The past few months had been rough. Your severance package turned out to be worthless in the wake of post war inflation, and even in one of the supposed seats of Pact Joint Command you couldn't find a stable job. Trying find work outside the Pact was nearly impossible with how destroyed your reputation was with the Raihan Empire.
One drink turned to three quickly, and soon you were telling anyone who would listen about the hardships. The undue, unjust, and entirely of no fault of your own, hardships. --- Make a choice. You are currently a little buzzed, but a few more drinks shouldn't hurt.
>Complain about having to moonlight in the pharmaceutical industry, and getting no thanks. A bump couldn't hurt.
>Decry the squalid living conditions you've had to endure, despite your charitable work at the local clinics. Pound one.
>Rail against Solei, who is an unimaginative prick. Take a shot.
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AnonymousID:mmPvNiqs02/20/26(Fri)17:06:59
>>6373892(OP) >Complain about having to moonlight in the pharmaceutical industry, and getting no thanks. A bump couldn't hurt.
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AnonymousID:ERivpbaa02/20/26(Fri)17:56:45
>>6373892(OP) >>6373892(OP) >Complain about having to moonlight in the pharmaceutical industry, and getting no thanks. A bump couldn't hurt. Wasn't expecting to see another Space Shipyard quest so soon, relatively speaking.
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AnonymousID:3jFG8GyV02/20/26(Fri)18:01:42
>>6373892(OP) >>Rail against Solei, who is an unimaginative prick. Take a shot.
You crushed a small capsule between your fingers and inhaled sharply. Cold, burning, a burst of euphoria and suddenly crystal clear with the lingering smell of titanium fire. "Amp. Ampheticaine. It existed before, right? AKSG product all the way." The guy one seat over rolled his eyes. "here we go again." His lack of enthusiasm for very important facts did not deter you.
"I..." you sneezed like an undignified kitten "I perfected it!. Well, after NuAmp, Diet Amp, but I got it right. Got it exact! Biological chemistry... nominally outside my real of interest, but not my genius. Was I rewarded? No! NO I WAS NOT!" You started to stand up, mid proclamation, but a firm hand on your shoulder from a bouncer grounded you back into your seat, forcefully. This world was like clay, crude, demanding a hand to shape it. "A vision to realize it." Internal monologue leaked quite externally from your lips.
Ampheticaine was ubiquitous here, the lifeblood of industry perhaps. You rolled a drained shotglass in contemplation. Drops of cheap liquor rolled out onto your palms. "I did good work. Just like for the PJC. Took an imperfect idea, then purified and concentrated it! Did you see the videos of the Megaton Rain before they butchered it? Just like that....and just like that as soon as my work was done I was thrown away again."
The local grey market was always eager to capitalize on any resource. You had happened to be one, if only for a moment. Once developed, your utility quickly ended as the illicit pharmacorp found your personality difficult to work with and left you with a broken finger and busted nose. Shortly after the compounding process and formula proliferated outside the hands of your former employers. Sadly it also saw your apartment explode while you were elsewhere.
>>6373900 You slam a shot your neighbor bought for you, in a bid to shut you up. Poison and fire twisted into your gullet, the phantom of being strangled quickly passed, tension numbing slightly. "It was as fucking bad as working with Solei! He was so damn smug when he got the Director position of PJC R&D. Well fuck him, Whats the PJC now? Barely anything." You pull out a medal case and show your increasingly weary audience. "I...EARNED this! Not Solei, and they accused me of being iterative for designs that were placeholders!" you leaned on non existent back of your stool and fell to the floor.
The bouncer looked at you with a grimmace. He was spiked, you knew him in passing. A patient. The spike's death sentence was reduced to a life of inconvenience with a firmware update and a very minor hardware augmentation. "Glasner. Time for you to go. Need a hand?" ---- You are intoxicated. Another drink doesn't sound so bad though. Make a choice.
>>6373916 "Only lost my balance. Just got started."
The bouncer looked at you with a mixture of pity and frustration before walking away. This had been your routine for the past few weeks, it wasn't going to change tonight. "Don't have much else to do or anywhere else to be." Your living situation was best described as nomadic. You spent your "evenings" in the station's bowls with other vagrants, trying to stay ahead of individuals who desired to collect on petty debts. "Galaxssys' a..'ard place man."The seat next to you had been empty for a while.
A few more beers were put into storage for conversion into future piss before you noticed commotion. A group of attractive women were taking part in a brawl that was wrapping up. The bouncer from earlier was on the floor. You went over to see what this was about, no need for people to act so savage.
A guy comes in from outside your peripheral vision before you can get any closer. "Not for you Mr. Drunk. Today's your lucky day though, just walk away." ---
You are three sheets to the wind. What do you do?
>Push your way past. >Try to reason with him. >Take his advice and walk away. >Approximate a challenge to him in a display of dominance. >Write in
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AnonymousID:UTmP6pab02/20/26(Fri)23:46:09
>>6373930 >Write in Projectile vomit directly into his face.
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/21/26(Sat)00:33:52
>>6373985 You look around, and realize that the full attention of this man and his battle harem are now on you, as are the patrons of this establishment. Attempts to talk come out as a stutter. You pull yourself from a slouch to full height and attempt some semblance of dignity "I..hu huhu...I am the F former Director of the" and then it hits. Your body rejects the toxic swill in your stomach, a pain unlike any you've felt racks your being, doubling you over and causing you to put a death grip on the nearest available object. Starwind's shoulders. He was already executing a slick martial arts move that was no doubt going to break something.
>>6373898 >Wasn't expecting to see another Space Shipyard quest so soon, relatively speaking. Well NonCognis got infected with the brain worm and really wanted to explore the setting some more. Given that I thought Ex Nihilo was an interesting hook but was too busy run it myself I gave my blessing for this quest.
The Glasner beam had long powerup, requiring a long belch that allowed Starwind enough time to lean to the side, avoiding all but the particulate splatter of your projectile vomit. The rest of the incident is a blur, involving you getting violently kicked, thrown, then stomped on by a group of rather attractive women. In retrospect some men pay for that, so this could be considered a minor victory, if not for the grievous bodily injuries.
It would have been a mercy to have passed out right away, but instead some purple haired floozy grabbed you by the face and scanned your eye "No. The Arc-itect bounty was rescinded with the death of it's sponsor." The voices were hard to focus on. "Yeah. Looks like we missed out on this one. What? Patent infringement?" She hauls you up and the group poses around you. Your face was swollen to the point where you couldn't get a good look, but it seemed like one of the patrons took a picture. You tried to talk but spitting out mouthfuls of blood made it hard. "Whufdafuqmahn?"
