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Bwhahha, that picture. Also, I forgot how much I liked Danzig. Used to play that song a ton during Burning Crusade. Today’s post brought to you by Manson’s Antichrist Superstar Titles are a bourgeois affectation You stumbled out of the house, gasping, coughing. You felt like there was a vise on your mechanical heart, slowly relaxing. You reached in your robes, found cloth. Cleaned the blood off your face. That cursed ringing in your ears, though, a faint hum that wasn’t going away. It was like some insect that had camped out just out of reach. You winced. Your head ached. Tanya was watching you. Standing where she said she would be. She looked at your recovery without comment, then asked: “What is it like meeting Mother?” You coughed again, a full body shudder. Your synthetic skin was crawling with the memory of what was in that house. “She’s… intense. Very intense.” Tanya didn’t reply for a bit, and then: “I’ve never met Mother. I’ve talked with the people who have though. They say its the most calming experience - where everything is known, everything has its purpose. Mother is said to be surrounded by the purest light. She directs the tasks of everyone here, keeps Subsix alive.” She looks into your eyes. “Mother is a great person.” That hung in the air as you didn’t reply. Finally, Tanya critically added, “None of them mentioned the coughing though. Or the shakes.” She paused. “Why do you think that is?” You spat blood, wincing at your bit tongue. “I think it would take away some of the mythos if everyone knew she was that overwhelming. Its easier to just remember and repeat the good.” Tanya watched you thoughtfully, then nodded. “That makes sense. What did she say to you?” “She wants me to repair the elevator. Said you knew where it was.” Tanya looked startled for the first time. “Well, yes. Its one of the biggest landmarks in Subsix, everyone knows where it is. That doesn’t do us much good though.” “She thinks I can fix it.” She blinked. “Maybe you do look like something after all.” The crowds gave you a cheer when you returned. You climbed up your Chimera, stood on top of it, in full sight of everyone. Part of you shuddered at the idea of being so public, without cover. A sniper could pop your head like a grape. But weirdly, the only person you had seen with weapons was Tanya. Apparently Mother ran a tight ship. After meeting her, that didn’t really surprise you. You found your voice. “My friends! I have spoken with Mother!” More cheers. “She has told me I must attempt to repair the elevator platform!” Shocked silence. You think rapidly, have a moment of inspiration. “She believes - I believe! That if I can do so, then we are the chosen of the Foreman! We are the ones you’ve been waiting for!” The silence stood for a moment more, and then the cheers were frenzied, earthshaking. You wished you could hide from the noise, your head feeling stabbing pains, but you kept your face a fixed grin. You clicked the radio. “Convoy, advance at a crawl. Tanya will guide.” The engines rumbled, dismounts walking forward with fungal mushrooms placed in their hair and uniforms. The crowd eagerly split for you, and then followed, like a shark travelling through a school of fish. Tanya was gleeful, standing five meters off the ground, pointing out landmarks and directing the convoy. The distance traveled was not far, but the warren of circles and lines slowed the travel something fierce. The crowds did little to help, their continued cheering a pounding on your head it didn’t need. You thought you could see the other crewmen feeling a similar way, trying to diplomatically cover their ears during loud bits. You were pretty sure the steel rain of deployment was quieter than this. Finally. In front of you, a gaping darkness. It was almost comforting, knowing you were away from Mother. You ordered your vehicles in a semicircle around the entrance, weapons at the ready. Behind them, it seemed like the entire populace of the city, all six thousand of them, were stacked up, singing. After some moments, you could notice some familiar patterns. It was a variant of the Imperial Hymn, with the Foreman as God-Emperor and Mother as his emissary here on earth. Fairly standard autocratic theocracy then. That was reassuring. The elevator shaft itself was massive - if the platform was available, you were sure you could fit your entire convoy, and more besides. It looked like it was used as a mining platform, bringing up and down hundreds of tons of material. You glanced your lights above and below the current level, but the shaft extended beyond their