I'm hoping that if that we might get cybernetics samples from the AdMech at some point via trading/stealing, so that we can do easier research on the more advanced versions. Especially now as they likely turned out to be pretty hard to figure out for Vita with that roll.
I'm hoping that if that we might get cybernetics samples from the AdMech at some point via trading/stealing, so that we can do easier research on the more advanced versions. Especially now as they likely turned out to be pretty hard to figure out for Vita with that roll.
Yeah, because it's not actually a failure. Worth keeping in mind we can't fail tech normally because of reality simulation. We are in fact just that good (when it comes to the material side of things).
Yes, I do know that. Which is why I want a get (if available) a boost from samples to make the cost of doing that research cheaper (if it worked that way).
Either the bean will be happy at making something so good compared to what she knows the enclaves can do while vita is dissatisfied and hides it, or the bean will be sad and vita will need to cheer her up and assure her that she didn't fail.
[X] Plan: Soon Vita Will Into Space
-[X] [Free] Poke around some more in the databases, looking for anything in particular.
--[X] Space Marines? There's got to be more to that...
-[X] Diplomacy: Mechanicus Shooshing
--[X] Thalya is a menace, but until you're ready to dislodge their monopoly, you need to pretend like you're playing ball. Send a mocked up progress report--consulting with Aneva to see if she can help you cook the books a little more--and include some samples in the form of broken up components that you otherwise would have been recycling, but can serve as 'proof' that you're not fabricating the whole thing. A few crumbs here and there to make them willing to wait and let you do the work. While you're at it, see if you can get to dickering with some samples for the purpose of 'Unbiased Comparison', because you really want a chance to see how the whole Machine Spirit thing properly works, and if there are any useful insights to be gleaned in Imperial design. (Do our thing to keep Thalya and the Mechanicus complacent, see if we can squeeze some samples out for our studies while we're at it.)
-[X] Diplomacy: Touching Base with our Handlers
--[X] Our partnership has been fruitful so far, and things have been going well--well enough that we're willing to extend a little more trust in turn, we do in fact, have a very limitedsupply of Anti-Agathic medicines that we can share out--we don't have the schematics to expand production as it was tightly controlled and honestly outside the scope of our mission, but for the sake of keeping things humming along smoothly, we're willing to share some of our production to minimize any turnover. That aside though, we are curious about the third major institution that's running around--the monasteries. Psy-active folks weren't exactly well known when I was running around, and if that's changed, I'd like to have the option of preparing some countermeasures. Is there any way you can put me in touch with one of those? (Further good relations with the local government by adding some Juvenat trade to further sweeten the deal, and hopefully minimize any turn-over of the agents we're working with. As a side note, see if we can get an introduction to open communications with one or more of the monastaries)
-[X] Construction: (+750 BP)
--[X] Underground Basic Technological Research Lab (150 BP)
--[X] Camoflauged Observatory (200 BP)
--[X] 3x Manufactories (300 BP)
--[X] Trade Goods (50 BP)
-[X] Research: 200 RP
--[X] Cybernetics (200 RP)
-[X] [Anexa] Active: Help us shoosh the Mechanicus (+5 to the Diplo roll I guess?)
You consider your options, and lament that there's just so much left to do on Devna. You want to get into orbit. You want to start building your ship, and spread at least a basic level of technology across Denva to prepare it to be a friendly port in this unfriendly galaxy.
But none of that is what you need to do. The Mechanicus is squatting in their enclaves like rusty paperweights, holding down the plant at a level of technology that barely has space capabilities at all. They're keeping an eye on the planetary environment for signs of advanced technology that don't belong to them, and if they catch of whiff of your true plans you're pretty sure they'll carpet-nuke Aevon just to be sure. You also haven't done a full space survey, and you have a nasty suspicion that there's at least one orbital-bombardment capable satellite up there, and potentially a fully manned platform that's hidden somewhere. You've gotten more in tune with the mechanicus way of thinking, and that's just the sort of thing they'd do to have a backup in case somebody - like you - managed to take out their surface enclaves.
Aevon itself also isn't helping. Well, they are, but your gifts of educational materials, technology and digital aid against the mechanicus mean that they're more confident in pushing a harder line against their cyborg blackmailers. That's stirring up tensions and drawing attentions in ways you're not entirely certain you want. But as far as you can tell they've been toeing the line and backfilling where they can with improved technical education. There's definitely been a series of new educational literature in the Aevon schools that bears a striking similarity to some of your uplift guides, and you don't think anybody else has caught on to how good the technical talent base of Aevon is going to be.
Finally there's the third pillar of the local society, and that's those monasteries. You've seen a fair number of warnings from imperial sources on the dangers of psykers, though you're not sure how much of that is just that it's hard for an authoritarian state to control them. But Denva Secundus seems to have figured out a solution that hopefully isn't mass murder. You don't necessarily need to intervene, but their presence stokes your curiosity, and you do want to find out if they're going to cause problems down the line for either yourself or Denva as a whole.
All of it comes together to paint a picture that's - well, it's fine. Things are fine. You wish you didn't have to do as much dreary politicking and subterfuge, but that's the name of the game right now. And it's not like you're not fascinated to dive into the mechanicus databases and learn about this new galaxy you're in. It's certainly morbid fascination, but all of your background reading now is certain to pay dividends in the future.
And you've seen enough references to these Adeptus Astartes, these Space Marines, that you're extremely curious to figure out what's up. But! There's other things to plan out. First off you issue new orders to your manufactories, though the planned pace isn't nearly as frenetic as it was in past years. You won't have as much attention to spare to smooth out any issues from pushing the machines as fast as they can go, but the difference is more than made up for in the number of fabricators and bots you now have available to. It's time to start building a proper orbital observatory to map the orbits of Denva and the system beyond.
Next is building out a hidden technology lab. If you're going to engage in serious shenanigans with the mechanicus it's important to really understand their technology, and the information in the database only gets you so far. You need actual physical samples to investigate, as well as a lab to investigate them with. You also want to research cybernetics and specifically nerve interfaces better, both to understand such an important pillar of mechanicus tech better and to allow Anexa to continue modifying herself.
Then your excess capacity can go into continuing to build out your factories on the surface - though after this round of construction you're going to be approaching the limit of what you can build in the open without the amount of construction getting suspicious, unless the government of Aevon is willing to go out on a limb and offer you some more cover.
Which - you were planning on talking to them anyways in order to get more information on the monasteries. Maybe you could ask them to help you cover further expansion.
It's a lot. Mechanicus, Aevon, construction, cybernetics.
Then there's the question of what to point Anexa at. She's offered to help, and is chewing through technical material at a rapid pace. At this rate it won't be long until she's able to seriously contribute to your research projects. But she's also expressed an interest in studying cybernetics with you - she understands many of the practical details of installation, but not the detailed biology of crafting the never interfaces themselves, since that's one of the deeper secrets of the machine cult that she was never given access to.
Unfortunately you think you need her help in talking to the mechanicus. It's - well, it's important. She has direct personal experience with them and can help you nagivate the social structures you're pretending to be a part of. You're pretty sure that you send the wrong social cues last time, and that's what caused Thalya to get so aggressive. Well, that and you implying that there might be an STC fragment on Denva. You get the sense you still don't understand how significant that is. The long and short of it is that you need to have some long chats with Anexa about how to properly interact with the rest of the mechanicus. And probably get her help drafting up a fake report.
Anexa is somewhat reluctant to put down her reading, but agrees to help you out with this, and together you draft a plan to allay Thalya's suspicions, as well as those of the mechanicus as a whole. You propose giving Thalya some evidence that you are approaching an STC fragment, and that's when Anexa interrupts to describe how significant an STC fragment really is.
"They're not just blueprints. They're holy relics. Artifacts of the Omnissiah's wisdom. Wholly human in origin and the truest expression of the Quest for Knowledge." She sees you're not getting it. "In the past whole battlefleets have been mobilized to attack worlds on the confirmed presence of an STC fragment. If you confirm that information to Thalya she will stop at nothing, exert every effort to acquiring it. She may be willing to work with you, but she would absolutely not leave it entirely within your responsibility."
Your avatar sighs in annoyance. "Then what should I give her? Nothing?"
Together you go over your options, and eventually land on the idea of providing a few broken-down components that validate you're not just blowing smoke, but actually have found an ancient wreck of advanced human technology. You even have a handy source of artifacts for that - your own ship. You scavenge a few nonfunctional appliances from the crew mess, have them somewhat mauled by industrial machinery, then go over them with Anexa to ensure that that they convey the right message of advanced, ancient, human, but mostly unidentifiable scrap.