"Hey look, you have a bounty on you, I, beloved hero collect it, and cover the cost of coming to this dead end. They just wanted you roughed up. Also stop building rotary cannons or something. I don't know. Also this is for my jacket." You never saw the next punch coming. "Come on Ladies. Lets go see if that cute engineer wants to join the team." --- "Wow. I've never seen someone shit himself from getting hit like that. It was really impressive!" She was your nurse, and a former knight pilot. Apparently she lost her frame in the war and had been disowned by her family, with no way to really get back into their graces. You'd feel worse for her if not for the constant replay of your ass beating she tended to play while doing routine care. Your gritted your teeth as she twisted and adjusted a brace that kept your shattered arm in one piece. "Almost as impressive as loosing a knight to strike fighters." The quip had upset her the first few times, once you learned enough about her to utilize it, but now it seemed ineffective. "Hmm, yes, but I think people will remember this more. Because it's funny. Also Galatan Starwind. Mmmm." She had a far off look in her eyes for a moment. "Anyway, my master is coming to see you shortly. Please appreciate what you are being offered."
A moment later a ragged looking man entered. He was lean, and masked. The infra and ultrasonic emissions from extensive augmentations made him unpleasant to be with in the same room. Your teeth almost hurt being near him. "Harris Glasner. The Alchemist wishes you well. I wish you well." You can't see his face, but he leans in closer to your bed, grabbing the railing tightly. "On her behalf, I would like to extend an offer. No need to act. Now." If not for the medical catheter already inserted inside your more delicate anatomy, you would have pissed yourself.
When you look down at your bedside tray, next to a cup of chocolate pudding is a letter.
>>6374028 You skim the contents of the letter, it was brief, and to the point. A job offer. blah blah blah responsibility. Something something well being of the station community. Where was the job title....Director. "OH HELL YEAH! I am an artist, and this will be my canvas!" You jumped out of bed and re fractured your arm. "Fuck!" --- It was a few weeks of ongoing therapy, but you were fully recovered, with new teeth even. Surprisingly nice teeth for such a backwater station. Granted if it could be had, it would be here. Your official new duty. Director. The pep in your step was arrested slightly as you stepped into a massive open bay. It looked like some sort of forward operational base in a military campaign had sex with a homeless encampment. There were clearly signs of industrial activity, but none of it was pristine. Overhead gantries hauled massive components into place while a robotics assembly line busied itself with unrelated tasks. Numerous specialty "Shops" handled sub components.
"Its beautiful. Isn't it? Harris Glasner." The masked man had snuck up on you. "We made many things here once. Strike craft, torpedoes, corvettes, even frigates. The Kaszanka type, if you are familiar. I know you are." He walked in lockstep with you, explaining the various shops and locations. You spotted a decommissioned hotdog being stripped for components, apparently cannibalized for it's engines. "We use those for Zweihänders. Waste not."
You'd had enough of him. "Yes, yes. Want not. Who are you anyway?" you adjusted your glasses more out of a nervous fidget than any real need. You felt him grinning through that opaque, featureless mask.
"I'm just a Bastard. You can even call me that. In fact, I insist. But, that is much. Less. Important than the job at hand You. Need to make choices."
He guided you over to a small open air elevator. It lead you up to an overhead director's cubicle on one of the mobile cranes. This place was a shithole. The whole thing was. Before you could say anything the Bastard motioned it's head towards the empty yard. "The artist needs a canvas, and this the brush with which you will work. Try not to have a tragic fall."
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/21/26(Sat)03:12:18
>>6374041 >>6374041 On your Director's display was a notification of the first job order you had to deal with.
"Our customer is the provisional government of Shima. To be honest its sort of an occupied territory of the PJC, and they are quickly loosing influence as the member states of the pact maneuver against eachother for favored trade deals and political ties. The upside is, we are nominally part of the PJC, so this funds us.
Shima has the capacity of build strikecraft, and has stocked up on them, but the craft aren't FTL capable. They need to patrol their territory and have requested between 6 and 12 patrol craft. The Pact has elected new builds rather than donating existing surplus craft, probably because the surplus got obliterated during the war.
These things don't need to be much more than their mission, so keep tight to the requirements and we can cash in on surplus exotic matter at the expense of going heavy on common matter. You also aren't going to have access to most of the familiar goods here, we make everything in house.
Ex-Nihilo's equipment is a little different, we can import, sure, but that eats into operational costs, so for now learn about what we have, develop the lines, and make do. Below is an overview of the current frigate frame and available sub components. (1/2)
"The Knife Fighter was made to be incredibly affordable, accomplish a patrol, and come home. Damage control wasn't part of the plan. We have two example configurations for you to review. A type offers a fast gunship equipped with the lantern core, B type is a pocket carrier that can take a hit or two. Neither are ideal, but its what the team could make before you came into the picture.
1. Deck houses provide a living and command space. The bigger the more functionality, think on equipment in mission repairs, command and control, room for EVA and recovery. The smallest simply provides the crew room to exist. The more crew you have the bigger you have to go.
2. Sensors. From a basic comms blade, to a jammer, to a C4 ISR node. The heavier you go the more power you need.
3. Armor and heatsinks. I'd argue heatsinks could be armor.
4. The E-Drive. If you are gonna jump you need it, and this ship needs it.
5. Lantern Core. This takes the place of multiple engines and powerplants. Gratuitous speed and power output, less efficiency, and it explodes violently if ruptured while under power. Its also cheaper than multiple engines and power cores.
6. Power core and basic engines. They don't explode, but you are either going to be slow as fuck, or come out more costly and still less than fast.
7. Armament. We are a little underdeveloped here. Our best tech in house are probably the missiles, but we also have basic particle beams. I'd say something about the strike craft but our customer can supply their own so that's always a consideration. Use the existing unit as a placeholder for locations.
8. Capacitors and shield tiles. We pioneered these ones. Much cheaper than a power plant, but they only have enough juice for a hit then you are systems dead until recharged. The tiles are happy being fed from a direct power source or capacitor array. Doesn't matter much to em.
And hey, we wrote the book on doing things the wrong way. Literally. Check out the Chimera manual sometime. Yeah, you shouldn't daisychain E-drives together, but if you know whats gonna blow first, you can plan for downstream failures and on station repairs. That said, this probably isin't the contract for that kinda shit. Anyway Glasner, welcome to the team, good to have you as a boss, go knock yourself out. Maybe you got some ideas we didn't think of." --- Alright players. Describe the kind of ship you want to make with whats available, and see if you can hit consensus. We'll have a ship within the next few hours, unless I pass out before then. The picture is mostly to help you visualize whats going on and what you have, rather than any expectation of drawing or creating anything, but if you do, thats cool too.
