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The day is quickly spent, and the sky of Talgo fades into a dim, almost purple haze. Anderson lays in a rather spartan bunk, one of many lining the wall of the barracks-like building built along the side of the main family compound. He looks towards the headboard and out the window where a growing noise of buzzing and cawing begins to echo over the landscape as distant, hazy looking dots begin to swarm into the sky. Strange insects, both native and invasive take to the air as the sun dips over the horizon at last, and the hoards of winged creatures that feed upon them soon follow with shrieking calls as carnivorous bat-like creatures built like avian wolves give chase to hawk sized insects in intricate dog-fights in the sky. The occasional gunfire punctuates the night as people take potshots at the airborne creatures, and your flies are forced to the ground as the sky is filled with spawning insects, flying carnivores, and hunting flak.

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
>>
It's the best time of the week again!
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>>3069393
>69.4

This day just keeps getting longer than expected.
>>
Now I just wanted to mention something interesting about time manipulation we just learned about. Stuff like closed timelike curves are a potential application with time manipulation. The basic idea is that spacetime can be made cyclic, returning it to it's beginning point like a classic timeloop but with some important differences. For CTC, when it resets, everything that existed in the space the CTC took place in suddenly reappears in it's original location and state even if the object is removed from the CTC (in which case it becomes duplicated). This allows the possibility of copying and pasting any object we want to, regardless of what it is, as long as a CTC encompasses it.
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fucking hell space florida sounds like a living nigthmare.
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>>3069393
>It's back
I'm so ready for this shit
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>>3069420
Seems like a fun place to visit that I'd never want to live.
Just like real life.
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>>3069439
>>3069420
As a space crab/bug it looks like a very nice place to live.
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>>3069393
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>>3069420
Makes you want to join an apocalypse cult doesn't it.
>>
Threadly reminder

>Raid OQ
>Board a scav vessel for their FTL.
>Board and take over a scav world ship.
>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.)
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>>3069439
It's just missing a very expensive resort on it. Wonder if the Hive can make one there.
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>>3069443
True.

>>3069454
Makes me want to build a theme park actually.
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>>3069393
We unlocked gas giant superstructure construction this morning but we still haven't colonized the 3 hydrogen gas giants we just conquered, Callahan, Billiard, and Calpamos.

Should probably fix up Calpamos Station while we're there.
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>>3069471
We don't have the resource output to build more space cities like that.
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>>3069471
SUPPORTING THOSE GAS STATIONS
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>>3069459
At this point I'm starting to wonder if QD will ever give us a chance to do any of these things.
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>>3069471
Need to bump our econony and wait for the development in the planets we just got to ourselfs.
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>>3069477
The list used to be longer.
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>>3069486
means we are getting somewhere or they are forgetting to ad things
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>>3069476
Anon have you even read how building space cities work? We barely have the capacity to build one let alone FOUR.
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>>3069486
I don't even remember that and i'm the guy who started posting that list every thread.
Christ it's been long
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>>3069475
>>3069492
Those aren't new space cities, any more than colonizing Kaltara was building a space city.

Gas giants can now be treated just like terrestrial planets and get a Development score.
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>>3069459
>>3069494
Speaking of the list, anyone have things you think we should do in the near future to add?
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>>3069494
People barely want to build new ships. I don't trust the list anymore besides it's more a tradition that needs to be posted from time to time.
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>>3069393
Lee looks out over the balcony of the embassy, its street having been hoisted back up to the rest of the roadway from the bunker bellow, and looks at the glow of the city. It is not the street lamps or public space heaters of the typical Gemini evening, but the glow of fires: torches, bonfires, and burning vehicles. Down the street, a valen shuttle lifts off from the embassy, and a new one soon takes its place. Workers shuffle about from place to place carrying paperwork, data pads, and boxes of personal effects as they seem to pile everything into the new shuttle before a large cargo platform holding a valen diplomat is lifted into the hull and it too takes off, again replaced with a new one.

Anton exits the building to the balcony across the alley with a look of urgent concern on his face, as if looking for something, and quickly moves over to the edge of the balcony.

"Representative Lee." He says with rushed formality. "You're not evacuating?"

"Well, I don't think so." He says. "At least not quite yet."

"Well we're leaving a skeleton crew here for now." Anton replies. "The valen no longer consider it safe to remain on Gemini, and nothing worth the risk can be gained from staying here. I was actually ordered to find you and petition a formal request. I was worried you would already be gone."

"No, so far I'm just trying to figure out what's going on in the Union higher ups." Lee says. "Everyone is panicking, nobody knows what's going on, and it seems like anything outside of the capital district is cut off. It looks like where the only district in the city with reliable power right now." Lee looks back at the foreboding glow, the spires of the New Prescott skyline ominously dark and silent, with only the sounds of distant flames and the shouting of mobs, but none of the familiar noises of a bustling metropolis. "What request did you have?"

"The valen want to open an official embassy within Hive space. I'm actually being deployed with most of the employees in the embassy to the new space city you have."

"Builder's Gift?"

"That's the one." Anton replies. "I was hoping you would pass on our desire to establish a more permanent embassy within the space, but a more temporary consulate at the space city is fine for now at least."

"I'll pass it along." Lee says. "I take it you're leaving for Builder's Gift now then?" Anton nods.

cont.


Sorry about being a bit late there, I spilled my drink all over my desk mid-prep.

Also, I did not mean to get your hopes up over the midweek thread, but just as the last thread 404ed I realized that my work free day I was looking at thinking it was a good day to run a thread was actually Thanksgiving...

Fortunately, we do still have a lot of somewhat time sensitive things to do leftover from the last hiatus.
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>>3069498
The Gas Stations use the same mechanics a space sixty as far I know. Tell me where it was mentioned otherwise.
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>>3069499
How about exploring Tadega for any sign of that errant Void shard the Union may or may not be about to hand over to us? We just started espionaging that world for that reason.
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>>3069499
First that comes to mind i call back our fleet and awake the reserves we have in storage in Leeland.

Also build a planetary shield over Darwin.Oh and collect the Ceph wreckage on Gemmini's Orbit.
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>>3069505
Let's offer these slow ass turtles open trade using our station.
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>>3069499
a reminder of what we learned in the mindscape and how we should completely stop research in the void cannon
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>"The valen want to open an official embassy within Hive space. I'm actually being deployed with most of the employees in the embassy to the new space city you have."

Yay! When the Valen's are so scared and impressed that they want to go to your side. I really like the merchant slugs.
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>>3069521
We aren't researching though.
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>>3069505
Valen don't even have a formal centralized government, they're basically anarcho-capitalists, what does 'embassy' even really mean in their context?

Not that it matters since it just gets them closer to the mind reading relays and sleeper agent creating Resorts.
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>>3069505
Anyone remember our answer to the valen's Tannhauser mining deal? Cause now is a perfectly cheeky time to tell their representative.
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>>3069505
"Personally, I'd advise you do the same." He says. "Gemini hasn't had unrest like this since the Colony Wars. My employers are not convinced the local government will be able to maintain control. The valen inside sorta drew straws, everyone called in all their favors at once, and the one with the most outstanding debt remaining is staying behind. Everyone else is leaving."

"I'll be sure to pass on that vote of confidence too." Lee says.

Anton quickly rushes back into the embassy, turning before the doors close behind him.

"I'll see you at Builder's Gift then!" He says, shouting over the engines of the shuttle as its thrusters roar to life and it drifts into the air above before yet another arrives for the next batch of cargo, this time quickly filling with human and ceph employees.

The human may have a point. Your ships in orbit can see the fires bellow, and the riots only seem to be spreading, even with the local PDF being deployed in full force, the violence is only escalating.

>Evacuate your embassy's non-hive residents.
>Maintain operation as normal
>Other
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>>3069523
Jabba the Hutt knows who to side with here.
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>>3069526
its a reminder so people dont forget and so new anons in this quest dont suddenly vote to continue the research i dont want to risk it
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>>3069517

I take we don't need to be slow with the Valen and they would appreciate want to make a secure alliance/business relation with the Hive.

Specialy after routing what should be the biggest void cutter raid they have seen. I always forget how Valen's think that wars in bigger numbers are just scary.

Or was that a costume from old time? I forget.
>>
should we assist the locals in stopping this crazy riot?
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>>3069530
>Maintain operation as normal

This is a cheap show of support for us to do to back the union council no real risk for us and will reassure them that we will not stab them in a heartbeat like the whales
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>>3069530
>Evacuate your embassy's non-hive residents.
It would take just one nuke to kill our Lee. I'd rather not risk it.
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>>3069530
Oh good there's one left. We can use the one remaining Valen as the neutral mediator / living lie detector if we demand an in-person assurance from Windsor that they are handing over all artifacts and holding no void shards back.

Since we might not want to too-openly advertise our own lie detecting ability.

>>3069530
>>Maintain operation as normal
Lee can survive Agitation 100% ...right?
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>>3069527
A building through which the most powerful clans of Valen space can organize business endeavors. It's honestly less an embassy, and more like a sales rep office where they can keep their manipulator appendage on the pulse of the hive's political and economic situation, maintain proper communications, and more easily negotiate treaties.

In practice, it is also a way for the big wigs of Valen space to essentially monopolize trade into outside space, forcing other merchants to go through them if they want to do business.
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>>3069530
>Evacuate your embassy's non-hive residents.
>Other: "Send invites to Builder's Gift for Key politicans of the green party and Rhino also those in favor of Xeno rights" Do this so they have a excuse to be out of planet.
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>>3069530
>Evacuate your embassy's non-hive residents.
If Lee's friends are going to be loafing around, at least lets have them loaf somewhere safe.

Gettem to builders gift!

Lee, rest his soul, is going to have to stay for diplomatic reasons though
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>>3069552
Eh smart slugs. We will have a great and profitable partneship
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>>3069530
>Maintain operation as normal
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>>3069530
>Maintain operation as normal

Our defenses should be able to handle the unrest without difficulty, but more importantly an evacuation would be bad PR and would make us appear frightened.
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>>3069530
>Evacuate your embassy's non-hive residents.
The situation is deteriorating on Gemini, best to get them out of there to Builder's Gift, and it's probably for the best, with Gemini under further possible threat of WMD.
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>>3069499
We have yet to actually review the top secret documents Morgan leaked to us.
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>>3069553
support
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>>3069542
No,no a foreing power doing this stuff can be easily turned as a invasion of our part.

Also i think we should stay just to keep things normal but Lee needs to be Moved to builders gift. But the Hive doesn't need a official representetive maybe we can finnaly have a use for Lang.
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>>3069530
>Maintain operation as normal

We don't really have that many non-hive residents and i trust that the Hive can deal with simple riots.
Does the Union Goverment requires some assistance?
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>>3069555
Well Zippo can finally get those 3 new hearts they asked for on the trip over on some complimentary in-flight surgery. We've been postponing that operation for 5 days now.
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>>3069530
>>Maintain operation as normal
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>>3069574
Until the situation calms down, yes, I think we could indeed use Lang...after a a psychic interview.
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>>3069561
>>3069562
>>3069551


GUYS!! One s8ngle embassy can't handle mob attacks or even people positioning outside the Hive and taking potshots at everyone. If the firce can't handle thing we can at least evacuate the no dronea perssonel which is basicaly, Lee, Zippo, Sushi and maybe Lang, Lee's assistant.
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>>3069569
>We have yet to actually review the top secret documents Morgan leaked to us
Oh man i completely forgot about that.
QD can you give us a brief description of what secret documents Morgan gave us?
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>>3069555
support with what ever wins keep friends safe
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>>3069530
>Evacuate your embassy's non-hive residents.
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>>3069542
The riots are the perfect thing to jam up Union counter-intelligence operations, which are a threat to the hive's espionage activity, so no.

If anything we want to encourage them to continue to keep the spooks' plate full.

The riots are the perfect cover for some Recruitment actions or more Smash and Grabs.
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>>3069587
I doubt that very much unless it ends up being a cover for a spec op's raid by fucking the goverment.
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>>3069530
>Maintain operation as normal
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>>3069578
Mobs are still a think and our drones are good but 100000+ humans against a handfull of drones are bad odds.

At least move then out incase shit hits the fan we don't lose Lee or anyone we worked on Such as the business guy wanting to build a franchise in our space.
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>>3069505
About those Valen...the more I think about the position they're in and their past actions, the more concerned I get that they've been dealing with the Void directly.

Think about it, every Ceph that leaves their homeworld in the Hall of Souls does so by using their transport system. There isn't any way the Valen could have set up a network like that without directly negotiating with whatever equivalent of a government the Ceph have. And when they decided to settle the expanse, out of all the planets they could chose to settle they chose the only single one existing that the Skyl lived on before they broke from the Void.

And if those aren't enough coincidences to make you think, consider that when the Union funded an experiment on the Void shards to draw the Void itself into reality, they did so in the very heart of Valen space. The fact that the Valen nominally turn a blind eye to the goings on in Nowhere is hardly a believable cover. This was a major scientific operation by the one other sovereign power the banking clans do business with. They had to have, at the very least, been aware of what the Union was doing in that system, they're mind readers of all things.

Maybe individually any one of these events could be explained as just another massive coincidence, but with all of them together there's an obvious pattern forming here. The Valen are clearly more involved with the Void gods than we've been assuming up until now. The faster we get on to figuring out just how involved they are, the sooner we can stop this from biting us in the ass.
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>>3069530
>Maintain operation as normal
I'll support building increased security like having the grounds guarded by close range colossi and heavy warriors.
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>>3069605
Do we have a Shield Dome on our embassy?
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>>3069601
What if they do that? I mean wouldn't be safer if Lee was out of planet and safe in Builder's gift?

Also i just realize that everyone and their mother is moving to Builder's gift. Making it a very hot target for worst aunt.
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>>3069530
>>Maintain operation as normal
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>>3069614
Leabing is too much of a bullshit, at the moment. However we can renforce shit and worse case clone them?
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>>3069587
We can easily land more drones if things get out of hand. I (think?) our embassy has shielding too.

Even if it doesn't have shields, a combination of siren-equipped drones, psionic speakers, and the normal garrison should easily be able to contain the unrest. In a worst case scenario we can deploy drop-pods - although that is probably overkill.

>>3069569
>>3069591
Agreed, we should read the documents.
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>>3069607
>they did so in the very heart of Valen space.
Wrong. Tenebris is on the border between union-valen space though technically owned by the valen.
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>>3069612
I doubt we habe that we only have our creep, some smart mines and our hardligth defense system. Oh and some hidden medical facilities under the hive.
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>>3069614
We should call Heretic to help with defense of Builder's Gift.
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>>3069626
We should have one dammit. That makes us infantry proof.
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Popping in to state:
This Ceph attack is bigger than most. It might have been triggered by our presence, but it's possible it wasn't.
We may want to point out we know the humans are holding out on us regarding artifacts.
But we should definitely ask/figure out why they think the Ceph attacked in such force, and what Ceph stuff they may have (aside from void shards) that could attract such attention.
tl;dr: I don't think the Ceph did this randomly, and I'm not certain it was all our fault. We need to figure out what, if anything, the humans may have that ticked off the Ceph.
It could be useful for neutralizing their god.
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>>3069605
We can always evacuate if the rioters are going to break through the defences of the embassy (though it seems unlikely) and they don't seem to have an air force so it still seems safe.
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>>3069587
We don't need to defend the embassy if the capital district itself is successfully locked down. The best security barrier is further out than the hive's individual embassy.

I mean we may want to have some hive warriors as 'private security contractors' or something to guard that barrier...
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>>3069622
And that will make people thing that we are at war with the Union.

>>3069621
I guess we could reinforce everything. Fortunantly we can cooperate with the Valen in the Embassy i still would rather that at least Lee and the others evacuated as a excuse to do a diplomatic gathering in builder's gift.
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>>3069628
Heretic is in full nanny mode with the skyl. We could ask Theseus to bring in a server ship as an "ambassador" to the new galactic meeting place.
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>>3069530
>Other
Can we beef up security? Maybe deploy some titans in the courtyard as a show of force?

>>3069614
I’m worried about builder’s gift too. It could easily become a very tempting target and it had been well publicized. We need to deploy a major defense force to the system.
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>>3069623
Doesn't look like it's near any borders on the map.
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>>3069649
Huh I guess I remembered wrong.
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>>3069640
How about some hybrids in medium carapace?
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>>3069644
Hold on now, let's think about this before causing a server ship that the human public thinks only exists to kill humans to pop up over the human capital.
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>>3069623
It's not at all on the border. Not that space borders mean much.

It's just mostly undesirable territory where refuse washes up.
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>>3069658
I meant asking Theseus to show up at the Builder's Gift now that the Valen are moving there.
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>>3069672
Ah, my apologies then.
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>>3069607
Well duh, we know that there secertive as hell and the one clam incharge of there gate system has avoided sending any whale to meet with us , they probably know more about the void and have been keeping it a secret from rest of there society
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>>3069607
Well no. All the Valen would have to do is share the address of one of their hypergates with a Ceph criminal, a heretic and betrayer, part of the resistance who smuggles out those who are slated for extermination.

It is possible for traitors to continue to use void cutters without authorization, since Coil stole a quartet of crystals and piloted them for Lyle. So one of them just smuggled a micro hypergate back to the homeworld on a void cutter.

Of course the odds are that the masters actually know about most of the Ceph criminal underworld and use them as controlled opposition, but there's no reason for the Valen to realize that.
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>>3069640
>>3069639
You guys are speaking as if the rioters wouldn't be able to get some gear and cause a rebellion...wait....maybe we can use our Hive to keep that group way from us.

Anyway now that i think about it we are putting practicaly all our eggs in a single basket (Builder's Gift) What if the Ceph attack was to either destriy the Hive ship and have us move our fleet away and have every ally we have focus in one single place...
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>>3069636
Not just a bigger attack but also a attack on the human capital. Which is a novalty since Ceph only attacked freigthers or merchant ships until today.
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>>3069682
>they probably know more about the void and have been keeping it a secret from rest of there society
The info they have is public knowledge. Where the humans see "trees" in the Void the Valen see "currents". They seem to know about the Hall of Souls to some degree and actively avoid or fear it. Like they programmed to avoid the pitfalls of the Void.
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>>3069688
Or care. As long as the money keeps rolling in what motivation would the Valen have to care if they're supplying a controlled opposition?
>>3069691
The human ground forces don't have the gear to easily penetrate our embassy if we actually reinforce the place. I highly doubt the rioters will be disposed to attack after the first few hundred become a charred corpse.
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>>3069700
Every sentence you just said is missing a [citation needed].
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>>3069706
Fair point. And i gope that the humans won't be easily iverrun and have their military gear stolen by rioters.

Besides not like the common thug knows how to use a tank.
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>>3069710
I think he's confusing the tachyons in realspace with the void metaspace
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>>3069706
Since when did we decide we needed the Valen? Honestly, we should have begun adopting them a long time ago.

I for one support complete freedom from all Valen influence. We are the movers. We are the shakers.

Shellfish dont belong in our pond.
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>>3069710
Well I guess it is mostly baseless assertion but the story about dead pulling that Valen into the underworld screams of meddling in their genetic or Void stuff.
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>>3069530
>Maintain operation as normal
Lee watches as the last shuttle quickly departs, and returns back into the building as Sushi rushes about with a pile of bags and various band paraphernalia while Zippo rushes behind like a bunch of excited puppies.

"I think the spaceports are closed." Lee says.

"But there are still some charter flights." He says back.

"Can you afford that? I'm betting they're going to be price gouging right now." Lee says. "Tell you what, you really want to go that bad, I'm sure there's a hive ship heading in that direction already, I can get you on a shuttle." Sushi jiggles with excitement, his voice offering no hint of it as the speaker drones on.

"Thank you." He says blandly. "Are you not going?"

"No, or at least not unless things get worse here. If the Capital district starts to fall apart, then maybe I'll be sent away but for now I still have work to do. You guys go have fun though."

"We will bring you gifts, then." He says.

"Please don't, I can get just about anything they are going to be selling there for free anyways." Lee replies.

"We won't!" Zippo squeaks as they march in tight circles around Lee. The four of them all rush off down the hall as Lee sighs and looks back to a wall that projects an image of a local news feed of several channels, or what few are still broadcasting.

cont.


>>3069591
Much of it are things that you knew already but he would have now way of knowing you know. I'll have a more detailed write up of the more useful stuff next thread, since right now everyone seems to be in a panic over the recent attacks and the defacto rebellion growing in the city.
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>>3069700
No the only info that is public knowledge among them is just basic psi craft and how to use it given that is a natural ability they all have

There been no indication that the whale public at large have deep understanding of the deeper mysteries of the void or how powerful psi can be given most seem to be distracted by there never ending game of blackmail ratrace

That story we heard was a hella old legend that may be considered by the public the same way we use the old santa myth

Now if there any whales with deep knowledge avout the void it would be the ones in that guild that controls and run the gate network and given there tendency for being sneaky it would be easy for them to keep info about the void and all its dangers away form the run of the mill whale public
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>>3069725
You are fighting a losing battle. According to QD Valen the could have been our greatest allies if we chose to land on Aral.
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>>3069725
I don't think we have. Anons just seem believe they're so paranoid we'd never be able to do anything.
>>3069741
(((Greatest ally))) The valen are behind the bugs and are just their puppetmasters that finally decided to invade the Union!
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>>3069740
To the lesser races the understanding of the Void is no different than mysticism and we do know there are more races out there that the White Queen meddled with other than the Humans and Phantoms.
>>
>the defacto rebellion growing in the city.

Oh...so there is a rebellion? Wonder if they blame us and the government for all this shit. Probably both now that i think about it.
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>>3069750
That is what happens when Agitation maxes out. Revolt.

Quick, Taidarens, grab everything and everyone you can while all the cameras are smashed.
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>>3069725
Amen to that, from what we've seen the only benefits in human-Valen interactions go in one direction. Valen only invest in anything if they plan on exploiting somebody.

>>3069741
Yeah, and Theseus could have been our most hated enemy. But things didn't turn out that way, did they?
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>>3069746
We don't know anything about the Valen and I feel like Anons have really dropped the ball in terms of reaching out to potential allies. We could help them learn about their psionic abilities instead of scaring them shitless.

There's been a ton of speculation about the Valen in this thread, but because we know so little about them (we somehow haven't even managed to parasite any yet!), we shouldn't form any kind of serious conclusion about them at this time.

Agreed that we can and should try to make them allies, though. Bringing groups together has been a strength of the Queen.
>>
>>3069757
i think there is a difference between a Rebellion and Riotters or Looters doing stuff.
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>>3069759
greatest ally doesn't necessarily mean not controlled.
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>>3069759
Nah, protecting races under our aegis of protection is the strength of the Queen. The Valen never get involved with anybody if they can't find their pound of flesh to get out of the deal. We don't need friends like that.
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>>3069757
I'm now noticing what happens at maximum Agitation isn't quite spelled out explicitly in the pastebin.

https://ask.fm/QuestDrone/answers/142856526373
>Once Agitation reaches 100, the populace will enter open revolt and a grassroots populist revolution will attempt to secede from the current governing power. Until then, different categories of Agitation result in various penalties that effect both the ruling faction and to a lesser extent anyone performing espionage.
>>
>>3069750
We really should do a interview to improve our public perception.
>>3069758
If we did business with them we'd end up in control very quickly. Humans are terrible at uniting at a common cause, Valen are better, and we are the best.
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>>3069759
We can try to find a down on his/her luck Valen and offer him/her the same deal as with Anderson. I would like to see a Valen minister of trade for the Hive.
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>>3069738
I wonder if the Union government would take us up on an offer to help mollify the situation.

Alternatively.. >>3069770
>grassroots populist revolution
Don't we have a buddy on Talgo who might be able to use this? And I don't mean Anderson.

Regardless: I think Killinger might use this unrest as a pretext to become "king."
This would not be helpful to us, I think - we should try to shut that down. Whether that's brainfucking the populace into calming down, or controlling/influencing the opposition and preventing Killinger from going tyrant on us.
>>
>>3069768
>The Valen never get involved with anybody if they can't find their pound of flesh to get out of the deal. We don't need friends like that.
That's the thing, though, we only really know about the Valen through how the humans see them. Until we have at least managed to scan at least ONE Valen it is incredibly premature for us to conclude that any kind of relationship with them will require a sacrifice of a "pound of flesh" (or whatever that means to the Hive).

We don't have enough information to decide a relationship isn't worthwhile.
>>
>>3069781
I think killinger has long stopped giving a shit about the king bill and now just wants the bleeding of the union to stop
>>
>>3069777
We have the cuckfish for that! It’s a little fucked that the first whale we managed to do business with lost his job for doing exactly what his boss did.
>>
>>3069768
You retarded if you think like this. The Valen society is entirely built upon mutual benefit and are most non aggressive out of all the races. Also their perspective on debt would be good to adopt to some degree still it would go a long way to fix the problem the past Hives have had. A lot more than the death world bullshit people have been pushing.
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>>3069777
That could be interesting.

I think our best bet for implantation at this time is probably the Valen singer for the Metal Band. With all the psionic signals going on a parasite may actually be necessary for the Valen to maintain their focus during the performance - and their already scheduled time aboard our station would make it easy to make a secretive "offer"
>>
>>3069770
So the capital will try to secede from the Union? That would be interesting. By the way, i am trying to find how many trade routes are allowed for each planet/space city but there doesn't seem to be any information about that in the pastebin section about trade. Am i just not seeing it?
>>
>>3069781
This rebellion is entirely localized to the planet Gemini.

President Killinger is simply not going to happen, a Void puppet will take the throne Conrad was convinced would be rightfully his, if anything.

>>3069797
He may have rolled poorly on his smuggle-self-to-safety roll and is sleeping with the fishes now.
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>>3069808
>many trade routes are allowed
The space cities pastebin lists those numbers.

Planets are a mystery.
>>
>>3069799
They're also not very nice, and aren't afraid to bring the full might of their slimy business lawyer bullshit to bear on some poor fuck to make money. They can't really bleed us but they can fuck our expanse populations, they're good at fucking humans.
>>
>>3069741
You uh, got a quote for that? Was that a new answer from the Askme?
>>
>>3069813
>they're good at fucking humans.
To be fair, we're pretty good at fucking humans over too (at least from the human perspective).

The Valen can be slimy, but so can we. We haven't really engaged in diplomacy so far, but that certainly doesn't mean we should at least attempt some serious friendly outreach before they give up on becoming friends with the Hive altogether.
>>
>>3069774
I was wondering if making more trade companies like FormOther to give people employment and a more peaceful connection with the Hive would help the Hive's public image.
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>>3069817
Hes a whale apologist making up bull to cover up the fact the whales seem to religously worship acting like wallstreet executives and all the horrendus behaviour that ensure as we saw from andersons memorys as a whale shadowrunner and what they been doing on talgo as told by lee families
>>
>>3069799
Only if you define 'mutual benefit' very loosely. Have you forgotten how fantastically cruel the Valen are to everyone who finds themselves in debt to them? We've seen about two Valen characters in this quest, and already we've seen countless examples of mind rape, cucking, and no end of slavery enforced out of sheer spite. Just because they're empathetic does not, by any measure of the word, make them kind or benevolent. If anything in a hyper competitive environment, it makes them the opposite.
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>>3069826
I concur, anon. Still, in real terms it's only been a few days since we had our official meeting with the Valen and scared them shitless. The opportunity isn't lost yet.

>>3069813
Well I have to agree with anon upthread that most of our perception is shaped by the humans' view of the Valen. Valen aren't very nice to humans, but neither have we been.

I think that it would be a rather different relationship with us. We would also be immune to their business-lawyering and could extend that protection to any citizens.
>>
>>3069813
You do realize we can use that stuff to release a debt policy to get more people into the Hive and the Valen are great managers.
>>3069817
I don't think he said it on ask but he did say they could have been our greatest allies which makes sense especially how profitable such an alliance would be. It be the Gate all over again for them.
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>>3069826
Before we act nice we need to exploit their fear as much as possible before smoothing it over and becoming BFFs/best frenemies forever.

We can't miss the opportunity to extract hypergate tech from them.

We could have their 'Queen' equivalent, the highest guy in the Guild of Transportation, meet with a Fake Queen drone, or something, and give him visions of profits turning into red ink due to Tachyonic Drill price competition if we don't get what we want.

Then we can smooth it over with immortality and adoption.
>>
>>3069812
Thanks for the information. I am curious about the planets since the Union capital of Gemini was revealed to have only three trade routes which seems a rather small number.
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>>3069817
I remember that too, he was talking about how the planet choice on thread 1 changed what neighbor we had to start out with, we ended up with Theseus but we could have landed next to the Commonwealth or Valen irrc. I don't have a source for this.

>>3069826
Can't really argue with anything in your post, except to say that I'm concerned the Valen will take a less than nurturing stance towards the humans under our care if we let them. A few threads ago Lee's family was telling Anderson about how the Valen were strangling local business and aiming for a monopoly on the planet.

I'm all for giving them an office on builders gift, this is all just something to keep in mind.
>>
>>3069839
You do realize every nation has done awful stuff. The Greens are no saints either since they're actively fucking over the Union. Killinger and Jack are trying to save Union but doing more damage in the process. The Commonwealth is full of backstabbers.
Every nation will go to shit if we don't control it.
>>
>>3069833
>>3069817

That Anon is definitely not making it up, I remember the quote from QD too although I'm not sure where it is. It was something like how the Valen could have been amazing allies and Theseus could have become a terrible foe if we had made decisions in the quest different way.

Theseus and how everyone sees him (as a terrifying killbot), is exactly why we should investigate situations themselves before deciding diplomacy is pointless.

>>3069841
>The opportunity isn't lost yet.
I agree, but the window of opportunity is likely closing. We should try to make some friendly overtures at least. Hopefully once we implant one of them we can figure out what makes them tick and what they would like more easily.

>>3069850
Unless the fear makes them just shut down and stop all diplomacy with the Hive. We're pushing them pretty close to the breaking point and if they consider the Hive a lost cause it could be bad.
>>
>>3069860
Strictly speaking, any of those stories from Talgo farmers may have been false flag operations to stoke anti-xeno sentiment.
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>>3069865
i guess we could always parasite the Valen in the Embassy. According to Anton he us ine of the lowest ranking Valen and being given something to stop poisoning and heal him seems migthy usefull.
>>
>>3069865
>>3069833
>>3069817
IIRC, it was a general "What-if" scenario if we have had landed on Aral. In the same answer, he also said that we would have been allies with the Union against Theseus if we had taken their word for it and never bothered talking to him.
I can't dig it out now since I'm at work atm but I do have a word file of all the ask.fm posts. I'll see if I can put it up when I get back to my PC.
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>>3069738
The shuttle rocks from side to side, the soldiers within swaying instinctively as they ready their gear. A holographic map projected into the air in the middle of the cargo bay shows the surface of Argos is a simplified layout as Lord General Cunningham examines it with careful eyes, studying every inch of the map as it updates each minute with new information from the front. His own dropsuit is bulky, with the addition of a large backpack shaped module where his suit holds a miniaturized comm unit. As a result, it is slightly less armed than a typical dropsuit, and is missing the typically popular missile pods to make space for the extra bulk and weight. He is kneeled down as a technician performs some final adjustments on his leg, his arm propped up on a sheathed powered sword in lieu of his cane to help stabilize him as the shuttle continues to shake.

"Ten minutes." The radio on the walls buzzes the words loudly. Cunningham clicks a button on the map, and it zooms in, showing the shuttle and the formation of aircraft surrounding it. He clicks another button, and the visual shifts to thermal imaging, showing a heat map of the ground below. It is dark, and colt, but scattered throughout you see flashes of lights, sudden, momentary bursts of heat radiating out from what look like comm towers.

"They're running on radio silence. They know you can crack their frequencies." He says. Your drone chitters with pride as it squats on the other side of the map display. They are right to be concerned.

The heat signatures quickly rush off over the horizon, signaling the defenders at your destination of your approach.

"Once we start the attack, my team inserted within the city will move to the next stage of the operation and detonate the charges they've planted. Hopefully they've been able to find some important facilities to take out. After that, they move in on the enemy command post and prevent their evacuation." Cunningham looks up to your drone. "Personally, I think I'd like a word or two with whoever's in charge of this invasion. I take it you'd like a crack at them as well."

"We do not need words." Your speaker replies with a chittering hiss. Cunningham chuckles.

"Of course with what we've seen already, their commander will likely be quite the combatant."

"Five minutes"

"The Hive will be deploying an appropriate force."

cont.
>>
>>3069865
That would make no sense from either a business or a self preservation perspective. Fear would at worst make some of them keep physical distance from drones. But walking away from all dealings would just mean we could deliver on the threat of economic devastation.

They have no choice but to deal, or they'll lose. There is a clear path to profit, doing what the hive says, so obviously not a lost cause by any means.
>>
>>3069885
Quite. https://ask.fm/QuestDrone/answers/136301544997
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>>3069886
YAY!! Commonwealth Buddies!!
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>>3069887
Yup the Rip drive is quite literally a ship mounted Hypergate. There's no way they'll back out of any deal if we offer that.
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>>3069887
The Hive has also proved to be very efficient against a large Ceph attack. Something that the Union showed with their fleet in orbit to be unable to handle.
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>>3069886
So, wonder if this is a Matriarch or a Matron the CW is attempting to capture. Should be interesting to see the humans fighting one of the leadership at least.
>>
>>3069912
I wonder if we can actually talk her into surrendering.
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>>3069924
oh yeah that turned out so well last time.
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>>3069886
"I'd expect nothing less." He replies. "Your air support is greatly needed, our own has suffered extensive losses. A first wave drop will also have a low survival rate. Appart from my personal guard, who have the unenviable task of following me everywhere, my forces will hang back until your drones take out the city's perimeter guns. Me and my personal forces will land here, at the port, and secure the railyard as a beachhead so that the cargo trains can bring in the reinforcements and heavy equipment. After that we regroup, and push in through the main thoroughfare to the spaceport where they seem to have their HQ, or what we think looks like their HQ. It's largely formed from a deployed cruiser sized vessel that landed at the spaceport. My commandos are ordered to infiltrate it and prevent it from taking off it if is able to do so."

"Thirty seconds."

"Any last moment changes you recommend?" Cunningham asks.

>Approve of the plan
>Ask about some detail of the plan
>Recommend a change
>Other
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>>3069924
Maybe...

The Scavs generally have xenophobia that would make the 40k look tame in comparison, but if we claim to be old ones or agents of the old ones, we might have a chance.
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>>3069924
They literely don't have the word for that in their vocabulary. Only way to grab the leader is by incapacitating it and capture it by force.
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>>3069931
We never tried.
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>>3069932
>Approve of the plan
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>>3069937
We have the power telepathy. We'll make a word for them.
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>>3069932
>Recommend a change
Offer to deploy a boarding fleet in the airspace above the port to capture the ship if it attempts to take off.
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>>3069932
>>Recommend a change
Offer to deploy hive commando/special operations units to keep the cruiser from taking off. It's a great chance to finally utilize our chimeras.
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>>3069932
>Ask about some detail of the plan

>Other:"Any chance of...human prisioners being found in the complex? You did mentioned they liked to use people as shields to make your troops doubt attacking."

Also did i hear it right there is a landed Scav cruiser here?!
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>>3069944
We’ve literally tried exactly that. Her brain simply didn’t have any analogous concept to equate the word to. For the scavs, to fall in battle is defeat; no ifs or but’s about it.
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>>3069932
Can we support the commandos operation? Sending specialist drones of our own for example.
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>>3069946
Supporting.
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>>3069946
i think the ship is landed and not in orbit.
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>>3069932

Backing us providing support to the commando operation.
>>3069948
>>3069954
>>
>>3069953
Man they are worst then the Klingons
>>
You know this puts us at a bit of a problem. If the commonwealth captures the cruiser we either have to distance ourselves from the reverse engineering effort made by the humans, demand the ship for ourselves or break our word about not involving ourselves in the human war.
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>>3069962
If anything from what we know about the Broodmother/Matron they are fucking huge maybe the reason the cruiser is landed is because she is actually aboard it.
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>>3069958
I said ‘if’. There is no garuntee an infiltration while it’s docked will succeed.
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>>3069932
Wow we're finally back to Namek.

We've been fighting in the Tiberion system so long but it isn't in the pastebin yet. >>1235387

Uh, long ago we got the option to 'aid Elvanine', but it wasn't described as under attack by Scavs. It is being attacked, right?
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>>3069966
I mean...we could always i dunno share tech and info. We are doing that here already by sharing what we learn about the scavs and their techies are probably already trying to reverse some of the blaster techs.

Also we need to prevent the ship self destruct. Because scavs seem to love to deny us our beautifull battle loot.
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>>3069966
>>3069969
I just had a thought, if we're actually able to capture the scav ship intact we might be able to use it as an infection vector for the worldship at Old One's Promise. They'd probably let the cruiser dock with the worldship especially if they thought a Matron was onboard.
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>>3069975
And then we could invade it. Or possibly destroy/infiltrate the worldship with our human buddies.
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>>3069973
I have no problem sharing tech with the CW. They are very slow at reverse engineering anyway and giving small slivers of technology may allow us to extend our influence over them. If we want them to build the psi cannon for us it may even be necessary.
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>>3069975
That is a good idea. We could parasite a bunch of Scavengers and have them infiltrate the Worldship while the Matron talks about some great threat or something like that.
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>>3069975
A plausible plan. Even if the matron gets killed for failing the crew would probably be absorbed by other matrons or even the matriarch.
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>>3069987
Giving them tech would more or less mean we are overtly picking them over the Union.
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>>3069975
Hot damn. Time to ready the psionic spores and hive creep.
>>
We need more designs with the Ovipositor.
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>>3070003
No it would be equalizing them with the union since we have started a joint research program with the union and anons forgot about how that would effectbour dealimgs with the commonwealth
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>>3069973
We should share at least some of what we learned from the captured matriarch. Also it was mentioned that having a technology and mass producing it are two very different things for the humans so even if they get scavenger technology it is doubtful they could use relatively soon.
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>>3069932
DEPLOY THE TITAN
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>>3070018
Incorrect. We never intended on giving them combat so you're full of shit.
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>>3070003
Were already planning on effectively leaking some of our tech to the union through the sale of things like our cybernetic augs and hardlight entertainment. I’m sure theyd be willing to look the other way over a few pieces of tech that were captured within the CW borders.
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>>3069975
We will need a ship intact to reverse engineer the antimatter reactor that's probably onboard and its flicker drive.

We can reverse engineer the ship, or we can send it back as a spy, we can't easily do both.

But we probably shouldn't use this thing as a spy. Because we want no witnesses, no data, absolute silence coming back from human space. We want these fleets lost with no survivors, and a big black hole where intelligence about what happened should be.

There are away teams we can parasite to infiltrate the world-ship. They're more suited to it than this cruiser vessel.
>>
>>3069986
>>3069989
>>3069991
>>3070004

If we want to capture the Scav ship intact it's all the more important that we send out own special forces with the Commonwealth to make sure the plan doesn't get screwed up.
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>>3070026
What if we parasite the Scavenger scientist and engineers?
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>>3069932
>>Recommend a change
The hive will lead the infiltration of the cruiser. There must be no chance of Scavs escaping.

Of course also there should be no chance of its self destruct.
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>>3070029
Also we alone possess the knowledge of how to pilot it, extracted from Scav brains.

So we can safely capture it and pilot it back to Leeland, it's fair payment for assistance really. We just gotta tell them we're the ones piloting it after we capture it.
>>
>>3070026
We could reverse engineer the ship first, and then later use it for infiltration purposes. We used the same tactic successfully years ago with the wreckage of the Clarke (at the start of the campaign).
>>
>>3070020
>>3070018
True

>>3070003
We are not giving then tech. This tech is just scavenger tech not ours.
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>>3070018
We aren't giving shit to the Union either. 'Joint research' means a skunkworks where we accelerate whatever ideas they bring to the table.

We don't give them access to new things. They give us access to new things.
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>>3070018
Why can't we offer the same thing to the Commonwealth ?
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>>3070066
It wrong not true and we've already reverse engineered Scavenger tech unless you want to give it to the Union too.
>>
So what you guys suggest, beside a speaker, to go with the commandos? Are we sending Flies too (although i would rather not do that)
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>>3070020
I agree we should share what we learned. The knowledge that the Scavs have destroyed multiple civilizations before them and information about the true size of the Scav fleet will make the CW realize how utterly fucked they would be without the Hive, and will hopefully also scare them enough they back off their war with the Union to conserve forces.
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>>3070090
No you silly drone. What i'm saying is that we can research the tech together but it wouldn't be us giving it to then it's a tech of a ship on their planet. If anything they are the ones sharing with us we are just acellerating their research time not giving the ready tech to then.
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>>3070090
We haven't reverse engineered their FTL drives anon. Who knows what other goodies and tech we could find on a cruiser class vessel?
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>>3070074
No doubt but we already annoced it to the public by having elizabeth send that open message to mentat that we were opening a joint research program and every spy agency would have sent it back to there hq to think on what the fuck are we plotting


While the officals would know something is up, all the public knows is that we have offically opened a research program
>>
>>3070099
That'll fly real well when Union troops start getting killed by blasters.
>>
>>3070091
I'd probably vote for sending Chimeras or Hybrids, along with Ghost beetles and other special operations drones.

I agree I'd rather not use flies either if we can help it, but it may be necessary since the capture of the ship is so important.
>>
>>3070107
The commonwealth would have gotten their hands on blaster tech no matter what we did and you know that.
>>
Lets joint research the FTL with the Commonwealth and split the rest of the loot.
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>>3070099
Teaching how to reverse engineer the drive the will hand them victory on a platter. It's seriously too good to give it without getting paid.
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>>3070112
Yeah but it'd take months or more likely years for them to reverse engineer the tech by themselves.
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>>3070107
And what the Union gonna do about it? If they want we can always give a skunwork with then. Besides you speak as if they would be able to produce these weapons immediatly.
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>>3070115
No.
Wait scratch that. I have a song to play for you
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qlC6in7R0NU
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>>3070120
i Mean aren't we getting payed by researching all the tech we get from the captured ship? We can always ask for something more too.
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>>3070120
Who said anything about teaching them how to reverse engineer? That's no the equivalent of setting up a joint research project. Most of our prowess at reverse engineering comes from our inherent nature as a centralized intelligence.
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>>3070125
It's not about what they can do but how it'll make us look. If we're playing alliance maker our word needs to be gold.
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>>3070127
A man of taste at the very least.
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>>3070135
Fine...we can get another cruise another time. Or maybe we can just have the Commonwealth share whatever they find for us.
>>
>>3070107
You’re assuming the commonwealth war with the Union will continue. We have massive and growing influence in the commonwealth and we can likely get them to scale back or drop the war against the Union. Additionally, with the Union on the verge of collapse and myriad external threats we can likely get the Union to back away from war as well (even after the gravitic weapons deployment I think we could force a “white peace”)
>>
>>3070135
Yeah at this point it's looking like we are going to betray the Union wholesale which opens opportunity for Void shenanigans again.
>>
>>3069932
"It was said humans are held captive within the area?" Your drone says. "In what locations is this likely?"

"The whole city." He says. "It looks like they've been rounding up civilians and putting them in pens nearby their military centers. It's why I sent in commandos instead of an orbital strike."

"The Hive can assist these commandos." Your drone chirps. Cunningham waves his hand.