Then you carefully craft a progress report to send to Thalya, one that contains indicators of slow but consistent progress towards your goal. You also offer to come deliver your unearthed samples in person, in return for several components you're having difficult manufacturing yourself. You include several kinds of things you want to examine to understand imperial technology better, as well as a few other things that you don't need to make it less obvious you're gathering a technical sample.
"Anexa, do you want to come with me to the enclave?" You ask the question without judgement, making it clear she's free to refuse.
She takes a while to think about it, and you can see she's thinking about going along with it just because you asked. Eventaully she answers honestly. "No, don't want to leave." Then she sighs. "But I should. Dominus Thalya will ask you questions about me, and we either need to prepare answers. Or I could come, and prepare my own report. We can make sure they match, and it will reduce her suspicions."
That's yet another thing to work on, and altogether you feel like you've done entirely too much preparation for a single meeting. But when you send off the report to Thalya you receive a near-instant reply scheduling a time for you to arrive. You notice that it is a time with a forecast of clear weather over the mountains of Aevon. So you instead reply that you'll come when you have time.
You don't intend to let her discover the launch point for your shuttle so easily. Though now that you think about it, you might need to worry about the local mechanicus trying to set up tracking stations if Thalya really wants to know where you are. But there's no trace of that activity, and so you don't think she's gone that far. She can't actually give the Aevon enclave orders after all, and looping them in on this would mean she would have to share whatever comes out of the whole affair.
You do some more prepwork and then the next time the continent is covered by a large storm you set out, again flying through the storm and only breaking for orbit from the mountains before heaving to the Denva enclave. Your arrival is smooth and easy, and this time only half of the number of skitarii are present in the hanger. Magos Thalya is waiting for you once again, and she seems less agitated than last time. She especially seems pleased to see Anexa behind you, though you might be misinterpreting her social cues.
The humanized combat bots once again unload several crates for her perusal, and you note a dozen more stacked off to the side that look like they're intended for you.
Thalya greets you, and this time the address carries more side-channels of respect, and less of derision. "%Magos Vita. I am pleased to receive your report, and I greatly anticipate analysis of the samples you provide for me.%" At her signal one of the skitarii moves forward and crack open one of your boxes, reveling sorted drawers each containing a labelled component.
The other tech-priest takes a moment to examine the setup, several mechadendrites carefully opening drawers before scanners more exotic than eyes quickly investigate the contents. Then her attention turns back to you. "%You are very thorough. It is no wonder that your efforts take so long. Would you allow me to assign you more tech-priests, to speed your work?%"
In the background you can tell she is using a tightbeam connection to interrogate Anexa, though it seems to be somewhat low-throughput. Besides, you know that Anexa is going to report doing a lot of very boring work cataloging individual pieces.
You modulate your response to Thalya. Based on what Anexa's told you, your report and these samples are a peace offering of sorts, and her polite tones and giving you the supplies you requested is an acceptance of that offering. It doesn't seem like she's going to stop pushing to be involved, but at the very least you should not cause problems where none need to exist. "%Negative. The process is very delicate, and my standards are high. Anexa is doing well, but I am not able to oversee proper work from any more priests. Maybe once she is trained I can take another. I acknowledge the offer with respect, and will contact you if I change my mind.%"
She can't really contradict that, so she instead gestures towards the boxes on the side of the room. "%Your requested components. The cybernetic modules are not included, as there is currently a shortage.%" Then the side-channel of the techna-lingua dips into slightly mocking. "%And what true magos would augment themselves with material they did not produce?%"
You resist the urge to sigh. She's accepted your peace offering, but is still being an ass about it. It probably comes from the rusty metal rod she's replaced her spine with. And her legs. And her... well, most things. Still, the manifest she sends over to you seems to satisfy the basic requirements you were looking for to understand standard mechanicus technology. You respond with some amount of disappointment. "%Acceptable, though the lack of those parts will further push back my timetable.%" You gesture towards the humanized bots that are already loading the mechanicus-provided crates back aboard your shuttle. "%Maintenance of my workforce takes much of my time.%"
"%I can provide technicians as well to ease that burden from you. Your combat servitor design is quite interesting. It is a technology I would be willing to trade for. In return for a secret on channeled plasma chambers, perhaps?%" She wriggles a mechadendrite tipped with a plasma gun.
You have to stop to consider that for a moment. Not because it's actually a tempting offer, but because it's what any tech-priest would do. You can already build plasma guns, after all. It's just that none of your bots carry them because they're heavy, power-intensive and you haven't seen much deserving of that level of firepower in the local area. Well, aside from tanks. You'd also need to design a new bot chassis to carry them. You lace your tone with regret "%It is not my secret to share, according to oaths sworn to another. I will consider other secrets that I may trade for your knowledge of plasma.%" Your bots are done loading the shuttle, and now stand behind you respectfully.
Thalya bleats acknowledgement in binaric, though it carries more derision and a slight undercurrent of doubt. "%Magos Vita, Acolyte Anexa. Travel well, and may your Quest for knowledge be fruitful." She turns to depart, though her skitarii don't take their eyes off you until you've filed back aboard your shuttle.
You take a second to ensure that the faraday shield around the new cargo is complete and functional. You expect that Thalya has hidden one or more trackers in her crates, but with a little bit of care you can neutralize that danger and get yet another piece of Imperial tech for the trouble. Then you take off, once more breaking for high orbit. Once there you stop and unlock the airlock, sending out a void-capable repair drone. It's one you had in storage back aboard your ship, and is intended for exterior hull inspections and spot repairs. It'll serve well enough to find anything attached to your shuttle and remove it.
That leaves you and Anexa inside the cockpit to chat for a couple of hours while the drone makes three successive passes to absolutely ensure there's nothing there. You start the conversation. "That went well."
She nods. "It did. She's paranoid and wants more, but now has greater confidence that you are merely secretive, not truly heretekal."
"What did she ask you of?"
"She asked me for the report of my activities, then probed for details on the location and the state of the ship we are investigating." Anexa shakes her head. "She commanded me as if she were my master, and I reminded her that you are my master."
That tracks, and you're proud of Anexa for standing up to one of the most senior tech-priests on Devna Secundus. "What was her reaction?"
She shrugs. "Acceptance, though she said she would reward me greatly for the knowledge of the location, and asked for further reports in the future. She also reminded me to watch for Xenotech and keep the emergency beacon ready."
The conversation drifts through more discussion of the mechanicus for a time and towards your ongoing experimentation with cybernetics. It's not going well, as there are several things that you're not able to properly simulate or build. You'd hoped that examining examples of mechanicus implants would help you overcome your remaining stumbling blocks, but it doesn't seem like that's in the cards.
Eventually the bot comes back with the report that no trackers were attached to your shuttle, and you resume your descent back to Denva Secundus, once more taking every effort to maximize stealth. The clouds started to clear a bit, but you're able to hide your presence well enough and land in the hanger. Then it's time to unload your new samples, moving the entire faraday assembly into your new and well-shielded lab before sorting through everyhting.
It turns out there were three trackers distributed through the samples. One is obvious, just a simple homing beacon that pulses its location every twelve hours. Another is much better hidden, and a third is built into one of the communications arrays you'd requested. It's quite ingeniously hidden as a matter of fact, and you only found it because you put it in a sandbox with mimic satellite signals, which it then tried to reach out through to report its position.
Unlocked technology - What's up with this tech?
But you're not examining the local tech yet. Instead you and Anexa spend some time using your new medical lab to try and get some basic cybernetics working, with you providing the parts and her as the willing test subject. She tries to help, but actually building the implants is a bit beyond her current knowledge and with the work to draft the mechanicus reports she hasn't had the time to properly read up on either the technical literature you have or the mechanicus material on implants.
The cybernetics are... not going well. You don't want to destructively investigate her augments, especially not when your own aren't up to snuff yet. You can build implants, and they do work. Your components are cleaner, smoother, more sterile. They don't provoke irritation and they're better adapted to the human form than what the mechanicus can build. You can install them just fine. The basic technology is better in just about every way except one - they aren't responsive enough. There's about a tenth of a second of lag between your digital interfaces and the neurons they connect to. It's good enough to test the the augments you build, and they do work, and you're pretty sure somebody could get used to it if they had to. But it's absolutely maddening otherwise. Anexa quickly abandons your augments to go back to hers, and asks that you figure that out so that she can start building herself new versions.
You think you know how to fix the issue, but it'll require more research and until you do, any combat-rated cybernetics and brain implants are completely off the table.
