Hostile ERTs will almost always rush CIC and then attempt to call for more reinforcements. However, ERTs have almost no ability to use the CIC consoles to do this, meaning many rounds the hostile ERT will just sit around in CIC until they are killed by the xenomorphs.
My ideasguy is that hostile ERTs should be given a tangible objective to complete that may reward them with a reinforcement wave, or otherwise give them a pat on the back.
This could be something as simple as ordering them to “”““capture””“” a high value area (CIC, astro nav, engine core, CO’s bunk) for 5 minutes, and if they hold it for that long, they are given the reward.
I only suggested a five minute timer since hijack is normally a 20 minute affair, so 1/4 of the round-end time seems fair, but the number is up to whoever adds it.
Ideally I’d make it the Marines and Xenos are made aware that a hostile ERT is doing a capture objective when they trigger it, sort of like when the Self-Destruct is armed.
Of course there are issues about a non-hostile variant of the ERT being summoned and ensuring this system only works during hijack.
The simplest objective that would make sense lorewise is to steal some piece of valuable tech, something like scout spec’s cloak, CO’s protag gun, generally rare and experimental. All of that in order to reverse-engineer it back home.
What UPP, or CLF will get for holding some part of the ship for X ammount of minutes? Lorewise that is basically nothing. At best it is Syndicate Nuclear Agents type of goal where they show USCM that they mean business and achieved something hard (like blowing up NT station using NT nuclear disc). How much you can gloat to the world about your success against USCM onboard their ship that was already overrun by hostile xenos focused mainly on marines?
VAISO needs to capture the CL. CLF could try and do a raid to req to steal military grade equipment. UPP could try to get to CIC, hack it and transmit to their ship either for the location of the vessel to capture it if hostile or for reinforcements if they are friendly. The mercs would either assist or try to salvage parts of the ship and it’s equipment.
I like the idea so right off the start imma give two possible ideas for objectives, one for UPP and the other for CLF:
UPP objective
Escort a big ass machine that has to be pushed/dragged much like a P.A.C.M.A.N. Generator, the machine is a kind of wireless mini-computer that can hack ARES. The objective is escorting that into the AI core, feeding it the ID of a marine (depending on the ranking of the ID fed the hacking time varies) and protecting it until it’s activated.
If the machine is protected during the hacking time ARES will be deleted, it will be replaced by BORIS and 4 UPP affiliated Working Joes (kinda like the ones that CLF get canon-wise) will be spawned into the newly designated BORIS core to help the UPP in the fight against xenos and marines.
CLF objective
Yet again, another hacking objective, but this time it’s with a handheld PDA similar in appearance to the CL’s distress beacon.
The CLF lead spawns with a hacking tool that has to be used in the ID console of CIC to initiate a 3 minute hacking timer that will cause an ARES announcement to get the marines into CIC ASAP, afterwards the CLF get rewarded with an “artillery technician ID” . Then the CLF have to move with this ID to the railgun room to fire it at an international space station or whatever, maybe a station similar to anchorpoint. The idea is causing a diplomatic mess so severe that it will make nearby vessels to attack the Almayer, causing a massive ammount of damage on the ship reflected in the way of various severe explosions distributed around the Almayer.
I’d say that conceptually, the idea lacks polish, but there is something about the posibility of terrorists hijacking a massive military ship to cause an absurd ammount of diplomatic issues that I can’t let slip by lmao.
also it would make more sense if the CLF one just made the core go into overdrive to kill both marines and xenos, or the CLF gain access to the IFF and now all the turrets attack everyone.