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>>1564246
IT BEGINS

GAS THE SQUIDS
NUKE THE WHALES
STAB THE MONKEYS
TRUST NOTHING
THE VOID IS WATCHING

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>>1564246
First!

Daily reminder

>Raid OQ
>Read the locked memories of that thinker.
>Board a scav vessel for their FTL.
>Send a diplomacy team to earth.
>Build that new FTL prediction building.
>Take Reprive (I think that is the system that our mother made her last stand and it only has mining corvetts, it would be a great test for our raiding fleet.)

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[Happy Chittering Noises]

>>1564246
Huh, forgot about this system

This is where that cool commonwealth general is and we trying out our siege work on scavs while our fleet wipes another scav fleet off the map right?

>>1564246
Wait, from what perspective are we even seeing this low-to-the-ground closeup of these islands?

Also huh, it's been like two days since we sent the fleet onward from Argos to Elvanine. Thread 61.2.

>>1564289
Could just be good old exposition

>>1564289
Our space pods have excellent long distance vision. They can pretty easily pick out individual letters written on something from orbit.

>>1564303
You don't usually see 'the horizon' from space though.

So... I was reading the archives and remembered we told the Valen we are selling reactors to that the design came from natives to the Expanse on a planet called Leeland.

Are we ever going to follow up with him? At this point between the reference to Lee, the strangeness of the design, and the mental signals our hybrid was giving off this Valen has to know (or at least strongly suspect) that he is buying Hive merchandise.

>>1564324
How about we offer him a place in our new space city as the manager of a new trade office in hive space? He can manage trade between the valen clans and us, bringing in a steady stream of credits. It would be a big step up from his current post, that's for sure.

>>1564296
The quest has never, ever shown anything that the Queen can't perceive in some way.

This'd have to be footage from a Commonwealth robot that they showed us for some reason that's relevant to the space battle, or else something hive was down there and probably just went boom.

>>1564342
Well we do have drones on the ground I believe.

Could be a patrolling Wasp or Fly

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>>1564246
Your speaker stands calmly with General Cunningham as you both review the hologram displayed before you. Your drone provides updates on the status of various hive assets and they are quickly updated on the map.

"This is the place here." He says with a jab of his finger. "That anti-orbital battery provides coverage for the majority of the northeastern plateau. It's a major industrial sector with a network of railways leading into the spaceports and the tether anchor." He points again to the equator where a set of red dots highlight enemy activity. "They took out the tether in the attack, which held most of that region's anti-space defence capability, but it's also the planet's capital and still holds a massive population. I'm not sure if they captured it with that in mind, but once they realized we try to avoid civilian casualties, they quickly started rounding up humans and stuffing them with the munitions and under the AA guns. We won't be able to make any air raids without heavy collateral damage, which means we're going to have to take the city the real old fashioned way." Your speaker examines the projection as an orbital view shows a large number of railways leading into the city from the northeast.

"Here." The general says. "Our options would be to either go in by air and have half or more of our forces swatted out of the sky, or charge in through the railyard, likely through mines, artillery, and god knows how many units of heavy armor. Not the best options, but I think we can make it work with some good old fashioned human subterfuge."

"Humans have additional plans?" Your drone asks.

"Humans are good at figuring out the best way to do a stupid thing. Charging into gun filled death traps is no different. I'll send in a squad to locate the civilian population, hopefully find the enemy leadership, and sabotage what military assets they can prior to our main force arriving. Before that, however, we need to take the anti-orbital battery, which is easier said than done. The perimeter defences are still fully functional and under enemy control."

"The hive's forces will help the humans." You say.

"I have no doubt they will be eager to get back into the fight."

Cont.

>>1564342
Well there you go. >>1564348 You're just impatient

>>1564342
Or maybe it's just something the Hive can readily perceive and QD describes the view from the ships' perspective in the name of artistic license. Either way I don't know why you're thinking so hard on this.

>>1564348
So large scale test of our ghost drones then? against a fortified enemy position

>>1564321
>>1564296
You are currently coordinating with the General. You have access to local PDF sensor information for as long as you are helping repel the invaders.

>>1564338
The entire Guild of Transportation would probably want something like that from us. Though you're putting the horse before the carriage. We still need to focus on actually building up our and making sure it's well defended before worrying about trade and tourism.

>>1564338
That could work.
Why don't we have captain "Spreckels" tell him his "supplier" is happy with how the relationship is working out so far, and is interested in expanding into a business partnership. The Valen would have to come aboard the Orphan to travel to meet us, but if he agrees to this once in a lifetime opportunity he could rise to wealth and power hitherto undreamed of.

>>1564358
Those ghost drone are not very effective against scavengers since they can see through our camo and are not very sensitive to psionics.

>>1564360
I'm not sure it's necessarily putting the cart before the horse. We need plans, contracts, and diplomatic outreach before trade and tourism become viable. While we can build our massive trade hub, it will be far more effective if we do it in coordination with other factions. We won't have as much benefit if we have all this infrastructure that everyone is too scared of us to use.

That being said, a deal with a (relatively) poor Valen that elevates him to vast wealth and influence could help us play on the greed of the Transportation Guild. So far the Valen mostly fear us and are trying to avoid catastrophic losses. We need to make them see vast profit in working with us and spark their greed and competition until they're fighting each other for better relations with the Hive.

>>1564365
Well that would allow us to FINALLY examine the valen body structure, so I can get behind it. It doesn't matter if we don't have an office available on the space city just yet either, we can just put him up in a room on Leeland for a few days while we hash out an agreement with him.

>>1564399
Isn't this something our flies would be much better for? They're almost undetectable and could probably locate the hostages and leadership much more discreetly and speedily than a relatively obvious and bulky human infiltrator squad.

>>1564365
>>1564403
I agree this is a good idea. We need to examine a Valen pretty badly and this is a way we can finally get one in a tank.

>>1564399
>Those ghost drone are not very effective against scavengers since they can see through our camo and are not very sensitive to psionics.
The scavs are resistant to psionics?

>>1564430
No, it's that psionic cloaking on nonpsionic races is pretty lackluster.

>>1564435
Where did you get that idea? Psionic interference can impact anything with a nervous system, the cloaking is capable of interfering with the perception of anything sapient. True, it wouldn't render the cloaked subject entirely imperceptible like it would for a hive, but cloaking makes it harder even for humans to track and identify a target.

>>1564447
The fact it's explicitly stated to be best against psionic life and nonpsionic life at the most will only lose track of the individual drone if it's in a swarm of drones. It's nowhere near as good as our ship cloaking tech.

>>1564471
Your that anon whos convinced there "the" expert on what psi is and can do in this setting right?

Werent you wrong about the whales,

And given the scavs are organics with some cyber parts they can be affected by psi

>>1564354
What m8? It doesn't take very hard thought to speculate about whether it's Commonwealth camera footage, which it was.

QD seems to love having a universe with established rules too much for the kind of license you were speculating it was.

>>1564494
The security camera in the base and the radios attached to their soldiers can't be affected and once they figure out the pattern, which would likely take minutes, they will almost instantly come up with countermeasures. You should never underestimate the Scavengers since they are the most dangerous nonpsionic race and must be approached carefully. Though the Valen argument is kind of stupid considering what I argued there is they have no "psionic projects or tech" which was proven right by the translator.

