|
>>
|
e05fa1.jpg
Iris Cascade
e05fa1
>I suggest firing upon Launcher 2 first to try to take it out
>divert AI control from propulsion to plasma weapons and take a shot at the end of "Launcher 1"
>if we can't destroy them outright, we can just make sure a projectile is sitting over the muzzle just as whatever they're launching is emerging
>[Perhaps switching between the perspectives of an enormous starship and a single biped is throwing off your calculations a little, my friendlies. The spire clusters in which those launchers are housed are each the size of small mountains. Certainly, we can damage and even destroy them, but it will require a sustained barrage, not a single shot. Unless we use the Star Cannon, which could probably do it, but the crew discussed the issues with that earlier. I think we have some mines in storage that could be placed over the launchers, but they would need to be deployed using the torpedo system... and they're not designed to be used so low in a gravity well. They only have a limited supply of fuel for their positioning thrusters, so they won't stay up for long. Do you still want to try it, or do you want to revise your plans?]
>do any of the neumono on board have a network of neurological implants based off the prototype tech Korli's science hive and the Su'ata salikai family were working on fifty years ago?
>[Searching... ah, yes. No. Elements of that research have been used to develop neumono cybernetics in general, and a somewhat similar technology has been applied for individuals with neurological ailments; but these days, most such conditions can be eliminated entirely if one can afford the treatment. Not everyone can, but everyone working on this ship could. The medical package for the crew is quite generous. Perhaps one of the contract civilians, in the science teams or the residence section, but it's very unlikely; I don't have access to their medical records. Dastrica's implants are probably the closest you could find.]
>Is [Dastrica] ready for any kind of action?
>send Dastrica down only if she could shield Aryega from the empathic storm or otherwise mitigate its effect on her
>[I would say she's not in good condition, but not any more than the crew we've put to work already. A third of them had already done a working day, and another third were pulled from their beds, quite literally in a few cases. As for her helping Aryega... I'm not any more an expert on neumono empathy than what I can pull from the databases, but I assume that the same silencing ability that allows Aryega to function at all would also prevent Dastrica from doing anything for her.]
>Operator, you told us earlier about the supply drop pods loaded with silly stuff, but are there ones on hand with more serious stuff that could help out those below?
>[Perhaps, but any sort of supply drop requires power to the torpedo launchers, as I mentioned in regards the mines. A comm node does sound like a good idea, however.]
>I think we have 3 unused power
>[No, we don't, sadly. The three units I think you're talking about are in the shields as they warm up.]
>I'd also like to get all the info on the site-to-site teleporter.
>Seconding more info on site-to-site teleporter.
>[Mm, well. You know, of course, that the normal teleportation system functions by what is casually known as a "space pinch"? Each end point is squeezed together by force until they overlap and the objects within are given a "nudge" so that they end up on the other side when they spring apart again. This is horribly inaccurate, but it's a general overview. Thus each end needs a teleporter system in place to provide exact data on their contents and their position relative to each other, and to provide the push and pull that moves things from once place to another. Theoretically, the distance between the two locations shouldn't matter, but the tiny relativistic differences between the end points begin to build up the further the distance grows, and they cause... distortions. The survivor of the longest recorded teleportation to date described his experience as "going on a whole rollercoaster ride in a fraction of a second". Once he got out of the coma. That was a neumono, actually. I digress. Hekizem's site-to-site system uses the ship's FTL engine, which works using mechanisms related to the teleporter (and is, I am always proud to say, one of the most powerful and accurate engines known). It can produce the same pinching effect between any two points within its warp radius by "slingshotting" the effect around the distortion core. In practice, however, it is terribly inaccurate, subjects the target to terrible stresses and some odd effects, and takes a truly inordinate amount of energy. Whenever we ran it before, we did so at full power to the FTL drive, the teleporters and the sensors - which needs a total of six teams - and it wasn't able to move anything much further than the shield radius. We don't need full sensors, I suppose, since we're not collecting experimental data; and it might be possible to extend the range, but any attempt to alter the shape of the warp field without weeks of calculations is really very risky.]
>Comms, have you been making any progress with the sensors? We gave you that crew on the assumption we would get returns from the investment.
>[Considering that we are now talking to each other directly and that I am able to give you estimates on enemy action, then yes, I do think we've been making progress. I don't know if I can get any more accurate a reading on the elder machine than I have already, but I might be able to secure more bandwidth for you to control more drones on board; and I can pass information to the surface to clear more lines of communication for the inhabitants down there, which they need. Remember, the sensors and the communications are the same system. If you take a team away, any progress in that direction will be slowed severely, and with only one team, we won't be able to safely run the sensors or communications on full power. You could lose a lot of what you have already.]
>inform Polokoa
I hear you.
I'm not down there yet, but I should reach one of the big holes soon. I need to go for the most direct route possible, but I'll keep an eye out for signs of what it's doing and you can pass the info back.
>So does that mean all of the neumono on the asteroid are collapsed now too? WHILE the asteroid is falling apart?... that's gonna rack up the casualty rate, methinks.
Where the asteroid is falling apart, people are dying regardless of whether they're awake or not. Elsewhere... they won't be targets while they're writhing on the ground. There might have been a few vehicle crashes, some tongues bitten, a few tramplings, but neumono are tough. They can survive it better than anyone else could, and I had the need and the right to make the call. Everyone on the asteroid is in for it if I don't move fast enough and disable this thing. I regret the necessity. I never like using this mode. Aside all of those problems, it could cause them all brain damage if I keep doing this for too long.
Theoretically. In practice, of course, it's not actually an issue.
|