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>>35922149
>Current armory
269 Thorn Launchers
20 Thorn Cannons
123 Sting Casters
30 Cyclotrons
15 Rotary Stingers
3 Fire Sprays
5 Plasma Spray

>Current resource reserves
Nutrients: 77651
Metals: 47675

>Hive population and upkeep cost
Hive maintenance – 325
Queen – 5
Fake Queen – 22
Worker (2000) – 4000
Aquatic Worker (40) – 160
Radiator Worker (100) – 400
Warrior (209) – 1045
Aquatic Warrior (20) – 140
Thinker (139) – 417
Quantum Thinker (110) – 550
Speaker – (3) – 12
Digger (80) – 320
Refinery (10) – 70
Sniffer (2) – 8
Small Sniffer (200) – 200
Fly (50) – 200
Wasp (100) – 500
Antenna (3) – 9
Haz-mat Workers (20) – 80
Shock Troops (40) – 520
Parasite (30) – 120
Bio-tank (10) – 250
Excavator (41) – 799
Colossus (20) – 300
Advanced Relay (16) – 1600
Space Pod (13) – 390
Shuttle (10) – 250
Scout Corvette – (6) 1350
Lancer Corvette – (2) 450
Stealth Frigate – (4) 1952
Nutrient costs: 12672

>Income
Metals: 14750
Nutrients: 40050
Net: 22395

Hive Structure
>Reservoir
>General storage
>Food storage
>Advanced Laboratory
>Infrastructure
>Hangar facilities: Room for 40 Aero Drones and 20 Shuttles (25N)
>Mine: 36 Excavators, 60 Diggers, +10500 M per day (+25 M per digger)
>Asteroid mining base: 5 Excavators, 20 Diggers, +2250M per day (+50 M per digger)
>Algae Farm: +40000 N per day, 400 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)
>Secondary hive
>Automated Raligha colony

>>35922149
We have the resources
We have the technology
We can rebuild him
Lets hope we can control him

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>>35922186
Construction underway
600 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

Finished Research

>Lyle’s Combat armor
This suit is a marvel of weapons technology, offering a compact, flexible, and lightweight platform capable of protecting the user from a wide range of dangers and damage, while holding all manner of deadly devices and useful gadgets. By using the multi-layered weave design the suit uses, you should be able to layer up to two kinds of armor on your drones, letting them make use of two kinds of carapace at once.

>Cybernetics
With an astounding breakthrough on the part of your thinkers, you have managed to unravel the various intricacies of Lyle's cybernetic limbs. Much of the tech involved is already understood by you with a fair amount of confidence, such as the crafting of artificial muscle, and the nature of interfacing with the human nervous system. With this you will be able to change the layout of your drones after their birth through surgery, or implant biomechanical alterations into not only your drones, but other life as well, including humans. Your cybernetics are built from a mixture of engineered organic materials and metallic machinery, and while they require nutrients to build, do not have an upkeep cost as they are maintained by the subject’s own metabolism, which may be accelerated as a result of augmentation.

Updated tech pastebin.
http://pastebin.com/z4yZdEbK
Thanks for the feedback on the augmentations, it was used to add a few to the list.

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>>35922217
New Research Unlocked

>Thermal Blade
Medium
This dull loop of carefully crafted polymer quickly heats itself to deadly temperatures when exposed to an electrical current from within its gauntlet, quickly turning it from a blunt instrument to a deadly blade capable of burning through all manner of armor.

>Vibroblade
Fast
This lightweight combat knife features a series of micro-motors placed within a mono-wire filament tipped blade. When the knife impacts a target, the motors vibrate the blade at an ultrasonic frequency, causing the blade to rapidly rip into the target like a tiny, jackhammer powered chainsaw. A quick study of its construction should allow you to easily grow and implant similar micro muscles within the blades of your warriors, increasing the cutting and piercing power of your drones' blade attacks.

>Flak Jacket
Fast
During the disassembly of Lyle's suit, you found an interesting layer of dense fibers that are extraordinarily resilient to kinetic damage. You have it set aside to have your thinkers take a closer look at it later.

>Thermal Imaging
Medium
This compact visor display built into the helmet of Lyle's suit is capable of detecting heat, turning it into a color-coded display to highlight sources of thermal energy. It is blinded in extreme temperatures, and can quickly become useless in certain situations, but when used in conjunction with other sensors it offers a powerful method of detecting and tracking a target.

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>>35922244
[Cybernetic augmentations unlocked]

[Cloning Project unlocked]
This time and resource intensive process allows you to grow a clone of an alien life form in your pods. There are two kinds of clone to choose from.

>Replicant – A perfect, unaltered copy of the original.

>Hybrid – A clone that has been genetically modified using the hive’s own genetics. Hybrids are stronger, faster, and more durable than their natural counterparts, although not as much as cybernetics are capable of, and are psionically sensitive to the Queen’s commands.


OP is a dewsy tonight. You unlocked a lot of stuff.

>>35922291
Whats our current research and can we add to the que?

Oh good, we're back today.

We can't let Lyle go, guys. He's seen too much, we can't risk our parasites falling into the hands of human intelligence agents, and he's not guaranteed to be loyal without one.

We should instead use the parasite to find out who his contacts are in the merc world and hire them with Theseus' help, or use the AI to help set up a shell company and hire them that way.

Besides, we still need info on the Valen and Lyle's worked against them before.

Not to mention the complications with his squid buddy and the dark masters he might be taking orders from.

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>>35922291
Current research

>Atomics
Medium
While the concept of nuclear fusion is understood by you, the method is costly and dangerous. Disassembly of the human warheads should let you use them freely, any may offer insight into methods of producing your own such warheads in a more feasible and cost effective manner.

>Magnetic Levitation
Medium
The small human buggy uses a series of superconducting magnets to glide along a planet’s surface a short distance from the ground. Apparently based off of Ceph technology, this device grants a great advantage to mobility.

>Space dust
Medium
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.

>Cryo spray
Slow
A stroke of inspiration has taken one of your quantum thinkers and you have been presented with the theory of applying the mechanics of your fire spray in reverse, using cryonics to create a pair of chemicals that, when mixed together and shot from a nozzle, would rapidly flash-freeze almost anything it touches. [Unlocks laser cooling]

>Microbial cultures
Medium/mildly dangerous
These unknown samples of microbial life taken from the Union field lab may offer some practical applications after a battery of tests.

>White Crystal
Very slow
This strange crystal gives off a slight glow, and a sense of warmth. It seems to react to your presence, although you can’t be sure. Sending it through a series of tests may yield some level of understanding, or at the very least give you an idea of what it is.

1/2

>>35922378
not to mention the humans we're experimenting on, if we can't risk lyle's parasite falling into enemy hands we can't let them go while they have drones in their guts

maybe we can keep them sedated and talk to them through dreams while they're on life support in a comatose state, otherwise it's another risk of discovery

we could let them go later as a diplomatic gesture maybe, after removing the parasites. we'd have to make sure they weren't able to tell they'd been implanted if we wanted to stay a step ahead of human intelligence

>>35922358
Read the bloody pastebin, it has 'current research'.

We added like 10 things or something last thread, we have plenty on our plate. All the good stuff.

>>35922378
I sorta agree.

At the very least, Lyle shouldn't be released until all research on his weapons and junk are finished.

Besides, we have an alternative guys. To find both Lee AND Seiner. (Not that we should kidnap Seiner, just sell the data to Theseus.)

The White Crystal. A device for remote viewing that the ancient crystal hives weren't afraid of using. It's uncorrupted by Them, unlike the void shards, but in Vaughn's memories it has the same capabilities.

We can palantir what the humans are up to.

>>35922408
2/2
>Nanomachines
Very slow
Your research indicates that the advanced technology that gave the Skyl their individual immortality was entirely alien to them; however, in the extensive time they had at their disposal they dedicated an enormous amount of effort into unlocking this advanced technology. They left extensive notes on the subject, giving you a tremendous head start on it, although it would still be a daunting research project.

>Drop Suit
Slow
Lyle’s powerful suit has proven more than worthy of a thorough examination as to its inner workings. You will need to take it apart before you know just what you have to research.

>>35922378
>He's seen too much, we can't risk our parasites falling into the hands of human intelligence agents, and he's not guaranteed to be loyal without one.
Are you stupid or are you pretending to be?
The parasite is impossible to capture because it has acid glands and we can wipe his memories if we wanted to.

>>35922378
>>35922412
>>35922419
We could make hybrid clones of him, and perhaps the others. Personally I'm become quite fond of our little humans. I'd prefer to see if we can indoctrinate them.

>>35922186
Didn't we lay more thinkers?

>>35922217
>By using the multi-layered weave design the suit uses, you should be able to layer up to two kinds of armor on your drones, letting them make use of two kinds of carapace at once.
So lets get to upgrading some units.

>>35922479
>and we can wipe his memories if we wanted to
That hasn't been researched.

Waiting on the Raligha microbes
but even short-term retrograde amnesia wouldn't give the elaborate capabilities of long-term, highly specific memory modification.. That might require nanomachines?

>>35922527
yeah. raised the total to 400 regular and 150 quantum.

