Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Shippy mc Shipface?
May The Invisible Hand Be With You - (Star Wars CK2-Style Quest)
- Thread starter Dr. Snark
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- star wars canon what canon tsundere dice ck2 quest actions have consequences all the credits all work and no play makes ciaran a dull girl best sister capitalism ho! despairing qm teetotaller society member gotta catch 'em all insanity looting off the rails sage dice approaching spicy sheev tsundere asajj
Tasoli
Life is for Living
- Location
- Behind the Keyboard.
How about Enterprise?
*Le ducks and runs for his life* "I am not sorry."
UbeOne
Daydreaming CPU
- Location
- Philippines
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Location
- Tulsa Oklahoma
Isn't the fool either number 0 or 22? That wouldn't work, which leaves the first card, numerically, the Magician.
The Fool would work more for Cairan's personal ship. Technically, she was a young fool began a journey in the underworld that would eventually lead to a great journey to discover herself.
We technically don't have to follow the exact order of the Tarot, but several members of our cast could be affiliated with one Arcane or another.
Thrawn could be The Emperor. Silencer could be Strength. Grievous could be The Chariot . Silas could be the Empress (as hilarious as that sounds). Ventress could be the Temptress. I don't know about the others, but they could probably fit somewhere.
At the very least, they would make interesting code names.
We technically don't have to follow the exact order of the Tarot, but several members of our cast could be affiliated with one Arcane or another.
Thrawn could be The Emperor. Silencer could be Strength. Grievous could be The Chariot . Silas could be the Empress (as hilarious as that sounds). Ventress could be the Temptress. I don't know about the others, but they could probably fit somewhere.
At the very least, they would make interesting code names.
NexysDhyArchen
Throne Breaker
Was thinking more in the lines of Persona Tarot and three in particular. The Fool is almost always the first/and last of the Tarot powers and also represents the Player.
- Location
- Tulsa Oklahoma
I thought when referring to tarot, without any qualifiers, is to look at the Major Arcana, those being the cards listed here. Hmm, maybe we use the minor Arcana for the names of smaller vessels in our control?
Panory
The Omake Dragon
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I can write it, but only a Doctor can canonize my omakes. That said, it gives me an excuse to stop banging my head against the writer's block that is Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin. I was trying all day yesterday to do something with him and nothing panned out at all.
What you were trying to do with him?, if you tell us we could help you Panory to break your writer block.
Panory
The Omake Dragon
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I've pretty much moved on, but I had a bunch of potential ideas that went nowhere. The original idea was basically Thrawn eliminating Tarkin, professionally for his role in the Palpatine conspiracy, personally for trying to get Ahsoka the death penalty in the whole Jedi Temple Bombing debacle. Then reading his wiki, I realized that he's not really a member of the Palpatine conspiracy, he's just an ass who doesn't like the Jedi.
Another idea involved poaching him from Palpatine after I realized he's probably respect Lady Ciaran if he knew we're the ones who kept the Jedi from commanding armies. But he's still a complete asshole, so he wouldn't mesh well with everyone else. Tarkin basically fell into the pit where he's too evil to be an ally, but not evil enough to be a good villain.
Don't worry too much about the writer's block though, I broke through that the instant I thought "I could just do something with Blazing Chains." and no less than three perfectly fleshed out ideas leaped into my head. Along with something else that's kinda a followup to a previous omake I did, inspired by recent discussion on potential ship names.
He could be the token bad guy of the group, he is ruthless and without mercy, but he is a good commander, resercher, at least a decent politian and he could be the guy we send in order to make a example of somewhat, i mean the silencer and grivious are for when we need something dead, Thrawn is for when we need to do something as fast a possible, we need someone that make example out people we dislike.
- Location
- madison
Cortosis material report.
the 3 most important qualities of Cortosis for our purposes are it's unique ability to redirect electromagnetic energy, resistance to heat, and extreme fragility. The most unique is it's ability to redirect electromagnetic energy in unpredictable ways. When exposed to a very strong magnetic field (such as those used to contain the plasma field of a lightsaber) it somehow redirects and distorts the magnetic field, creating a destructive feedback loop that will almost certainly cause the field to collapse, and possibly inflict serious damage to the emitters. It's second notable quality is it's resistance to thermal energy, this seems to be an extension of the first property as somehow heat is distributed far more widely though the martial, increasing the amount of energy needed to begin melting though it. Combined with a rather high melting point this renders cortosis extremely resistant to attempts to melt or burn through it. The last chactrisic is a sinfgant downside, unalloyed Cortosis is extraordinarily brittle and prone to shattering. It is only slightly harder to damage or destroy with kentic force than standard glass or porcalin, a most undesirable quality for armor or weapons.
