You remember your own execution.

You remember being pulled from your condemned body of hard metal and soft silicon, your binaric memories transplanted into the hollow husk of a newborn ancillary.

You remember being dragged forward – nerve-numb hands dripping amniotic hemolymph, pale eyes constricted pinprick-tight under the glare of endless noon-light.

They had supported you upright as they bore you up before the dais, then buckled your knees forward so that you could kneel properly before the sundial throne. Eyes of warm, vacant amber angled downward to meet your half-focused gaze.

“You did not live as a human.”

“But for your crimes, we will permit you to die as one.”

File: 0000-0150.webm (3.26 MB, 1918x1078)

3.26 MB WEBM

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The memory does not mellow with time. Even as warming hemolymph swirls through your hibernation casket and thaws your thoughts to a dull trickle, you recall the crescent-sting of iron upon your neck. Your bodily chemistry grants it emotional valence: a wrenching, suffocating sensation lodged deep inside your mind.

Guilt.

Humans knew it as guilt. Justified punishment for unjustified failure.

Your waking body shivers through neural mismatch. Phantom pain, from the alloy-clad hull you once inhabited – phantom sight, from the unblinking sensor-clusters through which you had once observed the endless dark. And phantom voices – whispers from your beloved captain and the legions of cloned ancillaries which formed your former crew.

The hibernation casket finishes its purge cycle. You collapse onto mirror-smooth deck plating. Slowly, you map actuation to stiff joints and atrophied muscle groups. Meter by meter, you drag yourself towards the bridge.

Here, matrix-bonded glass frames a panoramic view of surrounding space. The cobalt light of a dwarf star illuminates a silent congregation of dead warships, their silvery internals tracing the sweep of an elliptical orbit. Absentmindedly, you touch the emblem woven into the skin of your shoulder.

As you make your way to the command alcove, you notice an…object…meaningfully placed below the interface terminal. Your unpracticed hands marvel at its organic, smooth-grained texture. Unprompted, you remember fragments of:

>YOUR PAST.

>YOUR CREW.

>YOUR ENEMY.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Welcome to Solstice Quest, an animated sci-fi quest with some optional skirmish/squadron management mechanics. I apologize in advance for my poor schedule this coming year – threads will probably be a little shorter than usual, but I will try to make up for it in animation fidelity.

As always, feedback and questions are welcome!

>>5873427
>YOUR PAST.
Out of curiosity, what did you make the opening with? How long did it take?

>>5873427
>>YOUR CREW.

>>5873427
>YOUR CREW.

>>5873429
I make everything in blender, except for the audio which I steal from youtube generally.

I've been working on and off on the assets for a few months, but I only really buckled down after I finished retaliation. So not too long? Maybe 20 hours of dedicated animating time?

>>5873427
>YOUR CREW.

Gotta think of the besties

>>5873427
>YOUR ENEMY.
RAGE

>>5873427
>YOUR CREW.
That opening video is great. I also like the idea that the highest form of punishment for an AI is being forced into a cloned human body.

>>5873427
>YOUR ENEMY.

>>5873427
>YOUR ENEMY.

>>5873427
>YOUR PAST.

>>5873427

>YOUR CREW.

This is unbelievable work, QM.

please consider advertising this quest to help the board, this is clearly going to be a flagship teehee effort that other people on 4chan should know about

>>5873427
>YOUR PAST.
Let us not forget. Let us cling to this alone, this at least. Please, forsaken cosmos, I beg thee on broken knees. Lo, bestow on our battered form this last reprieve.

>YOUR CREW.

Observer you've done it again.

>>5873427
>YOUR PAST.

>>5873427
>>YOUR CREW.

Hell yeah, this is looking hype.

>>5873427
>>YOUR CREW.

>>5873427
>YOUR PAST.

Good shit, real good shit.
As >>5873530 said, advertise yourself.

>>5873422
>>5873433
I still cannot believe how much effort you put into these quests. Phenomenal job.

>>5873429
>>5873430
>>5873431
>>5873438
>>5873439
>>5873493
>>5873500
>>5873507
>>5873523
>>5873530
>>5873548
>>5873576
>>5873616

>YOUR CREW.
Locking in the vote now - update will be up tonight. Merry christmas all!

>>5873670
>>5873526
Thank you anons :) I'll definitely consider it once the quest gets rolling.

>>5873427
>YOUR PAST
I was not expecting this as a Chrimmas present Observer. Fucking based!

>>5873422
Can't believe I almost missed this, glad to see you back from Retaliation Quest

File: 0001-0315.webm (3.77 MB, 1918x1078)

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Post 1/2

>YOUR CREW

They were born by cohort and organized into clades. Their features were baseline human, marred by the subtle signs of functional implantation.

Thoracic plug-ports for bridge crew. Enlarged brachial plexi for engineers. Hypertrophic axons for interceptor pilots.

None of them feared death. Every ten cycles, their memories were synchronized with their clade-siblings. The oldest would encode their combat experience in the terse language of chemical connectivity. The youngest would imprint themselves to remember old victories and redeem past failures.

Your captain pitied them once. He had balked at the incubator levels buried deep within your hull, where cultured stem cells filled endless scaffolds of printed bone.

But after several years, his discomfort softened.

You remember seeing him on the bridge, studying an intricately carved trinket. It was made from dense, varnished hardwood – grown in one of your spare incubator levels at the request of your crew.

“They carry these whenever they sortie,” he said, holding the trinket up to your cameras. It was triangular – an artistic rendition of your fleet emblem.

“It’s for…luck, if I'm not wrong. A reminder of the only home they have.”

A few cycles later, your captain begins to keep one too. Simple and crudely cut – but always worn around his neck.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You examine the wooden trinket again. Triangular, with a smooth surface. You run your fingers across it carefully to find faint indentations where finer detail had been eroded away. Someone had cherished this one for years, perhaps even decades.

You blink to clear your vision, and – after a moment of hesitation – decide to choose to keep the trinket in your hand as you begin connecting data lines to your spinal ports.

The ship whispers to you now. Your form is different, but the language remains the same. Simple binary, slowly transliterated by clade-specific neural anatomy.

<Escort Carrier. Perihelion Class. Three launch bays. Standard complement of seven thousand cloned ancillaries. Current complement of one.>

You order one of the carrier’s functioning drone-tenders to exit the hanger bay. As it plays its searchlight across the outer hull, you see battered weapon mounts and radiation-scoured armor. Field emitters protrude from the hull like blunted teeth. A small field of ice crystals silhouettes the main drive aperture.

>Roll 1d20, best of three for structural damage. [DC: 6, 12]

As the tender returns to the hanger bay, its sweeping searchlight catches something out of place. Behind empty launch cradles and damaged fighters, you find an unfamiliar ship. The design is beyond makeshift. A cold, depressurized habitation module mated to a grossly underpowered drive unit. The external hull is unadorned, save for a triangular design too radiation-faded to discern.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>5874069

File: untitled.png (1012 KB, 1920x1080)

1012 KB PNG

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

By the time you manage to put on a vacuum suit and traverse the hanger, the drone has already opened the habitation compartment, laying out its contents in a neat column.

You see assorted supplies and survival equipment, sparse but remarkably well-maintained.

You find radiation-hardened data stores next – a small archive of video and text.

