File: 20231014_192809.jpg (470 KB, 1098x1700)

470 KB JPG

The Cassiterides
Formally known as the Cassiterides Overdensity, this enormous stellar stream spanning 10 kiloparsecs beyond the galactic plane across multiple disputed interstellar jurisdictions and conflict zones is believed to be a remnant of a former dwarf galaxy after collision with the Milky Way, and resides at similar galactocentric distance to other known entities such as the Virgo overdensity, the Hercules-Aquila cloud, the Eridanus-Phoenix structure and the Monocerous Ring, with which it may be kinematically associated. The metallicity dispersion and enriched chemical abundance of planetary worlds within Lindblad resonance of the Cassiterides provides a direct glimpse into the tidal forces of the oldest systems inhabiting the fossilised remnants of stellar structures formed by protogalaxies deep within the early universe.

File: 20231023_102702.jpg (737 KB, 1682x1106)

737 KB JPG

Haemolymph
The synthesis of this miraculous postmortal elixir bestowing cryoprotectant and longevity-enhancing senostatic properties has enabled humanity to transcend biological limitations in microgravity, outlasting barotrauma, thaw amnesia, the degenerative musculoskeletal effects of bone reabsorption and cosmic radiation weakened immune systems amongst many other ordeals of interstellar space.
The exact composition of Haemolymph is unknown, though the liquid tincture is believed to comprise of programmable stimulus-responsive hydrogels, whilst Haemolymph derivatives exist in many forms, from a clear crystalline raw spiked form to a translucent faintly blue/blood-red birefringent fluid suspension. Perhaps in recognition of its experimental origins in trehalose, a common and vulgar name for the highly addictive pleasure-arousal precursor compounds of Haemolymph is cocoon sugar.

CARA-PACE
Cryoprotectant Activated Reconfigurable Assisted Personal Adaptive Combat Exoskeleton
Mechanical counterpressure skintight space suit, with Haemolymph autoinjector. The most advanced exoskeletal support systems for extravehicular activity no longer need to conform to human morphology, and are capable of detaching, displacing and reconfiguring human limbs and rearranging organs within the protected interior of the carapace frame.

File: ryan-dening-nf-scirocco-d(...).jpg (675 KB, 1920x1080)

675 KB JPG

MIGHT
Basic attribute for combat. Used to annex star sectors, and determines defense rating of patrols, ship combat etc. Higher Might creates an aura of intimidation and command, encouraging greater respect amongst militaristic / warmaking factions. Might influences courage / morale in conventional combat.
Excessive points in Might above certain thresholds can result in your faction being automatically designated as a noncivilian combatant, being attacked without warning when entering contested / blockaded regions

MIGHT ASSETS
01 Blockade Fleet
02 Counterintel
03 Deepstrike Lander / Dropships
04 Drone Fleet
05 Elite Infantry
06 Expeditionary Reconnaissance Force
07 Extended Theatre Operations
08 Gravtank Formation / Heavy Drop Assets
09 Guerilla Rebellion
10 Imperial Legion
11 Logistics Network
12 Militia Units
13 Mutual Defense Pact
14 Orbital Weapon
15 Penal Colony
16 Planetary Defenses
17 Strike Fleet
18 Supply Cache / Hardened Fallback
19 War Mechs
20 Zealots

File: martina-fackova-princesso(...).jpg (549 KB, 1850x1250)

549 KB JPG

PROSPERITY
Represents commercial capability and social status, influence, independent of any monetary reserves currently held. Required for dealmaking and negotiation; many lower status factions voluntarily pander to you to ingratiate themselves. Prosperity may influence the types of individuals you meet - higher levels result in encounters with more powerful decisionmakers versus underlings. It also affects the status of contacts you can call upon and their sphere of influence. Higher Prosperity draws the unwelcome attention of charlatans, slavers, pirates and raiders etc

PROSPERITY ASSETS
01 Art Foundation
02 Bank Assets
03 Charity Event
04 Commodity Brokers
05 Franchise
06 Freighter Contracts
07 Hostile Takeover
08 Lawyers
09 Lobbyists
10 Local Investments
11 Marketing Campaign
12 Mercenaries
13 Monopoly
14 Museum
15 Philanthropic Initiative
16 Security Personnel
17 Seductress
18 Surveyors
19 Sycophants
20 Venture Capital

File: brandon-gobey-ww-highway-(...).jpg (385 KB, 1920x1044)

385 KB JPG

INDUSTRY
Engineering and building capability, manufacturing upgrade maintenance and repair, as well as corporate organisation and employee management. Industry can be used to construct new weapons, utility subsystems, vessels, outposts, orbital infrastructure etc. Industry modifies the commercial viability of theoretical research / determines route to market.
It is alleged that heavy industrial overexploitation, from orbital space debris to irradiated contaminants and toxic pollutants, has been the cause of unrest, uprisings and the emergence of a fanatical neopagan Rewilder faction on many worlds (QM: Space Druids)

INDUSTRY ASSETS
01 Advertising Campaign
02 Agronomic Harvesters
03 Arcology
04 Deep Space Mining / Refinery
05 Employee Stock Options Plan
06 Executive Life Coaching / Headhunters (HR Division)
07 Forensic Audit Accountants / Due Diligence
08 Hype Cult Influencer Fandom
09 Industrial Relations / Union Representatives
10 Investor Relations
11 Management Consultants
12 Manufacturing Facility
13 Pleasure Domes / Corporate Hospitality, Recreation
14 Public Relations Department
15 R&D Department
16 Retail Distribution Network
17 Salvage Fleet
18 Shipping Combine
19 Shipyards
20 Transit Network

File: 20231023_120157.jpg (449 KB, 1613x1100)

449 KB JPG

KNOWLEDGE
Underpins theoretical, scientific and cultural research capabilities. Some advanced weapons systems require telemetry and sensor recon data to enable accurate targeting. Knowledge can also be used to facilitate archaeological or anthropological investigation, or to research sociopolitical forms of governance. Knowledge influences morale when encountering unnatural phenomena.
High Knowledge can lead to antagonistic persecution from superstitious counter-enlightenment factions or feudal / inquisitional investigations / religious zealots, renegade cults etc

KNOWLEDGE ASSETS
01 Astronavigation Academy
02 Ballistic Weapons Laboratory
03 Biobank / Bioenhancement Symbiont Repository
04 Cybernetic Automation / Machine Ensoulment
05 Ectogenesis / Artificial Womb
06 Ekistic Design / Megacity Planning
07 Ethical Research Committee
08 Exocortex / Advanced Brain Machine Interface
09 Human Intent Engineering / Hypercognition
10 Infomorph Telepresence
11 Large Synchrotron Collider
12 Life Extension Institute / Postmortal Precision Medicine
13 Metamaterial Composites
14 Neutrino Observatory
15 Postcolonial Gender Studies
16 Swarm Robotics
17 Synthetic Telepathy
18 Terraforming / Planetary Ecosynthesis
19 University Endowment
20 Xenoarchaeology

File: 20231104_210053.jpg (629 KB, 2500x1085)

629 KB JPG

DENIABLE ASSETS
Anyone can acquire these - provided you are willing to pay.
Setting aside all compunction of loyalty purchased by the highest bidder - or betrayer - it is best not to be seen or caught anywhere near them...

DENIABLE ASSETS
01 Assassins
02 Blackmail
03 Blacksite Interrogation
04 Blockade Runners
05 Conspiracy Theorists
06 Counterintrusion Network
07 Covert Shipping / Smugglers
08 Cracked Communications
09 Cyberninjas
10 False Front
11 Honeypot Network
12 Panopticon
13 Propagandists
14 Saboteurs
15 Safehouse Hideout
16 Seditionists
17 Space Pirates
18 Stealth Tech
19 Treachery / Turncoat Informants
20 Vuln Database / Zeroday Exploit

File: 20231101_150605.png (1.37 MB, 1500x812)

1.37 MB PNG

STAR MAP

01 AND ANDROMEDA CHAINED MAIDEN
02 ANT ANTLIA AIR PUMP
03 APS APUS BIRD OF PARADISE
04 AQR AQUARIUS WATER BEARER
05 AQL AQUILA EAGLE
06 ARA ARA ALTAR
07 ARI ARIES RAM
08 AUR AURIGA CHARIOTEER
09 BOO BOOTES HERDSMAN
10 CAE CAELUM GRAVING TOOL
11 CAM CAMELOPARDALIS GIRAFFE
12 CNC CANCER CRAB
13 CVN CANES VENATICI HUNTING DOGS
14 CMA CANIS MAJOR BIG DOG
15 CMI CANIS MINOR LITTLE DOG
16 CAP CAPRICORNUS SEA GOAT
17 CAR CARINA KEEL OF ARGONAUTS' SHIP
18 CAS CASSIOPEIA QUEEN OF ETHIOPIA
19 CEN CENTAURUS CENTAUR
20 CEP CEPHEUS KING OF ETHIOPIA
21 CET CETUS SEA MONSTER (WHALE)
22 CHA CHAMAELEON CHAMELEON
23 CIR CIRCINUS COMPASSES
24 COL COLUMBA DOVE
25 COM COMA BERENICES BERENICE'S HAIR
26 CRA CORONA AUSTRALIS SOUTHERN CROWN
27 CRB CORONA BOREALIS NORTHERN CROWN
28 CRV CORVUS CROW
29 CRT CRATER CUP
30 CRU CRUX CROSS (SOUTHERN)
31 CYG CYGNUS SWAN
32 DEL DELPHINUS PORPOISE
33 DOR DORADO SWORDFISH
34 DRA DRACO DRAGON
35 EQU EQUULEUS LITTLE HORSE
36 ERI ERIDANUS RIVER
37 FOR FORNAX FURNACE
38 GEM GEMINI TWINS
39 GRU GRUS CRANE
40 HER HERCULES SON OF ZEUS
41 HOR HOROLOGIUM CLOCK
42 HYA HYDRA SEA SERPENT
43 HYI HYDRUS WATER SNAKE
44 IND INDUS INDIAN
45 LAC LACERTA LIZARD
46 LEO LEO LION
47 LMI LEO MINOR LITTLE LION
48 LEP LEPUS HARE
49 LIB LIBRA BALANCE
50 LUP LUPUS WOLF
51 LYN LYNX LYNX
52 LYR LYRA LYRE OR HARP
53 MEN MENSA TABLE MOUNTAIN
54 MIC MICROSCOPIUM MICROSCOPE
55 MON MONOCEROS UNICORN
56 MUS MUSCA FLY
57 NOR NORMA CARPENTER'S LEVEL
58 OCT OCTANS OCTANT
59 OPH OPHIUCHUS HOLDER OF SERPENT
60 ORI ORION ORION, THE HUNTER
61 PAV PAVO PEACOCK
62 PEG PEGASUS PEGASUS, THE WINGED HORSE
63 PER PERSEUS PERSEUS, HERO WHO SAVED ANDROMEDA
64 PHE PHOENIX PHOENIX
65 PIC PICTOR EASEL
66 PSC PISCES FISHES
67 PSA PISCIS AUSTRINUS SOUTHERN FISH
68 PUP PUPPIS STERN OF THE ARGONAUTS' SHIP
69 PYX PYXIS COMPASS ON THE ARGONAUTS' SHIP
70 RET RETICULUM NET
71 SGE SAGITTA ARROW
72 SGR SAGITTARIUS ARCHER
73 SCO SCORPIUS SCORPION
74 SCL SCULPTOR SCULPTOR'S TOOLS
75 SCT SCUTUM SHIELD
76 SER SERPENS SERPENT
77 SEX SEXTANS SEXTANT
78 TAU TAURUS BULL
79 TEL TELESCOPIUM TELESCOPE
80 TRI TRIANGULUM TRIANGLE
81 TRA TRIANGULUM AUSTRALE SOUTHERN TRIANGLE
82 TUC TUCANA TOUCAN
83 UMA URSA MAJOR BIG BEAR
84 UMI URSA MINOR LITTLE BEAR
85 VEL VELA SAIL OF THE ARGONAUTS' SHIP
86 VIR VIRGO VIRGIN
87 VOL VOLANS FLYING FISH
88 VUL VULPECULA FOX

89-100 VOIDBORN
you may choose your own starting sector

File: 20231014_211526.jpg (475 KB, 1194x714)

475 KB JPG

HOW TO PLAY
Fast Faction Creation
roll 6d100, GM automatically creates your faction, assets, starting Homeworld and faction goal

DETAILED FACTION CREATION
roll 4d100
1/ The 1st 1d100 represents your Homeworld star sector (see constellation table). If you roll 89-00, you may choose whichever star sector you prefer, or start as Voidborn (space nomad).

2/ The 2nd represents 100+1d100 ISD (computational wealth currency, required for general trade resources and construction)
If you chose Voidborn above, you begin only with 1d100 ISD

3/ The 3rd represents 100+1d100 Haemolymph (space blood-surrogate, required for travel / trade / some research)
Voidborn begins with 200+1d100 Haemolymph, and can move 2 sectors per turn

4/ Allocate 10 points between MIGHT PROSPERITY INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE
If you wish, an attribute can be set to zero.

5/ Select 1 starting asset of your choice; it is recommended that you select this asset in a category to reflect your highest attribute. This chosen asset begins situated upon your Homeworld. Finally, the remaining 4th 1d100 will randomly determine another asset already in your possession.

6/ Give your space faction a name! You can also provide any other desired background details! Eg corporation, political, religious or militaristic faction etc.
Please also choose a preliminary faction goal from the following

i. Military Conquest - capturing military assets / objectives whilst following rules of engagement. It may or may not involve killing - sometimes deterrence is enough. Annex, patrol or defend a star sector
ii. Colonisation - establish a colony on a planet, either known territory or uninhabited
iii. Commercial Expansion - open a new trade route or take a product to market
iv. Scientific Discovery - make a theoretical breakthrough, or discover a planet
v. Planetary Seizure - capture an existing planet
vi. Expand Influence - gain a base of influence on a new planet. Requires transporting assets to new destinations.
vii. Peaceful Reign - resist attacking anything for four turns (QM: surely it cannot be this easy?!)
viii. Woe To The Vanquished - kill something... can involve marauder raids or general indiscriminate murderous destruction / devastation
ix. Stealth Infiltration - embed a deniable asset on a planet without being discovered
x. Wealth Of Worlds - just buy a lot of things

File: 20230901_095451.jpg (440 KB, 1158x1094)

440 KB JPG

FIRST TURN:
You can do anything! Please roll as many 1d100s as your actions and assets you have available. In general, I will prioritise the first most immediate action (in case of exceptional interrupt / ambush situations etc)
In general, you can access the following ABCDE choices.

ACQUIRE - buy a thing. For instance, if you rolled an asset during step 5/ that you did not want, you could try to sell or exchange it. You can also buy some other asset (or suggest some capability not listed...) ACQUIRE relies upon PROSPERITY as a basic stat. Assets can be acquired anywhere on the map...

BUILD - using your INDUSTRY, you can attempt to construct an asset (or even some capability not listed).

CONQUER - look we just want to blow up starships and space stations and things. Use MIGHT to annex sectors and claim them as your own. You need appropriate combat, military or deniable assets to conduct these operations.

DISCOVER - use KNOWLEDGE to research some technology; these projects can be sold or traded (though some have more viability than others).

EXPLORE - if you possess a starship in an available sector, you can attempt to identify prospective habitable planets - a high KNOWLEDGE attribute and appropriate scientific vessel will greatly aid in this endeavour. Just the planetary data alone would be highly valuable, to say not the least of the colonisation possibilities...

Each turn you can move/drift ONE adjacent sector; Voidborn origin

QM: you do not need to restrict yourself to these guidelines - feel free to give anything a try!

File: H-R Diagram.jpg (354 KB, 1836x1872)

354 KB JPG

PLANETARY EXPLORATION
>roll 6d100
QM: for simplicity, I have adapted a very simplified Hertzsprung Russell stellar distribution.

For the purposes of this game, I will just say that G and K stars are habitable; if you roll one of these, you get a fairly pleasant planet. Some of the other stars mostly emit lethal and horrifying doses of radiation... or are surrounded by barren husks of dead rock. The oldest stars may conceal some unusual discoveries - And if only there were some technological means to bring more planets into the habitable zones of stars...

If you possess a dedicated Scientific Research Vessel, you can choose whether you are the first to discover the planet (completely uninhabited, you can name the planet after yourself yay) or otherwise (colonist outposts / existing infrastructure, this might be good if you need repairs, trade or bad if they are hostile / unwelcoming).

SPECTRAL TYPE (this is temperature)
00 O blue
01 B blue white
02 A white
03-06 F white
07-15 G yellow
16-29 K orange
30-98 M red
99 Exotic Star / Stellar Remnant

SPECTRAL TYPE subclass (effectively a decimal point between the temperature classifications above)
00 0 hottest
01 1
02 2
...
09 9 coolest
etc

LUMINOSITY CLASS
00 I supergiant
01 II bright giant
02 III giant
03 IV subgiant
04-94 V Main Sequence
95-00 wd white dwarf

(Sol is G2V)

Civilisational / Biome Tables
(only for G, K star worlds)
00-09 AGRONOMIC can also be aeroponic or aquaculture etc
10-19 INDUSTRIAL heavy manufacturing
20-29 MINING resource extraction, can also be asteroid
30-39 PLEASURE paradise sanctuary / garden refuge
40-49 TRADE administration or ecumenopolis
50-59 SHRINE pilgrimage planet
60-69 FORTRESS sentinel, stronghold world; heavily militarised
70-79 PENAL COLONY incarceration
80-89 TOMB war grave, relic vaults
90-99 DEATH toxic uninhabitable or shattered planets

00-09 ATOLL coral island lagoon
10-19 DESERT arid
20-29 FOREST temperate broadleaf/deciduous
30-39 JUNGLE tropical / monsoon / rainforest
40-49 MOUNTAIN xeric shrubland
50-59 SAVANNAH
60-69 STEPPE grasslands
70-79 TUNDRA
80-89 ICE arctic
90-99 LAVA ashen or barren

00-20 PRIMITIVE / FERAL paleolithic, fire control, Stone Age
21-40 BRONZE AGE chariot, agrarian / animal domestication
41-50 IRON AGE Feudal, Black Powder, arquebus
51-60 DISCOVERY / ENLIGHTENMENT Renaissance Era, cannon, galleon
61-70 INDUSTRIAL Steam, Coal, Ironclad
71-80 ATOMIC fission, spacefaring, drones and cyber
81-95 EXOSOLAR superluminal, translight spike drive, gravitics, posthuman engineering
96-99 RELIC Stellar Engineering, time control, dimensional travel, technosorcery / magic

File: 20231014_193101.jpg (688 KB, 1920x992)

688 KB JPG

What Came Before...

(4 BILLION Years Ago???) Star empire founded by bloodline of the Eoarchaean Dynasty

Discovery of The Cassiterides, abundant and fertile mineral-rich worlds spanning an enormous stellar stream

File: 20231104_222607.jpg (816 KB, 2952x2738)

816 KB JPG

Robotic generation ships carry human embryos into space, colonisation of the Monocerous Ring

File: 20231025_133432.jpg (428 KB, 1549x814)

428 KB JPG

(circa 21989) Ashington Onsensu develops principles behind the first hypercorporation, establishing algorithmically governed interstellar commerce through the system of Lex Mercatoria

File: col-price-city4.jpg (265 KB, 1920x937)

265 KB JPG

Beginnings of The Isonomy, which rapidly expands to 50 star systems and 500 hypercorporations

Invention of Haemolymph and the CARAPACE harness; humanity overcomes the ordeals of space

File: 20231025_083227.jpg (265 KB, 1920x1043)

265 KB JPG

THEN...
22007.7 The CRASH, a mysterious and unattributable act of sabotage, said to be perpetrated by violent orbital fanatics in a coordinated uprising, escalates into a catastrophic sequence of events culminating in the release of kinetic bombardment and complete planetary devastation.

