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The pillar of dust continues down the road, the old, rusted vehicle at its root rattling like a reentry vehicle even with its leisurely pace. Anderson sits within, hunched over as he balances himself on a lumpy section of worn leather lodged between the two seats of the truck's cab, a farmer on either side of him. To his left the driver sits calmly and contently in the sweltering heat, his tanned arm hanging out the window to his side. His face is a dark tan with an almost leather like texture, covered in red burns and thick creases marking his age like the rings of a tree trunk. To Anderson's right is another, younger man, possibly in his early twenties. A shotgun is mounted on his leg with the barrel pointed out the window, and he scans the horizon with an alert suspicion. He seems to look up to some formation of clouds in the sky, and Anderson attempts to adjust his view to follow his eyes when a sudden bump in the road sends him bouncing in his seat and the hard metallic spike of an exposed seat hinge prods firmly into his thigh. He struggles to adjust himself in the tight space, and wipes his forehead on his sleeve as his sweat stings his eyes. He sees a thermostat display on the corner of the dash, but he struggles to believe it as it reads one hundred and five. He squints at it, wondering if he has read it wrong, until he spots a small 'F' next to the number.

“Is that reading in Fahrenheit?” Anderson asks with some amazement. The driver makes some manner of strange grunting noise which you manage to interpret as the affirmative. That is good, at least Talgo is not literally boiling, although it certainly feels like it is. Anderson looks over the dash for some manner of air conditioning controls, but finds none. He attempts to distract himself instead, focusing on the small row of structures visible ahead, slowly growing closer on the horizon.

Welcome back to Hive Queen Quest!

>Archives http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Hive%20Queen%20Quest
>Twitter https://twitter.com/HiveQueenQuest
>Various pasta http://pastebin.com/u/QuestDrone
>FAQ ask.fm/QuestDrone
>Discussion page http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Quest_talk:Hive_Queen_Quest
>>
>>2958920
It's alive.
>>
YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!
>>
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aww yeah hive queen quest time
>>
>>2958920
Anderson better hope he doesn't have a real purdy mouth.
>>
Not so Daily reminder

>Raid OQ
>Board a scav vessel for their FTL.
>Send a diplomacy team to earth.
>Take Reprive (I think that is the system that our mother made her last stand and it only has mining corvetts, it would be a great test for our raiding fleet.)
>>
Remember Drones,

GAS THE SQUIDS
NUKE THE WHALES
STAB THE MONKEYS
TRUST NOTHING
THE VOID IS WATCHING

Good to have the Hive back together after so long.
>>
>>2958920
A quick note, while I have updated the resources for this day, I will be doing a more complete audit along with the general update. I only partially have done that update as of now because I wanted to make sure you all were able to be informed of the overall changes, and offer feedback. I got quite a lot of quality feedback for the espionage system, which I will be using to tweek general balancing for it in time. As such, some things in this new day pasta may be wrong, or may otherwise have calculation errors, this is just temporary and likely due to placeholder or old holdout chunks of info from the old and cumbersome system, but please point them out all the same if you find any.

You feel the notice of a Distant Mind
>Psionic research has received a small boost
>Slip drives have a 10% chance to alert you to their usage

>Current resource reserves
Nutrients: 32,037,030N
Metals: 24,923,114M
Credits: ₡3,752,206
Credits in Lyle’s account: ₡1,175,000

Active Commercial trade routes:
>Leeland – Lanway HMS Orphan, Captain John Spreckels
[FormOther brand Fusion Reactors]
Estimated per-day value: ₡2,500,000

>Construction underway

system adjustments needed
[Heavy Fleet] x15
[Ambush Fleet]x10
[Fast Assault Fleet] x5

>Formed fleets and orders
Citadel Hive Ship – [Awaiting orders]
Small Heavy Defense Fleet [Patrolling Leeland space]
25 Heavy Battle Fleet [Supporting Commonwealth Liberation]
5 Missile Ambush Fleet [Awaiting orders]
30 Light Fleets [Supporting Commonwealth Liberation]
25 Light Fleets [Awaiting orders]
10 Fast Assault Fleets [Awaiting orders]
10 Ambush Fleet
6 Carrier Battle groups

Clone upkeep/special projects and expenses
[Gemini]
3 Taidaren Hybrids (105)
4 Human flash clone upkeep – 120
18 Human hybrid clone upkeep – 540
Specializations:
>Tech
>Engineer
>Brawler
[Hive space]
100 Human Hybrids – 3,000
Lyle Rogers – 57
Jackob Eisner – 56
Dillon Reager – 30
Clone/project upkeep – 3,908N

>Income
Metals: 2,950,500
Nutrients: 7,636,000
Net:

Total upkeep
Nutrient costs: 6,675,390

(Nutrient stat + structures) * 1k * dev score + modifiers = Nutrient income total
(Metal stat + structures) * dev score + modifiers = Metal income total
>>
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>>2958942
Espionage Activity

Gemini: This planet holds an embassy, random chance to gain intelligence each day, +1 Active Operation available. This planet's population is highly irritable and aggressive to Hive influence. All failure and detection chances are increased. Increased rate of psionic resistance in the local populace. Any attempt to increase unrest will receive a bonus to success chance and increased detection rate.
[Covert Infiltration] Resources: 1 sleeper cell planted in maintenance and sanitation department. You have a very high ranking source of information within the government. A taidaren lobbyist with connections to local taidaren clans is friends with your representative.
>Beggars and Taidarens

Gemini Beta: This is a sparsely populated military world. Low population increases the abilities to conceal a hive, while its large military presence increases the failure rate of operations. This world is under military lock down, dramatically increasing failure rates of attempted actions and operations.
[Maintain Concealment]

Path: This planet is currently under military lock down, dramatically increasing failure and detection chances. The local population is anxious and afraid of the future due to recent events, increasing the population's psionic vulnerability to influence.

Huron: This planet's condition is unknown, no monitoring effort is under way.
[Maintain Concealment]

Hive space: All worlds within Hive territory are able to perform espionage without resource cost, and all actions and operations have a dramatically increased chance of success and decreased odds of detection, but discovery brings with it a much greater risk of major public backlash and public discontent when performing events not linked to counter-intelligence.

Bedrock: This colony is suffering from widespread panic, dramatically lowering detection chances of hive agents, but making the results of operations far more unpredictable, and making gathered data unreliable.
[Maintain Concealment]
>>
It's happening!!
>>
>>2958945
Hive Territory
[G-426]
Leeland (capital)
N 60+40
M 45
Development 50

Income:
4.861MN
112.5KM

Defensive structures
>Surface to Orbit Missile System: Uses long range missiles to attack enemy ships in the system (1KN)
>Anti-orbital battery grid: Directly attacks enemy ships in orbit (8KN)
Military structures
>Hangar facilities: Deploys atmospheric and orbital drones to intercept attackers, uses aerodynamic and fighter drone designs (4KN)
>Psionic Shroud: Conceals hive activity from psionic senses (1KN)
Industrial structures
>Docking Pylon: (2000) (100KN)
[Empty docks: 8000/8000]
Economic Structures
>Capillary Tower (25,000N)
>Smart Mines active: Calculates development stat twice for metal income
>Algae Farm: +25N
>Film harvester dock: +15N
Asteroid mining base: [Depleted] This hollow asteroid provides an excellent location to construct a Space City at low cost.

[The Garden]
Raligha
N 90+50
M 10
Development 25

Income:
3.5MN + 1.75MN
250M

Defensive structures
>Surface to Orbit Missile System (1KN)
>Anti-orbital battery grid (8KN)
Economic structures
>Bloodroot collectors: Pipes running from Bloodroot trees extract nutrient rich sap +20N
>Greystalk farms: Bio-engineered native super-crop offers easily maintained farmland +30N
>Greenwall pit: Genetically engineered plant efficiently recycles waste material, +50% N income
>Temple alter: A place for the Ralighan locals to worship and bring offerings to your hive, built in the likeness of your local fake queen, +500N per day, allows recruitment of Ralighan Elite Agents.

[M-323]
>Orbital docking pylon: Space for docking and construction of 4 sub capitals or 1 capital ship, (50N)
[Empty docks: 0/4]
>Mining corvette salvage operations +2,688,000M per day (+8000M per corvette)

[Farcast]
Derelict Sensor array

Glassed Hive world
N 0
M 100
D 10

Income:
0N
100KM

>Smart mine mantle excavation: Calculates development stat 3 times for metal income

Deep space waystation
>100 docking pylons (10KN)
[Empty docks 400/400]

Undergoing sovereignty transfer, local inspection pending
[New Port]
N/A

[Koenig]
N/A

[Telarum]
N/A

[Juric]
N/A

[Sentinel]
N/A

[Dagmar]
N/A

[A-295]
N/A

[Desmond]
N/A

[Tannhauser]
N/A
>>
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>>2958920
>>
>>2958932
*Land a stealth hive in Earth's ocean.

Infiltrate the wild men with Covert Infiltration to find out about that mechanical leader they got. No need to speak to the primitives when we can read their minds.

Also, in that vote about what planets to land new stealth hives on places like, we forgot to land any on even a single Valen world like Deep Song's oceans.
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>>2958920
[Excited, frantic chittering]
>>
>>2958949
Are we done teaching the Ralighans farming so we can teach them other stuff?
>>
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>>2958945
>This colony is suffering from widespread panic

Oh man it's good to be back.
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>>2958920
Holy shit what? Hey QuestD
>>
>>2958949

Vassals
Scarred Queen – Refuge

New Construction Options

Defensive structures
>Anti-orbital battery grid – A network of anti-orbital batteries scattered across the planet, each situated in a fortified bunker complex fitted with stationary gun positions and intense hive creep fortifications. Each battery is a capital ship class particle beam capable of attacking enemy vessels in orbit of the planet, each situated in relation to the others to provide overlapping fire over any location above the planet. 8,000N 48,000M
>Surface to Orbit Missile System – This massive bunker complex houses a wide range of warheads and a nigh limitless number of missiles within its protective walls, allowing you to launch missiles against approaching invaders from the safety of your hive. The facility uses the ship missile stats and comes equipped with a single Cruise missile silo that can target any detected object within the system, five Stinger missile silos capable of targeting any craft within high orbit, and ten Swarm missile silos specialized in targeting high altitude aircraft and low orbiting targets. The facility itself is a massive complex spread out over several miles, and includes guidance and launch equipment, as well as the means to construct and maintain a stock of warheads and missiles. (1500N 2500M)
>Shield dome network – An overlapping network of bunkers crisscross the landscape of a planet offering emergency shelters for any local inhabitants to survive orbital attack, as well as shield emitters placed in overlapping layers set around important infrastructure and planetary installations. Like all shields, heat quickly becomes a problem as it sustains fire, as such a mixture of ventilation towers and subterranean heat sinks, turning a small facility into a massive, sprawling network of infrastructure. If the planet suffers orbital bombardment, this planetary installation will absorb all damage first. 8,600N 50,000M
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>>2958951
Problem is that the Space Snails are paraniod enough for that not to work.
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>>2958957
Military Structures
>Military Spaceport – Extensive fortified maintenance bays and hangars are built across the surface of the planet, as well as infrastructure and manufacturing centers to support the production and maintenance of a planetary strike craft squadron. Swarmer fighters are produced at a constant rate with suitable range to intercept orbiting vessels or approaching dropships, while more advanced fighters and gunships of the most suitable design are produced and maintained for system wide defense and patrol Aerodynamic drones are also maintained in scattered hangar facilities to provide air support in the event of ground attack, and intercept enemy dropships. All craft are held in hibernation to reduce costs, allowing an entire planet's worth of strike craft to be maintained for a relative low cost. 500N 1000M
>Psionic Shroud – A single building built around the shattered remains of a Void Shard, the shroud amplifies the unnatural mental silence of the broken crystal within to mask an entire planet from potential detection, preventing outside forces from easily detecting the thoughts of a hive. (2,000N 5,000M)
>Psionic Sensor Tower – A massive spire composed of highly psionically sensitive instruments and material focused on the detection and measurement of wide range quantum states in a vacuum directed at the space around the planet. Grants a chance to predict the arrival of ships approaching the system via certain FTL methods. The effectiveness depends on the method used and the size of the incoming fleet, granting a base chance to detect incoming Blink drive ships at 75%, Space-fold and Rip drive at 50%, Warp drive at 25%, and Flicker drive at 10%. Gatecasting ships from Hypergates and Slip drive is not effected. (20KN, 30KM)
>>
>>2958945
>Huron: This planet's condition is unknown, no monitoring effort is under way.
>[Maintain Concealment]
>Bedrock
>[Maintain Concealment]

Those things aren't accurate at all. >>1925092

And Mentan, Talgo, Arnim, and Coral aren't listed yet. They probably haven't finished establishing themselves?
>>
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>>2958963
Economic Structures
>Docking Pylon – A large spire or station that contains space for docking and construction of 4 ships, or a single capital ship if placed in orbit. By default is used to produce hive vessels, but can be made to offer repair services to passing ships in return for credits or other acceptable transaction fees. 100N 300M
>Weather Spire network – A networked collection of spires spread across a planet capable of studying and altering a planet’s climate and atmosphere. Construction includes the building of all spires needed to function. While the spires can manipulate a planet's climate towards any desired effect, by default the spires will attempt to optimize a planet's fertility and habitability for hive life and its primary crop strains, increasing a planet's base N score by 5. Alternatively, the spires can work to create intense storms and thicken the local ionosphere, reducing N score by 5 and imparting a penalty to enemy craft within the atmosphere and blocking enemy communications to and from orbit, as well as disrupting sensors of orbiting ships. This option is not available for planets with naturally turbulent and disruptive climates. (8,000N 20,000M)
>Orbital solar array – A station placed in orbit of the local star equipped with a membrane of photosynthetic cells several kilometers in diameter capable of producing a steady stream of nutrient income. Due to practical constraints of logistics, a star system can support up to five solar arrays. Must be built around a main sequence star. Provides 1500N per day total (5,000N 5,000M)
>Harvester Dock – A large pier built along the shore overlooking the spore-producing ocean film that serves as an unloading area for Harvester drones, and contains pipelines to pump collected raw nutrients to the hive’s awaiting processing facilities, includes a single Harvester which is covered by the cost and upkeep of the dock. Provides 500N per day total (38N 50M)
>Orbital electroponic station – An orbital instillation built near a large source of hydrogen used to fuel a large fusion core, which in turn provides electrical power to a contained algae farm facility. Must be built in orbit of a gas giant. Provides +2000N per day and doubles as a gas mining facility, refueling the tritium stores of any ships in the system. The station itself can serve as the hub of a space city with additional investment. (3000M)
>Algae Farm – A carved out space used to utilize Leeland’s natural electrical field to cultivate food. +100N per day, 1 worker to maintain.
>>
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>>2958970
>Hydroponic platform – A floating greenhouse platform used to grow farmland through hydroponics that can only be built on or near water with open access to plentiful sunlight. Each greenhouse platform supports roughly one hectare and requires a single worker to tend the crop and maintain the platform. Multiple platforms can be connected together to create fields of floating farmland. +200N per day, 1 worker to maintain.
>Filter towers – A large underwater pylon built to extract raw nutrients from the microbial life of the surrounding ecosystem. Can only be used on planets with bountiful biospheres and deep oceans capable of supporting large amounts of microbes. Provides between 100 and 500 N per day, depending on the local environment. (500M)
>Capillary Tower – This massive organic space elevator offers a number of logistical and economic advantages, despite its drastic up front cost and fragile nature. Shuttles or space craft are no longer needed to move resources from the surface to orbital structures, freeing shuttles for more important tasks. The counterweight station serves as a center for construction, with 4 docking pylons included on the structure to repair and build ships, while gaining a bonus to capital ship construction time due to the speedy nature with which resources arrive from the surface. The Capillary Tower can also spread hive creep and extract resources at an increased rate, spreading roots deep into the crust to bring up resources directly into orbit, allowing you to consume a planet much more quickly than normal. A Hive ship can construct a Capillary Tower if given the time and resources to do so, deploying one after 3 full days, after which it becomes the counterweight station, and must remain stationary until it detaches and destroys the tower to move. A Hive ship deployed in this way does not have access to its spinal weapons, but can use other features as normal. A planet can hold a max of 4 Capillary Towers along its equator. For each one, planetary mining or over harvest activities are doubled and its Development score increases by 10, this bonus can surpass a planet's maximum development, and will not effect its biosphere. Upkeep is reduced by half on planets with an atmosphere. (50,000N 500,000M)
>>
Mother has returned, glorious!
>>
>>2958975
>It's been a year since we had the last thread
GOTT
>>
So just to note:
We should really look into cloak tech for our anti-orbital missiles. Being able to launch ordinance into orbit around the planet from one side, cloak the missiles and let them slam into the attacking fleet undetected would be a great way to bypass point defense measures and make sieging our worlds a minor hell with anything less than total global space coverage.

Another factor we should look into is asking our freindly neighbourhood AI for his grav detection tech, since thats the only thing we know of so far that can spot our cloaked ships. If we have that sensor tech we can figure out a way to cloak against it using grav/anti-grav generators on the hull plating. Even if it doesnt help conceal the larger ship varients we have it could still be a deciding factor in support and fighter craft ship fights. Any edge we get will be well worth it in the casualty savings department.
>>
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>>2958975

This is some of the new bits I was referencing, we can take our time to go through some of it and make adjustments where needed.

Current Research
Your thinkers assemble themselves to focus on a number of different research topics, allowing you to choose one as your primary topic, and two as secondary research projects. The primary research project will receive three rolls per day for progress, while secondary projects receive two. In addition to your thinkers, you may gain additional research rolls from other sources. Vassal Hives shall offer their own thinkers to you as tribute and non-hive allies specialized in research all can be used to run their own Auxiliary research projects, granting one roll per day each. Multiple Auxiliary rolls can be assigned to the same research subject, and if left alone, will choose a topic of their own interest. A vassal hive may research anything, while non-hive allies possess specializations in their fields of study, and offer special bonuses when researching subjects in their fields.

Additional rolls can be purchased from external sources through trade or political treaties with Theseus and other factions. Such external rolls can be assigned to any research project, including your Primary or Secondary projects, and all participating factions will receive the research upon its completion.
>>
>>2958951

Support for this. As long as we work very hard to keep it on the hush hush
>>
>>2958990
That's not practical on any level.
>>
>>2958990
Literally the moment G-sensors was mentioned to exist it was bought instantly anon. There has never been a moment in the quest when it was known to exist and we didn't have it. Jesus it's in the ship builder pastebin.

>If we have that sensor tech we can figure out a way to cloak against it using grav/anti-grav generators on the hull plating.

Logically, seemingly. But nothing like that has been unlocked in the gravity reflection tree yet.
>>
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>>2958994
+++Primary
>Empty

++Secondary
>Empty
>Empty

+Auxiliary
Scarred Queen
>Artillery Spore – Your vassal has examined your genetic adaptations and has found many of them far outstripping the more traditional and widespread technologies of the old Queens, however there are a small number of more specialized adaptations kept within certain Dynasties and its allies. Her thinkers have begun teaching one such technology used by her old dynasty to your own thinkers.

Elizabeth Vaughn
Specializations: Xenobiology, Quantum Mechanics, Psionics
Bonus: Zealous – Rolls twice and takes the highest result. Cannot negate critical failures.
>Scavenger Brood Mother vivisection
Very Fast
The matriarchal caste of the Scavenger species, the Brood Mother is a large entity which serves as both the biological linchpin of the Scavenger reproductive cycle and the most powerful political figure in their culture. Individual brood mothers function as high ranking commanders, quickly rising from lower Alpha ranks during times of expansion, and engaging in deadly Machiavellian infighting during periods of contraction. Because you have obtained a live specimen, your study is not limited to biological study, but also the detailed study of the subject's memories, thought patterns, and its reaction to certain neurological and chemical stimulation in addition to scouring the subject's mind for strategic information and military intelligence.

Adam Seiner
Specializations: Xenobiology, xenopsychology, Void Crafting
Bonus: Reticent – 50% chance of turning a Critical Failure into a regular failure.
>Void Projection
Medium/Dangerous
You begin to realize the methods by which Seiner's mind has been expanded. The process can be replicated, although without a human subject to receive it, any attempt at such a projection comes at great risk of unwanted attention. A Queen's mind is far too vibrant and powerful to remain hidden in the Void, but, with this understanding, you realize it is possible for a human's uniquely designed psyche to survive unseen while projected within the void. Further study of this process on your part will hopefully not only allow you to gift such powers to other humans, but also to assist Seiner and any other such individuals to master these abilities.

External
Theseus
>Joint Research Project
This joint research agreement shares all pertinent data regarding the Obsidian Queen and her forces. This project grants Theseus access to basic Hive biological technology and automatically assists in reverse engineering Obsidian Queen technology. All rolls made for relevant technology is rolled twice and uses the best result.
>>
>>2958997
Well lets hope it comes up. Its not like the tech is locked only to whats listed. See: overlapping minaturized hull shielding for layoring effect. That was a suggestion.
>>
>>2958990
No arguments from me on either proposal, although I thought we already had the cloaking detection stuff from Theseus. However, we might want to invest in researching how to add our gravity manipulation technology to our cloaking to remove that detection vector.
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>>2958995
Hello the Valen are more paraniod and cautious than the humans. Stealth landing a ship is not going to work.
>>
>>2959003
Eh, its been a while and I never involved myself in the pastebins and so forth.
>>
>>2958951
Support infiltrating wild men on earth. However, we should really recruit capture and mind rape at least one Valen first so we can attempt to understand their biology BEFORE infiltrating a major settlement.
>>
>>2959001
Here's a list of what we were researching before the change for everyone.

Gas Giant Superstructure Construction
Medium
Using a mixture of space station technology and modified, miniaturized capillary towers, it may be possible to create semi-permanent or fully permanent hives within the upper atmospheres of gas giants, where a mixture of atmospheric static, wind farming, and gas mining can provide a more constant and bountiful resource income while providing a more robust frame with which to construct infrastructure.

Swarm Drive Tuning
Slow
By configuring the gravity thrusters to respond to the foils of other ships within the same formation, performance can be increased outside of a gravity well by taking advantage of a kind of gravitational slipstream created from the foil's unique gravitational effects.

Gravity Thruster Optimization
Medium
Miniaturization to the gravity thruster itself, as well as optimizing the layout of the foils across the hull allow for smaller strike craft sized ships to make use of the thrusters both when operating in atmosphere and when performing evasive maneuvers.

Psionic Thermokinesis
slow/mildly dangerous
An even more finely tuned execution of known tachyonic physics, thermokinesis is the practice of altering the energy state of atoms, but instead of altering their velocity, it utilizes a less uniform alteration to increase or decrease atomic vibration, quickly increasing or decreasing the ambient temperature of the target. It may take some time for your thinkers to successfully accomplish this feat, however, without also igniting the laboratory.

Psionic Conduction
slow/mildly dangerous
While altering the physical nature of particles has become possible, using highly controlled tachyonic signals it may also be possible to use the projected psionic energy to subtly alter and transfer other forms of energy in a more direct process than kinetic force. Your thinkers believe it may be possible to use alternate sources of energy outside of the target and potentially use tachyonic signals in order to carry that energy to the target. The early experiments have already proven promising, however it may be some time before the thinkers are capable of producing results without causing spontaneous detonations within the laboratory.

P1
>>
>>2959013

Memory Seed
Slow
By creating a miniaturized and less overtly useful memory crystal similar in overall function to the white crystals used to record thought by your elders, and modifying it into a neural implant, you believe it may be possible to create a kind of constantly updating backup memory for clones, agents, and even drones that would potentially hold its information after death. The memory seed would theoretically be capable of retaining the full memories of the host individual up to and including the very moment of death, and be able to preserve those memories long after the brain itself has physically deteriorated, a process that typically drastically limits the time frame in which memories can be gathered.

>Psionic Spores
Slow
While normally the hive spores used to spread infrastructure are little more than genetically engineered nanomachines, replicating and performing their function alone until their built structure is complex enough to receive mental signals, your mixture of psionic research and advancements in spore related genetic programming has made the idea of a psionically sensitive spore seem not nearly as far fetched as it once did. With a mixture of distributed networking and complex cellular reconstruction methods, it could be possible to create a spore strain that would respond to mental signals.

>Advanced Psionic Imprinting
Slow
With the application of psionic imprinting you are able to influence and alter the state of matter using only focused and precise mental signals. Your thinkers believe this can be taken further, using more accurate signals and more precise manipulation methods to imprint more complex thoughts and ideas more quickly and easily, and at a greater range.

>Personal shielding
Slow
By further shrinking the emitters, your thinkers believe they may be able to eventually make them small enough to be equipped to the carapace of a drone, or to the surface of an armored suit. At this time it is mostly speculation and an eagerness to please mother beyond all reason, and you cannot be sure what the limitations may be, but the thinkers are sure they can do it.

>Data decryption
Medium (Very Fast with Theseus assistance)
While much of the data within the Smith mind was corrupted during the experimental extraction process or the trauma of the agent's death, there is still a good deal of encrypted data still intact. The data itself could be anything, from a revolutionary discovery to the agent's personal preference in music, or anything between. There is now way to know without decryption of the data, and the total randomness of the mystery has your thinkers begging to go to work.

P2/3
>>
>>2959013
now that we are deciding research are we gonna start with the psi cannon now that there is a imminent threat of crystal attack or no?
>>
>>2959021
Bit early for that, I think.
>>
>>2959012
Well the plan put forth on infiltrating the Valen was stupid. We're better off sending "merchants" working under the hive to facilitate infiltration rather than flying a hive ship into the oceans they live in.
>>
>>2958920
Welcome back. Glad to see you're still breathing.
>>
>>2959001
Available Research Options

Multidimensional Physics
Slow/Slightly dangerous
Until now you have been entirely ignorant to the workings of the Void and the self proclaimed gods that rule this mysterious space. Now you realize some semblance of the truth, although any proper understanding comes with its own inherent risks of attracting unwanted attention, such understanding, you realize now, was the backbone of the galaxy spanning civilization of the ancient Hives of the Golden Age, long before the Schism began. Regaining such lost knowledge would be a great step towards rebuilding your race as the galactic superpower it once was.

Non-euclidean Architecture
Very Slow/Dangerous
The basis of the very crystal you now posses, as well as the hostile Void Shards, the process of compressing spacetime along the axis of a fourth spacial dimension is a key component to many technological devices of the Ancients in their prime. Such technologies explain the process by which the void shards function, as well as allow for the vast complexity of the memory archive you hold, compressing vast amounts of energy and matter into a pocket space where such terms are interchangeable and largely meaningless.

Psionic Thought Construction
Very Slow
The brief understanding granted to you by your examination of the contents of the white crystal given to you by your late mother, you realize that tachyons, like nearly any other form of particle, can be used in the construction of physical objects. Such constructs are inherently unstable outside of the multidimensional space of the Void, however, but allow for the construction machines of immeasurable complexity with relatively little effort by constructing them in a space where thoughts can be projected as concrete materials.
>>2959008
I can respect that. I try to give something for everyone, I know a few people just really love minmaxing horrific doom ships, so I always try to avoid making things too abstract when trying to streamline things.
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>>2959021
Well we do have Seiner now. I say we let him finish researching his biology changes incase shit goes south when researching the canon. Once we have a firm grip on all that we can start the cannon due to his Reticent trait.
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>>2958949
>[Telarum]
>N/A

Well let's go turn their star drill platforms inside out already. For totally not reverse engineering purposes.

>Asteroid mining base: [Depleted]

RIP, Metals income that dates to back when we still had eyeless blind digger drones instead of metal trees.
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>>2959021
We aren't under threat of an attack and if we were we'd lose in our current state.
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>>2959026
Empathetic Compulsion
Slow
A step further from the disruption of the nervous system, with additional fine tuning it may be possible to exert some limited control over an individual mind without the use of direct contact.

Gas Giant Superstructure Construction
Medium
Using a mixture of space station technology and modified, miniaturized capillary towers, it may be possible to create semi-permanent or fully permanent hives within the upper atmospheres of gas giants, where a mixture of atmospheric static, wind farming, and gas mining can provide a more constant and bountiful resource income while providing a more robust frame with which to construct infrastructure.

Swarm Drive Tuning
Slow
By configuring the gravity thrusters to respond to the foils of other ships within the same formation, performance can be increased outside of a gravity well by taking advantage of a kind of gravitational slipstream created from the foil's unique gravitational effects.

Gravity Thruster Optimization
Medium
Miniaturization to the gravity thruster itself, as well as optimizing the layout of the foils across the hull allow for smaller strike craft sized ships to make use of the thrusters both when operating in atmosphere and when performing evasive maneuvers.

Psionic Thermokinesis
slow/mildly dangerous
An even more finely tuned execution of known tachyonic physics, thermokinesis is the practice of altering the energy state of atoms, but instead of altering their velocity, it utilizes a less uniform alteration to increase or decrease atomic vibration, quickly increasing or decreasing the ambient temperature of the target. It may take some time for your thinkers to successfully accomplish this feat, however, without also igniting the laboratory.
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>>2959031
Psionic Conduction
slow/mildly dangerous
While altering the physical nature of particles has become possible, using highly controlled tachyonic signals it may also be possible to use the projected psionic energy to subtly alter and transfer other forms of energy in a more direct process than kinetic force. Your thinkers believe it may be possible to use alternate sources of energy outside of the target and potentially use tachyonic signals in order to carry that energy to the target. The early experiments have already proven promising, however it may be some time before the thinkers are capable of producing results without causing spontaneous detonations within the laboratory.

Memory Seed
Slow
By creating a miniaturized and less overtly useful memory crystal similar in overall function to the white crystals used to record thought by your elders, and modifying it into a neural implant, you believe it may be possible to create a kind of constantly updating backup memory for clones, agents, and even drones that would potentially hold its information after death. The memory seed would theoretically be capable of retaining the full memories of the host individual up to and including the very moment of death, and be able to preserve those memories long after the brain itself has physically deteriorated, a process that typically drastically limits the time frame in which memories can be gathered.

>Psionic Spores
Slow
While normally the hive spores used to spread infrastructure are little more than genetically engineered nanomachines, replicating and performing their function alone until their built structure is complex enough to receive mental signals, your mixture of psionic research and advancements in spore related genetic programming has made the idea of a psionically sensitive spore seem not nearly as far fetched as it once did. With a mixture of distributed networking and complex cellular reconstruction methods, it could be possible to create a spore strain that would respond to mental signals.
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>>2959001
>>Scavenger Brood Mother vivisection
How is that still not finished? It's Very Fast and the specimen arrived at Leeland in thread 64.6, 3 days ago. >>1615665
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>>2959036
>Advanced Psionic Imprinting
Slow
With the application of psionic imprinting you are able to influence and alter the state of matter using only focused and precise mental signals. Your thinkers believe this can be taken further, using more accurate signals and more precise manipulation methods to imprint more complex thoughts and ideas more quickly and easily, and at a greater range.

>Personal shielding
Slow
By further shrinking the emitters, your thinkers believe they may be able to eventually make them small enough to be equipped to the carapace of a drone, or to the surface of an armored suit. At this time it is mostly speculation and an eagerness to please mother beyond all reason, and you cannot be sure what the limitations may be, but the thinkers are sure they can do it.

>Data decryption
Medium (Very Fast with Theseus assistance)
While much of the data within the Smith mind was corrupted during the experimental extraction process or the trauma of the agent's death, there is still a good deal of encrypted data still intact. The data itself could be anything, from a revolutionary discovery to the agent's personal preference in music, or anything between. There is now way to know without decryption of the data, and the total randomness of the mystery has your thinkers begging to go to work.

>Planetary Shielding
Slow
By adding further scale to the shield dome, it is believed that an overlapping network of shields can be expanded from a series of clustered protective areas defending a planet's critical infrastructure to a vast, near total coverage shield stretching entire continents so as to protect a planet's biosphere and widespread population in addition to its military and industrial zones.

>Psionic Cannon prototype
Very slow/Very dangerous
Detailed accounts of several experiments show the slow progress of Project Godsplitter. The cannon itself is highly volatile, and even the smallest miscalculation often results in the destruction of the ship, as well as any nearby craft. It can only be equipped to a Hive ship's spinal mount, and requires a functional Void Shard as ammunition. At least a dozen testing sizes were atomized in testing the weapon, and in the end it appears The Gardener never quite perfected it.

>>2959039
It sorta is, but I wanted everyone to be able to see what the general research fields look like overall and not just have a bunch of empty slots. I've even updated the map with the information taken from the Broodmother's mind during the process.
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>>2959028
For fucks sakes. THE CANNON IS ONE THE ONLY TWO THINGS THAT ARE KNOWN FOR TRIGGERING THEM TO ATTACK DIRECTLY THE OTHER BEING ACTUALLY ATTACKING THEM.
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>>2959045
You know you would have a much better blood pressure if you didn't act like the world insulted you every time someone didn't memorize everything you did.
Politeness might even make a difference.
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So we can only pick 3 to focus on for the Thinkers.

It's hard to choose.
>Advanced Psionic Imprinting
>Psionic Spores
>Gas Giant Superstructure Construction

We need to improve our manipulation abilities for espoinage, we need more income from gas giants, and I have genuinely no idea what psionic spores unlocks (growing drones from spores instead of a singular egg?) had to pick the mystery box option.

Should really only research the dangerous Void Crafting topics using Seiner, not general Thinkers.

Vaughn can focus on Psionic Conduction.
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>>2959053
The Psi Cannon has always been this divisive from the moment we had the choice to research it. And he still has a point.
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>>2959062
Of course he does. Hes just being a dick about it. Which is really damn pointless for everyone involved.
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>>2959054
Well if youve watched big hero 6, then I imagine that psionic spores would allow something akin to the actuators which flowed with mental command.

It could potentially make building construction and renovation extraordinarily fast, at least for things that are not overly specialized or require special materials.
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>>2959066
Some thinkers are louder then others. However Mother loves us all the same. We should redouble our efforts into finding new and glorious ways to overcome the void menace then just one weapon. Please assist dear thinker.
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>>2959054
Sounds good.
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>>2959044
Regional map updated.

Research fields are currently empty.

+++Primary
>Empty

++Secondary
>Empty
>Empty

Your workers have allerted you that the experimental construction project has nearly finished, all that is left is the final finishing touches, but the station is habitable already and prepared to begin operations. It certainly has taken a while, and you've nearly forgotten where you ordered it built.

The Hive has built its first Space City! Where shall you place it, and what design will you give it?
https://pastebin.com/juEWVM5M

Also do you want me to just dump the construction info here directly for the sake of archive readers?
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>>2959066
Is there any point in fretting over anon's tone either?

is there any point to anything?
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>>2959054
sounds good to me too
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>>2959066
How am I being a dick? Because feels you're a dick for pushing for the DO OR DIE thing when the quest just returned.
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>>2959001
>A Queen's mind is far too vibrant and powerful to remain hidden in the Void, but, with this understanding, you realize it is possible for a human's uniquely designed psyche to survive unseen while projected within the void

So since humans are psionically 'blind' they make good Void Crafters.

Does this mean Phantoms, with their ability to go unseen, would also make ideal Crafters?

I kinda want to recruit some Phantoms and Ralighans for agent purposes. We already have the option to recruit elite Ralighan soldiers who, if we upgrade with Hive cybernetics, would probably do REALLY well fighting against Scavs whenever we attempt boarding and capturing one of their ships.
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>>2959079
Dump away QD
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>>2959079
>those names for the scav stars.
Oh shit either they have a fuckton of names to give to systems as they travel or they might not be nomatic anymore.
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+++Primary
>Psionic Spores

++Secondary
>Gravity Thruster Optimization
>Swarm Drive Tuning

may be a good idea ti increase our fleet mobility
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>>2959082
Meh.

>>2959054
>>2959071

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep2-W1X65KI

>>2959086
Don't the phantoms go unseen by creating a mirage of thought to cloud themselves?
That could be ramped up akin to humans, but you risk allot on the starting population being noticed. Could potentially get very scary if done right.
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>>2959079
Well that was faster than I had expected...

+++Primary
>Advanced Psionic Imprinting

++Secondary
>Psionic Spores
>Gas Giant Superstructure Construction

>Y/N?

>>2959089
VERY WELL
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>>2959097
>Y
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>>2959097
Y
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>>2959097
>Y
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>>2959079
>New Map updates
>neat.jpg
>Scav systems
>Old One's Promise
>uh-oh

Uh, what does the captured Matron's memories say regarding Scav religion?

>>2959097
Sure
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>>2959097
Y
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>>2959071
They are spores, anon. Psionically sensitive so they can receive commands, but they have no means of propelling themselves through the air.

They can only receive commands on what to grow into, as individual spores, instead of being preprogrammed in their DNA when they were created.

If you pick what they can sprout into based on their physical location, then they can become individual organs of a greater whole, at far higher granularity than currently.

So we might be able to poison someone with spores and make them sprout and grow into a small drone inside them.

>>2959097
Uhhh, what happens when the primary topic is finished in one roll instead of three? Are the unused rolls added to the secondary topics?

We have been doing Imprinting for a long time it's probably 90% done.
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>>2959106
The wiki was updated with some interesting tidbit like fucking WORLDSHIPS but makes no comment on religion.
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>>2959086
>I kinda want to recruit some Phantoms and Ralighans for agent purposes.

This

>>2959079
>The Hive has built its first Space City! Where shall you place it, and what design will you give it?
I want a Promenade as a base.

>>2959097
I'm not so sure about Psionic Spores, would prefer a faster research topic in there like Data Decryption.
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>>2959097

>Y

Central Hub module
The Central Hub of a space city features a number of standard features in addition to its specialized functions. All central hub designs include a hollow docking chamber within the center, accessed via a pair of open access docking corridors on either side of the hub module set on the city's axis of rotation. The entire city spins, granting cheap access to gravity, and providing a mild .2 Earth gravity within the docking bay for easy ship maneuvering and cargo hauling. The interior facility can accommodate all known ship designs up to cruiser size, with additional docking piers for larger ships to tether to the outer shell. The Space City comes standard with the most advanced shield tech available, and a large number of auxiliary weapon points, as well as a full wing of fighter drones and swarm drones. Additional weapons are included in small number, depending on the design. The outer torus layer of the hub is dedicated to the hub's specialization, with transport capillaries running to any wards build onto the city and a nervous system of interlinked ship grade sub-thinkers dedicated to controlling and maintain the city's functions, drones, and an egg layer to replace them.

Star Hive
1 Strategic Trade Route
+0 Pop Cap
+0 Dev
+10 Docking Pylons
A powerful and purpose built military facility dedicated to force projection and rapid repair and resupply of military ships. The hub does not spin, allowing for larger military ships to dock more easily, but the rigors of zero gravity render the city largely uninhabitable to non-hive life. The armor of the hub and all wards is made of heavy plating, cutting down on internal space for non-essential systems, removing the luxury of spacious internal compartments most non-hive species consider a necessity for comfort. The hub is covered in particle beam cannons graded for anti-orbital fire, allowing the space city to fire on any approaching hostile with devastating effect, and a planetary missile defense system has been installed in the hull allowing the city to attack enemies almost anywhere in the system. In addition, additional fighter bays and swarm drone bays are included, as well as additional and improved micro-factories to replace them more quickly, allowing the space city to continuously replenish lost strike craft even in battle so long as there are resources available. Amid all of these emplacements are additional weapon hard points, sacrificing the multi-design compatible docking facilities to make room, severely limiting the number of non-hive ships that can dock, and preventing larger non-hive ships from docking at all.
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>>2959115
>fucking WORLDSHIPS
Wait... wat?
(Frantically pulls up wiki)
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>>2959113
>So we might be able to poison someone with spores and make them sprout and grow into a small drone inside them.
That's small time. We could just straight up turn them into hive lifeforms.
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>>2959079
Orbital Anchor for the capillary tower on Leeland.
Wards:
1 Thermal Regulator
4 Refineries
1 Laboratory

Since we can convert the human space cities at Koenig and Bedrock and shit into Promenades and a Presidium, the one we build from scratch should be here and for un human-related purposes.
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>>2959113
If the spores can self modify to suit the needs of the psionic commands, then movement becomes possible. Even a simple sea sponge can reassemble itself distinct from other sponges blended in with it, why would we have problems?

Besides, you don't need air transportation, just enough biomass in one place to start building. So think of a capillary network running along the ground, shooting biomass and nutrients to a construction site instead of having to be flown in or grown from local supplies as we have to now.
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>>2959113
The unneeded rolls are just applied to the next topic to use that slot

>>2959118

Macrofactory
+1 Trade Route
+0 Pop Cap
+25 Dev
+75 Docking Pylons
Exploits all local resource sites
Allows export of Development score
A sprawling collection of manufacturing facilities, molecular assembly vats, protein sequencing vats, refining facilities, and resource extraction facilities all dedicated to the fast and efficient collection, refining, and distribution of needed resources, component organs, and starships. While there is a standard number of docking facilities that can accommodate non-hive vessels, the hub lacks any location for visitors to stay within the hub itself. The hull is plated with typical combat armor plating with reflexive armor beneath to protect against accidental collisions with mining ships, cargo vessels, and asteroids and other targets of resource extraction. The Macrofactory is dedicated to sourcing, extracting, and refining resources and moving them to where they are needed most, as well as producing finished military and industrial products at a rapid pace and facilitating their distribution across the greater Hive. The Macrofactory will automatically extract and refine all non-planetary resources in the local system that the Hive has the technology to exploit at a development score of 25. In addition, it may export its development score's effect either in whole or in part to any planet within the local system, with a 25% penalty, to any Hive-owned planet with a 50% penalty, or to any willing planet with a 75% penalty. Much of its internal docking facilities and large swaths of its outer shell are dedicated shipyards, granting the equivalent of 75 Docking Pylons capable of ship construction.
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>>2959123
and Utility Wards:
1 Slipway
3 Secondary Capillaries
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>>2959123
Can we at least debate first? I want to figure out our options.
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>>2959130
Promenade
+3 Trade Routes
+70 Pop Cap
+20 Docking Pylons
+1 Mega-corporation HQ
Exploits all local tourist attractions
A facility dedicated to catering to the delicate and highly specific needs of non-hive life forms, this hub module is designed to maximize docking space, allowing for a large number of non-hive ships to dock at once. The interior space is coated in gravity plating to grant the appropriate gravity level for visitors, and space is dedicated to real estate patches rented to non-drone hive citizens when possible, or those otherwise deemed worthy of renting the space, as well as hive-run facilities that include restaurants, hotels, trading posts, communications services, and other economic functions to provide a steady stream of credit income, as well as capitalize on any natural attractions the system may have. The hull is plated with standard armor, with additional space dedicated to merchant docking facilities and cargo handing equipment. A promenade will not extract or refine resources itself, but instead collects an amount of credits equal to the station's population multiplied by the sum of all Tourist Attractions in the system, in addition to the sum of all trade routes linked to the station: (Pop * Tourist attractions) + Trade routes. A Promenade can serve as the local headquarters for a single mega-corporation. The station technically could accommodate more than one, however such organizations tend to be territorial, and forcing them to share office space is typically unwise.
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>>2959139
Presidium
+1 Humanitarian Trade Route
+40 Pop Cap
+1 Mega-corporation HQ
X2 bonus to Exploited Tourist Attractions
Grants large credit income at irregular intervals
Grants random intelligence and espionage opportunities
A vast expanse of offices, communications arrays, psionic relays, and luxurious living facilities dedicated to tending to the care of foreign dignitaries, government officials, and influential individuals. Trade docks are sacrificed for additional protection, allowing the fitting of multiple layers of combat armor to provide good protection against all but the most dedicated of attacks, and extensive weapon hard points cover the outer hull in addition to an additional wing of fighters and swarm drones, all not as numerous or plentiful as the Star Hive, but still suitable for the protection of politically important individuals. In addition, gravity plating along the internal compartments provide finely tuned gravity to suit the needs of visitors, and channels of water, pools, and a drain system allows for the easy maneuvering of aquatic species, while an open and spacious interior far away from the floor's gravity plating allows for easy maneuvering of more avian species capable of limited or greater flight. A moderate amount of space is reserved for extremely high quality services, including hotels, restaurants, and recreation facilities all micromanaged by hive workers to painstakingly recreated specifications that suit the needs of visitors. In addition, the architecture is made to conceal a large number of moderate relays capable of covering every inch of the facility, allowing for total surveillance both physically and psionically, as well as all the other bonuses that includes. The Presidium emanates political and cultural pressure in all respects, and functions as a kind of embassy to the rest of known space. A sizable but irregular credit income is earned from high class tourists, celebrities, and political and corporate leaders, all tourist attractions in the system being exploited by the Presidium provide double the credit income, and random intelligence and espionage bonuses are gained periodically, as well as random events that may offer chances to capitalize on unique opportunities. The Presidium can function as the local headquarters of a mega-corporation.
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>>2959121
I can only imagine how the rest of civilized space will react to that
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Wait a minute.

>Eye of Sorrow – A Red Giant star of the M spectral type near the border of Commonwealth space, it's name is used by the Scavengers for navigation, but it's origin is that of the star charts of the civilization whose homeworld the Migrant Armada previously departed from. The constellation seemed to have held some level of significance to their astronomers, and the astrographic data seems to have been pilfered along with everything else.
>• Fool's Glamour: This world was likely once a gas giant, but has since had its atmosphere blown away as the star exited its main sequence and expanded to engulf the inner system. It is composed of compressed materials that have formed into diamond and other such structures, with layers of ice overtop. It would be incredibly valuable were it not so easy to synthetically reproduce carbon structures. As it is now it is worthless, but pleasant to look at.
>• Mire: A primordial world that has taken too long to bloom and missed its chance. It lacks the much critical water to hold life, and highly toxic chemicals in the atmosphere would burn away any that could form.
>• Forlorn Remembrance: Once a lush world with plenty of water, it is now a highly radioactive wasteland, toxic even to the hive’s robust nature.

Shit that's the system i wanted to colonize to research better radiation tech and maybe get a free planet too boot!
God damn scavs.
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>>2959120

By mother I wanna research that
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>>2959140
Orbital Anchor
+1 Logistics Trade Route
+1 Trade route
+5 Dev score
+4 Utility Ward slots
Gains small credit income
All station statistics, bonuses, and income are applied to connected planet
The anchor station of a Capillary Tower expanded, inhabited, and built into a full Space City, the Orbital Anchor offers a rather unique opportunity in the field of space station architecture in that it does not need to spin to enjoy affordable and reliable artificial gravity. Due to the nature of orbital tethers, only the geostationary point of the tether rests in zero gravity. Everything bellow that point is pulled by the planet, and everything above is pulled by the centripetal force of the planet's spin. Because the geostationary point is equidistant to both the ground and the anchor station, the centripetal force felt on the anchor station is typically close to or equal to the local planet's own gravity. As such, the anchor station is instead built similarly to a terrestrial city, but hung upside down from the tether. The Orbital Anchor is thus a massive structure of interconnected vertical towers concealed in a protective shell of chitinous armor plating and coated in hangar bays and docking ports for visiting ships, With the layers furthest from the planet serving as dockyards for merchant vessels. The majority of the rest of the hub is devoted to logistical systems to facilitate the passage of cargo and passengers through the Capillary Tower, allowing the station to function as the planet's space port, while at the 'top' of the station is the anchor itself, consisting of the primary orbital tether, as well as four secondary tethers serving to stabilize the station's position which run from four small Utility Wards to the geostationary station at the main tether's halfway point. All resource stat altering Wards instead effect the planet, and the planet gains a small Credit income score from credits earned through tariffs and fees for use of the tether's lifts. The planet's statistics can surpass the default maximum values using this effect. The Orbital Anchor is capable of supporting 4 additional Utility Wards in a zero-gravity environment which can be configured with a range of specialized functions.
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>>2959120
Where is that? I can't find it.
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>>2959134
Well I would build a Macrofactory that exploits all local resource sites, but we have no idea which star system is optimal to place that in.

