>>547316
Wait. There are unbugged armored... That means they weren't bugged before they got here, they only got bugged after arriving! The salikai is trying to deal with this new force, but it's not completely compromised! We can get the armored troops on our side! We just have to isolate them to tell them and give them x-ray goggles to show them the truth. If we can get even ONE of them on our side without the bugged ones finding out, they might be able to slip away and radio home base past the CAI's jamming radius. Or tell the others with armor, and organize a coup.

Getting spotted by the drones is bad, yes, because the bugged ones will probably broadcast that you've been found. However we can still get a positive overall result out of it if we can gain the assistance of all the armored troops!

We have to take this chance, because it's being forced upon us. If we encounter any unarmored, bugged troops, try to headshot them or otherwise disable them. If any armored troops show up, try to yell at them that there are bugs and their personnel are compromised. They can see it for themselves if their armor has any visors worth a damn!

Have Moi scout the intersection, if there are more than 5 neuomono there have her knock over the lights and then rush across.
If there are 5 or less then i think you could try attacking and taking some prisoners.

If this is a rescue team and only partially bugged then we might have a chance at getting reinforcements. Just have to make sure not to get shot up in the attempt to make contact.

I think having Moi scout out the light is the best plan. Once we know how many there are and how well armed they are we can decide how to get through here.

1/2 Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)09:40 No. 547344 ID: d38f67
File 138410523376.png - (34.15KB , 800x800 , 646.png )

>Scout them. If there's 5 or less, and any without bugs, then shoot their flashlight out and we'll ambush them. Be sure to get out of our crossfire.

The hunters and I get in position. We hear a gunshot, and the light goes out. The rocks here are decent at holding light, and we can still see, but they're used to a high light scenario. We've only got a second before they bring out another flashlight.

2/2 Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)09:41 No. 547346 ID: d38f67
File 138410528196.png - (48.77KB , 900x700 , 647.png )

>"Taffy Six under fire!" That was a Pomi, who I just glimpse diving behind the rock. I may want to try to take him alive for questioning, but it's too easy to kill them by accident. Can't just shoot them in the face.

The rest of the neumono are slower to duck. Rokko manages a headshot, and Orilo nails one in the stomach at least twice. I don't get shit.

There's a loose, floating rock that is making its way to the Pomi, so Moi may be on top of that one. I can tell she's nervouse alone from just how she's holding that rock. She's at least holding it behind herself, as far as I can tell.

Well, here's hoping these guys aren't all friendlies since we're shooting them up. (Hah! First time in this mess we've hoped someone is controlled by the salikai).

See what you can do about helping to shut the neumono down. Try and make it so they're distracted from Moi, giving her a chance to knock out the Pomi. Be ready to try and direct fire to help her if she gets caught (although there's only so much you can do. You're not a sharpshooter like Polo- you can't reliably pick off someone right on top of her).

Their left flank is crumbling so start advancing there under cover fire.
Hopefully you getting close will draw the pomis attention and give Moi some reassurance.

Advance on the left and keep the Pomi's attention on you so Moi does not get noticed.

Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)12:58 No. 547402 ID: d38f67
File 138411709422.png - (25.18KB , 800x800 , 648.png )

There's a lot of crags, so it's easy to wrap around and force them to keep an eye on me, and not on that floating rock. It works, because I don't like how many bullets are whizzing by me. Rokko and Orilo manage to keep them pinned well enough.

tink

>>547402
Gas grenade? Just hit it out of the air, to shove it downhill.

...this is starting to get too drawn out for an ambush. This needs to end, fast, before they can get reinforcements.

>tink
Hmm. Smoke bomb to mess with visibility, or tear gas? I guess the placement (trying to land it right on you) would suggest tear gas more than a smoker.

You may not be the best shot in the world, but I'm sure you've had to get good with a share of clubs with all that survival-ing (probably the easiest weapon to fall back on, before you have the time to make anything with an edge). Grab your machine gun and batter up?

Crap, better hope the Salikai didn't smuggle up some hallucinogen along with the bugs.

Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)17:39 No. 547469 ID: d38f67
File 138413399237.png - (25.66KB , 800x800 , 649.png )

As a matter of fact, I've played sports. And this is probably a better strike than I usually manage. I probably could have grabbed it and thrown it back but this way I can keep farther away it. 'It' definitely being tear gas. I'm still gonna sting, but I'll manage.

>"Biles, get your ass back here! We got company!"

Gunshots are coming from the direction we were trying to head to, and I see Orilo leap up to fight them. I hear a disheartening scream from Rokko.

The current enemy group sees the tear gas getting bounced back at them, and they're falling back, although their backs aren't to me. I can't see if Moi got the Pomi, but I don't see him in the retreat either.

...damn, this ambush has gone bad. We need to regroup and get our people out of here before more reinforcements show up and pin us down.

First priority is getting our people and getting out, second priority is grabbing any prisoners or equipment we can, if we can. (That assumes any of them are down out of the reach of the others, or got left momentarily behind when they fell back from the gas).

Our whole plan right now is to find someone not bugged and get there story out of them so maybe we can get word back to the surface.

But before that we need to stay alive long enough to do anything. So grab the Pomi if you can and run for whatever direction seems safest. If we are lucky and keep moving we might have a chance.

If we do get seen by a drone regardless of who controls it the CAI will probably be able to see us through it as well. So try to avoid them but if it happens speed is more important than stealth right now.

I wonder how things would have went if we had approached them without immediately shooting.

Well, assuming they get any footage of the attack, they'll recognize Biles, and start to wonder why the fuck we attacked them. The obvious conclusion is this salikai has bugs, and then hopefully that would lead to them suspecting that their own force may have been compromised.

Let's retreat for now. Cover Moi's return with the prisoner.

1/2 Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)19:45 No. 547511 ID: d38f67
File 138414155205.png - (31.18KB , 800x800 , 650.png )

I don't want to fuck around here, so I start moving back to the other two. I'd like to see some sign of Moi, but the layout doesn't let me get a good view without making me an easy target for lead filling.

She managed to spot a nice crack, though, and was also able to drag the Pomi with her safely back to us. Rokko took a nasty shot in the face, twice.

We hear footsteps running from behind the first group.

2/2 Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)19:45 No. 547512 ID: d38f67
File 138414155789.png - (29.68KB , 800x800 , 651.png )

So we run in the direction of base. It looks like Orilo managed to take out a squad of three. She's hit, too, I think, but she's standing as well as Rokko. She took their goddamn eyes.

>>547512
Well if possible see if you can drag one or both of these guys home with you. Those eyes will regener- wait nevermind. Eyes take days to regenerate, meanwhile you have useless lumps of flesh eating your food.

Well, it's a tradeoff I guess. I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not. Worst case scenario we can dump them in the vicinity of the new hive with instructions on how to debug people, to hope they reach someone who isn't bugged. Oh, having a neumono captive could also give us a good idea of if they got bugged upon arrival or if it was before they got here.

So take one.

Moi should pass the Pomi off to someone else. That invisible advantage don't do much if she's carrying someone.

If any of the downed neumono are small / light consider taking one of them too (we can't afford to be slowed down now, though). Grab the downed guys' weapons, too. Then we get the hell out of here. Leave the backup to tend to their wounded allies.

>>547512
They... they aren't dead are they?

She knows when to back off?

Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)20:29 No. 547521 ID: d38f67
File 138414414977.png - (32.58KB , 800x800 , 652.png )

I grab another machine gun, frag, and yank his strap off him for the fabric.

"Rokko, grab the Pomi." I pause for Orilo. I don't want to start making it sound like I'm barking orders at her, but I will if she doesn't take any neumono. She does, so that saves me the potential drama.
"They're living and just disabled, yeah?"
>"Yeah." Orilo says, much to my relief.

