It's not X or even space related, so I don't know if the forum rules'd allow it here. And yeah, I have a 4 day weekend now so I'll almost certainly get a chapter up. My gaming computer also FINALLY has teh internets again, so I'll be updating the other chapters with screenies.Shoo t'Rgt: Honour and Reason [DiD]
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Master of the Blade
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@Snowship, eheheh, so you saw that thread. It's kind of sci-fi. Sort of steampunk/scifi/fantasy/something. It's not X or even space related, so I don't know if the forum rules'd allow it here. And yeah, I have a 4 day weekend now so I'll almost certainly get a chapter up. My gaming computer also FINALLY has teh internets again, so I'll be updating the other chapters with screenies.
It's not X or even space related, so I don't know if the forum rules'd allow it here. And yeah, I have a 4 day weekend now so I'll almost certainly get a chapter up. My gaming computer also FINALLY has teh internets again, so I'll be updating the other chapters with screenies.Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Master of the Blade
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- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
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Master of the Blade
- Posts: 2259
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
/putting off writing a chapter
Yeah. Finally got round to it. Seems like I've forgotten quite how the Goner plot went, so if what I say and what should happen don't match up, well, sue me. Just don't.
Chapter 28: Warmongers by Proxy
With the TLS recovered, I'm sent off to tail a fleeing Blastclaw to find the Pirates' base. The thing's speed reads as 73m/s. This could take a while. I match vectors with it and open up my logs to do some logistics. Justin and E'den are running fairly low on ecells, so I send them to my shipyard to pick some up (It takes literally five superfreighters to move all the crap from the complex to the shipyard without the plex filling up. I'll never have problems with materials for ship construction.).
As we slooooooooooowly putter through the Pirate space South of GE I start to get edgy - it's clear I'm not welcome here, and I even accidentally attract the attention of a Brigantine, which I avoid attacking until I see the first shots from its turrets. The Brig looks really cool by the way - shame it's more or less useless from my point of view what with the ridiculous advanced weapons everyone's running around with. Anyway, I destroy it (though it puts up a very commendable fight, nailing me a good few times with some description of PPC) and its uncomfortably huge escort fairly comfortably, before boosting to maximum velocity to make up the distance I lost on the Blastclaw.
Finally we end up in Gaian Star, where there're two Pirate bases - a pretty normal one offering not-entirely-legal services and wares to any buyer, and a highly suspicious one with no listed wares, which the 'claw heads for. Once the Goners realise I've found Hall's location someone has a highly dishonourable but surprisingly appealing idea - essentially, I bring Pirates spaceweed. Along with spaceweed I bring unannounced SQUASH mines. Drop off cargo, pick up Hall and apparently some Terran spy, fly away and BOOM!.
Yeah.
I look at the list of ships in my sector and pick out a TP to use - a Toucan Hauler, which already has equipment and can steal a JD from another docked ship. Before long I have all the stuff we need, and the Toucan is approaching transporter range.
The manager of the base doesn't seem suspicious for some reason when I comm to say I'm dropping off some weed. Lax security never ends well. I land safely and Hall and the agent sneak aboard while the cargo transfer happens. I get the hell out of dodge and aim a camera drone at the base to watch the fireworks.
When I drop off my passengers in Elysium of Light (after transferring us back to Unreasonable Negotiations[/u], of course) Hall tells me he's tinkered with my jumpdrive a bit, allowing me to make 'unfocussed jumps'. Sounds dangerous, but kind of cool. Apparently I'm also going to be given the Truelight Seeker, but it's still not arrived. I should be excited about having a platform for every weapon in the Universe, but, well, I'm not. It just feels meh. Oh well.
I say bye to the Goners, pick up some more salvage insurance at the (now complete) adscreen infested temple and test fire my UFJD...
Yeah. Finally got round to it. Seems like I've forgotten quite how the Goner plot went, so if what I say and what should happen don't match up, well, sue me. Just don't.
Chapter 28: Warmongers by Proxy
With the TLS recovered, I'm sent off to tail a fleeing Blastclaw to find the Pirates' base. The thing's speed reads as 73m/s. This could take a while. I match vectors with it and open up my logs to do some logistics. Justin and E'den are running fairly low on ecells, so I send them to my shipyard to pick some up (It takes literally five superfreighters to move all the crap from the complex to the shipyard without the plex filling up. I'll never have problems with materials for ship construction.).
As we slooooooooooowly putter through the Pirate space South of GE I start to get edgy - it's clear I'm not welcome here, and I even accidentally attract the attention of a Brigantine, which I avoid attacking until I see the first shots from its turrets. The Brig looks really cool by the way - shame it's more or less useless from my point of view what with the ridiculous advanced weapons everyone's running around with. Anyway, I destroy it (though it puts up a very commendable fight, nailing me a good few times with some description of PPC) and its uncomfortably huge escort fairly comfortably, before boosting to maximum velocity to make up the distance I lost on the Blastclaw.
Finally we end up in Gaian Star, where there're two Pirate bases - a pretty normal one offering not-entirely-legal services and wares to any buyer, and a highly suspicious one with no listed wares, which the 'claw heads for. Once the Goners realise I've found Hall's location someone has a highly dishonourable but surprisingly appealing idea - essentially, I bring Pirates spaceweed. Along with spaceweed I bring unannounced SQUASH mines. Drop off cargo, pick up Hall and apparently some Terran spy, fly away and BOOM!.
Yeah.
I look at the list of ships in my sector and pick out a TP to use - a Toucan Hauler, which already has equipment and can steal a JD from another docked ship. Before long I have all the stuff we need, and the Toucan is approaching transporter range.
The manager of the base doesn't seem suspicious for some reason when I comm to say I'm dropping off some weed. Lax security never ends well. I land safely and Hall and the agent sneak aboard while the cargo transfer happens. I get the hell out of dodge and aim a camera drone at the base to watch the fireworks.
