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Things are getting heated quickly. There's already one KIA and one survivor of a destroyed ship on the recruitment list.
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Jun 16, 2021 00:41
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 14:23 |
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This setting rules, I'm extremely into this.
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Jun 16, 2021 01:34
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Proud to serve as XO aboard the Alexi, a position where I get to boss around 90% of the crew with impugnity, but Captain That Italian Guy ultimately has all the responsibility and blame if things gently caress up.
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Jun 16, 2021 02:38
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I would like to die gloriously for my space-nation. Dwarf me in whatever role is likeliest to have that happen sooner rather than later.
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Jun 16, 2021 03:19
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 20 October 2153 The command deck of From the Ashes grew stuffy as you crowded in among the workstations. Old colleagues navigated loose cabling and construction tape to chit-chat as you waited for the boss. Fatigue hung on every face, the consequence of a frenzied month of shakedown. A varied bunch gathered aboard “Ashley” that day. Some of you remember Earth’s sky, while others know only the hardscrabble existence the war left you. Maybe you worked your way up the ranks as Hektor rebuilt. Perhaps you proved your worth with an exceptional feat. A revered handful come from the original circle of friends who saved the colony 36 years ago. However you came to be in this room, your presence was proof of Dias’ trust. She did not lightly dismiss the words of her most loyal comrades, and it fell to you to counsel her in the days ahead. She eventually loped in without a shred of pomp and took position at a display. After a brief welcome she turned to the point that had been on all your minds, but which few of you knew: The aim of your maiden voyage.  “Da-da, you’re all dying to know where we’re going, and why I’ve made your lives hell the last month,” she said with a grin. “I guess you’ve sweated long enough. Tomorrow we cast off, and after that we’ll be going… here.” The familiar display of the region suddenly shrank as the view pulled back, and a lone dot glided into view perhaps an AU anti-sunward of the cluster. Mutters and a few curious looks were exchanged. “That, amigos, is a comet. It’s heading into the system, still cold, and a few weeks ago we got a lucky sighting on it. I know, big deal, right? Well, that's not just any comet. That’s Chiron. That’s the Ark!”  Some mostly older faces jerked to attention. The boss went on, explaining what some of the greyhairs suddenly recalled; that back in the 21st century Earth’s decline had spawned all sorts of doomsday cults, the most popular being The Diluvian Church, which saw the rising sea level as a reiteration of the Biblical flood. Believing themselves to be God’s chosen, the most devout members were privileged to join the Ark, a colony inside the comet 2060 Chiron which would make a 50-year journey through the outer system. The Ark would deliver the faithful from God's destruction of mankind, then return them to a paradise cleansed of sin. Until now, a bit of useless trivia. “Well, they were half right, and now they’re back. Of course someone needs to welcome them home, and it’s going to be us. See, that place has been alone in the outer system for almost fifty years, no war, no scavengers, nada. No telling what they still have from before, so we’re heading out there to get first dibs at trade. Or maybe they didn’t make it and this is a salvage op instead. Of course we might not be the only ones who’ve spotted it, and the word for sure will be out if anyone sees us burning that way. Chiron’s now close enough for plenty of people to reach it if they know it’s there. We've got to make sure we're first, before anyone spoils our score, and keep it as quiet as possible. If the wrong folks know we're not home, they might get ideas. ¿Suena bien? Now talk to me.” Let’s hear it, goons. This is the part where you all muse, plan, scheme, and argue about what we’re going to do! How will you reach Chiron first to claim its hoped-for riches, without arousing any competitors? What will you do when you get there? If you can reach consensus about a plan then we’ll do it, and if we need a vote then we’ll vote. Fray fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Jun 16, 2021 |
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Jun 16, 2021 04:48
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Well we have a pretty small window to get to the comet before it goes right into Achillean League territory. I say we send one of the smaller ships over as quickly as possible and hope they don't get caught by anyone's sensors.
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Jun 16, 2021 05:16
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.. Do we have anything with cargo space?
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Jun 16, 2021 05:18
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OddObserver posted:.. Do we have anything with cargo space? From the Ashes still has a lot of inoperable spaces that you could cram cargo into. Her troop and “hangar” spaces are also pretty much just cargo bays that you’ve repurposed. You can stuff goods in there though it’ll get pretty tight and you might not operate very well that way.
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Jun 16, 2021 05:23
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We should definitely bring some of those boarding shuttles.
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Jun 16, 2021 05:28
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What’s our intel on what the Achilleans have? Also, that old STO battery still works, right?
