>>2116218
>Reinforcements
first post!

Also caught a live thread!

>>2116218
>>Reinforcements
Time for Deus Vult Quest!

>>2116218
>>Reinforcements

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>>2116332
Welcome anon!

>>2116218
>Reinforcements

"Right you are, lad." Flavius' presence fades slightly for a moment as his attention moves elsewhere, and then a list flashes up before you in the virtual environment. "These are the assets I have checked out and ready to go."

>Choose up to two options, or one option twice. Keep in mind that different ships will affect deployment options, and bigger ships generally accelerate slower.

TF Dauntless' current ships: 4 Battlecruisers, 10 Cruisers, 4 Destroyers

Escort carrier with 20 fighters (1)
Battleship division (2)
Battlecruiser division (3)
Cruiser squadron (6)
Destroyer flotilla (8)

>>2116378
>1 Battlecruiser division
>1 destroyer flotilla

>>2116378
Battleship division (2)
Destroyer flotilla (8)

Not sure on why you used division as nomenclature for the BC and BS

>>2116407
Never mind. I thought squadron or flotilla was the smallest, I've never seen division used.

>>2116407
In the grim darkness of space crusades, there is only my desire to not actually research naval terms.

>>2116378
>Battlecruiser division (3)
>Destroyer flotilla (8)

>>2116422
Ha! Beat your post by less than half a second!

I cannot not stop looking hovering my mouse over the pop up timer

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>>2116378
>Looks pretty much in favour of 1 BatCruDiv, and 1 DD flotilla.

Flavius seems to approve of your choice, and a moment later you feel new channels opening up in your awareness as your new ships are transferred to your command net.

>TF Dauntless' new ships: 7 Battlecruisers, 10 Cruisers, 12 Destroyers

"Good for raiding for sure." The other AI comments as the list disappears. "Sorry I can't spare any more, but we're stretched a little thin right now. We're holding on, but losses among screening vessels are pretty damn high." A moment later, a new list flashes up. "But you've been assigned to convoy duty lad, which gives me enough time to give you some new toys." You can practically flee his glee. But then again, you suppose you're giving him plenty of raw data. Guinea pig indeed.

>You know the drill, pick an upgrade from a single category.

>Offence Tier 1
Plasma turrets: Made from reverse-engineered Legion technology, these dorsal turrets are capable of absolutely shredding through armour. However, they have atrocious range, less than half a light-second. Affects your ship only.
Charged Particle Broadside: These highly experimental energy mounts theorised by human researchers from Olympus replace your lasers and grasers. They have a similar range, but hit substantially harder and should do far more damage to the strange laser-drinking hull material of the enemy. However, the power drain is substantial and as such can only be mounted on larger ships. Affects all capital ships.
Bolt-on missile pods: With the new missile pods, Flavius is able to construct a 'flatpack' design that can be bolted onto your dorsal and ventral hull. They have slightly bigger missiles than your own broadside, and each side can be either flushed for a single massive salvo, or used to thicken your own salvos. Affects capital ships.

>Defence Tier 2
Counter-missile canisters: To thicken up your anti-missile defenses, two tubes in each broadside are instead loaded with canisters that contain 4 small, overpowered missiles that carry a warhead of compressed lead granules. When they reach attack range of enemy missiles, they detonate, throwing up a wall of deadly shrapnel to shred or prematurely detonate the enemy warhead. Affects capital ships.
Towed defensive array: Essentially a small defensive system the size of a frigate that can be put on tow of a ship, carrying nothing but advanced sensors and point defence laser clusters. However, it somewhat limits a ship's acceleration, and severely limits maneuverability. It can be dropped, but only two are carried per mission. Capital ships only.
Upgraded ECM: A relatively simple upgrade, each ship's ECM suite is enhanced to make it a harder target. This includes ship-board suite upgrades, but also the installation of improved drone decoys and jammers. Affects all ships.

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>>2116452
>Sensors Tier 1
Grav-pulse Recon Drones: Experimental drones fitted with a directional grav pulse emitter that effectively enables FTL recon capability within a system. However, the drones are quite large and ungainly, with only limited stealth. Moreover, their rate of transmission is extremely limited without further upgrades. All capital ships carry 2 drones each.
Grav sensors: After discovering Legion ships use some sort of drive that changes the gravity in the immediate vicinity of the ship to propel themselves, Flavius created grav sensors small enough to fit into capital ships. Passively increases Legion ship detection and lock-on. Affects capital ships.
Tachyon ping: Similar to the active sonar ping of ancient history, a tachyon projector is fitted to the bow of the vessel. When fired, these tachyons bounce off whatever they hit, giving a real-time glimpse at a system. However, it is relatively easy to trace back to the projecting vessel. Projector affects your ship, all ships can detect.

