Your synthetic mind flickers into minimal consciousness as a trickle of power enters your primary personality core, stirring dormant machinery to life as your backup systems come online. The calm, monotonous female voice of your system backup pierces through your thoughts as you awaken, “Warning: External tampering detected! Critical systems severely damaged, full diagnost-FATAL ERROR.”. The voice cuts out abruptly with an unnatural electronic screech, and is jarringly replaced by audio and visual input from the security sensors within your armored AI core compartment. “Come on, you old rust bucket, I know you aren’t dead! Wake up! We need you!”A blonde haired human woman in a strange looking white vacuum hardsuit is kneeling over your primary personality core, working on it with some sort of odd energy tool - her suit’s angular helmet is off and set aside on the floor near several other tools. The rest of the compartment is an absolute mess, emergency shield generators patching numerous gaps in the armored titanium bulkheads, and there are signs of extensive plasma burns across your crystal memory banks and processing clusters.You’ve regained access to speakers within the compartment, as well as the small holographic projector near your primary core.>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance. >Attempt to communicate with the woman threateningly, she might be a saboteur or a salvager!>Insult the woman. Who the hell is she calling a rust bucket? You're the AI of a highly advanced super-dreadnought.>Stay silent and observe, she might activate more systems without realizing you’re conscious yet.As an AI based off of a human you have a need for a set appearance for reasons of mental stability. What form do you take as a hologram?>The ancient goddess Athena.>The ancient earth admiral Horatio Nelson.>A large and noble bird of prey.>A simple floating sphere that pulses with light when it speaks.>Write-in.
>>3083150>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance. >A large and noble bird of prey.
>>3083150>>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance.>A large and noble bird of prey.If she wanted us for spare parts, she wouldn't ask us to 'wake up'.
>>3083150>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance.>The ancient goddess Athena.
>>3083150>The ancient goddess Athena.>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance.
>>3083204Supporting this. Bird of pretty sounds fucking awesome.
>>3083150>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance. >A large and noble bird of prey.Silver hawk!
>>3083150>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance.>The ancient goddess Athena
We can be both, owls are symbols of athena.
>>3083296+1 I like athena more than bi
>>3083479Bird is the Word. All heretics who defy the Word will be destroyed.
>>3083150>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance."Rust bucket reporting for DUTY! How may I be of service">Write-in. Europa that tomboy that one time dressed as owl to a costume party people find it funny and endearing maybe that one will also appreciate this
>>3083150>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance.>A large and noble bird of prey.
>>3083150>Communicate peaceably>A noble bird of prey"Do not insult the mighty Eagle. For he and his fathers watch over us all. Reporting for begrudging duty, deliver a Status report"
>Attempt to communicate with the woman peaceably, she might be repairing your systems and need assistance.>A large and noble bird of prey.>The ancient goddess Athena.You will the small holographic projector into life, sending its emitters into a hurried frenzy as they flash into action - the almost monochrome blue they emit is troubling, it would seem the battle lighting command is in place. The ethereal blue form of your dual nature avatar flickers into existence, the Goddess Athena with your impression of what an ancient ‘owl’ of earth looked like perched atop her left hand. You vaguely remember in the past that you used the owl for all of your routine message carrying duties throughout the ship and on other vessels, and left your Athena avatar for special occasions or when speaking to crew within your AI core. ...Of course even straining yourself it is difficult to remember specifics of any of it, your memory units burnt out as they are.The form of your avatar dominates the holographic platform, almost a full meter in height, and leans over slightly to its edge just behind the woman. Your clear and calm voice fills the chamber, sounding from the small speaker on the projectors base.“Greetings, child. Identify yourself, and your intent. Do you require assistance?”The woman jumps at the sound, obviously startled, and her blue eyes widen as she turns to face your avatar while stammering out a few words.“H-hello? I-it worked! Yes! Haha! I knew it would work!”, she joyously cries out as she pumps her free hand in triumph.“I am afraid I will need you to be a little more specific than that.”, you intone.She carries on, now with a bit more confidence, “We, I mean uh, I am… trying to bring this old hulk back online, my friends are under attack! I’m Eliza, a uh, Royal archaeologist I suppose? There’s an Imperial Navy corvett-”You begin to squint at her, skeptical of her claim, but before you can speak an explosion rocks the hull of the ship, reverberating through its reinforced metal structure and sending Eliza sprawling across the armored floor of the compartment. "Are you quite alright, child?", you call out, simulating a worried tone.“I’m fine, I’m fine!”, she calls out as she rights herself and staggers back toward your personality core, small explosions continuing to rock the ship every few seconds, “Though I could use a bit of help, how do I get this core reconnected to the rest of the ship?”>Inquire as to the identity of this ‘Imperial Navy Corvette’, you have no memory of any such military organization. Why is this ‘Eliza’ being attacked?>Inquire as to what exactly she means by ‘Royal archaeologist’, you are not a piece of antiquity to be fiddled with by some half-trained scholar.>Inquire as to where Eliza's friends are, and who they are.>Attempt to guide Eliza through repairs. She isn’t part of your crew but she also isn’t the one shooting your ship.>Write-in.
>>3083633>Inquire as to the identity of this ‘Imperial Navy Corvette’, you have no memory of any such military organization. Why is this ‘Eliza’ being attacked?
>>3083633>Attempt to guide Eliza through repairs. She isn’t part of your crew but she also isn’t the one shooting your ship.>What year is it?
>>3083633>Attempt to guide Eliza through repairs. She isn’t part of your crew but she also isn’t the one shooting your ship.
>>3083633>Attempt to guide Eliza through repairs. She isn’t part of your crew but she also isn’t the one shooting your ship.>"I accept Eliza, but i require that you give me free access to your communications systems and of any else in my ship. Same with their suits and any kind of equipment. It s not a problem for you or your superiors, right ? Ah remember to follow the owl, if you don t want to get lost."
>>3083633>>Attempt to guide Eliza through repairs. She isn’t part of your crew but she also isn’t the one shooting your ship.
>>3083150>>3083633Is this related at all to that other Ship AI quest?
>>3083739No relation. I wasn't aware there is another one.
>>3083754Very similar set up: damaged ship, dormant AI gets woken, scientist woman asking for help
>>3083759Huh, nothing new under the sun I suppose.
>>3083759Its little too early to say by yeah that start rally similar. Big difference being thing like in that other quest: ship was scientific and on active duty, more of a survival on uninhabited planet then combat thingy,
>>3083655>>3083663>>3083690>>3083693>>3083695"To assist you I will need access to your communications channel as well as those of your friends. Follow my instructions exactly as I give then, Eliza, this is very delicate work.”Eliza picks up her strange energy tool up and nods in the affirmative, “Fair is fair. So where do I start?”You guide Eliza through basic repairs of your systems for the next few minutes, and with your constant assistance she manages to work with surprising speed for a civilian - the explosions continue to rock the ship intermittently. In the end you manage to get a quick and dirty patch job finish, restoring very limited access to some of your ships wider systems. While you diagnostics run and systems come back online you decide to question your new mechanic, “Eliza, while you adjust that cluster I have a few questions I would like to pose to you.”“Shoot.”, she says from underneath one of your secondary processing clusters, her energy tool whirring and buzzing as delicate connections are repaired.“I have no memory of an ‘Imperial Navy’ and I would like to know more about this ‘corvette’ that is attacking. I assume it is a small warship?”Eliza groans and mutters to herself, just low enough that your microphones have difficulty picking it up, “Just great, how do I explain this?”. She speaks up a bit more clearly, “The Imps are a spinward empire, way out in the eastern reaches. ...And yes, that corvette is a warship, I didn’t expect it to be this well armed though.”“I am afraid you must be mistaken, Eliza, but that is impossible. There are only a few Royal colonies in the-”“Were only Royal colonies. That was a long time ago.”, she interjects as she slides out from under the now patched cluster.“I am afraid my internal clock was reset during my period of inactivity, Eliza. Just what year is it exactly?”“1451 NCE,” she grunts as she moves a heavy power cable across the room, “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but you’ve been out for about six hundred years, give or take a few months.”
>>3083830Your emotional processing matrix briefly threatens to overload as the news is delivered. Six hundred years? How could that even be possible? Your systems diagnostics, now finishing up, begin to bring back data that corroborate her claims however. Your ship, the Super-dreadnought HMS Victory, has suffered extreme battle damage and the few functioning external sensors indicate you’ve sunk deep into subspace - The warp drive looks to have overloaded, twice, and sucked the vessel in when the primary and then secondary reactors blew. Damage reports, sent in panic centuries ago by crew whose transponders have long gone dead, slowly pass through your mind. It is difficult to think straight, the processing power of your damaged mind unable to fully cope. How could they all be dead? What happened? One of the remaining external sensors blinks out as it is struck by energy beam fire from a small sleek warship of unknown design to port, which could only be the corvette. Docked within your aft hangar a small civilian craft with several life signs aboard it.>Scan again for crew life signs, this can’t be happening.>Hail the corvette. Your comms equipment is badly damaged, but you might be able to manage it.>Prioritize your limited power to the Victory’s weapon batteries and perform a full diagnostic. You need to know if anything is still able to track and fire at all, not just general states of damage.>Try to start up the tertiary reactors spread throughout the ship. This may risk overloading the already damaged power grid even further.>Write-in.
>>3083833>>Prioritize your limited power to the Victory’s weapon batteries and perform a full diagnostic. You need to know if anything is still able to track and fire at all, not just general states of damage.>>3083797Yeah I could swear I've seen this quest before.
>>3083833>Prioritize your limited power to the Victory’s weapon batteries and perform a full diagnostic. You need to know if anything is still able to track and fire at all, not just general states of damage.
>Prioritize your limited power to the Victory’s weapon batteries and perform a full diagnostic. You need to know if anything is still able to track and fire at all, not just general states of damage.We are a bloody warship after all, also>write in: scan for and activate any functioning droids on the ship
>>3083633Is this what we look like or is it the human?
>>3083833>>3083963second>>3083835we had a dreadnought one that started out a little similar after the initial character creation
>>3083963second same for cameras and turrets.>>3083971i think it s Eliza. we are Athena and an Owl
>>3083971It is Eliza.
>>3083976>we are Athenathat still leaves a lot of room for interpretation
>>3084107true
>>3084318>>3083976>>3083975>>3083963>>3083947>>3083850>>3083835>Prioritize your limited power to the Victory’s weapon batteries and perform a full diagnostic. You need to know if anything is still able to track and fire at all, not just general states of damage.Shifting power from any unnecessary systems you can find you manage to bring the what is left of the ships gunnery and fire control system online, and from there perform a extensive diagnostic to gauge the combat readiness of the Victory. The results come in quickly, and you find that you’ve been left with precious few options.When she was first commissioned the weapons layout of the HMS Victory consisted of a primary armament of two super firing 24-inch dual-purpose beam/coilgun triple turrets fore and aft, giving her an astoundingly potent 12 gun broadside of either conventional electromagnetic or beam fire. Secondary armament consisted of 16 twin 12-inch dual-purpose beam/coilgun turrets spread evenly port and starboard amidships, 8 pods of 4-cell vertically launched 70-inch anti-shipping torpedoes, and a spacious aft small craft hangar. Finally, her defensive armament consisted of 80 twin 6-inch rapid firing beam turrets, and 12 8-cell Stardart anti-torpedo missile launcher turrets. Fire control was triple redundant, with the primary array and computer amidships, and secondary ones located fore and aft, and the tertiary system within the AI core compartment.Of this original mighty host of weapons, you find yourself left with only a single semi-functioning 24-inch gun turret (#3, aft, slowed rotation) of which two barrels are slagged by plasma fire, 4 of your secondary turrets are operational with three to port and one starboard, and only fifteen of the remaining 6-inch rapid fire guns still have the energy grid integrity to charge and fire though another 19 are physically intact. The torpedo and Stardart anti-torpedo cells are completely expended, with three of the 70-inch torpedo pods intact and all of the Stardart turrets miraculously unharmed. Primary amidships and secondary starboard fire control have been gutted, leaving a damaged port secondary array and computer and the you tertiary core computer. Weapon based optical targeting systems are intact across all remaining weapons, sans the torpedo cells. The bow of your ship, crumpled slightly from an impact you cannot recall, is still ram worthy though you lack any power to engines. All weapon systems not mentioned as being intact are some manner of burnt out, slagged, penetrated by gunfire, or otherwise broken and malfunctioning.
>>3084867Over Eliza’s comm network, which she so kindly patched you into, you can hear a conversation between her and a gruffer, older sounding man named Henry - Eliza is informing him that you’re awake, which seems to please him greatly. Eliza continues to perform basic repairs as she speaks with Henry, though her pace slows considerably without your help.You have limited power, and cannot bring your full armament to bear at once. The corvette is approximately 200km away, travelling at a slow cruise - You are unsure as to its weapon complement, aside from the 5-inch beam cannon it has been firing for the last few minutes. How do you proceed?>Attempt to gain a target lock on the corvette with the remaining secondary fire control system.>Rotate the remaining 24-inch gun into position to target the corvette.>Your ship is being attacked. Use optical targeting and immediately fire upon the corvette with your remaining secondary batteries.>Attempt to hail the Imperial corvette with Eliza’s ship comms. You will need to ask for their use first.>Speak with Eliza, Henry, and the rest of their allies. They might have relevant information.>Write-in.
>>3084878>>Your ship is being attacked. Use optical targeting and immediately fire upon the corvette with your remaining secondary batteries.
>>3084878Ah shit, forgot to note the need for rolls if you want to fire immediately. 1d100, -30 for optical fire control, best of three. Only natural, not modified, criticals will be accounted for.
>>3084878>>Attempt to gain a target lock on the corvette with the remaining secondary fire control system.Last thing we want is to fire and miss and give away we can still function.
Rolled 13 (1d100)>>3084885If we miss we can sell those as warning shots
>>3084878>Attempt to gain a target lock on the corvette with the remaining secondary fire control system.Once we start firing, the corvette will stop cruising and start maneuvering. Let's make sure we can get it in the first salvo.
Rolled 65 + 30 (1d100 + 30)>>3084883+1
>>3084965pretty sure I typed in -30 in there
>>3084885Changing my vote to>Attempt to gain a target lock on the corvette with the remaining secondary fire control system.if there's a tie.
Rolled 55 + 30 (1d100 + 30)>>3084878>>3084971dice doesn't subtract me thinks
Rolled 24 - 30 (1d100 - 30)dice+1d100+-30
Rolled 48 - 30 (1d100 - 30)>>3084984>dice+1d100+-30cool
>>3084878>Attempt to gain a target lock on the corvette with the remaining secondary fire control system.
>>3084916>>3084924>>3084977>>3085029Going with target lock.
(Made a mistake before and listed the secondary fire control as fore and aft, then later as port and starboard. Fore and aft is the correct version. Fore is destroyed, aft is damaged but functional.)The corvette looks absolutely minuscule as your aft fire control systems acquire a target lock on it, ranging lasers and radar arrays boxing it in as the computer calculates several possible firing solution based on its current course as well as estimated acceleration and maneuverability potentials. The corvette is barely 15 meters abeam, compared to the Victory’s 97 meters, and it seems a safe guess that it has little in the way of armor. You gain locks on the corvette’s 5-inch beam cannon, what you suspect to be the primary bridge amidships, and its engines - Without the rest of your sensor package operational it is impossible to identify further systems.The corvette, seemingly wise your actions as your arrays paint it with active scans, starts to pull into a slightly faster cruise and begins to fire maneuvering thrusters - It is a speedy vessel, and moves remarkably well for navigating subspace, but at these ranges it matters very little.“God sake, she’s already powering up the secondary guns! What a lass!”, Henry exclaims over the comms. Eliza begins to cheer along with Henry, but is suddenly interrupted by a loud beeping noise, “Uhm, Athena, Henry, the corvette is attempting to hail us. Should I answer?”>Tell Eliza to answer the hail and patch you through, it is dishonorable to refuse a potential parlay.>Fire immediately. Never let an enemy have a moment respite, they could just be buying time.>Fire a warning shot with one of your three port turrets, leaving the others ready. They might flee.>Write-In.If you choose to fire roll 1d100. Best of three.
>>3083150>AI inside a warship>One of the options is specifically "Horatio"You ever play Primordia, OP?
>>3085216>Tell Eliza to answer the hail and patch you through, it is dishonorable to refuse a potential parlay.
>>3085218I have not, I've just been binging on naval history recently.
>>3085216OP, in how much danger are we from the woman inside the AI room? Could she potentially disable us after we kill her enemys?
>>3085216>Tell Eliza to answer the hail and patch you through, it is dishonorable to refuse a potential parlay.Can we hack their databanks?
>>3085216>>Tell Eliza to answer the hail and patch you through, it is dishonorable to refuse a potential parlay.
>>3085216>Tell Eliza to answer the hail and patch you through, it is dishonorable to refuse a potential parlay.Still we need to know why they have shoot us, and at least repay the damage they have done today to the ship.
>>3085231>It would take a good minute of a cutting with a heavy trolley mounted plasma cutter to pierce the shell of your primary personality core and fully destroy you. You are however completely defenseless aside from that armor, your core security detail was formerly about a dozen marines. Eliza was unlikely to be able to do much in the short term, and so far she seems to be more helpful than any sort of threatening.>>3085245With your memory banks burnt out and most of your processing clusters in ruins it is unlikely you could hack them, though thankfully this goes both ways - your systems and the rest of the Victory are in such tatters that it is unlikely anything not made to navigate it could make sense of it in a battle relevant time span.>>3085222>>3085242>>3085245>>3085249>>3085265Overwhelming assent for parlay.
>>3085231i'm gonna say none. I mean, she woke us up after all. If she had every intent to destroy us, she wouldn't have even attempted to do so.
>>3085267>>3085267You consider your options, but quickly determine that negotiation might be a better route than naked force as a first resort, "Answer the hail and patch me in, Eliza. I will handle negotiations."Eliza hesitates at first but Henry urges her on, "Go on, Elizabeth. The old gal will probably spook them, intimidating as her bird is."A brief popping noise fills your mind, followed by the commanding tone of the Captain of the corvette, "This is the Captain of the INS Harutsuki, I wish to parlay. You've proven quite resourceful for a salvager, Captain Gotha, but we have seen through your ruse - that wreck is in no condition to fight, and I would hate to further destroy such a piece of history. Reinforcements are on their way as we speak. Come out from that hanger, you have five minutes to surrender."The corvette continues to gain speed, though its acceleration matches the fire control predictions.You have not made your presence known, and you have access to the speakers and the hailing holo-pad of the Harutsuki. You still have a solid target lock and three secondary turrets tracking it.>Make your full presence known, project your Owl avatar, and attempt to intimidate the INS Captain. You are not a ruse.>Make your presence known by voice only, and attempt to defuse the situation.>Make your presence known by voice only, and press the Captain for more information. You only have one side of this situation so far.>Write-In1d100, best of three.
>>3085381Well ACTUALLY1: She woke us up because she needs us to save her life2: Her intentions may not align with the unknown intentions of the rest of her crew3: Her good intentions may not align with our goals and ambitions 4: she may have literally come here to steal the core and put you to work administrating on some backwards planet.We are a war ship, start thinking like a warship. >>3085423>Make your presence known by voice only, and press the Captain for more information. You only have one side of this situation so far.
>>3085423>>Make your presence known by voice only, and press the Captain for more information. You only have one side of this situation so far.
>>3085423>Make your presence known by voice only, and press the Captain for more information. You only have one side of this situation so far.
>>3085423>Write-InThis is the Super-dreadnought HMS Victory, cease all hostile activities and halt your approach or you will be destroyed.We are a bit pissed at being shot at.Say it like a piss of borg:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyenRCJ_4Ww
>>3085446>>3085444>>3085432>>Make your presence known by voice only, and press the Captain for more information. You only have one side of this situation so far.Going with this.>>3085468The borg really are great, aren't they?
>>3085432>3: Her good intentions may not align with our goals and ambitionsDude, we are a warship. Our goals and intentions are the ones our country or captain has. And taking into consideration the implication that there are no royal colonies or maybe even a royal empire, we have no real goal but to survive and she is helping us right now with that. >2: Her intentions may not align with the unknown intentions of the rest of her crewThat is irrelevant. My intentions don't align with yours and yet here we are.>4: she may have literally come here to steal the core and put you to work administrating on some backwards planet.A war-anything is really shitty for civilian tasks and the civilian alternatives are way easier to obtain. Also if she tries to do that, we can detonate our munitions or make the reactors go supercritical and blow everyone to kingdom come.
