Anonymous
Quoted By:
Excited for it dude!
Anonymous
Awesome, looking forward to doing real spook shit. With the inclusion of Headhunters I wonder if that Special Missions Unit is a Beta-5 AAG.
Anonymous
>>6211834 I kinda wanna do Spookshit as an ODST, more squadmates and less autistic considering the Spartan IIIs are pretty scuffed in the head.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 11:51:09 No. 6211975 Report Quoted By:
>>6211827 OPERATION: Mere Fallow OPORD
SITUATION
A) Enemy
Insurrectionist forces previously theorized to be URF affiliated have been confirmed in the vicinity of dwarf planetoids Thompson 10.A and 10.B. 10.1(To be designated as OBJ:Allution), a dwarf moon orbiting the binary planet system approximately 275,000 kilometers from the Barycenter, is inundated with drive signatures, the majority of which tied to registered civilian transponders, largely bulk civilian freight with a significant fraction being attributed to passenger liners. Signals interception and long-range video surveillance has identified several armed vessels, and signs of unnatural debris in low orbit of Thompson 10.A imply vessel on vessel action.
10.1 is theorized to have had substantial interior excavation due to signs of surface density and temperature inconsistencies. Expired CMA communication codes have been intercepted conversing about an increasingly desperate overpopulation situation inside of an unlocated installation. The supply situation is equally dire, though how their flagging provisional stores are being supplemented is unclear. Several high-ranking URF personnel have been confirmed, mainly through the usage of compromised codenames. An orbital station seemingly based around a mobile civilian repair yard seems to be the primary docking center for largely civilian affiliated shipping (To be designated as OBJ:WoundWart). URF transponders and vessels are lost on the dark side of 10.1.
Due to receiving an unknown complement of reinforcements from URF cells confirmed to have fled from Estuary, the exact number and disposition of enemy forces within our A.O. is unknown. In the wake of the dissolution of UNSC forces and abandonment of certain military depots in orbital and surface installations, it can be expected that URF/Unaffiliated forces may be equipped with all manner of heavy weaponry, including but not limited to shoulder launched guided missile systems, Man Portable Space Defense Systems and near-peer military-grade rifles.
As previously stated, enemy force composition is varied, however possible transponder activity has revealed the potential presence of a PMC force previously theorized to be staunchly established within the Inner Colonies. The UEG has several open contracts with them to defend key infrastructure within the IC. Potentially hired by the regional governor of Estuary. Impossible to verify at this moment.
The Enemy has the capability to field several corvette sized vessels in the immediate area for near orbital space. Civilian shuttlecraft, Pelicans, and other domestic spacecraft are expected and cannot be blanketed under sole URF activity. However, all may be employed by hostile forces within our mission area based off of prior Insurrectionist actions.
Addendum A: Covenant signatures remain in orbit of Estuary. No apparent indication of detection for forces UNSC affiliated or otherwise.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>Spartan II quest >Spartan III quest
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 11:55:48 No. 6211978 Report OPERATION: Mere Fallow OPORD
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 11:57:20 No. 6211979 Report >>6211978 Enemy Most Likely Course of Action
URF and other Insurrectionist forces will continue to marshal refugee shipping within the vicinity of the Thompson 10 system. It is anticipated that they will exhaust all efforts to strip and triage arriving ships of fuel, materials and slipspace drives to enable further mass evacuation to a further location. This would provide the enemy with not only a regional boon in affiliated vessels but would also allow them an important humanitarian victory in the eyes of the civilian population. Fierce resistance should be expected on the part of URF forces in area if units are to be discovered.
This force may have taken measures to slow any attacking forces through the placement of mines and other unmanned measures, however the likelihood of this in line with the mass arrival of unaffiliated civilian shipping is unknown.
b) Friendly Forces
NIL
c) Attachments/Detachments
31st SMU-Staging on PRO-83216 in preparation for Sensitive Site Exploitation at OBJ: WoundWart.
2nd ODST/SPF-Staging on PRO-83216 in preparation for QRF reinforcement drop on OBJ:Allution in order to supplement Team VACIVE, or Pelican Insertion to assist the 31st.
Team VACIVE-Staging on PRO-83216 in preparation for infiltration of OBJ:Allution.
d) Civilians
The Civilian Presence is potentially and probably highly sympathetic to the URF/Insurrection. Expect resistance and possible engagement from civilians. Despite this, care should be taken to positively identify targets as direct threats, and unnecessary collateral damage should be avoidable as long as mission circumstances allow.
e) Terrain and Weather
The Thompson 10 planetary system is approximately 35 AUs from a spectrum G3 V Yellow Dwarf. 10.1 is without an atmosphere, so visibility on the starward side of the moon will be clear for 15+ kilometers and incredibly bright. The darkside of the moon is an unknown but visibility should be equally clear for units equipped with low light optics. 10.1 has practically negligible gravity, being 75 km in diameter, so movement across the surface will be swift if personnel are equipped with thruster packs.
Despite the mass amount of shipping in the immediate area, vast swaths of space around 10.1 are clear for approach. Man made and natural debris is of unextraordinary density.
Terrain within 10.1 is an unknown.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 12:00:32 No. 6211981 Report >>6211979 MISSION
The 31st SMU is to infiltrate OBJ:WoundWart to observe and report on civilian/URF cooperation, while also implanting invasive dumb AIs to wipe regional navigation systems of data pointing towards any UNSC or UEG holdings. Team VIVACE is to conduct a hunter-killer operation on the confirmed examples of URF leadership within OBJ:Allution, while also ensuring and investigating the potential presence of other high value targets. Once actions on objective are complete, mission commander Vislav will determine if further efforts must be made to uphold the COLE PROTOCOL.
EXECUTION
a) Commander’s Intent:
Conduct a fire-team level infiltration on both OBJ:WoundWart and OBJ:Allution in order to locate, neutralize, capture or destroy URF Leadership, Depots or any other pertinent war making material within our area of operations, and to secure any actionable intelligence located within the A.O.
b) Desired Endstate:
Friendly forces are to exfiltrated from the Thompson 10 System by the end of the 21st of MAR, 2549, after the neutralization of multiple vital URF resources and the enforcement of the COLE PROTOCOL. Friendly forces will convene on PRO-83216 for debrief.
c) Concept of Operation:
Initially, the 31st SMU will deploy via Pelican dropship in the vicinity of OBJ:WoundWart, masquerading as a group of refugees from one of the multiple waiting ships in the area. Upon embarkation aboard OBJ:WoundWart, personnel will secure wiretaps and observational angles on the surface of 10.1, to act as forward observer for Team VACIVE.
This action will allow Team VACIVE to insert at a predetermined LZ on OBJ:Allution via short range stealth SOEIV. Upon arrival, Team VACIVE will equip supplied T PACKS and seek entry into the interior of OBJ:Allution.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attached is an Observation of the Thompson 10 Binary Planet System and target celestial body, conducted via
[ODSP-BF-002] deployed from PRO-83216 FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 12:02:29 No. 6211982 Report >>6211981 0420 Thompson Standard Time,20 MAR 2549
<span class="mu-i">Road Disadvantage...</span>
The heavy and constant blow of air from the ventilation systems did little to alleviate the blistering heat that filled the vaguely octagonal passageways of the prowler. You stoop to avoid a low hanging bulkhead as crew rush past, beads of sweat dripping down their faces and darkening their uniforms. 6 hours ago, Vislav had snuck the spy ship to somewhere just within 250,000 kilometers, close enough for even the most archaic of thermal sensors to pick up a baffled blob of thermal radiation. From what you could guess, the internal heatsinks weren’t far from their theoretical melting points-if the crew didn’t start dripping through the deck plating before that.
But you were spared the brunt of the heat from within the pale blue-gray panels of your SPI armor. It was new, brand new, but largely similar to the battered MK 1 variant you’d worn for the past 12 years.
The bulkhead door into the officer’s wardroom was already open when you arrived, and you stepped through without much preamble. The room was dimly lit and already occupied by two men, one clad head to toe in the classic matte black ODST BDU, completely bereft of any markings, the other dressed in what could only be described as a mechanics overall, his eyes scouring a datapad as he towel rivulets of sweat from his brow, both seated near the head of the wardrooms table. Both looked up as you entered, and the ODST nodded to you.
“Lieutenant Faolan.”
Captain Walle of the 2nd STB was a familiar figure. VACIVE had run into his unit almost half a decade ago, during a mission that had gone tits up and beyond. His squad had pulled you of the fire then. You never expected to see him again, but fate had somehow seen him bookmarked by ONI to act as VBSS team leader. The other man you did not know besides his name-Sacks. His hair and beard was out of regs, and his hands look like they wore the brunt of life truly spent living in the bowels of a freighter, but his eyes were exact and calculating.
You rendered a sharp salute towards Walle, the top of your helmet bumping against the ceiling of the wardroom as the ODST waved your arm down.
“Enough of that parade field shit here. I’m playing second fiddle to the two of you anyways.” Sacks grunted in response to that, his eyes returning to his data pad as you moved across the room to stand near the pair.
“If you’re forced to deploy for our sakes, Captain, I’d consider that a personal mission failure.” Sacks said, finally setting his pad down. “Any sign of OUR involvement in the orbital platform and they’ll likely freeze the network at the very least. And then we’ll have to uphold the Protocol through infinitely more violent means.”
Walle didn’t answer, the polarized visor of his helmet betraying none of his opinions on that potential course of action.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 12:04:31 No. 6211983 Report >>6211982 A womans voice came from the entryway. ”Regardless of your success at OBJ:WoundWart, discovery is certain. If not because of you, it’ll be because of VACIVE.”
