4/7 Pavono 2022/05/09(Mon)15:19 No. 1031710 ID: 2f158e
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- DAY 4 -

No developments overnight or before exploration. A relatively pleasant morning, all things considered.

- Exploration Result -

We excavated next to the airlock, below the old ship generator. Composition of the subterranean material remains consistent with what was found previously, but sadly with no trace of harvestable minerals. What we did find was something far more concerning.

A giant monolith with a strangely familiar symbol and large runes that appeared to be painted or printed onto the surface, in a language we've never encountered before. We don't really have any xenolinguists with us here, which in retrospect would have been a very good idea. It seemed inert like the other artifacts we found where we built the airlock, but as the exploration team got closer, well, the report is more frantic.

Apparently, more and more of the criai near the monolith started going into some sort of dazed trance and started walking towards the monolith, and everything seemed to become filled with a hazy red odourless mist. The report notes that after the incident there was no trace of gas or vapour or particulate in the atmosphere.

A couple of the exploration team sank to their knees and began chanting in a language they had no recollection or knowledge of previously, one of them passing out completely. All of them reported experiencing a phantom image of a contorted red serpentine form appearing above, in front of, and inside the monolith.
I had to double check that. No, that wasn't different interpretations, it was pretty consistently reported as being in at least three places at the same time, at least one a physical impossibility. And then it started whispering. Then, it just "slid away". No one involved can explain what that entailed, but it was just gone, as was the red mist.

I've compiled the overlapping fragments into the message it gave out as best as it can, but it doesn't make a lot of sense...

your endless struggle shall end, your penitence complete, only through great sacrifice
seek the red worm, find me in my hallowed ground, free yourselves in chains
I grant you <fragment missing>, I grant you release, you will find what you are looking for
come find me
only I may grant you absolution

I feel like we're missing some cultural context, because otherwise this seems absolutely like a bad idea we should not follow up on.

The most prominent symbol seen on the monolith is a worryingly close match to symbols seen in Kiter occupied territory. Insufficient evidence for any further conclusion.
The monolith itself seems sturdy but we can relocate it if we want to build in the excavated area. Of course, some people might think it's cursed ground and not fit for habitation, but I'm sure the proper purifying rituals to appease any lingering spirits of bone or metal will clear that right up.

"You people and your rituals. You want purification? Fire works well in my experience."
"It's made of stone, Shivoshi."
"Plasma, then."
"Dunra save me."

5/7 Pavono 2022/05/09(Mon)15:20 No. 1031711 ID: 2f158e
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The monolith wasn't content with horrifying us, I gather, as after it went inert, the floor of the cavern started to rumble, and what seemed to be natural stone parted seamlessly, revealing a deep, deep cavern, massive, unlike what we expected.

The cavern is barely lit by naturally bioluminescent fungi, but only barely. There's a great variety of flora and fauna in there but none of it seemed hostile to the explorers. Most of it fled. The fauna. Probably not the flora. Probably. However there is one notable anomaly, but I'll get back to that.

Speaking of the flora, we found some amazing substitutions for some of our common building materials. I'm sure Munopa will be thrilled.

Gained 10 Resources

I'm pretty happy with that. Also, no issues with building in the caverns. No additional overhead required, really. Just need to relocate the wildlife first, and that's so cheap compared to moving all the materials into position to start with that it's effectively free.

6/7 Pavono 2022/05/09(Mon)15:21 No. 1031712 ID: 2f158e
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But yes, the cave anomaly. We found a glowing green pod covered in veins that appeared to be slowly throbbing. Also growing a webbing that seemed to be ensnaring and consuming local flora and fauna that didn't have the strength to escape it.

Our archives aren't complete but this is a strong match for Kiter technology. We don't understand it particularly well, given most of our information comes from the Fall of Dunra where intel gathering sharply became less of a focus. However, this matches the description of what appears to be some sort of convalescent transport pod that consumes local biomass to sustain itself and its occupant.

Similar pods were used to keep criai prisoners for transport into Kiter spires and other facilities, who were, of course, never seen again.
However, similar pods were also used to restore elite Kiter individuals back to fighting condition.
It's anyone's guess what's inside that pod.

I highly recommend we do not attempt to retrieve or open this pod without a xenobio laboratory, and possibly also a medbay. It will cost 1 Food either way to bring them in and keep them supplied, assuming we don't just want to starve whatever's inside.

The principles of the Lazmihi state that taking prisoners is something that should only be done if they can be properly housed and fed. ...they also say that forced conscription is absolutely not permitted, and, if it is a Kiter organism in that pod, it's going to backfire horribly regardless.


"Anything Kiter is an existential threat and an affront to the criai and must be immediately destroyed."
"No. We take anything Kiter captive, get information, and then they must be immediately destroyed. You have to ask questions first."
"I would like to study a Kiter organism, I have some theories I'd like to verify."
"It's too risky. Let the pod stay where it is. The Lazmihi are not cold-blooded killers nor are we slavers."
"This is a pretty controversial manner. Well, sometimes, the principles of the Lazmihi must be... slightly bent for the sake of survival."

"I'm pretending very very hard I didn't hear you say that out loud, Flock-Chief."

7/7 - MAP Pavono 2022/05/09(Mon)15:22 No. 1031713 ID: 2f158e
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System update. Here's the map. Resource recap incoming.
RESOURCES: 13
CREDITS: 9
POWER: 19
FOOD: 7

Building list here: >>1007048
Well, we have more options, I guess. A crew quarters for coaxers, a xenobiology lab, a proper laboratory for our new head of research-- wait, no, we don't have the credits for the specialist materials for that. Darn. Well, that still leaves crew quarters or a xenobiology lab, I guess.

"Ugh, coaxers. That reminds me, how's our cybersecurity?""
"What cybersecurity?"
"...that bad, huh."
"Cybersecurity is for worrying about after not-cyber security. What are even the chances anything would try to hack us? All we've come across is some ancient ruins and alien lifeforms. We're the most advanced things on this rock, for sure!"
"That we know of, sure."

Just a quick pointer. We can leave that pod be until we have proper facilities. If we try to open it now, the best place we have to do it is the airlock, which is directly below the bridge. If things go badly, that could be a swift end to the mission, the Argent Feather, and the lives of everyone here. No pressure, though, I'm sure!

Time for a xenobio lab! A4 is still up for exploration, and now it is time to see about converting resources into progress. Research everything! You may have spoken too soon about research being low priority.

>>1031713
I see no reason to open the pod yet. We don't have the required facilities.
When we do, here's how it'll go: if it's Kiter, we interrogate then imprison and study, or execute depending on how nasty it is(some Kiter things can't be contained reliably, nor can they be reasoned with... though it's more likely there will be a firefight in that case, not an execution). If it's non-Kiter then we offer employment or evacuation, and ask polite questions.