We make nothing short of a desperate sprint back to base. The hive behind us always seems like its on our heels, but eventually they've got to thin out too much to pursue us. At least for the time, we have way too little time to rest.

Rokko tosses the Pomi down, falls down herself, and Orilo tries to look tough when she drops her neumono, but she's breathing hard. I'm hardly fresh. Moi... well, there's a lot of neumono that would like her legs for a multitude of reasons.

I hear distant shouting, shooting and other assorted noises, but nothing too close as far as I can tell. The fufa roars again. It sounds hoarse.

The Pomi starts coming back to the concious world.

Be polite but firm and ask him what his team is here for.

Keep his mouth shut forcefully and tell him to relax, you're not going to hurt him. Or her? Then explain what is going on.

>Moi... well, there's a lot of neumono that would like her legs for a multitude of reasons.
Why Biles, you naughty exophile.

>what do
Get Nomi, Hummer, and Winsli (if he can) helping out. We got wounded to attend to, a tunnel entrance to block off, and an unconscious neumono prisoner to secure until he can be debugged (is he or she bugged? If not, they still need to be restrained until after we've talked to them). Moi is either helping them with that, or in the tunnel (before we close it), watching invisibly to warn us if anyone gets too close.

Handle the Pomi yourself. Hunters aren't exactly people people, and are probably too rough. Make sure he's unarmed, and he's not hiding a weapon he could pull on you, and then see about questioning him. You want his name, rank, mission, and employer / commander. Start the soldier off with stuff that's general- that he doesn't feel like he's betraying anything giving away. You need to know who the hell these guys are, and what they're doing here. (And if it helps, everyone in his squad is still alive, for now. You hit them for information).

Then we need to figure out if he knows about the bugged neumono, if he works for the hive that was compromised, or if he works for the salikai and helped bug them. (If he doesn't know, a visor can be used to prove his comrade is full of bugs).

Biles 2013/11/10(Sun)22:12 No. 547535 ID: d38f67
File 138415033160.png - (17.29KB , 800x800 , 653.png )

>Why Biles, you naughty exophile.
Those legs transcend eons of anti-extra-hive evolution, but now's not the time.

"Moi... you hit the front of his face?"
>"Yeah, Pomi are a lot more sensitive on their foreheads than the back of their heads. It's weird."
"Ah. Nomi, Hummer, try to block our entrance, we need some time." Orilo and Rokko are tending to each other's wounds while keeping an eye on our prisoners.

I clamp his mouth shut and pat him down to confirm he's got no more weapons, along with tying his hands behind his back.

"We're going to release the strap, slowly, and if you make noise, a rock to the face is going to be your gentle treatment of the day." He nods. I don't think he's dumb about his life. "Tell me about name, rank, mission and commander."
>"... Jack. Corporal Rank. My commander is Ultraking Az, and our fucking mission is to rescue Polo and the rest of her company, including you, Biles, and as it turns out, the hunters."
I was afraid of this possibility. Course, I'd rather deal with this gaffe than have another salikai hive down here.
"Your neumono have bugs."
>"Yes. They do. They're bugs to counteract the salikai bugs, as well as to knock them unconscious if a predator tries to turn them against the rest of us. We're using their tech against them. The only teensy weensy downside to the secrecy of this is that it sure as fuck makes them look like a salikai's neumono to the many, many people who don't know. It was a recent thing, too, so not even Polo may know. I'm expecting our contact with her is going to go about as well as with yours. Do you know her whereabouts?"
>"Don't trust him." Orilo interrupts. "The salikai already pulled some alien mercenaries from the hunter hive, and they've got neumono that have been subjugated without use of bugs."

Okay, on the surface, the story is plausible. If their bugs are a countermeasure, that would explain why the heaviest armored neumono don't have any. They don't have enough to go around, and are compensating as best they can.

Well, if you're telling the truth, we didn't kill you or any of your buddies. No permanent harm done. But the thing you need to understand is, you really haven't given me any way to know you're telling the truth. And we have every reason to be paranoid about another salikai trick. So if you're really on our side, play nice and be patient until we're damn well ready to trust. And if you're lying, well.

...why do you make a point of mentioning and asking after Polo so much? She's not in charge of the inspection team. Hell, I'm not sure if she's even officially listed on the register, or as alive. The salikai are the ones obsessed with her, not the ultrahive HQ.

How can we possibly be using the salikai bug tech against them? It was deployed so recently, and the rescued science hivers the ultrahives have access to are months out of the loop, and without access to all the warship test data. Hardly seems like there's been time to discover the bugs, reverse engineer them, and manufacture and deploy countermeasures.

Our best test of his honesty is going to be our neumono prisoner. When he wakes, you can test if his bugs respond the way the salikai ones do (triggering if you threaten to remove them). And/or you can cut a few out of him and see if Moi can tell if they're any different from the others we've seen. (That's not proof they're friendly though- the salikai could have used a different model on a different hive). If you have any intact salikai bugs you surgically removed, you could also test it the prisoner's bugs try to defend against it if you stick it in him.

>and they've got neumono that have been subjugated without use of bugs
Yeah, predator programmed neumono are a thing we need to watch for.

>don't trust him
Agreed. We can't afford to trust them until we have proof. Anything less is walking into a trap. Leave open the possibility he might be telling the truth, though.

Sorry but we cant exactly trust you can we? While I would like to believe your story until we have more proof we will have to take care of ourselves.

Honestly we have to be careful about trusting Orilo as well in case any of this questioning sets off any hidden four stripes programming in her.

We need to find out as much info from him as possible and ask him open ended questions to try and find holes in his story.

Quiz him about the timeline of his mission and where and when these anti bug bugs came from. We know the ultrahive had samples from the spire and have been working on reverse engineering stuff. So his story is in the realm of possibility.

Ask how did they know to come down here now. Have him give you the full story and then we can see how it meshes with what we know.

Whatever you do only ask direct questions and do not offer any info to him. Ask about stuff like the fufu but do not mention it or anything else you have seen down here by name. Make your questions vague so he has to fill in the blanks.

Make sure to let him know the only thing keeping him alive right now is the possibility that he is telling the truth. For the moment be nice and be our prisoner. If you are telling the truth and play along we can all laugh about this after its all over. And if not we are running low on food.

You know, the bugs here are different than the bugs the hive had knowledge of, aren't they? Check the type and you should know if these came from here or not.

>>547535
Hmph. Ask if he's got any proof. If not, then we wake up the captive neumono and ask him to tell his bugs to leave his body. If that is not possible, we remove them ourselves, but do not destroy the bugs themselves- keep them in a container of some sort. Then after the neumono has no bugs, we ask him to confirm that they're a rescue team with bug-countermeasures. Or maybe we can do that while he has bugs, using physical contact to tell if the bugs are controlling his empathy? To be honest, his story seems to fit the situation. The salikai wouldn't send a compromised force down here by drilling through the cave, they would just bolster the hunter forces.

Tell this guy you don't know where Polo is. Also, ask how they figured out we NEEDED a rescue team. Isn't the hunter hive sending false reports?

>Tell this guy you don't know where Polo is.
Nope.
>only ask direct questions and do not offer any info to him

We need to continue getting information from him, until we either find find something that confirms or denies his story. Until we're sure he can be trusted though, he's a potential enemy agent we can't trust with intelligence (even that we don't know Polo's current location).

>commander is Ultraking Az.
>"King to base, we're down"

Wow the Ultraking is leading the attack. Ask Moi if she saw if he was bugged.