>>1564348
Your shuttles begin to arrive soon after the first wave of flies find the landing zones, and wasps begin to drop from the sky to further secure the area. The distant rumble of artillery cannons is a constant drumbeat in the distance as the skyline ripples with the light of explosions across the landscape in the early evening of the local region. You quickly spot the human forces. A number of dugouts and rapidly built trenches crisscross out in the dirt from the cliffside of a large mountain range jutting up from the ground almost vertically. The mountains are not all natural rock, but the hull of some ancient looking starship sits where a valley once would have been, ground into the landscape and half buried in rubble and soil. The skidmark it has created has filled in to become a lush lake, stopped up where the hull blocked the flow of what was once a small river. The water flows out from the hull in various areas. Rusted out gunports, missile tubes, and airlocks as well as various tears in the hull where vegetation sprouts and a layer of thick moss has covered the topside of the hull in hardy plant life fit for the frigid conditions.

The corpses of scavenger troops are piled near the trenches, and the heads of several have been mounted on wooden spikes crudely plunged into the ground. You can spot several of the body piles burning with a simmering smolder as their armor melts from within charred flesh.

A wasp lands with a thud on the ground, hunched over the trench like a gargoyle as it peers into the labyrinth. The walls are some kind of cheaply constructed polymer that runs into the floor with no detectable seam, the entire construct dug with pre-programmed nano constructors of a rather rudimentary design, creating a hardened structure using the dirt itself as construction material. You suspect, judging by the standard of human nanotechnology, that this structure would require maybe three or four days to build. A human looks up with grave concern at your drone, his hands fumbling with a long particle beam weapon affixed with a long blade as the battery pack that powers it sends him off balance. Your drone takes flight again before he can right himself, but the sudden yelp of surprise makes a number of other humans to peek their heads up like meerkats emerging from their shelters.

"Incoming!" Someone shouts, and your sensors detect several fast moving airborne craft moving in on your shuttles. A formation of your flying drones moves in to intercept as the humans dive back into their holes as a loud, thumping rumble echoes over the mountains, and an ugly, oblong object pierces the clouds above as its body ejects rapid pulses of flame with a thunderous roar and it begins lancing out with blaster weapons at several of your drones. Three of your wasps are incinerated by the heavy fire as it abruptly halts in the air and then pivots, its hull supported by an undulating mechanical armature of pulsing flame.
cont.

Fuck I love this quest.

>>1564541
Huh, friendly fire eh, it happens

>>1564540
No, the translator admitted they been working on it but they haven't yet achieved there goals of being able to use psi tech to a full degree

So you were wrong

Oh this may be the perfect opportunity to test the Titan, bunker busting and anti infantry baby

>>1564548
shh, don't spoil the surprise anon

Though honestly we've been waiting for this for months since we ordered them here like two days ago in game

>>1564547
>the translator admitted they been working on it but they haven't yet achieved there goals of being able to use psi tech to a full degree

You mean. Any degree whatsoever?

> If we knew how reading worked, they would have incorporated it into their fleet comms by now, not make a whole new language just for radio."

>>1564548
> "What's that? Little baby Titan is trying to say his first words! Come on little guy, you can do it."

> "KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL FOR MOTHER."

> "Daaaaaw."

>>1564554
The probably know the basic psi techs but haven't achieved what we can do yet

The humies cheated using skyl tech to jump-start their psi program but the whales have been able to develop there with some natural understanding

And really do the whales seem stupid enough to tell the hired help the full extent of their psi programs?

>>1564541
>Your shuttles begin to arrive soon after the first wave of flies find the landing zones,

Wait.

Do the humans notice we have tiny drones, or are they too small for them to have noticed them as anything but natural insects.

We haven't really used them openly so far.

>>1564571
So when you said 'you were wrong' the "I'm speculating not based on anything the translator actually said" was silent.

>>1564551
I've been waiting for long, loooong time. Ever since we got those leg designs, I even revamped the OG design on the wiki

>>1564547
He pretty much said they don't even know how their psionics work. They might be trying to figure it out how to turn it into tech but they're unlikely to figure it out in a timely manner more or less while trying skip to the vital tachyon discovery. So no they don't have Psionic tech (yet) and they are still at the baby first steps tier regarding psionics so they don't really have psionic projects.

>>1564586
Baby step tier in the psi tree is still a psi project anon, they know about it and are researching it add understand some of the implications

And given the whales are more advanced then the humies and also have access to the ceph and also have natural psi abilities they are on better footing than the humies

>>1564571
>Whales
This insult is retarded on all levels. Their behavior and appearance is closer to a croc's. Crocs can even grow big enough to sink boats.
Also if they had psionic tech they would be using it right now which means they aren't even close to down.

>>1564613
Holy shit the concept of colloquialisms really is lost on you huh?

You do not dictate what the nick-name we use for the whales. The general concensus does, and everyone has for the better part of like 50 threads been saying whale.

As for the other bit I dont have a horse in this race. Just the whale bit triggered me.

>>1564613
Too bad the valen shall forever be known as whales in this quest. No other insult does them or their massive fat asses justice.

>>1564606
I consider a psionic project in the same way you'd consider a baby's babbling talking.

>>1564613
Look and laugh at this whale apologist

>>1564613
No it means it isnt close to full scale use yet, much like how tech gets tested and tested and refined before being used by the rest of society

The whales are able to use psi, they know of the psi tech tree and are actively researching it like other factions

>>1564626
So gentle giants beloved all?
You'd might run a PR campiagn for them since that clearly makes them look better.

>>1564628
Keep making them look good bro. They'd probably wear the insult proud and laugh in your face afterwords.

>>1564631
you are the one making it a positive. we call them whales because they are fat and they float in water. its pretty strait forward.

calling them crocks now wouldnt make sense untill we see them in combat. If a combat event occurs and they are surprisingly competent then we maybe consider a change to crocks but currently they are dumb floaty fat fats.

>>1564624
>>1564626
Calling them whales instead of the in-universe established insult of 'gator' only started in thread 53. It's not that old compared to everything else.

>>1564658
Wait actually?

>>1564658
They still look like whales to me.

>>1564658
I seem to recall it being bandied about long before that. Lyle was getting a kick out of rustling their jimmies calling them fatasses as early as thread 14.

Face it anon, they will always be whales.

>>1564658
thats nearly 2 years of usage dude and before that space jew was the predominant term not gator since we weren't doing our broader politics stuff yet and that and they were big and aquatic we didn't even see one until we freed Lee they were just refereed to as large water-dwellers that used robots to talk with most races.

>>1564650
>we call them whales because they are fat and they float in water.
And we have drones like that too. Are you calling them ugly? Do you hate our dear children so?
>If a combat event occurs and they are surprisingly competent
Wow you never actually paid to the Valen's action on Aral. Not to mention economic skill more or less translate to military prowess.

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>>1564686
No he didn't. Lyle barely says shit about the Valen. He called his mysterious, species-unknown employer who he just shitposts at over the internet a fat fuck.

His boss could be a Taidaren matriarch for all we know, and he just insulted thousands of people's mother at once.

Is anyone else interested in trying to talk to the Scavs right now? we have them on the ropes, they have no reinforcements coming, also we control space and the land around the city.

>>1564698
>thats nearly 2 years of usage
The vast majority of that time was hiatus if you add all the hiatuses together.

