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>>35028025
>Current armory
121 Thorn Launchers
2 Thorn Cannons
53 Sting Casters
1 Rotary Stinger
3 Fire Sprays
1 Plasma Spray

>Current resource reserves
Nutrients: 4913
Metals: 23325

>Hive population and upkeep cost
Hive maintenance – 325
Queen – 5
Worker (1200) – 2400
Radiator Worker (40) – 160
Warrior (209) – 836
Thinker (139) – 417
Quantum Thinker (110) – 550
Speaker – (1) – 4
Digger (80) – 320
Refinery (10) – 70
Sniffer (2) – 8
Small Sniffer (40) – 40
Fly (10) – 40
Wasp (59) – 295
Antenna (3) – 9
Haz-mat Workers (20) – 80
Shock Troops (40) – 520
Excavator (9) – 171
Colossus (6) – 90
Advanced Relay (6) – 600
Space Pod (3) – 90
Shuttle (2) – 50
Scout Corvette – 325
Lancer Corvette – (2) 400
Nutrient costs: 5455

>Income
Metals: 3750
Nutrients: 8505
Net: 970

Hive Structure
>Reservoir
>General storage
>Food storage
>Advanced Laboratory
>Infrastructure
>Hangar facilities: Room for 40 Aero Drones and 20 Shuttles (25N)
>Mine: +1500 M per day (+25 M per digger)
>Asteroid mining base: +2250M per day (+50 M per digger)
>Algae Farm: +8000 N per day, 80 Workers (1 worker per 100N)
>Clarke Research Outpost
>Hel’s Angel Prison Outpost
>Docking Pylon: Space for docking and construction of 4 ships (50N)
>Anti-orbital battery: 2 (125N per battery)

Current construction
120 Farms

New Construction Options
>Algae Farm – +100N per day, 1 worker to maintain
>Hangar Expansion – Add on to current hangar facilities for your choice of +40 aero drone space, or +20 shuttle space. 50N 100M
>Anti-orbital battery – A bunker armed with a massive Particle beam capable of attacking ships in orbit from the ground. It includes the power and sensor systems required to operate it. 250N 1500M

Ship Construction Options
http://pastebin.com/YTwGk8n1

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>>35028047
Finished Research
>Panic gas
This potent gas directly triggers a sense of overwhelming danger and dread in the subject to create a mind numbing desire to flee the area as quickly as possible. While your current research shows that it should be quite effective against a variety of life forms, you are unsure exactly how they would respond without first hand field testing. Results may vary widely depending on the targets state of mind, psychology, or training.

>Hallucinogenic spores
This fungus is similar in nature to the deadly sea spores, but is far less lethal. While there may be some danger in overdose, the spores seem to cause a variety of vivid hallucinations from visions of nightmarish horrors to perceived visions of the future and everything in between. The spores are short lived, but are small enough to be invisible to the vision of most creatures, or appear as little more than dust.

>Paralytic barb
The powerful toxin of this flower is fired from a small barb like a dart gun. While the barb itself is useless against even basic protection, the toxin can be loaded into a projectile or hypodermic blade with ease. The toxin itself is fast acting and long lasting, knocking out the victim long enough for the plant to digest the prey, or in the case of your hive, long enough to retrieve and capture safely. The toxin is a venom, and must be injected directly into the blood stream for it to have any effect.

Current Research
>Net Gun
>Regeneration Tank
>Skryl Data Cubes

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Yes. I miss you Queenie!

I think we should focus on expanding our industry, then constructing a large fleet effectively all at once. Basically sink all of our nuetrients and metal into more algae farms and mines this turn.

Oh, and what R&D would we need to make a Cerebrate to our overmind? A duchess if you will.

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>>35028083
"Grid ten clear."
"Hey, shh, you hear that?"
Your drones pick up the radio of a small foot patrol nearby. There is a long pause.
"No, no I don't"
"Yea... something's up. This place just got real quiet real fast. Something's up."
"Local predator, maybe?"
"Maybe... Just keep an eye open. Let's keep moving."


>>35028138
I missed you too.

>>35028235

the queen already the overmind mate
just net to set up relay links that it
but yeah 10 workers can make 1 farm a day
so 100 workers on construction detail can make 10 a day

>>35028235
What we need is additional bases.

>>35028293
>the queen already the overmind mate
Well yes, I just think it might be useful to have minions with more individuality and initiative than quantum thinkers to serve as our chief lieutenants.

>>35028327
it is a good idea if we can make sure they can not backstab us

>>35028293
>>so 100 workers on construction detail can make 10 a day
Actually it takes longer than that because of diminishing returns.

>>35028327

No, everything that needs to be micromanaged already is by our Thinkers and by our drones themselves. We're fine, quit bringing this up every thread.

>>35028345
Not that guy but that would but the easiest part.

>>35028352
What diminishing return?
We are running out of space to set up farms now?
Or a hard limit on water??
the only upkeep for the farm is the 1 worker we spawn to man it?
So what is decreasing our return
We playing supreme commander mate

>>35028253
Speaking of sneaky shit I have a possible drone design here.

Special Operations Warrior
Olfactory: Basic
Acoustic: Basic
Radio: Basic 1N
Psionic: Basic
Mandibles: Combat 1N
Blade: Combat 1N
Arms: Strength 1N
Legs: Sprint 1N
Wings: Moderate 2N
Utility: Explosive Acid Glands 1N
Carapace: Combat 3N10M
Mimetic Skin 2N
Size: Medium

Cost: 13N10M
Upkeep: 7N

Its basically a Warrior that can keep up with a Shocktrooper, has some slight stealth abilities and can use its acid glands to remove any trace of its body in case of shit getting fucked. You put 5-10 of these in a squad with one Shocktrooper as their commander.
I figured these would be useful in operations where we don't want to leave any incriminating evidence behind and their cheaper than a full squad of shocktroopers. Although I admit we're probably only going to use them in rare situations.

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>>35028293
>but yeah 10 workers can make 1 farm a day

Neither of you seem to have been paying attention at all. The farm construction is already underway, and takes multiple days, we are literally already doing that shit. Number of farms and quantity of nutrients stored are the current bottleneck.

It's happening already as fast as it possibly can.

And because laying drones requires upfront laying costs, we will need to *not* start wasting the upkeep immediately, we have to let the nest egg grow, in order to be able to lay large numbers of starships. The corvette alone is 400N upfront costs each. At the current resource reserves, you can barely lay 12 of them. And then you won't be able to lay any more at all, unless you wait days to build up more excess net nutrients income to add to the reserves.

>>35028235
And independent minds are completely unnecessary, the queen has absolutely no mechanic that limits her capacity for control with enough psionic relays. If you're completely desperate for more NPCs to boss around, you have Quantum Thinkers.

>>35028468

I'm down for keeping it on the books. Do they need the radio sensing if they're going to be stationed with Shock Troopers though?

