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>>1654506
IT BEGINS

>>1654506
Yayayayayayay! The best day of the week is here!

>>1654506
>The downturn offered a ray of hope, however, with Krasnikov Interstellar closing seven points ahead after a last minute rally on the Valen stock exchanges immediately preceding the scheduling of a press conference for later this week. Their major competitor, Van Den Broeck, however, suffered far greater than average losses with a number of the xeno-managed trading firms initiating a fire sale of the company stocks.
Ouch. Van Den Broeck is fucked.

>>1654523
You could say that he is broken? Ah!

>"Not bad." He says. "Could maybe use some more starch, but it's on the right track."

No fucking way...is the Hive learning how to make flour?

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.)

>>1654550
>Read the locked memories of that thinker.

Why we havent actually done that by now I do not knowm

>>1654554
DoitdoitdoitdoitNOW

FOR MOTHER

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

>>1654554
>>1654558

Knowledge of bad guys = making situation worse.

Lets perfect some defensive tech first.

>>1654566
To be fair I think we can trust the Lee at this point.

>>1654570
>>1654558
>>1654554
The thinker from Farcast locked memories were clearly not meant to be read until after defeating the Black Queen.

>>1654571
Yeah our motto is in need of a update.

>>1654575
>>1654570
Oh. Well. Yeah thats a good point.

>>1654571
Lee has been upgraded with superior Hive genetics, though. He isn't a pure monkey anymore.

>>1654571
NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR VALUES.
Seriously speaking the void can hack into any organic's mind so don't get too attached to any humans we have.

>>1654554
The WQ didn't just lock it, she tried to erase those memories from existence for a reason. Mother knows best.

>>1654580
Agreed. We can keep defeating the Void as a long-term objective, but for now the OQ is the greatest immediate threat and opening us up to attack by the Void when we are not prepared will get us worse than killed.

>>1654583
He actually hasn't been hybridized yet.

>>1654506
Kent stands on a balcony overlooking a large artificial canal leading to a dozen massive tunnels twisting off out of sight through the winding labyrinth of the Pathian underground. Several cargo vans have been loaded at the bottom, hovering over a shallow but quick flow of viscous, chemical laden water. Your clones have tended to their wounds as best they can in the situation, their skin mostly healing back into place from their previous skirmish.

"You can have free use of our equipment. You may want armor more suited to combat than subtlety for this." Kent says as your clones examine the various sets of armor set out for their use. Most of it is stolen suits of private security, most of them bearing the name and logo of Senticom's own private security force, more a fully equipped police force than corporate security, actually, with much of the equipment being on par or even better than what you have seen the local PDF patrols using.

"So what's the plan?" One of your clones asks. Kent examines the group of humans bellow as they load in various gear into the backs of the two vans.

"There will be two teams. Team one inserts into the facility from the service tunnels below. They're used for transporting sensitive goods and personnel outside the view of the public, but it's also not open to the PDF patrols, so you only have to worry about corporate forces. Team two will be decoy and extraction if needed. They will maintain overwatch of the facility and monitor your progress, and will respond to the situation as it develops in order to give you a quick exit, or reinforcements if necessary."

Kent turns to your clone agents with a grimace as his cheap prosthetic prods the sore stump of his leg as he turns. "You will have some of my best men to back you up. They've been training for this mission for some time now, and they know that building as well as anyone can, although I'm sure there are plenty of things not in the blueprints." He waves his hands to several humans standing near the wall, each examining their own gear and weapons. "You've met Hiromi and Feng, they can get you in without any issue, and this is Sam." A large man looks back at your clones and nods slightly as he examines a compact submachine gun, folding it into a small, almost tablet sized block that fits into his coat. He has a shaved head and a scruffy looking beard braided three times along the left side, each held with a small wooden token of some unknown but clearly important meaning. One of his eye sockets is filled with a featureless black plate, a rather high end combat targeting augment not typically seen outside of corporate "security" or government black ops. You spot a number of surgical scars along his arm as he fits on his armor offering the telltale hints of dropsuit control ports. He plucks a small metal bar from a crate and clicks a contact on the hilt, causing it to flair to life with an unfolding, powered axe head that shimmers slightly.

cont.

>>1654585
Our mother wasn't entirely perfect. She never trusted the Skyl even though they fought with us to the end. And when the OQ started coming up with all these plans to defeat the Void she just withdrew from being social and refused to offer an alternative or explain her actions.

We shouldn't read the thinker memories yet, though. At least not until we have figured out a way to block the Void's monitoring of us.

>>1654589
His brain has been totally rewritten to be psionically capable and he's been stuffed full of hive cybernetics. Given that being non-psionically capable is one of the primary defining human traits (from a Hive perspective), Lee certainly stands apart from the rest of the monkeys.

>He has a shaved head and a scruffy looking beard braided three times along the left side, each held with a small wooden token of some unknown but clearly important meaning.

Holy shit! Space viking!

>>1654598
Actually I think the Black Queen was doing research on Cluster and found something in it's memories the made her switch sides to the Void. Remember the Barren Queen stated she allow her self to be consumed by the Void.

>>1654571
Obviously adoptees are implicitly excluded, since they're part of the hive.

>>1654623
>dat axe
yup.

>>1654550
>Daily reminder
We haven't had a new day in months. Make it threadly at this point.

>>1654635
No anon it's tradition to call it a daily reminder.

>>1654592
We sure these guys are a legit group of rebels right?

Just not a union fake designed to trap who busted lee out?

>>1654644
>We sure these guys are a legit group of rebels right?

They are a group of rebels yes but we don't know how much the Union ops have on then.

>>1654644
They're real rebels alright, but there's a good chance they've been infiltrated given the Union was aware of their attempt to bust out Lee...

We could be walking into a trap.

>>1654592
Sam folds the blade back up and stows it to a holster along his hip, where he has a large bowie knife, more akin to a machete in size than anything you would be willing to call a knife, as well as a sidearm and several packs of ammunition, indicating his weapon has a much higher caliber than the typical hypervelocity rounds fired by most slug throwers.

"Hiromi and Feng are good at keeping things on mission. Sam is an expert at managing things when they go downhill." Kent says. "I think you may have a lot in common, actually." Sam looks over at your clones, sizing them up for a moment before speaking.

"You ever fight onea' them metal men?" He asks. His accent is distinct, and familiar. One heard often by Lyle among the fresh recruits from Arcadia during his time in basic training.

"No, but we know a few that have." Your agents reply.

"You gotta use anti-armor." He says. "And plasma hardly hurts 'em, but if you know where to swing, a few good chops can do wonders. If you can live long enough to get that close." He holds his hand like a knife edge, placing it firmly on the shoulder of Bartholomew in demonstration. "The flexible bits are the most vulnerable, under the arm and just below the sternum. Everywhere else is gonna be like trying to stab through a tank."

"You think we'll actually find one of those things?"

"I hope so." He replies. He taps the blank sensor in his eye socket. "I gotta a bone to pick." The man smiles briefly and swings over to the ladder, sliding down it quickly to follow the others loading into the vans below.

Your clones have had time to gather their supplies and make a plan for themselves, although you have not had much time to implement any major attempts.

>Send your agents as they are
>Bring along additional equipment (write in)
>Deploy flies at the Senticom building to assist in recon and scouting
>Other (Write in)

>>1654674
>>Deploy flies at the Senticom building to assist in recon and scouting

>>1654674
>Deploy flies at the Senticom building to assist in recon and scouting

>>1654674
Will the adtional equipment be hive tech or can we clone one of the human techs that Lyle and friends used in Gemini?

>>1654674
I like this guy.

>Deploy flies at the Senticom building to assist in recon and scouting

>>1654674
>Deploy flies at the Senticom building to assist in recon and scouting

>Bring along additional equipment (write in)
Do we have good melee equipment that isn't obviously of Hive origin? Obviously the hardlight blades are a non-starter due to their obviously exotic origin. Do we have other melee weapons that are good but not obviously Hive? If so, bring those.

>>1654674
>Deploy flies at the Senticom building to assist in recon and scouting
Be discreet as hell, cant let the union or these rebels know about actually drones being here

>>1654674
>>Bring along additional equipment (write in)
Maybe bring some cryo spray.

>>1654713
HAHA no.

>>1654674
>Deploy flies at the Senticom building to assist in recon and scouting

Please roll 1d100, best of 3 to scout out the facility without detection.

