The dunes of aral shift and wave in the wind as the night continues to darken, rumbling slightly as animals flee from their buried nests. A geyser of sand and chips of stone erupts forth as Lyle and Mauser, locked together as they exchange blows, tumble through the air, shattered wings and sputtering jump jets struggling to steady themselves as they plummet into the sand, separating as they roll wildly over the hills, their armored suits sending chips of sparking circuits and chunks of bleeding chitin flying away. They stop, nearly ten meters apart, and Lyle hoists himself up, stripping off dead and dying armored plating as Mauser ejects himself from his shattered drop suit.
“Damn conditions.” Lyle grumbles as he wipes blood from his mouth. “First it's some officer whining about some old tower 'oh but it was the first thing the settlers built,'” he says in a mocking tone. “And filled with armed combatants to boot, yea. Now I gotta tip toe around a pile of rocks some snake people made 'cuz it looks pretty.” Lyle stands up as he kicks a clawed boot from his foot, sending it arcing through the sky as Mauser pulls a large, humming machete shaped vibroblade from his suit's pack, and Lyle extends his own arm blades, and the two charge each other, their weapons clashing with a burst of sparks that flash against the dimly lit dunes beneath the star filled, cloudless sky.
Welcome back to Hive Queen Quest!
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>>48103589
Sorry lyle,
Anons are pussies
>>48103639
I like to think it spices things up
>>48103589
"Oh don't whine Lyle, at least there weren't any snake cyborgs attacking you like the last time i came here."
>>48103589
Are you still gonna open up quantum commms improvement research?
Would be nice to add that to the pile sooner than later.
>>48103589
Gotta make sure to recover or destroy all our lost equipment at the end of this. Don't want to leave any of that stuff lying around.
Also, Lyle's totally got this fight. His augs are second to none and reinforcements are (should be?) in route.
>>48103709
I think we need to ask Theseus for a shared research project for that, could also add the smith head.
>>48103735
Probably true.
I think Theseus would actually be virtually ideal for a joint research project on the Psionic Cannon. He's definitely as "blind" as they come, but is a far more trustworthy (and efficient) researcher and constructor than the humans.
>>48103763
Not sure on the joint Psionic Cannon idea.
>>48103772
Well he's an AI, that's pretty much as impervious to psionic manipulation as one can get.
>>48103789
Is it? I have no idea how void psionics work.
>>48103763
That's actually a good idea. Actually probably get everyone involved in that at the end once we've researched everything else. Theseus is blind, Heretic has experience and knows about the dangers better than anyone else, and the Hive is the most psionically capable. Just play to each of our strengths and split up the work in such a way as to minimise the danger.
>>48103589
The computer continues to track the new shuttle as the formation of fighters intercept it, and they begin to change course, moving together back in the direction of the valen colony, and a limb pulls the ship down to a lower altitude, scraping a dune as the cargo bay opens, scooping sand and debris into the belly of the ship as Jackob and Dillon leap the short distance to the ramp and the ship ascends again as the large, bulky shuttle continues to close in. As the Angel rises into the air, you can see the shuttle touch down, and a squad of humanoid robotic puppets leap to the ground as they begin to search through the debris.
Coil is conflicted, his minds examining the situation and requesting guidance from the hive.
>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
>Have Lyle disengage combat and get to the angel
>Have the Angel wait as long as possible until more valen arrive to investigate
>Other (write in)
>>48103805
Yeah this is probably the best way to go about that when we eventually get to it
>>48103813
>>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
>>48103813
>>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
Time to get our operators out of the area.
>>48103813
>>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
>>48103813
>>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
>>48103803
As far as we know, all psionically capable beings are so because they grew structures in their brain that allow them to pick up tachyons.
Mom may have done something to humans that rendered them mostly blind, but theres still some of that residual capability left, as shown by Steiner Sr. and Killinger's experiments.
Artificial intelligences, being synthetic beings, are totally incapable of spontaneously growing psionic receptors, as far as our knowledge of psionics tell us.
>>48103813
>>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
>>48103813
>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
But only if he is losing, let him have his fight.
>>48103813
>>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
We don't need to get detected here and give the Union a "legitimate" excuse for being here and destroying ruins. The situation is completely fucked, as intended. Now we need to GTFO without revealing the other cards we have in play.
>>48103813
>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
>>48103589
Dammit Lyle, those rocks belong in a museum!
>>48103813
>>Have the Angel wait as long as possible until more valen arrive to investigate
I want Mauser alive and intact as possible for the Valen to blow their top off, and Coil doesn't have a great track record in that regard. Sides, Lyle seems to be doing okay.
Coil should pick up Jackob and co at this point though, I suspect Calhoun could use a dip in the medi pod.
>>48103855
We don't actually know this for sure, and having Theseus attempt to fire the cannon will inevitably draw the crystals' attention to him. Not sure if I want to do that to him.
>>48103855
This, mostly. Theseus would have to study psionics and build some sort of device to detect and interact with psionics to become aware and not "blind", but it would be like the reverse case of us and technology vs biology, where we suck at it and will never be as good at as Theseus while we're awesome at biology and vice versa.
>>48103813
>Have Coil provide air support and pick up Lyle
Please roll 2d100, the first for Lyle trying to wrap things up on his own as a point of pride, the second for Coil bringing the thunder.
