John 2009/09/19(Sat)08:43 No. 47073 ID: f98e0b
File 125337499817.jpg - (61.22KB , 800x600 , 99.jpg )

As John enters the ship, Terrens' voice comes over the Crew Officers' channel on his mental uplink.

"Hey John. Come on up to the Control Room where all the other officers are at. Hold on a second..." There's the sound of a button being pressed, a brief curse, and then a different button being pressed. A pathway of blue lights appear on the floor.

"Go ahead and follow those up to the control room, or look around a bit if you like. There's the main bridge, and then the two rings, Combat Ring and Engineering Ring. Self-evident what they're for. Oh, and shut the door behind you. Oh, and you may want to put on your spacesuit."

...John's spacesuit?

Seth heads to the control room.

>>47064

Close door and ask Seth for spacesuit if you don't have one uplinked. Follow the pathway.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)09:49 No. 47108 ID: f98e0b
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>>47097
John's got a suit. Remember that orange thing he met you in?

Yeah, it's sort of ugly and fit more for a janitor than a sergeant, but it'll work in a pinch.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)09:49 No. 47109 ID: f98e0b
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...There we are.

Hm. Sure feels different than John remembers.

>>47109

Has your mop changed into a katana? Oh, someone might mistake you for a tough guy in that suit. Clothes really do make a man. Are we taking off immeadetly with this suiting up and everything? I guess it's goodbye orientation and welcome just winging it. Give us a tour.

Well, proceed to follow the lights.

>>47109
Well uh... lets go to the meeting.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)11:35 No. 47168 ID: f98e0b
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OK, this is pretty fucking hardcore. Did you guys do this? John feels like Isaac from Dead Space crossed with a samurai or something.
>>47113
>katana
At the rate things are changing John would not be surprised.

>>47129
>>47130
Alright, to the meeting then.

Continue on to the meeting.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)12:21 No. 47207 ID: f98e0b
File 125338811082.jpg - (47.83KB , 800x600 , 103.jpg )

John heads to the control room, following the blue.

About five minutes later, he-wow.
The Glory's already in space! John had no idea at all they were taking off. It left the atmosphere without so much as a shudder.

It appears they are currently floating among the asteroids in the Algrieb Belt.

TERRENS is here, as well as OBERAN who is with him at a cconference table. SETH is looking out the window, admiring the view. John doesn't know the blue shirm.

"Welcome to the control room, such as it is," says Terrens. "The AI is handling most of the functions of the ship right now, which explains why it's so empty in here. You can ask it to pull up a chair for you, if you like."

>>47207

Okay. What's going on?

John 2009/09/19(Sat)12:49 No. 47259 ID: f98e0b
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>>47219
"So what's going on? I thought this was orientation." says John.

"Sort of. We're testing the different capabilities and functions of the Glory," says the Blue Shirm, turning around. "Basically taking it for a spin. We're going to be trying its engines out for maneuverability in a second." It's female, John can tell from its two eyespots, but he doesn't remember her if he's met her.

"Strausberg's the pilot," says Terrens. "I was about to give the OK for flight testing when you came in."

"We're next, Sergeant." Oberan says, sounding excited. "We'll finally get to see what kind of firepower this thing has."

>>47259

I really like Oberan's chest armor but I dislike being next when we have no fuckin idea what is expected of us. Okay, since he's so enthusiastic you better follow his lead until you get a handle on things.

>>47259
Well we aren't captain here. Just follow orders for now, John. Sit down and listen.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)13:37 No. 47332 ID: f98e0b
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>>47273
>>47290
John doesn't share Oberan's enthusiasm.

Maybe Oberan senses it, because he moves closer to John and says, "Hey, it's okay. The First Hand and firing crew handle most of the technical nitty-gritty and calculations. You just need to give us orders. Oh, and you of course get to set up the gun loadout.

"Let's walk through this. There's 11 slots for cannons on the ring. We can change configuration at any time, but it'd take around an hour so doing it in combat won't work. You've got three main cannon types that we have available at the moment. That's just for this run, though, and maybe we'll have clearance for more later.

"There's the Laser Cannon, the sort of generic cannon most commonly used. Dependable.

"The Flak cannon is used to fight off smaller craft, but can pretty easily punch holes in a bigger one if it gets close to us.

"Then there's antimatter. Newish tech, this cannon. It can punch a hole through most anything, but it takes a very long time to reload as it uses single-shot physical ordinance and needs a cool-down period or the thing'll melt.

"Put two or more cannons of the same type next to each other, and they'll form a battery, which is more precise.