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>1654735

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>1654735
FOR MOTHER!

Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>1654735
For Mother!

>>1654737
Oh god kill me now I forgot to ask mothers blessings.

>>1654738
Nice.

Rolled 3 (1d100)

Just getting rid of some bad rolls

>>1654737
>>1654743
>Failing to ask for Mother's blessing
>Asking for a "god" to kill you

I think this one may need to be recycled due to possible Void contamination.

>>1654755
Good job drone. Done good thing for Mother.

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>>1654738
SAVED

>>1654674
>>Bring along additional equipment (write in)
What does Theseus have in his goodie bag?

>>1654737
you get recycled

>>1654738
Good job drone

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>>1654791
>>1654758
>you get recycled

I deserve this..

>>1654784
I do wonder if we can somehow get Theseus to infect the factory.

Could he do it if we can hook the factory computers up to the wider net?

>>1654810
Maybe just take a thumb drive with a theseus instance in, he could do the rest when plugged in.

>>1654816
If he can fit inside one or a datapad like we had given Devon to infect the Cortez

>>1654810
The factory is a anti-artificial intelligence facility and a smith baby factory i guess Theseus might not be the most effective person to infiltrate it.

>>1654810
I more meant for fancy equipment that isn't Hive tech like power armor or what have you.

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Side note I love speakers

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>>1654735
The spires of the vast city shimmer with advertising holograms and vibrant lights covering their metal frames glowing bright in the light rain of Path's early morning. The distant thunder of gravity drives dragging warships from their mothballed dockyards along the outskirts rumble over the horizon like rolling thunder. Your flies emerge from the steaming vents of the drainage canals, swerving from building to building over regiments of PDF troops and walker tanks perched like massive spiders overlooking overpasses and intersections. Only recently have the massive ventilation ports of the anti-orbital batteries closed again, leaving a number of the local streets safe from the potential sudden burst of boiling hot steam flooding the block at a moment's notice, but people have still not emerged, at least not in any great number. The flashing lights of a military imposed curfew still runs over the streetlights and traffic signals, halting any traffic not of critical importance to the running of the government. Oddly enough, that seems to include many of the massive corporate towers and arcologies.

The Senticom building is like a massive ziggurat, nearly a mile tall, although a good deal of its size is hidden beneath the city's sub-streets where all manner of private roadways, tram systems, and private bunker complexes reside for both security in the event of bombardment, and privacy from prying eyes of either rival corporations or overzealous government regulators that won't look the other way with a proper bonus in their paycheck. Private security is heavy around the area, marking little difference between the PDF patrols along the public streets and the fortified terraces of the Senticom building's lower levels overlooking its courtyards and many subsidiary buildings around its base. Walker tanks march or roll along their wheeled feet, while bipedal gun platforms stand sentry along the main gates to the complex and follow patrols of armed guards with their unblinking gaze watching over the landscape. Gun turrets have been assembled along the lower terraces of the ziggurat itself, and anti-air guns can be seen near the top, flanking a number of shuttle landing pads.

It is not the outside that concerns you, but the inside. The facility itself is locked down tight, and your flies below the street struggle to avoid the cameras and motion sensors. They keep to areas of natural activity, flowing in with rivers of drain water or passing taidaren scavenger parties sifting for flushed goods from the massive facility, taking whatever scram material or dumped waste they can find before an armed team of private security shoos them away at gunpoint.

cont.

>>1654810
We have our own hackers for that on-site. We've got to try them out.

>>1654914
Wow this place is more secure then a Valen bank account.

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>>1654995
What do valen actually look like anyway? I keep picturing this when I think of them.

>>1655004
Not even close.

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>>1654914
The substreets are large and accommodating, all things considered. With a highway several lanes wide stretching through the area where a number of cargo elevators are set up beneath the basement of the main building, and an automated car storage unit set beside a rather formal looking entrance to the building's lower levels. Three more of the bipedal drones stand at attention on either side of the doorway, while a third patrols back and forth on the other side of the highway, a spinning sensor on its head keeping track of its surroundings while a team of human security officers look over the area, one sitting at a set of controls for the drones, and at least five others spread out in the area while a group of cargo workers operate a set of cargo loaders, transferring crates from a large truck to the cargo lifts.

Your clones enter the van and they both quickly drive off into the dimly lit tunnels, fighting against the strong current as they skim the water's surface, drifting from side to side until they both slide out from behind a false wall that opens at their approach before quickly sliding closed again behind them.

"You certainly seem to have a well funded operation here." Your agent say. Sam ignores you, looking stone faced out the back window. Feng is busy adjusting some collection of gadgets, fine tuning some setting on some unknown device. Hiromi nods.

"You would be surprised at where we get some of our money, actually. A lot of people out there help fund us without even realizing it."

"Testing. Do you read?" Kent's voice comes in over a microphone in your clones' helmets.

"Yup." Sam says. Your clones give their affirmatives, than Hiromi and Feng, and you can hear others over the radio after.

"Alright. This is where we split up. Team one moves to point zero. Entry will be achieved through three phases. Phase one, the Salesmen give their pitch. If all goes well, the outer security will be no issue. If there is no sale, you use the door knocker. Next, phase two, team two uses the dream catcher to block all signals. After this we are under radio silence, and team one will deploy at point two and disable the inner security, then move to point three on foot. Team two will stand on overwatch at point one until time to rendezvous at point five. Phase three, the inner security is most likely a series seven semi-intelligent data grid. Technically illegal after the treaty, but I'd be surprised if they have anything less."

"I can get through that, but it would take time." Your tech says. "Better if we can bypass."

"It's doubtful you will get that far without being detected. Use your own judgment, but the facility plans are uploaded to you. Including which floors are supposed to be clear and which ones are occupied. There are floors still working through a full lockdown, but not many, and some workers actually live here, so be careful in the upper levels. Your target is the server farm on the four-hundredth and thirty-first floor.

>>1655004
A cross breed between a Leech and a whale, with tentacles and a giant sea shell.

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>>1655051
So more like this?

>>1655051
Actually from what we've been told they're ampibious.

>>1655051
And their mouth have been compared to petals. So leech is also inaccurate.

>It's doubtful you will get that far without being detected.

Challange accepted.

>>1655055
Yup that's pretty close.

>>1655047
>Three more of the bipedal drones

More? Did we see these before at all? No drones seemed to get mentioned until now besides our own.

>>1655094
>>1655094
Robotic Drones, not Hive Drones anon.

They're literally mentioned in the post just before that one marching with the walker tanks

Do our agents have the medium relay implant? I hope they do.

>>1655113
Nope.

>>1655113
They aren't big enough. The medium relay won't fit on humans without it being obvious.

>>1655121
Well the brain implant that Elizabeth has counts as a medium relay but has some pretty obvious external features like rows of prehensile spikes emerging from the skull

>>1655131
I thought the only obvious external features were a few discolorations and 2 insect like antennas on her head which she can hide in her hair?

>>1655131
Elizabeth is less human than hive by this point, extra limbs and all.

>>1655131
That and it also is also produced by technology we can't replicate yet. It's just functionally equivalent to a medium relay if you had to pick one.

>>1655131
So they look like rastafarian hair?

>>1655141
WE FUCK CAN DAMMIT. WE COULD FOR A LONG TIME.

>>1655140
Riiiight, but I was specifically talking about her brain implant she gained from the Ark.

>>1655138
Pretty sure it was a row of spines that could hide under the hair if need to but tend to bristle and stand up when using psionics (could be wrong, been a while since I read the Nowhere threads)

>>1655145
more like a mid-90's pop artists

>>1655140
She is way prettier then any human too.

>>1655147
I thought some of Elizabeth's upgrades were based on psi tech our Mother had that we haven't unlocked yet? No?

>>1655152
Well of course, she gets fashion tips from mother.

>>1655148
Can't we construct a cluster of antennae that look like dreadlocks?

>>1655153
>>1655153
>Mother
The Gardener made them, most likely for the natives on the Garden and we fully researched it a long time ago.

>>1655162
Can we really reproduce the trick of making an artifact that will take just about any species and trigger a transformation like Elizabeth's, without any external support or tinkering during the process?

>>1655171
It actually requires a pod like an implant or a parasite to induce mutations.

