Thargoid invasion - Next target systems?

[CMDR Mechan]

For some live commentary …

 

[Kira Goto]

I recall the original M. Leigong periphery becoming blocked with around five useless Spires!

I just remember that being due to it deciding to place two odd outlier alerts at around 30 ly early on in the war, which later had barnacle matrix locations placed in them. Why it put them out that far is still unclear, at least to me.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

We did go for it. We called a DCoH war council as well to discuss live and see what we could mobilize and what forces we could muster.

I noticed, and thank you all for trying! I should have been a bit more clear earlier, and written something like given the same forces which can destroy a Titan with seven, leaving alive a Titan with seven would be a strategic mistake.

It was correct to try, it was correct to move over to Alerts, we all helped here with the stronger purchase orders, and it was very impressive to see!

 

[Felix DiCestria]

... providing no further plot twists come from the Titan(Frontier), but bar it entering a temporary invulnerability state or reclaiming controls without any forewarning, I don't see anything saving it. And I would think the sudden 30 panic alerts was good enough already.

Short of Oya going to Ludicrous Speed I don't think anything is going to deter the bombers this time.

 

[Jack Brolin]

Given that situation, both spires in Oya going down and the evident activity - directing the spire enthusiasts that listen to me towards Hadad for the remainder of the week.

We'll see how things go, a spire with 1/8th the gravity should be welcome at least, and parking to reach the best option I could spot should only improve over time.

I was just thinking it's tempting to park a titan bomber at Lhou Mans (only 9.48ly from titan - can make use of those SCO drives!) and head over to see what needs doing at Hadad, I guess that settles it!

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Here is a M. Hadad overview, for Commanders lending kindly their half-week of M. Oya downtime!

Spire​

The outermost Spire site is at Col 285 Sector VS-Z b14-3, with Col 285 Sector SX-Z b14-0 narrowly not quite in the periphery yet. I had hoped to narrow their position separation to become peripheral together, but it is likely that new Alerts will keep the latter out of reach.

Invasion​

Not to call anyone away from Ngolite (92%) over at M. Raijin, we have these Invasions:
Putas Invasion 52% — Hadad 23 Ly, 0 ports, 572 Ls starport damage
Vogulu Invasion 28% *29.1% — Hadad 21 Ly, 5 ports, 35k Ls 0.18g planet + 35k Ls 0.15g planet attack

Vogulu looks to be a great candidate for using the new Supercruise Overcharge, and Putas will be relying much on evacuation efforts—although causing a starport ruckus if Scythes are around could also be an option. Both systems have many possible perches within 10 Ly, almost all of which are asteroid-free at arrival (only Col 285 Sector VN-Z b14-7 is not!).

Control​

The main, ongoing populated system eviction this week is Vasupari:
Vasupari Control 62% *63.6% — Hadad 18 Ly, 3240 strength

Excluding attacks assumed inevitable given the presence of Matrix systems, many of the remaining attackers this week are:

• Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-0 (6214), which should be avoided because INIV has 88% of it stored already.
• Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-1 (3484), which should be encouraged and for which Scout samples can be sold to INV. Light of Achenar at Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-3.
  There may be also some held Scythe samples around from a previous day, but I am unsure.
• Three Two peripheral attackers, which should be visited afterwards once any approximate peripheral progress rate is known:
  • Col 285 Sector PM-B b14-3 (2208).
  • Col 285 Sector RM-B b14-8 (2263).
• Col 285 Sector SH-B b14-5 (2787), which would then remove a minor attack, improving the future peripheral advance.

If all of that becomes complete, we have then:

• Three peripheral non-attackers; these should be lower priority, but completed given peripheral progress:
  • Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-2 (1717).
  • Col 285 Sector PM-B b14-4 (2147).
  • HIP 32764 (2395).
• Five other non-peripheral attackers, which will be perhaps too steep to address reasonably:
  • Col 285 Sector QM-B b14-7 (4831).
  • Col 285 Sector KW-M c7-30 (4690).
  • Col 285 Sector KW-M c7-12 (4670).
  • Col 285 Sector SH-B b14-4 (4667).
  • Col 285 Sector QM-B b14-2 (4614).

Updated due to forgetting that the Invasions and the cleared Alert are blocking the periphery.

 

[Pammy Vercetti]

o7 cmdrs.... is the focus still to take down Oya or is it to remove all alert systems first? Noticed today according to DCoH that the percentage hadnt moved much on the Titan despite the remaining alert systems begin taken care of and I believe only 1 controlled left.