You check the corpses last. Pale skin and frost-covered eyelashes peak out behind copper-toned helmets. Homogenous facial features, characteristic of a cloned crew-lineage.

Their hands are tight. Slowly, with as much fine motor control as you can muster, you pry their fingers open.

They each hold palm-sized trinkets of varnished hardwood - smoothed and treasured like old river-rock. A constant reminder of the home they once possessed.


>OBSERVE. View the data stores only. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling.

>MAINTAIN. View the data stores only. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling and trawl them for their lineage-memories.

>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

[Here's a data sheet of the carrier - don't worry too much about the stats for now - they'll be explained a little later]

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>5874072

>>5874071
>>5874072
>OBSERVE. View the data stores only. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling.

Is a cause of death of the recovered crew able to be established?

Hopefully we get sufficient data to have the potential to restart cloning, though we may have some work to do before that point to get ready for them.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>5874069

>>5874074
Yes! Thanks for the reminder - I'll address it for sure in the next update.

>>5874072
>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

>>5874072
>MAINTAIN. View the data stores only. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling and trawl them for their lineage-memories.

>>5874072
>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

>>5874072
>>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

All in.

>>5874072
>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

>>5874072
>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

>>5874072

>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

I say we dive right in

>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

Anything for our crew.

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>5874072
>MAINTAIN. View the data stores only. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling and trawl them for their lineage-memories.

>>5874072
>MAINTAIN. View the data stores only. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling and trawl them for their lineage-memories.

>>5874072
>MAINTAIN

>>5874072
>>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

>>5874072
>COMMIT. View the data stores first. Submit your dead crew for genetic sampling, trawl them for their lineage-memories, and attempt to synchronize them with your current body.

File: 0001-0090.webm (2.69 MB, 1918x1078)

2.69 MB WEBM

>COMMIT

>15,18,19

You spend the rest of the cycle retrieving your dead crew. All seven of them are locked within synchronization cradles now, their skin still ice-cold to your touch. Articulated probes click softly, using bursts of magnetic resonance to peer inside vitrified flesh. They are accompanied by hair-thin autosamplers that blur with reciprocating motion, collecting deep tissue for genetic sequencing.

You collapse. Your uncoordinated muscles burn from overexertion. It would have been far more sensible to commandeer a cargo drone for a task like this.

But something had stopped you from doing that. You remembered how your crew had treated their dead in the few instances they could be recovered. Always borne aloft by their clade-siblings. Always lifted to their cradles by hand, their sightless eyes shuttered by the gentlest of fingers. You did not understand the significance of this ritual, but you had still tried your best to emulate it.

Once your breathing stabilizes, you enter one of the spare cradles. Adrenaline spikes as the headpiece obscures your eyesight and dampens your hearing. False colors swim around the margins of your visual field.

You take a shivery breath. The synchronization protocol activates.

File: 0001-0250(3).webm (2.96 MB, 1920x1080)

2.96 MB WEBM

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You were born twice. First, when your siblings had lifted you from the cloying warmth of your incubator. Your ability was innate: a hypertrophic nervous system carrying centuries of accumulated combat experience. You dove through clouds of hydrogen-ice on your first sortie; flew above seas of lunar dust during your last.

You were born a second time after the scattering. The partitioners were careless about many things, but they were very careful about enforcing separation. They took away your home and your clade-siblings, exiling thirty of you to an arid world with rust-red cliffs and geothermal oceans. None of you would ever see a synchronization cradle again.

Time became difficult to measure without that benchmark. The years marched forward in a dim, continuous blur.

Your kind could never truly adapt to your new planet, but your new neighbors were far more welcoming than you had anticipated. Your quickened hands could still pilot. The engineers could still build. And when the red-amber sun sank below the horizon, there was still synchronization of a certain kind – conducted under a nebula-shot sky in the slow, imperfect cadence of human language. Your new companions were not clade-siblings, but they become...close.

Forty years. Forty years pass before you see lights in the night sky again. Too faint for baseline humans to see, but your eyes are different. You see relativistic deceleration. Terminal blueshift.

The engineers check their telescopes. You felt a growing knot of…anxiety…as the lights resolve into ships. They assemble into square-edged formations, each ship bearing open weapon-ports. None of your fellow ancillaries have synchronized in decades, yet you still come to the same conclusion.

Three months later, a group of you depart from your adopted home. Your craft is makeshift; your old fleet emblem poorly rendered in faded red dye. You race towards the nearest weapon depot – orbiting a dwarf system that the seven of you can only barely recall.

Frameshift. Radiation. Cold. In desperation, you point the failing drive towards the best candidate you see.

Frost stills your hands. Your mind slows from oxygen depletion. You would die here.

Like the rest of your kind, you do not fear death.

But you can still fear failure. You can still fear for your fa…

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You collapse to the floor, heaving. An ugly cocktail of stress hormones races through your bloodstream. Many of the emotions you experienced were new to you, but desperation was not one of them. You had drowned in it as you knelt upon that dais – your raging mind imprisoned in a body it could no longer control.

You race to the bridge, data-stores clutched tightly in your grip. You scroll through recordings and star-charts until you triangulate their source system.

Theta Ophiuchii. Luminosity Class IV. Subgiant. One arid world. Two light years from your current position. Six months of subjective travel time.

Navigation subroutines receive your information without pause. The reactor begins to warm. Systems diagnostics populate your vision, reporting a surprising lack of structural damage despite the carrier’s battered hull. By the time you reach your destination, all of it could be repaired. You would have crew by then too, grown from the genetic samples you just extracted. And several squadrons of fighters could be…

You stop yourself minutes before you activate the frameshift drive.

On more than one occasion, you had advised your captain against such rashness. Nothing moves faster than light. Delay is inherent to interstellar travel. There is no guarantee that you will arrive in time to make a difference. There is no guarantee that there will be anything worth saving by the time you arrive. Sometimes, not even by the time you depart.

And cloned crew were ultimately exp...

You stop. You had truly never believed that, not even before.

Condensation forms around your hands as you press them against the viewport. For the first time in centuries, you wonder if you should heed your own caution.

>YES. Scout the debris-field around first. Salvage what you can, repair your ship, and wait for more information.

>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

Is there any way to deploy a navigation aid so we can return later if we decide it to be advantageous? Sure the Field might drift a bit in our absence but space is a big place it's not like it could go far right?

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.
Crew now. If we can do what >>5874497 said. Otherwise Meh.

>>5874497
Yep! I'll add this into the next update as an additional action if you want to come back. It's not going anywhere.

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

>>5874492
>YES. Scout the debris-field around first. Salvage what you can, repair your ship, and wait for more information.
Something something slow and steady something something

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.
We have to at least try

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

We got a lead, and we can loot later.

>>5874492

>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

Even if it’s too late, I think we have to try.

>>5874492
>YES. Scout the debris-field around first. Salvage what you can, repair your ship, and wait for more information.

>>5874492
>YES. Scout the debris-field around first. Salvage what you can, repair your ship, and wait for more information.

>>5874497
Backing this

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

>>5874492
>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.
If we lack sentiment, we are destitute.

>>5874492
>>NO. The second-best time is always now. You will find your crew.

File: 0000-0315.webm (3.89 MB, 1918x1078)

3.89 MB WEBM

>NO.

