I had a Joss Whedon moment in the middle there.Things are going to be slow for a while; I'm waiting for marines. So, expect station building and ship research posts for a bit.
Ambition and Ambiguity. X3:AP DiD
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
I woke up the next morning in my Springblossom, parked at the Farm, with a moderate hangover. Seems I set the autopilot and passed out. Something caught my eye on the co-pilot's seat. Toast, coffee, painkillers, and a note from Maddy. It was good to be home.
I devoured everything save the note, collected my effects, and stumbled towards our quarters. I tried to enter quietly, but the sound of the door startled Maddy awake. I smiled and waved at her sheepishly.
"Good morning, beautiful. Thanks for the breakfast."
She yawned, and stretched. Distracting. "One of your new recruits didn't recognize your ship. The whole station was on alert when you drifted in, unconscious. You have a good night?"
"It's been a rough month; that was the tail end of an apology." I tossed her the female-cut skin-tight body armor provided by Stacy. "This is for you. It'll fit under your clothes, and protect you from knives and plasma."
"Ooh... you always were such a romantic," she teased.
I gave her a tired smile. "It makes me feel better knowing you have it available if things go bad." I unceremoniously began stripping down while heading for the bathroom. I needed a shower.
"You've been working out," she mentioned.
I looked back at her questioningly.
"You've got shoulders now, and a butt."
I recalled Jackson making cracks about Squat Booty. I guess he was right.
I jostled my spare tire, and smiled back at her. "I'm making progress I guess, but still a long way to go." I continued towards the shower.
The hot water jostled me awake, and eased the tension in my shoulders and back. I stood there, letting the stress of the last few days wash away.
From the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of red hair and bare shoulders, then a warm body pressed against my back. "Welcome home," was all she said.
-----
The afternoon was spent planning out more station complexes. The ATF Split Research Station was a simple enough complex. I adjusted the build order to get the energy loop primed; I'd bring in the actual weapon forges later, to make it look like it required significant effort, and to reduce the time they had to reverse engineer them.
The other station complex was a little trickier. Sooner or later, this war was going to escalate. And there were no guarantees that current alliances would remain stable in its wake. I wanted a safe place to call home, protected from the political hoo-hah. Another part of me wanted to preserve as much technology as possible. The thought of losing access to technology was irritating, but the thought of destroying knowledge caused me physical pain. I wanted a safe-house. I wanted a vault. I wanted research facility. And I wanted a museum.
The Sidhe Archology was my response to those desires. Unfortunately, reality wasn't quite ready to support me on this venture.
Maddy looked up from her reading as I upwrapped Thulhu from my torso for the fourth time. It was now almost 3 feet tall, and it still felt the need to latch onto me.
"She only does that to you, you know," Maddy mentioned.
"It's a she now?"
"It's always been a she. Plants have gender, you know."
Huh. "No, I didn't know that. I always thought pollination was... I thought plants were hermaphrodites."
Maddy shook her head. "Anyway, what's got you chewing your nails?"
I tapped a couple buttons on the datapad, and sent my designs to her.
She looked down and started scanning. As she read, a smirk grew on her face. "So what's the problem?"
"The problem is, none of the Unknown Sectors I've found can support this. In the best case, I'm short on Crystals, and drastically short on Ore. The only four sectors that can support this are taken. Two are on the Teladi merchant highway, which is frequented by pirates, and is just way too public. One is the Yaki home sector, Weaver's Tempest. I'm pretty sure they're not interested in a roommate, even before I start using them to train my marines in the coming weeks. The last is Savage Spur, which is on the Yaki's front porch, and is only viable due to the sheer number of asteroids in the sector. It's a frustrating problem."
Her fingers danced across the datapad as she listened, pulling reference data. In the end, she smiled at me. "You're being an engineer again."
I blinked.
"You always were an information kleptomaniac. I swear, you should have stayed in academia; you'd make an excellent professor and archivist. Your purpose here is to preserve all this technological knowledge, right?"
I nodded.
"Are you really concerned that we're going to forget how to make IREs and 1MJ shields?"
I looked around shiftily, and grinned sheepishly.
"Start trimming. There are things here that you don't need to save. Keep trimming until you can fit your power budget. You can't solve the Ore problem, but you really don't need to... that'll only limit how many of these weapons you can make simultaneously. Once they're stockpiled, Ore output won't matter. Focus on keeping the energy output net positive and self-sustaining, and the rest will fall into place... it'll just take a little time."
She sent back a list of edits. They were very sensible.
"You're a lot better at this than I am," I told her.
She smiled and went back to her reading. I buckled down and continued mapping out a 650M credit complex. Thulhu came back for another hug.
I devoured everything save the note, collected my effects, and stumbled towards our quarters. I tried to enter quietly, but the sound of the door startled Maddy awake. I smiled and waved at her sheepishly.
"Good morning, beautiful. Thanks for the breakfast."
She yawned, and stretched. Distracting. "One of your new recruits didn't recognize your ship. The whole station was on alert when you drifted in, unconscious. You have a good night?"
"It's been a rough month; that was the tail end of an apology." I tossed her the female-cut skin-tight body armor provided by Stacy. "This is for you. It'll fit under your clothes, and protect you from knives and plasma."
"Ooh... you always were such a romantic," she teased.
I gave her a tired smile. "It makes me feel better knowing you have it available if things go bad." I unceremoniously began stripping down while heading for the bathroom. I needed a shower.
