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>>39451727
>Current armory
1169 Thorn Launchers
20 Thorn Cannons
5823 Sting Casters
530 Cyclotrons
345 Rotary Stingers
3 Fire Sprays
95 Plasma Spray
422 Particle Cannons
320 Lightning Guns
120 Lightning Cannons

>Current resource reserves
Nutrients: 4,779,286
Metals: 704,303
Credits: ₡2226
Credits in Lyle’s account: ₡1,177,400

>Hive population and upkeep cost
Hive maintenance – 52325
Queen – 5
Fake Queen (3) – 165
Small Egg layer – 12
Worker (85005) – 170010
Aquatic Worker (5140) – 20560
Vacuum Worker (5200) – 31200
Radiator Worker (5100) – 20400
Warrior (11209) – 56045
Aquatic Warrior (100) – 700
Thinker (2000) – 6000
Quantum Thinker (1000) – 5000
Speaker – (3) – 12
Digger (200) – 800
Refinery (40) – 280
Sniffer (2) – 8
Small Sniffer (200) – 200
Fly (1100) – 4400
Wasp (1100) – 5500
Haz-mat Workers (20) – 80
Shock Troops (40) – 520
Parasite (80) – 320
Bio-tank (512) – 12800
Excavator (1000) – 19000
Colossus (20) – 300
Hovertank (200) – 5000
Harvester (50) – 950
Support Fluttercraft (2) – 272
Ghost Beetle (5) – 135
Heavy Warrior (1000) – 19000
Chinook (100) – 1800
Air defense drone (80) – 5920
Bomber (160) – 6560
Strafer drone (400) – 6000
Heavy Interceptor (160) – 4480
Light Interceptor (800) – 11200
Advanced Relay (69) – 6900 (set as default method of ship control)
Upkeep: 480,871N

>Hive fleet
Space Pod (4770) – 143100
Heavy Fleet Fighter (272) – 18224
Heavy Gunship (36) – 1080
Shuttle (10) – 250
Mining Corvette (36) – 9900
Patrol Corvette (26) – 13182
Scout Corvette (8) – 1800
Lancer Corvette (0) – 0
Fleet Corvette (20) – 4500
Heavy Fleet Corvette (48) – 56256
Heavy Fleet Frigate (36) – 51372
Stealth Frigate (4) – 1952
Vanguard Frigate (65) – 26000
Heavy Cruiser (4) – 4860
Heavy Fleet Cruiser (18) – 45090
Heavy Fleet Battlecruiser (4) – 32548
410,114N

>>39451727
Welp, I'm already too wiped out to participate, but it's good to see you, QuestDrone! Hope you're doing well.

>>39451727
BRING ON THE TECH!!!!!!!!!

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>>39451781
>Formed fleets and orders
Small Heavy Defense Fleet [Patrolling Leeland space] (Undergoing repairs)
Heavy Battle Fleet [Awaiting orders]

Clone upkeep/special projects and expenses
25 Human captives of the USV Hope – 750
3 Human hybrid clone upkeep – 90
Specializations:
>Brawler
>Tech
>Engineer
Lyle Rogers – 47
887N

Total upkeep
Nutrient costs: 891872N

>Income
Metals: 438,000
Nutrients: 2,401,250
Net: 1,509,378N

>>39451727
>Last thing we need is another Razor Trout infestation
What are these Razor Trout and why are they such a big deal?

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>>39451820
Hive Territory
[G-426]
Asteroid mining base: 50,000M per day.

*Leeland (capital)
Defensive structures
>Surface to Orbit Missile System (750N)
>Anti-orbital batteries: 35/35 (8750N)
Military structures
>Hangar facilities: Room for 4840 Aero/fighter Drones and 2420 Shuttles (3025N)
>Psionic Shroud (1,000N)
>Prison Outpost
Industrial structures
>Docking Pylon: (500) (50,000N)
1469 under construction
[230 Space pods]
[24 Fleet Corvettes]
[35 Vanguard Frigates]
[6 Heavy Cruisers]
[2 Lancer Corvettes]
[Empty docks: 1703/2000]
Economic Structures
>Smart Mines active: 100,000M per day
>Algae Farm: +2,400,000per day, 24,000 Workers (1 worker per 100N)
>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: 500N
>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)
[Empty docks: 4/4]
>Mining corvette salvage operations +288000M per day (+8000M per corvette)

[Farcast]
Derelict Sensor array

Glassed Hive world [Planetary survey underway]
>Hive bunker complex

Deep space waystation
>100 docking pylons (10,000N)
[Empty docks 400/400]

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This is the highpoint of my Monday mornings. Glad to have you back QD!
How was easter?

>>39451833
Presumably they're basically piranhas that live in sewers. Imagine what would happen if they swam up into a toilet bowl or a major waterway...

>>39451727
We're back!
Also, I don't think our drones did that.

>>39451838
>[Farcast]
>Derelict Sensor array
Have we managed to get it operational?

>>39451856
The Hybrid did it when he had the munchies because we ordered him to turn into a Chimera.

>>39451848
We should look around to see if there they are present and take a sample of them.
>>39451727
WELCOME BACK! It's been way too long!

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>>39451838
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)

>>39451846
Quite good, I hope you all enjoyed the holiday as well.

>>39451848
But they come from Huron and are apparently considered a delicacy.
>>39451856
That was the Chimera dumbass.

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>>39451907
Military Structures
>Hangar Expansion – Construct fortified hangar facilities of +40 aero/fighter drone space and +20 shuttle space. 50N 100M
>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)
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)

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>>39451927
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 5,000M
>Harvester Dock – A large pier built along the shore overlooking the spore-producing ocean film that serves as an unloading area for Harvester drones, and contains pipelines to pump collected raw nutrients to the hive’s awaiting processing facilities, includes a single Harvester which is covered by the cost and upkeep of the dock. Provides 500N per day total (38N 50M)
>Orbital electroponic station – An orbital instillation built near a large source of hydrogen used to fuel a large fusion core, which in turn provides electrical power to a contained algae farm facility. Must be built in orbit of a gas giant. Provides +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.

>>39451926
Yes, a delicacy, when not living in sewers and eating people.

Also I've been thinking about some things.
The reason the Valen are on Aral according to what we know is for religious reasons and Aral is also located in the Skyl's home system of Kerik Ashka(a.k.a. Tannhauser). Which made me wonder if the Skyl and the Valen may have met in the past that would explain why their FTL are so similar and why the Valen religious leaders control the Gate tech since it was a gift from their gods.
>>39451943
Is this a sound theory QD?

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>>39451943
Finished Research

>Quantum Entanglement engineering
By experimenting with the basic nature of quantum entanglement your thinkers have been able to unlock a more advanced understanding of the technology that holds together the fabric of local alien society, human and otherwise. While you suspect you are still catching up to some of the most advanced technology known to mankind, you have already surpassed what is widely available.

[New research unlocked]

>Solid State Teleportation
Slow
While standard quantum systems allow for instantaneous transportation of data, this technology would allow for essentially the instantaneous transport of matter. The matter in question would be disassembled into individual particles and transported in much the same way as bits of data through a quantum relay, and then assembled on the other side. Due to the nature of the process, only simple objects such as raw resources could survive teleportation. This should allow for the transportation of resources across hive space without the need to delegate ships to serve as trade vessels.

