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You cant say you've used an aerocar many times before. They're not like ground hovering repulsor vehicles, instead it's essentially an oversized cockpit with a small starfighter powerplant crammed into the back of it. They dont let just anyone rent these. Some companies treat them as atmospheric shuttles or taxies. In populated areas the autopilot is in control to deal with traffic problems.
As far north as you're heading there is so little air traffic that you just need to watch out for the clearly marked no-fly zones and occasionally make course adjustments or else the autopilot will kick back in.
It should be easy enough for you to wipe the flight recorder thanks to that extra data infiltration training you took. Disabling the IFF and GPS locator once closer to your destination will also make it more difficult for you to be followed. If the autopilot has to kick in though it'll try to communicate with with planetary traffic net which you dont want.

>"Go to the provided location if you're looking for work. There are two types of jobs; those that observe unfortunate accidents and those that don't.
>Observer payouts are always at a premium.
>This message will self destruct."

What are you taking with you to check out this job offer? Also is your bodyguard coming with you?


Clothing
[ ] Robe/ cloak
[ ] Civilian clothes
[ ] Duty uniform
[ ] Dress uniform
[ ] Borrow Marine Armor
[ ] Pick up your armor from one of the space ports

Weapons
Pulse pistol (Holdout) [Equipped]
Plasma Pistol [Equipped]
Boot knife [Equipped]

HF-Blade
Repulsor gauntlet

Shotgun (Shot, Slug, Flechettes)
Phase rifle (Has stun setting)
Pulse Pistol (Has stun setting)
Carbine*
Pistol*
* = silenced weapon option

>Grenades
Stun Pulse grenades

NOTE: Splinter ammo and other weapons not listed are unavailable due to your leave status. You can attempt to acquire gear through various means for the weapons locker in your Hunting Lodge.

>>28108467
TSTG, suptg didn't archive your last three posts in the last thread, I'll repost them here for people reading the quest there.


>That slow typing guy !!cAsGzl185mF Thu Oct 31 2013 02:05:29 No.28026740 Report
>Quoted By: >>28026771 >>28026796 >>28026823 >>28027023
>"No." you reply evenly despite being tempted to respond in a dozen other ways.

>"Fine." She hands you both your drinks. "You know just because you have a new baby brother doesnt mean I wouldnt mind some grandchildren some day."

>And here we go.
>"I don't plan on giving it much thought for at least another..." you glance at your watch "Two years and eleven months Mom. I'll deal with it then."
>Or not, you add to yourself.


>>28026572
>>There is plenty of other stuff that we could show her that isn't as classified. Like that time we almost lost the EX-K.

>You call your sister out and show her a flight recording or two from your fighting in the South Reach Cluster. Most of that's semi-declassified, or will be soon.

>>and the time we did lose the Guard.
>You're reluctant to show her that one but... fuck it. It'll be public knowledge soon enough right? I mean that many ships getting their asses kicked in short order isn't going to be covered up.

>[ ] Show it to her
>[ ] Get rid of the IFF data on the ships present
>[ ] Show something else


>>28026683
>Mostly the House/your Wing since most of that favour was owed for your ships chasing down and scanning enemy supers.

>>28108543
>That slow typing guy !!cAsGzl185mF Thu Oct >31 2013 02:27:48 No.28027022 Report
>Quoted By: >>28027051
>>28026771
>>28026796
>>28026823
1 vote for every option.

>Is the stuff on our boarding of Wayward Treasures still classified?
>Very.


>I hope our bodyguard is going to leave and see his family at some point, though.
"I'm still assigned for the next month, but if you order me to I'll return to base. Before that though I wanted to show you something. I know you're on leave, but I wanted to pass along this report from the front that just came in today."

>Multiple worlds close to the Nav relay in Shallan space and a handful more in the Pandora cluster have reported a new invasive species. Visually it appears like a meaner looking cross between a wolf and hyena from old Earth. Most of those encountered are of unremarkable sizes for that sort of predator but a handful that have been killed by police and security forces measure 1.6m at the shoulder.
Jaws and teeth as strong as high carbon steel, they've already begun attacking less well defended areas in packs. The oldest ones also show signs of an under skin armor layer forming that might ward off a couple of shots from ballistic or phase rifles. Their fur is made of tough fibers and seems to be able to act as a natural heat sink in addition to being added protection.

>>28108560

>That slow typing guy !!cAsGzl185mF Thu Oct 31 2013 02:42:43 No.28027232 Report
>Quoted By: >>28027273 >>28027308
>Well, you show your sister the battle footage of when you lost your last ship. Your mother is not impressed but keeps quiet about it since it is what you promised you'd do.

>"Woah." Is all your sister says for most of a minute afterwards. "So emergency teleporters, those are expensive right?"

>"Yep. More than some older ships."

>She heads off to think about this for awhile.


>I'll see you guys next week. I may be starting again on monday. I'm not 100% certain on that.

>>28108525
>[X] Civilian clothes
Wear some armour under it, if possible.

>Also is your bodyguard coming with you?
Nah. However, we should prepare a message that is automatically sent to him if we don't deactivate it within X hours. Just in case this is a trap.

Can we grab some camo?

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>>28108543
>>28108560
>>28108578
Well that's what I get for running up to the last minute.
Thanks.

I was looking at using this one for the alternate intro pic but I found it wasn't wide enough to work effectively. After that I figured it would be best to go back to the classic.

>>28108638
>Can we grab some camo?
Lets see, you own the one on your suit, the House owns one of the other two... yes! But it's the least effective of the 3 so you only have a few hours.
First though you'll need to swing past a spaceport so someone in a shuttle can bring it down.

>>28108525
[X] Pick up your armor from one of the space ports
Take the HF-Blade as well since it part of our standard loadout.

As for our bodyguard lets not take him with us this time.

>>28108525
>[x] Pick up your armor from one of the space ports

Taking no chances.

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Swinging past one of the most northerly spaceports you contact the EX-K and request that your armor be prepared for transport. Nxesi has just returned from one of the memorial services and soon takes care of it. When you talk to him he seems a bit more weary than usual.

"What's wrong?"

"I've lost a few friends this year on other ships, or on worlds that they ransacked. Its just starting to hit home that they're going to get away with it."

You point out that the casualties at the front would tend to indicate that a good number of them wont be getting away with it.

He sighs. "True, and now I have to think about my own family. My oldest will be able to enlist in another year or two. I want to see them more often than once a year if things do last that long. I felt I should let you know that I've been offered another job."

"By who?"

"Research and Development. More Houses are working on Power Cell Armor so that it stands up to Neeran better. I'm an expert and Jerik-Dremine wants to send as many people as they can."

>What say?

>>28109451
"Do you mind if I ask whether you'll be taking them up on that offer? If you are, please know you'll always have a place here to return to. It'd be a terrible shame to lose a man with craftsmanship as good as yours."

>>28109451
"Well, i hope that they are at least paying you well for this. And seriously, i knew that Power Cell Armor was the next big thing the moment i saw the ramshackle prototypes used first in the smugglers run. There are worse thing than being considered an expert with them."

>>28109451
Tell Nxesi we will miss him as he has been a very important part of our team and that there will be a place saved for him if he ever wants to come back.

When the war is over we would love to have him join us in our adventuring. Hell, we might just steal him from the R&D boys so that he could work with our own R&D that we may or may not be setting up.

>>28109451
"I would be lying if I said I wouldn't miss having you and your expertise around, but I can definitely understand if you consider taking the offer. It's not like you won't have more than enough time to think about this. And I appreciated that you told me."

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>>28109540
>>28109564
"Do you mind if I ask whether you'll be taking them up on that offer?"
"With the amount of work you are capable of throwing my way I think I need to bring on a second apprentice and train them before I accept."

"Well, i hope that they are at least paying you well for this."
"They are offering better pay than TWO Knight Captains!" He laughs. "Honestly it will be very difficult to refuse, even with this power drain problem they're finding out about."

>>28109616
>>28109620
"Thank you. I think I will still take a few more days to think about it and talk to my family. Be careful whatever you are doing, I wont be able to put your armor back together for several days because of my leave time."

After taking posession of your armor you load the cargo crate into the back seats of the rental vehicle and take off heading north again.

Once within a few hundred km of the meeting point you land in a secluded area that seems to be outside the pattrolled regions of any local land holders. Once you've suited up and strapped on some weapons you get back in the air but make sure to stay low to avoid detection.

The axial tilt of the planet is minimal but it is there. This far north things are a bit chilly and the sun is much closer to the horison. Spotting your landing zone you set down in a largely abandoned area with little beyond packed dirt for a few hundred meters. There are enough low ridges and hills though to safely park the car out of view.

Approaching on foot and under camo you see the spot indicated by the location marker. A phone booth.

You've seen secure communications booths aboard ships, stations and bases but never sitting outside. The sensors in your suit and eyes dont detect any holes in the ground that the booth might drop down into, or explosives and other weapons that could kill you.

>What do?

>>28109935
Wait outside the booth.

The phone could very well contain a bomb in it.

>>28109935
>>What do?
Feel a bit creeped out, take the receiver and see if anybody is on the other end of the line.

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>>28110113

>>28109935
Well...this is interesting.

Might as well approach the phone and not be suprised when it rings and we have to answer it.

>>28109935
Also, when we approach the phone remain cloaked and uncloak right before we reach it.

>>28110113
>>28110139
>>28110225
No reason to be paranoid about this at all. Nope. None whatsoever.
Creeping closer while still invisible you wait for the phone to start ringing.

There is a small label on the sliding door stating that the windows are made with sound dampening layers. Inside you determine that there are a number of simple detectors at or near ground level that would pick up nearly anyone. Still no sign of explosives or weapons. No radiation or chemical residue.
Picking up the receiver with your replacement arm you turn up the gain on your sound pickups.


The even sounding almost monotone voice you heard in the previous recording speaks up.
"Good afternoon. If you're hearing this it means you've been contacted by one of my associates. I am not given the identities of those they recruit. I require people with skills not a back story. Do not look too deeply into my identity and I will not look into yours.

I offer two types of jobs, observation of the unfortunate and gift giving to the considerably more fortunate.

Observation pays a lot more at the moment, but that isnt always the case.

Press [1] for Observation
Press [0] for Gift giving
If you're stranded in the middle of the northern wastes and need a taxi Press [3]"

>>28110572
>Press [0] for Gift giving

Let's go with the... slight less shady option first.

>>28110572
Now, last week the majority voted for observation but some people may still be feeling nervous about pressing a button, any button, on the phone. So you guys want me to roll along with option [1]?

Still not too late to back out.

>>28110572
Press 4.

I'm fine with [1]

>>28110572
Press [1]

Time to see what we have gotten ourselves into.

>>28110641
Time to back out. Anything that requires subtlety is not really Sonia's forte.

You press 4
"Please completely insert your card or dial-"
Then, cursing, you press 1.

"A Dremine Heavy Industries factory manager by the name of Agathon Colquhoun has been found to be incompetent and is dragging the company down. He's good at covering his tracks and that's where his skills end.
Due to a densely worded contract he cannot be fired without the company taking a substantial hit both to their pocket books and in front of investors.

Ensure that his contact is terminated without their conditions being violated and while keeping it from coming back on DHI. If you should happen to observe his death as being the result of an accident your pay will be increased substantially.

If you have not completed this job within 30 days someone else will be assigned."

There's a noise from the phone and a coin drops down into the chute at the bottom.

"You've been provided with the location of a dead drop. If you're successful you will find your payment waiting there with 18 hours.

If you're looking for additional work wait 2 weeks following the end of your mission before returning."

Reluctantly picking up the coin you rapidly back away from the phone booth waiting for it to explode. Nothing happens though. The coin is made of tarnished silver with coordinate data imprinted on it. Continuing to scan the area you return to the rental car and get the hell out of there, heading south several thousand km until you spot a public landing pad where you can claim to ask for directions and put the systems from your vehicle back in order.


>Your orders?

>>28111480
Did we miraculously receive a compy of said contract?

>>28111480
Well....this just got interesting.

Lets go visit our house and think on what was just said to us. If we chose to go through with this line of work we should then start researching this Agathon colquhoun.

>>28111518
No you did not.

After turning your things back on again you find that there are messages from both Mike and Alex.

Mike has been delayed in getting out of the base due to a certain incident back in South Reach but will be out soon and would like head home. It's in a rough part of town though and while he would likely need backup he doesn't want to drag too many people into it.

Alex has left a message saying he will be unavailable for the foreseeable future as his family is helping to organise the next big ball coming up in a month and a half. Apparently they work for the planetary governor and this is a big deal.

While you're reading another one comes in. There's someone down at the cold case files division that noticed you looking into the case where a supposed Private Investigator was killed. This is likely a junior investigator trying to keep busy and could be easily ignored.

>>28111763
>Mike has been delayed in getting out of the base due to a certain incident back in South Reach but will be out soon and would like head home. It's in a rough part of town though and while he would likely need backup he doesn't want to drag too many people into it.

Yay, let's help Mike.

>This is likely a junior investigator trying to keep busy and could be easily ignored.

Yay, let's help him not to get killed.

