Kaktus 2022/01/16(Sun)17:30 No. 1020568 ID: 681cb5
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You are Captain Zento of the Sakkilian inter-galactic colony fleet. Your duty was to escort and ensure the safety of said fleet as it made the first ever inter-galactic hyperjump to the nearest galaxy before colonizing it. But something went wrong… in the middle of the jump all hell broke loose and you were forced with a handful of other Sakkilian to make an emergency launch out from hyperspace. So now you find yourself with only a half-finished flagship in completely alien territory, far away from any possible rescue or reinforcements.

But the last week has been favorable to you, as you not only managed to rescue a pair of aliens, Tozlan and Tizli of the Raolme species, as well as capture and convert a Kelshin pirate called Ikekeki, but you also managed to find a friendly mining colony run by a third new alien species called Flaûgnir. Their High Magistrate, a lovely woman called Vul Wrok, has promised to help you if you help her with her needs ensuring that you have at least one port to land on that’s friendly. Of course, there have been some problems, as you’ve heard a lot of murmuring about a species called the IOD, who is currently the de-facto ruler of this sector of the galaxy, and they don’t seem to be pleased about any newcomers that might change that fact.

So, to iterate… your primary goal is to find and assist the 3 colony ships that were in the fleet, or at least find out what happened to them.
Your secondary goal is to ensure this sector of space is safe for them to colonize, which might mean that you’ll need to deal with the IOD’s in some way…
And your current goal is to ensure that you’re on Vul and her mining colony good side, so you’ll have at least one ally in this harsh galaxy. Currently you’ve promised to scan the nearby system of Tarkus Gamma for minerals.

Commander Doxy, anything to report?
I do have a few things, Captain. The Brig is completed, allowing us to capture and detain prisoners in the future. We also constructed a planetary lander and sold it to the colony for 12Mc as you ordered.
Good… anything from R&D?
Our son Vex has finished a report about the Flaûgnir species, sir. We have already taken the necessary precautions to ensure their stay on our ship will be pleasant, including installing large sunlamps and a moisture machine in our resident Flaûgnir room. If you want to know more, then Vex has written a short report on the subject… but it’s mostly about how something made out of solid rock shouldn’t be able to fly with such small wings and how rock shouldn’t be able to grow or be almost organic, sir.
I’ll look at it later, Doxy.
Pff, they are living rocks, what more do you need to know? Now sit still.
Oh, and one last thing. Tara, your clone, has started a union, sir. Majority of the crew have already joined it as well.
…I was expecting something like this. I hope they are still rather cordial?
So far she’s just collected a few request from the crew on what they want built, sir. I’ve already updated our system with said requests as well. If you want to know more, you might want to talk to her yourself.
Bah, this union stuff just sounds weird if you ask me.
Hey, watch it! You almost licked my eye!
Then sit still!

>Our next stop was to scan Gamma.
We’re ready to depart on your mark, sir. After breakfast, of course.
Aw, we’re leaving already?
We’ll be back soon enough. Any last minute decisions I need to know about, Commander?
Well… if you want to do any last minute purchases, now would be the time, sir. I’ll forward the colony’s price list.

-Buying-
Organic Materials: 5 Mc per Unit.
Corrosives: 8 Mc per Unit.
-Special requests-
Looking for Crew with Mining specialization x4, will pay 20 Mc per crew member (+5 Mc if they are Flaûgnir).
Looking for small Mining ships x3, will pay 12 Mc for each.

-Selling-
Basic Metals: 1 Mc for 2 units.
Fuel: 1 Mc for 2 units.
-Contract Workers-
Uvo Tol [Security] (Female Flaûgnir): 10 Mc.
Kahn Uruk [Mercenary] (Male Flaûgnir): 62Mc (Includes a Bulwark Class ship).

And… is someone there with you?

Kaktus 2022/01/16(Sun)17:30 No. 1020569 ID: 681cb5
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It’s just Tizli… though she refuses to stop licking me.
Hey, I’m just trying to make you smell like pearls again.
I came out from the shower like 5 minutes ago, aren’t I clean enough?
That’s exactly the problem! I’ve been nuzzling you all night to make you smell nice and then you immediately go and wash it off! Rude!
Oh… I didn’t actually know you were… um… doing that? I apologize?
Just sit still and let me lick you, you dolt. I’ve made this aroma just for you, Captain.
…should I call you later or…?
No, no, its fine… I’m just a bit distracted, that’s all. Continue with the report, Doxy…
Um… okay?
Now be still, you doofus. Got to make sure you’re really clean.


>Introduce our new farmer to the farm. Stocks are full so we don't need double duty there.
I already gave him the tour yesterday, boss. He’ll always work in the hydroponics bay unless you state otherwise.
>Take a volunteer for mess hall and security (Sharah no doubt) and fill up research (next research project was Hanger) and misc tasks.
Make sure those that know about ships are assigned to research as well, so Regina, Tes, my daughter Iris, Zell and maybe… Eki?
I’ll make sure everyone has something to do while we’re in transit, sir.
>We might want to put a second person on security duty so that we can have a night shift. Now that we've hired some outsiders we need to make sure the ship is secure.
Um… while it would be good to have extra security, we’re still a bit low on womanpower, sir… but I’ll see what I can do.
>With how many new crew we’re going to be getting, we’d better invest in the Storage Upgrade so we can store more food and the Crew Quarters Upgrade so we can have room for all of the crew!
We’re going to need a lot of Noble metals and Organic materials for that, sir… and Basic Metals, but at least we can buy those here at the mining colony.
>We should also consider better methods of making more food at a faster rate.
I do believe Car Zuk, our new hydroponics expert, did request an upgrade to the food production facilities, sir. Will cost us 10 Basic Metals and 10 Organic Materials though.


>You may have Doxy report to you from Medical on that front, after she meets some surprise guests there.
Wait, how did you know I’m in medical, sir?
Because I just guessed that last night with Tozlan went well, Doxy.
Oh… right….
Glad you and Tozlan are getting along well. I'd hate for your new project to have any complications.
Thank you, sir.
Wait, you’re telling me that my brother is… is going to be a father?
Yes, yes I am.
…but… he just met her!? I’m the one that’s supposed to be the spontaneous one, not him! And he’s already gone and made a cub?
Indeed he has, Tizli.
…by the eternal dark, he must really been desperate…

And… I got this gut feeling… someone else is there with you as well?
Um… several people, actually… both Regina and Tes are here for… similar reasons, boss.
I did forget to mention to Tes that the gargoyles are compatible now before she went out with those racers…
I think she already knew, sir.
I’m mostly surprised she was so quick… though she did like to race… heh… and how is the father? Does she know who it is?
You’ll have to ask that her that yourself, sir.
And Regina… everyone else was busy and I’m pretty sure she didn’t leave the ship…
Well… there was one other person on the ship, sir, that didn’t go down with you…
There was? Who?
I’m sure you’ll figure it out, sir.
…

>How do murgh reproduce? Try not to panic anyone about spores or anything, but we should send Gherni to Research.
You mean the Mrrgh? Or whatever those mushrooms are called? You certain that no matter how they reproduce, they won’t be able make hybrids with any of your other crew just yet. Still, you might want to research Gherni’s species… though thinking about it, you need to research the Kelshin as well, seeing as you have Eki in board.


Right, first thing first, anything you need to do before you leave for the Gamma system? Anything you need to buy? And is there anything you need to deal with while you’re in jumping between the systems?

How were the gargoyles compatible before we finished research?

Buy some basic metals. 10 for now.
Hire the security officer, so we have a night shift. Also I guess we're still a little short-staffed, so...
Buy fuel. 20 for now.

Hmm, I get the impression we can choose what specialization our clones/babies have memories for. Can we just whip up four clones to satisfy the request for miners? Well, we could wait until cloning flaugnir is possible.

>Tara, your clone, has started a union, sir. Majority of the crew have already joined it as well.
I see no reason not to recognise her union. You've done great a raising morale that you may have to maintain a higher recreation budget than most other ships. There may be minimum crew requirements for missions now, if you'd send them against risky mining runs or man-eating plants, but you haven't exactly thrown crew to forward personal ambitions. A lesser captain would read this as a pretext for her to lead a mutiny. A lesser captain wouldn't have built a pool in a survival scenario.

>I’m the one that’s supposed to be the spontaneous one, not him!
To be fair, she's also the one less likely to tie herself down with a kid. Her brother? Probably called him "Dad" sarcastically more than once.

>I’m sure you’ll figure it out, sir.
>...
Resist the urge to freak out about Regina sleeping with your son by considering the example you've set so far. Also, ask about how well your son is holding up after his first encounter. Send reassurance that he doesn't have to contribute to the vats if he feels pressured.

Let's hope the situation stabilises and the crew settle down with their partners soon. Don't think the ship can hold together if the women are getting into a competition for the biggest nest.

>Anything you need to buy?
The obvious temptation is the merc with ship. A lesser one is hiring the female to see if she hooks up with the male. But no we don't need to buy anything.

>>1020575
>How were the gargoyles compatible before we finished research?
Now I imagine the speed racer wasn't the only thing Tescia was testing out. Maybe her doctor hatchmate asked.

>>1020568
Spend 5 Mc for 10 units of Basic Metals.

Spend 10 Mc for 20 units of fuel.

We don’t need to hire anyone yet.

>>1020569
>Tes possibly had sex with one of the gargoyles
So how is Tes’ father handling the news that his daughter is pregnant? He seemed to be a bit overprotective of her, so he might not be handling this situation very well.

>And Regina…everyone else was busy and I’m pretty sure she didn’t leave the ship…
>Well…there was one other person on the ship, sir, that didn’t go down with you…
>There was? Who?
>I’m sure you’ll figure it out, sir.
Your son, Vex. He didn’t go with your group and he didn’t go with Tizli’s group.

Actually, we could buy 20 BM here while it's still cheap, and collect OM at next system. Build a gym now, build a pub or animal farm later.

A gym could help stem off excess feminine aggression, and thus keep "egg production" in check.

Oh buying more than 10 BM isn't a terrible idea. We'll probably be able to mine some in Gamma though. I'll go for uh, 16.

I don't think we want to reduce egg production just yet. With the new eggs, we'll be at 17/20 crew, and it'll be a few days more before I expect a new round of eggs. By that time we can look into buying the crew quarters upgrade to increase the crew cap.

...what benefits does the alien autopsy research have, again? I seem to remember that was the requirement for crossbreeding but I guess not.

>>1020617
>We'll probably be able to mine some in Gamma though.
We don't know what else besides OM going to find over there yet. There could be complications to mining BM, or we might need extra hands. I say spend the creds while they're still useful.

>...what benefits does the alien autopsy research have, again? I seem to remember that was the requirement for crossbreeding but I guess not.
Probably to keep an Aliens the movie situation with the drugs from going off, or more plausibly less stillbirths. Doc must be working extra hard to patch up her up.

>>1020569
>though thinking about it, you need to research the Kelshin as well, seeing as you have Eki in board.
Yeah, go ahead and scan Eki after the hanger upgrade is complete.

>>1020617
>..what benefits does the alien autopsy research have, again? I seem to remember that was the requirement for crossbreeding but I guess not.
Crossbreeding is from just scanning a living species normally, like we've been doing.

An autopsy let's us learn more about the species and how their insides work by cutting them open. Its recommended to only cut open the dead, since cutting open someone that's still alive is considered murder. The exception to the rule is when performing surgery to try and keep them alive.

Kaktus 2022/01/19(Wed)14:41 No. 1020749 ID: 681cb5
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>Spend 10 Mc for 20 units of Basic Metals. Spend 10 Mc for 20 units of fuel.
That does sound like a good amount… especially with how cheap it supposedly is here. You’ll forward it to Doxy.
>We'll probably be able to mine some BM in Gamma though.
While Basic metals are the most common material we can find and easily mined, it’s not a given that every system will have some we can get our hands on. Not to mention, there might be some danger in the way or just a very limited amount of it as well. Better safe and sorry and all that.
>The obvious temptation is the merc with ship.
Which you still have nowhere near enough Credits to afford. Maybe after you’ve done some missions here…
>A lesser one is hiring the female to see if she hooks up with the male.
They aren’t going to hook up just because they are the same species. But still, having more crew is always a good thing… hmm… maybe when you return from Gamma…

>Build a gym now. A gym could help stem off excess feminine aggression, and thus keep "egg production" in check.
A gym? A good idea, sir, as it will give people the opportunity to let off some steam… without increasing the crew. I know for a fact that Shara has been talking about it a lot, so it is probably she who requested it.
>Build a pub or animal farm later.
We’ll need some domesticated animals if we want to build a farm, sir… preferably ones that produces milk or similar substances.
I was hoping we’d find some on this colony, but if we’re lucky there might be something on that planet in the Gamma system we heard about.
It’s possible, boss. As for the pub… we just need some Organic materials for that.

>I see no reason not to recognize Tara’s union. You've done great a raising morale that you may have to maintain a higher recreation budget than most other ships.
As long as the crew are content, then you’ll probably have nothing to fear from it, sir. If anything, it might be useful to keep people happy and productive. They are bound to be the first ones to notice if something is amiss, Captain.
Hmm… while it’s a clear grab for authority outside the normal rank system, I won’t stop her as long as she’s helping the ship prosper.
So what is this yninon thing anyway?
You mean Union? Wait, this was what you were talking about yesterday?
Of course. Tara refused to shut up about it. But it just sounded complicated if you ask me.
Well… it’s just there to make sure the crew has a voice as well… to ensure what you want is considered.
Huh… that’s why she asked us what we wanted next. I just told her I wanted our ship fixed. Eager to swim through the star again…
Tozlan had a similar request, sir.
Hmm… might be a good idea to fix up their ship when we get the chance, then…
>A lesser captain would read this as a pretext for her to lead a mutiny.
A lesser captain would have an unhappy crew whom might munity anyway.
>A lesser captain wouldn't have built a pool in a survival scenario.
A greater captain wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. Let just hope you’re good enough captain to keep everyone alive while you get out of this mess.


>To be fair, Tizli is also the one less likely to tie herself down with a kid. Her brother? Probably called him "Dad" sarcastically more than once.
*snrk* yeah, you’re right. That scumsucker is a real dad, boring and always saying no. Still, while he’s always talked about settling down and starting a family, I honestly though he would actually take his briny time before putting a pearl in gals tummy.
Maybe he saw the opportunity and didn’t want to miss it?
Or he saw the opportunity and dove towards it because he’s just like me, eager to get what we want without thinking about the consequences.
Heh, yet you didn’t become a mother last night, did you?
…maybe I’m a little better than him after all, then… hehe…
>Resist the urge to freak out about Regina sleeping with your son by considering the example you've set so far.
…
What’s up? You seem a bit lost in the eternal dark there, Captain.
I… I just realized who the father of Regina’s child is. It’s my son, Vex.
…wait, doesn’t that make it your grandchild?
Indeed it does. We’re going to be grandparents, Zento!
…I’m way too young to be a grandfather.
So… you’re not only a real DILF… but you’re going to be GILF to?
That’s one way to look at it.
You’re really brine covered for an old man, you know that?
I’m not that old, dammit… and brine covered?
You know… attractive?
Because I’m covered in salt?
Which means a gal would have a hard time not licking you, silly.
Either way, Zento, I hope you’re super excited to have grandkids with me, because I am!
I… I’m going to need a moment to digest this…

Kaktus 2022/01/19(Wed)14:41 No. 1020750 ID: 681cb5
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>Let's hope the situation stabilizes and the crew settles down with their partners soon. Don't think the ship can hold together if the women are getting into a competition for the biggest nest.
As our crew expands things will probably slow down a bit. What we really need to find is a colony where we can load / unload people at, to ensure that we’ll never run the risk of either running out or getting to much crew. Worst come to worst, though, we can always put the eggs on ice until further notice. We still have a functional cryobay, after all.
>I don't think we want to reduce egg production just yet. With the new eggs, we'll be at 17/20 crew, and it'll be a few days more before I expect a new round of eggs. By that time we can look into buying the crew quarters upgrade to increase the crew cap.
Indeed, getting new crew is never something to scoff at, at least as long as we have room for them. Not to mention… well… we are in a dangerous situation… we’re bound to lose someone at some point. Also, it’s going to be 18/20. We have 4 people pregnant right now; Doxy, Regina, Tes and Shara… who’s seem to be going for an extra day.

