1/2 IMO Unit-02 2017/06/17(Sat)05:59 No. 808510 ID: b27cac
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Research frigate Cacophane was in orbit undergoing refit at the time of the attack. Emergency repairs to the aging frigate's cloaking and hyerperlight engines allowed evacuation of critical staff, key research materials and the secondary research biocomputer.

Cacophane was heavily damaged during the escape. Hyperlight capabilities are offline and not repairable with available resources. Large areas of the hull have been rendered inaccessible due to radiation leaks and the primary reactor has been shut down to due to power fluctuations. Non-essential crew have been ordered to enter stasis to reduce strain on life support systems.

No other ships have arrived at the deep space rendezvous point. All other personnel are assumed lost due to the ground assault by Galactic Federation forces and the subsequent self destruct of Research Outpost Oneiros Beta.

Both shuttles were lost during the evacuation. The only remaining craft with hyperlight capability is a captured one-bug courier craft. Due to its limited range, Command Team has decided to use this vessel to enter Federation territory. The pilot will be an enhanced and disguised Pirate Trooper who will use the Federation's generous bounty hunter laws as a cover to procure resources for the repair of Cacophane.

Science Team, all available materiel is to be redirected to expedite completion of the new Secret Trooper Project! Failure is not an option!

2/2 IMO Unit-02 2017/06/17(Sat)06:02 No. 808511 ID: b27cac
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Memory integrity check at 95% 99% Complete.

Information Management Organism Unit-02 is online.

Hello Science Team.

The first planning meeting for the new Secret Trooper Project is now beginning. Command Team has instructed me to remind you that failure will not be tolerated. Rations are currently very limited, please avoid a reassessment of the optimal deployment of your biomass!

As I should hope you know, Research Outpost Oneiros Beta was stationed on the edge of Galactic Federation territory to monitor, retrieve and reverse engineer samples of alien technology and biology, including secret Federation research programs and even the dreaded Hunter herself.

While this has regrettably led to the destruction of Research Outpost Oneiros Beta, it means there is a wealth of research information on biological modification, cybernetics and weapons and armour systems available for the Secret Trooper project.

The primary directive for the new Secret Trooper is that they must not be identified as a Space Pirate due to the current vulnerability of research frigate Cacophane.

Three primary options have been identified for concealing the Secret Trooper's identity:

Power Armour: A hermetically sealed environmental suit will serve adequately to conceal the test subject's species and it would be able to carry various powerful weapon systems. Obviously they should not operate outside of the suit. Some consideration may need to be given to its appearance to help conceal any gross anatomical features.

Physical Modification: We have access to various mutagenic compounds, cybernetic implants, hybridisation techniques and genetic information on many alien species. Using these along with cosmetic sculpting of the test subject should make it simple to make their species unidentifiable, as well as considerably enhancing the test subject's abilities.

Brain Transplant: An outgrowth of the second option. In this case we almost entirely remove any give-away Space Pirate physiology by removing the test subject's brain and transplanting it into a specially designed cloned or robotic body.

These options are not exclusive, however one should be selected as the primary means of concealment.

Please debate the optimal course of action, Science Team.

Physical modification, for sure. Better to have both their identity hiding and personal capabilities be most available in the most circumstances, and that means reducing reliance on equipment as necessary.

If we had the resources to deploy more assets it would be different, but a lone operator must be a flexible and hardy one.

We can cover up any difficult or inconvenient to remove features of anatomy with armor.

Brain transplant into a custom-made body. Sorry, but any mutant freak we make is going to fall into the unknown species category, and Galactic Federation assessment of unknown biological threats defaults to Space Pirates. (We had NOTHING to do with that Biologic Space Labs disaster, dammit!)

Well I feel that the power armor would probably be quickest for us to pull off since all we'd really need to do is build the thing and give it to our solder of choice but if they ever find themselves in a situation where the armor is damaged or that they'd need to remove it for any reason it does risk the whole operation.

Physical modification would probably take longer since biological tinkering has to be done carefully otherwise you risk turning the subject into a useless pile of meat or even just kill them out right so as such it's not as forgiving and takes time to do it right since most times you only get one shot. But on the other hand it would let our solder move around more freely with less risk of detection. However I fear they may be harder to "upgrade" out in the field as while xeno technology isn't to hard to come across and slap on to power armor it is harder to genetically modify someone out on the field so outside of certain weapons that don't need an outside power source our solder would need to come back here for any further upgrades which again would take time both to install the new upgrades and for them to return every time they find something for us to upgrade them with.

The last option... while I have to say that is the least favorite to me. while yes it would make it extremely difficult for the federation to figure what our solder is I feel that the time and resources needed to grow or build a new body would be the most resource intensive.

Given the options I feel that as of now our best bet is simply to go with the POWER ARMOR until we can gain enough resources that our current situation here isn't so dire. Although if we are aloud to double dabble then power armor with a few physical modifications to give them a little extra oomph wouldn't be so bad.

Optimum concealment will require a custom grown organism with a brain we have constructed for capability, durability and concealment against the known Federation detection methods. We can't compromise on concealment because the trooper will be exposed to situations beyond any we can predict. Worse, surely the Federation will suspect survivors attempting a plan similar to ours because they can't prove we all died in their attack and the self-destruction of our former research base.
A nice suit of power armour over top should improve survival and mission capability though.

Are you crazy? We can't just start making a secret trooper just yet!

Before anything else we need to make sure the ship is completely riddled with tubes. Double check to make sure the tubes are of regulation Space Pirate size. Make sure they just happen to be just slightly larger than the hunters ball form.

Once the tubes are in place get a team to randomly fill them with missile upgrades and the occasional power tank.

Only once that is done can we start work on our masterpiece.

>>808516

Tuuuuuuuubes!!!

Go for Brain Tran.....Tuuuuuuubes!!!!

Power armour is clearly the superior option here, because that's what the hunter herself uses.

Also, does our workplace have sufficient tubes? If not that needs to be fixed, because tuuuuuuubes!

>>808510
>base was destroyed
Please tell me Ridley didn't get killed.....again. Because we don't have anywhere close to enough resources to revive him.....again!

I swear, if we got [insert amount of money here] for every time he's been killed and revived, we wouldn't be so desperate for money right now!

>take advantage of Federation's generous bounty hunter laws.
Wait, didn't we already do that? What happened to our previous bounty hunter we were using? What happened to Weavel? In case you don't know who I'm talking about, take a look at this: http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Weavel .

>>808511
Definitely go for the Power Armour!

I mean have you seen the Hunter's Power Armour?! It pretty much just absorbs whatever it touches and that gives the Hunter some kind of upgrade that let's her kick our asses even harder! If we can mimic that or something similar to it, then we might actually be able to not die next time we encounter her!

Although, even if our Secret Trooper is disguised and able to fool the Hunter, it's still highly recommended that our Secret Trooper avoid engaging the Hunter in any sort of confrontation at all costs. We don't want him to get killed because we don't have enough resources to make another Secret Trooper!

We're not using the reactor. Can we somehow dump someone in it along with some kind of mutagen and turn it on to see if they get an awesome electrical mutation that doesn't make sense? Maybe they'd come out all sparkly!

