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>>38091704
>Current armory
269 Thorn Launchers
20 Thorn Cannons
123 Sting Casters
30 Cyclotrons
15 Rotary Stingers
3 Fire Sprays
5 Plasma Spray
22 Particle Cannons

>Current resource reserves
Nutrients: 748336
Metals: 527684
Credits: ₡2326
Credits in Lyle’s account: ₡1,177,450

>Hive population and upkeep cost
Hive maintenance – 20225
Queen – 5
Fake Queen (3) – 66
Worker (85005) – 170010
Aquatic Worker (5140) – 20560
Vacuum Worker (5200) – 31200
Radiator Worker (5100) – 20400
Warrior (1209) – 6045
Aquatic Warrior (100) – 700
Thinker (1300) – 3900
Quantum Thinker (355) – 1775
Speaker – (3) – 12
Digger (80) – 320
Refinery (10) – 70
Sniffer (2) – 8
Small Sniffer (200) – 200
Fly (50) – 200
Wasp (100) – 500
Haz-mat Workers (20) – 80
Shock Troops (40) – 520
Parasite (30) – 120
Bio-tank (12) – 300
Excavator (250) – 4750
Colossus (20) – 300
Harvester (50) – 950
Support Fluttercraft (2) – 272
Ghost Beetle (5) – 135
Heavy Warrior (5) – 95
Advanced Relay (69) – 6900 (set as default method of ship control)
Upkeep: 290630N

>Hive fleet
Space Pod (80) – 2400
Shuttle (10) – 250
Mining Corvette (16) – 4400
Scout Corvette (8) – 1800
Lancer Corvette (2) – 450
Fleet Corvette (4) – 900
Stealth Frigate (4) – 1952
Heavy Cruiser (10) – 12150
24302N

Clone upkeep/special projects and expenses
25 Human captives of the USV Hope – 750
3 Human hybrid clone upkeep – 90
Specializations:
>Brawler
>Tech
>Engineer
10 Skyl replicant clones in production – 600 [9 days remain]
Lyle Rogers – 47
1487N

Total upkeep
Nutrient costs: 54852

>Income
Metals: 193000
Nutrients: 951250
Net: 896398

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>>38091734
Hive Territory
[G-426]
Asteroid mining base: 5 Excavators, 20 Diggers, +2250M per day (+50 M per digger, +250 per excavator)

*Leeland (capital)
Defensive structures
>Surface to Orbit Missile System (750N)
>Anti-orbital batteries: 35/35 (8750N)
Military structures
>Hangar facilities: Room for 40 Aero/fighter Drones and 20 Shuttles (25N)
100 under construction
>Spring Mountain Hive: Original hive contains decoy queen within throne room
>*Secondary Mountain Hive: Actual site of Throne Room
>Prison Outpost
Industrial structures
>Docking Pylon: (19) (1900N)
2000 under construction
[20 Mining corvettes]
[20 Patrol corvettes]
[36 Fleet corvettes]
[100 Vanguard Frigates queued: Insufficient resources, construction on hold]
[200 Heavy fighters queued]
[5,000 Shuttles queued]
[Empty docks: /76]
Economic Structures
>Mine: 245 Excavators, 60 Diggers, +62750 M per day (+25 M per digger, +250 per excavator)
>Algae Farm: +200,000N per day, 2,000 Workers (1 worker per 100N)
10,000 under construction
>Film harvester dock: +750,000N per day, 1500 Harvesters active (500N per Harvester)

M-662
Raligha
Defensive structures
>Anti-orbital batteries: 35/35 (8750N)
Economic structures
>Bloodroot collectors: A series of pipes and veins running from the roots of several of the nearest Bloodroot trees provide a passive and low maintenance source of nutrient income, +250N per day (5)
>Greenwall pit: Variable income (average harvest provides net gain of 500N, thinkers report testing not yet complete)
>Temple alter: A place for the Ralighan locals to worship and bring offerings to your hive, built in the likeness of your local fake queen, +500N per day

M-323
>Orbital docking pylon: Space for docking and construction of 4 sub capitals or 1 capital ship, (50N)
[4 Fleet corvettes]
[Empty docks: 0/4]
>Mining corvette salvage operations +128000M per day (+8000M per corvette)

Deep space waystation
>100 docking pylons [under construction]

FUCK YEAH! HIVE QUEEN QUEST!

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>>38091754
New Construction Options
Defensive structures
>Anti-orbital battery – A bunker armed with a massive Particle beam capable of attacking ships in orbit from the ground. It includes the power and sensor systems required to operate it. 250N 1500M
>Surface to Orbit Missile System – This massive bunker complex houses a wide range of warheads and a nigh limitless number of missiles within its protective walls, allowing you to launch missiles against approaching invaders from the safety of your hive. The facility uses the ship missile stats and comes equipped with a single Cruise missile silo that can target any detected object within the system, five Stinger missile silos capable of targeting any craft within high orbit, and ten Swarm missile silos specialized in targeting high altitude aircraft and low orbiting targets. The facility itself is a massive complex spread out over several miles, and includes guidance and launch equipment, as well as the means to construct and maintain a stock of warheads and missiles. (1500N 2500M)
>Psionic Shroud – A single building built around the shattered remains of a Void Shard, the shroud amplifies the unnatural mental silence of the broken crystal within to mask an entire planet from potential detection, preventing outside forces from easily detecting the thoughts of a hive. (2,000N 5,000M)

Most of last week was spent trying to fix the hexographer issue, I have given up on that and will just remake the whole map by hand, as at this point I can only assume the file was corrupted.

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>>38091795
Military Structures
>Hangar Expansion – Construct fortified hangar facilities for your choice of +40 aero/fighter drone space, or +20 shuttle space. 50N 100M
Industrial Structures
>Docking Pylon – A large spire or station that contains space for docking and construction of 4 ships, or a single capital ship if placed in orbit. 100N 300M
>Weather Spire – A networked collection of spires spread across a planet capable of studying and altering a planet’s climate and atmosphere. Construction includes the building of all spires needed to function. (8,000N 20,000M)
Economic Structures
>Orbital solar array – A station placed in orbit of the local star equipped with a membrane of photosynthetic cells several kilometers in diameter capable of producing a steady stream of nutrient income. Provides 1000N per day total (5,000N 50,000M
>Harvester Dock – A large pier built along the shore overlooking the spore-producing ocean film that serves as an unloading area for Harvester drones, and contains pipelines to pump collected raw nutrients to the hive’s awaiting processing facilities, includes a single Harvester which is covered by the cost and upkeep of the dock. Provides 500N per day total (38N 50M)
>Orbital electroponic station – An orbital instillation built near a large source of hydrogen used to fuel a large fusion core, which in turn provides electrical power to a contained algae farm facility. Must be built in orbit of a gas giant. Provides +500N per day and doubles as a gas mining facility, refueling the tritium stores of any ships in the system. (1000M)
>Algae Farm – A carved out space used to utilize Leeland’s natural electrical field to cultivate food. +100N per day, 1 worker to maintain.

Welcome back QuestDrone! Sorry to hear about your map making problems. I hope they got clean up now.

>>38091795
should have ran with out it honestly.

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>>38091821
Finished research

>Psionic fortification
A strange mixture of organic components assembled into a crystalline matrix, the strange white crystals not only can serve as a kind of memory storage device, but also as a component in a psionic relay. When incorporated into a drone, it replaces the portion of the brain maintaining the psionic link to the queen and serves as a mixture of fuse and signal booster, allowing the relay to broadcast to drones suffering from psionic jamming, and can protect itself from jamming by cutting off its ability to receive thoughts.
The process of installation does not cost anything, but requires a white crystal be implanted into the selected relay to function.

>Liquid metal sculpting
With the advent of new technology in metallurgy, your drones can quickly and easily shape the metals used in larger construction projects, greatly decreasing the time required to complete a capital class ship.

>Psionic Shroud
By utilizing the aura of silence given by the dead and lifeless remains of the void crystals recovered from hive battles, your drones have developed a way to mute psionic chatter. Drones within the same psionic network will still be able to communicate, however to any unrelated hive the thoughts and images become foggy and nondescript, easily blending in to the background noise of the universe.
The shroud itself requires extensive effort to extend the minor aura of the broken crystal to make it powerful enough to use. The resulting proposal is a building comparable to a docking pylon in size, capable of hiding the thoughts of every drone on an entire planet.