And Corporal Jack here might be telling what he thinks is the truth.
If the salikai were afraid that the bugs could be discovered they might have hidden the tree in the forest by making enough high raking neumono claim that these are totally counter bugs developed in secrecy recently and everyone should get them. And what the higher ranking neumono say goes.

Eh, King and Ultraking aren't the same thing. The ultrahive's made of smaller hives, and it could be one of their kings.

>>547535
Then the higher ups already know how fucking stupid this kind of rescue was then? If the higher ups had thought about this right, keeping this secret a secret would have been worth the deaths of our squad.

Well, unless they know about the psibomb, which if they already know about the bugs and the predator bullshit then it wouldn't be that farfetched to know about, but that would mean killing Polo themselves and destroying the body and all genetic makeup would be the easier and more efficient option because the salikai sure wouldn't kill her. They'd nuke the site from orbit and be done with it. The squads not worth saving, as skilled and unique as we are. Of course they never could be sure.

I'm going to be honest Biles, if these are from Polo's ultrahive and they've learned a lot in the meantime and developed countermeasures, plan a or b is going to include destroying Polo completely to prevent the psibomb. Honestly Biles, maybe that should be OUR plan b at least.

If they wanted to block predator control, distributing jammers would work. This smells.

Did you have any sort of challenge-response set up before the mission?

>Did you have any sort of challenge-response set up before the mission?
Yes, but that's meaningless with the salikai's ability to infiltrate and compromise our command structure and allies. The hunters passed a call and response test with Polo, remember.

Biles 2013/11/11(Mon)18:57 No. 547654 ID: d38f67
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"Well if he's telling the truth, we didn't kill any of his buddies. We can test if these bugs are any good, though. What I want to know is how they managed to develop bug countermeasures so quickly?"
>"The brightest scientists in the universe have been commissioned to oversee how a neumono's empathy can be hijacked. And protected. Or so goes what I've been told."
"You also mentioned Polo a lot. There's a whole squad of us who were sent down here, you know, and she wasn't the leader of the excavation."
>"Yeah, but only Polo's the one in our ultrahive, and to some weird political sense, Korli. Our mission is to save Polo first. Locate, surround and contain or destroy the salikai second depending on future orders, and rescue non-aggressors third."
"Do we count as aggressors, even if we have good reason to suspect you're against us?"
>"It's not my position to say. That said, Az would laugh it off as long as you continue not killing anyone. If you do, though, then I'd recommend going to the salikai for comfort."
"When did this mission start, anyway?"
>"I got the red alert this morning. It was made to sound like an emergency."
"Why's that?"
>"That's just how the Ultraking runs things. We joke he's got the red alerts on speed dial."
"We're sure the hunter hive is sending false reports through the salikai's CAI. Knowing that the reason we're keeping you alive because there's a chance you're telling the truth, make sure you're telling me everything you know about how you knew to come down now."
>"We confronted the hive and found that out ourselves. If we knew that, then I bet we would've come a lot sooner. So we didn't know when to come down."
"I heard someone call himself King. Was that Az?"
>"Yeah."
"Moi, was he bugged?"
>"Nope. He was in an officers uniform and everything, he looked completely unprotected."
>"I've got a question." Orilo comes up to him. "So you're saving Miss Polo and shit, whatever, but why is it your ultrahive? We own this land, and I know for a fact we'd send our own armies down here before they let you assholes down here."
>"That's politics, I'm rank and file. You'd have to ask Az. Maybe that neumono will know, I don't know what he is. Squads were arranged on the fly since we didn't know what we were jumping into."

Ask if he knows any radio frequencies we might try to get in contact with these guys. Otherwise the jury's out until we see them engaging salikai forces. If we get in contact at the very least we could warn them about the fufa.

>>547654
If the leader wasn't bugged... I sincerely doubt that the salikai managed to compromise the ultraking without bugs.

Cut out one of the bugs and examine it. If it checks out as looking different, put it back in then let's go out and meet the drones. If not, get physical contact with the neumono prisoner and directly ask him if the bugs are benign. If they are, he will read as not lying. If they aren't, he will read as having his empathy manipulated by the bugs. If that checks out, go out and meet the drones.

It sounds like Orilo is pissed at Az for shoving his nose in what she thinks is her business. Could be some conflict brewing there... Come to think of it, we probably have to watch out for the hunters having any subconscious Predator-orders triggered. Especially Orilo. They might have to disarm themselves before we meet Az.

>>547658
The radio will be jammed by the CAI, though, surely?

Isn't the fact that Polo is alive supposed to be classified information?

>this is our land
Actually, it's the voklit's land isn't it? Well, except the unfair maps put the borders right outside the caves. Not really the time to bring up unfair imperialism, though.

>Why is it the Tree's army instead of the Coalition's?
Could be the Tree is acting on it's own. If they really are clean, and they discovered the hunters were compromised, they might be worried if they could trust the rest of the ultrahive.

>if you kill any of us, I recommend going to the salikai for comfort
(Assuming the story is true) that's a shortsighted and very restrictive attitude. People are fighting their own allies under mind control. There have already been friendly on friendly deaths, and even non-mind controlled friendly fire incidents are going to be almost inevitable. We should try to avoid and limit it, but we can't be merciless when it happens.

>King's not bugged
That doesn't really make sense either way. You'd expect the Salikai to have their pawn commander bugged, and if he's free, you'd expect the Tree to use its anti-control mechanisms on the command staff.

>what do
I think we've mostly exhausted what uncorroborated information we can get from Jack. We need to examine one of these 'different' bugs. See what the neumono says when he wakes, and if he responds to the same triggers other bugged neumono have (ie, goes crazy if we threaten to remove his bugs).

His story seems like it could be true but until we can check the bugs in the other one we cant be sure.

I do not like the idea that the leader would not have protection against bugs. Ask him why the commander would go into the enemy lair without protection.

As for not sending the hunter hives armies down it might be so they do not have to fight there own mind controlled troops. And they can just knock out any green Neumono they see without issue. Also they would be running the entire hunter hive through decontamination once they realized what happened.

You should touch Orilo while talking to him for a bit. Make sure her empathy is not acting up. If she complains tell her its to help make sure that four stripes did not plant any commands in her. If you do not want to do it have some of her hive do it.

Get his radio if possible but do not make contact until you check the bugs and empathy of the other prisoner. Also if you do make contact the Cai will probably be able to intercept it so be careful what you say. Do not mention anything about the bomb or the Salikai revenge plans over the radio. It might make them speed up there plans.

As much as you might like this to be true its still your life and worse on the line if its a trick. Heck he could be telling the truth as he knows it and half the troops could still be rigged with bugs the Cai could take over somehow. So tread carefully.

Biles 2013/11/11(Mon)20:19 No. 547682 ID: d38f67
File 138422995306.png - (21.39KB , 800x800 , 655.png )

>Land ownership
It's technically given to our ultrahive, but the laws are blatantly unfair. Although there is pressure to give the voklit something, if we wanted to, we could relocate them, if I'm not mistaken. It's not clear, but while it's said to be voklit land, it's basically ours if we choose it to be. I expect it's only going to be for the voklit as long as the aliens keep caring about all the sapient species. The salikai are already squandering that one away.

>If we get in contact at the very least we could warn them about the fufa.
I don't think the fufa was singing, so it's probably too late for that.

>It doesn't make sense that Az isn't bugged either way
I'm starting to think he's one of those neumono gone mad with power types.

