"Tambuur'sa?" a quiet voice from behind brings you back to reality.

You turn away from the window to instead face the thin man with hair the color of sand: Aavron Tambuur. His impassive, neutral expression does not betray whether he witnessed your moment of weakness. Though truthfully it wouldn't matter, for you know that he, like every other Sleeper who has rallied around you in these past months struggles with similar thoughts. Indeed, it was this shared sense of loss, the hatred against the Taidan and the urge to seek vengeance for wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, parents, children lost that has brought all of you together. That has led you to adopt these lost souls as honorary members of Kiith Tambuur and whose growing numbers in turn made your voice loud enough to bring your case before the Daiamid.

"The master of the Lower Shipyard will see you in five minutes, Tambuur'sa," Aavron informs you.

"Took him long enough," you fail to completely keep the scowl off your face. Twelve days of stonewalling, delays, last minute cancellations, and generally being treated like air at best and an unwelcome nuisance at worst.

But that was the simple reality of being a minor kiith - even one that has been granted the favor of the Daiamid. It has been so back on Kharak and it would remain so on Hiigara. Without strength, without influence or backing, you were as nothing.

However, as you head for the lift with Aavron falling in behind, you make the effort to school your features into the same politely neutral expression he sports. Soon enough, you will be leaving all of these useless politics behind. Soon enough, you will be able to focus on the only thing that matters.

Even the meeting you're now heading to is mostly a formality. A necessary handshake to reaffirm that in however many months from now one of the Mothership's smaller shipyards will, over the course of the two days, produce the "small frigate" the Daiamid saw fit to grant your kiith for the sake of your Paaura. Which was well enough - Kiith Tambuur lacked the manpower to crew a properly sized ship anyway. But you similarly lacked were shipwrights and designers to call your own, which forced you to turn to the charity of larger kiiths, browsing the designs they were willing to grant you, many experimental, or discarded for budgetary or doctrinal reasons, eventually narrowing dozens of options down to three that seemed the most plausible.

But, as already noted, that was all in the past. Your kiith was currently scattered across the Mothership and other orbital facilities, feverishly learning the multitude of skills needed to effectively crew and operate your choice of vessel. You yourself would be doing the same, but your own education was being delayed by the necessity of courting other kiiths for the funds and supplies you'd need to make the ship space-worthy, or by attending meetings like the one you're about to walk into.

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"Ah, Iifrit Tambuur'sa," the Master of the Lower Shipyard rises from behind his desk when you enter, offering his hand and an insincere smile that does a poor job masking his impatience and annoyance at your presence. "I am glad to finally have the chance to meet you. I hear you have a ship for us to build."

Pick your starting ship design:

>LIGHT ASSAULT FRIGATE
>A Kiith Manaan variation on the Exodus design intended as a fast response ship against pirate raids on remote mining outposts. It completely foregoes the plasma bomb launchers and reduces the number of medium mass drivers to two, now mounted in a dorsal configuration for greater coverage. Instead, the design adds eight light mass drivers mounted all across the hull, each one capable of independently tracking and engaging fast-moving targets. The design is intended to fill an anti-strike craft role but lacks the firepower to meaningfully engage larger ships.
>Strong vs: fighters, corvettes
>Weak vs: frigates

>HELIX-BEAM FRIGATE
>A highly experimental design by Kiith Paktu, based on the multi-beam frigates captured during the Mothership's battle through the Great Nebula. It unfortunately retains only two of the original four forward-mounted ion beams, but that is because the ship is actually built around a largely untested version of a Helix Array - a beam-splitting mechanism that allows it to redirect an ion beam to up to four hardpoints mounted around its hull, allowing the ship to accurately and successfully engage strike craft - typically the bane of regular ion beam frigates. However, the current version of the Helix Array, while sufficient against fighters and bombers, is considered underpowered for the purpose of defeating corvette armor.
>Strong vs: fighters, frigates
>Weak vs: corvettes

>TORPEDO FRIGATE
>Kiith Kaalel's attempt to fit the firepower of a missile destroyer into a cheaper, nimbler package, this frigate is designed entirely around the torpedo bay or, more specifically, the high-speed fabricator meant to keep the ship supplied with ammo even in live combat situations. Due to the goal of keeping the frigate fast and nimble and the resulting size limitations, the ship has only four launch bays and very little space to store ammunition manufactured in advance. As a last minute design change, an adapted variant of a Turanic Raider missile pod was added on top of the ship, allowing it to fend off strike craft. However, field tests have shown that many modern fighter designs are able to either outmaneuver or outrun the missiles.
>Strong vs: corvettes, frigates
>Weak vs: fighters

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SOME CONTEXT:
So Homeworld 3 is out and the story is a pile of unsalvageable slop with an unhealthy dose of someone's micro/macro fetish mixed in. But all of this has reminded me about something I read in the old user manual of Homeworld: Cataclysm way back in the day. A single paragraph of throwaway lore that stuck with me long after I finished the game, because it hinted at a storyline that I desperately wanted to know more about. A personal story without ancient destinies, precursor superweapons or hyperspace deities A tale of vengeance and of one man's unquenchable rage against those who cost him everything.

Lore-wise, I'm ignoring everything from HW2 onwards and most likely making up a lot of my own shit as the quest progresses. Also, keep in mind that this quest starts in 3 AHL, so 12 years before Kuun-Lan picks up the funny space box.

>>6014304
>HELIX
Our vengeance will be patient as a crocodile waiting for prey. And when we strike, death will roll with us.

>>6014304
>TORPEDO FRIGATE

>>6014304

>HELIX-BEAM FRIGATE

A highly based quest, OP. I am ready to play!

>>6014304
>HELIX-BEAM FRIGATE
Hunter-Killer Time, I love Homeworld

>>6014307
>Ignoring EVERYTHING from HW2
While i do agree that HW2 missed the mark in the end, there are redeemable parts in the end. Like the Vaygr being a pack of space barbarians that were only held back by the Taiidan and you broke that so now you have to fight them.
Either way, i still want something to do with Norsehound's old maps/plotlines from WAAAAAAAAAAAAY back in the day. That stuff was the shit.

For Kith! For Glory! FOR RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION!

>>6014304
>TORPEDO FRIGATE
If we take out the bigger ships the fighters are done for anyway.

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>>6014379
>>6014448
>>6014556
The choice is made. A mid-range frigate hunter that can cut its way through fighter groups but struggles against corvettes.

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Your ship's construction order being placed in the shipyard's queue may seem ultimately insignificant - just another among hundreds of similar orders from kiiths both large and small. But, as it is said, even the smallest grain of sand can set off an avalanche. And so the very fact that the ship's construction is now "official" has several effects.

For one, you're approached by several more people seeking to join Kiith Taambur and your Paaura. But this time they're not just fellow Sleepers, but also veterans of the Exodus: those who served as crew both on the Mothership and the fleet that grew around it, but who refuse to stay still in this new era of reclamation and rebuilding - their souls, forever branded by the Burning of Kharak, sing a song of vengeance similar to yours, drawing them to your cause.

You accept them gladly. Especially the pair of reactor engineers who had the honor of serving on the very first ion frigate built during the Exodus with technology purchased from the enigmatic Bentusi. Their experience will be invaluable on a ship whose single largest drawback promises to be efficient power management.

And the veterans, in turn, bring with them increased support. Nothing big or overt, no outburst of official support from a kiith, no - small things. Gifted by relatives, friends, former crewmates. Furnishings, utensils, entertainment systems, books, canned foods, soap. Things to turn the ship from an austere war vessel into what it will effectively become: a home for your patchwork kiith.

But to your surprise, one of those connections turns out to be a far greater deal than expected: a shipwright from one of the major kiiths whose most recent project was sidelined through internal politics and who sees your mission as a chance to prove its viability. An upgrade to your ship, untried and untested, but one that won't compromise other functions and needs only minor adjustments to the construction plan.

After discussing it at length with the few engineers and technicians your kiith has, you see no reason not to accept. And so your ship will now also have:

>SENSOR-DIFFIUSION PLATING: a far cry from the cloaking technology of Spectre strike craft, this will merely "smear out" the ship's sensor signature. It will most likely do nothing to hide it in open space, but within dense asteroid fields or gas clouds, it could make it look like a rock, a piece of debris, or just a sensor glitch.

>EXTERNAL GANTRY: a strip of externally mounted rails and access ports that can be used to temporarily attach additional modules to the ship such as afterburners, missile pods, specialized sensor suites, and possibly even strike craft to carry through a hyperjump (EXTREMELY UNTESTED). Carrying such modules will of course negatively impact the ship's speed and maneuverability, and even when empty, the gantry will increase its cross-section, making it easier to pick up on sensors.

>PROBE FABRICATOR: a heavily miniaturized version of a shipyard assembler, capable of manufacturing disposable, one-use sensor probes. Envisioned as vital equipment for long range exploration vessels that find themselves operating outside the framework of a carrier group. The fab and launcher assembly would take up the entirety of one of your ship's cargo bays, with space enough to carry two prebuilt probes, the fab being capable of manufacturing one replacement every day.

Weeks and months fly past, with the list of critical and necessary tasks carried around by Aavron, who you've long since decided to make your logistics officer, only seeming to grow longer every time you'd look or ask.

Until the day arrives and you clear your schedule to spend the next three days all but living out of the shipyard's observation room while watching your ship be assembled. An objectively unnecessary task with no discernible benefit but, to you, a necessary one. You are witnessing the birth of your kiith's future, their new home, their haven against the cruel, uninviting black.

And the instrument of your - and their - vengeance against the Taidan Empire.

Late into the night of the third day, the construction is complete. And in the morning, you assemble Kiith Tambuur - all of whom have arrived on the Mothership in days prior. A scant few dozen souls, angry and lost, who have decided to accept you as their kiith'sa, to entrust you with their well-being. Their future. And their burning desire for revenge.

And despite all the loss and tragedy you, like everyone here, suffered, and despite hardening your heart so that it may never again be made vulnerable and wounded, there is still a tightness in your chest and your vision grows strangely blurry as you see these men and women march into the room, each one wearing a uniform in Kiith Tambuur colors, adorned with the Kiith Tambuur emblem - a gift from a textilemaker kiith, distributed to your people by Aavron only this morning. A sight that you never expected to see again - not after waking from cryosleep into a world where you were utterly and completely alone.

You had a whole speech prepared. But now you'll have to take a moment to compose yourself.

>Suggest a LIVERY for Kiith Tambuur (two color combination and an emblem)
>Also suggest a NAME for your ship
>And remember to vote on an UPGRADE from the post above

>>6015209

>SENSOR-DIFFIUSION PLATING: a far cry from the cloaking technology of Spectre strike craft, this will merely "smear out" the ship's sensor signature. It will most likely do nothing to hide it in open space, but within dense asteroid fields or gas clouds, it could make it look like a rock, a piece of debris, or just a sensor glitch.

Stealth is probably our greatest ally.

>Suggest a LIVERY for Kiith Tambuur (two color combination and an emblem)

Black and gold? Black to remember the dead; gold to remember our oath of vengeance? I’ll leave it another anon to mock up an emblem.

>Naqam’Math

This is modified ancient Hebrew for “take full vengeance”

>>6015210
>SENSOR-DIFFIUSION PLATING: a far cry from the cloaking technology of Spectre strike craft, this will merely "smear out" the ship's sensor signature. It will most likely do nothing to hide it in open space, but within dense asteroid fields or gas clouds, it could make it look like a rock, a piece of debris, or just a sensor glitch.

Livery:
>Bone white and red. White for dead Kharak, red for the blood we will spill in vengeance. Our livery will be a broken circle with a dagger cutting through it. We will never forget.

>>6015213
Support

I like this quest so far a lot! Sounds like a great start so far OP.

>>6015213
I like the colour and name of this
>>6015233
And the sigil from this

VENGEANCE FOR KHARAK, DEATH TO THE UNBELIEVERS, SPACE SHALL BURN AS THE HOMEWORLD DID, SAIL NOW FOR WRATH, SAIL NOW FOR RUIN, AND OUR WORLD'S ENDING

>>6015894
I HATE THE TAIDAN ALMOST AS MUCH AS I HATE HOMEWORLD 3

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>>6015894
Let our vengeance be... COMPLETE
NEVER FORGET, LEST WE FORGIVE

>>6015210
Almost forgor

>EXTERNAL GANTRY: a strip of externally mounted rails and access ports that can be used to temporarily attach additional modules to the ship such as afterburners, missile pods, specialized sensor suites, and possibly even strike craft to carry through a hyperjump (EXTREMELY UNTESTED). Carrying such modules will of course negatively impact the ship's speed and maneuverability, and even when empty, the gantry will increase its cross-section, making it easier to pick up on sensors.

Name:
>Naqam’Math

Livery:
>Gold and Black

>>6015934
>The siren of Karen S'jet shall sound in deep space one last time. Let this be the hour when we power lasers together. Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn!
Great picture too.
>>6015909
I'M FROM KHARAK AND I SAY KILL EM ALL
Also
>inb4 FATHER, THE SLEEPER HAS AWOKEN
Really just throw in all the memes here

>>6015210
>color
Red&Black
>emblem
>>6015934

>Ka'Met Syndrime

>PROBE FABRICATOR

>>6015213
>>6015233
>>6015870
Sensor-Diffusion Plating

>>6015213
>>6015870
>>6015894
>>6015968
Naqam'Math

>>6015213
>>6015870
>>6015894
>>6015968
Gold and Black.