Vislav entered the room, her close-cropped hair matted with sweat as she turned to seal the bulkhead. Walle and Sacks stood, but didn’t salute, only waiting for her to take her position at the head of the briefing table before sitting again. She pressed a button, and the lights dimmed, a holographic projector flickering to life above, displaying a shivering blue pair of planets. The view changed, fidelity fading away in a wave of blue light as the planets were pushed out of frame, until it sharpened again, this time focusing on a much smaller body. 10.1. OBJ: Allution
It was surrounded by a sea of grey contacts, interrupted only by 6 red indicators-confirmed enemy vessels-and a yellow playing die, far off in the margins of the display. The Prowler.
“Helmets off, gentlemen. If I must suffer through this heat, so do you.” She spoke sternly but smiled as both you and Walle complied. “Let’s keep this short. You’ve all read the OPORD, so I won’t retread old ground. There are, however, a few new developments that need to be addressed.”
The display shifted again, zooming in onto the orbital maintenance platform. Dozens of ships were docked with it and to each other, creating the nexus of some rudimentary orbital habitat. “We just picked up communications of a possible Venezian official or officials aboard OBJ:WoundWart. As you know, Venezia broke off from the UEG after a major revolt in 2543. The UNSC has done largely nothing in the wake of this, and it seemed as if Venezia was content to do the same. This is a very sudden and unexpected upset. We need to know why they’re here. And we need him or them alive.” She looked towards Sacks. “Find them, track them, gather as much intel as possible. Once VACIVE starts going hot, you’ll roll them up.” She paused. “IF possible. If your AI fails in wiping regional navigation data, and you’re unable to secure the official, you’re clear to neutralize them by any means. ODST Fireteam SK-2 will also adjust and use our second pelican to wait as a QRF in the anchorage around OBJ:WoundWart instead of sitting in our SOEIV tubes. ”
Without skipping a beat, the display shifted towards OBJ:Allution. “The general gist is the same for your team, Lieutenant. It’s possible, if not probable, that Venezian representatives are inside of our primary target. It’s possible that they’re outright responsible for its construction. These are your new priority targets. If they’re there, I want you to find them. If you can’t exfil with them, interrogate and eliminate.”
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 12:05:32 No. 6211984 Report >>6211983 The display zoomed back out, the slow movement of civilian ships now apparent between Allution and WoundWart. “A couple hours ago, civilian ships started offloading refugees from WoundWart to Allution. This could work for our favor, both objectives could be further exploited in the chaos. Collateral is not to be considered, but don’t take that as a blank check. Most of the poor souls out there are still UEG citizens. I hope that is understood.”
The display faded, and the lights returned. Walle was staring ahead, his jaw slowly working, the gears visibly turning in his head. Sacks’ face was utterly neutral.
“Any questions?”
>Write In. Silence is a valid response. Anonymous
Anonymous
>>6211884 Just Gamma Company are the fucked up ones. Beta and Alpha are still comparatively normal.
>>6211984 Super. Pretty straight forward op, which means it probably wont be.
>Silence. Anonymous
>Silence.
Anonymous
>>6211984 Can you give us a rundown on 31st SMU and 2nd Shock Trooper Battalion? The SMU seems like they'll be the major support in this operation and they sound like they've been trained in espionage but how extensive actually is their experience? How good are they both in a fight and in a recon/infiltration role?
Also I skimmed a lot of this since the post was so large, are we using the ODST unit as a reserve QRF unit for when shit goes down? Any chance we can divert them and infiltrate them instead planning for a full stealth run or has command deemed that not a good fit for their skills?
Any information on the ODST squad we should know about, their specialities and any past achievements?
Anonymous
>>6211984 Silence
ITS HERE HELL YEAAHHHHHH
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 22:56:20 No. 6212253 Report Quoted By:
>>6212169 Sure.
The 31st is an ONI Sec 1, detachment so generally their task is recon and intelligence gathering, codebreaking, that sort of deal. These guys have been in the game for a very long time-they're very good at blending into a crowd, identifying targets of opportunity and everything that comes with stereotypical tradecraft. In a fight they're decent enough, nowhere near as lethal a pair of S3s or relentless as a fireteam of specialized ODSTs, but they can definitely hold their own against the relatively ill trained insurrectionists.
Yes, the ODSTs are being held as a reserve QRF unit. The issue with using them to infiltrate with (You) is that they're meant to cover for both units as they go for their prospective missions. If shit gets dicey in general, it's more likely that the SMU at WoundWart will need a helping hand compared to the Headhunter pair on Allution. Of course, you could argue against this...but Commander Vislav does believe it'd be better to keep them in reserve.
As detailed in the post, the PC knows the CO of the ODST squad and has a passing familiarity with the rest of the troopers. As far as you understand IC, they were a general Special Purpose Force for a regiment of the 2nd Battalion before they were snapped up by ONI. They're all very very salty and very very capable against both Covenant and Human opposition.
In general there are under 30 UNSC personnel assigned to this action, just to make things clear. 16 in the ODST squad, 6 with the SMU and the Headhunter team.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Thu 13 Mar 2025 22:57:21 No. 6212254 Report Quoted By:
Oh, barring any write ins I'll be updating in about an hour, give or take.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Fri 14 Mar 2025 00:27:35 No. 6212296 Report >>6211997 >>6212006 >>6212009 >>6212201 >Silence "Why are there so many civilians <span class="mu-i">here</span>?" Walle suddenly spoke up, his high pitched voice immediately attracting attention. "It's been nearly a month since Estuary was glassed. Most instances of civilian survivors either vacate the immediate system or scatter across every moon, asteroid and mote of dirty ice, not concentrate in a location like this."
"Most of them can't leave." Sacks pushed his datapad towards the ODST, the dimly glowing screen displaying the specifications for half a dozen ships. "Estuary had a fairly in-depth resource exploitation industry spread across multiple bodies in system, more than you'd expect for an outer colony. These ships are grossly oversized for pure inter-system transit, but that's what they're made for. When the Covenant came, TF-36 tried to muster evacuees to a central rally point on the far side of Estuary." He shrugged "That obviously never happened. The base question, Captain, still stands. One could assume that the URF has promised them some form or protection, though how they could convince the populace that we don't know at this moment. And there is the further question of the 10 to 20 ships here with Slipspace drives, running civilian signatures matched to ships known to have been built in system."
The implication was obvious, and Sacks seemed to have decided to let that question hang instead of delving into it outright.
Vislav stood. "Gentlemen. Clocks ticking. Spartan, I want your team equipped and down in the SOEIV bay in 15 minutes. We're moving into position for your disembarkation. Sacks, Walle, you and your teams have another 3 hours to get ready." She looked you in the eyes, somewhat impeded by how far she had to tilt her head back. "If we don't receive communications or signs of life from you within the next 24 hours, we'll be leaving without you. EMCOM is meant to be tight down there, don't get exposed in the open."
With that, she turned on her heel and quickly left the room, an officer already waiting with a report once the door opened. The others swiftly filed out, grateful to be free of the increasingly muggy compartment.
You stood for a few moments, quickly going over all of the information you were just told. Still, you felt as if you were missing something, just a pressing feeling at the front of your mind. Something...
Some shape moved in the corner of your eye, and you turned. The back corners of the wardroom were darker than regulations required, the aging Prowler seemingly running behind in standard maintenance. But one corner, you saw now, was strangely shaped compared to the others. No...the shadow was reflecting light.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Fri 14 Mar 2025 00:28:43 No. 6212298 Report >>6212296 Your squadmate stepped forward, the smooth, organically shaped contours of her armor rippling psychedelically as she moved fully into the light. Suddenly the photoreactive panels coating her body stabilized and promptly deactivated, leaving her the same blue-gray color as you. An uninformed observer would figure that you were clones of each other-bar the more angular helmet you wore, compared to the standard MIRAGE helm, the foot in height you had over her, and the short string of numbers on the right side of her chest plate. B327. Maris.
"Wish all our mission commanders were that nice." She glided across the room, each step almost utterly silent. You still weren't sure how she did that. "Sacks isn't, though. He and Walle were getting into it, about you and us. He seems to think that we're 'more of a liability than an asset'" She leaned against the table, knuckles down, the featureless golden dome of her helmet facing you. "I prefer our solo trips."
"It's all give and take, VAC-2. Be grateful that they won't be in our way down on Allution." You donned your helmet, the quiet hiss of its seals punctuating the statement. "Let's go."
VACIVE was one of the older headhunter teams. It was established in 2536, just after Alpha Company graduated. You weren't team lead then. 8 years was a long time for a headhunter team to be active with no casualties. It was an inevitability that someone would go down. It was the nature of things. 5 years ago, it happened as suddenly as you'd expect. At least Walle managed to recover his body then.
Maris replaced him within the month. You had struggled with the transition-your wounds had been severe, and ONI was incessant in accelerating your rehabilitation program. A young Spartan from a class that wasn't even yours elevated the feelings of grief you sparsely understood at the time. But she never did anything to warrant your ire. She always looked to you as an experienced mentor, her dependable leader, and lately, as a brother in arms. You could order her directly to her death, and she'd do without a hint of hesitation.
Not that you could ever imagine yourself doing so.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Fri 14 Mar 2025 00:30:33 No. 6212299 Report >>6212298 The SOEIV bay had also been your impromptu quarters for most of the week. Shoved into an end of the compartment were the boxes that held the bulk of your equipment. Several cages had been relocated from the Prowlers armory, with weaponry picked out by both you, and the Commander. One end had your standard options-the MA5K Carbine both you and Maris knew intimately from your training on Onyx, the M7S, the caseless suppressed submachine gun the ODST were so fond of, and the M392 DMR.
There were several newer arrivals though, dusty boxes whose lids were already thrown open. The SRS99 was familiar, and so was the M90 CAWS, but sitting in aging foam was a weapon you'd only ever seen in training-The M99. A long range, recoilless mini-MAC cannon, capable of propelling a .21 caliber conical shaped tungsten slug roughly 10 miles a second. You hefted it in your arms the weight vaguely substantial but nothing impossible to bear. There was only one magazine, a shame, and its bulk made it utterly impractical to use in any sort of room clearing capacity. Also sitting in the racks were several MBA21Es-gyrojet carbines with negligible recoil, but a very slow rate of fire. The microjets were known to have small imperfections in their fuel, and occasionally rounds would stray, creating an obnoxious margin for error. It had found some use in EVA operations, as far as you could understand.
