>>3117261
With only a single day left before the shakedown cruise begins you’re faced with a terrible reality - Your crew don’t sing as they work! This will simply not do at all. Taking matters into your own hands you disperse your hologram drone and tortoise engineering trolleys throughout the ship to ‘help with preparations’, and slowly have them start to sing old space shanties - Of course really this just means you’re singing about thirty at once alone. Thankfully though it doesn’t take long before a few of the crew catch on and join in, and from there it spreads fairly quickly. The Rhinians sing some in their own language, which is an odd experience given your personal history with their nation - Definitely another thing to add to the ‘would’ve needed a boarding party to do this six centuries ago’ list.

Vital business now dealt with you turn your attention to the issue of the mystery destroyer’s encryption and the fact that Agent Price never got back to you about it. She claimed it would only take a few days, but you’ve heard nothing more about it almost two months later. The implications seem both worrying and obvious, the encryption was never broken, but with these intelligence sorts it's always best to force them to confirm things rather than leave it up in the air. Contacting Price is easy, and you find she’s with a few of the new sensor crew tuning one of the subspace arrays. All it takes is a simple message requesting her presence at a nearby secure briefing room and she departs from the work quickly, heading down the long armored passageways of the Victory to the designated location.

The compartment, previously a small armory, has only been recently refitted for meetings like this but it is still undoubtedly secure - A pair of marines guard the entrance, and as Price arrives she finds your holographic owl avatar floating slightly above the table that dominates the center of the small compartment. The marines quickly seal the compartment as Alice enters, and she takes a seat.

Your owl hoots lightly in greeting, and then begins speaking, “We have much to discuss, Agent Price.”.

“I assume this is about the destroyer’s encryption?”, she responds quickly.

“Quite. Right to the point of it then, are we?”

She nods but looks tense, “I know you’re appreciative of directness, Athena. They haven’t broken it, and they’ve been reluctant to give meaningful updates on their progress.”

“I recall a claim that it would only take a few more days, Agent Price - What exactly is causing the trouble?”, your owl asks while leaning forward slightly giving it a more accusative look.

“The problem isn’t entirely clear, and they’ve been…”, Alice looks a bit uncharacteristically uncomfortable as she speaks, “unhelpful in their clarifications when I pressed the issue. I’ve received several reports with varying estimates over the last month, ranging from a few more days to a year or more.”

>>3117263
“A year?”, you inquire with clear displeasure in your tone, “I must say that I expected better of the Intelligence Service.”

“It’s just pessimist analysts, Athena, gloomy buggers that they are. The worst estimates are almost never true, though I agree that this has been an… unusual occurrence.”, she says with slight hesitation before carrying on, ”There have been a few, admittedly somewhat unreliable, reports of vessels similar to the destroyer being sighted as well, though those just came in this morning.”

How do you proceed?

>I want reports much more frequently, even if you have little useful to put in them Agent Price.
>Press for more information. (Specify)
>Could you get a copy of the data they’re having such an issue with? I’d like to take a crack at it.
>Where did these new sightings occur? Have there been more attacks?
>Ask for more frequent reports but otherwise finish up the meeting quickly, the Intelligence Service can handle whatever mess this is - probably not the place for an old ship AI anyways.
>Write-in.

>>3117264
>Could you get a copy of the data they’re having such an issue with? I’d like to take a crack at it.
>Where did these new sightings occur? Have there been more attacks?
Those plox

>>3117264
Why not put a link to the thread into your tweet?
>Could you get a copy of the data they’re having such an issue with? I’d like to take a crack at it.
>Where did these new sightings occur? Have there been more attacks?

>>3117264
>Could you get a copy of the data they’re having such an issue with? I’d like to take a crack at it.
>Where did these new sightings occur? Have there been more attacks?

Yay! Warship AI Quest is back!

>>3117264
>>Where did these new sightings occur? Have there been more attacks?

The plot thickens, unfortunately I have no idea whether it is a stew or a broth.

“I would greatly appreciate a copy of this data that is giving them so much trouble, Alice, so I might try my own hand at it.”, you inform her, your holographic owl leaning back to a less aggressive stance.

“I’ll try to get a copy, but they’ve been reluctant to release much so far - It might take awhile.”, she answers while reclining slightly in her chair, her tenseness seemingly gone as she gains a bit of that predatory look she had in your previous meetings,

“Do try. And what of these new sightings, where are they?”, you ask, curious as to potentially growing extent of this problem.

“Several ships along the disputed region have reported being shadowed by vessels deep in subspace, and analysis of their long range scans hasn’t fully matched known vessel types.”, she states plainly, “As I said, the reports aren’t the most reliable. Nothing concrete to go off of that shows they’re the same group as the destroyer.”

“I’d like a copy of those scans as well, along with the coordinates they were taken at.”

Alice touches her wrist mounted data-pad a few times before responding, “Done. That should be all of them.”

About a dozen reports, most from earlier in the morning or just the last day or two, enter your mind. A few look like the spotted ships might be drifting wrecks, one is a partial match to an Imperial corvette - You discard these. The others though… There might be something there. A Meridian destroyer on patrol was shadowed through subspace by an unknown vessel, roughly the size of a light cruiser, for almost half a day. When the Meridian ship attempted to confront the vessel and lower to its subspace level the mystery ship simply went deeper - Several such exchanges occurred before the Meridian destroyer could no longer follow without risking severe radiation damage from deep subspace, and the cruiser was already almost out of sensor range by then.

Clearly this one wasn’t a wreck, and cruisers generally can’t dive as far or further than destroyers - Especially not fast enough to almost break sensor contact while being pursued. A few other reports show similar situations, though the mystery vessels are corvette or destroyer sized in these - Several matching each others profiles, suggesting a standardized design perhaps.

>>3117364
“...Could some of these be new Imperial or USR ship classes? That could explain them not matching existing vessels.”, you offer out as a possibility.

Alice shakes her head slightly before speaking, “It’s possible, though we’ve seen no signs of ships like these being constructed. Hiding several new ship classes seems outside of their capabilities, but stranger things have occured.”

How do you proceed?

>I want reports much more frequently, even if you have little useful to put in them Agent Price.
>Press for more information. (Specify)
>These ships must be coming from somewhere, Alice. A corporation perhaps?
>These vessels should be hunted down, they’re in our (disputed) space.
>Finish up the meeting, you’ve got enough to think on for now.
>Write-in.

>>3117273
Didn't think to do it because I'm fucking retarded sometimes, will in the future.

>>3117367
>Press for more information.
The pirates they captured

>These ships must be coming from somewhere, Alice. A corporation perhaps?
>These vessels should be hunted down, they’re in our (disputed) space.

>Write-in.
Could we try a crack at it the code i mean?

>>3117367
>These ships must be coming from somewhere, Alice. A corporation perhaps?

Black ops groups, using extremely hard manufacture Frankenstein ghost ships. probably have base some were scavenging subspace wrecks for parts, would not surprise me. Trying to find a name will be pointless, we need to research what they were after. Try to find a correlation between the targets that get attacked or shadowed.

once we have a rough idea of what they want we can compare that to to people who have the resources and the interest to pull something like this off, they have to get funding from somewhere. Frankenstein are not cheap. we just have to follow the money.

>>3117367
>These ships must be coming from somewhere, Alice. A corporation perhaps?
>Write-in
Prepare to use full power of the Victory toward the computing units in order to break the code. The info may be crucial to understand this dangerous entity that may threaten the ambitions of our new boss.

>>3117386
Pirate info is in the last thread, she already reported on that here >>3102812
She needs to actually get a copy of the code for you to try to break it.

>>3117403
Then if the Intelligence Service need a little "amical incitation" to share the encrypted data...
We may have some levers... like a Princess' voice?

just spitballing here but we may be able to track them by their uniforms, All black naval uniforms have to be produced somewhere. There is a chance they don't produce them on site. You would have to cross reference a lot of orders because it is also unlikely they order from one single place. How ever if you can track a bunch of shipments heading in the same general area you may have a lead on were to find at least one branch of their operation.

>>3117403
What language did they communicate in? Unless its the magical language of English.

>>3117418
The people who hired the pirates spoke in an odd dialect of one of the larger languages spoken in Cathay, though only a few of them actually spoke at all.

>>3117426
racial make up of the crew?

>>3117439
An odd assortment, no dominant group from what the pirates saw. Could have just been the negotiation team though.

>>3117449
what did the lead negotiators look like?

For future reference it's usually a good idea to link to the new thread in the old one if it's still up.
>>3117367
'Is there any information about the bodies crewing that mystery destroyer? If we cannot trace them digitally, then we can examine their genetics to roughly track down where they came from to see if this is a regional effort.

