Void Quest. Yes!

Suffer alien scum! Suffer!

And indeed, you can’t help but exult once more in the storm of battle. Your systems swell and flush with power, processing expanding to battle status and energy draw increasing as your interlocks release. Trillions of calculations in an instant, the analysis of friends and foes alike. Carnage and death wrought upon both your enemies and those of Humanity.

The crucible of battle, the eradication of your foe. The purpose for which you were forged and remade so long ago.

On the bridge your officers remain professional, though not all are able to disguise their reactions. Rinn grins openly as he watches the rout and offers advice on how best to pick apart the quickly dwindling remainder of the foe. Ivanova is cool and impassive as always, efficiently marking targets on the sensor screens and evaluating ship systems in combat for the first time since your resurrection. Tynes busies himself rearming and reequipping drones -- both inactive and those that return to hangars from their sorties -- while on occasion switching his view to the battle and nodding in approval. Finally, Ensign Fie leads the chorus of the other junior officers in their occasional muted exclamations as they watch the main holoscreen depicting the fight. In engineering Dai is directly linked with the reactor, and seems to be ignoring anything save the systems themselves.

The same can not be said for the others. The entire engineering staff has rigged an impromptu giant holo-display out of a dozen portable holo-generators and plays host to most of the crew. All of them gather around the enormous floating display and, at every large detonation or annihilation of a larger barge, raise a chorus of cheers. As is so common, a dose of reddish work seems to have energized them and given them an outlet upon which to fixate their frustrations and loss. Finally, a foe which they can combat and blame for their misfortune; even if their blame does come nearly sixty-five thousand years too late.

Mere minutes into the slaughter only a few straggling remnants remain, finally becoming desperate enough in their distress to flee either toward the hulking black silhouette you present and try for the gate. Either that or off into the void to escape your wrath.

You offer them neither refuge.

Even as they near you release yet more of your drones, the reserve you were holding back, offering a ghostly smile as the bright specks pour forth once more to sow both panic and carnage. Likewise the witless fools who attempt to flee into the void are shown no mercy. The price they pay for their crime is eradication, no lesser sentence will do.

And so it ends. In the engineering sections a final uproarious cheer is loosed, raggedly blending into the Imperial Anthem. On the bridge Ivanova does a sweep of the wreckage, ensuring that none remain, and unsurprisingly there are a few holdouts. Ships playing dead, free-floaters, and the like. You quickly turn and scour the last remnants clean, leaving only three floating life signatures as you ponder on interrogations before their execution... or perhaps leaving them as warnings of your terrible power.

Vedibere, could you let us know what progress, if any, was made at decoding the local xeno language using the captured probe? Have we been able to identify words, or are still at the point of identifying data headers?
Was Wright saying that the probe was translating our transmissions, or simply encapsulating our transmissions inside their own code capsule for retransmission back to their home base?

Also, while we're dispensing our wrath, get our weapons officer to go back through the sensor logs and determine if those railguns and missiles would have posed a danger to our shields.
Have Ivanova keep an eye on the Gate; our pursuers can't be too far behind.

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/
6: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15603188/

>that feel when you catch VoidQuest as it starts.

Aw yeah.

The xenos were taking apart the shipyard; it's unlikely that usable components survived, but we should check anyway.
Ask Dai if we could salvage production-grade unisteel from the wreckage.
We'll need to send out a shuttle to do the close in scanning; I want to use a drone shuttle for the task.

As for the 3 surviving xenos...is Dr. Burr trained in xenobiology, and is he equipped for handling interrogations?

==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

==Junior Officers==
Ensign Fie - Communictions Officer
Ensign DuBois - Staff officer
Ensign Tremko - Staff officer
Ensign Rao - Staff officer

>>15626894

AGREED: With the above course of action.

QUERY: If possible, can the gate be taken temporarily offline from this side in order to keep possible pursuer at bay?

ACTION: Capture the aliens for interrogation.

ACTION: Re-arm and prepare for further assaults.

>>15626968
>QUERY: If possible, can the gate be taken temporarily offline from this side in order to keep possible pursuer at bay?
It was in the last session that deactivating or locking down a Gate requires physical intervention; we'll need to send a boarding team to the Gate station to shut it down.

>>15626894
>Vedibere, could you let us know what progress, if any, was made at decoding the local xeno language using the captured probe?
You have the basic forms (ex. letters, hieroglyphs, cuneiform) used for writing down.

>Have we been able to identify words, or are still at the point of identifying data headers?
You have basic programming structure and transmission protocols mostly worked out. Made easier by being directly descended from Ophidian structuring.

>Was Wright saying that the probe was translating our transmissions, or simply encapsulating our transmissions inside their own code capsule for retransmission back to their home base?
It was taking in your transmissions and spitting out a garbled mess of what it thought you were trying to say in it's own specifications.

>Also, while we're dispensing our wrath, get our weapons officer to go back through the sensor logs and determine if those railguns and missiles would have posed a danger to our shields. Have Ivanova keep an eye on the Gate; our pursuers can't be too far behind.
Noted.

>>15626986

Very well, thank you good sir, let me restate my query:

QUERY: How plausible is it to launch a few droids/engineer to close the gate in order to deter possible intruders?

I don't know if there's anything to be gained from interrogations, or as warnings of our power.

Someone should offer a valid reason to leave them alive. otherwise, I'm ok with blasting them.

There better be a dwarf on that crew somewhere or I'll report yah for racism!

Don't worry, I'm just fooling with yah!

>>15627030
Thanks.

Okay everyone: WE DO NOT HAVE A DICTIONARY OF THE ALIEN LANGUAGE!
Keep that in mind when suggesting courses of action! We don't even have the communication protocols worked out, let alone any words. We know what their letters look like, and what frequency we need to transmit on, but that's about it.

>>15627053

We can learn much from interrogating the aliens:
- We can learn of their culture/habits/ways (in order to exploit them)
- We can learn more of current situation and most importantly, of the HISTORY
- We can learn the deposit of the materials scavenged from this station to further the repais

.. and many more. Interrogation is a must.

>>15627053
Leaving some alive will leave everyone terrified of us, not a bad thing actually.

Since I missed the last thread, a slightly late suggestion. Let's have Ivanova train a replacement for Parson, when we have downtime. We already know she has a bad habit of trying to take on more responsibility than she can manage.

Now, to business. I see two main strategic branches here.

First, we tear a swath of destruction across the galaxy as we put the xeno scum in their place. The purely military solution. Satisfying, but us against the galaxy is long odds if we can't find human remnants to conscript and arm.

Second, we mix some politics into the situation. Basically find some of the weaker xeno factions that are unhappy with the current power structure and willing to make a deal with the devil. Sign them on as vassals to the New Ophidian Empire, point them against our enemies.

I obviously lean towards the second. So I'm in favor of capturing those few survivors for examination and interrogation. Even if we go with the purely military route, we want to know who we're up against and what stories they have about the fall of humanity.

>>15627091
>>15627107

- We can study their language with a live specimen.

>>15627053
If we could have them tell us where other planets like Orrin exist, ones where the defense systems continued to be operational, that would be very valuable.

Oh, Vedibere, something I thought of: Can we run a comparison between star systems in our navigational database, and those star systems listed in the Gate Network Map? If we can find a star system we know of that used to be a military base or shipyard, that doesn't have a Gate, it could more likely have survived the fall of the Empire.

>>15627111
>>15627107

- We can further the second (2) suggested goal by interrogation, which will give us information on the currently galactic politics.

>>15627107
>>15627111
>>15627123
Good points, let's capture them if we can.

Treat them with proper caution, potentially as a bio-hazard.

>>15627111
If Humanity hasn't survived then going around blasting who we want to blast and being known as a ship that doesn't afraid of anything would be our best course of action probably. That way if we find any ophidian tech that can clone or gene alter or whatever to let us restart the race then we can just take it and not worry about shit. This does assume we're the baddest dudes in the galaxy though.

If humanity does survive then we shouldn't be negotiating with dirty xenos anyway and be helping humans rise to power again instead.

In other words theres no reason to be nice to the xenos if we aren't outgunned. We should just go in and take what we want if we can.

>>15627109
Actually, I'm against leaving any survivors in this system. If we take prisoners for interrogation, we take them with us and space the bodies when they're no longer useful.

They saw our weapon systems in action; that is information that I don't want anyone to have.

No survivors!

>>15627141
>run a comparison between star systems in our navigational database, and those star systems listed in the Gate Network Map
>find a star system we know of that used to be a military base or shipyard, that doesn't have a Gate

Also, this. So hard. Shouldn't take long, being an EI. Then we can set a course.

>>15627141

Supporting this!
ps.

Am I being to active? Haven't played much in games like these in 4chan and I'm not quite sure with the proper etiquette. For reference:

>>15626968
>>15627039
>>15627107

>>15626860
>>15626886
>>15626890

PURGE XENO FILTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>15627170
So, I think the participants need to sit down and have a nice chat about the playstyle we want. I mean, maybe, I'm just throwing out ideas.

Do we want to continue the "humanity is amazing" thing the Empire had going on, and that all our crew are conditioned into believing.
-OR-
Do we try to hold hands with Xenos and sing Kumbaya?

I saw we interrogate them, or at least make an attempt, but be careful. What does our onboard weapon contingent look like? Just EI controlled combat drones? Obviously they're not much of a threat but no sense in taking chances. Would it be possible for them to self destruct to harm us, or something?

>>15627208
It is simple really we PURGE THE XENOS!!!!!! There is no other way. They are maggots that decided to overthrow our glorious Empire the first chance they had, they are FILTH, and deserve nothing less than death.

>>15627208

Or we can do both. Other aliens are just a tool to bring the glorious empire back to it's rightful position as the RULER OF THE GALAXY.

>>15627208
>sing kumbaya
fuck that
our crew would never go along with that, at any rate
>>15627172
I agree with this. We don't want to start spreading fear just yet; it might convince someone with some actual potential to come after us. We're still a lone, damaged ship, we don't want to attract the attention of whatever serves as a higher power in the galaxy right now.

>>15627172

AGREED: With the above course of action.

>>15627208
Pretty sure one of those would involve a mutiny and one wouldn't. Plus you forget this is roleplay (sort of) and we were raised in the empire too. We were a soldier too and they tend to be known for loyalty especially ones put in command of ships like we are.

>>15627192

Feel the same way, bro.

ACTION: Recover/refuel drones, immediately launch a second complement and have them lurk behind the gate for the inevitable military response.

We're presented with a great oppertunity: we're still in need of ship-grade unisteels, but we don't have the facilities to undertake any efficient scrap-salvage operations on our own.

Thankfully, these suckers have done it for us. Send a few shuttles + drones to the bulk haulers and see what they had in them; even if no usable components are about, sheets of scrap unisteels will be great for our own repairs.

And if you tell me we already blasted our own fucking salvage, Vedibere, I will attempt to hate you to death.

>>15627233

Okay, but the maggots appear to be the only people left. It'll be a hellish march into our own grave just chasing down aliens and butchering them.

There's hardly any point in fighting for an empire that no longer exists.

>>15627208
I say we look for any remnants of Humanity that might have survived, using cloning and artificial womb technology if we can find it, and restore the Empire.

These xenos are not our inheritors. They are not beings whom we uplifted as client races, that Humanity designated as our heirs. They are not our children, using the legacy left to them by their progenitors to forge their own path in the universe.
They are looters. Scavengers. Vultures picking at the bones of their betters, stealing what they could not possibly have hoped to develop on their own.
And they will be dealt with like the thieves they are.

