Curt 2016/10/28(Fri)22:53 No. 755923 ID: 521e29
File 147772043234.png - (7.19KB , 206x90 , Command_Meeting_1.png )

>>755922
The councilwoman continues, your viewscreen politely displaying the buttons you would need to press to scroll to another member's face. But you know their type. They let one take the lead, and wait for the appropriate moments to clap.
"...the war, is, of course, why we've called you here today, Captain. You know as much of it as we do. I've seen your record. It's why you were chosen, personally, out of a large list of decorated pilots, soldiers, captains, commanders. Because so far as we can tell? You are our best and brightest."

Some of the councilmen applaud off screen.

"We are losing this war. It is no secret." The woman's face twists, displaying some genuine emotion. You're surprised, just a little. "How some backwoods xenophobia movement grew to a threat capable of trouncing our imperial fleets is beyond me, but you know the reports. Their drone units are being produced en-mass by the mobile factory ships they keep well-guarded in the center of their main fleet. Robots outnumber the men in their armies ten to one, and we simply can't keep up. We are -losing- this war. If we do? Alien relations collapse. Trade ends. Generations at war over their pointless cause. The cost is too high."

The other members of the council are silent. Perhaps they, too, are surprised. The councilwoman collects herself, shrugging a strand of hair from her face. It's only now you realize how exhausted she looks.

"But you know the cost. It's why you've fought for us from day zero. And why we call upon you to fight now. Because we have it. We really have it, captain!"

intergalactic federation trying to establish peace between potentially violent oppressors and the rest of the universe? nothing could go wrong!

For god's sake, don't send us out there without a teleporter! Anything less is a deathwish!

Curt 2016/10/28(Fri)23:05 No. 755927 ID: 521e29
File 147772111870.png - (55.46KB , 559x482 , Flagship.png )

>>755923
"The Rebel Flagship. Their linchpin. Their command center. More resources have been sunk into this bloated monstrosity than we ever considered wise to place into a single one of our assets. A super-heavy weapons platform. A drone manufactory. Barracks, comms, defense system control. And at great cost. We have the plans for the thing."

More applause. It sounds more genuine, somehow, more real.

"Schematics, reactor data, ballistics tests, the works, captain. Anything and everything we would need to get past this thing's defenses. The Flagship falls? The fleet collapses, the leadership wiped in one fell swoop. Our forces can mop up. We can begin to gain ground Captain, not just defend our own. It would be the turning point in this war. We need to get this to the frontlines. This is where you come in."

Your viewscreen shifts, the concilwoman fading away to show star charts, a path mapped from Federation command, here, to the front lines, in an astonishingly efficient travel pattern of only eight sectors away.

"We can't transmit these files by exonet. We can't confirm that our connections are secure. As such, we need a physical courier. You. Your mission, Captain, is to take this vital data and transport it to the frontlines. Get it to the field commanders, spread the word, and move in before the Rebels have a chance to react. A crippling blow to end all others."

The woman fades back in. Her eyesockets are dark-rimmed, but the eyes themselves spark with fierce determination. You find yourself thinking that you could share a drink with this woman. She's one of the good ones. Not the career politicians elected for the ride, but someone interested in actually improving things. Probably why she's leading this little meeting. She smiles, or perhaps, grins.

"I have utter confidence in your abilities, Captain. Get this where it needs to go. End this war."

Curt 2016/10/28(Fri)23:09 No. 755929 ID: 521e29
File 147772139626.png - (6.82KB , 205x90 , Command_Liason.png )

The woman fades as the meeting ends. A call waiting symbol appears in the corner of the viewscreen, and you bring it up.

This kid can't be older than twenty, though he seems to be trying to hide his lack of experience behind an aurora of smug that translates through the digital media.

"Good evening, Captain. You have your mission. Because of the nature of your task, contact with Federation command will be at a minimum. Consider this a rare opportunity to seek information from the top. Ask any questions you may like about the mission, and I'll be glad to answer. From there, you'll be shown to your... capable choices of ship and crew."
You aren't a fan of how he worded that.
>__?

I always disliked how your puny ship would be forced to fight a @#$%ing space fortress in the middle of a warzone on its own, despite the successful delivery of intel to the commanders. So if we get this done FAST can we recruit warships from the Federation fleet? (On the other hand, failing to reach the destination before the Rebel's agents infiltrate and assassinate their commanders means the number of jumps until mission failure drops from 7 to like 4, forcing us to fight the gauntlet without breaks.)

>>755931
Don't be silly, our job is only to deliver the bad news, surely they won't be so short-handed we have to fight the flagship in a delivery van! Ahahahahaaa.
so uh Central, do you think you could spare a lockdown bomb or maybe an elite Mantis boarding squad? They're just nice to have on deliveries, is all.

can you give us an idea on the routes we'll take to reach our distention so we can try and plan something ahead of time rather then just making blind jumps? I'd rather try and fly through friendly and neutral space then fly through a rebel system or god forbid a slug one. At least if it can be helped.

>>755933
Actually we want to fly through some enemy sectors - wouldn't want our crew to get rusty, after all!

But AVOID NEBULA SECTORS AT ALL COSTS. They are the worst. So empty.

>>755933
Hey, don't be speciesist! Slugs are valued members of the Federation too.
>>755935
Being able to scout twice as many systems gives us more wiggle room in nebula sectors. Don't discount them yet!

I can't believe this is happening. We're going to die burning, covered in space spiders!

>>755937
Federation slugs are great, but the pirate and "neutral" ones though can make even the simplest runs total hell. Mentis will just kill or enslave you, rockmen can be a bit rough (no that wasn't meant to be a pun) but do have a sense of honor for fair combat, but non-Federation slugs. They'll tear your ship apart for it's scrap, take your weapons and ammo leaving you defenseless, siphon your fuel and leave you floating helplessly in space, and have the nerve to call it trading and STILL fell like you ripped THEM off.

You can mock me all you want about that, but if we get stuck in a slug nebula then you'll see that my words will ring true.

What's sure is, don't take one of the phallic ships, they're not that good. That big gun that can't reliably be aimed is a waste of valuable equipment space.

I just want that diverse crew for maximizing all the blue options. That and 2 shields before the end of sector 1.

>>755952
Federation C is awesome and nobody can tell me otherwise. It's the stealth ships that suck.

What's the protocol for dealing with giant alien spiders? Have Lanius been let into the Federation yet?

>>755954 The protocol is either a boarding combat drone or the carefully measured application of industrial strength NOPE.

>>755955
think a defense drone worked as well

Curt 2016/10/29(Sat)07:07 No. 755957 ID: 521e29
File 147775001737.png - (3.76KB , 205x90 , Command_Liason_2.png )

>>755931
"Don't be preposterous. The Federation doesn't expect you to take down the most advanced ship ever designed in a cargo tug, Captain."
>>755933
"Yes... you're aware that the journey from here to the frontlines is a few days away, I'm sure. This is ho long it takes with normal travel, doing things like... making rational choices for sector-to-sector jumps. High Command has instead chosen to B-line you through pirate controlled protectorates, Zoltan checkpoints, Rock holy lands, and who all knows what else.
...but I'm sure that won't be a problem for you, Captain."
>>755954
>>755940
>Spiders
"Federation standard operation states that the only officially sanctioned reaction to space spider presence is to destroy the station they've planted themselves on. Giant alien spiders are no joke."
>Lanius
"You mean those metal vultures? Of course not. I don't know if you'v had the privilege to encounter them Captain, but the things simply don't listen to reason."
You have and they do, but you don't see the point in arguing with this guy.
>>755952
>Phallic ships
He raises a brow as he looks down at you over his huge honkin' nose.
"Oh... I'm sorry Captain, but even if you dislike the shape of a Federation battle corvette, they would not be available to you for this mission. We've taken on... trustable civilian contractors in order to keep a low profile. I'll have more information for you if you'll walk down to the hangar in your location."

Curt 2016/10/29(Sat)07:13 No. 755958 ID: 521e29
File 147775040721.png - (146.54KB , 616x413 , Kestrel.png )

You walk down to the ship bay, booted feet echoing footfalls in the drab hangar. It's empty but for three ships. You bring up your portable PDA and reconnect to the call.
>"There's only three ships here."
"Yeeees, Captain... times are tight, after all. We could not afford to give you a plethora of options, and if we did, Rebel vision might come to this sector, spoiling the mission entirely. I suggest that you become acquainted with each ship and it's crew."

You make your way to the closest ship.
The Kestrel. A military scout ship, decommissioned and given new life as a cargo hauler. The pilot, former Federation pilot A. Song, immediately volunteered herself, her ship, and her two-man crew to the mission. It's much an all-rounder, featuring a simple two-shot torpedo launcher and dual laser. Her human crew is a mixed bag. Song is fervently pro-Federation but her crew... less so. It seems their overexcited captain has dragged them in for the ride, so to speak.
Song is the classic former-military showboat looking for new glory. You have no doubts about her capabilities, but she seems to be under the impression that this is some grand romantic adventure, not a fight for the fate of your government and way of life. Akako is Song's daughter, only 20 years of age, and very unsure of this sudden shift in her life. She speaks softly, but her record as an engineer and shield technician is impressive. Rama has an irritating smirk. This is pretty much all you can register beyond his weapon handling certifications. What a prick.

Curt 2016/10/29(Sat)07:16 No. 755959 ID: 521e29
File 147775061744.png - (177.58KB , 615x445 , Noether.png )

Next is the Zoltan ship, which you recognized a mile away.
The Noether. A rare submission from the Zoltan government, officially neutral in the conflict, but they can see how a xenophobic human regime coming into power would be bad for relations. The craft is piloted by a bio-substrate AI named Christine, and is manned by two Zoltan ambassadors. Neither seems to know exactly what they're getting into. The ship features an advanced Zoltan overshield, but no standard shield generator, and is armed with Ion blasters and a basic beam model. AJ Hager claims to have signed on to the mission because of his intense interest in human affairs. ...somewhat disturbingly intense. He interrupts you constantly asking about various aspects of your biology and psychology, and has a hell of a volume control problem. And this guy is a diplomat? Sheesh. Virgil is more reasonable, and does his best to calm AJ down. He sites an impressive diplomatic resume, and notes experience in simulated combat zones, should worst come to worst. He explains how the Zoltan are well-fit for spacefaring combat, as their bodies produce enough energy to power equipment within the room they stand in, though they have a noted frailness of physique. Christine speaks only when spoken to. It states that it's hard-light hologram can be used as a poor substitute for a third crewmember, with exceptional physical frailty, but requires no oxygen for obvious reasons. The AI has also downloaded as much relevant information on weaponry as possible in the short time given, which may give an edge in combat if it can identify advanced weapons systems.

Curt 2016/10/29(Sat)07:21 No. 755961 ID: 521e29
File 147775090132.png - (123.27KB , 593x431 , Man 'O War.png )

The Man O' War. The only vessel intended for active military duty, it's service bought from the two-man Slug mercenary crew. It features advanced anti-crew weaponry capable of piercing minor shields, but lacks real destructive power. The Slugs are notably uncommunicative. Delice seems to speak no galactic common at all, though Joyce is fluent enough to get by. Both are brutes in size, and Joyce takes some noted pride in extolling their ruthlessness. She(?) explains that communication between slugs won't be a problem due to their psychic link, and that they may be able to detect the positions of nearby enemies and allies with something of a "psychic sonar" which she seems to lack the words to explain. She also seems to have been able to hear your less than flattering thoughts about her species from across the station, but largely finds them true.

You may want to further interview each crew or study the ships in greater detail. Alternatively, you could just pick, launch and go.

Is this more vanilla FTL or Captains edition?

>>755962
This is a heavily modified version of FTL, made in an attempt to recapture the sense of unknown and exploration, even for veterans of the game.

Take the Zoltan ship. Designed for battleship combat, two living batteries, and a hardlight AI that can distract foes long enough for us to open the blast doors.

Go with the slug ship, discuss with the two.

hmmm, The human ship has all it's bases covered but doesn't excel at anything.

The Zoltan ship has the best armament of the three but not really liking the no shields thing. Sure they have the zoltan shields but that thing takes a while to recharge once it goes down. Plus zoltan ships tend to be underpowered since they rely on their crew to fill the gap. Works well until one of them bites it then you're double screwed because you're now down not only a crew member but also down in ship power.

The slugs probably have the most competent crew but then again they're mercs so it's not like they have any real steak in this fight other then a paycheck. Plus their ship is very gimmicky. Good against anything without good shields and a crappy medbay but come across something with zoltan shields or a rebel drone and we're practically defenseless.

As for the crews themselves...
Human crew seems like a lot of drama, over eager caption who's bound to bite of more then they can chew, untested daughter who doesn't look ready to face the horrors of war, and a cocky son of a bitch who looks like he'll never follow an order unless he feels like it. Over all decent ship if a questionable crew

Zoltan crew seems rather... inexperienced. I mean we got the one guy sure, but the other guy seems to only really to be here to study humans and the AI makes me even more worried about boarding actions seeing how frail it is given our already frail crew. Over all a glass canon ship and crew. Good on offense but a paper thin defense.

Then the slugs. One guy doesn't even understand us so if the other one bites it we have to way to talk to the guy and vice versa. Plus, again, mercs. Won't be an issue as long as the scrap is good but not so sure how long they'll fight for the cause if things start getting dicy. But being mercs probably the best we got when it comes to experience and being able to handle themselves. Overall, gimmicky ship that either works well or not at all with the most competent crew with the least amount of reason to want to fight.