Do we have any power loader arms we could strap to them? And missiles! We could maybe have some tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuubes to cool off those glowy bits that're so awesome!

Physical modification seems the best option to me. We can't ask our trooper to entirely give up on their glorious space pirate heritage! Think what that would do to their morale! We only need to conceal it, while giving them the power they need to carry out their mission. Thus we can find success while also carrying on one of our most precious traditions - injecting things into ourseeeelves.

By the way, uh, on that subject

Have we got any, uh

you know

*cough* phazon?

>Research Outpost Oneiros Beta has fallen to the Galactic Federation.
Useless ROOBs.

>space pirates building and backing their own bounty hunter
This is perfect.

>>808511
Power armor has the advantage that we can more easily swap out personnel in-between deployments if the trooper assigned to the STP is injured, killed, or begins to suffer psychological degradation from prolonged time trapped in the suit, or isolated among hostile aliens. Also allows for extended rehabilitation and debriefing of a returned secret trooper at base while we immediately send out the next trooper in the power suit.

The harder we make it to swap out the individual involved (and difficulty increases the more we modify the organism), the more the trooper installed in the STP may come to think of themselves as individually important, which is clearly unacceptable for space pirate personnel.

tl;dr- Go with power armor so we can train several pilots and swap between them.

>>808511
Casting my vote for power armor. Biological modification is too permanent.

I vote biomod, If we're trying to stay incognito, It'd be best if we could dismiss suspicion, by showing a fake face.

Brain transplant and power armnor. Nothing can *possibly* go wrong with making a cybernetic, armored killing machine.

*thinks*
I like the idea of going down something akin to the Weavel path, I mean, we already have Weavel as a baseline, we just have to make sure he stays loyal instead of going rouge when we replace his spine with a turret!

Power Armor is a hard no. We tried that before and it ended badly. Remember the Morph Ball incident?

Physical Modification is an even harder no. Remember Project Helix? The Elite Pirates?

Brain Transplant has my vote. It worked with Weavel, right?

Where is that metal mercenary anyway?

I say primary body-modification, secondary power armor.

>>808577
He didn't go rouge.

>>808511
Power Armor. It gives us the smallest chance of inflicting brain damage upon the only thing that can save us.

>>808511

> Power armour.

I feel it allows for a stable baseline, ease of future modifications, and should anyone breach the suit, repairs and retrofitting through voice modulation, body frame maintenance, and id log transitions can make the entire trooper's identity change to resume stealth.

>>808511
Definitely Brain Transplant.

It fits the primary directive so perfectly I am surprised the other two are considered primary options.

Suggestion 2017/06/18(Sun)16:05 No. 808890 ID: 0d1514
File 149782712514.png - (6.28KB , 272x280 , brain wearing power armor.png )

BRAIN TRANSPLANT! AND MAKE IT A MODULAR BRAINTHING THAT WE CAN EXIT THE BODY WITH AND HIJACK OTHER BODIES WITH IF WE FIND COOL BODIES

>>808890
>making it look like a metroid
You're just tempting fate at this point.

>>808890
tell me more about this "penis interface jack"

>>808929
>>808930
>>808931
What's a penis, this is a family friendly Nintendo multiverse.

Suggestion 2017/06/18(Sun)20:03 No. 808952 ID: ce19bd
File 149784138445.png - (1.20MB , 1318x1931 , Weavel_mph_Artwork.png )

Consider loading all available information on previous iterations of cybernetic space pirate organisms utilized across the faction.

Combine features of all 3.

Feature a highly durable brain case able to be retrofitted into a modular bio-mechanical endoskeleton based on the atypical space pirate reptillian or insectoid species (or a hybrid thereof).

This will sacrifice specialization in favor of greatly variable adaptability.

>>808952
Oh and by endoskeleton I meant the internal hybrid body the brain plugs into. The armor's appearance is another subject entirely.

>>808929
No penis, just interface jack. Picture had a typo is all.

>>808890
I support modular brain spider.

>>808952
I recommend we go with this guy's plan, or just option 3. That way, when the Hunter inevitably shows up and murders everyone, she won't realize this was a SPACE PIRATE project.

Have we considered filing our species' name off of everything we own yet? Also, essential: Brain canister must not look like a brain canister. Stick a bunch of beepy lights on it so it looks like a computer. Maybe the GF will think robots are invading or something.

Suggestion 2017/06/19(Mon)19:38 No. 809232 ID: ce19bd
File 149792630969.jpg - (25.60KB , 400x373 , brain bucket.jpg )

>>809126
A standard brain case doesn't have to look like a transparent dome. It'd be occupying a helmet chassis inside the bio-mechanical body anyway.

>>809232
So basically, it's a Ghost in the Shell style brain case, right?

>>809246
Pretty much by the sound of things. Except with spider legs and likely some sort of ejection system.

>>809262
Some sort of ejaculation system, you mean

So, mixing all suggestions together would be... an artificial body with the emergencyoption for the Head to unfold its spiderlegslegs and crawl away like the thing? I think, that would be awesome and practical.

>>810056
Think a human sized eva unit from evangelion with the head cavity being a mobile brain case.

Cloned decapitated bodies with minimal cybernetics for life support and power armor integration.

1/2 IMO Unit-02 2017/06/26(Mon)06:53 No. 810473 ID: b27cac
File 149848523592.png - (31.43KB , 800x520 , consultation.png )

>Before anything else we need to make sure the ship is completely riddled with tubes. Double check to make sure the tubes are of regulation Space Pirate size. Make sure they just happen to be just slightly larger than the hunters ball form.
>Once the tubes are in place get a team to randomly fill them with missile upgrades and the occasional power tank.
Conduit repairs will require acquisition of new resources first.

>Please tell me Ridley didn't get killed.....again. Because we don't have anywhere close to enough resources to revive him.....again!
General Ridley was not assigned to Oneiros Beta.

>>Take advantage of Federation's generous bounty hunter laws.
>Wait, didn't we already do that? What happened to our previous bounty hunter we were using? What happened to Weavel?
Nor was Weavel.

>Although, even if our Secret Trooper is disguised and able to fool the Hunter, it's still highly recommended that our Secret Trooper avoid engaging the Hunter in any sort of confrontation at all costs.
Sightings of the Hunter have been extremely rare following the destruction of SR388.

>Physical modification would probably take longer since biological tinkering has to be done carefully otherwise you risk turning the subject into a useless pile of meat or even just kill them outright so as such it's not as forgiving and takes time to do it right since most times you only get one shot.
Incorrect. Multiple pirate troopers are available for experimentation.

>Casting my vote for power armour. Biological modification is too permanent.
Report to sickbay for medical assessment.

>Power Armour is a hard no. We tried that before and it ended badly. Remember the Morph Ball incident?
Do you remember the Beam Trooper project and the incremental upgrade works for Pirate Commandos?

>Physical Modification is an even harder no. Remember Project Helix? The Elite Pirates?
The Elite Pirate Project, the Omega Pirate and the Berserker Knight project based on recovered Tallon IV research data were all unqualified successes. Unless you mean to say you disagree with Command Team's assessment? Report to sickbay for medical assessment.