>>6374070 >>6374074 They want a patrol frigate, let's give em one. Large deckhouse so the ship is capable of performing limited EVA, boarding, rescue etc... would be useful in a "police" vessel. Lantern drive for cost and speed (we shouldn't be going into situations that are too hairy. Maybe advise training crews on emergency shutdown drills, or work some kind of CASE blowout panels into the superstructure to mitigate the effects of a full drive explosion.)
Then, capitalizing on the power output, slap on shields, heatsinks and particle beams. Going all in on energy should produce a ship that's cheaper to resupply while still being able to perform its intended function.
1. Biggest deckhouse, special emphasis on having a small EVA/recovery bay. 2. basic comms blade. 3. Heat sinks 4. E-Drive: Yes 5. Lantern Core. 7. Particle Beams 8. Shield Tiles
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AnonymousID:ERivpbaa02/21/26(Sat)13:58:24
>>6374070 >>6374085 Supporting, though I wonder why a patrol frigate needs an E-drive. If they're just meant to travel inside the Shima system, then it would be cheaper to forgo the E-drives and wake jump/haul them to the system instead.
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Indonesian GentlemanID:RxKyLLzk02/21/26(Sat)14:28:06
>>6374242 Agreed, maybe offer the E-drives as a separate installation package if they want to. Also, can we fit a couple of multipurpose missiles in there? Or do we have to develop those first?
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AnonymousID:Bcc1Rfgn02/21/26(Sat)15:18:28
>>6374242 >wake jump The Pact never developed hyperdrive tech, but select Imperial ships had it. Maybe if we could salvage a hyperdrive from an old battle site we could make a ship to haul our non- FTL frigates.
>>6374085 >>6374242 >>6374252 >>6374262 These things were certainly...interesting. Ex-Nihilo engineering up close. If you had access to a hyperdrive maybe it would be possible to reverse engineer it, but this was unlikely given the political climate. E-Drives were the best option for something as large as a system territory. Inefficent to be fair, but they also did offer some redundancy in supporting each other should a large enough threat emerge.
You worked the overhead crane system, and sent out commands periodically to the work teams. They were dysfunctional, fooling around, getting hurt now and again, but they also got the job done. You didn't like it, but it also made sense how this place churned out the raw amount of very mediocre ships it did. However...THIS TIME WOULD BE DIFFERENT. "Mine is a lighter touch..." you muttered as you worked the controls. The oversized drive core had come in earlier today, along with the heatsinks and E-drive. The components were crude, but the integration could be optimized. It also wasn't going too hard on additional resources yet...
Its a civil ship. But there was room for more. They didn't ask for more though...but you were director. You had stared at the schematics of the particle beams long enough to get ideas. Better than ideas. Eventualities. --- Pick one. >Finish the ship, and start cranking out the rest of the Shima patrol fleet. (control yourself. Produce 12 totally fine, if unremarkable frigates.) >Commit to a slight optimization. Ever so slight. It'd need more power, and that would eat into the materials budget for the fleet, but you could still reach the customers minimum ship count requirements, even if it was one or two under, they'd understand for what they were getting. (roll 1 d20 to reach for glory and risk an absurd boondoggle)
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AnonymousID:Bcc1Rfgn02/21/26(Sat)18:45:57
>>6374338 >Finish the ship, and start cranking out the rest of the Shima patrol fleet. (control yourself. Produce 12 totally fine, if unremarkable frigates.)
Solei thought we couldn't do boring but practical!? Well we'll show him! We'll make a ship so boring it'll put even him to sleep!...Ugh, we are going to need a drink after this.
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AnonymousID:Hey5IUec02/21/26(Sat)20:44:16
>>6374338 >Commit to a slight optimization. Ever so slight. It'd need more power, and that would eat into the materials budget for the fleet, but you could still reach the customers minimum ship count requirements, even if it was one or two under, they'd understand for what they were getting. We've tried the boring option before, like refitting old ships, and in the end it earned us the boot. No more! Glasner's Revengeance starts now!
>>6374528 two more hours. if no further rolls, or choices, we go with that 7. ---
You looked at the ship. It was fine. Fine enough, but, hmm. No. "It's not good enough. It wouldn't last a second against a patrol frigate." It wasn't made to. You knew that. That was not the mission, and yet, it galled you. Galled you badly.
>>6374587 >15 You gritted your teeth and looked at the design one last time. Constraints and eventualities played out in your imagination. Shima thought it needed cheap ships to get a job done right now, but there was obviously little thought about after "right now". It was short sighted. In theory they could upgrade the ships, in practice, they would fuck it up. You leaned back into your chair and let your hands glide through the air as you played with the design in augmented reality....When your "design trance" ended you looked over what was wrought, and found it satisfactory. The changes were obvious, but nuanced. Not catastrophically expensive, and not outside the realm of what was asked.
"Hey, ProSuper. I've got some changes, get the crews to work." the schematics were pushed out and you received download notices. There was audible swearing over the channel before you got an intelligible reply. "You sure about these changes? It won't stretch worktime too much, but uhh, this is a little bit fancier than what we had ya know? We won't hit our target numbers for total units." You cringed at his inability to think in the long term. "Push the damn changes. I know what I'm doing." You directed, he expedited, if he wanted to run the show he missed the chance when the Alchemist hired you.
Your upgrades touched the weapon systems, shield emitters, and sensors. A jammer was added along with a C4ISR Suite. You rounded the ship out with an extra reactor and heat sump. It was going to be able to coordinate with the other ships of it's class, get in, get out, and hit first without being detected.
The back half was a powder keg, but it was a well defended powder keg with good isolation measures, so even if core were to go critical the craft could be blown in half and in theory the E-drive and crew compartment would be salvageable.
The extra resource cost from your discretionary modifications brought the total ship count down to a still respectable fleet of 9 craft. --- In the following three weeks the craft were constructed, shaken down, and delivered. The representatives of the Shima Provisional government were skeptical, and more than slightly frustrated at the lower ship count, but the crews of the ship quickly grew to appreciate the Knife Fighter. It lived up to the hype.
You were paid with compensated room and board, and enough scratch to pay off petty debts. No more broken fingers! You spun around in your chair a few times celebrating. Maybe more than a few times. Maybe life was going to be ok. Tonight you would go to the bar to drink! Nay! To FEAST! You were inspired, your mind ablaze with new ideas, and Amp. Glorious Amp! --- Pick a route:
>Glasner's feast. >A strange proposition. >A lesson in humility and rage.
and pick an upgrade to work on:
>Lantern core. Could be faster, less prone to exploding. >Particle beams. Find a way around the scaling issue. >Shield emitters. They are too fragile.
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AnonymousID:Bcc1Rfgn02/22/26(Sun)09:12:17
>>6374666 >A strange proposition. WHAT'S IN THE BOX!?