Besides those standouts, other weapons include your standard sidearms, charges, mines, tasers, grenades. Maris chuckled and lightly tapped the side of a crate with her boot. Stenciled across the top was QX-751B. A nerve agent.
"For when we want to throw the idea of collateral out the window." She turned to you an M7S already in her hands.
"How are we running this?"
<span class="mu-i">Each of you can equip two long guns and one sidearm. The M7S can also act as a sidearm if you'd like. You can dictate your own loadout in a specific sense, and Maris' in a vague sense-or you can control the minutia of both. Keep in mind, however- Faolan is a notable long range specialist. Maris is a bit more capable with more standard weaponry, but is incredibly potent in the shadows, and close to the enemy. The surface of Allution will potentially allow long range firefights, but fighting inside the installation will obviously render most long barrel weapons useless. Also, firing the conventional firearms without your T PACKs will send you careening almost uncontrollably if either of you are EVA.</span>
>"We'll go standard. Carbines, shotguns, pistols, and grenades. If we're discovered at range or even outside of Allution, violence of action and a rush to get inside will help us more than picking off any sentries from afar." >"Quiet. We want to go unnoticed for as long as possible. M7S', silenced pistols and knives. If anything goes tits up, we'll find the weapons we need. >Allow Maris to outfit herself, and take the DMR for yourself, alongside an M7S as your sidearm. >Write in/Add On. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6212299 >"Quiet. We want to go unnoticed for as long as possible. M7S', silenced pistols and knives. If anything goes tits up, we'll find the weapons we need. Anonymous
>>6212299 >Allow Maris to outfit herself, and take the DMR for yourself, alongside an M7S as your sidearm. >Grab some demolition charges and flash bangs. >Ask Maris to grab some gel/beanbag rounds if she's gonna bring the shotgun or some sort of nonlethal option for when we need to secure the leadership for interrogation. I don't see a reason not to take the DMR we can grab a DMR alongside the silenced M7s SMG and all Spartans should be carrying knives.
Anonymous
Anonymous
>>6212320 Supporting this;
>>6212320 Those M7Ss are probably gonna be all the firepower we need while we're keeping things quiet, not to mention I'd be a little uncomfortable with Faolan not having a dedicated mid to long rage option handy.
Anonymous
>>6212299 >Allow Maris to outfit herself, and take the DMR for yourself, alongside an M7S as your sidearm. Anonymous
I thought this was an ODST quest. Does this mean we aren't gonna be allowed to jump into orbit?
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6212395 Spartans of every generation regularly take part in orbital insertions via drop pod, just like ODSTs.
Anonymous
>>6212395 Maybe we can get our MC killed and switch to an ODST.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6212398 Don't jinx us, Spartan 3's have a hard enough time surviving as it is.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Fri 14 Mar 2025 10:27:33 No. 6212508 Report Quoted By:
>>6212395 I mean you could try to jump into orbit if you really wanted to try but I don't think that was something ODSTs were known for.
This a precursor to the ODST quest. Gonna be testing out some mechanics and working out my general writing ability until I commit to it, because it's going to be a lot longer, and a lot more intricate than this one/twoshot.
Anonymous
>>6212320 Support, seems reasonable. I almost want something heavier for insurance but it won't be practical.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6212299 >>"We'll go standard. Carbines, shotguns, pistols, and grenades. If we're discovered at range or even outside of Allution, violence of action and a rush to get inside will help us more than picking off any sentries from afar." Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6212525 I want heavier gear too but there's no ammo for the Sniper, The Railgun or the LMG so we're gonna need to be content with some demolition charges and grenades.
We could grab the nerve gas but that feels wholly impractical.
Anonymous
>>6212299 Support this
>>6212320 but with the addition of M99 for ourselves and discuss with Maris about her taking the MBA21E.
My reasoning is that we may end up with a capability gap, and that we should fill said gap. The innies have probably raided our depots, and we don't know what the interior looks like. It'll be cramped, but we could hypothetically face armour. Some of the storage spaces or hangers could be large enough for it. We know they probably have space defence systems, which I imagine are armoured. Also, there's that PMC. Sure, we'd lose weight and volume capacity that could be filled with more ammo and explosives, but I'd rather cover all our bases.
Another reason is that 'the recoilless nature of the weapon makes it ideal for fighting in microgravity as it does not send the wielder into an uncontrollable spin, such as during boarding actions and EVA' according to Silent Storm, which is dumb and not how coilguns work, but it's canon. So the M99 and gyrojet gun would cover us during EVA.
Anonymous
>>6212565 >A long range, recoilless mini-MAC cannon, capable of propelling a .21 caliber conical shaped tungsten slug roughly 10 miles a second. You hefted it in your arms the weight vaguely substantial but nothing impossible to bear. >There was only one magazine, a shame, and its bulk made it utterly impractical to use in any sort of room clearing capacity. No ammo. There's only one magazine which is why they're not one of the basic options.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6212575 I know, but my assumption is that the number of hard targets we'd encounter to use it on would be limited, or that during EVA we'd mostly be sprinting to get out of the open.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Mon 17 Mar 2025 12:15:16 No. 6213999 Report Quoted By:
>>6212320 >>6212323 >>6212332 >>6212335 >DMR+M7S Intermediate loadout locked in. Couple updates will come later today. Thanks.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Tue 18 Mar 2025 13:07:57 No. 6214482 Report You set the DMR and M7S aside for yourself, quickly laying out the proper amount of ammunition for a somewhat extended stint. 6 magazines for the DMR, allowing you 90 rounds total, in addition to the 15 in the gun. Hand hovering over the box of SMG magazines, you hesitated for a moment before setting aside two. Regardless of whether or not this mission would go loud, if you truly needed a full combat load things wouldn't end well. And every ounce carried is a burst of propellant wasted. Still, that left you with a cozy 144 rounds. 24 trigger pulls, if you fired in 6 round bursts every single time.
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FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:NnJfGGNZ Tue 18 Mar 2025 13:10:45 No. 6214483 Report >>6214482 > “Commander Vislav is clear on this. Venezian targets are significantly more sensitive than the standard insurrectionist-we won’t be able to glean their intentions entirely from whatever communiques or logs they have with them, if we could locate them. Sacks has greater odds of getting away with his group, but if we have a possibility to act as a backup in case of his failure, we should make it priority. If need be, we could hide on a civilian ship, shuttle, something to accommodate a captive.” (Sets a capture priority on future choices.) > “Agreed. Kill or capture is beyond our means and the AO is far too saturated to get away cleanly with a ball and chain. If we can help it, we’ll take them alive but otherwise don’t be afraid to give them a controlled pair and move on. But only on my call.” (Sets a kill priority on future choices.) This choice doesn't permanently cut you off from makin certain kill choices or capture choices, but it does change the TYPE of actions you can take, and how I present options to you. Both have their benefits and draw backs.
Anonymous
>>6214483 > “Commander Vislav is clear on this. Venezian targets are significantly more sensitive than the standard insurrectionist-we won’t be able to glean their intentions entirely from whatever communiques or logs they have with them, if we could locate them. Sacks has greater odds of getting away with his group, but if we have a possibility to act as a backup in case of his failure, we should make it priority. If need be, we could hide on a civilian ship, shuttle, something to accommodate a captive.” (Sets a capture priority on future choices.) If things get too hot and we need to move fast, we can give out a fresh pair of breathing orifices to the captives and move on.
Anonymous
>>6214483 > “Agreed. Kill or capture is beyond our means and the AO is far too saturated to get away cleanly with a ball and chain. If we can help it, we’ll take them alive but otherwise don’t be afraid to give them a controlled pair and move on. But only on my call.” (Sets a kill priority on future choices.) We'll take it as they come, but a target like this isn't worth risking our lives over.
Anonymous
>>6214483 >> “Agreed. Kill or capture is beyond our means and the AO is far too saturated to get away cleanly with a ball and chain. If we can help it, we’ll take them alive but otherwise don’t be afraid to give them a controlled pair and move on. But only on my call.” (Sets a kill priority on future choices.) Anonymous
>>6214483 >> “Commander Vislav is clear on this. Venezian targets are significantly more sensitive than the standard insurrectionist-we won’t be able to glean their intentions entirely from whatever communiques or logs they have with them, if we could locate them. Sacks has greater odds of getting away with his group, but if we have a possibility to act as a backup in case of his failure, we should make it priority. If need be, we could hide on a civilian ship, shuttle, something to accommodate a captive.” (Sets a capture priority on future choices.) Anonymous
>>6214483 > “Agreed. Kill or capture is beyond our means and the AO is far too saturated to get away cleanly with a ball and chain. If we can help it, we’ll take them alive but otherwise don’t be afraid to give them a controlled pair and move on. But only on my call.” (Sets a kill priority on future choices.) Kill Venezians. Curb stomp Venezians. Throw a Venezian baby in the dumpster. All my homies hate Venezia and Gao.
Anonymous
>>6214483 > “Agreed. Kill or capture is beyond our means and the AO is far too saturated to get away cleanly with a ball and chain. If we can help it, we’ll take them alive but otherwise don’t be afraid to give them a controlled pair and move on. But only on my call.” (Sets a kill priority on future choices.) Anonymous
>>6214483 > “Commander Vislav is clear on this. Venezian targets are significantly more sensitive than the standard insurrectionist-we won’t be able to glean their intentions entirely from whatever communiques or logs they have with them, if we could locate them. Sacks has greater odds of getting away with his group, but if we have a possibility to act as a backup in case of his failure, we should make it priority. If need be, we could hide on a civilian ship, shuttle, something to accommodate a captive.” (Sets a capture priority on future choices.) I feel I might be overestimating our capabilities and I get a strong impression we might be putting a lot on the line, but we probably should be able to take like 2 rolls of duct tape and turn someone's head into an art piece.