As for what to do next... construct a Crew Quarters to the left of the landing bay, for Coaxers. Could be a good idea for one of them to work on Shivoshi, so it doesn't have to hack itself.

We already wanted a xenobiolab and this pod is just another reason to build one. Build it at B4 and explore C5.

neat it's back.

As for what do. I say we should explore C5 just to fully explore everything around our base so we don't have to worry about anything attacking us from a blind spot. Also feel that the Xeno lab is what we should build next what with the egg and all. Plus we haven't really come across anything that needs to be hacked yet. Just wondering if we should put the lab in the monolith space since that way if we house something dangerous it would have to go through the airlock to get to the base or if we should explore C5 first and put the lab somewhere where we don't have to mess with the weird monolith room. Guess we could put it above ground as well but again, since the lab can double as a prison for dangerous xeno life probably better to put that somewhere where they won't be able to just have a straight shot for the bridge.

It's back? Huzzah!

I doubt anybody will get the reference but I'll make it anyway.
OPERATION AREA EXPANDED
Difficulty 4 and 5? We'll need to be well equipped for those.
That monolith is annoyingly ominous. My guess is it's related to that tablet we found. Probably best to stay out as much as we have the ability to. Though I am curious what this "purification" would entail and what the expected effect would be.
Keep Iti, but have an eye towards replacing him once we have less of a credit shortage.
>Cybersecurity defense
Not a priority yet. Unless we encounter something mechanical, we've got more urgent issues. Heck, the monolith alone has me more worried about our wetware being hacked than our hardware given the effect it had on the explorers. Save the coaxers for after we have a xenobio lab and a fabrication bay, both of those have greater utility as things stand.
>Pod
Well, that's a great segway. The xenobio lab was already highest priority to aid in potential first contact with the natives, should they be sapient, and now we have further reason to get it ASAP.
Now that we have the resources to build one, we should do so. E2 would put it furthest from the bridge, but B4 would segregate it from core structures should something go wrong, so B4 edges out E2.
Maximize containment, and rig it with lots of powerful explosives, for the likely scenario that it proves hostile. Even a kiter will fall to sufficient application of high explosives, and if we have to repair the lab, so be it. It'll be way less damage compared to what a powerful Kiter could do.
>Explore
C5 and D6 are the last two locations before we have full visibility 2 squares from the bridge. Of those, the former is less hazardous.

Beyond that, we should probably save up for a fabrication bay. If it saves lives, it's well worth it because every sentinel we have to replace is 8 credits lost, plus eight additional credits to replace the loss. More importantly, every life saved is, well, a life saved.

We need food production up, let's expand on the surface to do that.

>>1031713
The criai who witnessed the vision at the monolith are fine now, right? If it only affects our forces on first witnessing it, there may be a use for the thing.

If we move the monolith outside, its memetic field might distract and reveal scouts and threats that approach the base. Even lower animals if they are susceptible. We could easily execute them while they are in the thrall of the visions.

>>1032052
We should then put the xenobio lab where the monolith was, I think. It separates the rest of the base from any contamination that gets loose in the lab by the airlock, and makes for easier transportation of the rescuee/captive without revealing our full headquarters.

>>1032052
interesting lets see if it has some mental contaminant but using it as a defense mechanism is useful even if potentially losing it. hmmmm if we make a xeno containment lab we NEED to put it far away from the generator and stuff putting some distance between it and the generator, a armory must be proably on the ground floor due to it being the most likely way someone would enter the base AND the generator must be protected

>>1031762
I agree with this.

i wonder if we are sort of stuck on this planet we are going to have too create troops our self currently our every loss is a greatone

1/5 Munopa 2022/05/27(Fri)17:26 No. 1033779 ID: 39d12c
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Xenobiology Lab constructed in B4, next to the landing pad. It should give us a tiny bit more breathing room if anything were to go wrong, which I'm sure it won't.

Please don't say things like that.

This is a good facility to keep a single alien creature in good condition. Well, unless they're sapient. We'll need specialised quarters for the higher demands a sapient being will have. Not many sapient beings like being treated like animals, even well-treated animals, after all.
With that, I guess all that's left is to spend the night however we wish and see what tomorrow brings.

2/5 Pavono 2022/05/27(Fri)17:26 No. 1033780 ID: 39d12c
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- DAY 5 -

- Exploration Result -

We excavated the other side of the airlock. Nothing but rock. We double checked. Nothing but rock and dirt and no useful ores or minerals.

And then someone was found dead in the Bridge. Nyi of the First Sentinels. Damage consistent with a shock-lance blow to the back of the head delivered with enough force to kill instantly. But with the shock-lance's electric discharge disabled, which a skilled user would not leave off for an intended fatal blow.

Iti was the first one to report the death and he's, well, I'm considering whether to make the call myself to send him back to Jade Claw. Apparently the two were becoming quite fast friends. He's not taking it well. None of us are. The last place we expected there to be danger was inside our own base FROM OUR OWN PEOPLE. Sorry. Regaining my composure.

It's not clear who committed this heinous act, and although Iti's assigned shock-lance was found at the scene of the crime, I suspect it was because he wasn't training with it at the time.
There's no clear motivation for it to have been Iti, especially given he seems the most affected. From my previous interactions, while he seems relatively quiet and focused, in conversations he lacks any real capacity to hide his emotions.
So, not only are we looking at an unsolved murder, it looks like whoever it was was trying to frame Iti as well, or at least throw off the trail.

It makes no sense. It makes no sense. I've run through all the sentinels and their backgrounds, I see no evidence of motive. I've questioned the civilian colonists and they were all at their assigned stations at the time, corroborated by cross-references and camera footage. I've even checked and double checked Iti's background on a hypothesis that his entire personality and responses might be completely fabricated, nothing! Nothing. No sense.

Munopa and myself are making sure all camera systems in the base are operational. No signs of tampering found yet. We will keep you updated.

Nyi’s body has been returned to cryo for now. We can’t spare the time for funerary rites at the moment. Traditionally we would give her a proper burial and ceremony, as owed to all Lazmihi, but we can’t rely on breaking the ground on this world without unearthing some new terror. The cryo facilities were already extensive. They could hold our entire colony still, if needs be. If needs be.

A dark day, indeed. I fear this is but the first life lost. We must steel our resolve and continue nevertheless. For the Argent Feather, for the Lazmihi, and for all criai, we must continue.

3/5 Pavono 2022/05/27(Fri)17:27 No. 1033781 ID: 39d12c
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We have a few statements, recorded individually at separate intervals. Three wanted to give them, the rest didn't.