File: 20230816_171214.jpg (981 KB, 2160x2115)

981 KB JPG

During the Crash, nearly all records of stellar cartography, atlases of planetary colonies and exploration are either lost or destroyed on an intergalactic scale, precipitating a technological dark age.

File: 20231023_102426.jpg (3.24 MB, 1550x7120)

3.24 MB JPG

The Eoarchaean Dynasty escapes to distant stars, upon an armada of continent-sized shattered tectonic relic vessels, named The Splinters Of The Earth. They are never seen again.

File: 20231104_212743.jpg (363 KB, 1664x1080)

363 KB JPG

SOON...
Destination: Ensifera Station
(Gate To The Cassiterides)
Klemperer Orbital Carrier Ship, awaiting lift at space tether

You see at berth - (first come first serve...!)

File: ben-nicholas-agrippa-01.jpg (529 KB, 1920x1200)

529 KB JPG

>MINING RIG
1 Might
0 Prosperity
2 Knowledge
7 Industry
Equipped with a formidable array of dragline and bucket wheel excavators, drills and grinders for shattering lithic discontinuities and multiple conveyor bridge crawler dredging tracks for strip mining asteroids. This bright yellow mining vessel is capable of removing overburden at 34600 cubic metres per hour. A sturdy construction enables it to survive ramming a hostile vessel, but it carries no other armament. An empty forward mount reveals an absent mining laser, perhaps sold when this vessel's previous owner succumbed to financial difficulties during the last commodities downcycle. Includes some salvage drones for recovering loose ore and cargo retrieval.

File: 20230818_120713.jpg (228 KB, 1920x1096)

228 KB JPG

>EXPEDITIONARY RESEARCH VESSEL
0 Might
1 Prosperity
7 Knowledge
2 Industry
This pristine white scientific vessel is equipped with suite of long range telemetry and sensors as well as some basic construction facilities for experimental prototypes. Includes differential absorption and full waveform cloud aerosol LIDAR, phased array synthetic aperture radars, Doppler orbitography integrated radiopositioning and a polychromatic imaging camera for identifying prospective habitable planets. Powerful topographic laser altimeter and communications system mounted forward upon a long lance-like spar at the prow, but carries no armament. Includes a modest shuttle craft.

There appear to be other ships in the lower berth stardock rings of the Klemperer Orbital Carrier Ship. To the right you see many inbound and outgoing vessels, mostly freight and salvage class farhaulers.

...NOW:

>Enter the cantina
>Investigate a lower starport docking ring

Attempt to (roll 1d100)
>acquire / trade something
>build / construct something
>conquer / attack something
>discover / research something
>explore this star sector

>Use one of your assets to do something else... (write-in)

Rolled 11, 24, 17, 36, 51, 21 = 160 (6d100)

Souv this is a phenomenal concept but I need more handholding since I’m a dummy.

Is this a multiplayer quest? I’m submitting my dice+6d100 jic

Rolled 97, 58, 1, 14 = 170 (4d100)

>>5817915
Wait is this still on the table? Please be patient our autism isn't as strong as yours.

Name Othrigen
Might 2
Prosperity 2
Industry 2
Knowledge 4
Xenoarchaeology
Scientific Discovery
Calling Bootes sector.
>>5818104
Anyone is welcome to control my faction.

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>5817941
>>5818114
>Enter the cantina
Resarch better space travel.

File: CAMELOPARDALIS.jpg (350 KB, 1080x866)

350 KB JPG

>>5818104
>Rolled 11, 24, 17, 36, 51, 21 = 160 (6d100)
QM: No worries!

Let me walk you through this, I will keep the faction generation open for a while if any other anons want to join and give it a try.

So the first roll 11, is the
11 CAM CAMELOPARDALIS GIRAFFE
Constellation. This is your Homeworld / Base Of Influence.
You possess 124 = 100 + 24 ISD (Interstellar Denomination, space money)
You possess 117 = 100 + 17 Haemolymph (space blood-surrogate, used for travel trade research and some other things)

Since you opted for autogeneration random rolls vs selecting your own starting asset, I do this
01-20 MIGHT Assets
21-40 PROSPERITY Assets
41-60 INDUSTRY Assets
61-80 KNOWLEDGE Assets
81-00 DENIABLE Assets

So you get
36: (Prosperity)
16 Security Personnel - basically a bodyguard

51: (Industry)
11 Management Consultants
lol, this is terrifying

For the final roll, faction goal, I will just use the 1st digit of your result 2 (21)
So this is the second faction goal,
ii. COLONISATION - establish a base of influence on a planet (either as yet unidentified or existing foothold)

So it sounds like your (as yet unnamed) faction has sent a Management Consultant to investigate opportunities for colonisation upon the Klemperer Orbital ship at dock on the space elevator, whilst your (paranoid?) faction leader is at home in Cameleopardis Constellation surrounded by Security Personnel bodyguards. What is going on here...? Have they been threatened somehow? hehe

If you are happy with this setup, I can proceed and invent some faction background (name etc). Let me know if you have more questions, and what you would like to do 1st turn...

File: BOOTES.jpg (385 KB, 1080x1256)

385 KB JPG

>>5818114
>>5818114
Rolled 97, 58, 1, 14 = 170 (4d100)
OTHRIGEN Scientific Corporation
Might 2
Prosperity 2
Industry 2
Knowledge 4

ISD: 158
Haemolymph: 101

Homeworld: (you rolled 97, so you get this!)
09 BOO BOOTES HERDSMAN

File: 20231102_113811.jpg (379 KB, 1369x2160)

379 KB JPG

>>5818114
>>5818210
>>5818491
Asset: Xenoarchaeological Research Institute
Arcturus K2III
Long derided as dead-end speculative pseudoscience with no commercial viability, Dr Elizabeth Marlowe has somehow managed through sheer force of will and charisma to defend a tenuous commercial funding grant by justifying interdisciplinary research in astrobiology for the detection of remote biosignatures and habitable environments on distant exoplanets. She is regarded as a distinguished academic authority in her field if xenoarchaeology... if only she wasn't the only one.

File: andrea-giordano-joe-21.jpg (209 KB, 990x1420)

209 KB JPG

>>5818114
>>5818491
>>5818492
Asset: rolled 14 (Might)
14 Orbital Weapon
oh my god. Why does a research department have this lol. You can write in something or I can invent some explanation, up to you what form it takes eg laser, missiles, or kinetic bombardment etc. Perhaps xenoarchaeology is controversial (the religious authorities are very aggressively human-centric) and some orbital ion cannon is needed to encourage any religious fanatics to stay away from their research?

File: 20231105_065944.jpg (2.46 MB, 3072x3796)

2.46 MB JPG

Rolled 77 (1d88)

>>5818114
>>5818210
OTHRIGEN Faction Goal:
Scientific Discovery (make a research breakthrough, or discover a planet)
>>5818210
Researching better space travel
Progress 19% = 15 + 4 (roll under this next time to progress...)
You learn of a rumour that a deep space mining corporation subsidiary, HOHLRAUM Heavy Industries, has uncovered a mysterious drifting megastructure during excavations in the ??? sector (QM: see my roll result of this post)

>>5818494
It's why the Booties are interested in xenoarchaeology. An ancient artifact dug up but it seems so modern?

File: 20231014_220159.jpg (390 KB, 1920x1080)

390 KB JPG

HOHLRAUM Heavy Industries
Concerned primarily with mining and extractive industries, as well as a small advanced high energy physics division. They operate extensive fleets of VLCC ULCC (Very Large and Ultra Large Cargo Carriers) tankers and industrial plants, refineries etc.

File: SEXTANS.jpg (240 KB, 1080x944)

240 KB JPG

>Rolled 77
>77 SEX SEXTANS SEXTANT
This bodes well

HOHLRAUM Heavy Industries investigates unknown drifting megastructure at SEXTANS

Travel Advisory:
Isonomy Patrol Fleet declares interdiction over sector 60: ORI ; no civilian travel permitted

Klemperer Orbital (zodiac liner) offers transit at 10 ISD / sector along the following route:

Total Cost: ISD 30
BOT-VIR-LEO-SEX
Bootes to Sextans

Total Cost: ISD 45 (=15+2*10)
CAM-UMA-LEO-SEX
Camelopardalis to Sextans

File: 20231105_111916.jpg (289 KB, 1590x1080)

289 KB JPG

>>5818635
QM: You can pay Klemperer Orbital the respective cost in ISD to investigate the mysterious unnamed drifting SEX HULK lol in Sextans (think of Klemperer Orbital like the Dune Heighliner, it is a massive transit carrier ship that instantly transports you to the destination) or you can move to it yourself in three turns (using which spaceship?
>>5817939
>>5817941
but maybe others will have gotten to it by then...) or you can just ignore it completely

>Travel to SEXTANS
>Investigate the mysterious drifting megastructure claimed by HOHLRAUM Heavy Industries
>Pay Klemperer Orbital Transit Cost
>Travel yourself (arrive in 3 turns)
>Mining Rig
>Expeditionary Research Vessel

>Ignore this, do something else

File: Space Station Cantina [su(...).jpg (427 KB, 1920x1080)

427 KB JPG

>>5818210
At the cantina, you see it is mostly deserted except for two figures - one of them appears to be a very excited female technician or researcher of sorts. She is gesturing dramatically at a more lethargic and dull-eyed man, who seems to be a stardock loader or cargo supervisor of some sort:

File: joshua-wu-girl-01.jpg (323 KB, 1278x1278)

323 KB JPG

EXCITED TECHNICAL RESEARCHER
- ... and finally, the long range survey data has revealed SO MANY potential habitable candidates... there are in fact far too many star systems for us even to know where to begin! If only I could get a meeting with Mr Hunter Vandenburg, I am sure if he saw this data he would immediately approve increased funding...

File: mourx-ismail-artstation3.jpg (263 KB, 1300x1300)

263 KB JPG

BORED CARGO SUPERVISOR
- Well, the strange thing is, there is a Vandenburg registered shuttle docked right now in the berth below us. It looks so luxurious and expensive! I wonder who is on it? I do not think Mr Vandenberg flies commercial, he probably does not have much time on his hands nowadays with all the allegations of budgeting irregularities at Vandenburg Aerospace. The Vertigo Pact consortium is being harangued everyday by activists and vulture funds, short-sellers with the most lurid allegations...

File: 20231105_110812.jpg (196 KB, 1636x1080)

196 KB JPG

...And there is a lot of very heavily armed security circulating around on that level, but they don't seem to know what to do with themselves...

File: 20231105_113022.jpg (405 KB, 1688x1080)

405 KB JPG

EXCITED RESEARCHER
- I know! Maybe if I presented some sort of... actionable research summary! Like just the key findings of the star system data... I think Mr Vandenberg would be really interested! His security will see the incredible value of this, they will definitely allow me through...!

>Use asset MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: Let me have a look at that data... what you clearly need is a PIE CHART... and some infographics and BULLET POINTS... (use management consultants to take the complex star system colonisation data and make it into some sort of corporate-looking strategy pie chart. You can also algorithmically generate generic looking decorative stock footage of generic looking professional people pointing and smiling and looking very corporate and visionary and decisive. Because it is the future, the pie chart is probably a hologram)
>roll 1d100

>Use asset SECURITY PERSONNEL: excuse me, madam, I am afraid I am going to have to confiscate that data. Under security directive blah... (commence long exposition about how space piracy presents a security risk and this data could be used to harbour dangerous criminal extremists and fugitives in far-flung systems)
>roll 1d100

>This data is INCREDIBLY VALUABLE. You must steal it at any cost
>Just use your security personnel to beat up this researcher and take her stupid star system data.
(QM: no roll required)

>(Attempt to use KNOWLEDGE) maybe what you need to do is examine the star systems and sort by trace elements... you should look for star systems with unusually high levels of
>...um, water?
>organic compounds
>oxygen
>hydrogen
>helium
>nitrogen
>iron
>silicon
>calcium
>molybdenum
>titanium
>vanadium
>phosphorous
>gold
>uranium
>...something else?

>Perhaps you have already bought some deniable asset nearby? Select an appropriate asset from the DENIABLE ASSETS table (there will be a cost in ISD, you discover this only afterwards) For instance, you could attempt to hack and transfer a copy of her data, or threaten her with some blackmail into giving it to you
>roll 1d100

File: ron-ashtiani-bluebeyond-final.jpg (1.94 MB, 1920x2880)

1.94 MB JPG

Vertigo Pact
slogan "Higher. Better. Stronger."
Large hypercorporation consortium comprising orbital construction, planetary engineering and assorted defense contracting. Principle interests include space elevators and remote outpost infrastruture engineering / construction as well as light shuttlecraft (civilian and defense). Vandenberg Aerospace is affiliated with the Vertigo Pact, though tensions have been strained between its CEO, Hunter Vandenberg, and his mother who still owns the controlling vote over the majority of family shareholdings.

>>5818496
>can the orbital weapons be pretech archaeological relics?
QM: I am fine with this, it is sort of Homeworld Deserts Of Kharak feel hehe. But I thought you might want them to be ACTIVE orbital defense weapons under your control and useable. It is up to you...
>Orbital weapons are mysterious archaeological civilisational relics, dug up in a remote research excavation, inactive
>Orbital weapons are... actual weapons. Live defense platform currently protecting Bootes sector / OTHRIGEN Arcturus Xenoarchaeological Research Facility

Rolled 67, 47, 34, 58 = 206 (4d100)

Hello Souv, I want to make a faction that's a chill hub for adventurers preventing others from attacking it through both influence and basic military might if that's okay. A free sector, so to speak. Also I hope you provide more 2d qt girls for me to cherish like my wife the Odalisque from the previous quest (not in her bloated angel form though). I hope that's not too much to ask for.

Am I right to assume we control a planet in the sector we start in?

>>5817915
Detailed faction creation:
>Name: Independent Friends Alliance
>MIght 3
>Prosperity 3
>Industry 2
>Knowledge 2
>09 Cyberninjas
This is the only correct choice. They are to keep us safe, of course, we won't tactically kill those who oppose us on foreign worlds. unless?..
>ix. Stealth Infiltration - embed a deniable asset on a planet without being discovered
Hoping for ara ara altar sector for onee energy.

Rolled 16, 64 = 80 (2d100)

Should I make a trip? Since my id may change, it may help identify that I am, indeed, an Independent Friends Alliance player.
>>5817941
I claim
>EXPEDITIONARY RESEARCH VESSEL
if I understood it right and it's up for grabs.
>BUILD 17 Strike Fleet asset to protect our homeworld
Is it possible for my agent (I assume it is an agent since from your other posts >>5818490 I see the faction leader must be on the homeworld) to interact with the people in the cantina >>5818646 or are these interactions locked only to the Othrigen anon now?

File: alena-garnatko-japanese-g(...).jpg (408 KB, 1920x2519)

408 KB JPG

>>5818689
Lady Mariko, Patroness of the Ara Ara Bar
Independent Friends Alliance
Dokuritsu yujin domei
(Yes, she is a ninja)

Might 3
Prosperity 3
Industry 2
Knowledge 2

ISD: 147
Haemolymph: 134

File: ben-nicholas-bennicholas-(...).jpg (1.37 MB, 2560x1600)

1.37 MB JPG

>>5818689
>>5818809
Homeworld:
67 PSA PISCIS AUSTRINUS SOUTHERN FISH
HD 207832 G5V star, planet Samaya

File: donglu-yu-aqua-dream.jpg (640 KB, 1800x1012)

640 KB JPG

>>5818689
>>5818809
>>5818812
The Ara Ara Bar operates at the edge of the Non-Coercion Zone, a massive urban megalopolis and shipping nexus that intersects the demarcation between systems controlled by the Isonomy and the frontier markets held by the Saevasque Concord. It is commonly perceived as a den of iniquity harbouring fugitives, corsairs, thieves and spies, including the mysterious underworld Kuromaku Kaigi organisation, alleged to maintain affiliations with the highest echelons of the planetary government. Someday the feared and long-awaited Isonomy enforcement cleanup of this district will arrive... but it has not happened yet...

File: chun-chun-yang-001.jpg (331 KB, 1920x1080)

331 KB JPG

Lady Mariko has a somewhat downcast expression on her face nowadays, as much of her entertainment district clientele has been lost to OpenWAIFU (Working Artificial Intelligence For Users) a closed source proprietary leisure and interactive media recreational suite maintained by Paracosm Corporation through perpetual license and secure ORIFICE (Operator-Robot Interface Functional Intrusion Countermeasure Encryption) protocol DRM suite. A lot of OpenWAIFU hype-cult obsessives claim that the advanced generative performance capabilities of this virtual entertainment suite are far superior to what real women can offer.

File: vitaly-bulgarov-stiffneck(...).jpg (209 KB, 1420x1420)

209 KB JPG

>>5818689
Asset:
09 Cyberninjas
So I actually imagine that underneath they look a bit like this, but they can be resheathed in various human skin appearance configurations, male or female (or robot)

Asset:
EXPEDITIONARY RESEARCH VESSEL
Yes, you were the first to claim it, so it is yours! IFA owns this vessel.
>>5817941

I hope Othrigen Scientific is not too angry hehe at missing out, do not worry there are a lot of ships in this game... Maybe the Independent Friends Alliance can lease this research vessel to them.

As you may have guessed (given how terrible everyone's stats are at the beginning)
with this ship your stats become

Might 3 = 3 +0
Prosperity 4 = 3 +1
Industry 4 = 2 +2
Knowledge 9 = 2 +7

File: 20231105_124738.jpg (477 KB, 1268x1686)

477 KB JPG

>>5818689
>>5818701
>>5818822
You can operate at the cantina (the ship is docked there). Just assume that there is some cyberninja lurking around in disguise. Maybe the cantina serves sushi, sliced by suspiciously sharp knives!

Asset: rolled 58 (41-60 INDUSTRY Assets)
18 Shipping Combine
This actually makes sense, I will invoke all the neon-drenched Hong Kong Bladerunner Neuromancer Chiba City / Tokyo Bay vaguely Asian cyberpunk look stereotypes hehe. Perhaps it is where Lady Mariko obtained her wealth from originally?

>BUILD 17 Strike Fleet asset to protect our homeworld
rolled 16 +4 =20% complete (roll under this next time to progress)

So I think there are two ways to do this. You can absolutely build a strike fleet outright, it will look very militaristic and intimidating, and likely incur A LOT of attention... However a faster way might be to attempt to discreetly convert your existing asset (Shipping Combine) into a Strike Fleet. They will not be as fully effective as built corvettes and frigates and destroyers and things, but it will be a lot faster to convert them - all you need is to find some weapons and mount them onto your existing mercantile fleet. Now where might you find someone who knows about restricted cargoes?

>(progress 20%) just build an actual strike fleet. If anyone questions it... well, you have cyberninjas...
>(expedite construction) attempt to arm and convert your existing asset Shipping Combine into a Strike Fleet (I will probably call this Auxiliary Cruisers or Armed Merchant Cruisers). You just need to find some naval weapons, even plans or blueprints would do... if only there were some cargoes of defense subsystems lying around somewhere. But they would likely be heavily guarded...
>attempt to negotiate and buy outright some ship defense systems (roll 1d100)

>Trip names for factions
QM: yes please, everyone can either invent NPC names for themselves (if you think mine are too cringe lol) or use their faction names, it will help me scan throught the replies faster! Thank you!

File: tarmo-juhola-brutallobbyv2.jpg (2.2 MB, 3024x3840)

2.2 MB JPG

>>5818491
>>5818492
>>5818496
QM: Oh, I suppose I should also provide a picture for the Arcturus Xenoarchaeology Research Insitute owned by Othrigen Scientific Corporation in Bootes.

The way I imagine this is that they conduct a lot of excavations / dig sites / stonework and are an extremely austere and serious academic institution, they have a lot of very old-fashioned sculptures and stone edifices - but to date, they have not discovered anything, all their exotic exhibition artifacts are human. So a lot of Brutalist architecture looking vestibules and vaulted entrance hallways hehe. This pic related is how I imagine it (QM: if you have something different in mind, please let me know I will try to change the aesthetic - everyone is also very welcome to upload their own ideas!)