reach. You glanced at Tanya. She shrugged. “No one has made it to the top or the bottom of the shaft. We all climb it at some point, but most of them decide its not for them. I’m an explorer though. I’ve found chambers that haven’t been touched. You just have to work harder to get to them.” You nod. “Can you show me the first new one above this one? I want to see where they haven’t been.” Tanya looks at you appraisingly. “Well, you are pretty small, and light. You good at climbing?” You considered your skills thoughtfully. Usually your riding servitor is for things like this, but it couldn’t handle a vertical climb like this. “I’m okay.” She shrugged. “On your splattered body be it. Come on.” Your servo skull floated into the shaft, shining its grim light on the walls. You could see easy handholds, marked with the oils and erosion of tens of thousands of hands. Tanya is already climbing them like a spider, as familiar with them as her own body. You follow, slower, and less sure. Its a matter of minutes before shes far above you, climbing in the dark. You could still hear her breathing though, and the faint grunts of effort as she pulled herself up. You were less silent, you knew. The path she had chosen got harder as you went, both from fatigue and as the handprints decreased. Soon, there were barely any marks at all, and you had the disconcerting feeling of knowing you had been where only a handful of people had come before. Muscles straining, almost screaming, you pull yourself up once more. You barely conceal a shriek when a hand reaches out and grabs you, drags you into the next floor. Your servo skull lights on Tanya, who is breathing deep and easy, having enjoyed her climb. You, meanwhile, are unable to stand up, focused only on massaging the aching muscles. She looks down at you sympathetically. “I was like that the first time too. It gets easier.” You nod gratefully, not trusting yourself to speak, and then look around slowly. It was an expansive barracks, in a standard blueprint you had seen on tests a thousand times before. Posters were on the wall, blurs of color and dust, and you were sure they would crumble to powder if you touched them. The room was full of lockers and beds and chairs. Many of them were occupied. Your heart sinking, knowing what you would find, you wearily sat up and walked over to them. Imperial Guardsmen, mummified where they died. They were nearly perfectly preserved from the unique conditions in the elevator shaft, and you glanced expectantly about. There was a large pile of empty ration cans in one corner, and a quick look through the lockers showed dust. They had starved here. Or, more likely, killed themselves at the end. You wondered how they chose, whether they would prefer to jump or to shoot. Tanya was talking animatedly, ignoring the bodies as if they were just objects. You wondered if to her, they were. You weren’t sure what Subsix taught their children about death. Tuning back in, you listen to her stories. She had found her way here, figured out the locks, the guns. Practiced with them for hours. That kind of regimen - the climb, the shooting - was more than some Guard training, you knew. She trailed off, looking at you, the only light coming from the Servo-skull. “So, what do you think?” What do you do? You and the convoy are completely out of food. You can push another three days or so, but by then they will start stealing it on their own, regardless of consequences. A. Push ahead. You can get to the elevator platform before the three days are up, repair it, and bring it back in time for Christmas. B. Go back. Accept the hospitality of Subsix, restock your full convoy on supplies, and then plan your expedition with the support of the locals. C. Go back, but don’t trust the hospitality. Wait for the sleep periods, and steal from the greenhouses and mushroom forest. That way, it won’t be poisoned. D. Go back and gather your troops. Abandon the vehicles, climb out of the shaft, and leave the town behind. This is your chance. E. Something Else Loel fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Jan 3, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 02:17
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 01:50 |
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B. I'm curious to learn more about how long they've been down here, and if any of them could (or would) fight for the Emperor when we get this elevator running. Avoid Mother like the plague, though. Also, is there any sign of the platform yet? Is it down, or up, is what I'm wondering? We should figure that out sooner rather than later, so we can fix it faster.