>>35922556
Let's not talk about potential upgrades and risk debates until the end of the thread after we do more interesting things than crunch.

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>>35922431
The false queen of Raligha has made the start of a colony within the ruins, and reports the locals are providing more than enough food to begin laying the first generation of workers. Warrior and wasp patrols are already beginning to cover the dense jungle, eliciting jubilation whenever they pass a village or wandering hunting party.

Meanwhile, in deep space your pod watches in silence as the Skyll ship begins to cannibalize its fleet, tearing off the swollen, oversized engines and replacing them with smaller short range thrusters. It appears to be scrapping the derelict refueling depot itself, taking great care to remove what few refueling stations are left undamaged and using the scrap to assemble a ship hull of some kind. After some time of watching the beginnings of what can only be some kind of logistical ship is starting to take place.

>>35922527
Yes, you did, sorry. You have 400 thinkers and 150 Quantum thinkers.

>>35922602
Can we tell Unity about the skyl ship?
I want them to meet so bad.

>>35922633
>Can we
How about no.

Not until you learn their FTL tech yourself. Either by conquest or, in the possibility they're open to it, trade.

>>35922378
Reminder, we now have an explosive drone screwed into his spine that can control his body and perceive everything he sees and thinks. We couldn't possibly have a better leash for him.

>>35922633
No. Besides, the Skyl fleet is just unsapient virtual intelligence. There's not much of interest to Unity there. Aside from the whole "unknown alien tech" handle that is.

>>35922602
Oh I'd also like to lay a human looking speaker. Since we have the 'cybernetics' to do so.

>>35922479
This is bad thinking. If he's our puppet and he gets caught by enemy agents, they have an opportunity to interrogate him and do medical tests; if he dies in their care because we use the parasite to kill him and they manage to trace it to an alien device and connect it with us, it makes things harder - even if diplomatic options aren't up for consideration with the union - and they might be. They'd know we had a capacity to put parasites into their people.

Plus they'd be able to run a PR campaign and smear us so hard that it'd destroy the goodwill that Theseus and Lee's supporters created, so that's more motivation for a war against us.

If we don't have to use direct neurological control to make him do things for us he'd probably be pissed enough to break free of us. This would lead to him either failing and potentially giving himself away in such a fashion that others learned about our alien puppetmaster capability while definitely causing us to lose a valuable agent, or else succeeding and being able to tell anyone he wanted to about all our shit, while we were unable to defend ourselves from a much more powerful human space navy.

It's like a thousand times cleaner to just use his contacts. Don't fucking kid yourself.

>>35922685
We haven't really thought about what they are trying to accomplish here.

>>35922602
Is the temple at Raligha a spaceship or not? This needs to be researched.

>>35922694
We haven't even researched bipedalism for drones yet, anon. Why don't we lay a small speaker instead that can hide easily.

>>35922685
>unsapient virtual intelligence
It doesn't sound like they are that, my best guess is that they are shackled AI.

>>35922602
i'd like to add Vibroblade and Flak Jacket to replace the finished research of Cybernetics and Lyle’s Combat armor.

>>35922602
Okay, we are REALLY overdue for asking Coil what his life story is. How was he hatched and raised, and how did he end up on this mission in human space as a pilot?

Were his orders to seek out Lyle specifically, or any human?

Where is Ceph space? How is his "ever-shifting" chain of command organized?

And so on.

>>35922217
>Lyle’s Combat armor
>This suit is a marvel of weapons technology, offering a compact, flexible, and lightweight platform capable of protecting the user from a wide range of dangers and damage, while holding all manner of deadly devices and useful gadgets. By using the multi-layered weave design the suit uses, you should be able to layer up to two kinds of armor on your drones, letting them make use of two kinds of carapace at once.
wow, I guess this is the kind of thing we grow thinkers for isn't it?

>>35922734
>Is the temple at Raligha a spaceship or not?
Yes, we already know that. Pay attention. It was called an Ark. (or 'arc' in two typos)

> This needs to be researched.
This needs to be paid attention to several threads ago.

>>35922738
Don't we have this
Leaper – These legs are especially designed for athletic feats far beyond what any normal human would be capable of

>>35922731
Probably trying to build a small fleet then attempt to reach another Skyl outpost.
Or it's trying to build a big fleet to embark upon one last suicide mission. We never really thought to ask about the particulars.

>>35922775
Agreed, Coil might be holding back important data we might need.

>>35922802
But those are for humans not for our drones, unless QD says otherwise.

>>35922738
We can produce clones.

>>35922711
Ok, first of all they wouldn't be able to directly link us to Lyle if the drone detonates it's acid glands, they completely destroy every trace of the drone.

Second, he is an-ex Confederate soldier and a con. Nobody in the Union will miss him.

Third, he still has free will, even if we can order the drone to take control of his body.

Fouth, we don't know if there are any other mercs in the galaxy willing to work descretely for us. Theseus has made no mention of any other humans the Unity employed, and Lyle is incredibly apathetic about galactic politics.

>>35922679
It's not the control of Lyle that's the problem, it's that if he gets caught by the Union even if we explode his spine with acid and they do an autopsy to figure out what it was and learn we can put chestburster aliens inside humans and use them like puppets it's fucking war.

I am not confident in our ability to fake normal behavior in Lyle, let alone any agent of an alien race we have at most a low level understanding of. We should use the implants for interrogation instead of taking FUCKING HUGE RISKS like having them fall into enemy hands.

What do you propose, we keep him implanted with enough acid glands to melt his whole body in case of failure? I sure hope investigation of the acid doesn't trace its chemical compounds back to us later in case a drone somewhere self-destructs and their CSI crew investigate the explosion.

You never show the enemy spy that you can crack his codes, or his nervous system, unless you have to.

>>35922828
Oh right, I just read superfast and missed the bit.
Guess that's what I get for assuming.

>>35922812
>>35922775
Can coil even actually tell us then?

He is only functional with his cyber brain and its obvious the crystals gave that to his species and who knows what programs they put in their to control the ceph

They crystals had the skyll under the same set up but didn't put enough controls on them

I don't think they made that mistake with the ceph though

>>35922870
See >>35922867

The acid glands are incredibly thorough, not a scrap of evidence would remain. This is the same substance that dissolved the armor on the Hell's Angel, remember?

>>35922870
How the hell would they be able to determine if it was an alien creature instead of a man-made device? And even if they do think it's some sort of alien creature, how would they even link it to us?

>>35922870
How would they know it was us?

>>35922870
>I sure hope investigation of the acid doesn't trace its chemical compounds back to us later
That is fully impossible.

We definitely need to cut costs, a battleship would ruin our economy if we tried to build one right now.

Is there any reason not to put farms onboard our ships and have them be self-supporting?

You know its funny
Instead of waifu wars we get ours over shadowruns and geopolitics
Its a nice change from most quests

>>35922985
Takes up room, and it needs water.
Also i still think people rushing towards big ships is a bad idea when we still behind in tech and in the end would waste resources retrofitting our shit.

>>35922985
Because it's physically impossible to do that.

>>35922985
That's in our support capital ship/space colony ship

>>35922914
>>35922916
>>35922923
Forensic analysis. If they get a sample of something the acid melted when it happens, they might figure out what it was the way they figure out shit like that now by looking at trace compounds some suicide bomber's dynamite vest had in it and finding out it was the same stuff that a specific terrorist group used.

If some other drone self-destructs with acid on a battlefield somewhere or something and they compare some military scientist's notes, our hand is gonna be revealed.

It's a lot safer to just not risk it and use other agents instead. We lose nothing.

>>35922924
>>35922923
>>35922916
>How would they know it was us
>No one would suspect us

How about that organization that sent that freaky mechoid to scout out our hive?

>>35922914
>>35922916
>>35922923
>>35922924
Also to add, Lyle is the only one we have of this. 'IF' he gets caught and we have to blow it, people can dismiss it as an suicide device. A one off event.
>>35922985
I can see that as a higher end tech to unlock way down the line. Not available any time soon I bet.
>>35923010
Oddly enough, I agree.

>>35922985
We are lacking in the farming department, all it takes for some one to fuck us over is to make anti-spores targeting our food and then we would starve in a week.
People keep forgetting this giant glaring weakness.

>>35922924
right. we don't do that all the time irl, chemistry works different somehow in /tg/ quests

why is it impossible again?

>>35923071

Or that asshole doctor who is going to try and jack into our hive mind to get free labor?

>>35923071
Point taken.
>>35923068
Except they have no notes about our acid.

>>35923065
>>35923041
Our ships need water anyway. Aircraft carriers take on heaps of supplies all the time, the Texas is probably not the only Union ship with supplies onboard. Can you explain why it's not worth it?

>>35923044
It's physically impossible to add on a component in which a worker can build a farm? Farms aren't that big.

>>35923010

I prefer shadowwaifuwars and geopolitical romance.

>>35923010
I'd rather have people telling me my waifu is shit then wanting to make friends with some of these groups.

>>35923092
Our acid destroys the dna too quickly, the only way they can figure it out if they already have a previous sample(they don't).