File: Radiant-Silvergun-Sega-Sa(...).png (126 KB, 1920x1222)

126 KB PNG

>>5818664
>Orbital weapons are... actual weapons. Live defense platform currently protecting Bootes sector / OTHRIGEN Arcturus Xenoarchaeological Research Facility
Actually a Radiant silvergun reference.
>>5818855
Work on better space travel again.

>>5819061
Would you like me to lease you the research vessel for the time of your research? Since you seem to focus on science & knowledge. In exchange I'd like the results of your current research.
>>5818809
>yuujin
I'm learning Japanese recently and didn't know this word for "friend", apparently it's more formal than "tomodachi", so I guess it fits for the official name of a faction.
>>5818822
I envisioned them with more human parts, like heavily augmented cyborgs. The mc from Katana Zero has this "samurai working for a corp on suicide missions" feel but he's not cybernetic unfortunately. Maybe a better comparison would be Adam Jensen from Deus Ex but I haven't played these games.
>>5818824
>This actually makes sense, I will invoke all the neon-drenched Hong Kong Bladerunner Neuromancer Chiba City / Tokyo Bay vaguely Asian cyberpunk look stereotypes hehe.
YES. Cyberpunk is our style, though it may be a bit too dystopian... We'll make it work. Friendship prevails!

Does attaching weapons on merchant ships mean IFA would still have shipping capabilities? It would be best not to lose the Shipping Combine or retain at least some of its power.
>(I will probably call this Auxiliary Cruisers or Armed Merchant Cruisers)
That would be rad. Military + trade power in one asset, then?

As for my faction leader, I guess it could be an enigmatic seasoned adventurer at rest known simply as "Friend". He just got tired of all the bullshit from superpowers and wants to create a safe hub. I hope this kind of character is okay.
>>5818646
Is it possible to use cyberninja software to hack her uhhh... smartphones and laptops are probably in the past, what devices does she carry the data on? Or simply infiltrate whatever place she's staying at and steal the hard drives?

File: Shuttle_Main_Engine_Test_(...).jpg (211 KB, 819x1024)

211 KB JPG

>>5819061
The Othrigen Arcturus Research Institute bravely perseveres against the relentless physics of the Tsiolkovsky equation, experimenting with all manner of advanced magnetohydrodynamic drives and innovative plasma impulse engines.

This is actually quite difficult, because being trained as xenoarchaeologists they are really more familiar with digging and using spades. Fortunately, because this is the future, hypercomputers can effectively run all these simulations, you just ask them, they do everything.

Your researchers quickly see the difficulty inherent in space travel - with the benefit of advanced future engineering, it is actually not too difficult to make an engine that will accelerate to inconceivable velocity. The main issue is that this will kill all the passengers. You feel that your space program needs more adjacent technologies...

File: 20231104_130545.jpg (318 KB, 1920x886)

318 KB JPG

Perhaps you could try the following:

>(roll 1d100)

>You need to find some means to increase the biological dose tolerance of Haemolymph, modify or mutate the human metabolism so that it can endure ever more inhuman and brutal g-force per unit mass. You need to conduct some experiments into the maximum tolerated dose with some volunteers... human volunteers. But where will you find these?
>buy an asset, eg marketing campaign... advertise innocently for some willing participants. They will presumably require encouragement through remuneration.
(QM: if you choose this, decide how much budget in ISD / space money you wish to allocate to the marketing campaign to recruit unwitting participants in these disturbing mutagen pharmaceutical drug trials. Hint: more money allocated = greater chance of success hehe. R&D is really hard!)
>You have heard that some space pirates specialise in... slaves. Often refugees fleeing conflict zones or future shocked dazed inhabitants of low-tech / primitive colonised worlds or cultures that have reverted during the technological dark age after the Crash. You could just buy these test specimens...
(QM: ONLY if you choose this, there is no roll. The outcome is entirely decided by what you pay...)

File: 20231105_211000.jpg (760 KB, 1920x946)

760 KB JPG

>Haemolymph is actually the wrong solution, and you do not want your space passengers to end up looking like a demonic jelly being (QM: this picture >>5817895 ) In truth, flesh is just a meaty substrate for consciousness. What you need is some means to reliably virtualise the entirety of the human mind, so that it can be transported as digital memory upon faster starships. Then on the other end, you can decant these memories into some cloned or readily prepared corporeal clone-surrogates. If successful, this method might not require any spaceships at all! Maybe humans can just be downloaded to a destination! Hopefully the brain scanning process does not kill any volunteers, or drive them psychotic etc.
(QM: you feel this avenue is far more convoluted, but might ultimately yield better results. The first step would also require some volunteers willing to undergo this deep connectome neural tractography scanning procedure. Decide how much budget in ISD you need as above, and roll 1d100)

>This problem is actually already solved. How do Klemperer Orbital accomplish it? How come they have a near-monopoly on all the transit routes, and charge exorbitant prices for instantaneous travel and arrival at all these stellar destinations? What technology are they using? You should perhaps get your hands on it...
QM: choose to purchase any asset or deniable asset and try and get a glimpse of Klemperer Orbital's superior space technology. For instance, you could try and hack into their corporate R&D division, or pay one of their employees as an informant to leak some secrets to you... You could attempt to hire lawyers to argue that their patents infringe on your research and try and coerce them in court into disclosing some of their corporate secrets. There is always the option of hiring some heavily armed mercenaries to break into Klemperer Orbital and steal all their data.

QM: In most instances, please allocate an amount of ISD for the proposed research endeavour, and roll 1d100. Needless to say, more budget increases chance of success

File: max-hay-render-may-16th-2(...).jpg (984 KB, 1920x2401)

984 KB JPG

>>5819121
>The Friend
I like this, it is very mysterious! Maybe the background is... he has no known portrait or facial identification; as part of his retirement he saw all his records destroyed and erased. He could be anyone...!

File: 20231105_183457.jpg (464 KB, 1920x1060)

464 KB JPG

>>5819121
>Does attaching weapons on merchant ships retain shipping capabilities / preserve merchant cargo capacity etc.
QM: Yes it does. For instance, you could transport (a few) large tanks or mechs inside the cargo holds of your armed merchant fleet; the strike fleet cannot do this (it is why there is a separate heavy dropship asset). The strike fleet also takes a very long time to construct (without a dedicated shipyard) and is highly likely to stray from ITAR (Interstellar Trafficking in Arms Regulations)... incurring a lot of undesirable attention.

File: 20231105_183653.jpg (449 KB, 1920x796)

449 KB JPG

The tradeoff however is that the armed merchant fleet is outclassed by the pure military strike taskforce, which has dedicated interceptors corvettes frigates destroyers carriers battlecruisers etc. The merchant fleet is just cargo ships with guns and autoturrets welded to them - you do not need a shipyard to do this, I just assume a shipping combine operates some maintenance repair and modest refitting facilities. Against pirates you may be about evenly matched... though some are said to operate captured military vessels with scavenged and rebuilt parts...

What is required are the defense weapins systems or more precisely the blueprints, software ie design templates, fire control subroutines etc. You think if you can secure something like this, or outright purchase it (via some underground / black matket arms trade channels) you can rapidly convert the Shipping Combine into an armed fleet.

File: federico-pelat-halfres-un(...).jpg (1.53 MB, 1920x1459)

1.53 MB JPG

>>5819121
>Cyberninja hacking, stealing etc
So the cyberninja can do a bit of hacking, but the asset for this is the vuln database / zeroday exploit etc (think of it like that Nuke Virus from Deus Ex Human Revolution that autohacks the nodes in the computer network minigame). I think because you are linked to the science Expeditionary Research Vessel, you can access some of its hypercomputing power, I will let you give it a try with very low probability...

QM: Because it contains a repository of resource rich and potentially habitable systems, this incredibly valuable star system data effectively counts as TWO Assets:

DENIABLE ASSET
15 Safehouse Hideout (effectively, a safe planet that is not present on any other records elsewhere, or known to any authorities)
AND...
MIGHT ASSET
18 Supply Cache / Hardened Fallback (ie, a planet with abundant wealth of resources for resupply / recovery, unknown to anyone else)

>roll 1d100, attempt dangerous hacking procedure with cyberninja
...
00-09 You leave no trace at all as you effortlessly download an exact copy of the highly lucrative and valuable stellar systems data

10-19 You manage to copy most of it, but the data seems corrupted. If anyone checks the integrity of the original database, they will know you accessed it

20-49 You tentatively probe the encryption protocols. Nope. Best leave

50-95 You got it... just a simple matter of buffer overflow and breaking the address space layout randomisation through carefully timed observation of side channel attacks! You are a hacking cybergenius! You stand up in exhilaration and triumphantly declare I AM INVINCIBLE!!! and... nope. Software intrusion detection subroutines alert every security and enforcement agent in your vicinity as to your exact current location

96-99 It is actually even worse. The intrusion detection subroutines wirelessly melt your brain
(QM: asset eliminated)

>Do not attempt to hack the star data; it is far too dangerous. Try and shadow the researcher girl and see where she leads... (attempt to steal the data)

>It is not worth it. Ignore all this and do something else
QM: you can also attempt some of the choices continued from here
>>5818646
eg start a scientific conversation about trace elements in stars, try and guess etc.

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>5819121
We welcome the ship and would be happy to share our knowledge. The Friend sector has been a wonderful idea for this dark universe.

>>5819190
Ask the Penal Colony if any of the death row inmates can be used for our experiments.

Rolled 51, 5, 99, 82 = 237 (4d100)

>>5817915
Lets give this a try

Rolled 79, 54, 35 = 168 (3d100)

>>5818822
I wanted to say that wow, our stats are abysmal if one scientific vessel can boost them this much. Is it a 0-100 system or is there no cap at all? Also shouldn't our other assets increase our stats by this system? Like my Shipping Combine = + to Industry?
>>5820118
Anon, you have to provide faction info if you're going for detailed. I'm happy there's more players joining us! Hope you're not too intimidated by Souv's posts lol.
>>5818824
>>5819413
Okay, let's go with this plan.
>(expedite construction) attempt to arm and convert your existing asset Shipping Combine into a Strike Fleet (I will probably call this Auxiliary Cruisers or Armed Merchant Cruisers). You just need to find some naval weapons, even plans or blueprints would do... if only there were some cargoes of defense subsystems lying around somewhere. But they would likely be heavily guarded...

ACTION:
>Gather rumours about which companies (states?) specialize in defence subsystems so we can possibly steal their blueprints or production. Possibly use the space truckers info network from our Shipping Combine.

>>5818646
>>5819433
Yeah, let's try peaceful resolution first.
>(Attempt to use KNOWLEDGE) maybe what you need to do is examine the star systems and sort by trace elements... you should look for star systems with unusually high levels of
>organic compounds
Life exists = organic compounds = habitable. It's simple.

>>5819189
ACTION:
>Lease the EXPEDITIONARY RESEARCH VESSEL to the Othrigen Scientific Corporation for the duration of their research into better ftl travel in exchange for its results as agreed here >>5819121, >>5820096

Not sure how many dice to roll, giving the vessel probably doesn't require a roll so I'll do one for every other action.

File: welcome.gif (2.5 MB, 964x368)

2.5 MB GIF

>>5820118
>>5820118
QM: Welcome! Very happy to welcome new players, and encouraged to see what factions you invent! As a quick summary reminder, to create a new starting faction please do the following:
>roll 4d100
>Invent a faction name, and choose a faction goal >>5817915
>Allocate 10 points between
MIGHT >>5817898
PROSPERITY >>5817901
INDUSTRY >>5817903
KNOWLEDGE >>5817905
Please also choose ONE asset from the lists of 20 assets above.
(optional) you can also specify some background details eg look and feel of your faction, political military corporate etc otherwise I might invent some and it could be grimdark / cringe, hehe

That is basically it! I will continue on with the story for the time being and give some of the other anons a chance to catch up, hyperspace is so vast I hope communications have not gotten lost hehe, but don't be shy if you find any of this too confusing!

At the end of this turn I will provide a summary of what is happening so far across all player factions and goal progress etc.

So if there are any other prospective players or onlookers out there who seem overwhelmed by everything, look out for the turn summary, which will summarise the background of player actions!

Now to continue...

File: 20231106_123814.jpg (383 KB, 1710x1080)

383 KB JPG

>>5820096
OTHRIGEN SCIENTIFIC Corporation - Arcturus Xenoarchaeological Research Institute / Sector 09, Bootes
>look for potential candidates in a penal colony to support experimental space program research

You identify the following TWO opportunities near your sector:

File: holly-caelum-heisey-freig(...).jpg (504 KB, 1920x1080)

504 KB JPG

"Ramasun" core Civic Correctional Facility

A former transport freighter converted into an Ergastulum-class Prison Barge. Aside from a handful of asteroids and blasted war-torn deathworld detention facilities, most planets are far too valuable to be used for incarceration; for a start, the resource-poor and below-subsistence level worlds would require far too much in food, maintenance and upkeep from supply fleets to even remain worthwhile. Many prisoners are instead confined within drifting and battered derelict hulks, or neglected and disused barges such as this.

File: steffen-hartmann-baron-full.jpg (1000 KB, 1920x2398)

1000 KB JPG

Baron Sleng, commander of the Ramasun
With his mottled and radiation-scarred face, gashed by a cruel cicatrice twisting across his burnt features, the Baron almost resembles some fugitive or space pirate himself - a matter which he affirms with relish; for it turns out that the Ramasun is run by former pirates who betrayed and then imprisoned their own. The detention facility has expanded since then to the extent that it has become distinctly overcrowded.

File: mavis-final03.jpg (1.17 MB, 2500x1406)

1.17 MB JPG

(Glancing around, you see rows upon rows of contorted figures in paroxysms of stimulated agony-ecstasy, their hands scrabbling like talons raking the vacant air, as brutal black-visored guards patrol menacingly below)

Baron Sleng provides a virtual tour of the facility, as he makes his proposal:

-Well, what did you expect? Some blasted wilderness with chain gangs breaking rocks? Pah! Here the prisoners are put to work - in fact, one of our best clients, Paracosm Corporation, makes extensive use of the spare cerebral capacity of our prisoners in categorising, labelling and training their various virtual intelligence models. This is probably why the datasets in their hyperscale multitenancy cloud compute clusters are so accurate! Because who wouldn't trust a horde of demented ultraviolent miscreants and psychotic murderers to accurately tag thousands upon thousands of (pseudo) anonymous sensitive datasets hour upon hour, day upon day with no rest or reprieve? But you say you need... non-psychotic "volunteers", I see. Pah! You will have to pay, of course...

QM: For the one-off cost of 50+1d100 ISD, Baron Sleng will let you avail yourself of his prison barge, the Ramasun, and place himself at your disposal. As a former pirate, Baron Sleng also possesses useful knowledge of sectors and systems where corsairs are mostly likely to conduct marauding raids and their predations, though he himself would most likely be killed on sight by any pirates given his past act of betrayal.

You would effectively gain this as an asset. You notice also that this prison barge is heavily armoured and possesses many batteries of autoturrets (QM: imagine a CIWS or those autotargeting chainguns from The Expanse) ... a few of which could probably be spared, detached and put to use elsewhere...

File: fhnt-04-b.jpg (3.07 MB, 3700x5097)

3.07 MB JPG

Cislunar Church, "The Family"
With a long lineage and founding dating to its establishment by wealthy accelerationist benefactors circa 21954.5, the central teaching of the Cislunar Church is that gravity is a form of sin or demon, the Adversary and Fiend that led to the Downfall of humanity.

Commonly known for the bizarre spectacle of their mass wedding celebrations and elaborate orgiastic yet solemn ceremonies, the Cislunar Church attempts to encourage all humans to escape the weight of their planetary sins, participating in a great stellar transmigration of souls known as the Transition; the aim of the Cislunar Church is to cast aside rock and land, establishing all of humanity in orbital rings and space habitats in zero-G, free from the nefarious gravitic attractions and temptations of the Adversary.

The hieroconfessors of the Cislunar Church are comprised of two internal factions, a gentler Cislunarian sect as well as radical Cislunarite sympathisers, who promulgate a more apocalyptic vision of the nefarious intergalactic machinations of the evil Archfiend, Gravity - such firebrands and fanatics are often derided by the derogatory appellation of "Loonies". In the annals of the Cislunar Family, they often commemorate the martyrdom of their president, who was assassinated circa 22022.7

...
To your surprise, you are contacted by a woman swathed in voluminous robes of immaculate white, and a curious shroud-like wimple headress. You can perceive entoptic cascades of light, serene chimes of orisons and curling plumes of votive incense behind her.

File: 20220924_150808.jpg (450 KB, 1092x1266)

450 KB JPG

On board her ring-ship vessel, she introduces herself as Lady Mayari of the Cislunarian Church:

-Our Family has observed your research with great interest; we wish to aid you. All who yearn to escape the burdensome weight of sin that corrupts those who dwell within the grasping reach of that fiendish planetary beguiler, Gravity, are worthy of our support. The ancients spoke of an ever-hungering, ever-devouring Universe, whose rapacious appetite and avarice only ever expanded, until it was eventually torn asunder by this great celestial demon. I sense that you, too, seek to join us upon our great voyage into freedom and peace, to join our transmigration, our great Transition! We willingly offer our devotees to your noble endeavour.

File: 20231106_081819.jpg (749 KB, 2200x1209)

749 KB JPG

QM: Lady Mayari offers you the services of her ring ship and will provide willing volunteers from amongst the disciples of the Cislunar Church. However, she respectfully requests that you permit the Cislunarites to promulgate their faith within your sector, and especially amongst the scientists and researchers within the Arcturus Xenoarchaeology Research Institute. If you consent to this, she will provide you with everything for free.

QM: consent to the proposal of
>Baron Sleng and his prison barge the Ramasun: roll 1d100 + 50 (cost in ISD). You can have your choice amongst his prisoners. The Baron, who appears to be motivated mostly by mercenary proclivities, will place himself and his crew at your disposal.

>Lady Mayari and her ring ship, the Cislunar Church: providing you permit her to preach the teachings of Cislunarian theological doctrine, the evils of the demon Gravity, the weight of planetary sin and the redemptive hope offered by Transition, she will offer her services entirely for free

>roll 1d100
Use the "volunteers" to experimentally research:

>advancement in Haemolymph: try to improve the tolerance of space passengers to ever increasing doses of this postmortal serum. Success would enable any spaceships to manoeuvre at inhuman velocities and accelerate beyond

>advanced neural connectome tractography: try to achieve a breakthrough in scanning and virtualising consciousness. You believe this may represent the first step in travelling without the need of a starship at all.

>All of these choices are horrifying. You are beginning to wish you chose the Knowledge Asset "Ethical Research Committee". Stubbornly persist in trying to continue your space program experiments independently and entirely on your own.
QM: because the Independent Friends Alliance kindly offered to lease the science spaceship, the Expeditionary Research Vessel, to you here
>>5817941
>>5820411
You share use of this vessel and Othrigen Corporation key attribute is boosted to
KNOWLEDGE 4+7=11.
You must now roll under 30%=19 (previous progress %) +11 to succeed

File: 20231106_162119.jpg (471 KB, 1252x1802)

471 KB JPG

>>5820411
INDEPENDENT FRIENDS ALLIANCE
Samaya City, planet Samaya / Sector 67 PISCIS AUSTRINUS
upgrading Shipping Combine into Armed Merchant Cruiser fleet (20% progress)
and
Asset: Unknown CYBERNINJA attempting to secure invaluable STAR DATA at Klemperer Orbital Carrier Ship, docked at space tether embarcation at the gateway to Monoceros Ring (Sector 55) >>5817938

>reply, ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Clara, >>5818642 the excited technical researcher, pauses a moment, her brow furrowing in perplexity...
-hmmm... how do you know? I am not too sure... Methane is an organic compound, right? So maybe planets with methane are inhabitable? Like those gas giants with the crushing atmospheres? hmmm. I heard once some joke about the meaning of life being 42. But then I thought about it... stellar nucleosynthesis carbon-oxygen, magnesium-silicon ratios, but also how molybdenum, of which the molybdate ion is soluble in water, used by cyanobacteria in nitrogen fixation - without this nitrogenase enzyme there would be no proteins, as eukaryotic life cannot fix nitrogen by themselves. Perhaps molybdenum, which ultimately comes from the stars, was the limiting factor for life... and its atomic number is 42, making it an unusual and rare high atomic metal which is essential for key biological processes! But nonetheless (Clara smiles happily again) ... you spoke so convincingly, I believe you! It is probably right! I will put it in my report recommendation! Mr Vandenberg is going to be so pleased to see this!

