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Ralith
Jan 12, 2011

I see a ship in the harbor
I can and shall obey
But if it wasn't for your misfortune
I'd be a heavenly person today
If she's trying to stay stealthy--which she will be, if she's smart--she'll be emulating tectonic and magnetic effects. There are probably much more efficient ways to generate a magnetosphere than having a gigantic blob of molten iron, after all, leaving plenty of room for grey goo.

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my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous

Ralith posted:

If she's trying to stay stealthy--which she will be, if she's smart--she'll be emulating tectonic and magnetic effects. There are probably much more efficient ways to generate a magnetosphere than having a gigantic blob of molten iron, after all, leaving plenty of room for grey goo.

Imagine a still picture of a planet with a hole instead of a molten blob of iron in the middle. Add gravity. Let time flow.

Ralith
Jan 12, 2011

I see a ship in the harbor
I can and shall obey
But if it wasn't for your misfortune
I'd be a heavenly person today
What? She's converting the core, not removing it.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous

Ralith posted:

What? She's converting the core, not removing it.

Converting it into ships, factories, and weapons, and they're probably going to be used for an assault on Earth rather than remaining there.

Anticheese
Feb 13, 2008

$60,000,000 sexbot
:rodimus:

my dad posted:

Converting it into ships, factories, and weapons, and they're probably going to be used for an assault on Earth rather than remaining there.

I read it as them being used just to repair the ship.

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!





Xun posted:

Lol teleporting human with a hammer. Let's hire that guy!

The Grey Knights are based on Titan. That was a Grey Knight Terminator. If we dedicate the rest of our life to becoming an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor and we find ourselves at the mouth of a full scale Warp Rift and all the Hordes of Chaos are bearing down on us, and if we're incredibly fortunate that a squad of Grey Knights are relatively nearby, we may, in our final moments before a Great Unclean One rips us limb from limb, see one of those guys teleport in.

Until that day, we can't afford him.


Lazaruise posted:

I like that all three of our 40k games seem to take place in the same universe, I hope we can get more crossovers.

Three? I seem to be missing one, then. There's this one and the Prosper Rogue Trader one. Which is the third one?

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



jng2058 posted:

The Grey Knights are based on Titan. That was a Grey Knight Terminator. If we dedicate the rest of our life to becoming an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor and we find ourselves at the mouth of a full scale Warp Rift and all the Hordes of Chaos are bearing down on us, and if we're incredibly fortunate that a squad of Grey Knights are relatively nearby, we may, in our final moments before a Great Unclean One rips us limb from limb, see one of those guys teleport in.

Until that day, we can't afford him.


Three? I seem to be missing one, then. There's this one and the Prosper Rogue Trader one. Which is the third one?

The Only War one, we had a guest appearance with Quint.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3202242

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous

Anticheese posted:

I read it as them being used just to repair the ship.

The ship is not that big. But a planetary core is about on the low side of material needed for a building a fleet to fight through the absolutely ridiculous amount of system defenses described. I could be spectacularly wrong, of course.



Also, the military history thread in A/T just touched on the most 40k (in the bureaucratic sense) attempt at a court verdict I've seen.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



my dad posted:

The ship is not that big. But a planetary core is about on the low side of material needed for a fleet needed to fight through the absolutely ridiculous amount of system defenses described. I could be spectacularly wrong, of course.



Also, the military history thread in A/T just touched on the most 40k (in the bureaucratic sense) attempt at a court verdict I've seen.

You can't say that and not link it :colbert:

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous

LowellDND posted:

You can't say that and not link it :colbert:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3585027&perpage=40&pagenumber=429#post443413503

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.




Thats uh... thats something alright.

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!





LowellDND posted:

Thats uh... thats something alright.

Except in 40k, they would have shot the poor bugger. And maybe the Major for protesting it.

Grognan
Jan 23, 2007

by Fluffdaddy
Heard back about the sleep apnea issue?

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Grognan posted:

Heard back about the sleep apnea issue?