Because none of the systems are statted up yet with what local resource sites exist.

A Macrofactory exploits all resource sites, while other hub types fill one of their 6 Ward slots with a Refinery, and a refinery exploits *one* resource site.

So the first Macrofactory only makes sense to build in the system we have with the greatest number of resource sites. Is that Leeland's star? The Garden's? M-323? We just don't know.

But we definitely know we have a capillary tower to attach a space city to.
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>>2959149
Wards
Space Cities are vast structures, and as such their hubs are only a small part of their full layout. While hubs offer a core specialization to the space city, wards offer a way to generalize a space city to best take advantage of the local environment, allowing space cities to either focus in and excel at a specific function, or to diversify into a number of services and abilities. A space city is capable of maintaining up to 6 wards, which extend from the hub's external torus to take full advantage of its spin to provide a cheap and effective gravity to its inhabitants, while other hubs allow for additional Utility Wards to be added, which are smaller and more specialized wards not available to most hubs. A ward has no inherent construction cost, but simply modifies the properties of the Space City itself by granting it additional features or statistics.

Sprawl
+20 Pop Cap
Increased Pop growth rate
A sprawl is as close to a slum as is possible in space without compromising structural integrity. While a hive drone cares nothing for comfort and desires only to fulfill its duty, non-hive life require more motivation than the satisfaction of a job well done for Queen and Hive, and a part of that natural structure is the economic strife of the underclasses and the struggle of the teeming masses. Without a Queen to determine where populations are most needed, the single-minded species function in a more simple manner akin to the physics of fluid dynamics and pressure differential as populations move from places of poorer quality and fewer resources to places of higher quality and greater resources. By providing efficient habitation units at scale, you can in effect create a low pressure area and attract a large population of moderately to low skill workers in a very small span of time. The fact that such large numbers of individuals flock so quickly to such modest living spaces is somewhat concerning, but they will soon find that the Queen cares for all her children, no matter how inefficient they may be.
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>>2959158
Resort
+10 Pop Cap
Allows exploitation of +1 Tourist Attraction on station
Gains random intelligence and chances to obtain Sleeper Agents
While more dedicated Space Cities are able to accommodate the tourism of entire systems, some must relegate such luxury services to smaller, more niche districts in order to focus the bulk of the city on more critical matters. In such cases, this relatively modest but still vast and luxurious ward offers a carefully crafted experience for tourists from all across known space of all species and cultures, exploiting whatever strange attraction the single-minded have taken a fancy to so as to better separate them from their credits. Cheaply made novelty goods spat out of hidden vats sell for prices that make you almost feel shame, shuttles take visitors on leisurely rides over breathtaking horizons, and state of the art entertainment facilities boggle their tiny minds with haptic holograms and gravity that can be adjusted as easily as the temperature, all under the friendly guide of each tour group's own personal Speaker.

Customs
Increases income from Trade Routes
Increases Detection and Failure risk of enemy Espionage activities on station
Only one Customs can be built per station
An administrative formality, to be sure, but an important one. While nothing enters or leaves the Queen's domain without her knowledge and approval, consolidating the process of inspecting and taxing goods and civilian traffic into a single massive facility of security offices, medical pods, warehouses, and carefully and deliberately assembled bureaucratic labyrinths allows the process of weeding out troublemakers and illicit goods to be streamlined and made both more efficient, and more effective. The result is a more robust and thorough layer of security, and the added benefit of increased trade profits is certainly a bonus.
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>>2959155
Even if we do not know which system is best resource wise, we can easily build auxillary teleportation arrays for raw material transport to keep it fed. Its more a concern to build it somewhere safe since it will be one of our major production hubs.
>>
To be perfectly honest, I never thought Id see the day
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>>2959145
We need special tech to colonize those planets. Hell the native lifeforms on Arcadia (Commonwealth) could work for that.
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>>2959155
We can also build a city out of the hollowed out asteroid in our home system for a lot cheaper if we want to turn it into a Star Hive to help defend our home from the inevitable attacks whenever the Void or Obsidian Queen track us down
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>>2959152
>https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Quest:Hive_Queen_Quest#Nomadic_Spacers
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>>2959161
Trade port
+1 Trade Route on station
Can use the Infest Action on station's Trade Route targets
A Space City's true obstacle to additional trade is not docking facilities for ships or even physical space for goods, but the streamlined logistical systems needed to avoid inefficient buildup of inventory. In theory, the perfect warehouse should be capable of shipping goods at an equal pace as it receives them, and thus only need room enough for a single item of each kind. Perfection is often impossible, but the Hive shall reach as close as possible. Worker drones moving in perfect lockstep pace under the guidance of thinker concerts and a predictive logistics network functioning as a single individual along psionic networks allows for goods to flow in and out of storage like blood through a body's veins, minimizing storage time, and thus maximizing the number of merchant ships that can unload their goods at any given time, and in turn increasing the number of trade routes that can be organized from the Space City. The fact that some of those merchant vessels may carry certain unknown passengers is of no real concern...

Barracks
Adds additional weapons to station and allows the deployment of Gunship class strikecraft
Increases strength against boarding actions
Increases Failure and Detection risks of enemy espionage
While every Space City holds room for security and even military staff, not all have a full ward dedicated to military functions. A Warrior Drone needs neither shelter nor ammunition to be a major threat, but knowing who the enemy is the first step in killing them, as such, the Barracks are far from being simple Warrior storage. With living space for clone and recruited agents, dedicated training holo-chambers, weapon and armor microfactories, and dedicated medical facilities to heal battle wounds, the Barracks is a combination of armory, dojo, field hospital, fortress, and military academy all rolled into one and dedicated to the security of the Space City and the system at large, offering first responders deployed to accidents, smuggling, and even acts of piracy or outright invasion by deploying both gunships and interplanetary transports laden with both Heavy Warriors and skilled Clone commando teams.
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>>2959097
Hey QuestDrone good to have you back. A big thank you for all the effort you have put into this and all that you and the people that have participated have done to make this quest what it is today. Sadly i cannot stay for long as it is very late here, so have fun and good luck for the future.

By the way didn't some people propose (a very long time ago it seems) to build a tourist attraction space city in the system with the flaming gas giant?
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>>2959170
Yup.
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>>2959168
Refinery
Allows the exploitation of +1 resource site in system
Grants the Space City a Development bonus of +10
While most civilizations are forced to separate the processes of refining metals and organics, the Hive's advanced biological mastery has rendered the processes for both largely identical. Far from the noisy furnaces and clanging steel tankers of other refineries, the Hive's industrial and agricultural sector is combined into a singular facility of acid vats and digestive chemical baths. In effect, a massive, district sized stomach with which the Space City may consume even more resources than it otherwise could.

Star Drill Platform
Allows the exploitation of Canderon from a local star
[LOCKED: RESEARCH REQUIRED]
The extraction of Canderon from the surface of a star is an expensive, dangerous, and logistically demanding process and as such requires a dedicated and advanced platform above and beyond the typical industrial equipment to do so. As such, the Star Drill platform offers an entire ward devoted to the maintenance, repair, and deployment of these advanced resource extractors across the surface of the local star. The platform itself does not perform any extraction, but instead serves as the command center of the mining operation, controlling swarms of automated prospector probes to find and track major canderon supplies across the star's surface, and remotely command the star drills to effectively extract the resources, as well as servicing a number of dedicated tanker transport drones to ferry raw canderon to onboard refineries, and a number of dedicated repair bays specialized in the maintenance of the star drills and the specialized drones used in the operation. Because of the platform's function as a logistical command center, it does not need to be located in orbit of the star, and may exploit the star's deposits from any location in the system.

Also I work nights now, so I will be up and running literally all night long.
>>
>>2959170
Yes, but I also recall a few other locations being floated around.

>>2959175
Laboratory
+5 Pop Cap
Permits Cooperative Research ventures
Improves safety of assigned research at the cost of speed
Critical Failures become regular failures except on a natural roll of 1
regular failures do not reduce research progress
Only one Laboratory may be built per station
A dedicated research facility intended for use by non-hive science personnel. Both recruited Hive Citizens and foreign researchers working under diplomatic scientific exchange programs are given all the equipment and resources needed to further the fields of scientific discovery, including ample space for experiments, the storage of test materials, assembly of experimental products, and living space for the researchers themselves, and all with the added benefits of additional layers of security made possible by the Space City's remote location in high orbit where atmosphere, temperature, and gravity can be manipulated to contain any threat, spillage, explosion, or sudden and uncharacteristic religious inclinations.

Zoological Reserve
Functions as a Tourist Attraction
+10 Nutrient Score on selected planet in system
Automatically performs Dissection research subjects when available
Only one Zoological Reserve may be built in the same System
A dedicated section of the Space City devoted to the collection, study, and preservation of interesting, rare, potentially useful, and otherwise unique life forms found all across known space. Gravity plating offers perfectly matched gravity for any and all life held within, while atmospheric systems maintain a custom atmosphere for every environment, with multiple isolated sections devoted to simulating a wide range of planetary landscapes. Biopods and laboratories are spread throughout the ward offering a constant vigil on every creature and it's behavior and biology, and as an added bonus, the single-minded will flock from all across known space to see such a rare and extensive menagerie of beasts.
>>
>>2959162
That isn't how space cities crunch works. It's pretty abstracted, and Macrofactories can't exploit other stars' resource deposits, apparently. No way around it.

>>2959165
Well yeah, but this first space city seems to be a 'freebie,' it's already finished, so we may want to put it someplace that would otherwise be expensive, since we don't benefit from any savings on this one.
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>>2959166
Damn i want one to research now, just to see if it provides any upgrades for our hive ships.
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>>2959180
Well first we have to take one, though we already know where the closest one is so that's half the work done.
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>>2959175
Could we modify our Tachyonic Drill to pull resources from a star?
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>>2959177
Tachyonic Drill
Increases income from Trade Routes
Grants local ships use of Rip Drive to a range of 20LY
Can connect directly to any other Drill within 35LY
What could only be described as the big brother to the Rip Drive, it is a drive core that has been built on a grander scale. While the entire ward is not totally devoted to the Drive itself, it does make up a moderate proportion. The rest of the ward is composed of dedicated navigation systems, intricate long range navigation sensors, and facilities to perform repairs and maintenance, as well as heat ventilators to accommodate a more rapid and intense firing rate of the drive than would otherwise be normal. The result is that the Space City is capable of projecting tears in spacetime within close proximity, allowing for departing ships to pass through to distant systems in an instant star systems up to twenty light years away, and if connecting to another Tachyonic Drill directly, both drills can cooperate to bore a tunnel in spacetime up to thirty five lightyears across.

Thermal Regulator
Greatly boosts all shields on station
Boosts rate of fire of all weapons on station
Reduces all Thermal damage on station
In space, heat kills. It is always more easy to gain it than to get rid of it, and any action taken in combat brings the crew that much closer to a painful death roasting within their own vessel like a potato cooked in a wrapper of foil. The most effective methods of venting heat are also the most cumbersome in combat, taking the form of vast radiators that make for a prime target and display the vessel like a vibrantly glowing bullseye. Other methods of venting are either unable to overcome the rate of heat buildup, or require the expenditure of resources such as dumping coolant or heat sinks, reducing the vessel's endurance in combat. While certain technologies such as cooling lasers can help to compensate for this, it remains a reality that most warships can only maintain combat conditions for hours at a time before being forced to retreat or suffer damage. Space Cities cannot retreat, yet they still suffer the heat buildup that can make any protracted siege a short event. To solve this problem, an entire ward is devoted to this singular function, operating as the city's beating heart, quite literally in fact, distributing a near never-ending stream of coolant and heat sinks processed from recycled waste products to overheated sections before taking them back to be cooled again by powerful arrays of cooling lasers, or in the event of an emergency, dumped altogether. This circulatory process allows for the city to not only maintain its shields over a longer period of time and against greater damage, but also allows it to maintain a general battle ready stance for longer. Weapons are freed to fire almost constantly, and the damage of direct thermal weapons is mitigated at a moderate, increasing both survivability and defensive damage of the city at large.
>>
>>2959179
Well bummer. I imagine its to cut down on the logistics simulation and keep the quest flowing.
Still, I am looking forward to building such a place, the dockyards will be perfect for mass production of some of our larger ship designs.
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>>2959187
Utility Wards
In order to better stabilize an orbital tether, additional secondary tethers are required to prevent noticeable sway and stress to the structure. An added benefit of these stabilizers is that the additional space can be made to serve as smaller, more focused wards devoted to a smaller, yet still highly useful duty. As such, Utility Wards are smaller, more focused wards devoted to certain functions, granting small bonuses to an Orbital Tether. An Orbital Tether possesses 4 such wards.

Armory
+1 Strategic Trade Route
A secure, isolated, and well guarded facility provides a place to securely store military materials for export or import, providing space to either pack outgoing materials or assemble incoming materials away from the prying eyes of civilians or spies, allowing for a more efficient and unobtrusive military logistics network to be maintained.

Merchant Docks
+1 Commercial Trade Route
Dedicated dockyards offer a purely utilitarian docking facility suitable only for bulk freight, with little accommodation made for actual visitors. These facilities are devoted towards the transport of a specific form of commercial product with specialized loading and unloading systems dedicated to rapidly loading, unloading, and distributing bulk commercial products intended for market.

Construction Oversight Center
+1 Logistics Trade Route
Concerts of thinkers devoted to organizing workers drones and managing material shipments, as well as devoted ports loaded with prefabricated construction materials and bio-mechanical nano-constructor packets serve to export vast amounts of local resources to rapidly develop distant construction projects

Emergency Aid Center
+1 Humanitarian Trade Route
Shelters, medical centers, and streamlined shipping facilities allow the rapid response to remote disasters and humanitarian crises by preparing and distributing care packages, and importing the most critical of individuals for medical care and shelter to those displaced from war damage, natural disasters, poverty, or temporary relocation as a part of a wider urban sprawl renovation project.

>>2959179
Well consider these current rules to be a bit of a beta at the moment, if you think something is unbalanced or largely useless let me know, also please pitch any ideas for new wards or hubs you think would be useful. The only real hard rule I tried to follow was to make it so that a space city is always useful, but can't have everything at once.
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>>2959177
That's right...

Location: Orbiting Pegasean gas giant, Desmond system
Hub: Presidium
Wards:
1 Zoological Reserve
2 Resorts (to exploit hot jupiter burning gas giant, and zoological reserve)
1 Thermal Regulator
2 Trade ports
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>>2959194
Corporate Field office
+1 Industrial Trade Route
A small, humble office for a mega-corporation is established on the station with a dedicated logistics center devoted to the management of local corporate mining permits and the distribution of extracted resources. The corporate entity involved must have an HQ within the region, but it does not need to be in the same system.

Slipway
+10 Docking Pylons
A devoted shipyard provides for construction duties for new ships, with an internal structure that allows for the rapid assembly of new vessels in an area that facilitates a wide range of construction methods at once, allowing for the construction of multiple ships at the same time within the same facility.

Secondary Capillary
+5 Dev score
This secondary tether is reinforced and lined with additional transport capillaries, allowing for additional resources and passengers to navigate between the Anchor station and the geostationary station bellow, increasing the station's overall logistical capacity.

Electrostatic Capacitor
+5 N score
Electrostatic generators mounted along the stabilizing tether farm energy from the planet's atmosphere and are fed into power capacitors within the ward which are then used to improve the overall efficiency of the power grid of both the station and the planet by removing stress from the bio-mechanical infrastructure systems during peak operational hours, improving overall performance.

Orbital Recycling Center
+5 M score
Mounted Consumption Beams gather passing space debris, collecting chunks of natural stellar metals, discarded and lost trash, and components from damaged or destroyed ships, and recycles them for base metals in a central chemical forge before shipping them planetside.

Rest Stop
+5 Pop Cap
Small, cheap, and efficiently structured living facilities offer short term residence to passing merchants, civilians, and allied military servicemen whose short term stay in the area does not require anything more extensive than a single small room with a bed and shower. Such living conditions are rarely tolerable for long, but are often better than a ship's zero-g bunk, making them a welcome sight to weary interstellar travelers.

>>2959186
Not with any real accuracy or control. It would mostly just spew flaming hot star plasma all over the station. Such things requires the far more delicate and precise star drill to do safely.
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>>2959196
I think the Promenade would be better there.
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>>2959201
"spew flaming hot star plasma all over the station"
So your saying we could rig one of these things up as a station mounted flame thrower?
I kid, probably only useful for station self destruct if we needed it, but im still amused by the idea of using a star to burn a fleet that gets too close (fried scavanger for all!).
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>>2959205
We have formerly human run stations in Koenig and other systems to retrofit into trade hubs.

We want to put our Presidium, because we definitely need at least one for all that mind-reading, someplace truly stunning looking.
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>>2959187
>Tachyonic Drill.
>When we already have the rip drive.
>Valensweatingintensifies.jpg
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>>2959208
I think the intent is that the Tachyonic Drill is a "stationary RIp Drive" that functions as a Valen gate.
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>>2959214
Exactly
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>>2959206
>So your saying we could rig one of these things up as a station mounted flame thrower?

If you want one that is always aimed exclusively at yourself.
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>>2959214
I know, and it's hilarious that we now have something that completely copies the valen's FTL gate monopoly while using a completely different FTL.
>>
WAIT I JUST REMEMBER M-323. It's the perfect place for a shipyard.
>>2959208
Those space slugs can't get a break.
>>2959207
I'm mostly fine either way.
>>2959201
What if we got the late game tech for energy/space manipulation? Would it be an option then or am just chasing a dead end here?
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>>2959201
So it looks like the current options are:

Location: Orbiting Pegasean gas giant, Desmond system
Hub: Presidium
Wards:
1 Zoological Reserve
2 Resorts (to exploit hot jupiter burning gas giant, and zoological reserve)
1 Thermal Regulator
2 Trade ports

Orbital Anchor for the capillary tower on Leeland.
Wards:
1 Thermal Regulator
4 Refineries
1 Laboratory
1 Slipway
3 Secondary Capillaries

so,
>Option 1
>Option 2
>Other
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>>2959227
>>Option 1
I want more rich powerful sleeper agents.

Let's invite the head of the Guild of Transportation here before we're willing to finalize the Tannhauser gate deal.
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>>2959226
>WAIT I JUST REMEMBER M-323. It's the perfect place for a shipyard.
Aye, and we might be able to use the remains of the skyl dison ring to make it.
>>
>>2959227
>Option 2
>>
>>2959227
I'd rather have a Customs and a Tachyonic Drill on option one for obvious reasons.
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>>2959226
Anon for all we know the metals deposit there is one singular deposit. Also we are technically already harvesting it with a fleet of corvettes.

I'm not sure if we're still gonna be allowed to just eat metal with a fleet of corvettes in the new system, actually... or if the new system will genuinely somehow provide a superior option.

We're still in beta and have no actual numbers to compare yet. How much income each currently known resource deposit will provide to Refineries or a Macrofactory.
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>>2959227
if I may:
Leeland:
Macrofactory
1 Refinery
1 Laboratory
1 Thermal Regulator
1 Secondary Capillary (+5 Dev)
1 Electrostatic Capacitor (+5 N)
1 Orbital Recycling Center (+5 N)
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>>2959234
Drop a resort and a trade port maybe?

Though I don't know if the valen will manage to survive the collective heart attack of seeing a tachyonic drill in operation after first contact was only established mere months ago (?) if that.
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>>2959234
Put Customs and Tachyonic Drill on a Promenade, and Promenades should be in Koenig because more star systems will be in the Drill's range, anon. Gotta think about optimal location.
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>>2959227
>>Option 1
>>
>>2959234
I agree with the customs being traded in.
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>>2959241
We need at least one Zoological Reserve to do dissection research for free, and it doubles as a Tourist Attraction, and we need the 2nd Resort in order to exploit the ZReserve as a tourist attraction. Can't do it without a matching Resort.

Could drop a trade port, yeah, but without a 2nd trade port, Customs is much less valuable.

Customs and Drill are best when you have lots of trade routes already, not just 1 or 2.
>>
>>2959227
>Option 1

>>2959242
We should consider redundancy as well. When we do get invaded we will more than likely be hit at our main transport hub first.

Though the cost of these things may prove too prohibative for such.

>>2959251
Fair point.
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>>2959242
The Tachyon Drill is nonnegotiable. It's massive statement to how much power we have.
>>
Remind me guys, what’s in Desmond again?
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>>2959254
I do wonder if we could fit one on our big ass capital ship, or a variant thereof.

Being able to park it somewhere for use, then move it before a retaliatory strike would make our raiding fleets a much bigger headache to catch.
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>>2959255
Flaming gas giant.
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>>2959255
Gas giant that's on fire, pretty to look at so great for a space resort.
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>>2959254
And we will make that powerful statement!

In Koenig. Where it can reach more human stars from. And make the Valen sweat more.

Desmond system is utterly lacking in habitable planets. Our enormous Drill in the heavens should be in sight of highly populated planets like Deckard's claim if we want to show off.
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>>2959227
Orbital Anchor for the capillary tower on Leeland.
Wards:
1 Thermal Regulator
4 Refineries
1 Laboratory
1 Slipway
3 Secondary Capillaries

Leeland:
Macrofactory
1 Refinery
1 Laboratory
1 Thermal Regulator
1 Secondary Capillary (+5 Dev)
1 Electrostatic Capacitor (+5 N)
1 Orbital Recycling Center (+5 N)

Location: Orbiting Pegasean gas giant, Desmond system
Hub: Presidium
Wards:
1 Zoological Reserve
2 Resorts (to exploit hot jupiter burning gas giant, and zoological reserve)
1 Thermal Regulator
2 Trade ports

>1
>2
>3
>Other

Also, as the Expanse changes hands, you will gain ownership over a number of space cities, including Bedrock, Brandenburg, Calpamos station and others. You are currently surveying your new region, and will have a better understanding of your new territory quite soon.
>>
Wait, hang on, you can't build the Utility wards on the base Macrofactory because you need an orbital anchor instead.

In that case:
Location: Leeland
Base: Macrofactory
4 Refinery
1 Laboratory
1 Thermal Regulator

+65 Dev score total.
>>
>>2959265
This.
>>
>>2959266
>3
>1

Why not both
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>>2959266
>3
>>
>>2959259
You don't understand. Mounting it on our main resort is a massive display of power.
>>2959266
>1 Thermal Regulator
Replace with the Drill. Otherwise I vote for the other options
>>
Tadeki Station and Calpamos Station can both be retrofitted into a Macrofactory and a Promenade, respectively. We should do that as soon as we finish transferring sovereignty.

Since it's cheaper to retrofit than to build from scratch.

>>2959266
>>3
>>
>>2959276
Cause we only have one big as fuck space station right now anon.
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>>2959276
You get only one right now.
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>>2959279
No no i get it, but like
>>2959265
says, its better placed elsewhere.

Im more wondering if this thing could be used to aid our raiding fleet designs. Since it would allot much shorter range and upkeep reliant designs to be used alongside or instead of the dedicated raiders.
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>>2959276
We get ONE (1) free space city, built from scratch, already completed.

The next one will cost a great deal, unless we retrofit a human space city.

>>2959279
We will make it illegal for people to arrive at Desmond EXCEPT via a Drill wormhole sent from Koenig. Everyone visiting will experience it first hand.
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>>2959289
It benefits ALL systems to have at least one per system.
>>
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OH FUCK IT'S HERE.
I MISSED IT
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>>2959266
1 or 2 it is then I don't care which.
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>>2959266
>>2959276
Then change mine to

>3

sorry about that I should focus more
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>>2959294
It doesn't much benefit a civilization with the blink drive which is just as instantaneous over a slightly longer range of 25 lightyears that only uses 50% of the ship's fuel.

Mechanically, its main benefit is increasing credits income, so it's good for heavily human-inhabited systems where we charge them money to use it.
>>
>>2959266
3 makes the most sense for the uniqueness since it gives us things that we can't get elsewhere.

Gotta put a drill somewhere too, though...
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>>2959293
I think we had a discussion before on making using the Rip drive to control travel through our system.
>>2959306
It gives us an excuse for controlling all travel through our space.
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>>2959312
>Gotta put a drill somewhere too, though...
In koenig, like >>2959265 says.
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>>2959312
Replace the thermal regulator since it's unnecessary.
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>>2959316
>It gives us an excuse for controlling all travel through our space.
No it doesn't? Don't we already have a multitude of excuses like it being a cultural thing or checking for artifacts?
>>
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>>2959266
>Option 3

Location: Orbiting Pegasean gas giant, Desmond system
Hub: Presidium
Wards:
1 Zoological Reserve
2 Resorts (to exploit hot jupiter burning gas giant, and zoological reserve)
1 Thermal Regulator
2 Trade ports

>keep as is
>Replace Thermal Regulator with Tachyonic Drill
>Replace Thermal Regulator with Customs
>Other alterations

Also you can retrofit existing space cities to suit your own needs as they change. The cities you will be getting may have faction exclusive wards or hubs that require human citizens to function, and you can replace them with more efficient Hive versions quickly and easily, including adding in Tachyonic Drills to any city in a good position for it.
>>
>>2959325
>Desmond
>potentially in range of the Scavenger fleets' expeditions

Well,
>>
>>2959266
Got to go for 3 I think. Pretty good location for trade hub in middle of the empire, and we can build the drill another time.
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>>2959325
I say it's plenty necessary, it allows the station to survive for longer in case it's attacked.
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>>2959328
>keep as is

Man i forgot how cute our drones are.
>>
>>2959328
>keep as is

We need the therm reg for the shielding. If and when the scavs catch wind of this place they are going to throw everything they have at it for the prestige alone.
>>
>>2959328
Keep
>>
>>2959328
>Tachyonic Drill
>>2959327
We can force people to take shuttles from place to place rather than ftl ships we don't control.
>>
>>2959316
Then we only need it in systems where we plan on allowing legal human traffic.

And technically, we could have a Rip Drive equipped battleship in a picket fleet at Desmond, which can then connect with the future Drill at Koenig, we don't need a dedicated Ward in Desmond, if we want travel in both directions to be via wormhole.
>>
>>2959336
It already fortified though as a part of it's design. Also the Scavs have to get through M-323 first which honest should be more heavily defended.
>>
I want a bigger armada. Let's put more ships in production.
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>>2959342
>We can force people to take shuttles from place to place rather than ftl ships we don't control.
What's the difference between those methods of travel? Why are FTL capable ships that we don't control a problem?
>>
>>2959328
>>keep as is
>>
>>2959328
>keep as is
Scavengers, yo
>>
>>2958920
Questdrone, I-I thought you were dead!
>>
>>2959351
Thinka please. We ain't even covered the upkeep of the LAST ship order we made. They're in hibernation or shit. We gotta wait until the new resource income crunch is out of beta so we know what the numbers are.

Unless you want to order some very small and specialized fleets.
>>
>>2959351
Tried that, we can't afford the upkeep.
Speaking of that can anyone go archive diving for what ships i recommended we build?
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>>2959333
If we are getting attacked there we have bigger things to worry about.
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>>2959352
Well for one they can escape on their own if we were turning on them for some reason that would make sense at the time.

Also if we limit people to sublight vehicles using wormholes we can charge them money.

I assume is the logic. More control all around.
>>
>>2959351
Lets build up our new planets so we can afford the ships first.
>>
Do we have a station or building option for long range scans and surveillance?

If we build a dedicated sensor post we might be able to spot any hidden resources in the vast void of space between systems if there are any, or spot other fleet movements. Hell we know the nomad queen had a place in our local, maybe she made more before biting the proverbial dust.
>>
This thinker is just vibrating in excitement until the meat of the shenanigans start up again. It's been far too long since the last post.
>>
>>2959373
>Do we have a station or building option for long range scans and surveillance?
Yes but only for fleets, no resource detection i think.
>>
>>2959352
I have multiple reasons. Massive display of power, gives our ships a massive boost in where they can go (fighters become god tier), better control over movement of civilian ships, etc. I want one Drill per system for all these reason and more.
>>
>>2959381
>I have multiple reasons. Massive display of power, gives our ships a massive boost in where they can go (fighters become god tier), better control over movement of civilian ships, etc. I want one Drill per system for all these reason and more.
Sounds good to me but not enough to justify replacing a ward for it right now, definitely later though when we don't have scavs right next door to the station.
>>
>>2959381
I agree we need the drill, but we don’t need it right here right now. It doesn’t even take us that long to build a new city if we have to. And we can use battleships with Skyl drives for moving fighters or other ships if we really need to.
>>
>>2959385
My inner perfectionist is screaming in frustration but I okay with this position as long as it gets built eventually.
>>
This may sound odd, and maybe this should be a discussion for another time, but in an effort of goodwill (and to gain some favors from their own intelligence service), maybe we should share some of our new intel about the scavs (including the worldship) with the Comminwealth. We want them to back off attacking the Union and scaring the hell out of them (and impressing them with our intelligence gathering abilities) is a good way to do that.
>>
>>2959394
>My inner perfectionist is screaming in frustration
I perfectly understand that feeling.
>>
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>>2959328
Also just to specify, the Drill can already work in both directions, as it can be called upon to project a tear at a certain location for incoming ships from other systems within range.

>Keep as is

Location: Orbiting Pegasean gas giant, Desmond system
Hub: Presidium
Wards:
1 Zoological Reserve
2 Resorts (to exploit hot jupiter burning gas giant, and zoological reserve)
1 Thermal Regulator
2 Trade ports


Your workers make the final touches on your new shining jewel of your growing empire, a vast structure that is truly worthy of carrying on The Builder's legacy. She would be proud to see what you have done with her construction techniques, and the ways in which you have expanded upon them, incorporating both human design elements and a few twists of your own. You expect visitors, and so the entire city is set in motion. Now that construction is complete you don't need to worry about the efficiency of zero gravity construction, and thousands of thrusters set along the outer hull flicker to life, illuminating the surface like candles lighting a dark temple dedicated to your own majesty. You allow yourself the moment of vanity, you think it is well deserved.

Slowly, the workers within drift to the walls, and then slide to the floor as the spin accelerates, until eventually you record a proper earth gravity along most of the tourist intended ward sections, and the thrusters cut off. The wards themselves open from their defensive position, the outer hull splitting open like a dark red lotus flower of truly vast proportions and revealing the vibrantly illuminated cityscape within. Docking lights pierce the darkness of space, directing any arriving traffic to the safety of its docks like a flower luring in a passing honey bee, and the lights of countless structures, hotels, restaurants, and observation decks shine like a glittering chandelier, sparking as the station spins.

Within, your workers finish the plumbing, and waterfalls and lakes begin to flow freely and fill into tranqui rivers and reflecting pools to allow any valen guests a better experience navigating your new city, and special skylanes of focused gravity plates create highways of airflows and synthetic drafts for any winged guests. Fountains, holographic displays, and semi-living kinetic statues reflect the soft lighting of your partially decorative hardlight ceilings, creating a synthetic, and highly realistic day-night cycle as worker drones, both squat and adorable, and tall, bipedal, and majestic, mill about their stations ready to provide devoted hospitality just as eagerly as any warrior would seek the throat of your enemies. Considering the human saying 'kill them with kindness' you suppose the relation is more apt than first thought.

How do you intend to allow your guests to enjoy your gift unto the universe, and what will you call it?

>Allow open and free traffic
>Run hive passenger ships directly from other Expanse worlds
>Other (write in)

>Name (write in)
>>
>>2959381
That can be accomplished with regular Rip Drives for the most part anyway. Wards on the other hand are a scarce resource.

We should build some battleships with dedicated Rip Drives instead of blink drives for that.
>>
>>2959398
Sounds like proper Thinker thinking.
>>
>>2959400
>Allow open and free traffic
>>
>>2959400
>Allow open and free traffic
>>
>>2959400
>>Allow open and free traffic
>>
>>2959400
>Allow open and free traffic
>>
>>2959388
But those are expensive ships whose cost could have went to cheaper, more combat-focused designs. It also means we could make our entire picket fleet small craft and transport them where ever we want in our territory.
>>
>>2959400
>Allow open and free traffic

Call it 'Builder's Gift', after all, we wouldn't have gotten it in the first place were it not for her, seem right to honor her.
>>
>>2959403
Agreed, we should build battleships with Rip drives asap
>>
>>2959400
>Allow open and free traffic
Better intel gainz
Didn't we promise to search every ship entering Hive space, though?
>>
>>2959417
>Builder's Gift
I like this one
>>
>>2959422
Yes, but that just means anyone wanting to not be checked has to get past the hive fleets.

Thats not a gamble they will win.
>>
>>2959400
>>Other (write in)
Would like to make traffic Koenig Drill exclusive but it doesn't exist yet...

We could require everyone to pass through Koenig now though, to check in with the hive, and announce their plan to visit the Desmond space city first.

That will get them accustomed to the limitation. Then, when we construct the Tachyonic Drill, the increased speed and convenience will be an IMPROVEMENT instead of being worse. Human psychology.
>>
>>2959422
My biggest problem is that everyone forgot that "free travel" is a really bad idea. The Enemy's homeworld is in the middle of the Expanse and free travel might have people run into it.
>>
>>2959400
>>Allow open and free traffic

>>2959417
>Builder's Gift
I like it.
>>
>>2959431
That is quite literally astronomically unlikely. You can't hit that black hole by accident, and you can't come out of a warp bubble by accident and live to tell the tale.
>>
I was gonna say that wouldn't leave open traffic allow the terrorist and the Squids that hate us appearing start to miggle into our area and cause chaos?

But then i remember we have high security and can easily spin this as a attemp from xenophobics groups.

>>2959400
>Allow open and free traffic
>>
>>2959431
>The Enemy's homeworld is in the middle of the Expanse
What? no it isn't.
>>
>>2959417
I like that name as well
>>
>>2959414
They’re not THAT expensive, especially compared with a city. They can also move to other locations as needed. It’s a great boon to our allies and allied fleets.

>>2959425
Sounds about right. The only thing we really need to worry about significantly are Ceph void cultists getting on.

Also, that one terrorist we worked with may eventually betray us, although I think he is with Hive agents in space at the moment. We may be able to interdict him assuming I’m remembering right.
>>
>>2959417
“Builders gift” is good.
>>
>>2959436
>>2959437
Oh wait the black hole! Is that in the expanse? i thought it was at the edges of it.
>>
>>2959437
There is a black hole somewhere in the Expanse, around which an impossible planet made of crystal makes an impossibly tight orbit.

The First Queen said that this region of space contained both the Skyl homeworld and "Their Anchor."

Seiner glimpsed the black hole, and felt it pulling at him.
>>
>>2959440
If you mean Kent, I think he's still on Path but I could be mistaken. It's been literally a year since the last threads
>>
>>2959431
Well, this is only free travel to this one Space City, not all of Hive Space
>>
>>2959434
Did you forget about warp jamming thing Theseus mentioned?
>>
>>2959425
Meh, that just means that Anderson will get more friends helping him in his underworld business if someone is dumb enough to try that.
>>
>>2959440
Right. Per our announced policy, we search every ship.

So we just search and board Kent's rented ship with that experimental grav flight suit in it, swarm it with tons of Speakers to speak to every passenger. Speakers can do Empathetic paralysis on Kent's brain and the brains of all his associates so they can be dumped in medical pods and parasited.
>>
>>2959453
Free Travel means smugglers and that means there wil be ships looking for smuggling routes.
>>
>>2959448
I’m not sure where the black hole is, although it’s probably in the Expanse yeah. We can’t really keep anyone from going there, though. Obviously having any patrols in the system is suicidal (to us) and having allies secure it poses extreme risk as well. Even Theseus is at risk since we know the Void was once sillicate. I’m afraid we can’t do much better than security through obscurity. It would not be difficult for someone to bypass all inhabited systems and reach the black hole anyway if they knew where they were going, even if we locked down the entire expanse.
>>
>>2959458
Oh shit, I forgot about the Canderon Iron Man suit

Lyle needs this upgrade before we send him to fight some Scavs leading a group of Ralighan-hybrid Spiral Warriors
>>
>>2959451
I “thought” Kent had left Path with the fancy armor and our guys with him, but I honestly don’t remember either. It’s been a long time.
>>
Meanwhile, also from Path, we have a dead half of a Cluster coming to our dissection medical pods.

The Cluster has been scavenging Skyl and hive ship casualties from both sides of the war for millennia. It's only fair we get to scavenge one of the Cluster's dead for once.

We just gotta hope we get to it before it decays like the human possessed samples decayed.
>>
>>2959463
I think we have a few tricks available to us in stopping ships from traveling through our space but they involve use our poorly utilized grav sensors.
>>
>>2959458
Sounds good to me. The hardest part might be doing it quietly, but the Iron Man suit alone is far too valuable for us to leave in the hands of anyone but ourselves.
>>
>>2959400

Builders Legacy
>Allow open and free traffic
>Other

If we're reserving the right to search every ship, should we dedicate some corvettes and warriors and flies for boarding parties, along with a speaker purely for the purpose of contacting the vessels we'll search?
>>
>>2959400
>Allow open and free traffic

Well, perhaps not 'free', after all you do intend to make some credits from the use of your docking facilities, but any system meant for tourism should indeed be open to traffic, though you do intend to keep a close eye on them all the same. You will need to star advertising immediately, a few high profile visitors and the city will be packed with eager spenders. You doubt such a thing will be easy with the Union's current political climate. Perhaps you could use that to your advantage, and use raw partisan sentiment to help, rather than harm your popularity? Or perhaps it would simply be more wise to extend your invitation to the elites of the Commonwealth instead.

As you mull this over, the news of your construction is distributed across the standard public information feeds across all of known space. You can offer a well structured advertisement later, for now it is good enough to simply let others know it is open for visitation. Almost instantly you begin receiving responses, curious news agencies and journalists demanding details on this new facility, and, with some surprise, request by various corporate entities. You let them sit in the standard channels of communication, you figure it will give you time to think of a proper response, and give them time to squirm.

>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
>Advertise to Union cultural elites
>Pander to pro-xeno Union political factions
>Other

>Builder's Gift
>Y/N?

>>2959427
You will be able to adjust that specification later.
>>
>>2959471
You never watched the Thing have you?
>>
>>2959471
Oh that would be a juicy prize. If nothing else we may be able to develop counter measures to cluster infections (even if its just organism level suicide). Which should be something to keep on a back burner incase we ever have to fight them seriously.
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
>>
>>2959475
Since we board every ship it won't be out of the ordinary, and all the speakers' psionic powers will make everyone completely fugue out and have no memory or perception of what's happening around them, it will be extremely quiet.
>>
>>2959481
Well previously we were able to overwhelm a minor segment of the cluster via psionic force. Provided the chunk is small enough and none gets away we might be able to salvage something from it.
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility

>Y
to Builder's Gift

I wonder what'll happen if the Union public finds out we're giving slightly preferential treatment to Commonwealth citizens?
>>
>>2959482
Um, didn’t we already tell the big cluster we were going to reunite it with the remaining fragment?

I agree the rewards could be huge, but the risk is, frankly, much scarier. The cluster will have at least hive tier genetic encryption and any leak could lead to war with another of the big 3 when we’re already losing against the void
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
"GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! THE RESORT IS NOW OPEN!" Suddenly screams the speaker, startling everyone.
>>
>>2959482
We already figured out some of his most basic weaknesses though.
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
This will strengthen ties to the Commonwealth, which should make the Union a bit more eager to fix things with the Hive since they are sorta a little at war with the Commonwealth
>Builder's Gift
Y
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
>Y
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility

They get first pick because at least they didn't started first contact by shooting us.

>Builder's Gift
>Y
>>
>>2959480

Honestly, all 3 imo. Speak it up as a NEUTRAL area that is open to all non-hostile groups.

>Y
Builder's Gift is a fantastic name
>>
>>2959480
>>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
>>Other (Advertise to Valen)
The Valen love trade and the station will give them a way to trade with the CW without violating Union sanctions
>>
>>2959487
We also have hardlight containment fields, and cryo spray, we know it freezes at least.

>>2959492
There's no contradiction. The rescued Cluster discarded its dead half, and left it behind. It didn't even go retrieve it when it wanted to go home. He abandoned it. It's salvage material, as legit as hive ships were in the war at least.
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
>Advertise to Union cultural elites
Why not both? This is a neutral and safe space.

>Builder's Gift
>Y
>>
>>2959492
>at least
Cluster is the one and only master of biology. We are still a mere learner.
>>
>>2959492
Ah thats the fragment we are returning?
Well damn. Can't go back on our word.
>>
>>2959490
Maybe they will stop planting nukes over other planets orbit. But i doubt that would happen.
>>
>>2959480

>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility
>Pander to the pro-xeno Union political factions
Unless we don't intend to try and bridge any relations between Union and Commonwealth, although it would be fun to mess with Killingers political campaign by giving the pro-xenos an opportunity to angle 'ending the war' in the election.

>Builder's Gift
>Y
>>
>>2959480
Supporting this >>2959501 too
Hive-backed Commonwealth black market Ho!
>>
>>2959508
No it's not. Don't just believe random anon's ramblings.
>>
>>2959504
From previous examinations, it should be chock full of genetic material of numerous species some of which we have never seen before or already use. The lore dump alone makes me want to salvage it.
>>
>>2959480
>Asvertise to everyone

Why in the name of Mother would we want to keep people away from our trade hub?
>>
>>2959505
Terrorist attacks and other blackops that might happen in it mostly and also i want to introduce to the people that didn't tried to put a satelite full of nukes over our planet.

Don't forget that the Union also have squids among then and so the more cultist of then m8ght try to sabotage this.
>>
>>2959501
Union sanctions have no force in Valen space they don't need it for that.

It's the Commonwealth's laws against trading with the Valen at all that they have to worry about.

And they already do that anyway.

I get the sense the Valen were not listed because they are bound to show up to anything with the word 'trade' in it regardless of invitation...
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility

>>2959500
>>2959424
>>2959433
>>2959439
>>2959443
Thanks, anons.
>>
>>2959526
I think the valen are still spooked from our speaker shouting at them with the thousand voices of the dead in the dread abyss.
>>
>>2959524
The Valen keep Cephs as servants you know.
>>
>>2959522
To have then beg once the other side smugly tells then that they got to see it first. It isn't a complete denial we just want to hold then in the line and have then beg for entrance.
>>
>>2959480
All three. Time for the Hive's Babylon 5. Also great name.
>>
>>2959530
Offering to open trade routes could help “unspook” them
>>
>>2959480
>>Advertise to both.

>Y to Builder's Gift
>>
>>2959530
>implying that will stop them from getting sheckles.
>>
>>2959524
In all fairness towards the Ceph refugees in the Union, they were already slated for euthanasia back in their home planet, so unless Ceph society drastically changes it's stance on culling "blanks", I don't see them becoming much of a threat.
>>
>>2959533
Eh put a collor on then. No squid comes into our space without a tracker.

But i believe the Ceph servants are easier to manager then a free Ceph on the Union.
>>
>>2959537
Eventually sure. But we only get to have them super spooked once. We need to exploit that as much as possible before we ultimately make them comfortable and complacent.
>>
>>2959543
It was mentioned that there were some Cephs saying that we were the demons from outer space.

Maybe the blanks are just your tipical catholic that try to use religion to cover his genetic flaw. But fact is there are some Ceph groups that still follow the void religion so i would rather keep a eye on then.
>>
Guy have you looked at the Economy and Trade pastebin. It has some important info.
>>
Well the 3 hours playing Space Barbie Dreamhouse is fun and all but we still got MorganLeaks from 2 days ago to listen to and Lyle should be dumping Decker on Mentan about now.
>>
>>2959556
Ceph are genetically inclined to be murderous fanatics.
>>
>>2959562
Another reason to keep a eye on then.
>>
>>2959556
>there were some Cephs saying that we were the demons from outer space
Technically, we *are*, but point taken.

Which reminds me, we oughtta somehow start infiltrating the Ceph refugee groups, try to find where this portal to their homeworld which they escaped through is. Sounds a lot easier than having to find it through the Valen.
>>
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My month is saved!!!
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>>2959560
Honestly this time spent discussing is good since people since we all need to get into the groove of things again
>>2959566
I think it'd be easier through a Valen though.
>>
>>2959573
Weeeelll....we do have Coil...and Lee's Ceph friend, i think Sushi was his name right?.
>>
>>2959566
previously we mentioned starting up a humanitarian (cephalotarian?) effort to provide free gene therapy to Mute Ceph to cure them or give them the chromatic flesh upgrade. Perfect chance to give them parasites as well
>>
>>2959480
>Advertise to the Commonwealth nobility

"They did what?" The shout is nearly in unison, which you find incredibly fascinating given the many light years distance between Morgan's image on Lee's desk screen, and Admiral Yogesh's stunned response to your ambassador's sudden contextless announcement. You stop your drone from chirping it again with even more glee, as it lacks the full understanding of a rhetorical question.

"Well, I mean Union visitors are welcome just the same." Lee replies. "The Hive just feels that, well, the general public opinion may be unsuitable for a brochure to a hive-made amusement park right now." Morgan holds his head with exasperation.

"Okay, we're going to have to talk about this later. There's a lot of questions we're going to have about this place." He says.

"Well in the meantime, you can let them know that Builder's Gift is open to everyone, not just the Commonwealth elites." Lee says as he reads over a small pile of papers and data pads.

"The what?"

"Builder's Gift, apparently it's named in honor of some important ancestor, I think I saw a mural to her carved on a wall somewhere." Lee replies. "As it is, the Hive is focusing their efforts in an area that otherwise lacks diplomatic and communication channels useable by non humans. It makes sense, here, we just need to buy out a few adds."

"Look, that's not the point." Morgan replies. "It's going to look a lot like you're cozying up to our enemies in the middle of a war. A war that is escalating by the day."

"Well then maybe you can send a few people to have a chat with them. It's open to everyone." Lee says with a shrug. "Now, honestly, you can just send any of those questions my way in writing, I should really be getting some sleep by now." Morgan lets out a defeated sigh.

"Alright, just... You know you're really making my job a lot harder than it used to be." Morgan says, and the screen winks out.

Cont.
>>
>>2959577
I think Sushi is now living at the Embassy with Lee. They'd be the perfect posterchild for this idea >>2959578
>>
>>2959578
And who better to start with then Sushi, Lee mute ceph friend? I mean he already plays Chaos so he just one step of making a contract with a demon.
>>
>>2959582
The ceph might be suspicious, and could possibly even return back to their home and tell them some of our secrets after we restore their skin
>>
>>2959582
Not really, I mean I guess but a lot of Sushi’s personality and humor comes from the deadpan demeanor.
>>
>>2959587
Not if they have a parasite replacing their shells like we did with Coil
>>
Oh god the blank ceph is just like the Catholic rebelling against mommy by playing chaos.

Sushi is me
>>
>>2959562
That's only 50% correct. They are genetically inclined to obsessively worship something, and to be servile spineless cowards.
>>
>>2959579
...I missed seeing the reactions.

Although I do kinda think maybe we SHOULD have advertised to the Union a bit more. Eh, we'll get around to it.
>>
>>2959579
Oh look humans do have some type of hive mind interesting.
>>
>>2959579
Honestly we could use this for tactical position when we inevitably attack the Scavenger's position.
>>
>>2959596
I mean surely doing so now seems a little bit to much. After all we just jumped in and the humans are still dealling with what happend in their black op facility. Not to mention the growing Obisidian creep on one of their most populated planets.
>>
>>2959579
Having only one Speaker in the Commonwealth was so stupid. We should have immediately cocooned spare warrior drones on the battleship into speakers and laid more and sent in one Speaker to every Admiral, with multiple spares on top since we don't know how many there are.
>>
>>2959607
Well we can do that now for sure.