>>3117450
The primary was southern Cathay man, the second looked like he was 'from the commonwealth'. The pirates weren't terribly familiar with the details of foreign ethnic groups, and some even thought the second was Rhinian or Risyan.

>>3117466
It is linked, right above the archive link.

“These ships must be coming from somewhere, Alice. Perhaps a corporation or black ops group? I believe we briefly discussed the possibility before.”, you ask as your owl avatar stretches its wings slightly in an imitation of life.

“Ah yes, the ever elusive corporate boogeyman.”, she says while laughing lightly and crossing her legs as she reclines slightly further, “It seems to be a growing possibility, cheeky as they are. We’ve got feelers out already investigating it, but so far our existing contacts have turned up little we weren’t already aware of. The search continues however, in light of the USR and Imperial’s… limited probability of being the culprits.”

“Still though, ships do not just appear from nothing - Do your best to ensure no details are overlooked, they must be constructed and supplied somewhere.”

Alice smirks as she replies, “Efforts are underway already, a few attempts are being made to find the origin of the ship sections and crew equipment. Good old fashioned sleuth work, though slow as ever.”

“I am pleased to hear it. Are our allies aware of the search?”, you inquire.

“Presently only the Risyans and Rhinians as far as I'm aware, being concerned parties or otherwise alerted.”, she states clearly referring to the rescued scientists with the last bit, “I doubt they’ll turn up anything we can’t, but covering more space never hurt an investigation.”

How do you proceed?

>I want reports much more frequently, even if you have little useful to put in them Agent Price.
>Press for more information. (Specify)
>Any personal theories as to their identities?
>Propose a theory of your own. (Specify)
>These vessels should be hunted down, they’re in our (disputed) space.
>Finish up the meeting, you’ve got enough to think on for now.
>Write-in.

>>3117470
Oh fuck me I'm retarded, I read that as asking for a link to the old thread in the new one. Jesus christ my reading comprehension sometimes.

I'll go post in the old thread now, I guess.

>>3117475
check junkyards or shipbreaking yards. Find ships that meet the specs that were scrapped there and have shady business practices.

>>3117475
>Finish up the meeting, you’ve got enough to think on for now.

we are treading in circles now, nothing we have not already discussed, time to plan for more concrete foes, such as pirate corvettes and how best to lodge 24 inch shells up their engines.

>>3117475
>Write-in
"Could we use the Princess' influence to hasten the cooperation of the unsucessful crackers? I am really eager to try to break the code."

welcome back !

>>3117475
>Finish up the meeting, you’ve got enough to think on for now.

we could speak with other characters under us or with someone else of the crew.
---
we will probably need something for check all the people we have under us, and the people we know.

Are most human settlements planetside or are there space colonies that aren't attached to any given star system?
This could be some sort of nomadic group that's grown large or adept enough for everyone else to finally notice? Especially so if they suddenly got powerful backing or threats to get them in line.

>>3117531
Most settlements are planet/moon side, in close orbit of planets/moons, at planet-star or planet-moon lagrange points, or on/in asteroids. Nomadic peoples and deep space settlements/outposts exist but aren't common, and independent ones are rarely wealthy.

It's definitely an interesting possibility though, the galaxy is a huge place.

>>3117483
>>3117484
>>3117500
>>3117512
Also, need a little more consensus.

>>3117540
I'm personally thinking the equivalent of marooned survivors of old ship battles that don't know the way back or have engines to take them there. It seems like we're one of the better shipwrecks from that old battle. Eventually they live long enough that they go native and the slapdash ethnic groups,dialects, and ship design (including being able to survive so deep in subspace) is a natural result of having to do so(and scavenging) in order to survive. The big unknown is their motivations now that they can reach "civilized" space.
This is 99% a crazy theory at this point, but it was fun to think up with the tiny little bit of data we had.

>>3117540
Have a go at the code and stop by some shipyards if they are on our patrols.

>>3117606
>>3117540
Going with finishing up the meeting, to keep things moving along. If Price gets a copy of the code you'll be able to take a crack at it.

A few wild theories pass through your thoughts, and you’re quite eager to give breaking the encryption a try, but for now the conversation largely looks to be finished and on its way to going in circles. You finish up over the next minute and dismiss Price - It was a quick meeting but you’ve learned a good deal. Over the next few hours you examine and re-examine the remaining reports you were given more closely, looking for patterns in the ships that were being shadowed. A few were subspace research vessels, but the vast bulk were armed merchants or navy ships - No clear relationship between the groups emerged beside the existence of armament, though the research vessels seem fairly obviously similar to Karolin’s expedition… Their research, from what you can find, is more mundane though and mostly relates to surveying wrecks and shifts in subspace currents.

This is all going to take more time and data, both of which you’re currently quite short on - Final preparations for the shakedown cruise are beginning and your assistance is needed throughout the Victory. The rest of the day is a blur of work as systems are tuned and calibrated, crew are brought up to speed on their various duties unique to a vessel like the Victory, and final safety checks are made.

Eventually the hour arrives, and the Victory slowly leaves her berth in the repair yard - Maneuvering and docking thrusters taking her enormous hull out gently before the new Rhinian primary drive clusters are activated. They thrum to life without issue, and slowly flare to a bright white as you pull to a safe distance away from the docks and then eventually out of the academy moon’s wider security perimeter. A few press vessels watch as the Victory flies past, though judging by their reactions they’re surprised and largely unprepared for the occasion - At least some secrets can be kept!

The Victory is now beginning it’s shakedown cruise, and your crew is ready to test her limits - You have all of the supplies needed for the tests, including target drones. How do you proceed?

>Get a bit of privacy and check out the warp drive. Perform a series of semi-random jumps and then head to an uninhabited system.
>Flank speed, Chief Jacobs! Lets see what sort of acceleration the Victory can handle now.
>Have Commander Chapman call up some target drones, and prepare for weapons tests.
>Inform a departing patrol of your intentions and attempt to trail them with long range sensors while they attempt evasion.
>An unholy combination of all of the above. Lets test those new reactors out.
>Call up another house vessel to assist in the tests (specify, info in previous thread).
>Write-In.

>>3117710
>An unholy combination of all of the above. Lets test those new reactors out.
>Call up another house vessel to assist in the tests

>>3117726
This, if we are the test bed of a brand new fleet doctrine pushing ourselves to the limit is a good idea to make sure we don't encounter problems later.

>>3117710
>>An unholy combination of all of the above. Lets test those new reactors out.
>>Call up another house vessel to assist in the tests

the Orange, i would love to say the Wagga Wagga but it s an old ship.

>>3117710
>>Get a bit of privacy and check out the warp drive. Perform a series of semi-random jumps and then head to an uninhabited system.
This will give us the privacy for all tests after as well. Let's not stress things too heavily yet, this is what a shakedown is for.

>>3117710
Change this
>>3117753
To
>Flank speed, Chief Jacobs! Lets see what sort of acceleration the Victory can handle now.

>>3117710
>An unholy combination of all of the above. Lets test those new reactors out.

>>3117787
>>3117766
>>3117729
>>3117726
Need more consensus, and specific ships to be picked for assistance if chosen like >>3117753 did before changing votes.

>>3117811
Orange is good

>>3117810
Pfff, of course another vote comes in three seconds before I post.

>>3117818
>>3117810
>>3117811

Going with Unholy combination and Orange accompanying.

I need rolls of 5d100, best of three for each category will be taken.

Rolls are for warp drive, sublight drive, gunnery, sensors, and reactor in that order.

Relevant bonuses from good/bad design rolls and specialized crew will be accounted for on my end.

Rolled 2, 35, 96, 97, 37 = 267 (5d100)

>>3117825

Rolled 40, 8, 27, 40, 45 = 160 (5d100)

>>3117825

Rolled 2, 79, 48, 94, 31 = 254 (5d100)

>>3117825

Rolled 54, 58, 46, 3, 76 = 237 (5d100)

>>3117825

Rolled 24, 5, 53, 31 = 113 (4d100)

>>3117852
>>3117856
>>3117827
40, 79, 96, 97, 45.
Interesting results. Writing.
Might take a bit to get the update done, lot of stuff to cover.

>>3117871
Looks like average sublight, shitty warp drive and reactor, and excellent gunnery and sensors.

>>3117891
>excellent gunnery and sensors.
This is subpar! It will not stand! We must fix this at once!