"Now where it gets complicated is in the Damage Amps. Those can increase the damage output of any cannon adjacent to them, but of course do no damage themselves. The amps can also feed into each other if placed next to another amp. The damage increase is exponential, so two damage amps next to each other will amplify a gun more than a damage amp on either side, for example. Both amps get the bonus, so you could have two linked amps between two laser cannons (sarge, are you paying attention?) and each amp would lend the juice of two damage amps to both cannons.

"This means it's possible to, say, have one antimatter cannon with ten amps all feeding into it, creating a sniper cannon that could one-shot pretty much anything but would leave us wide open. And that's bad, because there's a lot at stake in space combat. We lose the Glory, we're a disgrace. This is one expensive piece of equipment."

John doesn't want to say he's overwhelmed but
um
help maybe?

>>47332
LC, DAx4, AC, DAx4, FC

>>47352
No way.

Two batteries of flak cannons, one on each end, a battery of AntiMatter in the middle, and the other 5 slots as damage amps.

The anti-matter will let us blast anything at a distance, and the flak cannons are the best of the other weapons [discounting range]. Their enhanced damage and rapid rate of fire will protect us from fighters, missiles, and asteroids perfectly.

>>47332
From left:

Antimatter-amplifier-flak-flak-amplifier-antimatter-amplifier-laser-laser-amplifier-Antimatter

Would that work Oberon? Or should we replace the side Antimatters with flak left and laser right respectively?

M=antiMatter cannon
A=Amplifier
L=Laser cannon
The following seems good:
MAALLALLAAM

We have a strong ranged punch, and we can cycle the lasers for more continuous output. Should we face heavy armor at long range, we can focus both AM cannons on a single spot and fire simultaneously. If we face more, we can likely rupture two hulls before closing to laser range.
Flak cannons don't have enough power to take out big things, and with four lasers we can take out the little guys at a not insignificant rate.

>>47367

Changing my vote to this one. Would have liked one of the batteries to be flak though.

>>47352
LAAAAMAAAAF
Problem here is that against multiple ships we're effectively screwed.

FAAAAMAAAAF
Same problem as above, with the additional problem that if enemies stay in laser range, but outside flak range (which they may well be able to do, we are big and therefore have considerable inertia), then we're just as fucked after our AM shot as if we didn't have the Flak.

>>47362
AAFFAMALLAM
Not a bad layout, but its use of amps is suboptimal.

Also, if you guys really want flaks, mine could be modified to be
FAAMLALMAAF
but the short range of Flak compared to the relatively ubiquitous lasers just seems like a bad idea to me. We are too big to be maneuverable, when compared to flocks of fighters, and we can only bring our flaks to bear when we outmaneuver them. Big ships are next to immune to flak. They are a waste of slots, imo.

>>47377
>We are too big to be maneuverable, when compared to flocks of fighters, and we can only bring our flaks to bear when we outmaneuver them. Big ships are next to immune to flak. They are a waste of slots, imo.
...We are a ship DESGINED for maneuverability.

Flaks are the superior option.

>>47377
Flak fed by two amplifiers should be nice and strong, let's use FAAMLALMAAF

>>47379
I'm sure their exist other ships which are too. Designed for maneuverability in a big ship like this is still much more ponderous than a little maneuverable ship. And if there's a bunch of them, it doesn't take that much tactical ability to keep the bulk of the fleet outside of flak range. Just spread out a bit. Hit us with lasers, have anyone within flak range get out, heading in different directions, and don't worry too much about group cohesion.

I'm okay with lasers. Though a MAALLAFFAAM would have served as well. But I'm ready to go with any choice to that configuration.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)14:28 No. 47403 ID: f98e0b
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John's going to go with
MAAFFALLAAM
using Crux's system with F for Flak.
Keep in mind this can be switched at any time outside of combat (the techies might grumble if you do it TOO much, of course. It's their job to lug these things around).

Oberan is surprised. "That's...actually a pretty good layout. We'll have a chance to test it out on some asteroids or something later, after the pilot gets through with his business.

"Oh, and while we're at it, I just remembered I haven't congratulated you for beating me yet. That was a hell of a fight."

He extends a hand.

>>47403
shake it.

>>47403

Take it.
Tell him it was just luck on your part and that he did not need to congratulate you, but you are happy that there do not seem to be any hard feelings.

>>47403

He's going to throw you around like a ragdoll. Let him. Shake his hand, it builds up camaraderie.

"Thank you, I wish I could call it anything but luck... I did clean the floor with you after though."

John 2009/09/19(Sat)14:41 No. 47426 ID: f98e0b
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>>47409
>>47415
John shakes the hand. "Hey man, it was all luck, trust me. You really don't need to congratulate me, but I'm glad to know there aren't any hard feelings about the promotion."

