>>21874922
***
“We have arrived, Lieutenant. I am masking our presence behind the sixth planet's third moon.” Ouroboros announces to the nearly empty bridge. Technically, you don't need to be here, and he could communicate through your comm just as well, but the bridge is slightly more officious and has the holo dislays. It's not like you've got other things to do.

“They can't see us?”

“Not unless the station's sensors are an order of magnitude more advanced than their survey ship was equipped with. We are secure. The system is otherwise empty, though I detect two ships similar to our passengers docked. I calculate 84.88% that they are survey ships as well. Our passengers declare their repairs finished; shall we allow them to disembark, or take them in?”

###
Previous thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/21765828/

>>21874936
Allow them to disembark. Also recommend that they quarantine any ships that have breached the wasted lands. The possibility that they may have missed any dormant dangers is unfortunately high.

>>21874936
Let them disembark.

>>21874922
We were in more or less unanimous agreement to use the voyage to subvert the aliens or at least talk to them, OP. What happened to that?

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>>21875004
Well, as it happens, while I was writing the OP I couldn't access sup/tg/ at all and had to go off of memory.
###

Ouroboros has fully translated their language, and a good estimation of their capabilities. They seem to have just broken out onto the level of fusion power and basic warp travel. Their ships are rather well designed for how long they've been in space.

Regarding the ones you have aboard, however, you observed much. The security troops are definitely isolated from the rest of the crew, currently being posted in shifts to keep an eye on the work crews. The actual survey crew has proved remarkably competent at getting their ship reassembled, and certainly isn't dim.

You've detected significant mistrust for the other group on both sides of the crew division, especially with the head of the military detachment seizing control. The military detachment seems to distrust you as well, though after a week of you assisting with repairs they seem to be acclimated to your presence, some verging on apathetic or even friendly. The head of the civilian side, Kgx, has maintained sporadic one-way communication, and seems to have needed no subverting to begin with. Most of the survey-crew seem to agree with him, or at least, be grateful for the rescue and resent the security crew for their paranoia and usurpation of command.

>>21875148
I'm thinking I'm just going to go now, Hyperion. This is like the fourth time you've failed to allow players the agency they seek due to shit like not remembering what group consensus was or not finding out. There were plans laid out that would've involved talking to them during the flight here and possibly extracting information from their military leader, and now all that's going to get flushed unless you retcon - which you likely won't because hey, you can justify not doing it because of that cute intro you wrote.

Maybe your next quest will have the benefit of greater experience and, y'know, notes on player efforts, but it's just not worth it trying to build consensus if the end result is that the questgiver fails to notice or cannot wrap his mind around the essential details.

>>21875206
The cute intro doesn't need to change. All we need is a mini-flashback so we can see how things went during the journey.

>>21875148
>couldn't access suptg
Are you aware of the foolz /tg/ archive? It updates in near-realtime and has every thread from now back to its founding archived.

>>21875231
Half of us wanted to stage a coup, so if OP's gonna flashback they better be pretty lateral flashbacks in terms of what they allow.

>>21875148
I figured quest authors of all people would know about foolz. It automatically archives everything, though only thumbnails (not full images) remain after three days. Here's the previous thread.

https://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/21765828

>>21875255
That should not be a problem. We're not very far into this session.

>>21875231
That is true, and I'm happy to do it. It's difficult to write something like that as an OP, though, because it involves player input. (what you want to know, what you want to reveal, whether you want to try and keep things amiable or hostile, etc.) It's certainly not a bad idea.

>>21875245
I was not aware. I shall look into it. Sup/tg/'s been all I've ever needed on /tg/.

>>21875277
>difficult to write something like that as an OP

Difficult to write the journey? You start at the beginning of the journey. The AI could be thinking that as it entered FTL speed, I expect.

Difficult to write the interactions during the journey? We're not expecting that, we're expecting a chance to play them out.

>>21875277
I vote we just get the show on the road. We have the results of our gentle attempts at subversion anyway.

>>21875321
nope.jpg

they have information that will help us understand what our long-term attitude should be, we need it

you're going against the will of the player majority without asking yourself why they want to do what they want to do, anon

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>>21875321
This.

OP, Another thing a questrunner has to accept is that some people will bitch regardless of your actions. Let's roll.

>>21875277
Let's go back to the beginning of the vouage and enact the plan from the last thread.

>>21875377
>bitch
>criticize op for doing something stupid

You trollin'

>>21875377
Eh, I sort of agree. But I can see why his complaint is valid.

Reposting some things from old thread.

>There was a plan to access their computers and pull military secrets out of the military officer's correspondence before capturing him, in order to find out about their puppetmasters. More on that later.

Well, now we've learned that the squids are likely in the thrall of a powerful ally. Simply letting them go is proving to be a liability.

Since they don't know our top speed, we can move towards their coordinates at a leisurely pace, just enough above their top speed to make flying with us worthwhile. In the meantime, we can pull information out of them, block all outgoing transmissions, and clandestinely offer the civilian leader a chance to retake control of the operation while capturing the military liason.

We can also fabricate non-lethal takedown drones, et cetera, and have them on hand to disarm the military guy and keep him from taking hostages among the others.

Afterwards, we can sort them out as we like, but probably showing the military officer footage of the destruction of worlds in the combine war and intimating that his handlers could be setting his species up for just such a conflict for no good reason might get him to talk - especially if the Concordiate's former enemies have done so before.

Alternatively, we could let them go back home with information on us and some conception of where we are in the area to give to their potential alien puppetmasters.

>>21875480
Oh god, all that? Really? Have fun watching this quest burn down like Vedibere's. Just remember to bump the aliens gently with the Oriburos before you go. I' going to lurk the fuck out of this though...I love trainwrecks.

>>21875480
What reason do we have to think their puppetmasters are technologically inferior to us? We only have reason to think their masters feel like using a proxy instead of taking the field themselves. This might only prove that they have more to do than picking over cosmic wastelands.

Why not get the Major to tell us more about them? He could at least confirm if they're the Canids, who have had plenty of time to rebuild themselves to the point where they can equal us individually.

Building open alliances would get these mystery puppetmasters a stronger position much of the time. Open here meaning 'telling possible allies how their shitty mystery tech works.'

The only benefit to giving people inferior technology and keeping its inner workings secret is control.

>>21875511
We're the inheritors of a centuries, possibly millenia-long military tradition. That isn't going to work. We've already started getting kind of informal and lackadaisical, through no fault of ours, but simply because the only thing we've been able to talk to is our potentially loony AI. (We should try to get on his good side, just in case it helps. Can't hurt.)
Anyway, we've got to decide whether we want to try and maintain the traditions and honor of our predecessors (We probably took an oath, but I don't think anyone imagined us outlasting everything else like this.) or do our own thing. I'm reminded of Star Control II where you're given the option to name your rebel allliance. "The New Alliance of Free Stars" "The Concordance of Sentient Species" or something like "The Empire of [Player Name]". We could decide to do Empire of Carter, and probably get away with it too. From the sound of it, we could justify anything we wanted (as the Concordiate seems to have done in its war,) as 'necessary', and the only hard part would be changing our reasons from "For the Concordiate" to "For us." Ouroboros might disapprove. (But then again, maybe he's badly damaged enough he'd just be all, "'kay.")

Then we should decide, completely independent of that, how paranoid we want to be. I'd like to pick up some other crew members just so we're not alone with Ouroboros. Give us people to talk to, and some friends or bros to watch our back. (in addition to O.)