>I get the impression we can choose what specialization our clones/babies have memories for.
Somewhat. We can increase the chances of someone gaining a certain specialization, but sometimes they’ll just have a real affinity for something else, ignoring our input completely.
>Can we just whip up four clones to satisfy the request for miners? Well, we could wait until cloning flaugnir is possible.
Indeed it would be possible to clone four flaugnir miners right now, as the only thing we need is a willing flaugnir to clone. Though, it might be odd if we come in with four identical miners… we might need to talk to Vul about it first, to see what she thinks about cloning. Then again, we can also do it the more old fashioned way… of course, we probably still need to ask Vul what she thinks about it first anyway…

>...what benefits does the alien autopsy research have, again?
…you’re actually still unsure about that. All you know is that Vex was really interested in doing an autopsy on… well, everyone. It would help us understand these aliens better… and maybe how to kill them more efficient, if needed. Hmm… didn’t Vex mention something about wanting to know how the Raolme “grow” their bones and splicing said skill it into a Sakkilian? Having someone that can regrow their limbs would be handy after all.
>Yeah, go ahead and scan Eki after the hanger upgrade is complete.
Eki is next on the list then. Hopefully all these ladies will have an easy time upgrading the Hanger, giving us more time to research other things.


>How were the gargoyles compatible before we finished research?
We finished our research of them during the day, the one requiring a live subject, before we even went down to the colony. Though, this means Vex must have been quick to synthesize the necessary medication for crossbreeding… and that Tes must have been quick to take it. You wonder… did she take it before or after she went down to the colony… was this her plan all along? Hmm… either way, you should see if she’s doing okay after you’re done with your other duties… she and Regina both.

At the end of your shift, you find them both in the hanger doing some last adjustments for the day to the coming upgrade.
Captain, dear, what a pleasant surprise!
…sir.
Regina, Tes… everything well?
Why, things are just splendid, love.
…’fine, Ah suppose.
…I see that the two of you had a pleasant evening last night?
Oh, you know how it is, hun. You’re taking the night off and just relax… and you just happen to notice this cute little boy that can’t keep their eyes off you…
You mean my son, Vex?
I have this weakness for adorable, younger boys like yourself, Captain. I just shouldn’t keep my tail off him. I do apologize, dear, if it’s made things awkward for you.
Don’t. Vex is an adult and may make his own decisions… even if it is a bit awkward that both father and son has made an egg with the same woman, indeed.
Oh, just see it as having a tightly knit family, dear. And I do hope you’re looking forward to being a grandfather as well.
I… I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that fact, Regina. And you Tes, had fun last night?
…Ah guess? Found some pretty good racers down there… was fun.
…that’s all?
Might have done some bets. Big bets.
…and you lost?
For a second Tes looks just like her mother Shara as she flashes a huge, toothy grin.
Ah fucking won, sir.
Oh. Of course.

>Now I imagine the speed racer wasn't the only thing Tescia was testing out. Maybe her doctor hatchmate asked.
You mean Vex? We talked about it. He was eager to find out if the formula for the hybrid formula was correct and as Ah had just been with a few of them… Ah volunteered, Ah guess?
So it was just a spur of the moment thing?
…a bit?
And the child’s father?
*shrug* Don’t know. All four of them took turns… well, one did it in my rump, so probably not him? Didn’t get their names either. Didn’t ask. None of them probably know as well. They were rather confident that they shouldn’t knock me up, sir… though with how they kept going it was almost as if they were trying to prove themselves wrong.
…I don’t need the details, Ensign. Still, we should find the father when we return to the colony and inform him about it. He deserves to know.
…you know, when Ah’m thinking about it… Ah might have agreed to Vex’s test just to prove them wrong. Among other reasons.
>So how is Tes’ father handling the news that his daughter is pregnant? He seemed to be a bit overprotective of her, so he might not be handling this situation very well.
Pop? Oh, he was excited about the news, sir. Shouldn’t stop telling me how proud he was and that Ah would make a great mother.
Really?
Though he said he would murder the father if he didn’t take responsibility.
Of course…
…might have forgotten to tell him I don’t know who the father is exactly.
…right. I’ll let the two of you solve that on your own then.
Of course, sir.

>Ask about how well your son is holding up after his first encounter. Send reassurance that he doesn't have to contribute to the vats if he feels pressured.
He was doing fine last time I saw him, dear. He’s a real darling, that one.
I’m sure he is.
While you were more experienced, he was a lot more eager, hun.
I really didn’t need to know that, Regina.
But he was happy about the news, love. Though, I wasn’t able to get a good read on him when I suggested that we may put the egg in cryo, so it can grow up the slow way later. The dear just told me to do as I wished, hun.
Uh huh…
But I’m sure it’s just a lot for him all at once… just like it is for you right now, dear.
I just hope he’s doing fine, Regina.
I’m sure he is, dear. I’m sure of it.

You’re not going to reach Tarkus Gamma until the day after tomorrow and currently the ship is sailing smoothly, so no need to do anything drastic. Is there anything else you wish to do or anyone else you want to talk to before tomorrow? Because otherwise you’ll call it an early night.

You know, the family Christmas parties in the vat sims are gonna be wild for this generation of eggs.

Go chill with Tara for a bit. Get to know yourself a little better.

>>1020750
>don't know the father
Gonna need a paternity test, I guess. I wonder what the father's reaction will be like? There seems to be some kind of accepted long distance child support system in their culture.

>anything to do?
Nah.

Oh, congratulate your son on his egg, and ask if he needs any advice.

Say what you will, but that is a good look for them, especially seeing as they've both had a successful 'hunt.' Then again, what isn't there to love about a pair of blue scaled ladies with round bellies, half undressed and covered in oil?
Gonna need to find a way to celebrate Vex becoming a dad though.

Meet with Tara. Could say that to know yourself is to know your enemy, and keep your enemies closer, but an adversarial mindset may only hinder you. Could tell her she's now a Grandmother/Great Aunt and bond over the strangeness of it all. Really though, you should probably get to know her as a person just as much as a subordinate, considering you're (potentially technically) family.

>>1020766
I second this.

>They aren’t going to hook up just because they are the same species. But still, having more crew is always a good thing… hmm… maybe when you return from Gamma…
True, it's not like hiring them would get results immediately. Not unless they divorced only due to infertility issues, I suppose. But you may want to consider if outside hires get free perks to the vat treatments for their family.

>Hmm… while it’s a clear grab for authority outside the normal rank system, I won’t stop her as long as she’s helping the ship prosper.
Exactly. Either this'll blow up in her face (hopefully not literally) or it proves she deserves a promotion anyway.

>Shara… who’s seem to be going for an extra day.
Woah, that'll be a big egg.

>Is there anything else you wish to do or anyone else you want to talk to before tomorrow?
Be the concerned parent good captain and check up with your son. Keep in mind he's about as shocked, but not as stoic, as you are. Likely, he's focused on work. Here's what you can talk about:
- We're going to have hybrids soon. Does he know they'll turn out?
- We could lose people to hazards. Could portable medical tech help? Would you need to upgrade the med-bay for that?
- OK this is unprofessional you've got to know what's his relationship status? does he like her, if he likes her you'll back off, if not you'll hop on her to protect him, or does he want to do a round robin with the crew like you did, or does he even like girls or sex, you'll support him no matter what (breathe)

Also, congratulate Doxy in person on making on making the first hybrid of the ship. Even if it's murky whether she or Tescia was first, you already saw the latter about it so it'd be fair to see her as well. Doting on her would be nice too. Probably how Tozlan got hooked in.

>>1020750
>Shara…who seems to be going for an extra day.
I thought she was supposed to be laying her egg today? So if her egg isn’t being laid today, then it’ll be laid tomorrow, right? Does this mean that she’s now going to have a really big egg to lay?

>Tes
Huh. From the looks of things, it looks like Tes might have a live birth instead of laying an egg.

I wonder if Doxy will also have a live birth? Or will she still end up laying an egg?

>>1020750
>Hmm…didn’t Vex mention something about wanting to know how the Raolme “grow” their bones and splicing said skill it into a Sakkilian? Having someone that can regrow their limbs would be handy after all.
If you could splice other races' skills into Sakkilians, would the Sakkilians need to be growing in the Vat? Or could someone, yourself for example, step into the Vats and have the skill spliced into them?

>>1020886
Spicing an away team is practical for obvious reasons, but be careful about splicing the captain. Something that's 18 Charisma in theory could end up as something people want locked up in a chest in practice.

Be cool if we can splice wings, though. A jetpack may be more practical, but I'll be damned if there's no aesthetic there.

>>1020886
>splice skills into someone growing in Vat or someone that’s already an adult?
I’m pretty sure it’d have to be a volunteer that’s already an adult, since they’re the ones that would want something like that put into them.

No one would want to try splicing something into a still growing baby.

Kaktus 2022/01/22(Sat)11:43 No. 1020978 ID: 681cb5
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>Meet with Tara. Could say that to know yourself is to know your enemy, and keep your enemies closer, but an adversarial mindset may only hinder you.
Right, it’s time to actually meet Tara and see who she is. While she might be your clone, her experiences and education should be vastly different… so you better make sure you know where you have her, to ensure she doesn’t surprise you later either in a good way or a bad way.

You find her in the crew quarter common room, playing board games with the rest of your… um… family. She, Doxy, your son Vex and your daughter Iris are all sitting around a table playing that Terraform Colony game.
-and I build another city over here, near the water. Vex, it’s your turn.
Which means I’ll get another credit production *giggle*
And I’ll get another Wolfhound! Yay! More points to me!
*mumble* -missing two steel or one titanium if- *mumble*mumble*
Who’s winning?
OH! HI DAD!
Father.
Captain Zento! Super nice to see you!
Captain…
We’re almost done with this round if you want to join, dad, just need to increase the temperature one more step and then it’s the final generation. We’re just waiting on my brother, Dr. Slowpoke over there, to take his damn turn already!
I need to consider all the possibilities, sister.
You’ve clearly already won. Do you really need to take such a long time every turn?
Yes?
Let little Vex take his time.
Ugh… fine… but join us, dad.
…I guess I can play one game before bed.

Oh, and while we’re here, I wanted to ask you this union thing?
Hmm? Oh yes, that. I simply saw the need for someone to represent the crew as a whole. You will be glad to hear that they are rather content with the current situation… mostly because they understand how dire it actually is.
That’s super good news, right captain?
I sense a “but” though…
I’ve talked with every member of the union and asked them if they had any requests on what we focus on next.
And…
I’ve already forward the list to the Commander, but if you wish to hear it from me personally. *Cough* Zell wishes for a pub, Ikekeki wants to fly a ship, Shara wanted that gym you just built, Tescia wanted a proper Holo-bay for games and training while Regina wanted a long range comm…
So that we can have some kind of contact with colonies we visit, even if it is only in message form, sir.
I requested an upgrade of the med-bay and its equipment.
And I wanted us to actually do something with that Observation deck we have. It’s just an empty space right now!
And while Tozlan, Tizli, Car and Gherni aren’t officially part of the union yet, I also took their requests. The Raolme siblings want their ship repaired as soon as possible, Car wanted some upgrades to the hydroponics bay and finally Gherni wanted a proper garden to… as she put it, “Put down her roots in and pollinate”…
I see that you’ve worked hard, Ensign Tara.
Someone have to, Captain. I do wish that you’ll consider these in the future, to ensure our cooperation remain as effective as this.

>We could lose people to hazards. Could portable medical tech help? Would you need to upgrade the med-bay for that?
All ships and most part of The Shed Scale already have emergency medical packs installed, father, but upgrading the med-bay will drastically increase the survival rate of anyone wounded as well as ensure that the crew is healthy and not bearing any sicknesses.
>Oh, congratulate your son on his egg, and ask if he needs any advice.
Thank you. And no, I already have an expert on the subject to help me.
Oh? You want to ask mommy instead?
I was referring to Regina, mother.
…you’re letting her do all the work, bro?
I will aid her where she see fit. I trust her judgment on this subject.

>Could tell Tara she's now a Grandmother/Great Aunt and bond over the strangeness of it all.
See! You are our aunty! Just as I said!
Ugh… fine, we’re technically family… happy now?
Super happy!
I guess it’s a positive outcome.
YAY! The more the merrier!
…this is rather odd, isn’t it Tara?
Yes. Which is exactly why I don’t want to talk about it.
>From the looks of things, it looks like Tes might have a live birth instead of laying an egg.
My hatchsister does indeed have a live Flaûgnir offspring residing in her womb currently, and while there seem to be some hybridization she will still give birth to the female in the same way a Flaûgnir would. Similarly, mother is also carrying a Raolme female and will not lay an egg either.
It’s really odd feeling it kick around in there but… I like it…
May I request that I take tomorrow off so I can help them with the delivery, father?
Granted, Vex, of course you should help.
>Congratulate Doxy in person on making on making the first hybrid of the ship.
Thank you, but I believe Tes beat me to it, sir.
She did indeed return to the ship long before mother did.

>I thought Shara was supposed to be laying her egg today? So if her egg isn’t being laid today, then it’ll be laid tomorrow, right? Does this mean that she’s now going to have a really big egg to lay?
It might be slightly bigger than the average, father, but not that much. It is rather normal for Sakkilian females to time their egg laying together, similarly to how their heat tends to happen at the same time. Its old instincts that the body does automatically, you know.
>OK this is unprofessional you've got to know what's his relationship status?
Hmm? With me and Regina? We are friends, father.
Aw, come on, it has to be more than that!
Do you like her?
I find conversation with her intellectually stimulating, she is very caring and sweet, her posterior is amply formed for egg laying and she has experience in the subject. She is perfect for passing my genes further with.
…okay, that has to be the driest answer I’ve ever heard.
So… you… um… like her?
*Sigh* Yes, I like her. She likes me. Yes, we will spend more time together. No, we aren’t an official couple. I still wish to continue experimenting with these new alien species we’re discovering while Regina whole reason for joining the colony fleet was to be free from those relationships.
So it’s complicated then.
No, it is not.
Ugh, come on, stop talking about relationships and play already! Dad! It’s your turn!
Oh! Sorry.

You spend the rest of the evening playing the game, and as time goes on, more and more of the crew join you in the common room. When you leave most of the ships residents are there, having fun. You can only hope a few more friendships will be born today.

Kaktus 2022/01/22(Sat)11:43 No. 1020979 ID: 681cb5
File 164288063278.png - (169.62KB , 1125x550 , 7.png )

>Say what you will, but that is a good look for Tes and Regina, especially seeing as they've both had a successful 'hunt.' Then again, what isn't there to love about a pair of blue scaled ladies with round bellies, half undressed and covered in oil?
The one thing that might be criticized about their looks is the fact that neither belly was made by you personally… but you digress, having such beautiful sights are still highly enjoyable, even if they aren’t of your own making. Hmm… maybe you should ask Vex if he can make the growth period a bit longer, so you can have more time to enjoy it? Just a thought…
>If you could splice other races' skills into Sakkilians, would the Sakkilians need to be growing in the Vat?
If you want to do gene splicing or other upgrades, cybernetic or biomodular, then you’ll need a proper Enhancement bay. You’ll need to research a bit to figure out how to build it without the usual facilities and factories though.

>True, it's not like hiring the other Flaûgnir would get results immediately. Not unless they divorced only due to infertility issues, I suppose.
…wait, are you missing something? Because you have no reason to believe that your farmer Car Zuk would even know this Uvo Tol person, let alone be divorced?
>Gonna need a paternity test, I guess. I wonder what the father's reaction will be like? There seems to be some kind of accepted long distance child support system in their culture.
Doing a paternity test is easy enough… but actually finding the ones who were with her might be a bit more difficult, as she didn’t even get their names, remember? As for reaction… you have no idea. You can only hope it will be a positive one.
>But you may want to consider if outside hires get free perks to the vat treatments for their family.
Hmm… the vats become more and more of a selling point, don’t they? Might be something to consider…

>You know, the family Christmas parties in the vat sims are gonna be wild for this generation of eggs.
The Christmas parties on this ship are going to be wild… and it’s just going to get worse and worse.

*Snore*

Tizli’s softly snores right into your ear, waking you up from the sweet oblivion you were experiencing. For a moment you wonder how she got there, but then some vague memories of you letting her in late last night resurfaces in your mind, though you’re not sure if it was a dream or if she actually woke you up. But another day has dawned and with it, more problems to solve. You know for a fact that Doxy will take the day off today, but luckily she should have already made a quick roundup of what happened yesterday… you better take a look.