ITI, SECOND SENTINELS
"I was, I was trying to just, just pace around, clear my h-head, and, then, th-then I found... sorry, hold on, hold on, one moment. Deep breath. Okay. I found her on the ground, and my shock-lance was next to her. I'm telling you, I have no idea why it was mine, but I rushed to her and tried to see if she needed help but she just wasn't... sorry, give me a second. I'm sorry. I should be more prepared to lose my comrades in battle, but this wasn't a battle. We were sharing stories again last night. She left a mate behind on Jade Claw. Just like me. This isn't right. It's one thing to die protecting your own, but this is... <trails off, inaudible>"
After taking this statement, Iti broke down into tears and later exclaimed he was going to find whoever did this and make them pay. His strong sense of conviction would be admirable, but coupled with his emotional instability it makes a dangerous combination. I've already informed Uli that this may be a source of problems.

SEI, FIRST SENTINELS
"Iti must have done it. It was his weapon. Why can't anyone see that? Are they too proud to see their own mistakes?? Oh this was a bad idea, I shouldn't have come here. I thought I could trust my fellow Lazmihi but so far I've seen bad omen after bad omen and all the things the spirits whisper to me in my dreams are just further ill omens. I thought this would be an opportunity to prove myself but we've just locked ourselves in our own tombs! Now I have to watch my front and my back!"
A quick note. Sei is just like this, apparently. The other Sentinels assure me he's much more, uh, together in the heat of a battle.

RAI, FIRST SENTINELS
"I think Iti's lost it. I think he's gone loopy. I have no idea how he even managed to qualify as a Sentinel of Jade Claw, much less make the cut to end up here in the most critical mission of our kind's history since Dunra. All he's been talking about is his regrets and his confusion and his blah blah blah blah and it is driving me to drink! Or it would, if we had any!! Clearly Nyi said something that set him off, she always was prone to saying things without thinking, and now he's so broken about it he can't accept the fact he killed her. It's not the first time I've heard of such a thing happening. Damn shame too. Nyi was twice the Sentinel he'll ever be."
...another quick note. Rai is also, apparently, just like this. She apparently has the social skills of a sledgehammer.

I begin to sense a pattern with our Sentinels of being extremely skilled and, well, less... sociable, than others. Almost as if whoever was assigning us our forces was doing this on purpose.
Still, before I am too harsh, it is entirely the case that many of our most skilled Sentinels are still relatively green. Jade Claw has been relatively safe for decades. Perhaps this grim incident will remind them of the risks they face. Maybe more will begin to doubt, like Iti. Or maybe their resolves will strengthen, like... Iti, I suppose.

4/5 Pavono 2022/05/27(Fri)17:28 No. 1033782 ID: 39d12c
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As if this wasn’t enough to cope with, checking the camera footage showed something even more disturbing. One of the explorers part of the team who initially discovered the monolith, Akei, was found to be ritually scarring herself with unidentified markings (and some eerily familiar) in a corner of the Bridge, around the same time the murder occurred. A ghastly alibi, but an alibi. Stripped of all her exploration gear, she then left the base in a strange meandering way like she was sleepwalking. The last thing she was recorded as saying was "truth in suffering", which is not promising.

By the time anyone had realised, with everything else going on at the time, she was only visible to external cameras. One of the aliens we spotted before emerged from the bushes, and reacted aggressively to her presence. Strangely, it looks like the alien’s first reaction was just guarded curiosity, but as Akei got closer, the alien seemed to react with shock and then anger? This is perhaps projecting my own thought processes onto the unknown too much, but it looked like the alien wasn’t aggressive until Akei got close enough for them to notice something.
At that point, Akei put up no resistance as the alien leapt at her, grabbed her, and apparently started shoving her off into the distance while making loud sounds in a fast and rhythmic way. An odd mix of untranslated alien linguistics with short barking sounds, as best as I can decipher. Can't tell if it was anger or panic. Possibly both.

We have no idea what happened to Akei after that, given she left with no equipment, completely exposed to the elements. I sincerely doubt we’re seeing her again, so, another loss for the colony.

We don’t currently have the facilities to run an expedition to find out what happened to her. But I suspect if the alien wanted her dead, she wouldn’t have been restrained and dragged off with no worse injuries than what she’d already done to herself.

The complex interactions and use of what appears to be language suggests sapience. Although possibly the change in behaviour was triggered simply by proximity and a feeling of territorial invasion. I’m not certain why that would result in the entity attempting to take the offender further into said territory. I need more data on these creatures! Uh, when that’s, um, appropriate.

I feel it would be optimistic folly to assume anything on this "glimmering deathworld" is friendly. I will notify both families of what has happened this day. I will not hold my breath waiting for this lost explorer to return.

5/5 Pavono 2022/05/27(Fri)17:28 No. 1033783 ID: 39d12c
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Map. Resources. Reduction of food requirements means we have one more food unit in the budget.
RESOURCES: 3
CREDITS: 9
POWER: 19
FOOD: 8

I won't lie. I'm shaken. This is not how I was expecting us to lose our first recruit. And then for someone in the exploration team to just wander off...
All members of the exploration team who went on the monolith mission have been returned to cryo immediately. We aren't taking them back out until a medbay is built to check for whatever possible physiological and psychological harm was caused to them.

We still have enough colonists not officially covered on the overview to conduct explorations, but I will do the exploration myself if I have to. I feel like throwing our hydroponics expert out into the wilderness might provide some unique insights, but it's likelier we'll just lose our master gardener.

We have a safe place to open the pod now. If that's. Um. Still seen a good idea right now. It'll cost 1 Food to support whatever we get out of it. Possibly more, depending, but 1 at minimum.

Well, Iti has personally told me he no longer wants to return to Jade Claw until he's found the culprit behind Nyi's murder. I’m also concerned that we haven’t ruled him out as a suspect entirely, much as I doubt his involvement. There are definitely sentinels on Iti’s side who find it offensive to suggest he’d do something so heinous after what he's said and done to be here, but tensions are high. Paranoia is beginning to build.
I have talked to Iti to at least persuade him not to try taking this matter into his own hands. The last thing we need is an emotionally charged vigilante trying to avenge a fallen friend. I can't help but feel like fate is dealing this troubled warrior a particularly gruesome hand. I've instructed our inner circle to keep a closer eye on him, suspect or otherwise.

Before all of this happened, the fact our nascent colony is so reliant on external forces for new members was also raised as an issue, but it’s not as if we can somehow make new criai in a couple of days. There were definitely enough willing to do anything to keep this mission successful, but I need them in active duty more than I need them becoming another thing to protect. It’s not even certain if this colony will survive the year, let alone the years needed to raise a newborn to adulthood.
I have ideas. But we’ll need a laboratory for me to consider them.
Simpler machines can be assembled much faster than most organisms. But we still can’t afford a fabrication bay.

Also it should probably go without saying but I am absolutely opposed to any effort towards relocating or otherwise using that monolith. I'd rather shatter the thing and pave over it.

>Mind control has turned three of our spec-ops into goo
@#$%

This is clearly turning into a battle of attrition, and we're losing.
Risk all or save none.

>What d-
We need resources. Don't care how. Start digging downwards, C6 and beyond.

We were in a bad place and have made no progress. Digging deeper is suicide. We need to secure more resources before making things harder on ourselves. Dig at B5.