When I drop off my passengers in Elysium of Light (after transferring us back to Unreasonable Negotiations[/u], of course) Hall tells me he's tinkered with my jumpdrive a bit, allowing me to make 'unfocussed jumps'. Sounds dangerous, but kind of cool. Apparently I'm also going to be given the Truelight Seeker, but it's still not arrived. I should be excited about having a platform for every weapon in the Universe, but, well, I'm not. It just feels meh. Oh well.
I say bye to the Goners, pick up some more salvage insurance at the (now complete) adscreen infested temple and test fire my UFJD...
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Snowship
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... and hoping you endup nowhere too dangerous 
yes the TLS is a let-down... so's the M3 from BtF- lost argon M1 mission (sorry, the name escapes me atm)
anyway, nice chapter and good to be some update happening. eagerly awaiting the next, hopefully with some fleet action.
yes the TLS is a let-down... so's the M3 from BtF- lost argon M1 mission (sorry, the name escapes me atm)
anyway, nice chapter and good to be some update happening. eagerly awaiting the next, hopefully with some fleet action.
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Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
![[ external image ]](http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/1369/argonliscjargyleb.jpg){kind=link}
Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
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Master of the Blade
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You kidding? That thing's awesome. It's just that I'm too far in to really need it right now. Speaking of which, I really need to finish that plot...Snowship wrote:so's the M3 from BtF- lost argon M1 mission
Chapter 29: No Coffee at this Cafe
The sector I find myself in is pretty... pretty. There's a spiral galaxy visible in the lower portion of my view and a couple of asteroids floating about. I've heard that the UFJD sometimes finds a Xenon or Kha'ak sector, but there aren't any around here. Such a shame you can never return to these places - I'd like to set up an operation here. It's peaceful. Somewhere you don't have to be constantly on the lookout for blue blobs of death.
I target an asteroid and let the camera drone look around for a while, but seeing nothing I tell the JD to return to the map.
Upon return, I immediately get a communication originating from the Colossus 'Madhawk' about a Xenon situation in Danna's Chance. Nice to see I've earned a reputation.
When I arrive at the North gate with Justin and E'den in tow, it's a big surprise to see my old friend the #deca headed for Freedom's Reach. Except it's called #cafe. And has lots of very, very angry looking fighters around it.I call my allies to me and head to do battle, but the Madhawk's captain calls me again and tells me that it's suicide - the #cafe has some sort of influence over the space near it which kills everyone who goes near. Eep. While we decide what to do, the CPU ship moves into Freedom's Reach. That's bad - it's a Teladi privately owned sector, so none of the government-aligned forces can go in without getting sued to hell and back.
So fortunate that I'm not with any govenments any more, right? The next problem is getting in - the gate's too dangerous since #cafe could be camping it, and there aren't any other ways in. At least, until some idiot suggests using unfocussed jumps to - by chance - get in. Except I need a TM class ship and a fighter. The fighter I choose to be the Tenjin onboard the Griffon, and the TM... well...
Remember way back in the bad old days? I had a Lofn called 'Viper's Nest'. It's still operational and in good condition - jumpdrive, missiles and all. I call it up and get ready to dock. I top it off with energy from Unreasonable Negotiations and start spamming the UFJD.
Well, whaddaya know? After some rather unfriendly destinations I end up ~100km from the trading station I'm supposed to be saving. Long trip incoming... I speed it up by launching the Tenjin and telling Viper's Nest to follow.
When I arrive I take out a couple of drones. Which attracts their attention. Turns out they're using Advanced Phased Neutron Cannons. I use the standard version on Pyren's Field of Vision, and they're devastating. One hit of the advanced version strips 10% of the Tenjin's hull. Fortunately the drones are the M4 equivalent and drop fairly easily. I quickly clear out enough of them to dock safely, limp back to Viper's Nest and land.
Where I'm told I stuffed too many ecells into the hold and cannot carry all the refugees. Fortunately the station will buy them off me and I make room. The refugees board and I'm then told that I don't have ENOUGH energy cells so get given some. Sheesh. Anyway, I get out safely.
Of course it's not that simple. I've got to play taxi and take them to the Elena's Fortune military base too. Ugh. Quick jump and a short flight, but still...
Drop 'em off, get back to my mothership. Now what? Well, we've got some weird thing, looks like a distress signal, from #cafe and I need to take it to some Boron expert on Xenon at the arse end of the Universe so we can find out what the hell it means. So, arse end of the Universe here we are and guess what? The little bugger's gone to Aldrin, or so I'm told by a worryingly friendly Boron dockhand. Cuddly? Really?
So, off to Hell - no - Aldrin and I can get some use out of my Mani, as a runabout in this dreadful place. First stop's one of the sector shipyards where the dockhands don't even know what a Boron is, but do know where one Professor Ketraar is meeting aliens. Or rather that he's meeting aliens at one of the Aldrin bases, all of which have the same name. Fun.
Fortunately my first guess is the right one and I manage to contact another hyperfriendly Boron who takes the info off my hands and says I can go fly around for a bit. So, I return to Unreasonable Negotiations and jump out to meet back up with my fleet.
Where I get a message saying to return to Aldrin because they're done with the data. Damn it!
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Snowship
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I found the Sedoko part of that mission more irritating than to & from sectors (though to be said I don't do sedoko stuff so that might be a large part of me not liking it)
And as for M3's, well I prefer the Venti much more than the others
Anyway, nice to see a update.
Hopefully the next isn't too far away
And as for M3's, well I prefer the Venti much more than the others
Anyway, nice to see a update.
Hopefully the next isn't too far away
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Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
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Master of the Blade
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- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
God, it's been a fortnight already? 
Where's my free time gone?
Chapter 30: Friendly Friends!
Back into Aldrin I go and launch Sting, flying to the station where the Boron is. Ketraar greets me and puts me through to the Boron, who is just as disgustingly friendly as before. I'm beginning to think my translator needs updating in the Boron department, because there's no way a scientist speaks like that.
