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  • File : 1310853172.jpg-(1.79 MB, 2500x2500, VQMapPublic3.jpg)
    1.79 MB Void Quest 6 Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)17:52 No.15603188  
    You sit alone at the head of the elongated table residing in the uppermost conference room; its dark lustrous mahogany surface nearly priceless, the trees from which it was made grown from an ancient nearly-extinct species once found on Earth. Embedded in the center is a holo-display projector, and at each position save your own an access console lies at the ready, allowing for real-time data analysis.

    As the minutes tick away and the time for the meeting nears your officers slowly file in one-by-one and seat themselves by rank. First is Lt. Ivanova, taking up the seat to your immediate right, shortly followed by Lt.s Tynes and Rinn sitting in the second and third seats on the left, respectively. Several minutes later Dr. Burr arrives to procures the third seat on the right, eventually followed by Chief Dai a scant thirty seconds before the toll of 18:00. Your chief engineer, though technically civilian, takes up the customary position of second seat on the right, leaving only Lt. Parson’s seat to your immediate left unfilled.

    With all of your suitable command staff present your holographic image smiles and nods, “Thank you, lady and gentlemen, for attending. I’m sure that all of you have guessed at least some of the objectives of this meeting, so I will start with the most obvious.”

    The holoprojector in the center of the table lights up, responding to your will, and you display a list of systems and their statuses both on it and the personal holo-displays, “Repair work has gone extremely well considering what we’ve had to work with. While our capabilities are only an insignificant shadow of what they were at one time, we’re alive, mobile, and reasonably well stocked on provisions. The last of the supplies we can reasonably use or transport are being brought aboard as we speak, and the crew is once again animate.”
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)17:54 No.15603200
    The displays shift and the now familiar outline of the ring-station appears, “Furthermore, we have managed to secure and partially reactivate the station known as a ‘gate’, with Chief Dai informing me that it will be able to be brought fully online once more within a week if desired. We have also recovered several probes ringing the system and Chief Petty Officer Wright believes he has found a way to help decode the alien script and messages within them. In addition,” you shift the display to a real-time image of the debris field, “I have been making a concerted effort to scan the sphere of scrap for anything useful and come upon a few well-preserved alien corpses of varying types.”

    The holofield shifts one last time and you bring up the logs retrieved from the station, your voice turning somber, “Finally, I have retrieved a communications long from the base. As you can see, less than a hundred years after our exodus to the void there was a great deal of conflict. Indeed, some of the numbers here tell a chilling tale of what we may find when we depart. I would have your opinions on all of this.”

    Your senior staff spend some time on their consoles looking through the vast array of information you have presented, occasionally shifting or glancing nervously at you or one another. Eventually Ivanova clears her throat, breaking the silence, “Sir, if I may ask, what are our objectives?”
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)17:55 No.15603211
    ==Map Legend==
    Green Dotted Arrow: Previous Jump
    Green dot: Current position. (Currently Orrin)
    Yellow Square: Your awakening position
    Teal dotted zone: Hundred Systems Territory (Hundred World’s Rebellion)

    ==Command Staff==
    Lieutenant Kateryna Ivanova - Executive Officer
    >Second Lieutenant Dray Parson - Intelligence Officer (Incapacitated)
    Second Lieutenant Robert Tynes - Steward
    Chun-Fan Dai - Chief Engineer
    Third Lieutenant Mardigan “Guns” Rinn - Weapons Officer
    Dr. Christof Burr - Physician
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)17:56 No.15603221
    Previous Threads:

    1: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15474877/
    2: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15527576/
    3: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15547424/
    4: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15558914/
    5: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15581324/
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)17:56 No.15603222
    >That feel when you manage to catch VQ as it starts.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)18:00 No.15603250
    >>15603200
    >communications long
    communications log

    Damn it, typos.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:00 No.15603252
    I'd imagine our first priority would be to find some way to establish a permanent base that we could ensure continued supplies from. What we have will not last forever and we need to prepare for that.

    After that, or possibly during that process, we can begin our search to find out more of what happened during the time we missed, and see if we can contact any remnants of humanity that might be around.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:02 No.15603271
    objectives?
    1. Determine the state of the human race and human empire.
    2. Repair the ship to FULL combat readiness (necessitating a stop at a repair station)
    3. ensure the survival of the ship and its functions
    4. secure the safety of the crew.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)18:06 No.15603311
    Also, now would be a good time to throw out things you want your staff's opinion on. Topics for the meeting and all.
    >> Friendly Dwarf !IsG08Mm0.c 07/16/11(Sat)18:06 No.15603316
    >>15603271

    >ship and crew status are probably about nominal.
    >first priority should be setting up a base, imo
    >second priority would be to try and re-establish contact
    >> Friendly Dwarf !IsG08Mm0.c 07/16/11(Sat)18:09 No.15603343
    >>15603311

    >what do logs recovered from the station tell about the scope of the conflict? how many remaining human worlds by the time it was overrun?
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)18:11 No.15603358
    >>15603343
    They say the exact same thing as when you recovered them.
    >> Friendly Dwarf !IsG08Mm0.c 07/16/11(Sat)18:13 No.15603370
    >>15603358
    i meant in more detail.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:13 No.15603377
    >“Sir, if I may ask, what are our objectives?”
    "Unless we find that there's something left of our Empire worth dying for, our primary objective must be the preservation of our crew's lives and the repair and replacement of our equipment. Our secondary objective- vitally important, but still secondary- is to discover what if anything remains of our Empire and the details of what has occurred in the long millennia of our sleep. As we gather more information on the current state of affairs, we can add further objectives and re-evaluate our priorities."
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:16 No.15603406
    We should compare the list of the gate network to our records about various worlds.

    We should ask the staff for ideas on Parsons.

    We should figure out who else is having problems adapting to the reality of our new situation. "As far as I could tell only Parsons was having any sort of denial, and he hid it very well. You all work much more closely with the enlisted men, you may notice warning signs that I miss. After all, I'm not watching all the time, and I don't watch in the cabins unless there's an emergency."

    We should match the alien corpses up with the database and see if there are any new players in the field.

    We should ask the staff if they have any ideas for other R&R activities.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)18:18 No.15603420
    >>15603370
    Uh, wat? They are already as detailed as realistically feasible to provide.

    Unless you are asking me to go back and fish through all that stuff for you rather than you taking the time to read. In which case: Hah hah, no.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:19 No.15603435
    >>15603252
    >I'd imagine our first priority would be to find some way to establish a permanent base that we could ensure continued supplies from. What we have will not last forever and we need to prepare for that.
    We don't have the manpower or expertise to effectively establish a permanent base which could supply our ship. We need high-tech precision-fabricated parts, advanced alloys, a myriad of complex chemicals, and we need them is vast variety. None of those are things that we can establish a base to make- they require a huge industrial population base, not a swarm of drones and a dozen smart and highly educated people who are not specialists in construction.

    No, the proper way to go about getting continued supplies is to go from place to place salvaging ancient bits of tech. What survived here is likely to have also survived elsewhere. If we're fortunate, we might even come across industrialized planets who can fabricate items to our specifications. Trying to establish any kind of permanent base ourselves would be a waste of time and assets better spent elsewhere.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:20 No.15603440
    >We should ask the staff for ideas on Parsons.

    That's a pretty big breach of military protocol IIRC?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:22 No.15603454
    >>15603440

    We are in the woods here buddy, and our command staff are geniuses with thousands of years of total experience under their belts. Protocol with our staff isn't as important as keeping all our people alive and healthy and mentally stable.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:23 No.15603466
    >>15603406
    >We should ask the staff if they have any ideas for other R&R activities.
    I think the proper way to phrase this is "any ideas for ways to ensure the psychological stability of the crew". R&R is only important in that it provides morale improvement and continued high-level functionality.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:24 No.15603471
    >>15603454
    And having the chain of command break down less than a month in is so much better an option. If you thought people going off and doing their own shit was bad now...
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:24 No.15603475
    >>15603466

    Yeah that works.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:28 No.15603506
    >>15603435

    Point taken. It would be nice to have a place to fall back to in case something goes wrong and we need to be grounded for an extended period though.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:28 No.15603511
    >>15603471

    We need to talk about Parsons. They've got to know that he had a breakdown, that he's delusional, and that he hid the signs of it from us fairly well.

    We know that the normal protocol for dealing with Parsons (keeping him in the brig until we could get to a base where he could be given proper care) is not an option now. So far we've got "talk to him while he's on emotion suppressors and try to reason with him," "have a female crew member talk to him when he's more lucid," and our half-baked idea of talking to him through his implant in VR to some end.

    We need more options, none of those are very good. Someone here has to know more about how to help someone in deep denial.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:32 No.15603542
    >>15603511
    Ridiculous. The only trained medical professionals on the ship already know and we've consulted them. You don't go around asking an officer's peers or subordinates about what corrective actions to take for his behavior when he is out of order. This isn't a fucking democracy.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:34 No.15603569
    >>15603542

    Who did Parsons know and interact with best on the ship? That'll be the person we talk to; we're going to be looking for the best way to personalize the treatment to Parsons and since his family is unavailable a friend is the next best thing.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/16/11(Sat)18:38 No.15603606
    Talk about opinions on Parson, and, more importantly, what do to prevent the rest of the crew from going psychotic. The one suggestion presented last thread, quite eloquently by Editor, was "allow the crew to speak freely," in a departure from military protocol.

    Our mission at this point is to discover what happened to the Empire, and re-establish contact, should that be possible, with it. If impossible, re-establish contact with the rest of Humanity.

    More importantly than that, we need to point out that since the state of the Empire is in question, we have no master, and therefore default to "Humanity." Pending contact with humans or Empire, that means our service is to the crew of this vessel.

    We need to discuss the officer's opinions about the combat logs. We think it was probably a xeno uprising of some kind, aided by the gates, which transformed into a civil war. Many planets may be glassed.

    We need to discuss the possibility that the gates precipitated this conflict, and if it would be wise to re-activate this one.

    cont. probably
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:38 No.15603609
    >>15603542
    We're not looking for ideas for how to punish him, we're looking for ideas for how to fix him.

    They're all in the same terrible situation, so they have a similar perspective. Some of them are his friends, and colleagues. They may have insight into his character, and how to handle things that we simply don't.

    It's worth asking at least.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:39 No.15603619
    >>15603569

    Check everyone we have on him too, his personnel files, his personal files, his room, his journal, whatever we can. We're not going to get many chances at helping him come to terms with things, so we want to make it good.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)18:42 No.15603640
    >>15603569
    Probably the Senior Comms Officer. Parson was still his direct superior though, so obviously the friendship was still bound by rank. He didn't fraternize with the enlisted, Guns treated him as a young man (which he didn't like at all), you already know how he and Ivanova got along, Dai was... well, Dai. Burr and Tynes didn't dislike him but never really were great buddies either.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/16/11(Sat)18:45 No.15603674
    >>15603606
    Should the gates be activated, we will find either Xenos on the other side, or improperly abandoned systems (gates not shut down, likely the site of a combat, and likely to seriously hurt morale). Leaving this gate open will allow others to come here as well.

    More, regarding psychological stability. Investigate Parson's room. TELL THE OFFICERS TO SOUND OFF IF THEY, or any subordinates, HAVE ISSUES. We cannot afford to have people go crazy.

    That's it, I think.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:47 No.15603692
    >>15603674

    Stress that there's no shame in getting help, we're in an unprecedented situation and we're all in it together. Even if we find another group of humans, their culture will have shifted. We're shipmates and comrades and we have to watch out for each other even more than we did before the supernova.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)18:47 No.15603697
    >>15603606
    >The one suggestion presented last thread, quite eloquently by Editor, was "allow the crew to speak freely," in a departure from military protocol.
    I'm not even going to try and pretend, this is an enormous game-changing step and from seeing some of the opinions on it I'm not entirely sure the advocates of it understand what this means in military life.

    To be allowed to speak freely is to be allowed to question your superior and the orders he gives.

    Now, if that is what you guys want to do then that's fine. Not a problem for me, it's your call. But be aware, it's a major paradigm shift from where you're currently at.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:47 No.15603698
    >>15603692
    Seconded.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:51 No.15603740
    >>15603697

    Yeah, no, they're not ready for "speak freely" yet. We need to keep them focused on goals for now, with the #1 goal being to find a planet with humans. If that proves impossible, or we find evidence that humanity has largely been wiped out, then we start looking at shifting from being a military to being civilians with all that implies and entails. Including "speaking freely."
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/16/11(Sat)18:52 No.15603749
    >>15603697
    >not entirely sure the advocates of it understand what this means in military life.

    That's true. I don't think questioning orders is what we want. We want the crew to be able to voice psychological concerns. I don't have a better way of phrasing it, though.

    Maybe some sort of compromise where we lighten up military protocol? Other participants here should sound off on this too.

    I remembered one thing: Dai is over 400 years old. Ivanova is over 100. Parson is 37. They are right in calling him a child. What I want to know is if there are other crew members that are similarly young, and may have never learned to deal with loss. (WHAT SICK MAN SEND BABIES TO MAN HARBINGER?)
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:55 No.15603777
    >>15603674
    >>15603606
    If the Gates did precipitate the crisis, it won't matter now.
    If the Gates did lead to the insurrection, it was because FTL systems were restricted and controlled by humans only. The Gates allowed non-humans to travel FTL, and therefore put together their rebellion.
    Currently, other species have FTL drive systems. There is no way that the Gates could be used to recreate the situations of the rebellion, because they're not needed.
    And you didn't say what action you wanted taken in regards to the Gate.

    I say we turn on the Gate, and look through the Gate Network to see if there's any Gates operational at all. We'll then decide what action to take depending on the results of that.

    As for the crew, tell the officers to be on the lookout for emotional problems, and have problem crewmembers report to the Doctor for counseling. It's not much, but its better than nothing.

    Also, get the officer's opinions on the translation of the alien languages; whether we should do as Wright suggested and us the comm array to transmit messages in order to get something back. Also, whether we should fake a status update for the probes in order to make their owners think nothing is wrong.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:58 No.15603815
    >>15603777
    Think about it this way, humanity built the gates as a means of controlling the FTL capabilities of other races.

    "You wanna explore the galaxy? Sure, no problem. We've set up these convenient gates for you to use! Just go through the DMV every time you want to use it."
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:59 No.15603824
    >>15603749
    >Maybe some sort of compromise where we lighten up military protocol?
    We don't want to lighten up military protocol. At all. Our people are effectively in a new and alien world- military life is one of the last reliable and familiar things remaining to them. Breaking down protocol, structure, and the chain of command in any fashion would begin to remove one of the only things that they have left to hold on to, leaving them even more adrift than they currently are. We don't want to do it.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)18:59 No.15603827
    >Emergency situation.
    >Fighting for our lives.
    >Could be the last of humanity.
    >By default have total executive power because captain.
    >Begins seriously suggesting that people should be allowed to do whatever they want instead of following orders.

    Oh /tg/.

