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[kaian-a-coel]

Congratulations to them!
The great AllSquirrel is pleased. (reference to a webcomic...)

Er, well... Actions are already chosen and are pretty good.

I say by day 14 we use the tech drone as, erm, mate? (fertility and so on...)

Delay predator.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

We should catch biped and mate with it...

[kaian-a-coel]

We should catch biped and mate with it...

GROSS! and certainly highly inneficient, if ever possible.

[RAM]

Breeding bipeds as a military or labour force may be viable if we can develop some form of reliable control mechanism. Otherwise they are of little use and should be processed into more valuable resources.

I have heard mass drop come up a little more frequently than I would like, perhaps we should convert the lava-tube into some form of interplanetary energy weapon for use against extraplanetary targets...

[andy_t_roo]

well, any "sufficiently non-boring" interplanetary space travel has the capability to be instant planet sterilization (1 ton of metal from orbit == 1 nuke, but give it sufficient thrust and 1/3 of a solar system as run up and point defense stops mattering, because 1 ton of plasma has the same kinetic and thermal energy as 1 ton of solid metal, moving at the same speed)

[Ross Vernal]

You feed the Tech Drone a Unit of Royal Jelly and possess it. You understand part of Predator organs and such, so You instill intelligence, more flexible hands, increase its sensory capabilities, and with the last of the Jelly, improve its sense of autonomy. When done, the Tech Drone has several antennae and multiple sets of true-hands. You sense a curiosity and general malevolence coming from it. Not towards Us or Them, but the Bipeds.

As you finish, the Level 2 Tech Drone proceeds to align the machinery and orders production of three Tribarrels, two additional Soldier armor, and begins to tinker with machines and settings on its own. You sense that it is creating a heavy weapon for itself.

With this order placed, You and the Drone begin the work on the Plantcare System. It is a very long and complex process - design tubes and access points to them, gauges, filters, screens, pumps, valves, emitters, rigging the Barrel of Fertilizer... combined with the machinery and the Tech-Drone-lead drone workforce, We complete the process shortly before the estimated arrival of the Pirates, but installation, testing, and building a computer to regulate the flows will take even longer - not to mention integrating various elemental harvesters and molecular aligners and the like. Of course, a basic Irrigation System is a great time-saver. As You work, You think to the flowers. Their presence in Our mind seems rather pleased with the idea of automated feeders.

In the meantime, the spare Drones and Digging Drones finish the second Queen's Chamber and prepare the soil with a heavy dose of Improved Fertilizer. Obviously, being a Queen's Chamber, You decide to save the Queen's Seed for planting. Another group reinforces the Trap's Internal Fortifications with dust screens, some basic armor plating, and the like. Mine position is calibrated for route deviance, and the Pollen Mines below are re-rigged to blow on command.

In the meantime, the Nav Drones keep Our endless watch up. You are given updated firing solutions every few minutes, despite the Pirates not being in range. Finally, as night grows closer, We arm ourselves and take positions at the Trap, leaving the armed and armored Tech Drone in the Hive as a backup. You and the Soldiers eat, as does every priority worker and most of the Drones.

You reflect upon manners of controlling Bipeds - given your knowledge of Biped anatomy and brain structure, You are pretty sure that any live captured Bipeds could be used as low-level shock troops conditioned by moderate psychological damage and heavy uses of drugs. You have no idea whether Bipeds can be assimilated, but one thing is certain: not only is it biologically impossible to mate with, or be fertilized by a Biped, but that the idea is wrong and sickening.

Strangers are NOT Us. Strangers can be made Familiar and become assimilated, but Strangers cannot be Us, should not be Us, and as long as You are the Queen and Hivemind, will never taint Our perfection with their aberrant genetic code.

Combat coming shortly.