Oberan would probably grin if he didn't have a helmet on and changed facial expressions ever. "No worries, Sergeant. First Hand is still pretty high up there."

A communication hologram blinks on on the table.
"Sorry to break up the bromance, Ladies and Germ Colonies, but this is your pilot speaking to say that in the words of the immortal bard, we runnin' this shit." says Strausberg. "Possible exits are the cold, unforgiving vacuum of space. Hold on to something or don't say I didn't warn you."

>>47426
>Awww, we so did clean up the floor after.

Take a seat at your position and brace for captain Adama.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)15:37 No. 47485 ID: f98e0b
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>>47441
John's pretty sure Strausberg's just exaggerating. The Glory handles so well it shouldn't be an issue.

Strausberg: "I'm not entirely familiar with the controls for this thing. Let's go ahead and assume red means go..."

>>47485
Oh god no. Why does our pilot not know what the controls do?

>>47485

Oh, god. Activate flak and get ready to start the asteroids game. You horrible pilot.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)15:54 No. 47493 ID: f98e0b
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The ship goes

ok john was wrong he probably should of held on to something

Strausberg is belting Phrexos' 6th symphony at the top of his lungs.

>>47487
john cant think clearly with his hivemind trying to travel to his ass but he's pretty sure thats just straus' brand of humor

John 2009/09/19(Sat)17:32 No. 47530 ID: f98e0b
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...

Terrens: "Is it over?"

John 2009/09/19(Sat)17:50 No. 47535 ID: f98e0b
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"Yeah," says Strausberg. "It's over. And this thing handles better than I dreamed it would. Funnn tiiimes ahead."
ogod

"Al-alright." says Terrens, struggling to his feet. "I suppose we'll give control of the ship over to Gunnery Sergeant John for the weapons trials, then."

>>47535
Ask Oberan if he can walk you through this quick.

Let's wipe out some asteroids.

1. Find the largest nearby asteroid.
2. Fire both antimatter cannons.
Then try flak on what's left.

>>47535

All right! Blowing shit up. Let's start small and clear a range for our antimatter cannons. Clear a path toward one of the far away big rocks with flak and lasers. We want to test the cannons from a distance.

>>47542
Clearing a path is step 0, it all makes sense now.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)18:53 No. 47575 ID: f98e0b
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>>47539
>>47541
>>47542
OK...
let's see what we've got on this thing.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)19:01 No. 47583 ID: f98e0b
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John:




Weapon systems green, I think.

John 2009/09/19(Sat)19:09 No. 47595 ID: f98e0b
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John:...
Oberan: Sorry, sarge. Had to get that out of my system.

>>47595

I think that's safe to say that shakedown cruise is a success.

((I really like the fractaly feel of the art. Brings back memories of Elite for Commodore64))

>>47598

You should probably ponder tactics and prioritizing targets.

Iff slower: Snipe to death (Antimatter). Simple enough.

Iff faster AND short ranged weapons/explosive/ballistics: Flak. The problem is they may come at all directions and being small we need a larger dispersal of flak along the ring so we don't have to spin it (May not have time).

Iff faster AND mid-ranged weapons (fighter ships? cruisers?): Lasers. Again, same problem as above... except worse. Antimatter might be a good choice against 'swarms though, since it appears to be a spread.

Iff slower AND long-ranged weapons: Here's the big issue; you should only close if the weapons take a long time to reload. Otherwise a single shot at point blank range is going to wipe (fuggin' inverse square law), and so any attempt to close would have to involve either disabling the weapon/destroying the ship before it can fire again.

This leads me to conclude that you need a wider dispersal for flak; but antimatter weapons can basically be loaded anywhere, since they're range/spread/oneshotters anyway.

Thoughts?

Suggestion 2009/10/03(Sat)05:05 No. 56043 ID: f98e0b
File 125457155194.png - (59.90KB , 800x600 , static.png )

-llah, Lord of this mortal soul, worn out body and drying bone, which left this world for the next. Grant him forgiveness for his wrongdoings and love for his virtues and all this life could not provide.

________ 2009/10/03(Sat)05:07 No. 56044 ID: f98e0b
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Grant him happiness from you and peace from me. And from them.
Allahu Akbar.

Allahu Akbar. Hm.

Osmen 2009/10/03(Sat)06:01 No. 56049 ID: f98e0b
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My name is Osmen Sahir, I'm a PFC in the ST Army, and I am relating all of this to a shard of glass because a soldier who is dead now told me to.

Cpl. Greene is dead. A goo-alien just charged us both. I pumped five shells into it, blew off an arm, ruined its stomach and took chunks off it all the while. It just
kept
coming.
And then it punched its fist right through Greene's chest.
Allahu Akbar. I'm not so sure anymore.