    >We want the crew to be able to voice psychological concerns.
    You know every modern armed force has this already right? Without lightening the chain of command or discipline at all? Any soldier can go to the camp psych specialists. I assume we have this common sense policy too since we have the doc. The problem isn't that outlets don't exist, it's that people hate going to the shrink and thinking they are crazy.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:02 No.15603850
    >>15603815
    Yes, but it doesn't matter anymore.
    The local xeno civilizations have developed their own FTL drives.
    The Gates are only useful to us because our FTL is damaged and not at 100%.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:03 No.15603856
    >>15603440
    >>15603454

    Don't bring the poor guy up at the staff meeting. We've got bigger fish to fry anyway.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/16/11(Sat)19:03 No.15603860
    >>15603824
    >>15603827
    makes sense. I'm not going to push it. just thought it was worth bringing up for discussion (even among participants here, not officers).
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:03 No.15603861
    >>15603827
    Our doctor is a Medical Doctor and a pharmacist, not a psychologist or therapist.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)19:04 No.15603865
    >>15603749
    Dai is over 500, Guns is over 300, Ivanova is over 150.

    So yes, they are right in treating him like a child compared to them... that doesn't mean he had to like it. He is a noble son from one of the great houses. He can literally have people executed on whims back home and order around warships capable of leveling cities in a few seconds. And don't even get me started on the luxury and "glorious legacy" he was brought up in.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:06 No.15603888
    >>15603865

    Isn't Burr in the "over 300" range too?

    And what about us? We'd have to be pretty old to make Captain in a setting where there are senior officers who are in their hundreds.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:08 No.15603902
    >>15603865
    Vedibere, did our ship library survive, and has it been hooked up to us?
    If the library survived, it should have some psychology and psychiatric textbooks that Dr. Burr could read up on.
    I know that just textbooks is no substitute for actual training, but in light of the ship's counselor/chaplain not having survived, we need to make do.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:08 No.15603907
    >>15603888
    This is a good question. How old was our body before the jump, and how old are we as the EI program?
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/16/11(Sat)19:09 No.15603912
    >>15603865
    That puts it in perspective. In a way, I'm OK with him being out of the picture.

    From his description in thread 1:
    >Was able to determine the presence of a three warship ambush at Relias Prime through extreme ECM jamming and distracting waves of kamikaze civilian craft. Also responsible for suggesting a direct jump to Iridus.

    Seems like he's competent enough, but maybe his subordinates didn't get enough credit?

    Anyone else that young or privileged?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:10 No.15603933
    >>15603861

    And neither are the rest of us, so our 500-year-old doc will just have to do.

    >>15603777

    If nothing else, we should ask the crew what they think about the gates, see if they've had any thoughts we haven't.

    Also, it seems like what the staff wants at the moment are goals, so let's think some up.

    1. Learn the full truth about what happened to the Empire.
    2. See if any remnants exist, and if so, contact them.

    Our first two objectives there are about hooking back up with whatever's left of our old "home." It's probably futile, but worth a shot.

    3. We need to see if humans still live in our galaxy and if so, where and how.
    4. We also need to know who runs the galaxy at the moment, if anyone (or anything).

    Well, to simplify, our objective at the moment should be to figure out what all happened while we were gone, and to survive until we can do so. Once we have ourselves oriented in the world again, we can make informed decisions about where we go from here.

    Also, where's my atmosphere music?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:10 No.15603934
    >>15603912

    I'm not OK with him being ill. We need everyone, we're short-handed as it is and we're facing a completely novel situation. Plus, political connections or not, he had the skills to get posted to this ship.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)19:12 No.15603952
         File1310857933.jpg-(165 KB, 1600x555, 2008Portfolio (101d).jpg)
    165 KB
    >>15603888
    Yes, you are in your 200's or 300's.

    So then, that it? Going to start writing soon.

    >picture of one of your drone bays
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:15 No.15603979
    >>15603952

    If you can squeeze it in, can you address the transplant and cyberware questions that got missed last thread?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:17 No.15603997
    >>15603933
    As long-term and short-term goals, those four work.
    Let's lay them out for the command staff.

    Then we can go with the following on how to actually work towards those goals:
    1. Turn on the Gate and check the Gate Network for any operational Gates (Get command staff opinion)
    2. Use Officer Wright's suggestion with the comm array sending messages, to get enough samples of the xeno's language to get a translation program (Get command staff's opinions).
    3. Ask Dr. Burr, or his assistant if he believe her to be better, to act as ship's counselor for the interim. See if textbooks are available in ship library.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)19:24 No.15604049
    >Anyone else that young or privileged?
    There's an engineer, but from what you can tell he's been coping remarkably well. Orphan, scholarship to the academy, no apparent family or ties in the past.

    >>15603933
    >Also, where's my atmosphere music?
    Sorry, sorry. Didn't know if anyone was actually using it. Nobody else on board even close to the level of wealth or society that Parson was, either.

    Here. Less dark and gloomy since you are in a staff meeting rather than plying the void.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y4SKLSZfXw

    >If you can squeeze it in, can you address the transplant and cyberware questions that got missed last thread?
    It has been noted and done, that's where some of the parts for possibly putting back together your body are coming from. It's not like the ship carries a full stock of cyberware to be implanted on-mission or anything.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:30 No.15604119
    >>15604049
    >It has been noted and done, that's where some of the parts for possibly putting back together your body are coming from. It's not like the ship carries a full stock of cyberware to be implanted on-mission or anything.

    Then, let's move forward with that as long as everyone is in good health at the moment. The doctor's time is finite. Since there's only so much he can do with Parsons (and thus Parsons is as much up to us as him) he can start work on rebuilding our corpse.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/16/11(Sat)19:31 No.15604128
    >parsons
    no guys, guys listen. It's Parson. There's no s on the end.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:33 No.15604146
         File1310859197.jpg-(14 KB, 286x197, 1269217009841.jpg)
    14 KB
    >>15604128
    Cool story, bro.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:35 No.15604168
    >>15604049

    Of course, atmosphere music is part of the fun.

    >>15603997

    We should also consider finding more old Empire bases; assuming we can get to the records before our dear Lt Spook, we might be able to learn more about the Empire's internal view on what happened to it. And once we get that translation program, we could start intercepting alien messages and see what we can piece together.

    Both of these would be stealthy options in case we don't feel like letting the galaxy know about us yet.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:38 No.15604193
    >>15604168

    She didn't delete anything, all she did was open up the database in the most obvious way possible while still adhering to the restrictions her SpookWare implant imposed on her.

    She's completely on our side, and she took a risk to help us earlier.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:47 No.15604271
    >>15604193

    I don't doubt her, I'm just saying that her condition has its particulars. What she deleted (if anything) might not have even been useful.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:48 No.15604280
    >>15604271
    Why do you think she deleted anything at all? I don't recall having any indication she deleted anything other than her own log entries.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:49 No.15604282
    >>15604168
    >look for military bases
    That reminds me; we need to check through our navigation database and see what planets are now within our range. Preferably one that's noted to have indigenous flora and fauna that's digestible by humans.

    As for a permanent base, we might want to consider our current location of Orrin, since the defense platforms are in working order, and the base on the planet is in working order.

    The problem is food; we could try importing from another planet and growing it locally..
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)19:49 No.15604289
    >>15604282
    If we can find some cows, some carrots, and some potatoes, morale will go through the roof.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:03 No.15604414
    >>15604282

    Base? We're in our base as far as I'm concerned. We don't have enough people to need more than the Harbinger I think.

    >>15604280

    I just figure that the internal justification was "I'm only going in there to get rid of any sensitive materials before my captain breaks in and finds them, I'm not opening the door for him at all."

    I mean, I don't know, maybe not, but it's a possibility.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:04 No.15604423
    >>15604289
    Agri-worlds.
    We need to look for agri-worlds. Farm worlds that produced the food required by the trillions of the Ophidian Empire.
    Even if no one remained to take care of them, the fact that they were used as farm worlds would mean that they could support Earth-life, and even if the plants had gone native, they may still be edible by humans.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)20:18 No.15604545
    Your image nods, “Unless we find that there's something left of the Empire worth dying for, our primary objective must be the preservation of our crew's lives and the repair and replacement of our equipment. Our secondary objective - vitally important, but still secondary - is to discover what if anything remains of the Empire and the details of what has occurred in the long millennia of our sleep. As we gather more information on the current state of affairs, we can add further objectives and re-evaluate our priorities.”

    You turn to Dr. Burr, “As for sub-objectives, doctor Burr I believe that recent incidents show that a ship counselor is needed. I believe your assistant has training in that area?”

    The pudgy man nods, “Yes sir, there is an open door policy already but I think it might be advantageous to require them to come in for evaluation too. Not everyone likes to think of themselves as having a problem, and there are some who view feelings of despair and sadness as something to keep private. Either could lead to another incident if left untreated.”

    “Very well, you have my go-ahead on the evaluations.” As you are speaking Tynes leans forward, and you nod for him to proceed.

    “Sir, you said an incident? Does that have anything to do with Lieutenant Parson not being here?”

    “Yes, it does.” You heave a sigh, and turn your gaze to the entire table once again. “Lieutenant Parson has suffered some severe mental trauma from the situation. Until further notice he is relieved from his position and no duties are assigned to him. I would like someone to fill his position - temporarily - until we can evaluate the situation further. Volunteers?”
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)20:20 No.15604563
    “Sir,” Ivanova speaks up, “I have the training required to fulfill the role. I would be able to man both stations if required.”

    “Aye, me too sir.” Rinn chimes in, “Already monitor the battle looking for strategies and analyzing the enemy. Wouldn’t be much of a stretch to operate all the sensors I say, an’ already had training for them in the academy.”

    Tynes has a suggestion as well, “If I may, sir? It’s possible that one of the ensigns-on-duty could man the station. In theory they would have the training to know how to operate them.”

    “I’m against that.” Ivanova counters, “In the middle of a critical battle is not the time to cross our fingers and hope that the training was sufficient and the boy is competent. Even more, he’ll be in a command position and need to give advice.”

    “Your opinions are noted, thank you,” you smoothly interrupt, “I will make my decision soon, but before that I would like to hear your stances on reestablishing contact with the Empire.”

    “Headin’ straight for Sol would be where I put my money. If there’s anything left to find then it’ll likely be there or on the way considerin’ the pullout.” After making his statement Rinn nods sharply, the matter decided as far as he is concerned.

    “I would advise against that, sir.” Ivanova this time. “Whatever happened obviously was a great event that encompassed the galaxy.Were I planning an attack I would strike at the central point first, to both demoralize and disorganize the foe. It only makes sense that whatever it was would occur at Sol too, considering the importance of the system. I would suggest finding other bases with intact records if possible, ideally ones that are important enough to have a complete analysis but far enough out of the way to avoid destruction. Any information we can find could then hold keys to possible Imperial holdouts.”
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)20:21 No.15604574
    “You’re shooting for a needle in a haystack like that,” Tynes responds, “If they hit important objectives then they likely hit any base of decent size as well. I would suggest smaller outposts like this one which we can both harvest the resources of freely and potentially glean more information from.”

    “Won’t be any worthwhile tech.” Dai grunts, and you see Burr nodding as well.

    “I agree with doctor Dai on that much, if we stick to the outposts then advanced facilities available in the home systems won’t even be a possibility.”

    “And the gates?” you question.

    “Should use them, easier on the reactor.” Dai says.

    “Tch. Not so sure about that. Damn alien scum will be on the other end, sure as I’m breathin’ here. We’ll lick ‘em easy even like this if there’s only a few, xenos can’t fight for a damn, but the cowards could swarm us.” As he speaks a tone of disgust colors Rinn’s words, but you look to Ivanova and Tynes.

    “Opinions?”

    Tynes shifts in his seat and thinks for a moment, “Not sure. Aliens don’t have the technology we do, or at least didn’t, so I think it’s very possible that any world we visit on a gate-line will be inhabited... and with so much time to build up it’s possible we would be walking into the teeth of a galaxy-spanning empire.”

    Ivanova’s mouth twists, “I doubt the part about an empire of their own, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the gate worlds are inhabited. From the map you have here, “ she pulls up the gatemap in the system and displays it on the central holo, “it looks like most of them could well be... even if the connections are severed in many places like in this system.”
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:28 No.15604648
    We also have a very, very large intimidation factor on our side.

    If our suspicions are correct, we're the Darth Vader of the galaxy. Most races will think we're the devil off-hand.

    That means some of them are going to jump to help us. Rather be with us than against us kind of thing. We could find a race capable of producing Unisteel, and give them the recipe. They give us whatever unisteel we need, and they get to have the recipe for motherfucking unisteel for their own ships. That's kind of a huge deal.

    As such, I'd highly recommend we start opening gates.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:29 No.15604659
    >>15604574
    Voting to have Ivanova handle Sensors until Parson is fit for duty again.

    Also, even before we get to thinking about salvaging outposts and bases, we need to secure a source of human-compatible food. We should look for a world that can provide us with flora and fauna that can be eaten by our crew. Military rations won't last forever (except maybe the freeze-dried bean paste), and it would do morale some good if we could get fresh vegetables, and if we're lucky, some meat.

    As for using the Gate, I think we should use it if if will lead to a planet we want to check out. The system defenses in Orrin should take care of any xenos that come snooping around. If we really need to escape, our Jump drive will be ready for a Jump, and so we could escape.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:30 No.15604662
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    >clusterfuck of responses that take into account very little from the past threads
    >LOL LETS SET UP A BAES

    Yeah, with the machine shop on-board, we're going to set up a base capable of serving our constant needs. PFFFT. This is the Harbinger, not the Kushan Mothership. What the fuck are you going to do, drop off some automated drones and program them to GARDEN on an argi-world, which is somehow miraculously unpopulated? The crew might be hungering for a "larger purpose" but we can pass the buck on that by focusing on our short-term goals: continue repairs to the Harbinger.

    This requires a shipyard, or at LEAST heavy-duty manufacturing equipment that can be re-purposed or salvaged. This is a high-reward low-risk endeavor, because a planet still protected by Empire defense systems will be untouched (as was this planet,) and ones that were not would've been looted millennia ago.

    That's why the probes were around this system: it had (apparently) functional Old Empire bases, presumably loaded with ANCIENT TECHNOLOGICAL WONDERS, but nobody could approach it lest they be wasted by the ANCIENT AND TERRIBLE GUARDIANS. So they left satellites nearby and just drooled sadly at the thought of finding ancient starships, buried in the sand.

    CONCRETE questions for future actions are quite limited: where are we going to go, and what are we going to do?

    Should we make a normal jump to a system in the database, or try the gate network? Note that nobody else has been able to use that gate since the Empire locked it down; if other gates were captured intact and still in use, turning on ours might very well alert the Galaxy to our presence...

    ... but we're in a position of relative strength here, so fuck them.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:33 No.15604692
    >>15604662
    Look, the base here has functional workshops that are, since they're at a planetary base instead of a warship, are bigger. They can be used to manufacture jury-rigged replacements.
    Most importantly, this is a safe fallback position, because the system defense platforms are still working.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:34 No.15604708
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    >>15604662
    >>15604648

    Goddamn right. Open the gates, xenos can pic related.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:35 No.15604716
    >>15604692
    Aren't the guns on the ring still working? Anything without an Ophidian IFF comes through they'll get shot to hell just like the rest of the scrap in this system.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:36 No.15604719
    >>15604692

    That's what we've been doing the past month isn't it? Making repairs, resupplying, checking out the gate, and so on.

    >>15604662

    Let's get the gate running and see what's linked up to it. We'll use it if it goes anywhere interesting. If it doesn't, we'll turn it off and go somewhere that will likely have advanced facilities.

