YAY! H&D time.

*knock knock*

Not one to pass up the chance for salvage you quickly attempted to lay claim to the Neeran's armor and weapon in the hope of reverse engineering it. Also the body but you're mostly concerned with getting the gear. This may prove difficult but you're determined to make the attempt or otherwise find a way to exploit the situation towards your gain. Plasma weapons came to mind but it seems your pistol is far beyond what the Factions Alliance or the crew of the Vieona knew to be possible when they went to sleep.

Terran Fleet Captain Leontios Peusen is a man not used to negotiation but agrees to abide by the agreemen the ship's Chief Engineer made with you.
"You'll be given the twenty injectors you were promised. As for other items you can have the medical data on how to safely administer the injections along with thirty more, or you can choose between the Neeran weapon, the Neeran corpse with its armor or 50 suits of undamaged armor taken from the enemy boarding teams. Lastly is the option for a large stockpile of SP torpedoes. I'm sure I can convince the current admiraly to part with some."

"We'll take the injectors and the medical data." You decide.
Your superior nods in agreement, still looking a bit ill. You're certain he would like to look at all of the medical data the Terrans have. Still there's one last thing you'd like to try for.

"But... I should point out that the Neeran corpse and it's equipment are technically my private property since my people and I helped stop it."

All of those present with the exception of the Krath Captain are taken aback by this statement. Varrying degrees of surprise, shock and annoyance clearly visible on their faces.

"Given the lack of facilities in the immediate area I graciously make the body and equipment available to your engineers and scientists for research and study. I could see to extending this courtesy up to three months time, or perhaps longer provided the research data and any other kind of insight gained from my property will be shared with either myself or House Jerik-Dremine."

"And I thought the propaganda video suggestion was over the top." Mutters the Terran Captain to one of his officers.
"You must be joking, this is a Terran ship, a body is not treated like property to be traded."

[ ] "My people and I saved your asses. We can un-save you just as quickly."
[ ] Ask Captain Murilo for assistance
[ ] Scale back the amount of information they'd have to provide you
[ ] Other

>>24016660
We're gonna have to buy the Krath captain a drink. Dude's cool.

>>24016731
[✔] Scale back the info.

>>24016731
>[ ] Other
Offer to pay for some of the reasearch expenses out of our own pocket.

Agree to share our findings as well.

>>24016731
>>24016816 here.

I forgot we were pretty well loaded with cash, so I'll support >>24016827

I haven't updated the medals and ribbons in the pastebin yet but everything else in there is up to date. Took a lot longer than I planned.


While we're waiting, the Terran starship Trident is by now aware that the Vieona has returned to real space but is unable to do anything about it because of the damage to subspace in the region. If you wanted you could contact the Blackbird and have them transmit the message to the Commander, Cascading Fury and/or a number of other allies about Vieona being discovered. Even if Trident chose to jam them they would simply be able to leave the area to transmit the message since its doubtful the larger starship will abandon Vieona as long as she is stranded.

This could be done now, or you could wait to see the result of your negotiation with Captain Peusen.

>>24016855
>wait to see the result of your negotiation with Captain Peusen.
We should definitely wait for that to see how this goes.

>>24016855
Wait.

We could use that as a bargaining point too, if negotiations don't pan out as we expect. I doubt they'd want everyone to know the Vienoa has been found.

>>24016827
>>24016849
Relenting somewhat you offer to help fund the research since it wouldn't be fair for you to get such potentially valuable info for free.
"I still want the rights to that movie deal though."

The Fleet Captain asks you to give him a half hour while he talks to some of his people now that they've been woken up.

Roll 1d12

Rolled 1

>>24016974
Rolling.

Rolled 3

>>24016974
A roll.

Rolled 12

>>24016974
3rd roll

>>24016983
Thrown off the ship through the airlock.
>>24016987
But we do at least get to put our suit on.
>>24017003
And the captain changes his mind, for some reason.

You're escorted off the bridge for the moment, while the Captain and a few others head out through another door. Saputo discusses the potential ramifications of having an immortality drug and the resulting wars between the Houses that might be triggered if it became known that either of you had some.
>Well, we need at least 8 for private use if they're not able to replicate them.
>Mom, Dad, Sis, Mike, Alex, Linda, our commander, Sonia.
You initially begin to consider who you should keep a few around for.

>Using a rare, sterilizing agent we don't even begin to understand to extend the lives of friends and family is a bleeding great idea.
Then this realisation dawns on you.
"Sir, what side effects do you know of besides the unnatural long life?"

"Very little. My great great grandfather was in special forces and recovered incomplete data from another House while on assignment. He sabotaged what he couldn't take with him."

"That's unfortunate."
"Very."

At last you talk to Fleet Captain again and he agrees, after some discussion with his officers it seems that they can afford to part with some of the key data from their research. You'll need to pay about one million as part of your contribution.

Ouch. That's a lot, still it could have been much higher. Saputo says that he'll contribute some of the funds since you didn't really burn through as much of the reserves he'd set aside as planned.

You end up talking to the chief engineer more about it once the Captain has departed to tend to his duties.
"That should cover ten percent of the research into the weapons and armor. It should be much easier than planned. The Shallan Fusion gun is it? that some of your people use should be closely related to the Neeran's. The main body of the Terran Engineering Corps should be able to handle it without much difficulty if that's the case. As for the armor we have specialists on board who have worked on theoretical systems very similar to it. Give them four months, five tops."

>>24017008
Most likely after reviewing data on what we usually do in recon Armour and our blade play. And extrapolating on dominion Propaganda vids, considering we actually are exactly like those propaganda vids from 300 years ago or so.

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>>24017563
Well, it looks like we'll have to find another vectron arsenal.

But with all the fancy cheesy upgrades we are getting we should start propelling ourselves into the lower medium house levels if we find a way to properly leverage them. That and expand our territory and population heavily in the new areas.

Preferably by having the FLP descend into civil war over their decision and then gobbling them up.

>>24017678
You know I just realized that we are functioning as state sanctioned Kelly's Heroes.

Need to win the war? Allow them to get to the loot. Tax it.

>>24017563
>You'll need to pay about one million as part of your contribution.

>1 million in his time was actually worth something like 100 million in our time

Crazy Has-Ann has struck again.

Engineering crews are hard at work repairing damage to the long missing ship. Because of damage to her FTL systems and drive plates, components are being stripped from the Light Cruiser you used to reach her. Even with the spare parts the damage to Vieona's FTL is severe. It could take weeks to completely repair the damage and make the ship operational again. Longer if they're unable to easily duplicate the materials used in her construction.

Fully operational is not what the engineers are going for right now. They just need enough power to jump out of the area and escape the subspace damage preventing rescue ships from reaching her. The drives on the TCS Trident are rumored to be some of the best out there and it should be able to tow Vieona back to a safe location. You just hope you're able to get off this ship and onto one of yours before it leaves.

Who all do you want the Blackbird to contact? (If anyone.) Presumably the Terran Admiralty already knows so it shouldn't be necessary to send them a message.

>>24017852
>Who all do you want the Blackbird to contact? (If anyone.)

Just have the Blackbird contact our boss and tell her that if we should suddenly disappear, it's the Terrans' fault.

Nothing more than that should be necessary.

>>24017912
Seconding this. Heh, if we keep doing dissapearing acts with minimal intell to the brass they are going to make us spec ops, we act like we already are half of the time anyway.

>>24017844
>Here's the plan. We get the veckron warhead, and we hold this dwarf galay ransomed for.....One MILLION CREDITS

>>24018006
Maybe the only reason we have so much freedom is plausible deniability. Nobody up top has to take responsibility if Psycho Sonia's operating on her own without explicit orders.

>>24017912
I would have to agree, but might as well send the Terrans a little message as well. It's not like they don't know about it anyway and it would be interesting to see their reaction.

Rolled 52

Deciding that it would be best to keep information about the Vieona to a minimum for the time being you have Hafnar warn the Commander that if you should dissapear it's most certainly the Terran's fault. At the last minute you change your mind and have him contact the Terrans about it too.
The prisoners meanwhile aren't sharing information but that's fine you can wait.

It takes less than a day for the engineers to rig the drive plates taken from the other ship to the outer hull and connect them to the transfer conduits. Its a bit rought but should do the job.

You and your people find a nice safe place to take cover should the worst happen. Close enough to engineering that you wont be in parts of the ship to be cut off if the field doesnt reach max size, but not so close that you'd die in an explosion.

"You dont put much faith in Terran engineering sir?" Asks one of the Marines.

"Not if the ship has been shot to pieces then left to drift for four hundred years no."

The rumble of sublight drives accelerating the ship up to jump speed is a bit different. Not as deep as you would have expected on a ship this size.

"Engineering to bridge, speed it good, acceleration is good. Drives reading greenish."

"All hands this is the Captain, we are engaging minimum power jump."

>>24018513
I can bet pirates are waiting for us somewhere on the other side.

>>24018513
If the Terrans didn't have a file on us before this incident surely they do now.

>>24018792
I'm sure they have made one at the latest after the Vista incident.

The jumps lasts thirty seconds, both too long and too short to be comfortable.

"Jump complete, we're clear. No obvious damage to subspace in our wake."

A few minutes later Trident showes up followed soon after by the Blackbird and Captain Saputo's Guard Cruiser.

"Lets get the hell off this ship." You superior calmly states.

Five hours later your shuttles are allowed to approach Vieona's starboard landing bays. You notice some damage to a vehicle grade lift along the aft walls and surmise the auto loader you destroyed must be on the deck above.

The first shuttle sets down and you're about to head on board when yoiu hear a voice from behind you.
"Stop right there criminal scum."

Looking back you see the Colonel approaching with a data pad in hand, passing it to you.

"What's this?" You ask.

"Repair bill."

"What?!" You respond then point to the damaged lift. "I was totally justified in blowing that up AND the vehicles the Pirates stole."

"Wasn't for that. It's for the turrets you and your teams destroyed in the forward section while on your treasure hunt. See you around."

>What say?
[ ] Say nothing
[ ] Stunned silence
[ ] Denial
[ ] "I deserved that."
[ ] Other

>>24018851
>[ ] Other
Time to laugh, that guy has a sense of humor. I like him.

I guess it's okay though, they'll get a much larger one from us anyway.

>>24018851
Hand him back a copy of that claim we tried on that sp torp production facility a while back.

>>24018851
Suppress laughter. It is good to see people catch on to how the game is played.

>>24018910
Basically this.
Time to laugh a little and head on out.
Question: How much is the bill anyway?

>>24018851
We should definitely leaving him our contact address, he seemed like somebody we might want to keep in contact with.

>>24018851

Suggest that he give you the turret scrap, and you will see to repair it.

It is an excuse to have contact wit>>24018851
the terrans in the future for whatever it is worth.

>>24018811
>I'm sure they have made one at the latest after the Vista incident.

>Keep calling the AI "Vista"
AdviceReynard.jpg
>Wonder why you get no reply mail


You give the Colonel a means to contact you and vice versa. Hopefully you'll meet him again some day.

>>24018958
>Hand him back a copy of that claim we tried on that sp torp production facility a while back.
The only SP torp production facility that springs to mind is that one that was aboard Wayward Treasures. Are you sure you want to do this?

