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[Radio Controlled]

Miyamoto, realizing there'll be a need for materials testing for a project of his, sends a message to Simus:

Simus, Miyamoto here. How're things moving along on Hep? I take it you guys have been busy little monkeys?

Anyways, the reason I message you is because I'll need to do some high-throughput materials testing in the future that can't all be simulated in VR. Could you perhaps ask ARESTEVE to expand the current facilities so that he can work and test independently? That way I don't need to tie up your people for it. I'll also need to be able to test for resistances against various damage types like lasers or kinetic penetrators.

Oh, and will you need Charles for anything in the near future? I might need his help for a project as well.


Hoping to hear from you soon,

Miyamoto D.B.

[Xantalos]

I̧҉͡ ̶̨̢̡̕s͜l̷͠͠u͢m̨̡̕͢b͏͢ę͟͢r̵҉̛

[Empiricist]

"In that case, how much modification is required for a robot body to allow its occupant to temporarily divert control over their body to an external, detachable sod brain?"

Inquire

[Sean Mirrsen]

Anton Chernozorov

Saint, you weren't called for and I think that this would best be left between myself and Anton, unless he doesn't mind you listening in.

"I don't have anything to hide from anyone in regards to my actions, so Saint can stay around if he wants to."

Simus, with her unsettling cameyes trained on Anton's, and in a calm, albeit more clipped than usual tone, starts talking.

The topic is responsibility, Anton. Namely mine, but you factor into it. Steve left me here with one purpose - arming and assisting his revolution. But as I allowed others to stay alongside me, there is another, higher priority. I am responsible for you, and for all of the other ARM personnel on this planet. Not just for work, much as Steve might prefer it, but for security, for safety.

Now, I know that you can handle yourself - I've seen as much. But on the bottom line, it's my neck on the chopping block, and not yours. Neither of us is irreplaceable, but I am the one in a position of authority, I am the one responsible. I take this responsibility extremely seriously. But this responsibility is not mine alone - you, and Saint, and other ARM personnel have your own responsibility to me, to inform me and keep me up-to-date on the activities I assign you - we'll discuss that in a moment - so that I can make the decisions my responsibility entails.

So tell me, in the context of this responsibility, both of mine and yours - was what you did involving the destruction of the flesh horror, specifically, the unreported 'initiation' of a plan you told no-one about, a responsible act?

Anton stares back into Simus's cameyes for a moment, but does not maintain the gaze. Instead he turns his eyes toward his datapad, absentmindedly tapping away at some program's code as he speaks.

"XO, I'm an engineer. In the context of my position here, I may even be a weapons designer. What I'm not is a strategist. Or an administrator. When I have before me a task, my responsibility in completing that task usually begins and ends with making the tools to complete it. Devising plans and thinking of all the possible outcomes for them is outside both my responsibility, and skillset.

When we discovered that - fleshhorror, as you put it, you all but directly put me and Saint in charge of getting rid of it. When my tests determined that the neutron bombs you suggested would be the best tool for the job, I set about preparing them. And when you asked me about my progress, I was left feeling that the initiative for the creature's destruction was now left to me. My error, that I fully admit to, is making an incorrect estimate - no, more an incorrect assumption - on the creature's actual size.

So my answer is yes - my act was rash and irresponsible, as I failed to ascertain the exact scope of the task laid out before me, and this failure of my responsibility as an engineer resulted in the creature only being injured instead of completely killed. Had I not made that error, I would have completed my task in accordance with the only plan I had available."

He looks up at Simus, hands still typing away at the pad.

"I happen to believe in fixing that which you are responsible for, XO. Right now I have a hole leading into a radioactive shaft, and a crashed dropship out there by our new crater, that I feel it is my responsibility to fix. How about you?"

Converse.

[piecewise]

((Odd that transplanting brains is automatic, while just giving people implants requires personal involvement.))

1.Finish up with the surgery.  How much longer will it take?

2.While I'm doing so, count exactly how many living workers we have.

3.Keep a small window, or just the audio, open to S&A's conference.  If that would be too distracting, just record it for future reference.

It's automatic if you let it be like that. But you possessed a body in there so I assumed you wanted to hang around while it was happening.

about 150-200

I'm just gonna put you in the meeting and let the machines handle implants, since I figure thats what you'd want anyways.

[syvarris]

"I really, really do hate to interrupt, but Anton has a point.  We've got a lot of work to do, and this is just sucking up time for both of you.  If you need to do this, at least discuss it over comms, so we can actually get things done."

