Death Among the Stars Quest 57

With construction nearly finished on the Colosseum the would be gladiators are moved from their prisons in orbit to the barracks below the grand structure. The barracks were really little more than a large prison with extra amenities for the Tyrre. After awakening from their sedation they quickly set about testing the limits of the prison and try to break free but a ripple of pain sent through their spikes calms them somewhat. Several freshly cloned herd-beasts were dumped in for them and the berserkers tear into their feast with glee.

In the mountain ranges and the valleys below Iti'a'Ropku the new recruits of the Necrolyte Legion are drilled and assessed by the veteran Legionnaires. Mock battles are fought between groups of Stingers and the new recruits, officers quick to descend upon dissent as former enemies were made to fight side-by-side. The Voidsinger Commander watches from a command hub, multiple screens arrayed before him and his officers as the recruits fought through snow covered valleys and mountain passes.

The colonists and reformed captives that still worked on the farms and ranches of the original colony are joined by Red-Leaf-Strains and her sisters as the first group of Osogo Pilgrims reaches them. Jor tags along with them to greet the native Plainsrunners with a feast of fresh fruit and harvested roots that the natives commonly ate. The first group was tired but proud they had reached their destination, fields and mountain passes of thick with snow. They feast and rest in a large barn-like structure built for the coming pilgrims, Jor and Red-Leaf-Strains speaking with their alpha matriarchs cheerfully. It was becoming common for the Osogo to take Gargoyle "pets" the alphas each sporting one of the cyclopean reconstructed perched on their shoulders.

The living members of the New Necrotic Armada continued to grow, their population swelling through conquest and even several births.

Life protected and guided by the Dead.

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Inb4 twitter.

Welcome back folks! Let's get this going.
I did do some work on the Ship Builder pastebin, updating the prices of the base ships and creating a proper Module section and adding a few things that should've been there already. I still need to go through and update the premade ship templates to reflect their new pricing.

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Stockpile:
>9,613,165B (50 Biomass Farms: 2,250,000, 40 Lichen Farms: 6000, 200 Solar 8000, Tributes: 2500)
>11,226,920M (20 Mining Facilities 1,200,000, 15 Omega Fleets 975,000, 30 Reaper Fleets 39000)

Troop Totals:
>7 Necromancers
>6 Voidknight Disciples
>9000 Talons (30 Clutches)
>300 Aquatic Talons (1 Clutch)
>750 Cyclops: (15 Squads)
>100 Aquatic Cyclops (2 Squads)
>6000 Stingers (30 Platoons)
>250 Gargoyles (5 Flights)
>150 Aquatic Gargoyles (3 Flights)
>200 Flatbody Gargoyles
>3000 Trolls (20 Packs)
>1800 Shock Troops (12 Packs)
>240 Looms (8 Shoals)
>225 Crit Crawls (125 EMP 100 Exp)
>100 devouring swarms
>400 Stalkers (5 Packs)
>5 Alpha Stalkers
>240 Shadows (4 Clusters)
>200 Scourges (1 Swarm)
>501 Dirges
>200 Think Tanks
>50 Demi Think Tanks
>150 Cauldrons
>550 Glutton Spheres
>240 Large Glutton Spheres
>200 Requiems
>400 Brutes
>100 Crawlers
>100 Drakes

Necrolyte Legion:
>1 Voidsinger Commander
>15 Officers
>10 Voidsingers
>1290 Legionnaires

Living Subjects:
>Necromancer Jor
>7 Necromancer apprentices
>96 Colonists
>540 Stonestar
>24 Plainsrunner Osogo
>50 Tyrre Gladiators
>100 Osjiic
>225 Confederate non-combatants

Prisoners:
>Dne'tec Ahkam Male
>Cve'jok Ahkam Juvenile
>Sub-Admiral Sur-Quro, Solar potential
>5 Voidsingers
>2 Deathshead Guardians
>440 UON forces
>8 Necrotic potentials
>3 Arc potentials
>3 Void potentials

>semi-impressive

Vehicles/Ships:
>1 Flagship "Charnel Vault"
>Fury of the Wormstar
>Blackscale Destroyer "Pestilence"
>7 Void Terrors
>The Wick - Confederate Smuggler
>100 Chariots
>50 Hearses
>300 Coffins
>600 Support Coffins
>2175 Common Nails
>1300 Piercing Nails
>815 Gunships
>300 Corvettes
>130 Support Corvettes
>201 Frigates
>108 Boarding Frigates
>361 Light Cruisers
>30 Boarding Cruisers
>235 Heavy Cruisers
>50 Boarding Heavy Cruisers
>130 Plasma Weaver Cruisers
>100 Bloat Carriers
>25 Terrordromes
>167 Battlecruisers
>80 Hangar Battlecruisers
>88 Destroyers
>70 Void Destroyers
>43 Battleships
>20 Eyegores

Captured Ships:
>1 Dagger Clanship
>1 Osjiic Heavy Cruiser
>3 Osjiic Frigate
>8 Osjiic Corvettes
>1 Ahkam Battleship
>1 Ahkam Battlecruiser
>2 Osjiic Battleship
>2 Osjiic Destroyer
>2 Ahkam Corvettes
>3 Ahkam Frigates
>1 Osjiic Battlecruiser
>10 Dagger disguised Frigates
>5 Osjiic disguised Frigates
>14 Osjiic disguised Fighters
>4 ahkam frigates
>6 ahkam corvettes
>30 ahkam fighters
>1 UON Battleship
>1 UON BattleCruiser
>1 UON Heavy Cruiser
>2 UON Light Cruisers
>6 UON Frigates
>7 UON Corvettes