>Lantern core. Could be faster, less prone to exploding. It's pretty awesome when it doesn't explode.
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AnonymousID:VGuVhxEu02/22/26(Sun)11:32:04
>>6374666 >A lesson in humility and rage. True artists suffer for their art. >Lantern core. Could be faster, less prone to exploding.
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AnonymousID:Hey5IUec02/22/26(Sun)11:34:10
>>6374666 >A strange proposition. >Lantern core. Could be faster, less prone to exploding.
Upon completion of the order, you briefly met with the Alchemist at their office. It was a very utilitarian room, filled with archaic terminals and other tools for individuals who would not have possessed even the most basic of implants to use Augmented reality. A grimy window looked out over the gas giant which the station orbited. At a desk sat the Alchemist. Another masked individual. perhaps a strange affect of this station. "Between you and, ah, "The Bastard", I've noticed a trend towards masks. Will I be getting one?"
You heard a distorted chuckle from a voice modulator. "Not unless you fuck up, Harris Glasner. So try to keep your face. We've got good news for you. A little gift, and Something you'll be familiar with. The good Lord Hyron Banfield has deigned to gift our station a pair of mass fabricators from the Megaton Rain. Wonders of engineering that they are, there is little in the way of exotic matter for recycling. He thinks we might actually output a net positive with them, so make that happen. But no rush, how these are utilized is up to you...Director."
A lot of feelings washed over you, horror at what had happened to your masterpiece. Resignation. Betrayal. Rage. Fuck Solei. and even more so, an odd sense of freedom. There was a much that could be done with those units. Ignorant individuals would only see them as bespoke machines to make heavy torpedoes. With a little time and work, they could be reconfigured for any form of mass production. This could dramatically improve the output and quality of the station, at least in your hands. "I uh. Please pass my gratitude to Lord Banfield."
The Alchemist simply tapped it's mask. "You'll have that opportunity yourself, soon enough. Enjoy yourself for a few days." The figure simply gestured you away with a shooing motion. You saw yourself out, still at a loss for words, this was not what you expected, and the Alchemist was eccentric, but not nearly as taciturn as described. With little else to do, you made your way back to your CORPORATE FURNISHED APARTMENT.
Work was done, the boss had ordered you to enjoy time off. You had a job you liked, a position that offered you respect, and the evening before was exactly what you wanted; a giant meal, ample drink, and unexpectedly pleasant company. A powerfully built woman with a prodigious appetite was entertained by your witticisms and anecdotes. A shame she left before you could culminate your seduction of her. Still, there was always the memory of that figure and her form fitting body glove. You sighed and looked around your home.
The apartment. No, your apartment. What a beautiful thing. It was stocked with beer, and someone even left a little crystal bowl full of amp capsules on the counter top. You shouldn't. no no. What the hell, you earned it.
*crack* SNRRRRT. --- A few beautiful days were spent optimizing Ex-Nihilo components, and with it your understanding of their design philosophy. Oversized components and brute force made up for a lack of advanced fabrication or elaborate workarounds for limited exotic materials. You found their willingness to simply explore what was possible very refreshing, regardless of if that desire was founded in desperation or not. Designs from the knife fighter emerged, in particular you were happy with how you massaged out some of the less desirable traits of the lantern. It could still explore, but it wasn't going to do it so readily, and on top of that you believed there was a way to further integrate other systems into the lantern core, raising its overall cost slightly, but reducing total system costs.
Another capsule cracked between your fingers, followed with an undignified snort. Another plastic package thrown into a small pile. "Hmm." These particle beams, there was something in there beyond just the weapon, maybe more valuable than the weapon itself. The idea was there teasing you. There was also the "Chimera Handbook" to finish reading, ghastly as it was. More of a study on how to do everything in ship design no one should ever do, but there was value to it... the thought was swiftly interrupted by a very unwanted ping to your augmented reality messenger. Shima contact, but originating local. Corporate identity. Interesting, and worth checking out.
You thought about how to start, so many ways to answer. This was the new you. Business you. "Glasner. What's your business?" no, too lame. Cool you. "Business or pleasure?" Fuck man. no that was weird. Wait, wait... they were the ones calling. Maybe staying quiet until they talk first would work. Social anxiety was creeping higher, and an Ampheticaine buzz was decidedly not helping. The call connected. You stayed silent. Frozen.
"uhh.. y'ello?" The voice as familiar. Male. You voice caught in your throat. "Is this Glasner? Look man. I've got some business, I know how we parted way wasn't great, but uh, lets have a drink and let bygones be bygones huh?" ...Horner. -- pick one. >"Fuck you man." >"Whats the business?" >write in.
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AnonymousID:Bcc1Rfgn02/23/26(Mon)06:11:58
>>6375131 >>write in. "Are you fucking serious!? After everything you and your partner did to me, you dare approach me for 'business'!?... But of course you would. You've always been as stupid as you are lucky Jack, how else would you still be alive? And lucky for you, I'm in a good mood. So if this business just happens to be a project worthy of my genius, maybe, just maybe. I'll consider it."
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/23/26(Mon)07:03:21
>>6375163 >"Are you fucking serious!? After everything you and your partner did to me, you dare approach me for 'business'!?... But of course you would. You've always been as stupid as you are lucky Jack, how else would you still be alive? And lucky for you, I'm in a good mood. So if this business just happens to be a project worthy of my genius, maybe, just maybe. I'll consider it.
There was a pause, he was composing himself. It lasted for less than a half a second, considering his strategy then just blurts it out.
"Lets cut the crap and put everything on the table. We have a Chimera, and it needs fixing."
He was asking you to fix stolen war salvage. That belonged to Noto first, maybe the Pact, but certainly not Jack mother fucking Horner. "That is PJC property."
"Nominally, it isn't. Your guys left it deep in the territory of the Raihans, after it very publicly defected to the empire, after they refurbed it, and after we found it, fixed it, and are trying to keep it. So are you in or are you going to blow another opportunity?"
He was worthless, his business was worthless, and the Chimeras weren't worth anything beyond a mobile platform. You grinned. He needed you, and now you didn't need him. "No Jack. I think I'm fine to let this one pass by..." Just before you hung up you heard a woman shouting. It was Mayumi, and her voice dominated the link. "Director Glasner, we..I, would express significant gratitude to work with you just once more. Would that you hear my offer." Her voice was slightly husky. Suggestive. Your mouth was suddenly very dry. "Go ahead." you almost croaked.
"This ship, it needs special attention, and discretion. Our position in the tragic aftermath of this horrible...horrible conflict is regrettably strained. What we can offer you is a business alliance, between our two markets, and a modest amount of material to offset your labor costs." Her syrup voice couldn't disguise how shitty this deal was, and how many details were lacking.
