<> < my, used a strange form of gel-like solid-state memory. Unless you miss your guess, the effect of the Tone was a strange rippled calcification of the substrate, which appears to have rendered those areas inert.>> <> (Amadeus wants to know everything ever, but that's good enough for what I actually need to know. :D) (Zeke is still trying to determine if he's going to need to use something else as amplifiers.) (Well, if the Tone is a sound, all we really need to do is vibrate all the duektibots at the same frequency as the Tone.) (Right, but the issue was that we're not sure how far it went through space, and we need to hit basically all the Duekti ships at once around Mars, if we go that route.) <> (So we're probably gonna need amplifiers.) (Wait a sec.) (We have more than one tone generator, yes?) (What medium is the waveform actually USING?) <> (So... hnnnh.) (Can Kyle make the other ships into rebroadcasters?) <> (So we get the ships set up to rebroadcast and bamf near mars, covering as much space as we can.) <> (ahh, too bad) (Drones?) (That's a numbers question.) <> (to act as smaller broadcasters, I mean.) (Right, but that's a numbers question.) (Does Zeke have enough drones to take out all the ships.) (I didn't mean bug drones.) <> (Anyway, yeah, the interdiction trail is still what we have time to do, before we need to do the frontal assault.) (Theoretically anyone with an iPod and access to a duekti ship's com system can disable it at this point.) <> (We have an in on Mars still, to find ship positions, yes?) (Possibly?) (Up the chain is still fine.) (HellifIknow Also, I'm still not caught up.) (Hokay, so we're really nowhere right now.) <> (None here.) (Uh... So what's the plan? Have we figured out how many ships we can 'arm' with these chime things?) <> (I uh...) <> (I dunno, man, at this point I feel like I'm firing portals around the room at random until the 'save the universe' solution falls into our hands. e_e) (The companion zeke loves you <3) (But yeah, I think we go up the chain until we run out of time.) (Yup.) (I'm seconding Todd.) (Dude, we have to fire the portals at the lasers so the bots will shoot themselves. (A-MAY-ZING) (Hellz yeah) (Seriously we have the Master SWord, let's find the right place to stab something and then do it ^_^;) <> (Typin', sorry.) (Think I'm getting carpal tunnel. Eff.) (Eek.) (eww) <> (I hope it's pie.) <> (That's not pie.) ...anticlimactic. (Any planet or something?) <> Uh... Shouldn't there be more? * Kyle glances at the others. Take it out? * Zeke is looking out the front. "Only a single target. Simple enough to disable. We should activate the device." (Is there a whatsit hurricane here?) <> * Tomas nods in agreement with Zeke, "Get him before he can send a warning." * Kyle goes ahead and does the disable thingy. (Yay Tone!) (Is this ship any different than the one we disabled before? ie is it worth boarding?) <> <> "Lenin - oof! Dammit, you spoonbilled lunatic - says they were heading back 'upstream' - not towards Mars." Upstream. I wonder why. * Amadeus plays with the map, trying to figure out where they might be heading. <> * Zeke's birdsect frowns at Lenin, and Zeke says, "Support or report. Either one indicates we continue." * Tomas stares out the porthole at the drifting ship, "Should we send a crew to take it? Another ship wouldn't hurt." "I don't know for sure - OW! - but you're probaby right. Fine, FINE! You can have it! I was done talking anyhow." <> * Zeke's birdsect stares back. * Hestia glances out the observation deck window outside. "Relay ships?" Possible? * Zeke lets his birdsect continue his cross-species rivalry. "Perform the next jump?" * Amadeus maps the next jump. "Ready." Let's rock. <> (MASS TONE) <> "The Black Lotus is in position." "We're ready over here, too. Fire away." * Kyle notes where the ships are being set, so they can go eliminate them if needed later at their leisure. * Hestia is looking each system up in Sleythinpedia along the way. You never know. (... press buttan.) (... you can press buttan.) (Don't look at me. I'm not the buttan presser.) * Kyle presses button! <> <> <> * Hestia continues to just... look things up and consider. "I'm starting to have doubts about what's at the end of the line." That is why my available drones are prepared for ship-to-ship combat if necessary. * Zeke continues looking out the front. "Survival is paramount." No, not that. * Hestia gets up in the map room and puts her hand up against the glass. "More like... some sort of unpleasant truth." * Zeke tilts his head slightly, and comm responds, "Such... as?" * Amadeus glances at Tia. * Hestia doesn't say anything, even after protracted staring. She just... looks out in space. <> <> * Zeke's holoface frowns and he says, "It is retreating to the planet, and the planet is live. We must follow." * Amadeus nods and plots a course! (GO ROBOLEXI) * Hestia hns, glancing at a datapad. "I wonder... is this 'home'...?" * Merilan has quit (Client closed connection) It seems possible. <> "You did not think you would leave us behind again, no?" * Hestia narrows her eyes at the data. "Not just possible... likely." <> * Zeke sits down at a non-pod based gun so that they can SHOOT AT IT WOO. "Your evidence?" * Tomas sits down and mans the other gun: pew pew. <> Stay on target! (Kill kyle. Also, want us to roll?) * Hestia turns away from the observation window back toward Zeke, then inclines her head outside. "See for yourself." * Zeke nods and says, "It is certainly populated, and the only one of the planets along the interdiction trail to be so." <> <> * Hestia frowns, then turns to leave the map room. "Alright, I've had enough." She starts striding for the bridge ladder! * Zeke just keeps firing, there's not much he can do in atmosphere! "This is very annoying. And where is it attempting to go?" * Hestia ends up sitting at the computer stations on the bridge, then cracks her knuckles and places her hands palm-down on the consoles. On cue, lines of violet light trace upward in sharp geometric patterns up her arms and down her suit, this time all the way down to the tops of her boots. (and now for some gibberish) * Amadeus can't see any of that, because he's in the map room! Darn logistics. <> * Hestia just sort of... stares straight ahead, glassy-eyed, during the whole ongoing lightshow. "Sensor system interlocks confirmed... beginning telemetry triangulation algorithms... computing course prediction values and firing corridors..." * Zeke gets to watch, and he gets to be glad he's in a funny suit. * Amadeus comms, "Tia?" <> * Zeke starts to say, "Amadeus, it is likely Tia is exerting--" and then as they get targetted he states, "We have found active defense systems." Fantastic. *Now* what? * Hestia lets go of the deck and slumps back in her chair, the lights fading out as she takes more than a few deep breaths. (How far away are we from this place? Is the tone recharged? Because we could just nuke the site from right here.) (You're within range and it's recharged.) * Kyle glances at Hestia. Wow, that's wacky. * Zeke looks down to Hestia. "The Tone is available and is likely to be effective and final." So. That was pretty awesome. * Hestia manages to grind out, "It's better than being shot down." * Amadeus comms, "It sounds like we need to use the Tone then. Is Tia okay?" * Kyle checks over Tia. "She's been better, but I don't think she's gonna be dying anytime soon." (Over comms) * Kyle mmms. "So, nuke the site?" With the tone, that is. * Hestia glances over at Kyle with a really sarcastic expression. "It's that or ask it to tea. _What are you waiting for_?" <> * Amadeus lets out a breath and activates more scanners and takes pictures of the planet. May as well get info while they're out there! * Kyle goes ahead and nukes it! (Little late; Cham already said we activated the Tone!) (Okay. I'm fading fast. Is there anything else? Do you land?) (I imagine so!) (Yeah.) <> (Yeah, I'm really not... yeah. Let's explore later.) (Yes, I need more thesisin'!) (THE END FOR TONIGHT)