"You've been working out," she mentioned.
I looked back at her questioningly.
"You've got shoulders now, and a butt."
I recalled Jackson making cracks about Squat Booty. I guess he was right.
I jostled my spare tire, and smiled back at her. "I'm making progress I guess, but still a long way to go." I continued towards the shower.
The hot water jostled me awake, and eased the tension in my shoulders and back. I stood there, letting the stress of the last few days wash away.
From the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of red hair and bare shoulders, then a warm body pressed against my back. "Welcome home," was all she said.
-----
The afternoon was spent planning out more station complexes. The ATF Split Research Station was a simple enough complex. I adjusted the build order to get the energy loop primed; I'd bring in the actual weapon forges later, to make it look like it required significant effort, and to reduce the time they had to reverse engineer them.
The other station complex was a little trickier. Sooner or later, this war was going to escalate. And there were no guarantees that current alliances would remain stable in its wake. I wanted a safe place to call home, protected from the political hoo-hah. Another part of me wanted to preserve as much technology as possible. The thought of losing access to technology was irritating, but the thought of destroying knowledge caused me physical pain. I wanted a safe-house. I wanted a vault. I wanted research facility. And I wanted a museum.
The Sidhe Archology was my response to those desires. Unfortunately, reality wasn't quite ready to support me on this venture.
Maddy looked up from her reading as I upwrapped Thulhu from my torso for the fourth time. It was now almost 3 feet tall, and it still felt the need to latch onto me.
"She only does that to you, you know," Maddy mentioned.
"It's a she now?"
"It's always been a she. Plants have gender, you know."
Huh. "No, I didn't know that. I always thought pollination was... I thought plants were hermaphrodites."
Maddy shook her head. "Anyway, what's got you chewing your nails?"
I tapped a couple buttons on the datapad, and sent my designs to her.
She looked down and started scanning. As she read, a smirk grew on her face. "So what's the problem?"
"The problem is, none of the Unknown Sectors I've found can support this. In the best case, I'm short on Crystals, and drastically short on Ore. The only four sectors that can support this are taken. Two are on the Teladi merchant highway, which is frequented by pirates, and is just way too public. One is the Yaki home sector, Weaver's Tempest. I'm pretty sure they're not interested in a roommate, even before I start using them to train my marines in the coming weeks. The last is Savage Spur, which is on the Yaki's front porch, and is only viable due to the sheer number of asteroids in the sector. It's a frustrating problem."
Her fingers danced across the datapad as she listened, pulling reference data. In the end, she smiled at me. "You're being an engineer again."
I blinked.
"You always were an information kleptomaniac. I swear, you should have stayed in academia; you'd make an excellent professor and archivist. Your purpose here is to preserve all this technological knowledge, right?"
I nodded.
"Are you really concerned that we're going to forget how to make IREs and 1MJ shields?"
I looked around shiftily, and grinned sheepishly.
"Start trimming. There are things here that you don't need to save. Keep trimming until you can fit your power budget. You can't solve the Ore problem, but you really don't need to... that'll only limit how many of these weapons you can make simultaneously. Once they're stockpiled, Ore output won't matter. Focus on keeping the energy output net positive and self-sustaining, and the rest will fall into place... it'll just take a little time."
She sent back a list of edits. They were very sensible.
"You're a lot better at this than I am," I told her.
She smiled and went back to her reading. I buckled down and continued mapping out a 650M credit complex. Thulhu came back for another hug.
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Idleking
- Posts: 425
- Joined: Tue, 15. Aug 06, 15:47
She's a cutie isn't she?Poseidon wrote:[..]Thulhu came back for another hug.
And Maddy is right, screw those IREs and 1MJ shields. Ships that can only use those aren't worth being used anyway
How about the Unknown Sector behind X534?
Solid Ore and Silicon ressources and even some Nividium!
Being an electrical superconductor, it'll make your techs go nuts if you can provide enough of it, I'm pretty sure.
It has only one gate bordering a Xenon sector, but the machines don't seem to wander into unknown sectors so much. And even if they decide to say hello, defending a single Gate isn't that much trouble.
As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.
[ external image ]
[ external image ]
Litcube wrote:Don't succumb to the "I figured it'd be ok".
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
Thanks for the suggestion. That sector has an excellent Ore supply, but is lacking in sufficient Silicon. I've found a sector that is more suitable; I just needed to spend some time... redefining my requirements.
http://goo.gl/rgxpR
http://goo.gl/rgxpR
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
My location of choice was the Unknown Sector behind Xenon Sector. I looked for a numeric designation, but there wasn't one. It's almost as if they were saying this was THE Xenon Sector.
(shrug)
It was a little too close to Terran space for me, but... Aldrin. They'd set up shop there, even with this well-appointed sector within arms reach. I was fairly confident I could settle in here with some anonymity. And if not, I'd relocate to a location even more secure.
The thought of relocating made me unhappy; I did not enjoy moving.
Mental note: extra defenses at the gate.
I was towing Asteroids around in Nodachi when the Springblossom (I still needed to give it a name) indicated it had detected an unknown object. I made sure I was still towing in the right direction, and pulled up the sector sensor net. I'd seen Unknown Objects before, so I wasn't excited.
The sensor net said 'Corvette'.
Well, that's new. No Race? No Designation?
Dashcam Video Clip
I transported back to Springblossom, and sent a message to Atilio. I had more work for him.
-----
"Can't be done," he rumbled.