>>24019010
>Question: How much is the bill anyway?
Exceptionally high. According to notations the sentry guns were all produced through black ops sub contractors and secret production sites to reduce the chances of weapon shipments being traced when Vieona was under construction. The cost is effectively five times what it should be, almost fifty thousand.

>>24019278
>The only SP torp production facility that springs to mind is that one that was aboard Wayward Treasures. Are you sure you want to do this?

No. Seriously.

>>Keep calling the AI "Vista"
Only internally. I'd expect Sonia to be smart enough to use her real name in writing and conversations.

>>24019278
It was a joke. We tried to hand themn a bill for it.

>>24019446
IIRC they basically told us to fuck off when we did that. (A position not remotely supported by current admeralty law btw). Not sure why he can get away with that while we couldn't get away with what we tried.

>>24019278
I also would hope we actually don't call the A.I. that and just think it.
Really the bill isn't that much and is a small considering what we just came away with.
1) A investment in a new research project 2) Drug of longer life span and 3) Eternal bragging rights that we did what no other person could do. Find a legendary ship ( Captain Saputo has bragging rights of course also)

>>24019278
Just pay it. Give our thanks to the Captain and wish him all the best. If we don't, then I doubt we'll see any data from the Neeran.

>>24019446
>It was a joke. We tried to hand themn a bill for it.
Oh right, the bill for us having done the their job for them. Thanks.

"I never want to go on another secret mission ever again." Declares Linda as your ships speed away from the Vieona. You'd like to think that you're safe after jumping to FTL but in reality with a several hours long flight ahead... you're not going to say it out loud and jinx it.

When your ships arrive back in system near Surakeh, you notice most of the ships from both the First and Third Wings are out conducting exercises against what appear to be assault corvettes.
"Second Wing has been brought to the front." Says Kavos. "I hope they have a better record than they did in the Smugglers Run and in Lat'tham space. We could not afford the casualties."

After docking you meet up with Captain Saputo and head for the Command ship, each bringing a handful of your best Marines as escort until you're aboard. The remainder stay on the ships, fully armed and guarding the cargo.

"As much as I'd like to walk in and tell Winifred "I told you so" I doubt that would be the best starting point."

"You've talked to her about your quest before?" you ask.

"It's a small House and there are only so many Knights. It came up years ago when discussing how my ancestors nearly bankrupted my family and hasn't come up since. As for our story... I suggest we leave out the exact number of injectors we recovered and keep ten more between the two of us."

"You've already taken one." You point out.

>What will you be telling the Knight Commander about your find?

>>24018851

[x] "That's odd, this looks like the invoice for my services rendered roughly around engineering."

>>24020075
>What will you be telling the Knight Commander about your find?

Sir, we were able to find some diamonds.

>Make sure it's safe before we even think about telling her anything.

>>24020075
What is the entire list of everything we gained from this 'diamond finding expedition'?

>>24020075
After we make sure it's okay to talk about our "'diamond expedition" we give her a generally outline of what happened.
Oh and by accident we tell her we have 10 less injectors than we actually have or just keep the number vague.

>>24020075
Not how many injectors we found. Take out the amount we're keeping, then ship it off and tell her that's how many we had.

>>24020230
30 inectors, the data etc. Perhaps even the Neeran situation.

We keep ten for ourselves, nine for Saputo (he got one)

And one gift wrapped for the Knight Commander.

>>24020075
"Knight Commander, I bought some Earrings with precious stones motifs. I'd love for you to see them."

>>24020419
I actually like this idea.

>>24020230
*61x injectors minus 2. (1 used by the Captain, 1 given to the Murilo. You guys did say to give him one regardless right?)
*Medical data on safe administering of the injectors
*Stolen medical data on the same, along with records on a dozen crewmen and long term data on the effects of Veckron radiation exposure.
*Research data (Not yet received) on Neeran, armor, & weapon
*Practical combat data VS Neeran Heavy
*Location of a K-Type Attack Cruiser which will be accessible in a few years.
*Some Mass driver rifles and a dozen busted suits of Power Cell Armor
*Sensor data that may assist in locating remaining Factions Alliance Sleeper ships

>>24020419
>We keep ten for ourselves, nine for Saputo (he got one)
>And one gift wrapped for the Knight Commander.

This would leave you with 39 for use by the House. Is everyone okay with this?

>>24020494
This is me.

>>24020688
Add 2 more to Saputo's and our stack respectively. We'll never know who we'll meet in the future.

>>24020494
Thats actually a rather excellent haul. Yeah we gave one to Murilo, why not.

>61x injectors minus 2. (1 used by the Captain, 1 given to the Murilo.)
15 for ourselves, 14 for Saputo, three for the Knight Commander, 27 for the House.

>Medical data on safe administering of the injectors + Stolen medical data on the same, along with records on a dozen crewmen and long term data on the effects of Veckron radiation exposure.

We'll give the first one to the House/ Knight Commander. The second we'll keep for ourselves. It'll be useful when we start trying to reverse-engineer these injectors.

>Research data (Not yet received) on Neeran, armor, & weapon + Practical combat data VS Neeran Heavy

We can mention both of these as the data will flow to the House anyway.

>Some Mass driver rifles and a dozen busted suits of Power Cell Armor

Mention these so we can use House resources to get them fixed up and given to our soldiers.

>Location of a K-Type Attack Cruiser which will be accessible in a few years. + Sensor data that may assist in locating remaining Factions Alliance Sleeper ships.

Annnd I think we'll keep these two close to our chest. Who knows when we might need them.

>>24020688
I'm fine with that.

>>24020746
I don't think we have ten people we want to inject, do we? Why do we need one more?

>>24020813
Medical research, future bribe material, it'll be useful if we try and reverse-engineer it.

We took all of the risks this mission, it makes sense that we take a significant amount of the rewards.

>>24020494
>You guys did say to give him one regardless right?
What do we know about his species and their government? Although I'd think they'd get the info sooner or later anyway.

>>24020897
Krath as a species are known as shape shifters or shape changers. Their ability seems to vary widely depending on who you ask about them, but all seem to be able to modify the shape and appearance of their bodies to some extent. They do not like to be seen in their natural form though this may simply be part of their society.
You've heard rumors that some of them can extract memories directly from the brain of most humanoids though this apparently results in brain damage.

Their government practices socialism beyond what even the Rovinar use. Given their physical abilities most Krath have little use for personal posessions unless they're living among the other species.
The Krath government has tried to stay neutral in most of the larger conflicts, even when the Terrans and Rovinar faced off against the Dominion at its height. They were known to play both sides in the Faction Wars and came through them relatively unscathed but had little in terms of growth.
They have historacly had poor relations with the Republic due to occupation of some outlying territory of Republic space in the mid Faction Wars.

>>24021295
The Krath are alright in my book so I don't mind giving him one.

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>>24021295
They probably have their spies everywhere. Giving him an injector might net us some goodwill.

>>24020688
yes. we are ok with that. lets move on.

>>24020796
>Research data (Not yet received) on Neeran, armor, & weapon + Practical combat data VS Neeran Heavy

>We can mention both of these as the data will flow to the House anyway.

Some of it. The things relevant to weapons manufacture most likely not and will be in our weapons manufacturing options.

>>24021295
I wish we knew the trick that let that Terran medical officer ID one on sight, that would be handy.

>>24021736
Artificial eye.

>>24021295
Historically.
Can't believe the spellcheck didn't light that up. I'm relying on it too much.

Okay, no more getting distracted with questions about Krath. Moving on.


The Commander is seems surprised, if plesantly so, at both of you coming to see her.
"Apparently the Terrans didn't make you dissapear, which is fortunate. As you've no doubt see Second Wing has arrived and has been pestering every combat or training unit in the area requesting to run combat sims against them. I'll say one thing, they don't lack for entusiasm."

"Would you like one of us to knock them down a notch or two?" Asks Saputo, taking one of the offered chairs.

"Not just yet, perhaps tomorrow. There should be time before both of your Wings are deployed. So, tell me Captains, how fared your expedition?"

"Sir, we were able to find some diamonds." You confidently state, at which the Commander raises an eyebrow in question.
"The room is shielded?" you ask.

"Rolling her eyes the older woman preses a hidden button in the side of her chair's armrest. Suddenly you feel a bit more staticky than before but it soon fades.

"I took the liberty of having the room's shielding upgraded when the ship was in refit. You may speak freely."

You still dont take the chance, handing her a package. "Knight Commander, I bought some Earrings with precious stones motifs. I'd love for you to see them."

"Genuinely hope you two are not getting carried awa-" She stops and looks at the injector after unwrapping it then frowns and looks at both of you. "What is this?"

"My ancestors were not quite as mad as they were made out to be." Volunteers the Captain. "That will protect against the effects of Veckron radiation poising... and more besides."

"We still don't know all of the long term effects though." You point out. "But we have enough to find out. 27 spares after those for the three of us and one given to a Krath Operative as a gesture of good will."

>>24020839
Yeah, but we already have spares for that; my mention of 'not having ten people we want to live possibly forever' was meant to communicate that since we already have spares, why do we need one more.

That is, the only people I know know that we most definitely want to inject are Sonia (1), her parents (3), and her sister (4). So, unless we want to inject more people, we have 6 spares, which should be enough for research/reverse-engineering and bribes.

>>24021888
Well, now we have 11 spares.

>>24021736
No shit.
>>24020494
>>24020688

I really believe the ammount of stuff we loot for the house makes us something of a rising star in House Political Ladders, just from the amount of shit we got done. It's one of the reasons I want this Campaign to end, because the suspense is killing me. Will our house get glory and wealth out of it or will its military forces be Vectroned to shit and its remaining territory and new holdings gobbled up by others.

I really want to see our house get some peace.

To this end it seems we must somehow get more production facilities for star ships. Our house holds on to its Territory in a very militaristic way, by having disproportionate numbers of forces in regards to its Territory, considering the people that surround us and now our newest spread.

We should see to getting a few more shipyards to our House or our Name. To highly increase the number of military hulls, and to allow the Academy to increase its pilot, officer and specialists turnout, thus allowing our house to hold on even if we do get Vectroned to shit.

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>>24021931
You and the likes of you really want our house to stop being a tiny part in Steroid Space Somalia and become the newest and most powerful industrial and economic giant, don't you?

I like it. The Industrial mastery angle is taken by aliens, but perhaps we can dominate economically.

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Survey monkey link
s/YXBRMWC

Well here's a survey in case anyone changes their mind and thinks we should hang onto a few less.

>>24022067
Maybe you'll become rich enough some day to buy that walker you borrowed on Yineput.

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>>24022253
We might be able to buy it now if we are inept enough to sell our assets. But being a true merchant prince and captain of capitalism we know not to fiddle with the cash cows. Considering our latest finds however we should consider expanding into biotech, and starting our own corporate brand so that we can set up that scholarship fund to guarantee ourselves quality employees.

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"Twenty seven isn't enough to fill an LST... but its enough to include most of your Elite troops. I'll look for volunteers among the few clones we have in our Marine forces to help fill out the remainder." The Commander decides.
"I'll set aside a medical suite on the station and have doctors I can trust sent there before the end of the day. Bring the medical data you have with you you begin asking for volunteers among your Wing's marine contingents. We need at least twenty volunteers but having the option of the full twenty seven would be preferable. We'll need our best people to ensure they stand a chance once in enemy territory. Make sure they know the risks but not the specifics." She orders.

