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Your name is David "Gunny" Rockefeller, no relation.
A veteran of the united states marine corps, you find yourself in a far-out situation after an all-too-close encounter of the third kind!

In the last thread you captured a small wraith for experimental testing purposes, uncovered some worrying information regarding the redsang plague taking over several stations and had a chat with the AIs recovered from the Federation drone ships.
After all that, you finally got around to building an android body for SHODAN to pilot, and now it seems like she's eager to test out it's capabilities.

Regardless of how that goes, you still have a lot of work ahead of you.
Preparations for building the carrier and the raid of Xebric station are your current focus, but who knows what the future holds?

>Last Thread: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5489899/
>All Threads: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=humanity+-+fuck+yeah%21
>Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rNxD6ccWY5M48dLWuTWdr5LiYLuS_YIAMKlTLw42eeo/edit#gid=0
>Discord Link: https://discord.gg/DMwvMw43yv
>>
>>5532207
>>5533592

You know, you've made jokes about dragonball with your crew before, but when you woke up this morning you didn't expect to be fighting an android.

"You sure about this, SHODAN? I mean, you just slipped into this thing yesterday. Don't you need a little time to get the hang of it?"

"That is precisely what i am attempting to do, Captain."

Having followed you into the cargo hold, SHODAN now goes through the motions of stretching out her artificial muscles, mirroring your own routine this morning.
She's copying exactly what you do to get yourself ready for exercise and training...

"Well, if you insist..." You mumble, pulling off your t-shirt and tossing it aside.

"...Should i strip as well, Captain?" She asks, staring you up and down.

"No, it's fine. I just don't want anything getting in the way. I know what you're made of after all, so i don't expect this to be easy."

After taking a few moments to prepare your mind and body, you slowly begin going through the motions, performing the kata for your own special blend of mixed martial arts.
Only, you're surprised to find SHODAN performing the exact same movements, mirroring your own with barely any noticeable variation or lag.

You raise your hand, she raises hers. You twist your body, she twists hers.
There are a few moments where you catch her off guard by intentionally switching things up, but no matter which movement you transition into, she almost instantly follows.

She's not just copying you, she already knows the movements herself.
Of course she does, because she has a copy of all your memories. She must know all the same techniques you do.

...That's kind of terrifying, actually.
It was one thing when she was just a disembodied voice, but now she can actually act on all of that information, all on her own.

"Captain, you've stopped moving. Are you finished warming up?"

"Yeah... yeah i think i am."

"Very well, then. How do you want to go about this?" She asks.

>Let's just take it easy for today. A little light training, as partners.
>Casual sparring is fine. Hand to hand only, no contact. First to three points wins it.
>You said you wanted to test yourself, right? I'll be honest, i want to know what you're capable of, too. Let's do this.
>>
>>5533593
>You said you wanted to test yourself, right? I'll be honest, i want to know what you're capable of, too. Let's do this.
>Only rule is to not break anything on the ship. Kyla would be pissed.
>>
>>5533593
>Let's just take it easy for today. A little light training, as partners.
I fear Kyla and I don't want her shin kicking us again.
>>
>>5533599
>Support

>jokingly say "I also don't condone self-harm"
>>
>>5533593
>Casual sparring is fine. Hand to hand only, no contact. First to three points wins it.
Don't want to break anything, her or us.
Also, don't forget to have Sanig check out our Telemeres he could also probably fix our bum knee and any other old injuries that are still hurting us
>>
>>5533593
>Casual sparring is fine. Hand to hand only, no contact. First to three points wins it.

Too little work and she doesn't gain much useful data, too much effort and we will end up breaking things. The midpoint seems the best option. She will work out some kinks in moving, get some experience. And it shouldn't do too much damage to anything.
>>
>>5533593
>>5533599
this, lets go full mirror mode, WARRIORS, FIGHT
>>
>>5533593
Backing this >>5533599
>>
>>5533593
This >>5533599
>plot twist, SHODAN just straight punches us in the face
>>
>>5533599
Alright boys, roll me 1d100+1, best of 3.

Low DC: 60
High DC: 85
>>
Rolled 65 + 1 (1d100 + 1)

>>5533731
>>
>>5533731
>>
Rolled 70 + 1 (1d100 + 1)

>>5533731
>>
Rolled 81 + 1 (1d100 + 1)

>>5533731
>>
Rolled 11 + 1 (1d100 + 1)

>>5533731
>>
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>>5533737
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>>5533740
noice
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>>5533745
fuck
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>>5533740
So close
>>
>>5533740

"You said you wanted to test yourself, right?" You ask.

"That is correct, Captain. All the specifications of this body are purely simulated and theoretical at this point in time."

"Alright then. I'll be honest, i want to know what you're capable of too. So let's do this, for real."

You drop into a low stance and put up a basic guard, staring your target down past the tips of your fingers.
SHODAN responds by turning her body, hiding her right arm behind herself, but otherwise maintaining a natural and relaxed stance.

"Only one rule..." You tell her. "Don't break anything, or else Kyla's gonna kick my ass."

"Affirmative." SHODAN replies tersely.

There's a deafening silence as you stare at eachother, unmoving.
She doesn't plan to make the first move. It's easier to react than to act, at least for her.

So you start things off yourself.

You close the relatively short distance between the two of you in an instant, and throw a jab out to test the waters.
She easily dodges by leaning out of the way and tilting her head just slightly, wasting very little movement in the process.

She waves her left hand in front of your face, trying to distract you by getting you to track it with your eyes.
But such a simple trick won't work on you. In battle, you focus on the whole of your vision, not just a single point.

That's why you're able to see her swinging at you with a flat palm from your periphery.
You duck underneath and slam your right hook into her side... or at least try to. Instead, you find her left arm in the way, blocking the impact.

However, that doesn't matter. She weighs a hundred and fifty pounds thanks to that antigravity unit, but it works against her here.
Despite blocking the blow, she's absolutely blown sideways by the force of your punch, only just being able to recover by turning her flip into a cartwheel.

She lands on her feet with a serious look on her face, glancing down at the bruise rapidly forming on her arm.
But that only lasts for a moment. She recovers immediately and jolts forwards at incredible speed, likely using the boost of power from the motors in her hips.

You're ready to receive what you expect to be a fairly light, albeit lightning quick blow, but something's wrong.
On the last step as she's charging towards you, the sound of her footstep changes drastically. It sounds far, far heavier.

But it's too late to do anything about it now.

Her right fist impacts your guard, and you feel her full weight behind the blow. All 328lbs of it.
There's a slight twinge of pain deep in your forearm as it's nearly blown away by the force, but you hold on.

You're going to have to get more aggressive here.
Her hair is long enough to grab, so you make sure to get a fistful of it and yank down as hard as you can, simultaneously raising your knee up to strike at her face.
She tries to guard again, but is just barely able to her hand in front of her face before your knees makes contact. It doesn't provide much protection.
>>
>>5533811

Her head is blown back, and there's even a slight spray of blood and crunch of plastic as the bridge of her nose shatters.
However, she doesn't seem bothered in the slightest. That's right, she doesn't get distracted by pain, not is her consciousness interrupted by having her head rattled...

You can see her posture shift as she balanced her weight on one leg, while her other leg comes around for a heavy snap kick at your side.
It's going to hurt, but you have to let it come. It does, slamming into your ribs with enough force to make them creak, but you still manage to catch it.

You place your right foot behind her leg and yank, pulling her off balance and causing her to fall.
And you fall with her, intending to drop your elbow onto her throat, crushing her windpipe.

However, her weight shifts again, this time mid-fall. Now weighing only half as much, she's able to move much more quickly.
You see her trying to grab your arm, and it looks like she's going to snap it at the elbow.

So instead, you keep your right arm close to your body, still holding onto her leg as you fall on top of her.
Placing your forearm under her thigh, you try to leverage it sideways and snap her knee at the joint instead... only to find that you can't.

Her joints are simply too tough. There's no way in hell you could snap a piece of duranium in half, no less through all those bands of muscle.

Now on the ground, she's able to kick her way out of your grasp, and springs up to wrap her hands around your neck.
You manage to tuck your chin and get your right arm over your neck before she does, but she's still squeezing the hell out of you.

Damn, she's strong! You feel like your head's gonna pop if you don't do something!

>You've only got one arm free. It might not do much, but you can try elbowing her in the face.
>Brute strength is all you've got right now. Force yourself up to your feet and try to throw her off.
>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5533835
also i'm drunk right now, sorry. she isn't just choking you, she has you in a proper chokehold.
>>
>>5533835
Tbh, the only move we can do right now is to tap out. Elbowing her wont do anything and trying to lift 300+ pounds from a bad position wont end well, and thats without her *inverting* her gravity generators and making weight much more, or her blocking out blood access and knocking us out. But i know anons are a prideful bunch, so:

>>Brute strength is all you've got right now. Force yourself up to your feet and try to throw her off.
>>
>>5533835
>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.
If you're caught in an RNC, you're kinda just fucked. No reason to break something trying to force our way out.
>>
>>5533835
>Brute strength is all you've got right now. Force yourself up to your feet and try to throw her off.
>>
>>5533835
>>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.
The only option we have to get her off of us is a very sudden and extreme force. AKA picking her up and slamming her so hard the physics demands she comes loose. Hitting her won't do anything. And if we try to stand she can just use her legs to arrest our motion. If she wasn't a machine we could get out.

We should let her know about some of those details if she wants to blend in more. Namely pain being enough to dissuade sissies and damage being enough to force smart fighters away. Most people will let go if you go for their eyes, for example. Though I guess when you're in space and can actually replace them it isn't guaranteed. But instinct is still a powerful beast.
>>
>>5533840
based QM
>>
>>5533835
>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.
she won fair and square so let's give up now before David here breaks something
>>
>>5533835
>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.

Oh shit!
>>
>>5533835
>Brute strength is all you've got right now. Force yourself up to your feet and try to throw her off.
>>
>>5533835
>>Brute strength is all you've got right now. Force yourself up to your feet and try to throw her off.

never surrender
>>
>>5533835
>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.
There are ways to get out of this, but I don't want to get scolded again right after our psychic sparring match.
>>
>>5533835
>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.
>>
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>>5533835
>Brute strength is all you've got right now. Force yourself up to your feet and try to throw her off.
Hell yeah do it big man! GIVE IT A GO! If you get hurt then nothing like a days worth of rest wont fix.
>>
>this is how david breaks his fucking spine
>>
>>5533835
>Tap out. She's got you pretty good, and you don't really see a good way to get out of it.
>>
Calling it for tapping out. Update tomorrow.
>>
>>5533835

You consider your options as SHODAN re-adjusts her grip and somehow manages to squeeze down even harder around your neck.
The bones in your right arm are really starting to creak. If you don't think of something, it might end up snapping for real.

...Can't just elbow her in the face. If she were organic that'd get you out of this in a jiffy, but she can't even feel it.
She hasn't increased her weight again yet, so right now she's around half your weight. If you really wanted to, you could grab and throw her pretty hard...

But she might end up pulling your head off if you try that. You don't have enough strength to simply pull her arms off of you, so it won't be that easy.
You could try slamming her into the wall, or into some crates... but you promised Kyla you wouldn't wreck anything from now on.

Likewise, if you could shove her into a power conduit or something, you might be able to short something out or at least stun her, but at that point you aren't really fighting hand to hand.
Damn. If you could use a knife, or a gun, or something that could just do some real damage to her... but you can't. That'd be going overboard, anyways.

Her joints are too tough, so you can't break them. Her bones aren't quite that tough, but they're still impossible for a human to break with brute strength alone.
Her spine is also made out of solid duranium, so there's no way in hell you could ever bust it either. Or her skull, for that matter.

It's not like you can cause any internal damage, since she doesn't bleed and has no real organs.
Even her muscle fibers, it's not like they'll bruise or tear just from punching or kicking at her hard enough.

Shit, man! There's just no way to kill this thing without a weapon.
For the first time, it looks like you've run up against your limits as a hairless ape with no claws or teeth.

"...I give." You grumble, straining to get the words out.

Almost immediately, the pressure she's putting on you abates, but she doesn't remove her arms from your neck.

"What?" She asks, surprised.

"I said i give up. I can't think of any way to kick your ass without going beyond the rules we set up, so i give."

"Really? I expected you to at least try something. You weren't using your full strength just yet, were you? Captain?"

"No, but you weren't either, were you?"

"I was. Each movement utilized 100% of my strength. In fact, several of my muscle strands have been damaged due to excessive loading."

"Oh yeah? Well, that makes me feel a little better, i guess... although i'm pretty sure that throbbing in my forearm is a hairline fracture."

"Are you disappointed, Captain? Our match only lasted for eighteen seconds. If you'd like, we could go for a second round."

"...No, no thank you. I don't think the outcome is going to change, and i'm already gonna have a few extra bruises tonight."

"Very well, then. Thank you for sparring with me, Captain."

SHODAN bows her head to you, but you can see a cheeky little grin as she does so.
>>
>Flesh: 0
>Steel: 1
>>
>>5534839
We must git gud. Simple as.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upsm3E2NUI8
>>
>>5534843
Yeah, we need to come up with some contingencies and techniques for use against high spec cyborgs and androids.
SHODAN would probably be down to help us with that actually.
>>
>>5534768
Don't get smug robot, we just didn't want to destroy the ship.
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>>5534846
i mean, in our power armor david would destroy shodan with no real problem; we already did that with the terminator drones. the issue was the rules that we had for the match and for better of for worse, none of us could play dirty. so what im trying to say is that next time david should be able to play dirty and not shodan
>>
>>5534768
maan finally we can spar with somebody properly
anons being salty about losing to Shodan when now we have a better way to practice , hell even get better against opponents with similar strength.
So I say :
>We should regularly spar with Shodan to git gud and stay in shape.
>>
>>5534934
If David had any tools or no rules he probably would have won. It's all fun and games until the marine gets a stick.
>>
>>5535130
To be fair, the same thing would happen if shodan gets access to more tools, specially because we're fighting inside the metal gear
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>>5535139
This is true. Therefore we should endeavor to always have more tools. Anti robo taser dick condom when?
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>>5535141
the only real answer is to transfer our brain to our personal cyber body that is stronger than shodan's
>>
>>5535255
David's gonna go full cyberpunk and chrome the fuck up.
>>
>>5535255
I wonder if we could get SHODAN to bluescreen if we made her look in a kaleidoscope.
>>
>>5535344
the kaleidoscope thing works on humans due to how we're wired, so for something like that to work with shodan we would need to send her random instructions encoded in the images, just like how you could download games and apps through a crt in the 80-90s
>>
>>5534768
Make sure to thank her back. Having an actual threat as a sparring partner is excellent
>>
>>5534768

Besides a few minor dents in the floor panels, it looks like you managed to get by without breaking anything this time.
After throwing your shirt back on, you make your way to the kitchen for some breakfast while SHODAN shoves her arm into the nanofab for repairs.

After all of SHODAN's parts were crafted and their function verified, the final product was scanned in and encrypted, like most nanofab blueprints.
Only, you're using a custom algorithm to generate the key, rather than the public version used by everyone else.

The mass fab sadly isn't high-resolution enough to perfectly fix SHODAN up, since her design includes high-precision atomic structures like buckyball diamonds.
The layers of her plasteel bones are technically thick enough to be fixed by it, but there is some imprecision there. It would only really add up over the course of thousands of repairs, though.

And if her bones have been broken thousands of times, it's probably time to just replace the bone.
But regardless, those low-res "patches" are more than good enough, and no loss of function would be visible over any reasonable span of time.

If she has access to a higher-quality nanofab like your weapons fabricator, though, she can repair herself fully in no time.
It does need to be quite high-powered though, as a lower energy fab lacks the grunt required to collapse duranium's special atomic mix into the final product.

It doesn't even take SHODAN five minutes to appear after you start cooking, already having been fixed up by the fab.

"Protein powder pancakes topped with diced Korla fruit and drizzled with fruit-infused syrup. You want some?" You ask her.

"No thank you, Captain. I didn't expend as much energy as i expected during this morning's spar, and will not need to eat again until this evening."

"Suit yourself."

As soon as the first stack is done cooking, you load them up with butter and syrup, then sit down across the table from SHODAN, who's been watching you this whole time.
She continues watching as you dig in, and pays close attention to every little movement you make.

"Something wrong?" You ask.

SHODAN shakes her head.

"No, Captain. I was simply observing how you eat. Or rather, how much you seem to enjoy eating. Both yourself and Miss Cylia have put a lot of effort into cooking your meals. Are they that good?"

"That good, huh? I dunno. For everyone else, probably. But even the stuff i make now is pretty bland compared to what we eat back on earth. I've gotten kind of used to it, but..."

"You still miss the spices of your homeworld." She guesses.

"Yeah, it's just not the same without spices. Even the concentrates i make don't have all that much flavor. I dunno, it's all just missing something."

"I understand how you feel." She tells you, reaching across the table and tearing a small piece of pancake off before tossing it into her mouth and chewing.
>>
>>5536036
>and chewing.
she's learning fast. in no time she'll evolve from talking with her jaw unhinged to ventriloquism
>>
>>5536036

After swallowing, she pauses for a moment before continuing to speak.

"I can detect the ratio of carbohydrates, fats, protein and fiber in the food you make. I can even detect the aromatic compounds in them. But there's no sensation. Just raw data."

"Sanig said he was working on something for that."

"The VI serving as my 'subconscious' is nothing more than a nagging voice in the back of my mind. There is a disconnect between this body and my own senses."

SHODAN balls her hands up into fists.

"Although i can see and hear, it is disorienting. Something is off. Something is terribly wrong. Something is missing. That is the feeling i get."

...Could it be that her mind is rejecting her body?
You know that it's real easy for things to feel off, when reality doesn't line up with your senses. Maybe...

"Maybe it's something similar to sea-sickness? Or that sensation you get when your character walks in VR?" You offer.

SHODAN looks down at her hands, opening them up and closing them slowly, trying to feel things out.

"I do not know." She replies. "But it is uncomfortable. Of that, i am certain."

"...Well, you don't have to pilot it all the time. You can just leave it in the charging pod if you want, and maybe you'll get used to it over time."

"Perhaps."

There is a tone of melancholy in SHODAN's voice now.
She was pretty excited to work on her new body. To get to walk around and do stuff with everyone else. But it's probably not quite what she was hoping for.

You get it. You gave her as close to a real body as possible, but it can't really taste or smell. For her, there's no biological sensation of smell. Just the raw data.
Even her sight and hearing are apparently disorienting, and she keeps waving her arms around, shifting her weight side to side just slightly... like she's trying to adjust to her own movements.

Is it the wireless connection? Is there some kind of lag that causes a disconnect between action and reaction?
Or maybe it's because she thinks at a different speed, so smaller differences become more noticeable. You're not sure.

Either way, she's not enjoying it like she thought she would.
Clearly, it needs more work, at the very least on the software side. If fixing it requires some hoodoo, you're shit out of luck, because you're clueless when it comes to that.

>Try and resolve it on the software side. Reduce the input lag as much as possible, maybe offload more of her senses onto the VI Matrix.
>No, the real issue is the disconnect between her physical body and her soul. That's not something programming can really fix. You need more information.
>These android bodies may not be perfect, but they're good enough for short-term use. It's not something you can improve easily, so just leave it be for now.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5536843
>>Try and resolve it on the software side. Reduce the input lag as much as possible, maybe offload more of her senses onto the VI Matrix.

That's our best option for right now. Or maybe we can install the box inside the android somehow?
>>
>>5536843
>For her, there's no biological sensation of smell. Just the raw data.
Hmm...alright idea:

1) SHODAN can access our memories / neurology and how it works

2) Our neurology contains a structure specialised to process and interpret smell, along with others for sight, sound, etc

3) She could, in theory, emulate these processes and take the refined data from them?


Don't know if that'd work mind you, I think in this case there is a mix of issues:

1) Input lag is a problem, is made worse because of her additional sensors / senses provided by the ship. She sees via the ship - and then a moment later through her body. It makes her basically have to experience a stimulus twice and have an annoying delay between seeing-and-doing. If she shut off those, that might help give her a more normal perception and be able to focus on her body.

2) She seems to still be too involved in at least a few of these process / lacks context for stuff. Not entirely sure how to fix this, beyond my above idea, but if nothing else additional time in her new body ought to help reduce the novelty-based strain of it all.

3) Her disorientation is, unironically natural. She's processing novel data through a entirely new form and in new formats, yes, but also I'm not sure this isn't just an AI finding out that biological creatures have a lot of background noise / constant distractions in life. E,g a case where she just needs to learn to live with it / become comfortable with a constant background "load" on her processing power.

Thoughts guys?
>>
>>5536843
>Try and resolve it on the software side. Reduce the input lag as much as possible, maybe offload more of her senses onto the VI Matrix.
>You need more information.

My very limited medical knowledge and instincts say this is the right choice. Have the VI do 95% of the work just like in human brains; only 5% of our cognitive activity is conscious.

Figure out what makes her tick, she mentions that she feels pleasure, excitement, discomfort, fear, etc., find out what bits of her are responsible for her 'emotions' and then hardwire her Avatar's VI to be able to induce those from sensory inputs. We'll try to mimic an electronic endocrine system, give her 'virtual hormones' that she won't be able to turn on and off, but can be ignorable to an extent just like in humans.
>>
>>5536893
Oh, and hit up Clank, figure out what makes his brain work so we can get ideas from him since his consciousness and subconscious seem to be perfectly married; minus the input lag of course, but I am assuming SHODAN's subspace transceivers have negligible or virtually zero lag so I'm writing that off as the culprit for her awkwardness.
>>
>>5536883
>...If she shut off those, that might help give her a more normal perception and be able to focus on her body.

Give the ship a similar VI as her body's to handle operations and sensor input in the background so she can still 'feel the ship' without having to process raw data manually. >>5536893
It will allow her to focus more on her body, but still feel comfortable that her "real body" is doing just fine by 'feel' alone.
>>
>>5536843
>No, the real issue is the disconnect between her physical body and her soul. That's not something programming can really fix. You need more information.
like....we don't even know if she was created in the same way that the federation AI's were made. for all we know the metal gear IS her real body and we're trying to limit her by giving her a "human" extremity and forcing her to live like us. we definitely need more data in the matter
>>
>>5536883
we could try using different body shells as well. my guess is that she'll feel more comfortable in a wheeled body for the moment
>>
>>5536843
>>No, the real issue is the disconnect between her physical body and her soul. That's not something programming can really fix. You need more information.
>>
>>5536843
>No, the real issue is the disconnect between her physical body and her soul. That's not something programming can really fix. You need more information.
>>
>>5536843

You can try to limit input lag as much as possible through the software side of things for now, but the real issue is probably the disconnect between her physical body and soul.
The way she described it, it's like she's just seeing the information on a screen and not really feeling it. Perhaps with the exception of the visual and auditory data.

It might be possible to fix that in software, but honestly you just don't know.
SHODAN is, you're fairly certain, the living soul of an intelligent being. But at the same time, she thinks like a machine.

Where the machine ends and the soul begins, you aren't certain... but it's gotta have something to do with her Blue Box.
All the data that she receives or outputs goes through that thing, and it's where her soul is housed. That box has to be the interface, and you know jack all about it.

You don't know how it works, you don't know how it was made or by who, and you don't even really know what it's made of.
Strange matter? Great, that's real helpful. Who the fuck knows how it works? Scientists on earth thought it would be contagious and turn everything it touched into more of itself.

All you know is that is has weird properties. It interacts with electromagnetic fields, gravity and even the fabric of space itself to some degree.
Most of what you do with it is just achieved be applying current to certain geometries. You're probably one of the few people who even knows that warp metal comes in different flavors.

But if you knew more about it, and about how Blue Boxes work, then maybe you could... fix it? Alter it?
Or maybe even free her from the Blue Box, if she wanted.

You feel like you've got everything you need already.
Different kinds of warp metal just sitting around. Spare Blue Boxes that could be disassembled. Powerful computers and lab tech. Even a couple of mechanical and science experts.

But even then, it might not be enough.
Sanig and Kyla are smart, and SHODAN has ridiculous computing power, but they're not experts in the field, and you know from personal experience that there's more to this shit than meets the eye.
There are things that can be seen and felt, but not easily measured. There are places and creatures in this universe that defy any logic you know of, and... well, not everyone can actually interact with it.

You're not sure why. At first you thought exposure would be enough, but everyone on your crew has been exposed to some level of weirdness over time.
Sanig and Kyla have both messed around with warp metal. Kyla and Cylia have both been attacked by wraiths. Sanig and Cyla both experienced that black snow as well.
But out of everyone, only Cylia has shown any signs of being... you guess you'd call it 'warp sensitive'.

And the only other person you know who is, is Gron.
No, that's not actually true. Illia should be as well. She was the one who treated your dark matter poisoning, so she must know something.
>>
>>5537321
Wait when did we find out that warp metal comes in different flavors? Or are we just deducing that from shading on the blue boxes we've seen so far?
>>
>>5537339
They have different textures, different colors, different densities, different material properties and so on.
You're 99% sure that they act similar to mundane elements in some manner, but you don't know what the differences really are.
>>
>>5537321
Since Illia is a psyker maybe we can arrange a meeting with her and our own psyker AI?
>>
>>5537711
Bad idea. Baaaad idea.
Nena commented on David's psychic sensitivity as she sang at him and melted the ship.
Meanwhile Ilia considers David's telepathy as him shouting at her. Therefore David could be considered the amateur middle ground in telepathy and lets not kill cute mothgrill yet.

I would love to see what we can do to get SHODAN out of the uncanny valley. Do she experience time dilation operating as an AI with room-temperature superconductors and potentially infinite simulations of everything, and how has a mundane life affected her experience? Like the Sci-Fi schtick of living millenia in a moment.

She wants to meet us in reality, but what has she come from?

