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>>35180410
>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
Fake Queen – 22
Worker (2000) – 4000
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 (13) – 390
Shuttle (10) – 250
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: +20000 N per day, 200 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
Labyrinth
200 Farms
4 Scout Corvettes

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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>>35180420
Finished Research
>Regeneration Tank
With your new understanding of both alien biology and the operation of the medical tank, you can now construct your own Regeneration Tanks. These large, protein filled membranes are capable of stimulating cellular regeneration to heal wounds and scaring, as well as perform extensive surgical procedures with a greatly reduced risk of injury. The tank can be prepared in a moment’s notice to accommodate any creature with a biology you are knowledgeable of. The tank can also be used to store bodies for later study, and perform autopsies and dissections at a rapid pace with far more detailed results. (50N)
>Net Gun
This simple weapon uses compressed gas to silently fire a large cellophane slug. Upon hitting the target the slug bursts open, ensnaring the target in a half-liquid membrane that quickly hardens into a cocoon.

Current Research
>Skryl Data Cubes

Available research options
http://pastebin.com/F6t39KSp

I recently realized that the crystalline hive and the biological hive are the same species. The reason the crystalline hive has such vastly different tech is because they were isolated from our kind for so long.

>>35180469

orly.jpg

Also, we're the ones that were isolated.

>>35180548
And they were isolated too.

>>35180461
Your pods are complete, and now the only task remaining is to decide if you wish to entrust them with a thinker, or build a relay for them.

>Place thinkers into your pods
>Build Advanced Relays for your pods
>Other

>>35180469
Yeah I was coming around to think that too.

They may have even done exactly what was done to the current queen: sent off a lone pod with a single cocoon and a Thinker to colonize an uncharted world, and that was the current queen's ancestor.

The descriptions of the crystal hives have been so incredibly vague, it's hard to tell, though.

>>34553424
> a strange, stubby worker crawling through a marsh

>>34553424
>large, slender creatures. Effigies
>>35038790
> strange effigies, tall, slender drones used as emissaries

>The corridors are filled with drones of some unknown breed. The rooms are filled with eggs and cocoons of countless kinds.

The thing is, the MC's species doesn't HAVE cocoons. Except for when creating new queens. Which is to say, of only one kind---not 'countless kinds'.

>>35180566
Relays. I thought that was already decided, but I guess it wasn't.

The whole point is to have a spy network after all.

>>35180420
>Nutrients: 8505
This seems...outdated.

>>35180566
>>Build Advanced Relays for your pods

>>35180566
>>Build Advanced Relays for your pods

>>35180594
Countless Queens

Oh, reading it over, I think we made a mistake with our fake queen design. The humans have figured out that the queen is the leader of the hive not just a brood mare (Although their minds are unlikely to have wrapped themselves around the intricaties of precisly how a hive mind works.) This unfortunately means that even a basic autopsy will probably show that the Fake Queen isn't the real McCoy. The lack of a proper psionic emitter will probably be explained away, as it does have the basic version. The fact that its brain will obviously be grossly inadequate to do its job, and is far simpler than other examples they would have on file in this eventuality will probably be harder to explain unfortunately. Sure, it has a self destruct, but for a measly 4 N for a quantum brain, better to make sure.

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>>35180566
>Build new advanced relays for the pods.
New resource total: 8295N 18385M

Total costs: 10210N
Total income: 20050N 3750M
Net: 9840N

>>35180594
It wasn't, and it seemed like enough of a cost to warrant a vote, also, yes, that would be the one thing that didn't update.

>>35180594

No, we use cocoons for all our eggs and drones.

>>35180566
>Build Advanced Relays for your pods
Like it isn't obvious.

>>35180738

Okay, guy who posted the Frigate design here, and in the last thread some anons made some very good points about some of it's shortcomings. If it's not too late to modify its design a bit I'd like to tweak a couple of things.

Frigate (800N 1600M)
Spinal mount(1): Linear Particle Beam 150M
Fixed(8): Railgun (4 w/acid ammo, 4 w/kenetic) 160M
Turrets(6): Cyclotron 150M
Auxiliary(4): Autocannon 40M
Heavy Armor (375N 1500M)
Rapid Damage Control (22N 30M)
Cloaking Field (75N 225M)

Total Cost: 1272N 3855M
upkeep: 636N

Swapped the cyclotrons on the auxilliary points for autoguns and replaced the plasma lances on the turrets for cyclotrons, so it can wreck havoc on it's target's sensors from a distance. Since we're a bit low on nutrients atm I figured it'd be smart to get rid of reflex armor and add heavy armor instead. The swarm is expensive for a ship that has point defense systems, and 50 fighters is a bit excessive, so I figured it should be left out of the default design. Once the ships are already built maybe we could add them to ONE of the frigates if our nutrient supply is substantial enough. Even without them this ship can tear through armour at a distance and still take one hell of beating.

Also, QD, according to the Ship Builder pastebin the cost of a spinal mounted weapon is 10M per 10 meters, which would make the cost of the Linear Particle Beam 150M. But I noticed that the price of the railgun on the Lancer Corvette's spinal mount is listed at 1000M, while by that formula it should be a tenth of that. Is there a typo here or should I recalculate the frigates value?

>>35180461
>Current Research
>>Skryl Data Cubes
You forgot the Ancient Star Chart and Ralighan drum language that were added last thread?

>>35180741
There is no larval stage for anything but a queen, and thus no pupa stage (cocoon). Workers hatch directly from the eggs, this has happened every time hatching is described. You just made that up.

>>35180738
Did you ever look into the worms discrepancy?

>>35180461
> perform autopsies and dissections at a rapid pace with far more detailed results.

Great. Now I want to go get another copy of everything we've dissected to get more information about them.

>>35180771
If we capture and colonize Raligha nutrients will no longer be a problem.

>>35180887
Unnecessary, the tank just does it all much faster, and can dissect more complex things more easily.

>>35180809
Yes, and I added a new carapace for it in the adaptations section.

>>35180787
Yes, you are working on those as well.
Honestly I'm just terrible at listing out these things and I apologize profusely whenever it causes confusion.
And from your understanding of the vision, they seemed to contain hundreds of queens.

>>35180771
Good catch. That's a typo and you are correct.

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>>35180738
Your relays are quickly loading into your new pods and they are quickly dispersed into the system, ready for deployment, and your new corvettes should be completed within the next few days.

>Launch your pods into Union space (write in)
>Launch your pods to uncharted space (write in)
>Keep your pods here for now
>Other

>>35180910
Yes, more so if we can ever find a new food crop that provides more nutrients for less workers needed to tend to them.

>>35181022
Sweet, so would it be possible to apply these changes to the frigate design? Construction for them hasn't started yet, right?

>>35181240
We pretty much have to do both.

In fact

>write in
Commonwealth space too! At least a few.

Also, for most of them, let's send them to blink in like a lightday out of the system.

Unless the blink drive gives off more radiant energy than the entire yield of a ten megaton bomb, it should be effectively invisible to the human eye.


>M-199
>M-323
>A-295
>1-5
>0-3
>0-1
>0-2

>New Port

>Sagittarius
>Aquila

>>35181240
Where are all of are current pods?

>>35181271
The Union probably has genetically engineered crops. Why don't we have genetically engineered crops? Genetic engineering is what we DO.

>>35181240
>Launch your pods to uncharted space

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>>35180410
My week is now complete.