>Gun ports
This simple but highly effective concept was inspired by the tanks and heavy combat equipment of human militaries. Small muscle clusters are grown along the sides of large drone carapaces, allowing a large drone to hold 2 large weapon grafts, and up to 4 medium weapon grafts.

>>38091821
Hot damn it's good to have you back QD.

>>38091795
>>Psionic Shroud – A single building built around the shattered remains of a Void Shard, the shroud amplifies the unnatural mental silence of the broken crystal within to mask an entire planet from potential detection, preventing outside forces from easily detecting the thoughts of a hive. (2,000N 5,000M)
YES.
Question, can it mask an entire fleet too, in addition to our conventional stealth?

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>>38091889
>Rejuvenation gene therapy
Genetic immortality is something your kind often takes for granted, while many other races sprint to the grave. This serum injected directly into the spinal column raises the hayflick limit of the subject’s existing cells, allowing for the body to replenish body cells that would otherwise decay, effectively increasing the subject’s life span. Repeated injections or the implantation of a parasite are required, as new cells will not have the raised limit.
Extended use may cause minor cases of brain cancer. Your thinkers recommend more rejuvenation therapy for treatment in such rare cases.

>Weather Spire
This massive spire is capable of adjusting and analyzing local weather patterns on planets with an atmosphere, and is capable of generating an atmosphere on planets capable of holding one. Its primary use is as a method of terraforming, adjusting a local planet to be more hospitable to life of the hive’s choosing, scrubbing the air of toxins, and balancing the oxygen and CO2 levels, as well as adjusting weather patterns to be less hostile, causing precipitation to fall at desired locations for desired amounts of time, breaking storm fronts before they can form, and adjusting for geological patterns and solar activity to maintain climate balance.


>Photosynthetic cells
By adapting the capacity most commonly found in fauna to produce nutrients from solar rays, you can now build stations in heliocentric orbits of local hive controlled systems capable of utilizing the radiation of stars to produce moderate amounts of power and generate a steady stream of nutrient income. Each station utilizes a thin membrane of photosynthetic cells several kilometers in diameter to collect and store energy, which is then processed into nutrients. The nutrients are then transported by shuttle or ship elsewhere to feed the hive’s many growing needs.

>>38091835
Maybe, but I ended wasting a whole day on the map and panicked. Sorry.

>>38091795
>Psionic Shroud – A single building built around the shattered remains of a Void Shard, the shroud amplifies the unnatural mental silence of the broken crystal within to mask an entire planet from potential detection, preventing outside forces from easily detecting the thoughts of a hive. (2,000N 5,000M)
>Weather Spire – A networked collection of spires spread across a planet capable of studying and altering a planet’s climate and atmosphere. Construction includes the building of all spires needed to function. (8,000N 20,000M)
why haven't we built this, yet built 5k pods?

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>>38091931
New research unlocked

>Crystalline neural structure
Medium (requires 500 N for testing and experimentation)
Further research and experimentation regarding the strange white crystals could lead to the ability to reproduce them, and even incorporate them in your hive’s biology.

Thought muffler
Slow
While you are still unsure how to build replicas of the void shard remains needed to build the psionic shroud, you do think you may be able to recreate a similar effect. While the result would likely not be nearly as effective, it could be employed by individual drones or ships without the need for built infrastructure to support it.

Solar collector miniaturization
Medium
This bloated and fragile module is a miniaturized application of the orbital solar array that can be mounted on a ship as a module. The ship is highly vulnerable to attack, making it a poor choice for a combat vessel, but it becomes a highly efficient mobile nutrient farm, capable of either supporting itself or a small fleet of others. Each module slot allows for a single solar collector dish. They must be retracted beneath the hull to perform a Blink or high-G maneuver, and while deployed the ship is treated statistically as unarmored and unshielded, regardless of design. A ship with a deployed solar collector cannot cloak.

New tech unlocked
[Perpetual Regeneration]
Your parasites are now capable of halting the aging of an implanted subject, and can regenerate lost minor limbs such as digits, eyes, teeth, bones, and some organs. If the lost organ was a cybernetic of hive design, it regenerates instead of the original version, and does so in half the time. Supplementary metals may need to be ingested.

Current research

Your thinkers release a collective sigh of relief having finished the monolithic list of projects and advancements they had been given. You can’t help but be proud of your little thinkers, but there is still so much to know; their vacation will be short lived.

Fuck yes, Hive Queen Quest! LIVE FOR THE SWARM!

>gun ports
Landbeetlebattlecruisers when?

>>38091957
Because it's a new thing.

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>>38091965
Available research options

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

>Smart Mines
Medium
Replacing digger drones with programmable seeds of nanomachines allows the hive to effectively create metal trees. The nanomachines spread roots through the ground to locate ore veins, break them down and assemble them on the surface as metallic fruit-like bulbs for workers to gather.

>Carbon nanostructure construction
Medium
By using the ancient Raligha ship as a basis, and new construction techniques, you can implement more sturdy nanotubes and carbon based diamond filaments to slightly improve the stability and durability of your ships without impeding maneuverability or increasing cost.

>Cellular acceleration
Medium
By using advanced medical technologies to assist and boost the cellular metabolism of an organism, clones can be made to develop much faster than normal.

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>>38091988
>Genesis Project
Medium
By studying the practices and techniques on top of the dedicated technologies of the Gardener's hive, you can develop a method that can be used to rapidly spread foliage and life on a planet to develop a new biosphere. The process is time and resource intensive at the start, but with the use of weather spires the biosphere quickly takes root and becomes self-sufficient.

>Genetic tapestry
Medium
With the development of your recent clones, you have gained experience and knowledge in organizing alien DNA into effective and desirable formations to not only reproduce an alien subject, but also improve upon it. Now you feel you are ready to go even farther with your experiments in mixing and matching alien and drone DNA.
[Unlocks Chimera clone type]

>Laser cooled superconductors
Medium
Utilizing powerful cooling rays to maintain a temperature of near absolute zero, superconductors can be constructed and maintained out of cheap and easily replicable materials and nearly no cost. This would allow for the construction and maintenance of various mass transport and logistical systems that would improve the efficiency of hive activity.

>Quantum Entanglement engineering
Slow [50,000N 50,000M development cost, paid once]
Experimentation with the behavior of entangled particles could reveal potential uses beyond simple communication. Your thinkers have several tests ready to proceed to test the interaction of quantum entanglement with your own technology, although the tests will require the construction of multiple prototypes and test devices that will likely not survive the experiments.

>>38091931
>Extended use may cause minor cases of brain cancer. Your thinkers recommend more rejuvenation therapy for treatment in such rare cases
In case of space magic overload, apply even more space magic.

>>38091988
>>38092010
I would humbly like to propose adding all research subjects save the psionic cannon and maybe the quantum entanglement tech.

>>38091965
>Your thinkers release a collective sigh of relief having finished the monolithic list of projects and advancements they had been given

Some how I can visualize all our thinkers as guys working in cubical offices. The end of Friday rolls up and they all rejoice in thinking they got the weekend off. Then we the Queen just strolls in and tell them we need them to work this weekend on another project.

>>38092084
nah add the quantum entanglement we have around 1 million N, and almost 220k m, we can use the conversion of N to M, later on if we are running low on metal.

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>>38092010
"We know things for Queen!"
Your thinkers chant in glee with nothing better to do now that they have completed your tasks. Elizabeth speaks with several of the thinkers that had been researching the shroud.

"Thing is quiet, makes things quiet, thing good!" Your thinkers say.
"Yes, but it's the size of an office building! Sometimes thinking small is better than thinking big. I think we could work on miniaturizing it."

>Add research (write in)
>Other

>>38092115
>220k m
meant to say 200k.
>>38092120
Add all except Psionic cannon.

>>38092084

No, just

>Thought muffler
>Crystalline neural structure
>Smart Mines
>Carbon nanostructure construction

In that order of priority. Ancient crystal space magic mysteries take a long time and deserve priority.

>>38092120
>>Add research
All medium research options.

>>38092120
>Add research
>Laser cooled superconductors
>Carbon nanostructure construction
>Smart Mines
>Thought muffler
>Solar collector miniaturization
>Psionic Cannon prototype

>>38092120
>Add research
All medium research+quantum entanglement.

>>38092120
Add
>All medium research
>Quantum Entanglement engineering
>Thought muffler

>>38092204
>>Psionic Cannon prototype
Bad fluff. No blowing up the planet.

