Dr. Snark
Exactly As Planned...Probably
- Location
- Right where I want to be
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
...Well that's part of the denouement already written up for me, how wonderful! Canon and +10, will be folded in with a link.
Excellent. Looking forward to that denouement, especially with Kal Skirata's reaction...AN: Wasn't exaggerating about the mini-arc being mini, with the over 100 crit on the intel rolls on the turn before and the crit on the attack roll...he never stood a chance, which is why there weren't any decisions that needed to be made about preserving data or anything.
Yup. We rock.Not to mention that he also perfectly served the role of "the antagonist who gets his ass kicked easily to show how badass the main character has become." Because let's face it, right now Ciaran's as strong in the Force as Asajj was when she was first recruited
Bwahahaha...I was expecting you to take at least an hour or two. Maybe like 10-20 posts because the wiki exists. But no, the first fucking post after the thing gets it right. There's no fucking justice.
Oh. Oh shi--
OH SHI--Over the course of its existence, Mnggal-Mnggal staked its claim to thousands of worlds, moons, and space stations throughout the Unknown Regions, with infestations ranging from small pools in dark sewers to worlds ravaged and rendered as lifeless as Mugg Fallow.
...Daniel Wallace states that it was hinted that the Celestials created the hyperspace tangle surrounding the Unknown Regions to isolate themselves from Mnggal-Mnggal. The concept for the entity stems from H. P. Lovecraft
Tripple Aye. We don't need any Alien Kudzu/Virus/Meat Moss/Eldritch Abominations that makes the Sith look like puppiesYou may be faster, but my posts have omakes.
On it.
An Old Threat
"And then there was this strange black ooze. Apparently it was sentient, and Wesker had based the virus off of it." Said Ciaran, recounting the events of Operation Snake Eater to the rest of her officers. Ciaran's head turned at the sound of glass shattering on the floor and she saw something she thought impossible. Though it would appear as mild concern on anyone else, Ciaran could tell that Thrawn was scared.
"Did you destroy it?" he frantically asked, leaning forward and ignoring the glass of wine he had dropped.
"We strapped a rather large charge to the jar it was in and blew it to smithereens. Though the ooze itself seemed confident that it was immortal. We searched the wreckage of that room and found no trace of it." said Ciaran, now growing worried herself. Anything that could cause this kind of reaction in the calmest and collected person she had ever met was likely bad news indeed.
Thrawn let out a sigh of relief. "Good, though you're right to suspect that you failed to destroy him completely. Every part of Mnggal-Mnggal is one and the same. To destroy him completely would require the annihilation of several planets."
"You know what this thing was?" asked Ciaran. "What is it, and why are you so afraid of it."
"Mnggal-Mnggal is a creature from the Unknown Regions. The Chiss have been aware of him for some time now, though we also learned that avoiding anything he's touched is the only route to anything resembling victory. Still, we paid quite the handsome sum for anyone willing to take the risks inherent in slowing its spread across the galaxy." Thrawn had relaxed from the near panic he had been in when Ciaran had first described the creature, but he was still tense and on edge.
"Its spread? I know the thing said Wesker's virus was a pale imitation, but it seemed confined enough." said Ciaran.
"Mnggal-Mnggal is a parasite. It enters a host's body and digests it from the inside over the course of a day, and uses the husk like a puppet for up to a week." said Thrawn, shuddering at the thought. "From there it leaps from host to host, consuming, torturing, and growing. The Chiss traced the origin of the creature to Mugg Fallow, a planet that Mnggal-Mnggal consumed entirely ages ago. Its body runs in rivers on the planet's surface, and all Chiss have shoot on sight orders for anything leaving the planet."
"It sounds dangerous." said Ciaran, the devastation of the thing she had come so close to not lost on her.
"It is. The Chiss have luckily been largely unaffected, but we've seen empires fall when Mnggal-Mnggal gains a foothold." said Thrawn, shuddering at the memories. "If you want my personal opinion, take everything of value from Wesker's base, screen everything and everyone that leaves for even a trace of Mnggal-Mnggal, and then raze the entire planet from orbit once you're done. Then move the personnel from the ships to fresh ships, and destroy the old ships."