>By the way, uh, on that subject
>Have we got any, uh
>you know
>*cough* phazon?
All known Phazon suffered from rapid degradation following the Battle of Phaaze and it has not been possible to cultivate new Phazon from any surviving samples. Despite complications such as the Urtragian Rebellion, the loss of such a universally applicable mutagen is lamentable.

>The harder we make it to swap out the individual involved (and difficulty increases the more we modify the organism), the more the trooper installed in the STP may come to think of themselves as individually important, which is clearly unacceptable for space pirate personnel.
Given the intended high performance envelope of the Secret Trooper, this problem is more or less inescapable. Whether it be from specialised training and adaptation to the power armour or various modifications to the Trooper.

>Have you seen the Hunter's Power Armour?! It pretty much just absorbs whatever it touches and that gives the Hunter some kind of upgrade that let's her kick our asses even harder! If we can mimic that or something similar to it, then we might actually be able to not die next time we encounter her!
It has been a rich field of research!

2/2 IMO Unit-02 2017/06/26(Mon)06:56 No. 810474 ID: b27cac
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>Optimum concealment will require a custom grown organism with a brain we have constructed for capability, durability and concealment against the known Federation detection methods. We can't compromise on concealment because the trooper will be exposed to situations beyond any we can predict.
Excellent reasoning.

>We can't ask our trooper to entirely give up on their glorious space pirate heritage! Think what that would do to their morale!
Any loyal trooper should be willing to sacrifice anything to advance Space Pirate supremacy in this sector!

>I like the idea of going down something akin to the Weavel path, I mean, we already have Weavel as a baseline, we just have to make sure he stays loyal instead of going rogue when we replace his spine with a turret!
They should consider themselves fortunate to be such exemplars of Space Pirate technical innovation.

>Brain transplant and power armour. Nothing can *possibly* go wrong with making a cybernetic, armoured killing machine.
Correct. The pursuit of excellence is never the wrong decision! The base technology enabling the Stealth Trooper project will be a Brain Transplant. Equipping the trooper with a powerful suit of Power Armour will be a secondary line of research and development.

>BRAIN TRANSPLANT! AND MAKE IT A MODULAR BRAINTHING THAT WE CAN EXIT THE BODY WITH AND HIJACK OTHER BODIES WITH IF WE FIND COOL BODIES.
Such a thirst for science! Module will be added as an installation option after body type is selected.

If the brain is to be transplanted, a suitable body must be prepared. Broadly, there are three choices for this role:

Human: The most widespread race within the Galactic Federation. Despite a bizarre aversion to direct augmentation, their technological affinity and environmental tolerance has lead to them settling many planets that are only marginally habitable to other species. They are well suited to tool use, possess excellent spatial awareness and physiologically would adapt well to power armour. Study of biological samples has proven beyond doubt that even the dreaded Hunter is merely a modified human.

Other Alien: There are a range of other alien species that are tolerated within the Galactic Federation. A selection of those possess exotic biologies which incorporate powerful, useful inherent abilities. They might also be easier for a Space Pirate to adjust to than a soft skinned, endothermic, mammalian biped. Biological sample files are still being indexed, but there is a range of insectoid, reptilian, avian, mammalian, and even plasmic, plant-based, silicate and extremophile life to choose from.

Synthetic: A robotic or biomechanical construct purpose-built as a support organism for the Secret Trooper's brain case. The primary advantage of a synthetic body is its simplicity - it has high durability and few vulnerable points as it simply does not possess many of the subsystems biological life requires. A synthetic body can easily incorporate other electronic or mechanical systems.

Synthetic seems to be the best one here no soft flesh to get hurt

Suggestion 2017/06/26(Mon)07:56 No. 810476 ID: 8b7537
File 149848896549.jpg - (20.84KB , 640x360 , Four Legs.jpg )

>>810475
But hurti,. i mean improving upon the soft flesh is the best part of our job. The cutting and slicing, the patching and mutating gives me such a good feeling.

Therefore I´d choose alien, especially a four legged variant like the thing we once found.

I say Other Alien. Humans, being such a populous species, have the disadvantage of most individuals being familiar with their normal behavior and thought patterns - as such, our agent will have extra difficulty imitating them. Wearing a less populous but still accepted species will mean that strange behavior is more likely to be accepted/ignored, simply due to less people being familiar without how real members of that species usually behave.

A synthetic body is tempting, but they require more maintenance and are less energy efficient than biological bodies, as well as producing more detectable emissions. Again, with relatively pitiful humans in the majority, there has been less investment in countermeasures to exotic organics than there has been to synthetics.

If we have spare project volunteers, perhaps we could try some of the biological modification trials on them, as backup? This seems like the optimal time to resurrect project Metroid Hands, the attempt to give ourselves metroids for hands. New simulations estimate a 72% certainty they will now actually be under the owner's control! While they're conscious, of course.

>>810473
>Destruction of SR388.
>No Phazon.
So this quest will take place after the events of Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime 3 Corruption? That's interesting.

>>810474
>Body for transplant?
I believe that our best option would be Other Alien. It'd be easier for our Secret Trooper to adjust to that kind of body and those bodies aren't as fragile as a human body. And, since we Space Pirates are mostly insectoid, I say we should go for a race that won't be mistaken for a Space Pirate. So, I believe we should choose a reptilian body.

Not human. We're not so desperate that we'd sink down to their level! Plus, it's disgusting just thinking about being the same species as the Hunter! I think that you should report to sickbay for medical assessment for even thinking of suggesting Human as an option!

Not Synthetic. Although it would be easier to install modifications and other capabilities as needed in the future, our records have shown that Synthetics have far too many easily exploitable weaknesses ranging from hacking to important components being exposed and being literal targets that end up getting shot and destroyed. Plus, our observations of the Hunter's previous combat encounters have shown that these are the easiest things that she can destroy! So, let's not accidentally give her something to absorb into her Power Armour.....again!

Other AlieM: Plant-based Lifeform/Human Hybrid. The Hunter is merely a modified human, but our Secret Trooper shall be no mere modified human! Also, photosynthetic creatures would greatly reduce strain on food rations.

Other Alien from whichever culture we know best.

I suspect that we'll get a further choice of what other alien/synthetic form to take after choosing either of those, so we don't need to say now.

>>810474
Other Alien for the base, and May I suggest a species with extremophile tendencies, something that could survive in extreme conditons like severe heat, cold, and preferably vacuum? That way when we design the power armor we will not have to devote too much space to life support functions, and can focus on power and other features.

>Other Alien
I feel like this would bring up the least amount of questions. A human may be asked where they got their gear, a Synthetic might be asked where and how they were made, an alien though, just chalk that up to alien culture or some other nonsense and most people will just take it at face value.

>>810474
Other Alien, for sure.

Remember that horrible gravity monster the Federation built? Maybe we can steal that thing's DNA at some point. Until then, we should get some of those things that stick to ceilings and then rocket down at prey, whatever they're called. If we equip them with brains and stealth technology, there will be no survivors of any engagement with them!