>>6015233
>>6015894
>>6015934
>>6016094
It's technically a sword through a circle, but close enough.

>>6015934
Nice, awesome graphic.

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"There used to be a Kiith Tambuur, but it died when Kharak burned," you begin, your heavy tone garnering instant attention. "What it did, where it lived, who was part of it - these are now but memories that too will disappear with my own passing."

You pause to look over those gathered before you, making eye contact with each one in turn.

"It is the same for many if not most of you. Sole survivors of your kiiths, Orphaned souls made to carry the burden of remembrance. The grief for countless lives lost. The anger at the sheer unfairness of it all. The burning rage against the butchers who carried out the deed."

There isn't a single gaze that isn't fixated on you right now.

"I will not speak about the Kiith Tambuur that was, nor am I here to try and restore its legacy. To do so would mean putting my grief above yours - claiming that my people are more deserving of being remembered. No," you shake your head solemnly. "If you look to your left and your right, you will see people who you may not know yet, but who wear the same colors as you: black and gold. These are not the colors, nor the emblem of the old Tambuur. Black to remember the dead, gold to remember our oath. The broken circle: Kharak destroyed. And the blade: our oath of vengeance."

A stir. A murmur of approval.

"In the name of my lost kiith, I have declared Paaura against the Taidan Empire. Eternal vengeance against those who nearly succeeded in eradicating our people. It is for Paaura that I have resurrected Kiith Tambuur. It is for Paaura that I have not joined another kiith, for Pauura that I have rejected a peaceful life, and for Paaura that I accept that I will never set foot on Hiigara. And it is for Paaura that I now call all of you kiith. Like I said, you may not know most of the people standing here yet, but I do. I have spoken to each and every one of you and I know that your anger burns as brightly as mine, that you thirst for Imperial blood like a man does for water in the desert. Which, from this day onward, will be the specialty of Kiith Tambuur and the reason for its existence: spilling Imperial blood."

This gets you a cheer, a low roar of approval. But you hold up your hands, signaling for silence. You are not done yet.

"Today we board the Naqam'Math, the vessel that will become the instrument of our vengeance, but also the new home of our kiith. And in this home, we will be departing Hiigaran space to hunt our enemies where they lurk, among the crumbling remnants of their once proud empire. We may never return to Hiigara, indeed it is all but expected that we will meet our deaths somewhere out there, among alien stars far from home - there isn't a single mention in Kushan history of those who participated in Paaura dying peacefully in their beds. Paaura is not a fight for peace, for justice, for honor: it is total, unending war against the enemy, for as long as he still lives. To fight this war, we will become bounty hunters and mercenaries, but any riches we earn will be spent on supplies, on repairs and improvements to our ship: all we gain, all we achieve, will be for the sake of continuing Paaura. Our vengeance will continue... until it is complete!" you slam your fist into your palm for emphasis. "We will never forget - lest we forgive. Vengeance for Kharak."

"VENGEANCE FOR KHARAK!" Kiith Tambuur roars back. "NEVER FORGET!"

Somewhere in your speech, you intended to give the people you gathered one last chance to back out and pursue a different, more peaceful life. But, listening to their united cries, you decide against it.

It would be an insult to their resolve.

Naturally, regardless of how rousing your speech may have been, it is not followed by Naqam'Math roaring out of the dock with all guns blazing. Prosaic mundanity reasserts itself. Everyone boards the ship, carrying or wheeling along luggage with personal belongings. You give a brief interview to a news crew. Then there is still a long pre-flight checklist to go through, from testing each and every system, to making sure all cargo has been loaded securely, to submitting a departure plan to orbital traffic control.

Even after you clear the Mothership's dock and perform the first, very short range, but successful hyperjump, the next two weeks are a long series of exercises and drills to teach the crew their positions, how to cooperate effectively, and what to do during emergencies or combat alerts. Naturally, the first real combat drill is a disaster with Gunnery and Helm descending into a shouting match over the latter's inability to keep the ship on target, the starboard beam's particle accelerator nearly burning out due to a faulty power governor, all of it capped off by the crew going hungry for a couple hours due to the entire kitchen staff being off duty and asleep because of a scheduling error.

But things improve - and remarkably quickly, according to the Exodus veterans among your kiith. The crew is highly motivated to learn and improve, no one slacks off and no one complains about anything serious. By the end of those two weeks everyone can reach their assigned posts within a couple minutes of a combat alarm going off, communication on the bridge is a lot faster and more precise, Helm can make the ship roll, pitch and yaw freely without constantly losing orientation, and Gunnery can maintain a mostly consistent rate of fire against simulated targets.

It is also around that time that Navigation detects the hyperspace signature of a courier frigate. And the message it delivers is what causes you to call the first general kiith meet since that speech in the shipyard.

"Kiith Buujan's mining operations are under attack," you begin the meeting without much ceremony, "and they have sent requests for aid to anyone in Hiigaran space who would listen. Kiith Tambuur will accept that request for three reasons."

For lack of a more suitable space, the meet is taking place in Naqam'Math's mess hall, with everyone simply grabbing the available chairs or either leaning against or sitting down on the tables. But already there is a rough hierarchy taking form, with an inner circle of bridge crew and Exodus veterans surrounding you and other kiith members further out.

You're not entirely sure how to address this. Or if it even needs to be addressed.

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"One: despite being a very minor kiith, Buujan has contributed materials to Naqam's construction: the basic framework was made using their composites. For that alone, we owe them a debt of gratitude. Two: for all the training and practice we've had, it will never make up for real combat experience and this is our chance to gain some before we depart Hiigaran space. And three: according to the request, the attackers are Taidan."

This certainly gets a reaction from everyone. A low, hateful, bloodthirsty murmur.

"Imperials this deep into Hiigara's sphere?" someone throws out.

"It's most likely a raid group," the reply comes from Erinja, one of the veterans and your current Navigation officer -- you provided the vets and the bridge crew with a copy of the request a few hours before the meeting. "Some strike craft with a support frigate to use as a mobile base, intended to disrupt resource gathering, trade, and shipping."

"Cowards!" someone spits. "Attacking unarmed vessels is all they can do!"

This is met with a growl of assent.

"How do we know it's just a raid group?" someone else asks.

"Heeshk class support frigates can carry up to ten fighter craft and four corvettes into a hyperjump," Erinja replies calmly, "and sensor data from Buujan indicates none of the attacks launched against them ever crossed that threshold.. Besides," she smiles humorlessly at the man who asked the question. "If it was a bigger force, like say a carrier group, Kiith Buujan would no longer exist. Based on the information provided, even two raid groups working together would be enough to break through their defenses."

"Kiith Buujan have made their home in a large asteroid within the Vaneda Field," you jump in with an explanation. "They made this decision after bolstering their kiith's numbers with Kadeshi repatriates and defend the asteroid with reverse-engineered Taidan drone technology fused with Kadeshi swarmer tech. However, while the drones are sufficient to fend off attacks against their base, their limited operational range leaves their mining operations vulnerable to harassment."

"Barely sufficient," Erinja corrects gently. "The Taidan are using multi-gun corvettes that can shred through the drones. Buujan are barely able to keep up with manufacturing new ones and each attack comes closer to punching a hole in the defense grid for bombers to come through and deal critical damage to something important like a power plant or life support. And given the kiith had to suspend all mining operations, they will eventually run out of resources to replace lost drones."

"Naqam'Math theoretically has enough firepower to defeat a raid group even if Buujan won't be able to provide much support," you resume. "But there is a problem in simply leaping into battle, as those among us familiar with Taidanii tactics have pointed out to me even before this meeting."

"A raid group's purpose is primarily to deal economic damage," a different veteran jumps in. "If they see a warship like ours arrive at Kiith Buujan's base, their commander may elect to retreat deeper into the asteroid field and avoid contact until we grow frustrated and leave. And even if we manage to ambush and destroy the corvettes and bombers, that still leaves the support frigate, which will simply make for the edge of the asteroid field and hyperjump away. Then return with a fresh contingent of strike craft after we're long gone. Ideally, we'd want to destroy it before that happens."

"But first we'd need to find it," Erinja interjects. "Which will be tricky to say the least. According to Buujan sensor data, the frigate has never actually shown itself, always remaining well outside sensor range. And every attack against the asteroid used a different approach vector, suggesting that the frigate is staying on the move."

"Which is a large part of the reason I called this meeting," you speak up. "So that we may put our heads together and come up with a plan that lets us do a thorough job. And leaves not a single Taidan vermin alive at the end of it."

It is a long, exhausting, and at times emotional discussion. Unsurprisingly, most plans the kiith comes up with revolve around how best to utilize your ship's Sensor-Diffusion Plating, the asteroid field you'll be heading into seemingly tailor-made for its first true combat test. And at the end of it all you decide that:

>You will try and convince the Buujan to send out a mining fleet as bait. You will follow it covertly and ambush the Taidan should they attack, then pursue any survivors to the frigate that is sure to be lurking nearby
>You will have your ship lurk near Kiith Buujan's asteroid base and wait for the next attack. Once the attack is repelled, you will covertly follow the retreating strike craft to track down the frigate
>With great regret, you will abandon the plan to hunt down the frigate and settle for simply dealing as much damage as you can to the strike craft during their next attack
>write-in

>>6017430

>You will have your ship lurk near Kiith Buujan's asteroid base and wait for the next attack. Once the attack is repelled, you will covertly follow the retreating strike craft to track down the frigate.

This seems best - can we assume that our sensor range exceeds the range of Taiidan strike craft? If so, we can trail them just out of sight, locate their carrier, then cut power and tumble closer, pretending to be an asteroid or something

Also, great writing OP - prose is very well done here

>>6017430
>>You will try and convince the Buujan to send out a mining fleet as bait. You will follow it covertly and ambush the Taidan should they attack, then pursue any survivors to the frigate that is sure to be lurking nearby
This gives us more control over the battlespace. We can position the miner as far away form the asteroids as possible (without arousing suspicion) in order to bait the raiders into an exposed position.

Not sure how the raids are conducted here: do they just destroy the miner ships or try to board them and grab their cargo? If the latter, let's put some of our marines in the miner ship, have the ship surrender, then, let the marines be taken prisoner with the plan of covertly taking over one or more the raider ships from the inside. We could then use that ship to delay the support frigate's jump by faking an SOS/engine failure (or something).

>>6017443
You should indeed have sensor superiority over strike craft. Granted, everyone's sensor range is going to be shit within an asteroid field, but yours should still be slightly less shit.

>>6017461
Naqam'Math does not currently have a marine contingent. Your kiith barely has enough people to fill all critical crew posts without forcing some of them to pull double shifts.

That said, the Taidan are launching purely destructive raids, simply blowing up what they can and then retreating.

>>6017452
Thank you, the compliment is much appreciated.

>>6017491
In that case, let's go with plan A and try to bait the raiders to overextend from the asteroids and then attempt to cut off their escape.

>>6017430
>>You will try and convince the Buujan to send out a mining fleet as bait. You will follow it covertly and ambush the Taidan should they attack, then pursue any survivors to the frigate that is sure to be lurking nearby

Savage the fighters, trail them back to their frigate, stealth in then blast them to the void.

>>6017430
>You will have your ship lurk near Kiith Buujan's asteroid base and wait for the next attack. Once the attack is repelled, you will covertly follow the retreating strike craft to track down the frigate

>>6017430
>>You will have your ship lurk near Kiith Buujan's asteroid base and wait for the next attack. Once the attack is repelled, you will covertly follow the retreating strike craft to track down the frigate

>>6017443
>>6018099
>>6018329
By a narrow margin, camping the Buujan base wins.

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CLANNNG

"No damage detected," Damage Control says after several tense seconds, leading to a quiet, collective release of held breaths.

"Well done Helm, I only warned you about that rock two minutes ago," Erinja quips from over the Navigation console.

"I wasn't..." the young and currently heavily sweating pilot thinks better of making excuses. "I put too much power into the port thrusters during the last turn. My apologies, Kiith'sa."

"It's fine," you reply, forcing your voice to remain calm despite your own nervousness. "We're all still learning after all. Just pay more attention next time."

Being deep within Vaneda Field made Kiith Buujan's base unreachable through hyperjump. On your veterans' advice, you ordered the ship not to follow Buujan nav buoys, instead taking a more circumspect route. Both to avoid any possible Taidan surveillance and also to let your crew practice precision navigation.

It has certainly been an experience.

"Aw, don't be like that, kiith'sa. It ain't a real warship until it earns some dents," Erinja quips again to a number of snorts and chuckles.

"Besides, if our ship looks too clean and shiny, the Taidan might spot us coming from afar!" someone adds, this time provoking some outright laughter. And with it, most of the tension that permeated the bridge simply dissipates.

But all that good cheer disappears a couple hours later, when Naqam's sensors pick up the wreck of a Buujan mining vessel.

"It was a precision strike: see how there's no plasma scoring anywhere but the aft section?" Erinja explains the images thrown up on the bridge's main display. "They ruptured the fuel tanks - the explosion was strong enough to cause the ship to break apart, but not disintegrate. Then they came back afterward, picked it clean of anything of value. It's nothing but a husk now."

