Daily reminder, Lyle is best waifu

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>>39878383
[Special project finished]

Amid the chaos of Religha, your drones have completed their experimentation on samples of the local plant known as Greystalk. After carefully examining its genetic data, you found a number of similarities to the black-leaf covered fruit bearing stalk the Gardener had used as an artificial food supply. The Greystalk itself appears to be the result of the engineered food source after having incorporated itself into the wild. By adjusting its genetic data, you have returned its color from its diluted dark grey to a mate black along the leaves, with the stalk a milky light grey. The dark leaves offer a far more efficient method of absorbing light, while the roots grow deep and wide enough to entangle each other, creating a network of shared resources, allowing only a few to need water or sunlight as the others share. In the wild, this was quickly lost due to being counter to the survival of each stalk, but in the care of a farm, it is quite useful.

The stalk itself offers two kinds of fruits, a layer of seeds embedded in the stalk, and a nutrient filled seedless fruit that grows among the leaves. The stalk itself is incredibly strong, and even its wild cousin is used as a high quality building material among the natives, and it needs to be to support the large, melon sized fruit rapidly produced by the engineered super-crop. The only down side is that it requires lots of open space and sunlight without foliage blocking the sun. Your understanding of the Gardener’s hive from your visions of it reveal that the Greystalk is highly adaptive and suited for hydroponic farm techniques. Your thinkers suspect that the newly formed lakes that have flooded the craters formed during the battle would be perfect build sites for these hydroponic platforms, and have proposed a design for the building.

BODY SNATCHER QUEST GO

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>>39878402
[New building option]
>Hydroponic platform [must be built on or near water: cannot be built underground or in shade]
A floating greenhouse platform used to grow farmland through hydroponics. Each greenhouse platform supports roughly one hectare and requires a single worker to tend the crop and maintain the platform. Multiple platforms can be connected together to create fields of floating farmland.
+200N per day, 1 worker to maintain.

>>39878402
>>39878418
Aww yeah, new nutrient generation options.

>>39878418
Your have felt your attention pulled thin between your many duties lately, and you still have much to do.

>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha
>Examine the pods exploring human space
>Have your aquatic drones explore the depths of Huron
>Manage your hybrids on Leeland
>Other

>>39878462
>Have your aquatic drones explore the depths of Huron

>>39878462
>Examine the pods exploring human space
then
>Manage your hybrids on Leeland
Send some off to new sectors of human space for infiltration.

>>39878462
>Examine the pods exploring human space
We should actually know what's around if we're going to play cat and mouse with Lyle and the Smith.

We've put off actually LOOKING too long.

>>39878462
>>Examine the pods exploring human space

>>39878462
>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha
Always good to be friends with some of the neighbors

>>39878462
>Examine the pods exploring human space

I'm excited for the queen and Lee to meet again.

It's been a while. Looking forward to his reaction.

>>39878462
>>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha

>>39878462
>>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha

>>39878561

Queen: "Lee! You have returned!"

Lee: "Uh, yeah, I, uh... I like what you've done with the place?"

Queen: "Yes, yes! We have grown the Hive! Made many technological advancements! All thanks to you!"

A worker, specially bred for this very task, carries out the lighter Lee left as one might carry the holy grail

Lee: "...huh."

>>39878462
>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha
at last

>>39878754
I vote when we introduce ourselves to Lee, we should keep ourselves shrouded in darkness before showing ourselves with the lighter.

>>39878462
>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha

>>39878754
>not bodily lifting Lee off the ground and giving him a hug
>not telling him you studied human interaction and found this is how one shows 'affection'
I mean, the queen is pretty big, right? Big enough to completely embrace a full grown man?

>>39878811
>>39878835
WHY NOT BOTH?

>>39878462
>>Examine the pods exploring human space

>>39878835
>Spoilers
Yes. Yes I do believe she is.

>>39878835
>>39878846
>>39878862
Just don't crush him with our stupidly powerful bug strength.

>>39878811
>>39878835
On the subject of Lee we really ought to get him in a medical pod and fix his mind powers before he regresses, whatever the fuck that means.

>>39878914
Yeah... we probably should get him in a bio-pod so his brain doesn't burn out or something else equally horrible.

>>39878939
>>39878914
there's one on lyle's ship isn't there?

>>39878462
>>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha
Well overdue I believe.

>>39878462
>Turn your attention to the locals of Raligha
CONSUME

>>39878914
Good idea, have we reversed engineered the whatever process the nano machines in Vaughn's brain are doing yet?

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>>39878462
You examine your pods as they drift through human space, cataloging their findings.

New Port
This system is the regional capital of the Union's forces in the expanse, and it seems to be among the most heavilly populated and developed. On the outskirts of the system is hydrogen gas giant Callahan, filled with the ice-covered moons and planetoids that failed to be planets in their own right, as well as a number of rings crisscrossing each other. A swarm of mining craft extract both water and gas from the area, gathering it into the maw of Callahan Station, which rests in a steady orbit above a number of floating gas mining platforms. You see a dozen civilian trade ships docked to it, as well as several military craft.

Further in there is a rich asteroid belt bristling with the activity of miners and trade ships. One area is incredibly active, and as your pod moves closer to examine you realize it is a city, carved into the rock. It is a bustling trade port, with plentiful radio signals indicating its name to be Bedrock. The city itself is within the asteroid, which is among the largest in the belt, and the entire object has been placed into a spin using a series of rockets built into the sides. At the axis of rotation there is a large starport, and your pods catches a glimpse of a hollow interior through layers of transparasteel and carefully balanced airlocks. On the outside of the crust, towers sprout from within, holding inverted platforms containing watch towers, defensive turrets, and viewing platforms.

Further in, there is a small world covered in military craft by the name of Darwin, its surface covered in some kind of multi-colored vine. Near the equator, a large area of many hundreds of kilometers has been burned away, and a small tether has been constructed running from the ground to a cruiser sized ship in low orbit. There is extensive military activity across the surface, and you see signs of forest fires across the area.

>>39879073
I'm not sure about the nanos specifically but we're already researching how to control matter with just psionics and growing mind crystals in other species.

so we're going to make the Ralighans a little more advanced eh?

>>39879093
Whatever that vine is, I want it.

You know what, why don't we just infiltrate the entire planet.

>>39879093
>examining the pods
Wtf, there were clearly more votes for checking up on Raligha.

>>39879238
Yea, I was already finishing up the post when the vote shifted. My apologies.

>>39879238
There weren't when he started writing obviously.

Ralighan fans were latecomers.

>>39879315
You were finishing the up the post 10 minutes before you posted it?

>>39879093
We gotta go Aliens on that someday.

Parasite some of the miners or traders going in and out everyday, start growing a little operation on board.

