Save me a glass of white and some of those delightful cocktail sausages with cheese on a stick.

His body shuddered in protest after he sent the message. It was one thing to ask for help in combat situations or during financial struggles but this was new territory for him. Repression of his emotions had become second nature during these last few years, it would take time and practice to change things.

"Take a breath, take a step, and break the cycle." He said under his breath, reciting the words his mother would say to calm him as a child.

“Just give me a moment to look …”

I turned on my computer again and ran an external search query for ‘Howarth Engineering’ in Xi Wangda. And I got an exact match, belonged to them too.

“Well… if this is accurate, it is a public ground outpost they have held on to since taking system control. Like the captive said. And, lost a few others in that process. So maybe we could find a thing, or two, there, too. But doubtful, they have hidden anything major there except useful data for us.”

“… and you will have to go out there, alone. I may not be very subtle… maybe, with the disguise, but I have been avoiding to go to an Azimuth ground site in person, for… very good reason. I can just, watch the ship, maybe. I don’t know.”

I thought about it a little more.

“Or, I could stay inside, and if you plug me in… fetch some useful stuff. Maybe some kind of access code or at least more to hide the real identity of the ship… in case, Azimuth security decides to run a deep scan.”

And, to finish things off…

“But I will convince myself, on if I fit into those corridors. You do not have a big breast, or hips which spread beyond your shoulders.”

(previous)

"Sorry, didn't quite factor in your little tiff with Guardian tech in the heat of the moment. It's a bit of an oddball detail, isn’t it? But give me some time, and I'll get my head around it and remember. Other than that, we're all set. The Type-6 might not be the most comfy ship there is, but she's got enough room for your fancy curves - and no, you won't have to squeeze through the cargo hatch. Sure, the lavish style of the Imps would've been more comfy than that... but a Cutter would’ve been too flashy for our little escapade."

Damn, slipped my mind, that did. Been fascinated by Guardian stuff since I was knee-high, always wondering about the potential of this particular technology. In my defense, we haven't exactly been working together for long. But the thought of more wild rides together was starting to grow on me.

"Nice gadget, this personal computer," I nodded appreciatively.

"Never heard a peep about this 'Howarth Engineering'. You reckon we should chase down this lead? If it's a publicly accessible place, showing up won't raise any eyebrows. Might be worth a nosy around there. Next we can jet from there to the Musashi. Makes our little jaunt seem a tad more legit, don't you think?"

I encountered a Pee Mk2 yesterday at Deciat. Unfortunately, just at the moment I was getting my camera to take some pictures I was already looking at the rebuy screen. My first impression: In skilled hands it makes quite a decent ship for taking out new players in unengineered ships, especially when used in a wing of 3.

"Push it harder man!" commanded Lambast breathlessly.

"I am, it's real tight" groaned Dash not wanting to let Lambast down now they had got this far.

"It hasn't been that long; it should fit. Force it in" she said grasping his shoulders.

"Well you've got to push back, I can't do all the work here"

The rest of the squad had stopped kitting up to listen. The sniggering alerted Lambast and Dahs that they were causing the mirth.

"Oh grow up" snapped Lamb as her foot finely popped into the heavy armoured boot.

It had been a long time since she had to get into the heavy boarding armour. Fighting in cramped ship hallways meant there was no cover, so shields and thick heavy plates was all they would have. Thank goodness gravity wasn't an issue.

"Alright, just the left one to go Dash, are you ready for round two?"

It took the squad the best part of an hour just to get into the pressure suits. Now they had to attach the plates and heavy power packs that housed the advanced shield generators.

Snapping the helmet into place, Lamb fired up the power pack to test the suit's seal. While the program ran it's diagnostic, her hud showed she had a message.



After sending the replay, Lambast absorbed the message she had received. He'd stated Dalton Gateway, and the place where he used to work before he got wings. Why would he go home after all this time incognito? He would cover his tracks if he wasn't too waisted to remember he should, but going back to a place everyone knew he was conneted to was a strage move for Maul, even if he was stoned out of his skull.

Have you tried diplomacy? You know, the enemy of my enemy... etc.

Just crawled out of hibernation so I'm a little late here but I agree, a party is in order!

System: LHS 3447
Station: Dalton Gateway
Location: The Space Bar

The bar was nestled between various locally owned business that were plopped around the hab ring of the station. It kept a steady amount of customers, mostly locals or regulars who came to The Space Bar for quality respite and the beautiful vistas. The bar in the concourse in the docks saw more business, but it was a loud and rowdy locale in comparison. Maul approached the door with a grin steeped in nostalgia. He'd worked here nearly a decade ago, not long before managed to acquire his license to live among the stars.

Stepping through the door, the smells within the bar only furthered his feelings of nostalgia. The bartender greeted him with a nod, to which Maul reciprocated with a nod of his own before taking a seat within a booth facing the door. He then began toying with his new data slate he'd purchased after arriving on station. It was stock and he hated stock electronics, but still, it would serve it's designated purpose.