>>28111480
Ehh.

I'm not really sure I like this hit-man style shit.

>>28111957
In addition, I thought it was going to be about those dyson sphere unlock plates.

>>28111763
Helping mike out is a yes and lets get in contact with whoever noticed us looking at the case.

>>28111713
You take the car south again towards the major land holdings where the autopilot tells you that some of the airspace is semi-restricted. You have to allow it to follow one of the various allowed routes in to reach your holdings so as not to disturb those belonging to other nobles.

Ending up over the heavily forested and mountainous terrain the vehicle comes to a stop a few thousand meters up and informs you that you've arrived at your destination. Looking out the window all you see are trees. No big gaps that would indicate one is missing and an lodge plus landing pad were put in its place. Well that not entirely true, there are gap but all of them are irregular. Some might be from fallen trees or natural growth.

Roll 1d100 to find the landing pad.

Rolled 89

>>28112068

Rolled 88

>>28112068
Rolling.

Rolled 3

>>28112068

>>28112208
You were supposed to roll an 87!

Considering our resources, I wonder if we could just scout the factory manager and then offer him a job he can't refuse. If he quits to get another job, his contract is obviously terminated, and DHI doesn't get any bad publicity.

Once he is our employee, we can handle it as we please.

Wait this is a flying car thats essentially one step away from being a starfighter. You increase the inertial compensator, roll the aerocar upside down then use your HUD to more carefully check the gaps in forest cover.

After all your time working in space (and the compensator being turned up) makes this essentially the same as flying above any target looking "up" for a weak spot.

There it is!

Bringing the car in nose first with the engine operating mostly in reverse thrust you descend towards the forest floor, leveling out only a few meters above the pad then setting down. You've had dozens of worse landings! The side window pops out and folds away enough to make room for a running board to extend.

Getting out you take in your first view of the place. From the air the lodge is all but impossible to spot with the landing pad being the only real thing to give it away. There are a few windows from the upper level facing the pad but most of them face north. A gradual down slope continues on until it cant been seen any more due to tree trunks and underbrush. There is at least one stream nearby off to the north east. The back of the house is built into the rock itself.

"Hello!" shouts a man in a mixed hunting outfit as he walks down the steps towards you. He has a heavy duty communicator on one hip and holstered weapon on the other.

"Hello there, I'm the caretaker. Name's Amello, Petras Amello." He offers a hand and you shake it. Sporting one of the distinctive mustache some men in their late middle age/early seniors seem to prefer these days he seems like a nice enough fellow at first glance. "You must be the miss, Knight Captain Reynard right? I've been keeping an eye on the place since they finished it off, maintenance mostly, there's always a few minor issues to work out with a newly built place. I showed some of your family around a few months back."

>>28112682
Delicious to meet you, Amello.

What kind of issues have there been so far?

>>28112682
Time to ask about any issues and maybe a tour of our own. Though it's interesting that he didn't react that much to us being in power armour.

>>28113074
>Though it's interesting that he didn't react that much to us being in power armour.
I suppose I should have asked if you guys had changed clothes or anything at the previous stop.

"The place isnt very well stocked at the moment but that can be fixed easy enough. I was also told you have a starfighter, some jetbikes and probably a bunch of guns too. There's room inside the bunker for an extra vehicle so the pad can stay clear and the attached armory should be able to store enough rifles for a couple squads. Its not set up as a trophy collection mind you." he warns.
"It's function over form in there, concrete and metal. You'll have to talk to the furnishings people if you want to give things a shine."

>maybe a tour of our own

There are 3 main levels to the lodge itself, the lower floor is half underground containing a lot of the systems for the House, water, plumbing, recycling. There are a few rooms on the north facing wall with windows and a few farther inside that lack any. Most of these must be intended for staff. The lower level also connects into the bunker compex at the back. A small lift nearby allows staff or guests to reach each floor if they're unable to use stairs.

The main floor with the largest windows is made up mostly of a single livining/dining room. Doors on the east side exit onto the main exterior stairway which leads down towards the front. There's a kitchen/prep area that can be easily converted (and most importantly cleaned) if hunters decide to bring something back. All of it can be walled off to seperate it from the living room or left open. Mounts and power supplies for entertainment equipment are in place but are bare.

The upper floor has a number of bedrooms that look a bit plain at the moment but are otherwise rather nice and have their own bathroom.

The bunker is unremarkable, housing the heavy duty recycling equipment and with the option to use a few rooms as barracks.

>>28112682
Dunno if you need them but here are a few pics you could use in the future should you need more future cityscapes for whatever.

http://postimg.org/gallery/1utp0cnc/732e45e6/

>>28113380
Looks like we'll need to talk to decorating to get this place looking like we own it, rather than just built.

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>What kind of issues have there been so far?

"Well the usual, poachers mostly. Not a lot by any standards but quite a few people from the region went out with the fleets, either the ones out there or the ones just returned. There could be an upswing in the next few weeks or months."

"Whats the legal policy on that?"

"It's your land, it's your livestock. Game wardens will occasionally do limited depopulation work but you're informed in advance and you've gotta give your say so if they're allowed to bring hired on contractors into your land."

"Hired contractors? That sound like a hunting license."

"It sort of is these days. Poachers will sometimes pose as game wardens or as contractors working for them so make sure to check their credentials. Hang on."

He pulls out his com and checks it. "The customs people and wardens are putting out a reminder to all the new landowners not to introduce species without clearing it through them first. There's been talk for years that someone let a mountain lion loose out in this range.
What else, the military is talking about expanding the flight zones for starfighter training so we could be getting a few more sonic booms than before if that goes through."

Just as long as they're not crashing on your land you hope.
"Do you know about the look out points for guards that the construction guys suggested?" you ask.

"Yes ma'am, mostly rock outcrops near to where the larger trees can shield them from view from other directions. A couple of them are a bit exposed though."

>Anything else you want to look into here?

>>28113623
>>Anything else you want to look into here?

Walk around the property for a bit. Maybe we'll find a nice spot and come here to relax and forget about our PTSD.

>>28113727
A nice walk around the property sounds nice. Maybe ask Amello how long he has been in the buissness of watching over things. Maybe ask abou the local wildlife to see what exactly there is to find.

(A question that I have been wondering for a long time. Are there any types of dangerous animals in the universe that we should watch out for.)

>>28113623
Ask about setting up a dedicated trophy room. The armory is nice and all, but it only seems natural to have a weapon-show-off LOOK AT ALL MY TOYS area in the lodge.

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>>28113727
>>28113833
Telling Amello you're going for a walk around the property he warns you about being careful you've got good boots if you plan to go far.
Your sidearm and communicator aren't far away if something goes wrong.

>Maybe we'll find a nice spot and come here to relax and forget about our PTSD.
You find the stream and follow it uphill for a few minutes until you find a small waterfall.

>Maybe ask Amello how long he has been in the buissness of watching over things.
"Outdoors man my whole life in this section of the continent. Served a tour in one of the lesser conflicts and got my first taste of flat terrain." He shakes his head. "Awful stuff. I'll never go beyond a few klicks from hilly or mountainous terrain again if I can help it. My family have been game wardens or tour group and rescue leaders and that sort of thing for ages. Why move into one of the cities if you can be out here." He gestures to the surrounding forest. "in this? There's always nobles that don't have time to learn everything for themselves. Even fancy memory imprints wont really get everything across, so there's always someone looking to hire a guide. A good one at any rate."

>Maybe ask abou the local wildlife to see what exactly there is to find.
"Oh, a mix of deer mostly and a few things from the Rovinar worlds. Animals native to the Dro'all homeworld don't do well up here."

>(A question that I have been wondering for a long time. Are there any types of dangerous animals in the universe that we should watch out for.)
Transport of dangerous animals is prohibited. On a lot of planets terraformers take species samples and if there are local ones that will survive the atmospheric changes and still pose a threat they're killed off. Scientists will make sure there are enough examples with which to rebuild species in contained environments. Often the samples are just locked away but there are no shortages of xenobiologists wanting to study such things.

>>28114437
A waterfall grotto!

Perfect. Let's find a log to sit on and listen to the calming pitter-patter of the water as it flows over stones.

Gotta get rid of them PTSD points.

>>28113980
>dedicated trophy room
"Well the lodge is only so big. Converting one of the existing ones is certainly an option since there aren't many staff, or at the moment guests, to take up space. Unless you want to add on a room. Now I'm not a geologist but there's some rock on the east side that could probably be carefully cleared out without disturbing the trees or the lodge any. That would almost certainly make enough room for that."


>New upgrades unlocked!

Trophy room (Converted bedroom) - 5,000
Trophy room - 40,000
Bunker expansion - 70k (per section)
Covert Bunker expansion - 100k (per section)

Note: Upgrade costs at the lodge are considerably higher than elsewhere if trying to keep from damaging the surrounding area.

Your R&D bunker plans will require several expansions just to reach an appropriate depth. Say 5 of them. That will burn through your money quickly. Covert bunker expansion takes longer to complete.

>>28114437
>>28114487
>Waterfall grotto

This is going to be one of our favorite spots no doubt and I feel like we are going to go on alot of hiking trips.

Shall we head back and message Mike on where and when he would like us to meet up with him. Maybe jokingly ask if we should bring our recon armour.

>>28114594
If/when we do get a Trophy room we should just make a whole new room for it.

As for the bunker expansion we are of course going to go Covert. When you say 5 sections do you mean that we will have 5 empty sections to work with before we get to R&D lab part?

Because I can think of a few things we could use this new room for.

>>28114594
How much cash do we have on-hand right now? It's probably listed on the wiki, so feel free to laugh at me if it is.

Anyway, I think building the R&D lab at least a kilometer away from the main bunker complex would be a good idea. Keep the connected via a deep tunnel though.

>>28115071
>How much cash do we have on-hand right now?
About 5.3 million after buying the Bittenfeld. You may want to save some for the upcoming ball. Just saying.

>When you say 5 sections do you mean that we will have 5 empty sections to work with before we get to R&D lab part?
Essentially yes. And until construction on the deeper ones is finished they'll largely be needed to store digging equipment.

>>28114734
>Shall we head back and message Mike on where and when he would like us to meet up with him. Maybe jokingly ask if we should bring our recon armour.

Contacting Mike he lets you know to meet in two days time at a particular police station in one of the more populous cities. Oh, its that city. Collingwood.

>>28114734
>Shall we head back and message Mike on where and when he would like us to meet up with him. Maybe jokingly ask if we should bring our recon armour.

Contacting Mike he lets you know to meet in two days time at a particular police station in one of the more populous cities. Oh, its that city. Collingwood. Yeesh.

Highest police presence on the planet in theory. You look up the police station in question and find that its more of a heavily fortified garrison building. It even has its own shield generator.

He suggests bringing some form of body armor. Its been awhile and he doesnt know what the current situation is anymore. Also to bring a spare set of clothes should the situation change by the time you arrive.
"Mike I need more to go on than that."

"I wont know for sure until we reach the station. Even then it will be hard to be certain. If we take a vehicle in it could attract a lot of attention from any local gangs in the area who might try to hijack it. If we go in with Marine armor it'll look like a Police raid is happening which is really bad. Duty uniforms with body armor underneath should be a good balance of keeping a low profile while still seeming dangerous enough not to mess with. In civilian clothes we'll just look like marks."

"What about power armor? I've brought my armor down and the spare camo projector."

Mike thinks about it. "I guess that could work. Would probably make things really easy too. The Cops wont be happy about it though. They don't like people running special ops in their sectors and if we get caught everyone could be pissed off at us.
The cops, the gangs who will think they're being spied on, the civilians who think they're being spied on."

"Mike, is that an objection?"

"No, just pointing it out. I've tricked out a suit of power cell armor with the help of my Marines, it'll move much more quietly than a regular one but still nowhere near as quiet as yours."

Armored Jumpsuit - Civilian clothes
Armored Jumpsuit - Duty uniform
Armored Jumpsuit - Dress Uniform (Why would you even do this?)
Marine Armor
Recon Armor / Power Cell Armor

>Any other ideas or suggestions before I put the survey up?

>>28115520
Lets start a covert bunker on a relatively nearby area for our R&D. Make sure that we pay for the completely fool-proof destruction module. We'll get all the benefits of personal R&D and none of the risk to our private PTSD sancutary.

I'd like to have it inbuilt but the risk is too great and i'd rather have our OH SHIT lodge/bunker seperated from our other (possibly illegal on this planet) activities.

>>28115646
>Armored Jumpsuit - Duty uniform

And have Rufaro stay in armour and close enough to help if things go poorly.

>>28115520
Did / do we have to apply for buidling permits and such to construct things on our own land.

I'd rather not have the blueprints of our lodge and its defenses sitting in some government library for basically anyone to access; especially if we want to get involved in any 'less-than-legal' activity?

Oh also TSTG, how many people can our lodge accommodate party-wise and sleeping-wise? We might need to build a second, smaller hut if we plan to establish that 'veterans hunting club' we talked about last thread.

>>28115646
Armored Jumpsuit - Duty uniform

Also, just what is our favorite body double Rufaro up to?