    I want our big guns back online.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:37 No.15604735
    >>15604716
    Yes, that's what I said.
    >the system defense platforms are still working
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:38 No.15604743
    I think we should have Ivanova replace Parson for the time being.
    Also, I think we should head through the gate, as I think that's our best shot at finding civilization, which will give us some of the answers we need, as well as maybe supplies.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:38 No.15604753
    >>15604735
    Bluh, sorry. Misread that.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:40 No.15604767
    we should scan our records for any worlds connected to the gate system that had a heavy military presence and ship yards.

    The military presence mean that its either intact and abandoned (like the current one), intact and occupied (whoo more humans!), or completely destroyed so easily identifieable as such and avoidable.

    If its been destroyed we can just jump right back out of there and try somewhere else.
    the only problem may be hostile ships around it or worse controling it.
    Perhaps coming out of the neareest gate then FTLing there manually would be safer?

    Also, could we send drones through the gate to recon planets then return with the info?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:40 No.15604777
    >>15604743

    I think Rinn's a fine choice. For the most part we won't be in battle.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:41 No.15604783
    Activate the gate. See if it goes anywhere fun. FLY THROUGH AND KICK THE ASSES OF ANYTHING THAT TRIES TO STOP US. Find cake making supplies. Bake crew a cake.

    Also, my captcha tells me to check
    >theWest arrays
    So we should also check the western sensor arrays.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:43 No.15604806
    >>15604767
    We need to consult with Dai on how soon after a Jump we can make another one; usually we would have to wait an hour, but given the shape that the reactor and the Jump drive are in, a day or two might be more prudent for the reactor to stabilize.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:45 No.15604817
    >>15604806
    well if we gate in, that doesn't use our engines, so we should be able to gate almost immediately... right?
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)20:46 No.15604823
    >>15604806
    Where do you people get this stuff?

    Normal jump downtime was 24 hours. You were here for a week or two before the reactor was truly ready for another one currently.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:46 No.15604828
    >>15604719
    >Let's get the gate running and see what's linked up to it. We'll use it if it goes anywhere interesting. If it doesn't, we'll turn it off and go somewhere that will likely have advanced facilities.

    Agreed for the most part. Would be handy to check at least 1 more out of the way location first before going after somewhere larger.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:46 No.15604829
    >>15604783
    We're Nautical damnit, that's port.

    Vedibere, Captcha says to check the portside sensor arrays.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:50 No.15604868
    I'm suggesting the same thing I did in the last thread. See if there's a way to only make the gate turn on for us. Maybe only if we send it the go ahead via-tightbeam, or something like that. Or if nothing else, only turn on for an hour or two each day.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:50 No.15604870
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    We can hit two birds with one stone, then;

    We'll use the gate system to find a shipyard. When we find a shipyard, we might be able to make our reactor tip-top again, at which point we can just jump around wherever the fuck we want. We also have a chance of running into aliens, or people, and we can find out if the gates are full of eldritch abominations or not.

    However, I feel that suddenly porting into a system with an ancient and deadly warship isn't the best way to open relations with the galaxy's current residents. If we want to talk to the aliens, I think we should do it via the probes that we captured. You know, give the neighbors a call before we break down their door.

    Personally, what I want is to avoid the gates entirely, get ourselves fixed up, then jump around observing things at a distance, but that's just me.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:52 No.15604882
    >>15604823
    I meant it in the context of an emergency Jump in case we pop out in the middle of a galactic battlefleet, and need to run.
    We COULD initiate another Jump an hour after Jumping into a system, but as Dai said, it's not recommended.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:55 No.15604901
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    >>15604692
    >Most importantly, this is a safe fallback position

    More to the point, it's the ONLY fallback position we've got, so we'll be utilizing it either way.

    We've been presented with a very simple situation - risk versus reward. The outlying bases and outposts are low-risk, but low-reward. The larger bases and military centers are low-risk, but high-reward, in my view - if they were destroyed, they'll likely be abandoned, but if they were not, they'll likely be much like the base we just found; since the only thing preventing them from being looked for 64,000 years would be inaccessibility (through computer passwords and autoguns.) And naturally, heading towards the core is risky as hell.

    Gate usage is a similar problem - using the gate will spare our reactor, but will probably drop us into the lap of XEENOOOOOS.

    Since any outlying bases are highly unlikely to have any more then what we've found here, besides a little more info, I vote we head towards a larger outlying base - one that was strategically useful for the Empire as an outlying refit and resupply center, but located near subject races that were highly unlikely to be able to whale on it on their own, or just of little value for any invader taking aim at the larger empire. A base subject to an island-hopping strategy, in other words.

    And I vote we visit it using the Gates, AFTER we use the engineers probe idea to try and decode local XENOOOO languages. We're going to meet XENOOOS eventually, may as well get it done.

    Also we must take into account the likely recipients that the probes were broadcasting towards, and overlay that onto our star-maps to guess at where the local xeno population centers are. This will be very useful in avoiding them.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)20:55 No.15604905
    >>15604870
    Screw that, we should go in there LIKE A BOSS.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:05 No.15605013
    OUR OPTIONS:

    -- HEAD TOWARDS LARGER OUTLYING BASE OR INDUSTRIAL WORLD
    -- HEAD TOWARDS SMALL REMOTE OUTPOST

    AND

    -- MAKE MANUAL JUMP (HARD ON REACTOR, 1 WEEK RECHARGE TIME)

    -- USE GATE SYSTEM (HIGH RISK OF XENO CONTACT)

    PICK AND DECLARE THINE OPTION
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:05 No.15605023
    >>15604901
    I agree with your analysis that if any military bases survived, they would be intact due to the automated defenses, and that finding one that fits your criteria would be ideal.

    However, my concern is the amount of time that it will take to find such a world, that is still intact.
    We may have taken on more supplies, but with our entire surviving crew thawed out, I am concerned that we may run into a situation of running out of food.
    Currently, we need about a week for the reactor to stabilize after a Jump (unless Dai was able to repair the reactor any further), and I believe we're still limited in the distance we can Jump.

    However, I agree with you that we should get a translation program for one of the local xeno languages before we go anywhere.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:09 No.15605064
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    >>15604905

    Well, it's all a matter of how we want to be perceived, I suppose. I'd rather be friendly no matter how tough the ship is.

    >>15604901

    I like your style.

    So concretely, we would need to;

    1. Coordinate our maps; cross the gate map with the old maps with the estimated locations of the probe owners.
    2. Decipher FUCKING XENOS languages. In this time, we can also get the gate ready.
    3. Once all is prepared, gate into a mid-range military installment (preferably with shipyard) that's likely to be abandoned and see what's up.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:11 No.15605083
    >>15605023
    >I am concerned that we may run into a situation of running out of food.

    I think Ved's said that we're good for about a year on current stocks.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:14 No.15605115
    >>15605064
    >1. Coordinate our maps; cross the gate map with the old maps with the estimated locations of the probe owners.
    Yes.
    >2. Decipher FUCKING XENOS languages. In this time, we can also get the gate ready.
    Yes!
    >3. Once all is prepared, gate into a mid-range military installment (preferably with shipyard) that's likely to be abandoned and see what's up.
    YE- wait. Still think we should hit up 1 more low end base before we kick it up a notch.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:14 No.15605116
    >>15605013
    >>15605064
    My vote:
    -Larger Base
    -Use Gate

    Additionally:
    -Research Xeno languages while gate becomes operational.
    -Enforce therapy to avoid further mental degradation [Make the therapist aware she shouldn't push Ivanova too hard.]
    -Begin automated collection of useful alien hulks we scanned for further resources.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:15 No.15605121
    >>15605083
    You're right; I forgot about that from the previous thread.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:15 No.15605124
    Can we build probes of our own? If we are worried about aliens being on the other side of the gate we should send a probe through first, report back with basic system scans then decide to go through ourselves or not.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:21 No.15605187
    Wait, this isnt 40k...

    Since i started DMing but am unable to play its become a sort of drug for me now...
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)21:23 No.15605203
    Now, you guys fully understand you're talking multiple gate-jumps to get anywhere significant right?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:24 No.15605217
    >>15605115

    While I agree a remote outpost is much lower risk, we won't get much out of it. Can't fix our reactor or our rape-beams, and we might not get any more info.

    'Sides, we can also
    >>15605124
    do this.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:25 No.15605223
    >>15605203
    >Now, you guys fully understand you're talking multiple gate-jumps to get anywhere significant right?

    Yes, we were able to infer that through telepathy, pulling the information right from your brain from thousands of miles away.

    Actually, no, we didn't have a fucking clue.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:26 No.15605235
    >>15605217

    And something I just thought of; bigger systems are more likely to still be secure from intrusion. If SHITTY XENOS TECH is going to get in anywhere, it'll be at an outpost.

    >>15605203

    I don't recall understanding anything of the kind!

    That's okay though, just means we'll see more systems along the way.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:29 No.15605272
    >>15605203
    I just figured we'd be checking for sites of significance within range of this particular gate at first.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:30 No.15605285
    >>15605203
    Yes, I knew that, when it was explained in the previous thread that each Gate connected to other Gates in a 5,000 LY range.

    I was working under the assumption that we could check the Gate Network map, and use it to find intact worlds.

    But now that I think about it, since the Ophidian Empire was the only civilization at the time with Jump Drives, they would have shut down the Gates in their military bases and systems, making them inaccessible to the enemy.

    Changing my vote to NOT activating the Gate for now, and using our own Jump Drive.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:31 No.15605296
    >>15605203
    So you're saying the Ophidian empire installed gates in useless locations that weren't anywhere near population centers?

    Care to explain that one?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:32 No.15605308
    >>15605296
    Fuck, even if they weren't initially installed near population centers, they probably would have eventually sprung up anyway. The same reason crossroad towns spring up.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:34 No.15605326
    okay, so we still need information. can we get a list of space vabs, ship yards, and heavy industiralized centers that were active or planned out before we got supernova'd.

    Once we have some idea of how many ship yards are near us we can start figuring out which ones are worth our time
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:34 No.15605327
    >>15605296
    What?

    This system was an outpost near the the frontier of the Empire. With a limit of 5,000LY, it makes sense that it may take a few Gates to get to a larger military base or population center.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:36 No.15605353
    >>15605285

    I'd be hip with that, assuming it won't take us a million years to get anywhere.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:44 No.15605433
    >>15605353
    We'd need to stick around for a week after each Jump, to stabilize the reactor.
    Unless Dai's been able to repair the Jump Drive a little, our range is about 3-4,000 LY per Jump. Not as good as the Gates, but we can take a direct route.

    Also, I'm for turning the Gate on, but only long enough to get a network update on which Gates are operational. Those are the systems we'll need to watch out for.
    Once we update the Gate Network Map with operational Gates, we shut this one down again.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)21:48 No.15605478
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    >>15605203
    Also, one more question.

    The gate network is organized as follows:
    There are main "Highways" consisting of primary nodes spaced apart at 5000 LY. Primary nodes only connect to other primary nodes and secondary nodes. All the nodes stemming from a primary node that aren't other primary nodes are considered part of that primary node's "node network" since they can only be accessed through the primary node. These extend from Sol To the outer rim of the galaxy. There are connections between the "spokes" on this wheel at places too, but to travel long distances you will need to use these.

    Off of each primary node are several secondary nodes. Secondary nodes connect only to other primary nodes and tertiary nodes.

    Off each secondary node travel linking networks of tertiary nodes. These connect only to secondary nodes, other tertiary nodes, and terminal nodes.

    Terminal nodes only have one connection, to the tertiary node which they are linked to.

    If this is confusing, refer to example image. Note: Actual gate network has many, many stars on it.

    You have determined the following:
    >You are currently at a tertiary node and it will take 3 gatejumps to make it to a primary node.

    >There is one large base and two medium bases in this node network. Only the large base would have a capital-class shipyard, and even then not of the size required to berth you.

    >To get to other bases you can either go Solward or Spiralward. Both have advantages and disadvantages you can infer.

    >You are at a tertiary node presently with 42 connections. 8 other tertiary nodes and 34 terminal nodes. 14 of the terminal node gates are offline, and one of the tertiary node gates is offline. Of the remaining, two of the terminal nodes had probe signals going to them.

    >Finally, you are two jumps away from a secondary node. This secondary node is where the largest probe with the two smaller probes that linked to it was transmitting.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)21:49 No.15605499
    >>15605478
    So, the question is what is your course of action. now that you know this?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:51 No.15605516
    >>15605499
    Go Solward.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)21:53 No.15605539
    >>15605478
    Oh, and key:
    White with blue links: Primary
    Red: Secondary
    Green: Tertiary
    Yellow: Terminal

    Also, by "anywhere significant" I meant "significant military bases or shipyards that could repair you, the most advanced warship the Empire ever created."
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:54 No.15605542
    >>15605478
    Ah, okay. I thought each Gate had equal priority with any other Gate in range. I didn't know that there was a hierarchy of Gates.

    Can we download a map of currently active and operating Gates, or do we have to power on the Orrin Gate so that it can receive updates? This would let us know where to avoid going until we're more powerful, since it would show civilizations that have been able to either crack the access codes on the Gates, or were lucky enough to come to power in systems with operational and non-hostile Ophidian technology.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:55 No.15605564
    >>15605478
    Okay, that makes things clearer.
    I think we should go to the secondary node that the probes came from.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)21:57 No.15605577
    >>15605542
    >Can we download a map of currently active and operating Gates, or do we have to power on the Orrin Gate so that it can receive updates?

    No way to tell that without physically testing to see which gates can connect where like you just did with this one. "Dial it in and see if it opens." pretty much. It would have been stupidly prohibitive to have millions of gates all spamming FTL comms to all the other millions of gates just for status updates.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:57 No.15605587
    >>15605499
    The large base can't berth us, so reactor and Jump Drive repairs are probably out. But we might be able to get parts to fix our interstellar sensors.

    How far away is it by regular Jump Drive?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)21:59 No.15605608
    Wait wait wait wait

    Humanity was stupid enough to make shipyards that don't shift to accommodate any size?

    The fuck?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:00 No.15605621
    I say we head for either a medium or a large base while skirting the occupied node. See what more we can learn before initiating contact
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:01 No.15605627
    we should try to reach the nearest 'large' military base. even if its ship yards cannot berth us, we may be able to salvage enough equipment to make some of the repairs ourselves.

    It is also the most likely to have a livable eco system near it, have the largest amount of supplies, have the most opperation defenses, and have the greatest chance of having living humans.

    Conversely, if whoever owns these probes is monitoring small outposts, they're almost certainly going to be watching large ones.

    If we procede with this course of action, we should send drones through first, scan the area then return. If infeasable, we jump through at battle stations, condition one.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:01 No.15605628
    >>15605577
    I would have thought that there would be something similar to the DNS system we have currently, or maybe something like the Spanning Tree network protocol.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)22:01 No.15605632
    >>15605587
    6000 LY. Two jumps if you play it safe. One if you push the ship to the limits.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:02 No.15605653
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    >>15605478

    Jump to the large base. Still-active gate + base with capital-class shipyard == much less likely there was a full withdrawal. There might not be much in the way of salvage, but we'd be more likely to find something much more important: information.

    >largest, most sophisticated probe comes from secondary node

    Obviously the biggest boys in this local pond, and we'll need to go through their space to reach the Primary. It'd be prudent to sniff around the backwaters a bit longer before bothering them.