>>1655171
>Can we?
Yes

>Should we?
No

>>1655162
Wasn't a joint hive skyl project? Since Gardener had a skyl in her court

>>1655171
But for what you're talking about right now we're about to unlock that.

>>1655181
Yeah I think the goal was that skyl would eventually get the implants but the Obsidian Queen kicked off her betrayal when it was just finishing up and didn't have a chance to be spread

>>1655181
Perhaps but it more likely it was independent of any joint project.

>>1655189
I'm not sure about that. The implant turned a HUMAN into a psionically sensitive being. The Skyl already had some psionic ability (as they were previously the Void's slaves). Humans, on the other hand, not only lacked psionic abilities, they were genetically engineered to never develop psionic connections even under outside influence.

It seems quite likely that at a minimum this project was designed to awaken the psionic potential in ANY species (rather than just Skyl), and humans may have even been particularly singled out due to the difficulty in normally psionically awakening them due to our genetic tampering.

>>1655216
>our genetic tampering.

I think you meant to say WQ genetic tampering anon.

>>1655237
Yes, obviously the WQ is the specific Hive that tampered with the Humans. I was referring to "our tampering" as tampering done by Hive's aligned with us.

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>>1655047
"Once you make it there, implant the Q-comm encoder into the quantum network. That will give me full direct access to the whole system from here. Then extract as quickly as possible. Avoid engaging any enemy if possible. If that's not possible, well, you didn't dress to impress for the hell of it."

"Last point of contact." The driver says, and the van stops. The man gets out as the other van stops behind yours. Its own driver can be seen getting out as well, holding a large cylindrical device in hand as he waves it over the side of the van with an electrical hum and a harsh glow that quickly burns in a vibrant corporate logo over the blank exterior of the vehicle. The van your clones are in crackles from the same procedure before the driver gets back in. The other van quickly drives off, taking a turn down a tunnel as yours continues on straight ahead.

"We are now under radio silence. Break for emergency only, comms can no longer be considered secure."

"Roger, see you on the other side." The radio cuts out. Sam looks up to the driver.

"You better play your part good."

"I'd be more worried about getting out than getting in." The driver replies. "Here we go, everyone get ready."

"Get ready for what?" A clone asks. The others flip down their helmets as Feng glances over.

"Just stay calm and follow along. Don't shoot until we do. This would be better done without violence."

"They'll be plenty of that on the way out." Sam adds. The van comes to a stop again. Your flies can see it as it pulls into the loading bay behind the large truck on the side of the sub-street. Several guards hold up their hand as the patrolling drone follows the vehicle as it pulls to a stop. The driver lowers his window and leans out as he and one of the guards talk.

"Yea, the axle snapped. Some punks had it for a joyride and did a real number. Boys need it upstairs in the surface garage, it was a rush order so they told me to just come in from the sub-level to avoid the curfew."

"Right. Gonna need to run a search though, everything runs through security, especially down here. You have a manifest? We weren't expecting anything today other than the basics."

"Look pal, it's a rush order. These things arrive before the paperwork, you know that." Your agents strain for a decent view outside, finding a number of the guards walking towards the van.

"Hey, it's alright, lockdown or no lockdown these assholes upstairs don't give a damn about paperwork, but it will be our asses if we let anything through. I'll eyeball it, Lang, run the bomb scanner."

"We don't have a bomb, do we?" Your agent James asks. Sam grins.

"Do I look like the kind of man who leaves home without some splosives?"

Cont.

>>1655288
Well time to hold our balls and hope for the best.

>>1655288
>"Do I look like the kind of man who leaves home without some splosives?"
Good man, you'll fit right in if/when (when) we adopt you.

>>1655325
>>1655288
>"Do I look like the kind of man who leaves home without some splosives?"

Sam, I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine. His name's Lyle Rogers. I think you and he would would get along just fine.

>>1655288
If we plug the Tech's spinal cord into a network, we might want to dump an employee database for later.

The home addresses of security guards and other personnel that could be visited in the night by small insects would be useful in case there's ever any other future mission here, or we want more long-term observation of their activities here.

>>1655332
If I read right, Sam is a former Commonwealth Droptrooper just like Lyle was

Might be too big of a coincidence if it turns out they were in the same squad together

>>1655333
Probably a good idea. We can always use more info on potentially vulnerable adoptees.

>>1655348
Commonwealth black ops squad

>>1655333
>>1655379
Would definitely help when we start kicking our espionage up a notch here on Path

>>1655386
That does remind me, did we ever decide to warn the terrorists that we'll be telling the Union to swarm the sewers (due to the OQ's spore infestation)? They'll need to know the underground won't be a safe place to hide out if they are to remain valuable assets in the future.

>>1655426
No. Because our clones are acting as low level hive agents. So it wouldn't be a surprise if they are leafted out of some of our deals. And once the Hive ship comes to talk with the cluster our agents can give such information to then.

>>1654506
Sushi a cute.

>>1655288
"I think I know a guy you'd fit right in with" Bartholomew whispers.

"Hush!" Feng hisses quietly.

You see one of the guards hoist a device set on a long pole and he heaves it under the van, slowly scanning its underside with the device as the other guards stand around.

"You mind unlocking the back and I'll just take a quick look. Make sure there's nothing cantankerous going on." The guard says.

"Sure thing, just make it quick here, even with the lockdown I got a bunch more deliveries today. Those corporate buzzards are real slave drivers." The lock clicks as the guard makes his way back to the door. It seems like it takes several minutes for the door to finally open, and your clones look, eye to eye, along with the rest of the team at a man in his early thirties, perhaps, standing maybe a bit over one and a half meters at best in a suit of move assist armor. A CIP pistol is on his belt and a plasma shotgun is slung over his shoulder. Before you can do anything, he flips his fingers and a small card spins through the air onto the floor. It's a security keycard.

"Vehicle's all empty." He says, and he shuts the doors. "Go ahead and let him on through. Just head on up to lift two." The van drifts over beside the cargo truck and slowly lowers to the ground with a thud before the platform begins to raise on a set of pulleys running through a winch embedded in the wall. It takes a few minutes for the lift to reach the upper level as the floor opens above them and the lift locks into place.

"Okay, this loading area will be empty with the lockdown." The driver says as he looks back to your agents. "I'll be here as long as I can and I'll let you know if that's about to change. I'll give you maybe an hour before security starts questioning things, so hurry it up."

"Okay, on to phase two." Feng says as he opens the doors. "We need to get through the office security to the inner structure. Floor plan shows a few routes but none are perfect. We got the keycard, but that will take us by a lot of security. Any route around that will take us through a lot of automated systems. We could end up in a death trap real quick that way."

"Or the service elevator." Sam says. "The card should open it and we can take out any guards quick enough to prevent any alarms."

"Unless they have vitals monitors." Hiromi says.

"Then we just rough em up a bit." Sam says with a shrug as he steps from the back of the van. He hefts a large object, almost like a rocket launcher in appearance, up onto his shoulder. "Either way, I'll need a good place to set this up. Getting out of here is going to be a lot harder than getting in, we may need to make our own exit."

>Recommend using the keycard to bluff or sneak your way past the security checkpoint
>Sneak through the ventilation system to avoid surveillance systems
>Take the service entrance
>Other (Write in)

>>1655492
>Take the service entrance

>>1655492
>>Take the service entrance

Depending on if vitals monitors will tip them off if they just have elevated heartrate or if they start dying, the augments that can deliver a paralyzing venom payload and leave the security guards alive might be helpful.

So, no flies have made it indoors?

>>1655492
>Take the service entrance

We don't have any flies here to scout or put the guards to sleep, right? That's a shame.

>>1655492
>>Other (Write in)
Wait, how many things have a digital port for diagnosis. How many things are networked.

What can the Tech likely stick his nerve endings into? The service elevator have an access panel?

Or is there controls for the vents?

>>1655536
Best to keep in mind what Kent said when considering our Tech agent.
"It's doubtful you will get that far without being detected. Use your own judgment"

>>1655528
should've had some smuggled in the clones clones pockets

>>1655551
That might be a bit risky. For the moment flies are a secret, but if a human terrorist sees our agents handle the flies (or if one of the "terrorists" is compromised, as we suspect might be the case) we will have lost secrecy on a major espionage asset.

>>1655546
We're nowhere near 'that far' yet. There were 3 security problems to get through. Outer security, we're past. Next is inner security, which seems to be the building security.