"They weren't even armed," someone spits angrily. A Sleeper.

"Best kind of target to attack," a veteran shrugs. "One that can't fight back."

"Do Taidan raid groups scavenge like this often?" you ask.

"Depends on the situation, but it makes sense for long-term operations," Erinja shrugs. "A single frigate can only carry so much fuel and raw resources for repairs and rearming. And regardless of how cautious the commander might be, the strike craft will be taking damage every time they attack something that can fight back."

"The message from Kiith Buujan mentioned they had to cease mining operations," you say thoughtfully. "If the Taidan are being denied easy targets, does it mean they could be facing resource pressure as well? As you said, their corvettes would be taking damage every time they attack the asteroid's defense grid, no?"

"It's very possible," Erinja narrows her eyes speculatively. "Are you going somewhere with this, kiith'sa?"

"I'm not sure," you admit with a shrug. "For now, we should hurry and make contact with Kiith Buujan."

Soon enough you are back under way, leaving the burned out wreck behind.

"This is Kiith Tambuur vessel Naqam'Math, hailing the Kiith Buujan base. Kiith Buujan base, please come in."

It takes a couple minutes of repeated hails - delivered via directed laser burst transmission - before you finally get a response.

"This is Kiith Buujan station Gaan-Kad," the voice crackles and distorts slightly. "We are reading you Naqam'Math but were are having trouble locking onto your exact location."

"That is by design, Gaan-Kad. We arrived in response to your call for aid, as well as to fulfill Kiith Tambuur's debt of gratitude to your kiith. However, we wish to remain hidden as to not to alert the Taidan to our presence."

Soon enough you're talking to someone much higher up in Kiith Buujan's chain of leadership, explaining your ship's ability to fool sensors and the plan your crew has in mind for hunting down the Taidan frigate. The way you see it, this is not the time to circumspect about your capabilities and intentions - from Buujan's perspective you are the ones lurking like bandits within their territory. Being forthright may be the only hope you have of convincing them to go along with your plan.

Kiith Buujan's response is what you'd call mixed. They make no quarrel with Naqam'Math remaining hidden, lurking outside the sphere of open space the mining kiith has cleared around their asteroid. However, they offer no comment on and even seem to brush off your plan for tracking down the frigate, eventually ending communication, saying that the matter requires "further consultation".

"Of course it does," Erinja comments with a shrug. "Just like any of us would consult you first on any decision of importance, kiith'sa, the Buujan also have a leader and he has his advisors. Let's just give it time."

You spend it studying Kiith Buujan's home. Gaan-Kad is a sizeable asteroid with most of the living space carved deep within its core - or so you assume based on how little man-made construction is visible on its surface. A few solar collectors, exhaust ports for heat management, the sharp spires of sensor clusters, a bay door here or there... and a number of defensive turrets. Though most of them appear to be large mass drivers, meant to engage capital ships - corvettes and bombers would have no issue dodging these. Kiith Buujan must've counted on their drones for defense against smaller craft. Unfortunately, the Taidan came prepared.

The main problem, you quickly realize, is the size of the cleared area around the base and the inability to predict which direction the Taidan will attack from next. Should they come from the far side of wherever you position your ship, the time needed for you to work your way around the edge of the sphere may mean that the raiders will retreat before you're in position to follow them. Or that, through sheer bad luck, you may be spotted in the process of maneuvering.

It's approximately an hour until Gaan-Kad hails you. This time, the voice on the other end introduces himself as Maarun Buujan'sa, causing everyone on the bridge to instinctively straighten up - you are talking to the leader of the kiith.

"Tambuur'sa, my people tell me that you intend to hide and wait until we are attacked again," he begins right after you introduce yourself. "Then continue to wait, even as my defenses burn and my people bleed."

There is a dissatisfied mutter among your crew - he all but accused you of cowardice. But you signal for them to settle down.

"It is not out of unwillingness to fight that I propose this plan," you reply calmly. "But out of desire to kill each and every Taidan harassing your kiith, without giving them a chance to flee and regroup," you once more go over the concerns voiced by the veterans among your crew: of the cautious nature of enemy tactics, and of corvettes and bombers being easily replaceable, while the frigate is the real prize. "But I will admit that is a plan we conceived not knowing the full extent of Kiith Buujan's resources and abilities. If there is a better role that Naqam'Math could play in this conflict, I am open to suggestions."

Buujan'sa takes his time answering.

"If I told you that Kiith Buujan has the means to track the raiders to their source," he says finally, would you be willing to take a more active role in defending Gaan-Kad against the next attack?"

There is another murmur among your crew. They lean forward, expressions alert, eyes wide open as they throw significant glances your way.

"I would first ask about the method you have for tracking them," you ask the obvious question. "And why you haven't taken advantage of it yet."

The communicator crackles in what you realize is a dry chuckle.

"It is a specialized sensor suite. New technology - we wanted a long range scanner capable of detecting certain trace elements from afar. What we discovered in the course of testing is that it can also detect lingering particles left behind by engine exhaust. Not from very far, however. Also, it is still a crude device: large and bulky. Takes up half the cargo hold of our harvester."

"So an unarmed, vulnerable ship that would need to be protected as it locates the frigate," Erinja speaks up suddenly. "And slow as well - which would mean the need to change the whole plan. The asteroid field may limit the range of communications, but for the frigate to remain ignorant, we would need to destroy the entire attacking strike force - not a single Taidan ship could be allowed to escape."

"And you are?" Buujan'sa's voice betrays annoyance at this interruption.

"That is Erinja Tambuur, my Navigation officer and also one of my advisors," you explain. "And would you call her analysis of the situation accurate, Buujan'sa?"

"Accurate enough," the other man concedes.

>You will insist that your original plan has a greater chance of success - when pressed, Kiith Buujan admits that it should have enough drones to fight off another assault. However, the problem of where to position your ship remains unsolved
>You will concede that if Buujan sensor tech works as advertised, it makes more sense to follow the engine trails (you will still need to wait for the attack, as the particles only linger for about a day before decaying too much for the sensors to pick up). However, you will need a reliable way to engage and destroy the entire Taidan strike force, leaving no survivors to alert the frigate
>write-in

>>6019911

>You will concede that if Buujan sensor tech works as advertised, it makes more sense to follow the engine trails (you will still need to wait for the attack, as the particles only linger for about a day before decaying too much for the sensors to pick up). However, you will need a reliable way to engage and destroy the entire Taidan strike force, leaving no survivors to alert the frigate

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth - the Taiidan aren’t ready for two new technologies, especially since the Gaan-Kad has been waiting to deploy it

>>6019923
Ditto, plus it gives us the opportunity to Space-Crucify some Taiidan

>>6019909
>You will concede that if Buujan sensor tech works as advertised, it makes more sense to follow the engine trails (you will still need to wait for the attack, as the particles only linger for about a day before decaying too much for the sensors to pick up). However, you will need a reliable way to engage and destroy the entire Taidan strike force, leaving no survivors to alert the frigate

>>6019911
>>You will concede that if Buujan sensor tech works as advertised, it makes more sense to follow the engine trails (you will still need to wait for the attack, as the particles only linger for about a day before decaying too much for the sensors to pick up). However, you will need a reliable way to engage and destroy the entire Taidan strike force, leaving no survivors to alert the frigate

>>6019911
>You will concede that if Buujan sensor tech works as advertised, it makes more sense to follow the engine trails (you will still need to wait for the attack, as the particles only linger for about a day before decaying too much for the sensors to pick up). However, you will need a reliable way to engage and destroy the entire Taidan strike force, leaving no survivors to alert the frigate
Rig a mining ship to blow then mop up the survivors.

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6019911
>>You will insist that your original plan has a greater chance of success - when pressed, Kiith Buujan admits that it should have enough drones to fight off another assault. However, the problem of where to position your ship remains unsolved

"Then it is as I said, Buujan'sa," you inform him, not bothering to suppress the bloodlust creeping into your voice as you continue. "Mine and my kiith's goal here is to make certain every single piece of Taidan filth pays for this attack against the Kushan people. The sooner and easier we can achieve this goal, the better. So if your new sensor can indeed assist us later, Kiith Tambuur will be more than happy to defend your station first."

"I am very happy to hear that, Tambuur'sa. I will inform my strategist and he will begin making plans for how to best incorporate your ship into our defense."

"If I may, Buujan'sa," Erinja cuts in, though this time she remembers to keep her tone at least somewhat deferential. "Our own analysis of Taidan tactics indicates they adopted a cautious, conservative approach. Simply putting Naqam'Math on display as part of your defense fleet may scare them off entirely if they decide the risk of engaging us is too high."

"And do you have a proposal - or simply a complaint?"

"We borrow the lessons of our lost home," she answers confidently. "Specifically, the tro'koth."

Naturally, there wasn't a Kharak-born who wasn't familiar with the tro'koth. A wily reptilian scavenger with a distinct nose horn that was known for two things: getting into places it shouldn't and, when seasons turned harsh and food ran scarce, for becoming a fierce hunter that would make predators its prey.

And its favored method of hunting them was by feigning injury and luring the predator out of its lair in hopes of an easy meal.

"But who do you envision playing the tro'koth's part?" the Buujan leader asks, his tone part wary, part contemplative.

>Your own ship will play the part, feigning battle damage and drive malfunction. This will likely mean you'll be forced to take the full brunt of Taidan strike, possibly even beyond Buujan support range. But the other kiith will likely respect you a lot more for taking that risk
>You will have to persuade Kiith Buujan to feign weakness. When the next attack comes, they will deploy only part of their defense grid, convincing the Taidan that it was depleted. Your own ship will move in once the bombers commit to the fight
>write-in

My apologies for the delayed update, life got busy toward the end of the work week. This is the last vote before your first proper fight

>>6022679
>>Your own ship will play the part, feigning battle damage and drive malfunction. This will likely mean you'll be forced to take the full brunt of Taidan strike, possibly even beyond Buujan support range. But the other kiith will likely respect you a lot more for taking that risk

While risky, this could help us in the long run. And for a good reason : we have already a good starting relation with Kiith Buujan.

We should create a better relation with Kiith Buujan, even if they are small like our Kiith. A friend can be someone you can talk with and trade. And a friend can become an ally, someone you can bond with, fight side by side and work together on projects from politics, to construction, to exploration, to science. For complete our vengeance we will need much help.
Lets show our bravery.
Very cool quest btw

>>6022679

>You will have to persuade Kiith Buujan to feign weakness. When the next attack comes, they will deploy only part of their defense grid, convincing the Taidan that it was depleted. Your own ship will move in once the bombers commit to the fight.

We’re the ambusher, not the prey!

>>6022679
>Your own ship will play the part, feigning battle damage and drive malfunction. This will likely mean you'll be forced to take the full brunt of Taidan strike, possibly even beyond Buujan support range. But the other kiith will likely respect you a lot more for taking that risk
We will take this burden upon ourselves

>>6022679
>>Your own ship will play the part, feigning battle damage and drive malfunction. This will likely mean you'll be forced to take the full brunt of Taidan strike, possibly even beyond Buujan support range. But the other kiith will likely respect you a lot more for taking that risk

>>6022679
>Your own ship will play the part, feigning battle damage and drive malfunction. This will likely mean you'll be forced to take the full brunt of Taidan strike, possibly even beyond Buujan support range. But the other kiith will likely respect you a lot more for taking that risk

First impressions and allat
Would also be a good test of our pew pews

Rolled 4 (1d5)

>>6022709
>>6022913
>>6022985
>>6024308
You will be both the bait and the jaws of the trap. Specifically, Naqam'Math will mask some of its weapon systems and feign battle damage along with engine trouble, covertly move back to the edge of the field and then take the "proper" route toward the Buujan base while broadcasting a distress signal.

The roll is for where the Taidan decide to ambush you:

1 - far enough from Buujan base that the battle will be resolved before backup arrives
2 - support will arrive soon, but you'll have to hold out until then
3, 4 - an attempted lightning strike as your ship enters the cleared zone around Buujan's asteroid. Their forces will join you after the first set of rolls
5 - a massed strike against your ship as it's docked at one of the asteroid's external docks for "repairs"

>>6024411
Boy, these Taiidans are real desperate, huh? You sure they're crewed by actual Taiidans and not the Turanic Raiders?

Here from the QTG. Excellent quest thus far, QM! I've been in a Homeworld mood recently, and this quest is scratching that itch. I love your writing style, too.

Will be following this quest with great anticipation.

>>6024411
Very good time to kill them. For Kiith Tambuur and Kiith Buujan !

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"This is exploration vessel Naqam'Math to Buujan station Gaan-Kad. Gaan-Kad, please come in. We have come under pirate attack and have suffered extensive damage. We require immediate assistance. Gaan-Kad, please come in."

The atmosphere on the bridge is tense, the silence only interrupted by the comm operator's intermittent callouts on an open frequency. After all, even though it's all an intentional deception to draw the Taidan out, the fact remains that you're still making your ship and your kiith and a target.

