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>Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Fleets%20Of%20God
>Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pixel_Anon

As a Brit I don't celebrate it, but (late) Happy Thanksgiving to those that do!

A substantial force of human cruisers are already boosting towards the undefended jump point of the Olympus system as the wreckage of the Legion raiding force flies past Arcadia at .4 cee. Human warheads, what with using crude nukes, tend to leave far more wreckage than the laser heads fitted to your missiles, and almost a dozen Legion cruisers are still physically intact despite the wrath of the titanic salvo from Arcadia's planetary defences. They're tumbling, but seem to be a good target for you to board and investigate. Know your enemy and all that.

Admiral Weston is keeping you in the loop as you move in towards the Legion vessels, mostly with the orders coming up from Olympus Naval Command. He notes that they seem particularly grateful for your point-blank pass of the Legion raiding force. While you did kill around 35 Legion cruisers, you lost a single battlecruiser, 6 cruisers and 12 destroyers. You can hear the chewing-out Flavius is going to give you now. Fortunately, all your remaining vessels could still maneuver, and on-board repair systems have been busily replacing hull panels and rerouting burnt-out power couplings on the long chase in-system. As a result, all your ships are fully functional still. Even so, you've already sent off a report of the battle back to the Chapterhouse by courier drone, but you won't be hearing around it around another week and a half at the earliest, so you'll have to make do with what you have.

Speaking of making do, your destroyers (nimble scouts that they are) reach the wreckage first, and everything seems dead. As your sensors confirmed, there are 11 Legion cruisers relatively intact, and as your bigger vessels move in, apparently dead too. There are maybe 3 other wrecks that would be intact enough to be worth searching, but everything else is rubble. That presents you with a problem: Each of your battlecruisers has maybe 200 boarding drones, which is probably enough to search a single Legion ship. Your cruisers and destroyers don't have many, and those are mostly for defensive duties anyway. Since you lost a battlecruiser, that gives you five complements of drones to work with.

>cont.
>>
>>2095349
The matte black rock-like surface of the Legion vessels prevent you from scanning them in an attempt to see which of them have fewer complements of their drones, but assuming they still have most of the ones they should, you're going to need to dedicate each battlecruiser's drones to a single target. On the other hand, however, you could try searching the more heavily damaged ships. They probably won't be able to resist your efforts as well... but they might not have as good loot, and they still might be able to kill enough that you won't be able to search their more intact brethren. Which should you choose?

>Focus all efforts in boarding and securing the most intact enemy ships.
>Detail some of your ships to boarding the three heavily damaged wrecks as well as the others.
>>
>>2095352
>>Focus all efforts in boarding and securing the most intact enemy ships.
>>
>>2095352
>>Focus all efforts in boarding and securing the most intact enemy ships.
>>
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>>2095349
>Focus on the intact ships.

The antimatter drive plumes of your decelerating capital ships vaporise a few hundred fragments of something or other as they move in toward the closest intact Legion vessels. Targeting radar and lidars are on full in case there are floating Legion drones around that try to do a re-enactment of their attack on the humans. Despite the densely-packed wreckage, it seems remarkably clear and you relax your guard a little.

Using reaction-mass thrusters, each of your battlecruisers ease against an enemy cruiser and start burrowing through the hull with a boarding tunnel. The mouth of the tunnel produces deconstruction nanobots, eating their way inside until they reach the first clear space inside. Your boarding drones line up, ready. Half are the ones you used to board that Legion station several months ago, but the rest are upgraded designs courtesy of Flavius, but more heavily armoured and suited to the close-combat environment of a Legion vessel. The first boarding tube finds a clear space and the drones onboard rush through.

>Roll 1d100, best of three.
>>
Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>2095494
>>
Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>2095494
>>
Rolled 78 (1d100)

>>2095494
>>
Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>2095494
>78

Rolling...
>>
>>2095532
>78 vs 19

You leave your other battlecruisers to it, and take personal control of your own drone complement. They dive through the boarding tunnel in a constant stream, and immediately come under attack. Legion drones erupt from the walls and down the corridor, smashing into your drones as soon as they emerge. Your drones respond in kind, however, close-range firepower melting the onyx carapaces of the enemy drones to slag. Even so, you're surprised by the sheer savagery of the counterattack.

Despite the strange blood-lust the enemy seem to be experiencing, the actual attacks are not coordinated in the slightest. Previously, every single enemy drone would strike as one to cause the maximum amount of damage, then fight to the death. They're still fighting to the death, but they're coming in a stream, not as a single salvo. You exploit this, steadily gaining ground until, suddenly, the resistance stops. Your drones kill the last defenders, and then the vacuum-filled tunnel is silent.

