Heavy Rain Omicron Mu | Omicron Zeta Combat, PvE, & Siege Event
Core | Order, Dragons | KOI, [KNF], KuWild
DATE & TIME
PvE & PvP: Jan 25 - Feb 2, 4-11:59 PM UTC
Sieges: Feb 1 - 2, 6-8 PM UTC
OVERVIEW
For years, the Core has been integrating powerful AI technologies into their vessels, and replicating deadly AI fighter drones. All of these secrets were ripped from the unwilling depths of Planet Gammu. Meticulous alignment training saw replica Gammu personas tortured to death in repeating batteries of simulations, until the Core were content these protocols were incapable of disobedience. Sentient, autonomous AI was unanimously banned in the Houses by the earliest of pan-Colony treaties. What the Core needs is a field demonstration of their chained golems' efficacy: a prize so tantalizing the law will no longer apply. A sales pitch to induce terror that this new capability could be obtained by a rival; the spark to inflame a bidding war between neighbours.
The Battleship Mars is the most heavily modified vessel in the fleet, and has assumed command of this most deadly of marketing exercises. The Core battlegroup now prowls Omicron Zeta at the head of a cloud of corrupted AI drones. For a proper demonstration to the Houses, they need to highlight their deadly power against fellow humans. The defenders of Cairo Station have long been a nuisance, The Order persistently sabotaging the Core's ambitions of reckless self-enrichment in the upper Omicrons. Now however, Order garrisons have been stretched thin by deployments to simultaneous crisis points across Sirius. Many local agents have been rushed to Omicron Theta, where they are now battling Wild incursions around Planet Pygar.
Means and motive combine, and the Core makes their move...
The Core are not the only opportunists to strike. Veiled powers observe with glee, watching carefully calculated feints plant the bait that is seized; long awaited plans are set in motion. In Tohoku, Infiltrators and Thralls stoke fury, demanding retribution for the dishonour of the raid on the Ichigaya Drydock. Paranoia wracks the KOI, fuelled by the Chochinbi Special Operations Division -- Liberty and Order saboteurs hide in every shadow; Kusari is in mortal peril -- decisive action must be taken. The Wild have a target in mind: Carthage Capital Yards, the beating heart of the Order's forces in the deep Omicrons. Carefully, they manoeuvre their puppets to strike, timing the operation to coincide with the suspected movements of the Core in Omicron Zeta. The KOI muster their vessels, and rendezvous with the ghost ship Hakodate.
As the creeping doom of battle approaches, the Nomads are conspicuously absent. They remain quiet on all fronts, vanishing across the Omicrons. The Zoners sigh a breath of relief. Despite this, the most grizzled veterans of the Order feel nothing but a deep sense of dread. They cast their minds back 16 years to the Fall of Toledo. The receding tide before the tsunami struck.
DETAILS
PvE & PvP:
Event IDs will earn points and a double bounty bonus for kills of the other sides' NPCs in event systems.
Event IDs will earn points and a $400k bonus for kills of the other sides' player ships in event systems.
The configs will only be active during peak server hours (4pm-11:59pm UTC), and in specific systems based on id.
Event systems:
Core: Omicron Zeta.
KOI/KuWild/[KNF]: Omicron Mu.
Dragons: Omicron Mu.
Order: Omicron Mu, Omicron Zeta.
Sieges
During the siege windows, the following assets will become vulnerable:
Carthage Dry Dock: a drydock will be positioned nearby, and two battlecruisers will be positioned near the station, guarding the approach from Tohoku.
Cairo & Capetown Station: a battlecruiser will be positioned near Cairo under the control of the Order; a battlecruiser and a cruiser will be positioned in-between Cairo and Capetown under control of the Core.
Damage dealt to any asset will be rewarded based on player contribution.
The Mars and the Hakodate will participate in the sieges as reinforced ships with unlimited power core and docking bays. The Mars must remain in Zeta, and the Hakodate must remain in Mu.
The siege of all targets will occur simultaneously.