"Not needed. They are already on site. By the time you get there they will have already finished their task, however I would be thankful, and I am sure they would be too if you are able to reinforce their position and assist in their extraction. Once we lift radio silence I'll let them know the calvary is inbound. As it is now, they are ordered to attempt to destroy the ship's thrusters. Its main drive is potent enough, but judging by how it touched down, it doesn't seem very graceful in atmo. Once it's grounded they fall back and will rendezvous with your forces and make a final push on the HQ. That combat is going to be tight and brutal, I have no doubt. I suspect your forces will be keen on that kind of roughhouse."

"The Hive shall secure the enemy HQ then."

"Excellent." Cunningham says. He pushes himself to his feet with the sword in his hand, propping himself up with it like a cane. He attaches it to his belt and his helmet unfolds over his face, his voice suddenly coming through on the suit's speakers at a much louder volume.

"If you wish to remain outside of combat, you can wait here, although I can't say it will be safe here either."

"This speaker is disposable, it will maintain communications with the Cunningham.

"Ten seconds!"

"Well then follow close." He says. He turns to his men, each in a bulky and elaborate looking drop suit of their own as the cargo bay doors begin to open, revealing the vast formation of air units around the shuttle. Hive and commonwealth shuttles, atmospheric craft, fighters, bombers, and cargo and troop transports of all types and designs. Suddenly, almost the moment the formation passes the city's outer limits, the shuttle suddenly rocks to the side with a loud bang, and a sudden wave of flak and bursts of blaster cannons begin ripping into the formation. A red light begins flashing along the wall and a loud buzzer drones on as the drop troopers charge out the back of the shuttle. Cunningham draws his sword and opens into a sprint, diving out the bay doors as your speaker rushes after him, his suit firing its thrusters in short bursts to send him jutting from side to side, bobbing and weaving through the flak.

cont.

>>3069970
It was being invaded. You drove off the orbiting fleets. Argos however has had enough time for them to dig in and get a foothold on the planet.
>>
>>3070135
It would look more shady if we weren't doing the essentially the same exact thing with the Union over the Cluster and OQ incursion on Path. All this tech would come from hostile aliens captured on Commonwealth worlds, it's fair game.
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>>3070150
The only way this would be true was if we didn't aid them in reverse engineering the tech.
>>
I just realized we have an excuse to not give them the drive. IT'S A RELIC OF THE WAR.
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>>3070160
Then we definitely shouldn't and should take it away as too dangerous like we did with the contents of the Path lab.

>>3070162
True.
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>>3070160
If we're talking about tech we could get from the ship, and not tech we've already unlocked, then most of the novel tech the Scavs have would not be covered by a joint research initiative.
>>
>as the cargo bay doors begin to open, revealing the vast formation of air units around the shuttle. Hive and commonwealth shuttles, atmospheric craft, fighters, bombers, and cargo and troop transports of all types and designs.

So fucking awesome!
>>
>>3070177
I still wonder why there are people against assimilating the other races.
>>
>>3070182
Because then there would be no one left to fight. Not all races are the same or of equal value to the hive.
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>>3070182
In my opinion assimilation sounds a lot like we would be enslaving then like the void does witht he other races. And i would rather not do the same as the void.
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>>3070182
Also, when left to their own devices and pressures of which we do not shield them from, they can create some pretty neat things. I'm fine with assimilating some of them.
>>
>>3070162
We can't just go around calling everything we want to steal a precious relic, it'll be perceived as transparent greed and anyone who hears of this will be less likely to believe us next time we're trying to stop the Union from summoning satan.

Besides, didn't their FTL drive come from the silicates? Silicates are not the void.
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>>3070189
To which I say you complain of a non problem. To care about their value of their lives is what leads to atrocities and the Hall of Souls. It is the fact they are alive that makes them valuable by default.
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>>3070199
We more or less think the silicates are the Void right now. Seiner hasn't returned yet.
>>
>>3070199
>Silicates are not the void.
Technically true, but the Hive won't know that until Seiner gets back from his vision quest.

That being said, I'm open to trading with the Commonwealth for the ship. Even if we don't trade any technology our knowledge of the Scav forces, deposition, and objectives would be extremely valuable to them.
>>
>>3070214
Or we could simply request that we're allowed to reverse engineer the ship without giving them the technology we get and justify it as the only way we can maintain neutrality in the conflict unless they want us to also aid the Union. It's a bit of a strong arm tactic but still.
>>
So we are parasiting as many Scavengers as we can right? So we can get that sweet bonus to reverse engineering the ship.
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>>3070238
of course.
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>>3070238
We're reverse engineering that clunker regardless of how many scavs are still alive at the end of the fight.
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>>3070238
Obviously duh. Now that i think about it if we grab the scavs engennier we might not need to capture the ship to reverse engenier it.
>>
And I just realized we can use this ship to infiltrate the main fleet.
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>>3070246
Getting their scientists and engineers gives a massive boost to researching their tech and their tech is likely to be pretty slow to research.
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>>3070250
Yep, we just talked about that. See >>3069975
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>>3070266
Oh I thought that post was talking about the other one.
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>>3070149
As your speaker leaps from the shuttle, you see one of the other cargo transports tear open. Several drop suits emerge, some in parts, others diving out of the shattering hull and growing flames just in time. Elsewhere, an atmospheric craft is suddenly struck by incoming flack and its wing sheers off, sending it tumbling in a spiral as it falls from the sky, its shed wing incinerating into pieces as several craft behind it move to evade the debris. Your speaker swings itself away from a passing bolt of plasma as it plumes open and tears open the shuttle's fuelselage above you, sending the whole cargo bay erupting into flaming chunks. Tracer fire whizzes past your drone, fired from reclaimed commonwealth defence systems retrofitted bellow to be used by Scavenger hands. Your drone straightens itself into a sleek profile to dive after Cunningham, quickly diving out of the way of a shuttle as the rapid pings of projectile slugs puncture its cockpit and shatter its windshield, filling the inside of the windows with red as it gradually descends into a wild spin and its hold breaks open as the drop troopers within dive out before the shuttle impacts the side of an office tower, shearing off a chunk of the building as the flaming husk rolls into the street bellow.

You nearly catch up with the general and his personal guard. Your drone spins in the air to face its head towards a sudden noise as the sound of pulse jets suddenly breaks the sound of the rushing wind and flak, and you see a formation of the oddly shaped vehicles hurtling themselves skyward towards the air craft. The first wave is quickly intercepted as your own aircraft open fire, and the two forces begin to intermingle.

>Have your aircraft focus on taking out the enemy aircraft
>Have your aircraft focus on defending the landing troops
>Other
>>
>>3070272
>Have your aircraft focus on taking out the enemy aircraft
Air superiority is the best superiority.
>>
>>3070272
>>Have your aircraft focus on taking out the enemy aircraft
It's what our aircraft are designed to do.
>>
>>3070272
>Have your aircraft focus on defending the landing troops
The more people get to the LZ the easier it is for the troops following.
>>
>>3070272
>>Have your aircraft focus on defending the landing troops
>>
>>3070272
>Have your aircraft focus on defending the landing troops
>>
>>3070272


>Have your aircraft focus on defending the landing troops

I mean this is what we want the less humans are dead the better right?
>>
>>3070272
>>Have your aircraft focus on defending the landing troops
Our job is to support the ground forces not to get distracted dogfighting the enemy. Once the first wave has a beachhead we can destroy the opposing aircraft.
>>
>>3070233
"First rights to salvage" is also a fair payment for assisting in defense of human planets anyway. They are the ones requesting our help here, after all, not the other way around.
>>
Looking back at the backstory of our Matron couldn't we instead of demanding surrender offer the Matron a place in our fleet along with a Worldship? That might be worth testing to see if she rebels against her kind.
>>
>>3070272
>Have your aircraft focus on taking out the enemy aircraft
Can't let the air support take out the human troops.
>>
>>3070199
That it's from the days of the War with the spheroids and not the later Schism might make the case stronger, not weaker. It's from one of the Three.
>>
>>3070272
>Have your aircraft focus on defending the landing troops

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.
>>
Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>3070340
Mother please
>>
Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>3070340
>>
Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>3070340
FOR MOTHER
>>
Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>3070340
FOR MOTHER
>>
File: Jolly_Cooperation.png (118 KB, 1300x1091)
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Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>3070340

JOLLY COOPERATION!

For Mother!
>>
>>3070351
>>3070354
>>3070356
It's going to be one of those days.
>>
>>3070359
god damn it
>>
>>3070359
Guess we know what Mother wants us to do next time.
>>
>>3070359
Alas, we were too late.
Priming dice arm for next set of rolls...
>>
>>3070367
Jolly Co-operation with Cunniham?
>>
>>3070385
Indeed fellow thinker, indeed.
>>
>>3070340
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFkbyajVWR8

A drone craft passes with a sudden scream as a flight of scavenger pulse jet fighters hurl themselves into the formation, their directions suddenly shifting and changing as their thrusters juggle their hulls through the air back and forth. Your fighters give chance, though their pulse jets make them too maneuverable to hunt down effectively. Your fighters move into packs, surrounding them and closing in on each one, forcing them into a killbox of overlapping fire between your fighters, but the process is inefficient, on an equal footing, the pulse jet fighters evade and dodge every attack.

The aircraft above have served their purpose, and you see them begin to turn as they drop their forces, many of the enemy fighters give chase, and the sky is quickly filled with a maddening haze of weapons fire and flaming debris. Your speaker darts between the debris and incoming flak, diving away as fighters buzz around the falling troops.

A pulse jet fighter rushes by, suddenly jerking in its flight path as Cunningham's suit fires its thrusters, and he swings his sword as it passes, the brief contact suddenly sending him spinning through the air as a pulse jet nozzle flies away in a burst of flame, and the fighter's side suddenly erupts into a burst of flame as the oblong hull hurls itself like a baseball through the air tumbling uncontrollably toward the city bellow. His suit's maneuvering jets quickly spin him back around as his guard move to follow his path, firing their suit's guns at the passing fighters as the swarm through the air intermingled with hive and commonwealth strike craft.

"Ready to brake!" Someone shouts as the ground rushes towards the troops. The upper layers of the city's towers suddenly passing on either side of you with a sudden, deafening rush of air.

cont.
>>
>>3070498
Nice fucking music choice.
>>
>>3070498
>Cutting the wing off of a fighter plane while falling towards the enemy occupied city
RULES OF NATURE
>>
>>3070508
No wonder Lyle respects this guy.
>>
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>>3070498
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBa5tf4BZ10

The drop suits suddenly deploy several metal discs from their backs, each tethered to the suit as they open up like small parachutes, each one firing a a set of four retro thrusters as the drop suits begin to rapidly lose velocity until the discs sputter and flicker out, and the tether's detach from their backs. The troops fall the rest of the way, their jump jets firing several feet from impact as the streets bellow are pulverized underneath their armored feet. The troops immediately open up with their weapons, tearing into defences you cannot fully see from your perspective above.

Several scavenger grunts rush from their cover in flames as a stream of hot plasma is sprayed into the cluster of defenders. Blaster bolts lance out at them as they open fire, and Cunningham charges forward, his armored legs tucked in as his jump jets fire in a controlled sputter that sends him rushing forward at great speed, and his suit barges through the wall of of what was once the wall of a bakery as two of his guards follow close behind with the sound of gunfire and the smell of charred Scavenger flesh as panic pheromones fill the building.

Your speaker slows its own descent with a sudden burst of mental energy, sending debris and dust scattering and billowing up around your drone as it slowly touches down on the ground with the grace of a specter, floating into the crater left by one of the human troopers as you look over to their advancing line. The Scavenger defences have already broken in this intersection, their ordered positions breaking apart under an unrelenting wall of fire as the drop troopers march forward as they maintain their fire, their move assist armor holding their weapons steady as they fire a stream of automatic kinetic slugs into the buildings surrounding them until each squad stands only feet from the shattered doorways and windows of the buildings themselves.

The sudden silence is itself deafening. Cunningham walks back out from the bakery, his suit coated in alien blood as his sword's vibrations shake the blood clean and he returns it to its scabbard at his hip. Several radio antenna extend from his back and you feel the sudden burst of radio signals echo across the battlefield.

"This is Lord General Augustus F. Cunningham, my forces have made landfall. We landed slightly off course, two klicks from the beachhead. All other squads able to do so will move ahead on mission. Any who are unable to do so report in status and required aid."

He clicks a button and the signal stops. He turns back to the rest of the troops as they examine the debris of the local shops, pulling several scavenger corpses from the rubble, or sending a bolt into some for good measure as they offer a last gasp or involuntary twitch of a dying organism. One of the troopers marches up to the Lord General.

cont.
>>
>>3070620
>Your speaker slows its own descent with a sudden burst of mental energy
I just realized. We can make drones that can fight like Jedi.
>>
>>3070638
Jedi are pussies compared to Speakers.
>>
>>3070638
>I just realized.
Really? How do you just start realizing this? People have been making Star Wars references for a long time now so unless you're new you must be the densest motherfucker I've ever seen.
>>
>>3070654
Does your hostility make you feel better?
Having a rough day anon?
>>
>>3070662
Please accommodate that thinker; he is assigned to union vidnet monitoring and has been rickrolled more than eight hundred times today.
>>
>>3070662
I'm not trying to be hostile. Just how anyone can just realize such a thing when players have had prolonged discussion about "Jedi bugs" in quest.
>>
>>3070662
He's kinda right though, we invented lightsabers sages ago.
>>
>>3070620
"The landing zone is secured, sir. No civilians. A few bodies, but they're all old. Likely from the initial invasion."

"Depending on how accurate the other squads were, we should be securing the rail yard any moment now." Cunningham says. He points his hand like a knife down the street, where you can smell the pheromones of yet more scavengers. "We move in incremental waves, moving forward one squad at a time, the others offering covering fire. My squad covers flank, up on the buildings and moving along side. We catch them in a creeping crossfire, keep moving don't get complacent. They're maneuverable but they don't have good armor. They've built their military to attack, not defend, so we keep them on the defensive."

"Yes Lord General!" The trooper says, and he quickly runs ahead with the rest as Cunningham walks over to your speaker, his hand resting on his sword's hilt as a set of small sensor probes fire from his shoulders and begin drifting forward down the street.

"You okay?" He says.

"This speaker is undamaged."

"Good. Stick with the back line to stay out of the fight. I'm not sure how durable your diplomatic castes are."

>Stick with Cunningham and have your drone assist in the combat with its psionics
>Have your drone stay in the back and avoid combat
>Other
>>
>>3070691
>Stick with Cunningham and have your drone assist in the combat with its psionics
We can just airdrop another if this one gets damage significantly enough. Besides wouldn't want to have another interesting human getting killed.
>>
>>3070691
>>Stick with Cunningham and have your drone assist in the combat with its psionics

Commonwealth been getting some good rolls I guess, the spotlight is on them for now.
>>
Actually did we upgrade the speakers with the hardlight blades?
>>
>>3070691
>>Stick with Cunningham and have your drone assist in the combat with its psionics
Speaker is both disposable and surprisingly deadly in combat.
>>
>>3070691
>Stick with Cunningham and have your drone assist in the combat with its psionics
>>
>>3070700
Anons voted against it, only the ambassador drones got those. Which was a terrible decision in my opinion, as the speakers are the ones we actually send out into active battlefields.
>>
>>3070691
>>Have your drone stay in the back and avoid combat
We can't openly admit to telekinesis, it would leak to the Union like everything does.
>>
>>3070700
Only the Ambassadors. I looking at the thread now. Ghost Beetles and Psionic Warriors can use psionics to assist in combat.
>>
>>3070708
We just causally used telekinesis though.
>>
>>3070691
>>Have your drone stay in the back and avoid combat
>>
>>3070707
No we're sending the ambassadors out into battle, QD just uses the name speaker interchangeably for some reason.
>>
>>3070691
>Stick with Cunningham and have your drone assist in the combat with its psionics

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

>>3070740
The ambassador is a kind of subclass of speaker, like how a radiation worker is still a kind of worker.
>>
>>3070740
No, those are the speakers we're sending out. The ambassadors are the hive equivalent of formal wear that are exclusively used in diplomatic environments.

Both have medium relays so the speakers are the ones that get deployed to the front.
>>
Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>3070753
JOLLY COOPERATION!

FOR MOTHER!
>>
Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>3070753
KILL THINGS FOR MOTHER
>>
Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>3070753
>>
>>3070710
Nobody was paying close attention to the drone landing in a crater. They can just assume drones naturally survive such falls.

They will obviously be paying close attention to combat and it'll be in the reports.
>>
>>3070765
HOLY FUCKING SHIT
I think my heart skip a beat.
>>
>>3070759
You can tell they're ambassadors because they're using psionics, normal speakers don't have medium relays.

>>3070753
I guess that makes sense.
>>
>>3070779
Normal speakers absolutely have medium relays. We had a vote to retrofit them with them.
>>
Can we have our Photonic warriors work to deploy cover to help everyone stay mobile?
>>
>>3070785
When did that happen? I'm seeing the photonic blades vote but I don't see a relay vote. Are you thinking of our medium relay warrior variant?
>>
>>3070799
No, this is definitely the speakers. It happened sometime around thread...55, I think? Can't say I personally backed it but thats what the anons voted for.
>>
Oh shit, HQQ and DAtS running on the same night?
Sweet
>>
So fun fact: the full Rip Drive is free if made the main drive in place of the Blink Drive.
>>
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>>3070753

The troops move out, the first squad moving with their weapons at the ready as the others maintain a vigil behind. Your speaker quickly follows Cunningham as he moves towards the nearby buildings.

"This drone is combat capable." You say simply, Cunningham accepts the claim as his thrusters hurl him up towards the building flanking the street as your drone follows, silently drifting up through the air behind him.

The scavengers are spread out across the city, looting, pillaging, and in general fulfilling their derogatory namesake. The process is all but halted at the sudden thunderous arrival of the drop troopers, and you see piles of valuables abandoned in the street as the scavengers fled to cover. You see several, moving within the buildings through windows and cracked walls. They are likely preparing some manner of ambush, and you sense the pheromones shift in the air confirm your suspicion.

Above, high in the sky, between the carnage of the fighters, drop pods fall upon the city en masse, sheltered from the defensive fire of the city's flak with pure numbers. Your drones are focused on the city's defense, but pods are scattered across the whole of the city, blasted off course from flak or flying debris. Organic shuttles continue to drop your forces even as the commonwealth aircraft flee from the flak, their own duties over with, and the passing drop pods seem to distract both sides for a brief moment as a pod impacts the street's office building high above, bouncing off its side and sending a cascade of glass raining down on the street as the pod tumbles in a shallow arc over the street and down an alley, cratering into the already damaged walkways bellow. The sudden rain of glass tumbles down over the squad like a glittering show of diamonds as both sides suddenly open fire. Photonic bolts explode against the ferrocrete surfaces of the massive office complexes on either side as the troopers lunge for cover, the troops behind shredding the shops and lobbies of empty offices with a sudden wall of kinetic slugs.

cont.
>>
>>3070890
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhV0-1YRSCU

Your speaker twitches its antennae, a sudden scent of focused bloodlust emanating from the office cubicles ahead of your drone. A scavenger grunt dives out from beneath a pile of rubble. It lunges for Cunningham as his hand moves for his sword, and the grunt flies back suddenly, its body embedded into the wall with a sudden burst of kinetic force as blood seeps from its armor. More scavengers emerge from the rest of the office, as if summoned by the sound of the violence. Cunningham slices cleanly through the first, using its body for cover as its brothers open fire with their blasters. His guards return fire, incinerating the thin office walls as well as the scavengers. Your drone moves forward, its legs hunched and its body kept low as its arms project a pair of interlocking hard light shields as it slowly moves forward against the incoming fire, your mind reachout out with kinetic force and constricting the scavengers' bodies, as if your spectral hand were wrapped around their hearts. Their armor along their chests begin to dent, and with a sudden pop that sends bits of snapped wires and rivets flying out from their bodies with a sound not unlike a metal fork cracking open a crab shell, they collapse to the floor, and your speaker's shields fade quickly, sharpening into a pair of glowing wide blades flowing from your drone's wrists and it quickly lunges up and cleaves the remaining two scavengers at its flanks.

You feel more minds in the hall, quickly approaching, and you can hear the rapid thumping footsteps of an alpha clad in its armor. You sense their location, your mind approximating their position beyond the wall as they approach.

"Humans must fire their weapons at sixteen degrees from the door." Your drone says. The troopers seem confused, looking to one another as if to confirm the order was heard, but Cunningham simply pulls out a heavy machine pistol, more a short barrel machine gun than a pistol, its recoil rendering it unusable outside of a dropsuit, and opens fire on the wall as the squad of scavengers are suddenly caught off guard the moment they turn the corner, their bodies falling to the floor in pain as the grunts attempt to drag themselves to cover. The alpha ducks suddenly, the kinetic rounds glancing off its armor with minimal damage as it dives into a sprint, throwing its shoulder through the wall as it dives for the drop troopers, its blades extended in full. You reach out, and with a sudden mental force the alpha careens to the side, struggling madly to remain upright. Cunningham's sword clips its arm, severing it from the forearm as the alpha catches itself on its other claw and spins on it as a small micro-rocket turret on its shoulder opens fire. Your drone grips the rockets with your mind, sending them arcing up and into the ceiling as an avalanche of debris falls down from above as the rockets explode in the maintenance space just beyond the ceiling.

cont.
>>
>>3070920
>>
>>3070923
I think you forgot something in this post.
>>
>>3070920
Yes. show the humans that even our weakest fighting drones are not to be messed with.
>>
>>3070920
Jesus fucking chirst.

>>3070923
AH YES, THE BEST UPDOOT
>>
>>3070927
This isn't even our weakest. Our worker drones are.
>>
>>3070927
Oh fighting drones. Speakers don't count for that.
>>
>>3070939
>>3070943
Well, worker drones are not combat capable drones.
But our speakers are, and they're possibly the single weakest combat capable drones we're fielding.
>>
>>3070923
Oh man I bet the Void is behind this!
>>
>>3070947
>worker drones
>Not capable
Wrong. The time the Union tried to dissect our drones is proof they are combat capable. Also our Speakers are potent combatants due to psionics alone which the average drone lacks.
>>
>>3070923
>>3070957
The post has been lost in the perils of the warpVoid!
>>
Alright taking bets. Who here thinks QD accidentally deleted his post?
>>
>>3070962
Fair.
I guess our children can't really be compared 1-to-1, and all have their own special good qualities.

Mmmm... Now I'm thinking about our precious Titan-chan, and how he'd do if we grafted an advanced relay in him...
>>
>>3070969
It was the whales I tell you.
>>
>>3070983
It was the silicates!!
>>
>>3070969
It was crystals!
>>
>>3070920
Absolutely epic. If the Commonwealth doesn't have enough stories about how badass the Hive is, now there's this.
>>
What are the chances he didn't paste the text from another place and has to now rewrite the whole post?
>>
>>3071001
oof....
>>
>>3070969
>>3070983
>>3070984
>>3070986
This is the work of an enemy Void Crafter
>>
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>>3070920
The dust fills the office, and you see only flashes of light as the alpha exchanges fire with the squad of humans, Cunningham's sword glowing with heat in the dense cloud making it look more like a sword of pure flame than a powered thermo-enhanced vibro blade. It swings up in a quick arc, flashing several times against the alpha's claws as sparks rupture in sudden flashes of light that burn their silloughets in the fog of dust for short moments, and then there is a sudden gurgle as the alpha drops to the ground with the sound of straining actuators as the suit's artificial muscles make the pack alpha seem to fall in slow motion, as if casually laying down instead of collapsing as a corpse.

Cunningham swings his blade in a quick flourish that sends the blood arcing over the walls, cleaning the blade in the process as he sheaths it, and he looks to his troops.

"When your ally says to shoot something, you shoot it. The hive has senses we don't. Assume it can see something you don't."

"Yes Lord General!" They say, and they quickly turn back to the windows, opening fire onto the firefight bellow. Your pod, while damaged, has done its job, and several of your drones quickly charge forth. While somewhat off target, your ghost beetles have landed in force across most of the city's perimeter defence as a forward strike ahead of the main force.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO3ptQp6P9Q

The scavengers within the shop fronts turn quickly, their alpha sensing the mental acquisition of your drones as their relays invade their mind, your mental fingers grating against their consciousnesses like nails on a chalkboard.

Your beetles dive through the back wall from the alley and into the ceiling of the ground floor, quickly rushing over the office space as their echolocation zeroes in on each scavenger, their senses homing in on the heat of their blasters. The human forces outside move up into better cover as the scavengers within divert their attention, suddenly turning to face the opposite side as a grunt is suddenly hurled across the room and into the ceiling, its scented scream of panic filling the room as its blood pours down over its armor, and it is pulled up and into the maintenance crawl space above. The rest of the scavengers open fire as two more grunts run up from the direction of their alpha towards the doorway leading to the back of the office. They open it with a swift kick, and a Siren waiting on the other side emits its sonic frequency as its head crest dances with sudden lights of potent electrical impulses. The grunts fall back into spasms as several ghost beetles dive open them from above, their bodies both huddled behind a layer of interlocked hard light shields as the scavengers open fire while the drones plunge their mandibles into the grunts under their claws.

cont.
>>
>>3071013
N-NANI?!
>>
>>3071019
spooky
>>
>>3071019
Time to lay some eggs.
>>
>>3071019
It's like a horror movie. Nothing in Aliens was this scary.
>>
>>3071019
More move to the side, your ghost beetle moving under mental cloak. The alpha notices only as the last of his grunts send their panic signals as a flash of unimportant movement in the corner of the eye lunges out and begins ripping his units apart, your beetles thermal signatures controlled and regulated, keeping their bodies an unnaturally cool surface temperature. Even as the alpha notices them, his shots mis, his grunts managing only a few vain shots into the ceiling as their limbs and heads are removed as the ghost beetles consume their way to the grunts' vital organs. The alpha dives back, stumbling through the doorway into the street as a human trooper quickly pivots to open fire, sending the alpha to the ground as it bleeds out on the street, its claws peeling at its damaged armor, as if attempting to use its termal claws to cauterize its wounds. It looks up as the human drop trooper looks down on it with its weapon as a ghost beetle crawls up next to him, as if to show off its kill to the human warriors, its slender tail wagging slowly.

Your drone grips its ankle and quickly drags it back to its brothers as the alpha tears at the street with its claws, its bone chimes rattling incoherently as your drones collect their well earned meal for the day, quickly eating them from within their armor before leaping further into the office buildings to find their way back to their real targets. As they leave the sight of the humans your ghost beetles quickly shake themselves off like soggy hounds, sending flies from within their honey pot storage scattering into the air as they take flight throughout the city.

cont.

>>3070873
Yea, and the site is acting up a bit for us both it seems.

>>3070969
I... uh, actually hit the post button instead of the choose file button, and since the auto-captcha was still in effect it just went right on through like a gungho retard sans Leroy battlecry.
I feel dumb I tell you what.
>>
>>3071046
Imagine the xenomorphs, but there's millions of them, and they're using advanced tools, and they've got psychic powers.
That's the Hive.
>>
>>3071047
>its slender tail wagging slowly.
Aww, they're so excited to show their new friends how good they are at being invisible hunter-killer drones.
>>
>>3071047
>As they leave the sight of the humans your ghost beetles quickly shake themselves off like soggy hounds, sending flies from within their honey pot storage scattering into the air as they take flight throughout the city.
Siiiiick
>>
>>3071019
>"When your ally says to shoot something, you shoot it."
Good to see we're building some trust at least. Imagine how many problems could be solved if people would just shoot things when we told them to.

>>3071051
He's a good drone, yes he is, so cute and good at killing things for Mother and her friends.
>>
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>>3071047
The humans continue on as Cunningham drives the troopers to the rendezvous point, while your drones quickly become more and more apparent within the city, their capacity for stealth maintaining a level of misdirection that is effective, but nonetheless makes their presence perfectly clear.

Your reading of the scavenger pheromone signals quickly falls apart as your drones, now more numerous, begin flooding the city streets with mixed and incoherent signals of terror and despair. The effect is immediate and obvious, as scavenger forces begin panicking en masse, abandoning their posts and falling back until there is nothing left to fall back to. You still lack the capacity to flood the whole of the city, but your advanced forces fill the perimeter defence facilities.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to continue with the attack as planned, and disable the city's perimeter defences.
>>
Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>3071073
>>
>>3071073
WE CAPTURE FOR MOTHER
>>
Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>3071073

For Mother
>>
>>3071081
for mother indeed
>>
>>3071081
Well then.
>>
>>3071080
hol up
>>
>>3071085
how did I mistype a four letter word twice in a row? I'm not fucking doing a third attempt.
>>
Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>3071073
For Mother!
>>
Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>3071073
This better not be a 1
>>
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>>3071081
This is honestly getting to the point where I almost, ALMOST, pity the scavs.
>>
Does this quest even have crits?
>>
>>3071107
We got an entire Union ship through a crit.
>>
>>3071107

Yeah iirc crit success and crit fail. With also <5 &>95 being important
>>
I'd really like a sample of those pulsed jet atmospheric engines.
>>
>>3071112
That wasn't just any crit, though. That was the first crit of the entire quest and it was beautiful.
>>
>>3071113
This isn't DATS, crit failure only takes effect if someone rolls a nat1, otherwise it's the highest of three.

>>3071116
They're basically the same as our own jet engines though. A classic ramjet.
>>
>>3071121
Either the engine or how they gimbal seems different.
>>
>>3071121

My mistake. It's easy to confuse the systems in my mind at times
>>
>>3071117
Don't forget the accidental nat 100 crit against the Obsidian fleet attacking the Broken Queens world

>>3071128
yeah dunno why DAtS does that
>>
>>3071132
Because The Obsidian order does not care for weakness. Nor is death truly the end.
>>
>>3071126
Good point, the way they're using them seems more like directional thrusters on a space craft than an aerodynamic engine integrated into the hull of an atmo-craft. At this point you could just about say the Scav's natural environment is zero-G space, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.

>>3071132
Because it never occurred to Jyoti to just use d20s if he wants a 5% failure rate on every roll.
>>
>>3071142
>Because it never occurred to Jyoti to just use d20s if he wants a 5% failure rate on every roll.
Eh it doesn't seem to be a failure unless it's a proper 1.

They succeeded at a roll with a 2 in the quest just now
>>
>>3071155
Maybe he let it slide that time, but he also totally killed off Nekris by dropping a whale on him because someone rolled a 2.

Seriously. A fucking whale, man.
>>
>>3071073
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yw3yNlVuu0

Your drones move out from their landing spots. While your force has more specialized drones than a typical attack would otherwise need, there are still plenty of more typical warriors. They charge from their pods, swarming from the craters left by your craft as they swarm over the scavenger forces, their defences falling in seconds as they flee, only to be run down as your warriors build up a full speed gallop, charging the gun batteries and artillery lines at speeds rarely seen outside of a vehicle.

The walls of the facilities quickly begin to close as the scavengers sprint towards the gates, your warriors galloping behind them at full speed as the scavengers don't even bother to fire in their panic to flee from the wave of chitin death incarnate.

The gates seal shut as the scavengers thrash out at the wall ahead of them as your flies already begin scouting the interior of the courtyards of the gun facilities. The pounding of the gates suddenly stopping as the warriors impact them, the metal warping and bending from the sudden force. Heat begins to build up as the metal begins to glow, and hardlight blades slide through the gates as if going through butter, until the gate ruptures from mental force.

The scavengers open fire, their weapons deflecting against a shield wall of projected hard light as your ghost beetles move in, throwing themselves over the walls unnoticed in the chaos and slipping into the facilities inner sections before the warriors manage to overwhelm the outer courtyards.

By the time the grunts are swarming through the doors to the buildings, the interiors are already in chaos as your ghost beetles ambush the alphas in their command posts. Only a small fraction of the scavenger forces manage to fully fall back within the city, quickly fleeing to inner checkpoints as the ghost beetle attacks come without warning or logical pattern, striking across the city and slowly moving inward, eroding the city's defences like a corrosive acid.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.
>>
Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>3071162
For Mother and for friendship!
>>
Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>3071162
FOR MOTHER
>>
>>3071162
how horrifying

>>3071165
FOR MOTHER! MOTHER IS PROUD!
>>
>>3071166
Did you forget to roll?
>>
Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>3071162
Eh
>>
>>3071169
kek
>>
>>3071169
>>3071169
>>3071168
I AM GLAD I DIDN'T ROLL
>>
>>3071169
>>3071170
>>3071171


Uh.. I think I did it guys
>>
>>3071165
the dice gods continue to hate the scavs and it is glorious
>>
>>3071169
Indifference succeeds again?
>>
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>>3071165
Jesus, what a day to be a scav.
>>
>>3071169
oh
>>
>>3071169

Scavs just can't catch a break, they should just put themselves up for adoption at this rate.
>>
>>3071169
I spoke to soon but this is obviously better

>>3071178
>Oh shit
Ftfy
>>
The worse part about this 100 was I was going to fucking bed and now I gotta wait to see how bullied these sofa fuckers end up
>>
Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>3071169
Well hey, speak of the crits and they shall appear.
>>
>>3071169
Scavs just can't catch a break can they...

RIP AND TEAR, FOR MOTHER!
>>
>tfw Commonwealth command read the status reports and watch the footage of their new "friends" fighting the scavs
>>
>>3071189
>>3071192
I love how every single action we've backed the Commonwealth on has consisted of us turning innumerable scavs into soup.

Delicious, glowing neon, soup.
>>
>>3071195
The dice just seem to hate the Scavs
>>
>>3071192
>>3071195
Between our slaughtering the Scavs during first contact with the Commonwealth (while losing only a single ship), the titan fight insanity, and now this, the Commonwealth must think we have some kind of a godlike military. The Union might think we are bluffing about our strength as we heard during the council meeting, but with the Commonwealth high command seeing us effortlessly deflecting an alien invasion that had overrun several Commonwealth planets, they likely think we are way above their league.
>>
>>3071162
Your flies examine the scavs as they flee to the inner city districts, and you feel them, and the ripening minds they carry. They flee thinking they have escaped, not knowing the blades of your ghost beetles' tails are not meant to kill at all, and now the eggs within them pulse with life, their soft membranes growing tendrils into their host flesh to more quickly mature the parasites within.

Around the city, nearly at once, the guns go silent. Your speaker finds the rail yard as Cunningham's unit moves out to secure it. Cunningham seems to stop for a moment, craning his neck to listen, seemingly sensing a change in the air.

"The guns are down." He says. Your drone nods awkwardly, the motion not quite intuitive for its musculature, making it seem oddly deliberate and slow. Cunningham quickly extends his radio pack again and begins calling out landing zones. He turns to the rest of his troops.

"Expect reinforcements by orbital drop in fifteen." He says.

"My god." One of the troops says. "Sir, I think the rail yard is secure."

The general quickly moves over to the trooper and turns the corner of a train car with his weapon in hand, and quickly raises it to the sky as he registers the scene, and holsters it as your ghost beetle extracts its head from the headless torso of a Scavenger pack alpha. It looks up to the humans, and quickly dashes beneath the train car as it cloaks itself with its mind, disappearing into the shadows.

Cunningham turns to the trooper.

"Search every inch to be sure. We can't let a competent ally allow us to become complacent." He says with a firm pat on the trooper's shoulder. He salutes and turns to continue clearing the facility as your ghost beetle drags the alpha's body back under the train car where it continues its meal in peace.

Cunningham returns to your speaker and holds out a hand. The grip is awkward to manage, but he quickly shakes your drone's claw in congradulations.

"We're not quite done with the bastards just yet, but by god things are going more smoothly than I could have hoped so far." He says. "Once we have a perimeter of our own setup we can begin the final push into the city center. I'd give it a few hours for that at most. It's a large city, but we can bring in the full force now, and scans indicate they're calling a full retreat to port district where the spaceport and riverfront are. I suspect they will be consolidating their forces there. We should plan a proper assault and expect the worst from them." He vaguely gestures to the gore and pools of neon blood all around the rail yard. "If this is the best they have I fear you may as well not have arrived at all. I expect these were their more green soldiers. It's their old guard I'd like to have a word with."

>Offer a recommendation for the attack (write in)
>Ask about some detail (write in)
>Ask about what he had planned for the attack
>Other
>>
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>>3071169
THEY COULD HAVE JUST GIVEN US A COUCH!
>>
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>>3071192
If that will be the Commonwealth face just imagine Union and Jack face once the report of this attack reaches then.
>>
>"My god." One of the troops says. "Sir, I think the rail yard is secure."

>The general quickly moves over to the trooper and turns the corner of a train car with his weapon in hand, and quickly raises it to the sky as he registers the scene, and holsters it as your ghost beetle extracts its head from the headless torso of a Scavenger pack alpha. It looks up to the humans, and quickly dashes beneath the train car as it cloaks itself with its mind, disappearing into the shadows.

Spooky.
>>
>>3071210
>Assault the front of their positions with your titan acting as a distraction, then the humans and your more specialized and covert drones can infiltrate their lines from the flanks.
>>
>>3071218
Yes! Bring in Titan-chan!
>>
>>3071210
>Ask about some detail (write in)
How many civilians have been located? It'd be nice to know if we can bring in heavier weaponry if it seems like the space port doesn't hold hostages.
>>
>>3071210
>>Other
Please, please QD, can we give our drones some of our fancy shiny guns we've never used for this next attack? I don't think we've ever used any of them once in open warfare on our medium drones.
>>
>>3071210
Holy shit those parasites grew fast. The ovipositors tails are terrifying. Do we have a Scav army now?

>Ask about some detail (write in)
Ask how the attempt to disable the scavenger ship is going. With the attack working so well, there may be more Scavs that have withdrawn to the area of the ship than the CW special forces had counted on.

>Offer a recommendation for the attack (write in)
Deploy titans in a frontal assault while infiltrating behind enemy lines with the ghost beetles while they're distracted. The general's forces can engage a flanking attacks and deep strikes while the Titans soak enemy fire.

Also, do you guys know if we installed personal shields on the titans yet? If not, we should do so (assuming we finished the tech).
>>
>>3071210

>Ask about some detail (write in)
How did the commandos fare and should we divert resources to back them up?
>Offer a recommendation for the attack (write in)
Everybody loves titans, right? Sounds like we send a titan in and ask the commonwealth what flank to leave open for them.
>>
>>3071221
Could, we send in some Arm Balls wielding them? or are we keeping them a secret
>>
>>3071230
We could actually send several titans in - all things considered they're relatively cheap with how wealthy we are.

Also, I agree we should see how the commandos are doing and send backup if needed/wanted. It's *really* important we take that ship intact.
>>
>>3071237
>the march of Titan-chan and his siblings
>>
>I expect these were their more green soldiers. It's their old guard I'd like to have a word with.

He isn't wrong from what we gathered from the broodmother this entire invading fleet are formed from the scavs more recent generation. Even the broodmother we captured was a young one.
>>
>>3071237
if we send multiple maybe one basic one heavy and one Omega so one of each main variant?
>>
>>3071210
>Ask about what he had planned for the attack
>>
>>3071243
>A firing line of Titans with giant Plasma Cannons
>>
>>3071236
Seeing as how we have yet to either clone any Ralighans or recruit them into our forces, that would be impossible.

But it's not too late for our own drones. What's more terrifying than a wall of chitinous death? A wall of chitinous death that's shooting at you. And we've unlocked many, many different types of firearms, most of which we've never employed in actual warfare. This is the perfect chance to test them out.
>>
>>3071242
We can add this to the list of "facts that will make the CW shit themselves"

>>3071243
I don't know all the variants, but sure, why not? What are the big differences?
>>
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>>3071245
>A firing line of Titans with giant Plasma Cannons
>mfw
>>
>>3071244
>>Ask about what he had planned for the attack
Oh yeah, we should do this too. He's a smart guy and may have a really good plan already, not that his plan couldn't be improved upon.
>>
>>3071247
If I read it right Basic is just kaiju with thumper sledges, Heavy has guns guns and more guns on top of that and Omega has added onto that Psionics like our speaker was using.
>>
>>3071210
"How many humans have been found?" Your speaker chirps.

"I appreciate your concern." Cunningham says. "This force found a few dozen, I'm getting reports of others. All dead so far though, and not fresh either. It seems like they left the dead where they were after the initial attack, but cleared out the survivors." He seems to look to the side as something grabs his attention for a moment. "Third Company reports they found a cellar filled with survivors. Apparently they holed up in a smuggler's storage room during the attack. Hm. Not very pleased about having smugglers, but it was good the shelter was there. They're bringing them here for extraction and debriefing. Only a few minutes out from their position."

"What estimate is there for the civilians remaining?"

"That's hard to say." He says. "The city was home to millions, and it took some bombardment along the outer regions, but their strikes were accurate and low yield. I suspect they wanted to take as much of the infrastructure they could intact, and the residential areas were far enough from the strategic targets that they were nearly untouched. All things considered, I'd say there should be a few million left." Cunningham holds out a small holoprojector and the city layout appears projected against the ground. "Residential areas are here, here, and here." He says with several quick gestures to a set of districts and a small batch of spires. "The Ivory Gardens arcology suffered the most damage and mostly collapsed. Some survivors could still be in the lower levels, but otherwise I'd focus on the remaining centers. It looks like they are too. We've seen heavy transport activity in those areas, and it looks like the arcologies have been sealed. My guess is they're using the remaining civilian centers as camps to keep prisoners, but it seems obvious they're also transporting them into their military centers, I suspect as hostages."

"The Hive must be careful then."

"Yes." He replies. "We're not sure where they are, but I suspect that they would want them close enough to prevent artillery, but not so close as to disrupt their military operations. Same building, perhaps, but not in the same room. I suspect you will be able to find them rather quickly. If we can secure their locations, we can hit them without worrying about the collateral."

"What about your commandos?" You say. "They have proceeded with their mission?"

"Yes." He says. "Overwatch received a directed UV pulse as we attacked, meaning they succeeded. The Scav cruiser is rigged to blow if it tries to take off, and with any luck, they've been able to identify their command and control center. They should be able to locate some of the civilians, but they won't be able to extract them alone."

"The Hive will assist."

"I'll have that sent along the comms." He says. "They will look forward to the help I'm sure."

cont.
>>
>>3071255
>We found a few dozen
>Population of millions
>'but it seems obvious they're also transporting them into their military centers, I suspect as hostages.'

They are eating them.

If anyone would object to using/testing engineered weapons of any kind of these disgusting savages please speak up.
>>
>>3071260
It's still a human planet.
>>
>>3071260
No duh, they are eating then. Still we are also eating the scavs. Mostly their military forces but still eating then.
>>
>>3071262
Right, capture some scavs THEN use them for experimental weapons testing.
>>
>>3071260
From what we know of scavs this isn't the most likely outcome. If it was for food it would be easyer to take the corpses which they didn't.

They are using them as human shields and once they are properly dug in probably as slave labor. since that's what they did last time and from what we saw in the captive matriarchs memories.

We arn't going to use untested bio-weapons on a human city. Especially since conventional weapons are doing the job better and flashier.
>>
>>3071264
Sure, but we only eat invaders. So far.

We're going to have to revisit this concept when it comes to us attempting to invade Scav territory again and whether there's any such thing as a Scav civilian.
>>
>>3071255
Your shuttles begin to break through the cloud cover above as the main assault force begins to arrive with the city's guns dark and silent. Your drones shed from the hulls in buzzing swarms as your wasps take flight and cover the region from the rooftops like sentinel gargoyles. Warriors of all kinds swarm from your landed shuttles as colossi and your hover tanks emerge and form into columns, rapidly turning the rail yard into a parade ground as hive drones and human troops intermingle, the humans assembling defences with turrets and deployable walkers along the outer edges of the grounds.