>Dauntless boarding drones: 191/215
>Legion defending drones: ???

>Strike quickly at the centre of the vessel, where you know the control centre should be.
>Wait, and bring through as many drones and defensive equipment through as you can to secure your beachhead first.
>>
>>2095587

> Secure the beachhead

We need to secure our exit before anything else
>>
>>2095587
>> Secure the beachhead
>>
>>2095587
>Strike quickly at the centre of the vessel, where you know the control centre should be.
>>
>>2095587
>>Wait, and bring through as many drones and defensive equipment through as you can to secure your beachhead first.
>>
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>>2095587
>Secure your gains.

In the utter silence of vacuum, and with the ease of microgee, your drones get to work, bringing one of the enemy drone corpses aboard for you to get back to Flavius (eventually) for study. Maybe there's a difference. In any case, the others clear away the rest of the corpses, and start deploying heavy mag turrets around the entrance of the boarding tunnel.

Just in time, too. A plasma bolt flies out of the darkness, slagging one of your drones as the enemy erupts out of the darkness from either side. This time, however, you're ready for them. Magnetically-propelled AP projectiles piece through their strange black armour and detonate inside the enemy, felling them with a furious stream of explosives that rumble through the tunnel. It would seem that despite the fact they can take heat with each, kinetic energy is far more effective.

This assault lasts for several minutes, with few casualties for your side. And throughout it, more and more of your drones are massing for your assault. All of your older drones are on now, and the newer ones are following.

A sudden alarm cuts through your self-congratulation. From your surface sensors, as well as the destroyer and cruiser in close proximity to you- Legion drones are... boiling up through the surface of the cruiser's hull and launching themselves towards your hull. Oh dear. If they manage to get inside your ship's hull, with most of your defensive assets focused on the enemy cruiser, they might be able to do some damage.


>Dauntless boarding drones: 186/215
>Legion defending drones: ???

>Have all ships in range open fire with their PD lasers, despite the risk to yourself.
>Detach from the Legion cruiser and back off to handle it.
>Recall some of your boarding drones to counter the attack.
>>
>>2095722
>>Have all ships in range open fire with their PD lasers, despite the risk to yourself.
>>
>>2095722
>>Have all ships in range open fire with their PD lasers, despite the risk to yourself.
>>
>>2095722
>Have your escorts use their lasers.

At the speed of thought, you issue orders to your closest escorts. A destroyer and three cruisers turn to bring their broadside PD lasers to bear.

>Roll 1d100, best of three.
>>
Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>2095775
>>
Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>2095775
>>
Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>2095775
>>
>>2095775
>70

The escorts start discharging their lasers at pinpoint targets, locked together in a tactical net to make sure they won't waste energy on dead targets. The drones floating towards your hull can take small lasers, for sure, but ones designed to knock out a shielded missile travelling at a hefty percentage of cee? No chance.

The Legion drones die with silent pops as they boil inside their carapaces, but it's not quite enough. Most of them die, of course, and the couple of missiles harmlessly reflect off your brilliant white hull. But some, a couple of dozen, manage to get on your hull. Their claws start scratching and ripping at your armour plates with vibrations that would set your teeth on edge. If you had teeth that is.

>Have your escorts continue to use their lasers, though it is much more dangerous.
>No good, you'll have to recall some of your drones to send them onto your hull.
>>
>>2095853
>Have your escorts continue to use their lasers, though it is much more dangerous.
>>
>>2095853
>>No good, you'll have to recall some of your drones to send them onto your hull.
>>
>>2095853
>>No good, you'll have to recall some of your drones to send them onto your hull.
>>
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>>2095853
>Recall some drones.

As your beachhead experiences another attack, you re-route twice as many of your own drones up onto your hull. They emerge, and engage their magnetic foot clamps so they don't drift off. Thusly engaged, your drones move out to dislodge the vermin on your hull.

>Roll 2d100. One for hull clearing, one for holding the line.
>>
Rolled 53, 8 = 61 (2d100)

>>2095928
>>
Rolled 84, 20 = 104 (2d100)

>>2095928
>>
Rolled 59, 70 = 129 (2d100)

>>2095928
>>
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>>2095928
>84, 70

Luckily for you, all the Legion drones are basically clustered in one spot on the hull of your ship. Your drones move in, firing single shots from their mag-cannons to pick off the enemy drones. Somewhat anticlimactically, all of them are singularly focused on burrowing through your hull, and your own drones work quickly enough that none of them get more than halfway through your armour- though it does leave you with several half-metre pits decorating your hull. Still, with that done, you pull your drones back along with your attention.