Anonymous
>>6214483 >> “Commander Vislav is clear on this. Venezian targets are significantly more sensitive than the standard insurrectionist-we won’t be able to glean their intentions entirely from whatever communiques or logs they have with them, if we could locate them. Sacks has greater odds of getting away with his group, but if we have a possibility to act as a backup in case of his failure, we should make it priority. If need be, we could hide on a civilian ship, shuttle, something to accommodate a captive.” (Sets a capture priority on future choices.) Anonymous
>>6214494 >>6214670 >>6216930 >>6216938 Capture
>>6214629 >>6214662 >>6214696 >>6216383 Kill
Took so long to get an update out, the vote tied. That's fine. Indecision wins out. Update will be out later tonight-and it'll be a big one.
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:+0nNsTBY Thu 27 Mar 2025 16:58:18 No. 6218881 Report Quoted By:
>>6218880 Forgot the trip ; }
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6214483 > “Commander Vislav is clear on this. Venezian targets are significantly more sensitive than the standard insurrectionist-we won’t be able to glean their intentions entirely from whatever communiques or logs they have with them, if we could locate them. Sacks has greater odds of getting away with his group, but if we have a possibility to act as a backup in case of his failure, we should make it priority. If need be, we could hide on a civilian ship, shuttle, something to accommodate a captive.” (Sets a capture priority on future choices.) FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:+0nNsTBY Fri 28 Mar 2025 04:34:17 No. 6219154 Report >>6214483 "We'll play it by ear, then. With no way in or out of Allution by potential support from Walle or Vislav, or some other method we could scrounge up. We're gonna be on a razors edge surrounded by a twitchy enemy." You stepped towards one of the two open pods, sliding you DMR into the weapons rack squeezed between the crash seat and the pods thin hull. The EVA pack was already stowed and secured in an external compartment. The rest of your protruding gear, explosives and other items fit in the other stowage spots spread around the inside walls of pod before you turned back to your teammate. She was still standing where you'd left her, helmet almost imperceptibly tilted to the side.
"Vague answer, I know. This is a seat-of-our-pants style op. Going in guns blazing might not be the play-nor focusing on dragging some politician out screaming and squirming. We have to be like water down there, path of least resistance, sticking to what we know in the moment and not some preconceived notion. If we have to flatline everyone we meet, then we do it. We get the opportunity to snatch an HVT, good. Gotta get down there first, and plan things out on a case by case basis for every extenuating circumstance thereafter. Understood?"
She flashed a non-verbal thumbs up and turned on her heel, setting her gear away quickly in that slow, nearly mechanical way she tended to do things when she was more nervous than anything else. The day the two of you met, her in a set of MK 1 SPI armor barely scuffed by training, with a face shockingly youthful atop a body too large, she had moved the same way. You could never see it on her face, but Maris was always emotive with her body, almost to a fault. You suppose in the way Spartans had to be, were taught to be.
The next 5 minutes were spent meticulously checking each others armor, conducting quick final diags, insuring complete structural and system integrity. Your older suits had been tailored to each of you tactical preferences over the years of constant action, but the finely machined lines and up to date feature set of the MK2 suit practically made up for it. The software suite alone was a league ahead of what you'd been forced to work with before, but the particular variant of MK2 you'd been issued had a particular distinction. The suit was hermetically sealed against the elements, the additional layers of applied for protection against the vacuum of space adding some additional bulk to the previously graceful lines typical of SPI. It was a luxury you were practically ecstatic to put to use, but unfortunately to maintain a decent form factor, onboard oxygen supplies were limited to approximately 25 minutes. Luckily the EVA pack added another 40 minutes. An hour, more or less, of EVA time. If the two of you failed to find the entrance to Allution in that time period...
You felt a slight shift in your center of balance just before a ship wide alert pinged on your neural interface. 10 minutes to drop.
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:+0nNsTBY Fri 28 Mar 2025 04:37:56 No. 6219156 Report >>6219154 >The door slides open and in enters Walle, the polarized visor of his helmet reflecting your muted blueish forms... >The door slides open, Vizlav quickly stepping through the bulkhead. A strand of errant hair was plastered across her forehead, a hurried glance towards a data pad in her hands before she set it atop a crate, turning towards the two of you >The door stays shut. Anonymous
>>6219156 >The door slides open, Vizlav quickly stepping through the bulkhead. A strand of errant hair was plastered across her forehead, a hurried glance towards a data pad in her hands before she set it atop a crate, turning towards the two of you Anonymous
>>6219156 I feel we got the worst option of them all : )
>The door slides open and in enters Walle, the polarized visor of his helmet reflecting your muted blueish forms... Anonymous
>>6219156 >>The door slides open and in enters Walle, the polarized visor of his helmet reflecting your muted blueish forms... Anonymous
>>6219156 >The door slides open, Vizlav quickly stepping through the bulkhead. A strand of errant hair was plastered across her forehead, a hurried glance towards a data pad in her hands before she set it atop a crate, turning towards the two of you Anonymous
>>6219156 >>The door slides open, Vizlav quickly stepping through the bulkhead. A strand of errant hair was plastered across her forehead, a hurried glance towards a data pad in her hands before she set it atop a crate, turning towards the two of you FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:+0nNsTBY Sun 30 Mar 2025 20:02:15 No. 6220645 Report Quoted By:
>>6219168 >>6219334 >>6219716 Vizlav
>>6219206 >>6219279 Walle
Vizlav is locked in. Writing the update now.
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh
FERO_ACTUAL !!Q6elCmww8Uh ID:+0nNsTBY Mon 31 Mar 2025 00:04:37 No. 6220791 Report “I’ve never worked with Spartans before. When you boarded, I barely knew enough to decide if they were real or some fab conjured up by Section Two, before the leaks dropped a couple years back of course. Even now, On High has only felt it necessary to give me the bare minimum about the two of you. Much less your…group as whole. Not as if that isn’t outside of normal procedures.” She seemed to particularly focus on you, the crow’s feet flanking her eyes deepening as she squinted at your helmet, as if she was trying to peer through the visor. “You looked pretty young to be a veteran, Lieutenant.” >Motion for Maris to take off her helmet. She's fishing for something, or trying to be personal in some stilted way. Oblige your commander. >Do nothing. It wasn't an order, and for some reason she's keeping things open ended-maybe she fears some kind of repercussion. The Program is blacker than most things-Headhunters even more so.
Anonymous
>>6220791 >Motion for Maris to take off her helmet. She's fishing for something, or trying to be personal in some stilted way. Oblige your commander. We've already shown ours.
Anonymous
>>6220791 >Do nothing. It wasn't an order, and for some reason she's keeping things open ended-maybe she fears some kind of repercussion. The Program is blacker than most things-Headhunters even more so. If Maris wants to take her helmet off, she can.
Anonymous
>>6220791 >Do nothing. It wasn't an order, and for some reason she's keeping things open ended-maybe she fears some kind of repercussion. The Program is blacker than most things-Headhunters even more so. Anonymous
>>6220791 >Do nothing. It wasn't an order, and for some reason she's keeping things open ended-maybe she fears some kind of repercussion. The Program is blacker than most things-Headhunters even more so. Anonymous
>>6220964 >>6221272 >>6222567 Do nothing
>>6220913 Motion
Do nothing wins. Big update incoming-Vacive is about to disembark.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Fri 25 Apr 2025 19:50:33 No. 6229511 Report Quoted By:
>>6229509 Forgot my tripcode.
Anonymous
>>6229509 Nice. Thought you'd flaked even before the crash, glad you're back. Probably wanna say you're alive in the /qtg/ so folks know you're back
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Fri 25 Apr 2025 20:36:35 No. 6229549 Report Quoted By:
>>6229547 Yeah I've been a tad lazy and a tad busy but I really want to get this quest going now. I'll go ahead and post in the /qtg/. Thanks for reading! The update will be out sometime tonight.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Sat 26 Apr 2025 11:00:37 No. 6229913 Report Another momentary pause, before she suddenly smiled.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Sat 26 Apr 2025 11:01:38 No. 6229914 Report >>6229913 Choose a frequency to listen in on.
>156.650 “…ATC-005783, this is EXX-006524. Requesting a 75% load of Deuterium and Hydrazine for-“ >157.325 “-of, we need to transfer off at least 700. Our septic systems have been down for almost a week now, shit is getting dire, and don’t fucking laugh. And how come that new arrival got fast-“ >157.375 “AT-0278 to Control. Can we move up on the arming manifest? The Blackwell is having drive issues, won’t be able to dock planet side for another 12 hours-“ Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6229914 >>157 .325 “-of, we need to transfer off at least 700. Our septic systems have been down for almost a week now, shit is getting dire, and don’t fucking laugh. And how come that new arrival got fast-“Always listen in on septic transmissions. It's what the Master Chief would do
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6229914 >157.375 “AT-0278 to Control. Can we move up on the arming manifest? The Blackwell is having drive issues, won’t be able to dock planet side for another 12 hours-“ TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS
TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS ID:/DciJFWJ Sat 26 Apr 2025 20:46:01 No. 6230159 Report Quoted By:
>>6229914 >157.325 “-of, we need to transfer off at least 700. Our septic systems have been down for almost a week now, shit is getting dire, and don’t fucking laugh. And how come that new arrival got fast-“ Anonymous
>>6229914 >156.650 “…ATC-005783, this is EXX-006524. Requesting a 75% load of Deuterium and Hydrazine for-“ I think this is more important. Let me explain my reasoning. The septic systems thing seems to be typical humanitarian supply issue and implies the communicator is not 'in the know' about the insurrectionists in a broad sense. The new arrival thing is also important, indicating someone already docked was fast-tracked. The arming manifest communique is also likely a humanitarian issue. 'Arming' in this case refers to provisioning a ship with victuals (food and water), not armaments. Normally arming is done after 'bunkering' (fueling up a ship), which would imply a vessel about to leave, thus would be our priority for listening in on, however, we know that they intend to dock and haven't yet. That brings us to the ship requesting fuel. That implies it is already docked, and in the process of preparing to depart. Listening in could offer info regarding a potential emergency exfil option, should everything go to shit and our normal extraction options be rendered unavailable. Or it could happen to have important VIPs onboard leaving our AO. At the very least, the ship is operational and feels comfortable requesting fuel in a situation where supplies of all kinds are in short supply, which implies - to me at least - a certain rank and affiliation sufficient to skip in line.