>>15627266
Not that I'm trying to rain on your parade, but you do know different types of metals are used in different things right?

Just putting this out there to be the voice of opposition:

After we've secured this system and finished interrogations find a way to establish diplomatic relations with whatever xeno empire(s) currently hold this region of the galaxy. Even if the end result is just them giving us a formal declaration of war it could buy us valuable time. There is a wealth of information that we could negotiate for in theory.

>>15627281

VERDIBERE: Do you have enough material to start writing?


>>15627266

AGREED: With the abovementioned course of action.


>>15627274

AGREED: With the abovementioned course of action.


SUGGESTION: Our first priority should be to:
- Preserve the ship and it's crew
- Preserve and nurture further human life.

Rather than going on a blind rampage through the universe.

So I think we've come to a consensus that we want to continue the Empire Fuck Yeah trend, question the xenos if we can, and then execute them. Leaving survivors to tell the tale of our weapon capabilities is a bad idea.

Aside from that, we want to know the feasibility of closing down the gate, feasibility of getting salvage from the debris field, and if there are any non-gated inhabited worlds we could set as a destination.

>>15627328
Yeah, I'll start now.

Annnnd I'm out. Hint: it was when you went from "sympathetic survivor who could learn from the mistakes of their long-lost past" to "heartless war-criminal." I'm not saying this is 'wrong' or anything; just that it's not interesting to me. Have fun.

>>15627208

There are two extremes. At one end we purge every xeno who looks at us fun (the 40k solution) and at the other we play nice and make friends and share our tech on a limited basis (the Star Trek solution).

That leaves us plenty of room in the middle. Aliens are inferior to humans, obviously, but we don't go around exterminating ALL of them. Just the ones who refuse to take their place in glorious Ophidian Empire. With the new situation that place may have changed. Obviously, we're still on top. But I can see us delegating local authority and allowing for greater autonomy for those who bend their knee early and convincingly.

tl;dr is that I want to rule a galactic empire, and that means leaving enough of them alive and intact to be worthy subjects.

QUERIES

Does this system's gate(s) connect to anyplace interesting?

Is there anything of apparent value here besides the dead shipyard and vessel wreckage?

>>15627362
I'm not entirely pleased with this new direction either but it could still be workable.

1 VOTE for not exterminating every xenos in the entire galaxy. (That doesnt mean we wont have to kill a lot of them now.)

I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to salvage xeno ships for our own use. We're great and all, but the Harbinger is still only one ship, and its drones and shuttles are meant to operate in support of it. Short of finding intact Imperial vessels, we're not likely to get any reinforcements for a while.

Picking up a couple of alien ships, gloriously inferior though they are, and automating them (since we have no crew to spare) could give us some interesting options.

>>15627362
Not really a response to this post, but it got me thinking.

Similarities between Vediberes quests so far:
Anon plays a somewhat incorporeal being.
Anon plays a being with complete control over his domain.
Anon plays a being with little regard for anyone but his own.
Anon plays a being with a very high amount of power as compared to the rest of the world.
Anon plays a being somewhat alone in the world.

I don't see there being any motivation for us (the EI of the ship) to "learn from the empire's mistakes" at this point.

We don't know why the Empire collapsed. At this point, I feel it completely in-character to continue being Empire Fuck yeah, until we have a reason to believe otherwise. Once we are hit with the startling realization that Humanity might not have been all its cracked up to be, we can have character growth, and possibly some more mental breakdowns as the psychological training and patriotism are taken out of our sails, so to speak.

It was pointed out that as an EI we would have had to be pretty committed to the Empire's way of thought in order to become one. Pulling a "well, the empire is totally badwrong, xenos are totally OK for something more than being second-class subjects" at this point seems kind of gamist. As it appears, the crew of the harbinger doesn't seem to share the sentiment some participants are expressing.

>>15627384
>>15627393

AGREED: With the above suggestions.

We are not in a position to exterminate everything, nor should we. Rather, we should try rebuild our empire, take back what was ours and try to co-exist with those aliens that are friendly and can collaborate with us.

Even more so if they can further our primary goals of survival and rebuilding. 40k approach is not advisable.

>>15627462

This anon voices an EXCELLENT OPINION. You sir are a fine gentlemen. SUPPORTED.

>>15627281
>Not that I'm trying to rain on your parade, but you do know different types of metals are used in different things right?

And spaceship-grade unisteels would be a must for the hull of an orbital dockyard. Of course, superconductor metals from the guts of the machine, weaker lightweight alloys common for internal bracing struts, etc - we probably have a need of all of that crap.

Mind you, some of the better stuff might've been prioritized for looting centuries ago and much of the rest will only be so much raw materiel till we find proper facilities to use it... but when we do, we'll want it. The largest gashes aren't repairable by onboard tools no matter how much repair stock we've got.

I understand exactly what we've got here: scrap metal. It just so happens to be scrap metal that's probably beyond the metallurgical tech of any alien civ, though, so we may as well stuff it in the cargo bay if it could be moderately useful.

As GM the exact details of how bad our need for that stuff is, combined with the details of what scrap is actually still in-system and in barges is all in your head though, so having our character contemplate the possibility then sadly reject it for X, Y and Z reasons is just fine too.

Quest thread writers honor intent; but characters also require the means and motivation to go through with it. Having them contemplate an option and rule it out like so is a great in-character way of showing the character honoring intelligent vote options, but passing them up just like the voter would if they'd had perfect knowledge of all the little thorny details. Those little thorny details are too vast for any GM to fully enumerate and you can never know what readers will come up with, so this is the best way to handle it, I've found.

>>15627362
Uh... okay? While I'm sorry you disliked what happened enough to quit over it, that's just the way it goes sometimes. Most people want to kill Xenos and, to be honest, that's an entirely 'realistic' reaction in this situation.

>>15627449
OmniQuest was of my design obviously, but you totally can't even start
>implying
about this one seeing as I let anon choose from a dozen different options... some of which were very low power and/or highly moral blah blah ect.

>>15627393
Of course we aren't going to exterminate ALL the xenos, then there wouldn't be any left to subjugate!

Who knows, maybe some xenos will even swear loyalty to the new empire willingly.

>>15627578
Personally, I'm hoping for us to come across a small enclave of Uplifted Earth animals, like certain dog breeds, primates, possibly some cetaceans, and maybe even cats, trying to keep alive the legacy of Sol.

>>15627526

Of course, you will occasionally get people bandwagoning something incredibly out-of-character or just plain stupid, and when that happens, all bets are off. Sometimes harsh mockery is in order.

>>15627462

This entire post is excellent and you are excellent. Vedibere has quite clearly been writing the characters true-to-life, including the EMPIRE FUCK YEAH attitude one would reasonably expect from the crew of the Empire's most powerful warship (if not flagship.)

The problem is usually that you get a few hardcore white-knights and a few hardcore GRIMDARK MCDEATHKILL faggots, and each launches pre-preemptive strikes in anticipation of the other's derp. Now that you've pointed out the core storytelling technique that SHOULD be taking precedence, perhaps we can all realize that argument is moot.

>>15627541
Oh I didn't mean anything by my observations, just found it interesting. Sorry, I suppose that post seemed a bit hostile after the other anon's resignation.

>>15627362

I hear you bro, and I know your frustration. Vedibere made a big point of highlighting the EI's taking refuge in rage and battle-lust, and much the same thing happening with the crew - using the hapless aliens as a punching bag for their fears and stress.

Somebody who writes that intelligently will inevitably include Proper Consequences, which is one reason I like this quest.

>>15627617
Zomg, we come across a galaxy-spanning empire of apes? It'd be like Galaxy of the Apes except instead of them subjugating humans, they're just subjugating xenos like we used to. We'll come across them whipping some second-class citizen aliens and we'll be like "awww they think they're people like us" and then have an ape-human brofist.

>>15627462
Well said.
You've encapsulated the most important details of the character and personality of the Captain, and of the crew, and how they should realistically respond to the situation.
Because the alternative is to end up like Parson, and we no longer have hair to pull out.

>>15627650
>we no longer have hair to pull out.
>Doctor Burr! Grow me some hair so I can pull it out with this drone! At once!
It's all about the image.

>>15627618
>possibility of readers AND writer all on the same page vis-a-vis quality story development

>>15627618
killing all xenos is not something the Empire did, they were content to subjugate them. There's definitely a whole "well, let's play this diplomatically, but humans are still the best" vibe we have, which i think is a fair middle ground, and it can go either way from here, really. If it turns out that our "defeat" spurred the rest of the xenos into rebellion which started a civil war, we might want to rethink subjugating xenos: either exterminate them entirely, or don't be so mean to them. We cant make that decision yet, though. Vedibere can try to steer us one way or another by presenting things differently (i.e. "xenos are maggots"), but the choice is, ultimately, up to us.

Remember, before we started drifting our mission was to glass xeno planets because they got too uppity. We glassed the xenos planets. that is a thing that happened. I can see people being not ok with that, but the crew and captain of a warship might not have had the same thoughts.

i mean if we find planet Pupulon with adorable puppies that just want to be our friends and/or loyal servants, there's no reason to kill them, right?

Besides, we didn't shoot first, and were content to just get in line to the gate.

>>15627675

It sure is quite.. exhilarating, to say at least.

To the anon whom argued with me over brigging Parson: Saw your last post in the archived thread, wherein you were irked at anon suggesting you were a conservative and I was a liberal, on the grounds that you are generally liberal.

When I saw that post I choked on my fucking Dr. Pepper, because in real life, I'm conservative. I'm so conservative I club baby seals with *other baby seals.* I have two pairs of jackboots in case one gets scuffed.

In retrospect, it is incredibly hilarious. No hard feelings, bro. I love this quest.

>>15627740
>We glassed the xenos planets. that is a thing that happened. I can see people being not ok with that, but the crew and captain of a warship might not have had the same thoughts.

We'd sure have to rationalize it to avoid going insane and live with ourselves at night.... but when it slowly dawns on us that the Empire is truly dust (IF it is,) we'll slowly realize that we don't HAVE to rationalize it, do we? No superior officers, no government... no possible punishment. Our will is our own.

>characterdevelopment.jpg

>>15627740
>i mean if we find planet Pupulon with adorable puppies that just want to be our friends and/or loyal servants, there's no reason to kill them, right?

THEY MUST BE PLOTTING SOMETHING

>>15627750
Not the Anon who argued with you but,

I'm so far left I may as well be communist, and I still think you're awesome.

>>15627740
>killing all xenos is not something the Empire did, they were content to subjugate them.
Well, remember what Imperial policy was concerning aliens:
1. If they're of a respectable size, dismantle their entire civilization and relocate them by force. Wipe out a few planets if they try to resist.
2. If they're an actual threat, or they dare to resist too hard, we wipe them from the face of the galaxy, erase all evidence of their existence, and make sure that anyone who knew about them, knows that they got their shit wrecked because they wouldn't submit properly to Humanity.

You know, I was kinda on the fence about what we should do regarding xenos until this thread - simply because I wasn't sure what sort of attitude the character we're playing SHOULD have in such a situation.

I'd like to state that I'm glad this has been cleared up, and that we should now have a great deal more speed in making appropriate decisions.