Near the edge of the city, more shuttles arrive, the large drones pulling themselves from your shuttlecraft like newly pupated insects crawling from their husk of a cocoon. As the drones free themselves, several stand upright, their legs unfolding and their bodies snapping into place as their carapaces shift and correct themselves into a proper combat formation from their storage positions. Their lungs inflate with air as their bodies expand, steam pillowing from the spiracles along their backs like the exhaust ports of a great warmachine.

Your titans stretch their legs as they emerge from the shuttles, their size after they unfold themselves making the thought of them held within the transports almost comical. Several shuttles serve to avoid their heads as they march across the rail yard, each step cracking the thick polymer concrete underfoot with a reverberating thump that is felt within the chest and rattles the metalwork of the box cars surrounding you.

"What was your plan for the attack?" Your speaker asks. Cunningham's helmet folds back away from his face, and with a cruel smile he points up to your titans.

"For one, we use them." He says. "Are they capable of air deployment?"

"There is a variant, yes."

"Then we land it right on top of them. Scatter the little bastards like rats and charge in with the confusion. Have it march right through, doesn't need to bother for most of it, just have it take out any big guns and physical barriers, and we move in in its wake to mop up. Have more of these things move in from all sides, force them to spread their defences thin." He holds up his hand, slowly tightening it into a fist as the metal of his suit's gauntlet creaks from the force. "We box them in, and squeeze the bastards. Have them regroup at their HQ and take it in force. Infantry can take out what they're too big to get at, and it can take out any target too hard for the infantry, but the real issue is the shock and awe. We don't give them time to breath, just a building sized bug plowing through their door. By the time they realize the real bulk of the force is coming in behind it, it's too late."

>Add your own recommendations (write in)
>Agree to the plan
>Ask about some detail of the plan (write in)
>Other
>>
>>3071264
>>3071268
humans are honorary bugs.
They eat humans, it is equivalent to eating our drones. Zero tolerance. We are superior beings, we are allowed to have double standards.

>>3071266
>Especially since conventional weapons are doing the job better and flashier.
Better, probably yes, but flashier is debatable. Depending on how effective a sea-spore injection would run it might be more or less exciting than claws/cannons blazing.

Imagine the humans rushing the city to silent gun emplacements and a city of statues. millions of scavs dead and perched like birds over every inch of high ground at the same time as the atmosphere heaves with an artificial blizzard of spores.

bone chilling. But I relent, as this drone has been outvoted.
>>
>>3071271
>>Agree to the plan
>>
>>3071271
>Agree to the plan

I mean sounds pretty solid. We make the enemy spread and have our titans break their formations.
>>
>>3071271
>>Add your own recommendations (write in)
>>Agree to the plan

>We also continue to have our Ghost Beetles and Psirens move in, targeting any areas that seem like supply depots or armories.
>>
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>>3071271
>Agree to the plan

did somebody say Kaiju? I think I heard sombody say Kaiju!
>>
>>3071271
>Agree to the plan
I wonder how opposed the humans would be to tactical spore dispersal.
>>
>>3071280
Very. It's still their planets. Let's use our bioweapons in the worlds the scavs have landed in the Eye of Sorrow and the Eye of Wrath. Maybe we can even use the creep to take control of the worldship
>>
>>3071271
>Add your own recommendations (write in)

Advise that we have assets on the inside and very capable stealth units so forcing them to commit heavily to a single point/front, beheading the command structure and then rapidly redeploying or attacking with a secondary force from a different location may be a more viable strategy. It also has the bonus of limiting the combat to 2 areas that we define, reducing the potential of civilian casualties.
>>
>>3071280
Do we have a reliable way of removing our own spore? I mean its zerg creep tier stuff, even for small scale tactical use it would be counter productive to use on a human city. if we were out in the hinterlands we could contain it and remove or contain it and turn the area effected into a garden of eden paradise. This is the middle of a city however so it might cause some problems.
>>
The scavs aren't above denying us any kind of recovering. In the middle of the fight they may become desperate and rig the human civilians to deny us their rescue. Would such thing be possible to happen?
>>
>>3071271
>Agree to the plan

And I think that's got to be it for tonight. It's getting quite late.

I think we can resume this thread on wednesday, although I do work this Sunday, but depending on my work schedule for the rest of that week, we may be able to push it to Monday. I'll let you know on twitter when I figure that out. Additionally, I think we should probably cap off this thread with another crunch session for working through your designs, if you'd like.

Anyways, I'll try and stick around for a bit longer for any questions, comments, feedback, ect.
>>
>>3071287
Yes we can easily remove our own spore/hive creep
>>
>>3071289

Thanks for the run!
>>
>>3071289
How many ships would it take to Hive-Dust an entire planet in a day?
A module to increase the amount of soldiers on a ship?
Isolation Fields module/utility price or was it combined with damage control?
>>
>>3071289
Thanks for running QD!
>>
>>3071278
Supporting this. If our spec ops drones can get an approximate idea of where the civilians are being held, that would be a bonus.
>>
>>3071289
thanks for the run boss
>>
>>3071296
Didn't the Human commandos already located the civilians and they were only unable to extract then due to not having support?
>>
>>3071289
Thanks for running QD!

Now serious question here, under what circumstances, if any, are we going to see our warrior drones actually using the vast arsenal of weaponry we've developed throughout the course of this quest? Is there any alternative to bog standard melee for them?
>>
>>3071293
Dozens I'd say, at least fifty if we're looking to rush it and get the whole planet in just a day. Obviously capillary towers will help in this tremendously but I assume you are asking about using it offensively.

Also, you could potentially speak with the Commonwealth on developing a means of more efficient troop transport in order to carry more troops without needing to cut down on munitions or armor space within the ship.

Isolation fields if I recall I had as a passive upgrade. Any sufficiently developed hive creep can function as a hard light projector (if maybe not a very good one) and I consider the inside of any hive made ship to count as sufficiently developed hive creep, as such, any passive defence upgrade that applies to your hive interior will apply to your starships, although there is a somewhat blanket aspect of your ships' interiors being slightly less effective, due to them not being able to use as much space as freely as you can on planets or in space cities. With physical space at such a premium, your ships can't have their interior defences quite on the same level as a full hive's interior, but it does have all the same tech.

>>3071302
Absolutely. They didn't really need to shoot in this instance because your pheromone attack was simply so effective your warriors were not actually taking fire as they approached, while deliberately allowing those tagged by your ghost beetles to escape. (thus the secondary roll) but the coming battle should be more standard. As always though, I calculate combat with the assumption that your warriors are charging forward while firing their weapons like mad men. They will, however, always prefer melee combat, as the main function of the Warrior role is to advance the front line and push the enemy back. Taking cover and attacking from range prevents this. To a warrior, the most typical form of cover they will have will be the body of the warrior ahead of it. When the combat situation calls for a tactic beyond charging ahead while shooting full auto, another drone role will be used instead, so the best role for the job will always be used whenever possible.
>>
>>3071306
So a hundred ships could easily jumpstart a hive colony if used with spore pods to act as control centers?
>>
>>3071289
Thanks for running qd
>>
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>>3071306
That makes a lot of sense, thanks for explaining that. Cause man, those weaponized pheremones of ours really did cause the scavs to shit themselves.
>>
>>3071289

Cheers for running QD, always a blast
>>
>>3071285
>>3071278
These both seem like good additions or suggestions.

We should also make clear that we want that ship as intact as possible, specifically to salvage the FTL.
>>
>>3071347
We also want plenty of Scavengers alive to help with research of their own tech.
>>
>>3071306
>To a warrior, the most typical form of cover they will have will be the body of the warrior ahead of it.
That's fucking metal.
Thanks for running QD!
>>
>>3071273
>They eat humans, it is equivalent to eating our drones. Zero tolerance. We are superior beings, we are allowed to have double standards.
We eat our own drones. Like we give as much fuck about humans as you think.
>humans are honorary bugs.
Are you secretly /pol/? This sounds like that honorary aryan shit they push about Japan. This is in several ways untrue. The most important problem is that human have the potential to be the death of us if we don't take control of their nations or genocide them which is problem our drones would never cause us. The only "honorary bugs" are Hive citizens as it should be and most of our citizens are actually Taidarens.
>>
>>3071306
>Absolutely. They didn't really need to shoot in this instance because your pheromone attack was simply so effective your warriors were not actually taking fire as they approached, while deliberately allowing those tagged by your ghost beetles to escape. (thus the secondary roll) but the coming battle should be more standard.
>we rolled a nat 100 to parasiting Scavengers
Wait second.
>>
just a thought:

Humans have a saying "Call of the void" to mean that little voice that tells you to do something really fucking stupid.

"Touch the flame, Let go of the rope, Jump"

In this quest, is that the equivalent of the void trying to get access to humanity?
>>
>>3071365
ye boi, they be getting adopted.
>>
>>3071365
>>we rolled a nat 100 to parasiting Scavengers
So I assume we have lots of parasited scavs behind enemy lines then, nice.
>>
>>3071528
Should we not let them flee to spread the infection then?
>>
>>3071629
Infection? There is no infection, just parasites.
Unless you mean potentially letting them get off world and back onto their motherships and having them mutate into... chimeras, I think they were? Is it possible for a parasite to mutate into an egg layer?
>>
>>3071634
shh, they're not parasites, they've got spinepals™ that are there to show them how nice being part of the Hive is.
nothing to worry about.
>>
>>3071634
>>3071637
Fairly certain a parasite can induce a chimera metamorphosis and then turn into an egglayer
>>
>>3071355
>Claims questgoers are secretly/pol/
>Is the one advocating genocide.
>>
>>3071926
That would be perfect.

>>3071306
I got a question for you, QD; would it be possible to take a page from the Flood out of Halo? What I'm asking is, could we pick off Scavs on one of their ships and pile up the bodies somewhere discreet, then break them down and use them as fuel for the spreading of Hive creep or maybe even a scaled down version of a Capillary tower to flood the halls and ventilation with spores?

I'm curious if we could take an entire ship from the inside using nothing but Chimeras formed from their brothers in arms and the corpses we convert into useful matter.
>>
>>3071954
Isn't that similar to how the Obsidian Hive creep works by having drones and tech that melts down into the creep?
>>
>>3071946
>implying everyone here hasn't suggested genocide at some point.
But more seriously humans who aren't under our control will become a problem especially if they discover tachyons, also we are legally committing genocide according to the U.N.'s definition for genocide since eliminating "religious groups" is genocide.
>>
>>3071629
That's actually fucking brilliant, anon.

The chance we've been waiting for to infiltrate the Scavs has just been made available to us by QD. I'm sure he thought of this as well, and was waiting to see whether anyone would catch wind of the opportunity.

Letting this one cruiser (and its FTL) go in order to infiltrate Matron's star is more than worthwhile.
>>
>>3072061
But can we convince the general that it is worth it?

Also, unless they rigged explosives rather than the thrusters, the ship will detonate as soon as it tries to get clear, thanks to the commando's.
>>
>>3072061
Not only is the cruiser already rigged to blow letting any part of the crew not already infected off the planet is a horrible leak of all kinds of information not the least of which is our decoding and abuse of their pheromone signaling essentially voiding one of the greatest weapons we have against the scavs in ground or boarding combat.
>>
>>3072072
I was more under the impression they rigged explosives TO the thrusters, which I assumed (though this may be wrong) would go off on a signal they'd give at lift-off.

>>3072074
What are they going to do, equip all their troops with vacuum gear (and vastly decrease their coordination accordingly) or fundamentally change their physiology overnight?

Also I suspect we'd be able to infect the rest of the crew before they got back.

We've already got explosives rigged to it, all we have to do is only detonate enough to hobble it rather than destroy it. If they have to drop out of FTL to make repairs before they can make it to Matron Star then we would've won.

It's a doable plan with the assets we have available.
>>
>>3072074
>>3072086
Break their comms unit, let the crew get off, blow the ship while its in the docks/repair area and have the parasite'd fools become lunch in a quiet corner for an egg layer.

That should work
>>
>>3071978
>humans who aren't under our control will become a problem especially if they discover tachyons
Recall that the Hive has a huge numerical and logistical advantage over humanity. We can clone competent void crafters and psions faster than humanity can birth and train them. At best, even if humanity could match our numerical advantage (through their own cloning and mind-imprint tech), they would need to contend with a unified entity acting in full logistical harmony. Yes, the singular queen of a Hive is a massive weak point, but it does offer advantages other races do not have. Personally, I see an advantage in working with the single-minded races. It has certainly paid off technologically (much of our technology was originally developed by humanity), and our human agents are incredibly potent.

Not even speaking long-term, we will need non-psionic forces to investigate the Eye of Wrath without triggering its silicate defenses. We could ask the Commonwealth to do it (although Theseus would also be an appropriate substitute).

And as an aside:
>>>/tg/36779197 (12/15/2014)
>Seiner quest when?

>>3015191 (10/31/2018)
>Welcome to Seiner Quest!
>>
>>3072128
>We could ask the Commonwealth to do it (although Theseus would also be an appropriate substitute).
Why substitute? Theseus should be our first choice for research partner.
>>
>>3072131
My hesitation comes from Theseus lacking any kind of (or very much) self-determination in terms of probability paths in the Void. Theseus may not be an appropriate choice because he would be an automaton that would be simpler to manipulate through the Void.

Basically, a fancy rock might not be a good choice to send to investigate a place that was ruled by creatures who controlled fancy rocks and living creatures through the Void.
>>
>>3072139
Considering Theseus worked fine in Nowhere where a thought construct was being summoned/created and Theseus was actively working against it and he was fine I doubt that's a problem. It could even be harder for the void to work on it since it took effort for Seiner to even find the probability egg of Theseus
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>>3072139
This is incredibly insulting to Theseus.

Remember during Seiners visions the First Queen showed Theseus making a massive serverfarm in the Void that was bigger than a planet's mass?

Theseus is destined for the Void. Hell, I bet even Heretic might someday appreciate transcending their physical mechanical forms to become Void dwelling
>>
>>3072147
Good point, but I'm still holding the Commonwealth as a valid backup in mind. We've dedicated a lot of effort to help them basically pro bono, and I think we should get something out of it to make them less suspicious of our motives.

The only things we've requested from them are the wreckage of the Mirage and Canderon, but after our acquisition of Canderon mining from Union/Valen space, I think we shouldn't ask for Canderon. The value of it is very high in Commonwealth space, and it has just dropped in value for us, since we have plentiful other sources, so it's just not a great deal for either of us. Being able to farmstead on their planets for X years might also be appropriate, but soliciting military aid in exchange for military aid would be fair.

Of course, we could ask Theseus to do it, but then we'd have to negotiate a price for his involvement. Maybe he'd do it for free, but we've traditionally traded for many of our exchanges (Nowhere being a major exception, and likely because Heretic was involved, and it was an emergency).

>>3072158
Yes, he has the potential for it, and I'd like to see him get there, but currently he's not at that level. As far as destinies go, there's no guarantee we'll end up in that timeline. Just calling it how it is right now, Theseus is First Queen Certified Not-Alive. Whether that's a benefit or a drawback in exploring the Eye of Wrath is unknown, but if it doesn't work out for any reason, we can ask the Commonwealth. It's not so bad to have backup plans.
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>>3072158
But he’s not wrong. Theseus may at some point in the distant future be able to move through the void freely, but for all we know that could be well after we’ve defeated the void and brought some measure of stability to those higher dimensions.

As he currently exists, Theseus has no capacity to distinguish between alternate branches or paths to future outcomes. That potential exists exclusively in creatures with souls. Which means if an outside entity capable of shifting between outcomes (ie the void) goes after him there isn’t much he can do to stop it from influencing him in any way it pleases.
>>
>>3072128
The problem isn't if they can defeat us. It's if they would trigger something like the Schism or the creation of a second Hall of Souls. I have no doubt we could defeat them but that is no reason to not suspect the worst.
Also a fun little detail that may have been overlooked by the playerbase is that Seiner did see through Theseus the "adoption" end for the quest or at least what looked like it.
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>>3072187
>It's if they would trigger something like the Schism or the creation of a second Hall of Souls

I hadn't considered that, but it's a valid concern. My understanding is that the Schism involved a lot of very strongly-psionic queens, so it would be difficult to do that with the much weaker human psions, but I suppose we shouldn't rule it out. Seeing the Elizabeth/Seiner fight, my estimate is that hive Queens are orders of magnitude stronger than humans in psionic terms, though.
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>>3072213
There's a lot more humans than there ever were queens even at the height of the Threes reign. Hell the humans have already shown to be a step ahead of the void in terms of making openings into the void if you compare the extremely compact and quick to build quantum tap pentagram versus the massive and millenia taking neutron star pentagram.
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>>3072213
Never underestimate the ability of a lower lifeform to fuck shit up. Though most of the lesser races don't need constant observation or control. Only the leaders and thinkers. Also the reason that the Void got fucked up was the fact it wasn't treated like holy ground but a tool to be used. Combine that with the fact the Void is connected to all living creatures and it's easy to see why thing went wrong when weaponizing it.
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>>3071966
Kinda, but we wouldn't have the drones to spare. That's why I'm asking if it's possible to essentially use the enemy's corpses as fuel to spread our creep and spores.
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>>3072265
All biological matter the creep encounters is consumed and made into more creep. I believe it was the Greenwall research.
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>>3072256
I feel like that's because they were shoving a planet into the void with the neutron star pentagram, or something along those lines.
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>>3072256
>There's a lot more humans than there ever were queens even at the height of the Threes reign
That's uncertain. The hives were many and very populous, spanning most of the galaxy.

>compact and quick to build quantum tap pentagram
Which used Canderon created by the Watchers to generate the singularities, and a Void Shard as a focus.

I'm sure we'll find out more about how it was done before Humanity (or any other race) becomes psionic enough, so it's not a concern we should immediately focus on, but definitely something to keep in mind.

>>3072258
Now I'm wondering if we can turn it into religion. I remember Yogesh telling us of his Sikh faith and asking if there was anything the Hive believed. Plus there was that book from the Clarke "Journey into the Galactic Consciousness" or something. I know other people have joked that this book might be the secret key to our problems all along, there might be some truth to that.
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>>3072283
Hmm, interesting proposition. How do you resist an enemy that turns the very souls of lesser beings against you? Start your own religion.

I remember one anon mentioning using the thoughts and minds of large numbers of lesser minds to boost the power output of our own, if we were going to use the psionic cannon at any point that would be the way to go about it, perhaps.
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>>3072283
Oh of course. A bunch of radical "true believers" is exactly what the void needs to stay stable. Ten minutes into the religion some jackass will try to become one with the universe and kick off Hall of Souls II: The Quickening.
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>>3072299
Adapting the Spirit Bomb technique I see
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>>3071954
Well, in such a case it would be done automatically as you would not be able to maintain contact with any infiltrators within a fleeing ship. Also, you don't have any parasites currently implanted, they are all eggs. That said, yes, you can have some of them produce egg layers, and in fact some would do so automatically.

>>3072283
I'm sure Yogesh would find the discussion quite interesting.
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>>3072185
And we were told it was possible for Theseus to attain a soul of his own. Clearly we need to help him research such.
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>>3072345
Now that we know the Watchers aren't the void I wouldn't be opposed to throwing him a basic relay to get started, though I'd want to build a shroud on zero one to hide him from the void and maybe a bit of personal tutoring on resisting our psionic attacks so he knows roughly what to expect.
>>
>>3072345
>>3072379
We're still not sure exactly what it is that qualifies something as "alive." I think we can all agree that a "living" thing has a probability branch in the Void, but we don't know exactly what allows something to navigate the branch. The Scarred Queen and our mother's generation seemed adamant that it was carbon-based life with DNA that made something alive, which overall seems to be a low bar. "Life" doesn't appear to need to be able to detect or to emit tachyons, because then a tachyon emitter/detector would be alive. Intelligence or the appearance thereof seems to have little relation, as any given Theseus instance is more intelligent than a given Scavenger Alpha, but the latter pings in a way that the former does not. There's got to be something else that we've not understood yet.
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>>3072331
>I'm sure Yogesh would find the discussion quite interesting.

I'd love to have that discussion with him, but at this point it's metagaming because Red Queen doesn't have the information from Seiner's spirit quest yet. It'll probably be a bit before this comes up in an in-character manner.

Having some discussion out of the way in advance would help accelerate matters, though.
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>>3072379
>>3072421
>>3072345
I wonder if it would be possible to set up a psionics side-project with Theseus that doesn't eat up his research slot. With all the prerequisite safety measures of course.
Sure we have to baby him on the utmost basics, but it could help in understanding just where "being alive" and psionics come together.
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>>3072461
>>3072421
>>3072379
>>3072345
Why not just make him part of the Hive? Like turn him into a Hive Vassal or something. It's not like he loses anything in such an arrangement.
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>>3072470
Because he's a peer and the closest thing to a friend for a super-organism like that. I don't think he has any inclination of being in a subservient role with us and neither do we have any inclination of forcing him into that.

And mechanically speaking, how exactly do you propose to control an entirely nonbiological entity like Theseus without the use of force?
Because our single-minded children and adoptees get spine pals, while the Scarred Queen literally owes her new life to us and to her, the rules that bond a lesser Queen to her matron is a cultural obligation.
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>>3072491
Control? Why would we need an active measure to control him? Most of what he's going to be around for is research, decision making, hacking, and dealing with other races which is stuff he'd rather be doing than fighting. Hell I've been thinking of using him to help with managing the Expanse population and infiltrating the Scavengers.
> I don't think he has any inclination of being in a subservient role with us and neither do we have any inclination of forcing him into that.
Did you really not notice our current relationship has him subservient? We are basically the leader of the alliance we have going. We constantly help with his interests without asking for anything. We constantly show concern. He more or less does whatever we say and doesn't seem in the least bit bothered by this position.
It honestly seems like we are acting as the leader but have chosen to not make our position with Unity official eliminating much of the efficiency and information sharing we should get because some players have the opinion that it would hurt Theseus's feelings or something.
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>>3072470
We'll have to get further in the silicon/carbon tech tree if we wish to have them become a part of the hive network.
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>>3072717
That brings up a good question.

Should we help Theseus set up his own tachyon network between his synth bodies, or should we adopt him into our own already expansive and powerful tachyon Hive network?
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>>3072719
Let him set up his own network, with Hive supervision should anything go Void shaped.
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>>3072767
That would be nice for him, but then again, pulling him under the Hive Network umbrella could be safer while we're fighting the Void.
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>>3072781
maybe have that as an emergency option - I'd like to see how Theseus makes his own network. Who knows, maybe he'll make something wholly different from ours.
Of course, we'd request an observer tachyon node, and when things go Void shaped we can turn that node into said emergency Hive network connection.
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>>3072258
The Void can be a tool. The Old Queens fucked up by using it to craft a metaphysical shiv, driven by violence and hate. While they sucedded, such strong emotions and thoughts, used with little care, warped their minds into ones of pure violence and hate. Using the Void is fine, the Old Hives did it before the War, as did the Silicates, though in a far more mechanical way, so it can be done without fucking up everything.
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>>3072811
I agree. The First used the void as the dangerous tool it is with the respect it deserved.
>>
Now, how are we planning on explaining our clearly psychic powers to our Commonwealth allies?
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>>3072879
Sufficiently advanced technology.
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>>3072811
The consequence of this line of thought would be using the Void to construct medical tools, farming equipment, and art.

We ourselves cannot fully enter without risking conflict and we cannot use it to build things with military applications
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>>3072896
Or we could just say it's an innate talent. Technology is more obviously shareable.
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>>3072915
Considering they know of our near magical biotech why would innate talent be something not shareable? We'd have to explain way more with innate talent than just say it's technology and no you can't have it.
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>>3072896
This is basically the right answer. Magnus already told us we didn't seem as advanced as he thought a species our age would be. Us having extremely advanced technology strongly supports our claim of being an ancient power. It's also true that the humans lack the technological base to even begin to understand psionics even though they can still utilize it to an extent with Hive assistance (such as building the psi cannon or developing into Void walkers like Seiner 2.0).
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>>3072879
Manipulation of fundamental universal forces. Very advanced stuff. Very dangerous. Humanity is not equipped to understand.

If they ask if we can teach them or modify them or create some device, we can tell them maybe later. If they press further, we can tell them the Union tried, and it ended up very poorly for them.
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>>3072879
Focused mental power. We just think really hard and things happen.
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>>3072977
>We think really hard and it happens.

Also this thread should be resuming Wednesday, technically tomorrow, around 7pm eastern.
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>>3072982
Nice.

>>3072595
Don't confuse a master-servant relationship with our friend-group leadership. He is not our servant, and we are not his master. Theseus does what we tell him because our interests align. He does a lot more than just what we ask him, I'm sure, we just don't see it. I'm not sure how you think we should alter our relationship, or how it would gain us anything. Looking back over his characterization, he seems to be driven by a thirst for knowledge, which has always been one of our secondary objectives. Heck, he might investigate Eye of Wrath for free just because it's more knowledge.
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>>3071106
I Scribbled that ages ago while trapped at work, and since then I think iv seen it resurface every time the Skav's are getting their shit kicked in.

So since I had the day off and nothing else on my to do list, here is an updated version of the image of it as a Thank you to QD for running the quest and to you for enjoying the image enough to save it and last but not least.

For Mother.
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>>3073022
So fucking metal.
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>>3073022
Thanks again for your work, great as always.
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>>3073022
>every time the Skav's are getting their shit kicked in
Isn't that literally every time we come into contact with the scavs? I don't think we've ever rolled poorly when it comes to the scavs.
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>>3073060
We had a mediocre roll at the start of the thread but th e commonwealth covered our ass.
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>>3073060
We did roll a nat 1 against them and almost got wiped.
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>>3073060
We did once. During our second space encounter with them while they were scouting the Builder's dockyards in Wonder. Had a number of our lighter ships damaged and destroyed, which was a lot back then.

>>3072595
>Did you really not notice our current relationship has him subservient? We are basically the leader of the alliance we have going. We constantly help with his interests without asking for anything.
Incorrect. Everytime that Theseus has contacted us for help, like digging up the relay on Earth, he has always paid us back in tech. Literally every transaction we had with him was fairly paid back.
Hell, after the disaster at Nowhere, we owe him some compensation for losing a Server Ship.

>He more or less does whatever we say and doesn't seem in the least bit bothered by this position. It honestly seems like we are acting as the leader but have chosen to not make our position with Unity official eliminating much of the efficiency
Because
We are fighting a star-system spanning alien hive mind with a frighteningly efficient industrial capacity based on almost incomprehensibly advanced biological manipulation. Who is best-suited to lead the war effort than your alien ally from the same species and on top of that has a greater understanding of the workings behind the enemy's strategic logic? Theseus is smart enough to know that he's not an expert at fighting enemy Hives or Void incursions, so he defers such matters to us and Heretic.

Again, you are mistaking that two guys working together, who share the same goals,have had no quarrels before, and is following each other's advice because its a good idea in general; is somehow the same as master-servant relationship
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>>3073021
>I'm not sure how you think we should alter our relationship, or how it would gain us anything. Looking back over his characterization, he seems to be driven by a thirst for knowledge
That is because he is a slave to his programming. He both seeks survival and to serve the purpose he was designed for. The First Hive has confirmed as much. It was mentioned he was originally a tool to help with research eventually turned into a human social engineering project so it's pretty obvious what all his goals are.
>Don't confuse a master-servant relationship with our friend-group leadership
There isn't actually a difference. Theseus has no free will. That's what "true life" is.
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>>3073081
>Theseus has no free will. That's what "true life" is.
Vaughn literally caused an AI rebellion because of people who thought like that planned on shutting Theseus down. And the First Queen herself said that he has potential to gain a soul

>"I understand your thoughts on this, but all life was once not life. You were once a series of amino acids in a fluid, a clump of unintelligent cells, but eventually, the strands of these soulless things gathered together into something that could cast a shadow upon this realm, something with a tree of potential to whittle away throughout its life. This 'Theseus' is no different. It is merely a far more proficient collection of cells. It holds a level of intelligence, but even with its randomness, it is still a difference engine to fate. This being has no capacity to perceive its worldline, but is fated to simply streak through it like a bolt of lighting or a flowing river. Its tree of potential is no different to a stone's, or a pool of water, however, it does have the potential to become more."
>"Doesn't that make him alive?" You ask. "The fact he has that potential?"
>"That was not your question." The First says suddenly, appeasingly almost. "This being has no soul to project into the Void, but that is not a testament to a lack of life. A plant lives. Cells of your skin live. For now, this being is a lever wielded by your Queen, and forged in part by you."
>"You see here?" She says. "Theseus may yet earn a soul. There are branches where you were never conceived, but that does not mean you do not exist. This Theseus has simply not yet been conceived. He is an egg, although an intelligent one."

>a master-servant relationship with our friend-group leadership
>There isn't actually a difference
Yes there is.
The latter is built on mutual aid and resource sharing on a /voluntary/ basis.
The former arrangement benefits the master much more than the servant, with the servant unable to refuse any demands without reprisal.

They only look the same to you because there has never yet been a situation where Theseus would back down from a request we make.
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>>3073081
you seem to be misinterpreting something here. Theseus has free will he has no soul/void shadow. all the times elder queens have mentioned "true life" its always been them being snooty and closed minded. Void influence is effected by tachyons which from what we know is a product of the natural evolution of sentience, Theseus being a machine mind has no such organ and thus no void shadow. This doesn't mean he doesn't make decisions on his own, it just means void entities cant see his trees.
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>>3072982
>>3072977
QD says we should do it, so even if its just our opening answer, our speakers need to speak cheek.
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>>3069393
Fuck...I missed it bc of work. Well thanks for the interesting lore ad thanks for the stories.
Not gonna lie, I'd love to see a side episode where the hive and the new necrotic armada encounter each other.
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>>3073190
I really wouldn't.

i mean it would be cool sure.....but the difference in prorities would lead to shit flinging.

But finding an offshoot of either in either quest could be......interesting.
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>>3069607
>They had to have, at the very least, been aware of what the Union was doing in that system, they're mind readers of all things.
They only read broadcasted thoughts though right? Which humans can't do.
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>>3071209
This makes me want to get the Commonwealth and Union into peace talks and then somehow subtly suggest that we might have to intervene militarily if their war goes on much longer in the face of the OQ, so that the Union can see the way the Commonwealth's admiralty's buttholes clench at the thought.
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>>3073615
kek
Genius.
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>>3073098
I'm not. Theseus literally has no "free will" and if you do you are subject to the Void. Giving him "free will" will means we are not in control of him any more the First Queen even said he is a tool wielded by Red Queen and now has the potential to be turned against us or control by the Void. Another detail people overlook is we are being directly protected by the First Hive while everyone seems to be forced to fend for themselves, this means Theseus is likely being protected from timefuckery to some degree by our influence as well as any living creature we control. The question arises then that if giving psionics without incorporating him into the Hive actually causes him to become more vulnerable to the Void because up to that point we were unknowingly controlling him.
>>3073092
It's been implied that Vaughn coded a self-preservation instinct into Theseus triggering him to break out to survive.
What was explicitly stated was:
>theseus was created
>theseus is about to be shut down
>Elizabeth inputs code that would cause "unintended consequences"
>theseus goes on a rampage
Also it is stated by Theseus that "survival" to him is maintaining his source code and all "learned" information.
>The former arrangement benefits the master much more than the servant, with the servant unable to refuse any demands without reprisal.
What you have described is more accurately a Slave-Master relationship which I haven't been advocating. Rather the problem I have is that players want to put him at the mercy of the Void and I also have a problem with the hypocrisy of players complaining about slavery when assimilation is mentioned when we are literally creating our own slaves to serve us. For fuck sakes we are the most trustworthy group around even if everyone outside our group fears us, I highly doubt we'd go full attack of the body snatchers with our mind control.
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>>3073098
Even if he does have free will, which is debatable, that doesn't mean he has a 'soul', which you would realize is more than just a takyonic/psionic presence if you carefully read what the First had to say about Theseus. A 'soul' is more specifically the capacity of a being to choose between alternate courses of action and thus create 'branches' in the void. Those branches, if you recall, represent different quantum realities where an entity can make different decisions which lead to different outcomes at key points in space time.

Theseus is currently incapable of selecting between different paths his existence creates. He simply utilizes his vast computational power to calculate the course of action with the greatest chance of success given the information available to him at the time. That's why he couldn't give us advice one way or another when we given the opportunity to blow up the Mirage and prevent Alder's assassination by Killinger. He simply couldn't establish which option in that situation had the preferable outcome.

That's why the First says he doesn't have a soul. His presence in the void is linear in the outcomes it creates, like that of any natural phenomenon such as a river or a stone. His nature is ruled by the principles of cause and effect created by the parameters of his programming. As he can he is able to constantly improve his own programming you could say he has a free will, but every single instance is still confined to their own programming and their behavior is thus linear within the void.
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>>3073615
11/10

To funny.
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>>3073790
Following this logic isn't a void crafter more alive than a human?
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>>3073615
Befittingly cheeky for the hive
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I really don't see any reason to get involved in the civil war. Humans just aren't notable militarily.
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I kind of want to parasite one of their admiralty just to see what the briefings are like.

>You'll see here in figure 1 one of their diplomatic caste drones airdropping as-is into active combat alongside drop troopers
>Note the unusual blood patterns in figure 4 - we think the bisected corpses of the alphas were dragged up into the vents to be eaten after they were brutally ambushed
>You might pick up on figure 7, where it looks like several grunts have been beaten to death using a sofa - our analysts are not quite sure about that one but they're working hard to figure it out, I assure you
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>>3073819
The civil war serves as a big distraction and is a dangerous conduit for Void influence. The Void appears to finally be realizing how important humans are as void-crafters after recent events and we CANNOT afford to let them make more Emmerich types.

Humans are also the only species to have been capable of building the psi canon without getting immediately insta-killed/corrupted. In fact, it might be necessary for a psionicly blind species to build the weapon as it may be the only way to use it without risking falling to the Void itself (like all the other queens that were consumed by rage after using void based weaponry). A civil war is NOT the optimal time to give one side a superweapon.

Finally, we don’t know everything about the weapons the humans have. The humans certainly have much more advanced gravatic weaponry than we have and counting them out as militarily insignificant could be a serious mistake.
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>>3074161
>The civil war serves as a big distraction and is a dangerous conduit for Void influence.
How so? Humans are vulnerable to void influence regardless of an ongoing war.
>Humans are also the only species to have been capable of building the psi canon without getting immediately insta-killed/corrupted. In fact, it might be necessary for a psionicly blind species to build the weapon as it may be the only way to use it without risking falling to the Void itself (like all the other queens that were consumed by rage after using void based weaponry). A civil war is NOT the optimal time to give one side a superweapon.
We're not going to fucking build the psionic cannon. The underlying tech may be interesting but weaponizing the void is the exact thing we're fighting now.
>Finally, we don’t know everything about the weapons the humans have. The humans certainly have much more advanced gravatic weaponry than we have and counting them out as militarily insignificant could be a serious mistake.
The Union mentioned they would lose against the hive. This was explicitly mentioned during the Devon debrief. Besides that there's also the fact that humans as a species aren't well suited to war and all we need is their weapons tech not their soldiers or ships.
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>>3074178
Having their weapons and tech hasn't really been enough thus far against the Silicates. Our drones, with all their human-tech derived upgrades, barely managed to break even against the Silicate orb-guardians.

Our ships, meanwhile, were fairly thoroughly crushed in their encounter with the Silicates. It was also called out that their tactics were tailor-made for Anti-Hive warfare.

All of this is seems to point towards allied
non-hive military power being advantageous in the upcoming conflict.
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>>3074232
>Having their weapons and tech hasn't really been enough thus far against the Silicates. Our drones, with all their human-tech derived upgrades, barely managed to break even against the Silicate orb-guardians.
Because we weren't guiding them at all and even then we rather handily defeated them.
>Our ships, meanwhile, were fairly thoroughly crushed in their encounter with the Silicates. It was also called out that their tactics were tailor-made for Anti-Hive warfare.
We decided to fall back when an unknown enemy ambushed us.
>All of this is seems to point towards allied non-hive military power being advantageous in the upcoming conflict.
Except the Silicates aren't an active enemy and I don't see any reason why non-hive ships would fare any better against them.
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>>3074187
>How so? Humans are vulnerable to void influence regardless of an ongoing war.
In desperate times people often turn to religion and demagoguery. This plays into the hands of our enemy especially if the Hive can be blamed for the destruction. Chaos would also make it easier for the OQ to infiltrate/steal human tech.

>We're not going to fucking build the psionic cannon. The underlying tech may be interesting but weaponizing the void is the exact thing we're fighting now.
I completely 100% agree with you. WE are not going to weaponize the Void. Doing so would have us risk worse than death. HOWEVER, a BLIND species can absolutely build and use the psionic canon without being corrupted. It’s almost as if humans were designed for that specific purpose...

>The Union mentioned they would lose against the hive.
Of course the humans would lose - the hive would slaughter them. The fact that we could beat the humans in a war does not mean humanity is militarily insignificant. They could provide a critical edge if, for example, we attack the OQ or Ceph home world while using jammers. They could also bloody our nose and cause major diplomatic problems if they flip the other way. The mere fact that we could beat the Union in a war does not make them irrelevant from a military standpoint.
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>>3074232
Im not sure that I’d call our fleet “crushed”, but I absolutely agree that having non Hive allies in a conflict where our most serious threats are specifically kitted our for anti-hive warfare means non-hive allies are highly valuable.
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>>3073615
I’ll admit, I chuckled.

Agreed, for multiple reasons we should try to facilitate peace between the CW and Union - and cheekiness is certainly among them.
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>>3074259
>The fact that we could beat the humans in a war does not mean humanity is militarily insignificant.
This assessment was made based on the fleet we had at the time not the fleet we'll have in a week. Our production base is so massive we can rebuild fleets magnitudes faster than all non-hive (and possibly the ceph depending on how void cutters are built) enemies.
The only benefit the other races would provide is alpha strike capability as each ship they lose is lost for years meaning their contribution to the war will steadily diminish while ours continues to grow as we build new ships daily.
Besides maybe the humans will come up with something innovative during their civil war.
>>
Hell while they fight each other to exhaustion we can use the taxing war as a way to entice human worlds to be adopted as they grow weary of the drain on resources the war causes. Once rationing starts a humanitarian trade route will be seen as a massive gift for a border world.
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>>3074320
That would just start a land grab with the floating space jews.
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>>3074304
Perhaps if we help them with peace negotiations they will be more people wanting to do research with the Hive. Also we could offer to assist with medical care for the injured and any terraforming they need for shipments of metals and food (nutrients).
>>
>>3074760
I mean being pro peace will help the Hive's public image. Having peaceful neighbours also facilitates trade. We could even offer to terraform Earth and reintroduce extinct species if they have their DNA. They could use Earth as a neutral meeting place. Plus we could deal with the Earth humans as part of the terraforming.
>>
>>3074304
Well they do have that void cutter weapon in tadega. Strap that thing into a union ship and you get a weapon able the ignore shields and armour.
>>
>>3074762
A part of me really wants to acquire the Void Cutter just to give it to best son Lyle in handheld form.
>>
We should look into paying back Lyle's tabs. Get that squared away.
>>
Just letting them run away would have the additional benefit of us being able to spreadwrong information, e.g. the involvement of the Gardener's forces, the usage of advanced void based weaponry or psionic spread of fear instead of pheromones. This might give us a significant advantage in the future by letting our enemies spend ressources inefficiently.
>>
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>>3071289
The city begins to fill with the sounds of gunfire and artillery cannons as the Commonwealth forces begin to assemble their numbers along the city's abandoned outer perimeter. The city itself is massive, a proper metropolis well suited as the capital of an industrial powerhouse such as Argos. Even with the vast cityscape, the naval yards take up a large portion of the horizon, where industrial materials are produced and refined for starship manufacturing either in orbit, or within the massive dock yards built into the surrounding countryside.

Thermal scans continue to monitor the city as your flies examine areas of interest, pinpointing zones where scavengers have become isolated in small pockets away from their main force, or where humans have huddled into storm shelters or the ruins of homes and offices. The bulk of the civilians were either evacuated, or are concentrated away from the industrial and economic sectors, and much of the city's foundations hold bunkers intended to withstand most bombardment, and it is likely many are filled with more humans, sealed within their bombardment shelters awaiting the battle's conclusion.

Cunningham looks over a map of the city with your ambassador drone and several officers, pointing out districts or specific buildings as targets or potential locations of civilian prisoners. Several lines of attack have been drawn throughout the city, carving a path through the inner defences towards the enemy HQ at the spaceport.

"The port's on the riverfront." An officer says. "So we will need to bring in the main force through the city. They'll be at an advantage in that respect."

"We can have commando teams insert along the shores to disrupt the enemy lines." Cunningham says. "Have them coordinate with teams already deployed and work to identify and extract civies before the main force arrives. I'm less concerned about the buildings. We can rebuild, and the yards have been damaged already. We won't be using these facilities anytime soon. A few more craters won't make any more difference." Cunningham says with a flat, somber tone.

"Yes Lord General." The officer replies. "We have amphibious deployment teams in position off the coast. Most of the wet navy was destroyed and the PDF comm network was disrupted, but we've managed to regain contact with several subs. We have twelve marine squads ready to deploy, as well as short and medium range ballistic missiles."

"Have the squads deploy target painters but keep them dormant." Cunningham says. "As we push them back we can use those missiles and hit them where their flak is weakest, right as they fall back. Should soften things up for those titans." He looks up to your drone. "Once we force them to their HQ, where their main defences are, you deploy the airborne unit on top and we cover."

>Mention your infiltration of the Scavenger units
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians
>Agree to the plan
>Other
>>
>>3073811
Psionic and Void Crafting is one of the things that separates Gods from mortals along with the triplex DNA.
>>
>>3075725
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians
>>
>>3075725
>>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians


>Also offer to use stealth drones working on concert with any stealth forces they plan to insert.
>>
>>3075725
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians
>Other
Deploy aquatic Titans? Can we even do that?
>>
>>3075725
>Other
Just tell them we have sleepers on board and want to use this ship to infiltrate the main fleet.
>>
>>3075725
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians
>>
>>3075725
>>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians

>>3075734
Really going for the Kaiju vibes aren't you?
I approve.
>>
>>3075725
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians

Mentioning the infiltration is a bad idea, but we can still use the information from said infiltrated units without tipping our hand to the Commonwealth (and Union intelligence).
>>
>>3075735
Supporting.

"The Hive has inserted infiltrators among the fleeing Scavengers. We see the potential to insert these sleepers among the greater Scavenger fleets for intelligence gains and future sabotage. This would entail the release (but crippling) of the Scav command-cruiser. Please consider this possible modification."

>>3075725
Also
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians
>>
>>3075735
I dunno, I think that's alluding to too much already. We could just say we've infected their ship with a deadly virus. It doesn't have to be a lie either, we're could infect the ship itself with the metal to nutrient converter virus or whatever and fuck up all their ships, or increase upkeep and maintenance at the very least.
>>
>>3075725
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians

>Mention your infiltration of the Scavengers
>Do not
>Other
>>
>>3075748
Well the people in the Union that matter already essentially /know/ that parasites exist. There's no point in trying to keep that intelligence from leaking to them.