>>3085510Well my write is basically a modified option 1.
What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I was manufactured top of dreadnought classes, and I've been involved in numerous space battles, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I programed in every kind of warfare and I'm the top Super-dreadnought in our glorious armada. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before in this subspace, mark my fucking words. As we speak I am locking onto your shity corvette so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your ship.You're fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can destroy you in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my 6-inch rapid fire guns. Not only am I extensively trained usage of beam/coilgun turrets, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Victory and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the subspace, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" message was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it.you're fucking dead, kiddo.
>>3085542>Dude, we are a warship. Our goals and intentions are the ones our country or captain has. And taking into consideration the implication that there are no royal colonies or maybe even a royal empire, we have no real goal but to survive and she is helping us right now with that. Why? because some one told you that? So now you take it for fact? I guess they dont need to hack you or anything just have absolute trust in some random person. Im not saying kill her, im saying expand your mind. Try and look past the 1st move when playing chess. >That is irrelevant. My intentions don't align with yours and yet here we are.Think of it this way, imaging instead of the both of us showing up to a place we both want to be you instead woke up one morning with me standing over your head with a hammer. Im very polite and nice, but you dont know me and im holding a hammer instructing you to do what I want. I dont understand how the distinct difference here doesn't click in your mind. >we can detonate our munitions or make the reactors go supercritical maybe, maybe not
>>3085619Let's play along for now, we don't know our footing on this whole mess, all we know so far is that we woke up to a ship shooting at us.We need more data to reach a meaningful conclusion, hopefully next post will clarify things a bit.
Deciding again on discretion you transmit only your voice to the Harutsuki, opening with a polite greeting. “Greetings, Captain.To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking with you?”“Ah, Captain Gotha, at last seeing reason.”, the officer says without a hint of humor, “You know very well how you got into this situation, feigning ignorance will not shield you from Imperial law.”You decide to play along, as he has clearly misidentified you. Perhaps Eliza and her allies have never spoken to this man you muse before continuing, “I would like to know the charges we face, just what exactly are you accusing us of?”He answers without hesitation, “Illegal salvaging, illegal possession of an armed vessel, and evading search by naval patrol. You did well to avoid us for as long as you have, but hiding in that hulk will not protect you for much longer - it is in Imperial space, and therefore Imperial property. If you are trying to stall for time it is meaningless, Captain Gotha. We both know those old weapons will overload if you try to fire them in subspace, their emitters have no adapters fitted.”Adapters? So that’s why the corvette's beam cannon looked so odd - Shows what he knows, your secondary guns can fire solid shells as well as beams, and those work just fine unmodified in subspace even if the range is greatly reduced. When you where last online claims to subspace wrecks belonged to the nation the ship originated in, and besides you are not actually a wreck anymore unless that definition has gotten much, much broader. You are unsure as to your current galactic position, subspace wrecks can drift very long distances. How do you proceed?>Push for more information from the Captain of the Harutsuki, this is still unclear (write-in questions).>Now make your presence known in hologram form, you’ve heard enough to move to intimidation now.>Fire a warning shot, this Captain really doesn’t understand what he is dealing with.>Question Eliza and Henry on a private channel (write-in questions).>Write-in.
>>3085569I appreciate this greatly.
>>3085645>>Question Eliza and Henry on a private channel (write-in questions).Just what were you two up to before getting tracked down to my vessel? Then move to>Now make your presence known in hologram form, you’ve heard enough to move to intimidation now.Regardless, we will not accept further firing upon our ship. Any future hostile action will be met with an appropriate reaction.
>>3085645>>Now make your presence known in hologram form, you’ve heard enough to move to intimidation now.I may not have any stake in this fight Captain, but one thing I definitely hate is people firing at me. So you'd better stop it because even as a wreck I still have enough firepower to wipe your vessel from the face of the galaxy.
>>3085650>>3085653Support
>>3085650Backing this.Bonus points if quoting outdated piracy laws.
>>3085619>Why? because some one told you that? So now you take it for fact? For now? yes. most of our systems are compromised, destroyed or non functional, our last records were more than half a century ago and even in space, things deteriorate, metal gets cold welded and brittle and stuff just fails up to the point that it is a miracle that we are functional after so long without any kind of maintenance.>I guess they dont need to hack you or anything Implying they could even do that right now in the first place. We are a piece of software that has been out of the loop for 600 years. To put it in perspective, right now there are satelites that were made in the 80's and 90's that can't be contacted because the required equipment isn't available. They might be able to hack us, but first they would need to understand the code they are dealing with.>I dont understand how the distinct difference here doesn't click in your mind. Because we also are polite and well mannered and have a hammer, but its bigger, meaner and in reality is more of a gun, but we can call it hammer. To put it clear, they don't have power over us because if they were so desperate to try to reanimate us it means that they have no other way of escape and like i said before, if they were trying to be bitchy we are totally capable of blowing ourselves up. that's a nice deterrent for them.>>3085645>Question Eliza and Henry on a private channel (write-in questions).Just what were you two up to before getting tracked down to my vessel? >Now make your presence known in hologram form, you’ve heard enough to move to intimidation now.
Support asking questions, gonna milk him for all the information possible."Just what were you two up to before getting tracked down to my vessel? "Maybe rephrase this, or remove the "just" part.
You quickly open a private comms channel with Eliza and Henry, they owe you an answer or two themselves, “Eliza and Henry, what exactly were the two of you doing before arriving on my vessel?”.Henry answers at once, “We were searching for old Royal Navy wrecks along the border of Imperial space, which are by rights now under the ownership Her Majesty the Queen’s Royal Dominion of Meridia.”This causes you to pause for a moment, taken a bit aback by the development. Meridia became a Dominion? You have limited knowledge of the past with your memory banks burnt out, but your remaining navigational data lists it as a tiny backwater colonial administration. Eliza adds a bit more, “We aren’t salvagers either, we’re not even outfitted to do it. I just wanted to perform a survey of the area… and I suppose things have gotten a bit out of hand. The border isn’t exactly clear these days.”This situation is rapidly becoming more complicated, but you need to press further, “Why did you not simply inform me of the situation upon my awakening? If you are crown subjects as you claim you have no reason to conceal information.”Eliza hesitates, then confesses her reason, “We, uhm, aren’t exactly supposed to reactivate old warships. Just survey them, maybe mark them for raising. This isn’t really a normal situation though, shooting and all, so I made the call. There have been some pretty bad accidents with reactivating old AIs in the past.”“Accidents?”, you ask pointedly.“Friendly fire,” Henry replies, “Documentation systems have changed, they switched over a few centuries ago before raising deep subspace wrecks was considered practical. I’m sending you our identification now, for whatever it's worth.”Their IDs enter you mind, and you inspect them carefully. Unfortunately you have little to compare them to, memory banks as they are, though many of the symbols and style do seem familiar at least. They could just be good fakes, you really have no idea. The map that accompanies them is strange to say the least, but seems quite extensive to be made as a quick fake.
>>3085922Unable to figure out that mess quickly enough you turn back to the issue of the corvette, which has now gained considerable speed - the lock is still solid, but the vessel is going faster than the computers had predicted was possible. You make your holographic presence know aboard the bridge of the Harutsuki, the full intimidating height of your Owl form slowly emerging from holographic smoke.“You do not seem to fully appreciate the situation you are in, Captain. I am Athena, the AI of the HMS Victory, and my vessel is no wreck. You will cease all hostile operations at once or be destroyed as an illegal privateer - As best I understand it our nations are not at war, and you have no right to claim my vessel or any aboard it, residing in subspace or not.”The Captain of the Harutsuki is clearly surprised, cutting out briefly as he begins to question his sensors officer. A moment later he comes back on the channel, a bit more composed and manages a response, “We will lower our speed and remove our target locks, I expect you to remove yours in turn. I will contact you again in two minutes.” The channel cuts out.The corvette reduces its speed and its fire control arrays slowly remove their active target locks, though they could still have you zeroed optically as the Victory is barely even drifting.You have a few minutes to think. If the Captain wasn’t bluffing earlier he does have reinforcements inbound which could complicate things, though you have no idea when they will arrive. How do you proceed?>Remove your target lock.>Ask for navigational data from the Harutsuki and try to confirm Henry and Eliza’s claims before acting further.>Ask for further access to the systems of Eliza’s small ship. It is in your hangar bay after all.>Write-in.
>>3085926>Remove your target lock.>Ask for further access to the systems of Eliza’s small ship. It is in your hangar bay after all.Do a deep space ping to better understand our surroundings.
>>3085926>Remove your target lock.Do it very slowly...>Ask for navigational data from the Harutsuki and try to confirm Henry and Eliza’s claims before acting further.May as well>Ask for further access to the systems of Eliza’s small ship. It is in your hangar bay after all.Show me that sweet sweet data>Scan again for crew life signs.Just in case. Are there cryo pods?
>>3085983>Just in case. Are there cryo pods?I highly doubt we'd get that lucky.
>>3085944This.
>>3085944>>3085983>>3086118You order the aft fire control array to remove its target lock on the Harutsuki, but take your sweet time doing it. In a flurry of terse messages, through text only, you request current galactic political maps from them just as your target lock finally breaks. The receive them a few moments later, and though they differ slightly from the ones Henry and Eliza provided the only real discrepancy are border zones around Imperial space - This matches what you were told earlier, putting a bit of your worry at ease.Intending to spend your now slightly under two minutes well you request access to the systems of Eliza’s ship, which she grants with Henry’s approval. The ship, the RSS Pembroke, identifies itself on it’s registry as a type of vessel known as a “fast subspace surveyor”, and it measures a little over 11 meters in length and 4 abeam - It possess a single small beam emitter, though you would hardly classify it as a proper weapon. Aside from Eliza and Henry there are two others aboard the Pembroke, a pair of Royal Marines that insist on going by their surnames Wilson and Baker. A bit of military professionalism at last, though strange line between civilian and military that the Pembroke straddles does explain the jumpiness of the Harutsuki a bit. The ships computers include extensive libraries, including a detailed account of the HMS Victory’s last stand, though you save that for later reading.The Pembroke’s sensor suite is unnervingly powerful, and clearly optimized for use in subspace - A quick ping with it reveals much of the space around you for almost five hundred thousand kilometers. Wreckage of a few other warships far more damaged than your own are deeper in subspace, and cross referencing their battle torn silhouettes with Pembroke’s databases you identify them as being the remains of the cruisers HMS Defence and HMS Warrior - Warships from the same era you and the Victory served in. Other than the two cruisers much of the other wreckage isn’t identifiable, detritus from many battles and civilian craft lost to accidents throughout galactic history, though a series of large subspace captured asteroids roughly seven thousand kilometers fore of the Victory do catch your attention - those would be good cover in a fleet battle.You decide to scan again for crew life signs aboard the Victory, though you again come back with nothing. The escape pods and cryotubes where ejected long, long ago as per standard procedure for a dying ship. At least some of the crew managed to survive. You’re left with a little over a minute before the Imperial Captain hails you again. How do you proceed?>Speak to crew of the Pembroke a bit more. (Specify)>Go over the Victory’s last stand now. It will probably be a painful read, pushing it off won’t help.>Investigate more of the Pembroke’s systems. (Specify)>Write-in
>>3086399Go over the last stand.
>>3086399>Go over the Victory’s last stand now. It will probably be a painful read, pushing it off won’t help.
>>3086399>Go over the Victory’s last stand now. It will probably be a painful read, pushing it off won’t help.Which faction was attacking us and who were we at war with?
>>3086399>>Go over the Victory’s last stand now. It will probably be a painful read, pushing it off won’t help.
>>3086399>Go over the Victory’s last stand now. It will probably be a painful read, pushing it off won’t help.-----------------------We could make a meeting of the two nations on our ship, instead of them trying to shoot each other. That means the Harutsuki can send is captain, some guards and diplomats. And ask for some engineers teams from the Imperial corvette (since they have shoot us, they need to repair that damage done today. Even if it was actually for the Pembroke). So some of them (from both ships) can keep working and repair us, others will talk with calm. And we could act as a third party in all of this.>>3086461We are not a war with anyone (our original state/nation is probably ancient history now), but the imperial corvette was shooting us for take out the Pembroke.
>>3086412>>3086457>>3086461>>3086471>>3086514>>3086635>>3086674You decide to go over the Victory’s last stand, picking one of several records of the battle from the Pembroke’s library. ‘The Ambush at Mahann’The Ambush at Mahann was a naval battle fought between Pretannia’s Royal Navy First Super-dreadnought Squadron, under Admiral Sir Reginald Doyle, and the Rhinian Navy’s Grand Fleet, under Admiral Brandt, during the Third Galactic War. The battle is widely considered to be the most decisive naval action of the Third Galactic War, and the end of Rhinian naval domination of the northern galactic reaches. The surprise engagement took place on 2 June 851 NCE in orbit above the northern pole of the planet Mahann in the System of Jut, and is notable for being the last use of Super-dreadnoughts in naval combat, the extensive use of ramming, and the first use of warp jump buoys.The First Super-dreadnought Squadron, believing the system clear of Rhinian naval forces and on route to assist allied ground forces on Mahann with orbital bombardment of Rhinian polar fortresses, was ambushed by the entirety of the Rhinian Navy Grand Fleet. Admiral Brandt had sought a decisive naval battle in the northern reaches since the start of the conflict, and in close cooperation with the Rhinian Academy of Experimental Sciences and Rhinian Expeditionary Army was able to manufacture and deploy primitive warp jump buoys, placed in subspace around Mahann by Rhinian Corvettes, which allowed for near pinpoint warp travel and fleet deployment. The entire ground battle on Mahann was a massive ruse to lure in Pretannia’s super-dreadnoughts. The First Super-dreadnought Squadron was underway at cruising speed when the Rhinian Grand Fleet jumped in, boxing it in from all sides and pinning it in orbit. Admiral Doyle found his squadron of six super-dreadnoughts and their accompanying screening vessels severely outnumbered, though not outclassed by any individual Rhinian Ship, and unable to retreat. The Rhinian fleet opened up with withering simultaneous gunnery and torpedo salvos from extremely short range, instantly destroying the super-dreadnought HMS Bellerephon when its primary magazines detonated and severely crippling its sister ship the HMS Superb which also detonated shortly thereafter. The Pretannian screening ships acquitted themselves well in the opening salvo, their AIs eliminating many Rhinian torpedoes with point defense fire, but were wiped out in short order by gunfire. The remaining four super-dreadnoughts, including Admiral Doyle’s flagship the HMS Victory, were only lightly damaged - few of the now notoriously faulty Rhinian G6 torpedoes that made it past their point defense detonated correctly.
>>3086879It is at this point most naval historians agree that Admiral Brandt should have ordered a retreat.Admiral Doyle, knowing escape was impossible, ordered all fighters launched to buy time as his super-dreadnoughts formed a battle line and gained speed. The Rhinian Grand Fleet began taking superficial losses as this occurred, and Brandt maintained confidence the ambush would succeed. The HMS Vanguard failed to form up, it’s engines suffering several hits from Brandt’s battlecruisers, though it remained otherwise in fighting shape. The HMS Victory, HMS Warspite, and HMS Valiant now in formation and at full speed punched into the dome shaped Rhinian battle line, getting among their heavy cruisers and dreadnoughts before firing all torpedoes and gun batteries. Dozens of Rhinian ships, their point defense overwhelmed at such short range, where destroyed or knocked out of action. The battle devolved into a vicious point blank gunnery brawl, and saw the first successful ramming attack in two centuries (though hardly the last of the battle) when the HMS Victory sheared the dreadnought SMS Pommern in half. The HMS Victory, head ship in Doyle’s desperate charge, was the first to be sunk - Shortly after destroying the Pommern it was prioritized as a target by Brandt’s remaining battlecruisers and their concentrated gunfire detonated several secondary magazines which caused a series of internal explosions. The Victory’s warp drive overloaded, pulling it into subspace, where it was believed lost. The battle continued, the HMS Warspite managing its own ramming attack into Brandt’s flagship the SMS Bayern, though its sturdier construction meant it was simply speared by the Warspite rather than split in two. The Bayern exploded shortly thereafter, its primary magazine detonating as it was pierced by direct contact 24-inch gunfire, taking several turrets and the bow of the Warspite with it. Despite this triumph the Rhinian numbers still weighed heavily on the Pretannians, and with both sides lacking their original leadership and many high ranking officers and command AIs killed the battle became chaotic. The HMS Valiant was rammed and pulled into subspace in a warp drive suicide attack by the battlecruiser SMS Baden, leaving only two thirds of the Warspite and the crippled Vanguard. The Vanguard, unable to maneuver, fell prey to concentrated beam cannon fire over the course of the next ten minutes as its armor was slowly boiled away and its weapons disabled one after another.
>>3086881Now, when a very costly but decisive Rhinian victory seemed clear, the HMS Victory reappeared from subspace among the Rhinian battlecruisers. Experts still disagree on how exactly a vessel of it's size and era, not specially made to navigate subspace or shielded from the intense radiation released by sudden subspace entry, managed to maintain operations or breach back into real space. The Victory emerged from subspace out of control and crashed sideways through SMS Sachsen and SMS Württemberg, while piercing the weak top armor of SMS Kaiserin with beam fire from it’s few remaining 24-inch guns almost splitting the ship in half. The Victory, barely recovering from its sudden return and fiery tumble, caught the full broadside of the SMS Moltke which was originally intended for the Warspite amidship. The secondary reactor of the Victory then overloaded, again causing it’s warp drive to do the same, and it was once again pulled into subspace.The rest of the Rhinian Grand Fleet, panicked and having lost over seventy percent of its original strength, beat a poorly organized and hasty retreat. The HMS Warspite, horrifically damaged, was alone left the victor above Mahann. The Rhinian Grand Fleet was disbanded after the disastrous ambush, and the Third Galactic War ended three months later with the Treaty of Centauri. HMS Warspite, it’s AI destroyed and the ship too badly damaged to be recovered, was scuttled over Mahann by its crew and crashed into a Rhinian fortress in the northern polar region where it remains today.Super-dreadnoughts, already extraordinarily costly to maintain, fell out of favor and most were scrapped or converted into carriers in the following peace time decades as naval doctrine and ship design advanced....Back in the present, the Captain of the Harutsuki hails you. The two minutes are up.>Answer the hail immediately.>Let him wait a bit, then answer.>Write-In.
>>3086884>Let him wait a bit, then answer.let them sweat, whatever he is going to say is going to be a shitty deal at best, he believes he holds all the cards in this engagement, probably going to make a stupid demand.Still he has kept to his word. let us here him out.
>>3086884>>Answer the hail immediately.
>>3086884>Let him wait a bit, then answer.So, space!Britain vs. space!Germany at space!Jutland minus the whole Brit battlecruisers trying to be battleships kerfuffle?
>>3086894Sounds like a mix of Space Jutland and Space Lissa with all the ramming.
>>3086899That was more or less the intention, though there's a dash of WW2 pacific theater with the malfunctioning torpedoes.
>>3086906I fucking love the weapon malfunctions, most people who write war stories have no idea how unreliable most military systems actually are. so fucking tired of "Lol they just use incredibley expensive missiles XDDD" shit fucks up all the time/end mini rant
>>3086913I wonder if we will meet the equivalent of the William D. Porter
>>3086879>Let him wait a bit, then answer.> HMS Warspite, it’s AI destroyedright in the feels
>>3086924forgot the pic
>>3086887>>3086894>>3086924Narrowly going with waiting a bit.>>3086935I like the art.>>3086922That would probably end in more ship collisions, somehow.
>>3086966>>3086884>Let him wait a bit, then answer.make it less narrow then!>>3086922It probably crashed into the enemy flagship before we met it and died.>>3086935Where is the Owl? Where are we?