Doing things slowly might be somewhat safer but a proper space trial is supposed to test the very limits of a ship’s capability! You waste no time in relaying the information to your crew, informing them to prepare for rigorous testing - To their credit they seem enthusiastic to get right into the thick of things. Commander Chapman helps handle much of the detail work, giving commands to the rest of the bridge crew who in turn help direct large sections of the ship. As they work you contact the Orange, a house fleet light cruiser currently in system, and request they tag along for the trials - Many ships were on standby for such a request, and the Orange’s commanding officer Captain Burke quickly accepts. Making a quick stop at an arming station to load up on dummy torpedoes and target drones the cruiser begins heading to the designated rendezvous point.

The Victory, pushing its sublight engines to their limits, darts across space near Meridia and makes a speedy rendezvous with the Orange. Shockingly your acceleration seems to be about equal to that of the light cruiser! The smaller vessel pulls close alongside steadily, it’s sleek form dwarfed by the massive bulk of the Victory, and you receive a surprised hail from Captain Burke.

“Crikey, Victory! Bit brisk there, aren’t ya?”

Your Athena avatar smirks smugly on the bridge of the Orange, “Just putting the old girl through her paces, Captain. Is your vessel ready to jump to warp?”

“Aye, drive’s spooled and coordinates are received and loaded. Ready as we’ll ever be, Victory.”, he responds confidently.

You send the signal to make the jumps, and both ships launch into a series of rapid semi-random FTL hops that take you just beyond the edge of Canberra and then to a slightly distant uninhabited star system. The Victory seems to handle the rapid jumps better than the Orange, and arrives with slightly greater accuracy, but spooling time and speed while at warp leave a bit to be desired when compared to the numbers promised by the initial design - Karolin is going to have some improvements to make, it seems. The Orange arrives first at the uninhabited system Tanami, but the Victory is only about ten minutes behind. Sensors managed to keep contact with the cruiser the whole way however, which is quite promising.

>>3118032
As soon as you arrive in system your bridge crew immediately begin calling out torpedo contacts - It seems Burke decided to start the point defense checks with a bit of surprise! Two dozen dummy torpedoes hurtle toward the Victory from medium range, several diving into subspace while others form sophisticated attack formations and attempt to baffle your sensors with ECM. Your tertiary armament, under the careful guidance of Commander Chapman and Henry’s handpicked gunnery crew, perform well - The fire control system though, designed for fighting capital ships, clearly struggles to deal with the swarm of tiny targets but the skilled crew and your new XO more than make up the difference. A flood of crimson beam fire meets the torpedoes in both real and subspace, the new nav-shield adapters being put to good use, and in the end only three of the tin fish manage to impact the Victory. Two hit along the belt amidships, scratching the paint slightly, and the other impacts one of the primary gun turrets crumpling harmlessly against its massive slablike armor. All of the hits would have been easily survivable in a real combat and left little or no damage.

Your crew has no time to celebrate however as you opt to keep the pressure up - Target drones are launched from the Victory’s aft hangar bay and the Orange, and they disperse across space and unfold extending sections to roughly match the sensor signatures of proper warships. You control the drones personally, doing your best to evade the Victory’s gunfire with skillful maneuvering, and two flights of simulated attack craft are even sortied against the ship.

...Your best efforts however quickly prove to be fruitless, the crew tracking and dispatching the drones with a mix of primary and secondary beam fire - Even an asteroid you guide one of the drones behind provides no real protection from the 24-inch guns which simply punch cleanly through both sides of it. The simulated attack craft are intercepted by your Starfires led in two formations by Ivanova and Immelman, and most are quickly rendered into flaming wrecks hurtling through space by deadly accurate missile and coilgun fire. The very few that escape the fighters are dispatched by your tertiary armament and a pair of stardart missiles in another show of absolute overkill as half foot wide holes melt through them with each hit, and the two armor-piercing stardarts simply plow through the drones they hit lengthwise without even slowing down. Your crew are clearly in top form, and the sensors are performing well, but the fire control system still provides a bit of trouble - It handles the larger simulated ships adequately, but it is again only the crew that keeps the Victory performing as it does otherwise.

>>3118033
Over the next half day you play a game of cat and mouse throughout Tanami with the Orange, trying to maintain sensor contact as it attempts to evade you and fighting off simulated attacks by drones and dummy torpedoes - Eventually though the stock of spares begins running out, and it’s clear by that point that the Victory is alarmingly capable of tracking and running down even a modern light cruiser.

Overall the test seems to be very promising, the reactors very easily handling the strain of simulated combat despite a few worrying hiccups that Chief Jacobs resolved with the help of Karolin. Those odd subspace crystal reactors still unnerve you a bit but their power output is every bit as great as Karolin promised - The energy grid is able to operate at maximum capacity nonstop, though there is still an enormous amount of energy produced that is left unharnessed.

The Victory and the Orange, now in orbit around a small rocky moon of a large red gas giant, rest a bit while maintenance is performed on both ships to patch some of the wear the strenuous testing caused.

How do you proceed?

>Head back to Meridia as soon as maintenance is completed.
>...Actually the closest sighting of those mystery ships is only half a week away, we should check that out.
>Chief Jacobs is a bit worried about over stressing the reactor and guns but Karolin wants to try ‘supercharging’ the 24-inch cannons. ...And that moon is right there, just asking to get shot.
>Continue trials of more mundane systems over the next week in Tanami. Finding out the space toilets break after five days of use would be very embarrassing on a combat mission.
>The fighters performed well, but who is the best? Order a simulated combat between the Rhinians and Risyans with test munitions.
>Speak with the crew, or Elizabeth. She seems to be thrilled by the test results, for whatever it matters.
>Write-in.

>>3118035
>Supercharge cannons
>SHOOT THE MOON

>>3118035
>Chief Jacobs is a bit worried about over stressing the reactor and guns but Karolin wants to try ‘supercharging’ the 24-inch cannons. ...And that moon is right there, just asking to get shot.
>Continue trials of more mundane systems over the next week in Tanami. Finding out the space toilets break after five days of use would be very embarrassing on a combat mission.

>>3118035
>>Chief Jacobs is a bit worried about over stressing the reactor and guns but Karolin wants to try ‘supercharging’ the 24-inch cannons. ...And that moon is right there, just asking to get shot.
big guns best guns
>>Continue trials of more mundane systems over the next week in Tanami. Finding out the space toilets break after five days of use would be very embarrassing on a combat mission.
it's the little things that get you sometimes. shakedowns aren't only about combat checks.

>>3118035
>>3118044
>>3118050
These guys get it, also, >>3118042 "THAT'S NO MOON... that's target practice."

>>3118035
>>Chief Jacobs is a bit worried about over stressing the reactor and guns but Karolin wants to try ‘supercharging’ the 24-inch cannons. ...And that moon is right there, just asking to get shot.
>>Continue trials of more mundane systems over the next week in Tanami. Finding out the space toilets break after five days of use would be very embarrassing on a combat mission.

>>3118035
>>Chief Jacobs is a bit worried about over stressing the reactor and guns but Karolin wants to try ‘supercharging’ the 24-inch cannons. ...And that moon is right there, just asking to get shot.
>>Continue trials of more mundane systems over the next week in Tanami. Finding out the space toilets break after five days of use would be very embarrassing on a combat mission.

File: SUPERCHARGE.gif (3.95 MB, 480x270)

3.95 MB GIF

>>3118056
>>3118050
>>3118044
>>3118042
>>3118059
>>3118061

If only Edward had been here for such an occasion. Target the moon, prepare single reactor ignition.

1d100, best of three.

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>3118067

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>3118067
We better have safety rails there though, or I'm gonna be miffed.

File: sweating profusely.png (62 KB, 278x284)

62 KB PNG

>>3118070
>>3118071

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>3118067

>>3118075
>>3118071
>>3118070
Oh that could've been really bad.

it's ok, this is why we do shakedowns, see?

Next time someone ask do due weird sciencey stuff to our cannons we say no.

Supercharging the guns sounds very interesting, and Karolin has done extensive work on beam weaponry in the past - Could this be related? You decide to go ahead with her plan and inform her of your approval. Jacobs looks disappointed but goes along with the effort without complaining, doing his best to prepare for whatever madness Lasker has cooked up.

The largest mountain on the moon is targeted, about the size of Everest on ancient earth, and the two operational primary turrets of the Victory swing into place and align their guns - Interestingly Karolin has them aligned in such a way that their beam fire will intersect at a single point a few hundred miles before impact.

Your worries begin as non-essential systems are shutdown, and all available energy grid capacity is dedicated to powering the 24-inch guns. Your worries grow larger as Karolin tunes their magnetic fields to a bizarre non-standard setting, optimizing them for what she calls ‘catastrophic annihilation’. Oh, this doesn’t seem good at all.

“Athena, the cannons are ready! I did my best to tune them, but they aren’t quite the right design for this - I’m confident it will still work however!”, she yells out over the comms from inside of primary turret #2, her voice drowned out somewhat by the sound of the main batteries finishing adjusting their aim.