>team one will deploy at point two and disable the inner security, then move to point three on foot.

But there's a separate, third security, confusingly also called inner security, which won't be disabled yet, and seems to be specific to the 431st floor destination.

Getting as far as phase three without being detected was what he was doubting.

>>1655492

>Sneak through the ventilation system to avoid surveillance systems

Wait, with the chemfab implant, clones can breathe out some Sedative pheromone and make guards increasingly gullible.

That or nepenthe.

fuq me i dunno what to vote

>>1655492
>Take the service entrance

>>1655492
>Take the service entrance

Your techs quickly share a glance and a stream of subtle thoughts before turning to the others.

"We take the service entrance we can probably go directly to one of the maintenance hubs."

"Blueprints have them on every fifty floors." Your other tech continues. "They micromanage security, logistics, environmental regulation. Everything from air conditioning to gun turret target requisition runs from there." Your brawlers nod in agreement.

"If we can manage the guards before that, which should be easier there than at the checkpoint anyways, then the egg heads can shut down any vitals monitors." Bartholomew says.

"Sounds like a plan." Feng says. "This place is huge, so we need to be careful about attracting any attention. Subsonic rounds or melee only." The squad adjust their weapons as they begin to move out. Your sharpshooter has already spotted the first of the guards some distance away, just over a balcony overlooking an alleyway where trucks are loaded into the vehicle storage bay or recalled from the sub-level parking deck. They are roughly three stories below the cargo bay your clones are standing in now.

"I could take them out from here." Your clone says.

"Not worth the risk."

"There a stairwell down there?" Sam asks simply.

"We still need to close the distance." Feng says. "I figure the whole team is too big to pull off a bluff, so we need to either split up, or sneak around to the flank somehow."

"Actually, there are live conduits running along these walls." Your tech says. "I could pull up one of these panels and see if I can hotwire something to trip a breaker and shut off the lights. Could attract some more attention, but if we move fast, it would only attract people away from where we're going."

>Send two of your agents to claim to be corporate security and incapacitate the guards
>Have your techs attempt to cut the lights in the chamber
>Split the team and have them attempt to sneak across the flanks
>Other (write in)

>>1655747
>Split the team and have them attempt to sneak across the flanks

>>1655747
>Split the team and have them attempt to sneak across the flanks

>>1655747
>Split the team and have them attempt to sneak across the flanks

>>1655747
>>Send two of your agents to claim to be corporate security and incapacitate the guards

We could incapacitate them by breathing on them. They don't have gas masks on 24/7, do they?

>>1655747
>Have your techs attempt to cut the lights in the chamber
What could possibly go wrong?

>>1655747
>Split the team and have them attempt to sneak across the flanks

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>1655818
For Mother!

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>1655818
for mother!

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>1655818
For Mother!

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>1655818
FOR MOTHER!

>>1655824
Thank's anon.

>>1655824
Sneaky invocation is best for sneaky missions.

>>1655818
"Don't want to risk triggering any security systems. Let's do this the old fashioned way. Split up and move in on the flanks." Your sharpshooter says. "I can hold overwatch and keep an eye out while you move in." Bartholomew looks to the others.

"We'll secure the position, you stay here." He then points to the wall with two fingers as your brawlers split up, two moving to one side of the chamber, the other two to the other side. The techs split up and follow close behind. They run low to the ground, their shoulders held below the cement wall until they are far enough to break line of sight with whatever there is bellow. The loading bay is a rather sizeable open space, but it is not totally barren. Several trucks sit parked nearby with their hoods opened, their chassis propped up on lifts. Several autoloaders are scattered about as well a crate of what appears to be several tonnes of industrial glue solvent. A peculiar thing to bulk order, but the strange machinations of human economic systems is an arcane and unintuitive thing to your mind, but it usually seems to work out in the end, somehow. That or it's a cover for some illicit good. You have half a mind to check, but now is certainly not the time.

Your clones leap over the ledge to the surprise of the rest of the team as they fall from sight. They land with a muffled thud as they roll to the ground and immediately run for cover.

One on the left moving in. Take a shot?
No. Time arrival. Right move in when I take left.
Ten seconds.

Your clones huddle behind their cover as a flashlight flickers on and swipes over the area.

"You hear that?"

"Dunno, I'll check it. When was the last time a taidaren got in here? Three weeks now?"
"Think so. Wait, one got cooked in the vents last thursday. How the hell they keep getting in you think?"
"They got those flexible bones. Chondrhist, right? That shit bends like damn rubber. They can fit into anything they can get their head through."
"What like a rat?"
"A sentient rat, diseases and all, yea."
Five
"I dunno, don't smell anything. Usually you can smell the shit before you see them."
"I dunno man, just go check it out so we can log it if anything's missing."
Three...two...
Your clones quickly move on the right flank, quickly closing the distance as they run low behind the parked trucks.
One

A sting whip lashes out and wraps around the guard's neck, pulling him closer to the quickly closing clones, and he is close lined to the floor with a harsh thud as his helmet hits the pavement. The clones on the left side flip over the autoloader as the guard swings back at the sudden noise, and a pair of arm blades quickly extend, humming at his chin, grazing his throat close enough to cut the strap holding his helmet in place as a small, white, bloodless line forms along the neck like bad shaver burn.

"Hold very still and be very quiet." Your agent says. The guard quickly holds up his hand and nods his head.

>>1656005
We'll need to drug these guys with our memory blocking drugs if we don't want them to tell everyone about our guards tech. Luckily one of our dudes has a sting whip. Hopefully they don't have body cameras.

hive is best at sneaking

>what appears to be several tonnes of industrial glue solvent. A peculiar thing to bulk order, but the strange machinations of human economic systems is an arcane and unintuitive thing to your mind, but it usually seems to work out in the end, somehow. That or it's a cover for some illicit good. You have half a mind to check, but now is certainly not the time.

i need to know what is it!!

>>1656051
Don't worry Anon. In 10 years when we've adopted the entire human race we'll be able to figure out exactly what was in that "industrial glue" crate.

>>1656005
The rest of the team quickly makes their way down to the elevator as your techs quickly investigate the elevator for any potential issues before sliding in the keycard. The door opens after a short wait, and the team drag in the guards as the door closes again. As the elevator begins to rise your techs are quick to examine them, searching through their armor for any sensors or circuitry.

"You got any implants?" He asks. The other tech examines the still body of the second guard as he wheezes on the floor.

"What's with him?" Hiromi asks.

"A potent paralytic neurotoxin with a sedative cocktailed in to keep him calm. Unless any scanner he has is worth more than his salary the security system won't detect it. If they have one at all."

"They do, but it's a cheap one. Just a basic heart monitor inset into the ballistic vest." Your tech says. "Which is bad, actually. I can deal with complex. The more working parts there are, the more options I have to break it. I so much as touch this thing funny and I could set off alarms. Speaking of which, that guy has to have a resting rate over one-twenty in that death grip of yours." Your brawler retracts his blade and pats the guard on the shoulder.

"How about you have a seat in the corner." He says, and forces the guard down. "Don't move or I'll knock you out. Keep still, quite, and calm and you'll make it through this without a bruise." The guard silently shakes his head in affirmation.

"Next stop, the security hub." Your tech says.

"How do we deal with the security there?"

"My guess is it will be a mix of automated defences, guards, and mostly tech workers. These things tend to be largely automated, but they still need a few people on hand to keep the idiots in the cubicles from filling it with cat pictures and Erridanian Prince emails. My guess for the guards is they'll be white collar rent-a-cops. Big guns and armor tend to spook office drones."

"But rent-a-cops spook easy too." Sam says. "I say we go in nice and loud, take control as quick as possible and shut down the security before any alarms can go off."

"Or," Feng says, "we can move in silently, subsonics only, hit any auto-turrets first and knock out any guards in site."

"That's gonna take too long. We'd end up risking out ass more just from having to micromanage these jackasses we already have. We move in quick we can get this done fast and just be done with it. The longer we take fucking arround the greater the risk of setting off an alarm."

>Side with Feng and attempt to sneak into the room without triggering an alarm
>Side with Sam and lock down the room fast and attempt to hack the security before an alarm is triggered
>Other (write in)

>>1656147
>Side with Feng and attempt to sneak into the room without triggering an alarm
This seems like the safest way to go.

