File: awe.gif (467 KB, 500x250)

467 KB GIF

>>1487290

>>1487290
You feeling alright QD to run a quest?

Daily reminder

>Raid OQ
>Read the locked memories of that thinker.
>Board a scav vessel for their FTL.
>Send a diplomacy team to earth.
>Build that new FTL prediction building.
>Take Reprive (I think that is the system that our mother made her last stand and it only has mining corvetts, it would be a great test for our raiding fleet.)

>>1487290
Woo DiploBug Quest!

Time for more space horror and hive diplomacy.

>>1487290
>as they move across the landscape as the ambient temperature of the ice bellow slowly begins to increase.

Is this because they're going deeper underground, or did they wake up something big under the ice...

>>1487290
FOR MOTHER

>>1487290
You slowly loosen your mental grip on the cluster of minds, and they begin to reform in your grasp as you pull back from its mind. It follows you, not as an attack, but as an invited guest visiting for a talk. A new reality bleeds into existence from the blank chaos of the human subconscious as what you recognize as Gilliam's childhood home builds around you. Gilliam's mind lays largely dormant, his mind making room for its new guests as the small shard of his mind sits in confused fear on the floor among a scattered pile of children's toys, each a scattered memory or momentarily repressed thought process or comprehension and understanding.

He looks at them, trying to understand himself, and reaches out to you for comfort as the reformed Cluster forms before you. Its chorus of thoughts form together into a single coherent mind stronger than the sum of its component minds, but still far smaller than your vast interstellar consciousness. It stands before you warily.

"What are your plans here?" You ask. "By what covenant do you abide?" The new higher mind seems slightly confused for a moment, and then sad.

"The Schism has taken much from us all. We have all three been cast from our heaven. Our covenant was with ourselves, and with you. We saw no victory for any participant in your war. We take no sides. We make no harm. We will see nothing and hear nothing content to slumber in darkness until the war's end." The cluster looks to Gilliam's feeble mind as he buries himself into your side with fear. "We did not know this flesh was the thrall of the Hive but we shall respect them as yours if you would have them release us."

>Write in

>>1487413
We are trying to release you, however, if it goes wrong, this one's entire race might go to war with both of us

>>1487413
And once you are free? What are your intentions?

>>1487413
Show them the memory of the White Queen's battle with the Void.

"The war is drawing to a close. What then?"

>Gilliam's feeble mind as he buries himself into your side with fear.

I keep seeing this as a child Gilliam pulling the skirt of our mental avatar. And it's cute.

>>1487438
I don't think we should show them that, telling them the war is ending soon is enough.

>>1487413
This human lacks the power to release you.

It's more complex than you know. The humans cannot know you escaped and must believe themselves safe from you. This is a battleground in our war.

It would have to appear as if you met your demise here, in order for you to secretly obtain freedom.

That, or you could attempt to reason with the other human Thinker, Palmer... openly beseech the humans to return you to the frozen planet you were found on. Send a message to him somehow. This one cannot have open contact with you.

>>1487438
Nah, we shouldn't show that much of our hand this early.

>>1487309
Yea, I just had to go to the ER the other day because I sprung a bit of a leak and my family was concerned, so they had my CT scan yesterday instead of later in the week.

It's nothing, just one of the weird gross things your body does when healing from surgery. It's trying to attack my chest plate because it thinks it's an infection, so my chest is swelling up with white blood cells. A cyst formed on the skin and it just popped on friday.

It's gross, but nothing to worry about.

>>1487455
Or, wait. If there aren't any cameras in these dorms.

I guess we could pretend that the Thing, once it realized the gig was up, admitted its identity, and the private panicked and got aggressive and that's why he was attacked and ded.

And Gilliam had a totally not mind-meld but incredibly intimidating conversation with the Thing since he didn't attack immediately.

Since we need an explanation for how Gilliam gets out of this room alive, while the private is dead.

>>1487413
Let's ask Cluster it's capabilities. Can it interface with electronic devices and let's ask him about the Spores are they eating through the room?

>>1487413
The war is not yet over, although it has made us both weary. The humans were a key element we used to build a weapon against the Void, although the humans themselves did not know it nor do we intend to tell them.

We cannot control the humans directly, for as you will have noticed they are psionically blind like yourselves. However, we can send some Hive ships to pick you up and return you to your cluster which still sleeps. We shall talk with the human leaders, please try to avoid killing any more of them as the diplomatic situation is... complex.

>>1487478
Ah, Thank god. I was worried and all that normal shit.

>>1487484
Pretty sure we know it can't possibly know about the suspected OQ spore pod, and that it's never met human electronic devices, it's a few thousand years too old for these whipper snappers' gizmos.

>>1487413
This one is ours,the rest are not. We want to get you out,but you are going to have to play akong. Are there more instances in the ice world you were frozen in? Also Gilliam is being a cute. Must protect our children.

>>1487478
>Questdrone is leaking
>distressedworkernosies.wav
>Quest drone should not be leaking! Questdrone is best at questing not leaking!

Shit man, hang in there.

>>1487495
True, but it can probably send radio waves. Maybe we can have it transform into a creature that is radio capable and have that "contact" the hive?

>>1487492
Not interested in just sending a ship since that's retarded.

>>1487413
Can we push for more in this bargain?

Some novel genetic data we've never studied before? Some thorough medical scans and studying the cluster mind?

Just attempting to help it escape risks a lot on our side.

>>1487505
We could just trade adaptions and knowledge with it. Give it the knowledge it needs to alert us.

>>1487522
We could just straight up ask for adaptions.

>>1487505
I get the sense that this building might be shielded too heavily for that.

It would probably need to hijack an existing method of reaching the outside.

>Offer to honor the pact and we will take it to its home in cluster if it will share with us it's total knowledge.

>>1487413
If we claim that we noticed a fact on Djinn had been messed with and claim that it is...volatile,we might be able to get Morgan to convince the Intelligence Sect to let us take the stuff.

>>1487548
*cache on Djinn

>>1487483
What if the official Gilliam report of this encounter goes like:

>It demanded to know the way back to its brethren or to a local hive, and said it would keep killing us until we gave it a way home.


If that doesn't prompt them to call the embassy I dunno what will.

Though it would really be nice if we could suppress the knowledge of human-impersonating shapeshifters from this lab. Dunno if everyone here dying would even help that or if that particular data, which Palmer and GIlliam determined from the autopsy, has already left the lab.

>>1487483
Pretty sure that would lead to Gilliam, at best, getting his ass quarantined. And the humans could quite possibly panic and shoot the mockery of a human form that the Cluster is imitating.

>1487511
The only way this ends is either we take the Cluster aboard one of our ships, or it escapes into the heart of the most populated planet in human space. Eventually it will manage to assimilate someone with the codes to disable the lockdown.

Of the two options, I think talking with the human leaders and claiming we received a signal from the Cluster (we can call it a bioweapon if needed to hide its sentient nature), and are intervening for that reason is much safer than allowing a powerful ancient entity we know almost nothing about into the city.

>>1487564
Gilliam is already going to be quarantined. There is no possible way to hide the fact that the Thing was in this room, and Gilliam was in this room, and the private died here.

All we can do is come up with a story that is at least plausible and leads only to temporary quarantine and blood tests, not burning him at the stake.

>>1487563
It could work if we do it like Gilliam is being personally threatened by the thing.

>>1487563
That might work, but it would still implicate Gilliam. With some modifications I could support this. Maybe have it grab a radio and screech it's demands in an obviously inhuman voice to hide the extent of its mimicking abilities?