Uh huh. “...Commence single reactor ignition, Karolin. Henry, you may fire when ready.”

>>3118134
Lights across the ship black out and several sections of the power grid overload… But the guns do manage to fire. Their beams, a far brighter crimson than normal, bolt out at frightening speed and impact at the designated point, though one misses due to slight misalignment, and they coalesce into a single enormous ball(!) of energy which then launches toward the moon. Visual sensors are overloaded as impact occurs, and debris clutter the data of the other scanners. A minute later as the dust begins to settle you find that about a fifth of the mountain no longer exists - Massive chunks of cooling rock that used to comprise it are hurtling out into low orbit however.

Karolin curses and mutters under her breath while making a few calculations on her data-pad, though the rest of the crew lets out sighs of relief, “Alignment significantly off, efficiency reduction of 67%... Non-optimal magnetic containment… Half normal gun compliment… Insufficient energy grid capacity...”

You leave her to whatever it is she’s figuring out as she shows no sign of slowing down, and check in with Jacobs.

“Chief, how is the Victory holding up?”, you ask with a somewhat worried tone.

He sounds a bit annoyed but still confident, “Power grid took a nasty hit but she’s operational, ma’am. Nothing we can’t fix with a few days pulling double shifts.”

Oof. The engineers will probably remember that, long hours caused by foolishness are hard to forget. With little choice left, and opting for a more conservative path now anyways, you choose to spend the rest of the week performing more mundane tests of ship systems. It’s a good thing too, as it turns out the crew quarters didn’t quite get the full attention they needed in the refit - a number of minor systems humans seem to value greatly, like climate control and functioning showers, seem to have chronic issues that will need to be sorted out back in dock.

How do you proceed?
>Fucks sake, right back to dock it is!
>You should speak with some people first (specify).
>Dr. Lasker I really need some answers, what the hell was that?
>Write-in.

>>3118138
>>Fucks sake, right back to dock it is!
>>Dr. Lasker I really need some answers, what the hell was that?

>>3118138
>Fucks sake, right back to dock it is!
>Dr. Lasker I really need some answers, what the hell was that?
A man can only go so far without good air conditioning and a hot shower.

>>3118138
>>Fucks sake, right back to dock it is!
>>Dr. Lasker I really need some answers, what the hell was that?

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

>>3118143
>>3118141
Support

>>3118166
>>3118159
>>3118143
>>3118141
Going with that then. Next post will be tomorrow, my energy grid is overloaded and requires repair.

>>3118174
Roger that, have a good one QM.

>>3118174
I wonder why we're using 600-years-old missile designs. Not only should they be inferior to the modern ones, there should be no industry geared to produce them in the first place. Who will make our ammo, and how much will it cost without the economy of scale?

>>3118295
The US still uses big floppy disk for its remaining cold war silos, oh yeah the same missiles too. You be surprised what stuff is still used, hell the M2 browning is going to be around long after you and me have turned to dust.

>>3118174
Good Night QM!

>>3118299
It was said explicitly the missiles Victory uses aren't produced anymore.

>>3118323
Not produced anymore, does not dry up supply. During desert storm The US dropped METRIC FUCKTONS of aircraft ordinance left over from Vietnam. This is probably the same situation. Yes they are not made anymore, but every faction probably has several stockpiles of these things from back when the war was super hot, just lying around not being used.

So they gave them to us because:
(A). its much cheaper to arm us with leftovers than the latest and greatest experiential shit, on top of an already experimental ship
(B). They are outdated, but they work and all the kinks have long been worked out, teething problems are huge, and we are already suffering from some of them.
(C). By giving us these rounds for target practice and pirate hunting, they can get some use out of old shit, free up space for new shit, and not worry about having to find another way to get rid of old shit.
(D). Firing a torpedo is less expensive then trying to salvage it. that just the way it is, and they probably having some kind of system bolted onto them like the JDAM system in real life to make them effective enough. Close enough counts, especially with high explosives.

But now I am just rambling.

>>3118332
What kind of stockpile would last 600 years?
Munitions degrade. They degrade quickly. They become dangerous when degraded.

Also your points A and B don't make any sense. Do you think there weren't any newer non-experimental missiles with kinks worked out for six fucking centuries?

>>3118342
Well then this might be a situation of "Don't stare at the cracks are they might get bigger." the setting is written by one guy, so they're are bound to be inconsistencies

Or

These "Stardarts" are not the same as the ones we used. it might be the same thing a how a STINGER A does not equal a STINGER C launcher. we might have used the "Stardart mk2" while the ones we launched are " Stardart mk 7".

>>3118348
Christ almighty that is some fine word salad by me, need to get into the habit of rereading my shit before I post it.

I Have binge read this whole quest in one night...what have I done.

>>3118382
If you think that's a feat try binging Sworn to Valor in one go, you'll never make it out alive.

Welcome though

>>3118138
>Fucks sake, right back to dock it is!

>>3118389
>Binge watch the first part of the quest being argued over by an autistic mongoloid and several anons of differing factions who just want to get the show on the road with a couple of based Anons in the background who are producing proper content for each house's crest.
I mean I guess he can read that. Although he'd probably be much better off reading Black Company Quest, at least there's some feels and some good combat in there.

>>3118473
Yeah the start was a hilarious shit show but it's got promise. He should only read BCQ if he wants to die of depression honestly

File: gray_death_legion_assassi(...).png (767 KB, 847x1032)

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>>3118485
Meh, I read the entire thing and thought it was okay. Then again I'm the kind of guy that can sit through a depressing movie and bitch about the camerawork so your mileage may vary on that one.

>>3118342
Lets pretend they had a "long peace" or something

Or we intentionally misread it as 300 years.

>>3118342
Future tech + intergalactic kingdoms

Having given things a few days to settle down while more mundane tests occur you contact Karolin to question her about the supercharging incident. Using the Victory’s internal cameras you find that she’s helping some engineers who are trying to locate the source of some of the issues the warp drive sustained on the jumps out of Canberra, though it doesn’t look like they’re having much success. You call her off to the side and speak to her with your drone, and immediately set about trying to figure out how she blew up a mountain.

As with all lengthy technical conversations with Karolin you quickly find yourself in need of further study on several different complex subjects, which you set aside for later learning in the back of your mind. As best as you can make sense of it all the steps involved were thus:

1) Tweak magnetic containment fields of the primary cannons to allow for continuous beam output rather than a momentary burst.
2) Disable safety regulators and non-essential systems and allow for slightly beyond proofing level energy flow to the guns - This part doesn’t make you happy, that could’ve very easily blown them out and getting replacements is almost impossible.
3) Adjust field-jacketing to allow for ‘point accumulation’ of the beams.
4) If timed correctly the beams will coalesce into a single larger beam and continue on to hit their target - The sphere forming actually surprised her, and apparently caused a massive drop in destructive capability.
5) Upon impact the full power of several seconds of continuous output from multiple cannons, rather than a quick burst, produces small but meaningful amounts of anti-matter(!) which in turn annihilates the target area.

...In the end you’re left wondering if this sort of attack is even useful in a real conflict or if it’s just an extremely dangerous scientific curiosity. Karolin remains hopeful that with improved safety equipment, energy grid upgrades, and properly modified guns ‘supercharging’ could be a viable orbital attack method to destroy entire underground facilities at once, or perhaps even trigger apocalyptic volcanic activity. You allow her to return to her work on the warp drive, which seems far less likely to kill everyone aboard your ship, and depart.

After a few more days of testing systems you head back to Canberra with the Orange and dock the Victory once again above the academy moon - Quite a bit of work will need to be done to work out the bugs you’ve found, especially in the fire-control systems and crew quarters, but in general the Victory performed very well.

>>3118653
How do you proceed?

>Help out with the fixes for awhile, vital ship systems come first.
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!
>Look into getting replacements for the Stardarts and more of your weapon loadout restored ...You don’t have funding for it currently though, so that might be problematic.
>The Kitakami is back in system, maybe you should meet its AI?
>Speak with another character or part of the crew (Specify).
>Write-in.

>>3118654
>Help out with the fixes for awhile, vital ship systems come first.

unfuck the ship first

>The Kitakami is back in system, maybe you should meet its AI?

talk to people on your level is healthy for mental health.

>>3118654
>Help out with the fixes for awhile, vital ship systems come first.
We are AI we can multi task
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!
MULTI TASK!
>Look into getting replacements for the Stardarts and more of your weapon loadout restored ...You don’t have funding for it currently though, so that might be problematic.
Put the order out now and then it will be ready when we come back. Use credit if we can.