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>>35922602
On Gemini your pod picks up a news broadcast as it beams to the stations and planets across the system. A small red box slowly spins in the corner labeled "Breaking News" and a picture of the parliament building is shown briefly before a splash screen effect plays and the scene is replaced with the interior of the building. Rows of chairs are aligned in a large semicircle in front of a small stage with a podium.

"We are just now receiving word that there has been an emergency assembly of parliament. We have word that the defense secretary will be speaking, but we have yet to receive any word as to the content of the speech."
Several holograms flicker on in the seats, and humans file in from the doors to the others. Each seat has a small plaque on it with a name and a word. You can make out a few, Harrison Layton: Mentan, Arnold Donald: Stonefall, Alena Luevia: Pilgrim. You count 52 chairs in all, not including the ones behind the podium.

As the humans gather, speaking nonsense to each other, a gray haired woman walks up to the podium and stands behind the microphone, ignoring the chairs. She silences the room with a stern gaze to the audience and a ticker appears at the bottom of the screen reading 'Secretary of Defense Alexandra Dupont (T)'. She begins to speak.

"The USV Clarke was crewed by sixty three brave individuals. It's assignment of exploration was interrupted by a brutal attack of the renegade machine commonly known as the Unity. Less than a quarter of the crew returned alive. Not long after that the members of the USV Hope, the ship itself, and the base camp established on the world of Raligha vanished, leaving only a cloud of debris in orbit and a burned crater on the planet below." Her words are sharp and she seems to fill the room with her presence.
"These laxes in our military is unacceptable, and the glacial pace of our fleet's response is inexcusable."

Cont.

>>35923091
That's like saying "all if takes for some one to fuck us over is killing all our workers and queens then we would die. People keep forgetting this giant glaring weakness."

>>35923128
PLEASE NO INCREASED MILITARY PRESENCE PLEASE

>>35923117
The farms need strong magnetic field/and lots of continuous water.
So basically we would need a river and some how make a strong magnetic field which will cause us to be easy as shit to find.

>>35923154
Too late! We knew it was going to happen eventually anyway.

>>35923128
>>35923154
Fuck we are fucked

I never wanted to keep Lyle alive in the first place, but we have him now. It would be stupid to just keep him in the Hive forever. Someone should just think of a way to make use of him that isn't stupid.

>>35923130
No its a real weakness that can fuck us over, we only have one type of farm that can easily be destroyed(if they ever find out about it that is).
Just look up what happens in history.

>>35923158
>>35923117
>>35923191

I was hoping that the research into the space dust would yield a form of self-sufficiency on our ships, or at least subsidize their nutrient costs.

>>35923154
Yup people were begging to fight with them.

>>35923128
Looks like we need a bigger military!

>>35923128
>>35923154
>>35923160
>>35923178
Fuck it

Hes from the commonwealth black ops and i say we use him to start and fight between the commonwealth and the union

We should ask the unity what was the plan to sabotage this meeting of that coming up between the union and commonwealth

>>35923091
>>35923191
The next batch of 600 farms are in a different hive location, the lime encrusted mountain. So an infection in one won't infect the other.

Spreading the farms in multiple breadbaskets solves this problem fine. They'll infect one set of farms, we begin research on a cure while quarantining.

Using biological weapons against a race evolved entirely around genetic engineering is an extremely short-term solution for our hypothetical enemies. They can't beat the queen at her own game for long.

Now shhhh let the updates happen

>>35923154
>>35923160
>>35923169
you act like they will be able to muster fleets more than they already have. there are more politics to this and IF, and its a IF they manage to convince the human worlds that the threat is great they wont have a massive fleet spring out of nowhere. We will have time to prepare and strike first if that's what is wanted.

Should the humans find out about us being a new threat though...then we're fucked.

>>35923229
Our farms are underground in the heart of our base anyway. How would they even insert an infection?

>>35923228
>>35923169
lets murder him and be done with it. He's a larger problem than we need to deal with or make for ourselves at this time.

>>35923228
inb4 Unity tells us he doesn't want to start a war because innocents would die or some dumb emotional shit.

>>35923234
And to add, they seems to be pinning this on Unity and not us. That will give us time to build up our forces.

>>35923268
No the unity already told us that he was trying to sabotage the talks

>>35923263
Airborne/another infiltration team/sky drills.
That is to say if they don't want to nuke us.

>>35923267
He's not a problem sitting limbless in a cell, there's no need to kill him. He might have his uses in the future.

>>35923234
They could have deactivated ships that they simply aren't funding atm.
Don't underestimate a wartime economy. Of course our economy is much much better just much much smaller.

>>35923169
>>35923154

Quit overreacting, we have better FTL, able to build ships much easier and faster than they can, and unlike them, aren't a fuck-ton of individuals trying to hash out a plan to fight, just one mind with a billion bodies to act out whatever plan we choose.

They may have the industrial basis for now, but we are a thousand times more efficient.

>>35923267
There's no reason to do that. I don't understand why people even have an issue with just putting a parasite in him and sending him off.

>>35923158
I would imagine making magnetic fields wouldn't be so hard. Cant you do it with electricity? Is that not how railguns work?

>>35923304
Airborne...into an underground compound.

Infiltration team...through our locked down, fortified, sensor-lined base.

>>35923306

We don't really have a wartime economy though, we have a "Get resources = Build Machines of War" industrial basis, much simpler because we don't have to suck off the public to squeeze out another drop for said economy.

>>35923303
Wrong.
>>35923228
>We should ask the unity what was the plan to sabotage this meeting of that coming up between the union and commonwealth
Read the quest better.

Subsequent update post clarified that Theseus was trying to sabotage the neoneocons' attempts to *derail* the peace talks. Theseus wants Commonwealth and Union to integrate, so that he can spread across the internet into the Commonwealth internet.

And also so the Union won't be able to expand its political budget by getting in an arms race with the Commonwealth, probably. Because then they're less of a threat to him.

>By having these talks conclude, I may be able to infiltrate Commonwealth space with greater ease, while the Nationals wish to prevent such talks as they use the Commonwealth as an enemy to compare their military budgets. Fewer things are easier to win money for than a military when you can convince the people your neighbors want to invade."
>>35338597

Theseus wants the opposite of what you just said.

>>35923333
An infiltration team already entered before and getting our compound has ventilation(though we do have some drones doing jack shit).

>>35923304

We have walls, and air purifiers remember? And our underground complex is a maze filled with dead ends and traps.

>>35923267
We've been having this argument forever.
If we can get a guarantee from people wanting these mutations they don't want to 'become human' then I think others would support lyle and these new options.
Otherwise I want nothing to do with the guy. Lylefags don't even have a solid plan to use him.

>>35923371
>Lylefags
It begins, i knew it would happen eventfully.

>>35923371
The plan was to use him to locate Lee. That's why we did everything we did do him

>>35923371
Lyleclone infiltrators?

>>35923344
No I'm saying don't underestimate the Human wartime economy, but yes we should have the advantage effeciency-wise

>>35923362
They entered, and were promptly smushed by a single collossus.

>>35923407
they got pretty damn close.

>>35923423
Only because of a crit fail.

>>35923362

To be fair, we weren't actually trying to detect an infiltration team until we noticed those two guys weren't there anymore, and once we realized this, we found them instantly and then crushed them ruthlessly.

Remember, our walls literally have eyes and ears, and maybe nervous tissue to feel them walking on the floor, not certain about that part.

>>35923403
And we don't need the original, just the DNA.

>>35923390
When are we creating a giant statue dedicated to Lee and the lighter?

>>35923456
It'll be far more effective to keep the original for cloning, and we can copy memories and training over with him intact.

>>35923476
When we find and rescue Lee

>>35923456
Then we might as well use him to do some stuff for us. Maybe a suicide mission or some shit.
>>35923483
Or this. This is good.
>>35923476
I thought we shaped the anti orbital gun like a lighter.

>>35923495
No anon, it needs to be built already for when he arrives. And better yet if all the humans see transmissions of the glory of Lee.

>>35923519
We made our flag/symbol the lighter.

>>35923091
Definitely. We need to control our costs and diversify.

>>35923117
We ought to develop a different farm. And it's also not too hard to find or generate strong EM fields in space, sometimes you just leave the damn thing unshielded.

>>35923310
>I don't understand why people even have an issue with just putting a parasite in him and sending him off.

>implying hes dumb enough not to go to a doctor after being a POW of an alien race
>implying an untested parasite will be able to completely prevent him from revealing our hive's existence
>implying that the humans after putting 3 and 2 together won't realize shit's going down and get their act together to come wreck our collective hive shit.

Look the humans will continue to argue and bicker because the Unity isn't a new threat, it's an old one with existing attack patterns.

If they figure out we're a problem that needs to be dealt with then
>yadda yadda yadda
humans quickly unite against the big bad evil bugs and we fight a losing war for a few threads before sucumbing to the humans or firing off the queen to an "unknown planet" to try to heal.

>>35923346
Theseus thinks for a moment, some data is streamed from Zero-One before he responds.

"Most likely, he will be painted as a pro-xeno rights activist by the Nationalists, and used to sway favor among voters away from the Greens, and by proxy, the Rhinos.

The Proxima Convention will be within the month, and one of the biggest election issues is what topics to bring up in the talks."