>>1564716
I am now imagining Lyle wrangling a Valen like he's the Crocodile hunter. I pity you fools who never able to enjoy this image.

>>1564725
The only thing the scav deserve is death. We tried to talk they tried to blow us up. There ain't no talking with this fucking Huns.

>>1564725
It's fucking pointless unless they have one of their commander caste there. It would be better to capture them and parasite them.

>>1564716
>>1564729
You nerds know his colony was South African descended and not Australian right?

We have yet to discover the Space-Australians. Just watch, they're on a world of megafauna or whatever world that Carnosaur beast we got the large biped adaptation from

>>1564725
Sure, i want to know what drove them off there homeworld to begin with after-all and made them into nomads

And i want to know if it is following them

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>>1564541
The oblong craft rises up in the air as several portable particle beam blasts flash against its hull, and a number of rapid fire projectiles erupt from its nose where a small set of rotary cannons are held, tearing into the dirt of the trenches as it begins to float forward. Its many engines ripple with pulsing bursts of fire in a constant low rumble as ports open on either side and scavengers begin dropping to the ground. The humans open up with their weapons as the scavengers drop into the trenches and the aircraft rips into the ground with its guns as you see two blaster turrets, one on either side, shift from side to side scanning the landscape.

A wailing scream emanates from the sky that sends the turrets shifting high in search of the source, and a wing of your airborne drones dive towards it through a hail of blaster bolts. The gunship's engines ignite with a sudden vibrant pulse of fire and it lunges into the air. Your drones follow, banking hard as the scavenger craft hurls itself through the air at odd angles like a stone bouncing off unseen walls with no regard for aerodynamics. They both vanish into the clouds as weapon flashes cast their silhouettes in the sky.

Your shuttle is quick to arrive behind the fleeing craft, and it begins dropping warriors on the trenches as it flies overhead, the drones landing like bombs atop the scavenger forces. A speaker hops the short distance to the surface as the shuttle grazes the surface and lifts off again, its body landing on the ground as if falling through thick oil. The drone stands upright as it calmly walks through the rapidly escalating combat, as a scavenger lunges in its direction only for its head to be snagged by the tail of a heavy warrior and it is torn back into the maze of dugouts. Projectiles rip into nearby walls and blaster bolts hurl into the air with sizzling pops as they dissipate at range, and you approach the human your information indicates is in charge of this group.

He glances to your drone for a moment with startled surprise at its nonchalant saunter in the middle of battle, then turns back to face the large scavenger pack alpha set before him. He wears a black suit of move assist armor. Not quite a drop suit, but a far cry from the meager plates of polymer most PDFs are equipped with. His shoulder holds a mark of some likely powerful military or political faction within the Commonwealth that means little to you, while a dark cloak made of some insulative material is tied to his shoulders bearing a similar symbol of some kind of minor nobility. A shimmering thermal loop extends from his wrist and quickly glows red hot as it sinks through the Scavenger's natural claws, and he strikes out at the creater with several quick jabs to the chest. It lunges at him, going for the throat, and he palms the scavenger's blade away before swinging his arm over the creature's weapon surgically embedded in its arm, ripping through it with a shower of sparking plasma.
cont.

>>1564746
99.9998% chance it was the end war moms ancestors faught.

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>>1564741
He's a bit of both honestly. He's used Aussie exclusive slang before so I figure his world was settled by refugees from both nations.

>>1564739
Well they have someone who is keeping things together and planning things. Furthermore they have rounded up civilians and are using them as human shields, that's pretty smart. We don't have to negotiate for their surrender, I'm just curious what they will say.

>>1564746
If the scav soldiers knew what their origins in the Before-Time were the guy you've already captured and read the minds would have revealed it already.

>>1564704
HAHAHAHAHAHA. Careful you are getting your nose in your soup there buddy.

Money can equate to mass of military assets and campaign endurance but it in no ways translates to military prowess. shown by the Aral event where one lyle fucked their shit up.

There has yet to be an event where the whales are tested ship to ship with any force and I dont expect there to ever be one barring overwhelming negative odds on the valen side. They would most likely retreat and burn any unrecoverable assets in their wake rather then risk life and shekel defending expendable assets. At which point we will probably see something epic as they drug themselves up to the gills blasting ancient whalesong war-chants and we will get a fairly spectacular light show.

The insult is the same as all of the hive jokes, its less driven by a desire to insult and more an effort to attain maximum cheek. Cheekvana is the goal of all Hive jokes.

>>1564729
>Not lyle as captain ahab
"To the last, i barter with thee; from hell's angel, i orbit drop at thee; for money's sake, i spit my last offer at thee."

>>1564757
More or less. I'm just bad at writing a south african accent so people read it as australian and I just rolled with it, so it's sorta just a mix of both at this point.

>>1564751
I love our children.

>>1564751
Speakers dont give no fuck

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>>1564767

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>>1564764
Are you implying Lyle is incapable of fucking up people who have military prowess?

Lyle fucks up the shit of all peoples with no discrimination.

>>1564775
I'd love to see our speaker just casually lift and throw the Scav Alpha out of the way with telekinesis.

>>1564767
Moby Dick was so painfully dry and very lack in terms of entertainment value. Also Croc hunter Lyle has more meme value and if he were Ahab he's be hunting for a great white worm.

>>1564746
>>1564761
Even if they don't know, they might know of someone who does, they might have a separate educated class which we could contact for a prisoner exchange or something. There are lots of possibilities for profit here other than just getting to test out some combat tactics in "whateverthehellthisplanetisgrad"

>>1564782
Im implying that in the dictionary next to military prowess is a picture of Lyle... His picture is also next to the entry for cunt. I think Lyle just defaced this copy of the dictionary, or maybe Theseus was having a giggle, but those two instances seem accurate enough.

>>1564787
Our speakers have medium relays right? And we can use nausea field +implant thought with medium relays right?
"FEAR ME!"

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>>1564751
Is this dude a knight of some sort? Cause I love me some space age chivalry.

>>1564764
Actually the principles for economic conflict and military conflict are pretty much the same. Though the guy in charge of economic operations is more likely to get killed than the military commander is.

>>1564797
Sounds about right. As an added benefit (sort of), the humans will (probably) be less effected by a psychic field than the Scavs are due to genetically enforced human psionic blindness.

>>1564797
Making them cower in fear from the speaker might heavily imply a psionic trick in public though, which would be a shame to give that away so soon.

At 10 meters or less we can make him flinch with a killer headache when Darth Vader here needs a weakness to exploit though.

>>1564812
It's not an indiscriminate area of effect, you can target it.

>>1564818
We know their language, we could just yell fear me at them in their language.

Can medium drones use psionic abilities if they're in a large drone's honey pot?

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>>1564787
>>1564797
No, those are our ambassador drones you're thinking of, they're a little too valuable to deploy onto a battlefield for strategic coordination with human forces like this. The common speaker is simply a worker with a specialized set of mandibles for vocal speech.

You know what we should think about deploying for situations like these? A small, fluffy speaker, designed to appear unintimidating as possible to local forces to avoid friendly fire accidents and improve communication. According to the pastebin small drones can be as large as 1 meter tall, which is just about the right size for a fluffy midget drone. It would even be big enough to wield a photon blade with both it's arms in fight!