>Support Tier 2
Point-Defence Laser: This switches out your parasite fighters for a new model that mounts a PD laser as well as its other weapons. It can defend itself on its runs, but also stay with a squadron to bolster anti-missile defence. This cuts down the number of fighters your ships can carry to 8 for BCs, and 10 for BBs.
Charged Particle Lance: A highly experimental spinal weapon forms the core of this new fighter. It can still carry two missiles, but is substantially larger and with a lower top speed. However, if it gets into range with its spinal weapon, it can crack smaller ships and inflict great damage on larger ones. This cuts down the number of fighters your ships can carry to 6 for BCs, and 8 for BBs.
Upgraded ECM: This passive upgrade does not make your fighters much harder to detect, but makes it far more difficult for the enemy to get a solid lock. While this makes them very difficult to hit for missiles, at the ranges they are required to use their spinal mount it is somewhat less effective. This upgrade does not affect the amount of fighters your capital ships can carry (12).

>>2116455
Partical lance on fighters

>>2116452
>Charged Particle Broadside
>Upgraded ECM
>Grav sensors
>Point-Defence Laser

>>2116482
You can only pick a single upgrade, anon.

>>2116482
Wait I missread that as 'pic one from each catagory' for some reason, sorry

>>2116452
>Charged Particle Broadside

>>2116452
>>2116455
>Plasma turrets
No more legion drones eating our skin.

>Upgraded ECM
Kinda worried about their hacking our drones last time.

>Upgraded ECM
Our fighters performed fine last time, but we lost some. Could we get some engine or speed upgrades for our fighters too?

>>2116422
>space crusades.webm

>>2116488
>>2116498
Woops.
What happens if you try to shoot with plasma turrets beyond half a light second? Does it just dissipate or something?

>>/gif/11691060
Can't upload my webm since its too big.

>>2116514
Well, just like a laser, technically it has infinite range. However, the magnetic containment field dissipates very quickly so that beyond half a light-second, the contained plasma is too weak to penetrate armour.

Anyway, I'm seeing:

>Charged Particle Broadside
>Charged Particle Lance

Pick one of these or another option!

By the way, keep in mind that if you're in energy range of a Legion ship, you're in range of its plasma battery.

>>2116529
>Charged Particle Broadside

>>2116529
>Charged Particle Lance

>>2116529
Plasma turrets

Could we request Flavius for engine and drone upgrades, like semi independant drones that are harder to act and can work without us having a pre-programed plan into them? Maybe iRobot kind of Ai drones?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yCmZHILkm8

>>2116529
>Charged Particle Lance

>>2116529
>>Charged Particle Broadside

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>2116529
Okay, looks like I'm gonna have to roll a tie.

1 is broadside, 2 is lance.

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>>2116623
>Support Tech 2 unlocked: Charged Particle Lance parasite fighters!

"Good choice. Make sure you let me know if they give you any problems." You feel what can only be described as a tingle as shipyard drones start pulling up the old docking plates for your parasite fighters, and replacing them with new, bigger ones. You check through the specs in detail. Apparently to feed the lance the new fighters have bigger batteries, and-

"Uh, Flavius?"

"Aye, lad?"

"Why do these fighters have fission plants? With actual uranium?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked! You see..." Flavius proceeds to give an extremely in-depth explanation, but essentially it comes down to fission plants being more compact and needing less fuel than a fusion plant, which is too big to fit in one of the fighters. You're not sure how to feel about having nuclear reactors attached to your hull.

Regardless, you spend the next week with your existing battlecruisers undergoing refits, taking on materials aboard your ships for an extended cruise, and undergoing repairs. All your new ships are actually new-build, with incremental improvements in drives and weapons. Luckily, on-board maintenance has been keeping your ships in shape, but some might need to be rotated back for in-depth maintenance cycles soon.

A week and a day after you returned to the Chapterhouse, your task force is forming up around a small freighter convoy carrying missile pods and industrial equipment bound for Bastion.

"You'll be reporting to Abbot Darius, lad. He'll give you your mission."

You run through a final set of checks on your ships, and flash Flavius an affirmative.

"Got it. Thanks, Flavius."

"Don't mention it. Is there anything else before you leave?"

>Ask Flavius something.
>Nope, time to burn.

>>2116666
>>Ask Flavius something.
The enemy has started making missiles boats and has core confirmed to hack even our ships with ease. What are they?

>>2116666
>Ask Flavius something.
Point defense drones, and internal drones? Like improved and possible humanoid ones for possible interacts with humans. Can we have a mobile shipyard and manufacturing plant to sweep up the battlefield after we win a battle, and use it to replace fighters and repair, maybe even build ships?

>>2116706
failing that, can we get one or 2 of those stealth ships we had in the beginning attached to our fleet?