He hesitates for a moment before continuing. "I have been trying to sabotage those efforts, for some years now, actually.

Sup you should read better

>>35923569
The purpose of the parasite is indoctrination, isn't it? With enough time and testing he will be loyal to us. He will learn to love us.

>>35923569
Who said anything about an untested parasite? Of course we wouldn't send him off with the current model at our current amount of research.

Lets set some long term goals, like a defense fleet big enough to deter the humans from attacking our homeworld once the Jig is up:

Nomenclature: Fleets types are described by their command vessel

Cruiser Fleet:
With a core of three cruisers complimented by 9 frigates, the crusier fleet is a potent force to defend a colony or patrol territory.
Each ship is defended by escort corvettes; one is partnered with each frigate and four defend each cruiser.
1 Command Cruiser 3491N 6418M
2 Fleet Cruisers 6280N 11980M
9 Fleet Frigates 11115N 22770M
15 Escort Corvettes 9375N 19650M
Total Cost 30261N 60818M
Upkeep, Hibernating crew: 10846N
Upkeep, active Crew: 15059N

Continue...

>>35923663
Comand Cruiser
Hull: Cruiser 1200N 2000M
Rapid Damage Control 30N 40M
Swarm 600N 300M
Heavy Armor 500N 2000M
Spinal: 2 Linear Particle Beam 400M
Fixed: 6 Linear Particl Beam, 4 Rail Gun 200M
Turrets: Cyclitron Particle Beam 150M
Relay 200N 250M
1 X Quantum Thinker 10N
4 X Thinker 24N
Standard Compliment
1 X Shock Trooper (Sting Caster) 27N 28M
10 X Warrior (Sting Caster) 100N 250M
10 X Warrior (Fire Spray) 100N 250M
40 X Warrior 400M 400M
10 X Wasp (Sting Caster) 100N 150M
Cost
Subtotal 2764N 5340M (1382 upkeep)
Standard Comliment 727N 1078M (313 Upkeep)
Total 3491N 6418M

Fleet Cruiser
Hull: Cruiser 1200N 2000M
Rapid Damage Control 30N 40M
Swarm 600N 300M
Heavy Armor 500N 2000M
Spinal: 2 Linear Particle Beam 400M
Fixed: 6 Linear Particl Beam, 4 Rail Gun 200M
Turrets: Cyclitron Particle Beam 150M
1 X Quantum Thinker 10N
Standard Comliment
10 X Warrior (Sting Caster) 100N 250M
40 X Warrior 400M 400M
10 X Wasp (Sting Caster) 100N 150M
Cost
Subtotal 2540N 5190M (1270 upkeep)
Standard Comliment 600N 800M (300 Upkeep)
Total 3140N 5990M

continue...

>>35923663
Fleet Frigates
Hull: Frigate 800N 1600M
Rapid Damage Control 22N 30M
Standard Armor
Spinal: Linear Particle Beam 150M
Fixed: 8 Railgun 160M
Turret: Cyclotron Particle Beam 150M
Point Defense: 4 Autocannon 40M
1 X Quantum Thinker 10N
Standard Compliment
40 X Warrior 400M 400M
Cost
Subtotal 832N 2130M (416 upkeep)
Standard Compliment 400N 400M (200 Upkeep)
Total 1235N 2530M

Escort Corvette
The Escort corvette is not a ship killer, but rather a ship protector.
Its turrets release explosive flack beside its point defense array, making quick work of swarm attacks.
Its railgun delivers a mass of sticky webbing that will foul enemy guns while its Particle beams will befuddle their sensors.
Hull: Corvette 400N 800M
Rapid Damage Control 15N 20M
Spinal Mount: Rail Gun (Nonlethal/stickyweb) 100M
Fixed: 2 Cyclotron Particle Beam 40M
Turrets: 2 Autocannon (Explosive) 50M
Point Defense: 8 Autocannon 80M
1 X Quantum Thinker 10N
Standard Compliment
20 Warriors 200N 200M
Cost
Subtotal 425N 1110M (212 Upkeep)
Standard Compliment 200N 200M (100 Upkeep)
Total 625N 1310M

>>35923128
>>35923154
>>35923160
>>35923169
>>35923213
>>35923227
>>35923234
>>35923268
>>35923278
>>35923303
>>35923304
>>35923306
>>35923307
>>35923405
All of this...ALL of this discussion is driven by fear of impending attack, and we can blunt a lot of those fears by getting some leverage on the human empires.

We need enough military to cripple their FTL. They get all their exotic matter fuel from a single mining operation in one star system.

We need enough money in the bank to bribe their politicians from the shadows.

We need a political machine to make their parliament declaring war on us difficult, and to help guarantee a swift peace accord.

Suggestions on how to accomplish this would be helpful.

>>35923228
That's...bone stupid, we don't need him to start such a fight and he'd be like a firecracker in the grand canyon in trying to start it by himself.

File: Gemini.jpg (300 KB, 1920x1080)

300 KB JPG

>>35923128
On Zero One you watch as the activity surges around the speech. You skim some of the passing data.
>Alexandra Dupont, Secretary of Defense and head of the Tory party.
>Born on Gemini Beta to Fleet Commander Reginald Dupont and Samantha Dupont
You skim through the data as the speech continues.

"It is obvious that with our current fleet budget we can no longer ensure the security of our space. Our forces are spread too thin, and between the mad machine's terror strikes against our fleet, alien raids on our trade routes, and the Commonwealth breathing down our necks it is clear to me that we must focus on our security above all else."
She grips the podium, as if to strangle it. For a moment you think she is about to tear it apart. "I will be assembling an emergency security council to further analyze the situation. I was hoping this would serve finally as a wake up call to the people of this parliament that no longer can you point to your meager volunteer police and call yourself secure. No more can you slice the fleet's budget year after year and claim it is overperforming!" She slams her hand on the podium. The sound echoes through the chamber and several people flinch.
"The people deserve better, and they expect better, which is why I am resubmitting the consolidation bill." There are gasps in the chamber and a clamor of whispers begins to spread. She lifts her chin, seemingly satisfied with the growing bedlam of the representatives, and moves to leave the room.

The ticker flows along the bottom of the screen.
"Dupont reintroduces Consolidation bill, does not mention a recommended Head of State to fill role."

The news caster appears on the screen in the hall as the crowd inside grows louder. He holds up his microphone with a look of confusion. "As you know the Consolidation bill, first introduced six years ago and often called the King bill by its opposition, is a proposition to create a consolidated head of state to preside over the ruling cabinet."

>>35923739
I don't suppose we or Unity can somehow discredit her and her party. Killing her would be too obvious.

>>35923739
Yaay looks like we made a dictator ship.
Now time to kidnap the leader and clone them.

>>35923707
>All of this...ALL of this discussion is driven by fear of impending attack, and we can blunt a lot of those fears by getting some leverage on the human empires.
>We need enough military to cripple their FTL. They get all their exotic matter fuel from a single mining operation in one star system.
>We need enough money in the bank to bribe their politicians from the shadows.
>We need a political machine to make their parliament declaring war on us difficult, and to help guarantee a swift peace accord.
>Suggestions on how to accomplish this would be helpful.

The only idea you had there I liked was cutting off their supply of exotic matter.
Instead of using leverage the human way how about we use leverage the Hive way.
Meaning we have enough force to fuck them, or else distract them via force.

>>35923686
>>35923703
That works, i'm just afraid of making fleets when our tech is developing as it is, with major improvements all the time.

>>35923739
>Union is about to be forced into a new goverment
>Pure Chaos is sure to come from this
>Chaos we can use to our advantage
We didn't plan this, but we'll take it all the same.

>>35923833
We have better means of influencing human politics than money. We have clones.

>>35923739
There is already heavy unrest, I doubt this power grab by the military will go down well.

>>35923739
>Union about to be ruled by a single individual
Guys. Clones.

>>35923909
>>35923878
Best case scenario: Union fucks itself up, too busy to send out more patrols

>>35923883
>>35923917
That could work too, although I'm concerned that if the clones are ever found out, that would literally mean war.

Just wondering, is there anyone here who wants to ally with the humans? Or form some kind of confederation of peace and justice?

>>35923739
A splash screen plays and there are several people sitting in little isolated boxes on the screen, only their heads are visible. Each is labeled as a correspondent of some kind. After a short introduction they immediately enter an argument so tense it is hard for you to follow, with each of them yelling over each other in an attempt to get a word in while the host tries to keep them calm. You lose interest in the bickering of of the talking heads, but the speech was rather interesting.

>Speak with Theseus
>Speak with Lyle (write in)
>Speak with the Hope crew
>Speak with Elizabeth
>Other

Was not expecting the thread to explode so much. Took a while to catch up.

>>35923949
It would most definitely mean war. Which is why we need some sort of contingencies.

>>35923996
Personally I just want to stuff parasites in all of them and enslave them.

>>35924001
>>Speak with Theseus

>>35924001
>Speak with Theseus
What now?

>>35924001
>>Speak with Lyle (write in)
You feel up for a job?