"That's that I guess." He said, placing the data slate on the table, briefly staring at it and releasing a heavy sigh.

It'd been a year or two since he'd spoke to Lambast or any of his old friends. As happy as he felt to be rekindling the friendships, he did not look forward to the tongue-lashings that were coming his way.

I tapped on the device to put it into standby.

“Yes. Personal made. It can even …” To demonstrate, I had it turn on without putting a hand to it. “The Azimuth thing, it could be a smaller surface operation, over in the other system. I had a look, after they left this one, and it seems they hold a small ground outpost, ‘Howarth Engineering’… or something. It could lead us to somewhere else, maybe, because the soldier mentioned, going to somewhere they were not allowed to know the name of, or where it was, and records purged from everything after being done ‘visiting’.”

I shuffled around slightly, causing further movement in my lower half.

“Maybe we will already find more on the megaship, and it could spare us the visit to the ground site. But… I have a feeling, it would not be that easy.”

I breathed.

“And, the chair… I would prefer not made of Guardian… thingies, if I ever have to fly in your ship again. I showed you why. So normal will do, and… even be better. But I may not need cushioning.”

Something else, potentially very important, occurred to me.

“Will a, Type-6, not have narrow corridors?”

That was an experience I was not looking forward to, if my assumptions about Lakon ships were accurate… never having set foot on one, I had no idea how their internal space was set up, but focused on utilitarian design didn’t give me particularly high hopes. And it showed on my face.

I also really wanted to know what this “Randomius” nonsense was, having come across many mentions of it during my round tour of the Project Dynasty sites. But held off on asking, for now.

One can hazard a pretty good guess on which squadron and power that would be, based on numbers and "roleplay". But that's a discussion for another day.

You could reach out to a squadron from an opposing faction (for example, Feds or Kumo if your opposition is Empire; or Imperial squadrons if you are fighting Feds). Most of the BGS-focused squadrons are happy to work with smaller independent squadrons, since dozens of them working together are required to counter the sheer numbers of some of the larger outfits.

A few weeks ago there was one of Elite's largest player vs player wars in B2 Carinae. An Empire faction (Imperial Enforcement Division) attempted to take a system that had long been governed by Federation-allied Ice Storm Squadron. There were a few Reddit posts about it, lots of activity in-game, and I can tell you from seeing it with my own eyes that there were Empire-aligned commanders fighting their own in B2 Carinae, because they felt IED had no legitimate claim to ISS's territory.

Results can't be guaranteed, of course, and I can't say that you're going to get an all-hands-on-deck response like B2, but you'll stand a better chance when there's allies working with you.

There's also the somewhat unpalatable idea of working with your enemies. I know of an independent PMF and squadron that were "allowed" to expand into formerly Federation systems after the Empire took them from us, on the understanding that they would fight Federals if/when they attempted to reclaim those systems. It's a bit of a vassal/protectorate situation, but it gave that group an opportunity to expand that they wouldn't otherwise have had.

If you're having problems with a PMF or squadron that is supposed to be allied, well... There are typically avenues of group coordination and discussion. You may find it beneficial to talk to larger squadrons pledged to your powerplay leader, and see if they can offer advice on how to handle the "allied" troublemakers. They might recommend another avenue of expansion, away from the "problem" group.

None of these might be ideal for you and your squadron, depending on your own allegiances and inclinations, but they are examples of options that can be pursued.

okay im back with more questions

what determines how much a station/system will pay for missions?

i thought that i needed to build up my reputation in order to get high pay/high risk missions, so i've been pretty much stay local to one system and not moving on until i've maxed out reputation with each group to get higher paying rewards.

but i came across a system in the past day that seems to give unusually high payouts for ground missions. For example, I just accepted a lvl 5 takedown quest that is neither covert nor professional - the rewards are 2.6mil CR/10 power regulators/5 reputation ticks. My reputation is neutral with everyone though. All of the missions seem to be in the lvl 4 or 5 range with odd payouts.

i've gotten more weapon and suit schematics from this sytem in the past day than i have in my "home system" for several weeks >_>

what's the mechanic that i'm missing here?

also, the other abnormal thing i've noticed, is that im able to haggle with the mission npcs with lower risk of failure, even when using the "i'm going to need a better offer" option that typically carries risk of losing the quest. Even without any reputation, the risk/reward is "medium/medium".

"So, if we'd had more time, we could've fitted the seat with some adaptive Guardian tech. It's a whole new level of comfort when everything molds to your contours. Our engineer joked he should patent it and retire." I chuckled softly.

"But for this op, standard tech will do. It's all nicely cushioned, with a bit of give. No one asked any dumb questions... they took it as an interesting challenge. Might be that this setup gets repurposed for torpedo transport later on. Randomius, sometimes I wonder what goes on in those heads. But then again, maybe I don't wanna know too much."

I gestured towards Kasumi's wrist computer.

"That gadget looks mighty handy. Custom job? And spill the beans about this Azimuth operation, if you've got the lowdown."

Oh, it's you again :p

"I should not need to, no.", I replied. "Everything I use is also saved... here."

