Leeland churns with activity, the skyline of hive spires steaming as their ventilation shafts work to regulate the heat of endless factories and seas of molecular construction vats. In orbit, the Union made monitor glides silently over it all, its camera focused on the epicenter of the planet's sprawl. Theseus sits within, ripping apart the images and stitching them back together in real time to remove the overwhelming sea of chitinous spires sprouting from the ground.
Deep beneath the endless spires and hive structures, within a small cave sealed beneath a mountain that has long since vanished under the bunker built around it, Lee sits along the edge of a small pond, leaned against the soft mossy rock wall behind him as the luminescent fungal spores that once served as your first throne glow softly in the dim light of the chamber as the water trickles from the spring through the hive beyond.
Welcome back to Hive Queen Quest!
>Archives http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Hive%20Queen%20Quest
>Twitter https://twitter.com/HiveQueenQuest
>Various pasta http://pastebin.com/u/QuestDrone
>FAQ ask.fm/QuestDrone
>Discussion page http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Quest_talk:Hive_Queen_Quest
FOR MOTHER
>>47638615
My thorax is ready!
D'awww, Is lee visiting where we held him to a wall and stuff? Is he getting nostalgic?
NUKE THE WHALES
GAS THE SQUIDS
STAB THE MONKEYS
TRUST NOTHING
THE VOID IS WATCHING
>>47638635
>They do their own thing and have their own agendas
>your orders tend to trump whatever things they are doing
They tend. That is not an absolute.
There is still no reason why have to lay queens to delegate when we can do all that ourselves.
>Efficiency
QD will still have to do the legwork of crunching and fluff, and we'll still have to be watching over our daughter's shoulders should they find/do anything interesting.
>>47638615
>Lee sits along the edge of a small pond, leaned against the soft mossy rock wall behind him as the luminescent fungal spores that once served as your first throne glow softly in the dim light of the chamber as the water trickles from the spring through the hive beyond.
Fuck does that sound beautiful.
>>47638615
>>47638665
FOR MOTHER!
I can't believe i caused the entire shitfest last thread by saying my reasons why i don't like faking multiple hive factions.
>>47638849
Anon, daughters have been a sore point since before we've reached space.
>>47638849
We had to get it out of our system sooner or later anon, it's been months since we had an honest free for all over whether we should have daughters or not.
Man it feels good to have this back, I missed you autismos.
>>47638849
Eh the daughter thing been a cause of shitstorms in the players everything since the start
>>47638849
That tends to happen when people turn off the logical part of their brain when confronted with any concept of adorable/cute
>>47638872
They should be considered when necessary, not for amusement(yet)
I don't mind daughterus but I want them when we have an actual empire going, not 3 worlds, two of which aren't even half developed.
>>47638615
I WONDER WHAT THE SCOUTING PODS ARE DOING
>>47638872
Daughters were valid as a contentious issue until Quest Drone literally came out and told us that they would be obedient, and some minor sibling rivalry is the worst we can expect.
>>47638965
FUCK YOUR PODS
WHEN THE FUCK IS THE SPACEWAR STARTING!!
>>47638949
Raligha isn't for a reason, but yeah. We need more worlds.
>>47638615
Your ships orbit the mysterious jungle covered planet as your drones continue to comb the surface. Debris from the Obsidian Queen's Hive ship has been mostly recovered, although portions of the hull had already begun to melt into her signature hive creep, consuming the surrounding life with surprising speed. What parts were found in time were recovered, while larger sections that had begun to spread were quickly expunged with fire by your drones before the contamination spreads too far.
The main hull of the massive craft was found shattered into segments and scattered over a river valley. The river had almost instantly been contaminated by the sleek, oily spores of the ship's hull, with thick inky ooze growing over the flora downstream. After a survey of the valley, your drones were forced to glass nearly fifty miles of jungle to prevent the spread of infection, while more surgical strikes are still underway, burning out the smaller of the hull pieces where smaller craft had crashed, some even spewing forth surviving crew, mad drones with only the agonized rage of a thinker separated from its mother to guide them. Control of space and air is yours, and your fighters and low flying corvettes make quick work of them, hunting down the survivors with unrelenting vigor.
The jungle burns through the night, turning the sky a deep orange as smoke fills the air for miles, casting a thick haze over the continent. As the day comes, and the sun rises, there is hardly any difference in light as the glow of fire is replaced with the haze of the local star smothered by the dense clouds and smoke.
Containment has been achieved. What remains of the wreckage is dead, and your drones split their attention between salvage and searching the surface for the source of that mental signal. You know you felt it, a sudden ping in your mind, a distant call like an echo of a voice shouted from over a hill reduced to an almost inaudible scream. Only for a moment.
cont.
>>47638970
The problem was never loyalty it's the fact it takes a year for a queen to mature we need to protect them as they grow and they need thier own space all things we can't give them
>>47639002
It's not a year, more like a couple of months. But thats still months that a planet is nonproductive. And we don't really have all that many planets of our own to begin with.
>>47639020
Clearly the answer is to conquer the Union.
>>47639031
>The Commonwealth agrees to be the little spoon if we thrash the Union for them.
heh
>>47639049
"Yes, Sure, We will deal with this union for you, but only if you let us put these little things on your spines"
>>47638970
I guess it all depends on what "sibling rivalry" actually entails. Among a lot of eusocial insects "sibling rivalry" can entail one sister enslaving or killing her weaker rivals to attain dominance.
>>47639104
Welp given what OB did to mom and gardener then we know how bad it can get
>>47638990
The planet is host to strange life, as a clearly geological planet has given rise to an unusual assortment of sharp, jagged spires of rock stabbing up from the ground like the protruding bones of a great corpse, slicing at the sky like knives. Beyond the torched and obliterated wastes left by the crash sites of your rival queen's ships, there is not much in the way of solid, flat terrain.