Anyway, the message from #cafe seems to point to it being halfway through the process of turning from a relatively harmless Terraformer into a Xenon, obviously not a good thing. There's also a code of some sort with Marteen Winters' name in which I note down.
The Boron obviously wants to save #cafe (I'm all for blowing it to pieces before it decides it wants to kill anyone else) and switches to a more secure communication method, where he tells me of another old CPU ship, #efaa, being harboured in old Boron territory. Who better to diagnose a machine than another machine? Or something. Apparently #efaa managed to reach true sentience, but nearly got fragged by a Split task force, being taken in by the Boron and sent off to a distant location.
Good thing I have an unfocussed jumpdrive then. Time to waste some more ecells and break some more expensive scanning equipment.
A couple of jumps later I end up in a stupidly dark sector where it's literally impossible to see anything. Then I get the ominous news that my jumpdrive has been disabled. Oh dear. My scanner manages to lock onto some wreckage and, in the absence of anything else to do, I do the equivalent of stumble towards it, insofar as a 2km long frigate armed to the teeth can stumble.
When I'm close (still unable to physically see it, but close enough to be nearly touching it according to the targeting computer), I get another gravidar contact somewhere behind me. Lo and behold, the distinctive 'Xenon red' lights of a CPU ship are visible in the distance, so I move in on it.
At 10km, the bridge lights up and the shipboard computer goes gaga, spouting random crap at me. Then a message flashes up on the main screen, 'What is your purpose in coming here?'. A communication channel opens and I tell the thing that its sister ship #cafe is in trouble. Apparently this isn't enough, as the cacophonic nattering of the ship computer doesn't stop and I get a miffed reply that I haven't answered the question. I add that I'm here for #efaa's help and I get some peace and quiet to talk with the CPU ship.
I manage to persuade it to come with, and it starts preparing to jump. Which will take eight minutes. During which time it decides it's not going to give me MY jumpdrive back. So I stick the SETA button down and wait.
Finally #efaa's warmed up its systems enough to make the jump and I lead, entering Freedom's reach and hurriedly moving away from the gate until I realise #efaa somehow got here first. Anyway, my log gets spammed with another of #cafe's distress signals along with another code.
#efaa tells me to move into comms range of #cafe and let it route me to the safeguards on #cafe's CPU. Why it can't just bruteforce its sister ship's protection I have no idea. Anyway, the first lock is some 'guess the number' game. I manage to get it in 9 steps, no fails. Split aren't just barbaric, you know. Next is another obscure Terran number game called sudoku, which I've tried before and been pretty good at.
It takes me a while, but I complete the sudoku correctly and now I've got to manually input those passwords. Except the input screen is stopping me from getting at my logs to check what the passwords are. I manage to get it on my second try going by memory alone, which is very fortunate, since I don't want to spend another hour on number games and would much rather blow something up.
Anyway, the authorities move in on the now-neutralised #cafe and find some complete douchebag randomer onboard. Ah well. At least it's over. Why can't hacking go more like this?
I get a call from the owner of the Freedom's Reach trading station that he's got a surprise for me: a sector discovered near Zyarth's Dominion! I need to go see some Paranid about ownership rights though.
Three hundred and thirty three million credits?! WHAT?!
Where's my free time gone?Chapter 30: Friendly Friends!
Back into Aldrin I go and launch Sting, flying to the station where the Boron is. Ketraar greets me and puts me through to the Boron, who is just as disgustingly friendly as before. I'm beginning to think my translator needs updating in the Boron department, because there's no way a scientist speaks like that.
Anyway, the message from #cafe seems to point to it being halfway through the process of turning from a relatively harmless Terraformer into a Xenon, obviously not a good thing. There's also a code of some sort with Marteen Winters' name in which I note down.
The Boron obviously wants to save #cafe (I'm all for blowing it to pieces before it decides it wants to kill anyone else) and switches to a more secure communication method, where he tells me of another old CPU ship, #efaa, being harboured in old Boron territory. Who better to diagnose a machine than another machine? Or something. Apparently #efaa managed to reach true sentience, but nearly got fragged by a Split task force, being taken in by the Boron and sent off to a distant location.
Good thing I have an unfocussed jumpdrive then. Time to waste some more ecells and break some more expensive scanning equipment.
A couple of jumps later I end up in a stupidly dark sector where it's literally impossible to see anything. Then I get the ominous news that my jumpdrive has been disabled. Oh dear. My scanner manages to lock onto some wreckage and, in the absence of anything else to do, I do the equivalent of stumble towards it, insofar as a 2km long frigate armed to the teeth can stumble.
When I'm close (still unable to physically see it, but close enough to be nearly touching it according to the targeting computer), I get another gravidar contact somewhere behind me. Lo and behold, the distinctive 'Xenon red' lights of a CPU ship are visible in the distance, so I move in on it.
At 10km, the bridge lights up and the shipboard computer goes gaga, spouting random crap at me. Then a message flashes up on the main screen, 'What is your purpose in coming here?'. A communication channel opens and I tell the thing that its sister ship #cafe is in trouble. Apparently this isn't enough, as the cacophonic nattering of the ship computer doesn't stop and I get a miffed reply that I haven't answered the question. I add that I'm here for #efaa's help and I get some peace and quiet to talk with the CPU ship.
I manage to persuade it to come with, and it starts preparing to jump. Which will take eight minutes. During which time it decides it's not going to give me MY jumpdrive back. So I stick the SETA button down and wait.
Finally #efaa's warmed up its systems enough to make the jump and I lead, entering Freedom's reach and hurriedly moving away from the gate until I realise #efaa somehow got here first. Anyway, my log gets spammed with another of #cafe's distress signals along with another code.
#efaa tells me to move into comms range of #cafe and let it route me to the safeguards on #cafe's CPU. Why it can't just bruteforce its sister ship's protection I have no idea. Anyway, the first lock is some 'guess the number' game. I manage to get it in 9 steps, no fails. Split aren't just barbaric, you know. Next is another obscure Terran number game called sudoku, which I've tried before and been pretty good at.
