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“As MERRYGATE began the lengthy process of refocusing MIZAR-V-G’s colossal mirror array, I spent several days reviewing miscellaneous information collated with the aid of the probe’s translation key. The material was scattered: low-priority data with little relevance to in-system traffic or military maneuvers. Cultural information, or at least the closest equivalent.

I read much but understood relatively little. There were some tidbits were easy enough to grasp: pigmentation-marks to designate status. Communal milestones to mark major landmarks in neural development. Piecing through fragmented narratives revealed a surprising degree of homogeneity. Individuals bound to kin-groups, which were in turn subsumed by larger organizational units - a product of both evolution and necessity.

Other aspects were less straightforward. The Mizarians embrace a strange, almost reverential view of the cosmos. They fear the black of forgetfulness: the dark of interstellar space, and of the endless abyss lurking beneath the habitable zone of their planet-wide ocean. In the same vein, they extol the virtues of their solar parent: the sun which had graced their murky planet with life and fueled their ascension to the stars.

So I find irony in what we are about to do here. Irony in the way in which we call upon their parent-star to do our work for us.

When MERRYGATE finally shifted the three mirrors into their designated positions, she created a reflective weapon with a focal point half an orbit away. The optical alignment wasn’t exact, and the focus was mellowed by optical imperfections and simple diffraction. But none of that really mattered. Not with mirrors bearing the combined area of a continent. Not with a ferocious O-type star as its light source.

Through the RAIN’s optical sensors, I saw three points of glaring light converge onto the equitorial plane of MIZAR-V-A. Here, orbital infrastructure glistened like spun sugar, weaving through an equatorial ring-bus responsible for ferrying cargo through the moon’s dense atmosphere. Looking closer, I saw a pair of armament-laden spin-stations lurking near the belt’s periphery: placed to provide ample coverage against any out-system threats.

The three mirrors converged their foci into a single searing imprint. Metal softened; laminates vaporized; mere water flashed into billowing steam – freezing to form twinkling streamers in the moon's wake."

Below, a kilometer-wide pillar of light descended onto the surface of their world, howling with thermal rage. The air began to burn.

Just as it once did for us."

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 3, PERSONAL JOURNAL

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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“They couldn’t do nothing, of course. As the orbital mirror array reduced the military infrastructure defending MIZAR-V-A into rivulets of plasticized metal, the remnants of the patrol fleet began slinging kinetics – sending magnetic slugs on long, gravitationally-corrected trajectories towards our position.

They weren’t aiming for us. At this range, they had no chance at seeing a clean hit from an unguided kinetic weapon. The RAIN was a mobile target, capable of altering her position long before she was in any danger.

Unfortunately, the mirrors had no such benefit. Their magnetic systems were optimized for rotation rather than movement. Patch-by-patch – piece by piece – the rain of kinetic rounds shattered subsections of the mirror. While the RAIN could mitigate some of the damage by intercepting the rounds before impact, we knew that the window afforded to us would be limited. Accounting for the time it would take to slew the mirrors onto a new target, we would have ten – maybe fifteen hours of meaningful burn-time left. Enough, perhaps to do significant damage to…

>MIZAR-IV. A closer target, requiring a much smaller targeting adjustment. There are two heavily colonized moons here, defended by a trio of orbital stations. Eliminating one station would create a viable entry point for the RAIN. Eliminating two stations would render both worlds exceptionally vulnerable.

>MIZAR-III [HOMEWORLD]. Our final goal, and their homeworld. From what I have observed, the orbit of MIZAR-IV is festooned with defensive emplacements. Inflicting early damage upon this infrastructure would be invaluable. However, this target is also far more distant. It will take time to steer the mirror array to match the planet’s position, and the effects of diffraction may mellow our attack further…"

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 4, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>>5647948
>>MIZAR-IV.
Guaranteed damage now will mean more munitions left for the final assualt.

>>5647948
>>MIZAR-IV. A closer target, requiring a much smaller targeting adjustment. There are two heavily colonized moons here, defended by a trio of orbital stations. Eliminating one station would create a viable entry point for the RAIN. Eliminating two stations would render both worlds exceptionally vulnerable.

>>5647948
You came back!
And the new animations are dope as always.
>MIZAR-IV. A closer target, requiring a much smaller targeting adjustment. There are two heavily colonized moons here, defended by a trio of orbital stations. Eliminating one station would create a viable entry point for the RAIN. Eliminating two stations would render both worlds exceptionally vulnerable.

This is the best quest on /qst/ and I plan to shill for it in my own quest. Glad you’re back ObserverQM!!!

>>5647948

>MIZAR-IV. A closer target, requiring a much smaller targeting adjustment. There are two heavily colonized moons here, defended by a trio of orbital stations. Eliminating one station would create a viable entry point for the RAIN. Eliminating two stations would render both worlds exceptionally vulnerable.

Let’s not be hasty here - better to finish the job at hand before cracking the hardest nut.

>>5647948
>MIZAR-IV
As said, a higher chance hit is a solid gamble. Mizar three can probably be sieged to some extent as they have enormous population and insufficient food and fuel stores to maintain them.

>>5647948

>MIZAR-IV. A closer target, requiring a much smaller targeting adjustment. There are two heavily colonized moons here, defended by a trio of orbital stations. Eliminating one station would create a viable entry point for the RAIN. Eliminating two stations would render both worlds exceptionally vulnerable.

Glad to have you back, QM.

>Roll 1d20, best of 3. DC: 12, 16

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>5648326

Here you go boss

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>5648326

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>5648326

>>5647947
Did you write all this crap for free?

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“All armaments make concessions. The RAIN’s laser array is no exception. Despite employing a complex, diffraction-compensated optical manifold, the energy output of the weapon barely exceeds that of a light railgun. Performance against ablative armor is notably poor. Engagement ranges are limited.

Within the past few months, there have been moments when I have questioned my decision to furnish the RAIN with this eclectic weapon system. A conventional battery of railgun turrets would have easily broken the ambush we faced in the outer asteroid belt with raw power. A prototype particle lance – like the kind mounted on the RAIN’s sister ships – could have circumvented the threat entirely by allowing the RAIN to engage outside of their threat envelopes.

But now, I no longer hold these regrets. Over the past sixteen hours, the remaining Mizarian patrol ships sent a constant stream of kinetic fire racing towards our position – peppering their own mirror system with projectiles ranging in diameter from several millimeters to tens of centimeters. Very few of them made it to their targets. With ample time to track and engage targets, the RAIN’s laser array made the volume around our ship nearly impenetrable. The UV lasers emitters would track and whine, discharging at reduced power to conserve capacitor charge. And hour by hour, barrages of kinetic slugs would shoot past the RAIN like autumnal meteorites, leaving white-hot trails as they were ablated into clouds of metal vapor.

All the while, the three mirrors burned: casting their baleful gaze on a new target.

MERRYGATE used less finesse here. Instead of tracking a target within the same lunar system, she was directing the focus point at a moon orbiting another planet. The distance was an order of magnitude larger, and the effects of diffraction reduced focal intensity accordingly. Yet once again, the power output of the mirror array simply proved overwhelming.

One after another, the two unoccluded defense stations defending MIZAR-V wilted under the sustained solar heat. Thermal management systems failed in rapid succession before the superstructure began to vaporize, creating a visible gas plume oddly reminiscent of a comet tail. By the time the kinetic barrage finally succeeded in shattering the three mirrors to the point of inoperability, both stations were reduced to two thirds of their former mass.

And like the molten stations surrounding MIZAR-V-A, their charges were left exposed. A pair of verdant twin accompany a young, littoral ocean-moon – the three remaining footholds of Mizarian interstellar expansion.

Every alien on those three worlds would understand now, firsthand. From beneath their emerald oceans and their littoral shores, they would have observed the light of their own sun above the clouds: crafted into a flare-bright lance to break open the way to their worlds. They would see…

“…and they finally would know that their fears have all been warranted, from the moment they first left their home world.” finished MERRYGATE.

For the first time in a long while, the bridge displays populated with alien comm traffic. Not directed around us, but at us.

>IGNORE. There is nothing left to be said. And if there is, it would make no difference to what will transpire here.

>ANSWER. Perhaps there is still something to be gained through communication.

>WRITE-IN.

As I considered our response, the RAIN re-engaged her main drive. Fractured subfacets slid past her prow, liberated from twisted mirror-scaffolding to form a sea of reflective shards. In a few centuries, it would form a minor ring system – furnishing its parent moon with loops of polished silver. But for now, it would be a decent source of cover for the RAIN – enough, I hoped, to mask our next destination."

>MIZAR-V-A. The obvious target. Besides a small remaining patrol force severely hampered by fuel and resource shortages, this planet is devoid of orbital defenses. Short transit time.

>MIZAR-IV. A viable target-of-opportunity given the success of our sabotage attempt. Two of the three orbital stations defending the two colonized moons have been reduced, rendering both worlds comparatively vulnerable. While more heavily defended, the sudden shock of losing two defense stations may have created a unique timeslot to mount an attack. Longer transit time.

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 5, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>>5649890
>IGNORE. There is nothing left to be said. And if there is, it would make no difference to what will transpire here.
>MIZAR-V-A. The obvious target. Besides a small remaining patrol force severely hampered by fuel and resource shortages, this planet is devoid of orbital defenses. Short transit time.

>>5649890
>IGNORE. There is nothing left to be said. And if there is, it would make no difference to what will transpire here.
>MIZAR-IV. A viable target-of-opportunity given the success of our sabotage attempt. Two of the three orbital stations defending the two colonized moons have been reduced, rendering both worlds comparatively vulnerable. While more heavily defended, the sudden shock of losing two defense stations may have created a unique timeslot to mount an attack. Longer transit time.
What about the results of the UNSPOOL vote last thread?

>>5649913
:) I promise I didn't forget about it.

>>5649890
>ANSWER. Perhaps there is still something to be gained through communication.
>MIZAR-IV. A viable target-of-opportunity given the success of our sabotage attempt.

>>5649890

>ANSWER. Perhaps there is still something to be gained through communication.

Can we make sure MERRYGATE is screening for poison pills in the message? I’m not worried about memetic virii but I am concerned that they’d try some electronic warfare type stuff.

>MIZAR-V-A. The obvious target. Besides a small remaining patrol force severely hampered by fuel and resource shortages, this planet is devoid of orbital defenses. Short transit time.

We’ve gotten this far by minimizing our risk exposure and avoiding sustained combat, seems best to keep to same strategy

>>5649890
>IGNORE. There is nothing left to be said. And if there is, it would make no difference to what will transpire here.
>MIZAR-V-A. The obvious target. Besides a small remaining patrol force severely hampered by fuel and resource shortages, this planet is devoid of orbital defenses. Short transit time.

>>5649890
>ANSWER. Perhaps there is still something to be gained through communication.

I wonder why they are speaking to us. Lets find out.


>MIZAR-IV. A viable target-of-opportunity given the success of our sabotage attempt. Two of the three orbital stations defending the two colonized moons have been reduced, rendering both worlds comparatively vulnerable. While more heavily defended, the sudden shock of losing two defense stations may have created a unique timeslot to mount an attack. Longer transit time.

Far more valuable target.

>>5649890
>ANSWER. Perhaps there is still something to be gained through communication.
I wonder if they know what a villains monologue is.

>MIZAR-V-A. The obvious target. Besides a small remaining patrol force severely hampered by fuel and resource shortages, this planet is devoid of orbital defenses. Short transit time.

Something to be said for being thorough.

>>5649890
>IGNORE
>MIZAR-V-A
If our stealth ship can obscure its trayectory with the chunk of glass, then we have to choose the unlikely option. We have opened the window, and the fishes will expect us to get through it. Little did they know, that we are going through the front door.
Nice seeing you QM! Your Blender-mancy is breath taking. As usual. Was it blender?