Ships in Construction:
>200 Battleships 1 Day

Completed Research:
>Arc Blink: An Arc ability allowing for short range teleports.
>Advanced Skip Drive: The UON have seem to have built upon and perfected the Netu Skip Drive, allowing for short range skips within a system.
>Reality Anchoring: The Armatocere have developed a way to use Crystal technology to emit a signal that brings objects and entities out of phase with the state of reality more solidly into it allowing them to be affected by external forces otherwise ignored.

Current Research
>Mental Reading: Slow
>Orbital Platform: Slow
>Space Elevator: Slow
>Advanced Void Reactor: Medium
>Virus Bombs: Slow
>Ambient Energy Collection: Slow
>Sunscale Cloning project: Slow
>Wraith Dissections: Medium
>Anti-Wraith Technology: Slow

Unlocked:
Arc Blink (Arc ability): Once an ability solely of the Predators this technique allows an Arc wielder or unit possessing an Arc condenser to perform short range teleports within their line of sight. Longer distances and rapid uses of the ability drain the users energy faster and those with Arc condensers must allow it to cooldown after strenuous use.

Advanced Skip Drive: Functioning as a standard Skip Drive for FTL travel this advanced version has increased accuracy capable of choosing which gravity well in a system they skip to. Within a system a ship with an Advance Skip Drive is also able to perform short range skips varying from light seconds to light minutes. These skips are much less predictable than a typical Skip into a system and place the ship randomly in the general direction they are aimed at. In certain situations this can make a ship appear to be in two places at once as the light from its previous location persists even as it skipped closer. This can cause a bonus to evading fire as the enemy ships targeting systems adjust to tracking the real target.

Reality Anchor: These crystal tech beacons emit a pulsing signal that homes in on extra-dimensional targets and attempts to bring it more in tune with local reality. Each Anchor must be synced to pulse in time, conflicting signals actually weakening the effect allowing the target to persist in their alternate dimension.

>Reality Anchor Tower: A planetside structure these spires hold a crystal anchor beacon aloft, allowing the anchor to broadcast its signal over a wide area of land. Cost: 80B 150M

>Reality Anchor Beacon: Larger than the anchor towers to project the signal across the void of space these colossal crystals replace a Hull weapon mount and four module slots. Each additional Beacon increases the area of effect and effectiveness of the signals field. When not deployed the delicate crystals are guarded by armored plates but when in use they are exposed and the ship considered unshielded. Cost: 300B 150M

,613,165B
>11,226,920M
Um, these are the same quantities of biomass as we had in the last thread. Are we not bringing in anymore resources?

The Charnel Vault appears within your home system, announced with a great flash of light that those below on the planets surface could see even during the day, your subjects looking up almost as one. Spread among their ranks Reconstructed could hear scattered praises to the Wormstar, the words seeping into their dreams as they slept under dreamstone obelisks.

Still weary from your battle against the Wraiths you merely wave off the alerts that sound as a treeship appears not long after your arrival. A message announcing Sapling Slrrts arrival is sent and a Think Tank directs the message to Jor instead, the Necromancer directing the living ship to set down in a valley near Iti'a'Ropku.

A variety of messages await you as you emerged from the Cauldron, your armor and robes repaired.

Lorgul wishes to speak to you about his plans for the Deathshead Guardians now that a large Cauldron had been constructed in the depths of the Voidknight Temple.

A similar message awaits from Nekris, wishing to speak about an important matter concerning the Predator order.

The message from Agona was simple, the Punisher revealing her personalized ship that she'd built and designed with the help of the Obsidianborn. A capitol ship she called a Pyroclastic Destroyer dedicated to being a bulwark and holding the core of blockade fleets. You praise her for her work, her joy apparent even through the distant link where she waited on the shores of the Lavafathers volcano waiting for her sister's reforging.

On Rukor the ructu council had finally broken their seclusion, emerging to tell the Demi-Think Tank sent along with them they wished to speak to Jor or Jadyk himself.

There was much to be done and tend to, what shall you do first?

Don't hate me but...it's been that way for several threads now. I'll update it soon but I'd been avoiding it while working(procrastinating) on the new resource systems

Meditate on the Solar.

It's about time you fixed this ungainly mess of a system. Can't wait to see it.

Let's talk to the ructu.

Could we get Jor to talk to the ructu while Jadyk meditates on the solar? Jor's a pretty good diplomat, he's got this.

While I support Jor talking to the Ructu I want Jadyk to speak to his generals first and see what they want

With respect, our generals probably just want to alert us to a recent technological breakthrough or their plan to make more generals. We've been talking about meditating on the Solar for something like 4 threads now, if we keep putting it off we're never going to do it.

Seconding this

Also suggest. To our generals to check the population for potentials

Jor excuses himself from the barn of the resting and feasting osogo pilgrims, patting the head of a young calf that was already taller than him as it rested next to its alpha mother. Out in the snow his demi-Think Tank projects a small replica of the gathered ructu Council while lightyears away their own projects an life-sized image of the necromancer before them.