>>39879093
>>39879093
Telarum
The system gives the first impression of a vast military base, and as you look through in more detail, you feel that's not an inaccurate assessment. The system itself consists of a binary system of two red giants, which twist and contort local gravity and sending any would-be planets into unstable orbits, slinging them away or dragging them into the stars themselves, as well as rendering your own G-field sensors ineffective. As the suns spin around each other, dangerously close and dangerously fast, you detect hints of twisting spacetime, and clusters of what look like giant, thousand kilometer long syringes mounted on massive thrusters and drive rings. It doesn't take long to put two and two together, and you realize these stars must hold at least some amount of Canderon, which the Union forces have been attempting to extract. The violent forces of the stars have clearly hampered that, as several of the star drills have been snapped in half, with others being repaired with scaffolding build around them.

Other then the fleet of defensive ships, of which there are many, with a capital fleet on patrol, you see a number of logistical stations built around the star, far enough to avoid the dangerous contortions of spacetime from the unstable orbits of the suns, which seem to almost act like a gravity drive, but on an astronomical scale, sending ripples of bent light and gravitational distortions out at random. Most of the stations are privately owned, but there are plenty of military platforms and mobile scaffolds providing field repairs to damaged ships and star drills.

You can see at leas two active drills, their drive rings shimmer brightly to help stabilize the area around as its far end contorts light into a small knot like a fist sized star, and plunges it into a sunspot. Plasma and radiation is expelled from the sides of the rig in hundred kilometer streams.

>Continue scouting the area
>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39879578
>>Continue scouting the area

>>39879578
>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39879578
>Continue scouting the area
Wait is that Canderon?

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>>39879578
>>Continue scouting the area

>>39879578
>Continue scouting the area

>>39879578
>and you realize these stars must hold at least some amount of Canderon
>>39879627
oh nevermind

>>39879578
>>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39879578
>Continue scouting the area
Too juicy.

>>39879578
>Continue scouting the area

>>39879578
>>Interact with the natives of Raligha
You could just add all this to the pastebin during the week when you find the time.

>>39879844
The odds of that happening this week are astronomical. And it's important information for Wild Goose Chase Quest.

>>39879578
Sentinel
A small, wispy cloud of debris orbits this blue super giant star, which has ballooned to engulf most of the system. You see a number of stations set around the star at regular intervals, allowing for a constant view of any one direction. You see no active patrols, but there is an entire fleet of ships stationed among the docks, with at least five battleship sized craft among them and dozens of subcapitals. On occasion, small fleets unlock from the stations and enter warp, running along the boarder to Commonwealth space on long range patrols, and entire arrays of radio telescopes are trained on the distant nebula, where the stars of the Commonwealth shine through faintly.
cont.

>>39879844
Anon I'd rather focus on expanding our pitifully small empire.

>>39879578
>>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39879919
Just a little late.

>>39879917
If you want to do that, vote to establish holdings on Wonder and Farcast. They provide a good bulwark against Scavengers and the OQ, and we already occupy them.

Right now we're not doing anything except getting wrote information on each system that we will in all likelihood never get an opportunity to do anything with. Considering how little time we have in each thread, I'd rather focus on something we can actually do something about.

>>39880023
Exploring systems is a prerequisite to doing anything. We have no idea what new possibilities are available until we look.

It's a necessary long term investment that takes longer to pay off.

>>39880023
Desmond is open for colonization, as well as A-295. Drift and Refuge are also likely for us to be able to colonize.

>>39880101
Well said. We have to play the long game in this setting. After all, the hive as a race won't die from old age.

>>39880119
>Desmond is open for colonization, as well as A-295
There's a fine idea. If we do that, we will fully encompass Kerik Ashka, which will put us at an advantage if we ever want to claim it.

>>39880182
>if we ever want to claim it.
The place is full of artifacts of course we would want it.

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>>39879913
Juric
As your pod enters the system, you almost instantly recognize the shape of a Unity server ship. It is split open, with pieces hanging from its slowly rotating corpse. The interior has been obliterated, likely to prevent capture, and the remaining hull has been colonized, with scaffolding slowly resealing the dead metal husk into what will soon be a new space city. It sits at the edge of the system, like a head on a stake.

Further inwards, you find the small gas giant of Billiard, more of a gaseous planet, really, but it is large enough to serve as a profitable source of fuel and water. It looks like a small, whitish blue marble in space, its clouds smooth and featureless from a distance. Small pockets of settlements drift in the winds on massive balloons, and a short tether from a station reaches into the upper limits of their reach, offering docks for the migrant cities as they mine the available gas and search for pockets of water.

Around the planet is another, smaller terrestrial planet. The beginnings of atmospheric generators are already in construction, and storm clouds swirl about the rocky and barren surface in response. Cities are lined up around the foundations of the generators, likely home to the engineers and construction crews, and little else.

>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems
>Interact with the natives of Raligha
>Other

>>39880272
>>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39880272
>>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems

>>39880272
>>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems

>>39880272
>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39880272
>>Interact with the natives of Raligha
Feel sad for religha fags.

>>39880272
>>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems

>>39880272
>>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39880272
>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems

>>39880272
>>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems

>>39880339
I don't.

>>39880272
>>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems
Can we please try to colonize the systems near us?

>>39880272
>Interact with the natives of Raligha
pls

>>39880272
>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems
One more time. Then I'll vote for
>Interact with the natives of Raligha

>>39880272
>Other
Ask Theseus how he feels about this "head on stake" business.

>>39880272
>small gas giant
I think you mean gas dwarf.
>Continue exploring Commonwealth systems

>>39880395
Wonder.
Farcast.
Desmond.
A-295.
Take your pick.

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>>39880272
Proxima
Even from your outside view, you can tell this system is somewhat contested. It technically lies in Union space, but is also technically a part of the neutral Toliman system, making its status as sovereign Union space debatable. The system itself orbits Toliman at just under a light year, and the system is bombarded with stellar radiation from its neighbor, causing a faint but potent radioactive gas cloud that shrouds the system and obscures long range sensors when viewing from outside.

Inside this gas cloud is the Ticonderoga fleet depot, and expansive military listening post holding a large defensive fleet that patrols the boarders of Union space. A radio telescope looks to Toliman, practically a skip away.
cont.

>>39880440
He doesn't. AI's don't get intimidated, he knows hes kill on sight already and that destroyed ship isn't much of a message of anything else.

This is the same way someone colonizing one of our hiveships would mean nothing to us.

>>39880526
Wonder.

>>39880526
>Forgetting about Refuge and Drift

>>39880547
Picon

Near the edge of the system you find a depleted asteroid belt, devoid of any detectable resources. further in you find two well-settled worlds with a breathable atmosphere.