>>1564797
>>1564812
>>1564818
If we do this it has to reference couches in some form. Seriously, they haven't even apologized once for that shit yet.

>>1564823
>yell
Their 'language' is a series of smells. We don't even have a pheromone-emitting adaptation yet.

Gods dammit Commonwealth why are you guys so fucking cool? Are all the badasses humans un the Commonwealth?

>>1564823
Who needs language? We can broadcast an overwhelming fear response directly into their minds when our speaker/relays are close enough. Fear doesn't need to be in words in order to be a concept.

>>1564823
The scavs speak through pheromones.
>>1564828
Actually i specifically remember our speakers have been upgraded with medium relays, someone once linked me the thread where that was voted.

>>1564828
No, all speakers seem to have moderate relays now. Speakers just fulfill the role of ambassador to the humans.

The speaker design was modified long ago. And you forgot it's had color changing skin for even longer.

>>1564844
>Actually i specifically remember our speakers have been upgraded with medium relays, someone once linked me the thread where that was voted.

Sounds accurate to me too. We are rich enough now we aren't even keeping track of individual drones costs and speakers are relatively rare.

>>1564835
they have radio communication of some sort, They would have to in order to be doing what they are currently doing.

Also we only tried to talk to them once, we fudged the roll really bad and they shot at us, we can probably do better right now since we have them surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned, and we have cut off all means of escape or reinforcement.

>>1564828
Are you saying that we can create yoda sized jedi moths? Why haven't we done so yet?

>>1564844
Think you could do the same for me? Cause that's a pretty big deal, that would massively raise the risk of one of our medium relays falling into the wrong hands and getting reverse engineered/dissected. This would mean we'd need every single speaker under top security every time we dispatched one to interact with other species or risk having our psionics stolen from us.

>>1564831
We never even asked for couches before they started stealing our stuff. Also why would they apologize? I don't think they have a word for that.

>>1564867
Speakers are rare, guarded, and can self-destruct at literally any time anon, jesus.

And reverse engineering a moderate relay is about as likely as a caveman reverse engineering an iPhone.

>>1564860
Because it's stupid. Really really stupid.

>>1564851
There's a difference between creating a new design like we did with the ambassador, and modifying every single drone with an established template. Which thread was this? I can't recall ever seeing something like this.

>>1564860
Yoda is overrated, colorful hippie siths are where the fun is at.
And their voice doesn't match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7l7joQhmYE
>>1564867
Nope, the thread completely slipped my mind and now i can't remember, i'll try to look for it.

>>1564873
Well said.

>>1564838
I think it's because we mainly interact with union politicians, giving us a poor impression of them, while the commonwealth people we deal with tend to be people on the front lines, who tend to be much more capable professionals.

>>1564867
Moderate is the absolute minimum they need to be able to reverse engineer.

>>1564873
I don't remember including self destruct organs in their design either!

>>1564880
Thanks dude. And we could include chem producing organs into our little hippy sith drones so they can make everyone around them trip balls. I still want to live test that compound on humans at some point too, should be worth a good laugh.

>>1564891
>I don't remember including self destruct organs in their design

Have you read this quest at all?

The speaker was only the first application of acid glands, ever, and the entire impetus for inventing it.

>>1564886
Yeah, and the medium relay is what's required to do all the fun things like read minds and set things on fire with our thoughts. If every speaker in the hive has one that's not only a game changer but poses a huge risk for us every time we need to deploy one outside of the hive.

>>1564897
I think all our speakers variants have acid glands or some form of self-destruct. I know a lot of different speaker designs have been proposed over the course of the quest so my guess is the other Anon's confusion is stemming from his thinking we are using one speaker design as our "main" design when really we are using another or a conglomeration of a number of other designs.

>>1564897
I remember fitting one that was sent to Seiners labratory funhouse, not making them an integral part of the design. If that decision effected every drone we voted on then every worker drone is now carrying highly volatile and easily ruptured acid glands.

>>1564751
>1564541
>The corpses of scavenger troops are piled near the trenches, and the heads of several have been mounted on wooden spikes crudely plunged into the ground. You can spot several of the body piles burning with a simmering smolder as their armor melts from within charred flesh.

Wait, Human Thinker, your humans have left perfectly good nutrients lying around to rot! Don't worry we'll correct this oversight and take all this away to be recycled.

Let's drag all Scav corpses onto our shuttles, and see if we can stick any mostly intact brain-heart-organs or wherever they store their memories into some bio-tanks.

And, it goes without saying, recycle the rest.

>>1564899
What is the Risk? Moderate relays are not the ones that can be jammed or have their signals be sent throughout the Hive (those are advanced relays). Speakers are heavily guarded and equipped with self-destructs. The odds of a relay being collected by an enemy are astronomical.

None of the human factions will risk our wrath by trying to reverse engineer a relay. The only risks on that front are the Scavs (who are locked down and can't get off planet since we're destroying them whenever possible), and possibly the Valen. While the Valen might be able to actually learn something from a recovered intact moderate relay (after a very, very long research period), they have no way to collect one at present and it would require them to back an extremely risky attack on a major hive force to even have a chance of recovering a moderate relay at all.

>>1564927
>Scavs (who are locked down and can't get off planet since we're destroying them whenever possible),
Pretty sure their Flotilla is still out there and this is only an invasion fleet, a portion of it

>>1564904
Yeah just checked the pastebin and you're right about the self destruct organs. In my defense, that was over three years ago now. I still don't remember adding medium relays to all the speakers and according the page I'm looking at they still don't have them.

Speaker
Olfactory: Basic 0
Acoustic: Basic 0
Psionic: Basic 0
Mandibles: Vocalizer 2
Blade: Combat 1
Arms: Dex 1
Legs: Endurance 1
Utility: Acid Glands 1
Carapace: Mimetic skin 2

For all the many, many speaker varients that have been proposed, the only variation from this design that I'm aware of ever being made official was the ambassador drone, which included a relay, bipedal legs and a quantum brain. I've been assuming that any speaker in the quest was either one of those two drone types, and I've yet to notice anything to the contrary.

>>1564927
>None of the human factions will risk our wrath by trying to reverse engineer a relay.
I laugh at your ignorance. The Union was, not one day ago, trying to dissect what they thought was one of our drones. You had better believe that they will happily do the same to the recovered body of any of our children. Their scientists would bust a nut at the mere chance to examine an intact relay.

>>1564943
QD hasn't touched the pastebin in ages, anon. It's only good for checking if you want to know what hive tech was like two or three hiatuses ago.

>>1564955
>The Union was, not one day ago, trying to dissect what they thought was one of our drones.

And look what happened because of that.
The point I was making is that in order to seize a moderate relay the humans would have to sponsor an attack on the hive or at a bare minimum deliberately obstruct our drones recovery operations from an existing battle. That's something they have absolutely no political will to do because they know that kind of thing could lead to a war they would lose

Well i give up on finding the vote.

>>1564751
The human quickly pulls out a sidearm and places several rounds into the scavenger's armored hide as it hurls its arm out in pain, thrashing the destroyed husk of the blaster on its wrist about its side. It turns and lashes out with its blades as the human side steps one, then blocks the second strike with the thermal loop at his wrist. Your drone twitches its mandibles, chittering softly as the scavenger's footing slips and it falls to the ground. The human quickly moves in for a brief moment and slices into the scavenger's neck as its featureless beak-like head flops down, hanging from a bleeding strip of flesh as its body lashes out blindly in rage, and the human ducks back out of its range.