There is an odd sensation as you search the planet, as if you are being watched. The sensation is not often felt, but you know it with certainty. A psionic mind has it's attention turned to your activities here, but its signal is far from strong, hardly more than a ripple through the static of the universe. It feels like it builds up for some time, as if gathering strength, until there is a sharp burst. A distant cry that can hardly be understood. A desperate whisper as if spoken from a death bed.
"Ẃ̡́҉͘h̵̢̨̀o͢͏̀ ̨̕͜͜͠á҉̧ŗ̷̛͘e͘ ̧̛͡͏͞y͝ǫ̸̵͡͡u̶͟?̴̢̢́̕"
>Call back to the voice (write in)
>Attempt to have your drones zero in on the location
>Other (write in)
>>47639057
>>47639049
But first we must give second heart! We improve yes!
>>47639126
>Call back to the voice (Yes we hear pain child, Tell us who and where you are!)
>Attempt to have your drones zero in on the location
>>47639126
>Call back to the voice
Not OB
>>47639002
They don't need space while maturing, the main character queen woke up for the first time already able to do everything she's able to do right now.
>>47639126
>"Ẃ̡́҉͘h̵̢̨̀o͢͏̀ ̨̕͜͜͠á҉̧ŗ̷̛͘e͘ ̧̛͡͏͞y͝ǫ̸̵͡͡u̶͟?̴̢̢́̕"
creepy.
>>Call back to the voice (write in)
>We are your enemies enemy
>>47639126
Just another whisper on the wind.
>>Attempt to have your drones zero in on the location
>>47639126
>Call back to the voice (write in)
Friends to the enemies of the dark queen and her brood.
>>47639104
No, not even that much was left to interpretation. It was stated that they would be obedient towards mom, but might have some border skirmishes between themselves. If you're afraid that one of them would try to eat another, then we could easily tell them to stop it before it got to that. We are dealing with intelligent people here, not mindless insects.
>>47639126
Supporting this >>47639161
>Attempt to have your drones zero in on the location
>>47639126
>Call back to the voice (who are you?)
>>47639126
>>Call back to the voice (write in)
The Red Queen, daughter of the White Queen and enemy of the Obsidian Queen.
>>47639126
>>Attempt to have your drones zero in on the location
If we're goin to say anything back it should just be "My mother's daughter."
But I say don't respond yet. Just zoom in for now.
>>47639156
Space to mature thier hive anon you know thier own family and children
>>47639126
>Attempt to have your drones zero in on the location.
>Ensure that our non-aggressiveness is known by constantly replaying our hate for the Obsidian Queen, and worry about her children infecting the planet.
>>47639126
>Call back to the voice
>We are red queen.
>>47639126
>Attempt to have your drones zero in.
Let's attempt to determine what we're actually dealing with here before calling back.
>>47639178
Granted, although it would be preferable if internal power struggles weren't an issue period. It would probably be prudent to establish some hierarchy for future daughterus, perhaps based on planetary productivity. At least then any competition will always result in a positive for the hive as a whole.
>>47639211
They don't need a hive bigger than what we had in the first few days. They also don't need to hatch their own drones to control them, as for example our first thinker was one of our mother's drones, technically our brother, and he's still with us and doing fine.
>>47639126
"Daughter of White, Queen of Red, Enemy of Kinslayer."
>>47639241
>They don't need a hive bigger than what we had in the first few days.
That assumes that they don't want their hives to grow. Like we do.
>>47639241
>They also don't need to hatch their own drone
Then why are we even making daughters in the first place?
>>47639266
And you in turn are assuming that they're impossible to reason with AND that they wouldn't find having large chunks of our existing drones to manage for themselves acceptable.
In essence you think that the only way they would be happy is if they are allowed to do what we were forced to do when born: go out alone into the wilderness and build a hive from scratch.
This goes against the information we have that they would be happy as our effective vassals, and that closely related queens can use each others drones.
>>47639126
>Attempt to have your drones zero in on the location
While this is going on
>Call back to the voice (write in)
We are a friend. A young queen. What happened here?
>>47639284
Because we currently only have a single intelligent entity in charge of micromanaging an entire interstellar empire. The humans and such which are plugged into our hive can't give orders directly to our drones, they have to route it through us.
>>47639296
You forget that even if the Drone works for us he still lief and withheld information from us at or mothers orders no queen will trust another's drones that's why we start with the starter drones because it's what's natural for us.
>>47639324
This isn't a problem.
You're assuming there are bandwidth/processing limitations on the Hive's interactions with human beings. There aren't, the only limit is what we the quest players can deal with.
As far as you need to be concerned, Queenie has unlimited ability to deal with things. Unlike us.
Plus, we can delegate to Thinkers.
>>47639324
Anon. Thats not a problem. At all. We do not have any problem juggling all of those orders at once. We could talk to a thousand or a million different humans at once with no latency. The only bottleneck in terms of orders, actions or communication is in Quest Drone's ability to write and explain it to us. A daughter does nothing to change that.
>>47639296
Yes but you don't understand. Our daughters our Queens. They have the imperative to grow just like us. Would you be content with just being given one planet and be told to only have that unless your mother decides to give you more? If we make one now, I can bet she'll do everything in her power to expand without directly going against our orders. That can cause some problems.
>>47639324
>Because we currently only have a single intelligent entity in charge of micromanaging an entire interstellar empire.
Yes thats what being a Queen is all about. It is not required that our humans directly give orders to drones. Elizabeth seems to be doing fine and we only had to order the thinkers to work with her once. Also I don't see how this has anything to do with making daughters.
>>47639345
Rogue daughters would only happen if they got corrupted by the crystals or something like that. Except maybe if we abused them terribly, but Mother would never do that.