    >two tertiary nodes with confirmed activity

    We should be able to avoid these folks unless we want to.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:03 No.15605669
    >>15605478
    >>There is one large base and two medium bases in this node network. Only the large base would have a capital-class shipyard, and even then not of the size required to berth you.

    1 Vote for going to the large base (or one of the Mediums if it's not available) within this network before we make any attempt to move Solward.

    Also suggesting we timeskip until both the gate is ready and the language is translated.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:05 No.15605697
    >>15605577
    >It would have been stupidly prohibitive to have millions of gates all spamming FTL comms to all the other millions of gates just for status updates.

    But I need my galactic twitter feed!
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:06 No.15605716
    >>15605632
    Let's do two Jumps to get to the large base.
    Play it safe, don't involve the locals.
    Shut down this Gate before we leave.

    And we go in at battlestations; it could be that the base survived and that's why the Gate is active, or it could be that it was taken over by the rebels, and that's why it survived.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:08 No.15605741
    >>15605478
    Is there a layover period at each Gate, as it powers up to transit us to the next one?
    Or is it an instantaneous hand-off, and we only show up as a log entry at the Gate stations between our origin and destination?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:13 No.15605795
    >>15605771

    Well rev up that gate, let's throw some drones through it.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:16 No.15605825
    >>15605771
    Those probes aren't ours, so we don't know the control mechanisms. We have the far-future equivalent of hardware drivers to use them.
    Also, haven't checked if the satellites have FTL comm systems so we can communicate with them after they go through a Gate (unlikely, since they were left here as part of local system defense). And even if we sent it through, how is it going to come back?

    You're assuming we have resources that don't exist.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:16 No.15605828
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    >>15605771
    >We're alone in an unknown, most likely hostile galaxy!
    >lets play it 1000% safe!

    There is no fucking way we can ensure our safety. Either buck the fuck up and deal with it, or go look for a quest where everybody sits around and reads the tales of Captain Extremely Prudent, where he hides his ship in a harbor for the entire war to ensure a fleet-in-being and absolutely nothing fucking happens.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)22:16 No.15605829
    >>15605741
    There is a brief layover as you transition, on the order of 3 to 5 minutes as the gate aligns to the new destination.

    The more heavily trafficked the system the more gates they had there for exactly this reason. Sol is logged as having over three thousand of them.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:18 No.15605860
    >>15605829
    Alright. That's a problem. If we go through a xeno-controlled Gate, that gives them enough time to shut down the Gate's connection and strand us in their system.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:18 No.15605863
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    >>15605829
    >Sol is logged as having over three thousand of them.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)22:19 No.15605875
    >>15605771
    Also, question.

    How are you going to get the probe BACK?

    The gates are jumpgates, not portals.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:21 No.15605891
    >>15605875

    We could use a really long rope.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:24 No.15605921
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    >>15605875
    It only needs to be a basic probe with means to scan then communicate back to us. If we dont like what's on the other side we could abandon it or even self destruct it. That's a lot safer than just jumping on through and risking the ship.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:26 No.15605942
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    >>15605891
    Ha, funny guy.

    But seriously, I think we should stick with our Jump Drives for now.

    Hey Vedibere, how noticeable is a Jump signature? As in, how easily detected would we be if we Jumped into a system?
    Does it require Ophidian Empire military-class sensors to pick up a ship entering a system, or could a civilization with the scanning technology found in the probes we captured detect us?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:28 No.15605962
    >>15605942

    No no no no NO. Use the gate to get INTO trouble, because we can always use our own jumpdrive to hop OUT.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:29 No.15605972
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    >>15605962
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:29 No.15605975
    >>15605921
    How is it going to communicate back?
    FTL comms requires a lot of power, something on the order of charging up a fission reactor for a week, or a matter-antimatter reactor. And that's assuming that we can get an FTL comms array that we can use.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:30 No.15605986
    >>15605962
    This. Make sure the jump drive is warmed up before we go in the gate. If things get ugly we can jump out. If we jump in we have to wait too long before we can leave.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:31 No.15606002
    >>15605962
    That's what I thought at first; but that'll be the first xeno-controlled Gate we go through. With the layover, they'd be able to close the Gate, and then we'd have to use the Jump Drive anyway.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)22:32 No.15606008
    >>15605942
    Hey Vedibere, how noticeable is a Jump signature?
    Undetectable until the ship actually pops up next to you. Jumpdrive is unique in this way.
    Other methods of FTL, such as all alien methods and your own engine-FTL are detectable with interstellar sensors. The only way to detect an incoming Jump is to already be focusing sensors (either local or interstellar) on the ship and watching it power up for the jump. Even then, it can't be stopped, unlike the other FTL methods which can be interdicted.

    >As in, how easily detected would we be if we Jumped into a system?
    Well, I mean, you're a 2.7 kilometer warship....

    >Does it require Ophidian Empire military-class sensors to pick up a ship entering a system, or could a civilization with the scanning technology found in the probes we captured detect us?
    Yes, they could once you actually were there. It's not particularly difficult to detect if you are there or not.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:34 No.15606037
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    >>15605875

    Same way we got it there?

    Is there some reason the probe can't just rev up the gate and come back through?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:35 No.15606054
    >>15606002
    Not the other anon but if we went in with our own jump drive we'd have to spend a week to make sure it was ready for a second jump to get back out of the system. We'd be sitting ducks in that time span. More than enough time for someone to figure out what the limitations for our weaponry and defenses were.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)22:36 No.15606059
    >>15605994
    >But they're two-way jumpgates, no? Why wouldn't the probe be able to utilize it to return?
    Because it's a probe and doesn't have the vast databanks to store the relevant protocols?

    I guess you could load your personal Ophidian security codes into the probe and tell it to beam them to the gate and activate it's own protocols if you really wanted.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:40 No.15606120
    >>15606059

    Could we time it? Send the probe in, wait X amount of time, and then reactivate the gate to let it back through?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:43 No.15606153
    >>15606054
    But if we use the Gate, and then get locked out along the way, we would need to use our Jump Drive to either get to the next Gate in the path (and hope that the xenos aren't waiting for us), or Jump to the system with the base.
    We'd have to assume that any xeno-controlled Gate we pass through WON'T lock us out when we appear and have to wait the 3-4 minutes before we can use the Gate to get to the next Gate in the path.
    I don't think that's an assumption we can make.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)22:47 No.15606208
    >>15606145
    Facepalm. Seriously?

    Okay, there are two ways to activate a gate. One, you beam your authorized commands to it (via use of access codes) and let it do all the calculations and send you on your way.

    Two, you have all the programming and protocols needed for the gate calculations on your own vessel and just have it open where you damn well tell it to.

    One requires security codes.

    The other requires all the data needed for gatejump calcs and the protocols needed to operate the machinery.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:50 No.15606257
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    JUST JUMP THROUGH THE MOTHERUFCKING GATE

    YOU FUCKING PARANOID COCKSUCKERS

    YOU'RE THE ASSHOLES WHO TAKE EIGHT HOURS TO GET THROUGH A SINGLE STARCRAFT SINGLE PLAYER MAP BECAUSE YOU CANNOT STAND TO LOSE EVEN ONE MEASLY EFFING MARINE

    WELL I WANT TO HAVE SOMETHING INTERESTING TO READ

    HAHSDAHRAHRSAHDRHRHAHSDRA
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)22:54 No.15606297
    Disposable probe. Problem solved. Can we move on?
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:01 No.15606403
    >>15606297
    We don't have an FTL comms package for it.
    Even if we repurpose the captured probe, we'd still need to reverse-engineer the hardware connections, the programming language used to control it, the computer interface, and give it a propulsion system so that it could travel through a Gate.

    >>15606356
    It's not about processing power; it's about how it's going to communicate with the machinery on the Gate Station, how it's going to respond to the ACK packets, or their equivalent.

    Computational power is worthless if the software isn't right.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:03 No.15606427
    >>15606257
    Second.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:05 No.15606459
    >>15606257
    I still think we should use our Jump drive instead.

    But I agree with you that we should have been able to decide this hours ago.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:05 No.15606461
    >>15606257
    Thirded.

    >thisking 1039
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)23:17 No.15606608
    3 rolls of 4d10 please
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:19 No.15606628
    rolled 10, 5, 4, 3 = 22

    >>15606608
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:19 No.15606631
    rolled 7, 5, 7, 4 = 23

    Adventure time!
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:19 No.15606634
    rolled 9, 6, 3, 3 = 21

    >>15606608
    Hope this doesn't get us impounded.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:20 No.15606643
    >all dice rolls above average

    THE DICE GODS FAVOR US THIS DAY
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/16/11(Sat)23:38 No.15606814
    One thing which is a possibility, here, assuming I'm reading into the whole Xenos situation correctly, is that their ships Either don't have independent FTL capacity, or it's significantly worse than ours (us being bleeding-edge at incept not withstanding). Seems likley that they wouldn't have built up their own FTL science- why bother when there's this convenient network of FTL gates already in place from a long-dead (or greatly decreased) empire? that means any world NOT linked into the gate network could turn out to be a safe haven, at least one where no one's shooting at us.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:41 No.15606845
    >>15606814
    Right, it's a Mass Effect situation.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:45 No.15606881
    >>15603188
    > Lt Ivanova
    +1 internets for Babylon 5
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)23:48 No.15606903
    >Atmosphere
    >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s6zfcmSoNM

    “Well then, for now we will begin preparing to jump through the gate to get to Larant. Hopefully the shipyards there will be serviceable. Chief Dai, when I am finished decoding the alien language or code I would like you to attempt making the probe into a disposable one-way transmitter. It still has working FTL comms, so I’d like it to send it through first to scan the system and beam back the results.” you order.

    Dr. Dai freezes before turning to look at you, optics clicking. “Captain, this is alien technology that we only first saw two weeks ago. Disassembling it is one thing, converting it is entirely different.”

    “I thought it was based on Ophidian technology?”

    “Captain, it took months to years to reverse engineer great house spy-sats and drones that we clearly knew all the principles of when I worked in the blackworks. I will try, but I can’t promise you anything.” The man grumbles, and your digital profile nods.

    “Thank you Chief. Please have your engineers ensure the gate is ready for transit within a week regardless. Lieutenant Ivanova?”

    “Sir.” the woman nods.

    “I would like you to take over Parson’s functions on the command deck if you think yourself able.”

    “Of course sir.”

    “Thank you. Now, for the rest of you. Standard duties to prepare for a jump and leaving a port. Do what you can to bolster morale. All enlisted and junior officers are to undergo mandatory psychotherapy to both help cope with the situation and identify problems before they crop up. To aid with closure there will be a void burial of our deceased crewmen at 24:00 two days hence. Everyone will attend, save Parson. Finally, all personnel are on light duty except for tasks to prepare for the jump. Planetside leave is allowed. We can’t know for sure what we will encounter and I want everyone to have a clear head. Clear?”
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)23:48 No.15606908
    A chorus of “Yes, Captain.” and “Yes, sir.” respond and your avatar nods. “Very well then, dismissed.”

    ###############

    The week passes swiftly. Your men’s morale understandably tanks when they find out an officer is in the brig, but your timely orders for counseling combined with the light duty manage to buoy it once more. The funeral ceremony is likewise productive, a solemn affair that you attend in holo-form -- Ivanova of course functioning in your stead for the physical parts -- and your speech about honoring their sacrifices and carrying on the cause they can not being well received. The spectre of being alone in the void still seems to haunt the crew, but at least now the feeling of solidarity you were hoping to foster has taken root.

    In the field of technical matters, the gate is finally brought online and tested a full day before predicted, its bulk swinging to different transmissions with surprising grace and ease. All that is left now is to actually connect to another gate, and your engineers assure you that despite the near-total decommissioning they were able to restore functionality to near-perfect.

    The probe has mixed results. The first transmission from the system it was beaming to arrives, but with the excellent results provided by your translation efforts with Officer Wright you are able to identify them, with a great degree of confidence, as simple queries and requests for retransmission.

    The retrofitting as a makeshift probe for your own purposes goes much as Dr. Dai predicted, however. While he assures you that given time he will be able to repurpose the device it will take time.

    Finally, a week later, the Harbinger moves into position near the Gate itself. The device is aligned and ready, drones recalled and secured, and all that is left is the final checks and any special orders.

    >Are you ready?
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)23:50 No.15606924
    >>15606881
    100% coincidence, I've never even watched the show and from what I read they aren't really the same anyway.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:52 No.15606952
    >>15606908
    One last thing: is it possible to set the Gate to only accept commands with our security codes?
    As in, only we will be able to connect to this Gate; others (xeno-controlled) Gates might see it, but it will reject all attempts to connect to it unless our cypher key is received.

    It wasn't made clear if this security measure is in place.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:54 No.15606968
    >>15606924
    Really?
    Interestingly, the Ivanova in Babylon 5 is also a XO, and is hard-nosed officer who doesn't take shit from anyone.
    Only difference would be the cyber implants and the stint in Armada Intelligence that ours went through.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:54 No.15606969
    >>15606952
    Yes, that's what an IFF does. It stands for Identify Friend / Foe.

    If you have a working Ophidian IFF, you can go through the gate. Otherwise, it kills you for getting too close.
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:55 No.15606981
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    >>15606908
    >Are you ready?

    YES GET ON WITH IT
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:58 No.15607005
    >>15606969
    The IFF is for the defense platforms. We didn't get an IFF query from the Gate station when we arrived here.
    We're working off of the assumption that the local xenos have cracked the Gate Network and are using it locally.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/16/11(Sat)23:58 No.15607010
    >>15606968
    Perhaps, but this Ivanova is hotter. So there. Nah nah nah.

    (Also quite a few personality differences from what I see in the wiki. Besides both being female officers with the same last name I honestly don't see that much resemblance.)
    >> Anonymous 07/16/11(Sat)23:59 No.15607029
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    rolled 6, 3, 3, 7 = 19

    >>15606908

    We're ready.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:00 No.15607040
    >>15607010

    Yeah they've got different personalities.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)00:04 No.15607071
    >>15606952
    Sadly, no. As evidenced by the decommissioning this one went through, it takes the physical presence of workmen to take it off the grid.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:04 No.15607074
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    >>15606908

    RUN OUT THE LONG NINES

    CLOSE THE THREE-RING-CIRCUS

    SECURE THE BEAR PENS IN THE ZOO

    IT'S TIME TO GO SUPERLUMINAL
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/17/11(Sun)00:06 No.15607086
    >>15606845

    ... and we're the reapers.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:07 No.15607090
    >>15607071
    Alright. We'll have to trust that the system defense platforms will kill the Hell out of any xeno brave or foolish enough to try to enter this system via the Gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:08 No.15607108
    >>15607071
    Too bad.
    We'll just have to trust the system defense platforms to kill the Hell out of any xeno brave or foolish enough to try to enter this system via the Gate.

    Let's go, we've got a base to check out and a galaxy to terrorize.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:10 No.15607119
    >>15607090
    >>15607108
    Weird.
    I thought my first post failed to go through.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:24 No.15607273
    I can only imagine the looks on the xeno faces when they first see us.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:26 No.15607299
    This quest has all the capabilities of becoming a huge HFY moment, depending on what happened to the empire and how we respond.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:31 No.15607362
    >>15607273
    Speaking of trolling the xenos....I'm tempted to play this out like the Veil of Madness HFY stuff, with us playing the part of the Supremacy.
    We appear out of nowhere, have nigh-invulnerable defenses, transmit something unintelligible yet threatening, then disappear.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:31 No.15607363
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    >>15607299

    Yeah, it'd be a real HFY moment if we found the last relentlessly-hunted remnants of humanity, and used our power to secure a hopeful future for a brave, honorable, and peaceful (though not fangless) human Republic.