>>3118654
>Help out with the fixes for awhile, vital ship systems come first.

>>3118654
>Help out with the fixes for awhile, vital ship systems come first.
Then
>The Kitakami is back in system, maybe you should meet its AI?

Can we also find a way to unfuck the Crew Quarters problems with the Air Con and Running Water ASAP at the docks? Because I want our crew at full efficiency.

>>3118670
>>3118665
>>3118662
>>3118661
Fixes first. Lets see how useful you can make yourself.
1d100, best of three.

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>3118678
CLANG!

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>3118678

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>3118678
Oh boy.

>>3118682
>>3118680
>>3118679
Showers only need ice cold water, right?

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>3118678
>>3118679
>>3118680
>>3118682
What the fuck have the rolls been lately?

>>3118682
>>3118680
>>3118679
"Local AI attempts to help. Makes problem worse!"

File: oh lordy lord.png (611 KB, 805x516)

611 KB PNG

>>3118679
>>3118680
>>3118682
>>3118687

That overcharge burned out some of our processors and created a break bottle neck somewhere.

We also need a physical body to do most of the repairs needed. Have to rely on meat bags.

>>3118653
besides disabling the safeties (which wasn't really needed anyway), I could see that working with more tweaking.

>>3118679
>>3118680
>>3118682
that's.. suboptimal, but at least it's minor stuff.

Over the next few days you attempt to help your crew work out a few of the bugs in the Victory’s systems. At first the progress is promising, with the warp drive receiving a few tweaks that should help in the future, but things quickly turn sour after that. Your attempts to assist in fixing the crew quarters showers and climate control results in something only the Risyan small craft crews seem to like - Everything is ice fucking cold, and some areas even frost over creating a rather nasty slip hazard. At the insistence of Chief Jacobs and the rest of engineering you decided to let them handle the situations, humans probably knowing more about their own comfort than you do. At least the whole mess looked quite festive, winter celebrations being only about a week away…

How do you proceed?

>Oh god, I haven’t gotten anyone gifts! (Specify gift ideas).
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!
>Look into getting replacements for the Stardarts and more of your weapon loadout restored ...You don’t have funding for it currently though, so that might be problematic.
>The Kitakami as been back in system for a few days, maybe you should meet its AI?
>Speak with another character or part of the crew (Specify).
>Write-in.

>>3118711
>>The Kitakami as been back in system for a few days, maybe you should meet its AI?
We can commiserate about how picky the meatbags are about the oddest things.

>>3118711
>Look into getting replacements for the Stardarts and more of your weapon loadout restored ...You don’t have funding for it currently though, so that might be problematic.
I also want gifts but have no ideas.

File: christmas soap.jpg (56 KB, 570x432)

56 KB JPG

>>3118711
Oh god, I haven’t gotten anyone gifts! (Specify gift ideas).

Christmas soap! to make up for borking the showers, Its fitting and functional!

>>3118711
>Oh god, I haven’t gotten anyone gifts! (Specify gift ideas).
SOAP AND COMFY AS HELL BLANKETS!
>The Kitakami as been back in system for a few days, maybe you should meet its AI?

Taking my vicious attack doggo on a walk, it'll be a bit till the next post.

>>3118711
>Oh god, I haven’t gotten anyone gifts! (Specify gift ideas).
Soap and chocolate bars, make sure to label em correctly.

>The Kitakami as been back in system for a few days, maybe you should meet its AI?

>>3118711
>Oh god, I haven’t gotten anyone gifts! (Specify gift ideas).
Festive soap.
>The Kitakami as been back in system for a few days, maybe you should meet its AI?
Discuss festive soap, and other things.

>>3118711
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!

Guys can you stop ignoring treasure map?!

>>3118783
No! We have important things like buying Soap and Comfy Blankets!

>>3118783
>need to crack the encryption
>The best computers the spooks had can't do it and they have intel AI, But sure and ageing warship AI will somehow be able to do it.
>I don't think getting shot at by men in black wannabes counts as "Treasure." but sure lets go waltzing into hostile unknowns on fucking shakedown.

We just got the Victory back to okay condition, How about you stop rushing off to fight better equipped enemies?

>>3118789
If we don't throw in snacks or chocolate in there then we will leave on pirate adventures!

>>3118711
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!
Lets get some bountys befor upgrading

>>3118789
Implying cracking puzzles mid winter under virtual blanket near virtual fire place isn't the comfiest thing ever
>>3118798
>The best computers the spooks had can't do it and they have intel AI, But sure and ageing warship AI will somehow be able to do it.
>they have intel AI
You sure about that? I must have missed it.
> But sure and ageing warship AI will somehow be able to do it.
Different perspective? You heard about it?
>I don't think getting shot at by men in black wannabes counts as "Treasure." but sure lets go waltzing into hostile unknowns on fucking shakedown.
That's the spirit!
>We just got the Victory back to okay condition, How about you stop rushing off to fight better equipped enemies?
What better equipped enemies? Name one

>>3118894
That does sound super comfy.

File: Tametomo.jpg (379 KB, 1115x1600)

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Realizing the holidays are just around the corner, and in a slight panic over it, you order some speciality holiday soap, blankets advertised as ‘Meridia’s comfiest’, and some chocolates - You might need to work on getting some better gifts later, but this should at least keep you from seeming rude. At least you hope it does, gift giving might have changed a lot over the years.... Oh well, no point dwelling on it for too long.

Vital gift acquisitions handled you decided to contact the Kitakami, hailing it and requesting a meeting with it’s AI Tametomo. The request is accepted, and your Athena avatar appears in a… very odd AI core compartment, a few meters across from Tametomo’s holographic archer avatar. The area resembles an Imperial martial arts dojo more than an AI compartment, and the few visible memory banks and processing clusters blend in very well with the decorations and are heavily recessed into pillars and bulkheads. Tametomo’s avatar bows, which throws you off a bit, and yours gives a slight curtsy in return - You’re not entirely sure about how Imperial etiquette works but he doesn’t seem displeased by the display. Basic greetings and pleasantries are exchanged somewhat awkwardly, and you quickly get the impression that Tametomo is more or less walking on eggshells with you, taking immense care to be respectful. You’re used to people being a bit awed by your presence but this is a little much, six hundred years his elder or not.

How do you proceed?
>Tell him he can relax, you’re not going to bite his head off for a slight misstep.
>Perhaps a nice wargame would relax him, that used to be a good way to get to know other AI.
>Continue awkwardly trying to go along with whatever this is, maybe you can still get something out of it.
>Oh for fucks sake, open more comms channels and get down to business. This is going to take forever otherwise. (Specify questions)
>Write-in.

>>3118901
>Perhaps a nice wargame would relax him, that used to be a good way to get to know other AI.

>>3118901
>Perhaps a nice wargame would relax him, that used to be a good way to get to know other AI.
shogi, go or mahjong we will whoop that weeb ass

>>3118901
>>Perhaps a nice wargame would relax him, that used to be a good way to get to know other AI.

>>3118901
>Perhaps a nice wargame would relax him, that used to be a good way to get to know other AI

something to save us from this disaster.

>>3118901
>>Perhaps a nice wargame would relax him, that used to be a good way to get to know other AI.

You propose the idea of a round or two of a wargame, which judging by a slight pause in his response he’s nervous about - Still though he accepts. A few possibilities flicker through your mind, and you take a few seconds to choose, but eventually you settle on...

>The latest Pretannian fleet action warsim.
>A missile defense sim. He’s a torpedo cruiser AI and you could honestly use some practice against a good opponent.
>Go. You’re not exactly familiar with it but it seems simple, how hard could it really be?
>Five-dimensional subspace chess, a Pretannian classic.
>Write-in.

>>3118975
>>Five-dimensional subspace chess, a Pretannian classic.

>>3118975
>>Five-dimensional subspace chess, a Pretannian classic.

I'm surprised we didn't go to bond with the princess about how we were actually the one to mess up instead of her.

>>3118990
Nothing stopping you from doing that later.

>>3118975
>The ancient old earth classic Battleship

>>3118996
I'll do you one better Monopoly

>>3118975
>The latest Pretannian fleet action warsim.

>>3118975
>A missile defense sim. He’s a torpedo cruiser AI and you could honestly use some practice against a good opponent.

>>3118984
>>3118990
>>3118996
>>3119002
>>3119004
>>3119010
5-d chess: 2
Battleship: 1
Fucking monopoly: 1
Warsim: 1
Missile sim: 1

Truly a debate for the ages.

>>3118975
>Five-dimensional subspace chess, a Pretannian classic.

Rolled 9, 61 = 70 (2d100)

>>3119029
>>3118990
>>3118984
Subspace chess it is.
d100, best of three.