>>38092120
>>Thought muffler
>>Crystalline neural structure

>>38092204
NO. No psionic cannon, the Very Dangerous research subject that a recording previous testing revealed cracked a planet in two.

That can wait.

>>38092120
Add everything but the Psionic Cannon

>>38092120
Can we lay 700 thinkers to make it an even 2k.
And lay 645 quantum thinkers to make it a nice 1k?

>>38092120
Crystalline neural structure
Genesis Project
Cellular acceleration
Laser cooled superconductors
Quantum Entanglement engineering
Thought muffler
and whatever Elizabeth wants to try.

>>38092257
>>38092120
I wouldn't mind doing this myself.


Oh and QD, can we have some idea of how many more thinkers we can lay before its not really worth it anymore? Kinda working in the dark here.

>>38092204
No to the canon, unless we do it on another planet and lay a shiton of thinkers/quantum just for this project.

>>38092120
>Add everything except psionic cannon and quantum entanglement.

>>38092251
>>38092243
Come to think of it we haven't even checked if the White Queen has put the schematic of a completed Psionic Cannon on the crystal.

>>38092120
>Add everything but the psionic cannon prototype

Reminder that we just pulled out a psionic cannon or something similar from earth, that should help out with our own canon.

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>>38092120
>Everything but the cannon
>All medium research
>Other


Oh crap, I was dumb again and forgot to update the resource reserves.

>>38091734
Actual resource reserves
Nutrients: 237556
Metals: 170744

>>38092120
>>38092314
Whoops, I meant to include quantum entanglement in that post as a research option.

>>38092336
>Everything but the cannon

>>38092336
>Everything but the cannon

Thought muffler
Smart Mines
Carbon nanostructure construction
Cellular acceleration
Genesis Project
and Laser cooled superconductors

>>38092336
Can we start with this scene first?
>>38092334
If not than my vote is.
>Everything but the cannon
Since depending if it makes it less dangerous/quicker will help sway my vote.

>>38092336
>All medium research

>>38092336
>Everything but the cannon

>>38092336
>>Everything but the cannon

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>>38091704
The best time of the week has finally arrived.

>>38092390
The weapon also uses void shards, of which the hive has only four.

Any research into the weapon inevitably requires testing it, which runs a serious risk of using up an extremely limited supply.

>>38092290
Honestly, 2k/1k seems like a good ratio, and would probably be on the upper limit of what you would want. More then that and you would either need to have way more research to do, or be ok with being horribly inefficient.

Your mother, for example, had millions of thinkers all dedicated to Psionic Cannon research, which was likely out of desperation, and was horrifically inefficient.

>>38092336
>All medium research

>>38092449
true, but than agian we have this up for research as well.
Crystalline neural structure
>>38092464
So 2k/1k is our ideal number cool.

>>38092464
Ah, thanks a ton QD.
I'd definitely vote to get our numbers to 2k/1k then if thats not a problem. That way we can stop worrying about the number of thinkers we have and just leave it at the optimal number.

>Your mother, for example, had millions of thinkers all dedicated to Psionic Cannon research, which was likely out of desperation, and was horrifically inefficient.

Well that probably explains (partly at least) why the failures were as catastrophic as they were.

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>>38091704
TLDR: Stop hiding guys so I can write a few battles already.

Also, dat nutrient income. I'm not one of the number guys, but I hope we do something fun with those. Psionic Shroud seems interesting, but I'm worried about possible side effects. And we don't have that many crystals to go around, broken or not. We might also want to make a weather spire on Lee land. We don't really need to, but I never caught the research bonus bit before and why not really.
Time to build more ships though, really looking forward to those orbitals.

Psionic fortification looks interesting, we can make it part of the architecture and keep a wire to it. It seems a bit vague on the details, like if it uses up a crystal in use, range (planetary, system wide, ect.) unless that is actually the psionic shroud. Still seems very useful.

>Psionic Shroud details
This is a pretty nice upgrade. Put it underground though. If we ever meet the black queen and decide to play pretend we can just act like our silence is a natural adaptation.

>Gun Ports
Holy shit yes, we need this! Large drowns are pretty damn good now, truly walking natural gun platforms. Hopefully research from Zero One will allow for even larger units, even if the new ones aren't cost effective it would be good to have a few around. Muh guns

>Rejuvenation gene therapy requires multiple injections
Interesting...

>>38091957
Those pods are going to be useful in construction. I think. The stuff is new anyway.

>Ability to reproduce the white crystals
Pic related

>Genesis project
This is really useful if we want to concentrate our power in local systems. We have a low of resources, looking at the tower prices we can pour quite a bit into such a project and you can imagine how useful it would be to have hive planets next to eachother. And also potentially risky I suppose.

Welcome back

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>>38092336
>Everything but Cannon research

Your thinkers shudder in their places as their minds snap to attention. New problems are quickly delegated to your drones, prototypes begin construction, and the workers within the lab begin shifting samples to and fro.

Elizabeth directs several drones to disassemble the shroud prototype and looks over to an idle speaker, which is starring at nothing in particular with great focus as it waits your next order.

"I've been thinking about these weird crystals we keep finding. I was wondering if you had a moment to discuss a theory of mine."

>Not now
>Speak (write in)
>Agree
>Other

>>38092492
>>38092527
I mean, you're still over the absolute max efficiency line, but you're still getting enough per thinker to make it not seem a total waste.

>>38092651
>Agree

>>38092651
>>Agree

SCIENCE!

>>38092651
>Agree

>>38092651
>>Agree
Incidentally Elizabeth, how do you feel about living forever?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jtpf8N5IDE

>>38092336
>Nutrients: 237,556
-50,500
187,056 N
>Metals: 170744
-50,000
120,744 M

>>38092651
>>Agree
Why the fuck not?

>>38092651
>Agree
Sure, why not.

>>38092651
I did some quick math it would only cost us 10,650 N to get to that ratio.

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>>38092813

We should check with Theseus to see if any of his data crawling has turned up any humans making excessive mention of us in news or the like.

>>38091965
>Crystalline neural structure
>Further research and experimentation regarding the strange white crystals could lead to the ability to reproduce them, and even incorporate them in your hive’s biology.

The Black Queen became infested with the Void crystals, the White Queen / or The Gardener either made or found the White crystals to fight the Void crystals with the help of their allies.

The question is.

Do we wish to become the White Crystal Queen over the Red Queen?

>>38092651
>Agree

>>38092881
...is this slowly being revealed as some massive fight of good vs evil? What if... We're on the wrong side.

>>38092918
We're on our own side anon. That's never the wrong since.

>>38092918

I'm more partial to The Summer Court = White crystals and the Black = Winter Court.

Their both BAD ENDS for everyone that isn't the people becoming the court, but if the Summer Court wins then death, agony and brainfuck doesn't become mandatory for everyone above the age of a zygote.

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>>38092972
Then we need to become the Autumn Court and usher in the best possible future.

>>38092881
I'd like to avoid chess comparisons, personally.

We are the Red Queen, enemy of the Obsidian Queen. We are all we need to be to survive and ensure our children's wellbeing. Nothing more, nothing less.

>>38092918
>>38093023
>There are sides and we are on the good one
Stop this

>>38093092
Never said we are the good one, just that we need to usher in the best possible future. Best is what is best for us.

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>>38092651
Your speaker twitches, as if being awoken from a nap as your attention fills its mind with purpose and its head shifts its view to the doctor.

"Of course." It chitters, "the hive's attention is nearly infinite."

"Well, I could't shake the idea that having those... things, could somehow garner unwanted attention. That's why I wanted to help when I found your workers making a prototype out of that dead crystal of yours." She pulls out several papers of notes. "While I was looking over them I noticed some rather strange similarities between them, and the white crystals you found in old hive ships. At first I thought it was because they were taken from Skyl designs, but now I'm not so sure."

In another hand she has a schematic for a Skyl data cube, meticulously drawn by one of your drones. Deep in the bowels of a dark tunnel under construction, a worker beams with pride at the drawing.

"These are actually totally different. I couldn't tell at first because superficially they are remarkably similar, enough so that the Skyl computer system was even capable of using both, but it looks like it was made from scratch to do just that. These thing have more in common with those void crystals than a data cube."

Your speaker takes the small white crystal in its claw and investigates it. You feel shimmers of distant thoughts pass over you as you do so.

"Except one very major difference in function. It's actually physical."