I'd say go with either the Zoltan ship or the slug ship. Zoltan ship for the better weapon systems and possibly a way to further improve Federation/Zoltan relationships in the long run if things go well. The Slugs because they're the most likely to get us through this thing alive. Plus they psychic mumbo jumbo actually makes nebulas less of a pain to move through.

I say we interview each crew. There's a lot at stake here. Start with the slugs. Slugs are cool looking.

>"Don't be preposterous. The Federation doesn't expect you to take down the most advanced ship ever designed in a cargo tug, Captain."
Just for the record, when you turn out to be wrong, that's the epitaph going on both our graves.

>who pick
Following a Star Trek line of thought, I looked at crew first. Crew trumps ship in that a good crew can pull off impressive things even with a poor ship, and the best ship in the world won't help you if it's being manned by non-cooperative, insubordinate incompetents who don't know their shit and work together.

And frankly our crew choices all seem horrifying bad. The human crew seems like a caricature primed for unnecessary drama and conflict, where we're going to be playing councilor and managing personalities as much as anything else. 2/3rds of the Zoltan crew I don't trust to have a clear grasp on what's going on- it's hard to gauge how much independent thought we can expect from the AI, and AJ seems to think this is a field trip for him to study humans. And the slugs we have a communication barrier with, which is a real problem for our fundamental role as captain.

Why aren't we getting to pick from experienced personal, or getting to bring people we've worked with before. People are a heck of a lot more interchangeable than ships when it comes to deploying resources, and they already went through the trouble of evaluating us and plucking us from our previous assignment after all.

>You may want to further interview each crew or study the ships in greater detail.
At the very least we should disabuse some notions here, I think. Make sure all members of the human crew actually want to be here. Evaluate the younger two- see if you can get them to reaffirm or commit to the mission without the prodding of the elder. Taking people with significant doubts will be a problem on this mission. See if you can get AJ more in line with the mode of thought for this mission- we have roles we need to serve, not a lot of time for aggressive questioning. If this is study, it kind of has to be field study (observations in a functional environment) not a prolonged interview with a subject. See if you can get an idea of the AI at all. See how well you can work wit the communications barrier with the slugs.

Does the grey mean large sections of the slug ship are depressurized? Only keeping the bare minimum of the ship habitable?

>who pick
Not sure I want to commit yet, but the human crew seems like it most has issues we actually know how to compensate for, and the all rounder stats make it the easiest to adapt play-style as we go to unknown surprises.

Zoltan. Overshield should protect us until we can either get more subsystems or work a full shield system in somewhere. All crews are terrible. We need to get new dudes relatively soon. I also like putting the weakest/most useless person on engines, so its an easy choice this time. Btw, does the ai have a translator module? Would help out diplomacy a fair bit to be able to speak in multiple languages.

Zoltan all day every day. I love those sheilds. We'll be a bit glass connony early on, but once we get going we'll be untouchable. The human crew seems like way too much drama, and I don't trust the mercs as far as I can throw them. The zoltan seem a bit green (heheh), but we can work on that. Let's interview the zoltan crew.

You know I'm gonna veto the Kestrel on account this is a stealth mission and it's painted in Federation colors. (now if we had the PEWPEWPEWPEW as an option - I mean the Red-Tail - that'd be another story.)

And having a crew of mercenaries just seems like a recipe for disaster, so I've gotta vote Zoltan.

I don't suppose we could hire on crew from one of the other ships to bolster our ranks?

go with the zoltan >:0

>>755971
Does the grey mean large sections of the slug ship are depressurized? Only keeping the bare minimum of the ship habitable?
No, it's just that slug ships don't have sensors since the slugs can detect living things with their minds. It works but it doesn't give you nearly as good of a picture as even a basic sensor system would and god help you if the enemy has a boarding drone or drones on their own ship.

>>756025
Not to mention fire. I know having sensors down and having a crewman accidentally walk into a room full of fire is terrible. Only worse feeling is having a heavy fire on-board and door controls down.

Slug ship. Being able to pacify hostile ships while keeping them mostly intact is the ideal. As handy as an AI's auto-repair would be, it's still slow, and crewmen who can fight are more valuable.

>>756025
Grey sections of the ship mean you don't have sensor coverage of them. Slug ships usually forgo sensors entirely in light of their crew's telepathic abilities, meaning they can only see rooms they are in or adjacent to.
Luckily the Slug ship comes with blast doors pre-installed, so you can tell where enemy intrusions are anyway before they smash your stuff.

>>756033
yeah sorry about that. I forgot to green text the first line

Curt 2016/10/30(Sun)19:41 No. 756193 ID: 521e29
File 147788167465.png - (871.75KB , 768x572 , Map_1.png )

After some deliberation, you board the Zoltan craft. You step into the captain's chair. The air is thick with tension, though this is perhaps your own doing.
The Federation, on your shoulders. You hope you've made the right choice. That your crew won't fail you.
AJ is currently manning the Engine.
Virgil is currently manning the Weapons Bay.
Christine is piloting the craft.
You have fuel for sixteen FTL jumps. The weapon's bay is at full power. Life support is functional. The engine is at full power.

You open the communication's console to the Weapons Bay and helm in turn. Virgil replies with a solid affirmative that he's ready for anything. Christine replies with a briefer, more mechanical, "Yes."
You open the comms channel to the Engine. AJ has his face all but pressed against the viewscreen. He appears to be fucking pumped, but quiets down when you politely request he save an intense interview and study for after you've saved the known universe. He agrees, before asking if he can passively study your choices to, quote, "Gain insightful insight into the workings of the human mind." Virgil, who can hear AJ all the way on the other side of the ship, sends you a brief message, requesting that you humor him. You say sure, quietly amused.
You ask, as a curiosity, what AJ thinks of the Rebels, and what he would advise the Federation do after the war, assuming they win. He replies, "The wise know when to make an ally of an enemy," a token Zoltan phrase which you've come to understand actually means "Put so many sanctions on them they basically wear a collar." Which sounds somewhat appropriate.

The star chart of the sector stretches ahead of you. The autonav beeps quietly, asking for input. You could set it to pilot directly for the exit, or take the most meandering path. Because this is a stealth mission, it's not likely you'll find Federation support and resupply. Collecting freelance work off the beaten path may and likely will be essential for survival. Other, more specific options are available, and your familiarity with the device lets you know that you can change the thing on the fly. You can, of course, bring up the sector map at any time.
Useful little widget.

Note from the author: updates will be happening more frequently. I just thought it prudent to let a big decision sit for a moment.

Meandering path so we can hopefully correct our choices before the day of reckoning. Oh god why did you all vote Zoltan, we're not gonna make it out of sector 1 alive.

Choose the north jump point, keep our options open.

>>756193
Dude, we just need some EMP weapons and a double laser. They will writhe in agony and we will enjoy every second of it.

>>756203
zoltan was clearly the fashionable option. we had no choice

don't head directly there, no problem with goin slow and steady

If we can find a Vulcan then precious metals will rain upon us. The metals of their hulls that is.
Go North is my vote.

Curt 2016/10/30(Sun)22:06 No. 756213 ID: 521e29
File 147789037969.png - (1.76MB , 1600x1000 , Asteroid_Belt.png )

You quickly punch in your navigation preferences into the console. Meandering route, no avoidance... all set.
Three, two, one. Punch it. Stars shrink to points, then begin to stretch, until infinitesimal strings of light coat the viewport like old spaghetti tossed onto a pane of glass. That familiar sensation of mild nausea comes and goes as your eyes attempt to process impossible speeds, the FTL engine in your craft forcing Newton's laws to do handstands, before they just give up. Your ship snaps into and out of superlumial in an instant, as the ship re-enters real space.
The FTL beacon seems to be planted on an uninhabited planetoid, ringed with asteroids. Long-Distance scanners indicate that the field is largely untouched, and may have valuable resources to gather. You could spend your time waiting for your FTL engine to recharge exploring the sea of rocks, or just stay in orbit before jumping off again.

AJ suggests we explore the field, loudly. Virgil refrains from voicing his opinion, trusting your judgement. Christine is not programmed to have an opinion.

Exploration is probably better than doing nothing.

Poke around in there.

Also, can you give us a view of the upgrade screen and the inventory screen?

>>756211
You catch more scrap with boarders than vinegar.

Explore the field!

Explore, but get those shields up. You don't want a stray asteroid to snipe one of your crewmembers just because you wanted to save on power. Take it slow and tank your nuclear drive to stay on the defensive from 950,000,000,000,000 tiny particles that represent Newton's Vengeance.

Take a peek, might find something good.

>>756213
Explore briefly, but get out before your Super Shields run down. You've got no asteroid protection without them.

>>756227
This.
The overshield should last a decent bit though.

>>756193
Do we have any spare power up? Is the medbay currently able to be powered at the same time as the rest of our stuff?

>>756257
It's a moot point, anyone who uses it for treatment will provide the power themselves.

>>756258
I meant more for gauging how much overall power we had. If we get more weapons/an actual shield system, it would be good to know whether we had enough power to run it without upgrading our reactor. Also, you make the best point ever for how to have the medbay run at the time.

Weird that the asteroid field would be untouched. Someone had to have been here before to plant the beacon (unless they're distributed by drones / probes?) and we're right next door to a federation staging area.

That either means we lucked out, or there's something lurking in the rocks that took care of previous would-be prospectors.

Be cautious.

if you're careful with shields & piloting well, it should be fine to explore a bit. it's a bit suspicious this area seems untouched so keep ur guard up

Curt 2016/10/31(Mon)13:12 No. 756308 ID: 521e29
File 147794476237.png - (455.57KB , 1180x547 , Status.png )

You make sure that the Zoltan shields are fully active, before guiding the ship carefully into the asteroid field. Some part of you is aware that you, and all of these rocks, are hurtling at ballistic speeds through the void around this little rock, but at relative speeds, it's a graceful ballet. Small pulses of the engine guide you between some of the larger rocks as AJ scans the surroundings. A brief ping alerts the crew of a bounty of the materials necessary for the manufacture of FTL cells, and after a brief bout of drawing straws, Christine walks it's hard-light hologram out the airlock in order to gather the stuff. Seems prudent, seeing as it doesn't need a suit for EVA.
The exotic matter of the asteroid is extracted delicately and transferred to the ship- enough to charge six more FTL cells. However, as Christine goes for a seventh load, something agitates the material. It quickly evacuates the area, but before you can jump away, whatever remaining fuel within the rock ignites, violently. The viewscreen tints itself for your protection as the base metals and stone are reduced to molten slag, hurtling rapidly in all directions. A cloud of heated dust wallops the ship.
The Zoltan Overshields mitigate most of the damage, thankfully. They hold against the majority of the barrage, but run out of energy before space runs out of stone. Small jolts rock the ship a bit, before it re-stabilizes. A brief examination reveals minimal structural damage. You jump away.

You arrive in the middle of what appears to be the remains of a large ship-to-ship battle, long left to drift. The ruins of old-model craft are long since tripped bare. You take the time to consider the ship's various status screens.
You have a small amount of scrap in the cargo hold, but not enough to do much, little more than petty bargaining cash or enough for small patch-jobs on the hull. You have no spare power, and no special equipment beyond the overshield. The autonav whirs, and in a few moments, you leap again.

Curt 2016/10/31(Mon)13:21 No. 756312 ID: 521e29
File 147794527768.png - (478.56KB , 1138x521 , Fight!.png )

Storm clouds rise ahead of you for a moment before you slow down to more sane speeds, this beacon located in the dense mists of an ion storm. Lights flicker and power down as the ship reroutes power. You hate ion storms. A blinking warning light alerts you that the life support system has lost power, but assuming the engine recharges quickly, you should be out and away before lack of air becomes critical.
A second warning light blinks on. Long-range scanners picking up a dense shape moving in the clouds, headed for the ship. A dark red light drifts silently towards you, rearing it's ugly metal head as it ghosts through a particulate cloud. A Rebel drone.
The Rebellion gets it's materials from subjugation and destruction. It's not unheard of for them to send out dumb-AI fighters, attacking incoming ships indiscriminately unless they fly Rebel colors. Seems you've been unlucky enough to come across one.
How do you proceed?

take the chances that its an ai & fight it. yolo

>>756312
BLAST EM

>>756314
It's definitely an AI.
Target its weapons and navigation with your beam! He can't hack you if your shield stays up.

>>756319
...After a shot from the ion cannons, of course, I hope the crew doesn't need you to spell that out.

Curt 2016/10/31(Mon)14:36 No. 756328 ID: 521e29
File 147794979297.png - (225.27KB , 391x520 , Killcount_2.png )

You place your targets, and Virgil does most of the work handily. He has no remorse for the Rebel legions of killing machines. The poorly-outfitted, mass-produced autogun falls to shambles with a few well-placed cuts from your laser, and you siphon up a bounty of scrap materials.
The engine recharges slowly. You could almost imagine that the device sends you puttering towards the next beacon, located in the same cloud of nebula, though this is of course inaccurate. As you phase into reality, a heavy shot immediately streaks across the bow of the ship. It seems an automated satellite, constructed to monitor the beacon, was sent some kind of distress signal by the craft previously destroyed. It was waiting for you!
Christine's robotic reflexes are too fast for the waiting energy bolt, the ship spinning and diving out of the way of massive damage. You use the same tactics as before, and they work wonders. The station threatens a dangerous explosion, but the engine in in pieces before it can detonate. The Zoltan shield protects you while you make quick work of the satellite, siphoning the remains to make use of later.
You now have Forty two scrap.
You beam away, arriving at a portion of space not covered by dense fog. The scanners beep; signs of intelligent life on the planet below, but not matching any cataloged forms. Making first contact on a planet so close to a beacon seems improbable... but the prospect is interesting.
AJ all but insists that we investigate. Virgil cuffs him on the head for being insubordinate, and waits for your choice.