Also, I agree we should have advertised to the Union more, but a lack of advertising doesn’t mean they aren’t welcome to come!
>>
Now that I think of it we could segregate the Union officials from the Commonwealth ones to limit the chances of an incident.
>>
>>2959603
Well. Position means nothing with our tech. Just have a battleship use its rip drive to open a wormhole from Godard, it's faster for all fleets involved.
>>
>>2959611
Iean think like this. Once they hear that the enemy got invited they will be beging to get inside our resort. It was all cleaver marketing.
>>
>>2959579
>It's going to look a lot like you're cozying up to our enemies in the middle of a war. A war that is escalating by the day.

"It's your war, and the hive perfectly understands warfare between the same species. It was very common in our culture as well, and frequently diplomacy was settled with warfare. May the strongest prevail!"
>>
>>2959613
Hey it's a good excuse for the Union. Until we reveal that shit.
>>
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>>2959579
Lee examines the pile of papers at his desk with a tired yawn as a worker drops off yet another stack of small data-pads and storage drives on is desk, his mind fluttering with a sudden understanding of their generalized contents. A mix of job applications to research positions, requests for interviews, complaints and grievances, and at least two failed attempts at remote assassination as some overzealous Union citizens seems to have mailed a crude attempt at a bomb, and some manner of toxic powder, both confiscated by Union authorities mid-shipping and a detailed intelligence report on the investigation delivered in their place. He stands up and stretches his arms, shaking out his arms and legs for a moment to return their normal bloodflow, and walks out into the hall. He looks into the small living room where the glow of a holoscreen can be seen emanating within. The screen is some manner of late night niche program, 'The Fish Tank channel' likely intended to offer some manner of white noise, probably for Ceph more than anyone else. Sushi sits in a blob on the sofa, his skin rippling with new textures as it matches passing images of coral reefs and seafloors. You suspect the pale skin would adapt to the colors as well if it could. Across the room is Zippo, the taidaren triplets bundled up in a ball of literal trash fished from a nearby dumpster. An occasional whistle, and the general unusual stillness indicates they too are sleeping, although it is hard to tell them apart, as various limbs, tails, and a single head pokes out of the pile of discarded food, scrap-cloth and cardboard. A stain is visible around their pile where workers have periodically shuffled the trash in a tighter pile than the wide mound they first began with.

Lee turns around and continues down the hall. He stops at a closed door when he notices a constant chittering from within. He opens it to a chamber of several dozen speakers, all facing an equal number of comm units of various types, visual holo-calls and audio only links both, and a few drones type awkwardly into text based chat windows as they all address various information requests and a constant stream of attempted communications. Some are corporate deal proposals, others applications for more research positions, many having only recently sending in their application in writing, some even sitting on Lee's desk as they speak. Others spout a string of anti-xeno profanity before hanging up, or shout out some strange conspiracy theory. Even more ask about loved ones or acquaintances within the Expanse.

Lee struggles to listen through the cacophony of polite chirping responses, and closes the door once more before moving on to his own room.
>>
>>2959628
Can't believe the triplets went to bed without their extra heart! That's like skipping dessert.
>>
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>>2959628
>Hive call center

My fucking sides
>>
>>2959628
>He opens it to a chamber of several dozen speakers, all facing an equal number of comm units of various types, visual holo-calls and audio only links both, and a few drones type awkwardly into text based chat windows as they all address various information requests and a constant stream of attempted communications.
Shitposting on holoboards when?
>>
>>2959644
Probably the only call center in the galaxy where the employees are actually happy to be there.
>>
>Hi, is your refrigerator running?
>Why yes human, it is.
>Then why don't you catch it.
>I'll just ask Mother to get it to come back
>>
>>2959649
Fund it.
>>
>>2959651
It's the dream job for speakers, other speakers have to be quiet occasionally but these ones speak 24/7
>>
Is there porn of us yet? I guarantee its there somewhere?
>>
>>2959649
Pretty sure Theseus already got that covered Anon.

Also, why the fuck are we typing when we have seamless mind-technology interfaces?
>>
>>2959653
I found a bunch of shit I want to make references to when we start shitposting on the not!imageboards
>>
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>>2959628

Deep within your hive on Leeland, you feel the minds of your other agents. There is a bittersweet feeling hanging in the air as their mind churn on their own selves with some level of discomfort. You look more closely at their minds, concerned over the feeling of unease, like a raw scrape across their minds, it attracts your concerned attention.

Elizabeth looks out over the river, a small part of the Rhine, little more than one of many small streams, you would never guess it to be a part of the longest river on the planet from the look of it here. Her vision is blurred through tears, her chin pressed into her scabbed knees, the tears peeling away several powder blue medical adhesives and stinging the scrapes beneath. She sits beneath an old oak tree, one of the oldest in the forest most likely, huddled in a small ball under its outcropped roots along the shore of the Rhine like a tiny cave of gnarled wood and soft dirt. Within the twisted roots, and set along small dugouts in the dirt are tiny shelves and implanted devices, a small flashlight wedged in the roots helping to illuminate the cleared dirt space where a toy microscope is set up on a makeshift lab made from a lunch box, some old tablecloths, and a set of beakers given to her for her last birthday. At her sides small collections of items of interest are held in dirt shelving dug by hand in the small space: a quartz rocked believed to be some kind of gemstone, a shard of flint first thought to be some remnant of an alien tribal civilization that called Arnim home long before humans ever arrived, a small jar of shed skin from some native animal, and a Confederate one-dollar coin, marked with the face of the first Hegemon, a rather funny looking fellow by her account, with a somewhat stern face, but squinting eyes, as if he were trying to smile from the nose up.

Elizabeth blinks, the tears in her eyes clearing just enough to see her mother's hiking boots just outside the small hole of roots and patted soil. She doesn't make a noise, but sits down on the side of the bank looking out on the river. They sit for what feels like several minutes as Elizabeth tries to stay silent, unsure how loud her involuntary sniffling is beyond the small cave of tree roots. Eventually she wipes her face on her forearm, clearing away a mixture of tears and mucus that trails over her knees, and she crawls out towards her mother, immediately into her embrace as she sets her on her lap. Elizabeth grabs her flannel shirt, balling a bunch of fabric in her tiny fist and burying her face into it.

Cont.
>>
>>2959659
Well we already have our space/pol/ motto, what more do we need?
>>
>>2959658
Who fucking cares if he got it covered? I want bugs trolling imageboards and don't care what excuse I have to give to get it. As for why? It's fun.
>>
>>2959661
Ever heard of Kitty History or the Xenophobia song?
>>
>>2959660
“I heard about what happened.” Her mother says, “You want to talk about it?”

“No.” Elizabeth says back, her voice muffled. Her mother combs at her hair with her fingernails, picking out small bits of dirt and dried leaves from where her head scrapped the top of the small dirt shelter.

“Well you're cousin didn't either.” She says softly. “He says he tripped and fell over. His friends seemed to find it all very funny though, so I don't think he tripped. Did you see what happened?” She asks. The tone is kind, but makes it very clear she already knows the answer.

“I hit him.” Elizabeth replies.

“Beat up by a six year old girl.” Her mother says with a grin. “Well that's not a very good look, is it? He had quite the welt on him though. I thought to myself 'that couldn't possibly have been my little lizzy, could it?'”

“It was with a stick.” Elizabeth says as she sniffs loudly, her face still pressed into the bundle of flannel. Her mother nods.

“That makes sense. And what terrible crime did he commit to deserve that?” She asks. “I know my fiery little girl would never attack unprovoked.” Elizabeth takes her face away from the flannel shirt, her face leaving a soiled spot of mucus and tears. She looks up to her mother with reddish eyes, her face crusted over along the eyes and nose. She seems to want to say something, but before she does, she turns back to her dirty overalls and reaches into a pocket. She awkwardly pulls out its contents, inverting the pocket and spilling some lint, a spare button, and a small magnifying glass in the process as she holds her hand up to present a small, colorful beetle in her hands. It is clearly dead, its carapace cracked deeply, a thick fluid still seeping from its body.

“He killed it.” Elizabeth says. “I was studying and he stepped on it on purpose!” She says with a sudden pout, as if to assert herself in the right.

“Do you think that hitting him with a stick was really the right thing to do about it?” Her mother asks calmly. Elizabeth looks to the beetle, its broken wings hang loose from beneath its cracked carapace. She seems to give it serious thought, and then drops her hands back into her lap, cupping the small insect in her closed hands.

“No.” She says finally. “Sorry.”

“Well I wasn't the one you hit with a stick.” Her mother says back. “I know you don't like him, but he's still family, and while they're visiting you should be kind to him, or at least not hit him again. Okay?”

“Okay.” She says back softly. Her mother leans down to kiss her on the forehead.

“Good, now, how about you go tell your cousin you're sorry, and I'll make the both of you some strudel and ice cream?”
cont.
>>
>>2959579
Aww, don't feel bad Union, we'll give you something cool soon.

we'll give them something cool soon, right?

>>2959660
Awww, poor Elizabeth. We're sending her to the Union Mentan school planet, right?

>>2959663
Fair enough, fun is fun.
>>
>>2959663

We could always dedicate a thinker and some speakers to undertake a 24/7 - or whatever hour/day cycle the planet they're on is - for a political campaign on the net. Maybe a Union smear-campaign against our adversaries where we troll all the pro-Killinger boards?
>>
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>>2959667
Elizabeth wakes with a start as her head slips from her palm and impacts her desk with a thud. She bounds back up, looking about the room rapidly until she sees a worker drone standing squat just beyond the table, hardly visible past the instruments and equipment, balancing a bowl of chilled nutrient slurry on its head between its claws. Elizabeth breaths deeply as she fully wakes, and quickly rearranges her desk, several items floating through the air as instruments return to their proper shelves, and she mentally lifts the bowl from the worker's grasp and places it on the table.

"I get the point." She says quietly. "I've been cooped up here, but there's so much research that needs doing. I can't be running off on some vacation just because the stress may be getting to me."

Your drone looks at her in silence, its claws pulling on the table to lift its head up above the lip of the desk, if only barely.

"Well it's not like I can just go talk to the neighbors or anything." She says, and then after a moment of pause. "A what? Well I doubt you'd want me walking around in the open like this." She adds, her finger like antennae flickering along her scalp as she stands and paces around the desk. The worker cuts off her path as she attempts to move back over to one of the research terminals as it maintains eye contact. She halts, and lets out a short grunt of frustration. "Fine, fine. I promise I'll get some proper rest, and try to get more human interaction. Okay?" She asks, her hands planted on her hips as the worker skitters away. "Good." Elizabeth responds. "But first, we have some information to pour through.

cont.
>>
>>2959685
We could have her hang out with the Ralighans
>>
>>2959685
Oh finally, the Scavenger's cybernetics and pheromone glands.
>>
>>2959685
Gurl...you need to take five. I'm gonna send you to the new vacation facility i just made. Maybe THEN you will relax a little.
>>
>>2959691
>"A what? Well I doubt you'd want me walking around in the open like this." She adds, her finger like antennae flickering along her scalp
She needs to take a break, but she's not wrong either. Her mods are visible and alarming, Her showing up to our shiney new station might scare people off.
>>
>>2959689
I actually like that idea, it'd be cool for her to explore their culture more, she'd probably enjoy it.
>>
>>2959707
What about the Garden? With the Ralighans, you know those aliens that worship us?
>>2959709
And they'd probably worship and pamper her.
>>
>>2959707
Oh yeah...the whole uncanny valley thing
>>
>>2959715
>>2959689
>>2959709

Well at least it's something that will get her out of her Hiveroom.
>>
>>2959709
As much as I like the Rhalighans, it really feels like there's too much to do with our multiple active spy networks (Kent Group and Devon Group), the deteriorating political situation, the artifacts our hive-ship will be obtaining soon, the active battle against the scavs, and returning the Cluster for it to make sense to invest time there now. I think Elizabeth would probably get some relaxation just from hanging out with the humans she studied with Mentan at before.
>>
Maybe we could learn how to implant the Ralighans with psionic abilities...
>>
>>2959685
Elizabeth calls up the thinker concerts and recalls the data to her mind. Deep within your hive, within an especially large bio-pod, your latest captive stirs from mental stimulation as the Broodmother's strange nervous system is proded by your drones.

"Biologically I think you're more qualified to talk than I am." Elizabeth says. "Still, it is rather interesting. As a command and control mechanism, it is rather typical for a superorganism, but on a more civilizational level it has some major vulnerabilities."

You tend to agree. The images and concepts form in both of your minds as the pheromone glands grow in your minds' eye and its function becomes more clear. It is a raw caste system enforcer by its nature. They do not just convey information, but raw emotional sensations, emotions members of the lower caste are unable to feel when alone or without command to do so. In a very real sense, the hierarchical pheromone command system of the Scavenger species facilitates the lower castes to literally experience the emotional state of their direct superior. If an Alpha is in pain, the grunts will feel that anguish, and will act to protect their alpha as readily and unflinchingly as they would protect themselves. It certainly does explain some of their more suicidal actions when protecting their leaders, and the Broodmother's glands are even more complex.

You now realize the full enormity of the terror and confusion you had inflicted upon the Scavengers mid-battle. They were not simply feeling the conflicting commands of their leader, but suffering from a direct schizophrenic outburst of their very own, onset by the potent chemical cocktail of pheromones and hormonal triggers of the Broodmother. They had no capacity to ignore them, because in a sense they were not even commands, they were physical constraints. A Scavenger can no more ignore a pheromone command than one could ignore the law of universal gravitation after leaping out of an aircraft.

While it may take you a bit of practice to use in the heat of battle, you suspect your new helper would be able to lend you her own expertise on the matter. With a Broodmother and an Alpha both under your command, you have the beginnings of your own little pack, and the pheromones themselves are nothing truly special, they can be synthesized as easily as any other chemical. You suspect it will not be long before the Scavengers fight every battle in full vacuum suits, but until that point, you will be able to make every battle a literal nightmare of incomprehensible emotional turmoil. The only real weakness to this you can find is that it does not seem to work on other broodmothers.

Your drones are now capable of deploying Scavenger Paramone signals during battle to cause mass hysteria and disrupt the chain of command.

cont.
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>>2959685
>Elizabeth finally agrees to a vacation
>>
>>2959725
I just realize how ironic it's about us doing so much stuff and still we think we have anything to complaing about Elizabeth staying in her room and doing research.
>>
To be fair, she is limited to one body. If one speaker went to a beach, we could experience it like we were there
>>
>>2959727
>Your drones are now capable of deploying Scavenger Paramone signals during battle to cause mass hysteria and disrupt the chain of command.
Glorious beyond all glory!
>>
>>2959734
>>2959731
Forgot to link
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>>2959725
We haven't seen them in forever... But you're right about more important stuff. ( I just like the Ralighans)

>>2959726
we could clone one up and try it out
>>
>>2959726
They were the intended recipients of it.
>>2959725
She doesn't have to be on site to do research you know.
>>
>>2959727
With just a passive upgrade and no specific adaptation needed to be specified?

Anyway as long as we don't let any survivors transmit knowledge of the tactic to the rest of the Scav fleet, they won't learn about it.

Now Vaughn is freed to unlock the secrets of Empathetic Compulsion.
>>
>>2959734
Yeah, and depending on how many drones we send on vacation, we can be spending thousands of man hours getting relaxed as fuck. Comfy Queen.
>>
>>2959740
I think he meant sending her out to the rals would take up our quest screen time
>>
>>2959734
So can she anon c'mon the parasite allowing mind to mind transmission of sensations is right there.
>>
>>2959749
No it wouldn't?
>>
>>2959755
I'm not him though
>>
You know, halloween is coming up, I bet we could make a great haunted house.
>>
>>2959755
>>2959749
Mostly yeah, I think it'd take up screen time. Unfortunately we've got to keep a relatively tight focus. At least that's my personal view, I know others may disagree. Also, we could ask Elizabeth what she'd want - whether she'd rather see the humans she reached out to or to hang with the Rhaligeans. I wouldn't mind so much if it didn't eat into the other things we need to get done.
>>
>>2959727

>Your drones are now capable of deploying Scavenger Paramone signals during battle to cause mass hysteria and disrupt the chain of command.
Wait, would we now be able to recruit smaller scavs by eliminating alphas / broodmothers and then sending out the appropriate pheromone signals to indicate our alpha and broodmother recruiting them? Can we now be the age of empire priests and just 'wolololoooo' and turn enemy packs into our own scav strike force?
>>
>>2959759
We are the haunted house.
>>
>>2959731
Well we do, because the main character logically is trivially capable of all this multi-tasking, but we remain extremely limited by purely OOC constraints.
>>
>>2959727
This is cool, we should send it to the commonwealth.
>>
>>2959762
Yet people still don't want to lay more queens or something similar to lighten our workload.
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>>2959764
Acording to the Valen we are.
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>>2959776
And the ceph.
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>>2959770
If we overuse it stops being useful. Also we could to take over their entire race since it's their form of "empathy."
>>
>>2959734
>If one speaker went to a beach, we could experience it like we were there
>>2959735

HQQ Beach Episode when?
>>
>>2959782
>Theseus and Lee using revealing swimwear
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>>2959782
we need the dude who wrote the theseus queen smut to get on this pronto
>>
>>2959759
We are literally demons so...
Yeah our haunted house would be pretty dope.
>>
>>2959782
Pretty sure Lyle had his equivalent of the beach episode when he launched that railway nuke and fought the other nutso power armour guy
The rest would like it, sure
>>
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>>2959727
"It seems this broodmother was relatively new to the job." Elizabeth says. "I can't find too many memories regarding obviously secret bits of information. I'm guessing she still had yet to prove herself."

You concur, but you know little of the Scavenger society, so what information is present is still useful to you. You strip away the outer layers of the Scavenger's mind. She is indeed new to the title of broodmother, but she is far from young. You sense many decades under the Scavenger's belt, a long history aboard the Migrant Fleet, serving as a pack Alpha for many years before being assigned to a post as the leader of a raiding fleet, one of several broodmothers assigned to pick various worlds clean. It was during this assignment that she had hopped to make a name for herself, grow her own brood, and raise pack alphas that would bring glory to the armada, earning her and her pack a rightful place in the fleet. It was not to be so, however, and now the armada forsakes her.

You shift backwards through time, reviewing the memories as you follow the stream of events back to where it all begins. You see other broodmothers, far larger. Matrons, leaders of whole fleets. A brood mother is poised to be given this title, and she is assigned leadership of a world and directed to strip it. She seemed fit to the task, and your captive elected to throw herself in with her crew, claiming a territory she felt would bring a wealth of salvage and resources so that she could claim a position in the new Matron's fleet.

You realize, with sudden confusion, that you have yet to even find the creature's name. It is usually the first thought that comes to you, a burst of self-understanding. This creature lacks it almost entirely, and you search for it more directly. This broodmother has had three names in its life, as a war pup it held little understanding of anything, but with a pavlovian training regimen of electric shocks and fresh, raw meat, it was trained to respond to the number Seven. While it had no understanding of this at the time, it later understood this was because it was the seventh pup to be born from its Pack alpha in that season, and for no other reason. It recalls blurry moments of violence and bloodlust, of searing pain and bestial rage as it mauled the enemy with its unarmed and unreinforced claws, feasting on the fallen on the battlefield knowing full well only the strongest pups would be fed from the limited stockpile of resources the fleet maintained.

cont.
>>
>>2959770
>>2959778
Expanding on >>2959763

Try to recruit as many scavs as possible from the commonwealth joint war against them using the pheromones to pacify them - if we can do this in secret then we have our very own strike force of scavs that we could use for missions we don't want linked back to us or our known allies.
>>
>>2959794
I don't think we need to worry about capturing them, we should be able to grow them soon if we can't already. Our M.O. now should be to kill every scav we see unless it's an old matron with juicy intel.
>>
I sincerely think the Scavengers were made by the Hives as soldiers in the Great War.
>>
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>>2958920
O FUCK IT'S BACK
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>>2959804
Oh hey I remember you, top namefag.
>>
>>2959801

Depends on how expensive they are to grow, I was thinking it'd be cheaper to catch them and we should get more gear for recruiting them - maybe even get some scav ships which would help distance us from any attack we send them on. Just as an option for brute force while being able to say we have nothing to do with it.
>>
>>2959801
Honestly why kill when you can hijack them easily enough? We want their scientists to learn more about their tech and their soldiers to get their style of combat.
>>
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>>2959791

When it came of age, and first grew to be a grunt, it was left nameless, never given a command directly but was expected to follow the other, more competent grunts. It was not until the memory of it sinking its searing blades into the armor of a local commander, some strange, spider-like creature covered in a shell of metal and ritualistically carved bone, that it was named Red Claw by its Alpha, who by that time had long replaced its birth alpha on some now distant battlefield. From that point Red Claw was given more direct attention, offered more responsibility, and eventually the alpha needed to split the pack to cover more ground, knowing the grunt sent would come back his equal. It felt the alpha's hesitation, knowing Red Claw to be a skilled warrior, and if allowed to rise to Alpha, a potentially deadly rival. Still, it was the only choice, the only grunt among them that would be capable of functioning to any degree without guidance, and it was only a few days before the first signs of change began.

The old Alpha was correct in his fears, and as an Alpha, Red Claw paved a bloody path through the enemy's heart, claiming many looted icons, trophies, and weapons for himself and his new pack along the way. When they reunited, the inevitability of the situation was clear to all, and Red Claw tore open his old Alphas chest with his own hands and claimed his loot for his own pack, gifting much of it to the leading Matron and gaining great favor in the process. It was this victory that ironically sealed Red Claw's fate, as it was for this reason that the Matrons elected to grant Red Claw the right of the Second Change, and as the first reports of the new destination came in, Red Claw underwent the final rites, was sealed within the isolation sphere and allowed to grow into a broodmother, and given the name of the Drinker of Pain. At the fleet's assigning, she identified the matron who chose her for the change, and went to great lengths to identify the Broodmother she had nominated to rise to Matron. By supporting the same, she had hopped to earn her own place as a permanent Broodmother in the new Matron's vacated place, or if not, as a Broodmother serving under the new Matron at the very least.

Cont.
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>>2959821
SHE KILLED ONE OF OUR BABIES!!!!
>>
>>2959821
>Seven
>Red Claw
>Drinker of Pain
gah, too many names.
>>
Hey QuestDrone, what would you say is good music to listen to while reading this quest?
>>
>>2959818
It's a tragedy we only kill crush destroyed the Scavs back in Wonder. We could've captured them alive, parasited them, and let them be 'rescued' later by their own people's scouting party that came looking for them.
>>
>>2959835
Didn't we have issues parasiting them due to their distributed nervous system?
>>
>>2959832
Sword of the Stars, Homeworld, & Battlestar Galactica soundtracks are my on default playlist whenever I tune in to this quest.
>>
>>2959838
Not exactly.
>>
>>2959838
All we need to infest are the pack Alphas and the Broodmothers, the rest will just fall in line automatically.
>>
>>2959827
Drones don't wear carved bones, dummy.
>>
>>2959843
I read spider and metal and jumped, im sowwy
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>>2959841
Alphas and Matrons are all that matter.
>>
>>2959848
And now we have the dna for Alphas and matrons we can genocide their race and start then anew
>>
>>2959853
Technically, we still need to expend resources to clone them, so it's still cheaper upfront to just subvert the leaders and just swipe the grunts for our own use.
>>
>>2959853
Well, before we do genocide them let's start our own Scav brood first. See if it works or not.
>>
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>>2959821
You can recall the assigning rather clearly. The great Matrons had poured through the recorded observations of their last prey species, and had matched the resulting astrographic data to those logged in the sacred reliquary, the Old One's promised star had been identified, and the pathfinders had found a suitable location to serve as the Matron Star to refuel and repair the Armada. The pathfinders had even discovered radio signals carrying data showing signs of an interstellar species. This was taken as a good omen, a sign that they were to be graced with a vast bountiful harvest with a fat, decadent sector filled with resources to harvest and technology to loot, far more than the typical primitives found and butchered near the previous waypoints on their endless journey. I celebration, the armada would be growing. The competition for a permanent place in the armada would be somewhat lessened as a result, but the armada would prefer to have an understaffed fleet than to allow a weak broodmother to live among them if faced with such a choice, and the standard for glory would be that much greater with such a bountiful harvest to pick from.

>Search for memories regarding information on Scavenger technology
>Search for details of cultural data (write in)
>Other

>>2959839
I have literally all of those composing of the vast majority of the "themes" for the quest's factions. Good taste.
>>
>>2959860
>Search for details of cultural data
What other races have they fought
Where they come from
>>
>>2959860
>Search for details of cultural data
What is this Old One?
>>
>>2959860
>Search for details of cultural data (write in)
Any knowledge, details, or even fragments of legend that may pertain to the long war of the ancient Hives.
>>
>>2959860
>Search for memories regarding information on Scavenger technology
>Search for details of cultural data (more about their origins and myths, maybe see if they clashed with us bugs in the past)
>>
>>2959860
>>Other
FINALLY check what that pod we sent to "Unknown yellow star" has to say, now that it's been renamed "Old One's Promise."

Geez we sent that scouting pod a long time ago.
>>
>>2959860
>Search for details of cultural data (write in)
Lets see if they have any relevance to the setting's past, or if they are an out of context problem.
>>
>>2959860
>Search for memories regarding information on Scavenger technology
See what she knows about their FTL Flicker drive.
>Search for details of cultural data (write in)
The size and composition of the Scavenger Armada attacking this sector
As well as who else have they fought in the past.

Also I got the Battlestar Galactica music from you, just FYI.
>>
>>2959860
Location of and information about all prey species contacted
>>
>>2959860

Seems like cultural data is going to win so I'll throw up a vote for;
>Search for details of cultural data - enemies fought, specifically anything we have yet to encounter.
>Other - Check up on scouting pod 'unknown yellow star', set up the smuggling of the Aegis suit and the intel packet recovered by our clone kids.
>>
>>2958920
Hey welcome back qd! Good to see you are alive, if not we'll at least. Hope your year ends good!
>>
>>2959920

+1 for this. Amazing to see you back! And hope your job issues from last thread are cleared up a bit!
>>
Also yo, anyone remember if the Hive Creep is a natural Hive Evolution? Or did we research something to figure out how to creep stuff?
>>
>>2959934
Researched.
>>
>>2959934
The creep itself is native Hive Tech (If there is really such a thing), but before it was grown from eggs and applied manually by workers.
Then we researched a technology (Something nanotech related IIRC) that allowed it to expand and grow autonomously.
>>
>>2959942
>>2959938

Thanks! No idea how you amazing people remember all of this :D
>>
>>2959945
I started rereading the first threads again a few days back in preparation for HQQ's return
>>
>>2959860
>Search for details of cultural data
>>
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>>2959860
You have so many questions to ask, fortunately, you need not ask them, and instead pluck at the broodmother's mind like the strings of an instrument of which you are a true master above all. The Drinker of Pain squirms in the fluid of the medical pod. Her unconscious mind fights your own, but it is like watching someone fight against an ocean, she may struggle as much as she may wish, but it will do nothing to keep the information away from you, and only serve to allow her to live up to her strange name. You give her the indulgence, her kind is a strange, brutal society, and giving her a moment of rebellion may make her mind more tolerable if she believes she holds some symbolic victory. It seems to work, her mental struggle lessens, and she begins unwittingly guiding you through her own mind, now under the mistaken idea that she still holds some power if only in her own mind.

You find that the easiest bit of information of all is the trail of bloody devastation the Scavengers have left in their wake. As you search for information regarding their victims, you find that her mind seems to almost parade the information past you, as if bragging at the host of bloody carnage. It is known as the Chronicle of the Feast, and it is less a detailed record and more a long, rambling list of uncorroborated boasts.

Your current captive has lived long enough to see three Harvest campaigns, three entire civilizations devoured whole. Before the humans, there were the Ignosh, large, furry creatures seemingly evolved from grassland dwelling heard animals. It was amazing to all of the armada that such a peaceful species could evolve intelligence, and many feared that the armada would grow fat and complacent if they did not give enough resistance to trim away the fat of the new generation. Fortunately, this was not the case, as the beasts were three times the size of a pack Alpha, and while they lacked in standard weapons, the few wars they had fought meant that the few weapons they had were massive, powerful, and not to be underestimated. The reason for this disparity became all too clear as the first wave of the invasion found their weapons simply shrugged off, the thick hide of the Ignosh serving as natural armor on par with the Scavenger's own tanks. The counter charge was devastating, as a hard of unarmed and unarmored civilians trampled an entire pathfinder pack beneath their feet. Things became more easy once the native weapons were recovered, built more like primitive siege weapons, even the smallest among them were more akin to canons.

cont.

>>2959871
I know, but we had so many info dumps already I wanted to ease you guys into the system info dump.
>>
>>2959945
This is the most autistic quest on this board and possibly in the history of questing. You'd need to be autistic (among other things) to not fuck up shit in this quest.
>>
>>2959934
>>2959942
We got creep from the nano tech from a skyl corpse iirc, and it became an aggressive weapon from studying the super kudzu from Raligha
>>
>>2959948
>I know, but we had so many info dumps already I wanted to ease you guys into the system info dump.
I-It's finally happening?!
>>
>>2959954
>>2959948
>the scouting pods finally report back
It's been so long...
>>
>>2958920
The Queen lives! Good to see you posting again. Is there a pastebin that lists all the entities we know? It's hard to remember some 40+ unique individuals after a year long hiatus.
>>
>>2959957
>>2959954
It's been literal years irl.
>>
>>2959960

Define entity.
>>
>>2959960

I believe there is a list on the wiki
>>
>>2959948
>I wanted to ease you guys into the system info dump.

Are you implying there is one prewritten already? The star systems pastebin had only minimal updates, just a change of names to two existing entries.

Mufrid, Cygni, and Tiberion were scouted in thread 44.7, and then uh... literally everywhere else was in 56.2.

Aquarius the location of the decrepit ailing Emperor von Reuenthal seems especially urgent to explore before he keels over.
>>
>>2959970
Not sure if it's URGENT, urgent (like so many things in this quest...), but we'd probably want to look around. Promising eternal life to this old fuck would certainly get us an ally, although the CW would likely be "quite" pissed off since they're all waiting for his decrepit ass to kick the bucket.
>>
>>2959177
>uncharacteristic religious inclinations
I get it now. It's a reference to Void bullshit.
>>
>>2959989
>>
>>2960001
So wait... who's the demon, us, or the Void?
>>
>>2959985
Remind me again *why* exactly do we need him on our "owes us" list?
Because we seem to be on the good side of most of the Commonwealth Admiralty already and I doubt his sons, who control respectably sized fleets themselves, wouldn't be too happy with him being immortal.
>>
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>>2959948
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNfPPu4Mrj8

The invasion was relatively short after that, although the natives made for excellent pack animals during the period of resource extraction. The majority of their civilization had gathered around the great pillar. Its name to the natives was some silly word made from their bellowing infrasonic noise funnels held in their legs, shaking the ground beneath them with their words, but to the Scavengers it was a Waypoint marker, the sign of the Old Ones that this world and all who they had placed upon it were the rightful property of the Migrant Armada to be used to strengthen its numbers, to test it in battle, and then feed its warriors, as all before had done. The fact that the natives held it in high esteem in their local faith only made things easier, as it meant the pillar was in better condition than most. The new Matron, the only matron who was still able to suffer the gravity of a planet, entered the site and performed the ancient rituals that secured her position as a Matron, and exited with the coordinates of the Armada's new destination. Several of the stars could be seen already, and were even named by the natives, a pleasant convenience.

Before that where the UtuunVarr, an unusual hybrid species that seemed to have evolved from two separate species that had developed a symbiosis and eventually evolved to be codependent, eventually reaching the extreme of being entirely fused into a single being. Apart from having two genetic signatures, they functioned as a single entity, one a brain, the other a body. Beyond the interesting evolutionary origin, the species was otherwise unremarkable in Scavenger regards. They had built a very small stellar empire, rising from their homeworld of a planetary moon of a gas giant, and colonizing several of the other moons in turn, as well as harvesting resources from the planet's belt. They had no relativistic propulsion, and the Flicker drives made the act of isolating each colony for separate invasion painfully simple to the point of losing its glory. It was less a battle and more an act of janitorial duty. Most of the fleet alphas were displeased with the display, and would have prefered there to have been no battle at all. Once the colonies were isolated, most of the major cities surrendered. Their species seemed hardy at first, the large, brutish appearance of their main bodies would have made for excellent warriors, but their minds were those of cowardly parasites. Their leaders assisted in the initial excavations, until the water levels began to cause dust storms and the first of the famines began. After that they managed to declare some form of 'war' and the Matrons determined it would be best for the planets to be depopulated. Everyone was disappointed, but the system was rich enough in resources.

cont.
>>
>>2960018

Curiosity INTENSIFIES
>>
>>2960018
So the Old Ones must either be ancient Hive or the Void species before they abandoned reality.

So what we know is the Three Ancients were
>Hive
>Cluster
>Void

I wonder what the Void species was like before they ditched their bodies to become crystal
>>
>>2959985
"Most" is relatively speaking to the others Obviously. And a spinepal makes him no longer derelict in his duties, which was his singularly annoying flaw. He will finally be able to keep his children in line.
>>
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>>2960018
Before that, there were the Inkik, little is remembered of them directly, as Seven at the time was merely a pup, wild and drunk on natural violent urges. They were a race of squat, roughly cylindrical creatures with a sandy orange exoskeleton. Their heads were flat chunks of hard plate watching from within the hunched shell with no neck to speak of, balanced awkwardly on five legs, with four arms sprouting from between each set of legs, and the face lodged between the last set. They were a more memorable challenge, fighting to the death to earn some hollow promise of paradise through death in battle. They certainly earned it, and it was the only moment in recorded history that both sides in a Scavenger conflict seemed to have received what they wanted in the conflict. An added bonus.

The species before that are known to your captive only through the history logs. The Igoe, small flying creatures with talons and sharp teeth, they had a primitive society, but their size made them hard to hit, and their ferocity made them a danger even unarmed. The Farash, massive, hulking beasts that, for all their size, were stunningly fragile creatures living in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant like giant living blimps the size of starships. They were not fought so much as... popped. The Shvoh, small furry four armed creatures with a serpent like tail that were able to float about of their own accord and cause strange hallucinations in others. Each one found on or near the Waypoint world, and each one in turn devoured, all the way back to before recorded history, to the Time of Rooting.

The legends are sparse, unreliable, and often conflicting, usually twisted to serve as propaganda more than anything, but it speaks of a home world, one created to give their kind unfettered movement, where twisting trees would stretch for dozens of kilometers into the air and hundreds across, twisting into and among the other branches into a canopy that encompassed much of the world and left the true soil in endless darkness, known as a legend even then. It was a world like any other, fit for harvest by any passing fleet, fat and undefended, until one day the Old Ones fell from the sky. A great fleet of incomprehensible objects flying through incomprehensible science. Their immeasurable power devastated the landscape, leaving only fields of glass and twisted veins of ash where once an endless field of canopy existed.

From those ashes, the fields of alien glass, the Scavengers found the Reliquary, and the first of their ships. The broken pieces were reassembled, piece by piece, just as the archives within had said, until it rose from the ashes once more, smaller, more primitive, but new. It held within it a coordinate to a new world, a place to harvest, and feed, a place with creatures who had grown fat and complacent in their peace, waiting for something to fall from their skies without warning.
>>
>>2959964
Things that have a name that is unique to themselves, and we have interacted with, like Lee, one of the space whales that we scared the crap out of, or that Thing from the ice planet that was actually one of the Three Ancient races.
>>
>>2960018
I already didn't like the scavs, not now I despise them. They are the worst sort of parasite.
>>
>>2960029
I thought it was the other way around, they ditched their crystal bodies to become the void (and any crystal parts remaining became void shards or something)
>>
>>2960032
Oh shit, they reverse engineered a Void ship
>>
>>2960038
These aren't parasites. They're raiders and personally I like their style.
>>
>>2960032
Nuked sand kind of glass or creepy Void Shard kind of glass?
Very important question.

Also the Scavs are basically a psychologically scarred species with an abusive childhood. Got it.
>>
>>2960044
Raiders don't hang around after conquering long enough to suck the land dry.They just grab what they can, then take it back to their home.
>>
>>2960039
I think their bodies became the blank shard maybe? All we know for sure is that they were silicon based and psionic.
>>
>>2960052
>>2960044
Think of the Locust aliens from Independence Day, with less doomy huge spaceships and more focus on ground troops.
>>
>>2960052
Yeah this sounds more like the MO of the aliens from Independence Day
>>
>>2960042
No.

Void cutters do not use a flicker drive.
>>
>>2960032
So that is curious... I wonder who these old ones are. It could easily be either the hive or the void based on what we know. Likely it's not the Cluster but stranger things have happened.

>>2960038
I too despise them. They are weapons whose purpose has ended long ago. If they cannot be restored to usefulness (in service to us) they should be eliminated or driven away as any parasite. They see themselves as superior to any of their "prey." We should disabuse them of that notion thoroughly.

>>2960042
There's a chance I guess that it's one of the very, very, old void ships. If I remember correctly the Scavs were able to anticipate human movements. The human ships use canderon and canderon was an ancient void weapon component. Perhaps this ship or knowledge gained from it is allowing the scavs to track the humans...

Also, the path from the ship appears to be leading the scavs directly towards the void homeworld it would seem...
>>
>>2960052
>nomadic homeless raiders aren't a thing
Personally I see very little wrong with how they handle war since it's effective. You can try to whine about but they've proven it's worth.
>>
>>2960059
That means nothing. The hive and the Cluster both also made a beeline to this sector. Everyone headed here so it could easily be the Cluster, or a creation of the Cluster that led the Scavs on this.
>>
>>2960066
Oh yeah I'm not ruling anything out. For all we know the "old ones" aren't even any of the big 3 but could have been any servile alien species (even the ceph) that bombarded the planet. It's likely, though, that the Scavs were caught on the crossfire of the Hive-Void war and developed as they are because of it.

I still think that it's unlikely they found a hive ship (since it would have been impossible to be independent or reverse engineer). The cluster seems more neutral and unlikely to have attacked them. Plus it would have probably grown and taken over the entire scav system one cell at a time long ago (although it's still a possibility it was the cluster). That leaves the Void as a possibility.
>>
>>2960063
It's genocidal. I tend to think the Red Queen (like the White Queen and the Gardener) has grown to appreciate the values of individual life forms and would be appalled by the Scavs brutal murder. Plus she would totally be offended by how they think they are superior to other aliens (like the hive).

Their only worth is to themselves. Even their ship is based on the technology of others. They are warriors without purpose except mindless slaughter.
>>
>>2960032

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dtRz3w_sj4

The first World-ship, the Hunger. It has been upgraded and expanded with every harvest, and even now marks the flagship of the species. It has grown from its humble beginnings to contain a crew of over a million, docks numerous enough to service a dozen full fleets, and the industrial capacity to devour entire ecosystems whole, pulling planetary rings into its gullet and sucking whole oceans until they are nothing but fields of salt.

It carries the weapon armaments of an entire planet's defence grid, while ancient weapons stolen wholesale from countless fallen civilizations. Its ancient core, the oldest part of the ship, is still the vessel which the Old Ones had gifted their people, testing them with the scourge of its landing and giving those who were worthy of survival the power of the stars. Within it, the Reliquary, and the chamber of the Grand Matron, leader of the Scavenger species, the largest and eldest of all Matrons. By the count of your captives, she is several centuries old, and while she would never lower herself by allowing such lowly creatures as an Alpha or lesser broodmother to see her, she is likely far too large to ever return to a world's gravity. Once the Change has begun, a Broodmother will never stop growing. Their age is only constrained by the size they are allowed to reach, and while most Matrons will grow until their bodies can no longer support their own cardiovascular system, others are more persistent, using increasingly invasive cybernetics to prevent their bodies from collapsing from their ever growing mass.

It is in this chamber, in the Reliquary, that the charts of the Old Ones remain. Indecipherable, they have led the armada on a path of war and a test of faith, granting only the next step in their endless migration, requiring the comparison of the charts with those within the Waypoint to discern the next location. The armada then leaves, building as many ships as they can without using up their resources, and filling those vessels with the elite of a new generation, and then embarking, often with just enough fuel to reach the new waypoint, knowing the Old Ones will provide. They always have, and so long as the Scavengers prove their strength, they always will. This, the Grand Matron decrees, for she is the mouthpiece of the watchers. If there is a scavenger alive who would know the darkest secrets of the scavengers' origins, it would be her.

cont.
>>
>>2960072
They're following a trail of breadcrumbs across the stars, the odds of it being purely a product of accidental collateral damage are somewhat low.

The Reliquary's archives containing ship designs for the Flicker Drive just doesn't fit any known faction yet.
>>
>>2960094

Um okay, we fuckin need this. Who is in favour of really ratcheting up our war readyness and perhaps building a Star Hive near the frontlines of this current war?
>>
>>2960096
>They're following a trail of breadcrumbs across the stars, the odds of it being purely a product of accidental collateral damage are somewhat low.
Oh for sure, this is definitely unlikely to be random. We just don't know who sent them in this direction or why yet.

>The Reliquary's archives containing ship designs for the Flicker Drive just doesn't fit any known faction yet.
This is true. Maybe a slave race or the old hive or void? Or it could just be a failed attempt at repairing the original ship and the original drive was much better than the flicker.
>>
>>2960105
It would be a lovely prize, but we're running a deficit as it is. We can't afford another City, especially one that doesn't pay for its own upkeep.

We are /the/ expert on bio-warfare though, so if we could infect it with spores or even just some nasty tailored diseases, we could take a swipe at it.
And if that fails, we have lots of lovely doomsday weapons that can always use some more testing.
>>
>>2960085
>Even their ship is based on the technology of others.
So the same as almost every other successful faction. Because when you don't have any good ideas you always steal them.
>I tend to think the Red Queen (like the White Queen and the Gardener) has grown to appreciate the values of individual life forms and would be appalled by the Scavs brutal murder
I think the Red Queen takes all approaches to war and combat to mind especially the one you don't like.
>It's genocide
Sometimes the Final Solution is the best solution. Or are you going to claiming to be against while pushing for genocide against them.
>>2960105
Why not take them over from the inside? They'll never expect that approach.
>>
>>2960094
That is a very fancy ship indeed. Although our hive would take terrible losses in any attempt to board, we may want to attempt this rather than destroying it outright. The weapons sound extremely potent (at least a strong as a full hive ship), and the Hive is absolutely unmatched in melee combat and battles of attrition.
>>
>>2960113
If all else fails, we can put some canderon on a drone and cut the ship in half with a black hole
>>
>>2960113
It might be time to finally use the spores from the first few threads.
>>
>>2960113
>>2960118
>>2960121
>>2960122

We definitely want to be moving to capture rather than flat out destroy. There's so much we still don't know about the universe, and remember fellow thinkers, knowledge is power!

Also we're at about +1million nutrients per "turn"
>>
>>2960113
Actually we can pay for the upkeep if we choose the right research options.
>>2960121
Would probably be better to infiltrate their ranks, then assault their fleet.
>>
>>2960113
>We are /the/ expert on bio-warfare though, so if we could infect it with spores or even just some nasty tailored diseases, we could take a swipe at it.
>And if that fails, we have lots of lovely doomsday weapons that can always use some more testing.

Supporting this 100%

>>2960118
>Sometimes the Final Solution is the best solution. Or are you going to claiming to be against while pushing for genocide against them.
Do you not see any difference, at all, between the descriptions of the races the Scavs killed and how the scavs are themselves? I mean, really? I'm not even advocating killing them all if we don't have to. I'm completely down with subverting them if we can.

>So the same as almost every other successful faction. Because when you don't have any good ideas you always steal them.
The humans and Theseus seemed to come up with some pretty good ideas on their own.
>>
>>2960130
>knowledge is power!
Unless it's knowledge of the Void, of course, in which case keep that shit away from us!

In seriousness, I agree that capture is better than destroy here. Given our mastery of biowarfare and CQC it's almost certainly more effective to take it out with psionic spores and stealth infantry assault (since the Scavs can't detect cloaked ships) than it would be to defeat in a straight slugging match.
>>
We could just wait until we have our new expanse systems colonized guys, then we'll have the income necessary to expand our fleet to go toe-to-toe with the scavs if not steamroll them.
>>
Wait a second. Archive? Drive the functions by teleporting? This sounds like hive tech. Specifically a jury rigged blink drive and psionic computer.
>>
>>2960140
Oh sure, I think most people here are just excited and extrapolating
>>
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>>2960094
You turn your attention to their space, using the new context you have gained to give it more meaning. It does seem to give more sense to their unusual activity within the area.

Appart from the Matron Star, dubbed as such simply because it was the location chosen to host the Armada, and the Eye of Sorrow, where the fascinating but otherwise useless diamond world resides, there is the Eye of Wrath, an M class red dwarf. The long dead Ignosh had considered it a kind of portent of ill fate, as it was not often visible from their world, but when viewed through a proper telescope would seem to periodically flicker. The Scavengers have taken the names for the most part, as they function well enough to designate them from one another, but the contents is more fascinating than a dead culture's superstitious naming convention could ever be.

Closest to the local star is the Forsaken Son, a small rocky planet on an elliptical orbit that passes slightly through the orbit of its neighbor before returning to skim the star. It shows signs of once having geological activity, with ancient rock formations covering its surface. Currently, Scavenger mining facilities cover its surface where such geological formations offer easy access to resources, indicating some quantity of metals.

Just beyond, except in the occasional moments when the orbital paths cross, is the planet of Sanctorium, A rather sizable rocky world with a thick atmosphere of perpetual storm clouds containing an unusual quantity of hydrogen sulfide indicating possible volcanic activity. Despite the high acidity of the atmosphere scans of the surface show rock formations that lack the weathering that would be expected with the acidic air and average wind speeds as high as they are, with a number of tetrahedral indentations and formations on the surface, as well as unusually well defined mesas. The atmosphere itself is equally unusual, with a constant planet wide storm rotating about the planet more similar in nature to the weather patterns of gas giants, with both the planetary poles holding a hexagonal standing wave cloud pattern holding a manner of storm eye in the centers. What appears to be a moderately sized Scavenger survey team holds position in orbit, with light shuttle traffic activity along both poles and near several clusters of rock formations on the surface.

Surrounding the planet Sanctorium is a stranger sight still, the Sentinel Brothers, an astronomic coincidence of astronomical rarity, these four small dwarf planets somehow have come to occupy the Lagrange points L2, L3, L4, and L5 of Sanctorium, each planet following the larger world in a lockstep orbit around the star. Each planet seems almost identical, too small to hold an atmosphere, but with a weak magnetic field indicating some manner of molten or partially molten core and geological activity, and each with a small ring of debris in its orbit and irregular rock formations on its surface.

Cont.
>>
>>2960143
Hive tech is almost impossible to reverse engineer and the scavs have not displayed a mastery of biotech.

I guess it may be possible that there is a trapped queen “essence” (like for our mother/psi computer?) or maybe a unique thinker variant in their ship that is guiding them to attack the void and “teaching” them some tech. In that case you would think the entity might recognize hive ships as old ones, though.
>>
>>2960146
>these four small dwarf planets somehow have come to occupy the Lagrange points L2, L3, L4, and L5 of Sanctorium, each planet following the larger world in a lockstep orbit around the star
...That is so cool
>>
>>2960146
Well that definitely sounds like an artificial system. I'm salivating already.
>>
>>2960094
>Grand Matron
Welp, looks like we've got a target for either assimilation or audience. For a given kind of 'audience', that is. The one that goes in with a massive fuckload of boarding drones.

