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Beneath Celestial Depths (An Arpeggio of Blue Steel Quest)

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hooooh boy.

Yeah. Okay. Wow. Um.

KKVs and long-term habitable space-stations. Damn.
TheBleachDoctor said:
"...Smart?" Mary frowns in confusion, "But everyone back home was smarter than me..."
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... Yeah, my suspicions that Mary wasn't the only Design Child around and that they are now prolific to the point of being considered "normal" are only growing.

TheBleachDoctor said:
"It's the best country in the world!" Mary answered enthusiastically, "We defeated the Fog two centuries ago!"
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Huh. By themselves? With Blue Steel?

If the AE defeated the Fog, and Mary was raised by the AE, and Mary immediately identified us as Fog but then hugged us, there's got to be more to this than we're hearing. It might just be childish innocence, but I'm dubious.

Really, though, it's the whole "America pulling a Holy Britannian Empire" thing I'm mildly concerned about. Gah. And Mary grew up there, so she has no outside perspective on the situation other that what she's had access to or learned from the AE itself.

I think... I think we need more information. Objective information. God. But we still can't protect ourself from anything if we fuck up. ERGH.

I... I want to build defenses first. Before we potentially screw ourselves (and Mary) completely over by that 20% failure possibility. It's tiny, but it's there. I think we'll need to use that data link in the future, but only once we're at least a little prepared for the consequences, even if that's just being able to cut and run. We can't even do that right now.

Plus that "train Mary" thing sounds suspiciously like we're going to very slowly be gathering a crew. Maybe not. But considering Gunzou's ridiculous ability to pull the I-401 through so many crazy situations, I think I want to teach her Command. Human input in a command position, where they can pull unpredictable moves in a battle and act in a way we can't because we never would have thought of it as a Fog ship, might be key later.

Engineering might also be a decent place for her, though, considering her natural intelligence and what we've seen of her disposition so far, and I could be swung in that direction with a good argument.

So, I'm tentatively going to go with this (we can do multiple actions, right?):

[X] Gather/salvage conventional materials.
-[X] From broken parts of the sub pen.

[X] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[X] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)
 
TheBleachDoctor said:
American Empire
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Lord above. I can feel the Freedom already.
TheBleachDoctor said:
Defeated the Fog. Bah! At that point in time, Humanity couldn't have beaten the Fog if you turned off your Klein Fields and charged blindly at-!
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I do love the smell of PRIDE in the morning.

[X] Seize control of the base's systems
-[X] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)

[X] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[X] Show her how your Thanatonium Reactor functions (Engineering Training)


We are our own Captain, the Fog bows to no one but the Admiralty Code.

That said, Design Children are extremely innovative on the area they specialize in. Makie created the Vibration Warhead and found a way to overlap Klein Fields, and her brother was literally incapable of corruption and was a political genius. I'm hoping Mary's more of a Makie since we're gonna need to catch up on 200 years of tech.

angelofwhim said:
HELLO WORLD! IT IS I! THE GREAT HABBUKUK WHO IS TOTALLY NOT DEAD! SEND ME TRIBUTE LEST I COME AND EAT YOU ALL!
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Cannibalism, ho!
 
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[x] Seize control of the base's systems
-[x] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)
well, interesting.
 
Always Late said:
If we smash the system, then we have actually revealed ourselves, and put ourselves on a timer until someone comes to check things out. If our goal is to remain invisible, then taking the system is the way to go.
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Can't we just not do anything to the base system at all and remain invisible as well?
 
ensou said:
Can't we just not do anything to the base system at all and remain invisible as well?
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...
um we seem to not even be seaworthy at the moment, and I highly doubt were going to find a place to get information without at least the same level or risk at this point, after all humanity has spent 200 years not fighting the fog.
 
SpeckofStardust said:
...
um we seem to not even be seaworthy at the moment, and I highly doubt were going to find a place to get information without at least the same level or risk at this point, after all humanity has spent 200 years not fighting the fog.
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I didn't mean going to find another way to get information, I meant waiting to use this one (with the 20% chance of failure).