Your eyes have slightly glazed over in befuddlement by this point, but as your mind wanders and refocuses, Clara's the Researcher's rambling suddenly makes you aware of a connection... didn't someone mention there is a Vandenberg executive shuttle docked below at this station right now? Vandenberg... of the Vertigo Pact, a defense group? There is probably so much armament and confidential weaponry data on it somewhere - or at the very least, that executive shuttle should provide the means to access it...?

File: 20231031_161351.jpg (343 KB, 1411x1882)

343 KB JPG

(conversation between three very bored Vandenberg private security guards at the star dock
>>5818644
below - somehow your CYBERNINJA enhanced senses / augmentations overhears this...)

AGILE GUARD (in haunted, nervously anxious pitched voice...)
... so you know it is bad luck, right? Stay away from those creepy drifting ships in deep space. They usually put out a distress call, a beacon or prerecorded transponder, sometimes it is a hologram of a vulnerable scared woman or desperate damsel or something. You are my only hope, blah blah. A distress call? Bait - nine times out of ten... BAIT! Pirates! Or slavers. Or torture-pirate slavers. Also cannibals. And that one time when it isn't? Well I heard this story, I swear it is true. They say there is this ship... it is really big, no like really REALLY MASSIVE... and everyone on it is dead. And when you see it... after you see it... the entire planetary system you are in gets wiped out. Utterly annihilated! Just gone! Stay away from the ghostly evil DEATH SHIP!

File: 20231031_161446.jpg (455 KB, 1302x1670)

455 KB JPG

HEAVY ARMOUR GUARD (in sceptical cynical voice...)
- So you are saying, this massive colossal death ship, it kills everyone, right? Destroys all the planets and leaves nothing remaining? So if it kills everyone, how do we know it exists? Like, how do the witnesses stay alive to repeat and tell this tale?

AGILE GUARD (panicking...)
-...I- look, I- I am just telling you it is true... there is this massive death ship, it heralds utter destruction, I ... look, it would be better if you just listened! And believed me!

File: 20231031_161902.jpg (599 KB, 1508x1904)

599 KB JPG

RECON GUARD (rising consternation)
- Shut up! Shut up and take a look at this. These secure CRM-114 communications of ours have been acting up recently. You see they are preprogrammed for security. There is only a set number of commands, they apparently cannot be altered or even tampered with physically. But my headset display is really strange. The preset command, PROTECT HVT, has just changed to ELIMINATE HVT. So are we supposed to protect or take out whoever is boarding this shuttle? I feel like... this difference probably matters?!

HEAVY ARMOUR GUARD
- So... just call back to base, ask HQ to reconfirm. Get them to retransmit and verify that the orders have changed.

RECON GUARD
- But that is precisely the problem! These incredibly secure tamper resistant CRM-114 communications are all one-way! They just broadcast orders and directives, there is no means to communicate back!

HEAVY ARMOUR GUARD (with sigh of resignation)
- Well the orders are probably correct then. At least this should be fast and easy - (he racks his gun, electronic whine of energising submunitions)

>There is undoubtedly defense systems data on the Vandenberg shuttle. You should move to the stardock position below and investigate

>Did your cyberninja even bring any weapons? Maybe the situation is far too dangerous... this is probably your last chance to pilfer the STAR DATA from Clara the researcher in the cantina, right now... act fast and hopefully whatever chaos is about to be unleashed below might cover your escape.

>something else...?

QM: after all of these choices, I will end this turn and show you the various conclusions! I will also provide a faction goal / progress summary, show results of various research programs and upgrades etc. Thank you!

File: 20231106_164201.jpg (2.11 MB, 3500x2112)

2.11 MB JPG

>>5820714
QM: oh, I forgot to mention - the Ramasun converted incarceration ship has these attributes

PRISON BARGE
8 Might
0 Prosperity
0 Knowledge
2 Industry

It is armed primarily with many overlapping batteries of autoturrets, a few of which could be detached without affecting its combat prowess. The same turrets are capable of launching barrages of short-range missiles (SRMs) but none are currently equipped on this vessel.

QM: just an addendum and general advice in terms of supporting clarification, some of the anon questions here:
>>5820411
>is it capped 0-100 system? Why don't assets add to my stats vs ships etc
So I intend this game not to be too mechanically rules heavy, I was going to adapt Stars Without Number (from which this is inspired) but the faction turn ruleset is insanely long lol there are different rules for each asset and unit. The way I see it is the assets are like very specific "skills" eg a large synchrotron collider adds to Knowledge, but only in regards to situations with particle physics etc it probably does not directly help with biomedical or spaceflight rocketry. So I am taking this into account with various modifiers. Do not let the assets constrict your choices too much, if you want to use an asset in an unconventional way mention it and you probably get a bonus! In general the success likelihood ultimately will not ever exceed 85-90% and in some situations if you try something very clever there will be no roll at all.

In contrast the ships are more general purpose, they have hypercomputers, living quarters, potentially weapons racks / mini-barracks (for armed vessels etc). So if you owned a vessel with higher MIGHT, you would expect any human assets you assigned to it would be able to access better handguns / rifles a WAR MECH?? etc. Similarly, a vessel with higher PROSPERITY would appear more luxurious with entertainment / hospitality quarters, it would likely be more prestigious and impress any counterparty with dealmaking / trade etc (it might also lead to encounters with more pleasant/friendly NPCs). So this is basically the outline of my thinking, it is not too mechanically strict, if you want to try something outrageous or insane, just go ahead and do it - don't let the modifiers and rules inhibit you too much!

I would also mention that I notice no-one has actually spent any SPACE MONEY lol. I too suffer from the videogame minmaxer hoard everything syndrome, but don't forget, you can try and buy assets at any time to help you out... maybe that could make some rolls easier... I might let you use it as a sort of storytelling device (ie spend ISD... "I had this prepared earlier" etc) There will be ample opportunities to recoup expenditures. Your ISD / space funds can even be negative... with some interesting consequences (evil QM laugh muahahaha)

>>5820741
>something else...?
>In quick words, convince Clara the researcher that there is danger: "The Vandenberg corp is unreliable. They don't hesitate to kill those that displease them. I have received information their soldiers are going to do exactly that in the bay below..." *shooting begins* "See! We have to escape for your safety!"
>Evacuate the researcher using cyberninja parkour and offer her employment with IFA instead + transfer data to us
A CUNNING PLAN, I hope it succeeds.
>>5820856
How do we earn space funds?

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>5820725
>Baron Sleng and his prison barge the Ramasun: roll 1d100 + 50 (cost in ISD). You can have your choice amongst his prisoners. The Baron, who appears to be motivated mostly by mercenary proclivities, will place himself and his crew at your disposal.

File: 20231106_215319.jpg (374 KB, 1701x1080)

374 KB JPG

>How to obtain income?
QM: Well, the easiest way might be... to charge Othrigen Scientific Corporation billings for some amount for the shared use of your Expeditionary Research Vessel, hehe. But I hear they may be having some liquidity issues after a very expensive purchase recently...! >>5820908

Another way, as anyone who has played spaceship games or 4x inevitably knows... it probably begins with gathering resources and mining a few asteroids. If only you had the means to do this somehow, ponders the cyberninja, as you flee the Klemperer Orbital carrier ship with a terrified Clara The Researcher in tow... she probably believes she is being kidnapped, abducted! Oh well, sometimes the best approach as a cyberninja is to run away and explain afterwards. At least you secured the valuable STAR DATA... but were you detected whilst doing so? And which star sector will you be heading to now, given that you have fled the fastest source of travel (the Klemperer carrier ship you just left?)

QM: incidentally, to the Othrigen Scientific anon here >>5820908
Baron Sleng cackles with maniacal delight as you consent to hire his savage and disreputable prison barge for the exorbitant sum of 149=99+50 ISD... you can just about afford this onerous outlay, leaving you with 9 ISD in available funds left. Othrigen Scientific is now taking on the appearance of a formidable militaristic force, with your Orbital Cannon(!) and disturbing armoured autoturret gunship converted Prison Barge, hehe.

Please could you indicate which experimental procedure you would like to try with your new "volunteer" candidates, and also roll 1d100

>roll 1d100
>Haemolymph dose tolerance increase procedure
>Neural scanning advanced connectome tractography procedure

(QM: from here) >>5820725

QM: I also decided it was probably a bit unfair not to offer the cyberninja some preset weapons beforehand (I was hoping you might offer to buy some / proffer some suggestions yourself, hehe) so here is a selection (see below).

QM: After these choices I will end this turn for now and introduce a new scenario. I will also provide the goal progress summary. If there are any final decisions you want to finish up for your faction, please include them...

File: 20231106_201128.jpg (189 KB, 1920x1074)

189 KB JPG

Shirasaya
Swift, Inconspicuous, Deathblow: Iaijutsu
1 or 2-handed
This is just an ordinary tsuba-less sword, with a stippled digital-pattern grip and scabbard - the only advantage being that this weapon is completely inconspicuous. (QM: mechanically for the purpose of the game, whilst the sword remains sheathed NPCs assume you are just carrying a fashionable crutch or walking stick). It is unlikely to be effective against armoured or robotic / exoskeleton equipped opponents, unless a particular weakness or exposed unarmoured vulnerability is found. When drawn from concealment or ambush in a single decisive diagonal slash it is likely to herald the instant end of an unsuspecting target, but once the element of surprise is forfeited, it is probably better to turn and run.

File: 20231106_201325.jpg (450 KB, 3840x1998)

450 KB JPG

Shock Kanabo (Telescopic Baton)
Intimidate, Electrocute, (vs synthetics) Single Use EMP, Loud, Conspicuous (arcing electric sparks), Blunt
1-handed collapsible electroshock weapon, commonly carried by law enforcement. The less-than lethal single-use charge delivered by this baton can override and incapacitate biomechanically augmented or heavily synthetic opponents, including exoskeleton operators.

File: denis-berdnikov-image-1.jpg (234 KB, 1920x1080)

234 KB JPG

Small Calibre Civilian Pistol
Short Range, Loud, Concealable, Accurate, Fast Reload, Mobile, Rapid Fire, Low Recoil
5/5 9mm
1-handed
This common firearm at least pretends to conform to restrictive firearms regulations concerning ammunition and magazine size in Samaya City, even if these regulations are completely disregarded by delinquent street gangs. It is fairly small and easy to carry and draw, even when fired and tilted sideways in a bravado Cartel gunslinger pose.

File: ruslan-shumeiko-01.jpg (508 KB, 3840x2160)

508 KB JPG

Drone Sword
Single Use, Armour Piercing, High Velocity Penetrator, Autonomous Targeting, Steerable, Loitering Munition, Conspicuous, (in flight) Annoying Buzzing Sound, (on impact) VERY LOUD
1-handed
An unusual weapon to the streets of Samaya City, similar to a more advanced adaptation of a ballistic knife. Whilst it can be used as an ordinary sword, the blade is detachable and operates as a steered single-use remotely piloted high velocity loitering kinetic knife. The drone blade is equipped with some primitive kill/seek autonomous targeting algorithms, though it can be jammed with electronic countermeasures or decoys. Once detached, the hilt of the drone sword is useless though it can be re-armed if a replenishment blade munition is found.

File: 20231106_201507.jpg (101 KB, 1920x850)

101 KB JPG

QM: I don't really have any good concept art for my imagined idea of the drone sword blade-missile in flight, but I imagine it resembles something a bit like this, akin to a steerable self-destructing cutting version of one of those helicopter drones

>>5821036
>>5821040
>>5821044
>>5821046
>>5821048
If it is possible to pick multiple weapons, then in order from most to least priority:
>Shirasaya
>Shock Kanabo
>Small Calibre Civilian Pistol
Drone Sword seems like too much power and loudness for one shot, Shock Kanabo looks better to me in that regard. It's better to shock and run from heavily armed opponents, evasion and stealth is cyberninja's specialty from what I imagine.

>>5821036
>(I was hoping you might offer to buy some / proffer some suggestions yourself, hehe)
If I may suggest something as an alternative to the Shock Kanabo, then could my ninja have EMP shurikens or something in that vein? Basically something concealable like the Shirasaya and Pistol, but also capable of shocking armoured foes?

File: grzegorz-kozlowski-all.jpg (257 KB, 1920x1080)

257 KB JPG

>>5821180
>Can I have electroshock shurikens?
QM: you can, but you must try to research it! You have access already to typical ordinary metal throwing stars, they are not very powerful though.

I think electroshock stun throwables can be available fairly quickly as you compel Clara the technical researcher to work on this whilst she sobs pitifully at her plight at being shockingly kidnapped by cyberninjas. The shurikens themselves probably could not contain enough charge to actually destroy any robotic things, merely stun them. They would also be LOUD and conspicuously visible once thrown as they emit electric arcs and sparks when discharging and may set things on fire, hehe.

File: 20231107_042043.jpg (536 KB, 1067x2335)

536 KB JPG

>>5821180
>>5821667
(QM: as your KNOWLEDGE is 2+7 = 9, I will just invent these probabilities and give you the following chance of attempting it...)
>roll 1d100
00-79 You develop Electroshock Shurikens! (They function as described above)
80-94 At this stage it just is not possible to miniaturise the electroshock capability. Ordinary metal throwing stars will just have to do.
95-99 An experimental overvolt mishap causes an unpleasant accident... (asset DEGRADED, cannot be deployed next turn)

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>5821668
Surely it won't explode in our faces, right?..

File: IMG_2655.jpg (44 KB, 370x471)

44 KB JPG

>>5821792

End Of TURN 1
Summary:

File: 20231107_130707.jpg (528 KB, 1760x816)

528 KB JPG

OTHRIGEN Scientific Research Corporation
attempting to achieve a SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH in its SPACE PROGRAM, by performing research experiments on "volunteer" space passenger candidates
progress: 19%
next threshold: roll under 30% (19+11 knowledge)

10 Might = 2 +0 +8
3 Prosperity = 2 +1 +0
6 Industry = 2 +2 +2
11 Knowledge = 4 +7 +0

Assets
09 BOO BOOTES - Homeworld
(Knowledge) 20 Xenoarchaeology - Arcturus Xenoarchaeology Research Institute (AXRI)
>>5818855

(Might) 14 Orbital Weapon - protecting AXRI above
>>5818494

Fleet
EXPEDITIONARY RESEARCH VESSEL
leased at no cost?? from Independent Friends Alliance
>>5817941
Othrigen promises IFA to share any research advancements
location: 55 MON MONOCEROS

PRISON BARGE, "Ramasun"
contracted former pirate BARON SLENG
>>5820714
paid ISD 149 >>5820908
armed with autoturrets >>5820752
location: 09 BOO BOOTES

Current ISD remaining: 9
Haemolymph: 101

File: 20231107_125757.jpg (69 KB, 1080x658)

69 KB JPG

INDEPENDENT FRIENDS ALLIANCE (IFA)
seeks to STEALTH INFILTRATE a planet by embedding a DENIABLE ASSET. Using its CYBERNINJAS the Alliance secured incredibly valuable habitable planets STAR SYSTEM DATA by rescuing/abducting a RESEARCH TECHNICIAN, Clara. The cyberninjas managed to convince Clara to use her research skills to develop some ELECTROSHOCK SHURIKEN to add to their arsenal.

The Alliance is also attempting to construct a strike fleet of ARMED MERCHANT CRUISERS by clandestinely converting its SHIPPING COMBINE with armaments to protect its homeworld, Samaya / Sector 67 PISCIS AUSTRINUS

Unfortunately, the cyberninjas did not manage to secure any armaments from the Vandenberg Executive Shuttle, as they ran away using cyberninja parkour.

progress: 20%
next threshold: roll under 20% to progress (last roll here >>5818824 ).

3 Might 3 +0
4 Prosperity 3 +1
4 Industry 2 +2
9 Knowledge 2 +7

Assets
67 PISCIS AUSTRINUS - Samaya City, Planet Samaya - Homeworld
>>5818812
>>5818814
(Industry) 18 Shipping Combine - in process of being converted to Armed Merchant Cruisers

(Deniable) 09 Cyberninjas, with equipment options
Shirasaya (stealth sword) >>5821040
Shock Kanabo (single use EMP baton) >>5821044
Small Calibre Civilian Pistol 5/5 >>5821046
Drone Sword (single use self-steering knife missile) >>5821048
Electroshock Shuriken (stun only throwable) >>5821667

Valuable Habitable Planetary Zone Star System Data >>5819433
potentially both
(Deniable) 15 Safehouse Hideout ie a safe planet unknown to authorities, and
(Might) 18 Supply Cache / Hardened Fallback superabundant resource planet

(Industry) Research Technician, Clara
QM: this can be developed into 15 R&D Department or alternatively a Knowledge asset. On her own currently as an Industry asset, she can make small equipment upgrades but not huge scientific or theoretical breakthroughs.

Fleet
EXPEDITIONARY RESEARCH VESSEL
leased at no cost?? to Independent Friends Alliance
>>5817941
Othrigen has promised IFA to share any research advancements
location: 55 MON MONOCEROS

Current ISD: 147
Haemolymph: 134

File: fhnt-01-b.jpg (1.57 MB, 3840x1952)

1.57 MB JPG

Rolled 6, 2 = 8 (2d6)

QM ACTIONS (I get TWO)
1 Unknown propagandists spread rumours that Othrigen Scientific Corporation is performing unethical prisoner experimentation! Who did this?? Who spread the rumours?

2 Distress call logged from HOHLRAUM Heavy Industries in sector 77 SEX (hehe) SEXTANS >>5818634 >>5818495 >>5818638

3 A rumour circulates amongst space pirates that the Ramasun, the ship commanded by the traitor Baron Sleng, was seen in the vicinity of Arcturus

4 Isonomy Directorate Of Defense Trade Controls traces anomalous cargo shipping traffic to Samaya City, planet Samaya, in apparent violation of ITAR (Interstellar Trafficking in Arms Regulation)

5 Paracosm Corporation automated Customer Experience Management receives an urgent inquiry regarding the security of their tamper-proof mission critical communications platform >>5820741

6 Vandenberg Aerospace automated employee surveillance platform detects an anomaly in the meeting attendance and performance reviews of Research Technician Clara Clark. As a precautionary measure, her security access credentials are revoked awaiting HR team investigation

File: gabriel-jara-ilustracion-2.jpg (3.12 MB, 3810x2077)

3.12 MB JPG

>>5822084
QM: ok, unfortunately 6 above is rather inconvenient for the Independent Friends Alliance. What this means is that Clara the Technical Researcher is locked out of her access privileges for the valuable STAR DATA you recovered - the data is still there but encrypted.

Furthermore, should Vandenberg Aerospace discover that she has absconded with their incredibly important and proprietary corporate star colonisation planetary data, they will probably just remote delete / wipe it all (and her, and anyone caught sheltering her). So I can see a few avenues as to how to deal with this situation:

>You can just sell the (now encrypted) star system data to someone. You probably will not receive much value for it, but some hacker collective will probably give you a token value for it out of curiosity. This also has the added benefit of just taking the heist proceeds out of your hands - Vandenberg Aerospace will probably just blame them and hunt them down afterwards as they investigate / cleanup the trail behind their missing employee. Find any nearby planet, starport or orbital station to offload this data payload fast

>You want to crack and recover this encrypted data yourself. If only you had access to a huge amount of computing power... say, a barge full of incarcerated prisoners with their minds and cerebral capacity being forcibly used as a human brain-machine cloud compute cluster...?? Maybe just make them try ALL THE PASSWORDS one at a time, in the ultimate dictionary attack?