Ciaran valued Thrawn's input, but he seemed to be letting personal fear color his words. "You seem almost paranoid of this thing. It's okay, we destroyed it."
"I do not doubt you, but if there is even a droplet of Mnggal-Mnggal left, it is our duty as living beings to insure that it never leaves that planet. It's only paranoia if the fear is baseless. This is not paranoia, it is caution." said Thrawn, irritated at Ciaran's casual dismissal. "The threat of anything Darth Sidious might have planned pales in comparison to the threat Mnggal-Mnggal poses if he were to get even a small piece of himself into the galaxy at large. It would be an irreversible cataclysm. Entire planets would die, and their inhabitants along with them."
Ciaran sighed. Wesker's base was advanced, but ultimately the data was the only irreplaceable thing, and that had already been extracted. "Very well. If anyone visits those coordinates once we're done ensuring Mnggal-Mnggal's destruction, they'll wonder why that asteroid field isn't on their star charts."
"Thank you Lady Ciaran." said Thrawn. "Still, the fact that Mnggal-Mnggal was able to get even a piece of himself out of the Unknown regions is terrifying. I must relay this information to the Chiss Ascendancy."
"I thought they banished you." said Ciaran.
"Some things are more important." he said simply, before standing to leave. "I'm relieved that I've managed to instill in you the importance of destroying Mnggal-Mnggal utterly though."
"I must thank you for informing me of the threat this thing posed. I knew it was dangerous, but if I had known how much…" Ciaran trailed off. "Well, I need to inform Grievous I have a practice target for those new turbo lasers we installed on the Oracle."
AN: So... Mnggal-Mnggal has me spooked. All for taking anything of value, making sure there's no Mnggal-Mnggal in or on it, and then blowing the entire planet to kingdom come, say aye.
Oh. Oh shi--
OH SHI--Over the course of its existence, Mnggal-Mnggal staked its claim to thousands of worlds, moons, and space stations throughout the Unknown Regions, with infestations ranging from small pools in dark sewers to worlds ravaged and rendered as lifeless as Mugg Fallow.
...Daniel Wallace states that it was hinted that the Celestials created the hyperspace tangle surrounding the Unknown Regions to isolate themselves from Mnggal-Mnggal. The concept for the entity stems from H. P. Lovecraft
...
...
...
<screams internally>
"OPEN FIRE, LEAVE NOTHING, NOT EVEN GLASS!!!"...Well that's part of the denouement already written up for me, how wonderful! Canon and +10, will be folded in with a link.
Thank you, venerable omake squirrel-rat-thing.
One 'aside' about the balance sheet: rather than create an entire category for 'Black Sun diverted funds', I preferred to move that income into existing categories. Since the two biggest Black Sun activities were smuggling and intelligence gathering, I classified 40 credits/turn as 'Smuggling' income and 35 credits/turn as 'Information' income.
AndTragan Cluster sector
- Shaum Hii: homeworld of Kian'thar race (empaths) and Bentail & Derlac species, oceanic pastoralists, formerly affiliated with Black Sun
AndBright Jewel sector
- Ord Mantell: homeworld of Savrip race, site of Jubilee Wheel & Tansarii Point stations, major trade/banking hub world formerly controlled by Black Sun
Periphery subsector (Tharin)
- Af'El: homeworld of Defel race (literal wraiths), only source of meleenium (mineral used for durasteel), headquarters of Toxis Metals (mining)
- Novor XXIII: homeworld of Ry'coz race, headquarters of Jatayus Outbound (shipping) formerly controlled by Black Sun
- Nwarcol: trade nexus of Sisar Run and Salin Corridor hyperlanes, site of Sisar Terminal (refueling starport) formerly controlled by Black Sun
- Sriluur: homeworld of Weequay race, childhood home of Sora Bulq, mining world rich in copper and other metals, formerly controlled by Black Sun
- Yen II: asteroid mining facility orbiting Verde, rich in doonium (capital ship hulls), formerly controlled by Black Sun
While meleenium is only used in trace amounts, its use is required for durasteel construction and Af'El is the only source of that metal in the galaxy. I understand that technically it is possible to manufacture synthetic meleenium in a lab, but the costs are apparently prohibitive and the quality is significantly lower than pure meleenium found on Af'El. Like most of its neighbors, the planet was once controlled by the Black Sun, but ever since Operation Absolute Eclipse, there's been low-level posturing by the Techno Union, the Hutts, and others over who would end up with control of the system. I suggest we make a play for control of the system ourselves.