It takes me a while, but I complete the sudoku correctly and now I've got to manually input those passwords. Except the input screen is stopping me from getting at my logs to check what the passwords are. I manage to get it on my second try going by memory alone, which is very fortunate, since I don't want to spend another hour on number games and would much rather blow something up.
Anyway, the authorities move in on the now-neutralised #cafe and find some complete douchebag randomer onboard. Ah well. At least it's over. Why can't hacking go more like this?
I get a call from the owner of the Freedom's Reach trading station that he's got a surprise for me: a sector discovered near Zyarth's Dominion! I need to go see some Paranid about ownership rights though.
Three hundred and thirty three million credits?! WHAT?!
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Master of the Blade
- Posts: 2259
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
OK, no chapter today. Sorry about that. Instead, a question to anyone who might still be reading: The advanced weapon research mod is beginning to piss me off. Now, I can't remove it without starting a new game, so I was thinking...
1)Note down my assets and reputations so I know what I have.
2)Reinstall TC so I can choose new mods.
3)Install the X rebalance mod (which has a version of Cadius' shippack in) or a new version of Cadius' shippack.
4)Use scripts to bring back all the stuff I have.
5)Profit! or... something.
1)Note down my assets and reputations so I know what I have.
2)Reinstall TC so I can choose new mods.
3)Install the X rebalance mod (which has a version of Cadius' shippack in) or a new version of Cadius' shippack.
4)Use scripts to bring back all the stuff I have.
5)Profit! or... something.
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Nathancros
- Posts: 674
- Joined: Tue, 30. Nov 10, 04:46
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Master of the Blade
- Posts: 2259
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
Still very little free time... Just finished transcripting an interview for English after doing a grade 5 music theory exam, now have to do a maths paper for homework...
College is going to be getting in the way of this DiD a LOT. I underestimated how much crap I'd have to do.
I'll have a go at getting one up for Friday, but... yeah, no promises.
College is going to be getting in the way of this DiD a LOT. I underestimated how much crap I'd have to do.
I'll have a go at getting one up for Friday, but... yeah, no promises.Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Master of the Blade
- Posts: 2259
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
One day late isn't too bad, right?
Chapter 31a: A Summary
Before I move on (since I need to somehow scrape together more money than I've ever had at any one time), I decide I need to get my stuff in order, since I've done a lot of stuff in a sort of half-trance and completely forgotten it.
Firstly, I have fixed some stuff for Mahi Ma in the Hub, given him some chips from my shipbuilding plex and been able to redirect a set of gates in the Hub. Cool, huh? I put it near Trinity Sanctum.
This was not a good idea.
The next thing Mahi Ma wants is an ungodly huge quantity of raw materials, the first of which being Teladianium, not available for about 20 sectors. In order to remedy this, I built five L-sized Teladianium foundries in a nearby sector with an excess of power stations. These foundries have a freighter each and are running reasonably well. The HUB has five more freighters to buy up Teladianium from the foundries. I still need 100, 000 units, so that'll be a while.
I have queued up four Ps and ten Ls at the shipyard to act as a sector patrol for my home sector. There's already a Carrack defending the shipyard itself, but I'd feel happier with some gatecampers there too. I'd love to get my hands on a K or a J for REing because they're apparently extremely easy to build, but they're so hard to capture. I could hope for one to suffer enough damage to shut down and go dead in space, but I don't think that'll happen anytime soon.
I have about fifteen freighters going between my ship parts complex and the shipyard carrying huge quantities of Stuff(tm) and the complex is still producing faster than they can ferry. I'm thinking of getting one of these new fangled Commodity Logistics Software upgrades to make it less painful to coordinate.
E'den nearly got herself killed when she failed to point her AFBCs at a Q and got nailed by some APPC, but I bailed her out, leaving the Aegir at 92% hull integrity. Just a few dents, easily put right and no impact on performance.
FULL PROPERTY SUMMARY COMING AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE!
Chapter 31b: Grim Resolve
So, left with little to do I make a decision. I'm pretty well known now - people pay me millions to clear up tiny pirate attacks and most of the leaders of the races would happily lick my boots clean for me. I haven't forgotten about what put me in this situation. I was expelled from a Meeting of Families, shaming me and my patriarch. I want to see that Family Rhonkar understands it's created a monster. Telling E'den and Justin to hold position, I hit the jumpdrive for Family Pride.
Emerging into the system I muse that it's fairly unremarkable as racial origins go. Kingdom end has its huge watery planet, Seizewell its rich asteroid chains, Earth the mighty torus and pristine sufrace. Even the Kha'ak hive had its slightly creepy charms. Family Pride is just a stepping stone, dirty and industrialised so the Split could make war with the Universe long ago. Anyway, I request a link to the Rhonkar representatives on the planet via the trading port - which I am granted.
'Greetings, Family Rhonkar. My name is Shoo t'Rgt and I have come with a question for the Patriarch.' Not a particularly offensive opening line, I thought, though a Split could interpret a hug as aggressive.
'We know of you t'Rgt of the Rhen lineage. Much as we would prefer to welcome you as a hero of the Split we feel your... ideologies are a dishonour to all families. Let it be known you are unwelcome here, though your question shall be relayed and answered.' So much for diplomacy. They didn't even give me someone competent.
'I understand the reasons for Rhonkar's fear of me,' I shoot back, grinning to myself, 'and assure you I will leave once my curiosity is satisfied. After witnessing the success one family outcast can experience by making peace with the civilised races, is the Patriarch willing to cease childish hostility with potential allies and share in my success? Can the Split race be made to see that our foes are not among the Commonwealth, and accept them?' Not the most perfect of speeches, but I think I made my point.
'Relaying.' I wait a few minutes, then, 'The patriarch has chosen to reply to your provocative request, and has again made it clear that Split honour would be broken if peace is solidified with the Commonwealth. Our ertwhile allies, the Paranid, have all but broken their alliance with us. The Boron remain our foes. There are - and will not be - plans to end any conflicts. Now leave.'