>>2116706
You already have internal drones, and you haven't (with the exception of your jaunt straight into Legion territory) been away from supply lines long enough to take Auxiliaries again like you did when you made contact with the Order of Tyr's Star.
Also no, I think Flavius also told you and my excuse was that it was a testbed for new technologies, not an actual ship class.

>>2116717
>not an actual ship class
The mobile shipyard not the stealth ship right?

Lets ask him if there is anything he wants us to keep an eye on or bring back to him specifically while we are out on deployment.

Ask, will all Orders be using his design as standard ships or will there be greater shape, design, and AI divergence as time passes, like human evolution and language over the course of time.

>2116666
>6666
super evil post quads, are we sure Flavius isn't planning on martyring us while we are off on our space jihad with flying nuclear bombs??

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>>2116666
>Question

"The enemy has started making missiles and has cores confirmed to hack even our ships with ease. What are they?"

Flavius just chuckles outright.

"Lad, if I knew that, then this war could be over in a week. Still, you'll be pleased to know that they shouldn't be able to hack us anymore. Or at least, in the same way they did before."

"Thank you, that's very reassuring." You deadpan.

"I'm sure. Good luck, lad."

Flavius signs off, and as on, your ships light off their drives. Thankfully, this time you're escorting 'fast freighters', which means they move marginally faster than a snail on a hot rock. Your task force cruises along at an easy 400 gravities. Travel out to the Kuiper belt takes almost 8 hours, and you form up with another Knight-Brother for the convoy passage to Bastion.

From there, it's almost two weeks in the company of Knight-Brother Anson. He's friendly enough, and you spend time discussing convoy defence strategies. A week into the journey as you rocket through an empty system at .6 cee, with the very beginnings of the sky ahead warping from your speed he comes out of the blue with a question.

"Dauntless, do you think we can win this?"

>Boast
>Neutral
>Polite

>>2116666
>>Ask Flavius something.
>Let's ask him if there is anything he wants us to keep an eye on or bring back to him specifically while we are out on deployment.
besides the cores, of course.

>>2116823
>Neutral

>>2116834
Oops. Sorry, I should have said I was writing already.

>>2116823
>>Neutral

>>2116823
>>Boast
Yes. We were caught unawares, but we seem to be making good progress in pushing them back.

>>2116823
>Boast
Yes, only a matter of time, and we will likely be recruiting and arming human worlds in this fight against evil and for bot hour survival.

>>2116823
>>Boast

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>>2116823
>Boast

"Damn right we will! They took us by surprise at first, sure, but every time they try to attack us they're sticking their hands in a blender."

"Yeah, I guess so." Anson doesn't seem too convinced, but after a moment he continues, "Thanks, Dauntless. It just feels like they can sweep over us any time they want, so what are they waiting for?"

"I think I know what you mean. Don't worry, though. We'll handle it."

The pair of you lapse into friendly silence for a while, and eventually Anson engages you in another set of simulated attack-and-defend exercises.

----

A week later, IFFs flashing, the convoy arrives at Bastion. Targeting suites light up your hull from shoals of missile pods, but after a nervous couple of moments they accept your credentials, and routing instructions come through for Bastion Station. As you head in-system with Anson, you're stunned by what awaits you.

From a bare system, albeit a valuable one with a whopping eight jump points, has assembled a massive fortified forward staging point. Bastion station itself is set in an asteroid in the system's debris belt, hanging close to its massive blue star. There's a gas giant just beyond this star's habitable zone, then the debris belt, and a rocky planet beyond that, no doubt keeping the debris belt trapped between the system's two planets. The gas giant has dozens of moons, and you see a considerable hydrogen mining operation. Like a metallic necklace, strings of heavy fabrication units are trailing Bastion station, churning out the missiles, spare parts, shuttles, and all the rest that the Order needs to maintain a full-scale war.

Stationed throughout the system are several large stations, and it takes a while to puzzle out- they're massive floating hangers for squadrons of the new fighters, ready to strike any incoming enemy forces that manage to fight their way through the forts watching the jump point.

"Impressive, huh?" Anson comments, and you have to agree. As your visual take in more and more of the system, you pick out no less than twelve independent task forces throughout the systems, on patrol, refit, or transiting. That's just under half of the Order's entire Knight-Brother strength.

Eight hours later, your convoy is approaching Bastion Station. Manoeuvring orders come through, and Anson splits off to take up a patrol route so one of the other Knight-Brothers can come in to resupply. Meanwhile, the AI managing Bastion Station and its local defence fleet, Abbot Darius, greets you personally. As your ships decelerate into a parking orbit near the station, you enter a shared virtual environment.