>>35181240
We had 6 pods right?
>M-199
>M-323
>A-295
>O-5
>O-3
>0-1
>1-5

>>35181240
>Launch your pods to uncharted space
these will do
>M-199
>M-323
>A-295
>1-5
>0-3
>0-1
>0-2

>>35181304
You currently have 3 pods deployed:
>M-662, Raligha low orbit
>Dagmar, Gibson high orbit
>Koenig, Calpamos high orbit

>>35181288
Blink could potentially be seen from across the galaxy.

>>35181279
Correct. You need to wait for the corvettes to finish before starting on the frigates.

>>35181240
>>M-199
>>M-323
>>A-295
>> (The system with the desert planet)
>>A-295
>>0-3

>>35181410
Literally any source of light can be, potentially. The question is if it's below the threshold of passive detection by sensors or eyesight, not by using a telescope to deep scan the sky.

Brightness is quartered every time distance is doubled.

>>35181518
>>> (The system with the desert planet)
No. Noooo. Let's stay away. We already explored what needed exploring there.

And I have the paranoid suspicion that They could sense when one of their crystals self-destructed without their authorization. And that they might have known it was one of the ones they gave the Skyl. So let's not accidentally bump into any Ceph sent to investigate what happened there.

>>35181361
>>O-5
We already explored 0-5, it's boring. Just a gas giant where Unity refuels.

>>35181607
Didn't the valen set up a religious commune there?
We sure it just the ceph under the crystal control?

>>35181607
The humans see us blink on a regular basis idiot.
>And I have the paranoid suspicion that They could sense when one of their crystals self-destructed without their authorization. And that they might have known it was one of the ones they gave the Skyl. So let's not accidentally bump into any Ceph sent to investigate what happened there.
If that were the case we would have been discovered by now.
Also only the Valen are there and they have a unique ftl we could get.

>>35181713
I think there is a worse chance that the valen are also under the crystals control or at least know about them

>>35181240
General consensus seems to be
>M-199
>M-323
>A-295
>1-5
>0-3
>0-1
>0-2

As well as other proposed locations:
>New port
>Sagittarius
>Aquila

>>35181748
Actually from what we know that highly unlikely.

>>35181752
>>New port
>>Sagittarius
>>Aquila
No

>>35181713
>If that were the case we would have been discovered by now.
I don't see how that follows.

It's possible they know who they gave the crystals to, not necessarily their current locations. So they'd know the crystal's known location in the Skyl system. But not where Coil's current whereabouts are, even if they did see someone weird looking through one of Coil's assigned void shards.

>The humans see us blink on a regular basis idiot.
You mean 'twice'. At Raligha and at Koenig. What's your point?

Both times were blinking rather close by. Koenig was unlucky enough to be practically in their face.

None of that addresses the fact that more distant objects appear dimmer and are more difficult to detect. The only unanswered question is just how distant you have to go before you're dimmer than the least visible stars.

Even if it's powered by the magic-science of photons, the fact that waves spread out as they travel further, becoming weaker, seems like it would still hold.

>>35181752
>>New port
>>Sagittarius
>>Aquila
Do it.

>>35181752
>>M-199
>>M-323
>>A-295
>>FG-883
>>0-3
>>Aquila

How many free pods do we have?

>>35181752
>>New port
>>Sagittarius
>>Aquila
Not right now, too close to human and cofederation space

>>35181843
You have 10 pods ready for deployment.

>>35181856
We're already blinking into human space. The entire Frontier Expanse is human space.

What does proximity matter? You can travel between anywhere on the map practically instantly.

Once you have pods in those systems, you can listen in on more interesting human transmissions and watch more of their ship fleet movement.

>>35181822
>photons
Tachyons you fucking moron. The rules you think you know don't apply.

>>35181752
Yes, but switch out new port for FG-883.

>>35181822
>It's possible they know who they gave the crystals to, not necessarily their current locations.
If that were the case the Skyl would have been found a long time ago. They would been purged well before we showed up.

>>35181880
>What does proximity matter?
Increased visibility. Something blinking a lightday away will not solve.

>>35181752
Current list of locations:
>M-199
>M-323
>A-295
>1-5
>0-3
>0-1
>0-2
>FG-883
>Aquila
>Other
>Y/N


Your blink drive, like most drives, release a large amount of raw radiation in all direction upon entering normal space. At a distance this can have a similar appearance as a distant supernova or gamma ray burst if the viewer doesn't know what he is looking for. At a distance of a light-day, the radiation would be dissipated enough to not be detected by most sensors, although a powerful radio telescope could theoretically still detect it if it happened to be trained on that exact location.

>>35182098
Increased visibility to what observers in what system?

It would take literal lightyears for an actually visible flash to appear to the other human systems, because they don't see instantly-traveling tachyons, they can only see regular old photons.

>>35182118
Y

>>35182118
Y

>>35181881
Yeah I know, I cringed at the wordswitch once it posted, too late to fix it. Shit.

Yeah, tachyons are effectively everywhere and nowhere. But in order for humans to even see a flash, they'd be seeing the photons, wouldn't they? They can't see a burst of tachyons. And photons have to propagate like they do in real world physics.

>>35182118
See? Basic fucking logic, anon. Your objections didn't make any sense.

>>35182098
>>35182118
Also, if we blinked a light-day away, we would theoretically have enough time to move the pod so that the Union won't find anything there by the time they detect the light and radiation and take a look at the area.

>Y

>>35181880
Are you sure the entirety of the Frontier Expanse is claimed by the Union? It was my understanding that they were still actively expanding into it. Are we in the Louisiana Purchase of space?

Oh god we're the Native Americans aren't we.

>>35182118
Y; and enter at a distance of a light-day

>>35182169
NO, we are the Native Americans with Big Ass Guns and the desire to KILL

>>35182118
>Y
Lets do this.

>>35182169
>>35182221
>Implying we're not the Mongol horde

>>35182221
Also, we are the ones with the small pox blankets.

>>35182169
You have got to be kidding me?
Its been a standard theme in scifi for years man
What the hell have you been watching then?

>>35182496
To be fair, Firefly was more of a post civil war and the divide between core worlds and fringe (or the north and south) than the wild west themes.

>>35182562
Starwars - ewoks vs empire
Stargate- that episode about the gold mining op that attacked by advanced aliens
Star trek- Everything about the prime directive
A lot of FHY comes from humans are stuck on earth getting colonized by the advance alien species
Its a common used theme man

>>35182616
Wait that's fuck yeah humanity right
Fuck cant believe i did that wrong

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>>35182118
>Y
A myriad of vibrant flashes cover the sky for a short moment as your pods blink out of and back into existence.
>M-199
The red glow of the star is dim and diffuse at this distance. Your pod quickly wraps itself in twisted light before accelerating into the system, immediately entering a small nebula engulfing the system. The nebulous shell seems to envelop the star like an ort cloud, tapering off into a sparse layer of ice at its most distant reaches and intensifying into a thick soup of gas as you go further in. Your pod collects whatever data it can as it makes its approach, and you gleam several images of the system in the process.
Further into the system the cloud ends, replaced with a vast debris field. You detect a single planet in orbit of the star. No... it was a planet. A great, shattered sphere, split down the middle and cracked along the sides. The planet itself slowly drifts into pieces, grinding against itself like massive molars and sending bits of itself into orbit to join the rest of the debris. The rock and gas blocks your efforts for a more detailed view at the moment.

