OCP HiveQuest: Thread 2

Codex: The Hive

The Hive was a new species discovered in 1384 CD by both the Turians and the Krogan. First contact occurred when a Krogan raiding party activated and entered a primary relay and was followed by a Turian patrol. While the two forces engaged on the other side of the relay they were watched by a nearby alien vessel. The vessel turned out to be hive ship monitoring the unopened relay and after the battle concluded, several more hive ships appeared to begin diplomatic contact with the Turians.

The Hive is the only known species to have developed an interstellar society without the use of eezo FTL. In fact, the species appears to use no eezo at all and may have been unaware of the element before contact with the Citadel. This appears to have led them to develop unique, organic technologies that are less effective than eezo-enhanced technology overall, but grant unique abilities such as FTL telepathy and infantry-scale energy weapons.

Little is known about Hive biology or society. Although friendly, the species is highly isolationist and limits their contacts with other species to diplomatic and mercantile endeavors.

The Hive military seems to rely primarily on their unique energy weapon. While this weapon is shorter-ranged than standard mass effect weaponry, it is highly accurate and bypasses Kinetic Barriers. This makes hive creatures and ships deadly up close, but ineffective at long ranges. This weapon also allows the hive to field effective fighter-class ships, ignoring the problems conventional fighters have against capital-scale Kinetic Barriers.

After being attacked by Krogan forces, the Hive declared war against the Krogan and agreed to a military alliance with the Citadel.

Well this is awesome. I even read that in the ME1 narrator voice. Again, this Quest is very very awesome and you should all pat yourselves on the back. Unfortunately I've been lurking since the first thread and... Still don't know much about the dice. But I do think we should research our biotech even more, as it's been neglected for a very long time.

As for the new Hero Unit, Sagan will do. Er... If it's okay that I sometimes delurk and get involved? <3

Having just read over the Hive's stats again, and being unable to recall seeing it mentioned before in the threads, but has the idea of putting research into Clairvoyance directly come up? While it isn't as offensive as PK or generally handy as TK, it covers your "sensors" and seems to be what 'underlies' the blind jumping capacity which the plans have us researching as well as having potential to help hyperspace navigation.

I just had an idea. How about researching offensive telepathy? At the ranges Hive communication works this would be hilariously dangerous if it worked.

Offensive telepathy would be good. I'd like to see if we can have the Hive read minds, edit them, and maybe control them at some point-- that would be an incredibly useful ability. Nothing like being able to indoctrinate on demand.

Also, we need to research tactical stealth. We're already invisible to thermal; that leaves radar, LADAR, and pure optical, I think. Radar and laser-absorbent materials are possible with 2000s-level technology, so we should be able to mimic them. Active camoflauge to blend in with the starfield "behind" the ship should be within our grasp as well-- we might also be able to warp light itself. Tacstealth isn't intended to make our ships invisible, though, just make them much harder to engage at longer ranges. It's a lot harder hit a ship that's somewhere within a few square KM then it is if you can see the ship in question.

I was more aiming for things like mindcrush as a first thing actually. Fine control seemed harder to me than just screaming loudly enough to destroy the target's mind.

Fine control should be something we look into before just wild and uncontrollable 'mindcrush'. Things can/could/will go wrong when we go the 'easy' way, via screaming loudly into someone's mind. In the end, I think fine control would be more useful. Having the ability is good, but if we can't control it than we are much less effective in the long run. Er... Sorry, I can't seem to explain it well.

I think the "mind crush" (bad name, psychic scream?) is a good start and developing fine control later. If we put it as a purely offensive weapon, it might not even be perceived as mind control. But I think that focus on hyper space and industry is more important for now.

Brain Storming:
On that out industry now is basically having ships leave hyperspace at a gas giant gather resources and hyper the resources back for processing.
The right kind of Hyperspace technology might make our HMS better.
Some ideas:
* Lower energy cost would help a bit ( how costly is it?), and would help our torpedoes/fighters.
* Transmitting matter to hyper space, have a creature stay in real space and simply send the matter to hyper space would also be better and could have interesting spin-off applications, especially if it can be done the other way.

Are these ideas possible, and how much would they help.

This is part of the reason i sugested an atempt to reach the Rachni worlds and look for samples. The Rachni have proven to already have this to some degree and having a base to work from could give us both a kikstart on it aswell as maybe opening up new paths of research since the Rachni probably achieved telepathy diferently then we did.

Just one problem - Rachni were indocrinated incredibly easely. I am not particulary interested in bringing whatever weakness they have into Hive.

And I am not interested in having the Hive publicly associated with the Rachni in any way, shape, or form. That's a good way to become outcast from Citadel space, which would be annoying.

We won't. Remember, the Hivemind is immune to mental attacks to the point where even Chaos couldn't manage to corrupt us. The Rachni are taboo and feared because of their actions. We can easily fluff things as studying them so that we can counter them if there are ever more of them that show up.