>>35028253
As your workers return to their duties and the finishing touches are made on your farms, you once again look to your hive tunnels.

>Have the tunnels altered and rebuilt (will take several days)
>Leave them for now
>Other

>>35028532

>Have the tunnels altered and rebuilt
>Other
Also fortify them further. We don't want this shit to happen again. I don't care what the metal cost is.

>>35028532
>Have the tunnels altered and rebuilt (will take several days)
>Other - Move the queen to another site

>>35028573
>>35028555

I'd support both of these.

>>35028532
>Leave them for now
Wait until farms are complete. I don't suppose there's an ETA for that.

>>35028468
Pls save specialization sperging for the end of the thread pls let's stay focused pls

>>35028467
I don't know about any diminishing returns. But the claim that you can build a farm with 10 drones in a day is wrong. That has never happened. Farms have always taken multiple days to build no matter how many drones are on the job.

In fact right now, we are building 120 farms, and have 1200 workers for the job, and they're still not done yet, after several days of work. I forget how many.

>>35028532
>>Have the tunnels altered and rebuilt (will take several days)

Better to be safe than sorry and good to have you back!

>>35028467
Worker labor does not scale linearly. Bigger project take exponentially longer amounts of time.
>>35028555
We could attempt to synthesize Lonsdaleite.

>>35028516
Now that you mention it, not really.

>>35028532
>Have the tunnels altered and rebuilt

>>35028573
>>Other - Move the queen to another site
how about we work on our underwater tech and move under the sea?

>>35028532
>Have the tunnels altered and rebuilt
>Other
-fortify them further. We don't want this shit to happen again. I don't care what the metal cost is.
-Move the queen to another site after laying a fake queen with an egg sack and acid glands. Also, put acid glands on the advanced relays.

>>35028555
>>35028654
Simply fortifying the walls won't stop this from happening. We base defenses for counterattacking.

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>>35028532
>Alter the tunnels

Your spare workers start work at once. The process is slow, but you will soon weave an even more labyrinthine network beneath the surface. You briefly contemplate moving yourself to a new location entirely, or even creating a decoy to take up residence in your throne room.

>Move yourself to a new location (where)
>Create a decoy to take your place
>Neither

I should also mention that the farms don't so much as have diminishing returns as have a hard cap on the number of drones that can work in the same space at once. If you have a thousand workers and you start making a farm, only a small number can squeeze into the work area at the same time, so you end up with a boost in speed going from one to five, but not when going from one hundred to five hundred.

>>35028621
Good to be back!

>>35028770

>Move yourself to a new location (where)
That artic mountain range or the desert i guess
and yeah lay a egg layer to take our place here

>>35028735
Forget reinforcing the walls.

Adapt the cloaking technology to hide the walls from radar and sonar, maybe. Make it appear as just more ground and dirt. Although I suppose that would be costly too.

Still, at least the Hel's Angel should have its cloaking devices re attached and used to make it invisible to radar and sonar. That 'hard contact' was troubling.

>>35028770
We don't have a new location yet. Scout for one. A mountain on the opposite side of the world.

>>35028419
>>35028419
No we really do need some more thinking minions to two reasons:
1. We're a massive logistical bottleneck, due to us being the only person making new workers, which must be physically transported to wherever we need them. This somehow hasn't bitten us on the ass yet, but the instant we expand beyond the system it will.
2. We are a single point of failure, the queen dies, the host is leaderless

>>35028770
>Neither
We need to make a proper base to move too first before we do any of this.

>>35028770
>Move yourself to a new location
What are our options?

>>35028871
The desert or that mountain range on the other side of the planet

>>35028770

>Move yourself to a new location (The Mountain, for now)
>Create a decoy to take your place

>>35028816

We're really not at a logistical bottleneck, though your bitching has almost gotten to the point where I'd vote for making an egg layer just to shut you up. Also we'll still be the single point of failure even with lieutenants, so get over it.

>>35028770
>>35028871
At the moment
>Mountain base (still being dug out, scouted, and set up properly, intended as research base for dangerous things)
>Asteroid mining base
>Hollowed out mountain that previously held the Clarke
>Search for new location
>Other

>>35028889

We don't have a desert base yet though. Though I'd support going there. It's the next best thing to an underwater base.

>>35028770
>Move yourself to a new location (Issolatied mountain facility after it has been made self reliant )
>Create a decoy to take your place

>>35028954
>Search for new location

>>35028932
Uh, no we won't. Having lieutenants capable of truly independent action would be definition make us not a single point of failure. Also, since this is my first time playing this particular quest your hatred is rather unfounded. I am not the anon you are looking for

>>35028954
>>Hollowed out mountain that previously held the Clarke

>>35029017
No, you're being retarded enough in just this thread alone. Jesus christ shut up.

>>35028816
>1. We can make egg sacs as soon as they're needed. They aren't needed yet. We will literally lay them as soon as we need them. That has jack and shit to do with needing one that's actually sapient.

>2. We are a single point of failure, the queen dies, the host is leaderless
The queen dies, the quest ends. You'll never get to see what happens after game over anyway.

The hive's a superorganism. It's like saying "we need a second person's brain in our ass---if the brain in our head dies, our body is leaderless!" Please, just stop posting and let's not waste posts about this any further.

>>35029017

Fine fine, we'll lay a fucking egg layer as long as you'll shut up. The civ still ends if we, the queen, dies whether we have lieutenants or not.

>>35028954
>>Search for new location
We need to get away from the main base.

>>35028770
> create a decoy to take our place.
We could use a daughter anyway.
>>35028932
I sense much anger in you

>>35029066

>We need a second person's brain in our ass---if the brain in our head dies, our body is leaderless!

>>35028954
>>Other
previously stated possible advantages to a base burrowed under the rock in the ocean

more access to interesting samples (most of earths life if underwater it should be the same here),
less concerned about the planets / hot cold cycle,
easier to hide from outsiders,
if someone does come to remove us i'd think we'd get a bit of a defensive advantage (we would be suited to the environment they would not be, even more so if we are very deep),
would also give us options for setting up bases on other planets with oceans.

>>35029147
That would require the queen grow gills though.

>>35028954
>Search for new location

>>35028954
>Mountain base (still being dug out, scouted, and set up properly, intended as research base for dangerous things)
After it has been finished. Start looking for more locations to construct hidden bases.

>>35029183

It shouldn't be too hard to slap a set of gills on ourselves. Or we could just have the Throne Room be dry.

>>35028954
>Start construction of a bunker beneath the ocean
>Scout for a new mountain dig site
>Start construction of a bunker under the desert
>None
>Other

>>35029066
You do realize that there have been references to feats a single queen could not do alone? There are advantages to having multiple queens

>>35029238
>Start construction of a bunker under the desert
Best place
Hostile and very useful against shit union

>>35029238
>>Start construction of a bunker beneath the ocean
i'm fairly sure we have gill tech, have we put that on our workers or will we have to make them first?