>>28115777
>>28115831
>And have Rufaro stay in armour and close enough to help if things go poorly.
>Also, just what is our favorite body double Rufaro up to?
Rufaro is now on leave. Last you heard in another week she'll catch a transport to one of the other worlds still undergoing terraforming work where here parents are.

Calling her you you see what she's up to.
"Specialist Ella Rufaro here go ahead sir." It a bit difficult to hear what she's saying due to loud music playing in the background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD-twv1EMsc
>What say?

>>28115791
>do we have to apply for buidling permits and such to construct things on our own land.
Not if you keep it secret you dont. Mostly it just building code stuff anyhow. You'll be paying more money either way through the covert expansion to make sure whoever is doing the construction is removing all non essential records and for that to be double checked.
Its included in the price essentially.

>How many people can our lodge accommodate party-wise and sleeping-wise?
There's 4 larger bedrooms upstairs, 10-ish smaller rooms on the lowest floor then the barracks. That number can go up if people are willing to deal with cots and inflatable mattresses in the living room or double up in the main rooms.

Party wise? Quite a few, it more a question of transportation for all of them.

>>28115996
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD-twv1EMsc
>>What say?
SALVAGE FOR THE SALVAGE THRONE!

"I'm helping Mike with something close to his home, and we could use a guardian angel to scare off undesirables if things go south. Also, you're into the classics? My dad used to listen to that band when I was little."

>Last you heard in another week she'll catch a transport to one of the other worlds still undergoing terraforming work where here parents are.

Wouldn't transporting her there be a great chance to give our cruiser a test flight and to make good on that promise we gave our sister?

>>28116172
Sounds good to me.

And i'm sure that is exactly what Rufaro needs. More time spent with us.
*insert evil laugh here*
But yeah, it would be a great time to test out our ship and if our sister is out of school we can take her along with us.

>>28116172
It's even better if we get to meet her parents to see what exactly they do.

>>28116351
We can also tell them we accidentally broke their daughther, but they don't need to worry, we made a few copies of her before it happened. Assure them they won't even notice that this one's a copy.

Stand back, and hope our sides won't hit anything important on their way into orbit.

New players has joined the game. Three weeks of reading this stuff and I've finally caught up with it, cheers! Anyways someone mentioned we should start a social club with all these fresh knigts we poped up into the fleet. Now why don't we invite them all to the hunting lodge for some R&R and begin to get to know them and all?

And let Rufaro be, bitch deserves some vacation without Sonia's crazy shenenigans!

>>28116540
Welcome to crazy Sonia's wild ride.

In general I wouldn't say we would really be messing with her, but maybe offer to save her some money since we were going to take our ship for a test drive?

>>28116642
"Hey, Rufaro! I've heard of that place where you don't need eyes. Wanna check it out? Might be a good spot to build a hospital for people who need eye surgery, or the blind in general. Probably a good location for people who don't like seeing as well, I guess. So, you coming?"

File: 1383634769974.jpg-(Spoiler Image, 1.31 MB, 2500x1400)

1.31 MB JPG

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GJGLH28

See you guys in the morning.

Also, it is my firm belief that we should become to the new knight elite what the commander was to us.

I mean we know we can ask her for good advice and all. We know she is a formidable in war. If we can become like that to the new knight it would be much easier to stear them in directions we want to once they start to get a bit more power and will serve as a good stepping stone for when we try to rise higher

Or you know... I could be crazy and we should just kill anyone who tries to oppose us and our might!

Minor bump.

>>28116728
Better than half want to go in with Recon armor.
Most votes dont want to bring Rufaro along.

There is a 3 way split for Valeri.

Now, if Valeri comes along there is a potential problem since you only have 1 camo system besides the one on your suit. Mike and Valeri cant both use it simultaneously. I mainly put him there as a backup option in case people didn't want Rufaro to be the one sneaking around covering you should you have gone in without your armor on.

Since Recon has won at the moment do you want to have Valeri just stay at the police garrison?

Back in an hour or more.

>>28119736
>Mike and Valeri cant both use it simultaneously
I had voted for bringing Valeri, but I'll change that to not bringing him now

>>28119736
>Most votes dont want to bring Rufaro along.

Not really surprising with the way you phrased the answers for that...

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>>28108467
FOR HOUSE AND DOMINION!


FUCK YEAH! BRAND SPANKING NEW OP PIC!

>>28115652

Regarding R&D we should consider something else entirely.

We need good infrastructure to allow scientists to get there and enough room for either their families to live in and have a full life or somehow to outsource this.


That means either a skyscraper in a city or a faux industrial complex near the suburbs or having to build essentially a micro city somewhere in space where no one looks.

I prefer the first two options. WE could combine them so as to have their onw shield generators and outsource a lot of protection to the locals, while still maintaining a very low profile security force with some secret trip wires and perhaps a secret intervention and reaction force.

The Skyscraper could deal with theoretic work outsourcing a lot to local and other universities and academia while the faux industrial complex could run any needed experiments.


But for that we need i believe more money. We have to essentially put R&D on hold for a few months or even years until we get our funds multiplied by at least a factor of ten or so so we can properly start R&D on a truly effective scale.


Such a thing would be in essence a collaboration, contracting or essentially buy in on time of educational infrastructure with all ancillary cost required to sustain the processes as well as keep it proprietary.

Just a economyfag saying it on how it is.

Much as R&D sounds like an awesome thing to do I feel like we lack the economy for it at the current time. Especially for our "Black" projects such as SP production and those super stealth fields. Perhaps we should stick to setting up our salvage company for the moment and once that gains us a neat income we could focus on SCIENCE!

>>28120697
Pretty much.

Production, salvage as a subset of it, and even training and expertise are things we should look into.

A proper salvage company could create significant additions to our funds if we use any contacts we have withing our own as well as other houses and the alliance to know battlefields that have won recently and where to be at.

Another thing we should consider is entering corvette production, considering Dominion general experties and the obvious expansion and upgrade of standing forces due to the coming wars it is something that might as well go for a good run, but atm i think its cost are prohibitive for us to buy in, even if its a great hot shit and gateway towards cruisers.

What we could perhaps go into is the powercell production. No neccesarily the R&D but a cooperation for early subparts and perhaps support for our former armorer and perhaps securing a early license to produce them in considerable amounts to export everywhere, ad adapt them for other species not only humans, as well as other power economic subsystems that will enhance their performance.

If he trains two apprentices, we could have them in our employ for his absence and outsource them as his private support staff when they are not working on something fro us, thus allowing them to further be trained by him and give him a better performance on the powercell project. Meanwhile we train our own experts in said field that we can entrust the engineering side of the business to.

... A thought. Does our sister have technical or mechanical affinity? Perhaps we could get her into a power cell or power armor apprenticeship. Good pay for her and possibly keeping her off the front lines.

>>28119757
>Not really surprising with the way you phrased the answers for that...
Well lets see.

>>28116235
>And i'm sure that is exactly what Rufaro needs. More time spent with us.
>>28116390
>We can also tell them we accidentally broke their daughther,
>>28116687
>"Hey, Rufaro! I've heard of that place where you don't need eyes. Wanna check it out?

Anyways, no more votes in so far, closing down the survey.

You tell mike to meet you there and to bring his suit of power cell armor. You can lend him your spare camouflage projector. Air traffic around the garrison building is heavily restricted and you have to descend elsewhere and approach at ground level like a regular vehicle.

After parking Mike approaches.
"Good to see you. Before we head in we need to talk to the station captain."

"Any particular reason?"
"We need to let them know that there are a pair of potential rensom targets headed into his sector of the city. Then there's weapon registration."

"My guns are all registered with the military." you point out.

"There's a sensor net that covers most of the city. Gangs for the most part stick to weapons that wont overpenetrate and go into neighbouring rooms or buildings. Ballistics mostly. The net can detect phase rifles and other energy weapon discharges and since they have a better chance of going through some wall material after a couple of shots police are more likely to respond. If someone starts throwing anti-tank shots around we can expect a much larger response since more people are being endangered."

Mike has already made an appointment and soon you're shown in to an office filled with displays and notes stuck to most available surfaces.
A heavily tanned man with a craggy face stands up and shakes your hand.
"I'm Captain Nayati Wahkoowah, welcome to sector 29."

You both take a seat.

"I take it you're both determined to head into one of the rougher areas of the city. Normally I'd say you'll do fine since you have a local sc- guide to help you around but you havent been around here for awhile." he points at Mike.

"Things change and quickly. Safe streets one day can be a war zone the next if a few gangs decide to expand their territory at once. All we can do these days is keep these sectors contained through checkpoints. If a couple of rich nobles or Knights walk in I'm sure you'd have a dozen people plotting your kidnapping within a few minutes. What's your plan?"

[ ] Tell him about the Recon armor/camouflage
[ ] Make something up

>Do you have any questions you want to ask the captain?

>>28120904
>[X] Tell him about the Recon armor/camouflage

Let's just be honest here. Guy's doing his job, and the least we can do is make this go as smooth as possible.

>>28120904
>[ ] Make something up
"We've just come back from the front, we can handle ourselves in a war-zone fine."

if he pesters us then maybe tell him about the armor

Make up something, for all we know he could be paid by the gangs to pass on just such information to them.

Paronoia +3

>>28120904
Seriously? Kidnapping Knights for ransom?

This is something that needs active discouragement. We can't have that, and must make sure only the terminally stupid would ever contemplate such stupidity. The Hammer of Fleet and Army should through unofficial parts of former members or retired or reserves simply fly in and lay down the beat on anyone who has anything to do with this, ransom intended to be paid or not from the demanded party. We cant stand for strike force or other veterans to be subjected to such demeaning shit.

They ought to be thought on who the biggest and strongest gang there ever was or will be. The fucking military.

>>28120904
>[ ] Tell him about the Recon armor/camouflage
We're on vacation, tone down the paranoia just a bit.

Just a random thought but could we hide either a research facility or a shipyard in a random part of dark space?

>>28121274
I don't know about you but I just get the feeling that is so exposed, I'd rather have it all buried deeeeeeep underground with plenty of secturity and turrents to keep watch of it.

>>28121320
Why not just put it in the event horizon of the black hole in the centre of the galaxy? I'm sure Versa can figure out a way how to do that eventually, and with that longevity drug, we might even be around to see it.

Void Quest ;_;

>2 for tell, 2 for dont tell

"Woah, back up. Seriously? Kidnapping Knights for ransom?
This is something that needs active discouragement."

Mike looks at you "Uh, Sonia?"

"We can't have that!" You say to both of them "The Hammer of Fleet and Army should through unofficial parts of former members or retired or reserves simply fly in and lay down the beat on anyone who has anything to do with this. They ought to be thought on who the biggest and strongest gang there ever was or will be. The fucking military."

"Knight Captain please sit down." urges the police Captain.
You're on your feet, cybernetic fist clenched.

"There are problems with crackdowns. The population in the area is too large and there are too many gangs. We would need to carry out an evacuation effort first and there are few places we can send so many on short notice. If the gangs think their territory is being invaded they can and will use civilians as living shields and break out any heavy weapon stockpiles they have scattered throughout the sector to kill our vehicles.
The casualties would be enormous if we were to do a full sweep and the military does not want to spare the manpower.
A small and fast enough military strike team might be able to get in quickly enough if the kidnappers are idiots and camp out in an easy to reach location. Your best be is to get insurance against kidnapping or better yet..." He leans forward. "Don't go into the sector so you're not caught in the first place!"

>>28121379
That was from the post game notes right?

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>>28121320
>turrents

I can forgive the rest of your spelling and grammar mistakes, but this I cannot.

>>28121511
>That was from the post game notes right?

Yeah. Considering how harsh a mistress Vedibere was, we would have crashed and burned, probably never seeing the end of the storyline, but - it would have been glorious.

While you're considering this Nayati turns his attention to Mike.

"I know about your brother being loose in the sector somewhere, and I also know that you were the one that broke him out of prison all those years ago."

"At the request of my legal council I can neither confirm or deny any actions I mayor may not have taken within House territory before January 1, 4025. Please send an information request through my lawyers." Mike responds as though reading it from a document.

"Look I don't care, there are bigger problems to deal with right now, but if your brother starts making trouble again I will put a price on his head large enough that he wont last the day."

Mike shrugs.

"The next time he's arrested don't think it'll be so easy to get him out either. Everyone knows about that stunt with the repulsor vehicles and the water outflow channels now. There was a preview of the movie Liberators of Gesaur for select audiences recently and as a result about 20 prisons in 15 Houses have been shut down for modification." He looks to you for a moment.
"You should have seen the share price for that construction company drop."

Anything else you want to ask?
Anyone want to change their mind on telling him or not about the high end armor systems you'll be wearing?

Damn. No wonder there weren't more votes before. My login on the wiki expired and I needed to put in a captcha after hitting the publish button, but I never noticed.

[x] tell him about armor
[x] info on brother, better if Mike tells us
[x] what are we doing with the brother when we get him?

>>28121773
I'll second >>28121879

>>28121879
Ah well, we may aswell go with this then. I do hope my paranoia proves to be wrong and we wont be mauled by a gang of psycho cyber thugs.