>>5647943

Observer, looks like you'll need to contact Lord Licorice at the sup/tg/ archive. Someone archived this thread in malice.

>>5651074
What pushes these morons to do this?

>>5651031
I already started working on the update, so I'm afraid that I can't count

>IGNORE

as it would make the vote a tie right now. Sorry anon - I should have made a post informing you guys that voting is closed.

>>5651074
Thanks for letting me know! I'll try to get it sorted as soon as I finish my update.

>>5651238
Occupational hazard of shitposting in the qtg lel. Should have used a vpn ._.

>>5651246
bummer

>>5651074
you have been avenged.

>>5651687
Very quest appropriate kek!

“We surfaced from the cloud of shattered mirrors to enter a short transfer orbit, running the RAIN’s engines at full military burn. Within hours, MIZAR-V-G shrank to a shimmering turquoise dot – its reflective surface permanently darkened by the absence of its distinctive mirror-crown.

But that darkness only represented a portion of the damage we had inflicted. The more insidious component of our attack had yet to fully materialize – still lurking beneath layers of diversionary subroutines and polymorphic kill-code. MERRYGATE had primed it mere hours before we had departed, transplanting it into the heart of MIZAR-V-G’s agricultural control system.

Here, the low-level machine-intelligence responsible for coordinating orbital shipping and transfer logistics had been subtly compromised. The next time the orbital elevator system received a supply transfer request, the magnetic anchors responsible for tethering the docks would overload. Within the span of fifteen minutes, the entire system would unspool – dragging a hundred megatons of orbital infrastructure from geostationary orbit down into the moon’s lukewarm seas.

Of course, initiating this sequence of events was contingent on the Mizarians actually returning to recover their last harvest. To her credit, MERRYGATE seemed unconcerned when I pointed this out.

“I consider deterrence to be a victory as well, companion. How they choose to starve is irrelevant to me. I only care that they do.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 6, PERSONAL JOURNAL

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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Fear. Hope always ends in fear.

After we decided to accept the transmission directed towards the RAIN, I considered several possibilities. Perhaps it was another set of threats – just as futile as the one they transmitted to us several months ago. Or maybe it would be an honest attempt at negotiation or a request for clemency– a logical response given the damage that the RAIN had inflicted after we had breached the inner system.

I was wrong. It was none of those things.

At first, I had struggled to comprehend what the transmission was showing. A recording of the system primary: the roiling fires of MIZAR, surrounding by a corona of sapphire’d light. But there was something there – a dark speck almost perfectly concealed by the brightness of the surrounding solar heat, floating just above the fringes of the photosphere. Then the recording drew inwards, and we were able to observe the structure in greater detail.

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I saw a vast metallic heat-shield, arranged in blocky sectors. A magnetic siphon which plunged deep into MIZAR’s hydrogen-rich outskirts to feed a tapered spin-station that only looked half finished.

Closer again. The spin-station supported an array of circular construction bays – tiny on the scale of the image, but probably monstrous compared to the size of the RAIN. Most of them were empty. But one was occupied by a sleek, jet-black vessel – a bullet with a distinctive intake ring near its needle-nose prow.

The design was puzzling. There was no reason for it to be a civilian craft, not here in the burning fringes of the system primary. However, the structure also deviated too much from the design principles we had seen for it to be a warship.

And then, in a single, horrible instant, I understood what it was.

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A weaponized interstellar vessel: a kinetic-kill impactor. The sleek design was intended to minimize hull ablation at relativistic velocities; the intake ramp was built to harvest interstellar hydrogen from a ram-fusion drive. And the matte-black surface coating added for stealth – to push the odds of a successful intercept from low to near-impossibility.

This weapon was why the launching station demanded so much power – why it was constructed in a radiation-saturated environment that would blind long-range sensors.

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And this weapon was why the Mizarians were communicating with us now. The final image of the transmission simply showed the projected trajectory vector of the relativistic weapon. Then a set of coordinates that would put the RAIN far away from any of their colonies. Then a scrolling countdown, no more than a day given.

But for a time, I didn’t even notice those last two items.

I simply watched. I looked upon one of the weapons which had burned my homeworld, pointed at the fragile light of Sol once more. I looked upon it, and I wept.

>VII: THE CHARIOT. BEGIN MOVING THE RAIN TOWARDS THE COORDINATES. Some terms are not negotiable.

>XIII: DEATH. CONTINUE THE CURRENT COURSE. Perhaps the vehicle is not yet finished. Perhaps they will not remove their only leverage. Perhaps one impactor will not be enough.

>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 6, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>>5651708
>>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.

>>5651708
>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.
We have to stop it. I hope she knows how.

>>5651708
>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.

>>5651708
>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.

>>5651708

>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.

The kill vehicle won’t go light speed immediately, it’ll need time to build up velocity out of the system. We can basically try to intercept as it zips by and damage it directly or otherwise interrupt navigation. We basically just need to knock it off course.

>>5651708
>>XIII: DEATH
Break the cycle. No hesitation.

>>5651708
>>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.

Alright then. Time to figure out how we cancel the apocalypse.

>>5651708
>>XIII: DEATH.
Do not be fooled by that which that has already happened. YOU choose to end up in this date and not earlier. And this is the price to pay.

>>5651708
>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.
So our heretical hope was just that. A hope. I assume that they had waited for a more optimal firing window to launch the kill vehicle/ship/missile. Since we traveled 60+ years into the past, I had hoped that the kill weapon wasn't ready. Sadly i was mistaken. I had hoped that our efforts to kill as many as possible would divert resources away from this weapon. I was wrong.
This is why we should have ended up in the deep past. Us forgetting everything and being eradicated by Space time is a small price to pay for saving our homeworld. Now we don't get that option. Even if we supernova Mizar itself, they will have launched the Kill weapon. It will outrun our attempts to force a message to travel at the speed of light. Sol will not get the warning before its too late to matter.

>>5651708
>XIV: TEMPERANCE. CONSULT WITH MERRYGATE. There is something more we should consider. And her avatar is incandescent with something beyond rage.

>>5652463
I was hoping to hit the supernova button but even that would be too slow I guess.

What I don't get is why did we bother to go and pwn them when we could have gone straight for the supernova black hole w/e. option as soon as it was possible? For our satisfaction?

Another thing. Is humanity not a space faring race yet? Like we don't even have a colony on one of the outer rings moons?

>>5653202
Thanks for bumping my thread anon! Remember to vote too.

Update most likely tomorrow (maybe tonight) due to an experiment need to finish running.

>>5647943
Oh shit it's back
Nice!

>>5651708
>XIV: TEMPERANCE

>>5652753
Ah, I was about to say dude humanity is OOFed. But the I remembered that yeah, we warped through time AND space.

>>5652753
We traveled back roughly 60 years. The date on last post is 2242 Aug 6. So 60+/-10 is our widest range of actual temporal date. 2242-80 (total estimate) is 2160 ish. well over a century after our actual current date. We probably have space colonies by that point. However our ability to escape the Kill Weapon is nil. We BARELY got FTL in 2240ish. Humanity is still struck in Sol ESPECIALLY at the estimated current real date. The kill weapon is probably design to somehow annihilate Sol, killing the system in the process, or it murders every world and habitable body within the system. Our memories on how Mars died got mostly wiped by the FTL. So its not that we dont have colonies or whatever, we are stuck in Sol, this thing is designed to DELETE an entire star system with bullshit Hunter technology, (remember these guys salvaged Hunter artifacts that were hanging around in their system).

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“Sixteen hours.

As we reached the apex of our orbital transfer maneuver, the RAIN flipped lengthwise in preparation for a retrograde burn. The pressure on my body eased for a moment. The pressure on my mind did not.

Sixteen hours. That is our window to decide whether to deviate from our course. For a human, it would be an absurdly small amount of time – offering no opportunity to calculate risks or weigh impacts. Only basic guesswork and crude emotion would remain: animal fear balanced against simple hate.

But MERRYGATE had only felt the latter. Her avatar burned blood-crimson as she realized that more would be taken from her: more obligations broken and possibilities cut-short. She recalled the vow she had made to me in that green-thatched Tharsis nursery – her conviction in declaring that our home was not yet lost. She had treasured that promise – and now knew that it would be taken by the same species who had taken away all other promises.

She remembered all of this. And although the crimson eventually faded down her filigreed arms, I knew she would not forget.

But for now, a meshwork of graphs and schematics filled the bridge with ruby light. MERRYGATE worked unceasingly to analyze a weapon which had no human analogue. She struggled to find an optimum – pushing immense amounts of data through her processing substrate to solve a problem that was neither defined nor truly solvable.

“All I offer are hypotheticals, companion” she whispered in a low, tremulous voice. “It is impossible to ascertain the status of their weapon from the information provided.”

“The impactor appears to be complete, but they have provided no evidence indicating that it is prepared to launch. And if it is launched, interception may remain a remote option. Until the object builds enough velocity to ignite its ram-fusion drive, it will have to rely on conventional propulsion.”

She highlighted the sweeping, umbrella-like structure of the base-station.

“I believe that the launch station is responsible for supplying this propulsive force. Solar energy from the primary star is redirected and collimated into a tight beam, which impinges on the impactor to accelerate it until it can scoop enough hydrogen to power itself.”

I studied the schematics carefully. “How long would that take?”

“Several weeks. One or two months at most.”

“After that, interception will be impossible. Destroying the station would have no effect, and the acceleration afforded by a lit ram-fusion torch will easily outpace our own drive.”

I considered the timetable, and the RAIN’s nominal thrust. On the lower end, it would be impossible. The upper end, however, scraped the very edge of feasibility – especially if the Mizarians had chosen to broadcast their threat before their impactor was fully prepared for launch. Even so, we would have to make considerable concessions. A rush towards the Mizar primary would leave the RAIN at the bottom of a massive gravity well. Proceeding to repositioning the vessel to exterminate the core worlds would be a risky, lengthy endeavor.

“There is one additional possibility,” said MERRYGATE, with a considerable degree of hesitation. “Inducing a stellar collapse would eliminate both the station and the inner-planets in a single action.”

I nodded. “Yes, but we can’t do it ourselves. The probe agreed to travel to the system primary once we eliminated most of the resistance in the system – not before.”

MERRYGATE paused, choosing her next words very carefully. “The probe’s last position was recorded inside my databanks. I doubt that it has moved since then. Despite the…considerable risk…involved, I am not opposed to reinitiating contact.”

“If doing so is necessary for these animals to share humanity’s fate, then so be it.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 7, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>BEGIN MOVING THE RAIN TOWARDS THE SPECIFIED COORDINATES. Some terms are not negotiable.

>CONTINUE THE CURRENT COURSE. Prioritize the core-worlds. Perhaps the impactor is not yet finished. Perhaps they will not remove their only leverage. Perhaps one impactor will not be enough.

>INTERCEPT. Race towards the system primary. The core-worlds can wait until later.

>NEGOTIATE. Send a message to the probe’s coordinates. There is a chance that it will be open to a…renegotiation of prior terms. But I remember the circumstances of the last meeting. MERRYGATE does as well. And we have something to hide now.

>>5654442
>INTERCEPT
Would it be possible, to instead of going into orbit around the star, make a single pass flyby attack and use the star for a slingshot maneuver back out of it's gravity well?

>>5654442
>INTERCEPT. Race towards the system primary. The core-worlds can wait until later.
One chance is all we ever had.

>>5654442
>INTERCEPT. Race towards the system primary. The core-worlds can wait until later.
It is without a doubt an ambush. We need some unexpected plan of approach.
We won't be able to use the hypometric weapon this close to the star, but maybe our memetic virus will work?