>>35029238

>Start construction of a bunker beneath the ocean

>>35029238
>Scout for a new mountain dig site

>>35029238
>>Scout for a new mountain dig site

>>35029238
>Start construction of a bunker beneath the ocean

>>35029266
i don't think the desert give much advantage on the surface, it will clear firing lanes and any hostile union forces will likely be in power armor so they will not care about the heat

>>35029238
>Start construction of a bunker under the desert
gonna have to find a water source first though for any of the new locations
>>35029335
yeah but the heat will mess with there scanners i think and hide us better

>>35029238
>Scout for a new mountain dig site
Having 'a' base under the ocean, fine. Having the queen there, pfah.

Better to have the tons of rock of a mountain between you and orbital bombardment.

>>35029335
Better than ocean though. It would not be very hard to just do a bunker bomb through the roof of the bunker and flood the entire shit.

>>35029364
If everyone gills why would it matter?

>>35029364

How are they going to locate it? It's under and ocean and then some, and any thermal signatures will be very effectively masked.

>>35029085
Not necessarily. The hive could be operated by a thinker who could run the civilization until a related Queen was born or found. All the queen would have to do is designate a thinker to preform the actions and tell the others to listen to him. I'd recommend giving him the orders to have a new queen be born if we die and feed all of the information we've gathered to her so she can continue knowing what we know.

how about we find an underwater mountain range?

>>35029363

Better to be on a different planet entirely really

>>35029277
I assume it would be accessible via collapsible tunnel, which could be flooded and sealed in an emergency, while access to the ocean itself could be through moon pool access.
The desert would require extensive labor to build, with a need for radiator vents to avoid overheating. It would be very difficult to find via thermal imaging due to the radiant heat of the region, and even more difficult to approach on foot.

>>35029238
>Scout for a new mountain dig site

>>35029238
>Scout for a new mountain dig site

>>35029400
The same logic goes for mountain bases. Replace 'water' with 'rock', which is even denser.

The desert is the worst choice for multiple reasons. Not least is the much less cloud cover obscuring it from orbit.

if we do move can we make sure to leave a decoy queen at our old location, ant pretend its were we are headquartered at?

>>35029238
Do all of these. Best to have multiple locations to fall back to, store are queen (and thinkersl and create new launch points for colonies.

>>35029459
Yeah i am inclined to retract my vote from desert to mountain

>>35029238
Withdrawing this >>35029266 in favor of mountain

>>35029459
>The same logic goes for mountain bases. Replace 'water' with 'rock', which is even denser.
The reason it is harder to detect underwater than under a mountain is partly because water is less dense and scatters heat.

>>35029409

This isn't a video game. The queen dies, we die. Just get used to it.

>>35029238
>Start construction of a bunker beneath the ocean
or
>>Start construction of a bunker under the desert


Hell, make both just because we can.

>>35029238
>Search for a new mountain dig site.
With a quick thought you reroute a shuttle and it dives beneath the clouds in search of a suitably defensible location.

>Roll 1d100 for search efforts.

>>35029238

>Ocean

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>35029662
ROLLING

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>35029656

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>35029656

well regardless can we all agree to keep the new hq low profile? ie no space docks are anything that will give it away near it?

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>35029656
here we go

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>35029656

>>35028253
>"Yea... something's up. This place just got real quiet real fast. Something's up."

Right, Raligha.

I was pondering this.

I'm worried they'll find the temple before they leave. And the best way to get them to leave is to give them a dose of First Contact with local Class 0 sapient life.

Unfortunately we don't know the local drum language so we can't incite them to attack the invader bipeds.

So I'm not sure what to even attempt to do here, that won't risk exposing the presence of non-radial-symmetric (and therefore obviously non native) drones to the humans.

I mean the narration said they seemed to be winding down their search before, but they're still here. It's a gamble.

>>35029636
What stops the quest from becoming Quantum Thinker Quest if the queen dies? Absolutely Nothing.

>>35029916

The GM does, have you ever actually played a tabletop game?

>>35029916
Because even quantum thinkers are dumb, that's why. Stop being like a quantum thinker.

>>35029936
Have you? Because a game can continue after characters die.

Anyone else wanna lay some reinforcements for the troops on Raligha something like 50 warriors maybe.

>>35029656
Your shuttle cruises over the landscape in a regular pattern, slowly plotting out the areas you have yet to scout in much detail. It may take some time for it to find a proper location.

"This is team six, I think we found something. Bit of charred ash and a small ditch. Looks like a foxhole."
"Bit of ash and a hole? That isn't a very solid lead."
"It's a lot more than we had a minute ago. Hold on... looks like some scratch marks on the trees. I think it leads off this way."
"Yea, and into some giant rotary bear's chop shop. These things could shit napalm for all we know. Let's head back, we're done with this sector."
"Let's just look at this real quick first."
You hear the response from the lead ship in orbit.
"We're packing up already, be quick about it and don't spend more than an hour. It's looking like a standard Unity raid so far."

>>35030026
The whole point of Raligha drones is maintaining secrecy and checking out the temple. More forces aren't gonna help hiding in the temple.

>>35030030
Well shit. Time to triangulate where exactly those transmissions were coming from(I'm guessing the trail leads to the temple cave), and maybe rouse up the natives to distract them.

Time to become insect gods.

>>35029636
Just wanted to mention, but in addition to that being remarkably meta of you, creating more queens/duchesses/whatever does actually help keep Queeny alive, because making her less essential to the hive's survivial makes her less of a target.
>>35029954
This seems like an argument in favor of making a minion smarter than a quantum thinker.

>>35030196

No, we're still just as essential. Now there's just another hive somewhere else that's subservient to a different queen.

>>35029954
Set quantum thinker to run shit if queen dies and make new queen. Then when new queen finished she takes over. Quantum Thinkers aren't the ideal for running, but would keep the civilization alive until the optimum alternative becomes available. That's all I was saying.

>>35030030
If we make our new throne room be set up to mimic space (no gravity), then can we escape FTW with a pod from it?

>>35030235
From the perspective of our enemies, that would be an academic difference. There would still be buggs trying to kill them with basically no disruption in command.

>>35030196
You know what else is meta?

Assuming you're going to get an extra life by changing perspective to an NPC.

>>35030030
Panic.

That ash is from the missile they launched at us. They're following the chase sequence we had with Malek and his buddy.

Which, yeah, leads to the temple.

They have to be thrown off somehow without giving anything away.

>>35030316
>Assuming you're going to get an extra life by changing perspective to an NPC.
Yeah, see I'm not assuming that.

>>35030030
Your orbiting pod swivels its sensors and gazes downward to the planet. You already have a decent idea of where they are, but the jungle is too dense to get a fix on the scouts.

