Fallback plan in case the alloys refuse to play nice with barriers? It's LC magic too after all.
Ignition (MTG/Multicross, Planeswalker PC)
- Thread starter Alivaril
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- fairy tail magi: the labyrinth of magic magic the gathering magical girl lyrical nanoha (magical girl) puella magi madoka magica rwby alternate universe spoilers unreliable narrator earned your happy middle feedback appreciated life slowly gets better metaknowledge is overrated never too much fire setting knowledge not required this can only end well what could possibly go wrong?
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
That doesn't seem complex. An Isolation barrier just means that we don't have to fight our way in and are unlikely to be recorded.
I have it written in. Then use isolation barrier to sneak into position before jumping out of it and quickly grabbing everything then planeswalk out before people realize what happened.
Seems unlikely that they would even know what happened. They don't have anything like that and even if they did wherever we raid isn't going to have specific detectors.
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I am actually having trouble figuring out what else we could give X-com that could be let to fall into etherial hands.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
So we might as well use them well they remain OOC. In fact we should abuse isolation barriers as long as we can.
- Location
- A Table Near You
Isolation barriers can't be used to bypass all defenses and loot valuables, for the most part. Only LC mages, whatever they're touching, and dimensional/magical anomalies like Lost Logia are dragged into them. Everything else is left behind. It's worthwhile to test how IBs interact with Elerium/alien alloys, but don't expect them to be included.
An isolation barrier might be useful for sneaking into a base, but I'd expect it to be impractical in most circumstances. Snapping back into reality without knowing who and what is around you is really risky; at least with Tarnkappe you maintain situational awareness.
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Torgamous
Aspiring Gynoid
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The leading vote is to use sneaky robots to steal things, not to fight our way in.
The Ethereals are a heavily militarized peer power, so the threshold where dealing with them becomes more troublesome than dealing with them is higher.
Sure, if we make a good enough offer. Knowledge for knowledge, for example. I'm sure they'd love to be able to hide the Avenger in the Dimensional Sea, or detect souls at range, or (depending on if they've cracked plasma weapons yet) make Agni-standard infantry weapons, or have a nanofabricator in the Foundry, or or or.
As an added bonus, since XCOM is going to be worried that we're another hoax, asking for something that the aliens not only definitely already have but would likely never consider a peer power not having in exchange for even simple stuff harvested from a different tech tree should be a big diplomatic boost.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
I don't expect our sneaky robots to be sneaky enough. Sneaky robots not OOC also how would they take stuff out?
Isolation barriers are perfect for (suicide) terrorist bombings. Sneak in, place bombs everywhere, drop the barrier, detonate the bombs.
And that is assuming it doesn't drop you wherever it has taken you from.
- Location
- Germany
Except for the Agni standard infantry weapons, which might be stronger than theirs, none of these are an option:
Dimensional sea access is useless if they can't stay there and will emerge in a random place in Earth's atmosphere each time.
Agneyastra can't build soul scanners.
Nano fabricators allow for exponential expansion, which would make the Ethereals nearly unbeatable.
Torgamous
Aspiring Gynoid
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Having a bug-out button for if the aliens catch the Avenger would be incredibly useful. Bradford would promise Jade his firstborn child for that.
I'm talking about things we could give XCOM for alien alloy tech, not things to give the Ethereals. XCOM doesn't want the Ethereals to get nanofabricators any more than we do. Significantly less than we do, really, since they can't leave the plane if things get dicey.
- Location
- Germany
Anything we give XCOM, the Ethereals will eventually get their hands on. Agneyastra made plans based on that.
BTW, we really should steal one of their melee-range soul scanners when we get the chance. Mom might be able to reverse-engineer her own scanner with 20m range once she analyzes the principles behind their version.
@Alivaril: Would a soul scanner fall under the currently winning "technologies that don't look essential"?
Why the blue channeling?
That's why the plan was planeswalk immediately
Considering how Ethereals can take the memories (meaning plans and tech too) straight from the brains of (dead?) humans, I expect the Ethereal getting every advancements we give to XCOM eventually.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Because if we are going to be putting people to sleep we want to make sure that we do a good job and in the situation we are not going to be using any other colors then blue. We are trying to maintain a zero smite record for as long as possible.
Considering changing it to spoof senses. Not sure if that if more practical then sleep.
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fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Shame. Still that leaves using Isolation Barriers to get into position and scout out the area.