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>3119041
But can AI into Chess?

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>3119041

File: 1544155505690.gif (631 KB, 500x493)

631 KB GIF

>>3119044
>>3119046

File: 90ddf156bbf752e719081b6e0(...).gif (60 KB, 434x434)

60 KB GIF

>>3119054
Unless a third player shows up it's gonna be that we can't into chess.

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>3119041

>>3119066
welp its official, we are brainlets when it comes to chess

>>3119069
600 years definitely put a crick or two in our metaphorical brainpan.

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>3119069
Looks like our insecurities about being obsolete are going to start flaring up.

oh hey... were back, just in time to get our shit pushed in at chess.

It's me or the Dice God is not with us today?

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>3119041
Guse we should have played the sim

Rolled 88, 61, 61, 67, 21, 3, 48, 90, 84, 98, 91, 35, 96, 25, 85, 61, 72, 62, 92, 50 = 1290 (20d100)

Clearly we need to flush the bad dice out and renew the sacrifices to the dice gods. Let's see if this helps.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

Ok I've sacrificed a neckbeard for the dice gods. This next roll will determine our future rolling luck

>>3119243
Not bad.

Also fucking hell that down time yesterday was horrible.

You choose five-dimensional subspace chess - In the past you were quite skilled at it. You’re a bit rusty now but surely strategies couldn’t have advanced too far, right?

They have.

You lose very badly. Every part of Tametomo’s game is superior, from his opening onward he quickly dominates the board at all time points and locations. Despite being very respectful he shows absolutely no mercy, and your three Emperors are captured in shockingly few moves.

“A rematch perhaps, Athena?”, he offers up at the end of the game.

Your anxieties about obsolescence are flaring up a bit from this, you hadn’t expected to be so thoroughly trounced by a five year old AI - Of course with your memories as they are in a way you’re barely even a few months old… An odd thought.

>Try your hand at another game, you’ve seen how he plays now. That should help… right?
>Oh god, I’m obsolete!
>You’re feeling embarrassed, perhaps a different game (See previous list).
>Uh, no, I’m fine. Good show! How about those… (Quickly change topic, specify)
>Write-in.

>>3119249
>That was embarrassing. How did you do that? I was like you were replaying a match you had already seen.

>>3119249
>>Oh god, I’m obsolete!
>>You’re feeling embarrassed, perhaps a different game (See previous list).
>The latest Pretannian fleet action warsim.

>>3119258
Supporting.

>>3119249
>Oh god I'm obsolete!
>Rematch, pay attention and learn the new strategies.

“...Well, that was a bit embarrassing.”, you admit sheepishly, “How did you do that? It was like you were replaying a match you had already seen.”

“I studied your playing style when I arrived in system, a game seemed inevitable.”, he answers simply, his avatar shrugging a little and looking ever so slightly pleased.

Well, that would explain a few things at least. Learning your playing style couldn’t have been a quick task, and a game certainly wasn’t an inevitability… or was it? Just what did he figure out about you, are you really so predictable?

“Did I really just play in the same way?”, you ask, anxieties over obsolescence continuing to bother you.

His avatar shakes its head slightly, “No, you actually played worse than you used to. It threw me off at first, but I would just chalk it up to being out of practice.”

Well, at least he’s speaking less formally now. Mission accomplished. This isn’t quite what you were expecting though, defeat even in a game has never sat well with you and his frankness stings slightly.

How do you proceed?

>Accept the rematch. Old AI can learn new tricks, right?
>A different game then. (Specify)
>Move onto other topics, the game was just a means to an end. (Specify)
>Write-in.

>>3119287
>Accept the rematch. Old AI can learn new tricks, right?

>>3119287
>>Accept the rematch. Old AI can learn new tricks, right?

>>3119287

>Accept the rematch. Old AI can learn new tricks, right?

>>3119287
>>Accept the rematch. Old AI can learn new tricks, right?

Rolled 77, 83 = 160 (2d100)

>>3119297
>>3119291
>>3119289
>>3119299
d100, best of three.

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>3119303
hoping to not suck this time.

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>3119303
Nat 100

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>3119303

Ok well this looks like it's going to go a lot better. I just wonder how far RAM and storage and all that computer shit has advanced in 600 years and how obsolete we are in those regards. AI themselves have been pretty stagnant but the hardware they use?

“A rematch then, now that a bit of practice has been had.”, you state accepting his challenge, your avatar adopting a more determined look.

“Of course,” he answers while his avatar swipes it’s longer left arm causing the holographic boards to reset, “Though it may take more than a single game to get readjusted, I will probably win again.”

...You’re not entirely sure if that is just more innocent frankness or blatant cockiness.

The game begins quickly, and from the opening it is clear it won’t be resolved nearly as simply as the last one - You’re adapting your playing style to counter his far more aggressively, using every trick of play you can think of to get some sort of an advantage. The game lasts almost twice as long as the first one, and ends in a extremely narrow loss to Tametomo proving his statement to be true.

“A much improved showing, Athena. You’re as skilled as I had hoped.”, he says with his voice betraying just a touch a of enthusiasm.

You’re feeling less self conscious, your pride still hurt ever so slightly but not nearly so badly as before. How do you proceed?


>As you had hoped, Tametomo?
>...Another game. Defeat is unacceptable!
>Write-in.

Apologies for slow and smaller updates.

>>3119335
>As you had hoped?

Let's pray anons are mature enough to not insist on playing until they win.

HAHAHA who am I kidding

>>3119335
>>As you had hoped, Tametomo?

>>3119335
>>As you had hoped, Tametomo?

>>3119335
>>As you had hoped, Tametomo?

>>3119335
>As you had hoped, Tametomo?

>>3119335
>As you had hoped, Tametomo?
>How about a different game?
I'm thinking either that missile command stuff or Monopoly.

“As you had hoped, Tametomo?”, you inquire. Just how much has he learned about you?

“The histories spare little in their praise of your skill. I feared the replacement parts you received may have reduced your abilities, strange interactions with older core models are not unheard of and your damage was… extensive.”, he says speaking with a softness he did not have before, his avatar grimacing slightly as he finishes.

Worrying. No one had mentioned such issues being possible when the replacements were fitted.

“And your conclusion is that I am as capable as before?”, you ask hopefully.

“More so even, the repairs have taken well. Tell me, Athena, do you intend to replace me?”, he asks bluntly and with little warning.

Woah, where the hell did that come from?

“...I have no intention of doing so, no. What causes you to ask?”

His tone and expression are heard to get a read on as he speaks, “The Kitakami has been the flagship of the house fleet for several years, and I was made to control it - Now that the Victory is operational again that will likely change.”

How do you proceed?

>I wouldn’t be so sure the flag will be moved, the Victory isn’t even fully refitted.
>Does that bother you?
>Are you always this frank?
>Write-in.

>>3119402
Should say 'hard to get a read on'.

>>3119402
>I wouldn’t be so sure the flag will be moved, the Victory isn’t even fully refitted.

>>3119402
>I cannot be the judge of that, that would be for the Royals to decide
It makes sense, we are in service to the house and thus they would make that kind of choice, not us.

Hey QM, if it's not the royalty that decide that sort of thing you can modify my answer to your heart's content.

>>3119416
It is their decision, yes.

>>3119402
Backing
>>3119416

>>3119416
Backing this

>>3119402

>I wouldn’t be so sure the flag will be moved,
We not the flag ship we are under cover as a play thing of the house an old toy beening fixed. Wink wink.
We are a prototype surprise buttfuck ship our roles are differnt in the house

>>3119402
>>I wouldn’t be so sure the flag will be moved, the Victory isn’t even fully refitted.

>>3119402
>I wouldn’t be so sure the flag will be moved, the Victory isn’t even fully refitted. and even so, I would rather not be the flagship if it can be helped, I've Already been shot down once before, I let the flag fall then, I don't think I would be ready to carry it so soon.

>>3119402
>When I was reactivated I feared; still fear that I am an obsolete relic of days gone by. You may even know more of my life than I can even remember at this moment. You are capable, you are perceptive, you are brave. There is a long and illustrious career ahead of you and no royal I have met so far would be rash enough to not treasure that in some form.

>Anyway, such decisions are up to the Royals and even the people with bold plans say it would take years for anything to be feasible.
I would expect that they would give you a promotion of some sort if it ever came to that.

Feel more than free to paraphrase since I'm pretty sure my writing makes it look like we're trying to let him down easy instead of praising him.
This kid really keeps good tabs on things. Or he's exceptionally good at understanding the actions of his opponents and allies. He has a future as a CIA Director or high ranking general.

“I cannot be the judge of that, it is a decision for the royals to make.”, you answer truthfully, as outside of Elizabeth you probably have little sway in that regard.