>>15627773
A fair point, and we can do that. That's cool. At this point we're still wondering if anything's left (probably not). We're probably in denial about being the last remnant of the empire. Our stated goal from previous threads is to find out what happened, and reconnect with the empire.

Failing to do that, we can bring up being uncomfortable with our past actions. Maybe Ivanova isn't OK with them. Maybe Dai isn't OK with them, maybe he thinks alien engineering is cool too (he probably doesn't). There still needs to be something that precipitates that event, though. finding Earth glassed, or records that suggest the Empire isn't OK, or finding a peaceful intergalactic empire, or whatever. Then it makes sense to start to wonder if Humanity really is Fuck Yeah or not.

>>15627813
>Void Quest
>speedy decisions

“Status report.” you intone.

“Enemy destroyed, we’re in position to fire on anything that comes through that ring, cap’n” Riggs says.

Ivanova looks up and nods, “All enemies neutralized and no gate reaction yet, sir.”

“Drones repositioned near the gate in standby mode, ready for possible incoming.” follows Tynes, and you do a systems check.

“Good, I’m dispatching shuttles to pick up the floating prisoners for full interrogation. Ivanova, scan the debris of the vultures and the destroyed shipyards for materials and machinery we can use. I’m not overly optimistic after tens of thousands of years, but while we’re here the attempt will be made.”

With that you switch down to Chief Dai, and instead of speaking to him you dive directly into the systems themselves. Streams of data swirl past in eddies and currents as you follow the man’s stream of conciousness down, down, down...

You find him at the heart of the reactor protocols, delicately tweaking specifications one last time before turning to you, “Yes, captain? What can I do for you?”

“I would like you to do two things: One, I’d like you to begin sorting the materials we find in this system for quality and usefulness. Second, I would like you to dispatch a team to take the gate down temporarily. How long do you think that will take?”

“Hmmm...” the radiant man reaches up, rubbing his chin as he begins a half dozen inquiries throughout the ship, “I would say three hours to take it down in a rush job, a little more than twice that to do it so we can reactivate it in less than a day.”

“Very well, take some men or drones over there and I’ll make my call then.”

You withdraw at his nod and flit back to the bridge, taking fresh sensor readings as you do. Still nothing, thankfully. “Lieutenant Rinn, begin a tactical evaluation on the weapons discharges from the stations in the first alien system we were in. I want to know what kind of punch they are packing and if we can handle them, understood?”

“Sir.” The man responds, immediately bending to his console and calling up specialized analysis programs.

Satisfied, you look to the two Ensigns manning the bridge currently, “Ensign DuBois, Ensign Rao. The two of you are to visit the armory and suit up. You will be, along with Dr. Burr, escorting three prisoners to the brig from the shuttle bay. You are authorized to deploy gundrones to assist and equip class 3 armaments. Lethal force is allowed, but not preferred. Understood?”

“Sir!” they say in unison, and quickly depart at your dismissal. Good. Now, you switch to Dr. Burr. The man is waiting in the medbay with his assistant, on alert status for casualties. But now you have a different task for him;

“Doctor, I’m presently transporting some xeno prisoners aboard the ship for interrogation. I’ve dispatched an escort to meet you down there, please ensure they are suitably housed and prepped.”

The man’s face twists in obvious displeasure but he nods, “Yes, sir.”

>>15627859
inb4 xenos turn out to be humans

>>15627859
>The man’s face twists in obvious displeasure but he nods
Was there anything in Dr. Burr's psych profile or Armada evaluations that would indicate that he might have xeno-sympathies?
Or could it just be that he finds dealing with xenos to be distasteful if its not in the context of him burning them to constituent particles?

While he sees to our prisoners, we should really get to work on that navigational database-Gate Network comparison. We need to come up with our next destination.

Finally, what do people think about the Gate: rush job or do it right?
I'm for doing it right, because we presume that the local xenos have FTL drive systems (evidenced by all of the derelicts in the Orrin system) but they don't know about ours. I think that's an ace we should keep hidden until necessary.

>>15627911
I'm on board with doing it right.

>>15627740
>Besides, we didn't shoot first, and were content to just get in line to the gate.

While this is true, and I would have had no problems returning fire back at the gate/Alien Stations...

This wasn't even comparable. We just systematically hunted down and murdered Civilian vessels for no real reason. I won't say it was out of character or anything, but it was decidedly vile.

>>15627911
It could be either of those, or it could be that as a doctor he simply doesn't like prepping anyone for a military interrogation.

If there were concern about his loyalties he likely wouldn't be on the ship, though. So whatever he might personally feel for whatever reason there is that.

>>15627923
>for no real reason

They were dismantling Imperial property. Like it or not, we are still a servant of the Ophidian Empire and we serve its interests. This may not be the case forever, but it certainly is now, and the crew seems to agree.

>>15627911

Do it right, we don't know if this place has anything of use. I'd like to get moving ASAP if it turns out to be a bust.

ITT = Boo hoo, we murdered alien civilians after they shot us, not to mention them commandeering Imperial Transits. Boo Fucking Hoo.

Grow some balls.

>>15627923

Remember, they're aliens. They'll never, ever, have humanity's best interests in mind. The Empire's policy of containment and propaganda was merciful compared to the other option on the table. They may have made the wrong choice anyway.

>>15627946
60000 years in the future. Thats like blaming a man for digging up an indian arrowhead.

Again, stopping them from dismantling it isn't something I had a problem with. But actively hunting down and executing civilians for such is shaky. The fact that we considered it "a thrilling fight" is likewise very sad, considering the sheer discrepency in ability.

>>15627991
You may consider it vile, but according to the policies in place in the Empire when we were thrown into stasis, and the reactions of the crew, their morals are obviously different from yours.

Look, if you can't get into character, then there isn't much we have to talk about.

>>15627991
Tell that to those native when you're trespassing and looting on one of their ancestral burial ground, hint they probably won't take it kindly.

+1 for doing it right (closing the gate). Don't endanger personnel if at all possible.

The systematic extermination of civilian scavenger craft might not have been the best course of action and it was quite bloodthirsty. Actively participating in a slaughter is a different feeling than being told "you glassed three xeno worlds and killed millions more civilians than you just did here." All told, I'm OK with it from an RP POV. And it was a morale boost to the crew, apparently.

We might want to talk with the good doctor about his displeasure with working with xenos. I know we had everyone report for psych-analysis, but maybe the doctor and his assistant need to have a chat with someone too? Don't accuse him of xeno-sympathy, though, since we like to jump to conclusions apparently.

Sure is a lot of white knighting in here...

>>15627991
>Thats like blaming a man for digging up an indian arrowhead.

No, not really.

>But actively hunting down and executing civilians for such is shaky.

In the context of the Ophidian Empire's usual policies, not so much.

>The fact that we considered it "a thrilling fight" is likewise very sad, considering the sheer discrepency in ability.

There is a certain thrill even in crushing an enemy that can do virtually nothing to oppose you. We are the conquerors here. It may be considered immoral as far as modern sensibilities go, but likely not to citizens and soldiers of the Ophidian Empire, which we are.

This is not 21st Century Earth.

>>15628014
I'm fully aware of how the empire is in character, but from the descriptions mass murder usually came with a very good reason, like rebellion or war targets.

Whatever, just roll with it. Just saying, if we end up meeting something that poses a threat to us, and we don't find surviving humans, then Diplomacy is rapidly going to become a non-option.

So uh... you just sort of wait and have Dai disassemble? Or what? What are your objectives here? Do you interrogate immediately? Wait? Keep the crew on battle alert? Do anything else in the system?

What is your course of action?

>>15627938
On that note, do we have anyone specialized in interrogation procedures, specifically interrogating xenos?
I'd prefer to not pull Ivanova from keeping an eye on the sensors and the Gate, but I can't think of anyone else who might be qualified, given her Armada Intelligence training.

Of course, there's the whole language problem to consider, as well.

Perhaps it would be best to keep the prisoners in isolation, and try to understand their language first via basic pictograms (assuming they even see in the same way we do).

>>15628052
>In the context of the Ophidian Empire's usual policies, not so much.

Really? I mean, I know we glassed planets, but usually they were rebelling or something was the idea I got, and even then it wasn't exactly a "light" move.

>>15628056
While Waiting for Dai to disassemble, lets thoroughly interrogate the prisoners.

>>15627785
If we start womanizing and hitting on the Lt. I'm going to need someone to shoop me a up a picture of a holographic Zapp Brannigan as our character portrait.

>>15628056
Let them stew a little bit. The longer they sit in fear, the more pliant they'll be.

That, or they'll get angry at our actions and resistive, depending. Hard to judge with aliens.

I'd like to know who they were, how long they had been pillaging the facilities, etc.

>>15628056
Our course of action is to bicker amongst ourselves, as usual.

-"do it right, Dai. take your time."
-Stay on battle alert, ready to blast non-civvie craft that may come after us. By non-civilian I mean if they shoot at us, shoot at them. No questions. If they don't shoot at us.....probably shoot them anyway.
-See if there's anything left to salvage in the system
-Find our next course: a system with a shipyard or base that does not have an active gate.
-Interrogate as soon as possible. Don't let the Xenos suicide.

>>15628068
What I got is that most combats we participated in were slaughters just like this one.

>>15628056

Who does the interrogations usually? I'm guessing it's Ivanova. Whoever it is, start by asking what the filthy xenos were trying to salvage from the wreck and what they've taken recently. Also ask them about the military capabilities of their race.

>>15628056
Dai is to do what he needs to do to disable the Gate, and 'do it right', as he said (able to bring it back up in under half a day).

Until the Gate is disabled, we stay on high alert in case hostiles appear. Once the Gate is disabled, we stand down from battlestations, and begin salvaging what we can from the remains of the shipyard. Stay on alert, however.

We put the aliens in confinement. We first see if they understand our speech or writing. If they do, we go straight to interrogation (are there other worlds with intact and active Imperial defenses, what's the status of galactic politics, who is the pre-eminent power in this region).
If they don't know our language, we need to begin to learn their language.
See if we have a linguistics specialist amongst our crew.

Finally, do that navigation database-Gate Network comparison.

>>15628068
This is not a "light" situation. This system's most precious resource was being systematically dismantled by aliens. Not only are we duty-bound to defend Imperial property, we are called to enforce Imperial rule on all non-humans. This action, though heavy-handed, is perfectly appropriate for establishing our position in this region. We are a warship of the Ophidian Empire. We will defend the property of that Empire, we will defend the character of that Empire, and we will accept no dissent.

This slaughter sends a message, just like our charge through the gates: "Don't fuck with us."

We're more like the ancient empires than any modern one.

>>15627797

!

>>15628132
>Who does the interrogations usually?
You've never actually had call to. According to procedure it would be you, Ivanova, or Parson with Burr on standby for any possible medical emergencies arising from the procedure.

But really, space warships weren't generally expected to be taking on prisoners and when they did they were usually given over to people from Intel.

>>15628145
>We are a warship of the Ophidian Empire. We will defend the property of that Empire, we will defend the character of that Empire, and we will accept no dissent.

I hope you don't lock yourself in this mindset should an event force us to rethink our values.

THANKS GUYS.

Can't stay up any longer, it's 03.32am here, and unlike most of you, I'm not good in staying awake at this hour.

God speed.
.. and please stop this white knight bullshit ok?