Your beachhead has held without your attention, though it has suffered some more casulties. You have almost a hundred drones inside the enemy ship, though. You should move in now. Though... One of your other battlecruisers has finished searching its cruiser, and has come up mostly empty. Despite some losses due to surviving Legion drones, it appeared the enemy ship slagged itself. If you wanted to wait a little longer, it could provide an assault from another angle. Then again, if the other cruisers are willing to slag their cores, perhaps this one is too. Time may well be of the essence.

>Move in now, as quickly as possible.
>Perhaps it would be best to wait.
>>
>>2096020
>>Move in now, as quickly as possible.
>>
>>2096020
>>Move in now, as quickly as possible.
>>
>>2096020
>Move in now, as quickly as possible.
>>
>>2096020
Oh, I forgot to put:

>Dauntless boarding drones: 165/215
>Legion defending drones: ???
>>
>>2096067
>Move in

Well, with that kind of warning, you should definitely move. You flag the other BC to move in to provide support, but take control your drones once more to drive them deep into the innards of the Legion vessel. Your drones start to come under constant attack, but it's still uncoordinated. A single Legion drone will erupt from the wall, damaging one of your own drones, but then be put down by the rest. An attack from the rear that you have to discourage, or one from ahead that you have to fight your way through. You leave drones at each of the intersections they pass in guard mode, but they're ignored in favour of constantly nipping at your main force. Even so, it's not enough. It's nice to have the numerical superiority for once, you have to admit.

Your other battlecruiser is just beginning to disgorge its drones into the other side of the Legion cruiser as your own reach what you hesitantly classify as the CIC. It's a round room, with the strange stacks of obsidian around the edges. A couple of them have small glowing red dots on their surface, but they mostly seem... dead. In the centre of the room, on a slightly raised plinth, there's the core you're looking for. As your drones approach it, you realise something seems... off. Even compared to the weird ones you've taken before, this one is strange. It seems to be wrapped in the same onyx carapace as the drones, and practically exudes menace even through the drone feeds.

>W̷͉͔̿̎͟h͚̮̍̔̆ͫ̃o̝͍̜͚̩̖͋̆ͮͧ͝ ̫͎̠̇ͯ́̀͐̀͒̾͘ͅD̖͕͙̳͇͙̻͙̓̕͜À̵͙̯͈R̨̬̥̟̖̖͉͒ͦ͛͂ͅE̸̝͓͕̺ͭ̊́͂͗̆͋̽S̘̣̜̦͎ͮ͒͋̽͝!͎̘ͮ͐ͪ͆͊̓?̶̨͖̐̆̂ͨͦͧ̚

For a moment, you're sure you're imagining the static-blasted voice across every radio frequency you care to name.

>Respond (write-in).
>Quick, grab it and leave.
>This is too weird. Get the explosives.
>>
>>2096112
>Respond (write-in).
I, Dauntless, dare.

>While we do this firewall all possible ways we could get hacked. And isolate this core in something it cannot possibly broadcast from.
>>
>>2096112
supporting: >>2096117
>>
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>>2096112
>Other.

You're taken aback, but not for long. You broadcast with all your drones, "I, Dauntless, dare."

Your drones move in to disconnect the core, and a scream rips through your link. You instinctively slam down firewalls on all your links with your drone forces as something you can only describe as a presence seems to try to claw at you directly. You're probably just imagining it, but there's something else you're not imagining: Half the drones you have on-board the ship, the older drones, winks out of your tactical net. Then they turn and fire point-blank at the newer ones. Not all of them die in the first, surprise salvo, but few of them survive through the second.

The heavy mag turrets around the boarding tubes prove more resilient, and with the help of the newer drones that somehow haven't been taken over, keep your boarding tube secure. Phew. You're still puzzling out what happened a second later when the battlecruiser docked to the other side of the Legion cruiser drops out of the tactical net, then disconnects the boarding tube and fires its thrusters.

Oh dear.

>GETOUTGETOUTGETOUT
>FIREFIREFIRE
>Talk, maybe?
>>
>>2096238
>FIREFIREFIRE
>>
>>2096238
>>FIREFIREFIRE
>>
>>2096238
>>FIREFIREFIRE
>>
>>2096238
>Fire EVERYTHING.