Such a shame. Hmm. I wonder how fast I can build a fleet of Xenon ships? If my race will not follow an example, they must be subjugated by force. I'll bide my time for now, but a storm is brewing for the Family Rhonkar. I jump back to E'den and Justin.
Chapter 31a: A Summary
Before I move on (since I need to somehow scrape together more money than I've ever had at any one time), I decide I need to get my stuff in order, since I've done a lot of stuff in a sort of half-trance and completely forgotten it.
Firstly, I have fixed some stuff for Mahi Ma in the Hub, given him some chips from my shipbuilding plex and been able to redirect a set of gates in the Hub. Cool, huh? I put it near Trinity Sanctum.
This was not a good idea.
The next thing Mahi Ma wants is an ungodly huge quantity of raw materials, the first of which being Teladianium, not available for about 20 sectors. In order to remedy this, I built five L-sized Teladianium foundries in a nearby sector with an excess of power stations. These foundries have a freighter each and are running reasonably well. The HUB has five more freighters to buy up Teladianium from the foundries. I still need 100, 000 units, so that'll be a while.
I have queued up four Ps and ten Ls at the shipyard to act as a sector patrol for my home sector. There's already a Carrack defending the shipyard itself, but I'd feel happier with some gatecampers there too. I'd love to get my hands on a K or a J for REing because they're apparently extremely easy to build, but they're so hard to capture. I could hope for one to suffer enough damage to shut down and go dead in space, but I don't think that'll happen anytime soon.
I have about fifteen freighters going between my ship parts complex and the shipyard carrying huge quantities of Stuff(tm) and the complex is still producing faster than they can ferry. I'm thinking of getting one of these new fangled Commodity Logistics Software upgrades to make it less painful to coordinate.
E'den nearly got herself killed when she failed to point her AFBCs at a Q and got nailed by some APPC, but I bailed her out, leaving the Aegir at 92% hull integrity. Just a few dents, easily put right and no impact on performance.
FULL PROPERTY SUMMARY COMING AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE!
Chapter 31b: Grim Resolve
So, left with little to do I make a decision. I'm pretty well known now - people pay me millions to clear up tiny pirate attacks and most of the leaders of the races would happily lick my boots clean for me. I haven't forgotten about what put me in this situation. I was expelled from a Meeting of Families, shaming me and my patriarch. I want to see that Family Rhonkar understands it's created a monster. Telling E'den and Justin to hold position, I hit the jumpdrive for Family Pride.
Emerging into the system I muse that it's fairly unremarkable as racial origins go. Kingdom end has its huge watery planet, Seizewell its rich asteroid chains, Earth the mighty torus and pristine sufrace. Even the Kha'ak hive had its slightly creepy charms. Family Pride is just a stepping stone, dirty and industrialised so the Split could make war with the Universe long ago. Anyway, I request a link to the Rhonkar representatives on the planet via the trading port - which I am granted.
'Greetings, Family Rhonkar. My name is Shoo t'Rgt and I have come with a question for the Patriarch.' Not a particularly offensive opening line, I thought, though a Split could interpret a hug as aggressive.
'We know of you t'Rgt of the Rhen lineage. Much as we would prefer to welcome you as a hero of the Split we feel your... ideologies are a dishonour to all families. Let it be known you are unwelcome here, though your question shall be relayed and answered.' So much for diplomacy. They didn't even give me someone competent.
'I understand the reasons for Rhonkar's fear of me,' I shoot back, grinning to myself, 'and assure you I will leave once my curiosity is satisfied. After witnessing the success one family outcast can experience by making peace with the civilised races, is the Patriarch willing to cease childish hostility with potential allies and share in my success? Can the Split race be made to see that our foes are not among the Commonwealth, and accept them?' Not the most perfect of speeches, but I think I made my point.
'Relaying.' I wait a few minutes, then, 'The patriarch has chosen to reply to your provocative request, and has again made it clear that Split honour would be broken if peace is solidified with the Commonwealth. Our ertwhile allies, the Paranid, have all but broken their alliance with us. The Boron remain our foes. There are - and will not be - plans to end any conflicts. Now leave.'
Such a shame. Hmm. I wonder how fast I can build a fleet of Xenon ships? If my race will not follow an example, they must be subjugated by force. I'll bide my time for now, but a storm is brewing for the Family Rhonkar. I jump back to E'den and Justin.
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Master of the Blade
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- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
OK, so. I haven't posted in this for a while. A long while. I'm ridiculously busy (and Skyrim-obsessed, but I expect the X universe will regain some of my limited playtime soon) I likely won't be able to do so until the Christmas holidays. Albion Prelude is released soon. They recommend an unmodded TC install. WHAT DO I DO?!
It would be cool to continue in AP, but I'd basically have to start over with a clean install, losing essentially all my fleet, production capability and a lot of weaponry. Easy to work into the story, but a royal pain in the arse. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll accept any suggestions from people who still have this in their watched topics.
EDIT: So, no replies. I think I'll start a completely new, clean TC install. It lets me have Albion Prelude, get rid of AWRM, and once they're adapted for AP, get a more up to date version of Cadius' ship pack (or even the XRM).
It would be cool to continue in AP, but I'd basically have to start over with a clean install, losing essentially all my fleet, production capability and a lot of weaponry. Easy to work into the story, but a royal pain in the arse. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll accept any suggestions from people who still have this in their watched topics.
EDIT: So, no replies. I think I'll start a completely new, clean TC install. It lets me have Albion Prelude, get rid of AWRM, and once they're adapted for AP, get a more up to date version of Cadius' ship pack (or even the XRM).
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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crazy_ewok83
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Master of the Blade
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I don't want to stop altogether, and I'll try to find a way to continue in AP (probably involving much usage of 'spawn ship' scripts), but I want to wait and see which mods are viable for porting (particularly XRM, which has Cadius ships in it) before doing so.