New Dorchester, with a Population 4 Billion it is a moderatly populated planet, with several major cities spread across the surface, as well as a rural population of farmers and herders. It is a cold, but hospitable planet, with most of the native biosphere consisting of lichen and a moss-like grass that covers the humid and mildly temperate steppe lands along the equator, with imported pine and evergreen trees originated from Earth planted into widespread forests along the frigid areas of greater longitudes. Near the poles, volcanic activity increases, creating a large number of mountain ranges and alpine tundra regions dominated by major cities, which use the geothermal heat for industry and warmth. The planet is under the rule of a constitutional monarchy, with the leaders of each city electing a planetary governor from among themselves.

cont.

>>39880636
Further inwards you find the planet of Ephesus with a much smaller official population of 137 Million. A major trade port and economic powerhouse, it holds few people for its level of importance, using advanced industrial technology to provide for a greater degree of freedom for its people. It holds only one city of the same name, which is ruled as a republic. Those living beyond its walls are not counted, taxed, or regulated by local law. The planet itself is a hot world of coastal archipelagos and steaming deserts where thermal vents are common, sending boiling water shooting into the air. The industry and technology of the planet is extensive, utilizing automated technology that is often banned on other worlds, with multiple as yet unfounded accusations of the use of basic artificial intelligence. Most industry is operated by machines, with extensive automated networks operating most of the planet’s infrastructure, as well as most menial and physically laborious duties. A space elevator connects the city bellow to an orbital trade port, where an extensive military fleet is almost always present, recruiting the wild men from outside the city, and gathering refined materials and manufactured goods.

>>39880665
>Those living beyond its walls are not counted, taxed, or regulated by local law.
The perfect prey.

>>39880750
>Heheheheh.

>>39880636
>New Dorchester, with a Population 4 Billion
all dose hosts

all dose nutrients

We need to come up with some Shadow in the warp like tyranid thing, cutting off planets from communication and messing with them, It needs to be done...

>>39880778

Plus it's a monarchy.

We take the king/queen and a majority of the governors, we own the planet.

>>39880807
Something to cut off communications would be useful.
If we decide to swarm a planet, we don't want them getting word out to any fleets or highly militarized planets.

>>39880807
>>39880860
I don't think you thought this through at all. This is not fanfiction. FTLComms do not work that way.

You cannot sever a quantum string without destroying one of the two endpoints. The communication never crosses the intervening distances.

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>>39880950
thank you for clarifying how this fictional non-real communication functions

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>>39880950
>Trying to explain something that doesn't exist in real life, Yes, Please tell us how fictional communication functions, Genius.

>>39880950
And besides, if you cut off one point of the FTLcomm, the other side also stops working, so they'll know that something disabled the FTLcomm on your side.

>>39880950
>You cannot sever a quantum string without destroying one of the two endpoints.
The scrambler warhead says otherwise.

What we could do however is create our own "wild men", as none of them are in the system until they get recruited, meaning them appearing suddenly from nowhere actually makes sense to most officials.

>>39880977
>>39881010
>ignore all worldbuilding, it's completely pointless because stories have no internal logic whatsoever
:^)

>>39881089
What is this logic you speak of. Is that another ancient custom long forgotten, Like Freedom And Equality?

>>39881089
>>ignore all worldbuilding, it's completely pointless because stories have no internal logic whatsoever
You realize there are ways of messing with Q-coms we just don't have the tech yet.

>>39880665
Sagittarius

This system is bustling with settlements and colonies, with trade stations orbiting between them offering sublight freighters docking services as they move goods between the planets. On the outskirts of the system is a small, frozen ball of ice named Gorgona, with a population of under a hundred million, it is a small settlement kept aloft by water and mineral exports to the other planets in the system, which seem to have a less stable local environment that requires continuous adjustments to maintain a habitable biosphere. Solar sailors drift to and from the planet and the others. It is a corporate world, under the direct command of a local mining authority.

Further inward you find the rich and fertile world of New Athens, with a population of nearly six billion, all scattered among the many islands and floating arcologies. After further inspection, however, you find that according to their open broadcasts, the soil is naturally toxic, and the seas are not water, but a corrosive mixture of salt and naturally forming chemicals. Their carefully crafted local environment a product of imported minerals and liquid water.

Further in you find Thebes, a large planet with a heavy atmosphere. Most of its population of 700 million seems to live in orbital habitats, forming a broken ring of stations around the planet, connected to the surface be a space elevator. The surface is covered in flat lands and simple life that can survive the intense gravity. Orbiting Thebes is the smaller oceanic moon of Tempest, with shallow seas broken by rocky archipelagos, and an endless torrent of tidal waves battering the specially designed arcologies and bunker-like cities. It's population if 500 million is situated deep within the expansive mountains, safe from the kilometer waves and gale force hypercanes.

>>39880950
>>39881011
Actually, the combination of Quantum Tuning and Psionic Manipulation should give us a way to hijack the Union's communicators before an invasion.

>>39881022
That's basically destroying them. It's nothing like jamming communications.

>>39881039
>Wild-ling Invasion, From beyond the wall.

>>39881169
I guess but you can't really get through to all the quantum comms in an entire planet.

>>39881231
We don't need to we just need to be able to block the signal in orbit.

>>39881159
>Send pods to additional systems and forget about them for a few weeks (write in)
>Speak with the locals of Raligha (write in)
>Other

>>39881231
Really? How many terminals do you expect to be on a single planet on average, keeping in mind their cost? If we have some time to infiltrate and prepare, we should be able to detect and subvert all of them.

>>39881272
>Other
Can we have an update on what Lyle and the gang are up too?

>>39881272
>Drift
>Refuge

>>39881272
>Other
Can we check up on our new hive under the protein plant?

Also maybe this,
>>39881307

>>39881272
>speak with the locals of Raligha
>send drones to capture and implant with a parasite a high ranking priest
>tell the priest, through mental communications, that we will have many secrets both wonderful and terrible to share with him
>but for now we want him to do some things to make the life of the average Ralighan better
>teach them farming and basic industry etc.

>>39881272
>Send pods to additional systems and forget about them for a few weeks (write in)

Ah, cheeky as always.

Do:
- All of the Commonwealth worlds
- Drift
- Refuge
- Reprieve

Since some of the Commonwealth is further than 25 lightyears, put a bunch of pods inside a corvette, which can travel close enough to let the pods go the rest of the way with enough fuel leftover to get back home.

>>39881272
>>Speak with the locals of Raligha
To be honest, I'd rather check in with them and see what they're saying about us before saying anything to them.

>>39881272
>Send pods to additional systems and forget about them for a few weeks
>Drift
>Refuge
Also
>Desmond
>A-295

>>39881307
>>39881317
These Two.

>>39881272
Hey QD, I found your quest not too long ago and I just want to say that you're an awesome person. Thank you for doing this for us.