If we want to go all empire, we can probably conquer these squids from their current overlords. If we do it well, they could become our willing minions. Plus squids are awesome.

>>21875527
The only problem I have with making such a decision or set of decisions is that we have too little information to go on, the primary piece of information being 'is there currently anything else left of the Concordiate?'

Because if there's a whole secondary civilization descended from them that's just over the horizon, we'd have to account for that if we decided to conquer an empire and thus likely oppose them.

This suggests that we should be pretty damn paranoid until we get the information we need to make the other decision properly.

We have to either accept this constant rehash and retread bullshit or lay out a series of questions and actions that will allow us to come to a conclusion and form an overall strategy.

My suggestion is to find out whatever we can about the hidden influence over the squids before we meet them, through all but the more egregious means (torture would be overboard, also interrogation possibly).

If we don't learn anything worthwhile, we can go look around the edges of the wasteland zone and find out more. This will do us no end of good in determining the information we need to strategize beyond the next fight.

>>21875505
you're probably the whiny fuck who posted >>21875206

good riddance

>>21875511
>>21875527
>>21875561

I say we wipe their ships computer of any records pertaining to their contact with us, while datamining their computer for whatever info it has on the present situation in the galaxy. Right now we're pretty vulnerable, and if we survived it's possible others from the war have survived as well.

Once we get that info, we send them on their way, and then disappear so we can keep working on Ouro. The alien hitchhikers we picked up can say whatever they want to say; sailors tales tend to be abstract and unbelievable, especially since they won't have any evidence to back up their claims.

Ouro's hull is a patchwork of actual armor with some steel plating we used to plug up the holes, and we have almost no ammunition. The food supplies also won't last forever. Our survival should be priority numero uno at the moment, and yet others are already talking about subverting another race that may or may not be under the control of an unknown power. For all we know, it could be a faction that could match the Concordiate at it's height, and we're nowhere near that.

Before we jump feet first into a situation we may not be able to handle, I strongly feel that we should at least find more hellbore rounds. Right now our only home is Ouro, and if we lose the ship it's not like we can skip down to a Concordaite-Battleships-R-Us and get a replacement.

OP: It's been a bit abstract since the start of the game, but what's Ouro's current status after all of our repairs? Can we get a full readout of the ships state, plus inventory?

>>21875505
I specifically picked the posts in question because they move towards putting a solid plan together and resolving the discrepancies in player interest. The trouble with Voidquest arguments is that they were just endless, cyclical grandstanding with no real endpoint from which you could arrive at a plan. These at least move the group towards action that resolves the lack of information.

>>21875599
Whether or not we wipe their drives, we need to learn about the conspiracy. That's a clue from the questgiver, we can either follow up on it and benefit or throw it away like a shlub and have him go 'wow, how obvious do I have to make it?'

After that, we can wipe their drives if needed, but the civilians are friendly enough that we may well recruit them and may well be persona non grata on their world due to the nature of their conspiracy-theory shit.

Looks like you guys want to hack their shit. That's what I'm getting from >>21875599 and >>21875652

I can agree with that.

>>21875699
Sounds like a good idea. Hopefully the "Overlords" didn't put any nasty surprises in their computer systems.

>>21875599

I like this. Fix ourselves first, gather information while emitting as little as possible.

>>21875599
No wiping. We want these people as allies. I would much prefer to have a base of power than be alone in the universe.

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“What can you get from their station?” you ask Ouroboros. There's a short pause as Ouro presumably starts filtering through the station's computers and reading everything they have.

“A section of their hardware is cordoned off from the rest of it, and more advanced if still vastly inferior. Likewise, they have a primitive hyperwave on board; a large, brute-signal-strength affair. Unprotected. Simple routines to send out status updates on the station's affairs. I am also detecting override codes in that region for assuming control of the rest of the stations functions remotely.”

“Sinister. Anything on the puppetmasters?”

“No solid data. The codes and overrides bear no resemblance to Melconian protocols, though their behavior so far does. The rest of the station seems to be in crisis; apparently one of the other survey ships did stumble upon something and brought back a nano-virus. Segments of the station are under quarantine. The infected seem to be loosing mental functions and behaving irrationally. I presume they would be trying to propagate the plague or attack their fellows, but the plague is not tailored to their species.”

“Ooh... Sounds unpleasant.” you acknowledge. A plague in optimal conditions is pretty miserable, but on a spacestation? And they probably don't have an AI to keep things running in a panic. Well... “No AIs?”

“None. Judging by the style of computer they use, I do not believe they are capable; an AI core of sufficient complexity would be the size of one of their survey ships. Incidentally, the two docked ships are surveyors. One brought the plague, and the other is being held in hopes of evacuating.”

“I guess that's the best they can do. No hyperwave that they can use.” you nod with some sympathy.

"Indeed."

>>21875758

Let's make that decision after we've had a look over their computer's contents. If they look like ally-potential, don't wipe; if the reverse, do wipe.

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>>21875800
I thought I made it clear last thread, but you have basically unlimited and undetectable access to their computers. If there's a specific question you want answered, ask it. I've been volunteering what I think of, but I can't think of everything. (There is nothing on their overlords on the survey ship.)

>>21875785
Approach the aliens currently on board and apprise them of the situation involving their fellows. Really, lending assistance here can only get us brownie points.

>>21875826
Make sure Ouro has a copy of everything on their systems, no matter how trivial. Same goes for the station's computers, and the other two ships. There's no telling what could come in handy.

>>21875853
This.

Wait a second. The system we're currently in was previously controlled by the Concordiat, right? Have all of the potentially-habitable worlds been completely sterilized?

>>21875826
>>21875785
Access/scan their systems and see if you can detect Concordiate or canid technology in all the tech they've got that they don't understand the inner workings of.

Put the Military officer onboard Ouro in a room and show him pictures of humans and canids and watch his reactions down to a molecular level if need be. Ouro might be able to tell if he's lying.

>>21875927
Unreliable, he's obviously going to be very disturbed as he views the photos of aliens completely different to his own biology. Furthermore, he'll wonder WHY we want to know, giving him the idea that our ship may be the only one out here.

>>21875927
This. Consider telling him that the station is being assaulted by a nano-virus brought back from the unknown, a fate he might likely have shared, and that the puppetmasters likely could have stopped it had they cared enough to do so.

Tell him it is becoming increasingly obvious that his people are being sacrificed for no good reason, and we could probably do better for them.

Then ask him if it's humans or canids that are fucking them up.

>>21875971
Recognition is recognition. We can shock him a number of different ways first, but we're looking for a differentiable reaction. We already have scans of him being shocked, even disgusted.

>>21875853
>>21875866
Any sign that the personnel on the station are losing control and/or panicking? If possible, it might be a good idea to have Ouro step in and guide things if it looks like they're losing control of the station. As for the tech we see, maybe we're dealing with some sort of spin-off survivor branch of the Melconians?

>>21875927
Maybe not humans. I'm not comfortable with the idea of these guys potentially knowing what we might look like. Having our armor act as a surrogate for how we look should be enough for now.

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>>21875907
In explored space? Yes.This system once held a colony, but that world is now an atmosphere-less rock.

In all honesty, probably not every world was sterilized,(there were several thousand,) but every one you (or the fleet you were part of) knew of was beyond saving.

>>21875866
Naturally. He already does.

>>21875927
You have detected nothing remotely approaching your (or Melcon) levels of technology.

Your plan is doable. Would need confirmation.

>>21876002
But you're alright with showing him what the Melconians look like?