    You know, turn our backs on the bloodsoaked atrocities and crimes of the Empire, the Empire that butchered and raped entire worlds - and that's if they weren't glassing them from orbit.

    But my prediction is that the majority of this thread will seek to erect the Empire again in all its hideous criminal monsterousness, stroking their e-peens madly as they do so.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:34 No.15607395
    >>15607363

    No. The old Empire was flawed. They left traitorous xeno species live, instead of glassing them all.

    We have learned from that mistake. Glass them all, Pax Humanity.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:35 No.15607404
    >>15607363
    If we do resurrect the Empire as it was, it'll be because we, as the captain, were a resolute defender of it, and because we grew up in it, viewing it as the rightful culmination of all human history.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:35 No.15607413
    when we jump, is it sinlge ship transmission, or could we jump with our combat drones arrayed around us? Cause having a full combat spread would be a huge boost if theres something less than friendly on the other end. If not, how fast can we get our interceptors out?

    Either way they should be powered up and as close to combat operable as we can make them. Additionally, all weapons that are operational should be loaded and prepped, including small arms in case we face boarders (is that a possiblity? It seems unlikely but you never know)
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:39 No.15607462
    >>15607363

    at this point we do not know much about the empire and to what degree the threats they were facing posed risks.

    Few can argue that exterminatus'ing a daemon or tyranid world is a bad idea, we dont know how close to this threat level the planets WE glassed were, I'd guess it wasn't and we were just lazy and economical so blasting a couple of zeno rocks was cheaper and easier than a full scale invasion, but we dont have all the facts.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:43 No.15607508
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    >>15607363
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)00:45 No.15607537
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    >Atmosphere
    >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sZVZJOfIC8

    “Okay everyone, stations. Lieutenant Ivanova, shields up and weapons hot please.”

    “Systems online, sir. Ready on your order.”

    “Command crew, positions check.”

    “Systems, check. Sensors, check.” Your XO responds.

    “Comms check.” Ensign Uwal Fie, Senior Comms Officer, replies.

    “Weapons check.” from Rinn

    “Drones check.” says Tynes

    “Reactor check, Engines check.” sounds off Dai via bridge comms, speaking from the engine room.

    “EI check.” You say with finality. “All systems ready, standby for transition.”

    For the first time in over sixty-four thousand years, the Harbinger assumes battlestations once more. Flickering energy fields crawl along your skin and your multitude of armaments swivel in preparation.

    It is time.

    Your engines ignite with a silent roar, their superheated propulsion a glowing star within the silent void. Before you the Gate awaits, the inner side of the ring already crackling with blazing red energy, the stars on the other side wavering as if uncertain.

    Your speed picks up, and you hurtle onwards. Ten seconds. Five. Three. Two.

    “One.” Your second in command intones. “Transition.”
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:46 No.15607543
    >>15607508
    Hell yea, Himitsu no Akuma-chan. Delicious trap is delicious.

    Polite sage for offtopic.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)00:47 No.15607555
    A clap of shock, the grip of the tremendous energies generated by the gates singularity clamping down on your ship. The ripping, popping /stretch/ of reality as the universe is rent asunder once more. Around you in the void the stars hang shimmering, as if seen through an otherworldly heat haze only one remains constant, your destination. Raxos.

    Over almost before it has begun, the shock comes again. Reality twists, righting itself again as your ship slams into the void once more, trailing delicate gossamer streams of energy.

    A greeting of sensor alarms, wailing out their foreboding chorus.

    “CONTACT!” yells Ivanova “Multiple vessels! Eighty, no, eight hundred. Small ships. Four stations. Enemy scans.” Even as she calls the items out you see them, feel the probing eyes of the sensors crawling across your unisteel skin.

    “Deploying ECM. Status report!”

    Rinn glances over to the captain’s chair and, not finding you, frowns before looking back to his projection screen, "Looks like two hab-stations, no threat. Two warstations, likely threat. No warships. Nine hundred civvie craft and counting. Appear aligned for gate transit, blocking path. Station analysis ongoing."

    "Sir, incoming transmission.” Ensign Fie “Garbled, matches with language decoded from sat. Syntax unknown. Semantics unknown.”

    “Drones ready to deploy as screening force.” Tynes intones.

    “Civvie craft blocking transition point, we’d have to run them over. Should be easy, identifying few shielded vessels and none with military-grade.” Rinn notes, not sounding particularly concerned.

    “Enemy stations activating hull shields. Advise immediate move to gate transition.” Ivanova calls out.

    >WAT DO?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:48 No.15607569
    >>15607413
    seconded, we're a two mile long death bringer, theres no sense going in shields down trying to appear friendly. We're a goddamn monster from ghost stories (probably) time to start playing the part.

    ALL CREWS TO BATTLE STATIONS, STAND BY TO JUMP IN T MINUS THREE MINUTES. SET CONDITION ONE THROUGHOUT THE SHIP, ALL FIGHTERS TO LAUNCH BAYS. ON MY MARK.....

    JUMP.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:52 No.15607605
    >>15607555
    I knew they'd cracked the Gate controls.
    Move to transition point.
    Get us out of here and on to the next Gate as soon as the Gate is aligned.

    I'm tempted to send out a general message: "This is the OIS Harbinger. You are in violation of Imperial space. This violation will be logged. We'll be back."
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:56 No.15607660
    >>15607555

    Keep shields and weapons online, just in case.

    After that, line back up to head for the gate. Do the gate calculations ourselves, then just make the gate open to the large base we were headed to. Wait for Civvie craft to get out of our way, then open the gate and continue on our way. We'll cause a huge commotion regardless, but if we don't make any unprovoked offensive action, hopefully neither will they. It'll cause quite a stir regardless.

    Also, if we do the gate calculations ourselves, would they know where we went?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:59 No.15607693
    keep drones in screening position till we get the gate alligned and back open, do not engage unless fired upon, if we had a sonar system this would be a great time to give them a really strong ping, something to let em know that we see them and we can target them.

    Do not attempt to push through the civilians at this time, but begin moving towards the transition point at low speed, flash the high beams if we have an equivilant, make it obvious that we mean to reach the transition point and if they favor their ships they should make a hole.

    also get that message decoded, would be nice to know if theyre scarred shitless, threatening us, asking what took us so long, or offering to wash our windows
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:59 No.15607697
    >>15607605
    Oh, and I meant to include:
    Move through the mob of civvie ships; don't intentionally ram anyone, but make it obvious that if they don't get out of our way...well, we have military-grade hull shields, and they don't.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:59 No.15607699
    Get the hell outta there. No transmissions, just fucking go.

    Afterwards, consider making a jump to throw them off our trail.


    Alternatively, we could attempt to decipher their language and hail them, but such contact is probably inadvisable.

    Whatever we do, do NOT make any hostile motions.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)00:59 No.15607706
    >>15607684
    How do you plan to do that, when we don't understand their language?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:00 No.15607711
    Prep for combat but do not fire unless fired upon.

    If fired upon, ravage the fuck out of them.

    How far is our destination? They're blocking the way? If we don't immediately get into a firefight, then start moving to our destination still at full combat preparedness. We've got nothing to fear from these guys, and they have every reason to fear us. See if we can just Gaijin SMASH our way through hostile territory.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:00 No.15607712
    let's hear the transmission from the aliens. perhaps they won;t try to stomp us. btw, what's the weapons status?
    eitherway, launch fighters, prepare for battle, etc. give an inspiring, brief speech to the crew if the transmission indicates hostility. we will be damned if some xenos scare us!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:00 No.15607715
    >>15607605

    Agree we should send out a general message, but not with the contents. I suggest:

    "This is the OIS harbinger. We mean you no harm, but will retaliate with appropriate force if fired upon. We are going through the gate."
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:00 No.15607721
    Transmit a set of instructions for interpreting binary digital logic using the prime numbers as a starting point, followed by a communication codec using said logic.

    I don't really know what is involved in such a thing, but it's apparently how you initiate conversation with people whom share no common language.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:02 No.15607734
    >>15607555

    "Should have seen this one coming, time to go."

    move to transition point. Do we know where it will jump us to or would we be capable of overriding the system to choose the location?

    we wouldn't happen to be able to launch something like signal flares or fire our lesser armaments to try and scatter any civilian type ships that might be in our way, would we?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:02 No.15607739
    >>15607712
    >>15607715
    Guys.
    >“Garbled, matches with language decoded from sat. Syntax unknown. Semantics unknown.”
    We don't have a FUCKING CLUE WHAT THEY'RE SAYING!

    I wanted to send the message out because it makes it obvious to them that we know their transmission protocols. It gives them a sample of our language in case they have any records from the Ophidian Empire to analyze against. And if they successfully decode it, they know to stay the fuck away from us.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:03 No.15607740
    >>15607711
    This is me.

    >>15607693
    I'm with this guy. No need to be OPENLY hostile, just pass through.

    That said, take no shit.
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/17/11(Sun)01:04 No.15607751
    >>15607660

    This. Keep shields lit, and weapons hot, but do not fire till fired upon.

    IF they decide to make this situation bad, then We'll show them exactly what it means to tangle with a harbringer-class Assault cruiser.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:04 No.15607753
    >>15607734
    If we want to get to our destination, we have to use the path that the system gives us.
    It's fairly simple to understand that, given the way the system is laid out in >>15605478
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:05 No.15607756
    >>15607739
    >We don't have a FUCKING CLUE WHAT THEY'RE SAYING!
    95% chance it's "WTF!? Who are you!?"
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:05 No.15607757
    >>15607741
    It's not a good faith attempt if we know they can't understand us.

    Do >>15607721

    It's the most scientific and rational sounding suggestion to date.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:05 No.15607761
    if theyre speaking the same language teh probe was, we translated that didnt we? We should have at least a rough idea of what theyre saying

    but i agree, we need to get the hell outta here in any case, make to push the civis aside, DO NOT RAM THEM, aim for the largest gap, and maybe put a bunch of interceptor drones in the gap then have them push otuward to widden it?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:06 No.15607778
    Attempt to communicate, but don't fire unless fired upon.
    If they shoot first, kill 'em dead.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:07 No.15607785
    >>15607761

    It's not translated, more like "well we've got some idea of what their headers are supposed to look like" from what I understand.

    >>15607757

    They may have the capability to translate our language into theirs. It'd be an old, old, language to them, but they may have it on record. It's worth trying.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:08 No.15607799
    GUYS GUYS GUYS!

    Remember Vedibere said the large base was two gates away. We've gone through one, so we just need to make it clear we aren't going to wreck their shit, but that we definitely could if we wanted to. So if we can get through the second gate to that base without having to shoot anything, all the better. Though, they are probably freaking out.

    One more thing, I presume that it's fairly obvious to optical scans that we've been rather badly damaged and then repaired? What sort of visible signs of combat are on the ship? If we look like we've been through hell and came out of it, they'll think twice about whether or not they're better than hell.
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/17/11(Sun)01:08 No.15607803
    >>15607721

    This too. I know FTL commo is all tightbeam, but can we just do a all-freqs broadcast of this for the local area?
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)01:10 No.15607819
    >>15607721
    This.

    -Don't intentionally ram anything, if possible.
    -Don't shoot first. In fact, if their weapons don't damage us, don't shoot at all. We might be The Best Warship the Galaxy Has Ever Seen Forever, but I'm not sure we can stand a Zerg rush. Besides, they might have bigger stuff further in.
    -Pass through, if we can. If we're stuck here, then I guess we're just stuck here.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)01:11 No.15607827
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    You know that if you launch drones you'll either have to leave them behind when you jump out or wait to get them back on board right?

    Also, waiting for the civvie craft to move will just mean hanging there for however long it takes for them to get out of your huge ship's way. For comparison, we're talking 10 to 100 meter ships compared to your 2.7 kilometers.

    Also:
    >make to push the civis aside, DO NOT RAM THEM
    Now I've lost it.

    I know I can lol.

    You can't just "gently bump" someone with a ship your size.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:13 No.15607840
    Agreeing with trying to communicate and not firing unless fired upon.
    With this many civilian ships around this could make or break our first contact. Either way they're not going to forget this moment.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)01:14 No.15607849
    Actually, on second thought, I think it would be fucking hilarious if we just "got in line" to the gate (there's the one we came out of, and the other one going to the "major" station?)

    It would be like "hey guys, what's up. Let me get in line. Deal with it."
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:15 No.15607859
    >>15607827

    Point the ship at where we want to go, then proceed in that direction at a minimal speed. Also, what are the advantages and disadvantages of having the gate calculate destination, vs. us doing it ourselves? Would they be able to track where we went if we let the gate do it?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:16 No.15607871
    SEND THEM A PICTURE

    MAKE IT BE A SMILEY FACE OR SOMETHING

    OR HAVE IT BE A PENIS JUST TO FUCK WITH THEM
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:16 No.15607879
    >>15607827

    we should be able to plot a course to the next gate that has the lowest concentration of civilian ships? or just go over/under them in a less-than-optimal path to the next transition?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:17 No.15607882
    >>15607827
    okay, perhaps i worded that poorly, i was imagining... well when your trying to merge on a freeway, you kinda nudge over, not enough to actually get in the other lane, but enough that combined with your indicators other drivers know you want to get over. theres no actual contact, but you make your intentions clear with your physical presence. It may be trickier with a ship 2.6km long, but they should be freaking out right now reguardless, breaking line and running wouldnt be a bad idea from their view point, especially if we start moving towards them
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:17 No.15607883
    >>15607849
    This is fucking hilarious. Do this, while doing
    >>15607721
    It should only take as long as it takes for the data to be transmitted back and forth before both sides have a complete lexicon of each other's language.

    For obvious reasons, we should transmit a sub-language and not our primary one.
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/17/11(Sun)01:18 No.15607887
    >>15607813

    Not gonna lie, all I know about commo is it never works when you need it to.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:18 No.15607891
    >>15607879
    Did you even take a look at the way that the Gate Network is set up?
    There is only 1 path that can be taken to a destination.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:18 No.15607893
    >>15607882

    If the civvie ships are robot ships, or if the aliens are weirdos, they may not move anyway.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:18 No.15607897
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    >>15607827
    >>15607827
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:19 No.15607899
    >>15607849
    I like it. Walk up, take a number, grab a seat.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)01:19 No.15607902
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    Also, guys, I said you were two gatejumps from a secondary node. You could still go there if you want. But the secondary node is not where the large base is.

    I never actually said how many gatejumps the large base was, come to think of it. I said it was two direct jumps using your jumpdrive.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:19 No.15607903
    >>15607883
    send the fuckers something written in crylic or chinese, that way they dont even get our lettering system (presuming we ARE speaking and writting english in the far future and not chinese or russian)
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:20 No.15607914
    >>15607849

    "COME IN COMMAND! THERE IS A HUGE FUCKING SHIP IN OUR SYSTEM! WE'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT! HELP!"

    "What!? Is it attacking!? We'll send help right away!"

    "No sir! It's... getting in line for the gate?"

    "... Command to Station 503B, heads will roll for this prank of yours."