I was hoping for the other neumono to wake up soon, but that could be awhile. The bugs already must be different, because most of the ones will force the neumono to stay awake. Or at least, resistant enough from passing out to still kick after a couple shots to the stomach.
"Moi, please cut a bug out of that neumono and see if it's any different. To the pomi, more questions. Wasn't Polo supposed to be considered as dead?"
>"Cat's out of the bag, I guess."
"What?"
>"It... not anymore. It's been revealed to us, so word's going to spread."
"So King's not bugged. Why's that?"
>"Good guy or not, he's fucking off his rocker."
"And wouldn't the CAI still be sending false reports?"
>"So I heard, but it's not doing them much good, is it?"

"Got one." says Moi. "Yeah, it already looks different. It doesn't even look like it's got crawly bits, and I forgot to mention, but all the bugs on people look symmetrical and well placed, and when I think about it, in front of vitals, so they were definitely surgically placed. And immobile as far as I can tell!"

I'm starting to think that they're telling the truth.

"Is there any way we can contact them through radio?"
>"I don't know. The CAI is forcing us to completely lock out foreign and missing radio links. So you can't use mine, even if that one didn't knock it right off me. Head's killing me, you know."

I think that's enough evidence to make his story very likely. But just on the offhand chance these are a new gen of controlling bugs that they tricked people into using and they have not been activated yet we should still be careful.

So we should still not say anything about Polo for now or until we are face to face with this King guy and have rubbed all over him and some of his troops.

Also keep Moi in the back in stealth if we go meet anyone so in case something goes horribly wrong you have at least one ace up your sleeve.

Tell him you are willing to extend a bit of trust and meet up with the commander for debriefing. Ask how to go about it without getting shot up and or blown up by a drone.

If this is all on the level we need to get our info about everything we have learned to the commander fast. He needs to know about Polo and the Clones and this Psi bomb thing.

>>547682
Yeah. Uh. This all checks out. Let's go meet our rescuers, with hands up and guns down to let them know we're not gonna shoot at anyone anymore. Moi being invisible along with us is a good idea, but just in case they can sense her somehow, have her up right next to everyone else instead of trailing behind (because then she'd maybe look like she was an enemy following us)

Also put the bug back in.

Heh, Moi-butt.

All right. Either he's telling the truth, or this hive was compromised by a whole different design of bugs. His honesty is more plausible, but the salikai having a ridiculous improbable ace up their sleeve has happened more than once already.

>Head's killing me, you know.
...that Pomi medkit Polo looted would actually be relevent, now. Unfortunately this group is short on medical supplies. Unless he's carrying his own, we don't really have any Pomi meds. Sorry.

>how can we test if this is true?
I can think of one surefire way. We make a suicide play. One person, with a concealed grenade, goes to meet with these supposed friendly forces. If they're legit, they're legit. If not, they blow themselves up to prevent them from being bugged or predator controlled to give away everything they know and the others location. Moi follows and watches invisibly, to report to the others if things go south. (...and since it's his idea, I guess Biles gets the short stick, unless anyone else volunteers).

Or we set up a loyalty test for the Pomi. Act as if we're going to trust him, and give him an arranged chance to betray us. See if he takes the bait or not. Less explodey, but less certain and harder to setup.

You could also try holding the new bug. What's it feel like? Or we could try sticking it in someone's wound and see if it tries to take control.

If we have any leftover broken bugs we pulled out of anybody, we could try sticking it in the hole Moi just cut in that guy. Do his protection bugs try to do anything about it?

Also, for now, try not to let the prisoner know about Moi's stealth capacity, if he hasn't figured it out already.

Can the CAI hack those drones? It can probably hack those drones.

So... Az is Polo's ultrahive's super eccentric military personality? Is there at least one crazy badass neumono in every powerful hive Biles? I mean, we have Rokoa... Rokoa... ummm, maybe Polo counts as crazy thanks to her sense of humor and plans that range towards the crazy stupid end of the spectrum while still being somewhat sane. There's you too, I guess. I dunno Biles what eccentricities do you have? Aside from your leg fetish.

I guess we just... keep low?
NO matter how convincing they are, we can't let our guard down until the fight is almost won. The salikai are getting desperate, this type of insane crazy backup plan might be up their ally in this situation. They'll probably kill hundreds of their own troops just to convince Polo to come out.
The Pomi just said Polo and Korli are the high priority targets. I don't like how that sounds, even if the ultrahive suddenly went all super loving on them to think this insane operation is worth their lives. I don't know how Korli could contribute, but who knows, the salikai lured both of them here anyway if they really managed to badbug higher ups. The salikai wanted her here too, for sure.

>Can the CAI hack those drones? It can probably hack those drones.
Oh, yeah. Definitely ask how they plan to be using swarms of drones without them getting hacked and suborned.

(Maybe they're reprogrammed search and reconnaissance bots, with no way to accept ingoing communication? They just wander around like idiots, relaying information back to base. Like having an ideal gas spy for you- they just expand).

Try to get a better estimate on how long your neumono prisoner will be asleep. I still feel uncertain about this, and want to make use of the power of hugs, by which I mean using physical contact to get a look at his empathy. (I don't suppose he would have any noticeable empathy while unconscious?) If that will take too long, maybe we can look for a small group of them to empathy-check with.

Biles 2013/11/15(Fri)18:00 No. 548355 ID: d38f67
File 138456725814.png - (18.80KB , 800x800 , 656.png )

>Is there at least one crazy badass neumono in every powerful hive, Biles?
I've seen plenty of thoroughly average hives.

"How are the bugs going to protect you from the CAI?"
>"I don't know, I'm not a scientist. They know about the CAI, so I sure as hell assume they took some precautions."
"Alright, I'm willing to at least contact your guy. Anyway we can do it without being in person?"
>"Are you serious?!." asks Orilo.
"Uh, yeah, I am. You don't have to come, you know, if you still don't trust them."
>"Damn right!"
>"Good call and all, Biles, but the only contact is in person. Again, orders are to take prisoners that don't fight back, so they may be rough in their handling in case you're pulling something, but they won't harm you." the Pomi tells me.

I do wish there was a way to confirm they're legit without betting my life on it, but I can't think of a good way at all. Just can't say I like it.

"Alrigh- what the fuck, Orilo?" she just goes up to me and starts pulling my gun out of my shorts.
>"Well what the hell are you gonna use this stuff for, if you're going to go off to be rescued? The rest of us are going to need all we've got. You gonna stop me from taking everything here? Moi, who are you going with?"
>"Uhhhhhhh-"
>"If it's not with us, then take off your suit. We need it more than you."
"She can't. It was put on her through intensive means. She'd likely die if she just too-"
>"Do I care, Biles? You got the bugs out of us, but fuck it if I'm letting you and lead us right back to them along with our best equipment. I can hear more people coming."

Betting my life on the Pomi's truth is sounding better than spending any more of my life with Orilo, I can say that much.

Pull Orlio aside and talk quickly and quietly.

You need her in that suit, following me, invisible. Without the Pomi knowing. This is a suicide play. She can see what happens to me. If he's telling the truth, or if I get myself killed walking into a trap. Her report is going to be the only way you can know for sure if you can trust these guys or not.

We need to know for sure if we're fighting a guerrilla war against two armies, or if we actually have backup, more than you need me alive, or her suit. I don't like it, but I can't think of another way to test this for sure, and I can't ask one of you to risk my stupid plan.

(The important thing here is to make sure Orlio understands your plan, and that the intel you're risking your life for benefits her. And that she understands you're not blindly trusting the Pomi's word).

>>548355
Fine. Go alone, and inform them of how ultra-paranoid the hunter hive has become.

Get some physical contact with Moi, try to tell her via empathy to get away from the hunter hive with her invisibility but to stay nearby so she can scan you when you get back, because FUCK Orilo wanting to kill her by taking off that bio armor. You getting back and Moi scanning you to vouch for you not having bugs is your only chance to convince the hunter hive.