when alloyed cortosis looses it's fragility, but also much of it's ability to redirect electromagnetic energy, however it's resistance to thermal energy is retained. When mixed with durasteel a lattice of nano-scale honeycombs form, acting to distribute heat and hold melted durasteel in place, causing any attempt to burn through the armor to need to extend further energy fully vaporizing the melted martial. The reaming ability to disrupt magnetic fields reduces the concentration and thus penetrating power of lightsabers and similar weapons. However the honeycomb lattice itself is vulnerable to kinetic shock, for example a hit from a blaster will usually impart enough kinetic energy to shatter the affected region of the lattice and render the impact site effetely normal durasteel. The effect against Ion weaponry have been inconsistent so far, either completely negating the bolt or amplifying and focusing it seemingly at random. so far a number of uses for both the pure and alloyed forms of Cortosis have been proposed.
established uses- these are purposes that have already been proven to work as intended. most of these are simply a matter of swapping out a more common metal for Cortosis or it's alloyed form.
pure Cortosis
pure Cortosis
Cortosis Alloy
theoretical uses- these are uses that appear to be possible, but would likely require a significant amount of RnD to develop and perfect. Be aware that this is by no mean every possible use, and more are likely to be discovered as we continue to study this material.
pure Cortosis
Cortosis Alloy
as you can tell from this report Cortosis is useful for far more than lightsaber proofing, and leaving it confined solely to anti jedi/sith use would be a tremendous waste of potential. should we be able to secure it in useful quantities it will open up a wide array of economic and military applications.
the 3 most important qualities of Cortosis for our purposes are it's unique ability to redirect electromagnetic energy, resistance to heat, and extreme fragility. The most unique is it's ability to redirect electromagnetic energy in unpredictable ways. When exposed to a very strong magnetic field (such as those used to contain the plasma field of a lightsaber) it somehow redirects and distorts the magnetic field, creating a destructive feedback loop that will almost certainly cause the field to collapse, and possibly inflict serious damage to the emitters. It's second notable quality is it's resistance to thermal energy, this seems to be an extension of the first property as somehow heat is distributed far more widely though the martial, increasing the amount of energy needed to begin melting though it. Combined with a rather high melting point this renders cortosis extremely resistant to attempts to melt or burn through it. The last chactrisic is a sinfgant downside, unalloyed Cortosis is extraordinarily brittle and prone to shattering. It is only slightly harder to damage or destroy with kentic force than standard glass or porcalin, a most undesirable quality for armor or weapons.
when alloyed cortosis looses it's fragility, but also much of it's ability to redirect electromagnetic energy, however it's resistance to thermal energy is retained. When mixed with durasteel a lattice of nano-scale honeycombs form, acting to distribute heat and hold melted durasteel in place, causing any attempt to burn through the armor to need to extend further energy fully vaporizing the melted martial. The reaming ability to disrupt magnetic fields reduces the concentration and thus penetrating power of lightsabers and similar weapons. However the honeycomb lattice itself is vulnerable to kinetic shock, for example a hit from a blaster will usually impart enough kinetic energy to shatter the affected region of the lattice and render the impact site effetely normal durasteel. The effect against Ion weaponry have been inconsistent so far, either completely negating the bolt or amplifying and focusing it seemingly at random. so far a number of uses for both the pure and alloyed forms of Cortosis have been proposed.
established uses- these are purposes that have already been proven to work as intended. most of these are simply a matter of swapping out a more common metal for Cortosis or it's alloyed form.
pure Cortosis
- lightsaber disrupting shields- quite possibly the most obvious use of the material. while it is far too brittle to be used as general armor, a shield designed to block and thus disrupt a lightsaber is a very straight forward application. requiring merely a slab of Cortosis, a strap, and some training.
- lightsaber disrupting blade- while a bladed weapon would likely shatter in short order, Cortosis can be honed to a respectable cutting edge. Given the disdain many force users hold for armor a Cortosis blade may make for an excellent assassination weapon. When caught by surprise most force users will attempt to parry an attack rather than dodge it, allowing the blade to pass through their saber and hopefully execute a clean killing blow. Though even light armor would render such a blade all but useless, it may still be a viable niche weapon.
- lightsaber disrupting armor segments- while a full suite of armor would be impractical, segments such as gauntlets or chest pieces are feasible if used correctly, ideally one would sucker an opponent to striking the cortosis section of armor to create an opening .