The pack alpha swings its claws through the air as it gets up, whirling its claws in wide arcs to either side as your speaker ducks below the passing blade, then leaps back onto its hind legs as it pulls itself closer, gripping the creature's arms as your drone's legs unfold, the forelegs gripping the scavenger's wrists as the drone digs into its shoulders with its clawed graspers, and pulls with arms and forelegs at once. Both arms come loose with a spray of vibrantly colored blood and the speaker's large and elaborate beak comes down into the scavenger's shoulder and digs into the relatively unarmored patch of flesh, digging deep into its neck as it searches for the main artery of its liquid nervous system, and then tears it out like a bird plucking a small weed by the roots. The scavenger collapses as your drone folds its legs back into a bipedal stance, standing tall over the armed human as its bright coat of fur glisten with scavenger blood.

"The human general has informed the hive of humans in need of assistance." Your speaker says. The human looks to your drone as his thermal loop retracts and the small cooling vents begin to simmer along his wrist, and he quickly grabs a long rifle from the ground, then hoists it towards the trench entrance nearby, placing two quick ferrous slugs into the chest of another scavenger as it charges, before being quickly torn into by the claws of your warriors as they plunge their mandibles into the body.

"Humans are wasteful with nutrients." Your speaker says as several wasps land around the alpha's corpse, quickly picking it apart, devouring whatever can be consumed, augments and all.

cont.

>>1564982
I think this is the one.
http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/41641753/#41644365

>>1565007
No fucks be given
Fear the Speaker

>>1565007
A reminder that even the friendly speaker is only a moment away from turning into a monstrous killing machine.
Nice
>>1565013
Thanks QD!

>>1565013
Yeah I thought this was what he may have been talking about. The ambassador was a distinct design from the speaker drone, not an upgrade right? That's how I wrote it in at the time anyway.

>>1565013
I don't think it was this one, it was a vote to add medium relays to the speaker.

>>1565038
I think the ambassador has been used as our standard base speaker design for some time. Even if not it's original intention, it is now effectively a universally applied upgrade.

Is there any real reason to not spam the Scavs communications channels? Even if we don't negotiate it would definitely disrupt things if we spam their comms.

>>1565054
If we jam the Scav's communications we won't be able to listen to them?

>>1565059
Spam, not jam. I suggest tactical shitposting. Maybe give false orders and relay incorrect information.

>>1565053
With all due respect anon, that's kind of retarded and not at all what we voted for. They're a specialized unit for a specific role, speakers are more of a general purpose unit that can assist worker drones with tasks other than speaking when there is nobody to speak to.

>>1565038
My understanding while writing for it is that the basic speakers are used for unimportant tasks, usually hanging out with allies and agents inside the hive, while Ambassadors are deployed outside the hive where you need to dress to impress.

Essentially, the normal speaker is like laying around in undies and a tshirt, while the ambassador is sunday best. Your embassy may have a normal speaker just permanently stationed at the front desk once visitors start arriving, for example, just to be the answering machine, and a normal speaker follows Elizabeth arround in the hive, while the ambassador follows non-hive individuals you are speaking with, like Yogesh, Cunningham, or the ambassador drones in the embassy that walk around looking intimidating and fancy.

You can change that policy at any time if you wish, it's just been my interpretation of what the general player opinion was for using them.

>>1565068
Sounds like a good policy!

Thanks for jumping in and ending this (relatively silly and unimportant) debate. Anons love to argue about just about anything.

>>1565007
>>1565007
>>1565007
"We were told to expect friendly xeno forces." The human says simply. "The general canceled the retreat, and there has been no shuttle traffic since we first lost orbital dominance in the initial invasion, so any help is welcome." His helmet slides open to reveal his face, a middle aged looking human with bronzed skin and bright blond hair cut short and neat, despite the ever present grit and droplets of blood distributed across his face. His eyes are both artificial, with one a high quality featureless pear in its socket with an iris that shimmers like gold, while the other is a cheap looking field repair sunk in a still bleeding socket that is missing most of the surrounding skin, the bone held still with a bolted-on patchwork of metallic augments.

"My name is Sir William Hughes." The human says. "It's nice to know there's a species out here not looking to kill us. I've received the general briefing over encoded radio, but we were told you would inform us of the details. What I can tell you without any briefing, however, is that if we don't take that AO, we won't have much of a chance securing the local cities."

>Speak with Hughes (write in)
>Ask him a question
>Provide communication with your drones between Hughes and Cunningham
>Other

>>1565091
Offer him new eyes.

>>1565091
>>Speak with Hughes (write in)
Then we will take the battery now. Simple.

>>1565091
offer new eyes and provide communication between him and Cunningham. We will drive these scoundrels from your world!

>>1565021
>Kent Sprockley here with Quantum Entertainment Radio playing the latest top hit, ''Scavs Fear the Speaker'' by the new group from the Expanse, Cerulean Bivalve Sect. I don't know know about you, folks, but I don't think I could play guitar like that without at least four hands...''

>>1565091
Actually make that new eyes, more eyes, and more hearts, also offer to do it on the spot if we can.

>>1565104
>>1565120
Admirable, but as a strictly fast field-repair all we can do is probably shove medical paste on his wound.

>>1565127
well we could always mutate a drone into a med pod right?

>>1565091
>Ask him a question
What is the situation with the humans here?

Followed by:
>>1565113
>Then we will take the battery now. Simple.

>>1565091
>>Ask him a question
Are you aware that you are leaking blood?

>>1565091
>>1565113


P much.

>>1565091
>a high quality featureless pear

So, wait, is the iris shaped like the fruit, or...

I guess we can ask him what a S-er is. And what the point of the symbols on him are.

Write in
Offer medical services for the wounded.

>>1565132
The cocooning that takes 24 hours?

>>1565091
also if capturing the battery is time intensive we could just demand they surrender, same result in the end.

>>1565144
Scavengers have obviously long ago reverse engineered the alien technology called 'lying'.

They will not believe any offers for them to live, any more than if we claim to have couch coupons.

>>1565091
>Provide communication with your drones between Hughes and Cunningham
Lets ask about what sort of defenses the building has and the general layout of the building including vents, point of entry, security and electrical systems, and also see if digging our in is a possibility.

>>1565150
they are surrounded, outgunned, and have no chance of coming out of this alive, as far as they know there is no option to surrender and escape is obviously not an option. It's possible that they might be willing to surrender given that the alternative is certain death.

>>1565150
it's a little silly to not even try.

I'm not into asking to surrender. Just waste 'em.

>>1565158
Let me put it to you this way. Would a drone surrender? Because that what a rank and file Scavenger is.

>>1565162
>>1565158
NO!!! The Scavs shall suffer the Hives wrath! But if the humans want to negotiate then i guess we don't have a choise...after all it's their compatriots that are being used has hostages.

>>1565168
If i remember the tougher ones are sapient, and either way it wouldn't hurt anything to at least try and give a quick call and ask how they feel about it.

>>1565176
I don't think the humans know we are capable of communicating with them.

>>1565113
backing

>>1565181
We're capable, they're just not very interested in having a conversation beyond "Gimme your lunch money, nerd."
That's most of the reason we're pitching in on this war in the first place.