Saint then sends a private message to Miyamoto, through whatever advanced quantum entanglement facilities we have.  He does not inform any other Hephaestus personnel of this.

Hello.

I am sending this message to request an estimate of exactly how many sods you will be needing in near-future operations.  I'm sure that you would like as many as possible, but as-is, we have little idea whether you'll need hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or more.  Naturally, the more sods we send you, the less production capacity we'll have to spare, so we don't want to produce more than is necessary.

Additionally, the vast majority of the sods that we will be sending are going to be brains in robotic bodies.  They are far cheaper and faster to produce and maintain than normal fully flesh sods, even beyond the obvious combat advantages they have.  If you'll need flesh sods in particular for some reason, that would be good to know.

Thank you.

1.Ask ARESTEVE to start expanding our current fleshpit facilities: I'd like four more, two producing brains, two normal body sods.  If possible, I'd like a timeline for their completion.

2.Request that ARESTEVE begin building the infrastructure required for producing custom brains, for use in wetware.  Preferably, good enough to produce any brains we might have need for- including human brains.

3.Get the completion date for 2.

4.The below spoiler contains the FULL information (seriously, took awhile to sift through and compile.  I can provide links to the design posts if needed) for the Testament LSW.  The shard rifle.

Spoiler: Testament Light Shard Weapon: (click to show/hide)

Fires a small crystalline shard, about two inches long, and probably about a quarter inch thick in the middle, tapering to sharp points.
Damage: Penetration and electricity do most damage, detonation does local damage but isn't as spread as larger rounds.  Still probably fatal or at least really damaging if you manage to hit someone in the chest.

Can penetrate milnoplate with concentrated fire or a good hit.  Can hit a synthbody's braincase with less fire.  Can damage battlesuit plate about as well as Milnoplate.  Against unarmored targets, sometimes penetrates through without detonating.  Recommend using volley fire on them.

Power draw: 4 TPU, transmitted from a Power suit through the grip.  A small half-TPU capacitor is embedded in the hilt, which discharges if the power supply momentarily drops below 4 TPU.  It recharges when there's surplus power.

Rifle sized.

Has a fire selector with five settings:  Auto at 480 RPM - Semiauto - Safe - 4 shard fluid volley - 16 shard fluid volley

'Assault' magazines, presumably a little larger than real magazines, 1728 (12³) shots.
'Gunner' magazines, back mounted, a third the size of a propane tank, 17280 shots.  Assault magazines can refill from this, without interrupting fire of a weapon attached to the gunner magazine.)

All sections of the gun that are sensitive to a high-voltage shock are lightly insulated.

5.I want to know how many tokens it would cost, were we to put it into mass production and have it be included in the sword's new armory.  I do not want the cost of the suit that is needed to use it- only the rifle alone.

6.Cosmetic modifications that I'd like, but don't want if they would increase the price: Write 'Steve Saint's TESTAMENT Light Shard Weapon' on... whatever passes for the receiver.  Add accessory rails to the obvious places on the gun, for attaching accessories.  Use whatever is closest to standard.

7.Take a look at the MK.I prototype I modified for use with the gun (Spoiler below), and compare it with the MK.II and the UWM MK.I.  How do the latter two items get rid of the heat fins of the normal MK.I?  I'd like to integrate it into this prototype.

Spoiler: Power Suit: (click to show/hide)

A basic MK.I, with a 4 TPU generator between the shoulders.  A cable runs down each arm from this generator, to each hand.  If a cable is damaged, power to it is immediately turned off.  Power to either arm can be turned off, or set to a lower power level for stunning human targets, with voice commands.

Each hand has two conductive surfaces connected to the cable: on the palm, and a tougher version on the knuckles.  Under these surfaces are further insulating material.  If the integrity of either surface is damaged, power is shut off to that surface.

It has been proven to reliably supply four TPU to anything gripped or punched- including people.  As four TPU is reliably quite lethal, it makes for an effective melee weapon.

Integrity is measured by electrical flow, which is remarkably accurate.

8.If I can, try and put transparent 'windows' on the suit, over the spots where a robotic body's more important extra eyes are located.  On the chest, and on the index fingers, IIRC.  If this would interfere with the perfect insulation that the suit has, put removable caps of the material over them.

9.If we started mass producing this suit, would it be possible to start issuing it for free, rather than the old MK.I?