>>28121773
Punch mike in the shoulder.

"Damn. Why hasn't anyone told me about this?

Seriously, Mike... Are you aware how much money we could have made on this? No ? Nothing?"

"Oh well, whats past is past... But next time when there is something that changes the status quo on things you know about please let me know."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx9Y9lhZoh0&t=11m20s


The way i see Sonia, the resemblance between her and Parker are disturbing. Of course, Sonia by and large is more disturbing than Parker. Her brand of socipathy goes not with theft and love for money but explosions and love for money. Also, Sharks and sharp pointy things

>>28121980
We could have had a lander of marines still on duty in power cell Armour cleared for exercises on orbital insertion.

You know, just ready to hot drop on our heads if someone is stupid enough to go against a Wing Commander.

>>28122075
>>28121995
>>28121980
>>28121945
>>28121879

In essence Mike's family got to move on Mikes dime. Because they by extend will become after this viable kidnapping targets for mike to pay ransom now that he is a Knight.

We should raise this issue with him in case he has not realized it.

>>28122075
You know, I would actually like that.

>>28122126
Too late i am afraid. Now it would look as if we want this for our own self serving reasons and not as a final exercise for the troops before they are out on leave.

"Damn. Why hasn't anyone told me about this? Seriously, Mike... Are you aware how much money we could have made on this? No ? Nothing?"
"I fugured they would have started addressing the design flaws just after the battle. I didnt realise the information wouldnt go public until the movie came out."

"Oh well, whats past is past... But next time when there is something that changes the status quo on things you know about please let me know."

You turn your attention back to the captain.

"We're hoping to avoid any trouble by using Holographic camouflage and power armor to cover our movements. We have experience with infiltration missions and I'm sure we can gat in and out without anyone noticing."

Nayati looks back and forth between the both of you. "Is she serious? Tell me you're pulling my leg."
"She's not. She does this all the time."

The captain doesn't say anything for nearly a minute, not knowing how to respond.
"Just, just make sure your weapons are registered. Please?"

"Now Mike what's the deal with your brother?" you ask him.

"He was locked away for murder after a trial lasting a few minutes."

"Multiple homicide with an automatic weapon. It was open and shut." Adds Nayati

"It was self defense!" Protests Mike
"More than ten people were killed!"
"All from a gang that's known to attack people at random!"
"And he just happened to have a carbine with splinter rounds?"
"It was one of theirs, he took it from them!"

>What say?

>>28122075
>You know, just ready to hot drop on our heads if someone is stupid enough to go against a Wing Commander.
>>28122126
Roll 1d20 for available Marines

Rolled 12

>>28122260
I think thats pretty much it, lets get the bureaucracy done with and get started

once we're somewhere more private lets get the full story from Mike, especially the plan regarding what it is we're meant to be doing with his brother

Rolled 4

>>28122260
>>What say?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNsrK6P9QvI

"Mike, I trust you as my friend and I believe you. However, please tell me you're planning to get your brother off planet for at least a few months after this. If you have no idea how to keep him out of trouble at the moment, we can just freeze him until we come up with something."

>Roll 1d20 for available Marines
Rolling.

>>28122260

>What say?

"We can let lawyers argue over such things later. Let us focus upon removing a potential problem for innocent civilians, be he a danger or simply a target in their midst, off the streets. Agreed?"

Rolled 14

>>28122260
"Sooo.... ten people all by himself?"

Rolling for 20, gimme gimme.

Contacting some people in orbit you're able to secure an assault shuttle and 14 available Marines. Half of them have Power Cell Armor.

>>28122338
>>28122373
>>28122394
>>28122406

"Sooo.... ten people all by himself?"

"It was complicated. I'm sure you could have done it in the same situation."

"Mike, I trust you as my friend and I believe you. However, please tell me you're planning to get your brother off planet for at least a few months after this? Then we can let lawyers to argue over such things and remove a potential problem for innocent civilians from the streets, be he a danger or simply a target in their midst.
If you have no idea how to keep him out of trouble at the moment, we can just freeze him until we come up with something. Agreed?"

"We'll need to find him first. We havent talked in more than two years now for obvious reasons."

Captain Nayati speaks up.
"While I'm sure this is very touching I feel I need to tell you, both of you, something. As members of the military you're legally obligated to arrest a convicted murderer or escapee if you feel you can do so without endangering yourself."

"We'll see what we can do but no promises." you tell him.

Heading out to the parking garage you and Mike get suited up then you get his Camo system secured and rigged up.

"There are a few ways we can do this. Go through the main routes where there are actual security checkpoints and less gangs but there's a better chance the police will detect us by mistake and give us away. Take the back routes, which has more gang activity bit it changes all the time so I dont know who owns what anymore. Or we could try to find a route between the two but it will take a lot longer."

>Your orders?

>>28122569
I am off a mind to take the longer path. Blundering about into gang territory seems hardly like the way to go with Mike's limited stealth and going through the checkpoints just invalidates the entire point of being stealthed.

>>28122569

Shit, before we leave, could we inquire with Captain Nayati as to the possibility of getting the brother a new trial or sentence, say military service for the House?

Or, Mike could call his lawyer about that...

>>28122569
>>Your orders?

This is Mike's home turf, let him choose.

>>28122646
"We arrest people and find evidence. Everything else belongs to the lawyers and the courts. You'll have to talk to them. As it is even if the charges are dropped he's still guilty of escape."
He points at Mike. "And he is the one that helped him break out, which I've known for years, but we only have circumstantial evidence provided by that movie. Even if I had solid evidence now it would be useless because he has immunity from prosecution on that matter thanks to the military."

>This is Mike's home turf, let him choose.
He would like to take the longer path but is worried about getting there too late, or how late it will be when you leave the building.

While you check over your gear you ask Mike for the full story.

"After dark a lot of places lock their doors. Not all but most. Our building had a few ways in for people after curfew kicked in but the problem is getting there.
Some gangs do a lot of work at night when there are less people on the streets to get in the way and the few police patrols have left the sector. Others like to stay put because surveillance drones or overwatch can spot thermal much easier if a group has poor equipment."

"So what happened?"

"My brother was out working a job, came back late and tried to go through an alley that leads to rope ladder someone will drop for a few bucks. This really rough group was waiting for anyone that tried for it and chased him a few blocks. Normally it isnt so bad but the Jacks were tying to establish that they held the area back then and beat up or killed a lot of people that year to make a point. They lost a lot of their own people for their trouble. My brother was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Anyways they chased him. A few of them fired shots and wounded him a bit. Then he ran around a corner and stopped long enough to trip the one in the lead who dropped his gun. It was a carbine fully loaded with splinter rounds. So he grabbed it, shot the first guy before he could draw his backup, then fired around the corner at the rest of the group just before they got there. It was point blank with most of them all lined up. I don't think he could have missed if he tried and you know what splinter rounds do against lighter body armor, it's like it isn't even there.

After he'd emptied the magazine he ran, wiped down the weapon and tossed it before getting into the building another way. A local medic patched him up and a few days later when he was at work the police showed up and arrested him.
The cops had cleaned up the scene the next day and found his blood. The rifle he'd used had a guncam and a hacked biometric reader so that was it."

If there are no other opinions on route to be taken roll 1d100

Rolled 18

>>28123191
Rolling.

Rolled 44

>>28123191
Rawling

Rolled 64

>>28123191
Rollin' rollin' rollin'

>>28123069

>Mike wants to take the longer path

Sounds good. We can take point, directed by Mike via secure comms. Our armor's enhanced systems will let us better avoid detection, and Mike can follow slightly behind.

>full story

"You have a lawyer hired or prepared to take his case, I hope. Military service might be an acceptable alternative to prison for the jail break.

... we are turning him in, right, Mike?"

How long has this quest been going on? I mean, I vaguely remember it starting but it seems like it's been going for at least a year or two. If nothing else I admire the QM's persistence.

Shut up. This one is way too good to mess up man.

Its like a good series of novels or really good TV series.

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>>28123325
Last week of December 2011.


You take point, given the occasional direction from Mike as the two of you weave through a combination of back alleyway and more public areas. Occasionally you have to double back because of crowds or traffic blocking the way. Mikes armor isn't perfectly suited to this work making communication and keeping your spacing a bit more difficult.

"This wasn't so bad." Says Mike "I only saw groups of people from three gangs and each of them were small. We might be okay if things stay like this and we mostly encounter civies. We're not making the best time though."

"No but we are getting there." You tell him. "I've had ops were we had to cover half this distance and I took me longer. You sure we couldn't use a vehicle?"

"No, or not without a couple of guards to keep an eye on it while we rented a parking space in the building. We're half way there"

Roll1d100

Rolled 30

>>28123683
Loot god, lord of rolls please be kind...

Rolled 42

>>28123683
I think I wasn't around for the first thread.

Rolled 53

>>28123683

Rolled 78

>>28123683

inb4 encounter with gang 'establishing claim' on a street by beating up some random civi

Your progress slows down as you encounter more and more people both on the main streets and the alleys. Its not enough that you're running into them though.

There are a few gangs camping out on street corners or beneath overhangs where they wont be spotted from the air. For the momen they're just keeping an eye out while ensuring that most of their weapons are concealed from casual observation.

Getting closer to your destination there are groups of kids in an open area kicking balls wire frame back and forth, seeing how many goals they can score while there are multiple objects in play. Seems chaotic.

"Police drones." Says Mike after seeing the kids.

At last you reach the building Mike indicates late in the afternoon. Some people dressed with blue markings are just leaving the front entrance way and both of you have to press up against the wall to avoid contact.

"Who are they?"
"Blue razors or steel razors. They change their names sometimes but they're all the same. Most of the time they just run protection rackets, money laundering, sometimes smuggling. They usually stay out of this area because of the Jacks."

"Any other big gangs I should know about?"

"The Dusters and the Gold Lords are the only other ones worth mentioning. Terran Triads always try to break into the region ever couple of years but they're put down hard. Sometimes even handed over to the cops as off world agents. Cover me I'm going for the door."

Mike heads up and punches in a code on the buzzer, talks to someone on the other end for a minute and then the door opens.

"Lets go." He tells you, holding the door.

Sorry this is going so slow guys.

"Mike what is it we're meant to be doing with your brother?" you ask him as the two of you walk down the length of a security corridor. There are armored firing ports installed at regular intervals which would make an assault hell without a pile of explosives.

"Do? Nothing, or I didn't plan on anything. I just want to talk to my mother and see how she's been doing since I started transferring her some money from the front."

Once you're through the security doors and up a level you take to the stairs. Mike doesn't want to use the lifts with your suits on. Ten stories up you stop and deactivate your camouflage. Mike carefully knocks on one of the doors before a voice inside tells you to come in. You guess he's still getting used to the increased strength of the armor.

Once the door is closed safely behind you he takes off his helmet.

"Mom." He says to the sole occupant of the room which has been largely cleared out save for a sofa, television and a few essentials.

"Michael are you trying to give me a heart attack showing up in gear like that? Its good to see you but Lord, if someone saw you we would never hear the end of it."

"That was sort of what we wanted to avoid." you point out.

Mike makes some introductions and his mother, Yalaina Serth, apologises for the state of the apartment.
"We're renovating and I wanted to make sure that it was clear of security devices. Everything being put in here is going to be shielded against intrusion. That and I didn't want anyone in the building poking around remotely and listening in on your plans when you came home."

After unsuiting Mike gives his mother a hug. "You're looking good, you've lost weight."

"I finally had money for that medical procedure. Now tell me everything you've been up to." She tells him, leaning forward on a cane.
After a few minutes of catch up she stops Mike. "I'm sorry I haven't even gotten you some chairs yet! My hospitality isn't what it used to be. RONNIE! BRING SOME CHAIRS DOWN!"

>>28124669
.... I can just imagine us trying to sit down on a chair made out of wood and just breaking the poor thing as our armor proves to much for it to handle.

After a short delay a young man that looks a few years older than Mike comes down a flight of stairs on the back wall with a chair in each hand. He looks similar to Mike but its hard to tell how much with a disfiguring scar on his right cheek that must have come from a bullet ripping it open.

You spend a minute trying to figure out if you'll ruin the chair by sitting on it.

"Bro, how's it going? I see you brought a friend." He says after setting the chairs down. "Sweet armor. So, you here to solve all our problems in one day where none of us could do it in years?" He asks.

Mike looks to you then back at his brother. "We'll see in a bit. The cops were bugging me about you, have you been keeping out of trouble?"

"Absolutely. I've been working for Mom on her plan."

You take off your helmet and listen in.

"Michael thanks to the money you've been sending back I've made progress in securing the building. And it was good timing too if what I heard about your current fortune is correct!"

"Before you ask I'm sitting on about 30 million. It would have been higher but there was an incident."
"Disciplinary action is a bitch." you add.

Mrs Serth resumes. "Keep that money away from here and in a safe place then. I've been working on securing the finances. I may not own the land this building sits on but all of the rent and maintenance payments go through me now. Thanks to renovation work this is now one of the better off residential buildings in five blocks. And with access to the revenue stream I've brokered new protection agreements with the gangs. Temporary ones.
The Blue Razors will work protection external for the next few months and stop members from other gangs from entering. Inside, our neighborhood watch is being expanded and we're dealing with troublemakers, mostly through eviction.
I'm looking at letting gangs bid on monthly protection agreements."