He told me if he bought it to take the shard. He said it'd help me. He told me to introduce myself. So, um, hi. I'm alone inside a crippled alien vessel, my fighter is far off if it's not destroyed, and the aliens won't stop coming.
We've killed by my count two dozen of them and they just don't stop coming. They're stupid brave. Suicidal, even. All of them.

>>56049

(Whups, hit the reply button there)

Hello, Osmen. Nice to meet you. Yes, we will help. You're not actually killing the aliens. But we'll get into that later.

Have you considered surrender?

Osmen 2009/10/03(Sat)13:24 No. 56131 ID: f98e0b
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Holy shit. You talk.

Huh. I guess I know why Greene was always muttering things under his breath now.

>not killing them
The mutilated bodies we leave behind I think are protest to that. The only way of slowing down the gelatinous ones is to blow their legs off, you know. Monsters.


>surrender
Surrender? The thought hadn't really crossed my mind. They don't understand English, they've been ruthless in the past, and they're aliens. I don't know what they'd do with prisoners, but I don't want to think about it. Also, to be fair, we were the ones who initiated this particular attack, and we've killed so many I don't think they'd let us off light.

You'll help me? Okay, current objective is to get the fuck off this ship and find the fighter I rode in on.

>>56131

Well, why else would he ask you to introduce yourself? Annnyway.

The explanation is more complicated than that. These deaths are not... permanent, for them. No, they won't rise up as undead (fortunately). Any further explanation would be inappropriate.

Ruthless how? What's your whole take on why this war was started and what is going on?

Right well. Some of them understand human tongues but they're a minority.. let's see... Any maps? Any idea where you came from?

You may actually want to steal one of their fighters if there's a map.

Osmen 2009/10/03(Sat)14:30 No. 56161 ID: f98e0b
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>Not permanent
...you're starting to freak me out a little.

>Ruthless
I've read the reports and seen the video footage. Nasty shit's been going on in this war.
And the way I've heard it and from what I've seen these aliens don't even have mouths to speak, let alone in English. They're communicating mentally, most likely.

>map
Map? Yeah, I think I've got one somewhere around here, let me...
oh right, here's my Operator's ID so you can get an idea of who you're working with. I'd take my helmet off to show you my face but I'm pretty sure I'd die.

Here, mappy mappy...

Osmen 2009/10/03(Sat)14:35 No. 56163 ID: f98e0b
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Here's the map, with my objectives, points of general interest, and what may be a fighter bay marked on it. Our job was to take out both engines and the Control Room, but we only got so far as to knock out one before everything was shot to hell.

The fighter bay is just a guess considering what I saw outside the ship before breaching. It looked like there was some sort of ship release mechanism there for launching smaller craft.

Of course, if that's the case, it'll be well guarded.

>>56161
I don't know why he's making it sound so mysterious and creepy. They have respawners.

Now, on to getting you out of there. Map's good, what's the general force layout on each side? What are you armed with, and how many shots between reloads?

For what it's worth, I don't think they treat prisoners that badly, but I wouldn't count on them even trying to take you alive.

>>56163

I notice you're a combat engineer. Are you at all familiar with the systems in this ship? I don't know how much you've studied... but it may be a good idea to figure out how to trap things or eliminate aliens you can't see.

Any more guys in the engine room? What have you got in the way of arms?

Osmen 2009/10/03(Sat)15:08 No. 56179 ID: f98e0b
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>>56165
>>56166
I've got a pump-action combat shotgun, fairly tight spread, eight shells maximum. Also the Tweety Bird CP-3, a small but lethal handgun. Eerily powerful for something so small.

I also have a couple smoke grenades, a combat knife with some rubber stuck to the handle, and some C4 for sabotage.

>>56166
I have general training in alien tech, but it's understandably exotic, so it pretty much just boils down to steering ships and knowing the best place to stick some C4 and blow things up. I'm good with human tech, though, and there are similarities here and there.

>Force Layout
There are probably around 50 aliens aboard this ship after the 25 we killed.

There's one of me.
I have the advantage of being a fairly well-equipped special forces soldier, and I'd guess at least half of the aliens onboard aren't fighting personell. But still, I'd wildly outnumbered.

I'm alone in this particular room, though. And safe, because I've barricaded the doors to the engine room and the rest of the ship. Ready to move on your say-so to wherever.

...hah, I'm talking to a little piece of glass like it's my CO. This is getting bizarre.

>>56179

Actually, one of your COs might be in here... somewhere...

Wait. I have a crazy plan.

Is your suit sealed and have an airtank, and if it does, can you cut a hole through the hull and get to the outside of the ship?