>>47639375
That's not the issue, the issue is that we have only one egg in one basket.
>>47639389
>They have the imperative to grow just like us.
Not really. If daughters normally behave as vassals, as QD told us, then obviously our species evolved to be capable of cooperating with limited space available. Otherwise such dynamics wouldn't be natural to us.
>>47639324
>>47639345
>>47639375
>>47639389
>>47639395
For the love of fuck, can we just call this argument a stalemate and drop it? We're going to hit the bump limit again in an hour at this pace.
>>47639126
You try to call back, sending your mental voice across the continent. You send images of battle with the Obsidian Queen, glimpses of your motherly splendor in a mental greeting, and memories of the attack over this world, just enough to get the image across, hardly much in the way of details.
The whispering curiosity fades as you speak your name across the region, and there is only static once more. Too much static. In a very specific place. Your drones begin to focus on the area.
Something flashes from the forest, and one of your wasps is tackled from its flight over the canopy. It's image is blurry, as if attacked by a shadow, out of focus like looking through a muddy lense. The wasp is pinned to a tree, something held fast around its neck as it flails to get free. A creature, its head a vibrant, shimmering blue mixed with metallic greens and hues of purple looks down on your drone, its face clearing into a crisp image. It has four eyes, all four positioned forward in a clearly predatory trait. They look at your drone with purpose, with intelligence behind them.
The creature's head is sleek and streamlined, its face clearly aerodynamic with a short, sharp nose covered in slits that widen and narrow as it breathes rhythmically. Its mouth is a tightly woven bundle of mandibles held together into a solid jaw, splitting momentarily to let out a grumbling, gurgling screech and then bundling it up again into a solid lower jaw held tight against a set of long, serrated, bright red teeth lining the single upper jaw. The teeth are carved, chiseled with strange, swirling insignias.
cont.
>>47639421
see what I meant about the logic thing?
>>47639443
Fucking awesome, more sentient life!
>>47639421
Tell QD to make a vote and then whatever wins will get bragging rights.
>>47639419
>then obviously our species evolved to be capable of cooperating with limited space available
All those scenes of various queens killing each other's drones for new real estate during the flashback tells otherwise.
>>47639443
>tell them we're a queen
>no guarantee it was one of our species we were dealing with despite every other one of us being dead for 70000 years or so
>no way this could backfire
>>47639395
>one egg in one basket.
Is better than many eggs in one basket.
>>47639421
I agree, we really need to end this damn topic with a vote.
>>47639443
This aint a queen?
So OB was doing was cleaning up a sci capable species for the void then?
>>47639467
Hey we beat up the OQ's ships. That has to count for something.
>>47639450
>>47639468
>>47639463
>Call a vote
niggers fucking drop it for now until a more pressing matter comes up. Jesus Christ. There is no fucking reason for bragging rights or anything.
>>47639443
Our... natural predatory ?
>>47639463
>All those scenes of various queens killing each other's drones for new real estate during the flashback tells otherwise.
And QD told you otherwise in the previous thread. Obviously those were wars between more distantly related queens.
>>47639443
Holy shit, is that another remnant Skyll, or a new species!?
>>47639467
Our mother was alive less than a year ago. Others may have survived as well.
But I think you're right. We were over-eager to meet another queen/hive like life and let too much info slip to an unknown intelligence.
>>47639468
>Is better than many eggs in one basket.
No, it would be equal. Luckily we can make many baskets with one egg in it each by having daughters.
>>47639496
Mabe it's a hybrid? It dose have mandibles
>>47639511
It's still one basket. All our world's are within reach of the OQ.
>>47639499
I think the Nomad might still be out there. We know for a fact the Builder survived for a while, it's Emissary drone self-destructed when the OQ enacted her coup
>>47639443
Oh ho hello there new friend
Do those runes make any sense to us at all or are they something our hive has never seen?
>>47639491
Iwish they could, but autism knows no bounds.
>>47639496
Heres hoping!
>>47639520
No, each daughter would be separately vulnerable both to physical and to psionic attack. Thus if we hide our daughters in different places we have separate baskets. Even if one attack succeeds, the entirety of our drone mass and most of our queens are still fine.
>>47639511
>Luckily we can make many baskets with one egg in it each by having daughters.
The baskets are planets anon, we need more planets for us to consider having daughters.
>>47639443
The creature holds a spear-like weapon against your wasp, the end forked as if made to pin without harming the target unintentionally. It grasps it firmly with a pair of two, short but lean and muscular legs that hang from its short body, and it props itself up at a surprising height on a set of incredibly long arms, gripping the branch it is on with long, hook-like fingers as a cape of skin folds cleanly along the forearm and up to its body like a wing suit. The flap of skin is covered in a shimmering display of feather-like scales, sliding over one another with the slightest of a jingling rustle with each movement.
The distant voice returns, weak but desperate, and the creature looks away for a moment before turning back to your drone with notable suspicion. It plucks the spear from the tree and quickly backtracks to the far edge of the branch, gripping its weapon in its nimble feet as its clawed hands tear at the branch with its graceful stride. It seems to wait for a moment, watching your drone, before it stands up to its full height, at least two meters, over half of which given by its incredibly long arms, and it lets out a belching cry, inflating its neck as its voice echoes over the jungle.
It dives off. Falling some distance before its arms unfurl into a vast sail of a wingspan glittering like a rainbow with its myriad of shimmering feathered scales, and it arcs back up into the air, circling your drone at some distance, and then veering off, its flight slow and deliberate as it occasionally flips around to see your drone again.
It seems obvious enough of a sign.
>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>Send all the local drones to converge on the location
>Other (write in)
This whole "one egg" metaphor is so retarded. If anything gets to the point where our queen is in danger of dying then everything is going to be in ruins since our home planet is by far the best defended.