Your drone returns the device and looks up at her. "And the other is not?" You ask. Your thinkers are still unable to take any form of measurements, or perform any direct tests or observations of the crystals themselves. The creation of the psionic shroud was simply a matter of using the crystal itself, but you still lack any proper understanding of its internal mechanisms.

"I don't think so no, at least not any normal matter. Whatever it's made of, it's likely unknown to human science entirely."
cont.

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>>38093076

>Chess comparisons.

Fucking what?

What the fuck are you talking about?

The Traitor Queen IS black shelled and covered in black crystal tumors, our Queen is red-shelled / patterned, the Gardener was either green or Beige, and our Dear old Mum was White as fucking snow.

>>38093115

>One is physical
>The other isn't

Oh god, this IS some Seelie / Unseelie bullshit.

>>38093115
What if the shard is a pocket universe?

>>38093115
>Deep in the bowels of a dark tunnel under construction, a worker beams with pride at the drawing.
I love our babies.

>>38093130
>That bus boy in the lower right
He was delivering a space pizza and somehow got his photo taken with all the galactic leaders.

>>38093130
Where is this image from?

>>38093221

It's a fanwork about Sword of the Stars.

>>38093130
Hivers a best race

>>38093254

Hivers x Humans OTP
They both begin with H, it's the most perfect allianace.

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>>38093272
>Hivers x Humans OTP
Anon might finally get noticed by Queenie

We should be colonizing the rest of G-426 (our capitol).

We should add some docking pylons and more Anti-Orbital batteries- it already has two if I remember correctly.

Also, 35x Orbital electroponic station on our gas giant with an Anti-orbital better attached to them.

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>>38093115
"What is your theory, exactly?" You ask.

She leans down and takes out a blank paper. "Imagine, for example, that you were a two dimensional being living on this paper, and I do this." She places three fingers on the paper. "What would you see? Three round objects. Simple. But it's not three objects, it's one, like how all of your drones are a part of you." She stands back up and clips the paper back in her small notebook.
"Honestly, it's only a hunch, but before I joined the expanse I did dable with a think tank dedicated to studying the Ceph raiders. I have no way to prove it, but it would explain the void shard behavior, the way they can grow or shrink at will, yet have no detectable mass. I think each one is, in some way, a single device."

She seems to think for a long while, her face somber as she listens to the distant chanting of working drones. "It's all just conjecture though. I don't have any way to prove it without poking around with an active shard, but regardless of if I was right or not messing with those things could be dangerous. The only hives we know about that were attacked by those things directly were only attacked after they had been messing with active shards. I don't want to risk it betting on that being a coincidence."

You ponder on that for a moment. It is true, both your mother and the Gardener were attacked only after making headway in their own psionic cannon research, although two does not quite make a pattern.

>Speal (write in)
>Other

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>>38093475
Whoah... You can't just drop bombs on like that QD

>>38093475
Three. There was a third. The queen who destroyed themselves and the planet when the enemy attacked, in a misfire of the cannon prototype.

Speak: "Then we will begin construction of the shroud immediately.

>>38093544
Please anon. This basic quantum mechanic here.

>>38093475
didn't we see an old vision where someone from one of the old hives tried to use the psionic cannon and the resulting misfire caused it to destroy a whole planet?

I say leave the thing alone for now. It's dangerous to mess with and we only have the one so unless we can collect more data on those crystals or find more to experiment with I think it's just to dangerous to go poking around those things when we have so much to risk going wrong.

>>38093475
Right. Ok.

>>38093563
Oy, are you reading? We just learnt using crystals attracts unwanted attention.

>>38093475
>>Speal (write in)
As we speak my children are developing methods of hiding the hive's psionic presence. Perhaps once they have completed their efforts we can attempt to safely research the void crystals.

>>38093475
>We are the flatlanders

Does anyone else here think we should move to a nearby galaxy? Possibly Andromeda.

>>38093475
>What do you think of the risks of constructing the Shroud? Might the broken remains still be connected to the greater entity or might they be safe to utilize where a whole crystal is not?

>>38093475
>>Speal (write in)
It is good we have an early warning. We have begun research into replicating their useful capabilities without using them.

(incorporate information into Crystalline neural structure research)

>>38093604
And we're hiding that with the shroud. Which is the whole point why Vaughn wanted to help on it in the first place.

>>38093475
"The cannon appears to sever the fingers from the hand, then, as fuel. We are not researching the cannon."

By the way, I've been thinking, and, I know how you'll react to this idea but please hear me out. What if we brought Seiner back, we have all his thoughts, and we have the ability to clone him, so that isn't a problem.

I know his last actions have all been to conspire against us but his actions have shown a consistent trend. He is willing to work for ANYONE so long as they fund his research, and he is VERY willing to perform research, in fact, his urge to learn about both us and about the entire way our hivemind work is in and of itself of extreme usage as it would both provide us with an outsider view, and POTENTIALLY allow for alternate methods to be created (his theories could result in false leads we could then actually use).

I think overall, that Seiner is benign yet amoral, which makes him very easy to manipulate how we want. It would also give our other resident human company, although we should probably ask first. I suspect Theseus only wanted to have him killed due to his active threat to Theseus and our own existence.

>>38093737
I disagree, we need to research the cannon, we should just do so somewhere where it wont be as much of a problem, like in deep deep space, on a remote asteroid, in the middle of nowhere, and with entirely disposable drones.

>>38093739
I pretty much agree. He definitely gets a parasite though and we may want to talk to Elizabeth about what she thinks about it.

>>38093762
I also agree with this.

>>38093737
I assume that use of crystals would result in attention regardless of if they were white or void.

>>38093762

With several million layers of psionic shrouding and shielding between us and them.

>>38093475
"What of the shroud?" You ask simply, it is the first thing you think of at the moment.

"Not sure. I suppose the closest thing I could think of with the broken shards themselves would if one of the two dimensional creatures gawking at my fingers were to manage to cut one off. I'm not sure if they would attract the same attention, or at least I certainly hope not, since we've been poking at it all week. As for using it to avoid that attention, that I'm less sure of. It's made from one of them, so it could be possible, but like I said, this is all just guess work. I can't prove or disprove anything at the moment." She places her notes on a nearby desk of bone and chitin. "We've already poked the broken ones with a stick, so I don't see how building those shrouds would make things any worse, and they certainly seem to work in prototype form, at least for me."

Your speaker chitters in agreement.

>Speak with Vaughn about other matters (write in)
>Turn your attention to your new base on Zero One
>Turn your attention to Lyle and your clones on Gemini
>Turn your attention to your scouting party in the depths of Huron
>Other

>>38093739

No.

This is a Cerberus / Shepard scenario you are talking about, but instead of Space Jesus, it's Space Einstein / Tesla / Van Gogh. with a reason to hate us.

Plus he's a bastard, so any company he would give to Elizabeth would be to her detriment.

>>38093812
>Turn your attention to your new base on Zero One

>>38093739
Just a reminder that Elizabeth loathes him for attempting to pull the plug on Theseus, but yeah I could get behind this. Elizabeth herself has just shown how useful an intelligent human scientist can be to the hive, after all.

>>38093812
>Turn your attention to Lyle and your clones on Gemini

>>38093828
>with a reason to hate us.

You do realize we can easily control him mentally with the parasite. He wouldn't be a risk.

>>38093812
>Turn your attention to Lyle and your clones on Gemini
Lyle I'm not so worried about, the clones on the other hand...

>>38093812
>Turn your attention to Lyle and your clones on Gemini
LEE

>>38093772
There is nothing Seiner can offer that his memories and our Thinkers can't duplicate. Free will is an annoying complication of humans.

>>38093739
I approve. The only trouble is that I don't know if we can.
>>38093812
Can we do the suggested? >>38093739

>>38093812
>>Speak with Vaughn about other matters (write in)
Inform her of our development of the immortality serum, and ask her if she is interested in receiving the therapy.

>>38093845

Elizabeth isn't entirely "Human" anymore, making even the most brief of a direct contact with a mind composed of billions all moving together under the will of One can not be feasibly handled without cracking.

That's not even getting into the fuckton of Quantom-thinking organic supercomputers adding their money into the mix.

>>38093812
>Turn your attention to Lyle and your clones on Gemini

>>38093879
Nah, free will in some of our minions may be the difference needed to win against the crystals this time when all previous queens with their billion children failed.

>>38093812
>Other
Check the other White Crystals.