>>28125004
How wonderfully capitalist.

Once she's done with this building, maybe we can make an investment in operation. Buy out a few of the neighbouring buildings, wall off the area and create a well-off gated community in the ghetto. Drug lords and gang barons want protection just as much as nobles and titans of industry after all.

>>28125004
Mike has 30 million?
What gives?

There is some serious miss match. We have to catch up seething fierce. he almost has more like by a factor of x5 or x10.

another such leap and we could start running our envisioned private R&D efforts for the greater BOOM!
Also, I don't like how he looks at us like the cat that ate the proverbial explosive fish and then his brother.

>>28125265
We had around 50 million before we started our salvage company, and I think we have a lot more other investments going on than he does.

>>28125265
You had +40 million before you spent 30 of it on your salvage company and nearly 5 on the Bittenfeld. Then there's the other Millions you've burned off here and there in small increments. And you have the other +10 million thats invested in shares of companies.

>Cont.
"Eventually that's going to be phased out though if we stick to the plan." says Ronnie

"Your brother has been helping to set up our building's civil defense force."

"Sort of like a militia?" Mike asks.

"Essentially." Continues Yalaina. "The Blue Razors are businessmen, or at least they have one in their ranks. If things go well we eventually take over our own protection duties and they can then focus on blackmarketing using the building's lower levels. They can still make money and move most of their fighting strength to other areas of the sector. In theory.
If one of the other Groups can prove they can fulfill their end of a protection agreement better they'll get the deal. People dont want to deal with being shot at all the time, and they're willing to pay for it."

"Bro, you remember playing king of the hill? It's sort of like that. If one of them can keep things under control long enough they'll be king of the hill and we'll pay them the protection money."

"Lots of stuff that can go wrong with that." You point out.

"Damn right." agrees Ronnie. "The Neighbourhood watch and their CDF can eventually secure the inside of a building but that takes time, money and resources. It's taken us eight months to mostly get our own building under control."

"The biggest problem we may face is the cost of success." Says Mike's mother. "The payments from the tenants here are supposed to go off site to the Landlord, except most of them are intercepted by hoods and thus some of it returns to the community."

"Once you're done with this building, maybe we can make an investment in operation. Buy out a few of the neighbouring buildings?" you ask her.

>>28125296
Ah. Must have missed that part. We really need to start operating and milking that thing for all its worth, and recoup our investment in at the longest a year so we can get truly capitalism tycoon, or else there is no way in hell we are running all those super secret R&D programs privately to sell to our house in any meaningful timeframe.

>>28125265

We dropped 30 mil into our salvage company, IIRC.

We also own two warships and own multiple land holdings on several planets.

Next time we have funds, we might have some luck working with Mike, however. A building's worth of rent would be fair income, and the property value will only increase if his plan to bring stability works.

Heck, I bet the property values are horridly low around here.

>>28125358
>>28125330
We also have serious cash invested in a lot of real estate throughout our campaigning route. On two or three planets actually. All waiting to hit big prices as soon as they get developed.

Those are basically slush funds that wot be accessed in quite a few years, or potential facility locations.

>>28125330
>>28125004


You know now the only thing i an think of is BOPE 2 or Tropa de Elite 2 and the development of the favelas. Complete monopoly on all services. This is going to be fun.

>>28125404
Exactly. An Anon was saying before that we should set up a small 'company-town' for our R&D efforts as it would be way easier on the research teams.

I think our industrial park Surakeh would make a perfect location for this. Hide a high-tech R&D operation inside a huge factory; the fact that our former Commander is now Baron of the world should help as wel.

>>28125473
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL3ybRR1oE0
here for those who want a visual aid on how it would go. Combine the two and you see a frighteningly effective solution.

>>28125460

Indeed. A lot of the experiment, prototype and real live testing would take there, while a lot would be done or somehow linked to whatever great relevant academic city we can find a hook to sink in to use it as recruiting ground for future engineers and doctors as well as using existing professors as consultants wile they teach there and allowing various students to debunk, run exercises and simulation and write necessary papers on the thing we work on.
Not only do we essentially train our specialists by proxy but also make them help out with the R&D by essentially crowd sourcing it through the universities.

We will need some kind of intel operation to keep them safe on campus and perhaps later on a cooperation with house intel and counter intel.

>>28125553
Damn, mixed up the replies. Now that reads really schizo...

>>28125330
"That's where I'm going with this plan. Before that happens though there is going to be a backlash from some of the gangs trying to break the Defense Force from one or more of the buildings. We either need the payments requested by the Landlord reduced to give us time to secure each building, do repairs and equip the militia properly, or we need better weapons and armor."

"Both would be preferable." says Ronnie "I looked over the combat and black market data that's available. A small team with Power Cell Armor could clean house quickly and support existing Civil Defense units. Its certainly better than what the government has planned."

"What do you mean?"

The other three look at you. "You don't know much about the history of areas like this in the Dominion do you?"

"No?" you admit.

"When residential regions reach a critical mass where they can no longer be saved without impossibly high costs there are a number of solutions. Depopulation by shipping the residents off to newly established colony worlds is often preferable. After that the sectors are usually too badly damaged to salvage so they're demolished and rebuilt since construction is cheaper than repair."

"A few Houses have used abandoned regions like that for military exercises to train elite troops in urban combat." Says Mike. "Except that one time with House Urtanim where they bombed the entire-"

"Michael we're getting off topic. We need equipment and the Landlord to back off."

>What say?

>>28125654
"Do they at least ship off the people who let things come that far with the rest of the population?

Anyway, what equipment do we need to get, and who actually owns the land?"

>>28125654
"We are going to have a lot of officers and marines on leave, aren't we? And we are going back in a few months, right? Might as well go for some heavy duty training and rake in some cash in the meantime. Volunteer action, Optional deployment and all that. the CDF scouts out the target and lives in the war zone while the support company lives outside, is still on leave and when needed they gear up for a strike or have a few CDF volunteers in a training seminar, where we sink in a few motto recruitmen lines for either armed forces or the company if we want to keep it beyond the temporary, heck even if they dont want to be deployed they could oversee a CDF strike team or defense via CCTV and telemetrics in a harness, without needing to go out of their vacation locale."

>>28125791

Whoa man, if we can do it like this here >>28125553 (watch after min 35 for about 20 min or so to get the picture.) as well as reap in a share of the profits its basically the profits on a entire city. Of course we would accidentally in the crossfire cut of services provided by the established competitors and run in with our own newly formed substitutes in, thus expanding unopposed and at our own pace.

We need to see the legality of this and depending on it if and how we could pull it off...

File: 1383694977472.png-(12 KB, 229x187, Executive_Outcomes_logo.png)

12 KB PNG

>>28125791
Sounds good to me.

>>28125728
>"Do they at least ship off the people who let things come that far with the rest of the population?
No idea.
>who actually owns the land
Lord Do'orla Epyn, a Dro'all who is far more concerned with their job in the orbital infrastructure business. She currently owns a few sectors in this city with most of her land holding concentrated in the southern polar regions with industry or agriculture.
She has a tendency of not looking after her landholdings well when her orbital business is doing well and when it isn't doesn't have much money to fix problems with the residential sectors.

Its highly likely she'll be at the ball Alex's family is organising.

>Anyway, what equipment do we need to get
"Power Cell armor, but its military contraband. While Mike here is a noble now and has probably bought his own suit for personal use?"
"That's right."
"The military, they are not going to give us armor like that. Ever. The black market may have some."

Mike waves a hand to get everyone's attention. "Isn't there also the slight problem of the cops?"

>>28125791
>We are going to have a lot of officers and marines on leave, aren't we?
Yalaina shakes her head. "This is a problem the people living here have to resolve. Bringing in outsiders isn't going to be any different from calling in the cops. People don't trust them and they don't have the same stakes."

>or have a few CDF volunteers in a training seminar, where we sink in a few motto recruitmen lines for either armed forces or the company if we want to keep it beyond the temporary, heck even if they dont want to be deployed they could oversee a CDF strike team or defense via CCTV and telemetrics in a harness, without needing to go out of their vacation locale
"This could work."

>>28125871
>>28125553
Keep in mind there's little in the way of industry in these residential sectors.

>watch after min 35 for about 20 min or so to get the picture
I'll take a look but you guys need to decide what it is you want.

>>28126258
>She has a tendency of not looking after her landholdings well when her orbital business is doing well and when it isn't doesn't have much money to fix problems with the residential sectors.

We should probably check our various holdings as well.

>Power Cell armor, but its military contraband.
It's still a fairly new, isn't it? Shouldn't there be a way to work around the law, at least until better legislation is passed?

>>28126258
>>28125791
>>28125880
>>28126258


for shit like this to work we need the legislature. From what I read here it seems the problem is like Brasilian Favelas but the police is bound by US like laws and procedures.

That means we probably cant pull a Executive Outcomes on this. At least not without some political support from the nobles to basically say "Make the gangbangers go away", and effectively giving us carte blanche in order to do so.

Otherwise we can do training and support, and that again goes into the legality of it, is a militia legal and can it run offensive ops on people it sees as a threat? If they are allowed to do so what the fuck is there a police any more and why does the police not do it?

That is if we want to go adhering to legal bounds about it.

>>28126319
>>28126258
We could rent our power armor to our soldiers on leave to familiarize themselves with it, and we could then accept jobs from the CDF, with some liaison or PR officers embedded and recruited from former military personnel from the local area or that ones that just got home or so, and the marines doing clean up and other shit while the CDF holds the line.

In essence we are not selling them any weapons. We are however letting them outsource security, rescue and eviction jobs to off duty/ retired military professional operatives that have a temporary work contract with a firm or company we just erected.

>>28126258

>what we want

Personally, I think we should avoid the black hole of money that is R&D until we've got some serious income to fund it without crippling those sources.


>slight problem of the cops

"Right, the cops. A shame no one seemed to trust you with your brother's location, isn't it, Mike? I'll have to have a laugh with that police captain over that mistrust, don't you think?"
[delete our mission recorder's files since we entered the building, if we haven't turned it off already]

>>28125654
Maybe we can solve this at the ball that is being held? The land lord we can talk to about things and there must be someone that looks over such things as the police force isn't there?

>>28126449
While it will be a money sink in the future we shold at least lay the unground work (heh) so when we DO start it up we can do so quickly instead of having to wait for construction to be done.

Of course this all requires money...and there was that job we just got offered.

>In essence we are not selling them any weapons. We are however letting them outsource security, rescue and eviction jobs to off duty/ retired military professional operatives that have a temporary work contract with a firm or company we just erected.
If you want you could search the military database from the station to find out what soldiers are originally from this area.

>>28126449
>"Right, the cops. A shame no one seemed to trust you with your brother's location, isn't it, Mike? I'll have to have a laugh with that police captain over that mistrust, don't you think?"
"Right." He laughs nervously then walks over and begins to check over his suit.

>>28126582
>and there must be someone that looks over such things as the police force isn't there?
Police fall under the bureaucracy of the planetary government. You could either follow the chain up until finding someone who could help deal with it or go the other way.

>>28126765
We could try to work something out with the police captain or we can ask if there are any cops that they trust and if that doesn't work out we could just up the chain.

>>28126765

"Please don't tell me you forgot to disable your mission recorder, Mike..."

>>28126937
I think the biggest issue with the brother is that he escaped from prison. A good lawyer can probably get him out of the original charge, but the escape is going to get him no matter what.

Then again, if Mike is caught harboring and not attempting an arrest of an escaped prisoner, his status as a knight probably isn't going to protect him at all, and the fact that he went from lower class to middle to nobility will probably see any holdings or funds of his seized. [if not his entire family's holdings, if someone with the influence to do so takes notice]

... we probably need to bring this up.

>>28127068
If Mike goes down, we're in a similar boat as of entering this building.

I think Mike's brother needs a new identity, that should sort things out.

>>28127650
Huh? Mike's brother was in the same building? Never noticed that.

okay guys, no more linking of feature length films please.

>>28127068
>"Please don't tell me you forgot to disable your mission recorder, Mike..."

"I was less worried about that than I was about it transmitting. Which it wasn't."

>>28127068
>Then again, if Mike is caught harboring and not attempting an arrest of an escaped prisoner, his status as a knight probably isn't going to protect him at all, and the fact that he went from lower class to middle to nobility will probably see any holdings or funds of his seized.
"That's unlikely unless the charge was treason." says Yalaina "Then it would all belong to the House."

You let go of the breath you were holding. "Well that's good, still Ronnie I think you need a new identity, that should sort things out. I own ships and fighters, it would be easy enough to get you off world."

"I'm not leaving, not now if I can help it. A lot of people look up to me for standing up against the gangs. I'm too central to our building's our Civil Defense right now. Maybe in a year or two?"

"Well shit, maybe we should just ask them to put you under House arrest instead." Suggests Mike.

>>28127998

"Would the building's Civil Defense force count as community service, to boot? So how good is that lawyer of yours, Mike?"