>You could take the data back to Samaya... there must be someone on your homeplanet who could help. But will Vandenberg Aerospace eventually trace their missing employee back to your star system?
QM: the transit cost from Monoceros back to Samaya is
MON-HYA-LIB-OPH-SGR-CAP-PSA, ISD 65

>You could just upload and release all the encrypted data to the entire galaxy for free, see what happens

>Something else? You could purchase another asset to try to deal with this. For instance, attempt to bribe or pay an informant within Vandenberg Aerospace for their security credentials to access the star data, etc.

File: nomx-0228-2.jpg (180 KB, 1920x817)

180 KB JPG

>>5822084
QM: There is also the Hohlraum Heavy Industries distress signal emanating from sector 77 / Sextans. All you know at this stage is one of their heavy mining vehicles has gone astray investigating an enormous megastructure; you would need to get closer to hear/see the distress message... To investigate this yourself, the cost is

Total Cost: ISD 30
BOT-VIR-LEO-SEX
Bootes to Sextans
(for Othrigen)

Total Cost: ISD 70
PSA-CAP-SGR-OPH-LIB-VIR-LEO-SEX
Piscis Austrinus to Sextans
(for Independent Friends Alliance)

You could also try hiring some asset or contracting someone in the vicinity to answer the distress call, it might be cheaper. (QM: you can pick from the asset tables for an appropriate team) But if they discover anything worthwhile, they may keep it for themselves...

>Investigate the distress call yourself (pay transport cost in ISD). Imagine... if it was you stranded alone out there in the darkness... wouldn't you want someone to help...?
>Contract someone in the vicinity to do it (pick a new asset, which one?) You probably need to negotiate some terms with them
>Ignore the Hohlraum distress beacon, they have probably all run out of oxygen anyway by now

QM: You can write in what you would like to do / any other additional preliminary plans. Meanwhile, I will prepare the new scenarios for TURN 2...

File: 20231107_161635.jpg (301 KB, 1619x1080)

301 KB JPG

Location: Samaya City Shipping Combine, Orbital Dockyard
(Sector 67 PSA, Piscis Austrinus)

Several ORBITAL DOCKWORKERS in exosuits who appear to be welding several large metal sections and armatures together; they are being supervised by a DOCK OVERSEER - from behind his bulky astronaut reflective visor, he has a moustache, so he must be very important. One of the dock workers is delicately operating a MANNED MANOEUVRING UNIT with thrusters and boosters for untethered extravehicular activity; upon this unit is attached a large, extensible ROBOTIC CRANE WELDING ARM. Another dispirited worker, a woman in an orange space suit, appears to be remonstrating and grumbling with the Moustache Overseer:

File: jama-jurabaev-image-24.jpg (577 KB, 1906x1599)

577 KB JPG

REBELLIOUS ORANGE ORBITAL WORKER
-(hiss and crackle of voice communication radio) ... what... what do you mean, no toilet breaks? Are we just expected to... pee inside these suits? That cannot be hygienic?! And we are now expected to take on all this extra work, without even getting paid more??

File: lars-sowig-final-158-small.jpg (579 KB, 1920x1055)

579 KB JPG

(The ROBOTIC CRANE OPERATOR twiddles some controls, and shakes his welding arm menacingly in agreement with her)

File: 20231107_161311.jpg (112 KB, 579x746)

112 KB JPG

MOUSTACHE OVERSEER
-No toilet breaks! Get back to work! You have your maximum absorbency garments, space underpants - enjoy the warmth! I am in fact urinating right now. And I have seen the designs for these Armed Merchant Freighters, they had better hold up, or else you will all answer for it!

REBELLIOUS WORKER
-... but... this is so unfair! We do all this work already, loading and unloading all of the space cargo, and now you take away all our rest breaks because someone ordered this rushed maintenance and upgrade program? And how are we even supposed to complete these armament upgrades on schedule, when the weaponry has not even arrived? I bet this is not even legal. I bet the Isonomy would want to hear about whoever has ordered this private militarised space fleet! Whoever wants it must be really really evil, to exploit hardworking honest people like us. They are probably evil criminal underworld elements, engaged in kidnapping and theft of sorts, to steal our wages and pay like this! They are probably, like some cyberninja crime syndicate or something. Or private equity. I am not taking this any more! I am not even tightening a single screw or bolt until I get some answers! And I demand fair compensation!

(The ROBOTIC CRANE OPERATOR twiddles his controls again, and the robot arm forms an emphatic middle finger at the Overseer in a lewd gesture)

MOUSTACHE OVERSEER
-You will get all back to work, right now - or I'll see to it that you get a taste of the "fresh air" outside...You should all be grateful. You have job security, gainful employment, a purpose in life! That is much better than what the overcrowded and impoverished masses in the slums of Samaya City are getting. And we could actually have you all replaced with robots. You should be grateful you even have these jobs! These Armed Merchant Cruisers will be delivered, as promised, on schedule, and without your complaints and moaning! That is all!

File: 20231107_083627.jpg (422 KB, 1472x874)

422 KB JPG

>er... how to handle this situation? Maybe you should make an example of one of these workers. Fire one of them...
>The rebellious Orange Spacesuit lady, she is the instigator
>The Robotic Crane Operator
>The Moustache Overseer. But who will control and maintain discipline amongst the rebellious dockworkers afterwards?

>You should terminate one of these employees... permanently. They might leak secrets of your fleet construction to unwelcome authorities. Next time the shift ends, throw one of them out the airlock:
>The rebellious Orange Spacesuit lady
>The Robotic Crane Operator
>Throw the Overseer out of the airlock, he must be perverted to enjoy spacesuit urination

>Acquiesce and agree to a pay rise for all the Shipping Combine Orbital Dockworkers. After all, they are taking on all this extra work which they probably should not even be doing. How much will you offer?
>10 ISD
>50 ISD
>100 ISD
>some other amount...?

>Fire all these dock workers and hire a robotic workforce instead. Across the entirety of the massive orbital shipping combine stardocks, this costs 50+1d100 ISD

>Something else...? You could try some other negotiation tactic, or hire some other asset.

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>5821036
>Haemolymph dose tolerance increase procedure
>>5821792
The true enemy, awful rolls.

>>5822296
>Something else? You could purchase another asset to try to deal with this. For instance, attempt to bribe or pay an informant within Vandenberg Aerospace for their security credentials to access the star data, etc.
>Contact a hacker group (something like DENIABLE ASSETS 20 Vuln Database / Zeroday Exploit) to hire their help in decrypting the data

>>5822297
>Contract someone in the vicinity to do it (pick a new asset, which one?) You probably need to negotiate some terms with them
>Invoke Friend's BACKGROUND to contact a SPACE ADVENTURER group (probably MIGHT 06 Expeditionary Reconnaissance Force) to do our work for us

>>5822367
>Whoever wants it must be really really evil, to exploit hardworking honest people like us. They are probably evil criminal underworld elements, engaged in kidnapping and theft of sorts, to steal our wages and pay like this! They are probably, like some cyberninja crime syndicate or something.
fugg :DDD
We wanted to be a FRIENDLY sector but turned out to be a crime syndicate. The irony... We'll try our best to recover though!
>Make sure there's toilet breaks and tolerable working conditions (though keep the extra hours)
>Explain it is for the safety of the IFA
>Acquiesce and agree to a pay rise for all the Shipping Combine Orbital Dockworkers. After all, they are taking on all this extra work which they probably should not even be doing. How much will you offer?
>30 ISD
>>5822388
That was a good roll though... It's roll under.

File: 20231107_210240.jpg (314 KB, 1700x1022)

314 KB JPG

>>5822388
>Rolled 81 (1d100)
Catastrophe has struck... THE EXPERIMENT has FAILED!!
You must now roll on the terrifying UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES table...

In real life, around 90% of all clinical trials fail, around half of which typically as a result of lack of efficacy. If only that were the case in these experimental procedures...

1/ Firstly, you must choose an amount of Haemolymph. This can be any amount from 1-101 (the maximum amount you possess). It represents the dose you administered to the TEST PATIENT

2/ now roll 1d100, and add the dose you chose from above to the result...

UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES
20, or LESS: well, you invented a method of faster travel... travel to the afterlife, that is. The TEST PATIENT spasms uncontrollably, shrieking in agony and shaking and frothing in the mouth as their bloodshot eyes swivel in panic and horror. The dose seemed... quite mild? Maybe they had some unexpected allergic reaction or something?

21-40 The TEST PATIENT gibbers and soils themselves. End of experiment

41-65 You should probably really sedate these patients beforehand. But in any case, it does not matter here. There is no visible change in the TEST SUBJECT. Nothing happens

66 You feel an itching sensation in your scalp... perhaps it is just a trick of the light, but the shadows seem to elongate towards the TEST PATIENT, as they stare vacantly at you... almost as if they know your thoughts...

67-80 It doesn't work, but as a side effect you see that the TEST patient seems calmer, their mood and wellbeing greatly improved. (QM: you appear to have created some form of MEDICAL STIMPAK. It could be developed and researched further into an IFAK - fast acting military Individual First Aid Kit. This would be a very valuable commercial product)

81-90 It did not work, but you notice the TEST PATIENT instead of being revolted, craves and begs for more. Have you just created an even more addictive pleasure-precursor for COCOON SUGAR? Space drugs...?

91-99 The TEST PATIENT gnashes their teeth and spittle flies in your face. Straining against their bonds and restraints, you see their sinews and muscles pulled taut, as they scream and snarl at you in uncontrolled fury. Have you created some ultraviolent pain-inhibiting BERSERK STIMULANT COMBAT DRUGS?

100, or MORE: The TEST PATIENT breaks free of their restraints, and rampages amok through the Arcturus Xenoarchaeological Research Institute, slaughtering anyone in their path with their bare hands
(QM: I probably need some extra time to prepare a special battlemap if you roll this one...)

>pick a number between 1-101 (Haemolymph you possess)
>roll 1d100, and add this to the number chosen above

You realise there might be a viable market for berserk drug-infused psychotic killing murder-patients
>Deliberately overdose the patient, by injecting them with all the Haemolymph you possess (101). Sit back and observe the results of this new "experiment"

File: 20231107_160235.jpg (545 KB, 1337x1598)

545 KB JPG

Rolled 72, 37, 46 = 155 (3d100)

>>5822416
The REBELLIOUS ORANGE DOCK PROTEST WORKER lady considers your request...

I will try to roll under this after these modifiers
+20 offer toilet breaks
+30 pay rise
+10 used friendly approach / did not reprimand or threaten workers
+5 appeal to solidarity with IFA (QM: this might be unwise if the roll fails... she knows now that it was the shipping combine itself commissioning the armed fleet)
+4 influence bonus from your PROSPERITY (as a persuade stat)

-15 keep perverted supervisor
-10 insist on longer working hours

So I will try and roll under 44 = 69-25 for you... The additional d100 rolls are for this table here, if it fails...

(this table only if the 1st d100 roll fails)
01-70 The Orbital Dockworkers reject your paltry pay increase. They go on strike until you offer them 30+1d100 ISD and make many more outrageous demands

71-90 In addition to the above, the MILITANT PROTEST LADY (orange orbital dock worker) now hires lawyers and alleges gender discrimination and inhumane working conditions. She attempts to publicly expose the unequal and degrading treatment of female employees by the IFA Shipping Combine. (QM: I bet you had that postcolonial gender studies asset now...) She attempts to sue for
2x (30+1d100)

91-100 The majority of the Orbital Dockworkers accept thr pay deal and grumble. However, an anonymous whistleblower files a tipoff report against the IFA Shipping Combine at the Isonomy Directorate Of Defense Trade Controls

>>5822501
Rolled 72, 37, 46 = 155 (3d100)
QM: ok so the roll FAILED 72>44, but it is not too bad. The Shipping Combine Orbital Dockworkers go on strike (rolled 37<70) and demand 76 ISD = 30+46 in a wage hike instead.

>Accept this offer, pay them 76
>Something else...?

>This protest might evaporate entirely if a certain... accident befell its instigator, this militant labour rights orange astronaut lady. Perhaps you could arrange for that to happen...
QM: unfortunately your cyberninjas are currently in Monoceros Sector escorting Clara the Technician, and searching for some hacker collective to decrypt the indecipherable STAR DATA... but there are all sorts of criminal elements in Samaya City eager to help with the task. Choose an asset do deal with this "accident"

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>5822473
51.

File: cherylynn-lima-2.jpg (719 KB, 1920x2400)

719 KB JPG

>>5823095
Rolled 75 (1d100) +51
=126 > 100
THE EXPERIMENT HAS FAILED
YOU HAVE UNLEASHED TEST SUBJECT 126
also known as Scarlett. Her scalp, which had been shaved bald prior to the administration of surgical cerebral electrodes for monitoring of postsynaptic potential and intracranial electroencephalography - her bald head has somehow now sprouted pink hair, which is matted with strands of Haemolymph and cerebrospinal fluid. Beneath the diaphanous and translucent material of her medical gown, the wet sheen of blood shadows the quivering and panting movements of her chest, the fluttering heat-smear of sweat across her breasts, knees pressed against the hard floor in the ache and release of nakedness. She has broken free. You have heard of unguiculation - the art of using the nails as clawing instruments of passion to enhance the act of love. She has torn one scientist apart with her bare hands, crushed the head of another lifeless researcher in her armpit. She punches through the protective and hardened biohazard glass visor of a third laboratory worker - whose nostrils are irresistibly filled with the pungent and captivating scent of sweetness... he glimpses a vision of ecstasy, of caresses and the parting kiss of sleek rouge lips and untamed desire, the palpitating core of her mound... before glass shards and a fist punches through the other side of his skull.

File: jura-andreev-main.jpg (558 KB, 1900x1900)

558 KB JPG

Is she... somehow feeding on the Haemolymph monitoring synaptic electrodes... her inhuman speed... have you created some form of BIOAMPLIFIER?

File: wookun-02.jpg (558 KB, 3840x2398)

558 KB JPG

Perhaps if you can reach the electroencephalogram machine, calibrate and attune the neurosignal, moderate the dose of Haemolymph... you could create some form of CONTROL COLLAR... but how to do this...?

File: 20231108_103757.jpg (136 KB, 943x1080)

136 KB JPG

>Fire an ELECTROSHOCK PISTOL at Scarlett, TEST SUBJECT 126. Will this subdue her?

File: roman-fedorenko-cgfed-scr(...).jpg (245 KB, 1920x1080)

245 KB JPG

(Terrified and panicking BIOHAZARD RESEARCHER, as alarm sirens scream and emergency lights submerge the corridors in strobed pulses of red)
er... we... we can still salvage this! The experiment can still be saved! Er... we must enact...

File: 20231108_102421.jpg (262 KB, 1650x1080)

262 KB JPG

>Containment Protocol 1: release some form of sedative gas. Attempt to anaesthetise TEST SUBJECT 126

>Containment Protocol 2: flood the research institute with inert, immobilising hydrogel. Perhaps the ejaculation - I mean, ejection of viscous and adhesive strands of obstructing white foam-glue can preserve this valuable combat specimen

>Containment Protocol 3: attempt to incinerate TEST SUBJECT 126 by activating emergency beam combination for a distributed gain fibre laser array

>This is it!! This is your SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH... the one you have been waiting for... a CURE FOR BALDNESS! Glance down with scientific curiosity at her pubic region, and inquire: So, you know when you sprouted all that pink hair and everything... would you mind if I just - you know, take a look, down there... it is for science...

>Just lockdown all the chambers, connecting passageways and doors, slam down all the reinforced barrier gates whilst you work out how to handle the situation. Perhaps if she murder rampages around for a bit, TEST SUBJECT 126 will eventually calm down. It might also be useful to record footage of the experimental deaths of the scientific institute researchers, for marketing purposes later

>Contact your ally, Baron Sleng: the former pirate must have experience handling many prison riots and violent outbreaks. His team of cruel and sadistic wardens will know how to deal with TEST SUBJECT 126, and be able to overpower her. Maybe also keep the research cameras running... for marketing demonstration purposes

>Containment Protocol X: finally, it has come to this: it is what it was designed for all along. Fire the ORBITAL WEAPON at Arcturus Xenoarchaeological Research Facility

>>5822522
>Accept this offer, pay them 76
Painful, but acceptable. Let's try to be fair.

File: 20231108_152227.jpg (466 KB, 1602x798)

466 KB JPG

>>5823300
INDEPENDENT FRIENDS ALLIANCE
Current ISD: 71 = 147-76

As you shake hands with Maxine,
>>5822361
the militant labour protest astronaut lady, she nods in punctilious manner, and acknowledges your concession with grudging admiration:
>I... we never imagined that you would just agree to our demands. And also treat us with respect. I see now that the Independent Friends Alliance truly lives up to its name - you are a friend of the Shipping Combine, all our workers, and a friend of the people of Samaya City. If only this planet had more like you, willing to listen, perhaps there would not be so much poverty and misery, so much overcrowding and degradation in the slums. We promise we will work as hard as we can, to complete your ARMED MERCHANT FLEET on schedule. But we still need those weapons... once you find plans for armament I will personally see the task done! We will protect Samaya City together!

File: marcin-rubinkowski-hans-torso.jpg (153 KB, 960x1200)

153 KB JPG

>>5822416
Calling upon your experience as a space adventurer, you remember an EXPEDITIONARY RECONAISSANCE FORCE squad commander named Lars Lothbrok. He is a giant of a man, though he possesses a disproportionately small yet very handsome head and chiselled features. When you contact him, Lars laughs heartily and proclaims
- Ah, so gut too see you again, mine vriend! Ah so gut you contact the Lars, ja? Not contact the Raufoss, or the Chernaya, or the others, I think they is being dead, ja? So ja, we, we is speaking of the Lars, the Lars we know of this, how do you say, this skeppsraet, you is needing of the Lars, we is finding this skeppsraet, the Lars we (he makes a chopping motion with a massive hand) (makes onomatopoeic swishing slicing noises, followed by a series of popping percussive mouth bursts, as if in imitation of a laser fusillade) ...everyone, ja. The Lars is already doing this, it already is done!

File: 20231108_141441.jpg (402 KB, 1321x816)

402 KB JPG

When you emphasise that this is a rescue mission - the mission is to investigate the distress signal of the Hohlraum mining ship,
>>5818495
>>5818634
>>5818635
>>5818638
Lars is very puzzled:
- But the Lars, the Lars is not the space ambulance? Ambulance, space hospital is for the woman - space nurse, ja. The Lars is not woman? When there is the (he puffs out the cheeks of his small yet handsome head, and makes an implosion sucking noise as if a grenade had been detonated) ...when there is this, you find the Lars. Not this for the space nurse, the space woman. Lars see this many times, it is not pretty. It floats, ja, in we say bubble of intestines; no gravity, not pretty.

Advise Lars as to how his EXPEDITIONARY RECONAISSANCE FORCE should set the rules of engagement for this mission
>Kill everything that moves. If you encounter salvagers, space pirates, rival space mercenaries - kill them all. (Lars and his team will be highly aggressive, they will seek to hunt down and eliminate every target, firing first with no mercy)
>Emphasise that this is a rescue mission. If there are survivors, you must help them, and leave no-one vulnerable behind - even if your own team must sacrifice their own lives to do so. (Lars will try and find survivors)
>If this mysterious megastructure in Sextans sector 77 is as massive and as dangerous as you believe, this may just be a preliminary reconnaissance / intel gathering mission. You should take a quick look around, collect any evidence or clues as to what happened, report back and get out. The priority is to protect his own team members - they should all try to get out alive and survive. (Lars will try and find information)
>As Lars is an old acquaintance of yours from your background, there is no need to pay him upfront. However, you feel it is often courteous amongst space mercenaries to grant salvage rights. Lars and his team are welcome to loot everything they can, and if they manage to bring anything back to spare, perhaps you can earn a cut too. Any maybe there will be ship weapons, or salvageable components... aren't you in desperate need of these for your ARMED MERCHANT CRUISER upgrade? (Lars will try and find items)

Advise Lars and his team on the loadout for this mission:

File: 20231108_144800.jpg (389 KB, 2560x1366)

389 KB JPG

KINETIC ASSAULT WEAPON
Shortrange, Loud, Burst/Rapid Fire, Suppressing Fire, Wide FOV AutoTargeting,
Inaccurate, Quick Reload, Mobile

A compact ballistic firearm with fast automatic target acquisition, integrated smart tracking, a high cyclic rate and a massive volume of suppressing fire. It excels at close to mid range engagements against multiple targets, but lack of precision would fare poorly against hostiles at long range - or, for instance, in high pressure hostage situations where single shot lethal placement is required.