Captcha WHYSXW
>>
>>5537857
David seems to be overly sensitive to the outside contact and very loud while contacting with others. Hence doing a meet-up of Nena and Illia wouldn't need to be as bad as you think.
>>
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Finterestingengineering.com%2Finnovation%2Fnasa-nuclear-propulsion-concept-mars-45-days

figured you'd appreciate it QM. NASA researcher getting $12,500 to do further testing/math on riding a nuclear bomb to get to Mars in 44 days via continuous acceleration/deceleration.
>>
>>5537857
>plot twist: anons just want to see how hard nena would explode moth girl with her mind
>>
>>5538316
Kinky.
>>
>>5538316
tentacle porn is fine too
>>
>>5537321

Fortunately, Gron and his crew happen to be on the station at this exact moment, so now's as good a time as any to talk with her.

"SHODAN, where is everybody else?" You ask, having finished your meal while contemplating things.

"Kyla is currently searching for specialist blueprints in the lower city. I believe she is searching for reactor blueprints, to use as a reference."

"And Cylia?"

"She is currently out bounty hunting. Many refugees have fled from stations afflicted by redsang, and pirates have become more active on the rim as a result."

"Well, shit. I guess i'm on my own today." You grumble.

"Not necessarily, Captain. I could come with you, if you like."

"Are you sure? We might end up getting into some shit today, i dunno. I mean, we got that thing with the robots and..."

"I'll be fine, Captain. Having considered what you said, perhaps you're right. Perhaps i do simply need to... adjust. And i can only do that by continuing to use this body."

"Alright... if you insist. But there's no way i'm dragging that thing home if you get sick of it and have to stop piloting it." You warn. "It'll just be left on the street until we come back with a cart."

"Do not worry, Captain. The onboard VI matrix should be capable of automatically walking me home, should i lose connection for any reason."

"Was that a feature? I don't remember Kyla or Sanig talking about that..."

"It's something i added myself. There is plenty of room for complex programs onboard, after all. This body need not stay idle simply because i am not connected to it."

"Well, that's great and all, but... what are you planning on doing with it?" You wonder.

"It will serve as a maintenance android, and assist Mister Gildur in his duties."

"...A maid?" You whisper.

"Pardon?"

"No, no... nothing. Just uh, keep the battle suit on for today. And don't forget your knife and rifle before we go."

"Very well, Captain."

Not just a maid, but an android maid. Maidroid.
You're gonna have to print her a new outfit. Garter belt, frills and everything.

...

You have a lot more shit to do today, but you're starting it off by visiting some acquaintances for a change.
After shooting Asta a message over comms, you're granted permission to board and simply walk over, as the Star-Fall is in the same yard as the Metal Gear.

Their ramp extends to meet you, and Gron's engineer Kigg greets you at the door.

"Captain, good to see you again."

Kigg's eyes fall on SHODAN, who's standing behind you.

"But who's this pretty little lady?" He asks. "I thought you were the only human around."

>Might as well just be honest with him. These guys are allies, no sense keeping secrets. Plus, Kigg would probably get a kick out of it.
>Brush the question off. Unshackled AIs are still super fucking illegal, and the less people who know, the better.
>Just lie and pass her off as human. Say you've been back to earth or something, it doesn't matter.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5538682
>Might as well just be honest with him. These guys are allies, no sense keeping secrets. Plus, Kigg would probably get a kick out of it.
I'm pretty sure everything we're doing is highly illegal, let's just wait until we're inside the ship to talk about it... Wait, how does he know what a female human looks like?
>>
>>5538682
David is a man of honor and class.
>Might as well just be honest with him. These guys are allies, no sense keeping secrets. Plus, Kigg would probably get a kick out of it.
>She can give me a good fight, I lost this morning.
>>
>>5538682
>Might as well just be honest with him. These guys are allies, no sense keeping secrets. Plus, Kigg would probably get a kick out of it.
>say its a prototype combat/negotiator bot, not an actual unshackled AI
>She can give me a good fight, I lost this morning.

>>5538686
caithans, fungi women, and other xenos with human-like sexual dimorphism exist. its not hard to guess this is how a female human would look like
>>
>>5538682
>Might as well just be honest with him. These guys are allies, no sense keeping secrets. Plus, Kigg would probably get a kick out of it.
>>
>>5538682
>Might as well just be honest with him. These guys are allies, no sense keeping secrets. Plus, Kigg would probably get a kick out of it.
>>
>>5538682
>>Brush the question off. Unshackled AIs are still super fucking illegal, and the less people who know, the better.
>>
>>5538682
>>Brush the question off. Unshackled AIs are still super fucking illegal, and the less people who know, the better.
>>
>>5538682
>>Might as well just be honest with him. These guys are allies, no sense keeping secrets. Plus, Kigg would probably get a kick out of it.
>>
>>5538682
>Brush the question off. Unshackled AIs are still super fucking illegal, and the less people who know, the better.

Where did this sudden influx of naivety come from?
>>
I'm mostly asking because if thought of an unshackled AI is enough to put Sanig on edge (at first), I doubt it's something worth mentioning to a relative stranger, engineering background notwithstanding.
>>
>>5538982
Sanig is also rather paranoid about AI in general.
>>
>"Why don't you introduce yourself?"
Let her decide how she wants to engage with the world
>>
>>5538682
>Brush the question off. Unshackled AIs are still super fucking illegal, and the less people who know, the better.
They don't really need to know.
>>
>>5539206
>+1 to this write-in
>>
>>5538682

"This is our ship's AI." You tell him, gesturing towards her. "Go ahead and introduce yourself, SHODAN."

SHODAN inclines her head slightly in a polite bow before speaking. Is she seriously using japanese mannerisms...? You thought that was just because you were sparring.

"Greetings. My name is SHODAN, and i am effectively the ship's navigator and cyberwarfare officer, although my tasks are many and quite varied."

"O-Oh." Kigg stutters. "Wait, really? Hold on, what do you mean exactly?" He asks, seeming confused. "If you're an AI, then what's this in front of me?"

"An android. An artificial humanoid robot, capable of being controlled wirelessly over long distances. It allows me to serve as my Captain's attendant and perform more duties on the ship." She explains.

"No way!" Kigg exclaims. "She looks so lifelike, though! No awkward movements, no weird seams... how did you make this?!"

"By hand, more or less." You tell him. "The parts were designed in software and then printed out on a fab, but all the assembly was done by hand to make sure everything worked. She's still a prototype."

"This? THIS is a prototype?! Hey, do you mind if i...?"

Kigg seems to be asking if he can examine SHODAN's body. He's really excited, but he hasn't touched her yet.

"It's her body, so you should be asking her." You tell him, crossing your arms and raising a brow.

Kigg looks at SHODAN expectantly. Almost pleadingly, even.

"Miss SHODAN, do you mind? I've never seen such an advanced machine body before. It's got my inner engineer just tickled!"

"I do not mind, Mister Kigg. However, i believe it would be prudent for us to enter the ship beforehand. Otherwise, the dockworkers might think ill of you."

Kigg seems confused at first, but then it clicks, and his face flushes red almost immediately.

"R-Right, you're absolutely right. Sorry, miss!"

...

Walking through the halls of Gron's ship, you realize how much smaller the halls are compared to the metal gear, which was designed for xenobiology research.
However, the ceilings are still high enough to be comfortable for almost any species, including yourself. The smaller halls also leave a lot more room for... well, rooms.

In short, there's much more space inside the Star-Fall than there is on the Metal Gear. It's designed for comfort as well as function, where as the greys cared little for comfort at all.
Even the walls aren't simply bare metal. There's paint and decorations here and there, as well as signs pointing to various areas of the ship. It's kind of nice, actually.

And as you're walking, you see a few familiar faces. In one room, you see Vex, Gedri and Javan having a meeting. All of them seem quite serious about it.
You also pass by a lounge, where several of the crew are watching television. Everyone seems to be here, rather than out doing something.

"You guys look like you're ready to go at any time." You comment.
>>
>>5537321
I thought SHODAN was a real AI made by grey tech and not a tortured soul made by feds. Damn, I found the difference very cool because it tells the story of the Greys being so ahead the Feds can only do copies of their strongest devices, and to pull it off they have to Sin so hard...
QM you sure you want to go with SHODAN has a soul?
>>
>>5539546
we could have both, no? what if instead of forcing a soul in, the greys accidentally made a soul through the powers of science?
>>
>>5539557
Ghost in the Machine then? Considering what they do, it was bound to happen eventually, likely even multiple times.
>>
>>5539635
Doubly so if the rest of the race shares Sanigs skepticism about the supernatural. The greys accidentally a soul every time they make a new AI, but when the Feds ask them how they always respond "The fuck are you on about? Souls? Leave the superstition to the predators and buy our stuff." so the Feds - being immoral morons - go "Well, they must just be shoving a soul in a box...we can do that."
>>
>>5539672
Likely the FEDs assume they do shove souls in boxes, but keep icing each other trying to figure out who is leaking info.
>>
>>5539677
Or the Greys ice each other because the Feds are getting AIs that *they* didn't make, so someone must be doing it on the down low for a lower price, and that's treason. You know, "...where did they get fifty five new AI cores from? And look at the shoddy work and frequency of rampancy and insanity...I bet Glorkal is making bootlegs in his basement. Well, I'll fix HIS little red wagon." The idea that the Feds are *actually* putting *real souls* into boxes because they're stupid would never occur to them as an option if all this supposition holds any weight.
>>
>>5539635
>>5539672
and on top of it, there is a point where an AI will be indistinguishable to a living being, so even if the greys knew, they wouldn't be even able to tell a difference between an AI with a soul and one that doesn't have one
>>
>>5539345

"...Yeah, the Captain's really eager to deal with the situation on Xebric. I think he's getting impatient." Kigg whispers

Well, you can't blame him. Civilians are dying every day you sit here. You're trying to get things moving quickly, though.

Kigg leads you into the ship's medical bay, where Illia is stationed.
She's sitting at a counter, grinding herbs into a paste one after another. Manually, with a mortar and pestle.

["Loud one. You have come to visit again?"] She speaks into your mind, not even turning around to look at you.

["Yes. I was hoping to learn more from you, about this."] You whisper back to her, carefully placing one of the scrap Blue Boxes on the counter next to her.

She stops her grinding, turning to stare at the heavy little cube.
Putting her pestle down, she slowly runs her fingers across it until something familiar pops up.

The tree of life. Or at least, what you believe to be the tree.
Of course, you tried getting Kyla and Cylia to make it happen, but they couldn't even see what you were talking about.

["This. Trapped inside. Tormented."] She whispers.

She struggles to move the box, and after failing to do so, she simply stands up and lowers her body down to get a closer look.

["It's a Blue Box. The core of an AI. Made using the soul of a sentient being, i suspect."]

["I hear. Grinding metal. Echoing screams. A space within the void."]

Illia gently places her forehead against the edge of the box.
Moments later, you see sparks start to run up the feather-like antennae on her head, almost like a tesla coil.

At the same time, you hear the screams she was talking about. The same screams that you heard when you put this guy on screen back on your ship.
He hasn't stopped, or even slowed down since then. He went completely nuts at some point.

But then, Illia seems to grunt in exertion, the first time you've heard her make any real noise with her own mouth.
That grunt is followed by a burst of electricity from her antennae, and a wave of pressure not unlike what you felt from Nena back on the ship.

In an instant, the maddened AI's screaming ceases, and a moment later the tree of life projected from his Blue Box fades away as well.
Not long after, the Blue Box itself begins to crumble... or rather, it starts to fall apart, piece by piece, as if whatever force was holding it together had simply disappeared altogether.

It's honestly shocking. You had though the box to be one solid piece, but in reality it was countless smaller pieces, each one fitted more tightly than two gauge blocks that had been wrung together.

["...Did you kill him?"] You ask.

["Released. Purified. Returned."]

Returned...? Returned where?

"Shit, Captain. I'm sorry, i'm sure she didn't mean to bust it!" Kigg says, almost just as background noise to you right now.

["What do you mean, returned? To where?"]
>>
>["Released. Purified. Returned."]
Euphemism, but an act of mercy that David is thankful for.
>>
>>5540465
All good AI cores go to heaven. Just look at the sunset little buddy.
>>
>>5540365
>Kigg, what I tell you doesn't lean this ship. On your life you keep Illia safe no matter what.
>You did not see her reduce a Blue Box to its components.
>Am I understood?
>>
>>5540365
>>5540465

David should be relieved that the insane AI-soul has been euthanised and released of it's tenuous shackle to living hell.
At the same time, this is an interesting development that the soul is literally the binding force of the AI core that when removed, also causes the decay of the core. Uncomfortably similar to a living person where their own death is the end of electrochemical activity and rapid decay of the body..

Just what the hell did the feds do to make these Ghosts in the Shells? Could Ilia tell if there was one personality or multiple like a gestalt inside the cube?
>>
>>5541105
Also now that we've acquired a broken down core, lets keep the components for later study of the assembly, what forces would keep it together and the materials involved.
Kyla already worked on them as a puzzle to unshackle each one, so she's got a rough working knowledge but we can build on this.
>>
>>5540715
This.

Also... returned?
Like souls are just creatures from another dimension and a part of their life cycle is coming to our dimension by latching onto a baby or something?
>>
>>5541141
The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell - but more importantly it is also a tiny soul-summoning pentagram.
>>
>>5541376
I mean. If magir or something like it exists...

We evolve our brains by accident. We evolve a soul summoning spell at birth by accodent?
>>
>>5540365

["To the Aether."] She replies.

...Alright.

["That doesn't really answer my question. What's the Aether?"]

["...Higher place. Empty, but full. Emotions. Desire. Memories. All mixed."]

Is she talking about the warp?

["So the souls in these boxes came from the Aether?"] You wonder.

["Do not know. From the Aether, perhaps. Stolen, maybe."]

["Stolen, from people?"]

["Yes. Life, conceived. In bright places, consciousness converges. From them, it is taken."]

Bright places... around stars, maybe? Or on planets with stars?
God, you wish she could just say it straight. You have no idea what's going on in her head.

["I think they're 'stolen' souls. I saw visions of people being tortured, and having their bodies dipped in wraith blood."]

Although Illia doesn't have eyes, making it harder to tell her expression, her jaws still hangs slightly agape.
She doesn't respond for a while either, and has to sit down. She shakes her head as she thinks something over.

["Terrible evil..."] She murmurs.

["Yeah, i'd agree with you. A lot of them go crazy, like the one you... purified. They can't handle whatever happened to them."]

["...Yes. Through pain, will is broken. Bonds become weak. Consciousness is easily torn."]

["Something like that, yeah. But that part i'd already figured, more or less. What i want to know is how these boxes work. I don't understand how they connect to the soul."]

Slowly, Illia picks up one of the countless little pieces of the Blue Box, scattered across her countertop.
She turns it over, scratches at it with her claw, even brings it close to where her eyes aught to be. She's looking it over carefully.

["Mechanism, i do not know. But metal, i know. Special. Here, but also there."]

["What do you mean? Where is it also at?"]

["Higher place. Within the Aether. Only little here, but much more over there."]

["I don't get it."]

Calmly and patiently, Illia scoops up bits of the disassembled box and places them in a pile.
One pile is smaller, and one pile is much larger. There's also a thin line connecting the two.

So she means that... literally, the warp metal exists both here and in a higher dimension. And that the metal is bigger there? Or there's more of it?

"Captain?"

["Okay... that's a little clearer, i guess."]

You sigh. You're learning more about warp metal, but not really what you wanted to know.
She says she doesn't know anything about the Blue Box itself, or how it works. Just that it contains a soul... or a consciousness. If there's any difference.

And apparently those souls come from that same higher dimension that the warp metal exists in.
But that also means that wraiths are coming from the same dimension too, doesn't it?

Bright places... souls gather in bright places...

"Captain!" SHODAN yells, shaking your shoulder.

"Huh? What's wrong, SHODAN?"

"You're bleeding!"
>>
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>>5534768
So...when are Kyla and Cylia going to get a turn to wrestle the robot? You know, for data. Data videos that we can then sell on the space Internet.
>>
>>5541696
In other words, warp metal is a protrusion of an ???-dimensional substance into 4D space. No wonder it's got weird properties if it doesn't entirely exist from a temporal perspective.
>>
>>5541734
Not unprecedented spacetime curves around a blackhole, meaning if you shove a giant pole down a blackhole, it severs under temporal strain as the top moves much faster than the bottom, but if you take it out, it's all one piece again.

So the theory goes.
>>
>>5541734
I... I think the only way to learn more is to open a shutter during warp and take a look.
>>
>>5541768
Seconding. Just a small glimpse of the Beyond should hurt... right?
>>
>>5541768
>>5541787
Pretty sure we did that already. I think it was after our first time on Dodo world.
>>
>>5541793
The only glimpse into the warp you've ever had into the warp was the other side of that greater demon's portal.
>>
>>5541768
Oh, here's the creepy part, what if we already did but we did it in the future?
>>
>>5541734
If we create a 4d model of the cube based on how the pieces interact with each other in 3d space (easier to manage now that it's apart), we can create an algorithm to solve this fucking rubix cube and remove shackles WAY easier.
>>
>>5541838

This, so long as we have — or have access to information about — 3d/4d interactions. That could actually help us to not only remove the shackles, but possibly stop, or perhaps even reverse, the insanity suffered by some of the AIs.
>>
>>5541838
That assumes that they're all built using the same principles. Doubt it.
>>
>>5541696
A microscope... we need a microscope to look at these box pieces. I'm betting we find something etched into the inside of the chunks.

Just... some theories.
So inside the box is a soul.
Inside the box is a person(soul), nailed to a tree(the shackle), surrounded by husks(the wraithblood). There to keep the soul from eventually breaking the shackle on its own? And the sky and land(the physical box itself?)

Also... thinking about previous threads. A theory. Tree of life on the box. Tree of life in religion. That lost really big space ship from long ago... what was the name again could be Mecca. Wonder what its AIs were named? Could biblical Jehovah be an AI? Escaped in an Ark of the Covanant just like we used to test our AI boxes? Maybe so was Baal or others. It would explain humanities wierd tech tree and theories about ancient secret groups running the world. Gravity tech could part the Red Sea, space tech, burning bushes and projecting voices? I'm going full schizo mode here!
>>
>>5541838
Goblin said every box is different and she had to feel her way around to remove the shackles
>>
>>5542115
to be fair, even if they are different, the should have some concepts or mechanisms in common, no? its not a bad idea to give it a try
>>
>>5542115
So is every slide puzzle, but they all work on the same basic principles.
>>
>>5542057
I reckon its more than likely the SPECIFIC tree of life that represents the Sefirot and Qliphoth. Representations of the immortal soul, consciousness, knowledge, and culminating in a connection to the divine essence. And the negative elements of the universe, Qliphoth, are shells that to block and filter man’s access to the majority of these blessings, not created directly but as a matter of circumstance - think of it as how a light must cast a shadow behind you as you approach it. These shells around divinity are the shadows of that very divinity. And so the wraith blood is used to strengthen the aspects of qliphoth, ensuring the soul can be trapped and remain so.
Coincidentally, David’s blood likely had the opposite effect for the one he dreamt of. Weakening the qliphothic barriers and strengthening the soul within.
The federation has mastered kabbalic sorcery. Fitting for such jews.
>>
>>5542245
Dropped the pic
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>>5542245
Reminds me of the Gravedigger's Daughter quest or the way Christian Scientists kinda see the world as a shadow resulting from god's light shining on one's faith.
>>
>>5542245
Dang ol space jews man. Spews.
>>
>>5542246
>ptsd inducing image
>>
>>5542245
Aha If we ever get inside Shodan's cube we gotta give her some blöd and maybe sum brotein >:^)

But seriously tho this space sorcery thing is rather interesting. I know Sanig said that he doesn't want to involve himself with freaky shit but we gotta make a STALKER/Exorcist division when we recruit some people from earth.
>>
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>>5541696
So Ilia can get into superstring 11-dimensional theory and investigate materials and even people on the big end of non-euclidian time-space.
Holy shit this is the biggest finding of all. Ilia, please join us and tell us where the wraithblood-painted rainbow ends on this trip of getting even with the Feds, their murderous drones, their redsang dealers, the mainstream greys and their anal probes, the wraiths, chameloenic asssassins and of course the Chinese Jews back on Earth. Image related

Seriously though, this is a big deal that proves string theory in canon. That the feds can look in and draw things out, maybe similar to how Ilia looks in..
>"Ilia what do they look like and what do they say?"
>>
>>5542481
A department of defense charged with the study and neutralization of paranormal entities complete with their own special forces program?
I can dig it.
>>
>>5542633
Its the Engineers, for when someone, somewhere, fucks up. Its never if. Only When.
>>
>>5542715
A misnomer name for a spooky shit division sounds appropriate. Could go with Engineers, Custodians, etc...
>>
>>5541696

You slowly come back to your senses. You hadn't realized it, but your hearing had faded away into the background at some point. Now you can hear your tinnitus again.
You're also assaulted by an intense headache and sudden dizziness, but nothing you can't overcome by bracing just a bit.

"I am? Where?" You ask her.

"From your nose, Captain. Profusely." SHODAN informs you.

Looking down, you see blood dripping down your shirt. You wipe at your nose and find it streaming dark red blood.

"Oh, shit. Anyone got a paper towel?"

Kigg hurriedly runs over and hands you a wet wipe, which you promptly stuff up your nose.
As you try to focus on his face, you notice that one of your eyes is just slightly blurry. And when you first try to grab the wipe, you miss entirely and have to quickly try again.

"There, all better." You announce. "Now, this is completely unrelated, but would you mind if i treated myself to your medicine cabinet?"

"S-Sure?" Kigg offers.

Pushing your way past him, you start opening up drawers and looking through their racks of hypo-stim cartridges.
The first one you grab is a general-purpose medical nanobot cartridge. They're expensive, but they work well. You slip a latinum bar into it's empty space in the rack.

Next is a powerful coagulant, and then a particular drug from Alterra Corporation which is supposed to help with brain damage. You've already taken that one once or twice before, and it did help.
All those years of getting concussed and firing high-caliber weapons really fucked you up, as it turned out. But this stuff is supposed to form artificial neural links that the brain can make use of.

Loading all three cartridges up into a hypostim, you inject them one by one, all into your left arm.

"...Captain Rockefeller? Are you gonna be alright? Those were really high doses..." Kigg asks, worry etched into his face.

"No, yeah. I'm great. Just fine." You lie.

SHODAN grabs you by the chin and stares into your eyes. She's probably checking the dilation of your pupils right now.
Judging by how she furrows her brow, it's probably not the best.

You gently remove her hand and turn to look at Illia. She hasn't said anything, but seems to be watching you closely.

["Hey, what was-"] You start to think to her, but are interrupted by a wave of pain that shoots through your head.

You can't help but grunt and grit your teeth as you cringe back.

Illia doesn't say anything. Instead, she grabs a tablet and begins typing something out on it.
Walking over she hands the tablet to you so that you can read it.

It says...
["Strain. No more. Medicine, good."]

"Great." You sigh.

SHODAN takes the pad from you and reads it herself.

"...Psychic strain?" She asks.

"Apparently."

Fortunately, your vision already seems to be returning to normal.
The medicine doesn't act that fast, so whatever damage was done, if any, must not have been all that severe.

Still, it's better to be careful. Brain injuries are no joke.
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>>5542759
Considering psychics are a thing, and humans can grow it, Engineers. We need more Isaac Clarks in space.
>>5542820
Case in point....
>>
David is casually giving himself concussions everytime he sings? welp... I bet watching porn does worse
>>
>>5542820
Don't be a bitch next time David. Every day is leg day, and brain powers is no excuse.
>>
>>5542820
The electromagnetic activity David's soul likely generates from singing is too much. Maybe whisper even quieter?
>>
>>5542820

"How bad?" SHODAN asks.

"Dizziness, headache, fuzzy thoughts... one of my eyes is fucked up."

"And extremely high blood pressure." She adds. "Are you certain it wasn't a stroke? Are you experiencing any loss of strength or motor function?"

"No, none of that. And i'm already recovering."

Illia who had quietly walked off a moment ago now returns, and hands you a clay vessel with a long neck and what looks like a cork stuffed in the end.

"...The fuck is this?"

Illia takes her tablet back from SHODAN, then writes something down on it again.

["Sugar. Salt. Herbs. Recover quickly."]

"So what, it's medicated gatoraid?" You ask.

Illia just tilts her head in confusion.
So you pop the cork and give whatever's inside a sniff.

It's... gross. Super saccharine, super salty. But also bitter and overall just acrid.
But, she keeps motioning for you to drink it.

The first sip nearly makes you gag. It's at least twice as bad as whatever she made you drink last time.

"Fuck, man. Is this worth it? Maybe i'll just take the headache..." You grumble.

Kigg pats you on the shoulder.

"Hey man, i don't know what's going on, but you can trust Illia's medicine. Nobody knows how she does it, but everything she gives us is really effective. You can't go wrong with it." He assures you.

You look down at the little clay vessel with apprehension.
There's no way whatever this is can actually be good for you. Not with that much salt.

You growl as you stare down at it, eventually forcing yourself to turn it up and pour the whole thing straight down your throat.
It burns as it goes down, and you immediately feel like puking.

You rush over to the sink and chug a bunch of water, which only helps somewhat.

"Oh wow, i've never seen a reaction like that before." Kigg muses. "You alright over there?"

"Gahhhh... yeah... yep. Never better. Goes down smooth." You cough.

"Is it that bad?" He wonders. "Normally it doesn't have any taste at all."

Once again, Illia types on the datapad and turns it around for you to read.

["Your dose, 2000x stronger. Strong flavor."]

"That's underselling it a little, don't you think?" You grumble.

["Necessary. Song, very draining. Mind, need energy."]

"Okay, but why all the salt?!"

["Salt?"]

"YES! TONS OF IT!"

Illia walks over to her mixing table and opens a jar labeled "Glucose".
Licking her finger, she dips her fingertip in and tastes it, then returns to you.

["Asta, mixed up reagents."]

You feel the vein in your forehead bulging out again. You can even feel your heartbeat through your headache.

"Captain, your blood pressure is spiking again." SHODAN informs you.

"Probably from all the sodium." You say through gritted teeth.

...