We can afford the food cost, go ahead and open 'em up.

Build a fabrication bay at F4.

Well I don't know how we're going to get 20 resources for the medbay. I guess we have to explore the surface some more.

Explore the tile next to the xenobio lab.

>>1033788
We have 3 resources, the fab bay costs 18.

can we at least put the egg in the xeno lab?

As for what to do... well we can't really do shit. If I had to guess the three who found the monolith are probably the three who went crazy and we have no way to try and figure out what happened as we lack the resources to do anything and our on site personal are falling apart at the seems. Quite honestly it looks like we're fucked as soon as we began. Only thing we can do at this time is explore and hope that doesn't blow up in our face either.

I say explore A4. Because I'm sure the locals are hostile to us no if that one guy's reaction was anything to go by so if they decide to attack I would like at least a bit of for warning.

Digging underground has not done as much favors. Let's try our luck on the surface.

I knew that monolith was bad news, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. I want that thing beyond destroyed. Shivoshi mentioned plasma? Do it. Then light the whole room on fire, purify it, pave it over with a corridor and purify it again just to be sure. Keep a security team on standby, I suspect our murderer will attempt to halt this.

Also, you're not considering a possibility as to why the native xeno was hostile. The markings our explorer made on themselves. My guess is they only became hostile when they saw at least one of the markings. I suspect they have seen those markings before, likely from other explorers, and know where it leads. Frankly, I don't blame the native if they kill the explorer if they're worried about a memetic hazard. However, if we are going to make first contact, we have to somehow assure them we are emphatically NOT aligned with the monolith entity, as they may now suspect we all are. Doing so has just made the list of priorities, because their actions show familiarity with this sort of... thing. This means that there is an offchance that have some sort of way to deal with subverted people other than "kill it with fire". More importantly, it's unlikely they are only familiar with this threat alone. Whatever insights they have into this world's threats will be beyond priceless.

As to the murder... I don't suppose we have some sort of sci-fi forensic analysis tools? You know, some sort of AI blood spatter analysis to make sure Iti's shocklance was the murder weapon? Fingerprint equivalent detectors for the murder weapon, maybe? Automated fur analysis to see if anybody's fur besides Iti's was on the shocklance?
Without that, all we can do is look for holes or conflicts in testimonies about who was doing what at the time the murder occurred. Say, do the principles of the Lazmihi prohibit autopsies?

>Medbay saves lives AND heals psychological injuries
That was number 2 on the priority list, now it's number 1. If we had one, perhaps we could have saved Nyi, as well. I'd prefer something more dedicated to wetware defense, but we'd probably have to get research going to even consider creating tools for that purpose.

Speaking of which, two questions.
First, was any of the explorer team robotic?
Second, if so, did any appear affected?
If the answer to either is no, we should consider adding a robotic element to our explorer teams, both to reduce the time it takes to raise an alert about wetware threats, and to physically drag our explorers away from such wetware threats. Assuming, of course, that we have civilian robots besides our advisors...

>Pod
Better we know when it opens than have whatever pops out suddenly banging on our airlock with no early warning. Especially if we take precautions about containing the pod, like I stated here: >>/1031746

>Sentinels have social issues
...Makes sense that we'd be getting the black sheep of the sentinels. This is a high-risk mission, after all's said and done.

Finally, I suggest Uli give a speech. Everybody is shaken, and morale is likely low. Cohesion's probably fraying, and that could be as deadly as any hostile force. As leader, he must assure that we do not fall apart at the seams. Something along these lines:

"Today is a dark day. Not one, but two Lazmihi have been lost performing their duty to our shared mission. We all expected losses, but none of us could have been ready for them. Especially because one of them was caused by one of our own. I've no doubt we will all mourn their loss. Just as importantly, we will not forget. Both their lives, and what they gave them in service of. To that end, we shall have a monument placed in a public area with the names of all who have fallen, that their memory may be permanently enshrined. [pause] Now, in response to this heinous act by one of our own, there will no doubt be tempation to isolate ourselves, to act with fear and suspicion to be safe. Remember however, that we are Lazmihi. Unity give us greater safety than isolation ever would. There are no easy targets in a group of friends who are always together, regardless of time or place. [pause] Keep these words close to your [heart equivalents], and do not let the sacrifices of your fellows be for nothing. Thank you all for listening, and may we all succeed in our efforts."

>>1033794

I must have been reading power and mixed them up.

>>1033835
its a overreaction destroying the monolith when all we need to do is cover it if it has strange effects we must research them, its very possible its not responsible.
also the murder victims body we should preserve them so we can launch a more fullscale investigation without decay getting in our way or restore them in the future, its possible some alien creature sneaked inside.

Given sapience and the fact they've been living here, I suspect the native recognized the markings. We should attempt to make contact the next time one is seen nearby on our external cameras.

For the murder investigation, we must take statements from everyone. Find out what everyone was doing before the murder, during the approximate time, and after as well. Any inconsistencies should be examined for evidence of guilt.

>>1033890
I have another idea. Let's put off opening the kiter egg for now, not least of all because it requires exposing more of our people to the monolith to get to it.

We can use the xenobio lab as a makeshift forensics lab. Test for DNA from the crime scene and the murder weapon, test other shock lances as well not just our only suspect's. Take note of any weapons missing in the testing.

We should have all the technology we need for this in a bio-lab of any kind.

1/7 Uli 2022/09/12(Mon)14:03 No. 1043610 ID: e4c230
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My friends, it has been a grim day. We all knew the risks of our mission here, and two souls have been lost this day. They shall be mourned, and they shall not be forgotten. As they put their very lives on the line, it is important to remember the burden we all share, as the Argent Feather, as Lazmihi, as criai. We continue to investigate what has caused these tragic losses so that we may prevent more. But it is crucial to remember that we came here as one, and we will survive only as one. Do not let suspicion and paranoia fill your hearts, for these are our enemies' greatest allies. Do not sink into isolation and despair, for predators always seek easy prey. We are strongest together.

A memorial shrine has been scheduled for construction in the Bridge. If you wish to pay your respects to the fallen, you may do so at any time, and you are encouraged to do so. The spirits of Nyi and Akei will live on within the shrine and our memories.

Rest will not come easily to us this night, but we must continue. If the criai are ever to once again stare into the night sky with anything other than fear in their hearts, we must continue. If nothing else, for the sake of those lost, we must continue.
That is all. May peace return to our spirits.

2/7 Munopa 2022/09/12(Mon)14:04 No. 1043611 ID: e4c230
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Corridor constructed in E5. We can always repurpose the space later if needs be. I just took advantage of the fact the extruder-excavator machinery we have for corridor construction mostly churns through whatever it comes into contact, so the monolith should be in tons of tiny little pieces.

Well. It should be. I saw the thing flicker when the machinery came into contact and then it was somewhere else in the excavated space out of harm's way.