>>28128112
>>28127998
"Yeah but if I'm confined to this building I wont be able to help out the CDF anywhere else."

"Ronnie you're my first born and I love you, but be quiet while the younger kids are planning. Here." Mrs Serth sends you her contact info.

"Let me know what your decision is, but don't wire me money here, either of you. Most of the last payment didn't get through because of hackers intercepting them. Before that they were just skimming them but I already know who is doing it so don't worry yourselves."

Is there anything you want to take care of before heading back to the police station for your ride?
And will you be getting in your vehicles and going or talking to the police captain first?

>>28128288
>Is there anything you want to take care of before heading back to the police station for your ride?

We need to hear some embarrassing stories about Mike from his mother, please.

>>28128338
>We need to hear some embarrassing stories about Mike from his mother, please.
"No."

"Well there was this one time we went to the shoreline to see the ocean. Its not that far away, just far enough to be a problem to walk with small children."

"Stop. Please."

"There was a beach there made with imported sand that the nobles or a few locals must have had established for one reason or another. It was open to the public though.
So Michael starts digging in the sand and a few minutes alter he runs over with what looks like a stick that he dug up and he brother tells him it must be a bone from a dead body. So he keeps digging and finds more of them and even puts them on his beach towel to keep track.
At which point I told Ronnie that he really shouldn't pull jokes on him."

"I didn't know what it was."

"So what happened?"

"Well it turns out they weren't fossilized remains but shit that had hardened under the sand, and then because of all the moisture from the water nearby... Well needless to say that his attempts to dry off later were less than successful."

Mike is not happy.

"That's probably the most embarrassing one I can think of."

Well, you guys suit back up and prepare to head for the police station.

[ ] Talk to the Captain before leaving (Roll 1d100)
[ ] Leave while avoiding talking to the police (Roll 2d100)

Rolled 68

>>28129077
>Mike is not happy.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll run into my mother or my sister sooner or later. They have more than enough embarrassing stories to tell about me."

>[X] Talk to the Captain before leaving (Roll 1d100)

Rolled 82

>>28129077
Talk to the Captain before leaving

Rolled 61

>>28129077

[x] Talk to the Captain before leaving, without Mike

Points of conversation:

- apologize for earlier and our failure to locate Mike's brother
- ask if we can see the case file for brother's original arrest, off the record, of course
- chat about the local prosecutor. Are they a hard-liner?
- ask about the sentences related to the various crimes against him, we never had run-ins with the law, so we're a bit at a loss here

- if he asks, we want this info so that we can try to find a solution to this situation. Mike was our wingman and subordinate, we've a duty to try and protect him from himself sometimes

As both of you head out Mike spots a few members of another gang a block away from his mother's building. It looks like they're getting ready to start some shit but with who you don't know.

"It's possible they're getting ready to hit some of the Blues, someone with a hit on them, or they're just more on edge than normal."

[ ] Not our business
[ ] Sneak attack!

>>28129608
>[ ] Not our business

They are more than welcome to cause as many problems to rival gangs as possible.

Getting rid of them will probably only disturb the local gangs, and we don't want to give them any kind of warning before Mike's family puts their plan into motion.

>>28129608
>[ ] Not our business
but be cautious about them

>>28129678
also, I completely forgot but, what happened to those marines we rolled for? are they waiting for the batsignal?

>>28129714
>what happened to those marines we rolled for? are they waiting for the batsignal?
Essentially yes.

You decide to leave the gangers alone be cause the last thing you need is for there to be a giant gunfight to coincide with your every arrival somewhere. The rest of the trip out still takes awhile but not nearly as long as on the way in.

Getting back to the police station you head in to talk to the Captain.

"Welcome back. I'm glad we didn't detect any fire reports involving miniaturized anti-tank guns."

"You and me both."

>>28129421
>- apologize for earlier and our failure to locate Mike's brother
>- ask if we can see the case file for brother's original arrest, off the record, of course
>- chat about the local prosecutor. Are they a hard-liner?
>- ask about the sentences related to the various crimes against him, we never had run-ins with the law, so we're a bit at a loss here
>- if he asks, we want this info so that we can try to find a solution to this situation. Mike was our wingman and subordinate, we've a duty to try and protect him from himself sometimes
I was going to go ahead and write up some stuff for this but want to be sure of what everyone else thinks before I do so. We've had problems with this sort of thing before.

>>28130210
>>- apologize for earlier and our failure to locate Mike's brother
Only apologize for earlier. No reason to lie unless he asks us about Mike's brother.

>>- ask if we can see the case file for brother's original arrest, off the record, of course
Not necessary in my opinion, but I'm not against it.

>>- chat about the local prosecutor. Are they a hard-liner?
Getting to know the local police and judicary in general sounds like a good idea to me.

>>- ask about the sentences related to the various crimes against him, we never had run-ins with the law, so we're a bit at a loss here

We can probably find out about these without bothering the Captain.

>>- if he asks, we want this info so that we can try to find a solution to this situation. Mike was our wingman and subordinate, we've a duty to try and protect him from himself sometimes

I'm undecided :s

"So, sorry about that whole arguement that broke out earlier." You apologize. "It might have been better if I hadnt asked at the time about his brother and just waited until later."

"You couldn't have known, but at the same time I couldnt just let that stand."

"I was wondering if it might be possible to see the files on Mike's brother's original arrest. Off the record if possible."

Nayati frowns. "I'm not normally one for doing things off the record, it tends to open the way for money to change hands or blackmail attempts to be made. Just make the request and I'll be sure to send you the originals."

>- chat about the local prosecutor. Are they a hard-liner?
"Are they ever, the entire group. They need to be. Oh sure they'll offer deals but it just means less jail time not a lack of it entirely. You do the crime you pay the time, or that's what they try for. Sectors like these attract more people that are loose with the law because they can hide away more effectively, which in turn draws more of them. Its a snowball effect."

"Is it true they'll depopulate these sectors?"

"Ha! You've been listen to old wives tales havent you?"
You're not laughing and soon he gets serious.
"Current projections have sector 29 as reaching unsustainable levels of deterioration within the next fifteen years without a serious change. Law enforcement is difficult at best these days and will become impossible in the not too distant future. There's still hope of salvaging the infrastructure largely intact if something is done before the ten year mark. Illegal tunnel drilling and power grid taps can still be repaired.
Before the House siezed all those territories beyond the homeworlds I thought things were beginning to look grim, but now we have a place to send people if we really do need to evacuate them."

>- ask about the sentences related to the various crimes against him, we never had run-ins with the law, so we're a bit at a loss here
"Well there's murder, which a lot of people feel should carry a death sentence but Houses can always find a use for murders in peacetime or in war so we lock them away. Some sites actually attempt to use memory imprinting to assist in behavioral modification. I know some people have requested it, but the results are less than conclusive.
The fact that there were multiple victims just meant that the charges stacked.
Fleeing the scene of a crime which is just a misdemeanour.
Use of restricted or illegal weapons which in that case meant the splinter ammo. That's bad stuff, it's shipped in and marketed as cop killer ammo. Just having it without a license will get you a year or two, using it is serious business.

Lastly escape. The rules on that one vary quite a bit. Technically if he's in the middle of an escape he could be shot on sight but usually that just means stunning him with an energy weapon. If its a long sentence it'll add 30% to the length of it but if its shorter it can double it. If there are no other crimes or their time has been served it's still worth 4 years.
All of those combined basically means a life sentence. Whether it was self defense or not isn't my call, we found all the evidence made the arrest and gave it the the prosecutors. He certainly killed them, there's doubt about that. The rest is just semantics."

>- if he asks, we want this info so that we can try to find a solution to this situation. Mike was our wingman and subordinate, we've a duty to try and protect him from himself sometimes
He doesn't ask why you want the files, instead telling you that; "If you saw him in there do something about it, or you're just like the rest of them."

>>28131822
>"If you saw him in there do something about it, or you're just like the rest of them."
> do something about it

"Jesus Christ, Knight Reynard when I told you to do something about it, I didn't mean to set him up as a private security contractor!"

"S-sorry?"

>>28131956
Heading back out to the vehicles Mike hands you a box. "You might want to hand these off to the cops. My mother confiscated them to keep them out of the building."

Checking inside you see a number of distinctive looking cigars. They're not rolled, it looks like they were grown whole.
"Cigar bush" Says Mike. There's a note inside warning that they're all laced with addictive substances. They're being found less often these days but they are still appearing meaning smugglers must still be bringing in new shipments.

"Son of a bitch! Mike what did we ever do about that narcotics farm?"

"We turned over the stockpiles to intel and informed Command about the planet, other than that not much. Didn't we salvage a cruiser there?"

You'll have to talk to the Baron Winifred about this once she heads out to South Reach.

>Added to the Journal which I'm trying to keep track of and will post shortly!

Alternatively this is also a What Do?

>>28132399
JOURNAL/TO DO LIST

>Talk to cold case investigator
>Create 1st Exp. Fleet Social Club *
>writing and publishing several academic articles on military topics
>write papers on Neeran
>Hang out with Sister
>Go hunting
>Cruise around space in your ship
>Give Rufaro a lift to see her family

>Decide on Trophy room for Lodge (Will be in an upcoming survey)
>Decide on construction site of future R&D base(s)
>Talk to Baron Winifred about Narcotics smuggling*

Mike & Sector 29
>Talk to Lord Do'orla Epyn Sector 29 Landlord*
>Look up data on soldiers in Sector 29 residential area
>Talk to Cops/ bureaucracy about Civil Defense Force/ Residential Militia *
>Lawyers for Ronni (Mike is dealing with this)
>Investigate local smugglers (optional)

Time sensitive
>Plan hit on DHI manager Agathon Colquhoun (28 days remaining)
>Ball coming up in 39 days
*= Could likely be encountered at ball

Am I missing anything?

>>28132399
Fist go take that contraband in and then ask Mike what he plans to do now. We could have mike look into the soldiers in sector 29 since he is a local while we go talk to Winifred about the smuggling.

>>28132904
Once back in your duty uniform you head inside and drop off the box explaining they were taken away form some minors. The cop seems a little bewildered that someone would hand them in but takes possession of them, making sure to bag them as evidence.

>and then ask Mike what he plans to do now
"Lawyers. That's what I'll be concentrating on first and foremost."

>We could have mike look into the soldiers in sector 29 since he is a local
"I could look into that a bit, though some might not be willing to talk to me or my family simply because I'm local. If I send you a list of them would you mind going over things with them?"

I'm stopping here for tonight. I'm looking at doing a timeskip so decide how much prep time you want to set aside and argue over how you want the hit taken care of (if you're still doing it.) I'll put a survey op once there are some clear options to choose from. I'll also try to post some more info on the guy that Sonia researches.

If possible I'd like next week to be a Ballroom Edition.

>>28133180
Couldent we combine some of these? Like if we decided to take a few knights hunting with our sister or something?

>>28135059
With the cold case investigator as well?

>>28136062
Anything goes! I mean, who dose not like hunting?

>>28132588

>cold case investigator

As the person that brought up the Intel wanting to talk about that with us [due to worry], we should just send the guy a quick response saying "I was just trying to follow up on a message I'd gotten before the Neeran showed up and everything went to hell. Didn't make sense when I got it, just trying not to piss off Intel when I got back."

We don't know shit about the situation, other than we sensed a spy and he got killed trying to escape, as spies tend to do, I imagine. We've probably got enough confusion about the actual events that we'd just throw out false information due to time and stress clouding our memory of a shitty event.

>hang out with sister
>Give Rufaro a lift to see her family
>Cruise around space in your ship

We could easily combine these two, even letting our sister have a go at flying our ship [heck, or even Aaron, didn't he want to try for pilot again?] and just generally introducing our actual sister to someone that may eventually end up being her 'new' older sister.

>hit on DHI guy

Not sure if House Intel CIA shit or Shadow Organization shit. Either way, it couldn't hurt to ask for a tour of the facility this guy works at, could it? We're a stock holder, aren't we?

>anything I missed

We have the GE/Aries guys seeking to secure Sonia's endorsement of their equipment!

Which is an interesting enough development that we should probably schedule a private meeting with Baron Winifred after we've seen the offers both companies are sending to our lawyers.

We might be able to secure a contract that benefits not only Sonia or her salvage company, but perhaps Winifred's new holdings and the House at large. [and making Winifred look good is always a great plan, no?]

>>28136276
About those two GE/aries guys. How about we get both of them to endorse us? One could endorse our wing and the other could endorse our salvage company to give it a quick start with some goody goody systems and stuff.

Also the very idea of mini Sonia flying our ship just makes me drool, let's do it!

>>28136698

They're competitors, any deal we sign with them is almost guaranteed to come with an exclusivity clause, preventing us from endorsing the products of other companies.

heck, we might even be told to go screw ourself by both of them if we even suggest forgoing a clause like that

>>28136746
Well in that case I vote we make a deal with whoever can improve our salvage company the most. Geting deals for warships seems like a worse idea considering we can just salavge them and then buy high end systems to outfit them with.