The idea is that all the info we need to determine the most important of the prompts is already in the prompts. An operational vessel in a sea of starving people onboard ships suffering from maintenance issues that are being triaged and striped for parts stands out. Knowing more about them is probably good, even if they aren't innies. Whether they are leaving the system, acting as a ferry between WoundWart and Allution, or are on the dark side of the moon (maybe why the communique is shorty, perhaps spottiness?).
Anonymous
>>6230219 Perhaps more importantly is deuterium is used for a method of nuclear fusion, and I believe hydrazine is an ingredient in an explosive compound IIRC.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6230258 Yes, I know. Hence my summing up the request for both as a request for fuel. Hydrazine is a rocket fuel, among other things.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6229914 >156.650 “…ATC-005783, this is EXX-006524. Requesting a 75% load of Deuterium and Hydrazine for-“ Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6229914 >>157 .325 “-of, we need to transfer off at least 700. Our septic systems have been down for almost a week now, shit is getting dire, and don’t fucking laugh. And how come that new arrival got fast-“ FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Sun 27 Apr 2025 13:59:02 No. 6230523 Report Quoted By:
>>6230258 Is this a vote for 156.650 or just a statement?
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Mon 28 Apr 2025 16:07:10 No. 6231220 Report Vote locked in. Communication exploitation on the septic call incoming.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Mon 28 Apr 2025 20:30:33 No. 6231323 Report >>6231220 And how come that new arrival got fast-tracked into the stack? We’ve been marshaling for days now, waiting our turn. We’re in the emergency criteria.”
“They came from out of system, didn’t you know? Might be some indie with enough pull to get ships out here big enough to evacuate the lot of us. When I went over to Anchor to pick up water, I saw a few shuttles heading down moonside. Didn’t look like a freighter or one of those gunships…had lines like a yacht, almost? And the Hull Ident they reported in with didn’t match what I saw on the side.”
“This isn’t right. The longer we’re here…we could’ve started ferrying guys out of here weeks ago. Sitting here playing these spook games, waiting for the Covenant to find us again can’t be the plan.”
“I’ll try to talk to Ido for you, Hattie. Might be able to poach a crew from Anchor for your septic systems. Get some rest.”
The frequency went silent. You continue to scan the airwaves but there was nothing as pertinent or attention catching. It didn’t take more than a moment for you to realize that something was off. If this truly was the place from which the raids on regional UEG holdings were based out of, the civilians wouldn’t have made such a note of a ship arriving or the lack of ships exiting.
Your pods were beginning to fall below the ‘orbit’ of the refugee holding area. The spacing between was nearly 30 kilometers, far enough to be away from notice but near enough to see with the digital optics coating the exterior skin of the pod. The onboard computers were recording everything, algorithms tracking pertinent information and culling everything else. On the detection of a retrieval code, the circuit would send out a dense data packet off to the Prowler and self-destruct.
A brief alarm chirped, the autopilot pressing you against the side of your crash seat as it adjusted course. It was preset to set down just at the sunward edge of the twilight zone, near enough to sheer enough portion of the landscape to keep Vacive just under the horizon without revealing it to anyone or thing on the dark side. Something ticked off the ablative skin of the hull, again, increasing in frequency until it sounded like there was a drizzle pattering against the hull. An abnormal amount of MMODs for a body of this size-you filed it away for debrief, steadying yourself as you neared the surface.
The display read 800 meters. So far so good, seemingly passed through without being detected. 400 meters-If Sacks and his team get burned on their tasking…we have more avenues than they do. Push comes to shove, we torch it-every second wasted is a second closer to death. 300. 100.
Retrograde thrusters burned at barely 1%, the deceleration JUST noticeable before the pod settled against the surface. Yanking at the door release, there was a momentary depressurization cycle before it swung open to the dimly lit and desolate terrain, your shadow lost in the grey.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Mon 28 Apr 2025 20:31:34 No. 6231324 Report >>6231323 It only took a few moments to exit and open the exterior hatches, EVA packs prepped for quick and easy retrieval. Maris’ pod settled down just as you pulled away from yours, DMR in hand, eyes up and scanning both the horizon and the stars above. There was a drive burning dirty, arcing down from above towards the darkside. Transit, potentially, one of many shuttles...
Your radio crackled twice, and then once. Maris was ready.
>Follow the terrain as closely as possible as you make for the horizon. It’ll be harder to exactly find the installation, and once you do it’ll be at close range, lessening your options at approach. However, it’d be difficult for you to be noticed, limiting detection by a substantial amount. >Fly somewhere between 25-50 meters from the surface. Sightlines will be substantially farther, but your thruster plumes might be visible, even in the dark. Far more options at approach, though. >Write In Anonymous
>>6231324 >Follow the terrain as closely as possible as you make for the horizon. It’ll be harder to exactly find the installation, and once you do it’ll be at close range, lessening your options at approach. However, it’d be difficult for you to be noticed, limiting detection by a substantial amount. TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS
TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS ID:U4CEk+KY Mon 28 Apr 2025 23:10:31 No. 6231414 Report >>6231324 >Follow the terrain as closely as possible as you make for the horizon. It’ll be harder to exactly find the installation, and once you do it’ll be at close range, lessening your options at approach. However, it’d be difficult for you to be noticed, limiting detection by a substantial amount. Might take longer but I don’t trust the luck of no one seeing our entry. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Anonymous
>>6231324 >>Follow the terrain as closely as possible as you make for the horizon. It’ll be harder to exactly find the installation, and once you do it’ll be at close range, lessening your options at approach. However, it’d be difficult for you to be noticed, limiting detection by a substantial amount. FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Tue 29 Apr 2025 16:59:45 No. 6231863 Report FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Tue 29 Apr 2025 19:27:09 No. 6231933 Report >>6231863 Your T-PACK responded smoothly, gently increasing your velocity to 100 meters a second in just under half a minute, the dusty rock of Allution rushing below your boots.
There was no atmosphere, obviously. Nothing to lend a glowing light slowly fading out behind your backs to the desolate landscape, instead a shockingly sudden transition from light to dark, the only evidence of your proximity to a stellar body being the mottled half circle on the horizon that differentiated true black from the starscape above, and the T-PACKs radar altimeter flickering readings every second.
A display flickered to life on your faceplate, confirming the automatic activation of the photoreactive panels coating the exterior of your armor. Above that, began a pair of timers-one for your oxygen endurance, 55 minutes and 33 seconds-and the estimated time until Sacks and his team moves to exploit WoundWart-roughly 2 hours. You sighed, the bottom half of your faceplate fogging up. Things went cleaner when they didn’t work side by side with other UNSC forces. Limited engagement options-if things went sideways too early, it’d potentially compromise their taskings, and that tugged at you.
Long minutes passed. Maris was half a mile from your off-hand elbow, scanning forward and left. The infrared cameras on the T-PACK linked directly with the pair on either side of your brow. Unless the Insurrectionists had utterly immaculate bafflers, the off gas from normal human habitation and industry should be apparent floating above the horizon.
Roll 2d10. DC of 13. Best of 3.
Anonymous
Rolled 9, 9 = 18 (2d10) >>6231933 I'll handle this.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 5, 6 = 11 (2d10) >>6231933 WATCH THIS
TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS
TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS ID:YKQow7sa Tue 29 Apr 2025 21:12:47 No. 6231986 Report Quoted By:
Rolled 3, 9 = 12 (2d10) >>6231933 FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Tue 29 Apr 2025 21:19:25 No. 6231990 Report >>6231947 2 off from a crit roll. Nice job. Writing.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Tue 29 Apr 2025 23:43:33 No. 6232045 Report >>6231990 Bits of shredded polymer, drifting tufts of insulation and the ever-prevalent smattering of ice ticked off your faceplate, nothing to be incredibly concerned of…but the density was increasing. A good sign. Another scan and the hint of something anomalously warm jumped out of the gloom like a flashlight in a dark room. In seconds, the apparent thermal signature bloomed into something enormous-it wasn’t HOT, barely 10 degrees above ambient, but there was so much off gas you had to adjust the contrast on your visor to keep it from washing everything out. Too cool to be the remains of drive plume, too consistent.
You pulled closer to the surface. Crags of frozen rock gave way to shallow craters, the lips of which surging up to pass feet from you and Maris as your T-PACKS brought you both to a slow stop, thrusters roaring through your armor before softening to a whisper. Ahead, a softly molded ridge-you crept up the side of it, using your hands and feet now, your chest plate scraping some rock as you crawled to the peak of it.
A long gash stretch out before you, and you were on one end of it-a quick reading on the rangefinder told that it was a kilometer long, maybe a bit longer, and 500 meters across. It was surrounded by hull plating and shattered girders slowly twirling in space, in the depths of the ravine light, motion, thin hulled maintenance shuttles moving to and fro and amongst all of that was a frigate.
A Paris-Class frigate sat neatly in the hold, just the top antenna of the superstructure clearing the surface. The hull was blackened and frozen slag in many places, covered in a liberal coating of dust. From this angle you could see the reflection of heat from the back wall of the ravine-2 of its 8 drives were still online and from the return it was likely the primary ones. Maris keyed in her mic.
“Hull Ident says it’s the Blakewell.” Her voice was a hissed whisper. Her blood was up.