I looked at the short engineer sideways. "It's rare to hear an engineer suggest something is impossible."
He shook his head, and pointed at the corner of the schematic. "The Venti is an excellent ship. Integrating your Terran speed upgrades was a cinch. This is something else entirely. Even if we had the weapon power and cargo space, we don't know what Kyon's are!"
Hrm. "What if we used a Pirate Blastclaw? I picked up a Prototype model recently. The pilot tried to convince me to surrender my Springblossom, then changed his mind." I pulled up my preliminary scan of the ship.
He scratched at his bare chin, like he expected a beard to be present. "That... has potential. It's clunky, but the frame is large enough to handle some tinkering. You've got one of these?"
"Just one," I said. "But I can acquire more, if you think it'd help."
"They're a much better platform for experimentation, frankly. We'd need to overhaul the internal systems quite a bit, and we'd want to do that incrementally. That'll be a lot of iteration."
"I have no issue with that." I ordered my Blastclaw Prototype to start making its way to the OTAS Shipyard. "It's on it's way. I'll find more."
He nodded. "Good. Where do you want me to start?"
"The speed upgrade first. We know how that works, so that shouldn't take long. There's a lot to learn from the Spitfyre design. I'll dig into it again, and see if I can cobble together an interface to their Weapon Energy storage banks. While I'm doing that, you look into changing out the weapon mounts."
"Changing them to what? We don't have anything like this." He pointed at the rendered model of a Beta Kyon Emitter.
I shrugged. "I'll give you complete access to all products of the MRC. Make something up."
He blinked, and pulled up a listing of the MRC product outputs. A slow smile crept across his face. "I'll see what I can do."
As I approached the door, he spoke up, "Oh, the Lynx Prototype v1 will be coming off the line in a few hours. Enjoy your test drive."
I headed back to the Springblossom. It was going to be a busy few days.
(shrug)
It was a little too close to Terran space for me, but... Aldrin. They'd set up shop there, even with this well-appointed sector within arms reach. I was fairly confident I could settle in here with some anonymity. And if not, I'd relocate to a location even more secure.
The thought of relocating made me unhappy; I did not enjoy moving.
Mental note: extra defenses at the gate.
I was towing Asteroids around in Nodachi when the Springblossom (I still needed to give it a name) indicated it had detected an unknown object. I made sure I was still towing in the right direction, and pulled up the sector sensor net. I'd seen Unknown Objects before, so I wasn't excited.
The sensor net said 'Corvette'.
Well, that's new. No Race? No Designation?
Dashcam Video Clip
I transported back to Springblossom, and sent a message to Atilio. I had more work for him.
-----
"Can't be done," he rumbled.
I looked at the short engineer sideways. "It's rare to hear an engineer suggest something is impossible."
He shook his head, and pointed at the corner of the schematic. "The Venti is an excellent ship. Integrating your Terran speed upgrades was a cinch. This is something else entirely. Even if we had the weapon power and cargo space, we don't know what Kyon's are!"
Hrm. "What if we used a Pirate Blastclaw? I picked up a Prototype model recently. The pilot tried to convince me to surrender my Springblossom, then changed his mind." I pulled up my preliminary scan of the ship.
He scratched at his bare chin, like he expected a beard to be present. "That... has potential. It's clunky, but the frame is large enough to handle some tinkering. You've got one of these?"
"Just one," I said. "But I can acquire more, if you think it'd help."
"They're a much better platform for experimentation, frankly. We'd need to overhaul the internal systems quite a bit, and we'd want to do that incrementally. That'll be a lot of iteration."
"I have no issue with that." I ordered my Blastclaw Prototype to start making its way to the OTAS Shipyard. "It's on it's way. I'll find more."
He nodded. "Good. Where do you want me to start?"
"The speed upgrade first. We know how that works, so that shouldn't take long. There's a lot to learn from the Spitfyre design. I'll dig into it again, and see if I can cobble together an interface to their Weapon Energy storage banks. While I'm doing that, you look into changing out the weapon mounts."
"Changing them to what? We don't have anything like this." He pointed at the rendered model of a Beta Kyon Emitter.
I shrugged. "I'll give you complete access to all products of the MRC. Make something up."
He blinked, and pulled up a listing of the MRC product outputs. A slow smile crept across his face. "I'll see what I can do."
As I approached the door, he spoke up, "Oh, the Lynx Prototype v1 will be coming off the line in a few hours. Enjoy your test drive."
I headed back to the Springblossom. It was going to be a busy few days.
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
My excitement caused me no small amount of anxiety as I waited for the Sidhe Lynx pv1 to come off the manufacturing line.
Atilio had done good. It was no Spitfyre, but the top speed had increased from 195 to 312m/s, which had the nice side effect of increasing the acceleration from 48 to 65m/s. Less pleasantly, I'd lost 20 units of cargo space, and my hull looked a little less robust. Also, the total price tag for just the hull was over 13M credits... but it was mine, and that made me happy.
It flew pretty damn nice too.
I noticed a Pirate raiding party in Akeela's Beacon, so I geared up and headed over. I didn't want to push my luck on this ship's maiden voyage, so I dropped a Hammerhead and watched everything but the Hydra evaporate. I'd missed the ability to use Hammerheads.
The Hydra promptly stripped my shields bare in a single pass. Whoops.