I pointed, or rather looked, at my wrist computer. Then something else I'd been wanting to ask came to me.

"Have you... designed the seat with... 'operational tolerances'?" My gaze shifted down to the way my lower half was currently more spread out to the sides than usual, which would inevitably occur during ship acceleration. "And I hope the crew did not ask too many questions."

A buzzing from the wrist computer then distracted me, also making me let go of the console, such that the shape returned to its original form.

"It looks like... our captive has been a little busy. She has no access to more classified locations, or logs, but has apparently visited a public operation Azimuth have over where their megaship is, so we might find something about less legal work there on the ship itself. What do you think?"

It sounds like it's going to be more integrated in BGS but given my general lack of interest in the subject, which means I haven't looked at the stream itself and only discussion, I can't say for sure.

If you want to take a look for yourself :
6ZgiIfs4os4

"Looks like you're getting mighty comfortable there..." I noted, watching my counterpart sprawl across the console.

"...but don't get too cozy. Our ship's all set, a Type-6, so we look just like any old hauler. I've had a few special tweaks installed though; this baby can hit around 330 m/s, with a boost of about 520 m/s. And of course, your seat, big and comfy. But here's the real deal: at idle, we're down to 14.5%, which will be a gem for our mission."

"Do you need anything special to hack into Musashi's comms? Otherwise, I'm packing the standard drones."

Is there any squadron that dedicates themselves to murdering innocents only? looking to join one of those

I shook my head.

"You are not, but we - humans - are. This 'Club' deliberately led to the war. Or I think so, at least. And now they attack everyone in the Bubble near a Titan. Before that... only if you would shoot them, or carried Guardian or Thargoid... stuff. But there is no, point, to this conflict. At all. Three dead Titans, and we still do not understand anything. They barely have even responded to losing ships that big."

That was all I could really say without beginning to feel uncomfortable from the subject of the war. Although the lack of gravity and feeling my nice body were making me feel restless too, and I kind of compensated by pushing myself into my seating spot a little more... of course also providing the view of my soft rear - and lower half generally - spreading outward under the force.

If it potentially gives us a better shot at either getting our system back, or getting away from this horrendous group, I'm all for it. No, I haven't heard about the rework yet.

Just seem like bullies to me and take advantage of us small groups for their own RP benefit. Kinda crap.

Powerplay is getting a total rework this summer. Haven't you heard yet? (I assume not. There was a stream last month where it got discussed in greater detail but cba to search it up right now)

This whole PP/BGS needs a rework.

My group does not do ANYTHING Powerplay related and it's COMPLETELY unfair that a group of 1,900 players can just come into our home system, take it, and keep it because we don't have NEARLY the numbers we have. My group only has 3-5 active players. We couldn't keep up with their influence even if we tried.

Not to mention, this large group holds roughly 70 systems. We've tried talking to them but they're so hellbent driven on their stupid "RP" that they aren't allowing us our system back. No matter what we do, they're always going to have the numbers to keep their influence high enough that we won't even reach war, even if we WANTED TO. This was our home since we got our names in the game YEARS ago and for it to simply be taken away and have NO ability to do anything about it is ridiculous.

We can't even expand out of our system even if we wanted to, because again, they have the numbers and we don't. It just isn't right and we're frustrated as a group because we did get ahold of them and asked if they could give us our system back - and we got some dumb "RP" response essentially saying no.

Kinda not right for a large player faction like this to take high advantage of failed mechanics to allow this to happen.

"Well, nothing too terrible happened to ME. I've already told you about the device's self-destruct mechanism that got triggered. That silly thing started counting down real fast. So, I cut the power supply. That's what led to the mechanical damages," I said, pointing at the device with the index finger of my right hand.

"The electric shock came later when I was tidying up a bit. But it wasn't too wild," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"As for waging war, I'm not in conflict with anyone... I've mostly steered clear of the Thargoids. It's worked out pretty well so far - sure, they've yanked me out of hyperspace a few times when I was hauling cargo in the Pleiades. But my ship is fast, and it runs on a minimal amount of energy, so it only gets noticed up close. I've always managed to slip away from them."

"Well, if they are the people in control ..."

I didn't really need to pursue that idea, I thought.

"But some people I had contact with, in a... resistance movement, of a sort, think that it could even be worse. That some of the people in charge are directly collaborating... for, whatever reason. Personal gain, maybe. Like the, Federal president... Hudson, right now, I... think. Until he moves out. Or even are the people in charge, like in case of Sirius."

"But... I still want to try. To do... something. They are, responsible for so much wrong. Wars, why we constantly fight each other... why we fight the Thargoids. They do it all on purpose."

And they are responsible for me, too.

I wasn't sure what else to say to that. So instead, I took a look at the suit computer's remains, or what I could see from my - unusually elevated - seating position. Then back at her. Because there were some signs of damage unrelated to bashing on the power supply.

"It does not look like 'nothing bad' happened. It sparked kind of bad. And did you hit it with something?"