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A x x x x B x C x x D x x x x x, E x x x x x, x C/E x D/E x Workstation, lots of questions seems to be in the lead. Ill write up a bit of a teaser, and we’ll see where it takes you. After that, it looks like it’ll be a fight between Factory and Burn
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Feb 20, 2015 02:25
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I think a significant fraction of voters want to ask questions and take the tour so we can figure out the most effective place to begin the burninating.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:27
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A lot of people also want to ask questions and take a tour to gather information regardless of where we start the tour. Yes, with a plan of burninating or otherwise removing the xenos infestation when we have more information on how to do it without damaging the ship, but not risking collateral damage to the ship in the process.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:28
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As I see it, there are two ways to proceed from here 1. Stay here, underneath a battlefield, and work with the cyber-tyranids to repair the ship in secret 2. Adapt our plan to steal the hivecap, except on an even larger scale. Order the cyber-tyranids to self-destruct (if we can), get the army and/or the titans to nuke through the hive all the way down to the ship, get the Beast to drop a space elevator, fuse it to the ship and haul it into orbit, where we'll glue it to the Beast for further repairs. Will require some preparation, probably with the help of the cyber-tyranids prior to killing them off, to ensure that the ship doesn't disintegrate from the strain. 1 probably guarantees that we control the ship, but puts us at risk if the war goes badly in the near future. 2 will save the ship if we can get cooperation from the other parties here, though it might cost us control. 2 is probably preferable. This find might be big enough to have repercussions throughout the greater war. Even if it costs us everything... Ralith fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 02:31
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Ralith posted:As I see it, there are two ways to proceed from here Working with the cyber-tyranids is debatable as they don't understand the original designs. As tyrannids they're pretty incapable of working with mechanization, the fact that they're using a hybrid of flesh and metal is pretty outstanding.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:35
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That they're working with technology and also not eating us is a pretty clear sign that whatever is controlling them isn't a tyranid hive mind or vanguard organism. Other options include a previous tech-priest or one of the ship's
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Feb 20, 2015 02:36
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Ralith posted:2. Adapt our plan to steal the hivecap, except on an even larger scale. Order the cyber-tyranids to self-destruct (if we can), get the army and/or the titans to nuke through the hive all the way down to the ship, get the Beast to drop a space elevator, fuse it to the ship and haul it into orbit, where we'll glue it to the Beast for further repairs. Will require some preparation, probably with the help of the cyber-tyranids prior to killing them off, to ensure that the ship doesn't disintegrate from the strain.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:38
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Lanky Coconut Tree posted:Working with the cyber-tyranids is debatable as they don't understand the original designs. As tyrannids they're pretty incapable of working with mechanization, the fact that they're using a hybrid of flesh and metal is pretty outstanding. I think. Eagerly waiting to hear what's up with the uniformed genestealers.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:40
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Lanky Coconut Tree posted:Working with the cyber-tyranids is debatable as they don't understand the original designs. As tyrannids they're pretty incapable of working with mechanization, the fact that they're using a hybrid of flesh and metal is pretty outstanding. But I rather figure out a biological equivalent of using a zero day exploit to shut them down instead of just issuing a code command and hoping they accept politely.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:41
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The magos knows Exactly what is going on here. He knows it went haywire and he wants it all gone to avoid embarrassing the techs or himself/both, but he also wants the research because holy poo poo why wouldn't he? Imagine having the ability to hijack an entire motherfucking tyranid swarm and turn it on another tyrant swarm. Let's explore the possibility of turning this to out advantage while we continue with the original plan on acquiring the research data and then erasing the lot of it. D. As far as tyranids are concerned factories are the important stuff.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:43
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HiHo ChiRho posted:But I rather figure out a biological equivalent of using a zero day exploit to shut them down instead of just issuing a code command and hoping they accept politely. "Raw biological material is needed elsewhere. Convert into bio mass immediately"
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Feb 20, 2015 02:45
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Suppose we are able to effective take control of the Olypmpus(?). Once it is know we have it, do we have sufficient resources to keep it secure? There is a fair amount of power up top in addition to the Beast. I am imagining that we if we get it at least somewhat functional that occupying it gives us a fair amount of ability to keep it secure. If we get through this next bit and have a somewhat functioning Ark, in the process of being restored, what is the next big threat created by having the thing and people knowing we have it? I ask because it might inform choices we make now.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:46
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Arkanomen posted:"Raw biological material is needed elsewhere. Convert into bio mass immediately" Sogol posted:Suppose we are able to effective take control of the Olypmpus(?). Once it is know we have it, do we have sufficient resources to keep it secure? There is a fair amount of power up top in addition to the Beast.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:48
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You guys they said they were years away just from securing the ship from a hull breach when exposed to vaccuum. We aren't going to be able to stay that long unless you want to give up everything else we've got going and the IG doesn't take Gamma and the tyranids don't eat us.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:49
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Sogol posted:Suppose we are able to effective take control of the Olypmpus(?). Once it is know we have it, do we have sufficient resources to keep it secure? There is a fair amount of power up top in addition to the Beast. Well. Provided Quint survives this and we get in his good books, we could get protection from him since we have drydocks capable of fitting his warships. Lord Sire would probably approve. Magos might be pissy that we didn't turn it in to him, but we can feed him some scraps of xenos research to shut him up. Kozilek might want it. The biggest threats would be hijackings, so we should immediately get the Tribes from the Beast of Traal to come over here. Maybe some of the Gangs for security. Not many are stupid enough to fire on an Explorator, that's just pissing off the Mechanicus as well and you don't want to do that, ever.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:50
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paragon1 posted:You guys they said they were years away just from securing the ship from a hull breach when exposed to vaccuum. We aren't going to be able to stay that long unless you want to give up everything else we've got going and the IG doesn't take Gamma and the tyranids don't eat us.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:51
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Did Limosa essentially tell us this was here?
