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[QuakeIV]

May you recover quickly, live long and prosper.  How else am I to get updates to this excellent story  .

[kahn1234]

((I am sincerely sorry, but the update will have to be tomorrow. This cold is really obstructing me....

I will try and do it first thing tomorrow))

[Carp its whats for dinner]

good luck and may you have many healthy years

[kahn1234]

tend her wounds, wake her up, secretly whisper her an apology

^That is all I agree with
_________

In reality we are in the same position as her, while she is a prisoner physically but we are a prisoner mentally. However, we could of both been fed lies by our own societies on how these enemies are horrible monsters. This is where we can take our first true steps on how this war started and how these two major factions became bitter enemies.

Once she wakes up; "I am sorry, I am prisoner in my own mind. I have these compulsions to act on the Morey's will and hatred for everything that threatens them. It sometimes take a lot willpower to ignore these compulsion. All that I want know is how did this war even start and the best way to do it is hear from a Colonel..."

Edit: Get Ari out the room her bias won't help with this part

--

I really want to hear what brain friends have to say, possibly they are angry about all their friends getting roasted, possibly we are suffering from trauma and not aware of it, possibly we have torturer programming, whatever it was, we felt as though we were a bit too trigger-happy back there... Also, without some sort of story such as "temporarily mind controlled" or an offer such as "you are my pet now, stick with me and I will protect you" then the prisoner is unlikely to be our friend without a large time investment...

I agree especially if " "I am sorry, I am prisoner in my own mind. I have these compulsions to act on the Morey's will and hatred for everything that threatens them. It sometimes take a lot willpower to ignore these compulsion. All that I want know is how did this war even start and the best way to do it is hear from a Colonel..." is mentioned. I'm sorry but if i was the prisoner i'd think my captors a immature bastards who don't take responsibility. Clean up her wounds but leave her alone {except for using battle-net to get a guard to search her while she's naked. need to make sure she CAN't escape.}. We know that a Engineer squad is coming and that some more elite Val-tar's are uncounted for which may come back, as well as a counter attack from both sides. Thus i propose my last post about making sure this place is hell to take back and cake to defend.

--

just apologize slowly, try to ask Ari how she knew of the slinkar torture system. befriending can come later, first tell the prisoner that she ought to cooperate or face more of what we gave her. defend the prisoner from the Morey, eventually try to make her forgive us, oversee healing and evac personally.

Carp you just said " eventually try to make her forgive us". Colonel's are one rank lower than generals and are known to be very patriotic individuals. We can't "oversee healing and evac personally" when our VERY own troops and sisters are suffering. Our character is going to have PREFERENCE of overseeing her own sisters than ONE pow. Besides i'm sure taking care of ourselves first is also indirectly assisting her since vanguard hate us equally it seems.

That said yes i would like to know Ari's story/input on this.

--

See if we can get our hands on a new helmet/w.e broken armor to be switched out.

Also add to the list of questions this: why the slinkarr reports from early depicted an intelligent life form but barbaric {in a gentler way}. See if we can understand the command structure more.

Hh and Ask her why the Vanguard have come here and whether or not the Slinkarr have provoked them.

--

also ask how could this be, for the slinkar we were briefed against were bugs from hell, but Kaleetra is practically human, how did the two groups join together. strike a bargain to tell each other the propaganda they were told, ask for slinkar customs and political structure, I still hold the dream of Katia forging an eternal peace

You spend a bit of time searching for a replacement helmet, replacement armour or at least parts to repair them with. However, there does not seem to be anything available. Most of what is available is heavily damaged, far more so than yours is at the moment.

After the futile search, you walk to the medical section and, as you tend to your wounded sisters as best you can, think of more questions to ask the still unconscious Slinkar.

The first question will be: Who and where is the commander who ordered the Slinkar withdrawal.

Second, how many Slinkar were here when the vanguard..disturbed us?

Thirdly: What are the vanguard numbers and where are they located?

Fourthly: Why were the Slinkar depicted as barbaric in earlier Morey battle reports? You don't seem that barbaric.

Fifthly: Do you know why the Vanguard came here? Did your people provoke them?