>>39881307
>>39881334
>>39881381
Lyle is returning to the hive anons.

>>39881375
We already have a pod at A-295.

It was never withdrawn, pretty sure the pastebin's inaccurate.

>>39881345
Supporting. This is both enlightening and cheeky.

>>39881272
>>Send pods to additional systems and forget about them for a few weeks.
Wonder.
Farcast.
Desmond.
A-295
Refuge
Drift

Red Giant
Red Dwarf
Yellow Star
Blue Giant

>>39881265
But you can't block a quantum entanglement communicator, you either subvert it physically by attaching a quantum tuner or destroy it, which also renders the comm on the other side useless thus telling them that something happened to the comm.

>>39881297
I suppose you have a point.

>>39881307
No.

See that quest number?

This is thread 44.7 for a reason. This is all happening simultaneously with Lyle escaping Gemini.

>>39881272
>>Send pods to additional systems and forget about them for a few weeks (write in)

Helion, Winsor, Mufrid, Cygni, Tiberion.

Refuge, Drift.

>>39881272
I've got a question.
Suppose we make a copy of a Queen, down to the atomic level. Will such a copy be a part of our network, or will it have its own?

Lets clone up Lyle and Dylon corpses and use them in some sort of clever ruse.

>>39881504
You mean a clone of the Queen?
It would just be another queen since it is it's own separate being and not just a drone.

>>39881559
>corpses
Or you could make actual full live clones who will die from cyborg.

>>39881272
>>Speak with the locals of Raligha

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>>39881584
But I don't want Lyle to die, even if it is a clone.

>>39881634
You can't make a clone that isn't alive, by definition, so to make a corpse you have to clone them then kill them.

>>39881661
Sh-shut up, protecting my feelings in such a way is trivial for the hive

>>39881569
Not just a clone. A copy, that differs from the original by the identities of the constituent atoms, but nothing else.
Basically, what I'm looking for is what makes the queens *different*. Hopefully, if we can duplicate that part, we can make a second body for the Queen (sharing the same mind through the network) and send it somewhere very far away as a safekeeping mechanism.

Since we have fleets which is basically packages of ships which have various purposes, could we get similar colony packages and use them to settle different worlds more automatically?

Ideas for different colony package themes:
Normal
Stealth (for when your settlement to not be detected)
Clones (for infiltration purposes)
Aquatic
Terraforming (with extra resources and others things for terraforming purposes)

Maybe it could work like modules. With a Basic module and then just attach whatever specializations you need.

This way we can get more colonizing done.

>>39881728
So basically what you want is a non-sapient sleeve for the queen that is continuously connected to the Hive's psionic network so the Queen can upload her mind into it in an emergency?
You'll have to ask QD for that.

>>39881345
You mean instruct them to cover bodies of water in greystalk farms so that they might make more pleasing tribute to the hive.

So that's why we created those lakes, truly we work in mysterious ways.

>>39881747
That can be done by making purpose built colonization swarms in the wiki for those different niches.
Colonization is still slowed by the fact that we have to vote on it, which sometimes gets very contested, especially with establishing hives on human worlds.

We should probably instruct the Ralighans that the large area around the mountain/Ark is sacred ground that they should refrain from tampering with the overhead foliage in.

We don't want someone looking down from orbit and seeing a ton of stuff clustered around that buried starship to tell them "yep that mountain is important."

>>39881272
>Drift
>Refuge
>Reprieve
>Desmond
>Helion
>Winsor
>Mufrid
>Cygni
>Tiberion

>Y/N
>Other

The ways of the locals are strange, but your drones have studied their languages and customs. Your drones are fully capable of communicating with them by use of their trade dialect, a pattern of horn sounds made using local hollow trees. Your hive holds an artificial version, allowing you to make announcements to the population around your hive all at once, or you could ask to speak with a certain individual.

>Make an announcement (write in)
>Ask to speak with a leader, storyteller, or other (write in)
>Other

>>39881395
And thank's for playing!

>>39881791
Yep, exactly. Something similar to what Theseus has, without the problem of what to do with different identities.

>>39881941
>Y

>>39881941
>Y

>>Make an announcement (write in)
The time has come for Ralighans to produce the most pleasing tribute of all. For you have forgotten the old ways: Greystalk-grown-on-the-water. We'll show you how.

okay lads i have a serious question, do you think it's safe to use lube as shaving cream?

>>39881941
>>Y

>>Ask to speak with a leader, storyteller, and great warrior
"What has become of this green world and your people since my battle among the stars? What do you wish to know of it?"

>>39881941
>Y
>Make an announcement
Tell them that we'll teaching how to grow their own food.
>>39881997
>Greystalk-grown-on-the-water.
It's actually Blackstalk.

>>39881941
>Y

>Make an announcement (write in)
>Ask to speak with a leader, storyteller, or other (write in)
Announce that we will meet with their leaders, priests and best storytellers. Implant them with parasites and distribute knowledge among them

>>39881941
And QD, is >>39881728 feasible?

>>39882013

Non silicon based ones yes

>>39882020
The leaves are black.

The stalk is still a milky light grey.

>>39882036
why would it be bad to use a silicon based one?

>>39881941
This >>39882020

And tell them that the sacred grounds near the Ark must keep its thick jungle for now, no big clearcutting.

>>39882080
Fucks up your razors pretty bad, and doesn't mix well with some aftershaves

>>39882107
Stop feeding the shitposter anon.

>>39882107
i don't have any aftershave here and the razors already pretty fucked up from being used only one time
>>39882159
was a legit question m8

>>39881941
>announcement

Say we need one person from each village far and wide. They will come to the temple and be baptised with Nepenthe, and brought inside to become our children.

By which I mean we implant parasites inside them secretly. Then they get given seeds, and on returning home can have visions that will instruct them on where and how to grow them.

>>39878402
Can these new plants be used on the star-orbiting farm? If yes, does that increase the yield?

>>39882166
A legit question completely unrelated to the quest. Gotta keep it relevant, it's difficult enough staying on track here.

>>39882174
What is the actual point of implanting them with parasites? I don't see any benefit to it.

They pose no security threat, are fully capable of learning agriculture naturally over time, and we seek to teach them ostensibly out of generosity as there is no practical benefit to it since our workers are more efficient.

Unless you just want to enslave a race like the crystals do just for kicks.

>>39881941
Your hive billows with sound. The artificial tubes blasting air from the massive diaphragm within. Bird-like things leap into the air in fright, and a slight breeze sways the trees. The villages around the hive halt all actions at the thunderous sounds as your commands echo over the landscape.


>Ask for their leaders (specify or just ask for leaders?) and implant them with parasites
>Ask for their leaders and speak with them (write in)
>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)
>Other

>>39882249
Yeah.

I'd much prefer to be the 'adoption queen' rather than another obsidian queen.