>Quantum Tuning
Medium
While current quantum computing technology requires the relays be built to accommodate one another, this technology should allow you to quickly attune pre-existing devices for one another when in proximity. Your thinkers suspect more opportunities to open up after further research is done. You suspect Theseus would greatly appreciate such a technology, if he does not already poses it.

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>>39452000
Current research

>Unknown directed energy weapon
Medium
A mysterious weapon of unknown composition and capability, picking apart the various remaining samples should reveal more about its nature.

>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.

>Mantle excavation
Slow
By using advancements in the operation and function of the metal trees, you can force them to focus their attention past the rocky crust of a world and have them dive their roots clear into the mantle of a planet, tapping into a vast wealth of metals

>Flash Cloning
Medium
While it may not be healthy for the clone in question, your mastery of biological technology allows you to accelerate the normal growth cycle of a clone, growing it to maturity within a single day, however clones are not as genetically robust as your own drones and doing so may cause undesirable genetic defects that may take time to reverse and result in a lower quality final product.

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>>39452000
>Solid State Teleportation
>Slow
>While standard quantum systems allow for instantaneous transportation of data, this technology would allow for essentially the instantaneous transport of matter. The matter in question would be disassembled into individual particles and transported in much the same way as bits of data through a quantum relay, and then assembled on the other side. Due to the nature of the process, only simple objects such as raw resources could survive teleportation. This should allow for the transportation of resources across hive space without the need to delegate ships to serve as trade vessels.

>Quantum Tuning
>Medium
>While current quantum computing technology requires the relays be built to accommodate one another, this technology should allow you to quickly attune pre-existing devices for one another when in proximity. Your thinkers suspect more opportunities to open up after further research is done. You suspect Theseus would greatly appreciate such a technology, if he does not already poses it.

Someone help i'm getting a nerd boner

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>>39452036
>Gravity reflection
Slow
Using superconducting polymers at near zero temperatures, you can interact and direct gravitational forces. Further research could lead to interesting applications of this new discovery.

>Advanced Psionics
Medium
With your understanding of your own mental capabilities expanding and recent discoveries hinting at even more applications, you feel that a full and detailed study using your new knowledge may reveal even more avenues of research.

>Neural crystal fractals
Medium
Further experimentation into the advantages of crystalline neural structures over your simpler organic computing has led to a potential breakthrough. By creating redundant designs the method of interaction with psionic signals can be adjusted, potentially leading to a sturdier defense against psionic based attacks.

Available research options

>Ground-orbital mega-construction
Slow
By using new construction systems to improve efficiency, the hive can build new projects capable of reaching orbit, using the rotation of the planet to remove the requirements of a free standing structure and instead essentially hang a station in orbit from the surface of the planet. Such a construction project would double as a docking pylon capable of constructing capital ships at a much faster rate, and replace the need for shuttles to ferry goods to and from orbit. [Unlocks the Capillary Tower construction option]

>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.

>>39451926
Rude. I just didn't remember that. It was, like, one post at the time.

YES. YES. YEEEEEES.

IT HAS RETURNED! PRAISE BE!

FINALLY

I HAVE BEEN WAITING

FUCK YEAH! HIVE QUEEN QUEST!

>>39451727
We must continue to be the horrors of the deep.

MORE TERRIFYING EXPERIMENTS, MORE CREEPING CONTROL OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS.

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>>39452064
Above the surface of the city Lyle and his accomplices sit idly in their room, an automated telescope trained on the target building beeps occasionally to mark detected movement. Jackob flips his hand at the holoscreen as Lyle eats his breakfast, and Dillon occasionally jots down notes from the telescope’s display.

Jackob stops his hand on a news broadcast of some political debate and rolls his finger to turn up the volume. You see Killinger standing behind a podium next to several other humans in expensive looking suits, and a small box in the corner of the screen reads “Talgo Open Electoral Debate.”

“So you plan on voting I take it?” Dillon says. “Still undecided?”

Jackob scratches his chin and thinks for a moment. “Killinger’s an ass, but he’s one of the few people not buying into that new great awakening bullshit spreading across Talgo, everyone else seems to flip their shit over wanting to regulate who can fuck who, and it’s not like anyone else is any less corrupt. What about you guys?” Dillon twists a knob on the telescope and looks back to Jackob.

“I can’t vote. It would be considered a conflict of interest since most of my cases involve internal corruption.”

“Not a citizen.” Lyle says with a quick shrug. His eye catches your ghostly figure in the corner of the room looking sternly at him, gossamer arms crossed. "But I think Killinger's a cunt for sure." He ads. You nod approvingly and turn back to your other duties.

>Add new topic to research
>Continue with current research subjects
>Other

While they're obviously watching for any approach from the outside, I wonder if maybe they might not be expecting an approach from underground.

We could possibly investigate the paper company through the plumbing. Every human building needs plumbing. Even secretive government fronts. Find an entryway into the smaller pipes leading to that building from underground somewhere. Don't even leave the pipes once inside the building, since you don't want to risk being spotted--just scout from within the pipes with echolocation and radar passively.

We should lay aquatic sniffers for this kind of scouting of the city in general, but for the immediate present, but until those hatch, we need to just send a Fly crawling up the pipes, breathing through the oxygen recycler.

>>39452317
>“Not a citizen.” Lyle says with a quick shrug. His eye catches your ghostly figure in the corner of the room looking sternly at him, gossamer arms crossed. "But I think Killinger's a cunt for sure." He ads. You nod approvingly and turn back to your other duties.

I love their back and forth banter

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>>39452317
>Continue with current research subjects

>>39452317
>His eye catches your ghostly figure in the corner of the room looking sternly at him, gossamer arms crossed. "But I think Killinger's a cunt for sure." He ads. You nod approvingly and turn back to your other duties.
Ha

>Add new topic to research
>Solid State Teleportation
>Quantum Tuning
With the former we can literally render blockades almost useless while the latter allows for more flexible FTL communications.

>>39452317
>>Add new topic to research

>Ground-orbital mega-construction
>Solid State Teleportation
>Quantum Tuning

>>39452317
>Add new topic to research
Everything but the Pisionic Cannon
One of these days we will have to face that monster and finish that thing. I dread that day when it comes.

>>39452317
>Add new topic to research
Quantum tuning is worth adding now.
I'm willing to wait until some researches are freed up before adding solid state teleportation.

Also: we might get some new topics from the Hive station, the remains of the scavenger ships we fought off, and the remains of the Obsidian Queen's forces after it's sorted out.

>>39452410
We'll need to make preparations in advance when that they comes. No way we're messing with this on any of our colonized planets.

>>39452317
Add
>Quantum Tuning
seems to have support.

>Add Mega-construction
>Add Teleportation
>Add other
>None

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>>39452503
>Add Mega-construction

>>39452503
>>Add Mega-construction
>Add Teleportation

>>39452503
>None
Onward to that paper company.

>>39452478
I am thinking of some deep space station to do it on rather than waste a useable planet if things go wrong.
>>39452503
>Add Mega-construction
>Add Teleportation

>>39452478
All we know so far from what little we have learned is that everytime a Queen tests out a Psionic Cannon, all hell breaks loose and shit hits the fan. So we definitely should save that for later, like preparing a mega abttlefleet and following through the advanced psionics tech tree.