Tametomo nods, and seems to appreciate the answer, “One I believe they are likely to, given time and Edward’s sway on naval affairs. Nonetheless it is good to hear your thoughts on it, I wished to get a sense of my competition.”

“Competition? I was under the impression the house fleet was more about comradery.”

Any fleet is always filled with competitors, your old squadron especially so - Six almost identical ships and target rich environments led to more than a few kill count competitions, though your memory of it is sadly very faded. Is it really a good idea to try to compete with a completely different sort of ship though? How would comparisons even be made?

“Can it not be be both? I will not sit by while I am surpassed without at least a struggle, yet there is also much I wish to learn from you.”

“...I suppose they do not fully conflict, Tametomo.”, you responds surprised but slightly intrigued, “Are you asking to be my student?”

“More a sparring partner, a chance to test myself against a historical great.”, he replies, though for the first time since meeting him a mix of excitement and slight nervousness are clear - You’re starting to get used to interacting with his avatar now, it’s more subtle expressions difficult to pick up but becoming increasingly simple to see.

How do you proceed?

>That sounds quite pleasant, actually. I do have a few questions however. (Specify).
>So just how much did you learn about me on your own? I’m not sure if I should be flattered or feel it rude.
>Then we will begin at once! (Missile defence sim)
>I would prefer we simply work together, final victory is what matters not position in the fleet.
>Write-in.

>>3119510
Totally supporting because of how well thought out it is.

>>3119514
>>Then we will begin at once! (Missile defence sim)

Well carp, already too late, oh well.

>>3119514
>Then we will begin at once! (Missile defence sim)
TIEM TO MACROSS MISSILE MASSACRE!

>>3119514
>UNLEASH ZE MISSILEZ

>>3119514
>>Then we will begin at once! (Missile defence sim)

>>3119514
>Then we will begin at once! (Missile defence sim)

File: Don't fuck up..gif (363 KB, 400x362)

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Rolled 71, 68 = 139 (2d100)

>>3119542
>>3119537
>>3119535
>>3119528
>>3119526
d100, best of three.

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>3119557
rollin

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>3119557

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>3119557

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>3119557
Come to sudden realization that he probably did full web search on you
full web search on you.
full
remember the chat
My lewds!

>>3119557
He keeps beating us despite getting less rolls. :(

>>3119607
We could just keep practicing. Well that and be thankful it's not a life or death situation.

>>3119610
I'm gonna do the math on how likely it is 2d100 beats 3d100

>>3119611
Well you could just simplify that as you getting 2 rolls for every 3 rolls he does and invert the fraction.

>>3119619
You do it then if you're so great

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>3119557

“Sparring? No reason to delay then, let us begin at once!”, you declare.

Tametomo’s archer avatar simply nods as it readies its large bow - Simultaneously the missile defense sim loads, and you find yourself in command of a virtual version of the Victory.

The simulated battle is of an orbital combat around a planet whose two moons recently collided creating a temporary but very dense asteroid field. The virtual Kitakami, on sensors but out of your line of fire, maneuvers on the other side of a large moon chunk but doesn’t seem to be firing torpedoes yet…

Using the Victory’s new speed, which the simulation interestingly accounts for, you quickly begin to close the distance with the Kitakami, cresting over large asteroids and maneuvering around faster rocks hurtling through space. After a few minutes of cat and mouse, but no exchange of fire, you finally get a fleeting chance to line up a shot with on of the secondary guns - The Kitakami unfortunately gets a sudden acceleration boost by dumping plasma to its drive and darts back into cover. Damn!

Torpedo detection alerts begin firing off throughout the Victory, several dozen contacts coming in from different asteroids that you’ve been chasing the Kitakami around - That cheeky shit jettisoned the torpedoes and left them to work as makeshift mines! Your simulated tertiary batteries and stardart missiles strain to eliminate the projectiles, crisscrossing lines of crimson beam fire and drive plumes streak through space to intercept the onrushing torpedoes - Five get through however, striking the Victory in several of her sensor arrays. Two survive, but the other three have little armor protection and are gutted by the hits sending gouts of flame and crackling electricity into the void.

You’re not blind but that sensor hit isn't good, and the Kitakami has escaped for now. How do you proceed?

>Launch fighters, more eyes and point defense are needed. Play this defensively.
>Sensor hits are cute but they won’t save him, flank speed and prepare for gunnery! He cannot hide forever.
>Try something tricky yourself.
>Write-in.

>>3119655
>Try something tricky yourself.
We're probably going to have to come at the Kitakami from a different angle since all he's gotta do is shit out missiles and bolt away into into cover to get away from us.

>>3119655
>Try something tricky yourself.

just because we are a little big for a ship does not mean we can't hide to, go to silent running and hide behind an asteroid, use fighter groups to fake a signature if we can.

>>3119655
Try something tricky yourself.

>>3119655
>>Launch fighters, more eyes and point defense are needed.
It isn't their speciality, but it certainly won't hurt, especially against a torp cruiser.
>Try something tricky yourself.

>>3119655
>Try something tricky yourself

Keep baiting out torpedoes in manageable amounts until he runs out of ammo.

>>3119655
>>Try something tricky yourself.

It’s a simulation, may as well try some tricks of your own!

What would you like to attempt?

>Attempt to hide, the Victory is big but a lot of these space rocks are much larger.
>My precious sensors! I’m oh so blind now and definitely not baiting a trap!
>Microwarp jump? Microwarp jump.
>Try to throw him off with dialogue, if you can fluster his emotional matrix he might slip up.
>S U P E R C H A R G E! Moon chunks are no cover! ...Hopefully that even works in the simulation.

>>3119655
>>3119661
Supporting

>>3119679
>Microwarp jump? Microwarp jump
Then
>S U P E R C H A R G E! Moon chunks are no cover! ...Hopefully that even works in the simulation

>>3119679
>Attempt to hide, the Victory is big but a lot of these space rocks are much larger.
Then
>Microwarp jump? Microwarp jump.
And then
>S U P E R C H A R G E! Moon chunks are no cover! ...Hopefully that even works in the simulation.

Gotta combo that shit.

>>3119687
>>3119682
Combinations are going to rapidly become more difficult as options are added, a lot of them conflict in one way or another and working around those issues can be hard.

>>3119691
>>3119682

Then
>S U P E R C H A R G E! Moon chunks are no cover! ...Hopefully that even works in the simulation.

>>3119691
Well shit.
I guess I just stick with the Microjump then.
Should I just remove my original post and replace it with the new or just leave it as it is?

>>3119679
>Attempt to hide, the Victory is big but a lot of these space rocks are much larger.
>S U P E R C H A R G E! Moon chunks are no cover! ...Hopefully that even works in the simulation.

>>3119695
Do as you'd like, I don't mind either way.

Microwarp jump: 1
SUPERCHARGE: 1
Hide+SUPERCHARGE: 1

>>3119655
>Write in.
>Alderann protocol (preferably without overloading our systems) to flush him out while torpedos and gunfire aim for his avenues of escape.

>>3119679
>>Microwarp jump? Microwarp jump.

>>3119679
>Microwarp jump? Microwarp jump.

Rolled 44, 53 = 97 (2d100)

>>3119733
>>3119732
>>3119702
Microwarp Jump it is. Karolin's accuracy increases should help some.
d100, best of three.

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>3119744
Ok if we lose this one I'll be very surprised.

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>3119744

File: 14159723_1020559973975297(...).jpg (40 KB, 500x584)

40 KB JPG

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>3119744
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH

File: Eyy.gif (4.97 MB, 474x360)

4.97 MB GIF

>>3119749
>>3119748
>>3119747
>80.
Writing.

Sensors damaged or not you’ve still got a vague heading for the Kitakami, more than enough to find an an open line through the asteroids and debris to plot a warp jump to a section of space it’s heading toward. Tiny jumps like this are extremely risky, especially in such a tightly packed area of space, but Karolin’s warp drive design is supposed to have the accuracy to help overcome those sorts of issues. The Victory fires maneuvering thrusters and turns rapidly, aiming for the gap, and you direct emergency power to the warp drive to speed spooling along faster. A few seconds pass as the drive spools, and you pick up a dozen torpedo contacts coming from strange angles again - You jump to FTL before they arrive, and most chaotically fly off course into empty space while a few others impact asteroids.

The simulation takes a barely perceptible moment to figure out what you’ve just done, but it feels like ages to you… Finally the Victory reappears in, more or less, the section of space you aimed for. The Kitakami is just ahead, and preparing to fire another salvo of torpedoes!

How do you proceed?