Voting Synthetic, the flesh is weak while the machine is strong. No need to worry about biochemistry compatibility, hostile environments like the vacuum of space, or any other issues a organic might face.

>>810474
Other alien. Why be human when we can be better?

>>810474
The problem with being a human is that humans know how humans act so we'd have to act like a human. Be some plant based alien.

Other Alien. We should find something familiar enough that people don't go "what is that guy" but unfamiliar enough that people don't really know much other than that they exist. Lets the secret trooper blend in just the right amount with minimal effort.

>Multiple pirate troopers are available for experimentation.
Are our trooper resources finite, or taxed by present circumstances?

>>810474
Other alien.

1/1 IMO Unit-02 2017/06/30(Fri)01:49 No. 811381 ID: b27cac
File 149881259911.png - (30.46KB , 800x550 , too_many_other.png )

>Are our trooper resources finite, or taxed by present circumstances?
Yes.

>Not Synthetic. Although it would be easier to install modifications and other capabilities as needed in the future, our records have shown that Synthetics have far too many easily exploitable weaknesses ranging from hacking to important components being exposed and being literal targets that end up getting shot and destroyed.
Science Team designing a synthetic body for the Secret Trooper that possesses such easily exploitable weaknesses would be unfortunate for everyone involved.

>Not human. We're not so desperate that we'd sink down to their level! Plus, it's disgusting just thinking about being the same species as the Hunter! I think that you should report to sickbay for medical assessment for even thinking of suggesting Human as an option!
Your thoughts have been considered and discarded as vaporous nothings! Rations cut for a decicycle.

>The problem with being a human is that humans know how humans act so we'd have to act like a human.
True, there may be some minutia of inefficient simian social structures that would be missed by the Secret Trooper

>I feel like Other Alien would bring up the least amount of questions. A human may be asked where they got their gear, a Synthetic might be asked where and how they were made, an alien though, just chalk that up to alien culture or some other nonsense and most people will just take it at face value.
A simplified cover story will mean more time for science!

Understood. The Secret Trooper will be a brain transplant into an Other Alien body. Cross-referencing available samples for cloning.

Please propose suitable traits so a selection of alien species matched against a short-list of the most desirable traits can be generated.

Summarising proposals thus far:

>reptilian body
>a four legged variant like the thing we once found.
>Project Metroid Hands, the attempt to give ourselves metroids for hands.
>plant-based Lifeform/Human Hybrid.
>race that won't be mistaken for a Space Pirate.
>something that could survive in extreme conditions like severe heat, cold, and preferably vacuum?
>horrible gravity monster
>things that stick to ceilings and then rocket down at prey
>some plant based alien.
>electrical mutation that doesn't make sense
>power loader arms
>tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuubes to cool off those glowy bits

This will be a long session.

>>811381
Electrical plant monster that sticks to ceilings and lives in SPACe while on fire? with tubes.

You know why the Chozo were so successful? because they were taller than everyone else! It's also why Ridley (may he be cloned forever) gets to be the boss! We should make our Secret Trooper bigger, and surely the betterness will follow!

LimeBreaker 2017/06/30(Fri)02:08 No. 811385 ID: 5792da
File 149881369437.png - (2.87MB , 3175x3175 , Luminoth_model2.png )

>>811381
Luminoth!

They're weird and scarce enough that we'll never run into anyone that's ever met one, which will make it easy to pass any social failures as a result of moth weirdness, but the Federation should still be aware that they are a species that exists, which removes the possibility for "where did this new alien species come from".

Luminoth also seem to be roughly morphologically consistent with pirates - the test brains won't have to get used to suddenly having an endoskeleton or extra joints or motive limbs. Less time training means more time for SCIENCE.

And they look cool, which is critically important for bounty hunters.

>>811381
The Plant and Reptilian line both seem feasible, and like they could encompass several of the other points. Also, We're still going to give the trooper power armor, or at least Equipment, so its not particularly necessary have the body be one with built in powers, beyond those necessary for survival of course.
Im sure we have several plant and reptilian specimens that have thrive in extreme conditions. Some form of extreme homeostatic abilities shouldn't be difficult.
And what are veins and veins if not small life-giving tubes?

>>811385
I'll second this, and if for whatever reason we do run across someone who has met one of the moth people before, we can just BS that they were separated from their family when some raiders or something attacked there home. IT'S FOOL PROOF!

>>811385
Third-ed. A known, but rare and exotic species with abilities superior to humans.

>>811381
Reptilian. There's no need for the body to already have special powers, since we'll be giving the Secret Trooper some Power Armour to do that.

>Luminoth
No! The Hunter has interacted with the Luminoth before and knows how they behave! And since she's the one we're trying the hide our Trooper from, it would be very bad if our Trooper's behavior didn't match up with what she's familiar with! She'll know something's wrong right away!

Besides, Luminoth are peaceful and one of them becoming a bounty hunter would be unusual behavior that everyone in the Federation will notice, since the Federation have been to Aether and have met with the Luminoth after the Hunter's visit to their planet.

1/1 IMO Unit-02 2017/06/30(Fri)06:31 No. 811419 ID: b27cac
File 149882948860.png - (37.03KB , 800x550 , hey_listen.png )

Lack of clarity detected. Rephrasing.

At this stage additional traits should be proposed by Science Team and the merits of proposed traits discussed. That initial list is merely possible traits that have already been described by Science Team.

This biocomputer will then generate a final choice of alien species matching traits that are strongly supported by Science Team. Each short-listed species will possess some of those traits.

It is also acceptable to directly specify species such as the Luminoth.

>>811416

Nah, see, we just need an excuse. Say, we're a luminoth warrior who shamefully fled their planet during the whole phazon dark aether thing. Oh, such shame! We are such a coward! Surely, we do not even consider ourselves worthy of calling ourselves luminoth any more! We hide our face and form in armor, we no longer speak the language, we no longer follow the traditions. The only recompense for our terrible cowardice is a grand quest to plunge ourselves into the greatest dangers and risk death in destroying evil such as that we once fled from. So shame, so bad, yes luminoth physically yes to federation recognition of species for official purposes but we are not TRULY luminoth, no name no honor no no just a hunter just fighting evil, no speaking of past no speaking of people or home planet just fighting please, no questions, just tragic mysterious bounty hunter sitting in corner of tavern being enigmatic that's all thank you.

Bounty hunters always have weird complex drama pasts, people will just roll their eyes.

I hope we managed to pick up some luminoth technology during the visit to aether, though. Our tech would need to look close enough to be believably the same, and luminoth tech is pretty advanced. They were contemporaries of the chozo (I think there are hints they helped make the hunter's screw attack?), and we've been trying to figure out chozo tech without complete success for ages. Plus, I'm not sure how physically superior luminoth are or what special abilities they have. I think they can fly? And have some sort of photokinesis? And they're pretty big and probably tougher than they look. So there might be better options.

Message received. Compiling shortlist of superior organism traits. Analyzing merits of existing proposals. Mimicking IMO Unit-02 speech patterns.