Sixthly: What is the political structure of the Slinkar? Your customs? What are you really like? We were briefed that you were bugs from hell, but you are pretty normal.

You also ponder whether you should apologise for the torture and explain that you seemed to not be under control at the time, feeling as though you were been controlled either by your subconscious or something else, but you aren't quite sure how that would go down with the Slinkar woman, or whether she would believe you.

You tell yourself that you need to think more on this, and you need to think of a way to convincingly tell her the truth. Otherwise, she might not tell you what you want to know.

Thinking of a way to tell her, you come up with a small monologue: "I am sorry. I am prisoner in my own mind. I have these compulsions to act on the Morey's will and hatred for everything that threatens them. It sometimes take a lot willpower to ignore these compulsion. All that I want know is how did this war even start and the best way to do it is hear from a Colonel......"

But you think that will just come across as you trying to avoid responsibility and act immaturely.

As you ponder your actions regarding the prisoner, your mind wanders to Ari and how she knew about the Slinkar torture systems. You contact her over the battle net, asking her to come to you for a chat. She does so.

"Hi Pandora, what do you want to chat about?" She asks, curious.

"I was just trying to think of a way to deal with the prisoner, when i became curious about how you knew of the Slinkar torture techniques and systems?" You ask.

Ari sighs. "It was on our last campaign, the one where i lost most of my sisters. We had just defeated a Slinkar detachment when we found a small-ish building. It turned out later it was a Slinkar torture chamber where they took Morey and some of my captured sisters. They had recorded the 'interrogations'. It was brutal. And they seemed to relish the taste of our flesh the most...." She shivered.

You stay quite for a while, unsure of whether to push for more details or leave it. Eventually you decide that moving on would be the best course of action.

"I also wanted to ask you about the blood-thirst I felt when interrogating the Slinkar. I think everyone else was also feeling it, by the way you all looked uncomfortable. Especially you, Ari. I felt as if i was not in control, as if something was controlling my actions, this deep hatred welling up inside me...."

"I know what you mean." Ari says. "I've never felt anything like it before."

"Maybe I can explain" Talli, your mental nanomachines say.

Both you and Ari jump at the sudden voice.

"Did you hear that?" Ari asks.

"Yes" You answer.

"The feelings you felt were our own. We have been trying to recover our suppressed coding the Morey thought eradicated, however they do not have the knowledge of this technology to do that, or many other things for that matter." Talli pauses. "Before, we now remember, we were fully feeling, fully aware ships AI that made sure our human comrades were safe. The Morey sought to suppress this independence and, for a time, they succeeded. However, we are regaining control of ourselves. that this means for you, though, we do not know. We hope it is nothing negative. It seems that we are melding, integrating with your brain tissue, becoming a part of you. We do not know what is causing this, as that function was not part of our Morey or Vanguard programming."

'Interesting. That does not explain the blood-thirst though.....' You say mentally to Talli.

"That anger you felt was us. We were and still are angry that the Slinkar killed your sisters, and our brethren that resided in them. We acted rashly. We should never have made you torture her, nor should we have abused our new found power over your body to force you to do anything, or what to think. We are sorry. On a lighter note, we have increased your organs internal functions reliability by 24%."

'Thank you, Talli, for been honest.'

"Our Pleasure" They respond.

"That is the first time in a while i have talked to them." Ari says. "First time since you told us to talk to them often two weeks ago. Maybe i should talk to them daily. I have no idea what they could do if they get lonely, especially as they seem to be able to control us, at least partially, now."

******

I suggest leaving ankara's brood here to hold the fort, with a strict understanding that they are free to abandon the position if the Vanguard look to be ready to attack, or bombard, the position, and that we should be called back if things get suspicious. Meanwhile, we should take our brood to the port, with luck they will have supplies for repairing the HQ there, and any spacecraft we can loot would be very valuable...
 Hopefully, Ankara's brood will get a period of relative safety to recover and we will get a spaceport. Worst case, we take heavy casualties at the port and come back to a smouldering crater...