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Feb 20, 2015 02:55
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E Head to the workstation. Leave the Krieg at the bridge and tell them to wait for your signal. Whatever horrors we find as we delve deeper into the ship is going to break them. Do not ask about the Hive Tyrants out front who ate the Cadians. We can assume that the people? on this ship believe we have the necessary authority to be here which is why the Hive Tyrants didn't attack us, telling them that we hacked and disabled their security system is a big no no. Realistically, there's no way we can keep the ship and still our immortal soul, let's just get the research data and 
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Feb 20, 2015 02:55
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paragon1 posted:You guys they said they were years away just from securing the ship from a hull breach when exposed to vaccuum. We aren't going to be able to stay that long unless you want to give up everything else we've got going and the IG doesn't take Gamma and the tyranids don't eat us. They also said that they don't understand the engine designs. Meaning that they're not being directed by a scion of the Mechanicus, or a ship AI. With us at the helm we could speed things up immensely. Also I want to see what happens when we text the Magos "hey man, do you have a spare blueprint of an Explorator lying around I could borrow, no reason, just looking for some idle reading material"
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Feb 20, 2015 02:55
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LowellDND posted:
Are some of you guys absolutely sure the Galactic Hive Mind has no influence here, that you aren't making the same assumptions that most likely got the previous Magos killed?
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Feb 20, 2015 02:55
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paragon1 posted:Are some of you guys absolutely sure the Galactic Hive Mind has no influence here, that you aren't making the same assumptions that most likely got the previous Magos killed? Relax, its fine. The Genestealers aren't acting like Tyranids you've seen before! 
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Feb 20, 2015 02:57
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Not sure, but close enough to act as if we were. Also, regarding allies, may I remind you that the local mechanicus currently involves a titan legion, and that keeping this thing in the hands of the mechanicus (such as, you know, us) would be a thing they would probably be interested in? If we need allies with firepower, there's a plenty available, even if we don't include the Imperial Guard, which also loves us. I seriously suggest we contact the titan legion as soon as possible. This thing needs to be protected, both from the tyranids and from those parts of the Imperium that don't understand its true value (like the Imperial guard, the Ecclesiarchy, planetary nobles, rogue traders, and even a few of our own posters). Waci fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 02:58
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paragon1 posted:Are some of you guys absolutely sure the Galactic Hive Mind has no influence here, that you aren't making the same assumptions that most likely got the previous Magos killed?