"I'm ending this call." you started to gesture to your temple, ready to cut the link.
"We have a hyperdrive on this ship...Director. You'd like to see this, I am sure. Would you like to get a long...hard...deep look. At the hyperdrive? All the time you need to study it. Feel it. Know it."
"I uh. yeah. I do." You gulped a few times. Suddenly her voice was all business.
"Wonderful. You'll have the details of the contract shortly, and remember. Discretion." Jack was already complaining "With him? Like that?!" The link cut.
His suffering tipped mental scales for you. It was worth it. All of it.
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/23/26(Mon)07:25:46
>>6375186 The contract rolled in through official channels, but it was fully laden with NDAs but the crux of it was simple enough. -- Requested platform: Corvette.
Function: Utility
Primary: Wreckage recovery, ship breaking, towing, and on site salvage processing.
Secondary: Local fabrication, material fusing, and component recovery.
Tertiary: Minimize the crew. Ideally none.
Customer: Horned Princess Shipyards.
Addendum:
Contract critical: On site supervision by Director Harris Glasner. All transport, lodging, and per diem will be handled by HPG LLC. -- Surprisingly the Alchemist had already approved the contract for your final approval. It looked like it was time to cook. You had already pulled up a utility ship concept from the Ex-Nihilo archives that the maintenance team cooked up. It was very close to ideal for the task, if unimaginative, and mundane, but you could get away with automating it and not draw too much attention. They called it the "Mite".
On the other hand...from your own genius, a frigate. Optimized for remote operations, housing all the needs listed, and while not capable of being everywhere, certainly capable of the task described for the task at hand. Admittedly you'd could only field two at most. --- Choose >Mite Corvette >Wrecker Frigate
>>6375192 >Mite Corvette Easy to produce, maintain and transport. Shipbreaking is hazardous work, so losing a corvette won't sting as much as losing a frigate.
>>6375211 It was a battle of ego, if a momentary one. The Mite had no glamour, no sleek lines, and nothing to stand out. Your work crews had been busy fabricating through the night to get the prototype assembled. When you woke up you were pleasantly surprised to see how far work had progressed in your absence.
A little note was available for review on maintenance log. "Thanks for choosing our design boss, its not much, but we're proud of it. - Homeless Mike"
A little digging into supervisory logs revealed "Homeless Mike" was an elderly member of the work crew who seemed to live in the refuse heap near building 2. His work history goes back to the earliest days of the war, and he was arguably living on the station before it was reactivated for the war effort. He wasn't a risk. You turned your attention to more important maters. The mite. It was really only capable of "Moving and shredding things." as per the original description. A large maw on the front of the craft was lined with simple mechanical manipulators and cutting tools. Integrating very basic welding equipment into the aperture wouldn't be particularly difficult. It was all just space constrained. You pinched the bridge of your nose in frustration. It was VERY space constrained. There was realistically no way to fit everything in here.
It could be tweaked to be modular, go heavy on the robotics. There wouldn't be much room for the crew though. -- Make a choice >Commit to keeping the design simple. Fails most of the secondary and tertiary goals. >To to do a moderate improvement to the design at a cost of increased complexity. Will accomplish the secondary goals, but increase crew requirements. >Act with supreme arrogance, and shove everything in. Its arguably a more fragile design, maintenance hungry design, but with good engineering and a competent crew its more than doable. (roll a 1d20, best of 3, or a crit.)
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AnonymousID:Bcc1Rfgn02/23/26(Mon)19:01:40
Rolled 2 (1d20)
>>6375294 "I built a ship around an enormous rotary cannon and still managed to squeeze over a thousand rounds of 200mm shells into a frigate hull; how hard could this be?"
>Act with supreme arrogance, and shove everything in. Its arguably a more fragile design, maintenance hungry design, but with good engineering and a competent crew its more than doable. (roll a 1d20, best of 3, or a crit.)
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AnonymousID:Hey5IUec02/23/26(Mon)21:11:19
Rolled 13 (1d20)
>>6375294 >Act with supreme arrogance, and shove everything in. Its arguably a more fragile design, maintenance hungry design, but with good engineering and a competent crew its more than doable. (roll a 1d20, best of 3, or a crit.)
>>6375421 >>6375409 >>6375363 You worked over the Mite half a dozen times, considering extreme variations before reminding yourself of two things. Too much change was almost as bad as a clean sheet design, and you didn't care for these particular customers.
You patted yourself on the back, mentally of course. "It is...perfect. Everything is there." You called over the Maintenance leader (MX ProSuper) to see the design for his opinion, in reality, you just wanted someone to notice the subtle changes you made. The use of space wrapping around the internal fabricators for an unexpected, if very cozy, living space. How you podded the various tools and put them into the units manipulators, or how the primary cutting and processing array now sported a faceted multi phase array laser...or how it was missing the entire fucking engine and power plant.
"Damnit! I'm an idiot!" Looking over at the lantern core concept you quickly scale down a digital model, then slap a safety cage around the most vulnerable section. "I'm a genius!" As a last minute after thought you threw on another cooling ring simply because it would fit. As you were finishing the last of the design your MX ProSuper came over and looked at the design for a bit. "yeah, that's the Mite alright. But why's it got one of those bombs on it's back?" you sighed. "It is not a bomb. It is a lantern corn, and this version is even more stable than the last."
"So it doesn't explode no more?" "No it will certainly explode if you damage it during peak operation." "An' thats whats with the cage?" "Yes." "K'." He shrugged and left.
You looked at the craft and frowned. "I should have built the frigate. Still. It's no mite." a last minute name change was done to the production unit. "Tardigrade"
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/24/26(Tue)01:37:14
>>6375478 During the shakedown run of the first unit a few quirks were discovered. The core was violently overpowered for what it was, and without inertial dampeners you needed to code in an acceleration gradient for the engine control unit. Dozens of small issues were found and fixed. The funniest one was when the containment cage heat soaked and started to undergo elastic deformation. The pilots really though they were going to die, and never realized the transparent reactor housing was good for another thousand degrees. Those goofballs barely know their materials science.
After the pleasantries of completing the production line, you concluded everything had been avoided long enough. It was time, and your least favorite part of any project. Communication. You opted for text, mostly out of contempt. Partially out of social avoidance. "Lot 1 ready for delivery. No Eigen Drives. 2 crew minimum. 6 corvettes total."
Jack's response was fast, and also text. Coordinates on the opposite side of the local gas giant, and rudimentary instruction. "You, the ships. Be positioned for pickup, sans crew." Luckily for him, the autopilot on the Tardigrades was good enough to do coordinate maneuvering and anti collision.