[Radio Controlled]

Saint then sends a private message to Miyamoto, through whatever advanced quantum entanglement facilities we have.  He does not inform any other Hephaestus personnel of this.

Hello.

I am sending this message to request an estimate of exactly how many sods you will be needing in near-future operations.  I'm sure that you would like as many as possible, but as-is, we have little idea whether you'll need hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or more.  Naturally, the more sods we send you, the less production capacity we'll have to spare, so we don't want to produce more than is necessary.

Additionally, the vast majority of the sods that we will be sending are going to be brains in robotic bodies.  They are far cheaper and faster to produce and maintain than normal fully flesh sods, even beyond the obvious combat advantages they have.  If you'll need flesh sods in particular for some reason, that would be good to know.

Thank you.

Miya, in the middle of commanding a mission, quickly sends a message back:

Hey there Steve. How's things over at Hep? Truckin' along I take it?

Anyways, to be fair, I'm literally in the middle of salvaging a a mission, so I can't give you a decent answer right now. I'll talk to Steve about it when I can. For the moment, try to get us a few hundred to a thousand max or so with the first shipment, with whatever new toys you need testing.
Standard Robosods are good for now, but personally I'd like you to also get me a few full flesh sods, just in case the UWM ever finds something against robobodies, or flesh sods turn out to be better at certain things. Maybe ask ARESTEVE for what a good ratio would be (risk-price assessment), if not go for 1 flesh for 3 or 4 robots for now.


Was signed,

Miyamoto D.B.

[PyroDesu]

((This whole thing has fallen into a mockery of any kind of order. I suppose it's technically my job to reinstate it. Sorry to do this to you guys, but if we actually want to make anything in any decent time, focus will probably help.

And have I mentioned that I (OOC-wise) don't like how Saint is apparently ADHD to the point of working on 3 completely different projects (Sod stuff, his PSL, AND a suit) all at once? That just seems entirely unlike any human. Ever.))

Anton, I'm not sure you're seeing my point. I don't care as much that your plan, whatever it was, failed - that has passed. In fact, even if it had worked, we would still be having this conversation, because what I care about right now is that you failed to inform me of the plan or the fact you were putting it into action. I am responsible for all that goes on here, and that includes what you and other ARM personnel do. But that responsibility entails your own of keeping me informed. Am I making myself clear?

Now, we have more important business to attend to than any one of us personally attending the filling in of the newly-radioactive shaft and large blast crater, or even than recovering and fixing your, no offense, jury-rig gunship. Let Aresteve and automated systems work on those. Anton, since you seem to have such an interest in it, I'm assigning you the task of getting us at least some kind of proper defense fleet. A few jury-rigged ships and some heavily damaged hulks in orbit won't be much good when the UWM knocks down our door wanting their planet back. We're also going to need some ships to take what we make to the Sword and probably other ARM ships - right now, I believe we have maybe one. Take UWM designs, modify them, or make your own, put together some possible compositions, and come back to me for review.

Saint, I've an assignment for you as well, if you're done with the implanting stuff: They're still putting ARM soldiers in Mk-series suits out there, for those who've not done anything to earn better. It's practically criminal that those things even still are around, though considering what the HMRC was, that would be appropriate. Make or modify a new standard suit - no bells, no whistles, just a suit that can actually replace the Mk1 for the ARM. I might join you for a few moments with an idea or two to consider, as well. As with Anton, when you're done, bring it back to me.

Charles, Miyamoto has something he wants your help with.

A little bit of havoc - but nothing that couldn't be solved with the application of an orbital strike. I wish I was kidding when I said that. You recall the flesh horror that was left here, burrowing? It's gone. Other than that, and finding out I need to put my foot down a little hard to get any kind of focus, it's fine. How are things in our subjective future?

Anyways, materials testing we can do, though I'm wondering exactly how high-volume you're thinking, and what exactly you'll be testing that can't be done in a simulated environment.

And sure, you can borrow Charles for a bit - I had something in mind for him, but it can wait, it's not like the other guy's going anywhere soon.

Orders. Proper ones. They are being given. I know at least two people are going to be happy about it (and I'm not sure if I would be another).

[Empiricist]

"Understood Ma'am."

Miyamoto... isn't that one of the commanders of this whole jig? Odd... if it was about propaganda I would have thought Lars would have been the one to contact me...

Awaiting your orders, sir.