>>1487584
Is there any possible cover story what what the hell happened in this room that would UN-implicate Gilliam?

>>1487578
In the previous thread i talked about how we could have Gilliam run away immediately after the mind talk ends, depending on how long we spend in there Gilliam escaping is still believable.

>>1487583
Or,we submit to whatever scans they can use. They don't have acess to almost all of their ewuipment,so the parasite can stay hidden and I'm pretty sure the cluster can just stay out of whereever they would scan him.

>>1487564
Actually we more or less know whatever the fuck we want to know about it.

>>1487605
We haven't copied its entire mind yet, and we just released our mind-crush on him, so not so much anymore.

Also, what does the cluster last remember before it was frozen anyway?

>>1487596
Not really. I guess the question is whether Gilliam is better off "dead" or as tainted goods. Most of the "diplomacy" options depend on Gilliam surviving. We might have more plausible deniability Gilliam is/was our mole if we just kill Gilliam and then have the Cluster demand contact with the hive.

>>1487596
>Gilliam and guard go into room to ask Sanders questions.
>Sanders reveals he's the Thing and attacks, kills the guard.
>Gilliam runs away, contacts the others, manages to get through the door.
This depends on how long the mind talk is in real time, if it's a second the moment Gilliam is released he has to run to make it believable.
The other cover story is.
>Gilliam stands at the doorway, the Thing is holding a blade on his neck, threatens to kill everyone if it's not released.

>>1487386
That ambient temperature rise is being observed from the pod in space, so... things be melting.

>>1487625
The trouble with the former is it raises the same question Gilliam raised about Sanders, that getting away was suspiciously easy.

The trouble with the latter is that if they refuse, Gilliam will have to die or the fact that it didn't kill him will be suspicious.

We lack any really good option.

>>1487710
Spores. We need to know the condition of the spores. They can be used as a distraction.

>>1487710
As another anon said,they dont have as much of their screening tech,so we should,out of the gate,ask to be examined.That will reduce paranoia. Since the Cluster only just entered Gilliam,it likily didnt alter any/too many of his cells. A sample,only just large enough to survive,can wait in part of Gilliam's digestive tract(since that is unlikely to be searched as thoroughly as blood). and wait for the earliest opportunity to exit the body. A stealthed pod will then pick it up.

>>1487710
Just have the Thing cut/stab/rip out his throat. Normally fatal but with parasite intervention,easily survivable given the nearby medical help.

>>1487732
>>1487600
>They don't have acess to almost all of their ewuipment,

They said "We'll have a medical scanner setup by the time you get back." What's the more thorough equipment they'll lack again?

>>1487732
The entire facility will be placed under quarantine as intensely as possible. Even if they don't have all their tech with them now, if they manage to "kill" the Cluster they won't lift the lockdown until everyone left inside has gone through the most detailed scans they can muster.

>>1487744
Medical pods. But they will likely bring them on site before trusting the Cluster is contained.

File: 641616442.png (172 KB, 300x429)

172 KB PNG

>>1487413
You reach down to embrace the frightened, compressed mote of Gilliam's consciousness as you hold him like a child.

"This one is mine, but the others are not." You say. "If the Hive acts directly, it will lead to war with both of us."

"Meaningless." The cluster of minds replies. "What could these animals be against even one of the Three? Why should we fear the creations of our idle hands?" Thoughts flash through the collection of minds, of worlds seeded, moulded, and sometimes cleansed when necessary. A moment of realization flashes through its tiny network of physically linked minds. There is a resentful sadness as they seem to hear an unspoken reply.

"We have dethroned ourselves." The minds say. "How far could we have fallen to be so low?"

"Your release must be done without their knowledge." You reply. "They fear you, and will go to great lengths to destroy you in their panic. They do not know the Hive is so close among them, and it needs to stay that way. They have been a key asset in the fight against the Void." There is a mental groan of disdain.

"Your schism continues!" The minds say. "Will you be fated to this war until the stars die and the universe grows cold?"

"We are close to-"

"We have been told this." The voices cut off your thought, anticipating it with distant memories. "By both sides. We have remained steadfast in our choice, but how long must we wait? Close to victory. We heard this before your ark had launched. We heard it before the Slave serpents burned the Diamond Halls of your elders. We heard it before the Pearl of the Queens was driven to supernova. Before the devastation of the Crawling Worlds and before the Stone Star was sent hurling into the Palace of Thought."

Thoughts race by, ancient, worn with time, passed down from distant clusters who gained the memory second hand. A vast, world spanning hive, covered in glittering structures shattering like glass as another world falls down upon the surface. Swarms of Skyl ships bombard a vast spire reaching into orbit as swarms of hive craft rip at their formations. A star slowly dims from the view of some nearby starship as its surface becomes covered in pinpricks of shadow, and the star shrinks, suddenly and fiercely, then there is blinding light and searing heat.

"Then the schism continues." You reply.

"And it will." The minds say. "We were chosen to drift here because it was the source of the Skyl, and the destination of the ark. We would slumber through the war, and be active enough to determine when it had concluded. It is our task to find and awaken the others when there is peace once more. We have waited too long now. Our memories fade from our minds and our strands grow tired and worn. We have all suffered from your conflict."

>Offer the cluster a deal
>Ask more questions
>Other

>>1487762
>Offer the cluster a deal
>yall dont need to stress. Just chill my dude, we got you. No more grudges man. We can mediate too.

>>1487413
Maybe we should offer to simply stand aside while the Cluster does its thing.
So long as it doesn't engage in complete genocide, anyway.

>>1487762
>they seem to hear an unspoken reply.
Hey no reading the Queen's mind.

>>1487762
>>Ask more questions
Why were you in the guise of a hive drone when you were frozen, anyway?

And were you in contact with the White Queen? How far have the stars moved since you were conscious on that watery world?

Is the void the third race?

>>1487762
Ask them Why the hive is at war with the void, and how the war started.

>>1487762
Uh it just want to get home and tell the others what is happening.

And god dammit Union REALLY fucked up this time.
>Offer the cluster a deal
"Okay we will help you"

>Ask more questions

>>1487762
The void may no longer care about your neutrality,or at least, the OQ does not seem like the kind of entity that would hesitate to attack a weakened non combatant
Offer to tell it what we know of current and recent events,a place to recover, and protection if OQ comes a'knockin. We will respect your neutrality,but at least let us help you and dont try to shut yourself of from the conflict.

>>1487818
Did you read the last thread. That's not new information.

And its memories that ancient are vague and nonspecific about the original cause. Because of course.

And geez, at this point it's mostly self-defense, Cluster. The void recently tried to take down this entire sector of space, including you. "Trillions of souls," their slave specified.

>>1487818
Yes he just said that both sides talk/talked to then.

>>1487762
>>Offer the cluster a deal

We will not force you to take a side in this war, but we agree that these monkeys have no right to hold one of the three. We apologize for the indignity of our servants. We can ensure your escape, but the humans must not know this Gilliam is the Hive's thrall. Can you make a call for us to come such that the humans can hear you? We will come and take you back to your Cluster.

What can we do to help you?

>>1487818
Pretty much confirmed.

>>1487762
"There is no peace. I know no reason for any schism. Whatever the reason for the start of this war, it is now lost to time. This is now a war for survival. What will you do knowing that only a handful of Queens remain? Release can be arranged."

Iguess that after witnessing this Gilliam will see that is better for the Union if they start hearing what the hive says.

>>1487848
>We have all three been cast from our heaven.
Unless going to the Nth dimension is viewed as being "cast down", Im hesitant to say the Void is the Third.