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Jan 2, 2015 02:38
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B
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Jan 2, 2015 02:51
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A. And send the servo skull back to tell the others to wait and B (eat and ha g out with the locals. Consider the psychology of the individual. Mother wants to get out. That's all she can think about. If we grant her that she will be bewildered and alone and likely watch her empire crumble as her people realise the truth of things. If if help her out, then explain to her her position, then offer her sanctuary on the Beast she'll have no option but to accept. She will be in our debt and dependant on our protection, and most likely willingly, as we can allow her to do what a navigator does (once we take over the ship and murder the current navigators....).
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Jan 2, 2015 03:06
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 Mother's got no reason to gently caress with us since we're doing what she wants, and the Subsixers wouldn't go against Mother's wishes either. Seems safe enough.
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Jan 2, 2015 03:52
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Outrail posted:A. And send the servo skull back to tell the others to wait and B (eat and ha g out with the locals.
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Jan 2, 2015 03:54
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B. Letting the troops just fraternize with the locals without orders is likely to lead to an irreparable breakdown in order. What can we presume the elevator is like? Are there what look like spaces in the walls for massive gear wheels? I figure the elevator must carry its own lifting mechanism and crawl up and down the shaft. Lifting via a massive pushing mechanism from below seems impractical, and via ropes and pulleys from above seems unreliable.
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Jan 2, 2015 03:58
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VanSandman posted:B. Letting the troops just fraternize with the locals without orders is likely to lead to an irreparable breakdown in order. Im not an engineer, but 'massive gear wheels' does sound like something we'd find in 40k. Lets go with that. (It sounds like this wouldn't be the counterweight system we see in our elevators, but a self contained thing?) Mepstein, the platform is somewhere above you, Mother talked about how everyone who tried to climb to it fell. A x x B x x x x C D E Senior person in the convoy right now is Sergeant Matthais, your XO. So, it depends on how much you trust him, and what orders you give through the servo-skull.
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Jan 2, 2015 04:04
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B
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Jan 2, 2015 04:10
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LowellDND posted:Im not an engineer, but 'massive gear wheels' does sound like something we'd find in 40k. Lets go with that. What kind of equipment do we have in our convoy? What equipment do we have that they don't? Can Ohone rig up climbing tools rather than relying on hand-holds? What kind of walls does the shaft appear to be made of? Also, I'm kind of suspicious of the idea that the whole place was just abandoned. I have a nagging feeling that they were all left here to die, and for a reason. C
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Jan 2, 2015 05:46
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Volmarias posted:What kind of equipment do we have in our convoy? What equipment do we have that they don't? Can Ohone rig up climbing tools rather than relying on hand-holds? What kind of walls does the shaft appear to be made of? The walls are poured concrete. Your convoy has basic things for towing and maintenance (chains, tool kit, vehicle jacks etc), but not a full repair bay. Your gear is much more solid and recent, theirs are x number of years of duct tape and hope. For example, Mother said they used a Tech Priest's parts to keep the vents working. The locals have basic tools and tool making equipment, but not much in the way of modern German specialized tools, if that makes sense. If they were left to die, they've been down there much longer then could be reasonably expected.
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Jan 2, 2015 05:53
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A Why would we go back now?
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Jan 2, 2015 06:20
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LowellDND posted:Im not an engineer, but 'massive gear wheels' does sound like something we'd find in 40k. Lets go with that. Here, I made another diagram. This is a side view - the elevator has big old gears that allow it to 'crawl' up and down the elevator shaft. Do you understand what I mean now? 
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Jan 2, 2015 07:09
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Sounds perfect. Im always happy to write about huge industrial gears  Edit: to make my post make sense, Ill say that the teeth of the gear receiver are too big to use as a ladder by themselves, so they are used as alternating steps with the other wall. IE, you'd climb in the 90 degree corner, and one side is the metal, and one is the indents in the concrete made by previous climbers. Loel fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 07:10
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B seems prudent. If they wanted us dead, they'd kill us in some underhanded fashion right after Mother read our thoughts the first time. Also, can we not eat the mushrooms? Creepy psyker sect like that, the mushrooms can't contain anything good.