Apparently it's remarkably easy to feign battle damage - at least when a couple members of the repair crew have experience with hull repairs from the Exodus. Scorch marks burned into the hull with plasma torches and then sprayed over with breach filler to simulate extensive external damage. A few pieces of twisted metal taken from one of the Buujan wrecks and spot welded onto your own ship. One of Naqam's engines turned off, drastically slowing your pace. And to complete the illusion of you being just a lightly armed exploration vessel, most of the hardpoints covered up with paper-thin sheets of metal painted to blend in with the hull, but wired with low yield charges to blast them clear once the charade ends and combat starts.

After making the alterations, you had Naqam covertly retreat from the asteroid belt and even make a short distance hyperjump -- only to jump right back in, at the start of the buoy-lined corridor serving as the official route into Buujan territory. And that's where you are right now, the ship limping along and doing what it can to make itself seem helpless and attract, while Navigation stares at sensor displays for the slightest sign of Taidan presence.

"Contact," Erinja says with a veteran's calm at one point, causing a visible ripple to run through the less experience crew - and your own heart to freeze over for a second.

But the blip only skims the outer edge of your sensor bubble and disappears almost immediately. Erinja says she's "pretty sure" it was a pair of scout ships, but even she couldn't get a positive ID in time.

Frustratingly, there are no further contacts as Naqam'Math limps along the corridor, until eventually the cleared zone around the Buujan asteroid comes into view. From there, the deception entails parking your ship some distance away from the other kiith's base, simulating reactor trouble that would make it too dangerous to bring it into an internal dock. However, if even that proves insufficient to provoke the Taidan... well, at that point you're out of ideas.

Luckily, it doesn't come to that.

File: taidan multi-gun corvette.png (259 KB, 740x620)

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"Contacts. Multiple. Closing in," Erinja reports in the same calm, precise voice. "Four corvettes leading."

This has been predicted, discussed, planned for, both when coordinating this deception with the Buujan and in tactical meetings with your veterans. The idea that this would be the moment the raiders would choose to strike - when, for the desperate crew of a heavily damaged exploration vessel, safety was literally within sight.

Truly, Taidan cruelty knows no bounds.

"Steady," you manage to force the word out though your mouth is dry as a Kharak desert as the four sensor blips representing the Taidan corvettes rapidly close with Naqam. "Let them pass."

This also came up during the tactical briefs. That the raiders would use the relatively sturdy corvettes as a lead element to feel your ship out - to confirm that you're easy prey, presenting no threat to the much more fragile bombers that would be trailing behind.

The corvettes enter combat range - and it begins. The rapid, metallic staccato of autocannon rounds impacting Naqam's hull, sending vibrations through the entire ship, growing in intensity and frequency until it becomes a solid, deafening, terrifying wall of noise there is no escape from.

The veterans remain calm. They've lived through such things before. But looking around the bridge, you see bulging eyes and bared teeth: stricken expressions of people convinced they're about to die. Even you - you realize - are gripping your chair's armrests with all your might, your whole body stiff as a rod, seemingly vibrating in rhythm with the impacts.

"Steady!" you manage to croak out. "That's anti-fighter weaponry. They can't pierce Naqam's armor. All they can do is make noise!"

It's a lie. With this volume of fire, there will be damage. Nothing critical: dents, cracks, weakened armor sections. But it will make the ship more vulnerable to follow-up attacks.

But sometimes a comforting lie is what people need to endure that which they can't avoid.

>Hull damage: 3
>Hull Points: 27/30

Then the noise tapers off and stops - and the corvettes are ahead of you, arranging themselves into a barrier formation to intercept the reinforcements already deploying from the Buujan base: swarm fighters brought along by their kiith's Kadeshi members along with combat drones. All, unfortunately, easy prey to the multi-gun corvettes' autocannons.

"Incoming. Bombers. Eight," Erinja reports - which, funnily enough, calms you down a bit. Because the plan worked. They've taken the bait. "Orders, kiith'sa?"

And now the conundrum your kiith brought up when discussing the tactics of this fight. Do you turn your guns on the corvettes ahead, to mitigate losses of Kiith Buujan?

Or do you prioritize the bombers, to minimize the damage to your ship?

File: Naqam'Math Statsheet.png (56 KB, 750x750)

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Rolled 5, 2, 2, 6, 5, 3, 3 = 26 (7d6)

But before all that, let's talk some MECHANICS.

This quest uses a variation on Cleaner Quest mechanics, i.e. you roll d6's for most things, with 1-2 being no successes, 3-4 being a half-success, and 5-6 being a full success. However, in this quest, generally only the players will roll, with opponents being assigned static, average values (this may change if you ever face enemy Ace pilots and commanders, but it is not the case in this fight). Partial successes are accounted for in any calculation, but the final result is generally rounded down.

Also, for this fight only your crew still counts as "Unblooded" - they lack the experience, discipline, and cohesion needed to make the ship fight to its full potential. This means you earn half-successes on rolls of 3-5, with full successes only on 6s.

Each combat round begins with a MANEUVER roll: for Naqam'Math that is a roll of 7d6. For the sake of pacing I will be making those rolls, but this will give you the benefit of knowing how many Maneuver successes you have to incorporate into this round's tactics.

Might as well cover what you can do with the Maneuver roll. In your current ship, you have three options:

OUTFLANK: this will mostly be relevant in capital ship battles, where facing and coverage matters. You first need to spend enough successes to deplete the other ship's static Maneuver pool (you skip this step if the target is not actively Maneuvering against you), then spend one success per section you're moving to (forward, rear, left, right, top, bottom). It's generally pointless (and hopeless) to try and Outflank strike craft.

EVADE: get the ship out of the way of incoming ordnance, but also do things like angling the hull to increase deflection chance or rotating while under attack by beam weapons to distribute the damage among multiple armor plates while protecting the internals. Each success spent mitigates one point of incoming Hull damage for the round.

DEATHROLL: rotate the ship along its axis (or multiple) to get more weapons on a given target. Turret mounts require one success to bring to bear, while fixed mounts require two. You never need to spend Maneuver dice against targets that are already within a given weapon's arc of fire. Keep in mind that you generally roll dice for each weapon system once per round.

Let's move on to WEAPONS. To begin with, this system splits weapons into three broad but important categories:

ANTI-CAPITAL weapons such as ion beams, plasma bombs, or heavy mass drivers
ANTI-CORVETTE weapons such as missiles, energy lances, or medium mass drivers
ANTI-FIGHTER weapons such as flak, autocannons, or light mass drivers

A weapon from one category will generally be a lot less effective against targets from another - this is to represent things like capital grade armor being able to deflect low caliber munitions, large turret tracking being ineffective against nimble strike craft, etc. In general, a weapon's effectiveness halves for each "step" of category mismatch. In Naqam's case this means its fixed mount ion beams will deal half damage against corvettes and 1/4 against fighter craft. This calculation is performed after the weapon roll and the resulting number of successes is rounded down - meaning that it's possible to achieve a damage value of zero through sheer weapon mismatch.

Something else to keep in mind is that even though you generally only roll once per weapon system in a round, this does not mean it is only fired once: a single round represents a couple to a few minutes of combat, with ships maneuvering around each other while discharging weapons, strike craft making multiple attack runs, etc. This has two notable effects on how dice rolls are interpreted:

1) There will be a fair attempt at ensuing there is no "wasted" damage. If a weapon system destroys its active target and has successes left over, they will be transferred over to the next most logical target (provided there is one within the weapon's firing arc)
2) If a ship does not participate in a full round of combat, whether because it was destroyed or because it was not part of the battle and needed time to move into combat range, the successes it rolled (or the static damage dealt in case of enemy craft) will be halved after all other calculations are performed.

The last thing to cover are Naqam'Math's firing arcs. It has two fixed ion beams pointed forward and four helix beams, with one along the top, bottom, left, and right side each. However, they are installed in an atypically rotated, asymmetric configuration, meaning there are two weapon systems covering every direction but front (a more typical configuration would allow you to bring three weapons to bear against the top, bottom, or sides, but leave the rear without any coverage). I will not be obsessively autistic about which helix lens covers which two sections, but keep the above in mind when deciding how many successes to spend on a DEATHROLL.

File: Buujan fight round 1.png (46 KB, 750x750)

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That should just about cover things on my end. It looks like you have 3 Maneuver successes to spend however you see fit. So without further ado:

>suggest a battle plan for this round

A few more things to keep in mind:
- the corvettes will not fire upon you this round. However, if left alone, they will absolutely shred incoming Buujan support
- the bombers will not hesitate to tear you a new one for 16 total damage if left alone.
- remember that you don't need to spend Maneuver successes if a target is already within a given weapon's firing arc
- The "scatter" tag means that, when firing upon a wing of strike craft, damage cannot be focused and will be assigned randomly. The "barrage" tag means that the damage from all weapons with that tag on a single capital ship or wing of strike craft is added together before applying reductions for target mismatch

Also, if the art currently looks kinda naff, it's because I would've run out of time to make this update before work otherwise. I will keep working on improving it as the quest goes on

So if I'm reading this right, we roll once per weapon system, per round. Do we fire automatically when enemies are in range? It seems the bomber wings are closing in, and we can shred them with our Helix Beams, while the Corvettes are... also in our firing arcs? Does that mean we can fire the forward Ion Beams on the Corvettes, and then split the 4 Helix Beams between the two bomber wings?

>>6025489
If I'm understanding this right, we don't need to deplete the enemy's maneuver pool if they're not maneuvering towards us. If that's the case, does that case apply to the corvettes? They seem to be staying in Barrier Formation to try and deal with the incoming reinforcements.

Here's what I've got, following these assumptions. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong-- I'm still trying to learn the system.

>Outflank (1 success), to move to the rear of the Multi-Gun Corvettes
>Evade (2 successes), to reduce incoming damage by 2

I was tempted to perform a deathroll, but it seems we've only got 4 Helix Beams, all of which, will be in use (2 per side)-- not to mention that the enemy bomber wings are already in the Helix Beams' arcs of fire. Of course, if it turns out we can indeed deathroll to fire the same guns on the enemy multiple times, I propse deathrolling twice, to just absolutely obliterate the bomber wings.

I am thinking we first fire in the corvettes ass (those two blue points are ion beams or the helix ? Which is blue and and which is purple ?) while announcing on comms their doom, then deathroll and fire on the coming bombers, maybe add an evade has the last one for avoid bombs of the bombers.
Not sure if this is viable, but the suprise reveal and offense should make our foes kinda disorganize a bit. Maybe enough for our friends to disperse and not just be butchered.

>>6025571
>>6025489
i ll support this instead now seems more organized.

>>6025571
Phone posting from work to clarify:

You don't need to spend Maneuver dice on engaging with the enemy. Anything within the lighter blue circle on the combat map is considered in range and will usually need to make an explicit effort to leave it.

There is very little point to trying to Outflank strike craft in a frigate. They will almost always win and facing doesn't really matter for them.

No, you cannot fire weapons multiple times in a round - you only get a single roll. The reason to Deathroll in this scenario would be if you wanted to drop all your helix beams on a single wing of bombers - or if you wanted to fire them on the corvettes instead.

>>6025573
Art doesn't really matter for the purpose of mechanics. The ion beams have the "front" tag so they fire in the forward arc.

>>6025652
and I meant "forward" tag, gah

>>6025652
Aha, gotcha! Thanks for the clarifications. In that case, I'll change my vote here >>6025571
...

>Evade (3 successes).

I think it's better to spread out the damage than to obliterate a single wing, considering how much coverage with firing arcs we've got. I suppose there's also merit in dumping *everything* into the Corvettes, but I'd really rather not eat 16 damage from a single bombing run.

>>6025710

Supporting this - we make evasive maneuvers to mitigate our own damage, and start blasting both the corvettes and bombers.

I’m hoping that we can catch the fleeting craft by surprise when we suddenly spool up to full speed - maybe we can eliminate the whole bunch of them before they can escape

good plan

>>6025489
I wonder, could we outflank the corvettes and get in front of them? We block them from firing on the Buujan fighters, destroy them next round, and let the fighters mop up the bombers?

>>6026352
I thought so at first as well, but Corvettes are Strikecraft, not Capital Ships-- they're much more maneuverable than our Frigate (which is a Capital Ship), so there's not much point in trying for an Outflank.

That being said, there *is* some merit in Deathrolling instead to just fire all guns on the Corvette Wing, but doing so means letting the Bomber Wings complete their run unopposed.

Alright, pretty much everyone seems to be in agreement that you will do your best to dodge the bombers while shooting in all directions.

Could I then have the following:
Two anons roll 12d6 each for attacks vs the corvette wing
Two anons roll 8d6 each for attacks against the bombers. The first roll will be against the wing attacking your engines, the other against the one on the right flank.

Rolled 1, 6, 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 2 = 38 (12d6)

>>6025652
okay then

>>6026450
rolll

Rolled 3, 5, 2, 4, 1, 2, 6, 3, 2, 6, 1, 3 = 38 (12d6)

>>6026450

Second roll for corvette attack

Rolled 2, 6, 4, 6, 5, 5, 4, 6 = 38 (8d6)

>>6026450
Rolling against first bomber wing.

>>6026459
>>6026460
>>6026504

>3 38’s in a row

wtf, is 38 our lucky number?

>>6026511
Maybe
Another roll

>>6026770
Dropped the notation, friend. It's dice+8d6 (or however many dice is needed) in the options field.