Dawn of Day 11
Your crew consumes 6 unites of food more than your total food production.
Your ship consumes 5 unit of fuel while hyperjumping.
Ensign Zell construct a brig, allowing you to detain captured crew.
Upgrading the Hanger is moving along faster than expected thanks to having the right crew for the job (Regina, Tescia, Iris and Ikekeki).
Your crew has not been able to keep up with all the cleaning that needs to be done and it starting to be noticed. Morale has slightly decreased across the crew.

Ensign Regina has taken the day off tolay her egg.
Ensign Shara has taken the day off tolay her egg.
CDR. Doxy has taken the day off togive birth.
Ensign Tescia has taken the day off togive birth.
Ensign Vex is on medical duty thanks to everything above.

Most of your crew decides to hold a board game night. It ends in disaster.
Ensign Tizli and Ensign Tescia got into a heated argument and now dislike each other.
Ensign Tozlan and Ensign Vex got into a heated argument and now dislike each other.
Ensign Shara and Ensign Car Zuk got into a heated argument and now dislike each other.
Ensign Regina and Ensign Gherni got into a heated argument and now dislike each other.
Ensign Regina and Ensign Vex spent two pleasant evenings together and are now mates.

…and here you were hoping today would be simple…

Gods damn it. Ok, will have to take care of the maintaining, so we should put people on that. A shame about the game, but is to be expected, as long as they maintain it profecional and dobn't start hating each other.

Hm. At this rate, we're going to reach a food breakpoint where we'll need more than one person per day on hydroponics. I think we can finally slow down on reproduction.

Set most people to cleaning duty today, followed by maintenance.

>>1020979
Thankfully bad feelings over board games tend to blow over quickly. I think you can just kindof ignore this.
Can't ignore cleaning duty though.

Five people being unavailable today is a real pain in the ass! I don't suppose Doxy and Zento could help out a bit like they did at the beginning?

Hmm. Looks like some people don't want to move off their duties. Farm and Research already have people in them. Ok, leave them there. Research is ahead of schedule so we don't need it full. That gives us 4 people to assign wherever.
How about: 2 on cleaning, 2 on maintenance. If Doxy and Zento can get off their asses, they should help on both.

>>1020979
>consumes more food than can be produced.
I was afraid of this. We’re going to start running low on food pretty soon, if we’re not careful!

>>1021005
>have Doxy help out
She’s too busy giving birth, so she can’t help out!

>Hmm… maybe you should ask Vex if he can make the growth period a bit longer, so you can have more time to enjoy it? Just a thought…
They can still be put to work, right? Because pregnant Sakkilian woman are notoriously resilient? Like they won't die, but could get captured, get lost on a planet, or get a "joyride" (by choice or accident). Or would you rather have pregnant lizard girls safely working on ship?

>And while Tozlan, Tizli, Car and Gherni aren’t officially part of the union yet, I also took their requests.
So our more alien friends are reluctant to sign up with her, right away at least. Could that be telling of something? (Eki did, but that can be written off because she's a pirate, she has a submissive mindset, she looks up to the captain so she likes your clone...)

>…wait, are you missing something? Because you have no reason to believe that your farmer Car Zuk would even know this Uvo Tol person, let alone be divorced?
You'd agree that, given that he's coming from an infertility epidemic, he fits the profile of someone falling into his work as distraction. (Given the galactic situation, that's probably a common sentiment among contract workers.) That kind of stress cannot be good for forming long-term relationships. This may not apply to him, Car Zuk is likely has no relation to Uvo Tol, and speculating any further is pointless until you get back, but he could be happier here if there was someone around he can relate to.

>Ensign Tozlan
Isn't that Lt. Tozlan now? You better have that cleared with everyone, or you are not going to hear the end of it.

>Upgrading the Hanger is moving along faster than expected thanks to having the right crew for the job (Regina, Tescia, Iris and Ikekeki).
Cool. Don't fix what ain't broken. Oh right two of them are off duty today.
Could we have the Ralome siblings sub in today? The hanger upgrade would make it easier to have their ship fixed, after all. Maybe that would motivate them enough to prevent issues from working with Eki.

>Most of your crew decides to hold a board game night. It ends in disaster.
Reserve the gym tonight so you can resolve everyone's differences with some real sports.

>>1021005
Keep in mind if those tensions last for more than one day, there may be more underlying issues that need to be addressed.

>Ensign Regina and Ensign Vex spent two pleasant evenings together and are now mates.
Good for them, literally the only good thing to come out of board game knight. Now that the bachelorate and doctorate have joined forces, what wonders and horrors will they spawn on the galaxy?

Kaktus 2022/01/23(Sun)16:53 No. 1021131 ID: 681cb5
File 164298558421.png - (131.93KB , 1125x550 , 8.png )

>Five people being unavailable today is a real pain in the ass! I don't suppose Doxy and Zento could help out a bit like they did at the beginning?
Doxy is a bit preoccupied right now, but you guess you’ll have to work a bit extra in dire times like these, yes. Things are rather calm while in transit anyway.
>Looks like some people don't want to move off their duties. Farm and Research already have people in them.
That would be Car Zuk, our resident farmer, who Doxy said will always volunteer himself for farm duty unless you specify otherwise. As for Research, you did personally assign Eki and Iris to it yesterday, so they are probably planning on continuing their work.
>Could we have the Ralome siblings sub in today? The hanger upgrade would make it easier to have their ship fixed, after all. Maybe that would motivate them enough to prevent issues from working with Eki.
Getting that Hanger upgrade completed do seem like a top priority, and you’re sure the Raolme siblings will be sufficiently motivated to finish it as soon as possible. You’ll make sure they are assigned to Research then.
>How about: 2 on cleaning, 2 on maintenance.
…hmm... there’s only Zell, Tara, Gherni and… yourself? Wait, did you accidently miss counting someone this morning? No matter, you’ll assign Zell and Gherni to cleaning and Tara and… actually, you’ll only assign Tara to maintenance and you’ll do some extra cleaning yourself. You haven’t done a proper EVA walk in ages and it will do you good to get out of this ship for a bit, even if it just to clean the hull.
>Isn't that Lt. Tozlan now? You better have that cleared with everyone, or you are not going to hear the end of it.
Right, he’s a Lieutenant, not an ensign. Better update his bio before he notices.


>Hm. At this rate, we're going to reach a food breakpoint where we'll need more than one person per day on hydroponics. I think we can finally slow down on reproduction.
Our current maximum output with our newly acquired farmer is 22 units, so we can still increase our numbers a bit more. Of course, he’s only producing 12 units on his lonesome, so assigning someone else to food production will be necessary soon enough.

>They can still be put to work, right? Because pregnant Sakkilian woman are notoriously resilient?
Sakkilian woman are notoriously stubborn as well, so you probably won’t be able to keep them away from work even if you wanted to. You have no idea about the aliens, though…
>Like they won't die, but could get captured, get lost on a planet, or get a "joyride" (by choice or accident). Or would you rather have pregnant lizard girls safely working on ship?
…of course they’ll need to be kept relatively safe… hmm… maybe it’s not the best idea to cripple your own workforce right now, though, is it?

Kaktus 2022/01/23(Sun)16:53 No. 1021132 ID: 681cb5
File 164298559270.png - (62.36KB , 700x700 , 9.png )

When you’re done cleaning the outer hull you take a quick look on the star map to see how far you’ve come. If everything is going well then you’ll arrive at Tarkus Gamma early tomorrow morning.

>So our more alien friends are reluctant to sign up with her, right away at least. Could that be telling of something?
Hmm… either they can feel that she has ulterior motives or… they simply don’t know what an union is. Tizli clearly doesn’t.
>Eki did, but that can be written off because she's a pirate, she has a submissive mindset, she looks up to the captain so she likes your clone...
She has also shown signs that she wants the lower ranks to have certain rights… though, she expressed it by talking about slave rights, so… um… you can’t really say for certain what she wants?

>You'd agree that, given that he's coming from an infertility epidemic, he fits the profile of someone falling into his work as distraction. (Given the galactic situation, that's probably a common sentiment among contract workers.) That kind of stress cannot be good for forming long-term relationships.
The more you learn about this galaxy, the more broken and wounded it seem to be. You need to improve things… for the future of the Sakkilian colonies, of course.
>This may not apply to him, Car Zuk is likely has no relation to Uvo Tol, and speculating any further is pointless until you get back, but he could be happier here if there was someone around he can relate to.
Hmm… you might be right. So far his only real interaction is getting into a fight with Shara, which is a rather bad start. Not to mention, you need more crew anyway…

>A shame about the game, but is to be expected, as long as they maintain it professional and don’t start hating each other. Thankfully bad feelings over board games tend to blow over quickly. I think you can just kind of ignore this.
While they will probably keep doing their duties, being stuck on a ship together with someone you dislike is not good for long-term morale. You rather deal with it properly than hope that it pass on its own.
>Reserve the gym tonight so you can resolve everyone's differences with some real sports.
Sadly, four of the eight that were part of yesterday kerfuffle are current busy elsewhere, what with them being in med-bay and all. It’s a really good idea, though, and might be prudent to do it tomorrow instead, when everyone is available.
>Good for Regina and Vex, literally the only good thing to come out of board game knight. Now that the bachelorate and doctorate have joined forces, what wonders and horrors will they spawn on the galaxy?
They spawn a child, apparently… a little boy, to be exact. You’ll have to see what kind of horrid wonder they’ll turn out to be.

…Tizli has gone back to sleeping in her own quarters again, so it seems that Tozlan has finally stopped hogging Commander Doxy. Just something to note.

Kaktus 2022/01/23(Sun)16:53 No. 1021133 ID: 681cb5
File 164298560064.png - (118.42KB , 1125x550 , 10.png )

Dawn of Day 11
Your ship has arrived in the Tarkus Gamma system.

Your crew consumes 5 unites of food more than your total food production.
Your cleaning duties have paid off and the ship looks better for it. Morale has increased to normal values again.
One of your Cruisers have been completely repaired and is ready for duty.
A Sakkilians egg, a Raolme hybrid and a Flaûgnir hybrid are growing in the vats and will be “hatched” tomorrow morning.

The Hanger upgrade is completed a whole day early, thanks to strong motivations and experienced crew (Tozlan, Tizli, Iris and Ikekeki).
All ships will be constructed and repaired quicker (Minimum 1 day) as well as be cheaper to build.
Your next research subject will be the Kelshin (Requiring a live Kelshin), unless stated otherwise.

Some of your crew got into a fight and with no security to deescalate the situation it turned physical.
Lt. Tozlan and Ensign Vex got into a tussle and now hate each other.
Ensign Iris and Ensign Ikekeki worked as a team on the new hanger and became friends.

Welcome to Tarkus Gamma, sir. Remember, where here to get a mineral scan on all the planetoids in the system, sir.
…is that a pirate ship, Commander?
It is a Kelshin Pillager class ships, boss, the same model the pirates had but with a different paintjob. It hasn’t noticed us yet, so I can’t say if they are hostile or not… or if they even are pirates, sir.

…you don’t know why, but you got a bad feeling about this system…

>>1021133
>the hybrids went into the vats too
Huh, so... babies work, not just eggs? I wonder why adults can't use it.

>>1021133
>Lt. Tozlan and Ensign Vex got into a tussle and now hate each other.
Okay we need to deal with that immediately.

As for this system... did a planet just get blown up? The debris field isn't orbiting anything so that must have been recent!
Scan nearby things, see if Eki recognizes the vessel. Also, I wonder if we could pretend to be pirates to avoid confict here...

>…you don’t know why, but you got a bad feeling about this system…
Well, there goes dodgeball night. Would've been nice to organise it with/against your twin.

...is that pirate vessel sporting IOD colors? Based on what you know of them, they cannot be of sound mind, or any mind, doing that. My guess is drones are not going to be interested in dodgeball.

Guess what moved to top of your build queue? Get someone on scan, get your miners, tell him to suit up for the next noble or corrosive mine you find. See if you can build new mining ships. If they give any lip, point to the cracked planet and say that's going to be the Flaug colony we don't have a Long-Range Communicator yesterday. Dammit, we should've had their cannon online when we left.

>>1021136
Claim to be the exact opposite of a pirate, if you wish avoid conflict. Perhaps the lieutenant and his ship can help there.

>>1021133
Start scanning the planets and hope they’ve got materials that you need for upgrades.

>…is that a pirate ship, Commander?
>It is a Kelshin Pillager class ships, boss, the same model the pirates had but with a different paintjob. It hasn’t noticed us yet, so I can’t say if they are hostile or not…or if they even are pirates, sir.
If they aren’t hostile to you, then you don’t need to be hostile towards them. And just in case they aren’t pirates, don’t immediately attack them for no reason.

Might as well scan them to see what their specs are.

>>1021152
Now that I've calmed down, I think it could be better to keep the scan results on the down low, at least for today. Morale will drop when they see what's outside, so let's not pile interpersonal drama on top of that and have the crew do dodgeball in the gym tonight. Perhaps Tara can organise it, while you settle the dispute between Vex and Tozlan.

Don't forget to assign Maintenance, Cleaning, Security, and Research either.

>Your crew consumes 5 unites of food more than your total food production.
I'm sorry is that food production counter, right? If so, something is very wrong with consumption. If not, double up on on that today.

>>1021190
This

Kaktus 2022/01/25(Tue)17:44 No. 1021316 ID: 681cb5
File 164316145231.png - (145.87KB , 1125x550 , 11.png )

>Did a planet just get blown up? The debris field isn't orbiting anything so that must have been recent!
That planet has indeed been artificially cracked, though I don’t believe it happened recently. If it did, we would have detected a massive energy spike from this system.
Hmm… but how long ago was it destroyed? And why? And by who? The IOD? It can’t be that far back, as the debris isn’t orbiting anything.
I’m no expert on the orbital data of debris from a cracked planet, sir, but as we can’t detect any major Elerium residue or similar by-product, I can only guess it’s been at least a month or two at minimum… possibly even years?
…either way, we should be careful. While whatever did this might be long gone, it’s still a warning.
Of course, sir.
>Point to the cracked planet and say that's going to be the Flaug colony we don't have a Long-Range Communicator yesterday.
…that seems unlikely. If they wanted to attack the mining colony you doubt they would first blow up a random planet in a nearby system that we know the colony haven’t even properly visited yet. Besides, Vul already said that the IOD would easily conquer them if they wanted to, sending them a warning might just be completely pointless. Her plan is to not draw their attention in the first place, remember?


>Start scanning the planets and hope they’ve got materials that you need for upgrades.
Commander, put Iris and Tizli on mineral and energy scan so we can know what we’re dealing with.
Got it, sir.
>Get your miners, tell him to suit up for the next noble or corrosive mine you find. See if you can build new mining ships.
Get Zell and Tes ready with the landers, I want them mining as soon as the scan finds anything.
I’ll get them ready, boss.
>I'm sorry is that food production counter, right? If so, something is very wrong with consumption. If not, double up on that today.
We’re consuming more food that we’re producing, meaning that we’re slowly running out of food unless we produce more of it. We’re not consuming more food that we should.
Dox, put Tozlan on farm duty so Car get some extra hands.
I’ll see to it, sir.
>Don't forget to assign Maintenance, Cleaning, Security, and Research either.
Hmm… assign Gherni to cleaning, Shara to Security and… Eki, Vex, Regina and Tara to research.
Of course, sir.
And I guess we’ll have to take Maintenance duty again?
I… would rather not, sir… it’s really starting to wear on me to pull double duties like this, Captain Zento.
I know, but until we get more crew we’ll just have to weather the storm.
>See if you can build new mining ships.
While you have the resources, you’re kind of low on crew right now, sadly. It has to wait until later.

I got something to report from the scanner bay, dad!
Then go ahead, Ensign Iris.
We detected a small amount of Corrosives on the red planet’s surface… and there were some noble metals on its moon. The mining team has already been dispatched for it, dad.
That’s good to hear, sweetie… and the energy scan?
Oh! That’s one is the really exciting one! Obviously, we detected the pirate ship… but we also detected several smaller ships flying around in low orbit on the planet below.
Really?
And all that junk around the cyan planet? It’s a bunch of old destroyed ship hulls. Tizli thinks it might be an old battle site of some kind. And then there’s the best part! We’ve detected a really faint energy signature buried deep inside what’s left of the cyan planet and we think it might be some kind of old facility that survived the cracking, daddy!
An old facility? Really?
Well… Tizli thought so… we’re not sure, we only detected some odd energy readings…
Either way, continue the good work, Iris.
Will do, dad!