Not yet. The VA is slow but sure.

My breathing is better, but Im still sleeping all the time. I have an outline for the next post, but Im finding it hard to actually write.

In other news, we've started packing for a move (across town). Whee!

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:

LowellDND posted:

I have an outline for the next post, but Im finding it hard to actually write.

This about the wailing and gnashing of teeth as we're found guilty please no!

Good luck on the move. Remember, it's going to take roughly five times as long to pack poo poo up as your most conservative estimate.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Outrail posted:

This about the wailing and gnashing of teeth as we're found guilty please no!

Good luck on the move. Remember, it's going to take roughly five times as long to pack poo poo up as your most conservative estimate.

Yeah, I move every year or two. -Nomad-

We actually have a full month to move this time, usually its a long weekend of terror.

VanSandman
Feb 16, 2011
SWAP.AVI EXCHANGER
I hope you feel better soon! I eagerly look forward to your next installment.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



VanSandman posted:

I hope you feel better soon! I eagerly look forward to your next installment.

I'm sleeping so much someone help me :negative:

Rockopolis
Dec 21, 2012

I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird

LowellDND posted:

I'm sleeping so much someone help me :negative:
Never sleep again.
I Admire Its Purity - Lets Play Alien: Isolation

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.




Actually been playing 5 Nights at Freddys lately :D But this one is definitely on my wishlist.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Thank you everyone for your patience! My breathing is better, but I’m still sleeping too much. Still. Progress! :D

Also, we are moving to a new place over the next two months (across town). Exciting! Parallel to this, Ghostwoods is running me through some edits on the short story due May 1. So this one might be the last for a couple weeks,


Progeny

Before you, around you, the panorama of a thousand colors. They were displayed and distorted in a fishbowl frame, letting you see all around you. The colors were vibrant and melancholy, a spread beyond the merely human spectrum - infrared to ultraviolet. The cold stone walls showed the imprints of old passings, traces in the rock, cast in heat and scent.

You snuffled uncertainly. There were many chemicals around you, strange and confusing. Your internal cogitators were already running through them, tagging warnings of explosives, exotic and banned weapon systems, traces of Eldar, Kroot, and less knowable races. There were scents underneath them, ozone and [static] that made you sneeze. You’d rather avoid investigating those, thank you very much. Fortunately, your mission was to return to your rooms.

Who is a good puppy? You are a good puppy.

In the back of your mind, a strange double vision, you could see/feel Mistress talking to the other humans. A boring conversation, and one you had little interest in. She would tell you what you needed to know - you were not some interrogation cat. You were She-who-Hunts-and-Chases-and-Pounces! And you had been told to investigate the den. A reasonable precaution - you remembered finding weasels with the temporary Mistress, and their bites were ferocious.

You sneezed again. Something was unpleasant up ahead, near the den. The ozone smell that reminded you of the Golden-Thing. It seemed… dormant, though. Sleeping, or hidden. You crouched low, inched forward. Best to see what was ahead, without provoking it. You didn’t have your pack, and preferred not to fight alone.

The corridor was empty. But as your sensors traced behind the door of your room…

Alarms. Massive alarms, running through your system, full alert. Do-not-approach, Alert-the-Mistress, Danger-Danger-Danger. A vortex grenade. Something that might summon you to the den of the Golden-Things, or summon them. You whined uncertainly.

Do NoT bE aLaRmEd.
It was the Mistress, but it was not. You rolled over, hoped that was what she wanted.
A stream of orders and modifications flickered through your mind - taking advantage of your mechanical-repair programs. It shifted your speciality slightly, from pursue and detain to stealth and acquisition. You smiled doggishly. That made sense. You were a hunter-of-weasels, now.

You approached the door, sensory tongue extending, the modifications giving it an extra range. It slipped through the door, found the wires. Following the gentle orders of the Almost-Mistress, you disarmed the trigger, opened the door. Entered the room, metal claws clicking on the stone floors.