Investigate the surface! Perhaps you will make a new friend for the ship, and ship friends are magic!

Send just the ai if possible, we can't afford to risk losing a crew member at this stage.

as long as the ship is ok the AI can't die right? I mean she's not a robot, just a hard light projection of the ship or is she actually a robot that we can lose just like any other crew member? Probably should have asked this sooner but how does she work?

Curt 2016/10/31(Mon)18:30 No. 756377 ID: 521e29
File 147796385445.png - (181.06KB , 572x336 , New_Friend.png )

You land on the planet, and approach the supposedly intelligent life. They appear to be a large flock of multicolored horses. Some of them look up at you with large, bulging eyes, while most continue idly munching the soft blue-green grass underfoot. You step forwards, and announce yourself as a Federation captain, here to make peace between worlds.
The creature you address defecates. This seems to set the tone for interspecies relations. After about an hour of fruitlessly trying to make friends, you resolve to give the bio-scanner a solid whack in the future, hoping to sort out it's sentience detectors.
In the distance, AJ stands, calling to you and Virgil. One of the smaller creatures, tongue lolling idly from it's mouth, continually nuzzles at AJ's legs, cantering a short distance, before checking to see if he's following.
You follow the creature to a large, vine-encrusted cave. Along the walls you can see the telltale marks of burns, high-velocity impacts. Deep inside, you find an ancient Engi ship- one of their customary Battle Bagel drone support cruisers. Most of the crew have dissolved into pastes of unintelligent nanomachines and oil, but one remains mostly solid. You thank the little horse, bring the corpse onboard, and Christine is able to quickly re-route his neural circuits. He buzzes to life, and after being caught up to speed, thanks you profusely for resurrecting him. He pledges his life to your cause in return, and quickly sets to work.
You take the time to get to know your new Engi as he sets to increasing the efficiency of the overshield computation algorithms. He goes by Decker, relating to his previous occupation as a dataminer and node cracker for the Engi Coalition during the Humanity/Engi contact scuffle. You briefly wonder just how old this unit is.
He seems to have an affinity for dark trenchcoats, preferring to wear clothes unlike many Engi you've seen in the past, and pours over ship schematics in his free time. The esoteric disposition of the Engi race as a whole makes getting to know him a bit hard. Perhaps his personality will shine through action in the future.

Curt 2016/10/31(Mon)18:46 No. 756379 ID: 521e29
File 147796477198.png - (220.81KB , 390x534 , Spiders!.png )

Your Commnet registers a distress signal. Seeing as the beacon lies on the path to the exit, you jump towards the signal.
You approach a large weapons platform, bearing neutral, civilian markings. Small escape pods and larger shuttles are careening away from the station as breakneck speeds- some of them, disturbingly, having their engines fall silent mid-transit. You receive a frantic communication request. A haggard-looking Engi appears on the viewscreen, covered in small dents and wounds. Ichor drips from a gash in it's shoulder.
"REQUEST: ASSISTANCE. BIOLOGICAL ORGANISM: ARACHNID. CONTAINMENT BREACH." It repeats this a few more times, before you see lights go out across the station.

So far as you can tell, your only way to help would be to dock with the station and send in the crew.
You remember your federation training.

>>756340
Christine is the ship's onboard AI. The holographic projection can be 'killed' as in dealt enough damage to disrupt the projection, but will be able to re-form within a short time, provided the ship is intact.

can the AI leave the ship? normally sending someone in gets them killed, but if the person that dies can get back up again then it's not that dangerous.

So... we don't have anyone trained for boarding actions, the Zoltan are physically frail, the hologram is even frailer, and our Enji was just repaired after who knows how much inactivity.

Versus space spiders.

I... don't think we can help them. Unless we can maybe shoot out the part of the ship the spider is on. Or mercy kill them by destroying their ship.

>>756379
run
RUN AS HARD AS YOU CAN
this never ends well unless you have a bunch of the rock people

A hardlight hologram is unlikely to provide sufficient assistance to stem the alien spider menace. At best, only a few souls could be saved from this doomed outpost.

There is another option, captain.
Due to the alien infestation, the station's exterior defenses are likely unmanned. Destroy- ahem, *disable* the life support and the alien lifesigns will no doubt cease in time to extract some salvage. In fact, we have ion weapons, we could disable life support indefinitely without damaging the station for even more salvage.
Seriously, come on. The Engi are sentient nanomachine colonies. They can hold their breath longer than a spider, assuming they even need to breathe.

>>756382
Rockmen are just as susceptible as Zoltan. Standard Federation protocol is to send in an anti-personnel drone, or a boarding drone if you don't mind a few hull breaches. You need men of steel, not men of conglomerate.

>>756379
Heck no we're not boarding. All our crewmembers suck at combat. Unless we can use surgical strikes to space the spiders while the populated sections are sealed off, we cannot help here.

>>756383
Ruthless. But an effective way to eliminate the spider threat on this station...

Dock a shuttle at one of the ports and broadcast its location everywhere on the station, if possible. With orders to flee at the first sight of spiders, of course. Christine in front, since she can't permanently die.

Then when everyone's either evacuated or dead, you can ion out the life support and scavenge.

Assuming we have time for all that... How does jumping time work anyway?

Three options I see for dealing with this.
Option 1:>>756383
Option 2:try to get at least one of the engi to board your own ship and just leave the ship to die. I personally vote for this if we are able to try.
Option 3:>>756382

>>756393
If we do that, we have to quarantine the shuttle to make sure no spiders got in there before we let them dock with us.

Biggest risk of saving crewpeople in an operation like this (besides getting spider infested of course) is dissent / trouble with the rescued crew over the ruthless tactics we employed.

I'd only do it if you have resurrection pods, which you don't.

Also, put your engi on engines and swap your zoltan to shields. Zoltan are better on shields because later on, you can double up and have two zoltan on shields, which means you can never lose shields entirely due to ion damage. I guess it's not really relevant yet, but might as well get the engi started on learning to man engines.

>>756383
This. Giant alien spiders are no joke. If the spiders turn out to be somehow immune to asphyxiation, then we should just blast the ship. It's cruel, but it's better than leaving giant alien spiders floating around.

oh god, I knew this day would come.

We're not equipped for this shit, so just leave.

>>756395
Voting for option one, that is, remotely disable life support. Make sure to get permission from (or at least notify) whoever that is on the comm before opening fire. Ideally, coordinate with them in order to minimize the damage.

>>756461
Seconding warning them first, if they have a good enough medbay they could survive.

Wait. They have a clone bay. Forget everything else, as long as they can keep that running there'll be no casualties. Why are they even worried about the spiders really?

So yeah let's just ion bombard the life support (after contacting them to make sure they can keep the clone bay operational, but that shouldn't be a problem, they're Engi.)

Usually, charging into an alien infestation killed off one of my crew members.

Let the AI do it. Alone.

Well, if you're gonna consult them about it, they can just shut off life support themselves. I'm sure the experience of dying repeatedly and suffering clone loss over and over was only slightly more palatable than being eaten by spiders, though.

Curt 2016/11/01(Tue)20:30 No. 756567 ID: 521e29
File 147805745974.png - (208.08KB , 568x300 , Spiders___.png )

You circle the station, looking for the correct place to breach the hull. Boarding to combat the Giant Alien Spider menace is an idiot's choice; your crew simply isn't prepared for such a battle, and Christine's projection would be able to do very little before being eviscerated. The rational option is to attempt to cut up the hull, venting the spiders and hopefully saving some members of the crew. Power flickers on and off, small fires visible through port windows. It's looking grim in there, and your Basic Sensors aren't giving you a ton of data on crew positions or even where different subsystems lie within the station. They must have some kind of shielding, and it seems they're too preoccupied to man the comms station.
You align the ship, and, going off your captain's intuition, fire.
Ion beams strike the shields, fizzling them before dispersing against the hull. In the same breath, your beam fires, slicing into the metal of the platform.
The engine within explodes, violently. Power shuts off across the entire station.
As scrap metal careens into the void, realization hits you that you've just condemned a station full of Engi to death, their robotic simulation of life unable to function on small scale without aerobic respiration to provide energy.
You steel your resolve. This is Federation policy. Giant Alien Spiders are no joke. You collect the free-floating scrap, and wish the remaining crew of the satellite luck. Perhaps some of them have respirators, and will be able to fight back the arachnid hordes.
You know the reality, and try not to picture it.

Curt 2016/11/01(Tue)20:42 No. 756572 ID: 521e29
File 147805816133.png - (207.11KB , 384x533 , Scout.png )

As per your orders, Decker and AJ swap places. Decker now mans the engines. AJ mans the shields. Or, will, assuming you eventually manage to cobble together a shield system beyond the automatic overshields.
Decker, when questioned, seems impassive to the death of his fellow synthetics. He states, flatly, that their probability of survival was very low, before returning to work. AJ, however, seems pretty down. Not enough to affect productivity, but he's not being nearly as noisy as he usually is. Which seems to be a bad thing.
You navigate to another nearby ship, emitting a distress beacon. Perhaps this time, things will go better. You leap into the void.
As you lose speed, your console alights with warnings; targeting systems are highlighting your craft's structural weak points. The distress beacon was a trap! A Mantis raiding squad sends you a brief hail, mostly incomprehensible chittering, before their full weapons suite begins to charge.
You could activate your own. Alternatively, you could offer a portion of your stocks in hopes that they go for the easy pay instead of pursuing the hunt.

This mantis ship has NO TELEPORTER. You've got this.

Alpha Strike on the shield room. Once the shields are down, switch to weapons. Finally, hit the engine room and the weapons room simultaneously with EMP shots while you systematically destroy each room with lasers until they surrender or die.

>>756572
OK, but until we get an actual shield system, have him hang around in weapons or engines to provide power. Every advantage helps.

Also, fight the pirates. Never give up scrap to avoid a fight.

These guys will be pushovers. Aim the ion cannons at their weapons systems, then slice through four rooms from the helm to the room below the weapons.

He's got a missile launcher! Target his weapons, oxygen, and engine (if you can stretch it that far) with the beam.

>>756572
Alha strike the weapons, then the helm or engines, and you should be able to whittle it down without too much difficulty.

It just occurred to me that you'll wanna keep AJ in the engine room, even if he's not manning the engines, for his energy bonus. And yeah, one ion on shield, one on weapons, beam from weapons to shield to fire as soon as shields are down. Ions can fire at will.

Curt 2016/11/02(Wed)19:13 No. 756761 ID: 521e29
File 147813923176.png - (26.25KB , 198x117 , What.png )

Yeah. These guys are fools. You power up weapons and engage the target. You begin the customary dance of lining up and circling while both ships charge their weapon syste- ehm.
They've already fired.
Well, that shot will be handily blocked by your overshi-
Ehm.
What?
The minuscule laser blast pierces your shield like thin cellophane, smacking directly into the ship's hull. You brace for impact, before realizing that impact has already come and gone. The weapon appears to not be potent enough to actually damage your hull. At most, you'll need to apply a fresh coat of paint.
Whew. If that thing actually hurt, you might have been in trouble.

Curt 2016/11/02(Wed)19:17 No. 756762 ID: 521e29
File 147813943914.png - (31.99KB , 434x80 , NewGun.png )

The pirates are dispatched handily, beam quickly chopping apart the essential components of the craft. One final explosion marks their fate as the crew is sent spiraling into the void. The ship's scrap is yours for the taking, and the cargo compartments are miraculously whole. You pop open the trunk, to find...
...a carbon copy of your current beam weapon. Hm. Well. Now you can slice two ships at once, or slice one ship twice, assuming you power down your ion canons.

You have a little downtime to speak with the crew while the engine charges and the weapon is outfitted to the hull. Who would you like to pass the time with?

Set up a group meeting.

How did they manage to fire a shot THROUGH your Zoltan shield?! You need to make sure that shot didn't hack into your systems or something; if it's powerful enough to burst through six layers of shielding, you can expect they added an extra twist if they couldn't make it burst through seven.

>>756765
Or, you know, they just had a Zoltan Shield Bypass. It's common enough technology, I'm sure somebody thought of sticking it in a gun.
That weapon may have been meant to kill crew without harming the ship. Too bad it was destroyed in the fight.

Talk with Decker about Engi life before and after war broke out. Was cracking the code on human tech difficult? Or maybe talk about schematics. I'd love to know why Engi vessels are so asymmetrical.

It's an anti-crew weapon. It pierces shields nicely, can damage crew, and can breach hulls, but it has to strike the correct room to damage crew. You're fine.

Yeah, some kind of shield piercing laser for crew and/or system damage purposes. Good to be aware of, but I shouldn't think it's a major worry.

How close are we to getting that 100 scrap for the shields? (I'm guessing "not very".)

we could double check with our crew to see how they're holding up. I mean we just start this voyage but it could be interesting to see how they're attitudes change through the course of the flight.

Curt 2016/11/04(Fri)20:56 No. 757001 ID: 521e29
File 147831820330.png - (257.90KB , 618x388 , StatusReport.png )

You step into the Shield generator room, crew reassigned after deciding that AJ's innate energy would be better used powering the engines. Decker pipes up without ceasing his work as you step in, inquiring as to the security of the doors. He seems worried about hostile boarders. He reveals that, as he's spent more time online, memories have begun filtering in. His craft was brought down by a Mantis boarding party, hunting the Engi for sport. He shudders slightly as he recalls it. You assure him the same won't happen under your command.
Curious, you ask about the nature of Engi ships. Most are asymmetrical lumps, and almost look unspaceworthy. He pauses for a moment, before answering. He explains that the Engi race are made of nanites, able to form, replicate, and influence the formation of others. It's been a long-accepted tradition among the Engi that, when a ship is needed, some would volunteer to merge their metallic flesh, sacrificing their higher cognitive function for the good of the whole. In a way, the destruction of an Engi ship is like the killing of a large group of his kind.
He remains silent, monitor-face black and unreadable as always, before turning back to the console. He says, after a time, that the pieces of a scrapped Engi ship can always be re-used, of course.