I wish a daughterufag would at least come up with some sort of compelling reason to actually have daughters at this time.
>>47639573
>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>>47639573
>>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>>Deploy a couple dozen flies to assist in the search
>>47639573
>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
So some sort of psionic intelligence that can talk to primitive Skyl? It might still be another Queen.
>>47639577
I wish an anti-daughtfag would at least come up with some sort of compelling reason not to actually have daughters at this time.
>>47639573
>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>Deploy a couple dozen flies to assist in the search
>>47639573
>>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>>47639557
No, the baskets are viable hiding places.
Planets are irrelevant. We could decide to create a space-based kingdom without a single planet if we wanted to.
>>47639573
Supporting
>Deploy a couple dozen flies to assist in the search
>>47639556
Holy shit you have broken the Guinness world record for retardation.
OQ doesn't even have advanced psionics and the crystal god hasn't made his move yet.
>>47639573
>Other (write in)
Send a group of forces to follow the creature, but not nearly all the thousands of drones we have on the planet. It could be a trap, an ambush, or a trick trying to lure us away from the voice. Sending a group of drones gives us flexibility both if it is a trap and if more than one drone may be needed at the distressed location.
>>47639573
>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>Other (are you skyll?)
>>47639573
>Have the wasp follow the creature alone.
But also have local drones ready to converge if the wasp shows any sign of distress.
>>47639573
>>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>>47639619
Pretty sure that's how the Nomad Queen operated
>>47639573
>have three wasp follow the creature, send a warrior if it is leading us to the signal.
>>47639607
>>47639577
Both of you stow it. You've let out your pent up autism now so can we please go back to investigating shit?
>>47639573
>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
>>47639573
>>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
This should be treated as diplomacy.
>>47639573
>>Have the wasp follow the creature alone
Hey remember the color coded fake factions idea
What if we modeled all the colors after our dead aunts? That way we get to be cheeky and we can have them as a sort of memorial to our dead kin
I'm done, QD has invented PSY fucntional frog-dragonois-orangutan/gibbon-tree dwelling gliders.
I could kiss him, these aliens are so rad
>>47639681
Please no more arguments.
>>47639687
*dragonoid rather
>>47639681
This is one of the reasons, that I haven't put to word yet, that the whole colors idea was off putting.
It just feels wrong to fly the flags of our dead relatives. And it feels wrong to mess with an obvious communication system of our kind, kind of like why only pretending you're surrendering is a war crime IRL.
>>47639594
Yeah I can dig this.
>>47639696
Good luck
>>47639573
Whatever the psyonic creature is, it is in distress. It could be a situation like on Raligha with uplifted native serving a queen. A queen who in this case may be severely injured. Send a group (but not everything!) to check it out. It may need healing/support
>>47639681
Well we do still have that barkskin carapace adaptation we never used in our genetic databanks. Personally I would prefer cloning best aunt and sending her down to rule Raligha herself, but that could work as a diplomatic ploy.
>>47639696
As long as it isn't about daughterus or another dead horse that has been beaten into a fine red paste, arguing is acceptable anon.
>>47639740
>As long as it isn't about daughterus or another dead horse that has been beaten into a fine red paste
To be fair, QD restarted that one.
>>47639740
i asked that last Sunday, we can't clone her with intact memories.
>>47639740
Then can we talk about the OQ invasion plan?
>>47639780
The only OQ invasion plan is the one that we're trying to foil.
>>47639797
With no counterattack? How the hell are we supposed to stop her from making more ships?
>>47639681
Hmm... Maybe? I'd rather start our own though rather than take after our aunts. But I'm still in favor of the color coded factions. I think it'd be a fun, cheeky and effective course of action that would put our neighbors more at ease and function as decent misdirection.
>>47639780
I thought we all left satisfied when we talked about it last time? So what did you want to discuss
I should feel like much of these discussions can be moved over here.
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Quest:Hive_Queen_Quest
>>47639821
Also let's them no what kind of job the drones do
>>47639813
We can't. All we can do right now is keep our industrial centers secret.
>>47639780
I can dig it, here's a quick sketch on how I think we could do it. We hit drift and First landing fast and simultaneously to draw her out, and when the tide begins to turn in our favor we can hit Cluster while her ships are preoccupied. Thoughts?
>>47639831
OH GOD THE ROLLS, THEY COME.
hi fluff, please dont roll super low all the time this time around.
>>47639813
we become strong enough to consume her in a tide of children, then absorb her armies and worlds and turn our attention to the asshole crystal gods
>>47639831
You could be moved over there too.
>>47638635
Daughteru gets us two things:
>1: Autonomously developing colony.
Attention is not a resource we're lacking in IC; so we can just roll a colony like that.
>2: Another NPC to interact with
We have a shitton of those and we lack in OOC attention span and time to properly interact with them already. Daughteru times will be very limited.
We need to find out where that one Union scientist that's experimenting with Void crystals is. They've already gotten into Slip Space
>>47639874
Fucking image dropped, I was doing some last minute tweaks to it.
>>47639780
>>47639874
I asked QD if it's possible to blink several pods together to make it look like only one ship has blinked in. We could have one pod eb the bait and once it's destroyed, the OQ would be satisfied with destroying an intruder while the other pods can now conduct real-time surveillance of her systems with her none the wiser.
>>47639824
I just wanted to get some more criticism so we have all our weaknesses covered.
Here is the plan i thought up last Sunday.
>alright let me explain a general invasion scenario.
>1) blink fleet to attack weakly defended planet, remove all enemy ships.
>2)begin orbital bombardment, use those nanomachine bombs that devours everything to clear zone for our troops and hive creep bombs.