Rolled 72, 18 = 90 (2d100)
>>48103907
For Mother
Rolled 55, 12 = 67 (2d100)
>>48103907
FOR COIL
Rolled 70, 74 = 144 (2d100)
>>48103907
FOR MOTHER
Rolled 83, 42 = 125 (2d100)
>>48103907
It's time.
Rolled 32, 43 = 75 (2d100)
>>48103907
HERE WE GO
FOR MOTHER
>>48103896
>>48103903
This is possible, but one other advantage Theseus has when studying psionics is that he is a distributed, as opposed to a centralized hive intelligence. It's possible he may be able to cut off infected "Theseus" instances without us losing the whole intelligence and our ally.
>>48103896
The Confederacy managed to build and fire the Psionic Cannon several times, and it was destroyed due to the volatile nature of the gun rather than being attacked by the Void Crystals.
I'm reasonably sure that it'll be the same thing with Theseus, but regardless he has to make an informed decision in the matter.
I'm sure Heretic will be happy to go along regardless.
>>48103903
Damn, I meant detect and interact with tachyons there.
>>48103938
I thought they only managed to get off one shot with it before things started exploding.
i'm looking forward to when we go back to messing with the commonwealth diplomat.
weird, some words i didn't mean to write i did without remembering writing them
>>48103982
Yeah, queeny and her drones fucking with people is always a highlight.
>>48103982
Yeah, Anon, I'm really looking forward to that too. Wise's new eyes (even without all the bells and whistles upgrades) should give him a new perspective (ha) on us. It'll be nice seeing how we can confuse all the highly trained and paid xenos specialists the Commonwealth can throw at us.
Scouting pods when?
>>48103981
They fired it three times before it fucked up.
>>39454735
>The cannon fires. You feel the hollow scream of the crystal shard as it cracks from the force, and a dozen of the human ships are gone. There is cheering in the firing chamber, and someone orders the devices to be fired again.
>>39455272
>The next shot sweeps across a wing of advancing ships, reducing them to a shower of slag.
>The cannon fires again from its position several kilometers away, but something is wrong. You can feel the energy flow poorly, through misaligned conduits.
Though i'm not sure anymore if it was the design of the cannon itself that failed or whether the bombardment from the Union fleet messed up something. These things are apparently fragile as fuck.
>>48104042
Next week, looks like.
>>48104056
Interesting, didn't our mother only get 3 shots off as well. Maybe there's some flaw in the design our thinkers didn't account for that limits the gun to 3 shots?
>>48104086
We'd need more data to prove that, since on both occasions the weapon was damaged by the time it fired its final shot. In Mother's case her Hiveship was being eaten up by the Void avatar thing and for the humans the nuclear bombardment from the Union Fleet.
Though it would be a good idea to have backups of the cannon in the event that that is the case.
>>48103907
Lyle lunges with his arms, stabbing at the air as Mauser evades, swinging his vibroblade to parry and bringing his forehead into Lyle's with a loud thud that sends Lyle stumbling back several steps. Mauser flips his bade in his hands as he hops in his stance, a mixture of Gemanise style Grav Maga with a clear influence of some kind of gutter boxing style Lyle isn't familiar with by name, but has take a punch or two from.
"What's the matter, chrome dome, they forgot to reinforce that thick stull of yours?" He says. Lyle spits a bit of blood and laughs.
"So you do talk. And here I thought the Union kept their dogs on a shorter leash then that." Mauser wings his blade at the comment, Lyle parrying it with a wing of his arm as he catches his other blade along Mauser's arm. He jerks his arm up, sending the blade searing through flesh and spraying blood across his armored skinsuit. Mauser acknowledges the three inch deep gash along his arm with a mild grunt, and brings the bleeding elbow into Lyle's nose with a loud crack, grabbing his arm as Lyle leans back and pulling him in again as his arm tries to hook around Lyle's head. He ducks and sends a sweeping kick to Mauser's legs, sending him sprawling to the sand.
Lyle dives in, both elbows held out as his blades slide through the forearm to drive through Mauser's chest. Mauser rolls to the side, bringing his foot up into Lyle's chin as his blades slice through his calf, and Mauser swings his own blade in response, slicing off Lyle's left ear as he parries the blade, sparks illuminating the night as he strikes the blade arm with his pistol sledge. The arm snaps at a sudden right angle, rebounding back with the rubbery elasticity of the surrounding muscle as the bone within erupts from beneath the skin.
Cont.
>>48104200
I'll be honest here, I kinda want to parasite Mauser, and then have him and Lyle have Buddy-cop adventures in spaceLyle's a loose cannon that doesn't play by the rulesMauser is a loyal soldier, following all the regulations
Together, they fight the tyranny of the void lords and the Black Queen!
>>48104236
Would be hilarious but Lyle wants his "honorable gladiatorial fight" so someone's gonna die.
>>48104236
Release some spare flies from the Angel to track him and implant him later I guess.
>>48104200
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z_nE0-SXRI
>>48104296
The Queen should really install a Small Egglayer in the Hel's Angel if they haven't already
>>48104295
Lyle will "want" whatever we tell him to want!
For real, though, Mauser will probably die here unless we intervene to save him. It's possible Lyle will leave him alive out of some insane fellowship between drop troopers, or to boost his fame or enjoy the next fight, but in all probability Mauser's death will happen unless we say no.