>>35923949
Exactly, With Unity actively sabotaging them as best he can and other known forces putting pressure on them, we are just about under their radar as we can hope for.
>>35924001
This is just the sign you are running a popular quest. Good Job QD!
>Speak with Elizabeth
See where is at with her work. Then..
>Speak with Theseus

>>35923996
Eh, No. Before maybe, but since they actively fuck with developing species and tried to do the same thing with us, No.
The closest maybe is some sort of Non-Aggression Pact at best. At worst we may have to kill them.

>>35924001
>Speak with Theseus
>Speak with Elizabeth
Are we done giving Lyle the Stockholm syndrome yet?

>>35923996
I want to have an agreement to not fuck with each other.

>>35924032
>enslave them
>Not kill them all
Not even being edgy, it's for the best.

>>35924001
>Speak with Theseus
Ask him what he plans to do about the militarization, and if he is trying to start a war between the humans. And if he wants help.

>>35923586
I just said that the later update clarified that update. I thought that was what it said at first too. Then the later post hit.

When that update happened, and the word "efforts" was ambiguous. He was talking about the political maneuvering around the Convention, but it wasn't clear if he meant pro- or anti-Convention efforts. Which Lee got ensnared in.

Theseus mentions advantages to himself if the Convention is a success, and mentions no disadvantages. He mentions no advantages or disadvantages of if the Convention fails.

So I'm leaning towards that interpretation.

>>35924001
>Other
Speak with COIL he's overdue.

>>35924095
>Speak with COIL he's overdue.
And ask/do what though? It's not like we need to play upkeep with our contacts.

Clones are pretty fucking awesome.

But that is only one theater of action. We need to either find a crop on Raligha that can be used for space farming on many worlds, or figure out a way to use fusion reactors (once that research is done) to feed our Leeland based crops. We should also be building more spires so that once we are ready to be obvious, we can produce a fleet almost instantly. I think ten spires would be optimal for producing sub-capitolship based fleets.

>>35924092
Humans are all just unruly children. They will learn to listen to Mother. Many will die, of course. There's just far to many of them. But there's no need to drive them extinct.

>>35924001
>>35924092
Backing

>>35924130
A number of nonclassified information about Ceph society.

The number of Ceph who have ever heard from Them directly. What exactly Their edicts were, they're probably as famous and memorized as the famous Bible quotes.

How he navigates No Space to visit places he's never been before. Does he use a star chart's coordinates? Can he say the coordinates of Ceph home stars? Or Valen space?

How long has it been since the Singing Stone shattered and they gained FTL? How many stars have they conquered? Are there other Ceph pilots like him in alien space? Was he assigned to Lyle by name?

Tons of questions never asked yet.

Also, I see now there's an option: we can clone Coil, and remove all his problematic memories, before giving him to Lyle. That's the best coverup possible. The gods will never know.

>>35924133
I don't see whats wrong with the stuff we farm now in space. If it needs lots of water so what? Bring lots of water. If it needs magnetic fields then make magnetic fields its not that hard.

>>35924133
You're forgetting one more thing, Resource Collection.
We need to build more farms, start mining in isolated systems like M-199 and M-323

>>35924001
By the time you call on Theseus for his take on the matter Zero One is already bouncing around the idea of speaking with you about it. It seems that while they do not know how, they seem to simply accept that you have a source of information within Gemini. The litany of copies show no interest in the source itself.

"Who is the leader of the Union?" You say simply. You make sure to not presume Theseus has just heard the speech and avoid asking about her by name.

"There is none. The Union was founded on a basis of great disdain for singular leaders, even elected ones. They are ruled by a small group known as the Cabinet. There is the Secretary of State, Commerce, Interior, and Defense. They preside over the parliament itself, although I have noticed a trend ever since my creation, both politically and in public opinion, that seems to indicate a loss of that aversion." He pauses to receive a data packet from his comm device, then continues calmly. "I am currently seeing a sixty percent chance of the bill passing."

"What bill?" You ask. A small crackle of power moves through the Clarke's computer like a smirk.

"The Consolidation bill, although I suspect it will go through several stages of editing and earmarking first."

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

>>35924390
Will this become a problem for all us nonhumans out in the black?

>>35924390
>Ask (write in)
What are the chances for war to occur? between what factions?

>>35924390
>I am currently seeing a sixty percent chance of the bill passing
Damn
At least they're polite enough to not ask how we know.

Supporting this >>35924458

>>35924458
Backing this.

>>35924458
Seconding!

Clones aren't going to be enough, not unless we have so many of them replace citizens that we manage to form a new voting block.

Cloning the head of state will just mean that head of state gets replaced. The powers behind the throne, the people that support the head of state, will not tolerate the figurehead failing to represent their interests.

It would be much better to create a political coalition through long-term manipulation along party lines in a joint effort with Theseus.

We both have an interest in common with the AI: survival. Any political entity we managed to create that kept a lid on anti-nonhuman sentiment would be ideal, because it'd be stable.

The only thing destabilizing the human government would do by repeatedly replacing their leadership with clones is create wave after wave of revolts and military fractures that would send renegade armed forces our way while the other human faction tried to take over their neighbor in a moment of weakness.

>>35924552
I don't know man, I got a good feeling about these clones. Citizens are dumb as rocks, its not that hard to get them to vote for stuff.

File: Ship computer.gif (1.26 MB, 400x170)

1.26 MB GIF

>>35924390
"What about the chance of war?"

Theseus waits for a moment as he transmits some data to Zero One, and then waits for a response.

"Between fifty and thirty percent. I suspect the Tory party will attempt to use it to claim the Commonwealth as the threat. Under normal circumstances attacking a small colony would be sufficient to deter them from aggressive actions, believing it would make them too vulnerable. This time, in light of the recent speech, I fear it will take more than that."

>Ask question (write in)
>Speak (write in)
>Speak with Coil
>Other

>>35924390
Propose a plan to realign Union politics in our mutual favor.

To create a coalition in union politics that serves to allow nonhuman life to be tolerated; this requires reshaping the oligarchy as follows:

>Tory party political base
The Tory voters want improved standards of living. Sell them on an idea that external trade will make this happen.

>Rhinos
The Rhino party voters' interest in backing reunification increases the chances of trade, we can take people from them this way for a while. In the end, we don't want a military dictatorship reuniting with the Union for obvious reasons. Those governments don't like foreign powers or aliens, probably.

>Green party
External trade and subsequent prosperity can be aligned with trade with alien species, use of AI for human benefit, etc. This means co-opting Green leadership.

>Nationalists
Security, national and individual, can be co-opted by associating it with economic security rather than military preparedness, drawing from the Nationalist base.

This means we have to dump the Consolidation bill. We can do that with parliamentary tricks, like keeping parliament from achieving a quorum, while we slam the bill by alienating voters and members of parliament by saying that the terrorism and warlike atmosphere is created by an over-aggressive diplomatic posture on the part of the Union.

Of course everyone hates them, they shoot first and ask questions later.

>>35924663

All this needs to be financed by some sort of organization capable of getting together campaign warchests and bribe money, and pushed through mass media political machines, so that means playing the stock markets through a front, presumably in the alien bank, and putting together a human-led prosperity initiative complete with human agents.

Admittedly, playing the Union's stock market or whatever they have gives us a means to influence the fortunes of corporations that oligarchic elements of the governmental elite depend on for their power within the system.

It also gives us financial resources, though manipulating them for political gain means we can hurt companies in charge of military procurement and manufacturing.

Hard to fight a war against Theseus or the Hive when they have no bullets.

>>35924663
Non human life is tolerated.

>>35924659
>>Speak with Coil
This stuff.
>>35922775
>>35924190

Or start some of it anyway. From the most likely to share to least likely.

>>35924721
Not on an equal basis and not unless it's of immense benefit.

Do you remember their contact protocols and how they use alien species for dependency?

>>35924659
>Speak with Coil

>>35924659
Ask about the commonwealth, ceph, valen and calderioans reactions to this news

What are the chances for civilwar inside the union

>>35924663
>>35924720

Interesting. Let's see what Theseus thinks of this.

>>35924659
>Under normal circumstances attacking a small colony would be sufficient to deter them from aggressive actions, believing it would make them too vulnerable. This time, in light of the recent speech, I fear it will take more than that."

I might be reading this wrong but he seems to be implying that he has been acting to prevent war between the humans.

>>35924663
I doubt you, a newcomer to this scene, can propose a better plan than Theseus who has been servo-deep in this political shit for ages. We don't even know the names of the 52 colonies!

Fuck the Union, it can all burn. They aren't a threat to us until we make them notice us anyway.

>>35924659
>>Speak with Coil

>>35924752
So? Who cares about those aliens, as long as they continue leaving us mostly alone who cares.

>>35924663
>>35924720
these sound better than taking this shit lying down

>>35924663
>>35924720
Supporting, this sounds solid.

>>35924812
They're not leaving us mostly alone.

They sent a cyborg spy armed to the teeth to infiltrate us.

Their criminal element is trying to capture live samples, and I think the Broker is a government agent.

Their first contact protocols are about grinding us to pieces. Conflict is inevitable in the present political climate.

>>35924663
>>35924720
Also supporting this.