>>38093858

This is the kind of thinking that fucks everyone in the long run.

Hell, just go Starship Troopers on his brain, suck it all out and sift through it.

>>38093879
>Free will is an annoying complication of humans.

I know right. Look at how all of Lyle's free will has completely wrecked us. We can't trust him at all or use him in the slightest.

>>38093828
>>38093879
Anons, anons, one word: parasites. Free will is no longer an issue once the subject has been implanted. We can literally make him think whatever we want.

>>38093927

>Lyle
>That guy we both shoved a giant maggot directly into his spine AND the guy we shoved our Mind-dick into his memories and faffed about at our leisure.

>>38093772
Elizabeth definitely, but also, what about Theseus, we only know some of the calculations theseus used to decide on Seiners death, and judging by his pause there were a shit ton of calculations, which either means he did a lot to merit his death or it was a very close calculation. It'd be nice to have his input.

>>38093828
He didn't hate us, he was frustrated with us, the same way one would be when they hit a roadblock in a study they've spent years on. He viewed us completely objectively. Also

>>38093858 Going down this route invalidates the idea as he will think more in line with us, defeating the benefit of an outsider view.

>>38093924
We crossed the line of isolation and autism when we first spoke with Lee and, then again, with Thessius.

The interaction with AI we have no measure of control on is 10000x more dangerous then something that MIGHT happen with Steiner clone somehow hating us while having parasite.

>>38093941

I'm not going to risk having a scientist that specializes in fucking ALIENS bound to us by a completely biological process.

>>38093812
>>Turn your attention to your scouting party in the depths of Huron

>>38093948
Which is exactly what we are going to do with cloned Steiner.

>>38093941
That's hybrid clones.

Parasites are a limited, subtle influence.
>>35785892
> You can now sense whatever a host senses, as well as alter their perception of reality through hallucinations, delusions, or other such manipulation. Direct control is possible, but is usually less effective.

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>>38093948
Yes, the very same.

http://ask.fm/QuestDrone/answer/123886730277

>>38093948
Thats my fucking point anon. Why the hell would we ever not shove a parasite into Siener and then mind fuck him to be loyal. Hell its not like he can even plot against us since we know everything he knows.

And hell, we could always make a hybrid clone version of Seiner to increase our control over him.

>>38093981
Yes, we don't want him bound to us or mind controlled, partially because his ENTIRE FUCKING BENEFIT would involve his unadulterated mind functioning.

>>38093990
He provides us with something we can't have otherwise. An outsider view into our hive mind method of communication, his studies can reveal weaknesses, alternate methods, and things we may not have thought of period. It'd also allow us a genius savant and a possible speaker for us later. Also he has knowledge into the human political system.

>>38093980

Love it, make the jewels a pale crystal and make them bigger and we have the Red Heart of the White Crystal Queen.

>>38093812
>>Turn your attention to your scouting party in the depths of Huron
A-Am I the only one who wants to see more waterworld?

Resurrecting Stiner is stupid and a waste of posting time, we should be doing something else instead. Something actually fun.

>>38093812
>Turn your attention to your new base on Zero One

>>38093812
"Well, I think I should go let the peanut gallery know I still haven't been eaten." She speaks in monotone, as if loathing the idea of spending more time with the rest of the human crew in your captivity.

Elsewhere, on the surface of Gemini, dawn breaks on the outskirts of civilization. Your loyal hybrid clones watch and listen as humans in the distance rummage along the edge of the forest.

>Have your pod return to orbit
>Have your pod remain hidden in the foliage

>Have your clones leave the forest and blend in with the locals
>Have your clones sneak into town while avoiding human contact
>Other

>Oh hey guys let's resurrect this guy that every single one of the people we actually like hates with a passion or actively wants to murder in pre-emptive self defense and have him study how our system of controlling the Hive works to seek out weaknesses in it.
>Oh yeah, the only way we can control him is to plant a bug in his back that we can only control through the psychic network that he is studying and experimenting with to find the weaknesses of and he is only useful when his brain and memories aren't tampered with excessively.

/tg/ = Walking down the Bond villain path.

>>38094055
It's ok, I have four liters of caffeinated drinks and nothing to do tomorrow, I just wanted to know what you all wanted to focus on first.

>>38094000
Parasites are not simply a subtle, limited influence. When fully integrated into a human central nervous system they can wield total control over a person's conscious thought process. See the link posted here >>38094022.

>>38094055
At the moment it's "pre-FTL excavation site world," which is less exciting.

Still waiting on finding the organism for developing submarine drones with aquadynamic chassis and fins and depth rating and shit.

>>38094113
>>Have your pod return to orbit

>Have your clones leave the forest and blend in with the locals

>>38094113
>>Have your pod return to orbit
>>Have your clones leave the forest and blend in with the locals

>>38094131
>four liters
Pls be safe QD

>>38094131
>I have four liters of caffeinated drinks and nothing to do tomorrow.
>Oh Boy here we go.jpg
>>38094113
>Have your pod return to orbit
>Have your clones leave the forest and blend in with the locals

>>38094163
Huron is one of the most popular tourist locales in the Union, and is one of the closest planets to the Gemini system.

>>38094113
>Have your pod return to orbit
>Other
Inform Lyle about the clones.

>>38094120
I think it's just one or two guys who won't shut up.

Then again I thought the same about Lyle. And Lee.

>>38094113
>Have your pod return to orbit
as long as no one sees it leave. Otherwise leave it hidden for now and have it depart once no one is around
>Have your clones leave the forest and blend in with the locals

>>38094120
Honestly, I don't really have a lot of interest in resurrecting Siener. For me its just something we might as well do since its rather simple and safe. More than anything though I'm just arguing against the retarded arguments against it.

>>38094211

I care nothing for Lee, still mad about the thread opening with "Leeland" actually.

Lyle I actually care for, partially because he is a major resource, partly because we adopted his ass through some hard-core mindlove, and I'm still not convinced that won't bite us at a later date, possibly if he ever had to get his augments checked on every now and again, but am willing to roll with the punch on that one because he isn't that big of a long-term threat if the cards land that way.

But a scientist whose entire funding hinged on the potential ability to control our Hive? And giving that fucker the opportunity to actively observe and examine the Hivelink and seek out ways it can be improved? When we made him shit his pants in terror and decapitated his ass and took the head so people wouldn't be able to get his memories? Nah, fuck that, not saying it's a bad idea, I'm saying that it's an idea that can fail pretty horribly and do a lot of damage while it crashes and burns.

>>38094113
Your clones search for an area clear of branches and trees, and your pod plots a course. It's thrusters roar to life and its cloak flickers in the kicked up dust.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to stealthily break Gemini orbit.

As your pod drifts into the sky your clones fan out, feeding each other images as they do so. Physically, they appear human, and you intend to put that to the test. They quickly make their way to the far edge of the woods, away from the commotion of locals, and make their way to a small road. Automated trucks rush by at regular intervals, floating along on magnetic rails as they move vast amounts of crops and equipment. The local town can be seen in the distance, several miles down the road, and your clones begin to walk.

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>38094371
For the glory of Satan!

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>38094371

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>38094371
come on guys, make the hive proud

>>38094293
I don't know why, but there seems to be a vocal group of anons on this quest who would rather kill and eat every single human we come across than attempt to cooperate with. Not sure why they want all the humans dead, but damn if they don't want to wipe em out.

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>>38094035

>>38094400
Glorious.

shit, I forget, does this quest consider high rolls good or low rolls good?

>>38094400
thank you anon

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>38094371
Would be FUN it we fail.

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>>38094400

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>>38094400

>>38094422
Higher Better.

>>38094413
Could be a reaction to the anons who want to ally and protect everything they find. And those anons might be a reaction to anons who want to burn it all.

Or maybe we are all actually moderates and just false flagging the extreme we like less? Or maybe...

>>38094414
Wouldcallmyqueen/10

>>38094413

>Not wanting to work with an Amoral dickbag who was actively researching the way our species worked in an effort to potentially control us or not wanting to work with the people who have a standard policy of first contact is to foster dependency and later annex them means we want to eat and devour all humans.

Get out.

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>>38094400
You're doing good work

Maybe there should be a survey or something to see what's actually the majority or what's just a vocal minority. Maybe there should be a few. Like "The fate of humans: Assimilate, Alley, or Annihilate?" or "Lee: Do we actually give a fuck about him or is it a joke?"