Also, not showing him how the Concordiate's primary race appeared means we won't know if the Concordiate survivors went to shit and are the puppetmasters themselves.

>>21876011
For now, I think we should just inform the survey crew of what's happening on the station. We should also find out what Ouro can do to assist in the removal of the nano-virus.

>>21876002
>>21876001
>>21875990
>>21875971
>>21875927
>>21875866
>>21875853

Looks like we want to tell the aliens, or at least the military leader (possibly also the civic one) about the situation, and then tell them that if they want their people to stop being used this way by puppetmasters that could have likely prevented the damage they should help us to understand the situation before anyone else dies, after reminding them of the nano-virus they nearly picked up a thread or two ago.

Then, we want to show them some information relating to the Melconians and possibly the Concordiate (perhaps excepting human physiology until absolutely necessary) and compare their reactions to previous states of shock, surprise, revulsion, et cetera. If we do not have sufficient data, we can show them some other, lesser races and ask them whether or not the lesser races are the puppetmasters or have been encountered.

Meanwhile, we can render aid so they don't feel like they're entirely over a barrel, or we can use the station's condition as a sort of hostage situation.

Tried to put all that together. Any suggestions?

>>21876011
I'm okay with separating the commander and confronting him with the callousness of the puppet masters (which could still massively backfire). I'm still wary of showing him any pictures though.

>>21876079
do it and render aid. but do it fast, the military guy will need to have his guard lowered by the speed and shock of the situation if he's to be likely to betray the puppetmasters - after all, they're benefiting his nation in his view, and that needs to be momentarily less than important in his mind.

shock and awe will help here

>>21876079
This is sort of assuming they even know what their puppetmasters even look like. And that the puppetmasters are the malicious.

>>21876079

Seconding this, but render aid.

>>21876156

We may as well take the chance that the puppetmasters that give them technology they don't understand for the sake of control and use them to explore a cosmic wasteland full of killer nanoswarms without giving them anything like proper warning or hazard protection are not nice guys.

If they don't know what they look like, we can at least get some information out of them.

>>21876180
>proper hazard protection

fuck, I'm not sure these guys even know what quarantine procedure is, there's no excuse not to tell them about that

if their mysteryenigma string-pullers aren't evil, then they're just downright terrible and should be killed in a firing line for being so bad

>>21876180
For all we know the puppetmasters could possibly be only slightly more advanced than they are, and largely unaware of the dangers of the wastelands. For all we know there could be a galactic treaty that prevents them from doing so.
Just playing devil's advocate here, but we ARE jumping to conclusions.

>>21876212
The best way to fix all that is to ask for information.

They would have told us what they could.

If there's a set of galactic authorities that are that fucking cagey about it all, they've got a lot to answer for.

>>21876180
>that give them technology they don't understand for the sake of control and use them to explore a cosmic wasteland full of killer nanoswarms without giving them anything like proper warning or hazard protection are not nice guys.

Who's to say the Overlords know about the nanoswarms? What if what we're dealing with is a heavily-damaged Concordiat AI attempting to use the limited knowledge it can still access to outfit scouts in the hope that it will find more Concordiat remnants?

Let's not assume the Overlords are being actively malicious when we don't have all the facts.

>>21876212
they had a procedure in place to usurp civilian command in case of first contact instead of focusing on diplomacy

they have no clue how half their own shit works

if they're being sent, blind, into an arena someone else is more capable of dealing with because of having better technology, they're being sent out past the edge of the map with a lesser chance of survival for kicks, which goes against what their civilian leader has indicated previously

these aren't such big jumps to conclusions

i'm not sure they're jumps at all

>>21876234
we've already tried getting the facts nicely, and if it happens to be a crazy ai it's probably our responsibility to fix it, contain it, or put it down before it causes any more of them to be eaten by the rust

>>21876234
I think I'm prepared to work against the Concordiate if their remnants are causing this sort of damage.

>>21876079
Fund it.

>>21876226
Exactly, we need more information. Some of the posts here having been more along the lines of a 'Overthrow you Masters' approach.

I'd imagine the Concordiate and such have a lot to answer as well. After a genocidal war that left thousands of worlds barren, you can't really blame any surviving races for being a little cagey.

>>21876234
>>21876212
The opportunity to gain information here outweighs the risk of irritating some other entity.

Plenty of RL nations in this situation would just wipe them out anyway by this point. We're super-nice by any measure.

It's like this post says >>21875561
We can rehash shit every single thread, or we can take steps to be better capable of understanding the situation.

Then we can decide what we want to do in terms of >>21875527

In the meantime, paranoia that leads away from a course of action that will better inform us is a non-starter. Be paranoid in the other direction.

>>21876268
Seriously? Even a human based mission would likely have had the military take command after your ship was blown up and you were taken in (albeit saved) by an unknown military ship. The fact that the civilians had command at all in the first place is a good sign.
And we don't know anything about their puppetmasters. We really need more information before we go making another enemy.

>>21876273
That doesn't make sense. We should address each remnant, if any, on a case-by-case basis.

>>21876321
Like the current human systems do? Which they don't. Stop asspulling, brah.

>>21876273
We worked for them when they were genocidal, working for them when they are merely manipulative dickbags doesn't seem as bad.

>>21876337
It was a statement of willingness, not a blanket policy. If this element is malicious, I'm prepared to continue to vote to work against it.

>>21876352
We were part of a rather large structure guaranteeing our loyalty when they were genocidal. In any case, I want to know more, don't you?

>>21876281
in that situation the best outcome is still to break through their caginess

>>21876344
We have joint civilian/military first contact space shuttles?

>>21876365
Would you like to know more?

>>21876316
>>21876321
>>21876337
>>21876344
Gentlemen, please. Let's focus on what's right in front of us right now: What do we do about the plague on the station? So far the general consensus is to inform the military leader, which is great and all, but it still leaves the question about the personnel onboard the station.

Personally, I think we should get whatever uninfected survivors are left off the station, then blow it to hell and eradicate any trace of the plague with prejudice. We're in no condition to risk infection in order to find a cure.

>>21876373
>>21876365
>>21876316
>>21876281
>>21876280
>>21876273
>>21876268
>>21876226
>>21876211
>>21876180
>>21876095
>>21876108

These seem more or less in favor.

>>21876321
>>21876281
>>21876212
>>21876156

These seem...not against so much as asking what happens if the squids know nothing. The answer seems to be that we will still be rendering aid to them and we will at least have tried.

If their overlords aren't malicious or don't exist, we can have decent relations with them just fine or help them ourselves if we so choose. Nothing we're about to do takes future diplomacy off the table. Of their overlords are this concerned with information security, they're no strangers to espionage.

>>21876431
Fair enough, has my vote.

But I think we should bring in both the civilian and military leader.

>>21876465
That's in the plan here >>21876079
I'm fine with that.

>>21876409
We'll have to ask Ouro what's safe and likely to do the most good.

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“Ouro, get our passenger's leader on comm.” you order as you leave the bridge. “Tell him I want him to come aboard, get himself a spacesuit.”

“This is an order?”

“About, but try to phrase it as a request. Want his advice on a delicate matter, he's their authority, sensitive information, whatever you feel like spinning. Want to ask him some questions about his alien overlords.”

“I shall do so. You are going to meet him?”

“Yeah. Make sure to turn down the gravity in our path too. Don't want to crush the guy.”

“Acknowledged.”