    "NO REALLY! IT IS HUGE AND WAITING IN LINE!"
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)01:21 No.15607919
    I think with all the "just make them get outta the way" the atmosphere music should be
    >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Vhb6nJE4Q
    MOVE BITCH
    GET OUT THE WAY

    Also, I would like to point out that this is where we present ourselves to this race/organization/whatever. If we shoot, that's NOT GOOD, even if they shoot first. If we get shot, and just fucking ignore it, we are boss.

    This is the critical point where we are either ancient and wise allies or cruel and ruthless enemies, to be hunted down with everything they have.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:21 No.15607925
    >>15607902
    How many gate jumps is the large base, then? Could we just jump there from here using our engines if we had to?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:21 No.15607931
    >>15607902
    That is correct.
    You only mentioned how many Jumps it would take using the Jump Drive (2 if we want to be safe, 1 if we red-line the reactor).
    You never mentioned how many Gates we'd pass through; just that it would be quite a few.

    I have no idea where everyone else is getting this '2 Gates' number.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:23 No.15607953
    >>15607919
    No, no.
    See, if we get shot, we shrug it off our shields.
    Then blatantly paint whoever shot at us with every single targeting system we have at full power as we slowly turn so that all weapons are trained on them. Then we let that go on for a full minute, then turn back to the Gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:24 No.15607955
    >>15607902
    fine! goddamn it, were gunna do this the diplomatic way, get in line. jump, wait at the next gate, get in line, jump again, repeate a dozen times until we get there.

    And for a thousand years afterwards all citizens of the greater bumfuckistani space empire would remember the harbringer, the black ship that waited patiently while ignoreing every attemp by our brave customs officials to charge their taxes! Through a dozen systems they jumped and at every stop gave blank stairs to the officers. Many still live in dread that the grat black ship will return to once more viciously flaunt our most sacred of tolls!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:24 No.15607956
    >>15607902
    Oh for fucks sake.

    Vedi, I know you like to screw with us for entertainment, but when it comes to quest-critical information, please inform us before we make a decision.

    Well, we've made contact then. Do the aforementioned plan with getting coms up, tell them we've got no interest in fighting and are just passing through. Travel through enough gates so that we can make it to the target with just one jump, and then do so. That'll maximize our resources.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:25 No.15607973
    >>15607955
    >blank stairs

    The great handout of these invaluable defensive items made it possible for the local inhabitant to fend off the invasion of power-armored soldiers.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:26 No.15607985
    >>15607956
    If we Jump, then we have to spend a week wherever we end up as the reactor is stabilized before we can Jump again.

    If you have us Jump to our destination, you'll strand us there, in potentially hostile territory, for a week. This was the whole argument against using the Jump Drive to get there, and for using the Gates.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:28 No.15607999
    can we do an x-ray type scan on the nearest ship? We should probably check that these ARE zenos and not just humans that dont speak english anymore...

    Also I wanna know what they look like!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:30 No.15608021
    >>15607990
    oh hell yes, but i sugest we do it alucard style. Let them hit us and if it proves to be nothing to dangerous, let em keep hitting us till they overheat their guns, run out of ammo or realise its not doing anything.

    then broadcast on all channels and LAUGH!

    then kill em all with every weapon at our disposal while laughing
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)01:32 No.15608035
    >>15607990
    Honestly, I don't think we're in a position to say "we're not going to take your shit." We're badly damaged. They have an unknown amount of backup. This is bumfuckistan, so maybe they have ships that can cream us somewhere further in.

    There's a big difference between being treated like benevolent gods or ruthless conquerors. I suppose there's precedent for the latter, though, considering what our mission was.

    I guess if we get shot at, we should make their *weapons systems* our targets. Try not to hit anything else but their guns. Is that possible? I don't know. That would be my vote.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:32 No.15608037
    I want Rinn to finish his analysis of the weapon stations, and see if they're really that much of a threat to us.
    If they're not, we go with the trolling idea of just standing in line and ignoring their hails.

    If they are a threat, then we stick with the trolling idea, but if they open fire, then we just move to the transition point regardless of collateral damage and get through the Gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:32 No.15608040
    >>15608021
    If they fire and it's ineffective, I vote to ignore it and proceed through the gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:34 No.15608050
    >>15608037
    >>15608040
    If they fire and it's ineffective, I vote to just wait them out until their weapons overheat, and fire a warning shot.

    ...that destroys an uninhabited moon or something.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:35 No.15608060
    >>15608021
    I think it far more menacing if we just ignore them, and pass through.
    Besides, I don't want to give them an idea of the destructive power of our weapons. I want that to be something that they'll be afraid to see unleashed if our shields are good enough to shrug off their weapons like nothing, and have nightmares about.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:36 No.15608065
    >>15608037
    if it comes to that, i have only one request. that we have this conversation first

    Ivanova: Hostiles are engaging, shields are holding
    EI: Very good Lieutenant, they appear to have us boxed in. Make us a hole!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:37 No.15608069
    >>15608050
    Guy from >>15608037
    Like I said, if they're not a threat, and their weapons are ineffective, we just ignore them and stay in line.

    I wonder if there's a space equivalent for a car horn, in case the civvies don't move.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:37 No.15608073
    >>15608065
    We wouldn't even need to make a hole. Their box is made of tissue paper. Just walk right on through their box like it's fucking nothing.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:38 No.15608078
    >>15608069
    It's called shoving your bridge into their cockpit.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:39 No.15608085
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    >Let's get in line!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:39 No.15608089
    >>15608084
    Or we could not be total dicks and just fire a warning shot that will make them shit themselves.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:40 No.15608091
    Okay, so it seems that we've moved towards:
    1. See if those weapon stations are a threat.
    2. Troll them by getting in line.
    3. Don't shoot unless fired upon.
    4. If enemy fire is ineffective ignore it and troll them.
    5. If enemy fire IS a threat, then return fire or just ram through the civvies and go through the gate.

    Does that sound about right?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:40 No.15608094
    >>15608091
    Yup.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:40 No.15608095
    >>15607897
    dude, thank you, from the bottom of my heart thank you. I havent laughed like that in a while. Good job

    extra irony, i was the one who suggested the nudging....

    Anyway, I think we have the plan down, vedibere, if you would be so kind?
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)01:41 No.15608101
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    >>15608065
    >Make us a hole!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:42 No.15608105
    Hail one of those stations. Best way to see if they can speak the language.

    Have we made any usable progress in interpreting the probe languages yet? Would it be within our capabilities to send some butchered caveman speak in it yet?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:42 No.15608106
    >>15608089
    That relies on them having the concept of 'warning shots'.
    Something an alien culture may not have.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:42 No.15608111
    >>15608091

    That sounds fine but we should broadcast who we are, and that we're just going to use the gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:43 No.15608115
    >>15608091
    I'm still voting for the communications idea. The one guy talking about how it'll take us forever is wrong. Once the codecs are transmitted (maybe a few hours) we will have perfect translation, because it will be based off the numbers from the binary transmission. The codecs will automatically translate the languages for us.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:44 No.15608124
    Unless Vedi is going to be a massive dick and try to troll us for being funny, I say we get in line as best we can.

    If that isn't an option, we cut to the front.

    If their weapons don't do anything, just ignore them.

    If they do something, ping them or target them really obviously to see if they stop. If they keep at it, well, 'tis better to be loved than feared, but assuredly safer to be feared rather than loved.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:45 No.15608133
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    >>15608091
    Going to have to say yes.

    "Play it cool here comes space cops."
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:46 No.15608134
    okay, guys who are saying to wait in line?

    theres 900 ships already IN line. 900.

    i dont think we want to wait around for 900 people to go ahead of us. especially if those stations are a threat...

    Interesting fluff note, humanity are the only known species that have the concept of cutting in line. Most other species have a concept of queing into lines, but to cheat at something so simple was never divised before the introduction of the human race. needless to say, humanity got a huge boost in those early years by skipping day long waits at the local itnergalactic bank.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:46 No.15608142
    >>15608106

    Perhaps. But I think all civilians understand the idea of "if something shoots at you, run away from it."
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:47 No.15608146
    >>15608134
    I don't know if it's a good idea to invent fluff for Vedibere's quest.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:48 No.15608150
    >>15608146
    twas a joke, he's free to ignore it.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:48 No.15608151
    >>15608134
    Well, they're already moving out of the way.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:48 No.15608152
    Guys, seriously, the dude with the penis idea might have some merit.

    Can we, as an EI of vast power, whip up some sort of crude video that clearly indicates our ship moving through the portal peacefully?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:48 No.15608156
    >>15608134

    CUT IN LINE

    HUMANITY FUCK YEAH
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:49 No.15608167
    >>15608152
    quick! all hands to photoshop! stand by adobe illustrator! all available units, man java and stand by to code!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:49 No.15608174
    Do we really want to leave? I mean, if we stay, we might be able to talk to these people and learn something.

    Although I think just punching it out the other gate and leaving them fucking confused is hilarious, so I'm cool with either.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:50 No.15608184
    >>15608167
    OH GOD PARSONS IS ADDING LENS FLARES

    NO PARSONS

    WHYYYYYY
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:51 No.15608194
    >>15608106
    >>15608142
    Immediately reminded of the 'zone of madness' HFY and the warning shot.
    Sage because we're going to be into autosage soon at the rate we're bumping.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)01:51 No.15608197
    >>15608134
    >waaah waiting in line sucks
    the image we're projecting while doing so is that we're not hostile and willing to respect their rules.

    I mean we could just chat with them while we wait. We're not really in a hurry. If they try to shoot at us and can indeed deal damage, we're not going to last long anyway. Running away will only delay the inevitable.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)01:52 No.15608200
    “Keep on sensors. Ivanova, scan and analyze some of the craft and tell me what’s inside them. We don’t want to hit humans. I’m moving us forward slowly. Fie, begin the spooling up of the gate for the next jump.”

    You thrum your engines briefly and inch forward, dozens of vessels already breaking ranks and screaming planetside or, in some cases, out into the solar system. In the mass panic you see dozens of collisions around the tightly packed gates, mostly smaller craft darting about. Still, some of the larger, more ponderous ships you reason to be bulk freighters are taking a great deal of time to alter course.

    “Sir, another transmission!” Ensign Fie calls, “Same as before.”

    “Sensor analysis indicates quadrupeds, methane atmosphere. No human lifesigns detected.” Ivanova begins, “Gate online in thirty seconds, not in position ye--”

    “Weapons fire!” Rinn calls, sounding positively gleeflul.

    “Impact on shields, Lasers, all identified batteries on the stations.” Ivanova tolls out, “No loss of integrity, energy dispersal handling it.”

    “Could be warning shots.” Rinn calls, “Point defense lasers, perhaps. Some species are known for using light weapons fire as such. Agree with immediate withdrawal. Railguns identified as charging and what might be interceptor or missile tubes opening.”

    Pondering the options, you quickly switch to the core. “Chief Dai! Reactor outlook?”

    “Holding steady. Jump possible, will take under five to charge.”

    You return focus to the bridge, “Options?”

    “Advise /immediate/ action, sir. Fighting withdrawal.” says Riggs.

    “Agreed. I’m... getting something...” says Ivanova, still focused on sensor readings.

    “What?”

    “Can’t tell yet sir, energy flux.”

    “Keep on it, Tynes your position?”

    “I would make directly for the gate at maximum thrust, sir. No need or time to fight, gate is hot and over half of impediments cleared.”
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:52 No.15608204
    cutting in line, the key to the empires dominance in the milky way!

    zeno 1: Sir our conquest of this pitiful human colony is complete!
    zeno 2: excelent! Take the prisoners to holding, there's a long line at the next two nearest gates, it will take the humans fleet months to get through!
    zeno 3: Sir! incoming ships! Its the human fleet!
    zeno 2: FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

    (and yes i know the gates didnt exist back then)
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:54 No.15608217
    >>15608172
    Ok Mr. idiot, here's a quick education.

    Let's take a prime number, a number divisible only by itself and 1. This way there's no confusion about the identity of the number due to differing systems.

    So, for the number 1, we'll attach a meaning to it in binary. That is, the number 1 will stand for a certain computer command. The number 3 will stand for another, and so on. In this way, we can detail a set of logic based on numbers and commands.

    Binary is a universal language. Any system that uses it can understand it. It is also the core language of machines. All programming "codes" are really just translations of binary.

    So, by sending this information, we create a system by which our computers will decompile and send a message in binary, which their computers will pick up and compile into a meaningful phrase in their language.

    It's like magic, except it's fucking not.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:55 No.15608232
    >>15608200

    Make for the gate, hopefully we won't clip anyone on the way out but if we have to I'd rather take a freighter to nose than a missile.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:56 No.15608234
    >>15608200
    Well I guess my communication idea is moot at this point.

    Full burn to the gate. The bastards shot at us. Fuck em. Anyone caught in our way can burn up on the shields.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:56 No.15608237
    Just punch it. If they complain later, we tell them they shouldn't have started charging weapons.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:56 No.15608238
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    >>15608167
    >>15608152

    Ved, I think what we'd like to do is send this image to everything in the system.
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/17/11(Sun)01:58 No.15608262
    >>15608200

    That's it, then. Book it for the gate before they do whatever it is they're charging to do.

    the alternative is to torch the two stations, charge the jumpdrive, and bugger off when it charges, but that seems silly when the gate's right there.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)01:58 No.15608266
    >>15608217
    You, sir, are forgetting how ridiculously long it takes to communicate anything in binary. Not only that, but you are assuming all /kinds/ of things. Even on top of that, let's say that your idea works 100%... do you really think you're going to hash out a common language from nothing in less than ten minutes?

    Yes, binary is a universal language. But don't be silly, it's not magic.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:58 No.15608268
         File1310882333.png-(41 KB, 333x348, 1299225968703.png)
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    >>15608238
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:59 No.15608269
    >>15608200

    ENGINES SCREAMING, FULL SPEED AHEAD!

    SHOOT ANYTHING THAT EVEN LOOKS AT US FUNNY

    ALSO I TOLD YOU GUYS JUST WARPING IN WAS A BAD IDEA.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:59 No.15608273
    >>15608200
    it seems to me it's time to drop the hammer and dispense some indescriminate justice. and by "indiscriminate justice" i mean kill everything in the system, glass the planet, and generally destroy everything.

    barring that shut down their gate after we're done with it.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)01:59 No.15608277
    >>15608269
    How was this a bad idea? Nothing bad has happened yet.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)01:59 No.15608279
    punch it to the gate.

    If they start doing damage, shoot at them.

    Looks like the "get in line" idea fell through. I am sad.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:00 No.15608288
    >>15608200
    Well that could have gone better. Wonder how many casulties were caused just by their own cluttered emergency traffic control systems?

    We'll have to work on our translation systems. Maybe find a way to tell them that if they dont bother us we wont bother them?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:01 No.15608290
    >>15608279

    If they hadn't shot we could have kept waiting our turn. Oh well.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:01 No.15608292
    >>15608288
    or we can kill everything that isn;t human. like we should. because they;re xenos.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:02 No.15608301
    >>15608200
    Make best speed to the transition point, and to hell with the collateral damage.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:03 No.15608306
    They walk on four legs and breath ass gas. I say torch 'em. Eh, maybe we should hold off a bit though, they DID fire on us however.