Curt 2016/11/04(Fri)21:17 No. 757007 ID: 521e29
File 147831943029.png - (555.71KB , 3840x2160 , Engi-Human War.png )

You don't need to ask him the details of the Engi-Human war; you remember your father's stories very well.
Humanity spent a lot of time in space alone. We were always looking for new races, aliens to meet, but it was fruitless. At some point, we did. Our first contact was with an Engi mining rig.
Unfortunately for the Engi involved, the humans were pirates, a class of fool plaguing society since society was invented. They attacked and dismantled the mining rig, leaving few to flee and report back of this new, hostile alien race; a sad reminder of the Mantis, who the Engi were nearly perpetually at war with.
More civilized human settlements began to see preemptive retaliation from Engi warships, hoping to quash this new threat. What was once the Sol Alliance mobilized to respond to this first official contact: alien assault.
The War lasted two weeks, and was mostly a product of miscommunication. The Engi used electronic warfare and drone assault to rip apart our frigates, and we used smaller strike forces to destroy the Engi ships deploying these. Engi forces were able to replace their lost units swiftly, too fast for us to actually destroy them all. We were unable to decrypt any of their communications, and our own were hard to beat. It was only once secure communications were listened into and our language translated did Engi code-breakers realized that we thought them the aggressors.
In a model of diplomacy that would make anyone proud, both races ceased their conflict once things were explained. Tensions were high for a time, but with the formation of the Federation, the Engi have been one of humanity's most stalwart allies for your entire life.
...the information you've just learned makes that part of history all the more saddening. You always wondered, idly, why memorials always mentioned all downed Engi craft by name alongside their crews. The fact that this aspect of Engi craft construction isn't standard Federation military education is somewhat upsetting from a moral standpoint. But you can't exactly fight for that cause at the moment.

Curt 2016/11/04(Fri)21:43 No. 757017 ID: 521e29
File 147832102265.png - (200.67KB , 384x533 , RebelScum.png )

You jump ahead. The beacon rockets towards you, and for a moment, it seems that there's only calm void ahead.
Until an ugly orange pimple of a ship reveals itself, thrusting from behind the beacon and into view. You receive a hail, which you take. The viewscreen crackles to life with a dark woman dressed in the uniform of a Rebel captain, her crew stood behind her in solidarity.
"Good evening, Federation crew. This is Aliana Dupont. Captain for the New Terran Republic."
The silly little name the Rebels have come up with for themselves.
"We've been monitoring your movements ever since you destroyed one of our monitoring satellites. It's painfully obvious that you're attempting to stay off the radar, so. We'll be glad to make an accord."
The woman leans in, her face obscuring anything else. She uses too much mascara.
"Dock with us, and allow us a search of your ship. Your Xenoform crew will be disposed of, and if you remain cooperative, we will treat you well." She says, smugly, "This is your one and only option."

You power up your weapons. Her face registers abject surprise as a red warning light flashes on her console, before you cut the feed and move into position.
This scum has some high-damage weapons. You'll need to destroy them quickly to ensure that they can't report your position, and to keep them from breaking through your shields. How do you go about it?

EMP: Target Weapons Room.
Baridiche: HIT THE OXYGEN ROOM, WEAPONS ROOM, AND ENGINE ROOM.

Once you get their health to 3 or less, re-open communications channel:
"Option 2: You can suck my dick in HELL, you narcissistic butch evangelist! COUNTER OFFER. Attention crew of the S.S. Totally @#$%ed: Your ship will be spared if your crew personally binds and gags little miss stick-up-her-ass with every sexual toy you've smuggled onto your giant dildo of a ship, and send her to me. Also, if you even THINK about planting explosives, I will EMP the Oxygen room repeatedly until you suffocate, then search for your dying remains and shoot deadly lasers into what's left of your dying brains."

Okay so their systems are missiles, oxygen, shields, engine, clone bay, pilot.

I'd say use the ion cannons to break the shields, then drag the beam across oxygen/missiles/engine.

have both ion weapons target the shield room to keep their shields down. As long as at least one hits we're good. As soon as that shield goes down though hit the weapon and oxygen room with our beam weapon. Once they lose air keep targeting the weapon's room but also start cutting up there engine room as well to give our ion weapons a better chance at keeping their shields down.

Aim everything at their weapons.

We'll upgrade our doors after we get some regular shields. Until then we'll just have to hope our Zoltan shields are enough to keep us from getting boarded in the first place.

idea. after disabling their shields with the ion and their weapons and engines with the bardiche. demand a new deal, their weapons and systems, intact, for their lives. leave them with oxygen and jsut enough power to keep it running, everything else hooked up to our ship and turned into scrap.
basically i can't help but notice they have a fully working shield system and instead of blowing it up for parts we can just strip it out. and with their weapons, engines and shields offline they would be completely at our mercy.

>>757017
Ick, a flak weapon. That'll break down our shields pretty quick.
So aim the ions at the weapons room, and slice it up as soon as possible. If the beam is long enough, hit both weapons and shields (and the empty room between) - it probably is, if you just hit the corners. Then when the shields are far enough down we can switch to double beam - or just ion lock their weapons. Either way is good.

If you can't reach both, hit the weapons room and as many others as you can to maximize hull damage, which is probably the life support, clone bay, and that empty room.

>>757029
>>757030
Either of these. Important bit to note is that if an ion shot hits a charged ship shield it will act as if it was targeting the shield room. Targeting the weapons room with both shots will essentially be targeting both the shields and the weapons room with 1 shot each.

We would have the laser finish charging just as the second volley of ion would. It should be fast enough to at least get down the flak cannon.

Don't worry Decker, in the event of Mantis invasion we'll space everything but the Medbay and let Christine activate the blast doors. Combining this with a shutdown of life support will drive them right into our line of fire, hopefully short of breath after breaking through those blast doors.

Ions: Target their weapons. Bardiche: Cloning, oxygen, weapons, and the room next to cloning for maximum damage. It ought to remind them of their mortality when you disable that. (I'm guessing this is a standard Halberd-length beam? Might be slightly less, given the general Mini-beam shape...)

Curt 2016/11/06(Sun)20:18 No. 757240 ID: 521e29
File 147849229869.png - (179.30KB , 384x515 , Negotiating.png )

The Rebel ship slides to the edges of engagement range as it's weapons charge, apparently intending to use it's flak cannon to pepper your overshield with debris before moving in to a more traditional engagement. They manage to fire off a single shot, weakening your shield considerably, to their credit. You don't allow them another.
Virgil tracks them with marksman's precision, the electrified bolts bringing their shields down instantly. Your beam cuts through the left side of their ship, slicing apart vital connections and shutting down their weapons systems. A repeating barrage of ion and beam bring them to their knees as they frantically attempt to open communications again. You wait until their fourth attempt before responding.
The Rebel captain, again to her credit, looks largely unflapped. Her dress uniform is scuffed, and many of the terminals surrounding her are either destroyed or flashing a multitude of warning notices. But her expression remains solid and firm. "Captain, it seems like we've made something of a mistake. We ask, on your honor, to let us live. We'll jump away to lick our wounds and get our wounded medical treatment." A trickle of blood winds it's way down the side of her head, some cut hidden by her hair leaking the vital fluid. She wipes it away with a gloved hand. "I'm prepared to meet any demands you wish to place. Cease fire and make your terms."

Curt 2016/11/06(Sun)20:19 No. 757241 ID: 521e29
File 147849237910.png - (8.40KB , 371x62 , RebelFate.png )

After briefly considering, you demand their ship's shield system, as intact as they can deliver it. She agrees quietly, very aware of the position you're putting her in.
The transfer of goods goes smoothly. You dock and board her vessel, the scars of battle within noticeable in melted paneling and sparking, exposed wires, likely blown out by your ion charges. Decker boards with you, and ignores the utterly vile looks shot his way by the Rebel crew as he strips the shield generator. It's in very bad shape after the fight, and will require some fixing. The parts are moved onto your own ship for a quick refitting.
You disembark with your new goods, AJ and Virgil quietly praising you on your diplomatic skill. You return to your command seat.
The ugly orange bulb of the Rebel craft hangs in the void in front of you, now defenseless.
Just moments ago, it's captain had pledged with absolute certainty that she would murder each and every one of your crewmates.

You glance at the automated firing systems.

They can't dodge or fix their FTL quickly enough to escape. Make it quick.

let them leave, they are crippled and the only info they can give to the greater rebellion is that we were at this beacon, not that great info considering we will be leaving soon.

We don't break terms of truce or surrender in war, in hope that our enemies reciprocate should we find ourself holding the short end of the stick some day.

Also, from a purely pragmatic point of view, saddling the rebellion with wounded to treat, and a broken ship to drag home and repair costs them more resources than if we killed everyone and gave them martyrs for the cause.

Let them live... BUT be an extra dick and EMP their Oxygen Room until they warp out.

"Oh please, we both know this was how you were going to execute my crew. Now you have one last choice. I want you to personally execute one of your own crew, live, by vivisecting his torso and correctly naming 15 of his bodily organs as you pull them out. If you fail to comply I'll start shooting EMPs at your engines."

Except this is just a sick test of character.

If she does do that, beam the section she's in (aim for the corpse) and tell her she's a sick little puppy who stooped to your level because she was ordered to by a human, much like her leaders - AKA YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS, as you (falsely claim) are a Weiss Hexer spy of the royal Eylstadt royal family, the very royalty that is spearheading the revolution so they can reclaim their dominion over humanity. This has all been a sick joke, and your masters do not actually care about the race of their subjects, only how much blood they produce as their skulls meet five hundred super-sonic titanium pellets. In fact, they intend to place a few sociopathic aliens, their closest friends at their private rape-parties, in high positions of parliamentary power alongside other human war criminals, which would effectively give the worst scum of the galaxy all of humanity to play with. And why are you telling her this, she asks (don't let her say anything, just cut to this line)? Because when the rebel military hears about this ludicrous story from a beaten-down, oxygen depraved madwoman who just murdered one of her comrades and ripped his guts out of his torso, they will deny this ridiculous story even FURTHER, giving you more leeway in your strange and sadistic slew of crimes against the universe. Cheerio, ta ta, and you'll see her at the bottom of hell.

If she outright refuses just as the oxygen levels reach 20%, tell her that she just passed a test you could never accomplish. When she asks why, tell her that the universe needs more stalwart people in the universe, regardless of beliefs or race, and that regardless of whoever wins this war, you hope the ensuing leaders among mortals will be honest, determined people and not just the weak-willed, hypocritical scum that they claimed to defeat. Scum like you. Good luck, Major Dupont.

Then jump the @#$% out of there.

>>757255
wtf, kome no

Just let them go, if you break your word you're no better than them.

>>757260
Pff. Whoever heard of consequences following you out of the sector?


I'm sure nothing bad will come of it.
even less chance of that if we kill them. Dead men tell no tales.

Don't kill them. It's important to inspire good morale in your crew. Maintain your honor.

Do you have enough scrap now to upgrade your shields and your generator enough to keep everything powered?

>>757264
Yes, let's be practical and consider the effect of our actions on the crew. Don't go back on your word.

Scrap as much of the rest of their ship as possible while still leaving them alive, then leave. The reliability of our word is more important than the lives of a few rebels.

eh, let them go. I mean they found us by us blowing up their probs that attacked us and actually blowing up one of their ships will just piss them off more. I mean if you're worried that they'll tell on us it's clear that they already have ways of tracking us regardless so blowing them to hell seems kinda petty to me.

>>757241

>honor the truce

Not honoring the truce will sooner or later lead to mutiny on our side.

>>757264
There are two outcomes to this mission: either we stop the rebels, or we die alone in space. How we arrive at the first conclusion is irrelevant, so long as we get there. If the crew objects to our actions, they're free to leave at any time. The airlock is right. There.

>>757264
the shield parts we got should have lowered the scrap cost to the shields since we should now have the major components so we only need to jam scrap in to hook it together. then yeah, we should upgrade the generator to keep everything on at the same time, even without our zoltan crew manning them. after that the best way to deal with boarders is to upgrade the med bay and have everyone huddle in there while opening the rest of the ship to space. if the door to the bay is breached the healing rate will negate the suffocation rate. this also helps with boarding drones, we just herd them into the bay and fight it there where it can't hurt anyone faster then they can heal. after THAT you upgrade the doors so they can be opened to space even if the door system is damaged a little. after all that then we should upgrade the weapons system so we can get all weapons online at the same time, and the generator to support it, double slice and dice while ions keep the shields down is a very scary loadout that becomes scarier if we can get stronger or more rapidly firing ions and/or beams.

>>757281
you forget, we need to have the moral high ground to undermine the reason for the rebellion in the first place. rebels without a cause can't make giant ass death fleets, not enough people will care.

Honor the truce. If word gets around among the rebels that surrender results in reasonable treatment, they might be quicker to try it next time.

Honor the truce. We are better than them and we need to show it. Hopefully if the captain lives, she'll think twice before attacking the federation.