Kaktus 2022/01/25(Tue)17:44 No. 1021317 ID: 681cb5
File 164316146466.png - (168.25KB , 1125x550 , 12.png )

>Huh, so... babies work, not just eggs? I wonder why adults can't use it.
...you’re not sure what you mean with that adults can’t use it? You can use the Vat system to regrow limbs and like, no matter how old you are. Of course, you need a still developing brain for it to properly simulate an education, if that’s what you mean. Doing that on an adult mind is… let just say it isn’t a pretty sight.

>...is that pirate vessel sporting IOD colors?
IOD colors are blue and… white, you believe? That thing is painted in a very garnish yellow, so no, those are definitely not IOD colors.
>See if Eki recognizes the vessel.
Ugh, yeah, I recognize that goldish yellow anywhere. That’s a Flashy Freebooter ship! Don’t believe a word those scallywags tells you!
Flashy Freebooter? Is that some kind of clan or…?
They are part of Pirate Lord Gold Claw’s crew, just like we in the Bloody Buccaneers are… um… used to be part of Lord Krem’s crew. They are well known for their love of everything that glitters and are experts when it comes to swindling planetlubbers like yourself out of their doubloon filled coffers.
So they won’t try and plunder us?
Oh, of course they will, if they think they can take you without too much problem. Either way, hold on to your booty, captain, if you’re planning to going up against them. They will get your booty either by force or trickery.
I see…
>I wonder if we could pretend to be pirates to avoid conflict here...
…well, if you’re wearing my pirate hat they might not try and swindle you, cap’?
>Claim to be the exact opposite of a pirate, if you wish avoid conflict.
Then they’ll definitely try and swindle you, captain.
Hmm… still, you don’t think they will actually attack us, do you?
You’re sitting in a huge flagship while they got a medium sized pillager. They aren’t suicidal. If anything you’re the one who’s supposed to plunder them! KEKEKE! That’s it! Let’s board their ship, enslave their crew and plunder their coffers!
We’re not enslaving anyone, Eki.
Aw… can’t we at least plunder their booty? They’ve definitely stolen it from someone else already, so it’s not like we’re doing something bad?
>Perhaps the lieutenant and his ship can help there.
…you have a feeling sending someone that we know hates the pirates and probably is just as hated by them will probably just make a conflict more likely.
>If they aren’t hostile to you, then you don’t need to be hostile towards them. And just in case they aren’t pirates, don’t immediately attack them for no reason.
You’re not going to just blast them out of the sky unprovoked… though Eki did bring up a good point… they are pirates, so stealing their stuff won’t be that morally questionable, will it? Just a thought.
>Might as well scan them to see what their specs are.
If we get close enough to scan them like that, then they’ll definitely know we’re here. Let’s decide how we should approach them first.


>Well, there goes dodge ball night. Would've been nice to organize it with/against your twin.
…why would you cancel dodge ball night? You’re not in any immediate danger, are you? And your crew needs time off anyway.
>Have the crew do dodgeball in the gym tonight. Perhaps Tara can organize it, while you settle the dispute between Vex and Tozlan.
As you command, Captain. One question though. Do you want the people that were fighting on opposite teams or do you want them working together?
Hmm… wait, I’ll need to get back to you on that, Vex and Tozlan just arrived.

>Okay we need to deal with Tozlan and Vex immediately.
You called both Lt. Tozlan and Ensign Vex to you so you can deal with both of them at once… but as soon as they spot each other they go for the throat.
What is this dim-witted buffoon doing here?
What’s wrong, scumsucker. Here to cry to papa about our tussle?
You punched me in the face, you dullard!
And you knocked a tooth out from me right into the eternal dark!
You’ll just regrow it, you incompetent fool.
And you’ll just regrow that eye, you sludge dweller! …psst, captain, you guys can regrow eyes, right?
We can’t regrow eyes naturally, but that black eye will heal. Now, will you two stop acting like children and tell me what’s going on?
This nincompoop was cheating with his sister at Colony Transformation!
She was losing anyway so she just helped me out, that’s all! This tedious wanker on the other hand droned on and on about the most boring stuff imaginable before insulting my sister!
That was not my intention. Your intention to insult me was pretty clear on the other hand.
You insult her, I insult you, scumsucker. And then you insulted me right back anyway!
And then this simpleton whispered in my ear that he fornicated with my mother!
Well, I did fuck her, you one dicked squid!
Eat feces!
Eat sludge!
*Sigh*…

>>1021317
Tell both of them they can't use regeneration as an excuse for physical violence. Fighting between crewmembers is expressly forbidden on your ship! They will stop attacking eachother this instant unless they want a day in the brig. We're gonna have an influx of crew real soon so don't think their positions are so precious that you won't do it.
As for their disagreement, you don't want any more cheating on game night, and Vex should repeat what he said so that he can clear up the misunderstanding about Tizli. Vex could stand to work on his social skills in general, I think. Being smart is no excuse to call other people stupid. Plus, if someone is offended due to a misunderstanding, you should clear up the misunderstanding, not escalate.
Tell Tozlan you expect better behavior from a lieutenant. He could have chosen not to escalate as well. Seems out of character for him, even. In addition, you don't think Doxy will be pleased that he's shoving their private business in her son's face.

>>1021317
No more mister nice captain. It’s time for Zento to be the tallest, scariest, most cryptic looking Sakkilian imaginable multiplied by 2.

Shout, “SILENCE!!!” or “ENOUGH!!!”, which ever gets their attention the best.

Let them know that you don’t care who started it because physically fighting each other over a board game is fucking stupid! Tell them that if the ship didn’t desperately need as much crew as possible, you’d throw both of them in the brig! But since you need as many available crew as possible, you’re not going to do that. This is the only warning they get.

Then remind both of them that neither their rank (Tolzan) nor who they’re related to (Vex) will protect them from you next time. Because if there is a next time, you’ll make them share a room in the brig, you’ll start stripping ranks, and you’ll reduce their next paychecks by a significant amount!

>>1021318
>you don't want any more cheating on game night
Was it cheating? Is there anything in the Colony Transformation rule book that says that what Tizli did is considered cheating? Because if there’s no rule against it, then it isn’t cheating. So unless we know the rules of the game, we can’t exactly call it as cheating.

>It’s a bunch of old destroyed ship hulls.
>We’ve detected a really faint energy signature buried deep inside what’s left of the cyan planet
Could be worth sending a properly manned Cruiser over there, when we have the time. Worst case: you find out why the planet was cracked in the first place.

>Obviously, we detected the pirate ship… but we also detected several smaller ships flying around in low orbit on the planet below.
This has looting the natives written all over it.

>Do you want the people that were fighting on opposite teams or do you want them working together?
Together. There could be no better lesson in teamwork than the risk of losing if they don't get it together. Of course, if they lose new resentments could form...

>Aw… can’t we at least plunder their booty? They’ve definitely stolen it from someone else already, so it’s not like we’re doing something bad?
If we want to avoid direct ship-to-ship combat, we could run a con using their reputation against them. If we can pretend we know nothing about them, they'll believe they're swindling some easy marks. The catch is if Eki is around it would give the game away. While she could take a Cruiser, they wouldn't think Ralome would let a shrimp borrow their Defender.

From there, we just need a cover story/distraction for an opening to loot their ship. What if you invite them to dodgeball... with live shock grenades? Best part: you can tip the odds in your favor if you can rig them to detonate by remote control, and thus only on their side.

>And then this simpleton whispered in my ear that he fornicated with my mother!
>Well, I did fuck her, you one dicked squid!
>Eat feces!
Is his discomfort coming from Tozlan's attempt at paternal dominance, his parents seeing other other people, or his insecurities over his mate? Your son may be more sensitive about these than he lets on.

Oh let me respond to the rest of the update too.
Seems like we can just ignore the pirates, we should check out the energy reading next, and then scan the remaining space objects near the pirates' planet (we'll probably wind up doing that tomorrow). The smaller ships are probably pirate vessels, doing mining or something.
We could go try to bully the pirates but uh, if we do things like that too often the pirates might put out a bounty on us or something. I think we should just focus on the mission, and if they try to scam us we can turn it around on them, but we shouldn't instigate.

Hmm, after we get corrosives we won't be able to repair the raolme defender immediately. We don't have enough BM.

>>1021336
That sounds like a bad idea. I don’t think we should invite pirates onto our ship for a game of dodgeball.

It gives them a chance to look around our ship and they can see how little crew we have and how few defenses we’ve got. They’ll realize they’ve got an advantage over us when they decide to get back in their ship and just start attacking us when they don’t like how they lost the rigged game of dodgeball.

>>1021352
Then send whatever pirates you stunned to the brig, that's what it's there for. If you can take out at least half the crew, or better yet the captain, boarding actions go along much smoother. Especially if you get Ikekeki to sabotage their comms.

Maybe instead of hiding, she can run a double bluff if she claims this was her idea. That she "tricked" our crew into this, not that she wouldn't be into this kind of dodgeball anyway, and she'd "let them in on the con" for "a spot on their ship". Good cons are sold on confidence after all, both yours and theirs.

Also, it should be said we're not inviting them over today.

>>1021317
>Dodgeball
Would it be fair for the Raolme? Should we make a ball that they can hear coming?

>Fighting
Tell both of them to stop acting like children. You expect them to be better than that.

>>1021336
>>1021369
So the plan involves trusting them to not just immediately start shooting us as soon as they come onto the ship? Because that's what it sounds like.

It's really stupid to expect pirates to come on the ship and play dodgeball, since they're more likely to just kill us as soon as the door opens and not bother playing the game at all.

>Ikekeki
You're assuming that these pirates know who she is and would immediately trust her, when she already said that her group and this group of pirates don't like each other. If they do know who she is, just knowing she's on the ship would make them want to start shooting at us immediately instead of waiting until they got on our ship to start shooting us.

>>1021317
While its important to not take sides, and I understand that Tozlin is probably very attached to Doxy, its important to lay down the law with him that he can NOT leverage relationships like that, especially under the current situation where we need to produce crew like this, and how delicate everything is.

This is NOT the behavior expected of a lieutenant. Tozlin's position holds him to a higher standard than anyone he outranks, and he is SHAMING himself.

To be frank, this childishness starting over a game is extremely unbecoming of a doctor, Vex, and that you've also participating in conflict escalation is extremely concerning. He needs to understand how important maintaining good relationships with his patients is, and that includes Tozlin. This expectation will continue after we've achieved more relaxed conditions.

We should have been able to conduct this meeting civilly at the same, but now we're starting to regret not meeting each of you individually. How dare the both of you put your captain in this situation. What if we were forced to delegate this mediation to Doxy instead? Would the two of you embarrass yourselves the same way?

>>1021316
You know, all this dad calling from Iris puts a concern in my mind. It's nice for us, but I'm worried about a scenario where a parent is far more colder outside the vat then they were inside and takes affront to that. What if Tescia doesn't like being called a Mom from a complete stranger when vat Tescia did? I hope the vat simulation accounts for different personality profiles and can anticipate a detached parent, otherwise the child could be in for a cruel reality check once they emerge. We can't even shame such a parent, they didn't really raise their kid! There could be no attachment between the two of them at all! What if we have to mediate a parent and child hating each other over this? That would be much worse than what we're doing now!

Oh I hope we can recover some corpses from the wreckage!

>>1021370
If this seems dumb, consider it like taking advantage of their greed the same way we took advantage of Ikekeki's "sense of honour" to shoot her ship down during parley. If they start shooting we'll start shooting back, and they don't strike me as bloodthirsty as much as greedy. If they can see an opportunity to (seemingly) loot us without casualties, they go for that first (if we don't raise suspicion).

>>Ikekeki
Technically speaking, her last crew abandoned her and she's been taken prisoner. It would not be unreasonable for her to sign up to that ship, but in return they would ask her to betray us as a sign of loyalty, regardless if they would really welcome her. That's our in. Dodgeball may or may not be involved.

>>1021456
You're making a lot of assumptions about one faction of pirates we haven't met yet. It's really dangerous to just assume all pirate factions will act the same way or can be manipulated as easily as Eki was.

Kaktus 2022/01/29(Sat)17:40 No. 1021700 ID: 681cb5
File 164350680988.png - (137.62KB , 1125x550 , 13.png )

>You know, all this dad calling from Iris puts a concern in my mind. It's nice for us, but I'm worried about a scenario where a parent is far colder outside the vat then they were inside and takes affront to that.
As much as you’d like to give them a perfect world to be hatched into, the current situation you’re in sadly just can’t be that world. You simply have to have hope that the Vats will prepare them to deal with a situation like that… and maybe you should see if you can get a therapist or something on the ship?
>Was it cheating? Is there anything in the Colony Transformation rule book that says that what Tizli did is considered cheating?
You’re certain it’s against the rules in Colony Terraform to give other players your resources outright… but she might have simply been playing in a way that helped her brother grab more points… like by building a bunch of forests around his cities or something. But this is irrelevant in the end.

>Vex could stand to work on his social skills in general, I think. Being smart is no excuse to call other people stupid.
It’s clear that Vex has… troubles with social skills. He clearly dumped charisma in favor of intelligence on the character creation screen.
>Tozlan could have chosen not to escalate as well. Seems out of character for him, even.
There’s clearly something more than just a board game behind their feelings for each other. While the board game was the thing that finally broke through the floor, there has to been other things digging away the sand underneath it.
>Is Vex discomfort coming from Tozlan's attempt at paternal dominance, his parents seeing other people, or his insecurities over his mate? Your son may be more sensitive about these than he lets on.
Hmm… it’s clear that Doxy is a big cause of the friction between them… and what she means to both of them. Then there’s Vex and Regina… and you’re sure Tozlan is a bit frustrated still after being shot down by Eki. That’s the problem of being stuck on a ship like this… things tends to build up over time.


>No more mister nice captain. Shout, “SILENCE!!!” or “ENOUGH!!!”, which ever gets their attention the best.
No. Shouting means you’ve lost the authority of the situation. Instead, you’ll straighten your back, furrow your brow and raise your voice enough to sound stern yet calm.
That is enough.
But-
I-
No. I will not hear any more excuses.
He started it!
I did not! Yo-
I am very disappointed in the both of you. You’re acting like children. I expect you to be better than that!
Bu-
That the wounds aren’t permanent is not an excuse for physical violence. Fighting between crewmembers is expressly forbidden on my ship! You will cease this foolishness or I will throw both of you into the brig.
Daddy?
Neither your rank or who you’re related too matters here. I will start stripping ranks and reduce your next paycheck if you cannot act like grown adults. Vex, this is not how a doctor should act. I need to trust you to help and save the crew, not to have childish fights.
…
And Tozlan, this is not the behavior expected of a lieutenant. If you want your rank so badly, than act like you’ve earned it! I will hold you to higher standards than those that you outrank, and currently you’re shaming yourself.
…
And how do you think Doxy would feel about this, knowing that her own son and the father of her coming daughter was fighting like this? That you Tozlan were shoving your private business in her son's face? Or that you Vex was picking a fight with someone she cares about? What if we were forced to delegate this mediation to Doxy instead? Would the two of you embarrass yourselves the same way?
…
…
I will not have any more fighting on my ship, do you understand?
Yes sir…
Good. Dismissed.

That should keep them from at least trading any more blows… now, let’s see if we can get some dodge ball going.

Kaktus 2022/01/29(Sat)17:40 No. 1021701 ID: 681cb5
File 164350682128.png - (160.82KB , 1125x550 , 14.png )

>Let them play dodge ball together. There could be no better lesson in teamwork than the risk of losing if they don't get it together. Of course, if they lose new resentments could form...
I’ll make sure they are in groups of two, sir, and rotate them between the teams so the games will be more even.
>Would it be fair for the Raolme? Should we make a ball that they can hear coming?
I have already discussed the matter with Tizli. Trust me, I have it covered.

It’s clear Tara knows what she’s doing, as it barely takes a few minutes before everyone has changed into training clothes and started throwing balls around. As the games starts, you make sure to keep an eye out on what the others are up too… even if it means you’ll lose a game or two because of it.

The first thing you notice is how both Shara and Car Zuk are horrible at the game. While they have a mean throwing arm, both of them are rather big and slow, making them easy targets for the others. The Flaûgnir has a hard time noticing that they are hit as well, complicating things further. Either way, it’s clear this little exercise won’t do anything to their current relationship.
Hey! Didn’t you notice that you got hit? It hit you right on the shoulder hard enough to wake up people in the next system over.
Huh? I did?
Geez… just how fucking thick skinned are you rocks?

Tizli and Tes on the other hand hit it off pretty quickly. Both of them are quick, have good aim and are rather competitive, ensuring that they almost immediately start working together as an actual team. Tizli is even dominating the game for a while, until people notice that she has a hard time figuring out where people are if they are quiet. Not that it matters, as she’ll simply slither across the floor, grab a ball and pass it over to Tes instead.
WOOP! TAKE THAT BRO!
Nice shot.

