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So Mother's sanity hadn't survived intact.. Still, we've no choice but to ascend.
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Jan 4, 2015 11:20
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send the skull
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Jan 4, 2015 11:39
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Huh... A hole in empty space... A shadow in the void...
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Jan 4, 2015 12:47
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LowellDND posted:I’m Batman No, we're motherfuckin' MacGuyver, bitches! JT Jag posted:I'm guessing that where they died isn't dry enough for their corpses to be properly preserved. Their skulls will crumble before we can even scoop them out of their heads. Aw, that's a sha... LowellDND posted:All told, it was nearly a day to get two squads of troops into place in the barracks. They were pleasingly well equipped, though, and you had a bushel of skulls for later renovation. The vented air had preserved them astonishingly well, and you were already full of ideas for what to do with them once you had the resources. Boo-ya! Skulls for the win! You're welcome. (Yes, I'm gloating. Feel free to drill me to death with one of our awesome new melee servo-skulls later)
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Jan 4, 2015 14:01
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B And yeah we're deffo purging this badboy later.
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Jan 4, 2015 15:14
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Don't send Tanya, she will make an excellent and resourceful personal bodyguard/commando in the future for our retinue.  Pop some flares to see whats up there. Thats why we have them!
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Jan 4, 2015 16:02
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B. Send the skull!
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Jan 4, 2015 16:08
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Give the skull a flare gun.
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Jan 4, 2015 16:09
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Send the skull.
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Jan 4, 2015 16:19
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Chantilly Say posted:Give the skull a flare gun.
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Jan 4, 2015 16:22
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Servitor x Skull or Tanya x x Skull x x x Flares x Skull Flares x x
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Jan 4, 2015 16:35
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Skull flares.
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Jan 4, 2015 16:51
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Chantilly Say posted:Give the flare gun a skull. And an AI
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Jan 4, 2015 16:53
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Yeah, we should start dabbling in AI. Hot glue gun a skull/brain in there so it looks like a servitor. I suspect that's what most high level machine spirits/servitors are anyway.
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Jan 4, 2015 17:10
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Outrail posted:Yeah, we should start dabbling in AI. Hot glue gun a skull/brain in there so it looks like a servitor. This is true. Most high-level machine intelligences are organic at some point. Warhound Titans, for example, are mostly canine.
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Jan 4, 2015 18:49
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I'd vote regular flare but it's not going to win. If a flare disturbs something and it comes at us we're on flat ground in a holy(?) place when it attacks, or if it illuminates something dangerous we'll know about it. Low cost high yield. Plus a skull. Skull flare.
Brownview fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Jan 4, 2015 |
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Jan 4, 2015 19:00
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Gotta go with Skull flares I'm guessing that the guy who disappeared before our  ramp over the chasm was taken. I sort of wonder if this is some sort of chaos deal now. If the sixers get out, what would happen to them?put them in a battalion, problem solved 
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Jan 4, 2015 19:46
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Can someone smarter than me explain what is happening, or at least a theory? Expeditions have consistently tried to explore the elevator for a long time. None have progressed past this point. Mother deletes any information about attempts. The explorers believe Mother is intentionally sacrificing them? To something? Wants to stay underground? Is insane? All of the above?
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Jan 4, 2015 19:57
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Sogol posted:Can someone smarter than me explain what is happening, or at least a theory? More technically, expeditions have gone past this point, but none come back. The author (depending on how reliable he is) was starting to get quite paranoid about Mother, including thinking she was destroying people trying to leave. This doesn't match the desperation you saw... but that was some 1500 years later.
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Jan 4, 2015 20:15
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Do you guys think bombing the building Mother is in with high-grade incendiaries is A: A really good idea or B: An excellent idea and also a sacred duty to our God ?
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Jan 4, 2015 21:26
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paragon1 posted:Do you guys think bombing the building Mother is in with high-grade incendiaries is
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Jan 4, 2015 21:27
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Ah... So so expeditions past this point might be destroyed by something. Equally they might make their way to freedom and have no way or cause to return for some unknown reason. Expeditions escaping though implies knowledge of this place in the outside world over the past millennium. If that were the case then it in turn might imply that this is a functioning prison of some sort. If they are eaten it is a strange predator that can live on such scant picking for so long, unless the "predator" is a non-living security program or something, triggered by the earth quake, malfunctioning or previously in place. So escape requires positing some form of information control imposed on the escapees by someone or something for unknown reasons. This means we will encounter some sort of organized force at the top or along the way. Predation seems most likely non-biological system of some sort. This should not present a significant problem for us I should think, since we will have a pretty good chance of simply hacking and co-opting it. It does seem just as likely that it is Mother herself preventing escape in some way for some reason and that is likely to be a pretty bad problem. I'm gunna go with a demented Mother protecting her children. Sogol fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Jan 4, 2015 |
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Jan 4, 2015 21:42
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B. Use the skull.
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Jan 4, 2015 21:52
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The mystery remains why an astropath was down in this immensely deep mineshaft in the first place.
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Jan 5, 2015 00:56
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How else do you pilot a hulk the size of a planet?
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Jan 5, 2015 04:01
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Shoot a flair. Maybe we'll kill whatever we shoot it at
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Jan 5, 2015 05:12
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JT Jag posted:C: I think it'd be funny to evacuate everyone and just leave Mother down here, all alone. Forever. That was my idea, too. Her goal is to rule the beneath, and her mission was to help the people survive until they can see the light once more. The heretic deserves no such reward. She stays put.
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Jan 5, 2015 05:18
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Servitor x Skull or Tanya x x Skull x x x x Flares x x Skull flares x x x x x, x Ill begin Operation: SkullFlares! here shortly.