Osmen 2009/10/04(Sun)07:34 No. 56841 ID: f98e0b
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godisgreatgodisgreatgodisgreatgodisgreatgodisgreatgodisgreatohfuckshitgodisgreatgodisgreatgodisgreat

Osmen 2009/10/04(Sun)07:34 No. 56842 ID: f98e0b
File 125466688176.png - (105.29KB , 800x600 , 123.png )

godisgreatgodisGREATgodisshitfuckgreatgodisgreat

>>56841
>>56842

Go Osmen! You're nearly there! Keep it up! Don't panic.

Magnet boots should really be standard equipment. So how did the whole cutting procedure go?

Osohn 2009/10/04(Sun)11:07 No. 56903 ID: f98e0b
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The cutting was simple, it's the gripping onto the damn ship that's ha--s John enters th--an't hold o--eels different-ent--HUAKBA--n doesn't want to say he's ov--no...

Osmen 2009/10/04(Sun)11:10 No. 56906 ID: f98e0b
File 125467983724.png - (92.44KB , 800x600 , 125.png )

Well

The static that just blasted through my brain was the last straw, it seems. Greene probably should have warned me about that.

I'm freefloating.

It strikes me as darkly ironic that I've drifted one foot and I am going to die.

>>56903

Eh? There's a bit of static and interference... Loosing you. Guess we're going back to John. For a mind of infinite psyche we really suck at multi-tasking.

>>56906

...Or not. That... is kind of a new experience for us, actually. We hadn't realized such things would happen. Forces, forces... maybe not. Do you have something to throw?

>>56906

Unlikely, your weapons should be vacuum workable. Just shoot in one direction and grab on. I take it magnetized boots are not standard issue, you might want to make a complaint about that.

Osmen 2009/10/04(Sun)12:16 No. 56946 ID: f98e0b
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>>56912
Here goes...

>[animated]

>>56946

You know, these sort of plans usually hinge on knowing what you have to work with. So next time someone asks you to blow a hole in to the vacuum be sure to mention that you have no thursters or magnetized boots. Also whoever equipped you guys needs to be shot.

I think the plan was to walk the outside of the ship right to your fighter. Do you think you can crawl there? Not that it sounds like a good idea anymore since you can't fight back now. Every shot from your pistol will probably hurtle you to space.

>>56946

Ouch. Well. Guess you should have used the pistol.

Osmen 2009/10/04(Sun)12:31 No. 56960 ID: f98e0b
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Nono guys, don't freak out. This suit is kevlar weave and I'm trained to hit hard things well. I'm fine besides a banged knee...

the only side effect is that my shotgun is now floating away into space.

>>56960
We assumed you were physically okay. We're more worried about the lack of shotgun. That is going to make this a lot harder.

Crawl your way along to the ship's docking bay, or wherever the hell your fighter should be.

Osmen 2009/10/04(Sun)12:46 No. 56982 ID: f98e0b
File 125468560121.png - (105.80KB , 800x600 , 128.png )

I wouldn't worry too much about my shotgun. If I can make it to my fighter I'm out of here quick.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get there as long as you guys don't bug out again.

>>56951
>terrible equipment
Yeah, we're stretched pretty thin and have barely enough supplies to keep our ships going, let alone an entire army. I'm lucky I even got a fucking gun in the first place. Personal Thrusters are out of the question, but I'm going to need to talk about getting some electromagnets in my heels if... when I make it back.

>>56982

Well, almost there. If the angle is right you can just push off directly toward your ship and grab onto it when you hit it.

Osmen 2009/10/05(Mon)13:38 No. 58088 ID: f98e0b
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((sorry about the hilaribad updating speed, folks. I'm still pretty sick, I just wanted to keep going before this became ancient history))

With a bit of a push I'm safely to the ship, and from there it's an easy crawl to the airlock. There's more to hang on to on our fighter. It's less smooth than the alien tech.

...of course as soon as I get here, I'm starting to have misgivings about this plan. What if they've wired the fighter to explode or something when I come in? What if they're waiting for me?

>>58088
If they care about the fighter they're more likely to have a guard then to rig it with explosives. If they're waiting, well, shoot fast.
You really don't have many options at this point.

Osmen 2009/10/05(Mon)14:41 No. 58132 ID: f98e0b
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>>58115
It's probably just my paranoia talking. The fighter's designed for complete radar silence and we knocked out the major electronic systems first thing when we breached, so they can't have found it unless they stumbled across the tiny hole we made in their hull upon entran...

Fuck. Fuck.

The cockpit's smashed to hell. It'd take an hour at least to repair it.

I'm i'm dead. Dead.
Uh.
Note.

READ NOTE.

Osmen 2009/10/05(Mon)14:49 No. 58141 ID: f98e0b
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my heart is racing

>>58141
You would do well to follow these instructions.