Both of you acknowledge her and stand to depart.

"Wait. There's still the issue of who will be going with the strike teams. Once our people... if our people get hold of one of the weapons from the pirates we will need a Knight on board if its necessary to signal our allies. If it's forces from another House your people encounter when trying to escape they'll demand to speak to a Knight and we have few if any that command small special forces units like in other Houses. Choose someone or decide among yourselves. I expect to know before your departure tomorrow evening."

After being dismissed you're left to ponder the Commander's words on the way back to the ships. You could volunteer yourself but who would look after 3rd Wing? Captain Saputo is likely thinking the same about his unit. Then there are the others. Jing Ki springs to mind if the Commander would be willing to spare him from her bodyguard detail. Ecord isn't a Knight yet so he's out for that role at least. The only other Knight in your unit with the sort of close combat experience you suspect would be needed is Mike.

You'll have to think it over while recovering the data and taking the necessary injectors to the med bay.

>>24022650
>You'll have to think it over while recovering the data and taking the necessary injectors to the med bay.

We should probably have a meeting with all of them.
Although I'm leaning towards Ki or Ecord. If we come to the conclusion that Ecord's best, just ask the commander to knight him. If he fails or dies, his promotion won't be a problem, if he manages to pull this off, he will have surely deserved it.

Call it a preemptive promotion, or something.

>>24022769
Its a good thought but there wouldn't be time to cram the paper work through officially.
Most of your attempts to get people trained up and Knighted has been focused on your pilots up until now.

>>24022650
Ki is probably a good choice. Does he have Recon armor?

>>24023138
Nope. Medium power armor.
You are the only person in your House with a suit of Recon armor. The vast majority of Houses don't have any, only medium armor for some of their Knights.

>>24022769

I like it, but I can't help but feel that Sonia's camo + recon armor wouldn't be better put to use in this mission...

It is a tough call. Our wing can probably handle itself, we've got good leadership in it. But at the same time, we'd be leaving them during the big battle...

On the other hand, our armor and camo could be the thing that lets us secure the infiltration objective...

>>24022650
>who would look after 3rd Wing?

Daska would. She's probably after our job anyway, let's volunteer.

>>24023283
>>24023256
I think going on this mission will most likely be a waste of our talents. At least waste until Saputo has checked his roster for candidates.

>>24022650
No Dro'all though, I suspect the injections weren't calibrated for their physiology and may have side effects - it may gender lock them, or worse.

Or we could just warn them a few more times than normal.

>>24023194
I think we should ask the Knight Commander if she could spare Ki. If not, we can volunteer ourselves.

No matter who goes, we need to make sure that they freeze some eggs or sperm if they might want kids. And possibly put their DNA on file if it turns out that the injection damages the reproductive organs; those can be regrown.

>>24023194

... would we have time to call in that Rovinar favor and gain a second recon armor before this mission ships out?

We have another camo system...

>>24023347
>... would we have time to call in that Rovinar favor and gain a second recon armor before this mission ships out?

Would it be possible to simply rent one? I don't like using our favour for this.

>>24023256
Our armor would probably be very useful for this mission....My vote is for us volunteering.

I vote we don't go. It's been far too long since we have commanded our wing.

OP, if you open up a survey to decide who should lead the strike team, could you keep it open until you start posting again tomorrow?

I'm pretty much falling asleep in front of my screen right now, and I'd like to have the chance to vote on this.
Thanks.

>>24023347
>... would we have time to call in that Rovinar favor and gain a second recon armor before this mission ships out?
It would be close. Very close. If you wanted to do this you would need to get to the Rovinar embassy now. Therefore I'm putting the survey up now rather than later.

>>24023369
It wouldn't use up the whole thing.

You talk to the Commander. She's reluctant to let one of her better bodyguards go but admits that if it's necessary you could choose him. He's well known enough that other Houses wouldn't question his credentials.

>>24023696
Yeah working on it. It'll stay open until the last minute hopefully.

Due to repeated problems with 4chan recognising the survey links as spam I'm posting the full links on the front page of the wiki if anyone is having trouble putting them in.

s/Y5RPL37

>>24023898
>It would be close. Very close. If you wanted to do this you would need to get to the Rovinar embassy now. Therefore I'm putting the survey up now rather than later.

Nothing about that in the survey, and I'm against it.

>>24023898

I think that at the very least, we need to haul ass to the Rovinar embassy.

If we end up going, having a second recon/cloak would allow us to work as a pair or split up and hit multiple locations.

If we don't end up going, it will give the infiltration force a powerful asset.

Either way, the infiltration force increases it's chance at pulling this off.

Call ahead to the Embassy, so we're not going to be waiting.

>>24023898
How much of our favor would the recon armor require?

>>24024179
>>24024219
Why on earth are we wasting any part of the Rovinar favor on a suit of armor? Let one of our newly minted knights prove themselves on this mission. Power suit action is fun and all, but we have a wing to command.

>>24024219
Uh, about 25% because they're hard to get hold of.

Wish I'd planned ahead better and just added a 2nd question to that last survey earlier.

s/2LTHW97

>Now that we've completely succeeded in grinding any progress today to a halt.

You check back aboard the EX-K after scheduling a meeting between you and the others. There's a stack of new messages for you that have come in while you've been gone. Most have been simple status reports, a few from logistics and a number of request from 2nd Wing for larger scale exercises against their assault corvetes.
Looking up the data available on the ships you see that most of the squadrons are grouped according to weapon type and layout. This is still very much an experimental unit it seems.

The Corvettes in one squadron makes use of a pair of spinal mount Heavy Pulse Cannons and a single light phase cannon turret to supplement the torpedo launcher. Its essentially an attempt to duplicate the Terran Gamma class.
Another design is similar to the pre-prototypes that were once assigned to your unit. The other energy based weapons have been removed in favour of six light pulse cannon turrets obviously taken from the newer model of Scarab you fought back in December. In the forward arc all of the small weapons can brought to bear or four in the aft arc. From any other direction you're stuck facing three turrets.
"Ultimate brawler." you think to yourself.
Its a more popular option it seems, though some have been built with the turrets placed in different locations to test various options.

A few have attempted to emulate Terran Heavy Pulse cannon arrays, which have wider fields of fire compared to the normal cannons but they're in the minority. Probably because of expense, the shipyards aren't used to working with that type of weapon system. The Terran Newport Fleet Yards are one of the few anywhere used to producing them.

Looking at the other reports it seems Arthur has been working his ass off to get his unit's performance numbers up to that of the rest of the Wing.

Saputo> jing ki> Serth> saputos roster in that order


Leaving in the middle of a pitched engagement scream irresponsibility on our part as a wing commander.

"Save that favour for something more important" Is wining by a small margin. For the moment. Likewise Jink Ki is in the lead followed by Sonia for leading the mission.


Gathering Mike, Ki and Ecord together is easy enough. As much as you'd like to just go ahead and have the last Knighted so he can go lead the strike team that wont be feasible. Or might not be. In either case it seems he's going and already knows more than is safe for most people so it's just as well you've invited him here.
You give the other two a rundown of what would be expected of them. Secret mission, go behind enemy lines, steal some valuables, get out before people on either side can kill you.

"Wow. I sure wish I'd been able to get some practice in with a suit of power cell armor." Comments Mike. "Sounds crazy dangerous but it would deffinitely help this new title stick. As long as we don't all die that is. If you hadn't just promoted me and given me a squadron I'd jump at it. Now I'm less certain. How do you keep doing your stealth suit missions when you have to worry about the whole Wing Sonia? I mean, Sir?"

Ki would be more than happy to sign on it seems. "It's been a solid two moths since I've seen any real fighting. Other than simulations and guard duty all I get to do is talk about my time on the front lines with a shrink."

"What about that movie and game deal? Didn't you get the big spotlight for saving the day?" You ask.

"I don't consider that a bright point sir, that was forced on me by intel. I just stood by and watched and they want to label me a hero for it? At least at Yineput I earned it. "

It's already a dangerous assignment but the real catch is how you're going to explain the injection and what that may all entail.
>What say if anything? This could affect your candidates views on volunteering.

>>24025776
This is the part we will have to be blunt about.

Tell them what the injection does and it's side effects (not counting the extended life)

>>24025776
>>What say if anything?
We owe them to be honest about this. No candy-coating things.

File: 1364965598192.png-(15 KB, 293x299, Strange Matter.png)

15 KB PNG

>>24026220
>>24026378
You tell them.

Mike is not down for that. "Thanks I'll pass. Still this whole conversation reminds me I should get some better armor. I'm your Wing if you need me but it sounds like there are still over people you could ask."

Ki is reluctant... but eventually says that he would still volunteer.

Arriving at the medical bay you help Captain Saputo go through the list of volunteers.

>>24023322
>No Dro'all though, I suspect the injections weren't calibrated for their physiology and may have side effects - it may gender lock them, or worse.
You appologize to a couple of Dro'all who have to be told that there's a mandatory medical treatment that hasn't yet been approved for their species yet. As even the effects on Humans still aren't all known the risks are just too great. Also no risk in wasting several fortunes worth of miracle drug on them when the outcome is less than clear.

The doctors have finished doing through the data both that provided by the Terrans and that which you stole. They seem to match up but they'd like more time to go through the data on the other crewmen.

Time is one thing they do not have as the Commander appears not long after.
"Do you have everything you need Doctors?" She asks.

"Yes, but this is all very irregular. We're potentially risking the lives of some of the most elite troops in the House!"

"Which is why it's fortunate I upgraded our facilaties here. Complete neural mapping is mandatory for participation in this mission as are full DNA samples. If this treatment dose cause sterility our people should have the option to still have children afterwords. Now, we have a limited timetable Doctors, twenty seven marines in less than twenty hour hours."

The medical teams get to work. The Commander heads into an adjoining office that's part of the closed off medical bay. Every so often she gets up from the paperwork to see how things are progressing. You don't know if she'll risk having the procedure herself. Yet.

>>24026945
With all of the doctors here and everything already prepped you wonder if this is the right time to try for the immortality thing yourself. Then again its not like you don't have time, years or decades really, with which to find out the effects it has on the others.


See you guys in the morning.

>>24026945
Mike is getting power armor? I wonder if there was a ground section to Exiles vs the Union.

>>24026945
>s/Y5RPL37
We can do it as a shock troop, and either split our Squadrons into independent outfits or as orbiting guards until we take the entire ship. Once its secured we can have the Vectron weapons loaded into the LST and guarded by the marines skedaddle to the Knight Commanders ship and we back in our own.

Honestly while we are our wing leader we cannot let anyone less qualified for the job take this one, or we risk having our wing vectroned or loose the equivalent to Nuklear ICBMs.

It may be a bit odd but the highest priority is taking out the Vectron weapons out of the picture, if we want our wing to survive, because no one is out-flying Vectron weapons, and we need to make sure we get the best psychotic and pragmatic boarder out there to get their hands on them for our houses guaranteed continuous future, after that we can make a Israel style situation with not confirming or denying that we have or do not have Vectron warheads.


Also last i recall was it one or two launcher ships that got away? If its two we might need a second strike team...

>>24029367
Those little spelling mistakes are irking me. Almost as much as the guy who kept misspelling corvette way back when H&D was just starting.