>>48104352
And i don't want to say no, let Lyle have his fun.
Besides, what use do we have of two badass droptroopers?
>>48104352
The valen are doing a search and can probably follow the trail of destruction
And if he is still alive they will add him to the rest of the prisoners and we can infect him later
>>48104383
You don't want to load them up with as much awesome weaponry we have, point them at the Black Queen and say "Have fun you two"?
>"Whoever kills more gets a prize!"
>>48104383
Copying his subtly different skill set.
>>48104200
Mauser grabs the arm, pulling close as he brings his foot up, and with a stomping motion kicks clean through Lyle's knee, cracking the chitin armor and hyper extending the artificial muscles with a soft, springy click. Mauser's foot rebounds, and comes down again with a sound like a steel cable snapping and the knee bends back an inch.
Lyle brings his fist into Mauser's ribs, cracking three on contact, and he extends his blade, aiming for the spleen. Mauser lets out a stifled shout and brings an elbow into Lyle's face, cracking his eye socket and they both reel back. Mauser stumbles, gripping his flopping arm that still holds his vibroblade, while Lyle quickly limps back, bringing his knee back into place with a sickening crack that you are certain it was not supposed to make when you designed it.
"Any part of you left that's human?" Mauser says, changing the grip of his blade to his other hand. "Or are you just a rogue Smith at this point?"
The two of them stand among the dunes catching their breath, both locked eye to eye as they stand in their almost-faltering stances.
"You think it's yer arms and legs that make you human?" Lyle says suddenly. "I know cunts born with less than that."
"I bet, Tarwin's got quite the problem with mutations. Too much sun." He says, his voice biting down like a wolf striking at the throat as the fainted reaction fires across Lyle's face. "I'd recognize Ingalasangwe anywhere. It's a bigger giveaway than the accent." Mauser flips his blade in his hands, keeping its momentum up as.
"Don't push it. I've been enjoying our scrap so far." Lyle says, and spits a tooth. Mauser scrunches his nose.
"I bet you have, prim. I just see it as animal control." Lyle charges, his knee crunching with each leaping step, and Mauser swings his blade. The two collide, their blades sinking into each other as they fall off the edge of a dune, trailing blood as they roll to the bottom of the shifting dune.
Cont.
>>48104383
We can create a clone of Lyle and Mauser.
Double the badass all in one convenient package!
>>48104410
>You don't want to load them up with as much awesome weaponry we have, point them at the Black Queen and say "Have fun you two"?
>>"Whoever kills more gets a prize!"
Tempting, but anything involving OQ will be space battles or full scale planetary warfare, not only are they obvious targets and not used to hive on hive war, but also are probably weaker than our heavy warriors and colossi. Just use Lyle against the union occasionaly.
>>48104426
This however gives me an idea of taking his head and getting a droptrooper specialization for our clones.
>>48104433
Aw dont be a cunt now, Mauser.
>>48104433
whats "Ingalasangwe"?
>>48104433
Wait what. Mauser's arm broke not Lyle's?
>Mauser swings his own blade in response, slicing off Lyle's left ear as he parries the blade, sparks illuminating the night as he strikes the blade arm with his pistol sledge.
I can't handle pronouns it seems.
>>48104476
Probably Lyles martial style.
>>48104476
>>48104476
Space South African-Australian
>>48104295
>>48104352
>>48104383
Lyle can have his fun by cutting Mauser's head off in combat.
Then we steal the head and use memories for training simulations.
>>48104433
What an absolute, unredeemable, asshole. I was going to vote for saving Mauser after this, or at least capturing him.
Now, I don't give a fuck. Kick his shit in Lyle! Kill his ass dead!
>>48104483
>>48104485
K
whats he mean with "prim"?
primitive? primate?
that context was a followup insult right?
>>48104433
>Ingalasangwe
So, any guesses as to what this word means?
>>48104498
Pretty much, i assume. He's just bein an ass, though if its tactical in nature or not i dunno
>>48104509
Well that came up after saying mutations and also got the rise in lyle
So maybe it refers to a stable breed of mutie that considered sub human?
>>48104494
We need him to be a Valen prisoner.
And we'll want a parasite so we know what they talk about.
>>48104509
Probably identified Lyles fighting style as something from Tarwin. Thats my guess.
>>48104529
I doubt that would be possible in a mere 200 years, but I think you may be right about the mutations. Mauser appears to be trying to antagonize Lyle as much as possible so I would assume it was some kind of disparaging remark about some ethnic background or genetic makeup.
>>48104433
The two separate, tumbling uncontrollably as they both come to a stop in the sand, blood pooling around each of them. Mauser shifts his weight and rolls to the side, struggling to stand as he stumbles to his feet. He spits a glob of blood at his feet.
"You don't even bleed right." He says. Lyle scoots his undamaged leg against the sand and slides himself up the dune's slope.
"I bleed just fine." Lyle says. "Give me a good half hour, I'll be ready for round two. You?" He spits a shattered tooth absent mindedly as he twists his knee back and forth with a grinding noise, trying to pop it back into place. Mauser continues breath heavily, gasping as blood drips across the sand at his feet from the deep wounds along his side and the split flesh of his arm. In the distance, the whine of the Angel's engines begin to fade through the wind. Mauser stumbles, but catches himself in time, if only barely, his vibroblade sinking into the sand at his feet as he presses the wounds between his ribs.