The human bows before them and the crustaceans return the gesture, bobbing their heads and clicking their mandibles in greeting. His helm folding away from his gaunt face, his eyes sunken with dark circles but he smiles cheerfully, "Lord Jadyk sends his regards but he is currently busy and unable to speak. It is always an honor to hear from the Ructu once more."

The council of elders bob their heads and the one that wore a collar of krysser jaws speaks up, "We have discussed the Armada's proposal and we have come to a decision. The Necrotic Armada is welcome on Rukor but we shall never be its slaves. The cruelty of the Ahkam is well known and no Ructu wishes to return to that."

Another ructu wearing a cloak of colorful woven vines speaks next, "We Ructu pledge ourselves to Jadyk and the Armada but we wish to continue to let ructu rule and command ructu."

>cont

Jor nods, "Of course. Rukor is the domain of the ructu. We only wish to make sure your people are free to make their own choices and vow to protect you from the dangers of the Ahkam and the cruel galaxy."

"Yes, yes, this is good," another member of the council says and glances at the others before continuing, "We have seen your city, Iti'a'Ropku. We Ructu invite your Armada to build a city like this here on Rukor.

Jadyk tamed and rose the Beast to true godhood, riding it into the heavens. Jadyk has freed us from the false gods and defended us from their wrath. Jadyk saved us in our time of famine, bringing a bounty from alien worlds," the gathered ructu kneel, pressing their heads to the ground in supplication, "We Ructu owe everything to Jadyk, so we give our loyalty to him and invite the Armada to our home. Without Jadyk and the Wormstar we would have no home."

Jor was taken aback by their heartfelt pledge but he bows low in return, "You honor the Armada with your words, wise Council. Lord Jadyk and I accept your pledge and loyalty. The Armada pledges, by the power of the Wormstar and Jadyk, by the flames of the Void and Solar, that we shall always protect Rukor and her people."

The Ructu have officially joined the Armada. They invite the Armada to construct a city to rival Iti'a'Ropku on their world, opening themselves up in friendship.

Which of your generals shall you speak to first before meditating on the Solar?
>Voidknight Lorgul
>Predator Nekris

>>Predator Nekris

>Predator Nekris

Howdy Grave.

You watched as Jor welcomed the ructu to the Armada then wave away the holoscreen as your Throne drifts through the tunnels that honeycombed the moon. A great door of bone carved with scenes of battles and hunts the Predators had been in, stood before you.

You pause to look over the grand mural, seeing Nekris in duels with the Ahkam, his gaining of the Arc powers. A scene shows his grand hunt against the Sunscale Divers where he had lost his hand and replaced it with one of the slain reptiles. Another shows the creation of Eiton and his bluff with the Confederacy.

The doors swing open with hardly a sound and Nekris emerges with Eiton by his side. Blight, Nekris' newly forged bonded weapon, rests at his hip, Kyn'tk sensing its kin where it hid in your ribcage. The Predator Generals kneels before you, "Hail, Lord Jadyk," they say together before standing.

"I am pleased with your progress, my Generals. Tell me what it is you wished to speak about," you say as they turn to lead you into their Temple.

Flanking either side of you as you leave behind your Throne to float through the tunnels Nekris speaks first, "Our guests are becoming quite restless. Dne'tec and Cve'jok struggle against their bonds despite the futility," he says before Eiton cuts him off

"But that is not why we call you here. The serpents will hold, our home their prison. No, we must discuss the matter of expanding our order," he says, his single eye swiveling in its socket to look at you.

Nekris clicks his mandibles in annoyance before continuing, "As Eiton said. We are the sole Predators of the Armada. The Voidknights have their Disciples and their Voidsingers. You yourself have Jor and the other Necromancers. We believe we can gift the power of the Arc to others and make the Armada stronger."

Another heavily barricaded door unlocks and swings open at their approach, servant Talons looking up from their tasks tending to a row of stasis pods holding a handful of living beings within. Eiton motions to them, "The Arc yearns to spread and connect. With your blessing, we would grant these fleshbags the ability to touch the Arc. We will train them and they will lend their strength to the Necrolyte Legion until the worthy can be Reconstructed into Predators like us."

The Arc powered Generals kneel before you once more, the motion repeated by the Reconstructed in the room and Nekris speaks, his chromatic skin pulsing faintly with ripples of dark color, "Allow us to strengthen the Armada. The Arc yearns to spread and connect, bringing them into your fold. Will you grant us this wish?"

Predators Nekris and Eiton wish to create an order of living subjects that can wield the powers of the Arc similar to the Voidsingers. Will you grant them this task?
>Yes
>No

>Yes

Why not?

>Yes

Is it our birthday?

>>Yes
I've been wondering, where have the Predators established their temples? Now that our hold on Ructor has been definitively established, maybe they'd be interested in building a temple on it. It would be kind of neat if we kept the tradition of the orders settling down on the first planets they lead the conquest of, and a world with multiple hypercanes every year would be an extremely thematically appropriate spot for potent Arc users to hone their powers.

The Voidknights have a rather extensive temple now on Horizon's Drops moon, sharing it with the Predators slowly growing temple and Valresko has made his own sort of meditation chamber of mirrored glass where he could meditate on the Solar.