Veckron
Nuclear

>>24029367
That's just a risk we'll have to take. Sonia is a wing commander. Her presence is going to be needed in this battle. She can't just go off and personally lead every spec ops mission there is, otherwise why even bother having subordinates? We need to learn to trust our people to accomplish whatever job that needs to be done in support of the wing, and this is one of those cases. Let Ki lead this one so he can vindicate our decision to have him knighted.

For the mission, I vote "anyone but us." If I had to chose one person I'd choose the knight captain, because I think it would leave us in charge of the attack squadrons.

>>24027469
Probably just Power Cell armor.
> I wonder if there was a ground section to Exiles vs the Union.
There was not, and the Kavarians have never been ones for power armor.

>>24029367
>Also last i recall was it one or two launcher ships that got away? If its two we might need a second strike team...
Two ships carrying an entire Fleet's stockpile of Rovinar weapons. These torpedoes come prepackaged with a disposable launcher assembly, which means that you'd need a transport not an LST to move one unless you ripped out the torpedo.

Will resume in a little over an hour.

>>24032003
StarDrive guy from last week.

Yes its a really great game for being in beta. I think you may enjoy it. Ship design is pretty fun even if they are only set models that you put modules on. Though module damage and directional damage play a big factor into as well as the angle of fire your weapons have depending on where they are facing.

I can try to answer more questions if you have any, but overall its pretty fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWV6Ky1xNog

>>24032003
Is veckron weaponry use deadly to all species, or can the ones with "superior" physiology like the Krath, for example, shrug them off?

>What ship(s) are the troops taking?
They'll use the LST to board an enemy ship and then fly it into enemy territory.

You decide that Knight Jing Ki is the best man for the job and ask him to lead the strike team. He already has his own set of medium power armor and has some plans for what equipment to bring along. While there's no point in rushing off to get a suit of Recon armor for him at this moment that doesn't mean you cant offer him some equipment.

Is there any equipment you'd like to loan him?
While his suit doesn't have silent movement systems one of your 3 Holographic camouflage emitters could be handy.


>>24032188
Roll 1d100 for data mining.

Rolled 67

>>24033379
>Roll 1d100 for data mining.

Rolling!

Rolled 33

>>24033379
dice

Rolled 62

>>24033379

>>24033379
Can we loan him our Shallan fusion gun? We don't use it much anymore now that we've got the plasma pistol.

>>24033557
Oh, and some of those stun grenades as well.

When charging the weapons radiation seems to emanate not directly from the launcher area but from subspace itself, rendering most forms of radiation shielding useless. Every known species is believed to suffer the same effects, ultimately resulting in death. It is currently unknown whether the Krath with their ability to self modify would be able to avoid the effects or recover from them.

>>24033557
He requisitioned his own some time ago.

>>24033585
>Stun grenades
"Stun pulse grenades? Thank you, I'd heard about these after the raid on those lunar defense bases. I haven't been able to requisition them through the usual channels."
"I bought them straight from the Terran manufacturer." You tell him. "Apparently they've been around for awhile now but they hadn't made a practice of selling higher end weapons like these to the Dominion before the start of the campaign."

>Feel free to continue making suggestions for equipment even if I've moved on.

With things under control in the medical bay and no intention of taking one of the injections just this moment you see yourself out. You haven't had much of a chance for rest but 2nd Wing's challenges wont take care of themselves.

[ ] Get some rest first
[ ] Exercises against 2nd Wing assault corvettes
[ ] Other

>>24033644
Get some sleep.

>>24033644
sleep if we haven't, than schedule some mass wing exercise, no flight on flight exercise, but full on wing on wing engagements. lets see how eager they are after we are through with them

>>24033688
Weren't we not allowed to sleep due to the skill implanting for the X-Ray laser?

>>24033878
We didn't take it, iirc.

>>24033644
>>24033557
Let's loan him the fusion gun, and one or two holocloaks. Preferably if he could rope another Power Armored Knight or something in this.
>>24033878
We are not allowed to use the super sleep goggles that make 2 hours sleep = 8 hours sleep.

>>24033878
You weren't allowed to use the sleep headset if you had gotten the skill imprinting. You decided against getting the skill memories imprinted as you figured you'd be so busy that the headset would be needed.

Not bothering with the sleep headset for a change you try to get some rest. Tomorrow you can worry about showing up 2nd Wing.

Your dreams are far from pleasant. Maybe its because you've been using that headset so often, the warnings said it wasn't to be used for weeks at a time but you've been busy. Everything is jumbled, flashing between places you've been before and those your mind has stitched together.
Cities on a coastline you think are on Tourta, another in flames with residents wearing hazmat suits. The party on Yineput. Time with the squadron. Walking down corridors of the Loreto.

The explosion aboard the station when it was attacked. Only this time you head into the damaged section without a mask, seemingly unaffected by the smoke. A sharp pain hits you in the back where you were stabbed back in January. Looking down you can see the point of a blade sticking out of your abdomen. Turning you see someone in recon armor... and then you're falling backwards.

Snapping awake you shoot upright catching your breath. Look to the wall clock you've only been asleep for a few hours.

[ ] Go back to sleep (Roll 1d6)
[ ] Put the headset on

>>24034015
we psychic, terran black ops incoming

>>24034015
Grab some warm cocoa, and see if somebody else is up at this hour. Preferably either Linda or Kavos, some talk should help.

Rolled 1

>>24034015
Go back to sleep.

Rolled 4

>>24034015
>[ ] Go back to sleep (Roll 1d6)

Rolled 6

>>24034030
that was us in the recon armour stabbing ourselves in the back

>>24034071
oh, sorry, disregard that roll, forgot to take the dice out, i made a 4 roll before >>24034064

>>24034071
>>24034085
but i guess it is some kind of a symbolic mistake. like rolling a 6 on 1d6 for stabbing yourself.

>>24034030
>>24034031
Tired, but not prepared to try sleeping again just yet, you head to the bridge to see if anyone is awake. At this hour and given that you've been away for awhile it seems most of the crew on hand are from the reserve shift.
Arron is at the helm running a simulation.

"How's it going?" You ask.
The sensors officer, initially started, almost crashes into a transport before he rolls out and hits pause.
"Officially scared the shit out of is how its going sir. How are you?"

"Couldn't sleep." You tell him. "How are you doing on your training?"

"Catching up. Thanks to you signing off on my training I was able to apply for some memory imprinting I hadn't reached when I went the academy the first time."

"You mean when you were kicked out the first time?"

"Yeah that, but this ship is amazing! I already knew that of course but its different being at the helm. I don't think I would have survived the training missions in a standard corvette if I'd been flying at the start of the campaign. Most of our ships didn't even have emergency thrusters a year ago, now they're almost standard issue."

>Anything you want to talk to Arron about or get more sleep?

>>24034212
"Well, we cant have our pilots dieing all over the place... "
"No more sane and well adjusted volunteers would show up then."
Sleep.

>>24034270
This and tell him to keep up the good work.
Sleep time.

You joke with him that if they didn't keep equipping the units with the best possible gear recruitment would go down.
"Keep it up, I might need you to fly the ship some day if I'm called away."

Heading back to your quarters you manage to get some more sleep in, though you could have used more. You'll take what you can get at this point as long as you're not being thrown awake.

Alex is just returning to base along with 5th squadron when you get up and start making preparations for a full wing battle.
"Alex, how are you doing? How is your squadron treating you?"

"I'm well, and so are most of my pilots even though they'd prefer to all have attack cruisers. It sounds like there are rumors going through the training squadrons that if you join 1st or 3rd its a fast track for getting yourself a larger ship. The reality turned out to be a bit less glamorous for them."

You laugh at that. "We haven't been in non-stop combat for a few weeks. Give them a few more days."

Alex reports that the new corvettes used by 2nd are fast and nimble. Hard to hit and their shields are as tough as those used on frigates. |
They do have weaknesses though. Their long range weapons are largely confined to torpedo launchers and missile racks. They also lack room for real launch bays and marine contingents. Any starfighters, assault shuttles or LSTs will have to be brought into battle via Escort Carriers.

>>24034454
As 2nd Wing has been running the full gamut of simulator packages you'll get the choose the field of battle in the full Wing sim.

[ ] Asteroid belt (sparse)
[ ] Asteroid belt (dense)
[ ] Debris belt
[ ] Open space
[ ] Forbearance Station battle
[ ] Nav Station Battle
[ ] Escort starship
[ ] Other

>>24034552
>[ ] Debris belt

It may play to the 2nd's strength, but it should prove interesting.

>>24034552
[X] Bebris belt

File: 1365011407382.gif-(41 KB, 1770x1382, 3rd Wing RP & ORG 16.gif)

41 KB GIF

One of Alex's flight leaders and a couple of veteran pilots in 1st squadron are not poleased to be facing the debris belt. Apparently Sylvan and 1st Squadron fought their way out of a trap from a debris belt in the Smugglers Run. As there was jamming in the area they were unable to call for help and at one point became separated. If Sylvan's ship hadn't been equipped with afterburners letting him rush to the aid of the separated flights its likely half the unit might have been wiped out.

Alex's wingman back in 2nd squadron had bad luck on one of the debris belt mission you went on, colliding with some and nearly getting killed by a sentry gun.

Telling them to suck it up and reminding them all that they've been through worse you confirm the debris belt mission.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGNPit03M-E

What tactics will you use to help ensure your Wing's success in the sim?

Battle squadrons: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
Strike Squadron: 6th, CMD Squad
Escort Carriers: 4 (Current weapon loadout 50/50 Anti-ship/anti-fighter)
ECM Support: Blackbird

How are the negotiations going?

>>24034865
do they have escort carriers? Because if not, we should reconfigure our fighters to antiship. If not, we use our battle squadrons to engage the main force and then use 6th squad to take out the carriers.

>>24034865
Lets spread out, but still keep a coms net somehow, say through lasers and ship line or so, the first that engage the enemy wing play mouse, and run away while the others envelop them, hoping to cut off their escorts and other support units, preferably their strike and command elements.
that or simply surrounding them and able to pick of targets and focus fire far easier than them.

With the debris we should be able to hide our intent for quite a while if we Form a C like formation and keep in cover


Do we have a ship count and type chart on the enemy at least?

>>24034865
Use ECM to mask the Strike squadron and keep them in reserve to blast in out of nowhere and hit any concentrated formations.

Assign one carrier each to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, Sonia attaches to 1st.

Spread by squadron but try to maintain some measure of coherency.

>>24035015
>How are the negotiations going?
Not easy. Better than you were worried they might go but still not as smoothy as you'd hoped.

>>24035079
>do they have escort carriers?
Yes they do, 4 for their entire Wing.

>use 6th squad to take out the carriers.
You talk to Mike about possibly taking care of this.

>Do we have a ship count and type chart on the enemy at least?
Seventy assault corvettes. They out number you slightly but your unit out masses them by a fair bit.
For types see >>24024939
It should give you a rough idea.

>>24035079
>>24035100
>>24035130
So, attempt to lure the enemy into an envelopment with your battle squadrons backed up by the Carriers.
ECM cover 6th squadron's movements and when they have a clear shot try to remove the enemy escort carriers. With carriers down try to target concentrations of enemy ships.

This a good mix of the plans? Y/N?

>>24035236
Y.

>>24035236
Y.