>>35924663
>>35924720

Do it. I don't want to face the dark crystal alien gods alone, I'd rather use the humans as a shield if not as allies.

How long are we going to keep up the political game, though? At some point in time, an actual conquest of the humans needs to happen.

>>35924818
What shit? We take nothing. We are staying out of it. It has no reason to come here to the hive at all.

This has nothing to do with us. This is leading to Commonwealth-Union conflict. If it keeps their idiot selfish brains busy, who cares.

>>35924851
John Smith was a political machination that can't be repeated.

The live samples can be dissuaded by letting them 'capture' quantum brained workers who then explode with acid. Proving they can't be sampled.

Nothing about this new aggressive stance is actually going to touch the hive. Hell, this is what people wanted several threads ago, to see the humans at each other's throats.

>>35924663
>>35924720
I like it, got my support anon.

>>35924894
The Commonwealth is a military dictatorship, they're not likely to bend to politics alone.

We're also going to maybe be fighting the Skyl fleet, not to mention there is no guarantee this works and so we may need to invade the system where they mine their FTL engine fuel.

Don't worry, we'll have plenty of fights soon enough.

>>35924902
>John Smith was a political machination that can't be repeated.
It can be upscaled. Are you kidding? We have no fleet to speak of, they have a huge head start. If the dictator decides to cut its teeth on some aliens so their war with the commonwealth doesn't start with totally newbie recruits in their drop infantry we're gonna have a fight on our hands.

>>35924902
A militarized Union means that they will eventually send more ships into the expanse, where we are currently operating in, that means it's going to get harder for us.
Not to mention it will make it even harder for us in a military conflict which has a very high chance of happening. We cripple them now, we make it easier for us to defeat them or put us in a position to better negotiate with them.

>>35924663
Oh look it's Mr. Idea Guy.

>All this needs to be financed by some sort of organization capable of getting together campaign warchests and bribe money, and pushed through mass media political machines, so that means playing the stock markets through a front, presumably in the alien bank, and putting together a human-led prosperity initiative complete with human agents.

That sounds like pie-in-the-sky bullshit. Bring it up after you actually build those resources.

Theseus might well be embarrassed at all these assumptions.

>>35924851
They sent one cyborg and one group of mercenaries. And we have already gone through their first contact protocols totally unscathed seeing as their plan to monitor us and blow us up if we develop is fucked since we control the monitor and the nukes.

>>35924663
>>35924720

Jumping on the bandwagon, there's no point in putting something like this off anymore.

>>35924968
>If the dictator decides to cut its teeth on some aliens
How would they justify that to johnny public?

>>35923663
>>35923686
>>35923703

Whatever happens, if we don't put our resources to good use and actually have forces ready for the next war, then we're going to be caught with our pants down, and fucked. We're sitting on a substantial amount of nutrient and metal. Keeping it for a rainy day fund is useless if we're obliterated on that rainy day. Time to build, and I like the above suggestion for a standard fleet.

>>35925005
>no point in putting something like this off anymore

Anymore?

It literally just got brought up now. It was never even a thing before.

And yes there is. It's not fun at all.

>>35924001
Supporting these:
>>35924663
>>35924720

and:
>Speak with the Hope crew
>Speak with Elizabeth
>Speak with Coil

>>35924974
>talks shit about trying something new, blocking all attempts at it
>wants to only try things that the resources are already there for
>will not allow resource buildup in the first place

You sound bitter and samefaggy. This quest doesn't need that.

>>35924659
>>Speak with Coil

>>35925010
That's not hard in a society where the alien life is dangerous and feral.

>>35924974
There's the resources the AI built up in terms of political support.

There's plenty of time to get some money together while we build a network of contacts inside union politics, the only thing we need now is Theseus' know-how.

No need to be so negative, if we don't try we'll never have those resources.

>>35925030
Yes, anymore.

People have talked about some sort of non-military intervention for a long time, since we first made friends with Lee. This actually sounds like it might work.

>>35925065
Dangerous, feral, isolated on a far away planet they cant leave and possessing a history of helping union citizens.

>>35924659
Sounds like Unity might be willing to pay us to play boogeyman.

>>35925034
Seconding. We should definitely talk to everyone.

>>35925122
Yeah, like that's gonna matter after Lee gets criticized for failing to prevent us from killing people. Media spin isn't hard, these people are unopposed political operatives and you're arguing against pushing back their bullshit.

There is NO way in which a militaristic government in a neighboring power is a good thing.

Just gonna remind you we're in territory they consider theirs. You wanna take this and do nothing?

>>35925065
>There's plenty of time to get some money together while we build a network of contacts inside union politics,

The bill sounds like it's happening very shortly. In a matter of weeks at most.

Building resources and contacts is a fine goal and all, that's fine. Suggest that. But I think you vastly underestimate how long that will take, and the amount of influence you can wield. Theseus has been trying to manipulate humans for ages, and he has more resources and experience than you.

The literally only advantage you bring to the table is mind control. And that takes forever to control a decent percentage of the population, too.

okay, I'm convinced doing something is better than letting a consolidated government lead by a war hawk run the show over in humanland
>>35924663
>>35924720
let's run it by theseus, can't hurt to hear his opinion

>>35925220
Not if you slowly compromise the security around said warhawk with parasite drones, until there's no one left to stop you from implanting one inside her, too.

Then there's every reason.

>>35925023

We'd need to build up our infrastructure a bit first. The price to build the fleet is under the rainy day fund, but we don't have the surplus to maintain the upkeep. The first step is to put down 3 more colonies on our home-world, with several hundred farms each and then make sure each colony on the home world has at least two spires and two anti-orbital batteries. That would let us build the fleet in one construction cycle.

>>35925214
The bill can be killed without a huge amount of bribe money. Voter agitation and parlimentary tricks like keeping members of parliament from taking their seats and failing to provide a quorum can do that just fine. A media campaign among the voters run by the Unity can help stifle support.

It's the long-term political plan to win votes from the major parties that requires money. That's gonna take longer, but it doesn't need to be done by tomorrow. We have time.

>>35925175
So what if they think the area is theirs? There isn't anything out here for them anyway or else they would actually be out here. We are classified as a practically stone age group of indigenous people, no one is going to think attacking us with an army is going to make any sense because it doesn't. The only report they even have of us having ranged weapons is from one bug that fried the cyborgs.
Also ALL our neighbors are pretty damn militaristic dude.

>>35925220
His opinion will probably be very simple:

"I am already doing that."

>>35925250
Oh, okay. So then her supporters get a martyr when we act against her? Or we put in a parasite drone and turn her into someone that never threatens aliens, and the riots that eventually break out are somehow helpful to us.

Because chaos and civil war with a tiny neighbor matters when a dark space magic empire of black voidcrystal fuckers comes calling.

>>35925270
I see a lot of assumptions and nothing in the quest to back it up.

Before we suggest any political manipulation, we should ask ourselves:

Why hasn't Theseus done this already?

Because the most likely explanation would seem to be "He's doing it. It's not as effective as you'd hope."

What makes you think this idea is novel enough that Theseus, who has had decades of experience in analyzing and manipulating human behavior, and was explicitly trained in doing this when he was XKeyscore, hasn't thought of it already?

The only clever new ideas the hive can try is things Theseus is unlikely to be capable of, using our genetic engineering expertise.

>>35925312
Of course we can't just turn everything upside down over night. It's about gradual manipulation! Control!

>>35925281
so it can't hurt

>>35925278
we're not gonna stay classified as a stone age race forever. they put a nuke-dropper in orbit, did you forget about that?

>>35925354
To drop on us if we developed from being stone age. They put a nuke in every stone age groups orbit, its standard operating procedure.

>>35925354
I think the nuke dropper is a stranded operational procedure when finding a new xeno race.

>>35925344
yeah, because the first ai humanity ever built is a really good example and a hivemind intelligence can't think of anything original

you really are depressing. you won't even ask the character what it thinks, you just want everyone to fall in line despite all the votes in the plan's favor

>>35925312
No?

You provoke war against said dark empire. You feed information to them to lead them to send their forces into Ceph space as soon as we discover where that is.

Or you subtly sabotage their own military until we can easily take the human stars from them, and all their delicious resources, to let the hive's numbers swell as we feast on their metals and nutrients.

>>35925388
Standard operating procedure is to exploit them. However, it only strengthens the argument for changing their political system and then their foreign policy long term and in a stable way if shit like that is what they do.

Stop deluding yourself that their current way of doing things isn't bad news for us, or that we can take 'em in a war right now. This is a dangerous development.

>>35924659
>>35925251

Let's get to it, then. QuestDrone, can we start building 600 more farms? What opportunities do we have to increase our metal income?

>>35925414
>provoke war against a dark empire that roasted a civ much more advanced than humanity
>use the humans as a shield

Try again, anon.

The Vibroblade technology looks quick and useful, it would probably help both our melee combatants and our mining drones.

>>35925436
I didn't say it wasn't, I said I would prefer to stick with the clones plan. Also I cant really seem to find any exploitation going on with us.

>>35924659
"Have you made a plan for the situation?"

Theseus is hesitant to speak, but when a small data packet returns from Zero One he simply asks, "You wish to help?"

