>>40616667
What happened to Alder? Did Killinger's assassins catch up with her?

>>40616696
I think she got the injuries from the station incident.

We may need to sabotage to delay the vote.

>>40616705
What are they voting on again? El Presidente?

>>40616705
Agreed. If need be we could land a group of ghost beetles and flies on Gemini Alpha. Perhaps some brainstorming with Theseus is in order?

>>40616715
War against the commonwealth, most likely. Or at least 'retaliatory actions'.

But we now the whole thing happened because Killinger was trying to do shit, and when it failed (because for mother) the two forces started accusing the other and tripped over each other.

I can't vote on suptg. Anyone else getting a "Thread not found!" error?

I had an idea.
Elizabeth mentioned humans are slightly psionic, right?
Well, why not check if the Ralighans are too?
It'd also give us a chance to select a prophet amongst their people for when they return from Leeland.
So we can have someone spread knowledge.

>>40616815
>The warp is a thing.

>>40616804
Never mind. It was ad blocking software.

>>40616815
>Elizabeth mentioned humans are slightly psionic, right?
No. Not right. You're the opposite of right. Nobody said any shit like that.

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>>40616667
“It is an inherent truth of our society. While in times of peace we can often rely on the reason of its citizens to maintain it, in times of strife, we require great men of courage and honor to hold the Union together.” Anderson continues, “This Council lacks the authority, and you, if you will forgive me, lack the expediency to properly deal with the external threat to our very existence that we now face.”

Anderson looks around at the representatives gathered, and you watch from behind the eyes of agent Devon as he stands just out of view from a nearby hall as Anderson continues his speech.

"So I plead with you, to not only allow the motion to expedite the vote to stand, but to vote yes, and give this grand Union the strength it needs to truly unify us all together in this time of strife." There is a mild applause from the audience, and a robotic voice announces the Parliament to be in recess until tomorrow. The holograms of many representatives wink out, and others get up to leave, quickly filing out of the chamber. The council members seem engrossed in some manner of busy work until the chamber is empty, save your agent, the council, and Killinger, who is walking down from his seat to the center of the room. He is clapping slowly.

"That was very moving, Anderson. I didn't know you had such a way with words." He says.

"Well," Anderson says simply, "we can't have Alexandra going off on them, and my public platform is the closest to neutral on the matter among us." Secretary DuPont harrumphs and her hologram flickers at the table.

"How is Alder, anyhow?" She asks. Secretary Windsor quickly looks through a file.

"She suffered some burns when her ship took a hit. And the sucker punch from the spinal mount wasn't pleasant for any of the crew. She'll make a full recovery, and I'd say she stands a chance to show up tomorrow, if she smooth talks the doctors."

cont.

>>40616705
>We may need to sabotage to delay the vote.
Yes. This is simple. Just leak the footage of Killinger and his pals sending in the stealth craft to sabotage the talks.

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>>40616667
>“Agreed.” He says, “and I wish representative Alder a speedy and complete recovery from her injuries, but we cannot afford to wait for her wounds to heal.
Still not thwarted huh. King Killinger is still coming.

>>40616846
>"She suffered some burns when her ship took a hit. And the sucker punch from the spinal mount wasn't pleasant for any of the crew. She'll make a full recovery, and I'd say she stands a chance to show up tomorrow, if she smooth talks the doctors."

Haha yet another operation to ensure that doesn't happen.

> The Secretary Council sits in stoic silence at their seats in the center of the Parliament floor.

...Wait. They aren't all supposed to be there in the flesh all at once.

Some of them are holograms, right?

Otherwise we could just bomb Parliament right now and take out them and Killinger both.

>>40616888

DuPont was mentioned as 'flickering' in her seat.

>>40616667
>Delian Cobalt forged a path clear to Sol, and became one of the Union’s greatest heroes in the process.” Anderson flips several pages on his desk and looks back to the gathered representatives. You can see Secretary DuPont’s jaw tighten like a spring as she holds her tongue.

Did DuPont's ancestor have a rivalry with that hero back in the colony wars or something?

>>40616844
See:
>>40609147
Humans are apparently slightly psionic. Not enough to do anything, but they are. They're barely-photo-sensitive cells to our hawk eyes, as a comparison.
Now, if we find Ralighans are found to be in no way psionically sensitive, then I have a theory that this is all related to the crystals. Althernatively psionic stuff is natural if rare.

>>40616881
This holds the issue of anyone in the know having the chance of being able to figure out that the camera angles would've been impossible for Union or Commonwealth ships to achieve.
Otherwise, great idea.

>>40616888
I think it would be quicker just send some get well soon present of medi gel to Alder than start an assassination campaign in the heart of the Union.

>>40616926
Isn't Dupont in on the Kingmaker bill? Like, as one of it's biggest backers?

>>40616956

...shit, maybe.

I just took my meds, my memory might be fucked. Sorry if that is the case.

>>40616921
>of being able to figure out that the camera angles would've been impossible for
Who cares? They don't know anything about us, so we're not suspect, and it'll just be something that riles up / freak out Killinger even more, since they'll think it's some spying supertech that they are not aware of.

>>40616926
>Duper's massively opposed to the Kingmaker bill
Since fucking when. She's the bitch who introduced it.

Since when is a member of the executive branch equivalent opposed to consolidating more power in the executive branch.

>>40616926
I think you're mistaking Dupont for Alder. Dupont is in on Killinger's scheme.

>>40616973
>>40616975

Sorry, my bad.

>>40616972
The humans know cloaking technology is a thing.
We don't want to give them the idea that there was a third party with ships at that station.

>>40616846
"Good, we have a wild card. Okay, what's the vote count?" Killinger asks to the room in general. Agent Devon steps forward from the shadow of the hall with a small collection of notes.

"It's a close one sir. We can expect Tory and National support, as well as a few independents. Mentan is up in the air. Most of its voters are registered Tory, but you know how they are. They just register to get funding, but when it comes down to it they usually vote Green. Of course, it's a corporation, so the rep doesn't need to worry as much about elections. I'd say it all depends on how loud the students picket, and they will picket."

"They always do." Killinger says dryly. "Continue."

"Uh, let's see." Devon looks for his place, attempting to stifle the wave of animosity emanating from your mind towards Killinger. The musing of orbital bombardment is enough to make his pen slip. "Greens are, obviously, opposed, and we can expect most of the Rhinos to go with them, but they're mostly neutral on the matter as an issue of their voter base, and there are a few outlier Green worlds just conservative enough to be convinced to buck the party line, but we'd need to sweeten the deal."

"Cheaper to go after the Rhinos." Killinger says. "I don't want to be under the heel of some limes just to get them to show their true colors. I'll send out some letters, make some calls, and make some new friends by tomorrow. Now, about the Commonwealth. Jack?"

Secretary Windsor's arm disappears as he reaches for something outside of the view of the cameras, and a fizzy image of a ship appears on the desk. You recognize the silhouette as a Scavenger ship.

cont.

>>40617032
Leak Killinger's the private talks

>>40616881
You have nothing. He spoke in implications and innuendo. He talked to a "Grey" offscreen.

Also it would be obvious that Michael was the one who was compromised. We aren't losing our sole sleeper agent for something that wouldn't even fucking work.

>>40617033
Oh boy, this is going to be our debut to the Commonwealth up next, I just know it.

>>40617112
Audio only?

>>40617129
Look, what he's saying is literally what every politician ever talks about in doors. It's not flattering, but its not illegal or even likely to get him impeached.

>>40617129
Again. There is nothing incriminating there. Just vagueness.

>Conveniently including absolutely no parts of the conversation that Michael Devon wasn't privy to

>>40617033
"The issue of a two front war has been one of the main issues. It's a double edged sword, keeping the people on edge and against the wall, and legitimately increasing our risk of invasion. Intelligence suggests the situation has become more complicated. Someone, or something, is attacking the Commonwealth's flank, and in great numbers. I have agents attempting to gain intel on a recent attack. Whatever happened it made waves something fierce. It's so classified my men were taking a risk just finding out it was classified. They managed to defend the system, with great losses, but whatever happened scared the Admirals shitless."

"Can you find out more?" Killinger asks. Jack smirks.

"Does a Taidaren smell like shit? I'll need time, but you can't keep something that big a secret forever. Way too many witnesses to hush. Someone's gonna spill something. Either way, they're getting hit hard, and their fleet is getting torn up. If we got a deceleration of war from the reps we'd have them over the barrel."

"And what of Grey and the Mirage?" Killinger asks with more than a hint of anger.

"Destroyed, obviously." DuPont says. "Jack's research funding helped to speed things up, and we can always make another ship, but no one can figure out why, or even how it blew. We had all angles covered by sensors. No missile was detected. The Mirage didn't use atomic power. There was nothing there that could have caused that explosion, and Ceph have never used nukes, or missiles of any kind, ever, so I can't imagine them pulling that out of nowhere."

cont.