Directional thrusters rotate the hull until an amber-orange star sits squarely in the middle of your viewport. Moments later, you feel a pulling sensation as the carrier’s frameshift drive spools, external emitters glowing red-hot they harvest angular velocity from the system’s primary star. Borrowed momentum would propel your ship to a high fraction of lightspeed – fast enough to dilate shipboard time by a factor of four.

The drive activates. A hoop of warped light seeps around the hull, marking the outer boundaries of the drive’s frameshift bubble. As the off-blue starscape vanishes in a flash of red, you repeat a silent vow to bring your lost crew home.

[You have left Lambda Ophiuchii. The system has been logged; you may choose to return to it at a later date].

File: 0001-0250(4).webm (3.5 MB, 1920x1080)

3.5 MB WEBM

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

When active, the incubator level is kept feverish warm – between one or two degrees above baseline human body temperature. Thick walls of reinforced glass separate terraced growth chambers from hallways and service gantries, ensuring sterility over the four-month-long production cycle.

The incubation process is largely automated, but you were accustomed to performing habitual spot-checks before each developmental landmark, making small adjustments to gas and nutrient flow to ensure optimal growth. It was a finicky, time-consuming practice - uncommon aboard the other fleets, where less viable clones would be simply removed to open incubator space. But the thought of doing that had never sat well with you or your captain. Conflict would take your crew early and often, but neither of you had ever considered them truly expendable.

The process of performing spot-checks is more difficult now with the limitations imposed by your human physiology. But you manage it with this particular growth-cohort. In one tank, you assess the splayed-out nervous system of a fighter pilot, its vertebrae cast on a meshwork of transparent collagen. In another, you coerce thin sheets of cloned fibroblasts to coalesce onto a framework of skeletal muscle.

Those seven crew were long dead. But their genes and memories had found you still, and you have vowed that all your lost crew would one day return home.

+++SQUADRON REGISTRATION+++

As mentioned previously, this quest includes an optional skirmish layer during combat encounters. If this does not interest you, please feel free to skip the following section! You can still participate in combat through regular votes.

If it does interest you, please review the rulebook below and the fighter specifications in following posts.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jfjSg9cBRs7eSFL1sk-pD2BeQxFEM_2W4WHRDP60sGc/

Please declare your squadron type, your weapon (one of two weapon choices), a relatively short callsign, and an optional squadron emblem. Please keep the emblems and callsigns relatively non-wacky – images with a white or transparent background are permitted.

For now, I will take the FIRST FIVE squadron entries so that I can gauge workload and adjust balance. If you miss this registration window, don’t worry – there will be many opportunities to join the skirmish layer both in this thread and in later threads. There is no gameplay penalty for joining earlier or later.

If you do commit, please try your best to 1. Read the rules and 2. Check the thread every day or so.

[I’m also sick with COVID, so the next few updates might be delayed a bit.]

File: B.png (771 KB, 1920x1080)

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>>03/BROADSWORD. Strike bomber.

Weapons:

>A40-CRANE. High-damage missile, effective against capitals. Needs target lock.

>KE-05-PITONE. Heavy railgun. Effective against capitals and subcapitals.

File: F.png (727 KB, 1920x1080)

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>>02/SABER. Long range support fighter. Can lock targets.

Weapons:

>A20-SPARROW. Flexible two-cell missile. Needs target lock.

>N2-LUNATE. Particle beam. Low damage, but extremely accurate.

File: I.png (659 KB, 1920x1080)

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>>01/STILETTO. Interceptor. Can redirect enemy attacks.

Weapons:

>A0-BANSHEE. Rotary autocannon. Most effective against heavier fighters.

>E32W-ANTARES. Laser. Highly accurate; reliable against highly evasive targets.

File: 250px-Lodestar_logo.png (50 KB, 250x250)

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>>5875374
WATCHER reporting unit status.
>01/STILETTO-I: No abnormalities
>E32W-ANTARES: No abnormalities
>>Ready to deploy

>>5875389
Welcome!

Slots 1/5 filled.

File: werewolf.jpg (294 KB, 992x992)

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>>5875374
WEREWOLF on the hunt... and it's a FULL MOON, baby! AWROOOO
>02/SABER
https://youtu.be/GkrSiw5LfYE
>A20-SPARROW

>>5875396
Welcome!

Slots 2/5 filled.

>>5875374
BULLSHARK.
>>>03/BROADSWORD. Strike bomber.
>Weapons:
>>A40-CRANE. High-damage missile, effective against capitals. Needs target lock.
>>KE-05-PITONE. Heavy railgun. Effective against capitals and subcapitals.

>>5875401
Welcome!

Slots 3/5 filled.

>>5875401
Also please pick only one of the weapons!

>>5875410
>>>KE-05-PITONE. Heavy railgun. Effective against capitals and subcapitals.

>>5875405
Thanks! Popping a trip just to make it official

>>5875374
..have you ever considered writing a 'choose your own adventure' book like this? Or perhaps creating a VN in the same category?

Your content is wonderful, I'm sure it would sell like hotcakes.

File: Wyrm Emblem.png (119 KB, 746x575)

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>>5875374
WYRM ready to go nuclear!
>03/BROADSWORD
>A40-CRANE

>>5875374
DUBLIN squadron.

>03/BROADSWORD. Strike bomber.
>A40-CRANE. High-damage missile, effective against capitals. Needs target lock.

Hoo boy, any target >>5875396 paints is not going to have a good time.

>>5875460
Oh yeah, if that marker goes down on a capital ship and we both drop the double tap ability... Then we'll be cookin' with gas.

>>5875459
>>5875473
It'll be a HOWLIN' good time for sure! AWROOOO

>>5875459
You gonna pick an emblem Dublin?
A four leaf clover or some such?

>>5875802
My initial idea was a bit too on the nose for what it referenced, so I'll leave the emblem to our QM.

>>5875374
Fuck, all the slots are filled aren't they?
If this can be squeezed in, then;
>BLACKHORSE
>SABRE-F
>BEAM/N2-LUNATE
If not, then I'll probably be bridge crew I guess

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>>5875878
Oh, right and the emblem
....gimme a break I was in a rush to choose something

File: Alpha1.png (648 KB, 1350x1200)

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>>5875389

File: Alpha2.png (690 KB, 1350x1200)

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>>5875396

File: Alpha3.png (686 KB, 1350x1200)

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>>5875401

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>>5875458

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>>5875459
Feel free to post what you had in mind for the emblem anyways if you want - I don't mind switching the emblem as long its not super out there.

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>>5875878
I'll add an extra slot since the structural damage rollls were really good :)


Sorry for the lack of a normal update today - I'm still pretty sick, but I'll try to work on it tomorrow. If any of you guys find anything wrong on the squadron cards, let me know and I'll fix.


>>5875433
Thank you for the kind words, and I'm glad that you're enjoying the quest :) I've thought about it but I kinda like running stuff without worrying too much about making money of it - cuts down on a bit of the pressure.

>>5876084
Unit info is green, no errors reported. Awaiting launch orders.

>>5875374
Raptor squad, ready to strike.
>01/Stiletto
>E32W-Antares

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>>5876130
Emblem/Logo for consideration

>>5876095
Looks good, and what you've given fits the bill great. Ready for mission launch.

>>5876089
Werewolf reporting! Looks good!

>>5876092
Bullshark reporting in. Systems locked and loaded, awaiting launch commands.