>Plant-based Lifeform/Human Hybrid
>Almighty Tallest
>Incorporate Protoype Infiltration Device: Beauty in Oculus Of Beholder System (codename 'Knockers')
>Emergency Office Supplies (Ink Reservoir, Industrial Strength Stapler, Mildly Corrosive Highlighter Fluid)

...My apologies, the end of that list seems to have been confused with an internal supply requisition memo. Could someone please cancel the order of Choots to be released on administrative level 4?

>horrible gravity monster
Can you imagine how much mass would be required for a gravity effect? That would be a logistics Nightmare!

>things that stick to ceilings and then rocket down at prey
Too predictable. The last thing we need is some sort of repeating attack pattern which leaves us vulnerable at regular intervals.

>>811419
Oh in that case, some desirable traits then:

>A regenerative ability, as former products have a tendency of failing in prolonged engagements.

>High Agility, what cant be hit, cant be hurt, or captured, and would assist in stealth, which is almost certainly necessary.

>Resistance to extreme temperatures. How many projects and generals have we lost due to unfortunate lava accidents, or Cryo weaponry?

>Some form of natural weaponry. In the event of equipment failure, the Trooper will need some form of last ditch defense. Claws, blades, Spikes, thorns, acid, toxins, Eye lasers, giant monster hands, whatever gets the job done, the more natural and the better.

>>811419
I still say we should get a reptilian body of some kind. The less insect like our Trooper looks, the better his/her chances of not being mistaken for a Space Pirate and getting shot on sight! Especially since some people will firmly believe in shooting first and asking questions later.

>>811438
>That would be a logistics Nightmare!
>Nightmare
I see what you did there! XD

I like luminoth.

An arthropodic race similar to our template hybrid anthropoids but not on the federation watch list.

Also moth noises.

>>811421
Meta gaming here, since there's no disthread for this I think: I'm refusing Luminoth under the assumption that this version of Samus has 100% scanned everything that can be scanned in Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. Meaning that Samus knows everything about the Luminoth and would know that's not a thing the Luminoth would do. And Samus told the Federation that the Luminoth would need help to rebuild, so the Federation would've been around the Luminoth long enough to also know that's not something that would happen.

Besides, I think that if the Luminoth thought that the Ing were going to win, they would've preferred some of their race to leave the planet and live, instead of having their entire race get killed off.

>>811491
don't even need to metagame here like this
the hunter has already come in contact with the luminoth, if she somehow ran into our agent she would recognize them immediately and their cover blown with extreme firepower

>>811419
>desirable traits
A species that is not generally considered acceptable for interspecies mating by humans. The last thing our Secret Trooper needs is to get tripped up by, or subjected to, humanity's bewilderingly complex mating rituals. (Didn't the last human focused xeno-sociology team go insane?).

Obviously, a species that will not suffer or atrophy from being confined inside an exosuit for extended periods of time. If the secret trooper needs to take breaks for "fresh air" or for extensive exercise this will cut down on efficiency.

Atmosphere compatibility is important. If the Secret Trooper can function within the preferred atmosphere of our vessel, and human settlements, this will cut down necessary resources on life support, and make maintenance at base and resupply in the field simpler.

After those basic needs are met... something with high endurance, or a limited sleep cycle would be preferable.

Other desirable traits can largely be designed into the armor. Enhanced senses, weapon systems, physical strength, movement capability, etc.

We should probably start to consider what sort of equipment we want to equip the trooper with at this point. It wouldn't make sense to pick a alien that is very flexible only to equip them with armour that has a limited range of motion.

As for species, do we have anything with redundant organs, resistance to vacuum, or regenerative states? It would be useful to have that in the case of suit breach or massive injury.

>>811529
>(Didn't the last human focused xeno-sociology team go insane?).
Don't remind me! I remember that incident. We had to kill the poor bastards because they couldn't be rehabilitated. Especially since some of them had somehow become attracted to the Hunter! Just thinking about how that happened is making me-*insert barfing noises here* Ugh, medic! Someone get me a medic!

>>811529
No it should absolutely be 110% fuckable by humans

>>811416
>>811491
>>811514
The base was destroyed by the Federation, not the Hunter.

>>810473
>Sightings of the Hunter have been extremely rare following the destruction of SR388.

The Hunter is a non-issue.

>>811605
yes.

Why don't we just revive Ridley?

>>811419
I suggest Luminoth. Their weird light powers will be useful, and the Hunter saved their awful race from extinction, therefore she'll be less likely to murder our trooper on sight!

Since most offensive and utility functions will be in the suit, the main thing we need from our bounty hunter's body is endurance. Redundant organs, resistance to radiation, speedy healing, ability to withstand hostile environments in case of suit breach. Something with sufficient dexterity to perform repairs.

The secondary thing we need is for our agent to not attract suspicion and be capable of socializing. It would be well if they had keen senses, maybe a good sense of smell, for detecting the emotional responses of other species.

Also they should be cute. People don't question cute things.

>>811638
That's expensive as fuck and he's a Hunter magnet. Also, he's still alive right now so we'd be building an inferior MechaRidley.

>>811658
This is true, it's something that hasn't really been tried before. It would be an unexpected advantage.

>>811661
We can kill him and THEN revive him

>>811736
Now we're just getting into Herbert West territory.

>>811737
Also, Ridley outranks us, so what you said was mutiny AND treason.

Desires traits:
: Mostly harmless: The trooper should avoid hostile encounters so as to minimise intimate physical invasions that might result in incapacitation, damage or discovery.
: : Female: data suggests that females are frequently segregated from public violence.
: : Flora: Data suggests that plants are regarded as passive, and thus not targets for acts of physical dominance.
: : Minimal sexual characteristics: Much violence, confusion, and attention is caused by aliens, humans especially, and their bizarre mating rituals. Evasion and nonparticipation are advised.
: : Amorphous: Physical anomalies are often causes for attention. Removing physical consistency should reduce such encounters to a single reference to their inconsistency.
: Minimal emissions: Detection == bad.
: : Low metabolism: The mission is stealth-based. Speed should be of minimal value and loitering can provide opportunity to act unobserved.
: : Self-Stasis: An ability to remain viable and undetectable for extended periods would greatly enhance the subjects ability to operate in limited-resource environments and to remain retrievable in cases of partial mission failure.
: : Internal compartments: Internal storage would aid in minimising the visibility of equipment when not in use.
: Physical capability: The mission will require many activities.
: : Strength: the subject will be required to loosen the last jar of phazon-flavoured topical cream manipulate heavy and sturdy barriers. Massive, though not necessarily swift, strength proportional to its size may be required.
: : Climbing: Sometimes mission-critical items are located on the top shelf.
: : Regeneration: Operation in hostile environs is tolerable if a full recovery can be achieved. A swift recovery is of less concern.
: : Smol: Reduced size, even if only of two dimensions and temporary, may be required to navigate otherwise inaccessible paths.
: : Not Sudowoodo: Please no.

>>811991
>Not Sudowoodo: Please no.
Sudowoodo-Luminoth hybrid.

>>812008
stop
no
cease this line of thought

>>812064
Sudowoodo-Sudowoodo hybrid. You, you double-Sudowoodo.

>>812201
Pseudo-Sudowoodo?