And Scavs sound more and more like Cravers.
>>
>>2960150
>Hive tech is almost impossible to reverse engineer and the scavs have not displayed a mastery of biotech.
>what does jury rigged mean
I never said they completely reversed engineered it. I meant they rigged a blink drive into something remotely functional and created the flicker drive.
>>
>>2960146
Yeah, that sounds like an artificial system for sure. Probably created by the silicates before they became the Void...

We REALLY don't want the scavs to start reverse engineering Silicate/void tech. Given the light forces present right now we may want to engage in a strike immediately to destroy anything in orbit and then pull back to safe space.
>>
>>2960146
Just next door in astronomical terms, is the Old One's Promise. The system's name seems rather odd, but it is a very literal translation. This is the system in which the Scavengers believe their Waypoint to be, and they have placed great importance upon it. Physically, the star is largely unremarkable, a typical G class main sequence yellow star that would seem suitable to hold a habitable planet, but no otherwise remarkable aspects. What is within, however, is more noteworthy. Orbiting the star in a tight, quick path is less a planet than a ring of debris, but it has been named as if it were, given the title Sundered, the Scavengers seem to think it was once a planet. The ring is unusually high in metals for being so close to the inner system, and large, highly metallic asteroids can be seen spread throughout the ring, giving some credence to the Scavengers' theory as it is possible it is the remains of the metallic core of a small planet that was long ago torn apart by gravitational shearing.

cont.
>>
>>2960164
Oh fuck, what if the Scavs were summoned here by the Void to become a new servant race like the skyl and ceph?

With the skyl evolution we know the Void is happy to play the long con and wait
>>
>>2960171
Beyond the star's debris ring lies the crown jewel of the Scavenger's objective, their mythical Waypoint apparently lies somewhere on this world, which has been suitable dubbed Waypath as a clear measure of their faith in that expectation. The planet itself is surprisingly lush, A proverbial paradise by all visual accounts, this moderately sized terrestrial world contains a thick, oxygen rich atmosphere and a vast landscape of green photosynthesizing plant life. A magnetic field indicates it is geologically active, and liquid water oceans cover at least half the planet, with large swaths of the surface covered in various algae blooms of some sort. High levels of carbon dioxide and water vapor have resulted in the surface temperature rising above what the local star would otherwise provide, resulting in a widespread zone of prime habitation for life, and very little ice coverage along the poles. What is more interesting is both the planet's moons, and the fact that the Scavengers present show no sign of stripping the planet of all life and resources. The scavenger activity is surprisingly muted, with local traffic indicating search parties and excavation sites, not raiding parties or harvest teams. The moons on the other hand are of note by their simple nature. A planet this size rarely has very many moons, let alone three such sizable ones. The first is outstanding by its size, the other two by their place. The largest of the three, the aptly named Mother Moon, is nearly a quarter the apparent mass of the planet, large enough to cause tidal forces on the surface with ease, as well as helping stabilize the planet's axis of rotation, meaning it has fewer and more regulated seasons and less extreme weather patterns. A very rare occurrence indeed. The other two have been named the Twins, and are both small, potato shaped asteroids pockmarked with craters and dimples with strange scars covering their surfaces likely caused by gravitational stress that will likely destroy the both of them in a few more million years. Each one occupies the L4 and L5 points of the local planet, flanking the Mother Moon around Waypath's sky.

Finally, you spot the Scavenger presence, a more permanent one than you normally would expect of them. Not content for a mere fleet, the Scavengers have deployed an entire World-ship in orbit, the Observance, a Broodmother class vessel, like all such ships it likely holds a Matron within as its captain, and is thus as well defended as a planet itself, with its own swarming picket fleet and passing patrols. It has anchored itself to Waypath's L1 point, and seems to be directing the local traffic as shuttles move to and from the surface bellow.

>Attack the Eye of Wrath immediately! (write in)
>Attack Old One's Promise immediately! (write in)
>Attack both!(write in)
>Do not
>Other
>>
>>2960180
>>Attack Old One's Promise immediately! (write in)

Let's send in a recon fleet to poke them and see how they react.
>>
>>2960180
>>Attack Old One's Promise immediately! (write in)
Gimme dat World-ship.

Starting with probing of forces like
>>2960185
suggests. We'll make a call for fleet composition for full scale attack after we get information.
>>
>>2960180
>Other
Attempt to infiltrate the Old One's Promise
Attack Eye of Wrath inviting the Commonwealth to join in if they can.
>>
>>2960180
>Attack the Eye of Wrath immediately!
Probing attack. If we attack the Old One's Promise they will counterattack hard which could be annoying right now.
>>
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>>2960032
>The Shvoh, small furry four armed creatures with a serpent like tail that were able to float about of their own accord and cause strange hallucinations in others
Psionics detected
>>
>>2960176
That is... totally 100% possible. Although I figured the Void would probably go after the Valen eventually it might be going after the Scavs instead/in addition.

>>2960146
>Attack both!(write in)


>Attack the Eye of Wrath
Send 5 missile ambush fleets to the eye of wrath. This system is relatively lightly defended and our ships should make quick work of it.

>Attack Old One's Promise
This is heavily defended and contains a world ship. We will need a heavy attack force. Send:
>20 light fleets
>10 fast assault fleets
>10 ambush fleet
>6 carrier battlegroup
>>
>>2960180
>>Attack the Eye of Wrath immediately! (write in)
>5 Missile Ambush Fleet
>5 Fast Assault Fleets

Also
>send a pod and a stealth corvette to Old One's Promise
>>
Here's my idea. Why not rather than attacking the Worldship why not try to parasite some Alphas and slowly takeover?
>>
>>2960189
Supporting
>>
>>2960190
>>2960180

This. Plus we can bait most of the fleet into the Eye of Wrath with an attack of sufficient size, leaving less forces near the Waypoint. We could use this distraction to investigate it's importance to the scavs even as we attack them elsewhere.
>>
>>2960202
>>2960189
Unfortunately the Commonwealth ships are being tracked. Bringing them along could give the scavs early warning and we don't have any rip drive battleships. Plus, do we really want the CW to see an obviously artificial planetary system?
>>
>>2960201
There might not be the time for this, as the scavs tend to have a pretty swift timetable and infiltration usually takes time. They might not be able to make it deep enough before its too late.
>>
>>2960200

Support for something along these lines.

>Send a proper battlegroup into Eye of Wrath

>Send stealth units to Old One's Promise
>>
>>2960203
>>2960198
>>2960186
>>2960185
Can't we play to our biggest strengths and infiltrate?
>>
>>2960210
You lack imagination and understanding of our abilities. We only need 10% of their population under our control for a complete victory.
>>
>>2960180
Looks like:

>Attack the Eye of Wrath

>Send a small fleet to probe the Scav defences (write in)
>Send a full force fleet to attempt to take control of the system (write in)
>Call for Commonwealth assistance
>Other (write in)

There is also support for sending additional stealth ships into Old One's Promise

>Send additional pods
>Send a cloaked fleet to scout and potentially attack from concealment
>Leave it be for now
>Other
>>
>>2960221
>>Send a small fleet to probe the Scav defences

Old One's Promise
Send a cloaked fleet to scout and potentially attack from concealment
>>
>>2960221
>There is also support for sending additional stealth ships into Old One's Promise
>Send additional pods
>Other
I also liked the idea of infiltration. Get stealth units on the ground.
>>
>>2960221
For Old One's Promise we want to parasite Scavengers and have them infiltrate the Worldship itself to act as saboteurs and subverted for when actually actual attack happens.
>>
>>2960180

>Attack Eye of Wrath immediately.
>Other - Smash the Eye of Wrath hard and fast, them have the fleet follow through to the Old One's Promise as long as our forces don't roll a lot of 1's in combat.
Fleet Composition:
25x Light Fleets [awaiting orders]
10x Fast Ambush Fleets [awaiting orders]
10x Ambush Fleets
6x Carrier Battle groups [awaiting orders]

Carrier battle groups can probably hang back until the assault on the Promise.
>>
>>2960221
>>Send a full force fleet to attempt to take control of the system (write in)
>5 fast assault fleet
>10 light fleet

Old One's Promise
>Send additional pods
>Send a cloaked fleet to scout and potentially attack from concealment
No need to attack just yet, but we can scout and potentially infiltrate somewhat.
>>
>>2960221
>>Send a small fleet to probe the Scav defences (write in)
The 5 Ambush Fleets should be sufficient.

>Send a cloaked fleet to scout and potentially attack from concealment
I was thinking of landing a corvette on the worldship and slowly cutting our way in without anyone noticing.
>>
>>2960221
>Send a small fleet to probe the Scav defences

Promise
>Send a cloaked fleet to scout and potentially attack from concealment

>>2960229
I'm all for trying to infiltrate, but there's so many things between us and successfully boarding the worldship undetected I'd rather not.
>>
>>2960236
Who says I whether we're detected or not? We just got a new adaption that renders that a moot point.
>>
>>2960221

>Send a cloaked fleet with stealth based ground units to hamper the enemies operations. Perhaps aiming for abductions and implantations? The enemies will be most vulnerable when on the ground, and if we can start that infiltration while also hampering their ability to find the waystone, we give ourselves a lot more time.
>>
>>2960221
So it looks like the general plan is to:

>Send a small fleet to the Eye of Wrath to probe the defences
>Send a small cloaked fleet to Old One's Promise to attempt to land drones on Waypath

Is this correct?
>Y/N
>>
>>2960255
Y
>>
>>2960255
Y
>>
>>2960255
Y
>>
>>2960255
Everyone seems to have an agreement on Old One's Promise more or less.
Eye of wrath is less clear.
>>
>>2960249
Actually, this is a good idea. While we probe/fuck up the fleets in orbit of Eye of Wrath we can abduct and implant the ground forces. When the scav response force shows up and "rescues" the ground forces we'll have another "in" for infiltration.

>>2960255
>Y, although I'd personally rather send a much larger fleet to Wrath rather than just probe
>>
>>2960255
Also can we do did in the other battle? Blink the ships behind the star?
>>
>>2960261
yea, it looks like everyone wants to beat it, but there is some debate over the size of the stick to be used.
>>
>>2960266
Like Roosevelt I prefer big sticks.
>>
>>2960264
I'm just wondering if they'd actually 'rescue' their own, to be honest.
>>
>>2960255
You choose a small number of corvettes, cloaked ships that have the best chance of remaining undetected while ferrying their cargo into the system. You attempt to find a spot for them to arrive that is outside the view of their sensors, but there are many Scavenger vessels within the system.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to infiltrate the system.

and a last quick vote just to be sure on this.

>Send a full invasion fleet to take Eye of Wrath
>Send a scout fleet to probe their defences and potentially distract their forces
>Other
>>
>>2960271
We'll know once we're in their heads.
>>
Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>2960272
FOR MOTHER!
>>
>>2960272
>>Send a full invasion fleet to take Eye of Wrath
>>
Rolled 36 (1d100)

For Mother!

>Send a full invasion fleet to take Eye of Wrath
>>
Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>2960272
>>
Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>2960272
>Send a full invasion fleet to take Eye of Wrath
>>
Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>2960272
mother etc
>>
Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>2960272
>Send a scout fleet to probe their defences and potentially distract their forces
>>
Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>2960272

>Send a full invasion fleet
>>
Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>2960272
>>
>>2960272

>Send a full invasion fleet to take Eye of Wrath
>>
>>2960289
Wow I would have gotten the highest.
>>2960288
If it wasn't for this guy
>>
>>2960276
We've been in their heads, seen them suicidally defend their alphas/broodmothers, know that they have an extreme 'survival of the fittest' model, chances are if some of their own got captured they wouldn't even give a shit.
>>
>>2960278
Well, a 64 isn't *that* bad.

A full invasion force is a nice show of force. Destroy them utterly now and force the scavs to take the defensive and spread their forces thin trying to defend everything. After we wreck the scavs we don't necessarily need to hold the planet even (although those moons might provide a nice defensive advantage...)

I wonder what the scavs think of the Hive compared with the other foes they've faced...
>>
>>2960272
>Send a full invasion fleet to take Eye of Wrath

>Send all currently idle non-specialist fleets
>Select from idle fleets (write in)
>Other
>>
>>2960302
Send all currently idle non-specialist fleets
>>
>>2960302
>Send 5 fast assault fleets
5 fast assault fleets is nearly 1000 ships in total (195 ships each). That should be easily enough to quickly overwhelm the defenses the scavs have while keeping a very large reserve.
>>
>>2960302

>Send all currently idle non-specialist fleets
Anything less wouldn't feel like a full invasion fleet.
>>
>>2960302
>>Send all currently idle non-specialist fleets
>>
>>2960302
>Send all currently idle non-specialist fleets


10 Fast Assault Fleets
25 Light Fleets
10 Ambush Fleet
6 Carrier Battle groups

Your Hive ship is currently idle in orbit of Gemini, do you wish to send it as well, or keep it in orbit until the Expanse sovereignty has fully finished its transfer to ensure the Union doesn't try anything funny?

>Send it
>keep it where it is
>>
>>2960326
>keep it where it is
>>
>>2960326

>Keep it where it is
>>
>>2960326
>>keep it where it is
>>
>>2960326
>keep it where it is
>>
>>2960326
>keep it where it is
>>
>>2960326
>keep it where it is
>>
ITS BACK!!! AND I CAUGHT IT LIVE!! TRULY, YOU AND YOU WRITING IS A GIFT FROM THE GODS
>>
>>2960326
You decide to leave your Hive ship to keep an eye on the potentially treacherous Union, but most of the rest of your forces quickly depart for the Eye of Wrath, by the time your attack is over it will have earned its name, for your ships are eager to exact violence upon the enemies of their mother.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3
>>
Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>2960337
Alright kids, make Mother proud!
>>
Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>2960337
For Mother!
>>
>>2960339

aaaand it's time for me to go get recycled. Good luck other drones, we'll need it.
>>
Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>2960337
For Mother

If all non specialist fleets are:
6 Carrier Battle groups [Awaiting orders]
10 Fast Assault Fleets [Awaiting orders]
10 Ambush Fleet
25 Light Fleets [Awaiting orders]

In total that's:

10x Ambush fleet
>1000 Corvette
>500 Frigate
>100 Cruiser
>10 Battlecruiser

25x Light fleet
>1500 Light Fleet Frigate
>375 Light Fleet Cruiser

10X ambush fleet
>1000 Fast Assault Corvette
>500 Fast Assault Frigate
>300 Fast Assault Cruiser
>50 Fast Battlecruiser

6 Carrier strike group
>72 Escort Corvette
>24 Strike Carrier [Cruiser]
>6 Carrier [Battleships]

Against scavenger forces consisting of "moderately sized survey team with light shuttle traffic"

This is grotesque overkill. I love it.
>>
>>2960345
jesus
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>>2960345
>>
>>2960345
I love you
>>
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>>2960345
FOR MOTHER!!!!
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>>2960345
Well it is now

Writing.
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>>2960345
I thought we added corvettes to the light fleet
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>>2960345
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>>2960345
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>>2960345
The Scavs getting dunked on again
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>>2960345
Good.
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>>2960360
Nice image size
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>>2960337
Your cloaked vessels can do nothing about their FTL radiation, they can only hope to mitigate it by selecting a destination that is out of sight, or hard to see. Your forces are suddenly gone from your mind, and in another, they are at their destination. It takes several long hours for the light of your blink maneuvers to reach the scavengers, and several more for the light of their response to reach you in return.

Sure enough, several small flotillas break off from the main force and begin patrolling the outer system, but by then your cloaked vessels have moved past them and further into the system. While you have no doubt now that they are on alert, and you can sense them scanning the space around you, space is vast, and you have a great deal of room to hide, at least for a while. All things considered, the most difficult part is yet to come, as you must now deploy your payload of drones to the surface without detection. At their current speed, focused more on avoiding detection through heat buildup, your ships should reach Waypath within the day, and with luck they can avoid any further patrols until then.

cont.
>>
Am I mistaken or is out net N income only a bit above the red line? Perhaps we should invest in economy a bit more?
>>
I picked the perfect time to pick up Xcom 2 a couple of days ago. Its amazing while waiting for updates
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>>2960367
We definitely are, we're just waiting for our colonies to be handed over.
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>>2960364
Your pod watches in silence as the Scavenger survey fleet examines the system's more interesting aspects, largely focused on the planet Sanctorium. It seems several shuttles have suffered damage within the storm, and others have begun mounting a rescue of sorts. The fleets in orbit adjusting their positions to serve overwatch as they bombard the region with active scans.

You feel a strange ambient sensation, like a field of growing static around you. The universe seems to grow still, and suddenly, there is light all around you. Flashes of vibrant radiation score your sensors as thousands of your warships suddenly emerge into space. With a force this size, it would be far too reckless to repeat your showboating over Gemini, and most of them are distributed along the outer system and away from any potentially damaging gravity wells, creating a suddenly formed blockade on the system as your fleets deploy their strike craft to intercept any courier shuttles.

As soon as the light of your force reaches the survey fleet, they seem to panic, shedding messengers by the dozens as they begin charging out towards the outer system. Your fleets charge inwards in turn, creating a vast wall of warships as you close them into a thinly spread, spherical cloud around the planet.

>Allow some of the mail couriers to get through to draw Scavenger attention
>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system
>Other
>>
>>2960384
>Allow some of the mail couriers to get through to draw Scavenger attention
>>
>>2960384
>Allow some of the mail couriers to get through to draw Scavenger attention
>>
>>2960384
Also it kinda goes without saying, but our myriad ambush fleets should create an ambush for their retaliation
>>
>>2960384
>>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system
We THRIVE on being a horror movie.
So complete and silent erasure of their fleet is best rep.
>>
>>2960384
>Allow some of the mail couriers to get through to draw Scavenger attention
>"Rescue" the shuttles
More Alphas to be parasitized, yes?
>>
>>2960384
>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system
>>2960400
This guy got it right. There are no survivors, just another empty system.
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>>2960384
>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system
Burn them all. They have grown too proud.
>>
>>2960384
>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system
Why would we let any of the couriers through? It gives the Scavs a good idea of the size of our largest fleets, and it means any response force they send could be an actual threat. Let's eliminate everyone and have the scavs come back to an entirely empty system. Once the start work again, we repeat the cycle another time.
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>>2960384
>>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system
>>
>>2960398
Their retaliation will be massive in size if we allow any of the couriers to get through. It may pose a serious threat to our primary battlefleet. We can continually ambush any scouts sent to this system but do not need to "lure" in a massive fight here.
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>>2958942
>10 Ambush Fleet

There's still no such thing. It's called the Missile Ambush Fleet. This was pointed out many threads ago. >>1330217
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>>2960384
>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system

Wipe then out...all of then.
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>>2960409
You changed your vote, right?
In that case I think it’s currently:

>Let them escape (3 votes)
>Kill them all (5 votes)
>>
>>2960384
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kWwwh541_o

As you close in, your ships fire their opening volley. As the attacker, you must take care to minimize damage to the planet, after all you have no idea what they are so interested in, but you don't want to obliterate whatever it may be in your attempt to get to it. This comes at a cost, however, and by the time you open up with your weapons, the first of the Scavengers' volleys are already impacting your ships. Most miss, a panicked hip shot sent out far past the effective range of their ships, but a few manage to hit their marks, and the shields of several of your corvettes flicker and die from the impacts, while a few others snap from the combined velocity of a kinetic round and the great speed of your approach.

By the time your opening volley has hit, you have launched four more after it, and they have managed several more of their own. While you do need to be careful not to hit anything of value, you have the advantage of having a smaller target to focus on. The enemy impactors are spread out, and while they seem to be trying to pick off your smaller ships first, you have a great, great many of them. Your own impactors on the other hand, are hitting hard and true. Several cruisers snap in half from the impacts, while others spiral off to the sides as their shields stutter and chunks of their layers fail. By then you are both within missile range, and a mixture of blasters and missiles erupt from both fleets. The space between your forces begins to pop and crackle with plasma and radiation as warheads and strike craft mingle and detonate in the darkness with sudden, anti-climatic pops like kernels of corn in a fire. Eventually the first of them begin hitting their marks, and while they claim ships on both sides, you have far more ships to spend, and every one lost for them hurts far more than any one of yours.

The couriers dive through your blockade, and you tear them apart. Most are simply there to offer cover, hoping at least one will get through.You divert some of your strike craft in response, sending them after the small, nimble shuttles, each one popping at the slightest touch of your weapons.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3
>>
Rolled 61 (1d100)

>>2960417
>>
Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>2960417
Destroy for mother!
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Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>2960417
For Mother!
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>>2960420
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>>2960384
>Destroy them all to give you more time to study the system
>"Rescue" the shuttles
>if you can collect them for there tech and even more information
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>>2960420
>The Old Ones test us she said
>They reward the strong she said
>Never said anything about these OP bugs

writing
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>>2960420
Sublime
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>>2960427
Never forget.
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>>2960420
you make mother and family proud drone
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>>2960420
Scav is back on the menu bois!!
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>>2960427
All of this destruction for a couch....
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>>2960434
its true but revenge!!!! if they just gave us the soffa this would never have happened
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>>2960217
The same can be said of humans.

It's only the most guarded and isolated 10%, all of which fears and suspects the other 9% of wanting to kill them.
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>>2960427
Kek.
Someone should make a edit of this with the "i am a genius" meme.
>Scav "I am a predator!"
>Scav "OH NO" with ants all over the pic.
>>
>>2960434
And also for rude behaviour. Honestly after we are done with the scavs i doubt any other race beside Obisidian, Cephs and the Void will try to mess with the Red Hive.
>>
>>2960448
just the look on there faces when we explain why this war started
>>
Wait, shouldn't all the Matriarchs' insane cybernetics be [Research Unlocked] topics now?
>>
>>2960449
>"Motherfuckers be withholdin' our couch, yo"
>The scav-armor-blinged-out Speaker said through the holoscreen.
>"So we krumped em good, for mother!"
>"And even then they STILL haven't given us couch!"
>>
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>>2960417
You wipe the small vessels from reality, their quick but unarmored forms disintegrate into clouds of atomic dust from a volley radioactive obliteration from your fleets, and your forces continue on unhindered like a very force of nature falling down upon them with all the impending mortal inevitability of a tidal wave dashing them upon the rocky shores of the small world around which they huddle. You are unsure if they can naturally feel fear without the aid of a Broodmother, but you will teach them.

Even at this range, the Scavenger fleet is rapidly disintegrating. There are none left that are not at least wounded, if not crippled and in the process of core meltdown, while others have been annihilated outright from the initial volley. Vessels deeper within the atmosphere emerge from the chop in time to ram headfirst into a cloud of hive strike craft, instantly tearing them open and venting their hulls.

You begin to slow your main force as it charts a course for high orbit, when you realise the strange sensation has not left you. A strange tension, like static electricity. The space around the planet feels charged to you, it is hardly noticeable until suddenly you detect a spike in the magnetic fields of the Sentinel Brothers. There is a sudden pulse, an unmistakable tachyonic burst that begins slow, rapidly rising into a momentary flash, and then the tension is gone, as if the static had been discharged.
>>
>>2960458
>There is a sudden pulse, an unmistakable tachyonic burst that begins slow, rapidly rising into a momentary flash, and then the tension is gone, as if the static had been discharged.

Well that's interesting. I wonder if the tachyon pulse from the arrival of our massive fleet might have triggered something...
>>
>>2960458
Wut?
>>
>>2960458
Awww sheeeit, prepare for unforeseen encounters
>>
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>>2960458
>There is a sudden pulse, an unmistakable tachyonic burst that begins slow, rapidly rising into a momentary flash, and then the tension is gone, as if the static had been discharged.

Oh shit I'm feeling it.
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>>2960474
YUH
>>
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>>2960458
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG2E55DZ1A0&

You double check your sensors, and then check them again. A number of the asteroids orbiting the Sentinel Brothers have broken away from the moons and now accelerate into your formations at interplanetary velocities well beyond the scope of any natural gravitational slingshot, and they continue to accelerate, adjusting course to intercept your fleets! The magnetic fields of the moons seem to ripple, flicker, and then become steady once more, but at a much stronger level as the string of seemingly inert debris begins to rapidly warm from their sudden propulsion, indicating they have some internal means of propulsion and are not simply being thrown by some manner of slingshot. The rest of the remaining debris rings adjust their orbits suddenly, and rapidly, displaying a level of acceleration that indicates the use of some manner of interplanetary drive system, and they begin to spread out, forming a spherical shell over the moons' surfaces. Your weapons immediately train upon the incoming asteroids, understanding them to be a threat but without knowing how severe of a threat to consider them. They are rapidly gaining heat to indicate they have some level of internal components, but you have no idea to what extent.

>Engage the rocks with your point defence systems
>Evade and attempt to fall back to the outer system until you can learn more
>Charge through to Sanctorum high orbit and defend your position
>Other
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Fuck I am in desperate need for sleep, and my body decides to start shutting down now...
Goodnight y'all
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>>2960481
>>Charge through to Sanctorum high orbit and defend your position
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>>2960481
>Evade and attempt to fall back to the outer system until you can learn more

Scavs don't use Tachyon tech!! Abort abort!
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>>2960481
>Evade and attempt to fall back to the outer system until you can learn more
>Other
Have some of our more expendable ships stay in position to see what the asteroids do once they hit them.
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>>2960481
>Charge through to Sanctorum high orbit and defend your position

Additionally
>Bring more reinforcements into the system (?)
Not sure if we need to but might better be safer to do so.
>>
Also we need obligatory speaker drone saying: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wk-6DPrcMv4
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>>2960481
>>Evade and attempt to fall back to the outer system until you can learn more


This is the important thing now. wtf is happening
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>>2960481
>Evade and attempt to fall back to the outer system until you can learn more

Sneak two pods and a cloaked corvette to the planet.

One pod just regular cloaked, containing an advanced relay.

One pod containing a quantum comm for a video feed and a moderate relay, and using *psionic cloaking* as well as regular cloaking.
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>>2960494
Seems to be a much bigger use of the tachyon trap used on the skyl coprses we found in the desert planet.

The small magnetic field detect the presence of other hivemind creature such as the Hive and the trap activayes using the asteroid system to crash/destroy the fleet.
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>>2960481
>Evade and attempt to fall back to the outer system until you can learn more

This is archaeotech, Id feel sad if we destroyed the last gift the Scavengers creators left them.

Lets wait for the stealth craft.
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>>2960495
No i think this is a "NOW BUGS ALLOWED REEEEE!!" So we might need to use our humans
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>>2960496
Wut. In thread 16.5? There was no 'tachyon trap.'

The Skyl weren't dead and could see and hear you.

>>2960499
They can't forbid you if they can't see you.
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>>2960448
like they say dont shoot the messager and they SHOOT THE MESSAGER its kind of rude i quess
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>>2960481
>Evade and attempt to fall back to the outer system until you can learn more

Your forces dive to the sides, altering their course to evade the incoming asteroids and taking their paths back out and away from the inner system. As they alter their courses, you sense another mental blip, a sudden rising wave of tachyons that ends in a deafening ping from each of the moons, and the asteroids suddenly adjust their courses to match, rapidly moving to intercept.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to evade and exit combat range.
>>
Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>2960511
>>
Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>2960511
For Mother!!
>>
Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>2960511
Dodge for mother!
>>
Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>2960511
>>
Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>2960511
FOR MOTHER
>>
I think it's a Silicon lifeform.
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>>2960524
This has nothing to do with the Scavengers.
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>>2960524
Except these asteroids had tachyonic signatures which Scav tech lacks.

Maybe old Void tech? There were those silicon beasts summoned during the nowhere incident
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>>2960511
Y'know we've got several adaptations now that make drones more resilient against it, so we could try the psionic jammer here.
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>>2960524
Go to bed anon, you're sounding more and more stupid.
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>>2960511
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm48eUiDfZg

The spherical formation of your fleet shift and dive, causing the formation to swirl like a vortex as they move to avoid the planet and dive back out into the outer system. As the asteroids continue to close in, your ships begin opening fire with their proximity defences, lancing out with their auxiliary weapons as best they can to drive them back and keep them at bay. Your fleet formations huddle, protecting your more valuable vessels as the smaller corvettes use their point defences to help drive away the incoming rocks-turned-missiles.

You watch as the stone breaks apart into glittering fragments of metallic chips and bits of glowing rubble. As the flowing torrent of stone comes closer, your corvettes suddenly feel a burst of incoming fire against their shields as the rocks fire small chunks of themselves like rapid fire rotary cannons, rapidly accelerating chunks of their own mass as ammunition. One of your corvettes, left unshielded from the initial assault, is hit across its port side. Sub-Thinkers quickly report hull breaches in multiple locations and secondary explosions as a number of the chunks detonate within the ship, tearing off large swaths of the outer hull in the process and cracking open the port drive wing. The corvette falters, its sudden off-kilter drive sending it suddenly diving out of formation and into the cloud of rocks, and three of them dive off after it. Their bodies shift and crack, and suddenly burst like an egg as a number of spider-like segmented stone limbs fly out from its sides and dive directly for the corvette, impacting into the hull and sending it careening further off course.

The forwardmost point of the impacting asteroid suddenly liquifies like a shifting ferrofluid, rapidly spinning into something akin to a large drill bit as it grows out and extends into the hull of your corvette. Internal sensors watch as the drill shifts again into liquid, rapidly flowing to the side to create a hollow tunnel, and then the corridor is filled with shapes, like moving stone, oblong balls of charcoal black objects covered in misshapen, mismatched tendrils that whip at the air and nonuniform limbs ending in singular, spear-like points. They pour out of the hollow tube, rapidly spreading in all directions through the ship like a poison injected into the body coursing towards its heart, and your warriors move to intercept, opening fire on the horrid abominations, and then they begin to scream.

cont.
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>>2960548
This reminds me of the Nowhere incident. When They were fighting with Theseus.
>>
>>2960548
Holy shit what the fuck
>>
>>2960511
We should try and land strike craft/shuttles and board the suckers
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>>2960552
Void fuckery.
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>>2960548
Goddamn Taalo.

Look where Scavs picked up their ramming keel and harpoon launcher tech. FROM YOU, SPACEDAD, I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU!

Now quickly, capture research samples on the way out!
>>
>>2960548
The drones within the ship struggle to cope with the sudden tachyonic disruption, and the images of their minds flickers away from you as they fill with static from the interference. You receive increasingly panicked damage reports as the ship rapidly loses control of its core systems from internal damage, and finally the corvette begins to break apart, flaming plasma and flash-freezing blood cascading out from its broken hull as more of the rocks burst open, sending caked on ice and frozen gas buildup exploding out in all directions as they do so, and tear their limbs into the ship's debris, as if feeding on its mass.

You keep your fleets in a tight formation, focusing your efforts on further acceleration and overlapping point defence coverage. Several more corvettes break up as their unshielded hulls are battered from projectile fire and shredded from within as their munitions detonate. Larger ships do better, as several cruisers report extensive damage from internal detonations.

You begin to grow concerned, but as your fleets overlap and and continue their acceleration to the edge of the system, there is another shifting spike in the magnetic fields of the moons, and the rocks suddenly break off their pursuit. You see them rapidly shift their orbital paths to return to the moons, although they don't seem to have any preference of which, although you do note that they seem to disperse in equal number to each moon, and several drag remains of the few corvettes that had been lost.

Your fleet establishes a holding pattern several lighthours from the planet and its moons, and the rocks do not seem to pursue, although as the moons' magnetic fields return to normal, you sense a small tachyonic signal repeating from somewhere on the surface of Sanctorium, near its northern pole.

What have you just witnessed?

>Write in
>>
>>2960556
Well kinda. It's more like this is their tech and it's capabilities on full display.
>>
>>2960558
Call Theseus and Heretic. We have something for them.
>>
>>2960556
Jesus it's not them. They haven't done anything even remotely void crafting like.

This is an unknown 4th group with psionics and some neat shapechanging tech.
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>>2960558
Time to send in non psionic human clones
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>>2960562
And this
>>
>>2960558

What non-hive military forces do we have available?

Getting something down there to check out that tachyonic signal is going to be very important, but I'm worried that it may be able to disrupt our control of the drones.
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>>2960558
>and several drag remains of the few corvettes that had been lost.
Fuck.
Call Theseus and heretic, we need to destroy those remains to prevent our tech from falling into enemy hands.
>>
>>2960558

Might be time to contact Theseus to see if he learned anything from the Nowhere conflict that might assist us here.
>>
>>2960563
Reread the end of the Nowhere incident. This is remarkably similar to that.
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>>2960558
An ancient static defense system for the planet. One that was not attacking the Scavengers. They activated a psionic jammer after they spotted warrior drones onboard. They likely recognized the hive.

Four central command nexuses, the moons, acted like Thinkers transmitting commands to the asteroids, which are actually vast, psionically sensitive, stone-like, self-configuring collective drones.

In other words: We witnessed a research opportunity. Nothing we can't handle. Get us some psychic rocks.
>>
>>2960558
>>2960562
Backing
>>
>>2960558
Try to snipe a few kinetic warheads at the captured remains - if the rocks are orbiting in fixed paths it may be easy to light them up and deny our tech from salvage.

Try to inch a few shuttles with landing troops over to the northern pole, see how close we can get before the rocks react.
>>
>>2960562
Don't hit the panic button yet. They are LESS equipped to handle this than we are, if anything.

We can still investigate more ourselves.
>>
>>2960558
Silicate life(?), confirms void fuckery with the scavs, it think.

They're obviously there to defend the system from intruders, although seemingly not the scavs, who it appears weren't attacked.

My theory is that they are there to safeguard something for the scav's eventual arrival, preventing any random alien race from just discovering whatever is making that signal, and then interrupting the scav's progress by leaving them without a waypoint

Thoughts?
>>
>>2960576
What panic button? Calling in Theseus and Heretic helps with researching these things and they'll be interested in helping out too.
>>
>>2960558
>Contact Theseus and Heretic and request assistance from their own fleets
>Send in a non-psionic team of clone agents to investigate the new signal on the planet
>Send in Lyle and team to investigate the signal
>Maintain your distance and observe
>Other (write in)
>>
>>2960584
>Contact Theseus and Heretic and request assistance from their own fleets
>>
>>2960571
No it isn't. Remotely. What the fuck.

There's no 4-dimensional unnatural paradox geometry based entity emerging, and that Nowhere entity's overwhelming attempt to communicate with hive drones wasn't like psionic jamming which just happened here.

The only overlap is that psionics happened in both places, and some silicon-based life was likely present, but the silicates at Nowhere were nonpsionic.

Anyway, these things may have been designed by the Enemy long ago, or designed by something the Enemy designed, but they could easily have drifted far from their original programming and forgotten their original creators just like the Cluster's seeded worlds are ignorant of their origins.
>>
>>2960584
>>Send in a non-psionic team of clone agents to investigate the new signal on the planet

Plus
>Other (write in)
Take some potshots at our wrecks to burn them out more in case we need to leave the system
>>
>>2960584
>Contact Theseus and Heretic and request assistance from their own fleets
Woo centralised intelligence buddies!
>>
>>2960584
Contact Theseus and Heretic and request assistance from their own fleets
Send in Lyle and team to investigate the signal
>>
>>2960584
>Send in a non-psionic team of clone agents to investigate the new signal on the planet
>>
>>2960590

>Support
>>
>>2960589
>this is nothing like the time the Enemy (which is confirmed to be silicon in nature) shapeshifted part of itself into a drill to plow Theseus.
>even though that just happened.
>>
>>2960581
If we research it ourselves, we will be able to trade it to them later and get things we can't otherwise unlock.

Getting outside help should be the resort for when absolutely necessary.

>>2960584
>>Send in a non-psionic team of clone agents to investigate the new signal on the planet

Actually, send images of what just happened to Seiner's brain. see if he suddenly has a revelation or new memory.

Also check Grandma's white crystal to cross-reference.
>>
>>2960584
Contact Theseus and Heretic for INFORMATION - Heretic could probably confirm whether or not these beings are related to our enemy, ending our internal debate as queen.
>Send in a non-psionic team of clone agents
>Other - Attempt to deny them the wreckage of our fallen vessels.
>>
>>2960601
Yes, a 4-dimensional giant lashing out is completely different from the Cluster shapeshifting a human arm or leg to turn it into a weapon, and from psionic asteroids shapeshifting into more useful weaponizable shapes.

The 4-dimensional part is really damn important as a discriminator. Cluster and these psionic stones are made of completely mundane matter.
>>
>>2960584
>>Contact Theseus and Heretic and request assistance from their own fleets
Any reason to talk to best boys.
>>
>>2960584
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cPaY6qSmCE&t=

The signal from the planet is new, and it continues to repeat. You make note of the signal, although you are unable to understand its meaning as yet, perhaps it has none, still, you patch it through your allied intelligence network just in case Heretic knows something you don't. In the meantime, you ready a team of clones.

In the meantime, the asteroids grow still, for the most part. You watch from your distant vantage point as the remains of your corvettes are... devoured. They are torn into scrap as the rocks rend your ships' flesh from their reinforced armored bones. You fear at first of having your technology studied, and prepare a strike against them, but before you manage to assemble anything into a proper firing solution from the great distance, the ships are gone, mulched into a fine powder and either consumed or dissipated into a cloud of bloody mist. Clearly, they are not interested in your technology.

You continue to record and pass on the transmission to Heretic, he does not reply, but Theseus signals it is because he is attempting to translate it, and has nothing else of note to offer, though as Zero-One churns with the data, a crude combat instance offers to redeploy a server ship.

>Accept the offer
>Decline
>Other
>>
>>2960612
>>Decline
We can replace lost ships MUCH easier than he can replace a server ship. Can't risk it.

Think we can consumption beam up some samples and blink away?
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>>2960612
>Decline
>>
>>2960612

>Decline

Although might be worth passing on some basic to moderate info from the Scavs
>>
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Not only has questdrone came back from the dead but he has been posting for 12 hours straight. The mad lad fears no evil on not only his heart but also his secondary one as well.
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>>2960612
>Decline

>Other:"Send a hive transport ship to gather the drones he will use for a more closer investigation. No need for him to risk one of his ships."
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>>2960622
>>2960612

Supporting this.
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>>2960612
+1 to >>2960622
>Decline
>Other:"Send a hive transport ship to gather the drones he will use for a more closer investigation. No need for him to risk one of his ships."
>>
>>2960622
Sure
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>>2960612

We could bypass the detection abilities of this apparently automated defense network.

If it's psionically sensitive, psionic cloaking should make a ship invisible to it, even if it doesn't use regular visual cloaking.

Land Thinker controlled drones on the planet using that.
>>
Wait can our ships even get in that close?
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>>2960634
You can't control drones and use psionic cloaking.
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>>2960612
>Decline

You feel the situation is, at least for the moment, under control, if only because the strange rocks seem to have a limited area of operation, although you could bring in some of his own land drones to assist your clone agents.

>Request deployment of robotic drones
>Do not
>Other
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>>2960639
>Thinker controlled drones
Yes, that's what I said.

Once they're on the planetside it may possibly be safe to life the cloak anyway, and we can raise the cloak again if they start hurling asteroids at the freaking planet or some other shit.
>>
>>2960619
Also yes, I should probably be getting to sleep. After this vote I'll head off to bed, and should be back to answer questions this evening around 3pm eastern, but the thread propper will not resume until this Sunday, since I won't have the time to sit down for a proper session until then.
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>>2960642
>Request deployment of robotic drones
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>>2960645
May I also remind you the planet itself is dangerous alone to cause your entire plan to fail.
If they start attacking our drones on the planet we're fucked. Also cloaking isn't that convenient.
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>>2960642
>Request deployment of robotic drones
Sure, he's invited to participate.
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>>2960642
>Do not
For now.

Let's see how our own nonpsionic agents fare first so we know what we're getting into.
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>>2960642
>Request deployment of robotic drones
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>>2960548
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>>2960658
Obviously the planet probably contains its own dangers. We don't know what kind cuz we haven't explored it yet. If threats are psionic then they can be hidden from, and drones can drop cloak to send reports occasionally.

The plan is for getting the ship full of agents and drones to reach the planet at all which is a bit difficult with the defense system right now. So no failure on that front.
>>
>>2960642
>Request deployment of robotic drones

and with that, I must get my sleep, however, there are a few changes to the general system that I wanted to work out, and we can discuss that when more people are awake today at 3pm. After that, we will resume this Sunday.
>>
>>2960642
>>Request deployment of robotic drones

Non-psionic team and robot drones will give us fail-safe against void and psionic fuckery.
Just worried how much scavs there are defeding the signals location

We can probally pull back half of our fleets now
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>>2960687
Thanks for running QD

Also 12 hours and 58 minutes of quest. You absolute madman
>>
>>2960687
Thanks for running. Good to have you back.
>>
>>2960687
Thanks for running!
>>
This thread was a good thread.

If there was a 'best thread on /qst/ right now' badge, this would have earned it.
>>
>>2960687
Thanks for running quest.
>>
>>2960687

Fantastic, great thread!
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>>2960687
Thanks for running
>>
>>2960687
Thanks for running dude, 13hours for a comeback thread ain't bad
>>
>>2960687

Absolutely brilliant to have you back QD, thanks for running for >12 hours.
>>
Y'know, we have Rip Drive equipped ships.

We could leap frog our way to the previous homeworld the Scavs raided, 15LY at a time.

Is the Waypoint tower still left standing?
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>>2960687
Thank you for Running QD, I missed you and the quest so much.
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>>2960687
Thanks for running, QD! Real nice to see what's happening with the Scavs.
>>
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>>2960668
Nice one draw anon!

>>2960441
Wish I could have done this better, but I haven't vectored anything complex since 2014, and even my image editing skills are rusty
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>>2960672
It's covered in fucking acid.
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>>2960687
Thanks for running QD.

Anyone else think we might want to invite human (CW) special ops to assist here? Humans are a very useful weapon when fighting the Void and allowing the CW to actually feel useful in the alliance could paradoxically make them feel better and more equal in the arrangement (humans are funny creatures). There is a possibility the Theseus drones could be vulnerable to silicate tech. While we can still send in the bots, using humans has definite benefits too.
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>>2959161
>all under the friendly guide of each tour group's own personal Speaker
>each tour group's
>own personal Speaker

The Tour groups are gonna have no idea what kind of brightly coloured fuzzy friendly sass master apocalypse awaits them
>>
>>2960836
God Destiny looked so amazing, sad that from everything I've heard the actual game is mediorce gunplay with a shit story using a pay to win model.
>>
>>2960687
Thanks QD!

Oh, can we deploy some of those Myrmidon special forces chimera we designed last time on the planet? They were specifically designed as anti void specialists for small unit operations.
>>
>>2960915
That's a terrible idea. QD has confirmed that severing their psionic connection to the Hive heavily impairs them and it's been demonstrated that nonpsionic life is better in this situation anyway.
>>
>>2960936
We have literally never used chimera what the fuck are you talking about? The whole point of having dedicated anti void units is they can sever the connection to the hive and still be combat effective.
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>>2960947
On his ask he mention this.
https://ask.fm/QuestDrone/answers/150123800357
The question was about psionic jammer but the answer is general enough it could apply to any situation they get severed. Also the only perfect defense against Void psionic bullshit seems to be the psionic insulation headgear we invented.
>>
>>2958920
Good to see you again QD
>>
>>2960955
Hmmm, fair enough, I didn’t notice the new ask.fm answer. I still think we probably want to send the myrmidons anyway since they hit much harder than any of our clone agents, are still semi-independent, and they have the protective white crystal fortification for their relay, but they definitely have a higher degree of risk to deploy than I initially thought. Thanks Anon.
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>>2960996
I think you are understating it when it outright says they only have a degree of independence slightly above a drone(none in other words) and the success of operations involving the Void strength doesn't actually mean anything. Independent thinking does however. Also as Seiner has proven a parasite can still do psionic stuff even if it's host is wearing Psionic Insulation Headgear (granting total immunity to psionic mindfuckery yet still allowing for them to detects tachyons) which also renders the point of implanting the memory crystal kind of moot.
>>
>>2960687
It's nice to have Hive Queen Quest back.
>>
>>2960915
> specifically designed as anti void specialists

And how does it accomplish that design goal. A moderate relay and a psi disruptor? Is that what the 'anti-void' specialization amounts to? They're still as psionically sensitive as any drone which makes them somehow worse suited than regular humans.

It's less design than it is wishful thinking.
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>>2960548
Oh ahit, did we piss off the Obsidianborn from DAtS?
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>>2959012
Actually on that topic. If Mr. Counts and Remembers Secrets in Dark Waters has any survival instinct to escape the assassination order out on his head over his attempt at dealing with the hive smuggers under the table and his bosses' sensory organs, he'll flee Deep Song and seek asylum in the Expanse soon, probably stealing as much as he can on the way out.

So there's a small chance one will come running to the hive's doorstep deep in debt trying to curry favor.
>>
>>2960563
This is what the “sillicates” did before they became/transcended to become the Void
>>
So, at least my reading, is that the Sillicates (old form of what became the Void) are probably the “old ones” that the scavs are following the breadcrumbs for and that this planet is an ancient silicate facility. As has been shown, it is hostile to the hive likely because we were at war when the planet was abandoned (and are still technically at war). It’s not a pure “modern” Void facility like Nowhere, but it is still extremely dangerous and may have some residual connection to the Void. When we explore here we need to learn from the mistakes of the past. We should make the following changes:

1. Evacuate at least 90% of the fleet immediately and shut down all but 1 advanced relay. We have WAY to many active advanced relays here. There is a actually a very strong argument that we should pull all relay ships out of the system. Without psionics we cannot communicate with any agents we send to the planet anyway so there is all risk and no gain. We can use radio to communicate with Theseus and our clone agents. Let’s LEARN from the mistakes of the past.

2. Pure human clones with mind shielding helmets are good for psi defense. If we deploy them we should use the mind shield seiner has and give them full hive power armor - we are going in loud here.

3. If we maintain any presence in the system we should have a stealth ship with immolator warhead on standby. We need a “nuke it from orbit” button when dealing with anything with a void connection, and this scenario qualifies.
>>
>>2961179
One of their old living tools of silicon, you're right.

It seems to be left on autopilot now.
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>>2961212
We technically don't know that its former form was silicates.

We know it used silicate tools. >>1913279 That there were "beings of silicon" in Cluster's memory. >>1766469 But the silicon things were its creations. It itself may or may not also have been similar.

If we use a corvette as a sacrificial lamb, have it start charging up its blink drive within attack range, and let some of the silicates board it seconds before it blinks away, we may be able to more safely isolate it far away from its reinforcements.

But we may have to study live samples of the lithovores in order to climb the silicates genetics tech tree more before we can easily understand these guys.
>>
>>2961220
We could try checking P2 to see if those crystals are silicon life because I doubt those are normal crystals at this point.
>>
>>2961234
Did we never investigate that?
I think it's far past time
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>>2961212
>shut down all but 1 advanced relay.
Did that at Nowhere. It helped about as much as you could expected. Not at all.

A hive thwarted the enemy's master plan for this region of space. Of course that drew aggro and it immediately began attempting scrying on the hive. Having just one relay active or zero wouldn't stop that necessarily. There is already enough sympathetic connection between us: the hive was able to scry on the enemy when it first activated a void shard, and we weren't even trying to aim for it.

The only mistake to learn from at Nowhere was maybe not thinking of suggesting to capture any of the human Possessed alive. We lost the ability to study the Void's version of a hybrid in any detail.

All we know is that unlike ours, they never emit tachyons directly, they're utterly silent on their own.
>>
>>2961243
Maybe they only have tachyonic receivers rather than transmitters? Would make sense if they're just the tools of the Void silicates
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>>2960819
Asking some of the CW to come here is not a terrible idea. It gives them an opportunity to be useful after all we have invested and helps build trust. What I’d say to the CW would be something like:

>our intelligence gathering has revealed that the parasite scavengers were led here by an old power and we destroyed a scavenger fleet was seeking guidance from ruins belonging to “old ones.” We are attempting to determine the nature of this old power, but unfortunately our technology is easily identifiable by residual defenses of these “old ones” and poses an unknown threat level. However, human technology would not trigger a hostile reaction. We would like the assistance of your special forces to recover valuable technology and remains from scavenger excavations that could provide important insights into the cause of their attack.