>>1656147
>>Side with Feng and attempt to sneak into the room without triggering an alarm
Our agents can micromanage their movements and coordinate themselves just fine big guy, this is a sneaking mission. For as long as possible anyway.

>>1656147
>Side with Feng and attempt to sneak into the room without triggering an alarm
If we set off an alarm the rent-a-cops will be handled, but the rest of the military grade security (not to mention Smiths) will be deployed. Best to do this quietly for as long as possible. We still have the advantage of perfect psionic coordination.

>>1656147
>Side with Sam and lock down the room fast and attempt to hack the security before an alarm is triggered

>>1656147
>Side with Feng and attempt to sneak into the room without triggering an alarm
This is a sneaking mission

>>1656147
>Side with Sam and lock down the room fast and attempt to hack the security before an alarm is triggered
Trust the Lyle

>>1656185
Sam just wants to sneak really really fast.

>>1656147
>Side with Feng and attempt to sneak into the room without triggering an alarm

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>1656205
for mother

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>1656205
For Mother!

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>1656205
For Mother!

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>1656205
For mother!

>>1656211
pretty good

>>1656211
That'll do drone, that'll do.

>>1656205
"We don't need to worry about the guards. Knock them out and leave them up on the roof. Out of sight, out of mind." Your agent says as he picks up the guard, muttering various whimpering pleas as your sting whip lashes out just by several inches. The guard begins to shake and quickly falls back against the wall limp.

"We still need to move fast. You better be fast with hacking into the system, or we won't be able to keep out of sight for long, if we manage at all." Sam says.

"You just take care of any guards, we can manage the computer." Your tech says simply.

"Alright, keep it quiet, stick with melee if you can." Your clone says.

A moment later the elevator door opens with a ding. The service area is spacious, although hardly anything compared to the massive chamber in the main loading bay. Racks of various goods line the side walls on carts, with other empty carts mixed in among them. You see most of the items are packaged for laboratory equipment, most either marked as damaged, or packaged as new, although some seem to just be surplus or in the process of being moved to or from another lab. Other carts hold components for server farms, computers, or simple office supplies packed in plastic boxes.

Set in the ceiling is a small armature fixed into a pivoting boom with a rifle fitted into its grip. A camera is set along its side, with another hanging just below it like a chandelier watching the elevator intently. A moment later, just as the gun begins to twitch downward to the elevator, your tech leaps into the air as his arms lash outwards, stretching the rest of the way before the camera lense is shattered in his grasp. A quick sputtering of electrical sparks flicker and pop inside the turret's joints and the entire thing droops low with a soft whine of dead servos failing against the weight of its rifle. The clone swings from the vine-like arm and lands into a roll, quickly moving to the side as the rest of the team move in.

The room is largely barren, a mixture of elevator lobby and storage room for items in logistical limbo to be held before being signed for or released from whatever arcane internal requisitions process the company demands. Beyond the camera fitted turret, there is no activity, and a single door is visible on the far wall. Your clones are quick to move in, scanning the wall closely. A clone sets his hand against the smooth plastic polymer wall and listens as the sounds run up the vertebrae like bones in the agent's arm to the inner ear.

"The room's running hot. Five heat signatures at least but it's hard to tell. One's asleep, two in the back working on a server unit. Three at a terminal, two sitting, one standing."

"How'd you get all that?" Sam asks.

"Snoring, muttered cursing, and the three at the terminal are watching Interstellar Sentai seven on a company computer."

"Any armed?" Feng asks. Your clone shrugs.

cont.

>>1656263
>"Snoring, muttered cursing, and the three at the terminal are watching Interstellar Sentai seven on a company computer."
Damn night shift. They're guarding a top-secret research facility that's on lock down in a city up in arms over an alien attack and they decide to all watch a shitty sequel on a company computer instead of protecting the lab. Never trust a human to do a drone's job.

>>1656263
>"How'd you get all that?" Sam asks.
CELTIC MAGIC

>>1656277
Screw that, its a good show
Better than that MG crap

>>1656263
Nice to see those echolocation implants paying off.

File: 59481.jpg (412 KB, 2048x853)

412 KB JPG

>>1656263
"Alright, on three." Your brawler says, and holds out three fingers, counting down silently before opening the door as quickly and quietly as possible. The terminal holds three humans in security uniforms, although they don't seem to offer any practical protection beyond potentially a light stab-resistant vest, although it's not hardy enough to be visible beneath the uniform. The terminal's seats are facing the doorway on a slightly raised platform, as if to ensure a total view of the room, although the three guards seem preoccupied and fail to take any notice of your entry. Your clones quickly close the distance, and one of the guards flinches up as he notices the movement, his hand quickly reaching for a gun as a knife lands into his ribs. Your clone passes him, quickly pouncing on both of the other two with an outstretched hand each, lashing out at them with the sting whips as your other agents move through the narrow alleys of the server farm beyond.

You can hear several hushed whispers and a set of soldering tools drop to the floor. One of your clones finds a guard sleeping in a chair near the far wall. He grimbles himself awake as a sting whip lashes around his arm, pulling it away from his gun as it pulls him into the grapple of your sharpshooter. He looks back to the server farm as a hushed gasp muffles itself out. Your survivalist stands over a discarded soldering tool, listening intently as the sharpshooter looks for any sign of movement. He hears something, and quickly sends the thought to your brawlers.

Your clone reaches out, quickly leaping over a row of server towers and tackling a frightened human as an electrical discharge from the clone's arm sends the human sprawling to the floor. The other quickly turns to flee, and the arm of Bartholomew swings out and into his nose, sending him to the floor with a thud and a spurt of blood.

"I'm in. Sorta." Your tech says.

"What do you mean 'sorta'?" Feng asks.

"I mean I have sight but not action. I can access the network of the locally administered system, and can view the higher functioning building wide security, but I can't actually influence either." The tech pulls out an elastic strand of tissue from his wrist and quickly plugs it into the terminal. His eyes begin to flicker back and forth in rapid motions as the connection is established.

cont.

>>1656307
You can see the entire facility from here, but your actions are limited, for now, at least. This is not your domain, your mind has no power here, only your agent can hold sway over this world of qubits and circuits. Still, you have allies in this specialization. On one side of the network you can see the local networking systems. Mail, phone records, auto-secretaries compiling data and contact records, off-the-clock workers viewing illicit videos in their personal employee dorm rooms. On the other side of the network is a vast, monolithic mainframe, pure and sleek in its architecture, and totally isolated from all outside connections. A vast, bottomless chasm stretches between the two halves.

>Hack into the security subsystem and deactivate any security alarms
>Bridge the two networks and open a connection from the corporate intranet to a potential Theseus instance in the public network
>Attempt to gain control of the security subsystems instead of simply shutting them off
>Other (write in)

>>1656309
>>Bridge the two networks and open a connection from the corporate intranet to a potential Theseus instance in the public network

Only hope, out of our depth

>>1656309
>Hack into the security subsystem and deactivate any security alarms
Anything else seems a bit too risky.

Theseus being in here will probably set off more alarms than anything, and would be very very telling. Gaining control seems much more difficult.

>>1656309
>Bridge the two networks and open a connection from the corporate intranet to a potential Theseus instance in the public network
He is the one who introduced us to Kent and this kind of thing is his wheelhouse

>>1656309
>Attempt to gain control of the security subsystems instead of simply shutting them off
And
>Other (write in)
If we could get a Theseus instance in through Decker in the past can't we introduce one here through the clones direct machine interface? We also can have Decker provide detailed hacking advice since he is an adoptee of us.

>>1656310
Don't do this before we turn off the alarms! This is trying to bridge the firewall between the mainframe and personal data. If we breach this without disabling the security first and other detection systems we will almost certainly be locked out!

>>1656309
>>Bridge the two networks and open a connection from the corporate intranet to a potential Theseus instance in the public network
At some point we really must ask Theseus for a beginners course in hacking and digital engineering. With our white crystal matrices there is no reason we can't learn advanced programming code ourselves.

>>1656309
>Hack into the security subsystem and deactivate any security alarms
We have great hackers who have been adopted. Their knowledge is ours and if necessary we can ask Theseus for help.

We shouldn't bring Theseus in here directly. This facility is theoretically an anti-ai research facility. It probably has the best possible AI detection subroutines and he may set off alarms by virtue of his digital presence/signature.