I frantically mashed the Turbo, peeling the flesh off my face in the process (624m/s... damn). The next few minutes were a game of cat and mouse, where I took apart the larger, stronger ship 4-5% per pass.
It was a good fight. This was a good ship. The problem was, the Springblossom was better on all counts, and half the price. I was going to have to do better.
Still, not bad for a v1 Prototype. I pulled up the Blastclaw Schematics, and started looking for ways to incorporate more system from the Spitfyre.
-----
I had plans to share this mod incrementally as I built it, but it breaks when I package it all up. I'll make it available tomorrow sometime, and see if I can figure out the packaging bug this week.
edit: Figured it out; here ya go.
http://diffpair.com/misc/SidheShips-V0.1-7.7.2013.spk
Install it using the Plugin Manager:
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=265915
Be warned, this requires a ***modified*** game. I will be updating these frequently as my research in game progresses, although I'll keep an archive of all old version though, in case anyone wants to revert. Feel free to join me for the ride.
I'm going to go collapse from exhaustion now. Back tomorrow.
Atilio had done good. It was no Spitfyre, but the top speed had increased from 195 to 312m/s, which had the nice side effect of increasing the acceleration from 48 to 65m/s. Less pleasantly, I'd lost 20 units of cargo space, and my hull looked a little less robust. Also, the total price tag for just the hull was over 13M credits... but it was mine, and that made me happy.
It flew pretty damn nice too.
I noticed a Pirate raiding party in Akeela's Beacon, so I geared up and headed over. I didn't want to push my luck on this ship's maiden voyage, so I dropped a Hammerhead and watched everything but the Hydra evaporate. I'd missed the ability to use Hammerheads.
The Hydra promptly stripped my shields bare in a single pass. Whoops.
I frantically mashed the Turbo, peeling the flesh off my face in the process (624m/s... damn). The next few minutes were a game of cat and mouse, where I took apart the larger, stronger ship 4-5% per pass.
It was a good fight. This was a good ship. The problem was, the Springblossom was better on all counts, and half the price. I was going to have to do better.
Still, not bad for a v1 Prototype. I pulled up the Blastclaw Schematics, and started looking for ways to incorporate more system from the Spitfyre.
-----
I had plans to share this mod incrementally as I built it, but it breaks when I package it all up. I'll make it available tomorrow sometime, and see if I can figure out the packaging bug this week.
edit: Figured it out; here ya go.
http://diffpair.com/misc/SidheShips-V0.1-7.7.2013.spk
Install it using the Plugin Manager:
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=265915
Be warned, this requires a ***modified*** game. I will be updating these frequently as my research in game progresses, although I'll keep an archive of all old version though, in case anyone wants to revert. Feel free to join me for the ride.
I'm going to go collapse from exhaustion now. Back tomorrow.
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Song Of Obsidian
- Posts: 305
- Joined: Wed, 19. Jun 13, 19:46
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
Tomes didn't like waiting.
I woke up irritated, and his encrypted message was waiting before I'd even had coffee.
I send Pink down to Patriarch's Conclusion to pick up a 25MJ Shield Factory, and hopped it over to Megnir. I chose the Elephant over the Mammoth to play some more mindgames with Tomes. Was it my ship? Was it hired? Was it a Split government ship?
Let him squirm. I had coffee to drink.
-----
"Hey Atillio. You got a sec?"
I heard some clanging from behind the commlink. "Sec. Coming."
I waited for a few minutes, listening to unnerving noises and cursing coming from the workshop, then silence. His face appeared, a little haggard, with silver stubble hinting at the ability to grow an impressive beard. "Enjoy your test drive?"
I felt myself smile. "It was as good as I'd hoped, although adjusting to the M3 mindset took a few minutes. Weapon Energy is the biggest drawback for the ship currently; I'm still working on digging that subsystem out of the Spitfyre. How are things going on your end?"
His face lit up. "Glad you enjoyed it. As I said, the Venti is a very specialized ship. I'm not certain how much more we can muck with it."
"I noticed the cargo bay reduction and hull loss."
He shrugged. "No way around it on that frame. The systems had to go somewhere."
I nodded. "And the Blastclaw?"
"Given our plans, I've renamed it the Stomatopoda."
"That's a mouthful. Stoma it is."
"Yeah, ok. Anyway, it's not designed to fly fast. Even with the Spitfyre enhancements, I'm not seeing a way to push it much past 228m/s, aside from that Split Turbo Booster. The base ship just isn't designed for those forces."
I winced. "That's unfortunate. And the weapon mountings?"
He shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Not going well. At best, I may be able to fit four mountings, and the turrets may see some reduced functionality. MRC has everything I need to research high-speed energy transmission weapons; we got lucky in that."
I smiled internally. Or good foresight, depending on your perspective, I thought.
"Do what you can. I've almost figured out the Spitfyre Weapon Energy system. When I send it over, stop working on the weapon mountings and get the new tech prototyped into the Lynx. I plan to push that ship to the very edge, and use what we learn on the Stoma. Then we can talk about the Springblossom, Xenon P, and Kha'ak Corvette I've got lying around."
He eyes widened. "Oh hell yes. On it."
-----
I was excited and saddened when I figured out the Weapon Energy system. I'd spent a lot of time with the Spitfyre these last few weeks, and it had become a bit of a friend. Admittedly, I'd spent that time cutting out its organs to see how they worked, but a friend nonetheless. There wasn't much left to be learned here.
I ran my hand across the chassis as it was carted away to be recycled.