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>>40617149
>a deceleration of war
The opposite of what they want.

>>40617149
Good, they suspect nothing.

>>40617149
Hmm...So they don't have knowledge of our existence still...at least, not yet. They're probably going to soon enough, however.

We may need to step up our timetable, if only slightly.

Also:
>It's so classified my men were taking a risk just finding out it was classified.

I have no clue why, but that line amused me greatly.

>>40617149
>We had all angles covered by sensors. No missile was detected. The Mirage didn't use atomic power. There was nothing there that could have caused that explosion, and Ceph have never used nukes, or missiles of any kind, ever, so I can't imagine them pulling that out of nowhere."
Haa haaa haaaaa you poor clueless conspirators

>>40617149
>Someone, or something, is attacking the Commonwealth's flank, and in great numbers.
>in great numbers.
So it seems they've been at war with the Scavengers for a while. That might work in our favor.

>>40617149
Gotta sneak in the idea that it WAS ceph, acting against their regular modus operandi in order to try deflect their involvement on unknowns.

>>40617149
"Do we need to worry about a third party in this?" Neville says. DuPont and Windsor share a quick concerned look.

"A third party, who also have cloaking technology, utilize atomic warheads, can enter a system without our detection, and have been watching human activities long enough to have a vested interest in fucking with our plans?" Jack finally says. "And all while remaining totally hidden from our view. My god, let's try to look through all the possibilities before skipping right to the worst case scenario."

"Agent Devon." Jack snaps and Michael jumps in place. "Things are turning into a crap shoot, and we need results. I know you've only just been assigned to the mission, but things have become increasingly urgent. We need men out in the Expanse finding and dealing with our loose ends. Give me a list of things you'll need. I'll get you a ship with an A class relay by tomorrow."

Killinger seems lost in thought for a moment.
"Excuse me. I think you gave me an idea. I need to make a call." He says as he turns to leave. The others watch him go with mild confusion. He looks back as he reaches the door. "The only thing I call a worst case scenario is the scenario you don't prepare for."

Jack dismisses him and turns back to Michael.

"Do you have anything you know you need?"

>No
>Yes (write in)
>Other

>>40617198
It's about the hive, obviously.

>>40617149
>The Mirage didn't use atomic power.
It didn't use microfusion reactors?

It really did have a standard quantum power tap then?

>>40617213
It might be the bigger queen and scavengers.

>>40617185
What timetable?

>>40617219
Holy shit he is about to check on the hive.
It looks like we can't stay hidden for ever.

>>40617219
>No

>
"A third party, who also have cloaking technology, utilize atomic warheads, can enter a system without our detection, and have been watching human activities long enough to have a vested interest in fucking with our plans?" Jack finally says. "And all while remaining totally hidden from our view. My god, let's try to look through all the possibilities before skipping right to the worst case scenario."
Haha

>>40617219
>"The only thing I call a worst case scenario is the scenario you don't prepare for."
Oh, shit. He's up to to something.

>>40617225
We don't know that they're associated with each other.

>>40617219
Welp time to shit ourselves.

>>40617219
>Yes
Access to classified files on Yune.

(..I don't recall specifics without looking up, but the first time we had Devon look stuff up he run into lock outs, so I want that now that we have the chance.)

Also drop a comment "perhaps it was actually Ceph, using a nuke to try making it look like it's not them?"

>>40617219
>Yes
A hacker. Someone who can compromise things without invoking a government badge.

Someone with the best weapons and dropsuit we have-- Lyle Rogers has his own dropsuit after all.

Take no chances.

We research dat shit

Data files on local contacts in the Expanse. And Dillon's files, they were still classified last I checked.

>>40617219
>"Do you have anything you know you need?"
So what was the plan again? Are we still sending him to kill fake Lyle and co and trap and capture a smith?

>>40617266
So should we come out to the union using Elizabeth as a proxy it seems like our stunt with the common wealth pur us on their maps, and we have been an anomaly for some time.

>>40617272
Ah riight yes, it was Dillon's files that I meant there >>40617267

Fuck my shitty name memory

>>40617225
>>40617266
Guys, you do know we hit the system with a GIANT force, right?
The idea we could just throw that many ships around (and lose so few) in a border skirmish we don't even have a stake in is probably what's scaring them.
And our blitz didn't leave many photos behind, so the scavenger ships is probably all they got.
Speaking of Scavengers, we could probably tip the Commonwealth off to their current gathering location.

>>40617218
We could have Devon's new ship get "attacked" in the expanse. Let the only message he gets back start with the word "Ceph." With Devon on board we can probably just take the ship with a boarding swarm and get it and all its fancy tech. The loss of Devon will probably shoot their investigation in the leg so badly it comes off at the knee.

>>40617219

>>Yes (write in)
I have evidence that the object of my investigation is headed towards the expanse. It would help my investigation if I could access the ship you're going to send in there. I wouldn't need much, just some cargo space in the hold and the occasional shuttle ride down to a planetary surface.

>>40617219
>Yes (write in)
Best hackers we can get

>>40617295
Nah. Devon didn't actually have much unique stuff for the search. They'll just assign another one.

And we already have the fancy tech. We can MAKE the quantum relays, change them around too.

>>40617296
>if I could access the ship you're going to send in there
Wut.

That ship is going to have Devon ON it, isn't it. It's his mission in person. He's already being given access.

>>40617219
Since we have the highest clearance right now, couldn't that mean we could open a door for Thesus?

>>40617295
If Devon fails they just send a Smith to do the job. That was explicit.


>>40617266
Interfering with politics was a mistake. The king bill is no meat off our carapace.

But too late now.

We can still assassinate Killinger with a toxic bug sting today though maybe.

Looking at the talk page gave me an idea:

How about we build a kamikaze hive ship?

>>40617354
Probably has augs he did destroy a future desk.
Also reminder that our bootable are based off of theirs so it is possible they could revive him or make a clone.

>>40617344
Government computers are still kept separate to prevent that kind of compromise.

You could let Theseus infect Michael's datapad, and then hook up that datapad to the BFI database again when you look something up.

But that's the most you can do, unless you can find a good, non suspicious excuse to plugin his datapad into some other government port.

>>40617374
Bio tank.

>>40617371
Pod + lots of explosives.
Which was actually how we won our first fight with the BQ.

>>40617374
Bootable?

>>40617371
seems like just a bit of a waste

>>40617371
To expensive to be very useful. We already have pods for that anyway.

>>40617381
Figured with the highest clearance he can find the sweet spot for thesus.

>>40617371

Chars go to bed

>>40617219
>Yes

A... how to say this... smoothtalker? A Face?

I wonder if we parasite someone meant for social infiltration it will unlock a Specialization for that.

>>40617384
Bio tanks I'm on my phone so autocorrect fucked it up.

>>40617410
Not the highest.

That's SecCom, and the secretary man himself.

SecCom is still watching Michael and all he does that is logged.

Also everything is disconnected from everything else, so there's no one spot to target.

>>40617381
>You could let Theseus infect Michael's datapad,
I think we already did that? Or made plans to do that whenever we got close to Theseus-infested network to let him slurp up the tasty files we downloaded onto it.

>>40617219
A bribe money account?

>>40617427
Cyber security maybe?
Just trying to see if we can sneak thesus in that since eventually everything gets thesus that way.

>>40617354
>>40617374
Doubt they could clone him, they aren't as biowizard as we are.

However, conspicious death of him would further storm up the shit in politics.

Perhaps a less-lethal injection? Just to have him sick and miss the important meeting tomorrow.

And his aide that made the speech today. Fuck them both, let the Greens take the tribune on the big day.

>>40617219
"The Expanse has seen dramatic Unity activity. I think it would be wise if I had a cyber security expert."

"Done." Jack says.

"One without connections to the government." Devon adds. Jack is a bit more skeptical.

"You mean you want a hacker. I don't like involving outsiders, but it may give us plausible deniability. Alright, done."

"And a drop trooper."

"Lyle is known to have a suit. Of course. Anything else?"

"I need access to Dillon's files. They're locked as a SecCom agent."

"That's a bit more tough." Jack says, "but I can't expect you to get the job done blind folded. They fight even me when it comes to declassifying their records, they like to drag their feet. It may take a while, but you'll have it. Will there be anything else?"

>Yes (write in)
>No
>Other

>>40617445
Still doesn't do much about the total disconnect.

Also, we already done with their main cyber security centre.
Theseus blew it the fuck up.

>>40617457
Bribe money and maybe blackmail info.

>>40617452
Who the hell cares about the meeting tomorrow.

He has to die because he's about to indulge his shadowruns, possibly involving Leeland, and nothing less than death will stop him.

>>40617457
Are social infiltrators a thing?

>>40617457
>No

Not really much else to ask for.