>3)begin land war with troops, jammer shuttles to disrupt enemy drones and flamethrower/cryospray to remove the enemy creep, use acoustics and radar to detect tunnels and bunkers.
>4)when we have more that half of the planet in our control send in nanomines to dig into the mantle (but not the core) build space elevators to build ships and reinforce our fleet.
>The plan can be change as situations occur.
There was more discussion at the end of thread 53.6 i suggest you read, since I'm too spiritually exhausted to type it all.
>>47639841
Well we could, if we want to pull off a one-time attack on all her things using technology she's never seen before and won't have come up with countermeasures for.
But that requires scouting out all her planets and that will never happen probably for IRL months.
>>47639573
>Have the wasp follow the creature
Your wasp takes flight after the strange creature, and you pluck several of the closest flies from their duties and have them follow more discreetly, just in case.
The creature leads your wasp slowly over the jungle canopy, gliding along on its massive wingspan. Before too long, you think you have a good idea of where you are being led. A long, swerving mountain range, narrow like a massive knife's edge sprouting from the ground stretches out before you, speckled with lights. The image is blurred, and your drone finds itself drifting off course more than once, as if gravitating away from it. You find yourself having to force the drone to keep its course, though not through disobedience, in fact you sense the wasp feels nothing but shame in its sudden inability to fly in a straight line, and as you continue to get closer the lights blur together, losing their distinction into a faint, subtle glow that spreads across the mountain range. The psionic static here is palpable, a dense fog you can feel like a tingling through your thorax. You find yourself correct your wasp's flight path, and it takes everything your wasp is capable of to avoid crashing into a tree.
The creature lets out an echoing call again, its throat puffing up like a balloon. Others call back, until there is a cacophony of screeching calls that drowns out the sounds of the forest, and a moment later the mountains begin to grow clear and crisp. The image sharpens into that of a grand city, humble in sophistication but impressive in scale at the least. Grand huts of wood and bone hang from the sides of the cliff, and structure carved into the side run bridges between gaps in the mountains. Doors open out to straight drops, and creatures of various sizes and color patterns fly from building to building. A formation is quickly moving to intercept, their figures obscured as if out of focus, and they are upon you before your wasp fully notices them.
cont.
>>47639887
agreed
>>47639887
Stop.
>>47639887
They would also give our entire hive a safety net in case something bad happens to one queen.
>>47639903
We need some of whatever psionic disruptor tech he has.
>>47639899
We don't know where all her things are. We probably know about less than 5% really.
>>47639936
We would know the majority if weEXAMINED SCOUTING PODS
>>47639903
We're experiencing some kind of psionic interference here, we should stop before we completely lose contact. Try and signal that the wasp cannot fulfill their function properly in this interference.
>>47639903
Holy shit, that is awesome.
>>47639903
More noises are exchanged, and the formation become crisp in your mind as they join your guide. One, slightly larger than the others flies in closer to your guide as the two at the outer flanks fall back around your wasp. They eye your drone with mistrust and confusion.
You wonder, suddenly, how you recognize their emotions so easily. You feel odd having missed it at first, and until now you had been trying to determine the limit of it, but they are, each of them, broadcasting their own mental signal. At first it felt like static, a subtle wave of disruption canceling out their own presence in an intriguing process you are rather interested in learning yourself, but now, with them so close, you can feel their minds drifting out around them, as if their thoughts fly as easily as they do. You wonder if they can understand each others' minds, or if they are blind to their own signals.
The two in front of you hold some conversation that is clearly of a deal of importance between them. The larger of the two, almost crimson in color, with streaks of deep indigo faded into the wings that shift through the spectrum as the feathered scales shift in the wind, comes in close to the smaller one, holding its wing over the other and casting the smaller one in shadow. They speak in croaks, deep, sharp, chittering noises that hold a strange melody within each statement that seems to almost blend together into a kind of impromptu song between them.
>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>Assign a few thinkers and allow them to learn the language in time.
>Other
>>47640013
>>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>>47640013
>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>>47640013
>>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>>47639896
I like your thinking here anon. We might have to move quickly or even simultaneously on several worlds to use this to maximum effect, as the OQ will certainly develop countermeasures to our tactics and WMDs once she sees them in action, but otherwise this is a fine strategy. Might want to add it to the wiki if you're familiar with it.
>>47640013
>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
MASON THE NUMBERS, WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
>>47640013
>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>>47640013
>>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new languagepls no more queen/faction debate until it gets brought up in-quest
>>47640013
>>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>>47640013
>>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>>47640013
>>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
This is big, it needs full attention.
>>47640030
Yea i suggested raiding fleets so that she can't send reinforcements when we take a planet, the entire long term goal depends on if we can take enough planets that we end up equal in industry.
Unfortunately i don't know how the wiki works since i barely read it.
>>47640013
>>Divert research to initiate a crash project and decypher the new language
>>47640013
You put a temporary halt to your research as you send your thinkers what data you have of the language. They begin pouring over every croaking cackle and chirp with an intense, ravenous thirst for understanding. Elizabeth gets up from her table, confused for a moment as the thinker she had outsourced a good portion of the mathematics she was engrossed in vanishes to its other duties. She stands dumbfounded for a moment as her mind realizes what had happened, as if a flashbang had gone off in the room.
"Alright, alright. I get the message." She says. "I could use a bit of a break at any rate." She gets up from the table of petri dishes and makes her way down the hall.
The creatures around your wasp seem to grow closer, as if daring each other to approach the strange insectoid beast flying among them. One nearly is upon your wasp when your drone clicks its mandibles in its direction and it quickly dives away. The creature opposite you flutters its lower jaw in what seems to be a giggle.