""I thought not." Lyle says as the two maintain eye contact. The growing whine of the Angel's engines begins to drown out the sounds of distant animals and the whipping wind, its cloak dropping in the sky as it closes in.
"So what's your plan now?" Mauser says, his arm struggling, and finally gripping the hilt of his blade as he pulls it free from the sand.
>Have Lyle finish the fight
>Leave Mauser in the desert alone
>Leave him in the desert, drop a crate of water behind
>Other (write in)
>>48104592
>>Have Lyle finish the fight
FINISH HIM
>>48104592
Adopt him.
>>48104592
>>Other (write in)
Ask lyle to subdue him and put him on the angel. Rip off his arms and legs to prevent escape if he thinks he'll survive it
If not,
>Have Lyle finish the fight
THough I'd bet good money he'll come back as a smith alter if we don't grab him here
>>48104592
Leave it up to Lyle. Mauser made it personal, let our boy decide the outcome.
>>48104592
>>48104615
Supporting this.
>>48104592
>Have Lyle finish the fight
Knock him out and make it easy for the valen to find him
Figure if we leave him alive and awake he probably go to ground and evade the search parties using uber solider survival skills
So we are going to need to gift wrap him for the valen
>>48104592
>>Leave him in the desert, drop a crate of water behind
The Valen have to find him.
Parasited.
>>48104621
If this option wins we have to shoot a flare to make it easy.
>>48104592
>Other (write in)
Take him with us.
>>48104592
Oh man this is a tough one. QD has an impressive capacity to make even the most unlikable of NPCs useful and relatable, but this one is particularly unlikable. That, and I am not willing to let him free to talk about our agent's tech and abilities. Decisions, decisions...
>>48104592
>Leave Mauser for dead in the desert
>Leave him in the desert with water for the valen to find
>Have Lyle finish the fight
>Let Lyle decide himself
>Other
>>48104630
Drop him in the path of a Valen shuttle?
>>48104635
>let lyle decide
>>48104635
>Leave him in the desert with water for the valen to find
>>48104592
>>48104615
This, he's out here exclusively in response to Lyle, it should be his call on how to end it. But if he does let him leave, he's getting a parasite.
>>48104635
>>Let Lyle decide himself
>>48104635
>>Let Lyle decide himself
>>48104635
>>Leave him in the desert with water for the valen to find
I am a surprised we don't have parasites and flies on the Angel.
>>48104635
>Let Lyle decide himself
>>48104635
>>Let Lyle decide himself
>>If he does let him live, give him a parasite before leaving.
>>48104635
>Let Lyle decide himself.
>>48104646
I agree to parasite, shouldn't even need a vote.
>>48104635
>Other
parasites
>>48104635
>>Leave him in the desert with water for the valen to find
>>48104635
>Let Lyle decide himself
>Other
Send drones to investigate the ruins.
>>48104655
Why, when we have every motive to want Valen to find him.
>>48104669
>Other
Send drones to investigate the ruins.
Sorry man but we aren't going to be able to do that with the valen actively sending search parties through the whole area
>>48104669
THIS.
Also when should we initiate first contact? When Lyle returns or when Theseus leaks the edited footage?
>>48104669
We don't have drones.
>>48104690
Literally every member of the hive except the queen is a drone, actually
>>48104681
This is one of the narrative moments that pops up and make us players figure and establish our boundaries to how much character development we want the npcs to have
>>48104690
Looks like we'll be adding Aral to the list of planets we'll be setting up spy hives on then.
>>48104704
wait more like player agency/control
>>48104635
>>Let Lyle decide himself
>>48104690
>We never had drones.
>They were all holograms.
>When Lyle fought us, the drones were holograms.
>When Dr.seiner studied our drones, they were holograms.
>When we boarded OQ, they were holograms.
>When we fought the scavangers, they were holograms.
>even the ships are holograms.
>>48104635
Why can't we parasite him? Do we have to explicitly pack parasites in the Angel, I thought drone amounts were automated now.
>>48104720
>everything is holograms
>we were just high off Leeland's poison spores the whole time
>>48104731
may not have the time and he can still put up a fight
>>48104733
>holograms
We are the holograms!
>>48104704
Let NPCs decide is the coward's way out.
>>48104635
>Let Lyle decide himself
>>48104740
But who made the red queen hologram?
>>48104731
They are but mission specific loadouts like that are a tricky area. Also Jackob and Dillon are onboard, it might raise questions.
>>48104743
No its not
It just allows character growth in npcs and allow them to be better fleshed out instead of just being a prop to whatever we do
>>48104743
I dont think it is. I know what id do, but i think this choicell be more interesting, personally.
>>48104746
holodeck
>>48104682
>>48104685
It's about time we introduce ourselves.
Should we inform Heretic? If he's interested, then we both could introduce ourselves to the Valen. Might make things easier. Officially claim the planet as ours, but offer the Valen terms of use or something.
>>48104690
>We don't have drones.
Then blink them in.
>>48104746
Horny nerd who wanted to waifu a Hive Mind
>>48104635
>Let Lyle decide himself
The angle drifts over the dune, sending sand flying in all directions. The cargo ramp lowers nearby as the ship touches down. Lyle glances to it and back in contemplation.