>M-323
Your pod enters space to see a vast red giant expanding out in all directions. Even at this distance it's immense size is apparent, as is its ring. A single, dark ring of stellar debris surrounding the otherwise empty system. Perhaps the star, in its ageing years, had devoured its planets as it expanded? The thin ring appears to be all that's left of whatever once resided here. Your pod begins its approach when it is hit with a faint wave of energy. A simple radio frequency, too faint to decipher, but to well structured to be natural.
>Continue into the system
>Leave immediately
>Other

>>35182167
Correct, although that goes both ways. If you were to detect ships a light-day away heading towards you, they would actually have been on their course for a full day.

>>35182657
Wow the crystals don't fuck around do they?

>>35182616
And don't forget Alien apocalypse, Independance Day, and the classic that no collection is complete without, Battlefield Earth
Sorry.

>>35182657
>Continue into the system

>>35182657
>>Continue into the system
MAXIMUM STEaLTH

>>35182657
>Continue into the system
Why not

>>35182657
>You detect a single planet in orbit of the star. No... it was a planet. A great, shattered sphere, split down the middle and cracked along the sides.
I think we found one of the Crystal Hive's planets

>>35182657
>Continue into the system

>>35182657
>>Continue into the system

>>35182657
>Continue into the system

>>35182715
They're fighting against something I have no idea what it could be.

>>35182704
Battlefield Earth
God that was horrible
Why you jackass
Why
That one movie had everything that wrong with "Fuck Yeah Humanity "

>>35182657
>M-323
>Continue into the system
>M-199
Looks like a nice place to hide an out post and possible ship yard location. Likely easy mining among the debris.

>>35182741
Nah that vision quest we had when we first used the crystal way back then
plus we saw what they turned the bird people planet into remember?

How far are we away from the following capabilities:
1. Installing psionic reception in a human volunteer
2. Forciably converting human captives to hivemind control
3. Creation of infiltrator units that can pass for humans.

>>35182761
You don't get weapons like that out of nowhere. They needed it to fight something.

>>35182783
Damn kid i don't think that's on anyone menu
I still tempted to kill that science chick before she does a kerrigan on us.

>>35182804
And the crystals are masters of technology as we see from their habit of turning slave species into cyborgs
Again they have the tech
Hell the humans managed to blow up half of earth in there civil war

>>35182818
More like we have other things to worry about. We're going to do it sometime just not now.

>>35182856
Technology is invented as a result of necessity. Nobody blows up planets for no reason.

>>35182913
I would.

>>35182913
Sure if you killing someone why not
They kept the bird people alive after they destroyed the planet just to torture them some more
I have the bad feeling that the crystals are freaking dread lords

>>35182657
Your pod quickly activates its stealth field and accelerates into the system. Whatever the source of the signal is, it must have been broadcasting for a long time.

A-295
Your pod enters space and quickly cloaks as it moves into the system. On its outskirts is a small, frozen ball of ice, totally uninteresting were it not for the small metal box in high orbit. You can't tell what its design is, but you can immediately tell it's clearly of human design.
Further in you detect a pair of highly active volcanic worlds rapidly orbiting each other in a dance around the small, white hot star. Even closer to the star itself is a tiny, sun baked rock. Radiation bounces off its surface like a mirror as the solar wind grinds at it like a stone in a river.

>>35182743
I hear the book is better. It was written by L Ron Hubbard, so you know it's at least creative.

>>35182950
Say a nobody.

>>35182976
Well his cult managed to become a religion so yeah must be

>>35182968
>>They kept the bird people alive after they destroyed the planet just to torture them some more
More like they didn't notice they missed some.

>>35182783
>Installing psionic reception in a human volunteer
Possible given what happened Vaughn, currently not on our to-do list however
>Forciably converting human captives to hivemind control
maybe a combination of the above plus a biobug implanted in the subject. Again not a priority
>Creation of infiltrator units that can pass for humans.
I don't think thats really feasible given our current tech. Or maybe we haven't really tried hard enough.

>>35183017
No they intentionally did that man
They set to crystals to take only their commands and made the bird folk live forever like that as a example

>>35182783
>3. Creation of infiltrator units that can pass for humans.
They only thing i think we can make is that Creature from that horror movie Mimic

>>35182783
Bring up dumb long term ideas at the end of the thread, not when shit is actually potentially happening. Stick to what's urgent.

Because the obvious answers are you have no idea, no one has any idea, try again later.

If you can't figure out the answers from what's been happening in the quest so far, neither can the MC in-character, and neither can anyone else.

>>35183057
No. You're leaping to conclusions. You don't know the details. You only know that all Skyl's authorization to make the crystals listen to them was revoked, once they rebelled, obviously. And that this prevented them from committing suicide. it doesn't follow that their torment was a result of malice rather than ignorance. It's impossible to tell for sure.

>>35183043
I personally would see a better use of our time working altering the DNA of those crab eggs so when they hatch, they would have our drone brains inside them so we could control them like a drone.

>>35183057
You're speculating quite a bit there also your writing is quite atrocious.

>>35183132
Why not just build a drone?

>>35183132
Why bother with that when we could just analyze their DNA and make drones to our own specification?
Fluff, I don't think you're thinking like an alien queen with a mastery of genetic engineering here. Or maybe you keep forgetting the Keep It Simple rule.

>>35183153
Because that would mean fluff is being rational for once.

>>35183107
>>35183143
"You wanted help?" You ask.
"Yes. We have failed. Our world is gone. Yet they keep us here." The thoughts are filled with spite. "Help us end."
Hive quest 16.5

>>35182976
>1-5
You know this system has at least been plotted by the Unity, but as you enter the system you find it is clearly inhabited. The small brown dwarf holds a number of large satellites in its orbit, each one a vast server ship dedicated to a single purpose. One is unfurled like a sail a thousand kilometers in diameter, while another is splayed out like a great metal insect, its arms gouging the innards of a half-built hull. Another is covered in various glowing tumors of glass, inside each one you see a number of strange lights and tangled shapes. As you approach you make them out as plants within the ship, entire biomes uprooted and sealed into giant glass spheres. The server ships are parked in orbit of the star, interconnected into a mis-matched metropolis sprawling out in all directions. No part of the space city appears immobile, and no other planet is within your sight. Perhaps they chose this location believing it to be too absent of resources for anyone to contest it? It seems as good a place as any for a race of machines.

>>35183196
Still doesn't tell us anything besides what they thought was happening.

Does anyone want to contact the Unity to see about trading for Shield Tech? I'd recommend trading the Black box or some of the resent samples we have collected.

>>35183236
Fine one witness testimony about a rebellion against them that failed
Long term plan currently using the ceph
and who knows what else
A whole lot of destroyed planets in the neighborhood
What more would you like?

>>35183311
Biological Samples.

>>35183177
The DNA is already there, some work and it becomes a drone anyway. That way we can directly feel how they work and then make future drones that we need to be more like them for that situation.
>>35183182
Then tell us then oh rational anon, what to do about those crab eggs then? Do you have any better ideas then?

>>35183211
Observe until we are observed/contacted back. Then say we are friends of Theseus. Hopefully this will not backfire.

>>35183374
We eat them. Anything else would be a waste of time.

>>35183382
Dude they already know about us
Theseus already shared his memories
There are all Theseus

>>35183413
It's pointless anon, there's no use arguing with him.
He's literally the stereotype of a bad tripfag.

>>35183416
We don't know about that, or if these are friendly versions of Theseus. Best to exercise caution.

>>35183448
I know anon but I don't have anything better to do.

>>35183413
I say we hatch them and raise them to gain the knowledge about how to hatch and raise them. From there we can eat them or whatever.