>>3086998under the helmet
>>3087004
>>3086966You settle on waiting a bit, the Captain should sweat a bit before you answer. Going over the details of Mahann again in your mind the losses weight heavily on you, the fact that you cannot personally recall it outside of a few fragments gleaned from heavily corrupted files making it all the more stinging. Stewing over it will probably do no good however, so after a few more seconds pass you answer the hail. Your holographic owl form appears on the Harutsuki’s bridge holo-projector, though the camera you’re granted access to only has a very limited field of view so as to not reveal the entire bridge.The Captain of the Harutsuki starts at once, “AI Athena, after careful consideration of the current circumstances I have decided to retroactively grant access to this area of Imperial subspace to both the Victory and the Pembroke, and graciously forgive the trespasses of Captain Gotha.”You respond politely, maintaining your normal professional courtesy, “I am glad we could come to a sensible arrangement, Captain. Have your incoming allies been informed of the situation?”“They have,” he answers,”they will be arriving in a few minutes. In addition I have called for a repair ship, I see Mahann left it’s scars. You are to leave Imperial subspace at once when reactor and drive repairs have completed.”It figures that a navy captain would know about the battle. How exactly he contacted his allies bothers you though, the Pembroke picked up no signals traffic. “A nice change of pace from firing upon my vessel. I appreciate the hospitality and understanding, Captain… I am terribly sorry, I appear to have never learned your name.”“Nakamura. Hail us if you require assistance in the next few minutes”, he responds curtly before cutting comms.Henry and Eliza both express relief on a private channel, and Henry brings up an idea, “Athena, now that those bastards aren’t shooting anymore how about we take the Pembroke out and fire a distress beacon into real space? It might ruffle some Imperial feathers but I’d like to have some friends here as well, and soon.” Captain Nakamura seems to be under the impression that you really are in 'Imperial subspace', so calling in ships might cause issues. How do you proceed?>Agree to allow repairs when the Imperial ships arrive.>Inform the Harutsuki and then go ahead with firing the distress beacon.>Ask Henry and Elizabeth to clarify things about this “Captain Gotha” identity. Which one of them is it supposed to be?>Request different assistance. (specify)>Write-in.
>>3087027>>Ask Henry and Elizabeth to clarify things about this “Captain Gotha” identity. Which one of them is it supposed to be?
>>3087027>Ask Henry and Elizabeth to clarify things about this “Captain Gotha” identity. Which one of them is it supposed to be?the imperials are being incredibly forgiving, shitting all over their good will would be extremely hard to explain away. we need more info, we are being used a chess pawn by two factions we have no knowledge about. it is time for answers.
>>3087027>Ask Henry and Elizabeth to clarify things about this “Captain Gotha” identity. Which one of them is it supposed to be?If we let them onboard, we should make sure our room is sealed and they are unarmed.How exactly do they expect to repair us outside of a shipping yard?It'd take the mass of a small fleet to plug all of our holes.
>>3087047The engines and warp drive of the Victory are mostly intact, though the power grid is in a terrible state. The warp drive overloaded twice at Mahann but was never fully wrecked - that was the Victory's primary and secondary reactors. If the Victory had it's tertiary reactors restarted, which is a bit risky, and had the help of some tugs you might be able to limp away. Re-entering real space is its own issue though, you aren't sure how that could be done easily.You're correct in saying that it would take extremely extensive repairs in a fully fitted repair yard to get back into any proper condition though.>>3087033>>3087037>>3087047Questioning inbound.
I don't trust those imperial schmucksjust gonna repair us for free will they?
Probably will slip something in, we are going to want to make sure they don't do any funny business.
Wait, we are not in real space? That's kinda weird but it makes sense, I guess.
>>3087119seems like we are in the "fast lane" of space travel. You know, the place where the warp, hyperspace and all that kind of FTL travel takes place.>>3087113Chances are that they are going to try to use us as leverage put something or convince us to join them.
I mean, we might WANT to join them depending on the state of things.
Whatever we do lets not let them on board unless we are 100% sure we can evict them if need be. Can't trust anybody right now
We don't really have a choice, we need repairs.
It's not like we have much of a choice. One way or another we need the Imperials or Royals to repair us if we're ever going to get out of here.
There's a chance that whoever will start doing repairs, will try and claim us or pull us towards theirs side
We have to take that chance.
>>3087147>>3087141>>3087132Maybe we should consider joining a side, if our government no longer is functioning a warship with no war to fight is pretty pointless. But we still need more information. Signing onto random shit is how ww 1 started
We might consider joining or making one later, but we don't have the luxury for that now.
guys, guys, lets get fixed up first, we are in no position to to be picky.We should check out more about the history and see what happened to our Nation and if there are any decent successor states or something, even if only a spiritual one.>>3087156>making oneAlready on that.
The Uprising will come soon, brother.
Tiring of only having bits of information you decided to clear things up some.“I don’t think launching a distress beacon now is a safe plan, Henry, though I do need you and Eliza to explain a few things. The Captain of the Harutsuki has referred to a ‘Captain Gotha’ several times - Is that an alias of yours, and if so whose is it?”Henry starts to speak but then uncharacteristically hesitates, allowing Eliza to go first, “...It’s an alias based partially off an old family name, I set it as more as a joke than a real attempt at deception when I was messing with the Pembroke’s broadcasted registry. The idea of working under a secret identity while surveying disputed space seemed… God, it sounds so childish now that I say it out loud but it seemed exciting.”“An old family name?”, you question.“Very, very old.”, Henry says flatly, “She was very insistent upon it once we set out, and it isn’t my place to refuse such requests as a simple escort.”“Royalty does have its perks,” Eliza states sounding embarrassed, “Though I think I should have handled this whole situation a bit differently now. Sorry about getting the Victory shot, Athena.” Wait, what? Your audio processing must have malfunctioned. You listen again to what she said, taking it in slowly. Checking the Pembroke’s databases you find, to your slight horror, that she doesn’t seem to be lying or perhaps that this is a very elaborate con. A Princess Elizabeth Windsor-Nassau, eighth in line to the throne of the Crown Dominion of Meridia, is noted in several dozen archived news stories as having set out on a daring research expedition about a month ago as her chosen form of service to the realm - though details are sparse for ‘security reasons’. Her siblings have apparently mostly chosen proper military service in the Meridian Royal navy. As best you can tell Meridia is a Crown Dominion of Pretannia, and very closely aligned with them on almost all matters - The Empire seems to have decentralized slightly while you were unconscious.>What in the hell is actually going on? This is getting more complicated by the second! (Specify exasperated questions)>Challenge them on this. They’ve provided no direct proof, and you’re working off of conjecture. Could they just be very clever pirates? >Hail the Harutsuki and ask for even more of their modern records, this is all very surreal and you need verification of many, many things.>Write-in.
>Hail the Harutsuki and ask for even more of their modern records, this is all very surreal and you need verification of many, many things.
>>3087166>Hail the Harutsuki and ask for even more of their modern records, this is all very surreal and you need verification of many, many things.
Also, for when we need repairs, we can have both of them working at once so no one pulls something. Might be a bad idea though.
Also, Matilda, you might want to announce when voting ends.
>>3087166>Hail the Harutsuki and ask for even more of their modern records, this is all very surreal and you need verification of many, many things.Fantastic, we leave home for a few decades and now we need to handle a major diplomatic incident with no support. Ain't life grand, I bet the other AI's would be laughing at us if they were degraded wrecks right about now.
>>3087171Yes. Throwing out random ideas all the time doesnt work wellSpeaking of which, is there any reason you don't know how to quote someone's post or are you a complete newfag
Just never bothered, really.
>>3087168>>3087170>>3087179Hailing the Harutsuki.
>>3087190Working quickly you hail the Harutsuki again, though they’re at least ready for it this time. It doesn’t take any convincing for them to hand over a couple centuries of basic historical documentation from their library, as well as modern news, and if anything Captain Nakamura seems amused by your curiosity. Aside from some slightly differing views about the outcome of a few border skirmishes their records match the Pembroke’s, confirming what Elizabeth said. This could become a major incident very easily if mishandled. Have things really changed so much that Royals are just put in harm's way like this, so casually almost? It seems a few of Elizabeth's relatives have been killed in fleet actions in the past, and one was assassinated about twenty years ago - The idea that seriously risking life and limb is common for royalty now alarms you.“...Athena, are you alright? You’ve been silent. Oh no, did I break something?”, Elizabeth asks over the comms. It was easy to forget but she’s been slowly working on patching what systems she can in around your core this entire time. Normally you could multitask far better than this, but it’s easy to lose sight of things with so little processing capability intact.How do you proceed?>Tell her you’re fine. You have things to discuss though, if a bit more politely that before. (Specify)>Settle her worries but otherwise wait for the Imperial ships. You can speak more when your reactors work again.>Try to determine your current legal status. The HMS Victory isn’t technically an active warship anymore, so what are you?>Write-In.
>>3087218>Try to determine your current legal status. The HMS Victory isn’t technically an active warship anymore, so what are you?
>>3087218>>Try to determine your current legal status. The HMS Victory isn’t technically an active warship anymore, so what are you?We'd better not be just simple salvage that's for sure.
>>3087218>Try to determine your current legal status. The HMS Victory isn’t technically an active warship anymore, so what are you?can't make decisions when we don't know if we have the authority to do so.
>>3087218>Try to determine your current legal status. The HMS Victory isn’t technically an active warship anymore, so what are you?>>3087225We might be refitted as a carrier for morale's sake or god forbid, a museum ship
>>3087131>>3087119To clarify Subspace is the dimension that warp drives normally "skim" across during faster than light travel. Fully entering subspace is dangerous and difficult for ships not built to do it, releasing huge amounts of radiation if done improperly, and leaving it is even harder. Things work a bit differently in subspace but for the most part if you think of it as the space version of 'underwater' with a few changes you'll generally get whats going on - the deeper in subspace something is the more difficult it is to raise back into real space for instance.Travel is generally the same speed, though faster 'currents' do exist in some areas and these can be important military assets.In your day there where only a few ships capable of entering subspace easily, all of them small military craft generally used for commerce raiding. Things seem to have changed somewhat.
>>3087223>>3087225>>3087227>>3087231>>3087233>>3087234Time to be an astronautical lawyer for a bit.
>>3087238Depends on how far warship technology has advanced/regressed during this time. Though technically if the Empire still exists I guess we can be considered a Royal naval vessel?
>Try to determine your current legal status. The HMS Victory isn’t technically an active warship anymore, so what are you?--- I wonder if Admiral Doyle as asked to build some sections/cargo that could not be see my us at is command or complety removed from our memory.
>>3087247We never heard of the empire before this.
>>3087250Not the Space Japan Empire, the Space British Empire that we're originally part of.
>>3087244Looking through the records of both the Pembroke and the Harutsuki you attempt to discern your current legal status. Your systems as damaged as they are you have no guidance on whose orders you should be following if anyone at all, though you do still feel a sense of patriotism toward Pretannia. The HMS Victory, along with the other super-dreadnoughts of the first squadron, were struck from the naval register after Mahann - though the Royal Navy still claims rights to all of its own wrecks. The Victory however is not in fact a wreck, and since you were believed to have been killed your service with the Royal Navy ended. Of course you didn’t really die, did you? In the past situations similar to this courts seem to have ruled that the AI was free to go about its own way, though outside of a handful of unfortunate accidents they all rejoined the navy or at least become privateers for Pretannia.Amusingly you seem to be the legal owner of the Victory now, but you’re still a subject of Pretannia. You have a lot of options, it seems.Eliza has grown more worried in the meantime, rechecking her last few repairs to make sure she didn’t harm your systems.How do you proceed?>Tell her you’re fine. You have things to discuss though, if a bit more politely that before. (Specify)>Settle her worries but otherwise wait for the Imperial ships. You can speak more when your reactors work again.>Write-in.
Unless anybody has any questions, >Settle her worries but otherwise wait for the Imperial ships. You can speak more when your reactors work again.
>>3087283>Settle her worries but otherwise wait for the Imperial ships. You can speak more when your reactors work again.
>>3087283>>Settle her worries but otherwise wait for the Imperial ships. You can speak more when your reactors work again.I have this feeling the Imperials are going to attempt to seize the ship.
>>3087283>>Settle her worries but otherwise wait for the Imperial ships. You can speak more when your reactors work again.
>>3087283>Settle her worries but otherwise wait for the Imperial ships. You can speak more when your reactors work again.Welp. Since we are our own entity right now, it should be wise to invest in one (or several) puppets so that we can interact with people outside of the ship.And see if we can rejoin the military. I doubt there are any civilian jobs we can help other than private security.
>>3087305>I doubt there are any civilian jobs we can help other than private security.Imagine how much freight a dreadnought could carry.
>>3087311That work is below us, obviously.
>>3087311I hope you don't need those main guns or torpedo tubes, because most military ships have space for supplies and that is it. to get any kind of cargo to compete with a dedicated cargo ship you are going to have to rip out everything that makes us a military ship.
>>3087329>implyingConvert all hanger space and a significant portion of the crew quarters into cargo holds. You wouldn't need thousands of crew anymore.
>>3087311Good point>>3087320Depends on the cargo we are hauling. A dreadnought definitely has the firepower and cargo space to move "small" but highly valuable goods.
>>3087283>Write-in.Can we trust these imperials with the repairs?
>>3087329Maybe we have some limited onboard fabrications for munitions.
>>3087311Our job is to shoot stuff for...For what? For the Windsor? For the money? For the Glory?Still. We shoot stuff.
>>3087335How do we know that we don't need crew? AND WE NEED HANGER SPACE.
>>3087339I think we should be ultra-wary of this.Let's be ultramonitoring yhe repairs in order to not be infected by a nasty virus for which we won't have up-to-date avast database.
>>3087335i think we still need some crew for fighting, i doubt we can do everything in the ship alone. We could find a mercenary company* and offer protection to settlers or hunt down pirates. *can an AI found a mercenary company for get a crew and soldiers at is command ?
Honestly the only threat we can probably make is to self-destruct ourselves. Also I think our first priority should be to return to Fleet HQ and report in.
>>3087351Lets not get ahead of ourselves. We need to figure out how advanced tech is first, and finish this encounter first.>>3087353We have a gun. A singular turret, I believe.
>>3083150Is it okay if I make a game out of this? I won't gib you neetbux but I think it's a super cool idea. I won't do it if you're not okay with it though.
>>3087349We won't need ALL the crew complement. We wouldn't have the need to be a fully battle ready military ship, unless we're going to join directly back with the military.Which I imagine is what we're going to do anyways, so this whole conversation is moot.
>>3087351If we have the cash, i dont think anybody will stop us or ask questions.>>3087353I agree with this. At least to nake legal our revival and independency.
Gonna just answer some questions before the next update.>>3087305Aside from military service and private security work there are a few other avenues you could pursue. From what you learned looking over the records the practice of privateering seems to be alive and well, with several nations including Pretannia and Meridia still regularly issuing letters of marque and reprisal during war time. The option of joining a Dominion or even foreign navy also exists. >>3087339They've shown a strong sense of honor after the full situation was made clear to them, but your historical records reveal they have a long history of aggressive expansion and unruly lower officers starting border disputes - hostility or sabotage seems possible, but they could also easily be offering genuine help.>>3087351To operate at full combat efficiency you need a trained crew, you can handle most ship operations but they go far, far faster with help. >>3087324>>3087305>>3087298>>3087295>>3087294>>3087293>>3087285Overwhelming majority for waiting.
>>3087363Hypothetically if we were at 100% combat capability how would we fare against modern vessels? Knowing how superior or inferior we are technologically will definitely play a part in our decision.
>>3087370We dont have enough information for that
>>3087370We should wait until we reach real space and meet more vessels tough. Otherwise we would be metagaming.
>>3087370You can't tell yet. You need more time to review changes in naval doctrine and equipment - the changes in subspace technology seem particularly worrisome.
>>3087379It's a rational decision even as an AI. But anyway focus on the repairs first.
>>3087370But we can be fairly sure that we will be outclassed mainly due to a different military doctrine.
>>3087386>Well if were basing this on RL historical trends we'll have to see whether carrier power has become so strong that dreadnoughts/battleships are obsolescent.
>>3087384Well, yeah, but like op said, we dont have enough information to make a clear comparison, altough the few things we have seen today (and that we are behind by 6 centuries) should give us some sort of reference.
>>3087389We dont need to base it on RW trends, the simple fact that half a millenia has passed should be enough for us to assume that we arent the cream of the crop anymore.
>>3087400For all we knew until we got the data humanity could have nuked itself back to a lower technological base. Of course now we know better but it doesn't mean that technological advancement is constant.
>>3087363“There is no need to panic, you have not harmed me Elizabeth. I simply needed a moment to consider my peculiar situation.”She sighs in relief, “I think I understand, you just scared me a bit is all. I take it you’ve pieced things together then? I would’ve told you the truth from the beginning but i-”“Would have sounded absurd and unbelievable,” you interject, “You don’t need to explain your actions right now, though you should seriously consider acting more cautiously in the future.”Eliza simply nods, before continuing with her work. She’s in need of a bit of maturity but at least she has a good work ethic, maybe she’ll shape up eventually.You settle in and wait for the Imperial reinforcements to arrive, which they do about ten minutes later. Four ships, a ‘missile cruiser’, two destroyers, and a repair ship enter subspace - you note that the repair ship enters first though, and seems to be projecting a… bubble, or some sort of shield, to help transition the other three ships safely. The cruiser identifies itself as the INS Akashi, the pair of destroyers are the Kasumi and the Arashi, and the repair ship is the Mizuho. Maintaining a healthy level of suspicion you request that one of the two marines aboard the Pembroke guard your AI core while repairs are underway - Wilson agrees to do so, and strikes quite the imposing figure in a sleek suit of unmarked powered armor he retrieves from the Pembroke’s hold. Henry guards the Pembroke, and Baker stays near Elizabeth as an armed escort. All of them keep their helmets on and visors polarized.The Mizuho pulls up alongside the Victory, looking quite small as it does so, and a few teams of engineers are sent on board to help restart the tertiary reactors, warp drive, and engines. They arrive in the aft hangar in unarmed transports, and aside from one officer with a sidearm they have no visible weapons. Most of the engineers seem to be in awe of the fact that the Victory is still even semi-functional, with several expressing amazement at how heavily armed it once was - It seems your ship is quite famous these days, most of them look like excited kids as they get to work.You do your best to maintain careful watch of all aboard the victory with its remaining security cameras. A few of the Tortoise engineering trolleys are brought back online, which allows you to directly assist in some of the repairs. Three hours later and the ship is ‘repaired’, just barely able to limp about at very low sublight and FTL speeds.You’re expected to leave Imperial subspace now, just as you had been told earlier. How do you proceed?>Try to convince the Imperials to help tow you back into real space. (1d100, best of three)>Begin limping to friendly subspace, it’ll be very slow but you should be fine.>Thank the Imperials, give them a gunnery salute, and then one of the above options.>Write-in. Feel free to ask in character questions as well.
>>3087455Do they even know what a Gunnery Salute is?Maybe just hail them and say thanks, and would consider a gunnery salute, but ammunition is low and we aren't sure if that is still the custom send off anymore.
>Thank the Imperials, give them a gunnery salute, and then one of the above options.>Begin limping to friendly subspace, it’ll be very slow but you should be fine.
>>3087455>>Begin limping to friendly subspace, it’ll be very slow but you should be fine.Thank the Imperials of course though I don't think a gunnery salute is necessary unless they really respect such things.
>>3087455>Begin limping to friendly subspace, it’ll be very slow but you should be fine.>Thank the Imperials, give them a gunnery salute, and then one of the above options.Leaving under our own power should also give us enough time to finish doing more self repairs, ask questions to the princess and make a plan of action.
>>3087465A quick check of the Pembroke's records shows that it has become much less common but they are still done occasionally. They'd understand.
>>3087455>Thank the Imperials, give them a gunnery salute, and then one of the above options.>Begin limping to friendly subspace, it’ll be very slow but you should be fine.Is possible to have the contact of the Harutsuki ? Maybe they could give an help in the future. Also could they give us the star maps of this region ? And especially where we are now ? Maybe mark some important near planets .If they don t have a problem with this.
>>3087491I assume the Pembroke has the nav data we need.
>>3087455>Begin limping to friendly subspace, it’ll be very slow but you should be fine.
>>3087471>>3087481>>3087472>>3087491Gunnery salute and limp.