"You don't fuckin' know tarwinians, man." He says as Jackob runs from the cargo bay in a bloodied jumpsuit, quickly pulling Lyle's arm over his shoulder and aiming his sidearm at Mauser in the same motion. Lyle waves his arm down.
"Cunt's well and done, mate." He says and glares back at Mauser. Jackob quickly begins bringing Lyle back into the ship, he damaged leg dragging a line through the sand.
"You're wrong about one thing." Mauser says, almost inaudibly, and he drops to one knee, then lands on the side of a dune as the Angel begins gaining altitude and drifts away, enveloping itself in a layer of bent light. Mauser is still for a long while before he rips a strip from his torn skinsuit and begins slowly wrapping his arm. He grabs his wrist, and with a quick snap, forces the bone back through the skin. In the distance, a crate falls from the sky, shattering on impact and scattering its contents across the sand. Mauser slowly forces himself to stand, and you watch him stumble his way across the frigid desert by starlight as his form shrinks with distance in the endless dune sea.
Cont.
>>48104788
So it was Lee?
"it was me Elizabeth, it was all me."
>>48104749
That's what air ducts and camouflage are for.
>>48104799
No
IT
IS
Steiner
>>48104797
Aw snap, character development ahoy!
>>48104797
>The angle drifts over the dune
>>48104797
Lyle has accepted him as a rival then?
>>48104797
There's a parasite and a fly inside that crate of water, right?
>The black queen stole 40 relays.
>That's as much as 4 tenths.
>And that's horrible.
>>48104885
Terrible. Tens.
>>48104885
>>48104863
Fetch isn't going to happen.
>>48104915
>>48104952
ara ara
>>48104797
Your ambassador stands well above the other humans as the doctors examine Wise's new eyes, having been testing them ever since the bandages were removed. His discolored, yellow irises and the dark green of the sclera attracting occasional glances from the other workers in the small lab, his eye contact almost immediately averted when returned to the gawking technicians.
"And you have felt no ill effects from the surgery?" A doctor in a hazmat suit says.
"None. In fact, they feel perfect, even my old ones had some irritation." Wise says. "Better clarity too, and I think it has an extended range of vision."
"Actually that's likely just because your old models had issues with certain hues, the color quality was lowered for the night vision. Speaking of which, how is it?" The doctor asks. Wise blinks purposefully as he looks around.
"I can hardly tell if the lights are out anymore." Wise replies. The doctors write various things in their notes, and you hear some distant crash and an uproar of voices. A moment later the door to the small area where your drone and Wise have been quarantined opens, and the Grand Marshal steps through, chased by various guards and advisors who seem to try to stop him, but almost dive out of his way as he barrels through. He steps up in front of your drone, his face stern and tense, taller than his hologram, his uniform filled with the obvious shape of a dense, muscular frame that the low resolution telepresence image failed to capture. There is a scar running down his cheek, from the side of his eye to his chin, also either not picked up or removed by his holographic image, and the eye in question is the slightest of shades lighter than the other, possibly from the injury that gave him the scar, or from the resulting medical treatment.
"We need to talk." He says. "Follow me." And with that, he turns, walking back towards the door.
Cont.
>>48104952
The head has to be obsidian black, although that gives me another idea.
>The red queen stole 40 techs.
>That's as much as 4 tens.
>And that's great.
>>48104973
>"We need to talk." He says. "Follow me." And with that, he turns, walking back towards the door.
Oh boy, what didn he find out?
>>48104973
OH BOY!
THIS IS EITHER GREAT OR TERRIBLE!
>>48104973
>"We need to talk." He says. "Follow me."
A wedding proposal?
>>48104973
Fuck
Please just let it be about the scavs
The union shouldn't have started the war yet?
Or,
Fuck you think it could be auntie launching a full scale invasion of human space?
>>48104973
He said fuck it to quarantine protocols!
He's a loose cannon!
Really thirsty for eye upgrades is he?
We can read his emotions now passively to find out.
Remember, if he thinks we're 'contacting' anyone else, just say that's another hive that split off from us for some silly reason (as opposed to the black hive which are a bunch of dirty evil mother-killing cunts).
>>48104988
He found out pics of giant bugs are on the Union internet from months ago.
>>48105029
Oh man this is going to be good...
>>48105029
Fuck, I forgot that those were public.
>>48105022
To expand on this, if he needs a reason to hate the black queen, just say that in our few contacts she bragged about selling the earth monkeys a faulty weapon that destroyed their home.
>>48105029
We just play it cool. The Hive on Leeland is totally not us. Some other, hidden Hive. And for good reason. Then warn him about OQ and Void Cystals.
>>48105029
>>48105048
>>48105051
"Bah those [incomprehensible chittering] are always getting themselves into trouble not like our glorious hive"
>>48105029
FUCCCK
Maybe one of their spies gave the whatever files the union had on our drones and they recognized our speaker
I'd rather come slightly clean and tell him killinger tried to dissect us, but only that.
>>48105073
Doesn't matter. We never actually lied.
The fact we talked to Lee and were attacked by a metal man wasn't important.
Lets just say that one of the Hive's colony ships had a scuffle with Unity and crash-landed on Leeland, where they played dumb until the rest of our fleet caught up with them and we simply didn't bother to update the Union since they apparently tried to cheat us out.
>>48105083
>We never actually lied.
This too, all we wanted was to build a hive in peace, but then Dr.seiner wrote his paper on enslaving us, and that's bad.