>>40617465
I believe it was one of many and it was developing a new fire wall.

>>40617457
>>No

>>40617457
>>No

>>40617457
>No
So they're okay with hiring Lyle even when they know he was hired to fuck with them beforehand?

>>40617465
There's more than one. The plural was used.

Unity just destroyed the one in the Virgo system, the system that happened to be at the edge of Union territory next to the Expanse.

The others are probably deeper inward.

>>40617457
>No

>>40617457
>No
That'd be all, I think.

>>40617480
Our good friend Theseus playing political chess is who cares.

>>40617509
He means that he expects us to ask for a suit because Lyle got one too.

>>40617509
No they are talking about how Lyle has a drop suit so it's smart to bring a guy with one as well.

>>40617481
Cash on hand for bribing the locals?

Blackmail dirt on the locals in the Expanse?

Seems useful.

>>40617516
>>40617520
Oh, thanks for the clarification, the time of day always gets me.

>>40617543
What locals?
Unless you expect Killinger to hand our man glass beds to give to us as bribes.

>>40617457
>No

We're good, I'd say.

>>40617552
You mean glass beads.

And I mean the local colonists. Leverage over the rich and powerful in the area would be nice to have as backup.

Should we contact the green party chick?

>>40617552
I think he meant the settlers in the expanse.
Speaking of the expanse I think this would be a good opportunity to put drones on Tanhauser if we can somehow suborn control of the ship and it's crew.

>>40617552
>Killinger
He isn't here or in charge of us. This is Secretary Jack.

Killinger left to go do Plot Things we need to kill him off quickly to prevent.

>>40617563
Creds for leverage over the poor, blackmail for those too rich to bribe.

The system works.

>>40617566
How? How can we do that without being conspicuous as ALL HELL?

>>40617599
We can get humans there anon.

>>40617608
I mean conspicuous to HER.

Just imagine: on the eve of important shit, some unknown contacts you and offers a deal.

How is that not suspicious as fuck?

>>40616667
What did the Nat 1 clone make?

>>40617631
They still take time to cook. We'll find out next Sunday.

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>>40617457
"No, just some funding, and perhaps someone with a way for the locals."

"What, like a tour guide?" Jack asks.

"More like a manipulator, sir. Someone who knows what to say without having to flash a badge."

"Alright." Jack says, nodding. "That's going to be a lot harder. Highly specialized skilled individual, and the Expanse is still a small place. Not a lot of room for cons to maneuver from place to place. I may be able to find you someone, but they may not even be on a habitable world. Lyle has worked with the Unity before. We can't rule out the possibility that he's fled charted space entirely, or has set up camp in one of the hot zones where we lost our ships. Don't restrict your search to the new colonies."

"Yes sir." Michael says.

"Oh, and be careful. Don't move against them without contacting me, and keep your relay broadcasting. It's a live feed, A class, so make sure to keep it feeding us sensor data." Jack says. He moves to deactivate the projector, but stops short. "Oh, and if you loose it, it's coming out of your pay. Those things are expensive."

His image flickers out, and the others begin to leave. Michael briskly walks to the door.

cont.

Okay how many parasites and flies can Michael Devon pack in his luggage for this trip?

We need at least some to implant his two hired friends.

>>40617629
She should be desperate, but I honestly do think we should find a way to get her to our side and now seems like we could be her ray of hope in this situation.

>>40617629
>Hello, you have a collect call from [horrific screeching] will you accept the charges?

>>40617654
What the fuck. Alder is her own ray of hope.

All she has to do it get out of the damn hospital in the morning and work the votes.

>>40617654
Yeah, we sure can be a ray of hope. A shady as fuck ray of hope and she's still a politician.

>>40617644
Can thesus be sent through the relay undetected?

>>40617673
True she us a politician, maybe we should seek advice from Elizabeth and Thesus.
>>40617670
Honestly don't think she can, they sounded pretty Damn confident in getting votes and even have a last resort of bribing green party members.

>>40617644
>but they may not even be on a habitable world. Lyle has worked with the Unity before. We can't rule out the possibility that he's fled charted space entirely, or has set up camp in one of the hot zones where we lost our ships. Don't restrict your search to the new colonies."
It's funny how right they are without even knowing about it.

>>40617675
I would think relay endpoints would have the most stringent firewalls of all. But who knows, maybe.

>>40617644
Well it's only the sensor feed, it's not like there are cameras inside the ship that are transmitting back, right? ...Right?

And should we be stalking Killinger with the flies, is that too risky.

>>40617647
>>40617724
Depending on if the ship itself is full of surveillance cameras, we can either implant the new hires in a closed meeting room on the ship or we have to do it to them on missions, one at a time.

The question is if we want to implant all the random crew that run the ship too. Dunno how many there'd be. Some of them might end up crewing a Member of Parliament's ship later after all.

>>40617816
I was thinking of having Devon pick up a Theseus copy along the way and then slip that into the ship while no one else is looking, so we can theoretically have control of the cameras and sensors.

>>40617710
As long as we have Killinger dead or enslaved within the next week or two it doesn't matter if he's also King of the Humans anyway.

We just have to actually vote to take the first slow careful steps towards that goal.

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>>40617644
Gilliam looks over the relics one last time, taking account of each one as if worried one had sprouted wings and flew away since he last counted. They are still all there, and they are still as mysterious as ever, and enigma that remains just beyond his full understanding, and so far beneath your interest that he gleams nothing from your spare thoughts on the subject, consciously or otherwise. You are unconcerned with their function, but you are interested in their connection to the strange phenomenon shown in Lee's photos, if they are indeed from the same dig site.

Gilliam seals the last case and looks to the guard next to him, nodding in silence. The man returns the nod, although he is clearly annoyed at the delay, and the work crew quickly begin loading the crates. Not far, your flies continue to watch over the trucks, which now sit in the gated area of a military space port. A standard air strip runs along the far end, where massive strato-planes taxi with their cargo. Each plane is practically a fortress in itself, capable of hauling over four hundred tons of cargo, and holding enough space for well over six hundred passengers each. Their engines are powerful thrusters capable of articulation, and the cabin is sealed for limited vacuum exposure. Each one is designed specifically to serve as a cheap and efficient alternative to a shuttle, allowing for fast and fuel efficient transport between the twin worlds of the Gemini binary system.

>Have Gilliam board the flight
>Have him complete unfinished business (write in)
>Other

>>40617838
I would personally prefer the safer option of chatting up Alder and using political subterfuge to screw Killinger. Less risk, and it's way too much fun getting him to blow his top.

>>40617859
>>Have Gilliam board the flight

>>40617859
>>Have Gilliam board the flight
Obviously have a dozen or so flies come along for the ride.

>>40617868
>letting other humans we have no hold over in on anything
>safer
Is this bizarro world?

They can't destroy Killinger anyway. Even if he loses the election that just means he'll inevitably go for a metaphorical Samson option.

>>40617868
I like this idea, to be honest.

>>40617890
We can probably only slip maybe four into the doctor's clothing and stay inconspicuous.

We can always turn one into an egglayer and produce more on Gemini Beta.


>>40617859
>>Have him complete unfinished business (write in)
Walk far enough away that flies can slip into his pocket unnoticed.

>>40617859
>Have Gilliam board the flight
Did we ever give him something thesus infected?

>>40617859
>>Have him complete unfinished business (write in)
Give him some flies for the ride, then send him off.

>>40617859
>>40617936
This

>>40617859
Gilliam moves out to the tarmac where one of the waiting strato-planes is being loaded with the crates.

>Attempt to sneak several flies on board
>Don't risk it
>Other

>>40617945
>Attempt to sneak several flies on board

>>40617945
As Gilliam walks past the crates, your flies quickly move to them, dipping beneath the loading truck as it drives up to the cargo doors of the plane.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>40617995
For Mother

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>40617995

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>40617995
for mother!

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>40617995
[Whispering for mother in the background]

>>40617995
The truck comes to a halt at the back of the plane, and your flies latch to the crates as they are hauled into the cargo hold, folding their bodies flush to the walls of the crates.

"Hey, hey mike. Check the mass here. Cargo's about a pound and a half over. You want to run it though the system?" A scruffy work man holds out a data tablet to another, and he looks it over.

"And ground the flight? For a pound and a half?" He says. "It's going upstairs, not to Sol, it's got plenty of Dee-Vee to spare. Let it pass."

The doors seal shut, and in moments the strato-plane rockets forward.

Cont.

>>40618124
Well that could have gone much worse.

>>40618124
>Dee-Vee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v
>Delta-v (literally "change in velocity"), symbolised as Δv and pronounced delta-vee, as used in spacecraft flight dynamics, is a measure of the impulse that is needed to perform a maneuver such as launch from, or landing on a planet or moon, or in-space orbital maneuver.

