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The Secrets' Crusade

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Whenyouseeyou said:
So that was a lucky roll
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That's definitely one way to put it. Though it adds a whole bunch more complexity to the problem - humanity does have first contact protocols as Gilsan said, and for a culture like this they'd follow a route of heavy nonintervention beyond what could be deemed safe. You can almost certainly go down there safely without infringing on the developing species, the question is how closely are the Shiplords monitoring them.
 
> We shouldn't push it:
Missing full stop.

A bunch of quotation punctuation/capitalization corrections. I can't remember if it's just your preferred style, but if it is then there's the opposite problem on a bunch of them.

> "And you should take a relay down." Mary added
Comma instead of full stop.

> "Yes ma'am." Jane saluted
Comma

> "I meant what I said." You told her gently
Comma and capitalization

> "No." you
Comma

> make this excursion more difficult.: You sent back with a grimace
Comma and capitalization

> "The Cartographers weren't small, Miss Cant." He replied
Comma and capitalization

> "Higher danger due to unknown factors, certainly." He replied crisply.
Comma and capitalization

> "An answer." Mary said
Comma and capitalization

> "And it would explain the presence of an additional ship assigned here.
Missing closing quote

> There wasn't a full-scale ecological collapse either, but there it likely took considerable damage
Probably take out the second "there"?

> "What is relevant," you said, taking up from the pause as Mary rubbed at her eyes. "Is how it could complicate our mission here.
eyes, "is

> "I read up on our first contact protocols before this mission, ma'am." He explained ruefully.
Comma and capitalization

> "So we have new security concerns." Jane said,
Comma

> [][Mary] "I do." You replied
Comma and capitalization

> [][Mary] "It's difficult to say so now." You admitted
Comma and capitalization

> "That's less important than actually getting down there to begin with." Mary added
Comma

> very clearly not being military grade." He said calmly
Comma and capitalization

> "You have my apologies." You told him.
Comma and capitalization

> "We've got our own civilisation to consider, Miss D'reve." Jane said
Comma

> "In the end, it's my call." You said
Comma and capitalization
 
Getting a good look at Shiplord tech and methodology (without being on the receiving end) is always good but I also want to give the kiddies as wide a berth as possible. We have enough problems for ourselves, we don't need to share. If we can find a clear landing zone then I'd like to bring Mary. If we can't then I'd just send an unmanned probe.
[X][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[X][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
-[X][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
 
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To add to Coda's list...
Snowfire said:
"That would be asking you to be less than you are. And I'm never going to do that. You took a step closer and turned, bringing you into the orbit of virtual panes.
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The closing quotation marks are missing, causing the next sentence to read as a part of direct speech.

I wonder what the Shiplords want from the developing civiliation. Make sure they won't go the way the first one did?
A closer look means more danger, so Mary will have to be left behind.

[x][Mary] "It's difficult to say so now." You admitted, the words heavy. "Even if we can get down there, without the Masques providing safety in their disguise mechanism it's probably not safe to risk her.
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
[x] [Team] Quiet Insight (Elil, Iris, Kalilah)
 
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[X][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[X][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
-[X][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
 
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flazeo25 said:
[X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[X][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
-[X][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
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Are we allowed to vote for both subpoints?
 
flazeo25 said:
X][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[X][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
-[X][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
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You are missing a '['.

Coda said:
Are we allowed to vote for both subpoints?
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I'm not actually sure, but that's what I'm running with.
 
Having considered the options...

[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."

As curious as I am about the local culture and how the Shiplords are handling it, I also don't know if that's necessarily a mission-critical piece of intelligence that outweighs the rest of our objectives.
 
Coda said:
Are we allowed to vote for both subpoints?
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I'm going to go with yes, but doing so will mean that performing an actual investigation on Shiplord observation will be taking a backseat due to you deliberately picking a city scar as far from the sapient population as possible. This isn't my locking you out, to be clear, it's a matter of the distances involved. You can't really do both of these objective at once, not without taking off and landing again, and that's not something I'll make happen unless it's explicitly put in as a write-in.

If both points together wins, you'll focus on the city-scar and then do a local search of any observation mechanisms. That'll be pretty much it.
 
[x][Mary] "It's difficult to say so now." You admitted, the words heavy. "Even if we can get down there, without the Masques providing safety in their disguise mechanism it's probably not safe to risk her.
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
 
Snowfire said:
I'm going to go with yes, but doing so will mean that performing an actual investigation on Shiplord observation will be taking a backseat due to you deliberately picking a city scar as far from the sapient population as possible. This isn't my locking you out, to be clear, it's a matter of the distances involved. You can't really do both of these objective at once, not without taking off and landing again, and that's not something I'll make happen unless it's explicitly put in as a write-in.