Pachirisu in an Emolga blanket actually. And you're welcome.
Sure the Sun had all that?Totally unrelated to our recent eldritch abomination, but...
@Dr. Snark, I had a question about our 'Black Sun diverted funds':
When I ret-conned our 'Black Sun' income as information & smuggling, that was before I'd done my survey of nearby systems in the Outer and Mid Rim. I had no idea just how many systems in the Outer Rim were controlled by the Black Sun as part of their smuggling operations.
I was wondering if we could retcon some of that income so it'd come from assets & holdings in those former Black Sun-controlled systems. This wouldn't be an increase in our income -- just moving it between subcategories, from 'Information' to 'Investment'.
Per the 'Briefing the Boss' surveys, these are the systems known to be affiliated with the Black Sun, at least before 'Operation Absolute Eclipse':
Ord Mantell would probably be the most useful, but one of the last five systems would probably be the most plausible for us to control, given their proximity to Hutt Space (which means minimal Republic oversight and and a friendly neighbor for trading/smuggling).And
And
Even if you choose to not ret-con our diverted funds, can I suggest a Stewardship write-in for next turn, that'd have us 'consolidate' (seize) former Black Sun assets around the Outer and Mid Rim? I'm specifically thinking of gaining assets on Ord Mantell and Af'El.
Ord Mantell is a major trade hub that lies on the primary hyperlane between Coruscant and Muun space (Mygeeto and Muunilist), as well as serving as the banking & financial center for the neighboring sectors including Qiilura. The native Gurlanin won't want or allow us 'off-worlders' to colonize their home-planet, so if we want to recruit them as agents, Ord Mantell is where we'd need to be based from.
Af'El is a minor world near Hutt Space, with way too much strategic potential to leave it unexploited:
If it wasn't for the fact that I was aware this existed in Star Wars, I would have thought it a Flood expy.
Per the wiki, Black Sun had been around since 3653 BBY, and Maul's "killing spree" was precisely that -- targeting at the leaders ("Vigos") of the organization, leaving the infrastructure and 'middle management' otherwise intact. I suspect our own earlier operations against Black Sun would have had a greater effect, but (iirc) that was mainly focused on their Coruscant operations. Given just how long they'd been around, I suspect they still would have held considerable assets through the Outer Rim, at least until Grievous showed up.Remember, they had far less time than in canon to rebuild after Maul made his killing spree through their assets and bosses. It was propably not at its best by the time we unleashed Grievous on then.
No, it's going to be.a chunk of iron from the planet's core.I added an achievement to my list.
I already know what we're putting the Vault. One of Wesker's spare sunglasses... we're keeping the rest for moments that require increased coolness.
@Dr. Snark, I had a question about our 'Black Sun diverted funds':
When I ret-conned our 'Black Sun' income as information & smuggling, that was before I'd done my survey of nearby systems in the Outer and Mid Rim. I had no idea just how many systems in the Outer Rim were controlled by the Black Sun as part of their smuggling operations.
I added an achievement to my list.
I already know what we're putting the Vault. One of Wesker's spare sunglasses... we're keeping the rest for moments that require increased coolness.
Pachirisu is a squirrel expy, while Emolga is basically a rat with lightning powers. Thus, Pikachu expy.