>>1487868
Schism is the only word you need to know to tell you the Void is the third.

>>1487868
And they can only act indirectly on the universe at the moment. Who knows how powerful they were before.

>>1487762
>Offer the cluster a deal
Offer to help them escape, since it both gives them freedom, and gives the Union yet another reason to believe us when we say they need to stop fucking with ancient shit.

No, Killinger and his posse won't care, but as we've seen there are plenty of others in high places who are becoming increasingly exasperated about how much trouble his schemes are causing.

Also, we need to be clear that we won't tolerate excessive interference with the humans. If the cluster needs to kill and absorb a bunch to fuck off to the ends of space then fine, but if they start causing trouble that keeps the Psionic Cannon from happening then we're going to have a problem.

>>1487868
e voids are in-between this space and the heaven. The void are literally in the Purgatory, not capable to go to heaven and not able to affect this reality.

We should get Theseus and the scarred queen in this, it's important shit.

>>1487903
We can tell then later. We need to solve this mind talk fast if we want to keep Gilliam's as a covert agent.

>>1487794
Killing everyone in this lab but a handful might be good, then we only need to parasite a few new people to cover up the fact of "human impersonators exist, shit let's be paranoid."

>>1487903
Scarred Queen (I like the name) probably doesn't know shit but I guess we can ask, and Theseus definitely has no stake in this and talking to him about it right now would be pointless.

>>1487890
At least one person on the security council(Morgan) was goddamn pissed at what happened at nowhere. The people on the council(and Killenger) arnt caroonish morons who will attempt to sodomize any ancient tech they find. I think they could still try to fuck with void shards,but to a far,FAR lesser extent than before.

>>1487896
Their 'Heaven' wasn't outside 3-dimensional space. We saw the flashback cluster use what seemed to be a blink drive to leave it. It's a metaphor.

>Scarred Queen
Dam that sound cool.

>>1487762
>>Offer the cluster a deal
Although yeah... hey. Once you're out of here. Submit to thorough study and we'll see what we can do to keep your strands from fraying any further.

>>1487903
Scarred Queen is a great name.

I think for now we should just deal with the Cluster ourselves, though, since we are the dominant Queen and the Cluster will likely not think very highly of Theseus (at least initially).

>>1487919
>probably

We know for a fact that they don't know shit about no clusters, because we asked them before. They said they didn't know what it was. They just recognized one of its skins.

Also we need to cancel some of the ships people want to build. Enough so we won't have negative income.

>>1488054
I wonder if we can stop a ship at 99% completion and just never turn it on. That way they wouldn't take up any nutrients and we would have a fleet waiting in the wings if needed. so similar to the Union mothballed ships where they are just inactive and waiting for the final assembly.

>>1488088
How about we ask QD next time he posts?

>>1488054
Why not just make more farms on the new planets we've got?

>>1488054
Better idea we should blink our new ships on the inhabited worlds in the expanse and colobize then. Then we wait for the humans decision.

>>1487762
"When the humans found you, they mistook you for a drone of the Hive." You say "why did you have this appearance?"

"You make efficient strands. This shape is convenient, but it is no disguise."

"Do you remember what caused the war?" You ask. The minds shift with concern.

"We would ask you. That you no longer remember is further proof of the schisms futility. It was not our place to know the cause of your conflicts, or to aid in their resolutions. This is your matter, but you made it all of ours."

"What will you do when you do escape?" You ask as you change the subject.

"We will return to our greater cluster. We will share the information we have gathered, and our greater thought-minds will bring us to consensus in our actions, and spread the orders to our other local clusters."

"And what of these humans?" You ask. The minds seem confused.

"What of them?" It says. "They are obstacles. They will be removed is necessary, their biological mass shall feed this cluster, and their strands will serve to further improve our structure."

"And the humans beyond this place?" The minds pluck at one of the memories of Gilliam on the floor. The minds turn over the memory as it ponders options.

"We can find a way off this world with their primitive tools. Their metal starships can take us where we need, and their shapes will provide us useful disguises."

>Release the mental link
>Ask additional questions
>Offer a deal
>Other (write in)

Sorry about the wait.

>>1488101
Anon's are worried that Union will tray to delay the delivery of the expanse to the hive.

>>1488101
Even if we ramped up to a 100 development score on all of our planets it wouldn't be enough. The new planets can't be colonized without risking a war.

>>1488113
So start a war with the Union?

>>1488117

>Offer a deal.

We could maybe offer them a way off the planet?

>>1488113
Haven't we already done that, they aren't colonizing but the ships are there.
Watching

>>1488123
Most of the planets can't be colonized without terraforming anyway. Which would require the nutrients that are going to be completely eaten up by the ships you want to build.

>>1488117
>Other (write in)

That isn't acceptable. The humans are more organized then you think. And the amount of lifes taken while you blundly try to find such ship are way to ineficient...but the hive maybe able to help you. If you offer some of the genetic data you have im yourself as payment.

>>1488101
The farms will take time to show results and we would have to invest our nutrient stockpile into them, which would decrease the buffer our stockpile would provide before the new ships make us starve.

If we have to we can just throw the new fleet at the Scavs until they're all wiped out (less risk of reverse engineering than the OQ). Throwing away that many ships still seems like a waste, though.

>Offer a deal
The humans may panic if you escape into their city, which would be to the detriment of our current relations. If you can send a message the humans will overhear, the Hive can send you a ship to return you to your Cluster.

We have detected heat coming from where your cluster slept? Is it awakening?

>>1488117
Their society must not be disrupted. The humans are our garden, and the ecosystem is very delicate.

There are other ways to get you home. We can arrange metal starships to convey you, if you allow yourself to be frozen once more.

We can have the humans return to the world they found you on, in the state they found you. This will assuage their fears and prevent disaster their panic can bring.

>>1488117
Ah,thats an advantage the hives have over the cluster:they are concerned with physical/biological advantages. W,on the other hand, can consider advantages beyond the physical. The Cluster would probably be flummoxed by the concept of currency and abstract things like love and our unbridled cheekiness.
Try to tell it these things,and how this mentality might have worked when it was a near undisputed master of Genesis and Armageddon,but not when it and its other instances are in a such a highly atrophied state.

>>1488157
We do have hibrids in the planet. Do you think they could smuggle cluster out of the planet?

Or should we send Lyle?

>>1488169

Meant to reply to
>>1488117

>>1488117
>"We will return to our greater cluster. We will share the information we have gathered, and our greater thought-minds will bring us to consensus in our actions, and spread the orders to our other local clusters."
Literally bio-Theseus

Do this deal: >>1488169
>If you can send a message the humans will overhear, the Hive can send you a ship to return you to your Cluster.

>>1488165
Deckard’ claim, Darwin, and Aral don't need to be terraformed.

>>1488169
The Scavengers are actually better at reverse engineering than the Hive.

>>1488175
It looks to me like the Cluster adapts existing forms to improve their own, while the Hive can both adapt other creatures AND create our own adaptations in their own right.

>>1488169
>If you can send a message the humans will overhear, the Hive can send you a ship to return you to your Cluster.
Let's do this plan.

>>1488192
No they're not, They're better than the humans but they don't surpass us.

>>1488192
They can't reverse engineer biological stuff.

>>1488192
The scavengers have no point of reference for adapting Hive biotech. And when it took the Scavs several weeks to reverse engineer the human dropsuit designs for their own we remarked that it was "very slow"

I am much more concerned about the OQ reverse engineering our adaptations than I am about the Scavs.