>white-knights

Guys, guys, please. See >>15627462

Your objections are valid and they WILL be addressed, but in a natural fashion, not an arbitrarily forced one. The EMPIRE STRONG attitude's days are numbered, and even if they aren't, Actions Have Consequences and I've full confidence that Vedibere will enforce that.

>>15628170
boo hoo

>You will be, along with Dr. Burr, escorting three prisoners to the brig
Dammit, only one officer. We should send Guns or the Lt to make sure as few red shirts die as possible.

>>15628170
This is our current position. It hasn't been that long since we reawakened. From our crew's perspective, it's only been weeks since we were glassing worlds in the Hundred Systems Territory. Obviously, we will adapt to the new situation as time goes on. We might become more lenient, we might discard the ideals of the Empire entirely, we might decide that all nonhuman life must be exterminated.

But for right now, we are a loyal subject of the Ophidian Empire and to suddenly act completely different would break character.

>>15628201
He has a point. A rigid thought structure won't serve us very well if we're tho only remaining survivors of the empire. It may seem noble and all to champion your loyalty after the death of your masters, but noble doesn't equal wise.

>>15628165
>Parson

What's up with him, anyway? Is he permanently out? Asking if he's permanently out may be a bit gamist, but I was hoping to eventually have a nice chat with him. Try to appeal to his pro-Empire views. Show him that this is a glassed Imperial stronghold: spur him to action. Regardless of how long has passed, a hundred years or 60 millenia, it is still our duty to do what we must in the place of those that cannot! Grit those teeth, Parson, and get it together! Stop messing around here; we're still alive. Who the hell do you think you are?! Remember--and never forget--believe in humanity. Believe in your own humanity! Stand up and keep fighting!

>>15628165

Well that really only leaves Ivanova then. Let's get whatever equipment and software for translation tested with some standard questions before we start twisting at their manipulators.

>>15628229

We've got some options from the last thread for trying to deal with him. We haven't followed up on them yet. When we're not in the middle of a potential battle situation, we can do so.

>>15628056
>So uh... you just sort of wait and have Dai disassemble? Or what? What are your objectives here? Do you interrogate immediately? Wait? Keep the crew on battle alert? Do anything else in the system?

>What is your course of action?

We're going to remain on the gate, on battle alert, until Dai has shut that gate down. Once it is down we'll interrogate the aliens, and start really poking through this boneyard. We want to look for whatever the aliens didn't steal.

We want to learn the aliens' language, and then get some real information out of them.

roll 3d10 please

rolled 7, 1, 7 = 15

>>15628366

You got it

rolled 5, 4, 7 = 16

rollan

rolled 6, 3, 1 = 10

>>15628366

rolled 2, 7, 4 = 13

>>15628366
Rolling

>>15628371
>>15628373
>>15628381
>>15628382
>all dice below average
TGDice.jpg

Also, I thought of some things, and I feel guilty for it, but I want to share.
>Giant warship?
adviceHarbinger
>gently bump small craft
>get in line

>Planet Pupulon?
adviceHarbinger
>They must be planning something!

rolled 2, 5, 4 = 11

>>15628366
rollin'

>>15628400

Look you chucklefucks, we just spent thirty minutes rushing through portals to avoid being shot at by these guys. You shouldn't be white knighting for them when they quite obviously are in a "shoot on sight" mentality towards us. We can stop blowing them to bits when they show a willingness to negotiate.

>>15628551
>SHOOT THOSE UNARMED SALVAGE TUGS, DEFENSE BASES THREE SYSTEMS BACK FIRED ON US

okay, that's not the argument to be making here

>>15628600
>>15628551
also we did kinda just plow through a bunch of civilian vessels, and ignore hails, and ignore a warning shot, and have all our available weapons charged, and be larger than every other ship bar the stations put together....

on that note, we still acted like we should have, the empire dont take no shit from zenos, and until proved otherwise, we're still the empires god-tier mailed fist dispensing its justice throughout the stars

>>15628600
The argument is: "Those goddamn xenos are looting the ruins of our civilization and stealing our technology. Burn them all so that we can rebuild unhindered.

And those other fuckers shot at us, we'll have to kill them too. Can't let people shoot at us and get away with it. Sets a bad precedent."

>>15628641
>ignore hails
We couldn't translate them
>ignore warning shot
There wasn't one. They opened fire immediately. We assume they MIGHT have been warning shots, due to their low power, but that's unknown.
>be large
That's not a crime
>plow through civvy ships
It was either move through them or open fire to defend ourselves.

>>15628667
not arguing that, we did what we had to, but from thier point of view, you can see how it would look bad.

Albeit, HITTING us with a warning shot was an aweful idea...

>>15628651
>The argument is: "Those goddamn xenos are looting the ruins of our civilization and stealing our technology. Burn them all so that we can rebuild unhindered.

Yes. Yes, it is. Somebody that understands.

It takes a tense six and a half hours for Dai to cut the gate, during which time four ships transitioned in... all civilian craft, all vaporized when it was clear their intentions were to flee rather than anything else..

In the meantime you bring aboard the three prisoners. The three shuttles arrive and, one by one, you open them to retrieve the contents. In the first is a large, heavily massed quadruped with brownish-black skin... at least what little you can see of it. Most of its body seems to be covered instead with thick, bony spiked plates. The head sports four eyes, two to each side, and a wide, shallow mouth with three rows of flat bone in concentric semicircles within it. Two massive multijointed forearms with powerful muscles sprout from a thick torso, and in the rear two smaller -- though still obviously powerful and likely capable of supporting the creature’s weight alone -- legs are found.

By way of clothing, the xenoform wears a rebreather and, between its plates, a metallic looking suit. Finally, draped from each of the four longest spikes on its body is a brightly colored streamer which you can identify no solid purpose for. It makes some deep grunting noises which you place descending into the subsonic as it crawls down the ramp, and you are pleased when it seems to understand the gestures your officers use to shepherd it into the brig, which you then flood with an appropriate methane mixture.

The second shuttle goes rather less well even from the beginning. From the moment of recovery the creature -- of the same species as the first -- is extremely belligerent. Claws nearly eight inches long and grafted with metal sheathes slip from concealed housings on its forearms and it uses them to tear at the interior of the transport. Though it is unsuccessful in damaging anything important, it will take a a day or two to replace the upholstery. Whereas the other beast was grey-plated and brownish-black skinned, this one has a deep blue hue under dark red plates, with many more streamers of all variety affixed about its body.

>>15628400
>Parsons is crying
>adviceharbinger
>He must be up to something

The alien’s belligerence is even more pronounced when you attempt to remove it from the shuttle. Upon opening the hatch it immediately charges through with a bone-rattling deep bellow, claws unsheathed and upraised as it storms forward on its stubby rear legs. Dr. Burr, standing well back, turns his head from the sight as the two power-armored ensigns open up on the beast, shredding and scorching it into a quickly sterilized mass of quivering meat.

The third shuttle offers a different guest: A brighly hued teal and blue bird-like creature Two enormous (or they would be, were they not clipped close) wings sprout from its back, along with four three-digit manipulators from its sides and chest and two legs underneath it. The avian’s long neck weaves back and forth briefly as it reviews the figures before it, quickly dropping down low before folding its wings meekly at the sight of the still-cooking quadruped’s corpse. Apparal on this one is, of course, a rebreather mask... of oxygen, this time, and a long cloak of feathers that match its own exactly. Possibly even the ones clipped from its wings, made into a sort of robe.

After the xenos are transported to the cells you begin simple tests to assess communication ability. You speak first in common, then your own homeworld’s language, then several other dialects stored in your banks. Sadly, nothing. Undeterred, you present each of them with a keypad and the “letter-symbols” you decoded. Immediately both of them tap out strings of the icons. Excellent.

You give instructions to Dr. Burr and the Ensigns to present the xenos with objects and then have them tap out the appropriate words on the datapads. Hopefully after a few days of this you will be able to have a decent conversation.

>>15628651
We should've shot back immediately when they opened fire then. That's what I advocated, but nooo bunch of hippies decided they'd just ignore it.

>>15628809
Excellent. We appear to be making some progress.
Oh, we should have one of the shuttles and a couple of the engineers sift through the wrecks of the salvagers to find examples of xeno technology (to see approximately where they are compared to us) and to hopefully find emergency rations for our prisoners.

And don't forget about that Navigation Database-Gate Network comparison; I'm not going to stop mentioning it until we get it done.

>>15628870
>And don't forget about that Navigation Database-Gate Network comparison; I'm not going to stop mentioning it until we get it done.

I believe we've done that already. The two lower-tech probes were beaming to Tertiary nodes and the higher-tech one was beaming to the secondary node (makes sense, secondary nodes would be located at bigger commerce/civ hubs.)

So we've got big barbarians, and timid bird-things.

The brutes should be kept under maximum lockdown. Have guards at their cells at all times, and have them heavily armed and armored.

The other type seems more reasonable, and seems to be intimidated by the other, judging by how it submitted after witnessing its death. We should find out the relations between the species as soon as possible.

>>15628897
What?
No, that's completely different from what has been referred to as navigation database-Gate Network map comparison.
What I'm referring to is this >>15627141

It's to find a military base or shipyard-equipped star system that doesn't have a Gate in it.

>>15628809
Okay so my guess is that the spikyness and pieces of fabric relate to some sort of caste structure for our methane breathing friends. Obviously you've gotta be alpha as fuck to get somewhere in their society. Former war hero perhaps?

Our other guest's species may be responsible for the use of colours in depiction or rank. Or who knows, they could have been subjugated hense calling for their wings to be clipped.
Closest parallel I can think of would be the Morrigi. Pic related.

Now that the gate's down and communication is being established, we can concentrate on salvage.

Is everyone intending to stay here until there is nothing left to pick apart?

>>15628799
>>15628400

Courtesy of MSpaint

>>15628929
>It's to find a military base or shipyard-equipped star system that doesn't have a Gate in it.

... OR A GATE THAT IS NON-OPERATIONAL, LIKE THE ONE AT ORRIN.Outposts where the gates were shut down in time seem much more likely to have survived.

VERY GOOD POINT, SIR. Having been disappointed at the larger, gate-linked network, and having a great crack at xeno-first-contact intel, that might be a good second option.

>>15628966
Not that thorough. Just long enough to check over the shipyard superstructure for usable scrap metals, see if anything useful survived in the Gate station computer core, and then decide on our next destination.

So check that computer core!

>>15628958
>Or who knows, they could have been subjugated hense calling for their wings to be clipped.
It's not unreasonable to assume that a species with hugeass wings would clip them so their starships could be of a reasonable size and they still be able to move around in them.

Just sayin'

>>15628966
>salvage

well we'll need to wait on Vedibere to see if there's anything worth salvaging. We're looking into it, but we just don't know yet.

>>15628985
Remember that the networking protocol that the Gates use doesn't send updates to a central node along a path or anything. The only way to know that a Gate has been shut down, is to attempt to ping it and have it time out.

...goddamn. Vedibere, Orrin was a Tertiary Node.
Were there any Terminal Nodes or other Teritary Nodes that would have been completely cut off from the rest of the local Gate network by Orrin's shutdown? Anything behind Orrin's closed Gate was potentially protected from scavengers.

We are making progress. I suggest we examine the bird monster more closely. It may be a distant offshoot of a terran life form, depending on how advanced our genetic engineering was. But that's about a zillion to one chance, so instead simply focus on translating their text languages.

>banks unicie

Yes, captcha is right, we should also learn about their bank systems and what form of currency they use.