>>1565246
Well as we are the bigger stronger bully, maybe we should demand theirs?

File: A speedwagon going at hig(...).jpg (175 KB, 1280x1264)

175 KB JPG

>HQQ THREAD

>>1565249
>buly
>responding in the same treatment they gave us.

fuck that we have blades in our dr9nes for a reason. They are both tools and weapons. Responding toward someones agression isn't bulying. It's called defend yourself.

>>1565303
Well maybe since we've made our point about defending ourselves, and are now pursuing them onto a planet we have no stake in simply to murder them for giggles and to test a new kind of drone, we should try getting them to back down and stop fighting rather than back them into a corner?

>>1565249
We're not really bullies. We're at best cheeky. If anything we've protected more species than harmed.

>>1565310
We have a stake in this planet. The Commonwealth is the human faction were friend courting, and the scans have assaulted us everyone we've found one.

>>1565317
Wars typically end in a negotiated peace, not genocide. We have not even made them aware that surrender is an option, this isn't a video game, negotiating a surrender with the enemy is fine when role playing. Also I never meant we were bullies as much as we were bigger and stronger and the post I was replying to compared them to a schoolyard bully.

>>1565310
Last time we tried to talk they tricked us and tried to steal our ship. I'm sorry if i'm not willing to seat at a same table then this fuckers. Besides we are here so the scavs can't get human tech and reverse engennier it and at the same time keep scav tech as faraway as we can from auntie.

>>1565310
As the true socialist solution, we have an obligation to righteousness everywhere to pursue the upholstery deceivers.

>>1565328
When they send a message to us whishing to stop agressions we will respond then. Until then it's war!!!

File: carlos.jpg (6 KB, 225x225)

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>>1565329
What about sitting at the same couch?

If we end up doing sneaky things, I don't think we should openly reveal the use of adaptive camouflage drones.

It'd too easy to make the humans paranoid about things that are actually true.

>>1565310
>Defending scav scum
M8, they're barely even sentient. As a matter of fact, most of them aren't sapient at all. Considering they're also the most persistently agressive and uninterested in peaceful contact in the quest, I'd say the only way of dealing with them is to kill them all.

>>1565329
If we try and talk to them and it doesn't go well we can always exterminate them, but we have solved most of our problems so far with diplomacy, This one could work out too. Hell we even managed to negotiate with the horror movie monster from a million years ago. I'm not arguing for total peace between us and them, you can take prisoners even when you're still at war with them, and obviously we would take precautions this time.

>>1565352
Or thin their numbers until they decide to leave this space.

>>1565352
I am pretty sure QD added the Obsidian Bitch and the scavs so that he could sate the bloodlust of anons who wanted to kill all of humanity

>>1565328
This
>>1565329
The scans have fucked us over before. We're not a video game but this isn't like we pushed into a scam planet and are trying to capture their territory. They're actively invading this and other worlds in the system because they're loot-and-kill jerkoffs. It's like asking Vikings to surrender while they're busy raiding your neighbors house

>>1565352
#notallscavengers

You bigot, why don't you just let them have what they want because it's their culture?

>>1565364
The scavs have already shpwed they want to take everything and not negotiation. The only way this will work is if we thin their numbers or give then a good bite and show we also have fangs to defend ourselfs.

So when the scav call us to talk about diplomacy THEN and only then i will listen to then.

>>1565352
There aren't many more nonsapient Scavs than there are nonsapient humans or Valen.

>>1565364
Extermination would be a waste of resources. If they wont accept terms at any points during the war then we just have to keep beating them until they leave. Afterall,they are nomads.

>>1565377
I'm just arguing that we can take this position with less fighting by getting at least some to surrender. Also Scavs that are surrounded or unable to continue fighting might not fight to the bitter end but instead surrender, which could be better in the long term.

>>1565352
So basically they're space Caucasians lol

>>1565385
They're not surrounded or overpowered though. They're mid invasion lol.

>>1565384
I'm not arguing for the total strategic change you are, I don't think the Scavs at the battery surrendering means their whole species becomes non hostile. We just point out to the ones here that they are in an untenable position and could be allowed to surrender and be imprisoned.

>>1565391
Fuck off racist

>>1565385
Oh you mean accept surrender and take prisoners of war? Of course i'm okay with that. We aren't savages, but till now they have show they aren't the surrender type.

>>1565399
They are surrounded on a planetary scale. We took out their fleet in orbit and they can probably tell that because the orbital bombardment stopped being from their ships and started being from ours.

>>1565380
Wrong.

>>1565400
I didnt say that. I was referring to the race as a whole

>>1565404
well we haven't exactly made any overtones about being anything but a mindless swarm of bugs to this group, i doubt they think it's an option.

>>1565400
The scavs at our ship showed the same behavior if the scavs can't take something they will blow up everything. if anything telling then this will make then try to sabotage and destroy the human defenses. And we promised the general to get the batteries intact and mother always keep her word. So between accepting scavs surrender and risk then rig the place we need to take to our allies i would rather help our allies sorry.

>>1565385
I don't see why we would want less fighting. These bastards have shown themselves to be absolute savages of the highest order. They're forcefully invading a world, destroying everything they can't steal and are using civvies as human shields. Even if they do surrender they deserve to be wiped out. What use are they to us alive anyway?

>>1565421
Well they know the humans aren't so they can try talk to the humans oh wait... well guess that ain't happening face it anon. This is a situation that only being messy works we can't risk they trying to blow up our allies planetary defenses.

>>1565091
"This speaker can relay information securely with human leaders." Your drone chirps. "We will provide assistance to capture the human weapons back from enemy occupation."

"That's good to hear, but we should probably continue the discussion inside." Hughes says. Your drone examines the area as the human gestures to the nearby starship wreck. An opening along the hull forms a kind of cave entrance where sandbags have been stacked up high, and your drone follows him as he enters.

"We had to fall back here after they overwhelmed our position. It's concealed, for the most part, and made for a good enough bomb shelter at the time to hold out for reinforcements or evac." He says. "Though it's not like we could hold out after they were able to take the fort at the AO battery." You follow Hughes into the hulk. The interior is dimly lit with a mixture of patches of light shining through hull punctures in the empty shield cap above, and flood lights set up along the walls that hum softly with their generators. Crates of various supplies are stacked throughout the chamber, most serving double duty as tables or beds, while humans take naps in their armor against the far wall or maintain their equipment in small makeshift workshops built from portable machining devices unfolded from several crates. They all pause in their work as your drone walks past, with several snoring humans being jostled awake by their compatriots.

"Where's the lieutenant?" Hughes asks the room at large. A young looking man with a plate of false skin plastered over his shaved head waves his hand as he cleans his weapon.

"He's in the mess, sir." He says simply. You look in the direction he pointed to, where a bulkhead has been torn open by some long ago battle damage, where now a simple fabric curtain hangs in its place. Several humans sit around a small barrel holding a fire with a set of welded metal bars set overtop it, where some kind of animal meat is being roasted. One of the humans holds a moderately sized object made of wood with some strings stretched over a empty chamber with a hole in it. You reach for its name in the minds of your allies and find it is called a guitar, possibly one of the oldest human musical instrument still in common use. It seems worn and damaged, but still functional as the human strums it while singing. The humans around him sing with him as they pass around slices of meat and a small whisky canteen between each other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNdMC6_eUGk

Hughes parts the fabric for a moment and looks through, and a human standing behind the others, eating from a small metal box of processed food quickly moves over to the main chamber. The human quickly looks over your drone as you hear whispers growing from the others.

cont.