I like that idea though. The Voidknights first big conflict was defending the system of Horizon's Drop and that's where they were reborn. Agona helped liberate Bastion the Lavafathers moon from the Ahkam and has a rather impressive fortress there, not to mention it's where they've been reforged.

Yeah, I noticed the pattern and thought it would be kind of neat if Nekris picked up on it. That, and the climate of Ructor makes it seem like a pretty ideal environment for Arc wielders.

You nearly laugh but resist to not insult your Generals. Instead you motion them to rise and they stand, the Reconstructed returning to their tasks, "You both have time and again proven your skill and loyalty. I have faith you two will create something formidable. I give you my blessing, go and create your new order. Search among the living of the Legion and our subjects. Find those that connect to the Arc and grant them this power."

Nekris and Eiton both salute, thumping their fists to their chest and bowing their head. Nekris' mandibles curl into his cruel grin, "We shall not disappoint you, Lord Jadyk. They will serve the Armada and praise the name of the Wormstar. They will hunt and slaughter in your name."

Clacking your jaw in satisfaction you nod, "Carry on, my children of the hunt. Make me proud," you say before you depart, leaving the Predators to awaken the first of their experiments, a Netu pilot taken from the Daggers.

>The Predator Order has begun work on gifting the power of the Arc to the living.

Drifting through the miles of tunnels that cut through the moon, the stone eventually gives way to halls scorched with voidflame to a black mirrored glass with braziers of the ultraviolet flame marking the path. Here you could hear the chaotic song of the Void, the symphony of endless destruction and nurturing rebirth that presses at your being from all angles.

Once, when you first heard its call, it had frightened you. To reach out and call the flames from the Void had nearly been overwhelming, knowing that your would be scorched to nothing but ash if you were not cautious. But now, you can hear the hidden beauty within it, so very different from the song of the Wormstar or the gnawing hunger of the Necrotic. The Void sings, it's power beautiful and dreadful at once.

Ruminating on the nature of the Void you almost float past a Voidknight Disciple that knelt before you. You motion for them to rise and they stand, saluting you before they speak, "Voidknight Lorgul and Jareth are awaiting your arrivla, Lich-Lord."

"Lead the way," you say and they turn to lead you into the depths of the voidknight temple. A skeleton wreathed in voidflames and armored in plates of bone, metal and glass the Disciple reminded you of the soldiers Ghul once created. You find the thought odd when it comes to you, hoping that somewhere, somehow Voidlord Ghul was proud of what you had made of his legacy.

>A skeleton wreathed in voidflames and armored in plates of bone, metal and glass the Disciple reminded you of the soldiers Ghul once created.
This makes me wonder, would it be possible to someday create common reconstructed with a limited capacity to use void energies, sort of like our shock troops but with a different specialization? Having large numbers of void using troops would be very handy when we fight the sunscale, and we can't really churn out those sorts of numbers of Voidknights.

A heavy door carved with symbols of the Voidknights and the dead language of the Black Flame swings open before you, revealing a large cavern with a large Cauldron in the middle. Lorgul and Jareth stood on the rim of either side, voidflames leaping from their open palms to the boil the churning fluid. Disciples stood guard over the Deathshead Guardians with void-attuned Dirges floating nearby. To your curiosity several of the Osjiic Voidsingers that refused to break and swear allegiance were also held in chains, muzzles preventing them from spitting their curses but their anger and fury were clear even across the room.

At your arrival the pair of Voidknights break their ritual and drift down with ripples of Voidlight to kneel before you and you motion to rise. Revenant Lorgul salutes you then motions to the room with the preparations, his glee readily apparent, "Greetings, Lord Jadyk. I am glad you have arrived," his newly forged weapon, Cor'a'Ghul, floats forth from its place in a corner to his hand, "We wished to show off our project."

Revenant Jareth salutes as well, "But first we wished to gain your blessing," They point to the collection of Osjiic undead and quasi-dead, "These enemies of the Armada will never willingly serve the you or praise the name of the Wormstar and the Black Flame. They shall be Reconstructed but not into Voidknights, no that honor shall not be theirs."

Lorgul's rictus grin, immovable and static matches his eagerness nonetheless, "Let us show you what we can create with these heretics to the Black Flame. Will you grant us the lives of these Voidsingers?"

Intrigued by their plan you nod and motion to them to continue, "Of course, I will always encourage the creativity of my Generals. You have yet to let me down, Lorgul," you say and fold your legs underneath you as you float by the edge of the room.

Resuming their places on the rim of the boiling Cauldron, voidflames jetting occasionally from the turbulent surface of pitch black liquid, they are joined by the Disciples each taking a spot around the rim. The osjiic prisoners both living and dead are lifted from the ground as their chains fall away but still telekinetically bound together as they were dragged over the searing heat of the specially prepared Cauldron.

The Voidknights Reborn begin to chant in the dead language of the Black Flame, words you had not hear in millennia as the captives were dropped one by one into the churning liquid. The pair of Deathshead Guardians, distorted replicas of the ancient Voidknights, were the last to plunge into the Cauldron, their shouts of vengeance and indignation cut off as they slipped below the surface. Each of the Voidknights and the Disciples knelt and plunged their hands into the roiling liquid that ignites with voidflames that engulfs them, spreading to fill the room but you had no fear for you safety, your own significant void power protecting you.