It takes you roughly as long to get the suit of boarding armor you've been using as a space suit on as it takes Dzig to find one for himself. You meet him at the airlock and lead him through the depressurized zone that surrounds the cargo bay. It's only once you're already walking that you remember your course takes you through the wrecked general quarters, and you note the small octopode casting about to observe the bent and warped deckplating. It's obviously enough to impress him, and you get the impression that not only did it come armed (Its sidearm is visible in its own holster, on the exterior of its spacesuit,) but it probably has some form of recording device on hand.

“A visual recorder in the main body of its suit; I can wipe it if you wish.” Ouroboros confirms after you ask.

“Not yet. At the very least, let him think he's getting away with it. Begin translation.” you order, addressing the next part to Dzig. “We have detected your station. It's currently in the throes of a plague.”

“Impossible. Spacers are screened for disease.” Is Dzig's first response. You nod absently.

“Not disease. Nano plague. One of your other surveyors found it, presumably on another Concordiate graveworld. From what they've determined, it infects individuals and degrades higher reasoning, makes them act irrational. The station's infested, and they're considering evacuation.” That shuts Dzig up for a long minute, and you fall silent curious to see just how long it will last. You do note how, aside from movement, Dzig has grown rather still and muted, with less 'rubbernecking' than before. Even without Ouroboros' overlay, you can identify that as the species' indicator of tension.

“If you allow us to depart, we'll do what we can to assist. They're our people.” Laudable sentiments.

“Yeah... Your people. That's kind of important, you see.” you explain as you lead Dzig onto the bridge. Here he does rubberneck, enough that you're fairly certain he's aware of the significance of all the empty chairs. “You see, we also detect some interesting things on your station. Faster than light communicators. Sequestered override codes. Self-destruct codes.” you explain it offhandedly, and watch as Dzig goes completely still. “Fun little things like that that don't seem like they belong to 'your people'. Or might, but none of the people on the station can access that. Wonder who they belong to.”

“Is the station overrun with the plague?” Dzig's question is a very clearly and deliberately ignoring your words, but for the moment you are okay with that.

“Not quite yet. They've established several levels of quarantine- Where the infected crew was known to be, those who are believed to have interacted with them, and sections that are believed to be pure. Pretty large station you got there, apparently they didn't find out until after the infected were aboard. Lots of isolated groups.” Dzig makes a mute gesture of understanding.

“Now I could have told you of that down in the hold, but I'd like to ask you a few questions here. Namely, does this look remotely familiar?”

At your signal, Ouroboros brings up a holo of a Melconian, rotating it slowly and then swapping out for a female example. After a moment, Ouroboros shrinks them down and begins animating them; range of movement, breathing, walking, and so on. A few seconds after that, Ouroboros begins adding equipment and clothing- Clothes, navy uniform, sidearms, personal armor, dedicated weaponry... Dzig takes it all without responding until it comes to rest on a Melcon shocktrooper, wearing the closest thing they have to your own power armor.

“Yes. Mel-cone. Used to inhabit the sector. Your enemies?” Dzig asks, beginning to twitch slightly. Ouroboros overlay in your helmet indicates that the alien is probably not lying.

“Yeah. And how did you know?” The hard, the important part. If he refuses to answer... Well. You're not quite sure of the measures you'd be willing to take at this point.

“Briefing.”

“And who gave you the briefing?” you ask, beginning to get irritated. There's no point to him being difficult.

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“Upper echelons. Observers.” Dzig immediately begins the usual sussuruss of movement you've observed from his species. You suppose now that he's gone that far, there's less he has to worry about. “Aliens. Provide... technological assistance, commandments. Occasionally give hardware. That station is such. Usually with regions we are not to access. Probably where your FTL-comm is. In exchange for their assistance, we... do things for them. Whatever they want.” Ouroboros identifies Dzig's waving of tentacles as a sign of resentment. “Go here. Do this. Don't go there. Explore this way. Implicit 'Or else.'. We're told to do what they say and keep them secret. How did you know about them?”

“Our sensors are a bit better than yours, I think.” you allow. “Or theirs, at a guess. Detected their hardware on the station. They are not Melconians?”

“No. They're... “ Even with a relatively good mastery of their language, Ouroboros seems to have difficulty translating. “Arboreal. Flight, hunters. Not biped.” Dzig elaborates. “Responsible for much. Use us for stick, poke your graveyard. What can you do for the station?”

“With thorough examination of a sample, I can probably construct some kind of countermeasure.” Ouroboros intones in your helmet. “I cannot allow you to endanger yourself acquiring such, however. Perhaps if they can.”

>>21876953
We have drones.

Anyway, now we have useful information and an opportunity to create a betterment of circumstances for us, diplomatically or otherwise.

Tell him we'll send in a prefab drone to get a sample and analyze it, then another one to deliver it. Tell him that we'll advise them on how to best shore up the quarantine.

Can Ouro do anything to gain control of the self-destruct systems and hold off their population's getting killed off by the overlord species?

>>21877068
Another to deliver the countermeasure, that is.

>>21876953
"Major Dzig. I'll be frank here. These avians, these people are screwing you and yours. They're abusing a position of authority and capacity, they're making a weaker party take blows for them, and I take it you have no idea why - not that anything can warrant such behavior, but still, no idea what motivates them aside from the obvious, a grasp at the power that rendered such worlds lifeless."

"You're now seeing their handiwork, and likely enough it is not happening for the first time - how many times has this already occurred? How much more must it occur for action to be taken to prevent it?"

"In any case, I'm sending a drone in to take a sample and I'll deliver a counteragent in similar fashion, with your approval. And I'd like you to assist your people in strengthening the quarantine - there is a possibility I can help you there. Afterwards, let's have a conversation about the situation, but for now you and your team might reconcile yourselves to the idea of working with us to stop the plague. If possible, we'll keep the self-destruct sequence from being initiated prematurely as well."

>>21876953
Does the description of the Observer race match anything on record? Did the Melconian empire include any arboreal species?

>>21877149
>>21877077
>>21877068

these are good

>>21877167

seconding this as well

>>21877068
>>21877149
>>21877167

Unless anyone objects, we should also add: "I notice you've seen the empty chairs on the bridge here. I hope you take this as a sign of trust, and I expect you'll trust me in turn. As you've experienced so far, the galaxy is a dangerous place. Working together towards mutual survival would be beneficial for both of us, wouldn't you agree?"

>>21877273
Sure, seconding.

>>21877149
Me likey

If we can puppet-master their systems, can we trigger their hyperwave? If it's set to watch the station, presumably for delightful/dangerous salvage, we might be able to shoot up a "We found something!" flag and get them to send an inspector/collector.

>>21877479
Get who to send it, the avians?

>>21877528
Yeah. Get them to show their face.

>>21877546
Let's save the station and get everyone off it first, but yes, that's quite possibly a good idea.

File: 1354592438520.jpg-(85 KB, 474x600, 1287786482154.jpg)

“No need for that, Ouro. Just use some drones.”

“None of them are configured to perform sampling and nannite-analysis-”

“Then we'll configure them! Drones, Ouro. No need to impose on them.”

“Acknowledged. I will begin designing a conversion.”

“You do that. Now, Major Dzig. I'll be frank here. These avians, these people are screwing you and yours. They're abusing a position of authority and capacity, they're making a weaker party take blows for them, and I take it you have no idea why - not that anything can warrant such behavior, but still, no idea what motivates them aside from the obvious, a grasp at the power that rendered such worlds lifeless."

"You're now seeing their handiwork, and likely enough it is not happening for the first time - how many times has this already occurred? How much more must it occur for action to be taken to prevent it?"