Was that a weapon lying behind the chair?

>>58141
Well, you know what you need to do.

Get out your pen and fix their spelling and grammar. Its truly atrocious.

>>58141

I guess now would not be the best time to mention that while humans have surrendered in the past, the fact that you know nothing of this, speaks volumes of their status in the book of the living. Otherwise we wouldn't hesitate accepting a little bomb in your brain in exchange for a trip back home. At some point these prisoners are being erased either by your own or some other entity. Speculation of course but unfortunate if true.

I would still recommend making your way to the aliens fighter bay. Just take the flag with you if you feel like pressing your luck. Want to take another jaunt outside or go to the ambush inside?

Osmen 2009/10/05(Mon)17:53 No. 58284 ID: f98e0b
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>>58146
Why am I doing this hahaha

>>58145
I think it's the remains of the flightstick

>>58284
You missed 'tak'.

Anyway, could you possibly steal one of their fighters and make it back?

Take flag. Find weapon. Find proper aliens to surrender to.

Osmen 2009/10/06(Tue)13:29 No. 58758 ID: f98e0b
File 125486094484.png - (83.85KB , 800x600 , 133.png )

>>58330
Flag taken.

Ok. Focus Osmen. If I can make it to a fighter I do have the knowledge I need to fly home. Option B, I could surrender to the aliens, trusting them not to kill me. I find this very unlikely, judging as how they are horrifying monsters.

Option A looks good to me.

>>58758
Alright. Before we do anything else, check to see if this ship can be repaired by any means. Sitting here in a radar stealth'd ship with a gun at the ready is safer than charging back to the alien ship, after all.

If this ship is truly and completely unsalvageable, then we'll need to work on getting you back to the alien ship.

>>58758
Option A, with a backup plan of B.

>>58758
Try Option A, but keep Option B in mind if you see any navy blue uniformed aliens.

Why do you think all aliens are evil anyway? That doesn't really make sense.

>>58758

Remember to tie the flag around something so you can wave it around corners. You don't know if the paper is telling the truth.

Hm. Mirrors on a stick...

Osmen 2009/10/06(Tue)15:50 No. 58969 ID: f98e0b
File 125486943895.png - (69.71KB , 800x600 , 134.png )

>>58871
You're kidding. If they're not huge blobs of violent, frankenstinian goo they're gaunt black things with blades for hands and electric blood. Cpl. Josef tried to stab one and fried from the inside out. It smelled like burnt bacon.
I've been briefed on them and apparently they've committed atrocities in the past, blowing up civilian ships and the like.
And I haven't met any former POWs. Do you really think I should just surrender?

>>58860
>repair?
Shit's ruined. Any repairs I attempt will take me well past the oxygen I have left.

Getting back to the alien ship shouldn't be hard. I'll just go in the way I did last time. Here we go...

>>58969
It would make sense that you haven't met any POWs. Why do you think they would've escaped? Blowing up civilians seems pretty bad though.

Has anyone tried to negotiate yet?

>>58973

POW's are fitted with head bombs that explode if they fight the alliance again and sent back to humans according to John. So they dissapear at some point before making it home. Bad idea to be a prisoner.

>>58976
SHH! Don't freak him out, he's obviously xenophobic and won't trust us if he thinks we're with them. Besides, they're sent back to Earth, and these guys are fleeing from Earth.

>>58969
that's like saying a bear is evil, just because it's an eight hundred pound monstrosity of teeth, fangs, and killing power.

Bears generally will leave you alone if you leave them alone, you know.

unless you're between them and a cub, or are soaked in salmon juice or something, but that's a different story.

Osmen 2009/10/06(Tue)17:48 No. 59083 ID: f98e0b
File 125487649229.png - (57.15KB , 800x600 , 135.png )

I suppose you're right. I'm being sort of racist, huh? It's true that my people weren't any strangers to it before Neotis. Sorry.

Are you aliens' voices? Just wondering.

I move through the breach into the enemy ship. Here, let me put up a map for you on my HUD. I'm the diamond.

Lighting in the next room is very low and is provided by one emergency light. Not bulletproof. I can put it out if you like. The aliens generally have worse eyesight than we do, by the way.

I look into the next room, and see one goo alien. No navy blue on it. I'm marking it as an X on the map and considering it hostile. It's got an antimatter rifle on it. One shot kill.
It's watching the door. Is it waiting for something, perhaps?

I could shoot it from here easily, and if I aim for the head it will die. That would make noise, though. Not a loud one, but it could still attract attention.

I have five clips of six shots each, and I'm a pretty good shot, so ammo is no problem unless I'm trying to lay down cover fire or something stupid like that.