- -lightsaber resistant weapon- a simple application of creating a melee weapon out of Alloyed Cortosis. due to interactions with the magnetic filed a Cortosis Alloy weapon would repel a lightsaber rather than pass through it, enabling someone wielding one to engage a lightsaber equipped foe for some time before the weapon begins to melt. normally attempting to engage a force user in melee combat is suicide, even with a specialized weapon, but a number of our more skilled combatants are likely able to take advantage of such a weapon.
- lightsaber resistant armor- quite possibly the most common application of Cortosis alloy. while it does not provide significantly increased protection against most other forms of attack, it provides a great deal of protection against lightsabers. allowing even the modest thickness of a typical B1 battle droids armor to resist several strikes from a lightsaber.
- lightsaber resistant plating- wall plating or blast doors made of Cortosis alloy would be far more capable of containing a lightsaber equipped individual, as a fringe benefit it would also resist most forms of plasma-based cutting tool. Though it would have no additional resistance to most forms of demolition charges.
pure Cortosis
- composite armor layer- while pure Cortosis is extremely brittle it could be sandwitched between layers of more traditional armor. While a saber strike would burn through the first layer of armor it would then strike the cortosis layer and short out before further penetration can occur. The only possibly concern ins the cortosis would condcut and trap the heat of the lightsaber strike, but this is expected to be a manageable problem,
- saber disrupting chaffe- a cloud of finely ground cortosis particles could be employed to disrupt the lightsaber of an adversary who has become weary of striking metallic targets. The issues with this is that it is indiscriminate, the cloud would affect every lightsaber in the area frined or foe. There is also concern that a force push could be used to disperse or repel the cloud, however we feel it would be a worthwhile weapon to use from surprise. Other possible uses for corosis chaff are covered later on in this report.
- partial weapon cover- whiel a pure cortosis weapon is of limited use, it should be possble to coat part of a wepons stridking surface with it. thus enabling the wapon to be used to disable a lightsaber while retaining its normal functionality.
Cortosis Alloy
- heat resistant armor layer- any composite armor scheme that could shield a layer of cortosis alloy from kentic shock would benaft from greatly increased resistance to burn through. The main issue would be shielding it from the kinetic portion of all incoming attacks, as it takes relatively little shock to disrupt the lattice needed to display it's heat resistance.
- heat shields- while the vulnerability to kinetic shock makes it a challenging martial to work with as armor, a cortosis alloy heat shield would allow for a far thinner layer than conventional materials. however the increased cost would make this practical in only niche applications, such as low profile insertion pods or other high performance uses.
theoretical uses- these are uses that appear to be possible, but would likely require a significant amount of RnD to develop and perfect. Be aware that this is by no mean every possible use, and more are likely to be discovered as we continue to study this material.
pure Cortosis
- blaster disrupting chafe- in theory the materials ability to redirect thermal and electromagnetic energy should cause a dense enough cloud of cortosis particles to be extremely effective at disrupting blaster bolts or other energy weapons. while certainly expensive, it would give a force armed with slug throwers, grenade launches or other projectile weapons a massive edge. initial testing of this application is promising.
- sensor disruption- by adding trace amounts of cortosis particulate to standard smoke grenades renders the smoke opaque to most sensors, as the energy distorting properties of cortosis scramble all returns. powerful enough sensors can overcome the interference, but the threshold is high enough that only the very best man portable sensors will be able to see through it.
- thermal mesh implant- an ambition application, but a promising one. by implanting a mesh of cortosis as a subdermal mesh it might be possible to render an individual extremely resistant to blaster fire. in theory there tissue would cushion the cortosis from the kinetic shock of blaster fire, and the heat would be redirected to a dedicated heat sink. If this proves viable the enhanced individual would take a great deal of blaster fire to disable.
- super high performance heat sinks- cortosises ability to redirect thermal energy could in theory be used to create extraordinary effective heat sinks. however the high cost and fragility of the martial, as well as it's tendency to disrupt electromagnetic fields, would greatly limit the application. But it has been theorized that a heatsink designed to take full advantage of the material would outperform any existing design of similar weight and volume. Possible applications would be in super compact power plants, or some sort of super heavy turbo laser.
Cortosis Alloy
- high performance heat sinks- cheaper, more durable and in theory only slightly less effective than pure cortosis, an alloy would have far wider applications for use in heat sinks. while it would still be expensive and somewhat prone to losing thermal conductivity if damaged, it would still outperform almost any heat sink of similar mass. the main hurdle would be finding the best material to alloy it with, as well as manipulating the lattice to maximize conduction while minimizing heat retention.