>>1565426
That anon is just trying to be everyones friend. He doesn't get the idea of defend himself or his ego is so inflated that he thinks since we are so technological superior we can stop all this fight and inflate it.

>>1565440
We should play this on that guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t87hLjIg44w

>>1565447
i just figured it would be faster.

>>1565139
No we would just call him Sir since its his first name silly speaker all humans have wierd names

File: 1352869316934.jpg (45 KB, 555x740)

45 KB JPG

>>1565440
>Carmen Miranda's Ghost- Space Hero
QD I have difficulty expressing my adoration for this quest and how you run it. The Commonwealth was the first thing I thought of when I heard this tune for the first time.

>>1565415
The only nonsapients are literal babies. This nonsapient majority shit is fake news.

>>1565451
No, killing then, that is faster.

>>1565454
The babies make up almost the entirety of their fighting force, and honestly the commanders aren't that much smarter. They have yet to display the kind of intelligence required to produce a strategy that isn't contingent on killing everything and gtfo as fast as possible.

>>1565350
Humans will be paranoid whether they have evidence or not its human nature >>1565380
Considering sentience is more of a measure of how "human" a thing is rather than a measure of how aware a thing is you can make the arguments that 100% of scavangers are non sentient

>>1565466
Sieges and urban combat in Tiberiongrad will not be faster than getting an enemy that has been cut off from reinforcement and support by an enemy with force superiority to surrender.

>>1565473
it was specifically mentioned that the non sentient babies were used more as dogs of war than as full combatants.

>>1565480
With that kind of statment wouldn't it mean the Hive is non-sentient then?

>>1565473
>The babies make up almost the entirety of their fighting force

Wrong.

>>1565483
Killing is faster then talking. Face it anon this ain't happening.

>>1565473
Just stop lying, the babies are like war dogs, the grunts aren't the kids

>>1565490
The grunts are still neuter gender, and those guys are...not terribly bright. Definitely not bright enough to think not to shoot all the humans on this planet they can.

>>1565500
>The grunts are still neuter gender
The shit does that have to do with anything?

>>1565505
Their ranks and their genders are basically the same thing. The grunts are neuter, the commanders (who do the actual birthing, ironically) are male, and the matriarchs are the female leaders who decide which commander gets to have kids and when. Read the 1d4chan page on them if you want to know more about em.

>>1565520
Do... you mean 'neutral'?

>>1565520
No fucking shit, but what the fuck does that have to do with anything? Total non sequitur.

>>1565485
Wouldn't it ants aren't sentient but their still one of the most intelligent and technological advanced species on our planet

>>1565488
This is all a digression from my main point that we should offer them the option to surrender. There isn't a real good reason not to offer it to them.

>>1565533
I am saying that their age, experience, rank, and yes, their gender, would appear to contribute to their overall intelligence and decision making ability. The older and more genders they go through, the more sapient they become. We have yet to see any sort of advanced intelligence displayed by a grunt, nowhere near the kind required to make complex strategic decisions or communicate with life forms that use something as novel as sound waves to talk to one another.

>>1565544
I say let then ask to be taken as prisoner at first. if they don't want to try to communicate that is bad luck for then.

>>1565440
"So we have reinforcements then? What about the evac?" He asks Hughes.

"Not coming. We're going back into the fight." Hughes says. "The speaker is in contact with the Lord General from here. We can organize a proper operation and move in while the hive breaks their perimeter."

"I'll get the men ready to move out. Are we getting a ride in? We lost a lot of our transports falling back."

"No. I already cleared that with the general. All aircraft are busy, and this area is still filled with xeno air power." Hughes turns to your drone. "We will need to set up a convoy to attack the position. We'll need close air support to keep those pulse jets off our people or we won't make it five feet."

>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle
>accept to provide cover for the human convoy
>Other (write in)

>>1565559
>>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle

>>1565559
>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle

Jolly cooperation time!!

>>1565559
>>Other (write in)
Offer both transportation and covering fire with our fluttercraft, chinook drones, and other assorted aerial units for rapid deployment to target area.

>>1565559
>>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle

>>1565559
>accept to provide cover for the human convoy
As the guy said, place is still filled with enemy air forces, and humans are not used to our shuttles.

>>1565565
>>>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle

>>1565559
>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle
Cooperation, ho!

>>1565576
oops I mean
>>1565559
>>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle

>>1565573
I farly believe we will send some air supporr to protect our shuttles anon.

>>1565559
>>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle

Why use a convoy when you can ride in a giant liver?

>>1565550
They have goddamn engineers, anon. Technical maintenance to do. You think the tiny minority of alphas are the ones doing that on every ship?

>>1565586
>engineers
>adept communicators

>>1565559
Offer to secure the area and set up a field medical camp so they don't need to evac then handle the retaking of the objective ourselves to minimize human casualties, drones are more replaceable than humans.

>>1565594
I agree with your plan, but that last point is projecting. For the hive, humans are more replaceable than drones.

>>1565604
No, drones are entirely replaceable, we eat our dead, get the biomass back.

>>1565604
nah, the drones are like our fingernails. they are nearly infinitely replaceable. This doesn't mean we love them any less though.

>>1565559
>accept to provide cover for the human convoy
This is the best opportunity to deploy the Titan

Hm, on second thought perhaps the humans won't do well inside Hive transports...

>>1565559
>offer instead to ferry the humans in by hive shuttle

>>1565618
Supporting.

>>1565618
Why can't we deploy titans alongside the humans. I don't think we're hurting for ships or transports...

How tall is a titan?

>>1565616
Yeah, but they still require re laying. Humans, we can just go adopt a new set. They lay themselves and take care of their own biomass, no interference needed.

>>1565619
That just makes it even more fun.

Maybe they'll hurl pre-liquefied nutrients from their mouths again for us.

>>1565626
No I mean the Titan would be perfect to provide anti-air cover as it follows the humans land convoy. Can have fighters or some of those atmospheric fighter-drones we've never really used

>>1565629
A solid point, should we open a human ranch to guarantee a steady supply? just set them out to pasture on an empty planet somewhere.

...Is QD watching E3 while writing?

>>1565636
Bethesda fucking sucked

v is blowing up the chans

>>1565629
drones are replaced in days, it takes months for a new human to be born and then years for it to be usefull for operations.

the scale in my mind is
0losses optimum
Individuals > x Drones
Allied individuals > x Drones * 2
Adopted individuals > Universe

>>1565559
Your speaker chitters its mandibles. "Time is important. The Hive can provide shuttle transport to the humans."

"What about the armored vehicles?" The Lieutenant asks. "Besides, the sky is swarming with aircraft. Our chances are better on the ground."

"No, you said yourself, the convoy took losses. We don't have enough space for everything. We can have an advance force move in with the hive's shuttles, and the convoy can come in behind. It will still need cover, but the shuttles should be able to pull double duty as a distraction while hive interceptors deal with the enemy air power." Heughes looks over the men in the chamber, most of them watching your drone warily, and then looks back to the lieutenant. "We can load up the convoy with wounded and equipment if we use the hive shuttles for the initial fighting force. There's a lot more medical equipment we had to leave behind."