Charles frowned, or rather attempt to frown, briefly forgetting that the lack of a facial muscles made is rather difficult to form any expression without the assistance of the display unit. Should his message be more enthusiastic? Formal? Though brevity certainly does seem to be better considering that the General was presumably quite busy. Shrugging, he sends the message.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Anton Chernozorov

"Aye, aye. Executive Overseer Simus. Just making sure you don't lose sight of what's important."

Anton makes some final taps on the datapad and leaves the room.


Right, then.

Check on the status of the Merchant (salvaged transport ship that hauls a long string of cargo containers and needs booster rockets to reach orbit). Is it FTL-capable? If not, what would it take to make it FTL-capable, and do we have the resources to do it in a reasonable time? (the Blackship was stripped of its FTL equipment when it was converted to the Black Death - can we use that?) Are there limits to what type of cargo it can carry, or does that just depend on the containers used?

Have Aresteve scan Hephaestus orbital space using any means at his disposal, and make a map of all the debris and wrecked ships we still have there. How many ships are there that seem to be worthwhile salvage (i.e. in big enough pieces to at least get parts from)? Anything reasonably intact besides what delivered the orbital strike?

Get an estimate on how hard it would be/how long it would take to recreate the Black Death. Not exactly as it was, but as a purpose-designed fast small ship with an oversized laser or plasma cannon. It did good at the fleet battle despite being very much out of its depth, so having a few would make at least a worthwhile asset.

Check the Hephaestus database for common defense ship classes that we could produce. Check if orbital minefields are still in use by the UWM.

And don't let any repair bots near the Party Wagon. If we have the capability, airlift it to the docks so I can repair it myself later.

[Parisbre56]

((@Pyro: I think that syvarris' char doing many things at once is reasonable, given that turns here last longer (in the timespan of days). It's a problem of the format. Doing small bits of many actions is the only way not to waste time, even though it would make more sense in RL for one project to begin after another one ends.

@Sean: I think one of the reasons your ship was effective was that sand coating. You might want to research that a bit. I also made some research into sand armour in the Tinker thread, you can search for that if you want. I might edit a link in later.))

[Sean Mirrsen]

((@Pyro: I think that syvarris' char doing many things at once is reasonable, given that turns here last longer (in the timespan of days). It's a problem of the format. Doing small bits of many actions is the only way not to waste time, even though it would make more sense in RL for one project to begin after another one ends.

@Sean: I think one of the reasons your ship was effective was that sand coating. You might want to research that a bit. I also made some research into sand armour in the Tinker thread, you can search for that if you want. I might edit a link in later.))

((The Southern Cross was the one sand-coated. It was supposed to be a breach and assault ship, so it had that big huge front plate it has laser-proofed. The Black Death only has its speed and size to defend against being shot down.))

[Parisbre56]

((Ah, ok, I misremembered then. Anyway, here's the link:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=136149.msg5380268;topicseen#msg5380268
Some research into those hexes might be nice too.))

[syvarris]

((@Pyro

Yes, I'm aware that you dislike the format of my actions.  You've mentioned it before.  My justification is primarily as Paris said- we have months of time IC while the sword jumped to Kano, and have months of time IC while it jumps back; Playing like each turn is one hour will result in us doing almost nothing.  People have played like that, and those people have contributed... almost nothing.

Anyways, I don't really think my actions are so unrelated.  The suit is basically required for the gun, and in my mind is part of the same project.  Meanwhile, the fleshpit orders are basically just "Hey, ARESTEVE, do this"- something that seems perfectly reasonable if a turn is a day or something.))

"Uhm, Simus, exactly what do you mean by that?  The MK.I, despite being quite dated, is already a good basic suit with no bells or whistles.  Even if you mean just streamlining it, I don't see any reason not to just copy the UWM design; it's not like we have to work around patent laws or something."

[Sean Mirrsen]

((@Pyro

Yes, I'm aware that you dislike the format of my actions.  You've mentioned it before.  My justification is primarily as Paris said- we have months of time IC while the sword jumped to Kano, and have months of time IC while it jumps back; Playing like each turn is one hour will result in us doing almost nothing.  People have played like that, and those people have contributed... almost nothing.

((Speaking as one of those people, I find it hard to play without a specifically defined length of a turn. Or at least a broadly defined one. I don't want to overload PW with too many actions, so I assume each Heph-side turn to be about an hour, outside of a crisis. Until we start getting to timeskips and long turns that will hopefully be specifically defined as such, I'll hold to that line of thought.))