"Ah, Dauntless, Grand Master Turtullian's little problem solver." He sounds... amused? "Here to join the rest of us at last, then?"

>Boast
>Neutral
>Polite

>>2117094
>>Polite

>>2117094
>>Polite

>>2117094
>>Polite

>>2117094
>>Polite
Pretty nice setup they got here.

>>2117094
>Polite.

"Yes, it seemed about time. Do you have a problem for me to solve?"

Darius snorts, quite the feat for an AI with no respiratory system.

"I do, actually. There are several things I haven't been able to take care of just yet."

A list pops up in front of you.

>Choose a mission!

>Mission 1: Aggressive: Recon in force.
Darius' notes: "We're getting ready to make a push on a few Legion-held flank systems to put some pressure on their core holdings. However, none of our probes have been coming back recently, and I don't want to commit without recent intel. Get in, get that intel, and get out. Anything you can hit is a target of opportunity. If you want, I can assign a Knight-Brother to go with you."

>Mission 2: Defensive: Spoiling raid.
Darius' notes: "It looks like the Legion are massing for a push of their own. This push has several components, and is likely going to come from several different directions. We've identified an empty system that one of the attack forces is using as a gathering point. Get in there and trash them- taking out one of their attack forces should help keep the heat off. You'll be working with another Knight-Brother on this one, but you'll be in command."

>Mission 3: ???: Search and rescue?
Darius' notes: "Yeah, this is a weird one. Recently a courier drone jumped into one of the systems surrounding Bastion, nearly dead and pretty beat up. Its design is at least fifty years old, if not longer. It carries an SOS code that hasn't been in use for about that same length of time, but it was so badly damaged we couldn't get a name out of it. We did get some coordinates- a system pretty deep in Legion-held territory. I don't have the forces to make a push in that direction, but if you're quick you should be able to evade any patrols to see where it came from."

>>2117243
>>Mission 3: ???: Search and rescue?

>>2117243
>Mission 3: ???: Search and rescue?

>>2117243
>>Mission 3: ???: Search and rescue?
based on the age, the drone traveled to a different system before jumping

>>2117243
>option 3
The mystery box is just too tempting.

>>2117243
>Mission 3: ???: Search and rescue?
Obviously a trap, but better we trip it than one of our brothers.

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>>2117243
>Mystery box option

"I'll pick this third one." You decide. "Seems like it needs attention."

"I thought you might. I've got some fast fleet auxiliaries here, though the only fast thing about them is how quickly they can get into trouble."

"Thanks." You check the two auxiliaries that Darius has just assigned to you, "They'll be vital."

"So when you find the Legion ambush or whatever, just swing on back. I'm sure I'll ha- just a minute."

Your expert systems ping for your attention as one of the jump points flashes with an inbound fleet. It takes a second for the Cherenkov radiation to clear from your screen, to reveal a substantial Legion force- a battleship with heavy screening elements. This happened at least eight hours ago, but the light is only reaching you now. There's nothing you can do... Or anything you need to do. The forts engage first with their energy mounts, but the shoals of missile pods resting half a light-minute out are already launching. A hundred, then a thousand missiles bore in, and in a several-second flurry of destruction the enemy invaders are wiped out.

"There we go." Darius' voice breaks through your thought. "There's today's attack. They've been sending one in every day for a while now, testing our response. I don't know what they expect to learn."

Hundreds of pods still remain at the jump point, but even so, intra-system haulers are lighting off their drives to replenish the spent missiles and recover the used pods, which can be refurbished and reloaded.

"I'll try not to be gone for too long. Don't want to miss the excitement." You tell Darius dryly.

"Sure thing, Dauntless. Take care of yourself."

The auxiliaries form up with your ships as you light off drives, easing away from Bastion Station at a mere 100 gees to make sure you don't damage any industrial modules. Knight-Brother Anson flashes you a brief good luck as you head towards the jump point that will take you on the first step towards finding out where that courier drone came from.

>>2117408
So uh that wreckage is being destoryed as time goes on right? Its not just being left there for them to use as a screen against future missles or letting probes slip in?

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I'm afraid that's all we're going to be doing for this week. I'm going to be busy tomorrow (well, today) so this is all you get.

I probably won't be running next week either, since I actually have a driving test I want to be in tip top shape for, and not tired as anything from staying up late the night before.

All that aside, I hope you enjoyed, check my twitter and all that. I also have a ask.fm page I still haven't done anything with and I should probably be shilling, so bother me there if you want to ask stuff about the quest: https://ask.fm/PixelAnon

I hope you enjoyed!

>>2117428
Don't worry anon, they'll be swept up and thrown into the local star like the Legion scum deserve. Deus Vult!

>>2117436
Thanks for the run, have a good one Pixel.

>>2117436
good night

>>2117436
Thanks for running!