>>39452503
>Add Mega-construction
>Add Teleportation

>>39452503
Add
>Quantum Tuning
>Mega-construction
>Teleportation
To research

Elizabeth watches as the twins wake from their time in the medical pods. She lets out a soft whistle punctuated by several clicks of the tongue and they quickly look up, clicking and whistling in a frenzy, as if to make up for lost time. She seems to understand all of it, and clicks her teeth loudly in affirmation as they circle her several times, then run off down the hall.

She turns to your speaker. "We should head to the lab immediately." She says.

>Open the recovered pod
>Speak with Elizabeth (write in)
>Other

>>39452519
MEGA-EARWIGS as a bunker busting tank

>>39452734
>open it

"The crystals, they somehow speak to organic life mentally, even before endowing the species with psionics. Do you have any theories on how that is even possible?"

>>39452734
>>Open the recovered pod
>Speak with Elizabeth (write in)
What do you think is in it?

Also we should probably give Theseus a heads up about the canister.

>>39452782
Their pincer isn't just a deadly melee weapon they can fire plasma or the like from them as well

>>39452734
>Speak with Elizabeth
According to what we know the pod must contain a void shard. It seem to have been the power source.
>>39452812
Well he did pay us for information regarding it. But we should warn him not to tell Heretic about it.

>>39452000
With the solid state teleportation, would be very easy to port over explosive or radioactive substances into foe ships. Just refine a big old chunk of column 1 or 2 metals to their pure state and watch the explosion.
That's if it doesn't require a receiver gateway/pad or something.

>>39452812
No, don't mention it to Theseus until we know everything about everything we found.

The White Queen keeping her daughter in ignorance suggests knowledge itself may be dangerous. And this definitely threatens to touch on the area of forbidden knowledge.

We can tell him what we found later after we catalog everything. But keep it to what's physically there, not what's tachyonic.

>>39452734
>Open the recovered pod

Imagine if that recovered pod just turns out to be a trip wired nuclear device left behind to fuck with us...

>>39453095
We'd be very angry and go back to give those earthlings a piece of our mind. A very violent piece. Probably install a genetic fear of us for good measure.

>>39453095
That would be the first legitimate shitstorm this quest had.

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>>39452734
Coil quivers nervously behind the doctor as your drone leads the way to the empty chamber made to accommodate the pod. The gear and equipment found with it has been placed around it, with tubes and wires flowing from the canister to various barley functioning machines all around it. A pair of workers have dislodged the muck and crusted debris from the canister and a puff of steam emerges with a hiss as the latch flicks open, and then water pours out from within, filling the chamber with the smell of swamp as the murky black water spills across the hive floor, quickly absorbed. The vast amounts of bacteria and fungi are quickly filtered.
>+1N

Within is a slender white carapace, shimmering with the moisture of the air. Crystaline protrusions stud the small monolith like jemstones, and several wounds still seep blood where the carapace was cut open to attach the tubes and wires running into its midsection. Elizabeth slowly moves towards it and closes her eyes. "I think it's still alive. Whatever it is."

A thought shudders out from within the weakened pillar of pale chitin. Several of the humans twitch slightly in their pods, their thoughts echoing the meaningless murmur. Coil flops backwards and activates his harness, jetting away with a puff of air and a crackle of magnetic fields as he leaves a thin streak of ink down the hall.

>Attempt to communicate with it
>Leave it alone
>Kill it
>Other

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>>39453095

>>39453260
>Attempt to communicate with it
Hello

>>39453260
>Attempt to communicate with it
Yo, whassup, welcome to the Hive bruh

>>39453260
>Attempt to communicate with it
Who are you?

>>39451926

Shark meat is considered a delicacy, pirahnas would too if they weren't boney as fuck.

>>39453260
>>Other
Bring in an empty bio-tank.

Sink the canister into the tank carefully, keeping all wires attached still.

>>39453260
>+1N
Damn it, I lost my sides again, anyone seen them?

>Attempt to communicate with it

>>39453343
Honestly the shark population would rebound like crazy if people switched from eating shark to eating Dolphin. Dolphins are horrible murderrapists and they taste SO GOOD

>>39453260
Seconding this >>39453357
>>Other
>Bring in an empty bio-tank.

>Sink the canister into the tank carefully, keeping all wires attached still.


Then
>Attempt to communicate with it

>>39453260
>>39453357
This

>>39453357
>>39453395
Try and analyze its biology and read its mind with bio-tank technology before doing any communication.

>>39453260
You reach out with your mind, and its thoughts lash out at you, like the flailing arms of a drowning man reaching for a rope.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>39453260
>>39453357
We should at least give it some hospitality

>>39453435

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>39453435

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>39453435

>>39453448
Great roll to start the day.

>>39453435
>You reach out with your mind, and its thoughts lash out at you, like the flailing arms of a drowning man reaching for a rope.

Well that could be very good--like a drone wanting to serve, that has kept itself alive and queenless somehow on a crystal brain, like a quantum brain-- or very bad.

Like queen analysis, impersonation, and hivejacking bad.

>slender white carapace
...Was Mother spending the last 70 thousand years trying her claw at manipulating life the same way the void shards did?

>>39453594
All queens start off with a white carapace.

>>39453435
Fucking hell this worries me greatly...

>>39453633

In my head there was always a difference.

Like, New Queens = Pale while Mother = Marble / Alabaster

>>39453633
No actually that would depend on how the Queen's mother engineered how their daughter would look.
We started off white because mom was white and we only gained red marks because of our diet.

>>39453698
She had the ability to change color anon.
>>39453709
Newborn queens default to white. QD said as much.

>39453260
> and several wounds still seep blood
What color blood here?

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>>39453435
It latches on to you and you can feel the memories of the artifact.

There is an old man in front of you, with several humans behind him staring wide-eyed through their space suits. You are in a crater, and a large blue planet hangs in the sky above. The rig of a large mining drill is visible above, and helium 3 tanks surround the area. The humans speak via radio, but you seem to hear them without it.

"And you said they just found it like this?"

"Yes, Doctor, it was a miracle they didn't crush it with the drill."

"No, not a miracle." The old man says, his thick glasses flicker in the floodlights as he places his hand on the immaculate white carapace. The jemstones flicker with life.

"Dr. Seiner, the retrieval team wants to get started soon, you wanted a picture?" The old man turns and nods, his head hardly visible through the visor.

You watch as the group gathers around you, the device in the crater, and there is a surge of activity from within the small pillar, a piercing shriek of thoughts and emotions that reaches out and grasps at the humans' minds. They reach for their heads in pain, the camera slowly drifting to the ground in the low gravity, and they slowly drift to their knees as a seed of knowledge is lodged within their memory.

cont.

>>39454051
>a piercing shriek of thoughts and emotions that reaches out and grasps at the humans' minds. They reach for their heads in pain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU4Rk0NATNs

>>39454051
The rise of a cult
Impressive

>>39454161
If it was anything besides a refernce to 2001 i would be disappointed

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>>39454051
Time advances. A laboratory is built up around you, and the small cache hidden away is found where you told them to look. They pull the black shards from the lunar surface with care and store them in a military base not far from your crater.