I'm worried about those orbital kinetic projectiles. If they locate us and we can't move, we're dead. We are literal sitting ducks right now. I'm worried about gambling our safety when we have no armor, no weapons, barely any energy, and strawberries growing in our engine room.
 
[X] Gather/salvage conventional materials.
-[X] From broken parts of the sub pen.

[X] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[X] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)
 
[X] Gather/salvage conventional materials.
-[X] From broken parts of the sub pen.

[X] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[X] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)

[X] Seize control of the base's systems
-[X] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)

How many things can we put in our vote anyway? it doesn't say in the story post.
 
ensou said:
... Yeah, my suspicions that Mary wasn't the only Design Child around and that they are now prolific to the point of being considered "normal" are only growing.
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Unlikely. Beyond the fact that Design Children weren't a small investment 200 years ago, either for their birth or their maintenance (except for kids like Makie that didn't seem to require medicines to continue living like her sibling in the north), most of the kids died, making it a big investment for unsure returns, it's just not safe. Even if they found a way to make the process safer and less costly, each Design Child is capable of designing WMD. No sane government would want a sizable part of their population capable of making nuclear or Fog-derived IEDs, especially if the AE is, as it seems, a bit totalitarian. Mary talked about an institute, it's probably a place where they birth Design Children and indoctrinate them with whatever propaganda the government wants before sending them to critical positions or R&D departments.

That Design Children are in somehow low supply can also be guessed by the fact that Mary was already deployed via whatever sea transport she was on. If Design Children were common, they wouldn't need to send ten-year old kids to whatever facility she was sent to, the AE could rely on the existing number of Design Children and she would have stayed in the institute to soak whatever knowledge she needed before her deployment in order to optimize her skills.

Though, the fact that her transport went under is interesting. With the techs involved, thinking that her ship sunk because of an accident or a natural cause is laughable. So that would leave either an attack or a sabotage. Both seem to indicate that the AE's rule isn't absolute and that there are either/both terrorists/rebels/conflicting factions in the AE or an enemy polity with the military might to launch such an attack, maybe Blue Steel and/or the Scarlet Fleet.

Then my take on the options:


[] Seize control of the base's systems
-[] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)
-[] Destroy the satellite uplink before attempting the hack (Satellite uplink permanently disabled)

Depends. Overwhelm is "no reward without risk". It would allow us to have access to the uplink as well as the base, giving us a valuable source of intel and the pen. Destroy is a bit more brute force, but would give us control of the base and allow us access to the rest of the pen.

As for the risks of both options as I see them:
-Overwhelm has the risk of calling down a strike force to investigate if unsuccessful. Such a strike force is probably something that could come in a matter of hours to days, depends of the tasking of the surrounding assets. A KKV would be unlikely since that would be extremely costly for such an unimportant installation, so grunts would be the most likely.
-Destroy would also give a response, but I can't see it coming anytime soon... or ever really. The pen was abandoned for years after all, so it isn't strategic in any way nowadays and useless to whatever people possessed it. The guys on the other side of the uplink are more likely to think it is an equipment malfunction and the only thing that could be a danger to them (the uplink to hack whatever network is on the other end) being destroyed makes it even less of a priority to deal with. They may send a maintenance crew, but that would probably be a matter of months as it is added to their task queues and might be pushed even further if other tasks are added to it.

I'm personally for Destroy. Our priority right now is to become operational again. Intel would be nice but we have no way to mitigate a failure. If we want intel in the future, the Joint Tactical Network is there for that and since we are the admin... Either that or finding a new uplink to hack.

[] Log-in to the Tactical Network and attempt to contact other vessels. It would be helpful to talk to someone, anyone.

Hahaha. Nope, not until we are mobile and have at least some torps.

[] Attempt to construct something from raw materials. [Locked: You currently have no conventional materials.]