“Three times. Once at this station before.” Dzig interrupts. “Attempted to examine it in the station's research labs; it exploded in a ring. Nearly cut the station in half.” Dzig interjects. Ouro's subtitles indicate disgust in the statement. You can kind of agree. “They seek artifacts from the wasteworlds; we are obligated to find and contain them, then pass suitably interesting or safe ones on to them.”

File: 1354592470855.jpg-(84 KB, 992x520, 1327367831400.jpg)

>>21877671
"Huh. You know, your species seems to have bad luck with the whole 'getting bisected' thing. In any case, I'll be sending a drone in to take a sample and I'll deliver a counteragent in similar fashion, with your approval. And I'd like you to assist your people in strengthening the quarantine - there is a possibility I can help you there. Afterwards, let's have a conversation about the situation, but for now you and your team might reconcile yourselves to the idea of working with us to stop the plague. If possible, we'll keep the self-destruct sequence from being initiated prematurely as well."

“That would be desirable.” You notice Dzig freeze again, and worry that he's going to start getting edgy again. “I... Do not have viable choice other than to cooperate. Orders are to avoid revealing them-”

“And you have disobeyed. Fun. Alright, well, I think that can wait until we get the plague under control. Ouroboros, you finished with that design?”

“I am working on it. A preliminary is finished, but I am attempting to reduce the amount of time installation will take. I am currently at half an hour, though extensive rebuilding of the drone will be necessary to return it to normal function.”

“Start fabricating. I can work with that. Alright, Dzig, you with me?”

“I have no realistic alternatives.” the alien mutters with shades of embarrassment and helplessness. “I will render assistance if able.”

Bolo Quest?

Please tell me some of you have put this on id4chan.

>>21877167

In one of the bolo books there was this aggressive bird like species that attacked a concordant world, but where repulsed easily.

Maybe its been long enough after that Ass-kicking they are poking around our neck of the woods again.

>>21877722
In which case, the Concordiat will remind them why that course courts folly...from the grave!

>>21877693
So far it's a Bolo Quest without Bolos.

>>21877722
>>21877795
Agreed. Now that it seems like the superweapons from the War are their goal, at the very least we should do everything in our power to keep these weapons out of their hands.

Assuming we're the last remaining vestige of the Concordiat, we should take responsibility for what happened by making sure such dangerous weapons are never used by anyone again. I think we've seen enough world killing in our lifetime.

Also, as a side note, we should eventually try to figure out where the hell that Harvester we destroyed in the last session came from. What if it was intentionally trying to harvest the Bubonic Rust in order to research it? What if there are more of them trying to do the same thing?

One step at a time, I know, but it's something to consider for the future.

>>21877943
What we might consider is the return of an old idea: creating a large-scale fabricator capable of assisting us in repairs, nearly station-sized, wherever we can.

We've begun to establish a friendly port here. If we can keep from being discovered, we could construct the fabricator, re-arm, and take it apart.

We could also recruit people into the Concordiate as acting captain, and fabricate a facility to begin engineering an answer to the nano-plague.

On top of that, if we can find and contact the remains of the Concordiate, we might get a lot of help in the endeavor.

>>21877837

Which is arguably better.

File: 1354594349382.jpg-(472 KB, 1024x768, 1286395158571.jpg)

Forgot to respond:
>>21877167
Dzig's descriptions are nebulous and somewhat lacking. A half-dozen races match it, or perhaps something completely unknown. Verbal descriptions leave something to be desired.


####

Naturally, fabricating is what takes the longest. Sensitive machinery resistant to nannites but capable of dissecting one is remarkably slow to assemble, and it's almost two hours to do so, despite the end result being roughly a quarter meter cubed. You've almost got it the scout drone ready to be outfitted when it's finished, and the next half hour are spent busy fixing it into place and hooking it up, along with a brief few seconds while Ouro programs it. Then it's a simple matter of tossing it out of the drone hangar, something you could literally do in your 'space suit', but you figure it's best to let the systems built for the purpose handle the matter.

As you finish, Ouro informs you that Dzig has returned to his ship and crew, explained about the plague, and is preparing to warn about your incoming drone, and request that the station not to hinder it.

“Dzig is attempting to contact you, Lieutenant.” Ouro informs almost as the drone departs.

“Eh?”

“Dzig is requesting permission to broadcast his message, and also asking how much you wish him to explain about us. The drone we are sending is millenia more advanced than anything his race could produce; he states that some explanation will be necessary.”

[die roll, please]

Rolled 88

>>21878245
What are the rolling conventions, again?

I have no idea what to roll. I think that we should give them a more or less accurate summation of our encounter with their people. Was checking out dead world, saw some idiots harvesting from the planet, asked them to stop, they charged weapons, survey ship blundered into the fight, got disabled. We rendered assistance and gave them a free ride home. Don't want to leave nanoweapons wandering free, so we are here to help.

>>21878245
We should tell them the truth - it's an artifact from a friendly party Dzig and his team encountered out in the wastes, and they understand it better than much of their tech (through our expertise as a proxy), and they think it is the best chance of keeping people on the station alive through the crisis.

Aside from that, he and his team are going to talk them through the process and keep their spirits up.

>>21878245

Uh... Hm.

It's a prototype scout craft? It's very expensive? It's actually another alien in a space suit?

Maybe we could sample from a place on the station less visible?

Oh, wait, we have one already: the Observers sent it to aid these sick people in their time of need!

>>21878245
"Hey, hey guys - Remember how we were sent out to find superweapons? We found one! It, uhm, it's kind of sentient and beyond our control though. Seems friendly, though, that's a plus!"

We've been in a boarding suit the entire time, right? As far as they know, we're just some sort of drone designed to interact with the fleshies.

>>21878529
Add that we've already saved them from contracting a similar nano-plague in the wastes, that should be a good piece of news. In essence: they have found a countermeasure system.

>>21878533
Fuck that, are you shitting me? No, not after what we've learned. They do not get credit for us saving their people from certain death, and they are not generally trusted by their pawns if Dzig's attitude is anything to go by.

>>21878533
They don't know about the observers, from what I read.

I like 'another alien in a space suit' as an explanation, but that seems like excessive falsehood.

>>21878559
>>21878533
let's just keep it simple

dzig already knows about the empty chairs, we shouldn't futz around with that now

>>21878576
Their military people know about them, and one was on the survey ship we encountered. There's two other survey ships on-station as is, one of them may be alive.

Certainly the station itself probably warrants the placement of someone in-the-know.

>>21878561

You're right. We'd be alerting them the fact that someone's been impersonating the Observers. Of course, they might think of it as a power game by another Observer, we have no idea how their politics work.

I'm getting ahead of myself: nevermind my suggestion, it brings up too much potential trouble.

Oh course, having found a countermeasure in the wastes, the Observers are going to want a looksy at it. When they fail to deliver, they might get suspicious.

Once we have a cure and treat them, let's just roll in with Ouroboros. We might be as big as their whole station, for all we know, so we're probably going to generate some terror. At least doing so right on the heels of the cure will soften the shock.

>>21878682

We should probably avoid detection for as long as reasonably possible. They want superweapons, and we're living in one. Anyway, we should only keep these guys on the know about us: they don't like their shadow government, and they're willing to talk, the seeds of a trusting relationship.

>>21878620
>>21878748
Yah, temporarily suppress their long-distance hyperwave commsuite for the duration of the rescue and our presence in the region.