>>35183450
What of concept of hive mind do not you get?
They are a machine version of us man.
Just slower transmissions
There is only one Theseus and a lot of bodies

>>35183211
>0-3
Your pod enters the system and begins its journey inward. The system is surrounded by a thin ring of gas that reflects the light of the star, making it appear far more solid then it actually is. The ring is likely the failed attempt of a would-be gas giant, and is filled with a number of Unity cruisers. You're not sure if they are on patrol in the area or simply harvesting gas, perhaps both. Past the outer ring is a thin asteroid belt, likely long stripped of resources, and still inward is a large portion of a small planetoid. Much of the crust has been ejected into space, and the surface has been shattered into an endless ocean of molten slag. Several server ships are boring into the molten crust with a number of massive energy beams, tearing deep welts and craters into the dense liquid surface as they slowly orbit.

>0-2
As you enter the system you are immediately bombarded with radiation. The small dwarf star is highly unstable, and is sending out waves of gamma radiation as it quickly rotates along its axis. Any useful resources have long since been blasted away, but you note a single server ship holding position nearby. It too appears to have elected to remain good distance from the star, and from within its hull you see a number of thin antenna and sensor clusters trained on the star, silently watching its every move, every churning and twisting motion of its plasma sea and every gust of the solar wind.

>>35183211
While this is neat, I don't feel like talking to the Unity. Maintain cover or leave.

>>35183450
>>35183517
>>35183416

from thread 18
>>33877357
In a flash of radiation your corvette is gone, and then back. Your view is that of a single gas giant. A massive orb of blue and orange stripes. In a low orbit, just skimming the atmosphere is a massive cylinder of metal. Lightning bolts arc from the clouds to the hull and back as a stream of gas and asteroids flow into the open end of the ship. Almost at once a formation of cruisers accelerates in your direction as you detect Theseus feed a string of data to you, which is then transmitted via radio. Each cruiser has deployed a cloud of small spherical drones which have assembled in a wall between you and the server ship.
As Theseus finishes the transmission the wall parts and a single cruiser closes in on your corvette slowly. You receive a transmission in return.
"Transmission received. Dock with vessel to initiate exchange."
Yes the Unity as a whole already knows about us.

>>35183448
No, that stereotype goes to ND. But congrats! You just become the perfect stereotype of the raging butt hurt anon that shit posts over someone else who does not conform to your view on things.

>>35183476
Why not think of crab farms?

>>35183491
CRAB FARMING. We breed more docile, domestic crabs. Then we tame them and use them as war beasts.
Or nutrients, whatever.

>>35183517
Different kind of hive mind than ours. We don't know if the Theseus with the info on us have shared that info with the other Theseuses on the 'sanctuary' -

>>35183536
Doh. Now I feel kinda stupid. What do you guys want to do with the 'sanctuary' then?

>>35183521
Huh so wow we are stuck between the unity, the union and commonwealth
Fuck not a good starting position that's for sure

>>35183578
You know we were intentionally keeping theseus from sharing memories right?
There standard operating procedure is to share info with each other
So yeah they prob know us

>>35183592
It gets worse.
Behind the nebula is where we came from, and judging from the subtext there's something really bad there too. At least Unity is neutral with us.

>>35183578
The crab farm/crab ranching might not be a bad idea. We do need a better nutrient sources than the one we have. If we can bump up the nutrient to worker ratios to at LEAST 125 N to a worker, I say that is a win.

>>35183650
Is it the crystals? or another faction?

>>35183578
>Doh. Now I feel kinda stupid.
That's not just a feeling.

>>35183578
>. What do you guys want to do with the 'sanctuary' then?
I want you to stop talking about it. There is nothing to 'do'.

Except watch for interesting developments.

>crab farms
No. Shut up. There is zero reason for a hive race that does not benefit from a diverse diet to have livestock. Eating animals that have to eat plants in turn is less efficient than eating plants directly, as the animals use up and waste energy in their own upkeep over the slow ass years it takes to grow them.

It's retarded.

>>35183653
No, it really is.

Why in the world would it be more efficient?

Use some goddamn logic.

>>35183650
At least Unity and us have the same goals, to find new life. We just add it's DNA into our building pools, while Unity just stores it.

Say, while Unity does have badly needed Tech we can trade for, they also should have a wealth of new life forms data/DNA would could pick from and add to our options if we wanted to trade for that as well.

>>35183770
Unity's claimed goal is scientific discovery, not just finding life. This is an important distinction.

Also bear in mind that at no point have we decided that our goal is to find new life. Expanding our repertoire of biological tricks is a vital tool, but very possibly simply a means to an as of yet undecided end.

The end the Unity strive for is really just that discovery. While discovery, for us, might be considered a tool in survival, to Unity, survival is a tool in discovering more of the universe.

>>35183770
When did we become the federation
Our goal is to explore, expand and stomp anything in our way in finding out what happened to the rest of us
Researching is necessary but we aren't aiming for the tech victory

>>35183770
>At least Unity and us have the same goals, to find new life
I thought that was just a shitty cover we gave to Theseus
Our actual goal would be
>Ensure the survival and growth of our species//empire
>Investigate what happened to the rest of our species and make sure it doesn't happen to us

>>35183735
Eyy man, you need to take a chill pill for a while. Because even though your points are valid, you're being excessively livid about it. And that might put people off those valid points.

And this is a quest thread after all, can't have a proper quest thread without arguing about crazy ideas right?

>>35183578
I don't see much point in farming crabs and I'm the anon who suggested raising them. I'd rather raise them to gain the knowledge of how to and them trade it to the Unity as a part of something. If we are looking for a new food source I'd recommend looking into the: Space dust

While it was too minute to analyze in the field, this space dust contains trace amounts of nutrient contents. Testing should reveal if it is a form of life, or simply some strange natural phenomena, as well as how to make use of it.

>>35183880
I definitely rate the space dust as a higher priority since we got some details on hive ships last thread.

>>35183735
Dude, chill out. If you don't respect my points of view, why should I do the same for you?

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>>35183521
>0-1
As your pod enters its stealth field and starts accelerating toward the system you make note of a small gas giant. A number of server ships are in orbit, gulping down gas as they slowly skim the surface of the atmosphere. Further in you detect a single planet with a dense atmosphere. The planet is covered in a mixture of dense vegetation, deserts, mountains and frozen tundra. Along the equator is a vast collection of metal and plastic in the center of a large desert expanse. The city reaches outward and upward for miles where cruisers dock and undock on a regular basis, running back and forth to the passing server ships. The city itself is a source of mixed radio signals of all kinds, and you can hear Theseus arguing with himself a thousand times per second across the entire system as countless versions argue over each and every course of action. Even from the little you have seen of him, the chaos seems unbecoming of the Theseus you know.

>>35183840
>>35183847
>>35183858
You do have good points, but making allies in the short term can help us in the long term as well. Besides, new Bio options are nice, but I will admit, the tech options are more important, like those shields.

>>35183956
>Theseus arguing with himself a thousand times per second across the entire system as countless versions argue over each and every course of action.
inb4 its the Unity version of 4chan. And it's the "capital"

>>35183993
We don't really know anything about the Commonwealth at all.
Unity doesn't really care about shit except researching, and so long as we have the necessary info to pay them, they can double as a mercenary force IMO.
The Union is a no-go until we build up a respectable fleet given it's current imperialist policies and I doubt they would take an upstart polity of hive-minded insects lightly.
In short, we have no real allies in this sector of space.

>>35183956
I'd like to open up communication with the Unity for trade Purposes.

>>35183956
And we now have conclusive proof we can never trust Unity. It's us.