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Jan 2, 2015 08:08
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Tias posted:B seems prudent. If they wanted us dead, they'd kill us in some underhanded fashion right after Mother read our thoughts the first time. Its the primary food source, but they have moss and other stuff. Maybe some cave bugs. A x x x B x x x x x, x C x D E Looks like B is inching forward.
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Jan 2, 2015 08:10
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LowellDND posted:Its the primary food source, but they have moss and other stuff. Maybe some cave bugs.
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Jan 2, 2015 08:11
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JT Jag posted:I presume that if the food down here was tainted in any meaningful way, then it would have started showing in the many generations of people that have been born down here. They've shown some cave adaption - pale skin and hair, and some stretched faces. That might be the small population pool though.
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Jan 2, 2015 08:14
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C
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Jan 2, 2015 08:32
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LowellDND posted:They've shown some cave adaption - pale skin and hair, and some stretched faces. That might be the small population pool though.
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Jan 2, 2015 09:07
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Outrail posted:A. And send the servo skull back to tell the others to wait and B (eat and ha g out with the locals. This. Best of both worlds.
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Jan 2, 2015 10:09
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B: Also start converting these abhumans back to the creed. We're with the pilgrims, send some of them out to preach that the Foreman is a saint in service to He On Terra. If we're going to press them into proper service they'll need to be within acceptable deviation of the creed. The subsixers will make good voidsmen for the less traveled parts of the hulk or tunnel fighters for the guard. As for the witch, well that is the Astra Telepathica's problem. I'm sure the black ships have the resources needed to handle it.
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Jan 2, 2015 10:59
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LowellDND posted:The walls are poured concrete. Your convoy has basic things for towing and maintenance (chains, tool kit, vehicle jacks etc), but not a full repair bay. Your gear is much more solid and recent, theirs are x number of years of duct tape and hope. For example, Mother said they used a Tech Priest's parts to keep the vents working. The locals have basic tools and tool making equipment, but not much in the way of modern German specialized tools, if that makes sense. Well, how much rope or other analog do we have? Enough that we can bring people up chamber by chamber? If our quote:If they were left to die, they've been down there much longer then could be reasonably expected. While true, this still doesn't smell right. Even in The Grim Dark Future this seems like a bit of a waste, if only because the guardsmen were left when they could probably have been relatively easily rescued via climbing tools. Maybe they were "abandoned" when the gene stealer cult was started? How high up is the platform from "ground" level?
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Jan 2, 2015 13:56
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JT Jag posted:I believe that we can eventually develop into a sort of Inquisitor who believes he can serve the Emperor by means perhaps not considered conventional, without necessarily falling to Chaos. I'm sure that half of the corrupted inquisitors in 40k lore have said this same sentence.
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Jan 2, 2015 14:06
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Green Intern posted:I'm sure that half of the corrupted inquisitors in 40k lore have said this same sentence. "Puritan" is an excuse made by people who are too weak to do what needs to be done for the good of the Imperium.
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Jan 2, 2015 15:07
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B, in some manner. I agree that it would be foolish to allow uncontrolled fraternization. The sixers are probably harmless, and Mother wants us to succeed.
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Jan 2, 2015 15:37
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A I see no reason to waste more time here than is necessary.