>>757282
More or less. As a general rule, upgrade engines before shields (especially with the Zoltan aug), and upgrade slowly, so you can always have scrap around in case you run into, say, a boarding teleporter. I wouldn't overdo it on generator upgrades--I'd advise staying at the bare minimum and playing hot potato with energy in life support when you need to move a zoltan off of a critical room.

>>757298
sure, but we need this first level of shielding so we have a backup plan if the zoltan goes down

>>757284
They already made them, so it's a little late for that.

Curt 2016/11/07(Mon)20:30 No. 757381 ID: 521e29
File 147857940958.png - (218.29KB , 596x363 , Charged.png )

Your finger hovers over the button for the briefest of moments, before you close your hand, setting it back to the arm of the chair. You are a decorated Federation captain, not some brigand, and you will not stoop to one's level.
You watch as a member of the Rebel crew crawls along the side of their ship, fixing structural damage brought upon by your assault. The Bardiche has a shorter beam than you're accustomed to, but not by much, and certainly gets the job done.
As the engines charge, Decker finished up with the shield. It pops into place with a satisfying hum, a blue light lighting on your console to signify it's presence. The overshield covers it's pleasant blue glow with it's own green one, but it being there at all is reassuring. You're left with enough scrap to upgrade the reactor, with enough for small repairs left over.
The Rebel's engines light, and they jump away. You follow suit in another direction.

Curt 2016/11/07(Mon)21:11 No. 757392 ID: 521e29
File 147858188666.png - (277.22KB , 386x517 , Friendlies.png )

You scoot towards the exit beacon, ship no worse for wear than it was at the beginning of your journey. The Federation-painted intersector relay looks burnt and blackened, like there was some attempt at sabotage aboard. A quick comms check with the operators confirm just that. Thankfully, the warp field is still stable.
You watch out the viewport, musing quietly as automated drones fix damage on the device. The intersector relays are vital to everyone. Federation, Rebel, civilian, any who want to leave an area of space needs to use the local relay. The fact that the Rebels are so callous as to attempt to destroy such a vital gate to the rest of the universe in an attempt to slow Federation operations is somewhat concerning.
As the drive charges, a small ship warps in from elsewhere with a flash of light, quickly fading to the normal color spectrum as it loses speed. A federation medevac, scarred with laserfire- it must have come from the front lines. You exchange security codes, before opening communications.
The reports are grim. They have a hold full of wounded from on-station and ground engagements, and significant damage. You allow them freedom to dock and use of your medbay. A skeleton crew wheels in man after man, some with lighter wounds others in more... advanced conditions. With the access to your medical supplies, many of the men are placed into more comfortable positions. The pilot of the vessel and acting captain, a young doctor by the name of Knapp, thanks you profusely.
This kid can't be much more than twenty. You lose some of your decorum at his genuine, unimpeded praise. You respond quietly, letting him know that you were only doing what any decent Federation captain would. He lunges for a hug.
It's awkward, but he clearly needs it. You bring it in and hug it out, before you and your crew assist in wheeling the wounded back onto their shuttle.
Before he departs, he gives you some more relevant, and far more dire, news. Something has got the Rebels stirring. News of a Federation mole in their ranks has spread, and there was a wash of executions as they hunted the spy. All public, where both sides could see the toll. Now, the Fleet has mobilized. They're sweeping sector to sector, looking for Federation ships, wiping out the smaller with their megacruisers and subduing the larger. He's never seen them worked up like this. Someone really stirred the hornet's nest.
He thanks you again, before the airlocks clang shut with a dull thud. You feel your hopes dropping with the airtight hatch.

Curt 2016/11/07(Mon)21:14 No. 757395 ID: 521e29
File 147858207897.png - (129.80KB , 570x301 , SectorMap1.png )

You return to your seat.
The Rebel fleet, mobilizing to find the leaked information. The information you carry.
Megacruisers after your hide, when you're stuck piloting a glorified mail buggy.
...mmhm.
There's two sector beacons in range, and due to the hasty nature of the mission's planning... it seems name and basic information is all you get.

Head to Kappa Nu! Red sectors may mean abandoned sectors, and abandoned sectors mean Lanius crew!

Kappa Nu path. Nebula paths may have goodies in them, but without a loadout that doesn't require cameras, you're @#$%ed.

that (quarantine) has me worried, what do you quarantine an entire sector for?

I vote starlane 22.
Quarantine means less rebel action. It also open access to a nebula and damn do I love me some nebula!
Those afraid of the nebula have not mastered it.

>>757395
Purple is "hazard", not nebula? Interesting. Buuuut we gotta go Kappa Nu anyway. Going into a quarantined sector without a choice bay just seems like a really bad idea.

Although, I suppose it's a bit tempting as a way to dissuade rebel pursuit... But I don't think we want to break quarantine and save the Federation only to destroy it with a plague.

>>757439
I fear nothing in the nebula.

By which I mean, I fear all the jump points with no action that leave us with a scrap deficit. Nebulas in normal sectors make up for it with the rebel slowdown, but nebula sectors don't slow them down enough to be worth it.

Go to nu.

Starlane 22, but don't touch anything or respond to any hails, just buzz straight on through.

Starlane 22, but don't touch anything or respond to any hails, just buzz straight on through.

starlane 22

if the rebels actually catch wind of us other then doing their desperate man hunt through the starts it might be a good idea to run to the near by nebula to try and ditch them

Kappa nu, gotta go through some unfavorable conditions anyway, let's make it so that we get scrap when we get out.

Kappa Nu. Hazard sectors never give enough scrap to be worth it.

Kappa Nu, if the Federation wants that sector quarantined then it's probably for good reason. Besides, I hate purple sectors.

Curt 2016/11/09(Wed)18:47 No. 757655 ID: 521e29
File 147874604883.png - (914.61KB , 760x579 , SectorMap2.png )

You set the beacon to target the Kappa Nu relay, and jump. The travel time gives you enough leeway to eat a quick lunch.
...you recall that you're on a Zoltan cruiser as you check the storage cupboards, finding them empty of anything except packets of LiquiNutro, in case the crew found organics which still ingested food to live while traveling.
The good part about this stuff is that it basically never spoils, and it just requires oxygen in the air for the chemical reaction to heat the meal.
The bad part is that it's a packet of gel, who's flavors are generally just the color of dye included, should you want to decorate your grey paste.

Decker joins you, ripping open a packet of his own; Radical Red. You aren't actually sure if Engi need to eat, but he seems to think it polite. You converse quietly about the Engi/Human contact war; you mostly share your father's stories, as it was before your time. He's actually quite pleasant, and makes your Bodacious Blue slightly more tolerable as you choke it down.
You wash it down with a glass of wine, stashed in your personal affairs. Much better.

The ship arrives in Kappa Nu, jumping into the heart of a small ion storm. Thankfully, the beacon is empty. Local news chatter shows active clashes between Federation and Rebel forces in the area as the security breaks down. The colonists in the area are facing hard times and harder choices as supplies, food and water, are cut off and directed towards the war machine.
It seems a large swath of the sector is covered in nebula; traversing the space mists is unavoidable.

Curt 2016/11/09(Wed)18:56 No. 757657 ID: 521e29
File 147874656018.png - (237.30KB , 386x540 , Tollbooth.png )

You leap through the mists, arriving at a beacon miraculously free of the clouding storm. A pirate, sensing a business opportunity, has set up shop here. As you leap in, their weapons begin to warm up.

A Mantis appears on the viewscreen, wearing a tophat with entirely too many bloodstains to convince you that it was purchased legally. It actually speaks very fluent common, for a Mantis.
"Hello, fyne trazelerz! Welcome to Kth'lrkab'tk Relay Bekon! Pleazing to pay toll, yez?"
They demand 18 scrap to leave you alone. You currently have thirty viable pieces.

Fuck 'em up.

>>757657
They don't look especially strong. Just do the usual. Ions then bardiche.

>>757657
That seems a pretty cheap toll, honestly, and it spares us any risk or repair from combat.

And if we don't blow it up maybe we can ask about other ships that have passed through recently. Get some intelligence.

Do we have at least two shield layers yet? Anyway, target weapons. We'll show them how the Federation pays highwaymen.

Screw their toll.

>>757661
However, we gain scrap from winning engagements, and potentially items, weapons, missiles, drone parts, or fuel. No disadvantage to this fight. We're gonna have to break a lot of eggs if we wanna get a strong ship omelette.

>>757657
Yeah these guys look pretty easy, though that beam could be bad news, I don't recognize it. Tear 'em apart, but start with weapons.

Also a: you better not have gone down because there's no way that connects.
Also b: explore every nebula spot there is in this sector except the dead end just down from the jump in point. Nebulas are great when the rebels aren't ready for them.

18 scrap for a toll is cheap, but killing these assholes and taking their scrap is cheaper. Let's show them that crime doesn't pay.

>>757682
>don't recognize it
It's a pike beam. Decent length, 16 second cooldown, needs 2 power.
I aggree with plan kill them. We need scrap right now more than anything. (So long as we have a decent amount of fuel)

>>757713
the pike has the longest length of the beams. but it sacrifices damage for that, this means it has 0 shield penetrating power so a single layer of shielding nullifys it. it can be very effective when combined with ions to get the shields down due to it's length letting it damage large swathes. but i don't see any ions on that ship and the zoltan overshield and the regular shield layer under that should hold out plenty long enough to send them into ion hell and start slagging important things.

>>757713
It's the right length, but the wrong profile. Looks like an extended Mini-Beam, which is basically the same thing but still.

>>757713
Definitely not a pike. Like bean has real thin 'arms'. I'm worried it might be a two damage beam with the pike's length.

But we should still be fine if we focus on w weapons.

Curt 2016/11/10(Thu)18:53 No. 757776 ID: 521e29
File 147883279654.png - (194.64KB , 382x537 , Roughed-Up.png )

You consider the Mantis's offer, before abruptly cutting communications- at the same time you fire your ions. The first barrage misses entirely, despite Virgil's skill; this pirate's ship must be crewed by an ace pilot. He hastily readjusts the weapon's firing arcs as they charge again.
The pirate sends you a message, no video this time, just a harsh, rattling click you've come to know as their way of laughing. Their mini-laser fires in time with what appears to be some cobbled-together wreck of a beam, not quite a Glaive but not a standard minibeam.
The laughter cuts off sharply as the mini-laser pings against your overshield, and the beam following it merely singes the energy shield. Seems the pirate has been caught by surprise.
"...hhhghm. Conzider toll again?"

You decimate them.

The ship, now missing significant portions and venting air fast, contacts you hastily. They offer to double your stores of scrap, should you let them live.

>>757776
30 scrap to let pirates live? Well... I'm not sure. What is the Federation policy here? Are pirates killed on sight, or are we supposed to let the space police take over if we can disable a pirate vessel?

Something to consider is the profit margin, as well. How much scrap could we get from blowing them the fuck up?

Tell them they can come aboard as prisoners or suffocate and die. They have thirty seconds to comply. Any whining and you shave off TWENTY.

Let them suffocate, we'll get more scrap that way.

Put someone on sensors so you can find the exact spot that Mantis is standing and burn that hat off his head.

Instruct them to come aboard as prisoners, strip everything of value off their ship, and drop them off at the next habitable world you come across. Compliment the piloting and maybe extend a recruitment offer, if that's legally feasible.

Kill 'em. Take what they drop.

>>757793
do we even have restraints capable of holding mantis prisoners properly?
if they are capable of busting loose and killing someone then it is not worth the risk. if this was a slaver ship then we could easily turn the slave restraints against them. so we need to ponder if the scrap they are offering is more then what we could get from blowing them up. their strange beam is also interesting, if we could get it compared to our's and figure out it's stats that would be great. if someone in their crew is the one that modded the beam then that's some kind of mantis savant?

>>757793
If we can do so safely, do this.

>>757776
30 scrap is pretty decent for sector two, but with no incidental junk it's hard to say. Probably better than what you'll get for killing them.

Of course, as said, there is Federation policy to consider...

>>757900
>>757874
If we let them suffocate we'll get at least as much scrap and other loot as if we let them live, plus we won't have to let pirates onto our ship.

>>757926
Unless they self destruct out of spite before they suffocate. Can they still do that?

>>757927
Scrap is scrap, no matter how many pieces it's in.

>>757981
But if the ship blows apart, we can't collect all the pieces before they blow out all over space.

>>757927
I don't think spaceships are usually built to be easily self-destructed. We can also just lie and tell them we're going to come take them prisoner, but then take long enough that they suffocate before we reach them.

>>758015
depends. being a pirate ship it could have been rigged to a single button.

Curt 2016/11/12(Sat)21:10 No. 758122 ID: 521e29
File 147901384985.png - (144.81KB , 766x574 , PirateCaptain.png )

Federation policy is that pirates should be dealt with with extreme prejudice by law enforcement as well as any members of the Federation at large capable of doing so. Generally speaking, there are no rules of engagement so long as the lawbreaker is brought to justice, be it at the end of a blaster or in handcuffs.
You opt for mercy, of a sort. You cease fire, and command the pirate to power his ship down and allow you to board. You're dropping them off at the nearest planet or station for local law to process them.
The mantis actually looks like he wants to put up a fight about it, for a moment, before he recalls his own position and relents. You dock, keeping the small two-man crew under close watch. A Slug working with the pirate captain gives you a leer through it's eyestalks, giving you a mild headache. The prisoners are stored in the small room across from the sensor array, and you set the autonav to travel at sub-light towards a nearby colony.
As you travel, you meet with the Mantis in your impromptu prison hold. It's smaller than most specimens you've met with; must be the rare male, taken to a life of action, instead of remaining subservient in their matriarchal society. It cowers as you enter the room, the Slug apparently deep asleep in the corner.
You slap his hat off of his head, grab it up, and space it. Perhaps it will return to it's owner, one day.
Exploring the now captured and mostly destroyed pirate ship, you find that the bargain the Mantis made you was a blatant lie. They don't actually have any scrap in their holds: hardly anything of use at all.
You decide to instead take what remains of their ship, coming away with slightly less than you may have hoped for, but not by much.