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Jun 16, 2021 05:29
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Pirate Radar posted:What’s our intel on what the Achilleans have? Also, that old STO battery still works, right? The railgun battery at Hektor is operational, yes. It can stop modest threats. And I’ll tell you all this for free since you would know it in character: The Achilleans are very much the top dog in the region, and if you get in their face they’ll likely roll you. Just for starters, you know they have an old Russian strike cruiser that at least partially works. You’ve had cordial enough relations with your other neighbors, but that hasn’t extended past very occasional trade. They’re not hostile but that doesn’t mean they’d pass up an opportunity to steal Chiron out from under you if they’re aware of it.
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Jun 16, 2021 05:40
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Okay. So we know we can’t just burn hard for Chiron, not without alerting the Achilleans, and they’re closer and better-positioned. But the longer we wait the more likely they’ll spot it too. We can’t take the Achilleans on in a fight, but we’re expecting to stick around the comet for a while once we get there, whether it’s for trading supplies or tomb robbing (depending on how the fundies have fared the last 50 years). That will probably raise their curiosity even if they haven’t spotted the comet yet, so we need a way to manage the threat from the Achillean fleet. To my mind they need to be convinced to do one of two things: 1) Not set sail at all Or 2) Set sail in the wrong direction, giving us enough time to conduct our business at Chiron Doing 2, by fooling them into thinking there’s a threat and/or prize in the wrong direction, like further Sunward or Spinward, would probably piss them off, especially if we uncover something good when we get to Chiron. So let’s think about whether we can do 1. Getting the Achilleans to stay home probably means not giving them a reason to leave anyway; concealing what we’re doing until we’re done doing it. Do we think we have a convincing cover story for a little trip out towards deep space? Our relative positions may change over time but I don’t know if that will be significant; Chiron may be closer to us by the time it crosses our orbit of Jupiter.
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Jun 16, 2021 06:21
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What exactly could we do that would get them going in the wrong way though?
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Jun 16, 2021 07:20
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Rubix Squid posted:What exactly could we do that would get them going in the wrong way though? No idea yet, just throwing it out there.
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Jun 16, 2021 07:23
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How plausible would a pirate base on Hidalgo be? Not squarely within the Achilles league, in roughly the right direction. We can set course for Hidalgo and send the fighters+boarding shuttles on a sweep that just happens to match up with Chiron. Depending on the relative speed of Chiron and the belt it might be closer to us than to Achilles by the time we get to Hidalgo.
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Jun 16, 2021 10:53
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Asterite34 posted:Proud to serve as XO aboard the Alexi, a position where I get to boss around 90% of the crew with impugnity, but Captain That Italian Guy ultimately has all the responsibility and blame if things gently caress up.  "You seem like a loyal, dependable chap, Commander", he said. He was a good judge of character...hell, beign a Naval officer was in his blood. He looked at his own figure in one of the semireflective control-deck-thingies: quite the spectacle. The jacket he was wearing had been his grand-grandfather's and then his grandfather's - Admirals, all of them. It may have not been strictly regulation, but drat it made him look good. "I have a good feeling about this Comet business". Keeping morale high was an old trick of his. That Italian Guy fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Jun 16, 2021 |
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Jun 16, 2021 11:56
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habituallyred posted:How plausible would a pirate base on Hidalgo be? Not squarely within the Achilles league, in roughly the right direction. We can set course for Hidalgo and send the fighters+boarding shuttles on a sweep that just happens to match up with Chiron. Depending on the relative speed of Chiron and the belt it might be closer to us than to Achilles by the time we get to Hidalgo. Well, pirates and raiders are commonplace in the region so it’s not implausible. The Achilleans would eventually send a force to verify, but such a ruse could buy you time until then. Fray fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Jun 16, 2021 |
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Jun 16, 2021 13:33
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Well, this former Espace Marine Nationale Lt. is 1 month from retirement and too old for shilly-shallying about. We should recon in force. Send out Ashley along with Alexi, and whatever fighter craft they can carry. Our first contact should be peaceful, obviously, but this is too valuable to let it pass us by. I doubt that the putain Akhillians will want to risk an open war even if they have the advantage. Early bird gets the worm, gentlefolks.
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Jun 16, 2021 14:08
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habituallyred posted:How plausible would a pirate base on Hidalgo be? Not squarely within the Achilles league, in roughly the right direction. We can set course for Hidalgo and send the fighters+boarding shuttles on a sweep that just happens to match up with Chiron. Depending on the relative speed of Chiron and the belt it might be closer to us than to Achilles by the time we get to Hidalgo. I favor this plan, or at least some variant. The comet's trajectory comes drat close to Hidalgo, and it'll be easier to find a plausible excuse to go there first than just burning toward seemingly empty space. And if the AL wants to chase us off for infringing on their territory, maybe in a blind panic we flee antisunward...? What do we know about Hidalgo anyway?