>>39882174
using parasites on them has been vetoed so many times just stop

>>39882249
Visions and more precise, continuous instructions.

And getting to see through their eyes everywhere. Keep everything organized.

>>39882279
>>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)

>>39882279
>>Ask for their leaders and speak with them (write in)
>>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)
One of these two, I'm on the fence.

>>39882249
Different anon here, who said anything about enslaving them? Their entire religious system revolves around attempting to attain a state of consciousness like that of our drones. Implanting them with parasites not only provides us with a means of communicating with their entire society seamlessly, but also of bringing about the shamanic state of mind they crave. Sounds like a win/win to me.

>>39882249
Just because we're implanting them doesn't mean we're enslaving them.

Remember we're dealing with a religion here, we don't want this knowledge to be filtered or "interpreted" through some other motherfucker who has an idea of how things should be.

>>39882249
Parasites do not enslave. You're being silly.

They provide the option of enslavement, but it's really just a more convenient way to talk to people than through primitive languages.

>>39882279
>>Ask for their leaders and speak with them (write in)
No need to implant them, but we should make sure they are kept happy and worshipping us.

>>39882279
>>Ask for their leaders (specify or just ask for leaders?) and implant them with parasites
>>Ask for their leaders and speak with them (write in)
>>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)

>>39882279
>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)
And implant. It will give us time to hatch the necessary number of eggs too.

>>39882279
>>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)

>>39882279
>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)

>>39882249
>>Ask for their leaders and speak with them (write in)
Ask them of what has occurred in their societies since the battle, and what thought of it. Ask them if there is anything they wish to ask about us (don't have to be entirely straight up with them, mind you) and if they wish to be adopted into the hive (with parasites).

>>39882279
>>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)

>>39882367
No.

>>39882279
>>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)
>Ask for their leaders (specify or just ask for leaders?) and implant them with parasites

>>39882291
To what benefit? There's no point.
>>39882308
>>39882312
>>39882321
>>39882367
They're primitive and ignorant to the point of comparative infancy, and you guys want to shove our big throbbing parasite-cocks into their brains. Okay. They have no context to understand what they're agreeing to, and we know for a fact that the premise they hold as to our nature is inherently flawed such that the decisions they would come to are compromised.

Like, seriously guys, they don't know what they're getting into at all; this is exactly the same type of behaviour we criticized in the crystals, manipulating primitive species incapable of knowing better. Except our method here is -more- invasive.

>>39882279
>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)

>>39882279
>Ask for the leaders of every village (there are a lot, it will take days for news to spread, and longer for them to arrive)

Parasiting them is dumb and pointless.

>>39882494
>we criticized
We did no such thing. The crystals are simply an existential threat to us.

>>39882494
>this is exactly the same type of behaviour we criticized in the crystals
We never criticized the crystals in the first place because we would do similar things except for blowing planets up.

>>39882494
"But, but, We're 'improving' the efficiency of any future negotiations."

>>39882542
>>39882585
We totally did. Read the threads when we were first finding out about it. We heavily opposed the crystals behaviour regarding primitive species. Ditto the Union, actually.

Like, those were the primary arguments for why they were shits; they're slaving exploitative dicks.

>>39882494
>to shove our big throbbing parasite-cocks into their brains.
Lewd!

>>39882494
The question of implantation is never "why," but rather "why not?"

And instant communication to the entire species to coordinate the mass farm buildout is a benefit over word of mouth propagation.

And it'll make them so happy.

>>39882279
>Ask for their leaders (specify or just ask for leaders?) and implant them with parasites

>>39882639
>And it'll make them so happy.
It actually would, since they worship our race.

>>39882609
Maybe you did. Maybe some anons did. I certainly didn't.

And that OOC commentary doesn't bind our claws on current actions whatsoever.

>>39882639
Not to mention all the other benefits a parasite brings like immortality, regeneration, and better health.

>>39882609
Yeah i know

But anons are hypocrites man

Most of us were pissed they thought that someone could do this shit to us

When we wouldn't hesitate to enslave whole species in a heartbeat

I just wanted to ask the the locals if they noticed odd things out in the jungles like bitch queens drones or old gardener sites

>>39882279
"The people have fallen since the Hive has left. You will soon learn what you have lost."

The hive breaths between the sounds of the massive organ. The short, rapid blasts of their trade language mimic the beats of their drums.

"Send your leaders, of every village, so that they may learn."

The sound echoes over the endless jungle of blue flora, eventually met with the cries of distant animals, and then the sounds of celebration. You have your patrolling air drones watch them closely, as an elderly looking Ralighan exits a large hut and is draped with strips of cloth and bone jewelry. The many priests encircle him and paint designs on his body in rote repetition. The symbols are lifted from the glyphs of the hive ruins and the ark you have made your own hive, but the meaning seems lost to them.

The elders of the closest villages, three old and slow beings, some missing limbs, or with punctured drums, make their way to your hive. The mountain opens for them, the interior air flowing like the breath of a giant. They move in, slowly rolling like worn out tires, and the walls glow dimly for them.

They follow the glowing trail, and eventually enter an antechamber leading to the center of the hive, a massive domed area filled with the cocooned eggs and the crisscrossing supports of the ship in which you have built it. Light bounces from the gleaming hull like mirrors, creating a web of light above them. The supports are vast capillaries filled with nutrients, glowing vibrantly and casting their red light over the chamber's floor. Near the center, a wall flexes open, and your false queen emerges, like a mirror of yourself, flanked by workers and bone-like tubes and membrane drums.

They flatten themselves out as much as possible in a deep bow.

>Speak (write in)
>Ask a question(write in)
>Other

>>39882639
>>39882683
Yeah that's kind of the whole problem. We could also just pump them full of drugs 24/7 to make them happy regardless. That's not the point and you know it, dweebs.

The thing is, the coordination thing isn't a good argument. It's entirely irrelevant to us how productive they are, since they'll never be more productive than our drones. If our intention was to use them for our own benefit, the efficient option would be to wipe out their habitat and them and replace it with something more efficient.

I don't see why they can't be left largely to their own devices, but with an occasional -occasional- guiding push.

>>39882609
Remember that the Union's behaviour included putting nukes in orbit, other than that their intentions to make other races economically dependant on them has worked out pretty well. Humans are at peace with pretty much all of the reasonable races.

>>39882742
I'd be in favor of leaving the Ralighans free, but enslaving/genociding the humans. Or the Union, at least.
The Commonwealth might be cool.

>>39882768
They're house-elves. If we don't give them a good way to serve us they will try to make ways to serve us.

If we refuse to wipe them out, they might as well be useful. It's a middle ground.

>>39882751
>Ask a question(write in)
"Are you prepared to become anointed as our apostles to the people?"

>>39882751
>Ask a question
How are your people

Are you feed well?