Right now I'm regretting giving her that bio-armor because she's basically using it to take over this operation. She's also QUITE LIKELY been brainwashed, but telling her that outright is dangerous.

>>548355
If anyone but Moi wears the suit they will die it's like 200%, you fucking IDIOT. You haven't even been here a day and you're taking charge like you actually know what the fuck you're doing.

Did you discover how to get bugs out of your system? No, you and your Mom got your entire Hive enslaved. You are the spawn of a WORTHLESS leader AND ARE WEAK. What have I done? I got your "subjects" out of that hell, which led to you getting dragged out too, you ungrateful bitch. I haven't even made a single decision on this and you choose now to completely fuck what little cooperation we have between each other? If your Mom is like this, no wonder you got yourselves bugged. You just got here, we can't even tell if you're a sleeper agent yet.

>>548360
Okay Biles maybe tone that down if you choose to use any of those points, if you feel like using them.
Don't fall to your emotions. Which might be running high considering the stress. In fact, I think that posts exemplifies what NOT to say, so you know,

my bad.

>she's using the bioarmor to take over
Even without it she's easily the physically strongest person here, and she has the personal authority of being the daughter of the hunter Queen. The other hunters would have differed to her leadership regardless.

>She's also QUITE LIKELY been brainwashed
>idiot
Her position is pretty logical, actually. She knows we have no proof the Pomi's claims are true, and trusting him if they're not would be a catastrophic outcome. She thinks Biles is taking a stupid risk, potentially throwing away what little manpower and resources we have.

And she's right. What she doesn't understand (and we need to explain to her) is that we get that, and that is deliberate hedging. We're not risking the group- Biles is making a sacrificial play to test for traps. And she needs to know if this is a trap or not. Which means she needs Biles to walk into it, and Moi to tell her if Biles goes boom or not.

If you're worried the hall is trapped, and you lack a rogue to search, your only play is to send someone walking down the hall.

She's also used to getting her way, and frustrated with being constantly outgunned and outmaneuvered, her recent failures, and having to clash with Biles over command. Confronting her on this issues is going to be counterproductive and make her more unreasonable and violent. Saying, or thinking, any of this >>548360 is a mistake.

>If anyone but Moi wears the suit they will die it's like 200%, you fucking IDIOT
It's an 80% bioarmor. Moi removing it would be fatal, but anyone with a pbat score of 80 or higher could equip it just fine.

...you know, after the suit regenerates whatever damage it takes being stripped off her screaming failing, seizing, disintegrating body, and you get done trying to scrape the tattered remains of her flesh off the inside. It's a stupid waste of time and manpower, even if it's doable.

>>548363
We have a LOT of evidence that he's telling the truth, actually!

>>548364
All of which is circumstantial. It's possible, even likely, that he's telling the truth, but it is by no means impossible this is another salikai play.

What we need is hard proof. Which is why we need to test what happens when Biles walks into the trap while the others lie low and wait.

>>548363
Oh, somehow I remembered it like being over 100% for some reason
Forgive me.

He can think it though, he's in a jammer.
I'll commit that most of that was actually just inspired by having a gun pointed at our back and the fact that she took command almost immediately, which was a large insult at our own leadership ability and I wanted to lash back.

>>548358

Go with this but try to stress to Orilo that the only reason that Moi survived getting the suit on in the first place was because of the salikai bugs and now she doesn't have the benefit of the bugs keeping her alive if you pull the suit off.

Make sure you are well out of hearing range of the Pomi and whisper to her.

Tell her that Moi is going to be staying with her and spying on what happens to you. If you find out they are legitimate you will pass the word to her in secret and she can get it back to Orilo. If its a trap Moi will report back to her on what happened.

Tell her you know they have been working on exactly the technology they are talking about and have been so since the first Salikai attack. This might be a trick but has the ring of truth about it.

Would love to spend more time to check on there story but we are running out of time. Trick or not this much surface activity spells the end to the Salikai's ability to stay hidden. And that means they could set off there revenge scheme any day now. Also with hundreds of drones about to flood these tunnels our ability to stay hidden will be near nonexistent. At least anywhere we can easily find food and water.

I would be fine living off the land in the deep caves for a few weeks but if you get blown up by the Salikai psi bomb in two days whats the point?

If you need to go ahead and appeal to her pride and duty. Does she want this outsider hive to be man handling her people? If its a trick all they are out is you. If its not she can get back into the field and make sure her hive gets proper revenge.

How long do you think it will take for the bugged guy to wake up? Talking to him when he wakes is the final piece of evidence we need.

It's worth it to keep running and hiding until we can talk to him.

1/3 Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)10:04 No. 548418 ID: d38f67
File 138462505820.png - (14.90KB , 800x800 , 657.png )

"Follow me for a second, I have to talk to you."
>"What?" Orilo says.

Moi starts going invisible. Rokko blocks one of the exits.

"This is going to be a play by me to test if they're legit. I go, and if they're good, they'll let me through. If not, they'll kill me or something. Moi will be there to see what happens, and then report back to you about it. You'll know how it went, and either way, won't come out any more behind because of it. You can take the material wealth. Do you both know a place way down there that Moi can meet you all at?"
>"Do you know about the church, Orilo?" Moi asks.
>"Yeah, what about it?"
>"North of there is a waterfall that dumps right by an already existing river, I'll meet you about 2 miles downstream."
"..... a church?"
>"Yeah, some old hive ruins, it's nothing actually special other than having some old stained glass."

Orilo thinks for a long, long moment on it, running through comebacks or flaws in my plan, but I'm thinking she at least as enough sense in her to not blurt out something contrived and stupid. When the footsteps of that infantry start coming and the engines get louder, she lets out an exasperated, aggressive sigh.
>"Fine. Do it." Goddamn, she sounded like it took a lot of effort to just say that much. I'll take it.

2/3 Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)10:04 No. 548419 ID: d38f67
File 138462508827.png - (23.15KB , 800x800 , 658.png )

Orilo and the hunters don't waste another moment to get up and start running down the tunnels, leaving us with the prisoners.

We leave the neumono, and I take a moment to speak to Moi.

"Do report back either way, but try to make a note and drop it off. I don't want you getting in arm's reach of Orilo."
>"Like you have to tell me! She's fucking nuts! I don't even want to report to her!"
"I honestly had half a mind to say that if she doesn't hear from you, then I was right, but she might think you just didn't make it back. I'm not their friends, though, and I'm not going to make you do anything."

I go back and take the Pomi and we start marching up. I barely get out the door before some soldiers turn the corner. I hear Moi scoot back.

>"Drop your weapons!" They start jogging up. I raise my hands to show them I don't, in fact, have any weapons.
>"He's fine, he's fine!" the Pomi backs me up. "One of ours is down this hole!"

3/3 Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)10:04 No. 548420 ID: d38f67
File 138462509929.png - (32.13KB , 800x800 , 659.png )

The few soldiers start talking into their radios, and it takes seconds for another set of people to come by. Our hideout is scoured, I'm patted down for weapons and rubbed down for empathy inconsistencies. My hands get bound up, a motorcycle drops some equipment and tacks a radio link down in the open, and I'm lead upwards by a few while the rest keep running down while following their drones. I expect Moi is following me.

I come back to the place where Moi first spied on them, and they've been quick to make this their home. Soldiers are still streaming down the ropeline.

>"Cut the flow, I'm sending Biles up." someone says, while some fluffy guy starts flashing lights around me and inspecting my general health. Without much of an explanation, they start making some knots on a loose bit of rope.

Everyone moves like they've done this operation a dozen times before.

>"We're going to send you up in a second and treat you right." the doctor says. "We'll have questions, of course, but is there anything urgent you should tell us or declare right now?"