Then I tried moving down the corridor after it was nearly finished extruding and I felt a surge of dread so powerful I was considering sealing the corridor off with me inside it to prevent it from getting into the facility, because I was already a lost cause, I was for sure about to die, but I was so terrified all I could do was try to ineffectually grasp myself with my tool mounts. It was apparently a fleeting sensation but it didn't feel like it at the time. And there was a voice, a voice, it was so corrupted and garbled and filled with static I couldn't make out the words, but I could make out the laughter, the laughter didn't need words.

I want that thing destroyed so badly but it's not worth the resources investigating how to destroy something that apparently teleports if you try to break it. Maybe we can settle for chasing it off, but I still don't know if that's worth doing.

All I know is I didn't feel anything wrong after the episode except a slight fuzziness to my optics and aurals, when I got too close to it, and once the corridor hit the rock of the opposite cave wall even that dissipated. The corridor isn't especially shielded. I almost get the impression the monolith knows it isn't wanted and is hiding itself. I wouldn't be surprised if a machine-spirit equivalent lived in it, all the evidence seems to point to it. An extremely dangerous, violent one.

I'm not going to lie, I spent a lot of the construction deeply afraid for my own machine-spirit. I had this strange notion that if whatever in the monolith could get to me, death would be the better outcome. Anything better than letting it get to me. Anything. Rip out my tool mounts, stab them into my eyes, breach my chassis with broken wreckage, split open and spill forth my coolant and paint protective sigils-- ahem. Sorry. This isn't report material, this is a psychological wound I didn't bandage properly. Let me gather myself again. Sorry again.

Wait. Sigils? Like the ones Akei did to herself?

No, no, those ones I didn't recognise, but, sorry, I'm getting off track and I am spending the rest of my day very very far away from that corridor.

I don't like that monolith. I broke out of my charger cell early because I thought I felt it creeping into my systems through the charging port. Clearly just a nightmare, once I gained my senses and my composure, but I found it very, very hard to power down for the night after that. It's showing up in my nightmares and I don't know if it's my fear or if it's starting to pry into my very essence.

Sounds like we have a conclusive answer on if the monolith affects mechanical sapience. I know Munopa is the most spiritual of us, being Lazmihi-built and raised, but I also do not regularly encounter Munopa fearing possession by hostile spirits.
I grow to appreciate many of the principles of the Lazmihi, to my surprise, but your peoples' odd superstitions will never cease to confound me. Clearly this is just the correct and appropriate response to a potential security breach.
I find I appreciate the metaphor of spirits even if I still feel conflicted about accepting their existence. Something about Munopa's report suggests he is not afraid of something as pedestrian as a hacking attempt. Maybe this will be the planet that makes a true believer of me yet.
The professed existence of souls has always been used as a weapon against machinekind, historically. Just because the Lazmihi think otherwise does not make the entire concept offputting to me. We're all machines in one way or another. Our minds and memories can be saved, copied and restored. Find a way to measure a spirit and I'll gladly re-evaluate!
I guess you aren't particularly religious unless firepower is involved.

Just because you're right doesn't mean I'm wrong.

3/7 Pavono 2022/09/12(Mon)14:05 No. 1043612 ID: e4c230
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- DAY 6 -

- Exploration Result -

Exploration conducted in A4, on the surface next to the xenobiology lab. Surprisingly, not a lot was found but a rusted shut container of a mostly ferrous composition, half-buried. Excavation and unsealing revealed a collection of crystalline slates with intricate three-dimensional markings. Alien records or art pieces, we're not sure. Entirely useless to us immediately, but other Lazmihi colonies will no doubt love this alien information storage technology and attempting to uncover the secrets within. The exact structural composition seems to be some sort of crystalline lattice of a material we couldn't immediately identify. This may just suggest some issues with our own lack of research tools rather than the discovery of an exotic alloy. Regardless, we've made the decision to log all our readings and sell these off. The effort it'd take for us to understand what's going on here can't be justified.

Gained 10 Credits

No signs of the sapient aliens from before. The explorers were willing to search the area more thoroughly, but we found nothing.

4/7 Shivoshi 2022/09/12(Mon)14:05 No. 1043613 ID: e4c230
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Investigation into the murder almost hit a brick wall when I was suddenly visited by two of the First Sentinels, Sei and Rai.

They came to confess that they had, in fact, seen the murder take place. I couldn't get a straight answer out of either of them as to why they both jumped to implicate Iti instead of just telling the truth to start with, but as far as I could make out from their frantic babbling, they were both worried they were going to end up primary suspects and latched onto Iti for different reasons I could not care less about. For full disclosure, Rai wanted him sent back home out of some sort of jealousy that he had a home to go back to, and Sei keeps dreaming that Iti is next to die if he's not sent back. They were practically falling over each other to take full blame. I got sick of it and made it very clear I found both of them at fault anyway, and if they continued their inane prattle things would only get much, much worse for both of them. Things went more smoothly after that.

Whatever. Either way, both of them mentioned a member of the expedition teams, Aze, who has apparently vanished into thin air as I can't find him on any cameras or footage. Sei didn't see enough of the perpetrator to give a name, Rai caught sight of enough details such as build and fur colour and claimed Aze looked her straight in the eye before sprinting into her, knocking her to the side and vanishing into the generator room, of all places. I don't think these two have demonstrated particular trustworthiness with having already gone on record to lie to the inner circle, but I will place interrogating Aze at highest priority. When we find him.

As for Sei and Rai, I wish only that I could recommend immediate execution for the high crimes of wasting my time, lying to superiors, and forcing me to listen to affairs of the heart I lack the patience and organs to care about. I was built to convey orders to soldiers, not wrangle useless idiots. The only tactical engagement here is me versus the desire to self-detonate.

Stop. Less of that, please. Sei and Rai are both criai with no surviving kin in Jade Claw. It's a long story. They've all but explicitly confessed to being terrified of being sent back to Jade Claw. Sei was worried he was going to be accused of being some sort of infiltrator, because Sei seems to be as paranoid and neurotic a criai can be while maintaining executive function. Rai just gives me the impression she has nothing to go back to, but, well, we're not risking our lives just to give misfit Sentinels something to do.

I know none of you are particularly spiritually attuned, but trust me when I say something is different about Sei. How do I put this... Imagine all of us as little specks of light in the darkness. Something about Sei is brighter. I've overheard Sei talking about his dreams and there's an oddly high probability of things he dreams about ending up true. Largely incidental details, but all I know is the day of the murder, he was both fully geared up when no one else was, and also happened to be where the murder took place.

It's easy to predict a murder if you're the perpetrator. With that information I have enough evidence to draw a conclusion for this sorry affair. Pavono, detain Sei immediately.