>>38094650
Survey is a bad idea.
I'm strongly against all friendly interaction with humans and other lesser races. Lee is a joke.
There we go.

>>38094650

There are two main human factions, the general opinion on the Union is "Fuck those guys, we might talk when we can fuck their faces in with little effort." because of the Black Box we found, the other we don't actually know all that much about.

Lee is a joke that some people take seriously.

>>38094650
Fate of humans: Alley
Lee: we give a fuck.
Lee can be useful in as a face with the rest of humanity politics.

>>38094650
>Assimilate
Milk them for tech.

>Lee
A fucking joke.

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>>38094650
We should also do a make a new queen survey too.

>>38094725

Our grasp on human politics should be as thus

"You bother us in a negative fashion or do something that can be used against us with any real results and are planning to use them, we re-purpose the biological matter used in the makeup of your feeble frame to make a new sniffer, alongside most of your military and higher eschelons of government."

>>38094650
The whole bloody quest is nothing but a series of surveys, genius.

>>38094650
That might be wise idea. Not to say I'm under any illusions that it would stop shitposting every time a new human character is introduced, but it would make the issue clearer.

Maybe a strawpoll would do the job?

>>38094650
I dint think a survey would work out, but I feel like allying with humans on principle is a troll opinion. The default is to ignore them as long as they ignore us, at least as far as official looks go. Underneath we use them when we need. Allying with them would just eat up a whole lot of game time while we convince them that no, we do not want a perminste military base on our capital planet and no they can not have a thinker to cut up. Lee I think we can use.

>>38094725
Lee can be useful as a friend and ally to bug kind. What he should not be is our spokesperson, someone who is more reliable, trained, and totally not a clone guys we swear is. I think Hewey and Dewey are better as our faces then Lee, he's simply a likable and average human being that made an average crewman aboard a research vessel. He is in terms of star trek, a blue shirt. A red shirt with a likable personality that makes them less likely to die.

>>38094781

a new Queen is a bit iffy, because the new Queen would be out of our control, for all we know the little tyke could give us away to every other faction in the region a month or two after we give her a planet to start out with.

Or worse, ally with a faction to get the upper hand on us, not fully realizing that it wouldn't be the "game" it was for our ancestors, where nothing of value was actually lost, and killing the other Queen was taboo unless supremely justified.

>>38094650
>Humans
Humans or individuals so I say find groups or people we actually like and maybe trade or deal with them but as a whole I feel it's better just to leave them to there own devises as long as they leave us the fuck alone.
>Lyle
I kinda want to use him either as sort of our own black ops unit when we don't want to send drones to gather info. I also fell that our clones (once we can find them a decent ship that doesn't scream hive) would also be good in this regard. I want to use our clones to take on jobs in confederate space once we're done here for no other reason then to gather information on them.

>>38094650
Eh, whatever the case it'd be suspect to samefagging and people not being here/not voting.

But might as well state my stance.

I have no issue working with humans, I'd prefer to take over and completely control them but I worry that we may need their military assets to fight the Dark Crystal forces. If we reach the point where we can seize control of the humans in one fell swoop then I'd back it without issue.

Until then we need to maintain peace so we don't waste resources fighting them.

As far as Lee is concerned.
I'm fine with our name for the cap to be Leeland for our use and for ingame humans to use. Its as good as any other name and is kinda amusing.

Actual investment in Lee. Well I liked his character somewhat and think tracking him down and playing with him is a fun way of spending some of the thread time.

The problem is this, its a game. And its not a straight 4x game, we have to make our own fun and chasing after and playing with Lee/Lyle/Elizabeth is just one of those things. We always do the mechanics, aka researching, collecting resources, building, and interacting with people is just the story aspect of the quest.

>>38094844
Issues do not get "clearer." Consensus does not exist. It all goes flying out the window as soon as the playerbase changes in makeup, which it does with regularity and over the course of a single night.

Conflicting opinions exist, deal with it and try and save arguments for after bump limit.

>>38094862
A face isn't a spokesperson per say, but I agree with you for the most part.

>>38094864
I can see her outing us, but its becoming harder for us to hide honestly.
As for your other point, is plain shadow runs since Quest drone has said that they wouldn't join forces against us unless we forced their hand(or the black queen bullshit), but he did say that they would fight with each other if we made more than 1.

>>38094371
There is a distant whine of thrusters, and your pod quickly cloaks as it leaves the treeline.

As your clones make their way to town you notice a small crowd of people gathered around the wheat field in which you had landed. You can see a long burnt streak running along the length of the field, with police tape surrounding the edge of it where locals have gathered. Several police vehicles sit parked outside while another drifts idly in the air with a set of small air jets. You can see a small number of humans in some form of bulky yellow suits move about the field with small devices in hand. They sweep the instruments back and forth to the sound of high pitched whistles and crackles.

"Did anyone see what it was?" someone yells.
"Why isn't there any debris? Did they already take it away?"

The local officers attempt to disperse the crowd, and your clones continue their way into town as the officers give canned responses in an effort to get them to leave.

Near the town itself you find a number of small businesses surrounded by large silos and industrial farm equipment. You see a small office along the side of the road connected to a magnetic train rail, much more narrow, but more sturdy then the magnetized highway. The trailers of local trucks you saw earlier are being loaded and unloaded from a stationary train at the moment.

You see the area through the knowledge of your clones. Several small personal air cars are sat parked along the road. You suspect your clones could simply take one, and with your tech and engineer together, they would easily be able to hotwire one. The train, however, likely runs directly to the inner city of New Prescott, although your clones lack any form of official identification, they would need to sneak aboard one of the cargo containers if they were to ride it.

>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves
>Steal a nearby air car
>Other

>>38094881
Also to add, We are learning new things as we chase down Lee so it's not a total waste.
>>38094940
>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves

>>38094940
>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves
stealing a car would attract to much attention for my taste

>>38094864
I think a specially trained queen would be good. Hidden away in a moon bunker in an unoccupied system that is carefully taught and fostered as a child, daughter, and backup. Thinker teachers and nutrient farms, a shroud, and escape vessels. We dont need her slavishly loyal to us, because no queen should be. But our race is strong as seperate hives, we should grant life and this small queen the chance eventually to be ruling her own fiefdom

>>38094131
based qd

>>38094940
>Other
Lyle could you pick some people up for us?

>>38094940
>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves
They got money for a bribe right?

>>38094940
>Steal a nearby air car
and
>Sneak it aboard the train before it leaves

>>38094940
>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves.

Humanity has cracked down on car theft hardcore as is, I guarantee a marked stolen vehicle will get us screwed big time.

Also in regards to >>38094650

Lee is one of the two humans who have seen us face to face, he is one of the only creatures to aid us without any return. He warned us of a plot against us and acknowledged he would pay for doing so, hes the closest thing to a true ally and a friend we have other than elizabeth and Theseus. If we can't reward fellowship we cannot hope to have allies in any venture, and however superior we feel we are, our species has failed in the past and can fail again. Having a coalition against us would likely assist in that, we are very intelligent but cannot predict all avenues.

By the way guys, if were leaving incognito we should immediately work out a hostage agreement, we don't want to get caught with terran prisoners on our first FTL contact with them as an ""equal"" tech race.

>>38094940
>Other
Where is Lyle inbound to? If this town stay put, otherwise train and regroup with Lyle along the rails

>>38094996
How about we go to the nearby galaxy before we start laying queens.

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>>38095017
>two options
>"i choose both!"
I'm guessing this is a parody post, because.

You just went full Lee.

You never go full Lee.

>>38094996

That doesn't work because ALL Queen work on the same general network, what we know, she knows and vice-versa.

While granted the Psionic shrouding and shielding mitigates this, it's still there, a Queen is born with all the knowledge she needs to get started, not trained.

>>38094940
>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves

>>38094996
my thoughts on a new queen would be wait until we're done building an empire. We have seeded a few worlds and have built an army but we still don't have a fleet and other then the ground forces on the worlds we've got, other then the drones on the ground are pretty much defenseless from a large orbital invasion. Once we have a full fleet or two then I believe that would be a good time to see whether or not we want to make a queen.

>>38095050
We can just say that they desecrated a tomb of our race.
We can also say we found a way to give them immortality, but it needs to be done through our parasites.(i'm against assimilation, but the immortality thing is the best bet you can get, if you want everyone to have parasites).

>>38094940
>>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves
Its space hobo time

>>38095050
Don't be retarded.

