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Topic: How do I beat Sa-Matra? (Read 9052 times)
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CelticMinstrel
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My assumption is that one or more of the following holds true:
- The crew pods can be jettisoned before the flagship gets into position on the Sa-Matra.
- The crew in the crew pods can hitch a ride on some of the escort ships.
- The escape pod has room for several people.
In any case, I don't think you'll be blowing up 150 people. Also, do keep in mind that there could be a delay between getting the ship into position and actually detonating, specifically in order to allow crew to evacuate in some manner or other.
The only real loss with the detonation is the Taalo shield... but hopefully the Ur-Quan have learned their lesson with regards to keeping the Dnyarri alive.
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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What? The main loss is the Unzervalt computer! After that, yes, the Taalo shield. The portal spawner is no minor detail, too.
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CelticMinstrel
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What? The main loss is the Unzervalt computer! After that, yes, the Taalo shield. The portal spawner is no minor detail, too.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the computer. The portal spawner is probably replaceable provided the Arilou are willing (which, granted, they probably aren't).
That's an interesting thought. Is it necessary to keep the Taalo shield around while the Dnyarri is on board? If so, was the plan that both would perish in the detonation, and did the Dnyarri know about that? If the shield wasn't necessary, they could have left it (as well as all other unneeded devices) on the starbase, but if shield and Dnyarri go hand in hand, then I guess there was no choice but to bring both. I imagine that the thought of the Dnyarri commanding the Sa-Matra would be far worse than anything else.
The shield isn't necessary to get the Dnyarri to help you, but I think once the Sa-Matra was defeated he'd start trying to compel you to take you with him if you didn't have the shield.
Unneeded devices can probably be left at the starbase, yeah, but I'm not sure how many of those there are... assuming you did everything, you would have the portal spawner, the sun device, the Taalo shield, the Dnyarri, and the Umgah hyperwave broadcaster; the sun device is totally unnecessary, and you can technically do without the portal spawner and the caster, but the shield and the Dnyarri are required (and you probably want the Dnyarri to die in the explosion anyway). Is the Taalo shield small enough to put in the escape pod? I'd guess it likely isn't.
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Death 999
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It was small enough to fit into a planet lander. The escape pod looks huge compared to the planet lander.
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CelticMinstrel
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Good point, though that's assuming stuff is to scale. Of course there's also the issue of whether it would be safe to remove the Taalo shield from the ship; if I recall correctly, it requires electrical current to work.
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onpon4
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Sharing is good.
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Good point, though that's assuming stuff is to scale. Of course there's also the issue of whether it would be safe to remove the Taalo shield from the ship; if I recall correctly, it requires electrical current to work. I think you're thinking of this quote from Hays:
DATA: Whoever the Taalo were, they were clever -- way past us. Probably even beyond the Chenjesu. As far as I can tell, with all our equipment, this thing is a rock. Just a rock, and nothing but a rock. However If you feed a current into it, anywhere along its surface everyone on board this starbase who has esper potential gets a bad headache. Well, we checked a bit more into that, and when the Taalo thing is active all evidence of psychon interaction is flatlined -- nothing gets through.
But I'm not sure that means it requires an electrical current to work. He also says in the summary that simply keeping it aboard will make you immune to psychic attacks, with no mention of any specific conditions needed.
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Death 999
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That's a pretty heavy implication, isn't it?
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CelticMinstrel
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Hm, maybe it works without electrical current, but a current amplifies its effect.
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Death 999
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It totally would apply to a block of wood - do you have any idea how much voltage is required to get a substantial current to run through an insulator like that?
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