>>48105073
>>48105022
>>48105064
Well really, spessbugs having many separate hives is actually technically true.
Hell I bet he's going to outright ask about other possible hives and that'll be perfect time to tell him about OQ being a bitch.
>>48105083
And we still don't really need to lie about much of anything.
Also we could probably slip in hints about void crystals. Just don't phrase it as cthulhus, just aggressive alien species that's backing the ceph.
>>48105029
I really want them to find out we know far more about them than we've let on and then be incredibly cheeky when we explain that everything we've done is just for show, to lure them into complacency while we evaluated them.
>>48105082
No, only that we spoke to Lee and Mr smith paid a visit. And wasn't even tasty. They can infer from the latter that they wanted to dissect us.
>>48105073
>>48105075
>>48105077
But why would we pretend that we're not the same creatures as the ones found on Leeland? It was only a matter of time until someone in the Commonwealth made the connection, anyone with access to Union prime time cable would have seen those images and made the connection. This is an honest attempt at diplomacy we're angling for with these guys, why not just come out and say it? We can tell them the truth, that this was a world on the edge of our territory that we were in the early stages of settling when the Union arrived. We have since then been very dissapointed with their duplicitous nature, and have been cautiously approaching the Commonwealth in the hopes that they were better than that. And so far, they have been.
>>48105109
>This is an honest attempt at diplomacy we're angling for with these guys, why not just come out and say it?
Even best diplomacy is "mostly" honest.
For example "going from stickpickers to humongous space fleet in month" is going to freak him out.
So it's easier to just say that the leeland is a seedling rather than the root.
>>48105109
Nobody is honest in this universe. Wait till we can read their minds memories.
>>48105109
But first we have to know WHAT has gotten him so agitated. We're still going on conjecture at this point.Its possible that it could be something else entirely.
>>48104973
Your drone stands confused, unsure of how to respond until you nudge it forward and your drone catches up with its graceful stride, each step slowly taking the place of several of a human's as Magnus's aids and advisors reel back from your drone, covering their mouths or simply fleeing from you altogether.
"Admiral, the containment, we're still under quarantine we have no idea-"
"Docs say they're cleaner than us. That's good enough for me and we don't have any more time to pussy foot arround." He says. The advisor stammers out the first half of a word but he snaps his hand up to cut him off, the aid's mouth shutting before he even fully stopped speaking. You continue following him as his aids slowly resume their orbit, passing him papers and tablets of data that he reads for a moment and passes to another aid with the occasional comment or correction. They begin to dissipate as you enter a long hallway, and he shouts without looking.
"Wise! You too."
Wise almost sprints to catch up as he places his palm on a contact on the door and it opens, revealing a large circular room filled with holographic images, stars, nebulae, glowing graphics indicating hostile activity or fleet positions. You can almost get a measure of the constellations, but the scale and the graphic layout prevents it from becoming too obvious, which is likely the intention of it. The communications officers working the many terminals around the wall of the room, and several highly decorated officers amid the holograms look up to gawk at your drone, who nearly scrapes the vaulted ceiling with its antennae.
"Status report." He barks. Several of the communications officers look back to their consoles.
"No change, admiral. The Imperial Fleet is still unaccounted for, Prince Reuenthal's personal flagship among them. We still have Q-com contact, but they have not responded to any communication attempts.
cont.
>>48105109
Were nation states not people
of course we spy and make sure we have a good poker face on at all times
>>48105123
Fuck please be the scavs
Not auntie
Not union
Not ceph
FUCK NOT VOID
>>48105123
Well then, looks like something went tits-up and they want emergency help.
That's a very very juicy opportunity.
>>48105109
Don't be a naive moron. They aren't better. But they may be more useful and exploitable.
>>48105131
It's Auntie Ceph of the Void Union.
>>48105151
>>48105123
What. But reuenthal. Died at Toliman. Surely those ships are accounted for.
>>48105151
PANICCCC
PANNNIC
PANNNICVC
>>48105166
What if that baby void shard called in the rest of them and they just ate the humie fleets in the system?
Didn't we send a replacement pod to Toliman after our last pod banzai'd Killinger's stealth ship?
>>48105183
I think we would have noticed.
>>48105185
I think we had a ship cloaked in the system
>>48105185
Pretty sure we did, hell, we saw the crystal being towed by the commonwealth.
>>48105166
Eh?
http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/40170768/#40172387
>>48105192
>theyre not responding
>they picked up the crystal
We need to drop the act. Ask them about the fucking crystal. Shit could go real south real fast.
WHAT DID YOU DUMB APES DO WITH THE CRYSTAL?
>explain OQ business
>the add something like "You may also want to know about another aggressive species we have encountered. They use crystalline objects [void crystal description goes here] as their means of FTL movement and communication. Attempting to interface with those object alerts them and they use the object as focus for immediate invasion."
>>48105208
Yeah really. We need to explain SHIT'S BAD YO
Sometimes i really hate this quest
Going to give me a heart attack
But its just so good
>>48105123
"ETA?" Magnus asks calmly.
"If course and speed remain within the typical safe speeds of the fleet, less than an hour now, although the wall does put in some variability on their emergence location."
Magnus pinches the bridge of his nose.
"What about his royal pain in the ass?" He says. "Has anyone managed to get Emperor Reuenthal on the horn?"