The crew of the Hope is dead. Unity killed them. No one is looking for them, and no one will ever see them again.

Just pop them into bio-tanks and sink them into a fantasy simulation like the Matrix to keep them occupied.

>>38095050
It's not like they will find out unless we let them. And we just tell them they were raiding a site holy to our people.
Might be tricky to avoid suspicion, seeing as it all happened at the same time as the AI attack. We just need to play around with memories to change the date of when they entered the temple.

>>38095121

That...that is actually not a bad idea.

Didn't we basically do the same thing to that guy we used to learn how to properly disarm those nukes in the satellite?

>>38095121
You see this? This is what I'm talking about when I talk about anons completely unwilling to negotiate with humans at all. Galactic murderhobos, all of you.

>>38095155
>>38095121
you would think either Lee or Elizabeth would ask us to release them though.

>>38095121
We could pop them in, mind wipe them, and toy with their bodies enough to change their physical makeup making them essentially completely new people. More effort but removes the Hope issue.

>>38095187

Elizabeth gives a negative amount of fucks about them.

She's more Proto-Queen/Thinker without a Hive than human as far as species association goes at this point.

>>38095204
We do not have memory altering tech once the memories are already in a fully-formed brain.

We are not the Men in Black.

>>38095204
Speaking of which, all of our parasites have acid glands rights?
Since if we do release them i can see some one taking those out once they leave our sphere of influence.

>>38095218
Anon, she isn't heartless, if she was she wouldn't have released Unity.
She is just annoyed that they are being so paranoid.

>>38095187
How would they know the difference, once they're in their own fantasy worlds, as well?

>>38095271
Elizabeth has the same mental shit we do, so you would think she could detect what ever we are doing.

>>38095230

Then we give them a new brain.

But at that point it would be easier to just make a complete homunculus from scratch.

>>38095171
No, that's called "not confessing to things you are not being accused of and no one has any evidence you did."

Which is retarded.

>>38094940
>Sneak aboard the train before it leaves

Your clones quickly make their way over to the station and scout the area. Apart from several humans overseeing the loading of cargo, there is not much activity in the area. Each car is a small flatbed with a series of hooks attached, and the trailers themselves are brought from the large trucks and placed on the train one after another. One of the trucks halts near the station and begins to float its way under the loading crane before waiting in line behind a number of other automated trucks.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

personally I get the feeling that everyone has more they agree with then they think, since text debates suffer from a lack of context at times.

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>38095359

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>38095359

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>38095359
>>38095381
damn son

>>38095381
>They call me the queen of dice

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>>38095381

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>38095462
>>38095411
>>38095407
Don't know why you guys are so happy, every time we rolled it was pretty shitty, except for one really good one this session.
Soon that good one won't pop up.

>>38095345
>Hey humans?
>You know that planet the USV Hope got nuked in orbit over?
>Well it's ours. Has been for over 70,000 years.
>What's that?
>You want to know what happened to the crew?
>I'm afraid we wouldn't have a clue.

Yeah, because that's going to work out so fucking well.

>>38095550
>He thinks the Queen isn't blessed by fate
Haven't you seen how the other queens are doing?

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>38095613
Forgot my dice

>>38095550
You not catch that 98 there anon? QD takes the best of three, you know.

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Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>38095639
Here is better dice.

>>38095730
Every time that fucking episode. My sides are lost.

>>38095562
Honestly, the fact that we were willing to house and release them would be a sign of good faith, something we DESPERATELY need as a terrifying alien insect race. Also, Currently Elizabeth gives no fucks, yet I guarentee if we go far enough we will be able to piss her off at our flagrant disregard for humans. Remember, we may be adaptive as fuck, but humans, when pushed against a wall, real or theoretical, will claw and bite there way out, and given the technology to do so, that clawing and biting can be QUITE fucking nasty to us. We don't want to waste our time on stupid wars. Lets do what we need to, rescue lee, and try not to accidentally a civilization.

>>38095786
Well said. Diplomacy is both a hell of a lot cheaper and safer than war, something we seem to forget in this quest.

>>38095757
This is still my favorite video of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZyNtj_ZNRI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHP9xbIh0xU

>>38095841
War is basically who has the deepest pockets or who is willing to sacrifice the most.

>>38095955
Or who can most efficiently sacrifice said resources. Regardless, losing drones isn't fun, we shouldn't make a habit of losing thousands at once, presumably its a painful process for a queen.

>>38095786
A nice way to do this would be to show up at the conference in a hive-ship, with a server ship coming in from the other direction. We put forth lee as our ambassador, and Theon sending in Elizabeth as his ambassador.

I can't wait for Solar Collector miniaturization comes about and I can start designing hive-ships.

>>38096017
Theon isn't a character in this. Have you been watching too much game of thrones?

>>38095841
I bet you're just champing at the bit to start peace talks with the crystals, too.

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>>38095359
Your clones quickly move as the loading crane grabs hold of the truck, and they hang from the far side of the trailer as it is lifted up and set down on the train. They climb up and dive over the top of it, crawling past the protective tarp and land in a pile of rice.

Your clones share a knowing glance, they need no words, like your own drones their minds are linked. Their memories twist and contort to maintain the illusion of their own identities, regardless of the obvious falsehoods.

Not not after they land in the pile of rice they feel a sudden jerk as the train begins to accelerate. Your orbiting pod has taken the time to trace the track, and it does indeed lead directly into the sprawling city of New Prescott.


The train lurches to a stop and the doors open with a loud beep. Lyle quickly walks out and makes his way down the steps to the street bellow. This district is a higher class then the last one, but not by much. The streets are slightly less crowded with industrial traffic, instead being filled with taxis and personal vehicles. The periodic rumble of the train overhead jungles the loose change in the tin cans of nearby beggars, and briefly mutes the sound of a street performer across the intersection. the smell of cheap food fills the air as stalls and restaurants alike serve impatient customers, and the steam of the drainpipes bellow drift up like the heat vents of a great, cement hive. The near permanent eclipse has ended with the coming of night, but there is no sign that the activity will dip any time soon on the streets.

Lyle is quick to find a small apartment block and makes his way to the elevator. There is a man in tattered blankets sleeping in a puddle of urine in the corner gripping an empty bottle of liquor in a dead-man's grip. Lyle pushes the button for the third floor, twisting the button slightly to the left with his thumb, then hitting twice with his knuckle before it lights up with a beep and the doors close with a rattle.

>>38096017
>citizens who join us become biologically stronger/better.
>Citizens who join thesus become better cyborgs.become the borg

>>38096057
Nah, those crystals have shown themselves to be hostile not only to our race but to every other one as well, they wish to control everything for there own purpose. They have sinned, committed atrocities, and have allowed horrors beyond comprehension. They must burn.

Humans on the other hand are still totally savable in my book, as are some of the ceph.

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Hey guys, I made some new art for the quest. Hope you guys like Ceph.

>>38096112
You know he doesn't have his harness anymore, he is just a squid on the floor now.

>>38096069
So Quest drone when can we finally introduce Thesus to heretic?
Thesus knows about him, and i think he would want to meet him.

>>38096112
I laughed.

>>38096174
Are you sure you want to let two AIs interconnect with one another?

Actually, eh, if Theseus wanted to wipe out organics he would've done a better job at doing so, and heretic has a pretty clear missive, lets make it happen.

>>38096221
Thesus main objective was to study and help out humanity(or something like that).
He doesn't hate organic, but wants to guide them down the right path.
You are right about heretic though.

>>38096174
>>38096221
How about no.

>>38096221
lets do it

>>38096263
>study and help out humanity(or something like that).
Meant to say study/gather new info, and look after humanity.

>>38096221
I'm game, but that depends if Quest drone will allow it.

>>38096221
nope

Guys. You know how QD told us whenever we see the broken crystals it's like there's nothing there? What if that's what there meant to do? It's been described that people will forget that a broken crystal is in the room, or even wonder where it is for a moment while it's right in sight, but it doesn't seem like it's making an active effort to do so.

>>38096174
Please make this happen this session QD. Please.

>>38096288
would that mean if we went to war with humanity then Thesus would turn against us?

>>38096327
What if the void god is going to use those to attack us when we don't expect it?

>>38096346
He would probably stay neutral since it would be resource intensive for him, but he might do something if we are gonna go for total annihilation.

>>38096221
Nah, still too early. We have too much to gain by acting as the sole means of contact between the two at present.

