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Terminus Quest: A CKII Mass Effect Quest

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mymatedave10 said:
I imagine Teller, Uman & Star are probably looking at the response and saying something along the lines of, "but the idea was so cool! The equations for lensing nuclear explosions combined with eezo were fascinating on the whiteboard and the simulations were amazing with lots of new areas to explore! Why let a small thing like real world applications get in the way of cool new physics problems? Silly politicians."
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I see you've been visiting the Discord.
 
It appears that Einstein's attempt to usurp Newton as the deadliest son of a bitch in space has been denied.

Best of luck next time, Albert.
 
Just finished binge reading this over the past couple of days. Have to say it was a very enjoyable read and I am looking forward to getting involved in the quest from here.
A few of the things that stood out to me was:
The amount of worldbuilding the QM has accomplished from what is a very small amount of info on the Rachni Wars whilst still making the scale of the quest evolve without losing the feel of immersion in the player character.
How lucky we have been in quite a few situations that I thought would turn into disasters lol.
The QM has been quite generous to us quite a few times by leaving hints and clues within choices/ Advisor blurb about probable situations that may occur.
Also just how much of a danger not thinking about the long term can be :p.

Overall a very well ran and written quest so far with a very interesting touch with starting as early as you did. I can't wait to see just how things progress from here.
 
DaLintyGuy said:
*waggles hand*

Kinetic weapons are far more focused in effect, so there are potential reasons to use nuclear devices instead in order to cause widespread damage to an ecosystem or undercut/burn out a section of warren.
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Causing widespread damage to an ecosystem is explicitly undesirable; it's a negative side effect of bombarding the enemy hard enough, not the reason to bombard the enemy in the first place.

Undercutting a warren section is better done with mass driver strikes. At the relevant energies the impacts begin to approximate nuclear blasts anyway- the rounds vaporize on impact and release a lot of energy in all directions.
 
Yeah, destroying everything is something the Commonwealth views as more of an unavoidable side effect of remotely annihilating all enemy opposition on a planet than a design purpose. Thus why, even against rachni who are definitionally all unwaveringly hostile military targets, the RoEs for extinction strikes are so restrictive.
 
Man, this is like if you're some mid-level R&D engineer, and you write a proposal for some new weapons system, and then POTUS, the gosh darn Commander-in-Chief, personally writes up why you're wrong.

Anyways, I hope this isn't against the rules, but I made an image:
 
DaLintyGuy said:
*waggles hand*
Kinetic weapons are far more focused in effect, so there are potential reasons to use nuclear devices instead in order to cause widespread damage to an ecosystem or undercut/burn out a section of warren.
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Gratuitously large nukes in the megaton and gigaton range are not going to do anything against surface targets that you can't already do with kinetic orbital bombardment. Or with much more judiciously sized tactical warheads in the single or double digit kiloton range.
Ditto with known bunker sites.

To clear a set of tunnels maybe.

But even there, really, tunnels are only an advantage in a setting where nuclear weapons and drones do not exist. Given as we know how thermobarics are murder on organics in confined spaces.....Deploy a set of small sub-kiloton nukes in the 20-ton to 200-ton yield range and let the thermobaric effect of a confined nuclear explosion do the work of murder for you. Sorta like they do in the Starship Troopers novel.

You'd only fight your way in if you actually want to possibly take prisoners or recover intelligence.

The problem would be more about finding all the tunnels.
Places with working fusion reactors you can track by the neutrino flux, but others you'll have to find Rachni tunnel by seismics.
Long and laborious work.
 
Depending on whether spoiler boxes count towards word counts in the present iteration of XenForo, y'all may be about to get an OP word alert. It is not the update, although I have finally managed to update the quest I made myself swear I'd update first, so Terminus Quest is next! Expect it soon, folks! :D
 
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Canon Omake: Statement on Training, Doctrine, and Procurement
  • Sidestory
    • The following is an omake from @Alfa290, as a direct IC response from a senior Army officer to the preceding two canon omakes. It is canon. I present it unaltered save for necessary formatting edits to present it as drafted.

    Also, translating titles down to fit neatly within threadmarks is an adventure in creative editing sometimes.



    THIS DOCUMENT IS CLASSIFIED

    UNCLASSIFIED

    FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY​


    OFFICE OF THE COMMANDANT OF TRAINING AND DOCTRINE CSM MIKAL A. XALL

    TO

    OFFICE OF THE COMMANDER OF ORDNANCE AND EQUIPMENT GEN LETLI L. LEDABURO

    STATEMENT ON CURRENT TRAINING AND DOCTRINE AS IT PERTAINS TO ORDNANCE AND EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT

    RELEASED 09.04.513 GS

    This statement from the Office of the Commandant of Training and Doctrine is to address recent proposals and questions regarding equipment for use by the Army of Virmire. The current objectives of the doctrine of the Army of Virmire are as follows:

    1. Maintain the security and military integrity of planets, asteroids, and other non-artificial objects possessed by Virmire and her colonies.
    2. The removal of entrenched Rachni forces upon planets, asteroids, and other non-artificial objects in territory held and patrolled by the fleets of Virmire and her colonies.
    3. To ensure that soldiers, aviators, and sailors of the Army of Virmire are not exposed to undue risk or risk caused by negligence in training in the course of their duties.
    4. To maintain the integrity and biodiversity of planets, asteroids, and other non-artificial objects deemed valuable for the future expansion of Virmire and her colonies.
    5. To foster cooperation with the Navy of Virmire and the Marine Corps of Virmire in the prosecution of the war against the hostile threat known as the Rachni.
    As such, the Army of Virmire has tendered a request for research and proposals for equipment to better facilitate these broader objectives. However, it has come to the attention of the Commandant for Training and Doctrine, CSM Mikal Xall, that several proposals have been contrary to these broader objectives.