"Hold on, looks like dried blood. More scratch marks, and look at this, it's like a giant barb of some kind. It's organic."
"Great, a rotary porcupine. My guess is they survived the raid, ran off this way and were attacked by some kinda living, tooth filled tilt-a-whirl. If they had made it they would have responded to radio."
"Maybe the radio died, you know, in the aforementioned tilt-a-whirl attack?"
"Can we just go now? Something is watching us, I can feel it. Jungles this dense don't just go silent like this."

>>35030355
Really? Because that's what it looks like to everyone else.

>>35030383
You seem to be of the opinion there is only one person who disagrees with you. You might want to rethink that one.

>>35030377
pls just go already

>>35030377
We can play, like. Charades. I guess. to communicate the direction we want the drummers to swarm in and make lots of noise. IE, humanward.

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>35030377
Lets have our drones make jungle noises badly.

>>35030196
Extra queens are not subservient to Queen.
Only drones are subservient to Queen.

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>>35030377
"You reading this?"
You hear the lead ship respond again, " Roger. Doesn't sound consistent with Unity weapons tech. Local predator attack isn't far fetched of an idea. We have been here for days now, if someone was still there they would have seen the air patrols."
"Requesting permission to follow the trail?"
There is a short pause. "Granted, but be quick about it."

Your drones are still in the map chamber of the ruins, and you contemplate what to do.

>Wait and hope for the best
>Move out and search for the scouts
>Find the local life forms and attempt to instigate them (how)
>Other (write in)

>>35030316
No ones assuming anything. Just stating something we can fuck do. How hard is that for you to grasp? The hive has the potential to survive without the queen and can create a new one. Kinda like how the Zerg could rebuild the Overmind and the Tyranids form splinter hives.

>>35030577
>Wait and hope for the best
we only got enough resources to hide

>>35030577
>Find the local life forms and attempt to instigate them
Could try using one of them like a drum to communicate?

>>35030577
>>Find the local life forms and attempt to instigate them (how)
Back to communicating with Lee pre speaker.

Diagram on the ground of two bipedal humans.

Ritualistically destroy the effigies, and go off in the humanward direction, gesturing for them to lead ahead of the warriors.

>>35030547
This is true. Which was why some people suggested making Cerberate equivelents. Really the analogy isn't that hard to understand. They're stratigic commanders who can function as lesser versions of a queen, providing alternative viewpoints while still being subservient, and serving as potential backup, as although they are not queens themselves, they can create new queens if the original dies. Sure, that last bit might not help the players much, but I can't really understand why the Queen would make no contingency's for her death.

>>35030577
>Other (write in)
Bury/cover up the access tunnel to the temple, plan an ambush for the scouts near the temple.

>>35030602
>>35030658
Both of you shut up and save your pointless debate for after bump limit. It's not exactly an urgent concern.

>>35030619
Rather hard you don't even know the language in the first place. Also might seem a little rude and that wouldn't help.

>>35030577
>>Find the local life forms and attempt to instigate them (how)
But also
>>Move out and search for the scouts
Because you need to know the direction to instigate them towards, I guess.

>>35030658
Of course. I'm not saying more birth-sacs are a bad idea. Just pointing out that queens are not automatically loyal to their mother.
Although I think the Thinkers would spawn a queen if Queen died, and they had the birth-sacs to do so.

>>35030577
>Find local life and instigate them
Do: >>35030632

>>35030577
Split the troopers and send some to kill and eat the scouts leaving some remains to indicate what happened. While, the ones who remain should guard the "temple"

>>35030795

This is probably best. We have several shock troopers (we ought to figure out some way so that they can jam enemy communications) they can probably overwhelm the enemy, or at least be mistaken for local predators.

>>35030795
No. They'll report on the radio about their attackers before they go down. You can't be sure you'll kill them fast enough.

It's a big risk.

>>35030869
>or at least be mistaken for local predators.
Which is impossible.

>>35030577
>Find the local life forms and attempt to instigate them (how)
>Move out and search for the scouts

My idea is we split our troopers. Some go to find the locals and rile them up. Approach them and skitter side to side maybe, I dunno they seem pretty excited about us on their own. The goal is to get them drumming.

The others go to find the enemy scouts but don't do anything unless they don't break off their approach. Even then, rustle bushes angrily or something rather than attack, if at all possible.

I only we had that sphere, communication wouldn't be an issue.

>>35031025
Sphere?

>>35031025
There's no reason to think the temple archives that Vaughn absorbed contain the language of the local lifeforms, because that assumes their language remained the same after, like, a million years.

>>35031041
The one that possessed Elizabeth.

>>35031082
We could have put that thing in the locals.

>>35031114
That seems a waste, honestly.

>>35031139
Why?

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>>35030577
Your drones quickly make their way back to the small camp on the far side of the mountain where you first found the native creatures. You can hear the sound of drumming as your reach the mouth of the cave.

They appear to have been quite busy. A large collection of branches and vines has been assembled into a massive sculpture in the center of the village. A large, six limbed winged figure. A netting of wicker covers the eyes and blooming vines and lilies hang from the frame of the wings like a great cape. At the base of the effigy is a collection of items. Tightly woven wreaths, small carved totems, freshly fashioned tools and various meals set on small plates of smoothed stones.

A blast of air from the hollow trees echoes through the village with a deep bellow and the creatures scatter to the edge of the village, hugging the small boubous huts that dangle from the canopy.

>Attempt to communicate with them directly
>Attempt to draw instructions into the dirt
>Other (write in)

>>35031186
Because we could have studied it and then place it in everyone.

>>35031208
>Attempt to communicate with them directly
If that fails, then try the dirt drawings.

>>35031208
>Attempt to communicate with them directly
Wait, what would that entail?

Gestures?

I guess:
>Attempt to draw instructions into the dirt

Though the former can't hurt. Multiple drones after all.

>>35031186
We could have put it in us/a drone of ours? For direct access to the information held within? Much less complicated research project than digging it out of a frail human's head.

>>35031208
>Attempt to communicate with them directly

>>35031208
>Attempt to draw instructions into the dirt
What would direct communication involve?

>>35031208
>>Attempt to communicate with them directly
We should probably reroute some thinkers for translation duties. Doubt we'll figure out anything useful for this situation from it, but this has demonstrated a need.

Also, I feel a little bad for the primitive buggers. All worshipping us and shit.

>>35031208
>freshly fashioned tools

...Hmm. If one of those is a hunting weapon. We could use it in our demonstration.

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>35031208
>Attempt to draw instructions into the dirt
welp give it a go

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>>35031208
Your drones slowly move into the village and examine the various items. You quickly make note of what you could only assume is some manner of weapon or hunting tool. You briefly picture one of the locals wielding a dozen of the freakish blades, spinning across the ground like a tornado of knifes. A number of strange spears are there as well, their shafts slightly curved and their ends built into delicate slings of knotted rope, as if the blade was intended to be slung from the spear like a catapult, or break off in the wound of an animal. Your drone picks one up, holding it awkwardly in its claw. The others start to move closer.