Tozlan and Vex… well, their distaste for each other is rather noticeable and it’s clear that some dodge ball will not remove the animosity between them. At least they aren’t’ openly insulting each other anymore.
Ow!
HA! Are you trying to catch the ball with your face or what?
Shut it.

A pleasant surprise is that Eki and Iris is really hitting it off. They even become the stars of the game, as they manage to combine their strengths by having Iris ride around on top of Eki. Eki might be fastest player on the crew, but she doesn’t really have the arms to throw a ball. Iris on the other hand is rather slow and unagile, but her throwing accuracy is something else. Combined they become a monster.
Tara, ten o clock! Take her down!
I see her! Get me closer!
Hold on! KEKEKE!
HAHA! LET’S GO!

As the games goes on, you notice Zell and Car sneaking away, so that they might take it easy together. Tara clearly doesn’t care that they did, as long as they are social with someone.
-with a bit of elderberry in it. You have to try it… as soon as we get a bar, that is.
It does sounds nice… Personally, I prefer a bit more of a bitter drink, that’s-

Then finally, there’s Gherni and Regina… who just keep their distance and doesn’t say a word to each other.
…
…

All in all, not a bad evening of dodge ball…

Kaktus 2022/01/29(Sat)17:40 No. 1021702 ID: 681cb5
File 164350683141.png - (123.04KB , 1125x550 , 15.png )

Dawn of Day 13
Your crew produces 5 unites of food more than your total food consumption, giving you +5 food.
Your ship consumes 1 unit of fuel.
Your planetary landers return with a total off: 17 NM and 12 Corrosives.
The maintenance team managed to locate and repair a leak in one of the fuel storage modules. 1 unit of fuel was contaminated and lost before the repairs were completed.
No one manned the Messhall, making lunch and dinner into a tasteless slob. Morale has decreased ship wide.
A Sakkilians egg, a Raolme hybrid and a Flaûgnir hybrid have completed growing in the vats and are ready to be “hatched”.

Ensign Tara organized some games of dodge ball, ensuring that your crew let out some steam and socialized a bit. Morale has normalized ship wide.
Ensign Regina and Ensign Gherni played dodge ball together and became indifferent to each other.
Ensign Zell and Ensign Car Zuk dodged playing dodge ball together and became friends.
Ensign Tizli and Ensign Tescia worked as a team and became friends.
Ensign Iris and Ensign Ikekeki worked as a team and became good friends.
Lt. Tozlan and Ensign Vex still hate each other though.

Research has successfully analyzed the Kelshin Ikekeki and crew quarters/ships/food as well as the hybridization formula has been modified to suit their needs.
Kelshin can now be used in all facilities and ships.
You haven’t stated your next research subject. Some possibilities are:
-Planetary lander upgrades (Heat resistance, Atmospheric protection, Tectonic stabilizers, Shielding against hostile fauna and flora or an increase in material gathering efficiency. Choose one).
-Sakkilian Cruiser upgrades (More weapons, more room for crew and better shields).
-Better shield generator blueprints (Will require building said generator afterwards).
-Cybernetic/Bio-enhancement bay (Will require building said bay afterwards).
-Quick growth and hybridization formula improvement (For quicker crew “construction”).
-Any alien space craft or artifacts.
-Any living aliens we have yet researched.
-Any dead aliens we can find.
-Leave blank in case I come up with something else –Vex.

Other than that… um… Vex made a report on Kelshin if you want to read it… but the short version: They are crab/shrimp things that lives underwater, who are super quick and have strong claws, but otherwise rather weak. Ambush creatures by nature, they generally favor hit and run tactics, be it between soldiers or ships.
Thank you Commander Doxy.

>Hmm, after we get corrosives we won't be able to repair the Raolme defender immediately. We don't have enough BM.
We do have a massive graveyard of ships nearby, which is bound to have some useful metals in it. BM is the most common materials we’ll find, after all.
>Could be worth sending a properly manned Cruiser over there, when we have the time. Worst case: you find out why the planet was cracked it the first place.
Actual worst case: We anger whoever cracked the planet. But that seems unlikely they are still around. You are correct, though, that you really should send someone over to there to check it out when you have the time. Who knows what treasures might be hidden there.
>Oh I hope we can recover some corpses from the wreckage!
You’re no expert on the prolonged effect of hard vacuum on a dead body, but there might still be corpses to claim… it’s not like they’ll decompose, you think? You’ll make sure to instruct whoever you send there to keep an eye out.

>Seems like we can just ignore the pirates.
For the moment, yes… but we can’t say how long they’ll stay ignorant of our existence and how they’ll react when they notice us. We might need a plan.
>Scan the remaining space objects near the pirates' planet (we'll probably wind up doing that tomorrow).
If we do that, then we’ll definitely show ourselves to the pirates.
>The smaller ships are probably pirate vessels, doing mining or something.
Hmm… it seems like it. They are returning to the larger ship today.
>This has looting the natives written all over it.
…are there even natives down there to loot? The planet clearly supports life, but more likely there’s just animal life down there.


>If we want to avoid direct ship-to-ship combat, we could run a con using their reputation against them.
Hmm… tricking them would be preferable to direct combat… that way we might capture both the crew and ship unharmed. Now, Eki said they were greedy…
>We just need a cover story/distraction for an opening to loot their ship. What if you invite them to dodgeball... with live shock grenades?
Dodge ball? No, there’s no way they’ll willingly risk themselves like that for something so frivolous. Besides, you rather not have them aboard the ship before they are naturalized… not to mention they might just start shooting as soon as they get onboard. No, you need a better plan than that…
>If we can pretend we know nothing about them, they'll believe they're swindling some easy marks.
Try and barter with them, before turning around and ambushing them? Might work… but surely they will be expecting that. You might need to be slightly cleverer, but it’s a good start. Then again… we can just blow them up and grab whatever survives?
>The catch is if Eki is around it would give the game away.
You’re pretty sure they have no idea who Eki is… or that she might have been a pirate. She was just a low ranking recruit, remember?
>We could go try to bully the pirates but uh, if we do things like that too often the pirates might put out a bounty on us or something.
Indeed, they are bound to start retaliating if we pose too much of threat to them… but then again, there is that old saying… “There’s more than one way to not leave any witnesses”. Just food for thought.

Alright, it’s time to come up with some plans. Are you dealing with the pirates today or not? And if not, what will the rest of the crew do? Remember, our main mission is just to scan all the planets for minerals, nothing more.

Upgrade Long Range Comms
Upgrade Cruiser

>What do
Old Battlefield. Harvest all those basic materials floating around in space - clean up the trash and you can improve your rep.

>Pirates
They're busy raiding the planet, but we don't have the gear to take them on. We need to distract some into coming here so we can ambush, raid their stuff, and use it to even the odds.

Can we get a list of crew on the Wiki? It's getting crowded in here.

>>1021702
Research: Something that will let us do the cannon mission safely. Cloaking device? Pirates had one of those, maybe it's in the blueprints we stole. Could also just get really good engines so the pilot can dodge its shots.
If we can't do any of that I vote for researching a lander upgrade so we can mine stuff better. I believe flora/fauna defenses are in order, because we know of a planet with OM that requires that, and we're definitely lacking in OM.

>where next?
Let's scope out the old battlefield.

>pirate plan?
Uh. Whatever we do it'll need to try to prevent the ship from running away. Ask Eki how best to target the pirate ship's engines to block its warp drive.
I wonder if we could just mind our own business while doing scanning near them, and let them approach us? Be unfriendly, but allow yourself to be swayed by whatever scam they try, then attack them when they're most vulnerable. Set up some kind of code word ahead of time.

>>1021702
Let’s go check out the old battlefield.

>No one manned the Messhall, making lunch and dinner into a tasteless slob. Morale has decreased ship wide.
D'oh! Reminder to have at least 5 members on strand by to fill up the gaps. Consider assigning certain crewmembers job titles, so they have a fallback task if not assigned to anything.

>Daddy?
A harsh yet important reminder of sometimes being starship crew first, family second. Hope he leans the right things from this, or at least forgives you for it. You may have done the psychological equivalent cutting off your own hand to spare the body.

>A Sakkilians egg, a Raolme hybrid and a Flaûgnir hybrid have completed growing in the vats and are ready to be “hatched”.
Which one will be the better qualified mediator/therapist/empath*? I'm torn between the blind seer or the stone angel.

*which would help in building a psyche profile of our enemies to predict their actions. Much better than inventing one before we've even met. Sorry everyone.

>Ensign Tara organized some games of dodge ball, ensuring that your crew let out some steam and socialized a bit. Morale has normalized ship wide.
Bonus, you know who's good for away missions now: Tizli, Tescia, Iris, Ikekeki. Shara too, if you have power armor. They'll protect the nerds scientists and diplomats.

>Alright, it’s time to come up with some plans. Are you dealing with the pirates today or not? And if not, what will the rest of the crew do? Remember, our main mission is just to scan all the planets for minerals, nothing more.
It may not be necessary to play the hero (yet), there are guards you can reach, but:
1. You're not done yet. Your scans missed a small brown planet, at least. They could pick your activity if they're paying attention. They could have cloaked scouts on us. Have Eki be on the lookout for stealth ship signatures. Could be worth researching an upgrade to the scanner scanner.

2. The high magistrate would probably appreciate a more detailed report on what happened here. If a battle took place so close to their own system, it's unlikely they wouldn't have heard about it, and if they didn't they should.

Are the ships in the battlefield modeled similar to the unknown ships by the planet? Could there be survivors or deserters from this battle? Would it be possible for them to survive being marooned on the organic planet? Yes there's no distress signal, but their "rescuers" are right there, aren't they? The people the pirates are interested in swindling might not be you.

Make Eki pretend to be captain when we trick tje pirates.

Oh right we need to assign duties.
1 on farm is fine, we'll only lose 3 food.
1 on mess hall
let's put those who performed well last time on Research again
1 on Security
3 on Cleaning
3 on Maintenance
That's 14. We have one extra... oh, we need a pilot for exploring the battlefield, so that covers everything.
If we need a second pilot to also investigate the energy signature, then take one off of Cleaning.

>>1021873
No. If we’re going to trick the pirates, we should do it ourselves instead of having Eki pretend to be the captain.

Kaktus 2022/01/31(Mon)11:45 No. 1021908 ID: 681cb5
File 164365835956.png - (133.97KB , 1125x550 , 16.png )

>Can we get a list of crew on the Wiki? It's getting crowded in here.
A wiki is now under construction. I’ll fill it out when I have the time later. Any help would be appreciated, though.

>You're not done yet. Your scans missed a small brown planet, at least.
You’ve barely started. Vul wanted a mineral scan (Green) of every planet, not an energy scan (Blue). Your current Mineral scanner is rather short range, so you’ll need to scan each planet individually.
>D'oh! Reminder to have at least 5 members on standby to fill up the gaps. Consider assigning certain crewmembers job titles, so they have a fallback task if not assigned to anything.
They already have job titles, the problem is that you lack things like chefs and janitors. But keeping some crew on standby for the less glamorous jobs is a good idea, as long as we’re not in a hurry to do something. Though… you do have this feeling you rather not stay here for too long…


>Research: Something that will let us do the cannon mission safely. Could also just get really good engines so the pilot can dodge its shots.
There’s no way you’ll get close to that canon with The Shed Scale, so if you want a better ship for that mission, then you’ll need to upgrade the cruisers. You’ll put it on the “to research” list.
>Cloaking device? Pirates had one of those, maybe it's in the blueprints we stole.
As you stated before, you’ve already checked for those blueprints. If you want to replicate their technology, you’ll need a intact Kelshin ship with a cloaking device installed. …or just buy a cloaking device somewhere. Maybe that black market Eki mentioned?
>I vote for researching a lander upgrade so we can mine stuff better. I believe flora/fauna defenses are in order, because we know of a planet with OM that requires that, and we're definitely lacking in OM.
And said planet is the very one the pirates are orbiting, but one step at the time…
I’ll forward the request over to R&D, sir. I’m sure whoever is over there will figure something out.

>Let’s go check out the old battlefield.
Send Zell and Tes out to see if there’s anything that hasn’t already been looted in that old battlefield. That includes bodies.
Right away, sir.
>Clean up the trash and you can improve your rep.
This is an empty system, no one would care if you did clean it up… besides, you rather not be known as a trash collector, either.
>The high magistrate would probably appreciate a more detailed report on what happened here. If a battle took place so close to their own system, it's unlikely they wouldn't have heard about it, and if they didn't they should.
If anything, sir, she might know more about it. But we’ll need to upgrade our comm station first.
>Upgrade Long Range Comms.
Well… we still lack some Corrosives, but I’ll get Tozlan started so most of the job will be done by the time we get more.

>Oh right we need to assign duties.
Yes, sir?
Keep Car on farm duty. We’ll only lose 3 units of food then.
We’ll lose 5, sir. He only produces 12 units a day. But right away, boss.
Put someone on MessHall duty.
I guess Vex might need a bit of a cool down…
And put… let’s see… our two engineers on research, as well as… Eki and... hmm… Tara can be in charge of them.
Roger.
Shara on security and… let’s put our three “newcomers” on cleaning and maintenance, with a fourth from our original crew.
Very well. I’ll make sure they get a proper tour of the ship as well, sir. Now, we got one crew left, boss.
Oh, and have someone man the Scanner bay. We need to scan for minerals on the battlefield, so that Zell and Tes will know where to look.
Alright, sir. Got it. That is all the crew assigned and accounted for, boss.
>Investigate the energy signature.
…you’ll probably need a whole team ready if you would want to explore it. Who knows how big that facility might be… or what dangers might lurk down there.

------------------------
Captain? I have a primary report on the mineral Scan.
Let’s hear it, Ensign Gherni.
To know ones shock, the graveyard is full of basic metals, as boring as that can be. But changing the subject to something more intriguing, I’ve detected a large quantity of all kinds of pretty baubles and substances down on the planet, located near that energy source we found earlier somewhere just below the surface.
Oh? Hmm… might be some kind of underground storage? Thank you, Gherni, you did a splendid job.
Ohoho! Why, thank you my handsome gentleman.

Kaktus 2022/01/31(Mon)11:46 No. 1021909 ID: 681cb5
File 164365837008.png - (197.51KB , 1125x550 , 17.png )

>Are the ships in the battlefield modeled similar to the unknown ships by the planet?
No, no they are definitely not. Now that you’ve observed those ships for a few days it’s clear they are part of the pirate crew, as they’ve landed and departed from the larger ship. You guess they are similar to your planetary landers?
>They're busy raiding the planet, but we don't have the gear to take them on.
We do have the gear to take them on, no question about it. What is questionable is if we can take them on without incurring losses. It would be for the best if we should take them out without engaging them in a fair fight.
>They could pick up your activity if they're paying attention. They could have cloaked scouts on us. Have Eki be on the lookout for stealth ship signatures.
If we could detect them, we would have already done so. The only reason Eki detected them last time was because they were charging their weapons… so it would already be too late if she detected the same thing again.

>We need to distract some into coming here so we can ambush, raid their stuff, and use it to even the odds.
Hmm… we definitely need to do some divide and conquer here… but how?
>Whatever we do it'll need to try to prevent the ship from running away. Ask Eki how best to target the pirate ship's engines to block its warp drive.
Any cannon powerful enough to penetrate the shell wouldn’t so much shuttle the sail as detonating the fuel.
So giant boom, no loot to find?
KEKEKE! Now you’re getting it, cap’! Yeah, shooting the engine is a bad idea if you want to grab their booty.
>I wonder if we could just mind our own business while doing scanning near them, and let them approach us? Be unfriendly, but allow yourself to be swayed by whatever scam they try, then attack them when they're most vulnerable.
Hmm… that is a possibility… let them think they are in control and then... zap, they are in our trap! Might work.
>Make Eki pretend to be captain when we trick the pirates.
...yeah, no, that’s a bad idea. Eki is not someone you should trust talking to anyone, as she always blabbers on way too much, remember? You better do it yourself.

