Outcast Quest [Updated 10/10/18 - Turn 14]

[Siber]

What I'm really worried about is the possibility that their parents will show up around the hatching.

[dragoongfa]

That ain't a possibility, that a certainty at this point.

[joestej]

What I'm really worried about is the possibility that their parents will show up around the hatching.

That ain't a possibility, that a certainty at this point.

Indeed. The whales will defiantly arrive at almost the same time as the hatching. Best guesses suggest that it's why they were headed our way in the first place.

The focused blowout is a VERY BAD idea, Fenrir will act exactly like an untied balloon with very unpredictable results.

I was hoping the attitude thrusters would be able to mitigate that to some point. After all, we don't care where its going, as long as its away from us.

Still, I get that trying to control something like that is definitely a longshot. Still, can't hurt to ask.

[Absalom]

The focused blowout is a VERY BAD idea, Fenrir will act exactly like an untied balloon with very unpredictable results.

I was hoping the attitude thrusters would be able to mitigate that to some point. After all, we don't care where its going, as long as its away from us.

Still, I get that trying to control something like that is definitely a longshot. Still, can't hurt to ask.

Razor, question: can Attitude Thrusters both be built on Fenrir in a single turn, and used as intended in this plan?



Incidentally, guys: my thought on that plan is that it's something to tack on to the rest of the plan: keep on adding on. Also, if poorly implemented, it could dump the spawnlings in the vicinity of Niflheim without the remnant of Fenrir to distract them, so contingencies are required.

[joestej]

Razor, question: can Attitude Thrusters both be built on Fenrir in a single turn, and used as intended in this plan?



Incidentally, guys: my thought on that plan is that it's something to tack on to the rest of the plan: keep on adding on. Also, if poorly implemented, it could dump the spawnlings in the vicinity of Niflheim without the remnant of Fenrir to distract them, so contingencies are required.

I'm assuming the answer to the first part of your question is 'yes'. We built the Attitude Thrusters for Niflheim in one turn, after all. Not sure they'll be any help though, we'll need Razor's verdict for that.

Still, if it goes sideways we'll have a lot worse problems than hungry whales. This plan is high risk/high reward. Worse case with a triggered vent like this is we lose control of the asteroid and Fenrir smashes into Niflheim, completely obliterating both. Assuming we can stop that, the babies themselves should be easy enough to deal with just by using magnetic fields to repel them.

[dragoongfa]

The problem with the thrusters is that they will inevitably tear their needed foundations off since the silicon crust is getting thinner and thinner as times pass.

[Razor One]

I hate double shifts. I hate christmas. I hate people.

Oh, hello everyone!

Did the Mantas or Gargoyles release their own infrasound pulses, or was that only the Whales?

Yes. The only light that's present in the Briar Patch comes from lightning and whatever you create yourself. There may be bioluminescence out and about but you haven't encountered it in significant quantity. As it stands, sound is the single best way to 'see' in the Briar patch. The thick atmosphere conducts sound very well, though it will dissipate eventually. The deeper you go into the Briar Patch, the greater the pressure, and the better sound travels.

WE GET TO APPLY THEM AFTER THE ROLL? I thought we were going to have to spend them beforehand! This is the best news I've had all day. Takes a lot of the stress off, knowing we've got a good chance of aborting any base-destroying Fumbles before they happen.

Just be wary of asterisks denoting things you can't apply your bonus to.

Or it might be useful to intentionally produce a very focused blowout for the sake of causing Fenrir to jet off in a "safe" direction. Basically "worst case", but engineered into a best-ish case. Might not be possible, though, depending on the available engineers, accuracy of observations of Fenrir's rotational motion, accuracy of observations of Fenrir's state, etc.

I like this plan. If we strategically drill into the shell so the geysers appear where we want them (maybe rig up some attitude thrusters for Fenrir so we can control its movement, our own thrusters only took 1 turn to build), can we just fling it off into space instead of letting it go rogue and slam into us?