I would warn you of the Fufu but I think you already ran into it.

As for treatment I don't really need any right now but is probably for the best. Understand I cant trust you much at the moment but if you are friends I will tell you things later. And if not you will torture it out of me eventually.

Until I hear more of your story and am absolutely sure who you work for I cant tell you much of anything right now.

Oh except for the fact there might be a doomsday weapon being built down here. And try to avoid killing any of the large angry clones if you can.

How does the doctors empathy feel?

Oh and if you see a little augmented Arkot anywhere make sure to not kill him. He might be with a big lady in armor. Will just make things worse.

What kind of empathy you getting off the doc?

>anything urgent you should tell us or declare right now?
I'd warn you about the fufa, but from the sound of it you already ran into it.

Warn them about the clone-darts. Those are worse than the bugs, and if any of theirs get hit, the safest treatment is amputation.

...and that's all we can really tell them until we know for sure they're legit or not. (If they are allies, the dart warning helps. If they're salikai controlled, we're not telling them anything they don't already know). We can't talk about stuff like your improved bug removal technique, or what we know about Polo and the others and their plans, yet. (Because while that information could help allies, the salikai could also use it against us).

And I'm fine, Doc.

And I kinda need to talk to someone in charge as soon as possible. I know you've got questions, but I've got some of my own that will need answering before I can talk. No offense, but we were already fooled with the hunters, once.

>>548420
Tell them if they find a huge neumono with extremely heavy armor and using a sniper rifle then they might want to try to capture her alive and debug her- she wants to betray the salikai. Giving out advanced bug removal techniques seems fine to me, it's not like the salikai can improve their bugs using that information before this is all over.

Also that the "regeneration booster" injections they have can put neumono into hibernation if the target isn't hurt much...

I expect the pomi to report on Orilo but I guess you can at least mention her and that she's really paranoid so they can expect a fight out of her. She might even be brainwashed to some extent.

Do not tell them about the clone wanting to betray the Salikai. If it gets back to them through this being a trap or the Cai listening in on the communications it could be a death sentence for her.

Only say she could be a useful source of info if you mention her.

Ask the neumono if they are bugged!

>>548452
...specifically, try saying something that would trigger a preprogrammed response, if they were full of salikai bugs. The way you tested Polo, before.

1/2 Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)20:03 No. 548552 ID: d38f67
File 138466100954.png - (87.48KB , 800x800 , 660.png )

"You already ran into the fufa, I take it, so not that. The salikai have darts that take over the brain from the inside out, but I believe amputation works well on the injected point if you're quick enough. Also, some big neumono out there is in heavy armor that wields a sniper rifle. She's have good information. I can't trust you guys too much, since the hunter hive was compromised, so I'm going to want to ask questions as well."

The doc's empathy seems normal, and he gives a mental roll of the eyes to my request at questions. I get hooked up to the rope, and I get pulled up at a rather alarming pace considering the jagged rocks left behind from their drill operation.

There's been a tarp put up to keep the rain out of the hole, as sure enough it's raining, and foggy. I can still hear the engines of hovercraft overhead, though, along with the glow they give off through the fog. Honestly, it's just nice to be outside.

I don't get to breathe it in for long, as there's half a dozen units waiting to unhook me and drag me off to a tent.

2/2 Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)20:04 No. 548553 ID: d38f67
File 138466104683.png - (20.06KB , 800x800 , 661.png )

There's been a bubble left open, as I can sense empathy in here. The guards leave me, alone, with what is blatantly the ultraking. I don't know if it's that it's the fact that it's felt like ages since I last felt honest full powered empathy, or if it's that he does have that much mental presence. King for a reason, I guess.

>"Hey. King here. Why yes, I am big, aren't I." He's got an ego on him, but I'd better not dwell on that. "Pinipsia, grab a medic, this guy looks like a gopcore pissed on a rug. No offense to you, kid, you look about as good as I'd expect under the circumstances. And I heard you have questions. Too bad I'm the selfish sort. Mine come first, and it's a vague one. What do you know? Tell me everything, and I'll answer what I will afterwards. Especially about these poison darts."

I'm getting the impression that there's some prejudice against coalition neumono, here. He thinks that they're headstrong and thick skulled. I don't like the prejudice, but I can imagine how he came to that idea.

>>548553
The darts inject compressed brain matter belonging to clones of Rokoa. She takes over the victim and eventually they become at least partly her, usually almost entirely her. They are then brainwashed or bugged and used as either lab rats or heavy troopers. There are at least two of them active right now- one of which still has some of the victim's personality and does NOT want to be under the salikai's thumb any more. She is the heavily armored sniper clone we mentioned already.

We don't really know where Polo is. We've been debugging hunters, and recently found a high-ranking hunter that has chosen to stay behind rather than risk being captured again, because she thinks this is a trap. Which by this point it obviously isn't.

Hmm. The rope-haul means we've lost Moi. She couldn't have followed us up that.

Well, no harm in telling him about the darts. We know less than the salikai do, and we're not putting any of our people at risk if we end up passing redundant intel back to the salikai.

They're not poison. They're made up of compressed and concentrated brain matter. They're used to turn the victim into a half-crazed clone of the original.

That's all you tell him for now. Don't tell him anything about Polo, or her plans, or your debugging techniques, or Orlio and the others.

Nothing personal, but I won't know this isn't another trap like the hunters until you answer some of my questions. I'd like to help you, but I'm not ready to throw my buddies under the bus.

...and please don't judge me by the hunters rep. We're not all like that.

The Salikai have a hard on for revenge against Polo and Rokoa. They have a bunch of Rokoa clones they grew down there and torture daily and some of are just condensed brain matter in darts. Avoid getting hit or you have to fight her mentally. Most of the clones are only controlled with heavy bugging and constant four stripes exposure.

They want Polo to learn her secrets to make some sort of psi bomb or something. If they cant find her they might just set it off anyways and take out everyone in the area.

Also there Cai is probably only working for them due to the same sort of torture and mind control stuff.

They have bugs everywhere but we learned how to get them out of people. And they only have the one predator as far as we know. If you can capture the sniper clone because she knows all the entrances and would be very grateful.

Mention you found and debugged the hunter hive queens daughter and she is currently hiding somewhere thinking this is all a trap. She is a horrible bitch but what can you do. Do not mention Moi if at all possible for the moment.

Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)21:10 No. 548589 ID: d38f67
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Peni... whatever that medic's name was comes in and starts cleaning me up while we talk. The slime's long since dried out and is acting like a damn glue on my fur.

"They're not poison, they're brain darts. It's condensed brain matter from Rokoa, mixed in with whatever helps keep the brain alive longer. If you get struck, Rokoa tries to take over your mind. There's at least two active right now, but there are most likely more back at the salikai base."
>"Not as worrisome as that fufa... but, the Rokoa?"
"Yeah. There are some brain dart clones of Rokoa. That big neumono I mentioned earlier is one. I don't think any of them are really sided with the salikai, but they do have bugs and predators, after all. Is there something special about Rokoa?"
>"Polo made her out to be one of the strongest soldiers alive."
"Somehow I don't get the impression that was her intention."
>"Well, there's evidence to back it up." He turns to his radio again. "Cammy, bring me my armor! I'm going in after we get a decent foothold here. Alright, Biles, what else? Polo's location, for instance?"
"I don't know where Polo is. I don't think you're all compromised, but I want to know answers to some of my questions before I potentially throw my allies under the bus."

For a second, his thoughts turn aggressive, but he holds himself.

>"Well, normally I'd just go straight to the threats of torture and death and all that, but it'll be faster if your questions are answerable. What do you want to know?"