You watch with pride as they pull apart and reshape the void-infused biomass, working together to combine and reconstruct it. There was a brief moment when the last remaining will of the Guardians tried to break out and detonate the nearly limitless well of void energy they tapped into but the combined might of the Voidknights squashed that attempt and you feel that indignant rage snuffed.

But then it reignites, the rage and fury boiling below the surface of the Cauldron you could feel a primitive mind emerging as the Voidknights and Disciples step back and withdrawn their hands burned down to their bones.

The surface of the Cauldron bursts up and flecks of burning liquid rain down upon those gathered. Rising from the pit was a colossus of void power, sheathed in ripples of voidlight a figure resembling a Brute emerges. Its form armored like the Voidknights themselves it was clearly no simple Brute Reconstructed. It radiated power before it slowly calmed itself, its skull wreathed in a crown of burning twisted horns turning both skeletal faces to look at those gathered.

Revenant Lorgul takes Cor'a'Ghul in his grasp once more and begins to laugh in unbridled joy, lifting his arms up to greet his latest creation, "Welcome!" he turns to proudly look in your direction, "This Void Juggernaut shall be a symbol of the Voidknights Reborn and a punishment against the enemies of the Wormstar and the Black Flame. This is our gift to you and the Armada, Lord Jadyk."

The large Reconstructed drifts down to stand before you before kneeling, its twin faces speaking in unison, "We are Gral. We serve you, Lich-Lord, until we crumble and our flames snuffed. We are yours," it says in a rumbling voice that nearly shakes the walls.

The Voidknights have created a heroic unit, a Void-powered Brute they call the Void Juggernaut.

Giving me new things to draw, Grave you monster

>Brute sized voidknight colossus
Holy shit, can you imagine this bastard in a fight?

Prisoners sacrificed:
>2 Deathshead Guardians
>5 Voidsingers

You commend your Voidknights on their success. Greeting Gral into the Armada you knew they did not possess the mind for leadership, their collective minds turned only to conquest and battle. You almost pity the Osjiic and those that would stand against it.

Leaving the Voidknights to tend to their new creation you depart from the Voidknight temple you feel the solar flame within you flare back to life after escaping the suffocating presence of the Void. Solar flames engulf your fist as you attempt to quell it but to your worry it does not abate. The trip back from the meeting with the Eldertrees had been a struggle to contain your new surge in solar power, the void temple helping calm it.

Now it flared stronger than ever and for the first time since your freedom at Jor's hand you began to feel true fear.

"The Solar is ravenous, is it not, Lord Jadyk?" you look up, surprised you had noticed Valresko approaching you. The bone-white General stood before you, his newly forged staff Anathema held in his grasp.

The solar flames continued to spread along your form and you sigh, "The Necrotic hungers but this flame turns it to fuel," you look to your latest General and let out a small sigh, "I am afraid, Valresko."

"Fear is good. Fear will keep you sharp but if you let it consume you, the Solar will feed on this fear and use it as fuel. We are anathema to the natural order. Necrotic and Solar, paradoxes made physical," he stamps the war-staff on the ground, "Come, we have much to do," he says and turns, his tail swaying as he walked to his mediation chamber.

Within his simple temple dedicated to one member you join him. Floating in the center of the circular room of mirrored glass was a small orb of solar flame, corrupted through with necrotic energy. You each take a seat on both sides floating in the air and Dominator Valresko begin to chant in the language of the Wormstar. Steeling yourself you take a moment then join him, your voices echoing in the chamber as Solar flames engulf both your forms.

Roll me 2d100 best of first 3 please

Rolled 15, 4 = 19 (2d100)

Rolled 85, 55 = 140 (2d100)

Rolled 45, 82 = 127 (2d100)

BIG MONEY

Grave? Did the Solar Drakes get you?

As Jor sat in the Coffin he'd taken as a personal transport he looks over maps of Rukor for a suitable place for a new city, already ideas of an island hollowed out for the would-be city twisting in his head. He'd wanted to speak to Jadyk about the training of the new necromancers but he knew the Lich was quite busy upon his return. Idly he runs a thumb over the scar that hid the shard of Jadyk's armor in his body but a small alert distracts him from his plans.

A single frigate of Dagger make skipped into the system and already necrotic ships move to intercept it where it waited silently in the orbit of the jovian world the necrotic fleet used as fuel. A transmission is beamed out from the craft, calling for Jor.

"I wondered when they'd be back," he says to himself, the Pilot of the Coffin turning from its console to glance at him before the craft takes off.

The message displays itself on his screen and a netu looks at him through the connection. The alien clacks its beak in greeting and Jor nods in return before the netu speaks, "The Dagger Clan sends its regards along with a message from from the Spear and Shield Clans."

"Very well, you may speak," Jor says. Once he used to be quite intimidated by the tall aliens, the colony almost giving more of its loyalty to the pirates than the Confederacy with how frequently they visited the planet. Now he had the confidence that having an interstellar empire at his back provided.

The netu looks at him for several moments and clacks its beak before continuing, "We bring an invitation for the New Necrotic Armada. A gathering of Clans is being called and we request your presence or the attendance of your leader the Lich-"

"Lord Jadyk," Jor corrects then motions for the netu to continue.