>>1488190
>most
Read what I said also Deckard's claim is where Cluster is and it is currently being terraformed.

>>1488175
The cluster understand lives as a eat or be eaten role. The hive understand it as every life deserves to grow and should be natured and taken care of. The void think all life should worship the three races.

>>1488197
Bingo. They are able to get into all the little nooks and cannies of the "bio tech tree",but they lack synergy with the other ones.They would probably be utter garbage at diplomacy,short of parasiting everyone and using pheromones.

>>1488216
The cluster is on Djinn anon.

>>1488216
Deckard's Claim is in the Koenig system.
> Population, 182,000. Simple world with primitive biosphere of low-gravity adapted animal and plant life. No native intelligent life. Colony efforts are under way under the leadership of the discovering surveyor, Commander Lucas Deckard.

Djin is another planet in the system that Cluster is on.

>>1488248
Guess we will be re-naming it then.

>>1488205
Actually they rival psionic races in their capacity.
>>1488212
Have they gotten away with a sample yet?>>1488215
More likely days anon. The only thing they would need to properly reverse engineer our tech is nanomachine and the skyl ringworld had plenty.

>>1488245
>>1488248
Right mix them up.

File: doubt.png (29 KB, 300x162)

29 KB PNG

>>1488261
>the skyl ringworld had plenty

The Skyl never once successfully reverse engineered the nanomachines used on them, we had to complete it based on their partially-done research job.

>>1488117
Oh, and the humans have ways of scrutinizing and seeing through your disguises. You greatly underestimate them.

>>1488269
QD outright said he was doing loot rolls for mining the ringworld when asked. Mentioned it was full of stuff we already had like bulkheads and nanomachines.

>>1488117

"They are delicate, violent creatures. They will destroy themselves to keep you contained." You say. "If you make contact with them, the Hive can intervene publicly on your behalf."

"We would do well to stay in their shadow. We can hide and observe. Why should we speak with them?" The minds say.

"You underestimate them." You reply. "The Humans have means of detecting you. If you announce your intelligence and request to speak with the Hive, we may intervene. We must take care now, this is a matter of subtle influence." The cluster of minds thinks for a moment, frozen in conflict.

"This cluster will be lost. Ensure a portion of it returns to the other clusters within this place, and they will follow your offer. This cluster was always disposable. We delayed our plan when the chance to gather your thrall's knowledge became available."

"And what is your plan?"

"We gained understanding from the human warrior forms. We have used their technology against them. Your thrall should flee this place, it will not be safe when we conclude this communion."

The memory drops from its grip, and in its place a new form emerges from thought. It is a rather large shaped explosive charge, something typically used for breaching a doorway, but several have been tied together, plastic explosives packed around it into a tight ball of explosives.

"We have learned this is used to create a burst of thermal energy and an expanding concussive wave. This will aid us in breaking through the containment of this hiding place. This room is at the edge of that reinforcement, where it is weakest."

>Recommend a different plan
>Provide detailed instructions for it to contact the Hive publicly
>Speak about something else
>Sever the mental link
>Other

>>1488385
Provide detailed instructions for it to contact the Hive publicly

>>1488385
Provide detailed instructions for it to contact the Hive publicly.

>>1488385
Shit,they might try to glass the place. How fast can the Cluster get away and could it get somewhere safe from orbital bombardment? I recommend the sewers:a relatively straight path away,its underground and minimal security. It had better allow the other instances to be destroyed...thoroughly. A stealth pod can pick it up at an agreed upon place,such as a each or wherever the sewer lets out.

>>1488385
>Provide detailed instructions for it to contact the Hive publicly

MORE ADOPTIONS

>>1488385
>Provide detailed instructions for it to contact the Hive publicly

>>1488385
So, he had a bomb hidden in the lockers.

And this is just to let him break in and eat the humans in here, it won't help him actually get past the starship alloy outer barrier will it?

>>1488406
>>1488385
Of course,thats if shit hits the fan. Public contact works,just make sure its after Gilliam gets away.

>>1488385
>Sever the mental link

I must dissent from the popular option to give it more information. I don't think we can necessarily trust it, especially when it senses weakness.

Let the Union clean up their own mess.

>>1488406
Even the Union wouldn't dare to nuke one of it's most populated planets. It would be like killing all their political career.

>>1488385
>Provide detailed instructions for it to contact the Hive publicly

>>1488395
>>1488405
Will it be suspicious that it knows such information?

How would it work. send an email through relays that lead to various colonies in the Expanse, spamming the airwaves looking for a hive that might pick it up?

GAS THE SQUIDS
NUKE THE WHALES
STAB THE MONKEYS
TRUST NOTHING
THE VOID IS WATCHING

>>1488434
It wold be a "localized nuking",like what they did at the last facilty. While I agree its not certain they would do it,considering all the shit that they have come face to face with since Nowhere,they might panic and pull a stupid before they competent people upstairs can tell them how retarded they are.

>>1488446
Wow, you're late. Was wondering where that was.

>>1488434
Do you even know how politics work?

If they decide to nuke the place it'll be effortless for the Union to blame the rebels because nobody would assume that the Union would nuke itself.

While it's not a guarantee they'll glass the place, it's definitely a realistic option for them.

>>1488434
I'm surprised that they don't have any total facility wiping procedures for stuff like this. Like, even in irl right now, viral/bacterial labs have basic "isolate room -> radiation bath" countermeasures. It's funny the union is so incompetent they haven't implemented the most efficient method for a large facility.

It's like, just cook the facility guys. But no we don't want to spend money on security. Good for us I guess.

>>1488385
>>Sever the mental link

We could tell them about the spores and about the clones on the planet.

>>1488459
Seriously. I would have thought they would have learned after the past time they had to nuke a facility holding hive life that they better hold their bio research labs in places that can be nuked. Instead they put it in a city. It's just stupid.

Oh, and the bombs could set off the OQ's spores...

>>1488385
>"This cluster will be lost. Ensure a portion of it returns to the other clusters within this place, and they will follow your offer.

How the heck are we ever gonna smuggle a piece out and let it into the air vents, if it apparently needs us to do it and can't do so itself?

It can't just send a piece scurrying through the air vents since this hiding place is too secure or something.

It just wants to hide a piece of it outside the blast wave that's going to happen, then it can go back through the hole that exploded?

>>1488464
dont know about the spores ingame, its meta knowledge

>>1488473
>Oh, and the bombs could set off the OQ's spores...

Shit right.

>>1488385
>>Recommend a different plan
How far reaching is the explosion? It may risk breaching containment of suspected bio weapons from another hive that even you cannot survive.

Explosion is not recommended.

>>1488478
What? We know the OQ creep spreads through spores, how the hell is it meta knowledge?

>>1488478
We know they have a chunk of an OQ ship here already. We know what pieces of OQ ships do.

Wait, couldn't the Union blame this on the Hive?

>>1488477
>>1488491
How about that plan of using Gilliam as a drug mule and crapping him out ASAP?

>>1488491
Technically we want to release the OQ spores, the Cluster being infected with them is definitely bad though.

>>1488478
No it's not meta knowledge. How is it meta at all? Theseus literally told us the ship is full of spores that fuck shit up and Gilliam was outright told they had a piece of the ship. Are you an idiot?

>>1488496
>>1488504
We know about the 1, but the queen has been given no indication about spores being on this planet and thinks she did a good job of cleaning up the mess

>>1488478
We do know there is still a OQ's tinker corpse inside the lab. We are also seing first hand at Scarred Queen's world, how strong her creep is.