Please roll 1d100 to attempt to mime your orders.

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>35031769
The bipeds must fall.

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>35031769

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>35031769

>>35031769
Your drone raises the weapon as if to display it. The creatures of the village hoist their own into the air, pulling them from small bags and straps along their bodies. They move forward, surrounding your drone and slowly begin to drum out a deep, rhythmic pattern. They don't know where, but they seem to understand that you want them to kill something, somewhere, and they seem more than willing to do so.

>Lead them on a hunt for the approaching scouts
>Point them in the right direction and watch
>Other

>>35032001
>Lead them on a hunt
>BUT
>Don't let the scouts get the opportunity to get a close look at our drones.

>>35032001
>Point them in the right direction and watch
But do so by leading them a ways.

Hmm. We should probably work out some kind of reward/gift to give these things.

>>35032001
>Point them in the right direction and watch

>>35032001
>Lead them on a hunt for the approaching scouts

>>35032001
>>Lead them on a hunt for the approaching scouts
We need to direct them until we're reasonably close.

We just need to get close enough to have a more precise location for the scouts. No need to get spotted.

>>35032001
>Lead them on a hunt for the approaching scouts

>>35032055
>>35032105
I'm worried that if you just point them, they'll target something big, juicy and tasty, well before they see the humans.

>>35032001
Your drones leap into the air and the creatures spin in the dirt like living, blade covered tires. You note how the blunt end of the blades hook into the soil and bark of the trees for extra grip, sending dirt and wood chips flying behind them. Your initial estimation was quite accurate, and they keep pace with your drones like a swarm of meat grinders.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>35032327
for the swarm

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>35032327

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>35032327

I was thinking about what the locals are using for weapons. Blades that brake off in the wounds. But for us, we can make blades that can regrow. Think, Bio-Chainsword, but with shark like teeth! When the teeth break off, they vibrate and keep digging in for awhile.

>>35032357
Not bad!

>>35032402
and fill it with paralytic toxin for extra kick!

>>35032402
Ideally we'd come back, figure out how to communicate with them, and then give them biotech, to set them onto the path we've taken.

>>35032402
>Think, Bio-Chainsword, but with shark like teeth!
No one in their right mind would use a chainsword since it is one of the single most backward ass ideas in existence.

>>35032531
Or for that matter, any toxin, drug, or acid we want!

>>35032724

Just let the retard parade run its route, it's pointless to try to stop them.

>>35032724
It's not meant to be a real chain, but a row of teeth that has mussels that make it move back and forth so fast that it might look like a chain saw.

>>35032797
Still retarded and pointless.

>>35032821
>>35032786
Are you qtg shit posters going to contribute to this thread or you going to crap all over the place here?

>>35032797
That actually possible. look at snails that how their eat things

>>35032966
*that's how they eat things.

If we want a better cutting blade, we can just finally research Lyle's combat armor that had some kind of super-heated cutting blade/wire.

>>35032966
And Mantis Shrimps can generate plasma with punches.
Your point?

>>35033049
Or use fucking acid swords, there is no need to make a chain sword.

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>>35032966
Yes, snails do that, but so did this shark. This is kinda what I was thinking.

>>35032327
Your drones quickly make it across the overgrown mountain, the locals leaping from tree to tree with a natural grace.

"Some more blood here, and some scrap of cloth."

Your drones quickly close in, hunting party in tow. The local creatures scatter in all directions as you close in to surround the small scouting team and your drones hang back out of view.

"Shit, what was that?" You can hear the humans now, your drones slowly creep into a position and the locals roll into the trees with their knives planted into the trunks.

The marines move in, three humans clad in armor, rifles at the ready. The one in the front is holding a small scrap of cloth and a chitin slug in one hand and a CIP pistol in the other. As the humans move forward you watch as the creatures pull their knives from the bark of the trees and drop to the shrubs below.

"The hell was- Get down!"
One of the humans turns, bringing his rifle up to face the coming blade laden wagon wheel. He lets off a quick burst of fire as it rolls over him, taking his arm with it into the brush beyond. Another swings from above on a snapped vine, spinning like a top. Its knives scrape against the marine's armor until one finds a mark in a joint and sinks into the cloth. The blade breaks against the fabric but the marine is sent spinning into the dirt. The lead marine spins around and brings up his pistol. A bolt of lighting lashes out and seers the creature where it stands.

You can hardly make out what they are saying as they scream a mix of orders and shocked yelps, and before they can regroup you see another creature spin itself into a frenzy with a small sling in each arm. Stones and sharp bits of flint fly at the scouting party in a haze of shrapnel like machine guns. Their armor seems to deflect the attacks, but several lucky shots knock the marines off balance as another wave of the tribal creatures charge.

"Team six? Team six! Report!"
"We're under attack! Native life is hostile!"

>>35033075
No real point. I just like to learn and talk about animals and their biology.

>>35033075

I still find that ridiculous.

Like, where the fuck do you even come up with that idea nature, why would something so small need to punch as hard as the fury of a star.

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>>35033230
Some of earth's own life forms are the most damn weird and scary shit around. Pic related.

>>35033299
Because Fist of the North Star. That's why.

>>35033345
>www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLec58Z1Q3k
Behold, the true face of fear.

>>35032899
Hey. I'm not from /qtg/.

I'm from AI Quest.

>>35033125
>>35033125
>"Team six? Team six! Report!"
>"We're under attack! Native life is hostile!"
Knew they'd be able to radio a report in before dying.

Might want to withdraw the drones further back now that contact is made. Hopefully they'll retreat in a direction the drones are not in.

>>35033349
>not fish of the north star
You had one job anon.

>>35033447

Or we could finish them off.

>>35033431
FUCK! FUCKTY FUCK! Get that thing away from me!
>>35033447
Well, that radio call will help pin the attack on the natives and not us at least.

>>35033491
Is there any fish from tg worthy of that title?

>>35033125
The locals roll over the marines with their knives out. A spray of bullets puts one of them down just as it tears into the facemask of one of the marines.

"Kenly's down! Fall back! Get the fuck out of here!"

The two left turn to run, spraying the jungle behind them for good measure. Another local is fried with a bolt of lighting as they continue their barrage of stones and small spears. You watch as several knives find their way into the dense fabric of the marines' armor, most bounce off harmlessly, but several manage to plane themselves in the gaps between the plates and woven micro-fibres. They are meant to stop bullets, but just about anything can break if it's hit hard enough.

"Team six, move to evac now, a gunship is moving on your location, get to the landing site."

The marines sprint across the small bridge of roots as the contents of a sling slams into the back of one of them, sending him tumbling into the river and down the cliff to the valley below. The natives finally start to slow down as the last of the scouting team moves through the brush on the far side of the river.