>>21878682
Scaring the shit out of them is the likely outcome of this. We want to scare the observers more than them, and we may not even want to scare the observers given that we don't know as much as we could about them.

>>21878863

I like this: we give them as little information as possible. It's friendly, and here to help. We do our thing, keep these guys from sending messages, and do some data clean-up before we leave. We leave behind anecdotal evidence and leave after we've had some chat-time with our newfound potential friends.

We do leave behind evidence, but not enough: they don't know how many we are, if we're a new race or possibly a threat to them. They might know something's out there, but they may not know what.

File: 1354597268264.jpg-(888 KB, 1600x1058, 1353791734284.jpg)

“He should just tell them it's a... I dunno, a countermeasure system or something.”

“Dzig considered that. He seemed to think it excessively lucky to the point of extreme imporbability.”

“Of course it is. It will work for now, though.”

“As you say, Lieutenant. I will pass it on.”

It's a few hours as the drone approaches, painstakingly cuts itself a hole into the quarantined section, and manages to acquire a sampling. It dissects the nannites on the spot and beams back its findings, to the excellent news that you already have a cure on record. Ouroboros spends several minutes adapting it to Zeer physiology, or rather, making sure the counter-nannites won't do anymore harm to them than they would to humans, and then fabrication begins.

By the time it's finished, the drone has returned, been thoroughly washed in low-intensity laserfire to slag any surviving nannites that stellar radiation missed, and load the counter-nannites into the re-purposed scouting drone's payload bay. You fire the drone off again, and take a nap as it takes the lengthy return-trip to the station. When you wake, Ouroboros has news for you.

“There have been two developments, the most recent just a few minutes ago.” Ouro states, “First, the cordoned computer system has responded to our drone. It apparently has detected mention of the drone in the station computer, and determined to report this via the hyperwave broadcaster.”

File: 1354597300175.jpg-(206 KB, 1024x765, 1286403512811.jpg)

>>21879017
“It didn't, did it?” you ask, suddenly worried. You thought Ouroboros would wake you for something like this-

“No. I have enforced a temporary freeze on the systems I believe to belong to these 'observers'. I can fully deactivate it if you wish, or allow it to proceed. It is attempting to report the presence of successfully salvaged artifacts on station. Judging by the remainder of the programming, it will send a followup report when something is determined to be dangerous, safe, or beyond the capabilities of the station to determine.”

“Keep it on hold, then. What's the other?”

“The station seems to be upset with Dzig for remaining out here. They were expecting Dzig's vessel to close and dock, and are growing increasingly suspicious about why Dzig still remains out here. Tertiary update: The drone has begun to achieve results; the cure is being disseminated and successfully countering the plague.”

“I see. The station is using radio and whatnot, right?”

“Yes. They are expecting significant delay; Their most recent and rather insistent query just left the station and will not reach us for several minutes. It was picked up and relayed by our drone.”

>>21878863
>>21878977

I just realized how clever I was. We don't know as much as we want to know about the Observers, but they know far less about us. To a ruling caste, the unknown is perhaps the most terrifying thing, a threat to their perceived omniscience.

We hide our numbers, intent, and true power. A potential superweapon that's animated and not under their control. This'll scare the pants off the Observers for sure.

>>21879055
We don't want them coming for us like a possibly existential threat, anon. Let's not make the breadcrumbs too substantial.

>>21879028

We have the opportunity to get Dzig to respond before the message they sent could possibly have been received. Perhaps we tell him to say that his ship is undergoing some kind of repair before it can dock safely, and that he is quite sorry for the inconvenience.

We're not making excuses, we sent that message before you asked what as wrong.

>>21879139

True, true. I say we pocket this possible scenario for later, it might be useful to us.

>>21879017
>>21879028
Relay the message, tell Dzig they want to talk to him. Then ask Dzig what he wants to do.

If he wants to go down there and reason with them, we can make that happen. We should send some backup in case he needs an extraction though, like a shuttle. We could potentially go ourselves.

If he wants to do something else, we're all ears.

If he and his team want to stay, we should include them all in a discussion, or at least him and the civilian leader.

>>21879170
Agreed.

>>21879147
This is certainly a possibility for stalling them.

We can rape their computers. Why not just jump in, let Dzig's ship go, explain all kindly-like like we did with Dzig, and have our little talk. We can remove all data of our visit on our way out, and everything's hunky-dory. What are we stalling or still hiding for?

If we're intending on hiding still, we should just have Dzig apologize, claim it was repairs, and head on in. Currently we're delaying for the sake of delaying.

>>21879242
Because the prize here is not a victory just for us but a diplomatic arrangement that may result in getting us a friendly station that we can repurpose as a repair bay or some shit.

>>21879269
How does still hiding effect that?

>>21879242

We can't delete data from people's heads, and we can't be sure everyone on that station is as trustworthy as our friend Dzig.

We want our presence disguised, masked, hidden. We've just heard that there's some not-so-friendly sounding shadow government guys and we'd rather not attract any attention.

Even if we can blow the most advanced weapon they have out of the sky, who's to say they don't have some war-era ordinance to throw at us? (Also considering our damaged state) We'd rather learn a bit more before we initiate contact. We'd like to know what we're dealing with.

>>21879279
It lets them settle things among themselves as much as possible unless we have to step in, because our overwhelming power is kind of a huge damper on their individuality even when we're not rubbing our nuts in their faces.

Having a conversation about whether the mayor is a nice guy while standing next to his bodyguards is bad enough, but if there's a foreign tank company in the area it just makes it all kinds of weird and strained.

>>21879313
>>21879315
>>21879172
>>21879147

I feel like we may have some form of consensus, an objections or addendums?

>>21879521
Fund it.

File: 1354600261433.jpg-(134 KB, 900x688, 1286402742396.jpg)

“Sounds like they want you, Dzig.” you observe, listening to the translated message with the alien. “What do you want to do about it?”

“Yield command and send my ship on its way.” Dzig replies promptly. Not quite what you expected.

“What? Like, leave your ship? Stay here?”

“Yes. With your assent, of course. I have no viable future with my forces; they frown upon disobeying orders, and revealing the observers. Having done both, I seek asylum.” Dzig's tentacles seem to drift to a halt, “I thought that was communicated.”

“Look, for the moment, at least, it doesn't matter. They don't know you did that, you can go back. At the very least, I'd like someone I've spoken with at length on board the station. Make this whole communication thing somewhat easier. Talk to your equivalents, see how loyal they are to these observers, maybe inform them that they aren't being watched anymore and you have the ability to remove all the overrides they've got. Ouro and I only have to enter the equation if they're amenable to the idea. We can get you out or whatever if they are violently opposed.” Dzig seems of mixed feelings on the matter, but susceptible to persuasion. “Explain the situation to them. Your crew, too, if you think that's best. At the very least, your civilian counterpart the... What's his name, Ouro?”

“Kgx.”

File: 1354600298935.jpg-(190 KB, 1600x1006, 1353792086409 (1).jpg)

“Yeah, that guy. Tell him, bring him aboard our grand conspiracy here, and see how well you can convince your peers on-station. At the very least, I want to know whether they've got any more information on the observers. That will let me plan more.”

Dzig doesn't sound happy, but accedes. “Understood. Will comply.” is his final transmission, and you leave him to get his crew ready for departure and potentially even informed.

It's a few minutes work to get their crew all aboard, and the cargo bay gravatics manage to lift the ship to the center of the hold, and toss it gently out the hatch once they're ready. Ouroboros informs when they're clear, and their impulse drives kick in. They hook around the moon you're hiding behind, and lay in a course to reunite with their space station. All completed two minutes before their own message arrived.