"Negative, only the court. He's reportedly in his medical tank a-"
"Damnit, when's that piece of shit gonna do us the favor and keel over?" Magnus shouts. He breaths deeply, and turns to you.
"Something happened. You see, those rebels you've heard about, well, they recently killed one of our high ranking officials. It wasn't there fault, it was an accident at best, gross negligence on our officer's part at worst, but incompetence runs in his family and his system happens to use family to decide leadership, so." He claps his hands, rubbing them together with an angry exasperation. "When a source from said rebels turns up evidence of a pre-emptive strike on our salvage operation in that system, this dead officer's brother demands me to let him lead his own pre-emptive strike. I tell him no, the source is a damn fake, and even if they did attack the public opinion of a war they started would be atrocious. Well, the inbred, goddamn slab of human garbage!" He says, his voice resounding with barely restrained anger. "Has taken it upon himself to do my job for me."
The holograms change, zooming in on a section of stars covered in a nebula. It zooms in again, showing a binary star system, and then again, expanding the system into a ballooned out of scale model showing the tense standoff between Union and Commonwealth forces.
cont.
>>48105149
Like I said, better.
>>48105224
This. Also inform them that the Ceph are a slave race of this species.
>>48105244
Ahh yes, familial monarchies.This is just like my Crusader Kings.
>>48105244
K We can calm down and lower the panic levels
Its just the union
Get back to breathing normal and thank fuck we finished that op on aral
>>48105208
They wouldn't KNOW anything. The Thunderchild doesn't even know what's in the box.
>>48105244
Wait, Killinger is the fucking source isn't he?
Dammit
>>48105244
Damn. Just civil war crap. We don't involve ourselves in petty internal squables.
>>48105265
Yeah, I panicked.
When I saw the name of that admiral, and that things were apparently going wrong.
Well, I assumed the worst.
Lets just sit back and think about this rationally now.
>>48105244
Hopefully the shitstorm we caused on aral will keep the union unbalanced and won't let them fight effectively for now
Duh you knee jerk morons. Crystals do not stop you from answering your calls.
>>48105286
The problem is that if they want us to intervene, we're going to show up on the Union's radar real quick. Even if we don't show the faces of our drones, intelligence from spies in the Commonwealth will trickle through eventually.
>>48105286
Yeah. It's not so bad. We still need to inform them about Void Crystals, Ceph and OQ.
>>48105294
They do when they convert the entire ship's crew.
>>48105244
FUCK YOU KILLINGER
Thinking your all that
>>48105244
"I need to know right now, no games, will we be able to count on you for help in our fight against those rattlers?" He says, his hand held in a knife edge pointed at your done, his tone surprisingly genuine. "I won't ask for your help in a conflict between humans. That's for us to settle, but things are about to get bad, and when we're stuck in a vice on two fronts, I need to know if you'll be on our side on one of them." Magnus maintains eye contact, staring your drone in a set of eyes chosen seemingly at random for lack of a better way to choose.
"Admiral, the Imperial Fleet is broadcasting a data stream. Five minutes to emergence." A Communications officer says. One of the heavily decorated admirals nearby, a tan looking man with his head wrapped in a large decorative looking headdress says something you don't understand, but the words hold some tone of reverence to them.
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for something (write in)
>Request further information (write in)
>Refuse direct support
>Other (write in)
>>48105295
Why is attacking the union bad again?
>>48105298
That's not how crystals work and you know it. They can't do anything that fast or thorough.
>>48105301
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
Fuck it not the best but we just cant afford for the commonwealth to fall right now
call in the favor later
>>48105301
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
Ga durr?
>>48105310
They can if the crew was psyonicly sensitive and superstitious.
>>48105301
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for something (write in)
A steady supply of canderon and trade routes
>>48105301
>offer the hive's support against the scavengers, provided the humans give us, or contain to our satisfaction, the crystal
>and yes, we do know your fleet is weaker than you want us to think it is
>>48105301
>>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
I would be okay with offering our direct aid against the Union (because fuck Killinger), but only after they began to overwhelm the Commonwealth and the war became one sided.
>>48105301
>>Offer the hive's support in exchange for something (write in)
Can we have a planet
Like if you have a spare
>>48105301
>>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
>>48105301
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
>Request further information (write in)
Tell us more about the situation with the Union, how have they been inciting tensions between the two of you
>>48105304
That'll throw a wrench into most of our sneeki breeki ops in Union space.
>>48105301
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers.
In fact, we shoud invade the scavengers right as this conversation is happening.
>>48105301
>>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
Scavs are shit anyways
>>48105301
Ifwe refuse, it motivates them to AVOID war.
If we accept,war won't seem so bad.
So um how many ships will we send to the scav front lines then?
Half our fleet? 60% ?
>>48105301
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
>Offer the hive's support, but demand the crystal within the USV Mirage, by name
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
>Other
> everyone wanting to support the Commonwealth
> when their existence is one of the biggest reasons for people to support the kingmaker bill and thereby Killinger
It's like y'all don't even politick
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
Just too early to ask for anything
Can try to gain stuff afterwards
>>48105323
Maybe we could request that they open trade with us for canderon. A lot of our finished products, like the holodecks, generators, or shield emitters, would be valuable to them and we can churn out as they could want. Then we can funnel the trade through the new space city we're planning on building.