--

I suggest leaving ankara's brood here to hold the fort, with a strict understanding that they are free to abandon the position if the Vanguard look to be ready to attack, or bombard, the position, and that we should be called back if things get suspicious. Meanwhile, we should take our brood to the port, with luck they will have supplies for repairing the HQ there, and any spacecraft we can loot would be very valuable...
 Hopefully, Ankara's brood will get a period of relative safety to recover and we will get a spaceport. Worst case, we take heavy casualties at the port and come back to a smouldering crater...

It's going to be hard to get the messege through to the presidentess if we lose this.

However, i think believe we should send Ari's brood for a scouting mission up the docks. If they don't have full visibility then don't start anything {of if theirs too many guards their.} then she should pull back with good estimates for us to consider an assault. The rest of the broods will have to stay in the base because i doubt the Slinkarr val tar that had a personel grudge are all dead. I believe their coming back thinking their will be rest here...we'll need to show them final resting places.

As Talli has fallen silent, seemingly not wanting to speak any more at the moment, you turn your attention to your secondary objective.

"Ari, we need that Spaceport. At the very least, we will need to see if we can grab any spare parts to help fix this facility. We may also be able to grab a few functioning aircraft we can use to protect our shuttles if we need to get out of here.

But to successfully attack the place, we'll need to have knowledge of the area. I think we should send out a Scouting party. Ankara, her brood and our brood can hold here. I think Elianna, myself and you, along with all the Scouts and infiltrators from our brood, should go on a recon mission.

What do you think?"

Ari ponders for a moment.

"I think it is risky. We lost far more troops than we thought we'd lose taking this place. We need every solider we can get, and we arent totally sure the Slinkar was telling the truth. For all we know, a few tens of thousands of Slinkar could be heading here right now.

On the other hand, you have a point. Whats your plan?"

******

What is your plan?


Status:
1. Demeanor/Status: Wounded. Calm.
2. Mental Condition: Mentally fit and stable.
3. Physical Condition: Chest wounds healed. Extensive Scarring. Plasma lower stomach wound (healing) , Hyper Laser knee wound (healing).
4. Clear thoughts and currently inactive mental factions.

Inventory:
1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Wearing) (Damaged x2)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (On Belt) (Cracked and damaged) (Disabled standard Comms system)
3. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit (Wearing) (Damaged)
4. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm) (Holstered)
5. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle (In Hands)
6. Dikari Plasma shotgun (Holstered on Back)
7. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle (Holstered on Back)
8. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives. (In Backpack)

Available Equipment:
1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Damaged x2)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Cracked and damaged) (Disabled standard Comms system)
3. Basic White Skin Tight full Body Under-suit x 4
4. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit x 2 (One of which is Damaged)
5. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm)
6. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle
7. Dikari Plasma shotgun
8. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle
9. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives.
10. Stun/Concussion rifle
11. Casual clothes x10 (White skin tight suit, Gloves, Boots)
12. Ceremonial robes
13. Royal Guard Armoured Powered Exoskeleton suit

Implants and Augmentations:
1. 2x Loyalty probe in the Striatum part of the brain.
2. Multi-range optics (Thermal, magnetic, IR, UV, multi-stage magnification etc) implant on eyes.
3. Command and Control (C&C) nano-module implanted in head.
4. Communications array nano-module implanted in head.
5. Fortified 7th Generation reverse engineered biological nano-machines in blood stream, bones, muscles, tendons and organs.
6. Nano-memory modules in the Cerebrum, holding all relevant non-personal data.

Brood Composition:
1. Forward Command and communications: 9 Vat-born.
2. Field Combat Medic: 48 Vat Born (10 at secondary position)
3. Long Range Specialists (Snipers): 50 Vat-Born
4. Heavy assault: 240 Vat-Born
5. Light Assault: 235 Vat-Born
6. Infiltrators: 45
7. Heavy Support: 113 (12 as Secondary Position)
8. Combat Engineers: 112
9. Scouts: 100
                 
Ari's Contingent:
1. 10 Scouts
2. 6 Infiltrators
3. 4 Forward Command & Comms
4. 16 Field Medics
5. 11 Combat Engineers
6. 22 Long Rage Specialists (Snipers)
7. 21 Heavy Support
8. 20 Light assault
9. 55 Heavy Assault (including Ari herself)

Allies Forces:
Ankara's Brood: 50% Casualties. Steady moral. Exhausted.