>>15629042
Assume it's just alloys and scrap metal.

Fair warning, taking on excessive mass (such as, for instance, sticking metal in every free space on the ship) will reduce your maneuverability.

Honestly, I'm not too sure what you're trying to accomplish here. Any shipyard able to repair you would doubtless have some stocks of the materials needed. And you can't possibly fit everything floating around this planet inside your hull.

>>15629055
>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.
Found this from the last session.

Okay, so that closed Tertiary Node is one potential colony. There's also the 14 offline Terminal Nodes as well.
Does the computer core at this Gate station hold any data concerning what was located at those Nodes?
What about our own navigational database?

>>15629088
Looking for exotic alloys, ones that would have been difficult to produce even when the Empire was at its height. Shipyards might have the basic stuff for hull repairs, but we might need the more exotic stuff for rewiring components.

>>15629092
>Does the computer core at this Gate station hold any data concerning what was located at those Nodes?
No.

>What about our own navigational database?
Yes. They were all either alien worlds or assessed to be of some relevance for one reason or another. Mineral deposits, positioning, ect.

No bases on those nodes if that's what you were wondering.

>>15629088
>Honestly, I'm not too sure what you're trying to accomplish here.

Lay in repair stock. I thought we used up all our onboard stuff and what we found in the base already.

>Fair warning, taking on excessive mass

Why would we even DO that? It's not like we can run to a town vendor and unload it for cheap early-game gold. May as well load SOME of the potentially useful stuff since our cargo bay is mostly empty anyways. We can always blow it out the airlock later if we want the room.

>And you can't possibly fit everything floating around this planet inside your hull.

Where the *fuck* did you get... oh, that's right, I'm the only one in these threads who doesn't advocate stripping everything bare like a typical RPG packrat player, feasibility/usefulness and return-on-investment be damned.

>>15629136
>No bases on those nodes
Damn.
Last session there were 2 other, medium size bases. Were they Terminal Nodes or Tertiary Nodes?

>>15629167
>It's not like we can run to a town vendor and unload it for cheap early-game gold

Actually, we might be able to do just that, if we can find a merchant that would either pay us or trade for the raw materials we've got. The trouble, besides finding a merchant in the first place, is that it's not a very Imperial course of action. Unless we happen to find a human world in all this mess.

>>15628958
if he was with a million other dudes salvaging shit from the remnants of a long lost empire i really doubt he's important
it's probably just cosmetic shit, or some insignia representative of their ship or allegiance
doubtless, once we can have a conversation with them they can explain it to us. It's not like we're going to have any trouble with them. They saw what we did to that other dude, and they cooperated nicely enough. Maybe we won't have to space them after all.

Also, what can we glean from their ships computer? They're insignificantly tiny compared to us, I say we drag them along until we have enough language information to get some stuff. Odds are they're based on old ophidan shit too, so it shouldn't be too hard to crack even if it's encrypted.

Can we scan the planet? Is there anything left on it, or is it deader than dead? Any moons or outlying outposts that might have something left, some sort of information?

And even if we can't PROPERLY repair the gaping holes in the hull, at least we can sticky tape some Armor Grade Unisteel over them until we reach proper facilities, righT?

>>15629088
>Any shipyard able to repair you would doubtless have some stocks of the materials needed.

"Some stocks" is not "all the materials necessary to completely repair the ship". Personally I think we should carry at least a small supply of materials that would be useful if we found a suitable shipyard.

>Can we scan the planet?
Why wouldn't you be able to...?

>Is there anything left on it, or is it deader than dead?
Deader than a doornail.

>Any moons or outlying outposts that might have something left, some sort of information?
Either also glassed or long ago mined out to build or build in the shipyards.

>>15629242
The hull was repaired before we made our first jump. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to jump at all.

Perhaps we should leave a warning buoy here. Something to continually broadcast our displeasure at finding the filth of the galaxy engaged in theft of Imperial property. Once we decipher our prisoners' language, we can make the beacon easily understood.

Right, this looks like it's about to devolve into another hour of pointless questions that have already been answered.

Actions to take:
Plot courses for the other two medium bases in this local Gate Network. If they're also dead, we'll determine to either go Sol-ward or Core-ward then the time comes.

Have our shuttles look for alien emergency rations, so we can feed our prisoners, as efforts continue to work out their language.

We'll pick up a ton of scrap Unisteel and other exotic alloys, just in case end up need raw materials.

Once Rinn finishes his analysis, we'll reactivate the Gate and go to the nearest other known military base via the Gate Network.

>>15629293
No.
We don't leave anything of ours behind.

>>15629312
The reason being?

>>15629321
they gain insight into our capabilities. Seeing as we're by ourselves, it's much better to be a spooky phantom ship

>>15629331
What does leaving a little radio floating in-system tell them?

>>15629088
>Huge ship
>Worried about maneuverability

>>15629300
i agree with everything but the first and last. the previous thread said that even this shipyard wouldn;t be able to help us in doing the major work, the minor ones won't have shit. instead we should head towards the bases that we KNOW could be helpful, places with sufficient facilities that we can fully repair ourselves so we can deal with those damnable xenos.

>>15629321
They know that we understand their language. Their transmissions will be more guarded.
Even repurposing their technology (which even our legendary engineer said would take months, this isn't Star Trek) shows that we have that capability.

We need to be as big an enigma and mystery as possible. The less they know about us, the less they can predict us and come up with countermeasures.

>>15629347
We showed that we can cannibalize planetary defense shields to repair our own.
Even if we can't repair everything without a proper shipyard, we can get the secondary and tertiary shields back up by scavenging shield generators from other military bases.

>>15629346
The masses I was talking it isn't a question of fighter jets anymore bro, you would be impacting your ability to slow down and speed up to a significant degree considering the state of your engines. In space this is a Very Important Thing.

Also, I'm just saying this right now, you're a warship not a cargo hauler. If you want to carry around enough stuff to fully repair yourself at all times then get ready to start ripping out weapon systems to make space.

>>15629266
>>15629266

Some of the biggest gashes are merely patched, not repaired. Keeps the air in, but won't do shit against enemy weapons fire.

Well from Ved's replies I'll assume salvage potential is shit, so there's nothing left to do here. Pull up maps, find most valuable solar system accessed by an offline gate, use gate network to rush close enough to it for a single hop with our own jumpdrive.

DON'T go to the shut-down Tertiary node, aliens can cut power cables too. Might just be a xenophobic civ that shut down gate access to the larger galaxy.

>>15629395
>If you want to carry around enough stuff to fully repair yourself at all times
>with a warships meager cargo bays

Oh lawd, why the hell would we bother with that. We just need hole-patching materiel, damn.

>>15629373

Shit. You make a good point. Other tiny, outlying bases would provide more useful components for salvage. We got fixated on moving up to shipyard-class repairs when we haven't finished maximizing more immediate repairs.

Can we have a private meeting with Lt Ivanova?

Perhaps she has a "good feeling" or a "lucky guess" as to where we might find obscure bases of the empire.

Worst case, she might leave a planet's data open on a console...

>>15629482

"What? Why are we jumping there?"

"It is a mystery, oooOOoOOooOooo"

>crew exchanges funny looks

>>15629482
Not a bad idea. Also, once we figure out how to talk to the aliens she should handle the interrogations.

>>15629482

actually... do we know of any "testing" locations or bases that might have produced experimental things? Or perhaps Ivanova might?

Usually such places are out of the way or at least classified enough that they may have escaped any kind of first strike, and might have some useful bits to help us restore systems!

Is vedibere writing the next part or do we need more suggestions to work with?

Wow, so we're a major threat not just due to the fact that we can kill people. We're a major threat because we can completely shut down interstellar traffic.

Duly noted.

Salvage operations go... well, well wouldn’t truly be the word. Though uninterrupted, Ivanova’s scans show the true breadth and depth of the salvage. It seems the aliens must have been stripping everything that was not nailed down for thousands of years, and the current ones only around to slice apart the derelicts for scrap metal. Still, though it takes several days, you are in need of advanced alloys and scavenge what you can from the once-glorious shipyard. A small quantity of starship unisteel, several tidbits of exotic alloys needed in engine and reactor repair, and as much of the free-floating alien provisions as you can identify. You also take the time to search for alien computer cores but find that unlike Imperial ships, they have highly distributed systems manned by crew rather than a far more efficient EI or AI system.

On the fifth day, Lt. Rinn approaches you. Well, your chair on the bridge at least. “Sir, finished that report you wanted.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. I’m looking at it now, very well done. I would hear your personal opinions as well, though.”

The grey-haired man nods, putting an arm across the chair and leaning on it, “Well sir, like I said in there, the missiles weren’t capital grade. Still, no telling what kind of warheads are on them and we only have a bit under half of our point defense lasers up.”

“Yes, I see. And you said no ID on the rails? Nothing?”

“Well, nothing I’d say was for sure sir. That said, they looked like low-velocity shots. Now, those can be really nasty or really terrible depending. There was a siege frigate I served on oh, fifty years back, the Redemption. She had some L-vecs, and those things packed a whallop. See, like you know the faster the shot the more damaging... and the bigger the projectile the more damage. Most of our, err, the Empire’s guns use high-velocity subluminal rounds because of the distances, but,” he shifts raising his hands and forming one into a fist while illustrating a ship with the other, “there are some l-vecs too. What they do is shoot enormous projectiles at much slower speeds, ‘cause you can’t get them that fast without losing efficiency.”

“Yes, but what’s the advantage?” you ask, somewhat impatient

“Well sir, when it gets close you pop a charge in the middle. Makes it crack open and break apart to hit in tens of thousands of projectiles. Strains the shield’s capabilities to manage all those at once, even if they are just love taps. Then all the debris floating around afterward can even help distract point defense targeting for a missile strike after... though it ain’t very effective at that, I admit.”

“So why don’t we see more of them if they’re so effective?” Now you’re actually interested.

“Well sir, first they’re expensive. Both the guns and in the space needed to store the huge rocks for ammo. Next, Empire hardens its shields and shapes them to boot. Last, EI or AI management of shields completely removes the strain. Makes them much worse than normal HV rails in every way. Still, can do some great stuff against unshielded or primitively shielded ships.”

“So then they are either using these large rail cannons... or?”

“Well, or they ain’t shootin’ worth a shit with small projectiles. Pardon my language, sir.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. If you find anything else then let me know.” You conclude, dismissing the man.

“Aye, sir.”

##########

Communication efforts seem to be expanding, though Burr tells you it will be a few weeks yet before being able to hold any sort of meaningful conversation. Still, any progress is good progress, and with all you feel you can accomplish here completed you have Dai ready the gate for departure.

But to where?

The other two small military installations within the gate are 8 jumps and 4 jumps away, and overlaying your map with your Imperial nav-chart you make out one base roughly 9000 LY away from your current position that is not on the gate-net. If you were to travel to the local Primary Node, however, you would cut the distance to just under 4000 LY. Doing so would, of course, have you pass through the local Secondary Node.

>>15629769

Take the long way around.

We don't like the aliens, obviously, but I don't think we're going to go out of our way topick another fight with them, not so soon after the last one.

Not yet, anyways.

>>15629817
Get a language up and running with the alien fuckers in the brig.

Check up with Parson

Maybe stop back a gate or two to give those bitches the "We will return" we promised. Though that's just the warhawk in me.

Ah. hmm. Anything we can do about shields? (they aren't to full yet, right?)