I sent the cannibalized subsystem and schematics over to Atilio, and then placed an order to the Federal Argon Shipyard for a couple Eclipse'. 225m/s wasn't fast enough to keep me safe, so I'd need some better shields.
It would take a while for the ships to be built and customized. I could get some more asteroid towing done between now and then.
I woke up irritated, and his encrypted message was waiting before I'd even had coffee.
I send Pink down to Patriarch's Conclusion to pick up a 25MJ Shield Factory, and hopped it over to Megnir. I chose the Elephant over the Mammoth to play some more mindgames with Tomes. Was it my ship? Was it hired? Was it a Split government ship?
Let him squirm. I had coffee to drink.
-----
"Hey Atillio. You got a sec?"
I heard some clanging from behind the commlink. "Sec. Coming."
I waited for a few minutes, listening to unnerving noises and cursing coming from the workshop, then silence. His face appeared, a little haggard, with silver stubble hinting at the ability to grow an impressive beard. "Enjoy your test drive?"
I felt myself smile. "It was as good as I'd hoped, although adjusting to the M3 mindset took a few minutes. Weapon Energy is the biggest drawback for the ship currently; I'm still working on digging that subsystem out of the Spitfyre. How are things going on your end?"
His face lit up. "Glad you enjoyed it. As I said, the Venti is a very specialized ship. I'm not certain how much more we can muck with it."
"I noticed the cargo bay reduction and hull loss."
He shrugged. "No way around it on that frame. The systems had to go somewhere."
I nodded. "And the Blastclaw?"
"Given our plans, I've renamed it the Stomatopoda."
"That's a mouthful. Stoma it is."
"Yeah, ok. Anyway, it's not designed to fly fast. Even with the Spitfyre enhancements, I'm not seeing a way to push it much past 228m/s, aside from that Split Turbo Booster. The base ship just isn't designed for those forces."
I winced. "That's unfortunate. And the weapon mountings?"
He shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Not going well. At best, I may be able to fit four mountings, and the turrets may see some reduced functionality. MRC has everything I need to research high-speed energy transmission weapons; we got lucky in that."
I smiled internally. Or good foresight, depending on your perspective, I thought.
"Do what you can. I've almost figured out the Spitfyre Weapon Energy system. When I send it over, stop working on the weapon mountings and get the new tech prototyped into the Lynx. I plan to push that ship to the very edge, and use what we learn on the Stoma. Then we can talk about the Springblossom, Xenon P, and Kha'ak Corvette I've got lying around."
He eyes widened. "Oh hell yes. On it."
-----
I was excited and saddened when I figured out the Weapon Energy system. I'd spent a lot of time with the Spitfyre these last few weeks, and it had become a bit of a friend. Admittedly, I'd spent that time cutting out its organs to see how they worked, but a friend nonetheless. There wasn't much left to be learned here.
I ran my hand across the chassis as it was carted away to be recycled.
I sent the cannibalized subsystem and schematics over to Atilio, and then placed an order to the Federal Argon Shipyard for a couple Eclipse'. 225m/s wasn't fast enough to keep me safe, so I'd need some better shields.
It would take a while for the ships to be built and customized. I could get some more asteroid towing done between now and then.
Last edited by Poseidon on Sun, 7. Jul 13, 19:08, edited 1 time in total.
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
To anyone who is going to use the ship mods I produce for this game:
Lynx Prototypes will be available from OTAS Shipyard at a 10M credit markup. I will not obsolete any version of this ship; all new versions will be ENTIRELY NEW SHIPS, so the old ships can still be used, purchased, etc. Since OTAS is already capable to mass producing the Venti, making it buyable made sense.
I'm still sorting out how to handle Stoma Prototypes... we don't have a lot of Blastclaw Prototype chassis' lying around, so upgrades to this ship will likely be a REPLACEMENT, not an addition. Initial purchase will likely be through a script, and all upgrades will update the purchased ship.
v2 will be posted later today, once I get some asteroid towing done.
Lynx Prototypes will be available from OTAS Shipyard at a 10M credit markup. I will not obsolete any version of this ship; all new versions will be ENTIRELY NEW SHIPS, so the old ships can still be used, purchased, etc. Since OTAS is already capable to mass producing the Venti, making it buyable made sense.
I'm still sorting out how to handle Stoma Prototypes... we don't have a lot of Blastclaw Prototype chassis' lying around, so upgrades to this ship will likely be a REPLACEMENT, not an addition. Initial purchase will likely be through a script, and all upgrades will update the purchased ship.
v2 will be posted later today, once I get some asteroid towing done.
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
Fourteen gorramn asteroids, all in a row. I'd spent way too much time in SETA, towing rocks around. I guess my OCD was showing.
I'd been receiving regular status reports from Jackson and Atilio. As I disconnected the tractor beam from the final Ore Mine, my commlink chirped.
"Hey Boss. You've got a full compliment of marines on the Taranis. We're ready to get them some combat training."
So we'd finally named the Sirokos. "Excellent! Send them over to the Lobby, and have them spend some time in the Forge until I get there. I need to make a couple stops first."
"Yes sir. See you in a few."
-----
"Atilio, talk to me. How we doing?"
"Lynx v2 is coming off the production line now. That ship only has one or two more mods left in it before it wont have room for a pilot anymore."
"Understood. Thanks for the hard work. Uhm..."
"Spit it out."
"How hard would it be to strap a Destroyer Class Generator and Shield to an Advanced Satellite?"