Rule Changes:
Non-event IDs may not deal damage to any asset, or engage defenders during the siege windows.
During the siege windows, all event participants are limited to battlecruisers and below, with the exception of one registered battleship/dreadnought from the Core in Zeta, the [KNF] in Mu, and two from the Order (one in each system).
During the siege windows, respawn timer is reduced to 15 minutes for all event participants.
[KNF]IKN-Takatenjin - Omicron Mu
Order|CV-Calamity - Omicron Mu
OCV-Cerberus - Omicron Zeta
<ARM>WV-Lockdown - Omicron Zeta
Gameplay Guidelines:
The Core and Kusari/Wild sides are disincentivized from cooperating. They are forbidden from combining forces during the sieges.
All sieges are happening simultaneously. The Order must split their forces accordingly.
The siege objectives will drive the main RP outcomes, much more so than any leaderboard. Keep this in mind when deciding what to shoot.
Outcomes:
Cairo and Capetown will be protected by POB capital ships, that if destroyed will represent the damage or destruction of their parent station.
Based on the Order roleplay consultation:
Carthage has received additional POB capital ships instead of Cairo.
The Hakodate will be destroyed if put out of action.
Rewards:
All rewards require an INRP write-up about the event from the point of view of your character. Can be submitted as a report within the comm section, in a relevant faction channel, or as part of a story thread.
Custom Title
Requires participation in the event, event IDs only.
Core AI Drone/Bomber
Available from the event-only restarts (fcCoreAId & fcCoreAIb). Custom "Corrupt AI" engines & thruster require participation in the event (engine after patch for the bomber).
Exotic Systems (50)
Requires 300 NPC kills. You may combine kills across all characters you played during the event. Can be claimed multiple times.
Jump Drives
Requires 6/9/12 kills (for jump drive mk 2/3/4). You may combine kills across all characters you played during the event. Can only be claimed once.
Shared Ships
Kills by tagged ships on the config will be summed, allowing the purchase of faction shareds with the resulting points at the following rates: BS = 32, BC = 22, Cruiser = 14, Gunboat = 8. Faction leaders should pm @Barrier with the final details. Please note that techcompat remains in effect for these ships, and locking is for official factions only.
Factions currently eligible for this reward: Order (Order|), Eclipse Vanguard (E\V/), True Sons of Kusari ([TSK]), Das Wilde (Wilde.), KNF ([KNF]), Core (<ARM>).
Results
After an unending bloody skirmish, all sides with the exception of the punitive Kusari taskforce have achieved some of their stated objectives. The Hakodate lies in smoking ruins, its fearsome reputation broken against waves of Order and Dragon reinforcements from Carthage. The drydocks themselves are unscathed, but with heavy losses among the defenders, who are lauded at achieving the impossible. This victory comes at a cost - Cairo Station is completely undefended against further assaults from the Core. But worse things than bounty-hunter built vessels and their pet AIs are lurking in the nebula, and Cairo has no defenders left to repel them.
On the other side of the system, Capetown reels from the loss of Mars, and the betrayal of most of its AI battlegroup. With the tip of the spear pointed at Cairo also lost, only the most optimistic commanders believe that anything can be salvaged from this disaster. The grimly humorous refrain of "Bollocks, Interspace wont like this." has been heard across many a mess hall, and things are going from bad to worse. With the confirmed sightings of approaching nomads and the need to secure existing assets against the rogue Mars, all agree that a pullout is all but inevitable.
The Wild assets embedded among the KOI celebrate another victory against humanity, if indeed they are capable of any feelings at all. KNF commanders seethe at the failure and search for likely targets to blame, but the Hakodate's command staff are nowhere to be found. With demands regarding mission-critical intelligence falling on deaf ears, some conservative strategists are electing to blockade the Mu connection and forget about the Order. This is being harshly criticized by KOI firebrands, who propose a shift in strategy against their old foe. But for the time being, the Arch again becomes silent and forbidding, as existing KNF assets trickle back into the bloodstream of their House. Many would be glad to never return.
