Frozen Soul, and other works: Prologue

(NERV Game Site – Official DAtS Offline Forums)

Number5Alive, Golddigger, BurtBacharach, CrazyCelt, Blaze, DoYouEvenLyft?, MarcoPolo, MightMakesRight, l33tpally, Bennie, SEA-TAC_Sweetie, Requiesce-in-Pace, MacD, HaveGunsWillTravel, Guardian, GunKitty, Chummer, Inquisitor, Lizard, SemiSolidSnake, ElfMama, Not_the_Face!, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous7, Anonymous9, AggregatorOfSorrows, M.Mollen, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, Dolcett, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, Hullu_Kapteeni, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, Queen’s_Bitch, BackDat@55Up, DoYouEvenDPS?, MajorTom, Parca, and DarkAngel are in the chat.

Lizard: Damn, am I glad I started in the Imperium. Our group was the first to do a full clear on the first dungeon discovered!

SEA-TAC_Sweetie: Ooh, excellent! How was it, hun?

DoYouEvenDPS?: Had to have some good loot, right?

Lizard: Yeah, we got some badass weapons, and because it was a first clear, we got a schematic for a kind of augment.

MajorTom: Make sure you have someone check over the schematic and programming before you got sticking that in someone. Deus used augments to control his minions.

GrimDark: Any other groups managed a dungeon clear? I know there are other dungeons out there.

Knocker: Groups have started on runs on the different dungeons we’ve found, but the difficulty is much higher than the game world.

AggregatorOfSorrows: Groups with Military or Police experience in RL seem to be doing better at clearing the dungeons, but they pull back before clearing.

MajorTom: Smart. Get as much intel, loot, and XP as they can, without death penalties, and map the dungeon until they are ready for a clear.

BloodForTheBloodGod: That is a sickeningly ordered approach. The Chaos Brigade tried to roll the dungeon in the Horus system, but they got wiped by the enemies. They’re trying again to get the first raid dungeon clear.

GrimDark: May the Empress and her Justice fall upon the heretics, and wipe them from the stars.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: Anyone got eyes on the Black Star shipyards at Dimiya? There’s something funny going on there.

ElfMama: You mean the big ass warships that they’re building in the middle of the yards? They already announced publicly that they’d be rebuilding and expanding their fleet.

DoYouEvenLyft?: One is clearly a Carrier, but that other one, from the view I can get with the spy satellites, is the wrong dimensions for a carrier.

M.Mollen: That’s because it isn’t a carrier.

GrimDark: What have you done now?

M.Mollen: Let me begin by saying I have very smart people working for me.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: What does that have to do with that ship going up?

M.Mollen: Well, we agreed that it would be a good idea to have a ship that could anchor a defensive line, should it be needed, when we began pushing through new Gateways looking for fresh opportunities.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: You’re going and hunting the X’thari?

M.Mollen: Eventually. I’d rather give them something to think about, rather than always waiting for them to show up.

Blaze: You’re building a superdreadnought, aren’t you?

M.Mollen: Well, not exactly. It is actually classed as a Battleship, but will have the ability to take on much stronger foes. Modified Imperial plans, using tech we ‘acquired’ over the course of the war and other battles.

Parca: They’re calling it the Wrath of Sekhmet.

M.Mollen: A Lioness Goddess, both vindictive destroyer and protector of those who lead the people in war, and consort of the God of Craftsmen. It seemed fitting, no?

GrimDark: By the Empress. You are becoming a power unto yourself, aren’t you?

Hullu_Kapteeni: He already is, no? He is just making sure that others cannot assault his position.

M.Mollen: Well, yes and no. When the build plan is complete, groups over a certain size will certainly be able to try and take me on, especially in small scale, but if it ever became all in on either side, then things would get far too ugly for them. I might not win, but they would lose too much to be a functioning entity any more.

MajorTom: Mutually Assured Destruction.

DarkAngel: So, getting away from that, are you going to be doing any dungeons? I’ve noticed that Black Star ships haven’t been seen anywhere near the located dungeons yet.

M.Mollen: Well, we’re not against it, but with the beating we took at Nuevo Edo we’re not set up to properly exploit a dungeon, or protect our people there.

DoYouEvenDPS?: What do you mean?

MajorTom: We are a target, and we know it. So ships aren’t going to be sitting around alone and undermanned unless it is a trap to draw in some poor suckers.

DoYouEvenDPS?: That’s evil.

M.Mollen: If you’re not cheating…

Parca: YOU’RE NOT TRYING!

Bennie: YOU’RE NOT TRYING!

Guardian: YOU’RE NOT TRYING!

GunKitty: YOU’RE NOT TRYING!

HaveGunsWillTravel: YOU’RE NOT TRYING!

MajorTom: HAH! Those all came within 3 seconds!

M.Mollen: I may be a tad bit predictable with my maxims, it seems.

Hullu_Kapteeni: Well, it is working so far, no? Keep it going, and see how far it will take us.

GoldDigger: Hey, anyone near the Confederate and Alliance border? There’s been some real strange activity around here lately.

Number5Alive: What kind of strange activity? Mollen, what have you done now?

M.Mollen: It is not my fault! I don’t have ships in that area.

GoldDigger: Piracy is up almost 1000% in this area. I don’t think anyone has seen it this bad since the end of the last war.

M.Mollen: Ok, so that might be my fault, indirectly.

Anonymous3: What do you mean?

M.Mollen: Piracy in the outer areas of the Confederacy is up all over, especially since Black Star typically confines itself to the central part of the Confederacy. We’ve beaten down the pirates here enough that the ones that are still alive ran off to other areas.

GoldDigger: I considered that, but the Alliance border region is especially hazardous now, even compared to other regions.

M.Mollen: And a lot of the anti-pirate work on the Alliance side of things was done by the Kul’tirans, on contract with various groups.

Number5Alive: And you humiliated them, causing them to lose contracts which other mercenary or planetary navy groups picked up, and the pirates are having a field day, I see.

M.Mollen: That’s what my analysis says, yes.

MacD: What are you going to do about it?

M.Mollen: Nothing.

MacD: WHAT?

M.Mollen: Did I stutter?

MacD: But you just said your actions caused this!

M.Mollen: No, I responded to attacks on my people with strength, slapping down the people who did it hard enough that they aren’t going to try that again anytime soon. I’ve also hunted pirates as part of contracts with various companies.

MacD: So--!

M.Mollen: So I don’t have any contracts with companies in that area, and therefore no reason to go there until someone is paying for my services.

MacD: That’s heartless!

M.Mollen: Don’t like it? Write your senator asking for Black Star protection on the borders. Let your local merchants know you support those who have Black Star escorts for their convoys. Convince people to buy contracts with Black Star, or get the money for a contract yourself. I’m running a business, and building a fleet isn’t cheap, even for me.