>>5654442
>INTERCEPT. Race towards the system primary. The core-worlds can wait until later.

>>5654442
>INTERCEPT. Race towards the system primary. The core-worlds can wait until later.

This one is for all the marbles.

>>5654442

>INTERCEPT. Race towards the system primary. The core-worlds can wait until later.

This is our moment to change our destiny.

Fun thought - all we have to do is kamikaze the weapon with the RAIN and we’ve successfully delayed the human apocalypse by several years, maybe even decades, with all of the economic damage we’ve inflicted on the Mizarians.

Basically, maybe that means that we could restart this whole causality loop but with a slightly better ship and slightly better AI companion.

>>5654580
Alternative means:
>Hack the accelerator solar collector into burning the RKKV instead
>Hack the RKKV to put it off-course
>Hack the RKKV to make it circle around and hit Mizar-A

Since no one has voted to comply, I’ll do the roll now. From this point forward, there is a 50% chance of the rkv launching every post.

>Roll 1d2, Best of One. (DC: 2)

All other voting options are still open.

>>5654759

Wait are you rolling or are we?

I’m too nervous to do it myself

>>5654791
You’re rolling. NOW

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5654881

AHH

>>5654899
Congrats!

>>5654899
Good job, anon.

>>5654899
good job duuud
>INTERCEPT
something tells me they are NOT going to be able to refuel their ships and feed their people by the time we are done with the big bullet. Which means that thanks to our current feats there won't be a strong opossition for when we get back... also we haven't fired too many nukes. I want to fire nukes

>>5654899
Phew anon, this was awfully stressful even for me. Good job.

>>5654901
>>5654911
>>5655195
>>5655235

Is it safe to post now in this thread?
What if we fired our gun that deletes things at the weapon while in line with it? Could the RKKV run into the delete field and delete itself if we position it right?

Otherwise...
>INTERCEPT. Race towards the system primary. The core-worlds can wait until later.

>>5655920
My mistake. What I mean is that I'll ask for a 1d2 roll every time I post/update, not for every vote. Sorry if that was confusing!

Update in 30 min.

>INTERCEPT

>FLYBY?

“I stopped MERRYGATE before she could finish her train of thought.

No more. There would be no more of this.

I knew that we have already abdicated too much. As we have progressed deeper into this benighted star system, our mission has gradually become diluted – bound to actors and forces we yet struggle to comprehend.

But I cannot relinquish our role in our own final act. I will not sacrifice our remaining agency to negotiate with an alien intelligence who has already traded away humanity’s survival for a mere pittance.

If there is truly an end to this, then we alone shall bring it forth. Success or failure will be determined by the last surviving representative of humanity and her silicon progeny – as it always should have been.

Thus, as the final hours of the alien ultimatum bled down to minutes and mere seconds, I felt nothing. The RAIN stayed on her original trajectory, reimposing forward acceleration to allow us to clear MIZAR-V’s lunar system once we shot past MIZAR-V-A. From that point forward, it would be a near-vertical plunge down into the Mizar gravity well: the first leg of a violent slingshot maneuver that would bring us well within ten thousand kilometers of that sun-kissed launch station.

The countdown reached zero. The acceleration imposed by the RAIN’s drive increased by a near-imperceptible amount. I saw MERRYGATE’s avatar flash briefly in grim anticipation. Yet surprisingly, every long-range sensor on the RAIN offered the same information:

The weapon did not launch. Whether due to lack of will or ability, the apocalyptic weapon used to threaten our entire species had failed to clear its assembly cradle.

At that very moment, we wished – somewhat perversely – that the aliens could observe the RAIN. We wished that they could see the unerring cut of our trajectory and the output-spike of our cloaked fusion drive as we called their bluff - and found it dearly wanting."

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 7, PERSONAL JOURNAL

File: 0050-0300.webm (3.05 MB, 700x700)

3.05 MB WEBM

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“…yet there may be another way of sending that same message. While our new trajectory would put us askew from the last three core worlds, the RAIN is still scheduled to skim past MIZAR-V-A’s outer orbit tomorrow. The world is defenseless now – its patrol fleet depleted, and its defensive stations reduced to clumps of still-molten metal.

During a brief drive intermission yesterday, I traveled through the RAIN’s primary launch bay to inspect her true payload. A quartet of missiles for a quartet of planets, all yet unused. Through the gloves of my vacuum suite, I could almost feel the warmth leaking from the towering, silo-like projectiles: residual decay heat from over thirty kilograms of static antimatter, distributed within over three hundred independently guided submunitions.

From a logical perspective, it would be wisest to deploy the weapons in quick succession – to prevent the Mizarians from observing and potentially countering the stealth-coated projectiles. But recently, I have entertained second thoughts. Perhaps it would be wiser to inflict whatever damage we can before risking our ship by diving towards the Mizar primary. Or perhaps my doubt is nothing more than simple human spite – a desire to retaliate against the threat of annihilation by bringing forth the thing itself..."

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 8, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – ARM.

>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – DENY.

“Four point five gees. That is the maximum acceleration that the RAIN’s stealth drive can sustain over an extended period of time. Somewhat pitiful when compared to standard drive systems, but surprisingly competitive when weighed against most Mizarian capitals.

I fear that it is still not enough. At our current rate of acceleration, it will take forty-eight days for us to complete our approach. If the Mizarians still manage to launch their weapon within the first half of this time window, then there remains a significant chance that their impactor can activate its ram-fusion drive before we can neutralize the launch station.

There is no clever solution to this problem. Only concessions: tradeoffs between speed and survivability.

It is possible – though generally inadvisable – to disable the stealth manifolds responsible for concealing the RAIN’s drive plume. The process of neutral lepton transmutation will stop, and the RAIN’s drive will operate at tolerances far closer to a conventional fusion torch. Our acceleration would increase by twenty to thirty five percent, cutting our trip down by a similar margin.

However, we would become easily detectable once our drive-emissions lose their mask. The Mizarians would be able to track us during every step of our journey – and likely respond accordingly.

>CURRENT THRUST. The RAIN’s drive system will remain at its current thrust level. We can expect engagements to proceed in the manner they have before, with the RAIN cloaked prior to explicit detection.

>DISABLE STEALTH. Disengaging stealth manifolds will boost drive output and cut our journey by a week or so, approximately. The Mizarians will be able to keep tabs on our precise location at all times and likely organize their forces accordingly."

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 8, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>Also someone roll me a 1d2, best of one.

>>5656139
>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – DENY.
"Whatever damage we can" is not enough. We must prevent the Mizarians from being ever able to launching an RKKV at us, forever. If their destruction isn't total and complete, we will have failed anyway, so there's no point in going for a partial one.

>CURRENT THRUST. The RAIN’s drive system will remain at its current thrust level. We can expect engagements to proceed in the manner they have before, with the RAIN cloaked prior to explicit detection.
The longer we can keep Mizarians guessing whether we have complied with their blackmail, the longer they'll be hesitant to discard their only leverage.
In theory.
I know it's actually determined by a die roll.
Which I'm not going to roll. Last time I rolled a critical die it was a failure.

>>5656139
>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – DENY.
That world is a drain to their resources. It had billions of inhabitants and an unknown number of refugees. They have to split their fleet to defend it now. We'll get them when we swing back.

>>5656143
>DISABLE STEALTH. Disengaging stealth manifolds will boost drive output and cut our journey by a week or so, approximately. The Mizarians will be able to keep tabs on our precise location at all times and likely organize their forces accordingly."
Every second counts. One week can make all the difference. We can reenable it later, right?


I ain't rolling that shit boss.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5656143
Fuck it, we ball

>>5656139

>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – DENY

>DISABLE STEALTH. Disengaging stealth manifolds will boost drive output and cut our journey by a week or so, approximately. The Mizarians will be able to keep tabs on our precise location at all times and likely organize their forces accordingly."

>>5656194

Destiny conspires to give humanity a chance, anons. Or maybe the Mizarians are just incompetent?

>>5656137
> AM LAUNCH CONSENT – DENY.
> CURRENT THRUST. The RAIN’s drive system will remain at its current thrust level. We can expect engagements to proceed in the manner they have before, with the RAIN cloaked prior to explicit detection

>>5656197

Actually I’m changing my vote to:

Deny

Keep current thrust

>>5656139
>>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – ARM.
FIRE FIRE FIRE AAAAAA FIRE!!
>CURRENT THRUST. The RAIN’s drive system will remain at its current thrust level. We can expect engagements to proceed in the manner they have before, with the RAIN cloaked prior to explicit detection.
>>5656194
AYYYYYYY

>>5656194
Phew

>>5656194
Feels REAL fucking good when the EBIL DOOM WEAPON is so utterly fucking worthless it isn't even funny anymore.

>>5656143

>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – DENY.

To admit that we can't hit better targets is to admit failure. We haven't failed yet.

>CURRENT THRUST. The RAIN’s drive system will remain at its current thrust level. We can expect engagements to proceed in the manner they have before, with the RAIN cloaked prior to explicit detection.

The more time they are guessing where we are, the less time they have to think up some kind of harebrained scheme.

>>5656139
>AM LAUNCH CONSENT – DENY.
If we blast those planets on the way, its a dead giveaway.

I wonder if we can turn the RKKV against them and shoot it at their own home world.

>CURRENT THRUST. The RAIN’s drive system will remain at its current thrust level. We can expect engagements to proceed in the manner they have before, with the RAIN cloaked prior to explicit detection.

>>5656143
>AM LAUNCH CONSENT - DENY
>CURRENT THRUST

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“Pressure. Constant acceleration strains the body even at moderate burn-rates.

I spent the past week ensconced in an acceleration chair, weathering the crush of military thrust using a tailored mixture of vascular stabilizers and muscle relaxants. The automated drive maintenance cycles were my sole respite: performed daily for a half-hour of shipboard time. Just barely enough time to join MERRYGATE in the observation blister to behold the burning corpus of Mizar-A.

When we had first arrived in this system, the primary star had been little more than a cyan speck – the first among equals in a sky filled with a multitude of stars. Now, Mizar-A dominated our viewscreen like a baleful eye, washing out its cosmic siblings with cold, cobalt-blue light. Arcs of coruscating plasma foreshadowed its gaze, giving birth to charged-particle waves millions of kilometers wide.

In less than a month, the RAIN would have to navigate those electromagnetic currents. A tight slingshot maneuver would allow us to exploit the same principle used to hide the Mizarian launch station. The intense radiation output from the MIZAR-A would shield us from detection as we circumnavigated the star like an orbiting comet. By the time our vessel was resolvable from the solar background, the station would already be well-within our weapons envelope.

It was a decent plan – made better by the perplexing actions of our adversary. The kinetic impactor that the Mizarians had built was still locked inside its launch cradle – a full two weeks after they had shown it to us to threaten our compliance. From our long range scopes, we could now distinguish drive plumes heading two and from the station – evidence, most likely, that their weapon was not as complete as they had made it seem. MERRYGATE found the entire situation amusing: some of her rage sublimated once she realized that the aliens were losing a gambit that involved their main trump card. It even mellowed the disappointment she felt as several of the core worlds fell behind us. Despite her willingness to acquiesce to my plan, I sensed that her eagerness to employ the RAIN’s world-razing armaments exceeded my own.

File: untitled.png (2.27 MB, 1920x1080)

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And then - on the eve of the fifteenth day - another transmission appeared in our comm buffer. It originated from the Mizarian homeworld, most likely broadcasted from a ground-based transmitter array powerful enough to cover the entire inner system. Whether they Mizarians knew it or not, they had chosen to send it at a critical juncture. If impactor launched any later than today, then there would be no more uncertainty left for us to fear. The RAIN would send the launch station careening into their sun long before the weapon could reach its minimum drive ignition velocity.