Edit: Also we have blue farsight now.
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Torgamous
Aspiring Gynoid
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That's a much more sweeping claim than Agneyastra makes. Reverse-engineering tech captured in the conflict requires the tech to be captured in the conflict. XCOM is not going to be dragging nanofabricators into battle. They're going to be keeping them on the Avenger where they're relatively safe, lined with explosives in case that "relatively" bites them in the ass.
Anyway, we should only need to trade them one thing, and of the four I thought of off the top of my head with only minimal knowledge of Agni tech you've already granted two of them, so we'll be fine.
- Location
- A single human dimension
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Technically, yes, but unaffiliated settlements will seldom have those. They're widely distributed among the Resistance, not so much outside of it.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Really want to steal a few of those soul scanners.
Edit: Would actually want to leak the tech to Rement. If they could make defenses that auto attack Grimm by ignore people with souls that would be very helpful.
Edit: Would actually want to leak the tech to Rement. If they could make defenses that auto attack Grimm by ignore people with souls that would be very helpful.
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- Location
- Germany
As Filraen said, the Ethereals and Chosen (including Sleeper!) have Extract Knowledge.
Besides, why are you so opposed to getting the knowledge without paying for it? Any place where ADVENT constructs armor or spaceships will allow us to get it via espionage.
Two? The weapons are a maybe, and where's the second? Or do you really think they'll accept an escape button that may teleport them in front of an enemy battleship if they're unlucky?
Besides, why are you so opposed to getting the knowledge without paying for it? Any place where ADVENT constructs armor or spaceships will allow us to get it via espionage.
Well, then we should probably look for that next. Soul scanners are just too good to pass up.
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fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
We seem to have a fair idea of what we want, but are having a hard time voting for it.
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Torgamous
Aspiring Gynoid
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Yes? If your worst case scenario is their situation not improving, that's a pretty good deal.
I'm not.
- Location
- A Table Near You
In that case, I'd advocate to include the sub-option on scouting a resistance outpost with spy drones if we find one.
We'd want to break for a vote to decide what to do, but if we're careful and their perimeter defense isn't good enough, it may be possible to use parasites to stealthily steal small samples of tech like that without gaining any notoriety. Or alternatively, hack their network if they have one. Or just do nothing. Point is, resistance bases are useful places to scout.
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Not really? 7 out of 11 are for scouting and five out of these seven are for the default subvote. Seems like a clearly defined majority. But if it's not enough for you:
[x] Use the stealthed Stalker (and Mom) to scout the surrounding area and locate any Resistance or unaffiliated outposts. You're on the wrong continent to meet up with XCOM, though...
-[x] Once you find an unaffiliated outpost (one ruled by gangs or wanna-be warlords), have Parasites steal any communication equipment and/or technologies that don't look essential.
36.2: The Dice Gods Giveth, and...
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Special thanks to @saganatsu, @DB_Explorer, @BunnyLord, and my five other patrons not mentioned here. @Torgamous and @fictionfan get an even more enthusiastic "Thank you."
[x] Use the stealthed Stalker (and Mom) to scout the surrounding area and locate any Resistance or unaffiliated outposts. You're on the wrong continent to meet up with XCOM, though...
-[x] Once you find an unaffiliated outpost (one ruled by gangs or wanna-be warlords), have Parasites steal any communication equipment and/or technologies that don't look essential.
The next hour is an utter waste of time. You do find plenty of ADVENT-controlled areas, including two separate military forts or prisons, one rapid response hangar, and an entire city, but only one unaffiliated settlement. You imagine most people aren't dumb enough to build so close to an ADVENT city, an opinion that's only reinforced by their severe lack of any useful equipment. Oh, they do have a few communicators, but it's old human technology instead of something scavenged from ADVENT. Your only consolation prize comes in the form of an ADVENT rail-rifle. Mom could make better weaponry if she really wanted to, making its Elerium power cell the only worthwhile loot from the whole endeavor.
It doesn't help that apparently ADVENT weapons try to fatally electrocute any unauthorized users. Mom warned you away before you put your palm against the handle, but says you would've survived anyway. It would've just hurt a fair bit.
(Acquired: ADVENT Railgun [Rifle, Locked])
After about seventy minutes of searching, you find a promising little settlement in the middle of nowhere. High concrete walls surround what might've been a prison in an earlier life. Overlapping layers of grafitti cover these walls, a repeated "BOTS" sign serving as the top and most recent layer of paint.