Rolled 7, 2, 19, 9 = 37

If there are no other objections Roll 6d20

Rolled 8, 15, 9, 15, 3, 20 = 70

>>24035354

Come at us, rookies!

Rolled 14, 7, 13, 16, 16, 3 = 69

>>24035354
lets fuck em up

Rolled 20, 9, 11, 9, 19, 1 = 69

>>24035354
They see me rollin'

>>24034212
a little late, what were we wearing?

I have been imagining our sleepwear as the gray tops and bottoms common in many a space setting.

>>24035392
>>24035423
>>24035431
>20,15,13,16,19,20
oh Arthur,
>Looking at the other reports it seems Arthur has been working his ass off to get his unit's performance numbers up to that of the rest of the Wing.

What could be holding this unit back? I believe we should take the time to look for potential causes, maybe look at records for highs and lows in performance or talk to Arthur and his fellow captains.

If everyone is doing their best and everything is in order, we can go from there.

Initial contact is sporadic on entering the debris field. The other pilots know how to exploit the terrain to their advantage and it isn't until starfighter patrols are sent out that you start to get a real clear picture of enemy locations.
Contact between your battle squadrons and theirs comes on the left flank. Both sides pull back in an attempt to draw the other in. This could be problematic if you're both trying the same thing. Initially this works to your advantage with the longer ranged guns of your ships 2nd Wing will be forced to disengage and hide in the debris or get in close quickly.

With the confused back and forth Mikes unit (now painted black) is able to get in closer under the cover of ECM and jamming.

With the casualties your longer ranged guns are dealing the 2nd Wing pilots finally lose their patience and commit. The speed of their attack catches you momentarily by surprise. Some of their forces have tried to flank out even farther to catch your right side. Alex's corvettes are small enough to use the debris for cover and are soon swept past. Alex is able to turn his squadron around quickly and pursue but by that time the assault ships are already blasting through 4th squadron's position.
The other half of 2nd Wing hits First, Second and Third squadron head on. First evades or shrugs off the worst of it, second has more trouble because of their larger number of Frigates. "Could use some help here!" Requests Arthur as both halves of the opposing wing converge on Third squadron. Any semblance of a cohesive formation on either side falls apart shortly after, devolving into a wide ranging brawl.

A half squadron of corvettes armed with heavy pulse cannons breaks through and destroys one of your Escort Carriers in the confusion. Two others take some damage but are able to retreat. Mike meanwhile is able to catch all 4 of the enemy Carriers with their pants down and blast through them. 6th is unable to rejoin the main battle immediately as they're engaged by a pair of attack cruisers, 1 Aries and 1 EX-K type.
With the carrier advantage now yours it only takes a short while to clear their remaining starfighters. Survivors rearm for anti-ship work and head back out into a maelstrom.

You head in as well, trying to stay to the outer edges before linking up with Mike on the other side and heading back in. It isn't like most of the other ship brawls you've been in, those where mostly open space or with debris from recently crippled or destroyed ships. The larger ship sections in this kind of battle become a concern to both sides. 2nd Wing not used to being pushed so hard in a battle this big cant take hits from impacts as well. Then again your ships can't dodge around debris as well even when you do spot it.

A squadron using heavy pulse cannons Mike was attempting to jump splits up at the last minute and all of you end up following a target. The House ID transponder shows it as one Jehtot Kharbos.

[ ] "Eat phase cannons rookie."
[ ] "Dodge THIS."
[ ] "Are you sure your unit's ready for the big leagues?"
[ ] Other

Roll 1d20

Rolled 10

>>24036257
>[ ] Other
"Not bad, it almost worked. Almost."
No reason to gloat. And we should probably not all follow him, have everybody except 3 ships break off, this might be a ruse.

Rolled 10

>>24036257
"knock knock"

Rolled 2

>>24036257
>>24036311
Seems like a pretty good idea to me.

>>24036311
>>24036257
>and all of you each end up following a separate target.
Fixed.

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?" Replies Kharbos dodging out of the way of your phase cannon fire. Flipping his corvette front for back he engages his drives in reverse thrust, firing back at you while continuing to evade.
You avoid most of his pulse cannon fire but not the torpedo. Likewise you only land a few or your own torps.
"Not a bad plan, it almost worked. Almost." You tell him.

Hitting the emergency thrusters you dive around the side of a super heavy cruiser fragment while the other pilot goes the other way. The course change buys enough time for your tail gunner to land a phase cannon hit.
Kharbos resumes full burn, headed for another collection of debris. In the half second it takes for you to bring your main guns to bear the corvette is almost into cover and you only land two hits. Blanketing the area with missile fire to cover your approach you hit the afterburners, flashing past the trap the Rookie was hoping to spring on you. Wipping the EX-K around you dump cannon and torpedo fire into the area, causing a string of explosions when most of it misses and strikes the remains of the larger ship.

A pair of pulse cannon shots damage your shields slightly before you lose the little bastard again. It seems your shields are too heavy for the corvette to batter down in a short period of time while he is too nimble for you to to pin down. It's effectively a stalemate.

Both of you continue your running battle for another two minutes before the match is called. 2nd Wing has been defeated and it would only a matter of time before starfighters could reach the handfull of remaining corvettes.

Leaving the simulators you congratulate 2nd Wing's pilots for seeming to have actually put some effort into their training. Provided they're allowed to do a few minor deployments here and there before a major battle they should do alright. You hate to guess how much damage they could do if loaded down with SP torpedoes.
Kharbos also seems to have moved up from just being "The Rookie" in 2nd squadron when he was first transferred in. He did fight against the Coup attempt you remind yourself.

At the end of the day Arthur's unit once again has the distinction of taking the worst losses in the unit. Still, they had most of the enemy fleet bearing down on them at one point.

>What do you plan to say to him?

File: 1365021741578.jpg-(69 KB, 468x308, 6a00d8341c630a53ef0111685(...).jpg)

69 KB JPG

At 1500 hours you're sent a message stating that all of the Marines that volunteered for the mission have finished their physical exam and are now on their way to the LST. Some of the few clones in the House Marine corps already arrived in the morning and are aboard.

Captain Saputo is grateful that he won't be the one leading the boarding team to secure the weapon(s) and is making sure that his squadrons are prepared.

All ships have been stocked up with spare missiles for the external racks which can be reloaded by the shuttles. Room is also being made for additional torpedo stores, though none are brought aboard. Other than in those areas things are becoming a bit cramped aboard ship. Materials for repairs to the hull, armor, reactors, power systems. Pretty much anything really. By the looks of things you may be operating beyond the range of any supply bases for some time.

Is there anything else you want to do before departing on the mission?

>Gone for dinner

>>24037170
>>What do you plan to say to him?

It might just be a case of the rest of the wing performing so far above the norm, but we should ask if there are any problems, or if he needs anything. No clue how to say that diplomatically, though.

>>24037495
Send a message home saying that things are still pretty swell on our front and ask how they are gettin on

>>24037495
>Is there anything else you want to do before departing on the mission?
Can we have our armour's medical systems upgraded to the same level as Saputo's?

>>24037170
something like

"Knight Moton, I'd like to talk to you and Kuritz about improving 3rd squads performance when we get the chance; I know you've been working on it, but I'd like to hear some opinions as to the causes, so bring along any opinionated crew whose perspective you think could contribute.

oh, Arthur? One more thing - think about the type of ships and squad you want to lead and tactics you favor, I'm thinking about doing some renovations."

>>24037495
we're going? That mean we took an injector?

>>24037558
>we should ask if there are any problems, or if he needs anything.
Arthur jokes that he needs to be assigned to a slightly less bad ass unit so as to make his people look better.

"In all seriousness sir I don't know how we could have survived that any better than we did. That was a lot of assault corvettes, I'm astonished we did so well really."

>>24037742
standby

>>24037951
>Can we have our armour's medical systems upgraded to the same level as Saputo's?
Yes. You make sure to have this taken care of.

>>24037992
>we're going? That mean we took an injector?
The 1st and 3rd Attack Wings will be departing for the main mission. The one your Marines will be going on is a side mission.

>>24037992
>we're going? That mean we took an injector?
I'm not sure. I think it's just clear that Saputo won't be going.

>>24038044
>Yes. You make sure to have this taken care of.

We should probably have everybody's armour upgraded, now that I think of it.

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>>24038073
>We should probably have everybody's armour upgraded, now that I think of it.
There currently isn't a means of upgrading the much more limited medical systems used in Power Cell Armor. Still you make sure that Ki and Ecord's systems are upgraded as well.

>think about the type of ships and squad you want to lead and tactics you favor, I'm thinking about doing some renovations.
Arthur promises to give it some thought and ask around the squadron for ideas.

At 2000 hours you receive your new orders along with nav data directing you to a rally point in deep space more than a day's travel from here. Its at the southern edge of the DRH 3 relay, closer to the middle of what's considered the South Reach Cluster.

"I need a clause in my contract that says no more secret missions." Says Linda as the Wing closes in on the rendezvous coordinates.

"It's not a "secret" secret mission it's just a really classified one." You assure her.

"And the difference is?"

"It's an actual official deployment with multiple Houses involved?" You respond.

"If that's the case I can actually see this one being declassified some day." Add Kavos.

"We're entering a long range jamming field." Reports Arron. The coms officer soon confirms that all long range communications will soon be cut off as well.

The Wing drops out of FTL at the planned coordinates and soon you're able to spot a group of large starships surrounded by a fleet of attack cruisers, corvettes and frigates. There's a Rovinar Heavy Cruiser, one of the Terran modified super heavy cruisers, a Republic Heavy Carrier and a cylindrical starship Arron is able to identify at the Ascendancy.

"That's the flagship of the Ruling House's second fleet." Comments Kavos.

All of them are dwarfed by the largest ship present, a Kavarian built monstrosity that out masses the only other super heavy present by more than ten times.
You turn in your seat to look at Kavos.

"I don't suppose you've heard of that one?"

The older Dro'all nods. "The largest warship in the known universe, t-"

"What about all those converted asteroid bases?" interrupts Arron.
"Those do not count. Most of their mass is solid rock."

Checking the IFF data it displays as a string of vertical lines and dots. Ancient Kavarian script.
The computer translates it to mean [People's Dream], except in this case the people referred to would be Kavarians.

>>24037170
>>At the end of the day Arthur's unit once again has the distinction of taking the worst losses in the unit. Still, they had most of the enemy fleet bearing down on them at one point.

Can we go back and review a recording of the fight? I'm curious if Arthur proved to be an anvil for the rest of our wings hammer when 2nd Wing went after him. If so, he should be commended. Also, we should review specifically how he commanded during that part of the fight.

>>24039332
The crew requirements and fielding costs on that thing must be huge, I hope they we aren't expecting to -need- it, that's scary.

>>24039515
I just hope we aren't the poor smuck assigned to tank Vecron shots for it.

>>24039606
Get your ship big enough and it can carry hunks of ore the size of frigates to use as kinetic interceptors. Which would be cool as hell.

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>>24039515
>>24039606
"The crew requirements and fielding costs on that thing must be huge, I hope they we aren't expecting to -need- it, that's scary."

"I'm also surprised they reactivated it." Agrees Kavos. "It was built to be crewed by Kavarian clones in the last days of the wars."