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Feb 20, 2015 02:59
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We don't know whether the previous tech-priest is dead. Could have plugged his brain into the ship for all we know. Actually, a question for the tyranid-workers. "How long has the repair project been underway?" If our predecessor showed up decades or even centuries ago, they might still be here, and even technically alive, but unable to distinguish their mind from the ship's machine spirits. Lowell: Do the tyranid crewmen have a noosphere profile? Can we detect machine spirits? Waci fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 03:02
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Questions Controlling your revulsion, you looked the rank markers. “Tell me… Helmsman. What is your service record? How did you become attached to this project?” “Ah, me madam? I was birthed perhaps five years ago. My batch was selected for technical expertise and limited leadership, and the augments improve memory and spatial recognition. Most of what we do is trying to figure out the archaeotech, and repairing or replacing it as necessary. Figuring out what things are are takes a lut of time, but having to grow entire organs that hold a similar purpose seems to take just as long.” Those mouths seemed to chew their words like a Dreg eating an insect. They smacked and chewed and grunted, and you could barely stop yourself from incinerating it right there. You drew on your inner resolve, demanded more answers. “How long has this project been working?” “Several decades, Madam. Longer then my brood pods have existed, certainly.” “Aside from retrofitting the ship, what are your standing orders?” He seemed to glance above him, or inside him. “Protect the hull, secure boarders, collect biomass, continue construction.” “Is that why there is a war?” It blinked, vertically. How grotesque. “The Navy reports no enemy contacts at this time, madam.” “Why did the Hive-Tyrants attack Imperial Guardsmen?” “Local gangs have been attempting to breach the hull. Sometimes they are disguised in the uniform of our allies. We have to defend the integrity of the ship, madam.” “Do you collect the biomass from the dead?” “Yes madam. We can’t waste material when we’re rebuilding from the skeleton up.” “What actions have you taken to retrofit the ship?” “Hull was mostly complete. Void shields required little change. Weapons lacked ammo and showed wear and tear, biocannons are being grown. Engines were inexplicable, new engines are being grown. Life support is grown. Minor systems in various states of examination or replication.” “What will it take to transition the cogitators to function independently of the attached biologicals?” “The cogitators were … too independent. They contested the design. It took several years to get it to accept the biologicals.” “But if we wanted to transition back?” You reached out with your mind, searching. Pulled backed, shocked. The Machine-Spirits were restrained, even amputated, by levels of security you’d never imagined. They growled like primordial gods behind miles of razor wire. “I wouldn’t recommend it madam.” “What happened to my predecessor?” “They are following their designated purpose. Like us.” Well, that wasn’t ominous. "It may become necessary to perform an emergency extraction of the ship to orbit if the war goes badly. What will be necessary to minimize the mechanical damage this would cause? What external support might make the operation safer?" It made a hissing sound. “Madam, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Half the ship might fall off before we broke atmosphere.” Absently, you checked to see if a Tech-Priest had added any notation to the augmented reality. Minor additions, just ‘worker’ and the like. “Thank you, you’ve been very helpful. Can you take me to my predecessor's workstation?” “Right this way Madam.” And back into the filth. Kilometers of organic tissue, seals, ribbons of intestine, the hideous breathing. The walls gaped with open tendons, and behind them, the endless ‘gaunts, with piss-yellow eyes and the arcing of electricity. Truly, it was a demented mind who had come here. It was a demented mind that had done this. The workstation was set in a large chamber. It included some kind of nesting area, bulbous and filled with liquid, and organic pipes dragged from the ceiling, dripping what looked to be nutrient feeds. The room was dominated by dozens of cybernetic screens, metal and silicon in stretched flesh. Nervous tissue linked them to the walls, and the scenes flickered through visual monitoring - high points in the Hives, the massive war, the dead Cadians outside the ship. Other screens were running Machine-Spirits, lines of code and binary endless processing. You tapped into one, bypassing the simple encryption. There were layers of crypto beyond that, of course, but the outermost layer of the onion had documentation. Almost like it wanted to be found… The Memoirs of Magos Angelika Desparrois [Much of the log is corrupted. Recoverable notes stretch a period of centuries. They are listed in chronological order, oldest first] The Magos says I am ‘too interested’ in the xeno. What nonsense. If we are going to defeat them, we need to learn how to understand them. Dissections aren’t enough. I’m starting to think vivisections aren’t enough. You need to take the xeno in a controlled habitat and see how it responds to stimuli. It works on humans, it will work on xeno. Apparently my ideas are ‘too radical’ for a Tech-Priest of my age and expertise. They are assigning me to catalogue the Sequester. Reading old papers and filing folders! Its a waste. I could be on the Rim, finding out about the xeno, taking them apart and seeing what makes them tick. Instead I’m digging through papers that were catalogued a millenia ago. Hunh. That’s interesting. I finished the papers early today. This device… its bizarre. I don’t understand it. And its not like I can ask the Magos about it, they think I’m too inquisitive already. It just keeps spamming numbers. I’m sure there’s a pattern to it. So frustrating. I haven’t slept and the papers await me. I’ve tried every crypto I have access to and some I shouldn’t. I don’t think it’s encrypted. Maybe a language? I’ll run it through the cogitators and see what they think. Not a language either. What on earth… HAHAHAAHAHA! I broke it! Its galactic coordinates, down to the square kilometer. Fantastic precision. And it pings every hour, too. Not sure what the time delay is, but I can still find out what is transmitting. Hunh. A bunch of cathedrals. Bizarre. Disabled, disabled, disabled... Inactive? And on a Hive World too. ‘Golgotha.’ I’ve stolen a warp shuttle. They may call me maletek but I know I’m right. By the Omnissiah, the transponder was perfect. Archaeotech, right where it said it would be. … Oh. Oh. I can’t tell anyone this. I’ve been awarded the title of Magos! Even the scraps here have brought me the apex of my career. Kiera says they’ve been made Magos! That’s wonderful! … This damnable Ark won’t run. It’s asking for parts I don’t have the name of. The xeno run biological ships. Maybe I can make use of some of their parts. Kiera wants to meet. We can trade Biologis lore, it might help. I don’t understand the xeno enough. I’ll implant some of their neural webbing and try to understand. ...everything is so clear the ship is waking up ///transcript ends/// What do you do? Loel fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 03:16
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What's the name of the Magos of the Beast?