File: isaac-okesene-rifle-1-96.jpg (109 KB, 1920x912)

109 KB JPG

LASER CARBINE
Midrange, Silent, Accurate, Incendiary, Blinding, Attenuating, Overheat, Fragile

Fibre laser punch beam and collimator. This weapon is uncommon in civilian or urban engagements, because firing a laser in the absence of protective eyewear or specialised combat helms can blind everyone in the vicinity. The military grade laser has good effect on any single target, human, organic, synthetic, exoarmour or even war mechs. Whilst some specifications permit variable yields, this laser is calibrated to melt everything. In environments with a lot of debris (eg sandstorms, or occasionally even some smoke-filled urban battlegrounds) flecks and ghost image backscatter can attenuating laser targeting, causing beam distortion. Continuous wave mode operation of the diode head can also lead to thermal bloom.

QM: as before, you can attempt to describe a futuristic weapon of your own, eg pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle, DMR, smg etc, grenade launcher, rail gun, hehe. I will see if I have any appropriate pictures...

Rolled 31, 53, 6, 66 = 156 (4d100)

>>5817915
Test.

>>5823503
Wait, actually, are there still open slots for this?

File: 20231108_170507.jpg (112 KB, 732x1036)

112 KB JPG

>>5823503
>>5823506
Of course, anon! Please follow the instructions in the HOW TO PLAY section at the beginning of this thread,
>>5817915
or the repeated summary here. >>5820506

As you have rolled 4d100, you need to provide a faction name (feel free to use this as a trip code name) allocate 10 points between the attributes Might/Prosperity/Industry/Knowldege, choose any 1 asset from the Might, Prosperity, Industry, Knowledge or Deniable Asset tables, and choose 1 faction goal from here.
>>5817915

From your starting roll,
Rolled 31, 53, 6, 66
Your homeworld star sector would be
31 CYG CYGNUS SWAN (this is a really pretty one!)
You possess 153 ISD (space money)
You possess 106 Haemolymph (space blood, it has various uses)
The random asset you get would be
(Knowledge) 06 Ekistic Design / Megacity Planning
(it is a bit like space architecture or urban planning... you could use it to build space colonies or space stations etc)
-so don't choose this one again! Do not worry, if you do not like this asset/ability, the very first thing you can do or try is to exchange/sell it, hehe

Thank you! And here also is a toy astronaut balloon, yay

>>5823518
>you could use it to build space colonies or space stations etc
That's a lot more flexible than I originally thought it would be, interesting.

Besides that, thinking of a pseudo-religious megacorp really focused on managing humans, some absurd mix of utopianists and corpocratocrats.

>Name: Archonal Grid Systems
>Might 0
>Prosperity 1
>Industry 8
>Knowledge 1
>03 Arcology
>VI. Expand Influence

File: CYGNUS.jpg (418 KB, 1080x1262)

418 KB JPG

>>5823503
>>5823518
>>5823538
Archonal Grid Systems
0 Might
1 Prosperity
8 Industry
1 Knowledge

ISD: 153
Haemolymph: 106

Starting Assets
(Industry) 03 Arcology
(Knowledge) 06 Ekistic Design / Megacity Planning

Goal
VI. Expand Influence - gain a base of influence on a new planet

Homeworld
31 CYG CYGNUS SWAN

QM: And that is it, well done! Here is your starting sector. As mentioned here,
>>5817918
you can do or try anything you want! Please feel free to
>write in ideas
but they can generally begin along the lines of Acquire (buy something) Build, Conquer (annex territory or fight someone), Discover (research a technology) or Explore (move to a new sector, look for planets). If there are technologies you want to invent or research that are not listed (eg from 4X or space strategy videogames etc) please mention them and I will give it a try!

I see Archonal appears to be a very infrastructure and engineering driven corporation, hehe. The utopian /religious angle is quite interesting, it reminds me of how IBM used to make employees sing a corporate hymn.
https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/multimedia/everonward_trans.html
Maybe Archonal has one too! And I should inform you, Archonal already has some competitors in the space construction domain, hehe. Both Klemperer Orbital and Vertigo Pact manufacture and compete in your markets...
>>5818664
Based upon your preliminary ideas and aims, I will try and invent some scenarios for Archonal Grid Systems - standby...

File: 20231108_175847.jpg (289 KB, 1671x722)

289 KB JPG

Archonal Grid Systems
Tyndareus Station, near Maratea
Kepler 67, G9V
Cygnus Sector

QM: Maybe Archonal is a series of ever-vigilant waystations or outposts in deep space (hence, The Grid?) Instead of looking like the conventional rotating drum or centrifugal concentric ring design, they have a looming, gothic flying buttress type architecture, like a cathedral
(If you have a different aesthetic in mind, please let me know, and I will change it! Or feel free to upload your own inspiration pictures and designs!)

>>5823417
Great! We're on good terms now.
>>5823426
>If this mysterious megastructure in Sextans sector 77 is as massive and as dangerous as you believe, this may just be a preliminary reconnaissance / intel gathering mission. You should take a quick look around, collect any evidence or clues as to what happened, report back and get out. The priority is to protect his own team members - they should all try to get out alive and survive. (Lars will try and find information)
This is their purpose as a RECONAISSANCE force. But
>Priority is determining what happened, but if he finds any survivors along the way and it's not a risk to the success of the entire mission, help them.
>>5823431
>Some type of railgun maybe? Something with a balance between precision and power, and also usable in rescue situations. A well-balanced firearm.
If I may pick several tools, then
>An assortment of grenades: emp, smoke, blinding - for various situations
>Hardware interfacing tools for tech specialists. Basically a toolkit to repair and access terminals and various electronics. The logs may be valuable.
>Field medikits
I'm willing to spend some money on this upfront for equipment, but I'd need to know the hacker group cost that my ninjas are looking for before I commit. We're short on ISD after the dock workers' strike and hackers are, frankly, a priority.

>>5823282
>Containment Protocol 2: flood the research institute with inert, immobilising hydrogel. Perhaps the ejaculation - I mean, ejection of viscous and adhesive strands of obstructing white foam-glue can preserve this valuable combat specimen

File: 20230817_154819.png (723 KB, 1394x795)

723 KB PNG

>>5823538
>>5823555
>>5823596
ARCHONAL GRID SYSTEMS

.EMCON INTERRUPT
.await Tyndareus Station Hyperrelay Encrypted Protocol
.standby to initiate rollout sequence
.authentication confirmed
TS Actual This is Deneb-1...
Final Approach Path received, Destination Set
Manoeuvring to designated coordinates
.initiating Lissajous transfer...
.horocycle complete
.clearance to approach...

.EMCON INTERRUPT
callsign Deneb this is TS actual. Interrogative: can you confirm the number of passengers in transit on board, over?

TS actual: Deneb-1 should be just an automated courier craft, over

File: 20231108_200033.jpg (362 KB, 1648x1080)

362 KB JPG

(Your station detects a large group of biosignatures on board... the number is indeterminate, but sizeable - a small crowd... or a boarding party...? A raid?)

>Give clearance to approach. This is a routine automated drone courier, a delivery craft. It is probably nothing. Perhaps it is transporting some livestock? Or animals? It would be unusual, but not unprecedented.

>Give clearance to approach, but perhaps prepare some security on arrival...
QM: you do not yet have this asset, so you will have to hire one (temporarily). The cost is 50 ISD.

>(Cost as above) You need to board this craft in space, before it even approaches the station. Send some asset (which one?) to do this

>Blast this craft apart in outer space. There, problem solved. What sort of weapons do you possess on this station again?

>Something else...? Write-in

QM: pic related is the Cygnus Wall nebula; there are lots of pretty space pictures of Cygnus, yay! Maybe a good industry for the sector would be space tourism, hehe

File: 20231108_203424.jpg (382 KB, 1550x1100)

382 KB JPG

>>5823647
OTHRIGEN SCIENTIFIC Arcturus Xenoarchaeology Research Institute, Bootes
>Containment Protocol 2: flood the research institute with inert, immobilising hydrogel
QM: This is a good approach! If you wish, you may actually declare your OBJECTIVE COMPLETED - through the unintended yet seredipitous process of mishap and scientific discovery, you have indeed achieved a SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH... just not the one you intended. You now possess the following assets:

>PROTOTYPE COMBAT SPECIMEN, or Test Patient 126, formerly known as Scarlett. She is a naked girl immobilised in viscous hydrogel. She actually appears calmer now, but she remains undoubtedly very angry and potentially violent. The combat specimen appears to possess extraordinary speed and inhuman reflexes with an inclination towards human dismemberment. There would doubtless be many a military consortium that would be willing to pay to replicate your experimental technique. Perhaps you could even try and manufacture more... assemble an army? And just what are the limits and nature of her power...?

>DISTURBING EXPERIMENTAL MURDER-COMBAT VIDEO FOOTAGE
Fortunately enough even the evisceration of Othrigen research employees has been put to good use. This serves as confirmation and validation of your test subject capabilities. You could use it to market your combat specimen to interested buyers. Alternatively, there are certain entertainment aggro-domes on less scrupulous worlds where many salivating and bloodthirsty audiences would fight each other (both virtually... and physically) to experience the horrifying thrill of viewing it

>declare a SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH
(QM: you may choose a new asset! You also gain 10 points to distribute amongst your attributes of Might, Prosperity, Industry, Knowledge. You should also choose a new FACTION GOAL)

>Hold off for now. The real reward is to break the Klemperer Orbital transit near monopoly, and dominate space travel

>try and find a military consortium to offload your PROTOTYPE COMBAT SPECIMEN. How might you do this?

>perform more experiments on your PROTOTYPE COMBAT SPECIMEN. What are her capabilities? Can she survive lasers? How about hard vacuum? How intelligent is she? Does she respond to commands? QM: write-in any particular tests you would like to devise

>This human experimentation is terribly cruel. You should release Scarlett. She has suffered enough already under the hands of Baron Sleng of the prison ship Ramasun. And now you...

>Release Scarlett upon some nearby planet, but secretly embed some tracking / surveillance devices and continue recording

>You should try and monetise the murder footage. Sell it to some aggro-dome virtual entertainment studio
>roll 1d100 (ISD gain)

>Didn't you promise to share your findings with the Independent Friends Alliance? Perhaps you should consult them regarding the ethics of your research experiments. It might reflect badly if someone found out what you were up to...

File: 20231108_151426.jpg (166 KB, 1920x871)

166 KB JPG

>>5823613
INDEPENDENT FRIENDS ALLIANCE
>grenades, toolkit hardware interface kit etc.
This is all very reasonable, and likely to be possessed by any Expeditionary Force. The one issue is medkits - this is basically Haemolymph, the postmortal space blood-surrogate. You could offer to supply them some, and improve their chances of survival... The current amount you possess is 134.
>(optional) supply Lars and his expeditionary team with Haemolymph...
>25
>50
>100
>Some other amount?

>spend money upfront for guns etc...
There is actually no need for this as (due to your low MIGHT stats hehe) the Expeditionary Force is considerably better armed than even you are! If you had better Might you could provide them with say some Assault Frigates or Destroyer escort, a carrier or battlecruiser... sadly we are still at the stage of waiting to construct the Armed Merchant Cruiser fleet lol. Your cyberninjas might actually be of some slight help in stealth though I am not too sure how effective they would be in deep space hehe, besides, they are still engaged trying to contact hacker collectives (I promise I will get to this)

>Railgun, precision
So in my imagination (I know it is different in various videogames) the railgun is more akin to a rocket launcher, because of the insane blast and spallation of debris... the infamous naval railgun demonstration video on youtube
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O2QqOvFMG_A
etc. the description tags and conceptualisation of the rail driver from one of my past game settings is this:

RAIL DRIVER
Long Range, Deafening, Armour Piercing, Explosive, Insane Recoil, Backblast, Slow Reload, Bulky

Two stage hypervelocity single salvo electromagnetic cannon, with internal preloading of a fin-stabilised high density sabot penetrator. Point this at anything to send it to the afterlife. Bystanders should avoid the area.

So it is more useful for shooting at war mechs and armour and things. If you want precision, you probably just want some form of DMR designated marksman rifle etc. In Stars Without Number I think the rifles are commonly mag rifles, ie magnetic slug throwers. In Lancer they are called Linacs or linear accelerators I believe. So you can have some variant of this technology in DMR form, they would likely be accurate single shot placement but poor at suppression, up to you. I would also mention that pistols SMGs, shotguns are also situationally very viable (there is a compact / mobility descriptor tag as well as one-handed - think confined spaceship ventilation ducts...)
>equip the squad mainly for precision (eg DMR) but sacrifice fire volume / suppression
>equip the squad for sheer destructive firepower (railguns etc). If there are indeed hostages or survivors, you can recover pieces of them later

So I will let you decide this. Lars and his team will travel to the sector 77 spaceship... you will probably hear of them only in next turn, hehe.

And now for the promised hacker collectives...

File: 20231108_221454.jpg (1.75 MB, 3840x2111)

1.75 MB JPG

QM: Your scientific ship, the Expeditionary Research Vessel, has drifted from Monoceros to Hydra (see the map here) >>5817913 The reason this occurs is that the incredibly intelligent hypercomputer on the ship has determined that because you are dispatching an Expeditionary Reconnaissance Force to Sextans, it might be a good idea to move to Hydra this turn and then Sextans next turn, so that you can communicate, converge and to some extent remote observe / mission control Lars and his team from afar, ie give directions in real time. The on board ship hypercomputer is so good at anticipating human need, almost as if there were some miniature human being or gamesmaster powering it, not a QM horrified that no anons are actually using space travel in his badly designed user-untested space game nooo. But it is probably just the spaceship hypercomputer's superior machine cognition.

In Hydra sector, you approach Bellemek Station - a lawless orbital outpost and infamous bazaar for nefarious and unscrupulous dealings.

From afar, the hammered wreckage and hulks of blasted ships and salvage appear agglomerated like the lobes of an enormous and pestilent brain. You cannot imagine anyone living in such insalubrious squalor, but perhaps the commotion and chaos makes it easier to hide. You have heard of some ships that patrol space armed with nothing more than raw compute power - by constantly remaining on the move, they evade the laws regulations and predations of interstellar dominion, Isonomy or Saevasque or any other master. They recognise no authority here or anywhere else... you wonder if this might make it difficult to hold them to any promise. And there is another difficulty: the very nature of their underworld dealings means they do not accept interstellar denomination, ISD or Isono, as they call it here on Bellemek. What use is money? Was it created by the state as a means of enforcing an obligation, an obedience, a need? Payments create the illusion of motion and possession, when all that occurs is the transfer and reassignment of bank promises between themselves. How much scarcity would be revealed as a trick of control, if money were to disappear?

File: 20231015_112314.jpg (1.12 MB, 2602x3200)

1.12 MB JPG

A hegemonic power, imperium in all but name, arisen from the shattered remnants of the throne world of Old Lotan enshrouded amidst young protostars and slave nebulae encircling the dark firmament of Serpentarius / Ophiuchi Rho.

The ISONOMY

A symbol of kataskopocracy inherited from an ancient cradle world, the Pentacle - Five transcended rulers, who oversee a confederation of Fifty Stars; Five-Hundredfold dynastic hypercorporations and autonomous warguild syndicates, who together venerate the ancient strictures of Lex Mercatoria, the virtues of Maximinimalism, Virtualism and Utilitarianism. Embittered by the cataclysmic unravelling of the Gothograe Empire after The Crash, the Isonomy have cast aside baroque ornamentation and the feudal heraldry of their beginnings, promising instead that All Are Equal Beneath The Stars - though inevitably, from time to time the memory of some ancestral condescensions are inadvertently revived. Through the goetic usury of Cadurcinus, impenetrable stronghold of merchant sorcerors, The Isonomy maintain Unification: the exertion of seigniorage, extraction of tithes and technosorcery over the entire dominion of intergalactic commerce, under the authority and auspices of the rites of The Apportionment - a form of differential technological development that intends to preserve progress of Highborn exosolar cultures alongside Lowborn planetary fiefdoms.

Even amongst the exalted and postmortal recipients of Haemolymph, the most expensive memory longevity and senostatic age-enhancing treatment regimen, few can remember the origins of strife and sundering, the galactic treachery and uprising that preceded The Crash. The emergence of the Iddhi - feared because they needed no starfaring vessels to surpass the infinite reaches of the Great Dark Sky - appearing miraculously upon world after world as if reborn. Perhaps the unseen handwork of Isonomy agents prefer suppression over rememberance.

Of the many deviations harshly condemned under the dominion of the Isonomy, where imagination has long been algorithmically automated by machines, the most abhorrent death-crime is reserved for those accused of being able to dream.

File: heedo-park-watch-mp4-2018(...).jpg (268 KB, 1920x1080)

268 KB JPG

On Bellemek they trade in gifts and favours and also dreams. They have found through a sybaritic surfeit of debauchery and intoxication that the fastest means to superior dreams is Cocoon Sugar...

File: 20231107_220634.jpg (166 KB, 899x936)

166 KB JPG

Glitch Boy
- You want hack? I hack. Gimme, I do for free. Like your mum! I joke. But also true, I do her. Let me see. This easy! We backdoor this in sleep. But no sleep, because doing your mum. I joke, your mum ugly. But where you from? You smell weird. From space? How do you pee? In space, the pee, it go everywhere. I try once. Like your mum! Just once, she ugly. Ok gimme I hack now.

File: 20231101_205627.jpg (1.35 MB, 3004x2030)

1.35 MB JPG

Magenta
- This looks like trouble (she twitches uncontrollably). I can tell from the metadata - Vandenberg. And the defense group too, at that. Where did you find this? I am going to need payment upfront, and only the best, pure uncut Sugar. (She convulses briefly again). There is something odd about this data. It just doesn't look right. Look, I don't want any heat, ok? So how about some of that Sugar, upfront?

>Hire Glitch Boy to crack the Star Data

>Hire Magenta to decrypt the data
>Confess to Magenta that you do not actually have any Cocoon Sugar, at all
>Offer something else to the hackers. But what can you trade with them?

>Tell the hackers everything about how you came across the data and what you think is on it - all the circumstances with Clara the Technical Researcher, the strange conversation you overheard amongst private security and how their supposedly unhackable communications glitched, how Clara was locked out by Vandenberg Aerospace too. Tell them everything
>Tell them nothing

>Something else?

Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>5817939
Have anyone not claimed this Rig? If so, claiming that.

>>5823555
Going to build this as a precaution against those competitors. What kind of stuff can I do with my Arcology and Ekistic Planning?
>BUILD 04 Drone Fleet

>>5823596
I kinda like that aesthetic, swarms of small stations in the oort cloud and the arcology at the center of Archonal is that singular mothership parked in Kepler's sole planet, which I'm assuming is Maratea?

Maybe Archonal used to have a really bad overpopulation crisis in that arcology and they thought that printing out these stations in the deep would net them some profit while kicking out enough people so they don't have to pay the costs of a ballooning infrastructure and welfare in the arcology itself.

The religious angle enters the picture when the company responded to these vast populace nearly completely isolated in their existence by just offering them a religion to believe into, that they're a cog in a great machine etc. At some point, the haulers between the swarm and station got converted and began proselytizing in the arcology itself, resulting in the present state of Archonal being a church operating under the veneers of capital and converting their stations into halfway holy monasteries where they must do their divine duty to consult the computer and maintain the relays on it, or something like that.