Within minutes you and 1st Wing have both been contacted by your House intelligence contact for the operation. Once both wings have taken formation you and Captain Saputo will take shuttles over to Dream for the general briefing.

It seems Admirals from the Ruling House and the Seven along with any other House taking part are already aboard, along with their counterparts from the other Factions. In theory it shoud be easier for the fleets to cooperate if their commanders dont have to contact a dozen other starships.

"I just hope we aren't the poor smuck assigned to tank Veckron shots for it. How do we know the ship won't be torpedoed?"

"We dont, but its one of the few ships to have survived a Veckron torpedo hit largely intact. Some of the best armour ever designed is on that beast."

You note formations of shiney new Kavarian battleships and older battlecruisers hold formation not too far from what you suspect to be the command section.

>>24039923

>largely intact

And these are the guys that lost the war?

Though on the other hand I'd much rather have the same tonnage in corvettes.

Rolled 6, 14, 9, 9, 9, 11 = 58

>>24039923
Well, considering this the sheer amount of weapons spewed by everyone and the ensuing chaos should allow us perhaps the opportunity under a cloak of confusion to secret away a few Veckron torps

Rolled 16, 12, 19, 10, 15, 7 = 79

>>24040033
Eh. Cruisers or Battleships preferably. The latter in one gun config to take on such and similar monstrosities as a backup to the obvious solution.


On the other hand i would very much like our house to become a economic engine that turns the Dominion into a wealth magnate that would be the only faction able to afford such units and equivalent tonnage in large scale and extended duration service.

>>24040033
Dream and its sister ship Revenge were rushed to completion in time for the final defense of the Kavarian capital. Revenge was destroyed after being torpedoed ten times. Dream survived two hits before going on to obliterate a super heavy the Republic had captured earlier in the war, along with its escorting taskforce. She was eventually crippled by extensive starfighter attacks and surrendered to the allied forces. They had little choice as the alternative was to risk capture by the Dominion as several House fleets arrived to exploit the hundreds of crippled starships in the system.

You arrive in at one of the landing bays built into the midship sections of Dream, not far from where the Captain is dropped off as well. Both of you are escorted deeper into the ship until reaching a section with moving walkways at which point you're directed to follow interactive direction indicators which seem to be keyed specifically to each of you.

The ship has been upgraded with promenade sections like those added to other super heavies over the years but are buried much deeper inside for added protection. The briefing is to be held in a converted cargo bay on the opposite end of this promenade from the landing bays.

"Long way in." You comment while passing the usual assortment of shops and distractions. There are officers from every Faction aboard, though many of them seem to be support staff for the Admiralty. A few Terran Captains are headed in the same direction as you.

"They chose the location on purpose." Saputo at last responds, watching the other passers by checking the positions of security personnel. "Probably scanning us on the way in to make sure we're not carrying bombs. I suspect they wouldn't tolerate our sidearms but after that fiasco in Lat'tham space I doubt they could convince anyone to get off their ships otherwise."

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Closer to the cargo bay you see an odd sight. From a distance it appears to be an old man with a long beard dressed in robes, leaning on a staff for support.

"What is this guy supposed to be a wizard?" you joke. "I didn't realise there would be a costume party on board."
Your superior briefly glaces but otherwise doesn't pay attention for the moment. Getting closer you realise that the old man, while looking thin to the point of being skeletal, is incredibly tall. More than twelve feet, he's easily twice the height of most humanoids nearby. Despite the size he seems rather frail, carefully taking his time to reach his destination.

[ ] Approach
[ ] Leave him alone
[ ] Other

>>24040562
approach

>>24040562
>[ ] Approach
Ask if we can help him in any way, I'm sure Sonia learnt to always be polite to the elderly.

And this guy seems to be ancient, so he must deserve huge respect.

>>24040609
Second.

>>24040609
Third.

Stepping off the walkway you go over to see the older fellow. Even if he dwarfs you by quite a bit he doesn't seem at all threatening.
You ask if you could help him in any way, trying to be respectful.

"Oh, I'm quite alright young lady, thank you for your concern. These old bones don't quite move around as quickly with the gravity turned up."

He looks to see if any others are close enough to hear before leaning closer and whispering "I'd wear a repulsor belt to help things along but I'm afraid they're not at all flattering. I've tried everything but they always cause my robes to flip upwards as if caught by a gust of wind. Very embarrassing you understand."

You try not to chuckle at that but fail. The old man doesn't seem to mind.

"Don't worry, I have more than enough time to reach the briefing. I doubt they'll start without me. Have a good day."

>Anything you want to say before moving on?

>>24041011
nope

>>24041011
"Of course. Although, if you're headed for the same briefing as I am, would you mind if I accompanied you on the way there?"

>>24041107
This,but will a polite introduction added.

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>>24041107
>>24041173
"Of course. Although, if you're headed for the same briefing as I am, would you mind if I accompanied you on the way there? Uh, Knight Captain Sonia Reynard, at your service."

"Well... I suppose it couldn't hurt." The wizard admits, though seeming a bit reluctant. "You may call me Svidur, young Knight."

As predicted it takes a bit longer to reach the end of the promenade but once there holographic displays light up at your approach pointing you in the right direction. Just a little bit further to reach the entrance. The ceiling is a bit lower here but it doesnt seem to be as much of a problem for the old man as you might have expected. His staff is just short enough to make it through. Wait, wasn't it almost as tall as he was?

"You should get to your seat, it might take you a bit longer." the old man implores you. "They've reserved a place for me if I'm not mistaken."

Finding your seat does take time as the entire room is packed save for a few reserved open spaces towards the front or off to the sides. Still, there's room for datapad chargers and water dispensers near each seat. The tall old man makes it in and over to his reserved area just as the lighting dims. A Terran intelligence officer walks to the front of the room.

"Welcome everyone. As those of you present may already be aware the combined expeditionary fleets of the allied Factions are preparing for an all out offensive across the entire South Reach cluster."
Displays and projectors light up with maps and charts giving a rough idea of the planned fleet movements.
"Operation Typhoon will bring about the destruction of the Warlord starfleets and the infrastructure necessary to maintain them. Those of you in the Attack groups present for this briefing will lead elements of the opening wave."

Time codes pop up next to each arrival zone. Those indicating the attack groups are listed as arriving two days ahead of the main force.

Twelve feet tall? Not likely human, I suspected Neeran, but it seems I am mistaken, Strange but I wouldn't mention it.

>>24041107
>>24041173
third, this stranger interest me with his insistence on wearing robes over pants and unflattering repulsor belts.

>>24041639
>two days ahead of the main force

We are all going to die.

Don't be the first one to point that out though.

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"The objective of this first strike wave will be to locate, subdue and board enemy starships, preferably cargo ships and transports. Before departure you will be provided with boarding teams who will take control of these transports, piloting them deep into enemy territory to capture high value targets. With any luck those teams will capture or destroy the cloning technology the warlords have stolen from the Dominion. This is of the utmost importance. If the warlords can duplicate the cloning technology they'll remain a serious threat to all the Factions until they're eradicated. Mop up operations after this campaign could still take years even without this problem.

Once you have completed your assignment and successfully deployed the boarding teams your next task will be to rendezvous with friendly units at one of several rally points. From there you will continue on with the next phase of your mission. Attack squadrons will cripple, or destroy infrastructure in the farthest areas of the South Reach region. Follow up waves will establish bases to support the second wave of attacks.

Capture of pirate bases and facilities is a secondary objective. If they cant be secured in a short period of time you are to destroy them and deny their use to the enemy. We have enough modular bases stockpiled that this shouldn't be an issue."

The displays change to show equipment packages, and boarding craft.

"Each ship will be equipped with high powered ECM and Jamming pods which will hinder both friendly and enemy communications. This will prevent the enemy from getting off any distress signals.
We will be providing Scarab and Delta class light attack ships outfitted with boarding equipment similar to LST's. As a result their combat capability will be greatly reduced. Each have starfighter torpedo racks grafted to their exterior loaded with SP's to provide strike capability should something go wrong and it becomes necessary to wipe out any witnesses."

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"It is imperative you do not allow enemy ships to escape if they find out you've boarded particular ships. If the pirates dont destroy the infiltrated ships outright they'll be searched much more thoroughly at their destination."

The next set of images show marines and other boarding teams all wearing... a particular set of markings on their suits.

"Command crews for the captured ship will consist of former smugglers that have been cleared through security. The boarding teams themselves will consist of Clones. Specifically House Lat'tham troops that surrendered after the coup attempt failed."

At this there's an immediate outcry from officers, ship captains and Knights in the audience. The Terran intel officer attempts to continue on dispite the disruption.

"The Warlords are holding the vast majority of the surviving House Lat'tham nobility hostage! They were to be returned in the event that the coup succeeded but apparently there was a limited timetable because many of the clones would be near death before the end of the year! This is due to a rapid aging problem which indicates the Warlords may not have the bugs worked out of the systems yet!"

[ ] "No Lat'tham clones on my ships!"
[ ] "What's the worst that could happen?" (sarcasm)
[ ] "I have a good feeling about this plan."
[ ] Other

>>24042340
"What's the worst that could happen?"

>>24042340
>[ ] Other
Eh, it's not like we have much of a choice. And there could be worse things that we might have to use, Krath mind-rape, for example.

>>24042385
Agreed. It could be worse.

>>24042385
>>24042445
It could indeed always be worse.

>>24042340
I have a bad feeling about it - no doubt the pirates expect something since they still have nobles hostage, but we are a little voice, so
[x] Other
silence, maybe a frowned face of discontent.

>>24042340
[x] Other

'Why'

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>>24042340

[x] "And what prevents them from attempting another coup and this whole thing being a trap?"

>mfw this plan

>>24042340
[✓] Accuse the officer of being a clone.

>>24042385
>>24042445
>>24042467

The Lat'tham angle seems like it is straight out of a holoflick script! Will they be sending [Space Harrison Ford] with one of our groups?

You consider joining the others already on their feet and suggesting that the terran officer is a clone but decide against it... for now.
Next to you your CO is taking things more calmly, typing out a formal written protest rather than making a scene.
"If we get these in quickly enough they may have a few alternate teams available."

"Why?" You ask. "I mean why would anyone want to use the Lat'tham Clones at all?"
Saputo stops his typing and looks at you, momentarily taking on a thousand yard stare. "An attack on a cloning facility is normally considered a suicide mission. Even if they do everything right, unless they're prepared to nuke the site from orbit they'll still need to fight most of an army's worth of clones."

You look over at Svidur to see what reaction he's had to this mess and see him start to speak, but he doesn't raise his voice loud enough to be heard at first. Still, those present who were making too much noise or shouting at the briefing officer suddenly stop and look towards him as sure as if he'd yelled in their faces.

"Thank you." He says, and this time you can hear him clearly. "Now this young man here is attempting to find a solution that will benefit all of you and do so in a short period of time. You can act now taking a risk on a plan that MIGHT save lives should it work, or you can wait for your own soldiers to be ready which will take time. The decision is yours but there's no need to shout about it."
He grumbles about men of station once know how to be polite but you're unable to make out the rest.

[ ] Try to get other troops assigned (Roll 1d10)
[ ] Volunteer your marines reserves (NOT the ones going on the special mission)
[ ] Take the clones
[ ] Ask for security measures for the clones
[ ] Other

Rolled 7

>>24043084

[x] Try to get other troops assigned (Roll 1d10)

Rolling for Somebody Else's Problem

>>24043084
[X] Take the clones.
If we have to do something crazy we might as well use the clones.