I could sneak up on it and perform a silent takedown. A stab to the back of the head will puncture its diamond eye and kill it. If it sees me or if I'm unlucky though, it could overpower me. The goo things are quite strong. Some of them also for some reason have thicker hides than others. I haven't come across one I couldn't stab yet though.

Of course, I could also hide and wait and watch and see what happens, but I've only got around an hour of air left, and I would of course risk detection.
Please advise.

>>59083

Human. I think, anyway. Is anyone in here an alien?

It might be waiting for you to come out that door. Interestingly, it might not have gotten around that you managed to escape through the hull; they might still be trying to bust their way through the blocks you put up. Which gives you a measure of surprise.

I suggest you stab in the back of the head, and get ready to drag the body off to an unseen corner. If you can manage it after take out the light in the same quiet manner (without the gun). After all... their vision is worse. The less lights, the better.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)03:39 No. 59398 ID: f98e0b
File 125491195121.gif - (100.85KB , 800x600 , 137.gif )

Executing.

>[animated]

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)11:25 No. 59438 ID: f98e0b
File 125493989939.png - (132.34KB , 800x600 , 138.png )

Salaam, alien.

Yeeesh. That one had a lot of blood in it. I hope I didn't get too much on my scarf.

One enemy down. Where to now? Shall I continue to the fighters or move the body first?

Move the body.
We might get delayed on the way to the fighters and the corpse would alert everyone.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)11:59 No. 59454 ID: f98e0b
File 125494193961.png - (147.94KB , 800x600 , 139.png )

Sleep tight, alien.

Let's move on.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)12:39 No. 59472 ID: f98e0b
File 125494435724.png - (102.61KB , 800x600 , 140.png )

I look through the next door.

This room is where we lost our first, Cpl Ridley I think. His blood's still on the wall. Wonder where they put the body.

One alien, stickthing. Doing the alien equivalent of texting. Chattering under its breath.

It's got a laser rifle on its back but is otherwise unarmed. I could kill it fairly easily, but I'd want to do it from a distance. The blood in one of those things could fry me.

Wait why am I thinking that it's in navy uniform. These are the ones I surrender to, if the captain told the truth.

...But should I? The flight bay is right in the next room.

>>59472
You really don't want to fight this one. Just hope that it can see well enough to notice the flag before you.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)13:13 No. 59497 ID: f98e0b
File 125494637980.png - (101.69KB , 800x600 , 141.png )

>>59485
Well, I guess it's time to give in.

"Don't shoot. Blue flag, Blue flag."
I say. I wave it around a little for emphasis.

The alien looks up with a surprised chirrup.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)13:15 No. 59499 ID: f98e0b
File 125494651349.gif - (62.77KB , 800x600 , 142.gif )

"Someone comes," it says to me quietly but urgently, in a voice that sounds like a herd of cicadas. "Hide. HIDE."

[animated (a little)]

>>59472
Surrender, make sure the flag is exceptionally visible, and attempt to attract attention.

>>59499
Do what it says.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)13:32 No. 59508 ID: f98e0b
File 125494756911.png - (133.72KB , 800x600 , 143.png )

Hiding. Observing.

I can feel the adrenaline from my last kill starting to cool. That's good. It was making my aim shaky.

A tripod lopes in from another hallway and strikes up a conversation with the stickfigure in its low foghorn voice. The conversation seems tense. The tripod gestures toward the door with its weapon and the stick man shakes its head.

>>59508
Don't move, make as little noise as you can, but be ready to defend yourself from the newcomer if necessary.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)13:45 No. 59521 ID: f98e0b
File 12549483134.png - (163.21KB , 800x600 , 144.png )

Seems like Tripod didn't buy it. It's coming.

Stick makes a quick thoatcutting gesture to me from behind it.

>>59521
Well, he is either telling us to die, or to kill the newcomer.

Since you don't want to die, I say kill the newcomer, careful to not hit the one in blue, and then start waving the flag again.

>>59524
I think he means play dead, actually.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)14:05 No. 59534 ID: f98e0b
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>>59524
Best way I know for a fast kill is to dive...

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)14:05 No. 59535 ID: f98e0b
File 125494952035.png - (164.27KB , 800x600 , 146.png )

...and shoot.

Ow.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)14:14 No. 59539 ID: f98e0b
File 125495006653.png - (171.33KB , 800x600 , 147.png )

I banged my elbow.

I gave a little more than I got, I think.
I get to my feet, dust myself off, move my arm a little. I'm fine.

"Effective kill, pinko." says the stickman. "Ready to turn yourself in?"

>>59539
Its a blue one! Raise your flag and pray.

>>59539
Say yes, ask what'll happen to you.