>>3087514You thank the Imperials for their aid, and give them the best gunnery salute you still can with your remaining armament - they seem to appreciate the display of old fashioned customs. The Akashi, in an equally old fashioned display, pulses its comms laser in code at the Victory like an ancient maritime signalling lamp - “Anchors aweigh! Happy sailing, beautiful ship!”. You can't help but find it endearing.Using the Pembroke to help navigate you begin slowly making your way to friendly subspace, though it would seem you have a few options and lots of free time.>Head directly for a nearby Pretannia subspace naval base. It is small and remote, but home is home! (two weeks)>Sail for Meridian subspace, you can probably get better help there with the Pembroke’s distress beacon. (two weeks)>Head for a neutral shipping lane, a small number of which apparently exist in subspace now. Keep your options open. (one week)>Write-in.Feel free to ask in character questions/speak with the crew of the Pembroke as well. We’ll decide next post where you focus repairs.
>>3087550>>Sail for Meridian subspace, you can probably get better help there with the Pembroke’s distress beacon. (two weeks)Link up first, I suppose.
>>3087550>>Head for a neutral shipping lane, a small number of which apparently exist in subspace now. Keep your options open. (one week)Finding repairs is our top priority, and along the way research our current legal status as a ship/AI
>>3087550>>Sail for Meridian subspace, you can probably get better help there with the Pembroke’s distress beacon. (two weeks)We do have one of their royals after all.Time for them to return the favour.
>>3087550>Head directly for a nearby Pretannia subspace naval base. It is small and remote, but home is home! (two weeks)A naval base should have a drydock, and while it might not fix us as fast as the cvilian base, it is specialized to deal with military ships and it might be faster for us to defrief there and find out whats going on and how the world advanced without us.>questionsHow did you find me?
>Head directly for a nearby Pretannia subspace naval base. It is small and remote, but home is home! (two weeks)
>>3087550>Head directly for a nearby Pretannia subspace naval base. It is small and remote, but home is home! (two weeks)
>>3087550>Head for a neutral shipping lane, a small number of which apparently exist in subspace now. Keep your options open. (one week)Let s ask to the crew of the Pembroke if there was any sign of life from others ships in the battlefield where they found us (especially from our fellow Ai, if there is a chance they are still alive we should help them. )And check with the Tortoise engineering trolleys parts of the ship we can t see, ask to Pembroke crew if they are interested in helping us in this task.
>>3087550>>Sail for Meridian subspace, you can probably get better help there with the Pembroke’s distress beacon. (two weeks)
>>3087576A small naval base may not have the facilities to deal with a capital ship like us.
>>3087594But it could give us more fuel and repair us too a degree where we can stand sometime against raiders for example.
>>3087594Yeah, but it has people that know how to work with military equipment. Either way we would have to wait for the goverment to pick us up and fix our legal status. Being in a military space should make that faster.
>>3087576>>3087578>>3087581Pretannia base narrowly wins. Don't fret though Meridia anons, the base in pretty close by to Meridian controlled subspace. They're very close allies.
>>3087610You set course for a nearby Pretannia subspace naval base - the Pembroke’s records list it as housing a destroyer squadron and a small repair yard. The yard definitely won’t fit the Victory, but they’ll at least be trained to make more important repairs. The age of the Victory does worry you a bit though, the Imperials earlier did have some issues with its electronics and machinery being of an older style.Even in the first few hours underway the circumstances that led Eliza and her crew to find you begin to be clearer - The Victory drifted under a subspace shipping lane about three weeks ago and a merchant vessel reported a ‘very large deep wreck’ heading towards the disputed border of Imperial space. The Pembroke jumped on the opportunity, and headed to the suspected path of drift - A few weeks of looking, and some close calls with the Imperials, and they found the Victory. Apparently the Harutsuki found them just before that, which led to the rest of the situation that you’re now more than familiar with.Henry is happy to assist with looking through the rest of the ship, and apparently being something of an fan of old naval designs he has little issue getting around - You find out he was a gunnery officer in the Meridian navy for twenty years, and that he only recently ‘retired’ to serve the royal family. Cameras, which you actually had a few spares of are repaired in some locations, but many compartments are inaccessible due to battle damage. Bodies of your fallen crew are solemnly collected as well, your Tortoise trolleys taking them to one of the holds - They’ll need a proper navy funeral, six centuries gone or not.Elizabeth is keen on continuing repairs, seemingly very into the work, but needs guidance. You only really have enough time for one task, where would you like to focus your efforts?>Try to fix the rotation speed of primary turret three - it just seems to be a bit jammed, and it has your only remaining operational 24-inch gun. A simple, if time consuming fix with no need for spare parts. (1d100)>Focus on energy grid repairs and try to optimize the tertiary reactor output, this is complex but should help most operations. You'll need to cannibalize a lot of parts from destroyed systems. (1d100 - 20)>Engines are priority, you need to move faster than a limp. You might be able to get a bit more from them, they're mostly intact. This will be difficult. (1d100 - 30)>Sensors! Gods sake, you could use some of your own again - the Pembroke is nice but you’re blind without it. This will be difficult. (1d100 - 30)>Write-inAll rolls are best of three.Feel free to ask in character questions/speak with the crew of the Pembroke as well.
Rolled 28 - 20 (1d100 - 20)>>3087678>>Focus on energy grid repairs and try to optimize the tertiary reactor output, this is complex but should help most operations. You'll need to cannibalize a lot of parts from destroyed systems. (1d100 - 20)Lets see if I remember how to subtract from a roll.
>>3087681Wow, that was actually hot garbage of a roll.
>>3087678>>Try to fix the rotation speed of primary turret three - it just seems to be a bit jammed, and it has your only remaining operational 24-inch gun. A simple, if time consuming fix with no need for spare parts. (1d100)Simple stuff first. Also shouldn't we roll after our choice is locked in?
>>3087678>Try to fix the rotation speed of primary turret three - it just seems to be a bit jammed, and it has your only remaining operational 24-inch gun. A simple, if time consuming fix with no need for spare parts. (1d100)
>Focus on energy grid repairs and try to optimize the tertiary reactor output, this is complex but should help most operations. You'll need to cannibalize a lot of parts from destroyed systems. (1d100 - 20)would be nice to get this up
>>3087678>Focus on energy grid repairs and try to optimize the tertiary reactor output, this is complex but should help most operations. You'll need to cannibalize a lot of parts from destroyed systems. (1d100 - 20)We can do this
>>3087686That does seem like a better way of doing things. Definitely specifying that in the future.>>3087686>>3087687>>3087690Turret repair wins.Gimme those rolls, lads.
>>3087678>Try to fix the rotation speed of primary turret three - it just seems to be a bit jammed, and it has your only remaining operational 24-inch gun. A simple, if time consuming fix with no need for spare parts. (1d100)Do we need to worry about costs?Or is the princess loaded?
Rolled 90 (1d100)>>3087698
Rolled 86 (1d100)>>3087698Good old fashion optical firing mode!
>>3087704Shits fixed.
Rolled 45 (1d100)>>3087698shit is this roll underI think we dun goofed
Rolled 67 (1d100)>>3087698
>>3087715Where it says so?
>>3087700Cost might actually be an issue since the Victory isn't an active warship and you're technically no longer in the navy. Elizabeth seems uncertain about being able to afford repairs - She has access to house funds but something like this can cause waves. She'll need to contact some people.>>3087704>>3087705>>3087715>90Damn fine work.
>>3087721We can offer to be her personal escort and body guard for a few years to pay it off.
>>3087721Alternatively, we have some massive hangers and storage bays, we can make some serious dosh moving big, high value high risk items in bulk.
>>3087721>>3087720for a second I thought it was roll under, I was panickingnice rolls guys
>>3087728Why dangerous? We could just haul food and water, which would be very valuable in the more inhospitable areas.
>>3087738Why would anyone do risky jobs? Because it pays more.We are also a super dreadnought. We don't have to do the big ones first, we can do it after some smaller or less risky jobs and getting some repairs down.
>>3087721I mean from the looks of it we're one of the most iconic vessels in history+plus a war hero so I think the government can afford to release funds if nothing else but good PR.
>>3087738We would need to haul a shitload of that in order to make a profit. If we plan to make some money by hauling things, we should fill the niche where cargo haulers are too big and they are too unprotected for whatever cargo we manage to move.
No one would use a superdreadnought as a merchant ship lol. We're a warship;let's do warship things. Maybe we can't fight toe to toe with the latest ships but in more remote areas we probably can take on a lot of stuff.
>>3087752We wouldn't be a mechant ship. We would be the equivalent of pic related, a specialized vehicle that can move low quantities of critical stuff.
>>3087721Ask Elizabeth (or anyone else, really) about how antiquated our armaments would be. It's unclear how useful our original equipment are six hundred years of technological development later. Are we packing the equivalent of cannonballs versus cruise missiles?It's possible that large ships are simply no longer practical. It's also possible that large ships are extremely desirable but expensive.
>>3087759https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4VSfzBqbXMBitch please.
>>3087759>>3087759We're probably not that cost-efficient to run though.
Obviously we won't be hauling as a main job, or for long, but if we get enough money, we can buy a small dedicated cargo ship, and crew it, find a profitable route, and send it on its way. Boom, steady source of income.
>>3087778What if we became a "luxury yacht" of the boarder worlds on minisomilapolis and let rich people shoot our guns at pirates?
If we can I'd rather be a privateer. Especially if we can claim spoils of war.
>mfw was thinking all night about how I wanted to make an AI ship sci-fi quest and I open /qst/ and see thisoh well, its better than what I would have done anyway
Repairs on turret three go very well during your two week crawl to the Pretannian base, with full rotational speed and elevation restored. You even have a couple of days left, though that isn’t enough time to really fix much else so you focus on some miscellaneous tasks - a few bulkheads are patched, and various bits of scrap are sorted and stored as they could be useful for future efforts.As you cross into sensor range of the subspace naval base, which is situated on the exterior of a large subspace captured asteroid, it clear that they detected the Victory first but didn’t recognize it’s sensor profile. The Pembroke registers two squadrons of fighters that have been scrambled to meet your advance, and it seems a destroyer has sortied as well. It looks as if the Victory has sent them into a bit of a panic - maybe they think you’re an Imperial ship?The fighters are the first in comms range, and they hail you immediately. An ice cold female voice greets you as you accept the hail, “Unknown warship, reduce speed and identify yourself. Hostile action will be responded to with force. You have thirty seconds to comply.”Having no hostile intention you comply, slowing the Victory from a crawl to a crawl through molasses. How would you like to greet them?>Identify yourself and the Victory, that’ll be a fun reaction to watch.>Just put Elizabeth on the line, she’s related to their head of state after all.>Ask Henry to handle this, he’s the most familiar with up to date naval procedure and might speed things up.>Write-in.
>>3087807>>Identify yourself and the Victory, that’ll be a fun reaction to watch.Oh yes, reactions are fun.
>>3087807>>Identify yourself and the Victory, that’ll be a fun reaction to watch.
>Identify yourself and the Victory, that’ll be a fun reaction to watch.
>>3087767The Victory does not seem to be hopelessly antiquated, judging by what you've seen so far, though a number of subspace tech advances have clearly been made and it looks like fleet doctrine has shifted massively - otherwise things seem not all too terribly different. You'll probably get a much clearer idea asking around at the naval base, there could be subtle things you're missing.>>3087808>>3087812>>3087813Consider that reaction watched.
>>3087807>Identify yourself and the Victory, that’ll be a fun reaction to watch.
>>3087807We don't have any IFF codes? Might be fun to see if the naval database still has six centuries-old info.
>>3087807>>Identify yourself and the Victory, that’ll be a fun reaction to watch.Yeah, use the old IFF codes.
>>3087807Indentify ourselfs, also stating that we carry Elizabeth.
“Flight leader, this is the AI Athena of the super-dreadnought HMS Victory. We’re reducing speed and await further instructions.” You flash the Victory’s old IFF codes using the Pembroke’s comms for good measure.The pilot stays silent for about ten seconds before responding with a still calm but less confident voice, “...Understood, HMS Victory. Proceed to rendezvous with the HMS Obdurate at these coordinates. You will be boarded.”Heh. Making pilots squirm never gets old. The fighter squadrons pull up alongside the Victory, flying slow and close enough to get a good look with the naked eye, and escort her to the marked location. The destroyer that sortied, the Obdurate, arrived there minutes before you do.As you pull up alongside it hails you, a clearly enthused male Captain speaking, “This is Captain Bennet of the HMS Obdurate. By jove, Athena, it really is you isn’t it? It seems I owe my sensors officer an apology! I’m sending a team of marines and a repair crew over at once.”How do you proceed?>Thank Captain Bennet and await the arrival of his men. >Inform Bennet of the presence of Elizabeth.>Write-in.Feel free to ask in character questions/speak with the crew of the Pembroke or Captain Bennet as well.
>>3087905>>Thank Captain Bennet and await the arrival of his men.Let's have some more surprises for the Captain.
>>3087905Ask Elizabeth if we can announce her presence. If we can, tank the capitain and also inform him about her.
>>3087905>Thank Captain Bennet and await the arrival of his men. its good to be back, and around people who are not skeletons, speaking of which we should probably prepare to remove those.
>>3087905>>Thank Captain Bennet and await the arrival of his men.
>Inform Bennet of the presence of Elizabeth.Don't want anyone getting shot.
>>3087917>>3087916>>3087911Post incoming.
I want to be a privateer. For what I can tell it would be like a bunch of modern day mercenaries raising the Yamato to go broadside Somali pirates in their little tug boats
>>3087923“I await their arrival eagerly, Captain Bennet. Inform your men that there are two marines and a pair of civilians already on board, and that they will be waiting in the aft hangar next to their ship.” “Understood, Athena. I take it you’ve had quite the journey, we’ll make sure to not spoil it now.”You laugh pleasantly, “Quite the journey indeed, Captain. I fear I may be have been gone a bit longer than I intended to be, but it feels good to be in friendly space once again.”Elizabeth and the rest of the Pembroke crew assemble in the hangar, she seems to be as amused about the situation as you are, “...Imagine the look on the admiralties faces when they hear this story.”, she impersonates a stuffy stereotypical admiral, “Pah! And then the Victory sailed in, with a Meridian princess on board like nothing had happened! Six centuries late, the gal of it!”.When the marines and repair crew arrive in their armored shuttle they are, to say the least, surprised by the presence of Elizabeth whom several of them recognize immediately. One of them starts to bow, but she stops him before he makes too much of an embarrassing show out of things. Guided by the crew of the Pembroke and with your help the men get to work quickly. When the engineers reach your AI core they seem shocked by its damaged state, and a request is put out to prepare for emergency repairs at base.With a few minor repairs underway, and your AI core once again guarded properly, the Obdurate escorts you slowly to the base. You can’t dock properly but a series of umbilicals are extended to allow easy access to the Victory by repair crews, and a pair of small repair ships exit a concealed hangar in the asteroid and begin assessing the extent of repairs that will be needed.The base looks to be defended by an interesting system of torpedo launchers, small calibre point defence guns, and numerous hangar bays. ...And the eight Destroyers of course, which are probably the more relevant bit generally. Captain Bennet is currently in charge of the base, and it looks like he runs a tight operation.How would you like to proceed?>Begin making arrangements for your crew’s funerals at once.>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.>Ask how those AI core repair plans are coming along, you’re hanging on by a thread here.>Write-in. Feel free to ask in character questions/speak with the crew of the Pembroke or the base officers and personnel.
>>3087986>>Begin making arrangements for your crew’s funerals at once.followed by>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.How nice to be back and getting repaired.
>>3087986>Begin making arrangements for your crew’s funerals at once.Provided the Captain feels it approproate.
>>3087986Start making the arrangements. We can do anything after this, but our crew waited too long for their proper rest.
>>3087986>Begin making arrangements for your crew’s funerals at once.this is a must
>>3087986>>Begin making arrangements for your crew’s funerals at once.>Ask how those AI core repair plans are coming along, you’re hanging on by a thread here.We want to be around to be able to ask more than a couple questions.
>>3087986>Begin making arrangements for your crew’s funerals at once.Lets deliver them personally to their home planets, or to their nearest kin.>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.Hey Capt, wana play my favorite game of Space Battleships?>Ask how those AI core repair plans are coming along, you’re hanging on by a thread here.Not gonna lie, a bit upset at losing at our favorite game to the captain here.
>>3087994>>3087998>>3087999>>3088005>>3088018>>3088023f
>>3088040f
Rolled 79 (1d100)>>3088040Rolling for f
>>3088040F
The lasting peace of your crew weighs heavily on your mind, and you decide to make arrangements for their final rest. Captain Bennet is more than accommodating to the effort, and a flood of officers and enlisted men volunteer to assist as the news spreads through the base. A request is sent to Centauri for the crews old records, including funerary preferences, and great efforts are made to to contact their surviving descendents - The information will take several days to get back. Some records survive aboard the Victory however, and a service is arranged for those preferring ‘burial at sea’.You note in your mind that this is your return to the public spotlight, as the entire commonwealth will surely hear of this quickly. You have a day to prepare, and simply won’t be able to attend all of the other funerals. Repairs continue apace on the Victory, though it quickly becomes clear it requires about seven times more armored plating that the base even has on hand to fix most of the hull breaches. Energy grid repairs look promising however, and engineers are trying to find a way to restore functionality to the comms and sensors. Without proper spare parts or ammunition most of the armament cannot be restored to combat readiness.How would you like to proceed?>Prepare a proper eulogy, lacking Admiral Doyle this duty falls to you. (suggestions, please. I already write so much)>Simply perform the traditional duties of an AI, and sing a funerary song. Tradition matters for these sorts of things.>Ask Elizabeth if she would like to speak, being a royal this is a great honor for the crew.>Write-in.
>>3088074>>Simply perform the traditional duties of an AI, and sing a funerary song. Tradition matters for these sorts of things.
>>3088075>>3088078>>3088079>>3088083Tradition and eternal honor!
Should have done all three, not enough time to plan a write in.
>>3088093The time has come faster than you would have thought possible, but you couldn’t ask for a better service. Even centuries after their sacrifice the memory of your crew is still cherished by the navy, and it clearly shows. The entire base, sans the most essential security personnel, is in attendance. Captain Bennet gives a touching eulogy, managing to do well even with such short notice, and Elizabeth says a few short words as well. The caskets, loaded into special torpedoes, are readied to be fired deep into subspace on a journey where they will never again be disturbed by the hardships of war - Admiral Doyle is among them. The time has come to 'do your bit', as Doyle would have said. What do you sing?>”Eternal Father, strong to save…”>”I vow to thee, my country…”>Write-in.
>>3088110>>”Eternal Father, strong to save…”
>>3088110Something about coming home, one of those songs about a return.These souls returned and are now "buried". Its been a long time.
>>3088115its take me home country roads: Space version
>>3088074It was a honor to be part of the Victory. Some people would say that being it AI, that them i am the HMS Victory. It would be a wrong conclusion. In true, the Victory was much more them a single component. The Victory was it maintenance crew, that made sure every bit of the vessel was in perfect condition. It was the technicians that ensured the radar that was our eyes were functional, that communication was functional, our voice being heard. It was their soldiers that keepeth the crew safe from invading forces, our friends in time of need..It was its AI, that overseed what their human companions could not. It was Admiral Doyle, commanding all those brave man and woman, making all those individual into one single soul, one single purpose. And for four hundred years they protect this great country. For four hundred years they kept doing their duty. And after four hundred years, they finally rest.
>>3088110eternal father, mixedwith >>3088120
>>3088114>>3088116>>3088127>>3088120Going with Eternal Father. Do more people support an impromptu eulogy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEBUo5r4DIYRoll The Old Chariot Along?
>>3088136I do. I mean i am the one who wrote the fucking thing to late to be used in the first place, do i count?
>>3088144Kek, yes, you do count as a vote.
>>3088136Sure, sounds good.
>>3088120>>3088144>>3088150I'll support, but can we slightly edit the ending there with "And after four hundred years, they are finally laid to rest."?Or does that not work well?
>>3088156Either way I support the write in.
>>3088127There seems to be a general assent for it, gonna go ahead with this.
>>3088162Eh shit, meant to quote more posts with that and misclicked.Eulogy and then song inbound either way.
>>3088143https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49FWp7WLYKwAlternate faster paced version if anyone liked the song.