It was a ship from Taskforce 36, the one tasked with defending the system. It was reported missing after the CO had called for an emergency slipspace jump. Obviously, something had happened between then, and now.
150 meters ahead of you sat a patchwork landing zone, maybe a 100 meters across. It sat directly on the edge of the ravine and was covered in stacked containers placed in orderly lines. On the far side were a pair of shuttles and a pelican, all on the edge of the gash. Half a dozen personnel were moving, all in standard-issue UEG EVA suits in the dim orange of industrial work lights. No sign of alarm or hurry.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Tue 29 Apr 2025 23:45:47 No. 6232046 Report >>6232045 Your faceplate suddenly polarized, and the terrain which had been masked in the fuzzy grey green of your optics was clear as day, every crevice visible. Jerking your head up, the dirty plume-that’d been so small, so far above, was descending for landing, it’s navigation lights illuminating around it in a 100-meter cone. Landing thrusters flared and the light swung away from the ridge before cutting its way back across the two of you again, this time flickering. All the lights were flickering, as if the power draw was inconsistent.
Your muscles tensed and out of the corner of your eye, Maris flicks the safety off of her MA5K.
>Stay in place. The TPACKs weren’t camouflaged like your armor was, but it blended well enough in with the terrain that if someone wasn’t looking DIRECTLY at you, you could escape detection until it lands. Or be caught in the open. Requires three 2d10 rolls DC of 12. >Stay in place AND try to shoot out a light. If one suddenly went out it might be hidden under the guise of a simple failure, until someone inspected it directly. Three 2d10 rolls, DC of 15.high diff but retains your mobility, and if you miss the shot, it isn’t AUTOMATIC detection-but someone will hear it hit the hull and another roll would be necessary. >Ditch the TPACKs and launch yourself at the containers. The armor would be enough to hide you hopefully, and you could easily find cover there. But one wrong push and you’ll careen uncontrollably into the landing area, or a lucky glance might spot the two of you. Three 1d10 for pushing yourself along, with a DC of 5. Three 2d10 with a DC of 11 to be spotted. >Pull back. Allows you to potentially take it from a different angle, but your thruster plumes would stand out even at their lowest settings in this light, and anyone looking from above or from the opposite side of the ridge would make eyes on you easy. Three 2d10 with a DC of 13. Anonymous
>>6232046 >Stay in place. The TPACKs weren’t camouflaged like your armor was, but it blended well enough in with the terrain that if someone wasn’t looking DIRECTLY at you, you could escape detection until it lands. Or be caught in the open. Requires three 2d10 rolls DC of 12. Best of a bad situation desu. Trusting in the armor and how blind people can be
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6232046 >>Stay in place AND try to shoot out a light. If one suddenly went out it might be hidden under the guise of a simple failure, until someone inspected it directly. Three 2d10 rolls, DC of 15.high diff but retains your mobility, and if you miss the shot, it isn’t AUTOMATIC detection-but someone will hear it hit the hull and another roll would be necessary. Anonymous
>>6232046 >>Stay in place. The TPACKs weren’t camouflaged like your armor was, but it blended well enough in with the terrain that if someone wasn’t looking DIRECTLY at you, you could escape detection until it lands. Or be caught in the open. Requires three 2d10 rolls DC of 12. FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Wed 30 Apr 2025 14:35:31 No. 6232453 Report >>6232137 >>6232237 2 for staying in place.
1 for shooting out the light.
Decision made.
Roll three 2d10! DC of 12.
Anonymous
Rolled 8, 8 = 16 (2d10) >>6232453 I'll
not handle this.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 5, 6 = 11 (2d10) >>6232453 Observe
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 2, 1 = 3 (2d10) >>6232453 FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Thu 01 May 2025 19:53:22 No. 6233181 Report >>6232523 Locked, 16 is a success. Writing.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Thu 01 May 2025 20:45:13 No. 6233194 Report >>6233181 The drives sputtered, each pulse creating spirals and waves of dust and finer particulate. Not thick enough to act as a smoke screen, but it’d only help to break up your silhouette as the lights slowly drew away.
The freighter came down hard, sending up another curtain of ice before finally settling. It was a small-type bulk hauler, the hull scored by micrometeorites. Loading hatches on its flanks descended revealing an empty hold, equally empty of crew. A brief pause, and the personnel already set around the landing area marshalled around one of the containers, TPACKs fluttering and blooming.
Manual loading.
Maglocks released; EVA workers assisted by skeletal loading rigs. No drones or loading craft, just hands and effort.
“No sentries. Overconfident.” Vac-2s voice muttered in your ear. Overconfident or stretched thin. A twitch of a finger and a stat report appeared on your HUD, the electronic warfare suite in your helmet’s brow booting up. It was incredibly short range, as described in the technical manual provided, but the ship and all the personnel around it were well with range.
It only took a moment for it to key in on the frequencies they were using, and you shot the data over the teamnet. It wasn’t clear if they were linked to a central tasking operator, but the chatter across open-band comms revealed nothing.
The veil had begun to settle as the first container slid into place, leaving a gritty frost over everything. The rest of the terrain was devoid of any other structures, at least any as built up as the landing area before you. You shifted your head up, searching the sky. No other plumes.
>Advance through the landing area. With your team clued in on their comms, you’d have an immediate heads up if anyone spotted you, or if any new inbound messages came in. It also has the most amount of cover to the edge of the fissure, and there would have to be an airlock or loading dock that lead down into the ground.
>Pull back and approach the middle of the fissure. A yawning gash, from this angle it seemed largely like an open space, which would allow you to descend directly to the bottom, which would hopefully allow access to the bulk of Allution. Unless it’s built directly into the sides of the fissure… >Flank far around. The Paris-Class is obviously an aberration, you could investigate it. Was it a capture? Or were the command crew associated with the Insurrection? Or both… All signs indicate it’s been here for a while, and if it was providing supplemental or even primary power to the installation, a cleverly placed C10 with a remote fuse could be key for an exit plan. Anonymous
>>6233194 >Flank far around. The Paris-Class is obviously an aberration, you could investigate it. Was it a capture? Or were the command crew associated with the Insurrection? Or both… All signs indicate it’s been here for a while, and if it was providing supplemental or even primary power to the installation, a cleverly placed C10 with a remote fuse could be key for an exit plan. I was gonna say that we should just focus on the objective and not get sidetracked, especially because destroying the frigate isn't our mission and can be dealt with by the ordinance onboard the prowler anyways, but we're gonna go loud eventually anyways. Even if discovered in the process, blowing the power prematurely could ease our entrance, as well as our exit.
Anonymous
>>6233194 >Flank far around. The Paris-Class is obviously an aberration, you could investigate it. Was it a capture? Or were the command crew associated with the Insurrection? Or both… All signs indicate it’s been here for a while, and if it was providing supplemental or even primary power to the installation, a cleverly placed C10 with a remote fuse could be key for an exit plan. Anonymous
>>6233194 >>Flank far around. The Paris-Class is obviously an aberration, you could investigate it. Was it a capture? Or were the command crew associated with the Insurrection? Or both… All signs indicate it’s been here for a while, and if it was providing supplemental or even primary power to the installation, a cleverly placed C10 with a remote fuse could be key for an exit plan. Anonymous
>>6233198 >>6233390 >>6233666 Locked in, time for a bit a detour. Writing.
Anonymous
>>6233801 A hand signal, and you begin to pull back, making sure not to trigger your TPACKs. Every movement was low and slow, deliberate. You double-check comms. No new chatter.
Maris peels off as you begin a wide arc toward the frigate. Time bled away with the pace, but haste meant thrust and thrust would paint you. Still, minute busts got you moving quicker than you could've down crawling.
The terrain sloped unevenly as you near the fissures edge again. At this end, there were no convenient ridges, just a generally consistent slop that led ally the way down to the rim, granting long uninterrupted sightlines. You take cover in an impact crater and check your endurance-30 minutes left on O2.
From this vantage, a clear view was allowed down along the spine and aft drives of the Blakewell. This close, you could make out the web of lines leading to (or from) the Frigate. Portions of the hull were wrapped in pale polymer sheeting, sloppily applied to maintain basic environmental integrity. It did little to obscure the true state of the thing.
No defensive hardpoints were visible, dark holes left where the Rampart point defense guns previously sat. The midsection was scored black, chunks of armor plating simply gone, either cut away or vaporized. Gaping voids exposed expansive deck structures, entire compartments open to vacuum. But not everything was battered. The MAC was still mounted, and the set of Archer pods visible from this angle were sealed, undisturbed. The possibility of live weaponry-even nukes-couldn't be disregarded. And the twin fusion drives were online, low but burning steady.
A quick scan with your EWS suite revealed that the Blakewall wasn't broadcasting, not outbound or inbound signals. Completely dark. Whatever kind of digital worm Sacks was going to deploy through WoundWart wasn't going to reach the Frigates NAV centers unless it was linked directly with the installation. And there was no indicator it was. You keyed your mic.
"She's not on the net."
"It's a rogue asset. Either the crew were captured or complicit in its capture."
You frowned. "No. Meaning that the Protocol might not be upheld. NAV wipe might not reach her computers, if they're even online."
Something tapped against the back of your helmet, and you turned to find a square of C10 twirling in the air, a remote fuse imbedded into one of it's broad sides. Maris was palming another from her back, quickly attacking it to a thigh plate. Presumably for quick access.
"One thing at a time, Foal."
>Find an airlock. Easiest entry, but most likely be under surveillance. But it'd allow you quickest movement to necessary areas. Three 2d10, with a DC of 14. >Creep through the exposed decks. Opening a door into a pressurized area would set off an alarm, but the potential of it immediately setting the entire location on high alert would be low-the frigate looked like it popped a sieve once an hour. Three 2d10, with a DC of 12. >Write In Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6233842 I LOVE forgetting my trip.