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Jun 16, 2021 14:19
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habeasdorkus posted:Well, this former Espace Marine Nationale Lt. is 1 month from retirement and too old for shilly-shallying about. We should recon in force. Send out Ashley along with Alexi, and whatever fighter craft they can carry. Our first contact should be peaceful, obviously, but this is too valuable to let it pass us by. I doubt that the putain Akhillians will want to risk an open war even if they have the advantage. I believe Ashes must go if anything goes, since she has the cargo space to haul things to and from the rock and can carry enough people and equipment to carry out salvage operations if necessary. But I think Alexei should stay home as a fleet in being. He’s the most respectable warship we have, which will obligate the Achilleans to split their fleet, and that limits their options. Mind you, probably even half their fleet could destroy Ashley, but at least it’s something. The fighters can and probably should go with Ashley and leave home defense to Alexei and the armed rockhoppers.
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Jun 16, 2021 14:27
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Why don't we just announce a circumnavigation of the cluster in our new toy? At a respectful distance around Achillean space, too.
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Jun 16, 2021 14:41
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Asterite34 posted:What do we know about Hidalgo anyway? Not a lot to say. It was once a small outpost, but they succumbed early in the Silence. That corpse was picked clean decades ago so you're unlikely to find anything interesting. And I can't launch the game right now, but Achilles is something like 150-160 Mkm from Chiron at the moment. This evening I can simulate Chiron's track for you. The L4 cluster is moving spinward as well, but I'll have to peek ahead to see how that shakes out. Chiron is still pretty slow IIRC so that might take a bit. It's pretty hard to spot this far from the sun - it has no real tail or coma yet so it's just an iceball. No telling if anyone else has had a lucky sighting yet like you did. It'll grow more visible as it comes closer.
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Jun 16, 2021 16:30
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Innocent_Bystander posted:Why don't we just announce a circumnavigation of the cluster in our new toy? At a respectful distance around Achillean space, too. I'd say this is a good starting point, announce an extended shakedown of the Ashes to Hidalgo. Maybe make it known through what diplomatic channels are going on that we'll be using the old rock to do some live fire exercises and running combat drills with the landing craft and marines. Hopefully the Achillean League will write it off as us throwing our weight around but won't have spotted Chiron and so won't be surprised when our fleet starts burning for Hidalgo. Then when we get to Hidalgo we change course to Chiron and just keep going. Which should hopefully mean that our friends and neighbours won't start looking at what's on our projected course until we're almost there.
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Jun 16, 2021 20:08
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BwenGun posted:I'd say this is a good starting point, announce an extended shakedown of the Ashes to Hidalgo. Maybe make it known through what diplomatic channels are going on that we'll be using the old rock to do some live fire exercises and running combat drills with the landing craft and marines. Hopefully the Achillean League will write it off as us throwing our weight around but won't have spotted Chiron and so won't be surprised when our fleet starts burning for Hidalgo. Then when we get to Hidalgo we change course to Chiron and just keep going. Which should hopefully mean that our friends and neighbours won't start looking at what's on our projected course until we're almost there. I like the sound of this, we're never going to hide that we're out and about in the neighborhood the Ashes is way too big and bright. It's technically not even a lie to say we're going on an extended shakedown cruise so they aren't allowed to get mad, that's how diplomacy works right?
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Jun 16, 2021 20:41
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I'm ok with the Hidalgo Shakedown plan, though I don't love leaving the Alexi behind even while I recognize the value in having a fleet-in-being.
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Jun 16, 2021 20:46
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BwenGun posted:I'd say this is a good starting point, announce an extended shakedown of the Ashes to Hidalgo. Maybe make it known through what diplomatic channels are going on that we'll be using the old rock to do some live fire exercises and running combat drills with the landing craft and marines. Hopefully the Achillean League will write it off as us throwing our weight around but won't have spotted Chiron and so won't be surprised when our fleet starts burning for Hidalgo. Then when we get to Hidalgo we change course to Chiron and just keep going. Which should hopefully mean that our friends and neighbours won't start looking at what's on our projected course until we're almost there. I'm prepared to throw my lot in with this plan as well, it makes a lot of sense and gives us plenty of plausible deniability for anything insane that happens around Chiron. On a different note, Fray could you let us know what traits our officers have? I wanna see mine for proper RPing if I can.
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Jun 16, 2021 21:35
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The Plot posted:There's a comet moonbase full of cultists that flew out into the deep oort cloud, and now it's coming back centuries later, radio silent That's a cthulhu, there. Or a crab. Or crabthulhu.