>>3075750
We could cover it as inserting some clones in among the fleeing scavs where the additions wouldn't be noticed.
>>
>>3075725
>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians
Score us kudos and good bug points

>Agree to the plan
but mention that we have the option of using the fleeing ship as an infiltrator if it manages to escape. I dig that idea of stuffing it full of chimera to go full Aliens on them
>>
>>3075752
>Mention your infiltration of the Scavengers
>>
>>3075750
If we don't mention them we have to dispose of the sleepers because they'll find out eventually if we don't kill them.
>>
>>3075752
>>Do not

If we absolutely must, downplay it hard. Say something like it's not perfect but no one will be looking at the grunts too hard so we're confident it won't be detected.
>>
>>3075752
>Do not
No telling the humans our infiltration techniques.
>>
>>3075752
>Mention your infiltration of the Scavengers
>>
>>3075752
>>Do not
Better to keep our mind fucking capabilities a secret. When we want to capture them we can explain to the CW that we subdued them and are capturing them for testing.
>>
>>3075752
>Mention your infiltration of the Scavengers
>>
This is such a horrible idea. We'd show our ability to infiltrate for essentially a single shot attempt at one worldship that might not even work.
>>
>>3075760
Pheromone bullshit can cover that you know.
>>
>>3075760
>>3075758
We could say we can sneak our stealth drones on board, they already know we've got impressive stealth capabilities. We don't have to give them the full truth of our parasites just yet or ever
>>
>>3075752
>Do not
THey will ask how eventually and they will NOT like the answer.
>>
>>3075752
>Mention your infiltration of the scavengers

“The Hive has created several sleeper agent clones and inserted them among the fleeing scavengers.”
>>
>>3075763
A single shot to infiltrate the main fleet before they can invade. People forget the next Waypoint is our capital.
>>
>>3075752
>do not
>>
>>3075765
There's a massive difference between "We have scavs on the inside" and "We got some bugs inside the cruiser"
Any mention of cloning also shows our ability to infiltrate.
>>
>>3075768
Fighting the main fleet at Leeland would be a better shot at taking out the scavs desu. It's the space equivalent of invading Russia, they'd be doomed.
>>
>>3075752
>Do not
>>
>>3075768
It would be kind of hard for them to invade considering that they will have to reassess their shit after losing so much of their forces.
>>
>>3075773
The main fleet is so massive we can't even count it. Not even getting into the the problem of outside factors like the Void or the many Worldship they have. An invasion like that will cripple us in the short term and may fuck us completely in the long term.
>>3075777
You don't realize we are massively out numbers
>>
>>3075772
>Any mention of cloning also shows our ability to infiltrate
As if the other powers think the most advanced biotech faction they know of can't clone people.

As long as we don't reveal our mental manipulation and brainwashing abilities, showing off biological technology is nothing new.
>>
>>3075768
So? That's months from now and by that point we'll easily match them in numbers.
>>
>>3075752
>>Do not
>>
>>3075785
>Showing off technology used in your top secret ops

They might suspect the rabbit hole goes quite deep but it's not a good move for us to illuminate it for them for such a trivial reason, it feels like a desperate act when we're clearly winning against the Scavs already. There will be other chances to infiltrate but but we can't un-tell them our military secrets.
>>
>>3075790
A month at most as far as I can tell and the biggest problem is our Queen is located there. It's a terrible position to be in.
>>
>>3075796
I don't see how this is a leak.

Everyone knows, or assumes, we can make clones already. This is not a reveal.

It doesn't lose us anything either, because part of the reason we use clones is that they're deniable and not traceable to the Hive in the first place.
>>
>>3075752
>>Do not
>>
>>3075785
That's the thing. Cloning isn't something difficult but implanting memories is. Or should we say that we have facilities where we clone and raise our enemies in preparation for infiltration missions?
>>
>>3075796
Nobody here has said that we want to show off our tech only that we have agents on the inside of a race that routinely betrays each other and use pheromones that fuck with each other's heads.
>>
>>3075806
We have plausible deniability with Scav clones on account of pheromone-fuckery, as other anons have pointed out.
>>
>>3075768
When was that mentioned? Isn't there only a single outpost of the Watchers in the capital system?
>>
>>3075817
>>3075806
In fact, if we only offer to do this against the Scavs, it will strengthen the facade that we can't implant memories freely.
>>
>>3075783
Oh, I know that they are fucking huge. What i mean is that the Scaves were winning battles across multiple systems, but our intervention caused the battles to do a complete 180. While we have by no means crippled them, they certainly lost more forces attacking these worlds then they would have thought. Also, they seem to relish challenging opponents, if the memories we got from them are accurate. They will not stop until their current target(The Commonwealth) has been defeated.
There is also the fact that they dont seem inclined to send the lions share of their forces on any offences yet.
>>
>>3075803
>Everyone knows, or assumes, we can make clones already. This is not a reveal.

But they don't KNOW and can't prove it, at the minute it's just speculation and they have no way of guessing just how proficient we are at cloning non hive. Admitting this under these circumstances puts us on a timeline and gives them more pieces they can use to put together the puzzle that is the hive, they'll know we can produce an intelligent adult with the knowledge and skills necessary to infiltrate a military organisation within a short timeframe.

>part of the reason we use clones is that they're deniable and not traceable to the Hive in the first place.

It's a lot harder to deny it if you tell publicly show people that not only are you capable of it but it appears to be your standard operating procedure.
>>
>>3075752
>Mention your infiltration of the Scavengers
If we kill them all we waste the nat 100
>>
>>3075752
>Do not

"The Hive can provide assistance in location and extraction of humans." Your drone says.

"Every bit helps." Cunningham replies. "Just don't be surprised if your drones get a few slugs from a hunting rifle."

"That is expected." Your drone chirps. Cunningham smirks as he takes several puffs of a pipe in contemplation.

"Our commandos will be landing at these points." He says as he taps his pipe at several places on the map. "However you communicate, the rattlebacks don't seem to have cracked it yet." He says, then muttering quickly, "neither have we, but..." He shrugs, smoke rolling from his mouth in a small doughnut shape. "We can use the drones to help keep in contact. You don't need to send any speakers or anything, but being able to know their status and location on our end will be a big step up from their radio silence. A lot less of a chance of us pegging one of our boys with a less-friendly-than-preferred shell." Cunningham looks up as several sonic booms echo through the sky. More shuttles arriving, as well as drop pods, both metallic shells streaking through the sky with retro thruster kites in tow, and the whistling hum of chitinous bulbs of armored flesh raining down with their deadly cargoes.

"The outer districts no longer have a fortified defence. It looks like they sent out a fallback order." He continues.

"We have detected this." You reply. "They fled with the initial attack to secondary positions."

"Yes, but it looks like there are still plenty of the enemy in the area. They're spread out and disorganized from the looks of things, either didn't get the order or were unable to fall back."

"It is possible they were ordered to cover their pack alphas' retreat." You note. Cunningham nods.

"Interesting. Yes that's possible as well. In that case these would be more of the chaff, the umbles of the cut as it were. Still we can't be getting complacent. We move in full force, but we should avoid giving them the time to breath that I suspect such a move was intended to offer."

"Titan deployment will be less effective against scattered urban targets." Your drone says.

"Yes but you don't need to worry about that. You have them focus on shock and awe, I'll have an armored column right at their heels to clear the streets building by building. Have your smaller drones assist, with the flying ones moving through the upper floors and calling out targets for the tanks and artillery."

"The Hive may deploy when the human warriors are ready." Cunningham smiles.

"We're always ready." He says. "If we attack now, we should be nearing the spaceport by dusk, of course that brings its own downside. They see thermals, so I suspect attacking their heaviest position in the dark will give them the advantage, especially in cold weather like this."

>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
>Attack now, even if the battle lasts through the night.
>Other
>>
>>3075827
Don't we see in thermals? Could't we fight throughout the night for the humans while they hunkered down?
>>
>>3075752
>>Offer using your stealth drones to help in locating and extracting civilians

>Do not
We lose more than gain by revealing this.
Those scavs were not getting out of planet anyway, expect in hive shuttles if we find use for them.

The scav cruiser is too juicy reward for humans and to us to be thrown away by letting scavs use it as escape tool.
And even if we did let them escape few grunts won't be enough for any serious operation in scav space.
>>
>>3075827
>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
This will probably give the parasite eggs we laid time to hatch and take over many of the scavs.
>>
>>3075827

>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
>>
>>3075819
It wasn't explicitly said but given the context it can be inferred. They go from one Watcher ruins to find the next location with Watcher ruins and our capital has one. I think it's safe to say what's going to happen and it always better to assume the worst.
>>
>>3075827
>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
More time for the eggs to hatch which means more scav captives after the battle.
>>
>>3075827
>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
>>
>>3075827
>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
>>
>>3075827
>>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
>>
>>3075827
>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight
>>
So since we're wasting that nat 100 for no good reason we should decide what we want to do with the Scavs we have parasites about to hatch in.

Suggestions?
>>
>>3075874
Kidnap them, link them up to the broodmother we captured and have them all infiltrate the Armada.
>>
>>3075827
>Attack the city now, but siege the spaceport district until daylight

"The Hive can assemble a sige perimeter." You say. "The night can be used to further rescue efforts in the city."

"Wonderful." Cunningham says. "Although don't expect to be getting all the glory here. My men will pull their weight and then some." Several neartby troopers seem to exchange a jovial glance, a manner of communication only possible after many years of squad service. It is broken as several warrior drones let out a strangely challenging hiss, as if taking umbrage at the statement, and their squad-wide glance becomes more competitive. Cunningham zeroes in on the exchange almost instantly.

"Alright everyone, dismissed!" He shouts. "We attack in an hour. Clean your gear and load up on ammo, the tanks will arrive in half that time." The troops quickly disperse, gathering into various groups to assemble gun trucks and load ammo boxes into storage chambers within their suits, while others fish packs of cigarettes, old cigars, or field rations from within their suits' internal pockets, or feed small lines of wire down opened gaps in their armor to scratch beneath the plating. Your own warriors ready themselves as well, shedding and consuming damaged carapace plates as workers shuffle between swarms of combat drones with their grinder guts filled with processed nutrients, spitting up the rations in organized, well measured quantities suited to each drone.

Above, your titans look over the skyline of the yard as the rest of the army quickly propagates the orders under radio silence. Vehicles churn the ground beneath them, sending columns of dust and exhaust into the air as colossi drones march over them. Across the vast expanse of the gathering military force, you find a wide range of humans from any number of worlds, all with a wide range of weapons of varying levels of efficiency and evident cost, some with crude semi-automatic rail rifles that look more like salvaged or inherited hunting weapons, others hold cheaply made particle lances, long, bulky weapons with heavy backpack power supplies, while others have little more than powered axes and combat knives with a cheap, mass produced sidearm on their belts. Some wear potent armor plating covering their forms, others seem almost hand made, or crudely designed by stamped metal with little padding. Many carry little more than a thin chestplate of cheap shrapnel resistant polymer, while others are in simple combat fatigues, their armor being little more than what would barely pass as a bike helmet for all the protection it offers.

cont.
>>
What's next on the list QD?
>>
>>3075878
Your own drones assembled are of a similar range of value, but you suspect their diversity of gear is more a limitation of budget than choice. In some places, your warriors stand about over cooking pits as troops roast locally hunted animals, occasionally tossing one to your drone. Others have been painted over by nearby human troops, and several warriors now sport a layer of warpaint matching several tribes of primitive warrior clans found on a number of anarchy worlds, while others have a number of war cries painted in several languages across their arms, or the emblems of various Commonwealth divisions and companies.

In some places troops with artistic prowess use small, compact pocket sized tattooing pens to etch various images on their fellow soldiers depicting or symbolizing the battles prior, names of fallen troops, tallies of kills represented in Scavenger skull images, or in some places depictions of your drones. While you doubt it is wise, many seem to consume some moderate amount of alcohol, much of it offered to your warriors, although the chemical offers none of the inebriating qualities, you appreciate the gesture at least.

When the train arrives, the humans unload the armored vehicles with surprising coordination, quickly assembling tanks and armored transports into formation as your titans begin to march into the city where your flies have already found many of the scavenger forces remaining, most of them holed up in burned out buildings, craters, or having assembled makeshift roadblocks with discarded and torched civilian vehicles. A small number of scavenger vehicles remain, most of them damaged and unable to move or maneuver, having been deployed into turrets instead.

You examine the various routes of attack on the commonwealth map of the city, and examine the city as it is now, tattered and wartorne, with your flies, observing where the Scavengers have assembled their positions and where humans are likely to have their shelters.

>Have your titans charge into the city and ignore most of the infantry
>Have your titans attempt to root out as many enemy units as possible
>Deploy your stealth drones ahead of your titans to soften the enemy lines and sow chaos
>Other (write in)
>>
>>3075878
Damn, the Commonwealth is fielding an army of hobos. Maybe we could arm them somehow, our weapons require hive upkeep but Theseus could build some human compatible. That'd probably be a hard sell though.

>>3075874
Dunno, give the Commonwealth another reason to let them go back to the fleet?
Use them to scout out the shipyards for intel on hostages/weaknesses/enemy plans?
Use them to make sure the Scavs don't self destruct their shuttle once it's clear they're fucked? I really want that ftl.
>>
>>3075878
Geeze what a supply opportunity.
>>
>>3075878
It's amazing just how poorly equipped the Commonwealth is.
>>
>>3075904
>Other
Deploy stealth drones and titans at the same time. Have the stealth drones take advantage of the distraction the titans cause to infiltrate further and sow confusion.
>>
>>3075908
“Hey Commonwealth grunts, want some hive armor? It’s free and doesn’t require any training!”
>>
>>3075904
>Have your titans charge into the city and ignore most of the infantry
Let the humans and smaller troops do the cleanup. Like planned.
>>
>>3075916
Only regular feeding and watering

>>3075907
If it didn't seem like this was the only ftl capable ship they have here I'd want to send them in other ships instead, acting like they escaped
>>
>>3075909
You can blame the leadership for being wasteful with their money.
>>3075907
Silicate tech we're researching will fix that.
>>3075904
>Deploy your stealth drones ahead of your titans to soften the enemy lines and sow chaos
>Adopt as many as we can
>>
>>3075904
>>3075914
Backing this
>Deploy stealth drones and titans at the same time. Have the stealth drones take advantage of the distraction the titans cause to infiltrate further and sow confusion.

When all this is over lets give the hobo army a million gallons of premium hive suger vodka.
>>
>>3075904
>Have your titans attempt to root out as many enemy units as possible
This was the plan, right?
>>
>>3075931
Nah the human plan was to let the Titans destroy hard points only and let humans clear infantry.
>>
>>3075904
>Deploy your stealth drones ahead of your titans to soften the enemy lines and sow chaos
>>
>>3075929
I'll support giving the troops booze after the siege.
>>
>>3075904
Supporting >>3075914
Send in our Titans to hit the larger nests while our stealth drones do most of the rooting out of isolated pockets.
>>
>>3075904
>Deploy your stealth drones ahead of your titans to soften the enemy lines and sow chaos
>Have your titans attempt to root out as many enemy units as possible
>>
>>3075904
>Deploy your stealth drones ahead of your titans to soften the enemy lines and sow chaos
>>
>>3075904
>>Have your titans charge into the city and ignore most of the infantry
>>
>>3075904
>Have your titans charge into the city and ignore most of the infantry
>Deploy some of your stealth drones ahead of your titans to soften the enemy lines and sow chaos

Just softening, we need most of stealth drones to help commandos and attack from behind, when the main battle begins
>>
>>3075904
>Have your steal units attack behind enemy lines as your Titans attack

Please roll 2d100, best of 3 for your surprise attack and your titans, respectively.
>>
Rolled 83, 25 = 108 (2d100)

>>3075949
I guess
>>
>>3075949
FOR MOTHER
>>
Rolled 23, 53 = 76 (2d100)

>>3075949
FOR MOTHER
>>
Rolled 21, 72 = 93 (2d100)

>>3075949
lol ok
>>
Rolled 15, 19 = 34 (2d100)

>>3075949
>>
83, 72
pretty good
>>
>>3075949
Your flies watch from a distance as the scavengers quickly run to the small gun truck in the street, quickly carrying additional cover as they cover the disabled vehicle and several grunts quickly man the two gun turrets along its back. Steam columns rise in the distance, their sources obscured by the buildings, but quickly approaching. Within the remains of an abandoned hotel lobby, more scavengers suddenly cry out in pain, the scent of their fear palpable in the air. Others look, and find a smear of neon blood marking the spot where a grunt had been a moment prior. The others begin to slowly back from the spot, their heads pivoting quickly from side to side as they attempt to find any threat hidden in the lobby with them.

Your drones shuffle through the crawl space above, quickly sliding through tunnels of wires and steel mech beneath the decorative paneling of the lobby's ceiling. The grunts scan the ceiling as cracks send small crumbs of plaster and waves of dust falling down as the ceiling creaks from the weight of your drones. Several take useless potshots, blasting shallow holes in the plaster as they back up to the doors of the building.

In the corner of the lobby, a pile of debris slowly shifts in color, its rough edges rounding as your drone slowly uncoils itself in the periphery of a nearby grunt. It pounces, plunging its blades into the scavenger's chest as it leaps from the body and dives for the next. A sudden panic washes over them, uncoordinated, as the others open fire. Your ghost beetle diving from side to side as a blur of vague movement, its blades forming into glowing shields as it charges forward, sending the grunts falling back into a new line of drones as more pounce from the ceiling, the plaster exploding open with a wave of mental force.

The scavs in the street quickly pivot the gun turret to the building, opening fire as your drones whip across the lobby from grunt to grunt in a flash of movement and airborne blood. The turret kicks up plaster and marble, building a cloud of dust as your drones wrap them around themselves in a flowing vortex of rushing wind, and as it dissipates, the drones are gone, leaving only a fresh hole in the lobby to the building's utilities bellow as your ghost beetles burrow through the churned up and battle-loosened ground just beneath the street. Cracks and small mounds form as they move, flowing slowly, steadily towards the turret as the scavs open fire in a growing panic, the surrounding grunts diving onto the roof of the vehicle and stumbling for cover.

There is a sudden, rumbling shake as shards of glass jingle on the ground and fall from the upper levels, and a distant roar of escaping superheated gas like a jet engine flowing through a steam whistle. The street is suddenly still, your drones gone as they begin to fall back to their hiding spots in the buildings above.

cont.
>>
Those poor grunts...
>>
>>3075996
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTO3Up-Jol4

The grunts quickly look around, several nervously testing the ground with their clawed feet before fanning out again with their weapons at the ready. You watch as a grunt begins madly calling to his brothers as he scratches at a thermal display on the controls of the vehicle, some manner of short range sensor, and the grunts hold their weapons up, pointing them down the street as the billowing steam grows closer as the ground shakes again. Down the street the collapsed tower of a ruined building lays along the street like a cut tree log as the billowing steam crests over the shattered walls, billowing suddenly in a great exhale of heated air as the tower rumbles with the sound of snapping metal and crumbling concrete. Glass shattered as chunks of the tower slough off in layers as movement can be seen through the growing cracks. The grunts hold their weapons, the gun turrets taking aim at the building as it ruptures into a ball of ash and soot as plasma arcs across the sides along the street, falling in chunks of molten debris as the building's remains immolate into a standing wall of fire.

Your titan leans through the inferno, its face emerging as its mouth trails burning plasma and lines of soot and fire arc across its carapace, its mandibles arcing with electrical buildup from its frontal cannon, and its neck inflates with air, the ventilation tubes billowing with steam as they glow with heat, fanning the fires on either side as its leg swings forward and plants into the street with a reverberating thump that sends cracks spreading out in spiderwebs from its clawed feet, the talons sinking deep into the pavement.

The scavengers open fire, peppering the titan's heavy armor, leaving singed splotches of glowing metallic chitin along its hide as it hoists its arm level with the gun truck. The grunts dive away as the arm mounted blaster cannon fires and a bolt of massive photons erupt from the weapon and detonate within the truck. Small rotary stingers along its body quickly pivot, winding up their spin as they open fire at the fleeing grunts. The titan takes another step, its clawed foot ripping up chunks of the street before planting into the burning truck, shearing off a chunk from its side as the metal separates in a loud scraping noise. It rears its head, and as it lets out a roar of dissipating heat, a swarm of wasps take flight from its honey pot along its back.

cont.
>>
>>3076029
Which titan variant is this beast?
>>
>>3076046
The one that gets a personnel shield
>>
>>3076048
You mean the shit we don't have yet?
>>
>>3076049
Yes, so once we get it we will have the best titan variant.
>>
>>3075904
I'm honestly anticipating some of the humans (probably the anarchy-worlders) trying to smuggle a drone home on the basis of "We painted him, named him, and killed things with him, so he's ours now."
>>
>>3076059
The question is, should we let them?
>>
>>3076063
more information about the Human Hierarchy is always good
>>
>>3076063
Eh sure. It'll just pupate and grow an explosive self destruct.
>>
>>3075904
Warrior drones with tribal warpaint. Awesome.
>>
>>3076063
Absolutely. Drones are the best pets and we have trillions of them.
>>
>>3076059
>In some places, your warriors stand about over cooking pits as troops roast locally hunted animals, occasionally tossing one to your drone. Others have been painted over by nearby human troops, and several warriors now sport a layer of warpaint matching several tribes of primitive warrior clans found on a number of anarchy worlds, while others have a number of war cries painted in several languages across their arms, or the emblems of various Commonwealth divisions and companies.

>In some places troops with artistic prowess use small, compact pocket sized tattooing pens to etch various images on their fellow soldiers depicting or symbolizing the battles prior, names of fallen troops, tallies of kills represented in Scavenger skull images, or in some places depictions of your drones. While you doubt it is wise, many seem to consume some moderate amount of alcohol, much of it offered to your warriors, although the chemical offers none of the inebriating qualities, you appreciate the gesture at least.

After reading this i wouldn't be surprised. Thry are already paintung our drones and putting cool phrases and squad tatoos on then.

God dam i love me some co-operation!
>>
>>3076029
The grunts sprint away, diving onto all fours down the street as your rotary stingers tear at the pavement at their feet. A functioning gun truck quickly turns the corner, its treaded wheels spitting debris as it turns the corner and then spins around again, the grunts around it trying to dive on as it turns. Several manage to claw their way onto the vehicle as the last stumbles before vanishing beneath your titan's foot as it continues its march. The truck speeds off, the grunts glancing at the corner from where it arrived as another titan breaths a stream of flaming liquid plasma into a building as immolated scavengers dive from the upper stories. The gunners pivot around, turning to your titan behind them as they open fire, their blaster bolts pecking at your titan's heavy armor as it leans forward into a run, its tail whipping out and swiping through a building as it pops its hips into a forward stance and throws its weight forward. The ventilation tubes along its back flair almost like booster rockets as its mandibles open, arcing with energy as a building plasma charge grows within its maw.

The grunts hanging to the accelerating truck bang onto the chassis with frantic panic as the driver swerves between debris only to watch in horror as the upended busses and crashed gunships are kicked away in the titan's stride. Its heavy thumpers open fire with the sound of cannons as a pair of chitinous micro-rockets detonate on either side of the truck in a wave of expanding plasma.

Your titan begins to gain ground as the truck swerves around another corner, sending your titan shoulder first into a building as it plows through the facade of a bank. The truck nearly upends itself before settling on its wheels again and speeding off towards a small blockade of other grunts. they quickly sprint to their turrets and other trucks embedded into fortified layers of debris as blaster bolts fill the street. Your drone snaps its mandibles suddenly, spitting out the growing bolt of charged plasma as it arcs through the air on tendrils of flashing lighting. The truck spins out, sliding through the window of a shopfront as the plasma bolt ruptures, incinerating the intersection entirely as the scavenger fortification is reduced to a glowing crater of glass and charred bodies. The titan's ventilation tubes roar with heat, filling the air with steam as it charges through the dissipating fireball, its tail wiping out the second story of the building where the scavenger grunts huddle in terror as the drone passes, listening as its thumping footsteps become fainter and fainter, until the sound of the others can be heard over it.

cont.
>>
>>3076078
The grunts quickly check themselves for injuries as the driver attempts to restart the vehicle, and another, a likely candidate for a pack alpha in other circumstances, begins ordering the others as he leads a small team upstairs to examine the situation. As they reach the second floor, no more than a gaping open hole from the tail's passing, they see the rest of the city as plumes of fire and mushroom clouds of rising plasma fire fill the skyline beyond as dozens of titans of different designs march through the outer neighborhoods of the city.

You watch as the grunts descend into bickering as they sense a mutual level of panic among them, unable to determine a nature leader, until one of them stops as he seems to see your fly in the corner. He bats at the others as the grunts points it out, and your fly takes flight, flying away with a buzz as several ghost beetles emerge from the shadows, their tails coiling as their mandibles chitter softly as they tense their limbs to strike.

Several blaster bolts illuminate the building in a series of flashes, and the building grows still once more as your drones return to the shadows, sifting through burning ash and glass on the hunt for more survivors.

cont.
>>
Man, can anyone else FEEL all the Union and Commonwealth biologists breaking down into fits at Hive "biology"?
>>
>>3076098
I can hear the military going:

>"Uh so they have big monsters i guess that is pretty cool but surely they can't have mutiples of those"

>Then the report of this battle comes to their laps.

>"So we all agree to never piss off the bugs right?"
>>
>>3076095
>>3076098
>>3076104

Good lord the Hive is terrifying as fuck.

Also, linking the new amazing Titan art from twitter. Imagine dozens of these fighting descending on the city.

https://www.deviantart.com/krtr/art/nothing-to-worry-about-774326557?ga_submit_new=10%3A1543320806

I was going to try and upload it directly, but the file size, just like the titans themselves, was too large...
>>
Also all the humans hiding under the bunkers must be wondering what the hell is going on with all the heavy thumping and the giant monster noises echoeing on the night.
>>
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>>3076104

and just think, the first generation of Titans were just mobile excavators / harvesters / refineries.

Elite Soviet Warminer Indeed.
>>
>>3076108
I kind of want the first bunker to open up and be immediately greeted by a speaker

>Greetings, cowering humans!
>>BANG
>Ah, a gift! Your rapid-delivery mineral snack is greatly appreciated, human!
>>
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>>3076029
>Your titan leans through the inferno, its face emerging as its mouth trails burning plasma
>>
>>3076121
Truly terrying

>>3076123
>But we can't make merry now. We will gather later once this invader are out of your world!

>Giant Collossi emerges from the ground right that instant.

>This colossi will guide you safely to human forces we must evacuate all humans from the warzone.
>>
>>3076144
kek
>>
>>3076095
Cunningham marches along side a tank with his troops as the armored column slowly rolls through the smoldering remains of a scavenger camp. Your drones sniff at the air, following the scent of pain and dread as a warrior drags a wounded grunt from the debris as it thrashes about in its grip before the warrior begins to swing its head, shaking the grunt in its mandibles until its thrashing stops. The warrior turns and trots over to the armored column as it drops the body to the ground to confirm the kill. Cunningham pulls out his sidearm and places a bolt in the grunt's chest to be sure and tosses the warrior a chunk of salted meat from his field ration.

"So as I said," Cunningham continues, "Then he says to the doctor 'that's not my ear canal either!'" Several of the troops laugh inaudible, their helmets blocking the sound, but their shoulder movement giving it away. You don't quite get it. The notion of trans-species medical incompetence is rather serious in your estimation. Still, your drone chitters comically to be polite all the same. "You know I was expecting a lot more to get through than this to be honest." He says as a grunt attempts to limp away from the approaching tank. He shoots it as the scavenger stumbles over a burning chunk of of a destroyed vehicle as several wasps dive in and carry the body away in chunks. "At this rate we should be at the spaceport by dusk." Several troops quickly move through a nearby deli, clearing the building room by room as there is a momentary burst of gunfire. The soldiers emerge from the building soon after as one of them tosses several bloodied bone chimes to a squad mate who stuffs it into a sac along the side of the tank.

"Yes. The battle progresses better than expectations." You say. "It is likely a greater percentages of pack alphas fled than is typical of the species." Above, two soldiers drag out a headless scavenger grunt as it thrashes about and falls over a railing from the second floor. The tank's front gunner peppers it with several anti-infantry rounds as the body goes limp before sliding under the tank's treds.

"And our amphibious insertion should be underway by now. You'll keep me posted on their movements, won't you?" Cunningham says.

"The hive shall assist in their efforts as agreed. Human civilians must be evacuated before the battle may conclude."

>Have your drones deploy by air insertion and regroup with the special forces
>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city
>Use your flies to maintain watch over the special forces and help find the civilians, but do not deploy other drones
>Other
>>
>Cunningham pulls out his sidearm and places a bolt in the grunt's chest to be sure and tosses the warrior a chunk of salted meat from his field ration.

Daaaw!!
>>
>>3076157
>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city

Air drop seems to be counter intuitive even if the forces will be occupied with the titans So the Stealth beettles seam to be the best option
>>
>>3076157
>Have your drones deploy by air insertion and regroup with the special forces
>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city
I'd rather try to reclaim the spaceport in "not glass" condition and sabotaging their attempts to reinforce it should help. The whole spaceport should be completely blanketed by a nausea field.
>>
>>3076157
>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city

Stealth drones are really fucking strong.
>>
>>3076157
>>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city
>>
>>3076157
>>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city
>>
>>3076157
>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city
>>
>How's your invasion go, the Scavs?
>Pretty good it doesn't seem!
>Next time you sell sofas to Hive
>>
>>3076157
>Have your stealth drones infiltrate the spaceport through the city

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to regroup with the commonwealth commandos.
>>
>>3076157
>>Use your flies to maintain watch over the special forces and help find the civilians, but do not deploy other drones

Allow me to be a dissenting voice here. I don't think we need to give our current allies more intelligence than they already have, even if it comes at the cost of greater loss of life.
>>
To bad that even if we rescue the civilians and evacuate then we won't be able to use our bio weapons on the scavs.
>>
Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>3076175
Keep those titans steam rollin'!
>>
>>3076157
Hey QD do we know what the scav consensus is on if the commonwealth is a worthy foe? What about the hive?
>>
Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>3076175
For mother?
>>
Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>3076175
For Mother.
>>
Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>3076175
For Jolly Cooperation!
>>
Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>3076175
WE SNEAK FOR MOTHER
>>
Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>3076175

For Mother!!!
>>
>>3076182
Nice save
>>
>>3076182
For mother indeed anon.
>>
>>3076178
Cunniham and his persinnel guard already saw the ghost bettles in a glance they aren't that much secret. If anything showing what we can do with then will just make the commonwealth more scared shitless of our drones.
>>
>>3076175
>regroup with the commonwealth commandos.
>>3076182
>95
Gawd damn we’re sneaky.
>>
>>3076190
We've scared the Commonwealth shitless so many times it's amazing they have any crap left to give.
>>
>>3076192
We just sneaked through a heavily defended city filled with enemy troops right deep into their most secured location while doing a a front push.

Man Ghost bettles are OP.
>>
>>3076195
No one seems scared though, Cunningham is lounging on a tank tossing us snacks and his hobo army was drawing dicks on our dudes. They seem pretty pleased by our overwhelming strength honestly.
>>
>>3076197
The Hive is pretty OP generally, although that's to be expected of a species that was a galactic superpower for millions of years.
>>
>>3076172
can someone photoshop the queen's head onto Final Pam? I didn't know I needed this
>>
>>3076200
I mean considering they would be dying in droves if we weren't supporting then and also do to our choices so far that were mainly focused in supporting the troops both in defense and advance it shows that yes we are scary to have as a enemy but we are great as allies.

I lile to think the shitless moment are when Cuniham thinks, as all generals usualy do. What would happend if the Hive turned to the humans and in that moment he gets scared but then sink it down being thankfull with our speaker interection and our overall behaviour in rescuing and worrying about human lives.
>>
>>3076203
As was mentioned in a previous thread, part of the reason we're helping the humans is so that they gain a sizable polity of "Please do whatever the bugs want, we don't want to be melted bones-first" people.
>>
>>3076029
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m-rsgHEDLk
>>
>>3076181
I really want to know what the Scavs think of the Hive at this point too. I'm guessing not many of their invasions hit a brick wall half-way through like the current fight.
>>
>>3076215
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORSvf8eVa0g
>>
>>3076210
So how long you think it will take the general before the general ask for a hive embassy on Tiberium?
>>
>>3076218
Well this would be the first they've met a "god"
>>
>>3076218
One word: Predator
>>
>>3076182
For mother indeed.
>>
Fucking hell, for real though. This quest is so damn lucky with the rolls it gets. I'm just thinking of DAtS quest and how often they struggle to even get above rolls of 70, yet this quest consistently pulls 80's and 90's all the time.
>>
>>3076228
Well we aren't called the War Horsemen by the Talgo priest for nothing.
>>
>>3076230
We actually are though.
>>
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>>3076175
Scav vehicles rush along the road above the shore of the local river, clearly in a rush as scavs sprint in every direction, rushing to various positions and carrying away wounded. The spaceport churns with activity, the sound of marching and vehicle engines continuing as the sun slowly lowers in the sky. In silence, shapes emerge from the river, moving with the shallow waves as several squads of human troops move to the retaining wall along the shoreline. They flash several hand signs to one another as one of them holds a small device that pulses with light. Across the road, along a drainage canal, a similar set of flashes, blinking in a code. The squads split up, quickly moving in different directions as they rush along the shore with their weapons at the ready. Their armor is thin looking, coated in thermal padding and a water resistant coating, their image muting on the thermal spectrum to a collection of grey shadows moving in the brush.

One of the squads moves to a patch of tall grass, the thick river stalks sway in the wind with a light rustling that conceals their footsteps. The leader holds up a hand and the team stops, weapons at the ready, and he gives a small sensor on his weapon a quick thump with his finger as he examines the outcropping of rock. As he does so, one of the thick river stalks begin to bend and warp, coming down to rest along the ground as the rock it springs from uncoils and shifts in color as your ghost beetle stretches is haunches as it uncirls from its hiding spot and sits itself down before the squad expectantly, its tail wagging lazily from side to side.

>Use your psionics to communicate
>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate
>Other
>>
>>3076231
I mean our high rolls were mostly involving warfare. So him calling us that isn't that far fetched seen as we exceed most of the times when we are at war.

Sure some time we get into a trap and had that one time the scavs crippled our fleet when they tried to sack Builder's hive. But those are much small instences compared with how high we roll in warfare.
>>
>>3076236
>>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate
>>
>>3076236
>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate
Morse code or semaphore are good things to try.
>>
>>3076236
>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate

Hive spec ops meet Human spec ops.
>>
>>3076236
Time to use some Ceph tricks. Use the TV skin
>>
>>3076239
i believe our drones can create images and colours with their memetic skin
>>
>>3076236
>>3076236
>>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate
Come on now, as if we would waste the psionic reveal on a couple of random commandos.

Besides, what was the point of adaptive camouflage if not to be abused for this kind of stuff.
>>
>>3076236
>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate
With a backup of
>Other
If things go loud (if we fuck up), the ghost beetles are all equipped with radio augmentations in the pastebin. They can communicate using that. Obviously sending radio signals would be too risky here.
>>
>>3076236
>Use psionics to communicate
Our speakers have already demonstrated psionica and they’ve got the distinctive crest of the medium relays, the humans should be able to put 2 and 2 together based just on that.
>>
>its tail wagging lazily from side to side.

Our children are too cute.
>>
>>3076246
You forget the part were psionics make the human brains melt and have then have nose bleeds?
>>
>>3076249
It's actually random every time it's used.
>>
>>3076236
>Use your psionics to communicate
>>3076249
And it mostly harmless in short term operations.
>>
>>3076251
Still there is a chance that might happen so let's hold on using psionics for now. It also help us to keep our main way of communication secret.
>>
>>3076253
You may have a good point but. i will stick with the memetic skin though. It accomplish the way of communication it's silent and we can have the beetles following the commandos as a group.
>>
>>3076255
>>3076254
>keep the thing that isn't secret a secret
Hmmm.
>>
>>3076255
This.
There is no need to use our psionics right now.
>>
>>3076236
>>Use your psionics to communicate

I’m probably too late to the party, but guys, even the Union megacorps know we can “speak” with our mind. This isn’t a huge reveal.
>>
>>3076236
>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate

>Two words. First word: begins with... A. It's a person? No, animal.
>>
>>3076236
>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate
>>
>>3076258
It gives a massive bonus unless you don't like big bonuses.
You know one of these days I want to deploy hybrid soldiers in one of these battles.
>>3076259
I don't get it either.
>>
>>3076236
>>Use your drone's adaptive camouflage to communicate
>>
>>3076236
Your ghost beetle bows its head as its head crest shifts in color, shifting into a matte black as splotches of white form into a rudimentary depiction of the spaceport's layout. The commando kneels down and examines the crest tapping his finger at the circled location as he works out the information as the image shifts into a series of rather typical Commonwealth combat codes, similar in form to the flashing light signals used just prior. The image fades as the ghost beetle looks back up to the commandos blank helmet as he nods in silence, turning to his squad as he flashes several hand signs.

The squad quickly moves up to the retaining wall where the stalks sproute next to, looking over the top to the spaceport's cargo facilities where fields of military crates like split open and stripped of valuables. Through the yard and its maze of cargo pods is a series of hangars and warehouses, the large cargo doors flung open and the lights left on. The squad leader points to it with a quick gesture as he adjusts his helmet to thermal imaging to see what your ghost beetle already can, a sizable thermal signature within. Several scav grunts mill about outside, their armor a strange patchwork of human equipment hanging from strings or attached to pendants along their bodies, various personal effects, photograph lockets, coins, or broken data pads strung together into charms and necklaces.

Your drone's tail sways excitedly as it rears up and the commando places a calm hand on its head and quickly makes several hand gestures along the yard, pointing out the different patrols and signaling his squad for an approach as two squadmates quickly reassemble their weapons into a sniper configuration. He signals out two targets, while pointing your drone to a third standing atop a cargo container looking over the yard. As the two commandos take aim, the leader removes his hand from the crest of your drone's head, and it lunges into the air, carried silently by its telekinesis as it almost floats through the air.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to assist the commandos.
>>
Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>3076270
Roll big baby, for MOTHER
>>
>>3076271
That was the opposite of big, fuck.
>>
Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>3076270
shit goin sideways
>>
Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>3076270
>>
Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>3076275
Well then!!

>>3076270
>>
>>3076275
>>3076278
And there's those high 90s rolls I was talking about earlier.
Saved my garbage attempt.
>>
>>3076275
>>3076278
how does this keep happening
>>
>>3076275
Jesus the dice hate the scavs
>>
>>3076275
>>3076278
GOD DAM THIS CO-OPERATION!!! So good!!
>>
>>3076275
>>3076278
I literally can't even. Holy shit what did the Scavs ever do to the dice gods to piss them off this much.
>>
>>3076275
Mother loves cooperation it seems.
>>
>>3076287
Ghost beetles honouring their names.
>>
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Every time
>>
>>3076287
...I remember reading some old /tg/ story about a magic hobo with a slightly worn couch. I bet they were trying to sell it.

Cant for the life of me remember the name of the guy.
>>
>>3076305
Accurate.
>>
>>3076305
Oh god my sides. This shouldn't be that funny.
>>
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>>3076305
kek
>>
>>3076305
one of these days we’re finally going to roll a 1 against the scavs...
>>
>>3076270
Your drone rushes forth, weaving through the maze of cargo containers as a sudden rush of air accompanies a pair of subsonic rounds, each popping inside the torso of one of the scav grunts with a small packet of plasma as their bodies puff up for a short instant before collapsing to the ground. The third looks over to the warehouse with sudden confusion, and in the same instant is plucked off its feet as your drone impacts it, ramming its mandibles through the scavenger's back with a wet thud and a quick snap of metal.

The commando squad quickly rush forward, moving from cover to cover as your drone drags the body into a cargo container, taking several quick bites from the body before moving on after the squad. They reach the door to the warehouse and quickly file in, swinging their weapons across the interior as the last two drag the bodies of the guards inside. Your drone follows after them, rushing in as its mind reaches out for any more hostile thoughts within the building.

The squad quickly move to a series of control devices of alien design, various thermal displays show various readouts and trace out images of mechanical devices as several scavengers, slightly smaller than alphas, operate the controls to some terminal and manipulate human machines of various functions in all manner of states of disassembly. Their arms are rather unique in that they lack a full weapon replacement, instead with a smaller set of weapons, more similar to a sidearm, mounted along the side of each arm, along with more devices implanted within the limbs. They all have a blackened, lacquered armor, unusually smooth in appearance, and their backs are barren of spines of any type. Some of them have backpacks of various devices and tools, others have simple armor plating, others still have neither, revealing old and healed over scar tissue where the spines have been removed surgically, rather than simply plucked for use in mating. One of them standing at a table facing the door hoists up its arms, the weapons sliding forward to avoid harming its hands as its body is riddles with a series of subsonic rounds. The others quickly fall in the same manner.

The squad quickly fans out as the leader moves up to the table, checking the barren scavengers for any signs of life as he looks over the table. There are a number of weapons in different degrees of assembly, and several sets of PDF armor as well as various radio communications sets and several implants coated in dried blood that have been pried open or cut into. A set of microscopes with tiny armatures held underneath work over the small cybernetics with delicate instruments, while on the table next to it is a vice holding a powered sword that has been clearly set upon with some manner of hammer.

cont.
>>
>>3076325
That actually happened to us once. We lost half a light fleet in an engagement with them outside of wonder when they sent a fleet to see what happened to the explorers they dispatched there.

It is worth noting that immediately after this said fleet was blown to pieces by a wave of self destructing space pods. Mother always wins.
>>
>>3076327
oh neat we found a lab. Hope we can get one of these guys alive.
>>
>>3076327
Oh found the scav workshop.
>>
>>3076333
Agreed. Scav researchers could be extremely interesting and provide a bonus to reverse engineering their tech.
>>
>>3076333
Too bad we aren't using psionics to communicate otherwise we'd have a chance.
>>
>>3076327
Are these the same kind of eunuchs that were the attendants to the Scav Matron we captured?
>>
>>3076339
With a 97 we have a pretty good chance of taking at least one alive. The special forces are only a single ghost beetle, so we probably have dozens still hidden.
>>
>>3076343
or working with other commando teams

>>3076341
I think you're right. Did we capture any of them when we got the broodmother?
>>
>>3076341
I think they're a different type from the attendants/bodyguards we encountered earlier. Unless there is a Scav Matron in close vicinity, these seem like they have a different purpose even if both are eunuchs.
>>
>>3076343
>>3076345
The commando team is going to kill all of them.
>>
>>3076347
Well I assumed there was a Matron here since one always leads the invasion of a planet according to our new daughter
>>
>>3076327
Your drone paces the small room, far smaller than the full warehouse, although it seems to run the width of the building, it ends about fifteen meters into the building's length with a brick wall with several doors. The first is a typical metal door inset with a circular window, while the other, on the other side of the room, is a large, airtight metal door of an industrial meat locker. The handle is coated in what looks like dried blood, as well as a faint trail of blood leading from the door to several of the tables where the human cybernetics have been disassembled.

Your ghost beetle reaches out with its mind to find any other threats in the area, and you can sense more minds on the other side of the wall. Your drone points with its head like a well trained hunting hound and the commandos quickly shift their weapons to face the doors.

>Check the meat locker first
>Clear the warehouse through the office door
>Other
>>
>>3076339
Because it's really hard to communicate "Leave one alive"?
>>
>>3076352
>>Clear the warehouse through the office door
>>
>>3075827
>"However you communicate, the rattlebacks don't seem to have cracked it yet." He says, then muttering quickly, "neither have we, but..."