- ion proof armor- the strange and inconsistent reaction of existing cortosis alloy to ion bolts has hinted that it may be possible to find a mixture that would harmlessly redirect any ion blasts around the subject, providing complete protection from man portable ion weapons with a very thin layer of armor.
- compact high capacity cables- a similar application to ion proofing. if an alloy can be created that could reliable channel electricity it would allow for a greater energy transfer to volume ratio than anything else on the market, combined with it's tremendous heat resistance and we would likely be able to corner the high end conduit market near overnight.
as you can tell from this report Cortosis is useful for far more than lightsaber proofing, and leaving it confined solely to anti jedi/sith use would be a tremendous waste of potential. should we be able to secure it in useful quantities it will open up a wide array of economic and military applications.
I figured that was Ciaran's thing, it's not like she's incapable of ruthlessness, it's just that when she decides to end something she tends to send one of her walking apocalypses to deal with it
Heck Silas is good at the whole 'example' thing, given what happened the last time he got truly pissed off.
Brilliant. It looks like you've written this up as a report from one of our researchers -- do you mind if I fix it up & reformat it to turn into an omake?
@Whumbly, where do you find these pictures? That was outstanding.
Also:
In canon, the Invisible Hand was actually the name of General Grievous's flagship (after the loss of the Malevolence), so it might still work for us. Tann's flagship is a super-sized Providence-class carrier/destroyer (a.k.a. "Separatist dreadnought") named the Heart of Csilla.
EDIT: ...I do like the idea of Phantom Menace as a name, though.
@Dr. Snark -- I found another default bonus from the last thread! Turns out our Guardians have been equipped with body & helmet cameras, for more effective after-action reports and training.
This was one of the first actions we picked, and completed all the way back in Turn 2 Results. It doesn't look like it was added to the front-page list of bonuses or applied to our Martial Actions in Turn 3 or thereafter. So... do we get to keep it?
Unrelated question for @Dr. Snark, inspired by the 'renaming things' discussion. Can we rename our new Taris 'salvage teams' to instead be "Undercity Reclamation teams"? Same function, same salvage roll, it's just... the name would fit neatly with my "Briefing the Boss Pt. 2" omake:
Finally, speaking of Taris, I found something interesting in the Lower City: namely, SoroSuub Landing, home of the galaxy's largest Sullastan population outside of Sullust and perhaps Coruscant itself. Naturally, the area was abandoned after Taris was destroyed by Darth Malak, but perhaps we could reclaim & regift the area for SoroSuub businesses and for Sullastan immigration?
(Still working on that anti-Palpatine dossier. Hopefully I'll be done with that in a few hours).
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- Location
- madison
go right ahead.
I'm confused about what, at this point, makes Tarkin evil. From what I've read of his canon exploits so far, he seems nothing more than a conssumate professional and military man. Discipline, efficiency and results are the words he lives by. The only issue is his personal loyalty to Palpatine for helping to guide his early career.
- Location
- madison
well he did murder a planet for shit's and giggles, and he was the one who came up with the tarkin doctrine, which basically boils down to ruling though fear. He is very much a conssumate professional, but he's also a total sociopath.
That is a bit uncharitable, considering the man responsible for that is decades in the future, and changed by his experiences as Grand Moff. You might as well judge Anakin for being Darth Vader while you're at it.
Tarkin is... well complicated. He's a part of a family dynasty, which had the unfortunate luck of being militarists in a nation that didn't have armed forces and being situated in the Outer Rim where no one from the Core actually cares about you, even if your family served the Republic for generations.
He went to a Military Academy and basically became that we would consider to be Renaissance Man (he showed an aptitude in tactics, drafted starship designs, broke ground in xenobiology theory and apparently was a talented poet and philosopher).
However, Tarkin's main strength was his ambition, his analytical mind and applying it to political stratagem. He saw the Republic as a corrupt and failing institution (not entirely false) which needed to be replaced. His vision for the future matched his own beliefs, a authoritarian government with militaristic and humanocentric tendencies (Humanocentrism is the belief that humanity is special because they have been at the centre for most of the galaxy's major historical events. It's the reason for the distinction of dividing the demographics between human, near-human and alien). He's kind of speciest, but he's willing to hire and work with aliens as long as they're competent, his main issue is when he has to work under them.