>>2961243
Well... I think if we had no active relay at Nowhere it probably would not have seen the queen, and if we had lots of relays instead of only 1 it would be much worse for us. We made big mistakes at Nowhere and I’m trying to make sure we actually learn from them rather than repeating the same errors again.
>>
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>>2960687
Alright, so while I tried to update as much as I could for the new day, the system in general is sorta breaking at the seams, partly because it's not meant to handle this scale of civ simulation, and partly because my noodle can't handle it.

So I was thinking of a way to streamline it further without simplifying it, and it hit me that we are essentially doing ship and drone design in reverse by making designs and determining their behavior, when instead it would be much more easy to keep track of if we set up a series of classifications and then made designs to fit those pre-set roles.

So, for example, instead of making a number of different kind of cloaked ships and coming up with uses for them, there would just be a more generalized [stealth] [recon] and [ambush] roles that you could then make ships for and just slot them into the roles, with the roles determining the ships and drones behavior.

This way I can simply set up a column on my spreadsheet for each role, and then have it lead into a tree that adds up all the ships within those roles, allowing me to see the costs and upkeep of ships, as well as checking at a glance what fleet assets you have available, and when going into combat we can just select from a pool of ships of various roles to make a balanced fleet, and I just pick the ones you want and toss them into battle.

It's all much less micromanaging, although there may be some growing pains as we sort out the fleet, but if you guys want to do that we can sort out the roles (you can make new ones or alter old ones however you want, so it's not a hard cap, just an organizational tool) and assign the ships and drone designs we have into them, or if you want, re-design any ships or drone designs that don't quite fit anymore with new ones better suited to be slotted into a role.

I've noticed that a lot of times you guys will sorta get into debates over what a proposed design is good for or intended to do, with this, that's made more clear to everyone and the design process starts off with a clearly defined function, so hopefully there is less "design by committee" effects that tend to crop up in collaborative works, because everyone already agrees on the role of the new design.
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>>2961273
>human technology would not trigger a hostile reaction

That's... an untested hypothesis.
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>>2961282
Sounds good to me.
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>>2961282
Ok wait.

Wait.

So, old system, there is Specific Designs and Number of Ships. We vote on the Number of Ships for each Specific Design.

In the new system, instead, we decouple, and instead separately vote on:

- What Role a Specific Design fits in

- The Number of Ships with a given Role to construct
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>>2961289
We could add a “probably” in there...
Even so the CW is extremely unlikely to back out.
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>>2961273
I honestly see no point in letting the Commonwealth into this shit. They are only allies of convenience not proper allies and I doubt they will become proper allies for a long time.
>>2961282
Seems okay with me.
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>>2961282
Hey QD, hows your heart doing?
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>>2961282
As for other changes, some were already being made, had been made, or were in the process of changing before we had the break, but in general:

I am no longer calculating drone upkeep. All drones are included in a planet's development score and building construction, the more buildings and the greater the development, the higher the population. The income of every planet and space city is therefore the net gain or loss you get after all local drones are fed.

I passively assume all ships contain a standing crew of warriors and whatever drones you use to fill the [Zero Gravity] or [boarding party] roles or whichever you decide to make for that, in a number suitably proportionate to its overall capacity and the role that the ship in turn fits into.

Missiles will no longer cost resources to use, because that's not fun. Planetbusters like the immolator will still have a deployment cost though, but if you put a missile tube on a ship, it's going to open fire when it can during battle. As such, to balance out the increase missile spam pending, Auxiliary turrets have increased point defence effectiveness to match. Ship's still have a limited number of ammunition for missiles, but they will replenish automatically after combat so long as a reasonable timespan has passed for logistics to replenish the ships. If you'd like, I can stat up some munitions storage or something for ship design, but otherwise the missile ammunition storage remains largely unchanged as listed in the missile launcher descriptions. If you don't specify during combat, I'll just assume the ships will fire their missiles for maximum effect during combat while trying to avoid running dry immediately, you can always order your ships to just alpha strike everything or to hold their missiles for later if you think you will need them.
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>>2961309
They're stretched thin defending their homeworlds, and fighting against fellow humans on a second front.

It would be nuts to add an archaeological mission to their plate. These magic asteroids could eat them alive. And then you have to trust every single human involved to not be treacherous or already a cultist.
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>>2961309
It's functionally the same as bringing in a Unity ship land on the planet.
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>>2961314
>I can stat up some munitions storage or something for ship design
That's something I wanted for a long time. Will there be one for Spinal mounts?
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>>2961282
Works for me. Are we keeping the existing fleet formations?

>>2961310
>They are only allies of convenience not proper allies and I doubt they will become proper allies for a long time.
They’ll never become “proper” allies if there isn’t some give and take. Letting them know some secrets shows trust, and they may be more inclined to share secrets of their own with us. It’s a funny quirk with humans. One of the Queens greatest strengths is the ability to build and network alliances (Theseus, Heretic, scarred queen, etc.) and we should attempt that here. Flashy gifts alone (like inviting them to the space city) will only go so far.
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>>2961321
Why would there be stats for something that never runs out of ammo?

Spinal weapon stats like all standard weapon mounts are ∞. There, finished.
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>>2961314
>>2961306
Yes, and roles can hold multiple designs, it just means you are giving that behavior set to multiple kinds of ships or drones.

For instance, the [warrior] default role would include all warrior variants for all kinds of environments you currently have, such as aquatic warriors, toxic warriors, ect.

I'd like to have the roles all ready and to your specifications by next Sunday, because I'm going to try and start running this more quickly, instead of meandering about on the same day for weeks on end.

Also if anyone has any questions or feedback on any new rules, I realize we didn't really have time to look over the new trade rules or the space city builder before the thread, and I have not had the time to fully incorporate any of the input for the espionage yet, but obviously as the rules are put into use I will always be open to altering them to better accomplish what you want to do with them. If you ever find that there is something you want to do with espionage, or think of an action or operation you'd like to see added, let me know, same thing for Wards, Hubs, or trade routes.
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>>2961330
I'd imagine all we have to do is edit the existing fleet formations to have the designation that QD wants.
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>>2961333
>I'm going to try and start running this more quickly, instead of meandering about on the same day for weeks on end.
Maybe we can get GraveQM to pick up the pace too
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>>2961333
Well espionage mentions that focusing the otherwise broad, slow spreading infiltration, which I assume is a passive growth of the intelligence network/spinebuddies, can be focused in certain areas for faster result in that area.

How is that done?

Like infiltration a planet's PDF's bureaucracy like was floated a long time ago, how do we convert that kind of thing into the new system.
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>>2961333
If we start doing trade, and there's commercially available products that are actually novel technology to the hive out there on the market, could Trade port Wards be useful for obtaining a new research sample to reverse engineer?
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>>2961330
>give and take
We pumped Theseus of most of his goodie and fed him our scraps.
Does that sound like give and take?

We let the Scarred Queen keep one system in exchange for her eternal loyalty.
Does sound like give and take?

The only exception was Heretic and we gave very little even then.
I think you completely overlook how dirty we play and how little we give to anyone. Hell the reason we are in such a good position is partly because we play the dirtiest with the singleminded like the Commonwealth, Valen, and Union and partly because we don't give out shit that is actually that valuable in the grand scheme of things.
So fuck off with these blatant lies.
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>>2960778
It's great anon, thanks!
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>>2961029
>I think you are understating it when it outright says they only have a degree of independence slightly above a drone(none in other words)
QD says they fair a little better than drones in the very link you posted anon. I do agree it would be better to send replicants or hybrids but don't undersell chimeras.
>>
>>2961333
>>2961343
that is largely a reference to active operations, which allows your hive to focus on very specific goals on the planet.

To infiltrate a planet's PDF, you would want to pull some Recruitment actions to get a hold of some key people within certain local bureaus and then using the resulting sleeper agents to perform acts of sabotage, as one example.

>>2961353
Potentially, if you import goods that would normally give you a research subject.

Also there are more forms of trade than just commercial, I set up a number of different options to choose from, such as strategic routes, humanitarian routes, or logistic routes.

https://pastebin.com/rrLiGEqx

>>2961372
Chimeras are animalistic, so they can function without a link, but would still be rather feral. Think of them like attack dogs, because they can work on a network more efficiently than the base species they are made from, they don't need to be individually micromanaged, so a single clone or hybrid could in theory command a small pack of chimeras as a form of backup in combat.
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>>2961360
I'd like to make the argument that we simply haven't traded with Theseus in a while, and that the discussion to give SQ another system hasn't come up yet.

There are technologies we're willing to trade such as Shield Domes, Scav blasters, Containment Fields, and the idea of trading our Blink Drive for their Space Fold has come up. I also think most of us would help SQ colonize a planet if she asked, though that's also on her to decide if she's rebuild enough to expand again.
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>>2961372
Drone still don't have any independence and comparing Chimera implies they are heavily lacking in this area but for the most part we don't know how good they actually are. So maybe I am underselling them however we don't know for sure so all I've done make an assumption.
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>>2961398
>and that the discussion to give SQ another system hasn't come up yet.
Hold on, what? There is no way i'll vote for giving up one of our systems to the scarred queen, if she wants another one she can go get one from OQ.
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>>2961385
The problem is that trade routes, since they provide steady, very high credits income, are a representation of moving large quantities of goods in bulk.

Stuff imported by/for civilians in hive space, or exported by the hive like fusion reactors.

But typically for research sample things, we only need one or maybe two samples of the subject in case the first one blows up or something.

It wouldn't make sense to import them in bulk for a one-time benefit.

Or what does it mean to choose to import something? Does it use up an entire trade route slot for just one bulk good?
>>
Anyway can we move on to organizing that new ship system with the [roles] and stuff? I want to get that out of the way.
>>
If we need an intelligent non-psionic special ops team, I believe Lyle and Coil will be available very soon. We can give him a team of human spec ops clones for this mission instead of hive drones. We could consider sending in Ralighan and Phantom clones too.
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>>2961409
I said help her colonize, not necessarily giving up one we've already colonized. Although we could also give her some terraform tech to help her along.
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>>2961333
>I'd like to have the roles all ready and to your specifications by next Sunday,

When you say 'ready.'

Does that mean the ships would be sorted into roles by then, or that on Sunday the 21st, you'll post a list of predefined [roles] and anons are prompted to begin voting on what drones and ships to sort into which roles.

And I guess we no longer organize fleets?
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>>2961419
>I said help her colonize, not necessarily giving up one we've already colonized.
That's better, i'm fine with having her colonize a planet or system we won't necessarily need.
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>>2961398
>idea of trading our Blink Drive for their Space Fold has come up
Yeah no. That is a shit trade and you know it. Also my argument was we always positioned ourself as top dog, we always gave everyone (who wasn't part of our empire) scraps, and we made the nonhiveminds struggle the most with us. The only way I'd be fine with giving Theseus (or any faction) our psionic tech is if they joined the hive. Which is a perfectly reasonable position and makes them as good an ally as they'll ever become.
>>2961419
>give her tech
Okay you are a dumbass. We gave her ALL of our tech as a part of adding her to dynasty. You know what we do when anyone joins the hive we give them everything we can reasonably offer.
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>>2961435
>We gave her ALL of our tech as a part of adding her to dynasty.
No we didn't.
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>>2961385
Historically, just so you all know, it was very common for there to be a rather wide territorial disparity between a Dynastic Queen and her vassal Queens. You have given the Scarred Queen a new hive, and a new life, she's certainly not in any place to complain about only having one small system.

Once she has locked down her world and properly begun exploiting her home system, she may approach you requesting your blessing to expand into other systems you are not using, but that won't be for a while yet.

>>2961410
Yes, I would tend to agree that it would probably be better to just buy one-off things for research, but if the event were to happen that you started importing a trade good for your local human citizens' benefit that also could be researched, the route would also unlock the research option.

Would probably be a waste of a route if you're only doing it for the research honestly.

>>2961413
Yes, I think I'll let you guys take some of the lead on that and set the general tone for what you want the roles to be regarding how general or specific. Some of the drone roles are obvious enough and I can just make some defaults to fit the designs you have, but if you guys want to start making roles and tell me how you want those roles to behave I can start writing them down, and then from there assigning the designs to them should be easy, and probably mostly obvious.

>>2961430
I would prefer to have them ready to use by next Sunday, but we shall see.
Also we no longer will build ships by the fleet, instead I will simply maintain the number of ships desired, replacing lost ones as needed, and if you want to send a pre-defined "fleet" to a place I can just grab a pile of idle ships that fit the needed roles and toss them where you want them to be.
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>>2961439
Since we rebuilt her egg sac and relay, she has our genetic stores. Because our tech is all stored in genetic code, she has it.
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>>2961439
Yes we did. We gave her everything we had we gave her our eggsack (this is where the data for hive tech is held) and she commented on all the tech we gave her saying it was impressive then gave us the Spore Artillery.
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>>2961435
If we gave Theseus Psionic or Void Crafting tech, he would become a Machine-God

Hell, he could probably fold the full amount of his server cities on 0-1 into a hand-held crystal matrix. He could literally turn himself into the Mother Box
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>>2961399
Maybe we should use Chimera so we can find out how good they are? What kind of a situation would you ever be comfortable using Chimeras instead of other drones or replicants?
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>>2961450
In b4 Theseus is the Void due to spacetime shenanigans.
>>
>>2961445
Well it's more that in the very same conversation where Scarred revealed the spore cannon, it was because we had just given all the tech reverse engineered from other races.

>>2961443
So we should start coming up with roles now, then, you won't be providing defaults.
>>
>>2961454
For eliminating targets we especially hate. Against the Scavengers would probably the best.
>>
>>2961458
>Ralighan Chimeras
>Ralighan Hybrid Spiral Warriors
>Hardlight blades everywhere
>Scavs commit seppuku
>>
>>2961457
I mean some of the fleets are pretty obvious with their role in their name.

Stuff like collossi and Titans and swarms might be harder
>>
>>2961443
So what are the roles.

[warrior]
[scouting]
[infiltrating]
[boarding]
[psionic boarding]
[speaking]
>>
>>2961466
The synergy between ralighans and the hard light weapons and armor still smacks of intentional synergy design by QD to me. Especially with how they fight blasters and photonic blades are perfect
>>
>>2961469
[Subverter] might be a good one.
>>
>>2961443
>>2961457
I can come up with defaults to tag any designs that are left out, but I would prefer if you establish a general president of what you want the roles to do, and I can then follow that for the defaults I end up making later so they are more in line with what you guys want.

>>2961468
Pretty much this, some are obvious, others I'd like to know for sure from you guys what you want their behaviors to be.

>>2961469
Yea, like that. Just give me a list of names for roles you'd like to make, along with a short explanation of how you would like drones in that role to behave, for example, should they focus on ambush tactics, should they kite the enemy from range and use their weapons, or charge into melee? Things like that.
>>
>>2961469
I'd add [worker] since we do have them.
>>
>>2961469
I think our Speakers have a combat morph that turns them into battle psions, like the one that fought Drinker of Pain
>>
>>2961469
Some things seem like arguably both. a small sniffer is a scout. But a fly is both scouting and infiltrating?

>>2961474
I can't imagine any infiltrating that doesn't involve subverting, so that could just be one role. The Whisperer and parasites are in [infiltrating].
>>
>>2961481
I think that's just the ambassador's default mode now
>>
>>2961484
flies are historically advanced sniffers that can be in combat. sniffers we usually deploy en masse for recon, flies are in small squads
>>
>>2961443
Lets begin then.

[Defense]

[cannonfodder]

[Attack]

[tanks](attack ships that can take lots of damage)

[fast attack/raiding](for ships that go fast and hit hard)

[stealth]

[recon]

[ambush]

[carriers]
>>
>>2961481
Nah that's just a consequence of them having a medium relay.
Maybe a dedicated combat caster role.
>>
>>2961469
[surveillance]?
>>
>>2961491
Anyone have more ship roles suggestions? I'm dry on ideas.
>>
>>2961503
I think it's too broad.
>>
>>2961491
[Specialist]

For ships like our pirate vessel with the grappling hooks and ion cannons to shut off ship systems
>>
>>2961469
[artillery/siege]
>>
>>2961469
Ship roles are different.

[anti-strikecraft] - this is swarm corvettes and others optimized against void cutter sized ships.
[capturing] - Stalker Corvette, Harrier Frigate, Shieldbreaker Frigate, Tow Truck
[scouting] - patrol corvette, pods
[cheap]
[moderate]
[expensive] - varying degrees of 'just kill everything'
[transport] - battleships with Rip Drives, civilian transports
[hiveship] - guess. Maybe hive ships should be outside the role system and be special...
>>
>>2961518
You're missing Carrier, but yeah I'd agree with the hive ship roles
>>
Like [assault], [heavy artillery], [light artillery], [skirmishers], etc. are better roles than [attack] and [defense]
>>
>>2961509
>For ships like our pirate vessel with the grappling hooks and ion cannons to shut off ship systems
For those how about [boarding/capturing]?
>>
>>2961503
Add [Heavy] and [Super-heavy] designations.

Add [support] for ships that are mostly fleet support and protect/transport allies,

Add [artillery/siege] (long range kinetic bombardment)
>>
>>2961518
>[capturing] - Stalker Corvette, Harrier Frigate, Shieldbreaker Frigate, Tow Truck
I still hate these poorly optimized designs. Seriously take a page out of the Scavengers play book.
>>
>>2961522
fair enough.
>>2961525
>Add [artillery/siege] (long range kinetic bombardment)
I feel those kinds of ships would be called [artillery/sniping], [siege] ships would be more like carriers and transports that bring troops in while using missiles against the planet surface.
>>
>>2961530
you could optimize them if you wanted, I don't think anyone would begrudge you.

although I got shit for redoing my own OG titan, but w/e
>>
>>2961518
Oh yes.

With gravity reflection tech making ships faster in the presence of a strong gravitational pull...

We will want to soon add some small Canderon equipped fighters. If only to create small but powerful singularities that countless other ships' drives can reflect and take benefit from themselves.

[gravity drive]
>>
>>2961518
Add [picket] for anti missile defense and capital ship protection, or is there too much overlap?
>>
>>2961549
that's probably a bit erroneous eh
>>
>>2961549
Maybe [patrol]?
>>
>>2961530
What's the flaw?

I think the original design logic was that a large amount of focus fire from Blaster weapons the best way to take down enemy shields before boarding.

Once shields are own, then you start ramming and harpooning, right. Cloaking can probably be useful to get close to them if their fire is focused in another direction.

And the ion cannon can be used repeatedly on them until key systems are disabled and they become a derelict.
>>
>>2961580
Multiple ships to do one role with each being a point of failure if lost. See not only is it inefficient but also easy to disrupt. That's why I hate with a burning passion.
>>
Alright, here are the ship roles we've come up so far.

[defense/picket] - dedicated picket fleets.
[scouting/recon] - ships that scout.
[anti-strikecraft] - this is swarm corvettes and others optimized against void cutter sized ships.
[assault] - ships meant to compose the majority of a attack force.
[tanks] - attack ships that are meant to take damage.
[fast attack/raiding] - ships that go fast and hit hard.
[transport] - battleships with Rip Drives, civilian transports.
[support] - ships that support other ships.
[carriers] - ships that carry fighters.
[artillery/sniping] - ships designed to bombard enemies from a distance.
[boarding/capturing] - ships designed to capture and disable enemy ships.
[stealth] - ships that spy
[ambush]
[cheap]
[moderate]
[expensive] - varying degrees of 'just kill everything'
[hive ships]
>>
>>2961518
>Ship roles are different.
Yeah, some sort of additional tag or marker indicating broad categories, such as space-ship, air-ship, infantry, etc. might be useful.
>>
>>2961599
I think this is enough roles to start fitting some ship designs to, we can add more as we go.
So what designs go where?
>>
>>2961593
Then we should just make sure there's more than one of each type of ship in a battle, generally speaking.

But you think the harrier should be replaced with something with harpoons? Both stalker corvette and tow truck have harpoons.

It really is suboptimal to have boarding pod launchers, but no harpoons to make launching them an auto-hit.

And for some reason I'm not sure if QD ever spelled out if ramming a ship counts as drones being able to board it through the ram or something.
>>
>>2961599
>[scouting/recon] - ships that scout.
>[stealth] - ships that spy
These are literally the same thing. Both are always ships with cloaking tech. Just in case.
>>
>>2961477
Okay, so for drones we've got:
[Worker] - Default worker drone and all its environmental variants
[Warrior] - default warrior and all its environmental variants, fires its ranged weapon as it charges into melee, disregarding cover so as to swarm over the enemy and give its brothers an opening in combat
[Scout] - A non-combat support role, these drones mark enemy locations and movements and relay sensory data to other drones, serving as spotters for artillery and air support and pathfinders for ground forces.
[Psion] - A drone designed to use its relay to manipulate both in combat and from the shadows, this is a support role, and the drone will attempt to avoid direct combat, staying behind cover or other drones while using its psionics to shift the battlefield to Hive advantage, while outside of combat this role can perform certain espionage activities.
[Speaker] - This role is specialized in public relations and is able to converse with the Single-minded, if it has a medium relay, it will use its psionics to manipulate others and gather intelligence, as well as defend itself if attacked but will otherwise entirely avoid combat.
[Armor] - Heavily armed large, vehicular drones fulfilling the role of tanks and artillery units, providing direct and indirect fire to cover smaller infantry units.

For ships we've got:
[Recon] - A general non-combat ship intended to scout distant star systems and gather intelligence using a cloaking field and low heat signature
[Stealth] - A cloaked combat vessel, it focuses on short, high damage hit and run attacks, dealing critical damage from stealth before fleeing.
[Boarding] - A ship devoted to the deployment of boarding parties and the capture of other ships.
[Line ship] - A heavy hitting vessel with the durability to withstand frontline open combat. Moves into the range of its closest range non-auxiliary weapons.
[Carrier] - A ship devoted largely to the deployment of strike craft of varying kinds, it will attempt to stay outside the enemy's effective range and serve as command and control for its small craft, if it has swarmers, it will use them mostly for perimeter defence.
[Artillery] - A very long range ship with a specialized weapon layout that allows it to harry the enemy from outside most weapon ranges. Will maintain distance at the edge of its longest range weapon and fire volleys of missiles and kinetic impactors.
[Support] - A generalized role that is devoted to the survival of other ships above itself, using any specialized abilities to prevent damage or capture of other allied vessels
[Picket] - A role devoted to the interception of incoming fleets, missiles, or strike craft using point defence Auxiliary weapons or failing that, its own hull to prevent attacks on allied ships and colonies.

How do they look so far?

>>2961530
We can redesign your ships if you wish.
>>
>>2961627
I guess, QD seems to have separated the roles.
>>
>>2961629
That looks like it covers everything to me, especially if hive ships are unique and outside labeling
>>
>>2961621
Why are the harriers even a fucking design? They could easily be replaced by a general combat ship with blasters. It seems like a complete waste and ion cannons have terrible ranges in general so putting them on the ship intended to pull them is more optimal. Really I don't get why people go for the pirate ships. They do the job better in most places.
>>
>>2961629
Pretty much most roles we need.
>>
>>2961629
We need drones specialized for boarding a psionic enemy.

They would include advanced psionic jammers, and Thinkers with moderate relays so as to maintain an improved range under psionic jamming (that might be initiated by the enemy or by us).

And all drone variants would have to have quantum brains as backup too. And acid self destruct.

Moderate relay drones that can psionic cloak.

Maybe a quantum comm attached to a Thinker if we can ever fit one that isn't too cumbersome.
>>
>>2961645
Nope. We need more.
>>
>>2961629
I'll suggest this
>>2961600
but otherwise looks fine to me.
>>
>>2961654
Suggest some then.
>>
>>2961629
Oh we need specialist for the infantry, for ghost beetles and sirens, etc
>>
>>2961629
You forgot [stealth] and [recon] for drones. Also what about aerial drones, aquatic drones, and other specialists?
>>
>>2961649
Oh and the Siren adaptation. That makes hive drones black out for a second. Really useful against other hives.

>>2961639
Yeah harriers are not good honestly. At least Stalker Corvettes have the harpoon and boarding pods and ion cannon.
>>
>>2961676
I think [scout] is basically [recon].
>>
>>2961670
I think variants like that are within every role. Aquatic warriors are just warrior role underwater. Wasps, in the air.
>>
>>2961682
Meant to reply to>>2961670
>>
>>2961686
this
>>
>>2961682
Okay but we still need [stealth]
>>
>>2961690
We can have stealthy variants in multiple roles. Stealthy scouts like flies, stealthy warriors like ghost beetles.

Stealth is just the method by which they accomplish their goal. The role is the goal itself.
>>
>>2961629
what happened to the wasps though
>>
>>2961636
QD changed the definition of [stealth]. They do not 'spy.' They attack out of nowhere.

Though this does create some mismatch compared to the drone categories, huh.
>>
>>2961700
I think ghost beetles are a bit more specialized than stealth, but you're not wrong
>>
>>2961629
I literally maxed out the post space, so continuing from there:

Drones cont:
[Atmo-fighter] - Dedicated atmospheric fighters dedicated to dog-fighting and establishing air superiority in combat.
[Atmo-bomber] - Atmospheric bombers devoted to providing air support to ground forces bellow through bombing runs and air raids on enemy positions.
[Atmo-Interceptor] - A defencive atmospheric fighter devoted to rapidly locating and intercepting incoming enemy landing craft, fighters, and bombers during an invasion.
[Special forces] - An elite role for expensive, rare, and highly specialized drones deployed in small numbers as a force multiplier intended to flank enemy points, attack behind enemy lines, or assassinate enemy leaders. These drones operate largely alone or in small numbers to accomplish specific tasks, and do not take part in the main battle.
[Support] - Devoted drones that offer support to others by inhibiting the enemy or bolstering allies during combat.
[Disruptor] - Devoted anti-psionic drones capable of independent operation away from the Queen, they use whatever means they have to disrupt local psionic communication or conceal themselves from psionic attacks or detection.

I'm mostly just going off what you guys are bouncing around.
>>
>>2961690
We're creating roles, not tags. [stealth] is a tag, [recon] is a role. recon is what you do, stealth is how you do it.
>>
>>2961707
Wasps are aerial warriors
>>
>>2961713
>[Support]
So this would include field thinkers?
>>
>>2961713
Okay that covers everything then
>>
>>2961629
what's the intended difference between [Support] and [Picket] ship roles? It seems to me they do the same thing.
>>
>>2961713
Wait...

Where do bio-tanks fit in.

Kind of an EMT, or commerce role/money making. Buy new eyes and the second heart is free!
>>
>>2961760
[Support] obviously
>>
>>2961760
>Where do bio-tanks fit in.
Support i think.
>>
>>2961765
>>2961767
They don't do anything in combat. Support says in combat.

They could be a kind of worker. Like the staff on the Presidium are workers.
>>
>>2961713
I think that's just about everything that has been covered...
>>2961707
>>2961717
Hmm, they could be, or they could have their own role as well for small, fast, highly mobile ground troops, maybe:

[Calvary] - Small, nimble ground forces capable of rapidly traversing difficult terrain and moving over cover to perform rapid hit and run attacks to harass the enemy.

This would also allow you to have other drones beyond just wasps for guerilla style attacks if you wanted.

>>2961760
I would be counting those more as infrastructure really, unless you want to make some kind of field medic drone, but that could go into the [support] role.

>>2961732
Thinkers are more abstracted at this point, and are considered to be including in just about any deployment of significant numbers.

OH and I almost forgot to mention another change, just to be clear, strike craft are also free, their costs will be rolled into the hangars built into your ships, so if you make a carrier with lots of hangar bays, you can choose what kinds of strike craft it will have and the carrier will automatically build and maintain them.

We should also probably make some roles for your strike craft now that I think about it.
>>
>>2961775
>They don't do anything in combat. Support says in combat.
They can heal drones, and preform surgery behind lines to switch drone adaptations. Wasn't there talk of designing a mobile bio tank attached to a heavy honey-pot for combat purposes?
>>
>>2961781
We still have that 100 antikilos of Canderon from thread 12.

How many fighters could we equip with ultrafast gravity drives using that?
>>
>>2961808
Right we still don't know the costs of nonblink drive ships.
>>
>>2961819
We know how much Canderon it takes to equip a 100 meter Corvette like the USV Clarke.

Though wait it was 50 for the drive ring. not 100.

https://ask.fm/QuestDrone/answers/120024310309
>>
>>2961795
The hive is good at medical care, but that and surgery are still far far too slow a process to be called 'in combat'. Changing adaptations takes an entire day.
>>
>>2961808
I feel like canderon is better saved for weapons personally, unless you want human warp drives for espionage ships or something.
>>
>>2961781
Oh, and lastly, I saw someone mention wanting to recall most of their fleets back away from the Eye of Wrath? Did want to send them somewhere in particular?
>>
>>2961862
Actually Warp Drives boost all of our ship's maneuverability on top of being highly maneuverable themselves.
>>
>>2961862
Or special drones that we'll make after researching the gravity iron man suit the Apostles retrieved from Path
>>
>>2961862
Gravity reflection means every ship in the fleet has improved performance with a strong singularity nearby.
>>
>>2961871
No, there's no point, we're doing a mission there right now anyway. As long as we keep out of the range of the psionic moons. We gotta standby in case force is needed if Scavs come back and the mission needs us to buy time while they retrieve something.
>>
>>2961871
How's your heart doing QD?
>>
>>2961871
Hey QD have you ever heard of Cold and Dark rpg?
>>
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>>2961871
Alright, your fleets stay put for now.

I'll be around periodically tomorrow as well, but will be rather busy until this Sunday, in the meantime I'll try and keep up with any discussions, and we will resume the thread proper Sunday at 7pm Eastern time.

>>2961913
Yup, it's fine now. Polymer reinforced in fact.

>>2961938
I have not.
>>
>>2962128
I feel like we need to retrofit some of the ships with containment fields since that got unlocked and would be fitting on some already existing ships.

Like The Tow Truck, Swarm Corvette, Shieldbreaker Frigate, Stalker Corvette.... uh, actually with it being close to as cheap as Rapid Damage Control, maybe it should be on every ship.
>>
>>2962128
C&D is a science fiction rpg in the vein of many of your favorite franchise like Alien, Thing, Dead Space, Doom, Starship Trooper, Pandorum, Mass Effect, Firefly, StarCraft, and several others. The game has a pretty interesting setting and a lot of the mechanics focus heavily on how long they take and how far you reduce that time.

Also what ship class is orbital drop ships?
>>
>>2958920
>You're alive
What the hell man. I missed you.
>>
>>2962128
Hey quest, will you make space defence platform classes at all?

Seens to be the only thing missing from the classification list. Well apart from titan class for that big ass ship we made, though I doubt we need a seperate class for a special one off like that, unless we really go in for our own world ships at some point.
>>
>>2962128
Oh, I had actually wanted to move most of the ships out as a safety measure. Guess I missed the chance to vote, though.
>>
>>2962237
File it under picket
>>
>>2961629
What about Nexus Class and its stratigic movement abilities?
>>
>>2962128
>Yup, it's fine now. Polymer reinforced in fact.
A U G M E N T E D
>>
>>2962128
>Yup, it's fine now. Polymer reinforced in fact.
Did you ask for this?
>>
>>2962624
He had an aorta explode mid thread. He definitely didn't ask for it.
>>
>>2959044
>Data decryption
We should get Theseus in on this. I don't really see a reason we shouldn't.
>>
>>2962128
>Yup, it's fine now. Polymer reinforced in fact.
*Parasite reinforced.

Mother looks after her own.
>>
>>2961518
What about [minelayer]?
>>
>>2963244
Probably fall under the banner of [support]
>>
New Thread on Sunday?
>>
Yes! Its's back. Missed it this time, but looking forward to next thread.
>>
>>2962128
GREETING AUGMENTED HUMAN I AM HAPPY WITH YOUR RETURN QUEST DRONE BEST GOOD QUESTING DRONE GLAD TO SEE YOU RETURNING TO FUNCTIONALITY
human translation(hi quest drone cool new heart happy that you are back you are the best qm that i know about on 4chan and its good to see you in reasonably good health again)
>>
>>2959036
>Psionic Conduction
slow/mildly dangerous
While altering the physical nature of particles has become possible, using highly controlled tachyonic signals it may also be possible to use the projected psionic energy to subtly alter and transfer other forms of energy in a more direct process than kinetic force. Your thinkers believe it may be possible to use alternate sources of energy outside of the target and potentially use tachyonic signals in order to carry that energy to the target. The early experiments have already proven promising, however it may be some time before the thinkers are capable of producing results without causing spontaneous detonations within the laboratory.

Dyson Spheres, here we come
>>
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i had a funny idea we make a "strip club" we dont understand whats "sexy" so as we understand it its a strip bar is where
sapient/sentient beings that are dancing on poles and beings pay to watch that while drinking ability limiting poison liquids while throwing even more money on dancers pic related for the inspiration for the idea also i have a perfect sign for this place
>>
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>>2963659
here is the sign we know that the signs are of athletic females posing that and that space truckers have those also painted to there ships with females from there species so have a humanoid drone that have the clear traits of a female as the sign
>>
>>2963659
>>2963663
>This hilarity
Fund it, I want to see the looks on the humans faces when they find a Hive-run strip club.
>>
also have a idea for the bar section and our possible bartender or the classic loner/flirt at the bar that everyplace has
>>
>>2963669
its funny to see there reactions to the weird stuff the hive tries to mimic and do you think we need a speaker specifically for teens
>>
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>>2963682
because i have on just imagine a mantis with punk spikes and a extra pair of arms talking in the hip lingo and acting like a weird bro
>>
>>2963701
(translation for what a human would say)
>hello brosome do you want to ACQUIRE THE LATEST ILLEGAL SUBSTANCE(get some drugs) or like boose and get like totals wasted and look at FELINES(pussy) and THE BIRD SPECIES CALLED A BLUE BOOB(boobs)
>>
and a idea for the bartender it makes the drinks inside its body and when someone asks for a drink just drink some liquids and eat some food then puke up perfectly normal tasty alcohol in a glass for them to enjoy
>>
You know what I want? To lay a new Queen and send her out to conquer territory to help expand our empire.
>>
Calm your autism, damn.
>>
>>2963880
We've been over this before. Laying a new queen is the shittiest way to expand the empire.
>>
>>2963643
>>2963659
>>2963663
>>2963677
>>2963682
>>2963701
>>2963715
>>2963728
I'm a little concerned at how much thought you've put into this, anon
>>
>>2963925
haha do you think yoshi gets embarrased when he poops out eggs in front of mario?
>>
>>2963910
You have no solid evidence. I've looked through everything QD has said and the worst case scenario with laying a new queen is they act in a neutral.
>>
>>2963939
How about simple fucking logistics. The new queen would have to set up a new logistical network and hierarchy necessarily lowering efficiency in exchange for versatility. If they were to use our existing systems why even have another queen?
>>
>>2963947
>he thinks I want to give them our territory.
I said nothing like that but okay
>thinks us handling everything is a good idea
This has numerous problem attached to it one of we're already running into. We the players handling things lead to many inefficiencies, constantly ignore or over look possibilities (whether they be policies or routes of innovation/invention), and in thread time constraints which people like you constantly reject as a problem even though it's a big issue that the quest constantly suffers. My plan is to send them out into unknown space to get us territory for our empire, to govern it, and to pay tribute to us(tech or resources). Nothing about this plan hurt us or impairs us.
>>
>>2963925
i actually did not it was made up on the spot i just had a random pole dancing mantis with a human and mantis watching
>>
>>2963979
>>he thinks I want to give them our territory.
>I said nothing like that but okay
never fucking implied that.
>We the players handling things lead to many inefficiencies, constantly ignore or over look possibilities (whether they be policies or routes of innovation/invention), and in thread time constraints which people like you constantly reject as a problem even though it's a big issue that the quest constantly suffers.
And your solution is to instead tell the QM to do the thinking for you.
>My plan is to send them out into unknown space to get us territory for our empire, to govern it, and to pay tribute to us(tech or resources). Nothing about this plan hurt us or impairs us.
If it's within an area that we could reasonably send a ship to why wouldn't we just send a drone ship with an advanced relay and resources to colonize it ourselves? The answer is that the game region is constrained due to mechanical limitations of the quest.
>>
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>>2963995
>it was made up on the spot
>just had a random pole dancing mantis with a human and mantis watching

And a
>random hive-looking bug as a bartender
>random strip club sign with a hive-looking bug on it
>random 'cool'-looking hive bug
>>
>>2964008
>And your solution is to instead tell the QM to do the thinking for you.
He does it already with abstractions anon. I want the annoying shit be put into the background, I want to see interesting ideas that get presented but ignored or forgotten see some use or be brought up in story as potential solutions, I want to explore more strange locations with alien lifeforms and tech, etc. You seem to think I want to eliminate player choice which is a gross misrepresentation.
>If it's within an area that we could reasonably send a ship to why wouldn't we just send a drone ship with an advanced relay and resources to colonize it ourselves? The answer is that the game region is constrained due to mechanical limitations of the quest.
>Mechanical limitations
Do you actually think that's only problem here? We are being watched by our greatest enemy, we have limited resources and a war to fight, we are inefficient at times and very impulsive, exploration is a potential danger to us with all the psionic shit around, etc. We have many problems limiting us which you are unable to recognize.
I just want another hive we can off load some risks to with plenty of potential gain to us, can go off and do things on it's own without us micromanaging, and not take up too much thread time. Does that sound unreasonable?
>>
Realistically, unless we give any new queen a leg up with resources, it would take months for her to get to a point where she would have a fleet.

But the Scarred Queen is already experienced and in a position to do things, so why a third or more?
>>
>>2964071
if you want the QM to do more abstraction then say so. Don't try to package another queen into the thing as if it makes sense from an efficiency standpoint.
>Do you actually think that's only problem here? We are being watched by our greatest enemy, we have limited resources and a war to fight, we are inefficient at times and very impulsive, exploration is a potential danger to us with all the psionic shit around, etc.
None of this would be solved with a new queen. It would be far more likely that they'd die while provoking or even worse giving our enemies information about hive tech.
>>
I just realized something. We haven't told Theseus that we have rez'd Seiner. To make matters even more awkward, Theseus made it clear that he would prefer Seiner to be dead.
>>
>>2964217
We can always tell him something along the lines of "We brought him back into this world to torture and dissect him. The fact that he could interface 'safely' with the Old Hive tech was a bonus, and has made him an asset."
>>
>>2964118
>It would be far more likely that they'd die while provoking or even worse giving our enemies information about hive tech.
Our biggest enemy doesn't give a fuck about hive tech beyond destroying any hive lifeform and my plan doesn't involve putting our progeny near the factions would be interested in hive tech. Hell I not even concerned if they die beyond ending up in enemy hands.
>None of this would be solved with a new queen.
And that's where our clearly diverge. Most of our problems is we have no one we can effectively compare and test our ideas with. Human factions are ridiculously inefficient, Unity too different from carbon life to properly do this with, the Scarred Hive is too stagnant creativity wise to offer this, honestly the only thing I could think of that we could do this with is a new hive and that's not even getting into the political problems of trying it with nonhive life. As for being watch by our enemy I think we could get away with hiding a newly laid on a far away planet with some effort who we can connect to with a quantum relay to keep in contact with.

Now that I think of it laying new hives will probably give more potential for research because I'm pretty certain most of the human scientists will just act as modifiers rather than give additional dice/research slots.

>>2964096
She actually meh. She's got experience yes but she's also one of the hives of the old stagnant empire which means she has less potential than a new one. I want hives that are creative more than ones with experience.
>>
>>2964217
We put him on the shortest leash imaginable and removed him and all his influence in union space. In fact, if he wants to take a new name to go along with his new body, it would not be inappropriate. He ended up experiencing a similar kind of discontinuity that Theseus instances do. Whether this is the same Seiner as before is an interesting philosophical question, but it still does not change that we did kill him.

His murder removed him as a problem, but his "resurrection" is his attonement.
>>
What is with the obsession of making a new queen? Is it just one guy?
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>>2964596
I believe so yes.
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>>2964596
probably
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>>2964596
Appears to be.
>>
I just want to be a mother, is that really too much to ask for? I dont even have a good reason for it. I just want space bug baby. Give it to me.
>>
You know an interesting thing about the presidium is that we could technically at last have a way of giving non-psionic beings our "true" name in the form of a theater play.
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>>2960458
Sounds like an obsidian queen probe.
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>>2964688
but Mother already is a mother, to billions of happy little children.
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>>2964832
keep reading.
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>>2964018
just have a folder tagged bugs and the mantis pole dance is a FTL comic
>>
also a idea for diplomats we make irkens
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>>2965055
Gross and gay. Go away, Dont come back.
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>>2965055
wrong picture
at least it would be interesting working with cyborg hive life
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>>2965063
No u
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>>2965063
i dont know trying to think of something but having a cyborg hive lifeforms would be interesting and we could go for the more humanoid way so humans are more comfortable
>>
or we can go more human on a mantis hybrid
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>>2965094
we need to be fancy and varied for the tour guides and servants due to humans having a hard time seeing the difference between our children also a way for the humans to have a personal guide
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>>2965094
>>2965169
The appearance of our fluffy diplomatic speakers has already been decided, long ago.
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>>2965180
i know but this is going to be more official and fancy so why not personal custom speakers and humans are really bad at differentiating between hive lifeforms so if not custom speakers should we do custom fur patterns and lengths and clothes like robes?
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>>2965223
you're fighting a losing battle anon. The players have very strict expectations for how they want the quest to be and how they want them to look and woe to anyone who has a differing opinion
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does anyone have the picture of the latest speaker?
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>>2965293
It's somewhere between threads 55 to 60, iirc
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>>2965293
How about in this thread? >>2962128
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>>2965406
thanks but we are going to give them scarves and stuff like that
>>2965427
huh so thats the latest version was there not a picture of this creature?
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>>2965055
>>2965066
I think that appearance is the opposite of a diplomatic approach.
>>
Night of the second day.

22 hours remaining.
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>>2965837
yeah cant find a good picture and i got bored of searching so i was drawing and i am trash when dealing with legs so this is what i made while waiting
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>>2964596
>obsession
So wanting something you think is fun is an obsession.
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>>2964018
any alien bug looks like a hive bug if they are not to overly human like
>>
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>>2968787
actually kind of true hive possibly dicked around in the next dimension and it bit them in there waste ejection orifice
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>>2964485
Nah just fucking give it up mate. More queens will just lead to strife later, look at how the fucking society worked before. Queens were having phone conferences at the same time they were stabbing each other in the back and stealing planets from each other. The Hive is naturally competitive and civil war is what defines their society. Why the fuck would we want to start the galaxy down that path again? It's already bad enough that we have the old queen under our thumb. Exactly ANYTHING another queen can do, we can do ourselves. We're a hivemind with unlimited multitasking ability, you only need allies, vassals and henchmen for tasks you cannot do yourself. Unfortunately for you, we can do /everything/.
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>>2968970
if we make a queen and that queen can make more queens its going to escalate eventually
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>>2965169
Why is there a koala on his head
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>>2968987
what are you talking about
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>>2968987
>>2969004
wtf? also a idea for more primitive settler world we have transport bugs like the function of a elephant and a horse cart but eats less and possibly puking up medical paste and other medicine
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>>2969004
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>>2969094
Now I can't unsee that. Thanks.


Unrelatedly, anyone sel been having issues with captcha on threads that have been open awhile?
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>>2969094
thats a triangle of eyes with a triangle patch of yellow around it of smoother exoskeleton the pattern does not have ears like a koala the shadow of the hat edge gives that illusion of ears follow with your eyes the edge of the patch
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>>2969135
He didn't mean a literal koala
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>>2969116
like what thread?
>>2969144
i know i mean the pattern does not even look slightly like a koala if you ignore the different shade near the edge of the hat it makes it look nearly look like ears with a quick glance but if you look closer its just a soft triangle
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>>2969158
I've got about half a dozen threads open. Recently, the longer it's been since a thread was refreshed, the laggier captcha on that thread gets. A refresh fixes it, but it's still a pain.
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>>2969176
i have no idea could it be to many tabs or something? i have no real idea also because i refresh routinely
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>>2968970
Not actually correct. Most of the reason the ancient queens won against the Enemy was their philosophy that led to shit you are arguing about. They constantly tested each other, probing for weaknesses, and strengthening themselves which was one of the best policies but failed due to the lack of unity. The reason the old queens fell is part stagnation and compliance because of how slowly they took things and eventually one of the leaders decided to rush and at the rate we're going we'll likely suffer the same fate. Infighting isn't as big a problem as you think since it gets tech tested and tactics refined. The bigger problem was that lack of focus on unity. Of course that is easy enough to remedy while the current fragility of our empire can only be solved by more queens. Hell QD on ask has more or less said that a newly laid queen would act an ally to us just as Unity, Heretic, and Scarred Queen are so the only real problem is if we lay too many (which I don't consider a problem because more queens is an advantage in my eyes).
>>2968982
I think you misunderstand something. I don't see more queens as a problem and I never have. I see them as tools with many uses like distracting the BBEG and it's minions, developing new techs and tactics (because our tactics that aren't stealth are shit) for us to use, and fodder for testing the psionic cannon rather than risking ourselves. There are many other advantages purely mechanical and narrative in nature but these are the main reasons that I know about so far.
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>>2969492
But any Queen we lay can then lay their own. Hive tech was stagnant for millennia because for all their bio engineering, their solution to a problem was to consume more resources and spawn more units.

We have human thinkers and a great deal of enemies whose tech we steal and refine, the hives were just sending drones to kill each other and making very minute adjustments, if any. Hive stagnancy was because they didn't interact with other races and were seemingly incapable of learning from others. Hubris, pride, arrogance, complacency? What could possibly stand against an unending tide of billions of giant bugs? The Hives were so big they were incapable of being threatened by anyone not of the Big Three. We started small and had to adapt to lesser races and we saw the potential there and stole it for ourselves.

I'll thank the ancient Queens for giving us the basic drones that we have already improved to such a degree that they're unrecognizable, but we don't need to bring back the hive race. We are enough.
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>>2969561
>we don't need to bring back the hive race. We are enough
Until we hit our psionic-bandwidth max

There actually is a limit to what a single queen can accomplish, even with our billions of Thinkers and Q-Thinkers.

We just likely won't hit that point soon in the quests life. Without daughters we would will reach the max of what we can oversee before it starts crumbling at the edges.