Your attitude thrusters were affixed at strategic points on Niflheim, affixed solidly into the bedrock, and take their time gently rolling your asteroid home in the desired direction.

Fenrir, while smaller, has a rapidly thinning crust. You could potentially build thrusters there, but the effect would have a very high likelihood of shearing bits and pieces of the surface off rather than rotating it as a whole. Best case would be the thruster ripping free of the surface and careening away. Worst case would trigger the collapse/explosion off early. It would be more feasible if you could skewer the asteroid, reinforce the surface, and apply forces more evenly, but that's a much larger, more complex project than what you did on Niflheim.

There's also the fact that you need to consider how you'd convince your people to work on an asteroid that could at any time explode and release potentially thousands of alien life forms that may or may not be hungry and mistake the sweet taste of human flesh for food. Your colonists like you a lot, but not that much.

As it stands currently, think of Niflheim as a brick and Fenrir as an egg. You can do a lot to a brick and it'll still be very bricklike at the end of the day. You can't do quite as much with an egg.

The analogy works for impacts too. A direct impact won't destroy Niflheim by any measure. But you will be getting egg on your face.

[joestej]

Did the Mantas or Gargoyles release their own infrasound pulses, or was that only the Whales?

Yes. The only light that's present in the Briar Patch comes from lightning and whatever you create yourself. There may be bioluminescence out and about but you haven't encountered it in significant quantity. As it stands, sound is the single best way to 'see' in the Briar patch. The thick atmosphere conducts sound very well, though it will dissipate eventually. The deeper you go into the Briar Patch, the greater the pressure, and the better sound travels.

Rats. No easy why to tell what we're gonna get then. Not that it would really help one way or the other (considering how little we know about them), but worth a shot. Considering the Whales seem to be the driving force behind any movements (with the Mantas and Gargoyles following/riding along) and they're specifically coming this way, I think guessing these are baby Whales is relatively safe.

Your attitude thrusters were affixed at strategic points on Niflheim, affixed solidly into the bedrock, and take their time gently rolling your asteroid home in the desired direction.

Fenrir, while smaller, has a rapidly thinning crust. You could potentially build thrusters there, but the effect would have a very high likelihood of shearing bits and pieces of the surface off rather than rotating it as a whole. Best case would be the thruster ripping free of the surface and careening away. Worst case would trigger the collapse/explosion off early. It would be more feasible if you could skewer the asteroid, reinforce the surface, and apply forces more evenly, but that's a much larger, more complex project than what you did on Niflheim.

There's also the fact that you need to consider how you'd convince your people to work on an asteroid that could at any time explode and release potentially thousands of alien life forms that may or may not be hungry and mistake the sweet taste of human flesh for food. Your colonists like you a lot, but not that much.

As it stands currently, think of Niflheim as a brick and Fenrir as an egg. You can do a lot to a brick and it'll still be very bricklike at the end of the day. You can't do quite as much with an egg.

The analogy works for impacts too. A direct impact won't destroy Niflheim by any measure. But you will be getting egg on your face.

I was afraid you were going to say that. Well, getting rid of it is out then. Unless someone else has a bright idea I suppose we should just "Keep It Simple, Stupid" and stick to bombs. Still, rigging up some field generators to shield our surface construction and ships wouldn't be a bad idea, nor would having some science people monitoring to get all the data we can about the locals while the shooty types protect the colony from debris.

[Absalom]

Yes. The only light that's present in the Briar Patch comes from lightning and whatever you create yourself. There may be bioluminescence out and about but you haven't encountered it in significant quantity. As it stands, sound is the single best way to 'see' in the Briar patch. The thick atmosphere conducts sound very well, though it will dissipate eventually. The deeper you go into the Briar Patch, the greater the pressure, and the better sound travels.

Rats. No easy why to tell what we're gonna get then. Not that it would really help one way or the other (considering how little we know about them), but worth a shot. Considering the Whales seem to be the driving force behind any movements (with the Mantas and Gargoyles following/riding along) and they're specifically coming this way, I think guessing these are baby Whales is relatively safe.