>Pursue with your drones
>Recover the bodies and let them retreat
>Other

>>35033431
May his passing cleanse this world.

>>35033431
Bobbit worms are for the most part misunderstood.

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>>35033491
LEE!

>>35033523
Spears and knives are unlikely to take out 3, or, well, 2 and a half now, marines.

Maybe they can disarm another one though.

>>35033592
>Recover the bodies and let them retreat

>>35033592
>Recover the bodies and let them retreat

>>35033592
>Recover the bodies and let them retreat
Maybe we can get some tech loot from them?

>>35033592
question is the scout with are barb still alive? Did he drop it?
>Retrieved the bodies

>>35033595
So are sting rays but look at what they did to Steve Irwin.

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>>35033589
What about this fellow? For those that don't know, pic related is a still living critter, they are about 2 to 3 feet long and amphibious. They can come and get you while you are sleeping on the shore

>>35033724
Yes, he managed to get away through the shrubs. You are not sure if he dropped it or not.

>>35033746
You know damn well that Steve Irwin held not a single drop of malice towards that sting ray. It was afraid and struck out, nothing more.

>>35033772
It's good, but I was thinking more along the lines of an actual fish, which was involved in a tg quest. Can you guess it?

>>35033807
My post:
>>35033724
Changing my vote to hunting him down, but leaving a drone or two attempt to locate the Barb. Do the barbs have a distinctive smell we could attempt to locate?

>>35033834
Angler fish? I'm drawing a blank here.

>>35033953
It's name contains trout.
>>35033772
Also an after thought: I'm praying to any and all gods that I never encounter this thing

>>35033592
>Recover the bodies and let them retreat
We WANT them to get away so they can report about the crazy primitive arm-sphere things. Then the planet gets a 'no colonization!' flag and suspicion of us is deflected.

I don't think the chitin slug is that big of a deal.

>>35034008
Well those things live around the shores of Australia.

>>35034091
Thank god I live in America, and shall never visit Australia

>>35034041

It's a fairly big deal, mang.

>>35034194
They don't have anything to compare it against. It's entirely inconclusive.

>>35033592
>Pursue with your drones
Yeah the slugs can be traced back to us.

>>35034233
To are knowledge.

>>35033592
Two of your drones leap off the cliff into the valley below, their wings beating like propeller engines as they land in a cloud of kicked up debris, your others inspect the dismembered marine on the ground. The body is still and the blood has stopped gushing from the shoulder, his weapon still clutched into the discarded arm. The marine at the bottom of the ravine is found in the branches of a tree. The limbs are twisted into gnarled tangles and the neck is limp at a right angle. You quickly cut the body down and carry it back to the cave entrance.

You hear the engines of a gunship whine as it dips down and lifts off in a hurry, although you can't see it through the canopy.

"All forces, fall back at once. Repeat, fall back to the landing zone and prepare for evac."

It appears that the Union has ended their search, and will be going home empty handed.

>Assign thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication
>Return to continue to guard the ruins
>Offer the locals a reward (write in)
>Other

>>35034233
There is the first attack, when we met unity anon we used our slugs alot in that fight and i doubt the good doctor would ignore the shells in the ground.

>>35034304
>Assign thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication

>>35034304

>Assign the thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication
>Offer the locals a reward
One of our guns. Spike rifle, probably.

>>35034304
>>Assign thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication

>>35034304
>Assign thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication
>Return to continue to guard the ruins

I wonder if it takes to get a thinker over to the ruins to study the place better?

>>35034304
No reward, simply because we don't understand jack shit about their culture about what would be appropriate.

And we can't have them appearing non-primitive when the Union inevitably sends someone back, anyway. Lyle said they often took bounties on recently found primitive species, after all.

>>35034377

If they had a spike rifle then that would explain the chitin slug, should the humans investigate more.

>>35034330
All instances of ranged weaponry used on Leeland were apart from Union notice. Also, I'm not confident our slugs have corresponding shells.

>>35034304
>Assign thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication
>Return to continue to guard the ruins
>Offer the natives a reward (the respect they are due and Knowledge, but save that for when we can speak to them)

>>35034304
>Assign thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication
>Return to continue to guard the ruins

I want to reward them, but we've not got much on hand to do so with.

Once the Union move out, we could build them shelters or something. Give them pretty metals? Beads? Blankets?

>>35034304
>Assign thinkers to learn the native language and attempt further communication
>Return to continue to guard the ruins
>Offer the locals a reward (Spike Rifle)

>>35034530
I wouldn't give them trinkets. Give them something practical.

These natives could easily be our version of the Kroot, or the Skinnies (which if you're a fucking illiterate, were the allies of the Bugs in the Starship Troopers book).

The natives should be given a fair deal politically as well. We are not the Union.

>>35034665
Of course. It's just that our tech is fairly... focused. It's not as easily handed out as the Union's is. On the other hand, these guys might actually consent to highly invasive bio experimentation.

>>35034665
Agreed. I'm all for incorporating other races, preferably peacefully, into the Hive Collective. Spreading peace though the unification of all life into one consciousness that we control.

>>35034665
>>35034790
>>35034835
So we Phyrexian now?

>>35034909
Eh. I said experimentation is an option, but I'd honestly prefer to just... let them do their thing while giving them some swag. I'm not looking to recruit them or anything, beyond cohabitation on this planet. Nor do I really want to govern them.

Apathetic benevolence is my style.

>>35034304
You quickly call several thinkers to your attention and have them look through your drones as they return to the village. There appears to be some manner of meal being prepared. You note several trees have been chopped down and the massive trunks have been hacked into. The trees are hollow, with twisting and tangled tubes running through the center. Your drones remain near the cave and observe the creatures as they seem to begin some celebration. Strings covered in small totems are hung from the branches of the trees and pyres are set up around the village. Their numbers appear to have increased as well.

Your pod watches in silence as the small fleet pulls into a high orbit and slowly accelerates out of the system.

The day on Raligha is finally ending, and as it grows dark the creatures light the bonfires and fill the air with the strange drumming language and the sound of the hollow tree horns. They seem to start a feast, although after a while you notice they appear to be covering a large wooden table in food, meat and plants of all kinds as well as more bowls of mushy paste. The massive table cut from the trunk of the local trees is places almost directly in front of the cave entrance.

You tend to your hive in other places. Your shuttle finds a massive mountain many miles from your hive. The mountain appears worn smooth from wind and rain, and is covered in a layer of limestone. Small clusters of growths cling to the rocky mountainside like parasites and several large mushrooms sprout from the sides at odd angles.

>Que your workers to settle the mountain and construct a bunker
>Continue to search the planet
>Other

>>35035021
>>Continue to search the planet
We can go further than 'many miles'.

>>35035021
>Que your workers to settle the mountain and construct a bunker
And we also should send an egglayer with some drones to Raligha.