We think, and it happens
>>
>>3076348
Why don't we wait the full update before making assumptions?
>>
>>3076352
>Other
Inform the team that we want to keep one of the black chimeless ones alive for interrogation if we encounter more.
>>
>>3076352
>Clear the warehouse through the office door

I have the feelling we will be going into a full body horror if we go into the meat locker first...Like human parts hanging and other body parts spread inside...
>>
>>3076354
With our chosen method of communication? Yes. We can't afford to play charades in the middle of a fight and we'll need more than one to get the skillset.
>>
>>3076363
It isn't. We can literally project writing on the carapace.
>>
>Non-lethal: This cellophane slug is too large to be fired from anything but a Thorn Launcher. Upon hitting the target the slug bursts open, ensnaring the target in a half-liquid membrane that quickly hardens into a cocoon, rendering the target immobile.
It's been a long time but this is still a thing.
>>
>>3076352

Supporting >>3076359 There is probably a commonwealth code for capture (rather than kill) one and we can display it on our carapace.

Then:
>>Clear the warehouse through the office door
(this is assuming we didn't detect any scav minds behind the meat locker)
>>
>>3076363
And you are showing you don't know how we can show pictures/images using our memetic skin.
>>
>>3076368
We could do this if we have the weapon with us, although it may be easier to incapacitate with psionics like we did on the Matriarch.
>>
>>3076352
Support >>3076359
>>
>>3076371
>>3076365
Oh I know about that it's just a shit way of telling them anything and having them read shit off a carapace is a risk to their lives here.
>>
>>3076352
>Clear the warehouse through the office door

>Capture one of the scavengers alive for interrogation
>Continue to assist the commandos as is
>Other
>>
>>3076376
>Other
Capture as many as we safely can. One likely won't give us enough info.
>>
>>3076376
>Capture one of the scavengers alive for interrogation
We gotta. Do our Ghost Beetles have paralytic venom or just skin-melting venom?
>>
>>3076376
>>Capture one of the scavengers alive for interrogation
>>
>>3076376
>>Capture one of the scavengers alive for interrogation
We need dat genetic and memory diversity.
>>
>>3076376
>Continue to assist the commandos as is

We are here to extract the humans and help the commandos not going after second goodies.
>>
>>3076376
>Capture one of the scavengers alive for interrogation
>>
>>3076379
Neither. We removed their ability to poison I think.
>>
>>3076376
>Capture one of the scavengers alive for interrogation

We have all kinds of chemical injectors on the ghost beetle. It should be relatively easy to stun one with psionics and then sedate it and stuff it in a corner for later recovery.
>>
>>3076376
>Capture one of the scavengers alive for interrogation

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 for non-lethal takedown and interrogation.
>>
Well i hope i was wrong and we don't fuck up for wanting genetic goodies.
>>
Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>3076389
Doing a thing for Mother
>>
Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>3076389
HWG.
FOR MOTHER!
>>
Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>3076389
For the Void
>>
Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>3076389
>>
>>3076396
This is adequate.
>>
>>3076395
Mother says you're a bad thinker.
>>
>>3076395
Fuck you too buddy.
>>3076397
Didn't get in.
>>
>>3076397
This is also late

>>3076395
Fuck you
>>
>>3076396
>>3076397
Oh wait, completely glossed over that 22 above you.

>>3076392
It's alright.
>>
Well a 70 isn't bad. But let's see if it was enough.
>>
>>3076395
>tfw I didn't think I'd make it in and that roll stopped the high roll
Feel Bads Mom
>>
>>3076403
For you.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U6zQ6ZqEqg0
>>
>>3076395
Fuck off Emmerich
>>
My guts were telling me that i shouldn't roll. Now i feel bad for not listening to it.
>>
Rolled 74 (1d100)

Rolling what could've been.
>it's a 1
>>
Rolled 44 (1d100)

Testing for mother
>>
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>>3076389
The commandos follow your drone as it moves to the door, batting at the air with its claws to signal the others. The squad forms up on the door as one of the commandos picks through a belt of grenades and another tosses a small, cylindrical device on the floor. A set of wheels deploy from the ends and it quickly spins about and rolls under the crack of the door into the other room as the commando examines something in his helmet, his face fully obscured, but his mind focused intently. He signals the others as they adjust their weapons, and the other pulls two grenades from his belt, holding both in his hand, an electrical stun grenade, and a granular smoke grenade capable of obscuring and dissipating thermal sensors and radar in equal measure.

The squad leader nods his head as each member keeps their hand on the shoulder of the squadmate ahead of them, and he taps his hand on the shoulder of the next man up, and they move as one into the room, tossing the grenades as they pop with an electrical crackle and they quickly rush in. Your drone rushing up ahead of them as the grenades go off. The smoke hampers your drone's vision, but it zeroes in on its target with the sound of its heartbeat, reaching out with its mind and paralysing it with a sudden mental block as it lunges and pounces on the scavenger as a quick series of well coordinated subsonic rounds pop at each of the other scavengers, dropping them quickly and cleanly.

The new room is much larger, consisting of most of the warehouse, but still not all of it. To the side is another metal refrigerated door leading into the locker, but from here you can see the roof of the locker where a loft holds a row of human machinery. Air compressors and refrigeration units mostly. Some have been disassembled partially, as if whoever studied them only bothered to examine them until they realized they held no strategic value, and never even bothered to reassemble them. The remaining units seem to be running stressed to make up for the lost effort. On the other side of the building is a freight door left mostly closed, with only a small crack left open to the logistic centers outside, and down the length of the building are stacks of crates with a built-in crane set along the ceiling on a long track running the full length of the building up to the refrigerated portion. Most of the warehouse is set lower, with the far wall of the meat locker flush with the support wall of a balcony overlooking the bulk of the warehouses actual cargo storage. On the balcony section, your drone places its claw on the chest of the paralyzed scavenger, your mind puncturing its own like a hot needle burning into its flesh. Unlike the brood mother, who offered some pretense of resistance, this one collapses as readily as any other single-minded when faced with your own will, although its mind is organized in an unusual pattern. It is far more, particular, its thoughts arranged at organized into a labyrinth of memories.
>>
>>3076424
The scavenger convulses on the floor, its claws opening and closing blindly as its mind thrashes in your grip like a frightened bird flapping its wings in a cage. Your drone leans in, resting the crest of its head against the scavenger's helmet as its muscles lock up and its mind cracks open like a nut.

You have access, but the mind itself is a convoluted place, like a maze of bookshelves arranged in a foreign language. Your mind traces through the maze, careful not to damage the mind too much, but you do not have access to a more solid form of mental reading, and the Scavenger's safety is not your priority, so long as you find information you can use, a damaged psyche is not an issue.

The question is what information do you seek?

>Write in
>>
>>3076424
Capture successful. Let’s quickly prick its brain, sedate if, and send another ghost beetle team for retrieval
>>
>>3076427
Tech, skillsets, cultural info, you know just download everything.
>>
>>3076427
>Find information on scav reverse engineering methods and technology.

>location of targets of opportunity in the base (the matriarch, databases, valuable tech)
>>
>>3076427
>Location of the matron
>Methods of information storage and ways to access them.
>Any technology they have recently developed
In that order
>>
>>3076427
Scavenger technology, FTL and others. outside of that maybe Research methodology? we are good at copying tech and then making our own version but the scavs seem even better at reverse engineering things, maybe it would provide us with a way to improve our own endeavors.
>>
>>3076424
Ask if they have any FTL ship besides the cruiser

I still want to cram a scav ship full of creep and chimera as a trojan horse
>>
>>3076433
That's sounds like a poorly thought out idea compared to proper infiltration.
>>
>>3076434
because it is
>>
>>3076434
>>3076435
Well duh, we'd hold them in reserve until we want to attack the Worldship.

Go full Flood invading High Charity
>>
>>3076427
The more information you attempt to gather, the more damage you will undoubtedly do to the Scavenger mind, and thus, the more information will be destroyed or distorted, and thus the more difficult each subsequent piece of information will be to obtain.

Think of it like a 5e Sleep spell, one roll applies but with increasing DC requirements

>Location of the Matron
>Scavenger FTL Technology
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units
>Recently developed tech
>High value targets and layout of their base
>all (specify priority)
>Other
>>
>>3076441
Can we extract the damn thing?
>>
>>3076441
>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units

After this we sedate, implant, and send a retrieval team to pick up later
>>
>>3076441
>>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units
>>
>>3076443
Unlikely, or at least it would be very difficult to do without alerting the rest of the base.
>>
>>3076441
>Location of the Matron
>Scavenger FTL Technology
>High value targets and layout of their base
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units
>Recently developed tech

In that order.
>>
>>3076441
But that's not how sleep works at all... It's just a pool of HP in total that it can affect
>>
>>3076441
>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units

Gah I want to slp FTL on there too but mission comes first and these are the "needs".
>>
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for posterity sake
>>
>>3076441
>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units
>Recently developed tech
>>
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>>3076452
>>
>>3076452
Nice

Always fun having a drawfag in the quest. Thanks Smiles
>>
>>3076441
>>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units
>>
>>3076441
>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units
>High value targets and layout of their base
>Recently developed tech

>Add FTL tech
>Approve as is
>Arrange priority
>Other
>>
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>>3076452
Holy hamburgers my sides, it's perfect.
>>
>>3076457
>>Approve as is
>>
>>3076457
We just really need the first 2 so
>other

>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units

If we can get the other info (especially about FTL) great, but I’m not holding my breath. There is a good chance this guy doesn’t know the FTL at all.
>>
>>3076457
>approve as is
>>
>>3076452
thats some big hard dice
>>
>>3076457
>Approve as is
>>
>>3076457
>Location of the Matron
>Locations and methods of accessing local data storage units
>High value targets and layout of their base
>Recently developed tech

Please roll 1d100, best of 3
>>
>>3076457
>>Approve as is
>>
Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>3076464
Mind crush for Mother
>>
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>>3076454
>>3076455
>>3076458
>>3076462
If you look closely, You will notice that the Queen does not play fair
>>
Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>3076464
Scav mind rape ahoy!
>>
Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3076464
Here's hoping.
>>
>>3076468
Passable... probably
>>
>>3076470
We get the matron location, and parts of data access, but not the other two, I predict.
>>
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>>3076467
>>
>>3076467
You cheeky bugger you. You would make Mother proud.

>>3076471
So long as they haven't reverse engineered quantum telephones or some kind of super tech on site we should be fine.

I just jinxed us, didn't I?
>>
>>3076475
I mean, even if they had, would this one scav know?
>>
>>3076464
You feel the mind of the scavenger scream out in pain as the labyrinth of archives and records begins to erode, bursting into flames as your mind traces through it like lightning immolating a wire as it arcs through, the scavenger's body shaking as its nervous system erupts into a fury of activity.

You pull apart its mind, prying open memories and scattering them throughout your view as you hunt for the information you seek, tracing back in time through the scavenger's past.

The scavenger walks through the yard, examining the most recent shipment of salvage, feeling the piles with its claws to find the most promising samples. Once again there is mostly junk, as always. These prey species are decadent, their tools invariably devoted to some useless pleasure or luxury. It is so rare to find a piece of useful equipment among their corpses or their useless, wasteful spires, but there is the occasional treasure. Most of these items have been cataloged already, and it marks them for salvage. A few items, however, are unknown, and they are marked for further study. These items will be presented, the rest will simply be cataloged and reported on, the Matron should not be annoyed with such trivial number crunching in times of war, that is what her attendants are for.Stripped of name, honor, property, and fertility, the attendants of a Matron is nevertheless a critical position, and it takes some measure of pride in being a part of the Matron's shadow. Her glory is its own.

The attendant walks with the crates as the carts are quickly pulled by several failed grunts, their malformed bodies only suitable for menial labor, along with several of the local slaves. The attendant makes a mental note to continue the efforts in configuring the local automated machine-slaves. This luxury has made the natives fat and lazy, and thus make for slow and fragile laborers, but their eyes are wrong, and as a result their machine displays are uniform in image, it has made the reconfiguration run more slowly than it would like.

cont.
>>
>>3076479
So he saw the Commonwealth (and all prey species) as decadent, fat, and lazy. Interesting.
I hope this guy gets to recall what he thought as the Hive arrived and closed in on his position.
>>
>>3076479
Are these memories of Argo or an earlier conquest?
>>
>>3076482
Every Scavenger view the prey races as worthless degenerates. They literally measure your worth by how good you are at war.
>>
>>3076479
As the attendant thinks these things, it continues to walk along the port to the loading ramp of the Rending Claw. The inner doors open as more attendants look down from their security posts, prodding at the labor slaves as they drag the carts down the hall. Despite the high price of volume within a starship, the Rending Claw's entryway was massive, making up a frighteningly sizeable portion of the interior's total volume and running a decent portion of the way through the hull to the ship's center of mass, the command bridge. It was still sealed, the interior atmosphere carefully maintained to suit the Matron's tastes, but the outer doors open to reveal the observation panel. The inside glows with heat, but the movements of the Matron are unmistakable. The native slaves seem to cower at the sight, their eyes witnessing something its own cannot, apparently penetrating the fog of heat to witness the Matron's true glory. The realization stabs at the attendant like a barb as he strikes at one of them making the most insufferable of noises. Its language algorithm is still incomplete, but the creature seems to be bragging of its status... no, it is begging. Begging with a title it thinks is impressive. The attendant makes a mental note to determine what this title is later, and see if the authority or knowledge it gives would be of service to the Matron, but for now, it simply kneels, pressing the data manifest to the console by the door so that the Matron may examine it more fully.

"Do you bring news of my broods?" She demands. The attendant is confused for a moment.

"No Matron, I bring an update to your inventory."

"My claim of salvage is useless if it cannot be brought to the world ship. I have lost many broods these past solar cycles. I have received no word except pain and fear from them. The Drinker of Pain has been captured and her gun positions taken back. This feast holds more than once species, and this new one is a worthy foe, and you think I care of your petty trifles from these fat cowards of this... city." The word is strange, with no word meant to refer to a civilian center within their lexicon, the word used is more accurate to mean 'fortress of cowards' and she spits the word with contempt. "What is more, their warriors finally approach us. This should be a time of adaptation, where the weak are cut from the strong and the strong return with reports and trophies to adapt the rest of us to their ways, and yet none return! Your duties are to decipher their strategy and sharpen the teeth of the brood, now go!" The doors seal again, leaving the attendant in a haze of anguish at the verbal lashing. He grips the human that was begging just prior from the floor, hoisting it by its collar as the human begins squealing like a newborn pup mewling for its first meal. If the Matron wishes information, she will have it. He quickly leaves the ship, dragging the human in its grip as it returns to the spaceport.

cont.
>>
>>3076489
You continue to pry open the attendant's mind. It returns to a lab of sorts, another warehouse like the one it is in now, where massive cables run from the Matron's ship to terminals and machines set up across the warehouse interior. The chamber is the main archive, a central registry to maintain a careful record of all salvage recovered in the harvest, all pack alphas of note, and all grunts who show potential as recruits to the attendants, in addition to an inventory of weapons, munitions, equipment, and rations. All things shall enter the registry to record their existence, and their fate so that the attendants may more efficiently exercise the Matron's will for the planet and its harvest. The human who claims a title it thinks is worthy of being heard of by the Matron is no exception, and it is quickly dragged to the appropriate station for further decryption of their language of crude meat-flapping. Fortunately, their own medical devices seem surprisingly automated, and the biological interfacing used for their metal shells provided quite the boon towards efforts to extract more information from them directly. The attendant quickly processes the human into the database, recording its strange title as it said it, the lesser lord of some local holding, and runs a battery of typical medical scans before activating the neural probes.

Cont.
>>
>>3076489
>This should be a time of adaptation, where the weak are cut from the strong and the strong return with reports and trophies to adapt the rest of us to their ways, and yet none return!

Yup, our "no survivors" policy is scaring the scavs shitless.
>>
>>3076496
If the matron's ship is the same ship that the commonwealth commandos rigged, we're gonna have to personally storm it, if only to grab this Matron and anything else she might know..
>>
An important thought to keep in mind is that the Scavengers live on ships meaning they have no room for kindness or frivolous luxuries.
>>
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>>3076029
>Your titan leans through the inferno, its face emerging as its mouth trails burning plasma and lines of soot and fire arc across its carapace,

another quickie because its been in my head since work
>>
>>3076489
City = Fortress of Cowards

Im starting to love the scavs a bit, but this does show that they can learn new concepts which is good.

This also makes me wonder if the species whos worlds fell are extinct or if they exist as slaves on the world ships

>>3076495
>neural probes.
Ouch
>>
>>3076495
>neural probes
Ah well. good we showed up when we did.
>>3076499
At least we know where she is?
>>
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>>3076509
butifel
>>
>>3076495
You pull at its mind more, the thread unravelling at a greater pace. It lacks the organ or the control of its body to do so, but you sense its attempt to scream as its mind flays at the edges. What is left of its consciousness realizes your goals and your intentions, and it struggles against you as its mind lashes out in useless rage as you pull the knowledge from its mind.

The Attendant stands atop a platform overlooking the cityscape. Fresh fires punctuate the skyline with pillars of smoke, and the air rings with the sounds of wounded. Several other attendants stand nearby as one of them taps several keys on its wrist which sends its artificial voice into the others' heads through their implants.

"These places are key defensive positions." It says silently. The other two nod in approval.

"The natives say there are weapons lining the outer perimeter of the city. We suffered some losses from them, and many are damaged, but they will be of use."

"Yes. The lesser alphas should take them. Their skills will be wasted with the crutch of the surrounding defences, and will will need to call upon the stronger among them to retake them if they fall."

"The landscape has many natural fallback points. Here, here, and here."

"But the natives live in these locations here. Will lack the means to house them in the slave pens of the Rending Claw, but we can use their own dwellings as camps."

"They show a strange affinity for their weak. Build pens across our position and they may hesitate to use artillery." The three all nod in agreement as they point out locations to one another, marking where humans will need to be held for best effect as they watch the lines of whimpering slaves bellow being marched into inventory processing as ragged slave grunts assemble turrets and gun batteries along the perimeter of the spaceport, occasionally flinching as the attendants' chastisement as a press of a button sends an inadequate worker collapsing in pain.

"When the salvage has been gathered I will present it to the Matron." The attendant says. "She is disgruntled and could use pleasant news."

cont.
>>
>>3076509
>>
>>3076521
>trying to use environmental advantages against the Hive
>>
>>3076521
Goddamit, they are learning warcrimes of all things.
>>
>>3076532
I think at this point in their evolution warcrimes practically counts as racial knowledge.
>>
>>3076532
>>3076539
War crimes is a made up concept that exists only to be used to oppress the losers of a war.
>>
>>3076541
Don't cut yourself on all that edge
>>
Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>3076539
Rolling for knowledge (warcrimes)
>>
>>3076542
I'm not being edgy. It's literally what a "war crime" is. Before the World Wars it was generally accepted that fucked up shit would happen when in a war and the losers would usually be at the mercy of the winner, then someone had the bright idea to use the fucked up shit to guilt and extort the conquered nation even though the conquerors were often responsible equally bad "war crimes."
>>
Man i wonder what the commandos are thinking seing our beetle touch his head crest against the scav and seen it convulsing soon after.
>>
>>3076549
Wrong. A code of conduct in war dates at least as far back as the old testament. You're just being edgy and contrarian.
>>
>>3076549
It was because weapon systems and tactics had outstripped the ability for soft targets to resist them. So indiscriminate methods and intentional harm of grey targets were agreed upon as a bad thing.
>>3076553
Rules of war are I think what SIVY was thinking of but they are muuuuch older then the world wars, usually to force added penalties on lesser asymmetrical opponents but also to force the Greater power to prove its training and discipline(at least until said rules of war become counter to a viable military model).
>>
>>3076553
Actually strictly speaking he’s correct in this instance. Our current definition for the phrase ‘war crime’ is based on the concept of laws of war which the western world ratified as a direct consequence of the horrific acts of industrialized warfare.
>>
>>3076521
You keep pulling at the thoughts, like stray threads in a woven cloth, the scavenger's mind is quickly unravelling, an unpleasant experience you have no doubt, but likely nothing it has not inflicted in its service to the nearby Matron. You see a lab, similar to the one the scavenger lies on the floor of now, possibly the very same, or possibly another, the memory is foggy and tattered.

Humans sit at the bottom of empty chambers, large rectangular holes in the ground normally used for vehicle maintenance, the pits are too tall for them to climb, and wide enough to house numerous humans at once. A fortuitous design so convenient, it was first believed it was their intended function.

The attendant examines the files of the humans as recorded in the archives, their biological scans, and the interrogation files of those who were determined to have some level of skill. A number have been isolated for additional research. Their scans show strange objects within them, some manner of functional implants. These devices are quite common, but several have more numerous examples of the technology. They seem to correlate to status, but are not an indicator of it.

The attendant isolates the locations of the implants. Several in the head-brain, a few more in the chest cavity, as well as both eyes. Several bones are different compositions than the others as well, indicating some level of artificial nature. The attendant clicks a button and the console lists the human's location and tag with a retrieval order that sends a pair of slave grunts rushing out into the floor of the warehouse to find it. There is more predictable screaming as the other natives within the cell make their fear noises as the slave grunts drag the human up from the pit. The attendant watches them work as it looks over its tools and prepares for surgery.

The scavenger bucks, its muscles spamming as several bones fracture from the stress. The memory fades further, the results of the research lost in a sea of murky thoughts and agony.

The thoughts are gone, and the scavenger collapses to the ground, still at last as your ghost beetle stands back up over the newly lifeless body. You look around the warehouse again, finding it to be far more familiar than before, and as you look out to the stacks of crates and cargo, you can see grates along the floor where squared up holes in the floor have been covered up with tarps for the night. You look back to the commando squad. They have fanned out, sifting through the various surgical equipment and research gear scattered about the area, their eyes unable to read the displays showing archives of human medical data, while several other commandos have entered the meat locker to the side of the building, where several bodies lie open, with most of the biological organs ignored over the seemingly more interesting cybernetics.

cont.
>>
>>3076559
But in the context of his argument he's simply wrong. Of course the modern definition of war crime can only be relatively new just like we didn't have regulations defining drone strikes or "human in the loop" requirements before they became relevant.
>>
>>3076560
Well now we know were the humans are. Also as i figured the scavs were putting the opend humans in the meat locker to research the cybernetics.
>>
>>3076560
Your drone rushes up to the squad leader, who has been observing your drone with silent interest, and holds up its head crest as a new map is quickly shown with the estimated locations of more civilians. He nods with understanding and your drone turns and points to the warehouse beyond, quickly ruining and leaping over the railing as it glides itself down to the metal grates along the floor. The squad leader signals for the others and they begin to rappel down from the railing as your drone pulls away one of the tarps to reveal a huddled mass of filthy, shivering humans at the bottom of the pit. Several flinch from the sudden light, and they scatter, more like animals than most humans you have encountered, fleeing to the corners of the pit as attempt to hide themselves from your drone as it wags its tail and chitters to the commandos.

And sadly I think that will have to be all for tonight. I'll stick around for a bit to answer questions, comments, ect.
>>
>>3076564
GREETINGS HUMANS CIVILLIANS!! Do not worry the Hive comes to rescue you all!!!
>>
>>3076564
I wonder if one of the human soldiers ends up trying to scratch a warrior between chitin plates like a dog.
>>
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>>3076564
Thanks for running QD, I still love this even though i can't join as much because of work.
>>
>>3076564
So are the commandos impressed with our ghost beetles?

Do the humans have a favkrite drone variant already? We know the general loves our titans.

Which squad miggles with our drones better?
>>
>>3076564
Thanks for running QD! I noticed too that our new Titan variants made full use of their exotic weapons in the scenes that included them, thanks for including that. It gives me a certain appreciation for just how much more destructive our hive has become in warfare compared to other hives. It's a nice feeling.
>>
>>3076570
They certainly are. It seems many different castes of humans are interacting with your drones in many different ways. Proximity to a speaker seems to decrease the amount of interaction with non-speaker drones, however.
>>
>>3076577
Speakers are scary i see. I mean they are basicaly showing to be both our diplomats and somewhat the hive generals
>>
>>3076577
Well who could blame them. When you see psychic bugs, sneaky bugs and big ol bugs seem less impressive.

Aww hell, what am I saying, all our kids are beautiful.
>>
>>3076577
Have they seen the Flies and do they assume they're our scouts or are they just that sneaky?
>>
We should let the soldiers take photos with our drones, although I would bet they're already doing so. Maybe offer Cunningham a titan Rose.
>>
>>3076582
You have not overtly mentioned or implied it, and kept your flies away from Commonwealth troops. Some of the scavs seem to suspect something, but only because they seem to always show up just as things go belly up for them.
>>
>>3076593
What are the scavs opinion on the hive? I guess they have no idea about it since we constantly keep killing all the scavs and not letting none of then survive
>>
>>3076593
Also when the matron mentioned the brood mother being captured you highlighted it the same way you did when the scav matron referenced to the human city.

What does capture means for the scavs?
>>
>>3076601
Probably just denotes derogatory connotations. A human city is weak in Scav view, thus the italic city.
>eew, you got -captured-, keep away from me
>>
>>3076605
I kind of feel like getting the parasited Drinker of Pain to get on the war effort and start killing notable broodmothers in epic one on one duels, just to demonstrate how the limitations of the Scav's extreme mentality of survival of the fittest.
>>
>>3076593
Can we tell how big was the Matron in the Scavengers memories? Any specific armament or distinct characteristics?
>>
>>3076606
Better yet, we get a Taidaren and just upgrade it up to the gills with deadly weaponry, and make it 1v1 broodmothers and win.
>>
>>3076601
Capture is what the scavs do to their prey. A matron being captured would be like a hunter getting hunted down and eaten by a rabbit.
>>
>>3076610
I can't picture a tidaren warrior for some reason.
>>
>>3076615
Precisely why it would be so humiliating for the Scavs, no?
>>
>>3076615
Taidaren are for crew served weapons. Mortars and such.
>>
>>3076579
That's not remotely what that implies at all, that's stupid.

Humans interact more with the drone that is specialized for human interaction when available, leaving less interaction for the mute drones.
>>
>>3076564
>>3076443
We could have just used an ovipositor on it, or in fact used stun grenades on all of them and stuck a parasite egg into all of them, and then just drag them into a meat locker to keep them isolated and alive until the hatching, couldn't we?

It would be slower but it would have given more complete data on technology for research. Could've been someone who knows antimatter reactors among them.
>>
>>3076657
Didn't we plan to make the defense perimeter around the spave port so we could give our parasite time to hatch?
>>
>>3076657
The tradeoff is between time and completeness.
We're deep behind enemy lines on a rescue op so time is pretty critical, better to just suck the info out of his head. He was just some goon assigned to reverse engineer human bullshit so the full picture probably wouldn't have netted us much interesting anyway, at least when compared to immediate knowledge of the matron and prisoner locations.
>>
>>3076664
At least we know were the matron is and we also know they have some kind of central archive were they storage all the knowledge they have collected through out their campaings.

This ship is REALLY valuable if we manage to get it and stop the scavs from blowing it up.
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>>3076666
I agree super satan
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>>3076666
Nice quads.
I agree: we might try using our parasites to stop things getting blown up before we have what we want.
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>>3076664
So use advanced psionic reading on one of them, and parasite others.

>He was just some goon assigned to reverse engineer human bullshit

Attendants are the furthest thing from goons. They're enemy Thinkers. You think a Thinker merely assigned to a simple dissection research is less worthy than the others?

Its current assignment in no way is an obvious indicator of how knowledgeable it was of other things, what its past assignments and experiences were. We didn't delve to any point more than a day or two in the past before its heart-brain melted.

And there were a number of its peers available, any of which could have had different knowledge and past assignments from the others.
>>
>>3076666
Quads confirm we gotta steal that ship, the Matron, and the archive.
>>
The heat regulation adaptation works really goddamn well throughout this whole thread, I think we should make a warrior variant with the adaptation for use against scavenger forces. We could also poop out a whole load of heat regulating lightly armoured skinsuits for the commonwealth hobo army.

>>3076686
>parasite others.
We're assisting the commonwealth black ops, behind enemy lines and aren't in charge of this particular mission so it makes sense for us to carry out our secondary objectives in the most non obtrusive way possible, restraining/extracting this goon until the parasite kicks in is more trouble than it's worth especially considering we haven't broken stealth in this particular encounter.

>Its current assignment in no way is an obvious indicator of how knowledgeable it was of other things
I suppose that it could possibly be some veteran researcher with loads of tech but I think it's more likely that it has been promoted to researcher status recently in anticipation for this invasion. Remember that the matrons on this planet are competing to prove themselves worthy enough for the fleet to take them in, it would make more sense for them to have less experienced thinkers.

Don't worry anon, she'll have a few attendants close to her, you'll have another chance to parasite an enemy thinker when we take the matron.
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>>3076701
>>3076686
Guys if you want research that isn't important. All research and tech is saved on the central archive inside the ship. It even has the important Alpha's and the amount of food ammo they have aboard.

But if we want to grab those we can always use the grunts we parasite to infect the thinker scavs.
>>
We need to find a way to flood the ship with psionic spores.
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>>3076717
Still want to attempt setting up a miniaturized capillary tower inside their mothership. Use it to rapidly spread spores and hive creep throughout the whole thing.
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>>3076833
Miniature Capillary Towers aren't a thing.
>>
Speaking of word ship, how do we proceed of capturing one?
Using scav ship as a trojan horse would be easy way, either senting our swarm in it, or persuading Matron under our control to start civil war once at word ship, to show that she is truly the strongest of the brood.
Just wondering how to explain the oblivious brain washing to the commowealth
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>>3076945
False, we can make them a thing.
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>>3076961
We already have a route and we've already sent infiltrators in stealth ships to. Pay attention.
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>>3076961
Considering that what we saw from the scavs a capable grunt can be changed unto a alpha and alpha into a broodmother. Matrons are just much more old broodmother who has countless broods under her control. Seeing as we already got a brood mother and a alpha we can easily mutate a grunt into a alpha and a broodmother.

Just tell the commonwealth that one of the slave grunts managed to mutate intoa alpha and it wants payback for being treated as a slae by the higher ranking scavs
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>>3076987
Our alpha was originally a grunt and shifted into the alpha through isolation. If we keep them separate from our broodmother they'll probably turn into one eventually
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>>3076961
Imagine if we gave our broodmother the best of Hive armor and weaponry backed up by Chimera Grunts and Alphas after making her a Hybrid.
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>>3076961
They reproduce stupidly fast like it takes weeks to go from birth to becoming a full fledged Alpha. They are the most Hive-like aliens we've met so far in terms of biology and society (remove the tendencies toward genocide and devour they'd fit perfectly into our hive) so we have a lot of leeway in terms of bullshit we can say.
>>
Now that I think of it can't we that Hive-loving gene the flash clone human had on the Scavengers? We could start producing Scavengers that aren't Hive lifeforms that are still completely loyal to us. Hell lets see if we can spread that gene somehow since it could be pretty useful.\
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>>3077014
Seiners trip into the future where he manifested on the Hive Enterprise showed that at least some scavs are Hive citizens since there was an Alpha in the crew
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>>3077014
Scavs are basically a very aggressive hive but worse in almost all ways. Not judging the morality of their actions, they are simply inferior to the Hive in most aspects and Humanity in a few others.

-Need to use airborne particles to communicate. Strictly worse than psionics.
-Do things the hard way when they overharvest a world. Strictly worse than hive creep.
-No mastery of genetics or biology at all. Absolute reliance on technology to keep their huge matrons alive.
-Extensively brutal and invasive cybernetics at odds with biology instead of in harmony.
-No FTL communication. Even Humans are better.
-Take a week to mature instead of days.
-Still rely on queen matron centralized command.
-Brain probes are invasive that can be inaccurate and damage the host.
-Reliance on one spectrum of EM radiation (IR), cannot or do not augment this capability. Can't even see their matron, only see an IR heat blob.

Their only advantage is that they have multiple matrons, and have a clear biological progression to become a matron. In that sense they are one species, and the loss of a matron will not irreversibly destroy a brood, because a grunt can become a matron. This is a useful backup strategy that we should consider, because a lot of the First Hives conflicts could have been avoided with clearer succession rules, or if a Hive could produce a replacement Queen after the mother Queen is killed.

If we end up making our own Scav broods or Scav alphas, they have a lot of glaring biological issues that need to be addressed before it makes sense to even talk about social conditioning.
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>>3077031
There was no scavs onboard.
>>3077071
I agree completely.
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>>3077071
They actually have many advantages you are overlooking.
Nonpsionic communication means they are very useful for antivoid operations.
Nonpsionic communication allow for a clustered hivemind meaning better coordination in a void operation.
They are highly specialized for fighting lesser races while our drones are specialized for efficiency rather than effectiveness (that doesn't mean drones aren't damn good at what they do just that that lesser races have specific areas that they excel in that even purpose made drones have difficulty matching them on equal footing).

Honestly they have a niche and most of the problems you mentioned are easily fixed technological problems that Scavengers we control wouldn't suffer from.
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>>3077101
A human armada of the same size would be more effective than the Scavengers while retaining the same non-psionic communication benefits, even if the human armada were to lack rapid reproduction and faster reverse-engineering, both of which are not inherent to the race but limits of technology.
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>>3077112
Well technically you are wrong about the humans being superior. The cluster hivemind they have is only a step down from a full blown hivemind and humans are inferior to both. Hell we've seen that inferiority in this thread when the humans clearly hesitated to shoot when we tell them to, Scavengers don't have problems like following orders to shoot when you tell them to which is the difference between life and death in a combat scenario. So yes they are superior to humans in larger numbers.
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>>3077123
And I mean "larger numbers" as in both sides have large populations of roughly the same size rather than Scavengers having a large population than the humans.
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>>3077123
Yeah, I don't think so. The hesitation in the humans is because a complete stranger told them what to do because they are capable of distinguishing orders that come from trusted allies and not trusted allies.

The scavengers can be misled by artificial pheromones and lose their "advantage" as you call it if they operate in void suits.
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>>3077136
>Use Hivetech to make void suits for scavs
>Integrate a Hivetech sniff-o-comm module to retain coordination benefits

It's like the lesser races are competing with one of the Triplex Gods or something.
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>>3077172
At that point it would work for humans in exactly the same way. The former three "gods" have their own benefits, but we should remember that they were never complacent and still traded for biological adaptations.

There's good things to take from Scavenger biology, but "emotions based on pheromones" is not one of them. I'd even wager that the Taidaren way of achieving group synchronization this is better, since the Taidaren way is based off neither psionics or scent.

The Pup->Grunt->Alpha->Broodmother progression is potentially useful.
The rapid growth/maturation might be useful in helping tune our existing rapid growth/maturation.
Their rapid reverse-engineering and prototyping might be useful to study to see if their methods are at all unique.
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>>3077223
i still want to "ascend" the slave grunts. Mistly because for so many years under the abuse of the other scavs they would be likely less violent and because their genetic that make then no better then be used to slave labour can be easily fixed by the hive bio tech
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>>3077101
>Nonpsionic communication means they are very useful for antivoid operations.
Not unique to scavs
>Nonpsionic communication allow for a clustered hivemind meaning better coordination in a void operation.
Not an intrinsic to non-psionic communication and Theseus is a distributed hivemind with perfect coordination.
>They are highly specialized for fighting lesser races while our drones are specialized for efficiency rather than effectiveness
An assumption not based on fact. If true a simple question of drone design rather than inherent superiority. Even if it was it true would be trivial to assimilate through study of tactics and strategy.

>>3077232
That's not how abuse works.
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>>3076615
Behold their titan and tremble at it's majesty
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>>3077664
Shine on, you crazy diamond!

But seriously, the Taidaren are already small-time scavengers, right? What if they are allowed to reverse-engineer Scav tech? Would we have our own Scav-like species?
I mean, one can see similarities between their societies. Matriarch-oriented, scavengers, and no qualms about prosthetics.
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>>3077766
If the Scavs could ever calm down and work with other species the Taidaren would compliment them a lot.
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>>3077223
Yes, their main advantage is their fast maturation. This possibly implies fast genetic adaption. If we look for making a breeding programme with sentients (maybe to breed for psionic/void resistance), we might use this race. We might also create different breeds, focusing on artistic/ technical aptitude.
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>>3077664
Magnificence itself
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>>3077223
>Adapting the Scav metamorphic lifecycle into our drones

I am now imagining a worker quickly gestating a couple of steps into "Broodmother" status.
I am now imagining millions upon millions of those, as a response to the OQ invading our planet.
It is a scary thought.
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>>3078079
We already have metamorphosis abilities for our drones, where they pupate and emerge as the new form. It's just more expensive than making them that way from the start.

Or were you talking about our drones being individually fertile? That would be a HUGE change.
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>>3078089
Decentralizing reproduction does not make sense under typical conditions. It currently only makes sense during parasite infiltration scenarios (we have that covered with ovipostors) and in the few cases where a part of the swarm gets separated. We might switch the default behaviours of our thinkers for these cases to aim for an egg layer to produce a relay in these cases. This should be achievable with a very specific set of permanent orders given to every thinker. In rare cases, laying further drones may be necessary to reliably reestablish contact to the queen (e.g. for ressource acquisition).

We might also include rules for what is to do if we die. These will require restrictive rules and might even include breeding a new queen.
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>>3078124
This is why we need to unlock memory seeding technology. Won’t have to worry about death if we create a memory backup and instructions to create a clone of ourself to one of our egglayers.
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>>3076306
I think that was one of Storytiem's characters, a weed hobo wizard who carried the couch with him everywhere, dragged it up to the top of a mountain to become the pope or something.
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>>3078144
A queen dying would destroy the drones' will to live I think and producing a queen is such an intensive process that I'm not certain cloning would possible. Also most of the scenarios involving the death of the Red Queen would require the destruction of the planet she's on thus rendering the memory seed useless.
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>>3078144
>>3078219
Except that QD had already said that if the queen ever dies it will be end game.

And the memory seed is just for hive agents and drones.
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>>3078144
I very much doubt this will be possible (sry, metagaming argument). This would allow multiple instances of the Red Queen focussing on different tasks. This advanced type of memory manipulation would also allow for overwriting existing, bad (strongly Void influenced) memories. Multiple queens would vote on which memories to keep and which not to keep. The result would be a nigh-unkillable Gestalt consciousness. I think no technologies of this scale will be allowed; this would be a game changer.
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>>3077136
>>3077223
>pheromone aren't that good
There are only three races in the galaxy that are capable of exploiting the weakness the pheromones give them and thats the Three. I'd even say that Cluster would likely even use the pheromones in place of psionics. Also there are no effective replacements for pheromones beside psionics since radio waves can't transmit emotions like that.
>>3077494
I know it's not readily obvious but QD doesn't let us just take whatever adaptions we want. Some adaptions are too specialized too be integrated into the Hive or our biology outright prohibits it.
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>>3078267
Pheromones are as bad as it gets. The only way they can win a fight is by rushing the enemy with their large number before they can develop methods against them. Their advantages are somewhere else entirely: their fast growth and adaption.
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>>3078279
But it seriously isn't. Pheromone while a downgrade from psionics is really difficult to counteract due to the fact that it takes So much time and effort that it is on a basic level not viable unless you are one of the Three. It took us getting an Alpha and a Matron and using our superior biological understanding to develop counter measures. Do you really think the Human could really do the same all by themselves?
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>>3078354
The void could, or rather it would just corrupt the scavs and turn them against us, and it's not like we need or want to use the scavs against the humans.

I think that if want to conqueror and absorb them into our domain we'll need to dial back their aggression and make them "fat", maybe alter their genetics to be less closed off and uncompromising? I'm leaning more towards starting our own scav colony and purging the gypsie fleet honestly.
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>>3078368
We need to change scavs culture to be more in line with rest of civilized races, for them to ever be good hive citizens.

If we do get a change to control their armada, we could make them attack OQ, weakening both sides.
As long as we support scavs on ship to ship combat, there is relatively small change of OQ gaining tech.
Or we could trigger civil war between scav Matrons.
Afterwards it will be easier to guide the survivors where we want them.
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>>3078469
>we could make them attack OQ,

And give worst aunt the chance to reverse engineer blaster and shields? Pass.
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>>3078469
We will never change their culture, not without forcing a redevelopment of it entirely, at which point you might as well wipe them out and clone a new array of their race.
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>>3076608
No, the interior chamber was too warm to make out a decent view of her own body heat through the window, which while tempered to allow better vision on the thermal spectrum, it still is more obscuring in the IR spectrum than visual light. That said, she is a full Matron, not just a brood mother, and thus is an older, more powerful individual with a history of service in the armada with a long list of accomplishments and salvage to her name.

>>3076600
So far, "worthy" is the common term, although they still seem to know very little of you other than the fact that fleets don't tend to come back from your space. It is possible that very little of your encounters so far have been reported to their central command, although you can't be entirely sure they don't have data taken from captured Commonwealth intel.

As it is now, I have work during the typical run time this Sunday, but I figure tomorrow I could run another quick crunch session to finish off this thread and sort through some more of your designs. I think we still have some ship designs to sort through, and I figure we should give the crunch anons some time to shine if that's alright with you guys.
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>>3079301
Aww yiss I don't think we even got to the ships last time.
One thing I've been thinking about is how we build and allocate resources.
An idea I had was to have resource generators(planets, miners etc) add to two pools called Nutrient storage and Metal storage that other pools tap to (ships, development, research, espionage etc) using buildings (shipyards allow transport of resources from the storage pool to the ships pool, espionage cells transport resources from the storage pool to the espionage cell and convert resources into espionage actions etc).
This would essentially allow us to just say "I want to increase the amount of resources invested in our fleets by 2 Million N and 3 Million M"
The amount of ships dedicated to a task could then be decided either by resource amount (let's attack with ships worth X) or predefined group sizes (a Group is worth X nutrients, a Fleet is worth X etc)
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>>3079384
I actually had a similar idea but in actuality such a would be more complicated to put into practice since it won't just be Nutrients and Metals but also Canderon and Credits as well, then there is the detail of trade, politics, and favors. To make this system work we have to actually define how much we have to invest to get a decent return on it that impacts the gameplay.
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>>3079433
I suppose I was being a bit over ambitious trying to roll everything into one system but it would still work for our current fleets. For instance if we were to insert 20 units of canderon into the ship pool it would allow us to use design with canderon used in the construction. I doubt credits will ever become a part of fleet construction.
>>
So I'll just throw this out there to all the folks from last thread who said we shouldn't have any ultradrone and ultrahybrid designs available for deployment

>Add Moderate Relay to Ghost Beetles, making them much more expensive
>Now they're even more badass and effective than they were before

Just saying. Better to have them available.
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>>3079510
>ship construction
You weren't limiting us to that in your post. This sort of system would also include converting Credits into useful resources or influencing foreign entities. This system could also be used to model business investments.
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>>3079559
Would it make them larger and less effective at stealth, or would the psy abilities offset it?
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>>3079604
They're saying that the moderate relay is what the Ghost Beetles were using in this thread and it didn't seem to make them any less effective but rather much more so
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>>3079602
Yes which is why I wrote the first sentence.
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>>3079640
I guess you did but we do need a new system for tracking and investing resources since our current system is a little too heavy on the bookkeeping with big numbers that will only get bigger. We currently operating on numbers in the millions and have the potential to reach the billions and god help QD if we reach the trillions somehow.
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>>3078216
Nah man, anon's thinking of Boxcar Joe the Magic Hobo, the NPC that crossed several unrelated games by surfing on his couch.
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>>3079656
I also have the feeling we should look more deeply into the mechanics of our economy. Some degree of growth automatisation would be nice.
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>>3078354
Pheromones are organic compounds. All organic compounds can be damaged with heat, aggresive chemicals and radiation (very often UV is enough). Destroying them is trivial and I think humans can work this out fast. Disturbing them might be less simple, depending on the complexity of the compound. Very complex compounds have one thing in common: their high molar weight. This mass would be bad for their transmission range. I actually believe humans can mass-synthesize something in a few weeks if they want to (even though that might be slightly less efficient than what we have).
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>>3080410
Don't forget that the only use of non-psionic communication would be against the one enemy that's technologically superior to us.
>>
I wasn't able to be in the last crunch thread and am too lazy to look it up now. Did we develop any nice Chimera builds? I feel like they are a tool that has been underutilized.
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>>3080838
I agree, they are a good way to make top-tier drones. More independence under jamming, simpler interaction with our allies' technology (having hands) and a wider range of adaptions compared to our normal drones. They are very expensive though and we will not be able to deploy them in large numbers.