Cybernetics research - rolled 8 + 20 = 28. Poor success.
You can make basic (laggy) limb replacements for people now! They can be installed in the medical facility.
New research unlocked - Let's fix the lag issue (50 RP)
New research unlocked - Organ replacements (100 RP)
New research unlocked - Combat cybernetics (100 RP) Locked behind lag issue.
New research unlocked - Brain implants (150 RP) Locked by lag issue.
Your observatory also comes online, atop your hidden underground manufactories. By it's very nature it requires surface access and could probably be found by a determined ground search. But it's also pretty passive, so it's not like it's hard to hide the signal it gives off. Regardless, you don't have the attention to spare for the data its generating, beyond to confirm that there are more things in orbit than you've picked up before. Before now you've only been able to look for things that were actively transmitting, and now you can scan for everything in orbit as well as map the local system. It could all be debris, but some of it might be inactive satellites or even small orbital platforms that are taking pains to remain hidden.
New research unlocked - System survey!
You could reach out to Aevon next, but your next supply drop is a ways in the future, so instead you follow up on the mention to the Adeptus Astartes, or Space Marines. You're prepared for some new fresh horror... and kind of find it? Children taken in at a young age, harshly trained and genetically augmented into super-soldiers. I mean, it's not great? They almost seem like monastic orders, but reading between the lines they also seem like they're pretty much just the elite soldiers of the Imperium. They follow the Imperial Creed like everybody else, and they commit xenocide and wipe out heretics like anybody else, but that doesn't make them unique.
At least they're the kind of superhuman that is dependent on humanity for their existence. Sterile, can't breed, they exist solely to protect the rest of humanity as a kind of military class. That's... fine? Sad, but in a kind of heroically tragic way. Misguided of course, but not as badly as the mechanicus is. Or the ecclesiarchy.
You do understand more of the references amongst the civilian datanet now to "The Emperor's Angels." You hadn't thought too much of them, thinking they were a religious thing like so much else. But no, they're not referring to literal angels. They're referring to eight-foot-tall superhuman soldiers dressed in elaborate armor that looks like it's the second-most-advanced thing the Empire still produces, after their starships. You get a lot of basic information - the space marines are organized into units of a thousand, called "chapters," and they sometimes are space-based, sometimes planet-based. Chapter masters, confessors, librarians - ah, so the Imperium does use psykers in combat. You were expecting that somewhere.
Give a fascist government a fish, and they'll try to figure out how to kill or oppress with it.
Then you try to follow the history of the space marines back and things get confusing. The different descriptions of the origins of the space marines are fragmented and contradictory, with mentions of them descending from the Emperor's sons, the space marine Primarchs. Whom... sound like bigger, badder space marines. I mean, why not make them all that way? Sure, whatever, though this does make you question if the emperor was a real person, some leader in the dawn of the empire who established the system and then conveniently interred himself in this "golden throne" so they could keep worshipping him.
Ego alert. If you name your tomb the golden throne and set up people to keep worshiping it for tens of thousands of years after your death, I think that reflects on you as a person. Though this is hardly the first thing I've seen that makes me think that.
There's other things that are confusing there. Some space marines are apparently heretics now. Not Hereteks, but heretics. Ugh. You supposed the Imperium is allowed to get complicated after more than ten thousand years of continued operation, but you're not entirely pleased about all of the edge cases around here. You try to dig into that and don't come away with much more than a name for an event. The Horus Heresy.
Fun. Sounds like one of the original primarchs - named Horus, because who doesn't name their children after ancient Egyptian gods - decided to rebel against the Imperium. Now he gets blamed for everything, including the fact that communications have been cut off from Earth, excuse me, Holy Terra, for the last few hundred years. Even after he's dead? You definitely don't understand everything that's going on here, though you do track down that one of the last messages sent to Devna Secundus mentions that somewhere called "Cadia" was being besieged by "The Thirteenth Black Crusade." And it has something to do with Horus. Who's dead.
Thirteen black crusades? I bet they skipped a bunch of numbers in the middle. It's probably a propaganda thing from one side or the other. If you need to launch 13 crusades it's really time to do something different.
Regardless, there are more vague mentions that you've come to associate with the "archenemy" business associated with that stuff. You're going to need to find time to decrypt and read those files sooner or later.
There's one other matter that requires your attention, and it's talking to the local government of Aevon. The trades have been going well, but they've been pushing up against your restriction on technology. They want advanced weapons that the mechanicus doesn't know about in case the shooting escalates. So far they've been engaged in several clandestine shootouts that seem like a series of undercover operations that got blown on both sides. You're continuing to provide intelligence to the Aevon Counter-Intelligence, and they seem to be acting on it.
You have a pretty good look inside their operations through eavesdropping with the encrypted communicators you've been providing. They have not only issued them to spies and covert operations teams, but at this point they've gotten enough that almost every battalion-commander and higher in their military has one, and it seems like they're making plans to coordinate an effective attack on the Aevon mechanicus enclave, though right now it sounds like a contingency than something that has a timeline. You aren't able to snoop on their strategy meetings, but you get the sense they're expecting you to do something about the weapons of mass destruction at some point, and want to be ready to capitalize on that to seize the enclave.
You have enough of a look into the mechanicus side of things to know that they're concerned over what's happening in Aevon but not actually worried. They think that Aevon has gotten a series of lucky breaks and an usually effective leadership team with effective but limited non-technological communications. The attitude of the internal mechanicus communications is basically "The luddites must have good running legs from carrying all these messages around. Let's just wait for the competent people to die and we'll go back to normal."
Which is ironic, given your next plans.
Touching Base with our Handlers - rolled 68+10 = 78. Good success!
You speak through your channel to the ACI. "I wish to speak to W during our next supply drop. I have an additional suggestion to make, that I think will benefit both of us."
"Heard and acknowledged, V." The reply comes back quickly, and you're pretty sure it's been the same guy all of this time, and he's come to serve as your unofficial liaison with the ACI. "Can you share details at this time?"
You think about that. You want to keep the the anti-agathics quiet, since news of it would hit the mechanicus like a bombshell. Juvenat is the sort of thing even they can't really make, and knowing that there's some floating around on the planet is absolutely something they'd need to get to the bottom of. It also might completely reshape your relationship with Aevon, as their leaders realize that good relations with you are a path to immortality. You wouldn't be entirely surprised if that caused some instability as people tried to hold onto high offices just to get access.
You shrug. If that becomes an issue it's one you can deal with later, and this is why you're going to tell W in person, and in private. You've worked with her for a while, and you trust her to be able to manage this issue. Not necessarily to your benefit, but she should be able to shape her leadership's response into something reasonable.
Though if I give her the ability to distribute the juvenat as she wants, it's also giving her an incredible amount of power. Is that something I'm ok with? Probably? She's a patriot of Aevon, and believes in the ideals of the founding revolutionaries. She won't seize power. But I could see her setting up a shadow organization equipped with technology from me that ensures nobody abuses the technology they get from me. Eh, I have access to her communications. I'll know if things start to stink.
That's just the risk you have to take, because you don't want to dedicate too much more production to Aevon, but you also want more from them. And you've got this very valuable trade good lying around and going bad. Seriously, your juvenat vats continue to produce the stuff and then it goes bad, since the shelf-life isn't very long. It's kind of a waste.
Ah, on that note, you make a note to decide if you should tell Anexa about the juvenat. You're not sure how much of her desire to augment herself comes from the idea that it's a way to become immortal versus how much is left over from being raised in the mechanicus, but it would be good to give her the option.
Vote below on if you tell Anexa about Juvenat, or keep her on the path to immortality through cybernetics.
Finally, after what was quite a bit of thought for you, but only a few seconds for the ACI operative over the line, you respond. "I want to know more about the monasteries. What they're like, who lives in them, how they're supplied, any communications you have with them. Anything. I'm also going to continue to expand my manufacturing capabilities, and I want to talk about more ways we can camouflage that."
"Acknowledged, V. We'll be there in a few days. We would also like to lodge another request for advanced weaponry, specifically longlas and man-portable bolters that could conceivably have been left over from an imperial stockpile."
Vote below on if you'll give Aevon weaponry for rent.
You promise to think about it, and then prepare for W's arrival in a few days.
Wait, did he say "we"? Does this mean I'll finally meet him?
W shows up at the appointed time and is met by your fully human avatar near the front gates. You're standing next to a small table that's piled with unmarked grey cases, and she approaches with a younger man by her side. She's aged notably since the last time you spoke, with crow's feet at the edges of her eyes and her hair has gone from fully black to speckled with grey. Next to her is a younger man, darker skinned than the average. He's a bit smaller than she is and looks lean, like a long-distance runner. His eyes are cautious, taking in everything and especially studying you.