"I don't understand. Why would you need us to solve this?" Seiner says to you, although he is only speaking idly. The plans and schematics for the device are placed out on the walls around you. They have made much progress in the short time they have had, and you have watched as their small sliver of space crumbles around them. A microscopic spec of the galaxy they hold great pride in. You hear news of fleets and battles, but they mean nothing to you. Only their progress on the device is of any importance.

The human known as Seiner, he spends more and more time in proximity to you, and as he does you feel more and more awareness of what you are seep into his mind. He addresses you directly before long, and you begin to reply.

You fear the pointless war they wage among themselves will destroy your change to complete the device. The humans grow ever more concerned over the arbitrary collection of individuals they call the Union, who seem to grow ever closer. The final preparations are nearly ready, but you are still unsure of the devices perfection. Seiner and the others ready the weapon, and for the first time you can see what silly unimportant drivel has kept them from fulfilling their inefficient sleep requirements. A moderately sized fleet of bulky metal heaps tumble through space with all the grace of a three-legged worker. You are amazed they do not collide with one-another.

The cannon fires. You feel the hollow scream of the crystal shard as it cracks from the force, and a dozen of the human ships are gone. There is cheering in the firing chamber, and someone orders the devices to be fired again. They can have this victory if it means you will have yours.

cont.

>>39454735
>humans perfect it on their first try
Lucky bastards...or not.

Why do I have a horrible feeling about what's going to happen next?

Thanks again, mom. We need more black crystals, though.

>>39454735
Oh... So THATS what happened to the moon!

>>39454792

It's not that surprising when they have a psychic Ubermind planting the schematics and general knowledge directly into their inefficient and primitive thoughtmeat.

>>39454735
>"I don't understand. Why would you need us to solve this?"
Oh, outsourcing. The enemy won't notice if a third party, non telepathic race develops the Psionic Cannon.

The Commonwealth might well still have those other void shards ferreted away somewhere, if they weren't all left on the moon and destroyed along with it when the cannon blew up.

They might also have schematics to accelerate the research, if the knowledge of the cannon isn't on this drone itself.

>>39454813
We already knew that. This isn't new information.

>>39454842
Well if all goes well then we'd have the schematics to a version of the cannon that works.
Hopefully just having knowledge of it won't attract any more of the Void Crystal's attention.

>>39454878
I've also been wondering about how much the Commonwealth knew about what was going on in the moon and if they had any knowledge remaining secreted away somewhere.

>>39454878
>isn't on this drone
I don't think this is a drone.

We're going to need to tell Theseus about this. It was his idea to come here in the first place. He probably has a good idea of what this was, but we should be able to communicate it better to him, and he wouldn't have been able to extract this information in the first place either, because I don't think he has meat terminals.

>>39454941
It's some kind of crystal/hive drone that was designed to communicate with non-psionic species in order to outsource the development of the Psionic Cannon.

>>39454990
If this anon's >>39454878 theory about outsourcing to non-psionic races to avoid detection is correct, then maybe we have a way to build a psi cannon right under that Crystal's nonexistant noses with Theseus.
That's a big if though and we still ahve to address the issue of ammunition.

>>39455029
We'll have to hunt down loose ends to find any shard left overs. Fun times for Lyle I can foresee.

>>39455029
Well, if the crystals come at us with their full might like they did at mother, then they will likely destroy Heretic, Theseus, and the Humans as well. I wonder if we can just buy the remaining crystals from the human faction that has them.

>>39455099
>>39455029
The biggest problem is that we have no way to survive their attacks. I we did we could conceivably fight them.

>>39454990
We can stick to reporting what we found physically, the same things he would have found if he had been able to scout himself.

>>39455029
Any actual test firing of the cannon will draw massive ammounts of aggro. They can't possibly not notice a void shard dying.

I don't want to advance to the endgame when there are so many sidequests and tech trees to conquer first.

>>39455135
>We can stick to reporting what we found physically, the same things he would have found if he had been able to scout himself.
Why hide it, though? He talks with Heretic and we've fought alongside each other against the Obsidian Queen. We're just handicapping ourselves if we don't tell him. Besides, he may be able to help us obtain more void shards.

>>39455132
>>39455099
Well no shit we have to build up enough military force to repel the Crystal's mooks first.

We really should upgrade our Combat Drone's arsenal, we are still just using chitin slugs and bioplasma only in the flamethrower variety.

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>>39454735
The next shot sweeps across a wing of advancing ships, reducing them to a shower of slag.

As the team rushes to load the next shot, you feel a shudder from above as several crude fusion warheads impact the surface. An evacuation order is given, and people begin to run to emergency shuttles and evacuation launch tubes. Only Seiner remains behind. He seals the blast doors of your chamber and checks the machines attached to your carapace. The jemstones flicker with life, and he looks up at you.

"No, no this knowledge can't be lost. The knowledge of an entire race, it has to be preserved!"

The cannon fires again from its position several kilometers away, but something is wrong. You can feel the energy flow poorly, through misaligned conduits. Seiner is pulling on the wires of the machines, intent on bringing you to an escape pod, and then he is thrown to the ceiling, and then to the wall. You can feel the small planetoid shift, and crumble, and then the room is free, tumbling through space on its own small chunk of rock. Seiner's hand manages to grab a small rail, and his fist clenches around the handle as he bleeds out from a gash across his skull.

Life flickers through the psionic jemstones mounted across the relay. Seiner's eyes loose their focus, but he smiles.
You have what you need, and you leave the relay. Lightyears from the violence of the budding space faring creatures, your workers begin their task.

[Research Finished]

>Advanced Psionics
Your new understanding of your own psionic nature has reached a level you previously though not possible. With the proper techniques, and the right adaptations, you have found a way to influence non-tachyonic matter using your own psionic signals. While in retrospect this comes as no suprose, given the nature of your Blink drive, the implications of this technology could change the way the hive functions.

cont.

>>39455169
Their weapons can destroy entire fleets. Just one of them can wipeout hundreds of ship in seconds. Numbers isn't the problem technology is.

>>39455233
I prefer that we use whatever the Scavs used, but we have yet to finish reverse engineering it, chitin slugs, flamethrowers, and lightning guns haven't let us down yet.

>>39455272
>You have what you need, and you leave the relay. Lightyears from the violence of the budding space faring creatures, your workers begin their task.
Was this from the flashback or in the present tense?

>>39455307
Obviously flashback.

It was clear it was a relay drone once this happened:
>you feel more and more awareness of what you are seep into his mind. He addresses you directly before long, and you begin to reply.

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>>39455272
>>Advanced Psionics
>Your new understanding of your own psionic nature has reached a level you previously though not possible. With the proper techniques, and the right adaptations, you have found a way to influence non-tachyonic matter using your own psionic signals. While in retrospect this comes as no suprose, given the nature of your Blink drive, the implications of this technology could change the way the hive functions.

Sweet Fuck.

We really are the Perfect Race aren't we?

>>39455272
Yeah I always was wondering why the Blink Drive could even cause headaches or nausea in humans.

>>39455272
>>Advanced Psionics

So we have Psionics that make other Psionic people go "No that's Bullshit"

>>39455272
>Advanced Psionics
>Your new understanding of your own psionic nature has reached a level you previously though not possible. With the proper techniques, and the right adaptations, you have found a way to influence non-tachyonic matter using your own psionic signals. While in retrospect this comes as no suprose, given the nature of your Blink drive, the implications of this technology could change the way the hive functions.