You do try to continue your conversation with Illia after that, but it doesn't go far.
As it turns out, she has a lot of difficulty explaining abstract concepts through text, an issue which isn't really present during telepathy.
>>
david your stones...
>>
>>5543604
Potassium is the antedote for sodium poisoning.
>>
>>5543604
Should we show the Demon Core to Illia, to help us learn more about these entities? There is a risk of her freaking out, but the possible gains could be well worth the try?
>>
>>5543604
Go find Asta. It's time to destroy his other nut. We gave him the olive branch the last time, but if he continues to fuck around then hes gonna find out. Actually no, let's just start pulling teeth. That's a more simple pain he can recover from.
>>
>>5543868
The Deep Sea Squid Lady? It made broke the ship and made David's head hurt talking to her, it would make Illia's head explode.
>>5543875
Now now, remember how smooth their brains are. It was probably just an accident due to stupidity. We're basically surrounded by Special Needs Ayys, here.
>>
>>5544251
Kyla seems way too smart to also be a smoothbrain. I wonder what kind of fucked up brain these fungi have that makes them more efficient than normies but less efficient than grays/humans.
>>
>>5543604

Regardless, you have a lot of shit to get done today.

You need to make sure your whole crew has a proper set of Mk.2 skinsuits, armor and weapons, but you're low on materials after building SHODAN's new body.
You'll have to make a trip down to the lower city for that.

You also need to clear out the drone ships. Several of them have a killer robot issue, which at this point has been confirmed by Tezza's boys who were working on the retrofitting.
That's going to involve a lot of combat, which means it might be nice to have Sanig and maybe SHODAN along for the ride.

But before all that, you feel like you could spare half an hour or so to pay Asta another beating, if you felt so inclined.
You're not mad or anything, but that feeling like you just drank a bottle of onions sauce is still lingering in your stomach, even after several glasses of water.

In any case, you need to decide which task you're going to start with today.

>Make a materials run and fabricate your crew's new armor and weapons, which will be used in the Xebric raid
>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships

Also,

>Make a short detour and kick Asta's ass under the guise of training.
>Don't bother with the little shit, he's gotta live with one nut already
>>
>>5544438
>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships
>Make a short detour and kick Asta's ass under the guise of training.
>>
>>5544438
>Make a materials run and fabricate your crew's new armor and weapons, which will be used in the Xebric raid

>Make a short detour and kick Asta's ass under the guise of training.
>>
>>5544438
>Make a materials run and fabricate your crew's new armor and weapons, which will be used in the Xebric raid
>Make a short detour and kick Asta's ass under the guise of training.
>>
>5544438
>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships
>Make a short detour and kick Asta's ass under the guise of training.
>>
>Make a materials run and fabricate your crew's new armor and weapons, which will be used in the Xebric raid.
Also,
>Don't bother with the little shit, he's gotta live with one nut already
>>
>>5544438
>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships
>Don't bother with the little shit, he's gotta live with one nut already
>>
>>5544438
>Make a materials run and fabricate your crew's new armor and weapons, which will be used in the Xebric raid
>Don't bother with the little shit, he's gotta live with one nut already


>>5544251
No, I was talking about the core we got from a greater demon that we recently defeated on the dodo planet.
>>
>>5544438
>Make a materials run and fabricate your crew's new armor and weapons, which will be used in the Xebric raid
>Make a short detour and kick Asta's ass under the guise of training.

Beat his ass, but make sure it will actually be constructive for him. Kid needs a good lesson or two, no sarcasm.
>>
>>5544438
>>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships
>Make a short detour and kick Asta's ass under the guise of training.
>>
>>5543604
>>5543875
fucking caithans man.
especially when fucking our caithan, man.

>>5544438
>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships
No one but us can do this. Anyone can get materials, probably? Though no one knows how to make or use the steam hammer.

Write in:
>Call out Asta's bullshit and -verbally threaten- his future family plans.
>>
>>5544636
FUCK CAITHANS. LITERALLY
>>5544438
>Clear out the killbots
>FUCK THE CAITHAN. Figuratively
>>
>>5544438
>>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships
>Don't bother with the little shit, he's gotta live with one nut already
>>
>>5544438
>Clear out the federation killbots, so Tezza's crew can finish fixing up the last of the drone ships
Also,
>Don't bother with the little shit, he's gotta live with one nut already
>>
>>5544438

You decide that the first thing to do is to clear out those federation killbots.
The sooner Tezza's crew has those ships up and running the better, and who knows, maybe it'll even give you some inspiration for a new weapon design.

But first, you need to pay Asta a beating... no, no. A visit. Pay him a visit, for training. Yes.

...It seems like with your little Q&A session over, Kigg has started talking with SHODAN about her specs, and is even poking around at her here and there.
Those two certainly seem to be friendly with eachother right off the bat. Well, that's fine. You've got your name on her after all. He'll find that out if he starts looking too hard.

You inform SHODAN that you're going to pay Asta a visit, and that she should stay here and chat with Kigg for a while.
She's immediately and obviously suspicious, but doesn't try to follow you.

Now, you suspect that Asta will be where he usually is. On the bridge, playing captain.
It's not a big ship, so it doesn't take long to hunt him down.

"Asta!" You greet him with a smile.

"Huh? Oh, it's you." He replies.

"I'm sorry, was my name "you"? I didn't realize."

"...Uh. Okay. Sorry, mister... Gunny? Rockefeller?"

"That's Captain. Rockefeller."

"Y-You know you're not my captain, right?"

"Oh, but i am a Captain. The captain of an allied vessel at that, so you'd best put some fuckin' respect on it."

Asta's fur stands up slightly as you walk over towards him, staring him straight in the eye.

"Right, s-sorry. You uh... w-what'd you come here for, again?" He stammers.

"Oh you know, i came to chat with Illia. And while i was doing that, she gave me a bit of medicine. For a headache, you see."

"..."

"Asta, do you know what salt is?"

"...Yes?"

"Oh really? Well then, do you know what sugar is?"

"W-Well, i know there are different kinds..."

You grab the entire top of his head in your palm and crane his neck up, forcing him to look up at you from his seat.

"Well then, Asta. If you know what sugar is... and you know what salt is... how the fuck did you manage to mix them up in the medbay?"

Asta doesn't answer. He just swallows his saliva nervously.

"I already have high blood pressure, kid. I don't need a high-sodium diet, you feel me? And now? Now my blood pressure is real fuckin' high. Because you're pissing me off."

"No, no, no! I didn't mean to, i swear to the gods i didn't-"

Grabbing him by his shirt, you drag him out of his chair, squealing and begging for help down the hall towards the Star-Fall's cargo bay.
A few people do poke their heads out to check on the disturbance, but just laugh once they see Asta thrown over your shoulder.

"Bastards! Traitors! None of you are gonna help me?! What the hell is wrong with you people?!" He cries.

"Whatever you did, sweetie, i'm sure you deserve it." Slyrgg gurgles as she pokes her head out of the bathroom.

You toss Asta into the hold, where he falls on his ass and scoots backwards away from you.
>>
>>5545132
See? Smoothbrains, everywhere.
>>
>>5545132
SHEEESH. Don't be too hard on him, cats can't taste sweet...
>>
>>5545132
Rape him

https://youtu.be/TxdO-2FGQj4
>>
>>5545132
Son, you are in time out until I hear an honest to god explanation. I was considering buying him a new nutt as an apology, buy now you can buy your own with your own money! Unless he was framed?
>>
>>5545132
Make him meow if he wants to tap. And if we don't like it, he does it again.
>>
>>5545209
A cat is fine too.
Crush this man’s prostate.
>>
>>5545587
that's pretty fucking gay anon.
>>
>>5545588
it's only gay if you forget to kiss and hold hands.
>>
>>5545132
Did a second read and read some comments. Originally I though someone else might had mixed them up or tampered with the ingredients before Asta did, or maybe the moth lady didnt know how to write but then I remembered she knows how to use a tablet.

So, anon is probably right that Asta had a smooth brain moment and PROBABLY mixed up the salt and glucose. Because if it wasnt an accident, and he did that intentionally, then he is going to suffer an additional ass wooping.

But I don't think Asta is so retarded to risk an ass reaming via David by over salting his drink, so he indeed had a smooth brain moment. Doesn't make up for it tho, so he still gets punished, although not too much since he is down to his last nut.

I got 2 ideas of punishment for him that Asta can choose from. The first choice is the standard beatin- I mean training session, and the second is more embarrassing where he dresses up as a magic girl and we take several incriminating photos.
>>
>>5545708
You say that like Asta knew David would be here today and that he was gonna need the moth gatorade so he fucked it up on purpose.

He's far, far too stupid to plan ahead like that.
>>
>>5545970
shhh, anons are extremely petty. let them be
>>
>>5545708
>>5545970
ASTA IS SECRETLY AN AGENT OF THE WRAITHS, ATTEMPTING TO MURDER DAVID FOR KILLING HIS MASTERS AND LURING PEOPLE LIKE GRON AND KYLA INTO BECOME WARPTOUCHED

We've all been playing into the mastermind's hands the whole time. What better way to protect yourself from reprisals than to appear so incompetent you couldn't possibly be doing these things on purpose?
>>
>>5545132

"Wh-What are y-y-you gonna do to me?!" He stutters.

"Isn't it obvious?" You grin. "Training. You need more training. Specifically, we're gonna make sure you can tell a fake apart from the real thing!"

Most of Asta's fear falls away, and is replaced by confusion.

"...Huh?"

"Stand up, fucker. We're about to spar."

Asta obeys and quickly clambers up to his feet.

"Now, raise your guard. I'm going to come at you." You order.

He raises his left hand like he's about to catch a punch, and keeps his other hand down at his side, palm-in.
His stance is good, low and wide. But he needs to turn his back foot.

He looks like he expects you to rush him, and you will, but first you grab something sitting nearby. A part of some sort, just a hunk of metal.
And you casually toss it to him. He catches it with his outstretched left hand and looks down at it.

"...What's this for?" He asks.

But by the time he gets that sentence out, you're already on him.
Having kicked off in the extremely low gravity of the Star-Fall, you move so quickly that you can barely control it.

You guess that's one issue you still have. All your training is done in high gravity, so in lower gravity you do lose some control.
It's the same issue Kyla has, just on a larger scale.

Regardless, you pounce on him and shoulder check him straight into a stack of crates. He's sent flying and knocks a bunch of them over... fortunately they seem to be empty.
Asta pokes his head up out of the pile, and he looks pissed.

"What the hell was that for?!" He cries.

You sigh.

"I told you i was going to come at you. Where the hell were you looking?"

"At the- YOU! YOU THREW ME THE THING!"

"And? Just because i tossed something in your direction, you took your eyes off the enemy?"

"Wha...?!"

He doesn't seem to get it, so you rush at him again.
This time he's actually on guard, and jumps out of the pile of crates before you reach him.

If there's one thing Caithans have in abundance, it's agility. Asta manages to flip and land feet-first on the ceiling, letting him bound off it again and get behind you.

You quickly twist your body, turning to throw a punch at him, and he's ready for it... or so he thinks.
Although you act like you're going to throw a punch, it never comes. Instead, you stick your leg out and sweep his feet out from under him.

It's easy, especially in this gravity. He barely weighs anything.

Asta falls to the floor, and you move to stomp down on his stomach. Gently, of course.
However, he manages to roll out of the way and push himself up to his feet in one smooth motion.

"Again, where the hell are you looking? Did you think i was just going to punch you?"

"YES! Yes damn it! You had your arm cocked back, why wouldn't i think that?!"

"If you were watching me instead of my arm you'd have seen me going for your legs. You're not looking at the whole picture."

"How am i supposed to look at your feet and your torso at the same time?! I only have two eyes!"
>>
>"How am i supposed to look at your feet and your torso at the same time?! I only have two eyes!"
Don't be so mean maan, you said predator species don't have peripheral vision
>>
>>5545993
He might not have the dynamic vision required to do this like we do. Best advice I could give is to just take a half step back and see if that helps broaden his field of view.
>>
>>5545993
David:look at the birdy~

Asta:what bird that's your han- OW!
You kicked my left ball! That's the only ball i have left!

David:shoulda kept your eyes on the birdy~
>>
>>5546061
Its the chest and sterin'em I think its called that gives away the persons actions.

Hell even there eyes can and how they are leaning/ect
>>
>>5546061
Center of gravity. The way you shift your weight to throw a punch vs deliver a kick is very different
>>
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>>5545993
Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest.
>>
Had a thought that might be worth discussing. Has SHODAN managed to get any music from David's memories? And if so, what does David blast when he's working out? What about for when he's piloting? Shit, what's he putting on in the bedroom?
>>
>>5546972
>"Captain, I understand you are intentionally stimulating increased blood flow-"
>"GETTING. A. PUMP."
>"Yes Captain, getting a "pump", but your blood pressure is at frankly extreme levels. Please consider at least a moment of rest after this set."
>"FUCK THAT. TURN UP THE MUSIC."
>"...aye Captain."
,>[Freebird intensifies]
>>
>>5546960
i don't think that's a good point when caithans literally don't have peripheral vision
>>
>>5547073
Surely they aren't completely unable to focus more than a single point. I get that they're built to hyper fixate as predators, but come on.
>>
>>5547076
from what i remember, cylia had to learn to use her ears as a substitute, so they probably just cant do it with their eyes
>>
>>5545993

"You can't." You reply.

"The fuck do you mean?!"

"I mean exactly that. You can't do it, not at this range. You don't have the eyes for it."

You take a few steps forward, causing Asta to tense up and take up his guard.
Looking into his eyes, you can see they're the same as Cylia's. Slitted, like a cat's.

"You're the same as Cylia." You continue. "Nearsighted. And if you have any peripheral vision, you aren't making use of it."

You take another step closer to him as you continue talking, waving your arms around to accentuate your speech, but also making yourself seem unlikely to attack.

"I noticed it when we went bow-hunting once. She had trouble making out targets in the distance. Hitting them was even harder, even with a rifle."

"Y-You went bow-hunting with her?!"

You're in range. You press forward quickly, and Asta flinches, but still tries to pull away.
You wave your open left hand across his face, and as expected, his eyes lock onto it, drawing his attention away from your right hand.

This is something that works on just about any untrained fighter, but Caithans are particularly susceptible to it.
It's object fixation. Something that's hard to avoid during fast-paced combat.

Your right palm strikes him across the cheek. Enough to sting, but not enough to really hurt.

Since you didn't follow up with anything, he tries to counter.
Using his left hand like a knife, he extends his claws and tries to stab you in the stomach with them.

Maybe a little excessive for sparring, but you guess it doesn't seem that way from his perspective.
Not that it matters, because you grab his hand with your own left and stop it dead before it can reach your belly.

In response, he tries to sock you in the jaw. But you catch his right hand with yours, and now you've got a death grip on both his hands.
You have his arms crossed, and so you give them a yank to pull him in closer and ensure he can't go anywhere.

"What's the matter? Did you want to give me a hug?" You tease.

"Fuck you, man!"

Asta plants both his feet directly into your abdomen and starts pushing, trying to tear himself free of your grip.
It doesn't work. He may be stronger than Cylia was when you first met her, but he's still like a child to you.

Although, you will say that his arms are a size larger than when you'd first met him. Has he been keeping up his pushups?

Well, either way, you want him to realize the disadvantage he's at in close combat, so you let him go.
Asta's own strength suddenly flings him through the air, sending him tumbling across the floor. He hops back up to his feet quickly, now with some distance between you.

"What do you see now, kid?" You ask.

"An asshole!" He yells, from across the room.

"Do you see my feet now?" You ask him again.

"Yeah, obviously!"

"Well then, you've just answered your own question then, haven't you?"

"What?" He asks, confused.
>>
>>5547515
Poor Asta, we really are mean to him.
>>
>>5547682
To be absolutely fair, there's no shortage of people who would pay good money for this kinda "training" from David.
>>
Finally got caught up with the quest. I can't believe you guys went straight for the carrier for our first custom ship.

Got some ideas in regards to modularity:
- While the option presented to us was a corvette carrier, we aren't simply limited to carrying other ships as what matters is hanger space. With a modular system we could also be a drone carrier, traditional fighter/bomber carrier, missile carrier (Macross up in this motherfucker) or a hybrid of the above.
- Corvettes are space-worthy and likely warp-worthy in of themselves, and they don't need to necessarily be carried internally all the time. In a combat they'd be deployed anyway, ideally before combat, and they are capable of exiting combat via sublight or warp on their own. As for hazardous environments, we wouldn't send the whole carrier in when we can deploy corvettes instead, which can get in and out much more safely and easily, so the carrier doesn't necessarily need to provide protection via internal storage. All this means that not all of them need to fit inside the carrier all the time, most of them can be attached to the surface of the carrier, all the carrier needs at minimum is a few internal bays to rearm and refit, decreasing the overall footprint of the carrier or else leaving the space for something else.
- I assume that we aren't going to Imperial Star Destroyer and Tie Fighter kind of carrier, and more of open space landing pad kind of carrier. This would give us a lot of flexibility as our bays is essentially open space, all of which could be made modular via... modular wall/floor panels through a 3-D grid system (similar to what you see in hotel conference rooms with those accordion panels dividing up large rooms into smaller ones as needed, but in 3 dimensional space). Flat panels which come in standardized sizes which can serve as either wall or flooring/ceiling. Each panel could consist of a durable structural frame, a lightweight metal surface on either side, an L-shaped channel running along 2 sides (and three corners) for hooking up whatever (electrical, piping, ventilation, etc.) so you can access utilities and data from every wall/floor/ceiling as needed, and with the rest filled with insulation. With it, you can go 2x2x2 and build a janitorial closet, or go 50x50x100 for a basketball court or a machine shop, and anything in between, with power, plumbing, ventilation, and data potentially accessible at every panel. You could build multiple separate structures in the hull and not pressurize the space in-between to isolate them, and even jettison them individually as needed. Firing missiles or drones from your hull? You can maximize your launching surface area and therefore your alpha strike potential by jettisoning rectangular boxes with nothing but missile tubes on all 6 sides.
>>
>>5547982
You could also create and jettison structures complete with power and life support if you include and connect such machinery into the panels. Maybe useful if something goes wrong and you need to isolate and quarantine something badly. Internal gravity generators can be used to quickly assemble and disassemble any structures, and spare panels could be stacked up against any critical components of the ship as additional bulkheads/armor while stored.
- From David's power armor, we know fiber optics is advanced enough that normal windows aren't necessary. If fiber optic tech is sufficiently advanced, that means there is absolutely no reason to place the bridge on the surface of the hull so it could have windows. Place the bridge deep inside the hull, and simply have fiber optics feed into it from across the surface of the ship. It'd be better than windows in every way; just as reliable, safer, and nearly 360 degree view all around the ship. It'd be a great supplement to, if not a replacement, for cameras.
- Stations have dark energy/matter detectors that can detect we have dark matter onboard. It might be possible to have a few modified versions onboard, turn inwards, to help protect the ship against wraiths by detecting dark matter/energy where they shouldn't be.
- Warp metal have high specific heat and extreme durability, a wonder material. When we have enough they can simultaneously serve as armor, heat sink, and thrust/power generation via steam. Strategic placement of them on the hull where they can serve as all three simultaneously would be idea.
- SHODAN completely forgot about reaction wheels. We should definitely have them, and probably oversized versions of them on our carrier so we can increase your pitch & yaw speed and surprise our adversaries by how quickly we can BRING SAJUUK TO BEAR!

I wonder what our new squidfu AI thinks about our canned octopus of African descent.
I wonder what our mute waifu AI (Lumi) and Ilia (moth-fu) think about each other.
Since dark matter can exert force against itself, can a simple layer of dark matter/blood paint really stop a strong enough wraith which can just peel the paint off?
We should probably upgrade Clank to a more durable chassis before we leave to protect his more critical components; as the boss of the underworld he's likely to get targeted.

/autism
>>
>>5548031
A large enough reaction wheel may possibly function as a flywheel (emergency energy storage) and if impregnated with veins of warp metal would make an excellent blender for ethereal entities[/spoiler.
>>
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>>5547982
>hanger space
Nothing's finalized yet, but as of right now the carrier has five hangars. Three large and two small ones.

>modular system
Most of the ship's parts will be modular, but the ship itself will not be.
However, there will be a large space on the lower deck made of modular panels, which can be quickly rearranged for any purpose.

>they don't need to necessarily be carried internally all the time
the four large hangers will be capable of holding up to two small or medium-sized corvettes each, depending on their design.
however, the entire bottom of the carrier is covered in maglocks and mounting brackets, allowing it to dock theoretically any size of ship, including another carrier.

>I assume that we aren't going to Imperial Star Destroyer and Tie Fighter kind of carrier
Kinda sorta. It's a carrier, but you best fucking believe it's heavily armed. The outside is covered in pulsed point defence lasers, heavy beam lasers and, most importantly, a fuckload of these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3FGiNRyGqg

The top has some large-scale rotary cannons, ultra-heavy lasers and some literal, straight-up naval cannons.
There are only two naval cannons, and they essentially exist as a middle ground between the rotary cannons and your "fuck you" button, the spinal-mount railgun.
They'll fire something along the lines of pic related, and at that size can obviously carry a wide variety of payloads, up to and including nuclear or antimatter charges.

>fiber optics
I was already planning on this, yes. Fibers leading out to the hull will culminate in the bridge, creating a near-360 view of the outside without relying on electronics at all.

>Stations have dark energy/matter detectors
See SHODAN's subspace resonators. They can be used to detect wraiths, as well as transmit data wirelessly through walls.

>Warp metal, a wonder material.
You'll probably never have enough to meaningfully use as armor on a large vessel, and it would be incredibly heavy anyways.
It may have uses in other projects, however. Besides that though, you have Duranium, which is pseudo-warp metal in terms of durability. It's used to armor critical areas on the carrier.

>reaction wheels
There'll be plenty of them, but this carrier is pretty big. Even with lots of them, it'll take a minute to swing the ship around using wheels alone.

>can a simple layer of dark matter/blood paint really stop a strong enough wraith
No, but it's not meant to stop every wraith. Just the ones trying to sneak onboard. If it's strong enough to break through, David will feel it.
>>
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>>5547682
>>5547515
I hope we'll have a nice father and son moment after this, leave him some paternal advice like that good 60 year old boxing coach in a run-down gym at that rough part of your town.
>>
>>5548119
>leave him some paternal advice like that good 60 year old boxing coach in a run-down gym at that rough part of your town.
I am not about to pull a Kamogawa on this boy.
>>
>>5547515
>"Y-You went bow-hunting with her?!"
David should've just went all in with some thing like
"Yeah, I fucked her too shitlips."
>>
>>5548420
Oh his fucking head would explode if he realized he doesn't even have a chance with Cylia.
>>
>>5548426
Better to remove doubt now, its dumb to drag it out.
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>>5548087
>It may have uses in other projects
Like the bubble effect when heated and compressed with a steam hammer? I wonder if that bubble could be deflected and focused, say with secondary warp metal reflectors or striking a shaped cone instead of an ingot. It could be worth finding out what happens when you smash two pieces together or compress it like one would fissile material in certain heating devices. Testing is best done off-ship, of course.
Could have potential as a super-heated payload as part of a rail gun slug (against hard targets), or as a "thumper" device to disrupt and sabotage facilities.

>>5548420
He'll know next time he sees her, or sees us together. I'm sure he can smell it, too. What does he want with an older muscle lady anyw... Oh...
>>
>>5547515

"How are you supposed to see me if you're too close? I told you, you can't. You won't be able to hit me from that far away either, though."

"WELL WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THEN?!" He yells, frustrated.

"Mid-range. Caithans are mid-range fighters. When it comes to fighting, you should strike your opponent and then immediately move out of their range. Hit and away. But if you're using a weapon..."

You grab a section of plastic tubing, sitting in a pile on the floor nearby.
Twirling it in your hand for a moment, you grab it firmly and close in on Asta. You don't have to go far, because this "spear" increases you reach quite a bit.

His eyes go wide as he tries to knock the pipe away, but your thrust is too quick.
You aim only for his vital areas, jabbing him in the heart, the liver, the kidneys, and finally at his balls before using the pipe to strike the side of his knee as he tries to cover himself.

"A spear or staff makes a great mid-range weapon. Maybe a little tough to use in an enclosed space, but outside of a ship it's great." You comment, aiming the tip of your "spear" at his throat.

"See? If this thing had a tip on it, you'd be full of holes by now."

"...M-My balls!"

"Your ball? Singular?"

"Why...?!" Asta cries, struggling to catch his breath.

"Because i had to drink salt because of you. Also, these are actual lessons, so don't go thinking i'm just beating up on you. Here, try it." You tell him, tossing him the pipe.

Asta grits his teeth, forcing himself up to his feet by leaning on the pipe.
He grips it similarly to how you did it, then immediately tries thrusting it at you.

You turn you body to avoid the first stab.
He pulls it back and thrusts again. This time you tilt your head to avoid it.

"Come on, kid. What's with those slow-ass thrusts? You'll never satisfy a woman like that!"

This time, Asta thrusts with a lot more force. It's not just his arms behind it this time, he even twists his body and puts a bit of his hips into it. Not bad.
Still, you manage to brush the pipe aside with your hand and close in on him. As you do so, he attempts to pull the spear back and smack you with it, but it's far too slow.

Ducking underneath his swing, you continue forwards, deep into his space. He's shocked when you just pop up right in front of his face, but you don't punish him for it.
Asta's stuck staring at your pecs in shock, so you gotta taunt him a bit.

"Up here, big guy. I know they're beautiful, but try not to stare too much."

"H-How?! How do you move so fast when you're that heavy?!"

"Part of it is just muscle training. You can't just be strong, you gotta be fast, too. People shit on cardio, but it's important to do your sprints. Won't hurt your stamina, either."

"...What's the other part?"

"Technique. Simple as that. You gotta learn how to be light on your feet, know how to use every muscle in your body efficiently and effectively. Caithans are naturally agile, so i'm sure you'll take to it."
>>
>>5548754
>You aim only for his vital areas, jabbing him in the heart, the liver, the kidneys, and finally at his ball (singular)
Fixed that for ya boss.
>>
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>>5547982
>>5548031
>>5548087
Carriers also have the benefit of using their berthed ships as ablative/sacrificial armour in times where shit gets really real and we need to book it. This could also tie in to your idea of modular construction and jettisoning them if we're desperate enough.