>>5823685
>Give clearance to approach. This is a routine automated drone courier, a delivery craft. It is probably nothing. Perhaps it is transporting some livestock? Or animals? It would be unusual, but not unprecedented.
I'm sure this is just a harmless bot fulfilling its task.

File: Emerald Conclave.jpg (63 KB, 564x846)

63 KB JPG

>>5820118
>>5820506
This is me

51, 5, 99, 82

The Emerald Dawn Conclave

Disease, pollution, corruption, poverty and abuse are abundant across the galaxy with the suffering of humanity reaching never before seen heights. From the veterans of the imperial legion under Legate Strakos a new way has been formed, a rebirth of the galaxy into a utopia based upon a more moderate militaristic Rewilder ideals.

MIGHT 4
PROSPERITY 2
INDUSTRY 3
KNOWLEDGE 1

51 LYN LYNX LYNX

Assets:
Imperial Legion
Blackmail

Goal: Military Conquest - capturing military assets / objectives whilst following rules of engagement

ISD: 105
HM: 199

File: 20231109_054835.jpg (935 KB, 3677x2562)

935 KB JPG

>>5824004
ARCHONAL GRID SYSTEMS
>the haulers between the swarm and station got converted
>worship arcology itself
This story is incredible, I really like it!! You practically wrote the story for me hehe.
I wonder if you have ever read the Isaac Asimov story called Reason,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason_(short_story)
if you search it you can find the first link as a pdf of the full story, it is about 10 pages long but the wikipedia summary is pretty good. It is about maintenance robots on a remote energy beaming station, who eventually turn their machine programming into a form of religious worship.

Would you like your faction to be... machine people? Or heavily robotic? My setting is mostly human only, but heavily cyberpunk/biomechanical augmented synthetic people exist. I think also biomeld or symbiont type robots exist, ie they resemble look and feel entirely like humans in organic tissues etc, but they were actually engineered. Anyway, it is up to you!

ARCHONAL GRID SYSTEMS claims the MINING RIG
First come first serve! It is yours! Your stats are now
1 Might 0 +1
1 Prosperity 1 +0
15 Industry 8 +7
3 Knowledge 1+2

The MINING RIG is currently quite far away in sector 55 Monoceros.
If you want to move this back to Cygnus instantly, the cost is
MON-HYA-LIB-OPH-LYR-CYG, 50 = 5 hops x10 ISD
Alternatively, you could leave it or even send it to HYA / Hydra sector, maybe see what the anon there is doing, hehe (this story) >>5823883

>What kind of stuff can I do with my Arcology and Ekistic Planning...?
Anything you want! I will make it appropriately difficult, of course (hehe)
Bear in mind if you want to "level up" you need to complete your Faction Goal: gain a base of influence on a new planet (it can be inhabited already, or uninhabited). So maybe you need to discover or find one...

In my game setting as conceived originally, also vaguely following the Stars Without Number and Traveller style tech levels, the sort of stellar engineering tier of technology was lost (called pretech in SwN).

The reason why my invented faction the Isonomy >>5823886 (they issue the space money, ISD) are so dominant in this, my game setting, is because they alone achieved Kardashev dominance
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale
over other factions.

But do not let this stop you! Perhaps Archonal Grid possesses much better technology than even the Isonomy... they just forgot how to use it. Maybe when you are "researching" you are actually recovering or remembering...

Rolled 29 (1d100)
>construct drone fleet etc
wow, perhaps reflecting the engineering prowess of Archonal Grid, you have achieved 44% (29 +15 Industry) progress in this in 1 turn! Next turn, roll under 44 to progress! I imagine this like those drone frigates in Homeworld 1999 (not sure if you have played that videogame) Alternatively, you could take this as a sort of tech upgrade; maybe all ships you build are actually robot drones, with no people on them...

File: 20231101_203256.jpg (1.2 MB, 1920x2794)

1.2 MB JPG

>>5823682
>>5823685
>>5824004
>ARCHONAL gives APPROACH CLEARANCE
On board the routine automated courier drone ship to Tyndareus Station, you discover a dishevelled and unkempt band of stowaways.

They are clad in primitive rags and coarse animal hides - you wonder if they are survivors or refugees from some feral planet, that reverted back to savagery during the dark age of the Crash
>>5817930
>>5817933
Many of these trembling and shuddering stowaways appear to be suffering from hypoxia and assorted sickness associated with the cramped deprivations of space travel.

Their leader steps forth amongst them and describes his plight:
- I am Morfran of the Gorsedd. Our homeworld was devastated by cataclysm, a terrible ecological catastrophe. It is no more. We ask merely for shelter, and we will move on if we are unwelcome. But some amongst us are suffering...

>Excellent, free space money first turn. Sell them to slavers (roll 1d100, gain ISD). Also, maybe confiscate that shiny courier delivery ship too...

>Offer them medical assistance (donate Haemolymph. You have max 106 - how much to give?)
>You don't trust this Morfran at all. There is a strange tattoo branded on one of his hands - it resembles some sort of branched comet or Star Tree. Perhaps they are fugitives or criminals... Turn this Morfran and his ragtag band of beggars away.
>Ask Morfran more about this cataclysm on his homeworld. What was the cause of it?

>Agree and let Morfran and his stowaways stay on your station
>Agree and let them stay, but insist that they must work and earn their keep. But what sort of contribution can these primitive space outcasts provide? (QM: you can write in what sort of task you might employ them in...)

>Something else?

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>5823704
Share the findings with Friend and see what their thoughts on it are. Seems dangerous. need more testing.

Commercial Expansion
5 to Knowledge.
2 to Might.
1 to Prosperity.
1 to Industry.

File: LYNX.jpg (287 KB, 1080x944)

287 KB JPG

>>5824048
EMERALD DAWN CONCLAVE
This background summary is excellent, very exciting! Thank you for writing such a well-organised faction summary, and providing a picture too! I can almost hear the Killzone 1 intro Scholar Visari speech and music hehe. And maybe finally we get some SPACE FEUDALISM conquest yay, I am so desperate lol I am surprised no anon has immediately leapt into this so far.

So I am interested in seeing what you have in mind for the technology level of your faction - the picture you generated makes it seem fairly futuristic. Emerald Dawn is a very cool name, it sounds a bit mystical like Golden Dawn to me hehe. Because you rolled Blackmail as the random asset, maybe the faction might possess a lot of spies...? What form do you imagine it taking?

File: philipp-balovnev-final-ri(...).jpg (377 KB, 1522x1906)

377 KB JPG

>>5824048
And I am also very intrigued by the background of this Legate Strakos. Maybe his origin tale, perhaps he actually came from a feudal / technobarbarian world - he was some sort of space gladiator or pit fighter, who managed to battle-harden his companions with future weaponry and armaments into a formidable combat legion, ready for conquest. (lol it is like Ridley Scott Gladiator film in reverse... also those crusaders from Raised By Wolves) The only issue is you need to find some spaceships to get started...

File: elseedy-gright.jpg (388 KB, 1920x1080)

388 KB JPG

So in my setting, the former Gothograe Empire
(briefly mentioned here >>5823886 )
resembled this. The inspiration comes from Gothograecia (Byzantine empire area that had Greek-speaking barbarian goth descendants) I am fascinated by the idea of a culture that paradoxically united barbarians and refined / decadent civilisation in one. Perhaps the Imperial Legion has a similar look... (QM: if you have ideas for a different aesthetic, feel free to ignore me lol and upload or create your own! Also if you want to suggest some of your film / videogame influences or inspirations for the Imperial Legion, I can look around and see if I have anything!)

By the time our current game setting is taking place, the Gothograe throne worlds are all lost and gone - the Isonomy has taken over. The last heir of the Pretannic Worlds, a child-king named Searlas III, abdicated peacefully and accepted vassalage under the Isonomy.

File: 20231109_072715.jpg (321 KB, 1340x2160)

321 KB JPG

So here is a proposed look for the Imperial Legion - let me know if you have a different aesthetic in mind, eg more modern / tactical, something like Killzone or brighter like COD Infinite Warfare, more futuristic / mystical eg Destiny videogame or less grimdark (I apologise lol my default is always grimdark cringedark). I want ideally all of the space factions to look and feel a bit different, but a mix is also ok, as we can always say they absorbed / conquered / assimilated other cultures or just hired some auxiliaries or foreign forces etc.

Standby as I prepare some random opening narrative scenario for EMERALD DAWN CONCLAVE and its IMPERIAL LEGION...

File: Imperial Legionaire.jpg (59 KB, 564x705)

59 KB JPG

>>5824249
>>5824245
>>5824243

A former proud servant of the Gothograe Empire Legate Strakos was uplifted from the fighting pits of his techno-barbarian homeworld from which the Imperial Legion drew many of its recruits. Over the ages he would fight across the galaxy in the service of the Empire and would fight in it's long bloody decline. It is from the disgraced and disheartened remnants legions that he would forge together the Emerald Dawn.

While the force may have once been equipped with the most modern of cutting edge weapons the lack of imperial backing has resulted in them purchasing outdated equipment, cobbling together their own out of scavenged pieces and raiding for more advanced pieces. As for the Blackmail it represents the willingness of the Legate to use clandestine means to pursue his goals and compromising material gathered on former nobility of Gothograe.

>>5824179
>Reason
Huh, accidentally invoked that. It does give a similar feeling I think. The solipsism that QT developed probably won't happen that often to the Archonal swarms because they'll need to visit the arcology once in a while for the specialized services there, but I can see people starting to deify the corporate overlords that sent them there. Add some form of degradation during the Crash or the more regular form of mechanization replacing the CEOs and the Board with hypercomputers running on Lex Mercatoria and you get the mystical force these people are serving. Feels a bit unoriginal but the flavor will come as the game progresses, probably.

As for the people, the original Archonal would've definitely tried cutting even more costs by heavily augmenting this people to operate their stations better and make numbers go up, sacrificing the comforts of being a fleshy being to hopefully minimize their needs and also population growth. After the conversion, I think it would be along the lines of "If you serve this duty, you must be augmented this way." Like, their equivalent of a monk's robe and shaved head is an integrated exosuit and a man-machine interface.

Would a route of Monoceros-Gemini-Lynx-Camelopardalis-Draco-Cygnus for the ship to travel through be possible? I don't know if the ship can act while travelling but I don't want to be involved with acts against Klemper and would like to see what's Green Dawn going to do. And I think I'll take the what I think is a carrier swarm? route. Archonal has probably placed some theological weight on spacefarers as a job with their role in proselytizing.

>>5824218
Hm.

>Ask Morfran more about this cataclysm on his homeworld. What was the cause of it and where is it?
>Question some of the Gorsedd to make sure Morfran isn't lying to us.
If it's a weapon, we'll need it. If it's recoverable, we'll want it.

>Offer them medical assistance (20? I don't know how to accrue Haemolymph so if that number's way too high for some refugees, shifting it to 6 and below.)
>Attempt to proselytize our faith to these wayward souls.
The only use I can think of these people is probably as a MIGHT asset, maybe zealots.

>Ask of them their delivery ship and instructions to command it for indefinite shelter rights here.
>-If they do not accede, haggle a price in ISD.
The other valuable in this event, something to do cargo hauling in our local sector.

File: 20231109_102440.jpg (223 KB, 1920x992)

223 KB JPG

>>5824048
>>5824243
>>5824260
>>5824261
EMERALD DAWN CONCLAVE
Alsciaukat, "The Thorn" / K4III
Lynx Sector

A ship cut from the darkness of the sky has fallen into the sea. The shape of an arrowhead, carved from fire - a flash so bright that talons of illumination pull sight from the eyes, streaking lightning trails and misshapen viscera of vapour and fumes across the whirl and lamentation of wind.

File: igor-golovkov-w1.jpg (845 KB, 1920x2400)

845 KB JPG

At your side, Korchun Deathless - an old companion and guide - gazes upon this sight impassively. He intones:
-We are very far from home, Legatus. There were the days long gone when this world was one of many clasped in the clenched fist of conflict. But there is nothing for us here, not even the most brazen trade ships deign to visit this planet. No armaments, and no ancient wonders of old. The people of this land have forgotten the stars, they have fallen to barbarism (you notice a faint curl of derision upon the lips of Korchun, your savage and warlike companion) and they know nothing of war, or the old Arks and sky-dromonds that could torch a battlefleet with daggers of light hurled across the Void.

File: ad maps village.jpg (1.71 MB, 1920x1080)

1.71 MB JPG

I know of a hill fort, not far from here, where our legion might rest and regather our thoughts. They are a rustic but welcoming people, who know only the idyll of seasons and harvest. We could reach them, before the long night descends.

>Consent to Korchun's proposal, move to the hill fort. All that will remain of the starship will be a smouldering crater blasted along the coast - if it has not already sunken beneath the waves.

>Command that the men and the Legion immediately make for the starship downed at sea. Maybe you can reach it before anyone else does...

>If this world once witnessed many battles and conquests from space, perhaps there could still be caches of abandoned armaments scattered around. Try and find a vantage point, and search for them.

>Something else...?

(QM: thank you also for this cool background lore and picture! >>5824261 I really like it!)

>>5824221
>>5824221
OTHRIGEN SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
Arcturus Xenoarchaeology Research Institute
QM: ok, thank you for the upgrade stats and new goal! Having levelled up and achieved your Othrigen starting faction goal, I will wait for a communication from the Independent Friends Alliance anon before returning to your story.

Oh... I just realised here you only allocated 9 points from your level up...
>>5824221 (5+2+1+1 = 9)
You actually have 1 remaining! Where shall it go?

12 Might = 2 +0 +8 +2
4 Prosperity = 2 +1 +0 +1
7 Industry = 2 +2 +2 +1
16 Knowledge = 4 +7 +0 +5
1 POINT REMAINING

Also, if at any point I miss out anyone, please COMPLAIN LOUDLY lol the intertwining strands may cause me to make some mistakes, I now apologise in advance for if and when I get confused over anything lol.

I intend to respond to the player actions in order of the text post replies. My feeling is that OTHRIGEN and INDEPENDENT FRIENDS ALLIANCE are both close to being nearly done with major actions for THIS TURN, as you have both achieved (or are near achieving) the objectives with the various encounters.

So after concluding the hacker situation on Bellemek with the IFA Alliance, I will switch to the new player anon factions ARCHONAL GRID SYSTEMS and EMERALD DAWN CONCLAVE and catch up with them for a bit...

At the end of this turn (basically when you resolve one of the encounters etc) I will try and write a summary of all the factions and goals and what was achieved. If I make any mistakes or miss anything, please shout out. Thank you!

>>5823743
>(optional) supply Lars and his expeditionary team with Haemolymph...
>50
I see your point regarding railguns' precision. Guess we'll opt for a combo of pistols and DMRs.
>equip the squad mainly for precision (eg DMR) but sacrifice fire volume / suppression
>>5823883
Thank you, Expeditionary Research Vessel, your service is very valuable.
>>5823891
>Tell the hackers everything about how you came across the data and what you think is on it - all the circumstances with Clara the Technical Researcher, the strange conversation you overheard amongst private security and how their supposedly unhackable communications glitched, how Clara was locked out by Vandenberg Aerospace too. Tell them everything
>Just don't mention we're from Independent Friends Alliance
They probably know something about the comms hack at least.
>Offer something else to the hackers. But what can you trade with them?
>On Bellemek they trade in gifts and FAVOURS and also dreams.
>If Bellemek trades in favours, we can offer a favour. Not all desirable data is available to be hacked from the networks, some remains on isolated hard drives. Our cyberninjas could infiltrate the physical storage, obtain and deliver valuable data that the hackers cannot obtain with their cyberattacks. Other missions involving ninjas are also possible.

>>5824342
>>5824221
>COMMUNICATION FROM INDEPENDENT FRIENDS ALLIANCE TO OTHRIGEN SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION REGARDING EXPERIMENT RESULTS:
>In spite of what they may say about Samaya City being a den of crime including slave trade, we do not approve of UNWILLING human experimentation. Still, what's done is done, and ultimately, it is Othrigen's decision what methods to use in their research.
>IFA is not interested in combat drugs. What originally was discussed was acceleration of space travel, so that is what we expect in return for our lease of the vessel.
>If Haemolymph supersoldier research is to continue, we would advise to work towards control over experimental soldiers rather than more power. Perhaps a sedative substance could be researched that would dampen the psychological effects while maintaining physical power enhancement.

>>5824218
Also holy shit, are these SPACE DRUIDS??
I remember the Gorsedd rite from ODALISQUE where we would bury weapons and sacrifice objects to know the future, will we be able to divine the future if we find the planet the space druids are from and perform the ritual there? Are they trying to plant trees everywhere too to restore the forests?
>>5824249
>Searlas abdication
The references really started flowing in these last few posts, huh.

File: 20231109_140241.jpg (256 KB, 978x1536)

256 KB JPG

>>5824359
>Tell the hackers everything
>Do not mention your identity as Independent Friends Alliance
As you finish your retelling, Glitch Boy ponders thoughtfully
-Ok I explain. Thought is pattern, ok? Data is pattern. So data is like thought. Get big heap of data - data begin to think! Data think for itself! You know who I think of right now? You guess? Your mum. So ugly. Ok I stop think about her now.

Magenta adds,
-It's like when you think of a thing, and then an advert for it appears. Maybe they are listening, watching (she sniffs and inhales and shudders) I don't know. Maybe it is just your mind, your memory - you remember when it lines up and matches, but not the hundred thousand other times when it doesn't. There are probably not that many unique or different thoughts, a machine could permutate through them all... or maybe they really are listening (she twitches nervously and scratches her arms) So I wonder what this data was thinking of and what it heard when the strange events happened...

Glitch Boy is looking through and inspecting the encrypted STAR DATA
- Ok this weird. There stars here. And here. And here... Not here. Hey it funny! It named SEX Sector! Like the sex I do with your mu-

File: ahmed-afazil-sevdc.jpg (898 KB, 3840x2160)

898 KB JPG

(Magenta interrupts him and shuffles through the data; she whistles appreciatively)
-This is actually clever. It is like another steganographic layer hidden beneath the original encryption - if you weren't looking carefully, you crack the first layer and think you got it, found all the expensive paydata. But there is this obscured and virtualised protection domain, a ring -1 privilege layer beneath the kernel. I think if we access it, we might break the overall data... I wonder what was Vandenberg Aerospace doing with this?

File: alex-che-2.jpg (258 KB, 1920x996)

258 KB JPG

QM: the hackers will accept your offer of CYBERNINJA services - they may call upon it at some later date. You have a feeling that your attempt to hide your identity of being unaffiliated with Samaya City and Independent Friends Alliance was unsuccessful (QM: this is because, as of now, you are basically the only cyberninjas I have imagined in the Universe. And if they can crack advanced encryption they have no difficulty tracing your identity hehe)

QM: So I think this is the final major decision-choice for the Independent Friends Alliance for this turn, I will reveal the outcome in the end of turn summary. There is no roll for this.

>Choose Glitch Boy to decrypt the data;
>Choose Magenta to decrypt the data;

AND...

>Decrypt the surface layer:
this is the STAR DATA originally mentioned by Clara the Researcher; incredibly valuable corporate plans of habitable worlds and colonisation opportunities intended for Vandenberg Aerospace. The raw data is worth 500 ISD, or alternatively enough to instantly complete your ARMED MERCHANT CRUISERS and also leave around 200 ISD to spare. It also functions (gameplay wise) as a one-off use of TWO ASSETS Safe House and Supply Cache (this means, you can pick any sector once, and have a permanent planet there with abundant natural resources, and no-one else knows of it).

OR...

File: 20220817_120713.jpg (851 KB, 3371x2160)

851 KB JPG

>Decrypt the hidden layer
If you do this, you irrevocably erase the surface star data above. Glitch Boy and Magenta seemed to hint that there was some sort of... conscious, thinking data held in there, that was "listening". Did it cause the strange events with Vandenberg security at the beginning of the game? What could it contain...?

>Something else...?

QM: also I really enjoyed this! >>5824364 Very interested to see if Othrigen shares IFA ethical and friendly research principles, hehe

>>5824372
hehe, we shall soon see...