No. We need all Sentinels ready to deploy at a moment's notice. I've asked Sei what his motivation was for being on the Bridge, and he told me he thought something disastrous was going to happen, but he didn't know what. He said he didn't feel like he'd be safe alone, so he talked Rai into being there with him, but she didn't take his warnings to gear up seriously. Rai confirmed all of this and says she herself believes Sei is attuned to the otherworld, but his predictions have such crucial details wrong he can't be relied on. Rai told me that Sei believed he was going to be murdered on the bridge, and was taking efforts to prevent it happening despite feeling compelled that he had to be in the right place at the right time.

Ugh. Just send them both back to Jade Claw and get replacements. Iti too. I'm so sick of all this interpersonal drama among our rank and file. This is not how a soldier should operate. They especially should not be framing someone else to avoid punishment. This is insubordination and it threatens collapse of--
Again, we are not the Bisushpi-Kin, and so kindly stop trying to enforce their traditions on us. Creating a precedent of any sort of disruption leading to you being sent away just inches us towards a culture of fear, and this type of transgression of trying to implicate others to save yourself becoming more commonplace. We need understanding and reconciliation, not dismissal and rejection. Why are you here, Shivoshi, if not for the failures of the Bisushpi-Kin approach?
I-- You-- Fine. But I'm still not happy about this. You can't be a non-confrontational diplomat and an effective soldier at the same time, it does not work. Something has to compromise, and I'd rather it happen sooner than later. And this is a dangerous place! We can't afford to be so soft when our lives are always imperilled! What are you going to do to the culprit when you find them, tell them they did something bad and to not do it again??
Immediate incarceration in a cryogenic chamber pending further discussion. Compassion is not the same as naivety. Do not equate the two.
And are you going to gloss over the fact these two tried to implicate an innocent to avoid suspicion? What is that, if not naivety?
A separate matter. One that can be dealt with after we've found our murder suspect, at the least. We can't do everything at once.

5/7 Vomukha 2022/09/12(Mon)14:07 No. 1043614 ID: e4c230
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Alright, now that the exploration and investigation reports are over, I, uh, have a report as well.
That's... unexpected. What is your report on?
So I know the inner circle's consensus was that we should leave the kiter pod alone, but, uh, this seemed like such a perfect opportunity...
What? It explicitly isn't! We have an unsolved murder investigation and a perpetrator possibly still at large, as well as a demoralised colony, this could only have been the worst possible time if the base was actively under attack!
Which it isn't, and so it seemed like if I didn't take initiative now, that pod'd burst and we'd get to find out what it contained as it came bearing down on our colony!
We could at least solve one crisis before we introduce potential further ones!
Well, to avoid a worst case scenario, I requested Munopa install explosives into the xenobiology lab so we could pre-emptively shut down any sort of outbreak.
YOU DID WHAT?!
It made sense at the time! Can't say I feel exactly the same about it if it's going to encourage this sort of recklessness.
Discovery is always inherently dangerous! Let me finish. I went and extracted the pod myself with a few drone helpers--
The construction drones are not intended to function outside of the base! They have extremely limited sentience and they're all controlled from a central mainframe!!
It was fine! You know, we should consider sending some of these drones on explorations. Anyway, I got the kiter pod and safely contained it in the lab.

So what's the status of the pod?
Oh. I'm about to open it. I thought I should give my report as I was doing it instead of after.
OPEN IT?!
DETONATE THE LAB!
VOMUKHA THIS IS NOT WHAT ANY OF US DECIDED THIS IS NOT HOW THE INNER CIRCLE FUNCTIONS
Ack! Quiet down! I can't make sense of so many of you at once!! I... oh, uh, well, that makes that decision easier.
What decision. What decision, Vomukha.
Well the pod is, uh, opening itself...
DETONATE THE LAB!!
VOMUKHA IS IN THERE!
WE'LL SOLVE TWO PROBLEMS AT ONCE! BLOW IT!

6/7 Vomukha 2022/09/12(Mon)14:08 No. 1043615 ID: e4c230
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Contained organism confirmed to be, uh, uhhh, I don't, uhhh... I don't recognise it.
I'm going to resign from personnel management. It feels like every decision I've made so far has lead to the most dysfunctional inner circle and defense force I've ever seen. Uli can do it--
Quiet for a second! Vomukha, what was in the pod?
Well, parts of it look like what I think is the kiter neno fi species, but I've not seen a morphology like this one before. It's like it's half-criai. I'm trying to scan it for more details...

*whistle click click whistle whine squeak*
*squeak click screeeech beep click scrape whistle*

Is it trying to communicate??

"Nothing? Alright, let's try local language candidate 001. Fleshweaver Foamblood 443 of Shadow Fleet tendril 6023 expeditionary group Leu-CAGATA-9, asserting appropriate hierarchical dominance under Kiter Empire concordance protocol 206 section 7 subsection-- oh who am I kidding, this is some backwater installation in nowhere space. And from the lack of any standard ident signals, either top secret or primitive. And automated, from the looks of things. Well well well well."
"Let's see now... Oh. Oh, I appear to be... hahaha... I appear to be detained! Oh no! Hahaha!"
"Hahaha, how simple this all is. Is this glass actual glass? Oh, it isss. Mlep-- Sure tastes like it, too. Oh that's adorable. There's at least eight different ways I could get through this and two of those are just with my body alone. Yes, this is a threat, whoever ends up reviewing this log. You are keeping logs, I hope. I'm not talking to myself for my benefit."
"Uh, uh, hi?"
"Oh! Talking servitors! What strange, fanciful frivolties. Hello, servitor! Do you have a name?"
"...Specimen appears in good health and, uh, humour, apparently..."
"Ah, what a shame, it doesn't seem to have the capacity to understand my words. Hahaha! Gravity repulsion, and yet such simplistic artificial intelligences, what an intriguing combination of technologies."
"I can understand you fine, I am, um, just, trying to take some notes..."
"Oh. Oh, you think you're studying me. ...Ahahahahahaha! You can try! What a wonderfully innocent machine mind! This is such a rare treat. I haven't felt this amused in so long! I was worried, little machine, deeply worried about what fate could fall me, far beyond the murky veil of prediction, but this is delightful. Servitor, tell me, tell me everything your study reveals, I'm so curious to know."
"I, uh, don't think that's, um, a good idea..."
"Oh, that's so cute! Keep your little mysteries, little servitor! Here, let me stand in the middle of your silly tube contraption so you can get a better reading. With your crude instruments you'll barely scratch the surface of my body's intrinsic complexity, but, oh well! Okay, that should be the last pod tube removed from my body, might as well just eat it, I am starving."