    Also, do a scan for FTL capable crafts. I have the feeling if we needed to, we could start cracking these gates and leave the xenos fucked.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)02:03 No.15608312
    >>15608292
    I'm thinking on the off-chance that there are hundreds of systems full of these guys. We're not in a shape to take them all on.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:05 No.15608330
    >>15608312

    Yeah, for now, easy does it.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:05 No.15608334
    Compare these xenos to the bodies we've recovered. If there's a match compare the ships we see to those we retrieved the bodies from.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:06 No.15608340
    You know what guys? This is almost EXACTLY the situation from the Veil of Madness.

    Except we're the Harbinger, not the Supremacy.

    And there's no empire to return to...
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:07 No.15608344
    okay, the best response is to just book it for the gate, but theyve hit us. to just leave looks like cowardace.

    These, stations, could we concievably destroy them in say a single shot? Cause if we shot one round and blow the offending station to dust then leave. well that sends a message. Fuck with us and die instantly. Obviously the effect is much less if it takes more than one shot, and at that point its giving them an idea of how powerful we actually are.

    If we cant one shot the station that shot us run. If we can, waste the fuckers.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:07 No.15608345
    >>15608340
    Well then good thing we've already handled it differently.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:07 No.15608349
    >>15608334
    Holy fuck!
    This! Do this! A hundred times this!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:08 No.15608351
    Give the civilian craft a bit more time, and the instant they're clear, punch it out of the system.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:08 No.15608354
    Punch it to he next gate then. I still say we send them a picture with our ship moving to the gate with a line pointing to just the gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:08 No.15608359
    If they pose any risk of actually breaking our shields, dodge and counter attack.

    If we can somehow take down their shields and weapons without actually harming them, that would be ideal.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)02:11 No.15608377
    >>15608359
    >If they pose any risk of actually breaking our shields, dodge and counter attack.
    Dodge. In a 2.7 km spaceship.

    >If we can somehow take down their shields and weapons without actually harming them, that would be ideal.
    ....

    Sometimes I just... I don't even. You are a warship mounted with guns designed to fuck shit up, not TAZERS.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:11 No.15608385
    >>15608277

    EXCEPT THAT NOW WE HAVE ALMOST NO CHANCE OF BEING FRIENDS WITH THESE DUDES OR GETTING ANY INFO FROM THEM

    I MEAN SURE WE'RE STILL ALIVE, BUT FUCK MAN
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:12 No.15608391
    What they consider numbers may not be identifiable as anything to us. Who says they even use binary?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:12 No.15608392
    >>15608377
    Fine, kill the whole fucking station if they actually pose a threat. Apparently there's no such thing as middle ground.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:12 No.15608398
    The civilian craft ran out of time the moment someone fired a warning shot at us. We're leaving and there's nothing that is going to stop up.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:12 No.15608403
    >>15608385
    I'm pretty sure if they reacted this badly from just our presence, there was never much of a chance of that anyway.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:13 No.15608405
    uh quick thought, we could fire a torpedo backwards as we pass through the gate, such that after we're through it explodes and damages the gate. These guys seem to be accustemed to the gate system so probably dont have a lot of regular ftl. If we damage the gate behind us it will greatly cut down their ability to give chase.

    albeit that only have stations and civilians at the moment, but that wont stay that way forever. Disabling the gate after us could buy us a lot of time. possibly.

    What do the rest of you think?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:13 No.15608407
    >>15608312
    why not? they;re aliens, and they dare to fire on us. we should absolutely destroy their shit. we can probably take a few on and do perfectly fine. hell, we subjugated a hundred worlds of the bastards. we can handle one measly system, even with the current damage.

    besides, these guys are probably one of many, probably with enemies. we just made friends if we blow them to dust.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:13 No.15608415
    Take out one of the craft that fired on us, and continue to the next gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:14 No.15608417
    >>15608377
    Hey, if that's the greenlight to engage I'm all for it.

    Kill those assbreathers. Every last one of them. Take out these stations, and then start targeting the ships starting with the largest or most well armed.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:15 No.15608427
    >>15608405
    Too dangerous if we're still in-between Gates when the torpedo goes off.
    Also, we're talking about an Imperial structure; I doubt a single torpedo would be enough.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:15 No.15608428
    >>15608407

    We did that when we had all our guns and shields. Right now we've got the point defenses and the one shield layer and the railguns, and the drones and missiles, and that's it. We don't have our heaviest weapons.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:16 No.15608438
    >>15608377
    Vedibere, ignoring the obviously stupid and/or impractical suggestions, do you have enough votes one way or another to start writing?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:16 No.15608439
    >>15608417
    I'm against the idea of starting a war we might not be able to finish. Don't shoot anything, just get us the hell out of here.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:16 No.15608440
    >>15608405
    >give chase
    >buy us time

    They're not going to chase the giant monstrosity, and we don't need to buy time from them.

    They are ants. We are humans with very large boots with lead weights in them.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:16 No.15608444
    okay, we dont need a full scale fight, at most knock out the station that shot us, if we kill everything they'll throw everything they have after us, and if we're hoping to repair somewhere it'd be better if we weren't fighting off an alien battle group at the same time.

    Do only what is necessary to reach the gate in the shortest time possible. Including damaging the gate after we jump, that was a good idea
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:17 No.15608449
    Take out those stations! Kill anything that that isn't fleeing, destroy all gates in system save for the one we use, find out if there is a way to destroy that one after we use it.

    I was afraid we'd be white knighted out of this. We're a warship, let's war!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:19 No.15608466
    >>15608449
    we're a warship who has recieved a warning shot, we're not at war. and warships like us dont start wars
    they finish them.

    run for the gate, the civilians have had their chance. try to minimize casualites, but go full burn for the gate
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)02:19 No.15608469
    >>15608417
    >Hey, if that's the greenlight to engage I'm all for it.
    Opinion seems more to be burn hard for the gate.

    >>15608438
    Yeah.

    >>15608428
    Technically you have a few operational energy cannons, but only a tiny, tiny fraction.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:19 No.15608470
    >>15608449
    Correction: We are a warship with less than 1% of our total firepower actually working. I suggest ignoring them and punching it for the gate, and repeating this for however many gates we go through.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:20 No.15608478
    If these aliens, or any for that matter, are going to ever talk with us they need to know we have teeth and would likely overlook something like this anyhow.

    Take out those stations and anything else with weapons. Seconding the idea to take out all the gates we can in this system.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:21 No.15608483
    >It is also the core language of machines. All programming "codes" are really just translations of binary.
    Binary is not some kind of universal machine language, it's just an abstraction used so that humans can more easily design manipulations of the various voltage levels that actually exist within a computer. It's far from impossible to design a computer which works on a non-binary logic, we just generally don't because it's harder and less efficient in most systems and applications. There are several non-binary abstractions of computer systems which are in use for specialized applications, however, and as technology grows in variety it is likely that we will see more.

    Further, saying "send a message in binary" is not as meaningful as you make it seem. Ultimately what a message has to be sent in is some kind of physical signal, and declaring your messaging protocol to be a binary one (that is, one with only two states) only means that once they use the appropriate hardware to receive the signal it will be there to decode. There's no guarantee that they'll have the necessary hardware tuned to receive it, or that it will be able to read the appropriate frequencies.

    Now, if they really based all their tech on reverse-engineering ours most of this isn't a concern, but your plan is still full of unfounded assumptions.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:21 No.15608489
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    >>15608417
    >Methane-breathing aliens
    >assbreathers
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:24 No.15608513
    >>15608470
    we should atleast shoot at them while we burn, if only to prevent their causing any damage.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:24 No.15608514
    Watching this turn into alien friendships: the reckoning, would sicken me.
    I hope the people saying to flee are just doing so becuase we don't have all our guns right now.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)02:25 No.15608521
    Question, if the next couple systems are inhabited by the same aliens do you just keep on blasting through?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:26 No.15608533
    >>15608521
    Blasting our guns or our engines?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:27 No.15608540
    >>15608514
    and that these are not real targets, a ship of our power and majesty would not belittle itself by wasting ammo on a bunch of puny civilians. we hunt larger prey, battle groups, cruisers, planets.

    These pittful 'ass breathers' are nothing but a waste of our time. mr sulu, full speed for the gate!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:28 No.15608549
    >>15608521
    We aren't going to blast through in the first place. The guy saying that is an idiot.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)02:28 No.15608550
    >>15608533
    Engines.

    Actually, let's get another vote (one per person, honor system... don't make me use IRC for voting) with your choice.

    The three options are:
    Make for the gate.
    Make for the gate and shoot a couple shots at the warstations.
    Stay put and blast shit with what weapons you have.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:28 No.15608551
    >>15608521
    Yes. Just busting through their lines like the Juggernaut.
    No time to fire our weapons; besides, I want to conserve the ammo for better targets than some xeno-TSA equivalent.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:28 No.15608555
    >>15608550
    2nd option
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:28 No.15608557
    >>15608550
    Make for the Gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:29 No.15608561
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    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:29 No.15608562
    >>15608550

    Make for the gate. (Taco Bell option)
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:29 No.15608563
    Make for gate, see how we fair on the stations (or just one if we don't utterly annihilate them) we need to know how effective our weapons are.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:29 No.15608567
    >>15608521
    presuming that each station posses similar armermants. If we jump in and theres a shitload of battleships, we may need to change tactics, but if its just more glorified check points then yes, punch through each one following the same procedure

    appear
    give civilians a minute or two to flee while the gate spins up again,
    burn for the gate
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:29 No.15608570
    >>15608550
    First option
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:30 No.15608575
    Also voting number 2
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:30 No.15608578
    I vote for going straight through the gate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:30 No.15608580
    Punch it for the gate. No shots.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:31 No.15608583
    first option.

    if we're not staying for the fight, dont let em see what our weapons can do.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:31 No.15608587
    Take out those stations while moving towards the gate
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:32 No.15608596
    >>15608550
    Make for the gate, no shots. We have little interest in the stuff here.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:33 No.15608599
    >>15608550
    option 2 sounds good
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:33 No.15608600
    >>15608521

    Let's burn that bridge when we get to it.

    >>15608550

    Voting for booking it for the gate and shooting whatever the fuck that thing Ivanova saw charging up was.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)02:33 No.15608606
    option 1

    Go for the gate

    Agree with
    >>15608567
    >If we jump in and theres a shitload of battleships, we may need to change tactics
    >> The Honorable Representative 07/17/11(Sun)02:33 No.15608608
    >>15608550
    Book it for the gate.
    >> Obese Guardsman 07/17/11(Sun)02:35 No.15608616
    Take out them stations while moving at them gates.
    >> Stost 07/17/11(Sun)02:36 No.15608626
    Shoot dem stations, we ain't no pussies.
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/17/11(Sun)02:37 No.15608633
    heads up, we're in autosage
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:38 No.15608650
    At a guess, I'd say /tg/ is without honor.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:39 No.15608654
    >>15608633
    and thats the cue for end of voting, think its about time to wrap up this little shindig ved!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:41 No.15608684
    >>15608650
    or theres really 20 people in this thread...

    yeah, gunna go with the former too.

    I count 13 for option 1?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:42 No.15608687
    1. Their guns are pitiful to us. We don't need to waste any of them, and not doing so will help any future diplomatic events.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:42 No.15608691
    Autosage and I just joined the thread too =/

    Ah well. I'm voting for just heading through the gate. In our condition we're hardly ready for a fight, and if we attack the stations, and these guys have more then one planet we may run into actual warships.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:43 No.15608702
    >>15608691
    Emoticons automatically make your input worthless.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:46 No.15608729
    >>15608702
    >:|
    I like my emoticons, and I'll use them as I please.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:47 No.15608740
    >>15608729
    And thus 4chan will rightly conclude you are an idiot.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:48 No.15608747
    >>15608729
    And thus, the base of the problem.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:49 No.15608752
    >>15608740

    Y'know who else uses emoticons?

    That's right.

    Hitler.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:50 No.15608767
    >>15608752

    At least he isn't Irish. That'd just be pitiful.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:50 No.15608769
    Vedibere, get a drawfag to drawfag up a picture of the Harbinger.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)02:52 No.15608785
    >>15608769
    Vedibere already drew a pic for us, we're a black octahedron with one end stretched out.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:52 No.15608786
    >>15608769

    It's just two smooth pyramids that are butt-to-butt. Not much to draw.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:54 No.15608797
    BLOW SHIT UP
    I mean, we just wanted to wait in line
    fucking filthy xenos, won't even let us play by their rules
    Seriously though, I saw we vaporize a station or something on the way out, just to put the fear of god into them.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)02:55 No.15608812
    Wanted to see us shoot something.
    Probably won't get to.
    Desperately waiting for next update anyway, so that I can go to bed.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)02:58 No.15608838
    >>15608812
    We can shoot some stuff when we're in a dead end of the gates and they keep shooting at us.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:00 No.15608857
    >>15608785

    I'm sure there are more details than that. Supposedly we're covered in guns, even if most of them are non-functional. There is surely still superficial damage visible, too.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)03:11 No.15608952
    >Atmosphere
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB8b68Z7Hvk

    “I’m getting us out of here, now isn’t the right time for dealing with an unknown number of xenos with unknown tech levels. If they’ve been salvaging our tech for the past sixty thousand years then it could turn ugly.”

    You blast your engines to full and plow forward, scores of ships crumpling under your prow and yet more igniting and exploding in your drive wake. But you don’t care, you are a warship of the Empire and your first duty is to humanity.

    Still, perhaps a bit of communication is not out of the question, after all, they do deserve a response after their oh-so-polite gestures. “Ensign, I have a message for you to send immediately on all frequencies.”

    The man looks at it and grins, “Yes, sir. A few seconds later the rest of your bridge crew is smiling as well, having picked up the transmission on their sensor logs.

    The liquid-space distortion in the red ring of the gate blossoms in front of you as you rush to meet it, and a scant second before you enter you hear two exclamations at the same time from Ivanova and Rinn:

    “Signal identified! Another gate charging to receive!”
    “Enemy weapons firing, rail projectiles and missiles.”

    But it is of no concern. Space warps, snaps, and swirls around you before slamming into focus once more. Ahead of you is a scene you could have almost sworn you just left, save for there only being one station, the planet being a burnished bronze rather than fluorescent green, and the lesser number of ships. Still, you see the shields charging on the station and don’t hesitate, barreling through the freighters and transport craft to your next destination, the ring charging quickly... already aligned to where you desire to go. Again the message is sent, and in the system afterward as well, though there are no stations above that world and rather more ships.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)03:12 No.15608958
    Finally, on your fourth jump you arrive. The world of Larant, main Imperial outpost in this gate tree.

    The sight is a shock even to you, a sinking feeling lodging in the pit of the stomach you no longer have. For a long moment you cannot even speak.

    The light of the system’s binary stars glitters off of the dead, fused obsidian and glass planetoid, all that remains of an Imperial world which your databases say holds over 3 billion humans. In orbit is a disassembled mess, the grand capital-class shipyards that once stood as proclamations of rule, of the Empire’s power now float in enormous pieces around the planet. And worse. Across these ancient drydocks swarm hundreds... no, thousands of small craft, like maggots swarming the corpse of a noble fallen warrior. On occasion they dart back, often hauling glittering prizes of salvage to the hundreds of bulk haulers floating listlessly. Fat leeches engorged on the lifeblood of their betters.

    “Fie, transmit message again with one alteration. The last part. Present tense.”