I'm kinda surprised that the Salarians have not approached us with an offer to work on the Genophage.

Turn 33

Link to more detailed orders

Military Strategy
With the Hive making preparations to join the war on the Citadel side of the relay, some of your diplomonkeys sit down with some Citadel Generals and Admirals to discuss how to best work together.

Spacebattles 101
As the hive has already learned when hunting Krogan scouts, it is very hard to force an engagement with a FTL capable enemy. This applies just as much to Citadel and Krogan battles. As such, almost all battles occur near an object of value, such as worlds and eezo mines, where the defenders have reason to stay and fight even if outmatched. Relays are especially prone to battle, since they are both valuable and a natural chokepoint.

One common tactic is to lead with a small advance force and then have a larger force jump in once battle is engaged. The frequency of this occurring, and the frequency of sides bluffing about this being the case, means you can never be sure if the enemy has reinforcements nearby.

Raiding forces are often quite large; it is not uncommon for raiding parties to have 100 or more ships. This is because often the only chance they have of hitting a target is when it is at a well-defended chokepoint such as a relay or discharge area. Raiding forces are not limited to ships, and in fact prefer lightly defended worlds or stations, since these can’t run away.

(The citadel would appreciate it if they could get some concrete plans worked out with the hive. How do you plan on fighting the Krogans?)

[x] 100d20+100: More HMS.
1,117: Great (24 HMS built)
The hive, as always, focuses most of its effort on expanding.

[x] 25d20+25(Sagan): Eezo Integration Research
301: Very Good (Research Continues)
You scour the Citadel archives for all of their information on biotics. While biotics are an important part of Citadel society, it is not the foundation of almost all of their technology the way your psychics are for you. As such, their research is in general less advanced than your own. Still, your studies of how eezo interacts with the nervous systems of Citadel races leads to some advancement in your own research.

(You gained a small bonus to your research roll this turn)

The hive already makes a great deal of use of theoretical modelling in its research. Still, Sagan has some ideas on more advanced forms of predictive modelling that could speed up your researching attempts even more.

(Sagan has suggested a new research topic, predictive modelling, that could raise your research dice cap)

[x] 25d20+CBGs 2-12: Improved Hyperspace Navigation
281: Good (Improved LR FTL 20%, 40 points to Blind Jumping)
You continue your research into hyperspace, this time while far away from the rest of the hive. Bit by bit, you are starting to understand hyperspace better.

[x] 25d20: Capital Scale Laser Weapons
335: Awesome! (Research Started on Biolasers)
You begin your research on creating military lasers. The first thing you do, of course, is study all of the information you have on the Citadel’s laser technology. Using this as a starting point, you can work on developing a laser system on your own.

While you are doing that, you also begin working on refinements to your psychic powers. To make lasers viable at long range, you will have to reduce diffraction, which will require using your abilities in entirely new ways. Distorting light waves is fairly simple in concept, but distorting them at the scale and precision you will need is another matter entirely.

[x] 17d20: Archeology.
153: Okay (Information gained, eezo gained)
You go over the ruin world with a fine-toothed comb, trying to find out everything you can.

Before you terraformed it, the world was barely habitable. Likewise, it is a considerable distance away from the nearest relay (or at least, the nearest relay you know about). These factors, combined with the information you were able to glean from the wall engravings, leads you to believe that the world was meant as a hiding place from the reapers, or perhaps as a warning to any future races that would come across it. Unfortunately, the majority of this race’s technology was not able to stand up to the combined ravages of time and environment. You have found a great deal of scrap material that probably used to be equipment ages ago. None of it is even in one piece anymore, let alone in working order.

Finding nothing else even with the most dedicated search, you harvest the eezo from the world. Eezo, at least, is unaffected by the passage of time and you manage to gather a large amount.

(There is nothing else of special interest about this world, although archeologists would probably like to study it)

[x] 5d20 + 5 Citadel factories + 1 carrier (+ Steve): Exploration around our core territories.
66: Good (Relay found)
Alongside the usual stuff you uncover when scouting, you managed to find a relay. The relay appears inactive and shares the system with an uninhabited “Garden” world.

[x] 4d10: Reopen the trade routes.
23: Good (Trade resumes)
Working alongside the Citadel navy, you re-establish the trading station on your side of the relay and oversee the first few brave traders to make the run.

The biggest early transaction is certainly the one between the Hive and the Quarians. As you had worked out before, you trade them the Krogan warships along with your newly produced ships in exchange for a large payment of eezo. The final price was actually more than the Quarians entire current stockpile, but they promise to pay the rest as soon as they can.

(Citadel Dreadnaught, Citadel Cruisers, and Damaged Krogan Warships sold)
(Eezo gained)

[x] 3d20 + 3 Citadel shipyards: Build more ships for the Quarian market.
74: Good (Ships built)
You come across a problem while building these ships. Namely, the fact that all your shipyards are in hyperspace and Citadel ships can’t jump. You manage to work around it by building a specialized transport that can jump while carrying a normal ship. The design is pretty basic, but it only needs to jump back and forth a few times each month so it works out fine.