Transfer of the held prisoners goes smoothly, and the local marshals pay you a small sum. It seems that these pirates will be given a pretty lengthy sentence. Satisfied by justice at work, you jump away.

Curt 2016/11/12(Sat)21:19 No. 758124 ID: 521e29
File 147901436968.png - (208.72KB , 381x534 , PitStop.png )

You travel in peace for a while, beacons within the dense nebula offering nothing but scenic views. You detect a faint distress signal within the fogs, and leap towards it.

As you arrive, you're immediately assaulted by warnings and sirens alerting you to enemy lockon. There is no ship in distress here. Instead, a fully armed and armored pirate-controlled space station awaits unalert newcomers. It broadcasts an automated message at you, as if someone pushed a button somewhere.
"WE GET SCRAP, YOU GET LIFE. OR WE GET SCRAP."

Crap.

Okay, I have a plan. We confuse them for a few seconds by reacting to their threat with spontaneous dirty dancing, anything to give us a few extra seconds while the weapons and FTL charge up. Someone must dance their way to the Door Room, at which point we need to hold out against the invading Mantis for the FTL to fully charge. Jump to a previous beacon to minimize risk. Finally, disable Oxygen and retreat to the Medical Room. Try to convince the attackers to join your crew, threatening them with either death by suffocation or death at the hands of two wimps with auto-regen.

Time to put the anti-boarding plan into action! Everyone hustle to the medbay. Set weapons to target their shield and weapon sectors, and the clone bay if you can reach it, then prepare for boarders. Christine operates the doors, and life support is shut off so we can shut the doors again after venting oxygen. This reminds me, we should upgrade our medbay after this or look into buying a clone bay.

We're not leaving this beacon until this siren song is silenced for good.

Oh, since we don't have two beams ready yet, target both ions on the teleporter.

Ions on tele, beam from shield to guns.

>>758124
Ion and beam, clone bay and teleporter. Ergh. I'm almost considering handing over the scrap.

Almost.

Well, focus on weapons again. If we're fast enough maybe we can stop them before they break down the super shield, which also stops them from teleporting. And if (more likely) not, we can at least avoid hull damage by disabling one of the weapons, even without evasion because of the boarding plan.

ions tele, when the shield goes down beam across the weapons and shield room.

Guys, they can't board us while we have the Zoltan shields up. The standard strategy will work here, once they lose their only weapon they're fucked. We might even be able to try the asphyxiation strategy, if their crew is mantis.

Curt 2016/11/14(Mon)18:42 No. 758631 ID: 521e29
File 147917775664.png - (199.75KB , 381x530 , HiveDestroyed.png )

You open fire on the station, Christine moving with robotic precision as she swerves away from incoming laserfire. As soon as your first salvo of Ion charges fire and connect, the battle is over. Your beam can't do much damage at once, but the pressure on them is hard and consistent. Eventually, this pirate's paradise is no more. Another hive of scum wiped off the face of the void by the Federation, making the lives of those who live nearby just that much safer. Hopefully destroying this safe haven for the unlawful will be a step in the right direction for local law to take hold again, after the Federation wins this war.
Because they, and you, will win. The alternative isn't an option.
You collect the usable wreckage and jump deeper into the clouds of nebula gas.

Curt 2016/11/14(Mon)18:51 No. 758636 ID: 521e29
File 147917831637.png - (242.92KB , 382x529 , SiliconHell.png )

You beam into a patch of stellar fog with less density than most. As you arrive, you realize immediately that this supposedly uncharted patch of space is not quite as uncharted as sector data reported. A Rebel automated drone floats in from behind a cloud, locks on, and begins to fire.

The battle is intense, shockingly so from such a small unit. Your overshields break for the first time, the drone's titanic missile pods too much for the advanced technology to bear. Another missile penetrates through the standard shielding, striking into the core of the ship. You're thrown from your feet by the enormous blast, alarms begin to blare as oxygen loss is registered through the vented room. You collect yourself and command your crew to do the same.
Christine does exactly as you say, unflapped.
Virgil takes a moment, before steadying himself at the weapons, taking aim.
AJ panics, energy field flaring brightly as he huddles against the engine, before running to the door and checking it's seals. He shouts over the intercom that he never expected to actually be in danger, that the shields were supposed to work!

Even with a member of your crew left frightened, you don't allow the drone a second shot. Shockingly, you receive a hail from the thing, audio only.
"I REPENT. I REPENT. SURRENDER. SURRENDER. I SURRENDER."
You could destroy the thing easily, damning it to silicon hell, if you believe in such a place.

...are drones even supposed to be capable of surrender? Either this is some new dastardly tactic by the rebels (programming drones to fake begging for mercy as an opportunity to attack) or we broke an enemy AI. In which case capturing it alive is a useful intelligence opportunity.

Accept it's surrender- but be ready to blow it from the sky if it tries anything.

Accept surrender on the condition that it powers down completely. Send the hardlight avatar over to extract those missiles, and anything else of use for repairs or shield upgrades, but leave the AI core intact. Watch out for any sort of self-destruct gambit.

My gut says this is a trick, but I usually think using my brain and not my digestive system so I'm not so sure. Give it double amount of time it takes to send a message between ships to power down, it should only take a negligible fraction of a second considering it's an AI. What rights does this thing have under Federation law, assuming it has at least rudimentary sentience?

Yeah, I'm not going to trust this talking artillery. Tell it to detach its weapons and flail around in the opposite direction while screaming like a little girl until the FTL fills up.

No really, you will open fire if it doesn't simulate a little girl's voice and take on an abstract flight pattern.

How novel. Accept the surrender, and use the leverage you gain from sparing it to convince it to delay the Rebel fleet.

Alternatively...
It doesn't seem to have any engines. (Which makes our failure to disable its weapons before loss of overshield all the more surprising - it was a sitting duck!) Perhaps we can install the AI core aboard our own ship and gain a second AI crewmember, or just gradual automatic systems repair.

>>758657
it could have small tactical engines but no jump capable systems, meaning it had to be towed out here.

keep a lock on it and tell it to shut down and we'll take it's ai core aboard.

... Sure, I'll bite. Keep a wary eye(on) on that weapons system though.

Curt 2016/11/15(Tue)20:18 No. 758934 ID: 521e29
File 147926992120.png - (6.50KB , 577x46 , Lies!.png )

You power down your weapons, and in response, the satellite deactivates it's own.

There is an awkward, tense silence as the two crafts remain suspended in space. You wait for the ship to react, keeping a careful eye on it, though the nebula surrounding you makes it hard. It seems that the robot was using the situation to it's advantage- with your short-range sensors useless and your weapon systems depowered, you don't get the chance to anticipate a sudden shot from it's enormous missile pod. This surrender was just another Rebel trick, one you won't fall for again- an emotionless machine, programmed to pretend to show fear for it's false life.

The missile strikes, dealing damage, but not enough to be a serious worry. The machine is left in ruins as you revert it to scrap components, punishment for it's miscalculation. A brief gather, and again, you're away.

Curt 2016/11/15(Tue)20:23 No. 758937 ID: 521e29
File 147927021409.png - (224.81KB , 725x355 , Boarders_.png )

You arrive in a particularly dense cloud of gas- so much so that you can barely see out of the viewports. No light sinks in, leaving the only illumination the onboard lights. More than sufficient to navigate, but shadows are stark in the half-light.

You hear a thunk. And another. Something is on the hull.

Suddenly, the groan of metal shakes through the ship as an airlock is forced open. And another, before you can react.
Your sensors are useless. But -something- is inside.

Alarm lights begin to flash, rotating red bulbs only deepening the darkness with their contrast.

>>758937
...send the AI in first. She can respawn if he avatar is "killed" making her a good choice for forward scout slash first contact.

If we're very lucky, they're willing to talk. More likely, we're in for a fight we're not prepared for.

>>758958
Rush everything that needs to breathe in the medbay, and prepare to vent the ship.

>>758966
This, BUT send Christine to the Oxygen Room. If they target the oxygen room after you've breached the entire ship, they could hold you hostage by threatening to destroy the one thing you need the most, and even Christine can't repair it that fast.

>>758969
We have an Engi, it can be fixed before we suffocate. Enact the boarding plan for real this time.

Dang it, we were supposed to have a zoltan on shields and the engi on the replaced room. After this, I guess.

As for the move, don't scout with the AI--they're squishy and they can't actually be restored. Pop your head in with the engi, as he has the most health out of any of your crew, then fall back to the door room and see if you can flush this guy into space. If it's a unit that doesn't need air... Fuck.

it came into the ship from outside, venting the ship is useless.
get the outer door sealed and re-pressurize the ship.

>>759056
Agreed. Whatever boarded traversed hard vacuum to get here. Venting would only help if it's light enough to be carried out with the air rapidly exiting the vehicle.

Curt 2016/11/19(Sat)21:24 No. 760293 ID: 521e29
File 147961949073.png - (63.84KB , 455x218 , Panic!.png )

The control cabin seals as you enter it, preventing any invader from entering it- but preventing you from helping your crew directly.
It's of no matter. The position of command is where you thrive.
You command Christine into the room where the boarders appear to be, alerting her to prepare for anything from hostile xenos to pirates.
It's the latter. A pair of villains leer at her through painted voidsuits- skulls covering the black visor plates. One reaches for something strapped to his waist, while the other pulls a weapon.
She is greeted by a firebomb, and swiftly flees back to the pilot's console.

The intrusion alarm blares to life as hostile contact is confirmed. The crew is frightened, but you've drilled them for this. They head to the medbay and equip emergency respirators, slipping into fragile but void-sealed softsuits. Virgil and Decker raise blasters at the door.
You vent the ship.
Loose objects are sent flying as air rushes into space, battering the crew and pirates alike. As you do so, something explodes in the sensor room- who knows what. Perhaps the fire spread swiftly before it's oxygen fuel was removed from the equation.

Curt 2016/11/19(Sat)21:25 No. 760295 ID: 521e29
File 147961955363.png - (24.34KB , 290x145 , QuickThinking.png )

With your Unupgraded door systems, the pirates find little trouble in prying them open to enter the medbay. As planned, Decker and Virgil fire in tandem as the invaders enter. Christine projects itself into the door room, manually locking the area down to prevent escape.
Their suits aren't of military make, and pierce easily. Air rushes from their packs, leaving them gasping. Linked to emergency air supplies, the crew battles hand to hand for their lives, slowly beating down the pirate crew. They pass out, from lack of oxygen or pain, and summarily, expire.

Curt 2016/11/19(Sat)21:26 No. 760297 ID: 521e29
File 147961959847.png - (214.08KB , 643x578 , UpgradeScreen.png )

Their corpses are tossed from the ship, left to drift. Pirates deserve little better. How they got aboard is a mystery- in the darkness of the nebula, you can't detect any nearby vessels by sensor or sight.
You take the time to count your stocks. It may be time for some upgrades, before you leave this nightmarish little neck of the woods.


I apologize for the wait! Life got in the way. Your B-Grade space adventures will now continue on their regular schedule.

Use 90 towards a shield upgrade and another 20 on an additional power bar.

put two points into shields and three into the ship's power. That way we can have more shields and power the damn things with extra point to put wherever we need it.

>>760303
think just 2 shield 2 power and sensors, which may give us the boost we need to find something in this mess and will let us be more accurate with our beams.

>>760313
Sensors of any strength are useless in this fog, and our beams do not require a view of the interior to fuck shit up.

Engines are way more important than shields, guys! Zoltan shield lasts a lot longer when you have better evasion due to better engines. Upgrade engines twice, power twice. Also, move the engine zoltan to swap with the shield operator.

I vote two engines, one energy. Save the rest for shields. Two shields is the bare minimum against some weapons out there, even with zoltan shields

>>760334
They're not more important than the first two shields. Once you have that, you're safe from most of the the first two sectors.

Do we need to spend a certain amount of our resources on repairs? We took a bit of damage in that encounter.

>>760373
We can't repair hull on our own. We'd need to find a commercial vendor, they almost always have him repair available.

I'd say spend the fifty on the next shield bar and forty on the reactor to power it, and save the rest for a shop. (Assuming we're not already next to one, cause if we are, head there now.)

>>760334
I agree that engines are important, but we'll be nearly untouchable with two shield bars and Zoltan shields. The next upgrade we get should be engines though.

+2 reactor
+2 shields

Curt 2016/11/26(Sat)21:00 No. 761748 ID: 521e29
File 148022280188.png - (8.99KB , 114x65 , PoweredUp.png )

I apologize for the lack of updates! Holiday festivities kept me away from the computer. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, and gorged yourself on your favorite Tubular Turkey packet of LiquiNutro.

Let's get back to the space action.

You spend some time tinkering in the clouds, waiting for them to clear. The mists in this thicket of nebula are thick enough to actually make your FTL navigation falter. All you can do is oversee as you wait it out.

Decker and AJ fiddle with the shields for a time- and AJ pelts the Engi with questions as they work. He doesn't seem to mind, funnily enough, and it doesn't hamper his work. After pouring some scrap circuitry and metal into the project, a second layer of shields flickers, then stays. Similar upgrades are made to the reactor to keep the thing up.