"Perhaps." You reply curtly. "The Union has continued to hold interest in the hive. It needs to stop."

"The easiest method of that would be to introduce yourself in an official capacity. Clandestine operations are more difficult if they knew you were an advanced race." As he speaks a worker arranging a power conduit on the Clarke stops to glare into one of the many security cameras. "Or," he continues, "we may be able to come to some arrangement."
Theseus receives a large amount of data from Zero One, waiting nearly a minute before he continues. "The Union is highly reactionary. For some time I have used occasional strikes against small settlements to prevent a concerted effort to expand in territory. Any attempt at maintaining a fleet large enough to satisfy them is met with great opposition, if not in the moment than in the next election. It has kept them in a state of flux that they have only recently managed to break."

You ponder on the situation as he debates with himself over various issues.
"What if you were to unite their parties and shift their goals to something more agreeable? Humans seem to be greedy and selfish, they could be manipulated by a desire for trade to become more welcoming to other races."

"How do you propose to do that? Open trade relations?" You sense a tinge of sarcasm in the statement, but it seems like a genuine question. "While I have been able to use Valen banking to a degree of success in the past, the Union political system is notoriously low tech. All networks within government buildings are via hard line only, and there are many regulations regarding imports. My efforts have been mostly limited to anonymous fund allocation during election cycles, and manipulating public data networks. 1/2

>>35924663
>>35924720
just gonna vote for this because I don't want OP deciding against a good plan because of some opposing samefag

>>35925497
>>35925436
In fact if theseus right then there is a bit of a hole in your plan, by the time we get all our shit together only one person is going to be in charge anyway. Which would be extremely advantageous to us if we can sneak in and clone the fucker.

>>35925519
Holy shit, the AI doesn't use agents to do his work for him! No wonder he sucks at political manipulation.

We need to put together a political machine. Funds from the Valen bank can hire human agents, run interest groups, go door to door to get votes. We don't have to hack everything.

Hell, if we need a front man (or woman) we could probably use Elizabeth if we had to. Or Lee, if his body is ever found.

>>35925407
>yeah, because the first ai humanity ever built is a really good example and a hivemind intelligence can't think of anything original
I don't know what your point is. My point was that Theseus probably has a billion and one ideas and he's tried them all.

And this idea? It's one of the most obvious: "use tons of money and use the media to manipulate the masses to change the Overton window". Where's the actual game plan here? Or anything clever at all?

Wait, are you suggesting Theseus wouldn't have come up with something that simple? Because someone explicitly designed to be capable of feats no human could, someone developed to manipulate human behavior en masse through the internet, is, indeed, the best expert on human political manipulations you could find in existence.

>>35925577
the anons supporting the plan have said they'd just use funds and public dialogue to stop the vote for now

they said it like five times

they also said how dangerous it would be to have one person in charge for a stable puppet master strategy to work, the clones idea sucks

>>35925519
>As he speaks a worker arranging a power conduit on the Clarke stops to glare into one of the many security cameras

It's the little things.

>>35925599
Isn't that what anonymous fund allocation does indirectly anyway though?

Like, Theseus donates to the SuperPACs that in turn fund the political humans that then do all those things you just said.

To get the politicians that Theseus wants elected, elected.

>>35925344
Setting aside all ideas, I don't think it would be fun to play 'Hive bribes politicians and attends dinner parties the Quest'

To insert agents, it would be best to submerge fake-queens into the oceans of human planets. A stealthed pod performing a splashdown would easily be mistaken for a meteoric impact. There they can build hidden underwater bases and use them to produce parasites and replicants.

>>35925599
Would it be possible to use multiple sources of DNA to clone a completely new person? We could create a shell of a human to project ourselves into. Get some practice in socializing with humans and be our own front woman. That way we could have a direct hand in things.

>>35925633
Probably hard to change peoples perceptions of you when you technically aren't alive and your first act of independence was to bomb the shit out of something.
>>35925655
Where do you propose to get the funds and how do you change the dialogue at such short notice? And why is it dangerous to have one puppet in charge? Also who said there would be only one puppet? After we get in charge we start swapping out everyone else in a position of power.

>>35925519
"What about tricking or paying humans?"

"Rare, expensive, and less reliable." He says firmly. "I fear one of the most effective such agents was recently killed. By you." The observation is blunt and simple, but you sense no hostility. "For justified and obvious reasons, of course. There are still a few cells that operate and maintain hidden quantum communication systems within Union space, but the Union's pervasive fear of intelligent machines has created a rather effective wall around their political system. Even the few agents there are work under the assumption that they are helping a rebel cyber terrorist, a government whistle blower, Commonwealth nationalists, or other such falsehoods. I suspect none of them would continue their assistance if they discovered the truth."

>Speak (write in)
>Other

>>35925706
No, that's paying off an existing structure owned by someone else.

I'm talking about the grass roots shit that put the religious right in power thirty years ago. You start by building your own organization and your power grows with it.

>>35925722
Are you kidding? Political thriller! Sounds like tons of fun!

>>35925774
I'm not going to change my name to I Told You So like that other guy, but...

>>35925774
So this is where our parasites become really useful. We can sell otherwise unobtainable info!

>>35925774
Gee, it sure would be easy to set up hidden cells of people to dick with the union if someone was somehow able to make something like say, clones.

>>35925774
>Speak (write in)
"We have made some recent advancements and are considering, well, making our own humans for this purpose."

>>35925774
>Speak (Lyle isn't dead and why not just make agents?)

>>35925774
>Other
Coil time!

>>35925874
Supporting.

>>35925906
>Lyle clone army.

>>35925774
>Speak
"Lyle isn't dead, just... hanging out for a bit."

>>35925874
>>35925906
Do we really need to tell Theseus those secrets yet?

>>35925874
>telling them we can make humans
let's not.

>>35925926
Changed my mind. Bad idea. No longer supporting.

>>35925774
>Speak (write in)
>Mention Lyle
>Speak with Coil
>Other


I should also mention, in case there is confusion, that the bill is not "obliterate the vote and go empire" but simply is the creation of a president, which for the highly decentralized Union seems rather radical.

>>35925407
>>35925407
>disagreeing with other people
>depressing

It was already obvious what Theseus's answer would be. And look, there it is.

We're short on questing time and a lot of things to do, asking questions with fairly obvious answers isn't particularly fun, when you can do something more interesting with a different character, or explore a new planet, or something.

Look, I just got back to this thread, but if I could ask an open question, how long do we plan on hiding our existence from the Union? Keeping under the radar will only get more difficult as time goes on, as the hive's homeworld lies in a sector of space the human race is gradually colonizing. Sooner or later someone will attempt to settle or exploit the resources of the worlds we're interested in.

>>35925932
If we really wanted to screw with our captives, we could make clones of them, add some hallucinogens, and watch the fireworks.

>>35925774
The AI needs to work with something with a body. Tell him this:

"Your strategy seems to be based entirely on the short-term political tactics available to an AI without human bodies on the ground under its control, instead of a long-term strategy concerned with using the inherent interests of the voting blocs and commercial groups aiming to shape power."

"The Union's political apparatus is likely run by oligarchies that manage to keep the voters controlled by promising them their immediate interests, but an alternative political initiative is likely to thrive if we begin with a civic organization run by civilians. So long as they play on legitimate interests and capture the voter bases of major political parties, we can ensure a snowball effect - it merely needs to go beyond the level of bribery and into the discussions of the populace - the sort that cannot be reached by their mass media. We require an on the ground presence."

"A prosperity initiative that promises to do better at supplying what human individuals need seems easily able to capture their attention, and would require sophisticated management from within."

"Your efforts seem likely to fail because you have no easy way to create the center of such a network, but we may soon be in a position to supply such civic agents. After that, we can use your political and financial support with mass media campaigns and the like."

>>35925992
>>Mention Lyle

>>35926029
>Speak with Coil

>>35925992
Until we outnumber them and can crush them. There are billions of humans, and thousands of hive drones.

Give us about 10 more weeks.

>>35925874
no

Instead we should say Lyle is alive.

>>35925992
>Mention Lyle

We can afford to do this. Theseus has ultimately been trustworthy so far.

>>35925992
>Mention Lyle
I thought he was a merc, how exactly can he help.
>Speak with Coil
After this we need a one on one talk with him.

>>35926029
Until we have enough strength to make it too expensive for the Union to wage war on us.

>>35926029
As long a physically possible. The longer the better.

>>35925992
see
>>35926046

>>35926027
his answer was that he couldn't run a door to door campaign because he had no humans to do it for him and couldn't start one himself because nobody would work with him

we're planning to make our own political party. maybe with some clones to kick things off.

>>35925992
>>Speak (write in)
The hive can be quite subtle when it cares to be. If it would help, we could place bugs or aspects of yourself onto hardwired networks of the Union.

>>35925992
>Mention Lyle

>>35926029
For as long as we can. I don't think anyone wantws to go to extreme measures like CLOAK EVERYTHING, but we can't let anyone know how strong we really are until we can't help it.

>>35926046

This sounds reasonable, actually. Supporting.

>>35926088
I still think just replacing important people with clones would be easier and more efficient.