>>1656309
>>Hack into the security subsystem and deactivate any security alarms

Shut it down!

>>1656309
>Hack into the security subsystem and deactivate any security alarms

I'd rather that we didn't alert them before we try to get Theseus involved.

>>1656309
>Hack into the security subsystem and deactivate any security alarms

>>1656309
>Hack into the security subsystem and deactivate any security alarms

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

It is getting rather late, and I have a busy day tomorrow so I think I'll need to call it here, but if I can I'll try to continue from here later this week.

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>1656341
For Mother!

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>1656341
For Mother!

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>1656341
FORMOTHER

>>1656345
Good job senpai

>>1656341
>It is getting rather late, and I have a busy day tomorrow so I think I'll need to call it here, but if I can I'll try to continue from here later this week.

Awesome man! Thanks for running. Looking forward to the (possible) mid-week continuation.

>>1656341
>It is getting rather late, and I have a busy day tomorrow so I think I'll need to call it here, but if I can I'll try to continue from here later this week.
Thanks for the run!

>>1656345
Mother can into computers after all

File: CRAB_NICHOLSON__.jpg (62 KB, 500x553)

62 KB JPG

>>1656341
Sleep tight

File: sleep tight pupper.jpg (38 KB, 600x582)

38 KB JPG

>>1656358
woops wrong image

>>1656357
Mother's son will do all her tech support for her.

>>1656341
GG and thanks for running

>>1656358
No, no I think you got the right pic the first time.

>>1656341
Thanks for running.

>>1654506
We should have a speaker "enhance" the news by providing live commentary.

>>1656341
Thanks for running!

>>1656816
Yes I'm worried. We couldn't even get flies in here earlier and this is supposed to be locked down tighter than the capital - yet somehow we haven't seen anything more dangerous than typical corporate cops? And this is the facility producing Smiths? Something is wrong. An alarm should also have sounded when we destroyed that auto-turret.

>>1656816
This is a huge facility responsible for all sorts of things. Security hasn't been terrible so far; I figure as we get farther into the facility, closer to the Smith factory, security with continue to get tighter.

>>1656341
thanks for running

I missed it, shit. oh well

I have a suggestion. the ancient race we will speak to eventualy. what are the odds of them giving us a piece of them to research? and if it lasts that long send lyle and co in this shit hole at a later date these corps are doing some questionable shit

and why do the majority of our allies have a compacted intellect that manifest as a whole? its weird and unnatural. just wondering.

>>1657310
>I missed it, shit. oh well
There will probably be a mid-week thread if we get lucky.

>I have a suggestion. the ancient race we will speak to eventualy. what are the odds of them giving us a piece of them to research?
Very, very low odds they will just give us a piece of them to research. It could easily be interpreted by the Void Gods as them rendering the Hive material aid and thus a violation of the Cluster’s neutrality pact. They’ve stayed out of the War for tens of thousands of years; they won’t join with us unless a major event (like an attack by the OQ against them) causes the Cluster to reconsider neutrality.

>and if it lasts that long send lyle and co in this shit hole at a later date these corps are doing some questionable shit.
Obviously this corp (and probably almost all the major corps) are deeply involved in questionable shit. We’re involved in lots of “questionable shit” ourselves. There’s so much sketchy stuff going on there’s no way Lyle and Co can blow it all up in a reasonable time frame (and blowing stuff up is what would happen if they got involved). Even if they could, why would we want them to do that? If easily identified Hive agents like Lyle and Co are seen blowing up massive corporations there is a high chance it could lead to all out war. At a minimum it might keep morally dubious corporations who would otherwise be willing to work with the Hive from accepting our overtures due to risk. As a corrupting influence ourselves we should be fine with systemic corruption when it suits our purposes.

>and why do the majority of our allies have a compacted intellect that manifest as a whole? its weird and unnatural.
Not really. As a hive mind ourselves it is only natural that we would be diplomatically inclined towards other collective intelligent entities that we can “think” with as equals rather than the confusing and alien mess that is human/Union politics. We’ve also only been involved in the human political sphere for a relatively short period of time so it makes sense there’s no solid alliance yet.

Are you new to the quest? Some of these things have been pretty clear for a while now.

>>1656896
>>1656845
I'm still worried. I'm afraid we will still bump into not!Adam Jensen

>>1657823
If he didn't ask for this, we might be able to give him a better offer and adopt him.

>>1657835
and likely better cybernetics

>>1657509
Considering how aggressive OQ seems to be,Im not 100% sure whether she is following orders from the Void Gods or is just corrupted. You would think that they would give her better plans and juicier tech.

>>1657509
sadly I am new just finished reading the archives. so I think ill lurk a bit more, but thanks for pointing this out and not calling me a stupid faggot

>>1657509
I think the easiest way to secure a sample of the cluster for reverse engineering/dissection would be to simply take the instance on Path by force. Without our direct help there isn't any way it could reach the greater Cluster on Djinn or contact them (since they have gone to great lengths to blind themselves psionically), so there wouldn't be any risk of pissing off the Cluster. Once it's aboard one of our ships we have absolute control over the amount of contact it has with it's greater aspect and we can easily take it apart for overpowered biotech upgrades. And you can bet the tech upgrades a piece of the cluster could offer would be absurdly OP.

>>1657823
The post was deleted, who's Adam Jensen here? That sort of augmentation isn't that uncommon in the Union.

>>1658722
>Without our direct help there isn't any way it could reach the greater Cluster on Djinn or contact them (since they have gone to great lengths to blind themselves psionically), so there wouldn't be any risk of pissing off the Cluster.

Not necessarily. You're forgetting that the Cluster has had past diplomatic contact with the Void Gods where the Void tried to turn them against the Hive. We know that the Void is watching us and if we kidnap and experiment on the sample from the lab it is possible the Void will notice and will have a way of presenting undeniable "proof" of our actions to the Cluster on Djin and elsewhere. While I suspect this is unlikely to happen if we do take the instance on Path by force, that possibility cannot be ruled out. The adaptations we could learn from Cluster are indeed OP as hell (assuming we can eventually break the genetic encryption), but it is by no means risk free.

>>1658815
I think you're vastly overestimating the possible level of interaction between the void and the cluster. The void can't simply pop into Djinn for a casual chat with them, nor would it even be aware of their presence on the planet. The void isn't fully omnipotent, without an intact void crystal or intimate knowledge of a mind its options for interacting with three dimensional space are limited. It's not like the void is exactly hiding underneath every rock or bush waiting to pop out the moment we screw something up.

Besides, even if the greater cluster learned that we kidnapped one of its husks what do think they would do? They've made it quite clear that they have absolutely zero interest in getting involved in our war and will not be picking sides. You really think they would reverse that decision and drag their entire enclave out of hibernation over a single disposable instance? A single instance that nonchalantly sacrificed itself multiple times to escape the Union lab? It told us itself that it's own individual welfare was immaterial, only it's memories of human tactics and organization mattered a damn.

And even in the the absolutely inconceivable scenario that this minor act prompts the cluster to reverse a policy it's held for billions of years, we still hold total aerial (or special) supremecy over Djinn. If they got hostile we would simply need to blockade the planet, maybe drop an anhillator warhead on it if we wanted to end it.

>>1658722
While psionic contact is a no-go, there's no way for us to know their floor size. If they can store intelligence in microscopic organisms, all it'd take is one stowaway to Dijinn to blow it.
Or alternatively, to start a murder-goo plague that wipes out Path and makes the hive look like assholes for claiming they "solved" the issue.

>>1659040
>>1658874
Don't forget that the cluster in Djinn might not be all of it. If i'm not making this up on my mind, it was said, that there is mutiple instances of the cluster in the kniw universe.

The worst thing that could happen is the cluster deciding it's tired of waiting and decide to go in a war against us in the hope that eliminating us will end the schism.

But that would happen only if we reveal we aren't part of the old hives. The Cluster might even so not consider the scenario and want to go to waf forcing us to fight the Obisidian Queen, the Voids and the Cluster. But said action is only a supposed scenario and making a decision on it won't help us.

The better thing to do is take this Cluster instance to it hole in Djinn and hope that this show of good faith is enough to convince the cluster to go back to hibernate, so after it we can force a complete lockdown on Djinn so the Union and other curious factions won't try to stick their nose in it.