1d100, best of three, to not be shreked.
>>
Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>2096288
>>
Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>2096288
>>
Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>2096288
>>
>>2096288
>82

You drop your own boarding tube, cutting it off from your hull and firing your thrusters to try and get away. You're not in a good position to fire most of your broadside, but then neither is... he?

You highlight the kidnapped battlecruiser and set it as hostile over the squadron tacnet.

Ten seconds later, a destroyer discharges its broadside of laser weapons, but they're reflected and scattered by the white hull of the battlecruiser. Half a second after that, however, the first cruiser fires, and then in a rolling fusillade of energy fire the hostile battlecruiser is speared from every direction. Even one of your still-friendly battlecruisers manages to fire off its battleship-grade energy mounts.

As your ship drifts apart from the cruiser you boarded, you contemplate it with a spiteful gaze.

>You still have enough drones on all the rest of your BCs to storm it again. Drag that core out no matter what.
>No point in risking it. Reduce that cruiser and every other intact ship to itty bitty pieces.
>>
>>2096330
>>You still have enough drones on all the rest of your BCs to storm it again. Drag that core out no matter what.

>Use newer drones exclusively, shut down older ones.
>>
>>2096330
Oh good i didnt miss the whole thread

>You still have enough drones on all the rest of your BCs to storm it again. Drag that core out no matter what.
>>
>>2096330
>>You still have enough drones on all the rest of your BCs to storm it again. Drag that core out no matter what.
>>Use newer drones exclusively, shut down older ones.
>>
>>2096330
>You still have enough drones on all the rest of your BCs to storm it again. Drag that core out no matter what.
>Use newer drones exclusively, shut down older ones.
>>
>>2096330
>Use all the drones you have left, but only the newer ones.

Alright, so if you guys could give me one last roll of 1d100, that would be great.

Unfortunately, I'm also starting to zonk out, so I'm going to leave it here for tonight and come back tomorrow!
>>
Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>2096491
>>
Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>2096491
>>
Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>2096491
>>
Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>2096491
Did you not sleep through the light like I did?
>>
>>2096491
>91

You're angry. You know you shouldn't be, but you damn well are. You're going to drag whatever the hell that thing is out of its nest even if you have to use every other drone you have to do it. Your other battlecruisers undock from their cruisers - one of them, in fact, seems to have found a core that is probably dead, so you suppose it's not a total loss.

Operating via reaction thrusters, all your remaining drones of the new type guide themselves from the warships hovering a hundred metres away. You're not going to make the same mistake this time. As they approach, some of what used to be your drones take potshots from the hull of the enemy cruiser, but a silent barrage from your ships' PD lasers put an end to that effort. Your drones, literally every one of the new type your have left, numbering a good three hundred, land and tunnel into the cruiser.

The next half-hour is a blur of constant combat. Inch by inch, metre by metre, your drones take the enemy cruiser, attacking from dozens of directions as they kill the rest of your hacked(?) drones, and, you're quite sure, every single last Legion drone onboard. The total death tally for this one cruiser is somewhere near eight to nine hundred, which might be useful to know later.

As they reach the control centre again, all of your frequencies are blasted with baleful static and demonic howling that you can't decipher. It's enough to obliterate your connection to your drones, but this time you're ready and they already have their orders. The core, if that's what it is, is ripped from the plinth and carefully placed into a crate lined with lead, a Faraday cage, and a screen generator similar to your own electromagnetic screens. You can only hope that it's overkill, but either way as the crate shuts the static finally cuts off. Phew.

Your drones begin to file out of the cruiser, carrying the crate. There are no drones left to oppose them, and your other ships start systematically destroying the other wrecks as you contemplate what to do.

>Head straight for the chapterhouse with your cargo. Flavius needs to see this as soon as possible.
>This cargo is important, but you also have a mission. Send it on one of your destroyers while you continue training with the humans.
>>
>>2098807
>Head straight for the chapterhouse with your cargo. Flavius needs to see this as soon as possible.

It hacker manned our shit, this needs to be given over.
>>
>>2098807
>>Head straight for the chapterhouse with your cargo. Flavius needs to see this as soon as possible.

Use message drones to give humans the 411 and send ahead for a replacement for us until we can get back,.
>>
>>2098815
supporting

We need to get a replacement out here asap because not only do we need to hand over the cores and replenish our ships but we need to have Flavius do a check over all our ships and drones to try and figure out exactly what the hell happened to our forces and to make sure there's not any residual influence or viruses left for us on our ships.
>>
>>2098807
>>Head straight for the chapterhouse with your cargo. Flavius needs to see this as soon as possible.
>>
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>>2098807
>Head for home.