Anonymous
>>6233842 >Creep through the exposed decks. Opening a door into a pressurized area would set off an alarm, but the potential of it immediately setting the entire location on high alert would be low-the frigate looked like it popped a sieve once an hour. Three 2d10, with a DC of 12. We don't need to necessarily go slow once inside, but at the very least we should take the route that doesn't have a chance of immediately identifying us and our location to remote viewers. People can be silenced, explained away as missing or suffering an accident. A direct view of us to a security center assures a maximum response.
Anonymous
>>6233842 >>Creep through the exposed decks. Opening a door into a pressurized area would set off an alarm, but the potential of it immediately setting the entire location on high alert would be low-the frigate looked like it popped a sieve once an hour. Three 2d10, with a DC of 12. Anonymous
>>6234046 >>6234288 Option locked in. Please roll 2d10.
Anonymous
Rolled 6, 9 = 15 (2d10) >>6235562 FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Mon 05 May 2025 02:43:28 No. 6235564 Report >>6235562 I really need to stop that.
>>6235563 Christ man, that was quick.
Anonymous
Rolled 2, 8 = 10 (2d10) >>6235562 Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6235564 I checked in at just the right time.
Anonymous
Rolled 5, 10 = 15 (2d10) >>6235562 FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Mon 05 May 2025 16:57:37 No. 6235946 Report >>6235563 >>6235565 >>6235833 Maximum roll of 15. DC surpassed, writing update in an hour or so.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6235946 A quick but measured sweep of the immediate area reveals nothing blatant. Still no movement on the outer hull, fewer lights. Looking down into the fissure reveals nothing but grey rock and a few potentially structures built into the sides. No windows. The only activity comes from the distant landing zone, the shape of a container in motion have muted by the ever-present dust.
Simultaneously, you and Maris pushed off, clearing each other’s respective blind spots. The side of the Blakewell opened to you like broken ribbing, the sections of emergency bulkhead remaining nothing more than cut up salvage-something that was removed after the fact.
Your boots clicked against the deck plate first, quickly clearing the interior. Maris slipped in close, visor glinting in the faint light spilling across the battered hull. It was dead, save for the occasional heavy vibration that passed through the hull.
Nothing but melted slag. A plasma shot had come in at an angle, ripping a line through at least two decks along the same line as the spine of the ship. A maintenance crawlspace yawned to your left, half collapsed where the hull had twisted and buckled inwards. Across the void was a pressure door, visibly fused open, servos half melted through the frame.
You press on.
The corridor was far more intact, curls of melted cable hanging from overhead, lonely scraps of metal hanging in place. Much of the debris must’ve come from here-the damage even from afar hadn’t seemed so severe. Near the pressure door was a body, almost unrecognizably scorched black and utterly fused to a wall panel.
TPACKs were too wide and bulky for the passages of the ship. Locking the units magnetically to the girder above the body, endurance trackers automatically adjusting-20 minutes. You marked the location silently with your HUD-just in case you had to come back.
There were no signs of boarding, covenant or human. Plasma had melted through the hull at multiple points, none as severe as the initial entry point. And few bodies-most contorted in space, desiccated like mummies.
Maris scanned the walls, continually tagging hull breaches and branching corridors. More than once you had to backtrack from dead ends made from molten deck plating frozen into ragged, web-like walls across a passage. And through it all, no immediate signs of power.
10 minutes went by before you pulled yourselves up into another level through a maintenance hatch, into a compartment of the ship that wasn’t a wreck. In the darkness something shifted, and you turned sharply, gun up, motion tracker flickering to life.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Mon 05 May 2025 22:16:01 No. 6236088 Report >>6235946 A quick but measured sweep of the immediate area reveals nothing blatant. Still no movement on the outer hull, fewer lights. Looking down into the fissure reveals nothing but grey rock and a few potentially structures built into the sides. No windows. The only activity comes from the distant landing zone, the shape of a container in motion have muted by the ever-present dust.
Simultaneously, you and Maris pushed off, clearing each other’s respective blind spots. The side of the Blakewell opened to you like broken ribbing, the sections of emergency bulkhead remaining nothing more than cut up salvage-something that was removed after the fact.
Your boots clicked against the deck plate first, quickly clearing the interior. Maris slipped in close, visor glinting in the faint light spilling across the battered hull. It was dead, save for the occasional heavy vibration that passed through the hull.
Nothing but melted slag. A plasma shot had come in at an angle, ripping a line through at least two decks along the same line as the spine of the ship. A maintenance crawlspace yawned to your left, half collapsed where the hull had twisted and buckled inwards. Across the void was a pressure door, visibly fused open, servos half melted through the frame.
You press on.
The corridor was far more intact, curls of melted cable hanging from overhead, lonely scraps of metal hanging in place. Much of the debris must’ve come from here-the damage even from afar hadn’t seemed so severe. Near the pressure door was a body, almost unrecognizably scorched black and utterly fused to a wall panel.
TPACKs were too wide and bulky for the passages of the ship. Locking the units magnetically to the girder above the body, endurance trackers automatically adjusting-20 minutes. You marked the location silently with your HUD-just in case you had to come back.
There were no signs of boarding, covenant or human. Plasma had melted through the hull at multiple points, none as severe as the initial entry point. And few bodies-most contorted in space, desiccated like mummies. Maris scanned the walls, continually tagging hull breaches and branching corridors. More than once you had to backtrack from dead ends made from molten deck plating frozen into ragged, web-like walls across a passage. And through it all, no immediate signs of power.
10 minutes went by before you pulled yourselves up into another level through a maintenance hatch, into a compartment of the ship that wasn’t a wreck. In the darkness something shifted, and you turned sharply, gun up, motion tracker lighting up.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Mon 05 May 2025 22:18:36 No. 6236091 Report >>6236088 A body-no. BODIES. 4, all in ODST armor, two of them with their arms and legs strangely outstretched. Maris came up behind you as you moved forwards, turning the bodies over. Two were missing their helmets, and from what you could tell, had taken a beating. One had a severely shattered orbital, so severe that you wondered if he’d been alive when the compartment was voided.
Maris stared for a beat. “VBSS team.”
Your head swiveled back, forwards, and then back again at the far ends of the ‘compartment’.
“Both doors read green.” You softly made your way to the end of the compartment facing into the centerline of the ship. It was an emergency bulkhead that shut automatically in case of catastrophic damage to a section-something like a fire door. Indicators blinked green, indicating breathable air and acceptable atmospheric pressures and temperatures on either side, and there was no evidence of damage in this corridor. It was pristine compared to the wreckage before.
You tried the auxiliary release latch, but it didn’t budge an inch.
“Were they locked in?” Maris said the quiet part out loud.
Pushing off the door, you floated back to the hatch you’d used to enter, quickly sealing and latching the cover back on.
Maris moves to handle one of the helmeted ODSTs, and as you turn back streams of gas and liquid stream out of his helmet as she broke the seal. Decomp-suffocated and rotted inside of their BDUs. Maris quickly palmed his wrist computer and softly pushed him back, taking care not to get any liquid onto her armor.
Breach the door. Something overriding the Auxiliary. Use a charge if you need to.”
Her head bobbed, and she quickly got to work, moving to interface with a data port.
[This update has been a slog to get out, probably shows. Seems like this might be chunky series of posts. I'll leave the continuation for tomorrow.]
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Tue 06 May 2025 05:07:40 No. 6236334 Report >>6236091 Her helmet gave the slightest shake, and you knew before she spoke-
“No dice. There’s nothing to breach on the net.”
A charge was already half pulled from her satchel before she hesitated.
“Lighting off a charge will ring the hull like a bell. Too loud. Even the smaller ones.”
You drifted closer.
“We’re committed. Seven minutes and counting. No time to readjust.”
She gave a sharp nod but continued to stow the charge. A moment later, a torch appeared in her hand, the flicker of a pilot light before the warm glow of an acetylene flame burst into life. She pressed it against the rim of the door-where a hydraulic latch would be.
No words were spoken as the O2 readouts continued to tick lower. Six minutes. Five.
At four you were moments from calling it off, the strain of time pressing against you, the flame flickered. A ruptured seam, a whistle of air pushing into the compartment.
You braced and looked for any handhold on the rim of the door as she continued to cut, her torch biting that much deeper. Softened and compromised composite slowly gave way as you strained against the failing door, leveraging your weight against it, before the last of the seal gave way, the shuddering groan resonating through your hands.
An M7S was through the door first, yours. Emergency lights lit everything in a weak red. It was a barren hallway-no signs of recent activity. No blood.
You gave Maris the clear to take point and she entered first, boots settling down on active gravity plate with scarcely a whisper. You followed and gave her a greenlight. Without hesitation you moved as a unit, scant glances at deck indicators guiding you through the half lighting.
The two of you were just ahead of the general core of the ship-meters from the keel line on the Port side, and somewhat ahead of the primary fusion reactor. If you wanted to check the data centers, that’d be several levels above, below the bridge. Not the farthest detour.
You moved through an entryway, the door sealing behind you with a clunk that felt louder than it should’ve been. Your motion tracker pinged.
3 contacts far to your 12. A heartbeat, and one peeled off, drifting towards your position.
You slipped into a narrow space between a structural brace and a wall, Maris half in an alcove under a ladder leading to a higher level.
Heavy footsteps. He slowly came into proper view. Lanky, slightly hutched in a standard protective suit-the sort of thing that’d keep you alive for a while in the event of a breach. No UNSC markings. He walked slowly, with fatigue. A small radio hung from his hip, a basic helmet under one arm and a toolbox in the other. He was coming down Maris’ side of the hall.
She didn’t move. Just waited.