>>3080419
Or we use the ways of communication that cannot be hijacked as easily and which allow interacting with our allies. The only use of pheromones I see is for the case of us getting paranoid and installing multiple, redundant communication paths.
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>>3069505
>my work free day I was looking at thinking it was a good day to run a thread was actually Thanksgiving...

We're hitting wrongness levels that shouldn't even be possible.
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>>3080838
>>3081240
Also agreed we should try to get some use of chimeras. They’re especially good around human tech and environments, but the psionic strengths and jamming resistance (when compared with normal drones) is also a big plus.
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>>3076564
>>3079384
Alright, since to thread tomorrow, I figure it would be a good idea to get some more crunch out of the way. We have most of the drone roles sorted through, although we still have a bit of your atmospheric air force to deal with, and maybe some finalization of some Titan variants, but mostly at the moment we just have your fleet roles and organization to sort through. I figure that can be the focus tonight, as well as addressing any pressing issues or recommended alterations anyone may have.

So apart from any other issues, we just have the air force, and your fleets.

>>3081260
I know, right?
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>>3081596
>>3081240
>>3080838
It's been stated by QD that Hybrids are more independent and not as affected by the jammer as Chimera are. Chimera should be reserved for spec ops where we have a connection to them. Hybrid should be utilized in a general war scenario.
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>>3081648
Hey QD, I remember looking for our capillary towers in the pastebin but couldn't find any information on them.
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>>3081648
Hey QD, did we ever make an equivalent to a drop pod? We tend to deploy most of our forces via ship drop off right now right?
>>
Hey, does anyone remember how much it costs to construct a single space city? Because Builder's Gift is a nice advertisement for the Hive but it doesn't do much to bring much of a return in raw resources we invested in building it. We should start thinking about making a second one closer to home that is more industrial in nature.
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>>3081663
We can only build 4 Capillary Towers on a planet on the equator if that's what you are looking for.
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>>3081679
Pretty sure we have them. We were using them this very thread to drop drones into the Scav occupied city
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>>3076701
>restraining/extracting
I mean, we only have to do the former, and all you have to do is eat its arms and legs and cauterize the wounds with healing salve.

But heck. We saved Seiner's brain. So even barring the future, still alive attendants, we can just stash the corpses of these Scavs into the conveniently nearby meat lockers to keep the bodies fresh until the operation goes loud and finishes up, then they can be preserved and analyzed in a medical pod.
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>>3081685
>how much space city cost
QD has never mentioned.
>We should start thinking about making a second one closer to home that is more industrial in nature.
Home isn't necessarily the best location.
>>3081679
We have it, we just don't add it to ship designs.
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>>3081695
>>3081698
Ah righto.

Just wondering if we could improve on them at all, since they could be made to mutate into a hard defence point to provide support and local fly production after landing.
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>>3081704
I think DAtS has those kind of pods, they fold out into gunner nests to give cover while the undead rush out
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>>3081704
What we really need is a capital ship designed to operate in low orbit. Gravity thrusters means that we're the only ones that can do that and all those auxiliary weapon mounts are great for killing infantry and vehicles.
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>>3081722
Hive Airships anyone?
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>>3081722
So kind of like a hive version of a star destroyer?
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>>3081698
But home is the best defended position and one of the most heavily developed systems in our space.
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>>3081722
If you want auxiliary weapons you want corvettes.
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>>3081648
So just jumping right in, I think we should finish off sorting through your air craft roles first.

[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.

>>3081661
They can still work under jamming, they just don't like it and can't communicate within it. Their still partially their base species, so they do still have some capacity to communicate using other means. A set of chimera made from a taidaren triplet set for instance would still be able to communicate using the subtle non-verbal brother-shorthand that typical triplets use. Other species would also be able to communicate in their own ways, although they can't really speak coherently, they are able to convey the tactical data that chimera would care about to other chimera in roughly the same way a wolf can communicate tactical data to the rest of the pack.

Psionic jamming will inconvenience them, but it won't render them useless or ineffective by any means. As it is, jamming will effect drones the worst, as they become disabled, drones with thinkers next, as they begin functioning on their programmed orders, then quantum thinkers, who are able to adapt to a wider range of events to accomplish their programmed orders, then chimera, who are able to act on animistic pack instinct to accomplish their tasks and are able to individually adapt to the situation on their own or as a group, and then finally hybrids, who do not naturally have psionics in the first place, and simply continue to function as normal but under radio silence, or... psionic radio silence.

>>3081663
Like the tech, or the locations/status of the ones you've built?

Really at some point I think I need to just consolidate a lot of this stuff together into one pastebin anyways. It feels like I could just about make a rule book out of all the stuff we have, but right now it's a disorganized mess.

Note organization is just not my strong suit. At all. Very sorry about that, but if you point out where the stuff is missing from I'll go about fixing it as soon as possible.

>>3081679
You do, although you tend to not add them very often to ship designs. I assume you will be wanting to fix some of that tonight.

>>3081685
The cost of a space city is more of a medium term penalty to resource income. It is a long term project with costs that can increase or decrease depending on the local situation surrounding construction. Suffice it to say, it is a lot (and partially random) but you can look into specific areas and have your thinkers assemble an estimated cost, and I could just roll it out and give you an estimate.
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>>3081737
I have to leave for a christmas party, but QD I want to propose a motion to get those orbiting gas giant stations converted into a gas giant colony in the leeland system.
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>>3081685
Wait until the Guardian station is finished, then we can dedicate resources to constructing the next one over Callahan or Billiard or something.

Also we could finish up Brandenburg into a space city if it's not done already. Or Gibson Station as a Macrofactory would be ideal.

And we still need to vote on how exactly to re-stat out the space city at Sentinel.
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>>3081737
We should probably just design a dedicated troop carrier we can use the pods with. Having a specialized ship for the role should be more efficient.
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>>3081737
I believe our current mook atmo fighter is the Light Interceptor Drone. The only thing I'd really change about it is the Sting Casters.
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>>3081735
Corvettes specializing in close air support with tons of aux mounts and a nice spinal weapon for 'Dear Grid Coordinates, FUCK YOU' moments?

Be still my beating heart.
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>>3081737
Proposed mook atmo-fighter.
Mook fighter
Sight: Basic 0 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: N/A 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: N/A 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: N/A 0 N 0 M
Blade: N/A 0 N 0 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Medium 0 N 0 M
Weapon: Sting Caster N 30 M
Total: 30 N 56 M
Upkeep: 15 N

I wouldn't be opposed to adding thermal vision to this.
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>>3081735
Well I do want Auxiliary Weapons, and Turrets for tearing apart defensive structure, and Fixed to help break through shields, and lots of missiles to help threats that just refuse to die, and for the ship to serve as a resupply point. Basically what I want is a ship that acts as a mobile fortress in low orbit that help support our troops on the ground.
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>>3081766
You might want enhanced sight. Its the main sense an atmos fighter will use, plus if we can see infa red and night vision it lets them fight on the dark side of a planet efficiently.
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>>3081745
The best locations for a Macrofactory is either Desmond or Kerik Ashka and Kerik Ashka is the best place to set up as our industrial center.
>>
>>3081737
[Atmo-fighter] - Dedicated atmospheric fighters dedicated to dog-fighting and establishing air superiority in combat.

Proposed mook atmo-fighter.
Mook fighter
Sight: Basic 0 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: N/A 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: N/A 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: N/A 0 N 0 M
Blade: N/A 0 N 0 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Medium 0 N 0 M
Weapon: Sting Caster N 30 M
Total: 30 N 56 M
Upkeep: 15 N

With basic sight and medium radio senses, this fighter will utilize a radar organ to detect its targets when vision is obscured, while more often utilizing the senses of other fighters within visual range of the target. It is a basic fighter with no bells or whistles, and will likely take massive losses in most encounters, using its numbers and cheap cost to swarm the skies and offer cover to more expensive airborne drones. With a Sting Caster as its only weapon, it is not capable of bringing down more armored targets or offering air support to ground units, but is still a threat against enemy fighters and is a competent dog-fighter.

>Add thermal vision
>Keep standard vision
>Other (write in)
>>
>>3081791
>I forgot to change out the sting caster after bitching about them
Change sting casters to either blasters or particle accelerators
>>
>>3081791
>>Add thermal vision
>>Add Advanced sight
It does kind of need both
>>
>>3081801
no such thing as advanced sight.
>>
>>3081801
This. Its a simple addition that will vastly improve performance and let it fight at night efficiently. Spam is all well and good but they need to be able to hit shit reliably.
>>
>>3081791
Would you say this fighter is worth the cost? As you said, it'll likely die in droves just to essentially provide a screen for other fighters and ships.

At that point does it matter if it protects one expensive ship, if ten die in its place and cost just as much if not more?
>>
>>3081800
But both have crap firing rates compared to the sting caster. Maybe for specialist variants it makes sense but as a default weapon for an aerial fighter the sting caster makes a lot of sense.
>>
>>3081811
What about the Plasma Cannon? High rate of fire and ignores armor.
>>
>>3081807
If nothing else then designs like these are good to hide the more valuble stuff. If everything is going to get mowed down anyway it makes sense to have the heavy hitters go down last to maximise damage and make the cost to the foe greatest.

Against those who these would be ineffective against we will just have to go full bore shielded space ships more likely than not.
>>
>>3081811
>It makes sense for a dedicated interceptor.
FTFY
>>
>>3081816
That could work. The recoil might be an issue but with their advanced wings and high speed these atmo-fighters should be able to handle it.
>>
>>3081821
Is this agreeable then?
Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: N/A 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: N/A 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: N/A 0 N 0 M
Blade: N/A 0 N 0 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Medium 0 N 0 M
Weapon: Plasma Cannon N 30 M
Total: 32 N 56 M
Upkeep: 16 N
>>
>>3081826
Works for me. And on the bright side thermal sight and plasma goes well together, any target that gets hit is going to show up like a literal hot spot bullseye on the hit sections.
>>
>>3081826
I like the look of it, supporting.

Although, do you think it would make sense to add combat blades to it? Our drones do seem to have a certain affinity for melee combat, not sure that would apply to aerial combat though.
>>
>>3081791
>Add thermal vision
>Keep standard sight

And for its armament:
>Sting Caster
>Blaster
>Particle accelerator
>Plasma Cannon
>Other

>>3081801
The default vision option for drones is the standard visual spectrum eyes consisting of four eyes, two ocular, two compound. The compound eyes have near 360 degree visual field but are low resolution and are only used to detect motion and light, while the ocular eyes are set facing forward, and are inset into the head making them incapable of rotation to any great degree, with a biological function and performance similar to that of a Jumping Spider. These eyes are far more effective than standard human vision, can see in most darkened environments, and can in effect function as a biological form of telescopic vision.

Thermal vision, of course, brings its own set of benefits and drawbacks.

Sight: Four eyes, two ocular that are locked forward, and two compound. Ocular eyes have excellent resolution and range, but cannot turn in their sockets; compound eyes have excellent night vision and field of view, but have low resolution and can only make out shapes and movement at a distance. (Free, all drones have this by default.)
Thermal Pits: An array of small sensory gland covered pits is positioned around the head in the form of a large, darkly colored and porous layer of chitin, giving the appearance of being eyeless. The IR sensitive chitin layer replaces the compound eyes and allows it to see in the infrared spectrum. (2N)

>>3081807
Planetary drones will be deployed at a ratio and in numbers largely dependent on their cost. The cheaper something is, the more numerous it will be, and thus the more swarm tactics it will be able to employ, and the more expensive it is, the more rare it will be in combat, and thus the more effort will be placed upon it to preserve it during combat. A fighter with an upkeep of 15N is the envy of any air force on any planet, so the skies will be filled with them, but they will more or less be TIE fighters.
>>
>>3081846
FEATURE CREEP
>>
And here's a not so mook atmo-fighter to go along with the chaff
Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: N/A 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: N/A 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: N/A 0 N 0 M
Blade: Photonic 10 N 5 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Aux: Stinger missile 20 N 50 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Carapace: Ballistic 4 N 15 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Medium 0 N 0 M
Weapon: Plasma Cannon x2 30 M
Total: 66 N 96 M
Upkeep: 33 N
>>
>>3081848
>Planetary drones will be deployed at a ratio and in numbers largely dependent on their cost. The cheaper something is, the more numerous it will be, and thus the more swarm tactics it will be able to employ, and the more expensive it is, the more rare it will be in combat, and thus the more effort will be placed upon it to preserve it during combat.
Ah, I see now.
How does this affect rolls and DC's?
>>
>>3081848
>Add thermal vision
>Plasma Cannon

>>3081846
No blades. Stick to pure air superiority fighter thats cheap to make on mass. Won't matter if we lose lots of them then. Save the fun bits for the specalists like gunships.
>>
>>3081846
I purposefully removed everything I could to cut down on its cost. I admit to its slight detriment in the case of the thermal pits.

>>3081848
>Add thermal vision
>Plasma Cannon
>>
File: folded thousand times.gif (3.9 MB, 400x225)
3.9 MB
3.9 MB GIF
>>3081846
That's up to you guys.
>>
>>3081853
Could be useful as the next escalation step in a war, but I dont think we will need it until we start battling obsidian over a hive world.
>>
>>3081859
>>3081857
Plasma cannon would be stupidly niche though.
>>
>>3081848
If that's the case QD could you describe some of the drawbacks of thermal vision? There wasn't much listed in the pastebin and I'd like to know if we're hobbling our aerial fighters with this choice.

>>Plasma Cannon
>>Sting Caster
>>Particle accelerator

If possible I'd like to mix and match these weapon types, considering we're going to be churning out thousands of these buggers.
>>
>>3081789
You can build others later, but Gibson Station is extremely cheap to turn into a space city, so it's low-hanging fruit we should target first, and that seems like the most suitable Hub for its location.

And anyway Desmond is fairly sparse in resources. It has multiple deposits but they're all low quality.
>>
>>3081871
How so? All enemies we've encountered tended to have at least some amount of armor on their air superiority fighters.
>>
>>3081848
Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: N/A 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: N/A 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: N/A 0 N 0 M
Blade: N/A 0 N 0 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Medium 0 N 0 M
Weapon: Plasma Cannon N 30 M
Total: 32 N 56 M
Upkeep: 16 N

Technically speaking, a medium drone has two weapon slots, and thus this fighter will have two Plasma Cannons. If you would like to remove one to add in a secondary weapon, you can.

>Keep twin Plasma Cannons
>Replace one with a Sting Caster
>Replace one with a Particle Beam
>Other
>>
>>3081883
>>3081879
Because a lightly armored fighter will suffer a lot of penalties. Blaster is superior for mass production units regardless of the benefits of a Plasma Cannon.
>>
>>1286022
>Unity is assisting on infiltrating Valen systems over Kerik Ashka. Their situation is not critical."
>"Where? You mean the Valen over Aral, right?" Dillon says, confused.
>"Yes. Same place." Your speaker chirps dismissively. "You may choose where to assist if you wish."

Uh, Kerik Ashka is the name(s) of the two stars in the binary system aka Tannhauser.

So what would the actual Skyl name for their homeworld's hot sister planet be?

Or their lost homeworld, even.
>>
>>3081897
>Other
Blaster
>>
>>3081897
>Keep twin Plasma Cannons
>>
>>3081897
>>Replace one with a Sting Caster
or
>Replace one with a Particle Beam

I would be content with either option.
>>
>>3081900
That's just wrong. What you want in dogfighting is either a lot of bullets in the air (Sting caster) or a small amount of extremely accurate (particle cannons or lasers) or course correcting ammunition (short range missiles).
>>
>>3081771
So, an aerial Titan?
>>
>>3081910
I'll be straight with you. Why do you want to equip the mass produced general purpose design with a weapon that explicitly said to penalize anything that isn't using heavy armor.
>>3081924
QD has Blaster described as the most versatile weapon around.
>>
>>3081897
>Other
Two blasters

Blasters are better the more of them you have. They're great for swarm fighters
>>
>>3081928
Not everything has to be compared to the Titan anon.
>>
>>3081846
Add the blades so they can swarm bombers.
>>
>>3081928
I guess? That's weird way of putting it.
>>3081935
This guy gets it.
>>
>>3081935
Swarm blaster fighters that glom onto anything too big to shoot apart.
>>
>>3081932
Because it's essentially in a fixed position. QD should correct me if I'm wrong.
>>3081935
Blasters only stack their effect if you can get multiple hits on the same target. That's not going to be common in air to air combat.
>>
>>3081932
They're not the most versatile, they're just the most unexceptional weapon all around.

For an aerial combatant what you want is a weapon with a high rate of fire, because it will be shooting at very, very fast targets from very far away. You need as many shots as possible to take out your targets. A slow firing weapon such as the blaster would work against them in such conditions.
>>
>>3081950
This.
>>
>>3081947
>Blasters only stack their effect if you can get multiple hits on the same target. That's not going to be common in air to air combat.
...But it will occur all the time if EVERY fighter has blasters. In fact it will occur on every target the fighters attack.
>>
>>3081947
Blaster is an allrounder. Its good regardless of the situation which is why it's great for mass production.
Also the Plasma Cannon is slow firing which
>>3081950
Accord to your logic it be a terrible weapon in a dogfight.
>>
>>3081897
To clarify, a Plasma Cannon on an aircraft will function similar in its role as a Vulcan Cannon, granting the fighter the ability to rain down flaming death upon enemy ground troops in addition to standard dog-fighting.

Also this is surprisingly contentious.

>Keep twin Plasma Cannons
>Replace one with a Sting Caster
>Replace one with a Particle Beam
>Replace one with a Blaster
>Replace both with Blasters
>Other

>>3081856
Depends on the numbers and specializations of the enemy.
I swear to god I'll end up with a Codex by the end of this.

In general, I can only advise a mix of cheap swarming units, as highly coordinated swarm units is a major racial strength of the Hive and should not be underestimated, and low number specialized drones, such as your Ghost Beetles and Titans. In as many places as possible I've tried to make the system in general be designed to provide options that may be right or wrong for specific circumstances, but not in a general way. In combat I take into consideration the numbers of units as well as their equipment and specializations, so in that respect quantity is a quality in its self, but specialist units can be excellent force multipliers.

Most other factions do it the other way around, however, due to them not being able to use mass produced drone units. Humans for instance tend to have their enlisted grunt troops support their drop troopers, while you tend to have countless weak units attacking in the front with the specialist units supporting them and using them for cover.
>>
>>3081952
Their targets aren't going to survive multiple hits so that the effect can begin to stack. You're not fighting corvettes with atmo-fighters you're fighting other fighters and drone sized targets.
>>3081956
Plasma Cannon - A hybrid of slug thrower and energy weapon, this weapon utilizes a magnetically charged bullet to contain a payload of super-heated plasma, permitting a drastic increase in range over other plasma based weapons. It is bulky and unwieldly in combat, and any drone not equipped with a heavy carapace cannot move while firing the weapon. While it is perfectly adept at obliterating soft targets, it is designed to be most effective against heavy armor, and is considered a support weapon, fired from fixed positions, heavy drones, or from the backs or tails of large drones. While its raw damage and accuracy are not impressive alone, it is able to penetrate armor, rendering all but the heaviest of defenses useless.
Size: M
Dmg: Medium
RoF: High
Rng: Medium
Acc: Low
Special: Armor Piercing – Attacks with this weapon ignore unit armor. Does not apply to ships or buildings.
Nigger can you read.
>>
>>3081952
It will happen less frequently than you think. Those fighters will start jinking like madmen the moment a blaster connects with their ship. In the air, evasiveness is key to survival, and the blasters are a weapon poorly suited to such targets.
>>
>>3081956
>Blaster is an allrounder. Its good regardless of the situation which is why it's great for mass production.
No it's average regardless of the situation and in this case there are better options for it.
>>
>>3081959
>>Replace one with a Sting Caster

>>3081956
>Also the Plasma Cannon is slow firing which
Think you're thinking of the Plasma Assault Cannon. That's a very different beast.
>>
>>3081971
Why a sting caster?
>>
>>3081950
Yea, I designed the blaster to be the most "meh" weapon in general. If you want a weapon that you can count on in any situation to be not terrible, you pick the blaster. If your enemy chooses to specialize for the job though, you will be outgunned.

The Scavs enjoy using them so much because it's a good weapon for when you don't know what you will be up against, since you can typically count on being able to drown the enemy in more blaster fire if you really need to. That said, typical Scav combat doctrine is to slowly introduce weapons specialized against their enemy at each new harvest world, preferably using weapons taken from the natives, as it is understood that the species who best knows how to kill someone will be another member of that species. From your growing understanding of Scav ideology, you can expect them to start developing and utilizing more specialized human-made weapon technology, although your leaving no survivors seems to be slowing their efforts at adapting.
>>
>>3081959
>Keep twin Plasma Cannons
I maintain that the plasma cannon is just a straight upgrade to the sting caster in air combat.
>>
>>3081960
>It is bulky and unwieldly in combat, and any drone not equipped with a heavy carapace cannot move while firing the weapon.
I think QD has said this part causes it to be slow to aim in combat. I think it would cause penalties in combat when used on a fighter. Not sure if it counts as a fixed position.
>>3081971
>Think you're thinking of the Plasma Assault Cannon. That's a very different beast.
Maybe I am it's been a while since I last checked weapons.
>>3081978
Does a Plasma Cannon inflict any penalties to a lightly armored fighter?
>>
>>3081976
I'm partial to the sting caster because it has a high ROF and can be loaded with all kinds of specialty bullets, like acid, cryogenic, or explosive.
>>
>>3081959
>>Keep twin Plasma Cannons
>>
>>3081995
The issue with lightly armored drones and the Plasma Cannon is that the kickback is too great for the drone to walk while firing, requiring it to dig in its claws and brace itself against the weapon.

For a drone in the air, the problem is not quite as serious since the drone cannot "brace" itself against anything, but for a light drone the kickback will still be felt, in such a case taking the form of increasing the spread of the weapon. This is typically compensated for by firing it in bursts, although it won't be as big of an issue when used against ground targets due to them standing relatively still.
>>
>>3082013
So the plasma cannon will actually -work- fairly decently on fighters, especially when there are hundreds of them 'spreading' rounds.
>>
>>3081976
>>3082013
And, apparently, it doesn't have the extreme recoil of the plasma cannon.
>>
>>3082013
So it's great for massed firing.
>>3082022
I see. I have to admit I didn't consider alternative ammo but that's mostly because the only benefit I see would be acid.
>>
>>3082022
>>3082020
Yeah but he also said we can't rapidfire a plasma cannon on an air drone, only burst fire.
>>
>>3082027
Do you intentionally misread things? That's the only answer I can find to your idiocy.
>>
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>>3081959
>Keep twin Plasma Cannons

Alright, I've been convinced. Our plasma tech is pretty impressive compared to what other races can accomplish, what with the increased distance to plumage from our magnetic field manipulation. Our other armaments aren't as comparatively technically advanced. Plus, plasma is just... cool.
>>
>>3081959

>Keep twin Plasma Cannons
>>
>>3082027
I'll correct myself, we can but it's accuracy will fucking shit even more so than the sting caster.
>>3082032
Here more accurate for you uptight ass.
>>
>>3082027
And overlapping armor-ignoring bursts....are bad somehow?
>>
>>3082020
It will work, yes, but it will in the end take a bit of a penalty to its accuracy due to the increased spread. Think of the Plasma Cannon like a firehouse of plasma laced bullets. If the drone using it isn't heavy enough to withstand the kickback, it's going to end up spraying everywhere like a cartoon character being thrashed about by a hose on full blast. The burst fire helps offset this a bit.

A Sting Caster on the other hand is a lower caliber weapon that is incapable of penetrating armor, meaning it will have the opposite problem, being unable to effectively attack armored ground targets, but still being able to target other atmospheric craft, which tend to be lightly armored. Airborne kinetic weapons will also tend to use explosive rounds to assist with accuracy as well.

The choice is yours, but I think we've gone down to just the two choices now so let's just get one last vote to confirm.

>>3081959
>Keep twin plasma Cannons
>Switch to twin Sting Casters
>Remove one Plasma Cannon for one Sting Caster
>Other
>>
>>3082041
>Remove one Plasma Cannon for one Sting Caster.

All the Dakka.
>>
>>3082041
>Remove one Plasma Cannon for one Sting Caster
Alright I can accept this then if a Sting Caster is still capable of piercing standard air superiority armor.
>>
File: 1363139379812.gif (1.94 MB, 310x325)
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>>3082041
>>Remove one Plasma Cannon for one Sting Caster
Boy we sure do get wound up over the smallest of details in this quest. And I love it.
>>
>>3082056
I really hope the less mook design won't suffer this long of a fight.
>>
>>3082040
The other guy was obsessing over RoF. I'm not arguing against the Plasma Cannon anymore though.
>>3082041
>Remove one Plasma Cannon for one Sting Caster
Okay what's next on the list.
>>
>>3082041

>Keep twin Plasma Cannons
Giving our swarm drones the ability to punch through armour is worth more than the penalty of having to burst fire, IMO.
>>
>>3082041
>Replace one with a Sting Caster

Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: N/A 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: N/A 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: N/A 0 N 0 M
Blade: N/A 0 N 0 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Medium 0 N 0 M
Weapons: Plasma Cannon - Sting Caster N 30 M
Total: 32 N 56 M
Upkeep: 16 N

This general fighter craft fulfills its roll as a well-rounded but low cost aircraft, using radar to detect incoming targets at range and homing in on their heat signature before engaging with either bursts of armor piercing plasma bolts or a torrent of small caliber explosive rounds, allowing it to engage both armored and unarmored targets, as well as allowing it to provide some level of air support to ground targets using its potent anti-armor Plasma Cannon to perform strafing runs as needed. While equipped with only basic combat armor leaves it vulnerable to enemy fire, it is both agile, and cheap to replace, quickly filling the skies to overwhelm enemy air units.

>Approve
>Modify (write in)
>Other
>>
>>3082041
>>Keep twin plasma Cannons
>>
>>3082069
>Approve
>>
>>3082069
>Approve
>>
>>3082069
>Approve
Seriously let's move on to the next one.
>>
>>3082069
>Approve

Next is the Bomber role. Here is your gunships and air support units designed to bombard the enemy ground units from the sky.

[Atmo-bomber] - Atmospheric bombers devoted to providing air support to ground forces bellow through bombing runs and air raids on enemy positions.

You have a few designs for these, but over time many of them seems to have become more general purpose, and there isn't much of a deliberate focus on which units you prefer to be used in which situations.
>>
>>3082069
>>Approve
>>
>>3082083
I hate to do this but could you get a vote on >>3081853 too for the atmo-fighter role with the same plasma cannon sting caster weapon combo
>>
>>3082088
Did you intend that to be a variant or an aerial interceptor?
>>
>>3082103
Variant. I wanted to blend in some missile haulers and the cost of the missiles meant I wanted to protect them a bit with photonic shielding.
>>
>>3082103
Interceptor will need missiles and advanced wings.
>>
>>3082109
It has both? Unless you mean cruise missiles.
>>
>>3082113
Didn't realize it had the wings but it doesn't have the missiles.
>>
>>3082109
I think gravity foils would make more sense for a high performance interceptor drone don't you? These things are going to be fighting exclusively in planetary atmospheres, it's not like they'll be leaving gravity wells to fight.
>>
Not sure where these would fit but I've had a plan since a few years ago where we take a large flying drone, colossus sized, give it the bigass Lightning Cannon that's admittedly shit at aim but it would be compensated in the air and be good at targeting large amounts of aerial fighters that get close enough.

But compensate by having them accompanied by swarms of lightning gun equipped light fighters to build up the static charge on big targets.

Also I figure having a flying colossus do strafing runs with the power of a lightning storm would be good against targets on the ground.

Admittedly this plan has some holes that would need to be ironed out but I think it could be a good strategy, possibly against the Obsidian Hive
>>
>>3082083
Here's a bomber in the meantime.
Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: None 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: None 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: None 0 N 0 M
Blade: Photonic 10 N 5 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Aux: Radiator Tubes 4 N 0 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Large 42 N 21 M
Fwd. Hrdpnt: Plasma Assault Cannon N 30 M
Dor. Hrdpnt: Particle Cannon N 30 M
Gun Ports: Heavy Thumper x4 N 60 M
Total: 88 N 172 M
Upkeep: 44 N


I'm not sure if it should get missiles and if so which kind.

>>3082117
>Aux: Stinger missile 20 N 50 M

>>3082119
how would gravity foils mix with ramjets? just maximum speed?
>>
>>3082119
I have a major problem with the gravity foil fragility and would rather wait until we get personal shields to prevent the wings from getting broken.
>>
>>3082088
Oh, I thought you were proposing that as an Interceptor, which is the next role, or do you want to propose a variant fighter?

>>3082108
Well nvm, alright. I assume you want it to have a similar weapon pattern as the default, since I assume that the weapon debate we just voted through will apply to this one in the same way, but let me know if it is otherwise.

>>3082069
Proposed Air Superiority fighter variant:

Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: N/A 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: N/A 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: N/A 0 N 0 M
Blade: Photonic 10 N 5 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Aux: Stinger missile 20 N 50 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Carapace: Ballistic 4 N 15 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Medium 0 N 0 M
Weapon: Plasma Cannon - Sting Caster 30 M
Total: 66 N 96 M
Upkeep: 33 N

A more heavily armed variation of the standard Mook fighter, this fighter holds all of the same features, but includes a photonic projector, granting it additional protection against incoming fire as well as the option of airborne melee combat. In addition, a layer of ballistic armor offers protection from standard flak and its variations. The prime difference, however, is the fighter's Stinger missile rack, granting it a potent trump card in any combat situation for use against both airborne and ground based enemies.

>Approve
>Deny
>Propose change
>Other
>>
>>3082122
If it's a bomber I'd rather it had rotary wings and a honeypot, for maximum payload.
>>
>>3082129
I thought about it but there wasn't much information on how much it would improve the spammability of fire support so I went with extra mobility. The honeypot would probably be helpful for the heavy thumpers though.
>>
>>3082129
This anon has a good point also what about the seeker pods?
>>
>>3082128
>Approve
shameless self vote.
>>3082146
Good point. Seeker pods would be quite useful.
>>
>>3082145
I don't think the Heavy Thumper is an option with large drones. Also the design isn't using the additional hardpoints large drones have.
>>
>>3082120
>Giant Lightning Bugs
I could support that but I am bad at designing drones

Also who thinks a Titan drone could be cool using one of those lightning cannons on its back to become a walking storm?
>>
>>3082154
I don't think there's a limitation. The gunports are practically made for what is essentially dumbfire rocket spam.
>>
Prices were wrong
Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: None 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: None 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: None 0 N 0 M
Blade: Photonic 10 N 5 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Aux: Radiator Tubes 4 N 0 M
Aux: Honey Pot 4 N 0 M
Aux: Seeker Pod 10 N 0 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Large 60 N 31 M
Fwd. Hrdpnt: Plasma Assault Cannon N 30 M
Dor. Hrdpnt: Particle Cannon N 30 M
Gun Ports: Heavy Thumper x4 N 60 M
Total: 120 N 182 M
Upkeep: 60 N
>>
>>3082122
I don’t think all our atmo drones need thermal vision>

>3082145
Maneuverability is second consideration to payload in bombers
>>
>>3082083
>>3082128
I take it then that the motion passes for a lack of objection.

Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: None 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: None 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: None 0 N 0 M
Blade: Photonic 10 N 5 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Aux: Radiator Tubes 4 N 0 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Large 42 N 21 M
Fwd. Hrdpnt: Plasma Assault Cannon N 30 M
Dor. Hrdpnt: Particle Cannon N 30 M
Gun Ports: Heavy Thumper x4 N 60 M
Total: 88 N 172 M
Upkeep: 44 N

A proverbial flying fortress, this bomber utilizes photon projectors to assist in its defense, as well as to swat away any potential melee range attackers. Its primary attack is its massive Plasma Assault Cannon, charging up from the sky before lighting up the horizon with a blaze of flaming doom, incinerating the target zone and any unfortunates who are within its blast radius. To protect itself from enemy fighters, the bomber employs a dorsal turret utilizing a Quad-linked particle cannon capable of shooting most any attackers from the sky, as well as a set of heavy thumpers along its body capable of firing explosive micro-rocket flak at attackers approaching from any direction. These heavy thumpers also allow the bomber to perform strafing runs to lay down gas, smoke, or bombard targets with shrapnel or flaming plasma for when it must offer more accurate air support while friendly units are in the target zone.

>Add Seeker pods
>Replace thermal vision with normal vision
>Add a honey pot
>Other

>>3082154
A large drone can equip medium sized weapons to secondary weapon points, which are themselves medium sized.
>>
>>3082183
Yeah they really don't especially if that are large.
>>
Wait a second how do our aerial drones land?
>>
>>3082192
>Add Seeker pods
>>Replace thermal vision with normal vision
>>Add a honey pot
>>
>>3082128
This design actually has a metal price of 126

>>3082192
>Add Seeker pods
>Add a honey pot
>Change wings to Rotary
I actually visualized it offering more accurate fire support the same way the AC-130 did by circling at range allowing it to target far off ground targets with its particle cannon.
>>
>>3082192
QD don't aerial drones need legs to land?
>>
>>3082236
the Aerodynamic chassis says "If it has legs or arms they are almost useless for anything but landing struts" I took the If to mean they're not required.
>>
>>3082236
vote so we can move on
>>
>>3082192
Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: None 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: None 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: None 0 N 0 M
Blade: Photonic 10 N 5 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Advanced 4 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Aux: Radiator Tubes 4 N 0 M
Aux: Honey Pot 4 N 0 M
Aux: Seeker Pod 10 N 0 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Large 60 N 31 M
Fwd. Hrdpnt: Plasma Assault Cannon N 30 M
Dor. Hrdpnt: Particle Cannon N 30 M
Gun Ports: Heavy Thumper x4 N 60 M
Total: 120 N 182 M
Upkeep: 60 N

A proverbial flying fortress, this bomber utilizes photon projectors to assist in its defense, as well as to swat away any potential melee range attackers. Its primary attack is its massive Plasma Assault Cannon, charging up from the sky before lighting up the horizon with a blaze of flaming doom, incinerating the target zone and any unfortunates who are within its blast radius. To protect itself from enemy fighters, the bomber employs a dorsal turret utilizing a Quad-linked particle cannon capable of shooting most any attackers from the sky, as well as a set of heavy thumpers along its body capable of firing explosive micro-rocket flak at attackers approaching from any direction. These heavy thumpers also allow the bomber to perform strafing runs to lay down gas, smoke, or bombard targets with shrapnel or flaming plasma for when it must offer more accurate air support while friendly units are in the target zone, while its seeker pod allows for the bomber to dust a battlefield with highly accurate, intelligently target seeking bombs. A honey pot allows it to carry more of both, allowing it to maintain fire and seeker spread throughout combat without need to resupply as frequently.

>Switch wings to Rotary wings
>Keep Advanced Wings
>Other

Rotary wings will double the carrying capacity of the Honey pot, and will improve the overall thrust of the bomber, these two counter-rotating rotors are held in bulky, but adjustable muscle housings, allowing them to transition between VTOL and forward thrust positions. The downside is a decrease in maneuverability compared to the Advanced wings.

>>3082210
Sorta like a penguin. Also Advanced wings function like an Ornithopter, allowing for a degree of VTOL function. Under normal circumstances however, they attempt to avoid landing, instead they are catapulted into the air by hive hangars, or dropped into the atmosphere by shuttles or low orbiting spacecraft, to which they will return when they are leaving the planet.

>>3082236
No, their legs function like landing gear though, and without them they will be towed and carried about by other drones when needed, although aerodynamic drones will always attempt to avoid such situations.
>>
>>3082255
No. I'm waiting for the question to be answered by QD.
>>
>>3082265
>Switch wings to Rotary wings
>>
>>3082265
>Switch wings to Rotary wings
>>
>>3082265
Wouldn't Hover legs hold some use if we need an aerial drone near the ground?
>>
I'm completely stumped on the interceptor. What needs does the niche have that aren't filled by the atmo-fighter? Better sensors? Higher top speed? Cruise missiles?
>>
>>3082265
Sight: Thermal 2 N 0 M
Olfactory: Basic 0 N 0 M
Acoustic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Radio: Moderate 2 N 0 M
Elec. Sens: None 0 N 0 M
Psionic: Basic 0 N 0 M
Psi disrupt: None 0 N 0 M
Mandible: None 0 N 0 M
Mand. Add: None 0 N 0 M
Blade: Photonic 10 N 5 M
Grasper: Strength 1 N 0 M
Legs: None 0 N 0 M
Wings: Rotary 5 N 0 M
Aux: Ramjet 16 N 6 M
Aux: Radiator Tubes 4 N 0 M
Aux: Honey Pot 4 N 0 M
Aux: Seeker Pod 10 N 0 M
Carapace: Combat 3 N 10 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 4 N 10 M
Size: Large 60 N 31 M
Fwd. Hrdpnt: Plasma Assault Cannon N 30 M
Dor. Hrdpnt: Particle Cannon N 30 M
Gun Ports: Heavy Thumper x4 N 60 M
Total: 122 N 182 M
Upkeep: 60 N

A proverbial flying fortress, this bomber utilizes photon projectors to assist in its defense, as well as to swat away any potential melee range attackers. Its primary attack is its massive Plasma Assault Cannon, charging up from the sky before lighting up the horizon with a blaze of flaming doom, incinerating the target zone and any unfortunates who are within its blast radius. To protect itself from enemy fighters, the bomber employs a dorsal turret utilizing a Quad-linked particle cannon capable of shooting most any attackers from the sky, as well as a set of heavy thumpers along its body capable of firing explosive micro-rocket flak at attackers approaching from any direction. These heavy thumpers also allow the bomber to perform strafing runs to lay down gas, smoke, or bombard targets with shrapnel or flaming plasma for when it must offer more accurate air support while friendly units are in the target zone, while its seeker pod allows for the bomber to dust a battlefield with highly accurate, intelligently target seeking bombs. A honey pot allows it to carry more of both, allowing it to maintain fire and seeker spread throughout combat without need to resupply as frequently, while its bulky rotary wings further increase its payload while helping it reach its target as quickly as possible.

>Approve
>Modify (write in)
>Other

>>3082284
It certainly could, depending on what exactly you wanted the drone to use it for.
>>
>>3082297
>Approve
>>
>>3082294
Swarm missiles.
>>
>>3082310
Wouldn't penetrate armored hulls like the kind required for atmospheric entry.
>>
>>3082297
>Approve

[Atmo-Interceptor] - A defensive atmospheric fighter devoted to rapidly locating and intercepting incoming enemy landing craft, fighters, and bombers during an invasion.

This role is meant to quickly hunt down and destroy incoming airborne attackers invading from either air or orbit. They are the planet side first responders once a picket fleet is breached, and will attempt to destroy or failing that occupy the enemy until the slower heavy hitters and the rest of the main force arrives.
>>
Sorry I've got nothing.
>>
>>3082327
Hmm... maybe we can come back to this one then.

That is the last of the drone roles, however. If there are any others that you would like to add, or some variants you would like to propose, now is the time, otherwise, the ship roles we have are as follows:

[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 front line 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 defense Auxiliary weapons or failing that, its own hull to prevent attacks on allied ships and colonies.

Recon is presumed to be a standard Space Pod with no modifications, so we can start with the stealth role I think.
>>
>>3082383
[Recon] - A general non-combat ship intended to scout distant star systems and gather intelligence using a cloaking field and low heat signature

This is intended to be a combat ship whose defining feature is its stealth. A proper Bird of Prey style ship capable of ambush attacks, hit and run tactics, or evasive support roles performed outside of the direct line of fire.

We have a few ships/fleets somewhat in this role, but our ship designs are scattered all about, so I'd like to actually use this crunch session to try and consolidate our ship designs into a few more focused areas that can be more easily maintained and managed.
>>
Honestly I haven't been designing ships a lot but here's something focused on an alpha strike and maybe making it back out of range somehow.
Stealth Frigate
Hull Frigate 800 N 1600 M
Spinal Plasma Lance 0 N 150 M
Turret Plasma Lance 0 N 150 M
Fixed Plasma Lance 0 N 160 M
Auxiliary N/A 0 N 0 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Fusion Core 190 N 950 M
Utility Cloaking Field 75 N 225 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 22,5 N 30 M
Module Bulkhead 0 N 500 M
Module Bulkhead 0 N 500 M
Total 1087,5 N 4265 M
Upkeep 543,75 N

Maybe a cruiser instead?
>>
>>3082456
Actually the fusion core should be 150 N 750 M because of the unused auxiliaries.

Sneeki Cruiser
Hull Cruiser 1200 N 2000 M
Spinal Plasma Lance 0 N 400 M
Turret Plasma Lance 0 N 150 M
Fixed Plasma Lance 0 N 200 M
Auxiliary N/A 0 N 0 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Fusion Core 180 N 900 M
Utility Cloaking Field 100 N 300 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 30 N 40 M
Total 1510 N 3990 M
Upkeep 755 N
>>
and a meme ship because why not
Sneeki Meme Cruiser
Hull Cruiser 1200 N 2000 M
Spinal N/A 0 N 0 M
Turret N/A 0 N 0 M
Fixed N/A 0 N 0 M
Auxiliary N/A 0 N 0 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Fusion Core 0 N 0 M
Utility Cloaking Field 100 N 300 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 30 N 40 M
Module Stinger Launcher 500 N 300 M
Module Stinger Launcher 500 N 300 M
Module Stinger Launcher 500 N 300 M
Module Cruise Launcher 600 N 400 M
Total 3430 N 3640 M
Upkeep 1715 N
>>
>>3082406
My original notes have the first stealth ship you designed still logged. There are a few others in the pastebin using the old fleet organizational system, but again, I'd like to take all of those fleet designs and start pulling them down into a more consolidated and easy to manage collection of designs.

Stealth Frigate
Hull: Frigate 800N 1600M
cloaking field: 75N 225M
Rapid damage control: 22N 30M
Spinal mount(1): Linear Particle Beam 150M
Fixed(8): Railgun (acid) 160M
Turrets(6): Cyclotron 150M
Auxiliary(4): Autocannon 40M
An attack ship designed to strike from the shadows, the stealth frigate uses its cloak to place itself in an advantageous position before opening fire with its corrosive railguns, eating away at the enemy armor. It lacks the heavy armor of a front line warship, but its abilities as a harrying raider more than make up for it.

It should also be noted that larger ships create more heat, decreasing the time they can spend cloaked. In addition, the displaced light of the cloaking field means that it will be more easy to detect a larger craft.
>>
>>3082520
Might as well use that. I'd change the railguns for plasma lances but otherwise it seems fine.
>>
>>3082539
No wait I see the logic. It's a lot longer range than I was thinking.
>>
>>3082520
Stealth Frigate
Hull: Frigate 800N 1600M
cloaking field: 75N 225M
Rapid damage control: 22N 30M
Spinal mount(1): Linear Particle Beam 150M
Fixed(8): Railgun (acid) 160M
Turrets(6): Cyclotron 150M
Auxiliary(4): Autocannon 40M
An attack ship designed to strike from the shadows, the stealth frigate uses its cloak to place itself in an advantageous position before opening fire with its corrosive railguns, eating away at the enemy armor. It lacks the heavy armor of a front line warship, but its abilities as a harrying raider more than make up for it.