- Added: New event-only lifter model carrying a Kusari BC engine, with the commodity icon to match.
- Changed: Made patch notes reference the actual Freelancer version number again, starting with this patch.
- Changed: Gunboat primaries now do energy damage at 25% of hull damage, bringing their shield damage up to 75% of their hull damage.
- Changed: Fighter and Bomber mass and strafe force increased by 33%. Example: the Defender previously weighed in at 150 mass, and now 'weighs' 200, with a strafe force of 20,000 instead of 15,000.
- Changed: Fighter gun balance pass: (very) low efficiency class 1 and 2 guns and class 5 turrets' damage has been reduced, improving their efficiency. Codenames and class 4 (heavy weapons) damage unchanged.
- Changed: Fighter gun balance pass part 2: fighter/bomber gun efficiency formula updated, reducing overall power usage. The guns least affected by this buff are low-refire 'shotguns'.
- Changed: Fighter and Bomber power plant recharge increased by 90.
- Changed: Both Nova and Incapacitor bomber torpedo models have been upscaled by 20% (including hitboxes).
- Changed: Nova and Incapacitor bomber torpedo HP increased from 1,250 to 2,500.
- Changed: Rage torpedo model now also uses a larger size model (like Novas and Incapacitators before it), and its HP has been increased from 900 to 3,000.
- Changed: Swatters damage and radius reduced, but detonation distance increased and the mine can now move and seek. Ammo decreased by 20 (50->30).
- Changed: Gunboat railgun hull damage reduced by 3250 (7000->3750), armor pen increased by 50 (150->200).
- Changed: Daisychain missiles now have a 200ms arming time.
- Changed: Shield adjustments:
Shield Battery shield restore amount increased from 180 to 250.
Shield Battery counts adjusted: larger ships like transports, gunboats and capital ships have had their battery count reduced proportional to the amount shield batteries themselves were buffed by -- meaning their overall amount of shield capacity 'stored' in batteries remains the same.
Light Fighters also have slighter reduced numbers of shield batteries.
Fighter and Bomber shield capacity & recharge increased by 10%.
Fighter, Bomber and Freighter shield boosts now last a little longer per expended shield battery, but reduce damage by significantly less than they did before: Graviton: 75% -> 45%; Molecular: 65% -> 40%; Positron: 50% -> 35%.
- Changed: Nanobot repair quantity reduced by 100 (600 -> 500). Ships larger than freighters have had their nanobot counts increased to maintain the same amount of total effective hitpoints. Light Fighters have slightly more nanobots (mostly to ensure they can 'fuse').
- Changed: Battlecruiser Penitence has made it to the Tripoli drydocks for repairs. It is undockable for the duration. Its infocard reflects its latest adventure.
- Changed: Dresden updated to update Penitence's departure.
All ID's that contained the default bounty hunters line have been updated with clarified wording. Please note that this is only a cosmetic change and will not affect the functionality of the line or the ID's in any way.
Old: Can attack any ship in pursuit of a contract.
New: Can attack any ship that is the target of a contract.
New lines have been applied to the Aegis Initiative, the Bounty Hunters Guild, Unione Corse and Freelancers
For Aegis, BHG & Corse
Can attack other bounty hunting organisations outside of house space targeting the same bounty.
For Freelancers
Can attack all other bounty hunters targeting the same bounty
Apologies for not notifying OF's of this change before it went out. I was saving my work over night and the daily server restart pushed them to live before I had a chance to let OF's know of this.
Kusari’s first activation of the prototype Jump Drive met with mixed results. The ill-fated IKN Niyodo translated into jump space, then vanished with its attendant fuel tanker. The experiment was considered a partial success. The Jump Drive had functioned, albeit imperfectly. The captured data led to the discovery of the stable hyperspace pocket Liberty would come to know as “Earhart”, and the algorithmic Drive "weighting" needed to avoid its grasp. A small consolation for the loss of the Niyodo, and all hands aboard.