Tarkin gets involved with Palpatine the same reason those with lofty ambitions would, they see a rising star and want to ride the coat tails to the top. He's done some of Palpatine's dirty work, but compared to Ciaran's exploits he's actually rather tame. In fact his greatest contribution to Palpatine is something born of failure. After failing in a plot with Sienar to secure a planet that made living ships, Tarkin presented Sienar's plans to Palpatine for a moon sized battle station as his own (Sienar didn't object because he didn't like the design). Palpatine took interest in the plans and took them with him, but Tarkin never knew what happened to them until after the Clone Wars.
Tarkin is one of those people who could be recruited if he could be convinced that Palpatine was going to fall. His utterly ruthlessness and sociopathic nature didn't manifest itself until a couple of years after the Empire took power and that was because Palpatine had Vader kill his brother (a Imperial Admiral who faked his own kidnapping to defect to a dissident group) and framed the rebels for it. In order to successfully recruit him, we'd need to portray the Abyss Watchers like the Enclave. A shadowy group who are trying to secretly replace the government. As for Ciaran, like I said once before she can pretend to be human thanks to her working eyes.
I searched through google.
If I remember from Operation Skyfall, Tann commands the Battle of Kamino from the Invisible Hand.
He went to a Military Academy and basically became that we would consider to be Renaissance Man (he showed an aptitude in tactics, drafted starship designs, broke ground in xenobiology theory and apparently was a talented poet and philosopher).
However, Tarkin's main strength was his ambition, his analytical mind and applying it to political stratagem. He saw the Republic as a corrupt and failing institution (not entirely false) which needed to be replaced. His vision for the future matched his own beliefs, a authoritarian government with militaristic and humanocentric tendencies (Humanocentrism is the belief that humanity is special because they have been at the centre for most of the galaxy's major historical events. It's the reason for the distinction of dividing the demographics between human, near-human and alien). He's kind of speciest, but he's willing to hire and work with aliens as long as they're competent, his main issue is when he has to work under them.
Tarkin gets involved with Palpatine the same reason those with lofty ambitions would, they see a rising star and want to ride the coat tails to the top. He's done some of Palpatine's dirty work, but compared to Ciaran's exploits he's actually rather tame. In fact his greatest contribution to Palpatine is something born of failure. After failing in a plot with Sienar to secure a planet that made living ships, Tarkin presented Sienar's plans to Palpatine for a moon sized battle station as his own (Sienar didn't object because he didn't like the design). Palpatine took interest in the plans and took them with him, but Tarkin never knew what happened to them until after the Clone Wars.
Tarkin is one of those people who could be recruited if he could be convinced that Palpatine was going to fall. His utterly ruthlessness and sociopathic nature didn't manifest itself until a couple of years after the Empire took power and that was because Palpatine had Vader kill his brother (a Imperial Admiral who faked his own kidnapping to defect to a dissident group) and framed the rebels for it. In order to successfully recruit him, we'd need to portray the Abyss Watchers like the Enclave. A shadowy group who are trying to secretly replace the government. As for Ciaran, like I said once before she can pretend to be human thanks to her working eyes.
I searched through google.
If I remember from Operation Skyfall, Tann commands the Battle of Kamino from the Invisible Hand.
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Panory
The Omake Dragon
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Might a suggest a run-down of Palpatine's assets next? That way we'd know what/who we need to neutralize (Order 66 and Vice Chairman) and what/who is just an unwitting pawn (Tarkin).
I suppose evil might be too strong for him now, but it's really hard to mentally separate the Admiral who's just an ass from the Grand Moff who blew up Alderaan. Makes him difficult to write.
NexysDhyArchen
Throne Breaker
There is also the not so subtle factor that Palpatine knows and actively uses the Sith variant of Battle Meditation for his Imperial Navy. I don't know if its a constant thing or just in battles he personally is invested in but its a good bet that by Alderaan Tarkin has been influenced by Palpatine's Force Presence a LOT. Dark corruption may actually be a legitimate excuse for how much of a douche Grand Moff Tarkin is compared to the mere Admiral Tarkin.
From what Thawn said in one of older books is that it appears that the Emperor only used it if he was present.
He may or may not have inflated the Emperor's abilities in order to get Whatishisname peeved off enough to join.
According to Thawn, it led to a noticable decline in 'average tactical ability' in the fleets he puppetted over a lengthly period of time.
But he didn't say anything about jackassery increasing.
Then again, Thawn is a Chiss, so he got racism pretty much every day and isn't as knowledgable about Force Abilities as Jedi/Sith.
He was planning on killing the guy if it got too out of hand, though.