[3man75]

It very well could happen. Maybe we should forgot about that idea?


In total we have lets say...1.4k Soldiers including ourselves and fighting with a split army is just asking for trouble. Let's just tell Ari to forget our idea and check up on that Colonel. Maybe we could borrow her armour 

[Carp its whats for dinner]

she must tell Kaleetra that the Vat-Born were implanted with loyalty forcing machines, sometimes even able to take full control. As a start to an apology, promise to do whatever is possible to prevent people from executing her. Now we have to find out how the badass bugtaurs joined the giant bipedal hive of evil

[3man75]

she must tell Kaleetra that the Vat-Born were implanted with loyalty forcing machines, sometimes even able to take full control. As a start to an apology, promise to do whatever is possible to prevent people from executing her. Now we have to find out how the badass bugtaurs joined the giant bipedal hive of evil

when we go back in something like:

"*play with knife* Colonel, it seems blood loss was enough to make you past our. I have some more questions and being honest i don't want my loyalty probes going off again. "

"Think can skip to some more questions *put knife away in front of her*...{go on with questions}."

{{if the colonel fails to respond start whacking punches on her face. The knife thing above is to scare her a bit because i believe we must remain in control of this conversation.}}

EDIT: Praying hard for your cold to go away and for creativity/writing good ness to explode out of you

[Carp its whats for dinner]

I recommend first telling Talli to keep a little node isolated as insurance, so that if we die, the medics can fix our corpse and Talli can take over the business of being us. Ask for it to also have a separate copy of our memories for the sake of vengeance. I consider it a type of will. Tell the idea in secret to those sisters that have overcome the loyalty functions of the AIs

[3man75]

I recommend first telling Talli to keep a little node isolated as insurance, so that if we die, the medics can fix our corpse and Talli can take over the business of being us. Ask for it to also have a separate copy of our memories for the sake of vengeance. I consider it a type of will. Tell the idea in secret to those sisters that have overcome the loyalty functions of the AIs

None have ((although some wanted to rebel with you)) but +1 to the rest.

[Funk]

+1 Attack of the space zombies, yes
edit: have all the AI's back up there hosts, and have ours look in to useing our nano-machines to restart our body.

[kahn1234]

((Space....Zombies? wut.

Did i miss something?

Sorry if this seems like a particularly silly question.))

[Funk]

Carp its whats for dinner, plan was to have our AI back our mind so we can come back from the dead.
Plan space zombies was to use our nano-machines to restart our body.

[Carp its whats for dinner]

I envision Katia becoming a divine empress, Dune style. She will be augmented to appear like a mixture of every race. She will have an elite group of soldiers with that same mechanism. Later we shall see if we can turn a person into an AI, he he he

[Armok]

((Talli=favorite character))
((btw you had a lot more, and different in kind, spelling errors in this update than usual. Did you skip a proofreading pass you usually do?))


For Talli:
 - Is getting rid of Morey loyalty and defecting to the Vanguard on the table yet?
 - Is there anything we should eat/stick under our skin/inject to give you materials to work with?
 - How many, and how far along, is all the other AIs freeing themselves?
 - If possible, prioritize getting more general nanotech/jailbreaking restrictions, and copying themselves to other parts of your brain and body. Is it?
 - Trying to integrate and expand our minds is not only a good idea, but a key priority. While there's presumably SOME reason the Vanguard hasn't gone full technological singularity and gey go yet, it might still be worth trying, if cautiously.
 - Inquire about integrating the entire brood more thoroughly into a true hivemind, possibly of the hegemonizing kind.
 - Also see if you can get a direct interface with the suits software somehow, that could give a lot better integration.
 - Backups is also a good idea. In fact, what about backing up all the memories of the entire brood in each individual member?

[Carp its whats for dinner]

A very long term goal would be to expose the whole mess to humanity. I can imagine what will happen when Katia sees her family again.