And so the two of us watched the transmission, projected in a room still lit by the fires of their cobalt-blue sun. I recognized the mantle-pieces and the status markings adorning the quartet of speakers. The sonorous voice and the strange, almost poetic meter of their synthesized speech. I recognized these things well enough to despise them.

“"[TRESPASSER/HERETIC] WE HAVE JUDGED YOUR [ATROCITIES/GREAT BLASPHEMIES] AGAINST THE [LAST/SURVIVOR] SPECIES.

Know that our [device/weapon] is prepared.

Know that we can take away your home.

Know that you can still desist.

Know that this [message/offer] is all that remains.

Know futility and cease.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 16th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>RESPOND [With what?].

>ALLOW MERRYGATE TO RESPOND.

>IGNORE.

>Also someone roll me a 1d2, best of one. Last one. Feel free to change your vote after the roll if you wish.

>>5658153
>IGNORE.

Jesus. 12.5% odds of complete survival is freaking brutal, especially when there's seemingly nothing we can do to stop it. I am not rolling that thing.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5658153

>>5658176
wish me luck.

File: R (2).png (784 KB, 1200x600)

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>>5658178

its joever…

So we failed? Quest over? What was the point of all that?

>>5658153
>RESPOND:

"Know that our home was already lost long ago.

Know that we know your weapon is not prepared.

Know that your weapon is no longer.

Know that we are all that remains.

Know futility and perish."

Then we launch the attack on that sun weapon. Maybe we can hack it so it shoots their homeworld? Shooting it this close won't shatter it, but maybe it could knock the homeworld out of orbit.
Once it's done, time to wreak more havoc on the Mizarians.

>>5658182

the kill vehicle still has to accelerate out of the Mizarian gravity well before it activates “ludicrous speed”.

We have a massive head start given that we’ve been hauling ass for two weeks on a stealth burn. So we can dump stealth mode and probably have a legit chance to intercept the accelerating kill vehicle in a slingshot

>>5658178
What the fuck are these narrative dice. It's like they know we're at a critical juncture.

>>5658153
>IGNORE
Don't reveal our position and intent

>>5658182
>Whether they Mizarians knew it or not, they had chosen to send it at a critical juncture. If impactor launched any later than today, then there would be no more uncertainty left for us to fear. The RAIN would send the launch station careening into their sun long before the weapon could reach its minimum drive ignition velocity.
No, rolling 2 would have meant that the Rain would have a 100% chance to destroy the station and disable the RKKV with no need for a risky gambit like disabling the stealth-drive. Now it's just less than 100%. Still miles better than it launching on the first post, and it's only got a day's head-start from what I get. We've got plenty of options, and hey, some tension is good, though it being a nothingburger all the way through would have been excessively funny.

Finally caught up with the archive, from when Ii followed thread 1 months ago. This is some kino shit QM.

Also, the fishmen are having a Megamind moment it seems.

>Fire!
>...
>It's warming up sir.
>The SUN is warming up?!

>>5658153

>IGNORE

We can dab on these fuckers once we blow up their genocide weapon.

>>5658153
>IGNORE
A silent enemy is more terrifying.

>>5658153
>IGNORE.

>>5658334
the best move is to not play

>>5658153
>IGNORE.
My only regret as we go into the finale is that we dont get to see the looks on their faces as we fucking end their only hopes of survival, as our were ended so brutally and viciously so long ago.

>>5658153
>ALLOW MERRYGATE TO RESPOND.

We've been doing all the talking. Let's let the girl closest to our heart get some words in.

>>5658178
And holy shit the dice want drama. This is something out of the climax of a fucking book or good show. I love it so fucking much.

>>5658153
>>5658370
On second thought, I'll switch to
>ALLOW MERRYGATE TO RESPOND.

>>5658153
>Allow Merrygate to respond

>>5658153
>>IGNORE.
MAN, how climactic!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJvVsHkSs_g

File: 0001-0150.webm (3.08 MB, 1920x1080)

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“I can no longer remember the precise moment when I made first my decision. But my conviction has remained.

The Mizarians could offer us their knowledge of the stars above and the riches of the firmament below – the priceless bounty of their science and the beauty of their cultural knowledge. They could offer their labor, their peace, perhaps even their subservience to humanity. None of it would make any difference to us.

The RAIN left the smoldering ashes of my home with her already purpose set. We would concede to no threats. We would take no concessions. And there would be no negotiations.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 16th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“On the cusp of that final day, we saw ignition. The impactor disengaged from its assembly cradle with great care, using pinpricks of chemical thrust to align itself to the launch station’s central axis. The flare of a quick-burning fusion drive gave the weapon an initial velocity boost before separating away to save weight.

Then, everything was bathed in red. The sweeping base of the launch station drew a tithe of incandescent plasma from the fringes of Mizar-A’s photosphere, compressing it to near-fusion temperatures using a tapering magnetic funnel. As the lifeblood of their parent star made its way through the station’s internals, it was tempered into a beam of collimated infrared photons. On the other end of the station, a beam of ruby red emerged to link Mizar-A with the ablative base of the impactor.

And so weapon begin to accelerate again – riding a solid bridge of starlight as it twinkled in the night sky.

It still twinkles there now, burning forward on a trail comprised of hot photons and metal vapor. The further it travels, the more it has begun to overlay that black gap in my vision – that blank sector of the sky where I should be able to find the last trace of true, golden sunshine.

Until yesterday, when it was blank no more. Sol was blotted red.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 22th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

“Six days from orbital insertion. Soon, the RAIN’s trajectory will be determined by simple physics. The gravity of Mizar-A will pull us at trans-relativistic speeds: between twenty and fifty hours to circumvent the entire star, depending on the depth of our target orbit.

While we had started at a significant disadvantage, the odds were relatively even now. The delayed launch of the impactor had put the RAIN in a good – albeit not foolproof – position. Even with both of our accelerations known, MERRYGATE noted that the precise timing would be subject to a degree of chance.

Uncertainty tinted her voice as I pressed for an estimate.

“The minimum activation velocity of the impactor’s ram-fusion drive is dependent on the local concentration of interstellar hydrogen. Our interception timetable station puts us at a threshold range. Providing a precise value is challenging.”

“But conservatively, I estimate a ten percent chance of drive activation if we approach the station at a standard slingshot orbit. If we reduce our orbit – and submerge the RAIN in the deeper layers of Mizar-A’s corona, we may be able to halve this probability.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, AUGUST 28th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>STANDARD INTERCEPT. The RAIN will enter a standard slingshot orbit, posing little to no risk to the integrity of our vessel. There is a 10% chance of the impactor initiating its main drive before the projected date of interception.

>FAST INTERCEPT. The RAIN will enter a tight slingshot orbit that will partially submerge our vessel into the star’s active corona. Depending on the level of solar activity, this may inflict permanent damage to the RAIN’s sensors and/or maneuvering thrusters. There is a 5% chance of the impactor initiating its main drive before the projected date of interception.

[In both cases, the launch probability will increase by 5% for each additional day/update you choose to delay interception, and you will have to reroll.]

>>5659160
>>STANDARD INTERCEPT. The RAIN will enter a standard slingshot orbit, posing little to no risk to the integrity of our vessel. There is a 10% chance of the impactor initiating its main drive before the projected date of interception.

No fucking point in getting there faster if we cripple ourselves.

>>5659160
>STANDARD INTERCEPT

>>5659160
>FAST INTERCEPT
This is a risk we cannot afford.
But I wonder whether we can launch the missile on this fast intercept course instead of going there ourselves.

>>5659160
>>FAST INTERCEPT

Better chances and less severe consequences.

>>5659160
>FAST INTERCEPT. The RAIN will enter a tight slingshot orbit that will partially submerge our vessel into the star’s active corona. Depending on the level of solar activity, this may inflict permanent damage to the RAIN’s sensors and/or maneuvering thrusters. There is a 5% chance of the impactor initiating its main drive before the projected date of interception.
Doesn't matter if we get crippled as long as the launch is stopped.

>>5659160
FAST INTERCEPT. The RAIN will enter a tight slingshot orbit that will partially submerge our vessel into the star’s active corona. Depending on the level of solar activity, this may inflict permanent damage to the RAIN’s sensors and/or maneuvering thrusters. There is a 5% chance of the impactor initiating its main drive before the projected date of interception.

Lets roll the dice.

>>5659160

>STANDARD INTERCEPT. The RAIN will enter a standard slingshot orbit, posing little to no risk to the integrity of our vessel. There is a 10% chance of the impactor initiating its main drive before the projected date of interception.

The mission is over if the RAIN is disabled, better to take the 10% now

>>5659160
>FAST INTERCEPT. The RAIN will enter a tight slingshot orbit that will partially submerge our vessel into the star’s active corona. Depending on the level of solar activity, this may inflict permanent damage to the RAIN’s sensors and/or maneuvering thrusters. There is a 5% chance of the impactor initiating its main drive before the projected date of interception.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=As1zperBKBw
Even if we fail, even if we fall
We have to risk it all

>>5659197
>>5659211
>>5659223
>>5659276

I need two sets of rolls:

>1d20. Best of one. DC: 2

>1d20. Best of three. DC: 10, 15

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>5659632
For Earth!

>>5659638
Nice :) Are you counting this for the first roll or the second one anon?

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>5659632
Mizar delenda est!

>>5659641
First, I thought the order you asked was clear.

>>5659644
The dice are with us!

File: IMG_1184.jpg (43 KB, 1000x1000)

43 KB JPG

>>5659682

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>5659632

SUFFER NOT THE XENO TO LIVE!

Rolled 12 (1d20)

We’re eating seafood tonight lads

>>5659638
>>5659644
STRONG NUMBRES
DO NOT GO GENTLE INT OTHE IGHT

>>5659638
Based!

>>5659644
Based!

>>5659638
>>5659644
GET FUCKING DUNKED ON FISH NIGGERS!

>>5659906
DAMN FISHERS

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“The NOVEMBER RAIN has always been a trueborn daughter of Mars.

Her keel was laid down between the sweeping struts of the Phoebe docks, concealed from the prying eyes of old earth. Her thermonuclear heart was constructed in the depths of my birth-city, tested for half a decade before ascending on a gossamer thin wire to catch its first hint of orbital sunlight.

Every piece of ablative plating that protects her hull is a piece of Martian land: iron, aluminum, and carbon lifted from the blood-red dunes of our homeworld.

I was there when she first journeyed away from her dock – when we had first broke ceremonial melt-water across her bow.

And so I knew that she would not falter.

The RAIN punched through Mizar-A’s corona like a railgun shell, her outer hull glowing red-hot from radiative heating. Fifteen minutes after our insertion maneuver, she reoriented to fire her main drive: skimming off the boundary layer demarcating the lower chromosphere from the upper photosphere. The rapid, violent maneuver exposed the RAIN to temperatures several thousand degrees higher than her nominal operating range. No combat maneuver – not even a trans-atmospheric insertion burn – could compare to an extended brush with the furnace-heart of an O-type star.

And yet the RAIN held. As our slingshot maneuver continued, our vessel navigated through Mizar-A’s solar landscape – dodging transient plateaus of hydrogen plasma and perilous magnetic whirlpools. Not once did her sensors fail or her thrusters stutter. Her resilience allowed us to travel at a blisteringly high speed, cutting the total time of our circumnavigation by more than half.

Through the plasma scorched windows of the observation blister, I tracked our progress. The needle-thin line of the launch station’s propulsion beam grew until it split the sky with red light. But there was no sign of drive activation – no blue glow that indicated sustained ignition of the weapon’s ram-fusion drive.