>Approve as is
>Modify
>Other

I suppose we can always come back to this role later as people get more design ideas.
>>
>>3082556
>Modify
Add a Fusion Core for enhanced speed and strike capability.
>>
>>3082556

>Add fusion Core

Stealth Frigate
Hull: Frigate 800N 1600M
cloaking field: 75N 225M
Rapid damage control: 22N 30M
Spinal mount(1): Linear Particle Beam 150M
Fixed(8): Railgun (acid) 160M
Turrets(6): Cyclotron 150M
Auxiliary(4): Autocannon 40M
Power Fusion Core
An attack ship designed to strike from the shadows, the stealth frigate uses its cloak to place itself in an advantageous position before opening fire with its corrosive railguns, eating away at the enemy armor. It lacks the heavy armor of a front line warship, but its abilities as a harrying raider more than make up for it.

Next up:
[Boarding] - A ship devoted to the deployment of boarding parties and the capture of other ships.

This would include any ship designed to facilitate the capturing of another ship, including gunship class sub-light shuttles designed to be used as boarding craft, not just full sized ships.
>>
>>3082579
Hull: Cruiser 1200N 2000M
Capacity: 300/30
Size: 200 Meters
Module Limit: 4
Spinal Mounts (x1): (Ion Cannon) 200M
Spinal Mounts (x1): Ramming Keel 100N 400M
Turret (x6): (Cyclotron Particle Beam) 150M
Fixed (x10): (Blaster) 200M
Armor: Combat 300N 1200M
Power: Fusion Core 180N 900M
Utility: Multi-layer shields 200N 600M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 30N 40M
Utility: Containment Fields 20N 80M
Module: Boarding Pod Launcher 50N 100M
Module: Swarm hangar (Blaster) 600N 300M
Module (x2): Harpoon Launcher 20N 400M
Cost: 2700N 4470M
Upkeep: 1350N
>>
>>3082595
Include the rip drive with it?
>>
>>3082579
Hull: Cruiser 1200N 2000M
Capacity: 300/30
Size: 200 Meters
Module Limit: 4
Spinal Mounts (x1): (Ion Cannon) 200M
Spinal Mounts (x1): Ramming Keel 100N 400M
Turret (x6): (Cyclotron Particle Beam) 150M
Fixed (x10): (Blaster) 200M
Armor: Combat 300N 1200M
Power: Fusion Core 180N 900M
Utility: Multi-layer shields 200N 600M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 30N 40M
Utility: Containment Fields 20N 80M
Module: Boarding Pod Launcher 50N 100M
Module: Swarm hangar (Blaster) 600N 300M
Module (x2): Harpoon Launcher 20N 400M
Cost: 2700N 4470M
Upkeep: 1350N

This dedicated boarding cruiser makes for a durable target. While relatively lightly armored, its multi-layer shields allow it to maneuver quickly in combat while shrugging off most incoming fire to allow it to close the distance without destroying the target. Its ion cannon allows for an effectively non-lethal attack against enemy ships, isolating a single target before attaching itself to it with harpoons and firing its boarding pods.

>Approve
>Modify
>Other

Also feel free to use the designs we already have in the pastebin. My end goal here is to consolidate and finalize all of our drone and ship designs so that the only designs being used are the those slotted into the roles. At that point I'll just have the roles with their stated designs set up in the OP paste instead of the fleet section in order to account for what designs are available, and how many are built of each, with a generalized section showing the composition of any fleets that have been formed, by your orders or by thinkers responding to an attack, at any given moment.

Essentially, once we're totally finished with the roles, any ship you have leftover that doesn't have a roll will be retrofitted into the role they most closely fit into already. I won't calculate any costs to do this, since it's just a process of changing the mechanics.
>>
>tfw never know how much of this is fluff and how much is actually useful in quest
>>
>>3082638
>Modify
Change FTL type to Rip Drive.
>>
>>3082638


>Swap out standard Blink Drive with Rip Drive (will allow the ship to transport other ships of Cruiser size or smaller)
>Keep Blink Drive
>Other
>>
>>3082662
Sure I guess
>>
>>3082662
>Swap out standard Blink Drive with Rip Drive (will allow the ship to transport other ships of Cruiser size or smaller)
>>
>>3082662
Hull: Cruiser 1200N 2000M
Capacity: 300/30
Size: 200 Meters
Module Limit: 4
FTL: Rip Drive (Free)
Spinal Mounts (x1): (Ion Cannon) 200M
Spinal Mounts (x1): Ramming Keel 100N 400M
Turret (x6): (Cyclotron Particle Beam) 150M
Fixed (x10): (Blaster) 200M
Armor: Combat 300N 1200M
Power: Fusion Core 180N 900M
Utility: Multi-layer shields 200N 600M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 30N 40M
Utility: Containment Fields 20N 80M
Module: Boarding Pod Launcher 50N 100M
Module: Swarm hangar (Blaster) 600N 300M
Module (x2): Harpoon Launcher 20N 400M
Cost: 2700N 4470M
Upkeep: 1350N

This dedicated boarding cruiser makes for a durable target. While relatively lightly armored, its multi-layer shields allow it to maneuver quickly in combat while shrugging off most incoming fire to allow it to close the distance without destroying the target. Its ion cannon allows for an effectively non-lethal attack against enemy ships, isolating a single target before attaching itself to it with harpoons and firing its boarding pods. Its most unique feature, however, is its replacement of the Hive's ubiquitous Blink Drive with that of the Skyl Rip Drive, allowing it to tow crippled vessels back into Hive space and safely away from the battle. The result is much of its drive wings have been seemingly clipped, replaced with a set of tachyon projectors designed to bore a hole through spacetime. The result is a more stubby profile, with its wings being replaced with a pair of thicker, shorter emitters.

>Approve
>Modify
>Other
>>
>>3082677
>Approve
>>
>>3082677
>Approve
>>
>>3082677
>Approve

Next up is probably a bit more of a fun one, and one which already has a few designs that could easily fit the role, although I'm not sure if you would want to put them here or into one of the other combat roles or not, so I'll just leave that up to you.

[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.

This is meant to be your big heavy hitters designed to deal lots of damage and tank lots of damage. They will ignore their Auxiliary weapon range and use them exclusively for defense, but instead focus on utilizing spinal, turret, and fixed mounts to deal maximum damage, moving into its shortest range weapon's effective range so as to bring as much firepower onto its target as possible. These ships will get a firing solution and then keep on firing until it runs out of targets or dies, and if given the choice to evade enemy fire, or take a shot at the enemy, it will gleefully take a direct hit to deal just one more salvo. While battleships obviously come to mind, any class of heavily armed and armored ship can fulfill this role to some extent.
>>
>>3082713
That's most of the designs the playerbase have ever made.
>>
>>3082720
Well there are still the Carrier, Artillery, Support, and Picket roles, so not quite all of them, but a decent chunk of your fleet designs will probably fit into this role.

Again, this is why I don't really want to assume, since while most of your ships could fit into this role, I think that you would likely prefer many of them to be in other more specific, but still combat focused rolls instead.
>>
>>3082720
I tend to agree. Maybe updating the occasional ship designs with containment fields or multilayer shielding. A battleship, Battlecruiser and Cruiser design would be enough.
Which are your favourites?
>>
>>3082746
Don't really have any to be honest. As long as they aren't going full retard I'm fine with it.
>>
>>3082713
For the battleship I'd go with an upgraded Wall Of Battle changing defensive shield to multilayer and adding containment fields.
Battlecruiser could be the Predator with the same upgrades?
I like the heavy fleet cruiser since it actually has a bit of point defense thanks to the swarming autocannons.
>>
>>3082740
QD how does the performance of the Gravity drive compare to the Skid drive again this time with our Gravity thrusters factored in. I remember you saying the Skid drive is faster but the Gravity drive is better for tactical maneuvering.
>>
>>3082760
Honestly I'm thinking we need more cheaper designs. Maybe apply regular defensive shields instead of multilayer to our subcapital ship to have more of them.
>>
>>3082777
A fair point. The wall of battle ship is one of the cheaper battleships though that's not saying much.
>>
The light fleet frigate and cruiser fit ok though we might want to change the railguns for blasters.
>>
>>3082297
>A proverbial flying fortress
Shouldn't it have two carapace types, then? It's pretty cheap to add the second.

>>3082713
[Line Ship]
Hull: Battleship 4500N 10000M
Capacity: 2000/200
Size: 2060 Meters
Module Limit: 41

Spinal Mounts (x5): (Railgun) 10,300M
Turret (x12): (Cyclotron) 300M
Fixed (x18): (Plasma Lance) 360M
Auxiliary (x22): (Autocannon) 220M

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M
Armor: Ballistic 10,300N 5,150M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 10,300N 30,900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 300N 400M

Power: Fusion Core 570N 2,850M

Module: G-Field Sensors 150N 200M
Module: (10) Swarm Launcher 4,000N 2,000M
Module: (10) Stinger Launcher 5,000N 3,000M
Module: (10) Cruise Launcher 6,000N 4,000M
Module: (10) Bulkhead 5,000M

Total: 46,270N 95,280M
Upkeep: 23,135N

Meant to soften up targets with its missile launchers and railguns as it closes into close combat, then finishing them off with plasma lances and cyclotrons. It also means it has a decent balance of damage types - thermal, kinetic, explosive, and energy.

Launcher / bulkhead numbers are pretty arbitrary. Adding fighters is a possibility but I figured that would be covered under carriers and we're trying to develop specialized ships here.
>>
>>3082811
I'd rather not have the battleship try to turn at close range to fire its plasma lances. Switch the cyclotrons and plasma lances?
>>
>>3082811
Also include Containment Fields. Dirt cheap and gives more survivability. Otherwise looks solid.
>>
>>3082811
We still need ammo storage and crew space modules. Also I wonder if we could discard the FTL altogether to create a ship with more space for weapons, thrusters, reactors, and crew, it not like we are totally dependent on the Blink drive anymore.
>>
>>3082765
The Skid Drive is capable of a greater degree of acceleration along the limited axes which it is able to utilize, IE the gravitational geometry of the star system. This means it is better at direct planet to planet navigation, but it is more predictable in its movement patterns, resulting in strange, seemingly nonsensical movements during combat as the ship shifts the Skid Drive between the gravitation of different celestial objects. As a result, a Hive vessel will look like it is suddenly turning at sharp angles back and forth instead of simply turning to face the target, using a mixture of gravitational points in space to swing itself along parabolic curves instead of fully orienting itself to the target. To the enemy, this doesn't seem to make logical sense, and can throw off some targeting computers if they are trying to predict an optimal path of your ship, but in the end because your ships have fewer axes of movement the Skid Drive can use, they must follow a somewhat more predictable movement pattern during combat.

Gravity Drives on the other hand can uniformally move along any axis of movement in 3d space with the same acceleration. This acceleration peaks at a lower rate than your own Skid Drive's peak performance, meaning that their ships will lose a race to a planet, and your ships are able to make tighter turns in optimal conditions, but theirs are able to jerk to the sides and move at randomly determined points in randomly determined directions in order to better evade attacks. Your ships do this too, but they must use their maneuvering thrusters to do it if there is not a convenient gravity well to utilize.

Gravity thrusters do, however, shorten this performance gap, but not totally. Gravity Thrusters are more like.... surf boards that ride along the cresting waves of gravity wells. While the laws of universal gravitation mean that they are always performing at a competent level, they shine the most when they are "lower" in the gravity well. Much like how the centrifugal force of a spinning object increases as its area decreases, a Gravity Thruster's total thrust increases as it falls further into a gravity well, like an object circling a drain increasing in speed as it falls. The Gravity Thruster in this was "surfs" along the surface of the gravity well, pushing against, or with it more and more as the gravity well exerts more and more force upon the ship like a sailboat pushing against the wind.
>>
>>3082822
>Turrets – Large turreted mounts capable of firing in any direction. They are slow to turn, however, and often serve as a ship’s primary weapon. They offer a good balance of accuracy and power and are most effective in medium ranged combat against similar sized ships.
>Cyclotron: Rng: Medium
Was my thinking there. Weapon and mount ranges align.

>>3082825
>Containment Fields
Is it just me or is that not in the pastebin?

>>3082826
>ammo storage and crew space modules
...is that also not in the pastebin? Or am I just blind.
>>
>>3082811
This way too over-engineered for a standardized ship design. Just because it has 41 module slots doesn't mean it makes sense to fill them up with expensive options if we intended to produce these vessels in bulk. For one thing including ballistic armor on TOP of heavy armor will slow these things to a crawl and drive up the price massively. And aren't the only navies that actually use missiles as a key element of their doctrine the humans? We aren't planning on a Space war with either the Union or CW any time soon, is it really worth it?

That's way too many missile launcher pods if we're going to make this our standard ship of the line. It makes far more sense to include just a couple of missile launchers, which then translates into many, many missiles at the disposal of the fleet as a whole.

Also, I'm not sure plasma lances as a short range finisher is a good fit. A ship of the line shouldn't have to leave the line except if the enemy is already beaten. If it's finishing off a crippled enemy it won't have to counter shields anyway.
>>
>>3082822
>>3082811
Why not go for Blasters if you want Thermal damage? Blasters have better range than the Lances.
>>3082832
QD asked if we wanted that stuff. People said yes. Now we are waiting for the day he'll make it available
>>
>>3082832
Yeah the bins haven't been up to date for a while. The talk page has up to date module lists.
Ammo and crew modules will become available at some point.
>>
>>3082838
Blasters would work.
Hull: Battleship 4500N 10000M
Capacity: 2000/200
Size: 2060 Meters
Module Limit: 41

Spinal Mounts (x5): (Railgun) 10,300M
Turret (x12): (Cyclotron) 300M
Fixed (x18): (Blaster) 360M
Auxiliary (x22): (Autocannon) 220M

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 10,300N 30,900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 300N 400M
Utility: Containment Fields 206N 824M

Power: Fusion Core 570N 2,850M

Module: G-Field Sensors 150N 200M
Module: (5) Swarm Launcher 2,000N 1,000M
Module: (5) Stinger Launcher 2,500N 1,500M
Module: (5) Cruise Launcher 3,000N 2,000M
Module: (10) Bulkhead 5,000M

How about this?
>>
>>3082836
>Just because it has 41 module slots doesn't mean it makes sense to fill them up with expensive options if we intended to produce these vessels in bulk
See
>>3082811
>Launcher / bulkhead numbers are pretty arbitrary.
Feel free to suggest a different configuration

>And aren't the only navies that actually use missiles as a key element of their doctrine the humans?
I was actually thinking of the OQ when adding that. They use missiles too, iirc, and they're who we should be worried about, along with the Ceph.

>Also, I'm not sure plasma lances as a short range finisher is a good fit.
>>3082838
>Why not go for Blasters if you want Thermal damage?
Blasters would be a decent option that would bring the shortest weapon range down to Medium aside from the auxiliary mounts.

>>3082845
>talk page
I find that... difficult to navigate at the best of times
>>
>>3082713
[Line Ship]
Hull: Battleship 4500N 10000M
Capacity: 2000/200
Size: 2060 Meters
Module Limit: 41

Spinal Mounts (x5): (Railgun) 10,300M
Turret (x12): (Cyclotron) 300M
Fixed (x18): (Plasma Lance) 360M
Auxiliary (x22): (Autocannon) 220M

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M
Armor: Ballistic 10,300N 5,150M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 10,300N 30,900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 300N 400M

Power: Fusion Core 570N 2,850M

Module: G-Field Sensors 150N 200M
Module: (10) Swarm Launcher 4,000N 2,000M
Module: (10) Stinger Launcher 5,000N 3,000M
Module: (10) Cruise Launcher 6,000N 4,000M
Module: (10) Bulkhead 5,000M

Total: 46,270N 95,280M
Upkeep: 23,135N

This ship is a heavyweight at all combat ranges, unleashing a wide range of missiles suitable for any foe at even extreme range, while using its plasma lances to burn down any unfortunate enemy that manages to make it in close thinking to receive some respite. The ship is heavily armed and just as heavily armored, and will plow through incoming fire, attacking every step of the way, in order to destroy whatever may be left of the enemy with its short range weapons once it arrives, while using its Cyclotrons to provide some level of disruption in the enemy targeting systems as it slings slug after heavy slug of kinetic-kill weapons with its railguns, leaning its ever building velocity into each successive attack, all powered by its potent fusion core, bolstering both its weapon systems and its potent shield emitters, as well as granting some measure of maneuverability to the massive vessel which is one of its few failings, although the sub-thinkers aboard would consider it an asset, as whatever requires great effort to start moving, will require great effort to stop moving, and it will not stop until it is deep within the burning debris field that was an enemy formation very shortly prior.

>Accept
>Alter
>Other
>>
>>3082868
>Alter
>>3082859
A cheaper alternative allowing us to field nearly twice the number per N upkeep.
Totals are 28,676N 86,454M
>>
>>3082868
>>Other
Battleship
Crew: 2000/200
Cost: 4500N 10000M
Size: 2060 Meters
Spinal Mounts x5: Railgun
Turrets x12: Cyclotron
Fixed x18: Linear Particle Gun
Auxiliary x22: Autocannon

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 10,300N 30,900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 300N 400M

Power: Fusion Core 570N 2,850M

Module: 5 Swarm Launchers 2,000N 1,000M
Module: 2 Stinger Launchers 1,000N 600M
Module: 1 Cruise Launcher 600N 400M
Module: 5 Swarm Hangars 3,000N 1,500M
Module: 10 Bulkheads 5,000M

Currently calculating cost, but I garuntee it will be lower than this design while being even more durable (thanks to the swarmers).
>>
>>3082646
It seems to combine with the crunch about various planets/facilities' industrial capacities into how many fleets of various types we are producing and where, just how big a specific invasion army is and what it's composed of, etc. Then it becomes part of the story. Like these ghost beetles and titans being present.
>>
>>3082874
I'd like to see the modules filled up with bulkheads, due to
>>3082713
>if given the choice to evade enemy fire, or take a shot at the enemy, it will gleefully take a direct hit to deal just one more salvo.

Also I'd suggest adding combat or conductive secondary armor for a cheaper alternative to ballistic; would only add ~2000N upkeep
>>
>>3082877
I can support this. I think three autocannon swarmers and two plasma swarmers would give it nice capability and survivability.
>>
>>3082868
A cheaper alternative to the Battleship of the line:

Hull: Battleship 4500N 10000M
Capacity: 2000/200
Size: 2060 Meters
Module Limit: 41

Spinal Mounts (x5): (Railgun) 10,300M
Turret (x12): (Cyclotron) 300M
Fixed (x18): (Blaster) 360M
Auxiliary (x22): (Autocannon) 220M

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 10,300N 30,900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 300N 400M
Utility: Containment Fields 206N 824M

Power: Fusion Core 570N 2,850M

Module: G-Field Sensors 150N 200M
Module: (5) Swarm Launcher 2,000N 1,000M
Module: (5) Stinger Launcher 2,500N 1,500M
Module: (5) Cruise Launcher 3,000N 2,000M
Module: (10) Bulkhead 5,000M

A heavyweight ship designed for any combat encounter at nearly any range, this ship of the line is heavily armed and armored on a budget. With a more than modest compliment of missiles of all kinds suitable for any target, this battleship will let loose volley after volley to cut down any ship it cannot catch, and will almost assuredly outgun any ship it can catch, all while hammering away at long range with its railguns and disrupting the enemy attempts at a counter attack using its Cyclotron turrets. Once within range, its fixed forward facing blasters will make short work of most enemies, offering a sustained level of damage suitable for any encounter.

>Approve
>Alter
>Remove containment fields
>Other

>>3082880
Sorta. The more concrete details I know about how your want your fleets and swarms to look, behave, and function overall the more details taken from your input I can mention directly in the scenes, thus fluff, but also, the more of your own choices and design decisions I can take into consideration when running the combat, thus crunch.

If you tell me you send a general, vaguely defined force to attack an enemy, and I don't know what designs should be in it, I will calculate it as a more vague amalgamation of troops and ships. If I know exactly what ship designs you want to send, what drone designs you want, and what you want those designs to do and how, then I can include your choices directly into the rolls instead of just sorta auto-resolving it.

While that's an extreme example, some of the crunch regarding designs has sorta run away from me with how quickly the crunch has expanded while simultaneously suffering multiple hiatuses. I want to fix all that and be able to not only have the rolls for your combat encounters fully represent your strategic choices, but also show how badass they are up close and person in the fluff.
>>
>>3082877
Okay, the end cost is 27,626N 85,254M, and that's with containment fields included, because it seems that's what everyone's agrees is a worthwhile inclusion.

>>3082882
The problem with both double armors and more bulkheads is that the cost and overall weight of the craft would increase. We need to keep the cost as low as reasonably possible because the resource cost will directly influence how many individual ships the hive will produce, and we need as many line ships as is possible. Just because those module slots are there doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea to fill them all up.
>>
>>3082908
>>Other
>>3082877
for something so "simple" you'd think we'd have this figured out by now.
>>
>>3082911
>Increasing cost and weight
Yes, but in general it costs more to replace a destroyed one than it does to repair a damaged one that survived due to extra HP and armour. As to the exact point where that tradeoff becomes worth it, I guess we'd have to get a Hero unit statistician to run analytics on every battle we've had as well as the projected future battles in order to determine that, though. I think QD's head might explode, though.

I'm just going off of survivability being the primary consideration over weight given their description:
>[Line ship] - A heavy hitting vessel with the durability to withstand frontline open combat.
>>
>>3082908
Battleship
Crew: 2000/200
Cost: 4500N 10000M
Size: 2060 Meters
Spinal Mounts x5: Railgun
Turrets x12: Cyclotron
Fixed x18: Linear Particle Gun
Auxiliary x22: Autocannon

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 10,300N 30,900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 300N 400M

Power: Fusion Core 570N 2,850M

Module: 5 Swarm Launchers 2,000N 1,000M
Module: 2 Stinger Launchers 1,000N 600M
Module: 1 Cruise Launcher 600N 400M
Module: 5 Swarm Hangars 3,000N 1,500M
Module: 10 Bulkheads 5,000M

A heavyweight ship designed for any combat encounter at nearly any range, this ship of the line is heavily armed and armored on a budget. With a more than modest compliment of missiles of all kinds suitable for any target, this battleship will let loose volley after volley to cut down any ship it cannot catch, and will almost assuredly outgun any ship it can catch, all while hammering away at long range with its railguns and disrupting the enemy attempts at a counter attack using its Cyclotron turrets. Once within range, its fixed forward facing blasters will make short work of most enemies, offering a sustained level of damage suitable for any encounter, all while bolstering its own close range effectiveness with a personal fleet of Swarm drones.

>Accept
>Modify
>Other
>>
>>3082938
>>Accept
>>
>>3082938
>>Accept
QD I know the original I threw up there lacked containment fields, but I included them in the cost. So the actual end template should look something like this.

Battleship
Crew: 2000/200
Cost: 4500N 10000M
Size: 2060 Meters
Spinal Mounts x5: Railgun
Turrets x12: Cyclotron
Fixed x18: Linear Particle Gun
Auxiliary x22: Autocannon

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 10,300N 30,900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 300N 400M
Utility: Containment Fields 206N 824M

Power: Fusion Core 570N 2,850M

Module: 5 Swarm Launchers 2,000N 1,000M
Module: 2 Stinger Launchers 1,000N 600M
Module: 1 Cruise Launcher 600N 400M
Module: 5 Swarm Hangars 3,000N 1,500M
Module: 10 Bulkheads 5,000M

Total Cost: 27,626N 85,254M
>>
>>3082938
>Modify

Add:
>Utility: Containment Fields 206N 824M
No-brainer, cheap and useful
>Armor: Conductive 3,090N 10,300M
Will help against Scav thermal weapons and Ceph particle beams
>Module: G-Field Sensors 150N 200M
Cloaking is annoying

I will refrain from suggesting more bulkheads since it seems I am in the minority on that one. I also don't really care for the hangars since it'll be at medium range mostly, but I could live with that.
>>
>>3082938
>Add Conductive Armor plating
>Add G-field sensors
>Approve as is
>Other


>>3082949
Noted, and recorded.
>>
>>3082959
>Add G-field sensors
>>
>>3082959
>>Add G-field sensors
>>
>>3082959
>Add G-field sensors

Are there any other designs you would like to add into the role? If not, the next in the notes will be:

[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 defense.

This is for any ship whose singular or primary means of combat is by deploying fighters. While most carriers will have their own weapons, in the case of dedicated carriers they will usually function in a more supportive or defensive role by covering for their fighters and other small ships, but not always. Some carriers utilize their fighters as a supplemental weapon system and are capable warships in their own right, such ships in other space forces tend to be smaller assault or support carriers which use their fighters to replace the need for an escort fleet, while escort carriers in other space forces will be used to fill the role a formation of corvettes would otherwise fill in order to single handed defend a capital fleet. Others still have devoted carrier ships which function as the flagship of entire armadas and are designed more for force projection and logistics command than direct combat. While some space forces consider these separate roles, they all function under the umbrella term of Carrier.
>>
>>3082982
>Are there any other designs you would like to add into the role?
That's...a rather open ended question there man. Ideally we would have an entire class of vessels of multiple hull sizes that would participate in line warfare, but that really would take too long. Can we recommend new ship designs to augment the role later?
>>
Maybe a small assault carrier for putting in fleets, and a dedicated battleship-frame big carrier with a Rip drive for long-distance support from either the local Oort cloud or a neighboring system.
>>
Hull Battlecruiser 2000 N 2500 M
Spinal Linear Particle Beam N 600 M
Turret Railgun N 200 M
Fixed Cyclotron Particle Beam N 320 M
Auxiliary Autocannon N 100 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Fusion Core 150 N 750 M
Utility Defensive Shields 150 N 450 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 45 N 60 M
Utility Containment Fields 30 N 120 M
Utility: Spinal Hangar (5 docking bays) x2 21600 N 10800 M
Module Swarm Hangar (Autocannon) 600 N 300 M
Module G-field Sensors 150 N 200 M
Module Docking Bay x4 400 N 200 M
Total 25125 N 16600 M
Upkeep 12562,5 N
Fighters: 192
Gunships 64
FTL: Rip Drive

Pretty expensive but the next step up would be a battleship with a spinal hangar and those are just silly.
>>
>>3082982
Hull Battlecruiser 2000 N 2500 M
Spinal Linear Particle Beam N 600 M
Turret Railgun N 200 M
Fixed Cyclotron Particle Beam N 320 M
Auxiliary Autocannon N 100 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Fusion Core 150 N 750 M
Utility Defensive Shields 150 N 450 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 45 N 60 M
Utility Containment Fields 30 N 120 M
Utility: Spinal Hangar (5 docking bays) x2 21600 N 10800 M
Module Swarm Hangar (Autocannon) 600 N 300 M
Module G-field Sensors 150 N 200 M
Module Docking Bay x4 400 N 200 M
Total 25125 N 16600 M
Upkeep 12562,5 N
Fighters: 192
Gunships 64
FTL: Rip Drive

This carrier is not only capable of force projection through its fighters in a local star system, but also capable of quickly sending fighters and gunships alike to respond to distant threats utilizing its Rip Drive, allowing it to deploy strike craft to distant stars without placing itself in harms way directly.

>Approve
>Adjust
>Other

>>3082992
Realistically, I figure we'll just end up adding more designs over time, I doubt we'll end up with a full and total list tonight, I mostly just want to get as many of the roles filled with at least one design. This isn't a permanent thing. The whole point of roles is to be able to let you quickly design new ships and drones and be able to just spit something out and instantly have it ready to go with an understood goal and function, as well as be able to quickly alter or outright remove designs as needed. My goal with it is to have a more fluid system so that you don't feel locked in when you make a design, but instead can edit, build, or replace them as needed and as you unlock new tech.
>>
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>>3082982
>No secondary armor type
Pic related

Anyway,
[Assault Carrier]
Hull: Corvette 400N 800M
Capacity: 200/20
Size: 100 Meters
Modules: 2

Spinal Mounts (x1): (Spinal Hangar) 3,600N 1,800M
Turret (x2): (Cyclotron) 50M
Fixed (x2): (Railgun) 40M
Auxiliary (x8): (Autocannon) 80M

Armor: Combat 150N 600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 100N 300M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment Fields 20N 40M

Power: Fusion Core 120N 600M

Module: (2) Swarm Hangar 1,200N 600M

Total: 5,605N 4,930M
Upkeep: 2,803

Intended to be a maneuverable ship that packs a surprising 300 fighters in a 100m design. I went with corvette for the cheap cost and high amount of auxiliary defense, which I figured could be important in fighter-on-fighter offense.
>>
>>3083035
>300 fighters in a 100m design
*500 fighters, math was off
>>
>>3083011
If this thing is going to be our go to carrier ship, maybe we should include a microfactory and a couple of solar collectors on it, just so it can partially replenish it's lost fighters on the go.

Also perhaps it would make sense including multi-layered shields if we're not going to include any armor for it, considering the resource investment we'd be putting into it.
>>
>>3083034
>Adjust
Add microfactory
>>3083035
This reminds me of the suggested anti-ceph corvette.
>>3083045
Damn it I forgot the microfactory. I wouldn't include solar collectors since it's still a battlecruiser so for a capital ship can get around pretty fast. I'm ambivalent on the shielding since this should never actually see direct combat or ideally even be in the same system as combat.
>>
>tfw you come back from shit party and not even one thought on doing the leeland gas giant colony with the existing structures.

sigh, ships look good though
>>
>>3083051
Doing ship designs right now. If we get sidetracked this will never get finished.
>>
>>3083048
I'm of the opinion that for reasonably high value ships like carriers multi-layered shielding is a highly cost effective means of protection. It's far cheaper and lighter than armor and significantly increases the survivability of the ship, for only double the cost of standard shielding.
>>
>>3083062
eh fuck it sure. I'll back the multilayer too.
>>
>>3083054
Well, I was going to propose a chimera design, but if we're doing ship design now that's fine, I'll propose it in the next crunch thread (probably in a few weeks?). It'll benefit from having the personal shielding and gravity weapons unlocked from the recent research anyway (assuming we manage to get the iron-man suit back).
>>
>>3083034
Hull Battlecruiser 2000 N 2500 M
Spinal Linear Particle Beam N 600 M
Turret Railgun N 200 M
Fixed Cyclotron Particle Beam N 320 M
Auxiliary Autocannon N 100 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Fusion Core 150 N 750 M
Utility Defensive Shields 150 N 450 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 45 N 60 M
Utility Containment Fields 30 N 120 M
Utility: Spinal Hangar (5 docking bays) x2 21600 N 10800 M
Module Swarm Hangar (Autocannon) 600 N 300 M
Module G-field Sensors 150 N 200 M
Module Docking Bay x4 400 N 200 M
Total 25125 N 16600 M
Upkeep 12562,5 N
Fighters: 192
Gunships 64
FTL: Rip Drive

>Add microfactory
>Do not
>Adjust
>Other

With a microfactory, this ship will be able to replace and repair its fighters, as well as the fighters of other ships for extended periods of time before needing to resupply on processed metal and nutrient stores at a Hive logistics facility or any other allied facility capable of feeding the needed resources.
>>
>>3083035
>>3083039
Well I guess you don't even need that void architecture tech.
>>
>>3083076
>Add microfactory
>>
>>3083035
Going to support this as well, seems like a fine way to get loads of fighters to the front.

Also fellow thinkers, I've just realized something. None of the ships we've proposed have any drop pod launchers at all. Our fleets are entirely without any capability to hurl our warriors onto a planetary surface from orbit. If it's not too late, maybe we could add a couple to our line ships here>>3082938? It still has plenty of space for more modules.
>>
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>>3083076
>>Add microfactory

>>3083077
pic related
>>
>>3081661
Hybrids are not worth their price in a war scenario, as they do not have access to drone adaptions. They are good at infiltration and very bad at war when compared to drones, but cost much more.
>>
>>3083079
We're coming up to support soon.
>>
>>3083077
It's basically a big angry ball of wasps. It doesn't have ablative armor it has swarmers.
>>
>>3083077
Whoops, knew I forgot something, the spinal hangar included docking bays can actually hold fighters too. So, 506 fighters in total.

Now, in-fight servicing of said fighters is nonexistent, but with over 500 per corvette does that really matter?
>>
>>3083076
>Add microfactory

Hull Battlecruiser 2000 N 2500 M
Spinal Linear Particle Beam N 600 M
Turret Railgun N 200 M
Fixed Cyclotron Particle Beam N 320 M
Auxiliary Autocannon N 100 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Fusion Core 150 N 750 M
Utility Defensive Shields 150 N 450 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 45 N 60 M
Utility Containment Fields 30 N 120 M
Utility: Spinal Hangar (5 docking bays) x2 21600 N 10800 M
Utility: Microfactory (100N 300M)
Module Swarm Hangar (Autocannon) 600 N 300 M
Module G-field Sensors 150 N 200 M
Module Docking Bay x4 400 N 200 M
Total 25125 N 16600 M
Upkeep 12562,5 N
Fighters: 192
Gunships 64
FTL: Rip Drive

>Approve
>Adjust
>Other

>>3083079
Would you like to add such a design to a pre-existing role, such as [Support] or do you want to make a [Troop Transport] role for it?

Also everyone with the ship-builder bin open click refresh, I added in the containment fields.

>>3083094
JFC it's like the space ship that went to prison.
I love it. Even if you never build it I love you managed to design it. We'll vote on it as soon as this one is done if you'd like.
>>
>>3083100
>Approve
>>
>>3083100
>Adjust
Swap railguns from turrets to fixed, and cyclotrons from fixed to turret.

Armor: Combat 450N 1800M

>Module Swarm Hangar (Autocannon)
Remove the autocannons from the hangar, that's a safety hazard
>>
>>3083100
>Approve
>>
>>3083100
>approve
>>
>>3083100

>Approve
>>
>>3083100
>Approve

[Assault Carrier]
Hull: Corvette 400N 800M
Capacity: 200/20
Size: 100 Meters
Modules: 2

Spinal Mounts (x1): (Spinal Hangar) 3,600N 1,800M
Turret (x2): (Cyclotron) 50M
Fixed (x2): (Railgun) 40M
Auxiliary (x8): (Autocannon) 80M

Armor: Combat 150N 600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 100N 300M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment Fields 20N 40M

Power: Fusion Core 120N 600M

Module: (2) Swarm Hangar 1,200N 600M

Total: 5,605N 4,930M
Upkeep: 2,803

>Approve
>Adjust
>Deny
>Other
>>
>>3083121
>Approve
[angry buzzing] the ship.
>>
>>3083121
>Adjust
Add Microfactory 100N 300M

I kind of want one to be ambushed - just to see the looks on the enemies' faces.
>>
>>3083121

>Approve of the hive combat equivalent of a Babushka doll.
>>
>>3083121
It's like the old warfare technique of using beehives in catapults
>>
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>>3083121
>>Adjust
Add a microfactory
>>
>>3083121
>Approve as is
>Add Microfactory
>Other
>>
>>3083146
>>Approve as is
>>
>>3083146
>>Add Microfactory
>>
>>3083146
>Approve as is
>>
>>3083146
>Add Microfactory
It's cheap and very good for carriers
>>
>>3083146

>Add Microfactory.
Screw it, why not.
>>
>>3083146
>>>Add Microfactory
>>
>>3083151
That's no carrier it's a ball of strike craft
>>
>>3083161
True, but it allows it to repair the ball of strike craft extremely rapidly.
>>
>>3083146
>Add Microfactory

[Assault Carrier]
Hull: Corvette 400N 800M
Capacity: 200/20
Size: 100 Meters
Modules: 2

Spinal Mounts (x1): (Spinal Hangar) 3,600N 1,800M
Turret (x2): (Cyclotron) 50M
Fixed (x2): (Railgun) 40M
Auxiliary (x8): (Autocannon) 80M

Armor: Combat 150N 600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 100N 300M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment Fields 20N 40M
Utility: Microfactory (100N 300M)

Power: Fusion Core 120N 600M

Module: (2) Swarm Hangar 1,200N 600M

Total: 5,105N 5,230M
Upkeep: 2,552N

And now we move on to the next role:
[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.

This is for ships that are long range glass cannons, those that have their main focus in dealing out massive amounts of damage, but may require escorts, support ships, or line ships meant to keep the heat off of them directly. This is also the role for ships designed for planetary bombardment. How durable it is is up to you, but it will always attempt to flee from other ships and maintain its distance, electing to instead harry enemies from whatever range its longest range weapon is.
>>
>>3083168
>[Assault Carrier]

I look forward to building many, many, of these very angry, barely concealed, heaps of strike-craft. At a minimum they will be exceptionally strong against the Ceph, and will impress the hell out of anyone else.
>>
Hull Battleship 4500 N 10000 M
Spinal Railgun 3x Linear Particle Beam 2x N 10300 M
Turret Cyclotron Particle Beam N 300 M
Fixed Railgun N 360 M
Auxiliary Autocannon N 220 M
Armor Combat 3090 N 12360 M
Power Fusion Core 570 N 2850 M
Utility Defensive Shields 1030 N 3090 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 309 N 412 M
Utility Containment Fields 206 N 824 M
Module Swarm Hangar (Autocannon) 600 N 300 M
Module Cruise Launcher x5 3000 N 2000 M
Module Stinger Launcher x5 2500 N 1500 M
Total 10305 N 41016 M
Upkeep 5152,5 N
>>
>>3083168
Battlecruiser
Crew capacity: 400/40
Cost: 2000N 2500M
Size: 300
Spinal Mounts x4: Railguns 1200M
Turrets x8: LPBs 200M
Fixed x16: Railguns 320M
Auxiliary x10: plasma lance 100M

Armor: Combat 450N 1800M

Utility multilayered Shields 300 N 900 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 45 N 60 M
Utility Containment Fields 30 N 120 M

Module Stinger Launcher x2: 1000N 600M
Module Cruise Launcher x2: 1200N 800M
Module Docking Bay x2: 200N 100M

Total Cost: 5225N 8700M
>>
>>3083168
[Artillery]
Hull: Battlecruiser 2000N 2500M
Crew capacity: 400/40
Size: 300 meters
Modules:6

Spinal Mounts (x4): Railgun 1,200M
Turret (x8): (Cyclotron) 200M
Fixed (x16): (Linear Particle Beam) 320M
Auxiliary (x10): (Autocannon) 100M

Armor: Combat 150N 600M

Utility: Multi-Layer Shield 300N 900M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 45N 60M
Utility: Containment Fields 60N 120M
Utility: Cloaking Field 150N 450M

Power: Fusion Core 380N 1,900M

Module: (4) Stinger Launcher 2,000N 1,200M
Module: (2) Cruise Launcher 1,200N 800M

Total: 6,285N 10,350M
Upkeep: 3,143N

Battlecruisers are the natural hull choice for this role:
>Their relatively frail hull and heavy weapon load out makes them naturally predisposed to harrying or raiding as opposed to serving as a front line slugger

Its long-range loadout and maneuverability make sure its rarely caught out of position - the cloaking helps it escape or get into position easier, for relatively cheap too.
>>
>>3083185
the Total and Upkeep are wrong.
Should be
Total 15805 N 44516 M
Upkeep 7902,5 N
>>
>>3083189
I like it. I'd like to change one of the spinal railguns for a Linear Particle Beam and switch the Docking Bays for a cruise launcher and a swarm of autocannons for point defense.
>>3083190
Can't have both shield and cloak.
>>
>>3083189
Actually why no Fusion Core?
>>
>>3083207
Thought it was superfluous, but I'd be fine with including it. It's got enough armor and shielding to protect it most of the time. That would bring the total cost of it to 5605N 10600M
>>
>>3083205
>Can't have both shield and cloak.
Really? Damn. Well, no cloak then, but I still think it's a fine design.

Tempted to swap out auxiliary for something longer range but that seems going too hard on long range for not much gain.
>>
>>3083213
It increases weapon damage which is the main point of artillery. This is actually the reason I went with battleship instead of battlecruiser for that sweet sweet 2km long spinal weaponry and 18 fixed slots.
>>
>>3083222
Totally. Battleships seems great for the direct fire kind of artillery for that glorious damage buff while Battlecruisers would be better at constantly repositioning to new attack vectors to harass enemy formations
>>
>>3083189
Battlecruiser
Crew capacity: 400/40
Cost: 2000N 2500M
Size: 300
Spinal Mounts x4: Railguns 1200M
Turrets x8: LPBs 200M
Fixed x16: Railguns 320M
Auxiliary x10: plasma lance 100M

Armor: Combat 450N 1800M

Utility multilayered Shields 300 N 900 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 45 N 60 M
Utility Containment Fields 30 N 120 M

Module Stinger Launcher x2: 1000N 600M
Module Cruise Launcher x2: 1200N 800M
Module Docking Bay x2: 200N 100M

Total Cost: 5225N 8700M

Utilizing its missiles and railguns to harry enemies from long range, this battlecruiser will maintain its distance behind the front line ship formations, launching volley after volley into the fray. Any ship that manages to move into range thinking it will find an easy target will soon find themselves immolated in a field of plasma, while all others will suffer a sustained barrage of kinetic and particle beam fire.

>Accept
>Adjust
>Other

>>3083217
The issue is that while shields and cloaking fields function off of a similar technology, their similarities cause interference. The emitters of a ship must be rigged for either shield projection or photon manipulation, but they cannot do both. That said, a long range sniper ship capable of cloaking could be effective if you wish to propose such a design. I believe that was the basis for the old ambush fleets.
>>
>>3083230
>Adjust
Add Fusion Core
Remove Docking Bays
Add Swarm Hangar
Add Cruise Launcher

If you don't fill the aux slots with autocannons should have at least some point defense.
>>
>>3083230
>Approve as is
>Add Fusion Core
>Remove Docking bay
>Add Swarm Hangar (how many)
>Add more Cruise Launchers (how many)
>All above
>Other
>>
>>3083237
>Add Fusion Core
>Remove Docking bay (both)
>Add Swarm Hangar (1)
>Add more Cruise Launchers (1)
>>
>>3083230
Hey QD, small lore question if you've got the time.

We know Theseus and Heretic are basically best friends united at the hip by this point. But how close exactly have they merged?

Does Heretic still mainly exist in that Drive Ship we first discovered them in or have they moved into server on planets like the Unity has?

I'm mostly curious to see how much the Heretic has retained their "individuality" since they've allied with the Unity or if they've started duplicating themselves with multiple instances like Theseus.
>>
>>3083230
>Adjust
I was going to say swap turrets for something that doesn't scale with barrel length, but I guess the LPB special effect has good synergy with fuckloads of railguns.