In the years since, humanity has begun the difficult and dangerous process of exploring Earhart. The KOI’s Jump Drives, LSF’s Super Gate and even MND access to the calamity that befell Planet Gotha provide entryways for automated probes. Those probes discovered an alien and inhospitable place; a graveyard of unfathomable proportions, containing a sea of debris scattered over the span of centuries. Upon jumping, contact with these probes was abruptly lost.
Desperate to know what was ensconced beyond the boundaries of mainline reality, all three agencies adapted. Probes were soon adjusted to seek out the gravimetric readings associated with Jump Holes and Jump Gates, in the vain hope that one might find its way back to Sirius with its payload of vital data. Before long, some probes began to trickle back to Sirius -- less than half of those dispatched. The retrieval of these probes from seemingly random spots throughout Sirius became a significant focus for each House.
In early 835 AS, the LSF recovered a probe that had made a monumental discovery. The wreckage of a Kusari vessel - a battlecruiser, the IKN Niyodo. More importantly, the reactor section was largely intact. The LSF has been aware of Kusari’s Jump Drive program for some time, and bristled at their inability to meaningfully sabotage or disrupt it. Liberty correctly surmised that there is only one way the Niyodo could have ended up in Earhart: there is a possibility that intact Jump Drive technology remains aboard. This was a prime opportunity to rectify that, albeit with a short, dangerous window for success.
In a daring first, the LSF has assembled a recovery expedition to grab the reactor, drag it back to Sirius, and exfiltrate the component to Alaska for study. A remote-controlled Heavy Lifter was selected for the task of moving the module, the LSF unwilling to risk exposing a crew to whatever might be emanating from the Niyodo's cracked reactor housing. As the operation is executed, Liberty Navy patrols in Galileo are ordered to high alert, and told to prepare for any eventuality - including possible Kusari retaliation.
Kusari meanwhile has been aware of the Niyodo’s location for some time, leaving watchful sentinels in place while they methodically prepared their own recovery expedition. When the proximity sensor triggered on the arrival of Liberty's scout probe, Kusari’s watchman fled for Sirius, carrying its urgent warning. Upon retrieval, Kusari were horrified by the recording. Wrong-footed, the KOI have surged its plans forward in an attempt to head off Liberty’s machinations. The two Houses are now on a collision course for conflict in the most hostile space known to man.
DETAILS
"Convoy" Details:
The Argonaut-3 will be a neutral heavy lifter flown by staff. It is an drone with a simple onboard AI that is issued with remote instructions. It will start in Earhart near Niyodo's wreck (sector D3).
Liberty forces will begin at the Alaska Super Gate, Kusari forces will begin at Heaven's Gate in Tohoku. Both sides may enter Earhart only after the event starts.
The Argonaut is initially commanded to return to Alaska; once the Liberty group arrives it will follow their instructions on the route to take.
A group can hack The Argonaut's command signal and change its destination when only their ships are within 2k of the Lifter. When successfully hijacked, the Lifter will join the new owner's group and carry out their instruction until different ones are issued.
The Argonaut can only travel at a max of 180ms thrust speed; the cargo is too sensitive to use Trade Lanes.
The Argonaut cannot be destroyed. If reduced to 10% of it's original HP, its payload will be significantly damaged.
Liberty wins if The Argonaut reaches Alaska. Kusari wins if The Argonaut reaches Tohoku.
Bounties:
Event IDs will earn points and a $400k bonus for kills of the other team's ships.
Rule Changes:
All event participants will have their respawn timer reduced to 15 minutes.
For the duration of the event, Kusari and Liberty IDs may treat one another as "hostile".
The Argonaut may be treated as a combat ship belonging to the group currently commanding it.
All event participants are limited to Battlecruisers and below, with the exception of two registered battleships/dreadnoughts from the KNF and LN (with OFs getting priority).
If Liberty acquires the Argonaut, it will "jump start" their progress in the latest Sirian technological arms race.
If Kusari acquires the Argonaut, they will impede their primary rival and gain critical diagnostic insights into drives under extreme strain.