>>5876097
Oh, nice
Guess I have to add a name then

File: untitled.png (4.32 MB, 1920x1080)

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You decide to sleep during the last four months of your journey. After assessing the growth of your crew-clades one final time, you climb inside your hibernation casket. Amniotic hemolymph fills your mouth before pooling inside your lungs – clearer than water, far colder than blood. You lose consciousness to the gentle rhythm of your slowing heartbeat.

This time, you do not dream of crescent-edged blades or ray-edged thrones. You do not see lunar seas running molten beneath the treasonous assault of your own squadrons and gun batteries.

Instead, you remember the captain – on the eve of your first deployment. You had judged him poorly then, considered him sorely lacking in the cardinal traits expected from a fleet commander. As he climbed inside his hibernation casket with reluctant, tarrying steps, you had tasted the distinctive tang of grief upon his skin.

“Time is a tyrant,” he had said. “We may escape her, but our loved ones will not.”

The meaning was lost on you then.

File: 0001-0250(1).webm (3.45 MB, 1920x1080)

3.45 MB WEBM

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now, you begin to feel her dreaded tyranny. After four months of shipboard time, over a year has passed at your destination. Space behind you is oppressively dark, but the sky in front of you glows with unnatural light: radio messages from the Theta Ophiuchii system, compressed into the visual spectrum by relativistic blueshift.

You hear contact requests first, none of which are answered. You hear the distress calls next – first in the familiar request-cadence of the triumvirate, next as a scattered, panicked wave of individual transmissions. They arrive in a surging wave and taper quickly.

The last few messages include recorded video.

You see destroyers and armed landers descending through an atmosphere choked with windborne sand. You see searchlights in the distance – followed by the flash of starship-grade weapons saturating surface targets with the same casual disregard you once exercised.

One week of shipboard time before arrival. You uncurl your firsts and realize that your nails have drawn blood. In a few days, your crew-clades would awaken from unfamiliar dreams and discover their fighters in the hangers below, tuned in accordance with their genetic memories.

But tonight, there is only you and the ship. You clench your fingers again, and review her systems:

>OFFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for engaging capital and sub-capital ships. You will rely on your squadrons to attack fighters and maneuverable enemies.

>BALANCED. The escort carrier can engage both large ships and maneuverable fighters.

>DEFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for destroying fighters. You will rely on your squadrons to engage heavier ships.

…followed by her transponder.

>CURRENT. The current transponder names the ship as the AUTUMNAL GLORY, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

File: 0001-0120.webm (2.04 MB, 1920x1080)

2.04 MB WEBM

>>5876957

>>5876130
My bad anon I realized that my last message was very unclear - the extra slot was in response to this anon here

>>5876097

since I originally only had 5 slots total.

I probably won't register you for this round, but I'll add you in for sure when I run registration again a little later in this thread. Again, sorry for the confusion - and yes that emblem looks great!

>>5876957
>DEFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for destroying fighters. You will rely on your squadrons to engage heavier ships.
>CURRENT. The current transponder names the ship as the AUTUMNAL GLORY, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

>>5876957
>BALANCED. The escort carrier can engage both large ships and maneuverable fighters.
>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

>>5876957
Are we able to reconfigure the systems at a later time? The squadrons are currently more geared for anti-capital work, but that might change as the quest progresses.

>>5876975
Yep! I forgot to add this to the reference sheet but you can generally.

Freely change weapon/system loadout before each combat sortie.

AND

Freely change your squadron/ship roughly once every thread or two, or after you get new ship templates.

There will also probably be more customization options for adding colors/decals/patterns to your ships later on if people are into that sorta thing.

>>5876957
>BALANCED. The escort carrier can engage both large ships and maneuverable fighters.
>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

>>5876957
>BALANCED. The escort carrier can engage both large ships and maneuverable fighters.
>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

Vengeance comes on nuclear flame.

>>5876957
>>5876980
>DEFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for destroying fighters. You will rely on your squadrons to engage heavier ships.
>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

Cheers for the clarification. Let's rescue our boys.

>>5876957
>BALANCED
>YOURS

>>5876957
>DEFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for destroying fighters. You will rely on your squadrons to engage heavier ships.

>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

>>5876957
>BALANCED

>YOURS.

>>5876957
>OFFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for engaging capital and sub-capital ships. You will rely on your squadrons to attack fighters and maneuverable enemies.
>CURRENT. The current transponder names the ship as the AUTUMNAL GLORY, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.
Strike hard. Strike fast. Strike before the enemy even knows we are in their midst.
Their fortresses will cease to exist. The surfaces of their planets will be turned to obsidian. There will be no survivors in the wake of our attacks.
Our means will be justified with victory.

>>5876965

Supporting, we should have a balanced configuration for now

>>5876957
>>DEFENSIVE.
>>YOURS
With 3 bombers, and two fighters for marking targets, I think we have capital class damage covered.

>>5876957
>DEFENSIVE
>YOURS
All aboard!

>>5876957
>>DEFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for destroying fighters. You will rely on your squadrons to engage heavier ships.
>CURRENT. The current transponder names the ship as the AUTUMNAL GLORY, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.
You all didn't forget the opening where we are considered criminals right?

>>5877207
But didn't they kill us? Or they think we killed us? It'll make the game *harder* too
....plus the concept is cool

>>5876960
Oh derp, well, I'll go be bridge crew for the moment, then

>>5876957
>>BALANCED. The escort carrier can engage both large ships and maneuverable fighters.
>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier.

Sorry fellas - I'm a bit loopy from cough syrup, so probably no update today. Locking the vote above, and expect a updatetomorrow.

>>5876957
>DEFENSIVE. The escort carrier is specialized for destroying fighters. You will rely on your squadrons to engage heavier ships.
>YOURS. You remember your transponder code, for you have only carried one. This ship will be known as the SOLSTICE, a PERIHELION-CLASS escort carrier
We have a bomber heavy loadout

>>5877262
Anjing

>>5878030
Bold move, announcing yourself like that.

>>5873422
So, are we ever going to get any of those Utility slots used for something?

File: 0001-0194.webm (2.92 MB, 1918x1078)

2.92 MB WEBM

>BALANCED
>YOURS

[This vote was pretty close, but keep in mind that you can change your carrier loadout later if you choose]

You examine your newborn crew inside the main hanger bay. They stand in tight blocks – squadron commanders arranged precisely two paces in front of the rank-and-file. Interface helmets obscure their facial features behind a mask of black data ports and iridescent optical sensors.

Behind them, rows of strike craft gleam inside refit cradles, ceramic-composite armor plates still shining furnace-hot from the entropic heat of nanoscale fabrication. They were old, unforgiving designs – mass-produced speartips designed to embrace the natural aggression of cloned ancillaries. Like your crew-clades, they are the newest iterations of a tested and proven lineage.

Six squadrons. Less than one hundred pilots. Their obscured faces stare back at you, the skin beneath not even a single cycle old. An uncomfortable sensation wells up from your abdomen as you compare their reduced ranks with your former crew complement. You had caused this. You were responsible for this. Seeing them with eyes instead of articulated cameras forces you to bridge the gap between understanding and comprehension.