Something amorphous or cephalopoid. Body mostly matters when power armor is out of commission, so let the armor handle all the rigid-skeleton work and focus biotech on squeezing into tight spaces.

>>811991
>>812947
I like both of these, so how about something vine-based?

1/4 IMO Unit-02 2017/07/08(Sat)19:03 No. 814044 ID: b27cac
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>Why don't we just revive Ridley?
>That's expensive as fuck and he's a Hunter magnet. Also, he's still alive right now so we'd be building an inferior MechaRidley.
>We can kill him and THEN revive him.
Stay focused, Science Team.

>Message received. Compiling short-list of superior organism traits. Analysing merits of existing proposals. Mimicking IMO Unit-02 speech patterns.
Report to ventral airlock for airlock testing.

...

Indexation complete.

Based off Science Team's criteria, the short-listed species for cloning are the Volviti, Ignole and Luminoth.

2/4 IMO Unit-02 2017/07/08(Sat)19:09 No. 814046 ID: b27cac
File 149956614109.png - (27.77KB , 750x600 , do_not_steel_original_species_kudzap.png )

Volviti are a plant based lifeform with a highly developed ability to perceive, manipulate and absorb electrical fields.

The plants evolved on a moon orbiting a gas giant which possessed a powerful magnetosphere and intense radiation belts. The ion charged atmosphere of the moon interacts with the gas giant's magnetosphere and creates an enormous dynamo. Most life on the moon has evolved extreme radiation tolerance and harvests energy from the powerful electrical and magnetic fields. Volviti rarely go off-world as they need an external power supply to avoid starving to death. They can absorb from most electrical sources to recharge their internal capacitors.

Anatomically, Volviti are vine clusters surrounding a collection of specialised organs and can adjust their shape if required. Damage to vines or most of their organs is not immediately fatal, only damage to their brain or capacitor stack. Despite their small size and inoffensive appearance, they are extremely strong when needed; they use chains of electrically repelled or attracted platelets instead of a conventional musculature system. They can leap and glide long distances by interacting with a planet's magnetic field and possess a biological railgun as a defence mechanism. Their main weakness is limited stamina: high powered applications of their biology quickly depletes their internal capacitors.

>>814044
Ignole have tiddy, clone them.

3/4 IMO Unit-02 2017/07/08(Sat)19:12 No. 814049 ID: b27cac
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Ignoles are a relatively primitive, reptilian, pyrophile species with a unique thermal adaptation.

Their homeworld has an elliptical orbit that causes extreme temperature variation over the period of its short year. Temperatures range between low negatives and a thousand degrees. The lizards have adapted to this by developing an extreme form of thermal expansion.

During the hot season they distend their molecular structure to assume a powerful predatory form and during the cold season they cool down and contract most of their body into an insulated shell. They shut down some of their organs and conserve heat in their abdomen, thorax and head. Extreme cold makes them sluggish, slow witted and eventually forces them to hibernate. Thermal shock can force them to reflexively switch forms. They are also able to focus heat in their claws, creating a high temperature cutter.

Tidal shear and thermal stress causes extremely unpredictable volcanism and earthquakes on the Ignole homeworld. To overcome these threats they've developed thermal sensing pits, are excellent climbers and can burn their nutrient reserves to quickly regenerate lost body parts.

Ignoles are tolerant of environments that include the liquid phase of water (with some care, use of both forms should be possible) and should be conventionally attractive to at least some humans.

4/4 IMO Unit-02 2017/07/08(Sat)19:14 No. 814050 ID: b27cac
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The Luminoth are peers of the mysterious Chozo, one of the few elder races to remain visible in the modern era. Though severally diminished following their planetary war, within the last decacycle they have begun interacting with the Galactic Federation. They are an insectoid, nomadic race that settled on the rogue planet Aether to pursue 'enlightenment', according to their infuriatingly vague myths.

On this planet they built a series of energy controllers to regulate the dwindling planetary energy of their wandering planet, allowing them a vast level of understanding and control over various planetary phenomena as well as sophisticated subsystems such as a teleportation network.

Luminoth are exceedingly advanced and are peerless warriors: they are able to fly despite their great size and possess extreme durability, heightened reflexes, wide senses and psionic ability. It is uncertain to what extent these abilities are inherent and how many are improved through technological enhancement.

Their psionic abilities are thought to mainly be focused on holographic projection and high end energy manipulation, in particular the use of telekinetic barriers and creation and manipulation of the light they venerate. Their claims of portents and omens cannot be scientifically validated. As a different brain will be transplanted into the cloned Luminoth body, these abilities will not be fully reproduced. However it is believed that some are linked to sub-organs within their bodies and through experimentation and substitution limited reproduction may be possible.

Make a selection, Science Team.

>>814046
Volviti! WE CAN BRING EXTRA BATTERIES!

Relatively Speaking, I believe the Volviti may be our best choice, though likely our most difficult one as well. I'm always one for a challenge, eh? Allow me to extrapolate.

Considering the lack of thermal extremes in most planetary systems, the choice of an Ignole would almost certainly result in them consistently taking the more condensed form (assuming the hot season is closer to the thousand degree subsection.) which would therefore lead us with the creation of a dimwitted, sluggish, and overall much smaller organism. Additionally, their nly means of non automated offense is physical combat. As much as superheating one's claws would be useful, it is ultimately pointless if they do not make contact with the intended target.

Normally, I would highly advocate for the creation of a Luminoth (And in fact, suggest the creation of one later for seperate testing into suborgan interaction and the potential to integrate such into space pirate physiology), However, as you stated before, due to a recent war, their numbers are few, and they just began interacting with the Federation at large. It would not be a far leap of logic to assume that the Federation would wish to keep an eye on all of the Luminoth that are seen, which would make any and all subterfuge completely null, defeating the point of choosing an other alien shell in the first place. Additionally, I have heard rumor of the Hunter interacting with such beings extensively, which may mean she may have filed a report on their general workings, attitude, and so on to the Federation, making blending in around the people that count even harder.

A Volviti, hooked up to an electrical system, can easily be played off as an explorer that doesn't know how things work. Additionally, their deceptive strength, ability to change their overall shape at will, and (most importantly) integrated emergency RANGED weaponry makes them the best choice for this SPECIFIC endeavor.

Hm... I believe that the Volviti are likely the optimal choice.

The Ignole are useful, but their physiology would make it difficult to apply the power armor addition later.

Luminoth, as stated, would undoubtedly be under increased scrutiny, which would rather defeat the point of of the Stealth Trooper. I second performing tests on their sub-organs as a project later.

Volviti would take to the Power Armor remarkably well actually. It would work perfectly to supply energy for sustenance and could augment and further improve its natural railgun! In fact we may want to look into making a standardized beam weapon with such qualities for Commando use regardless of our choice...

>>814053
It should be noted that only "Extreme Cold" causes Ignoles to become so sluggish. Regardless the Ignole are still suboptimal due to the increasing standardization of cryo weaponry that had been made to counter Metroid organisms. As a side note, did we manage to retain viable samples from the organism Gandrayda? If so we may wish to consider adding that to the list of potential species.

>>814050
Ignole for sure. When in doubt, expand jigglejogglers.