>>548589
Yeah, first, why is the ultrahive here instead of the armies of those who own this land? Second, why is he not protected from the bugs? Third, he has redundant jammers, right? A single bullet could expose his army to predator-broadcast attack, otherwise. Uh, he knows about the predator-broadcaster "jammers", right?

Oh. Tell him about the psi-bomb thing. The salikai wants Polo so he can make... whatever that is.

>>548589
Well, for one, are we actually considered allies? You did just threaten to torture me for any of my allies locations, as if they were enemies. You do realize that if we were salikai forces, we would be bugged and threats, torture, and all else would be completely useless, right? Considering we all work for the ultrahive, by proxy anyway, that might've cause a political clusterfuck back home assuming we win against the salikai here and get to go home.

Are you from Sealock, Polo's hive? If not, where do you hail from? Who gave the order to retrieve Polo and Korli? Why above else are they priority, what about the other members of the team? I can guess why Korli is wanted, but beyond the need for rescuing a fellow hive member and good asset, if they really are from Sealock? As unique as Polo is, the nature of this op puts many of your people in danger from your own allies, because no one can tell who the allies and enemies even are without x-ray capability. And you've all painted a huge target on yourselves by having your counterdefense to bugs being different bugs that only look different when you dig them out.

If Polo shoots or even kills one of your men because she thinks they're salikai, what exactly are you going to do?

...well, not throwing me to the bugs the instant I stop talking is a sign you might be telling the truth.

Ask him when they figured out what was going on down here, and how. Ask him how the tree is handling the situation with the Coalition (and what the hell is currently happening to the coalition- since you understand it's leadership is currently compromised). And for more information on how they got all these countermeasures in place so fast. (ie, basically all the stuff the Pomi couldn't answer).

...and why the heck isn't he wearing his own countermeasures if he's got them?

We'll looking to make sure his story checks out.

>Things to tell him if his answers check out
Give him Polo's last know location- where Moi found the aftermath of that fight.

Polo's planning on hitting the Salikai communication network- blowing it up at the base so the network that lets their radio and bug relays work underground will cut out. When this works, all the salikai and hunter forces will be unable to communicate with each other, and the inspection team is going to try and make a break for it. His people should work on rigging up a way to sense when the Salikai communication net goes down, so they can exploit that tactical opportunity, and try and snag the inspection team.

So far as you know, the rest of the inspection team is still alive.

Explain your improved bug removal technique (electrocution and such).

Warn about the psi-bomb, and that if it comes to it, Polo shouldn't be allowed to be captured alive. (Or anyone else who can go silent, if King's got any of Polo's peers in his force).

The warning that you have a group of allies, freed hunters, but they're waiting to see if these guys prove trustworthy. (Sorry about shooting up one of your patrols like that, by the way. Interrogation was the only safe we had of getting intel).

>>548602
Polo and Korli are the priority because they're members of this ultrahive. Sealock and the few rescued science hivers were taken in by the Tree. Everyone else in the inspection team is part of the Coalition- a different ultrahive. It's a good old 'save your own people first' philosophy.

And I doubt he's from Sealock (wrong color, too tall, and Polo's said they have a Queen, not a King. And the newbie hive wouldn't we running the ultrahive's military). And that's not really relevant to Biles.

I understand your impatience but we have been under threat of far worse than pain and death here for days. What the Salikai are doing is horrible and we have had many leaks already so being overly paranoid is the only thing that kept us alive.

How did you find out about what was happening down here? And once you did what sort of political clusterfuck is going on up there now? Why is retrieving Polo and Korli the number one objective?

Once he answers your questions to your satisfaction offer to lead him to wherever he wants down there if he loans you a suit of armor. You might not know where Polo is but you know what she was planning and have first hand knowledge of a good portion of the area.

Also once you are sure his command structure is not entirely compromised we can let him know about the hunter hivers we left downstairs. Also we need to find a way to contact Moi. She might have a invisible suit but she is still in great danger.

Also on the list of things to warn them about if we're satisfied with his answers is the invisible hunters, and that they can be picked up with augmented vision.

...and you've got a buddy waiting for you with an experimental suit that can't be picked up. And if and when she comes to them, please don't try and take it off of her, because that will kill her.

>Why is retrieving Polo and Korli the number one objective?
>>Polo and Korli are the priority because they're members of this ultrahive.
Really. Asked and answered, way back with the Pomi.

1/2 Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)22:32 No. 548623 ID: d38f67
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"You just threatened me with torture, as though that would do anything if I were with the salikai."
>"Ah, but that's the jist of it, it'd be a good way to see if you were with the salikai or not. But I don't think you are. Torture's on the table because someone who's not with the salikai is being tight lipped about things we should know."
"It would cause a political clusterfuck between ultrahives if you did something like that."
He doesn't say anything, but nearly bursts out laughing at how naive he believes that to be.
>"Just start asking a question so I can get back to mine!"
"Are you from the Sealock hive?"
>"Oh no, no, no. They're new, they've got a long way to go before they get anyone with an ultra-prefix to their title. I'm just of their ultrahive. It was one of theirs, though, that brought Polo's predicament to my attention. Tell me what you do know of Polo."
"She's targeted by the salikai to make a psi-bomb, but I don't know what that is." That gets somthing out of him. He knows something about that, but has no intention to tell me what. "Who gave the order to come fetch Polo and Korli?"
>"I did."
"Not the coalition?"
>"They're all in a panic over compromised hives, so everyone's getting scanned. Got a few hits, though. Nothing for entire hives, just some officials, nothing we can't handle. Tell me something, now."
I tell him how I took the salikai's bugs out. "Why don't you have any bug protection?"
>"Don't need it."
"You're aware they have reverse jammers ca-"
>"Yes, and for the rest of us that can't resist predators, the bugs'll knock them out if they catch a whiff of 'em. Course, we were worried about that salikai hacked satellite, but we found it, and I blew it right out of orbit."
"So you-"
>"Your turn to share."
I say what I know about the salikai's CAI, not that it's much. "What will you do if Polo starts shooting your guys thinking they're salikai units?"
>"Send more. She'll get a pardon, even if it's directly from me while I drag her out kicking and screaming."
I mention Orilo and the other hunters I freed. "So you all were confirmed to not be compromised and were sent down here?"
>"Nope."
"Excuse me?"

2/2 Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)22:32 No. 548624 ID: d38f67
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>"Is this the face that gives a fuck about rules and regulations, Biles? The personality that will sit behind a desk while the salikai are given time to make a second escape, Biles? Manic? You think I'm a power happy general? You'd be damn right, but I also get shit done. That, and I haven't seen much action in years."
"What is a psi-bomb, Az?"
>"Classified. But don't fry your brain off about it, I'm sooner expecting the salikai to have laced their bunker walls with nuclear bombs, and laced their fingers with the detonators. And that's a more tried and true weapon than any psibomb hypotheticals. We'll be worrying about that one, so I'm just containing the salikai so they're ripe for the picking once the rest of the ultras get their shit together."

>>548624
Containing? Hell no, we're going back down there and finding Polo so we can kill that fucker before he does anything.

I like this guy. He is exactly what we need right now. Without this sort of action the people upstairs would not have saved you for weeks.

Tell him whatever else he wants. Further paranoia will only put our allies lives in more danger.

Make sure once he is done with you that you get a spot on the team looking for Polo. With you and Moi there she will be much easier to convince.

>information we still want
When they figured out what was going on down here, and how.

How the heck they got countermeasures in place so fast.

How the heck he plans on keeping the CAI out of his stuff (including the drones).

How measures he has in place to protect his own people. I hope there are routine x-ray scanning and patrols have gas-masks?