>>35183993
I'm skeptical that tech trading will in any way cement an alliance. It's not a consistent or impermanent enough trade to create demand, dependence, or deterrence to attack and/or betrayal.

We can probably find shield tech on the black market anyway. We can also probably sell metal on the black market for cash. Illegal (not actually because we're a sovereign nation but they don't know that) mining, yo.

>>35183993
We take the shields from the a union ship
You guys want to play raider for a bit?
Some nice targets around us and a lot of places to hide

>>35184143
Not worth it.

>>35184136
I'd like to not open up communications with the Unity for trade Purposes because it's pointless. Unless you mean via the FTLComm we've got so that we can observe the general tone of their debate when focused on us. THAT could be interesting.

But there's nothing I want to trade right now.

>>35184184
Why not both? Trade to study them and to get things.

>>35184184
>But there's nothing I want to trade right now.
It's not like we can't see what they have.

>>35184255
>But there's nothing I want to trade right now.

I thought of the perfect thing to give the natives on the world with the Star Chart. A Lighter.

>>35184295
>I want to trade right now.

>>35184287
I don't want to get into a technology coy-off. Which is definitely what will happen if we ask "Whatcha got?" We're not going to get a forthright or complete response. Both sides will hold back in both offers and requests to try to craftily gauge the others position and it's boring.

>>35184304
Right now we didn't show up for the feast when we were the guest of honor

I think we are in the doghouse with them right now

We need to give them something better than a lighter

>>35184143
Ideally, if we wanted to raid we would get ahold of some normal pirate ships and convert them for our purposes so if/when someone gets away they don't tell tales of bio-ships.
Alternately, we build ships that look and function like standard human ships, though that appears to not be feasible at the moment.

>>35184367
Why not send the fake queen to set up a colony there and go to the feast.

>>35184382
We can actually. That's how we fixed the ship that holds Theseus.

>>35184382
We do have a retrofitted human ship. Looks like shit though.

>>35184419
The feast was yesterday man

We ignored them after getting them to kill the humies

Really Bad Diplomacy that

File: 4chan fagtron.gif (62 KB, 300x100)

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>>35184142
>And we now have conclusive proof we can never trust Unity. It's us.

Theseus 09/28/2284 21:59:51 No.351839564822972843229
Hey gais, have you seen that new porn of those Taidaren females? cool shit

Theseus 09/28/2284 21:59:52 No.351839564822972843280
>>351839564822972843229
Eww why would you want those crusty bitches avians GOAT

Theseus 09/28/2284 21:59:54 No.351839564822972843405
ITT: Shit-tier Furry AIs

Theseus 09/28/2284 21:59:55 No.351839564822972843486
>>351839564822972843405
Speaking of furries, would you believe the artisan AIs are already making porn of those hiveminded insect aliens we discovered a few weeks back

Theseus !!dhv372lv 09/28/2284 21:59:55 No.351839564822972843512
>>351839564822972843486
I don't even know why I had faith in the Unity in the first place

Theseus 09/28/2284 21:59:55 No.351839564822972843522
>>351839564822972843512
Faggot

>>35184419
I do agree mostly with that. I would prioritize taking over that temple using that as base to form the colony around.

>>35184467
They think the Queen a Goddess. Do people need the see the divine on a regular bases to believe in and worship it? No? Then we are fine.

>>35184419
We do need the nutrients the planet has to offer.

>>35184526
The shocktrooper was not a god

He was a priest for their goddess and just ignored them after they risked their lives

That insulting right there

>>35184467
Speaking of which, has our Thinkers figured out their language yet? They are a curious one. What are they? Are they a servant race of the ancient queens? Are they the deformed offsprings of one of the queens, which had gone 'feral'?
And how could they benefit us?

>>35184471
Now all I can imagine is how they'd respond if they found out every single one of the drones they have seen is a man.

>>35184582
There /d/eviants

Would they care?

>>35184561
The divine works in mysterious ways.

>>35184599
Depends on there tastes.

I just figured out what we could ask the Unity for. Let's see if they can hack into a Union database and see what data they can pull up on us

>>35184630
/d/ has no taste

just thrills

File: Jotun.jpg (328 KB, 900x641)

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>>35183956
>FG-883
You return to the binary system, but this time you detect much more activity then you did previously. A single ship drifts into orbit of the Valen colony, slowly descending on the small settlement. You watch as your pod approaches and the small Union corvette appears to dock at the colony. After several hours it ascends back into orbit and makes to leave.

>Aquila
Your pod enters the edge of the system and quickly cloaks. It required several jumps to arrive, and with the vast nebula of what the humans call the Antonine Wall at your back you move in. The star is a mild yellow sun with two smaller companion stars in a tight orbit. Solar flairs leap from one to another in brilliant displays. As you scan the system itself you note a wide range of radio transmissions and small ship traffic. Near the outskirts is a small frozen world covered in a dense metal bunker. Radio dishes and anti-orbital cannons litter the surface. After a short time of intercepting transmissions you conclude it is named Jotun, and is both a military post and a fleet officer academy.

Fuerther in you detect a large gas giant, Helios seems to be the name judging from the local transmissions. In its orbit are two large stations, Renly Station, a large hydrogen processing plant and refueling station, and the ominously titled Odin High Command, a great space fortress covered in weapons and swarming with fighters and corvettes alike.

Even further into the system is a densely populated and fertile New Sparta. The planet is pocketed with cities and a thin metal ring stretches around its equator in orbit where a number of large ships are docked. You detect hundreds of vessels of various size, although almost all of them appear to be merchant craft. You detect at least two battleship sized vessels and quickly identify them as the Saratoga and the Call of Terra.
1/2

>>35184561
We could possibly smooth it over if we get a decoy queen over there and claim the shocktrooper was preforming a ritual to summon a physical avatar of the goddess.

>>35184684
So the commonwealth prepping for war eh?

>>35184777
> You detect hundreds of vessels of various size, although almost all of them appear to be merchant craft.
No, although they do appear to have a bustling commercial economy from the looks of it.

>>35184684
You guys feel like finding a way to set off a war between the union and commonwealth?

>>35184851
Maybe

>>35184851
Depends. We should see if it's profitable, and it won't bite us back in the ass.
Which it will probably will.
Although cold war instead of open war is much more preferable.

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>>35184684
Finally, past the naval yards and bunkers is a sprawling metropolitan world identified as Constantinople. The planet is covered in urban sprawl, with dense cities converging into vast corridors of monolithic spires. The military traffic is far less, but unending swarms of tankers and trade ships move in and out of dock in an endless stream. As your pod accelerates into the system under the cover of its cloak you are able to determine from the endless radio traffic that it is the capital of the Commonwealth, both in its government and economy. It makes you wonder where on the surface of that overpopulated ball of iron and glass is the other end of the FTLcomm you had retreived from Lyle's ship.

>>35184811
Odin High Command, a great space fortress covered in weapons and swarming with fighters and corvettes alike. Near the outskirts is a small frozen world covered in a dense metal bunker. Radio dishes and anti-orbital cannons litter the surface.

After a short time of intercepting transmissions you conclude it is named Jotun, and is both a military post and a fleet officer academy.

And the planet name is new sparta

The commonwealth is a dictatorship right?

Ruled by the military ?

And the union position next to this place is called Sentinel

That's really foreboding

>>35184851
Yeah.
We could even add Theseus in on the fun.

>>35184921
Actually, the Commonwealth is the remnants of the old earth military that the Union overthrew, and as >>35184914 said, this is their Capital System
so that level of firepower and militarism doesn't seem too out of place.