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Jun 16, 2021 21:40
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Ahh, but do the crabs taste good?
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Jun 16, 2021 21:52
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Pharnakes posted:Ahh, but do the crabs taste good?
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Jun 16, 2021 21:56
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Crazycryodude posted:I like the sound of this, we're never going to hide that we're out and about in the neighborhood the Ashes is way too big and bright. It's technically not even a lie to say we're going on an extended shakedown cruise so they aren't allowed to get mad, that's how diplomacy works right? On this note I should probably explain some C# mechanics, cause sensors are maybe where the game changed the most.
This has big implications. Big sensors now face severe diminishing returns compared to small ones. It means you can't stick one big fuckoff sensor in your fleet and see halfway across the system anymore. A distributed network of small sensors will cover an area far more efficiently than one big sensor, which means you now have a reason to deploy pickets, AWACS, etc at a distance to extend your eyes. It's also a major nerf to planetary tracking stations. The formula changes also helped out passive sensors compared to active ones, so running silent and relying on passives is more viable now. And it now applies diminishing returns related to the signature of the target, so big signatures are harder to see than before. Finally, you can reduce your thermal signature by going slower. The original kinda had this but it was weird and makes more sense now. They're all really good changes imo.
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Jun 16, 2021 22:15
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Fray posted:
We could also get the Alexei to start after us but at a very slow speed to reduce their thermals. That way if the Ashes gets into a sticky situation our destroyer will be at least a bit closer to lend assistance. It may even be able to catch potential threats off guard when she fully lights her torch. Plus she'll be closer to home in case anyone makes a move against us, and if they don't detect her movement we can hopefully assume they'll default think she's in dock and ready to defend our rock.
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Jun 16, 2021 22:44
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A kind of critical issue on that, how long is it going to take us to get from home to Hidalgo?
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Jun 16, 2021 22:47
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You know, something to keep in mind is that the Ashley isn't a traditional military ship with traditional military engines. It's a freighter that has its commercial engines hot-rodded to exchange its normal efficiency for military-grade speed. Would anyone assume, just looking at it, that it was even capable of 939 km/s? And is that a fact we want to reveal to our nearest potential rival unless we absolutely have to?
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Jun 16, 2021 22:53
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From my Big Chair on the bridge of the Ashes, I heartily endorse the idea of the shakedown cruise, let's play it slow and easy until we know we've been made.
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Jun 16, 2021 23:13
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Also I am proud of my nephew for reasons not involving Nepotism in his selection for command and I am a good judge of character and quality! Not knowing how sensors and detection work in Aurora, abstaining for now on plans.
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Jun 16, 2021 23:13
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sniper4625 posted:From my Big Chair on the bridge of the Ashes, I heartily endorse the idea of the shakedown cruise, let's play it slow and easy until we know we've been made. I feel this kind of move would also give us plausible deniability—we can always say that the shakedown cruise was the real plan, until we just happened to detect the Ark while we were going out there! Complete coincidence. As an aside, Fray—what do our relationships with the rest of our neighbors look like? Anyone that we could reasonable call friends, or is it all cold and informal?
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Jun 16, 2021 23:27
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sniper4625 posted:From my Big Chair on the bridge of the Ashes, I heartily endorse the idea of the shakedown cruise, let's play it slow and easy until we know we've been made. From the similarly sized chair slightly to the right, this is the best plan I've seen thus far. I'd rather not start a war five minutes into our flight. -Cptn. Violet, XO, From The Ashes
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Jun 16, 2021 23:50
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Once we start burning, how long does it take to get to Hidalgo? Once we get there, how long do we stay? Once we leave, how much longer to Chiron? Once we get to Chiron, how long until the Achilleans figure out what we’re really doing? Once they figure it out, how long until they decide to sortie in turn? Once they decide to sortie, how long until they get there? These questions help us decide the parameters of the operation. We’ll especially need to know how long we can stay at Chiron once we get there so we can decide how to prioritize our actions while there.
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Jun 17, 2021 00:17
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The operation has two main possibilities--there are people on the Ark, or there are corpses on the Ark. If corpses, we raid the place for souvenirs and head back. If not, we prepare diplomacy and attempt to secure trading rights before anyone else. Either way, we want to get there first, with as few people noticing as possible. I know I, for one, am assuming they're all dead. In that case, operational length is most important so we know how much time we can spend scavenging before we have company.
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Jun 17, 2021 00:29
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 14:23 |
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Do we have anything with enough thrust to salvage the Ark itself?
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Jun 17, 2021 00:32
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