You found yourself getting ready to helm your own product. An interesting experience. --- Choices: >Go solo. >Bring a friend (write in)
Let's bring... um...ah shit, we have no friends. NVM...
>Go solo.
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/24/26(Tue)06:01:35
>>6375585 >>6375585 Having to pilot a space ship was an interesting experience. It wasn't something you really bothered with much. The Tardigrade was somewhat temperamental and slightly violent even with the adjustments you had made. The blue glare of the Lantern core was omnipresent, and the sheer energy output of it set your teeth on edge. It was like sitting next to the Bastard. Still, you were able to function, and after 20 minutes of punishing operations you had grown acclimated to the experience...
As you approached your rendezvous point, a contact on the ships limited sensors popped up. To be fair though, you saw it visually first. It was a chimera to be sure, the mangled lines of the glory class were visible in it, but this one had been heavily worked over by the Empire; or at least what was left of it.
Automatic docking permission was granted for the swarm of corvettes as you approached. The ship was barely touching the extreme edge of the gas giant's upper atmosphere, and you could already spot fragments of it falling off like glitter. One engine was in poor repair. If not for the valuable hyperdrive, it would be a mercy for the wretched ship to just plunge into the depths below. Instead you felt the solid impact as the Tardigrade magnetically clamped itself to the warped deck plate of the "Kobito" Ex-Midget, ex 3 other ships. You reached out over your local link and found nothing, there was massive electromagnetic interference from the planet below. Instead the docking light winked several times, and you felt the ship shudder before pulling away from the gravitational field. It was getting ready to jump. -- Being strapped to the surface of a ship during translation is very, very, different than being on the inside of a ship. You suspected this brand of hospitality was Horner's doing. The stars were unfamiliar at first, but you soon recognized a few constellations. "Shima." Likely the very edge of the territory. "Alright. Your delivery is complete, the Tardigrades meet the written needs. What else do you want? I've fulfilled my end of the contract."
Silence. just silence. It wasn't like they were going to have some halfassed scheme to kidnap you. Eventually Horner deigned to speak.
"Eh, Sorry about that Glasner. The ship doesn't like to jump, we had to put out a few metaphorical fires. You know what I mean?"
"You mean real fires." There was another long pause before he responded back.
"Yeah. Anyway, you are probably wondering why we are out here in the middle of nowhere trying to repair this colossal piece of shit, and I assure you, there is a very good reason."
You really weren't. "No. I only care about the hyperdrive module."
"Ok! Great, eye on the prize." The man naturally greasy. "So here's the thing. We have the drive, but if we go back to HPG, it will probably be seized. If we send this ship anywhere to get stripped, it gets seized. This leaves us with a very.."
You cut him off and get to the point. "You need me." >(1/2)
There was something not too far from the Kobito. Maybe a ship.
"Yep. Won't act like we're too close Glasner. You're smart, and prone to risks. That wasn't what we needed back then, but it is now."
You were almost outraged at first, with how callous this man was towards throwing you away, and now needing you again. It was also honest, but it was also probably a manipulation tactic. Horner was clever in his own way, and his arena of intelligence was different than yours. An inferior one, but at this moment one that was in play. You opted to reach for what was familiar to him.
"Whats in it for me?" You pop a video feed to the AR stream.
Eventually you sorted out what the object nearby was. It wasn't a ship It was the fore section of the kobito.
Jack was mindlessly smoothing over his hair. Pacing. Still, he was letting you see this. It was in character. "We already agreed on access to the hyperdrive, you learn it, and maybe down the road you are able to fabricate it. Maybe we do business, you as a prime supplier." You knew damn well that bitch Mayumi was listening.
"I've got a counter offer. Your struggling business dies trying to hold onto this thing, or you ship it to Ex-Nihilo station, you get my protection as Director. DIRECTOR...and we work from there, corner the market on new build hyperdrives. Whatever you want though." You push some repair options Jacks way, things you had literally created as you were speaking. ----
Alright players, make a choice.
>Truncate the Kobito. It'd be cut down to something a little bigger than a Glory, but they wouldn't be able to contest a breach of contract. Doable here. Gets the job done and ends your suffering.
>Stabilize the two sections, send it to Ex-Nihilo for repair and negotiate their services protecting the "battle of noto" scrap field. You gain an asset that will ensure your own leaders remain pleased with you, but will raise eyebrows with the Pact. (Bully Jack enough via a 1d20s)
>Prep for mass integration. Send it to HPS, Mayumi would merge her shipyard into the kobito to make up for the missing mass. You might end up seeing them again, or maybe they hyperjump into a star and die. Both are fine. (default if you fail the bottom option, but its more of a fail forward than a hard loss. Open to choice if it interests you most.)
>The Glasner offer: Scrap the damn ship and establish a joint venture in one of the surplus areas of Ex-Nihilo, with them under your thumb. (you will have to battle Mayumi's dice rolls, this will only happen if enough players opt for it.)
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AnonymousID:Bcc1Rfgn02/24/26(Tue)08:04:20
Rolled 20 (1d20)
>>6375650 >Stabilize the two sections, send it to Ex-Nihilo for repair and negotiate their services protecting the "battle of noto" scrap field. You gain an asset that will ensure your own leaders remain pleased with you, but will raise eyebrows with the Pact. (Bully Jack enough via a 1d20s)
Both Jack and the Pact can suck my dick.
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AnonymousID:Mp3prhNj02/24/26(Tue)11:54:01
>>6375650 >Prep for mass integration. For the laughs.
>>6375673 >20: well then. Mayumi responded first. "Your arrogance is is befitting nobility, if only your business acumen matched it. I..." You cut her off "...wouldn't have come to me if you weren't desperate, and a little light reading shows exactly how well your shipyard is doing. By the way, is the family well?" You knew her family was very much not well. It was likely she was the sole survivor of her siblings. No solid confirmations, but trivial gossip was easy to find, even if some of it was likely be embellished. Brother fucker. Really? Absurd. The Tardigrades omitted any form of gravity generation, and as you flicked a crushed amp capsule away from yourself it glided and smacked into the armored viewport to your left, then spun off somewhere to be forgotten. Eventually Jack called in. "Look, Glasner, you are going places you shouldn't be, know what I mean?"
"I do, but your constant use of epigrammatic speech is...killing me."
"I, uh. what?"
"Idioms. Turn of phrase in lay speak."
"Alright, fuck. Ease up man." --- The Tardigrades preformed excellently, even with whatever scab crews Jack and Mayumi had manage to scrape together. You oversaw the stabilization effort; creating a virtualized maintenance plan that was then displayed over augmented reality overlays and holographic guides.The Kobito's forward section was partially cannibalized into hollow tube braces and foamed metal beams. As you worked, it was obvious that the front half of the ship had already been heavily salvaged very recently. Entire cooling modules were missing, and all the wiring was stripped in numerous sections.