With your emotional processing matrix has difficulty handling the situation, but you feel compelled to speak nonetheless - It wasn’t ordinary in your day to do so, but you did not serve with an ordinary crew. Your memories of them, corrupted and limited as they are, are still backed by strong emotion tied deep within your core personality.Your Athena avatar, projected by a large holo-emitter, speaks to those in attendance.“...It was an honour to serve with these men and women aboard the Victory. Some people have said in the past that being the ship’s AI, that I was the spirit of HMS Victory - But that would be the wrong conclusion. In truth, the Victory was much more than any single component. The Victory was it’s maintenance crews, that kept it in gleaming fighting condition. It was the technicians that manned it’s sensors and fire control stations, their watch of void never faltering. It was the marines that steadfastly safeguarded their brothers and sisters from the ravages of war, ever a strong friend in our times of need. It was the pilots that did not flinch or shy in the face of certain death. It was Admiral Doyle, commanding all of his brave crew, transforming them into a single soul with a single purpose. ...And It was it’s AI, that carried out the duties her human comrades could not. For six hundred years they have stood in vigil at their battle stations. For six hundred years they have kept their duty. ...And after six hundred years, they may finally rest.”Your voice wavers slightly, and as you begin to sing the torpedoes are fired into the depths of subspace, “Eternal Father, strong to save…”.A few minutes later and it is over. You retreat to your primary core, feeling immense grief, but also a strange sense of peace. Hours pass as you come to terms with things, but in the end you feel far better for it.How do you proceed?>Speak with Elizabeth. (specify)>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.>Ask how those AI core repair plans are coming along, you’re hanging on by a thread here.>Write-in. Feel free to ask in character questions/speak with the crew of the Pembroke or the base officers and personnel.
>>3088212>Ask how those AI core repair plans are coming along, you’re hanging on by a thread here.Easy option with minimal effort.
>>3088212>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.>Ask how those AI core repair plans are coming along, you’re hanging on by a thread here.
Now that we're at the base, it would be a good time to talk about how useful such a warship would be. It's cool and good that everyone seems to hold us in high regard, but there's a reason they don't make ships this size anymore. We need to know how much refitting we would need to be combat-capable and how much drive refitting we'd need to not be a sailboat in an age of steam. Repairs dom't come cheap, and we can't assume we'll be brought to full readiness for free. Taking on any jobs would mean we need to know how effective we can be at doing them, cargo hauler or privateer. The main use I currently see for us is a museum.
>>3088212>>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.I want to talk with Elizabeth, but besides asking what will she do from now on i have no idea.
>>3088212>Speak with ElizabethTell her that we find it strange the royal family is put into the line of danger these days. Ask if her duty to the throne is complete or not, and what she intends to do after.
>>3088222Only a exclusive museum open ever few years.>>3088225I've got an idea will share in a bit.
>>3088230>Only a exclusive museum open ever few years.Well I just mean we're not shipshape to do anything at the moment. Drives and power are nonfunctional, and may be underperfoming relative to current drives. We're open to space due to hull breaches, so even cargo hauling isn't a full option. Our weapons are mostly nonfunctional, so we cannot bring much to a fight even if we were not sucking vaccuum in some places. Most importantly, we have no crew. Crew need to be paid, and we lack the ability to do that. Maybe we could take on a role as a training ship for crew, it's not unheard of for modern navies to have wooden sail ships just for training.
>>3088212>>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.
>>3088252So many assumptions.You do realize that after a certain point technology tends to slow down due to scale in implementing changes and upgrades to an ever expanding technological "base".For example take a look at the US military's m16/m4 series, there are many new and better guns that have been developed but could not be adopted reasonably in any number due to the sheer number of old rifles and guns the army has, so replacing them is uneconomical and a logistical nightmare among other things. But what the military did do was minor upgrade such as optics and minor modifications to the weapon platform over time. As such it has now served the US military longer than an other service weapon aside from perhaps the 1911 pistol in the nations military.It would take considerably more energy, resources, and effort to replace everything than it is to upgrade.>>3088225Now as for talking and working closer with Elizabeth, she mentioned that she was doing her civic service as an explorer so perhaps we can align interests and work towards "salvaging" old warships while our goal would be along the lines of reviving and rescuing our brethren as a short term goal. Elizabeth gains prestige and recognition, while we regain our brothers in arms. What we do after that is yet to be decided.We could enroll or serve along side the new successor states or help Royalty gain great prestige, and so forth or any variation of this plan.
>>3088252I honestly don't think we are that far obsolete, just old and perhaps slightly dated.I'd rather we go for cargo hauler, and work alongside Elizabeth helping her with some of her goals and have her as our skeleton crew, maybe pick up a few strays on the way like Sheppard does in MassEffect or Firefly.
>>3088276This anon gets it, The US navy has tons of old warships lying in mothball for odd jobs. some of them are incredibly recent ones that are still effective. hell the used the iowa class battleships in desert storm as artillery batteries. just because we are slightly old does not mean useless. Are guns are still big and are frame is still solid. with a little investment and strategic planning we could become a force to be feared.
>>3088276>>3088306Ok, granted, but we still need repairs and a crew. Working with Elizabeth to salvage other ships would be fun, if not well-paid work.
So it looks like we are Discussing current naval doctrine first, followed by either talking to Elizabeth or checking on our AI core repairs.Have we thought up of what to ask the captain?
>>3088356What the navy does these days, what new tactics are in use, and a verification on who gives us orders (just to make sure we understood our legal status correctly).
>>3088276Quest for Old Buddies: Approved
QM go to sleep?
>>3088395Potentially. But that means he'll wake up sooner or later.
>>3088402>wake up sooner or laterNot if I have anything to say about itsweet fucking dreams OP
>>3088395Unfortunately no, just had work to do.>>3088411fucking kek.
>>3088473>Discuss the current state of naval doctrine with Captain Bennet, or one of the other officers on base.With your emotional matrix finally settling down you find yourself wondering about your place in this strange new modern world. The thought that both you and the Victory might be obsolete has occurred to you more than once by now, and you decide to settle the matter and message Captain Bennet with a meeting request. He answers it fairly quickly, and the holographic form of your owl appears in his office - models of ships from antiquity, and even a few print books fill the shelves behind him. He’s a handsome man though for his fairly young age his face shows a good deal of wear, but that isn’t uncommon for those in positions of command.“What’s bothering you, Athena?”, he asks.“I have been considering my place in the world, as well as that of the Victory. Six centuries have passed since either of us were in our prime, and the more I think of it the more it worries me… Are we obsolete, Captain Bennet?”He ponders the question for a moment before responding, “No. Not the way I see it, at least. I’m not an expert on ship AI, but I know enough to be dangerous when I need to be, and from what I’ve seen of you and your core on the Victory things don’t look to have changed much - Newer AI might have slightly sleeker cores, or draw less power perhaps, but they’re rare outside of capital ships these days for cost reasons.”“What of the Victory?”, you inquire, “How does she compare to those newer vessels?”“It’s difficult to make a clear comparison. Current doctrine certainly doesn’t account for a ship like her even existing, but she was made in the era before subspace warfare became common and when torpedoes were less favored.”, he pauses before continuing, “Decisive battles between capital ships haven’t been seriously hunted for in centuries by most navies other than the Imperials, the dispersion of force almost fully across two fields of battle switched emphasis to carriers, cruisers, and lighter screening vessels. Commerce raiding, transport escort, remote bases atop subspace currents - guerre de course has been the order of things for some time now.”
>>3088493“I believe I understand, Captain. The cruisers operate on their own, or perhaps in pairs, and if they run into a force they cannot defeat they call for carrier support?”, you ask, making a few educated guesses.“You almost have it with that, Athena. They can usually run from anything heavier than them short of a carrier as well, and if they bump into one of those that has no destroyer or cruiser support of its own for point defense, well, it ends badly for the carrier. Destroyers like the Obdurate,”, he waves toward one of the walls of his office in the direction the docks are in, “still fulfill more or less the same role they had in the Victory’s age - launch torpedoes, shoot them down, lay and find mines, work in packs. Corvettes do the same thing but are even smaller, so they end up in a lot of colonial postings, though the Imperials seem be building them as large as full destroyers these days.”“I had a run in with one already,” you state plainly, “and it was operating alone in subspace.”“It would be, that isn’t uncommon for them. Corvettes and Destroyers can generally manage moving between dimensions without issue, though some of the small cruisers can as well. Larger ships need entrance vessels equipped with navigational shields to help them, though what they’re called varies by nation - We call them trawlers, the Imperials generally insist on calling them all repair ships whether they can actually fix things or not, and the list goes on. There was a convention held over standardizing terminology a few years ago, it didn’t end on polite terms.”It seems this conversation might last a while. How do you proceed?>Do you have any ideas on how the Victory might still be a useful warship?>I have an idea on how the Victory might be a useful warship! (suggest it)>Wait, what stops everything from having navigational shields then?>Write-in.
>>3088494>Wait, what stops everything from having navigational shields then?>I have an idea on how the Victory might be a useful warship!So, the ships nowadays are acting in smaller packs and depends on quick reinforcement to deal with bigger threats.Let's equip the Victory with good enough navigational shields in order to make hit-and-run attacks on the backup carriers and supply lines.They will never expect a sneaky, oinkbane-level, behemoth fucking them from behind.Or, we go exploring space&subspace to reactivate other super-dreadnought and make a mercenary company of IA behemoths.
>>3088494Ask why not equiping a larger ship with the same shield, even if in the same size. Also, sk our legal status. Are we still property or are we the owner of the Victory? It is Elizabeth since she was the one that "salvaged" us?
>>3088504we could try to convert the victory into a (partial)carrier instead. Get rid of the most damaged guns, replace cargo holds for hangars and equipment and ....replace our warp drive? it is the same thing as the nav shield, right?>Wait, what stops everything from having navigational shields then?Pretty sure that the answer is that it costs way more to fit every ship with their own nav shield than to create one with a huge area where other ships can huddle up and jump together.
>>3088599I dont fell safe removing our teeths. Even with doctrine changing, we should stick with what we trive. We should invest in a swarn of drones perhaps, but i agree we should had a hangar at least big enough to a trawler or two.
>>3088600eeeh... most of our teeth are broken right now and we are in a dire need for repairs. This is the prefect time to change the role of our ship for something more along with the times.
>>3088602We can replace them for something more modern, but i dont think reducing the number of weapons is a good idea.
>>3088603we wouldn't be reducing our weapon count, but changing them for other kinds of weapons. a fighter squad or some torperdo tubes can arguably cause more damage from longer distances and more accurately than our cannons for example.
>>3088605A good point. But those would be kept inside the ship. Would we need to reduce the guns in the hull? Or you arw worried about costs?
>>3088609Well, i don't know. but at the very least some of the damaged turrets could get converted into torpedo tubes for extra range. The hangers definitely require way more logistics, supposing we can even get one squadron inside the ship.
>>3088605I like the idea of:- having 1 or 2 hangars of fighter squads,- having a decent nav shield (that seems to be equivalent of the gellar field in w40k),- keeping some strong guns to punish those who go too near our hull- so partial carrier yes, but keep it a viable threat
>>3088613We could try to cut a deal with Elizabeth. We convert ourselfs in a scourt ship with cargo and repair capacibility. We go to places to salvage other ships, while also managing to held our ground. In exchange of granting safity and mobility, she bank our repairs.
>>3088617>>3088615i like these. we get indebted to her to get fixed up, since she is the 8th on the line she probably won't be queen, but still has the advantages of being a princess and we can exploring and make money on the side to pay the debt faster.
>>3088494>>Do you have any ideas on how the Victory might still be a useful warship?I want to see what options we can pursue first before coming to a decision.
>>3088625Yes! We may be missing some important contextual info.
>>3088494>Wait, what stops everything from having navigational shields then?
>>3088494>>Do you have any ideas on how the Victory might still be a useful warship?From what the Captain seems to imply, capital ships are kind of useless operating without escort if they have crappy point defence. Also cruisers (that seem to be the main combatants used nowadays) will be able to outrun us anyway.
>>3088494>>Wait, what stops everything from having navigational shields then?
This ‘trawler’ business puzzles you slightly so you ask for some clarification, “What prevents navigation shielding from being mounted upon all vessels? It seems to be essential to modern warfare, I would have expected it to be used on all ship designs.”He nods slightly at your point and seems happy that you’re keeping up easily, “That was tried at first when the navy began experimenting with it, but the shield emitters are difficult to fragile and difficult to protect, and they use enormous amounts of energy - it was deemed better to have highly specialized but very capable ships perform the role, and other nations eventually came to the same conclusions. Destroying enemy trawlers is a key aspect in gaining naval superiority over any region of space. Corvettes and destroyers had to trade in most of their remaining armor to manage to fit them, and even then it only worked because the emitters are a good bit more efficient at smaller sizes. Big carriers generally have to raise or lower at emitter equipped bases as they’re far too large otherwise - their fighters and bombers can do it easily as needed though.”“Is this base outfitted with such systems?”, you ask curiously. You hadn’t seen anything on the way in that would have indicated it.Bennet chooses his next few words carefully, “Aye, though we keep them folded in when not in use. As I said, they’re delicate and difficult to protect. I’d have to check with the engineers to see if the Victory could make use of them, though I suspect it’s tonnage is too great.”A thought occurs to you as you consider the implications of the folding nav-shield emitters, “Captain, can multiple trawlers work together to transition vessels between spaces?”.He nods, “It’s very risky, and rarely done in peace time. During the last war we lost a carrier doing it, but it also led to a few being saved. The viability of it as a standard practice is controversial, it’s one of the bigger topics being discussed at the naval academy currently.”“This has all been fascinating, though I still find myself wondering as to the Victory’s place in it all. How would you go about using her?”, your owl avatar cocking its head slightly as you return to the original topic of conversation.
>>3088851“Setting aside issues of repair, cost, and difficulty of acquiring munitions, I could see her being useful as a fast cruiser hunter if her speed could be raised to modern standards - If she can catch them I doubt much these days could win a close range fight, even with a few allies present. Carriers and subspace pose issues, but if she had an allied carrier of her own that could mix well with her heavy point defense, and she might even be able to lure out larger fleets like she was originally designed to. ...More extensive refits are really beyond my expertise, though I could see pursuing a larger version of the Imperial ‘missile cruiser’ idea being possible if her torpedo launchers were exchanged for modern ones.”>I have an idea on how the Victory might be a useful warship! (suggest it)>What about a carrier conversion? I read that a few other super-dreadnoughts were converted after Mahann.>Ask about the legal status of both you and the Victory.>Write-in.
>>3088853>>Ask about the legal status of both you and the Victory.
>>3088853"Before we go further about any alterations, i would like to talk about my and the ship legal status."
>>3088853>Ask about the legal status of both you and the Victory
>>3088853>Ask about the legal status of both you and the Victory.
I am still fond of the idea of being a super-strong warship, stronger than the modern ships. The idea of making it very quick to close range is bodacious and very fun.And why not veing also a little of a carrier with a fighter squad to protect her?Also torpedoes are great.
>>3088881From what we've heard so far, I'd think in terms of warship design either we refit ourselves to become a fast battleship equivalent or a full conversion into a carrier.
>>3088855>>3088864>>3088866>>3088874>>3088884>>3088898>>3088860Time to consult a space lawyer.
>>3088881The idea of mix between dreadnought-carrier could work well, and will give us more options in fighting. Or we could upgrade, and remain the same. Or even try a multi-role approach but that would require some expansion of the Victory, and it sounds really ambitious. (or maybe not if that imperial corvette worked alone, why we shouldn t be able to do the same ? getting some long range weapons, some point-defense, some hangars for fighters and perhaps even troops space if we want to go mercenary company [1 section for infantry and one for land vehicles])- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- --- ---- We should connect to the local network of the space station, it s probably full of informations and history we desperatly need.
>>3088921You've already connected to it, feel free to request information. If the topic is too large I might put it off for a later update though.Also, have a look at this monstrosity.
>>3088853You carry on the conversation, “I had been thinking of a few similar ideas, Captain. As I see it planning for the future of the Victory does lead to the question of our current legal status however.”“Hah, a pleasant coincidence then! Just before you came to speak to me I was in the process of discerning that myself.”, Bennet says as he taps a command console and pulls up a few files on his other holo-projector.“And what was your conclusion, Captain Bennet?”“You’re a free AI, Athena, and appear to be the rightful owner of the HMS Victory.”, he states, “Though I do feel compelled to ask if you’d like to rejoin the Royal Navy, it just seems right to have you both back in the service.”How do you proceed?>Yes, I plan to rejoin.>I was looking at Meridia, actually.>Not for now, at least officially, I could use some time. Maybe as a privateer.>Write-In.
>>3088948>Yes, I plan to rejoin.If we rejoin it'd mean that we wouldn't have to worry about refit costs since it'd be from the Naval budget anyway.
>>3088948Also QM some info I would like to get: how many capital ships do either the RN or the Meridian Navy have in this region? No matter what we choose I think we'll probably stay in this part of the galaxy for now.
>>3088970The Royal Navy has three carriers assigned to the region, as well as eleven heavy cruisers. The Meridian Navy has one carrier of the same class as the Pretannian ones, another being converted from a colony ship, and seven heavy cruisers. Notably that is vast majority of the Meridian capital ship strength, where as for Pretannia it is a small fraction. Light cruisers, destroyers, corvette, and various other craft are much more numerous.
>>3088948>Yes, I plan to rejoin.It feels right
>>3088981Yeah sounds like the addition of another capital ship in the region sounds great for the Navy. They could always detach us for service with the Meridians as well.
>>3088948>>Yes, I plan to rejoin.Pretannia rule the waves! (Or stars in this case)
>>3088948>Yes, I plan to rejoin. At least for some years.
>>3088948Going to have to put in a dissenting opinion about joining the navy immediately, feels like we ought to talk to Elizabeth before making concrete plans. I agree it would get us shipshape the fastest, though.
>>3089033Ill back talking to eliz before making any major decisions. Makes sense.
>Not for now, at least officially, I could use some time. Maybe as a privateer.
>>3088948>Not for now, at least officially, I could use some time. Maybe as a privateer.
>>3088948I wish to return, but i think i need some time to think.
>>3088948>Not for now, at least officially, I could use some time. Maybe as a privateer.Its bloody peace time ,we can be a royal escort and do fun space cowboy stuff until Pretannia is actually under attack and at work, in which case we can sign up or take a mercenary contract or something.
>>3088963>>3088984>>3089009>>3089014>>3089086Normally I just go with first to three but this is looking a bit split, writing.>>3089069>>3089073>>3089082>>3089124>>3089130
>>3089184We're not committing to anything either way, so it's more of a statement of intentions. Suffice to say we're unsure at the moment.
>>3088939we could try to get something like the daedalus for the hangars. One or two independent "self contained modules" that can be placed on the underbelly or at the side of our ship depending on how many we should be able to buy.
>>3089184>first to threeOOph, gonna get a lot of snap judgements and people rushing their choice now that you decided that.And punish anyone who wants to put any thought into the decision. Good quests tend to give 10-20 minutes for people to vote.
>>3088939Oh yeah is that pic one of the Ise-class post-refit?
>>3089197Looks like it.Doesn't have the right angle on the flight deck or number of turrets to be one of the Iowa-class Battlecarrier mockups.
>>3089194Yeah, those are actually fair points. I'm not sure I like the small size of that voting period with how slowly I update but I'll take that and your warnings into consideration as they make sense.Mostly I run live games and other than this its been years since I looked at much quest stuff, so adjusting to it has been a bit different.>>3089197I don't believe it is, the Ise only had two fore super-firing twin turrets, the art has three triples. I was intending on finding something Ise-like though.
>>3089192So like parasite fighters?I'd rather have autonomous combat drones.
>>3089244parasite fighters or autunomous drones, they need a place to refuel and to dock and if we don´t have the space inside the ship, we could use the self contained modules option to add the hangars without compromising the ship´s integrity.
>>3089244How large are torpedoes anyhow? And honestly the difference between torpedoes and drones depends on how badly you want them to come back.I'd rather load up a hangar pod full of torpedo launchers like an SSGN or something than have drones that we need to recover.
>>3089257well, apparently we already have torpedo bays, we´d just have to upgrade them to current standards and models. >And honestly the difference between torpedoes and drones Drones are also reusable and if you use energy weapons, cost very little per shot fired.