(click)
-----
I slammed up against the wall of the Dojo, somehow upside down. As I crumpled to the floor, my opponent, a Split Marine, bowed politely. I stood up and readjusted my sparring outfit. Jackson attempted to conceal a smile, but failed. I'd insisted on sparring with all 30 marines before we left on our real mission. So far, I was 0-29.
My final opponent was a lanky Paranid... all arms and eye-stalks. We bowed, and began circling. He'd seen all my other fights, and he was not worried.
We snapped a couple jabs back and forth, tested reactions and arm length. I stepped forward and started a roundhouse kick. The marine took a half step back; just far enough that I'd miss. I planted the forward foot, and spun into a back kick. Seeing me expose my back, he rushed forward to take advantage.
The back kick never materialized as I continued spinning, using the step to lead into a half-assed whirlwind kick. My distance was off, and instead of landing an aerial kick to his head, I landed on him. Or rather, in his rush forward, his only option was to duck under me or catch me. He chose the latter.
I wrapped my legs around him, and we started grappling. He intentionally fell forward, slamming me into the mat. I felt him twist in my grasp; his arm snaked underneath my ankle and leg. He was going to attempt some sort of joint manipulation on my foot.
In a moment of panic, I grabbed two of his eye-stalks, and started tying them in a knot around his third.
I've never heard such a horrid noise. He tapped out almost immediately.
The onlooking crowd of marines broke out in hysterics. The Paranid and I both attempted to maintain some dignity as we rose and bowed.
1-29 isn't bad.
-----
"Hey Boss. A thought."
The rest of the marines were in full combat suits, and were re-boarding Taranis. "I'm listening."
"Going after the Yaki straight up may not be out best idea. There's plenty of scum and villainy to kick around in Mercenary's Rift, and in the lawless sectors."
He had a point. "Sounds good. I'll scout out our first training target."
Time to get this party started.
-----
Sidhe Ships v2
Raw Mod
http://diffpair.com/misc/SidheShips-V0.2-7.7.2013.zip
Plugin Manager Mod
http://diffpair.com/misc/SidheShips-V0.2-7.7.2013.spk
Lynx v1 and v2 available for purchase at OTAS Shipyard. The script buy.sidhe.ship.stoma creates 1 Stoma at OTAS Shipyard for a little over 13M credits.
I'd been receiving regular status reports from Jackson and Atilio. As I disconnected the tractor beam from the final Ore Mine, my commlink chirped.
"Hey Boss. You've got a full compliment of marines on the Taranis. We're ready to get them some combat training."
So we'd finally named the Sirokos. "Excellent! Send them over to the Lobby, and have them spend some time in the Forge until I get there. I need to make a couple stops first."
"Yes sir. See you in a few."
-----
"Atilio, talk to me. How we doing?"
"Lynx v2 is coming off the production line now. That ship only has one or two more mods left in it before it wont have room for a pilot anymore."
"Understood. Thanks for the hard work. Uhm..."
"Spit it out."
"How hard would it be to strap a Destroyer Class Generator and Shield to an Advanced Satellite?"
(click)
-----
I slammed up against the wall of the Dojo, somehow upside down. As I crumpled to the floor, my opponent, a Split Marine, bowed politely. I stood up and readjusted my sparring outfit. Jackson attempted to conceal a smile, but failed. I'd insisted on sparring with all 30 marines before we left on our real mission. So far, I was 0-29.
My final opponent was a lanky Paranid... all arms and eye-stalks. We bowed, and began circling. He'd seen all my other fights, and he was not worried.
We snapped a couple jabs back and forth, tested reactions and arm length. I stepped forward and started a roundhouse kick. The marine took a half step back; just far enough that I'd miss. I planted the forward foot, and spun into a back kick. Seeing me expose my back, he rushed forward to take advantage.
The back kick never materialized as I continued spinning, using the step to lead into a half-assed whirlwind kick. My distance was off, and instead of landing an aerial kick to his head, I landed on him. Or rather, in his rush forward, his only option was to duck under me or catch me. He chose the latter.
I wrapped my legs around him, and we started grappling. He intentionally fell forward, slamming me into the mat. I felt him twist in my grasp; his arm snaked underneath my ankle and leg. He was going to attempt some sort of joint manipulation on my foot.
In a moment of panic, I grabbed two of his eye-stalks, and started tying them in a knot around his third.
I've never heard such a horrid noise. He tapped out almost immediately.
The onlooking crowd of marines broke out in hysterics. The Paranid and I both attempted to maintain some dignity as we rose and bowed.
1-29 isn't bad.
-----
"Hey Boss. A thought."
The rest of the marines were in full combat suits, and were re-boarding Taranis. "I'm listening."
"Going after the Yaki straight up may not be out best idea. There's plenty of scum and villainy to kick around in Mercenary's Rift, and in the lawless sectors."
He had a point. "Sounds good. I'll scout out our first training target."
Time to get this party started.
-----
Sidhe Ships v2
Raw Mod
http://diffpair.com/misc/SidheShips-V0.2-7.7.2013.zip
Plugin Manager Mod
http://diffpair.com/misc/SidheShips-V0.2-7.7.2013.spk
Lynx v1 and v2 available for purchase at OTAS Shipyard. The script buy.sidhe.ship.stoma creates 1 Stoma at OTAS Shipyard for a little over 13M credits.