On the morning of our final day, I saw the bright mirror-flare of the launch station crest the edge of the burning horizon. The RAIN readied her weapons, and we steeled ourselves for our last – and perhaps only – chance at turning aside our extinction.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 9th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

File: 0001-0100.webm (2.5 MB, 1344x756)

2.5 MB WEBM

“Twenty minutes. That was the window of time afforded to our enemy. Here, a mere horizon length away from the station, our heat-fuzzed sensors could finally make out the composition of its defenders. Several dozen cruisers and destroyers patrolled the area above the station, wandering in tight circles with their sensors peering at the distant stars.

Even at that distance, they exhibited signs of radiation-weathering. None of the Mizarian ships had been designed to operate close to the harsh, inhospitable environment of their parent star. None save for one possible exception.

I remembered the battle we had observed months ago – the clash between a fully-equipped Mizarian fleet and the dying remnants of a modest hunter. I remembered the sensor readings we had taken of that behemoth – the intimidating mass signature and the peculiar, flare-white coloration. White for visibility. White for heat-reflection.

My blood ran cold.

Five minutes from our engagement envelope range, an optical signature separated from the launch station's reflected light. Attitude control engines fired with frantic succession, swinging around a massive, arrowhead prow that lagged just behind the RAIN’s position.

The last remaining supercapital of the Mizarian warfleet burned cyan, surging forward to silhouette itself against the horizon. Unprepared and off-guard it may be, it would still fight to condemn us for all that we have done to its species – and all which have yet to do."

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 10th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>SUPERCAPITAL-ENGAGE. The supercapital cannot rotate its primary weapon to hit us if we move in even closer. The RAIN will attempt to close the distance before engaging with its laser system, focusing on points of potential vulnerability.

>SUPERCAPITAL-AVOID. We will attempt to disable the station by either using conventional weapons or by launching a single missile. The RAIN’s speed may be sufficient to avoid the supercapital’s primary weapon even if we ignore it entirely – assuming that we are particularly fortunate.

>MSL-C [5 Remaining]. A single missile will probably be sufficient to destroy the supercapital. Two will almost guarantee a kill. We can then proceed to destroy the station with conventional weapons…or attempt something else.

>MSL-AM [4 Remaining]. Manual launch, proximity trigger, minimal guidance. A single missile contains thirty kilograms of stabilized antimatter, distributed in exactly three hundred submunitions. This is not an anti-ship weapon. Here, it doesn’t matter. The distance is too short. There is little room to dodge or intercept that many projectiles. A single launch will certainly vaporize everything horizon-to-horizon: the station, and the dreadnought with it.

>DIVERT. Skew the RAIN’s trajectory in a lateral direction to vanish back behind the horizon. We may be able to catch the supercapital in a more advantageous position once we re-emerge…but this will also cost us a significant amount of time. Time that we can ill-afford.

Also:

[Give me 1d20, best of three for the hypometric weapon. DC: 19]

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>5660191
>>MSL-AM [4 Remaining]. Manual launch, proximity trigger, minimal guidance. A single missile contains thirty kilograms of stabilized antimatter, distributed in exactly three hundred submunitions. This is not an anti-ship weapon. Here, it doesn’t matter. The distance is too short. There is little room to dodge or intercept that many projectiles. A single launch will certainly vaporize everything horizon-to-horizon: the station, and the dreadnought with it.
Will this use one of these, or all four? I'm struggling to see a downside here.

>>5660208
The downside is that they have four planets.

And you only have four missile.

>>5660191
>SUPERCAPITAL-ENGAGE
DC isn’t on our side right now.

>>5660191
>>MSL-C
One or two of these seem appropriate for a supercapital.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>5660191
Will MSL-AM also destroy the rest of the guard fleet? How big of a part of the total system fleet it is?
Depending on the answer, it might be worthwhile to spend an MSL-AM here and destroy one of the planets with other means, like redirecting asteroids, hacking life support, etc.

>>5660191
>>SUPERCAPITAL-ENGAGE. The supercapital cannot rotate its primary weapon to hit us if we move in even closer. The RAIN will attempt to close the distance before engaging with its laser system, focusing on points of potential vulnerability.

All in.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

Forgot to roll

>>5660191
>>MSL-C [5 Remaining]. A single missile will probably be sufficient to destroy the supercapital. Two will almost guarantee a kill. We can then proceed to destroy the station with conventional weapons…or attempt something else.
"Outta my way, son!"
One missile, hopefully enough to wound it and either disable the weapon or the propulsion so it can't aim well. Then just fly past it, engage the fleet, and then get a clear shot on the station to destabilize the propulsion beam.

I wonder what will happen to the RKKV if it can't get its second stage ignition and speed boost. I mean, it's still an object in space, so it won't slow down, and it's still pointed at our home system. Would it just be slow enough to intercept by the time it makes the trip, or will it be torn apart when we break apart the station due to power fluctuations since they're feeding sun-juice to it?

>>5660242
>it's still pointed at our home system
Nothing in space flies in straight lines, so it's not pointed there. Without proper speed it's extremely unlikely to even skirt the Solar system. Possibly it won't even be able to leave Mizar's gravity well and will return after some time to burn up in the corona.

>>5660191
>MSL-C [5 Remaining]. A single missile will probably be sufficient to destroy the supercapital. Two will almost guarantee a kill. We can then proceed to destroy the station with conventional weapons…or attempt something else.
Close range fight with a supercapital? That's madness.

>>5660191

>>SUPERCAPITAL-ENGAGE

We need to save the nukes for the planets

Captcha: RX82Y2

>>5660215
What's in those MSL-Cs? Nuclear warheads? I forgot from the first thread.

>>5660191

>MSL-AM [4 Remaining]. Manual launch, proximity trigger, minimal guidance. A single missile contains thirty kilograms of stabilized antimatter, distributed in exactly three hundred submunitions. This is not an anti-ship weapon. Here, it doesn’t matter. The distance is too short. There is little room to dodge or intercept that many projectiles. A single launch will certainly vaporize everything horizon-to-horizon: the station, and the dreadnought with it.

This is our chance to cancel the apocalypse, we can’t hold back now! We can lob rocks at the homeworlds to pummel them into oblivion later.

>>5660245
Right, not used to thinking with such long distances. The Sol system won't even be in its potential trajectory because of its relative movement.

>>5660335
Antimatter submunitions. Those missiles are planet-killers, from what I remember.

>>5660334
Well we still have the regular missiles. That's what those are for, solving fights we can't take.

>>5660335
MSL-Cs are fusion warheads iirc. MSL-AMs are the antimatter planet killers.

>>5660596
Yeah nuclear. We probably can't cause enough damage to ensure an extinction with just 5 missiles, but maybe it could add on to something like what >>5660346 is saying. There any extinction level rocks laying about ObserverQM?

>>5660674
We have 5 fusion warheads and 4 antimatter, for a total of 9. The 4 AM warheads are enough to kill their 4 planets. The 5 C warheads are there for us to clear obstacles, like the one in front of us.

>>5660674

See, I actually have an idea. That station has to be outputting a hell of a lot of energy to push that ship. As the Kzinti lesson goes, "a reaction drive's efficiency as a weapon is in direct proportion to its efficiency as a drive." So what if we shot the beam at say, their homeworld?

>>5660191
>MSL-AM
THIS IS OUR PLANET WE ARE SAVING, DON'T GO PUSSY PUSSY DAMN IT. Resources were made to be spent

>>5660191
>MSL-C [5 Remaining]. A single missile will probably be sufficient to destroy the supercapital. Two will almost guarantee a kill. We can then proceed to destroy the station with conventional weapons…or attempt something else.
Switching to this IF there's no plausible way to destroy a planet w/o using an antimatter missile. If there is, I'm keeping my vote.

>>5660191
>SUPERCAPITAL-ENGAGE. The supercapital cannot rotate its primary weapon to hit us if we move in even closer. The RAIN will attempt to close the distance before engaging with its laser system, focusing on points of potential vulnerability.

>MSL-C [5 Remaining]
Fire 2!

>MSL-AM [4 Remaining]. Manual launch, proximity trigger, minimal guidance. A single missile contains thirty kilograms of stabilized antimatter, distributed in exactly three hundred submunitions. This is not an anti-ship weapon. Here, it doesn’t matter. The distance is too short. There is little room to dodge or intercept that many projectiles. A single launch will certainly vaporize everything horizon-to-horizon: the station, and the dreadnought with it.
Fire 1 at the rest.

If we can capture the station, the RKKV is ours.

>>5660729
>A single launch will certainly vaporize everything horizon-to-horizon: the station, and the dreadnought with it.
???????

HOLY SHIT GUYS STOP BEING STUPID. IF WE ARE AT LASER ENGAGEMENT RANGE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO FIRE THE MISSILES

>>5660729
Why would we need to fire an antimatter nuke when we already blasted it with the regular nukes? Why would we need to get up close? Just pick one.

>>5660191
If the vote is tied, then I will switch to
>MSL-C [5 Remaining]

>>5660729
Single vote only I think

>>5660191

>>SUPERCAPITAL-ENGAGE.

>>5660225
>>5660242
>>5660253
>>5660723
>>5660945

Roll 1d20, best of 1. DC: 5

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>5661009

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>>5661011

>>5661011
lmao

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>5661009
we can still get a Crit right?

>>5661020
never mind me. i am a dumbass.

>>5660700
This would be a great idea if we didn't only have 20 minutes to stop it from accelerating the RKKV.

>>5661011
A five was asked for and a five was delivered. An efficient use of effort i'd say...

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>5

“The alien supercapital engaged.

A stream of relativistic ions ripped towards the RAIN, tracking our position as the spinal weapon burned through its half-second firing cycle. Every optical sensor on the RAIN blanked, showing an endless field of static-white.

A miss – but an exceptionally close one. The edge of the beam had glanced past our hull by no more than a hundred meters, shooting past us to tunnel deep into the depths of Mizar-A. Radiation exposure warnings ticked onto bridge displays, informing us that the RAIN’s habitable compartments had just suffered an acute dose of ionizing radiation.

It was too close. The next firing cycle would almost certainly score a hit, and I held no illusions regarding our prospects should that transpire. Even if our vessel’s hull remained intact, there would be no one left to command her: the radiation bleed-through alone would wipe our data instantaneously and kill me soon after.

We had no choice but to deny them the chance. And so, the instant the RAIN entered her engagement window, my launch-key drew its customary blood-tithe. The balance of the ship shifted subtly – an almost familiar motion. For the second time in that hour, our sensors blanked – caught in the wake of a drive plume burning at overdrive temperatures.

At this range, there was no need to conserve fuel. Our missile accelerated furiously fast, crossing the distance to our adversary in less than a minute. Solar plasma and point-defense fire alike failed to find purchase on a warhead encased behind a half-meter of ablative plate.

The nominal yield of the warhead was in the mid-gigaton-range: designed to break colonies and reduce stubborn defensive installations. Here, it had met both duties admirably. And as the light of a second sun bloomed on the surface of Mizar-A, I hoped that it would also be sufficient for a third task: to humble the last great protector of their species.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 10th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>Roll 1d20, best of three for critical damage on target. DC: 10

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>5661080

>>5661082
ez clap

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>5661080
Well I guess we still need the other rolls?

>>5661091
This...This is why I don't roll anymore.
So, uh, what happens now? Does one overwrite the other?

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>5661092
it says best of 3 rolls so it doesnt matter we get the nat20 lol

>>5661093
I've seen quests do crits override one way or the other. So a 1 might beat a 20, or the opposite.

>>5661101
I'd prefer no crits at all.
On d20 Bo3 there's a 14.25% (IIRC) probability of the overriding crit and a bit less of the non-overriding.