>A harsh yet important reminder of sometimes being starship crew first, family second. Hope he learns the right things from this, or at least forgives you for it. You may have done the psychological equivalent cutting off your own hand to spare the body.
What you did was to tell your son that you were very disappointed in him… and that you expect better. Nothing more.
>Bonus, you know who's good for away missions now: Tizli, Tescia, Iris, Ikekeki. Shara too, if you have power armor. They'll protect the nerds scientists and diplomats.
It depends on the goal of the mission. Shara, for example, is the only one on board right now that you know have killed someone in close combat before, so she would be useful if we expect a fight. As for the rest, Tizli, Tes and Eki are more fit than most of the others, true… but Iris? Hmm… while being an engineer has made her a bit more muscular, she’s not really the first person you’d consider on an away mission.
Speaking of away missions, you do have one available to you. If you want to explore that odd facility on the planet you should create a group of maximum 5 crew members to go down there… which might include you or Doxy, so they’ll have someone of higher rank with them. There’s also the pirates that you still need to deal with… somehow… you need to make a decision about them soon. Finally, there’s the mission you’re here on, as you still need to get close and do a mineral scan of both the flora covered planet as well as the brown one.

Sir, we’re getting a transmission from Tes.
Patch them over, Commander.
The comm screen lights up and show Tes in a space suit, looking as “excited” as she always does.
…sir?
I’m reading you loud and clear, Ensign. What’s your status?
…we have explored the graveyard, sir. No hostiles or other dangers to report.
Good… anything else?
Pop has secured a lot of Basic metals, sir, but he says that most of what’s left is useless.
…Tes, is there anything I need to know that shouldn’t have waited until you got back?
Sir, we detected parts of a ship lodged inside the useless scrap metal of another ship, and it seem to not have been looted yet. It took some time to blast through it, but Ah’ve managed entered it, sir. Here’s what I found.
She turns the camera around and show of what was once clearly some kind of facility on a ship, with both bodies and parts floating around it aimlessly.
There should be some acids and gold to be gathered from these wrecked consoles, sir. Should be useful as Corrosives and Noble metals.
…and what is that? The alien floating around?
Hmm? Oh, Ah have no idea, sir. It’s some kind of snake? There’s also a body of a Raolme floating around here sir. The rest… well, there are some parts… and… liquefied remains splattered on the hull… Ah think? Hard to tell, sir.
Right, take whatever bodies that are intact with you when you return.
As you wish, sir.

Well… this is one way to make “first contact”. Who are they and why were they here? Hmm… those consoles will probably be completely fried, so you’ll have to figure it out some other way.

>the OM is on that planet right next to the pirates
Well shit, that means we need the lander upgrade as first priority, doesn't it. Like hell we're gonna leave this system without getting it.

>baubles near the energy reading
Other looters would have spotted that. It's got to be trapped or blocked off somehow. Let's not bother even trying to get it. Instead, ask for a cut of the loot when you hand over the data, because the Flaugnir are likely going to have the brute force needed to break into the cache.

>wrecked ship contents
Snag those disks. And any other data storage mediums floating about.
Also yeah loot anything useful off the ship itself.

>can't shoot the pirates' engines
Well they're just going to run away then. Let's not bother trying to ambush them. Keep our cruisers out when near them, as a show of force.

Anyway, after we're done looting the battlefield we can immediately scan the remaining planets. Doesn't look like we can scan both the brown and OM planets at the same time, so go do the brown planet first while the lander upgrade is cooking.

>>1021933
This

we should ask the Raolme siblings if they recognize the insignia on the hull and the symbol on the purple raolme cadaver’s head
I also second grabbing any data media we can, even if we’re not likely to have anything that can read it now, we’ll probably have something that can eventually

>>1021909
We're probably going to need a good excuse to tell the aliens, since they might be horrified when they see us cutting open these corpses.

Kaktus 2022/02/02(Wed)16:18 No. 1022154 ID: 681cb5
File 164384748634.png - (139.09KB , 1125x550 , 18.png )

>Snag those disks. And any other data storage mediums floating about.
Sir, this ship has clearly been fried completely. None of the electronics will be recoverable.
There might be something that survived the battle. Maybe something was protected from whatever shot the ship down?
…you mean like a black box, sir? Ah’ll keep an eye out, but don’t get any hopes up. Unless one of these aliens shoved something up their bum Ah don’t expect to find anything that survived, sir.
>Also yeah loot anything useful off the ship itself.
As Ah said before, I might get some Corrosives and Noble metals from this wreck…

>Other looters would have spotted the cache on the planet. It's got to be trapped or blocked off somehow. Let's not bother even trying to get it.
Hmm… would they? It’s rather deep down… and you don’t know what kind of scanner technology these looters have access too. After all, the pirates haven’t detected you yet, have they? They might not even know it exist. But you are right, it might be trapped or blocked off, which means you need to be careful if you decide to pursue it.
>Instead, ask for a cut of the loot when you hand over the data, because the Flaugnir are likely going to have the brute force needed to break into the cache.
But you will probably not be anywhere nearby when they do… not to mention that they might not even be interested. A small cache might not even be worth enough for them to come here.
>The OM planet is nearby? That means we need the lander upgrade as first priority, doesn't it. Like hell we're gonna leave this system without getting it.
…which is why you’re already researching said upgrades?

>Well they're just going to run away then. Let's not bother trying to ambush them.
They did run away last time too, so it’s clear that they won’t be staying around if they think they are in danger.
>Keep our cruisers out when near them, as a show of force.
Hmm… you’ll keep two pilots on high alert just in case they start moving towards the ship for now. You really don’t want to waste the little crew you have if they don’t even know you’re here.

>After we're done looting the battlefield we can immediately scan the remaining planets. Doesn't look like we can scan both the brown and OM planets at the same time, so go do the brown planet first while the lander upgrade is cooking.
We’ll need to orbit the cracked planet for at least a full day to get a full mineral scan on it, but we’ll scan the brown planet first thing tomorrow morning. Speaking of tomorrow… you think you’ll see if Doxy want to spend a quiet evening with you tonight…

-----------------------------------------

Dawn of Day 14
Your crew consumes 5 unites of food more than your total food production (-5 food).
Your ship consumes 1 unit of fuel.
Your planetary landers return with a total off: 30 BM, 5 NM and 5 Corrosives.
Your storage bay is full and you won’t be able to leave the system with all your current materials.
The cleaning team managed to locate and remove an infestation of foul smelling fungal matter, averting an ill-smelling disaster from happening.

Research on “Planetary Lander Fauna/Flora repellent” is moving along as expected thanks to having the right crew for the job (Regina, Iris, Tara and Ikekeki). [Done in approx. 1-2days]
Lt. Tozlan has finished constructing the “Long Range Communication” facility.

Commander Doxy?
Everything is going well, sir. Tes and Zell managed to get a lot of metals from those shipwrecks. Zell also mentioned that it would be possible to return for more, though it will get harder and more time consuming to find usable metals, sir.
So, we can get more Basic Metals, but each time we’ll get less and less?
Affirmative, sir. We’ve also finished constructing the Long Range Comm, boss, so if you want to contact anyone outside the system we can do so know. Of course, it will take a few hours before they receive said message, but at least it’s a lot quicker than flying there in person, sir. Just say the word if you want to send a message to someone, sir.
I’ll do that, Doxy.
That’s everything, Zento. Do you want to assign people to today tasks?
…not yet. Put someone on scanner duty so we can get a mineral scan on the brown planet, and we’ll work from that.
Will do, sir!

Oh! And we just received a message from the pirates, sir!
…really? What do they say?
It’s… um… a request to trade sir.
…they want to trade?
I’ll forward it now, sir.

Attention unidentified vessel! This is Captain Gold Mandible of the Dread Cutlass speaking! We wish no hostilities! Our coffers are full of materials and we are willing to trade them for credits. I will forward our prices now. Contact us if you wish to buy.

-Materials-
Best prices in galaxy, guaranteed!
Basic Metals: 1 Mc/Unit (Max 25).
Noble Metals: 3 Mc/Unit (Max 25).
Organic Material: 3 Mc/Unit (Max 25).
Corrosives: 5 Mc/Unit (Max 25).
-Ships-
We also have very good ships for sell. Recently maintained, newly installed engines, only been flow by an old lady on weekends. Very good quality, will end all your battle within seconds.
Kelshin Raider Class ship: 10 Mc (Max 2).
-Contract Workers-
There are also hard but cheap workers available. Will work very hard for food, room and small amount of coin. Motivation collars comes pre-equipped and free of charge!
Zerkchankuin tol Kezzak [???] (Male Raolme): 7 Mc.
Togokogi [???] (Male Kelshin): 7 Mc.

…okay, this is not how you were expecting your encounter with the pirates to go… though Eki did mention that they like to swindle people. Either way, this can wait for a bit, no need to respond immediately. Instead, you’ll go see if your alien friends know anything about those bodies you found.

Kaktus 2022/02/02(Wed)16:18 No. 1022156 ID: 681cb5
File 164384749574.png - (182.33KB , 1125x550 , 19.png )

You find Tozlan and Tizli on their way to the Mess Hall for breakfast and at first glance you think you see Commander Doxy with them… who’s been turned into a Raolme somehow. Taking a better look, you realize that has to be Doxy’s and Tozlan’s daughter… um… what was her name? You’re sure Doxy mentioned it to you… wait, who’s the Sakkilain behind Tizli? Is that your new son? You… you haven’t actually met him yet, have you?

Ah, good morning my friend!
Captain! Good so smell you!
If it wasn’t for Tozlan lying on top of her, you’re sure the pink Raolme hybrid would bounce of the floor as she spots you.
Hiya, Zento!
Your son looks you up and down before he greets you as well.
Morning Captain.

>We should ask the Raolme siblings if they recognize the insignia on the hull.
Can you make the picture bigger? I can’t really hear it…
Like this?
Oh! I know that symbol. It’s the Grand Alliance of the United Stars symbol!
Which means this battle took place over 40 years ago.
Can it really be that old?
No one would be caught dead flying with that symbol today, Captain.
Well, friend, they would become dead pretty quick if they did. The IOD has a shoot on sight when it comes to the Grand Alliance.
So this is a remnant of the old war, huh…
>The symbol on the purple Raolme cadaver’s head.
Hmm… that’s odd, it’s not the symbol of one of the four trade clans, so I don’t really know…
What? Daddy doesn’t know something for once? Stop the ship, everyone, we got an imposter onboard!
Oh hush you…
*Giggle*
Isn’t it obvious what that symbol is? If it isn’t one of the four trade clans and they were on a Grand Alliance ship, it can really only be one thing. That’s the symbol of the fifth trade clan.
I… I guess it can be, sis.
The fifth trade clan? Who are they?
Today the Raolme are divided into four grand Trade Clans, but before the IOD came there used to be five clans.
This fifth clan allied themselves with the Grand Alliance completely and… well…
The IOD completely wiped them all out.
And then forbade anyone to talk about them.
So… they are gone. Which just proves that the battle field is really old.
Hmm… I see.
>We're probably going to need a good excuse to tell the aliens, since they might be horrified when they see us cutting open these corpses.
…do you mind if we performed an autopsy on the bodies we retrieved, so we might learn more about how they died?
Uh? Oh… I guess not? As long as they get a proper send off to the eternal dark afterwards…
You better not take any trophies or something.
Of course not.
Then go ahead, Captain. Though… I’m not sure what one of those Korak aliens consider a proper burial.
Korak?
That alien Worm you found. They are called Koraks.

[What is Captain Zento’s and Shara’s son name?]
[What is Commander Doxy’s and Lt. Tozlan’s daughter name?]
[You have 12 crew still unassigned]

Zento and Shara's kid: Dan
Doxy and Tozlan's kid: Pinkie

We're already near maxed out on crew, but I don't like the sound of "Motivation Collars". Rude as it may be when they have attempted diplomacy, I still want to fight the pirates.

He's a handsome boy who will surely get on the good side of ladies.

>>1022154
We can start repairing the Raolme Defender finally so let's do that. Looks like there's not much else we can build. We could afford another cruiser but maybe it would be better to save the materials.

>energy reading might have been missed by previous visitors
Really? Our scanners would have to be significantly stronger than current tech for that to be true. They've had at least 40 years to find it.
I guess if it's that likely to be overlooked we can send a team down. Adventure...?

>pirates want to trade
Ah, that's their game. Those prices don't look very good. Plus, they're probably going to give us BM mixed in with the other resources if we buy them. Well, ask for a price check from our crew trader specialists to see if any of their prices are reasonable (The BM price looks... "normal" at least, but we can buy it much cheaper at a very close location)
I'm guessing they don't want to BUY anything, either.
Oh, they have some "slaves" on offer, are those prices normal? Ask Eki too. Wait lol one of them is a Kelshin? That one is definitely just a pirate hoping to be bought as a slave to sabotage our vessel, or steal something and escape via escape pod, or something. How likely is it that the raolme is a pirate...? We already have two raolmes anyway. Well, we can buy them, put them in the brig, then sell them to the Flaugnir, since they'll be treated better there. Seems like a decent enough thing to do without much risk.
I guess we could ask Eki how likely it is that the pirates have enslaved one of their own. We could buy both if it's safe, and hand them both over to the Flaugnir.
We'll be taking the collars off regardless.

>names
ugh I can't name them right now

>crew duties
Same as yesterday.

Dante and rosewater would be good.

>>1022154
Looks like if we want to find out more, we have to investigate that cracked planet. All evidence points to that being an old base of theirs.

>Your storage bay is full and you won’t be able to leave the system with all your current materials.
Looks like it's ship building today. Lt. Tozlan going to be a happy man getting his ship space-worthy. Could be worth building another cruiser for Eki; it's not Kelshin, but it'll do for now.

>Contact us if you wish to buy.
Look tough if you accept the pirate's offer. They'll likely setup for a six-chamber discount. You can come contact the Flaugnir colony now, ask for advice if not for guards. I guess if you show interest in "contact workers, collars not needed", you'll come off as either bleeding hearts or really intense, if it helps.

>>1022156
>Hiya, Zento!
"Er... My lovers call me Zento. If you wish to address me informally, 'Mr. SilverCog' will do." (Resists urge to claim as daughter)

>The IOD completely wiped them all out.
>And then forbade anyone to talk about them.
Give your condolences. It must have been rough for those who married into other clans. Where they ...dealt with as well, or was the IOD satisfied with their estrangement?
>That alien Worm you found. They are called Koraks.
You don't suppose you could use the information you find off the bodies for the cloning vats? Say what you will, it's another way to make first contact.

>>1022154
>Your crew consumes 5 unites of food more than your total food production (-5 food).
We really need to upgrade Hydroponics in order to keep up with the number of crew on the ship! And we really need to upgrade Crew Quarters before we get anymore crew, since we’re running out of room in the ship!

The only problem is we need to get some OM for both of those upgrades and we don’t have any!

>Pirates are selling OM
That’s nice, but we need at least 10 OM for either upgrade and at the price the pirates are selling, we can’t afford 10 OM!

>>1022156
>[What is Captain Zento’s and Shara’s son name?]
>[What is Commander Doxy’s and Lt. Tozlan’s daughter name?]
I like the names that >>1022201 suggested. Dante for Zento’s and Shara’s son and Rosewater for Doxy’s and Tozlan’s daughter.

Hmm, I wonder if those Kelshin ships come with functional cloaking devices? Though, if these pirates are smart, they'll give us sabotaged cloaking devices. Ones that can be hacked into or something. So we'd have to take them apart to figure out how they work and make our own, guaranteed secure versions. Might be work 10 Mc but we can't do that *and* buy the slaves.

>>1022212
We can easily keep up with food use. All we have to do is put two people on the farm and we're making like 25 food a day, and we don't have to do that very often at this point. Hydroponics would lessen the crew allotment pressure I suppose.

>>1022156
What about the 3rd new crew member? Are they with their mother, Tes?

And what are their specialties? Are they pilots, chefs, soldiers, etc.?

>>1022283
I'm also supporting the name suggestions here >>1022201 .

Kaktus 2022/02/04(Fri)16:27 No. 1022398 ID: 681cb5
File 164402084019.png - (182.38KB , 1125x550 , 20.png )

We now have a wiki, but it’s still under construction: https://questden.org/wiki/Starlight_Afterglow

[Ensign Dante the Security Officer has joined!]
[Ensign Rosewater the Researcher has joined!]
[Ensign Shal the Pilot has joined!]

>Resists urge to claim Rose as a daughter.
While she’s adorable, you have no urge to cuddle her and love her and call the cutest little button that ever- err… you mean, she’s just another Ensign to you in the end.
>Dante is s a handsome boy who will surely get on the good side of ladies.
Just like his father, eh? …well, he might be more muscular than you, but you’re still taller.
>What about the 3rd new crew member? Are they with their mother, Tes?
You mean Shal? She is at the gym with Tes and Shara, captain.
Yeah! They are having some morning workouts! Sounds super fun!