Rolled 3, 1, 3, 5, 4, 5, 3, 4 = 28 (8d6)

>>6026450
kaboom
>>6026857
roger

Not QM, but I want to see if I got my numbers right. I'm taking the Unblooded penalty into account, and may have missed some things.

>>6026459
2 successes, 4 partial successes, for 4 successes.

>>6026460
2 successes, 5 partial successes, for 4.5 successes, rounded down to 4 successes.

>>6026504
3 successes, 4 partial successes, for 5 successes.

>>6026873
7 partial successes, for 3.5 successes, rounded down to 3 successes.

So that's 4+4 damage dealt to the Corvettes, but since we have weapon mismatch, we deal half that much, for 2+2. With a total of 4 damage, we should take out one out of the four Multi-Gun Corvettes this round.

Meanwhile, we dealt 5 damage to the Bombers in the rear (taking out two, and leaving one on 1/2 HP), and 3 damage to the Bombers on the right flank (taking out one, and leaving another on 1/2 HP).

If I'm reading the rules on ships not participating in a full round of combat correctly, that means... The incoming Buujan Reinforcements take 3x3= 9 damage and 3/2=1.5=1 damage, for a total of 10 damage. The Scatter tag on their guns helps us out a bit, but it's possible we can be losing up to 5 ships, assuming they've got 2 HP like the Bombers do.

As for the Naqam, we're going to eat 5x2=10 damage and 3x1=3 damage, for a total of 13 damage, subtracted by our Evasion, for 10 damage total.

Things are... not looking good for us, admittedly. Between the imminent ship losses from the Buujan, and the fact that we'll be on 17/30 HP next turn... we're going to need some good die rolls to really turn the tide.

Of course, the Buujan Reinforcements should technically do half-damage on entry, though whether or not they'll be able to punch through and take out some of the Corvettes, I'm not sure.

With (what I think is) a greater understanding of the system, it definitely seems like the best course of action is actually to Deathroll frequently, bringing all guns to bear and just eliminating as many ships as possible to reduce active damage via the 'halve incoming damage on kill' rule. This may change in Capital Ship battles, or in fights against ships with Weapon Mismatch.

Next turn, depending on what the weapon systems of the Buujan Reinforcements are, it may even be prudent to just Deathroll against the Corvettes and then let the Buujan Fighters assist the Naqam'math against the Bombers. With 5 Bombers remaining, they can do 10 damage at most, and even if the remaining Corvettes join in, they'd deal 2 damage, for a total of 12.

Although... If all enemies decide to dogpile us next turn, we'll need to kill at least one ship, or we'll die on the subsequent turn, even after eliminating the bombers (as they'd deal 10/2=5 damage).

...here's hoping the Bombers need to rearm and refuel after a bombing run.

Overall, interesting combat system, QM! I can see you've put a lot of thought into it, though I will be lying if I didn't say I was fearing for our lives right now. I suppose that's the fate of the Tambuur, eh?

>>6026921
Your math is almost entirely correct. The only inaccuracy would be the damage the Buujan reinforcements take, which is none since they are taking this entire round to simply deploy and fly over from the asteroid. They will appear on the combat map at the start of next round and will be dealing and taking full damage vs the corvettes. Also, even if they were to join the fight partway through this round they'd be taking half damage anyway, but that is entirely my bad for forgetting to specify that the "half damage on joining combat partway through a round" rule works both ways.

I'm glad you enjoy the system. It does have a few kinks I still need to work out regarding some mechanics that will be introduced in the future but it's serviceable enough.

Now for the bad news: I am currently experiencing some shift fuckery at work that's leaving me with very little actual free time. I might be able to make an update later today but I wouldn't count on it. Friday is far more likely.

>>6026998
Interesting, gotcha! Good to know that actors entering combat also take half in addition to dealing half, for sure. It's nice to hear that the Buujan won't be obliterated this round-- we may be able to lend a hand later.

As for work, no problem! Thanks for keeping us updated. Will be keeping an eye on this thread regardless.

ahem...... DEATH TO TAIDAN SCUM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


thanks for coming to my Kiith talk
- Tambuur'sa

File: taidan attack bomber.png (239 KB, 700x559)

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Rolled 6, 1, 5, 1, 6, 6, 4 = 29 (7d6)

There is a silence on the bridge as every face turns toward you, breaths held, expressions eager. Awaiting what you say next.

You inhale through the nose, your jaw tightening. Reminding yourself that as their captain, their leader, their kiith'sa, it is your duty to hide your own excitement, tension, fear. To be a pillar of calm and confidence upon which your kiith can lean for support.

"Gunnery section, you're weapons free." you say, surprising yourself with how steady your voice sounds. " "Helm, after the first salvo go to full engine power, begin evasive maneuvers."

"Evasive maneuvers, aye!" Helm responds.

"Remember to keep main guns on target!" the Gunnery officer calls out. "Gunners, choose your targets, confirm weapon locks."

"Five seconds till bombers are in range," Navigation calls out.

"Lock confirmed."

"Lock confirmed."

"Lock... one moment... lock confirmed!"

"Blowing hardpoint covers on mark..."

"Bombers are in range."

"Mark!"

From your perspective, nothing happens when the covers are blasted away - the explosion too minor to even register on the hull.

But you do feel the hum. The subtle vibration that runs through the entire ship as the particle accelerators spring to life, draining capacitors of the vast amount of power needed to create a coherent energy beam.

"Fire!"

On the main display, two blue beams, their core blindingly white, project forward, converging somewhere far ahead in the darkness of space.

And a moment later, at their meeting, there is the flash of an explosion.

"Taidan corvette destroyed!" the declaration is met with a spontaneous roar of approval.

"Plasma bombs incoming!" a sharp cry silences it immediately. And Naqam'Math shudders as Helm pulls it into a sharp, rising roll. Which lets the ship evade the brunt of the initial salvo, but certainly not all of it - not with the far nimbler strike craft able to simply roll their frames to compensate.

Unlike the autocannons earlier, the bombs make no sound as they impact the ship. The noise comes moments later - as the charge's containment fails and superheated plasma bores into the armor, evaporating large chunks of it in explosions that reverberate throughout the hull.

It was an inevitability - the moment you agreed that Naqam would be the bait to draw in the Taidan, you knew the ship would be taking damage. But you still have to suppress a pained wince as the reports start rolling in.

"Breach in starboard storage bay - it's venting atmosphere! Damage to port engine coupling, dispatching repair crew. Multiple impacts across starboard armor..."

But you have the advantage of the unfamiliar. The helix-beam system is a novelty, a prototype design judged too expensive and unwieldy for mass production. Naqam, as far as you know, is the only ship in existence to use it. The Taidan cannot possibly suspect that's what they'd be facing. Especially not on a ship that already displayed a standard forward beam configuration, typically unable to deal with strike craft in any real capacity.

The helix lenses lash out with thin blue lances of light, the beams cleaving through thin bomber armor with ease, erasing two craft before their complacent pilots can react. The rest of the formation breaks apart in momentary panic, scattering away from your ship while dodging frantically. However, the two wings quickly reform - remorseless butchers or not, these are trained military pilots after all - and begin another attack run.

Ultimately it's your crew's inexperience that works against you. As Helm attempts to evade the bombers, they forget about the corvettes ahead, not allowing the main batteries a clear shot even after the particle accelerators build up a fresh charge. Helix beams continue to lance through space around your ship, but many of them miss the now far more cautious pilots. One more bomber does explode after its plasma containment system receives critical damage and two more are struck with glancing blows, receiving heavy damage even from half-second of contact with the beam. But they continue in their attacks, with more plasma bombs landing upon Naqam's hull and more breaches being reported by the increasingly frantic Damage Control.

>1 Taidan multi-gun corvette destroyed
>3 Taidan bombers destroyed
>2 Taidan bombers receive 1 Hull damage each
>Naqam'Math receives 10 Hull damage
>17/30 Hull Points remain

"Don't hurry your shots, damn it!" the Gunnery officer rages at his subordinates. "Wait for a firing solution first!"

"Man in the void! Man in the void! Repair crew member got sucked out through a breach!"

"Their suit's got a transponder, focus on killing these bastards first!"

"Comms, Navigation! Where are these Buujan reinforcements?!" you demand.

"Twenty seconds out!" Erinja reports, then turns away from the console with a frown. "Kiith'sa? This is strange... I think they've launched literally everything they have."

"Their comms traffic is strange too!" Communications adds. "They're uh... there's so much... they seem to think we're Kadeshi too?"

"Power spikes from bomber craft!" another Nav member cuts in. "Drive signatures! They're speeding up!"

"They're going evasive!" Erinja's attention snaps back to the console. "But continuing to attack!"

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Alright, time for some more MECHANICS.

The surviving bomber craft have just entered EVASIVE ATTACK mode, shunting power away from weapon systems and toward engines. What this means in mechanical terms is that their damage drops by half, but their Maneuver rating now matters a lot more - they apply half of it (rounded down) as a wing-wide Evasion Pool that needs to be depleted with weapon roll successes before any real damage can be dealt.

HOWEVER:

Your ship is armed with beam weaponry, which all possesses the "hitscan" tag. Which I waited to reveal until now in order not to overwhelm readers with irrelevant information and totally not because I simply forgot about it while hurrying the previous update out the door.

A hitscan weapon can outright negate up to X Evasion Pool points, where X is the number of dice that weapon rolls. So each of your Helix Beams can negate up to 4 points of Maneuver. Your main guns can negate 12 each. The negation from multiple weapon systems stacks.

HOWEVER:

This property, like raw weapon damage, is still subject to weapon mismatch rules. Meaning your forward ion beams can only negate 6 Evasion Pool points vs corvettes and 3 vs fighters.

But let's move on to discussing damage priority. Because with a lot of strike craft suddenly showing up on the field, an issue arises of how to deal with the "half damage on ship destruction" rule when there is high potential of ship loss on both sides, thus reducing damage dealt, thus meaning some of the ships that would originally be destroyed are now suddenly intact and dealing full damage, resulting in something of a paradox.

To keep things simple, you add the total damage dealt by a ship or wing to its Maneuver rating. The highest result is prioritized as dealing damage "first". Your ship is subject to the same rule, though its position in the damage queue is highly variable owning to needing to roll both Maneuver and weapon dice (the number of weapons you point at a given target also matters in that regard).

But don't worry, I'll be doing most of the necessary math myself. So let's finally get to how the tactical situation looks for this coming round.

File: Buujan fight round 2.png (73 KB, 750x750)

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Buujan have launched all their remaining drones and Swarmer craft, along with a Fuel Pod ship. The critical weakness of Swarmers is that their insane Maneuver stat comes at the cost of equally insane fuel consumption, allowing them a maximum of two rounds of combat flight before needing to retreat into a Fuel Pod and spend an entire round refueling. They are committing to an all-out attack against the Multi-Gun Corvettes, which will be retaliating in kind.

As stated above, the bombers attacking you are in Evasive Attack mode, significantly cutting down the damage they'll deal to, admittedly, no real benefit to their survivability. They really have no experience with anti-fighter beam weaponry and likely haven't processed the full implications of how such a weapon would work.

You have 4 Maneuver Points to spend this round. So without further ado:

>propose a battle plan

Sorry about deleting this post in case anyone noticed. I realized I messed up badly with one of the statblocks

>>6029242

Well, my general thought is:

1) burn all maneuver points on Evade
2) throw everything we have at the bombers while they scramble, don’t love that we’ve taken so much damage already
3) any remaining attacks should be put towards the corvettes to help out the drones

Looks like my IP got banned temporarily, but welcome back, Kiith-Sa!

>>6029245
Right. Before I propose a plan, let's see how the damage will fall. Naturally, Kiith-Sa is free to correct any mistakes I make here.

>Damage Priority List

Naqam'Math: Variable; at least 4, but can be as high as 44, assuming perfect damage rolls. Since each die has a 66% chance of rolling 3 or higher on a roll, and we've got 40 total dice, we can assume we at least get... 19.8 damage on average? Assuming no weapon mismatch, anyway. Math is likely wrong here, but I think we can safely assume a range of 17-21 for damage priority.

Adv. Swarmer Wing (2 x 2): 4 + 15 = 19
Swarmer Wing (1 x 3): 3 + 12 = 15

Multi-Gun Corvette Wing (3 x 3) = 9 + 4 = 13
Bomber Wing (Starboard) (1 x 2): 3 + 7 = 10
Bomber Wing (Rear) (1 x 2): 2 + 7 = 9

Drone Swarm (.5 x 10): 5 + 1 = 6

Fuel Pod: 3

So the Naqam'Math will likely go first, unless we really screw up on our damage rolls, followed by the Swarmer Wings. The Corvette Wing is next, targeting the Drones, followed by the Bomber Wings targeting the Naqam. Then, any surviving drones take their shots.

As for damage (not taking Naqam into account for now)...

>Adv. Swarmer Wing deals 4 damage to Corvette Wing, takes out 1 Corvette.
>Swarmer Wing deals 3 / 2 = 1 damage to Corvette Wing.

>Multi-Gun Corvette Wing deals 3 x 2 = 6 + 1 damage to the Drone Swarm. I'm not actually sure how damage calculation works with 'half-hp' ships-- this could kill 7 drones, or the entire drone swarm.