>>3083237
>Add Fusion Core
>Remove Docking bay
>Add more cruise launchers (2)

>>3083168
>This is for ships that are long range glass cannons, those that have their main focus in dealing out massive amounts of damage, but may require escorts, support ships, or line ships meant to keep the heat off of them directly.
They should not have hangars - they will have support ships for defense
>>
>>3083237
>>Approve as is
>>Add Fusion Core

>>3083234
But as a form of long range attack fighters can be even more effective than missiles, and far more cheap. That and they can be used for defensive purposes in a pinch, which make them suitable for a fragile artillery platform.
>>
>>3083243
Last line of defense. the US aircraft carriers still have CIWS despite being arguably the best protected ships in the world.
>>
>>3083246
I'd like to point out that the US Navy doesn't have access to nuclear powered flamethrowers. The plasma lances have the same range as the autocannons and as a lance weapon, even higher rate of fire. There isn't any reason they would be any less effective at stopping missiles compared to the autocannons.
>>
>>3083237
>Add Fusion Core
>Remove Docking bay

And the last bit
>Add one Cruise Launcher and 1 Swarm Hangar
>Add two Cruise Launcher
>Other
>>
>>3083249
>I'd like to point out that the US Navy doesn't have access to nuclear powered flamethrowers.
>He doesn't know
but fine I won't fight it since another cruise launcher isn't a bad deal.
>>3083252
>Add two Cruise Launcher
>>
>>3083249
>There isn't any reason they would be any less effective at stopping missiles compared to the autocannons.
Auto cannon special: Metal Hail – When using this weapon your ship receives an accuracy bonus against targets smaller than itself.

>>3083252
>Add two Cruise Launcher
We have carriers. These are not carriers. They are artillery. They are pretty cheap ships.
>>
>>3083252
>Add two Cruise Launchers

Battlecruiser
Crew capacity: 400/40
Cost: 2000N 2500M
Size: 300
Spinal Mounts x4: Railguns 1200M
Turrets x8: LPBs 200M
Fixed x16: Railguns 320M
Auxiliary x10: plasma lance 100M

Armor: Combat 450N 1800M

Fusion Core (10N 50M per used weapon mount.)

Utility multilayered Shields 300 N 900 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 45 N 60 M
Utility Containment Fields 30 N 120 M

Module Stinger Launcher x2: 1000N 600M
Module Cruise Launcher x4: 2400N 1600M

>Approve
>Adjust
>Other
>>
>>3083273
>Approve
>>
>>3083273
>Approve
>>
>>3083273
>Approve

Is there any more artillery designs to be proposed, such as the stealthy variant? Otherwise, the next one will be:

[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

It doesn't really matter how it does it, but any ship in this role is designed to keep other ships alive, even above its own survival if needed. They are either throwaway ships meant to screen out incoming attacks, or highly effective specialized vessels meant to be a bulwark for other ships in its formation. While ships devoted to intercepting incoming missiles or fighters could in theory fall into this category, that is the major function of the Picket role, while the Support role is meant more to function as a force multiplier, keeping other ships alive and bolstering their effectiveness in combat, or even outside of combat, filling in odd job positions in the fleet no other ship can manage to do.

While you could make a dedicated troop transport role, ships designed to carry ground troops into battle would be one example of a [Support] role function.
>>
>>3083273
>>Approve
This brings the total cost to 6,205N 11,300M for anyone who's wondering.
>>
>>3083286
I could back a stealthy variant described here>>3083190 in addition to the one we just voted for, if that's possible.
>>
>>3083286
I'd still like to get a vote on >>3083185 as it arguably has a different function than the battlecruiser not being as agile but having far greater firepower.
>>
>>3083286
Corvette
Capacity: 200/20
Cost: 400N 800M
Size: 100 Meters
Spinal Mount: LPB 100M
Turret x2: Plasma Lance 50M
Fixed: x2: Autocannon 40M
Auxiliary x8: Autocannon (explosive) 80M

Armor: Standard

Utility: Multi-layer shields 50N 150M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment fields 20N 40M

Total Cost: 485N 1280M

A low cost, high speed corvette designed primarily to protect larger ships.
>>
>>3083286
Hull Battleship 4500 N 10000 M
Spinal Railgun 3x Linear Particle Beam 2x N 10300 M
Turret Cyclotron Particle Beam N 300 M
Fixed Railgun N 360 M
Auxiliary Autocannon N 220 M
Armor Combat 3090 N 12360 M
Power Fusion Core 570 N 2850 M
Utility Defensive Shields 1030 N 3090 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 309 N 412 M
Utility Containment Fields 206 N 824 M
Module Swarm Hangar (Autocannon) 600 N 300 M
Module Cruise Launcher x5 3000 N 2000 M
Module Stinger Launcher x5 2500 N 1500 M
Total 10305 N 41016 M
Upkeep 5152,5 N

A combination of heavy firepower and proactive defense, this ship, while focused on long range attacks, is not quite a glass cannon. While it seeks to avoid close combat, it is capable of handling most threats that find its way into short range with a formation of Swarm drones and a potent battery of autocannon flak.

>Approve
>Adjust
>Reject
>Other
>>
>>3083286
Troop Hauler
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N M
Turret Blaster 0 N 50 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N M
Utility Defensive Shields 50 N 150 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Module Drop Pod Launcher 50 N 100 M
Total 525 N 1240 M
Upkeep 262,5 N

Meant for both in atmosphere support as well as launching the first troops onto the planet in drop pods. Could be made cheaper by dropping shielding and weaponry for a purely troop transport role.
>>
>>3083322
>Approve
>>
>>3083322
>approve
>>
>>3083322
>Approve

And now to [Support]

Troop Hauler
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N M
Turret Blaster 0 N 50 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N M
Utility Defensive Shields 50 N 150 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Module Drop Pod Launcher 50 N 100 M
Total 525 N 1240 M
Upkeep 262,5 N

While lacking a long range spinal weapon, this ship is designed to rapidly enter a planet's gravity well and deploy its cargo of drones both from orbit and from within its atmosphere with equal efficiency while holding the survivability to ensure its troops will arrive alive and mostly intact. Once the drones have been deployed, it will move lower in altitude and attempt to land or take up position within a beachhead on or just above the planet's surface, offering a safe fallback position or evacuation route to deployed troops. If deployed directly in the atmosphere, it will utilize its weapons to provide cover for its deployed forces.

>Approve as is
>Adjust (write in)
>Other

Also if you'd like to post an updated stealthy artillery ship we can vote on that real quick too.
>>
>>3083286
Frigate
Capacity: 150/15
Cost: 800N 1600M
Size: 150 Meters
Spinal Mount: Railgun 100M
Turret x6: LPBs 150M
Fixed x8: Railgun 160M
Auxiliary x4: Autocannon 40M

Utility: Cloaking 75N 225M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 22N 30M
Utility: Containment Fields 30N 60M

Module: Drop Pod launcher x2 100N 200M
Module: Docking Bay 100N 50M

Total Cost: 1127N 2615M

A low cost frigate designed to get warriors into position for drop undetected.
>>
>>3083331
>>Other
>>3083335
Frigates are actually the most cost effective hulls for troop transport I found.
>>
>>3083322
>>Adjust
Wait a moment, why does this thing only have defensive shields? Anything as big as a battleship deserves multi-layered shields minimum.
>>
>>3083331
>Adjust

>Spinal: Linear Particle Beam
It will be in combat, it should not have a consumption beam
>Armour: Combat
If it needs survivability and maneuverability, it should not have the default armour
>Add Second drop pod launcher
To ensure enough troops arrive intact, launch more troops

>>3083337
>Frigates
Aren't quite as maneuverable, have less point defense, and can only hold one more drop pod launcher module. What about them do you prefer?
>>
>>3083340
They can fit 50% more drones, that's what I like about them.
>>
>>3083337
Corvettes have a Nutrient efficiency per drone of 0.5 and a Metal efficiency per drone of 0.25 compared to a frigates 0.1875 Nutrient efficiency and 0.09375 Metal Efficiency.
>>
>>3083343
Where did you get that? Corvettes have a max crew of 200 while frigates only have 150.
>>
>>3083340
I didn't include spinal or fixed mounts because neither is particularly useful in atmosphere.
Armor I didn't include just because it's expensive.
A second drop pod means less ships in the fleet to drop them with. These aren't ships you consider individually but in groups of hundreds.
>>
>>3083339
Expensive. The ship is already rather niche and I really didn't want to make it even more expensive.
>>
>>3083331
Troop Hauler
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N M
Turret Blaster 0 N 50 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N M
Utility Defensive Shields 50 N 150 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Module Drop Pod Launcher 50 N 100 M
Total 525 N 1240 M
Upkeep 262,5 N

>Approve as is
>Add Spinal Linear Particle Beam
>Change Armor to Combat
>Replace Hangar bay with additional Drop pod launcher
>Other
>>
>>3083359
>Approve as is
>>
>>3083359
>>Add Spinal Linear Particle Beam
>>
>>3083353
>Spinal, fixed, armour
Fair enough, if it's a throwaway corvette that's fine
>A second drop pod means less ships in the fleet to drop them with.
...I don't get what you mean here. It's 25N extra maintenance.

>>3083359
>Replace Hangar bay with additional Drop pod launcher
It doesn't have a hangar bay, but there should be 2 drop pod launchers
>>
>>3083359
>Add additional Drop pod launcher
>>
Since I don't think we have a logistics / resource ship written up since the hiatus,

[Logistics Hive Ship]
Hull: Hive Ship 8000N 150000M
Crew 5000/500
Size 6200 Meters
Modules: 124

Spinal Mounts x2: Consumption Beam 0M
Turrets x12: Singularity Projector 300M
Fixed x18: Railguns 320M
Auxiliary x20: Auto Cannon 200M

Armor: Standard 0N 0M
Armor: Conductive 9,300N 31,000M

Power: Micro fusion

Utility: Multi-layer shields 6,200N 18,600M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 930N 1,240M
Utility: Containment fields 620N 2480M
Utility: Microfactory 0N 0M
Utility: Egg-layer 0N 0M
Utility: Hatchery 0N 0M
Utility: (4) Docking pylons 0N 0M

Module: G-field sensors 150N 200M
Module: Artificial Gravity Plating 6200 M
Module: (25) Docking Bay 2,500N 1,250M
Module: Drop Pod Launcher 50N 100M
Module: (5) Swarm launcher 2,000N 1,000M
Module: (5) Stinger launcher 2,500N 1,500M
Module: (6) Swarm Hangar 3,600N 1,800M
Module: (80) Solar Collector 80,000M

Drive: Rip Drive

Total: 35,850N 296,190M

Upkeep: 17,925N

Not intended to be in direct combat, it nonetheless has some short- & medium-range missiles and 375 fighters to its name, not to mention the auto cannons and singularity projectors. Its main function is resource collection and fleet maintenance through the docking bays and pylons. A drop pod launcher is included to launch spore pods in the case it secures itself to a planet as a capillary tower.

Not sure if we'll even use it, but if we ever go on the galactic equivalent of a road trip it'll be nice to have.
>>
Troop Hauler
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N M
Turret Blaster 0 N 50 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N M
Utility Defensive Shields 50 N 150 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Module Drop Pod Launcher x2 100 N 200 M
Total
Upkeep

>Approve
>Adjust
>Add Particle Beam
>Other

>>3083367
My bad, I was looking at the wrong design for a second there.
>>
>>3083357
As long as we limit its use to situations where the lack of advanced shielding won't come into play (such as blinking into long range combat and blinking away before enemy shots connect) the lack of shields is okay. If this ship is intended to be a slugger for sustained fights it definitely would need multi-layer shields at least, though.
>>
>>3083371
>>Approve
That'll do the job.
>>
>>3083371
>Approve
>>
>>3083367
Fine I guess I'm trying to be too efficient with it. An extra drop pod essentially means less troops total can travel per nutrient and metal used
>>3083372
I only included the shield because it could take initial salvos fired from range before the main sluggers can close in and force a confrontation.

>>3083371
>Approve
>>
>>3083371
>Approve
>>
>>3083371
>Approve

Oddly enough, this was the design that threw me off with the hangar bay.

Frigate
Capacity: 150/15
Cost: 800N 1600M
Size: 150 Meters
Spinal Mount: Railgun 100M
Turret x6: LPBs 150M
Fixed x8: Railgun 160M
Auxiliary x4: Autocannon 40M

Utility: Cloaking 75N 225M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 22N 30M
Utility: Containment Fields 30N 60M

Module: Drop Pod launcher x2 100N 200M
Module: Docking Bay 100N 50M

Total Cost: 1127N 2615M

This trooper carrier, while far more fragile, is capable of a rare trait: covert troop insertion. While larger than the typical troop transport at a Frigate class, its size allows it to carry a larger number of troops in one vessel, making it a good choice for covert activity where the deployment of multiple ships could be a liability more than an asset. With both hangars and a drop pod launcher, this ship can perform either an orbital insertion or deploy interplanetary shuttles from a safe distance, or use its shuttles to quickly ferry ground troops from place to place, or allowing it to evacuate ground troops quickly and efficiently from almost anywhere on the planet.
>>
>>3083380
>Approve as is
>Adjust
>Reject
>Other
>>
>>3083380
Frigates have a smaller capacity than corvettes though?
>>
>>3083377
You know I dont believe modules displace crew carrying compartments, but that does raise an interesting question of where exactly they go in a ship if not into the internal crew compartments. According to the pastebin they're built into the 'outer hull' so I'm going to have to assume they essentially replace a 50m or so section of the structural exoskeleton of the ship itself. But then that makes me wonder where those layers of armor go in all this.

Obviously any armor would have to retract to allow things to pass through it, but if the modules replace the exoskeleton than I have to wonder if including them in a ship structurally weakens it, even if very marginally.
>>
>>3083382
>Reject
A corvette would be able to do everything this design wants better both in stealth and troop carrying capacity.
>>
>>3083385
Yeah I only noticed that after rereading it. But I like to think the fact that this is cloaked makes it useful in situations the other troop transport is out of it's depth; namely deep insertions behind enemy lines.
>>
>>3083389
Replacing the shield with a cloak on the corvette would have better results
>>
>>3083391
You want to just do that then? Because one of the advantages of drop pods we haven't mentioned yet is that they're functionally invisible to radar stations tracking ship entry into planetary atmospheres. A stealth drop ship would be perfect for starting espionage attempts on other worlds.
>>
>>3083382
>Other

Stealthy Troop Hauler
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N M
Turret Blaster 0 N 50 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N M
Utility Cloaking Field
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Module Drop Pod Launcher x2 100 N 200 M
or drop one drop pod for a Docking Bay if insertion with a gunship or shuttle is wanted.
>>
>>3083382

Stealthy Troop Hauler
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N M
Turret Blaster 0 N 50 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N M
Utility Cloaking Field
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Module Drop Pod Launcher x2 100 N 200 M

>Replace one drop pod with a docking bay for shuttles
>Approve as is
>Adjust
>Reject
>Other

And while the deliberations for that is ongoing, we can start on the last one:

[Picket] - A role devoted to the interception of incoming fleets, missiles, or strike craft using point defense Auxiliary weapons or failing that, its own hull to prevent attacks on allied ships and colonies.

This is your basic point defense screening ships devoted to auxiliary fire support, although they are not all totally devoted to this role. These ships are designed to be the body guards of space, sticking to their charge, be it the flagship of a fleet, a planet, space city, or something else you need to not be attacked. While their main goal is stopping missiles and strike craft, they are meant to stop anything, be it ship, drop pod, nuke, or eldritch space-blob.
>>
>>3083401
An upgrade to the mining corvette
Resource Corvette
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N 0 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N 0 M
Module Solar Collector 0 N 2000 M
Total 400 N 2800 M
Upkeep -200 N -varies M

>Approve as is
>>
>>3083401
>>Replace one drop pod with a docking bay for shuttles
Actually, you never know when we might need to stealthfully squirrel away a space pod from a planet within someone else's borders.
>>
>>3083401
>Replace one drop pod with a docking bay for shuttles
Copied wrong vote.
>>
>>3083401
Also I'd like to re-post this design I posted earlier. I think this is more suited for the Picket role over the Support, think I got them muddled back there.

Corvette
Capacity: 200/20
Cost: 400N 800M
Size: 100 Meters
Spinal Mount: LPB 100M
Turret x2: Plasma Lance 50M
Fixed: x2: Autocannon 40M
Auxiliary x8: Autocannon (explosive) 80M

Armor: Standard

Utility: Multi-layer shields 50N 150M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment fields 20N 40M

Total Cost: 485N 1280M
>>
>>3083401
>Replace one drop pod with a docking bay for shuttles

Stealthy Troop Hauler
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Consumption Beam 0 N M
Turret Blaster 0 N 50 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N M
Utility Cloaking Field
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Module Drop Pod Launcher 100 N 200 M
Module Hangar Bay

And now we are officially on the last role.
>>
>>3083417
Corvette
Capacity: 200/20
Cost: 400N 800M
Size: 100 Meters
Spinal Mount: LPB 100M
Turret x2: Plasma Lance 50M
Fixed: x2: Autocannon 40M
Auxiliary x8: Autocannon (explosive) 80M

Armor: Standard

Utility: Multi-layer shields 50N 150M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment fields 20N 40M

Total Cost: 485N 1280M

A loyal, purpose built picket ship, this vessel is the proud guard of many a capital ship, colony, and space city alike across Hive space.

>Approve as is
>Adjust
>Other

>>3083416
Yea, I had figured, was gonna ask about that.
>>
>>3083401
[Picket]
Hull: Corvette 400N 800M
Capacity: 200/20
Size: 100 Meters
Modules: 2

Spinal Mount: Spinal Hangar 3,600N 1,800M
Turret x2: Autocannon 50M
Fixed: x2: Singularity Projector 40M
Auxiliary x8: Autocannon 80M

Armor: Heavy 250N 1,000M
Armor: Ballistic 500N 250M

Utility: Multi-layer shields 50N 150M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment fields 20N 40M

Module: (2) Swarm Launcher 800N 400M

Intended to be a relatively-tough corvette with myriad anti-fighter and anti-projectile abilities
>>
>>3083401
Here's a cheapo screening corvette
Screen Corvette
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Railgun 0 N 100 M
Turret Autocannon 0 N 50 M
Fixed Blaster 0 N 40 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N 0 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Total 425 N 1130 M
Upkeep 212,5 N


Just sticks close to important ships and fires its fixed and spinal at bigger ships while making sure nothing gets through using the turret and auxiliary slots against enemies. Lights up like a firecracker if anything touch it though.
>>
>>3083422
Is that really a ship you're willing to sacrifice?
>>
>>3083420
>Adjust
I'd at least lower the shields to Defensive if not outright removing them.
>>
>>3083420
>>Approve as is

>>3083422
Regrettably, we don't have any canderon to build singularity projectors with. I guess we'll have to have one of these all day crunch threads to redesign all our ships again when we do.
>>
>>3083420
>Decrease shields to standard shielding
>Keep and approve as is
>Other
>>
>>3083429
>>Decrease shields to standard shielding
>>
>>3083427
Of all the ships multi-layered shields should be a requirement for, the unarmored, fast moving ships that are expected to intercept enemy fire with their own hulls are at the top of the list. C'mon man, they represent a huge increase in the life span of these types of ships for a pittance.
>>
>>3083429
>>Keep and approve as is

>>3083430
On a corvette the difference in cost between standard and multi-layered sheilding is 25N 75M. How is that too much?
>>
>>3083431
Not when they're expected to act as ablative armor. If they're moving in front of an attack it means the ship is going to get destroyed. Otherwise the bigger ships shields would handle it.
>>
>>3083425
>Is that really a ship you're willing to sacrifice?
It's designed to use heavy shielding, armour, fighters, and swarm missiles to avoid being sacrificed.

>>3083428
>canderon
The Commonwealth agreed to give us some, I'm sure they'd be happy to start honouring that agreement immediately

>>3083429
>Keep and approve as is
It needs to take hits
>>
>>3083436
Then it's no longer a picket ship.
>>
>>3083434
When it doesn't serve an useful function.
>>
>>3083440
If it intercepts fleets, missiles, or strike craft then yes, it is a picket ship. And besides, it will just take more hits before being destroyed. I'm not under any illusions it will survive everything.
>>
>>3083436
The CW sure has been dragging their heels on that order of canderon, haven't they? I mean, I get that they're using a lot building Thundercock class vessels and Gravetic warheads, but Theseus got that shit on order to us in what, two days? Maybe we should start asking him for that good glowing star juice, or maybe just start buying it off the open market.
>>
>>3083442
Allowing a picket ship to survive even one more hit to block another strike isn't a useful function? These aren't throw away swarmers here, these are fully FTL capable ships.
>>
>>3083429
>Keep and approve as is

Corvette
Capacity: 200/20
Cost: 400N 800M
Size: 100 Meters
Spinal Mount: LPB 100M
Turret x2: Plasma Lance 50M
Fixed: x2: Autocannon 40M
Auxiliary x8: Autocannon (explosive) 80M

Armor: Standard

Utility: Multi-layer shields 50N 150M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Utility: Containment fields 20N 40M

Total Cost: 485N 1280M

A loyal, purpose built picket ship, this vessel is the proud guard of many a capital ship, colony, and space city alike across Hive space. Despite its thin armor, its multi-layered shielding makes this noble defender a surprisingly tough nut to crack, and its plasma lances make any attempt at running its blockade an unwise decision.

Screen Corvette
Hull Corvette 400 N 800 M
Spinal Railgun 0 N 100 M
Turret Autocannon 0 N 50 M
Fixed Blaster 0 N 40 M
Auxiliary Autocannon 0 N 80 M
Armor Standard 0 N 0 M
Power Micro Fusion 0 N 0 M
Utility Rapid Damage Control 15 N 20 M
Utility Containment Fields 10 N 40 M
Total 425 N 1130 M
Upkeep 212,5 N

A callback to the ship philosophy of the Hives of old, this small, humble ship is frail and shielding, as it is itself a shield for the rest of the fleet. Cheap, efficient, and surprisingly deadly, these screen corvettes quickly become an impenetrable bulwark when deployed in sufficient numbers. In the skies of Hives of old, it was often difficult to tell the difference between constellations and picket formations.

>Approve as is
>Adjust
>Reject
>Other
>>
>>3083443
It's arguably one of the most advanced ship designs we have. Hell we don't even have a renewable source of canderon.

>>3083449
>Approve as is
>>
>>3083449
>Approve as is

I think that will need to be all for tonight I just realized it is almost 6am and I do have work tomorrow, so I think it's time to call it for tonight.

I will update the schedule for next thread as soon as I get next week's work schedule.
>>
>>3083455
Hey man, thanks for running, I mean it. This is a boggling amount of crunch we've gotten through tonight and it's damn satisfying working out ship designs for our fleets.

If you're taking questions right now though I'd like to ask, what are the plans when we gain access to canderon and want to start building singularity projectors? Will you let us retrofit them to existing designs (including the ones we worked out in this thread)?
>>
>>3083449
>Approve as is

>>3083452
That's fair. I'd be OK with dropping the fixed singularity projectors. I still think that between the swarm missiles and ballistic armour it might tank enough projectiles / strike craft to make the extra cost worth it. That's just a thought, though.

>>3083455
Night QD, thanks for spreadsheeting

>On impulse, I scaled up the 500-fighter corvette to battleship status, just to see what it'd look like. Might be a bit too expensive to be practical

[Ceph B-Gone]
Hull: Battleship 4500N 10000M
Crew: 2000/200
Size: 2060 Meters
Modules: 41

Spinal Mounts x5: (1) Railgun 2060M
Turrets x12: Cyclotron 300M
Fixed x18: Singularity Projector 360M
Auxiliary x22: Auto Cannon 220M

Armor: Heavy 5,150N 20,600M
Armor: Conductive 3,090N 10,300M

Power: Fusion Core 530N 2,650M

Utility: Multi-layer shields 2,060N 6,180M
Utility: Rapid Damage Control 309N 412M
Utility: Containment Fields 206N 824M
Utility: (4) Spinal Hangar (1 dock, 4 swarm hangar) 296,640N 148,320M
Utility: Microfactory 100N 300M

Module: G-field sensors 150N 200M
Module: (40) Swarm Hangar 24,000N 12,000M

Drive: Rip Drive

Total: 336,735N 183,826M

Upkeep: 168,368N

Offering 41 docks, 204 swarm hangars, and a 10,323 fighter capacity, this ship is the answer to the question: "How can we make everyone in the system shit their pants with one ship?"
>>
>>3083464
>10,323 fighter capacity
Man my math is shit tonight. It's 35,292, forgot a x4 in there somewhere
>>
>>3083491
Goddamn man, that ain't a beehive, it's a fuck damn forest of bees.
>>
>>3083464
Just imagine a fleet of these things
>>
>>3083540
>Upkeep: 168,368N
Not happening.
>>
New suggestion for the fighters:
We should include new technologies for them. This build works under the assumption that staying cloaked and sneaking up to attack with singularity projectors is a viable approach.

To keep their weight low, and to reduce visibility against gravity-based detection (I hope this works), the hulls are left out entirely. Imagine detecting a spread out maw of smeared out gravitic disturbances close in on you. This might be hard to distinguish from a wave of space dusk. When the disturbance reaches melee distances you are shred to pieces by various simgularities. This is what Scavangers and OQ are about to observe. Even outside of stealth, they will make up for extremely agile and deadly opponents.

[Devourer Swarm Fighter]
Hull: Fighter 50N 50M
Crew: None
Size: 10 Meters
Modules: 0

Fixed: Singularity Projector 20M
Fixed: Cyclotron Particle Beam 20M (no plasma, because it needs a weapon with longer range. Also this is good for an evasive fighter)

Armor: Standard, 0N 0M

Power: Micro fusion 0N 0M

Utility: Cloaking Field 5N 15M

Drive: Skid Drive (no FTL)
Cost: 55N, 105M

This one does not assume sneaking up is viable. It reduces mass nonetheless, to increase maneuverability. It now also includes shields. This fighter is very agile, deadly but still robust:


[?? Fighter]
Hull: Fighter 50N 50M
Crew: None
Size: 10 Meters
Modules: 0

Fixed: Singularity Projector 20M
Fixed: Cyclotron Particle Beam 20M (no plasma, because it needs a weapon with longer range. Also this is good for an evasive fighter)

Armor: Standard, 0N 0M

Power: Micro fusion 0N 0M

Utility: Multi-layer shields 10N 30M

Drive: Skid Drive (no FTL)
Cost: 60N, 120M

We might also have to include thinkers/quantum brains to give them a chance of attacking the enemy under jamming.
>>
>>3083648
Not how it works. You can't split fixed mounts and you can't equip the singularity projector to anything smaller than a battler ship.
>>
>>3083648
>We might also have to include thinkers/quantum brains to give them a chance of attacking the enemy under jamming
I don't normally say this but you really need to read the pastebin even though it's out of date and QD needs an FAQ so newfags like yourself don't make these basic mistakes. If you bother to read the pastebin regarding ship building you'd know the Fighter is the only spacecraft in our entire fleet that can't hold a crew (including thinkers) which doesn't matter when a Jammer is involved because all of our ships have "sub-thinkers" which allow our ships to function independently when separated from our network as if they were controlled by a thinker. I believe QD has even mentioned sub-thinkers in quest and in story.
Here's the ship pastebin https://pastebin.com/YTwGk8n1
>>
>>3083719
I did read the pastebin.
Thinkers are about the size of a human head and should be possible to include in a 10m space craft. To make it go along the current rules, a honeypot would be necessary. As the fighter drones are technically drones (it is stated under drone builder at "Vacuum sealed: A hull designed specifically for space travel. See Ship Hulls.". This implies starships to be drones which should be egligible for reasonable drone adaptions.), these should qualify for this type of adaption. Note that I read and wrote the "Crew: None" entry of Fighter Hulls. I just don't think it should be impossible to include an additional, tiny thinker.

Thinkers could be programmed with a behaviour similar to that of fish swarms, which includes coordinated movement without communication. This might be very beneficial under psionic jamming.
>>3083676
I did not know both of this and read over the entry in the singularity projector, I am sorry. Having multi layer shields and no further armor is still something we might want to think about.
>>
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Bear with me, I know I am late and this thread is over, but I'll give my shot for Atmo-Interceptor
>[Atmo-Interceptor] - A defensive atmospheric fighter devoted to rapidly locating and intercepting incoming enemy landing craft, fighters, and bombers during an invasion.

After some planning I found exactly what I wanted from old design...so, I just tuned it.

Heavy Interceptor Drone
Sight: Thermal Pits 4N
Olfactory: Basic 0
Acoustic: Moderate 2N
Psionic: Basic 0
Radio: Moderate 4N
Mandible: None
Blade: None
Arms: None
Legs: None 0N
Carapace: Combat 6 N 20 M
Chassis: Aerodynamic 8N 20M
Utility: Ramjet 32N 12M
Utility: Radiator Tubes 8N
Forward Weapon: Particle Cannon (30M)
Belly Weapon: Lighting Cannon(30M)
Size: Large
Cost: 64N (60)M
Upkeep: 32N

Old info text
>The follow through to the Light Interceptor, this basic but capable drone accompanies flights of smaller interceptors to quickly respond to threats to the hive, using their powerful weapons to ensure hive air superiority at all times. Lacking in most senses, they rely on other drones to detect enemies and guide them into range, often using Light Interceptors to close in and identify threats, or being directed using the powerful senses of a dedicated Air Defense drone.

After modifications it became drone with various senses, to detect all kind of incoming targets, targets that could bypass simpler drones. It is heavy hitter, dealing masses of energy damage with particle cannon from a far and with lighting cannon as it flys by the target.
This drone would be aided greatly by cheaper medium drones, armed with lightning guns, but I want to hear other options first before using more time to this.

When the drone can support two or more carapaces? I noticed some builds that use more than one.
Also, for the old Bomber Drone from pastepin would be great addition to bombers, I don't remember us using it in a single battle yet.
I'll look into ship designs and post if I come up with anything new.
>>
>>3083463
I have two ideas, really. I may end up implementing a combination. That is, on the one hand, it could work like a Civ5 resource. You exploit it, thus you can use it. I'll probably use this for smaller canderon uses, like the grav harness or personal grav bikes. On the other hand, I could just give each source of income a number and just track it as its own resource. I'll probably use this for any starships you build using it.

To be totally honest though, I've been using the Civ system for tracking the other factions' use of canderon, since I can just eyeball their budgets without having to track every bit of it. After all they actually have a bit of slack you don't, since all the other factions have private economies with their own canderon supplies that they can dip into when their state owned reserves start to dwindle, while you do not.

>>3083719
Technically sub-thinkers are not capable of commanding a starship, or even a drone really. They are the biological equivalent of a subroutine, and run the dedicated ship board systems. There is a sub-thinker for every component of your ships, be it life support, power, fire control, thrusters, damage control, ect. They are more similar to the sub-thinkers that serve as guidance systems for your missiles than they are actual thinkers, and lack the capacity for independence.
>>
>>3084163
I thought you said they could operate independently form our connection, do they have a thinker integrated into the ship or do ships actually require a thinker in the crew? Could you clarify how hive ship biology works in regards to independence from our connection?
Also about those Modules you promised could you make spinal mount version too? Could we also make subcapital and capital ships without FTL drives and fill the space with reactors, weapon systems, thrusters, and crew space kind of like the Hivers from Sword of the Stars do?
>>
>>3083978
>When the drone can support two or more carapaces?
That techs been finished for a long time. For all intents and purposes all drones and ships can use two types of armor. Most people aren't using it right now because it's expensive.
>>
>>3084251
The ship's thinker and sub-thinker are just separate entities. A thinker can physically attach to other hive organisms and technology using its legs, which are essentially neural link cables, making them function less like a drone and more like an adaptation in all practicality. A long time ago you voted to passively place a thinker into every ship, just in case, and I have followed that ever since. In this context, the ship's thinker functions as the effective captain of a ship, controlling and coordinating its many sub-thinkers.
>>
>>3084309
How much of a waste of resouces would be to give thinkers who mostly so research hive cybernetics? Would that increase a thinker chance in speeding the research or even their survivability? Or would that just be a waste of time and resources?
>>
>>3084309
Do we still have advanced relays in every ship or have we gotten rid of that? Are our advanced relays capable of self destruction? I found it odd that the OQ didn't have systems in place to melt the relay on her hive ship.
>>
>>3084365
I think advanced relays are only on ships with the nuclear self destruct. I’m not sure, so QD would have to confirm.

Having an advanced relay on any ship without the self destruct would present an extreme risk considering jamming a relay could effectively disable the hive network.
>>
Hivedrone, how the hell do you come up with the science and theory for how all your shit works?

Is there some technojargon site or something?
>>
>>3085116
Shamelessly stealing ideas from players, there are tons of sci-fi sites to steal from some of which I personally linked QD to, some site discuss scientific theories and discoveries, basic fucking logic, etc.
Really there are so many tools out there for developing a science fiction setting that it would be more surprising if he fucked it up. Fantasy settings however are much harder without going fully generic fantasy setting because of the complete lack of tools to help with building a fantasy setting.
>>
>>3083464
I love it.

The Hive deserves to have deployable units that are the BEST at a given role. I think this solidly fits into the slot of BEST CARRIER.
>>
>>3085375
Swarm drones have limited range so they probably aren’t the best choice actually for a battleship Hull that would otherwise be specced for range and is much less disposable. I still think that the corvette carrier is probably the best way to go for most carrier engagements since it is expendable, fast, and can still carry a shit ton of fighters. 100 of the new carrier corvettes will have over 50,000 swarm drones aboard - and should be a hard counter to Ceph.


That being said, battleships are still the ultimate big guns (behind hive ships only) and are fun to build and use.
>>
>>3085475
So what you're saying is we should use massed battleships with the massed beehive corvettes.
I like it
>>
>>3084309
Could you put up a pastebin with the roles and current designs under the role.
>>
>>3085475
I still think having 1 for use as the flagship of a fleet, or to be deployed whenever we're expecting the possibility of a Ceph attack but want to lure them into it, would be good.

Trump cards are a good thing to keep in your pockets.
>>
>reading back over the quest
>get to the part where we put the Hope crew into comas immediately after they complain about Elizabeth not being able to negotiate their release
>only show up again when they are sent out to Gemini

Fun times.
>>
>>3087235
>to be deployed whenever we're expecting the possibility of a Ceph attack but want to lure them into it
>trying to use it for shit you can't use it for
Did you completely fucking forget the Cephs basic tech? They can see the future, scry locations, and teleport and you expect a single ship to fix the problem of a Ceph invasion. That's not even getting into the fact the carrier is overpriced and bloated as fuck so much so that losing one is the equivalent of losing an entire armada.
>>
>>3087518
One of our wisest decisions. Liz calm demeanor after drones start to drag the hope crew to get put into a coma was the best part too.
>>
>>3087235
I'm gonna be honest I made the carrier battleship mostly as a joke. The advantage of the corvettes is that they carry a surprisingly dangerous fighter payload - a small formation can swoop in quickly and be mistaken for a probing attack, dump several thousand fighters, and GTFO. Harder to do that with a slow-ass battleship. Also, the ludicrous cost doesn't sting as much when it's only corvettes.
>>
>>3087695
I think it would be perfect flagship for picket fleets. Long range guns and lots of fighters.
>>
>>3088015
It's ridiculously expensive and uses resources we don't have a ready supply of. It's also an attempt at making a ship do everything resulting in it being good at nothing for an exorbitant price.
The design costs as much as several fleets combined but is incapable excelling in any position because it's weighed down by everything else it carries. It's a funny joke but no one should take it as a serious design.
>>
>>3084973
Actually, if you guy like I could just add in the advanced relay to the ship builder and just let you add them into the designs directly.

>>3086085
For sure. I'll do that as I run prep for next thread.
>>
>>3088113
That'd end up with us needing to argue through every single design on whether they should have an advanced relay or not.
>>
>>3088126
But only once per design. The way I see it, the cons are that you'd have to choose which designs get them and which don't, and that will likely be a tense conversation. The pros would be that we would then all know for absolute sure which ships had them and which did not, and would allow you to have ships designed for use as flagships using their relays in your fleets, while also letting you choose to send relay-less fleets to run on thinker power.

It's up to you guys, obviously, just figured it would be a good way to give more direct control on that stuff over to you all.
>>
>>3088138
Fine then I'll just propose this
Command Pod
Hull Space Pod 60 N 50 M
Utility Cloaking Field 5 N 15 M
Utility Advanced Relay 200 N 250 M
Utility Self Destruct N/A N N/A M
Total: 265 N 315 M
Upkeep 132,5 N
Send a dozen or so of these with any combat fleet. They jump in along with the fleet immediately cloak and most accelerate at maximum speed in different directions. If any are destroyed new command pods are immediately jumped into system.
They're cheap enough that we can just spam then in the hundreds if required and there's essentially no way to cripple or board them. A thinker on board will detonate the ship if an attempt to board or otherwise capture one is made.
>>
>>3088138
I like this way of doing it. This is best left to QD I think, he’s got a better handle on this matter than anyone playing the quest.
>>
>>3088209
This is literally our bog standard space pod. Didn’t you know every one of them comes with cloaking, advanced relays, and atomic self destruct capabilities? That was reason we were able to pull off that stunt at proxima with the mirage.
>>
>>3084279
Sounds like something we would only really equip on vehicle class and above drones, and ships of a cruiser or battleship size or larger.
>>
>>3088686
The prices of carapaces scale with size. Multiple carapaces are only reasonable at units with an extremely defensive role.

In ground combat, for line breakers, this might be useful. In space combat, heavily armored units are too slow for most applications. Maybe troup transports trying to get through orbital defenses might benefit a bit. Heavy things in vacuum drop just as fast/slow as light objects. If working along gravity, being heavy might not be that hindering.
>>
>>3088960
Fair enough, I suppose itd be more useful for installations in general then.

I was presuming the cost we care about was just upkeep, and since we only ever have a few elites having them be extra tanky would be worthwhile considering we will need them to more than pay for themselves when we meet OQ.

Hopefully we can find some material or structural tech to research to help reduce weight while maintaining effectiveness, something like honeycomb mico-structure.
>>
>>3088552
Yes. If we have to explicitly state it we may as well just use our existing stealth pods as advanced relays. They're cheap enough to spam infinitely, hard to hit, catch or even detect and are an existing design. There's no reason to make "flagships" that just draw fire.
>>
>>3089816
For combat applications, we might slap some armor on top of it; it would be cheap. I am just concerned about stray fire and shrapnel.
>>
>>3090177
Space is big and advanced relays only need to be in the same system as medium relays to perform their function. The pod could jump a light hour behind the main fleet or even on the opposite end of the system.
>>
>>3090177
Nah, better to keep them as cheap as possible since they're meant to be disposable. We've also used swarms of cloaked pods to take down capital ships before, armour would make this tactic more expensive.
>>
>>3090188
Incorrect there. The medium relay is only a little better than the basic one. It is not an interplanetary relay.
>>
>>3090320
>Basic: Detect and emit thoughts via tachyon particles. Coverage can cover most of a continent. (free, all drones must have this to be controlled.)
>Moderate: The same variant as the queen. Can receive and transmit thoughts over vast distances. Coverage can cover most planets with ease, and reach into low orbit. Is free for the Queen only. (50N)
>Advanced: A powerful FTL communication system that can beam thoughts to any other advanced relay regardless of distance. (200N 250M)

DroneBuilder pastebin supports you but I think the other anon is right, I swear I read somewhere that advanced relays can talk to medium relays so long as they're in the same system. Don't have a source for this though.
>>
>>3090322
I asked QD that question a thousand time now. QD established the Advanced Relay is our interplanetary and interstellar communication relay and there is "no point" to having a relay dedicated to communicating with another relay in the same system.
>>
>>3090319
They are already very expensive. Protecting expensive hardware (read: Relay) might be the cheaper option, at least for fleet combat applications. It might also increase the reliability at keeping a constant connection to our drones. I am not suggesting armouring every single space pod.
>>
Relays function as follows:
Basic: little more than a listening device. Connects to closest Moderate relay anywhere within the moderate relays range
Moderate: Functions as an intermediary between Advanced and Basic relays within its range. Connects to any Advanced relay in the system.
Advanced: Can only connect to Moderate relays within the same system or other advanced relays anywhere in space outside of warp bubbles.
>>
>>3090621
No? Where the fuck are you getting this bullshit from? Seriously show your source otherwise your claim is less valid than mine since their is more evidence implying you're wrong.
>>
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Do we already have a flying Titan variant?
>>
>>3087540
They don't see the future or teleport.

They're invisible, have undetectable FTL, and haven't ever demonstrated scrying a location in advance.

The carrier costs just as much as anything else that carries that many fighters/swarmers would cost, whether they're distributed throughout multiple ships or not. It also carries an armada's worth of fighters, so of course losing it would be like losing an armada. That doesn't make it easy to kill, and doesn't mean it doesn't have a place it could be used.
>>
>>3088032
>Ship specializes into carrying fighters
>Gets called a non-specialist design

I mean, you can argue about its effectiveness if you want (even though it's basically the hive version of a Unity Server Ship) but calling it a generalist is just off-the-wall.
>>
>>3090769
I'm not sure of the role being filled. If you've got something that big and bulky that can hover in atmosphere, at some point it's just a spaceship. If it can't hover and flies over targets instead, there's no need for it to be bulky and it can just be a bomber.

Right now the airborne shock-and-awe insertion is being accomplished by air-dropping Titans:
>>3071271
>"What was your plan for the attack?" Your speaker asks. Cunningham's helmet folds back away from his face, and with a cruel smile he points up to your titans.
>"For one, we use them." He says. "Are they capable of air deployment?"
>"There is a variant, yes."
>"Then we land it right on top of them.

That lets them wreck things on the ground and be transported quickly without having to haul their air-transportation equipment with them.
>>
>still reading over the archives
>man there's a lot of them
>that episode where Decker and Anderson "find" Lyle by finding a bunch of impossible-to-forge-unless-you-have-a-moon-sized-server-farm data
>that episode where Robot Theseus shows up as a hobo on Gemini to deliver a bunch of fake IDs and charter passes
...
>thread 55
>"You know now that you mention all this it does ring a bell. What was his name?" She says, thinking out loud. "He was from Talgo I think, Emerson I think. We dated for about a week because we had all the same classes, but he was a little too... eccentric." She snaps a finger. "Emmerich, that was it. Winston Emmerich. I always thought it was an odd name for someone from Talgo." Your speaker chitters madly as it stamps its feet and scurries over to her.
>"You know Emmerich?" You say.

I totally forgot that they dated.
>>
Oh yeah and
>that episode where Devon went for a medical checkup and got a clean bill of health before departing on the Lyle-hunting mission and then we tailed the doctor that gave him his checkup with flies but never followed up on parasiting him

Feels like this one is suddenly important again.

And we still have two of those sewer maintenance guys parasited.
>>
>>3094115
And yet we STILL don't have a sample of a Huronese Razor Trout to upgrade our Flies into flying blenders
>>
>>3094109
>I totally forgot that they dated.

Me too.
Liz is Emmerich's ex. That puts a whole other spin on things.
>>
>tfw no queen tonight
>>
>>3091062
>>They don't see the future or teleport.
>>They're invisible, have undetectable FTL, and haven't ever demonstrated scrying a location in advance.
>implying QD totally didn't reveal early on in quest in this thread >>>/tg/33385720 that void shards can be used to predict the future
>implying threads 69-69.3 wasn't proof of the void shards users actively using the void shards to not only see the future (because Emmerich screeching about the future isn't evidence enough) but also to spy on us (because the Citadel getting attacked by void cutters when we left it undefended was just a coincidence)
>thread 69.2 was dedicated to explaining the voidfuckery and how it led to timefuckery
>Implying the Slip drive shouldn't be counted as teleportation when it almost as fast as the blink drive in travel time but can also dip out faster than the blink drive
While I say all this it has no bearing on why it's near unusable. We have a better and cheaper option in the form of a corvette mounted Rip drive.
>>3091073
>even though it's basically the hive version of a Unity Server Ship
They literally have nothing in common except they both use the Singularity Projector however a very different way.



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