>>40618124
The door to the common room flexes open as Lee walks in with the speaker leading the way, the remains of the chalky meat block in his hands. Dillon sits at the chitinous table with another speaker across from him. Lyle's holo projector is spread out on the table, creating a multi-layered checkered board between them covered in small holographic icons.

"Rook to D3, layer 2!" Your speaker chirps. "Check! Check check yes! that is a check!" Dillon clicks at several controls on the projector, and his pieces move accordingly.

"Are you sure you haven't played before? This is a complicated game, you know. People usually aren't this good on their first game."

"Hive learn fast. Thinkers do good thinking!" Your speaker says as it clicks its claws at the holograms. They shift their positions. "Check mate! The check is mated!" It shouts. "Hive is smart!" It chirps madly, nearly loosing its footing atop the stool, making it spin around several times before it steadies itself against the table. "Does the Dillon have other games it would like to teach the Hive? We still have thirty seven human hours!"

"Christ, Lee. thank god." Dillon says as Lee enters. "You know how these things think, help me out here."

"The Dillon has taught the Hive human games!" The speaker chirps at Lee. The other speaker promptly joins in, as if it had been there the entire time. "Checkers, chess, 3-d chess, Go!"

"Go is good! Hive can Go well!" The other says.

"You know they probably solved the game seconds after you taught them the rules, right?" Lee says. You're playing against an entire civilization, not a person."

"Well fine then, we've still got a long wait. What did you have in mind? Preferably one humans can win at."

You give the speakers over to your thinkers, confident in their winning streak, and you turn to the mind of Jackob as he rests in your medical pod.

Cont.

>>40618263
Let's go WH40K, c'mon Lee time to channel your inner fa/tg/uy.

>>40618263
LOL. Pure awesomeness.

>>40618263
>>40618298
It'll be interesting to see how the Hive deals with Role playing games.

>>40618360
WE PLAY SUMMONER FOR MOTHER

>>40618360
>play Exalted
>start building a hive colony of insectoid people
>"Hey, no recursing."

>>40618263
We'd have to play against another hive or Unity for this to be a challenge.

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>>40618263
The smell of oil and grease fills the air, and the sounds of machinery echoes across the star ports and docks.

"Bit young to go out on a freighter, arn'ta?" The man sitting across from the table doesn't seem to notice or mind the overwhelming smell of motor lubricant or oil, or the oil stains across the table itself. His closely shaven red hair shines with a layer of grease, much like the rest of the patrons, as if bathing simply didn't work here. His short beard is neatly trimmed, yet scruffy, as if that was the intention, or he had shaved during re-entry. Jackob considers both equally plausible.

"So? I've lived on a farm, I know my way around machines, and I've got the strength for the work."

"Oh I don doubt it fer a second. It don't weigh nothin in space!" The man laughs heartily at his own joke, and yet manages to empty his beer at the same time. He wipes a single tear from his face, which is wrinkled like worn leather, leaving a small streak of grease behind. "Now tell me whe' ye be so determin'd te go out yonder?"

"I don't have anything here. The farther the work takes me the better." He says firmly. The man seems almost hurt by proxy.

"Ye got nae' family even?" He says as a waitress refills his beer. Jackob shakes his head, thinking only of the door to his home slamming shut.

"Well, ye won't be gettin much further then the Commin'wealth." He leans in close, "and it ain't exactly legal eithe', least not on the far side of the boarder." He leans back, and seems ready to empty his mug again, but stops short, instead grabbing Jackob's glass of water and spilling it across the table. It seems cleaner as the water drains to the floor, and he fills the glass with half his beer.

"Well then, if ye sher, ye got family in the Fat Lady. Cheers mate."

Cont.

Okay, wait.

Killinger is probably going to check on Leeland somehow.

First he'll check the monitor satellite feed, ask for another deepscan, like when they were looking for Lyle, or whatever, in thread 18.

Then probably he'll consider that maybe Unity compromised it and want to be sure.

We could head that off...if we manage to send Michael to look for Lyle at Leeland first.

The prerequisite being infecting the ship with Theseus first to fool the censors, just like the monitor satellite. And the requirement afterward being to implant every single crew member, and not allowing any of them to damage the ship in any way before they're implanted.

If he gives the all clear on Leeland first, then Killinger won't need to send his own mission.

>>40618263
I want to play chess against Theseus.

>>40618534
I really don't want to implant the whole crew of a ship unwillingly. The last two were bad enough

>>40618580
Anon, they're a threat to our assets in the Union and possibly the main Hive itself, I think we're more than justified parasiting them in this particular situation.

>>40618580
Your squeamishness is not helping the hive.

IMPLANT FOR MOTHER

>>40618509
Hmm, wonder how Jackob alienated his family.

>>40618509
So Jacob has been in smuggling runs into the Commonwealth.

>>40618626
He's from the Commonwealth originally, so that is to be expected.

>>40618534
Don't care. Bring it on. Time to go to war.

>>40618626
Anon we already knew that.

He was there when they picked up Lyle from his prison planet.

>>40618647
No he isn't. He's from Talgo aka Space Florida.

Lyle is from the Commonwealth.

>>40618509
The Fat Lady indeed offers family, and you watch years flash by in moments, close calls with the Commonwealth fleet, discontented nobility, outlaws and pirates, and the occasional rarity of an incorruptible customs officer. Between fire fights and cheap maintenance, the ship doesn't have a single part that was there when he firs arrived, save a small shrunken head that hangs from the dash board of the bridge.

"It's got the soul of the Lady init, ye know. Was there when I bought her from me ol' capin, was there when he bought her from his. She ain't got no paper from the factery, jus' tha' there head."

Of course the crew had their own stories about it, claiming he traded the official deed of the ship to a magic man on some backwater anarchy world in a drunken stupor and took off before anyone could try to make their claim. Of course the details changed depending on who you asked, as did the identity of the head itself. The engineering chief claimed it was a pirate lord that crossed the tribesmen in the wilds of Ephesus, the cook claimed it was once the Admiral-Mayor of a migrant flotilla city on Arcadia that faced mutiny. The story seemed to get stranger every time he asked about it.

Eventually, a routine trade run through the so-called back door of the Commonwealth went slightly strange as the Fat Lady moved through Helviti, stopping long enough to recalculate their course through the nebulae, they picked up a signal on the edge of the system. Jackob thought it was another pirate trap, but the captain claimed to never refuse a distress beacon, no matter how shady, citing the fact that should he ever need to use a beacon himself, it would likely sound incredibly shady itself.

The ship in questions was a small sublight gunship. A local police patrol craft built for prisoner transport and law enforcement. It was undamaged, and on the end of a burn away from the only sign of civilization in the system. All bad signs.

Cont.

>>40618625
Read between the lines. What do farmers like the Eisners in a backwoods country area known for its extreme religious fundamentalism usually disown teenagers for? Kissing a boy. He explicitly complained about Talgoans wanting to regulate who can fuck who 5 threads ago.

So once we research the rip drive would it be possible for us to use it to construct warp gates and challenge the space jew monopoly on space gating?

>>40618745
Nah this is the future hes probably a xeno lover.

>>40618922
Why would we want to? Needless antagonism.

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>>40618740
When the airlock opened, there was a man inside, splattered with blood and covered in tattoos and metal protrusions. Judging by the bar code on his neck, he was a prisoner from Helviti, and judging by the implants and the tattoos along his arms, he was a drop trooper. The two rarely mix well, but the captain promptly pulls up his sleeve after catching a glimpse of the prisoner ID, showing a small string of numbers.

"Wa were ye in fer?" He asks.

"Beat the piss out of an officer. I killed some people too, but they didn't seem to mind that." He responds candidly. The captain just laughs.

"I shot a man fer callin me mama fat. Ya don't say that to a fellow with a gun when he's got more beer than blood in his veins."

The two shake hands, and the tension seems to vanish. The crew dissipating to their stations like nothing had happened. The patrol ship is hauled into the cargo bay, and the two seem to make some deal for passage to a Valen trading post, a usual stop for the Fat Lady. He departs, with the patrol craft. The captain regales the crew of his adventures for the next moth, all of them provably false.

You see more time pass by, and Jackob eventually leaves the Fat Lady, resigning his post as her top security officer, and best shot. With little else to go on, he simply follows the load of illegal narcotics sold at the port in Tau Ceti, looking for anyone in need of under-handed security. He quickly finds that his services are in high demand, and shortly afterwards, he discovers that criminals don't like to bid.

After dropping the body of the would-be hit man into a wet cement mold, he re-thinks his pricing policy, declaring himself a neutral party in every deal. He doesn't protect the seller or the buyer, he protects the agreement. It seems to work out much better, for everyone involved. Things continue to go smoothly, for a while.
Cont.

What's currently going on in Commonwealth space after the events of last thread? What has their reaction been?