After methodically ripping apart any wreckage larger than a shuttle with your squadron's energy mounts to make sure there's nothing left that could possibly pose a threat, your ships manoeuvrer clear of the debris field and engage their drives. The remainder of the Legion raiding force falls away at a bit over 650 gees, but it's going to take a while just to come to a stop. Your parasite fighters need to come on-board too.

Your drones secure the crate containing the Legion core in a secure part of your cargo bay next to some spare armour panels. A few of your drones stand watch over it, weapons at the ready. With that done, you can turn your mind to the humans. Should you tell them?

>Contact Admiral Weston, tell him in detail what happened.
>Contact Admiral Weston, give him the basics.
>Contact Admiral Weston, just let him know you need to go.
>Don't bother contacting the humans.
>>
>>2098972
>>Contact Admiral Weston, give him the basics.

>Found something super dangerous , and can't trust it to a courier because it can and has taken over my ships. I'll be sending word ahead and getting you a replacement. I hope to be back soon.
>>
>>2098972
>Contact Admiral Weston, tell him in detail what happened.
>>
>>2098972
>Contact Admiral Weston, tell him in detail what happened.
Potentially compromised drone systems. Worrying development in enemy hacking capabilities.
>>
>>2098972
>>Contact Admiral Weston, tell him in detail what happened.
>>
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>>2098972
>Give Admiral Weston the full brief.

Unfortunately, you're not going to be passing anywhere near Arcadia or Mount Olympus, so you record a brief for Admiral Weston.

"...And since this represents a worrying development in Legion hacking capabilities, I've decided I need to let my superiors know as soon as possible. Rest assured that if I cannot return immediately, I'll make sure that somebody else is sent. Dauntless, out."

You re-watch the message again to make sure you've covered everything- your initial boarding action, the loss of your drones, the core and so on- before sending that off to the Admiral. You're not going to get a reply back for at least six hours, assuming he sends one back immediately.

The only other interesting occurrence is your parasite fighters catching up to you, and you note with pleasure that you only lost 4. The speed of their pass protected them remarkably well, but the ones that died were hit by anti-missile weapons. They simply don't have the armour of even a destroyer. Still, the ones that remain either attach to the hulls of one of your surviving battlecruisers, or manage to secure themselves to one ship or another for transit.

You don't actually get a reply from the admiral until you reach the picket for the jump point towards home. It comes in the form of a transmission relayed from one of the human picket, sent on to them as soon as got your message. You open it.

"Dauntless," Weston is sitting in his cabin from the background, "I've got your message and fully understand. Considering your continued actions in the protection of this system, I don't imagine Command is going to be that bothered. I've notified Admiral Gracen, but not received a reply as of the time I'm recording this message. In any case, good luck, and I hope you'll be back soon. Weston out."

---

The journey back to the Chapterhouse is much faster than the one out, and you run it as fast as you dare. A couple of systems out you emerge to find an Order squadron underway towards the jump point you've just come from, one consisting of 7 battleships! That's not counting its screening elements and auxiliaries. You could contact them to talk, but you'd have to slow.

>You're in too much of a hurry. Exchange IFFs and a brief update, but you need to be on your way.
>Slow enough to have a conversation, find out why they're out here.
>>
>>2099154
>>Slow enough to have a conversation, find out why they're out here.
>>
>>2099154
>>Slow enough to have a conversation, find out why they're out here.
>>
>>2099154
>Slow enough to have a conversation, find out why they're out here.
And warn them about the improved hacking capabilities.
>>
>>2099154
>Slow enough to have a conversation, find out why they're out here.
>>
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>>2099154
>Slow and have a chat.

Your ships spend a few hours slowing to only a few thousand thousand kilometres per second, and the other Order squadron does the same. As you reach just a few light-seconds away, you send off a basic handshake and receive one in return- the other squadron is under the command of Knight-Brother Valiant. You haven't interacted with him too much, if at all, but you recall that he is one of the youngest AIs in the Order, before you of course.

"Knight-Brother Valiant." You start politely, "What brings you out this way?"

You have to wait a few seconds for the reply.

"Dauntless. I could ask you the same question. I'm meant to be reinforcing you, your last courier said Olympus was under attack.

Oh, right. You sent one off when the Legion ships first appeared.