Cats hiss as a genetic imitation of snakes, and there are these things on Earth called "brood parasites". It's not a safe assumption.

Your attitude thrusters were affixed at strategic points on Niflheim, affixed solidly into the bedrock, and take their time gently rolling your asteroid home in the desired direction.

Fenrir, while smaller, has a rapidly thinning crust. You could potentially build thrusters there, but the effect would have a very high likelihood of shearing bits and pieces of the surface off rather than rotating it as a whole. Best case would be the thruster ripping free of the surface and careening away. Worst case would trigger the collapse/explosion off early. It would be more feasible if you could skewer the asteroid, reinforce the surface, and apply forces more evenly, but that's a much larger, more complex project than what you did on Niflheim.

There's also the fact that you need to consider how you'd convince your people to work on an asteroid that could at any time explode and release potentially thousands of alien life forms that may or may not be hungry and mistake the sweet taste of human flesh for food. Your colonists like you a lot, but not that much.

As it stands currently, think of Niflheim as a brick and Fenrir as an egg. You can do a lot to a brick and it'll still be very bricklike at the end of the day. You can't do quite as much with an egg.

The analogy works for impacts too. A direct impact won't destroy Niflheim by any measure. But you will be getting egg on your face.

I was afraid you were going to say that. Well, getting rid of it is out then. Unless someone else has a bright idea I suppose we should just "Keep It Simple, Stupid" and stick to bombs. Still, rigging up some field generators to shield our surface construction and ships wouldn't be a bad idea, nor would having some science people monitoring to get all the data we can about the locals while the shooty types protect the colony from debris.

Remember not to turn on the generators unless something is getting too close, lest something new be learned at a bad time. Also, it might be wise to sprinkle infrasound emitters around to be turned on as spawnling bait, particularly if one of the shuttles can provide a radio feed of the whale's song.

[joestej]

Cats hiss as a genetic imitation of snakes, and there are these things on Earth called "brood parasites". It's not a safe assumption.

Remember not to turn on the generators unless something is getting too close, lest something new be learned at a bad time. Also, it might be wise to sprinkle infrasound emitters around to be turned on as spawnling bait, particularly if one of the shuttles can provide a radio feed of the whale's song.

Not what I was talking about. As far as we can currently tell the infrasound used by all three is the same, we can't differentiate. We know the whales are coming here because of the egg. While the infrasound from the egg could be a luring behavior by Mantas or Gargoyles, that sort of behavior would be pointless unless the whales actually are drawn to the cries of their children. Besides, the actual type in the egg doesn't really matter. The whales could have teeth as children to eat their eggs and thus our ships/people might look tasty. We just don't know, so taking a stab at 'whales' as a default doesn't really hurt.

I'd be leery about turning on infrasound emitters when we don't even know what the different infrasounds are supposed to do. If we accidentally mimic a manta call, the kids will run like hell instead of going toward it. Besides, the whales will be here making their own noises, so adding more stuff to the mix will probably just make confuse them.

[Absalom]

I'd be leery about turning on infrasound emitters when we don't even know what the different infrasounds are supposed to do. If we accidentally mimic a manta call, the kids will run like hell instead of going toward it. Besides, the whales will be here making their own noises, so adding more stuff to the mix will probably just make confuse them.

They've already been attracted to the infrasound emitted by the scientific equipment, and if whale song is relayed/amplified then it should be possible to observe their reactions to it before the shell cracks. Besides, if they run from it, that just means different emitters should be turned on.

[alpha]

Either way, we should rig up some cheap drones with infrasound speakers.

Even if we are too cheap to use drones, a rock with some speakers, a power source, and a magnetic field generator should work.


For Science!

[Razor One]

Lots of speculation, very little vote-crafting. As much as I enjoy the break given the recent double shifts, you may want to get the ball rolling.

Bear in mind that if vote crafting is a bit too daunting at the moment, the default options I've provided are also both viable plans. You can even fold either of them into the vote if it helps.

[dragoongfa]

And there I was waiting to see what the default options are before put down a plan for a vote...