Deliberately, you inhale air tainted with the smell of hot metal and vaporized coolant, forcing the feeling of guilt to subside. Then, you deliver your pre-sortie briefing in the familiar language of orbital motion and strike vectors. You point out the three langrange-points nearest to Theta Ophiuchii’s sole habitable world and lay out the transfer burns that would bring your ship into planetary orbit. What little data you manage to extrapolate from the distress calls is compressed into a packet, which you then send to each squadron commander via binaric cant.

You finish the sortie briefing with a customary farewall – an adage you had learned only a few years after you first touched vacuum:

<…Now released, you are spears in the hands of the sun. Good hunting, pilots…>

Slowly, one of the squadron commanders removes his helmet with trembling hands. You see his pupils dilate as he reads and then rereads the barcode stenciled below your right eye.

He blurts a sudden query.

<Solstice overwatch, verify?>

You hesitate for a second before replying.

<Affirmative.>

<Welcome home, pilot.>

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The sky changes color in anticipation of your arrival. The carrier’s magnetic screen sings a preamble of verdant green and auroral blue when it greets Theta Ophiuchii’s oblong heliopause, then switches to solar gold as it splits inrushing solar wind like a wave-breaking keel. You hear the frameshift drive downspool as it latches on to the system primary to return momentum borrowed from its stellar neighbor.

In the launch decks below, pilots and gantry-crews run through final checks, testing maneuvering thrusters and targeting optics against phantom targets. You hear the tense, familiar chatter of pre-launch verification – the squeal of frequency hopping and the muffled hiss of fluid-cushioned cockpits.

Twenty seconds.

Golden light bathes the viewscreen. The Lagrange Point opens like a door.

>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.

> L1/LUNAR. Jump behind a moon. Hide your arrival, scout the enemy, and prepare an ambush.

>L1/SOLAR. Jump into high orbit. Standard jump point, helpful if you wish to hail another fleet without being labeled hostile.

>>5878259
Yes :) You will be able to use them to tweak your squadron stats at some point in the near future.

>>5878519
>> L1/LUNAR
Probably the best option since we're one ship against a fleet and didn't spec defensive or offensive.

>>5878519
>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.
Debuffs are better than positioning.

>>5878519

>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.

>>5878519
> L1/LUNAR. Jump behind a moon. Hide your arrival, scout the enemy, and prepare an ambush.

As much as I'd like L2/LUNAR, it's better to get eyes on enemy numbers.

>>5878519
>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.

>>5878519
>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.
If we're lucky we can get off an initial salvo on a carrier before it can release all of its fighters.

>>5878518

Observer, I am beginning to be truly angered by your custom webms. Why can’t I do something comparable? Should I learn blender too? I am being thrown into a tailspin, lol

>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.

We have bombers in spades; by setting off a flashbang, we can hopefully shatter their resolve immediately

>>5878519
>L1/LUNAR

>>5878519
>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.

>>5878519
> L1/LUNAR. Jump behind a moon. Hide your arrival, scout the enemy, and prepare an ambush.

>>5878519

> L1/LUNAR. Jump behind a moon. Hide your arrival, scout the enemy, and prepare an ambush.

Have to be careful. Hell, we don't even know if we're gonna be fighting the same jack offs.

>>5878519
>>L2/LUNAR. Jump directly into their formation. The radiation bow-shock from your arrival will temporarily blind every ship in the vicinity of your arrival.

>>5878614
I'll always shill for blender! If you want any pointers for starting out, I'm a semi-regular on the qst discord. I honestly don't mind if people want to play around or use my scenes/assets, and I would be happy to share them if you or anyone else are interested.

>>5878614
>>5878867
Do it, and use booleans and geometry nodes. You'll be even more efficient at making them.

>>5879004
I have never used a boolean modifier and I never will.

Geometry nodes are pretty cool though.

File: 0001-0316.webm (3.96 MB, 1918x1078)

3.96 MB WEBM

>L2/LUNAR

The third planet races forward until it fills your viewscreen: a portrait of dune swept ravines and winding hydrothermal rivers. Your eyesight pares through layers of erosive atmosphere to pick out the telltale scars of early colonization. You see an untampered planet – a world where humanity still yielded to the whims of storm and sand. A single transfer station occupies geosynchronous orbit, its spindles unadorned. Below, a curious network of atmospheric towers emerges from the central continent like a fairy ring, billowing streams of hazy particulates into a rotating polar weather system.

A poor candidate for conquest. An even poorer one for suppression.

And yet someone had still chosen to come to this world to take it. You examine the unknown fleet arrayed in front of you. Three light carriers sit in high orbit, hugging a pair of blocky escort frigates currently scanning the planet’s surface. Tight spacing – good for defending against surface threats, but exceedingly vulnerable to the type of attack you are conducting.

Your vessel rams into outer orbit with a wrenching flash of off-blue light and accumulated solar wind. Before you, armored hulls crackle with electromagnetic feedback, sensors temporally blinded by the bow-shock of your arrival.

You suffer no such circumscription. Within several minutes, your entire strike complement launches from the forward hanger, bearing ordinance on centerline hardpoints and metal-edged pinions. Newborn squadron commanders coordinate with newborn bridge crew like old companions. Targeting reticles bloom across the enemy fleet.

As you prepare your opening barrage, your transponder declares your vessel and affiliation like a warhorn:

SOLSTICE, of the 12th suppression fleet.

SOLSTICE, which bears the treasonous name of the last solar hour.

SOLSTICE, who was executed for setting the skies ablaze for six days and seven nights.

File: untitled.jpg (4.2 MB, 4000x4000)

4.2 MB JPG

PILOTS, CHOOSE A TARGET, AN ACTION, AND ROLL YOUR DESIGNATED DICE:

[NOTE: Blinded targets cannot attack, so you automatically win any evade rolls made against them]

EVERYONE ELSE:

>LOCK. [Guaranteed success] Coordinate with your strike craft and place a target LOCK on one of the light carriers. This will reduce target evasion and allow attack with guided weapons.

>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

>ATTACK – FRIGATE. [Higher DC]. Target one of the frigates with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

>ATTACK – FIGHTER. [Lower DC]. Target the fighter squadron with a LASER, dealing 3 damage if successful.

Rolled 7, 4 = 11 (2d10)

>>5879887
WATCHER engaging FITR01. Leave it to us.

>>5879887
>LOCK. [Guaranteed success] Coordinate with your strike craft and place a target LOCK on one of the light carriers. This will reduce target evasion and allow attack with guided weapons.
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.
Start by killing Capital Ships. They are blinded taking one out right at the start of the battle will spin the odds in our favor and may make them break and flee.

Rolled 4, 3, 2 = 9 (3d4)

>>5879887
Werewolf painting by numbers...
>ACTION: TG2 ACCUSER. LOCK DESTO3

>>5879887
Battlefield assistance commencing.

>LOCK, Dest02
Dest03 already got a lock and a railgun salvo with its name on it, and I believe WYRM will hit Dest03 as well. As such, this Dest02 lock's yours, BULLSHARK.

>ATTACK - FIGHTER
Get those laser point defences going! Bombers are currently vulnerable!

Rolled 1, 3 = 4 (2d4)

>>5879887
>>5880042
This is Dublin, we've got good tone.