>The post was deleted, who's Adam Jensen here? That sort of augmentation isn't that uncommon in the Union.

The post was just me asking if anyone else was worried that the op was going way to smooth for us.

Adam Jesen is a character and supposed badass that works for a private company as head of security for a private company. Which by the fact we are invading a private company that works with augmentations makes very likely that someone packed up in augs might be the chief of security in this place.

>>1659053
Spelling errors aside, your general argument is correct. We do not know all that the Cluster is capable of, but from what we do know they are extremely durable on the microscopic level and are likely have have outposts spread throughout the galaxy. Taking actions that would risk antagonizing them when there are so many unknowns is extremely unwise.

I suspect they may eventually figure out we aren't from the old hives. We don't need to claim to be something we aren't, but we definitely should NOT volunteer just how young we are. However, even more than our age, I'm worried about the Cluster finding out about the OQ. If they determine that the schism would have ended with the "unification" of the OQ and the Void if it were not for the existence of our infant hive then things could go very poorly for us very quickly.

>>1658089
Void Gods HATE it when their subject races do research. They don't want their thralls to have any kind of plans. They don't tell their thralls much.

If anything, OQ's lack of development is indication that she's a thrall, and it's a travesty that Void would enslave one of the original three.

>>1659123
>If they determine that the schism would have ended with the "unification" of the OQ and the Void if it were not for the existence of our infant hive.

That is my main concern.
We can't rule out the chance that, if we mention we are at the moment in a stalemate the cluster won't see as a oportunity to eliminate us or the void slave races. But it's just another possible scenario. Bottom line is, should we tell the cluster we are at a stalemate with the void?

>>1659150
It could be argued that, slaving the OQ was the way the void found how to solve the schism and still preserve one of the original three.

I didn't said it would be a good excuse but it's one. All will depend the cluster sight on the worth of individual thought. Which he can see the "slavement" of OQ as the Hive and void finally working together or see it as a warning that the void might in the long run do the same with then.

>>1659159
>>1659159
>Bottom line is, should we tell the cluster we are at a stalemate with the void?
I don’t think we need to tell the Cluster anything other than in the most general terms that the war is ongoing and that the humans are important to our plans in some capacity. The Cluster never asked either side, in the course of a millions or even billions of years long conflict, what the cause of the war was. They said it was not their affairs why we fought and they wanted no part of it. We shouldn’t seek to alter that status-quo by volunteering information on our inability to effect a victory. With any luck we can get the Cluster to just go back to sleep.

However, I have a hunch that The Cluster is dangerously low on nutrients after tens of thousands of years in hibernation and will require large quantities of fresh biomass to repair their strands and continue to survive. There is limited evidence for this given how short our interactions with the Cluster have been, but what we do know is telling:

When explaining their plan the Cluster said:
>We were chosen to drift here because it was the source of the Skyl, and the destination of the ark. We would slumber through the war, and be active enough to determine when it had concluded. It is our task to find and awaken the others when there is peace once more. We have waited too long now. Our memories fade from our minds and our strands grow tired and worn.
The Cluster as a whole is in a severe state of distress. Their genetic strands are becoming damaged from age, they are losing their memories, and they are probably weak from having exhausted what nutrient reserves they had while in hibernation.

Now consider how the Cluster might try to solve this problem:
>They [the humans] are obstacles. They will be removed is necessary, their biological mass shall feed this cluster, and their strands will serve to further improve our structure.
>"What could these animals be against even one of the Three? Why should we fear the creations of our idle hands?" Thoughts flash through the collection of minds, of worlds seeded, moulded, and sometimes cleansed when necessary.

I suspect there is a good chance the Cluster will want to consume at least a few human worlds in order to “improve their structure” (maintain their memories and intelligence) and to feed on the biomass they need to survive. It is inconceivable to them that we might side with the humans against one of the original three. We will need to come up with a good reason that the Cluster killing humans en-masse would constitute a breach of their ancient neutrality agreement without appearing weak or dependent on lesser races ourselves.

>>1659239
>With any luck we can get the Cluster to just go back to sleep.

That is problably the best case scenario for everyone involved.

>The Cluster is dangerously low on nutrients after tens of thousands of years in hibernation and will require large quantities of fresh biomass to repair their strands and continue to survive.

That is kinda what i would like to offer. The valen asked what we would want in trade of the asteroid belt. Guess a couple tons of nutrients could be acquired to feed the Cluster? The problem is, as you said, make the cluster accept such deal without us looking weak or depedent of lesser races, when it could just as easily feed from the humans bio-mass. It's not like there is a bunch of then in the planet.

And we still have OQ's spore attack to worry about. Or maybe we should just let Cluster eat some humans in the mix of the chaos the OQ's spore will cause.

>>1659239
>It is inconceivable to them that we might side with the humans against one of the original three.

I will be frank the Union kinda brought this to themselfs. Mother dammit, another headache, we wouldn't need to deal with if they had just fucking listened to us.

>>1659289
>Guess a couple tons of nutrients could be acquired to feed the Cluster?

I strongly doubt that will be enough. Given the heat signatures we started seeing there is probably a big Cluster presence on Djinn. It could require a few billion tons of nutrients just to feed them. More importantly, they might demand genetic diversity to repair their strands. Genetically identical cloned space-corn and space-cattle won't be enough for them to repair their strands. A diverse planetary biosphere, on the other hand, might hold the information they require.

>>1659306
>>1659306
Am I the minority in thinking the Cluster might be trustworthy?

>>1659332
I say neutral until proven otherwise. However, I feel diplomacy should be tried before all else. Talk things out and get more info about the war from them to better assess our subsequent actions.

>>1659332
I think they could be trustworthy eventually. Unless we fuck up majorly they can probably be trusted not to interfere in our operations due to the ancient neutrality pact. However, they are an otherwise unknown entity to us diplomatically, they can probably become equally powerful to us very quickly, and unlike every other faction capable of diplomacy they have no interest in stopping the Void from enslaving this sector. Therefore, until we receive information that changes our view of them we should be cautiously friendly in hopes of maintaining neutrality or perhaps even an alliance (if we are extremely lucky).

>>1659332
Well, I don't think we should go telling our life story to Cluster, but I also don't think we should be expecting that it will rise up to destroy us.

If anything goes bad drop an immolator warhead or two, they will get the message.

>>1659332
As this anon said:>>1659338
Neutral until is proven otherwise.

>>1659306
>there is probably a big Cluster presence on Djinn.

My guess is the hole planet is the cluster and the ice that form most of the planet crust is just the result of thousand of years in hibernation.

>>1659791
I'm not sure you understand approximately how big something has to be to be confused with a planet.

>>1660431
I would tend to agree that a planet sized organism seems insanely large by standards of this quest. My only hesitation is that the ice the Cluster sample was frozen in was dated as being at least 90,000 years old, while the Queen's ark (if I remember correctly) has been in the sector for "only" 70,000 years. This suggests the sample Cluster on Path has remained frozen in the same ice since they left ancient Hive-space. So either the humans' ice dating technology cannot account for the effects of alien interference, the Cluster never melted their samples when they entered atmosphere and landed on Djinn, or Djin has held the Cluster for longer than we suspected they existed in this sector. One explanation for the later possibility is that the planet of Djinn itself is some massive transport.

Bump

bump

>>1661561
>>1663236
/qst/ autosages after 1000 posts or 72 hours.

>>1661561
>>1663236
No mid-week thread sadly. QD is too busy with work and stuff

>>1663496
Yea, sorry for being unable to do anything. We've started doing inventory at work this week so I've been really busy this week. The thread should still be up sunday so either way we should be able to finish up the infiltration at the usual time.

>>1663728
No worries QD, real life happens. Thanks for continuing to run even with the QM curse.

>>1663728
Well how are you doing QD, have things calmed back down since the surgery?

So, for "session 64" we've gone from:
>The Thing in a secured tech lab
>Close Encounters With Ancient Alien Minds Part Five
>Playing Warhammer 40k
>Politics (Union version)
>Warfare (Planetary Invasion version)
>Shadowrunning

Pretty broad spread there.

>>1664061
Yeah, this has been a damn busy "day."

Personally I could do with slightly shorter descriptions so we end up getting more done in a thread (especially since we have our attention split between so many things) but I have to admit it sure is fun watching our drones and agents kick ass in detail.