>>38096174
>>38096221
We should hold a proper vote for this. I'm for it.

>>38096321
>>38096329
There is a decent chance it could be a disaster.

>>38096327
I think you're shadowrunning at this point. We still have no idea how much They can see through the crystals.

As a matter of fact, we should quiz Heretic on this when we next meet him.

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Made some art of the void god we saw. I know this isn't accurate, but I just like to imagine he looks like Anti-Spiral with weird crystal growths on him.

>>38096443
When did we see any kind of entity linked to the void crystals? I thought there could very well be an entire race of higher dimensional entities controlling the crystals, for all we know. Nice pic tho.

>>38096427
The unbroken crystals were described as having the feeling of always being watch while around them. Plus, doesn't it seem a bit suspicious that a known tool of the void god is telling us that there's nothing there? Like it doesn't want to be observed.,,

>>38096443
We didn't see a god.

We saw the ship that killed the White Queen, feasting.

>>33100344
>You find a third, and see a strange sight. A planet...burning. Its crust being torn apart by something vast. You can feel it shift, shaping itself in space like liquid mercury, and it twists in your direction. You feel an unbearable pain run through your head and seal the doorway, the mote of light vanishing in a moment.

>>36076047
>Finally, you sense space open before you, and an elongated ovoid of reflective metal emerges. The surface ripples like water.
>You finally have their attention. You must be more of a nuisance than you anticipated.

>>38096492
Because, we saw it when we psionicly used the crystals. It stared right at us.

>>38096502
It sounds like you are mixing up the intact void crystal we pulled out of Hell's Angel, and the dead void crystal we retrieved from the ancient hive ship.

>>38096525
It wasn't a ship it was eating a planet, ships don't eat planets. Unless they were made by BP.

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>>38096069
Dillon and Jackob are waiting in the room. Dillon sits near a window with the lights off, looking out with a level of paranoia only possible for someone in the line of work of anit-terror. Jackob is cleaning his shredder, a nasty weapon designed for use in boarding combat. It's incapable of penetrating even the most simple of armor, but rips through flesh well enough to be banned in nearly every system. Several darts sit next to the disassembled weapon, resembling drill bits more then ammunition.

"Good timing, we only just arrived ourselves, actually." Jackob says. "Want a beer?"

Lyle grabs the offered can. "I have a lead on our Pinkelton fellow." He says, "His id had an address. If the id was just a copy of Lee's it should be his, otherwise we should at least be able to figure out more about who did the face lifting, and where we can find him."

"Sounds boring. I know a few local clubs that are used to set appointments though, we could check some out." Jackob quickly assembles the weapon in front of him, his eyes still looking up to Lyle as he pieces it together by rote memory.

"I've been keeping tabs with my contacts, both the official and unofficial ones, the body we left at Long Island never made it to the news, but was listed as a Jhon Doe in the local report. I think someone was keeping tabs on him."
Lyle notices Dillon's hand resting on his own weapon, a Regulator variable strike hand rifle. There was no kill like overkill, after all.

Lyle takes a swig of beer and takes out the fake id card. "Well someone should take a look at this address then."

"I can handle that, but this is your job, you should tag along and see if you spot anything of importance. It isn't Lee's address though, I already checked that. His is an apartment in third district, in case you wanted to take a look. It's scheduled for demolition this week though."

cont.

>>38096321
I'll always allow it, it just seems rather contentious of a topic.

>>38096544
No, no we did not. We saw many things in three dimensional space, but nothing to suggest the presence or attention of any kind of distinct entity.

>>38096561
They're both the same thing, just in different states. What I'm saying is, they could still be using the crystals that are supposedly 'broken', but trying to get us to not pay attention to them.

>>38096590
>I'll always allow it, it just seems rather contentious of a topic.
Make it a vote than, most of your players should still be awake now.

>>38096590
I'd rather play the role of the middleman so we can get twice as tech.
>>38096628
Having them meet is a bad idea since there is nothing to gain from it.

>>38096597
What about that distinct entity that was eating a planet and glared at us when we interrupted his lunch time?

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>>38096590
Lyle flips the card in his hand and tosses it to Dillon with a flick of his wrist. "Good to know."

>Accompany Jackob to search the local clubs for leads
>Accompany Dillon and search the home of the fake Lee, Pinkelton
>Head off alone to search Lee's apartment
>Other (write in)

>>38096597
>nothing to suggest the presence or attention of any kind of distinct entity
Anon, stop saying dumb shit and read the quest. >>38096525

"god" is presumptuous, but it was aware, and very large, and survived a psionic cannon blast.

>>38096663
>Head off alone to search Lee's apartment

>>38096663
>Head off alone to search Lee's apartment

>>38096621
The dead void crystals seem to be spent ammunition from a psionic cannon. Whatever activity within was presumably burned out when our mother (or aunt) attempted to fire the weapon.

If Elizabeth's theory is accurate, then they are probably crystals that have been severed from Them. Like a finger being cut off, to follow her example with the paper.

>>38096663
I can't wait to fall in another trap filled Leebait.

Someone is obviously trying to smoke out anyone who wants to find Lee.

>>38096663

>Accompany illon and search the home of the fake Lee, Pinkelton

>>38096723
There are reasons people might want to do that other than searching for our agents though.

I'll enjoy seeing Lyle's face when our clones/his old teammates burst into where ever he gets captured at and save him.

>>38096663
>Head off alone to search Lee's apartment
might as well cover all the bases.

Also how much longer would you say before our clones get into the city? Just wondering if they'll be in soon enough to be of help should shit go south.

>>38096663
>Head off alone to search Lee's apartment

>>38096663
>>Head off alone to search Lee's apartment
>>Send multiple flies to scout the location ahead of Lyle.

>>38096709

More like an eye that's been dug out of its socket.

>>38096685
I only use the term "god" because that's the closest thing I can compare it to.

>>38096709
But what about people who have lost their limbs, they can still 'feel' it. I'm just worried about what happens when a being of that much power tries to exercise that lost limb.

>>38096791
Seconded, but also send flies to follow the other two as well.

>>38096657
>>38096685
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/33090557/#p33100344

From the way it was phrased, it seemed less like Them and more like some weaponized force. From what we know, They have no interest or way of consuming entire planetary bodies, so I fail to see why we should assume They were present at the time.

Does anyone want an image of space/pol/?

>>38096829
>>38096791
Supporting these.

>>38096825
Well that's phantom limb syndrome you're talking about. People with that don't have any sensation from the limb lost, they just experience vague sensations they felt when they had the limb in question. Someone who had their leg blown off by an artillery shell isn't feeling the legs he left on the battlefield, as they had been totally severed and have ceased any and all biological function. So no, I still think They can't spy on us through the dead crystals.

>>38096825
>they can still 'feel' it

Are you seriously citing phantom limb sensation? When your argument is just "it's magic i ain't gotta believe shit"?

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>>38096829
>>38096791

>These anons have good heads on their shoulders.

Pic related, we've already found the void gods irl.

>>38096868
Yes thank you.

Union or Unity flavor?

>>38096663
"Well we should be quick about it. I can check Lee's apartment, I trust you not to overlook anything, and Jackob, I don't think I fully trust your taste in clubs." Jackob only gives a devious smile winks. Lyle continues, "call be if either of you find anything, otherwise we meet back here tomorrow."

Your flies are small, agile, and incredibly hard to spot, but they are fragile and few in number. You have six in total with Lyle.

>Have your flies tail Dillon and Jackob
>Have your flies split up among all three
>Other

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>>38096934
Yes but that's with normal people. We have no idea what the extent of that things abilities are. I'm just scared we're being rused right now.

>>38096984
>>Have your flies split up among all three

>>38096984
>Have your flies split up among all three

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>>38096977
Future /pol/ flavor.

>>38096858
That was already linked and quoted upthread.

Something that twists in your direction as soon as you look at it, and causes you intense pain, is clearly a "distinct entity" no matter who you think it is.

>>38096984
>>Have your flies split up among all three

>>38096984
> Split up

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>>38097010
I also did a little edit that I thought was funny.

>>38096984
>>Have your flies split up among all three

>>38096984
>Have your flies split up among all three

>>38096991
That animals' nervous systems hallucinate is completely fucking irrelevant to your wild speculation in defiance of everything we've seen so far.

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>>38096991
Anon, you are shadowrunning too hard. I wouldn't worry about it.