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Song Of Obsidian
- Posts: 305
- Joined: Wed, 19. Jun 13, 19:46
Scared my cat laughing at that.Poseidon wrote:In a moment of panic, I grabbed two of his eye-stalks, and started tying them in a knot around his third.
I've never heard such a horrid noise. He tapped out almost immediately.
The onlooking crowd of marines broke out in hysterics. The Paranid and I both attempted to maintain some dignity as we rose and bowed.
1-29 isn't bad.
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
Since the story isn't being terribly exciting right now, I'm trying to include some levity. That's my goal: one narrative/character change per scene, and something to make the reader smile a little every few story posts.
-----
I took the Lynx v2 out for a spin... still fast and agile, and now with enough Weapon Energy to mow down shields on anything M6 or smaller. Energy Regen got a slight boost as a side effect, but it was still painfully slow. Also, the cargo space was further reduced, and my hull was less rigid. Atilio was right; I only had one or two more modifications on this, at best.
Reader Interaction Time!
The next Lynx upgrade will be based on your feedback. I can only upgrade one aspect of the ship at a time. This may be the final upgrade to the Lynx.
Current Specifications for the Lynx:
For comparison, the baseline specs for a Venti:
Current options are:
-----
I took the Lynx v2 out for a spin... still fast and agile, and now with enough Weapon Energy to mow down shields on anything M6 or smaller. Energy Regen got a slight boost as a side effect, but it was still painfully slow. Also, the cargo space was further reduced, and my hull was less rigid. Atilio was right; I only had one or two more modifications on this, at best.
Reader Interaction Time!
The next Lynx upgrade will be based on your feedback. I can only upgrade one aspect of the ship at a time. This may be the final upgrade to the Lynx.
Current Specifications for the Lynx:
Code: Select all
Class: M3
Shields: 4 x 25MJ
Reactor: 825 MW
Hull: 12,800
Speed: 78 m/s to 312 m/s
Steering: 19 to 48 rpm
Acceleration: 16 m/s to 65 m/s
Wep Energy: 9,000 J
Wep Recharge: 225 J/second
Max Capacity: 160 units
Containers: Large (L)
Purchasable: Yes, OTAS Shipyard
Price: 16M creditsCode: Select all
Class: M3
Shields: 4 x 25MJ
Reactor: 825 MW
Hull: 16,000
Speed: 78 m/s to 195 m/s
Steering: 19 to 48 rpm
Acceleration: 16 m/s to 41 m/s
Wep Energy: 5,600 J
Wep Recharge: 140 J/second
Max Capacity: 200 units
Containers: Large (L)
Purchasable: Yes, OTAS Shipyard
Price: 3.3M credits- Increased Shields
Increased Shield Regen
Enable PBE on Main Guns
Enable (other weapon) on Main Guns
Other Suggestions?
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
As exciting as the new Lynx was, I wasn't quite ready to jump into Mercenaries' Rift with only 100MJ shields. I ship-hopped to the Springblossom, and jumped both myself and Taranis to Merchant Haven.
"Jackson, I'm going to be looking for something along the lines of an M6. Suggestions?"
"You're going to need two pods. Clear the area, strip the shields, jump us in and keep the shields down. Cake and Pie."
"Got it. Chat in a sec."
I jumped over to Mercenaries' Rift, and made towards the west gate. It wasn't long before I was fighting my way through a swarm of no less than 10 pirate fighters. The shields took it like a champ, and the turreted SSCs scored more kills than the main guns. As I continued searching for something bigger than a fighter, four separate ships equipped with PBGs hit me at the same time. My shields melted down to 15%. A quick Turbo Boost out of combat range solved that problem...
A Pirate Caravel came through the gate. There we go, I thought in exasperation. I was a bit tired of wading through the flunkies, trying to reach the boss fight.
The TM scrambled all its fighters as I approached, but a single pass was all it took to clear the area. Remembering Jackson's checklist, I stripped the shields and called in Taranis. Piracy, 10 of the 30 marines, Launch. Keeping the shields down was a bit tricky; I don't think it had more than 400MJ. Poltergeist missiles were a better bet than even a single SSC at this point, in terms of hull damage and shield suppression.
The boarding pods made impact, and I kept my focus. It took longer than I expected, but eventually they breached the hull. I saw two of my marines spacewalking, and remembering the Centaur, I hurriedly swung by to pick them up. The open comm also presented cause for concern.
"Check your targets!"
"We've got a man down!"
"Arggh!"
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Betty spoke up. "Boarding Failed."
I stared out the cockpit window. Fsck.
-----
Uncertainty crept in. What went wrong? I checked the hull... still at 65%.
"Jackson. We lost them, Jackson."
"I saw, sir."
We sat in silence for a moment, while the Caravel's weapons chiseled into my shields.
"If I may, sir. This was a training op. Someone, or perhaps multiple someone's, failed to do their job. All we can do is learn from the mistake."
I sighed, and pulled up a video commlink to the staging area on Taranis. 22 marines looked up at the screen showing my face. "We just lost the entire previous boarding team. I know you are exceptionally competent. I know these are dangerous missions, and that losses happen. But when one of you dies, a piece of me dies with you.
"I need volunteers to avenge your comrades." The entire staging are stood. I was speechless. "Alright, decide among yourselves who will have the honor; I need eight. Deploy as soon as you're ready; I'll keep the shields down. And please, be careful."
I switched the commlink back to the active session with Jackson. I shook my head. "I don't... I didn't expect..."