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Master of the Blade
- Posts: 2259
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
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Nathancros
- Posts: 674
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u mean a reader like me?Master of the Blade wrote:Well, I have XRM and I must say I should have got it sooner. Great fun. I'll set up a game as close to this one as I can tomorrow, and resume the story.
With a bit of luck somebody's still about after so long...
Nullam et arcu vitae magna instabilitate omnia solvit
Am a recovering Addict of the CREATIVE FORUM.
Long live X3
Am a recovering Addict of the CREATIVE FORUM.
Long live X3
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Master of the Blade
- Posts: 2259
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
@Nathancros, yeah, something like that.
I've done something a bit audacious because I didn't want the hassle of rebuilding that fricking complex again...
Chapter 32: A Setback
I thought I could leave my little operation running for a while without my intervention. Apparently not. Upon returning from a 'holiday' involving more assassination attempts than I'm comfortable with I find my property list apparently empty and Justin and E'den standing sheepishly in the local trading station's docking bay next to a beat-up Asp. On the upside, I apparently have six hundred and fifty million credits. Nice! Wait. What.
'The Argon Government has requisitioned your infrastructure and fleet elements for use in the war against Earth. You have been reimbursed for approximately eighty percent of your assets' value and granted access to most Commonwealth facilities for services rendered in Federation, Kingdom, Dynasty, Company and Duchy space. Your connections to the Terran military have also been overlooked in light of your status of hero amongst the people of the Commonwealth, though your current standings have made you exempt from Terran space. We apologise for the inconvenience, and have sent you a complimentary fighter for your trouble.'
Damn. How much of a setback is this? My starmaps, gone. Complex, shipyard, Hub, gone. Ships, equipment, gone. Traders, gone. Damn! I'm in Family Pride, having been brought here by passenger transport.
Well, I have a lot of money and some damn good contacts. I think I can scrape together a fleet. Browsing news announcements, I find that quite a lot has happened. The Torus is destroyed, new sectors have been discovered, new ships have been put into production by all the races, and weaponry in all areas of space has been overhauled. Ships have been retrofitted with reinforced hull armour, too. Looks like war is good for progress. But, the Terrans? They were stuck up, but this is maybe just a little overreaction. I'll wait to pass judgement on the Argon. It's my race who continue even now in their oppression of the Boron. It shows, too. We've had to resort to reverse engineering pirate weapons for our capital ships. The shame!
So, first thing, I need some new maps. I fly around a bit to open up some sectors, and see some of the new ships. It seems efficiency of shields is up, weapons aren't as powerful as they used to be. I don't really see anything worth getting offered in Split space - the Tiger is no longer a powerful anticapital ship, since Pirates have fixed that design loophole which let Commonwealth frigates fire IBLs. So, I need a complete rethink of my fleet. This new 'Wolf' thing looks like a good replacement for the Griffon - new and improved PALCs all round and really fast. That's about it though.
Onwards and I'm in Teladi space. Frigates don't seem viable at all for killing bigger capitals, so I need a destroyer. Since I can't have my stations back, I amy as well splash out on something big. So I do. A Pteranodon siege destroyer. Massive shields, the heaviest armour seen on a commonwealth warship, and three 12 cannon arrays which fire the Gauss cannon - now modified as a high velocity long range artillery cannon with 12km range. Low refire though, so pretty poor overall damage. Very nice. These Teladi frigates look tempting, but I decide to move on.
In Boron space, I look around and see huge blue beams being lobbed around. Turns out this is what they made the Ion Cannon into. It absolutely destroys ship engines and drains their weapon energy. Very cool. Turns out they built a frigate for it - the Sturgeon, with a 12-cannon main turret. I get one. Nice support ship. Moving on.
Argon space, I generally don't like Argon ship designs but there's one frigate, the Cyclops, which draws my attention. Three 4-gun turrets arranged to fire forward. I like. Buy. Money is still reasonably healthy, and there's not a lot else I can see that I want, so I go back to Split space and find the Family Pride shipyard doesn't sell the Wolf. Cho's Defeat does and I buy one, since my fleet is a bit vulnerable to fighters.
With my new ships all getting ready for war, I set out to explore the new Universe...
Assets: ~270Mcr
1x Pteranodon Siege Destroyer
1x Sturgeon Ion Frigate
1x Cyclops attack cruiser
1x Wolf antifighter frigate
1x Asp
I've done something a bit audacious because I didn't want the hassle of rebuilding that fricking complex again...
Chapter 32: A Setback
I thought I could leave my little operation running for a while without my intervention. Apparently not. Upon returning from a 'holiday' involving more assassination attempts than I'm comfortable with I find my property list apparently empty and Justin and E'den standing sheepishly in the local trading station's docking bay next to a beat-up Asp. On the upside, I apparently have six hundred and fifty million credits. Nice! Wait. What.
'The Argon Government has requisitioned your infrastructure and fleet elements for use in the war against Earth. You have been reimbursed for approximately eighty percent of your assets' value and granted access to most Commonwealth facilities for services rendered in Federation, Kingdom, Dynasty, Company and Duchy space. Your connections to the Terran military have also been overlooked in light of your status of hero amongst the people of the Commonwealth, though your current standings have made you exempt from Terran space. We apologise for the inconvenience, and have sent you a complimentary fighter for your trouble.'
Damn. How much of a setback is this? My starmaps, gone. Complex, shipyard, Hub, gone. Ships, equipment, gone. Traders, gone. Damn! I'm in Family Pride, having been brought here by passenger transport.
Well, I have a lot of money and some damn good contacts. I think I can scrape together a fleet. Browsing news announcements, I find that quite a lot has happened. The Torus is destroyed, new sectors have been discovered, new ships have been put into production by all the races, and weaponry in all areas of space has been overhauled. Ships have been retrofitted with reinforced hull armour, too. Looks like war is good for progress. But, the Terrans? They were stuck up, but this is maybe just a little overreaction. I'll wait to pass judgement on the Argon. It's my race who continue even now in their oppression of the Boron. It shows, too. We've had to resort to reverse engineering pirate weapons for our capital ships. The shame!