 

[Grimscrub]

o7 cmdrs.... is the focus still to take down Oya or is it to remove all alert systems first? Noticed today according to DCoH that the percentage hadnt moved much on the Titan despite the remaining alert systems begin taken care of and I believe only 1 controlled left.

the carrier load for the final control system should be being unloaded now - the damage resistance won't change until the thursday downtime so, focus for fighting/sampling/etc. is largely shifting elsewhere, with a 'Anyone who won't be around on/after thursday, you should probably get a couple of attack runs in on the titan to secure your 2mil just in case'.

 

[Jack Brolin]

Jumping as close as I can to Col 285 Sector VS-Z b14-3, re-arm & repair will be available at Mercenary Mercantile in Col Sector VS-Z b14-6

It's 8kls or so out to the spire so hopefully it's close enough to make use of those SCO drives

Can confirm titan bomber Krait will make Lhou Mans to Oya in 1 jump with the aforementioned silly supercruise drive btw

 

[Kira Goto]

Can confirm titan bomber Krait will make Lhou Mans to Oya in 1 jump with the aforementioned silly supercruise drive btw

Probably just about. My AX-focused build for the Krait on my alt has 9.7 ly with that C rated drive, 9.51 with 16 limpets onboard. Wouldn't mind an A rated variant even if it is locked out of engineering(to keep to the whole idea of it not being an 'everything drive' and let the regular version be meaningful).

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Lhou Mans is indeed an absolutely excellent staging system for T. Oya:

• If needed, dock first at Sabine Gateway, which sells the new SCO Frame Shift Drives.
• Use the closer Ryman Enterprise or Rotsler Ring for restock.

Despite being under repair, almost all non-Odyssey services are available!

Additional: Kidman Orbital in HIP 21165 looks also to stock SCO FSDs, and I am quite sure that its 1300 Ls from arrival will be less of a problem once said FSD is purchased!

 

[Jack Brolin]

My carrier's a pretty good staging ground for this spire, 7.92ly away. Couple of blasts on the silly drive made nothing of the cruise. It's eerily quiet atm but I made a start and bagged an Orthrus o7

 

[Aleks Zuno]

My carrier's a pretty good staging ground for this spire, 7.92ly away. Couple of blasts on the silly drive made nothing of the cruise. It's eerily quiet atm but I made a start and bagged an Orthrus o7

It seems to be working—that has provided one 2%-point which affected both Invasions and five of the Control systems! Without speaking for the Invasions, even a modest bit of Spire progress present by Tuesday–Wednesday should let us clear all of those five peripheral Control systems, scheduled after Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-1 and anything remaining at Vasupari.

 

[Shurimal]

Probably just about. My AX-focused build for the Krait on my alt has 9.7 ly with that C rated drive, 9.51 with 16 limpets onboard. Wouldn't mind an A rated variant even if it is locked out of engineering(to keep to the whole idea of it not being an 'everything drive' and let the regular version be meaningful).

My Titanbomber can get 10 ly with 30 limpets and class 4 fuel tank (4 full range jumps plus a little extra):

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

So yeah, Lhou Mans makes an excellent staging area. I already transferred my Krait there last Thursday (sans the Sirius missile racks which went on my Spire assault 'Conda)

 

[Kira Goto]

Right, of course. Downsized powerplant. That’d do to push it over 10ly range. I just tend to run a low emissions C7 instead of C6, because of Guardian weapons… but don’t need those here, so yeah.

Going to have fun figuring out how to get pods out of Oya most effectively when it goes into the fireworks stage. Will want to use the overcharge FSD to cover SC distance but it’s not going to be great for travelling back to the rescue ship and my alt has no carrier(no plan to either). So… yeah. I guess it’s swapping out at a nearby port for each run.

 

[Shurimal]

Right, of course. Downsized powerplant. That’d do to push it over 10ly range. I just tend to run a low emissions C7 instead of C6, because of Guardian weapons… but don’t need those here, so yeah.

I have different Kraits for Titanbombing and general station AX since the builds are sufficiently different (station AX doesn't need repair limpets and AFMU). I also undersize fuel tanks because all you need is 3 jumps and a few hours of combat. How SCO plays with 16 tons of fuel is to be seen, but I plan to use short few second bursts so it shouldn't be too much of a trouble—at worst I might just need to take the Rebuy Express back to the station

I suspect that Fuel Rats might open a 24/7 gas station at Oya this week, though...