Any illness spreading?

>>39882847
this with the whole teaching them to farm

>>39882751
>Ask a question(write in)
What to be implant with a parasites?

>>39882751
You guys know... we could totally restore there youth a bit.

>>39882751
>Speak
We will begin reteaching you the traditions the old hive taught you.

>>39882769
We don't actually know the conditions of all of them. Well, except that those star-mining dudes are destroying their natural habitat. I'm not actually that concerned by economic dominance of less advanced species. It's that the vitriol with which that was met, especially when suggested it would be attempted on us, is at complete odds with the current, more extreme, sentiments on how we should treat more primitive life here. It's the hypocrisy.

The nukes weren't even a big deal. Less extreme than installing mind-control kill switches in the population, that's for sure.

>>39882847
This. + farm

>>39882847
going with this and teaching them to farm

>>39882751
Through you, we shall restore the old ways. You shall bring the seeds of tribute to your people, and grow a harvest more plentiful than seen in generations.

Inhale this Nepenthe, in memory of me.

>>39882751
>>Speak
we shall teach you of farming.
then ask thing about the aftermath of the battle

>>39882900
Bad idea, if we implant them we don't want to mess with shit too much. The history of earth would be a fucking nightmare if some alien asshole came down and started giving leaders immortality.

File: Spoiler Image (2.01 MB, 2448x3264)

2.01 MB JPG

>>39882751
>Other
<

>>39883060
Vampire Earth

Guys, if we do implant these natives lets not make it some big fucking song and dance ritual to endorse their religion or to make them live forever or any stupid fucking ideas like that, just slip the things in and delete the memory of implantation. We called them here to put them back on the right path, not to have them suck our collective cock.

>>39883060
>>39883185
Sounds like fun.

>>39883060
>immortal Genghis Khan

>>39882751
Your workers operate the instruments, drumming out their language quickly and efficiently.

"Your people have lived here many years. How have your people fared?"

They each get up, adjusting themselves into a more upright posture as they inflate their drums.
"We have felt the wrath of the falling sky, which moved the land and brought the waters. It cleansed the land of the unclean tribes" one says, "and we have sent our crafters to make shrines on its shores!"

"The vines have burned at your fingers!" Another says. Your warrior patrols have removed much of the blighted areas once overgrown with Greenwall during your initial collection of samples. You found several remains of villages within. "We have returned, but the land is harsh in the wake of the green curse."

The last elder, the one from the village at the base of your hive, flips the bone charms in its hands. "We have gathered your offerings. The other tribes bow to you. Some have hesitated, but the wrath of the sky has shown them their ways were false. Should any still refuse you, we will take the offerings by force."

The others drum in agreement.

>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away
>Speak further (write in)
>Other

>>39883295
>>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away

>>39883295
>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away

>>39883295
>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics
>Speak further (write in)
Unclean tribes?

>>39883295
>>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away

>>39883295
>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away
>Speak further (write in)
"The gesture is kind, but offerings are not needed. All are free to leave them or not. Force is forbidden."

>>39883295
>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away

These will prove more pleasing offerings, and more plentiful.

>>39883295
>>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away
>Speak further (write in)
"Do not seek retribution in my name, should the offering be obtained by force or coercion then the offering is tainted."
>Other
We should also regulate a small contingent of warriors to removing the greenwall continually.

>>39883455
>Force is forbidden
Unforseen consequences detected

>>39883386
>>39883455
Supporting these.

>>39883503
>Unforseen consequences detected
This. Just mention offerings are appreciated but not mandatory. Don't go forbidding anything.

>>39883455
>Force is forbidden
That is unnecessary to say.

>>39883455
No, just say that all offerings make us happy.

The naive will see the wisdom in their own time.

>>39883295

>Give them Greystalk seeds and tech them the basics, and send them away
>Other
Tell them that when it is time, We will summon them again to teach them more.

>>39883295
>other
implant them with parasites

>>39883611
>>39883295
>>39883620
this

>>39883295
"Unclean?" You ask. The elder pauses nervously.

"Their actions that brought the wrath of the sky upon them. Their lack of faith. It is not for us to judge, but we see the result of the judgment." The one in the middle speaks up again.

"We had warned the others of the costs of false faith and poor diligence. The wrath of the sky should show any others who would doubt."

>Give them the seeds and send them away
>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them
>Tell them not to give offerings anymore
>Speak other (write in)

>>39883694
>>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them

>>39883694
>Give them the seeds and send them away
Bigger, better offerings!

>>39883694
>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them
I mean. I don't really want them to go out of their way, but their arts and crafts are pretty sweet. Also, I expect if we told them not to they'd interpret it as us being angry at them and they'd do something retarded like sacrifice members of their tribes.

>>39883694
>>Give them the seeds and send them away
>>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them

>>39883620
To what end?

>>39883694
>Give them the seeds and send them away

>>39883694
>Give them the seeds
>Speak other (write in)
false faith?
anything involving crystals

>>39883694

>Give them the seeds and send them away
>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them

>>39883694
>Give them the seeds and send them away

>>39883694
>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them
>Give them the seeds and send them away

>>39883694
>>Give them the seeds and send them away
>>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them
>Speak other (write in)
oy vey tell them how to care for the seeds flower

>>39883694
>>Give them the seeds and send them away

>>39883694
>>Give them the seeds and send them away

>>39883694
oh yeah tell them not to fuck with our bloodroot trees

those are our favourite trees

>>39883694
>Give them the seeds and send them away
>Tell them they do not need to send you offerings, but that you appreciate them

>>39883694
Do they have homos? Forbid homos

>>39883952
You are aware our race is entirely homosexual right? (All female technically)

>>39883694
>>Give them the seeds and send them away

>>39883978
No... we aren't. Are you retarded?

>>39883694
"False faith?"

The one in the middle is quick to answer. "Those who drum words of worship not held in their bags. Gifts given in false pretense. To fake devotion! I have told them, it can be hidden from me, but not from you. The divine wrath from the sky has shown them that!"

Your fake queen mirrors your thoughts and actions as you sit in your throne on Leeland. It clacks its mandibles. "Offerings must be given freely, not taken. It is not required to send the offerings, but they are welcomed." The elders seem shocked. They look to each other before responding.

"Those who give falsely will insight your wrath, of course. Only the offerings of the true faithful are welcome! We understand!"

>Send them away with the seeds
>Speak (write in)
>Other

>>39884030
>>Send them away with the seeds

>>39883978
We seem to reproduce asexually. This may be a surprise to you but that is not what faggotry is.

>>39884030
>Send them away with the seeds

>"Those who give falsely will insight your wrath, of course. Only the offerings of the true faithful are welcome! We understand!"
Ehh, well close enough I guess

>>39884023
Any drone can be made to begin laying eggs for the hive, none of the drones fertilize said eggs, hence they are all female as we have no reason to bother with a male gender.