Vomukha, you have no idea how severely you've endangered the entire colony.
I disagree. Vomukha transferring the pod to a secured environment was perhaps the best possible outcome we could have expected for its sudden activation.
Flock-Chief, with all respect, it's inside the colony now!!
In the best possible place an external threat could be housed. Shivoshi, you have my permission.
Yes, Flock-Chief. Vomukha, get out of the laboratory. Munopa, blow the laboratory.
Wait! I've heard stories about the resiliency of kiter, I just think that'd make her mad rather than do much else. I didn't have that much explosive on me, it's mostly for excavation so I used less so we wouldn't blow up the entire room, or the entire damn colony! I was just expecting hostile native fauna! Not this!
If I remember correctly, this strain of kiter is also able to anticipate and predict the actions of the enemy with startling precision. Permission withdrawn, Shivoshi. Vomukha, keep reporting.
You're going to risk the entire colony??
The enemy is overconfident. New weaknesses may reveal themselves very soon.

"I'm being called away. Please, um, don't, uh, break anything??"
"More errands to run for the little servitor! Have fun! I'll be right here. Glass. Ahahahaha. Don't keep me waiting too long! Please, by all means, send me one of your masters. I'd love to find out what kind of genius sophonts had the foresight to keep me contained and yet the arrogance to think a glass tube would somehow be effective. I'm so fascinated by this technological mishmash, there has to be a story to it. Actually, do keep me waiting! I want to get a closer look at this place. Don't worry your adorable little circuits over me, though, I will stay here for now and play your little game. Hahaha!"
"Oh, actually, I do have a request, if you'll humour me. This place is intriguing. If you build special quarters for me, I might feel inclined to help out! I'm not doing much else at the moment, and I don't particularly feel all too keen on reuniting with Shadow Fleet. It's a long story, little robot. I've taken the liberty of giving you the blueprints for a room I think your primitive makers should be able to fulfil without taxing their simple brains too hard."
“Or you can leave me in here, and, well. It might get boring. I don’t particularly like being bored, you understand. I might take it upon myself to see who’s in charge around here and file a complaint in person. It could lead to quite the shakeup in leadership! Ahahahaha. ...Yes, that is a threat to conquer this drab, dilapidated hovel of a base of operations. I feel it key to clarify this, I don't know how sharp your masters are. They think they can keep a kiter neno fi in literal glass, my expectations are not high."
"Oh! Bring back cleansing solvent, you'll have some broken glass to deal with later. Bye!”

7/7 Pavono 2022/09/12(Mon)14:10 No. 1043616 ID: e4c230
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I'm so exhausted. Here's our resource recap, while I think of whether or not to immediately demote Vomukha back to maintenance drone duty or not. And whether to send back three of our Sentinels, or not. One food use deducted while we have something to feed in the xenobio lab. Updating map with our force strength as well, as I feel it may be imminently relevant.

RESOURCES: 3
CREDITS: 19
POWER: 9
FOOD: 7

I forgot to account for the pretty heavy power draw of the Xenobio Lab last time, with everything else going on.
Also, building list: >>1007048
A new Sentinel is 8 credits each, and we have 3 unoccupied housing slots. But hold on.
There's something I didn't think to bring up because it didn't seem relevant until now.

Early into the mission we arranged a trading deal with Frost Leaf, a smaller nearby colony that isn't that much larger than Argent Feather. They have very, very few criai, more machines than most, and a lot of sophisticated technology that was salvaged from Dunra. They're extremely unlikely to part with it, but what it has lead to is a surplus of construction-grade alloys and related materials. We can trade our Credits to them for Resources at a rate of 1 Credit to 2 Resources. Don't worry too much about the details of how the individual items tied to our Credits will get to the right place, I have methods. We can likewise sell our excess Resources to Jade Claw at a rate of 2 Resources to 1 Credit if we have a surplus of Resources.

Let's hope there's still a colony tomorrow to receive anything.

If we decide we want to go the route of appeasement of our new guest, a Specialised Quarters costs 20 Resources and 10 Credits. We can afford to purchase 18 Resources for 9 Credits, which will give us 21 Resources and 10 Credits. Just a little bit over what we need. At the cost of draining our resources and credits nearly completely. Still not sure how the blueprints turned up, we may have a cybersecurity issue.

Initial reports from Vomukha and various threat detection and analysis algorithms pin the kiter organism at 25 STR if we just want to attack them right now. Or we can blow up the xenobio lab, damaging it but reducing that STR by some unknown amount. Hopefully all of it.
A rating 25 STR threat can likely be dealt with but, presuming the enemy has ranged capability, we will be taking multiple casualties. The four members of the First Sentinels stand at a combined STR of 20 and the three members of the Second Sentinels at 15. By my simulations, we'll lose five Sentinels. More if we don't manage the attack correctly. The First Sentinels will deploy from the Bridge, and the Second Sentinels will deploy from the Barracks at D3 where they are housed. It might be possible to prepare and have both forces deploy from the Bridge and then launch the attack but we have no way of knowing if the enemy will not somehow immediately strike first. Against the Kiter we can't assume anything.
Each Sentinel is 8 Credits. With 19 Credits we can get two more by tomorrow. If we're making the effort to strike first, I suggest hiring them now to replace the ones we'll inevitably lose.

I can hear Sei screaming. Let me just check what that's about.
"...over, it's all over, all I can feel is something horrible and it's near, we need to prepare now..."

I am deeply distressed that I can think of multiple reasons for whatever is causing that. And I don't know which one it is.

I've reviewed our options. Appease the enemy and deplete our resources entirely, or attack the enemy and guarantee the deaths of many of our Sentinels. The guiding principles of the Lazmihi are to defend ourselves but not to throw lives away needlessly when better alternatives exist.
Appeasing the Kiter does not work. It has never worked. Entire wayward colonies have been lost predicated on the assumption that the Kiter respond to diplomacy. They do not. The Lazmihi have not survived through wishful thinking and hope alone. We need to destroy this creature, and if stalling and great expense will prevent lives being lost now, for a clearer opportunity later, so be it.
I think it mentioned wanting to help us?
We cannot trust the whims of a kiter creature if it is going to immediately change its mind and slaughter us all. These monsters scoured Dunra of every criai life. They cannot be trusted, and if we can't contain them, we must kill them. Now, or later.
If we detonate the xenobio lab explosives, the probability of sentinel survival increases significantly. But regardless, sentinels will die.
It would cost 5 Resources to repair the damage, but repairs can be made at the same time as new construction. The construction drones are very adept at multi-tasking and repairs take less time than the construction of entire new rooms. 5 Resources seems a small price to pay for survival, all told.

We could also, of course, ignore this creature's demands and let it stay in that room a day longer, and entertain the hope that it does not decide to kill us all while we sleep. I am not personally a fan of this option.

We have no idea how effective the explosives will be. Two or more sentinel losses are as or more expensive than just building the quarters.

It says it has no interest in returning to the Kiter. Its behavior expresses confidence in its superiority. I doubt its offer of assistance is meant to be a trick; if it wanted to kill us then it seems it would have just done so.

So build the quarters. C5. Or maybe E5, if you think letting it live with the monolith is a good idea.

Explore G4.