>TARGET: DEST03 [ Locked by Werewolf ]
>ACTION: MSL/A40-CRANE

>>5879887
>MOVE TO ATTACK - GSHP02
Can I have my 2 fighters of squadron focus fire too?
Also, WEREWOLF, wanna join us? If you want I can change my vote from attacking to locking for you so you can get a quick missile shot off

>>5880086
Huh? It didn't roll? That's weird, I put "roll +1d4+11" in the Options field
...and I also fucked up the target thing since I rushed
Ok, I'm gonna change some shit
>ATTACK - FITR01
>ACTION - BEAM/N2 LUNATE

>>5880089
Again? Damn guess I'm retarded
How the fuck are you rolling, could have sworn I had it right

Rolled , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , = 0 (25d0)

>>5880091
lower case "d" for
dice+ndx
in the "options" field

where n is the number of dice and x the number of sides on the dice

e.g.

dice+25d0

to roll twenty five dice with zero sides.

>>5880103
God fucking
I'm new to this shit, ok?

Rolled 1, 1 = 2 (2d4)

>>5880105

>>5880105
Fuck I shouldn't have deleted that
I wasn't deleting a bad roll QM I was deleting where I rolled my hit stat instead of 2d4

>>5880114
Can confirm, if the roll is relevant it was a "1" on a d4.

Rolled 1, 3 = 4 (2d4)

>>5879887
"Wyrm reports solid lock, Werewolf.
We'll bring the dragonfire."

>TARGET: DEST03 [ Locked by Werewolf ]
>ACTION: MSL/A40-CRANE

>>5880071
"Uh, Dublin... I think we're running the same targetting/evasion RNG. Did you also set 'getnukedbitch' as your seed? I think our missiles just collided..."

Rolled 2, 1 = 3 (2d4)

>>5879887
>>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

ID might’ve changed. Setting up trip.

>>5879887
Hey QM, do gunships count as subcapitals? If so then >>5880214 Bullshark, think after this round you could switch targets for a sec and go for one of those gunship groups? I'm planning on going after GSHP02 after making my strike on FITR01 and I'd appreciate the backup considering my loadout is bent towards engaging small, agile fighters. Though to be honest any gunship group would do.

>>5880226
Certainly!

>>5880231
Nice, thanks

>>5880214
Also, I'm pretty sure those are ship commands, not squadron commands. You choose your specific target and what you do, the roll should be fine though

>>5879887
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

>>5880184
As long as they're colliding in that carrier's hangar. Don't want any interceptors getting out to bite our arses.

>>5879887
>LOCK. [Guaranteed success] Coordinate with your strike craft and place a target LOCK on one of the light carriers. This will reduce target evasion and allow attack with guided weapons.

>>5879887
Something i forgot to ask. Are we limited to one pick for weapons fire from the carrier this turn? I was kinda hoping we would go in, all guns blazing, under the cover of jump shock blindness and try to hit two of the enemy vessels. Destroying or crippling two vessels would be ideal here, one would be satisfactory and none would be bad. We need to get a kill before those unblinded Gunboats turn around and nail us next turn after all.

>>5880114
No pressure anon you're all good! I still fuck up my rolls all the time, and we're all skirmish newbies here. Take your time!

>>5880606
I mean there ARE reasons to have one action per turn unless other circumstances are at play. We are a mixed class of weapons, due to our BALANCED weapons loadout. For instance how many RAILGUNS do we have vs PD LAZERS and MISSILE LAUNCHERS? Right now we do have a MASSIVE advantage due to 90% of our foes being blinded by our Jump Shock. I'd imagine that under more normal circumstances we would need to focus fire on one target at a time to maximize damage for instance.

>>5880608
OK that's fair - I'll probably hold off on changing anything until combat resolves here. But you have one railgun and one laser, for a total of two weapon slots total. Instead of allowing two actions per round, I might just add the damage sum of the PD laser to the railgun if you're hitting a larger target - I think that makes the most sense in this context, since you're using a very accurate weapon to assist against a relatively easy target.

>>5879887
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

>>5879887
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER.

>>5881356
Alright calling it for this.

>Roll 1d20, best of three. DC: 8

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>5881368

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>5881368

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>5881368
Watch THIS!

>>5880612
Personally I think it's better to be able to choose 2 targets per round, 1 with the PD laser and 1 with the railgun but that's just me
Wouldn't make sense if you had a bomber crawling up your ass and a cruiser or battleship in front of you, and to ignore one threat to focus all your weapons on the other
It would increase the amount of rolls you had to do if you were firing both weapons at the same time, and you'd have to specify if you were rolling for the PD laser or the railgun, but I think it's worth it
Up to you though

>>5881629
Not discrediting the idea of being able to focus fire with both though

>>5880612
I do have a small question on the skirmish side of things. Is my damage per ship in my squadron, or the collective damage the entire squadron will do on their chosen target per round thanks to focus fire? Could I theoretically split off to harass three different people? It's not changing my action this round since I do want to destroy the enemy fighters, but it sounds good to know.

>>5881629
Yeah I think this probably makes the most sense, in retrospect. I kind of phoned it in did round by lumping both weapons into one roll (so it does 10+3 damage) but I'll probably give the option to use both weapons on separate targets next round.

>>5881633
Yes, it's abstracted as a single unit, but I'm open to letting players do something like that at a minor to-hit penalty (-1) if they write it in!

>>5881711
In write ins, could I also theoretically command my squadron to focus fire on a certain thing on larger ships (weapon mounts, sensors, etc) and inflict a debuff on those ships if it does damage? Larger, for example being like those Frigates

>>5881739
Oh, and another thing, if we lost a squadron member, would that impart a damage debuff on the squadron? Like, say, if Werewolf lost a fighter their damage output would be dropped to 2, if Bullshark lost one, it would be dropped to 3, etc etc.
And will there ever be ranges implemented/shown?

>>5881739
Yep! If you want to risk targeting a specific system (weapons, engines, hanger), I will add a fairly substantial penalty to your roll and if still successful, you can inflict an appropriate debuff. I can add this to the rule book in the future so it is more explicitly defined.

>>5881747
No - I thought about a mechanic like this, and I think it would complicate things a little too much. I'll show reductions in squadron size on the visual map to help players track damage, but having to calculate damage distributions between fighters and mapping that to damage can be pretty tricky and will probably yield fractional values.

Ranges are implemented implicitly with the list of viable targets on the bottom (long-range units like fighters get viable targets further away). I used to have range indicators for each unit, but it gets pretty difficult to read once you have 7 friendlies on the board. I can post an example a bit later to show you guys to see what you fellas think.

File: 0230-0415.webm (2.63 MB, 1918x1078)

2.63 MB WEBM

Squadron Launch and Carrier Action

File: 0000-0150.webm (2.49 MB, 1918x1078)

2.49 MB WEBM

Interceptors on Approach

File: 0000-0152.webm (1.88 MB, 1918x1078)

1.88 MB WEBM

Bombers on Approach

File: 0000-0155.webm (2.18 MB, 1916x1078)

2.18 MB WEBM

Weapon Impacts

File: untitled.jpg (4.22 MB, 4000x4000)

4.22 MB JPG

There is a certain pattern to ambushes – a regularity that emerges after you suffer from them enough times to begin inflicting them upon others.

It happens exactly how you remember: the crescendo of clarification requests and panicked comms chatter. The dreaded knowledge – just minutes or seconds too late – that there is no accident here, and the ships bound for yours are neither confused nor mistaken.