You feel, for a moment, unstoppable. And the clouds have cleared.
Men to their positions.

Jump.

Curt 2016/11/26(Sat)21:05 No. 761749 ID: 521e29
File 148022311723.png - (401.79KB , 1141x529 , KillsAndShop.png )

You shoot through the remainder of the nebula with little effort. A lost rebel scout engages you in an attempt to steal your stores of fuel, as does a Mantis hunting party apparently returning home and too high on victory to consider whether you might be more than their match.
In the first case, you do not permit them access to your fuel, with violence. Another burial at void for a Rebel crew.
In the second, you are, indeed, far beyond their match. The Mantis go down fighting to their last, screaming their challenge until their ship gives. In a way, it's respectable.
In both cases, your new shield was instrumental in preventing demise.

You fly from the edge of the nebula, glad to finally see open space again. A populated planet nearby looks an inviting enough place to make a pitstop and hunt for upgrades. It doesn't take long for you to find a small ship maintenance bay and outfitter.
You have 105 Scrap.

Flak II. Hands down.

Either repair the ship with the remaining scrap (and buy 1 energy bar) or get the Lifeform Scanner while you can, we have two augment slots but there's a long way to go so I weight the former option more.

Well first off repair the hull. Second... is that AI upgrade gonna make our AI pilot better?

>>761751
The AI upgrade appears to be meant for onboard drones, giving their AI a boost. It increases their combat effectiveness and speed.
Sadly, Christine is basically just an artificial brain in the ship. Not applicable.

Flak II. Don't worry about hull repair unless you're below 50%.

Oh, and maybe sell a weapon that you won't be able to use. Perhaps one of the beams.

Im of the 'buy as much fuel as you possibly can' camp. Do that first. Flak cannon 2 is a good second.

Flak II.
Then sell one of the weapons we ain't gonna use. If we are getting a flak, perhaps an Ion? Too much anti-shield can be bad.

Repair then.

And save the rest of the scrap for some upgrading later. We could overclock our weapon's system or improve our engine.

Flak I, it's better to have a weapon that can keep up with your other recharge speeds. And, y'know, that can actually run alongside other weapons with its power requirement. For now, replace one Ion with it, and don't sell that gun just yet. Or do, and use our leftover scrap to upgrade weapons.
Buy all the fuel.
Buy a Subspace Scanner, anti-cloak hell yeah!
Spend the rest on repairs (if we can't afford a weapons upgrade yet).

>>761749
Okay, so the AI piece is for (primarily combat) drones. What about the subspace scanner?
>looks it up while trying to remember if it's a standard thing
Reveals ships in nebula and negates cloak?? SOLD.

Getting a new weapon might also be nice yes. Flak 2 is probably the choice (I was considering flak 1 but then I remembered FLAK DEALS DAMAGE - although there is still some advantages to its low recharge time) but I'd like to see the stats on that neural stun first. I'm guessing it does stun and crew damage, possibly with an ion chaser, but knowing would be good.

>>761838
Seconding this. Flak 1 is better than flak 2.

Curt 2016/11/28(Mon)21:22 No. 762176 ID: 521e29
File 148039693995.png - (209.68KB , 587x459 , NewEquip.png )

After some brief haggling, you arrange for repair of the ship- just enough to get the dash lights into the green instead of a structural warning yellow.
Examination of the 'Neural stunner' reveals that it uses a mild electrical pulse to pierce shields, followed by another to cause seizures in all known species over a small radius, incapacitating them for as long as the charge remains active.
This seems awfully like the kind of weapon they have laws against using. You give the merchant a hard eye.
She smiles back at you, asking if you want it.

After consideration, you decide against it. Instead you purchase the Flak 2 cannon, replacing one of your ions with it, along with the Subspace Scanner. You aren't entirely sure how this home-made piece of tech works, but it's sure to be useful.
You have 24 scrap remaining. After finalizing your purchases and stowing your new cargo, you jump away.

Curt 2016/11/28(Mon)21:34 No. 762181 ID: 521e29
File 148039766544.png - (128.88KB , 569x299 , SectorMap3.png )

You arrive at the sector exit beacon. Ships torn in battle surround the structure- markings, though charred, stand out. This was the sight of a Federation battle against a Rebel incursion. They were clearly outnumbered. And, judging from the wreckage, clearly lost. While waiting for the engines to recharge, you scout through the wreckage. There's some usable scrap, which you safely store- but a stamp on one of the destroyed Federation cruisers catches your eye.
The mark indicates a formal requisition license- in war terms, a notification saying that the ship is allowed to acquire cargo from civilian ships for the war effort.
In practical terms, it's a license for piracy. You find the things abhorrent, and once the war is over, they'll be worthless. But, as is... your mission is one of import.
You transfer the label to your own prow, the holographic imprint unable to be reproduced without this original. The Zoltan on your crew, loving of the law as always, find the idea distasteful but agreeable if the situation requires it's use.
Two sectors are in range.

Pak'Zuk sounds mantis. Zoltan are very well equipped to deal with mantis because of the shield. We should probably make our way there.

Commandment six four? What would that be, Rock? There are good opportunities there, but it might be tougher.

The bottom one just screams Rock. Considering our ship is meant for aggressive skirmishes, AND we have a loadout that just screams "I'm gonna hit your giant rock with multiple tiny rocks and a laser", I think we're ready to fight the Rock ships. Plus, we're ill prepared for full combat with those suicidal mantis assault teams.

Go bottom, fight some rockmen.

>>762181
Go to the mantis sounding one, our shields prevent boarding so we're well prepared for it. Upgrade doors if we do though, we have enough scrap.

Go Mantis, I absolutely *hate* missiles.

>>762181
Strategically, the Mantis territory is the right choice. Between Zoltan shields and an invincible crew member, we're pretty safe from boarding.

But... I want to see the rock religious sector, if that's what it is.

rolled 1 = 1

---

As we're at a tie, flipping a coin.
1 for Mantis, 2 for Rock.

Curt 2016/11/29(Tue)18:54 No. 762447 ID: 521e29
File 148047444335.png - (904.45KB , 753x541 , SectorMap4.png )

You decide to veer into Mantis territory. Their tactic of boarding and murdering entire crews with their psychotic slaughtering parties should, hopefully, be stopped by your overshields. It's the sound tactical course, and will take you further towards the frontlines with less resistance.
Stars stretch, blur, and fade as you go superlumial. No matter how many times you watch the spectacle, it always makes you oddly queasy. You arrive with no issues.

An alert is scrolling across the face of the receiving gate, in a variety of languages, all in bright white on brighter red. A fairly universal sign of warning. "RECENT MANTIS HIVE EXPANSION. PAK'ZUK CLAN. USE CAUTION."
At least someone was kind enough to leave a warning. Even when the Mantis were 'pacified' by the Federation, it wasn't unheard of for sectors to suddenly find themselves wiped out by the ravenous species. Now that the war is on and the Federation is occupied, the Mantis grow largely unchecked. It's unlikely that many civilian settlements remain here; they have either left, or haven't gotten out in time.

A weak distress beacon pops up on the dash, and you head towards it.

Curt 2016/11/29(Tue)19:05 No. 762460 ID: 521e29
File 148047511745.png - (162.91KB , 394x429 , MasterControl.png )

You arrive to find, shockingly, something other than slaughter or lurking pirates.

A mining boss, insistent on draining the rock his little station his planted on, has refused to evacuate the sector in the face of the Mantis threat. A savvy disgruntled employee, sick and tired of being kept in a hostile zone instead of being able to see his family, has hacked the rig's drone defenses. Shields hold against what is primarily a beam assault, but it's halted work. The mining boss offers to pay you handsomely if you can fix things in some way.
Decker cracks his knuckles, and steps forwards. He doesn't have knuckles, you notice, but there was some cracking. Perhaps he made the noise himself.
With the quick thinking that only a military specialist could have, Decker links the drone control to one larger unit. Instead of being forced to destroy every individual drone, leaving the site at risk of attack, destruction of this central unit will cause the rest to shut down. You move in to attack.

It's a cakewalk.
The mining boss rewards you as best he can, thanking you profusely for keeping the station safe while ensuring things come back under his control. You refrain from alerting him to the sub-light transport leaving the station as, on another window, the hacker and a few of his compatriots thank you before they sneak off in the lightshow.

Curt 2016/11/29(Tue)19:09 No. 762461 ID: 521e29
File 148047536496.png - (233.40KB , 382x534 , OhBoy.png )

You leave the mining rig in the proverbial dust, the foreman's shouts as he realizes the deception growing to a thin whine before your ship outpaces the speed of communications.

You arrive at an empty beacon- excepting a single ship. The rubble of Mantis scouts and attack forces are scattered around. You think that it may be some sort of clan feud, before a Rebel scout pulses in from behind a particularly charred metal carcass, announcing, "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE, XENOFORM. ALERTING FLEET TO HOSTILE ALIEN PRESENCE."

You, and Christine, have no idea what that missile weapon is.

Didn't we just see that configuration on the neural disruptor? Well, it's time to see if your "investment" in the bigger flak cannon was worth the intense migraines you're going to feel. Target weapons with the flak and shields/engines with the beam(s), no ion.

>>762469
This.

That is a cloaking missile. It'll evade drone missile defenses, but your zoltan shield will hold true. Don't worry about it.

It plans on warping out. We need to target pilot slash engines.

Curt 2016/12/01(Thu)21:31 No. 763097 ID: 521e29
File 148065670316.png - (30.07KB , 239x164 , HotStuff.png )

The drone was no problem, with your Zoltan shield. Worry over nothing.

You take some time, after scrapping the 'bot and some of the surrounding debris, to upgrade both your sensors and doors with the mounting surplus. You recall Decker being worried about borders, and with your ship passing through Mantis space, it's best to be prepared. You leap away.

This beacon has drifted too close to a sun in it's late stages of life: the entire sector is drenched in radiation and solar flares. Another ship, apparently having run out of fuel in the location, sends you a panicked hail. It's not until their ship turns do you see the pirate paint emblazoned on the side. A man appears on-screen, sweating like a pig and shirtless. "Oh, thank god! Another ship. We ran out of fuel here, and... well. You can see." He huffs a breath, before giving you an alltogether colder eye. "It looks like your boat is the only ticket out of this hell pit, pal. Me and my crew will be taking it."
The feed cuts. Moments later, intruder alarms sound as the ship's crew- as well as some of their supplies- teleport into your halls.
The usual strategy works, and you let space dispose of the corpses. Their goods are counted and added to your own stores- any minor fires caused by the solar flares as the engine charges quickly put out. You jump as soon as the engine is ready.

Curt 2016/12/01(Thu)21:37 No. 763098 ID: 521e29
File 148065706018.png - (11.90KB , 493x65 , Decisions.png )

You arrive to see an Engi ship destroying a smaller Mantis scout. Simultaneously, warning on the monitors flare; a teleporter's energy signature, targeted at your ship!
You mount Decker and Virgil, going on a quick hunt. You quickly find a young Mantis in a charred jumpsuit, wounds gushing greenish-black ichor. He speaks little Common, but enough to beg for your help.
An Engi's voice comes over the intercom in the room. "TELEPORTATION DESTINATION IDENTIFIED. RETURN: HOSTILE MANTID. REWARD: BOUNTY. SCRAP. FUEL. BOUNTY."
You look back at the creature, sharp appendages it has instead of arms held together with desperation.

So I've played this game for, like, 300 hours, and 2 is almost always the better option here. When it's bad, the consequences aren't that bad, and when it's good, it's a nice boon. Take 2.

When in doubt, remain neutral and return the Mantis to its pursuers.

>>763098
Eh, fuck Engi bountyhunters. The scrap they provide is inferior to the extra protection a Mantid provides. Fire up the guns!

have decker negotiate. seeing another engi should hopefully calm them down so we can ask why they are out here killing mantis, without setting them off unduly. if their reasons are okay (such as revenge because this exact crew just raided their territory)then we can hand them over just fine. but if they are just being racist and think all mantis must die then we can defend.

>>763100
So you've never lost a crewmember from it before, I take it?
Attack the Engi ship, his muscle is just what we needed.

>>763138
There are more outcomes that involve getting your shit pushed in when you pick option 1.

Guys, we aren't actually playing FTL, we can take a third option. Talk to the Engi, find out why this guy has a bounty. If it's an official federation bounty then hand him over, if they pick a fight then kill them, if it's a private bounty then find out what he did.

>>763177
Unless Curt is hacking the game, I think we are just literally playing FTL.

>>763202
Hes doing bits piecemeal. The things arent actually of the same ship. (The zoltan ship we start with in the game already has a level of normal shield to start. You cant actually bargain for parts for it in game.)

>>763211
Specific shop parts in a normal combat encounter I mean. You can increase reactor and o2 and stuff in some events as a reward.
Also, try to negotiate.

>>763202
>>763211
>>763212
earlier in the thread, an enemy ship had a weapon that literally doesn't exist in the game.

>>763229
Well. Alrighty then.

I'll change my vote to finding out more by having our Engi talk to the ship. We can decide what to do with the Mantis once we get more info.

>>763229
Guys, he already said: he's using a heavily modded version of FTL. I know this mod, it's called Captain's Edition. Good mod. This is definitely FTL, though.