I just hope her drones don't drip creep once they touch the surface. Or that it would need some kind of relay.

>>1488526
The fact that Gilliam has chunks of ship in this lab has already disproven that impression.

>>1488526
You are a fucking idiot. Is the Red Queen stupid enough to not believe her goddamn eyes.

>>1488526
That was before we had Gilliam here, when he found out, we found out.

>>1488526
Look here anon:>>1488521

>>1488538
>>1488539
>>1488540
And hopefully the union did basic bio-hazard procedures when collecting these ones and didn't let uncontrollable growth or maybe got these ones from the ship debris in orbit

And gillian is in a research bunker, that does not indicate uncontrolled spore growth on path

>>1488542
Im taking about the queen knowing about how bad the spore infestation on path is, of course she knows about what OQ spores can do

>>1488385
>Provide detailed instructions for it to contact the Hive publicly
It could actually parlay with the humans here if we play it write if it uses gillium as a hostage use the fact that its been in the air vents as a threat and plats of it being a hive parasite that doesn't want to be found by the hive it could make a convincing argument to the humans to let it go.

Assuming we land a ship and get the humans to stand down long enough to let a worker into the lab somehow.

How would re establishing mental contact with the cluster work. Does it just shove a needle into the worker's spine to have a conversation with it?

>>1488558
They obviously have not sprouted yet anon, it doesn't matter what precautions they took before if those precautions get blown to smithereens by a goddamn bomb.

I wonder how Gilliam feels while he witness all this talk.

File: confused-math-lady.jpg (36 KB, 681x445)

36 KB JPG

>>1488567

>>1488567
I question if he's really even aware of what's going on.

>>1488560
I only might be cool with this if we can guarantee that once we kill our parasite in Gilliam,he wouldn't rat on us because of our mental imprinting/motherly love. I dont care some anons say, Gilliam is a valuable asset and shouldn't be sold off so easily.

>>1488558
Their are spores inside the fucking lab you dense motherfucker. If there is a piece of the ship there are spores and the guys in charge said there were a bunch of piece. What about this is meta?

>>1488574
Imagine yourself as a little kid and your being held by your mother calmly while she talks to a very scawy stranger and not understanding what they are saying.Probably something like that.

>>1488576
We could just mind dominate him so hes mentally dependent pn us a little immoral but effective

File: 1485392544751.jpg (29 KB, 499x430)

29 KB JPG

>>1488572
>basic geometry, quadratics, and trig are seen as complicated nowadays
This country is doomed.

>>1488578
Because the queen doesn't know the scale of the problem/1

For all she knows it was just minor amount of debris that the union would be able to handle without spore Armageddon happening

Them researching the debris was a given and not unexpected

>>1488581
Scrawny since hes calling things strands i figured he sounded and looked like abathur

>>1488598
The Union recovered several chunks of ships and a spore pod. Some things were so undamaged they could be readily identified (like the thinker) We thought we had burned everything to a crisp. It's not too meta for us to think there is likely debris the Union didn't find if they found so much already.

>>1488598
We don't even know on a meta level how fucked shit is. But it is smart to assume it would take a few days for it to grow.

>>1488608
Not to the extent that the union could lose path to spores

We knew there would be some leftovers but it would be at the amount that the union would have been able to handle

And not something we would have to be worried about

>>1488618
Oh shut up with this stupid shit. Assuming the worst is perfectly logical you thick headed nigger.

>>1488636
Dude chill out

>>1488594
I was never good at math.

>>1488671
This is literally all 6th grade shit except for the trig. Do you live in the south side of chicago or something?

>>1488690
I could probably figure it out given some time, but I haven't had to do anything but the basic math since I got out of highschool.

Did...did QD die?

>>1488804
>tfw he just had a heart attack

File: carlos.jpg (6 KB, 225x225)

6 KB JPG

>>1488804
Don't scare me like that! You almost gve me a... heart attack

File: 2SPOOK.png (122 KB, 361x370)

122 KB PNG

>>1488804
>>1488812

>>1488385
"You must communicate with the humans. They use radio for long range communication. If you can access their technology you can transmit a message. The language you use is irrelevant, we will be able to use any public contact you make to intervene with the greater Hive."

"Keep a portion of us alive, and the rest will know this when they merge." The minds reply.

"How?" You ask.

"We will hide it. Allow it to remain hidden, and if needed, direct the other cluster to it. For now, we must accomplish our goal. Time grows short."

You feel the mind recede, flowing out in a stream of consciousness through the layers of thought as the discarded memories begin to come together. Thought fades into vision, sound, sensation, and Gilliam drops to the floor with a thud as he hits the wall. He scrambles to gather himself, flailing his arms as he tries to open the door. It opens, and he falls out to the ground as he tries to catch his breath, someone gripping him as he flails his arms for anything to keep himself upright.

"Jesus fucking christ!" Someone shouts, "what is it?"

Gilliam falls against the far wall of the hallway as someone drops him against it, and he turns to face the door where Sanders hangs from the ceiling by the claws sprouting from his back. Wires of tissue link from his leg to the tail of a massive centipede of mangled flesh as it pulls its head from the body of the guard on the floor. There is a sudden burst of weapons fire and chunks of flesh fly from its hide as it rushes off to the side down the hallway of lockers.

Palmer appears above Gilliam as he struggles to slide further back into the wall in a panic.

"Are you okay?" He asks. Gilliam grips his arm.

"I think... it tried to speak to me." He stutters. "We need to get out of here now!"

Soldiers fire into the doorway as Sanders's leg falls off and trails away. Chunks burst from his torso as explosive rounds burst within. It crawls forward from the ceiling, its clawed arms reaching out as one of its hands explode apart from the blast of a plasma shotgun. Gilliam turns away from the flassh of the blast, and in the corner of his eye, a severed finger twtiches on the ground. Several small legs sprout from its sides, and it crawls away down the hall.

cont.

Getting some issues with captcha for some reason, sorry.

Why are anons jinxing us?

>>1488804
>>1488812
Y'know over on /b/ they're celebrating an old guy who died mid-orgasm on a camsite. Pictures of the whole thing. Lady coming in and making a token effort to cover his dick before first responders come in and everything.

I like to imagine QD falls asleep in a similar way. Dick and balls out, leaned back, and drooling.

File: 1494299070864.png (49 KB, 133x141)

49 KB PNG

>>1488831
The fuck

>>1488831
As expected of /b/. Anything else would be a disservice to the legacy of the board.

File: CARLOS ASCENDS.jpg (17 KB, 350x350)

17 KB JPG

>>1488831
I guess you can say, after rigor mortis set in, he was rock hard

>>1488827
don't use the quick reply

Use the top reply box. Recaptcha causes issues with quick reply sometimes.

File: tmp_2199-2016-05-22 19.26(...).png (226 KB, 598x475)

226 KB PNG

>>1488831
>yfw la petite mort becomes la grand mort instead

File: Ben-wanat-no-jaw-alien.jpg (241 KB, 1000x1300)

241 KB JPG

>>1488827

"What do you mean?" Palmer asks as he lifts Gilliam by the arm. He props him up as Gilliam almost falls forward. "Oh my god." He whispers.

"We were wondering... if it could gather information." Gilliam manages to say. "I found out. It tried to speak to me. I think... I think I got some of its thoughts. We need to leave now, the barracks are rigged."