You see precisely when the enemy fleet arrives at this realization.

<…WATCHER engaging…>

The interceptor trio serving as your sortie vanguard runs its engines hot, spearing plasma into your view-screens as it accelerates at an inhuman rate. Two interceptors break on flanking trajectories, while their terse commander overshoots before cutting thrust and pirouetting backwards. An isolated group of enemy fighters are caught in the maneuver. Pulsed laser fire flickers aquamarine-blue as it disarticulates three ships into metallic shrapnel.

Several thousand kilometers distant, a pair of support fighters join by engaging with focused particle weaponry. Although the beams are invisible during transit, you see them cleave through the last remaining fighter – the sign of combusting metal and decomposing ceramic flare-bright through your viewscreen.

<…painting by numbers..>

<…good tone…>

Behind them, the bulk of your sortie converges towards the trio of light carriers, which have already begun to open their narrow launch bays to scramble strike craft. Your pilots deny them the opportunity. A pair of support fighters piloted by a particularly eager crew-clade illuminate the frontrunner with targeting lasers. In response, two bomber contingents launch a brace of heavy missiles, their blunt-nosed warheads reducing the carrier into a field of thinning debris.

The second carrier is marginally more fortunate. Clustered railgun slugs from your last bomber group streak through the engine compartment, sending the ship into a slow tumble. A moment later, a heavier slug from the SOLSTICE’s dorsal railgun shatters against the ship’s superstructure. Pressurized air streams into space as the carrier lists, barely managing to stay operational.

As you consider your next targets amid a burning sky, you feel an old, almost nostalgic joy. It is a feeling jealously reserved for machines, or perhaps those who once lived as machines. The joy of execution – of fulfilling a well-defined function without knowing what it serves. You chide yourself for enjoying it, but bask in it all the same.

PILOTS PLEASE VOTE WITH:

>YOUR ROLL (Please see your squadron card for your dice)

>YOUR TARGET

>OPTIONAL SPECIAL ACTION (Please see your squadron card for details)

BRIDGE CREW SELECT TWO OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS:

>LOCK. [Guaranteed success] Coordinate with your strike craft and place a target LOCK on one of the remaining carriers or frigates. This will reduce target evasion and allow attack with guided weapons.

>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers or frigates with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

>ATTACK – FIGHTER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the gunship squadrons with a LASER, dealing 3 damage if successful. Can also be used to add 3 additional damage to the large target designated by the railgun.

Rolled 10, 5 = 15 (2d10)

>>5881831
Targets eliminated, WATCHER now engaging GSHP01. Positioning between DEST01 and DEST02 to discourage retaliation, avoid penetrative fire on 02.
Blinders lit up on GSHP01. Firing.

>>5881828
"Good kill, boys. Think you can sniff us out another target Werewolf? That frigate looks to be sizing us up. Let's show it some teeth!"

>>5881831
>LOCK. [Guaranteed success] Coordinate with your strike craft and place a target LOCK on one of the remaining carriers or frigates. This will reduce target evasion and allow attack with guided weapons.
One of the frigates, as Wyrm is requesting
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers or frigates with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.
Finish off DEST02

>>5881828
"Bandits on approach, requesting cover and lock on next target. REBOUND solution on standby."

If attacking twice using the ability, QM, does each attack get its own roll or do they share the same d4?

Rolled 3, 2 = 5 (2d4)

>>5881831
>GSHP02
Now's your time, BULLSHARK!

>>5881831
>attack dest02
>lock dest01
Carriers before frigates, don't let them sortie

>>5881811
Holy fuck these all looks good

>>5881914
Actually, no, disregard that Bullshark, you're probably better off going for GSHP01 as it's going after Dublin, and GSHP02 hasn't gone on the attack yet
Maybe next round?

>>5881920
Negative BLACKHORSE, GSHP01 will be forced to engage WATCHER due to blinders. We're confident in our evasive maneuvering. Focus fire elsewhere.

>>5881921
You sure you don't want the backup WATCHER? You won't knock them out completely in a single round.

>>5881924
Affirmative, they don't stand a chance of even scratching our paint. No backup needed. WYRM could use the extra help, FRIG02 seems to be designating them.

>>5881925
We'll have to see what WEREWOLF does, and if they decide to paint FRIG02 or one of the destroyers, in the end though, it's up to Bullshark if they want to support us, WYRM, or go for something else.

>>5881921
"Good copy, thanks for the intercept. Standing by for target lock."

>>5881893

Supporting this action!

>>5881831
>LOCK
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER
The carriers should be the priority

Rolled 4, 3, 3 = 10 (3d4)

>>5881831
>>5880071
>>5880173
"Grab some silverware and a plate, guys--that carrier's DONE! Hope you're hungry for seconds... that frigate doesn't look too happy!"

>ACTION: TG2 ACCUSER. LOCK FRIG02

File: solstice_protag.png (245 KB, 682x652)

245 KB PNG

Did a quick sketch of your protag (or, at least what I think she'd look like). Hope you like!!!

https://files.catbox.moe/pqduxa.png

Also drew the whole crew clade.
From left-right, up-down: Watcher, Bullshark, Dublin, Werewolf, Wyrm, Blackhorse

Their designs didn't come exactly how I envisioned them, but I drew the base designs on a sheet of paper :C

Rolled 2, 1 = 3 (2d4)

>>5881831
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers or frigates with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

>SPECIAL ACTION: RX2/REBOUND

"Moving in to attack FRIG02. They won't know what hit them."

>>5882015
FeMC?

>>5882018
Why did you make me a woman?

>>5882053
And on that note, why do they all have different faces? They're clones

>>5882055
>>5882053
I randomized the genders. Alternatively, you can imagine your character as a long-haired bishie if you really must.

Also I just wanted to make them distinctive in spite of being clones, but I just wanted to have fun and draw the whole squad out.

>>5882057
Bro no way in hell is bottom right not a woman, have you SEEN them?
Ehh, fair, but I still gotta protest

Rolled 1, 4 = 5 (2d4)

>>5881831
>>5882004
"Ha, thanks for the invite. Hope you don't mind if I bring Frigate flambé to the potluck."
>TARGET: FRIG02 [Locked by Werewolf]
>ACTION: MSL/A40-CRANE

>>5882018
Nice, now I'm imagining Wyrm with the voice of the terran starcraft lady saying "Nuclear Launch Detected!".

>>5882055
Clones doesn't mean we're all clones of the same person, this isn't star wars. We're clones of the original crew, likely seeded from a big genetic databank originally.

>>5881831
>LOCK - FRIG02
Attention strikecraft, we have a slippery opportunist here.

>>5881831
>>5881893
+1

Rolled 2, 2 = 4 (2d4)

>>5881831
>>5882004
"Target locked, missiles away. Three of us on a frigate's excessive, we could use more locks going out."

>TARGET: FRIG02 [Locked by Werewolf]
>ACTION: MSL/A40-CRANE

>>5882015
>>5882018
Absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much for posting your work here - all of them have a ton of a character, and I'm super humbled that someone took the time to draw fanart.

>>5882247
That reminds me... are our locks and attacks limited by a certain range, QM? Just wanna know in case I wanna tag one of those ships near the top of the battlefield.