What the hell? You make me fight to surrender and offer compliments after. Am I expected to kill everything on the path to the POW camp now? And if I'm to do that why not just fight my way out of here?

>>59539
Say yes. Ask questions if you like, but definitely say yes. Maybe make a snide comment about them calling you "pinko".

Be as sarcastic as you'd like about having to defend your captor, but it might have just saved you with that warning.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)18:19 No. 60045 ID: f98e0b
File 125496476133.png - (171.34KB , 800x600 , 148.png )

"Yes." I say. "But first, what exactly is the fucking idea with me fighting in order to surrender and saving your ass? Am I going to have to kill my way into the POW camp next?"

There's a note of humor in its reply. "If you'd like, pinko. If you'd like. I'll let the captain explain, if you'll let me take you to him. I'll want that pistol, first. And your knife."

>>60045

See that lack of fear of death? That's because they live in post-humanist.. (alienist?) society where the mind isin't bound to die with the body. Suffice it to say that violence and death are not viewed as badly in their society as yours. After all who's really dead?

Let's just go with him out of curiosity.

>>60045

Ask him if you can keep the knife; you can't hurt him with out hurting yourself with it, after all.

>>60103

And it's a nice way to off yourself if everything seems to go to hell. Salaam.

>>60045
Give the weapons to him. He seems trustworthy.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)18:53 No. 60144 ID: f98e0b
File 125496683557.png - (128.75KB , 800x600 , 149.png )

I throw him the pistol. "Can I keep the knife? It's not like I'm going to be able to do anything to you without killing myself."
He nods.

He leads me through the fighter bay toward the control room. While we're walking, I ask, "What's going to happen to me?"

"We're going to take you to the nearest Alliance planet, which I think is Spirant. It's an ocean planet. Great water parks. You'll like it." I study his face to see if he's serious. His expression is, of course, glowy and unchanging.

"We'll hand you over to the Foreign Authority there and they'll decide what to do with you. Normally when we bring in entire crews they just stick bombs in their heads in case they try to fight us again and send them home. You are the only survivor, in this case. I'm not sure what the protocol for that is. There was another, but they weren't found by the right people and were executed after they revealed the location of your ship."

>>60144
Ask him what he means by 'home'. Earth? Maybe you should tell him what a horrible place it is.

Osmen 2009/10/07(Wed)19:00 No. 60156 ID: f98e0b
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>>60146
"Home?" I ask. "You mean Earth? I don't want to go home, especially not with a bomb in my skull. We sort of went through an apocalypse."

"Where else could you go?" asks the stickman. It strikes me that I haven't asked its name yet. "What, you want to stay stuck in the Alliance?"

>>60156
Consider this idea. You might be able to serve as a diplomat. A representative of the human race. You do like water parks, right?

Might as well ask his name. Or is it a female? Also quit lagging behind and staring at that ship. You can't jump that far anyway. You'd break your legs.

>>60156
Staying in the Alliance can't be as bad as home is nowadays, why not?

>>60156
The Alliance doesn't sound so bad when compared to Earth.

Are there any Humans in the Alliance or would you be the first?

>>60156

...What's wrong with Earth exactly right now?

Osmen 2009/10/08(Thu)03:41 No. 60394 ID: f98e0b
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"Yes. Yes I do."

It looks surprised.
So am I. Because as I say it, I suddenly realize it's true. I want to know more about these aliens. I want to see a world where you go on living. I'm sick and tired of death.

>>60394

Well, don't cheer now. It's not like it's announced in the mecca yet.

>>60394
"Look... I've been fighting and killing for so long I've forgotten how to do anything else. There's nothing left for me but death, but I'm not quite ready to die yet. If you have an alternative, I'll listen. And I doubt I'm the only 'pinko' who feels this way."

Osmen 2009/10/08(Thu)15:23 No. 60753 ID: f98e0b
File 125504058639.png - (71.93KB , 800x600 , 152.png )

"I...wasn't actually being serious," says the alien. "You actually want to join the Alliance? You're an enemy soldier."

"Look... I've been fighting and killing for so long I've forgotten how to do anything else. There's nothing left for me but death, but I'm not quite ready to die yet. If you have an alternative, I'll listen. And I doubt I'm the only 'pinko' who feels this way."

"Well you're the only one who's said something about it, anyway." says stick. "It occurs to me I don't know your name. I'm Bszzzt Hszzt Hs, but you can call me June. If you like."

"Osmen. Osmen Sahir."

"Okay, Osmen Osmen Sahir." she says, and I like to think if she had a face she'd smile.

Osmen 2009/10/08(Thu)15:23 No. 60755 ID: f98e0b
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"Let's go see the captain."