>Bomber Wing (Starboard) deals 3 damage to the Naqam'Math.
>Bomber Wing (Rear) deals 2 damage to the Naqam'Math.

>Drone Swarm deals (.5 x 10) = 5 / 2 / 2 = 1 damage, regardless of whether or not 7 or the entire swarm is destroyed.

The Naqam'Math should, on average (assuming we fire the Ion Beams on the Corvettes, and the Helix Beams on the Bombers), deal 4.95 = 4 damage to the Corvettes, and deal 6.6 damage to the Bombers, if we spread it out between the two wings, that's 3 damage per wing. That's one more Corvette down, and 2 Bombers down per Wing.

If we assume the Naqam rolls the above dice, then the drones would take 5 damage (again, either enough to kill, or causing 5 to remain, depending on rules), while the Naqam would take 1 + 2 = 3 damage instead.

These are, of course, based on averages, and, my admittedly lackluster knowledge of dice statistics. We can certainly do better or worse based on the rolls we do in the future.

Overall, the Drone Swarm will eat it, but that's okay, because it's better to lose Drones than lose people (even if they are Kadeshi instead of Kushan). Ideally, we take out the Corvettes this round so that the Swarmers aren't threatened on the subsequent round.

>>6029336
Thus, here's my suggestion.

>Fire Ion Beams on Corvettes
>Deathroll (2 successes) to move clockwise, aiming (2) Helix Beam mounts against Corvette; other Helix Beam targets Bomber Wing (Rear)
>Evade (2 successes)

The added damage from the deathroll should (hopefully) be enough to take out the Corvette Wing in full if we get lucky (I think we actually only average at around 1.65 damage against the Corvette Wing with two mounts). Meanwhile, since the enemy will deal anywhere from 3-5 damage, we can safely Evade to negate the bulk of their damage. We have the hull for it, anyway.

>>6029336
Ok, once again my bad on being imprecise with the language. Calculating Naqam's damage priority would only involve damage from weapons fired into the Buujan vs Taidan dogfight. So if, for example, you did the same thing as last round and fired only the main guns at the corvettes, only the damage they rolled would count toward your damage priority.

>>6029338
Also, this will be expanded on in a future fight, but Deathrolling is performed with the assumption that Naqam ends up in the same relative position at the end of the maneuver. Rolling to point a different side at a target is a separate maneuver that will be a lot more relevant in frigate vs frigate fights.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this system does have some kinds to work out and it's a bit of a work in progress. I actually spend a lot of time at work running various combat scenarios in my head and exploring edge cases to figure out what kinds of mechanics are still needed.

>>6029340
Ahh, so it's based on the fight, gotcha. In that case, it's likely that the Multi-Gun Corvettes will outspeed us before the Naqam can fire another barrage. No worries. Does damage priority take weapon mismatch into account, in this case?

>>6029342
And good to know about the deathrolling ending up at the same relative position, gotcha. Makes sense though-- enemy shops are constantly maneuvering to avoid our main guns, while we do the same. That'll likely mean we'll need to deathroll multiple times in a fight to put damage downrange on single targets.

This combat system seems pretty cool thus far, and I'm excited for more fights in the future, heh.

>>6029357
> Does damage priority take weapon mismatch into account, in this case?

Yes.

>>6029338
>>6029245
I support this plan

>>6029338

I also support this anons battle autism

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>>6029338
+1 Support, if we kill those corvettes quick enough we can get fighter support from the drones to fully deal with these bombers.

Hope our guy in the deep black is alright, I am not keen on our first casualty be to faulty mag boots.

>>6029338
>>6029448
>>6029475
>>6029604
Seems we have a consensus.

In that case I will once again ask for:
- two anons to roll 12d6 each as the main battery opens up on the corvettes
- one anon to roll 8d6 as Naqam Deathrolls to allow two helix beams to also fire on the corvettes
- one anon to roll 8d6 against the bomber wing with 2 craft remaining

Rolled 6, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 3, 1, 4, 6, 3, 4 = 50 (12d6)

>>6029338
>>6026921
I'm this anon, posting from another location

>>6029951
Main Battery

Rolled 2, 6, 5, 6, 5, 1, 6, 1, 6, 5, 1, 5 = 49 (12d6)

>>6029951

Rolled 4, 3, 3, 6, 5, 6, 5, 2 = 34 (8d6)

>>6029951
Rolling for Deathroll

Rolled 5, 4, 2, 1, 1, 6, 2, 3 = 24 (8d6)

>>6029951
Rolling

IP likely changed again, and QM is free to correct my math, but...

>>6029982
3 successes, 8 partial successes, for 7 successes total.

>>6029996
4 successes, 4 partial successes, for 6 successes total.

>>6030038
2 successes, 5 partial successes, for 6.5 successes, rounded down to 6 successes total.

>>6030083
1 success, 3 partial successes, for 2.5 successes, rounded down to 2 successes total.

Good hits anons. If my math is right, we've obliterated the Corvette Wing, though a single bomber in the Bomber Wing remains alive with 1/2 HP due to some unlucky rolls. In hindsight, I should've instead targeted the Starboard Wing to reduce their 3 damage into 1 instead. Notes for later, I suppose.

Since we don't have Barrage, we take Weapon Mismatch into account for each individual hit. Both the Ion Beams and the Helix Beams fight corvettes one step worse than they should, so that means cutting the damage in half for each. 7/2= 3.5= 3 DMG, 6/2 = 3 DMG, and 6/2 = 3 DMG, for 9 DMG total.

That means we actually tie the Multi-Gun Corvette Wing for Damage Priority-- no idea who wins during ties, but if it's us, if we follow up after the Adv. Swarmer Wing, this means that by the time our damage resolves, all of the Corvettes will be destroyed, which is nice-- definitely makes the Deathroll worth it.

This has the side effect of neutering the Corvette damage from 9 to 4.5 = 4. We'll end up losing 8 drones (or 4 drones, depending on if damage against .5 HP targets roll over to other targets) instead of the entire swarm. Of course, if we lose ties, the entire swarm goes poof, but that's fine.

Meanwhile, we're dealing 2 damage to the Bomber Wing, taking out a single bomber and leaving the last one with 1/2 HP. A bit of a shame, but no problem. With the Corvettes down and our main guns free, we should be able to tear any stragglers a new one before they escape.

As for our own damage, we're going to be eating 2 + 3 = 5 - 2 = 3 damage, which brings us down to 14/30 (I thought we act first here, but I believe they have damage priority because we pointed our other Helix Mounts towards the Corvettes). Thankfully, even if all of the surviving bombers were to switch back to full assault mode, they'd only deal 8 DMG max, which should mean we're surviving the next round, no problem.

>>6030092
>(I thought we act first here, but I believe they have damage priority because we pointed our other Helix Mounts towards the Corvettes)

Damage priority only applies when both sides are taking losses during a round. When it's just Naqam vs other ships, it follows the standard "half damage on death" rule for the side getting blown up. Doing it this way feels a bit wonky, but it's the best I could come up with for resolving Shrodinger's damage from mutual destruction.

>no idea who wins during ties

For ties higher damage takes priority first, and if damage is tied, higher Maneuver takes it. But you bastards went and tied with the corvettes on both counts. So well done on producing a rare edge case in the very first fight.

For now I'll make an ad-hoc ruling that corvettes win priority due to not having weapon mismatch in this instance.

>>6030102
Gotcha, good to know. In that case, I believe we take 2 damage instead of 3, which is nice.

The Corvettes winning due to not having weapon mismatch sounds about right. I believe that means they're dealing 7 damage to the Drone Swarm, destroying it, before being shredded by our guns.

Good stuff overall!

Rolled 2, 2 = 4 (2d2)

So the dogfight plays out as follows due to damage priority rules:
- Adv. Swarmers deal 4 damage, blowing up one of the corvettes and dropping corvette damage to 7.5
- Swarmers deal 1.5 rounded to 1 damage
- Corvettes deal their 7.5 damage to the drones, destroying the entire swarm with 2.5 damage left over. Yes, it is possible to deal .5 damage to certain targets as long as they're just an engine with a gun strapped to it
- Due to the "no wasted damage when possible" rule, the 2.5 is rounded down to 2 and redirected toward the Adv. Swarmers. The roll accompanying this post is for the scatter property, i.e. it determines whether one dies or two just receive damage
- Naqam deals its 9 damage, destroying the remaining two corvettes with 2 damage left over but unfortunately no target to redirect it toward
- The Drone Swarm deals what is at this point an irrelevant 2.5 damage to the corvettes

The bombers continue their attack with one of them being destroyed, dropping its damage to .5 which gets rounded to 0. The remaining four deal 4-2=2 damage total to Naqam due to the Evade maneuver

>>6030119
Nice. The Naqam is alive and we didn't lose any men from our side of the fight only drones

I'll say is a nice battle so far, even if we still need to find the Taidan Frigate.

I am not sure if the surprise tactic really worked, the Taidan seemed ready for anything. Maybe when the crew is more
experienced. If nothing else we can further use this for create a solid relation with Kiith Buujan. I have thought of some stuff we can do after the battle.

- Celebration together, get to know them
- Get trade and dock rights
- Divide loot
- Repairs for Naqam
- Extend an offer of friendship if they aren't ready for an alliance

And offer them some merc work for some months (we get our crew to train more, get some pay and they get protection while rebuilding and expanding their defensive network with new turrets and drone swarms)

Do we expect the Ta*dan carrier to be defenseless from an armaments perspective?

Basically, should we rush the carrier immediately after we take out their corvette/bomber wings, or would it be possible to take some 2-3 hours to make some emergency repairs with the Gaan-Kad’s assistance if we expect further combat?

>>6030119
Damn, it slipped my mind that the exess damage would hit the Swarmers. And there goes my wish for a bloodless run. A shame about the lost extra damage-- looks like deathroll actually ended up being unnecessary because of good rolls on the ion cannons. Though then again, if we had rolled slightly better, we might've beaten the Corvettes to initiative, and ended up saving both the Drone Swarm and an Adv. Swarmer, so maybe we just didn't get lucky enough.

The bombers are largely within expected numbers, so the next round should be a breeze.

>>6030176
I suspect we actually lost an Adv. Swarmer if I'm interpreting the rolls right (i.e. they hit Ship #2 twice, killing it). I'd love to be wrong though.

>>6030179
>>6030243
The support frigate will definitely need to be finished off next run. If Erinja's words are right...

>"Heeshk class support frigates can carry up to ten fighter craft and four corvettes into a hyperjump," Erinja replies calmly, "and sensor data from Buujan indicates none of the attacks launched against them ever crossed that threshold."

Since we've scratched four corvettes and are about to splash eight bombers, we can expect the remaining Support Frigate to have two Bombers and nothing else-- though it wouldn't surprise me if there was a separate Combat Frigate around, acting as escort / fleet anchor.

Though the fuel traces will only be around for a day, but I still hope we get enough repairs to be in fighting shape by the next leg of the operation. We still need to escort their ore trawler with the scanner on their back, so unless the Taidan never see us coming, we should ready up.

Otherwise, I support this course of action. Buddying up with the Buujan, celebrating our first win, seeing if they have any more work for us... maybe we can even take a sample of that remote scanner for our own endeavors for hunting Taidan Ships.

File: swarmer meets corvette.png (325 KB, 1000x563)

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Rolled 5, 6, 4, 1, 1, 4, 1 = 22 (7d6)

"Assist the Buujan with destroying the corvettes," you order. "Do what you can to help them minimize losses. "Otherwise continue to evade and fend off these bombers."

On the tactical screen, the three corvettes have made contact with the drone swarm the Buujan deployed as a screen for their remaining fighter craft - the scant five that survived previous Taidan attacks. The drones, as far as you know, are a direct adaptation of Taidan's own drone technology: little more than an engine with a gun, a control module, and some basic sensors, all covered in plates thin enough that they'd have trouble stopping infantry weapons, never mind those mounted on spacecraft.

And while their small size and numbers are usually to their advantage, multi-gun corvettes are platforms specifically designed to defeat swarms of nimble strike craft - and on top of that, the "swarm" barely qualifies as such - the Buujan were only able to muster ten drones for their attack.

The space ahead lights up with tracer fire and almost immediately half the drones simply evaporate, some before they're even able to fire back.

But that is the purpose of these drones - to soak up weapons fire and attention while the more valuable strike craft controlled by even more valuable pilots move in to flank. Which is exactly what the Swarmers - unmistakably Kadeshi craft - do when they come in screaming on tight parabolas, discharging projectile cannons and some kind of unfamiliar energy weapon into the corvette formation.

Even as the last of the drones are wiped out, so does one of the corvettes suddenly become a cloud of rapidly expanding gas as one of the energy lances pierces through the top armor of the engine section, breaching and detonating the fuel tank.

But already, the remaining two corvettes are pivoting toward the Buujan craft that dealt the killing blow, weapons specifically designed to deal with the nimblest of strike craft tracking the swarmer with inexorable indifference.

Naqam hums with the resonance of charging particle accelerators. The main battery has the corvettes locked.

Twin beams of ion particles lance through the blackness of space with the speed of light. But, in the same moment, the Buujan craft is struck by a burst of autocannon slugs that have left their barrels a split second earlier.