>>48105295
Let's just say it's our policy to not intervene in other races internal conflicts.
>>48105298
Don't humans have some sort of resistance? Or being invisible to the Void Crystals.
>>48105301
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for something (write in)
In exchange for aide against the Void Crystals. Use this chance to inform them about the VC, OQ and Ceph.
>Request further information (write in)
This:
>>48105332
>Tell us more about the situation with the Union, how have they been inciting tensions between the two of you
>>48105346
>>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
>>48105346
>>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
We can try and get the crystal through normal infiltration measures.
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support, but demand the crystal within the USV Mirage, by name
"our sensors detect viotile material in the system where your fleet is, we want it."
>>48105350
No one ever said that politics had to be 100% rational
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
>>48105346
>>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
We will trade with them fairly for it of course, so ultimately we can both benefit.
>>48105346
>>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade
>>48105346
>offer the hive's support, but demand the crystal within the USV Mirage, by name
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support, but demand the crystal within the USV Mirage, by name
Use this chance to inform them about the VC, OQ and Ceph.
>>48105355
>Don't humans have some sort of resistance? Or being invisible to the Void Crystals.
They do, but we don't know if the commonwealth got rid of that advantage.
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support, but demand the crystal within the USV Mirage, by name
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
How about both?
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support, but demand the crystal within the USV Mirage, by name
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support, but demand the crystal within the USV Mirage, by name
>>48105346
>>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
For the light gold in your ships!
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
Fuck the scavs. Leverage it for the crystal later.
>>48105380
Yes. Both. Also we should have the speaker be ultra serious about this when before it has been aloof.
>>48105355
Anti psi genes that mom put into them have been getting weaker over the generations and no longer working in some of them
>>48105365
Let's not. They'll never accept a shitty deal like that and will set back our diplomatic efforts. More besides, it will tell them that we're involved in the same weapon that blew up the moon. Bad vibes.
>>48105355
Oh, let's do this. It's a pain in the ass to go around pretending we know nothing of the Union, this makes our getting involved in their shit much easier.
>>48105397
I don't remember that.
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
>>48105346
>>Offer the hive's full support against the scavengers
>>48105350
Having a full fledged star nation under our debt > Ruining Killinger's career and humiliating him. Regardless of what we do the Union and the Commonwealth will always be at the brink of war so long as one of them exists.
>>48105346
Ask for permission to terraform earth
>>48105376
>>48105377
>>48105378
>>48105380
>>48105387
>>48105389
Are you daft? This will instantly inform them we were behind the entire incident, that we're into the same shit that decided the battle for Earth, and that we've been bullshitting them from the get go, all in a single sentence! Are you giving any thought at all about the implications of this?
>>48105393
Why not now? It's the perfect opportunity to inform them about the greater enemy that threatens all of us.
>>48105400
They will only know we can detect crystals and consider them dangerous, them thinking we have knowledge about project moonraker will only be speculation.
It's kinda like our version of canderon.
>>48105346
>Offer the hive's support in exchange for access to canderon and trade access
>>48105350
Well what are we gonna do, make them STOP existing tomorrow?
Anyway yes let us make symbiosis with you drone planets mother of humans.
>>48105420
Tipping our hands on how the fuck do we know all that.
>>48105418
Unless we use this phrase >>48105365 they'll just think i'ts our version of canderon.
>>48105426
This. Just inform them hat the crystals are our enemies. They have captured our most hated enemy, and in exchange for our assistance, they must hand over the vile crystal. Say this with a completely straight face.
>>48105420
See>>48105418
You assume they'll even believe our crazy talk of eldritch abominations while we casually drop the fact that our mom decided the disastrous conclusion of their last war with the Union, and that we are responsible for starting the current one.
>>48105418
How? They don't have any substantial proof it was us.
We can simply dress up our demand or knowledge of it as mystical bullshit. And that's just one option.
>>48105456
>Just inform them hat the crystals are our enemies
Nah, just tell them it's more dangerous than canderon and we need to contain it.
>>48105457
We don't tell them everything. Just tell them about the crystals and what they're capable of. That they enslaved the Ceph and other races, even one of our own, and that they are a threat to both the Commonwealth and the Union.
It's in there own best interest to help us.
Dude aint in a mood for mystical bullshit
He wants yes or no and straight talk about a known problem
So no cheek and all serious now
So talking about the void crystals will be insulting considering the situation there are in
>>48105475
I agree with the other guy that telling them of the void gods is stupid.
>we have detected traces of FTL comms of another of our enemies from some points in your space, such as [Earth] and [Toliman]. Those things are dangerous and we would like you to hand them over for containment in exchange for our help
How about that?
>>48105460
And you assume they would just buy that shit? They have no reason to believe anything we tell them, they know absolutely nothing about us and we haven't done anything to build up any trust with them. And out of the blue we demand they fork over a one of kind artifact that they are well aware of as being capable of blowing up entire fleets with a single shot. How the fuck do you think they will react?
>>48105468
I was going for some humour there. On second thought it would be funnier if it's not with a straight face.
>>48105482
Why?
>>48105489
Anons are use to civ quests where the other factions are run by morons and can get away with saying stupid shit
>>48105485
>Traces of FTL comms
>Implying we can wiretap quantum relays
Do you even know how they work? That's probably the most implausible idea suggested so far.