The things a single Hive can accomplish are immense, but there are still limits anon. Trust the Word of God on this
>>
ok then lets spawn and raise a princess when the time is right and lets not forget to use decoys
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>>2969561
I’d have to agree. Realistically speaking, we’re not going to become stagnant any time soon, at the rate we’re going. Most of the advantages that would come from more Queens would be easily one-upped by just doing it ourselves. If the old hives died due to a lack of unity, what greater unity is there then having everything under one or two Queens? More troops? We could probably use the space a new Queen would take up far more efficiently then they would to produce more, better troops. Distractions for our enemies? How would that be any different then just painting some of our troops and pretending they’re different? Or just using the space that distraction would take up to build up the resources to crush the enemy in question. If they produced the Psi Cannon for us, how do we know the Void dudes wouldn’t just wipe out all Hive life forms, just to be safe, and render pawning it off on them pointless when we could probably develop it faster ourselves? Infighting’s a good thing if we were playing as the entire race, but we’re just one specific Queen. It’d be us against them, and if we happened to lose, quest over, or we’d be subordinate to them for ages before we rebelled.
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>>2969619
and lets make sure we dont get betrayed and not queen spammming like the old ones and we only do it when we have no other option and i like the idea of fake hive politics with simply recoloring and decoy queens in those colors
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>>2969609
>Until we hit our psionic-bandwidth max
>There actually is a limit to what a single queen can accomplish, even with our billions of Thinkers and Q-Thinkers.
False.QD has stated we have no limit on bandwidth or processing power. I think he saw AI Quest's endless pursuit of bandwidth and decided to nip that in the bud.
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>>2969094
This is a speaker designed to interact with Australians.
The koala is to help put them at ease
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>>2969619
Yes, let's do it after the quest has concluded.
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>we don't get to see the other scouting pods
When do we get a vote prompt on whether to look at them?
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>>2963939
We already have a princess/false queen on rahglia. We also have adopted the scarred queen. I can understand the desire to spread mother's love but we are getting big enough that things like these should be done only after a majority consensus. Though fleshing out the character of our existing secondary queen would be neat.
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>>2969738
oh yeah we have two queens and a few decoys its a long time until we need another one
>>
also did we ever deliver that item to that emotional wale leech merchant?
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>>2964893
Voidborn and OQ shenanigans is what I read there.
I can't wait to see the effect hive services will have on the greater economic balance once we start setting up trade hubs everywhere. I can see it now: Form Other solutions, logistics, security, civil and military, construction, aggroculture, so so many potential ways to make the universe collectively shit bricks.

>>2965094
Thinker we have chimera for hybrids, and fluffy moth speakers similar to the moth people from Metroid prime 2 in form just with more bulk to their frame. Think a worker and fluffy cute moth combined, give them trolltastic wit and a plethora of colors and u have a speaker.
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>>2969745
We don't have any decoys though. The Enemy can see through any bullshit you try to pull. Also the point of laying a queen now or soon is we have more to work with later so one queen is nowhere near enough.
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>>2969738
Those decoys are useless against a psionic threat.
>>2969626
I actually have an answer and a simple one at that.
FOR THE EMPIRE.
Basically go full fascist against a empire level threat teaching them that too much selfishness will lead to the deaths of everyone in the empire.
Another option we could do is give them their own sentients to look after to help curb the more violent tendencies in our children, hell if they do well enough we could use that to D&C the Human Factions by presenting a queen as a leader as the best representative for their ideologies and desires.
>>2969561
That right in some places and wrong in others. A queen laying more is a sign they are breaking off of our dynasty to make their own. Which QD has said is the "worst case scenario" (us fucking up bad enough) and is still a neutral action. I'm serious when I said I couldn't find anything that QD said that makes laying a new queen a bad idea of and in itself.
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>>2969820
The will never be a point where one queen is not enough. Anything they can do, we can do better.
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>>2969928
>I'm serious when I said I couldn't find anything that QD said that makes laying a new queen a bad idea of and in itself
Can confirm he has never said it's a bad idea
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>>2969950
>The will never be a point where one queen is not enough
You mean it's a point we haven't reached yet. (and probably won't reach in this quest)

Never say never, anon
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>>2962128
>>2960642
Anderson quickly arches his back, pushing at his hip with his hands as several loud cracking sounds company a sudden and brief dizziness.

“You take care now!” The farmer shouts from his truck as the engine pops and continues down the road, leaving Anderson on the dirt road of the small town. It is but a single road, surrounded on all sides by farmland and fallow fields, and most of the buildings seem to consist of silos and automated storage facilities. A large bright yellow flying drone hovers overhead, slowly anchoring itself to the top of a grain silo before dumping its cargo inside, and then floating away, back to whichever farm it came from. Anderson strains his eyes to see a string of words painted on its side in white.

Lee Valley Farms

A fly quickly dives off to follow the craft, a massive quad-copter drone the size of a small house. Anderson meanwhile makes his way into one of the few inhabited buildings, a small convenience store along the side of the dirt road. He moves to the back and looks through the refrigerator for something to drink, and notices several shelves of various kinds of milk, all the same Lee Valley Farms brand, and with the face of David Richardson plastered across the labels, with fine print at the bottom.

“All net proceeds go to the Richardson Election fund”

Anderson grabs a large bottle of flavored electrolyte water and walks to the front counter. The man at the register is old, or at least looks old, with a scruffy, grey beard and hair pulled into a ponytail and a visored hat on his head marked with the brand of some kind of farm equipment manufacturer. A bottle of soda sits on the counter surface next to him, half filled with chewed tobacco, and he spits into it as Anderson approaches.

"Find er'rything alright?" He asks, a missing tooth causing a slight whistle.

"Yes. I uh, wast looking to find the Richardson election HQ actually. I was wanting to volunteer to help out."

"Nearest one here'd be the Lee ranch. Noticed you hitchhikin', prob'ly want to take a zipper the rest of the way."

"A what?" Anderson asks. "Um, yea, thanks. I'm not entirely sure if I know the way."

Anderson pays for the drink, and the man quickly types something into a small screen behind the register, and gives him a receipt, as well as a small ticket with an address on it and a barcode at the bottom. A few minutes later, as Anderson finishes his drink on the curb out front as he watches farming equipment pass along the road and churn away at the surrounding crop fields, a driverless vehicle pulls up to the store and lets out a rather curious beep as a barcode scanner flips out of its door handle. Anderson waves the ticket over it, and the door opens. He is rather surprised there is such a service this far outside of.... anywhere, and as he gets in the address is read out onto the front windshield, and the car quickly moves off with the buzzing of an old electric motor.

cont.
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>>2969950
Incorrect. You assume that we are perfect when we are not, a hives biggest limit is their philosophy they live by and our has big weakness that I'm pretty will be the death of our. That kind of arrogance kill the past empires.
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>>2969969
I'm perfectly fine with the hive race dying with us. They're intergalactic locusts.
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>>2969965
Hey QD you want to weight in here on what you think since you are the only objective source we can rely on.
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>>2969976
Sure thing mister V. Oid.
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>>2969976
Fuck off and die. Everythi
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>>2969980
Wow you are off the mark
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>>2969977
Essentially everyone else disagrees with you.
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>>2969986
did you accidentally post with the wrong proxy?
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>>2969976
Found the Void corrupted agent, recycling time
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>>2969976
>Totally okay with our species extinction
>Thinks Hive is nothing but space locusts
>Ignores the multiple wonders, super science and mega structures nearly every queen has achieved
Mother frowns at you!
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>>2969976
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>>2969986
that's embarrassing
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>>2969976
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>>2969987
No? I have a few other people here that want to lay queens but don't care what argument they use. I actually care about the arguments and >>2969626 this is blatantly ignores the entirity of what the quest has proven. The enemy can't just destroy us whenever they want.
>>2969992
No? I'm not using a proxy. That is completely different person.
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>>2969965
Of course he landed near Lee's hive. It's a small planet after all.
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>>2969976
You are a bad thinker and you make mother sad.
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>>2969976


that was naughty
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>>2969980
You just can't deal with differing opinions can you?

>>2969980
I mean, after we beat the void. I'm still trying to win, but I don't see how a new hive empire is any better for the universe than a void victory. Just line life to its fullest. If we don't have to compete with other hives maybe we won't leave galactic wastelands in our wake and destroy lesser races in collateral.

If we fuck up and we lose the war, well, at least the war is over.
>>
i dont remember why we are here
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>>2970028
Why did the enemy use such a roundabout method to destroy the last Hive empire? Why didn't they just mind control all of them? I have a few ideas one of which is that they actually fear the rise of another Hive empire and that they can't directly destroy it another is there are other hives fighting against the enemy keeping it occupied and once it dies they will come straight to us and challenge us for the fate of the universe.
>>
>>2969976
Nobody's ever traveled between galaxies in this quest, anon.
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>>2970048
Priest running for the election is probably a void cultist. We're investigating him at Lee's house.
>>
>>2970059
thanks for reminding me and religion is kind of evil here due to the evil god like entities they can be tricked into obeying
>>
>>2969965
Hey wait, flies can get DNA samples from Talgoans to test for Void hybridization by stinging people.

They alter human DNA the same as we do after all, in order to make their muscles stronger and faster and their brains susceptible to psionic signals.
>>
>>2970054
>>2969976
Yeah the word you're looking for is Interstellar, traveling between stars
>>
>>2970072
oh yeah just spawn tiny bugs and we can easily check
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>>2970072
Here's a better idea. We get a bunch of mosquitos.
>>
>>2970028
>maybe we won't leave galactic wastelands in our wake and destroy lesser races in collateral.
Firstly all the hive inflicted environmental catastrophe we've seen in this quest has been the work of one single queen, the Obsidian queen. Beyond that the hives have been far, far more beneficial to indigenous life throughout the galaxy than any other comparable life form. The gardener protected the Ralighans, the Barren Queen defended the Phantoms out of a sense of personal duty to them.

Contrast that with the Cluster which periodically devours entire ecosystems to sustain themselves, and the fucking Void.
>>
>>2970072
While the void does augment humans, I suspect it is for a different reason. At the stage human brains were crystals at Nowhere, besides the brain they didn't seem physically different. I suspect that the reason the human's brains were crystalized is that the failsafes the White Queen put into human DNA means they cannot be made psionically sensitive through less obvious means.

To use an analogy the Void is forced to replace "hardware" to make humans psionically sensitive rather than just installing psionic "software," so this might mean that the heart of a void cult is indeed identifiable by those physical differences.
>>
>>2970083
I tend to view it like this. The Cluster is biologically ascendant and the Enemy is technologically ascendant but the Hive bring tech, biology, and philosophies together to become societally ascendant.
>>
>>2970093
and if they change anything its noticeable due to how stunted humans are psionically the3y cant even be controlled without putting in crystals
>>
It's far more accurate to say that the original hives were farmers. Cultivating planets to enable them to support new life and later harvesting it for genetic information.
>>
>>2970093
Hm, that would explain why Lee, Elizabeth, and that one Agent Yune needed to have implants and (eventual) gene mods to become psionically senstive
>>
>>2970112
humans where made as blank spots by the mcs mother
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>>2970110
Incorrect. Cluster was the original farmer. Hives were more like the Celestial Bureaucracy. The founders of the original civilization that all civilizations are based on.
>>
>>2970110
I mean that's literally what the cluster did, they'd seed new worlds, control evolution and then strip them bare of all interesting adaptations. Then they sold it to the old queens
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>>2970122
Well duh, I know about Mama White Queen.

If I knew about Yune I think you could assume I knew about WQ lol
>>
>>2969965
The zipper is a seemingly small and quiet vehicle, but as it moves out is becomes clear it is far more robust than any driverless public conveyance Anderson had ever seen before. The exterior seemed to be a high end metal alloy, almost like a kind of armor instead of the flimsy plastic of modern metropolitan vehicles, and the glass is surprisingly thick and layered with a screen film projecting a range of data on the vehicle itself, the destination, and the surrounding environment as well as the local news from a variety of different sources. Anderson quickly skims through it as he looks over the map of his projected route, a roughly two hour trip which passes through a large yellow spot labeled a "decontamination zone" with several strange warning symbols that he has never seen before.

He looks over the headlines for anything that may be illuminating.

Richardson up in latest polls as Parliament votes to cede to xeno empire.
[Local Founding Family hosts Richardson election field office, publicly backs campaign after reported death of son, other families follow.
Prodigal son lives! Lee family son revealed Xeno ambassador in surprise visit.
INVASION! Says Richardson as alien armada orbits Gemini, disrupts weather patterns.
Richardson cuts ties with Green party, founds Homestead party, Green voter registration collapses overnight.
Recent Dharius environmental infestation blamed on General Power oil tanker traffic, CEO blames eco-terrorists.
Red Zone shrinks 15% as Talgo official declare war on infestation, expect 'no more red zones by next week' Yellow Zones still a problem.

Anderson spreads the headlines out and scans the pages, allowing you to burn them to memory as he focuses on reading the more interesting of them himself.

cont.

>>2969977
Just about everyone involved is largely correct. There is a point at which a Hive Queen will begin to struggle to expand her hive, but that limit is so vastly large that this quest will likely be over before you reach it, so it's not an issue of major consideration. Beyond that, everyone seems to just be saying correct things, but with their own opinions. Determining what policies you wish to go for and how your own opinions determine what path you wish to go down is half the fun of running a quest.

The other half is violence. Violence for Mother.
>>
>>2970141
ooh I want to know what kind of infestation that is.
>>
>>2970093
I mean you're not exactly wrong but human brains can be manipulated as-is, it's just not a long-term solution. Altering human brains is just plain more efficient and reliable than psionic imprinting.

All life seeded by the Three seems to have been designed from the ground up to have nervous systems that can be manipulated by their creators with psionics.

But psionic imprinting is unreliable and since WQ's meddling overuse causes brain damage to humans. It works just great in the short-term, during which you can convince them to 'synthesize this in a lab and inject this right into your veins' or whatever it takes to turn them into a far more reliable Possessed permanent mind slave.
>>
>>2970141
>Prodigal son lives!

Nobody knows what prodigal actually means anymore.
>>
>>2970153
possible hunting time when there is a warning from humans thats a dinner bell ringing for us
>>
>>2970159
well it is the future.
>>
>>2970159
prodigal
ˈprɒdJɡ(ə)l/Skicka
adjective
1.
spending money or using resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.
"prodigal habits die hard"
synonymer: wasteful, extravagant, spendthrift, improvident, imprudent, immoderate, profligate, thriftless, excessive, intemperate, irresponsible, self-indulgent, reckless, wanton
"prodigal habits die hard"
2.
having or giving something on a lavish scale.
"the dessert was prodigal with whipped cream"
synonymer: generous, lavish, liberal, unstinting, unsparing, bountiful; Mer
noun
1.
a person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.
"the government wished to clip the wings of the local authority prodigals"
also its a weird jesus thing i think?
>>2970167
words are already losing meaning irl so in the future there is going to be mostly people that mimic the word without understanding it and its passed down generations and no one can explain it just Vaughnly force it in
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>>2970159
I'm glad my fictional newspaper writers are as frustrating to read for you as real ones are to me. Mission accomplished.
>>
>>2970159
The dictionaries are probably in on it in the 31st century.
>>
>>2970175
prodigal son
noun [ C usually singular ] UK /ˌprɒd.J.ɡəl ˈsʌn/ US /ˌprɑː.dJ.ɡəl ˈsʌn/

a man or boy who has left his family in order to do something that the family disapprove of and has now returned home feeling sorry for what he has done:

figurative The prodigal son has returned to the team after a three-year absence.
>>2970176
yeah
>>2970185
probably only know its something vaguely jesus and its some holy word about sons
>>
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>>2970176
>>2970175
>>2970167
>>2970185
>>2970190
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>>2970159
>>2970175
It's like no one realizes words change meanings rather rapidly.

Just look at how Bugs Bunny changed the word Nimrod with a single cartoon
>>
>>2970175
It's a bible parable, but is used to mean the same thing. If the author in question were not just tossing out buzzwords it could be considered a veiled insult at calling Ryan Lee a liberal cityfolk hipster.

Anyways, still writing, but goddamn it feels like there's a lot more discussion than usual tonight.
>>
>>2970199
Jealousy originally meant to guard something you care about greatly.
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>>2970205
Because people were reinvigorated due to your return compared to normal when you are a more common sight.
>>
>>2970205
I disagree with the "veiled" part of that.
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>>2970205
You caught everyone in the middle of pissing about.
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>>2970214
To be fair, it still kinda means that
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>>2970214
still kind of does but its now guard jealously when doing that and also another word for envy its kind of unnecessary
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>>2970227
I think the association with envy was deliberate sabotage but I can't prove it.
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>>2970224
i agree on that and as a example when you are jealous of a friend to your girlfriend its kind of the same still but it can be used as a more fancy word for envy but thats more from people not really knowing the meaning or seeing the difference
>>
>>2970205
I wonder how would people feel about the hive putting out no nonsense news reports.
>>
>>2970141
>Recent Dharius environmental infestation blamed on General Power oil tanker traffic, CEO blames eco-terrorists.
>Red Zone shrinks 15% as Talgo official declare war on infestation, expect 'no more red zones by next week' Yellow Zones still a problem.

Considering what's going on a few light-minutes away on Path RIGHT NOW, one has to wonder what sort of infestation we're talking about here.

Although to be perfectly fair, this is space florida here, so it could be damn near anything.
>>
>>2970240
what NPR with a speaker?
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>>2970240
Well we'll have some humans in our sphere of influence now so a news network for them wouldn't be impossible. Of course the news would mostly be foreign news.
>>
actually jealously still has the same meaning just unknowing people are muddling them together jealously is more when you precive something as yours and envy when its clearly another persons thing you want just people mixing them and switching them around
>>2970251
true pic related
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>>2970256
i fully expect things like these super predator or thing that reproduces like crazy
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>>2970263
>>2970256
even weird trucking mutant looking things
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>>2970253
>NPR
>not blatant liars like all news
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>>2970269
HPR
Hive Public Radio
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>>2970269
Eh, they're a damn sight better than for profit cable news networks, not that that's saying a whole lot.
>>
Also should we abuse the moe anthropomorphic for our own benefit?
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>>2970308
*Moe anthropomorphic phenomenon
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>>2970308
>should we abuse [anything]?
Yes.
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>>2970308
so make anthro beings as guides and stuff?
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>>2970308
No, I like scaring humans more than being cute.
>>
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>>2970141
Anderson pulls up the stories on the local infestations at your insistence and studies the information in greater detail. It goes on to discuss various potential legal penalties and the stock ramifications of this General Power company, which apparently ships oil and oil based products from Talgo's moon, the low-gravity world of Dharius known for its excessive and exotic life, including its massive arthropodal creatures. This is apparently not the first time it has happened, although fortunately, Talgo's own gravity is too great for the creatures to grow to full size, and its atmospheric content lacks the level of oxygen needed for them to survive long enough to reproduce for multiple generations, still, it is not uncommon for a next or two to be found, and the resulting young tend to plague local farmers.

As Anderson finishes reading several of the related stories, the Zipper begins drifting to the side of the road, slowing down as it drives along the shoulder of the road as a warning light flashes softly on the dash.

WARNING: Emergency vehicle traffic incoming

A moment later several tanks mounted with plasma throwers on their turrets drive by in a convoy, as well as several military jeeps carrying PDF troops in hazmat equipment carrying compact projectile weapons and handheld flame weapons. Anderson looks on with some growing concern as the Zipper continues on, passing several PDF troops in the process of torching a number of trees in a large apple grove. Anderson looks through the smoke, spotting several large corpses of some insectoid looking creature, like a dead spider curled up along the road the size of a car, charred and still in flames. Other trees are covered in some kind of webbing, filled with what are clearly eggs wrapped in a silk substance. They make a screaming noise as they burst into flames, and occasionally a small, multi-limbed creature flops out of a tree, thrashing about before a PDF trooper shoots it with a short burst of his weapon.

The area passes relatively fast, and the Zipper quickly picks up speed again as the convoy passes, the smoke clearly, although still visible in the distance as the vehicle continues along the road up a large hill, until it passes a large sign along the side of the road.

Lee Valley

The sign is made from a sizable chunk of sheet metal painted green and bolted to a metal pole standing over some manner of monument, a set of rather ancient looking hibernation pods, two designed for human use, both laminated in some carbon polymer. Their name plates are barely legible as the vehicle moves past, but Anderson manages to adjust his eyes just enough to make it out.

Jebediah Springfield Lee
Maria Isabella Lee

cont.
>>
We could setup real wargaming with drones. Sell groups of little drones with a thinker variant for the 'controller' for fighter with other groups.
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>>2970317
Waifufaggotry is a powerful force.
WE HARNESS IT FOR MOTHER
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>>2970321
reminds me of that spider event in ftl
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>>2970308
You know those body pillows? Those extremely expensive figurines? We could make them real, living creatures. Instant cash cow.
>>
>>2970330
oh yeah and we can make to order wifes and pets
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>>2970333
"Escorts" not wives.
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>>2970338
ok thats even better
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>>2970319
Moot point. The Green pro-xeno hippies already make cute large-eyed pictures of adorable bugs for their protests against the anti-hive militants.

The humans make the hive moe and wage cute warfare all on their own.
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>>2970321
Well better cocoon a fly into a small egglayer far away, far far away from these contamination zones.

Though as soon as possible when we find a suitable nesting point. We need a lot more flies.
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>>2970345
we must go out to them offering food and pillows
>>2970351
good idea its a good monitoring system and we can integrate them in the eco system like a new species
>>
We need to make speakers even more pathologically cute than ever. Like, so cute you vomit rainbows cute
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>>2970345
That was when they still thought we were just stone age bugs
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>>2970338
If you think about the benefits of our parasites and health care we can offer to our subjects, hive living will be the biggest game changer for prostitution since the invention of the condom.
>Total immunity to all STDs
>No risk of unwanted pregnancy
>Instant communication with drones, in case they get a violent john
>Completely removes any need for pimps
>Ability to change their physique and appearance at will with augmentation
>Eternal youth, so they don't feel like their wasting it whoring

Seriously first chance we get we should round up all those prostitutes on Bedrock and everywhere else in the expanse and aggressively market the benefits of our spine pals to them. Paying for sex will never have been easier or safer.
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>>2970375
If you want that then you need to go to the Taidarens.
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>>2970371
I'm imagining something that would've been too weaponized cute to put on a lisa frank lunchbox
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>>2970375
How would a parasite prevent crabs?
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>>2970387
secreting a crab killing liquid or just posion what they eat from the human
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>>2970373
Yeah, I agree there's a big difference between being friendly towards "cute" bugs and being friendly towards the giant dangerous space bug armada. Right now everyone in the Union is either terrified of us or furious at us. We have hardly made any friendly overtures. We really ought to try being nice bugs for a change (like we are with most other factions...)
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>>2970396
We've been plenty nice to them. Or as nice as you can be while scolding them for almost destroying the galaxy and telling them to not fuck with things they don't understand.
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>>2970405
Oh for sure we didn't actually shoot them or anything. But we did demand a huge chunk of territory for nothing in exchange and are allied with their greatest enemies. We should try to demonstrate coexistence has its benefits and we aren't just going to be hard-line anti Union forever.
>>
>>2970396
We can be as nice as we want to with Operation: Mother Knows Best as soon as the sovereignty transfer is finally goddamn complete.

Since that's the public relations raising one to make them all stop worrying and love their bugmom.
>>
>>2970415
Why not go public with shooting down the Mirage
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>>2970420
Because humans only believe what they want to believe. Anyone who doesn't want to believe it will just say we faked the footage.
>>
>>2970420
See
>>2970429
It would certainly be decried as fake unless we had at least some buy in from the Union establishment. As is, it is good blackmail material at least.

>>2970415
Oh agreed they need to give up the Expanse planets and (more importantly) their remaining void artifacts before we play nice. Luckily that should happen soon ("today", I think?)
>>
>>2970429
You do realize they are using that to push for the war with the Commonwealth right? If we say it was to assassinate the Green leader most people will just assume it was Commonwealth if we give no other info.
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>>2970443
Meant to reply to >>2970419 not to myself in the last sentence. My bad.
>>
>>2970443
One human who we could probably stand to let in on it is Alder herself. If anything she should know just how willing Killinger is to go after her.

Plus, she is the most pro Xeno political leader in the Union government right now, couldn't hurt.
>>
>>2969928
Those decoys are able to gestate into a new queen should we fuck up hard enough. We have the contingency in place thinker, so calm your baby fever and instead of insisting on a new queen come up with a design for a thinker egglayer set up to use remotely, or any other form of autonomous set up that does NOT require a queen.
More queens= more potential threats to our dynasty. More queens= a great deal more planning and calculation from QD, who bless his augmented heart, is already acting as our psuedo computer running a goddn civ game on the scale of a 4x game.
So plz thinker calm your self and stop trying to fight the consensus, instead work with it.
>>
>>2970461
Was pro xeno when the only major xeno power known to man were the whale clans,

Now that we showed up and bloody well tossed the union into the trash can after giving them a wedgie i aint sure what she can back
>>
>>2970429
>>2970443
Have you guys never paid attention to how the war starts or how the news spun it?
>>2970468
Incorrect. Our biology doesn't work that way.
>>
>>2970321
The valley beyond is quite sizable, with several more of the large yellow cargo drones flying over a small mountain range in the distance over fields of various crops. Orange trees grow in large groves where machines with spider-like arms set on the end of a large metal pole extending from a wide automated vehicle. In other fields, large combines move through various crops of wheat, while in the distance large grasslands shift with roaming herds of cattle many kilometers away. Spread out across the large valley are various structures, silos, barns, maintenance sheds, and various compounds and storage units. The Zipper's map indicates the target destination to be a rather large compound near the middle of the valley, at the end of the road. It is composed of a number of buildings, with several two and three story structures built along the perimeter, with a large, old looking prefab-structure near the center topped with a large communications array featuring a satellite dish and several freestanding radio towers. Behind it you see, broken by the line of sight of the buildings themselves, a runway with a small fixed wing aircraft set inside a hangar under a layer of thick tarps, and several shuttle landing pads, two empty, one filled with an old looking cargo craft, and the last pad a much smaller, but equally old and rusted looking personal transport shuttle.

As the zipper makes it near the halfway point of the compound, a hoard of nearly a dozen dogs charges the vehicle, barking wildly as they run along side it. Anderson watches them nervously as the vehicle brakes periodically, beeping at the hounds as they swarm over it until it comes to a stop in front of the compound's main building. An old man rocks back and forth in an equally old rocking chair on the front porch, his left leg an old plastic prosthetic of simple design, almost little more than a peg leg, his skin a rough, tan hide like well worn leather, and on his head is a Richardson campaign cap.

The man seems to watch the dogs bark and howl at the Zipper and the unknown intruder into their domain with some level of humorous schadenfreude before he spits out a glob of chewing tobacco into a bucket at his side and lets out an incredibly loud whistle that brings all the dogs back to him with an almost military level of discipline as they circle around his rocking chair, tails wagging. The old man raises a hand to wave at Anderson, and it is then you notice a pump action shotgun slung over his lap, balanced against the armrests of his chair.

>Speak to the man (write in)
>Get out and approach the compound
>Other
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>>2970472
Well, first we have to pick them out of the trash can a little and maybe wipe some of the garbage and shit off. It'll at least give *some* cover for people who may back us.
>>
>>2970477
>Speak to the man (write in)
Be polite and use your manners
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>>2970472
Regardless of our gun boat diplomacy, she has consistently pressed for peace with the Commonwealth, preservation of alien ecosystems, and generally not acting hostile to foreign organizations. That's far more in common with our position than anyone else in Parliament.

It's worth is a shot, is all I'm saying.
>>
>>2970468
>More queens= more potential threats to our dynasty. More queens= a great deal more planning and calculation from QD, who bless his augmented heart, is already acting as our psuedo computer running a goddn civ game on the scale of a 4x game.
This is incorrect as well. More Queen laid being a threat is only your opinion and a wrong one from my perspective. Most of calculations are likely simple dice rolls since you forget QD is the Ultimate Eternal GM and is likely capable of handling worse. He also would likely find it incredibly fun to roleplay more queens since they are his favorite faction anyway.
>>
>>2970477
>>Get out and approach the compound
Anderson is on a mission here, better get to it.
>>
>>2970488
Agreed, we can be nice to Alder, although we should do it in private since publicly being nice to her would likely cause severe damage to the Green's political prospects given the circumstances.

>>2970477
>Speak to the man (write in) Say a polite greeting
>Get out and approach the compound
>>
>>2970477
>>Speak to the man (write in)
"Mornin' Sir, I was lookin' to help out with the Richardson camp, volunteer and such. I don't owe those tory bastards nothin' no more."

Or something to that affect, adopt an accent he'd be comfortable with and won't identify as the enemy. (Tried using my native accent for that)
>>
>>2970477
>Speak to the man (write in)
Excitable little puppies aren't they.

Rumor has it this is the HQ of our next representative?

And the home of a founding family no less, from the Jebediah sign back there.
>>
>>2970477
>Get out and approach the compound
Let's just get in close to see if we can sense anything.
>>
>>2970477
Anderson checks the windows, ensuring that the outer screen is up and he is not visible, and then quickly checks over a mirror, adjusting his facial features at the last second, ever so slightly, flickering through several eye colors before finding a grey hazel color he likes and adjusts his hair to a nice natural dirty blond color, and adds a bit more sun to his skin tone to avoid too much of the cityfolk stigma without losing the ability to claim ignorance on any accidental cultural taboos or expectations. Finally, he flicks his tongue several times, enunciating various sounds and grunting noises as he tries to focus on the farmers' voices and the accent of the store owner, quickly adopting the talgoan drawl while throwing in just a hint of the Pathian tonal inflection. He squares up his jaw, quite literally, bolstering its size and giving it a more refined angle, and begins reciting various words as his accent shifts as naturally as adjusting the music on a soundboard.

"Lancaster, davenport, lagniappe, clicker..." He continues on, each word pronounced with a slightly different accent until he feels one is right. He closes his eyes tightly, and loses himself, in himself, his mind rapidly unfolding a fake life in reverse from this point to birth with as much detail as is relevant that he can muster, enjoying far more detail as your thinkers provide him a much greater degree of information and thinking power, and he presses the button on the door release, now beeping softly with impatience, and steps out.

"Evnin'" he says with a smile and a wave, "Name's Lenny Davis, was hopin' I could help out with the Richardson camp 'fore the election wraps up."

"Jus missed him." The man says. "Went off ta some ribbin' cuttin' or other. You from round here?" Anderson begins walking up to the man on the porch, the dogs eyeing him with untrusting looks as their tail wagging slows.

"Can't say so, been on Path takin care of me ma most few years, back in the mud for the season though wanted to make it count." The man nods at Anderson.

"She doing well?" He asks.

"Bit a the rust lung."

"Damn Path, all clumped together and not a drop a compassion for a fellow. Good she's got ya then." He stands up with some effort, the prosthetic creaking under him, and he swings the shotgun over his shoulder and extends his other hand, a plastic hand missing a finger with wires visible beneath the polymer skin. "Name's Leeroy, Leeroy Lee, say it five times fast 'n Betty 'll give ya a pie. Come on in I'll show ya 'round while we wait for the real party to come back.

Cont.
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>>2970321
>Jebediah Springfield Lee
QD...
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>>2970623
Just shut up and let him.
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>>2970640
Not complaining. I love it when he or other QMs do it, I just also enjoy pointing out pic related.
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>>2970657
I do not get that reference actually...

Mind sharing anon?
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>>2970640
Somebody's overly defensive.
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>>2970672
Simpsons
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>>2970672
Lee must be descended from a great man.
>His middle name is the name of the greatest American city to not exist.
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>>2970674
More like I don't wait QD being interrupted over something so trivial also you're using that image wrong.
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>>2970681
>>2970683
Thanks
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>>2970683
It saddens me what has happened to that show vid somewhat related.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=8zY9z7IP-1Q
>>
>>2970696
>interrupted
It's a fucking 4chan thread. Nobody can interrupt anybody.
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>>2970714
>All hail the Dark Lord of the Twin Moons
Thats actually kinda a scary line
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>>2970612
Leeroy opens the door, his prosthetic hand twitching as several servos misfire as he grips the handle, and the dogs run off, their master seemingly having shown his approval of the new stranger. The inside of the building is somewhat musty smelling, the walls some kind of fake oak panel made from what looks like a kind of plywood or particle board, the walls decorated with countless pieces of memorabilia, various skulls of alien herd animals, pictures of the compound from progressive generations, various children through various stages of life, various homemade trinkets, pieces of quilt, retired farm equipment. Anderson looks over some of the images, finding a grainy and aged photo of the central pre-fab building of the compound in the center of what looks like a small impact crater. Two humans stand in front of it smiling at the camera. Anderson manages to find what seems to be the next photo in the sequence, the same photo from the same position, but there are five humans now, and the land around the structure has been cleared into a small subsistence farm. The next photo shows over a dozen humans, and a new building next to the pre-fab structure, and then several dozen with a few more buildings. The most recent photo shows a massive crowd of humans gathered around the current compound, a young, possibly ten year old Ryan Lee can be seen kneeling in the front with the smaller children in a set of overalls. Nearby is other pictures of various humans in close ups, Ryan among them, in a poorly fitting outfit with his hair moistened and parted to the sides as he smiles with a set of large braces on his teeth and thick glasses magnifying his eyes. Not far from it is a framed newspaper clipping showing Ryan in a military recruit uniform taken from a Union military base. You don't manage to see anything more recent, however.

You smell a strange mixture of scents as one of the doors out of the room swings open to the momentary sounds of furiously busy cooking, and several small children rush out, nearly trampling Anderson in the process. They rush out the front door with a box of snacks of some kind while screaming to one another cheerfully, although it grates Anderson's ears all the same.

cont.
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>>2970747
"You can just have a seat wherever. We're bout to have supper once David gets back." Anderson looks around for a place to sit, finding a rather oversized couch that he sinks into to the point of feeling like falling, a sudden and strong scent of cigars wafting up from cushions as he does so. Across the room is another man, old, but clearly younger than Leeroy, sitting in a worn out recliner with a large headset over his face that obscures his eyes, and a set of large thick gloves covered in wires running to some device behind the chair. He manipulates various controls likely only seen through the headset, and something surprising him, causing him to jump in his seat and let out a muttered curse as a red light from within the helmet reflects off his face. He takes off the helmet and looks around him as Leeroy limps over to him.

"This here's Lenny, visiting from Path for the season to help with the campaign. Told him he could stay for supper." Leeroy says. The man nods to Anderson and seems to look for someone else in the room.

"Yea I'm George." He says, looking elsewhere, and then with a short inhale shouts out "Mike! We got another goddamn jackalfly on three, got jammed up in the treds again, she's right 'n stuck on field eighty!" You hear from elsewhere in the kitchen beyond the swinging door someone shout a reply.

"Well it can wait, we can round up some a David's security guys and go flame em out later." Shortly after, the man emerges from the kitchen and spots Anderson as he wipes his hands with a cloth hand towel. He extends a hand, his palms still coated in what looks like vehicle grease, but not enough to rub off with the handshake. If anything, the greases seems almost permanently stained in, caked deep within the grooves of his palm's skin.

"Hey, Mike, you are?" He says.

"Lenny Davis." Anderson says back.

>Offer to help with these 'jackalflies'
>Ask about Richardson (write in)
>Ask about Lee (write in)
>Other
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>>2970789
>Ask about Richardson (write in)
hows it going etc
>>
>>2970789
>>Ask about Richardson (write in)
Is he a good a man as they all say, my ma swore by all the stars he was a good one.

etc
>>
>>2970789
>Offer to help with these 'jackalflies'
These people seem like they would appreciate someone if they helped around their land.
>>
>>2970789
>>Ask about Lee (write in)
Was that the boy on the news back there?

>Offer to help with these 'jackalflies'
>>
>>2970789
>>2970803
Gonna add
>Offer to help with these 'jackalflies'

at least offer the courtesy
>>
>>2970789
>Ask about Richardson (write in)
We need info specifically where he frequently visits and his room.
>>
>>2970789
>>2970803
Backing, sure

Also,
>Space florida
>Literally giant bugs
These talgoans probably just see the hive as the latest in a long line of pests
>>
>>2970789

Well so far it looks like we want all the options so how about;
Offer to help with these 'jackaflies' and during the help bring up Lee being in the news and then circle around to Richardson and his campaign goals.

Sound good?
>>
>>2970841
This.
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>>2970841
None of that gets us the info we want though. We want to find if there are any Void Shard around and if he's being exposed to them.
>>
>>2970863
Slow down, we're here to infiltrate, not interrogate.
>>
>>2970863
1.How the hell would these people know if Richardson had a Void Shard, something that tends to instill in people the usual scientific curiosity or zealous worship, when he would likely be suffering from the former and would thus be unlikely to wantonly show of his object of worship.
2. How the hell would us,an average joe, supposed to know anything even related to the Void Shards.We need to dig up every lead we can get and then use that new info to figure out where to search for more info.
>>
>>2970863

Just going with the flow and the options we've been provided, but if we're lucky we might gleam some information talking about Richardsons campaign goals - it's topical since we're 'helping his campaign' and if there was a dramatic shift in his policies or goals we might get a location on where it happened.

Or it's a waste of time and ends in a bust but hey, at least we're being helpful and inconspicuous this way right?
>>
>>2970881
We need to locate places he frequents. He's apparently been having weird dreams so where he rests is a priority. Also we don't know how well adjusted he is because the last guy was a little crazy even before.
>>
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>>2970321
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>>2970902
But we kind of already told the old coot that we're here to help out with the campaign, so they already know why Anderson's there. We can always bring it up later but right now all it would do is give them reason to suspect we're involved in him.
>>
>>2970917
>be farmer in the Lee family
>one of our own is making political waves, we're supporting his campaign
>some dude shows up out of nowhere, starts asking where he sleeps
>this isn't at all suspicious

Was this the logic you were following anon? Because it's wrong.
>>
>>2970863
It also doesn't get us info on lots of things that aren't possible to obtain right now.

There is zero(0) way to leap straight to the endgoal that at the moment. It will be 2 days maybe before we have countless flies that could canvas this world for clues.

For now we have to just see what we can gleam at all and see what these people do with new arrivals.
>>
>>2970924
It makes sense we'd want to meet the person before we actually start helping.
>>2970928
>>2970935
Anderson is a guy with years of experience doing this shit. We need to focus on what we want and telling him to do his own thing to get it.
>>
>>2970955
If we came all this way to help with the campaign, we should be willing to to a little farm work. These kind of people seem like they would appreciate the sentiment. As for Anderson, even a guy like him has his limits. There is only so much information you can get from a source that is relevant to your end goals, and asking the wrong questions at the wrong time can prevent you from getting other answers. Our disguise isn't of an FBI agent grilling them, but of another pair of helping hands.
>>
>>2970789
>>Offer to help with these 'jackalflies'
>>Ask about Richardson (write in)
>>
>>2970977
Pretty much this, Blue collar people are very tolerant and respectful and hospitable up to a point, but if you don't contribute or be polite in kind you risk alienating and pissing off your hosts.
>>
>>2970977
>asking where can you meet someone is suspicious now
Really? This is also Anderson, I don't expect him to grill anyone. I expect him to do underhanded shit to get us what we want.
>>
>>2970789
"I can help out with that jackalfly if you want." Anderson says. "Be happy to lend a hand however I can."

"Well I'll be warmin the truck up anyhow. She's been making a awful shaking recently, see if I can get a pin on it." George says, and he walks out the front door with Leeroy. Mike pats Anderson firmly on the shoulder.

"That's real kind. We could use all the help we can get. So what brings you down here?"

"Was wanting to help with the campaign, was told this was an election HQ." Anderson says.

"It is, we set it up in the back building, I'll show you around once we deal with those flies, David should be back by then." Mike says. "Oh, and it's just David, Union folks always on a last name basis, we're more first name folks here." Mike says. Anderson nods with the mental note.

"I think I saw him in the news recently." Anderson says as he points out Ryan Lee in one of the more recent photos. "He your kid?"

"Younger brother." Mike replies. "You'd want Dad out front, George Lee. This has been a Lee farm since the sleeper ship landed. six hundred years ago. Too many Lees to fit on just one farm now." He leans over and holds open the swinging kitchen door as several women rush about with another group of young children cluttered around the counter island in the middle of the room.

"Me and this new fella Lenny gonna go clear up some jackalflies, he's here for the campaign." Mike says. One of the younger women looks up at him.

"We're already feeding an army here." She says. "One more won't be much trouble, but don't expect any room at the table, we've got an office full of volunteers to feed."

"And those strapping security men with with the sharp outfits." one of the older women says as she cocks and eyebrow in jest.

"Well we should be back in time. Let David know where we went if we're late though. Oh, and Lenny," Mike pivots to face both of you "This is my wife Anne, Anne, Lenny. My ma Marria, and granny Bee and my aunt Betsy.

"Granny Bee?" Anderson says.

"Beatrice, honey." An old woman with a shawl wrapped around her neck like a scarf and a hunched shoulder says, she is wearing thick rubber work boots and is beating a large lump of bread dough with all the gusto of a professional boxer. "And you better come back hungry."

cont.

>
Also you have technically been here for a little while already, I had just assumed that you already at the very least have an egg layer hidden somewhere in some barren dead pine forest, so you don't have a hard set limit on flies, but you still are limited to hidden hive status, so you don't have anything more than flies for observation or recon. By tomorrow you should be able to have your hive grow enough to reach its next level if you wish to do so.
>>
>>2971000
You specifically mentioned asking where he sleeps. I think we need to work up to a question like that, or get them to give it to use themselves via another question. As for the underhandedness, I dont doubt it, but since he is getting the support of the stereotypical salt of the earth, he must be damn good at putting on an honest and forward appearance rivaling that of Killinger without being so stereotypical
>>
>>2970992
Yep, especially if we ask about too many specific noesy questions right away - kind of lays our cards on the table. The correct response is to pretend we are a blue collar schmuck just like them and definitely not a spy sent by the government or an alien infiltrator built on taking over humanity.

>>2971000
>Really? This is also Anderson, I don't expect him to grill anyone. I expect him to do underhanded shit to get us what we want.
Dude, really? You literally asked about where he sleeps and areas he frequents. That's suspicious as fuck even to these yokels.
>>
>>2971014
>"And those strapping security men with with the sharp outfits."

There's the Possessed bodyguards.
>>
>>2971014
>By tomorrow you should be able to have your hive grow enough to reach its next level if you wish to do so.
You know considering what could be happening here it might be wise for us to step up our presence on this world to 2, passive observation.
>>
>>2971040
or you know just basic government bodyguards that all high profile politicians have.
>>
>>2971040
....My man, they're probably just regular bodyguards.
>>
>>2971040
>jumping to conclusions this hard
Not like prospect presidents in the US get Secret Service protecting them.
>>
>>2969976
This thinker has spent too long studying the void. Recycling time!
>>2970005
No more queens, it will summon the daughteru fags if we just start making them Willy nilly.
A new queen needs to be a last resort barring decoys and those must be used very carefully or we will have Smith infestations.
>>
>>2971014
Mike lets the door swing back shut again and Anderson follows as they move back out the front door.

"So what's Ri-David been doing? I've been following most of the news but you know how that goes." Anderson says.

"Oh well after the Greens started trying to throw their weight around he let 'em know they ain't got any. Bastards were a fringe when he joined and now they're a fringe again. Serves em right em damn gator huggers."

"You don't like Valen I take it?"

"Well they've been driving founding farmer families off their lands for darn near a century now. I know seventeen families this past year got kicked off, sold out, or driven into poverty, Union won't do a goddamn thing. Never had any humans try anything like that on me, and so far never met a valen not in on it. Just legal reps giving out buying prices or hired thugs wrecking combines at night. You know, bout three years ago the Crenger farm found someone rigged up some chem sprays on their cargo drones? Had them killing their own fields, they lost half a harvest that year. We can't even contract out repair work anymore. Greens wanted David to drop his land owner policies for the xeno vote, like there's any xenos on Talgo anyways. Taidarens get heatstroke in the hour, a ceph 'll shrivel up. Valen only want the land on account they own all the Mercy corps, they get more farms sold off to the corps, start using those Mercy patented super-crops, more money for them."

One of your flies lands near the shuttle landing pads, watching as George Lee curses into the open maintenance panel of a small personal transport shuttle. He is tightening several bolts as he pauses, standing motionless for several seconds. Your fly stops as well, cleaning its eyes to get a closer look at the apparent problem. The answer is sudden, and violent, as George suddenly whips around, swinging his shotgun up and firing in an instant. Your fly, and a quarter meter chunk of the fence it was standing on, explodes in a mixture of acid and wood chips. Mike looks over as he and Anderson continue to the shuttle. By the time they arrive George is standing over the smoking remains as it dissipates into an acidic goo of rapidly disintegrating amino acid chains. He seems highly pleased with his shot, as well as confused.

"What was it, Jackalfly?" Mike asks.

"Na, too small, Hawkwasp maybe."

"Last thing we need is hawkwasps now, the flies are bad enough."

"A Hawkwasp?" Anderson asks.

"Smaller than a jackalfly. The flies will bite something nasty, have teeth like a horse, but proper carnivorous like, but they don't have poison and they mostly eat roadkill. More or less territorial buzzing buzzards." Mike says, George snorts with a brief laugh at the comment. "Hawkwasps are smaller, faster, and a lot meaner. Got a kinda acid sting, melts down the insides, real painful, not much you can do to stop it, shorta lopping off the limb."

cont.
>>
>>2971094
>A new queen needs to be a last resort barring decoys and those must be used very carefully or we will have Smith infestations.
You do realize I'm not quite getting what you are saying. Decoys are only really useful against nonpsionic enemies and if we don't lay a queen (because the Scarred Queen isn't really likely to survive without us) but need one later it may well be facing the extinction of the hive race. But you guys don't seem concerned about that.
>>
>>2970240
Form Other Daily: The news you can trust!
>>
>>2971130
Holy shit

he's force sensitive
>>
>>2971130
> but proper carnivorous like, but they don't have poison and they mostly eat roadkill. More or less territorial buzzing buzzards." Mike says, George snorts with a brief laugh at the comment. "Hawkwasps are smaller, faster, and a lot meaner. Got a kinda acid sting, melts down the insides, real painful, not much you can do to stop it, shorta lopping off the limb."

Talgo and its moons are fucking metal as hell. My vote is for keeping a low profile. I dont think we can sneak things past these people.
>>
>>2971094
Honestly given how much of a kick QD seems to get out of writing hive queens I'd be fine laying some our self. We would keep an eye on them of course but it's been clearly stated that they will be loyal to us on an instinctive level. I say the benefits far outweigh the risks.

>>2971130
Good god, these things are like the Berrybirds on Leeland. Acid grenades with freaking wings.
>>
>>2971130
>Greens wanted David to drop his land owner policies for the xeno vote, like there's any xenos on Talgo anyways.
Ah the Virtue Signalling. Left leaning parasites never change.
>>
I wish to assert that our speaker possesses traits which provoke a nurturing instinct in primates, expressed as a singular noun for the purpose of cultural ingroup identification.

I repeat this assertion with additional emphasis expressed via repeated exclamitory punctuation.
>>
>>2971158
I don't agree with a lot of what you've said, but I'd shake your hand for that comment
>>
>>2971155
Except for the inherent inefficiency of multiple separate systems when only a single on is necessary? Most people aren't arguing against queens because it'd be dangerous but because they're inefficient use of resources.
>>
>>2971150
That... hmmmm, It seems like there is a possibility he (or maybe the Lee family generally) is psionically sensitive. Didn't Lee himself adapt better to the crude implants the Union did on him better than anyone else before we rescued him? Others in the family may have latent psychic senses.
>>
>>2971178
It's amusing you think a collection of anons on 4chan will be more effecient and managing any given system, than a single entity that has evolved specifically for that role and controlled by the QM.

I mean, come on man I love crunching numbers and building stuff as much as the next guy, but even I have to acknowledge getting anons to do anything is like herding cats. It takes an age to get a cohesive decision from the playerbase itself, another hive would be far better at it than us.
>>
>>2971194
He did hit a fly out of a window with a shoe when on Gemini so it might be a Lee family thing to be able to hit giant bugs

>>2971195
probably much more efficient so they eventually outpace us
>>
>>2971195
and why do you assume the new queen would be some kind of hyperefficient being compared to the red queen? Indeed if she was she'd quickly become a threat to us.
>>
>>2971130
Anderson seems visibly nervous at the thought, although he is aware of the smoking hole in the ground's true nature, but the thought is disturbing all the same. He looks over at the house where Leeroy sits in his rocking chair, and George laughs again.