>>814057

You have a fair point! I would also like to recommend the reuse of at least some of Project Titan. While the use of Phazon was an astounding success, I personally was more interested in the organism's use of magnetic fields to manipulate it's own body, or at least something similar. Perhaps this could be integrated into a Power Suit formulated for a Volviti? Magnetic Fields and Electrical fields cannot be TOO different...

>>814047
>>814059
*sigh* Just to check, is a Volviti's shape altering abilities capable enough for them to appear similar to a mammalian female?

Volviti. Because biological railgun.

>>814049
Ignoles sound useful.

Regeneration, heat claws, size changing, and potential to distract humans!

Just make sure the brain we put in there isn't from one of the space pirates that have a fascination with chesticles. The last thing we need is for our Secret Trooper to spend all of their time playing with them instead of actually doing what we told them to do!

personally I kinda like the idea of making a power suit that both plays off of and aids an Ignoles biology and while the form change could be a problem if we don't have much control over it. If we could develop a suit that would let the user shift between both forms with ease it could be beneficial since they only start to slow down when exposed to extreme cold so having a agent that can somewhat shape shift could help them move around a bit more unnoticed and we could maybe take a page from the hunter's morph ball and let our agent move through areas and passages that otherwise wouldn't be possible or severely limit movement.

I'm a bit hesitant with the Volviti since their low stamina makes me worry seeing as they will be away from base for long periods of time to gather us resources and they seem more like a race that isn't built for long drawn out missions, seem better suited for a strike team or something. On the other hand I'm sure we could overcome this with the power suit we'd be making for them.

Lastly is the Luminoth. Part of me really wants to go with this since it would do wonders for our research on their kind and if we can somehow infiltrate a Luminoth habitat we could learn much from studying their technology. But the more practical part of me realize that it's probably not the best idea to send our base's sole savior out in a experimental body for the sole purpose of field testing it to see what does and doesn't work. Maybe some other time when resources aren't nearly as scarce as they are now.

So yeah in short, I pick the Ignoles since I feel they are the best suited for the task but I feel like we could make this work with any of the races since we will be giving them some power armor to shore up their weaknesses.

>>814044
>>814050
Never not moth.

They aren't quite as exciting or as curvaceous as the other options, but they have good physical traits, psychic options, and no great weaknesses or odd requirements (where the others require electricity and heat).

And like, why have a biological railgun when we can just have them carry a regular railgun? Why have regeneration when we have superior pirate cybernetic replacements?

>>814078
Oh, and it's easier to armor a moth.

Volviti have both magnetic and electrical concerns when it comes to any kind of armor, with extra difficulty if that armor is powered or otherwise mounts electronics.

Ignoles, on the other hand, have the expansion problem; a suit of armor will only really work for one size or the other. And, of course, there'd be problems if external temperatures forced a change while the armor was in use.

Luminoth don't care. You can strap just about whatever onto 'em and it won't interfere with any biology (or receive interference from biology).

Voring Luminoth.

>>814083
Excuse me?! We do not have the supplies to put Luminoth on the menu!


>>814077
We'd have to take what little we'd learned from the *shudder* Morph Ball project to have any hope of making functional power armor for the Ignole, and some of us still have problems with that, even though the mindwipes!

>>814080
You seem to be forgetting that the armor can cancel out external temperature changes!

I mean, that's how that damn Hunter can chase us through subzero environments and planets that are entirely made of volcanoes! Hell, she can even walk around in fucking lava and literally not break a sweat!

If her armor can do that, then we can do it with our armor too!

Ignole.
We can use the old Morph Ball data for the armor size-change, just skip the internal compression bit as the Ignole can do that already.
For temperature concerns, surely we can put a heater/cooler into the armor.

Most importantly, smol Ignole can fit in tubes.

I'm back! The ventral airlock's malfunctioning. Good thing you tested it before trying to shoot anyone out of it!
Volviti are, according to my highly scientific analysis, CUTE! This is, of course, unacceptable for a Trooper, secret or not.
Ignole show great promise, able to adopt two extremes of stature and temperature resistance. Also, they're pretty tall. Make sure the brain we put in there is from one of the space pirates that have a fascination with knockers- this will surely motivate the trooper to perform better.

>>814080

You pose an interesting option there, but I would like to reiterate that while I would normally be all for the Luminoth for the reasons you have listed, They would be under far heavier scrutiny by the Federation, which, once again, defeats the purpose of choosing a separate race entirely. If we simply wished for something in an incredibly powerful suit, It would be simple enough to augment a Space Pirate. Additionally, A Hunter suit could be made to counteract the weaknesses of both races. Overall, in a location of extreme duress, where the power suit is no longer functional and it is simply the species, It is better to have a reliable, ranged, and efficient defense. Again, I would highly suggest the Luminoth in a situation where at least some degree of stealth is not required. But in this case it is needed, and thusly the Luminoth will not do.
>>814077

You offer up interesting potential creation for the suit, specifically one based off of both shapes. This could be radicalized in the suit created for the Volviti, allowing you to still create your shape changing suit while continuing with the most practical contender. On your concern with Stamina; it is clearly stated that the use of their internal capacitors is only used when they're subject to a continuous, high stress situation. If we're relying on species alone, I recommend highly avoiding these situations, to the point that tactical retreat should be considered. There is more data to be gained from a living test subject than a dead one, after all. ...Mostly because a living test subject can still die and then be studied further. In such situations, the Luminoth would do admirably, and I expect it's durability might even allow it to escape, coupled with flight... However, the Ignole would be left with very few escape options, and likely would (while still admirably) fight until it's regeneration and the opponent had completely destroyed it, rendering all knowledge potentially gained from a corpse useless. Both the Volviti and the Luminoth have more viable escapes, the former in the form of magnetic field gliding, and the later in straight flight.

My Vote is with the Volviti, Still. However, if it proves to be less than up to snuff, my secondary vote goes to the Luminoth, if only due to their hardier nature and built in escape potential for data recovery.

Also, we're Scientists, not idiots. Get your minds out of the proverbial gutters and focus on Efficiency, not the size of something's chest. Half of us aren't even capable of reproduction you mongrels.

>>814092
I nominate him for testing the morph function of the Ignole Power Armor!

>Also, we're Scientists, not idiots. Get your minds out of the proverbial gutters and focus on Efficiency, not the size of something's chest. Half of us aren't even capable of reproduction you mongrels.
it has less to do with what's on their chest and more to do with the fact that I like to burn things. It's what started me on my path to becoming a scientist after all.

>>814098
We're leaving the squishing part out, Ignoles don't need it.
What kind of Science are you playing at, to deny our Trooper proper access to the tubes?

I've got a history with electric plants. Just have to vote for Volviti.

Can I just point out here that the volviti is small enough for a ball form as well?

>>814105
Not at all! Between the size of the Volviti and their shape altering abilities it'd in fact be easier to make a miniaturized form for the armor!

clone fire titty-mm-bop-bop-tittays

As of this post, the results so far are:

5 for Volviti.

6 for Ignole.

1 for Luminoth.

And 1 for eating a Luminoth for some strange reason?