W speaks first. "You truly do have access to the technology of the ancients, to look so good." Then she gestured towards the man. "This is Victan, he's been your contact." He gives you a small smile.
You chuckle in response and hold out your hand. "Good to meet you Victan. Nice to put a face to the voice."
His voice is smooth and calm. "Quite true."
You glance back at W. "Is he here as my official liaison?"
She nods. "He is. Anything you can say to me, you can say to him. I've become rather busy of late, and want him to take over managing our relationship."
You think about that for a second, then nod. "Acceptable. These" you wave towards the table. "Are injectable anti-agathics. A series of injections in the proper order will render the person immune from aging for five years. Instructions are included."
W controls her reaction admirably, but you still see her brows jerk slightly. Victan isn't quite as controlled, and he openly gapes for a moment before bringing himself under control. W responds. "Truly, a gift from the Emperor." Then she catches her words and snorts. "Or another source. How many are there?"
"Twenty." Then you reach into your coat and pull out another case and hand it to W. "This is a twenty-first, and it's not part of our deal."
She looks at you questioningly.
You smile in response. "It's nice working with a professional." You cut your eyes towards Victan. "I'll bring twenty-two the next time you come."
Her eyes are troubled, and they're focused past you while she considers the implications here. "Can you make more?"
You waggle your hand. "I can produce a set amount, but they need to be used quickly. Those will last about a month before they'll start to lose potency, and in six months they'll be lethal. I can't expand production, and while I might be able to give you a little bit more, there's not much more flexibility."
W nods, and shares a look with Victan. "This... changes things. Thank you. I think we'll be able to provide what you're looking for." She gestures to Victan, and he reaches into his bag to pull out a few items and place them on the table.
Again he speaks, explaining each item as he puts them down. "Data storage about the monasteries. We keep watch over them for any kind of disturbance, and these are our reports, as well as an offer to help open communications. They are mostly cut off from the world outside but we can get you in."
Then he puts down a sheaf of papers. "Here is a proposal for us to build a new settlement down the road, as part of a planned new manufacturing community. On paper they'll be producing bulk machine parts, and that will be true in part, but we will also be constructing new factories for higher-tech devices. Your facility will be listed as a raw materials extraction center over a deep mine, with attached smelting centers."
You think about that, nodding along. You see what they're doing here - it's smart. A nearby community gives you more cover, since it's more reasonable to have a large industrial center close to a population center. And making it a mine and smelter complex would explain away some of your waste products and heat signature, and also not make you a target unless the mechanicus gets uppity. They hit factories, not mines.
But they're also putting one of their new technology manufacturing centers nearby, and hoping it'll be shielded under your defensive umbrella. Which they don't know you have, but they're assuming. And they're right. You do have it. But that might mean that if their manufacturing gets attacked you'll end up defending it because you won't know if the attack is coming for you or them until the last possible moment.
Eh, that's only probably true if they're hitting it with a ballistic missile. And if nukes start flying I think I'll shoot down as many of them as I can.
You promise to think about it, and get back to them with your decision.
Vote below on if you take the Aevon deal to build a manufacturing community nearby and disguise your aboveground operations as a mine.
Once they're gone with the juvenat and the supplies it's time for you to go through what they've given you. The file on the monasteries is a series of dry reports, but it provides you with an in-depth view of life inside those institutions. You're pretty sure that the ACI has several agents in the staff, though they've gone to some pains to hide exactly who their agents are from you. Their reports are only on the Aevon monastery, not the ones on other continents, but they do have some analysis that suggests that the other two are very similar - after all, they were founded by the governor at the same time with the same purposes and the same techniques.
In short, the monasteries are hermitages that seek to be self-sufficient in most things. They hire a staff of outsiders for various tasks using a large stockpile of precious goods, but otherwise live lives of ascetic contemplation in prayer to the God-emperor. For in fact the faith in the Emperor is alive and well in the monasteries, and they regard the outside world with suspicion for having lost the faith in the Shepherd of Mankind.
Each monastery is built around a giant dome of clearly advanced construction, and this is something that you pay especially close attention to. The reports say that it's supposed to be some kind of psychic dampening device, though from what you can see it's entirely passive, with no active energy requirements. Therefore pretty significantly different from your own psychic shielding - probably closer to the psytech still sitting in your vaults.
Any new applications to the monasteries are screened and divided into two groups, which seems to correspond to "Psychic enough to be dangerous" and "everybody else." Those who aren't deemed dangerous live within the walls of the monastery farming and engaging in various crafts to produce tradable goods. Some of them are then brought into a security force called the "Nullifiers" who seem to focus their attention on the internal dome. They're armed with carapace armor and hotshot las guns, so well-armed by local standards. Though their gear is starting to show some signs of age.
Those who are deemed dangerous spend almost all of their time inside the domes, and from what the ACI agents could discover almost all of that is spent going through various kinds of calming meditation and various other exercises whose purpose is to suppress psychic power. You're not sure if that's actually what's happening, but it's what the report says. There are also zero reports of any kind of psychic phenomenon, so maybe if they're trying to suppress psychic power they're actually doing a pretty good job.
It sounds like they're just praying all day every to keep their powers suppressed? Seems like a shame to have magic powers and devote all of your attention to not having magic powers. But - like everything, there's probably a reason for that. Probably to do with them being more easily corrupted or something.
The inner-circle monks cursed with psychic powers emerge a few times a year for various rituals under the open sky, and in all cases are dressed plainly and ascetically and sing praises to the emperor to the sky for hours on end. On those occasions the agents have counted them, and found the number to vary between forty to sixty, though notably sometimes one of their number will vanish from one year to the next and never reappear.
To corroborate that information, one of the agents reports a scene where they saw a psyker try to escape the dome and be instantly gunned down by the nullifiers, who then rapidly cleaned the scene and pretended that nothing had happened.
The government of Aevon has some contact with the monasteries, though it's mostly through in-person meetings, there's a single communication line that apparently leads from the president of Aevon to the leader of the Aevon monastery. There's a proposal at the end of the document that they'd be willing to make introductions of some kind, either in-person or electronically, though the details are left vague. But apparently they're willing to offer you a friendly introduction for as far as it will get you.
Neat, though from what you're reading it doesn't necessarily sound like the psykers are much of a risk. Still, if you want to investigate you certainly have a way to reach out to them now, and have them actually talk to you either digitally or through an avatar.
Current capabilities:
Command Points 1,775/12,500
Ground Build Capacity: 900
Void Build Capacity: 0
Research Capacity: 200
Psychic Shielding: 100/100 (repair for 10 BP/point)
Juvenat usage: 22/50 people's worth (cannot be stockpiled)
Available ships:
1x Ground-to-orbit shuttle (5 CP) Need a spaceport to convert ground BP to void BP
Misc assets:
55 BP of trade goods that Aevon will accept as rent.
Avatars: Adult human woman, indeterminate age. Female tech priest with some augmentations.
Current Installations:
Crashed Ship (10 CP)
Underground Directional-Control Radio Tower (5 CP)
2x Underground Manufactories (2x50 = 100 CP)
Underground Captive Holding cells, 0/500 occupants (10 CP)
Underground Basic Technological Research Lab (50 CP)
14x Manufactories (14x50 = 700 CP)
Small automated medical facility (50 CP)
Camouflaged Observatory (25 CP)
Military Installations:
4x Underground Anti-Air Defenses (4x5 =20 CP)
In progress construction:
None
In progress research:
None
Actions (choose 4 of the below, can choose the same action multiple times):
[] [Free] Poke around some more in the databases, looking for anything in particular. I'm not going to write out every aspect of Vita going through the databases she yoinked. If you want to ask if something in particular is present because it's important, do so here. Please keep it to one or two items per turn.
[] Orders: Command existing units in a given theater of operations.
[] Diplomacy: Talk to people. (Write-in goal & method) Thalya is expecting a report next turn. You can ignore her, but then she'll probably put out a capture-on-sight order and try even harder to track you down. You could send in a report with a free action, but that's much riskier than spending an action on it, and a poor roll will have similar results to no report. You also have an in with the psyker monastery on Aevon, though they're pretty insular and would need a reason to care about talking to an outsider that's not the goverment.
[] Construction: Gain build points equal to your build capacity, write in what combination of blueprints you spend them on.