>>5661082
>>5661091
Sure sign that the dice gods are watching this quest

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>20

“Direct impact. Neither point defense nor last-minute maneuvering offered the Mizarian supercapital leeway.

The thermonuclear warhead detonated less than a hundred meters from bare hull - far too close for armor to bear any relevance. Thermal radiation flashed protective cladding into vapor, consuming two kilometers of reinforced superstructure in an instant. Purified water – from both reaction-mass tanks and habitation compartments – dissociated into base elements to form a stark-orange fireball that took nearly a minute to fully dissipate.

When the RAIN’s sensors recalibrated, not even an afterimage of the alien defender remained. Quick, brutal and moderately anticlimactic – hallmarks of a well-executed engagement.

As our vessel cut velocity, we noticed that the station had also suffered – albeit to a lesser extent. A mixture of thermal stress and hypervelocity shrapnel had slagged sections of the heat shield, compromising the primary structure responsible for protecting the power converters and assembly bays from the blazing heat below. At the same time, the EMP from the thermonuclear detonation had burned through the station’s systems, leaving control channels and comm buffers open for scant milliseconds as security rebooted.

Those seconds were imperceptible to me. But my companion was less forgiving. MERRYGATE exploited the breach immediately by broadcasting a pre-cached attack. A poisoned transmission allowed her to gain a small foothold in the station’s central control system – an intrusion path that would eventually lead her to the subroutines responsible for maintaining and steering the propulsion beam.

On the one hand, the potential of her plan was not lost to me. Any device powerful enough to propel an impactor to sub-relativistic speeds was already a potent weapon. Based on our calculations, the propulsion-beam could easily match – or even exceed – the energy output we extracted from the hijacked mirror array. Sufficient, most likely, to break open the dense chain of defensive stations guarding the Mizarian homeworld.

But it would also take time. Hours, perhaps even days, where we would gamble on the star-bright imprint of the impactor to steal a portion of its power for our own."

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 10th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.

>INTRUSION. The reward warrants the risk. The RAIN will enter a temporary holding pattern around the station to give MERRYGATE sufficient time to compromise the central control system. While there is a significant chance that she can complete this task rapidly, the station will continue to boost the impactor with its propulsion beam until she is successful. [Roll required if picked]

>>5662781

>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.

This is not the time for us to get greedy, let’s bring the station down immediately and then we can retreat to the outskirts of the inner system to further degrade their empire.

>>5662781
>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.

>>5662781
>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.

>>5662781
>>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.

>>5662781
>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.
Not worth the risk. If we have to we will just drop more rocks onto Mizar III Prime and kill it that way.

>>5662781
>>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.

>>5662781
>>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.
Everyone seems to be agreeing. While that reward is juicy, said juice isn't worth the squeeze. Besides, we've got plenty of aces up our sleeves yet. And missiles. Still have quite a bit of those, and they work pretty good, isn't that right fishmen?

>>5662781
>INTRUSION. The reward warrants the risk. The RAIN will enter a temporary holding pattern around the station to give MERRYGATE sufficient time to compromise the central control system. While there is a significant chance that she can complete this task rapidly, the station will continue to boost the impactor with its propulsion beam until she is successful. [Roll required if picked]

This is what she is built for. And we have no other reasonable options to break that shell.

>>5662926
We do. Off the cuff, I'd suggest repeating the meteor shower trick to make an opening, or force the remnants of the Mizarian navy to reposition where we want them to, giving us a shot at the stations.
Not sure how feasible it would be to sneak an antimatter missile in there. It would depend on whether we can have if fire remotely, or hooked on a timer.
Also, the eldritch weapon could take a bite out of the stations, provided they're far enough from the planet's gravity field to not be too much of a gamble. And stations are very predictable in their movements, so it would be a lot simpler than firing it at a ship during combat.

>>5662781
RIP Bozo
>ENGAGE

>>5662781
>ENGAGE. This risk is unacceptable. The RAIN will immediately render the station inoperable using her laser array. With days, solar wind will drag the remnants of the station into the depths of MIZAR-A’s photosphere - where it will incinerate.
>>5662926
The remaining Mizarian planets are not self sufficient anymore and they have nothing left to threaten us with. Time is on our side now. Like a classic siege, we can throw rocks at them while we wait for food and consumables to dwindle. And Merry's memetics is a card we haven't played yet

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>>5662781
I'm leaning towards
>INTRUSION. The reward warrants the risk. The RAIN will enter a temporary holding pattern around the station to give MERRYGATE sufficient time to compromise the central control system. While there is a significant chance that she can complete this task rapidly, the station will continue to boost the impactor with its propulsion beam until she is successful. [Roll required if picked]

Even if we fail we should have pointed the weapon off from earth or Sol system. Perhaps we can point it to a celestial body near our solar system to wake everyone up and get their asses out of their head.

>>5662781
>ENGAGE
Its about the DRAMA

>>5663296
The station isn't the weapon and likely has no control over the weapon.

>>5663296
>point it towards a celestial body near our solar system
On my way to blow up Uranus

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>>5663966
It had it coming.

But in all seriousness that might be too close....

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“Nothing is worth the risk of extinction.

The RAIN fired, drawing power from her fusion generator to lance hard-ultraviolet light into the base of the launch station. Optical elements rotated and focused over the course of our firing cycle, accounting for miniscule changes in position and diffractive load. A single unbroken note rang through the still air of the command bridge.

The station burned.

Despite the complexity of its structure, most of its armor cladding faced outwards – installed to protect against environmental hazards rather than directed energy fire. The RAIN’s laser array cleaved through the central structure with contemptuous ease. The construction bays – still occupied by half-fabricated components – caved inward before depressurizing into clouds of reflective debris.

The central containment unit failed only a few minutes later. Residual plasma from the propulsion beam blew outwards in a brief but violent surge that shattered the station’s spindly spine. The plasma siphon fell silent, and the structure began to skew forwards, no longer able to counteract the drag of solar wind on its orbit. Within days, there would be no trace that it ever existed at all.

In the blue-tinted shade of the RAIN’s observation blister, we watched all of this happen. We watched as the ruby-red propulsion beam ceased to divide the sky, taking the last hopes of a successful impactor launch with it. We rejoiced as the baleful red star winked once before fading permanently into darkness.

For the first time in a long time, I felt relief. Perhaps even a sense of peace. While our mission was not yet complete and Sol’s light remained censored from our sight, we earned a victory. Not a final victory – or even a permanent one – but a victory all the same.

MERRYGATE, however, seemed to watch the scene with a vague sense of unease once the initial joy of victory faded. Her avatar burned low as she accompanied me back to the bridge…”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 10th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>…to share concerns about the alien probe, and the peculiar terms of our initial arrangement.
>…to discuss her thoughts about an item she has found in the hunter’s package, which she has yet to disclose.
>…to question what a potential victory could lead to – and what, if anything, will await our return.

“The night sky returned. The splintered remnants of the station’s vast heat-shield offered a brief respite from the radiant heat emanating from Mizar-A – allowing us to peer outward into space over the duration of the RAIN’s ten-minute transit.

At this distance, the inner planets were visible – not with sensors or optics, but with my unaided, imperfect vision. MIZAR-I glowed ferocious red: a mercuric planet stripped down to a bare metallic core by the unrelenting radiation of its parent star. MIZAR-II was a green-smear, accompanied by a long trail of ionized atmosphere that shone like a cometary tail.

And MIZAR-III was a familiar blue. The deep, crystalline blue of a true water world, where endless oceans reflected harsh starlight back into space.

Pinpricks of turquoise flickered around its fuzzy orbit: warships anticipating a battle which had gradually become a near-certainty. It was a smaller force – I am certain – than what we would have faced in ideal circumstances. While the dire, system-wide lack of fusion fuel and pure water had not rendered their ships entirely inoperable, it had managed to pin them to their home ports – every maneuver and patrol rationed to minimize further resource depletion.

It would have to be enough. Either the RAIN would break through their final barricade to rain fire upon their worlds, or we would perish here in the attempt.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 11th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>MIZAR-III. When we finish our slingshot maneuver, the RAIN will plot a direct intercept course to the Mizarian homeworld. The planet is well-defended. However, our closing velocity will be high, and the journey will be short; this may be an excellent opportunity to catch their defenses off-guard. A decapitation strike will likely leave the rest of their empire in turmoil – allowing us to engage their smaller colonies at our leisure.

>MIZAR-V/IV. We will strike the easier, more poorly defended targets. All three lunar colonies have been rendered vulnerable following the destruction of their orbital defense stations. We will attempt to travel there first, attacking before they are afforded more time to recover.

>>5665092
>...to discuss means of assaulting the Mizarian homeworld, now that the station is destroyed.

If no write-ins:
>…to discuss her thoughts about an item she has found in the hunter’s package, which she has yet to disclose.
>MIZAR-V/IV. We will strike the easier, more poorly defended targets. All three lunar colonies have been rendered vulnerable following the destruction of their orbital defense stations. We will attempt to travel there first, attacking before they are afforded more time to recover.

>>5665092
>…to share concerns about the alien probe, and the peculiar terms of our initial arrangement.

>MIZAR-III. When we finish our slingshot maneuver, the RAIN will plot a direct intercept course to the Mizarian homeworld. The planet is well-defended. However, our closing velocity will be high, and the journey will be short; this may be an excellent opportunity to catch their defenses off-guard. A decapitation strike will likely leave the rest of their empire in turmoil – allowing us to engage their smaller colonies at our leisure.
They will probably spend any time we afford them on reinforcing their planets, and the homeworld has the most industry and resources. We need to strike before they reinforce it beyond our capabilities.

>>5665092

>…to question what a potential victory could lead to – and what, if anything, will await our return.

>MIZAR-V/IV. We will strike the easier, more poorly defended targets. All three lunar colonies have been rendered vulnerable following the destruction of their orbital defense stations. We will attempt to travel there first, attacking before they are afforded more time to recover.

Time is now on our side, no need to rush,

>>5665092
>…to question what a potential victory could lead to – and what, if anything, will await our return.
>>5665093
>MIZAR-V/IV. We will strike the easier, more poorly defended targets. All three lunar colonies have been rendered vulnerable following the destruction of their orbital defense stations. We will attempt to travel there first, attacking before they are afforded more time to recover.

>>5665093
>>…to discuss her thoughts about an item she has found in the hunter’s package, which she has yet to disclose.

Seems important

>MIZAR-V/IV. We will strike the easier, more poorly defended targets. All three lunar colonies have been rendered vulnerable following the destruction of their orbital defense stations. We will attempt to travel there first, attacking before they are afforded more time to recover.

Gonna need to get very creative to hit the homeworld.

>>5665093
>MIZAR-V/IV. We will strike the easier, more poorly defended targets. All three lunar colonies have been rendered vulnerable following the destruction of their orbital defense stations. We will attempt to travel there first, attacking before they are afforded more time to recover.

The door was open, so I let myself in.

>>5665092
>…to discuss her thoughts about an item she has found in the hunter’s package, which she has yet to disclose.

I'd rahter not speculate about a potential victory. Better to get to know something new.

>>5665092
>>…to share concerns about the alien probe, and the peculiar terms of our initial arrangement.
>MIZAR-III. SLINGSHOT
guys you don't understand how FAST we are going

>>5665092
>…to discuss her thoughts about an item she has found in the hunter’s package, which she has yet to disclose.

>MIZAR-III. When we finish our slingshot maneuver, the RAIN will plot a direct intercept course to the Mizarian homeworld. The planet is well-defended. However, our closing velocity will be high, and the journey will be short; this may be an excellent opportunity to catch their defenses off-guard. A decapitation strike will likely leave the rest of their empire in turmoil – allowing us to engage their smaller colonies at our leisure.