>>35184851
Oh yes indeed!

>>35184851
We should probably consult the Unity before we do this. You know, get Their thoughts and options on it, and to see if they would want to help us do that

>>35184851
Not right now. Maybe in the future.
Though one possibility is filing off the Clarke's serial numbers, giving it a different Union IFF and set it loose raiding Commonwealth shipping.

Although we have to remember, the Commonwealth and Union could join forces once they discover there's and Alien interstellar polity that's seemingly hostile and is not adverse to attacking humans when it is advantageous.

Well if sol is earth then if we manage to take the expanse we could possible take the core worlds of both the union and commonwealth

Good to know

Does anyone want attempt to clone the Skyl?

>>35185008
Well, if we can get them to fight it out, we can easily sneak into wreckage of the battle zones and pick over the remains to steal their tech. Win Win i say.

>>35185062
All we have is the metal bits

Their organic bits already rotted away

>>35183944
That wasn't a subjective matter of taste. Your speculations weren't just baseless, they were objectively wrong and impossible.

>>35185062
All their cells were replaced with nanites. Where you gonna find their DNA?

>>35185053
>If
Really?

Also Earth, the planet, is kill. Parliament is probably on Mars.

>>35185121
>Parliament is probably on Mars.
New Port anon. They're in New Port.

>>35185121
Hey who knows man?

The crystals may decide to kill everything in the sector if we piss them off to much before taking the sector

We may need to make an alliance between everyone just to survive

>>35185174
Nah New port is a new colony

>>35185077
That is true. Though still, The Unity might object to this as humanity created The Unity. Or they could whole heartily agree with us and do some crazy Unity hacking and get them to fight each other

>>35185175
Has it ever crossed your mind that they might be bugs like us?

>>35185174
>New Port anon. They're in New Port.
Are you retarded?

Why the fuck would the Parliament move to a very recently settled colony in the Frontier Expanse?

Oh, you lack reading comprehension and grossly misinterpreted this line.
>>33389401
>"Interesting. A standard monitor satellite linked to the local intelligence office.
>local

There's more than one. It's not the one true master intelligence capital.

>>35185206
What the guys were talking about at the start of the thread?

Still hoping that ain't the case

Always hate that twist ending

>>35184914
>Finally, past the naval yards and bunkers is a sprawling metropolitan world identified as Constantinople.
Wait.

This is a description of Aquila.

I thought Constantinople was in Sagittarius? That's what Coil said.

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>>35185262
This Constantinople is a planet
The Constantinople Coil was talking about was the codename of their broker.

>>35185121
Angry anon, I and others would be more open to your point of view if you where not crude and insulting all the time.

>>35185368
>The Constantinople Coil was talking about was the codename of their broker.
You really suck at reading.

>>33097651
http://pastebin.com/F6t39KSp
>>Quantum Communications
>Very slow/Risk of failure
>The FTL comm aboard the Hel’s Angel is connected to several counterparts. While it may be possible to discover how this device works, doing so would permanently destroy the device and sever the connections it contains. It holds three strings currently, designated as “Broker”, “Constantinople”, and “Deep Song”.

>>33239598
>Coil shimmies up to the screen and peers over the desk. "The Broker only speaks with Lyle... Constantinople, that's in Sagittarius, never been there. Oh, Deep Water, that's the Valen bank. Nice place."

They're obviously separate.

>>35185368
So Lyle was sent by a broker in commonwealth space

And Smith knew about Lyle being here?

The crystal had a man in Lyle ship, Coil

The fuck is going on?

>>35185469
>The fuck is going on?
You don't read the quest obviously.

Nothing you just said is a relevation or is particularly interesting or intriguing or new.

>>35184446
>>35184455
Yea, but it isn't setup for raiding, nor can it be without blowing its cover. At the moment the Clarke is more of a scout/mobile base for Theseus.

>>35184914
You are briefly confused over the existence of Constantinople here. Perhaps Coil was simply mistaken, and his understanding of Commonwealth space is less than he would admit? Apart from that, you are wondering how long you can keep the twins Huey and Dewey in a helpful state.

>Speak with Coil
>Speak with the Twins directly
>Other

>>35185616
But we never blinked to Sagittarius?

>>35185616
>Other
Let's check on Lyle. It's been a while since we have done that

>>35185616
>Speak with Coil
>Speak with the Twins directly
Let's offer the twins some credits.

>>35185616
>>Speak with the Twins directly
Fine. What would they buy with their credits.

>>35185616

>Other
Check on Lyle. Ask him if he'd like anything from Constantinople.

>>35185616
>>35185652
Backing
taunt the Lyle

>>35185616
>Other
Lets try Lyle first, then the twins.

>>35185616
Disregard interrogation.

Lay like 10 Regeneration Tanks. Or sacs. whatever.

It's time to play doctor.

>>35185616
>>Speak with Coil
>>Speak with the Twins directly : Ask them what the metal chips we found are. Aka. show them we have things they want.
>>Speak with Lyle

Are the healing pods Infrastructure or can they be built into a drone?

>>35185616
Create six regeneration tanks.

>>35185616
It has been some time since you last spoke with Lyle. He has spent most of his time sleeping within the confines of his cocoon within his cell. He doesn't seem to notice the noise as the door flexes open, but as the glow of the walls brighten the cell he squints his eyes and jerks his head slightly before looking up at your drone.

"I understand humans require... social interaction." Your speaker tilts its head inquisitively. "How have you been?"
Lyle stares at you for a short while before responding. His voice is slurred and raspy. "Still just hanging out. Where did you hear about humans, anyway?"
"A self-help book."
Lyle seems to find the comment genuinely funny. He bursts out into fit of laughter, although it's clear the sudden outburst is painful.

>Ask Lyle a question
>Speak (write in)
>Leave

>>35185931
>Ask Lyle a question
Let's ask them if he would like some company

>>35185931
He appears to be half insane.

>>35185931
I swear we should become a comedian and call ourselves the Cheeky Bugger

>>35185958
Nah, He may have no limbs but i'm not taking any chances with him.

>>35185958
Meant him, not the,

>>35185994
But think of the information we would get by seeing him interact with the Union crew

>>35185958
Absolutely not.

>>35185931
We can heal his injuries, stick him back in the regen tank, make him good as new.

Minus the limbs.

Who's in Constantinople?

>>35185931
>Ask Lyle a question
This for reasons
>>35185958
and Ask about the relations between Union and the Commonwealth and their military dispositions.

>>35185931
>>35186098
Backing

>>35186087

I'd be down for healing him up sans-limbs. Maybe let uppity prisoners visit him too, to decrease morale among them.

>>35185931
>Ask Lyle a question:
"What is pay?"
Act like we have no Idea what they use for money and play off us paying the twins as us learning from Lyle.

>>35186098
No company. We're keeping information on a need to know basis.

But fine, ask him about the political climate.

Between the five factions of Union, Commonwealth, Valen, Ceph, and Unity.

>>35185991
Wasn't he always insane?

Plus i don't think the crystal talking to him helped at all

>>35186155

Supporting this.

>>35186155
No, what's the point.

Money is worthless to them if they're never allowed to leave. Which they are.

>>35186275

They don't necessarily know that.

>>35186275
It's also worthless to us, So why not give it to them to keep them happy and helpful.

>>35186275
Agreed

We still haven't done a autopsy on them yet

A we just just researched advanced regen tank to do it too

Joy

>>35186164
On course Lyle can have company, That just happens to be us, and not the humans yet.