Installations
Installation default is to be built in full view. Basic stealth (building under cover, sensor-absorbing materials) can be applied with 2x BP cost. Ground-based installations can be built entirely underground for 3x BP cost.
Basic Biology Research Lab (50 BP, 50 CP) Will allow you to process basic biological samples, such as flora & fauna. Or captives.
Basic Technological Research Lab (50 BP, 50 CP) Will allow you to process basic technological samples, to understand their electronics, materials, etc.
Captive Holding cells (25 BP, 10 CP) will allow you to hold 500 captives and keep them fed and watered while you interrogate/indoctrinate/talk to them.
Small automated medical facility (50 BP, 50 CP) 50 treatment rooms with autodocs capable of dealing with moderate injuries.
Directional-control Radio tower (25 BP, 5 CP) improves signal reception quality and allows you to send your own signals across the planet, as well as giving you the capability to bounce them off the atmosphere to disguise their origin.
Observatory (100 BP, 25 CP) Built on a nearby mountain. Will unlock research projects to map the current system.
Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP) More manufacturing capacity and the raw material harvesting to use it. +50 ground-based build capacity.
Rocket Launch facility (50 BP, 10 CP) Uses chemical rockets to convert up to 500 ground build capacity to half that amount of void build capacity. The opposite of stealthy.
Spaceport (100 BP, 25 CP) Allows you to use shuttles to convert ground build capacity to Void build capacity with no loss, or as a base to host and rearm fighters. Can host 10 fighters or 10 shuttles, each capable of converting 50 ground BP to void BP, built separately. Stealthier than rockets, but not invisible
Magnetic Catapult launch system (1000 BP, 50 CP) Allows you to convert up to 500 ground build capacity to void build capacity with no loss. Stealthier than you'd think.
Anti-Orbital Defenses (100 BP, 5 CP) A single large lance dug into a reinforced bunker. Will prevent hostile forces from claiming the orbits uncontested, but can be neutralized by orbital bombardment or ground invasion.
Anti-Air Defenses (25 BP, 5 CP) A trio of rapid-recharge lascannons backed up by advanced targeting software in a reinforced emplacement with an upwards-facing arc. Will attempt to destroy ballistic missiles, aircraft or shuttles as they approach. Can miss or be saturated by large amounts of incoming fire or miss and fail to destroy their targets.
Void Installations
These are built in space. They require 'void BP' which is associated with lift capacity. This is a detail we'll abandon eventually, but for now your lift capacity is limited.
Orbital Manufactory (500 void BP, 50 CP) Orbital manufacturing capability, built above a world. Includes material harvesting & transport. Gives +50 void build capacity.
Deep Space Manufactory (1500 void BP, 50 CP) Manufacturing capacity built near asteroid clusters. Gives +100 void build capacity. Automatic basic stealth. Requires you to do a system survey.
Small Shipyard (1000 void BP, 50 CP) All of the necessary facilities to manufacture 4 destroyers or 2 frigates per turn.
Medium Shipyard (5000 void BP, 100 CP) All of the necessary facilities to manufacture 16 destroyers or 8 frigates or 2 light cruisers per turn.
Ground-to-orbit shuttle (20 BP, 5 CP) Each shuttle converts up to 50 ground build capacity to void build capacity. Requires a spaceport for efficient transfer of materials.
Ground-to-orbit Fighter (20 BP, 5 CP) These fighters have twin-linked lascannons to attack ground and orbital targets, and can carry a couple of small bombs. Requires a spaceport for rapid launch and rearming.
Requires frigate-capable shipyard. Small system monitor (2525 void BP, 100 CP) Frigate, 2200x600 meters. 5 gravities of acceleration. Heavy armor, Heavy Shields. 4x Medium Macrocannons, 1x Medium Lances, 2x Point Defense.
1000 bp base. 1000 bp
Units
Avatar (10 BP, 0 CP) 1 human-appearing robot.
Light infantry bots (25 BP, 200 CP). 1000 human-sized bipedal robots with light arms and armor, mostly intended to fight lightly-armored enemies. Expensive CP cost due to need for close control. Can be humanized for +15 BP to appear humanoid unless bodies are investigated, with a slight malus to strength and armor.
Medium Infantry Bots (50 BP, 200 CP) 1000 human-sized bipedal robots with medium armor and light anti-tank weaponry. Expensive CP cost due to need for close control. Can be humanized for +15 BP to appear humanoid unless bodies are investigated, with a slight malus to strength and armor.
Medium tanks (200 BP, 50 CP) 100 medium battle tanks with battle cannons to fight enemy armor.
Basic Artillery (300 BP, 50 CP) 50 basic artillery units, capable of shelling battlefields with indirect fire. Includes internal ammunition fabrication.
Export Goods
Light Infantry Weapons (5 BP) Enough light weapons to outfit 1000 humans. Mostly intended for anti-personnel use. Lasguns, a few stubbers, some grenade launchers and supplies of frag grenades.
Light Infantry Armor (5 BP) Enough light armor to outfit 1000 humans. Roughly equivalent to Imperial guard Flak armor, though with better communication abilities.
Medium Infantry Weapons (10 BP) Enough medium weapons to outfit 1000 humans. A mix of anti-armor and anti-personnel use with greater specialization. Hotshot las-gun equivalents, some lascannons, some autocannons, some flamers, some sniper rifles, a supply of krak grenades.
Medium Infantry Armor (10 BP) Enough medium armor to outfit 1000 humans. Roughly equivalent to Imperial carapace armor.
Heavy Infantry Weapons (20 BP) Enough heavy weapons to outfit 1000 humans. Primarily focused on anti-armor, will work well on power-armored foes. Plasma guns, meltaguns, heavy flamers, melta bombs, missile launchers.
Light crewed tanks (100 BP) 100 light battle tanks, primarily armed with anti-personnel weapons. Need crew. Roughly equivalent to the Imperial Chimera.
Medium crewed tanks (200 BP) 100 medium battle tanks with battle cannons to fight enemy armor. Roughly equivalent to the Leman Russ.
Basic Crewed artillery (300 BP) 50 basic artillery units, capable of shelling battlefields with indirect fire. Includes internal ammunition fabrication.
Trade goods (Any cost you wish to spend) A mix of medical supplies, civilian equipment, vehicles and appliances tailored to your trade partner's needs. 5 is a small amount of goods, 10 is decent, 20 is a fair number, 50 starts being quite a lot.
Manned Manufactory (100 BP) More manufacturing capacity and the raw material harvesting to use it. +50 ground-based build capacity, to be spent as the people running it desire.
[] Research: Gain research points equal to your research capacity, to be spent designing new blueprints or researching projects. Write in what you spend them on.
Designable Blueprints:
100 RP - Heavy Infantry Bots (100 BP, 200 CP) 1000 human-sized bipedal robots with heavy armor, roughly equivalent to the Sisters of Battle, and heavy armaments such as plasma guns, meltaguns, heavy flamers, melta bombs, missile launchers.
50 RP - Heavy tanks (500 BP, 50 CP) 100 heavy battle tanks with heavy battle cannons to fight effectively against heavy enemy armor.
50 RP - Bombers (20, 5 BP) Sometimes you want to deliver cargo to your enemies. Can deliver a fair amount of ordinance to a target in atmosphere or out of it. Unlocks a bomber hanger attachment for ships.
50 RP - Assault Shuttle (25, 5 BP) Sometimes you want to deliver things other than bombs to your enemies. So let's stick some armor and guns on a shuttle, and make it a bit more maneuverable. Can carry 100 troops and provide anti-personnel and light antiarmor fire.
25 RP - Anti-armor Bunker (50 BP, 5 CP) A bunker with a heavy melta cannon, able to take out most armor in a single shot.
15 RP - Anti-personnel Bunker (20 BP, 2 CP) A bunker with a set of high-fire-rate weapons designed to take down humanoid-sized attackers wearing medium or lighter armor.
50 RP - Ballistic missile (50 BP, 10 CP) A long-range ballistic missile. By default it carries a high-yield explosive head capable of destroying approximately a city block. Can be intercepted by orbital defenses.
50 RP - Nuclear warhead (25 BP, 1 CP) A nuclear warhead that can be deployed by ballistic missile or other means to destroy a city-sized target unless it's heavily dug-in.
25 RP - Spy satellite (10 void BP, 5 CP) A small spy satellite that lets you do your own surveillance on the planet below. Under your complete control and with better sensors and communication hardening than any of the local satellites.
100 RP - Advanced Technological Research Lab (500 BP, 100 CP) Will allow you to process advanced technological samples, including materials of alien orgin. Has advanced scanning, modelling and processing capabilities.