As much as I'd love to purge some more xenos >>15629817, is right. We need to get more of our systems up before we start traveling through what are likely more heavily defended areas.

I'd still like to see how we fare against capital grade targets or a station or something large like that, so we'd have a better idea of where we stand.

>>15629769
I say we do it
As the lieutenant said, we won't have any problems if they are high velocity rails, and the low velocity rails aren't that big of an issue either. As long as we move fast and blast things on the way through, I doubt we'll have any trouble getting through. Once we jump away, they'll have no means of following us, and hopefully we'll find something at the base. If not, we'll have time to ready the jump drive again and get somewhere else. Are there any signs of the alien ships having their own FTL? Or are they totally reliant on the jumpgate.

On another note, are we able to make any significant repairs to our ship using the materials found? Any significant change in ability?
And can we repair our energy mounts with anything less than a full shipyard? Railguns are nice but seeing as those are our main armament I think we should focus on getting more weapons coverage, seeing as we're at large and we have maybe 5% of our guns working.

>>15629769
Have we visited the Primary node and the Secondary node already? Basically, how many unknown systems would we have to jump through in order to get the shortcut.

I like the idea of possibly getting some sort of warning message to the xenos, and then just passing through their systems anyway. As peacefully as they let us.

Ah, but doing a jump would show them we have that capability.

>>15629769
>If you were to travel to the local Primary Node, however, you would cut the distance to just under 4000 LY. Doing so would, of course, have you pass through the local Secondary Node.

Fuck that. Make three hops with our own jumpdrive. Use the intervening month to finish translation efforts with the natives and start some basic interrogation. Considering what we know now, they're a literal intel goldmine we'll be happy to have under our belt BEFORE we blunder into any more civs.

Or we could GAIJIN SMASH through the Secondary node civ, but those guys are probably more competent. The prisoners could shed light on that.

>>15629867
I don't think there's a reason to believe the secondary/primary node civs are any different.

Does anyone know what our drone/drone vessel reproduction capabilities are? I'd imagine we'd have some way of making a few more, even if it's round about. If we don't can we talk to Dai about how we could go about gaining such capabilities?

>>15629867

Wait, Ved. With the reactor up to 25%, we should ask Dai how long we need to wait between jumps now. Does it still take a week, minimum, or just a week to go easy on the reactor?

>>15629892
Also, I know we don't have the resources to make them yet, I just want to know if we can when we do.

>>15629769

would we be backtracking through systems we moved through last thread if we chose to goto the secondary to cut that jump to 4000 LY? If so, how many of the systems would be revisited?

I'm personally not too keen to revisit systems that are likely on high alert after we smashed through, but if we have to, we have to.

So, guys, are we going the long way around or GAJIN SMASHing through the xeno systems?

>>15629882

The most advanced probe we found at Orrin was beaming towards the secondary node gate. Secondary nodes would naturally be placed at larger and richer population centers and/or more trusted subject races. It's a good bet.

Besides, we should give 'em some time to bleat in terror. We're not clear on alien independent FTL capability so far; not even sure how many alien races have ship-based jumpdrive tech or if they're entirely dependent on gates. 'Long as we keep this gate offline, they might well assume we're still here (we DID utilize the gates ourselves) until OH SHIT we pop up somewhere else.

There were probes at Orrin, but those could've been brought by an FTL-drive ship OR just sent by conventional drive at sublight velocities. No way to tell.

If we soon get a visit by FTL-capable warships from the locals jumping in to say WTF DUDE, well, we'll know, won't we?

>>15629867
I'm for making sure we've got some basic translation with the guys in the brig before we take off. We've identified food and other supplies they need already I take it? Because it might be a good idea to have enough for them to last awhile if they'll be taking an extended stay.

What repairs to the reactor, shields, weapons, etc/other, can we make with just the raw materials we've recovered so far?

>FUCK YEAH VOID QUEST
I thought this only on thursdays

>>15629968
>What repairs to the reactor, shields, weapons, etc/other, can we make with just the raw materials we've recovered so far?

Just assume we salvaged everything we can put to use. Engineers have little more to do; assume they'll use it.

Out of Curiosity Vedibere, Where are we on the galactic map?

Someone use paint or something, and super impose that gate map over our galactic one.

>>15630026

SEE THREAD STARTER IMAGE BRO

>>15630055
our position's not on there.

is Vedibere MIA, or just not answering questions?

>>15630026
44 degrees 55k LY

>>15630000
Monday/Fri or Mon/Sat, haven't decided.

>>15629968
>What repairs to the reactor, shields, weapons, etc/other, can we make with just the raw materials we've recovered so far?
A slight bit more than you were previously able to. There's only so far you can repair an advanced object in the field with nothing but standard equipment and raw metals.

>>15629892
Minimal. You aren't a floating factory. Aircraft carriers don't make jets.

>>15630077
>you will never be the Kushan mothership

Sooo basically we're an aircraft carrier with no escort group, no supply/replenishment ships and no safe ports of call.

bad

>>15630135
>you can become a Kushan mothership once you find a large, operable shipyard

>>15630141
you seem to be missing the part about having hundreds of drones and dozens of guns far more effective than anything we've seen so far

>>15630202

all giggles until you need a spare part beyond the abilities of your handyman-level machine shop

>>15630077
would we be backtracking through any systems to reach the Secondary Hub? If so, how many?

Or did I miss a gate map somewhere that should be giving me this information?

>>15630224
We already need thousands of those. We seem to be getting along fine.

Our ship did last over 60 millennia, you know.

Ignore gate system.

Spend time slow jumping to base not on gate network.

We should take our time jumping, and jump a light year or two away as our 2nd to last jump, fire up the telescopes, and observe local system traffic for engine flares.

Spend time sorting salvage, and getting info from xenos.

>>15630241
Forgot to mention that.

You would have to backtrack through two systems -OR- backtrack through one system and add an extra three jumps.

It seems like we are supporting a manual jump and timeskip, then
our blaze of glory was awesome, but not something we want to repeat soon
the last thing we need to do is draw more attention to ourselves

>>15630241
>would we be backtracking through any systems to reach the Secondary Hub? If so, how many?

>Or did I miss a gate map somewhere that should be giving me this information?

That's what I want to know before deciding GAJIN SMASH or take our time and go around.

I don't think there was a gate map per se, but we did get this example image and text:

>You are at a tertiary node presently [before we GAJIN SMASHed through some systems] 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.

>>15630342
So, we're looking at three options, really, since we seem to be set on going to the system without the gate in search of more salvage and information.

1. Backtrack through 2 systems and jump 1 time
2. Backtrack through 1 system and jump 3 times
3. Jump 4 times

Vedibere, is this correct?

>>15630408

I'd say yes. My vote is for manual jumps, with the reactor somewhat repaired it won't take quite as long as before to stabilize and we can put the time to good use anyways.

>>15630408
For the base off the gatenet?

...no. I mean, just apply basic reasoning. How could you get to a base off the gatenet using option 3?

You could hightail it to the primary node and jump from there to lower your distance to 4000 LY or you could jump there from where you are at a distance of 9000 LY.

Ok, so the options are:

1) Goto smaller base A [8 gate jumps]
2) Goto smaller base B [4 gate jumps]
3) Ship Jump to Base C [not in gate system, 9000 LY]
4) Take gates to Secondary Node, THEN Ship Jump to Base C [2+ Gate jumps, then jump 4000 LY out of Gate System]

I'd say all bases located within the gate system can be safely assumed as destroyed and picked clean, so the base outside the gate system seems to be the best bet...

>>15630431
Okay, let's standardize this shit because /I'm/ getting confused now.

A regular drive-jump is Jumping.

Traveling via the gatenet is Gating.

You would be able to reach the off-net base in three Jumps or four gates (one through a secondary node) and one Jump.

>>15630449
Yes, this is correct.

>>15630449
bah, forgot options 5 and 6...

5) Return to our "haven" Orrin, possibly disabling the gate there to prevent unwanted guests. [Travel via gates]

6) Leave this system's gate disabled, Ship Jump to "haven" Orrin, possibly disable gate located there. [Travel Via 1-2 Ship Jumps]

I don't like the idea of taxing our drive too much until it's better repaired. The last thing we need is losing jump capabilities becuase we flit around too much.

I vote for gating as much as possible to the base, with jumps reserved for the most dangerous stretches.

Then again, I'm for backtracking on the off chance we get to go toe to toe with some capital ships. It'd be handy to know how we stand up to them.

rolled 47 = 47

okay ved, do you think we could also get a list of what kind of repairs we could expect at each base, should it be found to be opperational?

Is one base any better than the others, would one be better suited for repairing shields, or weapons, or engines?

I vote for manual Jumps.

Alright, is there anybody who's not OK with going to the base that's off-gate? I think that's what we're doing.

In that case:
1. three Jumps.
or
2. four gates (one through a secondary node) and one Jump.

My vote is for option 2, especially if we can get the xeno prisoners to punch out some sort of message that we just want to use the gate, or for them to not shoot us.

>>15630469
>>15630449
>>15630483

I'll vote for option #4

>4) Take gates to Secondary Node, THEN Ship Jump to Base C [2+ Gate jumps, then jump 4000 LY out of Gate System]

Vedibere, just out of curiosity, how does ship-to-ship combat fluff out in this setting? Do the ships do "pinpoint" Star-Trek style "point blank" or Battle Fleet Gothic 40k style "fill that multi-kilometer area with enough plasma/missiles/shells/lasers to start a small sun and we'll hit them for sure!"

ACTION: ASK CHIEF ENGINEER DAI WHAT MOST PRUDENT COURSE OF ACTION IS, ASSUMING WE'RE WILLING TO WAIT AT LEAST A WEEK BETWEEN JUMPS.

FOLLOW HIS SUGGESTION.

there, nice and easy

>>15630523
>Vedibere, just out of curiosity, how does ship-to-ship combat fluff out in this setting? Do the ships do "pinpoint" Star-Trek style "point blank" or Battle Fleet Gothic 40k style "fill that multi-kilometer area with enough plasma/missiles/shells/lasers

Obviously both! Battles open with drone fighter fleets and missiles at long-range, then survivors close to maximize the power of their energy weapons (beams lose focus and strength the further away you are.)

>>15630536
Yeah, I'm OK with this. We can probably take the xenos on (famous last words)

I'm not too tied-down to my opinion, since it seems there's some sort of even split.

I vote for 3. We want to stay low again until we get some idea of who's out there and who we're shooting. I'm not against shooting people who have it coming, but I don't like shooting blindly at anything in our path.

I also suggest we online this gate again before we go. This is not a distributed network, and if we want to pass this way again we'll want it online. Also, it'll scare the fuck out of anyone who comes to investigate and finds us vanished and just a field of debris left behind.

>>15630536
sounds good enough to me
if he says we can do the jump ourselves, we should do it, otherwise I say we just backtrack through two systems
they didn't have much to stop us the first time, and I doubt they'll have brought in much to stop us in the short time it's been since then. Let's just high tail it through

>>15630485
The small ones are just "System Consolidation Outposts" as they used to be called. A few thousand troops, light defenses, mostly just to keep the peace and say "We're still here, don't try anything."

The mediums are actual military bases, often have shipyards for repairing things up to frigates.

Large bases are only found over Imperial Home Systems. (Also two unique exceptions Armada Rim Command is in deep space and the Rimyards are also in deep space.) Large bases often have shipyards able to accommodate even destroyer and cruiser classes.