>>40618937
How the fuck is trading services antagonistic? It's another method of possible income, in addition to endearing us to humanity. We know how well it worked for the Valen, it could work for us too.

>>40619031
They obviously mean antagonizing the incumbent Valen.

>endearing
Fuck the humans.

>>40619038
Well fuck the Valen, they're no threat to us. I doubt they'd see it as antagonistic anyway.

Humans however, are a threat to us, the more reasons they have for not invading us once we come out of the galactic closet, the better.

>>40619058
Humans are a threat to us now. They won't be in a few weeks? Months? Why do we care about them when we have bigger fish to fry like the Crystal Squid Gods?

>>40619108
Humies are taking our jobs.

I mean resources. Look at all those lush farming planets and mines they're hogging.

>>40619108
Because they are that much fun to fuck with, that's why.

Half the fun in this quest (for me) is all these shadow games and mind fuckery we have with the stoopid humies.

>>40618937
>>40619031
>>40619038
>>40619058
How is trading antagonistic to the Valen? Actually by all accounts it would probably make them respect us more if we were engaged in trade and other "respectable" Valen activities, such as warmongering. Woudl have ask QD for confirmation though.

>>40619141
Can't we just build massive resource clusters around stars/gas giants? IIRC we can turn nutrients into metal right?

We're rapidly nearing Culture levels of not needing those outdated planet things.

>>40619145
Fair enough. It is fun.

>>40619153
Good point. Don't forget to ask him that at the end of the thread, if you're still awake by then.

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>>40618959
"The name's Reager." The man says with a firm handshake. "There's a man who I need to have a talk with, but he won't agree to come out of hiding without security." He adds. Jackob nods. "Aye, easy enough. I've already talked to the man and heard his side of things. I'll expect no funny business from either of you, or I crack heads. The usual."

The club was Jackob's choosing, a location he knew neither frequented. The man in question was a small, nervous looking rat of a man, with more akin to a Taidaren then a human.

"Look, I want total immunity, Okay?" He starts, sniffing loudly. "And I want to remain anonymous, a-and witness protection. New face and everything, the works!"

Dillon nods "Well, first, you need to answer some questions and sign a few documents."

The two continue their business as Jackob examines the dance floor, then the rafters, then the balcony, and the entrance every few seconds. He didn't know what the subject of their business was, but he knew if it needed him to keep things civil, somebody didn't want it to happen.

Then he sees him. The glint of metal on the skin showing the locations of the drop suit controls, and his arms covered in metallic ports and scars. The dancers part on either side of him as he approaches, and Jackob gets up to intercept.

"Do I fuckin' know you?" He says. Jackob lets his hand hover over his shredder, close enough to reach, but not enough to escalate matters.

"I think so, actually. You look familiar."

"I just have one of those faces." He says with a toothy grin. He smells of blasting powder and whisky. "The name's Lyle, Lyle Rogers."

"Jackob Eisner. So, what brings you here, Lyle?" Jackob asks, his hand drifting closer to his weapon.

Cont.

>>40619188
"Someone paid me fifty thousand credits to walk in here and kill that cunt at the table behind you." The honesty is obvious in his face as he stairs directly in Jackob's eyes. He doesn't blink. "So how bout you make up your mind on if you want to try to shoot me or not, so I can get on with it and get paid already."

>Reach for your shredder
>Shout a warning to Dillon and the contact
>Sucker punch Lyle

I never like how long these flashbacks go without options.

>>40619223
>Sucker punch Lyle

>>40619223
>>Sucker punch Lyle

>>40619223
Well no offence meant, and the flashbacks are still interesting and well written. But quite honestly they're my least favourite part of the quest and usually don't add much to my enjoyment of it.

>>40619223
>>Shout a warning to Dillon and the contact
>>Sucker punch Lyle
And in this episode of Jackob quest we get our shit kicked in by a space Aussie war criminal.

>>40619223
>Sucker punch Lyle
Literally a sucker choice.

>>40619188
Jackob brings his arm up into a quick jab, aiming it square at Lyle's jaw.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

>>40619243
None taken, it's why I try to either make them quick, interactive, or have them early in the morning when everyone's falling asleep. Including myself, usually.

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>>40618930
>Have Xenos Gone Too Far? Talgoan Teen, Taidaren Triplets: The Shocking Four Way Orgy IN YOUR BACKYARD!

>>40619291

>>40619243
I get where you're coming from, they're the least engaging part of the quest (when options like these aren't offered) but i think they're a vital part of this quest. It would be impossible to flesh out the characters to the same degree any other way, and as such add an irreplaceable element of depth to the quest.

I really love it when QD allows us to control their actions like this in their own memories though, best of both worlds.

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>40619291
Show me your moves!

Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>40619291

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>40619291
I like them. Especially when they bring stuff into a new light, or full circle, like the Lee flashback. Great transitioning.

>>40619308
>>40619311
I literally wasnt expecting this. I thought a low roll would be funnier.

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493 KB GIF

>>40619308
>>40619311
Holy fuck. Looks like we're knocking Lyle the fuck out.

>>40619145
>>40619173
I don't find it fun, it's boring. I'd much rather be exploring, expanding, building up our forces, doing research.

>>40619308
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FM-J01SkPs

>>40619308
>>40619311
Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again, the dice really hate Lyle.

>>40619307
I'd prefer additional actual interaction between characters over flashbacks if you want to flesh out the characters.

>>40619342
Silly anon. Even when you get a 100 against Lyle he still doesn't necessarily go down when there's only one of you.

Two wasps critted and stabbed Lyle and he still survived. A little punch ain't nothing.

It took 25 warriors at once critting to finally remove him.

>>40619345
Well that's a crying shame, because I for one love it.

>>40619360
They are interacting right now.

Violently.

>>40619364
yeah, I've enjoyed them a lot too

maybe not quite as much as when we're sneaking around being cheeky death bugs, but still

>>40619364
Yeah, well, I'm just saying I find it boring. I go along with it anyway. Not really complaining, I'd just like to see some more of the other stuff as well, especially exploring new worlds and building up new hives.

When will we find an opportunity to have hybrids use suicide bombing techniques.

>MOTHER AKBAR MOTHER AKBAR

>>40619506
Well we'd have to get suicide vests for them first.

>>40619416
>>40619364
I enjoy it too, the lack of interactivity is a problem but QM puts out writing of sufficient quality that it's fun regardless.

My favourite part of the quest is when aliums and Theseus observe the hive and attempt to understand just how the fuck we work. Can't wait until we're revealed to the filthy human aliums.

>>40619291
The hit connects with a loud crack, as if someone broke a pipe over the hood of a car. Jackob can feel at least three fingers snap from the force, and Lyle's lip splits like an over-ripened melon. His head jerks to the side, and a tooth flies out of his mouth in a globule of blood. He stumbles slightly as he spits out blood on the floor, then looks back to Jackob with a smile.

"Hot damn! I like you!" He says, air whistling through the hole in his lip, and he brings his forehead down on Jackob's nose with another loud crack. Jackob stumbles back, knocking into the table that has already been flipped by Dillon, who is crouched behind it. Jackob shakes his head and charges back, catching him in an uppercut and another hook.

"Oh come on, my mama hits harder then that!" Lyle shouts as he shakes his head violently, sending drops of blood and another tooth flying away. He brings his elbow back into the face of a security guard and he drops to the ground. Jackob takes the opportunity and swings his heel up in a kick, landing his boot to the side of Lyle's head.

"What's it take to make you go down?" Jackob says. Lyle shrugs.

"Few megatons, I 'spect." He replies. Dillon draws his weapon and points it at Lyle. The scrawny man to his side curls up against the wall.

"We agreed, no weapons!"

"You're complaining about that now?" Dillon shouts back. Lyle reaches for his own weapon, and as he pulls the pistol from the holster, Jackob breaks a chair across his side, sending him into a nearby wall.

"You take a seat and cool off." Jackob says. He turns to his contact expectantly. "Get it, take a se- you know what, forget it, get out of here before the terminator over there gets up again."

>Escort the contact out of the front of the building
>Escort the contact through the fire escape
>Cover the contact's escape by distracting Lyle

>>40619617
>>Cover the contact's escape by distracting Lyle

>. "Get it, take a se- you know what, forget it, get out of here before the terminator over there gets up again."
Jackob is second best boy.

>>40619617
>Cover the contact's escape by distracting Lyle

>"What's it take to make you go down?" Jackob says. Lyle shrugs.
"Few megatons, I 'spect." He replies.
Fucking cheeky

>>40619617
>>Escort the contact through the fire escape
Lyle is the greatest character.

>>40619617
>Cover the contact's escape by distracting Lyle

what's the point in doing your job if you can't make friends while you work?