"You mean a bomb?" Gilliam nods as he gasps for air. The two turn, and begin to move as Palmer shouts at the other soldiers, but a noise drowns out his voice, and a wall of force impacts them from behind, sending them into the air as flames engulf the barracks. Debris crumbles from the roof as flames plume from the doorway amid the horrid inhuman screams of Sanders from within the blast.

The lights flicker, and emergency lights emerge from the ceiling. Gilliam struggles to keep his eyes open, the world becoming a blur around him as he either manages to walk, or is carried, further out into the common area as fire suppression systems spray the hall behind him.

"Get him on the bed!" Palmer says, and lights pierce through Gilliam's eyelids as he slowly gathers his thoughts, his nerves misfiring as his mind attempts to recover from the experience. He manages to open his eyes as Palmer shines a light into them and slaps him lightly. "Stay awake!" He says. His face is caked with dust, and several minor wounds seep blood from his head.

"What happened?" Gilliam asks.

"How about you tell me?" Palmer replies.

"I..." He struggles to find the words. "I'm not sure, it's a bit of a blur."

"Well, roll over, I need to make sure this hole isn't infected."

"Hole?" Gilliam mumbles as he is rolled to his side. "What hole?"

"The one in your neck. God, it's deep. Runs all the way to the spine." Palmer says. "My god it's already starting to heal!"

"What are you-" Palmer rolls him back over and grips him by the shoulders, holding him still.

"Listen to me." He says firmly. "You were attacked by that thing. It seems to have penetrated the back of your neck to access your spinal column, possibly to establish some neurological connection as we theorized earlier. I have no idea how serious this is, if it has caused any lasting damage, or what data could be gathered, but afterwards, you seemed to know there was a bomb in the room, so I suspect it was a two way connection, at least partially." He looks Gilliam in the eye. "Do you understand?" Gilliam nods slightly. "Good." Palmer continues. "There is something in your blood. I can't get a sample without it coagulating in the syringe. I'll be honest, this could either kill you in the next few minutes, or it could be what is healing your neck hole, but either way I suspect it was injected as a part of the connection, possibly to keep from killing you during the process. Do you understand?" Gilliam tries to find something to say.

"My... what's wrong with my blood?"

"Calm down. Like I said, it looks similar to some kind of medical salve."
cont.

>>1489035
Could probably mumble something like "It must be like a leech's bite has anticoagulants, this one must have a medical salve to keep its prey alive?"

>>1489035
Huh, that is a nice pic

>>1489048
I think it's pretty clearly smarter than the average "predator" given that it just strategically planted a bomb. We can still likely cover up the true extent of its intelligence, however, (at least for the moment).

>>1489035
So when this thing gets to a radio, what sort of response force should we send? A full fleet? a single ship?

>>1489035
Our spine pals are the best!

>>1489035
Smart move the Cluster made, covering up our parasites' doing with its doings. Now humans gonna think Gilliam's just a victim of the bodysnatcher instead of a covert agent of the Hive.

>>1489096
The fleet over Gemini.

>>1489096
We only need one sizeable ship, swarming with drones.

>>1489035
Goooooood. Any weird things that happned were because of a mind meld caused by physical contact and NOTHING MORE and are completely temporary. Give this train of through more coal,though not too much. Dont want them getting suspicious.

>>1489116
Yep, even if they detect the parasite it will be assumed to be the work of the Cluster.

>>1489063
It depends on how overt we want our insertion to be. A full fleet would have everyone and their mother asking what went on here which could lead to an earlier reveal of the full cluster and would make things even more difficult for the politicians. On the other hand, a single ship might not be able to handle the full situation or could make it seem like we're taking this less seriously as a major threat.

Personally I'd send a small squadron of frigates with cloaking and possibly get the mission "approved" by Union brass before launch so we don't strain tensions even further. That should be a large enough force to control the situation without inspiring panic like our whole fleet appearing would.

>>1489142
Meant to reply to
>>1489096

>>1489142
It would be a bit dubious, it wasn't like Gilliam had any chest or belly punctures. Only one at the upper spine, no way to insert something lower.

>>1489035
Mutter something about wondering why it bothered keeping him alive.

Maybe it realized something?

>>1489150
Don't do this.

>>1489150
The last thing we want is for all the humans to suspect that Gilliam is somehow advancing the Cluster's goals by still being alive. Which he basically is, but that's not the point.

>>1489149
Explainable by the "healing salve" already noticed, maybe.

>>1489150
The conclusions that they are coming to work just fine. No need to over complicate things when not necessary.

>>1489035

"Tell me what's the last thing you remember?" Palmer asks. Gilliam thinks for a moment, sifting through the blurs in his head.

"I was... I was reaching for the tablet. I tried to call for help."

"We received the emergency signal, yes. Tell me what happened?"

"I remember there was something wrong with Sanders. He was acting strange, and I got nervous so I started to leave. Then he attacked. I hit the emergency call button and then there was..." Gilliam trails off as he attempts to gather the proper words.

"Was a what?"

"A, a voice, I think. Everything went dark, and numb, and there was a light and..." He clears his throat. "It's just a blur after that."

"Fascinating." Palmer mutters, then stammers as if correcting himself. "No offence meant, of course. You've gone through a lot and-"

"No, no you're right. The more we know the better. I'm just glad you got to me before it put any more holes in me."

"That's the thing. You said it spoke to you, and it planted a bomb in the barracks." Palmer says, almost whispering. "Just how smart is this thing?"

>It's smarter than us, and older
>It's highly intelligent and it's learning
>I don't know
>Other

>>1489207
>it's smarter than us
Leave out the latter part. But imply that it's thinking six moves ahead.

>>1489207
>>I don't know

>>1489207
>Its learning.

>>1489207
>It's smarter than us, and older

>>1489207
>It's smarter than us, and older
But be vague.

>>1489207
>>It's smarter than us, and older
I saw things... visions of war... even the stars themselves grew cold and died. Whatever this thing is it has been around much longer than we have, and it is learning fast. I don't know how much information I gave away.

>>1489207
>It's smarter than us, and older
"It's not a hive drone."

Get their noggins joggin.

>>1489207
>It's highly intelligent and it's learning
There was the sudden accent mimicry, among other things.

>>1489207
>>I don't know

We can assume it's... at least as smart as us, probably.

>>1489207
>It's highly intelligent and it's learning

>>1489207
Shit, that means it's sapient, we had a sapient being trapped in a small space, and it doesn't like being locked up.


Although really, the complaint might be that the humans woke it from its hibernation and it's cranky.

>>1489207
>It's highly intelligent and it's learning
>>1489222
seconding this

>>1489207
>It's smarter than us, and older
>>1489244
Change mine to above.

>>1489207
>It's smarter than us, and older

>>1489207
>It's smarter than us, and older
>Other
"It said i was in charge. I...i think it was targeting who it believed to be the leader for information"

>>1489207
>It's highly intelligent and it's learning

>>1489213
I prefer this variation.

Now that I think about it, saying "it's older" doesn't really make a difference, does it? From Palmer's perspective, this is already known "no duh" information considering where we dug it up. What's the important difference since it's obviously escaping me?

>>1489270
Was it already dated to be older than human civilization?

>>1489207

"I saw, images I think. I think they were memories. Whatever this thing is, it's smarter than us, and a hell of a lot older." Palmer leans in closer.

"Are you telling me this thing is, what, space fairing?" He whispers.

"I saw stars. I've never seen so many ships. Christ, I don't know what in god's name this thing is but we should not be fucking with it. I'd say it's been space faring a hell of a long time before it was frozen in that cave."

