely shut down... no, more than completely shut down. Far more. You approach the control console in what is clearly the command deck with one of the probes and take in the sight. Panels unscrewed and components removed. Access ports welded shut. Power relays severed with arc cutters and beam saws. Whoever left the station to sit did his job well. All across the station the scene repeats. Every access port blocked off or disassembled. Every control uplink removed or severed. Unnervingly thorough.

Finally, you make your way down into the central core deep in the belly of the station, adjacent to the singularity core itself. Here the data denial repeats once again, except for one lone point. The primary direct access terminal. Even it is mostly ravaged by whoever did this, save for one lone, pristine uplink jack.

>Link up?

>>15532431
LINK NAOW!!!!!

>>15532431
Link, but by god prepare every counter-intrusion piece of software you have.

Looks like salvage is going to have to be done in the colony/base.

>>15532431
Use the equivalent of a netbook without any kind of wifi to interface with it. Nothing that is linked to us, or could connect to us is going to touch that jack.

>>15532431
curious and curiouser.

I assume this is not standard procedure.

Also, this could very well be a trap. Maybe a rogue AI/EI?

If we are to link up, there should be proper precautions put into place to prevent ourselves from being infected.

>>15532446

>>15532431
LINK ME, MOTHERFUCKER.

>total decommissioning

Sounds like they expected capture, and were doing all that to deny it to an enemy. That's not only bad news for us, but mildly terrifying. What the HELL sent them packing?

>>15532431
I smell a trap. Link up, but keep alert; if anything so much as twitches as a result of our meddling we need to know the moment it happens.

>>15532431
Is the singularity core off-line. If not, how big an explosion could that thing produce?

Okay, let me elaborate a bit here. You have three main options.

-Link directly. As an advanced military EI in control of one of the most powerful vessels in the Empire you of course have an amazing suite for anti-intrusion as well as an intrusion package of your own. This allows you to directly access the system and at a central core like this access any functions... provided you provide the access codes or can defeat the safeguards.

-Link indirectly. You will sever your connection to the drone and be forced to monitor the uplink connection via readout just like a human. The advantage of this is that all potentially invasive software or intelligences can do is fuck with the drone, trace back the link to try and see where the person controlling the drone is, and gather information stored on the drone itself. It also makes direct intrusion by you impossible and you might have limited system access even with master access codes.

-Don't link. Send in some engineers to disassemble the thing and use scanning equipment on the banks directly. Extremely difficult to get anything worthwhile but ain't nothing going to happen to anything of yours no matter what. Equal (low) chance to find anything on the drive.

>>15532511
Could we use option 2 first, to make sure the coast is clear and then proceed with option 1?

>>15532511
If we cannot do Option 2 and then Option 1 to gain full access, then I vote Option 1. We need to know what happened here.

>>15532515
Yes. The only reason you wouldn't be able to would be if you were under some sort of time constraint.

>>15532511

Go with Option 1. Inform the crew of what you're about to do, so if things go hinky anyways they'll have a chance to disable your core and fire up Norton antivirus 5000.

Just direct link and if it doesn't yield to master codes, force your way in.

>>15532520
Okay, then, Option 2, then option 1 it is.

>>15532520
Let me guess, as soon as we interface the whole station is going to active its self-destruction sequence.

Definitely inform the crew. After informing them, link indirectly to make sure the coast is clear. Once making sure the coast is clear, link directly, but cautiously.

>>15532528
I was thinking aliens would warp in and fuck our shit up.

Have the crew been informed of the monitoring probes?

>>15532538
>Have the crew been informed of the monitoring probes?

Not yet. We're making all these decisions in MILLISECONDS. Then we'll act all at once.

Losing our body wasn't cool, but man, there are some perks!

>>15532520
Okay, lets do option 1 but could our head technician cut us off from any important systems on the ship for the duration of our interface?

>>15532560
Probably not without physically severing certain connections

In this thread: pussies.

WE ARE A WARSHIP AI.

WE ARE THE GODDAMN CAPTAIN.

J-J-J-AM IT IN (THE JACK)

Caution is the name of the game, you decide. You sever the link to drone 1 and reroute commands through the EWAR console. “Lieutenant Parson, if you would be so kind as to link the drone?”

“Yes, sir.” he replies, and you watch through the eyes of drone 2 as it begins interfacing.

>Access code:

The Lt. makes a face and enters several codes, but none of them provide the much-desired access. Frustrated, he activates his intrusion suite, “Now, let’s see what’s in here.”

>Cracking.
>Cracking..
>Cracking...
Complete!

“Huh. That was... easy.” he quips before pulling up a data-table. “Oh, Shit--”

The filesystem has only one entry: Counter-Intrusion Protocol. The Lt. quickly moves to sever the connection but it’s too late. The drones systems are overwhelmed and fried, the power supply overloading and detonating. Shards of metal and other drone debris fly everywhere, lodging in both wall and computer core alike. Several fragments hit Drone 2, though none critically.

“Well, sir, it looks like whoever left it planned to replace the entire core when they came back. It looked like the entire system was wiped of everything and only left as a trap.”

“So it seems.”

>Going to call it here for tonight. Next thread will hopefully be Monday at 18:00, though there is a chance I won't make it due to family obligations. If I don't then I will run it Tuesday at 18:00.

>>15532592
Looking forward to it.

>>15532592
D:

Have Drone 2 pick up a piece of Drone 1 and make it into a purple heart.

>>15532592
Awesome. Can't wait.

Option 2.

Also, leave the Defense Sats intact while exploring planetside for raw materials, parts, and foodstuffs. This will allow a minor boost to our defense, should an attack come.. unless the Sats have been compromised.

Monitor the probes in the debris field CLOSELY for I/O transmissions or movement as the sats are linked into.

Prepare battlestations for possible hostile actions. Prep the Med facility.

Let's do this..

>>15532592
Just out of curiosity, what would have happened if we took a direct link?

>>15532612
I'm just as curious.

>>15532612
Maybe you should get one of your experts to analyze the logs, results, and core next thread and then ask them if you are so curious.

>>15532624
But that's in two to three days. And the internet has destroyed my patiEEEEEEEEEEEnce.

Well, I'll answer questions for a few minutes if people have them. If someone could archive that would be great, my brain is oatmeal.

>>15532652
If you're ever gonna drop this quest, you're gonna tell us and not simply disappear never to be heard of again.
Promise?

>>15532667
Yeah, sure.

>>15532672
Wonderful. Thank you. There are few things I dislike more about /tg/ than quests disappearing without a trace.