“Alert: Transmission between survey ship and station detected.” Ouroboros intones. “As follows: Apologies for delay, had to deploy to launch the nannite countermeasure. Took opportunity to perform moderate repairs. Proceeding to dock. Dzig out.”

“Right... Now let's just see how good he is at playing the rabble-rouser.”

[Roll, please.]

Rolled 80

>>21879711
Good luck, sweet prince.

>>21879754
We're rootin' for yah big guy!

Rolled 17

>>21879711

Alright, we monitor the situation as best we can from our perspective, and hope he can pull off the con. We'll need friends on the inside.

If anything, we can play the rescue card and get him out of there fast: then he can have his asylum (though I'm not sure if he understands what kind of situation we're currently in).

>>21879805
Oh god, clear your email fields. Also, it's not a con so much as a call to reason.

>>21879846
>reason
Rebellion, more like.

>>21879805

Yeah. He might be in a worse position with us: adrift in space, damaged ship, potentially last of our species...

He seems afraid of what might happen to him if someone finds out. I feel as though this is further evidence of the fact that there's big trouble in little Tokyo.

Rolled 64

>>21879805
Low roll detected. Attempting to counteract.

>>21879919
Let's just stop this shit and let OP decide whether he's going with the first roll as before.

File: 1354602473828.jpg-(168 KB, 1280x720, orbital_battle_by_lorddoo(...).jpg)

Though told him to write, you basically have no way to communicate with Dzig. Ouroboros knows effectively instantly if something is so much as typed, let alone entered into a computer, but given that the event is entirely verbal, there isn't much to listen in on. Eventually, you get bored enough to start engaging in simple tactical simulations with Ouro. He tends to win overwhelmingly, and inflict disproportionate losses even when he doesn't, but you suppose that's his job and it's mildly reassuring that he can. If a bit annoying.

It's well into your seventh game when Ouro freezes the display. “Alert: I am receiving communication from Dzig.”

“Oh? Radio?” you ask, leaping at the opportunity to avoid getting trounced again.

“No. He, or an ally of his, is typing into a console.”

“Clever girl. I suppose he must have had a hunch how we knew so much. Don't have to wait on the light-lag, either. What's he saying?”

“Communication so far: 'Captain Carter, and the vessel that saved us. Major Dzig has persuaded us to hear you out.'. There is more incoming, however...” Ouroboros informs you.

“Wait until they pause, and I'll give you a response.” you declare, putting your feet up on your console. The old captain never allowed anything remotely like this, but you were pretty convinced that someone had designed the bridge seats with this in mind. It was just so much more comfortable this way. Provided you kept your feet off the buttons.

“'Several of us are not convinced of the Major's words, and wish additional proof. He suggested we contact you, and even went so far as to claim that this would suffice. For the most part, I feel silly typing into our own systems and expecting a response, but I willing to give him a chance. Please advise, oh cybernetic benefactor. Please respond, over.' The typing has stopped. I believe they are awaiting a response.”

>>21880232

No cameras we can hack into for a looksy? If not, maybe we're going to have to trust the Major on his word.

I say, now that we've got the all-clear, we get out of hiding to say hello. Perhaps we can make a big display of power by warping right next to them, seemingly from nowhere, but I feel like the direct flying out of cover to meet them will work just as well.

>>21880232
We can show them footage of our interaction with the craft, not to mention the hostility of the other alien group.

We can show them worlds covered in bubonic rust, and what it does to them.

We can show them the horrors of the past war.

More importantly, wecan show them how a few devices onboard their station work, like the self-destruct system they know nothing about, and give them specific instructions on how they might open it up for a look themselves, safely, and inform them that their onboard computers were reporting that the station had 'recovered artifacts,' but had not readily called for assistance.

That should be the winning point.

Aside from that, telling them that we helped with repairs and demonstrating a capacity to stop the nano-virus again if necessary is probably possible.

What do other people think?

>>21880310
Scaring the shit out of them should be reserved for after the stuff in >>21880321 fails, honestly.

First we keep jamming the olive branch down their throats, then we come out of the dark with our scarred-up hull that probably predates their entire spaceflight program.

>>21880321

let's try it

>>21880321

We can totally show them through their own technological means that we know everything about their station, it's technology, and we can ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL over it if necessary. Even then, we might still be a little much.

I demonstrating that we know more about their technology than even they do by displaying all these hidden devices and protocols. However, we may need something a little more concrete than technical readouts through their own devices. Anyone can fabricate data, it's pretty hard to fabricate a big-ass warship outside their station.

>>21880339

A simple reveal of our ship might not be so threatening, they asked anyway, and it's hard to dismiss that kind of proof. As long as keep up the friendly attitude, we might just be okay. Give them something concrete to speak to, not just ghosts from the machine.

I don't like revealing ourselves either, but I feel like we might just have to.

>>21880444

>>21880518 Here. Yeah, let's try your idea before mine.

>>21880232
Respond with an options of various means we could prove ourselves, on the display they were typing at.

"Very well, what type of proof would you like?
1 - A slideshow of the various horrors that exist in the space of the graveworlds?

2 - Some proof of my ability to protect like, say a minor moon wrecked and split?

3 - Or perhaps this is enough? If you'd like, I could show this message on all the displays around you."

>>21880232
Open with, " Well, the sarcasm is a bit over the top "

>>21880546
>>21880541
>>21880528
>>21880518
I may not have made a portion of the idea clear.

We're going to tell them that there's a self destruct device onboard their station.

We're going to tell them that we've deactivated it for now, but that if they take off such and such a set of bulkheads or send a guy out with an EVA suit to look at section whatever, they can have a look at it themselves.

They'll probably come around to our side once one of their trusted men takes a look at the station having been wired to blow, but ONLY if they put it together with the fact that the station computer has been relaying a message that said 'artifacts found' instead of 'send help, nanovirus.'

Add all that in with everything but scaring the crap out of them, and you have a compelling reason to reconsider their allegiance.

>>21880546
Or how about we respond as quickly as possible with:

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that? I wasn't paying much attention until you typed my name. I apologize for the delay in transmission."

>>21880628
What, we're going to get petty about keeping our secret fast communications technology after we've demonstrated technological superiority sufficient to save them from a deadly nano-plague?

Who cares, at this point?

I feel it's getting a little too specific and paranoid up in here. I feel we should respond back. We open with some:

>>21880546
>>21880628

Witty banter, maybe transition down to some:

>>21880321

-Esque knowledge. Go in for the main course with some hearty:

>>21880588

And cap it all off with a heaping dose of we're totally on your side guys, now can level with each other for a moment, here?

>>21880744
Just, y'know, try not to be a huge asshole.

Let's get this over with, assuming OP isn't dead.

>>21880866
>>21880744

Yeah, I'm not either. Perhaps first contact should go a little more delicately than this crap I typed.

>>21880744
>we're coming to save people from the nanovirus-induced deaths their shadowy masters have abandoned them to in the search for superweapons
>let's argue about the witty banter

I've stopped caring now. Anytime you like, OP.

>>21880934
This.