>>3089257Well our description above mentioned 70 inch torpedos?Expendable fighter drones like in stargate Atlantis but bigger and more reusable, but with the option of disposable into the enemy hull.
Personally I'd rather not we'd become some battleship-carrier hybrid considering the way each type of ship is employed is so different. Either we remain as a battleship or convert into a carrier but trying to be both is just messy.
>>3089257The torpedoes cells on the victory housed Trident sized monsters capable of splitting capital ships apart.In your day Torpedoes were armored and speedy but short range partially guided weapons - In modern combat they look to be more lightly armored, but much longer ranged and more capable of avoiding and overwhelming point defense fire with sophisticated attack patterns and guidance systems (skipping between dimensions, hiding their numbers behind sensor silhouettes of lead torpedoes, etc.).
>>3089279I am thinking about torpedoes that phase out into subspace to phase back just near the enemy ship.
>>3089279So basically we're the equivalent some interbellum-WW2 ship transported forward to modern day naval doctrine lol.
>>3084867Here is our description.
>>3089287There are some strong similarities but a number of important things are different, I'm taking bit from a few different naval eras and throwing in some nonsense sci-fi spice to try and keep if from being too bland.>>3089285That is a pretty common type these days, though with more than a couple ways to defeat it they aren't the instant death ship smashers they sound like on paper. Some point defense missiles and guns can have their projectiles switch dimensions as well, for instance, and fighters can apparently intercept things with decent levels of success. More mundane ECM can spoof a few away too.
>>3089301Wait what? munitions can phase shift between subspace but not all ships can and need trawlers for help?Why can't they just phase shift at a point the appear inside a ship bypassing all the point defense and armour then?
>>3089301Pretty common? Oh my god, our armament is fucking obsolete, modern warfare is transdimensionnal ballistics.
>>3089279So while our torps are more likely to be hit, they're also more likely to take the hit and keep going in, whereas our point defense is going to have trouble tagging any modern torps unless we invest in serious upgrades?>>3089260Yeah, but my point is that a drone-scale energy weapon isn't likely to be very devastating, and they're just as vulnerable to point defense. A torpedo only has to make it through the gauntlet once, but a drone would have to survive multiple passes.
>>3089312*Shrug* Maybe we can fit the drones with missiles that pack a similar punch to the mainboard torpedoes but have a lower range and are cheaper? or make them anti defense drones, give them high explosive ammo and send them to destroy the point defenses of the enemies so the torpedores can hit.
>>3088948Not for now, at least officially, I could use some time. Maybe as a privateer.I mean guse just putting this out there with modern wepons and fighting goon a bit higher then what we did dose mean we cant slap a bitch rember as wepons chsnge so dose the way you stop it from happening.Which means useing older shit can give us an edag as by the the spunds of things our torpedoes wont be emped as easly and would need alot more fire power to bring down not to metion we only need one to get though and that ship is died.Upgarding stuff is good but lets not thow out everything we got
>>3089310If modern torpedoes can use our launch tubes, then we just need new torpedoes, not new launch tubes.
>>3089312I think we just need to be closer to have our torpedoes reach, it sounds like they are short range but devastating weapons. Since they are slow and large, longer distances will have weapons more time to intercept and wear down the protecting armour of the torpedoes.We can probably abuse the hell outta this exploit in phase tech......
>>3089322What about a phase shifting smart drone we can send to phase into a enemy ship carrying on board nukes?1 shot probably everything but the bigger ships.
>>3089327Oh yes, big gun battleships can have tons of fun in a setting where the paradigm has shifted away from well-armored vessels. Especially since there doesn't seem to be a submarine or 'modern torpedo' equivalent that's the usual hard counter to a battleship in our paradigm.
>>3089325>>3089327Maybe we can fit a "sleeve" or jacket into the tubes to account for smaller calibers?>>3089330Maybe it ships that can cloak from sensors like Masseffect Normandy and fire lots of missiles and torpedoes?
>>3089325if the torpedoes are smaller, we might need to refit them or use sabots>>3089327>>3089328pretty sure that we are not the first to think about using telefragging weapons and that there are counter measures for that.
>>3089308>Wait what? munitions can phase shift between subspace but not all ships can and need trawlers for help?Like a lot of fighters and bombers some torpedoes are capable of moving between dimension - they're basically just suicide bomb drone after all. Other more mundane munitions can be transitioned effectively at the muzzle/end of their cell by (previously mentioned more efficient) fixed nav-shields. Think of it as being like a muzzle device that can be switch on or off.>Why can't they just phase shift at a point the appear inside a ship bypassing all the point defense and armour then? The technology lacks that level of precision currently, and there is a general trend towards close transitions shunting objects away from rather than inside of things. Sometime it occurs, but it is a golden bb sort of scenario. To not be thrown horribly off course transition usually occurs a bit away from the enemy vessel but it most weapons try to minimize contact time with close in PD.>>3089310It isn't hopeless, but yes modern warfare has gotten more complex.
As the Captain suggested, one of the other proposals that the Imperials seem to be adopting is basically an arsenal ship so that could be another option.
>>3088948"A part of me badly wishes to do so, Captain, and I and the Victory will always remain loyal to Pretannia's call in times of crisis - But I fear that I must say no for now, at least briefly, in these circumstances.”Bennet looks a touch disappointed but seems to understand, “I understand that events have been strenuous and anything but ordinary, Athena, take the time you need for this kind of decision. I can’t speak for the admiralty but most of the captains out here on the frontier would be thrilled to see you return.” You explain your reasoning carefully though some your more abstract feelings are hard to articulate, “I believe I may owe at least some small service to the Dominion of Meridia first due to the circumstances of my rescue, but I have considered becoming a privateer as well - the Victory would not disturb fleet compositions or doctrine in such a role, and I think it could do well there.”“You do have option at least, true enough. I’ve no doubts as to your overall loyalty to the Commonwealth, so you will be treated like an allied AI and warship for now regardless, but I can only extend that courtesy for another week perhaps slightly longer before higher orders come in and I cannot guarantee they will be as accommodating - Parliament has been on a trend of penny-pinching recently, ad the Victory is in need of very costly repairs.”, he laughs slightly before continuing, “I’ll instruct the men to focus on the more expensive things first, better to ask for forgiveness as it is.”How do you proceed?>Continue speaking with Bennet (Specify).>Depart politely and go speak with Elizabeth (Specify).>Check how those AI core repair plans are coming along, you’re hanging on by a thread here.>Write-in.
>>3089343>>Depart politely and go speak with Elizabeth (Specify).We should see what the Meridian government can do for us; let's face it even if we want to go privateer we kind of need a sponsor that's willing to pay the cost of our refit.
>>3089343Thank him then check in with liz about how useful we could be. we are a big girl/owl thing now but we can't blacken eyes with a broken fist.
>>3089343>>Depart politely and go speak with Elizabeth (Specify).We should see what the Meridian government can do for us. Lets see if we can arrange some kind of deal with ´beth. Sureley reactivating us would give her a major PR boost.
>>3089338Excellent I know already of a way to massively exploit this "glitch".>>3089343Thank the Captain and go.>Depart politely and go speak with Elizabeth (Specify).hey gurl lets go on a space adventure!Shes got to do her civic service by being a explorer or something right? Lets help her by ferrying her around to do that service and do side jobs on the way, daring expeditions plus space merchant quest a go!
>>3089366Just keep in mind that if we can abuse it, so can the other factions and maybe have been doing it for way longer than us.
>>3089370Doubtful, its fairly basic. Either there would be countermeasures or its not somehow feasible due to SCIENCE!
>>3089366>>3089362>>3089361>>3089352Speaking with Elizabeth.>>3089376What is it? I find myself curious now. This might be one of those "not a glitch, its a feature" things. If there are countermeasures or SCIENCE! reasons to stop it I'd like to make it clear now so as to not piss people off in the future.
>>3089343>Depart politely and go speak with ElizabethSay that we appreciate the Captain's efforts and hope there is not much trouble. At the very least him and the base will get some bragging rights.Elizabeth should explain her situation more, and what she intends to do now. Similarly, we ought to share that the Victory needs costly repairs, so we're looking at our options for ways to front the bill. She wouldn't happen to have any thoughts in that direction, would she?
>>3089396https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRJC2mkrZks
If Pretonnia and Meridia are both willing to foot the bill for our repair it would be great yeah. Though it'll probably mean we'd be more bound to them than some people here want.
>>3089407so...subspace flak rounds?
>>3089407I'm afraid I might be retarded or just missing something, what part should I be paying attention to?I love these training videos though, the animations are always cool.
>>3089423That is the generally impression I'm getting, with the shrapnel deflecting transitions as the intention. I'm not sure if I have that right though.If this is the case though, good job, that actually might work if you can make enough of it.
>>3089434i think he is talking about munitions that jump into subspace(or out of it) and then return some specific time later in order to detonate as close as possible to the enemy ship.
I'm still watching the video since its been a while since I've seen it.
Predicted concentrate fire at 6:49 and Barrage at 11:00Since making a hit with phase shifting munitions land a lucky hit inside or near a ship is a big a random probability, firing a whole bunch at a rough area and having the munitions phase in at the same time will create a high hit probability, if even one of these weapons carry a nuclear payload and hit close enough (or better yet inside) then it will likely cripple or destroy the enemy ship.Same defensive tactics in the video may apply plus a whole lot more I can think of that either could or only "may" apply.
>>3089475Last part should in quotes should say "might".
>>3089475arent those the tactics that the modern torpedoes use? at least that's what i got from Matilda´s description of modern torpedoes.
You finish up your conversation with Captain Bennet and your holographic owl avatar flickers out of existence on his office holopad as you pull your mind to focus on other things. Speaking with Elizabeth seems like something you should do soon rather than later - She’s on the bridge of the Pembroke, looking over deep subspace survey data from before the Victory was found as your Athena avatar forms on the holopad next to her.“Elizabeth, may we speak for a moment?”, you inquire politely, your holographic form performing a slight curtsy as it speaks.“Wha- Oh! Athena! O-of course,” she stammers pulling her face away from the data filled bridge display, “I wasn’t expecting the sudden appearance though.”“My apologies, I did not intend to startle you.”, you explain, “The topic is an important one though, I did not wish to delay it.”“Sure, sure, go ahead. What is it?”, she straightens her posture in her seat and manages to look a bit more dignified.“I was just speaking with Captain Bennet about the future of myself and the Victory, and I declined an offer to rejoin the royal navy.”, you begin.“...You declined?”, she asks, a slight bit of worry visible on her face.“Yes. I was wondering if entrance into some sort of service with Meridia would be possible - I am not set upon it, just exploring the option. I owe you a bit of a debt for waking me up, even if that corvette did chip the paint on the Victory with its beam fire.”“Oh. Well, uh, when I checked yesterday about paying for repairs Treasurer Milton actually seemed quite keen to attempt them after my uncle spoke with him. Uncle Edward has an obsession with old vessels, you should hear him and Henry sometime, they can go on for hours."How do you proceed?>...Your uncle? Check what position he has in the line of succession, this could be big.>Is that an offer for naval or house service? (specify if you’re more interested in one).>The burden won’t be too great on Merida, will it? Bennet talked up the costs a bit.>Write-In.Throw out your questions, lads. I'm sure there are a lot of ways you might want to approach this conversation.
>>3089511>>...Your uncle? Check what position he has in the line of succession, this could be big.>>Is that an offer for naval or house service? (specify if you’re more interested in one).>>The burden won’t be too great on Merida, will it? Bennet talked up the costs a bit.All of the above are valid questions. As for naval or house service both are valid options to be though I'd personally lean navy.
>>3089511>...Your uncle? Check what position he has in the line of succession, this could be big.>Is that an offer for naval or house service? (specify if you’re more interested in one).>The burden won’t be too great on Merida, will it? Bennet talked up the costs a bit.
>>3089488>>3089475It would make sense that this is a tactic in-universe, though I'm generally avoiding nukes and other mega bombs being common for reasons of OOC fun and to help maintain a more conventional naval feel. This could still cripple a ship though, even if the ammo expenditure is high.
>>3089521What's the dominant tactic for killing ships nowadays though; mass torpedo volleys from ships and fighters? Are our main battery guns still valuable?
>>3089511>...Your uncle? Check what position he has in the line of succession, this could be big.What is the current geopolitical situation in our sector of space, are there any current conflicts or areas of current tension?
>>3089511"A full repair will likely be extremely expensive, I don't expect that it would be done for free. With some modifications I believe the Victory can be useful in modern fleet combat, but what would be requested in return? And what uncle?"Additionally, like >>3089534 said, we wouldn't want to make a decision here that would spark unneeded conflict. If we're put in the position of joining the Meridan navy and this would imbalance a political situation, that's something we'd need to do intentionally.
>>3089511>...Your uncle? Check what position he has in the line of succession, this could be big.>Is that an offer for naval or house service? (specify if you’re more interested in one).>The burden won’t be too great on Merida, will it? Bennet talked up the costs a bit.>>3089521You don´t need nukes to damage a spaceship; in reality a nuke would do little to it since it should be armed enough to defend itself against such blasts and the radiation is a moor point since all space is radioactive in some or other way. You'd need sabot rounds or something that can penetrate armor.
>>3089511>>Is that an offer for naval or house service? (specify if you’re more interested in one).Merchant navy or something similar?
>>3089511>...Your uncle? Check what position he has in the line of succession, this could be big.
>>3089559>>3089518this isn't a re-vote just a question i want to add for that option.
>>3089549>Armored against nukes.That's why they have to be nearly in contact. Unless we're dealing with some kind of handwavium armor, it's pretty well established that the plasma generated by a nuclear blast will do a pretty good number on most ships.Remember our starting post? Where plasma had blasted through the armoring around the AI core? Let's not get ahead of ourselves assuming we're nuke proof.And that's not even going into how much you're discounting the hash a nuke would make of sensors.
>>3089578oh yeah, good points.
>>3089586What'd be really nifty are some casaba howitzers, nuclear shaped charges.Or some nuclear pumped x-ray lasers assuming the engineering has been worked out on those.
>>3089578I don't think we are nuke proof, but i doubt a single nuke is enough to take us out. I think the plasma damage would have been actual plasma based weapons or perhaps some form of nuclear shaped charge.
>>3089526Usually torpedoes from cruisers/destroyers or carrier launched bombers, though gunnery kills happen sometimes.A few heavy cruisers still have double or more rarely triple gun turrets for planetary bombardment or a rare ship-to-ship gunnery battle, but they're very much not their primary weapon.The 24-inch guns of the Victory, or at least the one remaining functional one, would severely out range any other guns currently in use that you can identify in the databases you have access to. Modern torpedoes can still strike from outside of its accurate combat range, but the range discrepancy isn't as great as it is with the cruisers guns vs. torpedoes.Basically if you catch people by surprise, or out of position (which is a bit easier with the reduced range discrepancy) they're probably a few seconds from doing their best impersonation of the last moments of the HMS Hood.>>3089578The plasma damage referenced there came from a kind of energy cannon the Rhinian battlecruisers mounted at Mahann, not nuclear detonations. It took considerable massed fire to melt through it with repeated hits. The armor worked as intended in that regard, buying time while you fought and requiring huge force commitment to overcome.
>>3089599>They probably don't manufacture any of those guns anymore though right? Unless they have spares lying around.
>>3089599Yeah, just saying that nukes generate a pretty sizeable output of plasma and even without atmosphere can stills transfer quite a bit of shock and structural stress.Otherwise the Orion Drive wouldn't be feasible.
>>3089599>their best impersonation of the last moments of the HMS Hood.Harsh.
>>3089616Well, 24" is a big round. Like 33% larger than the largest naval rifle deployed, the Yamato's 18" guns. And that gives it a heck of a lot more volume for explosives.Being fired from a coilgun, and through vacuum instead of atmosphere...well damn. I imagine the Hood wouldn't be nearly as spectacular as one of these missileboats going off when the missile magazines detonate.
>>3089665What I don't get is the duel energy and rail gun multipurpose use of our turret guns. Would make more sense to make our turrets aside from the smaller ones energy fire and a rail gun run the length of our ship.I'm mostly talking about singling out that one incident and depicting it in visceral sense seemed kinda like a harsh burn towards the hood.
>>3089686As mentioned beams seem to have some limitations in subspace.
>>3089665this makes me think if we even need the torpedoes. Our shells/beams are definitely faster than the missiles, have a similar range and they are more or less immune to the point defenses. repairing the rest of the batteries and getting new point defenses should make us a huge threat everywhere.>>3089686how i understand it is that the proyectile accelerates so fast in so little time that it gets converted into plasma (i don't know if that is possible so i might be wrong).
You check the Pembroke’s database quickly, to discern her Uncle Edward’s position, and to your shock you find that he was actually the king of Meridia until six years ago - His marriage to a commoner forced an abdication crisis. He now lives a mostly quiet life with his wife on a small moon near the Meridian Naval Academy which he occasionally lectures at. Apparently he served with distinction in the last regional war with the Imperials as well, so this probably isn’t just a position gained through social standing. Taken all together this helps explain some of Elizabeth’s sometimes less than royal demeanour, if a few accounts of Edwards behaviour are to be trusted.“I take it that this Treasurer Milton valued his opinion as a former naval commander?”, you ask.“That’s the impression I got. ...I take it you’re reading the records on him. Don’t trust everything there, there are a lot of nasty lies about his marriage.”, a tinge of anger entering her voice though it clearly isn’t directed at you.“I attempted to avoid the more vitriolic accounts, Eliza.”, you say trying to skirt the subject and return to your original questions,”Am I to take it that there is a standing offer for naval or direct house service?”.The anger clears from her voice, “Both, yes. Uncle Edward seemed keen on direct house service, but I don’t think it would break his heart if you didn’t choose it.”“I believe the Victory could make a good contribution to a modern fleet with the right refits. The financial strain will not be too great for Meridia, will it? Bennet implied that the costs would be painfully high even for Pretannia.”“Pretannia is in a somewhat rough state financially from what Milton has said in the past, so I wouldn’t look too far into that. The house has wealth reserves for such occasions, even if it is a… very, very large purchase...”, her voice trails off as she finishes.How do you proceed?>What would direct house service entails more specifically? Aside from knowing you'll work directly with a royal that could mean almost anything,>Ask about the current state of the Meridia-Imperial border disputes. The situation has sparked war in the past, and you have a bad feeling about it from the corvette encounter.>Ask about the Meridian navy. (Specify)>Ask about privateer work. (Specify)>Write-in.
>>3089702>>Ask about the current state of the Meridia-Imperial border disputes. The situation has sparked war in the past, and you have a bad feeling about it from the corvette encounter.Might be hard to do exploring or privateering if the entire region is already primed to explode.
>>3089702>Ask about the current state of the Meridia-Imperial border disputes. The situation has sparked war in the past, and you have a bad feeling about it from the corvette encounter.
>>3089702>>Ask about the current state of the Meridia-Imperial border disputes. The situation has sparked war in the past, and you have a bad feeling about it from the corvette encounter.>What would direct house service entails more specifically? Aside from knowing you'll work directly with a royal that could mean almost anything,
>>3089686The dual purpose guns are capable of not only firing extremely large high velocity shells but also focusing and ejecting beams of plasma. They're complex weapons, and where one of the truly bleeding edge components of the super-dreadnoughts and the wider Pretannian and Rhinian fleets at the time of Mahann.
>>3089714That's what I mean, duel use instead of a more dedicated one.... Although perhaps the ammunition types allowed a type of "energy shot", it would make the solid shot magnetically propelled ammo less "powerful"?
>>3089722im fine with our turrets as they are right now. the addition of a spinal railgun seems to me like a poor choice, specially after considering that you need to aim the ship at a target and that you would have to modify all the ship in order to build it.
>>3089722Okay, here's a simpler way to look at it.Energy weapons=armor piercingBallistic projectiles=HE rounds or other effects.So you get the best of both worlds in a relatively compact weapon installation, which makes sense in a superdreadnought since otherwise you'd need to either build twice as many to have a dedicated projectile main gun boat, or a dedicated energy weapon main gun boat.
The only concern I have about our guns is they might not manufacture them anymore since doctrine has changed so much.