Huffing in annoyance through their spiracles the netu continues, "Lord Jadyk or yourself are requested. The Clanleaders would speak with you about the future and the past," a series of coordinates is sent and Jor recognizes it as a location heavily trafficked by the pirates, "The gathering shall be in three galactic standard days. We await your arrival."

"Jadyk or myself will definitely attend, do not fear," Jor promises and the netu nods before the transmission is severed. Several minutes later the frigate disappears into a flash of light, returning where it came.

>Three of the Pirate Clans wish to speak with Jor or Jadyk in three days time

As the Coffin nears Iti'a'Ropku, passing a flight of gargoyles flocking around a drake, Jor sighs and taps his fingers against the console then looks to his Demi-Think Tank, "To think I only had to worry about quotas and making sure my miners were happy. Now I'm setting up meetings between an empire of the undead and pirates," he sighs and leans back in his chair as the small construct lets out a sympathetic beep, "Oh well. The time for regrets was gone the moment I decided to listen to that dream and dig deeper."

Don't worry Jor, I'd say you dug juuust deep enough.

With his Coffin flying over Iti'a'Ropku he was ready to go personally greet Sapling Slrrt and the other Armatocere to Horizon's Drop when the Deep Rot of all things contacts Jor.

its voice booming in his head, making the human flinch at the sudden telepathic communication.

Sighing Jor flicks a finger and a holoscreen rises to show one of the Osjiics systems. Recognizing it as the system that held the factory world the stealth cloaked Eyegore transmits footage of a large battle in progress over the arid world.

A very large Ahkam fleet clashed with the Osjiic picket fleet as beams of potent energy lance out from the surface, anti-orbital weaponry carving into the attacking ships. Swarms of fighters dueled in the spaces between ships that had gotten to nearly suicidal distances, warships bringing themselves to exchange fire from their broadside ports.

Images sent from the Eyegore show that the Ahkam were already establishing a bulwark on the surface, a pair of Ahkam Battleships crackling with Arc energy and protected by a swarm of sub-capitols raining multiple drop pods down onto the planet.

It asks him and Jor frowns

"Where's Jadyk?" he asks curiously

The Ahkam have launched a massive offensive against an Osjiic system attempting to capture a heavily fortified factoryworld. Command of the New Necrotic Armada has fallen to Jor for the moment.

Should the Armada interfere?

Not unless one side is favored heavily to win, as both factions hate us and are implacable enemies. If we can find a way to extend the battle to damage both sides more do so, otherwise stay out of it.

Let's take a look at our captured and mimic ships:
>1 Osjiic Heavy Cruiser
>3 Osjiic Frigate
>8 Osjiic Corvettes
>1 Ahkam Battleship
>1 Ahkam Battlecruiser
>2 Osjiic Battleship
>2 Osjiic Destroyer
>2 Ahkam Corvettes
>3 Ahkam Frigates
>1 Osjiic Battlecruiser
>5 Osjiic disguised Frigates
>14 Osjiic disguised Fighters
>4 ahkam frigates
>6 ahkam corvettes
>30 ahkam fighters

Roughly how big is a 'very large' Akham fleet?

I say, using the captured ships here as the first 'wave' so to speak to get in close. Then jump a battle group in of our own once the ground-defense guns are silenced to either then prepare a ground invasion or steal what we can.

I recall us using a similar tactic in our first engagement with the Netu and Osijic over Horizon's Drop, it didn't go so well. How would we use them, and which side would we back? If we just send them right to the front of the action with the actual Akham and Osijic ships they would be unlikely to do significant damage to either side before getting shot down.

Lets watch the battle see how it plays out. Then send in some mimic Ahkam ships, buzz the attackers ass while they move supplies groundside or repair, then jump out

I was not aware at all. Well by that then we might as well prepare a fleet to deploy once the space battle has been decided to secure that fleet. Then go from there?

I didn't necessarily mean that using captured and mimicry ships was a bad idea, just that it would require us to be smart about how we used them. Like for instance, if we used our Osijic ships to get close to the planet under the pretense of aiding it's defense, so it could target those cannon batteries. I'd be cool sacrificing those ships if it meant achieving a valuable strategic goal like preparing the planet for an invasion.

Ahkam forces in the system:
>5 Battleships
>6 Destroyers
>5 Battlecruisers
>15 Heavy Cruisers
>20 Light Cruisers
>30 Frigates
>30 Corvettes
>Fighters: too many to count, mostly esat design fighters and gunships

This is easily one of the largest Ahkam fleets you've seen. Three of the Battleships show the tell-tale signs of Ahkam on board, their hulls crackling with Arc energy

Osjiic picket fleet. Some reinforcements have already arrived with others doubtless to arrive
>3 Battleships
>5 Destroyers
>3 Battlecruisers
>8 Heavy Cruisers
>12 Light Cruisers
>20 Frigates
>35 Corvettes
>So many fighters

They also have the benefit of having the anti-orbital void weapons centered mostly around the denser populated sectors of the planet

Stay out of it, if one sides gains the upper hand hit the them when thier back is turned. Otherwise just watched and gather Intel and data.

prepare a fleet and have it ready to move once the Ahkam forces secure orbital control AND take out the ground cannons. The point is to capture the Three Battle's with Ahkam onboard.

We want both sides to suffer as much as inhumanly as possible.

Definitely wait, prepare a fleet to strike once the Ahkam move to deploy heavier units to the surface.