A deep guttural roar, quick, subdued, and commanding erupts from the larger one in the lead as its head snaps back at the two flanking your drone. They quickly leap forward and fall into formation with a flap of their great wings, and they depart. Your guide follows them in, taking a long, arcing path up over the primitive city and towards one of the mountainous knives of rock, diving down to where it is at its thickest. A large landing has been carved out of the base, where a waterfall flows out beneath the intricately chiseled stone slab and into a lush valley filled with hanging bone and hide tents strung up between the trees and hooked into the massive eight meter thick trunks of the largest of the planets in the area.
cont.
>>47640219
BEEEESSSSSSSS
>>47640219
I always love your imagery QD. Whether it's meeting a Valen for the first time, or looking like a jungle city like now it's always so evocative.
>>47640238
Don't forget alien frog dragon children
>>47640219
The creatures land, dropping to their long, muscular arms as their wings fold along their forearms into cloaks behind them, flowing with each step as their tiny, far too short legs reach up like hands, holding their weapons proudly. The larger turns to your wasp, and it points to the ground. A circular pattern of symbols has been carved into the rock. It is clear it has been carved many times, retouched as time wore it smooth. The writing is instantly familiar to you. It is the Hive's written language, the artificial code assembled with the Skyl alphabet. Your wasp is quick to examine it.
"Our pride was our folly. Our future is our hope. Our sins are my prison. If you have heard me, help them."
The creature watches your drone as you read the text, closely, its dexterous legs gripping its spear tightly in anticipation. As your wasp looks back to it, it points into the cave beyond. You can feel... something within. Like a whimpering wheeze.
>Have your drone enter
>Attempt to speak with the creature mentally (write in)
>Have your other drones and forces converge on this location
>Other
...I don't think it'd ever happen, but I'm wondering how would the Union react if they found out Vaughn was alive and...well...this? I mean, I can guess, but I'm still curious.
>>47640264
>>Have your drone enter
>>47640264
>Have your drone enter
>>47640264
>>Have your drone enter
Carefully, and cautiously
>>47640264
>Attempt to speak with the creature mentally (write in)
"I will help them."
>>47640264
>>Have your other drones and forces converge on this location
Cousin!
>>47640265
We are gonna give the crew of the hope back to the union, right?
>>47640264
>>Have your drone enter
>>Have your other drones and forces converge on this location
>>47640264
>Have your drone enter
>Have your other drones and forces converge on this location
But don't let them enter the city just yet
>>47640285
...Oh yeaaaaaaaah, forgot about them.
Yeah sure whatever.
>>47640264
>Have your drone enter
>Have your other drones and forces converge on this location
We gonna find more family but its gonna be dying.
>>47640264
>>47640279
This to ease their worry, then.
>>47640287
>>47640264
Also, please roll 1d100, best of 3 for rushing the crap out of this language research.
>>47640264
>Have your other drones and forces converge on this location
Rolled 17 (1d100)
>>47640311
ok
Rolled 9 (1d100)
>>47640311
Rolled 74 (1d100)
>>47640311
Rolled 41 (1d100)
>>47640311
For Mother.
>>47638615
Holy shit, it's back? It's been so long. I just got off work at midnight so I can't read this until tomorrow, but I'm psyched to see the best-run quest on this site back.
Rolled 31 (1d100)
>>47640311
MOTERRR
>>47640321
Thank you SO much.
>>47640264
>Have your drone enter.
also
>Have your other drones and forces converge on this location
Keep them on standby, and don't encroach on territory, but if we need backup we want it ready. Keep some ships with drop pods handy and flyers at high altitude.
>no one said for mother.
Geez anons, this is why we roll low
>>47640321
Thank you random anon, for covering my fuckup
>>47640321
That was a nice save anon
>>47640321
Bless you drone. You saved us from embarrassing failure.
>>47640264
We need a bio-tank stat.
One of the Large bio-tanks, and several of the small. And a parasite!
Like 20 parasites!
Nobody's dying today.
>>47640339
Wait a moment, THAT'S ME!
>>47640351
Yeah, get gunships with honey-pots and bio tanks in position for medivac if necessary ASAP.
I already voted for sending in reinforcements as well, though, so don't count my vote twice. Just reiterating the need to provide medical assistance if we at all can.
>>47640311
Your wasp enters, slowly skittering its way along the stone floor with caution. You have your drones in the outlying areas, all of them, you noticed, had somehow avoided the area despite their grid pattern search of the continent, and you have them close in, just enough to be nearby if needed.
Within the structure, there is a series of marble slabs, each covered in fantastical carvings and vibrant paintings. One shows a mural, painted and carved until it is almost a three dimensional image, of sickle shaped objects filling the sky, tearing eachother apart. The jungle burns bellow as a dark sea of shapes consumes everything.
Another, in astounding detail, shows the same ships, a stylized hive ship by the looks of it, surrounded by its fleet, falling to the ground and embedding itself beneath the surface. Its fleet largely broken and shattered, the hive ship crumbling and aflame.
Yet another mural depicts a number of figures, like the creatures outside, standing before a large, vibrantly colored creature, its head cresting the entire mural with elaborate, weaving marble carved with such care it looks as if it is made of paper and withered leaves, the texture of a hive's chitin replicated in painstaking detail. Its wings spread out on either side, eclipsing the painting and covering the other figures. The marble is covered in a fine dust, painted into the texture with chips of powdered crystal gemstones, making the wings glitter in the soft light.
The last shows the same figure, hunched over, its colorful luster faded. It holds out items in its claws that the others line up arround the mural to take. Others along the edge of the massive slab of artwork hold various devices in their grip as they stand vigil over the central queen figure.
cont.
>>47640495
Oh shit
>>47640495
>You have your drones in the outlying areas, all of them, you noticed, had somehow avoided the area despite their grid pattern search of the continent, and you have them close in, just enough to be nearby if needed.