File: midge-sinnaeve-dataface-0(...).jpg (747 KB, 1638x2048)

747 KB JPG

ARCHONAL GRID
Tyndareus Station / Cygnus Sector
>>5823596
QM: ok, got it they are human but have adopted some form of machine implant to signify conversion and adherence to "The Grid". Maybe this Archon or Grid so worthy of veneration and devotional corporate hymn rites was the city AI or arcology management infrastructure / federated learning machine consciousness hehe

File: mitchell-stuart-ely-rm-02.jpg (316 KB, 1330x553)

316 KB JPG

As to the look of the arcology, there can be several options. The easiest is perhaps the traditional white utopia ringworld look, I do like this

File: phil-booth-beach.jpg (686 KB, 3840x1634)

686 KB JPG

We already have Samaya City, planet of cyberninjas and every neon neuromancer stereotype conceivable hehe, but it could be that Archonal Grid has fallen into a different dystopia, sort of Brazilian favela type have vs have-not inequality.

Maybe there is a beautiful white ringworld arcology, but the bulk of the population are not judged "worthy" or virtuous enough to deserve it - hence the power of the religious priest caste. Maybe it looks like this...

File: 20231109_151248.jpg (2.8 MB, 2160x2610)

2.8 MB JPG

I also think you mentioned an overpopulation crisis, what I want is for every faction to have a slightly different look and maybe a different era or flavour of sci fi. So if
-Othrigen is near future / tactical corporate and a bit like Tom Clancy / The Expanse;
-Independent Friends Alliance is CYBERNINJA neon blade runner etc;
-Emerald Dawn is the sword and planet era IMPERIAL LEGION and me resisting turning it into 40k as hard as I can;
-Then Archonal could also draw from the wonderful 70s era sci-fi look, Moebius Jodorowsky (unmade) Dune and Chris Foss artwork which also inspired Homeworld etc. So then I guess the overcrowding looks like this lol

File: 20231101_193845.jpg (316 KB, 1246x1072)

316 KB JPG

Sevastian Lir, Congregant-Director Of The Holy Grid

And in terms of the sacerdotal caste, the exalted technician-congregants who administer to THE HOLY GRID (whatever it is, the theological mystery is far too impenetrable for humans to contemplate) perhaps they might resemble this. Look, he is even holding it, he is holding The HOLY GRID, wow

>>5824322
A few other comments before I move back into the scenario:
>a route of Monoceros-Gemini-Lynx-Camelopardalis-Draco-Cygnus
This is indeed possible and also Klemperer Orbital did not mention a minor thing hehe. So you see the map here
>>5817913
is an equirectangular projection, I use it because it makes it feel like a board game. But in real life, it is obviously a 3d volume, RA DEC DIST points projected on a sphere and the stars which are next to each other (on the 2d chart) could be (and in fact are) hundreds of light years apart. There is also the case that the chart wraps horizontally (ie the right hand side links back to the left... imagine the 2d chart rolled and taped together inside a cylinder). So maybe sometimes it might be faster to move off the right hand side and back onto the left... this may be too much to handle though hehe. The only non traversable sector under interdiction by the Isonomy at the time being is mentioned here >>5818635

>carrier swarm route, but with human spacefarers
excellent, I will see if I can find some pictures of this hehe

>offer 20 Haemolymph for asset (Might) 20 Zealots etc
Normally it would be a bit more expensive, but in this scenario of desperate sickened stowaway refugees (?) and given your explicitly created theological arcology background, I think you can have it! So let me prepare the scenario response, and we will see how it plays out...

File: 20231109_155455.jpg (444 KB, 1384x1300)

444 KB JPG

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>5824322
>Question some of the Gorsedd to make sure Morfran isn't lying to us
Firstly, let us see if Morfran was indeed telling the truth of what befell his planet (?)
Here is a random cataclysm table I made and mentioned back on qtg

DEVASTATING CATACLYSM List

01-05 FLOOD
06-10 MARINE POLLUTION, eutrophication
11-15 TECTONIC quakes, volcanicity
16-25 DESERTIFICATION, soil erosion, famine, drought / species extinction

26-35 PANDEMIC plague, pestilence and infestation

36-65 WAR, religious / ideological persecution, civil war, invasion

66 A DEMON PORTAL!! Space demons!!! aarrgghh

67-80 UPRISING / REBELLION Economic collapse

81-90 DEMOGRAPHICS Gerontocracy, genetic deterioration

91-95 TECHNOSINGULARITY machine sentience, cybernetic revolt
96-97 NANOMACHINES nanopocalypse
98-99 FUTURE SHOCK mass psychosis/hysteria, psychic awakening

100 METEORS or Solar Flare / Magnetosphere

File: 20231109_160507.jpg (284 KB, 1396x1006)

284 KB JPG

Something about the desperation in the eyes of the coughing and wheezing crowd of stowaways as they scrabble towards the miraculous postmortal medicine you offer - the blood-surrogate, Haemolymph - tells you that what Morfran told you was not the truth. He alone stands aloof, and refuses the Haemolymph that you so generously give.

A wide-eyed child, carried upon the shoulders of a girl who looks accusingly at Morfran, yet keeps a guilty silence. But the child lisps:
-But... Brother Morfran, I thought you told us the Elders said not to lie...

File: 20231015_150029.jpg (1023 KB, 1920x1779)

1023 KB JPG

You see now clearly that the branded comet, or Star Tree, upon the palm of Morfran is the mark of the radical neopagan Rewilder sect.

File: chao-xin-cityscape-01s.jpg (492 KB, 1920x816)

492 KB JPG

The tendons of his neck twist and contort, as Morfran mouths in fury:
-Silence! SILENCE!! You have all polluted yourselves, in your weakness! This, THIS...!! (he dramatically sweeps his arms and scythes them through the air) this technology is what sickens you! The drugs, the industry, the foul smog that pollutes your minds and chokes your will. You have forgotten what it truly means to live and die, through the use of these unnatural elixirs. It is commanded in all faiths that one should not disfigure the soul. You think these cheap tricks of science have brought you closer to the divine, to outlast the natural passage of life unto death. Yet all they do is take you further from what is sacred and eternal, the fear that makes us human. If you cannot die, you cannot fear or love or care! And that is why, on world after world, planet upon planet, the trees die instead. Their roots and their light crushed by these (Morfran spits the word) ARCOLOGIES...! But in the end, they always fail. For the trees have always outlived men...

>Not only have you gained ZEALOTS, they are probably all diseased so now you have plaguebearers of Nurgle. Try to persuade your new Haemolymph drug addicted converts to affix a single biomechanical horn to their forehead, as you complete your kitbash (QM: nooo everything I write turns into 40k)

You look uneasily at the crowd of stowaways administering Haemolymph autoinjectors. The blood-surrogate cures everything, right? Unless they carry some new virulence, some contamination bred upon a festering jungle plague world...
>Tell the stowaways they must leave. (Lose the zealots) You cannot risk contaminating your arcology, with all this overcrowding
>Keep the zealots, but quarantine them for a bit
>You have zealots now. You sense this Morfran is trouble. Command them to throw him out the airlock (QM: they will obey this)
>Tell Morfran he must leave

>Attempt to remonstrate with Morfran: if you hate arcologies so much, why did you come here? Isn't it a bit ungrateful to behave like this, when I have offered you only kindness?
>Point at the courier drone: did you steal / hijack that craft? Who does it belong to?

>Something else...?

Rolled 46, 72 = 118 (2d100)

>>5824327
Legion: Command that the men and the Legion immediately make for the starship downed at sea. Maybe you can reach it before anyone else does...

"A gift from the gods, a plethora of materials and tech from the beyond falling right in our laps. We shall not spit in their faces, onwards men we shall take what is rightfully ours and spill the blood of all who deny it!"

Blackmail: While the majority of the legion heads out the few frumentarii loyal to the Emerald Dawn shall head out to mingle with the populace of the world, seeking information about the ancient ruins that litter this once war torn world.

>>5824424
>>5824425
>Choose Magenta to decrypt the data;
>Something else...?
Can we just
>Decrypt surface layer
>Copy it into another data holder
>Decrypt hidden layer, destroying the original drive's surface layer, but leaving us with the copy?

>>5824342
1 to prosperity.
Research ran away from us in unexpected ways. Space travel may be continued but breakthroughs are hard to achieve.

>>5824502
Also Souv, are you sleeping, eating, etc. enough? You've been posting massive updates with at most 6 hour intervals for the past 32 hours or so. Your update volume is somewhat scary lol.

File: 20231109_202009.jpg (1.21 MB, 1920x3349)

1.21 MB JPG

>>5824552
As you are preparing to depart for the wreck site, you receive a report from your spies - the Frumentarii have already adapted to the coarse garb and crude accoutrements of this world, in order to remain inconspicuous to the common notice of the populace.

File: dudin-olah-ci-3.jpg (423 KB, 1920x950)

423 KB JPG

They report that beyond the hill fort of woodcutters and farmers there is some sort of opulent palace that rises into the clouds. The revellers contained within, who appear Highborn, concern themselves merely with wanton rites and libations to Osirantinous, apparently a pleasure-deity of sorts here amongst the nobles, even as they exact harsh demands of tribute from those who toil in the fields around the hill fort below. It seems it pleases the Highborn from time to time to coax the hill fort dwellers into their pleasure palace and to compel them to participate in various bouts and spectacles for their diversion and sport, as they are anointed with wine and pelted with mockery and jeering laughter.

File: 20231109_211935.jpg (551 KB, 1660x1080)

551 KB JPG

The Frumentarii report no sightings of weapon caches on the ground, yet the unusual and vertiginous heights of construction that this pleasure palace itself commands over the surrounding terrain suggests to you that the architecture must once have been of offworld origin.

File: more-drama-1_1.gif (3.03 MB, 654x368)

3.03 MB GIF

The dwellers of the hill fort live in fear of their dissolute Highborn betters above, yet they seem to reserve even greater fear for one they know and name as Belesama, the Pale / (Bright, Shining) Lady. They seem to recall with a dim awareness of a time when she stalked their land and demanded some form of sacrifice from them; those that were taken by her were never seen again.

File: 20231109_205522.jpg (322 KB, 1920x816)

322 KB JPG

The Frumentarii recount to you the words of one old woman, Shaunna of the hill fort village, hunched with the plodding burdens of the land, her face weathered with the years - drudgery that has hardened her eyes to withered wells of bitterness. She mutters:
- When you see the skies aflame it is best to run. That is how they get you... my little daughter took no heed of the tales and warnings. Now, she is lost forever. I shall never forget her name. Poor Scarlett...

File: 20231109_201311.jpg (727 KB, 1667x2048)

727 KB JPG

QM: The Legion moves towards the downed starship (it takes a little time to reach the coast). Your parting orders to the Frumentarii were...
>Scout ahead to the shores, and regroup with the Legion as we arrive
>Infiltrate this pleasure palace of nobles. Perhaps they have some secrets that can be uncovered? And the height of their palace tower will offer the best vantage of the land. It is strange how the Pale Lady leaves them untouched...
>You have a feeling you know the nature of what this Pale / Shining Lady who "demands sacrifice" might be seeking upon this world. The Frumentarii should find favourable terrain, and prepare an ambush should she arrive...
>Command the Frumentarii: return to the village and kill them all. The Legion leaves no witnesses where it walks (QM: no roll for this, they are pretty defenceless)
>Something else? If you want, you can write in some indication of what types of weapons the Legion might carry. Perhaps to blend in with the natives here, they are using lower tech weapons, but they probably possess a few "offworld surprises" too. I have a few ideas, hehe...

>>5824575
>>5824585
Thank you for the welfare concern, kind anon! As mentioned, I used to be a VAMPIRE SORCEROR (investment manager) The secret goal of all roleplaying games is to actually melt the brain of the dungeonmaster, this is when you know you have won. But yes, I will feed now, yay. Also probably next turn I will need some time inventing FOUR new faction scenarios all at once lol, so give me a bit of time to come up with those!

I think perhaps this currently is the maximum amount of player capacity, the intertwining threads already are becoming a bit unmanageable. I also like it too when the anons make deals or talk amongst yourselves in character, I like it when people help other players out in the world hehe (Secret corporate faction space game trick... have you heard of M&A?) Feel free to add or create your own space lore; don't worry about contradicting my grimdark cringe lol the universe and space is so big it is probably happening somewhere, so make it your own!

And as mentioned, don't feel shy about suggestions or ideas, we can try and debate ways to fit it within the parameters of the world or the feel of the setting. It is just a make believe game, if it is cool and vaguely fits, you should have it!

>Can I just copy and paste the hacker data and decrypt it later to have both
well I suppose we shall find out in the end of turn summary...

>>5824579
Thank you, I must remember to add this to the end of turn summary.

File: Nanoblades.jpg (34 KB, 564x564)

34 KB JPG

>>5824689
>Infiltrate this pleasure palace of nobles. Perhaps they have some secrets that can be uncovered? And the height of their palace tower will offer the best vantage of the land. It is strange how the Pale Lady leaves them untouched...

All carry with them their nanoblades, standard equipment of the old imperial legion that can slice through even the strongest material they have upon a backwater world such as this. Beyond that various holdout pistols, grenades and assassination tools can be found hidden with the cloaks of the Frumentarii with no two men truly carrying the same equipment.

Test again?

For the arcology, I think I'll go for this >>5824448 look. It offers a reason on why they think the Grid is divine, because I don't think any man can grasp the size of the sprawl and manage it.

>>5824461
Didn't you know you could go the other way around, but Monoceros is closer to Cygnus by going west, so not doing that atm.
>Send the Mining Rig to Gemini.

>>5824502
No reasoning with fanatics, I don't think Earth-like environments are originally common in the galaxy anyway.
>Tell the zealots to take Morfran into custody. He must be misled and we must question him to know what diseased his mind.
>Investigate the courier's logs and firmware to ascertain the origin of this ship. Repaint its exterior and renovate its interior if it's trouble.
>Consult the zealots on what should be done with Morfran. Was he a good man before this?

For the zealots themselves, some caution probably. Don't know if the Haemolymph will integrate the disease into their bodies.
>Quarantine the zealots and routinely take samples of their blood. Free them once we think they're healthy or the majority of them is dissatisfied.
>Attempt to identify the pathogen within them and see if it goes inert or dies as time goes on. See if we can get a stable population of the thing. Do it with the highest BSL in mind.
>Question the zealots further on their actual origins and history as they know it.

File: 20231110_121421.jpg (373 KB, 1692x1080)

373 KB JPG

>>5824759
EMERALD DAWN LEGION
LEGATE STRAKOS

When you finally arrive near the coastal shore, you are dismayed to find almost no trace of the wreckage. There is the discernible scent of smoke and burning metal in the air, but without the Frumentarii at your side, it would be hard to pinpoint the precise location; you feel it could very well be nearby, but perhaps it has been submerged beneath the sea already...

Yet to your surprise, you see upon the beach the immense bulk of an intact spaceship - it resembles a heavy dropship or large transatmospheric shuttle of some form. It hangs suspended upon the wet sands, as if a white cliff had been sheared from the land as seagulls circle around it in disbelief.

You can see two prominent figures amongst a crowd in heated argument near this dropship. The first, an unusual-looking offworlder woman who appears rather out of her element on this planet, is stridently berating the assembled gathering:

File: xuteng-pan-17.jpg (947 KB, 1920x2424)

947 KB JPG

LYNN ROSETTE, Vice President of Klemperer Orbital Planetary Hosting Experiences
-...and you know very well that I possess full and complete plenipotentiary authority over this planet, I am putting an end to this RIGHT NOW... you know very well that under the last reorg plan of Rosette Group (a division of the Klemperer Orbital corporate family) this world has been designated for recreational vacations and tourism, as part of our planetary homestay experience delivery strategy, our guests want only the most authentic and immersive journeys connecting with indigenous communities... so there will be NO MORE of these so-called "freelance marketplace contracting" slave raids of yours, you will adhere to the original provisions of the security agreement, you are NOT PERMITTED to plunder these denizens - our corporate property - under the guise of precautionary safekeeping or preemptive defense... and I want you to call off this "Pale Lady" right now, don't think we are unaware of what you are up to... you are fortunate that this "orbital accident" was merely a Vertigo Pact monitor droneship...

The other individual - whom you notice is surrounded by an uncouth cohort of armed bodyguards - is attired in decadent, purple robes. A sickly sweet incense wafts from him as his arms sway in graceful, placating gestures, as if he were orchestrating a symphony of lulled savages:

File: maria-anikina-rogue-one-m(...).jpg (613 KB, 1400x2200)

613 KB JPG

HASDRUBAL, QARTHADAST SLAVER EMISSARY
(his voice has an unctuous and soothing quality, yet the tone of his disturbing voice is at great variance to the intent of his words. From his two-horned helm and mask of iron, you perceive he too is an offworlder, perhaps from a Nabataean planet such as Dhu Qarnayn. The slaver's bodyguards appear equipped with only primitive weaponry, cruelly curved and hooked swords)
(Hasdrubal susurrates:)
-By the fragrant attar of the desert rose, you mistake my meaning... This planet is named As-sawkat in our old tongue, the Thorn in the paw of the Lion, (al-Mabsutah) Mabsuthat. It greatly pleases my masters in New Qarthadast to remind you that this planet was never conquered by your Isonomy, or even their Gothograec vassals before them either. When the Gothograec empire betrayed their legions and withdrew to the oblivion of their pleasure palaces, the safekeeping of their abandoned armaments fell upon us - as you have yourself cited. You should understand that by "relocating" these local denizens on your behalf, Qarthadast is in truth helping to protect your commercial endeavour... for if those armaments were ever to fall into the hands of these primitive planetary dwellers, I fear your offworld guests would soon come to a regretful end in their journey...

At the sight of the slaver emissary, your old companion and advisor Korchun curses:
- That is a mukarrib, Legatus: one of the priest-rulers of New Qarthadast and the Nabataean Empire. They are a great and ancient power. Gothograec fought them many times, even vanquished and broke their tribes, yet somehow the mukarrib outlasted them... to kill their envoy here would be to invite great retribution from Qarthadast, to break the longstanding peace...

>There is no need for a battle here. Using the cover of coastal rocks, you can circle round and vault onto the dropship from cliff ledges above. Seize the dropship and leave this backward planet

>You have one opportunity here for an ambush attack. Command your legion to kill everyone. They will most likely be dead before they can even respond to what is happening

>Now is the time to introduce the true meaning of "Emerald Dawn": draw a PLASMA CANNON and melt the face of
>Lynn Rosette, Klemperer Orbital VP
>Hasdrubal, the Slaver
with a searing green plasma blast that would quench the fire of a thousand suns
>Kill them both and say to the (deceased) slaver's bodyguards: today you join the legion... the Conclave Of The EMERALD DAWN...join, or die!

>Ask Hasdrubal: why do you say that the Gothograec empire betrayed the Legion?
>Ask Lynn: so, you are trying to turn this planet into some form of historical cosplay space airbnb, very clever. I can help...
(QM: dialogue forfeits opportunity for an ambush)

>Something else...

File: 20231110_125809.png (598 KB, 968x620)

598 KB PNG

Maybe the plasma cannon looks a bit like this. I have an idea that the Imperial Legion armament aesthetics should resemble heavy weapons from Quake 3 arena or Unreal Tournament (don't mention warhammer 40k, must not mention 40k) so none of the tactical milsim attachments or Tom Clancy pretension hehe.

File: 20231109_222823.jpg (254 KB, 1920x1920)

254 KB JPG

>>5824759
Nanoblades are very cool. How about an ELECTRO GLADIUS space sword, maybe they look a bit like this. I actually prefer the more celtic looking pugio type shapes though

File: 20231110_103254.jpg (635 KB, 1187x1548)

635 KB JPG

Here is a look for the legionarii... I wish I had this picture for when I did my last vaguely Victorian/Edwardian/World War 1 setting game, hehe. You can imagine the bolt action guns shoot lasers or something (must not mention 40k lasguns or laslocks)