Rewards:
All rewards require an INRP write-up about the event from the point of view of your character. Can be submitted as a report within the comm section, in a relevant faction channel, or as part of a story thread.
Custom Title
Requires participation in the event.
Codenames (built with Earhart mats)
Requires at least 3/5/7 kills. Pick from any eligible fighter/gunboat/cruiser code. Multiple rewards are possible.
Ikazuchi/Akhetaten
Requires at least 16/32 kills total across faction-tagged ships. [KNF] for the Ikazuchi, 46th| or [LN] for the Akhetaten. Single award only.
Results
After transiting through the Alaska Super Gate into Earhart, the LSF taskforce initially made good speed. Relying on the scant data recovered from surviving drones, they avoided the obvious hazards nestled in the pocket’s centre. The Argonaut-3 latched onto the Niyodo’s reactor section and began to tow it away. As the expedition moved towards an anticipated exit-point, the situation shifted drastically.
A drive rift opened and expelled a Kusari strike group, transponders disabled. While the LSF has long been aware of Kusari jump drives -- schemed to defeat them, even -- it was still an unpleasant shock to be on the receiving end of their abilities. The KOI were horrified to find they were too late, the reactor had already been acquired by their rivals. Records next become garbled and confused, and it is unclear which side fired first.
What is known is this distant and alien frontier became a bloodbath, as the two House’s agents tore one another apart. The LSF successfully disengaged from this first clash, however their escape left the convoy in terminal peril. The exit point led to Kepler, a morass of deadly dark matter and gravitational hazards. While the LSF had painstakingly mapped the shifting tunnels of relative safety in previous months, they were not permitted a free hand to retreat. Soon after, regrouped KOI survivors pursued through the exit point and the battle began anew.
Ames was thrown into disarray by the chaos, as Liberty and Kusari ships fought and died in the safe zone surrounding the station. Soon the local neural net was ablaze, attracting the malign attention of the Lane Hackers. A squadron launched from Leiden Base was first to respond, arriving on the scene to confront the handful of surviving KOI operatives. This confrontation was merciless, with the Hackers soon after inheriting the Argonaut-3 and overriding its automated protocols.
The Hackers were not quite sure what they had obtained, but it was evidently capital ship wreckage of great value. They determined Cochrane Depot’s drydock was the best place to take it, and made off towards Colorado. The journey to Ontario was calm, despite Colorado itself being in uproar. Nothing was being reported on the neural net, but clearly some sort of transmission had escaped from Kepler. The Liberty Navy had been ordered to maximum alert and were preparing to reinforce the border.
All LSF stations had also been placed at maximum readiness, and briefed on the strange energy readings the scout drones had detected emanating from the Niyodo’s reactor. It was exactly these readings that caught the attention of an LSF patrol flying off the Battlecruiser Lehigh. A sudden spike in exotic radiation was detected in the gap between the St Lawrence Ice Field and the North Ontario Debris Sea. Another interception, another bloody combat, joined part-way through by dogged KOI trackers. The LSF’s mission CO quickly surmised the tide was turning and determined that the component must be destroyed rather than lost to Liberty's enemies.
Critical damage was inflicted on the Argonaut, but the Hackers were successful in driving their pursuers off. The thieves vanished into the debris field, and arrived at Cochrane Depot with their dilapidated prize in tow. Despite this, one of their own had been forced to eject, and was now aboard an LSF interceptor heading for the Lehigh and an uncertain fate. The heist of the decade has overturned an ant hill. The attention of the LSF is now, more than ever, fixed on Ontario, while the Navy waits to see what response may yet come from the north.
Based on the above numbers, a number of characters are eligible for rewards. When claiming them, please post all of the characters you played, what you are claiming (and where to put it), and link the RP you wrote.
Furthermore, players of tagged factions accumulated the following point totals:
[KNF] = 16
46th & [LN] = 8
This makes [KNF] eligible for an Ikazuchi. We will watch that RP with great interest.
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