>>40619617
>Cover the contact's escape by distracting Lyle

>>40619617
>Either way, they're getting hit hard, and their fleet is getting torn up. If we got a deceleration of war from the reps we'd have them over the barrel

Hey wait a minute, this can work for us too. The Commonwealth is flanked by the Scavs and the Union and is hurting for military power, IF they end up at war with the Union and IF we're okay with throwing in with them to some extent we might be able to convince them to throw the psy-cannon into a star or something in exchange for wiping out the scavs or helping them fight the Union. We could also get some treaty that says they're not to build another one of these things too, maybe get them to give us their black crystals.

>>40619617
>Cover the contact's escape by distracting Lyle

>>40619724
What fucking psy-cannon were you on about for both today's threads?

Their prototype exploded the fuck out and we looted what left over unvaporised.

They may have the notes, but not crystals to run it anyway.

>>40619845
Fucking this. Any materials or data needed to build and operate the psionic cannon went up in radioactive smoke with the moon.

Holy shit man, still going?

>>40619617
Lyle pulls himself up on a table as Jackob rushes the contact away. He turns back to Lyle, who seems conflicted between fighting Jackob and chasing his target. He rubs his jaw for a moment, then points to Jackob.

"You. You're a good guy. I like you." He brings his wrist up to his face. "Coil, get eyes in the sky. Don't loose the cunt. I'm in the middle of somethin." There is a series of whistles and clicks over his radio, and he snaps back. "Wasn't talkin' to you. You keep doin' your jobs."

Lyle clicks the radio off and leans into a charge. Jackob reaches for his shredder and opens fire, the darts ripping into the skin of his arm and ablating off the metallic fibers beneath, and then his fist lands in Jackob's gut, sending him several feet in the air and landing on a table. He quickly grabs a bottle of whisky and swings it, shattering it over Lyle's head. He seems to trip over himself for a moment and Jackob dives from the table and chucks a shot glass as he moves.

Jackob rushes to the door, and as he nears it Lyle tackles him, sending them both through a window and into the street. There is a crack of distant gunfire, and Jackob sees Dillon behind a car down the block, and his contact a short ways further cowering behind a truck. There is a snap as a bullet bounces off the pavement inches from Jackob's head.

Lyle raises his fists, beating at Jackob's face on the side walk, when Lyle is yanked off him. A round from a hand cannon rips through the cybernetic arm and sends white synthetic blood all over the street as bits of artificial muscle fiber scatter like confetti. Dillon fires several more times, and Lyle dives behind a car.

>Try to find the snipers' location
>Close in on Lyle
>Move to cover with Dillon
>Sprint to the contact

>>40619935
>Move to cover with Dillon
Wouldn't do to get shot now.

>>40619935
>>Move to cover with Dillon
Ahh, the best friendships always start from nearly getting each other killed.

>>40619935
>Move to cover with Dillon

>>40619935
>Try to find the snipers' location

>>40619935
>>Sprint to the contact
We're on the clock here.

>>40619935
>>Sprint to the contact

>>40619935
>Sprint to the contact

>>40619935
>>Move to cover with Dillon
tie breaker.

>>40619935
Cover.

>>40619935
Jackob rolls to his feet and sprints to the car, sliding behind it as another shot cracks against the street. Lyle shouts at the top of his lungs at a nearby building. "I'd say you little shits shoot like my grandma, but it's be a compliment!"

"Is this guy for real?" Dillon asks. Jackob isn't sure how to respond for a moment.

"I think I met him a long time ago. Ex con and an ex drop trooper, and apparently he's an absolute mad man. You have a plan?"

Lyle shifts himself up over the hood of the car and opens fire, peppering the car with gunshots as the two crouch behind it.

"Sniper's somewhere in the apartment building, but I can't tell where." Dillon points down the street to the worn down high rise. "We need to get to my informant, before somebody shoots him. One of us is going to have to draw their fire."

You say that as if you're not about to make me do it." Jackob says. He raises his shredder and returns fire. Lyle ducks back behind the car in response, and a moment later a small sphere comes flying in a wide arc from behind the car. Jackob and Dillon both sprint out from behind the car as gunshots ping against the hood, and the grenade engulfs the car in plasma, sending them both flying back.

Lyle dives through the smoldering flames and lands a firm punch on Dillon, sending him reeling back. Jackob returns the favor, and Lyle brings his arm up to block. A gunshot rings out and a bullet cracks against his arm, sending it whipping to the side. He quickly turns to the apartment building, offering a gesture in its direction before returning to the fight.

Jackob brings a firm kick into the side of the knee, and there is a snap as it jerks to the side. Lyle grunts in pain and stammers to the side.

"Coil!" He shouts. "Bring me the thunder! I wana feel my teeth rattle!"

cont.

>>40620264
Jackob and Dillon both draw their weapons, ready to fire, when the sound of thrusters roar to life in the distance, and a gunship drops bellow the clouds towards them.

>Run for cover
>Grab the contact and drag him to cover

>>40620277
>Grab the contact and drag him to cover

"As if I'm gonna let this psycho snatch one from under me!"

>>40620277
>>Grab the contact and drag him to cover
Lyle is truly an absolute madman.

>>40620277
>>Grab the contact and drag him to cover
And this is why I recommended we offer to upgrade the Angel. It is a force of fucking mayhem in gunfight.

>>40620277
>Grab the contact and drag him to cover

>>40620264
Jackob sprints to the truck down the street where the contact sits curled in the fetal position, paralyzed by panic. As he turns, he can hear the sound of a chain gun open fire.

Please roll 1d100, best of 3.

>>40620297
We need to upgrade it after we fully master the antigravity drive so it will be a STEALTHY force of fucking mayhem in a gunfight.

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>40620328

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>40620328

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>40620328

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>40620328
for mother

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>40620328
ABSOLUTE MADMAN

>>40620350
Haha

>>40620346
>>40620347
>>40620348
Well fuck. I shouldn't have gone and rolled.

>>40620346
>>40620347
>>40620348
Obviously the contact dies and they all just shrug and sit down for a beer.

>>40620350
Anon pls

>>40620368
that's the australian way!*

*may not actually be the australian way

>>40620515
It's definitely the Lylian way.

>>40620328
Jackob enters a full sprint as the pavement around him begins to turn to powder. He feels something snap in his leg, and he falls to the ground. There is the loud roar of a rocket, and then another, and the streets are engulfed in flame as Jackob attempts to pick himself up. The shock wave hits him like a wrecking ball and sends him into the air. He feels a smack against the back of his head, and he realizes his shin has shattered, his boot is flailing behind him as he kicks his own head, and then bounces over a car, rolling over top of it before coming to rest on the top of the trunk. Lyle is on the ground in front of him, his right arm totally missing, and both legs ground to wire-filled stumps. He is missing half his left ear, and most of his left hand. The pole of a stop sign is lodged in his abdomen.

He is laughing uncontrollably.

"Fifty thousand credits." He says. "I owe you two a beer." He shifts his shoulder, rolling the limp wrist that hangs by several threads closer to his mouth, and speaks into the radio.

"Alright Coil, come on in for pickup." He says, then adds, "hey, how much were those rockets?"

There is a murmuring, inaudible over the ringing in Jackob's ears.

"Well fuck you then." He says. Jackob looks over to Dillon He was behind cover when the missile struck. His legs seem broken, but still present, and he is reaching for his weapon with one arm, while the other is contorted behind him in a knot. Lyle looks at Jackob, then at Dillon, and seems pleased both have somehow survived. He nods approvingly, as much as is possible in his condition.

"That was fun." He says. "Let's do that again sometime."

I think I need to call it here. I'll try to stick around for any feedback, comments, or questions until we 404 or fall unconscious, whichever comes first.

>>40620559
lyle is one crazy motherfocker

great thread as always

>>40620559
>I think I need to call it here.
This is the saddest sentence I hear for the week. I wish we had a HQQ marathon, going daily :)

>>40620559
>"That was fun." He says. "Let's do that again sometime."
Lyle you crazy bastard

Thanks as always for running QD!

>>40620559
thanks for runnin' QD!

>>40620559
QD, I just wanna say that the way you characterize every one of the characters in this quest is one of my favorite things about your stuff. This is triple A stuff man, I love it.

>>40620559
"I all that maneuver 'London Bridge', you know, 'Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down'?"

>>40620559
Fantastic shit as always, thanks for running QD. What do we know about the Commonwealth's forays into psionic research? Alternatively what do we know about the Unions suspicions about the Commonwealth's psionic research?

>>Psionic reading
Combined with the feeling of being watched in slipspace, it's safe to say everyone who uses the void shards to FTL through No Space gets their minds read thoroughly. No secrets in no-space.

So it's extra impossible to use them. Even if we can apparently control them freely without approval.

>>40620559
Can you answer this anon's question here >>40619153 or would that constitute a spoiler?

>>40620559
Is the nat 1 clone going to be hilarious, terrifying or both?