Quick question, do we have any idea what the Armatocere's position on this battle is? If we do interfere and attack, would they be interested in helping out? We may be allies but in this case the Armada would be motivated by conquest, and the trees are isolationists who prefer to avoid such things.

The Armatocere made it quite plain that they have no love for either faction. Ahkam and Osjiic have both tried to invade multiple systems and you know the Osjiic personally have a grudge against the Armatocere for slaying the previous Emperor

Didn't we finish our battleships?

I would say we should send Nekris Lorgul and Angona

Mission objective take the system
Capture a many arkham alive as possible I feel the osjiic empire ha spread too far. We should help them with this burden by alleviating them of the excess

They think they have a bulwark on the plane oh no, they have made an anvil for us to reshape them upon

The 200 Battleships will be finished and ready to launch the next day.

This battle doesn't look like it will finish anytime soon

Can we stealthy deploy units on the ground yet?

Let then tire each other and when appears to be turning the tide then we strike hard and fast

Then can we prepare and send them the next day. Gives them awhile to kill each other more and weaken them for us.

Sounds good

All in favour in prepping large amounts of green goo for planetary deployment?

Gotta protect that sweet infrastructure

While you do have Stealth tech gained from the Blackscale you ahve yet to design any ships with it and so far only the Eyegores possess stealth cloaks

If we do that one side will simply leave the battlefield altogether, and have the time to regroup and fortify their positions. We would be fighting a single well entrenched force that is focused entirely on us instead of having to split it's forces in half. If we are going to take this planet, we have to do it soon or not at all.

Ok idea

We build decoy osjiic ships covered in drop dod and dream stones

They suicide run to low orbit and just dump as many drop ships and dreams stones before being shot down

Much like the shock and horror attack plan someone came up with threads ago.

They do their best to infiltrate while we wait for the style ships to be built and go in to mop up

We are too hit and take the 3 guys on the battleship. The planet won't be going anywhere and ontop of that waiting a day will get our 200 Battleships produced. Also, I'm not the one pushing for the ground invasion, i want the fleet and the 3 guys onboard.

>Move in
>Secure the orbit and attempt to capture the 3 dudes on the battleships
>Destory as much of the enemy fleet as possible
>Retreat

They'll send MORE forces to support the ground force or won't and the people owning the planet will retake it and possibly be less bitter. If we go in NOW we fight both sides.

Ok so ground troops to wrest control of the anti orbital weaponry specifically once they have secured a few we warp in focussing on their command ships disabling the arkham main cruisers and sending a general to each to subdue a new pet, have our new void jugg assist il will prove amusing

If we can capture the orbital guns clearing the space for ourselves will become easier then we can focus on the ground assault and mopping up

Giving either faction a chance to entrench themselves after the battle has ended will mean taking this planet will be that much more difficult and that much more costly for us. We tried this with City 88, having driven the Osijic off and allowing the locals to regain control of the city, and subsequently sending the necrolytes to clear them out. We lost 20% of the legion doing that, in large part because we allowed the residents of the city to take back the defences and use them to deadly effect.

We have plenty of time and worlds to try crazy shit with goo and dreamstones out on, but right now the only reason we have to target this planet is because it's defenders are entirely focused on someone else right now. If we are to take it, we have to do so now to exploit that diversion, or else we would require at least another week preparing for what you guys are talking about, and then we might as well use those tactics on any planet we've got our eyes on.

Why do you want to capture Akham? They adamantly refuse to bend to our will and don't serve any purpose as our prisoners. Their only real value is as source of Arc energy, but we only have two units that can actually use or absorb that energy right now.

Why is waiting a fucking day so hard to get the rest of our fleet built and out of the dry-docks? We can have the entire group ready to go out and it'll be a lovely power show.

Why is it a problem to stock up on goods that we'll be needing in the future? We're gonna be destroying the fleet anyway I believe so why let useful objects go to waste?

>Why is waiting for our enemies to regroup instead of taking advantage of the mayhem to ambush them now a bad idea?
SeeWe've tried this before. Allowing enemy forces to cement their hold on a location just makes taking it from them that much costlier.

Trying a whole bunch of novel shit out is always a good idea and I support it, but the only reason for getting involved in this fight is to take advantage of the bedlam currently going on. If we let this window shut, we might as well use these clever ideas you're coming up with on an entirely unrelated planet that isn't defended by fuckoff huge cannons. We have been constantly ignoring this world for weeks, why are you so concerned about it now if not for the fact that two of our enemies currently have their hands full fighting over it?

I want to melt one down to see what we get

Seems to be some conflict over this conflict.

Suggested plans so far seem to be:
>Let them fight each other for a while longer then bring in a larger fleet
>Attack immediately while they're distracted with each other (To capture either the surface and/or the Ahkam leaders)
>Ignore this conflict for now

user 24 hours does not give alot of time for an invading force to set down. Nor do I believe we should even attempt to invade in the same spot as whoever is attack. We should hit on the other side of the world if possible, thus forcing the defenders to split between two different fronts. We'll also 'hopefully' secure orbital control far quicker and in which case we use pin-point strikes from space to help out our forces where needed.

I never voted for the ground invasion to begin with, I only care about them both losing there fleets. Orbital supermancy is really useful.