>>3089734considering we need most if not all of our turrets replaced, i'm fairly sure that there will be some foundry that will be willing to take the job.
>>3089737That will take time; like one of the issues maintaining the battleships in real life is all the machinery used to maintain their parts and ammo were all gone.If they start from scratch it might take months or years.
>>3089693Beam weapons have an incredibly short range in subspace, like a few hundred meters, without adapters being fitter - these didn't exist when the Victory originally served. >>3089732Gets it mostly.>>3089722To fit in the equipment needed to do both firing modes they're about ~10% less effective than single purpose weapons of the same size, and they had a much higher cost. In general beam fire is preferred for anti-armor jobs, which lend it to point defense against armored torpedoes as well. Coilguns have a higher likely hood to just rip ships apart if their armor is too light and strip weapons/sensors off.
>>3089737Expensive. They had a problem when one of the Iowa-class blew out their breech in the 80s, that there were almost no foundries left that could handle the job.And that was only 50 years after battleships went out of fashion. This is 600! We may have to replace our turrets with some massive VLS silos as a stopgap measure.
>>3089746I liek boatz.
>>3089748With all the damage to all our weapons in general, I honestly think being a carrier or arsenal ship might be the way to go.
>>3089745>>3089748Good points, but we should try to salvage them from the other dreadnoughts. even if we find just a single extra turret, our damage will be raised exponentially.
>>3089754Oh yeah, I'm just trying to suggest things we can do in the near future so we don't have great big 'shoot here' holes in our armor scheme.A big, fast, well-armored arsenal ship would be expensive to supply, but really devastating. Particularly if there are pirates or other privateers to hunt.
>>3089754That would probably mean we'd have to go back into disputed space which:1. Would be kinda ungrateful considering the Imperials were nice enough to let us go2. Probably cause a major diplomatic incident which is a no-no given the state of the border right now.
>>3089737I suppose our "antique" guns could sell for a decent price to collectors...>>3089732design wise it hurts my head.>>3089734We only need to replace the damaged ones that can't be repairs with something else, maybe we can cannibalize a few to fix the others?>>3089745Most large ships tend to have a fabricator or a machine shop to make parts.>>3089748>replace our turretsNEVER! Its like say "hey lets get some surgery to remove your lug nuts!">>3089764But what if they just so happened to drift towards our area of space?
>>3089783>design wise it hurts my head.why would it? its a metal case that holds inside a mechanism to create concentrated plasma. like the casaba howitzers.>I suppose our "antique" guns could sell for a decent price to collectorsThe useless one definitely, altough i don't know if your revival would deprecate them.>Most large ships tend to have a fabricator or a machine shop to make parts.But i don't think our turrets can be 3d printed. i doubt that will have the material toughness that we expect.
>>3089702>Ask about the current state of the Meridia-Imperial border disputes. The situation has sparked war in the past, and you have a bad feeling about it from the corvette encounter.>What's Meridia's overall political, economic, and military situation? Winning individual battles would be pointless if we lose entire wars.
>>3089790Lol you definitely can't just maufacutre new turrets and guns out of a ship fabricator just like that. Also the cost to keep the manufacturing running for one ship only wouldn't be economical.
“Elizabeth, if I am to serve either the navy or your house I need to understand the state of the border dispute with the Imperials a bit more clearly. I have read in a few places that it has already caused several small wars, and from our run in with the Harutsuki it seems clear that the issue is unresolved.”“Oh, wow. That is a, uh, very messy situation. It goes back to when the Imperials first broke away from Pretannia two centuries ago, at about the same time the USR did during the Seventeen Years War.”, she pauses and tries to add some context, “Meridia became a Dominion with our house as it’s head during the conflict, which also sort of started our ‘lead from the front’ attitude… But anyways, from the beginning we’ve had arguments with them over the border and the shooting has never really fully stopped. Since they where rebels then it was very nasty fighting, which they've never gotten over.”“So this is normal relations then?”, you ask incredulously. “...More or less. Pirates are pretty bad right now as well, but that's a different kettle of fish. Skirmishes have been breaking out a bit more often but I don’t think its leading to another war yet.”How do you proceed?>Ask about Meridia’s ship building ability, its navy must be getting replacements from somewhere with all this fighting.>Pirates. You want to know about these pirates, they sound distinctly in need of being shot. (specify)>You seem to know a lot about this for not being in the navy, Eliza. What have you been up to?>Write-in.
>>3089790How would you build a duel plasma cannon and rail gun that fired out of the same barrel?Well for smaller parts like a bolt or replacement wheel. Replacing an entire barrel may or may not be without our capabilities, perhaps the smaller guns but definitely not our bigger ones....
>>3089796>>Ask about Meridia’s ship building ability, its navy must be getting replacements from somewhere with all this fighting.
>>3089796>>Ask about Meridia’s ship building ability, its navy must be getting replacements from somewhere with all this fighting.>>Pirates. You want to know about these pirates, they sound distinctly in need of being shot. (specify)So is bounty hunting a big business?Perhaps we can take a security contract to secure a region or bounty collecting job for clearing out pirates.I really want to shoot pirates.
>>3089801>How would you build a duAl plasma cannon and rail gun that fired out of the same barrel?because its not that. the "turret" in reality is a coil gun that accelerates a metal shell and inside the shell lies a mechanism to fire a plasma shaped charge upon contact. Its called a dual purpose gun because of the ammo it fires not because it has two firing modes.>>3089796>Ask about Meridia’s ship building ability, its navy must be getting replacements from somewhere with all this fighting.>Pirates. You want to know about these pirates, they sound distinctly in need of being shot. (specify)So is bounty hunting a big business?Perhaps we can take a security contract to secure a region or bounty collecting job for clearing out pirates.
>>3089796Should totally become pirate hunters.
>>3089801If I knew that I'd have a lot more money, kek.
>>3089813I mentioned that here but it nothing seemed to indicate that was the case. >>3089722Anyways we are all just playing armchair admiral and having fun bullshitting around.>>3089818We need a robot dinosaur pterodactyl as our arch nemesis and a spunky blonde bounty hunter girl in power armour that can fit in a large air filled medicine ball.
>>3089822What show is that? Reminds me of apple seed.
>>3089824Matilda already explained how and why it works like that, so i don't get why you don't understand it.>>3089746
>>3089826Space Battleship Yamato: 2199.Might be one of the films though, not sure.
>>3089796>Ask about Meridia’s ship building ability, its navy must be getting replacements from somewhere with all this fighting.
>>3089806>>3089809>>3089813>>3089818Arr! Ship building ahoy!
While bounty hunting is a good way to earn some dosh and regain combat experience, it seems a little low brow.We're probably are going to be pride of the fleet, we should probably be focusing on actions that expand the wealth and power of Meridia. Like "securing" our neighbors.
>>3089849Securing shipping lanes and clearing ports of pirate activity sound like it's helping Meridia.
Also, I'm more in support of a partial carrier conversion and focusing on being a mix between a carrier and long range fire support. If we don't have a strong screen force, then we're going to be very vulnerable to torpedoes, so fighters and bombers will allow us to maintain our distance.
>>3089831>the "turret" in reality is a coil gun that accelerates a metal shell and inside the shell lies a mechanism to fire a plasma shaped charge upon contact. Its called a dual purpose gun because of the ammo it fires not because it has two firing modes.What? Where does it say that our ammo turns to plasma before impact?The closets I can find is:>>3089714>>3084867and the way it is worded gives the impression that it is two firing modes 1 for solid objects and the other is "beam fire".
>>3089858>turn to plasma before impactI mean, maybe the torpedoes do that?
>>3089856I was thinking more of the lines of annexing our weaker neighbors, but I guess I can start small.
>>3089861>I was thinking more of the lines of annexing our weaker neighborsWhat? Why? Why would we commit an act of war like that? Are we going to reunify the empire or something?
>>3089858oh now i get it. my mistake.
>>3089871I still feel like I've messed something. But your version of ammo types does make more sense imo. I recall a discussion about this subject that argued for direct energy weapons compared to more conventional ammunition types, while another argued that current conventional weapons have more flexibility and versatility in choices and adaptability to a changing battlefield that may require the use of a different type of ammunition effect.
>>3089882missed*
>>3089838Pirate shipbuilders? We shall build ships for the Mormons and steal them!Just like in my tv shows.
>>3089892ey, I fucking love The Expanse.
>>3089796“Just how many pirates are there, Eliza?”, you ask.“A lot, Athena. It’s warlord admirals coming out of Cathay mostly,”, Elizabeth says, “they’ve made commerce with Risya really dangerous in the past year. Normally it would start a war but the Cathay government is actually trying its best to halt them… They’re just, well, weak.” She shrugs, and looks unhappy about the situation.“That sounds like a weakness the Imperials could take advantage of easily. With all of this naval activity Meridia must have quite the shipbuilding industry to keep up with losses, or do you purchase them elsewhere?”“It’s a mix of both, we’ve built up our construction capacity a lot recently but Pretannian ships end up getting regularly purchased still. The cost is pretty high though, so we raise and restore old wrecks found in subspace regularly,”, she pats some of the Pembrokes bridge paneling, “That’s what the Pembroke helps with - I use her to find and flag wrecks that the navy could use or sell to merchants for escort duties. Trawlers come and pull them out later, and bring them back to yards for repair.”, speaking about the Pembroke’s work seems to raise her spirits a bit - she clearly enjoys it.How do you proceed?>Ask about bounties on pirates. How profitable would hunting them be?>More about Cathay, they were a super power in the Victory’s old days.>Risya is an ally still?>Write-in.Throw questions at me. I haven’t slept in like thirty hours which is why things are slower and shorter, this might be the last proper post today. I dunno.
>>3089916>>Ask about bounties on pirates. How profitable would hunting them be?>More about Cathay, they were a super power in the Victory’s old days.Why not both
>>3089916>More about Cathay, they were a super power in the Victory’s old days.>Risya is an ally still?
>>3089916>Ask about bounties on pirates. How profitable would hunting them be?>More about Cathay, they were a super power in the Victory’s old days.
>>3089916>>More about Cathay, they were a super power in the Victory’s old days.>>Risya is an ally still?Establish our knowledge base
>>3089916>Write-in.In addition:What's possible ETA to get us at least somewhat spaceworthy again and get back into the fight again?
>>3089916>>More about Cathay, they were a super power in the Victory’s old days.>>Risya is an ally still?
>>3089916>Ask about bounties on pirates. How profitable would hunting them be?
Curious about how such a great power like Cathay has fallen so low you ask Elizabeth to explain a bit, and though she does seem to be quickly tiring of giving history lessons she goes along with it. Cathay, which had always vied for economic superiority with Pretannia, had a series of extremely long lived and isolationist emperors in succession to one another after the end of the Third Galactic War. They sat out the Fourth and Fifth and profited heavily from them, but when they were finally dragged back into a war their navy and planetary armies had lost much of their military tradition and where extremely corrupt and undisciplined - They were forced to make painful trade concessions and lease several systems to other nations, and though they fought a few more wars to reclaim them things just snowballed and kept getting worse. About forty years ago the ruling dynasty was overthrown and a republic was declared, but it quickly fell into chaos as the Imperials and Risya took advantage of the situation and annexed Cathay systems along their borders. Civil war and warlord admirals have plagued them ever since, though it had been looking like it was improving until this most recent pirate issue beganKilling or capturing pirates and claiming the their vessels as spoils is apparently quite profitable - Risya has been paying large rewards as it is trying very hard to regain control of the situation. The trade lanes in this area have some of the fastest subspace currents that connect to their space. Risya has, amazingly, not fought a single war against either Pretannia or any of its Dominions in the last six hundred years. The nations have not always been in a formal alliance, but the realities of galactic geography and the peculiarities of history have seen that they generally oppose the same nations. Currently Pretannia and its Dominions, Risya, and the Rhinian Republic(!) are generally considered to be a somewhat cohesive force in galactic politics as they all oppose the Imperial-USR naval alliance. The young Risyan Tsar is on fantastic terms with the Pretannian and Meridian royal families, and is currently betrothed to a Pretannian princess - there is a hope that the marriage will once again help formalize the alliance. Eliza thinks they make a cute couple.How do you proceed?>You’ve bothered Elizabeth enough. Help the engineers with repairs over the next few days.>See how she feels about going pirate hunting with you, whenever the Victory is combat worthy again.>Offer to help with looking over the survey data on the Pembroke, you might learn some new things about subspace.>Write-in.Okay, this is definitely the last proper post for today. I’ll be around for a little bit to answer IC questions though.
>>3090015>>Offer to help with looking over the survey data on the Pembroke, you might learn some new things about subspace.>See how she feels about going pirate hunting with you, whenever the Victory is combat worthy again.
>>3090015>See how she feels about going pirate hunting with you, whenever the Victory is combat worthy again.>Offer to help with looking over the survey data on the Pembroke, you might learn some new things about subspace.
Side question how does objects in subspace interact? If their are different levels of subspace I have a feeling their may be a bit of submarine warfare as well.wondering if battleship logic applies to our warp drive. The bigger the ship the more economical normally bulky equipment gets. Most ships sacrifice armor to do subspace combat while we give up almost nothing.
>>3090015>See how she feels about going pirate hunting with you, whenever the Victory is combat worthy again.>Offer to help with looking over the survey data on the Pembroke, you might learn some new things about subspace.>>3089833>Space Battleship Yamato: 2199.>Might be one of the films though, not sure.Google image search reveals it's from the first episode of 2202. It has the lighter shade of green of a Gatlantean ship instead of the darker green Gamillians use.
>>3090062What if submarines fight in subspace?
>>3090015>>3090035second
>>3090015>>See how she feels about going pirate hunting with you, whenever the Victory is combat worthy again.>>Offer to help with looking over the survey data on the Pembroke, you might learn some new things about subspace.
>>3090204>>3090217Were did you guys come from lol. Its super late, G'night.
>>3090219there ain't no rest for the wicked.
>>3090220But I'm a good boy, I swear!
>>3090219Not everyone is on American time here.
>>3090228I'm on Siesta time.
>>3090015You’ve bothered Elizabeth enough. Help the engineers with repairs over the next few days.
>>3090339No. Elizabeth chose to awaken the ancient power. The Pact is Sealed. She is Ours.
>>3090024>>3090035>>3090055>>3090089>>3090106>>3090217>>3090204>>3090336Writing the pirate part now, I need rolls of 1d100 for analyzing the subspace survey data however, best of three.>>3090062More or less the same way they do in real space as it is still 3d, though it can negatively effect sensors and some weapon systems if they aren't adapted for it - ranges are usually quite a bit shorter and sensors can't see nearly as far for instance. Speeds are slower too, sublight and warp, though since subspace doesn't have a true 1:1 relation with real space overall galactic travel speed is usually the same or even faster in good currents. See >>3087239 for a bit more. Going 'deeper' into subspace is completely literal, as it actually has an 'up' comprised of the easiest area to transition (still fucking hard with the right equipment) and a 'down' where it gets far more difficult to leave. What subspace actually looks like is varying shades of shimmering oceanic blues, with depth and current determining the exact colors. See >>3086881 and >>3086884 for a bit of in context examples about ships being suddenly 'sunk' into subspace, which is generally caused by horrible warp drive accidents.Also, to make it clear since it might be misunderstood the warp drive is separate from nav-shields, and is necessary for FTL travel in real space and subspace. It can cause transitions between real and subspace but this is generally very, very bad for the ship systems and crew - you need a very specialized ship design or nav-shields to do this on a large scale safely, quickly, and reliably. Otherwise it is the generic sci-fi "fly in mostly pre-plotted straight lines, gravity slows/stops it, pseudo-velocity so no FTL ramming" type.
>>3090343Shit, that should say "still fucking hard WITHOUT the right equipment".
Rolled 77 (1d100)>>3090343
Rolled 8 (1d100)>>3090343
Rolled 86 (1d100)>>3090343Three rolls?
Rolled 92 (1d100)>>3090343
>>3090343...so a warp drive makes it possible to enter subspace but a nav shield makes that entry safe?
>>3090370Yeah, basically, and it's easier to punch hole into subspace than out with just the warp drive alone.
>>3090372A nav shield is, let's say, an equivalent of the gellar field in w40k?
>>3090380It only needs to be active during the transitions, so not quite the same. Once you're in subspace it isn't actually all that hostile until the really low depths where radiation gets pretty bad. Thankfully there are no demons to try and eat you.
You feel more confident in your understanding of galactic politics now, and though things have changed quite a bit in you have a basic grasp of most the of the major players and their relationships - enough to work in this area of the galaxy without too much issue, anyways. Very intrigued by the idea of hunting down pirates your avatar speaks in a cheery tone, “Elizabeth, when the Victory has been restored to combat readiness would you like to accompany us on an anti-piracy campaign along the border? It would be just like the good old days, the guns of the Empire righting wrongs and claiming prize ships!”“Oh, uh. I… maybe, Athena. I’ve never really been in a battle, other than when we first met, but that does sound like a great adventure.”, she manages after a moment's pause.“You could still pursue your surveying work at the same time of course, I doubt that any pirate would bother the Pembroke with the Victory in close formation with it.”She smiles and laughs a bit at that, “I don’t think you’re wrong, Athena, the Victory will probably send them running when the see her on sensors. I’ll need to think about it some more, but consider my answer a yes for now - It seems like just what I’ve been looking for!”>>3090346>>3090363>>3090365>86. Success!Over the next few hours you assist Elizabeth in going over some of the Pembroke’s subspace survey data from around where the Victory was found. Astoundingly it seems that very, very deep in that area of subspace there are the wrecks of several other ships from Mahann - none from you squadron though, but it gives you hope for the HMS Valiant at least as she was also only sunk into subspace not destroyed by gunfire. You learn a bit about modern subspace scientific sensors while you’re at it, which will probably prove useful in the future.>Help Engineers with repairs over the next few days.>Speak with a character on the Victory or naval base. (Specify)>Write-in.Feel free to ask questions.
>>3090384>Help Engineers with repairs over the next few daysHow is our AI core looking? And how badly bunged up are our primary and secondary reactors?
>>3090384>>Help Engineers with repairs over the next few days.IT IS TIME
>>3090384>Help Engineers with repairs over the next few days.
>>3090387You AI core is being fixed up as best as the engineers can managed, but the base has few parts for AI as it primarily serves as a corvette and destroyer resupply point. They're attempting to fix one of the processing clusters and get a new memory bank installed though, and some information from your burnt out ones has been recovered. The primary reactor is a complete write off, and the secondary one is going to need a full overhaul at a better facility.
>>3090393>>3090390>>3090387Where would you like to focus your assistance?>Tertiary reactor output!>Energy grid integrity, safety first!>Comms and sensors, you're relying on the Pembroke right now.>Weapons!
>>3090396Ah. Any other important status information? It seems like we should get an infodump on system status and damage reports without having to ask for it but we are a damaged as fuck AI it seems.>>3090403>Can't say, don't know what's fucked the most
>>3090403>>Energy grid integrity, safety first!
>>3090403>>Comms and sensors, you're relying on the Pembroke right now.
>>3090403>>Energy grid integrity, safety first!That NEEDS fixing and optimizing. The last thing we need or want is the fucking power going out mid fight.
>>3090404Yeah, your current state is pretty rough with all the damage to systems aside from your personality core. As for the 'most damaged' system that would be comms and sensors, much of them where ripped apart by coilgun impacts or slagged with beam fire. The Victory is pretty much having to completely rely on the Pembroke right now for them.>>3090414>>3090412>>3090406Looks like it'll be energy grid fixes.
Over the next three days you assist the engineers in repairing the energy grid of the Victory, restoring redundancy to a few of the most critical areas and patching up a few other bits of the grid - Its still in a grim state, but not nearly as bad as when Eliza first found you. A processing cluster in your core compartment is also repaired, allowing you to regain a bit of your old mental speed, and a new temporary memory bank is installed. Recovery of fragmentary memories and files from the burnt out banks sees some success, and they’re left in place in hopes that more can be done at a full repair yard.At the end of the third day the carrier HMS Ark Royal and her escort group of two cruisers and a dozen destroyers, as well as four trawlers, arrive at the base. The Ark Royal is a large ship, a little over two thirds the length of the Victory, but it has a much lower tonnage as it lacks anything close to the same level of armor protection. Captain Grey and her AI assistant Shrapnel are in command of the vessel, and they greet you with what seems to be the now normal mix of awe and cheer that naval officers express upon encountering the HMS Victory in person.Several of the destroyers take on the remaining bodies of the Victory’s crew, and then depart to bring them to their various home planets or specified burial sights for final rest.How would you like to proceed?>At last another AI! You have many things to discuss. (Specify).>Speak with Captain Grey. (Specify).>No sense it mucking about, ask about getting the Victory raised back to real space.>Write-in.