So, first thing, I need some new maps. I fly around a bit to open up some sectors, and see some of the new ships. It seems efficiency of shields is up, weapons aren't as powerful as they used to be. I don't really see anything worth getting offered in Split space - the Tiger is no longer a powerful anticapital ship, since Pirates have fixed that design loophole which let Commonwealth frigates fire IBLs. So, I need a complete rethink of my fleet. This new 'Wolf' thing looks like a good replacement for the Griffon - new and improved PALCs all round and really fast. That's about it though.
Onwards and I'm in Teladi space. Frigates don't seem viable at all for killing bigger capitals, so I need a destroyer. Since I can't have my stations back, I amy as well splash out on something big. So I do. A Pteranodon siege destroyer. Massive shields, the heaviest armour seen on a commonwealth warship, and three 12 cannon arrays which fire the Gauss cannon - now modified as a high velocity long range artillery cannon with 12km range. Low refire though, so pretty poor overall damage. Very nice. These Teladi frigates look tempting, but I decide to move on.
In Boron space, I look around and see huge blue beams being lobbed around. Turns out this is what they made the Ion Cannon into. It absolutely destroys ship engines and drains their weapon energy. Very cool. Turns out they built a frigate for it - the Sturgeon, with a 12-cannon main turret. I get one. Nice support ship. Moving on.
Argon space, I generally don't like Argon ship designs but there's one frigate, the Cyclops, which draws my attention. Three 4-gun turrets arranged to fire forward. I like. Buy. Money is still reasonably healthy, and there's not a lot else I can see that I want, so I go back to Split space and find the Family Pride shipyard doesn't sell the Wolf. Cho's Defeat does and I buy one, since my fleet is a bit vulnerable to fighters.
With my new ships all getting ready for war, I set out to explore the new Universe...
Assets: ~270Mcr
1x Pteranodon Siege Destroyer
1x Sturgeon Ion Frigate
1x Cyclops attack cruiser
1x Wolf antifighter frigate
1x Asp
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Nathancros
- Posts: 674
- Joined: Tue, 30. Nov 10, 04:46
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Master of the Blade
- Posts: 2259
- Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
Chapter 33: Battle Royale 1
That's right. There's more than one. Just this one for now, though.
I'm flying about in my Asp at 350m/s, just mindin' my own business and mapping out the Universe when I come across the Pirate sectors centered around Maelstrom. They're very active and I can't go far without getting bombarded with nasty missiles and retreating. Time, methinks, for some combat testing. The Pteranodon finally finished arming and fuelling up, and it can carry corvettes so I also got it a pair of Centaur Sentinels - slightly slower but with more shields and devastating turret arrays - 8 guns in independent sets of 4 on each side! I gave them Mass Drivers for antifighter duty. I call the Pteranodon into the first trouble sector, called, 'Hell Forge' and dock to it. It's really damn big!
First thing I notice - it rips corvettes apart. The 2.5km/s shot speed means nothing short of a fighter can evade those Gauss cannons, and they deal mighty damage. At ten kilometres, too. Beastly guns. The twelve cannon arrays might've helped, too. Not so hot against fighters - the three 4 gun flak turrets can't deal enough damage quickly enough to fend off larger fighter groups, but I find thata bit of reconfiguration of turret commands means my GCs can get the occasional (and devastating) hit of fighters, which helps a lot. Actually, that's another new thing I'm happy about - turret commands can be reconfigured to prioritise certain targets and be far more flexible. The prevalence of bombers and missile frigates in the universe has prompted me to make missile defence a top priority for all turrets...
All this? Within ten minutes of entering the sector. The Pteranodon cuts a (painfully slow) swathe through the pirate forces, swatting away all comers with contemptuous ease. The Centaurs were a bit disappionting, taking heavy damage and only really dealing some hull damage to the Pteranodon rather than anything useful. Still, I can find a use for them. Ah, but what's this? A Galleon and its Carrack escort. Challenge accepted!
On closer inspection it turns out the Pirate capital ships are extremely versatile - fast and with incredibly wide weapon compatibilities - the Carrack has Ion Cannons in its main array and Gauss cannons in its side turrets, and the Galleon is similarly equipped. They're also very fast. They spot me, which is good since there's no way the Pteranodon can catch them. Closing to firing range, and...
Actually, it's quite strange. While the Galleon consistently pounds me with its GCs, my batteries seem to be off target. Probably just the Galleon's small profile, but still worrying. I finish it in the end, with only 30% shield damage. The Carrack's trailing behind for some reason and I take it out with little resistance - strange, considering my difficulty with the Galleon. Anyway, the gate they came through leads to Gaian Star. Pirate stronghold?
Turns out yes. When I jump in I see a shipyard on the scanner, functional and with pirate craft for sale to those who associate with such scum. There're a few OWPs around, and I spot some reverse engineered Teladi ships - the Pteranodon's heavy M1 counterpart the Cormorant and a Phoenix, along with a Tern class light carrier. Should be a good test of my destroyer's capabilities! The Cormorant is the nearest large enemy, but there're lots of fighters about being annoying, so I call in my next ship, the Wolf to clear them out. Which it does, with terrifying efficiency. The PALCs demolish fighters in seconds before moving on to the next. A crew member remarks that it looks a bit like a disco. Why yes, it does. You, sir, just named a frigate. The Wolf class ship is now christened, 'Discotheque' and assigned to E'Den. She didn't ask for a name on the Aegir, so I'll just assume I can call this frigate whatever I like. I don't want it to get too close to the enemy battleships with its rather thin 2GJ shielding, so once it clears me some breathing space I jump it out so I can go a few rounds with the enemy capital ships.