"Yes sir, I'll get the men ready to deploy." The lieutenant says. Hughes nods, then turns to your drone.

"We'll need to clear the airspace."

"The Hive can do this."

"And once we get there, we're going to need heavy ground support the whole way. Our numbers are too thin, and we've taken too many casualties on top of that."

"The Hive is skilled in planetary combat. The humans will move in after the area has been cleared. The Hive will make the initial attack." Your drone says.

"Sounds good. I appreciate the support. It's hard to ask someone to bleed for someone else's world." Hughes says.

"The hive is unending. Drones are replaceable and recyclable. Humans are more difficult to replace."

"Right, we heard you were a gestalt, but still, we appreciate the help." Hughes replies. "Get your shuttles over here and we'll start loading them up at your direction. We just need enough for the men, the convoy will bring in the gear and wounded behind us. On the up side, the heavy armor can move in faster now since the trucks won't need as close a support." Hughes examines the men again as the lieutenant walks over to them and begins shouting orders that send them leaping to their feet. You can hear the roar of vehicle engines as trucks begin rolling up from deeper in the chamber where men being piling equipment and carrying wounded up into the vehicles.
cont.


>>1565636
No, sorry I've just been feeling a bit sick is all. Sorry I'm so slow tonight.

>>1565649
No worries at all QD. Take care of yourself. There's no shame at all in ending early if you're coming down with something. You can always run a midweek thread if you feel up for it.

>>1565649
>"The hive is unending. Drones are replaceable and recyclable. Humans are more difficult to replace.
Please take care of yourself QD

>>1565646
Speaking of adopting, I really hope we end up adopting Space Templar Guy, he'd make a nice foil to Lyle.

File: Hive_warned_you.png (647 KB, 788x1024)

647 KB PNG

Reposting from the old thread

>>1565676
I actually went back to the thread nearly two weeks after it ran to save that, it's so perfect.

>>1565665
Don't worry anon. With time all humans shall come to feel Mother's loving embrace on their spines.

>>1565649
Say, could we load up some of those shuttles with medi pods, or just some big tanks of medi-gel? If they've got wounded we could probably patch up the more lightly wounded ones to full fighting readiness in minutes.

>>1565689
a good idea, we could probably even get some of the dead ones fighting fit in a few hours with our biotech, and it would make the humans want it more once the rumors get out.

>>1565649
Your wounded ships in orbit examine the region in detail. It will require quite an effort to retake the position from your estimate. Multiple layers of artillery and anti-aircraft gun emplacements surround the anti-orbital battery, and missile silos can be seen nearby, although you doubt the scavengers have access to the far more complex process of targeting and firing long range missile systems, especially if they have not used them so far. The entire facility is atop elevated terrain, with no visible cover within nearly a five hundred meters of open terrain surrounding layers of pillboxes and reinforced bunkers. The landscape surrounding it is marked with craters and smoldering vehicles that could serve as some form of cover, but not with any real effectiveness for long, and makeshift repairs have sealed off sections where the bunkers have been blasted open. Aircraft patrol the area in surprising numbers, and a makeshift airport has been erected where the oblong but deceptively agile pulse jet aircraft refuel and rearm.

>Have your airborne drones intercept the aircraft and overwhelm them
>Use your large drones to provide anti-aircraft fire and surround the position
>Send in an overwhelming number of drones and shuttles, and simply swarm the defences and destroy the airport
>Other (write in)

>>1565693
>Send in an overwhelming number of drones and shuttles, and simply swarm the defences and destroy the airport

It worked for our ancestors, it will work for us.

>>1565693
>>Have your airborne drones intercept the aircraft and overwhelm them
>>Deploy medi-tanks and large amounts of medi-gel to local wounded forces
Air superiority is the name of the game.

>>1565693
Wasn't the plan we made last thread to dig under them and and attack above ground at the same time once our tunnel breached them?

>>1565698
I don't know if the humans will let us toss bleeding humans into deadly looking pitcher plants full of blades and needles and claws on such short notice.

>>1565693
>Use your large drones to provide anti-aircraft fire and surround the position
>Send in an overwhelming number of drones and shuttles, and simply swarm the defences and destroy the airport
Suppress and eliminate air-crafts while the swarm pushes.

>>1565699
That was for a different location, wasn't it? That was a fortified bunker, this is a key city loaded to gunwales with AA defenses. But if we have the time to do that, we could do that too. That would help the human forces get past the minefields unmolested alright.

>>1565701
but it would be great to have our speaker toss out some vegue ultimatum like "if you wish for your forces to survive you must enter the maw." have them soooper spooked. then they pop out all healed and the speaker says something like "Now go save your comrades"

>>1565699
That was just something anon said when they had no idea of what the specific terrain was like. Note that the speaker said nothing about it after that writein.

Digging does not actually seem feasible here. It's not like dealing with Lyle.

>>1565693
>Use your large drones to provide anti-aircraft fire and surround the position
Low risk, easy to stop them from using the airport.

>>1565699
>>1565703
Yeah that was some industrial city somewhere else I think

>>1565693
>>Use your large drones to provide anti-aircraft fire and surround the position

>>1565705
Why the fuck would we do that?

>>1565693
would it be possible to encircle them then just leave them there and move on? It doesn't sound like this building is that vital for anything but its position, we could just leave them there.

>>1565693
>>Send in an overwhelming number of drones and shuttles, and simply swarm the defences and destroy the airport

We are the Hive. We are endless. We will Swarm.

I'm assuming we can still use tactics like deploying large drones for cover and use airborne drones for superiority while still swarming with overwhelming numbers.

>>1565710
cheek

>>1565706
Wait, never mind, reading further down in the thread. There's the tunneling. That was for the industrial sector, yeah.

>>1565714
Its less cheek and more scare our allies for no reason

>>1565693
Backing
>>1565702

>>1565717
They'll see it was all just a cultural misunderstanding after a very short period of terror.

>>1565693
>Send in an overwhelming number of drones and shuttles, and simply swarm the defences and destroy the airport

>>1565720
They'll go "Why did they say they were sending our soldiers are going into a pit of death when it is a healing tank?"

>>1565711
Goddamn how much of a fucking peacnik are you? This is an airport, it doesn't matter if they're encircled, they can keep launching aircraft as long as the facility is operational.

how about we take advantage of our superior numbers and battlefield construction abilities, have waves of drones advance say 50 meters and then dig in, encircle the building and slowly move in from all sides, building up defenses of our own around it, then slowly overwhelm them.

>>1565723
i got mixed up, i thought it was an aa battery, if we gotta take an airport then we can just surround it with flak and shell it.

>>1565722
yes thats why it is funny. We are telling them they must be healed to rejoin the fight thus improving the survival chance of their forces. This is elementary, why would they think we would eat them, that would reduce the human combat effectiveness.

RIP My titan dream...

maybe someday you can be free

>>1565693
>>Send in an overwhelming number of drones and shuttles, and simply swarm the defences and destroy the airport

Let's see if they have a pre-set kill limit.

>>1565730
It comes off as more LOLRANDUMB than cheeky. Actually, not at all cheeky.

>>1565734
This is how we have always rolled. Most jokes not built off of props like the couch or the lighter are built of of we are fuck ass scary looking but just want to cuddle.