[] Gather/salvage conventional materials.
-[] From broken parts of the sub pen.
-[] By breaking down parts of the submarine pen.

I'd rather have access to the rest of the base before that. As it is, the results would be subpar at best.

[] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[] Put her through some combat simulations on your Bridge (Tactical Training)
-[] Show her how your Thanatonium Reactor functions (Engineering Training)
-[] Give her a personalized headset and let her play a "game" (Sonar Training)
-[] Let her drive you for a bit. Simulated, of course (Navigation Training)
-[] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)

Basically, with Mary we have a bonus, so in what will we spend it on? Due to our dire situation, I'd say that the priorities should be either Navigation (running), Sonar (finding the things we should run from) and Command (finding the best way to run).

If we want to teach her anything else, we could do it later.
 
[X] Seize control of the base's systems
-[X] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)
 
[X] Gather/salvage conventional materials.
-[X] From broken parts of the sub pen.

[X] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[X] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)
 
Do we really need a Captain? Surcouf's quite experienced in that area already. Why not have Mary help us in another way instead, like giving our Engines extra oomph so we can escape bad situations faster? I'd even take SONAR training so our counter-espionage's better.
 
Well, who's to say that we only have one chance to train her? Why don't we put her through a couple of different training courses and see which one(s) she likes or is best at. Now it could be that she'll simply take to the first thing we send her out to do, but significantly less that she'll pick up the second or the third or the fourth just randomly. If i was the GM... and I just realized I'm trying to meta this. Mary probably has a specialty, and we can find it by spending some time helping her find it. Personally, I feel that engineering and command are the best two options, with tactics definitely a good 3rd.

Hannz said:
Do we really need a Captain? Surcouf's quite experienced in that area already.
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Yes, but she's a sub. An electronic warfare specialist. Her background is mostly spying and 'politicking', most likely not a whole lot of fighting. Having a tactically-sound captain to lead us in battles, which as flagship, and a lone one at that, we will be seeing some of, might be the difference between defeat and a clutch victory.
 
Hannz said:
Do we really need a Captain? Surcouf's quite experienced in that area already. Why not have Mary help us in another way instead, like giving our Engines extra oomph so we can escape bad situations faster? I'd even take SONAR training so our counter-espionage's better.
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I was honestly just hoping to hear a better argument for it than I could make in my head. She's a Design Child, and she's smart, but she doesn't seem specialized like the way Makie and Makoto are. Like she's a later, significantly more stable generation. (I hate thinking about humans like this). No need for pills, she has healing and strength, etc. Anyways.

I think part of the reason we have all of the options is because she could learn any of them, she's that adaptable, and it's yet another thing they've improved over the original Design Children. So unlike Makie, who would clearly work best in Engineering, or Makoto in Command, she can do any of that.

I wouldn't mind her in Engineering, and it's possible we could also try her in that position and see if she's better there next. The actions feel kinda like continuing refinement, like we'd have to select to train her in that area more than once to fully have her committed to that section, but I wouldn't fully know.

EDIT: Ninja'd
 
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Zedman7054 said:
Yes, but she's a sub. An electronic warfare specialist. Her background is mostly spying and 'politicking', most likely not a whole lot of fighting. Having a tactically-sound captain to lead us in battles, which as flagship, and a lone one at that, we will be seeing some of, might be the difference between defeat and a clutch victory.
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If we want a tactically capable crew member, then Command isn't what we should be training her in, rather, it should be Tactics.

We don't have the size or firepower of Habakkuk, not yet. Functionally, we'll still be acting as a Submarine and as the over-all commander, we're more into the Big Picture Campaign Strategy which we're experienced in rather than tactical command during each battle.
ensou said:
I was honestly just hoping to hear a better argument for it than I could make in my head. She's a Design Child, and she's smart, but she doesn't seem specialized like the way Makie and Makoto are. Like she's a later, significantly more stable generation. (I hate thinking about humans like this). No need for pills, she has healing and strength, etc. Anyways.