>>1663728
>doing inventory


Urgh that's terrible.

>>1664061
At this point I just wonder how many more theads we're going to have to go through before we start doing actual hive things instead of just playing patty cake with human governments. At this rate we're only going to do stuff like increasing our territory or waging war on the OQ one week every two months. I have to wonder how many more years QD plans on running this quest, assuming we don't make anymore disastrous decisions like the Nowhere incident.

>>1664591
I think some of the stuff going on has been important or has the potential to be important. You're right that it's been a long time since we've seen the OQ much though.

The stuff with the Cluster started out as messing with humans, and turned out to reveal a major pre-existing plotline.

The fight alongside the Confederacy was at least as much an escalation of the fight against the Scavs, and something equally important might fall out of interrogating/adopting the captured Scav matriarch.

That said, the assault on the Smith production facility seems unlikely to have impacts extending beyond our relationship with the Union. But maybe they'll be big ones. Will the corruption be exposed and lead to a major political crisis? Will Killinger go off the deep end and try to make a deal with the Void?

>>1664613
The problem with spending so much time on the union at this point is that it's a total time sink. Now that we've given them the ultimatum on messing with void crystals we've basically got no real further interest in wasting our time on them and their political system. It's not like we're going to gain any significant tech or political pull playing war games with Lee that we couldn't gain much quicker and easier elsewhere. Its just a waste of time.

And while that bit with the cluster was very cool, their very explicit neutrality makes it is very clear that they aren't going to be giving us any sort of aid in our fight. Unless we research their agent on Path they'll probably all go back into hibernation without having any sort of impact on the events beyond Djinn at all. Our dealings with them have certainly illuminated our past but barring a major upset, will have basically no impact on the future. It would be nice to do more to change that ourselves without using our proxies to do immaterial stuff with powers that aren't really relevant to our real end game.

>>1665113
I think you're underestimating the potential of the Union to be important here. Remember that the Union includes more than just humans, but it includes the Valen as well. There are several indications that the Valen may have once been intended to be another slave race for the Void (look at their legends, and remember how their tech somehow allows them to visit the Ceph homeworld?). They probably have capabilities or can allow us access to resources that will be key to the endgame.

The Union also has a big fleet they are actively mobilizing which could eventually become a major asset, and many of the best human scientists. Considering how much we have benefited from Elizabeth's mind alone (even without her augments she would give us a research boost in all probability) there's still a substantial well to be tapped there. We also know nothing about the Canians (the plasma beings who live on stars), and at least some diplomacy with the Union will be helpful in getting us to talk with them. Who knows what tech we might unlock.

The Union could also hold Void cults. The threat to us isn't in the Union military, it's in the underground where corruption can spread to fanatics that could attempt to replicate Nowhere. In that regard having good relations with the Union and connections to the underground (like the terrorists) could be highly useful. If we squash suspected Void cults directly it won't stop them. The old saying is that if you cut out a mans tongue you don't prove him a liar you only prove you fear what he might say. We need operations inside the system to take down potential cults lest we risk drawing more attention to the Void through overt action.

>>1665345
>Remember that the Union includes more than just humans, but it includes the Valen as well.

I never had that impression. They just have strong economic ties, don't they?

>>1665345
While I agree that the union could serve as a great potential, I would disagree with the argument that anything we've been doing on Gemini is helping us acquire them. If we want to get our chitinous claws on peices of exotic technology or the scientists that produce them we should be inflitrating the union's university and industrial worlds. If we want to further our integration into the Valen markets, we should be talking to the unfortunate cuck whale in a dead end job managing trade for that station we're pawning our generators on. Playing personality politics in the heart of the Union beaurocracy takes a massive amount of time (which is at a premium in this quest) for very few returns. If we want something from an alien society we'd be better off doing everything we can to cut out the middlemen running the books on Gemini and dealing with the suppliers directly.

Though I definitely think you're on to something with the idea of using the Valen gate network to get to the Ceph home world. If we run on the assumption that defeating the void gods first requires deatroying every mind they've rooted themselves to, destroying the sole planet their current thralls control should be a primary goal of ours. And the only way we're going to locate that planet without somehow hijacking a void cutter is through the Valen portal network. All it would take is a single implanted Ceph agent to get there, and we could morph him into a chimera with an advanced relay, thereby allowing our fleet to locate it, to deal a fatal blow to the void gods. We could start the end of the war by using the Valen network, make no mistake.

>>1665484
And the Valen are a economic race anon. Think the Union as a investment to then. Also we manage to get acess to Ceph refuges who can be very helpfull to us in the long plan.

About the lack of fight with the OQ. Don't forget that she is scouting, she managed to land her spores into the Union planet hopefully we can talk to cluster, get out and tell the Union about OQ's spores.

>>1665723
>we should be inflitrating the union's university and industrial worlds

Anon darling, weren't you in a few threads ago? We hold one of the Valen most profitable investment. The fucking asteroid field. Also industries and universities need money, both to invest in research or keep themselfs in a market. Don't be mistaken universities is still a business. And the Valen have showed they are deep into the Union economic. So we should be good business partner with the jew whales.

>>1665735
>implying we need an entire society of mute Ceph potentially tainted by the void when we can just make our own

>>1665746
Implying we need money to pay off scientists and academics when we can just adopt them
>implying we would even need to when we could just promise them as many resources as they could possibly need for free
Do you really think scientists like Vaughn or Siener like kissing politicians asses just to get what they need anymore than we do?

>>1665819
Thats a reason that if we go to get specialists,they should be ones taht are driven by a desire to better humanity(and maybe all life),and maybe also a desire for knowledge. Bettering others is more important than desire for knowledge(but still desirable)because it could lead to them getting a bit to curious about the crystals.

>>1665723
What part of "use the parasites judiciously" is escaping you?

In controlled numbers we can use them effectively as an espionage tool, but if we use them to mass infect the populace sooner or later they will be discovered and the Union will go over to the Void out of fear of us.

>>1665723
>All it would take is a single implanted Ceph agent to get there, and we could morph him into a chimera with an advanced relay, thereby allowing our fleet to locate it, to deal a fatal blow to the void gods.

That's extremely dangerous. The reason the OQ was able to take out all the other Queens so quickly is because she corrupted/had access to their advanced relays. If the chimera with our advanced relay is discovered (which is very likely in the Void God's own pocket dimension) we would be completely and utterly fucked. Game over. Thanks for playing. They'd bury the thing in crystals until we're worse off than the OQ is.

However, if we can gain access to the Valen gate technology we may be able to reverse engineer it enough to determine the location of the Ceph homeworld. Of course, given that the Valen gates are their most extremely guarded technology, it would take some serious diplomatic or infiltration chops to successfully gain access to one to study. However, even if we determine it's location it's doubtful destroying the Ceph homeworld will be as easy as merely dropping the planet cracker warhead on it. We might want to consider attempting to pull a Skyl 2.0 with the Ceph. Instead of killing them all we can turn them against their masters. It worked before and we already have inroads into their society through the Ceph rebels and their Valen contacts.

>>1665723
>we should be talking to the unfortunate cuck whale in a dead end job managing trade for that station we're pawning our generators on.
I actually agree with this. That Valen almost certainly has realized that he's buying Hive goods. We are in a very good position to adopt him potentially and learn a great deal about Valen though processes, biology, and secrets. For example, we can tell that Valen we are interested in expanding our business relationship but only if he comes aboard the ship to meet our "suppliers"

We should still continue our outreach at the high levels at well, but I suspect we may only begin making real progress on that front once we know more about Valen psychology and culture overall.

>>1668410
This is good thinking, supporting!

>>1656341
No link to new thread? >>1674718

>>1668410
The OQ did not use crystals or 'corruption' on the other Queens. Crystals wouldn't do shit. She just attached an advanced psionic disruptor to them.

Which the Builder handily defended against with the foresight of having a self-destruct. A healthy paranoia we already emulated.

Attempting to send a Ceph agent smuggling a Thinker that can command the Ceph's parasite to turn him into an egglayer would be fine, as long as the Thinker has it lay an advanced relay with acid glands.

The Ceph already have dissidents, so it's less a matter of turning them against them than creating a local weapons-producing hive to arm the rebels.

And you can't find Cephworld just by reverse engineering the hyper gate alone. You need their micro-gate's address, which is separate information.