50 RP - Large automated medical facility (500 BP, 50 CP) 500 treatment rooms with autodocs capable of dealing with moderate injuries.
Ground Blueprint Design:
To design ground installations & non-combat units, post them and I'll add them here if they're valid, along with RP cost to design them. This includes bunkers, anti-orbital defenses, ground units, etc. You'll unlock more things with more technology. Some things are impossible without the correct research - for example, heavy tanks will require you to research heavy armor first. Other things will be very cheap if you already have most of the design - for example if you research a better weapon it will be relatively cheap to just swap that out on the tanks.
Void Blueprint design:
To design void blueprints, follow these steps:
Choose a starting hull from the list of available void chassis below
Choose the number of Build Points to be spent on the base hull. This corresponds to overall size of the ship - a destroyer with 200 bp will be 1200x200 meters, while a 500 bp base destroyer will be 1600x400 meters. This will set the "hp" of the design as well as determine the total cost of weapons and combat equipment you can fit into the ship.
Pick the speed, shields and armor of the design. Shields are recharging temp HP, while armor is damage reduction. Speed is self-explanatory. These do not count towards weapon cramming.
Pick noncombat equipment to go onto the ship. These do not count towards weapon cramming.
Choose weapons and combat equipment to add to the ship. As a rule of thumb, your budget for these things is the base BP spent on size before you start to get into cramming. You can cram more stuff in, but there will be penalties to maneuvering, maintenance, etc. As an example, if you build a destroyer with a base hull cost of 400, then you have a budget of 400 to spend on weapons/equipment before penalties start kicking in. See the below example for an explanation:
Spend the number of RP attached to the chassis.
Here are two examples of me designing the two blueprints you have available:
(Basic Defense Satellite) Light defense Platform. Base 100 Bp (200x200 meters). No engines, Light shields for 50 bp, light armor for 50 bp. 1x light lance battery for 100 bp. Total is 100+50+50+100 = 300. Weapons+equipment is 100, within the base BP of 100, so no cramming penalty.
(Basic System Monitor) Destroyer chassis. Base BP 350 (1500x300 meters) Engines: 7 gravities for 100 BP. Light Shields for 50 BP. Medium armor for 100 BP. 2x Light Macrocannon batteries for 200 bp, 1x Light Lance battery for 100 bp, High maneuverability thrusters for (1/10 base, round up to nearest 50 =) 50 bp. Total is 350+100+50+100+200+100+50 = 950. Weapons + equipment is 350, within the base BP of 350, so no cramming penalty.
Available Void Chassis:
Light defense Platform, 25 RP, 10 CP, (100-400 BP, 200x200-500x500 meters.) Engines: (none) for (0). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100)
Destroyer, 50 RP, 50 CP. (200-500 BP, 1200x200-1600x400 meters) Engines: (6/7/8 gravities) for (50/100/150 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/50/100)
Frigate, 100 RP, 100 CP. (500-1000 BP, 1600x400-2200x600 meters) Engines: (5/6/7 gravities) for (75/150/225 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium/heavy) for (0/75/150/225) Armor: (none/light/medium/heavy) for (0/75/150/225)
Light Cruiser, 150 RP, 200 CP. (1000-2000 BP, 3500x400-4400x800 meters) Engines: (3/4/5 gravities) for (100/200/300 BP). Shields: (none/light/medium) for (0/100/200) Armor: (none/light/medium) for (0/100/200)
Available Non-combat Equipment:
Living Space (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship is built to be run and operated by humans. It will require a crew but will not cost CP to command.
Warp Drive (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to nearest 50) This ship can jump to the warp. Navigation systems sold separately.
Psychic Shielding (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to nearest 50) This ship has a neural network integrated throughout the whole thing, that thinks "no" as hard as possible, answering the question for any warp-corruption for any beings or objects within the hull.
Troop compartment (25 BP) Can carry 10,000 soldiers or 500 medium tanks across the stars.
Medical bay (25 BP) Can treat 1000 moderately injured people at once.
Manufactory (Any cost up to base cost of hull, counts as combat equipment for cramming purposes) Generates void BP equivalent to 1/10 of its cost.
Repair Bay (Any cost up to base cost of hull, counts as combat equipment for cramming purposes). Repairs damage across friendly ships equal to its cost in repairs.
Available Weapons:
Prow Ram 50 bp. This ship is built to run into things, and hurt them more than it gets hurt.
Light Macrocannons 100 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage. Medium Macrocannons 200 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage. Heavy Macrocannons 400 bp. Medium range, projectile weapons built for sustained barrage.
Light Lances 100 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire. Medium Lances 200 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire. Heavy Lances 400 BP. Long range, hitscan burst weapons. Not excellent at sustained fire.
Light Missiles 50 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon. Medium Missiles 100 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon. Heavy Missiles 200 BP short range, limited ammo, vulnerable to enemy point defense but very good burst damage. Limited ammo. Decent anti-fighter/bomber weapon.
Light Plasma Cannon 250 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields. Medium Plasma Cannon 500 BP, Medium range, high-fire rate with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields, less effective against armor.
Light Melta cannon 200 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields. Medium Melta cannon 400 BP, Very short range, medium-fire rate but with incredible damage potential. Extremely effective against shields.
Fighters 100 BP, 50 CP. Parasite craft with short-ranged guns and some missile capability.
Point Defense 50 BP. A series of turrets on the hull to shoot down enemy fighters, missiles and torpedoes.
Small Torpedoes 150 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to give destroyers a bad day, hurt frigates and prick cruisers. Medium Torpedoes 300 BP. A payload of straight-flying armored torpedoes, sized to wreck frigates, hurt cruisers and make grand cruisers know they've been touched.
Light Teleportarium 100 bp. Can teleport a small number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from close range. Enemy shields must be down. Medium Teleportarium 200 bp. Can teleport a medium number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from medium-close. Enemy shields must be down. Heavy Teleportarium 400 bp. Can teleport a large number of organics or robots onto enemy ships from long range. Enemy shields must be down.
Available Combat Equipment:
Low-emission Systems (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship has been tuned to reduce overall emissions, making it stealthier. Not stealthy. Stealthier.
High-maneuverability thrusters (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship is more maneuverable, able to flip, spin and dodge more quickly. This lets it maneuver well through dense asteroid clusters and dodge/ram more effectively in combat.
Plasma payloads (choose missile warheads or Macro cannon warheads) (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship can load and fire plasma-warhead ammunition, which has a flat damage increase.
Melta payloads (choose missile warheads, Macrocannon warheads or torpedoes) (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship can load and fire melta-warhead ammunition, which is especially effective against enemy armor and hulls.
Tuned Shields Double shield cost on ship. These shields recharge significantly faster, but when taken down all the way take slightly longer to reboot.
Alloyed Armor Double armor cost on ship. Armor is much tougher but is harder to repair.
Light Boarding preparations (1/20 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) Bulkheads are reinforced, extra hatches seal all decks and turrets guard key chokepoints, making boarding annoying. Medium Boarding preparations (1/10 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) The ship layout is designed to funnel borders into kill-zones in front of armored bunkers, and any borders will take heavy casualties. Heavy Boarding preparations (1/5 of the base cost of the hull, rounded up to the nearest 50) This ship as essentially a flying dungeon, filled with escherian mazes, hidden turrets, crushing-hallways and other deathtraps.
The ways to get new research options are to:
Do research. That'll unlock more research.
Build appropriate installations & potentially acquire samples to research in them (samples could be anything from 'a human' to 'a Norn queen' in rarity).
Ask for them. Often I'll tell you what you need to do to unlock specific research options,
-[] Efficient Weapon Distribution (100 RP) Ok, there must be more efficient ways to lay weapons out on these ships! (Weapon costs count as 0.9x for ship capacity packing.)
-[] Heavy Cruisers (300 RP) How to make a bigger ship? Let's figure that out. Surely it's not much more complicated than just multiplying all of the dimensions by two! (unlocks heavy cruisers)
-[] Can I have a new ship please? (200 RP) Triggers a sub-turn to design yourself a new ship. It can be any size, up to one class larger than what you currently have available (This is Vita's unique mechanic, and will let you design the first iteration of your ship)
-[] Mechanicus files on the Archenemy (100 RP) You've seen refences here and there to the "Archenemy" and the "Corruption" that it causes. It seems like a more specific and terrible danger than just a generalized lure of going against cult doctrine, but... what? It's almost like they're treating it as a infohazard that needs to be locked behind higher access.