I think part of the reason we have all of the options is because she could learn any of them, she's that adaptable, and it's yet another thing they've improved over the original Design Children. So unlike Makie, who would clearly work best in Engineering, or Makoto in Command, she can do any of that.

I wouldn't mind her in Engineering, and it's possible we could also try her in that position and see if she's better there next. The actions feel kinda like continuing refinement, like we'd have to select to train her in that area more than once to fully have her committed to that section, but I wouldn't fully know.

EDIT: Ninja'd
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Besides no longer needing medication, we have no idea if Design Children's mental capabilities have improved in a way that allows multiple specializations without hampering performance. It would certainly be more effecient for a polity to build specialized Design Children rather than to make an all rounder for every industry. That way, their Engineers will always be the best because unlike their peers, they aren't also busy acting as Commanders.
 

[X] Gather/salvage conventional materials.
-[X] From broken parts of the sub pen.

[X] Talk to Mary about her home already. It's clearly an interesting time and place. Maybe trade stories with her? You did eat Habbakuk, anyone can see that you are a Fog Unit of daring and adventure.

Because I don't see why not and you can't stop me.* :V

*maybe you could but shhh
 
Stop being afraid of plot SV. Let's get a move on.


[x] Seize control of the base's systems
-[x] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)
 
[X] Seize control of the base's systems
-[X] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)

At this point I'll take that risk

-[X] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)

She's our first crew member, that makes her our captain by default
 
Now that I have a bit more time

[X] Seize control of the base's systems
-[X] Destroy the satellite uplink before attempting the hack (Satellite uplink permanently disabled)

Yeah, no. Overwhelm is basically playing russian roulette with a 5 chamber revolver with the gains being intel that can be found elsewhere. I'd rather not play that kind of game when there are absolutely no mitigating factor to a failure. The priority isn't intel right now, it's survival and making Surcouf's hull operational again. It's insane difficulty, guys.

[X] Gather/salvage conventional materials.
-[X] From broken parts of the sub pen.

Let's begin early, with the base's controls available next with the satellite uplink gone, resources will need to be gathered.

[X] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[X] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)

As I mentioned before, this seems to be where the Mary bonus goes. I'd rather have the genius polymath learn how to find out-of-the-box solutions to problems. Seems like the best way to survive when everyone outside is likely to outgun Surcouf in the foreseeable future or at least until we find a Homeport. Tactical is weapons control and we have none. She could shine in engineering but that's not the priority right now and Surcouf is enough to repair the ship. Making her a sonar operator or navigation officer while nice is too limited for her genius.
 
TheBleachDoctor said:
Forever reaching for that promised future, beneath celestial depths.
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T-T-TITLE DROP
Always Late said:
At least, there is a peace going on, because we're not seeing engagements between the platforms. I can see them putting Fog-adapted stuff in orbit though.
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Basically what Cathon said with Mary's ship going down when it probably shouldn't've, and that the AE thinks KKVs are necessary, suggests that peace isn't the status quo. I'm betting there's one or a couple rebel groups, whether Fog or Human.
Cathon Grimeye said:
Yeah, no. Overwhelm is basically playing russian roulette with a 5 chamber revolver with the gains being intel that can be found elsewhere. I'd rather not play that kind of game when there are absolutely no mitigating factor to a failure. The priority isn't intel right now, it's survival and making Surcouf's hull operational again. It's insane difficulty, guys.
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Problem I see is that we'd be setting ourselves up for an unknown time limit. We don't know if, when, or how often the Uplink checks on the base so destorying it could eventually bring the heat down if/when people come looking wondering what's up.
edit: On the other hand, going for overwhelming both systems risks a 20% chance of getting found now with a negligible chance afterwards if we succeed.
 
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[X] Teach Mary some useful skills...
-[X] Let Mary see some playback of major battles during the Fog War and see if she can change the simulated outcome at all (Command Training)
 
[x] Seize control of the base's systems
-[x] Overwhelm both the control and security systems. (20% chance of failure)
 
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