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“A response, they want? Alright, give a brief demonstration of quite how much we know. Maybe display the floorplans for their station, some technical specification, show them that we know what they can do. Hell, we know what they know, and more. Append what we learned about the nanoplague, maybe some of what our drone saw while carving its way into the station. Oh... And preface that with 'The sarcasm was a bit over the top.'.”
“Transmitting...” Ouroboros states, and a nearby screen displays the alien text editor that you've hijacked into a communications program. You witness a column of alien characters appearing, presumably the text opening you ordered Ouro to send, then a fade to black and view of their space station zooming in to magnify the room they are communicating from. Certain parts illuminate or highlight with subtitles, identifying this or that. You are annoyed to find it interrupted. “They are attempting to reestablish communications.” Ouroboros announces, and you notice the text field reappear to one side of the display.

“Typing.. 'We have communicated our disaffection to Dzig, but what you demonstrate is nothing that someone on-station could have come up with. A technician could have pre-programmed this without significant effort. This is not restricted information.”

“If they want restricted information, how about that self destruct device they've got secreted away in the cordoned areas? Tell them that, and tell them what they can find in there.” A blur of text drips over the display, and you allow a few seconds while they read it.

“Response: 'Again, something that could be pre-programmed with no appreciable effort. Your 'proof' asks us to become complicit in Dzig's crimes, to determine whether or not we should believe you. This is your final chance; if you have some momentous proof, now would be the time to share it.'. They seem unimpressed.” Ouroboros opines.

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>>21881030
“Well... It seems like what we need to fix, then. What have you got in the way of horror-stories, Ouro?”

“Define further, lieutenant.”

“Images of Delphi, those amber skies, the corroded cities. DX-3354-98 breaking up under the planet-crackers. Euphrates Shipyards getting ripped apart by that memetic virus. Some of the survivors, some of the ones who didn't. Maybe digital rendition of the assault on Bahrain. Show them exactly what their observers were using them as a waldo to handle. Pad it out as you think it needs to convey the message.”

“Transmitting.” The display screen gives you a mirrored view of what they must be seeing, and it isn't exactly pretty.

-The sun being blocked out by rust-colored clouds, cities eroding as if chalk in a sandstorm, flesh going raw and then sloughing away. Protective suits being degraded and melting slightly slower than their users within them-

-A shift to high orbit over DX-3354, the descent of the massive gravity-nullifying ordnance, the spontaneous disintegration of the planet as the planet suddenly was no longer held together. Fast-forwarded, of course, so the breakup was viewable at an appreciable speed-
Euphrates station did not appear- On consideration, you concede that a memetic virus is hard to communicate adequately through only visual effects. Instead- the landings on Kruger II. The ground combat with absolutely no concern for collateral damage, the evacuation after the planetary shield projectors were demolished. The navy's liesurely orbitof the planet, rendering the megacities uninhabitable with precisely targetted hellbore volleys-

>>21881030
Well, we could target a nearby space-rock and demonstrate the energy output of our weapons.

Anyone got any bright ideas?

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>>21881045
The scenes are vivid enough, recent enough in your own memory, that you practically feel like you're there. It takes a few seconds to realize Ouroboros is speaking to you, asking if you're alright.

“N-nah. Yes. I'm fine, Ouro. I-” you assure him, realizing you only tuned out for a few seconds. What is now displayed is a (somewhat accelerated) rendition of the assault on Bahrain. Having been there, it's not too difficult to identify Ouroboros, and watch weapons batteries exchange the salvo that took your leg. Moments later (did it really happen that quickly?) Ouroboros is crippled by a mine, and the assault continues, slowly tearing through the rallied Melconian defense.

You find yourself breathing heavily as Ouroboros' presentation finished, despite the fact that you haven't left your chair on the bridge.

“Engage the drives; let's- let's go say hello. I think that's enough threats for the moment.” you order. “And... remind them that that was what they're being sent to poke around after. Those are the kinds of things they're being expected to hazard and salvage.” You feel the gentle thrum of Ouroboros drive systems engaging, thrusting out of cover and towards the isolated space station. It's a full five minutes after you begin thrusting that you receive a response.

“Alert: They are responding. 'Apologies for the skepticism; That was much more credible. We invite you to approach and dock if able; you are evidently worth hearing out.'. How very contrite.”

“I suppose they are. How long until they see us?”

“If I remain at sublight speeds, fifteen more minutes. We'll be halfway there by then.”

“Excellent. Let's take them up on their invitation, then.”

####
Sorry, was having some trouble posting. Also, this is liable to be last or at best penultimate update tonight. What are you going to try to go for now that you've got these guys willing to listen to you?

>>21881067
We can offer them amnesty and a chance to alter their society in positive ways by giving them the keys to their own kingdom, so to speak - an understanding of technology a level better than that of the Observers, and use of a large-scale fabricator for sufficient time to give themselves a decent chance of turning the tables.

We're going to want to build said fabricator somewhere - locally, or elsewhere where it is safe - to effect our own repairs.

Aside from that, some of them might join us and we're going to want whatever information they have about Melconian or Concordiate remnants, and other species in the area. Updated star charts, population centers, relative levels of advancement, etc. Anything they know about galactic authorities or governing powers would help - though we'll be glad of something lower on the totem pole, a regional or local power. Maybe just who the Observers are fighting.

>>21881067
Thanks for the thread, OP. It was pretty damn good. When's the next one?

>>21881067

Learn as much as we can, get a history of these Observers. Possibly see about securing the necessary supplies or technology to add more functionality to our ship.

Maybe disarm these anomalous, possibly Observer, devices, setting them to broadcast a false "all clear" signal.

>>21881146

This.

>>21881176
>>21881146
Seconding these.

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>>21881155
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. To be quite honest, next week may be ungodly busy. If it isn't on Monday, it's probably because I'm busy studying/taking obscenely long tests. That time of the semester. If I miss monday, I'll try to make it up on Thursday or Friday. If I suffer critical existence failure over the holidays, I'll attempt a return on the thirteenth of January. Hope it won't come to that.

>>21881146
What exactly are you offering them amnesty from? That said, you could certainly offer them resources and manufacturing capability; your harvester drones are good at mining, and primitive tech these guys may have, but they're relatively competent at engineering and building. You could mine enough for them to build another station in a week or two, and they'd probably have the station finished within the month.

You're not going to be building a Concordiate-grade shipyard. These guys have the tech and capabilities to, with your help, start building more of their own level of ships. Better, with technological assistance from you. You don't get your own fleet of unassailable god-ships, though. One is enough.

You'll certainly have more info on the Observers and sector cartography, though.

.

Still having trouble posting, so I'm calling it here.

>>21881309
Well, but we should be able to manufacture more hellbore rounds and if they know where to find the metals we need we can even replace the armor. Not to mention that we still need to close our two critical breaches.

Building a repair yard for Ouroborous could come in usefull.

Thanks for running, anyways!

I don't think we need to do much except give them some better tech (still well below ours), perhaps build a computer / computers that can guide warship construction in their "shipyards", and then get some serious work in fabricating an Ouro repair bay - they probably can't make a concordiate repair facility, but they could help weld together a facility in proper size where we could start fabbing equipment to add in, eventually creating enough of a repair facility to start replacing armor, and eventually maybe scrap / rebuild our damaged hellbores.

Trying to remain long-term thinking here. If their "supervisor" bird people show up while we have a half-finished repair facility and a busted Ouro, we could take heavy damage. If they have a small fleet of scary-as-hell warships to chase them off, great!

Realistically, we can't expect them to comprehend the knowledge we COULD dump on them, so we should give them a working knowledge of how to USE it, and control the creation ourselves. You could teach cavemen how to shoot a .45, but good luck teaching him how to build it.

just finished reading the other Bolo quest (not this quest) threads in the archive and eagerly await more of this, keep up the awesome OP