-[] Small-craft Stealth (100 RP) How do I keep these ships better hidden? Hmm - radar absorption, better chassis design to deflect signals? Hiding or dispersing the drive plume? All good ideas. (Unlocks the ability to design versions of fighters, bombers, boarding craft and shuttles with basic passive stealth. Unlocks advanced passive stealth, basic active stealth and research to apply stealth to both smaller combat bots and larger ships)
-[] Shuttle automation (150 RP) Surely I don't have to fly these stupid things myself. (Reduce the CP cost of shuttles by 50%)
-[] In-atmosphere void shields (100 RP) You know it's possible to generate void-shields in atmosphere. You even think you have an academic paper theorizing on it lying around somewhere. But you don't have any schematics for it. But if you can figure it out then you'll be able to build yourself a something to protect against orbital or WMD bombardment, as well as build scaled-down versions for your armored units. (Unlocks the ability to design shield installations and add shields to tanks, titans. Unlocks further research for person-sized void shields, as well as potentially stronger overall shielding.)
-[] Superheavy Armor (200 RP) Let's just stick starship armor on them and call it a day. (Unlocks superheavy tanks and is half of the puzzle for space-marine-quality power armor)
-[] Basic power armor (100 RP) Putting heavy armor on a person doesn't work well because... well. It's heavy. If you can give it some robotic actuation then they don't need to carry all of it. (Unlocks humanoid heavy armor, as well as being a prereq for superheavy-humanoid armor, i.e. for space marine-quality, once you research superheavy armor.)
-[] Avatar self-customization (200 RP) Your previous avatar was capable of changing its appearance at your whim, changing the hair, eye and skim color rapidly. Hair length and body size changes took a bit longer but were also possible. Is this worth figuring out? It might just be you being vain. (Unlocks some disguise-style cybernetics... once you get good cybernetics and can do things like skin/eye replacements).
-[] Combat Bot Humanization, Redux (50 RP) Your first try at making humanoid-looking combat bots worked, but you had to make some annoying compromises. You have some ideas on how to fix it, you just need to implement them. (Fixes the combat malus that comes from humanizing combat bots).
-[] Walkers (300 RP) Tanks are... kind of boring? Mechs are cooler. (unlock armiger knights, starts the knights/titans research tree)
-[] Really good Robotics: (1200 RP) You know it's possible to make robots that are really strong. You've seen the specs floating around. You just don't quite know how to do it, though you've got some ideas on the matter... it would take quite a bit of simulation and a lot of trial and error to bring them into reality (Unlocks improvements to avatars, power armor, cybernetics, combat bots, improved manufactories). Acquire samples of advanced robots to reduce this cost.
-[] Intelligence Coding (500 RP) You don't really understand how your own code and hardware works. Maybe putting some effort into understanding that would pay dividends. It's never been something too interesting, but hey, maybe you should give it a shot. (Helps you understand your own code. Prerequisite to building new AIs, starts command point tree and automation tree)
-[] Improved Psychic shielding: (500 RP) Your "no" shielding seems to have worked to protect you from attack so far. But the design is really just a first-generation version. You could develop the second generation, make it capable of more complex and powerful thoughts? (Gives you the ability to build improved psychic shielding, and further upgrades down the path to make it even stronger, half of the research towards using this as some kind of attack against warp beings).
-[] Miniaturized psychic shielding: (300 RP) Right now you can build and repair psychic shielding that's roughly ship-sized. Maybe aiming for building-sized next? (Lets you build smaller and less expensive versions of the psychic shielding. Unlocks further research to "nest" the shielding, as well as build person-sized versions).
- [] The Basics of Psytech (200 RP) You have that pile of samples from Prospero. You were supposed to see if anybody was interested in them, but you doubt the people who gave them to you will care much what you do with them anymore. Maybe poke around and figure out what's what. (Beginner psytech learnings. Unlocks research projects to build individual pieces of psytech)
-[] The workings of a Void Abacus (200 RP) You have a void abacus. It's pretty complicated, but you also have the manual, and you've always been good at physics. (You're better at using your void abacus, and unlocks the technology to figure out how to manufacture them, half of unlocking research for better warp understanding).
-[] A Study of Physics (150 RP) You have a good understanding of physics, and access to a huge network of academic papers from several different eras on physics theory. But being able to query it and understand it are different things. It's actually kind of interesting, you have to admit. (First steps towards more exotic weapon types like nova cannons, graviton weapons, vortex bombs, fusion beamers, as well as some new potential manufacturing techniques).
-[] System survey (50 RP) What else is there in the system? You're not even sure what planet you're on. (Intel on local system).
-[] What's up with this tech? (100 RP, requires samples of imperial technology from locals) You know some of how it works, but you need to get your hands on it to properly replicate it. What's up? (unlocks machine spirits/servitor construction, as well as half of the prereq for hacking imperial technology).
-[] Let's fix the lag issue (50 RP) Your cybernetics... aren't great. There's sort of an unacceptable amount of lag between the organic and machine parts right now. You have some ideas on how to fix that
-[] Organ replacements (100 RP) Well, one area where lag isn't a problem is in organ replacements. It's not the same as juvenat, but it's less complicated and a good way to extend peoples' lives by a bit since you can replace most of their organs as they fail, though the technological versions aren't perfect. Also lets you provide more advanced medical care, as well as install things like adrenaline glands, toxin-filters & other miscellaneous internal augments. Not as good as genetic engineering, but easier. (Unlocks advanced organ replacements that are effectively as good as biological ones, and improved internal augments).
-[] Combat cybernetics (100 RP) Your limb cybernetics are fine for most purposes, but they're not strong enough or durable enough for use in combat situations. You also could figure out how to do things like integrate internal weapons or cutting edges to make them more dangerous. (Unlocks basic combat augments. Half of the technology for advanced combat augments, the other half is Really good Robotics) Locked until you fix the Lag issue.
-[] Brain implants (150 RP) Direct interfacing with the brain is complicated, and you're not pleased by how the mechanicus has chosen to do it. Proper brain implants improve people's reaction speed, memory and let you directly interface new senses with the brain. All without cutting out existing portions. (Unlocks basic neural implants. Half of the technology needed for neural-interface psytech. A third of the technology needed for advanced neural implants.) Locked until you fix the Lag issue.
-[] Basic Imperial Hacking (150 RP) Imperial technology is surprisingly well-hardened, and machine spirits are a pretty effective counter to most hacking. But with time and preparation you can probably subvert specific pieces of imperial technology. (Allows better penetration of Imperial & Mechanicus systems and the ability to subvert specific systems. Unlocks further hacking technology, though it will likely require specific installations/ship equipment to utilize) Locked behind What's up with this tech?
-[] Biology is kinda wet (100 RP) Unlocks basic biology research. (The first step towards research projects related to improving juvenat yield, as well as human/xeno genetics, improved medical care, interrogation drugs etc.) Locked behind Basic Biology Research Lab.
Crew :
Anexa Ifina, Tech-priest Errant.
Level 1
-[] Anexa active Action: Research - assists a research action you take, granting +5xLevel RP to the action. Will level on successful roll, scaled by the importance of the tech.
-[] Anexa passive action: Education - Roll to level, difficulty is 10+5xLevel
[] Anexa: Juvenat Yes Tell Anexa about the Juvenat. She'll likely get more interested in biological research, and maintain a more biological form, though you're not completely certain.
[] Anexa: Juvenat No Don't tell Anexa about the juvenat. It'll be distracting from her mission, and with your help she's almost certain to succeed in achieving immortality through cybernetics.
[] Aevon Mine: Take the "mine disguise" deal Aevon founds a manufacturing center about fifteen miles away and you become set up as a mine drawing workers from there and providing raw materials (though neither actually happen). Will allow you to expand your surface facilities nearly indefinitely without arousing suspicion, although only limited to stuff that fits
[] Aevon Mine: Don't take the "mine disguise" deal. Aevon won't found a nearby manufacturing center. If you expand your surface installations any further it'll start looking suspicious because why is there a big industrial complex in the middle of nowhere?
[] Aevon Weapons: Yes Aevon has asked for your rent to be paid in weapons. They're specifically interested in stuff like longlases and plasma pistols that are useful for covert work and could conceivably be found in an imperial cache. It's likely this will be used to further tilt the covert conflicts in their favor, and may alarm the mechanicus.
[] Aevon Weapons: No You'll supply them with cogitators and communicators, but no weapons.
Your basic success with the Mechanicus means you succeeded in soothing Thalya a bit, though she's still trying multiple avenues to get her hooks into you. But she's not escalating, and she's willing to play ball with you so long as you keep it up. She's expecting her next report not this upcoming turn but the turn after that.