>We really need to upgrade Crew Quarters before we get anymore crew, since we’re running out of room in the ship!
And to do so we’ll need more noble metals. Hopefully you’ll find some on the moons on the green planet. Otherwise… well, people can sleep in the corridors for a day or two if it’s a crisis, you guess. Moral will quickly tank if you don’t give them proper rooms, though.
>We can easily keep up with food use. All we have to do is put two people on the farm and we're making like 25 food a day, and we don't have to do that very often at this point.
We can produce 22 food maximum. 12 from our farmer Car and 10 from someone else. Might be prudent to consider upgrading our food production if we’re planning on capturing those pirates, as they are going to need food as well.
>The only problem is we need to get some OM for both of those upgrades and we don’t have any!
Which we’ll be able to get from the green planet… as soon as the planetary lander upgrade is done.


>Give your condolences. It must have been rough for those who married into other clans. Where they ...dealt with as well, or was the IOD satisfied with their estrangement?
Everyone who were part of the Alliance fleets were completely wiped out. The rest were kicked off their planets and either turned into drones or shipped off to the other clans as clanless refugees, friend.
Then they forbade anyone from wearing their mark or even talking about it, so… most Raolme born after the war never know how it looked like.
These IOD sounds worse and worse the more I hear of them.
They are horrid scumsuckers!

>Ask for a price check from our crew trader specialists to see if any of their prices are reasonable (The BM price looks... "normal" at least, but we can buy it much cheaper at a very close location).
These prices… are actually fine? I mean, they aren’t a bunch of pearls in the foam, but they are fair. You’ll probably get the same prices in any of the Trade colonies of my clan. Hmm… these pirates must have some other trick lurking beneath the surface…
Come on, they don’t always have to be that bad. Maybe they are nice pirates?
Ha! Finding a nice pirate is like finding a pearl in the eternal dark.
>They're probably going to give us BM mixed in with the other resources if we buy them.
That’s might be it. You’ll definitely need to check anything you buy from them before you pay for it.
And then make sure they know that they don’t want to cross us… ever.

>Hmm, I wonder if those Kelshin ships come with functional cloaking devices? Though, if these pirates are smart, they'll give us sabotaged cloaking devices. Ones that can be hacked into or something.
Or they’ll just give us junk ships that don’t work, friend. They might just explode as soon as you start them.
Not you to dad… come on, they might be nice?
Your aunt is right, we can’t really trust pirates, sweetie.
>Look tough if you accept the pirate's offer. They'll likely setup for a six-chamber discount.
If we show that we’re vulnerable, yeah…
Then we’ll simply meet them with shock rifles and combat gear. No need to tell them they are non-lethal weapons either.
>I'm guessing they don't want to BUY anything, either.
Oh, I’m sure they are excited to buy exotic slaves. You guys might go for a lot, you know, hehe…

>Oh, they have some "slaves" on offer, are those prices normal?
How the sludge would I know? Our trade clan doesn’t deal in slaves!
>Ask Eki too.
Slaves, you say? KEKEKE, it’s simple Cap’, don’t buy the cheap ones. Anything under 5MC is clearly someone that can’t do anything but clean the poop deck. Around 5 to 10 is normal and anything above that means they are either exotic species, well trained or important. Why, are you planning to add to your slave collection, cap’? Am I not enough? KEKEKE!
>Well, we can buy them, put them in the brig, then sell them to the Flaugnir, since they'll be treated better there. Seems like a decent enough thing to do without much risk.
The brig should have no problem keeping them out of trouble, captain.
I don’t think the Colony want to buy slaves, though.
Then we’ll simply free them there.
And leave them to starve on the street? Friend, they aren’t going to be better off just because they are free.
Aw, come on, we have to do something?
We should just free them and employ them ourselves… at least until they find better things to do.

>I guess we could ask Eki how likely it is that the pirates have enslaved one of their own.
Pirates generally don’t enslave other pirates. Unless they lost all their coin at knucklebones… or did something really stupid. But if you’re talking about a Kelshin… not all Kelshin are pirates, you know. They might just have been a crew member of trading ship that was raided or… borrowed some booty from pirate they couldn’t repay. Kelshin slaves aren’t that uncommon.
>We'll be taking the collars off regardless.
But the collars make them docile… and let you keep track on them… not to mention you can knock them out with a press of a button if they start getting out their cutlasses.
…we’re definitely taking off those collars then.
>We're already near maxed out on crew, but I don't like the sound of "Motivation Collars". Rude as it may be when they have attempted diplomacy, I still want to fight the pirates.
I’m eager to kick pirate ass, captain. I’m sure Shara is as well.
Eagerness is good and all, but we still need a plan if we’re going on attacking them.
I got a plan. Shot them with everything we got so they all blow up into the eternal dark!


>You can come contact the Flaugnir colony now, ask for advice if not for guards.
Guards? They are not going to send anyone all the way out here just for your sake.
Doxy, can you take a message? I want to send something to Vul Wrok of the Flaugnir colony.
I’m ready when you are sir, though be prepare we’ll probably won’t get an answer until tomorrow.
*Cough* High Magistrate Vul Wrok, this is Captain Zento SilverCog of The Shed Scale. I am glad to report that we have successfully arrived at Tarkus Gamma and that our duty to scan all the planets is going well. But there are a few things here I have questions about. We have found traces of an old battle, including a cracked planet. Do you know anything about it? We have also encountered a few pirates that are part of the “Flashy Freebooters”, whom has so far not been hostile and only wish to trade. Do you have any advice on the subject? Are they trustworthy? We will return in a few days with our scanning data and I can’t wait to meet you in person. We have much to discuss. Signed, Captain Zento.
I’ll send it right away, sir.

>Duties? Same as yesterday.
I’ll sign up most of them on the same jobs… but we’re not mining anything today so… 2 crew members are free, sir.
I have some ideas for them.
Oh, and we’re orbiting a planet with Corrosives, sir. Zell said that while there are some danger with the volcanic activity, sending the right crew with the right ship will at worse just wreck the ship, sir.
Hmm… I’ll consider it.
>We can start repairing the Raolme Defender finally so let's do that. Looks like there's not much else we can build.
Ah, thank you friend, I appreciate that you haven’t forgotten about our ship.
Aw yeah, finally!
>Could be worth building another cruiser for Eki; it's not Kelshin, but it'll do for now.
KEKEKE! Finally I can sail the stars again!
One Cruiser and one Raolme Defender. Got it, sir.

>Looks like if we want to find out more, we have to investigate that cracked planet. All evidence points to that being an old base of theirs.
There’s definitely a reason why the IOD blew it up in the first place… or maybe the Alliance blew it up themselves? Hmm… who blew up the planet… and who had their base on it?
>Our scanners would have to be significantly stronger than current tech for that to be true. They've had at least 40 years to find it.
So far our technology has been slightly more advanced than anything we’ve seen in this galaxy. We’re also dealing with looters, who probably don’t have the best equipment available.
>I guess if it's that likely to be overlooked we can send a team down. Adventure...?
We better prepare ourselves and have a plan before we go down there, though. Better safe than sorry and all that.

Right, so a few things needs your attention. First, what do you do with the pirates? Do you buy something or try and capture them? Second, what do you do about the facility on the cracked planet? Do you send a team there to investigate tomorrow or do you just ignore it? Third, do you send someone to mine those corrosives on the brow planet? And lastly, what do you do this evening to relax? Hmm… was there anything else you were forgetting? There’s always more things to do after all…

Oh I didn't realize the ship was moved.
Yeah, send a lander down with a Pilot to see if we can get away with corrosives. Repairing it should be cheap enough if it's damaged.
That leaves another crew member to spare... put them on cleaning duty.

>downtime?
Go out on a date with Tizli. She seems quite interested in you.

Hmm, is it possible to make hybrids from a sample of blood from both parents? That way same-sex couples could make them.

Put the spare crewmember on Hydroponics. Offer to trade the surplus to the pirates.

>>1022398
I don’t think we should capture the pirates. Prisoners need food and we can’t produce enough to feed our crew and the prisoners, so we’d end up starving ourselves really quickly.

And I’ve got a feeling that the planet the pirates are at right now has the OM we need for some of our upgrades. If we leave them alone long enough, they’ll probably leave and there won’t be any OM left on the planet for us.

Honestly, I’m not sure what we should do about the pirates.

>>1022398
So how long will we have to wait for the reply? Can we expect it today?

The way they talk about they talk about the fifth clan... Wouldn't surprise me if there's a security door at that base that recognised that symbol. Maybe consider having a Ralome with that symbol on the mission tomorrow.

To be honest, those unknown ships are the big reason to be close up to the pirates. Our decision on how to deal with this hinges on why they are hanging around them, and if they in need of rescue?

Maybe you don't need force to leverage your safety against them. Your mission is to collect map data of this star system. Maybe you can fabricate map data of your first system with a cache of treasure, and use that as barter or leverage for your safety against the pirates.

>>1022466
Ideally, we'd also commendeer their ship, since it should have their own room and food. This would require taking their captain hostage. (Does his even crew even like him? How possible is it to take command?) Here's something an away team could do:
1) Outright raiding their ship... would be walking into home turf on a crew that specialises in gorilla tactics, without the advantage of surprise. Dante would have to come up with something quite special. He have to run his plan by Ikekeki first, for the Captain to even consider redirecting crew from Cleaning (or Maintenance) to make it work.
2) It would also take something special to get the Captain off his ship. Consider making the adventure to the cracked planet a race.

>>1022466
What are you talking about? We can support 25 crew with two people on the farm.

>>1022477
Doxy said that we won’t get a reply until tomorrow.

>>1022483
If we capture the pirates, can you guarantee that the combined total number of crew and prisoners will not exceed 25? Because if it goes over 25, then we’re going to start running out of food and be unable to keep everyone fed.

>>1022486
Even if we're sitting at 30 that's -5 a day, we can survive for 5 days. More if we cut down on rations.

I think if we need to do something about the pirates, we should destroy the bridge, where the captain would be. Without a chain of command, they'd panic and not know what to do. Or they'd fight with each other trying to argue on who is the new captain.

For now though, we don't need to worry about them just yet.

>>1022477
>It would also take something special to get the Captain off his ship. Consider making the adventure to the cracked planet a race.
I don't think they'd go for that.

Kaktus 2022/02/06(Sun)16:21 No. 1022632 ID: 681cb5
File 164419327414.png - (133.90KB , 1125x550 , 21.png )

>The way they talk about they talk about the fifth clan... Wouldn't surprise me if there's a security door at that base that recognized that symbol. Maybe consider having a Ralome with that symbol on the mission tomorrow.
…who in their right mind would make a security door that can be fooled by a bit of paint? There can’t be anyone that inept, can there? Besides, it’s probably disrespectful to wear someone else’s symbols…
Wearing a symbol of another clan is something only scumsuckers do, friend… especially that of a clan that’s not very well off.
It’s also considered really unlucky to wear a dead clans symbol on their head. Let the dead stay in the eternal dark least they pull you back with them.
I for one wouldn’t want to paint a green bull’s-eye on my forehead either.
Huh… what clan symbol does The Shed scale have?


>So how long will we have to wait for the reply? Can we expect it today?
If we’re lucky and Vul writes back immediately then we can expect a reply sometime in the middle of the night.
>I’ve got a feeling that the planet the pirates are at right now has the OM we need for some of our upgrades. If we leave them alone long enough, they’ll probably leave and there won’t be any OM left on the planet for us.
OM is organic materials, which is to say, trees and plant life. The planet they are orbiting is covered by jungles. Thus, the whole planet is covered by OM. There is simply no way a small ship like that can harvest a whole freaking planet full of life, is there? So no, there is no need to worry it will run out.
>To be honest, those unknown ships are the big reason to be close up to the pirates. Our decision on how to deal with this hinges on why they are hanging around them, and if they in need of rescue?
Those ships clearly belong to the pirates themselves, as they’ve been flying between the larger ship and the planet several times. They are probably some kind of mining craft similar to your Planetary Lander. Which means… not the whole pirate crew is on the larger ship currently… hmm… that might be important.

>Yeah, send a lander down with a Pilot to see if we can get away with corrosives. Repairing it should be cheap enough if it's damaged.
Send the new gal, Shal, down. I’m sure she’s itching to fly like her mother Tes.
Will do, sir.
>Put the spare crewmember on Hydroponics.
Got it, boss.
>Offer to trade the surplus food to the pirates.
Sadly, while fresh food might be worth a handful of credits, we’re dealing with MegaCredits. Selling our whole food supply wouldn’t even make a dent in our current Mc count.

Kaktus 2022/02/06(Sun)16:21 No. 1022633 ID: 681cb5
File 164419328619.png - (162.06KB , 1125x550 , 22.png )

>Hmm, is it possible to make hybrids from a sample of blood from both parents? That way same-sex couples could make them.
…in theory, yes? Though it would be a clone of both parents, you guess? But why is this relevant? We don’t really have any same-sex couples on the ship currently, do we? Heck, you’re not even sure you have anyone that’s into same-sex relationships on the ship.

>Prisoners need food and we can’t produce enough to feed our crew and the prisoners, so we’d end up starving ourselves really quickly.
While we might not produce enough food to feed them all, we do still have a rather large store of food for just these kinds of situations. Remember, you don’t only have over 20 units of fresh food, but you also have 20 units of those IOD rations that you picked up. Besides, Vul’s colony is only two days away, so it’s not like you’re going to need weeks of food to get anywhere.
>Ideally, we'd also commandeer their ship, since it should have their own room and food.
That is also true. Not only would we get access to any food they might have, but all their resources as well, the very same they are trying to sell to us right now… not to mention a wicked ship on top of that.
>This would require taking their captain hostage.
Why would it? We only need to take out the crew and fly it into the hanger of The Shed Scale. He can handle a few medium sized ships, after all… and you’re sure Eki can fly one of her own kind’s ships as well.

>We should outright raiding their ship... would be walking into home turf on a crew that specializes in guerilla tactics, without the advantage of surprise. Dante would have to come up with something quite special.
And said special idea involves not walking into the enemies ships while they know where coming, captain. We need to either catch them by surprise or divide and conquer them. Preferably both. What we do have is the imitative, as well as their belief that we are far stronger than we actually are. We need to use both if we want to do this without losses.
>It would also take something special to get the Captain off his ship. Consider making the adventure to the cracked planet a race.
While you’re right that it would be hard to get him off the ship, suggesting something like a race will clearly not work.
>Maybe you can fabricate map data of your first system with a cache of treasure, and use that as barter.
Hmm… scam the scammers, eh? You like that idea… and if we make it sound enticing enough, then we might just get the captain off the ship as well.
>think if we need to do something about the pirates, we should destroy the bridge, where the captain would be. Without a chain of command, they'd panic and not know what to do. Or they'd fight with each other trying to argue on who is the new captain.
Hmm, that’s another idea. It might be safer than actually raiding the ship, but it will probably render the ship itself unusable. So, lower risk but lower rewards…
>Consider redirecting crew from Cleaning (or Maintenance) to make it work.
If you’re doing anything to the pirates, you’re going in with full crew. Besides, it won’t take 8 hours to fight them, plenty of time for the crew to do their normal duties as well.


The rest of the day goes by without anything important to note… and soon you find yourself near the evening.

>Go out on a date with Tizli. She seems quite interested in you.
And you’re quite interested in her. If anything, you kind of miss having her sleep on top of you. She’s been on maintenance duty today and you find her working feverishly to ensure the ship is flying smoothly, even as her work hours ended a few minutes ago. As you approach, she quickly turns her head 180 degrees to “look” at you, clearly rather annoyed at something.

Captain.
Tizli, just the one I was looking for?
Huh? You’re looking for me? Why?
Well… I was wondering if you had any plans for this fine evening?
Oh, no, not really… honestly, after the day I’ve been having a really just need to lie down in some water and float around like a pearl in the foam…
Is something the matter? You seem… slightly peeved about something?
Slightly? Ha! I’m not feeling any brine at all, let me tell you! I had to pull double duty today because the other person who was supposed to work maintenance with me never showed up!
…they didn’t? Give me a moment, Tizli.

Doxy, who was assigned to maintenance together with Tizli?
Um… Our son Vex was. Why do you ask?
Apparently he never showed up.
Oh… let me check… he did report to duty, sir… and have reported some light maintenance duties in the med-bay… but after that, nothing, sir.
So… where is he?
According to the logs… still in med-bay. He’s actually locked himself in there as well... and left a message that he’ll refuse to let anyone in because they might “contaminant the autopsy”?
Great, so he’s refusing orders now to cut up alien corpses…
Seems so sir. Do you want me to deal with it?
I might need to do this myself… but… hmm… give me a second.