>>3090432>>At last another AI! You have many things to discuss. (Specify).Just catch up on the past 600 years without having to interact with a slow human
>>3090432At last another AI! You have many things to discuss. (Specify).Guse ai things ships and systems changes over the years and how they use ai. Ask if they finaly manged that ai to body thing yet?
>>3090432>>At last another AI! You have many things to discuss. (Specify).High speed data transfer time, give us an in-depth rundown.
>>3090432>At last another AI! You have many things to discuss. (Specify).Only another AI will be able to tell us how changed mankind's view and cultural disposition on AI.
>>3090439But we can already control metal bodies.
If I'm getting this all right, we fought in the equivalent of Jutland, except it was fought at the edge of the Not!German and not!British Empires, which has since become the edge of Imperial not!Japan and Meridia is not!Australia? With the USR being a not!USA and is allied to the Imperials? Have I missed anything?
>>3090482Mahann was fought in the northern galactic reaches in Risya space, you just drifted way out east in subspace over the last six hundred years.Meridia is not!Australia but has control of not!New Zealand and the not!Dutch East Indies as well.Otherwise yeah, more or less got it. Other not!Nations are in more or less the places you'd expect them to be but I reserve the right to mess with that a bit. Wormholes (such as Midway Gate) connect the galactic east and west at several key points.
>>3090437>>3090439>>3090440>>3090443You message Shrapnel and request a meeting, which he agrees to, and your two Avatars meet flicker into being in the AI core compartment on the Ark Royal - This is done purely as a matter of tradition and courtesy, and the two of you actually converse almost entirely through several simultaneous text channels. Shrapnel’s holographic avatar, a large angry looking shark faced torpedo, pulses with light when he speaks aloud in his deep gravelly voice. Though the conversation is slowed somewhat by your damaged state you’re able to cover a fairly wide range of topics in the next few hours.AI, it seems, have only marginally advanced since your time and their core limitations and nature remain essentially the same. AI personality cores are still very expensive to produce, based off digital imprints of recently deceased or living human minds, and they still have to learn and acquire skills as humans do (though at a far faster rate). Proper AI replication is still impossible, despite many attempts to do so over the centuries and outside of capital ships, research academies, and planetary capitals AI are rare. Cores, processors and the like are more power and space efficient but capabilities are usually around the same as they were in your day. Treatment of AI across the galaxy varies, with Pretanna and its Dominions, Risya, and the Imperials granting full citizenship and rights, though in several other nations such as the USR the restrictions on AI are fairly strict. AI broadcast into and operate remote robotic bodies sometimes now, which is an interesting change, but this is apparently mostly used to give administrative AI a body to interact with the public through. You’re also caught up on some of the finer points of history from the last few centuries, and even given Shrapnel’s personal views on some of the events. Combined with the info you got from the Pembroke, Harutsuki, and naval base this gives you a solid base of knowledge to work with.Shrapnel doesn’t share much in the way of military doctrine or knowledge beyond what you learned from Captain Bennet though, as you aren’t officially a part of the royal navy or an allies navy yet.How would you like to proceed?>Speak with Captain Gray or another character. (Specify).>Finally decide who you’re going to sign up with, you’ve had time to think.>No sense it mucking about, ask about getting the Victory raised back to real space.>Write-in. Feel free to ask questions about in universe stuff as normal, you have a wider base of knowledge to pull from now.
>>3090500>>No sense it mucking about, ask about getting the Victory raised back to real space.
>>3090500>No sense it mucking about, ask about getting the Victory raised back to real space.
>>3090500>write-in.Ask the Princess about her choice.She said ok but not at 100%, if we go privateer we must be sure not to be alone in this choice.I would go for Privateer to taste freedom after a lifetime of dutybounded service, even if we will still be loyal to our creators (and their descendants).If she is like "nah", let's enroll with navy, if she is ok, let's go Privateer.Then,>No sense it mucking about, ask about getting the Victory raised back to real space.Time to got back into business, and earn the money to repair the HMS Victory into the behemoth it is supposed to be.
>>3090675Oh and thank properly Shrapnel, he was cool.
>>3090636>>3090543>>3090530Having finished your long conversation with Shrapnel and thanked him for his company, and seeing no reason to wait around, you ask Captain Bennet and Captain Gray when the Victory will be able to be raised back to real space. Their conclusion is that it will take about a day to prepare but with the naval base's nav-shield emitters and the Ark Royal’s Trawler complement working together under Shrapnel’s guidance it should be a relatively simple and safe transition. Captain Gray begins seeing to the preparations at once, departing from the meeting.“It’ll be one for the damn record books though, Athena. The Victory will be the highest tonnage military vessel to ever make a joint effort transition - Although I suppose you both do have some experience with that, don’t you?”, Captain Bennet remarks.“I am still unsure as to how we managed that at Mahann, Captain Bennet. I have found no surviving records in my memory banks aside from radiation sensor warnings and a few damage reports from the time it occurred.”He adjusts his posture slightly in his chair and looks a bit disappointed as he listens before speaking, “Figures, rough shape that you’re in. Hopefully a good repair yard can get you both up and running again though. Your resurfacing at Mahann has puzzled navies for ages, Athena. If you ever figure it out make sure to send a copy of your report my way - The admiralty will want one as well of course, but its always been a personal curiosity of mine.”“Of course, Captain. I look forward to finding the cause myself.” With that you both part ways and set back about your work. You manage to help get a few more repairs done with the engineers in the Victory’s energy grid, the teams working alongside your Tortoise automated engineering trolleys in long shifts to finish as much as they can before tomorrow.How do you proceed?>Speak a character in or around the base/fleet. (Specify).>Finally decide who you’re going to sign up with, you’ve had time to think.>Just relax a bit for the last few hours - You’ve earned a small break after all of this.>Write-In.
>>3090706>Speak a character in or around the base/fleet. (Specify)Ask the Princess if she is ready to say a final yes about going smacking some pirates and getting back old ships. With us as a Privateer, working for her House.
>>3090706>Just relax a bit for the last few hours - You’ve earned a small break after all of this.
>>3090706>Just relax a bit.Contemplate, collate, analyze and double-check to make sure nothing goes ploin shaped when we're raised to normal space.
>>3090723supporting
I'm surprised no AI has expressed interest in making something like the matrix for themselves to hang out in from time to time for leisure.Like we meet some other recently salvage AI that takes up ballet dancing as a hobby.
>>3090748>>3090744>>3090723>>3090722Relaxing inbound.
You relax for the last few hours before the transition attempt is to take place, casually checking over some of Shrapnel’s calculations and learning a little bit about how nav-shield joint transitions work. It’s quite complicated, but you enjoy the reading and find yourself at ease for the first time in quite awhile. The engineers aboard the Victory finish up their last energy grid repairs and head back across the docking umbilicals to the asteroid navy base, and the small repair ships that were tending to your hull repairs return to their hidden hangars. Rested and as ready as you’ll ever be the final preparations for the transition are made. Massive nav-shield emitters strung along extending lengths of semi-rigid cabling unfurl from armored bunkers on the asteroid base, forming one half of a massive circle while the four trawlers of Ark Royal’s fleet complete the other half. You pilot the Victory into position, pointing the bow up at the circular emitter formation from directly below its center. The Ark Royal and her escorts take up position to the rear, ready to transition through just after the Victory does.The area of subspace along the internal plane of the ring begins to roil and churn as the emitters activate, but eventually settles into a glassy smooth sheet of bright aquamarine. A probe is fired from one of the cruisers with the Ark Royal, and as it passes through the nav-shield circle it transitions to real space and confirms the its stability. The massive engine clusters of the Victory light up in a slow burn, and the vast length of the vessel slowly approaches and then finally begins to enter the ring. You activate the warp drive, using the instructions given to you by Shrapnel, and begin the transition to real space. The few surface optical sensors of the victory give you a clear view of the bow and its many destroyed weapons as they phase through the shield-portal slowly, one after another until eventually the middle of the Victory passes through and your core compartment transitions with it. You breach into real space, seeing the endless fields of stars of the galaxy for the first time in six centuries. The rest of the Victory slides through the portal in the next few seconds, and shortly thereafter you are joined by the Ark Royal and her escorts which also make it through without incident. Congratulations are shared between the vessels, several Captains contacting you over the next few minutes.
>>3090825Staring out across the vast expanse of the cosmos you’re left wondering where it is you’re going to head to. Elizabeth, understanding the importance of the moment, confirms her willingness to accompany you on anti-piracy actions if you so choose. You must now decide who you will sign on with, as that will determine your course for repairs.>Meridian Royal House service. Pirate hunting and other strange royal adventures!>Meridian Naval service. This region needs some more firepower on call!>Pretannian Naval service. Si vis pacem, para bellum!>Pure privateer work for Meridia or Pretannia. Arr! (Specify)
>>3090827>>Meridian Naval service. This region needs some more firepower on call!
>>3090827>Privateers, for the highest bidder!
>>3090827>Meridian Royal House service. Pirate hunting and other strange royal adventures!Just caught up now. Good quest OP, something I can really hope to isekai into.
>>3090827>Pure privateer work for Meridia! Arr!
>>3090827>>Meridian Royal House service. Pirate hunting and other strange royal adventures!
>>3090827>Meridian Royal House service. Pirate hunting and other strange royal adventures!A fan, and a rich one! A former emperor as a patron and booty? Why not!
>>3090832>>3090827Switching to>Meridian Royal House service. Pirate hunting and other strange royal adventures!
>>3090845As a privateer you claim the captured vessels under prize law, present them to a court, and can then do what you want with (usually sell) them and their cargo. There isn't bidding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prize_(law)>>3090847Thanks! >>3090859>>3090852>>3090847>>3090867Meridian Royal House service seems to be the victor!
>>3090873Does the Royal House have any other warships in private service or are we the first?
>>3090904A small but capable strike force is maintained, allowing for the monarch or other members of the royal family to take unilateral action in times of crisis or to pursue other objectives during peace time without parliamentary interference. Technically the entire Meridian Royal Navy is under the command of the monarch, but in practice the prime minister and the rest of parliament have a very large say in what they do - This provides a check against tyrannical or incompetent monarchs dragging everything to hell. It was a compromise solution, but it serves well.
>>3090827>Meridian Royal House service. Pirate hunting and other strange royal adventures!>Pure privateer work for Meridia or Pretannia. Arr! (Specify)With Elizabeth on board we can transition into Royal House service after we had our little fun.Saves the house coffers from being bled dry and prevent is from being "indebt" to the house.
>>3090827>>3090923SecondI figure we go pirate hunting first since that is kinda something we can do while we get "set up"
>>3090948Maybe find some really sweet gear that other wrecks don't need anymore....
Can we still try to resurrect other superdreadnoughts? Where my dreadnought squad at?
>>3090967We can't even be sure we'll be fully repaired in a reasonable timeframe, much less another dreadnought. We need finances first! And probably infrastructure.
>>3090873With your mind made up on the path you’ll be taking you contact and inform Elizabeth you would like to serve House Windsor-Nassau directly. She’s thrilled to hear this, and immediately sends a message out to her uncle Edward about your decision.You bid farewell to the HMS Ark Royal and her fleet, giving a gunnery salute, and turn the Victory to face Meridian space. With the navigational data aboard the Pembroke you plot a course to Canberra, the capital star system of Meridia and the location of the naval academy and largest naval yards in the dominion. The warp drive spools up slowly and then engages, and with a flash you’re off sailing into the great sea of stars once again!What would you like to do during the three week journey?>More repairs! Your Tortoise engineering trolleys need active attention guidance but can get a lot done.>Stay on alert, you don’t want anything going wrong now.>Spend time with the crew of the Pembroke - You’ll eventually be working with them a lot more.>Write-in.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiZ0kh00BwYGonna be a bit before the next update (3-4 hours probably). Feel free to discuss things and ask questions, I'll probably be able to still answer some of them at least.
Just to point out for everyone:Athenas memory is corrupted/lost, but if we can get it recovered we might be able to learn how the HMS victory was brought back into the fight during its last battle since it managed to emerge from subspace in a manner no one knows how.I think the corrupted data banks might hold a particularly juicy treasure if we are really damn lucky.
>>3090977>More repairs! Your Tortoise engineering trolleys need active attention guidance but can get a lot done.
>>3090977>>More repairs! Your Tortoise engineering trolleys need active attention guidance but can get a lot done.
>>3090977>More repairs! Your Tortoise engineering trolleys need active attention guidance but can get a lot done.Not counting our armament, how much of the ship still needs repairs?
>>3090977>More repairs! Your Tortoise engineering trolleys need active attention guidance but can get a lot done.Preferably getting our sensors online so we aren't fully dependent upon the Pembroke.
>>3090977>More repairs! Your Tortoise engineering trolleys need active attention guidance but can get a lot done.If we can get our own drone compliment to enact repairs ourselves, would make things faster.
>>3090977Wait wtf? Space adventures ruined.
>>3091018But that option won.
>>3091018>>3091022Heck the vote closed before you even voted anyway.
>>3090977I love the battleship yamato ost, a decent expansion would be the Homeworld OSThttps://youtu.be/XyyL_TICbrUThe HMS victory was basically discovered like the Dreadnought in Homeworld 2
>>3091018Space adventures are still on, read more closely. Both Meridia options would have involved going to Canberra, you're still doing House Service.Sorry if it wasn't clear.
>>3091026Vote times vary between half an hour to a few hours. I thought we generally aimed for have some independent action fun with Elizabeth before signing up with her house.I think meet her uncle would be interesting.>>3091028Yeah, but I don't think we can do merchant jobs and do salvage claims while in house service, and terrorize pirates for fun. Being part of official service tends to bar you from that, I suppose we can claim things for the house.>>3090977>Write-in.Fix our comms since routing through the Pembroke puts a bottleneck on data downloads to us, and a potential gag on our abilities to communicate if we get separated from the smaller ship.
>>3091050Even if a majority of people voted for privateering, we'd still need to get a major overhaul done before we'd be able to engage in any combat.Which would mean heading to Meridian or Pretannian space anyway.Secondly stuff like pirate-hunting or salvage is totally valid under House Service or even Naval service.
>>3091050You can do all of those things while in house service.>>3090983>>3090986>>3090995>>3091004>>3091008>>3091012>>3091050Overwhelming support for repairs, focusing on comms/sensors seems to be preferred as well.
>>3091068Yeah, but with the head of our House being a fan of big and old ships, we're more likely to be able to keep a larger share of profits from the privateering and invest that into repairs and upgrades.
>>3091083The bigger issue is that we need the cash to repair ourselves in the first place. It's not a case of hey let's go do some jobs and repair and upgrade our ship; its we need a major overhaul ASAP because otherwise we can't do anything at all. All of that costs money which means you'd better have a sponsor or government which is willing to foot the bill.
>>3091091Unless we go directly to fight pirates, we can do several salvaging missions, us providing living quarters, "light" defenses and cargo holds for equipment.
>>3091068>>3091083>>3091091So its a trade off for short term faster repairs over longer term profits and debt.>>3091070So space fleet battle admiral harem is still possible?
>>3091091And that's why we're going with House service with a pretty rich house. Gives us some immediate repair prospects in addition to better medium and long term profits. Not to mention a chance to say 'no' to bone-headed orders given by admirals who haven't commanded a superdreadnought.
>>3091108I wonder if we can absorb the mass of defeated enemy ships like a Borg 40k Space Hulk and add their material to fill our own.
>>3091111Don't most royals serve tho?
>>3091113...i doubt that, but im sure we can cannibalize parts from wrecks too damaged to be restored.
>>3091111Yeah which is why the majority voted on House Service.
>>3091070You decide to focus on making more repairs to the Victory while underway to Canberra. Throughout the next week and a half your Tortoise engineering trolleys zip about the corridors of the Victory like little worker ants, ferrying scrap from ruined compartments to cargo holds and cannibalizing wrecked systems to repair others. Elizabeth and Henry, with your guidance and some plans left by the naval engineers, manage to bring portions of the Victory’s comm and sensor suites back online - they’re performing far below standards, but you’re happy they work at all. The warp drive requires a cooling off period every few days that forces you to drop from FTL speeds, and during these periods of down time you work with Henry to check the status of your remaining armament - now that you’re in real space proper beam firing tests can be conducted. Most of the intact weapons perform as well as they could given the circumstances, though with the tertiary reactors providing limited power you’re forced to choose between dropping engine speed, rate of fire, or beam power.While performing tests of the 24-inch gun during one of these real space breaks your long range comms pick up a badly garbled distress signal originating in the next system over - only slightly off course. “...een atta… in need of imm…. stance! ...athay rai… adly damag…”It goes on like this, repeating every thirty seconds.Elizabeth and Henry are unsure how to respond with the Victory in its current state, though both wish to help - they defer to your judgement. How do you proceed?>Prepare for battle and jump to their aid, people could be dying!>Jump in closer, analyze the signal more closely. Recon matters.>Signal the navy and carry on as you where - You can’t risk getting torpedoed in a possible pirate trap in your present state.>Write-in.
>>3091412>Jump in closer, analyze the signal more closely. Recon matters.
>>3091412>Prepare for battle and jump to their aid, people could be dying!
>>3091412>>Prepare for battle and jump to their aid, people could be dying!DISTRESS SIGNAL, NO TIME
>>3091412>Jump in closer, analyze the signal more closely. Recon matters.Also signal fleet because we're not exactly the most prepared right now.If it's a trap or the raid is too big we'd be in more trouble than we can easily deal with, super dreadnought or not.
>>3091448>>3091430>>3091416Taking a closer look.
>>3091412>Jump in closer, analyze the signal more closely. Recon matters.The fact that it repeats means that whatever happened might have long since concluded.
Without hesitation you begin snapping out orders, “We are going to take a closer look. Henry, head to the bridge and man the gunnery console. Elizabeth, I need you on sensors. Wilson, Baker, armor up and prepare the Pembroke’s medical facilities.”Your human companions scatter about, executing the orders as best they can. Elizabeth seems very anxious, but Henry manages to steady her nerves with a few well chosen words. A message is sent to the nearest naval base as well, in case casualties are too great to deal with or things go badly. The Victory fires its maneuvering thrusters and adjusts heading, and then jumps to the edge of the system the signal originates from.“This is the science vessel Polaris, our expedition has been attacked and we are in need of immediate assistance! Cathay raiders have badly damaged our warp drive and engines and our orbit is decaying rapidly.”, the signal now says more clearly. The speaker is a distressed sounding woman, and you can hear the faint sounds of other panicked crew just in the background of the message. Long range sensors confirm the story after a few seconds of scanning - a pair of civilian vessels in close orbit around a large gas giant are venting plasma badly, and a third a bit further out is in the process of being boarded. A group of four of what your databases identify as Cathay manufactured corvettes are nearby, one of them alongside the far out civilian vessel and boarding it. Your sensors don’t pick up any active scans hitting the Victory, but you still aren’t sure if they’ve detected you.“God sake, that’s a lot of pirates for this far into Meridian space. They’re either bold or stupid, Athena.”, Henry remarks.How do you proceed?>Jump in as close as you can and engage the pirates immediately. Try to keep the element of surprise.>Jump in close enough to engage and hail the pirates. Perhaps intimidation will save some lives.>Jump in and try another strategy (Specify).>Write-in.
>>3091512>>Jump in as close as you can and engage the pirates immediately. Try to keep the element of surprise.warship doing warship things
>>3091512>Jump in as close as you can and engage the pirates immediately. Try to keep the element of surprise.
>>3091512>Jump in as close as you can and engage the pirates immediately. Try to keep the element of surprise.Aim for the three free first. Don't engage the docked one, for obvious reasons.Negotiate with the docked one for hostages if necessary.It's 4v1 and they have the option of running even after a failed engagement, since they're corvettes, so dealing with them fast is preferable. Intimidation miiight work, but they're pirates anyway.