You weighed it fast.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Tue 06 May 2025 05:08:41 No. 6236335 Report >>6236334 >Signal for Maris to take him down quick and fast. If he discovers the door obviously cut open, that’d light up an alert in moments, and there are hundreds of nooks and vents to hide a body. >Radio her-grab him and ask him a few questions. Any source of intel would be of incredible use-but a shout would travel far in these hallways if he decided to be other than compliant. >The leak wasn’t consistent-shouldn’t be consistent-there was a chance he’d wander looking for the pressure discrepancy before giving up. If he disappears and someone DOES discover that body…. Anonymous
>>6236335 >Radio her-grab him and ask him a few questions. Any source of intel would be of incredible use-but a shout would travel far in these hallways if he decided to be other than compliant. Anonymous
>>6236335 >Radio her-grab him and ask him a few questions. Any source of intel would be of incredible use-but a shout would travel far in these hallways if he decided to be other than compliant. I trust Maris in her field of expertise.
Anonymous
>>6236335 >Radio her-grab him and ask him a few questions. Any source of intel would be of incredible use-but a shout would travel far in these hallways if he decided to be other than compliant. TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS
TheSurvivalist !!uuJbd4m8dPS ID:Asc4sE3c Tue 06 May 2025 13:10:30 No. 6236490 Report >>6236335 >Radio her-grab him and ask him a few questions. Any source of intel would be of incredible use-but a shout would travel far in these hallways if he decided to be other than compliant. FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Wed 07 May 2025 02:24:27 No. 6236798 Report >>6236336 >>6236339 >>6236415 >>6236490 Choice locked in. Writing update now.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Wed 07 May 2025 04:06:25 No. 6236857 Report >>6236798 The man was caught mid-step. A half-second of flailing, confused silence and then he was dragged into the alcove, the toolbox spilling its contents across the deck.
You glided across the hallway, the red gloom reflecting dull off the straps of your combat harness, etching out the vague shape of something human.
The technician’s eyes were practically bulging out of his head, comically wide. His body visible trembled in Maris’ arms, chest moving in sharp stabs. His mouth was gone-hidden by her hand. At his throat, the nitride black length of a blade pressing against the doughy flesh of his neck.
You leaned in close, voice quiet and curt.
“Don’t scream. We’re not going to hurt you. A few questions is all we need from you. My friend is going to take her hand off your mouth now, ok?”
The man tried to nod, quickly staying that action as the blade dug in. Maris slowly removed her hand. He didn’t scream-instead, he took a deep, shaky breath.
“Were the NAV databases purged?”
“What?”
You waited a beat. Beads of sweat were trickling down his brow.
“Ah…n-no? I don’t think so.”
“Is this ship hard-linked to the installation?”
“Uh-“ His eyes shifted, mind quickly shifting gears. “Only power. And a basic grid load balance system.”
“Primary?”
“No. Auxiliary-secondary. They use a basic one here. They just use the one here to keep the lights and other
systems…stable.”
Quickly you checked your Motion Tracker. Nothing. No audibles down the hall.
“How many are aboard? Do you have rotating shifts?”
“Ten. M-maybe eleven?” He swallowed hard. “Just enough to keep shit running. No shifts, we just-“
“How many monitor the reactor?”
“Three techs, that’s it.”
He hesitated.
“There’s a new guy, though. Someone told him to hand around, so he does. Has a gun. Don’t know if he’s there now.”
>Write in a question. Every individual write in will be posed as a separate question. Silence is a credible response-but you can ask him anything you'd like. Be mindful of how long you're remaining here, however." Anonymous
>>6236857 >Were there any survivors, from this ship or others? If so, where are they? Someone else should probably ask about the URF leadership locations, the Venezian officials, the PMC, any heavy equipment that could oppose us, and the layout of OBJ Allution, not necessarily in that order. Prioritizing as needed, time permitting.
I led with a soft question despite the time constraint because I don't want him to clam up too soon. The more violent our intentions seem, the less he'll talk. Following the Cole Protocol and looking for survivors can be taken as practically benign. The mission comes first, obviously, but he may not answer those most important to it, so maybe just ask the general layout, make it seem like we intend to avoid violence. Up to other anons though.
Anonymous
>>6236930 Sure I'll support this, seems like a reasonable thing to ask. And that's including the asking about URF leadership...etc
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Thu 08 May 2025 02:00:20 No. 6237404 Report >>6236930 >>6237019 I can take that. Given that you two are the only voters at the moment, I'll amend and allow two questions each, and since efZ supports dJ9, I'll choose Survivors, URF Leadership, Venezian Officials, and the PMC, in that order. Unless anyone has objections.
I'll let it sit another day and write the update tomorrow morning.
Anonymous
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6237404 That works for me.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Thu 08 May 2025 15:23:57 No. 6237683 Report >>6237404 “What happened to the crew? Or other survivors that the Blakewell picked up?”
"I…I don’t know. That’s not…I wasn’t even here when this thing got here. But no ones allowed in the cryobays.”
Maris shifted the blade slightly. He went paler.
“
P-p-power fluctuations flagged last week!” Words were rushing out now. “Reactor shut off, strange drain after it came back…when we went to check, it all routed into batteries tied to cryogenic systems, life support shit. We guessed-somewhere between 100, 200? More?”
You voice was sharper this time. “And you assumed that was the crew?”
“Who the fuck else would it be? Nobody comes in to check on them, none of them have been pulled out. NONE of them are on thawing schedules, man.”
“Is there a command deck on the installation proper? Anywhere URF or Venezian officials would congregate?”
“Please.” Tears were welling up in his eyes. “I-I’m not part of this URF or SU, or Peoples crap. They took me off a freighter because I was a tech back over Estuary. They don’t tell me anything, don’t brief me anything.”
Your eyes flicked down. Just hidden between his scraggly beard and the collar of his environmental suit was a black half circle and red fist. Known insurrectionist symbology.
Your tone softened. “That’s fine. Don’t cry. We’re not going to hurt you, I said so, didn’t I?” You tweaked your armor settings, allowing just a bit more of your silhouette visible to the naked eye. “But you’ve seen or heard something. Think.”
“…..there were some guys that came in, wearing literal suits. They beelined it down to one of the deeper levels, with some guys from a security company. None of that’s direct, that new guy is the one who told me. I’ve been stuck on this tub for weeks, even after they set up that umbilical.”
The faintest indicator of a ping on the motion tracker. Maris’s hand was back over his mouth in an instant. You all froze.
No second blip. No calls.
The man whimpered from behind her armored hand. She loosened her grip.
“I have a kid.” He whispered. “A daughter. On Meridian.”
Your visor was a dim reflection.
“If we shove you in a room, how much time would go by before you’re expected back?”
“20 minutes? Maybe le-“
Maris shifted her grip. Something gave way under her hand with a deep, organic crunch. His body shuddered, a quiet gurgle.
You kept eyes down the passage as Maris leaned him down deeper into the alcove, shoulder hunched against the bulkhead, head down-enough to seem like he was asleep at first glance. In the low light someone could walk past a dozen times and not see him. Maybe.
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Thu 08 May 2025 15:24:58 No. 6237684 Report >>6237683 The slow rhythm of recycled air and the quiet hum of a Fusion Reactor. You weren’t too far.
>Beeline for the reactor. Set the charges, and loop back around to the data centers. If the NAV data was intact, it had to be wiped. Sacks data scavenger wouldn’t do much if the URF could just lift slipspace vectors from the Blakewell. >Split up. You to the reactor, Maris to the computers. It’d save a significant amount of time. But Comms between each other would potentially be intermittent. A Spartan alone is a powerful force-but still potentially vulnerable. >Alongside option 1/2 or Standalone-Divert to the cryobays. Confirm the status of the pods. If the Blakewells crew was in there, blowing the reactor would put them on a timer. Batteries drain; life support falls back into forced autoresuscitation. They’d wake up in a dark ship half flooded with radiation, surrounded by Innies. If the detonation didn't void half the compartment. >Write in. Anonymous
>>6237684 >Split up. You to the reactor, Maris to the computers. It’d save a significant amount of time. But Comms between each other would potentially be intermittent. A Spartan alone is a powerful force-but still potentially vulnerable. >Alongside option 1/2 or Standalone-Divert to the cryobays. Confirm the status of the pods. If the Blakewells crew was in there, blowing the reactor would put them on a timer. Batteries drain; life support falls back into forced autoresuscitation. They’d wake up in a dark ship half flooded with radiation, surrounded by Innies. If the detonation didn't void half the compartment. One guy with a gun, and they don't know we're here. We've got this. Set a few rally points, outside the cryobay, a 'regular exit' airlock, here, our T-packs. Just in case comms are bad throughout. If all goes well, we meet at the cryobay, then exit after that is resolved. If we're discovered and hostiles are closing in, then maybe the opening near our T-packs is a better option, though we might go out that way anyways. If stealth is maintained, then maybe we'll have the time to spare worrying about moving the bodies to somewhere where they'll never be discovered.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6237684 >Beeline for the reactor. Set the charges, and loop back around to the data centers. If the NAV data was intact, it had to be wiped. Sacks data scavenger wouldn’t do much if the URF could just lift slipspace vectors from the Blakewell. It's not like the innies are gonna be interested in following the Cole Protocol. So we have to make sure that this gets handled.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6237684 >>Alongside option 1/2 or Standalone-Divert to the cryobays. Confirm the status of the pods. If the Blakewells crew was in there, blowing the reactor would put them on a timer. Batteries drain; life support falls back into forced autoresuscitation. They’d wake up in a dark ship half flooded with radiation, surrounded by Innies. If the detonation didn't void half the compartment. Anonymous
>>6237802 This seems like a reasonable call. Supporting.
Anonymous
>>6237802 Good plan, I'll support it as well
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP
FERO_ACTUAL !!8qfnh8Rn/rP ID:bHF0S6Ca Sat 10 May 2025 17:07:22 No. 6238770 Report >>6237802 >>6238682 >>6238687 Locked in. Thread is getting kind of old, I think I'll go ahead and make thread two. Probably later today. I link it here when I go ahead and do that.
Thanks for reading so far. : ) Really trying to find my groove.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6238770 Thanks for writing! Feels cerebral.