"Jade, the inhabitants of this settlement appear to be relying on several jailbroken ADVENT turrets to act as their defense; all twenty-eight members appear to be staying indoors with improvised cooling rigs of varying effectiveness. I find it likely I can have the Parasites disable and dismantle the turrets without any issues, letting us steal any remaining equipment at our leisure. An enclosed watchtower with a strange purple satellite disc seems like the best place to start."
You just shrug and lean back in your seat. Six Parasites already share the cockpit with you and climb out as soon as you pop the canopy. The top is closed and your Stalker safely stealthed within five seconds. Mom puts up six screens for you to watch the progress of each Parasite as they skitter across the 200 meters of jungle between you and the prison. No mines detonate below them as they approach the walls, nor are they slowed on their way up the walls. No, that privelege is reserved for when your first Parasite climbs onto the metal base of an ADVENT turret.
A lance of red and black light emerges from some distant part of the forest, obliterating the head of one Parasite Droid in the instant before Mom has the others move toward cover. Its disconnected legs begin to glow orange with heat before bursting apart, showering the surrounding area with molten metal. You didn't even know Parasites had a self-destruct mechanism, let alone one on a dead man's switch.
Loudspeakers at each corner of the prison crackle and come to life almost exactly two seconds after your first Parasite is destroyed.
"You know, I think that's the first time I've ever gotten to shoot a robot spider. I don't suppose you have more — you do! What fun. And here I'd thought you were all out of tricks."
A second beam of light kills another Parasite Droid just before the survivors can dive back behind the prison wall. If you weren't safely seated inside a stealthed stalker, the Chosen Hunter's rasping voice would probably make you at least a little worried for your safety. Since you're the closest thing to completely undetectable right now, you're comfortable just using one hand to cover your face.
(Chosen Hunter Territory Found: South America)
"Correction: Those remaining indoors are not avoiding the heat. They are avoiding him."
"Um. How sure are we that they're not Resistance members? Like, obviously they don't have any of the usual emblems, but I kinda thought the Chosen only went after Resistance targets. An unaffiliated outpost doesn't really fit."
"I don't believe that is relevant, Jade. A hundred times their number die on this world on a weekly basis. Their only advantage is one of proximity to you."
"But—I mean—they're right there! Can't I just go fire a lethal Celestial Lance at the general area of his shots?"
"He is moving and we still do not know how alien nanomachines would interact with Linker Core magic. If he survives, you would have just revealed an important capability, your existence, and your allegiance."
"I don't think movement really matters when I blow up everything, but whatever. What about a mass-magic hybrid missile?"
"I'd be amazed if it managed to close to within effective range, Daughter. Laser weaponry has historically been the bane of missiles and kinetic weapons alike. As the beam did not appear overly diminished by an impact with the Parasite, I believe it is safe to assume it could disable or destroy any missiles we launched."
"Hiding your toys again? Don't be shy; it doesn't help anyway."
Another Parasite Droid is hit despite the two concrete walls, each a third of a meter thick, standing between your Parasite and the Chosen Hunter. At least that seems to be just over the beam's limit; it's only able to eat about half the Parasite's head before fading. The droid tips over and self-destructs anyway.
[-2 votes] Have the remaining four Parasites self-destruct, then fly away yourself.
There has to be something you can do. You don't want to just leave others to die. You will if you truly have to, but you don't feel like you do...
[] Fly the Stalker to within 400 meters of the Chosen Hunter and telepathically speak to him.
-[] Use the alien language to order him to stand down. You won't sound quite like an Ethereal, but it'll at least get his attention.
-[] Offer him eighty Parasites to hunt if he lets the humans go. Given as the Hunter seems to be a bit of a thrill-seeker, having a horde of killer droids chase him seems like the sort of thing he'd enjoy. It's not like he has the best track record of obedience anyway; you think the Ethereals would barely bat an eye if he "accidentally" let yet another group escape.
[] Loop around to behind the Hunter, exit the Stalker, fly up, and fill his general area with a Celestial Lance or nine. Unless his flesh is made of solid alien metal, which you sincerely doubt, he should die eventually. As long as you stagger your shots, glowing gold light should block his view of the surrounding area until after you've hit him with yet another Celestial Lance.
[] Write-in
Voting will be locked for 90 minutes after this first goes up.
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