Even as one corvette is cut in two and the other spins away wildly, venting atmosphere after being clipped by one of the beams, But on the display, the swarmer becomes a brief fireball, leaving a trail of ignited fuel as it spirals wildly for a few moments and explodes.

A handful of seconds later the last corvette meets its end from one of Naqam's helix turret, the weaker beam still more than sufficient to gut the already damaged craft. But even as a bloodthirsty cheer goes up among the bridge crew, your gaze still lingers on the tactical display and on the small triangular icon that is no longer there.

Damage Control calling out more impacts snaps you back to the present and you chastise yourself. There is still a fight raging around you and you have your own kiith to worry about. Plasma bombs continue to rain down upon Naqam's hull, though admittedly the barrage is nowhere near as intense as during the initial run, the surviving bombers more interested in dodging the helix beams than they are in landing accurate shots.

Unfortunately, your own gunners do little to justify this abundance of caution. Their inexperience continues to show, with one shot after another lancing through empty space rather than enemy craft, your novice crew letting their frustration get the better of them as the bombers' boosted engine output and tricky flying lets them avoid what seems like sure shots.

That one of the Taidan craft is finally pierced straight through by a single beam, its own destroyed weapon system turning it into a hot ball of plasma in the next split second, is more the work of luck rather than precise aim.

Yet, at the same time, that bomber's destruction becomes the turning point of the battle.

"Taidan craft are breaking off!" Erinja yells out abruptly. "I repeat, Taidan craft are retreating!"

"Don't let them! They'll alert the frigate!" someone yells out what everyone is thinking.

"Buujan craft are in pursuit!"

"They'll be low on fuel - they might not make it!"

"Gunnery! Destroy those bombers before they're out of range!"

"Aye, Kiith'sa! You heard him, get those weapon locks!"

>3 Taidan multi-gun corvettes destroyed
>1 Taidan bomber destroyed
>10 Buujan drones destroyed
>1 Buujan Advanced Swarmer destroyed
>Naqam'Math receives 2 Hull damage
>15/30 Hull Points remain

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Most likely the last bit of MECHANICS for this fight. As stated by Navigation, Taidan bombers have entered FULL EVASION and are attempting to flee the battlefield. Having transferred all power to engines, they can no longer attack, but their Evasion Pool is now equal to their full Maneuver value, requiring that much more effort to actually bring them down (for those without hitscan weapons anyway).

Buujan forces are in pursuit and have a speed advantage, however due to the distance involved they will be treated as entering combat with the bombers partway through the round, i.e. their damage will be halved (already accounted for on the battle map). However, that is the only real penalty they will receive: strike craft use their own Maneuver rating to counter an opponent's Evasion Pool and Swarmers have more than enough of that - for this next round at least. After which they will be out of fuel and forced to limp back to the Fuel Pod, unable to continue the pursuit.

You need to roll well enough to destroy the bombers this round, is what I'm saying. Otherwise they'll be able to get away and alert their support ship long before you can catch up to it.

You unfortunately only have 2 Maneuver Points for this round and though it seems like your only real option is to Deathroll and fire all available weapons, you still need to choose how many weapons to assign to each target without knowing your damage rolls in advance. So without further ado:

>propose a battle plan

>>6030299
If I'm reading this mechanic right, strikecraft use their own Evasion to counter the enemy Evasion. That means the (remaining) Advanced Swarmer, with 15 Maneuver, will easily counter the last Bomber's 7 Maneuver, but be insufficient, only delivering 1/2 (Weapon Mismatch)= 0.5 -> 0 DMG. If the other Swarmer or some of the Drones had survived through last round, we might not have to worry about that last one, but alas, we'll need to focus on firing on it, just to be sure.

Meanwhile, the Swarmer Wing will deal 1.5 -> 1 DMG to the Bomber Wing to the east, taking out one, but leaving the other ones healthy.

We can Deathroll with 2 Successes to bring (a singular) Ion Beam to bear, but we'd actually be cutting the weapon damage in quarters due to weapon mismatch, and to speak nothing of the Hitscan loss-- even a mighty 12d6 (Hitscan 12) becomes what is essentially 3d6 (Hitscan 3) (4.95 successes essentially reduced to 1.24 DMG against strikecraft with Hitscan 3...). the enemy bomber are simply too nimble against guns meant for capital ships! Even with a max roll of 12 successes, (Hitscan 3) only means we deal 3+3 'effective' successes, resulting in a miss against Maneuver 7. However, there is still merit in doing so, as Hitscan 3 will 'eat' the enemy evasion pool quicker for our helix guns to chew them up.

So then, I suppose the main issue is where to point our Helix Beams. It will be a gamble either way, but we want to avoid as little overkill as we can. With 4x4d6 (Hitscan 4), and a max of 2 each side, it's essentially 2 rolls of 8d6, each roll being technically 2 attacks (as we don't have the Barrage trait). That's an average of... 1.65 DMG with Hitscan 4?

...they're fast. I'm actually concerned that we cannot roll high enough to shoot them as they fly away. Thankfully, Evasion pool seems to deplete as damage and hitscan accumulates, and Hitscan does explicitly stack, so we've got a decent chance here. Here's hoping that Hitscan applies before any damage calculation is taken into account.

>>6030299
My suggestion, then, is...

>Deathroll (2 Successes) Ion Beam to Bomber Wing (Starboard).

We don't expect the deathroll to do any extra damage, but it depletes the enemy evasion pool, which is nice.

I considered taking one of the Helix Beams targeting the fleeing Bomber on our Rear, but doing so would actually cause our damage to kill if we roll perfect 6s on the 4d6-- odds I'm not willing to take. Thus, keeping two mounts on each Wing, with the added firepower of the Ion Beam should hopefully be enough to finish them off.

>>6030299

Damn.

I basically would suggest that we DEATHROLL and apply maximum attacks to the bigger bomber wing.

Well basically hope that the advanced swarmers can deal at least one damage to the single bomber fleeing south.

>>6030341

Once again I kneel to the superior tactical acumen of battle-anon. I need to take some time and actually learn the mechanics instead of shitposting on instinct…

>>6030299
>>6030341
Support this excellent battle plan

>>6030248
>Support Frigate to have two Bombers and nothing else-- though it wouldn't surprise me if there was a separate Combat Frigate around, acting as escort / fleet ancho
That would be hellish to fight.

>We still need to escort their ore trawler with the scanner on their back, so unless the Taidan never see us coming, we should ready up.
Ah right there is still that part to accomplish. We can do what i said in my post, when we are fully done with the Taidan then. We sound have earn it if we manage to bring this victory home

>>6030299
>>6030341
+1 support to plan

>>6030341
>>6030343
>>6030468
>>6030509
Once again, consensus is achieved.

I would thus like:
- an 8d6 roll against the single damaged bomber
- an 8d6 roll against the surviving wing of three
- and a 12d6 roll against the same three

Update probably won't happen until tomorrow.

Rolled 1, 3, 2, 5, 2, 1, 1, 1 = 16 (8d6)

>>6030939

Rolling against the single bomber

Rolled 3, 2, 4, 2, 3, 1, 4, 3 = 22 (8d6)

>>6030939
Surviving wing

If I had one more point of Maneuver, I would've instead pointed the ion beam at the rear bombers, and diverted a helix beam to the side bombers, but unfortunately no such luck. It's looking like failing a stroke of good fortune, one or two of the bombers are making it out.

>>6030939
Ion Beam Deathroll

Rolled 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 1, 2, 3, 3, 6, 2, 4 = 35 (12d6)

>>6031069
Dropped the roll.

Hoo boy, let's see here...

>>6031015
2 partial successes, for 1 success total.

>>6031063
5 partial successes, for 2.5 successes, rounded down to 2 successes total.

>>6031070
1 success, 6 partial successes, for 4 successes total.

The first roll is actually just barely enough to snipe the 1 HP Bomber, so we're safe on that front. Unfortunately, we weren't as lucky with the bomber wing on the right. The Swarmers scratch one, eliminating the injured one. From there, our Helix Cannons take out another one.

The Ion Beam, unfortunately, despite having 4 successes, is reduced significantly by weapon mismatch. 4/4=1. One Bomber gets away with 1/2 HP (or 0.5 if you count the extra damage from the Swarmer Wing-- in that regard, I suppose it could *technically* be a kill, if our 5th partial success counts as 0.5 damage).

I suppose a better plan of action would have been to Deathroll the Ion Beam targeting the Rear Bombers, and then Deathroll a single Helix Beam from the Rear to hit the Starboard Bombers. Unfortunately, we just didn't have enough Maneuver to pull that off, and we had to stick with the other play.

Overall, it sucks, but that's just the way the dice falls. With a bit more luck on this turn would've secured us the kill, and a bit more luck during the previous turn would've guaranteed a safe cleanup.

If anything, we can chalk this failure up to our Unblooded penalty-- future combats should hopefully be easier now that our 5s count as full successes. Definitely need to keep our eye on tech and veterancy upgrades that increase our success ranges too, if those exist. Here's hoping that partial successes count as .5 damage to combine with the 1.5 damage the Swarmers did here, heh.

>>6031222
A bomber getting away would be a problem. Especially when finding and killing the Taidan Frigate will be hard with the damage we have taken

>>6032648
Definitely. It's why I'm hoping the decimals add up to a whole number, myself. If it doesn't though,I suppose that's just how the dice falls.

Apologies for not having an update out yet, work's been more exhausting than usual. I don't really have an ETA.

>>6033190
Yeah i guess worst that can happen is we have to find a way to reach while having no clue of the location.

>>6033519
Thats fine. At least we know you are here

>>6033519
No worries QM! Thanks for updating us. Real life comes first, so take your time.

In the meantime, what do you anons want to see in the quest going forward?

Personally, the combat system is fascinating to me, so an upgrade or veterancy system that improves our capabilities would be neat. A 'power-shunting' mechanic similar to Deserts of Kharak might be interesting too.

It would also be fun to interact with the 'canon' Kiiths. S'jet, Nabaal, and of course, Somtaaw (though before they become the universe-saving space truckers that they're known as). I am also interested in what the Kushan people think of Kiith Gaalsien, considering they were right.

>>6033825
The thing about Gaalsien and DoK lore in general is that it introduces too many potholes into how HW1 played out.

In the HW1 manual, the religious opposition to space flight is mentioned as a religious leader praying under the engines of the rocket carrying the first Kushan satellite in an effort to stop the launch (it doesn't work). In DoK there's suddenly an entire army of fanatics with detailed knowledge of the Exile and the anti-spacefaring treaty which is somehow entirely forgotten about by the time of Mothership's launch.

In HW1 the Kushan venture into space with a sense of hopeful optimism - like yeah, there might be trouble our there but what's important is the quest to reclaim their fabled homeworld. Optimism that gets absolutely shattered by the Burning of Kharak, turning their journey into one of conflict and desperation.

In DoK, the Kushan encounter evidence if multiple spacefaring civilisations that have crashlanded on the planet, because their unimportant, low value, ass end of nowhere system is also now near a major hyperplane route, apparently. But all of that is, once again, completely forgotten by the time HW1 rolls around.

I could go on, but I need to actually get to work. tl;dr, barring some kind of mass amnesia event, DoK doesn't make much sense in previously established lore.

>>6034017
Gotcha, that sounds about right. Truth be told, I've only got a passing knowledge of Deserts of Kharak, but knowing it's non-canon in this quest due to plot holes seems reasonable. I suppose in that case, DoK, HW2, and HW3 are considered non-existent in this quest, and Emergence might happen in the future, but that's like, 12 years from now.

Thanks for sharing!

>>6034017
I like DoK myself but I agree the lore breakages are a bit egregious. Shame, because the plot twist that the bad guys are right is pretty fun.

>>6034137
Oh, I like DoK as a game, I like the atmosphere, and unit chatter is the best it has ever been in the Homeworld games. I even enjoy it as its own, self-contained story. It's just what it does to the broader lore that bothers me.

>>6033825
>In the meantime, what do you anons want to see in the quest going forward?
I like war and combat, but talking/interacting (even just inside our Kiith), making deals or trade, making friends/allies, research tech and exploration are all very welcome too. Not sure about intrigue and spying. Maybe for find more Taidan ?

File: bombing run.jpg (92 KB, 1280x720)

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Naqam'Math rolls around two of its axis, Helm frantically trying to give Gunnery the needed firing angles. A nervous sense of urgency overtakes the bridge, the eyes of those without pressing tasks glued to the tactical display where the markers of Taidan bombers are quickly increasing their distance from your ship.

That nervousness, unfortunately, seems to weigh on the Gunnery crew as well. Several times the helix beams lance through the darkness of space, but the frantically dodging bombers are able to avoid them - to the growing murmur of disbelief and disappointment of the bridge crew.

Finally, the lone, damaged survivor of an entire wing is clipped by one of the beams - but it's enough to overload its engine, turning the craft into a fireball.

Buujan's swarmers catch up to the fleeing trio, burning through their remaining fuel even as they shower the bombers in ordnance, managing to take out the damaged one. Moments later, one of your gunners finally lands a solid hit with a helix beam, piercing through a bomber's plasma containment system and evaporating the whole craft.