What else is he doing besides containment? Because from what we know,that's not good enough. When the salikai realize they're stuck, they're going to go into throwing up their last ditch plans, and they'll start killing the hunters or driving them insane when they're not needed. We have the manpower now, we should be capturing and converting hunters while we can, not waiting on politics. The salikai are on the edge now- we need to push them, not give them room.

>information we still have to trade
Polo's last know location- where Moi found the aftermath of that fight.

Polo's plan to hit the salikai communication grid, so the inspection team can break out when they go dark. That's a tactically useful situation for this army, when it happens.

That he shouldn't be so hasty to belittle them lacing things with bombs. You read that journal- you know they aren't planning to make it out of this alive, and he has crazy dreams of changing the world forever.

The existence of cloaked hunters, and how to detect them.

Moi's suit, and that she can't be taken out of it.

If all you are doing is containment Polo might kill them all before we get there.

The Rokoa clones down there are dangerous but she is far scarier sometimes. No one ever sees her coming.

>>548636

Do tell him about what you found in the clone's diary.

Biles 2013/11/16(Sat)23:46 No. 548654 ID: d38f67
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I tell him where Polo's last known location is.
>"Now that's what I want to hear." he starts shouting orders into his mic again. "Follow me, we'll continue outside." He appears content with my empathy, although I won't be able to read him anymore once we get back under a jammer.
Next thing I share is Polo's plan to break into the salikai place. "When did you figure out what was going on here, and how?"
>"Rakae rozu Sealock came to me saying that Polo wouldn't say the things that she said in her reports. Wasn't too likely, I thought, but hey, we keep practicing our drills and crap in simulations, I figure that if this was a bust, the worst case is that we'd get in some good practice. Course, the hunters - excuse me a moment." he takes a few to give more orders in code. "Hunters ran away right from us, and gave us reports we'd better get right the fuck out. So I got our drills and got right the fuck in, demanding they send some of their units for bug detection. Course, they didn't. So I figured we were onto something. Also pretty sure that fufa of this caliber don't just hang around wherever, either."
"The salikai may have more than just bombs in the walls. They don't plan on making it out alive, and the head salikai is also ambitious. How do you plan on keeping the CAI out of your everything?"
>"We have our own CAI. We don't know if they're good enough to take out the enemy CAI, but they're good enough to defend our stuff."
"I hope your guys have constant x-ray detection and gas masks."
>"Yep."
"When the salikai get stuck, they're going to start throwing their last ditch plans. They may kill the hunters or drive them insane. We've got to rescue them while we..." I'm getting the vibe to shut up.
>"Don't insult me, that's what we're doing. We're not running into them anyway, they went in deep."

>"Your bio armor, King." a soldier comes to him as we walk under a tarp, while I tell him about the sniper Rokoa's diary.
>"Thanks. Biles, you want to come with me to find Polo?"
"She may've killed all the salikai by the time you find her."
>"Haha, that'd be good."
"But seriously, I don't think containment is good enough. Are you doing anything else?"
>"Yeah, I'm gonna play it by ear, but if Polo's up and good, I'm not past having her infiltrate. Containment is first, but I expect other ultras are gonna do something by the time I have this region secure. If not, well, then I'll do something myself. Again. Pinipsia, where's the shower? This guy still doesn't look hot."
>"At the ship, King. We haven't cleared landing zones for structures yet."
>"Bah. Biles, after you finish telling me everything else, you want to come down with me to find Polo, or go up to the mothership to go huddle your bad vacation memories away under some heated blankets?"

Staying here of course. I did not come this far to not see it through to the end.

This might be a good time to mention Moi. We have thrown all our chips in but her so far. Need to keep her safe first of all and could use her stealth in the end game.

Make sure to mention the Salikai have a imperfect version of the stealth suits as well.

>>548654
Yeah right, after all we've done, go and sleep? Hell no. We're staying in the action.

Ask for some proper camo armor. And a new bandanna.

Right, I'm pretty confident these guys are legit. Can't believe something actually went right.

>stay or mothership
I'll stay, thanks. Having me with you guys and not full of anti-bugs might mean you make contact with Polo's group with a little less shooting than mine. Sorry about that, by the way. Didn't have a better option.

...and I look worse than I am, trust me. I passed the survivalist exam, I know how to gauge my own physical condition. I'll be good to go for a while yet.

>last question
Any voklit left in the valley, by the way? The salikai managed to get some of them working for them and even using guns, but...

>finish telling me everything else
We haven't mentioned the optical-camo hunters, yet. And how to watch for them.

Or to warn them about Moi, and that she may come forward at some point. And that if any of his forces capture a science hiver in a disappearing bio-armor to please not try and pull it off her, as that would be fatal.

>Rakae rozu Sealock came to me saying that Polo wouldn't say the things that she said in her reports
Way to go, Rakae. She picked up on CAI-Polo being out of character, or not using secret code-words she was supposed to.

"Give me a gun and some armor. Let's rock."

Oh, do tell him that at least one Voklit is on Polo's side. There may be other Voklits around that aren't happy with what the Salikai are doing, too.

1/3 Biles 2013/11/17(Sun)12:31 No. 548725 ID: d38f67
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"I'm going to see it through. I'm better than I look."
>"Good. Stand here." He slices the tarp above me and letts the water get funnelled down on me. "Get washed up, we leave in five minutes."

I tell him about the cloakers, but also about Moi and her experimental suit, and to not kill her or take it off. And about Viln. Then every other scrap of information I know while he confirms the chain of command while he's down in the field.

"What about the voklit here?"
>"What about 'em?"
"What are you doing about them?"
>"Searching their houses for any secret tunnels down in the caves or contraband or whatever. Can't say they're too happy about that, but that's too bad. We're not wrecking their shit or shooting anyone who fights, so all they got to be mad about is the principle of the matter."

2/3 Biles 2013/11/17(Sun)12:31 No. 548726 ID: d38f67
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I'm given a 30% bioarmor, a spare set of gear, and a new bandana. And damn I feel better after a shower, like I can breathe again. We slide down the rope with a squad. I don't know if it's an Az thing or their ultrahive, but I do know that my own ultrahive wouldn't just hand out a uniform to a tree neumono so readily. Another drill is set up to go down to Polo's approximate known location, but Az says running there will be faster.

That's preferable, anyway, as I keep the bio armor's headpiece off so that Moi can see my face in case she's here. When some rock hits me on the side, I figure it's her. I move to the side, and Az follows.

>"Hey! Biles, it's fine?"
"Yeah, they're fine." Moi comes out of stealth.
>"Damn." Az says. "You're the only one with this stealth suit, right?"
>"Oh, uh, that I'm aware of, but they made one, they probably can make another, uh, your highness? Should I report to Orilo?"
"Yeah. Can Moi meet back with us, Az after she tells Orilo?"
>"Well duh. We'll send a team with this girl to protect her. She can come back to us, assuming she can catch up."
"She'll be able to."

Polo Quest - Thread 4 END Biles 2013/11/17(Sun)12:31 No. 548727 ID: d38f67
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It takes awhile, but Moi does catch up. She doesn't get a break either, but we're in a whole different world of comfort compared to a few hours ago. She tells us that it was troublesome, but Orilo did come around with some coaxing from Rokko, and they're bring brought up to the surface to tell what they know.

These guys are well equipped, between a hell of a lot of drones, ropes with intermittently covered electronics knotted to them they they toss in the river to allow chat and underwater surveillance, augmented vision all around and all sorts of other stuff. Our chances of finding Polo are good, I just hope it's my group, with me and Moi, to find her so she doesn't go shooting up her own ultrahive.

Whoo! Good end. Things went right, for once. Now we can only hope things didn't go to hell for Polo in the meanwhile.

Time for more horrible scarring dream battles.