[x] 4d10: Negotiate a long term-contract with the Quarians that gives them the right of first refusal to purchase civilian Citadel-style ships we produce at an affordable price in exchange for us getting the right of first refusal on eezo mined by the Quarians at an equally affordable price.
9: Good enough (contract made)
You manage to work out a deal with the Quarians, trading ships for eezo. While the Quarians are more than willing to work out a deal, there is another limitation. The Quarians are excellent miners, but that doesn’t change the fact that their industrial and economic capacity is very limited. They simply can’t afford to buy many ships, even when you offer them at a very generous price.

(4d10, 2 Factories, and 2 Shipyards are automatically set aside each turn. The results from these will automatically be sold to the Quarians for eezo.)

(The deal is not all that beneficial to you, but it is also not that expensive. In the meantime, you are improving your relationships with the Quarians and improving their overall abilities.)

Special
Your Heroes chime in

Steve thinks we should start the Ark project that was discussed near the beginning. Right now, almost the entire Hive resides in an area 200 LY across. This is essentially putting all of our eggs in one basket. Steve thinks we should make at least 3 small exodus fleets, a couple for the far reaches of the galaxy and one for deep space. He also thinks we should join the Citadel. Our greatest concern is the Reapers, and they already know about us. Joining the Citadel and doing what we can to prepare them for the coming harvest will give us a stronger ally against the Reapers, thereby improving our own chances.

Sasha thinks you should devote a portion of the hive’s industry each turn to building fighters. The hive’s current forces have proven woefully insufficient against basically all of the enemies we have come across. It’s true that we are researching improvements for our ships, but there will always be more improvements to research and when we need our fleet we will need it right now. We have no reason to believe there are any dangers in hyperspace, but we have no reason to believe there aren’t any dangers either. Sasha thinks that devoting 10% of our industry to building and improving ships each turn will be sufficient.

Sagan thinks we should devote as much effort as we can each turn to improving research. The hive’s psychic powers have unlimited potential, but with our current research limits we have no chance of truly realizing that potential. Just as we use our industry each turn to gain ever more industry, we should use our research to gain ever more research capability.

Special
A strange ship flew through Hive space this turn. The ship obviously used eezo, but was not of a design you were familiar with. The ship spent some time in several systems, seeming to be looking for something, before leaving again.

Can I get an AAAAAA-MEN for the brother and sister in the front row?!

I think that's what one calls a clue-bat delivered to the head by the GM.

Drakk, can we get a description of the "strange ship" in question? I'm going to bet $10 it's a Collector ship. If we chose to intercept it with a few dozen cruisers, could we do so?

Clue bats are awesome.

The opinions of your heroes are naturally influenced by their natures (the warship advocating a bigger military, natch). These suggestions aren't bad ones, but they aren't necessarily the best options either. I wanted to give you guys a good event, but I'm not trying to railroad you either.

The strange ship is strange. You don't recognize it from your records from the Citadel, and it deliberately avoids your ships, running away if confronted.
(But yeah, its the collectors)

Pretty sure this means the collectors are looking for our planets. Jokes on them, hehe.

OK, basic plan. I'm sure Brain will modify it to his liking with blue text.

223d20 + 4d10 (8d10 total, 4d10 is set aside to the Quarians).

111d20+112: Moar HMS.

25d20: Biolasers.

20d20: Eezo integration.

20d20: Hyperspace Navigation

25d20+Sagan: Predictive Research Modeling.

22d20: Warship production. Fighters only.

Perhaps not 10%, but using 12d20 from MCs would be good idea.

And, of course, we need to track Collector ship.

I think we need to bump warship production higher up on the priority list.

We lost how many fighters to the Krogan scouting expedition? Something like 40,000, I think? Admittedly that was pre-retcon, so in current fighter terms that's only about 10,000. But we came nowhere near taking that fleet out. If we want to be a player on the galactic scale, we'll want hundreds of thousands of ships at a bare minimum, more likely millions. We want to be able to build a Dyson sphere just by spiraling our fighters nose-to-tail around the star. And that's the short-term goal. Long term, we ought to be able to construct a 1 - 1 scale model of the star system of our choice entirely out of warships.

With that in mind, I submit that building fewer than eight thousand vessels this turn ain't gonna cut it. I propose that we take 5 dice from Eezo Integration research and 12 from HMS construction to boost our warship production.

I'm counting 220d20 for your dice this turn, unless I missed something?

I agree with Sasha about building up the fleet. Had a thought we could make a deal with citadel to mine they're gas giants giving them a portion of the dice. I also think Sasha and a few dice 5d20 Should be spent on blind jumping.

Trolololl, you can't seeeeeee us~! We should listen to Sagan.

Before the edit, we had 201d20 and we build 24 HMS this turn, so...