Curt 2016/12/06(Tue)19:17 No. 764106 ID: 521e29
File 148108062838.png - (111.05KB , 232x338 , DoesThisLookLikeTheMonitorOfMercy.png )

You hail the Engi ship. AJ guides the injured Mantis to the medbay, genuinely concerned for it's wellbeing. He remarks as he goes that he's never seen a living being take so much damage and still live. The Mantis tries to converse, weakly, and it cuts off abruptly as the door slides shut.
The Engi appears on-screen, and you send in Decker to negotiate.
Decker converses in a shrill bleat of electronic beats; the Engi language, which you know to be some sort of complex auditory transmission. The other Engi decides to use Common, perhaps for your understanding. Eventually, it snaps off communications with a final bassy tone as the line goes dead.
The other ship's Engi explained that the ship is a bounty hunter, looking to collect. While it's rare for the Engi to be aggressive, this one comes from a nearby star where the ruling elite have issued a broad-spectrum bounty on Mantis carapaces. The area has been hunted to extinction, and other Mantis hives refuse to migrate nearby, even as they overtake much of the sector. This ship has ventured further in hunt.
You feel your face redden as Decker explains. Xenophobia and hate fueling a local purge of the species.
It's true that the Mantis are aggressive, you won't try to deny it. But the Federation was making great strides towards bringing them to the galactic table, dragging them from their feudal, primal hunting patterns. These Engi are no better than rebels.
You return to the cabin, and activate the weapons. You aren't giving this one back.

Author's Note: I am using a variety of mods, though Captain's Edition is a base. However, there is almost often a third option, when you are presented with two, to get more information or acquire an advantage. Creativity is rewarded, as it should be.

Just don't expect things to be too easy, now.

Curt 2016/12/06(Tue)19:23 No. 764109 ID: 521e29
File 148108098680.png - (592.70KB , 1147x500 , Betrayal!.png )

As you warm up the beams, AJ bursts in, arm fuzzing as a wound attempts to knit itself together. He shouts out a panicked warning, that the Mantis cut itself and ran- before hull-rattling kaboom rocks the ship. The viewscreen in the cabin opens, revealing the same ichor-soaked Mantis that was just on your ship- now sporting wide, glee-filled eyes and a talon dripping with oil. The Engi previously onscreen collapses and falls apart as it expires. It was a trap; The Mantis must have scuttled their own ship when they captured an Engi's scrapper, hoping to inspire acts of care like your own. A foolish one, it turns out. The insect laughs harshly before the feed cuts.

The status readouts float yellow warning and caution symbols your way; ones you've come to ignore over your years of experience. The ship will hold, as she always does. You maneuver into firing range, and let loose.
It's plain to see why the Mantis favored this ship over their own; it's a tough nut to crack, and maneuverable. You bring it down, but not before sustaining some more damage. A status report reveals fractures in the hull which will need to be repaired soon, but for now, you're shipshape. You collect the scrap of your newest kill and the scuttled Mantis ship, before heading back out.

Curt 2016/12/06(Tue)19:32 No. 764115 ID: 521e29
File 148108157324.png - (263.52KB , 387x537 , Slice+Dice.png )

She journey through the sector is perilous. The Mantis hive growing here is sending out Brood-Ships to seed nearby worlds- and all of them are eager for blood to prove themselves to their queens. You scratch four more ships, all not even offering the chance for surrender. Your Zoltan shields, thankfully, prevent what would likely be immediately fatal boarding action from the enemy.

On a stop along the way, you drift into an asteroid field. It looks to be the work of human miners cracking a particularly resource-rich planet; this field is the remainder from the blast, and the slag from the industrial work.
A lost little combat drone is stationed here, for whatever reason. It has no shielding. How has it even survived? Regardless, it powers up to attack you.

Hold on a moment.
It has no shields.

Oooooooh yeaaaaaaahhhhh that's satisfying.

Curt 2016/12/06(Tue)19:37 No. 764118 ID: 521e29
File 148108186563.png - (130.60KB , 575x307 , SectorMap5.png )

You arrive at the long-range gate. Mercifully left open by the Mantis currently occupying the station; perhaps even they recognize the value of trade. Or a lane for new prey to enter the sector.
Either way, you're unaccosted as you exit. There's only one option, so you take it. The long flight is brightened up by a packet of Yammerin' Yellow LiquiNutro.
God this shit is awful. Another gulp of wine. Better.

Curt 2016/12/06(Tue)19:45 No. 764123 ID: 521e29
File 148108232574.png - (306.84KB , 391x517 , FastBall.png )

You arrive in Engi space. Decker seems relaxed an at ease as he begins to pick up friendly signals; signs of home, for him. His screen darkens as more news reaches his receivers; Mantis incursions from the sector you've just left, threatening Engi factory worlds and storage spaces. Perhaps this is why the gate was left open and undamaged.
Either way, you're here now, and have landed in the middle of a nebula. You press on into it.
It seems that the Rebels have already sent ahead automated scouts. Which, upon close examination, are becoming more and more advanced as you encounter them. It's unsettling how quickly they design and send out these AI units.
This one is planted in orbit around a sector beacon, itself in the middle of an icey storm. The drone is designed to take advantage of this; open cooling ports taking in the floating ice to supercool it's systems, leaving it able to fire much faster than anything before it and repair it's shields at an alarming rate. You put all power to your own shields, as a precaution.
Looks like you might take a beating here. You're unsure how to attack the thing.

Nope

You've hauled in a bounty, focus on leaving. Maximize the FTL Engine power, then shields, one oxygen, then weapons. This one might cause more damage costs than it's worth in scrap.

Target shields with Flak and weapons and onward with the beam, and hold your beam's fire until the second the flak connects. You'll disable it within the first shot anyway, long before the FTL is ready - or not so long considering you took the Flak II - so steady as she goes, cap'n! You may want to switch to ion targeting the shield and beams hitting the weapons/shields/engines? after the first volley.

>>764125
This little guy? He ain't shit. He's got some kinda' laser and a bomb. We can take him, easy. Hit with plasma, then flak, then beams. If he starts spooling up FTL for self-destruct or retreat, be sure to knock that cockpit offline.

>>764123
Pretty sure the move here is to aim the flak gun more-or-less at shields, hitting it with the one ion gun we can power with it just beforehand. Don't worry too much about the weapons, at worst that's a burst laser 2, which isn't too bad when we've got two shields and some engines. Unless they bomb us to shit, I guess, or if they're a LOT faster than normal. Anyway, aiming the flak at the shields should get some splash on the weapons anyway. We can aim at weapons instead of they're seeming too dangerous. Don't try to use the beams unless we break shields all the way down though.

Curt 2016/12/13(Tue)20:19 No. 765709 ID: 521e29
File 148168914602.png - (243.76KB , 934x425 , BuyingPower.png )

Your initial panic subsides as the drone ship begins to fire: while it's rapid-fire laser may be threatening to a ship with lesser shielding, your two-layer one does just fine. You sit back and blast away at the drone for a time until it's superstructure collapses. You can't hear it through the void, but it looks like the crunch of vacuum pressure tearing the air from within out with violent force would have been very satisfying to hear.
You scavenge the thing, and find a fully operational Flak cannon jammed in the ship's weapon ports. It seems the frost in the area froze the weapon hatch closed, preventing it from deploying. A lucky find, and luckier still you didn't have to face it.
You jump away, glad to be free of the nebula.

A civilian beacon nearby offering rest and relaxation seems very appealing, and you head for it. Unfortunately, the day spa and resort here seems specifically catered to the Engi residing in the sector. Sterile halls lead to individual pods, where Engi sit hooked into what Decker explains to be simulations of experiences; a date with a passionate lover, an excellent meal. The Engi, unable to truly experience the sensation, seem willing to pay out the nose for these simulacra.
Fortunately, the place is also outfitted with an Engi engineer, with a small shop for fixing dents and small batters in incoming ships. He seems at first shocked when your battle-scarred Zoltan cruiser docks, but then begins to buzz with excitement. Literally. His Zoltan assistant seems equally curious.

The mechanic offers to upgrade your systems, and sells a small selection of parts, as well as two Engi; deactivated and in a sort of stasis. He proclaims proudly that their personality matrices were developed on-site by his own two hands. As the Engi examines your ship, the Zoltan approaches you, offering you his services, for a nominal fee. When you ask why he wants to come with you, he says, rather bluntly, that this rock is a dead zone and he would rather bang his head against a wall more than he would spend another week in a network of steel corridors with no decoration.
You have 212 scrap.

Curt 2016/12/13(Tue)20:20 No. 765710 ID: 521e29
File 148168922676.png - (208.16KB , 588x426 , Inv.png )

You consider your own stores and equipment, in case you wish to sell something.

Wow, we have hardcore armaments! I say sell a bardiche, because the combo of flak I and II should be enough for most ships, without even using ion or the other bardiche. Too bad they don't have any rockmen--we could really use one. I think also buy hacking. If we're low on gas, buy some fuel, and if we're below 50% hull, repair up to there. After that, let's spend leftover scrap on upgrades, but keep around 50 in case we run into events requiring it.

Sell Flak 2 and a Bardiche, buy Flak 1. This will give us faster volleys for less power. Hire Kaira (see if you can't haggle him down to a lower price) so that we can have ion protection on our shields. Purchase hacking, it's a versatile tool that can solve a lot of otherwise impossible encounters. What does a radiation projector do?

>>765804
Why would less, weaker weapons be better?

>>765805
They charge faster and are more energy eficient.

>>765804
Flak 2 charges faster and releases more projectiles than Flak 1. It is a significant upgrade from the first model, though it does havegrester power requirements. Namely, two units of reactor energy, instead of one.
The "radiation projector," the Engi shipwrite explains, is a home project of his that he thinks could be weaponized. Essentially, it diverts radioactive FTL engine waste, typically stored to be offloaded onto empty dumping worlds, into a specialized compartment. The waste is vaporized and released as a particulate cloud, directed towards an enemy combatant, giving most severe radiation sickness, killing them over time. Using this would consume two units of energy for the duration of operation, however, in the same way that your Subspace Scanner expends it to track invisible targets.

You give the Engi a long, long look, fully aware that this device breaks half a dozen health codes and Federation laws, as well as universal restrictions for ship based combat.
He seems unconcerned.

>>765807
In that case, dont buy the flak 1 or sell the flak 2.

Make a note to report this guy to the proper authorities, unless... how good are this stations defenses, and how closely does this mechanic seem to be associated with them?

>>765807
Iiiis that part of a mod you took? Vanilla flak I is 2 power, 10 secs, 3 shots and flak II is 3 power, 21 secs, 7 shots.

We have two flaks, only one EMP cannon, and four weapon slots. Can we just hold on to all our weapons for now and equip the Flak I in one of the beam slots?

Sell exactly enough missiles to hire Keira and purchase the Drone Control and Hacking systems. Both of those are AWESOME.

However, we don't have any drone schematics, so if the purchase bonus is a beam attack drone or a repair drone, switch the Drone Control with Mind Control.

So, a radiation projector slowly kills the enemy over time, through shields... Replace our subspace scanner with it! Or the requisition license. I mean, come on, it's a sticker you slapped on the hull. How much space could it take up?
Replace the flak II with the flak 1 regardless: We're no longer shooting to kill, but to disable. The radiation will take care of the rest. More flak shots will make it harder to keep the enemy ship in one piece. Keep the Flak II in the cargo bay for future use, though. Anything else that's left over, sell now.

>>765862
This as well, but... switch Drone Control for Mind Control. Hacking and Drones run off the same resource - bad idea to use both. Not to mention the power efficiency of mind control versus most drones.
Basically, we're set for the rest of our probably short lives after this store, all we have to do is upgrade our reactor to match.

Buy Drone Control and hire Keira. Become the turtliest ship. (Even if the bonus isn't a defense drone, I'm sure we can find one soon enough.)

Don't buy the super illegal immoral thing. Sure it might be effective but there are lines you don't cross.

How many drone parts do we have? If more than ten we can go ahead and get hacking as well as drone control. Just don't use either except against exceptionally tough ships.

I wouldn't bother with mind control though. Doesn't really fit our build.

Buy mind control. It is always useful. Even without upgrading it at all we can:
Counter nearly all mind control attempts.
Prevent many enemies from escaping by targeting the helmsman.
Prevent enemies from immediately repairing damaged systems by targeting the crew doing repairs.
Increase the potential of depopulating rather than destroying enemy ships without the need to board.
Easily repel boarders by setting them upon themselves.

And all this for 1 power by itself.

Done control in the mean Time usually needs three power minimum to be worth it, and that's assuming you are lucky enough to find a winning combination of drones. And it takes expensive ammo to boot.

Mind control all the way.

>there are lines you don't cross.
In FTL, the only line you don't cross is critical hull integrity.

>>766019
In this quest we're doing a pretty good Lawful Good run, I'd rather not spoil it.

>>766102
Screw your Lawful Good run, this is an Ironman game and we don't have the skill to be the good guy.

>>766102
Haha, yeah, it was so Lawful Good when we spaced everyone on that spider-infested station for extra scrap. Remember that? Good times.

it's about what our crew finds acceptable. moral is an issue that the base game doesn't model. so take it up with the crew.

>>766135
To be fair, it was a last-ditch effort to try to keep the spiders from getting to the last remaining survivors. We knew we couldn't board with the crew we had, and if we did nothing, they would have definitely died.

That said, I support getting the Mind Control system. Is it really immoral if we're fighting to the death anyway? It'd be immoral if we used it during negotiations or something.

>>766135
That was both in accordance with the law and a good thing to do.

>>766139
We're not talking about the mind control, that's okay. We're talking about the "radiation projector", a weapon which violates the Space Geneva Conventions.

>>766148
Oh. And it consumes 2 units of energy to use. (and will be useless against the last boss unless we metagame and don't kill the entire crew)

I don't like it.

The Radiation Projector will assist us in the final fight by exponentially increasing our scrap reserves. Get that and begin brightening up people's day.