Telekinetic teleporting Bug-Race go

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>>39455272

>Advanced Psionics

I just....can't handle it.

Guys, we can probably make Psionic Drones now, and for lack of a better example, we can have Combat Drones that are basically the Protoss and the Ethereals mixed.

>>39455326
>Mom used humans to prototype and test run the psionic cannon and once it was perfected she started construction of her own cannon
Damn my failing reading comprehension, I forgot that this was before mom died.

>>39455272
Mom was smart

Wonder how long it took her to design this plan while being hunted?

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>>39455393

Drone Archon when?

>>39455414
Well she had the better part of 70,000 years to think of something.

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>Advanced Psionics

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>>39455272
>Advanced Psionics

There is just no stopping us now is there?

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>>39455272
[New Research Unlocked]

Psionic implantation
>Medium
By implanting neural crystals within a non-psionic subject you can deliberately cause a mutation within the subject, forcing it to grow the organs necessary to influence and interact with psionic networks. You now recognize this technology as the most likely cause of Vaugn's own alterations, indicating the relic found on Raligha to be a form of prototype of this technology, or perhaps it was left by the Gardener as a gift to the natives.

Enhanced Psionic sensitivity
>Slow
By putting your new knowledge into practice, you should be able to enhance the abilities of your medium and advanced relays to be able to detect, and with further research influence, non-psionic creatures in proximity.

Nausea field
>Slow
A rather interesting side effect first noticed with your Blink drive, but now weaponized to great effect as a defensive measure. You should be able to enhance your medium and advanced relays to emit a wave of sickening nausea in a radius around it, causing effected subjects to feel increasing levels of both physical and mental uneasiness, causing feelings of dread and queasiness.

>Add new research to list (write in)
>Continue research
>Other

>>39455579
>>Add new research to list (write in)
Psionic Implantation
Enhanced Psionic sensitivity

We're not putting too much pressure on our thinkers are we?

>>39455579
>Add new research to list (write in)
>Psionic implantation
YEP. ADD THAT SHIT.

We gotta implant Lyle.

>>39455579
>Add new research to list

Enhanced Psionic sensitivity.

Oh yes.

>being able to detect any aliens in the area by their thought alone

>>39455579
>Enhanced Psionic sensitivity
>Nausea field

>>39455579
>>Add new research to list (write in)

>Psionic implantation
>Enhanced Psionic sensitivity
>Nausea field

>>39455579
>Add new research to list
All of the new research options. No Cannon.

>>39455579
Do you get your kicks by making us drool?

Just add all of them you tease

>>39455579
>Add new research to list (write in)
>Psionic implantation
>Enhanced Psionic sensitivity
>Nausea field

>>39455579
>Add new research to list
Enhanced Psionic sensitivity
Nausea field

No point in getting psionic implantation since that's guaranteed to be discovered.

>>39455579
Add
>Psionic implantation
>Enhanced Psionic sensitivity
>Nausea field
To research.

>>39455623
It should be noted that the range at which advanced psionic abilities would function would be far less then the range that the relay itself functions, but it would give advanced relays a powerful defense, and since medium relays can be equipped to drones, it could potentially be made into a mobile drone.

>>39455664
Sometimes.

I don't want to burn out our Thinkers.

>>39455723
Anon, they live for this shit.

The worst you can do is overwhelm them and slow our research.

>>39455733
Speaking of which, >>39455716
QD, are we even nearing the point where we are adding too much research?

>>39455742
>>39455733
I think we kind of reached that point a while ago.

>>39455716
Elizabeth looks back at your thinker with a look of mild concern. "Are you okay? I felt, something."

Your speaker shifts its colors back to its neutral red and chitters in affirmation.
>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned
>Inform Elizabeth of the relay's origin
>Do not elaborate
>Other (write in)

>>39455742
A bit, but you are only slowing down your thinkers because you have some very big research subjects going on right now. Once a few of the slow topics are finished it will be perfectly fine.

>>39455825
>Do not elaborate

>>39455825
>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned
>Inform Elizabeth of the relay's origin
Good news, hopefully you wont mutate further.

>>39455825
>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned

>>39455784

SCIENCE is our crack cocaine, anon.

And the Thinkers are our addicts.

Also

>Psionic implantation

Guys, we could give a Theseus a psionic brain, if we ever wanted to lewd do mutual research on the nature of psionics.

He would jump at the chance, possibly give us everything because doing so would allow him to understand and study organic creatures on a greater level than ever before.

>>39455825
>>Do not elaborate

>>39455825
>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned
"You'll probably not die."

>>39455825
>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned
>Inform Elizabeth of the relay's origin

>>39455825
>>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned
>>Inform Elizabeth of the relay's origin
We should also mention that the artifact was most likely meant for the Ralighans.

>>39455825
>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned
I mean why not, that should give her some peace of mind

>>39455825
>Inform Elizabeth of what you learned
>Inform Elizabeth of the relay's origin

>>39455825
we're probably obligated to tell Theseus too.

>>39455960
yep, he did ask us to investigate

>>39455960
No we aren't.

Just what we physically found. Nothing about the magical psychic memory record.

>>39455168
Conversely, why share it? What practical benefit is there to knowing, against the risk of propagating dangerous knowledge about psionics?

Knowledge of that kind of thing should remain solely in the hive, safe beneath the silence of the psionic shroud. Just to be safe.

>help us obtain more void shards
He can do that whether or not we explain the details.

By which I mean we need to send pods to all of Commonwealth space and see if we can find any telepathic whispers of shards, though.

>>39456094
>why share it?
Because it prevents him from making stupid decisions, like seeking contact with another hive.

>>39456094
>By which I mean we need to send pods to all of Commonwealth space and see if we can find any telepathic whispers of shards, though.
We can't do that unless we're next to the shard do to the fact that it has an advanced thought muffler.

>>39455825
"It was from..." Your thinker pauses a moment, finding the words awkward to speak. "The hive's mother."

Elizabeth spears stunned. She turns back to the relay, its crystalline jemstones now dull and lifeless. "She's not alive still, I take it?" She says quietly, as if trying to not wake the dead relic.

"No." You say. "But she developed a great deal of knowledge, including your condition." She looks back to your speaker again.

"You mean how I can communicate with your network?"

"The device was more advanced then that." Your speaker chitters, "You may develop more advanced skills then simply speaking with the hive." Elizabeth lets her eyes drift down the floor, her mind filled with scattered thoughts. She seems less nervous, but what little there is seems to show more.

"Well, we can deal with that as it comes." She says after a short moment of silence, then looks back to the relay. "If it's alright with you, I would like to see if I can study the remains, maybe help figure out more about this technology." She reaches out and lightly touches one of the jems, as if expecting it to bite.

>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research
>Do not allow her to study the relay
>Other

>>39456123
I was all for telling him "stay away from spinward space, dangerous hostile hive in that direction."

This is a bit different, with the White Queen in flashback outright calling certain knowledge "dangerous."

We could warn Theseus that our Mother warned that even mere research in the tech tree of tachyons is dangerous in itself, I guess. And that shortly afterward several hives perished in an act of genocide. That would cover the foolish things that this could result in.