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Jan 2, 2015 15:41
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I vote for the A while telling our convoy to do B option. We should have taken a vox communicator with us, but for now the servo-skull relay would work. It'll be able to catch up to us pretty quickly (they float/fly?) once it delivers the message. Ideally it'll pick up a vox from the convoy if we have a pair, so we can try to send messages back as need be. Also, ask Tanya if there are any ropes up where we're at. It'd be nice to throw some down to make the climb downwards easier.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:06
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How many servoskulls do we have? Can we rig up a harness and skullcopter the gently caress out of here? Can we just send the servoskull up to investigate for the inevitable monster in the dark that will try and make us fall down the shaft? +1 that. Ask Tanya if there are any monsters that pick off lone techpriests climbing up elevator shafts while being guided by young women or any variation of that. That would be helpful Intel. Jesus, we need a swarm of servo skulls constantly patrolling a 500m radius around us, we'd never get ambushed. And we should have sent a servo skull into the darkness to scout first, could have saved the life of that mook who fell down the chasm because he didn't take a torch to investigate an area of pitch darkness. We can chalk that loss up to genetic weeding but in general losing men to inanimate terrain should be avoided if possible. +1 using servoskulls all the time and getting more of them. Also if we have to purge Mother we should turn her into a servoskull, just to see what happens. Skulls Outrail fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 17:13
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Actually, there is another interesting option. Rather than climbing into the darkness, we could try going from the surface down the shaft, perhaps (assuming we can figure out where it spits out). Keeping my vote the same (we need to resupply either way) but this could be a good next step.
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Jan 2, 2015 17:35
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Outrail posted:+1 using servoskulls all the time and getting more of them. time to get LOADSA SKULLS 
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Jan 2, 2015 17:59
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Can't we just make the servo-skull go over the fissure, or use our guns to launch a rope to the other side somehow? If we can get a person to the other side, having somebody find the top of the shaft and bring poo poo DOWN would be much much easier.
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Jan 2, 2015 18:01
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The gap isn't that wide. I'm beginning to think this place is just a repository for people to stupid even for the imperial guard
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Jan 2, 2015 18:43
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We should start picking up interesting-looking skulls to turn into servo-skulls. Maybe stick Lasguns in them, so we can have a flying, weaponized laser light system. I'm saying we need more skulls. Let's get some skulls.
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Jan 2, 2015 23:30
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Volmarias posted:Well, how much rope or other analog do we have? Enough that we can bring people up chamber by chamber? If our Your chains won’t extend between chambers, but you might be able to work your way up if you can find some pitons for it. Swing the bottom chain up to the new top spot, etc. The data is unclear on how high the platform is. No one has made it there and survived. Outrail posted:How many servoskulls do we have?  You have one skull, made from the senior pilgrim who attacked you for being an Iron Man. FireSight posted:Can't we just make the servo-skull go over the fissure, or use our guns to launch a rope to the other side somehow? Yes, the servo skull can carry a rope or chain, but not a person. Current vote is at: A x x x x x, x B x x x x x, x x x C x x D E edit: Im no math person, but I think your skull sphere would need a mausoleum. 500 meter sphere = 3.14*10^6 meters surface area Top half only = 1.57*10^6 meters surface area Have them every ten meters = 1.57*10^5 skulls Loel fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Jan 3, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 23:59
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LowellDND posted:Your chains won’t extend between chambers, but you might be able to work your way up if you can find some pitons for it. Swing the bottom chain up to the new top spot, etc. How many imperial guards in these beds?? 
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Jan 3, 2015 00:19
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Tremynci posted:How many imperial guards in these beds?? .... Heh. Lets go with a couple dozen, there was a platoon there for some reason or another.
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Jan 3, 2015 00:25
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I'm not talking about a solid mass of skulls, but having about 50 buzzing around and analysing everything and everything is going to be far more value than 100 mooks doing the same. That said I support the idea of having an entire shipping container of servoskulls lying around as a Trump card. Have you seen Megamind? Now imagine them all either equipped with lasers and/or grenades. We could soar the skies on a bed all seeing skullterror.
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Jan 3, 2015 02:13
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Outrail posted:I'm not talking about a solid mass of skulls, but having about 50 buzzing around and analysing everything and everything is going to be far more value than 100 mooks doing the same. We should absolutely go full Megamind with our Servo-Skull-Terrorfleet. In the meantime, we need to survive this war so we can collect have a team of minions collect likely-looking heads from the battlefield.
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Jan 3, 2015 02:38
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 01:50 |
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Just caught up on this thread, it's great stuff! I vote B.
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Jan 3, 2015 03:39
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