Pump and dump and the high tail it out of there.

Can we truly trust that the weapon was the one destined to destroy humanity? What if this was simply meant to be and the real danger comes from one of the advanced races.

>>5666019
>Can we truly trust that the weapon was the one destined to destroy humanity? What if this was simply meant to be and the real danger comes from one of the advanced races.
Because humanity knew that the Mizarians were the ones that sent the RELATIVISTIC KILL BULLETS. But you have a point.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5666019
I'm more worried that in the end we failed and the Mizarians managed to build one 50 years later and ends up hitting Earth on time thus solving the early arrival paradox we made....

>>5665092
1
>…to share concerns about the alien probe, and the peculiar terms of our initial arrangement.
2
>…to discuss her thoughts about an item she has found in the hunter’s package, which she has yet to disclose.
dice decide

>>5665093
>MIZAR-III. When we finish our slingshot maneuver, the RAIN will plot a direct intercept course to the Mizarian homeworld. The planet is well-defended. However, our closing velocity will be high, and the journey will be short; this may be an excellent opportunity to catch their defenses off-guard. A decapitation strike will likely leave the rest of their empire in turmoil – allowing us to engage their smaller colonies at our leisure.
I think that if we take out the home world, they would never be able to make another RKKV in time.

>>5666196
>I'm more worried that in the end we failed and the Mizarians managed to build one 50 years later and ends up hitting Earth on time thus solving the early arrival paradox we made....
kek.... that fits way too much

“The RAIN ran fast and quiet - coasting forward on velocity accrued during our slingshot maneuver around Mizar-A. It had taken the RAIN over a month to carry us to the surface of their star. However, we would finish the return trip in less than a third of that time.

After some deliberation, we decided to resume our original attack sequence. It was a less risky option: a way to guarantee some level of success before we confronted that final, crucial hurdle. The trio of undefended colony-moons would come first. Their entrenched homeworld – with its mass of orbital stations and flocking warships – could wait. Perhaps its denizens would have an opportunity to witness the light of annihilation before we cast it down upon their homes.

And one way or another, that would mark the end. As the RAIN retraced her old steps, we pointed our sensor array back towards the outer system: the stations and colonies whose signals we had intercepted and decoded much earlier in our journey. We were greeted with silence – the white noise of background radiation, interspersed by the mindless pinging of automated probes and idle sensor-buoys.

It was a noise that was familiar to me – imprinted into my consciousness during some period of half-remembered grief. It was the sound of power loss and resource shortage – suffocation and starvation. A sign of an interstellar civilization brought to the precipice of true extinction.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 18th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

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“The parcel was smaller than I envisioned. It sat in a secure alcove of the RAIN’s docking bay, lit by a trio of spot-lamps that left diffuse reflections on its silvered surface. A low, infrasonic rumbling traveled through my mind – power-bleed from an inbuilt reactor system.

MERRYGATE’s avatar joined me with a flicker of light and a quiet gust of displaced air. Her demeanor was pensive, her speech lacking some of the peculiar idiosyncrasies that I had become accustomed to over the past few months. The sense of unease I felt became acute.

She stiffened slightly as she began to construct a holographic representation of the data contained inside the parcel.

“Please do not be alarmed, companion. I do not believe that the information I have found poses a direct threat to us.”

“However, I would very much appreciate your…perspective…on a discrepancy that has come to my attention yesterday.”

The aclove darkened. The holographic datamass expanded into a strange, vaguely-fractalized structure as MERRYGATE began to recount her discoveries
.
“As you are already aware, the primary datamass is a repository containing archival information from thousands, possibly tens of thousands of extraterrestrial civilizations. This ranges from biological templates to cultural/technological content obtained immediately prior to their presimed extinction. All archival data is arranged in an resolution hierarchy: from broad-level summaries to atomic-scale decomposition maps.”

The holographic structure expanded further, showing an uncountable number of individual data-points arranged in an endless grid.

“Over the course of the past few weeks, I have been attempting to decode the compression format to read entries. New data is valuable, even if the subject matter is…personally distasteful to me.”

“While I lack the processing power – and storage capacity – to even comprehend a miniscule portion of this archive, I was able to conduct a superficial survey.”

MERRYGATE scrolled through several entries, showing a dizzying array of alien climates and morphologies. I saw cloud-shot horizons and the hazy depths of toxic Venusian worlds: red-mottled skin and translucent flesh. A long-lost family of species who had passed the first test of interstellar civilization to be rewarded with an empty universe.

“The diversity of forms – and potential threats – presented here is impressive. However, there is a significant discrepancy. The last two entries are incomplete. Except for the location header, they contain no archival information.”

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Without even asking, I knew what she was beginning to imply.

“One of the location headers points to the Mizar solar system. The other points towards Sol.”

I considered the situation carefully. “Are you concerned that our species will not be included in the archival process?”

“No,” said MERRYGATE. “That is not my primary concern, companion.”

“When I direct my search pointer to the two empty entries….”

She didn’t have to explain. The parcel floated upwards and rotated before collapsing in size slightly. On the ground, it left two small copies of itself – fashioned into a perfect facsimile of its original form. Slowly, tentatively, I picked up one of the objects. It was colored dark-silver. The surface was blood-warm. And something buzzed – or maybe hissed – inside its core.

I remembered the hunter’s humility. I thought back to her strange, almost apologetic manner of speech. I recalled perceiving something very much like guilt – or perhaps regret – when she viewed my memories.

It had been an odd detail at the time, but as I took in at the strange object in front of me, I began to think that her behavior may have been warranted. Perhaps her apology had been more genuine than I had once thought.”

>IMAGING. Perform imaging on the object to peer into its internals. We may be able to understand its function by analyzing its internal structure.

>MESSAGE. There is a final message here, previously hidden. Perhaps it was only designed to be viewed when both of us were present. It appears to be addressed to us personally.

>DISCREPANCY. MERRYGATE has noticed a peculiar issue regarding the date of another one of the archive entries…perhaps we can understand more by examining this issue in more detail.

>>5666997
>DISCREPANCY. MERRYGATE has noticed a peculiar issue regarding the date of another one of the archive entries…perhaps we can understand more by examining this issue in more detail.

>>5666997
>DISCREPANCY. MERRYGATE has noticed a peculiar issue regarding the date of another one of the archive entries…perhaps we can understand more by examining this issue in more detail.
So we have a real problem. Great. Im going back to betting we are just time looping ourselves into blowing up Humanity.

>>5666997

>DISCREPANCY. MERRYGATE has noticed a peculiar issue regarding the date of another one of the archive entries…perhaps we can understand more by examining this issue in more detail.

This is our chance to start addressing the causality problem head-on.

Now that we’ve tackled the doomsday weapon, we’ve probably delayed the human apocalypse by several years, if not decades. Unclear how this might affect us??

We’re now sort of “untethered” in space time - our current existence is predicated on a future that will not occur. Hopefully reality doesn’t scrub us with extreme prejudice and we have time to adapt.

>>5666997
>>DISCREPANCY. MERRYGATE has noticed a peculiar issue regarding the date of another one of the archive entries…perhaps we can understand more by examining this issue in more detail.
Dates? Go on

>>5666997
>MESSAGE. There is a final message here, previously hidden. Perhaps it was only designed to be viewed when both of us were present. It appears to be addressed to us personally.

So this is why the Mizarians are so hell bent on our extermination. Either way, such a message seems important.

>>5666997
>>DISCREPANCY. MERRYGATE has noticed a peculiar issue regarding the date of another one of the archive entries…perhaps we can understand more by examining this issue in more detail.
But I see no actual reason why we can't look into all of this, and I really would like to.

>>5666997
>MESSAGE. There is a final message here, previously hidden. Perhaps it was only designed to be viewed when both of us were present. It appears to be addressed to us personally.

I want to pick the last 2 options.

“A growing suspicion began to form in my mind as I shifted the object within my grasp, holding it closer to the side of my head. On closer examination, the sound it made was more akin to a roar than a hiss: the sound of tidal seawater draining back into itself. Or the whisper of sand grains rolling against each other to emulate the ebb and flow of a true liquid.

“When was the most recent archival entry logged?” I asked, gently setting the object down.

MERRYGATE responded immediately. “The two empty entries are undated. However, the most recent completed entry is dated to three years prior to our arrival, assuming that my time-format conversations are accurate.”

“Communal ctenophore analogs. Natural radio emitters. K-type parent star; approximately ten light-years from this system.”

She paused for a moment, mulling over a flaw in the data she had seemingly overlooked.

“It seems…very likely…that this date represents a format revision rather than the true date-of-collection. According to the conversation logs we were provided; the hunter had been stranded inside MIZAR-V’s atmosphere for several centuries, if not longer.”

“It would not have been possible for her to travel there herself,” she finished.

I nodded slowly. MERRYGATE’s logic seemed sound. My fading memories of our encounter invoked images of canyon-like wounds in the hunter-drone’s hull – a body weathered by the effects of unrepaired damage and long-term atmospheric exposure. I doubt that she had deceived us by understating the extent of her functionality.

But something didn't seem….

“What about the entry before that one? The second-most recent entry.”

“Nine years ago. Esoteric hydrogen-silicon biology. M-type dwarf star; twelve light years from this system,” answered MERRYGATE. “But…”

“Interestingly, the gap between the second entry and third one is significantly larger. Approximately two thousand years.”

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I slotted this gap into my timeline. Two millennia seemed reasonable. If the hunter drone had arrived in this system centuries ago, she could have catalogued – and exterminated – a fledging species several hundred years prior to that date.

But this only made the two most recent entries more confusing. Was it simply an artifact of reprocessing – of shifting around and reformatting existing data as MERRYGATE had tentatively proposed – or did they truly represent the date when those species had been committed to her archives.

Movement from the parcel interrupted me before I could convey my concerns to MERRYGATE. It seemed that the hunter had anticipated my question; she had pre-programmed a response that would be released once specific search parameters were met. Text flashed in front of my eyes, accompanied by the measured, melancholic speech of a half-remembered friend.

“I…could not bring myself to fully confess when I was still conscious. But it is easier if I imagine a time when both my mind and my body are truly gone.

The archival process is destructive. Obtaining an atomic-scale record of a species – of a culture – requires pulling those atoms apart, one by one. The original never survives. It cannot survive.

The species local to this system do not understand this, but I never stopped them – not when they stripped the other fragments of my body to find archive-seeds, for use as their weapon-payloads. Not when they glimpsed their policy of extermination, using their knowledge of my existence to build upon their innate xenophobia. Not when I re-broadcasted alien transmissions from the closest, most viable targets.

They continued my mission, whether they were aware of it or not.

I hope you understand now. I hope you understand how I was responsible. I hope you understand why I couldn’t tell you more – by choosing between helping your species and the archive that would take its place.

Forgive me.

Forgive me.

Forgive me.

Forgive….”

The recorded message cut out. Neither of us said anything. MERRYGATE’s avatar shivered.

“I…would like some time to think, companion.”

“But first, tell me. Was this a betrayal? Was she ever a friend to us?”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 19th, PERSONAL JOURNA

>YES

>NO

>WRITE-IN.

>>5669690
>NO
And I don't understand how some anons didn't realize it.

So if I understand correctly, the hunter used the Mizarians to launch archive seeds to other systems in their RKKVs, then received the archived info, and this explains the too-recent dates?
If so, we've managed to stop the RKKV anyway, so this betrayal seems inconsequential, but the plan to alert humanity to the danger was also the hunter's, and so needs careful reviewing in case another betrayal hides in there.

fukkkk I have to reread the entries because Iam not understanding

>>5669690
>NO
OFC the fucking REAPERS were never our friends. At least the Hunter was probably honest up to the message sending bit. However we still have no way of knowing if that will kill Sol or not.
>>5669769
99% of people in quests take part in them over like several weeks at a time. PPL arent playing continuously over that time. PPL forget stuff or dont read between the line, or are in multiple quests, like i am.