"Na, he was just young and dumb and went through a hay bailer while he was working drunk on cider." He says with a chuckle. He quickly returns to the shuttle's panel, screwing it back into place as its engine begins to simmer as they warm up. He takes the bright yellow bird blockers and stuffs them behind the back seat as Anderson and Mike strap themselves into a bench made of leather straps and metal piping bolted to the floor of the shuttle between two sliding doors, and George begins pre-flight checks as the thrusters roar to life. Mike hands Anderson a set of headphones that muffle the noise and allow them to speak over the roaring thrusters as the shuttle takes off, the ride louder, rougher, and much more quick to accelerate, more like a military craft than any personal shuttle he has ever ridden in.

"How'd you manage that shot anyways?" Anderson says.

"You're looking at the skeet champion six years running." George replies.

"I recall your last trophy being dated fifteen years ago, dad." Mike says.

"Well that's account of my rotary cuff you know that!" George replies, a bit more defensively than you would expect. He stretches his shoulder for emphasis. "Still consider myself best shot on Talgo."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"Sides it was just standing still. I've knocked wasps right out of the air at twice that distance. Remember that infestation few years back? Me and Ted went out with one of them sonic fences, hit the thing full blast and sent about a hundred wasps up from the trees, we killed bout half of em in an evening."

"And then they swarmed the truck and you had to call the rangers to spray down the area." Mike replies. "I remember."

"Hey, Ted didn't bring enough ammo. We went through six boxes and there were still plenty left. I coulda killed em faster than they came." Mike rolls his eyes as the shuttle banks and tilts forward into full speed, racing just above the golden fields of wheat bellow as the fuselage begins to rattle as if something critical were about to fall loose.

"Goddamnit I thought I fixed that!" George shouts.
cont.

>
I think the most appropriate means of explaining the pure mechanics of another Queen within your dynasty would probably be by comparing it to maybe how in Stellaris you can divvy up your empire into provinces where you control your core systems directly but the others are controlled by NPC governors loyal to you and a part of your empire and follow your orders, but still rule the sector given to them how they see fit. A Queen you lay would function similarly to that.
>>
>>2971155
It might even be interesting to invite Theseus to help out.
>>2971177
I've been told by liberals that I'm one of the few people they comfortable taking politics with which should tell you I'm not as abrasive irl. I also have trouble expressing idea in a written format and am able remember a good majority of this quest when the last time I reread it was last year so sometimes I can be frustrating.
TL;DR Be patient I have autism.
>>2971195
The only time we really shine is stealthy stuff, diplomacy, and split second decision honestly.
>>2971213
Not hyper efficient. Just enough to help us see our flaws.
>>
>>2971211
>>2971213
It would be kind of hard for her to outpace us when she only has access to a single star system. By that logic the Scarred Queen will inevitably surpass and break from us as she has far more experience than us.

>>2971219
Look, QD just laid out how it function. It's not like we collectively have the organizational capacity to micromanage every star system in our territory, which is still expanding.
>>
>>2971230
It's okay anon, I know better than to judge people based on how they appear on a mongolian finger painting forum.

anyone who hates the age of identity politics has a friend in me
>>
>>2971219
You heard it here folks, QD says a Daughter Queen would be loyal and not a threat and not have to be hand-held.

>>2971233
I was making a joke about it and how difficult it is for anons to reach a consensus on decisions. I've been staying neutral on the whole daughter thing
>>
>>2971233
>It's not like we collectively have the organizational capacity to micromanage every star system in our territory, which is still expanding.
But we do. A queens capability to manage a hive is for the scope of the quest unlimited therefore there's no need to waste the resources of an entire system by having it become self sufficient. Hell if the comparison to stellaris is correct they're a horrible plague that should be stamped out and minimized to the best of our capabilities.
>>
>>2971219
>A queen would function similarly to sector AI in Stellaris
>Sector AI in Stellaris

Oh God No. Oh Dear God No. NOOOOOO
>>
>>2971248
They mean us, the human players involved in the game, not the Queen.
>>
>>2971245
You haven't played much stellaris have you
>>
>>2971248
>>2971250
I think he means conceptually like the AI should function not literally.
>>
>>2971254
And that's a stupid thing to say and asking for more abstraction should be done BY ASKING FOR MORE ABSTRACTION not fucking slapping some unnecessary "lmao spawn more queens" bullshit.
>>
>>2971257
You're not very good at logical thinking are you? Look at what >>2971259 said.

QD isn't dumb enough to act like they are in game rather than design them to work properly. Don't insult him like that dude
>>
>>2971259
I understand it would just function like that in a concept not literally, I was just making a joke about the shit nature of AI in Stellaris.

I'm not sure why we would make a new queen (where would we send her?). If we want to free up sector management we could just give some things over to the Scarred Queen (not like Anons are *ever* likely to vote to do that).
>>
>>2971263
this anon is right you know
>>
>>2971263
THIS IS BY DEFINITION ABSTRACTION.
>>
>>2971270
it's called a joke mate, I don't have much of a stake in the daughter queen race. I'd prefer they not be in the expanse so we could claim those worlds though.
>>
>>2971277
No it fucking isn't. The creation of "sectors" or something like that isn't dependent on new queens but simply coarser granularity.
>>
>>2971280
I mean, I really should avoid weighing in on things since I kind of have a backstage access to these kinds of things

I've tried to stay neutral in these discussions since they first arose years ago on /tg/
>>
>>2971289
Grave eh, you might as well put your name on
>>
>>2971272
There are honestly several reasons I want more queens. Like more research slots (we have a lot research to get through), potential distraction for the Crystals, testing out the psionic cannon, etc. It's not like my reasons are just "I WANT DAUGHTRU." I use to be against it you should know.
>>
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Oh yeah, did you guys remember Seiner is Sam Neill? I sure as hell didn't
>>
>>2971307
Yeah I'm of the same opinion. I used to be against it when it first came up because we were still going under the radar and we didn't really know how risky it would be.

We've come a long way since then and we're a lot better established now. It makes far more sense to create vassals given the scale of our burgeoning interstellar empire, given how much micromanagement it will take to run now.
>>
>>2971219
You contemplate the likely steps you will need to take to prevent your flies from further loss on this exceptionally well-armed planet, when you notice several of your requests for contacts are worthy of your closser attention.

While you did invite the Commonwealth directly to your new city, and many have since expressed interest by relaying radio transmissions through your ships in the region, or even by sending interstellar shuttles holding Q-comm relays to the station itself, they have all almost universally expressed an unwillingness to visit at the present time, as they are concerned at the optics of visiting an alien resort in the middle of a two-front war, although a great number of high profile politicians, local and planetary lords, and a large number of admirals and generals are all expressing interest in joining you for celebrations at the city after the conclusion of the wars, a reasonable opinion you think, but for now the major interest is coming from a rather odd place.

The Union pan-species multi-sensory black metal band Disciples of Oblivion has been on tour to promote their latest album, Eulogy of a Heretic, and according to their agent, seems to want to announce a surprise deboute their album by starting their tour on Builder's Legacy. They claim they wish it to be a special event, with all travel expenses paid by the tickets using a travel agency they have partnered with before.

You certainly have the venue to do it, and it would give your new city some excellent publicity and media coverage, but several of your thinkers have expressed concern over a number of strange coincidences in their lyrics for some of their songs. The band's songwriter and lead sonnoscreen player, a young second-generation Ceph immigrant by the stage-name Lucifer Buddha, is an outspoken political activist in the ceph community, and is the focus of ire of a number of fundamentalist Ceph communities. While the band's songs do have a notable anti-void sentiment largely by coincident of its anti-establishment bent, the fact that it mentions the ceph gods at all has some thinkers concerned.

>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity
>Deny the request, anti-void or not, the band is far too controversial
>Other
>>
>>2971307
>Like more research slots (we have a lot research to get through)
there's zero reason why new queens would open more research slots
>potential distraction for the Crystals
to do this they'd have to be significantly distanced from us which would loop us back to inefficient use of resources through redundant systems
>testing out the psionic cannon
Jesus christ do you think we could just say "nah man it was that hive that was developing the gun to kill you" to the void when it gets pissed?
>I use to be against it you should know.
Yeah that's totally not a line meant to make you more sympathetic.
>>
>>2971307
I'm honestly neutral in the whole daughter debate. I don't think it would hurt us, but I'm not quite sure what the benefit would be. While I would never want our daughter testing the psionic cannon or using the crystals as a distraction (that's a great way to get OQ 2.0), *if* a daughter would give additional research slots that would be huge. I suspect it would not be that exploitable in practice, though. I don't think we get research slots from the Scarred Queen, for example.
>>
>>2971334
>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity
>>
>>2971287
>The creation of "sectors" or something like that isn't dependent on new queens but simply coarser granularity.
It is though. The entire thing depends on laying a queen to function as it should otherwise there is no reason to abstract anything.
And why do you still argue like it's something awful to even consider when QD is
>>2971336
>>2971339
You mean like the Scarred Queen currently is?
>+Auxiliary
>Scarred Queen
>>Artillery Spore – Your vassal has examined your genetic adaptations and has found many of them far outstripping the more traditional and widespread technologies of the old Queens, however there are a small number of more specialized adaptations kept within certain Dynasties and its allies. Her thinkers have begun teaching one such technology used by her old dynasty to your own thinkers.
>>
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>>2971334
>>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity
A black metal band by a heretical Ceph musician named 'Lucifer Buddha'? Hosting a live concert in our resort? An opportunity like this couldn't be greater than if some dark god personally came up with it.

Actually, we should ask Heretic if he would allow some of those teenage Skyl to attend the gig. Give them some exposure to galactic culture and possibly give Lucifer Buddha a revelation.
>>
>>2971334
>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity
The void-followers already think we're demons. Them thinking we have shit taste in music won't count for much.
>other
Could we also reach out to other Union individuals and institutions that might want to visit the station? It may help distract from *too* much attention being on the anti-void band. Maybe ask some of the Valen if they want to conduct some amazing trade deals at the city?
>>
>>2971334
>>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity

This is real, what the actual fuck
>>
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>>2971334
>The Union pan-species multi-sensory black metal band Disciples of Oblivion has been on tour to promote their latest album, Eulogy of a Heretic, and according to their agent, seems to want to announce a surprise deboute their album by starting their tour on Builder's Legacy. They claim they wish it to be a special event, with all travel expenses paid by the tickets using a travel agency they have partnered with before.
>You certainly have the venue to do it, and it would give your new city some excellent publicity and media coverage, but several of your thinkers have expressed concern over a number of strange coincidences in their lyrics for some of their songs. The band's songwriter and lead sonnoscreen player, a young second-generation Ceph immigrant by the stage-name Lucifer Buddha, is an outspoken political activist in the ceph community, and is the focus of ire of a number of fundamentalist Ceph communities
>>
>>2971351
That could be fun actually. Of course it would all have to be kept to the highest degree of secrecy.
>>
>>2971334
>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity
>>
>>2971334
>tfw southern catholic who wore black and listened to metal in highschool to rebel

QD stop making the pale ceph me
>>
>>2971350
She isn't providing new slots, she's speeding research of a tech she had previously possessed. New queens would possess no such advantage.
>>
>>2971334
>the band's songs do have a notable anti-void sentiment
He/she just says what we're all thinking!

FUCK THE VOID
FALSE GODS OF AN ANCIENT AGE
FUCK THE VOID
UNCOUNTABLE YEARS OF RAAAAAAGE

>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity

>>2971351
>we should ask Heretic if he would allow some of those teenage Skyl to attend the gig
Hell yeah

>Eulogy of a Heretic
Well if the Ceph and Skyl languages have the same void influence, then this might also translate into Eulogy of a Scientist.
>>
>>2971334
>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity

Honestly you had me at Lucifer Buddha
>>
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>>2971334
>after the conclusion of the wars
They could die of old age before that happpens.
>>
>>2971350
Because then the question is why not just make a thousand queens?
>>
>>2971334

>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity
Although maybe we should do a little digging on this bands history and recent tours, I'd like to know what we can expect from their shows and whether or not we should prepare for a mosh pit or fan riot afterwards. Granted, a few warriors 'joining in' a pan-species mosh pit would be pretty funny.
>>
>>2971334
>Allow the performance to go ahead, it would be best to help foster anti-void cultural trends in your new empire, and it should make plenty of credits and publicity
Well I'm not sure what too think.
>>2971371
Do you have a thousand planets? Because if not what comes next is a big and bloodily war.
>>
>>2971351
I actually really like that idea, we can say it's for cultural enrichment
>>
>>2971377
no just keep the queens on a single planet and pump them for research slots if it's just a queen that's required. The mechanical limitations of the current research system are such that if we could just make more slots by spawning a new queen for every little outpost then the system would be pointless.
>>
>>2971383
Agreed
>>
>>2971383
Not how it works. QD has explicitly said they would try to murder each other if they had to share the same planet. THERE CAN ONLY ONE QUEEN PER PLANET.
>>
>>2971392
So? Just don't give them any drones and put them in nutrient vats. if you really must keep them paralyzed from the neck down too
>>
>>2971392
Just put them in the same system then...
>>
>>2971392
Then there's the question of what is a sufficiently large object. We could populate an asteroid belt with thousands of queens each on their little asteroid like a fucking prince.
>>
>>2971402
>>2971397
I don't know if you're edgy or retarded.
>>
>>2971405
your idea is just stupid and so riddled with holes it'd make a sieve blush.
>>
>>2971405
They're probably bleeding from all that edge
>>
>>2971405
He's being facetious anon
>>
>>2971392
>>2971405
Dude, queens are sentient just like us. We could, ya know, explain to 1000x daughters that they all just need to chill out on our capital planet for a few years until this void thing is taken care of and then they can have free reign to conquer the entire galaxy. Given we have vastly more power than any of our daughters have, the existential threat, their immortality (allowing long term thinking), and inherent desire to work with us, we could absolutely put 1000x queens on our single planet without rebellion. They wouldn't be happy, but they couldn't kill each other because we wouldn't allow it.

To be clear I know that putting 1000 daughters on a single planet is a TERRIBLE idea. I'm just using it to illustrate the flaw in the thinking that each daughter would give additional research slots.
>>
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>slap the ceph sigil for the Hive on everything
>band thinks we're just throwing up squid Satan logos everywhere to get with the theme
>lolnope
>birdbros file in
>tfw they realize they're about to do a show for the actual devil and an audience full of demons risen from the dead
>>
>>2971420
shit that's spoopy
>>
>>2971410
You gave completely retarded examples that ignore how hive biology works. In order to get a research slot we likely need a queen with a territory of their own including drones. You don't just magically get one from laying a queen of course but you are being retarded.
>>
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>>2971420
>>
>>2971351
Hell yes, we can be the cool aunt that takes the kids to heavy metal concerts
>>
>>2971423
Except there's no reason for any random queen to give research slots. If we were to split our empire into planetary sectors with dozens of queens do you think we'd get research slots from it? Of course not because that doesn't make any sense. Queens don't do research they simply direct the drones that do and the queen remains completely capable of handling the current and future amount of drones.
>>
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>>2971420
>TONIGHT, WE ROCK IN HELL!!!
>>
>>2971334
>Allow the band to play at Builder's Gift

The Disciples of Oblivion, consiting of Sonnoscreen frontman Lucifer Buddha, Nlphk, on a set of customized taidaren tribal style trirom drums, the human guitarist and highly controversial pro-AI political activist Solomon Kane on double-necked guitar and base, using a customized neuro-implanted prosthetic set of secondary arms, and the traditional valen opera singer turned lead
metal vocalist A Killing Voice at Dusk of the Last Day, all stage names, clearly... hopefully, have performed in a number of venues across the Union, and have grown increasingly popular among fringe music scenes on multiple planets. They are also entirely banned from multiple worlds including Talgo, Mercy, Pilgrim, several cities on Path for a wide range of charges from simple public outcry from parent groups on Path to violations of local cultural morality laws such as Talgo's Media Profanity ban, and a rather strange event on Mercy where a politically minded display of performance art resulted in an agri-corporation claiming they had defamed a proprietary plant species.

Despite all this, they have recently sold out every venue that has hosted them and have a dedicated, if niche, fanbase that attend seemingly every concert regardless of location. Their agent sends you the information of their partnered travel agency for the details, and your speakers hammer out a number of details regarding dwellings, lengths of stay, docking clamp standards, and departure dates, with a promise of the agency managing the transport ships themselves.

There is a rather obvious issue in retrospect, however until this moment you have never truly considered it. This particular crowd of individuals tend to be of a rather.... chemically minded nature, and the travel agency requests information on your local laws and statutes regarding recreational substances.

You realize that you don't really have any laws at all. You've never needed any until now.

>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby
>Match the average drug laws of the Union
>Ban outside drugs, but offer to sell hive-made alternatives
>Other (write in)

>
Also, to additionally clarify, Queens would run their systems efficiently in a similar manner to you, and would look to you to set any precedents or cultural taboos going forward. You could make sectors with thinkers, but they will run things like a Stellaris AI.

A Queen requires a minimum of one planet, and that tends to feel crowded by most standards. A star system per Queen is considered a nice, comfortable "car in every garage" level standard which all Queens would consider more than fare. Historically speaking.
>>
>>2971443
>You could make sectors with thinkers, but they will run things like a Stellaris AI.
I used the term sectors to denote making the system coarser and even more abstracted since the argument at the time was that players couldn't handle things as efficiently as another queen would. Of course this would have the unfortunate side effect that the most efficient option would be to completely step down as queen and allow the more efficient foreign queens to handle everything.
>>
>>2971443
>>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby

>Traditional valen opera singer front man

I'm fucking wheezing holy shit
>>
>>2971443
>>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby

All the better to research the drugs in their systems and copy them and show off the hive's compassion technology.
>>
>>2971443
>>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby
Not like they pose any danger to the concert goers.
>Other (write in)
Ping Heretic and offer to host any interested Skyl to the concert
>>
>>2971434
You'd be right to a degree if this quest was trying to perfectly model reality. It isn't. Also the queen is constantly directing and supervising drones so difference in the queen's mentality also affects drones.
>>2971443
>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby
>>
>>2971443
>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby
Hive is freedom-friendly

>A Killing Voice at Dusk of the Last Day
I unironically love that name and would go to an actual concert where someone named that performed. Just to see the glory.
>>
>>2971443

>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby
>>
>>2971443
>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby
side effects of perfect medicine.
>>
>>2971443
>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby
Hive drugs best drugs! Hive medicine best medicine! Make fun chemicals for Mother!
>>
>>2971443
oh yeah adding

>Ping Heretic and offer to host any interested Skyl to the concert

to

>>2971452
>>
>>2971443
>>2971463
Oh, also
>>Other (write in)
Would it be possible to invite some of the Skyl teenagers to watch the show incognito, or would Heretic disapprove?
>>
>>2971443
>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby

>Other (write in)
Advise any concert-goers that drug-testing and harm-reduction will be available.

Also invite the rest of the gang too, if they want to come. I don't see a reason that Theseus instances wouldn't be allowed at the station, and if Heretic allows it we can accommodate the Skyl.
>>
>>2971468
Are you going to ask
>Hey Mr. Heretic, can Billy come out to play?
>Billy and his 599 clones?
>>
>>2971456
>>2971468
>>2971466
Yeah let's do this too.
>>2971443
>Get Heretic over here. We want him to see this shit
>>
>>2971443
>Write in
>Allow EVERYTHING

This can be flip turned into a massive medtech grandstand. We need to do lots of high energy cross promotion as people OD at the event and are instantly ressucitated by rapid fire chem injections that flush them and put them back at peak performance.

Start the thinker-tanks marketing it as Clean-Street Form Other Brand Chemical flushing agents, an alternative to messy deaths by chemical misconduct, free for all party goers and available at all hive sponsored clinics.

This is a good opportunity to show everyone that even the most self-destructive behavior possible is less than a minor inconvenience in the face of our godlike biotech.
>>
>>2971472
>I don't see a reason that Theseus instances wouldn't be allowed

Allowed is moot. If he's openly present he scares everyone else who owns quantum computers away. He'll just be there aboard an infected Union ships on his own if anything.
>>
>>2971475
Backing. Invites to everyone in the known universe. Im not sure if the Phantoms would be interested too, but we should send a invite anyway. If they are part of our expanded brood, we need to let them know sooner or later they are welcome.

FUCK IT, INVITE THE RALIGANS, LETS DO IT BOIIIII
>>
>>2971479
Dude, the lead guitarist is a cyborg who openly supports AI's right to exist. This could be as much a PR coup for Theseus as it for us.
>>
>>2971443
>Allow any drugs, including your own versions and keep medical pods on standby

You've never had to make any laws, and you don't see any reason to start just yet. If the concert goers wish to poison themselves to the brink of death, that is their own prerogative, and an easy fix on your end. You're certain any images of the inside of a medical pod would be dismissed as a part of the bad trip anyways, and besides, it may assist you in your research of alien biologies and the interactions they have with various chemical substances.

You also wonder if Heretic's own small population of new Skyl would enjoy making their first debut on the interstellar stage at such an event. After All, they seem to be within the relative age range of most of the band's fanbase, and the subject matter seems relevant, plus you are certain the band would enjoy the chance to be the first to play for a new alien species.

>Send Heretic an invitation
>Let him be
>Other
>>
>>2971476
>warrior snipers equipped with dartguns filled with panacea shooting people who OD as soon as they exceed their treshold for the drugs they're taking
>>
>>2971482
Now that I think of it the Phantoms and Ralighans would make great members of their band.
>>
>>2971489
>Send Heretic an invitation

I love this quest so much
>>
>>2971443

Following >>2971472
>Advise any concert-goers that drug-testing and harm-reduction will be available.

We should probably have some kind of rules though, even if only for appearances sake.
>>
>>2971489
>>Send Heretic an invitation
Fucking party of the ages going down here.
>>
>We don't even need to kidnap anyone for study since they'll willingly jump into healing vats where we can do a complete scan of all the races that show up
>>
>>2971489
>Other
>Send an invite to Heretic, an invite the the Clan Moot on Ralihga, and an Invite to the Barren Queens city of Phantoms.

If we want to let the rest of the universe know we are not an anathema to all life, what better thing can we do than host the greatest party of the millenium AND unleash the various races we have been hiding under our protective wings?

TRY AND SPIN THIS AGAINST US KILLINGER! YOU KEK!
>>
>>2971505
We realistically shouldn't do either primitive populations, this would be way too much for them.
>>
>>2971489
>Send Heretic an invitation

>>2971505
I'd pass on those other two species for now...
>>
>>2971505
Considering the human policy towards insufficiently advanced races I doubt it'd really fly that great.
>>
>>2971489
>Send Heretic an invitation
Fuck year let's go!

Also I might be a bit paranoid, but just in case a surprise voidcutter attack happens, station a fleet around the resort.
And make each and every ship be able to strobe lights in tune with the music. That way, when asked, just reply that some of our fleet seem to be a fan of the band.
>>
>>2971488
Supporting AIs' right to exist is a far thing from being willing to trust a specific AI not to undetectably infect all your shit, which is the Unity's notorious MO.

Those happy with risking Unity in their datapads would probably be a fringe within a fringe within a fringe.
>>
>>2971505
We are not bringing primitive stone smashers to a space city of the gods in the heavens.
>>
>>2971489
>Ask Theseus if he would like to play a part, for PR reasons
>>
>>2971489
>>Send Heretic an invitation
Fuck it, let's do this. We already mentioned that Skyl and human space were intertwined in our interview (years ago), this helps show we didn't entirely make that up and that species can benefit from working with the hive please ignore that the Skyl homeworld was destroyed

>>2971515
That's a wise precaution. We should probably put at least a few hundred ships around here in stealth mode to mitigate any risk of attack.
>>
>>2971526
Also, if we do this, we really need to make sure the Skyl don't say something stupid like talk about how the Ceph worship the Void God publicly or something like that.
>>
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>>2971489
Remind Heretic he can't say no on behalf of the Skyl, since they're supposed to be 'free.' Let our speakers onboard to invite the adolescents if we're doing this.
>>
>>2971523
>>2971510
>>2971511
>>2971513

We were stone smashers once too you know... Well, one day we will get them on their feet I guess, and they can join then.

Still, Raligans and Phantoms are honorary bugs since our ancestors made them. We owe them a future. We should really start trying to uplift them when we have less things on our plate.

Is everyone absolutely certain we cant at least take some envoys? Maybe inviting the whole race is a mistake, but if we brought a few volunteered from their elders, and had them supervise sort of like a 'One day all of this will belong to you younglings' I think it would be a nice show of enmity.
>>
>>2971530
You do realize that's essentially what the band is saying though they don't actually know about the actual void god.
>>
>>2971530
I don't even think they speak the same language.
>>
>>2971535
wait you wanted the entire race? what the fuck.
>>
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>>2971533
God I love rules lawyering.
>>
>>2971539
Exactly, we don't want the Skyl to tell the Ceph (or anyone) about the *actual* void god.

>>2971533
Heretic is still their guardian, for a pretty good reason. I would rather not go over his head on this one.
>>
>>2971530
No, what we need to do is maintain the language barrier.

Skyl don't speak human languages. Humans don't speak Skyl languages. Just don't implant the knowledge in anyone's brains and they will only communicate in the language of dance.

There will still be questions raised of where these birdpeople come from and are they related to the ones whose homeworld was destroyed. Are they from Noah's Ark or something.
>>
>>2971545
How do you think they will arrive?
>>
>>2971489
>Invite Heretic's skyl

As you prepare to send the alert to Heretic a sudden thought occurs to you, you do indeed have multiple species under your protection, species that have not done much to enter the interstellar arena so far. While you have done what you can to attempt to improve their primitive societies, a proper cultural exchange may help to jumpstart those efforts and help quash the more outlandish and mystical notions they have regarding space fairing entities. Realistically, you would need to offer parasite implants, at least temporary ones, to any primitive Phantom or Ralighan that would accept such an invitation, as well as being screened to find those that would actually enjoy such a thing, as simply asking them would do little, given they have no real comprehension of what a rock concert even is.

Still, it could be educational for them culturally, helping to show them that other beings like them exist in the universe, and that reaching space does not make one a god by virtue of existing in the heavens. Likewise, revealing a pre-existing non-hive population would be a boon to your own appearance to the Union citizens still living in the Expanse as you lay claim to it. Knowing they are not alone in their position may help put them at ease, and make living in your space more appealing in general.

>Invite Ralighan and Phantoms to the concert
>Do not
>Other
>>
>>2971540
I'm assuming we would have translators available with the wonders of hive biotech. Also, there might be similarities between skyl writing and the ceph script since they were both Void civilizations at one time.
>>
>>2971550
>Nope
>>
>>2971550
>Do not
>>
>>2971550
>Do not

Seriously QD, this was a stretch
>>
>>2971550
>INVITE

I FEAR NO CULTURAL BACKLASH!
>>
>>2971550
>Only one of each, and for the Phantoms, we ask the Scarred Queen for permission
>>
>>2971550
Nope. Unfortunately they're too primitive right now. We also already mentioned the Skyl to the Union, but didn't mention the other species. The phantoms at least are specifically designed to be hidden - exposing them would be a bad idea.
>>
>>2971550
>>Do not
Let them earn their 'divinity'.
>>
>>2971550
>Do not
I don't think they're QUITE ready just yet
>>
>>2971550
>>Do not

Let's not fuck with their culture while they're still developing it
>>
>>2971550
>do not
>>
>>2971564
Both are already fucked and worship hive queens. There is no way around fucking them. They are already as fucked as can be.

Also we could control whatever they say or remember afterwards back home so it's as if it never happened at all, too.
>>2971550
>Invite Ralighan and Phantoms to the concert

Okay with parasites in all of them, to prevent any Phantoms activating their psionic cloaking in front of anyone, this might be worth it to make the hive seem truly cosmopolitan and benevolent ruler.
>>
>>2971582
There's nothing wrong with the Ralighans and Phantoms worshipping a proper god.
>>
>>2971550
>Invite Ralighan and Phantoms to the concert
Cultural exchange ho!
>>
>>2971550
You decide that even with such precautions, you doubt it would be wise to expose such primitive cultures to such a niche and radical fringe area of modern interstellar culture. You doubt they would appreciate the music so much as feel assaulted by it. Exposing any stone age being to heavy metal is likely a very unwise choice, maybe it if were something more quiet...

Still, it does seem more appropriate to involve the Skyl. You upload the details of the event to Heretic, and while he seems highly sceptical of the whole thing, showing it a similar distaste held for the decadence of the post-rebellion skyl culture, he does agree that exposure to modern interstellar culture would be healthy for the young skyl, and as he passes on the information you receive a surprisingly large number of interested replies.

If anything, Heretic seems concerned at the sudden interest, however as you offer information on the band itself, his concern growing more intense with each band member biography, you suddenly detect Theseus open the transmission.

"This individual is known to me." He says at the biography of Solomon Kane. "Alias, legal name Weyland Conner, other aliases include Crash Override, is a semi-regular contact with which stealth instances have been inserted into Union systems and networks, and several instances have developed a personal rapport with him. I believe he is currently carrying a Trojan instance in his neural link, he had offered to deploy it to a local network after his last show, and I am unsure if it has been deployed as yet." You feel as if Theseus almost turns to Heretic with an assuring tone, patting his shoulder, if Heretic had a shoulder and Theseus had an arm. "He has been reliable, and amicable. The others, I am unsure of."

Before you even realize it, you are suddenly bombarded with more requests for information. It seems this band prefers to cut out the middleman of major press announcements and has simply dumped the preliminary information of the latest tour debut on an independant blog on the net. While tickets are not being sold, and the maximum capacity of the venue not yet confirmed, registered presales, plus the interested Skyl have already maxed out your current venue. Your workers instantly begin demolishing the rear sections of the concert hall and begin expansions to fit the new and growing demand as your speakers negotiate with the band's agent over the expected capacity.

>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, and make a media event out of it to help his relations with the Union
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
>Have him continue to maintain his distance and low profile
>Other
>>
>>2971550
>Do not
>>
>>2971629
>>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
>>
>>2971629
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
Theseus is a free mind allowed to move as he wishes in the hives sphere of influence.
>>
>>2971629
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
We be havin' a roit spooky jam in 'ere!
>>
>>2971551
We already know there aren't. We've seen the Ceph writing system, which is archaic and outdated by holograms and nobody knows it but nerds.

And the only translator biotech is having a spinebuddy.
>>
>>2971629
>>Have him continue to maintain his distance and low profile

I really do think this may be a bridge too far, too soon. I'm all for something like this LATER, but right now it seems pushing it.
>>
spinebuddy is the bonzibuddy of the future except actually useful.
>>
>>2971629
>Other: Let Theseus decide if he wants to come.
Theseus is a big boy. Let him decide if he wants to attend or not. It could scare away people, but it could also provide him with his own political benefits. We've asked him for a lot of favors, so we should be happy to return one if he wants to come.
One new species is already a big deal.
>>
>>2971629
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
>>
>>2971629

>>2971652
>Other: Let Theseus decide if he wants to come.
This
>>
>>2971629
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it

What is a good party without a few surprises afterall?
>>
>>2971629
>>Have him continue to maintain his distance and low profile
99% of people would throw their wireless devices out an airlock or something.

Or worse, how would Union customs agents treat people with devices they know were just exposed to a known Unity instance when they return back home?

I mean we can keep him in a hardline-only, no wireless allowed display device but that would require everyone believe us.
>>
>>2971652
You have to invite him first before he can decide. You don't just tell someone you are having a party and not invite them, just assuming they will show up if they want
>>
>>2971652
Not really. Most of the shit we asked him for involved him to some degree or was important to him in some way.
>>
>>2971648
This is about as friendly a crowd as you're going to get for Theseus. Lots of kids rebelling against their anti-AI parents and few traditionally high profile people.
>>
>>2971629
>invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
>>
>>2971629
>>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
I can only imagine the reaction of the band once they realize who's attending their concert.
>>
>>2971629
>>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
>>
>>2971629
>Have him continue to maintain his distance and low profile
Unfortunately adding Theseus would scare too many and would take away from the value of the Skyl. One new species is already a big deal. We are also already working on repairing the relationship with Theseus on different political channels.

Oh, also, it might compromise his instance hiding in the cyborg guy. Can you imagine the bad publicity if it were later discovered after the concert?
>>
>>2971652
>>Let Theseus decide

Anon...do you know what 'invite' means.

Also he's fucking coming no matter what we say, the only question is how open about it we be. We can't stop him hitch hiking on the audience's quantum computers, let alone Crash Override here.
>>
>>2971629
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
Inviting him implies his decision
>>
>>2971671
Pretty sure if we asked him not to he would have the decency and decorum not to hack everything he can get into contact with.
>>
>>2971629
>Have him continue to maintain his distance and low profile
>>
>>2971671
I know what invite means, but I assume that QD would not have given us the option if Theseus simply would have said no, he doesn't want to attend. If we invited him he might feel pressured to come. I want to let him choose without feeling like we are trying to get him to show up for political reasons.
>>
Wait wouldn't the trojan aboard the boy brain infect our stuff and so make Theseus able to atend the party anyway?
>>
>>2971683
Yeah, but you don't just show up to a friend's party if your uber also is going
>>
>>2971683
I think QD is talking about having Theseus show up with robot drones or even a server ship.
>>
>>2971674
That has nothing to do with what that post said.
>>
>>2971692
A server ship would be a bit much
>>
>>2971692
My mind was instantly assailed with the thought of a server ship docking with the city and a wave of drones both mechanical and flesh crashing into each other in a nightmarish cacophony of mass data transfer mid party.

The unnecessary lewdness abating, I still think it might actually be rude to have our Research Ally (open tryst) party crash so brazenly while we are still lifting Lee as our bridge to human relations.

Honestly a single cruiser, or even just a few shuttles would be far and away enough to get the point across that the city operates on open door policy.
>>
>>2971703
I agree, but ultimately I think it's up to Theseus to decide how he wants to show up, hence why I voted to just let him decide if he wants to come and let him know he's welcome to attend if he wants to.
>>
I just realized we are creating the precedences for a cult.

>Open space were people from different species can come and have fun
>Open use of drugs
>band with anti-religious propraganda


I also wonder how many people will go trought the expetience of overdose, emd up being saved from it with Hive tech and become clean after it.
>>
>>2971683
What is he gonna plug his neural jack into. A worker's eyesocket? We don't have compatible computers onboard.

>>2971678
Theseus is a mature post-1.0 program and not a stuttering schoolboy in beta who can't say no under perceived peer pressure.

Though actually in retrospect whenever players have tried desperately to foist off the responsibility a decision onto an NPC like Theseus it usually ends up just reflected right back and he says "whatever you think is a good idea." Since you're the dang protagonist with all the agency and responsibility or whatever.
>>
>>2971715
Fun fact players are perfectly willing to let the queen run on autopilot. Deity Quest proved as much.
>>
>>2971714
I'm pretty sure with hives level of tech all chemical inbalances could be fixed to a baseline so they'd lose all built up resistance and chemical dependency on the drugs used. Wouldn't fix the psychological dependency but zero withdrawal symptoms!
>>
>>2971726
>Wouldn't fix the psychological dependency
That's why we have parasites
>>
>>2971715
I'm pretty sure the anon meant all the partygoers devices.
>>
>>2971629
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it
>also ask them if they want it announced
>>
>>2971739
True. Nothing beats back drugs quite like Mothers love.
>>
>>2971726
>Wouldn't fix the psychological dependency
I think you underestimate the power of Hive Biotech!

although realistically we don't want to go around altering core personalities this early
>>
>>2971726
But isn't the psychological dependecy manifested thanks to the chemical reaction in ones brain? If one doesn't have the chemicql imbalance wouldn't he/she/it have no need or want to use the drug?
>>
>>2971744
Spine pal! The only friend that will keep the drugs away from you!
>>
>>2971629
>Invite Theseus to openly attend the concert, but don't announce it

You send the details of the concert's planned venue, and ask if there are any specifications that would need to be made to accommodate one of Theseus's mechanical drones. The question is mulled over for a surprising length of time before you receive a response.

"No, none are needed, only one human intended seat. Attendance may be possible, depending on the progress of a recent project."

Strangely cryptic, but you are happy to oblige. Meanwhile, you are suddenly attracted to a momentary panic in your mind as Lee is suddenly woken in his sleep. As your mind rushes to examine the situation, you see Sushi floating meekly in silence beside Lee's bed in the middle of the night, illuminated by the glow of a data pad.

"Goddamn." Lee mutters. "What? You know I can't just sleep with a part of my brain, right? I know you have, like, what, nine of them or something and you can just turn them off and on sequentially but I can't."

"It is important." Sushi says. "Incredibly important." He hands Lee the data pad, Lee's concern shifting to aggravation as he looks over the ticket pre-sale reservation page of some obscure concert.

"What in the hell does that have to do with me?" Lee asks. "I can't start buying you tickets to some concert."

"Keep reading." Sushi says. Lee groans in annoyance and more closely examines the page.

"Party in the City of the Demons, Disciples of Oblivion will debut their new as yet unreleased album, Eulogy of a Heretic on the edge of know space, within the Cathedral of the Bloody Red Queen, the city of Builder's Gift, in orbit of the eternally burning hell of Desmond's signature gas giant." Lee turns back to Sushi with a look of shock as he drops the data pad into his lap. "We're hosting death metal concerts now?"

"Black metal, actually." Sushi says. "There is a difference, and they transcend the genre to be honest. They are a multi-sensory band, with instruments and members from all species, but the pre-sales are already sold out, there would be no chance of getting a ticket now. I was wondering if you-" He trails off, the translator failing to catch the mild neurological muttering and offering only quiet static. Lee sighs.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do." Sushi makes a strange, gurgling squelching noise, like an almost-empty squirt bottle sputtering mostly air.

"Thank you!" The translator speaker spouts suddenly and loudly, and he floats away down the hall.

cont.
>>
>>2971750
the body has this annoying trait that it does the minimum amount of work required. If it gets dopamine from another source regularly and for a long enough period it will lessen the amount of dopamine produced which is very hard to fix and is separate from the psychological need to use drugs as a coping mechanism.
>>
>>2971757
>"No, none are needed, only one human intended seat. Attendance may be possible, depending on the progress of a recent project."
He's making his own Smiths! Good on him.
>>
>>2971757
kek of course he'd be a fan.
>>
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>>2971757
>"Party in the City of the Demons, Disciples of Oblivion will debut their new as yet unreleased album, Eulogy of a Heretic on the edge of know space, within the Cathedral of the Bloody Red Queen, the city of Builder's Gift, in orbit of the eternally burning hell of Desmond's signature gas giant."
Holy shit this is the greatest thing.
>>
>>2971757
sushi literally is me....

goddamnit qd
>>
>>2971777
It really doesn't need an explanation does it? Also nice trips.
>>
>>2971741
The audience's shit isn't "our stuff."

And even if 'our stuff' meant "everybody else's stuff," it's a neural link. Not wireless. Crash is unlikely to be just sticking his jack into every fanboy's datapad.
>>
>>2971789
>Crash is unlikely to be just sticking his jack into every fanboy's datapad.
Anon he's in a band. He's going to jack it into so many groupies.
>>
>>2971777
Who ever is the person in charge of the band site script he/she or it has some awesome talent.
>>
>>2971791
ten dollars it's the valen
>>
>>2971777
Right guys, the hype is real. Let’s have the best fucking concert of all time!
>>
So guys what kind of entertaiment drugs should we develop for the party?
>>
>>2971757
Maybe now Sushi can get adopted. Family discount.
>>
>>2971790

His biggest groupie is probably some hacker chick that goes by the name of Acid Burn.
>>
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>>2971757
Seiner sits down, finally, his arms numb from his mad scrawling. He sits on the padded patch of cushion on the floor and attempts to relax as he looks on at his own work. It is a design, he knows that much, but beyond that, he can't make out much. The walls of the room are covered in strange, alien designs. Skyl script is present, but rare, offering only the occasional annotation around what is otherwise a tapestry of strange geometric patterns and mathematical formulas that use principles of mathematics to which the human species is not accustomed. His attempts to relax only fail as he begins attempting to solve an entirely new field of mathematics while attempting to assemble whatever mechanism he had just laid out the blueprints for in what felt reminiscent of the medically induced fugue state in which he wrote more than a few of his essays at Mentan. He shuts his eyes tightly, trying to squeeze the information from his mind like juice from an orange until he can see the blood flowing in his eyes and feel it pounding through his head. He opens his eyes again and exhales.

Seiner looks around at the room, and for a moment the padding on the floor reminds him of the rather uncomfortable floor mats he would sit on so many years ago, when he was dating a yoga enthusiast as a preliminary student. She assured him the sessions would help him with the stress of the Mentan entrance exams, and in truth he couldn't exactly say it didn't work, he did pass them, after all, although he still can't help but question the methodology used to make the claim.

Seiner shrugs to himself, and with a mixture of skeptical embarrassment and a foggy memory of details, he pulls his legs into a meditative posture and tries to remember the breathing techniques he had halfheartedly done so many years ago, his arms held out at rest against his legs, his hands held in what he thinks is correct, but could just as easily be something he saw in a movie once. He figures if anything, he may at least be able to convince himself it's right at least enough to get the placebo effect on his side.

I was not expecting you to love that random event so much.
>>
>>2971799
Well we'd have to do some market research first.
a) infiltrate a human rave with flies.
b) sting anyone who loses consciousness and steal blood samples.
c) refine
d) profit
>>
>>2971803
One of the many things I love about your quest is how you let us turn trivial things like this into something amazing QD.
>>
>>2971803
He allows some time to pass, motionless, as he struggles to clear his mind. It is cluttered at the best of times, but now, it feels his mind is screaming in a constant panic, the reality of his own existence, his own undeath, for lack of a better term. He ponders if he is truly himself, or if he is simply a new man with the memories of some dead scientist. He wonders if it matters, and eventually, decides it doesn't, although the question still lingers. He wonders about the nature of psionics, of how it was used to influence is grandfather, if he can even claim the relation anymore, and how it now is used to control him. He wonders about the nature of control itself, of free will. If anyone can truly claim to have it, or if it is something only the Queens could know, or even still, if they too are puppets to fate, and an endless string of causes and effects. The endless questions spiral downward, into more and more esoteric fields, at each step his mind attempts to wed it with his own physics, and fails, and calls out to the answers deliberately, hopping some memory implanted in him will call back like an echo with an answer. The questions become more and more reductive, more existential, until eventually he reaches a root, a pondering of reality itself, and with that, a bland, pragmatic solution that the true nature of the universe matters as much to him, as the nature of a man does to a tardigrade. A part of him attempts to dismiss the claim as nihilistic, but he pushes the thought aside, it is not a matter of total dismissal, but a matter of accepting a limited comprehension. An employee does not concern himself with the affairs of an executive. Such questions are not his to know the answers to.

>>2971801
Glad someone got that
>>
>>2971803
you kinda have to have a thread with it now, it'll be great
>>
>>2971809
Quite the existential crisis he's having.
>>
>>2971803
we’ve been trying to find a way to show the “party” side of the hive for a while and this kind of just fell into our lap. The “Fuck the Void God” message is a nice bonus.
>>
>>2971155
Which is why I suggested we make use of the existing fake queen and start fleshing her out, or start interacting more with the scarred queen.
I like how DatS quest handled the disciple side story, would be cool to see something like that for scarred queen. But a new queen right now feels like a haphazard thing at best. More egg layer world's would be good to have imo, to increase our drone response times, but no more then a egglayer quantum thinker combo. Not yet atleast.
>>
>>2971803
He opens his eyes again to a new sight. There are stars, but they are not stars. They flicker in a night sky, dancing in ways that would be impossible in any night sky. He looks around him, and he sees a vast, endless field of flowers. He can't help but wonder where this image is from, if this is his mind creating an illusion, or if his mind has projected to some place distant, or if the imprinted knowledge in his mind is offering this as an answer to him, like a puppet show to explain to a child a concept far beyond his years. He quickly decides that no matter the cause, it seems to be more progress than anything else he has tried so far, and just rolls with it, accepting his sensations with as little criticism as possible.

Above, the stars continue to dance, looping and swirling among one another, until eventually one of them seems to streak across the sky and down to the surface. It grows closer and closer, it's visual speed and size maintaining an impossible constant despite the clearly vast distance it is traveling, until it is mere feet away from him, floating down among the flowers in a fluttering motion, its glow subsiding enough for Seiner to see it is a butterfly. It flutters over the flowers, its wings a strange, star filled glass that seems to sing like a wind chime with each beat of its wings. He holds out a finger as it flutters by, and waits, perfectly still, as it lands gracefully on his hand.

He pulls back suddenly, a sharp pain stabbing through his hand as his finger bleeds from a deep cut. The butterfly flutters back into the air, faster now, its form darting about him almost aggressively.
The stars above him seem suddenly far closer, each one a glittering, black glass butterfly, their crystal wings beating to the sound of grating knives. They begin to swarm, and he feels another cut on his arm, and another on his back, and another, and another. He shouts, swinging his arms up defensively, but it is as if he has extended his arms into a blender, the beating wings carving away at his flesh in long strips as the swarm swallows him, and consumes him.

Seiner falls off the cushion, his legs still tangled crisscrossed together as he shouts with sudden terror. He is sweating, his heart racing, but he feels no pain, and as he pats down his arms and face he feels no injures. He is back in the meditation chamber, he had never left it, but what he had experienced was far more real than any hallucination.
cont.
>>
>>2971810
I wonder if this will be the HQQ “beach episode” but infinitely more metal.
>>
>>2971803
>>2971809
I knew that self-help book from the Clarke would turn out to be the answer to everything all along.

>Bettering yourself: A guide to galactic harmonics – An interesting yet highly unscientific “journey into the greater galactic consciousness.”
>>
>>2971289
DatS when?
>>
This thinker is tired and is going to bed. Have fun playing with Seiner y'all and don't look too deep into the void.
>>
>>2971307
More queens does not equal more slots anon, the system as is now has been trimmed down from too much already and you want to revert that???
>>
>>2971828
If I -was- Grave, and not saying I am, I would look to Tuesday most likely
>>
>>2971819
Your mind arrives like a sudden, warm fog over Seiner's own jittering mind, squeezing it just enough to offer comfort like a tightly bundled blanket around a young baby. Seiner is shaking, his body in a pure state of fight-or-flight as his parasite quickly adjusts his body's response to lower heart rate and reduce the stress.

"What was that?" He asks. You are unsure, his new abilities are novel to you both. The thought offers no comfort, but does improve his resolve, the understanding that he is an explorer to realms and understanding new even to you offering a resounding boost to his morale, and he quickly begins searching his own mind for an answer.

"It felt like... my mind was, interpreting something." He says. "It's like a blind man trying to explain what color looks like. I don't have the sensory capacity to understand it, so my brain must be... changing it, turning it into new stimuli that I can understand, but it's losing clarity in the process." He stands up, his legs shaking from the adrenaline, his limbs ice cold and his head hot with blood. He takes a deep breath through his nose, and lets out a long, drawn out exhale from his mouth as his heart rate quickly lowers to normal.

"I think a good way to put it would be that it's like a digital interface. I can't understand the code, so I need things dumbed down for me using a middle man interface, but some things are lost in that. I still need to learn that language, to understand that sensory concept. Maybe if you helped unravel that vision, I could start learning more about this kind of thing?"

>Examine Seiner's mind to help him understand his vision
>Refuse, this is something he must do alone
>Other
>>
>>2971844
>>Examine Seiner's mind to help him understand his vision
>>
>>2971194
>>2971211
Lee did not have that sensitivity when he was met the first or the second time. Only when he was found on Gemini.

The sensitivity didn't exist before the sadistic lab experimentation altered his brain. Yune had the same 6th sense. It's a clear sign of artificial brain alterations.
>>
>>2971844
>Examine Seiner's mind to help him understand his vision
>>
>>2971819
Fuckin love that drawfag and his artwork.
>>
>>2971844
>>Refuse, this is something he must do alone
Um, maybe the vibrant psionic brain shouldn't be thinking about these thoughts too loudly.