It was going to take at least 72 hours of non stop work, but the ships were equipped with a small berth for two crew member rotation and enough rationed food for a solar week. Given that you had been continuously optimizing the automation routines of the repair fleet and sending out remote updates, it was an increasingly plausible time frame. -- Your EVA time was actually enjoyable, even with the company and setting. True to your customer's words, you got ample hands on with the Hyperdrive. Some called you a technophile, but they were just narrow-minded. Art was art, in all its forms, and your appreciation of this sculpted beauty was not lacking as you cut all connections and feeds for a moment of more intimate observation and examination. -- >1/2
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/25/26(Wed)08:51:43
>>6376059 >(2/2) The drive was old. Very old. Your disassembly was limited to very surface level elements but even that confirmed theories you had. Multi spectral scanning tools penetrated deeper into the unit, but it was still just enough to further more guesswork. It would need to be studied in an actual laboratory. For now you settled for powering it on. Calibration would take time. This unit was just lumped into the Chimera in the most superficial way possible.
Jack reached out over your link, disrupting your work. You realized he had embedded crude, if effective physical equipment in the drive room. "Done fucking the hyperdrive yet?" You ignored the barb. Despite your reverence for the machine, you'd never debase it like that. They were pure, and something like Horner couldn't comprehend that.
"The drive is powered, but not operational. It's going to take time, so go keep Mayumi Company. I doubt she keeps you around for your managerial skills." ---
The next several days were constant verbal degradation and abuse to both Jack and Mayumi, interlaced with poignant truths about their position, and past work. You received many a retort in turn, but were quick to point out it was your job to design, and theirs to lead, and it turned out you did both better than either of them and you let them know it. You pointed out how Ex-Nihilo's growth capacity was outright horrific and made the Horned Princess Shipyard look like an amateur effort, because it was. Mayumi lost her composure and reminded you she was perfectly capable of removing your head with her bare hands. "..and Mr.Harris, its becoming, an increasingly desirable outcome. Please don't test my patience any further. Jack, meet me in the shuttle." You've thoroughly enjoy your moment of superiority with your prior boss, but all things must come to an end.
"It's done. We have power, but Don't try to use it and the Eigen drive at the same time. Your main bus wouldn't handle it, but neither would anything in a 10 kilometer sphere. Including us. The ship is structurally stable for the short term, but without a massive refit, its going to fail in short order."
"That's not your problem. We have the hyperdrive..." the thought of these two trying to manage that beautiful machine, all its concealed knowledge, set you off again.
"You wouldn't even know how to manage the hyperdrive, or establishing a manufacturing line. You couldn't even get it running without me, and another few E-Jumps would have shredded this wreck. You know it. I've set coordinates for Ex-Nihilo. The ship can be fully serviced there, and you can see for yourself what the opportunity you are ignoring." -- An hour later, the former Midget, now Kobito, had returned home. It just so happened to be that a group of Glory-B's were staring down a capital ship of unknown providence, and Admiral Ruhi was screaming in your ear over a priority channel.
The quest will continue.
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/26/26(Thu)04:00:36
>>6376063 "Glasner, what is this!? PJC is starving for a fleet, Noto is damn near defenseless, we can barely keep scavengers from our debris field, and you are out here working for House Shimada's heir and by virtue the Raihan court!"
You weren't too concerned with anything she just said. "How about you brief me on why there is a PJC fleet right in front of Ex-Nihilo, with a vessel of unknown providence."
"Coincidence. These ships are to be reclaimed. The unknown was already here as a customer for the past week." Had that much time really gone by? You were rather focused.
"You mean broken. Stripped. Didin't you just say the PJC is resource strained? Ruhi, what is this?" Those were your designs, a vast improvement over the near archaic Glory-A. This was Solei's doing, you knew it.
she raised her voice, and her octave started to climb "Don't try to reverse this. Why are you working with the enemy?"
"The war is over Admiral, and I played a significant part in ending it. So to be very concise; why are you here?"
"We can discuss it in person. Ruhi Out." --- You met the Admiral on station, and ended up settling for a private meeting in your apartment. It was informal, and discussed over your modest dining table and several beers.
Your conversation revealed that she was at the station to oversee the reclamation of the Gory-B class. All of it. There were concerns that you wouldn't comply. The Glory-B's were paort of the PJC fleet, but were also property of their respective systems. Systems who no longer required a high performance warship with a significant investment of exotic matter. They wanted it back. The common matter was of limited concern to them, and its value was diminished with the prospect of transport. In the end the hulls of the stripped ships were earmarked for raw materials and an approximation of payment, given that state of Pact currency.
Solei had personally laid out the plan to the council, which was swiftly approved. He reasoned that with the threat of the Raihan empire removed, any potential threat was insignificant enough that a homogenized and simplified fleet could manage it. Any larger threat represented something that Pact had no chance of defending against. Higg was going to handle fleet upgrades of existing ships, and several minor locations were responsible for shipbreaking, but apparently he insisted that Noto, in particular Ex-Nihilo handle scrapping the B's. Ruhi explained the logic, but you were unable to keep your calm and threw a beer across the room. "Fuck man!"
You saw her. There was surprise and pity. You'd seen it all before, when they thought you couldn't understand, when you explained a greatness they couldn't comprehend. That look. Like you were the defect.
Her eyes unfocused for a bit before she spoke again. "It doesn't matter. I need whatever you can scrape together or Banfield will have my ass, and then yours." >(1/2)
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/26/26(Thu)04:45:23
>>6376428 >(2/2) The alcohol numbed some of your indignation, and you weren't so insensitive as to miss the constant pained expression of Ruhi. A little more probing revealed how strained the PJC was, in that it was almost nothing now. A collection of mutual aid agreements, a handful of ships stationed over Noto's capital, and a near total lack of funding. Right now they were able to secure a modest resource stream via claiming anti piracy and formerly policing functions for intra-member state disputes before the function was de-funded.
"So your request, is it for the PJC, or is it for Noto?"
"Nominally the PJC, but realistically its Noto as soon as Banfield decides it is. We are serving a function as long as there is perceived value to the rest of pact, but as soon as that runs out...I don't know. At the moment I'm officially autonomous, and Noto has no real forcing factor, but they will eventually, and I've already lost, well, everything." She sighed, lowering her face into her hands.