>>35035021
>>Continue to search the planet

>>35035021
>Continue to search the planet

>>35035021
>Que your workers to settle the mountain and construct a bunker

Limestone and water means there is likely a huge cave network here to use. Easy to set up hive layout. Lets take a look here.

>>35035002
>Apathetic benevolence
I like you anon

>>35035021
At a guess, the locals are expecting a queen to come out of the ruins. Unless this is a different cave, which is possible.

>>35035021
>Que your workers to settle the mountain and construct a bunker
>Continue to search the planet (with a free shuttle and if we don't have any lay some (I'd say 18 so we can fill the empty spaces we have in are hanger for them.)

>>35035002
I support this 100 percent.

>>35035212
Hum, I am starting to think that the temple, once we clear it and such, could be a good place to move the Queen over too.

>>35035021
>>35035236
Actually, you only have 2 shuttles at the moment, which mostly serve as cargo transport for the metal and nutrients moving to and from the asteroid outpost.

>Continue to search the planet
You make note of the mountain, but continue your search in hopes of finding an even better site.


>Lay more shuttles
>Lay new drones/ships (write in)
>Neither
>Other

>>35035348
We need an egglayer to send to Raligha.

>>35035348
>Lay more shuttles
4 more. Also give them cloaks. The cost is negligible and being able to carry out tasks while enemies are in the system is necessary.

>>35035348
>Lay more shuttles
>Lay new drones/ships
at least one more shuttle to move stuff around the planet. Lay more warriors, workers and the new quantum thinkers to replace lost ones at the temple and the extra to be sent to the Temple to work on it to be a new base. 25 workers and maybe 2 thinkers.

>>35035348
>Lay more shuttles
8 of them. They, and all existing shuttles, should have cloaks on them.

That one shuttle that had the Hel's Angel's cloaking field attached should give it back to the Angel so it can use it in case someone tries to radar and sonar the ground again.

>Lay new drones/ships (write in)
Four more spy pods, to spy on the systems we haven't visited yet.

Blinking in at a great distance, like a lightday or two, to decrease chance of being noticed, at the cost of taking a day to actually arrive.

>>35035348
>Lay more shuttles
18; to fill up the empty hangers (use them to map the planet when free)
>Lay new drones/ships (A fake Queen or two and 30 gilled workers to explore the ocean)

>>35035348
Current consensus seems to be
>Add cloaks to all shuttles
And split between
>Lay 8 shuttles
>Lay 4 shuttles
>Lay 18 shuttles
>Other

>>35035348
I'd say 2 more shuttles should do it. We don't need all that many, especially with idling corvettes.

>>35035021
>send our drones to go enjoy the feast they prepared
We don't want to be rude.

>>35035630
>Lay 8 shuttles

>>35035630
We need an egg sac.

>>35035348
>>35035630
>Lay 8 shuttles
>Lay an egglayer and some drones; take them to the tribalalien planet so we can have a base there, to interact with them
I say we call the little buggers either:
Tasmanian Devils, or
Dervishes.
Thoughts?

>>35035630
>Lay 4 shuttles

>>35035630
>Lay 8 shuttles

>>35035630
>>Lay 4 shuttles

>>35035606
Adding to my post;
4 stealth pods with add acid glands able to destroy the Advanced relays if needed.
As well as one more fake queen.

>>35035630
>>Lay 4 shuttles

>>35035630
>Lay 8 shuttles
>Lay two egglayer (does this come with 20 stunted workers like the queens did?)

>>35035630
>>Lay 8 shuttles


>>35035752
Yeah. 4 stealth pods like that. deniable.

Though you really need an explosion to destroy the rest of it. Since it's got a lot of metal in it.

>>35035630
You running multiple threads tonight?

>>35035630
>8 stealth shuttles
The arms of your docking pylon goes to work assembling the small collections of chitin and thrusters.
600N 760M

Additional supported options
>Lay 4 stealth pods
>None
>Other

>>35035348
>lay a new corvette unarmed for now

>>35035889
>Other
Egglayer sac.

Guys i have an idea. the Union has no idea we have spacecraft right? so why dont we start to make our ships appear to be like giant space whales.

>>35035846
I'd be up for adding a self destruct to are pods makes itbless worrisome to send them into enemy territory knowing that they can't be captured.

>>35035889
>Lay 4 stealth pods
I hope we have enough hanger space for all of this.

>>35035889
4 stealth pods with self-destruct
Two fake queens
5 mini sniffers with moth like fur.

>>35035889
>Other
A egg-laying thing.

>>35035889
>>Lay 4 stealth pods

Also
>600N
Wait what.

Shouldn't it be 520N?

Each one is 65N laying cost. 50 + 5*3. (5N per 10 meters of ship for cloaking field).

>>35035889
>Lay 4 stealth pods
>Egg Sac

>>35035889
>Design a fake queen (write in)
>Lay 4 stealth pods (260N 260M)
>Other

>>35036053
Shuttles are 30 meters, while pods are 10.

>>35036203
>Design a fake queen
A dolled-up Egg-Layer with moving parts, put it in out old chambers.

>>35036253
>, put it in out old chambers.
Nope we're putting it on Raligha.

>>35035933
no, sudden giant whales will make someone curious, less curious less chance of them finding out what our true intentions and abilitys are

>>35036203
Yes, that's... why I said "50 + 5*3"? aka 50 + 15. 5N for each 10 meters.

>>35036284
Wait until you actually know what the drummers' expectations are of what's in the temple before you start trying to make assumptions.

A fake queen where the Union will actually look is of tactical value. One on Raligha isn't.

>>35036253
>>35036284
Gentlemen we can lay two.

>>35036203
Just give an egg sac already.

>>35036330
I agree with this. No point plopping down a decoy on a planet we're not expected. It's possible the natives could appreciate it, but let's not be hasty.

>>35036330
>>A fake queen where the Union will actually look is of tactical value. One on Raligha isn't.
An egg sac on Raligha is more valuable. Especially with how expensive they are.

>>35036203
Fake Queen
Olfactory: Basic 0
Acoustic: Advanced 2
Psionic: Advanced: (200N 250M)
Radio: basic 1
Mandible: ?
Blade: combat 1
Arms: Dex 1
Legs: Endurance 1
Wings: Moderate 2
Utility:Acid glands 1N
Egg Sac: 100N
Carapace: Majestic ?
Size: Medium
Cost: ?
Upkeep: ?

>>35036387
Combat Mandibles.

Carapace and wings should be Regal/Majestic. More function than form.
We want to pretend that these dolled up things are the real queen(s).

>>35036370
>>35036330
You guys want to waste a shit ton of res on making a decoy. Which has no tactical value.