Finally, there are a few extremely important/valuable/critical/built-up systems like Sol, Alpha Centauri, Vaegar Rho, and Crassitus that have legendary levels of shit packed into them. The Grand Shipyards of Sol, for instance, are large enough to form a glittering lattice around the entirety of Jupiter, though it has shrunk from when the yard was built due to all of the extraction for shipbuilding.

>>15630574
Are these deep space bases anywhere near us? Do they have gates linked to them/could we find out?

>>15630574

tl;dr version:

"you will never operate at 100% ever again"

Consider this: Now that we've made our appearance, they're going to have extra defenses at the jumpgates. If our jumpdrive is reliable enough, we should use it.

>>15630574
Which one did Orrin classify as?

also
>are large enough to form a glittering lattice around the entirety of Jupiter, though it has shrunk from when the yard was built due to all of the extraction for shipbuilding
That's pretty fuckin' boss.

>>15630523
Anything from light-minutes to the "point blank" combat of light seconds. You won't ever be looking out a viewport to spot an enemy ship visually, in other words. That said, since your energy cannons fire bolts at FTL speeds they dominate the battlefield, though missiles equipped with one-shot FTL drives have their place as well.

And it's precision combat for the most part due to beam weapons. Any force that uses rails heavily follows the "shoot walls of boolet at them", and missiles are generally used in volleys of several hundred or more to try and evade point defense.

You can see how when fighting at light-minute ranges sub-C railguns would sort of lose their sparkle, even without the shields taking away their oomph.

>>15630669
Ugh I don't even want to think about how relativity would effect this type of warfare.

>>15630620
The base at Orrin was one of the tinier small bases.

>>15630607
There might (or might not be) places left that can fix you up as good as new... or even better than new. Either way you will have to find them yourself.

>>15630669
>And it's precision combat for the most part due to beam weapons.
I might be misunderstood, so forgive me.

Your energy cannons fire bolts of energy, not beams. However, they are often called "beam cannons" because, well, when you shoot a bolt of glowing energy faster than light it makes what looks like a beam.

>>15630702
Don't.

Just don't think about it too hard. It works via Science Magic and Handwavium. I am not even going to pretend otherwise.

>>15630669
So basically, unless our enemies also have FTL weaponry, we can pretty much sit at range and pick them off at our leisure.

>>15630741
Provided you can deal enough damage with your current arsenal, sure.

>>15630702
You should read the Honor Harrington series. It details how it affects things, in excruciating detail. Things get messy when your inertial compensator gives out at 300 Gs of acceleration.

>>15630766
But there is no FTL weaponry in HH, though there is FTL communication. The effect of FTL on causality isn't addressed.

Question, do you do anything in this system before you leave? Assuming Dai O.K. the direct route with jumps.

>>15630840
We could send a shuttle down to take a sample of the planet's surface. It used to be a human colony, after all. It may have value as a reminder of what we have lost and what we are fighting to regain.

>>15630840
well we scavanged all the good shit from the guys we wasted, and everything else is dead or long dead, so unless theres something we missed, i'd say its time to bugg out

>>15630858
Sure, we can do that. Chip off a fist-sized piece of the glassed planet. Do that with each glassed imperial planet we found. As a reminder of what happened.

I dunno guys, Dorothy never really felt like she needed to take a brick off the yellow brick road to remind herself she wasn't in Kansas anymore. The evidence is pretty much everywhere all the time.

Seems fairly pointless.

>>15630917
This is not a road. It is a planet which once held millions of humans. Its biosphere has been obliterated and its surface destroyed. This is not like Dorothy taking a brick. It is like a Russian soldier taking a blackened nail from the ruins of one more house on the way to the German border.

Vedibere, how are the gates linked together? Is each gate autonomous, or is the entire gate system linked together in a network?

Can we reprogram the gates to only respond to our signals?

>>15630840

Let's get outta here.

>>15631011
From what we've seen so far, I believe we would have to reprogram each individual gate.

>>15631058

If that's so, It might be a good idea to start locking down gates to civilian traffic, so that we can't be followed and we can isolate spokes from further plundering.

If we were to activate some sort of Imperial military protocol, it would have the advantage of only letting through those who know the codes, presumably remnants of the Empire.

>>15631049
What mod is that?

>>15631100
I like this idea. We should ask Dai how feasible it is.

>>15631260

already covered in last thread, we cannot into reprogram. workmen must physically take it off the grid, we can't "own" gates.

>>15631298

Well, we're the only ones with onboard FTL so far as we know, so we can sort of own them by turning them off.

>>15631308
Yeah, but right now that would be inconvenient for us because we have to wait like a week to safely make another non-gate jump.

>>15631211

Point Defense Systems. That's an earlier version, later ones have military designations (calibre, class, model, etc.).

Asari are so damn sexy, but Tali is just so dawwww.....

*click* *click* *click* *click*

The rhythmic tap of your second-in-command’s boots echos through the the ship’s vault, signaling her approach.. In her hands a glass case with a single obsidian shard the size of her hand, and with it she approaches the right wall; a wall covered in a dozen mini-vaults. She finds the designated one, second row third column, and taps in the security code you gave her for it before placing the blasted fragment inside and resealing the lock. A quiet moment of contemplation.

“Sir?” she asks, her voice soft.

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Do you really expect that we will have a collection of these in the future? I don’t... know if I should feel more overwhelmed at the thought it could come to pass or the thought that we will be the ones collecting them.”

“I don’t know, Lieutenant. I just don’t know. But you’ve seen what I have so far, and better us collecting them than no-one.”

Your XO backs against the smooth wall and then slides down, sitting, before leaning her head back and closing her eyes. “That is true. Still... I would rather the duty not be needed.”

You’re not entirely sure what to reply to that, so you don’t, letting silence fill the room instead. Isolated from the rest of the ship and completely secure, Ivanova is the first human to be in here since the ship’s construction. Droids can be rigged to do things, and normally sentients are not secure enough, especially considering your main core access point is within, but with your current lack of form measures had to be taken.

Finally, you break the silence, “Progress has been made with teaching the aliens rudimentary speech according to Dr. Burr. I am wondering if you will be willing to take over the duty of interrogating them?”

Her eyes still closed, she nods, “Yes, sir. I have a few skills in that area. How in-depth do you wish the questioning to be? Verbal? Drug-aided? Physical? Or even further?”

“For now I would prefer if you stuck to verbal. I will be monitoring the interrogations so I will be able to, if needed, tell you to increase or decrease the persuasion.”

The woman nods, opening her eyes, “Yes, sir. Should I begin immediately or do you have something else you wish to discuss?”

So, while we wait for Vedibere, who wants to decide the fate of our Xeno prisoners.

I like the bird one.

>>15631477
>"do you have something else you wish to discuss?”

"Lieutenant, as you know, I have made it our mission to reconnect with the remnants of the Empire or Humanity. The success of this mission assumes anything has survived of the Empire...or Humanity. What would you do if you suddenly found yourself without a master to serve, and with all the hymns and salutes merely a memory to the galaxy?"

"Is it our sworn duty to rebuild the Empire?"

Ask her how she's doing? Maybe if she's had any more problems with her firmware?

>>15631529

This. Honest opinions from our XO.

We should put them to a standard battery of questions: What species are they, who are they, where are they from, etc.

Then we ask stuff like fleet composition, technological capability, military strength. This is where we put the screws to em.

If the bird-thing is a timid creature, we can play good cop bad cop. The beefy thing might require a cattle prod.

>>15631534
We can ask her how she's holding up, too. I think this may be the point where we can ask her to speak freely. She's inside the core of the ship, this is where she could fuck us up if she wanted to.

What do they know about the Ophidian Empire and its fall? What is the current political structure of the galaxy and who are the major players? What information to do they have about still sealed Ophidian worlds like the last one we visited?

Those seem to be the three most pressing questions to me. A random salvage tech isn't going to know much about military deployments, though he might have some idea about general tech levels.

I say we make sure we start the interrogations once we're sure our communication level is good enough that we're not mistranslating important details. Other than that, with the gate down we're fairly secure. Let's salvage what's worth taking for the effort involved and the space limitations we're under, set the gate to turn back on, and warp out.

>>15631722
As an addendum to that, show them the gate map, starting with the sections they used. Then show the entire gate map. Say we made this. What happened to us?

>>15631477

"I fear that most known bases in our database will be... gone, Lt. Ivanova. We may need to trust in good fortune in order to locate more abandoned outposts or ones built after our time. How do you feel about drawing planet names from a hat? And should it be a fancy hat?"

Thinking from the Xeno's point of view, we just warped in to a mining operation and murdered almost everyone for no apparent reason.

The first question they're going to ask us is why we did that. We should have an appropriate response prepared. Even if we have to be terrifying on a ship level, perhaps we should be sympathetic on a personal level.

Something like, "You were both destroying and stealing our property. By the laws of the Ophidian Empire, we were obligated to stop you."

A likely (but not certain) response to this will be outrage. We can then inform them of what we normally did to Xenos who did such a thing (glassing their planets), and inform them that we're really showing a great deal of restraint due to the circumstances.

When we're done with them, I suggest we allow them to return to their ships and leave. Perhaps even dropping them off somewhere with a "No hard feelings."

>>15631868
"Hi, we just slaughtered hundreds of people for trespassing. You should feel happy, because usually we commit genocide and destroy entire planets for such offenses.

We're going to let you go now. No hard feelings."

Yeah, no. They'll be afraid and angry, and try to stir up resistance.

>>15631948

Just interrogate them while wearing power armor, let them spread the tale of THE DEATH SHIP WOOOOOOOO

How about we don't tell them anything, and maybe if they're compliant and we're feeling merciful we don't throw them out the nearest air lock. Now is not the time to be playing merciful. They saw what we did, and they're doing it because they don't want to suffer the same fate.

>>15631868
Why would we let them leave?

>>15632113

To spread terrifying tales of our wanton slaughter.

DUH.

>>15631529
Yeah, I agree with this as well.

>>15632189

true, but the best stories never have any survivors to tell the tales!

and by Sol, we shall be the best ghost ship story EVER

>>15631948
Pffft, really? If everyone in the tri-state area was murdered in the space of about ten minutes by a handful of people with super advanced tech, would you try to drum up a resistance?

That kind of thing only happens in shitty movies like Red Dawn and Battlefield Earth. Shit just ain't logical.

>>15632218
What? That's retarded. The best stories have at LEAST one survivor to tell the tale.

>>15632221

If we release prisoners: "Oh, that? Oops."

No survivors: "A system of ships destroyed you say? Must have been pirates! Shall we help you hunt them down?"

"Lieutenant, as you know, I have made it our mission to reconnect with the remnants of the Empire or Humanity. The success of this mission assumes anything has survived of the Empire...or Humanity. What would you do if you suddenly found yourself without a master to serve, and with all the hymns and salutes merely a memory to the galaxy? Should that happen, is it still our sworn duty to rebuild the Empire?"

Ivanova sits back again, tilting her head to the ceiling and taking a long, slow breath before letting it out once more and looking down, closing her eyes again to stare sightlessly at the opposite wall..

“I suppose that is the question, sir. If humanity is gone, then,” she trails off, her mask dropping to reveal a riot of conflicting expressions, “Could we even rebuild? An entire race from twenty-four? I do not know. Perhaps with gene therapy and cloning. Still, even then. Even then. So much knowledge lost, to even hope to regain it would take centuries of struggle.”