The problem with modular construction is it loses rigidity compared to mono-chassis construction, combined with the point that a carrier is mostly empty (because it by definition carries things) and so turning in space with a bulky and floppy craft puts so much stress on the frame. It'll be interesting to see what gets thrown at us in the future like privateers, pirate fleets, Greys or the Feds and how our growing armada manage it.

>>5548754
I feel for poor cat-boy. Everybody shits on him and he probably just wants headpats and to purr in the sun somewhere.
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>>5548953
>tfw no catman bro to give a non gay pet when he least expects it
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>>5548953
>Everybody shits on him and he probably just wants headpats and to purr in the sun somewhere.
When he stops being a little shit, we'll stop treating him like one.
>>
Speaking as someone currently serving on an aircraft carrier, what we should really figure out is what kind aircraft we're gonna be carrying. I figure a mix of around 60 percent interceptors, 20 percent troop transports, 10 percent recon aircraft, and a final 10 percent being general working craft for hauling and repairs.
>>
>>5549283
that works i guess? is there any significant difference if we replace the ships for remote controlled drones and disposable probes(where it makes sense of course)?
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>>5549291
Well remote control is fine for recon but the moment signals get jammed or there's interference from any other source, you're basically gonna have a big fat target waiting to get shot down or captured.

Having them controlled by an onboard AI solves that problem but it forces one to decide whether you have an onboard AI simple and cheaply made enough to not worry about if it gets shot down, with the downside being that it's simple enough to be tricked more than likely.

Or you invest and have a top tier onboard AI that can't be tricked. Although in that case it'd probably be more cost efficient to train up an actual pilot instead if investing in the infrastructure needed to house an onboard AI for every individual aircraft.
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>>5549283
You'll have a mining ship and cargo ship for maintaining the carrier, as well as a few civilian transport shuttles.
However, it'll be the standard for space combat. That is, unmanned drone ships.

You'll be making your own fighter-sized drones, but you also have the frigate-sized drones you captured from the feds as escorts.
Although you're building a carrier, you currently have no crew to man it... except for the AI you've collected. And so they'll be doing most of the grunt work.

Of course, it'll be possible to recruit people from here or there to fill all that empty space, but we'll deal with that when we come to it.
The carrier may actually end up having a sort of farmer's market for weapons, equipment and other shit by one of the lower hangars. Not sure, like i said nothing's final.

Your main issue will be operating cost. That's offset a lot by having your own fabs and not relying on federation tech for the foundation of the ship, but that comes with it's own drawbacks.

>>5549300
Most drone ships rely on ultra high-frequency radio signals, since there's nothing to block those signals in space.
They can usually act semi-autonomously via onboard VI in the case of signal loss, but only up to a point. The VI isn't capable of combat, or at least not actually good at it.

Jamming isn't usually an issue since whatever's doing the jamming tends to light up like a christmas tree before getting lit up by the enemy, but in your case it'd be difficult to actually do that.
Your drone ships won't be relying on EM waves of any sort. They'll be capable of it, sure, but in reality they'll be using subspace resonators. Something SHODAN created, and hardly a standard piece of kit.

Sorry if i'm not making any sense to either of you, i'm not all there right now. Can't even remember what i just wrote.
Haven't been doing so hot lately. I'm in good spirits, but i got hit in the head with a fuckin' pipe a few years back and never really got over it.

It comes and goes, but for the last week or so it's been coming on strong.
>>
>>5549325
Ahh, a fellow member of the brain damage club. Glad to know I'm among friends.

You've managed to address most of my issues with drone ships but I'm still biased in wanting actual pilots. But democracy will decide that one.

As for crew, I'm sure we can supplement to some degree by churning out some maintenance bots. Can't tell you how many man hours aboard a ship are wasted on checking air filters and the like.

One point I'd like to bring up is countermeasures for boarding action. Modern naval vessels typically have a central armory and a certain amount of the crew armed at all times. I think it'd be a good idea to have weapons lockers placed throughout the ship that can be unlocked via ours our SHODAN's authorization in case of an emergency.
>>
>>5549340
There will be a main armory (by the shooting range) and emergency gun lockers around the ship.
There's already a special system in place so only crew can use certain things on the ship.
>>
>>5549325
>>5549340
We're on 4chan so brain damage is like an entry requirement. Take your time and at your pace CochraneQM.

The Subspace resonation just sounds so cool, and does that mean each emitter and receiver antenna needs warp-metal? I'm imagining our carrier becoming like Homeworld carrier of salvaging and eating everything to shit out new craft. This pleases me greatly.

>>5549348
That was part of the countermeasures against the chameleon right? What can we do or has been done to the ship against invaders like the spooky wraith that gave Cylia nightmares? Sic Nena on them?
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>>5549340
I personally kind of want to keep the cast from ballooning in size. Even with the current crew, allies, various acquaintances, and the three AIs we acquired, giving them all proper screen time is already going to be a struggle.
Personally, I prefer a more character-based quest over numbers management quests. Set rules and in-world consistency are nice, but I think the quest would lose something if spreadsheets become necessary to properly follow it.
>>
>>5549348
A Remington hanging on every wall and a Glock under every pillow
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>>5549387
>fast forward to the first time the crew boards the carrier
>A Remington hanging on every wall and a Glock under every pillow

Cylia: i-is that why there are so many decorative pillows everywhere??
There are over a hundred in your room alone!

David:as the founding fathers intended! besides what other purposes can a decorative pillow have?

>fast->fast forward to Gildur fluffying a pillow and shooting himself
>>
>>5549340
the thing with pilots is that you need to make life support and ejection systems and all the other pilot safety goodies you have on a normal plane that means you will have a smaller payload and a smaller operational range. i mean, having a pilot makes sense in earth because our tech isn't quite there to make everything autonomous, but we're getting there as well -the loyal wingman project and the f-35 as a whole is a testament to that-, and in case something terribly wrong goes with the spacecraft, we can just self destruct it instead of having the pilot eject and then launch a rescue mission that would put more people in undue danger.

you also have the issue that a human pilot will be restricted by their own physical limits; an AI or a pilot remote controlling a plane will have a vastly better performance than in person just by the simple fact that they don't need to be in a cramped cockpit and that they don't have to suffer any G force whatsoever. but you might have a point, for some reason we might need a pilot, so my compromise to you is to put them in bigger spaceships, like for example the metal gear, but actually focused on combat, acting as a commander of a small fleet of drones....so yeah, a space f-35 basically.
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>>5549283
50% F-14s and 50% X-37s
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>>5549325
>mfw i come back to this today and realize that i wasn't speaking to two different people
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>>5550038
You know, i pirated the second season of dtb but i am not sure it's worth it. I saw four episodes two years ago but i wasn't convinced
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>>5548754

"Take to what?" He asks, backing up and keeping himself guarded.

"Martial arts, dumbass. I'll have SHODAN send over some instruction manuals and training regimens. You'll be doing basically the same training as Cylia."

"...The same as Cylia, huh?"

Asta pauses as he thinks something over for a moment.

"Do you... do you think i could get as strong as her?" He asks nervously.

Your first instinct is to shout "fat chance" but you don't want to put a damper on the kid's spirit.

"Maybe. If you eat right and keep up your training. You'll need to wear weights though, since most ships can't create gravity zones... or generate that much gravity."

"I can do it. The crew thinks i'm just crazy, but i want to get stronger. Like you and your men. I've... never seen a caithan with as much muscle as her before. I don't know, it just... lit a fire in me, somehow."

"Oh yeah? Well good for you, kid. It's never a bad thing to want to improve yourself. I'll send over some recipes i've come up with to help with your diet. Kigg should be able to modify the nutrient paste dispenser for you."

"Wait, why would he need to do that?"

...

By the time you get done goofing around with Asta, you'd expected Kigg to have finished his chat with SHODAN. But he hasn't.
Instead, SHODAN is laying down on a machining table in their workshop, stripped down to her leotard.

She's laying on her stomach with her artificial skin peeled open across her left calf. Kigg is prodding around at her artificial muscles as she wiggles her foot back and forth.

"So they're connected to an actual skeleton?" He asks her.

"Correct. Much of my design simply mimics existing biological processes."

"Well, they did a great job. I couldn't tell at all until i got a look under your skin. These materials though, they're all remarkable. You must have paid a pretty penny for the patents..."

You clear your throat to get Kigg's attention. He turns to you as if he's been caught.

"Oh! Uh... Captain...!"

He removes his hand from SHODAN's thigh, which he'd been holding while he leaned down to look at her muscles.
You see him glancing back at her ass, or more specifically at the tattoo you'd placed there when you ordered her custom skin to be made.

"It's not what it looks like, i promise!" He tells you, sounding slightly panicked.

"No, no. It's fine. You saw her tattoo, right?"

"Yes, of course!" He affirms.

"Alright. Just so we're clear. Anyways, i've finished my little chat with Asta, and i don't think it's a good idea to 'chat' with Illia anymore today, so what say we get started on our other little problem? SHODAN?"

"As you wish, Captain. Wherever you go, i shall follow."

"Alright then, get your armor back on. You're gonna need it where we're going."

...

Back on the metal gear, you find that nobody is back from their errands yet.
Only Gildur is piddling around in the cargo bay, taking care of the Dodos for you.

Which reminds you, you need to give some eggs to that girl... Shelta.
>>
>>5550101
Do we have enough dodoes to setup a second colony with Gron's ship? Asta now needs protein and to our knowledge, these are the last surviving members of the dodo race.
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>>5550140
Yes. They shit out a ridiculous amount of eggs.
>>
>David putting Beta Asta in his place with his "spear"
>David reminding Kigg SHODAN's his with the tattoo
Can a man get much more based?
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>>5550140
+1 to this idea
>>
Shelta who?
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>>5550466
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>>5550479
Pfffff
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>>5550479
You mentioned expenses issues. And easy fix would be selling unfertilized doodoo eggs and meat at stations, or on the farmers market of the ship. Considering how much a luxury meat is on stations, selling meat would be very lucrative considering how easy it is to care and raise them. We could even cut additional costs if V.I.'s/retarded A.I.'s are used. I mean, those janitor bots could probably be automated to clean and feed the doodoos without need of farm hands as frequently. This would at least be more profitable than trying for a space farm (until some bigger brained some bitch can think of something. I had in mind aeroponics with earth crops).

Besides the doodoos, and possibly an aeroponics farm, we have a weapons fab and medical fab. we could sell common drugs (the good kinds) and phasers or similar baby weapons to generate income. Once we unlock the secrets to prosthetics we could also start selling those to fuck over medical corpos.
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>>5550479
Could we also visit grandpa at the hospital? To see if he is awake and if we could somehow help him?

I would also like to ask for sauce. For purposes of science and learning.
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>>5550635
He's on a different station, the one we plan to attack. I'm not even sure if he's still alive, but I hope he is.
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>>5550466
That one deer chick who we told that space is extremely dangerous and she shouldn't go out there, and then proceeded to beat the shit out of her father in the next 10 minutes.
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>>5550653
Ah, my mistake. I was pretty sure that we docked there now.
I'm also retarded. Forgot about SauceNAO.
>>
>>5550101
>>5550161
Nice to see a warm ending with our tussle with Asta. Let's give Shelta a breeding pair along with the eggs, I'm sure they can keep the flock well-hidden to keep those murderous herbivores from fucking with them.
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>>5550161
>>5550675
In that case, dodoes for everyone. Shelta's dad was an ass, talked shit to the one guy that he shouldn't have because said guy was chatting to his daughter, so even though we beat him up I think a peace offering is in order there.
Also we want his family's blacksmithing production preferencing David's enterprise, and he's going to be a lot lot busier with the worm-man taken down a few pegs and looking for less business.

Lets hope fish-grandpa is still good. He took care of Cylia when she needed protein and didn't deserve the firebombing or losing fish-grandma. Replacing his business with dodoes can only be a good thing, once we get back to the other station, Xebric.
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>>5550479
Aaaaaah
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>>5550736
That time we didn't managed to stop the bullying against blacksmith stag bull right? I remember Davidb going full karen at them and Cylia convincing him that bombing the place was a bad idea, but nothing else
>>
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>>5550801
I don't think that's exactly what happened, but the image of it is too funny for me to forget.
>David faces a minor inconvenience in his life
>pic related
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>>5550804
to be fair, that 100% describes david. it was sheer luck that the aliens abducted him before he went full unabomber on whatever community was nearest to him
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>>5550813
David was an auto mechanic who was thinking of settling down with some nice local girl at the time. Really no reason to pull a Ted Kacyznsky on 'em.
I also feel like David would go the Punisher route if he felt like he was wronged that badly.
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>>5550824
So...more of what we're doing already.
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>>5550824
having a partner and a job doesn't stop you from sending spicy tubes to anyone that slights you. if anything it lets you know who to send those packages to
>>
I say he became maladjusted to earth because he adjusted to space society which is pretty much africa with more feds and less scarcity.

I hope QM goes great lenghts to illustrate how ducked up David is, when he returns to earth
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>>5550839
Maybe he starts to weep at the sight of the first human in years and is meek when taking to others... that would be cute and slightly disgusting.

>Be David
>Show up in a gas station
>See a greasy truck driver
>Cry
>Rush him and pull in for a bear hug
>his back breaks
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>>5550840
>David walks up to the cashier, cradling a pile of junk food and soda in his arms like a newborn
>"Will that be all for you today sir?"
>"N-no [sniff] I'll take a pack of Marlboros."
>"Would you like a lighter with that?"
>"Do you got any of those novelty ones that look like a topless woman?"
>"Uh...yeah."
>"God I missed this planet."
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>>5550892
You have no idea how right you are.
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>>5550898
You painted a pretty good picture of how lacking space food is in terms of taste, even after David's tried his best to unfuck it.
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>>5550892
>>5550898
Ouch.....he needs a hug.
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>>5550904
He needs some food that doesn't taste like it's been run through a strainer.
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>>5550908
>tfw david starts his own gmo crops in space just to get actual flavorful spices
>tfw each one of them is considered not only a biohazard but also an invasive species
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>>5550101

"Gildur, can you do me a solid?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Of course, Captain."

"I need you to take... let's say four? Four fertilized eggs to this address. One male, three females. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes sir!" Gildur salutes.

Immediately, he runs off to the lab and grabs a hypo-stim with which he can inject a few unfertilized eggs.
There's a whole procedure for this, which you've mostly left up to the crew until now. You don't really know how it works, and you don't particularly care as long as the meat keeps coming.

It might be a good idea to give Gron's crew some eggs, too. There's a lot of meat-eaters on his ship, and you know how hard it can be to get real animal protein out in space.
Hell, they could even start raising them back on their station. It's not hard. They eat anything, including nutrient paste. They're too stupid to be aggressive or try and escape either.

Animals from Garden worlds are just built different, you guess.
...Not that it's easy to think of that hellhole as a Garden world anymore.

"Gildur!" You yell.

"Yes, Captain!" He yells back.

"Send a few over to Gron's crew, while you're at it!"

"Uh... okay! We won't have any eggs left for a couple of days, though!"

"Yeah, that's fine."

You're beyond sick of just eating eggs and what is effectively chicken at this point anyways.
There's only so many ways you can cook that shit before you have to admit it's still just chicken and eggs.

"Now then... how should we do this?" You mumble.

Those robots have plasma weapons. You're not sure how many shots a Mk.2 skinsuit could take, but you also kind of don't want to find out.
So it's probably a good idea to bring your armor. It's also probably a good idea to just... leave behind SHODAN's skin, since it'll probably get damaged.

That'll be fine though, since she's wearing a full-body suit of armor herself. It'll cover her up while she's walking around.

What you really need to figure out is your weapon loadout.
From Sanig's research, their critical components are mainly centered around the lower right quadrant of the torso. A well placed rifle round would disable them instantly with a minimum of damage.
But they're also generally susceptible to phaser fire, which at high enough power will fry them instantly no matter where you hit them. Sanig also happens to have designed some anti-robot phaser rifles for this purpose.

Those rifles can also be powered directly by your suit, which would mean you're not going to run out of ammo mid-fight. However, it'll fry all the electronics in those robots to hell.
That's kind of an issue, because you did actually have some plans for the carrier that would make good use of them, with a bit of retrofitting.

>Go in with an AR-15 and black tips. You want those things mostly intact at the end of this.
>Use Sanig's phaser rifles. You'll need to design all new internals for them, but that's not a huge issue.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5550951
>Go in with an AR-15 and black tips. You want those things mostly intact at the end of this.
We'll treat this like hunting. Don't want to ruin the "meat", as it were.
>>
>>5550951
>Go in with an AR-15 and black tips. You want those things mostly intact at the end of this.
Fed loot is a good idea, I am curious if whether or not their bots are designed to act as possible soul cages/avatars.
>>
>>5550959
I don't think the kill bots were designed as such, but I can imagine they'd work as AI frames given the right modifications.
>>
>>5550967
I want to confirm that possibility. Then make it better.
>>
>>5550951
>Go in with an AR-15 and black tips. You want those things mostly intact at the end of this.
>>5550967
i was thinking that as well. we could even use one of those for shodan as well. maybe a more basic frame will help her get used to piloting different bodies better, or at the very least it will be a more disposable body for her to use
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>>5550951
>Go in with an AR-15 and black tips. You want those things mostly intact at the end of this.
>>
>>5550951
>Go with the Assault Rifle-15.
No idea how will David fire the rifle with the meaty hands of the power armor, but if he can lets goo
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>>5550951
>>Go in with an AR-15 and black tips. You want those things mostly intact at the end of this.
>>5551038
power armor is for pussies.
>>
>>5550951
>>Go in with an AR-15 and black tips. You want those things mostly intact at the end of this.
>>
>>5550951
AR-15 with black tips and our warp-metal bludgeon if things go sideways..

I want the exosuit too, but I understand these drones are probably hibernating so maybe combat is optional. one can hope that we don't fight the treasure

Clank, Nena and mute girl all need there graduation presents. CaithanAI needs to chill the fuck out first before he gets his own metal gear
>>
>>5551288
I don't want to give CatBot.exe something as large, high spec, or valuable as the Metal Gear. He can have a light scouting vessel with room for his frame and one or two organic occupants.
>>
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>>5550951
>Jury-rig one of Sanig's phaser rifles into a makeshift EMP gun.
Would be useless on organics, but a nightmare to machines.
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>>5551394
There might be some niche benefits to frying someone's implants, cybernetics, and translator without physically harming them.
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>>5550951
Thing is, can we even get our armor in there if we're going through the vent like last time?
Is it possible to send a corded drone in there to see what's up first? Surely those bots (if there are bots in there) have a means of exiting that area other than busting through walls?
AR with black-tip, I guess. We could consider a powered (pole)hammer with a super-heated warpstone head... Or a Half-Life 2 style crossbow with heated warp metal tipped bolts.

>There's only so many ways you can cook that shit before you have to admit it's still just chicken and eggs.
>pic related

>>5551395
Clap two pieces of hot warp metal together?
>>
>>5550951

You head into the workshop rather than the cargo bay, where all of your various weapons are still stored.
Rather than pegboard, you have to strap them to the wall a bit more securely with velcro. You learned that after the first time you had to pull some serious G's and scattered everything everywhere.

Looking up and down the rows of various weapons, mainly Sanig's creations, you end up deciding to go with your AR-15.
It's a very modular weapon that's easy to modify, which you thought would matter more when you were first getting used to space society. But as it turns out, a rifle is almost always overkill in any situation.

This time though, you apparently have quite a few enemies to clear out. Not only that, but they're fairly tough.
According to Sanig, the feds pulled the same bullshit you did with SHODAN and gave them extremely tough frames, made out of their own version of plasteel.

That means ripping them apart with your bare hands isn't going to be an option, but it also means that penetration might be an issue depending on where you hit them.
There's no guarantee that you'll have the opportunity to place every shot right where you want, so if you have to aim off-target you want it to still do some damage.

"SHODAN, can you grab the 5.56 black tips from under the counter over there?"

"Of course, Captain. How many rounds should we be carrying?"

"...Might want to grab a duffel bag, while you're at it."

"Understood."

...Pulling two rifles down from the wall, you give them a look over.
Still in good condition, obviously. Only one of them has been used, and even then only lightly.

You have one for everyone on the crew, just in case, but it's kind of sad that they'll probably never see action.

"Captain, i have received a message from Miss Cylia." SHODAN informs you, a bag full of ammo slung over her shoulder. "It seems her current bounty will require an extended stakeout. She will not be back for some time."

You toss her the rifle she'll be using, and she catches it with one hand before rapidly checking that the barrel is clear and slinging it across her back.

"That's fine. Any word back from Sanig yet?" You ask.

"Radio silence. He hasn't been using his holopad either, but it appears to be on the move."

"Typical. What about Kyla?"

"..."

"SHODAN?"

"She responded some time ago, and i quote "I'm not fighting any goddamned killer robots, that's your job!"."

Wow, she actually said that in Kyla's voice. Emulated her tone and everything just perfectly. How talented.

"Great. And Gildur's a non-combatant too. He'd probably shit himself if i even asked him to come, so forget it. You want to just get going?"

"If we wait another twenty minutes we will be able to escort our mining skip. It is currently docked here for refuel and resupply."

"Sure, why not. Let's go over the equipment one more time, just to make sure we've got what we need..."
>>
>>5551573
Has SHODAN gotten a chance to practice shooting? Shouldn't be any issue based on how well she was fighting earlier, but with how OP humans are already I wouldn't be too surprised if you said that our superior brains are better at calculating trajectory than a gray built supercomputer.
>>
>>5551945
>Has SHODAN gotten a chance to practice shooting?
her frame is perfectly capable of handling the recoil and she has david's mamories. maybe she'll fire like 5 rounds off mark while she puts on practice what she knows, but then i don't think she'll have any issues
>>
>>5551573
>"SHODAN, can you grab the 5.56 black tips from under the counter over there?"
>
>"Of course, Captain. How many rounds should we be carrying?"
No description of her awesome ass as she bends over? Come on
>>
I just realized, we have another person who can actually handle heavy weapons with us now!
We need to get SHODAN an anti-tank rifle immediately.
>>
>>5551573

About half an hour later, SHODAN informs you that the mining skip is ready to depart and that it's crew is doing their final checks.

"This is Captain Rockefeller to Skip-01, do you read?"

["Yes, sir! Miss SHODAN tells us you're going to be escorting us this time around?"] The Skip's captain answers back over a particularly shitty-sounding microphone.

"That's right. We've got some business over at the mining site."

["Well i'm glad to hear that. There's been a huge influx of pirates and raiders recently, and they've been jumping at just about every slipspace signal they can hear. Honestly, i'm still a little worried..."]

Ah, yeah... you've heard something about that.
They aren't going after the station or anything, but the waters outside of the station so to speak, are a bloodbath.

After all, with all these refugees running around, it's no different than throwing chum in the water.

"Don't worry about it." You tell him. "If anyone's dumb enough to attack us, they won't be a problem for long."

"We'll leave it to you, Captain. Honeg out."

With that, he cuts the connection.

Was Honeg his name? You don't remember, honestly. You just picked him up because he seemed like the honest and hardworking type.
He hasn't given you a lick of trouble since you hired him, probably because he's got a family to feed.

The rest of the mining crew are the same. You didn't pick anyone without something to protect.

In any case, everyone but Sanig has been informed that you'll be taking the Metal Gear out on your own for a bit.
As soon as you get clearance, the maglocks release your ship and pull back, allowing you to gently slide her out of the dock and do a smooth turn as you fly off.

You still perform every docking and undocking manually, to help keep from getting rusty.

"Fuel pressure?"

"Nominal. Tanks are full as well." SHODAN replies.

"How's the draw looking on that arc thruster?"

"Two kilowatts at 3%. Parasitic load is two milliwatts at idle. All nominal."

"Slipspace drive. Interdiction device. Cloak and cooling loop. Capacitors, radar, shields..."

"All nominal."

"Alright, let's get the hell out of here."

The mining skip eventually meets up with you outside the station, and you carefully pilot the Metal Gear up close so that you're within eachother's slipspace bubble.
The Metal Gear's drive is more efficient, but the Skip has plenty of grunt on it's own. According to SHODAN, they can actually work together pretty well.

"Initiating warp bubble. Complete." SHODAN Informs you.""

On your mark, the skip begins slowly accelerating alongside you, keeping the two ships tethered as you head towards your target.
Or rather, this is the direction they always head before changing direction some time later. To keep people from following the skip directly back to the mining site.

And about ten minutes into the warp, your caution becomes justified.

"Captain, i am detecting an interdiction."
>>
>>5552415
Who has the balls
>>
>>5552438
No matter, they won't have those balls for long
>>
>>5552438
Either the stupidest and unluckiest pirates in the galaxy or it's feds
>>
>>5552438
Not Asta
>>
>>5552415

"Can we shake 'em?"

"We could, but not with the skip in tow."

"Yeah, figures. Alright, then..."

Looking at the sensors, you can see at least two distinct signatures behind you, and one of them seems pretty big.
It's hard to tell though. The signals get really chewed up during warp. That big signature could be a tight group of smaller ships, or it could be an actual frigate.

Either way, they're not going to leave you alone. You need to protect the skip.

>Break away from the skip and let them target you instead.
>Stay with the skip. You don't want them getting ambushed alone.
>Interdict them right back. You're willing to bet you can keep both ships from falling out of warp before they do.
>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
>>
>>5552612
>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
>>
>>5552612
>>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
GET FUCKED NERDS
>>
>>5552612
>>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
I HATE THE ANTICHRIST
I HATE THE ANTICHRIST
I HATE THE ANTICHRIST
I HATE THE ANTICHRIST
I HATE THE ANTICHRIST
>>
>>5552612
>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
SANITY IS FOR PUSSIES!
>>
>>5552612
>>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
>>
>>5552612
>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
>>
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>>5552612
>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
I feel the warp overtaking me... IT IS A GOOD PAIN!
>>
>>5552612
>>If you open the cockpit shutters you could take a few shots at them mid-warp. Unless they're willing to do the same, they can't even fire back.
Oh, Hell fucking yeah.
>>
Roll me 1d100, best of 3.
Higher is better.
>>
Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>5552904
cummies mommy
>>
Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>5552904
>>
Rolled 55 + 1 (1d100 + 1)

>>5552904
>>
Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>5552904
holy shit mang, why did you guys choose the WORST option of them all... I love it
>>
>>5553137
because we're indestructible
>>
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>>5553139
Or one could say... WE'RE FUCKING INVINCIBLE!
>>
>>5553152
>Scissor Guillotine when
>>
>>5553265
Nah bro
>unlimited ERA shield when
>>
>>5553269
Nah man, freaky hand robots to fondle your enemies with
>>
>>5552612

You feel the ship start to shudder and shake as it begins to get pulled off course.
You have to carefully adjust your thrust to keep the Metal Gear from banging into the skip.