Agathon Colquhoun
Information you've found would tend to indicate he's a successful manager within DHI, though one with an above average turnover rate for subordinate employees. His record seems otherwise fairly average, though his rise to his current position is suspected to be the result of bribes and legal wrangling though a number of high payed law firms.
Since a recent downturn in productivity and quality control more people are being fired or transferred to other divisions in the name of trying to increase efficiency back to previous levels.

He owns a mansion in a high class neighborhood on the other side of the continent, is married and has at least one child. Additional children may have been sent off to be raised under alternate identities as some nobles are known to do.

His commute follows the same route every day using an autopiloted surface level repulsor car. The car is suspected to be lightly armored.

When not working or at home he routinely visits various resorts and country clubs. Does not enjoy hunting or water sports.
Responds poorly to stressful situations.

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GE
If accepting the contract with GE you can't do endorsements for any other power system manufacturers, though you could in theory support other shipyards. GE doesn't build their own ships just power systems, reactors, engines and equipment for infrastructure. The only exception to this are their shuttles, everything else is built by subsidiaries, though they'll often sell production licenses for their shuttles as well.

You could choose to get substantial discounts on anything GE produces, ships or equipment their subsidiaries produce, or you could ask for money. Getting a production license for their shuttles at reduced cost is not out of the question. Persistence in promoting GE to your peers will be rewarded.
>GE produces too many products to list

Aries
If accepting the contract with Aries you can't do endorsements for any other starship or power system manufacturer. They do produce much of the same stuff GE does but in nowhere near the same numbers. Not counting sublight drives most of the systems equipment they produce goes straight into their ships or are sold as replacement parts.

Much like GE you could ask for discounts on vehicles or engines, or you could get money. Bonuses will be awarded if you manage to get more sales out of your allies or House.

Products
-Torpedoes
-Energy weapons
-High output sublight drives
-Afterburner systems
Aries Attack Cruiser
Aries Transport (Almost double the carrying capacity of the Y-type)
Aries Fast Battleship (Terran/Factions Alliance only)
Aries Battleship/Heavy Battleship (Dominion customers only)

>>28138184
I don't like the idea of this. While it will certainly save/make us money, picking sides could be problematic in the long run.

With our weird mixture of ships, we'll never know what kind of equipment we'll have to replace next, and I'd rather not piss off a potential supplier by endorsing their rival.

>>28138244
If we do pick one I'd say Aries. They build the same shizzle as GE with the bonus of being able to buy ships later on. Also their logo is much pwettyer. It reminds me of like of something from the fiftys or the like while GE's colorful logo screams to much hippi for my taste.

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>while GE's colorful logo screams to much hippi for my taste.
That's why its the alternate logo. Its meant to be like fusion stages. Perhaps I should have gone with something closer to this.

>Couldent we combine some of these? Like if we decided to take a few knights hunting with our sister or something?

So, hanging out with your sister on two occasions, likely a week apart from each other?

Weekend 1) Running around with the ship, giving Rufaro a lift, letting sister see ship, etc.

Weekend 2) Big hunting trip. Should give time to prepare the lodge.

>[heck, or even Aaron, didn't he want to try for pilot again?
Yes, though he really seemed to like the Bittenfeld.

>>28136179
>I mean, who dose not like hunting?
I honestly did not see that before writing up the piece on Colquhoun.

>>28136276
>it couldn't hurt to ask for a tour of the facility this guy works at, could it? We're a stock holder, aren't we?
Yes but that doesn't mean they conduct tours of every facility at the drop of a hat. There may be pre-organised tours however. Rollan!


>schedule a private meeting with Baron Winifred after we've seen the offers both companies are sending to our lawyers.
So, you want to see her as soon as possible now or wait until the Ball?

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Rolled 17

>>28138480
Idiot! No capital d in the field. Rolling.

Also police drones from earlier.

>>28137933
What kind of environment does he work in? Is he just sitting in an office building, or does he have to visit factories regularly?

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>>28136062
>>28136179
>>28136276
>cold case investigator
>we should just send the guy a quick response saying "I was just trying to follow up on a message I'd gotten before the Neeran showed up and everything went to hell. Didn't make sense when I got it, just trying not to piss off Intel when I got back."
You guys want to do this, or invite him along on the hunting trip?

>>28138494
There are office areas built into the factory building where he works.

There is a tour coming up in 17 days.

>>28138582
Invite him on the hunting trip.

There is no better way to judge a person than seeing how they react while on the hunt.

> cold case investigator
As the person that posted the message, I'm against inviting the guy to our hunting trip. He isn't a member of our target group of expeditionary knights, and frankly we don't need to be his friend.

> baron Winifred
ASAP, that works for her. It isn't an emergency, but the sooner we consult her, the sooner we can have the benefits of the endorsements.

And, possibly even benefits for her new domain!

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While looking over the list of people you could invite over for the hunting trip you're immediately struck by just how many Knights there are in 3rd wing after returning Home and the Earl going nuts with the promotions.

There are 30 Knights not counting yourself!

Holy shit, that's a lot of people to be having over. A dinner party would be one thing but hunting with that many? Maybe you should try to keep it to a smaller group.

There's your 6 Knight Lieutenants and after them a bunch of flight leaders, followed by your other ace pilots.
Nytoria Jde from 2nd Squadron really should have been Knighted too, but she commands a frigate.
>How many of your Knights did you want to have over for the hunting trip?

I have to step out for a few hours guys. I don't really know how long I'll be but its an hour's drive 1 way about.

>>28139049
Well why don't we invite all 30 for a weekend in the lodge then with dinner and tours of the land. And then we could hold a hunting trip for those that want to while those whom do not enjoy such noble sports, shocking as it may be, can spend some pleasant time infront of a large cozy fire while drinking some nice space spirit.

And yes to hanging out with sister twice, we havent nearly been spending as much time with the family as we should being deployed as we have been.

>>28139049
>>How many of your Knights did you want to have over for the hunting trip?

Seems like we'll have to space our guys out over multiple trips.

>>28138480
>>28138582
We should see what Winifred thinks about such things as soon as possible because no doubt she has some experiance with dealing with such people.

We are of course going to go on said tour of the factory building.

Depending on who we invite to the hunting trip I wouldn't mind letting the cold case investigator tag along. To be fair we don't know if this is just a junior looking through files or someone higher up.

>>28139049
Maybe we hold a party for our knights and pick those that like hunting as >>28139106 suggested. This would give us a an opportunity to get to know our people better and we should contact Nytoria Jde to make sure the she joins up in knighthood. I mean is really all thats standing in her way is commanding a frigate?

>>28139049
>>28139106
>>28140033
Before said party we should of house have our house look more like a house instead of something that was just built but keep it with the theme of it being a hunting lodge.

>>28140146
Yeah I was just going to say this. Let's go out with (our sister?) and pick out a bunch of things to make the lodge more 'lived in'.

>>28141050
Any reason to hang out with mini Sonia is a good reason to hang out with mini Sonia in my book.

>>28141103
>>28141050
We should probably bring mom as well, just so things don't get too Sonia. Or we'll end up with a house filled with nothing but water and sharks.

>>28141200
There is nothing wrong with a water and shark filled house. But yeah mom, mini Sonia, bodyguard?

>>28141258
Yeah. That combination works pretty well I'd say.

Side note: We've been sending money back from the front to our family right? Since they still love in the same middle-class housing, what has mum been doing with it?

>>28141200
>>28141258
Speaking of water and sharks we should get someone to create those snowglobes at some point.

>>28141798
Knight's, hunting and mini Sonia aside how will we deal with the supposedly corrupt DHI guy? I don't really feel good about outright assassinating him when for all we know this could be complete bullshit info on him. On the other hand I do not want to take up to much time dealing with him. We have about 30 days to deal with him so should we figure something out for after the hunting and space ship shizzles and shopping and all that?

>>28141913
Clearly we must go full on investigation. We have the tour coming up but there are many things we can do before that.

Find out where he lives, the level of security that it has, break in to find out if he keeps files on any misdeeds he has done or his files in general. We could try to see if we can find and then plant a listening devise in his house and office when we go there.

I say go full on investigation with this and depending on what we find we can chose if he should then run into a accident.

>>28142095
>>28141913

Just remember that if anyone notices us looking into the guy and he ends up dead...

well, that won't end well if he is as well connected as he seems to be

>>28141258
>mini Sonia

We could make her look like regular Sonia, and then send her to Rufaro to tell her we had a tragic teleporter accident that transformed us into a teen. She has to help us find a date to the prom for some bullshit reason, or we'll never grow up again.

>>28142173
Not sure about tormenting Rufaro but we really should introduce our sister to her and just "happen" to have to slip away for awhile.

>>28142143
Which is why we have to be extra carfull and gather information the old fashion way of snooping around, asking former employees about him ect.

When we go see see Winifred should be drop a thinly vieled questiona about if she has heard about this "shadow group". Mention we have gotten into spy novels since we have been back and how we have noticed that a running theme seems to be that they get their orders in the most interesting ways. Name a few random ones and say that our favorite is the phonebooth in the middle of nowhere.

If there is anyone we can trust it's Winifred.

>>28142173
....
.......
..........
I laughed and laughed and laughed shamelessly. This is Crazy HasAnne stupid but that's why I love it.

>>28142173
....well....this is going to be good.

>>28127998
Had a nice view and wasted two or so hours ?
Regarding the hunting trip, i would not call it as such, more of a rustic getaway at a mountain house or so. That there is the option to go hunting, or just get gluttonous well fed, plastered drunk and in a clear and open space to vent out any daemons after the initial shock of meeting society again.

Keeping PTSD, trauma and such in check from running too rampant with our squishy brains.

>>28142881

So first priority seems to be talking to the Baron.

You schedule an appointment and within a day or two you're heading up to see her. The taxi arrives at her mansion in the southern hemisphere near local midday. There are gardens and fields surrounding the main part of the property and vineyards within walking distance. Farther off you can see forests that seem largely untouched.

Inside things are built to look intentionally a bit old and ornate, but not outright like the Harmen family castle or the grand hall in the capital.

A servant shows you to an office overlooking the pool area.

The Baron enters through one of the side doors a few minutes later, dressed in civilian clothing but still managing to look the part.
"Captain, I can see you're keeping busy. Barely a week on leave and you've already come to see me. Tell me you haven't set fire to anyone important or plundered some state secret."

First you tell her about the endorsement deals offered by GE and Aries.
>We might be able to secure a contract that benefits not only Sonia or her salvage company, but perhaps Winifred's new holdings and the House at large.
"I already have investments in GE in addition to the local manufacturers here. I'm not interested in endorsements personally. It's good of you to think of helping the House though. Have you considered supporting DHI?"

Well, you've always been rather heavy on use of their drive systems before anyone else for the Wing.

"It's doubtful they could offer you much at the moment though. Getting the personal support of the larger megacorps could prove very valuable to you and your company start up. The same with your holdings in South Reach, it could be valuable to expand you factories. Just be mindful you're not alienating your allies."

>>28143214

"There was another thing I wanted to talk about. I've gotten into reading spy novels since we've been back."

Winifred sighs and briefly puts a hand to her face then rises and opens a jewl box, switching on a device inside.
"Speak."

"I noticed that a running theme seems to be that in many of the novels they get their orders in the most interesting ways."
You name a few random ones, mentioning that your favorite is the phonebooth in the middle of nowhere.

"You can speak plainly Captain, I'm jamming any listening devices."

>What say?

>>28143214

"That is why I've come to seek your advice, Baron. I'm at a loss as to the broader picture of endorsing GE vs Aries, especially as to how I might use them to benefit the House or my holdings and the greater region they're located within." [She controls South Reach where we have most of our land holdings, correct?]

"The thought of attempting to endorse GE's systems and Aries' ships also crossed my mind, but I do not wish to alienate them by proposing such."

>>28143508
>"That is why I've come to seek your advice, Baron. I'm at a loss as to the broader picture of endorsing GE vs Aries, especially as to how I might use them to benefit the House or my holdings and the greater region they're located within."
"My advise is to use them as little as possible, or for short term gain if at all. Don't drag the House into it or make any claims about your subordinates or what your units use. Keep things personal."

>[She controls South Reach where we have most of our land holdings, correct?]
Yes. Or she will when she gets out there.

>"The thought of attempting to endorse GE's systems and Aries' ships also crossed my mind, but I do not wish to alienate them by proposing such."
Winifred laughs at this. "I'm certain GE would be more than happy to agree to such an arrangement. It's more insulting to Aries than anything over the reliability of their high performance engines, which are known to be an issue.
It was bad enough that ships equipped with early Aries afterburner engines were nicknamed Foxbat."

>>28143502
Mention that right after we got the offers from GE and Aries that anothe man came to us. Mention his name, that he gave us a disk that destroyed itself once read once, and we were offered a job if we were looking for money since we had certain "skills".

Has she ever heard of anything like this happening before?

>>28143770
>Mention his name
"An alias obviously and a poor one at that."

>and we were offered a job if we were looking for money since we had certain "skills".
"You've certainly killed enough people while in that armor of yours. You managed to stay out of range of me before I could disorient you too heavily with smoke launchers. It makes sense."