What kind of psyonic stealth is this? Very neat stuff. Combing this with cloaking and we will be virtually undetectable by the OQ. They somehow got our drones to ignore they were in an illogical search pattern that missed an entire area...
>>47640495
We have to figure out how to get our psi shroud to work that well
I don't know if it is appropriate now but it needs to be dealt with, can we begin terraforming reprive?
>>47640495
Very intriguing, they're producing some kind of very subtle psi interference that is almost impossible to detect until it's already fooled us.
>>47640585
But, why? It'd wipe out the native intelligent friendly life.
>>47640495
The hall ends eventually as your drone passes the last of the murals. At the end of the hall is a balcony, carved in swirling patterns and painted in vibrant colors. The railing is nearly non-existent, unneeded for a race capable of flight. Bellow is a tremendous chamber, filled with rows of large, padded beds and layers upon layers of blankets of fur and animal hide, all stained shades of purple and vibrant greens or reds. A number of slender figures, much taller than any of the others you have seen before, walk with practiced grace along their long arms, their bodies draped with cloth where their wings have become barren, little more than shriveled skin flaps hanging behind them like dresses. Several are hunched over some lump of dried, crispy chitin in the center, delicately wiping moistened cloths over the creature's carapace and holding bowls of steaming water to its head.
It moves. Slightly. The creatures around it turn to you startled. They look back at the ugly mass of chitin, unsure, and then quickly leave. The pathetic creature left atop the small mountain of pillows shakes with its weakness as it's head tries to look up to you with its ocular eyes.
It is a Queen. Her headcrest is shattered, scabbed over wounds cover the once intricately woven antennae as pulsing wires of tendons reach out to the pillar shaped relay behind her. Her egg sac is gone, a draping trail of shredded and dried flesh hangs behind her, with her rear legs and a great deal of her abdomen missing, with the rest covered in scars and dried, flayed flakes of carapace. Her arms nearly collapsed under her own weight as she tries to pull herself up to look at your wasp. She looks at you, long and hard, the relay behind her studying your mind, straining to see you as a queen should see a queen, thought to thought.
"You are of the White Queen." She says finally. "Then she has failed." Her head falls back to the layers of cloth of cushion with a heavy thud.
cont.
>>47640592
But reprive is the dead planet we found our mothers bunker on, it does not have an atmosphere and I'd like to fix that this thread.
>>47640592
This is refuge, not reprive.
>>47640598
GIVE US YOUR KNOWLEDGE ELDER ONE!
>>47640598
Her head rocks gently, pulling itself to a lump in the layers of pillows and resting atop it as an arm reaches for a bowl of water. Most of it spills, but she holds it long enough to drink from it and shakily places it back beside her.
"But why did you come here?" She says finally. "She would not have spoken of me."
(write in)
>>47640598
>Her egg sac is gone, a draping trail of shredded and dried flesh hangs behind her, with her rear legs and a great deal of her abdomen missing, with the rest covered in scars and dried, flayed flakes of carapace.
This is an outrage.
>>47640605
My mistake. Sorry.
>>47640598
So there is a friendly queen here! MUST SAVE!
On a serious note, the intel we would get from a living queen alone would be invaluable. We should divert all available assets to the protection of this individual. She could even start a new friendly hive potentially once she is fixed up.
>>47640325
There's been a session last week too, check it up.
>>47640625
"Tell us of our lost history"
>>47640598
God damn it QD, you know how to hit the feels button.
>>47640604
No it isn't. That's Farcast. Does literally anybody understand the map?
>>47640585
Reprieve is the star system currently occupied by the OQ's salvage ships where the white queen made her last stand. So no.
>>47640598
I'll leave the talking to someone else but WE NEED A MEDICAL SHIT STAT
>>47640625
We observed blasts from the planet attacking the most hated Obsidian Queen. We sought any allies we could against that regicidal corrupted maniac. We have forces nearby. Please, let them, let us, attend to you.
>>47640625
Oh boy the knowledge this elder can share. Might even get a better idea then that cannon for a WMD!
What color is this queen?
>>47640625
>Heard your voice, in pain. Came to help Ancient One. May we treat?
>>47640625
>"But why did you come here?"
Patrols detected enemy activity. Denying the enemy any spoils is a good way of winning conflicts.
>>47640625
She did not. We felt the traitor attempt to bombard this place, and investigated. Offer to heal her-We fixed human ageing, we can fix hers, and restore her wings/eggs
>>47640645
Could you post the map/tell anons where to find it?
>>47640625
Then who are you?
Mother did not speak of anything to me. She told me nothing.
>>47640598
OQ has gone too far.
INVADE NOW.
>>47640625
"The traitor led us here."
Questdrone, can we heal her with a pod?
>>47640626
Yeah, just imagine a queen that will never have daughters, it's terrible.
>>47640625
"She did not. I have found you by exploration, and fought the Obsidian Queen over this planet. Please, tell me of yourself."
>>47640625
Oh that poor queen.
'To learn of the history she was not there to teach us, and to seek any allies to fight the Obsidian Queen. What happened here, and to you? I might be able to heal your wounds too, if you give me the chance.'
>>47640664
>2016
>not knowing the map by heart
>>47640652
It may be we cannot save this queen. We should get all medical treatment possible ASAP (and out meds are the best in the galaxy), but if that's not enough to save her than the information she can provide -while distant second in value to saving the life of a friendly old queen - will still be utterly invaluable.
![cbb[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Qu1xojG.jpg "cbb[1].jpg")
>>47640625
REMOVE OQ, REMOVE OQ.
"We share a common foe, perhaps it would be in both of our best interests to partner in a venture to crush our enemy."
>>47640645
my apologies, i was in a hurry to find the name i made a mistake.