>Attack immediately [in a day when our Battleships are finished, so we can also draw in more manpower if anons want to invade] while they're distracted with each other (To capture either the surface and/or the Ahkam leaders)

If we got our juggernaut from a few deathshead, imagine what we might get if we threw those snakes that Nekris has locked up into a cauldron

>>Let them fight each other for a while longer then bring in a larger fleet
I want the players to finish putting their pieces on the board before we flip the table.

A predator hydra

Throw one alive in a cauldron for new hero unit

Drain another so Jaydk gets arc power

3rd...for Shits and giggles

Fuck me, Its late.

Night user's and good luck I know you guys will be smart about this! Also Night Grave

Go in now

24 hours is more than enough. And if you're only interested in the fleets than why are you against getting in there now? We've got plenty of ships, and if we use this to our advantage we can gain both the fleets AND the planet.

>Attack immediatly
>In one day

>>Let them fight each other for a while longer then bring in a larger fleet

I vote for this

Well seems like a tie. Break it or I will with a coin flip

>Attack now
or
>Let them fight for now

just flip a coin

Let them fight

>>Let them fight for now
I'd rather they tucker themselves out a bit first.

Holy fuck I'm late to the party

Jor chews on his thumbnail as he debates the decision before sending a short message. A few minutes later another holoscreen pops up showing the scarred face of the Voidsinger Commander, "Something wrong, Jor?" he asks while brushing away some fresh black blood from his cheek.

"Cut yourself shaving?" Jor jokes.

"Cut a recruit who thought they were too good to fight alongside humans and netu. They've spent so long fighting each other its hard to make them fight alongside each other. Besides, Osjiic don't have hair. What did you need, my friend?" the Voidsinger asks.

Jor directs the feed of the battle to the Commander, "Seems the Ahkam are really set on capturing this system. Jadyk is indisposed and the Deep Rot thinks I should decide what to do. You are the one more versed in this kind of thing. What would you suggest?"

The Osjiic looks over the data for a short bit, "Strange the Empire hasn't sent more reinforcements. Kanda is an important system, most of the Empires land vehicles and warmachines are made here for the fleets in this sector. My advice would be to let them fight. Weaken each other. You can also see if the Empire sends a delayed backup fleet or if a Matriarch decides to make a personal appearance. It's rare to see the Ahkam spend this much effort on a fortified world. Whatever is down there must be important to them."

Jor spits out a piece of nail chewed from his thumb and nods, "Thank you, Commander. That was my thought as well. I'd rather wait for Jadyk's order before sending an invasion fleet. I'd ask Lorgul his advice but you know him. He'd say send the whole Armada to take the planet if he had his way," the human sighs but nods to the Osjiic, "I'll keep you updated."

The Voidsinger salutes, Jor returning the gesture, "You can count on the Legion to aid you however you need," he says before the image flickers out.

Jor runs a hand across his slicked back hair and frowns worryingly at the strands of hair that come away with the motion before the Deep Rots voice booms in his head.

Rolling his eyes Jor sighs, "Prepare the fleets for deployment but hold them back until I or Jadyk returns to give the order. Best to let them whittle each other down for now."

it replies and across the system your fleets prepare themselves for launch at a moments notice.

Jor sat in silence as the thinks, only getting up when the Coffin lands near where the Treeship had landed and was taking root in the rocky soil, snow already melting around it siphoning into the living tree.

Departing from the shuttle he smiles cheerfully in greeting to the Armatocere waiting for him, "Sapling Slrrt, it is good to see you again, welcome to Horizon's Drop home of the Necrotic Armada."

And this seems like a good spot to stop for the night.

I hope folks had fun, I know did running it. Sorry about the lack of threads recently, should be back on schedule now.

The next Disciple thread should be up Thursday where we're going to start time-skipping to get us caught up with the main timeline.

Thread is archived, please vote for it if you can. I'll be up for a while longer since my sleep schedule is jacked up to answer questions. Also remember that I check the ask.fm page nearly daily if you have questions in between sessions

Thanks Jyoti

Looking forward to the next one

Thanks for running dude, always a blast.

Now, I know you're still working on a new resource management system, but it seems to me that our numbers of ground troops are pitifully small for a burgeoning interstellar empire, especially one that is considering besieging a fortified planet. I drew up a list for a massive number of troops we can drown our enemies in, if I post it now could we make them?

Post away, sure.

Though one of my plans for changing the management of resources was the population of troops. The Armada would do its best to maintain a set population of troops in its downtime.

This population is determined by the eventual development scores of the planet/system they're in. While the Fleets would maintain the max amount of troops their ships can hold. Part of the updated ship list includes adjusting the capacity of the necrotic ships.

I was thinking of allowing invasion forces to be decided before an attack, like if you wanted to focus on purely aerial combat filling the skies with Drakes, Manglers, and Scourges or creating swarms of Talons that would make a Tyranid jealous, etc.

So if we had chosen to attack immediately, would Jor have asked Lorgul for advice?

>updated ship list includes adjusting the capacity of the necrotic ships.
Like the general troop carrier the Bloat ship only carried 200 troops while now it can transport up to a 1000 medium sized troops.

It went from a taxi to a proper troop transport

Yup, pretty much.

He would've contacted the original three Generals, Lorgul, Nekris, and Agona. He's still intimidated by them but they're his coworkers now and he values their advice.