>Mention it is not related, but somehow associated with the Hive
>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy
>Claim you believe it may be able to communicate with it
>Other (write in)

>>1489286
>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy
"Whatever it is, it was disguised as a hive drone, if anyone knows what they are and how to deal with them its the hive."

>>1489286
Oh okay. The difference was aged and spacefaring. I get it now.

>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy

>>1489286
>>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy
>>1489295
This

File: The vessel of my ire, the(...).png (2.17 MB, 1800x1200)

2.17 MB PNG

Well this thread continues to prove my suspicions that we are in fact the bad guys, but hey, at least the doom gods are probably bad guys too.

>>1489286
"I hate to admit this but we might need the Hives help with this"

>>1489286
>>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy

"It's probably risky, but maybe we might want to ask the Hive about it. They might appreciate us coming to them about it directly since they've already been annoyed at us not saying anything about this sort of stuff."

Besides, what >>1489295 said.

>>1489274
The ice was literally 90 thousand years old.

>>1489303
What, just because we're in a war we're the bad guys?

No one here knows how the war started, and we've certainly had no choice in whether to continue it.

>>1489303

Relative to humanity, absolutely. Relative to the existence of spacetime itself, we're pretty much the vanguard defense and everyone's best hope.

>>1489306
I think that's too sympathetic, better to talk like we just escaped a life or death situation and we just want to go home.

>>1489286
>>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy

From what I saw we are completely out of our depth here. This thing knows what the Hive is, at least I think I saw Hive ships in its memory. The Hive might be able to control it. But if we do nothing it WILL get out. And... and I sensed hunger in its mind. We cannot let this get into the city; who knows what harm it could do.

>>1489286
>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy
>Claim you believe it may be able to communicate with it

>>1489295
"Speaker here this is Speaker speaking."
"..."
"The humans woke them up?! Does their rudeness never end?"

>>1489309
I wonder how this (likely) millions or billions year old Cluster will react to learning that the hive it just encountered was born 3 months ago.

We are infinitesimally young to this thing even if we match its ancient lineage.

>>1489338
This reminds me, we might want to go from 0 to 100 when they mention what they woke up.

>>1489312
Senpai there is nothing wrong with self defence. But yknow, k̶i̶d̶n̶a̶p̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ adopting everyone we see and usurping known space for interstellar bug war isn't good on a lot of levels.
>>1489314
Not entirely sure about that bit seeing as the hive still hasn't won and there have been many long periods where the universe was still kicking and our race was basically cut down to nothing in relative terms.

Pretty sure this is all some fatalistic deaths dance and no one is in the right.

>>1489345
Literally everyone will be shocked once they learn how young a hive we are, the only ones who won't is Theseus and the Voidgods(Unless they hid their surprise)

>>1489312
I wonder about that neither the ancient queens or mother ever really gave us instructions to continue fighting we've kinda just assumed we were supposed to keep fighting

>>1489357
Standard blood feud, mom at least tried to tell the other queens not to continue but they didn't listen to her and look how things turned out

>>1489346
It's really more like "who".

Jeez a guy wants to take a nap for 100 thousand years and his sleep gets disturbed by these youngsters.

>>1489361
>mom at least tried to tell the other queens not to continue
See pic >>1488269

>>1489361
Yeah but thats what doesn't make sense the hive is to pragmatic to care about a blood fued we even told Elizabeth that we didn't care if the OQ won the war against us because either way the hive would live

>>1489397
We did?

>>1489388
No she did, she told them not to think about the shards and not deal with them at all

Since they can only see ya if you see them and all that

But aunty kept wanting to continuing the fight

It's a quest. If you vote for it, it will probably happen. That means if you wanted to somehow bring the Void to the table to talk things out, it might be possible. But keep in mind, everything it touches goes crazy. Even Obsidian Queen seems to be insane with rage, if not a traditional madness, but she's psionic, people aren't. What if it says that obliterating the humans because they're getting too curious is definitely a condition to any peace accord? What if they ask for certain assurances?

The Hives of the past were probably just as capable of cold logic and pragmatism as they were compassion. We like the humans, like it or not, and we would resolve to peace if it could prevent a war that claimed billions. But wouldn't you think that creating a lasting peace would have drawn a majority interest from the old Hives if it were even possible?

There's a diametrical line dividing the Void and the Hives, something that couldn't be reconciled. Maybe whatever the Hives championed so greatly that they wouldn't abandon the war over it is just as important to us... if we could even remember what it was. Wanna bet the Void remembers what they were fighting for?

>>1489286
>Mention it is not related, but somehow associated with the Hive

>>1489401
And all the other queens apparently decide to keep fighting the war instead of just saying fuck it

And then aunty turned and everything went to hell and mom had no choice but to fight

>>1489400
Yeah it was like the first time she asked about it and before we found a message from mom asking us to kill her

>>1489401
You you think she did that to protect the other hives from the Void or to end the feud?

>>1489402
Shouldn't hurt to ask. Maybe what the old Hives were fighting for actually was something we don't care about, and we can find enough common ground with the Void to end this.

I doubt it though.

>>1489397
>the hive is to pragmatic to care about a blood fued we even told Elizabeth that we didn't care if the OQ won the war against us because either way the hive would live

Wat.

Bro, the whole reason we feel our unrelenting fury against the OQ is because she's a Queen killer who directly lead to our mothers death. We have a massive raging thirst for revenge against her and if the Red Queen were to die we would absolutely instruct any of our daughter to avenge us.

>>1489286
>Mention it is not related, but somehow associated with the Hive
>Recommend contacting the Hive embassy

>>1489415
Would have done both things, so would it have mattered?

I mean at that point the old hives were pretty much dead so yeah why bother continuing? and mom knew somethings that she never told the other queens

>>1489426
Then see pic >>1488269
Again

>>1489402
It's now in the void's interest to lie and say something that convinces you, rather than the truth, since there is no way to falsify any lies it tells.

>>1489429
>>47641154
"You knew the White Queen?" You ask.

"We all did. She led us. Her strength and her cunning was our last hope to survive." She says. There is some reservation in the statement. "But she was cold. Distant from us. She produced no daughters, refused to partake in the meeting of dynasties. She would hold tight to her control, but she never truely cared for the plights of any one Queen or bloodline." Her thoughts have an almost frightened reverence in them. "She was born in war, her and her sister. They were two of a kind, alike and inseparable, for a time."

"The White Queen had a sister?" You ask. Her thoughts already drifting over the memory of a face, but you are confused as it becomes crisp.

"Yes. The Black Queen. Both born in war, they were the only among us who had seen the enemy themselves, when my mother was but a cocoon, sealed away and sent adrift with the others. The two Queens were our navigators and our protectors."

Your mind races with questions of the ark, of the black queen before the betrayal. She stops you with a silent thought of patience.

"The Black Queen was fervent in her role. She dedicated herself to battle, to fighting our enemy, seeking them and their slaves out wherever she could. The Skyl, and the Ceph after them." She says. "It was her plan to free the Skyl. The White Queen found it repulsive, the idea of working with the evolved tools used to fight us was as insane as embracing the mad drones of your enemies. That was the start of the schism. The two divided, and departed, but your mother was a firm leader, and in the end, most of the queens sided with her, for a time. The Skyl worked with us, some more than others, but never with her. She never trusted them, not until the day their world burned for our act of kindness, and the last skyl died for the freedom we tried to give them. She still did not trust them."

File: bad idea.jpg (45 KB, 594x383)

45 KB JPG

>>1489450
Technically that's not true. We just need to look deeply into its mind to make sure we know the Void isn't lying...