Hm. No, don't spend credits to give a kiter a clearer shot at your underbelly than she already has. What would additional build options do for us anyway with nothing to spend? Buy as many sentinels as you can, blow the charges and see who survives. You might almost break even on your current force strength! You need to arm up anyway if Sei's screaming is even partially correct.
Explore B5.

This is a rogue Kiter. A Kiter that's been disenfranchised from their fleet. Have you ever tried to negotiate with one? It's a very different situation from negotiating with active Kiter. They no longer have the same goals, after all, and a lot of Kiter are conscripts without true loyalty to the fleet or the Kiter's overall goals. I'm actually of neutral opinion on what to do with them, but if Sei is right then we're about to be attacked, which means this is the worst possible time to incur losses. That means, either leave them in there for a day, or build that room for them.

Quarantine Munopa for a few days. Everyone else that's been affected even slightly by the monolith has met a horrible end and/or sabotaged the base. Deliver batteries for recharging, as we need an air-separation layer for electronic security. Investigate the potential of using protective sigils to ward the base from the monolith's influence.
We may want to try to find those natives as a priority, since they seem to have experience dealing with the monolith's corruption.

Also, since we solved the murder, Iti should be willing to go home. I'm not sure why there wasn't a headcount immediately after the murder that would have revealed the murderer having vanished, but oh well, I guess nobody here is experienced in solving crimes.
Send engineers with a security squad to investigate the generator. Are there cameras at the exits that would tell us if Aze simply left the room and left the complex, or went into hydroponics? I find it disturbingly likely that Aze somehow merged with the generator and is going to use it to summon an enemy into our base.

Ask Sei for details. What preparations do we need to take, exactly? Which direction will the enemy come from? Follow our prophet's advice, even if that means building a barracks to house more troops.

>>1043622
I don't think it's viable kill the rouge drone when there's enemy our door step.

This could be the second time we've seen a rogue kiter. perhaps even from the same detachment of the kiter, see salikai.

that being said, although the kiter are distrustful, combat in this instance is almost certainly a loss, if we can atleast dissuade them from going on the killing spree for now, then we can reinforce our numbers, build up security and then take them down. it's a risk and a gamble but it's better then taking a cripple to our already limited resources, short crew and compromised crew.
i recommend allow them special quarters, building out a bridge from on of our facilities or from the airlock, then build the specialist quarters from there, they'll likely understand our fear of their power and will likely appreciate the effort.

side note, perhaps reinforce the xenolab to handle higher class organisms if we ever get spare resources, xenonite glass might be perferrable.

lol, that kiter's personality is... interesting...

Whatever goals this kiter might have, or have had, destroying criai wasn't one of them, otherwise they wouldn't have ended up here. Indeed, the fact that they were exiled implies that they followed their whims more than their orders. So risk of hostility is lower than generally estimated for them.

To complete your mission, you'll need a certain type of information. Information that only a kiter, especially one of a higher rank such as this one, would possess. So from this standpoint alone, the reward outweighs the risk. They'll certainly try using you for whatever they want, but if in return you also get to use them, then that's fine.

>Against the Kiter we can't assume anything
The second reason why Appease should be the better option here would be, because the 25 STR is simply an initial report. It could very well be that they're hiding their strength and the number is much, much higher.

And lastly, well, a mysterious (and sexy) character would spice things up hehe

Anyway, trade credits for resources and construct Specialised Quarters somewhere. I guess D2.
Explore G4.

>E(5)vil monolith
Would purifying E5 help?

>Homicide
Sheesh, this does not feel like it's over, not at all. Feels awfully convenient that suddenly we have obvious evidence. Especially evidence from two suspects. Plus, it's eyewitness testimony with no corroborating hard proof. Does it fit? Loosely, but we're still short of a few key details like motive. Questioning coworkers of the suspect may show if odd behavior was exhibited or if there was a motive.

>Foamblood
Well, explosives were a good call. Should have used additional explosives or explosives with extra power, though. Oh, also rigged 'em to go off if the glass broke. [expletive].

So. How to deal with this Kiter female. Quite bluntly, appeasement seems stupid. From a strategic perspective, we're looking for a thing feared by the Kiter, to be used to oppose the Kiter, so expecting one to help seems quite naive.
Plus, the first thing it did was to attempt to get comms to its superiors, so it still sees itself as part of the Kiter hierarchy rather than as a rogue. Of course, that's if these Criai are aware that Kiter do go rogue, otherwise it's pure metagaming.
However, because we're playing as ugh pacifists, attempting to find a peaceful solution via diplomacy is a thing. So, set up video chat - no need to be too stupid - with Pavono to see if a deal might save lives. Diplomacy may stave off its boredom, too. Secondary goal is to gather intel.
1) See if she knows where she is. Should she dislike the idea of a world feared by the Kiter, free passage offworld might work for both sides. Has the risk of the Kiter deciding we're a threat to be eliminated.
2) Figure out what her job here is. Perhaps if it has no risk to us, she could leave.
3) Figure out what we'd expect from her and what she'd expect from us if we built her a place. Services, resources, conduct, the basics. Frankly, though, if we hit this, a deal's unlikely, so...
Should diplomacy fail, that'll hopefully provide a Lazmihi justification for the use of deadly force. Detonate the explosives.

>Sentinels
Eh, wait 'til we have a full 50 str force before we ship people off. We're too fragile.
However, have to see how diplo goes before fully committing. Should it fail, buy 18 resources for 9 creds for a medbay (pays for itself if it saves 3 lives, will also help with monolith issues) E2, plus 1 sentinel.

Leaning in favor of immediate (explosive-supported) attack. Waiting gives the Kiter a chance to prepare countermeasures.

If we're going to build this Kiter their special room, I would build explosives into every surface where they can be hidden. Problem is, "this strain of kiter is also able to anticipate and predict the actions of the enemy with startling precision." I'd also be tempted to feed the Kiter to the monolith, but there's a chance it would just make the Kiter stronger.

Not many good options here. Is there some way we could just ask the Kiter to leave, and let the death planet take care of the problem?

>>1043623
I agree with most of this.

I'm in favor of allowing the rogue Kiter a chance to help. If nothing else, it likes to prattle on. Which means it could let slip some important information about the Kiter that would be valuable back home - we can just claim we found it in an information cache or something.

However, this also adds another layer to not sending anyone back. They could leak this information.

recruit the bitch-in-chief, we need a new breeder anyway
talk to her and tell her that you'll make that bedroom she wanted
also that there's imminent danger, so if she can use her prediction powers or whatever other fucking skills she's got, now would be a good time
can't really tell if Sei is screaming because of Aze, or the monolith, or due to kiter, but we can't afford a bad fight here because if Iti dies, we can forget about doing business with Jade Claw again

so... what's the kiter room do? Is it at all useful if we manage to throw the new lady at something on this planet that's almost certainly worse than her?

She's only 5 power stronger than the tutorial beast, but unfortunately we kinda suck at the moment