>>39456342
>>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456342
>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research
Sister Elizabeth shall aid the Hive

>>39456342
>Do not allow her to study the relay
It is... a family matter. Sentimental.

>>39456342
>>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456342
>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456342
>Do not allow her to study the relay

>>39456342
>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456342
>>Do not allow her to study the relay

>>39456375
>>39456375
>>39456406
>>39456411
I don't know about letting the doctor in on the research tree that includes influencing non-psionic creatures.

>>39456342
>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456342
>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456342
>>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456407
Oh please, sentimentality in unnecessary for us, hell we even recycled the body of our Aunt Gardener after we recovered her knowledge

>>39456343
>We could warn Theseus that our Mother warned that even mere research in the tech tree of tachyons is dangerous in itself, I guess. And that shortly afterward several hives perished in an act of genocide. That would cover the foolish things that this could result in.
I was thinking more like "experimentation with tachyons, specifically the mechanics of the void drive and its weaponization, have caused the unintentional destruction of several hives, the Earth's moon, and will inevitably attract the attention of the race that creates void shards."

>>39456342
>Allow Dr Vaugn to help boost Psionic research

>>39456476
The Doctor doesn't know that.

>>39456451
Yup she hates that sort of thing as matter of fact that could turn her against us.
>>39456497
Researching the tech tree would be enough for her find out.

>>39456490
That could work, since Theseus doesn't seem to be the type to take unknown risks when it comes to experimentation of potentially dangerous objects, like when he preferred disposed of the OB's ships rather than try to tinker with them Unlike us
Any further mishaps could be prevented if we actually warn him about them.

>>39456531
Oh silly me I didn't even check what this post was replying to.
>>39456497

>>39456342
"You suspect you can aid in the research?"

Elizabeth rests her palm on the carapace of the relay and looks into the dulled jems as if staring into a casket. "I think so, after all I happen to have a prototype in my head." She removes her palm and steps back from the small pillar. "I'll leave any dissections to you. It woudln't seem right, but I'll help in the research any way I can."

"It is not the mother, only a relay." Your drone chirps.

"I know, but it was still a part of her." She pauses for a moment to clear her throat. "Humans used to bury our dead, or sometimes we would cremate them. Now most people just toss the body in a recycler and call it a day."

"That is more efficient." Your speaker says. She nods.

"It is. When you think about it that way, it lets them help you after they've gone."

Elizabeth and your drone stand in silence for a short while, until you are interrupted by a worker scuttling by to clean the trail of ink left by Coil. There is a muffled gurgle down the hall and Elizabeth moves out into the hall. "I should probably make sure our Ceph friend doesn't scare himself into a coma. It's actually a rather serious condition."

>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings
>Send Theseus the abridged record of your findings (it was a relay from your mother)
>Other

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

>>39456778
>>Send Theseus the abridged record of your findings (it was a relay from your mother)

>>39456778
>>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings
And make sure to warn him. not to fiddle with it without our say

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

>>39456778
>>Send Theseus the abridged record of your findings (it was a relay from your mother)

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the abridged record of your findings (it was a relay from your mother)

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

>>39456778
>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

>>39456490
Yes, and that warning will prevent any foolishness even without telling him the psychic memories of this scouting mission.

It's not just that experimentation is dangerous, that applied knowledge is dangerous, it's that the knowledge alone is.

With that warning Theseus can remain ignorant of the specifics, we don't need to report everything.

He'll still have been warned enough not to tread into dangerous waters.

>>39456778
>>Send Theseus the complete record of your findings

It occurs to me that Theseus has never actually observed evidence that the hive even has FTL communication relays, until now when we tell him.

For all he knows drone orders and information are just ferried by ships blinking between systems.

>>39456929
Heretic probably told him.

>>39456929

Theseus isn't retarded anon.

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>>39456778
You send Theseus a ping. The data retrieved from the relay translates poorly, but you get the information across well enough. The weapon that destroyed the Earth's moon was of hive design, although it was built by human hands. You feel Zero One go silent as it processes the data, and the warning that is included.

"I had hoped that such technology could improve the limitations of interstellar communication. It appears to hold a great deal of risk attached to it. This data will be recorded, but experimentation will be avoided until further understanding is gained through safer methods."

Meanwhile, in the depths of Huron, your egg layer is complete and ready to grow your new hive hidden in the depths of the planet wide ocean. The strange bioluminescent landscape of the trench bellow still remains unexplored, and your drones have fortified your hive within the scattered hull of the derelict human wreck around the hull of your corvettes.

>Explore the trench with your warriors
>Lay aquatic drones (write in)
>Other

>>39457118
Did we upgrade our Huron drones to have acid glands?

>>39457118
>I had hoped that such technology could improve the limitations of interstellar communication
Is this someone we want to keep Theseus out of the loop in? We could probably do a joint project for integrating hive relays with his tech (probably like the crystals, really), but should we? It might help us all if they were better able to communicate.

>>39457118
>>Lay aquatic drones (write in)

A swarm of 200 of these for scouting:

Sight: Thermal Pits 2N
Olfactory: Advanced 2N
Acoustic: Advanced 2N
Radio: Moderate 2N
Legs: Sprint 1N
Utility: Gills 4N
Chassis: Hydrodynamic 2N 5M
Size: Small
Cost: 3N 1M
Upkeep: 1N

And 50 of these for attacking:


Sight: Basic 0
Olfactory: Basic 0
Acoustic: Advanced 2N
Psionic: Basic 0
Mandible: Combat 1N
Arms: Strength 1N
Blade: Combat 1N
Legs: Sprint 1N
Carapace: Reactive 4N 15M
Chassis: Hydrodynamic 2N 5M
Utility: Gills 4N
Utility: Acid glands 1N
Size: Medium
Cost: 17N 20M

>>39457118
>Explore the trench with your warriors

>Lay aquatic drones (write in)
Did you finalize any of the underwater designs posted on the 1d4chan page?
Minnows, pistol shrimps and sharks look useful right now.

>>39457183
Maybe we'll make it up to him after we finish those Quantum comm research

>>39457118
>>Explore the trench with your warriors

>>39457118
>Explore the trench with your warriors
>Lay aquatic drones
50 for now.

>>39457186
>Including Radio sense but not Electric
Shit nigga do you even know how sharks operate?

>>39457186
>>39457247
Whatever, as long as we have plenty of fast hydrodynamic drones finally.

>>39457215
Now would be the time to finalize any you wish to lay.

>>39457215
>Minnows, pistol shrimps and sharks look useful right now.
But those aren't even well designed and we have no access to metal.

>>39457285
>>39457118

Okay then these >>39457186 with the aquatic sniffers without Moderate radio, and replacing it with Moderate Electric.

Can't fit both and stay cheap.

>>39457385
You should have include acid glands into your scout unit before you expect me to vote for it. Remember this is human territory.