    “Sir.” and a split second later the message is sent, prompting the ships to lift in a great exodus from their moors. Flies from the bones of those long dead.

    "This is the OIS Harbinger. You are in violation of Imperial space. This violation will be logged. We have returned."
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:16 No.15608988
    >>15608958
    So we're don for tongiht?

    great job vedibere, its good to have some combat at last! even if its led us to nothing but scrap. Oh well, next games hunting of the scrap takers should prove interesting!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:16 No.15608990
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    >>15608958
    > We have returned
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)03:16 No.15608991
    Unacceptable. Purge the xenos.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)03:17 No.15608997
    Huh. Well, this is awkward.

    I have about three or four more hours in me but I'm not sure if that would be worth another thread. (lol slow posts, ect.)

    Guess I'll see what you guys want to do. Monday to pick up here?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:17 No.15608999
    OPEN FUCKING FIRE
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:18 No.15609006
    >>15608997
    oh shit, we'll im down for more if you are. we're at the limit is all, and there was a sense of finality to it so i assumed we were done. but if you're good to continue, your crew will serve!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:18 No.15609007
    >>15608958
    Goddamn. I was afraid of this. We need to find another intact base so we can effect more repairs. Maybe we'll have better luck with a smaller base.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:18 No.15609012
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    YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)03:19 No.15609014
    >>15608997
    This is important. Were there other gates we could have passed through, but did not.

    What I'm saying is "how many systems do these assbreathers inhabit"
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:20 No.15609024
    >>15608997
    Let's keep going.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:20 No.15609026
    can we capture the scavengers? Most good salvage must have been taken already, but who knows they may have some stuff we can use.

    although we should probably be concerend that a major imperial world got glassed, implying heavy weapons and combat, both of which are new to us, if not unexpected
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:21 No.15609029
    >>15608997
    Well, if you're up for it, I'd love to get some more VoidQuest in.
    And now, I think launching all drone fighters is appropriate.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:21 No.15609032
    >>15608997

    What? No! Keep going!
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:22 No.15609044
    >>15609026
    At the least, we should be able to get some unisteel.
    But I think actual components and parts is out of the question.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)03:23 No.15609053
    >>15609014
    Number of gates doesn't really matter except to denote traffic. That said, the more gates there are the more shit it generally links to. All gates in a particular system can link to any other gates that system is linked to, if you see what I'm saying.

    So, in a long roundabout way of answering... yes, in the systems you passed through there were more gates. That said, the designs you saw (briefly) enroute did not all look exactly the same. It's possible you just strolled through two or three different "kingdoms" or whatever.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:27 No.15609087
    >>15608958

    destroy all unknown ships.

    Then we should probably turn what remains of the system's proud orbital stations into space dust, unless we think we can salvage anything for our own uses.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:27 No.15609095
    If we're going to use the Gates, we're going to have to backtrack, which means flying right into the middle of those defense installations, and probably incoming battle groups.
    If we had a list of planets in which the Gates were shut down, I think we'd have better success with them.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)03:27 No.15609096
    Actually, my stomach just informed me I haven't eaten in fourteen hours.

    I'll pick up here Monday at 18:00.

    Will still answer questions, just might have a slight time delay.

    Also, post what actions you want done. So far it's looking like the Xenos are going to be fighting an Ophidian warship in the near future. Is this correct, Y/N?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:31 No.15609127
    >>15609096
    >So far it's looking like the Xenos are going to be fighting an Ophidian warship in the near future.

    Judging by past actions on this board, I'd say that depends on how sexy they are.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:34 No.15609160
    >>15609096
    >Stop right there, xeno scum!
    Yes, I believe the general sentiment is that the xenos are going to be in for a world of hurt.

    But I am concerned about the Gates entering this system; is there a way for us to tell the Gate stations to shut down? I don't want anyone entering or leaving this system until after we're through with all of the salvagers.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:35 No.15609181
    >>15609160
    Nevermind, I found where you said that it requires physically shutting it down to take it off the network.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:35 No.15609184
    >>15609096

    Only until they understand that

    "OUR HEART IS A BLACK HOLE THAT CREATES ENOUGH ENERGY TO POWER THE MOST POWERFUL WARSHIP THE GALAXY HAS EVER SEEN FOREVER

    AND IT HOLDS NOTHING BUT SORROW"
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)03:38 No.15609210
    Lock down the gate, if possible. Shoot anything that comes through.

    From our gate maps, can we get a count of how many different gates are on this branch? What I mean is, we can sit here and just blast anything that comes through, but we want to know how many systems' worth of stuff we'll have to plow through.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:38 No.15609212
    I want Rinn to analyze the sensor logs from when the stations opened fire, and see if their railguns and missiles would have done anything to our shields.
    I want to know if we're going to have to skulk around until we fix our shields, or if we can act like the Juggernaut.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:38 No.15609221
    >>15609096

    I"d rather we just leave for another gate. We can keep riding gates until we get close to a system that doesn't have a gate online but which does have something interesting.

    Then we jump into that system.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)03:41 No.15609240
    >>15609221
    That makes a lot of sense. Orbiting a glassed Imperial world isn't going to be good for morale, and we'll probably not find much salvage here (Vedibere tell me if I'm mistaken).

    Yeah, camping the gate and shooting stuff that comes through isn't that great of an idea either, I'll retract it.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:47 No.15609278
    >>15609221
    The problem with that is there are a fuckton of gates, and without an idea of where to go, we might need to go through a thousand gates, and backtracking through half of them once we hit a terminal node.
    I think we should take a look at the map again, and look for military outposts and bases that might have been skipped over or where the military would have pulled out of.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:49 No.15609296
    >>15609096
    Is there a shipyard in our data banks that doesn't have a gate at its location? Or some kind of high security deep-space facility that could be of use to us=
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)03:57 No.15609356
    >>15609296
    good point, we were a top secret lack ops project right? the kind you need to build somewhere dark and quiet? The kind that requires a large space dock and assembly area? the kind that doesn't show up on anyone elses maps?

    Thats where we should be going if possible. if not, getting to the central highway and see whats there. It would be advisable to only use the gates for now for two reasons. 1, using the ftl is risky and time consuming, and 2. they don't necessarily know we have it. With all these gates, ftl is probably uncomon to unseen. lets keep that our little secret
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:00 No.15609375
    >>15609356
    >we were a black ops project
    No we weren't. Where are you getting that from?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:01 No.15609387
    >>15609375
    well we were a terror weapon, we whipped out hundreds of worlds by ourselves. we caused a race to supernova itself for a chance at hurting us.

    I assumed that the government wasnt going around bragging about us, at least while we were in development, maybe Ved could clarify?
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)04:02 No.15609393
    >>15609210
    A bunch.

    >>15609356
    Where /do/ you people get these crazy ideas. No, the Harbinger wasn't a black ops project. You were the test case for the effectiveness of warships crammed slap full of the best of the best of the best of what Humanity had to offer.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:03 No.15609396
    Well done gents, everyone rest well.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:03 No.15609403
    >>15609387
    Check the first and second sessions.
    We weren't a terror weapon so much as the best ship ever produced by the Empire up to that point. We were sent in to crush the 100 Worlds Alliance as a shakedown cruise and to prove the futility of rising up against Humanity.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)04:04 No.15609411
    >>15609387
    A terror weapon is hardly effective if nobody knows about it. Also, you were featured prominently in lots of propaganda as the epitome of Humanity's power. There were entire propaganda campaigns centered around how you were tearing shit up out in the Hundred Worlds territory.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:08 No.15609453
    >>15609411
    ah thanks for clarifying, my bad, guess i miss remembered.

    Although the questions remains, do we know where the harbinger was built? thats the place most likely to be able to repair us I'd expect. I'd also expect it to be near Sol, for all the good that does us
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)04:12 No.15609492
    >>15609453
    Built in the Grand Shipyard in Sol itself.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:16 No.15609534
    >>15609492
    Sounds like we should go see Sol some time then.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:16 No.15609538
    >>15609492
    During our time in the Navy, did we ever hear rumors about Armada Intelligence maintaining hidden supply depots and shipyards to service black ops units and taskforces?

    I wonder if we mentioned that to Ivanova, and we left the navigation console on and available to her while we conveniently had to take down the cameras on the bridge, if we might be able to go to one of these secret shipyards.
    >> Vedibere !!O+eQDn0BBx8 07/17/11(Sun)04:19 No.15609566
    >>15609538
    If you did they would hardly be very effective at their job. Mind, there was always wild speculation but you never even heard a credible rumor. Just "Man, I bet that..."

    Also, Navy is a sea force. The space fleet is the Armada.
    >> Nachtmaren dragoon 07/17/11(Sun)04:21 No.15609579
    >>15609026

    'Most' good salvage?

    64,000 years is a long, long time. even with the information that the fall of the empire didn't start till about 100-150 years after we disappeared, that still leaves 63,850 or so years. Cutting out about 10k years or so for a civilization to go from hunter-gatherer to having colonized their home system, that still leaves 53,000 years for things to be picked over.

    If you've ever played mass effect, think of us as protheans. There's not much in the way of what we made left- we ougghta be thankful that the base we found was as intact as it was. yeah, maybe there's a version of ilos out there for us, but, even then, 50,000 years is a long damn time. over ten times longer than our (real) recorded history (assuming you start counting about 2000BC or so)
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:24 No.15609598
    >>15609566
    Okay. Wasn't sure about the Navy/Armada thing, since so many settings call their space force the Navy or Space Navy.

    I think the only thing we can do is search out medium bases and hope come across intact ones until our shields are mostly fixed, and then start looking for the bigger ones when we can ignore most xeno weapons fire.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)04:26 No.15609617
    >>15609598
    Assuming these are the only xenos.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:28 No.15609636
    Archived, don't forget to vote.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)04:39 No.15609740
    I think a priority next thread is sorting out our attitude towards the alien races that have obviously risen in the ruins of our empire.

    At one end of the spectrum, we start blasting the xeno scum until they fall into line and the survivors swear allegiance to the New Ophidian Empire. Temptingly gratifying, but even with our power it's long odds on Us against Everyone, and we can't be everywhere at once.

    At the other end, we put on a smile and play the part of the returning gods. Ask nicely for their historical records, offer to help them unlock all those sealed off worlds like our first base, and try and install ourselves at the god-kings on top of an alien confederation. A pretty story if we can pull it off, but it very much depends on how well humanity is remembered.

    In between, well, it gets political. We try and play a game mixing threats of destruction (and actual destruction) with promises of technological insights and the protection of our fearsome might to gather alien worlds under our command. Probably go to the weaker and more vulnerable alien civilizations who'll bargain with the devil to solve their problems. Not as simple, but it means we don't have to sell out our heritage or try and reconquer the galaxy single handled.
    >> Anonymous !WqCEn7mGIU 07/17/11(Sun)04:56 No.15609883
    I guess we're done here, then.

    i eagerly await next session.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)09:17 No.15611596
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    >>15609579
    >64,000 years is a long, long time. even with the information that the fall of the empire didn't start till about 100-150 years after we disappeared, that still leaves 63,850 or so years. Cutting out about 10k years or so for a civilization to go from hunter-gatherer to having colonized their home system, that still leaves 53,000 years for things to be picked over

    Picked over? I think you mean "completely fucking cleared out." I am absolutely astounded that the Imperial facilities are STILL being salvaged!

    >>15609098
    >surprised when it's not exactly the way you left it

    Not me! I'm surprised that we lucked out. I figured that the place would either be A. looted clean millenia ago, and thus totally abandoned, or B. intact and salvageable. Through some bizarre fluke of luck, there's actually something left for us to salvage - and THESE dopes have ALREADY SALVAGED IT FOR US.

    Think, man! Even if every usable high-tech component was smashed or stolen centuries ago, there is STILL a metric fuckton of something we need: ship-grade unisteels. We still need a LOT of that shit to finish even the repairs we can do without a shipyard - and we'll need more if we take more battle damage.

    Usually it'd be a fools errand to cut up a smashed Empire base just for scrap metal, but THESE SILLY XENOS HAVE ALREADY DONE IT FOR US, AND THEIR BULK CARGO HAULERS ARE JUST LAYING ABOUT FOR US TO LOOT.

    ACTION: Full local sensor scans of the salvaging ships; determine if they're manned or salvage drones. If drones, locate the command ship and query crew for capture/boarding options: if we can uplink, we can probably make a force-intrusion into their system and use them for our benefit. If they're manned, scare them off with HUGE BLACK SHIP lumbering and target painting.

    Prepare to come alongside the bulk haulers and board them with shuttles filled with drones to assess what's inside them.
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)09:19 No.15611607
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    >>15611596

    ATTITUDE TOWARDS XENOS: Even without syntax, we still have a basic dictionary of their language. Select several words like "peace, vulnerable, passive, friendship, help, confused" and broadcast it twice. That should be enough to make them back off.

    Then broadcast a standard greeting IN OUR OWN LANGUAGE. IF THE ALIEN PROBE WAS ABLE TO DECODE OLD OHPIDIAN EMPIRE COMMON, THEN OBVIOUSLY THEY KNOW OUR FUCKING LANGUAGE, GOD DAMN IT, PEOPLE. GOD DAMN IT. FUCKING THINK FOR A CHANGE.

    We DID plow through civilian ships, but they DID fire on us, so that's a wash.

    DEFENSES: Launch drone fighters and position them behind the gate: if the inevitable xeno warship response insists on attacking, we can sammich them between the Harbinger and drones up the ass. DO NOT FIRE ENERGY CANNONS, that betrays our tech level. Missiles + railguns is equivalent to what they've demonstrated possession of, so we can keep them misled about our true power. If they think we're weak enough to ambush, we can uncork one of our three energy cannons and make them scatter as they scream THAT BATTLE STATION IS FULLY OPERATIONAL. That will buy us time as they take a bit to re-evaluate our real power.

    Latefag is extremely late, but otherwise all Ved has is "lol shoot dem xenoooos" and that's not much for a full, thread-starting update, eh?
    >> Anonymous 07/17/11(Sun)09:42 No.15611726
    Oh, one more thing: you people are all idiots.

    >THIS IS THE OPHIDIAN EMPIRE'S LEGENDARY MURDERRAPER, WE HAVE RETURNED, YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS HAVE BEEN NOTED

    As I just explained, they'll be able to understand this once they crack open their old dictionaries and translate. The Empire, in their histories, must be like Kerrigan, Stalin, Hitler and Cruella De Ville having a four-way atop a bed of burning kittens.

    You've just GUARANTEED a massive military response, and even if their tech is low-tier shit, we're in bad shape. Vedibere's last status update:

    >Repair Drones:
    Units: 5439/6000
    Autonomous: 223/300
    Repairable: 0 (Parts Required)
    >Reactor:
    Integrity: 45%
    Output: 25%
    >Shields:
    Form-Shield Integrity: 50%
    Form-Shield Dissipation: 25%
    >Weapons:
    Point Defense Lasers: 44% coverage online
    Missile Launchers: 9/10 Batteries -- 809/1000 Tubes
    Heavy Railguns: 6/8 (2 cannibalized)
    Medium Energy: 11/64 Turrets -- 23/192 guns
    Heavy Energy: 3/32 Turrets -- 4/64 guns
    >Engines:
    Speed: 60%
    Efficiency: 50%
    >Sensors:
    Local: 77%
    Interstellar: 9% (Not in repair queue)



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