[You Are:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1 Queen Kai (Full) (Wearing AEPS)
1 Level 3 Nurse Drone (Full)
1 Level 2 Navigation/Programming Drone (Full)
1 Level 2 Navigation Drone (Almost Full)
1 Level 1 Repair Drone (Full) (Wearing AEPS)
1 Level 1 Digging Drone (Not Hungry)
4 Digging Drones (Almost Full, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camoflaged)
1 Small Fertile Flying Spy Drone (Not Hungry, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged, Double Wings) (Hidden aboard Pirate Landship)
15 Basic Drones (Not Hungry)
13 Basic Drones (Not Hungry, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camoflaged) (Wearing EPS)
4 Basic Drones (Almost Full, Slightly Cold Tolerant, Slightly Camoflaged)
1 Flying Drone (Almost Full, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
1 Soldier (Full, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged) (Wearing AEPS)
1 Flying Soldier (Full, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged, Double Wings) (Wearing AEPS)
1 Flying Soldier (Full) (Wearing AEPS)
4 Basic Soldier (Full) (Wearing AEPS)
6 Drone Larvae (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
13 Digger Larvae (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
2 Flying Drone Larvae (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
1 Soldier Larvae (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
1 Predator Larvae (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
1 Laid Drone Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
1 Laid Flying Drone Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
1 Laid Flying Soldier Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged, Double Wings)
20 Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
22 Drone Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
13 Flying Drone Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
10 Soldier Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
12 Flying Soldier Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
2 Predator Eggs (Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged)
2 Queen Flowers (Active / Recovering.1) )
9 Recovering.2 Underground Flowers
5 Stunted Aboveground Flowers (Cold-Tolerant)
A Mechanical Flying Scout of Biped Origin
A Mechanical Flying Light Scout

Your Nest
Location - the general area of Here
Outdoors - Virtually Undetectable to Casual Scans, Very Little Chance of Pirate Detection

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Insulated Non-Reflective Agricultural Earthworks with Five Flowers of Life
Improved Sensory Array
Well-Improved Defensive Earthworks: Camouflaged Heavy Assault Armor Plating, Internal Fortifications, Medium Pulse Cannon
{Open Dead Lava Tube}
{Open Dead Lava Tube}

Indoors

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Improved Defensive Earthworks: Camouflaged Heavy Assault Armor Plating, Internal Fortifications
Insulated Reinforced Queen's Chamber with Two Queen's Flowers and Eggs
Insulated Improved Flower Chamber with Nine Flowers of Life
Insulated Level 2 Technology Lab with an Improved Automated Weapons Facility
Insulated Improved Food Synthesizer (Biorecycler)
Insulated Fusion Reactor Chamber
Insulated Improved Heating Tunnel: Internal Ventilation System
Reinforced Expansion Tunnels to: Partially-Constructed Queen's Chamber
Improved Defensive Cave-In Tunnel 1 (Pollen Mines, Improved Internal Fortifications, Long Drop)
Constructed Tunnel to Ice

You Own

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A Bunch of Spare Parts: (Computer, Mechanical, Fusion Reactor, Weaponry)
A Fully Charged Battery [Large]
2 Charged Portable Batteries
Point Defense Laser / Smelter
A Lot of Damaged to Intact Metal Plating
Many Computer Parts / Wiring
1 Diagnostic Computer
A Kinetic Energy Penetration Warhead
1 Telemetry Computer
Display Panels
4 Dormant Flowers
Relevant Tools
A Queen-Sized Heavy Energy Machine Gun
3 Soldier-Sized Heavy Pumped Energy Tribarrel
1 Tech Drone-Sized Heavy Pumped Energy Tribarrel
A Soldier-Sized Pressurized Acid Blaster
4 Soldier-Sized Pumped Pulse Blasters
16 Drone-Sized Laser Cutters
3/8 Earthen Insulation Materials
Glass Insulation Materials
Functional Greenhouse Glass
5/8 Ship Thermal Insulation
Iron / Iron Pellets
Water / Ice
Carbon
Nitrogen
Calcium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Oxygen
Silicon
Sulfur
Sodium
Small Amounts of Chlorine
Perchloric Acid
Scrap Metal
Scrap Plastic
A Barrel of Improved Fertilizer
6 Canisters of Pollen Fuel
3 Seeds of Life
1 Queen's Seed of Life

Your food supplies are:
Eaten!

(Drones - 1/10 of a Unit of Food
Soldiers - 4/10 of a Unit of Food
Levels 1-4 - A Unit of Food
Queen - A Unit of Food / Reabsorb 20 Eggs
Level 5 - 2 Units of Food)

Your Planets:
Unnamed Yellow Dwarf Sun
Unnamed Iron-Rich Cold Partially Terraformed Planet, 4th from Unnamed Sun [Mars]
- Unnamed Moon
- Unnamed Moon]

[bombzero]

1) attempt to evacuate the spy, it IS expendable, but not so much we should throw it away if we don't have to.

2) wait for the trap to be sprung.

3) attempt to capture any bipeds who are unarmed or too injured to fight after the battle begins/ends.

4) continue work on automated feeding system.

[kaian-a-coel]

1) Arm queen with queen blaster, and soldiers with Soldier-Sized Pumped Pulse Blasters and Soldier-Sized Heavy Pumped Energy Tribarrel.