If both points together wins, you'll focus on the city-scar and then do a local search of any observation mechanisms. That'll be pretty much it.
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This is pretty much what I was hoping for, so I'm changing my vote back. Thank you for the information.
 
[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
 
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So I've messed up this vote. I'm giving you two choices when I should be giving three if I really want you down on the planet next update. As such, I've tweaked this update very minorly to add in team selection for wherever you end up choosing to go. I'm going to ask that people update their votes and I've outlined the new voting options at the bottom of this post. This should have been caught before I posted the current update, and I'm really sorry that I missed it.

[][Mary] "I do," you replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[][Mary] "It's difficult to say so now," you admitted, the words heavy. "Even if we can get down there, without the Masques providing safety in their disguise mechanism it's probably not safe to risk her.
[][Mary] Write-in?

[][World] "continue as planned. The variables have changed, but our mission hasn't. We need to know what's down there."
[][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
-[][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
[][World] "try to find a way to visit one of these scars at the Enclave. It's built over one, maybe that would be enough?"
[][World] Write-in?

This vote does not affect your choice to bring Mary. Team member details are here.
[][Team] Quiet Insight (Elil, Iris, Kalilah) - This team focuses on maintaining a minimal profile for detection with the highest possible processing power.
[][Team] Heartcircle (Mir, Lea, Vega, Elil, Kalilah) - This team focuses on the unified ability of your Heartcircle, providing a combination of awesome versatility and combat power.
[][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah) - According to the Shiplords, a great war ended here. This team focuses above all on conceptual inspection of how that came to pass.
[][Team] Write in? Any team must include Kalilah and can contain no more than five members.

Sorry again.
 
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[X][Mary] "It's difficult to say so now." You admitted, the words heavy. "Even if we can get down there, without the Masques providing safety in their disguise mechanism it's probably not safe to risk her.
[X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[X][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
[X][Team] Quiet Insight (Elil, Iris, Kalilah)
 
Ooh. Tough choice.

[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
[x][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah)

Decided that if Kalilah has to come, let's make sure Mir is here too. Their opposing perspectives, especially with Vega in between, could be informative.
 
[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
[x][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah)
 
[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
[x][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah)
 
[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
[x][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah)
 
I think we need Mary for this one.
[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
The first rule of this mission is "Don't get caught."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."

More people is a bit riskier but also gives us more insight.
[x][Team] Heartcircle (Mir, Lea, Vega, Elil, Kalilah)
 
[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
[x][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah)
 
[x][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[x][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[x][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
[x][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah)
 
[X][Mary] "I do," you replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
[X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
-[X][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
Unless there's some reason going out of our way would put us at risk there's no particular reason to go near the locals. There doesn't seem to even be a hint of value in investigating them beyond curiosity.
[X][Team] Heartcircle (Mir, Lea, Vega, Elil, Kalilah) - This team focuses on the unified ability of your Heartcircle, providing a combination of awesome versatility and combat power.
Maybe Iris instead of Lea? More processing power is always useful but I don't think either of their specialties are likely to be particularly relevant unless we end up in combat.

Well that was a trip(those dice), but now I'm all out of updates.
 
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Vote Closed
Scheduled vote count started by Snowfire on Jan 6, 2021 at 6:44 PM, finished with 28 posts and 10 votes.
  • [X][Mary] "I do." You replied. "If we can get down there at all, we're not going to be able to transmit live. And I think we'll need the best scientific mind we have for what's down there."
    [X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
    -[X][World] "make absolutely certain that we don't leave any tracks. Find us a place to land far where there's a burn scar but no local civilisation."
    [x][Team] Peace in Harmony - (Mir, Vega, Kalilah)
    [x][Mary] "It's difficult to say so now." You admitted, the words heavy. "Even if we can get down there, without the Masques providing safety in their disguise mechanism it's probably not safe to risk her.
    [X][World] "modify our mission profile. I want to…"
    -[X][World] "understand more about how the Shiplords are observing this developing civilisation."
    [x] [Team] Quiet Insight (Elil, Iris, Kalilah)
    [x][Team] Heartcircle (Mir, Lea, Vega, Elil, Kalilah)
    [X][Team] Heartcircle (Mir, Lea, Vega, Elil, Kalilah) - This team focuses on the unified ability of your Heartcircle, providing a combination of awesome versatility and combat power.
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