The grenade hung on the frame of the door like a hornets’ nest. You growled at it. Weapons should know their place.

More orders. You began shifting your internal designs, creating a containment unit. It wouldn’t protect you from the detonation, but it would protect Mistress, and let her decide what to do with it. Your jaw unhinged like a snake, and you swallowed the grenade like a treat. It slumbered in your belly, tasting of metal and ozone.

-

Well, that was interesting. Both that Athena had reached out to Megabite, and that Megabite was so compliant of it. And what was with those on-site modifications? You’d never seen anything like it. Absently, part of your mind began speculating on forming similar mechanisms within your own Iron Form. It would be amazingly useful if you could shift through tools as needed.

The other part of your mind was having trouble focusing on the conversation at hand. Athena seemed downright excitable, sending dozens of queries, comparative designs, requests for clarification. Frankly, you had no idea what anything she was showing you did, and even if you saved the designs, you would have no idea what to do with them. You didn’t even recognize the tools she was describing to build them.

You could feel her frustration. She starting going into simpler devices, names that seemed almost familiar, like a dream upon waking. Tools that almost seemed familiar. She went down another level, further simplifications, further compromises. Until… an object formed in the back of your vision. Bizarre, with internal parts at a dozen cross purposes. But recognizable.
And with a vortex grenade at its heart.

She began tagging the dozen or so component parts, along with an urgent request note. Apparently she wanted you to build it, now now now. You waved her off mentally, and she retreated into sullen silence. It wouldn’t do to show the Inquisition your Goddess, and you needed to continue to pretend you were less than you were.

You bobbed in the air thoughtfully. How best to approach this…

“Inquisitor Lynwood, why does your faction keep their strength secret? One would think that a strong show of force would serve you better.”
She showed her teeth. “Not everyone feels comfortable with our views. I speak for those who wish to remain anonymous.”
“Or who may not exist. Its possible its just you and a huge bluff.”
She smiled humorlessly. “You are welcome to think that.”

“Mm. So what would your faction want to see out of all of this? Or, more accurately, what can I do for you?”
She shrugged, the fur resettling on her shoulders. “You’ve made a good showing of yourself so far. You’ve shown that you can recast power groups in your own image and make them stronger. You made divisions of troops out of lost cities, out of feral tribes. You abandon the old traditions of your Family to accomplish your goals.”
“So… you just want me .. to continue being me?”
Lynwood nodded. “And by holding our flag, you show the truth of our beliefs.”

You glanced over at Jazmine. “Given my background, I’m sure you noticed the violence involved in it.”
Jazmine looked like she was ready to purr. “Of course.”
“Well, if I were to join the Recongregationists, we would probably spark a conflict that your faction could only dream about causing.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Maybe I want you to join them.”
“That implies you want me to live, too.”
“Oh, but of course. Where you go, people die.”
“But Siadwell seems insistent on getting you on the Troika.”
She shrugged, a strange mirroring of Lynwood. “Siadwell likes his little games. He won’t actually put me on the Troika, he just wants you not to trust me.”
“Should I trust you then?” You smiled.
“Of course not. I’m your friend.” She smiled back. Then she glanced at her companion. “We should probably start moving, the longer we stay here the more likely it is someone will see us.” Lynwood nodded, stalked away. Jazmine waggled her fingers at you. “Ta ta for now. Don’t forget, grenade in your room.” And with that, she left.

-

You dreamed of your Goddess, and golden eyes, and the chanting of countless voices.

When you awoke, you couldn’t remember what they said.

-

To clear your mind, you sat in on one of the morning classes, on Demolitions. Oddly, it was being taught by a Kroot, who smiled too much, and laughed at odd times.

While you were there, a modified servitor brought you water, including a tiny scrap of metal with binary written on the bottom. It was an invitation to a specific cargo bay, and was signed ‘Miriam.’

What do you do?