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Jan 5, 2015 05:59
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Today’s music choice: System of a Down Operation: Skullflares! Even as you began retrofitting our servo-skull, your mind was considering the new data. The fact that no one could leave (or more precisely, if they did, they never returned) suggested that this whole place was a prison of some sort. The primary question, of course, was if it was a prison to keep Mother in, or if Mother was in fact the warden. Leaving her motives aside for the moment (what madness psykers?) it suggested you should betray her at some point soon. If it was a prison to keep her in, then you had to agree with the builders. A group mind telepath like her was an abomination, and was honestly the best explanation why an Astropath was so far below the earth. If she was the warden, then she had kept thousands of people in bondage (away from their duties to the God-Emperor!) all for her own aggrandizement. You have several options that might resolve the issue. If you could bypass the platform, you would be free with no one the wiser. No one would know she was down here, and you could swear your troops to silence. The pilgrims you left behind could perhaps even start a holy war against Mother. Alternately, you might draw the populace to the surface, and attack her while she was vulnerable. Mother hadn’t been to the surface in centuries, and you had millions of troops just a call away. Time enough to consider your options. For now, your servo-skull (Perhaps you should give it a name? Some Tech-Priests did so) was fitted with a semi-automatic flare launcher. You had broken apart a rifle and affixed the gas-operating reloading to the eye socket of the skull. It had a strange effect; a pneumatic drill in the mouth, and a flare launcher in the eye. You were well on your way to being a Magos, you thought. Meanwhile, your riding-servitor had completed the other task you had set for it. You now had a rope railing along the elevator column. They were deeply set into the wall on either side; your entire platoon could lean on it without it budging. You hadn’t down the math yet, but you were half sure it could even handle a Centaur leaning on it as well. It was unfortunate you didn’t figure out how to bring up the vehicles, their heavy guns might come in handy later. Your squads faithfully leaned against the ropes, trusting you completely. You smiled in satisfaction to yourself. You had only been with them for a week, but they already trusted their lives to your skill. That kind of faith would serve the Omnissiah well. You did a final check of everyone, made sure all weapons were ready to go, and then you ushered the servo-skull into the column. There was a moment of silent, tense anticipation as you watched it go. Something up there was stopping evacuation, and you were eager to find out what it was. The skull rose slowly, the whirring of its engines echoing from the walls in a soft hum. In a strange counterpoint, the relaxed breathing of your squad, slowing their heart to increase accuracy. After climbing for a bit, the skull launched the first flare. It leapt from the eye socket like some strange parasite, ascending on a pillar of light. You could see other gaps, other openings, to chambers yet unexplored. You wondered what you might find there. The wardens to the prison? The remains of the explorers who had come before? What might they have left behind? The flare dimmed and fell, passing the skull and falling into the depths and out of sight. You knew that the sound of its impact would never reach you, never even reach the Subsixers. Absently, you wondered how deep the column went. You had read some hives had geothermal taps; it was possible that it went into the mantle of the planet. You briefly considered doing the math to see how long it would take to land, and then the next flare launched. The darkness is thicker up there, even accounting for the distance from you. It was like a cloak of thick velvet, and reminded you of the deep darkness near the Fissure. You shivered self-consciously. There was something atavistically horrible about it. You could see the impact on the troops, as well. Slight muscle tensions, a narrowing of the eyes. They didn’t like it either. The skull was nearly 150 meters up, by your estimate. The third flare popped, climbing to the 200 meter mark. You could see the bottom of the platform, and your heart leapt in relief. It was still there. Even if the Machine-Spirits needed consoling, the platform was there, and you could move your convoy on to it. You could leave. Focusing your gaze, you noticed strange, glittery strands spread over the bottom of it. It wasn’t to any technological purpose you were aware of, although you knew some of the principles of Archaeotech. A closer examination might be useful. Perhaps it was the design by which people were kept down here? The flare reached the strands, and stalled in its embrace. Its light flickered dimly before going out. What do you do? A Seems safe enough.Tell the servitor to continue making the rope ladder. B You need more information. See if the servoskull can collect the material and bring it down. C There might be something alive up there. Use the vox to try to speak through the skull and see if anything responds. D You need to stop wasting time. Fire incendiary grenades, the platform should resist the blast and the material should clear E Something else
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Jan 5, 2015 07:49
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C followed by D if they aren't kosher
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Jan 5, 2015 07:55
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D. If it was animal up there, it would have been attracted by the servitor before the flares. Fire always works to fell a beast anyway.
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Jan 5, 2015 08:00
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HiHo ChiRho posted:D. If it was animal up there, it would have been attracted by the servitor before the flares. Fire always works to fell a beast anyway. Minor quibble: The riding servitor hasn't been that high yet. The servo-skull has gotten within 50 meters of it, but no response yet.
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Jan 5, 2015 08:02
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Spiders.
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Jan 5, 2015 09:23
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D Burn the spiders.
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Jan 5, 2015 10:11
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D Kill all spiders1!!
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Jan 5, 2015 10:15
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My guess for a worst-case scenario: Mother is both a collection of eaten psykers and a hive of mutant spiders.
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Jan 5, 2015 10:19
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Shadeoses posted:My guess for a worst-case scenario: Mother is both a collection of eaten psykers and a hive of mutant spiders. Oh my god that would be so awesome edit: This thread routinely comes up with better things than I could ever come up with 
Loel fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Jan 5, 2015 |
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Jan 5, 2015 12:03
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Caught up with the thread over the weekend. I'm loving your writing style, OP. Riding the D bandwagon.
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Jan 5, 2015 12:11
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Fat Samurai posted:Caught up with the thread over the weekend. I'm loving your writing style, OP. Thank you and welcome to the thread!
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Jan 5, 2015 12:16
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| # ? May 11, 2024 08:06 |
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C Just to be different.
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Jan 5, 2015 12:17
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