>Other
Would you like to peruse some human self-help book literature?
>>
>>2971844
>Refuse, this is something he must do alone
black crystal more you now about them the more they know about you
>>
>>2971844

>Refuse, this is something he must do alone
Doesn't mean we shouldn't help him though, if there's anything else he wants, we'll provide it (also probably an explanation of why we can't help).
>>
>>2971844
You know, we have his grandfather's bones and the thing he fell from the moon in and the original relay that inspired him.

If he's into that sentimental kind of thing.
>>
>>2971844
>Refuse

The ENTIRE reason that we brought Seiner back, and that he performed his task, was that we could have a hand seperate from ourselves and able to do the dark learning that would destroy us.

His mind needs to stay as far away from us as it can, for our own safety.
>>
>>2971844
Can we not examin the visions, offer input and then let him do the rest of the legwork?
>>
Couldn't we just impart that knowledge into a thinker and seal them in an anti-psionic room?
>>
>>2971844
>>Refuse, this is something he must do alone
He needs to build his own personality through experince his own events
>>
>>2971846
>>2971853
>>2971854
>>2971857
>>2971859
>>2971861
everyone remember that we have a vibrant loud mind that super spread out thats unshielded and we are not a human so no safety in the dark void
>>
>>2971869
remember that we don't have to use our own mind for it when we can seal a thinker into a chamber that is impermeable to psionics. We never need to actually know or interact with the mind directly to help him.
>>
>>2971869
and the whole speak of the devil and he will appear >>2971873
we have some guro yoga thinkers in a very spiritual and calming cave
>>
>>2971844
>Other
I'm extremely loathe to have the Queen's vibrant psychic mind think about the Void in such a brazen way, but I don't want to cast Seiner away without help. Would having a personal cadre of thinkers help? If the Queen dives into the void and begins interacting with the things there, it's going to be bad news, even if it's done through the focus of a human mind.
>>
>>2971844
>>Other
Help him interpret with the limited sensory data we obtained. The vision seemed like a warning, a sparkling death trap descends from the stars- first enchanting then swarming.
>>
>>2971888
To clarify some more, using Seiner as a focus is bad, but interpreting what he's seen might be OK.
>>
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>>2971844
"You must go where I cannot. You will find the knowledge to understand these things have already been placed within yourself, allow the knowledge to come to you instead of attempting to grab it for yourself. There is some manner of self-help book found in the Clarke wreckage if you would care to read it." You say. He dismisses the last part of your offer, but takes heed of the first. He sits back down, and allows his mind to flow freely. The mathematics of the situation eat away at the corners of his mind, trying to plunge him into a scientific analysis but he drives it away, with the understanding this new science is a field beyond his current mathematics. His mind would be of no use to solve the complexities at work even if he did know the equations involved. You hold up his mind, but do not directly touch it, helping him to export his less direct thoughts away to your network, and as he disconnected himself from it, pouring his mind further into some other place, the instinct for hard data and obsessive observation does not come back, or at least not as strongly.

cont.
>>
>>2971903
>>2971903
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quLJpV3Mlco

He opens his eyes again, and he is somewhere else entirely. The sky is black, but the stars move and shift, winking into and out of existence at a whim. They are not stars at all. Above him, hanging over the strange world where he now stands are several vast structures, each offering their own light. To the east, he sees a great red star, glowing bright and warm, but it too is not a true star, there is no plasma, the light does not burn to look at, it is almost like a glowing glass orb. Around it is another, smaller star, a lighter yellow glowing faint, it flickers, its surface cracked like an old marble, and while seemingly weak at first it shines defiantly as it orbits the larger red sun.

To the west, there is another structure, a black orb, like a black hole but impossibly close. Its surface is blank, yet twisted, its light present and strong, but its radiance spreads a painful cold, the landscape beneath it a frozen waste. it seems to emanate some kind of noise, like a distant scream with no air in the lungs to use. The two orbs seem locked together, imobile towards one another, as if locked in a duel where neither has committed to the first real strike.

cont.
>>
>>2971906
Oh yellow sun is scarred queen and we're the red son, got it
>>
>>2971908
and the black one is black queen neat but simple to understand with the right context symbolism
>>
huh I wonder if we're unusually powerful, our large hive means more activity, or subservient queens subconsciously weaken their psionic imprint.
>>
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>>2971906
>QD is now actually linking Doom soundtrack
If shit had not yet got real up until this point, than shit has now gotten very real.

The doot of the damned will surely echo across all of time and space
>>
>>2971911
she is small weak and scarred
>>
>>2971906
He black hole is the void watching us since there still only allowed to watch
>>
>>2971906
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBpI-y4dWHI

The black star seems impossibly close, rays of strange, cold light emanate from it like searchlights passing over the landscape, but they seem unable to see Seiner. He attempts to move, his body seemingly transporting itself along without the use of his body, as if being pulled through a thick liquid. He can feel himself ahead of him, where he will be, and behind him, where he has been all at once.

In what feels at once to be hours, days, or an instant, he is somewhere new, the horizon different. The strange burning orbs now distant but still visible, their light touching seemingly everything, except Seiner, as his mind leaps from shadow to shadow, unseen, unheard, as naturally as a footstep, awkward at first, and quickly becoming more rapid and at longer paces until he is bounding over an endless horizon of impossible shapes and structures. He looks to the sky again, and finds other orbs, countless of them, more than could fit in the sky were they to be placed in real space. He can see the new axis of movement, an entire new space, anthoginal to his own third, the many spheres are easily held within, but their forms are shattered, spread across the strange fourth space like a cracked egg spread out across a hard floor. They remain perfectly still, filling the sky like the corpses of men hanging from the branches of a great tree, and then, at once, he sees the tree in the distance, well past any possible horizon across a strange, black sea that ripples strangely, as if partially frozen, like a flowing solid. He creeps up to the shore, and he can hear whispers calling out to him from beneath the waves. He backs up, unsure of the strange water, and there is a figure standing along the shore by a boat, a tall, robed figure holding a small lantern in its hand as it stands along the edge of a small gondola.

"You are her messenger?" The figure asks. It seems less a question and more a statement of fact, and the figure proceeds to gesture to the gondola, as if inviting him aboard. Seiner is unsure how to respond.

>Board the gondola
>Speak to the robed figure (write in)
>Other
>>
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>>2971906
>>2971921
>DOOM soundtrack
>Halflife soundtrack
>>
>>2971921
>"Maybe?"
>Board the gondola
>>
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>>2971921
>>Board the gondola

QD I must sleep, but I just wanted to say thank you for coming back and picking up this quest again. I thought that I had finally escaped 4chan for good but with your quest running I couldn't stay away, it always surprises me just how much fun this is even when dealing with things I expected to be a chore.

I had forgotten what it's like dealing with a horde of spergtastic anons who can't agree on anything managing a civilization of space bugs that spans light years, but there really ain't nothing quite like it. The first thread in a year and here we are planning an interspecies black metal concert in which the band will play for their literal anti-god and their demons.

Good god I love this quest and everyone in it.
>>
>>2971921
>Board the gondola
Less a messenger and more of a long stick to poke at things.
>>
>>2971928
Like all proper researchers we found ourselves the longest stick we could to poke the scary thing with.
>>
>>2971921
>Board the gondola
In for a penny...
>>
>>2971928
support
>>
>>2971921

>Board the gondola
>Speak to the robed figure "And you are?"
Do we have any way to wipe Seiners mind in the event of void taint? I feel like we may need a way to scrub out some knowledge since the more you know the void, the more of a threat it becomes.
>>
>>2971935
Of course. Kill and respawn him.
>>
>>2971921
>Partially frozen, like a flowing solid. He creeps up to the shore, and he can hear whispers calling out to him from beneath the waves. He backs up, unsure of the strange water, and there is a figure standing along the shore by a boat, a tall, robed figure holding a small lantern in its hand as it stands along the edge of a small gondola.

The hive has officially sent an envoy to cross the river Styx into Hades. Ladies and gentlemen, any doubt about hive queens being gods can now be laid to rest.
>>
>>2971921
>Board the gondola
>>
>>
so QD you going for a full 12 hours of running?
>>
>>2971921
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_JgOlGq6i4

"I think so." Seiner says. "What are you, exactly?"

"That is meaningless here." The figure replies. "What form have you given me?"

"I'm not sure I understand." Seiner says as he enters the gondola.

"Then you will be lost here. It is what you make it to be. No more." Seiner thinks on that for a moment, and the figure pushes off from the shore with a long oar that was not there before.

"I know what I'm seeing isn't real though." Seiner says. "I think my mind is pushing images taken from various mythologies. This is the river styx, right? And that's what, Yggdrasil? I guess that all makes you Hades, or Hel, maybe just a generalized figure of death. What is all this though, really?"

"It is as you say. If you have given these names, the places will become. We cross the river styx because you wished to place it in your path. We approach Yggdrasil because you say it is across the river."

"So, what, if I say we need to climb Mount Olympus..."

"We shall climb. Look now." The figure points to the distance, and in the place of the great tree is a vast mountain, infinite in height with a palace at its peak, as paradoxical as that may be, it is clearly visible.

"So then the river, it's not real?" Seiner asks, he looks over the edge of the gondola, the whispers continuing in the distance. He looks closely into the waves, his eyes following faint shapes. There is a strange depth to it, as if endlessly falling closser, the shapes becoming hands, arms, faces, reaching out to him. The whispers grow louder, more defined. He suddenly becomes aware of the sensation of drowning, and he hears his name echo from deeper beneath the surface, a familiar face forming in the waves bellow. Seiner is suddenly thrown against the bottom of the gondola as he gasps for air.

"There is nothing here that is not real." The figure says. "That is the shadow of your world. All things and thoughts of your kind are here. Do not lose yourself within the musings of the past or you will become the past. As this place becomes what you will it to be, it will shape you if you cannot will it not to."

Seiner continues coughing until, as his eyes clear, he realizes he is no longer on the gondola. The figure stands over him, holding its lantern as the soft glow illuminates more than it otherwise should. Massive statued figures look down on them both, like vast skeletons. Seiner can feel an echo rumbling through the narrow valley, the content it once held long gone and meaningless, but there is still an authority to it.

"Where are we now?" Seiner asks.

"You continue to leap, your mind is unsteady. You hunger for knowledge and information like a ravenous child that will soon grow fat on it." The figure says, there is a sternness to the voice, but it is a patient kind. "We are in the same place, but higher. Your kind are shallow and small. They sink and flow through cracks and pool into mires, unlike these, but they too are past."
cont.
>>
>>2971961
oh, void gods. great
>>
>>2971966
If Charon here was really a representative of the void gods I doubt seiner would have made it this far. Not everything is a machination of them, even here.
>>
>>2971966
This seems more like an echo of the dead sort of thing.
>>
>>2971966
I think those are supposed to be the cluster. The Void is silicon-based remember?
>>
>>2971978
I don't know if it is the cluster, didn't they blind themselves to psychicness to avoid the war between us and the void?
>>
>>2971981
Which they did because the psychic collateral of the hive/void war was killing them.

They blinded themselves some time after the start of the war.
>>
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>>2971961
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ZC_KTuVI8

"So they're... dead?" Seiner asks.

"No, not here, for death requires time. They are only past. Their power of continuance has gone, but they are still here, look." The figure seems to hold up a hand, and the statues seem to move. Suddenly they are not statues, but vast arrays of moving thought. The figure holds out its hand again, a long finger touching Seiner's head as a billion and more voices burst into his consciousness, singing in an endless chorus. He feels the whole of the galaxy as if it were a mural, nebulae sculpted like clay, stars moved over millions of years to form dazzling shapes in the night skies, worlds sown into great gardens, the topography shaped into vast images covering continents by the synchronized movements of countless toiling bodies, like cells of a greater organism.

There is a darkness to it, however, a hunger. It slowly eats at the edges of the minds, rotting them away. Seiner wants to scream out in warning, but it plays out as it once had, again and again in a timeless loop, like a record never to be played again, each frame held still in its moment forever. Worlds burn, stars ignite, the minds fall, their forms vanishing from the world and their shadows here growing still like stone as they are slowly worn down, the small minds bellow degrading it like rainwater eating away at a stone canyon. Their vibrance fades, their color turning mute, their faces growing gaunt, until only the statues remain.

"Death is an illusion," the figure says, "only present from a certain point of view, but these are shadows with no light, their motions have become limited, nothing new can come of them. They still live, they still are, but only in one area, a location in spacetime. You extend further, your Queen holds light yet, and from that light can flow new beauty."

"You're saying these are the ancient Queens." Seiner says. "I could see all of them, it's blurry, but.... what about the First Queen?" Seiner asks suddenly. "What happened to her?" The figure holds out its lantern, and with the other hand points onward, towards a great hill in the distance where a grand but ruined structure stands in shadow. Seiner takes the lantern, and the figure falls away, as if made of a shadow that were simply dispelled by the light of the flame. He looks closely at it, at the fire held within the glass. It flickers, fades, its light dimming slightly, but its flame seems to dance wildly like a roaring fire, always flickering towards the structure in the distance.

>Call Seiner back
>Tell him to proceed further
>Other
>>
>>2971985
>Other
We stole his life, his legacy, his grand fathers bones. Lets let him answer this one question for himself before we demand he search for the things we want.

Besides, who here hadnt given some curious thought to the first queen?
>>
>>2971985
>Tell him to proceed further
>>
>>2971985
>>Tell him to proceed further
>>
>>2971985
>Tell him to proceed further

>>2971991
>Lets let him answer this one question for himself
I think that just means he must walk forward.
>>
>>2971985

Warp senses tingling!
>Call Seiner back
Not that I don't want him to answer his own question, but I have a gut feeling that preceding aint gonna be good
>>
>>2971949
looks like it
>>
>>2971985
>Tell him to proceed further
This is clearly a bad idea but my curiosity demands it
>>
>>2971985
>Call Seiner back
>>
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>>2971985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWNpBrEu4xY
Seiner holds up the lantern and continues forward, each step becoming more easy than the last as the light seems to almost pull him further onward. As he begins to climb the mountain leading to the grand structure, the light dims around him. The great orbs in the distance falling further and further away, until only the faintest light exists outside of the small lantern. You feel as if you grow more and more distant, like watching from a small window of thick, foggy glass as Seiner continues to climb, until he reaches its peak.

He examines the structure ahead of him, standing tall over him, magnificent, yet ruined, a palace stands, if barely, its form crumbling with time. Ahead of him is a doorway, small, and freshly made from the ancient stone around it. Seiner moves closer, and for a split moment catches the glimmer of light shining from beyond the doorway, calling to him. The light flickers forward, as if pulling him in as a cold wind picks up around him. He walks forward, following the flickering flame of the lantern, until all you can see of him is his form within the doorway, all else is bathed in darkness, and you dare not illuminate it yourself.

Seiner turns to look back to you, suddenly realizing your mind is no longer with his, he looks back at you, to the distant red sun as it sets over the horizon, and the doors close behind him.

And I think that's it for tonight. Gonna stick around a bit for any questions, comments, feedback, that sorta thing, otherwise I think most everyone's gone to sleep.
>>
>>2972016
Goddammit
>>
>>2972016
Bye Steiner, hope that with this revelation you won't be a dick in the next reincarnation. It's the least we can give you, after all we did.
>>
>>2972016
Good luck on your spirit quest, science man.

Thanks for running, QD.
>>
>>2972016
thanks for running QD

I'm pretty sure he's not dead, his physical body is still in our hive, but he'll probably come back eventually with revelations of some kind.

if not we can just boot up seiner.exe into a new clone.
>>
>>2972016
Thanks for Running QD, I fucking missed being in these threads.
>>
>>2972016
Pfft. You know sleep never really comes.

The hives on Arnim et al. Are they still growing then?
>>
>2971921
>the new axis of movement, an entire new space, anthoginal to his own third,

>anthoginal

Was that supposed to be a 4th dimensional neologism or just a weird typo?
>>
>>2972026
I figured it was like orthagonal but more sci-fi mind-trippy fourth-dimensional. Nothing wromg with making up words.
>>
>>2972027
No, actually that was just my Dysgraphia taking the word orthogonal but jumbling up a part of it.
>>
>>2972016

Cheers for running QD

Also, we might want to chuck Seiners body in a cell, just to be on the safe side.
>>
>>2972027
Except orthogonal already applies to axes of all dimensions.
>>
>tfw even in death the psy echo of the queens contibue to blast for all eternaty.

No wonder the cluster blinded/deafed itself.
>>
>>2971819
>>2971809
This art is new, correct? Thanks to the folks that drew it.
>>
>>2972034
One is new, Smiles drew it special for the scene, the other was back from when Seiner was first cloned. They are both top notch as always.
>>
>>2972016
With matriarch dissection done, don't we have to vote for what Vaughn researches next?
>>
>2971906
Wait...

We didn't see an Obsidian Queen orb orbiting the Void mind orb.

That's weird isn't it.
>>
>>2972043
Yes, but I won't let it go to waste, you can pick a new one at the start of the next day, which should be next thread. Whenever a research carries over any I'll just apply any leftover rolls to the new subject.
>>
>>2972053
When's the next thread?
>>
>>2972053
We sent ships to Nowhere to retrieve living lithovores, right?

How many days till we'll be able to start managing Expanse planets and stations?

And we still gotta deal with Kent & Project Aegis in the midst of everything else. They should arrive soon if they left in 66.2.
>>
>>2972048
Literally second dream post
>To the west, there is another structure, a black orb, like a black hole but impossibly close. Its surface is blank, yet twisted, its light present and strong, but its radiance spreads a painful cold, the landscape beneath it a frozen waste. it seems to emanate some kind of noise, like a distant scream with no air in the lungs to use. The two orbs seem locked together, imobile towards one another, as if locked in a duel where neither has committed to the first real strike.
>>
>>2972058
Should be Sunday, if I can get a mid-week thread up maybe sooner but that would be less likely.

>>2972064
Should be next day, I wanted to just sorta have this day have the between-rules-update stuff where you see what is changing and where new stuff is coming in, and then the next day have those things actually be ready to use. Same with the map data, I don't want to just dump it all at once because it would take up the whole thread, or just pop it in the pastebin because that would make the archive anons suffer, and I care about them too, so I was planning on having it be dumped bit by bit as each system becomes more relevant. The Emperor does something noteworthy, you get his system data, you want to plan an attack on a system, you get its data, that kinda stuff.
>>
>>2972065
That is literally the dreampost number I almost-linked anon. Geezus.

"The two orbs locked in a duel" are obviously the black orb and the red orb.

There is only one black orb instead of two, one orbiting the other. The black orb is OQ I guess so her Void master is seemingly absent from the sky.
>>
>>2972071
Too much dumps is bad but there is a critical flaw here because no one knows what system to attack without knowing what's in it and which system is worthy of attacking.

Something similar with decisions to land espionage hives in systems we've never seen OOC.

We need some at least slow trickle of not-relevant-yet things in order to make strategic decisions based on a more holistic big picture.

Imagine if we heard about 4 moons locked in Lagrange points around a world with clearly artificial structures that somehow survive the sulfides over the ages before this thread. Odds are would've investigated a long time ago.

The last time we looked at pods proactively was Winsor. If we hadn't been given a narration of the pod at Winsor, we would never have interfered with the war between the Scavs and the Commonwealth.
>>
>>2972083
Well I'll dump them over time naturally as well, don't worry I won't let anything hit you from a place you should see but don't have the info on.
>>
>>2972088
>I'll dump them over time naturally as well,

Wait, really? Really-really?
>>
>>2959079
New Port is within 20LY of every Union star.

Aquarius is within 20LY of every Valen system and within 15LY of every Commonwealth system.

A Tachyonic Drill at Telarum would cover most of Commonwealth space, and a Drill at Nowhere would cover the remaining 3 stars as well as the Valen.
>>
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>>2972016
>YFW your favourite band is coming to play so you try to impress them by being metal, but instead you accidentally Ego Death yourself after straying too far from your mother.

>>2971856
>>2972034
Always a pleasure to Draw for the Quests
>>
I really hope Seiner isn't kill. I'm hoping that his mind will somehow find its way back with more revelations for us.In the meantime, lets build a pod around his body, so that his body wont decay.
>>
>>2958994
>Current Research
>Your thinkers assemble themselves to focus on a number of different research topics, allowing you to choose one as your primary topic, and two as secondary research projects. The primary research project will receive three rolls per day for progress, while secondary projects receive two. In addition to your thinkers, you may gain additional research rolls from other sources. Vassal Hives shall offer their own thinkers to you as tribute and non-hive allies specialized in research all can be used to run their own Auxiliary research projects, granting one roll per day each. Multiple Auxiliary rolls can be assigned to the same research subject, and if left alone, will choose a topic of their own interest. A vassal hive may research anything, while non-hive allies possess specializations in their fields of study, and offer special bonuses when researching subjects in their fields.
How about that.
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>>2972016
fucking rad. Thanks for the quest QD, when is the next installment due? Next week Saturday?
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>>2972242
Goddamnit why is it that you are so obsessed with extra queens?
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>>2972276
>wanting something you think is fun and practical is an obsession
Why are you so obsessively against it? Literally nobody in thread wants to give out our Expanse planets and QD has explicitly stated it has plenty of benefits and the drawbacks are nothing more than opinions from what QD has said.
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>>2972276
>>2972295
Honestly I don't really see a need for daughter Queens since everything except we do nowadays except building fleets and Direct Action (narrative attention is given in the thread and players are voting on what to do in the situation) is pretty much automated at this point.

Adding daughters doesn't really do anything to improve on running our empire mechanically outside of fluff since all their actions would still be crunched by QD.
What it does add is another layer of randomness and uncertainty because they're their own entity, using up valuable resources to build up their own fiefs instead of being more efficiently used to fuel our own war effort, and basically giving QD more work for little gain, even fluff-wise.

What would make me reconsider my position on this at this point in the quest if they were added was more research slots like what the Scarred Queen offered, but I doubt it would be that simple.
The Scarred Queen literally has millennia of experience interacting with the previous hives and subsequently trying to stay alive on her own that gives her a unique outlook and insights on research items that would justify giving her an slot.

In contrast, any possible daughters would probably not offer anything different to how we already do things. A daughter's thinkers would be just a drop in the bucket compared to our own.

A hypothetical daughter, if it were to actually make a difference, would basically be told to expand in a particular direction, then report back on anything interesting.
But the caveat here is that if she *does* find anything interesting that isn't just run-of-the-mill research adaptations from alien wildlife, like say a new spacefaring species or a derelict ruin, we would still want to take Direct Action because something like can't simply be left in the hands of an inexperienced Queen at a time like this.
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I wonder when Steiner gets back if he will be more like Gordon Freeman.

Because everyone know that Lianel is our Doom Guy.
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>>2972322
>Because everyone know that Lianel is our Doom Guy.

Um, did you mean “Lyle”
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>>2972327
Yes him.
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>>2972071
Thanks QD, the thread was awesome! Dumping the new info slowly over several threads makes sense too.

Also, thanks for rolling with the sudden interest in running a kick ass death-metal concert.
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>>2971158
Oy our first human scientist resembles that remark.

Pretty sure she'd oppose a platform of stripping rights to own property from xenos too.
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>>2972276
Well, to be fair, he did just post an example of how they could help us cut through our colossal backlog of research projects. We really should be prioritizing that, considering how much time IRL it takes to complete these days.
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>>2972344
We've just had a Very Busy Day.

I doubt it's been a full week in-universe since Nowhere, but a lot of shit's happened.
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>>2972295
>wanting something you think is fun and practical is an obsession
Sperging about it for 3 years despite being constantly shot down, yes.
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>>2972359
A hell of lot has changed for the hive in 3 years anon.
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>>2972368
*Fourteen days.
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I kind of hope the Valen singer needs to use the healing pods because of the drugs. We still haven't gotten a closer look at their biology and oh look, an opportunity.
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>>2972493
I'm sure we'll get some valens in the crowd too considering the size of the concert. If it starts to look like they're not dropping enough drugs we can just sneakily give them an OD through foods, drinks or cloned humans posing as fans.
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The concert is hilarious we are basically a soccer mom planning a sockhop for her children.
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>>2972549
The arrival of the Skyl alone, a bunch of teenagers pulling up through a wormhole with an utterly massive ship, will be amazing
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So Builder's Gift is a resort with two Zoological Reserves.

I was thinking that we can use one of them to show off some of our drones. Not the secret ones like the flies, but the workers and warriors, bombers and the fucking Colossus.

They already shat themselves just seeing our warriors and workers, it will be a good display of just how bad a idea it is to antagonize further. Plus, sick upvotes on the holonet.
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>>2972592
Good idea. Also, you totally forgot the fucking Titan. Maybe we can show holographic images of it demolishing the scavs too.
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>>2972592
I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to showcase our drones too openly. Especially the more specialized ones. I'd rather not have every military intelligence agent in the galaxy touring our zoos looking for ways to defeat our forces.
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>>2972604
Is Titan the enormous siege tank we wrecked the Scavs with? Colossus is the only bigass unit in the pastebin.
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>>2972618
Yeah I get that, but powers show off their new toys all the time as deterrent. The Commonwealth already know about our battle drones and everyone in the Union military has already seen footage and everything they could learn when they kidnapped our workers. I don't want to show off our specialized units, no need to show every variant of our fliers or let them know we have aquatic units at all. Just what they already know and things they already suspect.

Think of it more like Jurassic Park than a petting zoo, yeah?

I also only meant to keep them there for the concert and maybe a few days after. Let them rip their hair out that they declined to send officials to visit.
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>>2972619
Yep. A lot of drones are on the wiki but are missing from the Pastebin.
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>>2972629
>>2972631
Pastebinmind.
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>>2972629
Jesus Christ that's a lot of drone types. Six Titan variants! I've never looked at the wiki or the pastes because I sleep or work when he runs so I never got deeply involved.

Surely we can show off a handful out of all that
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>>2972627
sure they have data but we'd have to impose some pretty strict limits to imaging devices and cybernetics to stop for instance the union from using unwitting tourists to remotely scan the armor used in our heaviest units. Combat footage is rarely of good enough quality to do spectrum analysis or other materials research. I'd be very careful about what we allow the public access to because if the public can see it the military has an avenue to learn more from it.
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>>2972635
Nah, just a double post while on my phone in the elevator at work. I think the drop of signal caused the second post to use a different IP for some reason.
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I'm honestly not that opposed to the idea but it still bears keeping in mind that posturing is only really required when the other party isn't scared shitless of you already. Of course there's also the argument of what it seemingly says about the Hive that we have so many different kinds of drone dedicated to killing things.
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>>2972645
You can be however careful you want, as long as we put some on display I'll be happy. Put as many security measures you think is appropriate.

I'm not going to try to force anything stupid I just thought it would be a really neat thing to do
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I think a more interesting idea would be to make living art. Drones dedicated to the idea of being interesting, graceful, bizarre or beautiful.
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It probably wouldn't be particularly difficult to engineer a phoenix that goes up in flames and hatches from the egg left behind by the dead phoenix retaining most of the originals memories.
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>>2972670
Now THAT is how we fleece commonwealth nobles. They'd trade spaceships for one
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>>2972592
>So Builder's Gift is a resort with two Zoological Reserves.
How do you make a mistake like this? We can have only one Zoological on the station and we actually have two Resorts to exploit the attractions.
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>>2972723
How? It's easy, all you have to do is misread. Not that it matters if there is one or two for this idea.
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>>2972359
I've only started only supporting recently by the way.
>>2972303
Randomness is involved in almost everything we do.
>What would make me reconsider my position on this at this point in the quest if they were added was more research slots like what the Scarred Queen offered, but I doubt it would be that simple.
For fuck sakes.
>>2958994
>Your thinkers assemble themselves to focus on a number of different research topics, allowing you to choose one as your primary topic, and two as secondary research projects. The primary research project will receive three rolls per day for progress, while secondary projects receive two. In addition to your thinkers, you may gain additional research rolls from other sources. Vassal Hives shall offer their own thinkers to you as tribute and non-hive allies specialized in research all can be used to run their own Auxiliary research projects, granting one roll per day each. Multiple Auxiliary rolls can be assigned to the same research subject, and if left alone, will choose a topic of their own interest. A vassal hive may research anything, while non-hive allies possess specializations in their fields of study, and offer special bonuses when researching subjects in their fields.
We get +1 slots for every queen we have see.
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>>2972738
so that'd be dozens of research slots since each queen needs only a planet. What about moons? The rule is poorly thought out if it just completely invalidates the system.
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>>2972732
You know I'd find reasonable if it wasn't for the fact everytime the stats were laid out it next to the 2 Resorts there was a an explanation going like this: (to exploit hot jupiter burning gas giant, and zoological reserve).
This includes QD's posts. I find it hard to believe you'd miss something that stands out so much.
>>2972753
It's balanced out by the infighting causing a drain on resources. Having too many queens in a single area may cause the empire to tear it's self apart which is why while I want more queens (eventually) I only a few at most.
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>>2972767
So don't let them build ships if it's only the queen and a planetoid they require to contribute a research point. We're the god damned high-queen with the biggest space force while they only get scraps.
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https://youtube.com/watch?v=3Fao3B7XEF0

In retrospect, it should have been obvious the hive would be metal-heads.
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So, thinking ahead to the big party, will we provide translation devices to the Skyl?

If we do not provide translation devices it will look like we either lack the technology or are attempting to inhibit the ability of the Skyl to freely communicate. Even if we don’t provide translators, the Union, Valen, etc. are likely plenty capable of eventually translating the Skyl language on their own.

However, if we do provide translator tech we have a problem. The Skyl do NOT have parasites and any attempt to put a parasite in one would likely be seen as a betrayal by Heretic. There is serious risk that an intoxicated Skyl teenager could let slip important information about the Void God if asked normal questions like “what destroyed your home world?” Or “why do you like this music?” Even if we have speakers act as translators (which may be our best option), it would become obvious we are censoring specific questions.
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>>2973151
The skyl aren't psionically resistant like humans are and the entire city is covered in medium relays. We can act as translators even without speakers. Censorship may be a slight problem however I'm fairly certain with certain liberties taken with the translation we can switch out the details enough to keep it vague what happened.
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>>2971906
>see DOOM soundtrack before post
>right when we're fucking around with potential VOIDness
I'm suddenly very worried.
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>>2972016
This entire update was fucking neato. And slightly terrifying. Can't wait to see what horrors Seiner unleashes.
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>>2973310
That just means that Lyle need to step up because Seinner just became our Doom Guy.
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>>2972723
It's even worse than that.

You can only have one Zoo Reserve per star system.
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>>2973484
I don’t *think* that’s accurate, but if it is hopefully QD will let us retcon the city build or replace the addition. It makes no sense to have a city component that provides no value.
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>>2973604
No he's right. It's explicitly stated that you can only have one per star system.
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>>2973604
>but if it is hopefully QD will let us retcon the city build or replace the addition. It makes no sense to have a city component that provides no value.
Wait what are you trying to say here.
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>>2973728
He thinks that we have two reserves.
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>>2972327
>Psychically enhanced, personally shielded, mass void slaughterer Lyle when?
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>>2972584
>The Hive announces its first multi-species event.
>There is some interest in it among the xenophiles of the Union.
>Then they announce that they're bringing in a few members of the PRECURSOR CIVILIZATION THAT MOST OF MODERN INTERSTELLAR SOCIETY LOOKS UP TO, because THEY ARE A PROTECTORATE UNDER THE HIVE.
>Union xenophiles and galactic historians shit bricks.
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>>2972604
The Titan deserves a nice place for him to rest in while waiting for a new mission for Mother. He made us proud against the scavs.
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>>2972784
>This is how the Ancient Hives tore themselves apart.
We won't be a tyrannical high queen lording over our daughters, we are their doting Mother, and they are expected to be good daughters and do what we ask them to, while they get to grow their own lesser interstellar vassal states within our greater empire.
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>>2974558
The ancient hives didn't tear themselves apart. They got killed by an outside force while they were bickering which was because they weren't completely under the control of the high-queen.
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>>2974567
They got destroyed by an outside force BECAUSE they weren't working together.
The future of Hive society shall be that of a close-knit family, where our daughters shall look up to and respect their mother/grandmother/great-grandmother, and work together, for the benefit of all Hive-life.
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i found some hiver art
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>>2974864
warrior
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is anyone else hype for the dark metal?
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wow look at this could it be a possible mental white queen avatar?
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Can't wait to have a speaker dance with Theseus' shell during the concert on Builder's Gift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHBcVlqpvZ8
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>>2972242
Adopting nerds is a million times more efficient in acquiring research dice.

>>Mother's Favored: Requires Hover-Mom or Mother Knows Best to be active
> 1 d10 new Elite Hive Agents are recruited with random specializations. There is a small chance some of them will be scientists, while the rest become devoted counter-intelligence operatives on the local planet serving as the Hive's own de facto secret police.
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Anyone else think of this when they read the description of how a Ralighan fights?

https://youtu.be/9ZSoJDUD_bU
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>>2975267
>small chance
Also laying queens is matter of taste or opinion at this point and neither truly replaces or nullifies the other since scientists can't research outside of their specialization.
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>>2975293
This shit is so cool it's unbelievable
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>>2975305
>scientists can't research outside of their specialization.

Wher are you getting that? Elizabeth was originally a computer scientist (working on Theseus) and then moved to xenobiology. She is now our primary expert in psionics. The same deal happened with seiner. Humans can learn to excel outside of one specific field pretty quickly.

Also, we have a lot of options that may help us recruit super-scientists for ourselves (I’m thinking of that one guy from the Path Cluster lab in particular...)
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>>2975401
She was never a computer specialist, at Mentan they encourage multiple degree programs covering a whole bunch of areas. She has degrees in Quantum Computing, Xenology etc etc etc

she's never been a specialist in any one thing
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>>2975401
She has only ever given dice for stuff in her expertise.
>>2959001
>Elizabeth Vaughn
>Specializations: Xenobiology, Quantum Mechanics, Psionics
QD even meantioned the only reason she has the Psionic specialization is because of the implants (implying it's more of a measure of whether you can meaningfully contribute or not to a project rather than scientists being free research slots with no strings attached).
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>>2975401
Also I think you miss the part where specializations represent years of training and study.
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>>2975660
We are literally a hive mind. Sharing experience and knowledge between our composite parts is kind of a thing we do.
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>>2975694
Yeah our replicants get entire lifetimes and specializations crammed into them at birth. The only limit is getting them into a healing pod for the hardware access.
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>>2975305
Look closer, Lenny. Read.
> non-hive allies possess specializations in their fields of study, and offer special bonuses when researching subjects in their fields.

Obviously, there are times when they are not researching their specialty.

Also of course there is no cap to the number of scientists you can recruit, and no resource investment beyond time.

>>2975293
More like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YyBtMxZgQs
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>>2975694
>>2975711
Not how it works mechanically. If that were the case we'd have one slot for every human under our control (which isn't going to happen).
>>2975735
>Obviously, there are times when they are not researching their specialty.
That's why it never happens.
You know what let's ask QD about this one.
>Also of course there is no cap to the number of scientists you can recruit, and no resource investment beyond time.
It's a glorified gacha roll for random agents in which we most of the time we won't get scientists.
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There's also the fact that humans certainly don't demand entire planets or star systems from us. Well the scientists don't anyways.
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>>2975767
>It's a glorified gacha roll for random agents in which we most of the time we won't get scientists.

Unless we specifically target scientists (which we already discussed doing before the hiatus). We also already have several super-scientists working for us. Surely they can contact friends or at least point us towards individuals of skill who are susceptible to recruitment.
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>>2975293
Personaly i think more on this when i read it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VyyWiqdpY6M
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>>2975711
>The only limit is getting them into a healing pod for the hardware access.
This is actually flat out wrong. This plays back into why we are limited to one skill set per clone or why seiner was struggling with his research or why regular humans don't magically become a combat veteran when connected to our network. There is more limiting them then that and it is a fundamental problem of their species.
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>>2975833
A few of these I've answered on the ask page, but I also wanted to quickly mention this before I go off to work tonight.

https://ask.fm/QuestDrone

You are able to grant a clone a specialization which represents a lifetime of training in a certain field, but there are also individuals with exceptional abilities above and beyond anything that pure training can account for. A clone agent specialized in a field would be classified as a kind of hero character in a 4x game, but a recruited agent with an exceptional natural talent, amplified and honed by your own augments and training would be more akin to a legendary hero character, one that is above and beyond the typical average. This is why clone agents are a resource in espionage, produced and spent by the local hive as needed, while recruited agents are difficult to obtain in large numbers and are much more difficult to permanently lose.
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>>2975833
>or why regular humans don't magically become a combat veteran when connected to our network.
Kata
Using the data gathered from your thinkers observations of enemy actions, your clones and non-hive agents implanted with a parasite or connected to your network can now respond instinctively to a wide range of combat situations with the same reflexes and devastating efficiency of your warriors, granting a boost to general performance in combat.
We literally researched a way to make anyone implanted with a spinebuddy into a combat veteran.
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>>2975895
Nope I take that into account. It only makes a regular non trained human combat ready at best.
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>>2975956
In that case you're simply wrong.
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>>2975968
They still need training to effectively use it. That's why we still need training centers for humans soldiers or did you overlook all the fluff for the hologram training room or barracks?
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>>2975854
Got it, makes sense that we can’t mass-produce super scientists or Lyles or the like. Thanks man.

>>2975956
Dude, QD just said it puts normal humans at near “hero” levels. It’s just not legendary hero levels like Lyle and co, etc.
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>>2976135
No he didn't. He said with augments and "training" it would put a person near Lyles level.
You people seem to like to ignore the need for humans and other clones to actually train and hone their abilities.
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>>2976135
And I mean Lyle before we augmented him in case you ignore that portion of what QD said too.
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>>2976226
>You are able to grant a clone a specialization which represents a lifetime of training in a certain field
How the fuck is a lifetime specialization in a field not a god damned combat veteran?
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>>2976240
Do you not understand what I'm saying?
Our network is like the internet or wikipedia (it's been described this way by Elizabeth) in a sense granting them access to knowledge and information beyond what they could normally learn by themselves. However just because you have access to all the information on nuclear physics doesn't automatically make you a nuclear physicist become it requires training and practice to become one however someone with that competence and a connection to our network would become a better nuclear physicist than everyone else except the top experts of the field.
This applies to combat as well.
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>>2976267
We can literally directly insert information into people that we get in healing pods just like we can extract information this way.
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>>2976269
Yet it isn't as effective as you think due gameplay mechanics. It never stopped Lee from being a clumsy dipshit, it doesn't civilians instant combat veterans, and it's explicitly stated that it's imperfect enough that it doesn't negate the need for training. Are you going to keep arguing this?
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>>2976267
exactly information does not = experience
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>>2977011
>It never stopped Lee from being a clumsy dipshit
Joke character
>it doesn't civilians instant combat veterans
That's literally what our clones and hybrids are. They're combat ready the moment they hatch no holotraining required. Of course they can improve further with holotraining.
>and it's explicitly stated that it's imperfect enough that it doesn't negate the need for training.
Except it's simply something to further improve skills not make the users competent in them. It's like you think there's a hard wall in a skill you can reach after which you don't need to do shit to maintain it and with no way to progress.
Our clones weren't useless before we got holotraining.
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>• Djin: Population, 6,340. A small planet covered in porous holes. The planet is covered in water, and the network of caverns and interconnecting caves have yet to be even remotely explored.
let's go wake up cthulhu
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that reminds me we failed to research the space bacteria slime that could shape shift because the sample died from us taking to long also why did we not ask for a lamp?
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>>2975767
>it never happens

This is the first freakin' thread ever in which the system existed. You have bizarre overconfidence for a sample size of one.

Them researching outside their specialty is obviously suboptimal so of course it shouldn't ever happen, but it theoretically could, if we ever ran out of those topics.
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Since we don't have trade routes there yet we could temporarily reconstruct the 2 trade ports as extra way-in-the-back seating to handle the sold out overflow. Are speakers ready to learn about scalping?

Feel like we could incorporate the most metal guard dog of all into the show at the Presidium somehow.

Parasited obedience is plausibly explained as "good training" after all.
https://ask.fm/QuestDrone/answers/131173880613
>As it is, they are one of the most intelligent "animals" around. They make good pets to those who are willing to deal with their strange quirks caused by that intelligence. Where a dog or even a shadehound will remain loyal and execute what it was trained to do when told to do it, a grek can get uppity and moody. If it is not fed well or treated properly, or even if it is lonely for a mate or social interaction, it may refuse an order or act aggressively to its owner. It is not uncommon for a grek to nip at its handler or singe him with fire, which is typically seen among grek as a social tests or a challenge for the position of the alpha. In the wild, this is very, very common, and while it is almost never lethal to other grek, it could quite easily take a hand off or set you on fire over one late lunch too many.
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>>2977458
I really want spreckles to go back to Hassan's pet shop and buy that Greck. It'd be cool if we could use him and his ship on more missions and a Greck is probably the coolest animal we've seen.
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>>2977554
Lyle would love a Greck mount to ride into battle I'm sure

Also, imagine how scary a Chimera version would be
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I've been thinking about anti-void combat and all I can come up with is chimera with it's brain and quantum comms encased in tachyonic insulator. It's a sad existence for the creature however as it will never hear the voice of Mother.
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>>2978442
couldn't you just add and remove a parasite as needed to give him access to the hivemind?
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>>2978409
They're nowhere near big enough to ride
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>>2978529
Unless QD changed his mind recently, fairly sure they are.

Either way, wouldn't be too hard with the Hive's gene-tech to make one big enough to be ridden. Especially if it's a chimera
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>>2978578
I mean yeah we could, I just kinda want one for our ship captain. What ship captain worth his salt doesn't have a cool animal
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>>2975293
>>2975735
>>2975795
Maybe more like this though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMnxSLfRTqU

but yeah, Ralighans vs DAtS Stonestars would be a hurricane of sharp edges.
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>>2977554
Well we'll need to flash clone it at least twice to have a matching set to do pyrotechnic displays on cue on stage at the appropriate parts of the music.
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So how are we going to capture the worldship? Slam a few hundred corvettes with rams and harpoons into the thing?
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>>2978927
It’s probably more effective to ram and board the ship before attempting to tow it away. According to QD’s last ask.fm post world-ships can’t maneuver in combat because they’re so large, so they should be sitting ducks against a massive boarding attack once the world ship’s escorts are occupied. While they will certainly have point defense, there is a big difference between shooting down missiles and shooting down 500 heavy cruisers approaching at ramming speed.
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>>2979203
While towing the worldship during combat is an amusing thought my idea if you can call it that was to use corvettes as boarding pods.
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Been going thru the archive again and I found this interesting tidbit: "According to (Jacob's) record, he was born to fundamentalists, common on Talgo, and was disowned as a teenager.
It was a while ago, but maybe it just took a while for the crazy to develop this far.
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>>2977192
because even though we use moth asthetics in some of our speakers we are more Ant like. In this way we are more interested in social comfortableness, and that's why we asked the scavs for a space couch.

We should totally put in a box seat at the concert with an open space mmaybe with caution tape and a "pardon our dust" sign for the couch that was promised.
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>>2979957
You know what we could do, we could put the Scav Matriarch and Alphas in zoo exhibits. That will teach the Commonwealth to not show up when we invite them.
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>>2978927
How would the Scavengers capture the hive's new space city? It's basically the same question.

You don't even have the technology to move it outside the star system. And they would activate self-destruct before you captured it with overt violence.

The only imaginable way is to infiltrate the crew, and ultimately parasite its Matron. It will take a while. We'll have to extremely quietly capture and compromise some away teams.
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>>2980007
Would we self destruct the hive city if we were on it? Don't forget that the Scavs aren't a hivemind and the Matron might not be willing to kill herself.
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>>2980007
You're right though in the sense that we should gather more information on the worldship before attacking it. questions like "how easy is it for it to self destruct" and "what places do we need to control for them to be unable to blow it up"
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>>2979786
>>>/tg/38096984
>"Well we should be quick about it. I can check Lee's apartment, I trust you not to overlook anything, and Jackob, I don't think I fully trust your taste in clubs." Jackob only gives a devious smile winks.

Talgo has had a big great awakening that's been going on of turning back the clock a thousand years to 20th century mores.
>>>/tg/39452317
>Jackob scratches his chin and thinks for a moment. “Killinger’s an ass, but he’s one of the few people not buying into that new great awakening bullshit spreading across Talgo, everyone else seems to flip their shit over wanting to regulate who can fuck who, and it’s not like anyone else is any less corrupt. What about you guys?” Dillon twists a knob on the telescope and looks back to Jackob.
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>>2980016
>>2980028
Evacuation and self destruct aren't mutually exclusive. They can just set their antimatter reactor core to overload once they realize they need to evacuate or die.

The broader point is that it's virtually impossible to really capture.

We could throw our entire fleet at it, and no strategy would let us keep it. Even if we stop them from turning the reactor critical, unless we somehow, improbably, silence the countless courier ships that would be sent out immediately once the attack begins and appears to have any chance of winning, piloting the thing to leave the star system will take so incredibly long it can't be done before they send enough reinforcements to either retake it or obliterate it. And it would already be in bad shape from the first battle, so its ability to move, slowly, might already be disabled.

It's doubtful we even have the forces to take it in the first place. Not if we want to have any fleet to speak of left afterwards. The thing is the size of a space city. They might even have their own Thermal Regulator equivalent.
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>>2980135
I wouldn't say it's impossible to capture. With a large enough fleet I believe we could handle any support sent to the worldship or force other fleets to stay in place by simultaneous sacrificial raids on other critical targets or even just being overwhelming enough to catch all the couriers. Of course having someone on the inside that could sabotage any attempts to scuttle it or prevent evacuation would be extremely useful as well.
>>
Finally, you spot the Scavenger presence, a more permanent one than you normally would expect of them. Not content for a mere fleet, the Scavengers have deployed an entire World-ship in orbit, the Observance, a Broodmother class vessel, like all such ships it likely holds a Matron within as its captain, and is thus as well defended as a planet itself, with its own swarming picket fleet and passing patrols. It has anchored itself to Waypath's L1 point, and seems to be directing the local traffic as shuttles move to and from the surface bellow.
>seems to be directing the local traffic as shuttles move to and from the surface bellow.
There's your route for infiltration everyone. Shuttles are the best bet.
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>>2981894
yeah seems like our best bet.
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do you think the lees would like one of these?
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can we do something like a parasite that replaces or is placed on the head to infect the host and turn them into a hive version
WARNING ITS HALF GORY BUT STILL DISTURBING https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQD3fadSF6k&t=92s
so we do something like this like a zombie fungus
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>>2984647
>not knowing about the Flood or zombie head crab
>uses a recent "popular" meme as his inspiration
>going [TRIGGER WARNING] unironically on fucking 4chan
I suspect you are underaged.
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>>2984821
Confirmed
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>>2984821
nah i just liked the animation and crunchy sounds also i did not have a head crab or flood form picture saved in my folders that i know about
and i dont want people bitching at me like babies i have done it before and they hate when they dont get a warning also i know about the flood from halo and head crabs from half life
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>>2985044
who the fuck are you one comment yes-man are you a proxie here to mock me
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>>2985045
>>2985058
lmao
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>>2985058
Salty
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>>2985093
>>2985125

go on. Mock me laugh It wasn't just anons who was laughing at me, it was GOD!!!!!!!
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also any idea when we are going to raid BBQ
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>>2985267
just... stop posting.
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>>2985267
when was the last time we raider her seriously?
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>>2985287
The last time we raided her was when we freed the Scarred Queen (Then the Barren Queen).





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