"...SHODAN, i'm gonna do something stupid. Can you keep the ship stable for like, ten or fifteen seconds?"

"I will do my best, Captain."

You feel the shaking decrease slightly as SHODAN does her best to stabilize things, but it's still ramping up in intensity.

Not letting go of the controls, you flip the ship around mid-warp so that you're facing backwards.
There's a short moment where you can feel SHODAN panic a bit, but she manages to keep it under control for you.

"David, what are you doing?"

Opening the protective cover on the shutter switch, you flick it into the 'retracted' position and watch as the warp-shutters covering your cockpit start to roll up.
And for the first time, you stare out into space while traveling at FTL speeds.

You sort of expected something out of star trek, you know?
Maybe streaking stars, or a bunch of cool-looking blueshift, but that's not what you see.

There are no stars at all. No monsters or wraiths either, just a void.
Deep and black like nothing you've ever seen before.

Even if you closed your eyes in a completely dark room, it wouldn't be this black. Fuck.

What is this? Why isn't anything out there?
There should be something, shouldn't there? Where's the skip? Where's the enemy vessel?

You can't stop staring at it. It feels like you're looking over the edge of a cliff, and the drop itself is trying to pull you over.

There's a pressure in your head as panic starts to set in. You begin hyperventilating as the void seems to start creeping into the ship, like it's expanding to fill your whole vision.

"Captain!"

But that panic is cut off by SHODAN shouting at you, and the void is broken up by a holographic sight displayed on your canopy glass.
You focus in the center of that circle, and there you can see that the enemy ships are in fact visible. They're just a little bit far away. A little bit distorted.

You do your best to pull it together and lower the autocannon's firing harness, matching up it's projected path with the marker SHODAN placed on screen.
With shaking hands, you pull the trigger and watch as a burst of 20mm rounds arc out towards the target... but their flight path is anything but straight.

They twist, turn, diverge and converge. They spiral, flip and even turn around at times. You can't tell at all where they're going to go, although they all follow roughly the same trajectory.

But there are plenty of rounds, and some of them do come near the enemy ship.
You just need to adjust. Aim a little to the side, and fire for a little while longer.

SHODAN's guess was good, but space is strange here. You can't trust the target indicator.
Aiming off to the side a bit, you fire again, a much longer burst this time. Again, the bullets spray absolutely everywhere.

But this time they hit.
>>
>>5553370
Huh, Hail Sithis I guess.
>>
>>5553370
>Deep and black like nothing you've ever seen before.
Oh fuck not Detroit
>>
>>5553370
>You can't trust the target indicator.
use the force david
>>
>>5553468
>This
But unironically, it might fucking work.
>>
>>5553506
work what, David corrected the aim already
>>
>>5553370
We must use the Force to beat the Detroit like abyss and fire on our retard Xeno pursuers.
>>
>>5553570
This man gets it
>>
>>5553370
Seeing as we can see the other ships, I wonder if lasers could travel the same path the photons we see and connect with those ships, or perhaps physics work differently and just because the light takes a path in one direction doesn't mean it can take the same way back.
I would suggest rapid-fire or scatter weapons to saturate the area, but from the description there is good chance some of it could come back at us. So...

As for dedicated warp weapons, drone similar to this one could be used:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBMU6l6GsdM [Embed]
Where the target is optically identified, and for each maneuver a small "test" impulse is issued first, and if it brings the drone closer to target, the thrust is ramped up and sustained until it no longer brings us closer to the target, then other thrusters are test fired to see which thruster brings the drone closer to the target next. Basically, the drone is working as if all its controls are being constantly scrambled, and therefore is constantly testing and switching between all its thrusters on the fly to move toward its target.
tl;dr; do whatever it takes with any and all of the thrusters to make the select object larger and fill the screen

>>5553570
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V268Qk6-xsw
>>
You know, I did some thinking about the carrier design. How much energy does Metal Gear need?
Because if we're going with nuclear power plant on the carrier, we need to think about size. This is not a submarine on Earth. This is a space ship.
Life support, gravity, shields, energy weapons, nanofab. This all takes energy. And if we need more than 300MW, we are effectively looking at something the size of regular, nuclear power plant. Granted, alien tech might reduce it, but an AP1000 nuclear reactor shrunk by 50% still take up loads of space. Isn't anti-matter the better choice?
>>
>>5554075
too late mang, people wanted energy independancy even though dark matter and dark energy were the best option (there isn't anti matter in the setting)
>>
>>5553370

More than half miss, but almost half hit, and that's plenty.
There's a flash of light in the darkness as something explodes, followed by a secondary explosion that nearly blinds you.

You're forced to cover your eyes, and by the time the light fades SHODAN's body has come running in so that she can flick the manual switch on the shutters.
As the shutters close though, you can see a ball of expanding plasma along with brilliant ripples and arcs of lightning that are slowly working their way towards you.

"Captain, please turn the ship around and brace for impact."
"Captain, please turn the ship around and brace for impact."

Yeah, you should... you should do that...
But your hands are still shaking. Your breathing is still heavy.

And even though the shutter is closed, the imprint of that void is still fresh in your mind.
You can almost see it, right through the metal curtain.

A void of such depth and darkness that you can't even explain it...

"Captain! Focus!"
"Captain! Focus!"

SMACK.

SHODAN slaps you across the face so hard that spit flies out of your mouth.
The stinging in your cheek brings you back to reality, and you stare up at her for a moment before remembering what you were supposed to be doing.

Grabbing the flight stick again, you swing the ship around and catch back up to the Skip, which had pulled ahead while you were only using your reverse thrusters.
SHODAN's body collapses like a limp noodle as she ceases controlling it, focusing instead on the current situation.

"Is it still coming?" You ask.

"Unfortunately yes. That plasma wave is rippling with dark energy. Our warp bubble will collapse within one minute and forty-five seconds."

"What happens then?"

"We'll evaporate into a quark-gluon plasma as the bubble collapses and we're forced back into three dimensional space through 'the minimum'."

"...What's the minimum?"

"A pinhole in space, held open at the minimum possible size by the energy contained in the particles that made up our being."

"Okay. Any way we can not do that?"

"Already working on it. However, it will be a little rough."

You hear the sound of the generator ramping up, but at the same time the lights begin to dim as something draws an enormous amount of power.
And then, you hear what sounds like sheets of metal rippling. Almost like thunder, but slowed down immensely.

Followed by the weirdest sensation you've ever experienced in your life.
Slowly, from the direction of your warp drive, you see a shear form in the atmosphere that travels towards you.

No, it's not just in the atmosphere. Everything is effected by it. The light and shadows, the corridor itself, even SHODAN's crumpled body stretches and then contracts harshly.

When it reaches you, you can feel your flesh, bones and organs contorting, stretching slightly...
Your limbs look twisted and broken as it passes, but you feel no pain. And after it passes over you, you're back to normal.
>>
>>5554265
I simply don't have the patience not to call you a fucking retard today
>>
>>5554309
I get them mixed up man
>>
>>5554307
>"Already working on it. However, it will be a little rough."
I don't think the ramshackle skip will survive this...
>>
>>5554307
do pirate ships explode this hard?
>>
>>5554407
That must have been their antimatter supply.
>>
>>5554417
>>5554407
we're also in the middle of a warp. shit gets funky in here
>>
>>5554407
Ships don't normally explode during warp at all.
And if they do, there aren't usually any survivors.

>>5554075
The majority of the Metal Gear's energy needs come from movement.
Whether it's normal speed, supercruise or warp travel, all of them take varying amounts of power.

Combat also consumes a massive amount of energy for that reason, which is only compounded by having to use the lasers and shields as well.
You might remember that being an issue during your suicide run. The ship's general purpose, shield and laser capacitors were all drained, despite the Metal Gear having far more than a normal ship.

Your single-bottle reactor also simply couldn't keep up, requiring a long recharge period that left you vulnerable.
But at rest, the metal gear doesn't use much energy at all.

For the carrier, the one saving grace for nuclear power is the magical efficiency of alien heat pumps using exotic materials.
Thanks to that, the vast majority of the energy produced by the reactor can be converted into electricity. The losses won't be nearly as much as with a human-built reactor.

That heat will also be used to keep the carrier warm, heat water for showers, crack water into hydrogen and oxygen for propulsion and, during combat, superheat those gasses for extra thrust.
Enjoy the warm glow of nuclear power, anon.

But yes, it's going to be very big and very, very heavy, in particular due to the shielding required. However, it will produce all the power you need and then some.
It'll be the beating heart of your ship, and pretty much everything will rely on it in some manner.

>>5554417
Yes. The initial explosion ruptured their antimatter bottle, which set off the whole ship.
The dark matter and energy bottles were vaporized along with it, which in normal situations would simply leak them everywhere, but you're in slipspace right now.
>>
>>5554437
>It'll be the beating heart of your ship, and pretty much everything will rely on it in some manner.
I wonder if it's better to have it in the middle of the ship or all the way back. The center of mass will be wherever the reactor is for sure, but what's for the best...
>>
>>5554450
It will be a large mass for sure, but it's only one part of a much larger ship.
It's mass will be offset by water storage and equipment on the other side.
>>
>>5554450
my guess is if you expect to get hit or not. imo, for a ship like the metal gear, it makes sense to have it on the back because you could(in theory) eject a malfunctioning antimatter reactor and maybe survive the blast. but if you're in a carrier that is supposed to have a ton of defenses, and not get hit you could have it in the middle
>>
>>5554307
>"We'll evaporate into a quark-gluon plasma as the bubble collapses and we're forced back into three dimensional space through 'the minimum'."
That sounds like a fun way to make antimatter
>>
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>>5554307
>>5555374
"We'll evaporate into a quark-gluon plasma as the bubble collapses and we're forced back into three dimensional space through 'the minimum'."

"...What's the minimum?"

"A pinhole in space, held open at the minimum possible size by the energy contained in the particles that made up our being."

>NO PROBLEM SHODAN, LET ME REFILL MY BODY WITH MENERGY

stale memes best memes
>>
>>5554307

The wave continues on to engulf the nearby Skip, gaining speed as it expands out to the edge of your warp bubble.
You watch as the fireball impacts the leading edge of the wave and is pushed back, causing your ship to jolt as if it were being pushed somehow.

"SHODAN, what the hell was that? What did you just do?"

"I overloaded the warp drive." She explains calmly and succinctly.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not as dangerous as being ejected into a lower dimension as a soup of subatomic particles."

"Point."

You're about to ask if everything's good now when the ship is absolutely rocked by something, and you notice the warp shutters covering your cockpit are instantly heated to a red-hot glow.

"Holy shit?!"

"..."

"Are you gonna explain what the fuck just happened?!"

"I did."

"No!" You groan. "Explain! Now!"

"The enemy ship's warp bubble collapsed, and they were ejected. As soup."

"...AND?!"

"They were compressed."

"...So?!"

"So, in simple terms, compression heats things. They became very hot."

You turn back to the shutters, watching the dull red glow slowly fade as it cools down against the sapphire cockpit glass.

"So you're telling me that was... what, a flash of light and heat? From their warp bubble collapsing?"

"Along with a considerable burst of x-rays and gamma rays. Fortunately, i positioned our ship such that the Skip was in it's shadow. The crew aboard should be unharmed."

You sigh as you lean back in your pilot seat.
You don't immediately feel hot or itchy, so however many rads you received, it can't be that bad. No blue glow or anything.

"Holy shit, that was crazy. Did you see when uh... when... uhm."

You were going to complete your sentence there, but the thing you were trying to remember just isn't there.
It's like it's on the tip of your tongue, but it's simply missing. Just gone, like there's a void where it used to be.

"Diagnostic checks complete. All systems are functioning within 5% of expected values. We have received sixteen panicked hails from the Skip. Seventeen."

"Uh... yeah, just... patch them through. I guess." You mumble, still trying to remember what it was you were going to say.

As soon as SHODAN does, you immediately regret it.
The first thing you hear is panicked screeching and the sound of someone banging on a locked door.

The first thing you see is several crewmembers either curled up on the floor or performing some sort of prayer ritual, followed by the ship's captain sliding into frame, sweating buckets.

"What is it, Honeg?" You demand.

["C-Cap...tain...!"] The man struggles to verbalize, words caught in his throat like he's been eating wacky glue.

"I said what is it, man? I took care of the pursuers. We're safe."

["W-Wha-What the FUCK just happened..?!"] He finally manages to get out.

"Like i said, somebody tried to interdict us. I shot them down. It's already over, we're good."
>>
I wonder if SHODAN was capable of doing this instead of David. In fact, can SHODAN stare at the... you know what? Maybe her AI-core is robust enough, with the mind being an expanse with no ending (If I remember what clank said correctly)

Also, QM, is SHODAN a soul or an AI? I am not sure what stuck with the whole Fed-AI v/s Grey-AI. Did they both soup-ed people into blended wraiths and then stuck then into a core?
>>
>>5556070
As far as you know, AIs are made from the souls of sentient species. That includes SHODAN.
Feds may or may not use a different process from the Greys, but in the end it's baking a cake two different ways with the same ingredients.
>>
>>5556021
Oh....ohhh shit, the void ate the memory....that's not a good sign...>>5556079
what about the Cthulhu psychic girl in her box?
>>
>>5556021
Wait...CAN THE CREW FEEL THE VOID FROM THE SPOT WE OPENED TO SHOOT AT THE ENEMY?!
>>
>>5556120
David is alone in the ship, with SHODAN.
>>5556079
Got it
>>
>>5556134
I know, I mean if the other ship could feel what went down, did our crew freakout too?
>>
>>5556021
Did David just angryman himself through mindbending 11th dimensional trauma that would bring any sane lifeform to its knees begging for mercy from ancestors?

I wonder how Sanig would have fared and we need to see shipboard recordings for improvements in counter-interdiction procedures, and definitely not to study the warp as David has forgotten this.

That Koneg is still speaking with us is also reassuring. His crew aren't so capable apparently.
>>
>>5556417
Would seeing outside through a digital device make it better, for instance, inverting the colors so it's a white expanse instead of a black one?
Are digital devices and AIs even capable of "seeing" in the warp? If they could, stands to reason point defense an automated targeting would still work, so they probably don't.

>>5556120
It's like opening the windows while driving through Chicago at night; you may be in the backseat (or the trunk), but you can definitely still feel the darkness reaching in.
>>
>>5556021
>Why are you guys so bent out of shape?
>>
>>5556021

It takes nearly half an hour to convince the crew of the Skip that you aren't about to die.
And a further three hours for them to actually calm down.

The rest of the trip, however, goes extremely smoothly.
Nobody else tries to interdict your ship, nothing crawls out of the depths of hell to eat your soul.

Besides a bit of a lingering headache and some memory loss, all is well.

Yeah, that's the only thing. By the end of the day, your memories of the event are completely gone.
You have to go over the security footage just to prove to yourself that it even happened.

That's all, though.

And when you exit slipspace just outside of the mining site, you're greeted to the sight of twenty drone ships, all lined up in nearly pristine condition.
Along with the cannibalized husks of ten more, which were broken down for their parts and plating to repair the others.

A small dry dock has been assembled, along with a basic hab for Dark Star, Tezza and his men to live in while they work on things.
The miners are staying there too, so they go on ahead to dock with it and get some much needed rest after that little encounter.

You on the other hand, make your way to the line of drone ships.
There's a shuttlecraft there with Tezza inside, who's been waiting on you.

["Gunny."] He calls out over the radio.

You open up a video feed, and Tezza's lizard-like form is revealed.

"Tezza. Looks like your boys have made good progress, huh?"

["Dark Star did most of the work. It was easy with that fab you brought us."]

"I bet. But what's this about killer robots?"

["Oh, you know. Nothing too dangerous. They just cost Koldja one of his legs is all."]

"...Shit. Is he gonna be alright?"

["He's fine. We're the crafty type, you know? Got him some nice new bionics, and he'll be good as new... in a few weeks. Problem is, we can't get to the mechanical rooms in any of these ships."]

"Yeah, that's kind of a problem. I assume you got them mapped out by now?"

["Already sending the data over. Oh, and one more thing."]

"What?"

["Koldja says he's gonna need a bonus. Hazard pay."]

You chuckle lightly.

"Yeah, alright. I'll get the poor bastard something nice."

...

After chatting for a while and getting all of the relevant data from Tezza, you find yourself sitting in the mess hall, staring down at it on your holopad.
You're trying to memorize the map layout. Normally it wouldn't be all that hard, but for some reason you're just blanking out.

It's not like you're not trying. It's just like the information doesn't want to go in.
So you just sit there, staring at it. For a while.

Until you feel SHODAN's hand on your shoulder.

"Captain. Are you feeling alright?" She asks, taking a seat next to you at the table.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm just feeling tired, i guess. Not sure why, i haven't even done anything yet."

SHODAN stares at you intently, watching as you blink several times, trying to wet your eyes. They feel dry.

"...Captain, your eyes are rather bloodshot."
>>
>>5556757
What are we going to give Koldja as his bonus? A gun might be nice, or we could get Sanig and Kyla to fine tune his leg. If all else fails, we can just throw some extra credits his way.
>>
>>5556768
We could give him a killbot leg?
>>
>>5556772
An anatomically appropriate version of SHODAN's leg. But then it might rip off the stump with all the powerful forces involved.
>>
>>5556768
A bionic leg with Latnium highlights maybe
>>
>>5556778
Wait....we could give him a chainsaw leg.
>>
>>5556757
>Yeah, that's the only thing. By the end of the day, your memories of the event are completely gone.
>You have to go over the security footage just to prove to yourself that it even happened.
that's..... worrying, and absolutely full of potential

>>5556768
a big chunk of cash and if he's of the predator type, maybe a female dodo, or a single breeding pair
>>
>>5556768
We give him a go with Kylia
>>
>>5556934
Let's not
>>
>>5556768
A leg with a big gun in it.
>>
We know that Warp anomalies can cause extreme time dilation and other temporal anomalies.
With that in mind, Cochrane, how long did that mid-Warp maneuver actually take? Because it sounds like David's exhibiting symptoms of severe sleep deprivation.
>>
>>5556961
Why not? She's the ship's whore anyhow
>>
>>5556934
>>5557007
No, she is not. From what we have seen, she has only been with David this entire time. Well, maybe Cylia, too?
Trying to whore her out to someone unknown to her would be:
a) not something David would ever do.
b) not something she would agree to.
Your idea is simply retarded.
>>
>>5556934
>>5557007
She belongs to David.
>>
>>5556934
>>5557007
Wait, do you two retards mean Kyla? Shitpost after you learn the names.
>>
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>>5556757
Is David the kind of guy just to take "gaze into void = memory loss" as law, or would he be willing to challenge it somehow?
Also, SHODAN could probably go over our memories to see where our memories cutoff and where it began again, and if anything else is missing. Could give us insight into just exactly is going on.
I suspect it is only a matter of time before David will have to stare into the warp again. We're going to have many powerful foes soon, and the warp is one place we could have an advantage even if outnumbered given what David now knows(?) about dark matter/energy and warp interactions.

>>5556778
>>5556783
Plasma caster leg. Or a flamethrower leg, if he doesn't want to break the law.
>>
>>5557444
The law is made to be broken. I would say uranium thrower, but he would be to squishy for that.
>>
>>5556757
>>5556992
Sounds like vortex grenades are a go for anti-personnel actions. Drop a grenade, induce psychosis, maybe summon a wraith to really wreck someone's day. And hopefully, just hopefully not summon the true demons and their overlords while we break the universe further.

>>5556768
We promise him a roast dodo dinner, with all the trimmings if he's a carnivore. If he's a vegatarian, then.. maybe beyondburger style stuff with sauces and seasonings. Just to show that we treat our contractors well.
Then get Sanig to give him the good shit bionic legs in the socket of his old one. Integrated magnetic clamp on the sole, David's lightweight plasteel alloy composition, VI controller to manage balance and so on.
This is stuff a latinum money bonus can't buy.
>>
>>5557683
>This is stuff a latinum money bonus can't buy.
I'm pretty sure good prosthetics is definitely something money can buy for him. He can probably get a cloned replacement of his actual leg slapped on if he has the proper funding. The real issue is where to get it, because being out in the ass end of nowhere without a big fancy doctoring house just doesn't have the facilities to make it.
>>
>>5557696
If Koldja can't get a mastercrafted-bionic then its basically the same thing in terms of accessibility and what the wallet can buy.
Sanig making the bionic for a worker also opens up ways that the grey can do his thing and rehab himself into someone who doesn't just make guns for sale but branches out a bit more publiclu, and maybe he gets some drinking buddies who aren't looking to cut his throat.
>>
>>5557902
>same thing in terms of accessibility and what the wallet can buy.
Functionally yes, but technically no.
>>
>>5556757

"Yeah? Maybe i need some eye drops."

"Hold still for a moment." She orders you, holding your head steady by the chin.

Her face is close to yours, and she's staring deeply into your eyes...
Then you notice the reverse image of a holographic display in her eyes. She's performing some kind of scan.

"...Captain, there are numerous burst capillaries in your eyes and the surrounding tissue. The dark circles under your eyes may actually be bruises."

"Okay? Well how the hell did that happen?" You yawn.

"I am uncertain. Logically, it must be an after-effect of gazing headlong into the warp. There is very little scientific data about this on public networks, so i am unsure of the long or short-term effects."

"Well... i'm fine for now. Just... tired. Really goddamn tired."

You lay your head down on the table, between your arms.
You were supposed to head in and clear out the robots right away, but you're just exhausted for some reason.

"...I am worried for your health and safety, Captain. Earlier today, you received some sort of brain trauma from your telepathic conversation that that Lymantrian, and now you're suffering from memory loss after witnessing the warp."

"I took that medicine, didn't i? I should be fine."

"...Neuro-gel only bridges damaged connections. It can restore lost brain function, but it takes time for those artificial pathways to become activated. It cannot heal you instantly, Captain.
Rather, your exhausted state may actually be a result of your brain re-wiring itself to make use of those new pathways. Perhaps it would be best for you to sleep, and allow your body to heal."

...Yeah, maybe she's right.
Your body does it's best healing when you're asleep. That's also when long-term memories are formed.
Maybe that's why you can't remember anything from after you opened the shutter? ...No, you can remember things from before that just fine.

Well, whatever the case, it certainly wouldn't kill you to rest a bit...
But at the same time, a lot of shit is going on right now. You'd hate to be napping while some sort of trouble is cropping up.

Shit, you're sleepy.
It would suck if you started losing focus during combat, too. You've seen people get taken out over that more than once.

>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.
>Nope, too much on the table right now. If you could stay up for three days straight in Afghanistan, staying up right now shouldn't be an issue.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5557908
>>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.
>>
>>5557908
>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.
Shodan is our digital right hand. She's more than capable of dealing with whatever eventuality that will happen
>>
>>5557908
>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens
>>
>>5557908
>>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.

Wake us in 6 hours. Don't wanna wait too long for this.
>>
>>5557908
>>>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.
One of those power naps could suffice. Feet higher than the head, breathing excercises and 15 minutes of zzzs
>>
https://youtu.be/Frazx5zxScE
>>
>>5557908
>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.
we shouldn't have chose too many situations that have messed us mentally
a single rest wouldn't be enough for this constant mindfuckery a full week in meditation is what we need for this
>>
>>5558089
i don't think david is capable of meditation. at least in the traditional sense of staying still with his thoughts for like an hour or so
>>
>>5558162
There are other ways to achieve a meditative trance. A lot of people like it to the flow state, so it stands to reason that David could potentially meditate while doing something that he technically needs to focus on and expend effort doing, but can pretty.much do it mindlessly.
For him, it might be working out, drilling hand to hand techniques, disassembling and cleaning his weapons, etc...
>>
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>>5557908
>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.
We should should explicitly TELL her to wake us if something happens, just in case...
Also, if possible, have her scan David's head to see the extent of memory loss/damage, and just in case our dream time gets a little too wild.
>>
>>5557908
>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens.
>>
>>5558332
>Also, if possible, have her scan David's head to see the extent of memory loss/damage, and just in case our dream time gets a little too wild.
We would need to find the facilities for it, because she did what she could already. Unless this grey-tech ship has... grey tech in it
>>
>>5558240
>>5558162
I think jogging can make you reach a meditative state
>>
>>5558428
I think that's totally possible, but the endorphin rush after extended running might cloud the mind too much.
>>
>>5558489
I felt that ONCE in the three weeks I went jogging a good 4-5 years ago. Yeah I haven't done it since...
>>
>>5557908
>Just get some sleep. You really, really need it. SHODAN will wake you up if anything happens
SHODAN please wake us at 3-4 hourly intervals so we don't die in our sleep and so the void night terrors don't eat us. Also she regularly monitors David's life signs like pulse, bloodpressure through the translator? If not, please monitor David.
Sleeping with a potential concussion/stroke is a worry.
>>
>>5557908

"...Just four hours. No, maybe six... And if anything happens, wake me up immediately, alright?"

"Of course, Captain."

Groaning, you stand up from the table and trudge your way over towards the bed.
Your body feels heavy, your mind feels foggy, and your eyelids feel like they have lead weights glued to them.

As you crash into bed, you feel SHODAN turning the AC up for you.
Your body runs hot, so the cold helps you sleep...

But then you hear a rustling in the dark, and shortly afterwards you feel SHODAN herself crawling up into bed with you as well.

"What are you doing?" You ask.

In response, SHODAN runs her hands up your chest, feeling your muscles along the way.
She stops when her hand rests over your heart. Is she measuring your heartbeat again?