>>39883978
Asexual you fucking moron.

>>39884030
>>Send them away with the seeds
>Other
implant them with parasites

>>39884030
Yeah, sure. That works.
>Send them away with the seeds

They're religious zealots, you will not be able to talk them down.

>>39884030
No you fucking retards the impacts were not intended to kill any of your kind

>>39884030
>Speak (write in)
If the true faithful provide great tribute, they may earn a great reward.

>>39883952
Eisners pls go

>>39884030
Gifts given in false pretense?
They steal or poison the gifts?

>>39884123
They're from a pre-industrial society, you can't expect them to stop being superstitious within less than a year.

>>39884144
You're slow on the pickup.

People giving without really meaning it or believing. False politeness for appearances.

lel someone count up the total number of give them the seeds and tell them to fuck off votes in the thread.

>>39884030
>Give them the seeds and send them away

>>39884123
Quiet. We're omnipotent and infallible. Give it a few generations to have an enlightenment.

>>39884030
>Heal those with missing limbs, and/or punctured drums.
>Send them away with the seeds.

>>39884030
wait were we supposed to give them basic tech as well?

>>39884259
No.

>>39884259
This is basic.

Moving hunter-gatherers to agriculture is a huge leap, and the one thing that's really useful.

>>39884030
>Send them away with the seeds
Eh, there will probably be all kinds of low-level communal shaming and shit going on, but at least war is probably averted.

>>39884030
>>Send them away with the seeds
>>heal their wounds with medi-gel
>>Speak (write in)
"There is no need to rebuke those who fail to make offerings to me. They will simply be ignored. But to you, my loyal followers, I shall bequeath great gifts."

>>39884030
You pause for a moment, your claw taping the stonework beneath you. That is... not what you meant, but you think you at least prevented any future crusades being done in your name, so close enough.

You bring out your workers, each carrying a bone jar of graystalk seeds. "Take these." You say. "Plant them beneath the sun, and water them. You will be taught how, and you will teach the others in turn." They begin to bow again, accepting the jars with reverence. As they leave, you see a crowd of locals gathered around the hive. The elders hold the jars above them.

"Gifts from the Mother of Builders!" They shout, and the crowd cheers.

As the villages continue to spread the word, your workers show by example and teach the basics of farming. Small sections around the villages are cleared of jungle and tilled into farmland, with your workers quickly clearing a small section to use as an example in only a few short hours, while the larger areas of planned farmland beyond are more slowly cleared by the locals, who stop periodically to admire your workers' efficiency in comparison.

>Explore the depths of Huron
>Continue to speak with the elders (write in)
>Speak with (write in)
>Other

>>39884532
>>Explore the depths of Huron

>>39884532
>Show Elizabeth our progress with these stupid creatures

>>39884532
>Explore the depths of Huron
K focus setting up a foward base then

we going to have lyle and lee lay low here for a bit right?

>>39884532
>Explore the depths of Huron
Time to meet the Wickerfish and the Razor Trout in their native habitat!

>>39884532
>Explore the depths of Huron

>>39884532
>>Explore the depths of Huron

>>39884532
>>Heal the sick and disabled of the tribes.
>Explore the depths of Huron

>>39884532
>Explore the depths of Huron

>>39884532
its so beautiful

>Explore the depths of Huron

File: unnamed--af2f7146f4.jpg (365 KB, 1920x1343)

365 KB JPG

>>39884532
You cannot see it from the top of your plateau, but you know there is an expansive forest of sea life bellow, glowing with bioluminescence. No longer are your drones limited to the cliff face, although you do have them avoid the open waters for safety.

They rocket forth and dive into the depths with unparalleled speed and agility granted by their newly adaptive forms. You note that there is no activity from the scavenging flocks of rays, who have scattered after consuming the last traces of meat from the bones of the leviathan carcass you had studied. Likewise, no other leviathan has been seen. You suspect the marks it has left along the cliff are a form of territory marking, and with it gone, the smaller fish had nothing to steal their meals from, and left to better pastures. The bones have already made the foundations for a quickly growing reef, however, and numerous small animals have laid their eggs in the expansive calcified fortress.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to scout the sea floor around the plateau.

>>39884929
HWG

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>39884929

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>39884929
woosh

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>39884929
Wickerfish!

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>39884929
For mother!

>>39885006
SO CLOSE

As Addendum, we should all whisper or praise for Mother from now on.

>>39885006
if only a little sooner

>>39884929
>the scavenging flocks of rays,
Rays? Or do you mean those skull faced Sea Stalker chuckleheads?

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>>39884929
Your drones quickly make the distance, racing along the rocky surface. It is not long until you find the subtle glow of the ocean floor. It is a dense jungle of strange life, and you detect all manner of odd sonic frequencies.

Large clustered mushrooms hang from the ground, held aloft by pockets of air in their caps as small fish flutter about. You watch with curiosity as hanging strands from the caps ensnare the passing fish as they patrol the waters around them, their movements powered by the current. There are several sharp clicks and scrapes, and you can see a small cluster of trout swim by, their fins slicing through the entangling strands. The school flees faster then the razor trout can follow, but they steal the captured fish and quickly eviscerate them, then move on.

You note that the mushroom shaped ballast stalks do not grow close enough for their tendrils to reach one another, with them separated by nearly a hundred meters. Between them, large shells of porous material are scattered about the sand, their forms hosts to a strange layer of hair-like growths that sway in the water. Large pillars of a stone-like substance stand still in the ground like trees, but within them you can see the pulsing movment of soft flesh. The trees pull themselves into the ground, and drift back up in rhythmic patterns, sending filtered sand and water shooting from vents near the top. At their roots, the sand pours inwards like a drain, shifting down as the shell pillars continue to breath.

cont.

>>39885087
Pretty sure those are what he's referring to.

>>39885576
Creep upgrade time

>>39885576
>Razor trout are on this planet too.

I think we found the dominant form of life in the universe, and it isn't us. We better pray they don't ever become sapient.

>>39885659
Razor trout were always an import to Gemini. They were specifically stated to be an invasive pest species.

>>39885659
That's not new information, are you stupid.

They were always known to be native to this world. They're called Huronese Razor Trout for queen's sake.

Some Geminese moron took some as pets and flushed em.

>>39885659
That's why we study them

>>39885612
aww yiss

as if our creep wasnt deadly enough now maybe itll even grow on sea floors

>>39885612
Not to mention the razor trout are looking pretty appetizing.
>>39885659
First off nigga this is the razor trout's natural habitat. Second we could fuck em up by putting Explosive glands in our drones to melt their blades. And finally we're going to be studying them anyway.