>>1489461
QuestDrone !!tu02dh0DlTY 06/06/16(Mon)05:01:07 No.47641474

>>47641391
"Over time the two Queens drifted further apart. The Black Queen continued to offer more solutions, more plans of attack. The White Queen continued to isolate herself, abandoning tradition, dismissing requests for aid or judgment, only speaking with us to warn us away from our latest plans. We would ask her why, and she would tell us only that the knowledge would destroy us. Eventually, we went on without her. The Black Queen's experiments, her research, they offered us hope, a way to attack them directly." Her head rocks in its place on the pillows. "She was right. When we sought to attack them, to reach out at them to strike, we only let them reach us." She turns back to your wasp in silence.

"Knowledge is power, this is true, but it brings with it a great risk. Some things must be seen in order to see. To attack, they must be attacked. To exist, you must hold them in your mind. That is the nature of our enemy. That is what she understood, and she knew that telling us would only place us in greater danger. She could only look on as we ignored her, knowing we were lost the moment we made our first move. That, I realize now, is why she left us as our weapon grew closer to completion."

>Tell her of your resurrection of the Skyl
>Ask more questions (write in)
>Other

>>1489461
>>1489466

Wait, honest question if the White Queen and Black Queen saw the Void and all that. How come they were still..well able to fight them and things like that?

>>1489429
>>1489466
So yeah,

At some point mom wanted to stop fighting the war but aunty continued it with the other queens following her

And mom warned them to stay the fuck away from anything to do with it but aunty turned and total party kill

>>1489469
They knew stuff from the old queens, hell it seems they were in charge of commanding the ark, so they may have knew in paper but never made direct contact with the void, like how we were operating before what happened at nowhere caused the void to realize we were here

>>1489461
>>1489466
Is that supposed to convince me she wanted to stop the feud? Cause it doesn't.

>>1489469
Given that we know know that the two probably knew of the void before they sent the Ark away, they probably knew exactly what the Void was, why the war started and how to hurt. them.

>>1489469
We saw the Void and we can still fight it. The Void seeing you is not an instant game over, but it does make you a target. I believe the White Queen wanted to avoid making the other Queens a target by letting them use their ignorance as a shield - at least for a time.

>>1489482
Why would that matter at all?

She wanted them to stop fighting and get on with other stuff then focusing on the void

>>1489402
Actually im starting to think we may have made khorne
This is probably bullshit but guessing from the general way we seem to act Im assuming that the original race had a cast system and those casts evolved in to the three races the hive coming from the group that took care of agricultural and industry the cluster coming from some kind of merchant group and the crystals from advisors or some group that helped maintain the races psionc communication.
In any case I going to guess the conflict started because both wanted to maintain control over the other.

>>1489494
>This is probably bullshit

You're right about something at least.

>>1489286

Palmer looks at Gilliam with concern as a beep comes from the medical terminal. He slams his finger on it and the thin plastic tube running into Gilliam's arm is quickly flushed with a saline solution before a small tube begins to fill with blood. Palmer grabs it quickly and places it into a machine on the desk.

"Whatever it is in your blood is starting to thin out, but damnit it's still gumming up the needle, I'm having to dilute the sample I'm taking just to keep it liquid. This is definitely some kind of medical salve, and your neck wound is already just a scab." Palmer says as he activates the machine. "I think whatever it did to you, it's a lot more invasive than a nerve stapler, and without that salve you'd probably be dead right now with hot gravy in your skull."

"Look, we can look at the results when they come in, but that thing still has more of itself out there. Now if you know of any other ancient life forms that know about ancient things in the Expanse, let me know, but I think it's time we recognize that we're in over our heads, and we need to get the Hive's help before this thing gets loose in the most populated city in the Union."

"Do you think they're related?"

"Well we thought it was a drone when we found it, and it was frozen in the Expanse where they keep talking about ancient relics, so I'm just doing some basic arithmetic here." Gilliam snaps. Palmer nods as he holds his hands up for a moment.

"Right right. Look I already mentioned that possibility to-"

"Well ask him again! This isn't something we can handle. This place was designed to contain corpses and microbe samples, not rampaging self-replicating intelligent shapeshifters!"

"I would agree, but still, we have no way of knowing what their response could be." Palmer says. "We can make the case to the secretary, but first I need to make sure you're healthy."

"And not one of those things." Gilliam adds. Palmer seems to pause for a moment.

"Yes. Yes that too. From what we have seen, I don't think they can replicate a human so quickly, at least not a full one from scratch. But I doubt Norris would let either of us out of the medical bay if I didn't at least check."

"Well get me a connection to Gemini while you run your tests then. They just blew through the containment area, and we don't have much time."

"I agree, although I'm not sure if Windsor will."

>Attempt to connect to Secretary Windsor directly (write in)
>Wait until after the tests are done
>Speak with Norris about the situation (write in)
>Other (write in)

>>1489480
Your that idiot that was spouting that bullshit about meta knowledge earlier. And now you're spouting bullshit about why the White Queen didn't want to research the crystals.

Does the original reason for the schism even matter? The Black Queen is going to come for us, and we're going to have to defend ourselves. So there's basically no choice but to fight her.

We don't have a way of communicating with the Void unless we want to peer into a Void Shard, but judging by what happened to the Black Queen, I'm going to guess that doing this is a bad idea, and we'd just end up corrupted if we tried to talk to the Void to try to find a non-violent solution to our war. Maybe Black Queen even decided to listen to the Void and try to find a peaceful solution, but we all see how that went.

>>1489492
I don't know, maybe she wanted to protect the others by maintaining her ignorance?
Granted we don't know her reasons but let's not automatically assume the Void can be diplomanced here.

>>1489504
>>Attempt to connect to Secretary Windsor directly (write in)
Guess what happened at the top-secret lab that was researching Hive drones? I'll give you 3 guesses!

>>1489504
>Wait until the tests are done to prove we're not a monster, and learned 'valuable' information from it. Then contact the hive.

Honestly if it 'gets out' anyway, We can claim to have gotten a message from it.

>>1489504
>Attempt to connect to Secretary Windsor directly

>>1489505
Uh, researching the crystals ARE A BAD IDEA, THATS WHY WE AVOID THE PSI CANNON LIKE THE PLAGUE AND FREAKED OUT ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON AT NOWHERE

>>1489507
Aint saying anything about diplomacy, more like time to cut our losses and stop fighting a unwinnable war it seems to me

>>1489504
>Attempt to connect to Secretary Windsor directly

>>1489507
Mabe she knew it was the best way to fight them? they abandoned a physical existences for a theoretical one with out something to recognize there existences they don't exist at least not in a harmful way

>>1489504
>>Wait until after the tests are done
Fine, prove we're not under the influence or something.

Although fuck if the Thing attempts contact with the hive, and Gilliam was begging them to contact the hive, is that suspicious.

>>1489504
>>Attempt to connect to Secretary Windsor directly (write in)

Jack, with respect, I saw what happened at Nowhere. The situation is out of control here. From what I learned it is not a question of if, but when this Thing escapes and I have no idea what it will do in the city. We shouldn't wait for the Hive to show up on their own with a fleet of Unity server ships in tow and they start glassing the area. Unless you want a repeat of Nowhere on the most populated planet in the Union we need to bring in someone who knows what they're doing now. We fucked up bad, and this is the price we have to pay.

>>1489504
Supporting >>1489504

>>1489520
You can't stop fighting a war and make peace without 'diplomacy' where the other side agrees to stop attacking too. What the heck else would you be talking about.