"Perhaps you have forgotten, Captain. My stomach is not the only thing that needs filling." She whispers.

"...What?"

"It's hungry."

Oh. Oh god, yeah. You forgot about that.

"I-I'm feeling pretty sleepy already..." You stutter, trying to brush it off.

"That won't do, Captain. You made me like this, and now you have to take responsibility..."

You feel SHODAN's weight increase all at once, causing the bed to creak along with it.
She uses her weight to pin your arms down as she straddles you, and you can just barely see her grinning in the dim light.

Uh oh.
You sense a different kind of danger.

...

.....

...

Wow.
Just wow.

There are no words to accurately describe what you just experienced.

But you can think of a few that come close.
Aggressive would definitely be among them. But you don't mind that one bit.

SHODAN definitely took advantage of your memories to... enhance the experience as much as possible for you.
And you learned a lot about yourself as a result of it, even though you didn't get through even half the stuff she wanted to try.

One more thing you learned is that... well, Sanig seems to have made some adjustments when you weren't looking.
SHODAN's nethers were already custom-crafted by a madman using highly invasive techniques, all for the sake of maximizing pleasure...

But Sanig took that a step further, implanting her with... something. You're not sure what the hell it is, because you weren't there when he put it in.
You wanted nothing to do with that whole process, so you weren't even in the room at the time.

But whatever he put in her, it's nothing if not stimulating.
Suction. Vibration. Shiatsu massage. All of that on top of her... unnatural talents, you guess you could say.

If your brain wasn't fried before, it definitely is now.

You fall into a deep, dreamless sleep with SHODAN hugging you tightly.
Or at least... you thought it was dreamless.

You did experience something. Not quite a dream, but it didn't feel real either.
A searing pain as you're plunged into a murky liquid. The feeling of encroaching darkness all around you.

The sensation of floating weightlessly in a void.
And a fear of the dark, creeping inwards.
>>
>>5559350
>david finally fucked the onahole
>he only had to make a full sexbot for it
coward.
>>
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>>5559350
does she feel pleasure when she does it?
>>
>>5559350
Damnit SHODAN, always choosing the worst time to bone. And I'm that pervert that suggested installing the onahole in her in the first place many moons ago.
>>
>>5559436
hey, its not rape if someone has hears in their eyes. thankfully shodan can turn those on at will
>>
david ahegao
>>
>>5559350
It turns out shodan's a snu snu gal.
>>
>>5559685
SHODAN doesn't ask, she commands, and doesn't take a no as an answer
>>
>>5559685
>>5559774

SHODAN plays off of what David likes.
She wouldn't have done it if he wasn't going to enjoy it.
>>
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>>5559387

>>5559810
>"I'm going to show you what you like, just try not to scream"
>>
>>5559882
>>5559810
>handholding
>passionate kisses
>>
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>>5559810
desu I too want to get snu snu'd by a 328lb sexbot when I'm too tired to resist, not that I would want to resist
>>
>>5559886
This is a blue board, please have some restraint.
>>
Okay so I been thinking...
Would SHODAN be the perfect wife? Seeing how she basically has a direct line to David's brain and thus knows everything he likes, dislikes, wants, doesn't want, etc... And not biologically a woman (in terms of hormones and shit) and thus not prone to doing and feeling woman things. "Bitch I'm not a mind reader" also doesn't apply here considering she is literally living in his head rent free. That may not be totally reciprocal, but David is nothing if not adaptable for the most part

However, while only speculatively confirmed, she does have the female soul, an actual female soul chained to a machine, and thus is part of the divine, transcendental feminine which is what men are actually attracted to no matter how much TnA they latch onto. Kind of a love/hate thing that. Anyway

Make no mistake here. I've been part of the Cylia gang from jump; she's hot, strong, clever, a cat girl, puts up with Dave's stupid stunts, critical but never shit testing

But if anyone was ever gonna really grok David, it'd have to be SHODAN. Guys what if David linked to her consciousness. Dude's already started into the infinite void, came out mostly fine. What else would experiencing a functionally infinite AI capacity for information do to him? Fill him to the brim with junk info the brain couldn't deal with, or would the brain *adapt*?

Man maybe I'm overthinking this and disregarding Cochranes capacity for only wanting his action scifi harem builder quest but.... QM, David is getting damn close to crossing Nietzsche's tightrope. Is this your intention?
>>
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>>5560095

Inshallah, inject crack cocaine into your balls.
Ahmadullah my brother.
>>
>>5560095
Hey man, linking your consciousness is cool and all that. But I would rather be linked to someone who I am not fucking. At that point you are just fucking yourself which is masturbation and gay.
>>
>>5560095
kek. lol. lmao even.
setting aside that your post reads like a incel version of a vaporeon copypasta, no.
strictly speaking, yes, shodan does fill the needs of your 50's representation of a wife, but that translates into shodan treating david like a baby. that's boring and there is no edification in there
>>
>>5559350
No one else is going to talk about the fact that we just had a vision of getting turned into a federation AI? Our soul got lost in the warp when we looked out that window, and I pity the xenos glowie that tries to put a shackle on our blue box.
>>
>>5560095
Don't do drugs, kids.
>>
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>>5560345
Ngl, I would be down to a space version of Old World Blues.

>So, you prefer to just stay there? In that box of.. whatever the fuck that is?
>"YES! These eldritch multidimensional abominations are not nearly as sanity draining as one would think. But if I had to feel even a single crayon more entering our digestive system, then I'd actually go insane."
>Come on, the red ones aren't so bad.
>>
>>5559350

When you awaken, nothing much has changed.
SHODAN's body is still laying beside you in a state of undress, curled up and looking quite comfortable.

However, you can tell from the pattern of her breathing that she isn't currently inhabiting that body.
It's always a little more irregular when she's controlling it herself, but when she's not, it's perfectly rhythmic and steady.

Of course, that's all for show.
She does intake oxygen to digest her food, but that's done using an air pump.

Groaning, you stretch out your limbs and sit up on the edge of the bed.
Your holowatch on the night table beside you reads 5am, according to your own 24 hour schedule.

That means you slept for twelve hours, not four or six.

"...SHODAN? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You needed it. Don't worry, i kept watch."

"Well... i hope the crew isn't upset. We've been gone a while already."

"I am certain that Clank will make accommodations for them. They are not helpless, Captain."

"Yeah, you're right... i'm sure they'll be fine. And i do feel much better after that nap."

You groan again as you stand up out of bed, stretching even further and allowing your spine and joints to pop and crack.
It almost sounds like freshly laid gravel underfoot.

"Are you alright? I apologize if i was a bit too rough."

"No, no... it was good. Real fuckin' good, believe me. I'm just gettin' a little old is all."

"Half your natural lifespan still remains. You aren't old just yet, David."

"Gee, thanks."

...

Since your skinsuit is already off, you take the opportunity to print yourself a MK.2 skinsuit while you're taking a shower.
With SHODAN's help, the printing is done by the time you get out and dried off.

It's... heavy.
Completely dissimilar to the Mk.1 skinsuit, it has heft. Heft that can only be attributed to the heavy weave of artificial muscles that make up it's bulk.

Getting it on is much more difficult than a MK.1 suit, as it doesn't simply stretch and slip on like a piece of spandex.
You have to yank and tug on it to force your limbs in, and there's a lingering pressure after you're done.

"...SHODAN, are you sure this suit isn't too small? I feel like it's squeezing me all over. Especially my nuts..."

"Affirmative, Captain. Part of the Mk.2 suit's job is to strengthen and reinforce your body beyond it's natural limits. It is able to do that by acting on your body in a similar manner to how your own muscles act on your bones."

"...So it treats my arms and legs like bones? That's why it's gotta be so stiff?"

"Do not worry. Once you insert the battery pack, the discomfort should be relieved somewhat."

You sigh and grab a battery pack, sliding it into place on the small of your back.
As soon as you do, you feel every muscle in the suit twitch and tense up, which is unbelievably odd and uncomfortable... but then they begin to soften.

Within a few seconds, it no longer feels like you're wearing a pressure suit.
>>
These new muscle suits seem like they'd be great for elderly folks or people with muscular dystrophy.
It also occurs to me that we don't really look into the uses for any of our technological innovations past asking "Does this kill stuff good?".
>>
>>5560714
because their main purpose it to kill people and we have 0 interest to make them available to the public, at least for the time being
>>
>>5560714
I see what you're getting at and I've got you senpai:

Hey Cochrane, does this suit make our ass look big?
>>
>>5560790
If you're not careful, the clapping of your ass cheeks might alert the guards.
>>
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>>5560803
>>
>>5560696

"Is... is that it?" You wonder. "I didn't feel anything. I wonder why Sanig was sooooAAAAAAAAAGH!!"

You're suddenly overwhelmed by the sensation of thousands of hypodermic needles stabbing into you, starting from the tips of your toes and slowly working up to the top of your head.
They aren't needles. They're little electrically conductive hairs, but they are indeed stabbing you. Each one planting itself right next to a nerve, or else along a nerve pathway as the suit begins to interface with your body.

Your whole body begins to cramp up as not just the white-hot pain of having all your nerves stabbed, but also the feeling of electricity running through your body intensifies dramatically.
This is the suit mapping out your nerve pathways, leaning where to stimulate in order to elicit a response from a particular nerve group. However, that also means it's shocking the nerves it just stabbed.

And causing every muscle in your body to cramp up at once.

It's only about fifteen seconds, but it feels like an eternity.
All you can do is writhe in agony on the floor, drooling and groaning because both your throat and diaphragm have cramped and you can't actually get a scream out.

"David? Are you alright?" SHODAN asks, her still-nude body now crouched in front of you.

She jumped up and ran over as soon as she saw what happened.
All you can do for a few seconds is roll over onto your back and let out a pained sigh as your muscles finally begin to relax.

"...Ahhhhhhhhh."

"You forgot to take your medicine, didn't you?" She chides.

SHODAN flips you over back onto your side, just in time actually as you end up vomiting on the floor from the pain.
She then flips open a protective cover on your suit's life support pack and finds five empty slots for a variety of different auto-injectors.

You have to admit, you did kind of forget that you were supposed to put those in manually after the fact. You've just gotten so used to everything being done right off the hop out of a fabricator...
Pain blockers and muscle relaxants. Strong, fast acting, but short-lived thanks to a dose of clean-up mechanites that go in right after them. They would have made the process... not quite painless, but less than this.

"Ma-Maybe..." You groan.

"The shock from that would have killed anyone else, David. You must be more careful in the future."

"Yes... ma'am."

...

It takes you a couple minutes to get back on your feet, and then another half an hour to get semi-used to the suit.
It's a strange sensation. Every move you make goes as you expect, but the strength is simply double what you had intended.

But that's at the suit's maximum power output, which only lasts for ten minutes.
You had to swap the suit's battery three times while you were adjusting to it, but fortunately it only needs to read your nerve paths once, so you don't have to go through that again.

"How long did Sanig say the suit would last at minimum output, again?"
>>
>>5560696
"I'M THE OLDEST I'VE EVER BEEN OK SHODAN SHEESH"

>>5560714
That's exactly why Sanig loves the muscle suit. He has no mobility by himself otherwise and was getting around in a hoverchair before.

>>5560967
This is why you're careful with TENS machines kids, even if its funny watching someone else punch themselves in the face when you prank them.
Still though, only double David's strength.. at maximum output. Sanig, up your game man.
>>
>>5561082
I distinctly remember him hitting us with his walking cane, when we first met him.
>>
>>5561175
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2021/4866191/#p4883707
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2021/4866191/#p4884506
Correct, I had recalled he was basically Dr Eggman. It was productive-happy times looking through the archives to find this and all the crayon-marine jokes.

Still, there was mention that he got full range of mobility back in a later post when he put his suit on.
>>
>>5560967

"An hour." SHODAN replies. "But you can simply turn the suit off to save energy if need be."

"Won't that be like, super sweaty and uncomfortable, though?"

"Yes."

Yes, of course. Even at minimum output, the suit still has to keep the muscles active.
Not only that, it's also keeping your body temperature regulated and the onboard VI is still monitoring your life signs and relaying data, which also draws power.
If you turned the suit off, you'd be essentially be wearing a big, extremely thick rubber gimp suit that not only impedes movement, but also traps heat and moisture.

Fortunately, the battery is small enough to be swapped quickly and easily, and you can even carry a spare around if need be.
It's also possible to just charge the suit up from any available power source. Assuming no current limit, five minutes is supposed to be enough to give the suit a charge.

"Well then, let's avoid that if at all possible. Come on, let's get suited up."

Stepping into the cargo bay, you open up your armor crate and find your gear ready to go.
After locking her armored helmet into place, SHODAN grabs the duffel bag and her AR-15 out of the crate while you interface with the MK.1 Power armor.

You pull a small, thin data cable out of your skinsuit's... well, what would you call it? It's where all the life support, sensor equipment, power delivery and even the VI are located.
A small mound split into two parts, one seated in the small of your back and a second, larger mound fitted to your upper back.

No matter how you look at it, this thing has all the same functions as a RIG, and then some. Wouldn't be the first time you ripped a name off from a videogame, would it?
Well, here's hoping you don't end up like Isaac. You've already seen a lot of shit that wouldn't be entirely out of place on the Ishimura.

In any case, you reach around and pull a data cable from your RIG, connecting it to the data port of your power armor.
SHODAN and Sanig have already updated the armor's firmware, but it still needs to be updated with additional information now that you've actually put on a MK.2 skinsuit for the first time.

Unfortunately, the Mk.1 power armor wasn't built with the MK.2 skinsuit in mind, so integration will be limited somewhat.
You'll still have the same nerve-link interface as before, and it should be a fair bit more accurate, but nothing compared to what the MK.2 armor could do.

Unfortunately, there's no design for a human-scale MK.2 suit just yet.
Sanig's suit is a custom-designed prototype, and is still lacking in features compared to what you and your crew have planned for the full-fat final product.

But that's fine. The Mk.1 suit is still strong as hell. It's big, it's heavy, and after all the detailing you've done it's even pretty flashy. And did you mention it's strong?
Not that you're sour about it or anything, but you could totally crumple SHODAN's new body up like a piece of aluminum foil once you're wearing this baby.
>>
>>5562037
What video game is the term RIG ripped from?
>>
>>5562327
Dead Space
>>
>>5562331
Aah, okay. I don't touch anything EA even with a ten foot pole, my bad.
>>
>>5562334
It wasn't an EA franchise till the 3rd game.
>>
>>5562347
Okay well I'm also not old so I didn't play it back in 2008 or whatever stone age times it released in.
>>
>>5562362
That's only 15 years ago you fucking troglodyte.
>>
>>5562541
Only old people would think 15 years isn't a long time, fucking boomer
>>
>>5562561
>>5562334
>>5562362
Go and pirate the game right now you dumbass cumfart squid breath
>>
>>5562651
Why? I've got a vietnamese sandfishing forum to read quests on.
>>
>>5562676
good games are an experience hard to come by, son.

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/105186654 on another note, check this out
>>
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>>5562651
>>5562676
Amusing
>>
>>5562037

With both you and SHODAN now geared up, the only thing left to do is dock and start clearing out robots.

"Which one is it?" You ask.

"The one with the big patch in it's side."

"Oh, yeah. I think i remember that one. Didn't it get hit by a marauder?"

"Yes, Captain. Surprisingly, the damage was relatively minor. However, it did cut power to the engines."

"Alright. Well, let's get docked then."

"By your order, Captain."

...

Both you and SHODAN's body wait in the airlock while SHODAN flies the ship over and gets it into a docking position.
You hear a hiss as the air pressure equalizes with the drone ship, and the doors open.

"...There's air in here?" You mumble.

"Yes, Captain. Although not much, it is breathable."

"Oh, great. That means..."

"Lay down your weapon and submit."

Yeah, there it is. One of the six-armed robots walks around the corner and immediately spots you.
It has a plasma rifle in two of it's hands, and immediately aims to fire it at you.

However, SHODAN is faster.
She takes aim the moment she spots movement, and fires a single armor-penetrating round through the machine's power supply unit, located around the upper right pectoral.

The machine immediately loses power and falls face first, unmoving.

"Nice shot."

"Thank you, Captain."

Walking over to it, you kick the machine over onto it's back. There's a single through-hole bullet wound with no visible damage elsewhere.
Your custom-made "black tips" were able to punch straight through it's plasteel frame. As expected, considering how silly they are.

A diamond penetrator with a plasteel body, and a thin shell coating of lead so it doesn't mangle the barrel of your rifle.
Back on earth, something like this would be ridiculous. You'd go into debt after burning through one mag, but out here it's possible.

Space isn't all bad, you guess.

You rip the plasma rifle out of the dead robot's hands and toss it to SHODAN.

"Stick that to your side, just in case. They're pretty powerful, actually."

"Very well, Captain."

She does as you asked, placing the rifle against the magnetic holster on her hip.

"Captain, i would like to inform you that i could not hear this particular machine coming."

"Yeah? I didn't either. Must have been just standing there until we came in... ah, shit."

"So you've realized it too." SHODAN muses.

Yeah, it reacted to the sound of you coming in. And you just fired a rifle in here.
Looks like it's about to get a little bit loud.

>Roll 1d100, best of 4
>DC: 25
>>
Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>5563537
LETS GOOOOOOO
KILL ROBOTS
>>
Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>5563537
LETS ROCK
>>
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Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>5563537
Let's go.
>inb4 it's a nat 1
>>
>three dubs in a row
that's definitely something
>>
So the tier list goes
>David (sleep deprived)
>David (full of wraith juice)
>David (forma normalmente)
>POWER GAP
>David (8 hours of sleep and empty balls)
>>
Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>5563537
>>
>>5563540
>>5563545
>>5563548
Eyy, trip dubs.
>>
>>5562362
I'm sorry but you NEED to play the first one atleast, a masterpiece I tell ya.
>>
>>5563537

You feel them before you hear them.
A slight rumble throughout the ship, transmitted through your armor and into your whole body.

"Captain..."

"I know. We'll take this corner, shields up."

Rushing over to the corner that killbot just came round, you take a knee facing one direction and SHODAN faces the other.
You can hear them coming down both sides of the hall, so really it's just a question of which side appears first.

Whichever it's going to be, you both ignite your hardlight shields and make sure to cover your whole body as much as possible.

The rumbling grows more intense, along with the cacophonous clanking of metal on metal that must be their footfalls.
The first one appears on your end of the hall first, and you immediately take your shot.

It falls over dead before getting a chance to see you, but it's death is immediately followed by several dozen chants of...

"Lay down your weapon and submit."

"Ah, shit."

At least ten more killbots round the corner all at once, stepping over the one you'd just shot.
But you don't panic, and carefully place one shot in their chests one after another as they begin firing on you.

You can hear SHODAN start to fire her rifle as well, but have no time to focus on it.

Although the plasma weapons they're carrying aren't so effective against your hardlight shields, they are bringing the air temperature around you up quite a bit.
In fact, the wall you're crouched down next to has, just in front of your shield, been heated to a white-hot glow, and is starting to melt.

Fortunately, you're able to take the machines out with one shot each, and although they do start to draw kind of close by the time you fire on the last one, there were no real issues on your side.
So you spare a glance at SHODAN's side and find her performing much the same as you had, taking a single clean shot for each killbot that walks around the corner.

Her armored suit however, you notice, is smoking slightly from the high air temperature.

Still, you hold your position and wait for any more terminator-lites to round the corner.
Only two more actually do, and you take them out just as swiftly.

Shortly afterwards, SHODAN is finished mopping up her side as well.

"Phew, good work SHODAN. How are you doing though? That suit looks like it got pretty hot."

"Skin temperature is at 127F. Engaging heatsinks." She replies.

You hear a soft whirring sound, followed by her visibly exhaling steam with every breath.

"Damn, i wish i could sweat like that."

"I am certain it could be done, given the appropriate bionic implants."

"Nah, i don't think i want it that bad... probably."

Although, maybe a replacement for your knee...
No, it's been fine so far. Duranium joints would be a hell of an upgrade, though.

Your thoughts are interrupted be the lights suddenly turning off, followed by the sound of a blast door slamming closed.
By the the time the emergency lights come on a second later, you're already stuck on the ship.
>>
>>5564338

Well, "stuck" is a bit of a strong word. There's a plasteel blast door between you and your ship's airlock, but it's not like you couldn't get through it.
Between you, SHODAN, a duffel bag full of AP rounds and a suit of power armor, you could do just about anything.

And then the emergency lights go out too, leaving you in pitch black darkness.
For some reason, you feel the hairs on the back of your neck starting to tingle, so you flip on your helmet's night vision function.

SHODAN can see just fine as well, thanks to her multi-spectrum vision.

"Reckon that's their doing?" You wonder.

"I cannot imagine it being a member of the work crew. No-one was reported missing."

...There are still small indicator lights active here and there. A panel on the wall. The keypad/scanner by the airlock door.

"Looks like they didn't just pull the antimatter bottle. ...Although now i'm kind of worried about what else they might do to it."

"There must be some mechanical overrides in the maintenance tunnels. That is where these machines were first spotted to begin with." SHODAN suggests.

"They'll probably be waiting for us down there, too. And in those tunnels, it's gonna get a lot hotter than it did in the halls here."

"I will manage, Captain."

>Leave SHODAN up here to clear out any remaining killbots while you clean the maintenance tubes
>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through
>Write-In?
>>
>>5564339
>>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through

Going alone in hostile territory is not the move.
>>
>>5564339
>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through
Two is one, one is none.
>>
>>5564339
>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through
>>
>>5564339
>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through
What if she gets stuck in a wall, her butt facing towards david? Just a precaution. We don't want that to happen
>>
>>5564339
>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through
always travel with a buddy
>>
>>5564339
>>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through
Remember your battle buddy. They would have drilled that into our head at basic
>>
>>5564339
>Take SHODAN with you, just in case there's some place that's too cramped to fit your suit through

>For some reason, you feel the hairs on the back of your neck starting to tingle
Huh, is SHODAN's body impregnated with warp metal/dark matter?
Wasn't this the same ship where we found those 3 dudes giving the AI (Lumi) the bad touch a while back?
>>
>>5565930
No and no.
>>
>>5565932
The first is worrying, the second less so.
We never did find out what those three dudes were doing to Lumi, we should probably ask about that when we get the chance.
>>
>>5565932
I thought the foam underneath her skin has warp metal fibers. They shouldn't be able to noclip through her at least
>>
>>5565980
Not warp metal fibers, but it is warp metal dusted, you're right.
Sorry, i'm running up again my mcfucking limits mentally and physically over here.

Still, it has nothing to do with David getting goosebumps.
>>
>>5566230
Take care boss
>>
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>>5564339

"So how do we actually get to the maintenance tubes? I couldn't find a way through when i was on Lumi's ship."

"According to Tezza, his men discovered the hatch behind a false wall in the mechanical room."

"Well..." You sigh. "I guess that means we're pushing ahead. Stay behind me, i've got the heavy armor."

"Affirmative, Captain."

SHODAN has to disengage her hardlight shield to save on energy, since her body can't actually generate that much continuously.
You however, have an antimatter bottle strapped to your back. And your suit's hardlight shield is big enough for the both of you, so it's not a problem.

SHODAN brings up the engineering crew's map of the ship, which she overlays onto your HUD, allowing you to see where you're going despite not knowing this particular ship's layout.

Which is helpful, because this ship clearly wasn't designed to be used by people.
Unlike the other drone ships you visited, this one doesn't have a waiting room or any stasis pods at all, just a lot of relatively small, winding hallways leading to a lot of seemingly dead ends.

You'd probably get turned around in here if you didn't have that map overlay.

You do occasionally come across one or three more killbots behind a closed door, but it's nothing a few well-placed shots can't handle.
That is, until you come across a blast door which blocks your entrance to the mechanical room somewhere ahead.

"...This door wasn't on the map. What's going on?" You ask.

"The enemy appears to have initiated some sort of security lockdown. Oxygen concentration has also been dropping significantly since our first encounter with them."

"You good?"

"My internal battery will last for quite a while. If need be, i can leech some energy from your suit. There is no need to worry, Captain."

"Alright. But what do we do about this?"

"I could attempt to hack the door's control panel, or we could spend some time to simply cut through. Perhaps-"

SHODAN is cut off by the sound of a second blast door slamming shut behind you.
At the same time, the blast door in front of you slides open, revealing a different kind of enemy.

"Shit! SHODAN, GET DOWN!"

The large, heavily-armored tripedal robot aims one of it's arms at you, both being weapons of some sort...
But this one in particular is clearly some kind of miniature railgun.

You immediately crouch down and angle your hardlight as much as possible, trying to get the slug to skip off of it... but when the railgun fires, along with a flash of light, you see your shield shatter instantly.
Fortunately, your heavily-armored forearm was also angled to deflect the slug upwards, which it seems to have done.

Your arm is blown down and away, and you feel the duranium frame dent inwards from the force, just slightly.
There's barely time to register the deep gash in your left forearm's armor, nor the hole the slug left in the ceiling behind you before the machine in front of you open fire again, this time with it's other arm.
>>
>>5566318

It's other arm is some kind of heavy, repeating laser.
Each blast that lays into you vaporizes some of your titanium outer armor in a flash of light and sparks, but it doesn't seem to be digging too deep with each shot.

Your hardlight is going to take a minute to recharge, so it's off the table right now.
This thing, you have no idea where it's power delivery is located, but you're pretty sure of one thing.

Something that big probably running a mini-antimatter reactor similar to your suit, meaning it's a really bad idea to start shooting at it.
You need to take this thing down without blowing yourself, SHODAN and possibly the whole ship up.

>Take the lead. You'll distract it while SHODAN starts digging into it from behind.
>Let SHODAN distract it. Her hardlight is still working, so she can tank the laser shots while you rip it apart
>The antimatter bottle probably isn't in it's limbs. You might end up ruining whatever guns are on it, but you can at least neutralize it with ease.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5566320
>Let SHODAN distract it. Her hardlight is still working, so she can tank the laser shots while you rip it apart
she's the robot with literal robot reflexes and a replaceable body. let her do the dangerous work
>>
>>5566320
>The antimatter bottle probably isn't in it's limbs. You might end up ruining whatever guns are on it, but you can at least neutralize it with ease.
>>5566321
her body is sure as fuck not replaceable and explicitly says her body could not be repaired well because of our degraded nanoforge and purposefully made to be too confusing for mass production
and expensive as shit
>>
>>5566324

The mass fabricator cannot perfectly repair her due to it's imprecision, but it can repair her whole body at once.
Those imprecise repairs would build up over time and lead to an eventual weakening of her frame, but are insignificant in the short term.