Naqam finally finishes its ponderous turn, getting one of the forward ion beams on target. But the gunner in charge of it has given in to the sense of urgency - he pulls the trigger too early, the beam cutting through empty space in an arc following the ship's motion, catching the last remaining bomber only when the ion discharge is fading, capacitor drained and ion particles dissipating.

It still deals grievous damage to the strike craft - it is a weapon meant to defeat capital armor, after all - but, against all odds, the bomber survives. Missing its tail section and trailing a stream of debris... but it is out of effective weapon range.

You sink back into your chair - you didn't even realize when you got up from it - with a heavy, unpleasant feeling settling into the pit of your stomach. You've failed. You've let an enemy get away. The bomber will warn the frigate, which will surely flee the asteroid field. Denying you the kill, but more importantly putting Buujan at further risk.

The rest of the bridge crew realizes it too. Expressions turn dejected, the mood weary.

But then-

"Wait, what's that Buujan craft doing?!" Navigation cries out. "Kiith'sa, I think they're-"

But you can see it just as well as everyone else watching. How one of the swarmers, instead of turning around to head back for a refuel, instead suddenly hits its afterburners, expending what must be the very last of its reserves to accelerate toward the bomber.

On the tactical display, the two markers merge, briefly becoming one.

And then - none.

File: repair corvette.png (276 KB, 668x470)

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"In the Great Nebula," Erinja is the first to break the long, heavy silence, her voice quiet, almost reverent, "the Kadeshi never broke. Even as the battle turned against them, they would charge into our ranks. Absolutely devoted to their mission."

"I want a full damage and casualty report," you hear someone say, only to realize it was you. "Send a shuttle out for whoever got sucked outside. Hail the Buujan to launch that sensor ship - we need to go after the Taidan frigate immediately," and, in a more subdued tone, you add: "And offer my condolences for their fallen warrior."

"Kiith Buujan repair and recovery craft already launching. They're offering to assist with our battle damage."

True enough, you recognize the profile of two Mercy class repair corvettes undocking from Gaan-Kad. Unarmed and fragile vessels, it made sense why the miner kiith would not risk them in open combat. One of them sets course for the advanced swarmer, which has ran out of fuel in pursuit of the bomber and has been limping back on the limited thrust of maneuvering engines. The other heads for Naqam.

"Have them coordinate with Damage Control," you instruct. "But stress that our priority is to finish the hunt."

Then you sit back, slide open the visor of your suit's helmet, and take a drink of water to soothe your parched throat as you wait for your orders to be carried out. The battle may be over, but it is not yet time for you or your kiith to rest.

The Buujan sensor ship truly is just a converted resource harvester, its vast storage bay repurposed to house a sensor array that keeps causing strange distortions on Naqam'Math's own sensors. It, your own ship, and the fuel pod carrying the three surviving swarmer craft form a small fleet that is currently moving through the asteroid field. The repair corvettes that have accompanied you at the start have long since turned around, citing safety concerns - though before they did, their phased assembler arrays (or "repair beams" as they're known in common parlance) were able to restore the worst of the damage to Naqam's hull - the remainder will require a visit to a proper dock, especially with Damage Control wanting to assess any potential internal damage.

>Naqam'Math restores 10 Hull Points
>25/30 Hull Points remain

By some small miracle, none of your crew and kiith died in the Taidan bombing runs, though that doesn't mean you avoided casualties. Four members of repair crews are in the infirmary with plasma burns, two more crew members suffered broken bones, one due a faulty shock harness, the other because they neglected to strap themselves in before the attack began. The crewman who was sucked into the void was recovered successfully, physically unharmed but visibly shaken up. He's been taken off duty and allowed to rest, with a psychological evaluation to follow.

Communications with Buujan ships is limited to course adjustments from the sensors ship. There is no need for excess radio chatter, though initially there was quite a bit. Kiith Buujan's Kadeshi members recognized your ship as being modeled after their multi-beam frigates the moment it opened fire on the Taidan craft and excitedly assumed you must also carry Kadeshi crew. You had Comms explain the error, the power of delegation saving you personally from a somewhat awkward conversation.

Half an hour into your hunt, sensors briefly ping two familiar contacts - the suspected scouts you encountered earlier. Once again, they disappear immediately, leaving behind a heightened sense of urgency - by now the Taidan have no doubt realized that their attack on a "heavily damaged exploration vessel" has gone terribly awry.

An hour after setting off, you arrive at what the sensors ship declares as a "staging area" - despite it being empty of any craft. But there is, they claim, a fresh, strong trail to follow - a frigate's engines without a doubt.

It's not like you have any choice except to believe them.

The trail, unsurprisingly, traces the shortest possible route toward the edge of the asteroid field, from where a safe hyperjump will be possible. Impatient at the prospect of losing your quarry, you order Naqam forward, easily outpacing the sensor ship and the fuel pod that remains behind to protect it. Within a quarter hour, you're rewarded by sensors pinging a large, moving object - the Taidan support frigate.

The loathsome vessel is making full burn toward the field's edge, but unfortunately - or fortunately - it has no chance of reaching it before your smaller, faster vessel can catch up to it.

The two scouts launch from the support deck and attack you, low caliber autocannon rounds deflecting off your ship's hull in a desperate, doomed attempt to ward off your vessel - both are cut down by helix beams, leaving the frigate undefended.

You are hailed, the frigate's captain offering surrender in exchange for "fair, honorable treatment."

A wave of dark, bitter laughter rolls across the bridge upon hearing that. Paaura sings in your kiith's blood. Paaura does not offer mercy, it does not recognize surrender. Paaura is eternal vengeance, unceasing conflict, death, and destruction, until one side is utterly extinguished.

You accept the hail, but for one reason only:

"Kiith Tambuur offers you the same fair, honorable treatment you offered defenseless Buujan miners," is all you say before cutting the connection and turning toward Gunnery. "You are weapons free..."

>"...aim for the reactor, obliterate them utterly."
>"...shatter the ship but don't destroy it. Let it become their cold, airless tomb."

There is no realistic way a lone support frigate would offer you any challenge, so I decided to skip the unnecessary dice rolling. Instead, you get to choose the exact method of its destruction. Also, my apologies for taking this long to getting around to this update.

Welcome back, Kiith-Sa! Glad to see this up and running again.

F for the Swarmer Hero though, who saved us from mission failure. Let this be a lesson to our own gunners, now that our Unblooded penalty is gone.

>>6037930
>"...shatter the ship but don't destroy it. Let it become their cold, airless tomb."

That's what they did to the Buujan-- practiced, precise shots to disable the ship, before returning to loot the wreckage. We'll do the same.

>>6037930
thanks Kiith-SaQM !
I wonder if we could know from where they were raiding through talking with them. But fuck that. i will follow our Paaura.
>"...shatter the ship but don't destroy it. Let it become their cold, airless tomb."
perhaps we can learn something from their computers.

when the Taidans die remove our helmet and turn to our Kiith
>"This was our first battle against the Taidan scum, the heartless monsters that preyed and prey on our kin. Tambuur and Buujan won together. Our Kiith has suffered no losses and all of the raiders died, but our brothers and sisters in Kiith Buujan lost some of their own. I promise to all of you i will become a better captain so that this may not happen again. Until our final victory or our death, i vow to keep to this oath !"
>"We will honor the sacrifice of the fallen and offer to Kiith Buujan our condolences and respect. For a while we will remain at Gaan-Kad for repairs, now is the time to rest and hon our skills further through training, but it is also a good time to know and learn from our new friends. If any of you wish, you are free to talk and mingle with Kiith Buujan once we arrive at their home."

We have now Friends !

>>6037930

>"...shatter the ship but don't destroy it. Let it become their cold, airless tomb."


More importantly, the Gaan-Kad (and possibly us as well) will be able to recoup some remuneration if we keep our heads here.

The best revenge is living well, so to speak, so we should recover what we can from the frigate and then re-invest in our ship

>>6037930

>"...shatter the ship but don't destroy it. Let it become their cold, airless tomb."

A ship that we may hopefully keep as plunder

>>6037930
>>"...shatter the ship but don't destroy it. Let it become their cold, airless tomb."

>>6037930
>"...shatter the ship but don't destroy it. Let it become their cold, airless tomb."

>>6037938
>>6037958
>>6037999
>>6038084
>>6038266
A unanimous decision.

>>6039656
Excellent

>>6039656
Errrm, what the Sajuuk?

Heads up, Kiith-Sa, we're on Page 9. I recommend archiving the quest sooner rather than later, even if we don't get an update right now.

>>6044712
I took the liberty of archiving the thread-- sorry if you wanted to do it, QM, I was mostly concerned about losing the chance to do so from a sudden surge of activity.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/6014298/

I know you're probably busy, Kiith-Sa, but I hope with this, you do end up continuing this quest when you're less busy. The premise is great and I'm always a sucker for Homeworld content.

I'll see y'all next time, hopefully!

>>6039656
Kiith-Sa
Kiith-Sa
Kiith-Saaaaaaaaaa we need to kill the Taidan !!!!

File: shipwreck 2.jpg (112 KB, 1191x670)

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You order Gunnery to first cripple the Taidan frigate's engines to prevent any chance of escape. Then, to seal the vessel's fate, you have Naqam circle it slowly destroying its subsystems: burning out sensor clusters, raking the landing pads with ion beams until they're a ruined expanse of broken, glowing metal, and destroying the two turrets that the frigate is armed with - stand-off weaponry meant to deal with a corvette or two, their shells do little against a dedicated warship like yours.

With external subsystems destroyed or disabled, Gunnery moves on to cutting through the hull, working off Taidan vessel plans made during the Exodus to destroy service conduits, severing power to an increasing number of sections and finally dealing enough damage to force the reactor into a safety shutdown - something that cannot be recovered from without external aid.

You are a man of your word - as they did to Kiith Buujan ships, now you do to them, turning the Taidan vessel into a cold, airless tomb that will choke the life out of its crew as emergency power fails and oxygen runs out.

It also gives your crew a chance to practice precision targeting.

And then there is nothing left to target - not without destroying the wreck completely, along with anyone still alive in it. And even if Paaura compels you to order the gunners to keep firing, turning the shattered vessel into a cloud of debris and molten slag, you take firm hold of your righteous anger and bid it be silent. A quick death, after all, would be too much of a mercy. Far better to leave these murderers with a chance to reflect on and regret their choices as they face the creeping inevitability of their death.

You then order Naqam to turn around and rejoin the Buujan, unclasp and remove your helmet, and hit a few buttons on your chair's console, so that your next words may be heard not just on the bridge, but across the ship.

"Kiith Tambuur has taken its first victory against the Taidan today," you intone, garnering instant attention from the bridge crew. "All the Imperialist murderers who preyed upon Kiith Buujan are dead - or will be soon enough. And though our kiith avoided losses in this battle, the same cannot be said about our allies, some of whom died simply covering for our mistakes."

You pause, letting the words sink in.

"We did well, but we could've done better. And we will do better in the future. So that we never again have to watch fellow kiith lose lives needlessly by Taidan hands. I will not name names or assign blame, for this will not the way of our kiith. But by the same token, I expect those whose performance was lacking to not make excuses or shift responsibility, but instead to learn from those mistakes and endeavor to overcome them."

You pause again to look around the bridge, not letting your gaze linger on anyone in particular, but taking note of who flinches and looks away in shame and whose gaze instead shows determination.

"But with all that said," you soften your tone, "most of us - myself included - were not warriors going into this battle. But even as Taidan bombs tore Naqam's hull apart, I saw no one panic or fail to carry out their assigned tasks. We did not succumb to fear, we gave it our all, we faced our enemies and we won. And for that, I am proud to call each and every one of you kiith."

This gets a cheer. A small one at first, but as it continues, it swells in volume and size as your kiith celebrates their first victory - and the fact that they survived.

The hours immediately afterward are a bit of a blur. You communicate with Buujan regarding docking ith Gaan-Kad for repairs and go over both with them and your officers about your crew being allowed to disembark. You visit the wounded in the infirmary, to offer them personal thanks and a few comforting words. You hold a debrief with section officers to hear their opinions and impressions regarding the battle, and to coordinate a training regimen based on the deficiencies displayed by the crew.

Then you send them all to some well-deserved rest. Which wouldn't be something out of place for yourself as well, but alas all you have time for is a shower, a change of clothes, and a quick meal before you have to go formally meet your host for the foreseeable future: Kiith Buujan'sa.


Thread 1 Ends Here

First of all, my deepest apologies for disappearing for nearly 2 weeks. Between work and a heatwave we've been having, I was simply too wiped to write. Buit I should've communicated it instead of complete radio silence. That is entirely my bad.

Since we are on the verge of dropping off the board, I decided to shift the votes that would've accompanied this update over to the start of the next thread. Which should happen within a day or two - I'm starting my vacation and will have a lot more time and energy to work on this quest.

Once again, my apologies for disappearing and I hope to see you in the next thread.

>>6046750
And many thanks for archiving this in my stead. IT would've really sucked if the entire first quest went poof cause of my inattentiveness.

>>6048367
Okay then
See ya!

>>6048367
HE IS ALIVE!!! OUR CRUSADE CONTINUES!!!
MAY KIITH TAMBUUR FIGHT FOREVERMORE!!!
We Live...