>>40620559
So what kind of places do we have to break into to get the equipment needed for the Tech to make full use of their skills?

Able to forge documents and write viruses and hack and everything else in their skillset?

Regular consumer shops or higher security? Would it be easier just to steal money and buy it legit with energy credits?

>>40620559
Did we just roll unusually badly on Privy coat and friends?

>>40620559
So what is Lyle hiding in his voice locked computer network?

>>40620559
Security personnel lists are classified. But are they more or less classified than Yune's file? Which was gettable.

Though I guess even that lacked the super-classified part where he's psychic.

>>40620719
Maybe it'll just anticlimactically die in the womb.

>>40620619
I wish I could.
Speaking of which, I have more bad news. While I should be able to run next week as normal, I will be out of town for the two weeks after, and won't be getting back until about the 6th.

>>40620625
That means a lot to me, thank you. I certainly try.

>>40620647
Not much. You can't tell where the intell ends and where the paranoid shadowruns begin. It's quite similar to the intelligence and counter intelligence going on back and forth between the USA and the USSR. All the Union knows for absolute sure is that the Confederacy made a big doom laser that shot the hell out of their fleet, and its components were destroyed. They have been trying to figure it out ever since.

>>40620682
Alien moralities and alien cultures. The Valen simply don't have a real rigid separation between friends and enemies. On some level, everyone they know is both a rival and an ally. Trading with the Valen would always be something they would be willing to do, and making an effort to budge them out of the trade business with the Union would be met with traditional Valen rivalry from whichever clan you hurt the profits of. As a general rule, they hate combat despite their cultural love of warfare as a philosophical concept, simply because they see it as wasteful. They see a corporation buying out a rival company as exactly the same as a nation conquering another nation, only the former is done in a more productive and efficient way, while the latter is incredibly wasteful and costly. Morally and philosophically, they see them as the same, and to them, both are equally honorable activities.

>>40620722
Essentially a printing company and a future radio shack would, between them, have the various items needed to craft false IDs, bugs, hacking aids, magnetic lock picks and the like. Many things, including most forms of security, are digital, making the Tech a very useful skill set for infiltration and espionage.

>>40620745
That plus all the new tech recently.

>>40620559
>"Fifty thousand credits." He says. "I owe you two a beer."
Okay that implies Lyle successfully murdered the contact just now via Coil and that chain gun firing.

Or wait, I guess the little rat was consumed in the flames of the explosion, he was never mentioned.

Which criminal scum was he ratting out?

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>>40620880
The Gemini hive can produce plasma grenades, right?

How advanced a weapon can be made down there with the egglayer, N-to-M conversion, and a little infrastructure?

Could we create a molecular disassembler warhead or nuke to annihilate the city, just to remove Killinger?

>>40620880
Are you looking forward to creating the three characters we just had Devon recruit?

If this weren't a PoV-limited quest, would there be a "the gang gets together for the biggest job of their lives" montage?

>>40620946
Unleash the grey goo, disassemble the government.

>>40620880
The copypasta at the start of the thread still lists chimera egglayer instead of Brawler.

How much harder would it be to steal or buy with cash all the equipment the Engineer needs to produce anything we want? Like guns, gunsmith tools, or quantum computers.

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>>40620880
>I will be out of town for the two weeks after, and won't be getting back until about the 6th.
Now I know what true horror feels like. Will you at least be able to keep the ask page and pastebins updated. I don't know if I can go three straight weeks with no HQQ fix without going into withdrawl.

>>40620880
When Dillon said

>. "We can get all the way out of the district through the sewers, so long as they don't start using the system. I doubt they want the paper trail it would leave though, so I'd say it's safer to stick under ground for now.

Did that fear-of-paper-trail make sense anymore when accounting for the fact that the entire Advisory Council is in on it? Would they still have reason to fear a paper trail like that?

Would they really have inevitably found the safehouse hotel they were holed up in on Gemini?

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>>40620719
He's a very special cone.

I'll actually need to roll up the details.

>>40620837
They are confidential and on a need to know basis. The guy they protect knows their names, and their boss knows their names, and that's about it. It's rather difficult to find enough information and clearance to learn both the names and identities of the guards, and who they are protecting all at once.

>>40620893
I'm not entirely sure.
For a lot of these backstories, I tried to keep things intentionally vague so that the flashbacks could be interactive if/when you went through them. I really don't like the lack of interactivity, so I usually try to keep them to a minimum, and always try to make the results of them important to the present, at least to the characters involved.

As a small side note, while Lyle's character has grown and developed into its own thing, when he was first introduced as a villain, I used both Colonel Quaritch and Kruger as inspirations for his first impression, so I was quite happy that the general feeling got across in his character, at least until he developed further.

I also took some inspiration, and the name, from Lyle Rourke from Atlantis.

>>40620946
Your hive is currently just the one room. It can manufacture small arms, drones, and clones, but not all that much else at the moment.

>>40620967
Yes, yes I am.

>>40621011
Somewhat difficult, since the modern Union economy is so reliant on highly regulated digital currency, which is in turn why Valen banks are so popular, since they are infamous for just not caring about banking regulations, and sometimes advertise themselves as such. "Valen bank and trust: We ignore search warrants."

Using cash is still possible, of course, and is rather common in the underworlds of the Union, especially among Taidaren groups.

>>40621047
I don't know. I'll have a laptop that's almost a decade old, and a connection that's shared by an entire island of rental properties. I suspect getting a connection will be like threading a needle with a b-2 bomber in the middle of a hurricane while wrestling a bear over the controls as a wasp nest is set loose in the cockpit.

I will try though. I will try.

In general, the fewer people suspect something, the better for the council. While Dillon's reasoning was based on no more then one member being corrupt, if that, even the entire council would be in trouble if hard evidence and eye witnesses started coming out. Leaving a paper trail showing that members of the council ordered emergency gates in the sewers shut in order to capture people that didn't officially exist would be suspicious at best, although you should never underestimate the powers of human dismissal. There will always be people who believe their bias, both in your favor and against you.

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>>40621058
>I'll actually need to roll up the details.
Wheel of Mutations, turn turn turn.
Show us the horror that we should burn.

>>40621058
In that case, what's the security level for shps selling Engineer-related equipment, like equipment to replicate Dillon's toy chest, or datapads, or equipment to do repair and welding.

Am I the only one who finds these flashback sequences extremely boring?

>>40620880
>a printing company
future 3D printers or just actual 2D kind?

>>40621227
Did you read the thread thoroughly? Scroll up. There are two of you.

>>40621127
How exactly are the disappearances of people who officially should not have been where they were when they died like Grey and Seiner explained away in the public record?

>>40621251
Hey, I didn't say I find the flashbacks boring, I don't. Lyle is awesome and I have no problem with him and his buddies. It's the wasting time with the shadowrunning, messing with, and trying to take control of the humans/Union/Commonwealth that I find boring. And the Lee obsession, although I found him ok in the beginning.

>>40621317
I'm guessing they are classified military personnel, so that's easy, they just explain it away with "confidential".

>>40619881
The ammo is probably gone.

Not necessarily, if they took any samples of the void shards away from the moon before the attack began. But probably.

But there's no reason to think they don't have database backups of the blueprints of what they did. It would be phenomenally stupid to leave the data on a highly experimental alien death ray in the same place as the untested weapon that might and did explode.

>>40621244
Both, they would typically be found in the same building.

>>40621227
I do too, actually. It's why I try to do them quickly, at the end of the thread, or spice it up by making it interactive. In the last case, the events in the flashback are essentially kept blank or vague, and filled in by the flash back, and I try to have the outcome have an impact on the present, such as the flashback between the White queen and the Obsidian Queen, which resulted in her having a greatly depleted fleet, which she has been trying to build back up.

>>40621178
Most of that kind of equipment is technically quite benign, so not all that hard. To get a welding torch legally would require a welding license on most worlds, and aboard any space city. Data pads are essentially iPads, everyone has them, but most people just use them to share pictures of cats. Tool kits for engines and the like are similarly common and can be purchased from a hardware store. However, the manufacture of firearms is strictly illegal without a big pile of expensive licenses and permits, and using a 3d printer to make one is a crime, as is the transmission of any 3d printer data for producing a firearm or firearm component. Gun control in the Union is both strict, and frighteningly ineffective.

>>40621317
"Training exercises" mostly. It only gets complicated if the person is high profile or non-military.

>>40621401
As in, "fido went off to live on a farm" training exercises that they never seem to finish or come back from, or "poochie died on his way back to his home planet" training exercises that were unexpectedly fatal?

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>>40621401
So they'd be really salty if someone happened to start selling nuclear weapons to terrorists or the highest bidder via the Valen bank then.

>>40621058
Oh sure, they'll ignore search warrants, but when the pressure's really on they'll still turn people over, like Dillon said, right?