"Yes, well, you see..."

You give Valiant a run-down on the battle, and the result of your boarding action. Valiant appreciates the heads-up, and in return fills you in- the Order and Olympus have formally signed a defensive and research treaty, so he's on his way to set up a permanent Order presence as well as deliver more industrial parts to the humans. Apparently, he has orders to request your presence back at the Chapterhouse anyway.

"Thanks for the heads up, though." Valiant finishes, and you sign off. Hm, interesting. Wonder what they want you bad for?

Unfortunately, the rest of the journey is boring, and you translate into the Order's home system a couple days later. An automated message from one of the point forts lets you know that if you have any cores, the Grand Master wants to see them, but there's also a personal message from Flavius to let you know that it can wait, and he also needs to see you. Hmm.

>Send the core on one of your ships to the Chapterhouse while you head to Forge.
>You should deliver the core personally to the Grand Master, just in case.
>>
>>2099348
>You should deliver the core personally to the Grand Master, just in case.
>>
>>2099348
>>You should deliver the core personally to the Grand Master, just in case.
>>Tell the Forgemaster normally we would head over immediately but given the advanced hacking abilities of this core leaving it untended for any length of time is a bad idea. It already stole one of our BCs
>>
>>2099348
>>2099372
Seconding sending off a message.
>>
>>2099372
Seconded
>>
>>2099348
>>You should deliver the core personally to the Grand Master, just in case.
>>
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>>2099348
>Swing by the Chapterhouse personally.

Your squadron lights off their drives, falling down the gravity well towards the inner dwarf planet that holds the Grand Master and the history of your order, as well as a truly stupendous amount of servers and raw computing power required to slowly, gradually develop new AIs. Maybe you're just feeling nostalgic.

You send off a brief to both the Grand Master and Flavius, informing them of the events in Olympus. You include a small personal message for Flavius as well, letting him know that you'll head over when you're done.

His reply is "Take your time, I need to prepare myself to fix what you keep doing to my beautiful ships." Heh.

Your ships settle into an orbit around the Chapterhouse, sharing space with its heavy defences. In fact, it looks like they've been upgraded again with another super-heavy High-Energy Laser station put into place. God, you almost hope that the Legion try another assault. In any case, the Grand Master greets you as soon as your engines shut down, a vast, comforting presence filling the virtual environment.

"Dauntless. It would seem that you've been having adventures again, hm?" There's a hint of amusement in his tone.

>Boast
>Neutral
>Polite
>>
>>2099455
>Neutral
>>
>>2099455
>Neutral
>>
>>2099455
>>Neutral
One I could quite do without Grandmaster. Be careful with this one, and only use the new drones.
>>
>>2099455
>>Neutral
>>
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>>2099455
>Neutral.

"I think I'd prefer a little less adventure."

The Grand Master chuckles briefly, but quickly become serious.

"Your report makes for interesting reading, Dauntless. Unfortunately, it not unique reading. Legion raiding forces have hit us in half a dozen places over the past month, and I have a single report of something similar to this. The Legion's latest tactic is suicidal raids, it would appear."

Aboard your ship and the other battlecruiser that managed to claim the dead core, drones are carrying crates onto waiting shuttles.

"That sounds worrying." You comment.

"Fortunately, it appears that the hole in our systems was the drones we have been using since the start of our conflict, and their link with the ship controlling them. Flavius is confident in patching this hole, and I hope this core you managed to recover will prove... interesting."

"Just be careful, Grand Master."

The crates are moved onto their orbital shuttles, and the small craft ease their way into open orbital space, slowly making their way towards an isolated station.

"Of course. Now, Flavius let me know that he wanted your presence. Apparently, the first group of human scientists have arrived. Something about guinea pigs, whatever that could mean."

Suppressing the most un-AI-like urge to snort, you sign off the communication channel before turning your drives for the Forge.
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And thus ends this week's chapter. I know it's a little shorter than usual, but I feel like this is a good stopping point. First thing next week we'll sort out upgrades and missions.
If you want to know when I go live, follow my twitter and all that good stuff.

Thank you for playing, everyone. Have a nice night!
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>>2099576
Goddammit! Missed it again.
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>>2099576
I'm late, but thanks for running!
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Can we just bring a mobile shipping yard/manufacturing ad repair base with us as we go? We just recycle or repair our damaged ships, and feed destroyed legion ships into it to make more shiny order ships.
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>>2099576
godsh dangit missed it again
thanks anyway QM, have a nice night.




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