>>24043084
>[ ] Take the clones
Better than having them worked to death, or whatever the Dominion would do with them otherwise.

>>24043084
>An attack on a cloning facility is normally considered a suicide mission

Could be an opportunity to prove the superiority of our Heavy Marines, if we do take it, but I would rather not.

The combination of a wizardly man and war clones makes me shiver, but
>[X] Take the clones
as I can not think of a quick, effective, cheap security measure against the clones themselves.

>>24043270
>>24043205
>>24043163

explosive collars around their necks?

>>24043309
I think that's going a little too far and it would take too much time to make anyway.
If you wanted to make sure nothing happens you would need some of those slave chips, but I don't recommend that.

>>24043309
not quick, only kinda cheap, mildly effective.

could be detrimental in more ways than one.

s/X7HKLDB

>>24043270
>Could be an opportunity to prove the superiority of our Heavy Marines, if we do take it, but I would rather not.
Most of your heavy marines have been set aside for the Commander's Mission as have the available suit of power cell armor. You have a few remaining that are being repaired.

>>24043309
Doing some checking you find out that these are actually available. Once deployed though they would need to be removed to prevent them being detonated remotely by enemy base defenders.

>Also, can we crack a joke about wanting Space Harrison Ford on our ship? "They took my famil- Nobles!"

I'm not afraid to admit I'm missing some part of the Harrison Ford jokes both here and in the survey. I mean yeah Star Wars but they were in different Trilogies.

>>24043809

Any movie involving someone messing with a Harrison Ford character's family results in DEATH.

And don't even think about touching his baseball glove.

>>24043905
Far less complicated than I thought then.
>6/8 votes are for taking the clones.

You decide to take the clones, but they're staying on their own ship. You'll also be making sure that extra security measures are in place. As long as you launch the light attack ship with the clones on it first there should still be more than enough troops on your LST and the EX-K to counter board them.
You hope that's a worst case scenario though.

In addition to jamming pods you'll also be provided with a full load of SP torpedoes. You haven't been told what version they are yet so probably older ones.

Roll 2d4

Rolled 3, 2 = 5

>>24044292

Rolled 4, 4 = 8

>>24044292
Rolling thunder

A disproportionate number of SP torps that are being sent to your ships are the newer Mk 43. It must have been easier to just ship them straight from the factories to the front you guess. On the down side their destructive potential means that there will be little left to salvage.

A small riot breaks out when your marines find out some of your ships will be carrying boarding craft filled with Lat'tham clone troops. Casualties are kept to a minimum, but Ecord does have to take a shuttle over to one of the other ships to make certain that things are under control. Order is restored soon after.

You'll be glad when all of this is over and both sets of troops are away and taken care of. No more sneaking around for a bit you hope.

"Stop right there young woman!" rings the voice of Svidur from down the hall. He's looking straight at you and there are few others present to get in the way as he heads your way, a less than pleased look on his face.
It seems the area you were talking to the ships from has higher ceilings than most of the side corridors. You're only a short distance from the promenade area so it makes sense to continue the open concept.

The old man reaches you and while appearing just as old and frail as before there's something different about him now. He lowers his voice but it is not a true whisper this time.

"I know what you plan to do, your extra boarding vehicle, your Marines you think you've given immortality to, all of it. Would you truly jeopardize this operation to steal trinkets? Well, admittedly quite powerful ones, but trinkets none the less!"

>What say?

>>24044711
>What say?
"Are you a wizard?"

On a more serious note:
"To resolve this conflict with as little casualties is my primary objective. If we can pick up some trinkets on the wayside, then so be it. But I would neither sacrifice this operation, nor my marines' lives for them."

>At least that's what I got from it. I might be misinterpreting what the other players wanted to do, of course.

>>24044711

"It seems we need to speak a bit more privately. Or I could just start talking really loud."

>>24044711
"Perhaps we should move this major security breach to a more private area. Unless that staff of yours contains a noise canceler."

>>24044711
Walk with me.
...
Who are you, Svidur, and why do you talk to me of trinkets?

I disagree with those who choose to reveal we are in fact planning something as he could be simply going around saying "I know what you are up to!"

Who would call what we are after 'Trinkets'?

>>24044711
I'm getting the feeling this man really is a space wizard.
We might want to talk about this in private.
>>24044836
Basically this,but instead of the "If we pick up some trinkets" maybe using how we know they have the V weapons and how we aim to neutralize the threat before they can be used against our fleets.

>>24044956
He knows about the extra ship, the "immortal" Marines, and our plan to repossess quite powerful trinkets. To a space wizard, mundane weapons of war are trinkets. Even Veckron torpedoes, apparently. If he really doesn't know all the specifics, he knows enough to make it highly unlikely that he is only guessing. There has been a leak.

>>24044836
>>24044854
>>24044861
"Are you a wizard?" you blurt out.

The old man sighs. "That depends on your definition of the term." He replies momentarily distracted before returning tot he point "Now, see here young Knight I will know your intentions."

"It seems we need to speak a bit more privately. Or I could just start talking really loud?"

"Doing so would have consequences far more grave for you than me I suspect."

"Perhaps we should move this major security breach to a more private area. Unless that staff of yours contains a noise canceler."

He looks around, considering for a moment then heads for another doorway. "Come with me if you know what's good for you."

Deciding you dont have much of a choice at the moment you follow into another room.

"Who would call what we're after 'Trinkets'?" you ask.
"A nuclear warhead is a dangerous and powerful tool, even today, but in the grand scheme of things how powerful is it really? You could hardly destroy a small warship with a single such device and yet one or two of them could end a war for a pre-spaceflight civilization."

>I disagree with those who choose to reveal we are in fact planning something
Voice of dissent detected.
Reveal full extent or not?

>>24045035
>Leak

The Vieona has returned to the Terrans.

They know we have procured injectors filled with anti vtorp radiation.

Why would we want that? I am sure Terrans can guess at it fairly well.

We know that there are High ranking Terrans in bed with the warlords(as those pirates we encountered on the Vieona had knowledge of the Vieonas layout and salvage plans)

We also know that the warlords have rogue Neeran among them(Not saying he is, but he is quite tall).

>>24045179

Admit nothing, respond vaguely.

>>24045179
Don't reveal anything outright.

"Likewise, even the most powerful trinkets are only very useful under certain circumstances. I once encountered a madman who intended to use nuclear weapons against his own citizens. We are all in the business of stopping madmen, aren't we? But madmen of different kinds."

>>24045179
> "Who would call what we're after 'Trinkets'?" you ask.
After saying this we might as well tell him why we are after the "trinkets"

... this guy has taken the injections or a prototype version of them, hasn't he?

>>24045179
that trinkets remark was more for other anons, will be more careful next time.

don't reveal full extent

>>24045179
We could always ask what exactly he knows about our little operation. In the end he might know everything already so it wouldn't matter.

This way we can gauge how much he actually knows.

>>24045331
Second one, I mean. After the dissent.

>in the grand scheme of things
I Wonder what he finds important.

You wrack your brain for a plausible story and decide to try and leave out as much as possible. Given your last windfall its hardly a secret you're always out to salvage something. Anything. You idly wonder if that boarding team had an insider with the Terran Alliance to give them the plans for Vieona.

"Assuming I know precisely what you're talking about, which I'm neither confirming nor denying right now, uh... what is it you think I'm up to?"

"You've never played poker have you? Your superior is far more difficult to read. Disciplinned and regimented through years of service no doubt, and only just recently siezing the freedom offered by elevated rank.
I didn't need to ask the Terrans about the Vieona, though I had heard it was found. A good piece of luck that dont you think? Or it would be luck if you hadnt had something to do with it. No, I havent intercepted any reports with your name on them. I didnt even know your name until you introduced yourself earlier today."

"You haven't answered my question." you point out.

"No I haven't." He smirks and you have a staring match for a few seconds until he lets out a weary sigh.
"I think you are up to something more dangerous than you could possibly imagine. But! there is still time to turn away from this madness. Cancel your mission."

"I wont admit or deny any-"
He raises a hand stopping you from finishing.
"If you wont be swayed I'll have few options remaining. Permit me to go along with your..." He trails off again as though remembering. "Your Knight Jing Ki. Allow me to accompany them or I shall have to find a way to stop you."

>What do?

Current equipment: Plasma pistol, concealed pulse pistol, boot knife, ring finger weapon, communicator, data pad.

>Will resume tomorrow morning for a bit then pick up again in the afternoon.

>>24045985
>it would be luck if you hadnt had something to do with it

Distinctly unsettling.

I guess we could shake his hand with our poison ring hand without actually attempting or intending to stab him and see if he goes for it. Or we could shake his hand and stab him with our poison ring. Or I guess just have Ki take him along and hope for a fortuitous accident.

Fucking hell why did we start having delusions of grandeur about pulling off some kind of Veckron heist.

>>24045985
Any plan to stop him I get the feeling will end very badly and as such I say we let him come along.
But before that we have to ask "Just who are you? You gave me your name, but I can't say I know much about you so before, I want to know who is going to accompany my men" or something like that.

>>24045985
thrice damned 'psychic mind readers'.

I would've liked to ask our CO if she met with this 'old man', then I realized read =/= met with

"Won't anyone miss you, Svidur?"

"Alright, come along, but I'd like for you to elaborate on what you are and the Danger, If I really don't know - what is it you are so worried about?"

It could be any number,or combination, of things.

>>24045985
"Those trinkets are my safeguard. You should know enough of the dominion that this whole fight with the warlords means nothing to me if my House is not guaranteed to survive it well- so you can bet your life I would risk it all for it.

Provided I don't suddenly feel the irresistible urge to melt your face off, you can accompany me to my ship. If you negatively interfere with my goals, you will fare like my other obstacles.

Considering I am such a bad poker player you should get the broad idea of what happens to them."

>>24046593
If we let him come along we might as well scrub the entire mission, as there is no way he'd let us get these vtorps, considering how he confronted us so strongly about them.

>>24047405
>>24047382
>>24047041


We ca have him along. Scan him for surprises like long range coms or something, fit him with a shiny extra large boom collar and if he proves really bothersome go order 66 on him

>>24047405
Even if we not being able to acquire the vtorps we can still make sure the pirates can't use them, which in my opinion is the important part.

>>24047528
I disagree; acquiring them is of the utmost importance. It is a crucial weapon that our House will need to defend these new territories after the truce ends.

If people believe that we could eliminate him later without people asking questions, maybe we should go down that path. Personally I think we should just plead ignorance and cut him out of the loop completely. There are only bad options here, that is the least worst one.

>>24047645
We should still try to acquire them then, but also let him come with us. Better to have him join the group than him actively try to shut down our operation completely.

The very fact that everyone back in the briefing room stopped talking when he starts gives us a hint I think in how much influence he has.

>>24047382
unnecessarily dark, I think.
>>24047405
>as there is no way he'd let us get these vtorps

That may not be true, I believe he confronted us about our mission, and that the mission itself and its repercussions are his primary concern, not the vtorps, though I may be wrong, which is why I wish to ask what he is afraid of, as it could be a number of things
>>24047645
While I do not believe we, a minor house, would be allowed to keep the modern day mega weapons in order to defend fringe worlds in formerly hostile, historically high flux, majorly vorped territory by any higher ups - be they Dominion or House - I would be against it.