>Has she ever heard of anything like this happening before?
"Certainly I have. Who is your target, me?"

"No." you reply, wondering why she would ask that.
"Good. Regardless of your choice never tell one of those potential targets that someone is planning to kill them. As for accepting jobs or not that really isn't my decision. You were approached, it's yours."

"But how do I know if the different jobs really help the House or not?" you respond somewhat desperately.

She laughs again, but this time it sounds cold and cruel. "You don't, not really, and the more research you conduct on a target yourself the greater the risk of being detected. Of it being traced back to you."

>>28144072

I'm tempted to ask Baron Winifred a parting question, once the important stuff is done with...

Does she have any advice on how we can deal with our little sister's apparent obsession with following in our footsteps?

>>28144072
Not sure if we have anything else to speak to her about, unless we ask how the R&D is coming along?

Seems a few posters have disappeared for now.

>>28144072
Maybe one final question: Ask her if she thinks it would be crazy to try and figure out the identity of our employer.

With what was just revealed to us I still say we continue with the mission and maybe make it a mission to try and figure out who our employer is.

>>28144072
Were we going to invite Winifred to go hunting by the way?

>>28144326

We should invite her to a different party, possibly one where our mother is around.

Cue our mother and our Expeditionary Mother-figure forming an anti-Sonia-Antics Alliance

>>28144326
Nah. The point of the party is to build up our social network, not add to hers.

Anyway, ask her what she would have done if she was our target, ha.

I'm a bit leery about accepting the phone booth job to be honest. Sonia seems to be become an increasingly prominent public figure and as such people are going to be digging into her past. Adding unnecessary skeletons to our closet doing shady jobs like these would probably be bad in the long run, especially if we're going to be involved in house politics one way or another.

>>28144283
"Any advice on how I can deal with my little sister's apparent obsession with following in my footsteps?"
"I'm the wrong person to ask, I'm sorry."

>>28144307
>unless we ask how the R&D is coming along?
"There is some speculation going on between scientists about the Neeran with the armored skin. Someone recently suggested that it might be possible to artificially strengthen inter-atomic bonds. It seemed to be carrying enough of a power supply to attempt it or something similar."

"How long until R&D can get that for us?"

"Since they haven't been able to duplicate the effects, quite a long time. Our Neeran allies claim they didn't even know it was possible."

"They're a real help." You mutter.

"It gets worse. They've refused to send more ships into Shallan space for fear of enemy boarding attempts. They're worried that if a similar team was able to get aboard it could turn more of their warships against us. Until they can find out precisely how to counter future attempts the Alliance has agreed they should stay out of our way."

>>28144321
>Ask her if she thinks it would be crazy to try and figure out the identity of our employer.
"For someone like you nothing would seem to be too crazy. Just remember, that everyone has something valuable to them, some weakness to exploit. Even you."

>>28144326
>>28144367
I don't know, were you? There was plenty of talk of inviting fellow Knights along and family members but that's it.
>We should invite her to a different party
"I'll try to find time in my schedule."

>>28144584
Or maybe house politics are exactly why we should except this job. The very fact that our superior is seemingly unfazed by what we told her and that the first thing she asked is if she was the target suggest this could be common place.

House politics are known as the great game for a reason and if we are to have any sort of sucess we get use to the fact that people are going to use whatever tactic to get ahead.

And really this job is just a way to make money anyway so I don't really see a problem with it.

>>28144072
Come on Winifred, you know Sonia has a role model crush on you!
He is your teachers monster. She brings you murder presents!
Anyone who would even look to assassinate you through Sonia would find themselves in multiple fist sized pieces after a few moments.

Later at the Reynard residence...

"You're not going gallivanting about through deep space."

"But mom!" your sister starts.
"You have school work to do."

"She can bring it with her." you suggest. "The shuttle flight wont take that long and it'll be a few hours to get a flight plan cleared."
One of the great banes of operating in a far more populated area, having to file flight plans on a consistent basis. Combat units normally are just cleared for a particular departure lane and that's it, for a private warship though it's essential that flight plans are put through. Less chance of being mistaken for a Pirate or a smuggler.

"And it's going to be on the weekend, we wont be gone for that long. She still has plenty of time." You finish.

"I'm still against this but it could be helpful to get her out of the house." She responds after trying to deal with your little brother for several minutes.

"Ooh, what about my friends?" Asks Bekka

"You'll never get permission for them all to go." Says your Mother. "Ask them another time when none of them are grounded."

"Oh uh, what about going out to the lodge on the next weekend?" you ask.

"Sonia." starts your mom.

"If she doesn't finish her homework she wont be invited, how's that then?"

"But next week we're getting into the hard stuff! I'll never finish my homework in time!"

"I guess you'll have your work cut out for you."

Bekka punches you in the arm.

"Hey, striking an officer or a noble. That's a punishable offence."

"But you're not! Oh. Yeah you're a noble now. Sorry. I expected you to just try and hit me back."

"Well since you did strike a noble you're grounded for the rest of the night." says mom.

"What!?"

"Room, door, homework. Go."

"Trust me, learning about disciplinary action now is a lot better than being thrown in the brig over it when you're older."
The door slams shut in response.

"That went well."

>>28145067

>sister has homework

>hire a tutor for the weekends to -assist- her, not do the work for her.

>>28145067
>"Hey, striking an officer or a noble. That's a punishable offence."
I love Sonia's sense of humour, heh.

I wonder what our sis did with that holo-sword we got her...

Anyway, lets have a talk to our mum about what we can do to help us sis out in her quest to follow in our footsteps. Is there an academy or officer lessons we can pay for?

When picking up Rufaro the next day you enact your master plan. Bringing your dress uniform along you tell your sister to help with a practical joke. No she wont get in trouble, just throw the uniform on that doesnt fit her.

While you hide behind a nearby corner out of sight your sister heads over to the spot where Rufaro is located

You hear a scream of alarm from nearby which soon quiets down. Before long you hear your sisters voice.
"Sonia! It didnt work. Or it did but only for a minute."

Damn it.

"What happened?"
"She asked me why my hand wasnt grey anymore. You should have given me a glove."

Taking a shuttle up the next day you give your sister in one of the jump seats and take the copilot position yourself. After gaining enough altitude the sky turns dark, stars and running lights from ships and stations now clearly visible without the atmosphere.

"Are we there yet?"
"Dont start or I'll turn this shuttle around."

Approaching from forward Bekka gets her first real view of your ship. The mouth area is filled with the forward weapons. The battleship grade plasma cannon and the 4 heavy pulse cannons. A pair of crosses where the eyes would normally be show the location of the forward torpedo launchers. Its difficult to see the phase cannon arrays built into the fins because of the light from this angle.

"Fucking metal. Even my own friends didnt believe me when I told them that ship in orbit was yours."
"Hey, language." you warn. "I cant have you going back home cursing like a damage control technician."

When you arrive you find that Arron responded to your message and decided to show up. Kavos, Linda and everyone else are on their leave and are unavailable. For the moment you're still stuck with the crew that volunteered to serve aboard the ship.

>Anything special you want to do aboard before, during or after the trip?
There is a helmsman but I assume you'd like to take the controls at least once.

>>28145922
>>Anything special you want to do aboard before, during or after the trip?

Didn't we promise our sister she'd get to fly it for a bit? So, we'll probably have to stop somewhere without anything around us at least once.

Talk a bit to the important crew members. Can't hurt to get to know them if we have to decide if we want some of them to stay.

Ask Rufaro how her geology stuff is going.

>>28146035
Also ask Rufaro how she has been in general. That was some...intersting music we heard her listening to.

>>28145922
See how fast we can get that shark moving as well. A shakedown run.

Talk a bit to the important crew members. Can't hurt to get to know them if we have to decide if we want some of them to stay.


You have the LT and Arron take your sister to look at the bridge while you and Rufaro swing through the aft sections to talk to some of the other senior officers aboard.

"Rufaro how are you doing anyways?"

"Glad to be on leave sir. I was starting to go stir crazy after being on the ship for the better part of four weeks."

"That was some...interesting music you were listening to when I called before."

"You think I listen to that at home? That was at a bar. I was trying to find some of my old squad mates."

"So, find any?"

"Only a few. The unit was broken up because of garrisons being needed for South Reach, volunteers for Operation Typhoon and then the relocation to Shallan Space. A lot of the ground divisions had to be broken up because of all the movement."

Rufaro hasn't been doing much geology wise, though she did look into the available courses available from the schools on Dreminth. So far she hasn't decided on anything.

The engineering crews are all eager to give the ship a real cruise. The shakedown was rather short and they were expecting you to request the vessel be brought up to the front lines soon after launch. The ship's chief engineer, Veya Anoar, is a veteran that served aboard a Frigate loaned to House Helios for several years. This is the biggest ship he's served on but he was with the construction crews that helped build it so he knows it better than anyone.

The security control room attached to one of the barracks is manned by only a small compliment, half volunteers, half marines from your own House.

You pull a hacking unit you've borrowed out of your bag. "If this ship is being infiltrated by enemy forces how hard it it going to be for them to break the ship's security systems?"
Neither group is quite certain so you plug in the hacking unit.

Roll 2d100 (2nd if for shakedown)

Rolled 99

>>28147268
Rolling.

>1

Rolled 56, 58 = 114

>>28147268
lets hope our security isn't made of tinfoil

Rolled 60, 94 = 154

>>28147268
Might as well test everything!

Rolled 87

>>28147319
>2

>>28147319
>>28147333
99, 94.

Wonder what this'll do?

>I wonder what our sis did with that holo-sword we got her...
It was confiscated you're 90% certain.

>hire a tutor for the weekends to -assist- her, not do the work for her.
>talk to our mum. Is there an academy or officer lessons we can pay?
Yes, a few places. The Academy is difficult to get into as they only take so many each year and once you're in the family cant offer a lot of support in the way of additional tutors. Private schools for the nobility tend to make sure kids are prepared for the academy. Things are strict and your sister might not fit in well.
There are "Lesser" officer prep schools as well which vary quite a bit in their quality.

>99

"Bridge to security, are we being hacked?" Asks Lt Tes'us

You tell the team officer not to respond and that you want to see if the crew can really counter the hacking attempt. A few of the Marines are disturbed by this but at least one of them who seemed to have fully expected this sits down.

Some alarms go off and soon the hack has been entirely blocked. The hardlines connecting the sections of the ship you'd taken control of have been isolated and are being restored to the bridge and engineering. Within a few minutes you're locked out of the system entirely.

"Nice." You grab the module which still seems to be intact. You doubt it would ever work against this ship's defenses again.

"Bridge this is Reynard, good job on that test."

The doors open and six Marines charge in from each one, a mix of phase and mass driver rifles at the ready.
"Make that a really good job."

After the troops have stood down you head towards the bridge. It's located beneath the structure of the dorsal fin but above the main cannon which runs a good portion of the ship's length. Really the plasma cannon belongs on a larger ship. They test fired it but you sure hope the recoil wont be a problem in the long term.

>>28147807
>There are "Lesser" officer prep schools as well which vary quite a bit in their quality.
Could we send her to a Terran academy during her next holidays? If I remember correctly, their crews have excellent training, the only thing they're usually lacking is the chance to advance in rank quickly if they're capable.
A problem that wouldn't really apply to her.

>Things are strict and your sister might not fit in well.

Wouldn't that problem apply to pretty much every career in the military?

>>28147807
Maybe we should ask our Sister what she wants to do? Academy? Normal schooling? Tuition?

Or maybe like >>28148036 said, something more exotic like schooling on the other side of known space.

"Have you grown a centimeter since you got off the shuttle?" you ask your sister when she meets up with you again.
"Told you she would notice." Bekka says to Arron before pulling a layer off the bottom of her shoes. Arron sighs and hands her some money.

"I expect you'll want to take her out for a spin yourself sir?" Asks the Lt.
"Oh yes I do. Bekka and Arron, you two can argue over who gets to take a turn first later on."
"Dibs!"
"Dib- fuck" curses Arron. "Not my day."

While the bridge isn't much smaller than the Unnamed Guard's it is a bit taller and the layout is different. Climbing into the actual Captains chair instead of the one for the helmsman you look around. It's a bit more elevated above the rest of the bridge than on other ships. There's a secondary helm/operations station to the front left of you, a little bit lower. The crewman manning it gives you a thumbs up and switches to helping with system operations.

After strapping in you search for your usual gear. "I'm not seeing my headset anywhere."

"That because there isn't one sir. The panoramic displays are set up to project around you. Directional sound pickup, projectors and everything else track your every move. You can customise it to not follow certain movements."

Arron speaks up. "Isn't this dangerous is there's an overload? It rare but I've seen holographic bridge displays blow out before."

"The designers corrected for that problem. There are also backups and if those fail you still have wireframe displays you can deploy." Tes'us demonstrates by hitting a button on the side of your control console which brings up a trio of displays, left, right, front and then a fourth one pops out of the back of your chair taking up the area above. Testing them you could likely punch your way through the backup displays if you were trapped.

Getting permission to move out you increase throttle and follow the the course necessary to get out of the gravity well towards the Terraformed worlds.