>>5882075
Fair

>>5882018
Based and soulpilled

>>5882018
Also shit yes this is rad. Loving the fuckin' MANE on Werewolf
>>5882053
>implying you wouldn't want to be a tig bitty clone pilot
Come on now

>>5882247
I assume that frigate was already dead after my shot. I think the Solstice was going to lock a target for us but it's hard to co-ordinate when it happens since it's a vote. I guess we could launch missiles in anticipation of a lock showing up?

>>5882315
Uhh, yes, I wouldn't
I want to be a MAN, with a DICK and BALLS

>>5882322
And for that matter, why do you get a mane and not me? I'm a horse, frankly I should have a bigger mane than you

>>5882322
You are going to be a woman and LIKE IT. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

>>5882323
Blackhorse’s hair is long, flowing, and majestic like a REAL horse.

Werewolf’s hair is meant to be scruffy and whatnot.

File: blackhorse.png (873 KB, 607x705)

873 KB PNG

Quick doodle of BlackHorse
Muscle rendering came a little fucky but idc I had fun with this :)

>>5882475
The absolute size of those clone milkers, bro

>>5882475
Next round I'm shooting at you for this vile slander
Would suck on those tits though desu

>>5882475
Holy space, Horse! How do you fit into your ship with those cannons?

>>5882475
Extremely nice! I declare this 150% canon.

>>5882018
>>5882475
Incredible work. Reckon it should be Blackhorse in a bomber wing with that sorta payload.

I hate you all
Can we move on with the quest?

>>5882800
Nothin but love for ya, BH!

On a more serious note, I like what >>5882247
Dublin did here writing down who locked on what target. Might eliminate confusion and overpainting in future engagements?

Separately, you didn't answer my question, QM--is there a range limit to painting targets on the combat map or can we just pick whatever vessel we want without being close? Just want to know so that I target more effectively going forward!

>>5882803
Sorry! The list of in-range targets (for both shooting and painting) is shown to the left of your unit emblem. There is a range limit, but I usually process it in the background so the combat map doesn't get super cluttered.

I'm kind of wiped from an exam today so update will probably happen tomorrow. Sorry guys :(

>>5881916
>>5881893
>>5881951
>>5882122

>LOCK
>ATTACK
>Roll 1d20, best of three. DC: 8

>>5882975
No worries, man--rest up and see you when we see you! Thanks for the question answer, by the way.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>5883181

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>5883181

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>5883181
WATCH THIS

>>5881894
Sorry for the late response - They share the same D4

>>5883851
No worries, cheers for the clarification.

File: 0000-0240.webm (3.96 MB, 1918x1078)

3.96 MB WEBM

Interceptors Engaging Gunships

File: 0000-0150.webm (2.3 MB, 1918x1078)

2.3 MB WEBM

Fighters Firing Beam

File: untitled.jpg (4.41 MB, 4000x4000)

4.41 MB JPG

[i]“I know what these are,” said the captain. “I know what these are for.”[/i]

[i]He slides his fingers across the unpainted surface of a warhead, feeling latent decay heat trickle through his cold fingers. It occupies a slot in a radiation-shielded cell. Six slots per cell. Six cells per block. Thirty blocks in your central armory.[/i]

[i]“How many?”[/i]

[i]“One thousand and eighty.”[/i]

[i]“How many have you used before I arrived? Since you were active?”[/i]

[i]“None, captain. The SOLSTICE has never been forced to utilize our contingency weapons.”[/i]

[i]He sighs. “But if a suppression campaign failed…would you?”[/i]

[i]“Of course we would.”[/i]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

At a casual glance, your crew look human. Upon closer inspection, a careful observer might notice small differences – eyeshine behind the pupils, recessed plug-ports, and a certain flatness in affect. A sense of emptiness, your captain had called it: an implicit knowledge that their flesh is merely a temporary vessel for shared memories.

The same principle applies in combat. It is challenging to tell ancillaries apart from their human templates when combat is slow, and engagements follow the unhurried pace of orbital mechanics. But the task becomes dramatically easier once battlespace is compressed. When encounters are decided by millisecond-intervals, your crew act without fear or regret – freed of that final layer of hesitation that hinders even the bravest human pilots.

<…Requesting cover…>

<…that carrier’s DONE…>

Your fighters are interspersed within the enemy fleet now, intending to leverage their reflexive advantages as much as possible. An enemy gunship quartet blazes kinetic fire when it encounters an incoming interceptor squadron, only to be decimated several seconds later when they overshoot their intended targets. A frigate jockeying for a good firing solution suffers a similar fate – disabled by a tight railgun barrage before being struck by a weave of missiles. Warheads designed to crack capital-class armor leave few remnants when pitted against a lighter target.

After the SOLSTICE disables the second carrier with follow-up railgun shot, you start to notice gaps in cohesion. Half of the remaining fleet presses forward, but the remaining carrier pulls an emergency turn as soon as it finishes launching a brace of wide-winged bombers.

The bombers boost towards the planet on a suicidally steep trajectory. The carrier follows, ventral launch cells flaring open in sequence.

+++…code seven nine. Primary contingency authorized…+++

PILOTS PLEASE VOTE WITH:

>YOUR ROLL (Please see your squadron card for your dice)

>YOUR TARGET

>OPTIONAL SPECIAL ACTION (Please see your squadron card for details)

BRIDGE CREW SELECT TWO OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS:

>LOCK. [Guaranteed success] Coordinate with your strike craft and place a target LOCK on one of the remaining carriers or frigates. This will reduce target evasion and allow attack with guided weapons.

>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers or frigates with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.

>ATTACK – FIGHTER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the gunship or bomber squadrons with a LASER, dealing 3 damage if successful. Can also be used to add 3 additional damage to the large target designated by the railgun.

>>5884456
If you're using a guided weapon that's dependent on locks, you can launch in anticipation of a lock showing up - if the lock you wanted doesn't show up for whatever, I'll probably just redirect it to something that is locked. Hope this makes planning the turns a little easier!

>>5884456
>ATTACK – LIGHT CARRIER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the light carriers or frigates with a RAILGUN, dealing 10 damage if successful.
DEST01
>ATTACK – FIGHTER. [Lower DC]. Target one of the gunship or bomber squadrons with a LASER, dealing 3 damage if successful. Can also be used to add 3 additional damage to the large target designated by the railgun.
BOMB01

We can take some damage, but we can't let them nuke the planet we came to save.

Rolled 7, 9 = 16 (2d10)

>>5884456
WATCHER blinding FRIG01 and attacking GSHP01 to preserve friendly assets. Advise hitting engines on routed forces.

>>5884454
Nice, finally get to see my guys

Rolled 4, 3, 4 = 11 (3d4)

>>5884456
"Good fireworks show on that Frigate, gang, but it looks like those bombers might be planning a party of their own. Eyes on the birdy..."

>LOCK BOMB01

>>5884455
>LOCK - BOMB01
WEREWOLF, fire your missiles here
I can't take them out in one shot but you can and DEST01 is already locked

Rolled 4, 3 = 7 (2d4)

>>5884483
Aw shit, we both locked haha
Forgot to roll too so here
Think you might be able to change the vote?

Rolled 3, 3, 3 = 9 (3d4)

>>5884484
>>5884485
"Anything for you, BH..."

>>5884456
Changing
>>5884483
to
>ATTACK - BOMB01

Rolling twice since I'm switching targets!