In case you're wondering, yes the tech tree is going to keep expanding out. I don't have it fully planned out, but I do plan for nearly every tech to unlock 1-3 more. There are supposed to be more avenues than you can reasonably chase down. Don't expect to ever complete all of it. There's also going to be synergy - doing the Imperial tech studies is also likely to reduce the cost of a few other techs, but you don't know which ahead of time and it depends on rolls. Your tech rolls in particular have been abysmal.
Your good roll for the Aevon diplomacy plus handing over juvenat got you two bonuses - first they gave you pretty much everything they had on the monasteries and offered to make a friendly introduction. Second, they offered up a plan to minimize the suspicion for your industrial complex, though it's not entirely a one-sided deal. Their request for weapons and the mine proposal are separate. Agreeing to the weapons request will make them like you more, and might do something like negate a poor roll in the future or mean they'll treat you more and more like an ally, and plan to actively defend you.
Anexa working on diplomacy and the meh roll means she didn't level this turn. You would have needed a crit for her to level from diplomacy anyway, though she wouldn't have levelled from the poor cybernetics roll either.
Let's do 24 hours of Moratorium and 24 hours of voting, though I might cut the voting short a few hours depending on when I have time for the next update.
Anyway, I'm thinking double research turn this time, one construction, and then sending out a feeler to the Monastaries to start sniffing around there.
[ ] Plan: Technology is about to go crazy!
-[ ] [Free] What is the deal with this God-Emperor anyway? It sounds kind of crazy, and there's got to be more to it, right?
-[] Diplomacy: Monastery Poking?
--[ ] Take up the offer for an introduction to the Aevon Monastery, there's a certain risk of your avatar being identified there depending on how good their Psykers are, but there's too much risk of an electronic communication being intercepted and setting someone or other off. Our main interest is as a traveller seeking to be well informed as to how to deal with any potential psykers that might pop up, and the dangers to be aware of. We have certain protections, and aren't unwilling to share if things go well, but it'll help greatly to have actual, friendly collaborators to see if they have any limits that we need to shore up. (Acquire Introduction to Monasteries, hopefully establishing some kind of amicable relationship with them. We have the carrot of effective psi-shielding that may or may not be better than what they have in hand to help further improve the situation there, and some other exchanges. Getting a fun psi-specialist bean would be lovely, but the dice will roll as they will.)
-[ ] Construction (900 BP)
--[ ] 4x Manufactories (-400 BP)
--[ ] 1x Underground Basic Biology Lab (-150 BP)
--[ ] 6x Underground Anti-Air Defenses (-450 BP)
-[ ] Research x2 (400 RP)
--[ ] The Basics of Psytech (-200 RP)
--[] What's up with this tech? (-100 RP)
--[ ] Let's fix the lag issue (50 RP)
--[] System survey (50 RP)
-[] [Anexa] Education - Roll to level, difficulty is 10+5xLevel
This puts us at the golden number of 1,100, which is the point where we can start moving up to Space, because we'll have enough production that we can properly start launching our shit up there without completely crippling our ground based infrastructure in the process. But we want to make damn sure that we've got a clear backdrop and no major problems, so we need to do the System Survey. Basics of Psytech is because I hope to check out the Monasteries this turn, and we unlocked the Tech thing, so let's get that so we can get in a position to do some HAC-KING! Which is going to be important if we're going to neuter the Admech's ability to flip out and mad maxify the world when they realize they're losing control.
To that end, I think we do want to butter up the deal a little more, so I think we accept every option on the table. Fixing the lag issue is also going to be important too because that's got to be super annoying.
Ah, added the first in the hacking tech chain to the locked techs:
-[] Basic Imperial Hacking (150 RP) Imperial technology is surprisingly well-hardened, and machine spirits are a pretty effective counter to most hacking. But with time and preparation you can probably subvert specific pieces of imperial technology. (Allows better penetration of Imperial & Mechanicus systems and the ability to subvert specific systems. Unlocks further hacking technology, though it will likely require specific installations/ship equipment to utilize) Locked behind What's up with this tech?
If you try to do the tech study and hacking in the same turn then the follow-up, there's a slight risk that a low roll on the first and you won't finish the second tech, but you won't waste any RP. Just not complete it.
I want to tell about the Juvenat because I want them to know they have the option, But I'm intrested in the cybernetic design. If telling about the juvenat leads to a roll on what they will do I'll be doen to vote for it.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Mechanicus is in contact with the Monasteries if only an unused line. They'd probably see right through us as not human unless we meet them through a robot.
so let's get that so we can get in a position to do some HAC-KING! Which is going to be important if we're going to neuter the Admech's ability to flip out and mad maxify the world when they realize they're losing control.
While I want to get a start on that, I'd also really like to research a tech to trade with Thalya. Seems like something we should do now so that we have wiggle room if we roll low and need to fix the tech again.
I gotta agree on the double Research action. I really want to tackle these research, mainly because they're cheap and shore up some weaknesses. We should also have Anexa focus on leveling for a few turns, at least until she's level five. Not sure what to build with the construction action other than more manufactories and maybe a cloaked magnetic catapult.
-[] Diplomacy
--[] The Aevon has given you an in for the local monastery, something you've been curious about for quite some time. Maybe they'll help you understand the warp a bit more and why it's considered so dangerous. You don't need to be told it's dangerous, your built in shielding tells you it's plenty dangerous. Spend some time talking with them and you could build a working relationship, especially when you start building your own Psytech. . . You really should get on that.
-[] Research X2 (400RP)
--[] Let's fix the lag issue (50 RP)
--[] System survey (50 RP)
--[] Mechanicus files on the Archenemy (100 RP)
--[] Small-craft Stealth (100 RP)
--[] In-atmosphere void shields (100 RP)
[] Anexa: Juvenat Yes: Even knowing about it, this shouldn't stop her from pursuing better cybernetics and she won't have to constantly focus about old age looming over her head.
[] Aevon Mine: Take the "mine disguise" deal
If we're going to keep expanding above ground this will give quite a bit of breathing room as long as we don't do something crazy
The weapons one I am unsure about; one the one hand they'll like us more which will negate a bad roll but on the other hand, if the Mechanicus get twitchy, things will get bad fast. Now we aren't defenseless but we should definitely consider if the risk is worth it or not
-[] Anexa active Action: Research - assists a research action you take, granting +5xLevel RP to the action. Will level on successful roll, scaled by the importance of the tech.
Can we start surveying the system and finally get to work on getting our void infrastructure up? Even a basic spaceport would be amazingly useful right now.
Other than that, i do agree more research would be fun.
I think something more pressing would be learning about the Archenemy and being able to create small-craft with stealth capabilities. Especially the former if we're going to poke the Monasteries.
I think something more pressing would be learning about the Archenemy and being able to create small-craft with stealth capabilities. Especially the former if we're going to poke the Monasteries.
-[ ] Research x2 (400 RP)
--[ ] The Basics of Psytech (-200 RP)
--[] What's up with this tech? (-100 RP)
--[ ] Let's fix the lag issue (50 RP)
--[] System survey (50 RP)
-[] [Anexa] Education - Roll to level, difficulty is 10+5xLevel
Wholly agree here, maybe mention to Aevon that we're doing cybernetics research. With the "hint" that any samples would speed things up.
So too, psyker assistance with psytech seems pretty halpfool.
Anexa deff gets her Juv on offer. It doesn't stop her from her mechanical ascension anyways and I think we're the sorts to encourage doing both.
We take their production town, yes. It also makes a nice potential recruitment spot.
We give them guns... In limited quantity. Stating that you're afraid of escalating with the Cogboiz. If they found out about you, they'd be happy to kill everything on the planet for the off chance to walk through your burnt out husk.
Might be worth doing a dedicated research turn to knock out as much as possiblurgh. Get those void shields and aircraft as options.
That means that you can keep 50 people alive indefinitely, and they need an injection every 5 years or else they start aging again. It takes 5 years to make a dose, and they don't store well.
Going back to this, this does seem to be a peculiar rejuvenant in comparison to others we've heard about. Heck, I'm not even sure you can call this rejuvenat since it sounds like it doesn't, well, "rejuvenate" anyone and instead just keeps them frozen at their current age instead of winding back the clock. Though I could see this being a more stable form that what it lacks in potency it makes up for in reliability so it can be used indefinitely.
my only worry is that the mechanicus might decide cowabunga it is. but i trust Aevon isnt stupid, and knows to not push the toaster humpers to the point where they threaten the toasters.