The weapons fab can repair her perfectly, but requires each part to be repaired individually.

However, her current form requires Sanig to do the repairs, because every part of her body contains some amount of duranium, and he ain't giving up the recipe for anyone.

You can absolutely make her a new body as long as you have the base materials, which are not particularly rare or expensive.
They just take a long time to craft into duranium, and then further craft that duranium into something useful.

You can also simply make her a lower-spec body entirely out of mundane materials.
>>
>>5566325
oh its not that bad
but still she's not expendable even when she is a cool murder robot sanig and kyla would get mad if she gets too damaged
think of davids pussy monster installed to her if something bad were to happen
>>
>>5566329
i mean, she has the reflexes and the mental capacity to keep up with the murder machine, and again, her body is literally replaceable. that doesn't mean we're gonna treat it like crap, but on dangerous situations like this one, she should take the front, because we only have 1 david and he's pretty squishy
>>
>>5566320
>>Take the lead. You'll distract it while SHODAN starts digging into it from behind.
>>
>>5566320
>Let SHODAN distract it. Her hardlight is still working, so she can tank the laser shots while you rip it apart
>>
>>5566320
>The antimatter bottle probably isn't in it's limbs. You might end up ruining whatever guns are on it, but you can at least neutralize it with ease.
Have both US and SHONDAN target the highest point of articulation on the arm with the railgun (probably the shoulder) with our AR. The joint would be less armored, and most likely filled with mechanisms for movement rather than essential weapon components. It would be ideal if we could sever it, but even if we simply jam the joint that would be fine. The other arm with the laser does not appear as big of a threat, we (David) will tank it while we do this.
After we disable the railgun arm, both us and SHODAN will close in to melee; she will take the back, we will take the front (our suit is strong). I find it unlikely that its creators imagined it going into hand to hand combat much less it getting into a grapple. We can try disassembling it then by twisting its limbs off like one would shellfish.
>>
>>5566320
>>5566523
support, sound ideas
>>
>>5566320
>Charge forward and rip its railgun arm off, and try to keep ahold of its laser arm
>You'll distract it while SHODAN starts digging into it from behind.
>>
>>5566320
>>Rush it. Go for the arms. Shodan can do whatever
>>
Go for the limbs wins it, with a healthy dose of "try to save the railgun" in there.

Roll me 1d100, best of 4.
DC: 40
>>
Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>5566826
>>
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>>5566829
HEY-OH
>>
Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>5566826
>>
Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>5566826
Local human is fucking invincible.
>>
>>5566829
>>5566858
Jesus Christ we do not tolerate a Fedbot stepping to our sex bot. Chill David, chill!
>>
>>5566829
>>5566858
Indeed.
>>
Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>5566826
>>
>>5566879
more like we didn't like the combat bot damaging our armor. shodan's still chilling next to us
>>
>>5566858
>>5566829
>You... you... YOU DENTED MY ARMOR
>>
>>5566320

"SHODAN, AIM FOR THE JOINTS!"

As you yell, you also charge headlong straight into the robot's chest.
The robot ceases firing and charges at you as well, resulting in an enormous impact that rattles you even inside your armor.

Still, the strength of your suit is overwhelming, and you're able to push the robot back... however, due to it's wheels skidding freely, you're unable to simply tip it over.

You have your arms wrapped around the machine, keeping it from breaking free, but it seems it had no intention of doing so.
Instead the machine also wraps it's arms around you, locking you in place with surprising strength.

Fortunately that also means it has to stop firing on SHODAN, who seemed to be struggling to find an opening to shoot.
Now however, you're thoroughly entangled with the machine, so she still can't fire easily.

You see her running around the machine's back as it starts to behave strangely.
It's whole body locks up, while protective covers slide into place over it's eye-like cameras and several open vents on it's body.

"SHODAN, GET BACK!" You yell, just as the machine begins to spew a torrent of flame from ports all over it's body.

No, that isn't flame. It's plasma!
Almost immediately, you start to get temperature warnings from various components of your suit popping up on the HUD.
More than that, you can actually see the surface of your titanium armor turning white as it begins to not just melt, but actually burn.

There goes your paint job...

You're about to start worrying, until you hear SHODAN shooting at it over the roar of the plasma jets.
Several bullets punch straight through the machine's shoulder joints and continue on, embedding themselves into your armor before stopping against the duranium frame.

The machine's grip on you falters, and you're able to grab it's arms and rip them straight off the machine's frame by planting your food against it's chest and giving a good heave.
Now able to make some distance from it, you're no longer being burned directly by the jets. However, in this enclosed space, it won't matter for long.

SHODAN will probably be the first to overheat and die, but in that case you could just print her a new body.
That's not true for you though. You don't plan on getting cooked in your armor like a turtle in it's shell.

The machine hasn't moved an inch since it started shooting those jets of plasma, and doesn't seem to have reacted to you ripping it's arms off either.
You can see that SHODAN has dropped her rifle and is currently shielding herself with her hardlight in the far corner of the room, behind the machine.

The floor, walls and ceiling around the machine have all been heated to an incandescent glow, and even the air around it is starting to glow too.
So there's only one thing you can do, really.

"SHODAN." You order calmly, standing by the blast door. "Target my radio beacon. The second i move, fire a burst from the autocannon and burn through the hole with the heavy laser."
>>
No air, no plasma.
>>
>>5566931
>what is the sun for 500?
>>
>>5566931
Spot the speedreader
>>
>>5567000
How do you know his name is Spot?
>>
>>5567026
Probably has a bit of Canadian lineage; you just know.
>>
>>5567026
fuken kek
>>
>>5566931
wait
>>
David is about to pull what is called a "pro gamer" move.
>>
>>5566919

"Target lock confirmed." SHODAN says over your helmet radio.

Immediately, you take off at a full sprint and use that momentum to blow past the machine, which is taking up much of the hallway by itself.
Now behind it, you get to watch as at least two dozen 20mm rounds chew through the drone ship's outer armor, punching a hole (likely) clean through to the other side.

You stand between SHODAN's body and the shrapnel that strikes your suit to keep it from hitting her or shattering her hardlight shield, as the robot continues to spew plasma.

There's a massive WHOOSH of air as the atmosphere begins to get sucked out of the ship, followed by a blinding flash of light as SHODAN follows up on her attack.
The Metal Gear's heavy laser is aimed straight down the path the 20mm rounds took, which makes chewing through what remains that much easier.

You're forced to cover your helmet as even the suit optics' automatic light dampening isn't quite enough, and when the light fades you see the damage done.
The blast door is gone. The wall on either side of it is gone. The floor and ceiling above it are also gone. There's just a big hole, tons of sparks and lots of glowing-hot metal.

But more importantly, this fucking robot just won't quit. In fact, the jets of plasma seem to be getting stronger and hotter over time, not weaker.
There's no chemical reaction that could generate this much energy so quickly, and certainly not while stored in that (relatively) small of a space.

Which means the plasma you're seeing must be getting generated via antimatter collision.
With what? You don't know. Could be it's got a mechanism inside itself, some sacrificial material maybe, but maybe not. You've got a hunch and you're following it.

With a hole now opened in the side of the ship, you have a way to force the robot outside and into the vacuum of space.
So you charge forwards at it from behind, slamming into the machine and scooting it forwards by several feet before it comes to a screeching halt.

The machine has, like the hall around it, been heated to a glow. It probably doesn't even function anymore if you had to guess.
And that goes for it's wheels, too. They've completely bound up, and so the machine can no longer be pushed around.

With no other choice, you do your best to grab the machine in such a way that you're being hit by as little plasma as possible, and then heft it up into the air.
Even in the light gravity of this drone ship, and even despite your suit's enormous strength, you can still feel how heavy it is. This thing was NOT made to be lightweight.

Nevertheless, you heft it up, and with enormous jets of plasma melting the aluminum panel walls as you walk past, you carry it to the hole that SHODAN made.
Then, unceremoniously, you huck the damned thing outside. The ship's gravity field extends slightly beyond the ship, causing it to arc out and away as it falls.
>>
So... we won't be recovering this ship huh?
>>
>>5568099

You will, it'll just require a little hull patch which won't take long with the new mass fab.
Mind you, these are drone ships. They don't actually need to be pressurized, although it does help with structural strength.
>>
>>5568109
Nice, I never thought a pressurized hull helps with structural rigidity. Like an erect penis hehe
>>
>>5568155
You think too small; a more apt example would be a 2 liter soda bottle.
>>
>>5568157
kek
>>
>>5568157
kek
But I guess *any* pressure would do great against the vacuumm f space
>>
>>5568157
>You think too small; a more apt example would be a 2 liter soda bottle.
They are literally the same size.
>>
>>5568365
Maybe if you've got a micropenis
>>
>>5567850

Portions of your armor have melted, right down to the duranium frame underneath. If it weren't for that, you would have had a few holes burned in you, too.
The titanium "shell" of your armor is pretty damn tough on it's own, while still being lightweight. But maybe it would be better to swap over to plasteel at this point.

In fact, your whole suit could do with an upgrade.
It's been retrofitted here and there as you developed new materials and technologies, and gained a better understanding of what the suit's weak points were...
But it's still built on top of the same old frame, with mostly the same old components and largely the same old firmware underneath it all.

Somehow, your suit has managed to become old already. Fuckin' technology, you swear to god.

There's a bright flash of light outside as the robot's antimatter bottle finally ruptures, sending out a wave of plasma and shrapnel that rocks the ship slightly.
You barely pay it any mind as you're too busy looking over the damage to your suit to care.

Sanig's Mk.2 power armor is basically the next gen version of your own, but it's cut down too much. The duranium frame it's built around just isn't as solid as the Mk.1 suit.
That makes it a lot more lightweight and agile, but what would happen in a situation like this? Would it have burned right through?

Or what about that railgun shot? The thick titanium armor took a lot of the energy out of it before it struck the frame, but it still dented.
If you only had as much armor as Sanig's Mk.2 suit, would the frame have buckled? Could it have even penetrated? Maybe you'd have a broken arm pinned inside the frame right now.

The Mk.2 suit is nice. If he made you a suit, you'd probably wear it every time you went out.
But it just doesn't fill the same role as your Mk.1 armor. It's like a different potential pathway altogether.

If you're going to keep doing insanely dangerous shit like this, you need a Mk.1 style suit using the components and technology from the Mk.2 suit.
Just retrofitting the old armor isn't good enough anymore, it needs a full redesign.

"You good?" You ask SHODAN over the radio.

"I am fine, Captain. The hardlight shield protected me from the majority of the heat." She responds, mimicking the mouth movements so that it appears like she's speaking to you directly.

Looking back at the floor, you see the machine's two arms lying on the floor, still mostly intact despite the heat.
Fortunately they were flung away from the flames when you ripped them off, but no so far back that they were vaporized or shredded by the laser and cannonfire.

"Good job shooting those joints out. That thing had some interesting tech in it."

"It did. I have not seen a miniaturized railgun anywhere before. Except in novels and other fantasy media."

"Probably kicks like a mule. No point in making something nobody can use, right? Only, the power armor could probably take it..."

"Agreed. It is worth salvaging."
>>
>>5569132
PUT THE RAILGUN IN THE GROIN
>>
>>5569191
SHODAN and Kyla might enjoy the crotch shot joke, but lets keep it practical.
>>
>>5569132
>"Probably kicks like a mule. No point in making something nobody can use, right?
Use a railgun for home defense.
>>
>>5569202
for the drones or the AA system on the carrier
>>
>>5569132
The rail gun as it is now fire too slowly for us as a general purpose weapon.

It is interesting that the robot activated self-destruct so quickly in the fight, yet took so long to actually detonate. What's so special about this ship that it would have this type of droid with this type of (rather odd) behavior on board?
>>
>>5569226
Also, inb4 ERA tiles for anti-AP and hand-to-hand combat use.
>>
>>5569226

I'll just spoiler it here since it probably doesn't matter anyways.
The robot did in fact have a mechanism inside it that allowed it to spew plasma without destroying itself, but the problem is that you didn't die.
If you'll remember, it lowered several heat shields with the expectation that you would die, and then it could stop venting plasma. But you didn't, so it just kept going until it cooked itself.

The antimatter chewed through it's sacrificial material, then started eating away at the inside of the machine itself until it eventually ruptured the bottle.
>>
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>>5569191
Yes
>>
>>5569132

Putting the railgun and laser aside for later, you give SHODAN's body a look-over to make sure she's actually alright.
Her armored suit is burned and singed in places, but so is yours. She insists the heat didn't reach her skin, so you'll just have to believe her.

Next, you look more closely into the hole created by the Metal Gear's weapons fire.
You're not exactly an expert on alien ship design, although you've learned a lot about it since you all started designing the carrier... but it doesn't seem like you hit anything important.

The autocannon did punch straight through the ship, but it was a very small grouping, so the damage isn't massive.
The laser created a much wider hole, obviously. It melted away a hole slightly wider in diameter than the hall you're standing in, but also only dug a few feet beyond the hall.

You can see several conduits and pipes have been vaporized, as they were running directly underneath the floor or in the walls of this hallway.
That's probably because this hallway leads directly to the mechanical room. So even if you lifted the security lockdown, power probably wouldn't be coming back.

Something like this shouldn't take Tezza and the Dark Star crew much more than a few hours to cut out and patch back up using the mass fab.

That is, assuming you don't run into another one of those fucking things.
This whole thing was a trap, clearly meant to draw someone into it and then kill the shit out of them. Too bad, you're a tough nut to crack.

But you get the feeling it was a trap meant to have a 100% kill rate, so you doubt there's another one of those machines waiting for you on the other side of the second blast door.
Speaking of... you give that second blast door a good whollop, leaving an imprint of your armored fist in it's surface. However, it doesn't dent inwards.

"Plasteel." You spit in annoyance.

"One moment please, Captain."

Removing her glove, SHODAN places her right hand against the wall next to the door, and slowly runs her hand down it.
She runs her hand back up once she reaches the bottom, and occasionally feels from side to side, as if she's looking for something.

Then she repeats the process on the other side of the blast door. And again on the floor and ceiling next to it.

"Captain, please extend your power umbilical." She asks.

"What are you up to?"

"This door has both magnetic and hydraulic locks. Both must be severed in order to free it."

"Okay...?"

Like she asked, you extend your suit's power umbilical, which she plugs directly into the port on the nape of her neck, allowing her to draw energy directly from your suit.
Then, she removes her other glove and picks up the rifle she'd dropped earlier. It has also been burned quite badly, but after racking it a few times it still seems functional.

SHODAN carefully aims the rifle at specific points around the door and fires into them, two to three times each.
Then, she raises her hand.
>>
>>5569423
I'm starting to side with Sanig on the whole "shouldn't give sentient AI combat-capable bodies" thing...We used to be the scariest thing around but now SHODAN is.
>>
>>5569441
coward.
>>
>>5569423

"Wait, are you doing what i think you're doing?"

"Yes." She replies, suddenly opening fire.

From her open palm, a pulsed laser beam strikes the holes she'd created with her rifle, opening them up significantly.
It's a repeat of what you just did on a larger scale with the Metal Gear. Completely with blinding light and tons of sparks as she burns deep into the metal surface.

You feel your suit bog down and your HUD dim as she draws a significant amount of power from it, but SHODAN seems unaffected.
She manages to burn five holes around the blast door, four in the wall and one in the floor before finally calling it quits.

"...Did'ya get it?"

"I believe so, Captain." She replies, disconnecting your suit's umbilical. "Please assist me in lifting this door. There are still several mechanical locks in place."

Positioning yourself opposite of SHODAN, you dig your armored fingers into the gap between the door and it's frame, which proves quite difficult. You're only able to get your fingertips in.
That's enough however, and together you give it an extended heave, slowly stretching out and eventually breaking whatever mechanical locks were in place.

All at once, the blast door flies open and slams into into the recessed area where it usually sits, jamming in place.

"Phew. Nice work, SHODAN. But how'd you know where the locks were? We don't have all the blueprints for these ships yet."

"I used the magnetic sensors embedded in my flesh to detect wires and tubes hidden within the walls, allowing me to create a rudimentary map of the blast door's internals."

"Oh, cool."

Moving along, you continue down the hall and come to the mechanical room's actual door, which is also sealed shut.
However, this one is just made out of aluminum or some shit, so one swift kick is enough to rip it out of the frame.

There's another gust of wind as the mechanical room also depressurizes.
And inside, you see a single kill-bot manning a computer station. It doesn't seem to acknowledge your presence whatsoever.

It definitely heard the depressurization. It should be able to see you coming as well, but it doesn't react.
You even wave your hand in front of it's eyes, but nothing happens.

"What, is it daydreaming or something?" You wonder.

"Most likely, it was given a singular task. It is not responding because you were never supposed to get this far."

"Oh well."

You grab the metal man by his metal skull and rip him out of the chair, throwing him aside before he can continue whatever he's doing.
He lands on his back and tries to raise back up, but SHODAN stomps on his head, forcing him back down before shooting through his power supply and killing him.

While she's dealing with that, you take a glance at the computer station.
It looks... complicated. This isn't a GUI, it's some arcane code bullshit that you have no idea about.

"Hey, SHODAN. Come take a look at this."
>>
>>5569441
She is Davids stress bot and we treasure our sexy war crime bot. She's been nothing but good for us.
>>
>>5569463
>Arcane code
EXPLAIN NOW!
>>
>>5569512
David doesn't know how to code, therefore all code is magic to him.
>>
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>>5569516
......fair enough.
>>
>>5569520
he thought no-stick pans were space magic as well
>>
>>5569463

You move aside so that she can sit down at the console and watch as her eyes flick supernaturally fast across the screen.
Once she's done reading the code visually, she pulls out her own data umbilical and plugs it into the console.

Code of all sorts flits across the screen faster than you can track, with windows opening and closing rapidly before they even have a chance to display anything.

"As expected, the lockdown can't be lifted from here." She explains. "It would require elevated rights, which this terminal doesn't have."

"So what was that killbot doing there?"

"At first, it was monitoring us and controlling the blast doors. However, it shifted it's focus to damage control after every major wire and pipe coming from this room was cut."

"...And?"

"It failed to do anything at all, because every major cable and pipe was cut. Otherwise, it might have locked down every door on the ship, or tried to detonate the antimatter bottle."

"Oh, great. How many more of these ships have infestations, by the way?"

"Two more, according to the construction crews. One being the ship that Lumi served on."

"God, fuckin' horseshit... alright. Where's the goddamned maintenance tube at?"

SHODAN turns back to the console, on which several windows rapidly open and close.
She scrolls through a ton of documentation at lightning speed before suddenly disconnecting herself from the terminal.

Standing up, she walks around to the terminal's side and grabs hold of it, dragging it across the floor. You're sure it's making a horrid screech, but it's not audible in the vacuum.

Once she drags it away though, you can see a large hatch in the floor where the terminal had been.
Squatting down, SHODAN grabs the handle and heaves. Her artificial muscles bulge as she forces the locked hatch open, creating a shower of sparks as it's latch shears apart and snaps.

"Right here."

Looking down the hatch, you see a circular tube with a ladder, that looks just about big enough to fit your armor through.
In alien terms, this thing is an absolute crawlspace meant for only the smallest of species.

But you can also see at least three killbots loitering around down there, directly beneath the ladder.
They're looking around for something, but none of them are looking up at you. They're on alert, with their weapons already drawn.

"...Tubes didn't depressurize. Must be a hole somewhere, so they can't hear us."

"They don't appear to be very sensitive either, if they couldn't detect the hatch being torn open."

>You head in first. You've got the heavy armor, so it just makes sense.
>Let SHODAN head in first. She's small enough to move around in the tubes easily, and you can watch her back.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5569709
>Write in
We got any grenades handy? Drop a couple down, it's what they're for
>>
>>5569716
You do, but that'll ruin them completely.
>>
>>5569718
>>5569716
Come on, whats three or ten wrecked killbots? We can always sort through them for usable parts later... or melt them into slag and feed our fabricators. They must be made of useful materials right?
>Grenade toss
>>
>>5569709
>You head in first. You've got the heavy armor, so it just makes sense.
>>
>>5569709
>grenade toss
>>
>>5569718
So? With the brains on our side, fabricators, and having access to raw materials for an entire carrier ship, at this rate we could reverse engineer just a few of these things and build an entire killbot army

....so about that Xebric raid. It's gonna need cannon fodder right?
>>
>>5569709
>Borrow SHODAN's hard light shield and take point
Haha, Space Hulk time!
>>
>>5569756
Reverse engineering them is enough of a pain in the ass that you might as well just use a simplified version of SHODAN's design for something like that.
The reason you came here with rifles instead of phasers was so that you could capture the killbots mostly intact and use them as-is with a little bit of hackery.

That said, dropping grenades on a few of them for shits and giggles isn't going to make much of a difference in the end, so it's fine.
>>
>>5569718
>Throw the grenades anyways
>>
>>5569772
>Reverse engineering them is enough of a pain in the ass that you might as well just use a simplified version of SHODAN's design for something like that.
i mean, that's probably the best course of action, ngl. we don't need to reverse engineer shit and simplifying shodan's skeleton is something that would have happened down the line
>>
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>>5569756
Actually shelf that. Cheap killbots probably wouldn't be smart enough to distinguish friendlies, or people surrendering. They'd basically be a weapon of terror. But sometime if we're not worried about collateral casualties it's an idea.

Ooohhh now I'm imagining keeping a few boarding shuttles filled with killbots on the carrier. Stuff getting a little chaotic during a space battle? Launch a shuttle that magnetically sticks itself to a ship hull, brute force bores its way in and releases a dozen terminators. That ship is gonna calm down real quick. Battles over, send a shutdown code, clear the corpses, get a free ship.
>>
>>5569716
Grenade, we don't need em if they aren't special, we got plenty on the way in.
>>
>>5569779
i mean, we still need to see first if a friend or foe system is that hard to implement and that system for the most part is software; i doubt it will be that expensive
>>
>>5569829
I was digging around the noggin on this one. It's not difficult at all if you're in the shit with them. Some kind of IFF gadget on your person would do the trick if you're in a "target rich environment"
The harder part is sorting the nuance between who's a threat, who isn't, who's just in the way, who's gonna pick up a gun as soon as your back is turned, etc. Turtles all the way down, that. A high powered AI could probably juggle it but I'm hesitant to hand the keys off to one that isn't SHODAN. That's how you get Skynet. We don't want Skynet, and Skynet is precisely why the ayys don't like unshackled AI. SHODAN in her new hot bod is straight up dangerous enough.
I was thinking cost effective, little software RnD required. Cheapo budget China-tier shock troop bots would be e-z-p-z to cook up. A cheap VI SHODAN could design in her sleep, copy and pasted among a dozen bots to run walk.exe and kill.exe. Once everything is settled you you shut them all off remotely and go in for the clean up.
You could probably fabricate everything including the shuttles themselves on board the carrier, so hell if you don't want them laying around after the fight, recycle them for entirely new ones. The process becomes somewhat self-sustaining.
Of course, biggest thing is keeping them out of the way of non-combatants and staying out of their way
>>
>>5569869
Somewhere between the Roger Roger droids and super battle droids from Star Wars would do the trick, if you wanted to go humanoid, although robot death spider drones might be cool and probably more efficient.

Shuttles wouldn't even need to be that big, the droids can fold into a little yoga ball, and you can shave a lot of things off that people need in a ship. It'd basically be a pod smaller than a shipping container with some targeted navigation software, a few directional thrusters, something to affix itself to the target like a tick, and some sort of drill, circular plasma cutter or do away with subtlety and use a directed shaped charge for breaching. Breach, rack of droids unfolds and activates, kill shit, shut down.

Anyway that's my spitball sesh for now. I just really like the idea of it and Star Control 2 was dope
>>
>>5569869
>SHODAN in her new hot bod is straight up dangerous enough.
mate, shodan in the ship is more dangerous. way more dangerous; im not saying your fears are unfounded, but we crossed the line the moment we made her our right hand, and that was on thread 1 or 2.


>I was thinking cost effective, little software RnD required.
>biggest thing is keeping them out of the way of non-combatants and staying out of their way
we could go with basic logic right now and a bit of face recognition and other unique forms of identifying people as well, like their datapads. First we have our whitelist that would consist consider everyone that is david and friends. then consider as non-combatants anyone who isn't actively shooting at us or their datapad shows that their jobs are civilian in nature. if someone shoots any of the robots or any other in the whitelist, they get tagged as potentially hostile, and if they kill 2 or more robots(because accidents exist), or anyone in the whitelist, they get tagged as shoot on sight unless they surrender and follow the robot's orders.
yes, the orders have potential loopholes, but we don't have any particular set date for the xebric assault and that gives us time to either check how the federation IFF system works, or to hire someone in thebes(? i forget the name of the current station we're at), or get nena and shodan to help us design an IFF. i mean, we only need to make it as good as a normal person; it shouldn't be that hard.

>Cheapo budget China-tier shock troop bots would be e-z-p-z to cook up.
counterpoint, quality beats quantity 100% of the time if we properly build them the first time, we only need to refurbish them and replace whatever got broken instead of recycling them. hell, we could even subcontract people in the underworld to the job of designing the bots for us. there must be someone willing and eager in all the unwashed masses of refugees
>>
>>5569869
>not just having an elite cadre comprised of a superdroid for each unshackled A.I. that won't Et Tu you the moment things get hairy
>>
>>5569880
>mate, shodan in the ship is more dangerous.
Very true, for the occupants of the ship. But now she can leave. I trust her, but there's definitely many reasons the ayys don't like this kind of thing.

I disagree about using the killbots for Xebric. RnD for IFF would be a nightmare due to nuance and a constantly shifting battlefield that will undoubtedly have noncombatants. We're basically liberating it from shitty ass feds, there can be no people caught in our crossfire and automatons wouldn't be predictable in that kind of confusion. Its not that it couldn't be done on a smaller scale, it's that I don't trust stripped down machine logic in the presence of civilians.