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>>39885576
It is not until the razor trout leave that you see any more animals. Fish-like beasts and other creatures that emerge from the sand or the bodies of stationary shell fish. A large crab-like animal with seven tentacles not unlike a Ceph, mixed with four long, slender armored legs emerges from the sand. You thought it a simple rock at first, but you realize its shell is like a massive conch, with long spear-like spines growing from the sides. It stands on its armored legs, nearly fifteen meters tall, and slowly drapes its tentacles along the ground, plucking up small shellfish and slow prey and sucking them into tiny mouths along the end of them. You follow the bulge of the meal up the trunk of each arm, and in time, an empty shell is expelled from the main body as small water jets stabilize the shell. It slowly strides past one of the ballast stalks, paying no mind to the strands that entangle its legs harmlessly. It rips several out as it continues to move.

After the first few leave, you see the ballast stir with movement, and then a swarm of multi-legged creatures march out of their shelter, zipping along the wire with their hooked legs with great speed. They quickly reach the lumbering, tentacled beast, and race along its shell. One finds an entrance, a small hole where an eye sits, and it squirts a jet of ink into the water like the flair. The rest swarm to it, and they begin eating into the exposed flesh. What's more, you note that the spider-like creatures drag the lines with them, tracing them into the beast's belly, spreading the load among the remaining threads. As its shell falls, the ballast contracts, reeling in the lines and dragging the goliath strider beneath it.

Cont.

>>39885836
>What's more, you note that the spider-like creatures drag the lines with them, tracing them into the beast's belly, spreading the load among the remaining threads.
SILK! WE SPIDERS NOW

>>39885836
THE FUTURE IS WILD! AND ALSO FULL OF SPIDERS!

>>39885836
>and it squirts a jet of ink into the water like the flair. The rest swarm to it,
Like the what?

Oh you mean like a flare. Signal.

>>39885836
Warrior and super heavy unit upgrades

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44 KB JPG

>>39885881
>>39885949
This doesn't sound like any spider lads....

>>39886035
It's future spiders

>spiderdrones
I want to turn entire forests into massive webbed spider traps

>>39885836
You watch the spiders remove the flesh from the carcass, and the entangling threads reel in the meat into the bottom of the ballast. The stalk is slightly translucent, and you can see the chunks fall into the hollow trunk. Even before the shell is cleaned out, you see the sands around you shifting and moving. Another of the striders, slightly smaller, emerges. It discards its own shell, revealing a bulbous body that unravels like a cone shaped tail. It heaves, pulsing as it takes in water and inflates in size, then shrinks again as it exhales. Its tentacles whip out and drag the larger shell away as the spiders return to their shelter, climbing the ballast strands like circus acrobats, and the strider pulls itself inside. It sucks in water and fills in the extra space in its shell, and begins to move away, burying itself back in the sand some distance away where its head becomes one of the many rocks scattered across the ocean floor, which are all of similar design and shape.

Your drones continue on, and you find more pillars of filter feeders, arranged in a forest among more of the ballast stalks. A massive animal, larger then the leviathan even, drifts past you, caring little of your presence. Its mouth is held wide open, and you see layers of straw-like filters lining its jaw. In its shadow is a largely empty area of sand along a lower level then the rest of the area. Few rocks scattered far and wide mark where striders have died or discarded their shells, and the bones of fallen animals from higher depths are mixed among clustered colonies of fungal growths and the animals that feed on them. Your drones pass over the area as they patrol the region, and find a circular shaped patch of emptiness in the sand, where the grain tapers downward like a large cone.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3

>>39886241
HWG

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>39886241

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>39886241
>>39886263

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>39886241
For mother!

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>39886285
Saved

>>39886285
Okay, it's confirmed. Nobody rolls without typing this for the rest of this thread.

>>39886285
When it's done for mother, we always make it.

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>39886241
For mother!

>>39885881
I've been waiting so long for a silk adaptation to exploit.

And hey wait, once researched we might be able to scale it up to ship size to duplicate the Scavengers' grappling hooks weapon, coming at it from an unconventional angle.

>>39886598
Space webs for catching ships.

File: nematocysts-glow-small.jpg (100 KB, 400x372)

100 KB JPG

>>39886598
Omg

NEMATOCYST HARPOONS

Sized for our Warriors or Flies or super sized for ships to grapple others for boarding parties

>>39886671
like the one in Farscape?

>>39886697
I can dig it

File: 999464644.jpg (41 KB, 320x229)

41 KB JPG

>>39886241
There is a disturbance in the sand bellow, and a massive stalk of armored carapace bursts forth. A pedal of mandibles, like a flower of teeth, encloses around your drones. They fire their water jets and dash away as the jaws close around them with a crack of thunder, and the entire worm recedes bellow the sand, kicking up dust and debris into a cloud around it.

It was at least twenty meters long, or at least that was the size of what you was on the surface. As it settles, you take careful note of the edges of its mandibles, each with a small eye stalk on its end. It growls in frustration at its failed catch.

You send your drones back to the base of the plateau for now. Beyond the worm's layer, you can only see barren sand, with the silhouettes of striders far in the distance, and only the bones of gargantuan beasts breaking the foggy horizon.

[New adaptation research available]

>Pillar lung
Very fast
Sending your workers to crack open and dissect one of these massive filter feeders may unlock more efficient ways of extracting food from the local planet's biosphere.

>Ballast Stalk
Very fast
It's hard to tell if it is plant, animal, or both, but this buoyant creature produces threads of hair-like strands that seem to stick to living creatures, although they have no effect on their symbiotic minions. You can have your workers collect sapless of the thread to study it.

>Strider
Very fast
You have seen little of this animal's abilities, so you won't know if it holds anything worth your time until after you have researched it. Traces of fluids from the eaten corpse seem to indicate the presence of a potent neurotoxin, but there is not enough to determine its effects.

>Add Pillar lung
>Add Ballast Stalk
>Add Strider
>Wait for current research to finish
>Other

>>39886850
They're all very fast, so.

>Add Pillar lung
>Add Ballast Stalk
>Add Strider

>>39886850
>>Add Pillar lung
>>Add Ballast Stalk
>>Add Strider
RESEARCH FOR THE RESEARCH GOD

>>39886850
>Add all

>>39886850
>Add Pillar lung
>Add Ballast Stalk
>Add Strider

>>39886850
You know what the answer going to be
You are such a tease
Really must you make us dance like this
Add all

>>39886850
>>Add Pillar lung
>>Add Ballast Stalk
>>Add Strider

VERRAH FAST.

>>39886850
Next we're gathering samples on the Zero One colony right?

>>39886850
>It was at least twenty meters long, or at least that was the size of what you was on the surface.
Oh my.

Guess it's time to lay some Large Hydrodynamic Warriors.

Did the aquatic sniffers sense the creature beneath the sand by its bioelectric field at all? How long of a range does that sense have?