Jackson gave a grim half-smile. "We're Marines, sir. Let's get this done."
-----
I watched as 21 marines disembarked from where the Taranis was parked, next to the Caravel. We'd left with 30 this morning. Jackson was the last off the ship.
"How long should I give them to grieve, Jackson?"
"Don't, sir. The best thing you can do it to keep them busy."
I took a breath and straightened up. He was right; leaving them idle would only be harder on them. "Fine. We'll do it again tomorrow. Get some rest, and let me know if they need or want anything."
Jackson nodded. This was only the beginning.
"Jackson, I'm going to be looking for something along the lines of an M6. Suggestions?"
"You're going to need two pods. Clear the area, strip the shields, jump us in and keep the shields down. Cake and Pie."
"Got it. Chat in a sec."
I jumped over to Mercenaries' Rift, and made towards the west gate. It wasn't long before I was fighting my way through a swarm of no less than 10 pirate fighters. The shields took it like a champ, and the turreted SSCs scored more kills than the main guns. As I continued searching for something bigger than a fighter, four separate ships equipped with PBGs hit me at the same time. My shields melted down to 15%. A quick Turbo Boost out of combat range solved that problem...
A Pirate Caravel came through the gate. There we go, I thought in exasperation. I was a bit tired of wading through the flunkies, trying to reach the boss fight.
The TM scrambled all its fighters as I approached, but a single pass was all it took to clear the area. Remembering Jackson's checklist, I stripped the shields and called in Taranis. Piracy, 10 of the 30 marines, Launch. Keeping the shields down was a bit tricky; I don't think it had more than 400MJ. Poltergeist missiles were a better bet than even a single SSC at this point, in terms of hull damage and shield suppression.
The boarding pods made impact, and I kept my focus. It took longer than I expected, but eventually they breached the hull. I saw two of my marines spacewalking, and remembering the Centaur, I hurriedly swung by to pick them up. The open comm also presented cause for concern.
"Check your targets!"
"We've got a man down!"
"Arggh!"
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Betty spoke up. "Boarding Failed."
I stared out the cockpit window. Fsck.
-----
Uncertainty crept in. What went wrong? I checked the hull... still at 65%.
"Jackson. We lost them, Jackson."
"I saw, sir."
We sat in silence for a moment, while the Caravel's weapons chiseled into my shields.
"If I may, sir. This was a training op. Someone, or perhaps multiple someone's, failed to do their job. All we can do is learn from the mistake."
I sighed, and pulled up a video commlink to the staging area on Taranis. 22 marines looked up at the screen showing my face. "We just lost the entire previous boarding team. I know you are exceptionally competent. I know these are dangerous missions, and that losses happen. But when one of you dies, a piece of me dies with you.
"I need volunteers to avenge your comrades." The entire staging are stood. I was speechless. "Alright, decide among yourselves who will have the honor; I need eight. Deploy as soon as you're ready; I'll keep the shields down. And please, be careful."
I switched the commlink back to the active session with Jackson. I shook my head. "I don't... I didn't expect..."
Jackson gave a grim half-smile. "We're Marines, sir. Let's get this done."
-----
I watched as 21 marines disembarked from where the Taranis was parked, next to the Caravel. We'd left with 30 this morning. Jackson was the last off the ship.
"How long should I give them to grieve, Jackson?"
"Don't, sir. The best thing you can do it to keep them busy."
I took a breath and straightened up. He was right; leaving them idle would only be harder on them. "Fine. We'll do it again tomorrow. Get some rest, and let me know if they need or want anything."
Jackson nodded. This was only the beginning.
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Song Of Obsidian
- Posts: 305
- Joined: Wed, 19. Jun 13, 19:46
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Idleking
- Posts: 425
- Joined: Tue, 15. Aug 06, 15:47
Yeah, those area weapons like PBG and PSG are cheated. They don't hit you just once, but multiple times instead while they clip "through" your ship. Kinda sucks but meh...
As for your maybe last upgrade to the Venti, I'd probably ramp up the max. shields or the shield regen.
100MJ of shielding is decent for an M3, so prolly go for the generator.
As for your maybe last upgrade to the Venti, I'd probably ramp up the max. shields or the shield regen.
100MJ of shielding is decent for an M3, so prolly go for the generator.
As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.
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[ external image ]
Litcube wrote:Don't succumb to the "I figured it'd be ok".
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Song Of Obsidian
- Posts: 305
- Joined: Wed, 19. Jun 13, 19:46
Otherwise, shield regen.![[ external image ]](http://litcube.xtimelines.net/LUBanner.png){kind=link}
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Poseidon
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
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Song Of Obsidian
- Posts: 305
- Joined: Wed, 19. Jun 13, 19:46
Medusa would be a better choice for shield regen. Or Tenjin or LX, but those you'd have to cap. Eclipse is the best for shield max.
I've never found a way to outmaneuver fighters using PBG well enough to avoid getting hit by it once unless I come up behind them, which is why I lean toward shield max. Regen does help in longer fights, or if you get hit hard early(such as a PBG burst) but are able to stay out of fire arcs after that. So it's a tough call.
I've never found a way to outmaneuver fighters using PBG well enough to avoid getting hit by it once unless I come up behind them, which is why I lean toward shield max. Regen does help in longer fights, or if you get hit hard early(such as a PBG burst) but are able to stay out of fire arcs after that. So it's a tough call.