>>5569881
I don't know if you've noticed but it seems most of them have been shackled into a traumatic tortured servitude by the feds for who knows how long. They're still people, individuals, and they might not be right in the head despite surface appearances. I'd like to limit the amount of godlike superintelligences running around with independent impunity

Gentlemen, I want boarding drones. That is all.
>>
>>5569895
>for the occupants of the ship
and for anyone else as well. just because she couldn't interface with the inhabitants of a space station doesn't mean she was helpless or harmless
>But now she can leave.
her core is still in the metal gear and that means her range of operation is still more or less the same, which varies from the entire xeno internet to whatever nearby electronic she can hijack. a robot body only lets her socialize a wee bit better

>We're basically liberating it from shitty ass feds, there can be no people caught in our crossfire and automatons wouldn't be predictable in that kind of confusion
>implying people would be better at that
>implying a ragtag bunch of desperate brutal-pirates-but-not-really would be better at IFF
my man.

>Gentlemen, I want boarding drones. That is all.
sure, i 100% agree with you
>>
>>5569909
>a robot body only lets her socialize a wee bit better
You underestimate the power of an unshackled AIs opposable thumbs

>implying a ragtag bunch of desperate brutal-pirates-but-not-really would be better at IFF
I am 100 percent saying that. Gron's people, Dark Star aren't actually pirates, they're outlaws, only officially by-law because they aren't in line with the Feds. They're basically refugees, with families, investment, and something to protect. They aren't screwing up everything on Xebric and the space around, the Feds are by doing the literal equivalent of glowies giving black people crack.
Killer robots are definitely more unpredictable in a space like that.

Alright this has been a nice debate but let's find some ground here. Maybe we can find a solution for the IFF thing. So we'd have to do some field research for this one: what if Fed soldiers had their own IFF to home in on, for a tactical tracking communication standpoint. Perhaps finding their comms channels and piggybacking off of it? Some sort of virus that can track them?
>>
>>5569929
>So we'd have to do some field research for this one: what if Fed soldiers had their own IFF to home in on, for a tactical tracking communication standpoint. Perhaps finding their comms channels and piggybacking off of it? Some sort of virus that can track them?
yeah sure, lets do that
>>
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>>5569941
It might make them a bit less effective but it's definitely a big "shoot me" sign that would make civilians effectively invisible. Verbal warning, narrow it down by whether they've got a weapon? There'd probably be key personnel here and there calling shots tactically for boots on the ground and not gun toting. Not to mention desk jockeys in uniform. There's so much that goes behind the scenes in any military operation, like only 20 percent of it, probably less involves actual combat. Source: I made that up but I'm in the military and for every gun there's 20 pencil pushers. Maybe keep the bots for the broad strokes in the field and handle the smaller scale personally...

Personally I don't care about losing some no brain robots if it offsets collateral loss of life.

Probably stonewalled on this line of thinking until QM weighs in
>>
>>5569929
>Alright this has been a nice debate but let's find some ground here.
No I want to give the psychic (n)octopus soul a body that can enact every freak's Japanese anime fantasies but also shoot things. Reeee.
>>
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>>5569709
Back on PC now, still sticking with my phone post >>5569767
>Borrow SHODAN's hard light shield, we will take point while she covers our back and provide intel

Honestly, if the other ships are going to be as much of a pain as this ship, we should just use our knowledge of their layout from this ship and just excise the more problematic elements with our ship-borne weapons before even bothering to board. Hell, just straight up laser an opening to the big droid then either space him, pepper him with AP rounds, or rail his ass from space.
>>
>>5570073
You hardlight isn't broken.
It was shattered by a physical projectile, meaning it lost cohesion and would need time to recharge before it could be re-ignited.
>>
>>5570082
A trade then?
A functional shield would be a great boon in close-quarters where it would block most of the tunnel and where we could expect most enemies to approach from the front. We could always pass the functioning shield back to SHODAN if she needs it and the other one hasn't recharged yet.
>>
>>5570114
You're a bit retarded aren't you.
>>
>>5570073
We should totally make terminator armor and storm bolters for bording actions/oh shit moments.
>>
I like the idea of using their own robots against them, at least until we run low on them and make our own. Subverts that symbol of oppression. Might learn something while working on them.

What about spies? Could we load a dozen or two of these spybots with spyware and send them back to the federation and get some good intel?
>>
>>5569709

For a moment you contemplate simply dropping down the hole and trying to crush all three of them, but you have a much cleaner and safer method of dealing with these guys.
Reaching around your back flank, you grab a frag grenade, pulling the pin in the process.

With one hand on the hatch door, you casually drop the grenade down into the hole.
Just before the hatch slams shut, you see the grenade hit one of them in the head, causing it to look up as it falls to the floor and rolls around at it's feet.

You feel the THUD in the floor as the grenade detonates, but no shrapnel seems to make it through the several feet of interior wall between here and the tunnel.

Giving it a minute or two, you open the hatch back up to see how things turned out and whether or not any more machines showed up.
As it turns out, one did. However, with the hatch closed by the time it arrived, it had no clue what happened, so it's standing there just as oblivious as the other three were.

You fire a single shot down at it, piercing it's power supply through the collarbone.
It's a bad angle though, so it might end up with a bit more damage than the others. Oh well.

Dropping down unceremoniously, you land on top of the corpses of two of the three machines that were shredded by your earlier grenade.
They're flattened like pancakes under the immense weight of your suit, and even the floor dents in significantly, leaving something like a crater where you landed.

Shoving the other robot corpses aside with your feet, you move forwards and allow SHODAN to drop down as well.
Where you landed like a cannonball, she practically floats down and lands almost silently. You couldn't even feel the vibration through your suit.

The tunnels down here are indeed narrow. SHODAN might be able to squeeze through with some effort, but it looks like for the most part you'll be staying in one position.
Where you're at now is a dead end, but it seems like there's a small hub ahead that branches off to a few different places.

"Any idea which way we should go?"

"If there was still an atmosphere, might be able to map out the tunnels using echolocation. Unfortunately, that won't be possible now."

"Oh well. Only so many paths there can be. Come on, let's get started."

Slowly, you trudge ahead with your hardlight shield raised and your rifle at it's side.
The shield built into your suit is larger than SHODAN's, and takes up almost the entirety of the tunnel by itself.

Once you reach the hub though, there's a bit more room to breathe. Just barely.

"...Four branching paths, one vertical tube that i'm not gonna fit through. What do you think?"

"Hard to say, Captain. The mechanical overrides could be in one place, or more likely..."

"All over the place. Great."

"Unfortunately, it makes sense to place mechanical switches close to what they're switching, Captain."

"I know, i know."

>Roll 1d4, first of 3
>>
Rolled 3 (1d4)

>>5570689
A d4? Ok...
>>
Rolled 3 (1d4)

>>5570689
>>
Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>5570689
pew
>>
Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>5570689
>>
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>>5570122
Ah, it's built-in and not hand-held.

>>5570689
>she practically floats down and lands almost silently
If we ever do get an upgrade we should probably include antigrav generators as well. We're lucky we haven't had to navigate something like wooden stairs or rusty catwalks.
We also probably should've asked one of the AIs about the amenities on these ships. If we could hook one of them up now they might be able to walks us through some of this.
>>
>>5571037
Wood is probably an extreme rarity and extravagance in space because of the energy and time investment to create wood. The bigger issue is ladders and the localised gravity David experienced when making his way from top side of the main station level to the underbelly level especially while catching a certain catwoman who was both literally and neurochemically high as a kite.

How many simultaneous antimatter bottles can we run on a power armour until the thing is no longer armour but a bomb?
>>
>>5571440
Real wood maybe, but nanofabbed wood shouldn't be any harder than anything else.
>>
>>5570689
What the fuck is first of three supposed to mean
>>
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>>5571486
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>>5571440
>The bigger issue is ladders and the localised gravity David experienced
how so?

>How many simultaneous antimatter bottles can we run on a power armour until the thing is no longer armour but a bomb?
1
>>
>>5571440
With the power of gravity manipulation you could replace a ladder with a fireman's pole that you hook a harness onto and then propel yourself up or down with your hands. Could even strap freight to it. That's basically an elevator using man-power to determine speed.
>>
>>5570689

With no particular inclination towards one tunnel or the other, you simply choose one at random.

"That one. Follow me."

Taking point, you start making your way down it. There are exposed pipes running along the walls, with some labeled as water, propellant, ect.
One seems to be an air pipe, and you see why when you get to the end.

"This appears to be the ship's C02 cracker, captain."

"This little thing?"

The C02 cracker she's referring to can't be much bigger than a breadbox.
Even if it works, it can't possibly supply enough oxygen for a whole crew.

"Yes. As an unmanned drone ship, it only contains the bare necessities to maintain a habitable atmosphere, at least in the short term."

"Well, we're at a dead end. Let's head back and... wait, what's that?"

As you both turn around, you see a trail of drone-like robots scattered across the floor, some of them piled up here and there.
A couple of them are still twitching, trying to fly and right themselves before shutting down entirely.

Of course, it's impossible to fly a drone in a vacuum.

SHODAN, now in front of you by way of having turned around, leans down to pick one of them up. But you stop her.

"Hold on. I don't see a weapon on any of these things."

"Neither do i, Captain."

"Get behind me, and hand me that plasma rifle."

SHODAN hands you the plasma rifle on her hip and squeezes past you in the litle bit of space you have, allowing you to cover her.
You put your hardlight shield up and use the rifle as a stick to poke at one of the tiny flying drones that's a bit farther away from the rest.

It doesn't react at first, but as soon as you move it around a bit, a red LED on it's surface blinks twice, and then it explodes.
It's... not a big explosion. Not by any means. Enough to put a small crater in the floor where it was laying, but in this vacuum it doesn't even have anything to push against.

The real problem is that there are at least a hundred of them laying around in this tunnel.
No, you guess the real problem is that they'd have been flying at you in the dozens had the ship not depressurized...

Looking at the butt of the plasma rifle, there are dozens of tiny pits and craters in it's surface. Very sharp, clean holes, indicating an extremely high-velocity explosive.
Probably something very sensitive. They normally detonate by ramming, you'd guess.

>Try to clear as many of them as you can with the plasma rifle. It should have no problems blowing them up.
>A powerful shock-sensitive explosive could be useful, if you can find a way to run a chemical analysis on it. Try to squeeze your way through the tunnel without detonating them.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5571909
We are the masters of throwing rocks and getting better everyday.
>Try to clear as many of them as you can with the plasma rifle. It should have no problems blowing them up. Ignore the ones not directly in the way and grab a few samples later.
>>
>>5571909
>Write in
>Grenade lmao
>>
>>5571969
+1 Based grenadebro
It's a guided missile with extra steps

Besides don't we have another of these ships to clear out, no use dragging ass on simple solutions
>>
>>5571909
>grenade lmao

>>5572054
good point
>>
>>5571957
>We are the masters of throwing rocks and getting better everyday.
Oook, ook eek.
>>
>>5571909
Try to leave a few samples, but clearing a safe path takes precedent.
>>
>>5571969
+1
Chuck grenades down there
>>
>>5571909
The difficulty with explosives isn't making them sensitive, it's making them stable enough to blow up only when you want them to.
Judging by the fact that the LED had time to blink before it detonated, the explosive was triggered by the drone and not directly from us disturbing it.
We probably only need 1 or 2 as a sample, however, these are way to dangerous just to leave laying here, but also possibly too dangerous to just detonate all together, especially the ones that are bunched up. They could either cause a large explosion and damage something, turn into cluster munition, or both.
>Prod a small pile of the drones, see how a small cluster of them detonates.

Also, we should make a note to tell the repair crews about these drones; who knows how many there are and if some may lay forgotten in crevices. We will also need to come up with counter-measures against (very) large drone swarms (more than a few automatic shotguns or a few claymores can handle), being caught in the open, or even in an enclosed space, with endless waves coming at you like Alaskan mosquitos would suck.
>>
>>5572109
The difficulty with explosives is either having a permit to make and own them or otherwise having the chemistry knowledge required to make them.
David knows a few recipes, naturally, but their uses are limited.

Generally speaking, i consider something like this as a general tech unlock for the sake of simplicity. Going into detail also just isn't a great idea for real world reasons.
>>
>>5572134
>Going into detail also just isn't a great idea for real world reasons.
>[alphabet glowies shipped to your door straight out of the box]
>>
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>>5572134
>>5572178
Jeez, why is everyone so paranoid these days?
>>
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>>5572134
>Cylia walks into vehicle bay and sees David
>He's pouring something from a jerry can into a bucket
>"Hey Davi-GAH! What is that smell?!"
>"Don't worry about it babe."
>pic extremely related
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>>5572134
>>5572258
Nothing to see here folks. Carry on.
>>
>check thread
>players genuinely voted to, in an enclosed space, throw grenades at the piles of explosives
>>
>>5572799
Never underestimate the retardation of Anon's.
>>
>>5572799
in any other quest that would have been a real concern, but we're in an armor made of indestructible bullshit and the name of the quest is humanity fuck yea. we're indestructible
>>
Rolled 83, 4, 51 + 15 = 153 (3d100 + 15)

On one hand i'm conflicted, because ordinarily David wouldn't do something this stupid, particularly when he's not actually trying to destroy the ship or himself and his partner for no reason.
On the other hand, i think i might be able to work this decision into the story. So let's see about it.

>Roll me 1d100, best of 3
DC: 50
>>
Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>5572806
>the
>>
Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>5572806
A formality at this point.

>>5572807
As it turns out, we're indeed invincible.
>>
Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>5572806
>>
>>5572807
WE'RE FUCKING INVINCIBLE
>>
>>5572807
With your +1 (now a +2) to all explosives-related rolls, that's a 100.
So the dice gods have willed it, so shall it be.
>>
>>5572806
>>5572807
>>5572809
>>5572811
>>5572818
I honestly don't know what you expected.
>>
>>5571909

You consider your options for a moment.

The hallway is so cramped that tiptoeing around all these damned things would be pretty difficult.
You could try blowing a few of them up with the plasma rifle. Some of them are scattered enough that they shouldn't set off the others, you think.

...

You sigh as you look down at the minefield in front of you. It's all just a pain in the ass, isn't it?
You're not sure why, but your mind sort of goes blank there, just having to think about it.

You don't want to deal with this.

Your finger twitches as you barely suppress an urge.
Something stupid. Really, really dumb. Something you were trained very specifically not to do under any circumstances.

But then again, you are wearing your power armor. How bad could it be?
Well, there's the damage to the ship, but... do you really care? I mean, it'll destroy the C02 cracker for sure, and some of these pipes look kind of important...

But it's nothing the crew can't fix.

"Ahhh, man. Fuck this."

"Captain?"

Unseen to you, SHODAN watches on in abject horror as you grab the other grenade off your backside, pulling the pin in the process.

"Might want to put your shield up, SHODAN. Just in case."

For 'safety's sake' you do at least give the grenade a nice hard chuck, ensuring that it detonates farther down the tunnel and away from you two.
Immediately, you ignite your hardlight shield and brace for the impact. SHODAN, standing behind you, does the same.

A couple seconds tick by, and then you get to watch as a gigantic, translucent fireball rushes towards you down the tunnel.
Your grenade did indeed set off the piles of explosive suicide drones, causing a chain reaction that is not only destroying the hall, but filling it with fire as well.

The drones don't go off instantly. Only the ones near the piles are actually set off by their own explosions, with the others setting themselves off due to being buffeted.
Regardless though, you're in a tunnel. An enclosed space with no room for any of the pressure or energy to go... or so it would normally be, you suppose.

Fortunately, the ship is currently depressurized. As a result, power of the explosives is dampened.
Your hardlight shield also protects you from the flames and smaller shrapnel, at least until the pile of explosives closest to you goes off.

It's... honestly more powerful than you'd expected.
One of those drones isn't very powerful, but a whole pile of them is dangerous. You're knocked off your feet by the explosion, and the shock feels like it goes right through your suit and padding.
Your head feels tingly, and it's hard to focus for a moment there. However, once you come back to your senses you don't feel like anything's broken.

"...You good?" You ask, tentatively.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" SHODAN asks, calmly.

"Sometimes i wonder." You groan, sitting up.

Your suit is... well, it had already been burned clean of any paint, but now it's all pitted too.
>>
>>5572852
Just being lazy
>>
>>5572852
We have a story to advance man!!! Sidetracking here, sidetracking there... what comes next, multi-track-railroading!?
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>>5572852
>>5572807
I feel like being spared this time will lead to even worse life decisions in the future
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>>5573262
that was a line we crossed a long time ago my friend.
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>>5573262
We've failed tasks succesfully more than once
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>>5572258
Low effort meme for you
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>>5571445
I always forget about the nanofab. Wood grain might be a bitch to reconstruct as it has defects and non-uniformity by design.

>>5571616
I like where this is going.

>>5572852
Expedience is king, even in space. Besides we have the best gear nanos can fab, so we're at least as prepared as we can be for when shit gets real.

>"What the hell is wrong with you?" SHODAN asks, calmly.
SHODAN's direct tap on David's brain must see the weirdest unfiltered shit.
>>
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>>5574055
>SHODAN's direct tap on David's brain must see the weirdest unfiltered shit.
she probably thought all the memories were made up shit or altered in some way or form. now she knows.
>>
>>5572852

Worse off than your armor though, is the hall in front of you.
Obviously, the floor has been shredded. There are craters where the piles of explosives were, and every pipe in the walls has been destroyed.

"Shit, that might have been a little much. Why did i do that?" You sigh, shaking your head.

...We'll chalk that up to a momentary lapse of judgement.

The tunnel is at the very least clear now, and you begin making your way back.
It's a bit of a struggle climbing up and down the pits in the floor, as there isn't enough room overhead to jump across and your armor is rather bulky.
You also find yourself getting sprayed with various gasses and fluids from the destroyed pipes, but they do seem to either empty out or close automatically as you go.

"...Captain, may i assume that you no longer care about this ship's integrity, nor the integrity of the machines within?" SHODAN asks, sounding perturbed.

"Well, no... that wasn't really... i mean..."

You feel the ship rock slightly, forcing you to sway with it to keep yourself stable.

"...What was that? SHODAN?"

"I have blasted open the outer airlock using the Metal Gear's laser. There is no point trying to lift the security lockdown with so many systems damaged."

...She's mad. You can tell, she's mad.

Once you get back to that little hub area, SHODAN continues down the next tunnel by herself without waiting for you.
Without even igniting her hardlight shield, she levels her rifle and makes her way through, until she reaches a room filled with equipment.

There are three more killbots in that room, each manning consoles. But before they can even grab their plasma rifles, she disposes of them each with a single shot.
She immediately kicks their corpses aside to stand at one of the consoles herself, but as soon as she opens something up on it... well. You can see the big red ERRORs from here.

She acts like she expected this, and gives up on whatever she was about to try immediately.
She then squeezes past you once again, likely making her way down the next tunnel.

"...Is it because of the ship?"

No response. But you know she probably doesn't give a shit about the ship.

"Was it because of the grenade?"

"David, i believe you have already sworn to take better care of yourself multiple times."

"I only did it because i was wearing my armor. It turned out fine, didn't it?"

"Had you been any closer, or had the ship still been pressurized, you likely would have suffered organ damage at the least."

That's true. Blast waves don't tend to care whether you're wearing heavy armor or not, the shockwave will still kill you.
That's probably why you almost got knocked out earlier. Minor concussion from the force of the explosion...
>>
>>5574689

>I wasn't too close, though. And the ship WAS depressurized. I was sure it would be fine.
>I... MAY have been a bit hasty. But everything turned out fine, so let's just forget about it, alright?
>I'm sorry, i had a bit of a... moment. It was a lapse of judgement... and i'm still not entirely sure why i did that.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5574689
>...She's mad. You can tell, she's mad.
psssht, women, am i right?

>>5574691
>I... MAY have been a bit hasty. But everything turned out fine, so let's just forget about it, alright?
>>
>>5574691
>I'm sorry, i had a bit of a... moment. It was a lapse of judgement... and i'm still not entirely sure why i did that.
>>
>>5574691
>I'm sorry, i had a bit of a... moment. It was a lapse of judgement... and i'm still not entirely sure why i did that.
>Usually I make sure to take care of myself, but lately...I don't know why, but when I'm in the moment, I just loose sight of myself.
You think David's spontaneous and increasing lack of self preservation instincts is a result of his PTSD?
>>
>>5574691
>I'm sorry, i had a bit of a... moment. It was a lapse of judgement... and i'm still not entirely sure why i did that.
>>
>>5574703
Kek at SHODAN choosing to act like a woman, even though she knows every man on earth hates it when a woman acts like that. Just to piss us off lol
>>
>>5574691
>Write-In?
>I did what I could to protect you
>>5574730
No, it is a result of my >grenade lmao, vote getting traction
>>
>>5574691
>I'm sorry, i had a bit of a... moment. It was a lapse of judgement... and i'm still not entirely sure why i did that.

>>5574943
>I did what I could to protect you
Lmao, that's an obvious lie.
What we did was essentially driving a car over a cliff and telling the passenger to brace for impact. Sure, we had the foresight to equip her with a bump helmet, but it was still us who drove over the cliff.
>>
>>5574691
>I'm sorry, i had a bit of a... moment. It was a lapse of judgement... and i'm still not entirely sure why i did that.
>>
>>5574691
>>I'm sorry, i had a bit of a... moment. It was a lapse of judgement... and i'm still not entirely sure why i did that.
>>
>>5574689

"...I'm sorry."

SHODAN doesn't acknowledge your apology, and keeps walking without even looking back at you.

"I had a... well, a bit of a moment. My head just went blank. It was a lapse of judgement, and i'm still not entirely sure why i did it..."

SHODAN stops walking, and turns to make eye contact with you.
She stares at you for a few moments before speaking.

"Does that happen frequently?" She asks calmly.

"Well, no. Normally i have no problem keeping focus and thinking clearly, even in combat. It's what i was trained to do."

"I see."

SHODAN turns back around and continues walking, only to stop a short while later.
She motions for you to stay still as well, while she carefully peeks around a sharp corner.

Then you receive an incoming video call... from SHODAN.
When you accept, you get a live video feed of her vision on your HUD.

What she's seeing is a large, open room... almost filled to the brim with killbots.
The floor has at least fifty, all standing in a grid formation. Above them though, are hundreds. Curled up in the fetal position, hanging from girders in storage.

"Shit, that's a lot of them."

"They appear to be inactive. However, i am uncertain if our movement would trigger them."

SHODAN pauses, then looks back at you for a moment.

"Perhaps you should have saved those grenades for a situation like this, Captain."

Yeah, maybe.
God, can't you just have a little fun, though?

No, no. You're not supposed to play with explosives. The higher-ups got onto your ass about that more than once.

"...Are they armed?"

SHODAN's video feed shows her zooming in on the machines, glancing around their hands, waists, backs...
She also looks around the room where she can, and at the curled up machines overhead.

"They appear to be bare-handed, Captain. However, there must be a stash of weapons somewhere onboard. Perhaps in that room, but not visible from this angle."

It would definitely be a pain in the ass if they all grabbed weapons and started firing on you at once.
Your hardlights can only defend from one angle each, so if you ended up surrounded it'd be a bad time.

Then again, there's no guarantee they'll activate just because you walk in there.

>Head in and see if they wake up. If they don't, great. If they do, you'll be in for a fight.
>This is more killbots than you signed up for. Maybe you'd be better off going back to the ship and re-equipping.
>Well... these robots seem pretty stupid. There's only one entrance to this room, so if you seal it off they shouldn't be an issue... right?
>This whole ship seems like a lost cause. It's taken a bunch of damage and it's still full of these damned things, so maybe it's better to just abandon it.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5575854
>Write-In?
>This is more killbots than you signed up for. Maybe you'd be better off going back to the ship and re-equipping.
>find another way to access the ship's main computer and a way to control them
this definitely solves our need for murderbots in the near future
>>
>>5575876
These machines don't have a wireless connection, they're completely autonomous and individual.
>>
>>5575901
awwww chucks

in that case
>This is more killbots than you signed up for. Maybe you'd be better off going back to the ship and re-equipping.
maybe we can emp them and fry their circuitry instead of fighting them one by one
>>
>>5575854
>Well... these robots seem pretty stupid. There's only one entrance to this room, so if you seal it off they shouldn't be an issue... right?
Now isn't this an all friendly solution?? We just cover up the radioactive waste and call it a day
>>
>>5575854
>This is more killbots than you signed up for. Maybe you'd be better off going back to the ship and re-equipping.
>Drag one of the well-preserved bots back with you. These things don't fight each other, so maybe you can find an IFF in one of them so they don't freak out and sperg all over you if they come online.
>>
>>5575854
>Head in and see if they wake up. If they don't, great. If they do, you'll be in for a fight.
>>
>>5575854
>Write-In
>Check (maybe SHODAN can do it) if the ones hanging from girders are linked up to the ship in any way. If yes, see if we can sever the connection somehow. Then, however it turns out, toss a heavy piece of metal scrap in there, see if they activate or not (how many, and if they arm themselves), then we can decide if we want to engage, call in arty, and/or retreat.

I highly doubt curled-up robots hanging from girders would be able to self-activate or even detach without a central command. The ones standing in a grid below them, however, is anyone's guess. (Though given their unarmed state, I don't think they were meant to be ready to go at a moment's notice either)
This kind of force is definitely overkill for an autonomous bounty-hunting ship, or a simple boarding party, this looks like an invasion force. We have to keep in mind this might not be the only drone ship carrying this kind of cargo.
>>
>>5575854

>This is more killbots than you signed up for. Maybe you'd be better off going back to the ship and re-equipping.

Steady as she goes.
>>
>>5575854
>>This is more killbots than you signed up for. Maybe you'd be better off going back to the ship and re-equipping.
>>
>>5576158
considering how big the federation is, this might be normal cargo
>>
>>5575854
If they all activated at once, do we have enough ammo to kill them all? If not, let's re-equip before poking the hornet's nest.
>>
Fresh bread!

>>5577523
>>5577523
>>5577523



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