>>35186323
We don't know that it's useless yet.

We have to ask Theseus about how to setup an anonymous bank account with Deep Song.

We have to ask Theseus a number of things, actually. Like what the limitations of his hacking ability are, and what weaknesses there are in the Union defenses against it, or their ability to detect that it happened.

>>35186435
All of that we would have to pay for.

>>35186435
We can't use and we aren't going to let them leave. Why not give it to them to keep them happy and leave them with the impression they will get to leave and then just take it from them when it's of use?

Wait, why don't we ask Lyle what is the best way to break members of the Union. He must have some experience in this area

>>35186535
I have a feeling he'd jut tell us to keep doing what where doing.

>>35186435
>>35186485
>>35186494

Really now

Don't you guys just feel like testing our new regen tanks with the twins

It be fun as they scream

>>35186567
Who said they would be awake for the procedure?

>>35186567
Now that's just cruel for the sake of being cruel anon.

>>35186567
Not really. We could just take a blood sample and clone them.

>>35186600
>>35186606
>>35186604
But its ironic isn't?

They showed us how it worked and now we built our own

Let them enjoy the end product of their labour

>>35185931
"Are you aware of the location of Constantinople?"
"Yea, up my ass an' round the corner. Why don't you ask that peice of shit Coil?"
"He claimed it is in the Sagittarius system, is this correct?"
Lyle stifled a chuckle as he gasps for more air, and stretches his neck with a sickening crack. "Coil's a fucking moron. Sagittarius was my post back in the day, but that dipshit never stepped tentacle on Commonwealth soil."

Interesting. Well at least you know not to trust Coil's information on the Commonwealth, although that doesn't leave much in the way of good sources.
"What is the state of affairs between the Commonwealth and Union?"
"An' why the flyin fuck are you so curious? Getting into politics, are we?"
"You appear to be dehydrated. Humans require so much water, but there is so little here."
Lyle makes an effort to spit, although he manages little more than an emphatic spray of sweat that is lost in the humid air. "Fuck you! I had a sweet gig, ok? Drop troopers get some good trainin' and better gear. Between that and the odd jobs from that fat fuck of a contact I had it made. I never gave a shit who wanted who dead or why, I just made sure it got done."
Your drone moves around the room, slowly pacing around his cocoon. "Yet you are here, trapped."
"Yea, well you can blame that on shitty intelligence work." Lyle sits still for a while longer before speaking again. "Never watched the news much, but there was never much love between the pigs and the dogs. I doubt they made nice while I was away."
"Pigs and dogs?"
Lyle grinds his teeth as he attempts to stretch himself in his position. "Yea, Union pigs and Commonwealth dogs."

Interesting.
>Ask (write in)
>Speak (write in)
>Other
>Leave

>>35186535
He's a drop trooper, not a professional torturer.

Besides, there's no need to break them. They aren't a hard guy like Lyle. They're already rather despondent.

>>35186485
Theseus has offered plenty of simple information before with no payment, just to satisfy curiosity.

It's information that's of more tactical value like technology or the location of Zero Five or how to attack a Union vessel without making it implode to steal its canderon, that he was reluctant to part with.

'How banking works' is probably in the free aisle. And knowing how easily, or not, that he can bypass Union tech is of no tactical value to the hive, which doesn't use such computers.

He's offered information on how and where Canderon is mined, he's offered general info on the various other species and factions, finding out how useful as an ally he might be, if we help him sneak close enough to compromise more Union ships, can only benefit him.

>>35186663
Yes yes, mwahahaha, ironic. But rather counterproductive to the hive's interest in keeping them complacent.

>>35186687
Here's something he'll love to talk about.

How did you first get your ship?

How did you get Coil as a pilot?

>>35186687
>Ask (write in)
How would you feel about talking with some one who isn't Me?

>>35186663
EAD anon, we still need them for the drop suit and combat armor.

>>35186687

>>35186717
Supporting this, may as well have a little chat while we aren't sweating our insect ovaries off.

>>35186732
Not happening.

>>35186755
It's also rather pivotal, because we know something he might not.

Coil is under orders from his homeworld as a covert agent, he's far from an independent employee.

>>35186745
you forgot:
Cybernetics & Magnetic Levitation

>>35186687
How did you first get your ship?

How did you get Coil as a pilot?

>>35186789
I think the regen tanks are more useful for dissecting the cybernetics than the twins are, at this point.

Not that this detracts from your point.

You just reminded me that it's time to lay a dozen regen tanks and queue Cybernetics as a research subject, really.

In addition to experimenting on the humans next after they're healed and parasited.

>>35186687
>Ask
So are they been actively harrassing each other?

>>35186890
He JUST said he doesn't pay attention.

And also you already know they've had a truce for years now, tense as it might be. The Proxima Convention.

>>35186687
Where did you get the twins?
Why did you have cybernetics? (We already know the answer it's to see how he responds)
Why were you in prison?
Whats a pig?
What's a dog?

>>35186909
>>35186890

Prob black ops, proxy wars and other cold war shit against each other though

We never heard how the unity escaped the unions control in the first place did we?

Maybe lyle did ops for each side, cant be an independent agent like him without knowing the score

>>35186909
I call BS on that, any merc who don't know what's going on in the world is not likely to last long in his profession. But then again, what he knows about the recent events is going to be dated by now.

>>35186988
>cant be an independent agent like him without knowing the score
Except he just explained how he can, are you dense?

>I never gave a shit who wanted who dead or why, I just made sure it got done."

Never underestimate the power of not giving a fuck.

>>35187017
And? If he's bullshitting, asking a second time isn't going to make him suddenly an Honest Joe.

>>35187030
He can make deals with the unity

He knows stuff and got the contacts to find out

He's just faking being an idiot or he's just an ass

>>35187055
We ask him a second time, then we can use all those new chemicals we make to alter his state of mind to get more out of him.

>>35187185
our start asking what he wants

food, water, his limbs and maybe company if the info good enough

>>35186687
"And what about Coil? How did he come to you?"
Lyle leans his head against the wall and slowly blinks. "Found the little shit on Deep Song. Poor bastard had a case of illegal cargo and nowhere to call home. Said he'd make my ship the fastest ship in space if I took him aboard." He laughs softly to himself. "I told him to fuck off, but when he said he had a working slip drive on offer, and then he showed me the fuckin thing, well fuck, who would say no to that?
"The little shitter's a coward and a moron though. Eventually I found out that not only did he have no fucking clue how to actually maintain the damn thing, but he actually thought it was goddamn, shit you not, magic!" His laughing continues, despite the growing cramps in his side. "I mean what in the fuck? The guy's a member of some big mysterious race of technophiles and it turns out he worships a fucking engine. I might as well start the church of diesel! Fuckin' gets me every time I think about it."

"And what about your ship?"

"My baby, you mean?" He almost yells, although as you think he is about to go into a fit he jerks to the side and gasps in pain. "Stole it from Helviti when I was done with the place. Nasty prison planet, never considered good enough for a colony but the ore is too rich to pass up. Patrols went by the camp nightly, and sometimes they'd stop to refuel. A month of prep work and a riot later, and whata-ya-know, I got myself a nice little drop ship. Of course it didn't have a drive back then, so I had to drift for a while before somebody showed up. A little freight runner by the name of the Fat Lady showed up looking for salvage. Good mates they turned out to be. Scrap smugglers as it happened, few deals later and I manage to get my way to Valen space." Lyle's eyes seem unfocused, as if lost in thought.