 

[Jack Brolin]

Going to have fun figuring out how to get pods out of Oya most effectively when it goes into the fireworks stage. Will want to use the overcharge FSD to cover SC distance but it’s not going to be great for travelling back to the rescue ship and my alt has no carrier(no plan to either). So… yeah. I guess it’s swapping out at a nearby port for each run.

I've been pondering the Python for the rescue mission, it's essentially a mining job after all, we just happen to be mining humans. Using some of the extra room for an FSD booster & AFMU could make it work. It won't outrun hunters, but it  will outgun them

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Thank you all at M. Hadad; it is going quite well! We have an almost-complete Vasupari (96%), and 10% peripheral progress to five Control systems is very much like being given half a system already. It means a lot for our schedule! It is also helping Putas (71%) and Vogulu (50%), the former with zero ports and the latter with SCO to planetary attacks; for the moment it seems fine to continue via Spire activity.

On the Control front, the plan here is for two more non-peripheral attackers, then a sweep of all five peripheral systems to make the best use of the Spire discount they reach eventually. The most I can do to avoid possible overlap is to offer to buy Research samples at each target as we go; otherwise, anyone helping at Control systems should deliver reasonably quickly so that our displays report the effect while we are in-session.

Our present target is Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-1 with INV. Light of Achenar buying for 555555 each at Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-3. Speaking of which, many thanks to @Captain-MD for getting it started, and if any more Scythe samples await delivery then hopefully this is a timely reminder to do so!

Additional: Some Research cargo for Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-2 ended up in the hold; this is quite fine and it will indeed help this week, although to help us account for Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-1 I have adjusted the order and opened the other Carrier:

• Research samples for Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-1 go to INV. Light of Achenar. Complete!
• For elsewhere, to INV. Wrath of Winter. Moved; see below!

We will need one of those Carriers for moving around, although I will leave the other present in Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-3 for now.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

This may become a little confusing, but I will try my best! In our target order from Tuesday evening, Carriers around M. Hadad are now:

Target	Peripheral	Strength	Remaining	Held	Carrier	Location	Note
Col 285 Sector SH-B b14-5	No	2787	2785	2786	INV. Wrath of Winter	Col 285 Sector GQ-O c6-19	Delivered
Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-2	Yes	1717	1226	1229	INV. Light of Achenar	Col 285 Sector WN-Z b14-3	Delivered
Col 285 Sector PM-B b14-4	Yes	2147	522	525	INV. Wrath of Winter	Col 285 Sector OR-B b14-0	Delivered
Col 285 Sector PM-B b14-3	Yes	2208	9	13	INV. Wrath of Winter	Col 285 Sector OR-B b14-0	Delivered
Col 285 Sector RM-B b14-8	Yes	2263	992	1027	INV. Light of Achenar	Col 285 Sector RM-B b14-0	Delivered
HIP 32764	Yes	2395	1831	1841	INV Astral Flame	Col 285 Sector VS-Z b14-4	Delivered
Col 285 Sector SH-B b14-6	No	2826	2666	693	INV. Wrath of Winter	Col 285 Sector UC-B b14-0	Paused

The confusing parts are that I will have to update it after checks to be sure that the salvage systems are correct, and that the peripheral progress is still moving, providing reductions to those strengths above. I have noted which of those are peripheral systems, although in general it is correct to watch the progress of any system while harvesting Research cargo! I imagine it may be more sensible just to deliver instead, but the above are around if you want significantly higher pay.

The first target Col 285 Sector SH-B b14-5 is preferable before moving on to peripheral targets; it is present because it is an attacker. After all of those there are also the peripheral systems Col 285 Sector RM-B b14-8 and HIP 32764; the present peripheral progress is actually already enough that I expect to clear at least the former!

V is trying to make for us a system allows anyone to see the salvage systems of cargo in our carriers.

 

[Jack Brolin]

Still chipping away at Col 285 Sector VS-Z b14-3, I haven't seen anyone at the spire in open but my carrier has a few new neighbours so it doesn't look like I'm the only one!* Done about 1.3 billion in bonds so far, no idea what that equates to in terms of progress, but I'm feeling vaguely useful, yay

*[edit] I could be wrong about that, according to Inara it's just me