>>35036337
why are you so intent on making a second eggsac?
What do we stand to gain besides more eggs at once by making one and is it currently worth the cost to upkeep and make such a thing on a world we have not fully entrenched on or even at all? I do agree we should put some kind of base on Raligha but making a possible obvious link to us would be rather dangerous no?

>>35036387
>Psionic: Advanced: (200N 250M)
No.

There is no reason to have an actual psionic relay embedded in any drone, ever, when it can just be nearby.

We'll already have a psionic relay on whatever planet we plop it on.

>>35036430
Not if we put some kind of kamikaze self-destruct on her!

>>35036424
>more form than function
FTFM
Goddamn my ability to into English is going down the shitter.

>>35036452
We gain by being able to expand on Raligha. That, and it's far easier for us to have an eggsac shitting out eggs than to have to risk discovery by flying in drones anytime we need to expand our operations there.

>>35036460
can we attached acid glands to it so we can prevent it from ever being captured.

>>35036452
>obvious link to us would be rather dangerous no
The entire planet is a fucking link to us.
>>35036461
Using it as a decoy is pointless and expensive no matter what you say.

>>35036203
>current proposed fake queen design
Olfactory: Basic 0
Acoustic: Advanced 2
Psionic: basic 0
Radio: basic 1
Mandible: combat 1
Blade: combat 1
Arms: Dex 1
Legs: Endurance 1
Wings: Moderate 2
Utility:Acid glands 1N
Egg Sac: 100N
Carapace: Majestic (peacock) 0
Size: Medium
Cost: 110N
Upkeep: 55N

>>35036330
Ah, yes you're right. Had a typo there, thanks.

>>35036536
I, personally, think a decoy is worthwhile. Making a /functional/ decoy is pointless. Having an empty sack of chitin sitting on our throne on Leeland costs a handful of nutrients and can possibly be useful if another scenario like Smith pops up. It's harmless paranoia.

Making a fully-capable egg-laying 'decoy' is dumb.

>>35036517
Decentralization of operations is a valid tactical and intelligence motivation for laying an eggsack even for capital world use. It's honestly not that expensive.

>>35036536
It's of marginal value, yeah.

The labyrinth reconfiguration is also costing us in construction time.

But they're both for the sake of paranoid preparation for the next John Smith. They're too interested, now.

They'll want to force us to communicate by threatening the queen, probably. I assume that was what John Smith was going to do. Hold queen hostage and demand real answers.

The decoy allows them to believe they've succeeded in that when they haven't. But admittedly this is all speculation for a future scenario.

>>35036588
>Mandible: combat 1
I'd rather this match the queen's canonical, delicate royal mandibles suitable only for eating and not labor or fighting, which Lee saw.

We don't want any mismatch with his description.

>>35036588
Add:
The advance relay back to it.

>>35036686
No.

That literally triples the cost pointlessly when there are psionic relays nearby.

>>35036675
Seconding this. It needs to match up perfectly.

>>35036591
That's exactly what I was saying. It's a waste to spend so much on something that's suppose to be disposable.

>>35036591
I'd normally agree with you.

But being especially paranoid, we may be asked to lay eggs in front of them to confirm queen status.

It's a completely ridiculous notion that they might do that in the hypothetical mexican standoff, that they'd harbor any doubts this is the real queen in the first place, but it's sort of a nagging idea.

>>35036588
Could we make one that just looks like a queen? With a nonfunctional egg sac?

>>35036738
At the same time, whatever. Egg sack isn't a totally waste in general (decentralizing activity would make infiltration more difficult for future John Smiths) and the 'decoy' bits are only 10N on top. I basically don't care as long as there's no Advanced Relays in it.

>>35036794
You do realize we could design a Nydus network?

>>35036706
How many relays do we currently have in the sector? I'd rather we have direct communication with the fake queens so that we can give them the self destruct order if thing are really bad. We could give it a quantum brain and have it capable of operating if cut of from us with the orders of self-destructing if capture is unavoidable.

>>35036794
Gonna agree with this. We should keep our Advanced Relays off the thing.
The REAL queen doesn't even have an advanced relay! She has a Moderate relay. Which is MORE than enough for our purposes.

>>35036837
We can just hide Advanced Relays underneath her chamber.
Or get the fake queen to lay a thinker with orders to have the queen suicide if capture seems imminent.

>>35036588
>Lay a fake queen with above specifications
>Lay fake queen with minimum specifications (basic everything apart from the self destruct and egg sac, 108N cost)
>None

The drone would look virtually identical to you in every way
>>35036837
You have an advanced relay in the space pod in orbit of Raligha, but it would be rather easy to simply send another one along with a fake queen if you wanted to make a more permanent settlement there.

This is quite the contested vote...

>>35036901
>Lay a fake queen with above specifications

>>35036901
>Lay fake queen with minimum specifications (basic everything apart from the self destruct and egg sac, 108N cost)

>>35036837
>I'd rather we have direct communication
You do, you dense fuck.

You have that with every single drone within range of the advanced relays. The relay in the pod in low orbit of Raligha can reach the drones down on the surface, even.

Advanced relays have a range as large as moderate relays for reaching regular drones, because it'd be pretty stupid of them not to.

>>35036901
>Lay a fake queen with above specifications
But, save the second design for a later date.

>>35036901
>>Lay a fake queen with above specifications
The minimal would only save...2N in laying cost. The distinction is silly.

>>35036901
>>Lay fake queen with minimum specifications

>>35036901
>Lay a fake queen with above specifications
It's a freaking 2N difference! I doooon't caaaaare.

The votes contested because some posters are dedicated to suboptimal drone design/logistics. It's an ongoing debate.

>>35036901
>This is quite the contested vote...
Seriously. We've been talking about the fake queen for 30 minutes, and talking about laying drones in general for ONE AND A HALF HOURS.

A necessary bit of micromanagement, I guess, but goddamn.

>>35036901
>Lay Fake Queen with minimum specifications.

>>35036980
We're sticking the most valuable tech in a decoy.
You should expect this.

>>35036901
>Lay a fake queen with above specifications

>>35036940
Go suck a dick. I don't want to rely on a Relay We can't, currently, self-destruct to keep out of enemy hands.

>>35037027
You don't want our Real Doll to have real birthing action™?

>>35037036
It's being guarded by guys who can violently explode and melt stuff around them. This was a deliberate choice. There's been support in previous threads to include acid glands with all future advanced relays, but not enough to call a vote on it.

>>35037087
>>You don't want our Real Doll to have real birthing action™?
No. It's pointless since they can't actually watch us.

>>35037036
>I don't want to rely on a Relay We can't, currently, self-destruct
So then change that. That has nothing to do with the fact that combining things into one drone that work just as well separated is folly.

Keep a damn warrior stationed next to the relay who can napalm the fuck out of everything if necessary.

>>35037027
how hard is it to replicate this and how much of a disadvantageous/advantage does it net us if it falls into the hands of potential enemies?
>>35037036
is it not possible to alter the current one?