[Razor One]

Quoting for reiteration.

Emergency Preparations: Choose One

[] Fallout Shelter: The depth of your mines will work to your advantage. An airtight shelter stockpiled with supplies can be built within the month, allowing your colonists to survive any surface impacts, and with mining equipment, will allow them to tunnel out if they get buried. It will put a crimp in your mining income though.

Cost: Reduced income, Mining income halved for this turn, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 100%, Reward: Fallout shelter built, Colonists able to evacuate there in case of emergency.

[] Evacuation: Refurbish the colony module, evacuate your colonists to the L'Amour, and ride out the disintegration of Fenrir from a safe distance. You can always return once things calm down again.

Cost: Military / Stewardship actions locked, Time: 1 Month, Chance of Success: 100%, Reward: Colonists safe and sound aboard your ship.

[] Write In: Dare you come up with a brilliant plan?

Cost: ???, Time: ???, Chance of Success: ???, Reward: ???

In either case, the attitude thrusters you built will attempt to point the colony in the safest position and the L'Amour will standby at a safe distance and attempt to pick off debris that may threaten Niflheim. Depending on your choices, further emergency options will unlock for the confrontation.

[dragoongfa]

So there isn't an emergency military action?

Ok I will work on something later.

[dragoongfa]

Okay then:

Plan: No omelet without a broken egg

Turn 9

[X] Build Fallout shelter in the mine
-[X] Strengthen the existing buildings by using one or both of our stewardship actions
--[X]If one action goes to strengthen then use the other to build and coordinate the equipment necessary to surround Niflheim with a magnetic field.
-[X] Have the marines plant explosives on Fenrir; the explosives should be placed in such a way to induce multiple and spread out shattering shockwave downwards into the in silicate crust. (This is our military action)

(This uses up all of our actions bar research into combating this threat, for all intents and purposes Turn 9 should be considered a turn 'wasted' in regards to our actions)

Turn 10

[X] Detonate the explosives when the silicate shell shows clear signs of beginning to break, with Whale help or without.
-[X] L-amour is on PD duty
--[X] If whales, mantas or gargoyles eat the silicate Shell then activate the electro magnetic field only if something is getting close
---[X] If the Shell is not eaten by anything then activate the electromagnetic field

Use of the altitude thrusters to angle Niflheim to avoid the worse is taken for granted
Evacuation of the colonists into the fallout shelter is taken for granted
Turn 10 actions are open for picking depending on how things progress in turn 9

[anamiac]

[X] Fallout Shelter

[alpha]

Okay then:

Plan: No omelet without a broken egg

Turn 9

[X] Build Fallout shelter in the mine
-[X] Strengthen the existing buildings by using one or both of our stewardship actions
--[X]If one action goes to strengthen then use the other to build and coordinate the equipment necessary to surround Niflheim with a magnetic field.
-[X] Have the marines plant explosives on Fenrir; the explosives should be placed in such a way to induce multiple and spread out shattering shockwave downwards into the in silicate crust. (This is our military action)

(This uses up all of our actions bar research into combating this threat, for all intents and purposes Turn 9 should be considered a turn 'wasted' in regards to our actions)

Turn 10

[X] Detonate the explosives when the silicate shell shows clear signs of beginning to break, with Whale help or without.
-[X] L-amour is on PD duty
--[X] If whales, mantas or gargoyles eat the silicate Shell then activate the electro magnetic field only if something is getting close
---[X] If the Shell is not eaten by anything then activate the electromagnetic field

Use of the altitude thrusters to angle Niflheim to avoid the worse is taken for granted
Evacuation of the colonists into the fallout shelter is taken for granted
Turn 10 actions are open for picking depending on how things progress in turn 9

I suggest putting research into drones. Nothing fancy, just something that can tow the electromagnets and maybe some infrasound speakers, as well as place some charges.

Other than that, I agree with the plan.

[dragoongfa]

The problem with Drones is that its a little more than 400 research points which we don't have at the moment, researching them as we are will take at least 5 turns.