>>39457118

200 Aquatic sniffers
Sight: Thermal Pits 2N
Olfactory: Advanced 2N
Acoustic: Advanced 2N
Radio: Moderate 2N
Legs: Sprint 1N
Utility: Gills 4N
Chassis: Hydrodynamic 2N 5M
Size: Small
Cost: 3N 1M
Upkeep: 1N

50 Hydrodynamic warriors
Sight: Basic 0
Olfactory: Basic 0
Acoustic: Advanced 2N
Psionic: Basic 0
Mandible: Combat 1N
Arms: Strength 1N
Blade: Combat 1N
Legs: Sprint 1N
Carapace: Reactive 4N 15M
Chassis: Hydrodynamic 2N 5M
Utility: Gills 4N
Utility: Acid glands 1N
Size: Medium
Cost: 17N 20M

>Y
>N
>Other

>>39457485
Y

>>39457485
>>Y

>>39457485
>Y

>>39457485
Y

>>39457466
Maybe if we sacrifice the sprint legs or the thermal pits to fit that in. But we can make another variant for getting closer to humans. These can just stick to the deep.

>>39457485
No to the sniffers unless we add acid glands to them.

>>39457485
>Y
Has the Huron colony started mining metal?

>>39457485
>N

>>39457516
How effective are the acid glands underwater?

>>39457512
>These can just stick to the deep.
You do realize that humans explore the deep and that animals are to eat our drone unless we attach acid gland to them.

>>39457485
Y

>>39457485
>N

>>39457485
Y

Though I would like to replace Radio with Electric if possible. And Thermal Pits with Acid glands.

>>39457612
Wait your right Radio senses are useless underwater.

>>39457485
>Y

Your eggs quickly fill the cramped spaces within the shattered hull fragments and the tunnels that now connect them. You hope to soon be able to scout the depths of Huron with near impunity, but until then your warriors hold a more defensive posture, slow but stout in the water.

>Send your warriors down to scout the trench
>Wait for your adapted drones to finish
>Other

>>39457675
>Wait for your adapted drones to finish

>>39457675
>Wait for your adapted drones to finish

>>39457675
>Wait for your adapted drones to finish

>>39457675
You mean we really did just lay those sniffers design without changing them.

>>39457675
>Wait for your adapted drones to finish

>>39457675
>Wait for your adapted drones to finish

Wait, the paper company front. Might have an exit into the tunnels underground. Even if we can't infiltrate it, we should at least scout around with echolocation to be sure we cover all their secret exit routes to prevent escape.


>>39457725
We can see if we can get consensus for swapping out the adaptations at the end of the thread.

>>39457675
You keep your less capable drones on defensive duty, although as your drone proceeds to lay the eggs of your new batch of children you ponder how to improve upon them even further.

>Edit aquatic sniffer design (write in)
>Keep it as is

>>39457836
It's alright, there's always enough time to make sure a decision is made right.

>>39457912
>>Edit aquatic sniffer design (write in)
Remove Thermal Pits, and Radio. I don't think they're as useful, and we need to reallocate the upkeep to:

Add:
Acid glands: 1N
Electrical: Moderate 2N

>>39457952
>>39457912
this is fine by me.

>>39457836
Most people don't seem to realize that acid glands exist for two reason: to keep people from studying our and to make them unappetizing to predators since they give no nutrients when eaten. Also Electric senses are amazing underwater compared to thermal senses and radio senses which give neglectable benefits underwater.
>>39457952
This.

>>39457912
Question: Also, would having a stealthed drone underwater work? since even though it has mimetic skin, it probably wont hold up to active scrutiny from anything with sonar and from the displacement of water when it moves, unless i'm mistaken.
>>39457952
Sure

>>39457991
Octopi camouflage themselves by pretending to be part of an object. What did you think the Ceph were based on?

>>39458070
I was thinking about in the open water well away from the seafloor or anything that could help a drone hide.

>>39457912
>Edit aquatic sniffer design
Remove Thermal Pits, and Radio. I don't think they're as useful, and we need to reallocate the upkeep to:

Add:
Acid glands: 1N
Electrical: Moderate 2N

You have only to wait for your new drones to emerge, and your hive will soon press into the unknown depths of Huron.

Meanwhile, a burst of activity attracts the attention of your pod as you monitor the activity of the Scavenger fleet. Several small craft appear to have broken off from the main force and are accelerating out of the system. You quickly plot the course and conclude they are likely heading for the Wonder system, where you discovered the vast relic of the Builder, and lost much of your forces fighting over it. The deployed ships are fast, likely scouts, and they quickly shift past the light barrier, vanishing in a burst of energy.

>Send a fleet to intercept the Scavenger ships when they arrive (write in)
>Keep your ships away from the system and ignore the scouts for now
>Other

>>39458288
>Send a fleet to intercept the Scavenger ships when they arrive (write in)
>1 Fleet Battlecruiser
>4 Heavy Cruisers
>12 Vanguard Frigates

>>39458136
Adaptive camouflage has never been able to be effective while a drone is moving. You have to stay still. Read the adaptation description.

>>39458288

>intercept

50 Vanguard Frigates.
1 Patrol Corvette.

How many ships are there? I don't think we need many.

We just want to cripple and capture these ones intact, and have more than enough ships to outnumber them.

>>39458288
Seconding >>39458328

>>39458288
>Send a fleet to intercept the Scavenger ships when they arrive
1Battle cruiser
5 H cruiser
15 V Frigates

>>39458288
>Intercept the scouts

1 Fleet Battlecruiser
4 Heavy Cruisers
12 Vanguard Frigates

>Y
>Change fleet
>Other

>>39458470
Y

>>39458470
I don't want to take chances. Is there any reason not to go in with overwhelming firepower?

Add 4 Stealth Frigate
1 Patrol Corvette
38 more Vanguard Frigates

For that cloaked ambush strategy.

And one nuke pod for each enemy ship, in case crippling them fails.

>>39458470
y

>>39458470
>Y

>>39458470
>Y

>>39458470

>Y
Yippee, I get to see how my designs do.

Against the precise sort of enemies they're not designed to deal with.

>>39458596
Look at it this way, we get to find out what we're missing and be able to build future ships to address those shortcomings.
I'm still not sure what sort of tactical doctrine the scavs employ despite already fighting them twice.

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>>39458470
1 Fleet Battlecruiser
4 Heavy Cruisers
12 Vanguard Frigates

You send your forces out and they quickly blink away. You are unsure how fast the Scavengers' ships can be, but you suspect your fleet will be waiting long in advance for their arrival. Your pod watches as the last signs of five small scouts, each similar to a corvette in size, vanish into the depths of space. They will not return.

Your battlecruiser, fresh from its docking pylon, is eager to prove itself to you. You can feel the minds within yearning for battle, and the craft, the largest you currently possess, vanishes in a burst of radiation.

When your ships arrive the system is in the same condition you found it in, with the addition of the remains of much of your fleet scattered about, and the echos of atomic blasts still buzzing through local space like a thin mist, detectable only as the faintest of radiation, bouncing from corpse to corpse. The superstructure itself is still largely intact, although the derelict bodies of the half-built hive ships docked against it are torn and broke, with chunks of fossilized meat scattered about, and pieces of ship hull drifting slowly along side the walls of the massive dock.

>Arrange your fleet into a blockade around the dock and engage at long range
>Attempt to hide your fleet behind the dock, and wait for the scouts to approach at close range
>Attempt to estimate where the scouts will arrive in the system, and intercept them
>Other

>>39458846
I wish we could see, or at least feel their 'oh shit' reaction to a Battlecruiser popping in on top of them.