...Added that achievement to the front page (hope you don't mind, it's more for accessibility than anything else) and decided to throw in another set of achievements for more meta things that seemed relevant and amused me.
- Pair of Wesker's Sunglasses, Recovered during Operation Snake Eater
Gods and Monsters: Complete Operation Snake Eater
Sole Survivors: Meet Omega Squad
I love this quest.Welcome to Triple Zero: Choose Coruscant as the starting planet
Shades of Grey: Decide to operate on the Grey side of the Force
That Escalated Quickly: Dramatically change the scope of the quest due to lucky rolls
Triple Sevens: Break the laws of probability with good rolls all the time
Who Is John Ga-Er, Ciaran?: Have your MC's true motives be incomprehensible to everyone, even the QMs
Fill In the Blanks: Reach the point where write-ins for all actions becomes viable
You Are In Command Now: Have a new QM take over for first one
Break Out the Nerf Bat: Have the QM implement new rules to prevent players from breaking the game
1000 Monkeys: Reach the newly-installed Omake Limit
Chomping At the Bit: Reach the Omake Limit for a turn before it even starts
I think that the Nerf Bat was slightly broken.
Next achievement in our sights: "Off the Charts: End the quest with omake bonuses left over."
Black Sun under attack: Rumor has it that someone is targeting and killing various leaders of the Black Sun which appears to be slowly destabilising the organisation. Usually that would be a good thing, but the common prediction is that due to the organisations extreme size a fragmentation would cause havoc as everyone would attempt to seize their assets and take over whatever they control.
Turn 5 Results:Black Sun collapsed: Rumor has it that the Leader and most of the Vigos of the Black Sun have been murdered, fragmenting the Black Sun fully and driving nearly every criminal organisation into a frenzy to take advantage of the situation. The next year is going to be ugly...
Turn 5 Interlude:[X] Stealing the Sun: Reports tell you that the Black Sun has collapsed, leaving many of their assets unsupervised and up for grabs. If you can outmaneuver their remnants and the competition you might be able to get away with robbing a few of their safehouses and similiar. Chance of Success: 65% Reward: ?
Required: 35 Rolled: 96+28=124
See Interlude: 'Steal everything not bolted down. Then remove the bolts...'
Coruscant, Undercity, Black Sun base, about the same time
*add MGS music of your choice right here*
You would've never believed that you would ever end up sneaking with a team of Infiltrators into a base belonging to what was formerly the most powerfull Criminal Organisation in the galaxy and you would've never expected to be as good at it as you are. Sneaking, chocking people into unconsciousness, shooting people into unconsciousness, slicing, looting (when all was said and done and your team reported that everyone in the entire base was taking a nap about most of your equipment was stolen IN the base) and so on and so on. Pity though that you can't just keep the whole place since it will keep drawing attention at least for another year or two before someone will manage to claim it, but it doesn't mean that you will leave anything behind. At least you will be able to get home soon and wear a dress again instead of a shadowsuit.
You kinda have the feeling that things on Naboo have to be far, far more boring.
Reward: +150 Credits, free Baseupgrade next turn, +2 on Martial, +2 on Intrigue
Black Sun recovering: Rumor has it that the Black Sun is beginning to recover after a group of Falleen has managed to unify several of the fractured factions and do not appear to be stopping anytime soon.
Black Sun engaged in skirmish against Hutts: Rumor has it that the recovering Black Sun is currently engaged in various skirmishes with a Hutt controlled Criminal organisation in an attempt to regain some of their old holdings in the Mid-Rim.
Black Sun and Hutts in stalemate: Rumor has it that the skirmishes between the Black Sun and the Hutt have developed into a stalemate.