If I missed any votes, thats because I couldn't for sure tell what someone was voting for.

I'm also not counting anyone that said anything like, "My secondary vote goes to this." I'm only counting primary votes here!

Volviti all the way. Their only significant weakness is lack of stamina, which could be trivially compensated for by hooking the armor's main power supply to induction coils wrapped around the torso. This is supposed to be a covert mission, and luminoth or ignole would attract far too much attention.

Volviti for electric powers

I'd vote Ignole! As we'll be giving them a space pirate brain, becoming slow witted in low temperatures should not be so much of a problem, and can be compensated for with the suit anyway. Maybe even a little cybernetic enhancement? More than that, being able to take a smaller form will give them an ability with much of the same benefits as the Hunter's blasted morph ball!

Volviti, simply because if it turns out to be a bad bountyhunter, we can still use it as battery

I vote Ignole, they seem like they'd need the least work to be made a viable agent, and should be viable in or out of the forthcoming armor. WITH the armor, there should be several options that will make them even more viable!

>>814127
Update:

8 for Volviti.

8 for Ignole.

Luminoth remains at 2.

Oh, forgot to mention - The Varia Suit technology should ensure that our Ignole trooper is always precisely the temperature they want to be.

Voting Ignole, they have a similar limb structure to space pirates which should allow our trooper to adapt to their new body more easily.

Voting volviti.

>>814194
>Taking the easy way
are you even a space pirate

Luminoth is fallen by the wayside, so I'll vote fire lizard.

>>814050
Why in Kraid's name would we take anything but the giant moth people? Luminoth!

Besides, he'll be in power armor.

REMEMBER GUYS, HE'LL BE IN POWER ARMOR. Heat pits are useless when you are wearing a helmet.

>>814183
Update:

9 for Volviti.

10 for Ignole.

1 for Luminoth.

Luminoth lost a vote because someone changed their vote to Ignole.

Again I'd like to remind you, these are what I think the votes are. Please feel free to double check and correct me if you think I'm wrong. Because I probably am wrong!

>>814250
Oops! Another vote snuck in while I was typing!

It's now:

9 for Volviti.

10 for Ignole.

2 for Luminoth.

>>814245
>Heat pits are useless when you are wearing a helmet
Useless and redundant! If heat vision and melee weapons are likely to be important while out of the armor, a Volviti could simply be equipped with IR cameras and some sort of concealed laser sword as cybernetics, either powered by the electrical metabolism or with an integral RTG - which wouldn't even need to be shielded, apart from armoring the braincase, thanks to volviti radiation tolerance! Conversely, Ignole-compatible implants would need to accommodate the size-shifting.

Given that this is such a close race, and the likelyhood that multiple prototypes will be required before a functional agent is ready to be sent out, would it be possible to start development on both Volviti and Ignole models in parallel, and simply deploy whichever becomes ready first? Competition might help the Science Team stay focused on mission-critical features rather than getting sidetracked into impracticality.

>>814046
Electro-plant best plant!

Volviti sound like they integrate well with a hard suit. Servos and external batteries offset their weaknesses, and we don't need to shield the suit against certain energy fields that are beneficial to them.

Ignoles seem less than ideal. Changing form at the wrong time or with a damaged suit could be catastrophic. And if the suit is breached at any time, that's what is going to happen.

Just no to the Luminoth. Our gear won't match theirs, and if our agent should bump into any of their assets we attract needless scrutiny.

>>814254
Update:

11 for Volviti.

10 for Ignole.

2 for Luminoth.

I've gotta say, I'm disappointed the Volviti is winning. It's just basically a repeat character type we've had in Arhra's previous quests.

Shapeshifting? [Default] from Nanogoo.

Plant based? Alice Dietrich from Bloom.

Unbelievably adorable looking without even needing to try? Alkaline from Dungeoneer.

I picked Ignole because I honestly think we can make it work if we give it a chance! And, to me, the Volviti sound like taking the easy way out by voting for a character type that we're all familiar with.

But, I literally can't force anyone to change their votes, so I guess everyone keep voting until Arhra's next update to decide the winner!

Hm... Thinking on it some more, it might actually be easier than I thought to make an adaptable Power Armor for Ignole, if we use the data from their own shells in the making for it.

I suppose in the interest of working with the limited materials we have the Ignole would be the best option.

As much as I'd like to use the Volviti for our Stealth Trooper it's too fragile on its own, and the high energy requirements necessary for it's survival is less than ideal considering our limited resources. If we weren't in such dire straits, then the Volviti would be better, but needs must. On the upside since the Ignole are a more predatory species it'll require less conditioning for it to maintain character.

(You make a fair point Vote Counter. Changing my vote to Ignole.)

Voting Ignole
Though.. would an implanted brain be able to fully withstand the body's limits?

I'm voting for Ignole

A point I have not yet seen made, if we do obtain the body-jacking upgrade it would be beneficial to be a giant walking taser. My vote is for the Volviti.

Volviti approved. Suggest incorporating electrical feeding capacity into armour and registering it as a form of life-support. It should be required only periodically, but inferior Federation Taxonomy science shall prevent the separation of a being from its life-support equipment. Permanent use of armour should enhance identity obfuscation and ability to avoid identification when separated from armour. Additionally, armour should be able to negate the stamina issues by providing additional charge at a rapid rate.

Addendum: extreme cuteness quotient indicates that he subject will be trustworthy. All attempts at speculation of traitorous intent returned a null mental process.

>>814393
Update:

12 for Volviti.

13 for Ignole.

2 for Luminoth.

Further assessment:
>>814393 Plant based? Alice Dietrich from Bloom.
Theory: Alice donors nonfloral. Donors Human, Xotl, Species code "ftaghn ftaghn ftaghn ftaghn ftaghn ia ftaghn".
Reassessment of voltini:
Adjustment of outer shell. Adjustment of internal structure. Abundant nonvital organs.
Amorph quotient: 7
Eats forces of planetary stability.
Devouring of cosmic will quotient: 7
Prose: "With thunder as from the gods and a brilliance that consumed all sight the subject of its ill intent was rent from existence"
Wields power of gods quotient: 5
Taxonomy: Volviti reassessed from "flora" to "[translation error]".

IMO Unit-02 2017/07/10(Mon)06:09 No. 814522 ID: b27cac
File 149969215060.png - (38.95KB , 800x550 , i_am_going_to_science_the_shit_out_of_that.png )

Stalemate detected.

>Given that this is such a close race, and the likelihood that multiple prototypes will be required before a functional agent is ready to be sent out, would it be possible to start development on both Volviti and Ignole models in parallel, and simply deploy whichever becomes ready first? Competition might help the Science Team stay focused on mission-critical features rather than getting sidetracked into impracticality.
Excellent proposal Science Team. This stalemate resolution procedure will be used. Through competition, excellence will be achieved.

The Secret Trooper project will be forked into two development teams: Boiler Team will work on a Ignole clone and Garden Team will work on a Volviti clone.

Project Boiler will be conducted here.
https://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/814518.html

Project Garden will be conducted here.
https://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/814520.html

Risk means progress!

END CHAPTER 1