She sighs, “And then the Empire. It was not just a name or a cause, but people and ideas too. If humanity is lost then perhaps it is as well, but if humanity remains, even fragments, we can rebuild... should rebuild.”

“Why do you think so? Speak freely, I would like to know truly what you think.”

“Because, sir, while it was not perfect -- I know that as well as any, I think -- it was what was needed. Humans carved out a place in the stars and set up the greatest era ever seen. ‘Will to Power, Right to Rule’ still holds true, though the Empire may be gone. The xenos cling to it even when they could have forged their own destiny, still where we lifted them to so long ago. We dragged them kicking and screaming into civilization, and we ruled over them because of their limits. But even before that, we are deserving of the galaxy we forged with our own hands.”

She leans back again, having come forward a bit in her speech, “Still, some things were less than perfect. The Houses’ power. The politics. The humans fighting humans. And worse. If we could change those, even a little... I think we should try that too.”

You are silent for a long minute, “Thank you, Lieutenant. I value your advice and am glad you are willing to share it with me.” Yet even with your words the mood remains solemn and brooding, so you try a new tact, “So tell me, Lieutenant, how have you been holding up? This has been difficult for all of us, I’m sure.”

She nods absently, “I, well, it has not been so difficult for me. I’ve had no family since the death of my father, and to be honest this has been a fresh start. A way to leave behind the past.”

“Ah, so like the opposite of Parson. Dissimilar even in the smallest things.” you joke, and she smiles a bit.

“Yes, I suppose.” At that she goes silent for a moment, and just as you are about to speak again she preempts you, “Sir, if it is not being, ah, presumptuous, I would ask you a question. A-A personal question, I suppose.”

Hmmm, new. “Of course. I did say you may speak freely, here at the very least.”

She nods, hooking her hair behind her left ear, “I have been wondering. For some time now, in fact. Why,” she hesitates, “why do you trust me as you said before?” She waves her hand around the vault, “All of this, and that,” she points to your main core, “could be... vulnerable, to one with the proper training if they were allowed access. Even now, a specialist in such a place could be a... a threat.” You note that as she speaks she is idly running her fingers across the neural shunt.

>>15632291

"You think I don't know why you were assigned to this ship? The Council was nervous as hell with packing this much power into a single warship when the Harbinger was just a theory. I don't see how the current situation has lessened the need for, ah, safeguards such as you."

"...Because nobody values trust like someone who knows what it is to have trust broken."

>>15632291

"I am still human, Lieutenant. I tell myself that I am, that my state has not... changed me, because I do not let myself act otherwise. And humans trust each other. They rely on their comrades and expose weakness to their friends. If I were still a man of flesh and blood I would be vulnerable to betrayal. But I would trust you not to do so unless you truly believed I was a threat to the ship and crew. So I will trust that I am still your captain, and you are still my XO, and I have no reason to worry. Because I am still human. I hope you can share some of that belief."

>>15632291
I can't resist posting this:
BECAUSE MY 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

(for boring: a logical argument for why she wouldn't unplug us--she'd be killing herself.)

In reality, >>15632320
along with "If we cannot learn to trust what we have left...each other...may we all die in the void."

>>15632291

"... Mutually Assured Destruction? A lingering desire for human intimacy while without my biological body? Or perhaps I'm just setting you up for a later joke about how you touched me in places, Lieutenant. Truth be told, even I'm not sure why."

>>15631829

>"I fear that most known bases in our database will be... gone, Lt. Ivanova. We may need to trust in good fortune in order to locate more abandoned outposts or ones built after our time. How do you feel about drawing planet names from a hat? And should it be a fancy hat?"

and this

>>15632360
This.

>>15632360
I half-jokingly came up with that like three threads ago, and it's still being brought up like once a thread.

>Idonteven.jpg

>>15632394

we should set up a signal that sends it on an endless loop in the next Xeno held system we encounter!

>>15632394
I make it a point to do so, because I think it's funny.

So far we've not been the "emo ship," and I'd like to keep it that way, but if we do,
>my heart is so dark
adviceHarbinger
>it's a black hole

>>15632394
>I half-jokingly came up with that like three threads ago, and it's still being brought up like once a thread.

It's funny (meme value) but also surprisingly accurate.

>>15632319
For the record, if there are Intel infiltrators on your ship (and they didn't get iced in the cryofreeze wipe) they won't have flags on their file for you to know about them. She left Intel to join the Fleet and eventually requested the Harbinger post.

Though it's entirely possible her old Intel buddies did request some favors or something, she's been out of it for a while.

>>15632320
Could we say this in a way that's less redundant?

>>15632440
>For the record, if there are Intel infiltrators on your ship (and they didn't get iced in the cryofreeze wipe) they won't have flags on their file for you to know about them.

No shit. That conclusion would be entirely our own, considering that the Council was indeed jumpy about packing so much firepower into one ship (witness the creation of the weaker class of warships soon after we vanished.)

The consequences of a rouge EI would be... devastating. Even if it had NEVER happened before doesn't mean people didn't lose sleep over the possibility. Having a possible safeguard on-board the Harbinger would not be a dumb move.

>>15632465
It seems that Ivanova would be the obvious choice for such a safeguard program, given her Intel background. Which means she probably wouldn't be it, because she'd be too obvious to the captain. Or at least, she wouldn't be the primary safeguard. That title falls to Burr, I think.

>>15632482

Note that her selection for a secret "watch him" order would come from Council or some similar body, not those spooky Intel guys. I doubt the Council or anybody else trusted them much.

But, we may as well communicate that we've had an understanding since day One that it's her job to grenade our EI core should we go funny, so to worry about trust at this late date is pointless.

which means it is all the more important we not go rogue. Dai could probably replace us in a pinch.

Let's try mixing the suggestions:
"I am still human, Lieutenant. I tell myself that I am, that my state has not... changed me, because I do not let myself act otherwise. And humans trust each other. They rely on their comrades. I know what it is to have trust broken, as do you. I trust you will not act against me unless you truly believed I was a threat to the ship and crew. So I have no reason to worry. If we cannot learn to trust what we have left...each other...may we all die in the void."
[pause]
"Or perhaps I'm just setting you up for a later joke about how you touched me in places, Lieutenant."

"In other news, I fear that most known bases in our database will be... gone. We may need to trust in good fortune in order to locate more abandoned outposts or ones built after our time. How do you feel about drawing planet names from a hat? And should it be a fancy hat?"

>>15632505
Masterfully done, sir.

>>15632505

I shall call you... Sir Mix Anon!

and you shall be seconded!

Third.

I like it, but we should probably start moving: Skip Time, learn the alien language, go to offgrid outpost via our own jumpdrives.

>>15632578
This. Getting at least a moderate amount done this thread would be nice.

“Well, that’s rather honest of you.”

She flinches, “I’m sorry, sir, I--”

“No, it’s fine, I don’t mind. Hmm. There are many reasons. Practical ones, to harm me is to endanger yourself and all of humanity. Idealistic ones, such as the fact that we are all crewmates and humans and should trust each other because of that.”

You pause for a second, trying to get the phrasing right, “And then there are the real reasons. The... personal ones. Whatever I am or have become, I still consider myself human. One who relies on his comrades and exposes his weaknesses to his friends. No matter what we are, we are vulnerable to betrayal. I will trust that I am still your captain, and you are still my XO, and I have no reason to worry.”

There is a long silence after you finish, Ivanova sitting with her eyes closed while you wait. “Even after having your mind replaced with steel and being transformed into the ship, doctored and worked with by people you don’t know, you consider yourself human?”

“No, not consider. I am human. I am what I -- and I alone -- choose to be. No matter what happens, in the end I am the one with the final say in who I am. The same as everyone else.” you say with finality.

Your XO gives a low chuckle, looking down and slowly shaking her head, “You have strange reasons for trusting, Kapitan, bit I can’t seem to disagree.”

“I will take that as a complement, I think,” you say, “and you never know... it could just be that I’m trying to be able to say you touched me in secret places.”

This draws a true laugh from your second as she stands, “Oh, my, I can’t have that Kapitan. I suppose I’ll have to be completely trustworthy, just in case. Or maybe report you to High Command, saying you exposed yourself to me on duty.”

“I surrender!” you whine in mock defeat, “Truly, you have me outclassed Lieutenant.”

“But of course, sir.” she says with a smile, running her hands down her clothes to remove the wrinkles before turning and walking off... and stopping. “Kateryna.”

“Excuse me, Lieutenant?”

“That is my name, Kapitan. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten it?”

“I see.” you say levelly, “Very well then Kateryna, my name is Ged.”

She raises an eyebrow, “Is it? Perhaps so. For now you are the Kapitan, I think. Good evening, sir. Try not to let people touch you in bad places.”

And with that she turns and departs, you locking the multiple doors behind her once more.

Two more weeks until arrival at Waran Base. You have much to do, and so very little work with.

>Gonna call it here for tonight, I think.
>Back again Thursday or Friday at 18:00.
>Time skip for next thread OP, want to manually do the interrogations and/or interact with the crew or go right to the base?

I'd like to manually do the interrogations.

I think it would help everyone in this thread to see what kind of xenos we're dealing with.

>>15632665
Manual. I want to see what information they have

I don't think it's worth to do entire manual interrogations. Maybe just lay out things we want them to tell us, and how far we're willing to go.

Actually...

>I'll try to run this on Wednesday at 18:00 too, but no promises.

>>15632677

seconding.

An update on Parson's mental state from the doctor would also be nice. Not sure if we want him in the brig when we have Xenos in there too... might not be good for crew morale.

>>15632690
>Maybe just lay out things we want them to tell us, and how far we're willing to go.
Regardless if you want to manual it or skip it, this would be a good thing to have so my OP is interesting rather than just being "you're in the interrogation room wat do?"

>>15632712
Ah, Parson. We need to deal with you. I wrote some stuff up in >>15628229
but a medical check up is fine too, I suppose.

We want to know the races' history, their politics, how widespread they are in the galaxy. How we can negotiate with them.

Most importantly, do they know of the ones who built the Gates? The ones with the power to turn entire planets into glass and obsidian? What has become of them? What has become of us...of Humanity?

>>15632747
And how far do you have Ivanova go with this?

someone archive this with a proper description

>>15632769
If everyone else has left I guess I should say for their benefit that the there should be stuff left to question once Ivanova is done with the xenos. Preferable that they be kept alive for the moment.

>>15632769

The harsher measures are pretty much off the table. And not just because torture rarely gives up useful information. We don't know their biology, how they react to chemical aides or physical trauma. It'd be far too easy to have no effect, or to kill them unintentionally, to muck around.

I'd just as soon move on to the next major event. Information dumps are best handled as pre-done expository blocks. We want to know what their version of galactic history is, we want to know what the current state of galactic civilization is and who the major players are, and we want a general idea of what sort of tech level they're working with (ie how much Ophidian stuff have they reverse engineered). If they have specific details about Sol or major sealed off "demons kill all who approach" worlds that'd be nice, but is secondary.

>>15632769
No chemical aids or physical interrogation.
We just don't know their biology, and taking prisoners is kind of hard in space.

As for what to ask, >>15632747 is good.

I had a short nap after this part of the quest ended.

I dreamed I was the Harbinger and that all of the pillows around me were drones attacking the xeno ships. It was awesome.