[X] The Sun, its glaring too much!: Rumor has it that the Black Sun is starting to recover and slowly reassemble itself. It might be an idea to keep an eye on them. Chance of Success: 70% Reward: You can keep track of the Black Sun
Required: 30 Rolled: 13
This ended badly. The Black Sun actually noticed your agents and slicers trying to keep an eye on them and successfully managed to counteract any attempts to do so. You may have not lost any men, but it still means that the Black Sun now knows that someone is after them. Results: +10 on Disaster Rolls for several turns, the Black Sun is aware that someone is trying to spy on them
[X] Putting on the sunglasses: The Black Sun is aware that someone has been trying to spy on them and as result messed up several of your mens listening posts and safehouses which means you now have a gigantic blindspot when it comes to their organisation. Someone needs to fix that mess and compensate for what was lost. Cost: 100 Chance of Success: 70% Reward: +10 on Disaster roll negated
Required: 30 Rolled: 43+5+5+10=63
It took a while and a lot of credits, but your men have restablished the lost safehouses and listening posts to keep an eye on the Black Sun. On the information front it at least means that status quo has been restablished. Reward: +10 on Disaster roll negated
[X] Favor for Jabba, the silent option: Alternatively to sending your mercenaries you also set your spies and agents on the task to disrupt the operations of the Black Sun. Its considerably less flashy and won't draw the attention of the Hutts, but at least it won't draw the attention of the Black Sun either if things go well. Chance of Success: 60% Reward: +100 Credits, more jobs from Jabba
Jabba was not particularly happy about your delay in helping him since the Black Sun is particularly active and he allready is having problems elsewhere. Still, with your men sabotaging the Black Suns operations and businesses as demanded he paid you as promised and is likely to offer more jobs, with the demand that next time he won't be as patient. What is unsettling though is that Darra has disappeared only a short time after Silas took her with him to help with messing with the Black Sun. Reward: +100 Credits, more jobs from Jabba, Darra has disappeared
Turn 21 Results, Pt. 2:[X] Eclipsing the Black Sun (Go Loud): The Black Sun has been a constant rival of yours in the underworld and given the chance to recover they would certainly be willing to rekindle old hostilities. Send out some of your mercenary corps and make sure that they never get the chance. Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Black Sun scattered, loot
-[X] Grievous
Rolled: 94+14=108 (Over 100 Success)
Slaughter. There was no other word to describe what Grievous had done.
Sending him on the hunt for Black Sun groups was admittedly a bit of a gamble as you were uncertain as to how effective he would be in an operation such as this. However the Kaleesh had taken to his mission like a fish to water, leading daring raids on known Black Sun locations, wiping out anyone who tried to resist his rampage with little to no casualties on his part.
You had anticipated that the Black Sun would be temporarily discouraged from reforming with this mission; after Grievous' rampage you're fairly certain they wouldn't even try for fear of bringing down his wrath again. That was just as worthwhile as what your teams managed to loot from the raided bases with a fervor you haven't seen since Naboo.
After all was said and done, the underground learned that they should fear Grievous and the Abyss Watchers.
Rewards: Black Sun thoroughly scattered, +150 credits, Free Base Upgrade, Grievous gains Terror of the Underworld trait
Free Action:
[X] Eclipsing the Black Sun (Silent Option): Alternatively you could take the more subtle action when dealing with the Black Sun and use your information network to assassinate rising leaders and drain funds to choke them out by the roots. Chance of Success: 50% Reward: Black Sun scattered, loot
-[X] Omake by Killerflood
Rolled: 85+15+10=110 (Super Critical Success)
While Grievous was on his rampage your intel teams were busy with attacking the Black Sun in their pocketbooks and their leadership, magnifying his efforts even further. Between the intel he recovered from his raids and their own successes, Gulan reported that not only did they steal a significant amount of credits from Black Sun accounts but in some cases they were even able to redirect funds, bolstering your own income while taking from Black Sun. They were also able to either assassinate up and coming leaders or just get them locked away by local governments, creating even further strife within the formerly great criminal syndicate.
Grievous' successes had meant that there was a psychological disincentive to reforming Black Sun, and with your intel teams' efforts they now also faced the practical issues of a lack of leadership and an almost complete lack of finances. After all of this, you're fairly certain that the name "Black Sun" will now be a footnote in history.
Rewards: Black Sun thoroughly scattered, +200 credits, +75 income from diverted funds