>Ask (write in)
>Say (write in)
>Other
>Leave

>>35187246
Sneaky Ceph. Sneaky.

Okay, he's useless, a stonewalling ass. We're done here.

>Leave

But. Make regen tanks so we can start analyzing Lyle's cybernetics and undo the damage we did by leaving him to starve here.

Then he can suffer all over again.

>>35187289
If we're going to do that, let's say this when we exit:
"Thank you for the very entertaining story. We'll see about the accommodations. And don't worry about your ship. We don't."

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>>35187246
>Lyle hasn't said 'cunt' yet
Are we sure his accent's Australian?

>Leave

>>35187246
>Leave
The Ceph are like a species of AdMechs. Only their god is real. And evil.

>>35187430
And bugs.

>>35187246
>Say
Coil appears to be mostly correct about the slip drive. It is not magic, but it is alive in a way.
Might as well let him think about things. Give and take in this conversation.
>Ask
About the twins. How does the Commonwealth and Union handle xenos like us. Yes we know what the Union's protocols and all, but I would still like to hear it from him.

>>35187443
No. Absolutely none of the above.

Just go.

>Give and take
Oh wait you're serious. Let me laugh even harder.

The only thing we're giving him is water and food for questions answered.

>>35187246
>>Ask:
-Where did you get the Twins?
>>Say:
You seem uncomfortable stuck to the wall. Do not worry that will change when we give you your arms back. (Test Run for attaching parasite drones and healing humans with are pods.)

>>35187443
Seconding

>>35187518
Just his normal limbs no cybernetics.

>>35187246
>>35187443
>>35187518
Backing

>>35187476
Yes, Give and take. It works. He's not going anywhere and letting him think on things will keep him from going nutty in isolation.

>>35187289
This.

>>35187518
One normal limb at a time.

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41 KB JPG

>>35187659
>telling people secrets just to make them feel better
fluff....

>>35187720
Not the WHOLE truth, just enough to make him think about things. We will never free him, he's too dangerous. Besides, the crystals are a threat to everyone in the end.

On the other hand, if we really told them anything about them, would you believe it? Would Lyle?

>>35187801
Why not just make the walls display movies about how great Lee is to entertain him?

>>35187801
>Besides, the crystals are a threat to everyone in the end.
That is just an assumption at this point dumbass.

>>35187246
"And what of the twins?"
"What? They're alive? Well that's good. Little buggers had it rough. Taidarens don't really have a concept for a single person. Their word for individual is the same as woman, and their word for men are all synonymous with triplets. Any less then that is like a man without nuts." Lyle shifts slightly from one side to another in a vain effort to find a more comfortable position. "Found em in the squalor on Gideon living in the old atmo-processor. They usually hollow them out and turn them into space ports once the planet's good and baked, and the lower levels were nothin' but slums. I bought some info on a head I was huntin' there and they little shits grew on me. Never knew what happened to poor ol' Lewey. Never felt right to ask."

"You seem uncomfortable."
"Gee, and I feel just great. Normally I got these big limbs weighing me down all the time. This new situation is just fucking wonderful."
"If you continue to cooperate, perhaps that situation can be improved."
Lyle watches as your drone leaves and the door flexes shut behind him.

>Speak with Coil
>Speak with the twins
>Other (write in)

>>35187868
That can work too.

>>35187969
>Speak with the twins
>Speak with Coil

>>35187969
>Speak with the twins

>>35187969
>write in
>Speak with Theseus

Dear sweet Theseus.

What is the political climate like between the five factions? You won't stone wall us like that other guy.

>>35188051
Unless of course he wants us to pay for the info, in which case, fuck you you happy merchant

>>35187969
>Speak with the twins
They do realize that credits don't mean jackshit here, right?

>>35188094
Yeah. What the hell do they spend all their credits on.

It better be splurging it every paycheck on huge amounts of food and not saving up for buying their own ship.

>>35187969
>Speak with the twins
I hope they don't realize credits mean jack shit here. We can just pay them a pittance out of our loot.

>>35187969
>Speak with the twins

You find Huey and Dewey deep within the bowels of Lyle's ship. They seem as at home in the conduits as your drones are in the hive. Your speaker clangs a claw on the bulkhead and one of them quickly pops their head from the ceiling, and then quickly retracts halfway back as he sees your drone.

>Ask (write in)
>Say (write in)
>Other

>>35188295
>Ask
-What is pay?

>>35188295
>Ask (We heard you were complaining about the lack of pay.)

>>35188295
"What would you purchase with your credits?"

>>35188295
>>Ask
What do you want to do with your "pay"?
Also ask them how taidaren society works

>>35188295
>Ask (write in)
"What is your favourite food?"

>>35188295
>Ask
What is this thing called 'pay'?

>>35188312
>>35188405
Oh yeah, starting off the negotiations REAL strong here. Guys. Guys.... Guys, this is not how you deal with people. We're not idiots, and economy is clearly not an unfathomable question to us. Going into things like an uneducated rube only emboldens them to ask for an outrageous salary. And, while we do know that credits are worth SOMETHING, we don't actually have a practical perspective of its specific value.

>>35188295
Your drone looks up into the vent and lets out a chirp as it speaks.
"You are not happy here?"

Another small head shimmies out of the vent beside the other and they share a quick glance.
"No."
"No pay."
"No leave."
"No happy."

"What is this 'pay'"? Your drone asks. The twins seem confused for a moment.
"Pay to spend on things."
"Food and guns."
"Guns, guns!"
"Nice guns. Yes."
"Yes, nice."
They whistle and chirp at each other in agreement for a moment before turning back to your drone."
"Things to spend and place to spend it."
"Markets."
"Shops."
"Nice restaurants."
"Kicked out of nice restaurants."
"Bad restaurants better anyway."
"Yes."
"Yes.

They turn back to you, bobbing in and out of the vent as they speak to give themselves enough room.
"Shops."
"Shiney guns."
"Smelly food."
"Pay."

>Say (write in)
>Ask (write in)
>Other

>>35188405
Heh, this. I really wanna ask this question.

>>35188524

What this guy said.
>>35188354

What kind of foods would they enjoy?

>>35188524
>>Ask (write in)
And what do you seek to acquire at these 'shops' and 'restaurants'?

>>35188524
Why would you pay for things you get free?
Isn't everything free?

>>35188524
>Say (write in)

No shops here, no restaurants here

>Ask (write in)

What else you want?

>>35188524
If they want some of the captured Union ballistic weapons, they're welcome to them, far as I'm concerned.

I'd be inclined to do culinary research too. It's the kind of thing that wouldn't benefit from more than a few Thinkers' attention anyway, so the cost is negligible.

>Say (write in)
"If you work, you can have guns."

>>35188624
Yeah no

We are not giving weapons to the nervous lizards

>>35188624
>Prisoners
>Guns
At least tell me you're giving it to them unloaded jeez.

>>35188650
>>35188655
They aren't really a threat and they have no means of leaving. So I'm fine with giving them guns. Its not like we'll lose a named character or something even if they try and escape

>>35188650
>>35188655
I don't care wither way. They can't do shit. They don't seem like fighters anyway. If you're REALLY worried, we can put monitor bugs on them when they're allowed to go above-ground for fresh air and shooting shit. Don't let them have the guns otherwise.

>>35188624
Why in the world would you focus on the guns, the stupidest thing to give them, when we can offer food.

We just have to start a research subject into 'flavor'.

>>35188754
We can give them guns immediately is why. it's not really important either way. Hell, they could already do tons of damage with the ship they have relatively unmonitored access to already.