>>5669690

>Yes

The probe was kind, although she was shackled into her own programming.

>basically, my takeaway here is that the hunter guaranteed Earth’s destruction, once she was rendered inoperable, by helping the Mizarians indirectly.

>>5669690
>>YES

She sacrificed everything and trusted us to uphold her mission. Yes, I consider her a friend.

>>5669690
>>WRITE-IN.
Aliens are gonna alien morality. We can be upset that she was indirectly responsible for Earth getting nuked while recognizing that the contrition for it seems real.

>>5669690
>YES
This revelation shouldn't have been a surprise, we knew what her mission was. I wonder why she decided to turn on the Mizarians and help us, but she did turn on the Mizarians and help us. She sacrificed her life to nuke their fleet and gave Merry a fighting chance against the Probe. After those things, that whole VR discussion we had, how can we not consider her a friend?

“At first, I couldn’t answer either question. Neither for her, nor for myself.

Trust and friendship are distinctly human concepts: moralities built up in the cooperative, social core of our species. They are far too small to bear relevance to the workings of an interstellar civilization; far too trite to govern the actions of its weary, alien caretakers. Inhuman systems cannot – and should not - be judged through the lens of human morality.

I see no flaws in this time-tested lesson, yet I cannot bring myself to fully accept it. Whenever I reflect on our brief conversation, I find it difficult to view the hunter as something truly inhuman. The demands of her archival mission may have compelled her to find us, but I doubt that those constraints had also dictated the conclusion she willingly embraced. By the time we escaped from the scene of her final act, we had seen her express kindness, trust, and sacrifice. Just as we felt the force of her regret now.

I see this as sufficient. Trust and friendship are distinctly human concepts, but our time with her has been human enough.

MERRYGATE heard my reasoning. I am not sure if she accepted it. After thanking me, she made her way up to the observation blister. She stared at the growing disc of MIZAR-V, tracing a fading atmospheric scar which marked the final resting place of an uncertain friend.”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 20th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

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“Hollow. The two archive-seeds were mostly hollow.

“A miniaturized scanner slowly tapped across the fist-sized cubes, mapping out their internal structure using a range of emission modalities. Layer by layer, a ghostly projection of the object developed on my display tablet.

The construction was much simpler than I expected – nothing like the fractalized complexity of the hypometric weapon. The dense, radiation-opaque surface protected a thin lining of insulative support machinery, maintaining an inert, EM-shielded chamber which contained an oddly amorphous payload.

The sight was puzzling to me. After hearing the hunter’s account, I had expected something more dramatic – perhaps an offshoot of the strange-matter weapon it had deployed during its final stand against the Mizarian fleet.

But the scanner showed little of that. Besides for the faintest whisper of particle entanglement, the substance seemed free of exotic physics. Structurally, it straddled the boundary between a liquid and a fine solid, using ambient heat to slowly self-organize into a range of complex patterns. The motion resembled iron filings aligning towards the poles of an old compass – or a drop of ferrofluid caught in the grip of an oscillating electromagnet.

The humming of the scanner pitched up, narrowing its emission wavelength to obtain higher resolution imagery. The projection swam before updating to show a magnified perspective.

And I began to understand.

I saw the base components of a plague, aligned in an endless matrix. Tiny, nanoscale heat-engines which exploit a fleeting blind-spot in thermodynamic-heat flow to convert diffuse energy into usable work. Here, they consumed each other: peeling their siblings apart atom-by-recorded-atom to assemble an endless lineage of identical children.

I no longer hold any doubts that the archive-seed can be used as a weapon. However, it would be a paradoxical one. Everything consumed will be committed to the hunter's archive – preserved in a permanent storage medium that we cannot selectively alter. Unleashing it against the Mizarians would grant them a degree of…immortality…that disgusts me on a personal level. I know that MERRYGATE would feel the same.

So there will be a choice here, I am sure. I cannot be certain that if hunter forced it upon us intentionally, but my intuition only points to a single answer. Both of our species have an unfilled entry in the archive. And there are precisely two archive-seeds aboard the RAIN.

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 21th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

“Two days to retrograde burn. The archive-seeds have been returned to their storage holds, where the icy chill of vacuum will moderate their ravenous appetites. There is no need to consider using them here.

MIZAR-V-A is already beginning to collapse.

The fuel-starved military ships which had occupied its orbit withdrew soon after their final threat failed. While the sliver-thin elevator ring framing its equator remains marginally functional, it has little purpose now. The shipping fleet responsible for bringing agricultural goods no longer exists. Their most recent voyage to MIZAR-V-G had been terminal, leaving their hull-fragments buoying above the broken remnants of sabotaged lift-elevators.

I am not familiar with the nature of the Mizarian government – or the precise form of social organization which they practice. But I suspect that its current state mirrors that of their planet. The space around the planet is littered with uncensored civilian transmissions. Some are requests for sustenance. Others are requests for information. A select few are directed at our vague direction: requests for justification or clemency, delivered in an odd, stilted meter.

Some of them may understand what will occur here. Very few of them will understand why. This fact bothers me far less than it once did.

Yet one of the transmissions proves particularly persistent, originating from one of the last remaining civilian bulk-freighters with the fuel – and perhaps foresight – to mount a successful evacuation back towards their homeworld. The tubby vessel pushes forward on inefficient chemical maneuvering thrusters, its cargo bay filled to the brim with pressurized habitation compartments.

MERRYGATE peered over my shoulder as I considered accepting the transmission, her voice still tinted with bitterness. Despite her assurances, I doubted that she had taken my earlier words entirely to heart. With a quick gesture, she proposed a quick intercept: a minor deviation from our present trajectory to bring us into laser range.

She tilted her head gently.

“Companion, I think that neutralizing this ship would be a wise course of action. Perhaps it will discourage…similarly frivolous appeals in the future.”

>LISTEN.

>IGNORE.

>ENGAGE.

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 26th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

>>5671130
>>LISTEN.

First we hear their last words. Then, we end them.

>>5671130
>IGNORE
Last time we listened, it was a blackmail attempt. This time, it might be another one, or a trap, or a memetic weapon.

>>5671130
>IGNORE.
Silence, xenoscum.

>>5671130
>LISTEN
If we hadn't listened last time, we would have known that their planet killer is ready only when it launched, far too late to stop it. Let's not deny ourselves information and another possible edge out of spite.

>>5671130

>LISTEN

Ultimately we have every reason to believe that these are civilians. We should hear their last words.

>>5671130
>>LISTEN

>>5671130
>IGNORE.
Its a trap. Kill them.

>>5671130
>>ENGAGE.
THE ONLY THING WE WILL HEAR IS THEM BOILING UNDER OUR LASER

>>5671130
>ENGAGE.

FIRE ZE LASERS

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“This specimen was younger. Its silvery mantle-piece was crowned with faded status-markings, signifying a far less illustrious lineage than the aging cadre which contacted us previously. It peered directly into the video feed, jet-black eyes focused forward without a hint of fear. Water-distorted shapes surged in the background – signs, likely, of a habitation module packed far beyond its standard capacity.

“Know that this individual/lineage wishes to pose no threat to you.”

“Know that half of this individual/linage has moved to this vessel.”

“Know that this individual/lineage wishes to return/perish with the rest of its lineage.”

“Know that we shall offer everything that we/this lineage can provide as recompense.”

There was a manually-collated data packet appended to the transmission – decryption keys for civilian-grade comm channels and several inbound/outbound departure orbital departure maps. MERRYGATE scanned through the material dismissively, discarding the vast majority with only a cursory glance. Within minutes, only a tiny sliver remained.

>Roll 1d20, best of three. [DC: 10, 15, 18]

She shook her head gently when I asked for the results of her survey.

“Most of the packet has minimal value, companion,” she said quickly. “The information it contains is either irrelevant or already known to us.”

“But I there is a small portion that could be incorporated into my intrusion datastores. Potentially.” She shrugged. “I maintain that we should disable the vessel. We have no obligation to honor goodwill from animals.”

>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.

>ENGAGE. Intercept the vessel and engage. There is no benefit to allowing it to escape.

>TEST. The ship contains a confined population. Its communication keys are now known to us. Perhaps MERRYGATE could find a more productive purpose for its passengers…

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 27th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>5672343
>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.
:(

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“No more delays. The first of their four terrestrial colonies spins below the RAIN, its orbit already marred by the fires of societal collapse. Colonizing this world took the better part of a century. Ending it will take no more than a solar day.

I have performed a set of steps that are both familiar and foreign: exercised hundreds of times in preparation, but never once executed under the weight of genuine duty. I have broken the wax-sealed parchment beneath the RAIN’s console, read the final, vengeful prayer of my people, and submitted my own genetic material for a tribunal that will never occur.

In normal circumstances, I would be joined by the rest of my bridge crew. Now, I am only joined by one.

MERRYGATE stands beside me. Just as the autosampler has withdrawn a portion of my blood, the launch regulator has taken a snapshot of her runtime code as a personal signature. No one escapes responsibility here.

The ventral arming doors slide open. The RAIN’s rotation shifts slightly as a massive, frigate-sized missile is loaded into its launch position. A blunted nose cone slides forward to touch foreign starlight for the first time.

The last act is something we must do together. Two hardware switches, locked to a simple iron key cast from Martian sand.

“On my mark…”

- [UNSIGNED], EXECUTIVE AUDITOR, TRS NOVEMBER RAIN, AD. 2242, SEPTEMBER 28th, PERSONAL JOURNAL

LAUNCH CONSENT.

>YES

>NO

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>5672343
>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.
If they make it known we might potentially receive more useful bargaining offers in the future.

>>5672347
>YES

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>5672343
>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.
They're dead anyway, let's not waste time.

>>5672347
>YES

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>5672343

>TEST. The ship contains a confined population. Its communication keys are now known to us. Perhaps MERRYGATE could find a more productive purpose for its passengers…

>YES

Time to get to the real dirty business here

>>5672343
>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.

They will die anyway. Might as well allow them the luxury of dying with family. Its more then they ever gave us.

>>5672347
>YES

This is the way it must end. For the world we love and the people we cherish, they must burn.

>>5672343
>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.
Pathetic. Let this family die in the arms of their loved ones. If the can even have such a concept.
>>5672347
>YES
LET THE SLAUGHTER BEGIN. THE TIME HAS COME FOR VENGEANCE!

>>5672343
>ENGAGE. Intercept the vessel and engage. There is no benefit to allowing it to escape.

Or

>TEST. The ship contains a confined population. Its communication keys are now known to us. Perhaps MERRYGATE could find a more productive purpose for its passengers…

I'm good with either one. Leaning more towards test.

>>5672347
>YES

>>5672343
>ESCAPE
>YES, FIRE
>>5672375
>>5672375
these are helluva rolls

>>5672343
>ESCAPE

>>5672347
>YES
TIME TO DIE

>>5672343
>TEST
I want to see just what kind of cybermemes can be inflicted
>>5672347
>YES
What all the business is about

>>5672343
>ESCAPE. Allow the vessel to escape. An exchange is an exchange. Allowing the vessel’s passengers to perish with its original lineage makes no difference in the long run.

>>5672347
>YES
It's finally time for the big guns.

Apologies for the exceptionally long delay. I got a terminal case of procrastination, but the update will be up tomorrow.

On the plus side, there will be four animations.

>>5675685

Oh fuck the hell yes.