>>40621318
Someone above said they were "least favourite">>40619243 then.

>>40621566
Yup.

Of course, they don't advertise that part.

>>40621481
Probably.

>>40621401
So all we need is a stolen 3d printer? Is that equivalent to gunsmithery?

Concocting a human-style blueprint with the Thinkers or finding one doesn't sound hard after all.

>>40621626
The Valen Hyper Gate network.

Do they offer to send you to any other gate, or somewhere in a six lightyear radius of a gate?

Or literally any coordinates?

>>40621626
>>40621681
Speaking of Hypergates, could the rip drive function a similar role should we wish to use it in such a way?

>>40621706
Well we've never seen the Engram travel any truly vast distance with it.

While the hyper gates seem limitless in range.

>>40621626
Just how caustic and toxic is New Athens.

Could drones live in the ocean?

>>40621722
We have our psychic network to work with though, it may be possible to rip to and from advanced relays, since all drones know where they are in relation to other drones.

>>40621613
Ah, I see, that wasn't me.

>>40621641
In a way, yes, although there is still skill involved in assembling it and making more complicated components.

http://aresarmor.com/store/Category/ghost_guns

>>40621681
From your understanding, a Valen hyper gate can send a ship from one gate to another gate, or from one gate to any location in a roughly six lightyear radius. Gate-to-gate is the cheapest method of travel, while gate-to-location is more expensive. You are unaware of any range limitation on gate-to-gate travel, or any detailed specifications at all, really.

>>40621706
Technically, yes. The Rip Drive is, in a way, similar to a hyper gate that is incapable of connecting to other gates. It can only send ships to other locations within a radius around itself. It is somewhat short range, but it can be mounted on a ship, can be easily transported, and unlike gates, it can pass through its own rupture.

>>40621737
Not for very long. At least not without very potent and potentially expensive adaptations that would likely offer little overall gain for the cost. Most cities utilize a special synthetic plastic/carbon polymer coating to protect the city from the ocean solution.

Killinger could just send an automated probe to G-426.

Which would be rather difficult to counter, if you can't give him a reason not to send one in the first place like Michael already being there.

Though really given the description there of a third party with interest in human politics, you'd think his first thought would be the Unity.

>>40621764
>Most cities utilize a special synthetic plastic/carbon polymer coating to protect the city from the ocean solution.
So that would be the source of the incredibly overly expensive adaptation in question. A new carapace type.

It's more caustic than the acid inside acid glands?

>>40621251
I actually didn't. I scrolled down and saw that the flashback was end of thread so I just didn't bother reading.

>>40621857
Man, you're kind of a big baby.

>>40621794
It's more stubborn, you could say. Your acid is faster acting, the caustic ocean causes more damage over a longer period of time. The anti-corrosive layer is similar is function to the acid-proof tissue used to contain your own acid glands, but has more harsh requirements, such as being unable to be soft or flexible, and taking a long time to produce.

>>40621764
Really weird that Coil seemed to take a very...small Hyper Gate that was in his home ocean. Didn't think it could be scaled down that much.

It wasn't connected to the other gates I guess. It just sent him somewhere in space.

>>40621764
It was said the Valen religion ensures everyone values keeping the Hyper Gate blueprints secret more than they do making friends with aliens with such secrets.

But what is the Valen religion?

>>40621909
It did send him to a gate, actually, which was in deep space by the looks of it. The smuggler ship was waiting for them there with the airlock open ready to catch new arrivals. Fortunately, due to the biology of Ceph, they can survive in a vacuum without damage to their bodies for somewhat longer then humans can, so none of them were harmed in the transfer.

>>40621944
To outsiders it seems like a church, (and especially to Union tax offices) but to the Valeen, like all things, it is a form of business, like a guild. Unlike most Valen organizations, however, it utilizes and almost cult-like methodology to ensure that members are far closer and more cooperative with each other then even normal Valen, sacrificing the ideals of fluid and dynamic social structures in exchange for the reliable and seemingly endless demand that the Hypergate produces. Those who hold the secrets of the gate technology are all well aware that it is virtually impossible for any other organization to offer anything worth more then the long term income hyper gate technology offers, in both credits and social influence.

One of these days, we'll manage to arrange a vote on whether to produce human-mimicking fusion reactors for sale.

one of these days.

We need the creds to pay our way into Ceph space via smugglers.

The first step towards eventually infiltrating and stealing a void cutter with a neutrino beam.

>>40622021
Where do we find commercial-grade hologram tech to steal?

The kind that can actually pass for real. For those master ruses.

>>40621058
>It's rather difficult to find enough information and clearance to learn both the names and identities of the guards, and who they are protecting all at once.

Oh sure.

Forget learning which representative the guards actually guard. Just getting a list of names.

Where might you even start to try a mission to unearth that employee directory?

>>40622117
You already have high quality hologram technology. As for using it to fool people, members of modern society have become acclimated to the technology enough so that they can tell the difference instantly. While entertainment holo-projectors look outstanding, they simply can't recreate a solid object perfectly, and the illusion falls apart in the same way that film can look high quality, but it won't fool you into thinking it's real, unless it's the first time anyone has ever seen it, like at the dawn of the film projector when a reel of a train moving towards the screen could cause panic in an audience.

Likewise, you could make the Ralighans flip out with a hologram.

As for the different types of holograms out there, the average utility hologram, such as when making a call and using video chat and the like, appears of similar quality to your average stereotypical star wars hologram. It's usually a bit off color, looks grainy, and flickers all the time, but it's perfectly suitable for its function. For entertainment, the most common is a kind of 2 1/2D projection, where 2d images are projected in layers on a wall or screen, giving the perception of depth. This is the standard for most holo-network broadcasts and films. The next is the full 3d hologram, which takes the most time to film, and is usually a lot easier to produce using computer rendering, so it's most commonly used by games. Among movies, it would be similar to Imax today.

>>40622196
The data is kept "need to know", so you would need to find the person that needs to know.

That information is also kept as "need to know", but the guards themselves are recruited from the PDFs of the various planets the representatives hail from, including Gemini, so that would likely be the first step. After that, it's all classified for security reasons.

>>40622304
QD help me, the Microsoft Press Conference is sooo boring.

>>40622317
I'm not watching it, but I suspect you would get good mileage by taking a shot every time someone mentions a touch screen or claims a motion tracking technology will work and not make you look like a noodle-armed idiot.

I do not take responsibility for kidney failure as a result of this.

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>>40622304
>The data is kept "need to know", so you would need to find the person that needs to know.
>That information is also kept as "need to know",

Well that's only logical. And a little hilarious when put like that.

So look at the places they recruit. Implant a potential recruit if possible. Find out who is in charge of hiring the latest drive of recruits. Target them, implant them if possible, find out who they report to in turn.

A challenging chain of quests.

>>40622383
It's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, except it's a highly aggressive alien adoption agency!

I think I need to sleep.

>>40622380
I thought livers were the organ damaged by alcohol.

>>40622418
I figured. Thanks QD.

E3 will be there when you wake up.

>>40622425
I must be more tired then I thought. Of course, with the US court system it's good to cover all the bases.

>>40622418
Congrats on the 17.5 hour running time!

Not counting all the preptime hours before that.

When do we get to the wonders of Farcast?

>>40622456
Go get some sleep man.

>>40622530
>Farcast isn't in the pastebin yet either

Well it's not like there's much to describe about it anyway, it's like one planet.

>>40622573
and Wonder and all those nice lovely little planets just sitting there to the south and south-west, ready for Hive expansion.

>>40620559
Lyle is fucking amazing.

I'm glad we got him into the hive when we did.

>>40621058
Aw shit, you visualizing him as Kruger now?

>>40621764
Could we potentially build our own gates at some point?

>>40623142
That's kind of a silly question.

It all depends on parasiting members of the Guild of Gaters, possibly at Tannhauser.

Or stealing/replicating Scavenger ships as a false flag attack that steals pieces of the gate to reverse engineer.

Or both. Using the raid to implant some giant turtle aliens.

>>40623142
That would be awesome. We should also build a Babylon 5 style station as a trading and diplomacy hub, where all the major alien races can gather for any and all purposes. Welcome everyone, humans, both Union and Commonwealth, Valen, Unity, Skyl, house the Ceph refugees, taidaren, etc. This way, we can control information, we can abduct and return individuals at our leisure, have the Union and Commonwealth have the annual negotiations there. They'll send their spies there, so it'll be easy to keep tabs on them and track them. Lots of benefits.

>>40623218
I thought he meant using our rip drive tech, but we could get the Valen to build one of theirs, and then try and study it.

Hmm, so we may be able to compete with the hypergates by having some sort of dedicated fleet of ships that blink into position and open a series of rip holes to form a sort of rip hole highway, the only limiting factor would be the size of the rip holes.

>>40623263
Let's not.