>>24047888
I agree with you completely, this guy is someone important. Thus, if we kill him on our little trip so we can grab vtorps, there will be a lot of questions about his 'sudden disappearance.'

I'd rather let him try and work against us back here without any concrete proof of what we're doing, and during the middle of a combat op; than bring someone on-board who we can't easily dispose of and who will likely prevent our team from accomplishing its primary objective.

Oh, I also think we need to bring the Knight-Commander up to speed on this. How has this news leaked out so quickly?! I mean, he knows that Jing Ki is coming along for god's sake!

>>24048050
Another annon. Just having them to study and give us insights into Vecktron weapons. From how to produce them, the injection that extends life, and our FTL jammer idea, and even most likely make a bridge to SP weapons. (most likely kept secret for our eyes and the KC only, like the stealth/cloak scans and the SP scans)

Even if we don't use them they sure as hell will be useful. And we can always hand over a few to the ruling house to get a few favors, .

>>24048218
I was simply against keeping them for defense of the newly acquired territories. I thought our intention was to keep them out of pirate hands firstly, then to study them (as the injectors let us bypass one of the larger hurdles to research), looking for ways to expand the Dominions Veckron Tech in while keeping any VTorps we pick up safetly within Jerik-Dremine Territory.

I agree with >>24047528
as our House is still likely to play some role in V-Tech research due to the acquisition of the AntiV-Rad injectors, whether we acquire them or not, though it would be nice if we did.

>>24048471
>safetly within Jerik-Dremine Territory.
by which I meant well defended worlds equipped for research, not in range of too heavily populated worlds, that have been steadfastly Jerik-Dremine Territory with little non-Dominion traffic, things which our new territories aren't.

Wait, wait are we planning to steal weapons for OURSELVES? I thought we wanted to take them out of the pirates hands and give back to Terrans or something.

Also, like someone mentioned, space wizard seems to be concerned with repercussions of what we are going to do during the mission or our spec op somehow compromising the big operation, rather with us getting the weapons.

He's comparison of nuclear weapons different meaning for pre-spaceflight civilization and our civilization(end war/only kill one ship) could be hint for different meaning of Vecron weapons for our civilization(end war) and for ancient alien's civilization(kill one ship).

Ask him to tell us who he really is and what is he afraid of in this situation. Also, the decision of taking random space wizards on our super secret mission is not ours to take anyway, it's a Winifred's plan . Tell him that we need consult our superiors anyway and the more details he give, the more chances we will do what he asks.

>>24049546
And it's a good thing we decided not to hang dead Neeran's head on our bridge, the guy would probably be mad at us.

>>24049546
>Wait, wait are we planning to steal weapons for OURSELVES? I thought we wanted to take them out of the pirates hands and give back to Terrans or something.

Same here.

Bump.

>>24049546
>>24049624

Yeah for real. If anyone in any faction, including ours, learns that a Minor House might have vtorps, they'll crushfuck the shit out of that minor house without negotiating.

If we find them, we give them back and take the medal, like our original plan.

Okay seeing a lot of discussion, that's always a good thing.
2 things to decide:

1) Are you taking the old man with you or will you try to get off the ship without him. There's also that poison ring trick.
>>24046176

2) The torpedoes. The Commander wanted them, but you don't know precisely whether it was to keep as a deterrent or to trade to the other Factions/Ruling House. That is out of your control once they've been recovered, but you can still influence Jing Ki to do what you want done with them.

>>24048061
>Oh, I also think we need to bring the Knight-Commander up to speed on this.
It's too bad the entire taskforce is surrounded by com jamming to prevent any spies from getting a signal off.

>>24047041
>"I'd like for you to elaborate on what you are and the Danger, If I really don't know - what is it you are so worried about?"
"There are certain eventualities -dangers- that may yet come about. Altering a fulcrum would certainly cause a lever to fall but in which direction?"

"You're being very cryptic you know that? Still, what are you?"

"You've encountered a distant cousin of mine before, not so long ago."


>>24048050
>I believe he confronted us about our mission, and that the mission itself and its repercussions are his primary concern, not the vtorps,
You can ask if this is the case but it will be seen as confirmation of your plans.

>>24051766

1- Take him, inform who we must. I am for thinking "poison ring" at him if we do try the ring trick, though I am neither for or against the trick itself.

"Won't anyone miss you, Svidur, or do you often go disappearing for extended periods of time?"

2- Ah - I trust our CO to work in the interest of House and Dominion.

>"You've encountered a distant cousin of mine before, not so long ago."

Krath, Rogue Neeran, Norune, Hune, Terran, Clone, AI, Black egg thing, other less involved aliens, we've encountered a few being types, and he could be talking about his 'occupation' for all his possibly misleading wording; I've no solid idea on what he's talking about.

>You can ask if this is the case but it will be seen as confirmation of your plans.

It maybe he will be vague only so long as we are, or he may continue his crypticness beyond ours. Either way, he kinda knows, so we can kinda confirm it, yeah? like

"So you don't mind so much if we try to keep these 'trinkets', out of enemy hands, as long as you accompany our "team of marines" in order to mitigate ...something, some danger you don't seem to want to tell me about, and make sure this plan you speak of doesn't jeopardize the operation as a whole?" is what I'm thinking

>>24051766
Guy could be anything. Let's ask for clarification.

3 hora bump

>>24052442
>I'm guessing Neeran due to the whole psychic nonsense thing he has going on.
On that note can we leverage our PTSD to make mind readers NOPE the fuck out of our skull? Next best thing after some sort of mind shield would be making them really not want to be there.

>>24051766
I still think we should take him and i'm on the bench about using the ring trick. Though I did have a thought about using the ring, but it might sound a bit crazy. Something along the lines of taking off the ring,showing the hidden blade part to him, and then going for a handshake.
Think of it as a trust building exercise.

We should keep it simple for Jing Ki. Secure the warheads if possible, but if it becomes too difficult make sure that they will never be used against us.

>>24055994
I would say securing the warheads is more important. Unless they fire on a Dominion super-heavy, the other factions can eat it, as long as they are not Rovinar , due to the favor and perhaps Terran... due to our new 'cooperation'

>>24055892
Labyrinth. We would need to be joker bonkers mad. Or a high functioning moron that does not think only acts.

>>24051766
tell him to speak clearly, or there is deal. we don't take strangers on our spec ops, just because they are threatening to oppose us otherwise. we need to understand the situation.

>>24056219
*or there is no deal

>>24056123
Perhaps it would be possible to transcribe certain memories and then erase them. Mind-readers and torturers cannot gain access to memories that you had wiped before the mission.

Of course, this approach could create more problems than it solves.

Also, did we tell Winifried about Vieona? We tell her about injections, did she automatically understands that they are from Vieona and Terrans got it back?

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>>24051766
Hey, dudes, can i go on a secret mission too, am i mysterious enough?

"Krath, Rogue Neeran, Norune, Hune, Terran, Clone, AI, a Black egg thing, other less involved aliens, I've encountered a few being types over the past few months. Speak clearly, or there is no deal. I don't take strangers on our spec ops, just because they are threatening to oppose us otherwise. We- I need to understand the situation."

"Confound it child. Since I can see you wont budge easily, I am in fact Neeran. And my people make a point of not interfering if at all possible in the affairs of the Factions. There are times we're prepared exceptions though.

"Why a wizard?" you ask.

"Why not? An old wizened human with a long beard is easily identified as someone with experience gained through age but is not outwardly threatening. Look at your own reaction when we first met. Would you have considered me dangerous then? Can you say the same now?"

>>24052442
>"Won't anyone miss you, Svidur, or do you often go disappearing for extended periods of time?"

"Someone usually knows how to find me if I'm needed. Few would even notice I were gone from this ship. One of my brethren would take my place here as a potential advisor or negotiator within days."

>>24056450
I loled. I always forget about them!

>"So you don't mind so much if we try to keep these 'trinkets', out of enemy hands, as long as you accompany our "team of marines" in order to mitigate ...something, some danger you don't seem to want to tell me about, and make sure this plan you speak of doesn't jeopardize the operation as a whole?"
Say this?

>>24056978
The danger and details on how this mission can possibly bing disaster to the Factions are part of the "speak clearly" too.

>>24056978

"Well, at least I know you die like everyone else."

>>24056978
huh, so he was a Neeran - I didn't take them for the advanced/ascendant recluse type.

On the Danger: So he's probably worried about the Rogue Pirate Neeran, who are likely one of the reasons behind the rise of the Warlords power; Since we don't know much about Neeran life spans, this guy could be one of the architects behind the Sleeper ship project, which could explain why he was regarded so highly in the meeting, and would mean he understands the situation far better than we do, at least where the Rogue Neeran are concerned, if true.

Doesn't mean he wouldn't get in the way of Dominion Interests though, so maybe an extra long pause between "keep these 'trinkets'," and "out of enemy hands,"

Anyway, I would be for saying it.

>>24057183
>The danger and details on how this mission can possibly bing disaster to the Factions are part of the "speak clearly" too.
"Your ancestors once stopped a war through the threat of mutually assured destruction. There are yet many ways this war can end. When it is over what happens to these star fleets? Will they turn against each other? Will it all have been for nothing?"

>>24057361
I'm tempted to ask if his cryptic race of asshats would be so kind to play punching bag for them.

>>24057297
Wait, so the Neeran was a Warlord of those pirates? I am sure we and Terrans interrogated captured pirates on who their leader was, we just never asked OP about it.
Becuse if Neeran was the leader then it is a whole different story.

>>24057361
Shit, he probably WANTS pirates to have Veckron weapons, so that there will be a status quo and counterbalance of mutually assured destruction in the galaxy.

>>24057361
Does he not want us to end the war?

I guess there could be some merit in that.

>>24057297
You have no way of confirming any of these suspicions. Mention them to Captain Saputo at the first available moment? It seems he's done some reading on conspiracy theories.
>Doesn't mean he wouldn't get in the way of Dominion Interests though
This cannot be discounted.

>>24057487
>Wait, so the Neeran was a Warlord of those pirates? I am sure we and Terrans interrogated captured pirates on who their leader was, we just never asked OP about it.
>Becuse if Neeran was the leader then it is a whole different story.
At the time you got off the ship most weren't talking just yet. From the little they had gotten it's readily apparent that the Neeran aboard the Vieona was in charge of that boarding operation. None of them knew where the intelligence on the Vieona came from except for some of the bridge crew and they all died when the ship was destroyed.
All intelligence reports point to an older Kavarian starship captain as being the current High Warlord. Then again, those same reports list him as having reached the maximum life expectancy of his species. The remainder are supposedly comprised of a few Humans, a Dro'all and a Rovinar with the rest being Kavarian.

>>24057415
The old man gets up and walks closer to you before leaning in.
"I don't bloody well know what's going to happen. Your people are the proverbial unstable cesium atom."
He pauses to think. "That reference might have been a bit too old for you to get. My point is your operation could add a dangerous and volatile element to an already tumultuous situation."

>>24057835
>The old man gets up and walks closer to you before leaning in.
Aaaah, he's in our head! As soon as he's gone we must plot the extermination of his species, until then think about bunnies.