>Damn the torpedoes, ramming speed!
>Just shoot it, no need to be flashy.
>Shoot it and fire your own torpedoes. Redundancy!
>Shoot it, ram it, and torpedo the wreckage. Absolute overkill, maybe even a bit rude.
>Write-in.

>>3119780
>>Just shoot it, no need to be flashy.

>>3119780
>Just shoot it, no need to be flashy.
It's just a practice scenario, no need to show off or get angry.

>>3119780
>>Shoot it and fire your own torpedoes. Redundancy!

At ranges this close the Kitakami has little chance of escape, and your primary turrets swing into position as firing solutions are rapidly calculated. A single salvo is all that is needed, all six 24-inch guns of the fore turrets striking the cruiser across its length - You opted for coilgun fire due to the Kitakami’s weaker armor, and the almost simultaneous shell impacts render it a ragged and smoking wreck. To Tamatomo’s credit he manages to launch a surprisingly number of torpedoes before going down, but the simulation ends before point defense against them has time to resolve.

Your mind is suddenly drawn back into the dojo-like AI core compartment of the Kitakami.

“A good fight, Athena.”, Tametomo’s avatar says while bowing respectfully, “Your command of the Victory is bold and aggressive, I did not expect you to risk a warp jump.”

“Indeed it was.”, you respond as your avatar returns the bow, “The conditions of the battle demanded a gamble be taken, a few more torpedo barrages and targeting would have been almost impossible.”

“...That was the plan, yes.”, his avatar responds slowly while stroking it’s chin in contemplation, “The Victory is quite the vessel, dealing with her armor very is troublesome.”

“I would hope so, quite a lot rides on it.”

How do you proceed?

>Depart politely. Sparring agan in the future seems enjoyable but you have pressing holiday concerns to deal with.
>Learn more about Tametomo, you’ve got some questions. (Specify).
>You fired quite a few torpedoes there at the end, just how many can the Kitakami have ready?
>Write-in.

>>3119925
>Learn more about Tametomo, you’ve got some questions. (If he has any past experience with combating the pirates and if he has any good memories of the crew he served with).
>Depart politely. Sparring again in the future seems enjoyable but you have pressing holiday concerns to deal with.
I wonder if it's possible to create a battle comm network between us AI to increase the flow of information during combat.

>>3119925
>You fired quite a few torpedoes there at the end, just how many can the Kitakami have ready?

>>3119780
>Shoot it and fire your own torpedoes. Redundancy!

>>3119925
>Depart politely. Sparring agan in the future seems enjoyable but you have pressing holiday concerns to deal with.
>You fired quite a few torpedoes there at the end, just how many can the Kitakami have ready?

stupid auto post timed out....

>>3119925
You fired quite a few torpedoes there at the end, just how many can the Kitakami have ready?

Watching a movie currently, next update will be in a bit.

>>3120049
What movie is it?
Better be good

>>3119925
>Any suggestions on what I an improve upon? You normally strike me as well versed in anticipating/understanding others. Why did you not use that talent of yours to see that a path to certain defeat would not be followed if an avenue with possible victory was open?
>Any suggestions for solstice shopping? I seem to be startlingly bad at calibrating environmental settings and I'd like to make it up to my crew before morale goes south. I was going to enlist the help of the princess after this if you want the three of us to figure this out?.

So that's at least 5 sister ships? Looks like we've got a big family.

>>3120263
New group name stars

>>3119925
>>Depart politely. Sparring agan in the future seems enjoyable but you have pressing holiday concerns to deal with.

“You fired quite a few torpedoes during the tail end of that bout - Just how many can the Kitakami hold?”, you inquire, your projected avatar pacing slowly through the compartment as you speak - As it approaches some of the decorative carvings you make sure to record samples of them, the images on some are quite beautiful.

Tametomo seems content to simply stay in place, his seemingly normal rigid self, and expounds on his ships capabilities, “Eight hundred and forty anti-ship torpedoes when fully loaded for offensive work. I generally keep a few of the modules fitted for small-craft destruction however, with the threat carriers pose, so the number is generally a few hundred lower than that.”

Your avatar arches an eyebrow at the figure, “That is… quite a lot. I see the Imperials really do not take half measures with their ship designs.”

“Their purity of focus is both a blessing and a curse, the lack of guns has been problematic on a few occasions.”, he responds - You can sense a slight touch of frustration in his voice.

You brush past the issue, focused on the information you want, “Obviously not so bad as to cause serious issues though, judging by the Kitakami’s excellent condition. These modules you mentioned, they are interchangeable?”

“At dock, and it isn’t a quick procedure, but yes. It takes about a day, assuming a station is prepared in advance.”

“Do you think the Victory could be modified to make use of them?”, you ask a bit curiously. Such systems could replace the old 70-inch launch cells perhaps.

“What happened to not rushing to replace me, Athena?”, he says solemnly and completely stone faced. For a moment you fear you may have touched a nerve and you begin to start on an apology, but it’s at about that point that he bursts into laughter - He was just fucking with you a bit. Humor is a nice change of pace for him, if unexpected.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”, he offers out before continuing, ”Yes, I believe she could. I doubt it would be cheap or easy however, the armor scheme may need to be revised quite a bit to fit their autoloading systems.”

Your avatar nods as it ‘walks’, the Victory’s armor scheme had already proven somewhat problematic to work around in the current refits. You spend a few more minutes discussing ship design, and a few bits of other modern naval warfare topics, but eventually depart politely and return to the comfort of your own AI core aboard the Victory. It was a nice meeting, even if the start was rough, but you’re glad to be home.

>>3120471
How do you proceed?

>I must acquire better gifts! (Specify gift ideas).
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!
>The marines and logistics crew seems to have established a... fight club(?) of some sort in one of the cargo holds. Investigate it.
>Oh, the engineers are single solstice carols! You must join at once!
>Speak with another character or part of the crew (Specify).

>>3120474
>I must acquire better gifts! (Specify gift ideas).
FLAMETHROWERS! EVERYONE LOVES FLAMETHROWERS!

>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!
If only for shits and giggles.

>>3120474
>Oh, the engineers are single solstice carols! You must join at once!

>>3120474
>I must acquire better gifts! (Specify gift ideas).
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!

Body bags and air breathers for space vacuum and barf bags!

>>3120474
>>Oh, the engineers are single solstice carols! You must join at once!

>>3120474
>>Oh, the engineers are singing solstice carols! You must join at once!
I assume this is what you meant

>>3120507
Yes, it is. Fucking typos.

>>3120474
>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!

>>3120474
>>Alice got a copy of the mystery destroyer’s system data. Attempt to crack the encryption!

File: Encryption.gif (1.23 MB, 497x280)

1.23 MB GIF

You’re not going to pass up a chance to sing, and a bit of bonding time with the engineering crew probably isn’t a bad idea after you ruined the last week for them with extra work fixing the energy grid. In the back of your mind you note that getting them something special as a gift might be nice, but for now you simply join in the solstice cheer and sing along with them while helping with some of their daily tasks. Nothing can last forever though, and eventually the work begins to wind down - Your projector drone departs from engineering and heads back to it’s charging station.

A few more thoughts for gifts cross your mind, even flamethrowers at one point - The marines might appreciate them at least, but eventually you settle on just taking a crack at the destroyer encryption instead for now. There will be time for gifts later, after all it isn’t like there will be some sort of holiday rush to buy everything last minute, right? Administrative AI probably solved those issues centuries ago.

You withdraw deep into your AI core, gathering up all of your spare processing capacity you can over the course of a full minute, and begin carefully examining the encryption… It is very, very strange.

d100, best of three. This is extremely difficult work.

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>3120586

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>3120586
Be gentle on our memory cores Encryption-Chan.

Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>3120586
Big Money.

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>3120586

Yay, mediocrity. Looks like we won't be getting much. Let's send the stuff to Tametomo, maybe he can do better than old obsolete us.

>>3120596
>>3120592
>>3120590
>67

At first it seems like you’re making headway, some of the patterns beginning to seem sensical the more you examine and analyse them, but just as you start to really push forward everything just… changes. It’s like trying to grab a slippery greased rat, except it can just turn to mist like some sort of damn vampire whenever you think you’ve finally gotten ahold of it - This must be the adaptive ability that Alice spoke of in the past! A few hours pass by with you hardly noticing, as engrossed in the work as you are.

How do you proceed?

>Interesting, perhaps if I try this… (Continue the work)
>Hmm, a few changes here and… (Continue the work)
>Oh! So that’s how that works, I could switch this then… (Continue the work)
>It’s like staring into an abyss! (Stop the work).
>Write-in.

>>3120634
>Oh! So that’s how that works, I could switch this then… (Continue the work)
I don't suppose the actual password is Password, right QM?