The Cormorant and I open up with Gauss shots at the same time, but of course my volley is several times stronger than that of my enemy. It still deals very noticable damage though, and I begin to worry I may be unable to defeat them all. Cue the Sturgeon. In it jumps, flies over to me, parks up a few kilometres to my port side and proceeds to troll the Cormorant quite comprehensively. The carrier's speed drops to a crawl with a single shot. After a few shots, my foe is literally unable to return fire, its weapon batteries being unable to keep up with the draining effect of the IC array. I wipe it out after a while of pounding (capital hulls are incredibly thick, so even a relatively helpless enemy with no shields is still tough to finish) and move on to the Tern, which doesn't even manage to put up a fight, focused as it is on flak support rather than capital killing. The Phoenix is having some trouble with an asteroid so I send the Sturgeon over to troll it some while I trundle over at 37m/s.
When I arrive, the Sturgeon is taking quite a bit of damage so I pull it away a bit to get the Phoenix to shoot at me, then bring it back in to resume the trolling. Sure enough, after a while the steady volleys from the enemy battleship become a pathetic trickle. It feels unfair, somehow, but incredibly amusing. Hey, since it trolls so well, I think I have a name for this one, too! 'Trollmeister'! How original of me! Phoenix dispatched, I feel my work is done and jump to the Seizewell shipyard to decide on my main personal ship for the rest of my journeys.
That's right. There's more than one. Just this one for now, though.
I'm flying about in my Asp at 350m/s, just mindin' my own business and mapping out the Universe when I come across the Pirate sectors centered around Maelstrom. They're very active and I can't go far without getting bombarded with nasty missiles and retreating. Time, methinks, for some combat testing. The Pteranodon finally finished arming and fuelling up, and it can carry corvettes so I also got it a pair of Centaur Sentinels - slightly slower but with more shields and devastating turret arrays - 8 guns in independent sets of 4 on each side! I gave them Mass Drivers for antifighter duty. I call the Pteranodon into the first trouble sector, called, 'Hell Forge' and dock to it. It's really damn big!
First thing I notice - it rips corvettes apart. The 2.5km/s shot speed means nothing short of a fighter can evade those Gauss cannons, and they deal mighty damage. At ten kilometres, too. Beastly guns. The twelve cannon arrays might've helped, too. Not so hot against fighters - the three 4 gun flak turrets can't deal enough damage quickly enough to fend off larger fighter groups, but I find thata bit of reconfiguration of turret commands means my GCs can get the occasional (and devastating) hit of fighters, which helps a lot. Actually, that's another new thing I'm happy about - turret commands can be reconfigured to prioritise certain targets and be far more flexible. The prevalence of bombers and missile frigates in the universe has prompted me to make missile defence a top priority for all turrets...
All this? Within ten minutes of entering the sector. The Pteranodon cuts a (painfully slow) swathe through the pirate forces, swatting away all comers with contemptuous ease. The Centaurs were a bit disappionting, taking heavy damage and only really dealing some hull damage to the Pteranodon rather than anything useful. Still, I can find a use for them. Ah, but what's this? A Galleon and its Carrack escort. Challenge accepted!
On closer inspection it turns out the Pirate capital ships are extremely versatile - fast and with incredibly wide weapon compatibilities - the Carrack has Ion Cannons in its main array and Gauss cannons in its side turrets, and the Galleon is similarly equipped. They're also very fast. They spot me, which is good since there's no way the Pteranodon can catch them. Closing to firing range, and...
Actually, it's quite strange. While the Galleon consistently pounds me with its GCs, my batteries seem to be off target. Probably just the Galleon's small profile, but still worrying. I finish it in the end, with only 30% shield damage. The Carrack's trailing behind for some reason and I take it out with little resistance - strange, considering my difficulty with the Galleon. Anyway, the gate they came through leads to Gaian Star. Pirate stronghold?
Turns out yes. When I jump in I see a shipyard on the scanner, functional and with pirate craft for sale to those who associate with such scum. There're a few OWPs around, and I spot some reverse engineered Teladi ships - the Pteranodon's heavy M1 counterpart the Cormorant and a Phoenix, along with a Tern class light carrier. Should be a good test of my destroyer's capabilities! The Cormorant is the nearest large enemy, but there're lots of fighters about being annoying, so I call in my next ship, the Wolf to clear them out. Which it does, with terrifying efficiency. The PALCs demolish fighters in seconds before moving on to the next. A crew member remarks that it looks a bit like a disco. Why yes, it does. You, sir, just named a frigate. The Wolf class ship is now christened, 'Discotheque' and assigned to E'Den. She didn't ask for a name on the Aegir, so I'll just assume I can call this frigate whatever I like. I don't want it to get too close to the enemy battleships with its rather thin 2GJ shielding, so once it clears me some breathing space I jump it out so I can go a few rounds with the enemy capital ships.
The Cormorant and I open up with Gauss shots at the same time, but of course my volley is several times stronger than that of my enemy. It still deals very noticable damage though, and I begin to worry I may be unable to defeat them all. Cue the Sturgeon. In it jumps, flies over to me, parks up a few kilometres to my port side and proceeds to troll the Cormorant quite comprehensively. The carrier's speed drops to a crawl with a single shot. After a few shots, my foe is literally unable to return fire, its weapon batteries being unable to keep up with the draining effect of the IC array. I wipe it out after a while of pounding (capital hulls are incredibly thick, so even a relatively helpless enemy with no shields is still tough to finish) and move on to the Tern, which doesn't even manage to put up a fight, focused as it is on flak support rather than capital killing. The Phoenix is having some trouble with an asteroid so I send the Sturgeon over to troll it some while I trundle over at 37m/s.
When I arrive, the Sturgeon is taking quite a bit of damage so I pull it away a bit to get the Phoenix to shoot at me, then bring it back in to resume the trolling. Sure enough, after a while the steady volleys from the enemy battleship become a pathetic trickle. It feels unfair, somehow, but incredibly amusing. Hey, since it trolls so well, I think I have a name for this one, too! 'Trollmeister'! How original of me! Phoenix dispatched, I feel my work is done and jump to the Seizewell shipyard to decide on my main personal ship for the rest of my journeys.
Allergic to work.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
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Nathancros
- Posts: 674
- Joined: Tue, 30. Nov 10, 04:46