You considered your options. The post war environment was chaos, and well, as it was said "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." You'd almost forgotten about the Unknown ship that had been patiently waiting. Notes from your administrative staff indicated it was a Blorg colony ship, and that apparently their ship was "sick." However there was only so much of you to go around. ---- A simple text came through that you dismissed as fast as you read it. "Damn Harris, you really are in the middle of it." A nonpoint from Jack, very on brand of him. The Kobito was parked at the extreme south of the station, with Mayumi and Jack enjoying the finest hospitality you would afford them, which was the same hospitality everyone else got on this station. You'd already seen several security reports involving the owner of HPS breaking limbs with overly curious locals. Hmm. Not your problem. You'd love to start work on something larger than a frigate, but the other docks were still congested with existing contracts or bulk cargo storage. You reached out to your production supervisor. "Get me Homeless mike. Have him start a work detail on the Ex-Midget, Let them know its called the Kobito now." You were about to end the call before you querried him on another item "The fabricators, were you able to get unit 01 installed?"
"Yeah Boss, went in easy. No idea how it works."
"It's fine, don't touch it. Halt installation of unit 02, I might have other plans for it." on a second thought you remotely locked the fabricator from operation. You knew your men, and the limits of how much trust could be placed in their ability to not "touch the thing." as an afterthought "Get the rest of the crews ready, we have ship breaking to do. Tell them not to be overly aggressive with the hulls."
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/26/26(Thu)06:15:04
>>6376436 >Choice time: Pick from each category, your strategies can feed off one another if you chose wisely. I'll take the options most selected by the players.
1. Fading Glory: You need to decide what to do with the hulks of the stripped Glory-Bs. >Contact Solei and let him know you could refit the Glory-B hulls to match his standardization. Clients eat the cost. Glory to the Pact. Will yield improved particle fields, conventional engines, and armor. Gain Ruhi's acknowledgement. >Sell Ruhi on refitting most of the hulls with available Ex-Nihilo tech. Its a quick answer to the PJC's fleet size. Noto Stands! Improved beams and missiles. PJC will secure Noto's salvage fields.
2. PJC: The Pact Joint Command is barely scraping by and can't really afford new cruisers. >Create an expensive, high end corvette with enough firepower to pose a threat to to a frigate, but be cheaper than an entire frigate with a lower crew count. Develop improved power generators and heat management. >Sell them on the wrecker frigate, but retool it for combat. Improved armor and missiles. >Just reheat the production line for the previous frigate and improve it based off what you've learned. Improved beams and lantern core.
3. The Horned Princess you know: Mayumi seems invested in the Chimera, you suspect you know why. >Send the Kobito to the salvage fields to recover chimera fragments for repair. Mayumi will provide protection for your salvage fields for a time, before using her personal warship to influence negotiations on Shima and within the Raihan empire.
>Earmark a few Glroy hulls to create a fresh Chimera hull for Horner and Mayumi. Existing components and engines will be stripped from the Kobito. You will include the second fabricator from Megaton Rain, configured for production of whole drones and corvette parts. No weapons. Starts a venture between Ex-Nihilo and HPS.
4. ...and The Blorg you don't: These fungal aliens reside on a ship of unknown providence, with potential room for discovery. Its a shame its a toxic hellhole deadly to human life. They are willing to
>Contact Horner and Mayumi for a joint refit of two surplus Glory hulls. Will deepen cooperation between Ex Nihilo and HPS,. >Personally enter the craft and try to discover the issue with their failing ship. (dice minigame) >This is 100% not your problem. See if Benny can help. Results may vary.
5. Upgrades: Your time spent with the Kobito and it's unique hyperspace drive were enlightening. The first hand look at a chimera, and Raihan engineering attempts to improve a flawed design also lent insight into potential building techniques.
>Upgrade the lantern core and integrate the Eigen drive. While this increases the individual cost and complexity of the core, it drives down the total use of exotic materials is reduced due to shared functions and components within the core. You suspected you could squeeze some modest improvements in speed, and explosion resistance out of this design. >The Raihan modified engines were elegant and robust, but you could do better and provide a line of propulsion without the inherent dangers of the lantern core, which some customers may appreciate. >You didn't want to make engines, you wanted to make larger particle beams!!! ----
Players and lurkers, hello. I wanted to give some background. This quest was made to come in blind and unfamiliar, but for those familiar with the setting, hopefully you are enjoying my rendition of familiar faces. Of note, the title image was generously provided by Cognis, depicting Glasner, Admiral Ruhi, and the masked Alchemist.
I wanted to know if you would like to focus on raw ship building with every post, or if you are enjoying the interludes and more character focused story. Your feedback will shape the quest going forward.
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AnonymousID:VGuVhxEu02/26/26(Thu)11:00:33
>>6376472 >Contact Solei and let him know you could refit the Glory-B hulls to match his standardization. >Create an expensive, high end corvette >Earmark a few Glroy hulls to create a fresh Chimera hull for Horner and Mayumi. >Personally enter the craft and try to discover the issue with their failing ship. (dice minigame) >The Raihan modified engines were elegant and robust, but you could do better and provide a line of propulsion without the inherent dangers of the lantern core, which some customers may appreciate.
I only caught the second shipyard thread and missed the first and third outings. Just happy to catch this one. Raw shipbuilding is fun when there are enough players to create discontinuity, and generates the most humor in this series. That said, Glasner is growing on me.
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AnonymousID:VGuVhxEu02/26/26(Thu)11:01:33
PS -- Is Ruhi supposed to look like a Shimada relative?
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AnonymousID:kDk9jYLc02/26/26(Thu)14:20:14
>>6376466 >Contact Solei and let him know you could refit the Glory-B hulls to match his standardization. Clients eat the cost. Glory to the Pact. Will yield improved particle fields, conventional engines, and armor. Gain Ruhi's acknowledgement. >Just reheat the production line for the previous frigate and improve it based off what you've learned. Improved beams and lantern core. >Send the Kobito to the salvage fields to recover chimera fragments for repair. Mayumi will provide protection for your salvage fields for a time, before using her personal warship to influence negotiations on Shima and within the Raihan empire. >Contact Horner and Mayumi for a joint refit of two surplus Glory hulls. Will deepen cooperation between Ex Nihilo and HPS,. >Upgrade the lantern core and integrate the Eigen drive. While this increases the individual cost and complexity of the core, it drives down the total use of exotic materials is reduced due to shared functions and components within the core. You suspected you could squeeze some modest improvements in speed, and explosion resistance out of this design.
Why the hell would we give away the highly complex one-of-a-kind fabricator unit that was the most critical component of the Megaton?
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NonCognisID:YCN/qZN/02/26/26(Thu)23:05:59
>>6376525 >>6376557 Appreciate the posts. I'm going to give any additional players a chance to get at this tonight before I post. One player or 10, we keep rolling forward.
as for the fabricator and other things, they will be answered in universe. I like your energy on it though.