>>47640669
She looks like she would better serve as genetic blue prints, the memories and genetic knowledge she could have would super useful. Would be nice to heal her if we can but come on now guys, she is kinda half dead.
>>47640625
Still waiting on the color of her chitin.
>>47640625
While talking is nice...
We should really rush to give her medical attention.
It's our duty to ensure OQ's actions don't claim another of our kin.
>>47640625
These creatures. They speak their thoughts. They hid you from the enemy. How?
So, when we rebuild this old queen to her younger and healthy self, does she count as daughteru or auntie?
>>47640659
We should do some variation of this. We need to let this queen know we are here to help and can provide life-saving treatment/help her build up a hive again.
>>47640694
She's been half dead for unknown years, she might survive.
>>47640703
Depends on who she is a daughter of. Imagine the family tree.
>>47640694
>She looks like she would better serve as genetic blue prints, the memories and genetic knowledge she could have would super useful. Would be nice to heal her if we can but come on now guys, she is kinda half dead.
Pls, she's just injured. We can fix that with a pod. And get all the genetic data at the same time without problem too.
There's only slight logistics issue of getting her into one, but it's pretty doable.
>>47640711
m8 family trees can't exactly be complicated in a race of parthenogenic females
>>47640664
It's posted at the start of virtually every single thread, and more importantly, the pastebin linked at the top of every goddamn thread has a list of nearly every scouted planet in excruciating detail.
>>47640731
Guess what wasn't posted last thread? The goddamn complete map you mong
>>47640711
>>47640723
Family tree of hives is pretty simple yeah but in different ways depending on how we look at it.
>straight up offsprings
Given that they only have one parent, it's very straightforward hierarchy with no intertwining.
>trades of genetic data counts as relationship
Because that's what two-partner reproduction does essentially.
In that case, the map of the tree is just entirely flushed.
>>47640741
No shit, sherlock, do you know what 'virtually' means?
>>47640625
"The Obsidian Queen was attending to this planet. There was a signal."
"Yes. My defenses are dwindling, but they are still sufficient. I hide, and only when they come close do I strike." She says. You feel glimpses of her remaining forces. Ships, many stripped of their drives and armor, little more than railguns facing the sky in random directions hidden across the continent." Your wasp takes flight, buzzing to the ground in front of her. You are unsure of her ranking among the old queens of your mother's generation, but she is still an elder. The wasp huddles to the ground near her.
Up close you can see the muted greys of her carapace. Like layers of dust, her color long lost from her chitin.
"The Obsidian Queen." She says, thinking. "The Black Queen. The Betrayer. Yes. This is how I came to be here. But now you are here, you fought her? Drove her away?" She looks into your wasp's eyes with sincerity. "Does she still live?"
Your own indignance over the Obsidian Queen's acts betray your answer.
"I see." She says in silence.
>Speak (write in)
>Ask about the locals
>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
>Offer to heal her wounds
>>47640771
>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
>Offer to heal her wounds
>>47640771
>>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
>>Offer to heal her wounds
>>47640771
>Offer to heal her wounds.
For the psionic stealth, and while we wait for the pod.
>Ask about herself, and her dynasty.
>>47640771
>>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
>>Offer to heal her wounds
>>47640771
>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
>Offer to heal her wounds
>>47640771
>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
IF we can, and I mean IF without fucking us over then we heal her.
>>47640771
>>Ask about the locals
The Gray Queen.
>>47640771
>>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
>>Offer to heal her wounds
>>47640771
>>Speak (write in)
It was difficult to find you. It was difficult for the betrayer to find you. Unusually difficult. How did you do it?
>inb4 she betrays us later on
Anyone else hear this queen's voice as that old alien from the new Starwars? The tiny one at the bar?
No?
I'll just be going....
>>47640771
>>Offer to heal her wounds [DO THIS FIRST!]
then
>Ask about herself, and her dynasty
>>47640771
>in order:
>Heal her wounds
>then keep her talking while we move our guys in position to do so; ask about her and her dynasty.
>>47640780
>>47640783
>>47640787
>Our sins are my prison. If you have heard me, help them."
The penitent queen doesn't want to be healed. She doesn't deserve it.
>>47640833
The penitent queen can get off her ass and actively repent instead of feeling sorry for herself in a hole.
>>47640833
Then she'll just refuse. It doesn't hurt to offer. The most important thing is that we get as much info off of her is she wants to an hero.
>>47640833
She can an hero all she likes, later. But we'll restore her dignity first.
>>47640771
>>Speak (write in)
"Do you understand the reason mother kept me in protective ignorance of the enemy?"
>>47640833
Well then that bitch had better suck it up and accept that we're patching her up, whether she thinks she deserves it or not. I could care less about her guilt complex, I want an aunty to back us up when we take a hammer to the OQ's kneecaps.
>>47640598
>"You are of the White Queen." She says finally. "Then she has failed." Her head falls back to the layers of cloth of cushion with a heavy thud.
f-fug
After that description of the state of her body this nearly brought a tear to my eye.
>inb4 she's the one that invented the psy network bomb thing and shown it to OQ before the latter's betrayal
>>47640886
Well she had to do something to get Mother pissed at her.
>>47640886
Or perhaps the whole root of the crystals shindig.
>>47640886
She needs to repent REALLY hard then.
>>47640902
We'll get a paddle?
>>47640899
>>47640886
Or maybe she's OQ's mom.
If she is a psionic master she can help us with lee's condition.
>>47640871
I swear this is basically That Argument all over again.
We do not need two queens. We need more biomass, more metals, and more knowledge. She can only provide that last thing, and odds are will do so willingly without conditions.
Once she gives us that she's no more helpful than a newborn daughter and the same arguments apply. Cute as a button, but virtually zero tactical value to having a 'second queen' on our side. Are you a pro-daughter anon? Are you?