    As such, the Office of the Commandant would like to more clearly communicate known urgent field needs:
    1. Improved mobile survey and seismic detection equipment
    2. Improved targeting equipment for use in calls-for-fire in usage of orbital and surface support weapons
    3. Improved mapping capability of hostile tunnel networks
    4. Improved personal protective equipment
    5. Autonomous warfighting equipment capable of operation in hostile tunnel networks
    6. Ordnance and equipment suitable for extremely hostile environments

    Thank you for your cooperation in the ongoing reorganization of the Army of Virmire and the Armed Forces of Virmire as a whole.

    _______________________________
    CSM Mikal A Xall
    Commandant of Training and Doctrine
    TRADOC, 1st Army Command​
    ​
     
    Last edited:
  • Sidestory
    • PoptartProdigy said:
    The following is an omake from @Alfa290, as a direct IC response from a senior Army officer to the preceding two canon omakes. It is canon. I present it unaltered save for necessary formatting edits to present it as drafted.

    Also, translating titles down to fit neatly within threadmarks is an adventure in creative editing sometimes.


    THIS DOCUMENT IS CLASSIFIED

    UNCLASSIFIED

    FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY​

    OFFICE OF THE COMMANDANT OF TRAINING AND DOCTRINE CSM MIKAL A. XALL

    TO

    OFFICE OF THE COMMANDER OF ORDNANCE AND EQUIPMENT GEN LETLI L. LEDABURO

    STATEMENT ON CURRENT TRAINING AND DOCTRINE AS IT PERTAINS TO ORDNANCE AND EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT

    RELEASED 09.04.513 GS

    This statement from the Office of the Commandant of Training and Doctrine is to address recent proposals and questions regarding equipment for use by the Army of Virmire. The current objectives of the doctrine of the Army of Virmire are as follows:

    1. Maintain the security and military integrity of planets, asteroids, and other non-artificial objects possessed by Virmire and her colonies.
    1. The removal of entrenched Rachni forces upon planets, asteroids, and other non-artificial objects in territory held and patrolled by the fleets of Virmire and her colonies.
    1. To ensure that soldiers, aviators, and sailors of the Army of Virmire are not exposed to undue risk or risk caused by negligence in training in the course of their duties.
    1. To maintain the integrity and biodiversity of planets, asteroids, and other non-artificial objects deemed valuable for the future expansion of Virmire and her colonies.
    1. To foster cooperation with the Navy of Virmire and the Marine Corps of Virmire in the prosecution of the war against the hostile threat known as the Rachni.
    As such, the Army of Virmire has tendered a request for research and proposals for equipment to better facilitate these broader objectives. However, it has come to the attention of the Commandant for Training and Doctrine, CSM Mikal Xall, that several proposals have been contrary to these broader objectives.

    As such, the Office of the Commandant would like to more clearly communicate known urgent field needs:
    1. Improved mobile survey and seismic detection equipment
    1. Improved targeting equipment for use in calls-for-fire in usage of orbital and surface support weapons
    1. Improved mapping capability of hostile tunnel networks
    1. Improved personal protective equipment
    1. Autonomous warfighting equipment capable of operation in hostile tunnel networks
    1. Ordnance and equipment suitable for extremely hostile environments

    Thank you for your cooperation in the ongoing reorganization of the Army of Virmire and the Armed Forces of Virmire as a whole.

    _______________________________
    CSM Mikal A Xall
    Commandant of Training and Doctrine
    TRADOC, 1st Army Command​
    ​
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    That's strange. All the numbers there are 1 instead of the usual numerical order. Is that standard in military documents or is it just a bit of a typing error?
     
    Hi folks sorry I was intending to update tonight but then I heard somebody today defending the Confederacy in the American Civil War and I spent several thousand words in my Discord server ranting about the Lost Cause myth instead.

    Tomorrow, probably.
     
    PoptartProdigy said:
    Hi folks sorry I was intending to update tonight but then I heard somebody today defending the Confederacy in the American Civil War and I spent several thousand words in my Discord server ranting about the Lost Cause myth instead.

    Tomorrow, probably.
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    I actually did have one of those in my debate club when my team is in charge of defending the position of the Daughters of the Confederacy in their promotion of the Lost Cause. I'm telling you, it's really, really fucking hard to make a coherent defense when the opposition started veering on the topic of racial issues and discrimination.

    Anyway, no rush on the update, man. Just post it whenever you're ready.
     
    I think at some point as a Debate Club member I would just sway visibly, say in a piping voice "you win," and fall to the floor, thus losing the debate and probably getting in trouble but at least losing in a way that might make someone happy.
     
    taovkool said:
    I actually did have one of those in my debate club when my team is in charge of defending the position of the Daughters of the Confederacy in their promotion of the Lost Cause. I'm telling you, it's really, really fucking hard to make a coherent defense when the opposition started veering on the topic of racial issues and discrimination.
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    Just be racist. It's why the Lost Cause exists, so you may as well be honest about it.
     
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    All right. Into high gear.

    Calling for rolls!

    I need eleven rolls on a d100. One per customer, assigned respectively to options in the order I write and the order the rolls arrived, the first eleven I see are the eleven I take. Go on, folks, and let's get this moving! :D
     
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