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Feb 20, 2015 03:20
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Lanky Coconut Tree posted:What's the name of the Magos of the Beast? You know, Ive never actually said
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Feb 20, 2015 03:21
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Thought so. We have to go deeper...
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Feb 20, 2015 03:22
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Recovering this log, and any other research from the Magos that we can find, is our actual mission here. Record the log. Search for any other information we can find. Research information. Data. Places where other information might be stored. When we're done, wipe the console of the data we have recovered, leaving our recording as the only copy.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:24
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Hull and shields in good shape, you say? That leaves one thing to get us out of here. To the engines! Sounds like the old Magos is indeed running the hivemind here, though they might be compromised themselves by Hive influence. Also, in the interest of securing assistance in preparation for extraction, transmit what we've found so far to our Magos post-haste
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Feb 20, 2015 03:25
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Ralith posted:Hull and shields in good shape, you say? That leaves one thing to get us out of here. To the engines! It sounds like we'd win the digital war once we let loose the cogitators and other Machine Spirits too
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Feb 20, 2015 03:27
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Holy poo poo, this is an amazing mix of temptation, terror, and tricky situation.  We must see the engines!
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Feb 20, 2015 03:28
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I do want to emphasize that, as far as you can tell, no one else knows about this. Not the Inquisition. Not the Mechanicus. Even your own Magos just wants some files. You passed through a 'bug-me-not' psyker field on the way down here. So if you want to hold this close to your chest, and work on it later with Rogue Trader resources... That's an option.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:31
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Can we reasonably expect the ship, buried kilometers deep, to survive an Exterimnatus? Because that is so tempting, but to lose such a treasure just because we wanted it all for ourselves would be an even worse mistake than the first Magos here made.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:32
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LowellDND posted:I do want to emphasize that, as far as you can tell, no one else knows about this.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:32
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I don't care where we go next on the tour, but there are some things we have to do. "Were the old engines destroyed, or are they stored somewhere? They might still prove useful in the future, if they can be studied." Our goal should be first to free the ship's machine spirits, so that they could help us safely and thoroughly cleanse this ship. If we have a reasonable chance of doing it ourselves, either by simply forcing our way through the metaphorical barbed wire or by deceiving the mind controlling it into taking it down, it should be our priority number one above all other concerns until it's done. If that's not possible or is deemed too risky, we should find help, which would mean leaving this place, and returning later, hopefully with assistance from the magi of the Collegia Titanica.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:33
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Ralith posted:Can we reasonably expect the ship, buried kilometers deep, to survive an Exterimnatus? A ship from the Dark Age of Technology? 
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Feb 20, 2015 03:33
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Download the research (if it can happen here), check the engines to see if we can jack some "inexplicable" tech, then weapons, then on to the factory bay. if we only get to vote on a single action - "get the research." Vote on a place? Engines. Arguments about how valuable the ship is or isn't takes a backseat to getting the next update! 
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Feb 20, 2015 03:34
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LowellDND posted:A ship from the Dark Age of Technology?
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Feb 20, 2015 03:34
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Depends on the method used. If the powers that be decide that this time they feel like antimatter bombing the place until there's not an atom of matter left within Golgotha's Van Allen belt, no, I suspect we would not survive, even if we hid inside a fancy boat. Just repeating, WE SHOULD INFORM THE ADEPTUS MECHANICUS OF THIS DISCOVERY. IN OUR CASE, THE NEAREST HIGH RANKING MEMBERS ARE WITH THE TITAN LEGION AND THE MAGOS ON THE BEAST. Waci fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 03:35
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