>>35926029
>>35926061
>>35926080
>>35926084
>>35926120

this is exactly why we need to soften up their political process to lean them away from crushing us when they do find out about us

if we can't get a war machine in place fast enough, and there's no guarantee we can, we need to have a contingency

>>35926129
I really don't think swapping some of the most closely scrutinized and recognizable politicians in the Union with clones is a plausible solution.

>>35926029
You aren't wrong, but there isn't a benefit to revealing ourselves. To give more time, we should have ship construction on a planet that doesn't have a spy satelite. We could "create" species that are occupying worlds already (via creating different drones), and some other stuff

>>35925874
>>35926046
Sounds good, politicsfags. Let's see what Theseus says.

>>35925992
>>Mention Lyle
This, with shades of >>35926099 could work.

>>35926182
It's at least as feasible as trying to astroturf in the vain hope that somehow a grassroots in your favor will arise from it.

>>35926159
If we cant then we pile into ships and run like fuck. They are slow as molasses compared to us.
>>35926182
Why not? We can clearly see peoples memories, if they are genetically identical and we have their knowledge how would we be tripped up?

>>35926046
This.

Man, the AI actually can't do something we thought of.

>>35926046
I like this, can we combine it with a runner up vote?

>>35926046
Sounds good to me.

>>35926231
>Why not? We can clearly see peoples memories, if they are genetically identical and we have their knowledge how would we be tripped up?

Because the policies our puppets would follow would get them in trouble even if we somehow evaded detection by Union medical science.

To say nothing of the dark crystal motherfuckers deploying a tachyon jammer and taking over our puppet empire. Or someone else doing so.

All it takes is them getting the tech,

>>35926248
Sure, what's the runner up?

>>35926046
How do you take away the voter bases of major political parties when they're so entrenched? They already cover the gamut of opinions. What exactly is the fresh new perspective you're looking for?

They already got the racists, the hippies, the hawks, the doves, and such covered. How are you going to cannibalize those, specifically?

You haven't even asked how high the barrier to entry is to making a new political party yet. Judging by the line "strict party system" from many threads ago, I'm guessing, around wicked high?

I'm dubious on confessing anything about hive capability of having agents.

>>35926046
>only option with any deeper thinking than clones man
supportan

>>35925992
>Mention Lyle

>>35926046
Genestealer cults mean nothing without hivefleet backup

>>35926328
>deeper thinking

>start your own political party. With blackjack. And hookers! And get everybody to like it more than they like the other guys! Somehow.

>>35926270
If the dark guys are actively attacking us then who gives a shit about the union? And what policies are you thinking of having them install? Give all aliens equal rights? Stop exploiting the existing aliens? Reparations? Fuck that, have them keep going as they already were just get them to look away from us.

>>35926316
>how do you get someone to switch political parties
i dunno lol how did every successful political leader in history do it
its like you've never heard of political science, let alone tamney hall
>HURR I HAVE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ONLY OP CAN ANSWER
well...we can ask questdrone
i don't get your struggle not to ask simple questions, like we'd go on with this if it was actually unworkable

>Space bugs/organics quest
>Lets make playing with human politics a primary part of the quest guys!
What the bloody hell...

>>35926400
Did you forget the part where it's sorta needed to keep the damn humans off our backs?

>>35926400
Never mind that, he even said to bribe them. Bribes! After all the effort put into mind control bugs.

>>35926359
They won't look away from us as soon as we're discovered.

This won't take forever, they already have Lee in custody. Not to mention footage of us destroying one of their agents. That doesn't get ignored.

>>35926357
Yeah, because people weren't elected based on nothing but populism before.

Oh wait, what about the last two US presidential elections?

'Change we can believe in' is about as significant a political argument as 'now here's a president I want to invite to my barbeque,' but both worked.

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112 KB JPG

>>35926400

>>35926400
>>35926429
What are you, incapable of understanding the way they'd react to us the second they found out we're making pod people or found one of our parasites?

You're crazy if you dismiss the risk of all that. The mind reading is best used for intelligence gathering.

>>35926422
Yeah, I missed that part. Let me take a quick look at the OP post to see where I am.

Oah yeah, it isn't POLITICAL MACHINE after all.

>>35926341
let's do both

>>35926046
tell the AI this

then upscale resource gathering and ship production

>>35926430
Its pretty easy to ignore when you are the fucker in charge of looking at it. Its not like it would even be that hard! Just say that it was an unfortunate situation but those people invaded their living space, in a couple of weeks everyone wouldn't even care anymore.

>>35925874
Nooooooooooooooo

>>35926341
Why not both?

>>35926462
Thats not my issue. My issue is that controlling the political process via grassroots support is a stupid idea.

>>35926471
Dude, it just started this thread. The politics is just a means to an end.

>>35926510
>be president-dictator of the humans
>first term, new position
>ignore nationalist sentiments when someone asks about how those aliens accidentally all the brave colonists in that one place
>impeachment hearings

how many clones will we put into power before some rogue commander decides to just kill some alien scum or takes the government into his own hands, do you think?

>>35926529
Seriously!

Plus
>grassroots
>control
Its nature is inherently not controllable.

>>35926529
>>35926592

it's stupid if you ignore how politics works, sure
the right in america got a political lead for thirty years by doing this

it's not even the main thrust, it's just a way to give the manipulative shit theseus is doing the weight it needs to succeed

like holy shit do you even history

>>35926586
What aliens? That was the robot scum who we are building up our fleet to fight right now. The investigation team we sent confirmed it (because they were clones)

Never eat vomit flavored jelly beans.

>>35926592
>>35926529
What's Tamney Hall, sweetheart? This your first political coup too? Hey, why are those thousands and thousands of Irishmen all voting today?

>>35926633
Right, president. Say, why are you refusing to colonize these worlds where there was alien activity? The frontier expanse colony on Raligha was an investment of resources, you're just gonna let some wildlife push you around?

Yeah, I can really see this shit working well.

>>35925992
Hey QuestDrone, we have a majority vote. Could we please move on before the screechy minority wastes more time arguing against ASKING AN NPC FOR ITS OPINION?

>>35926703
After careful investigation it was determined that Raligha did not contain sufficient resources to warrant full colonization. Or The native aliens have been classified as the type they do not interact with and thus the planet is to be left alone with a monitoring satellite in place that we control.

Also it was a scientific outpost not an expanse colony.

>>35925992
"Too many statistics, not enough action." You sense Theseus is somewhat confused by the statement. "Humans do not want numbers or statistics."

It is the first time you sense such overt frustration in Theseus. Zero One seems to agree with your statement, which only feeds the frustration. He replies quickly, then splits his version within the monitor. You can sense them bickering intensely as Theseus replies to you from the Clarke. "And what do you propose be the focus, then?"

Your reply is simple. "It is my nature to understand my the worker drones."

He does not seem convinced, although you sense it starts a debate within Zero One. "Humans are unpredictable and illogical-"
You cut him off. "Which is where your difficulty comes from."

"We would still need someone to perform actions on our behalf." Our. Maybe Theseus is more convinced than he lets on. You are quick to reply.

"The human, Lyle. He is not dead."

Zero One has a wave of silence roll over it as nearly every version of Theseus you can sense received the information. "Really?"

>Discuss sending Lyle as an agent
>Speak (write in)
>Speak with Lyle
>Speak with Coil
>Other

>>35926806
>Discuss sending Lyle as an agent
Also mention possible clone/hybrids of him instead.

>>35926703
Raligha was passed over for colonization because literally everything is poisonous.

>>35926806
>>Speak with Coil

About Lyle. We need a bit more time, first. Too much of his stuff to research.

Also we need to have a cleaned-up Coil clone to replace him with.

>>35926806
"Yes. We suggest creating a hive around such agents to make the human drones ours. Lyle may not be the correct human to do this, but perhaps he knows someone. Perhaps it was...best we made it seem that you saved him from our clutches so you could give him a new task: creating this hive."

I don't think Lyle's the right guy for the job, though. We can have Theseus bust him out or something, maybe give back his ship if he does the job right.

>>35926862
Pretty sure that was our planet. The point still stands that they don't colonize planets with intelligent life anyway still stands.

>>35926806
>Discuss sending Lyle as an agent
>Speak with Lyle
>other
conference call time with Unity and Lyle.

>>35926804
>>35926862
Say, what about everything else in that solar system? Like asteroids to mine. Why aren't we glassing the planet and mining it to its core again, president? The war effort is hungry for resources.

>>35926876
this sounds more in character than the other thing
try this

>>35926806
>Discuss sending Lyle as an agent
>Speak with Lyle
>Speak with Coil

>>35926806
>Speak with Coil
>>Speak (write in)
"After he recovers, we are considering sending him on a job."

Also, guys.

We have a remote viewing White Crystal being researched.

We can vastly increase political blackmail potential that way. Play to your strengths, use trump cards that nobody else has.

>>35926806
>>Discuss sending Lyle as an agent

>>35926876
Seconding.

>>35926806
>Discuss sending Lyle as an agent
>Speak with Coil
>>35926876


>>35926901
Too obvious, the Union might send more "inspectors" and we're still not ready. It's better to do the strip-mining in the two other systems we know the humans won't look at.