>>39458846
>Attempt to estimate where the scouts will arrive in the system, and intercept them

A Patrol Corvette would be able to trace their arrival.

>>39458846
>Other
Would it be possible to array our frigates around to get the best angles possible for spotting them when they arrive?
Once we pinpoint their position we could simply blink our battlecruiser in on top of them and use our frigates to form a ring, preventing escape.

>>39458846
>Attempt to estimate where the scouts will arrive in the system, and intercept them

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>>39458907
support

>>39458846
>Attempt to estimate where the scouts will arrive in the system, and intercept them
Hiding probably wont be effective given their demonstrated fondness for scout probes. They'll spot us before they're in position to be ambushed.

>>39458846
>>Have the Frigates estimate where they are and attempt to intercept them
>>Have the Battlecruiser and Cruisers hide behind the dock ready to blink when the frigates intercept them
First is that so the Scavs won't run when they see the battlecruiser and when they're already engaged, have the capitals blink right on top of them

>>39458739
They're raiders. Simple as that. When they don't board they seem to prefer mid or long ranged weapons.

>>39458907
Yes.

>>39458846
>Attempt to estimate where the scouts will arrive in the system, and intercept them

>>39458900

>Lee
>Not Theseus / Heretic

You are the worst kind of person, even if you bring us Elesh Norn cameos.

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>>39458900
Sometimes I marvel at how far we've come yet

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>>39459099

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>>39458846
>Attempt to estimate where the scouts will arrive in the system, and intercept them

You have your faster ships spread out in the region you most suspect the scouts will emerge from superluminal speed, and your battlecruiser takes up position further away, where it can fire from range before moving to intercept, using the sensors of the others to zero in on the position of any newly arrived target.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 for outstanding overkill.

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>>39459147
Not horrific enough.

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>39459209
overkill

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>39459209

>>39459209

MUH CROSS MISS I'LL MASSACRE

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>39459209
GIT SUM

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>39459209

Here we go! FIRE EVERYTHING

>>39459223
Are you familiar with Bogleech?
Check out the website sometime.

>>39459224
That'll do.

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>>39459286

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>39459209
Late but not too late to vote.

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>>39459209
You have estimated well, and the scouts emerge from FTL directly in front of your spread out armada, which quickly closes its ranks around them like the jaws of a bear trap. They shift and jitter in an effort to escape the encirclement as weapons fire illuminates their hulls against the darkness of space. As they flip end for end, tumbling past your ambushing ships, one is cleaved in half by three well-placed slugs from your battlecruiser in the distance, and with a silent flash of radiation that burns harsh shadows across the dancing ships, it appears before the, cutting off their escape.

Your battlecruiser sheds its swarmers like fleas from a taidaren and they swirl around their prey in tight circles, looping around with their guns fixed on their targets and their thrusters firing from the sides. The small weapons do little against the shields of your targets, but as the shields begin to flicker your fighters start to take chunks of hull away in tiny bites in what resembles a feeding frenzy more then a fleet battle.

The hull of your battlecruiser shutters as it shifts its angle, pivoting slowly to follow its targets as particle beams glance harmlessly against its shields, and it fires its lances, sixteen white hot pillars of flame cutting into the space before it like skewers plunged into a bowl of fondue. The array of fire slices three of the ships cleanly into pieces, while the last is torn apart piecemeal by your swarmers. The smoldering pieces slowly crash against the hull of the dockyard.

Your ships beam with pride at their kills, and you let them bask in it for several minuets before sending in your swarmers to examine the wrecks. Little remains but slag, most of which has fused to the superstructure, warping into twisted scabs of metal marked across the larger hull like freckles.

The scavengers will not be scouting this system today.

>>39459633
So much for getting salvage. I wonder what the scav response will be. Would they leave this system alone after losing two scouting flotillas or would they send even more ships?

>>39459633
>before sending in your swarmers to examine the wrecks. Little remains but slag, most of which has fused to the superstructure, warping into twisted scabs of metal marked across the larger hull like freckles.

Goddammit how have we still not gotten an intact Flicker Drive?

Or crew to implant and send back hybridized as infiltrators.

>one is cleaved in half by three well-placed slugs
This one sounded like the engine might be put-back-together-able. Damn.

>>39459709

The be honest the Stutter / Flicker drive seems like the thing of nightmares when coupled with our almost entirely organic ships.

That's some Event Horizon shit.

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>>39459633
It will likely be some time before the Scavengers will expect a proper reply from their scouts, and longer still before they decide if they wish to risk sending additional ships, although when and if that happens you suspect they will arrive in force. For now, however, you have the region under lock and key.

You observe the dockyard with your fleet. It appears to have been built to be air tight, with chambers sized for drones exposed in some areas from the damage by the Scavenger fleets. You doubt something so large would not have many redundancies for holding an atmosphere, but after all this time you can't be sure if there is still any air left within, or if the structure itself would be useful for anything but salvage.

>Have your mining corvettes focus on salvaging the dockyard for metals and potential nutrients
>Send a boarding party to explore the dockyard's interior and ascertain the damage
>Leave it alone for now and focus your attention elsewhere
>Other

>>39459679
What they should do is send some goddamn couches.

>>39459709
>Goddammit how have we still not gotten an intact Flicker Drive?
You could just knock out the shields and then hammer it with Ion cannons to shut it's drive off.
>>39459758
>Send a boarding party to explore the dockyard's interior and ascertain the damage

>>39459758
>>Send a boarding party to explore the dockyard's interior and ascertain the damage
See if there's anything useful inside.

>>39459758
>Send a boarding party to explore the dockyard's interior and ascertain the damage
>Other
Check for hidden Tech loot or other surprises.

>>39459758
>>Send a boarding party to explore the dockyard's interior and ascertain the damage

>>39459633
noice

>>39459758
You have several of your ships loaded with drones and ready themselves to deploy forces to the dockyard.

>Send Vacuum workers (how many)
>Send warriors (how many)
>Send Heavy Warriors (how many)
>Send Flies (how many)
>Other

>>39459758
>Send a boarding party to explore the dockyard's interior and ascertain the damage

>>39459893
>Other
All of them.

>>39459893
>>Send Vacuum workers (how many)
300
>>Send warriors (how many)
200
>>Send Heavy Warriors (how many)
50
>>Send Flies (how many)
100

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>39459893

>Other
Whatever a full Colonization Fleet and Heavy Defense Fleet worth's of those drones is.

>>39459893
>Send Vacuum workers (how many)
200

>>39459949
>>39459893
I'll second this.

>>39459893
>>39459893 (You)
>300 Vacuum workers
>200 Warriors
>50 Heavy Warriors
>100 Flies

Even with so many drones on the job, you have no doubt it will take some time to properly explore the utterly vast reaches of the twisting corridors within the dockyard.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>39460210
searchin

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>39460210
Voom

Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>39460210

Lesse what phat lewt we find...

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>>39460233
Holy shit my highest roll yet

>>39460258

And only two off a crit. Nicely done.

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>39460210

>>39460233
>>39460280

Hahahahahahaha

Oh wow

>>39460280
No one likes a copy cat

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>39460280
>>39460233
Well that's got to be something special.

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>>39460280
ayy lmao fluff

>>39460304

Fucking why

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>>39460304
That sure is Special
Why does it feel like the dice gods are setting us up for a tease?