2) Take position, hide and wait for trap to be triggered.

3) Fire from cover.

also update the level 2 repair drone in the listing.

[RAM]

We currently have a shortage of food, and abundance of eggs, and discovery could be very irritating. We should be willing to tolerate a significant reduction in our warriors in the pursuit of preventing reports of our activities from escaping.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

We currently have a shortage of food, and abundance of eggs, and discovery could be very irritating. We should be willing to tolerate a significant reduction in our warriors in the pursuit of preventing reports of our activities from escaping.

This

[Ross Vernal]

Oh, right. Proper listing. Hah.

You prepare yourself for impact, and order the Spy to take cover near something solid that won't move. The Landship coasts steadily nearer and, about three meters from the pit trap, stops. It slowly begins to move in reverse.

You push the button.

ka-BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The first emergency mines go off, teetering the landship backwards and blasting a small hole through its armor. It hangs on the balance of the pit trap for five excruciating seconds, then slips right off the edge. It slams against the opposing wall with a horrific shriek of metal bending, hits the next wall, and lands with a heavy CRUNCH. You estimate the Landship has taken serious damage and rendered inoperable, but that the superstructure is mostly intact, aside from some places here and there.

You sense that the Spy Drone is nearly dead from the impact, but that it might survive if it gets to a Nurse quickly. Several of the Bipeds take up cover outside the ship - clearly, the drop didn't kill them all.

There is near-silence for a second.

You put your Heavy Energy Machine Gun up to the firing port and unload all over the battlefield while the second-generation Flying Soldier blasts acid down at the Bipeds while its older brother uses a Pulse Blaster. The Soldiers keep firing off Tribarrel rounds at a semi-automatic pace, scarring the battleplating and blasting Bipeds away. You personally watch one Biped get sliced in half from your own shots.

Fire is returned, and a hailstorm of bullets and rods hit your fortification. One particularly lucky heavy railgun shot hits a Soldier in the cranium, splattering it straight through the AEPS as though it weren't there.

You push the button again, seeding Pollen Fuel in the air, then push a second button and hunker down as your Flying Soldier gets up, up, and away.

FWOOOSHBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The improvised fuel-air explosive works perfectly, flash-frying the Bipeds unfortunate enough to be caught in it. Your Flying Soldiers roll in the thermal and impact waves, but rapidly recover their flight path and swoop down into the hole, gunning down several more Bipeds as they emerge from the hatch.

The dust settles, and you faintly hear the Bipeds moving things inside the ship - presumably for cover.

As it stands, You are certain that you can, given enough time, rebuild the Landship. There are obviously incapacitated Biped survivors inside, but breaching the Ship is going to be a lot harder the longer you wait.

Now what?

Your attack force is:
1 Queen Kai (Full) (Wearing AEPS, Wielding H-EMG)
1 Small Fertile Flying Spy Drone (Not Hungry, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged, Double Wings) (Hidden aboard Pirate Landship, Near Death)
1 Flying Soldier (Full, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged, Double Wings) (Wearing AEPS, Wielding A Soldier-Sized Pressurized Acid Blaster & Carrying a Pumped Pulse Blaster)
1 Flying Soldier (Full) (Wearing AEPS, wielding Pumped Pulse Blaster)
3 Basic Soldier (Full) (Wearing AEPS, wielding Soldier-Sized Heavy Pumped Energy Tribarrel)
1 Soldier (Full, Slightly Cold-Tolerant, Slightly Camouflaged) (Wearing AEPS, wielding Soldier-Sized Heavy Pumped Energy Tribarrel)

[Spinal_Taper]

Send soldiers inside to recover Spy. Demand surrender of bipeds in return for quick and easy death. If they refuse, do science on them once they're captured. If they do surrender, do science on them.

[Zecro_The_Scourge]

Send soldiers inside to recover Spy. Demand surrender of bipeds in return for quick and easy death. If they refuse, do science on them once they're captured. If they do surrender, do science on them.

This but request their surrender and destroy all of the communication arrays.

[kaian-a-coel]

Send soldiers inside to recover Spy. Demand surrender of bipeds in return for quick and easy death. If they refuse, do science on them once they're captured. If they do surrender, do science on them.

This but request their surrender and destroy all of the communication arrays.

This. Recovering spy and live bipeds is important, yet not leaving any traces is priority one.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Guys, bipeds aren't defeated, yet. Assault will be hard and costly, so let's create a plan

Or, cut their communications and go siege route