A. Stay here, develop the demo class some more
B. Meet with Miriam
C. Go questing for Athena / See if you can meet Siadwell
D. Investigate the Inquisitor Lords
E. Something Else


Lord, this took a lot longer then I expected. I'm out of practice.

Tran
Feb 17, 2011

It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Especially in such a fine settin' as this. Just need us some music an' a brawl an' we'll be set.
B: Whether the cogitators or right or not we should work on this angle a bit. It'll help convince the inquisitors that obsess over those predictions that we're on course.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
B

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug
E: let us upgrade We are barely able to serve our goddess. Her words are too complex for our simple mind. We must expand our capabilities and here, amoung the faithful heretics and Pious apostates will we find what is needed to upgrade our systems to appease Athena and meet her needs. Also we need to sit in extended communication with Athena. Discuss our relationship, what her goals are, and what happened long ago between man and machine and also what she knows of the warp.

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
B. But I can't help but feel if we keep impulsively chasing after 'leads' like this were going to get into trouble.

Also any machine powered by a vortex grenade has my stamp of approval.

sniper4625
Sep 26, 2009

Loyal to the hEnd
B.

Who's a good girl? You are! :3:

HiHo ChiRho
Oct 23, 2010

B

There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

C

I bet she can make The-Face-That-Makes-The-Bombs-Drop

ElrondHubbard
Sep 14, 2007

F. Quid Pro Quo

We're a bit busy with this whole trial business and trying not to get killed. Athena seems pretty handy, so if she can help us out with the trial (monitoring people, discovering plots, gathering evidence, etc...), we will have free time to go questing for her.

Otherwise, we should pay Miriam a visit.

Go RV!
Jun 19, 2008

Uglier on the inside.

We shouldn't do much questing for Athena here, don't forget we're under surveillance. Unless, of course, the thing can only be gotten here, and even then we should only do it once we're not under the gun quite as much.

We definitely don't want to attract even more attention by grabbing random items to make lost technology in the middle of the inquisition base.

B, but I would also like to try and figure out what Athena is on about.

Outrail posted:

B. But I can't help but feel if we keep impulsively chasing after 'leads' like this were going to get into trouble.
With a little concern about this as well. Just because we beat one weird mole creature doesn't mean there couldn't be a Space Gorilla around the next corner.

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:

ElrondHubbard posted:

F. Quid Pro Quo

We're a bit busy with this whole trial business and trying not to get killed. Athena seems pretty handy, so if she can help us out with the trial (monitoring people, discovering plots, gathering evidence, etc...), we will have free time to go questing for her.

No reason not to give this a shot.

Cannon_Fodder
Jul 17, 2007

"Hey, where did Steve go?"
Design by Kamoc

Go RV! posted:

We shouldn't do much questing for Athena here, don't forget we're under surveillance. Unless, of course, the thing can only be gotten here, and even then we should only do it once we're not under the gun quite as much.

We definitely don't want to attract even more attention by grabbing random items to make lost technology in the middle of the inquisition base.

B, but I would also like to try and figure out what Athena is on about.

With a little concern about this as well. Just because we beat one weird mole creature doesn't mean there couldn't be a Space Gorilla around the next corner.

Agreed!

Grognan
Jan 23, 2007

by Fluffdaddy
B

paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW
B then C

Awww, she's excited to have friends again! :3:

Oasx
Oct 11, 2006

Freshly Squeezed
So now Athena is controlling our dog too? When will this heresy end????

Going with B.

Xun
Apr 25, 2010

Aww Athena is so helpful! She's looking out for us :3

B, lets go see whats up with Miriam! Hopefully she can find whatever Siadwell's looking for before him.

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug
I skipped over it earlier, but Athena built a WARP CONTAINMENT BOX!

RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer
B

Ralith
Jan 12, 2011

I see a ship in the harbor
I can and shall obey
But if it wasn't for your misfortune
I'd be a heavenly person today
B+C in that order

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RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer
Can we explain to Athena that we are currently engaged in a mockery of a tribunal, the results of which will determine if we live or die?

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