Sorry about that.
No need to suck scum, Zento.
Where were we again?
I was complaining that I needed to work too hard and that we don’t have a real relaxation spa on this ship.
We do have the beach deck.
Yeah, but the beach deck doesn’t come with two hunky Raolme men that would massage my would body while I just float around without a care in the world, does it?
Heh…
And why are you grinning like an idiot, dork?
Oh… I just like watching you work, Tizli.
Of course you do, tall boy.

>>1022633
>same-sex couples
There's one budding friendship but yeah no indication of romance there just yet. It's just planning ahead.

>Vex skipped maintenance to do the autopsy
Oh right that's a Research topic isn't it? Nevertheless we can just keep corpses in stasis until the autopsy, so there was no urgency that justifies him disobeying orders, unless there's something I'm missing. Regardless, send him a message telling him that you need to talk to him asap in regards to his insubordination. At the very least he could have spoken to you about it before deciding to change his duty assignment.

>spa
We'd need crew members to staff it, sounds like.

Offer to give her a massage as part of your date.

“How would one hunky Sakkilian compare?”
Let’s go talk to Vex personally, as well. He probably thinks physical duties are a waste of his intellect, and should be reminded that he is still military personnel on a military vessel, as strange as the circumstances are.

>???: 1
?

>Hmm… scam the scammers, eh? You like that idea… and if we make it sound enticing enough, then we might just get the captain off the ship as well.
Claims of ancient priceless relics do come off as more believable when you're riding one.

>Vex
Don't be too hard on the boy. Knowing what killed them could come in handy; similar weaponry could be at the destroyed base. He should've cleared it with you first, or Lt. Toz... really just you.

>Tizli
Opfh. Would you like to help clean her in the showers tonight.

Bet she'd be happier to be back on her old ship soon. What does it do anyway?

>Scam the scamers
We have two things that they would like: rare alien technology and rare alien "slaves". The perfect bait. We just need to make it seem we are willing to trade and a plan of combat once the take the bait.

Yeah. We need to address Vex's insubordination. That guy is getting into trouble a lot recently, first his childish fight with Tozlan and now this. His failure to show up put more work on Tizli, and the most charitable interpretation would be carelessness. If you wanted to though, you could read deeper and consider that Vex defied orders to avoid dealing with Tizli, either because she's Tozlan's sister or a Raolme. That probably isn't the case, but it's poor form of him to act in a manner that opens up these readings of his behavior. He had better have the best excuse ever if he wants to get out of this without punishment.

>>1022674
As important as the research assignment may be, that doesn't excuse him starting it without notice. If he wanted to perform autopsies today. He should have reported this to Doxy or the captain so that he could be assigned appropriately. Failing that, he at least could have tried to grab the captain after being assigned to explain the benefits and why it was more crucuial than his immediate assigned task. Or at the lowest possible level of courtesy, he should have told Tizli what he was doing and at least gotten her to agree to working maintenance herself. He failed at all levels to communicate his actions, and inconvenienced others out of selfishness.

Other than that, I agree with scamming the scammers and dating Tizli.

>>1022633
>Vex
I certainly hope he’s not doing this so he can cut up the Raolme corpse and pretend that it’s Tozlan.

Since this is Vex’s second time getting into trouble, we’ll have to actually punish him this time. We’ve gotta reduce his next paycheck.

Even if his research shows amazing results, we can’t go easy on him, otherwise him and the other crew members will think they can get away with doing stuff like this as long as it benefits the ship. He really should’ve talked to us or Doxy first before running off and doing the autopsy.

Should both the Captain and the Commander go have a talk with Vex? Having both of his parents present might let him know how much trouble he’s in.

>>1022687
Actually, there is a way Vex can go unpunished: If he’s discovered some dangerous disease in the corpses and he’s currently risking his own life to stop the infection from spreading to the rest of the ship.

In the very unlikely event that’s what’s happening and his actions end up saving everyone, then I’d be willing to not punish him for skipping out on maintenance duty.

>>1022690

Yeah, absolutely hear the guy out first. We shouldn't assume fault from the very outset, just don't be surprised if that is the case. Appropriate response to the appropriate situation. If he's being defiant, punishment; if he's doing something important, work with him to get what needs doing done.

Don't ignore the communication failure if the issue he was handling would have given him the time to inform somebody. Don't focus on it, but make it clear that you'd like to be in the know for future incidents.

>>1022690
Yeah that is a possibility.

>>1022693
I agree with all of this. Hear him out and see what he has to say. Give him an appropriate punishment if one needs to be given. And we should definitely talk to him about the failure to communicate.

Kaktus 2022/02/10(Thu)16:14 No. 1023067 ID: 681cb5
File 164453846647.png - (152.58KB , 1125x550 , 23.png )

>Claims of ancient priceless relics do come off as more believable when you're riding one.
Hmm… people do seem to believe that The Shed Scale is something special in this galaxy, so you are indeed right that it will give credence to your fake sales pitch.
>We have two things that they would like: rare alien technology and rare alien "slaves". The perfect bait. We just need to make it seem we are willing to trade and a plan of combat once the take the bait.
You have to wonder, how much weaponry can you hide on a slave costume? Because if you would dress up Shara and Dante as slaves, maybe even make fake… what did they call them, motivation collars? If Eki helps us dress up Shara and Dante as slaves, can they smuggle weapons close enough to the pirates to strike?
>I agree with scamming the scammers and dating Tizli.
You’re currently working towards both, don’t you worry.

>There's one budding friendship but yeah no indication of romance there just yet. It's just planning ahead.
There are several budding friendships currently, but either way, same-sex children is a bridge you’ll cross when you get to it. It’s not something you need to worry about for the moment.
>Spa? We'd need crew members to staff it, sounds like.
Crew you don’t have. Besides, we have a, as they say, “wicked sweet” pool which is enough already. A spa can wait until… well, you get a massive amount of crew.
>Opfh. Would you like to help clean her in the showers tonight.
…which is why you’re going to try and get yourself into that position right now.


>Bet she'd be happier to be back on her old ship soon. What does it do anyway?
While it will be nice to have our own raft to float down the river with, I do prefer this luxury yacht over cramped little dingy.
I’m not sure I would call this luxurious.
Are you spewing sludge? You got a pool the size of a… well, our ship! The pool we have is small enough that your tail is laying outside it if you’re trying to float in it. So no, I’m staying right here.
And the ship? Does it have any specialties?
Why, yes, yes it does! It has one of our patented Raolme defender shields! As long as something hits the frontal part of our ship our massive shielding unit will nullify it completely!
That sounds powerful… yet you have trouble with the pirates?
It has two weaknesses. It doesn’t handle multiple hits in quick succession very well and if you’re able to outmaneuver with a quick ship you can hit us in the back where we’re completely undefended.
…and pirates have really quick ships that fire massive clouds of plasma fire.
So… you hear why we have such trouble with those scumsuckers.
And weaponry?
A pair of Sonic Stingers. They fire a deadly burst of sonic vibration. Slow, but deadly. They are especially effective against larger ships… or even multiple ships, if you’re able to get the hit in, because they just keep going and damage everything it engulfs.
…but they are slow, making it hard to hit fast ships… like the pirates…
Yes! Exactly!

>Offer to give her a massage as part of your date.
How would one hunky Sakkilian compare?
Why, I don’t know… do you know any hunky Sakkilians?
Well… I might know one or two…
Oh! How about new kid? Dante? He sure is a hunky pearl!
That’s my son you’re talking about, Tizli.
…I do keep forgetting you have kids, Zento… though, does this mean I need to call you daddy?
Only if I may make you a mommy…
Tsk, slow down tall boy. We’re not all brine yet… and you know, I might just decide to go talk to Dante instead. After all, he takes so much after his father… just as hunky and handsome~
Why, aren’t you just a tease…
Can’t blame a gal. I said I wanted two hunks after all, hehe…
You give her snout a quick boop.
Will I be enough if I promise I’ll be twice as hunky?
Why, I might just consider it even. So… tonight?
I need to deal with something real quick, but yes, tonight sounds lovely, Tizli.
Then it’s a promise, tall boy. See you soon~

Kaktus 2022/02/10(Thu)16:14 No. 1023068 ID: 681cb5
File 164453847548.png - (159.68KB , 1125x550 , 24.png )

>”???: 1”?
That would be Vex doing the alien autopsy in med-bay.
>Oh right that's a Research topic isn't it? Nevertheless we can just keep corpses in stasis until the autopsy, so there was no urgency that justifies him disobeying orders, unless there's something I'm missing.
Until I give the orders to research them the corpses should be stored in cryo, right next to the… med-bay. Let’s hope your son has a very good reason why they still aren’t.
>I certainly hope he’s not doing this so he can cut up the Raolme corpse and pretend that it’s Tozlan.
…surly, that can’t be the case, can it?
>He is still military personnel on a military vessel.
The Colony fleet is technically not part of the military, and thus this is not a military vessel. Not that it makes a difference, disobedience must be punished.


>Let’s go talk to Vex personally, as well. Should both the Captain and the Commander go have a talk with Vex? Having both of his parents present might let him know how much trouble he’s in.
Sadly, he locked himself in the med-bay, so you can’t do this face to face. Instead, you’ll just have to call him from the brig.
VEX! What are you doing!?
Hmm? Oh, hello father. Mother. I’m just learning some biology. Don’t worry, I’ll sanitize the med-bay after I’ve concluded. And these worm creatures are quite fascinating, as their bone structure is far more similar to a two legged creature than a snake.
That’s not- Why are in the med-bay and not helping Tizli with the maintenance!?
Oh, right, that. I’m sure she won’t mind if I take an hour off. I’ll work overtime this evening even if you’re worried. I need to finish this first. See, I’ve found something quite interesting here… did you know they have several stomachs?
Vex, dear, while it’s good that you’re super excited about this but… you’ve been gone hours already. Your work shift is already over.
...it is? Oh. Maybe it is. I guess this took a longer time than expected. Oh, well, I guess I’ll do an all nighter today. It’s not the first time. Now, back to those stomachs… it seems that they can decide which stomach they use… and one of them is apparently made to store their meals for a later date, which m-
Vex. What is wrong? First you have that childish argument with Tozlan and now this!? You cannot just ignore your assignment and do whatever you want! I will not tolerate this kind of insubordination, even from my own kin!
My apologies, father, but I simply forgot about the time. If you wish to punish me you may do so, I won’t mind spending time in the brig or having a pay cut, as long as I can finish with this.
You “simply” forgot about your duties! Not only did you put extra work on Tizli, but you put the whole ship in danger. This is unacceptable.
Son, maybe next time you can talk to me if you want other assignments? Or your father? Or… um… Lt.Tozlan.
You two already have so much to do, father and mother, that I rather not disturb you with trivialities. And Tozlan? He can kiss my tail.
Does this have something to do with you thinking physical duties are a waste of your intellect? Do I need to remind you that you’re part of the crew of this vessel?
Maybe it has something to do with Regina and their egg that’s in Cryo?
While I admit I don’t like physical duties, that’s not why I’m here.
Then why? You better have a good excuse, son.
I was making sure all the medical equipment was in working order and correctly calibrated. Then I saw this creature in one of the cryo tubes and… um… I needed… I mean, I saw that the computer had detected something inside it, something inorganic. If we let the cryonetic process finish we might have damaged whatever it was in there, so I needed to get it out and… um…
…alright, report to me what you’ve found, Vex.
As I said before, they have several stomachs and-
Spare me the details.
No need to be so harsh, Zento…
They were using it to store some of their possessions. I found a locket, a personal datapad, a gun that doesn’t work, a credstick with an insignificant amount of credits on it, a soda bottle (or at least I think it’s soda), keycards and some basic tools. Quite interesting find.
They had all that in one of their stomachs?
…what killed them anyway?
I am about 80% certain it was massive amount of blunt trauma, father.
Someone hit them over the head?
Or they were thrown around the ship when it was shot down.
Most likely, father. They have signs of inner organ damage all over their body.
*Sigh* it’s something, I suppose…
Do send my apologies to Tizli, mother. I was so excited about this that I forgot the time. Also, father, do send a punch right in the snout to her brother if you can. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still got some more organs to retrieve and identify here… hmm… maybe it’s a spleen? No… no, it’s… hmmm… but then again?

>Since this is Vex’s second time getting into trouble, we’ll have to actually punish him this time. We’ve gotta reduce his next paycheck.
While you concur that he deserves some punishment, he doesn’t seem to really care about his pay… at least not at the moment.

…so… um… your orders, sir?

His excuse, while better than nothing, was weak. In addition, his attitude during this conversation was abysmal, barely acknowledging his mistakes and repeatedly making jabs at Tozlan. We're going to need a punishment that makes him rethink his behavior.

Let's temporarily ban Vex from the Med-Bay. Inform him that unless he has been assigned there, or an emergency is taking place, he is not to step foot inside. He has lost the privilege to visit freely until he has demonstrated that he understands his errors and will improve.

And since it'd be bad to send him right back there after a conditional ban, maybe add on that he's on Cleaning duty for the next three days.

>>1023068
You know what would really be a punishment, is putting him on cleaning duty for two straight days. He can't do the second autopsy until you say so. If he disobeys THAT order then he'll be fired, and dropped off at the next station you visit.
...maybe maintenance would be better for the first day actually, to make up for his shirked duty.

Also I feel like you should poke at him some more after he's done with the current autopsy. He said he "needed to" do something-- I suspect his intellectual curiosity overpowered his common sense. That could be very dangerous... a mentally unstable doctor is not something we want on our ship.

Chain the idiot to his assigned job. Literally.

He needs to get his priorities straight, which means doing what he is told. This isn't his house, this is his working place, and you are his superior, ergo, he has to do what he is told.

I am glad that he checked that anomaly in the dead alien, it could have been dangerous, but he needs to inform us about that immediately and not take action on his own.

And this drama with Tozlan has to end, it's getting ridiculous. If he reaches the rank of lieutenant, it's going to cause trouble.

Hold up, before we do anything, Tara's building a Union, right? Do we have to have a conversation with her to discuss punitive measures for Vex?

>Raolme defender
Best placement in fleet is either in guarding vital areas (like our ship), or in a setup for an ambush. Maybe your security expert would be the best judge of that. Either way, you shouldn't let the pirates know you have one, or they'll know where to concentrate their fire if things so south. They also look like they're meant to work in groups. (It'd be cool if they pool their shields together somehow.) Ask Tozpan for blueprints later.

>They were using it to store some of their possessions. I found a locket, a personal datapad, a gun that doesn’t work, a credstick with an insignificant amount of credits on it, a soda bottle (or at least I think it’s soda), keycards and some basic tools. Quite interesting find.
So what you got from this is lore from the datapad, and possible research into emetics (medicine to induce vomiting). This is not nothing; the latter may end up being very important, but the former could reveal why they were here and thus have leads about the abandoned base. Not worth a pardon, but this could be worth being lenient on disciplinary action.

>Oh, well, I guess I’ll do an all nighter today. It’s not the first time.
Has he been getting enough sleep? If he's tired, of course he works slower. Crunch is not good for long-term productivity. Maybe some time off might be good for him.

...oh, lack of sleep will also cause emotional instability and poor decision making. It's a pity we don't have two Doctor crewmembers, because self-diagnosis is notoriously unreliable. Do we have anyone good enough to check up on him?

>>1023068
>If you wish to punish me you may do so, I won’t mind spending time in the brig or having a pay cut, as long as I can finish with this.
Fine. He can finish this one autopsy. After that, he’s getting a pay cut.

The only thing I can think of doing is having Vex assigned to the same job as someone that would make sure he does his assigned job and not wander off again.

How about Shara? We can have her and Vex working the same assignment a few days in a row. We already know that Shara doesn’t like seeing anyone not doing their job and/or goofing off on the job, so she can keep an eye on Vex and make sure he does what he’s supposed to do.

>>1023071
>Temporarily ban Vex from the Med-Bay, unless it’s an emergency.
That sounds like it could work.

>>1023068
Vex is the only doctor on board, right? He might just be overwoked and he's doing this because he's trying his best to help make things easier for his parents. Or he thinks he needs to live up to their expectations of him and he's doing this to prove himself.

Before we punish him, we should have the whole family get together in the captain's office to have a private talk with each other. He might just need to vent his frustrations by talking things out with his parents.

>>1023132
I'm not saying that being overworked is an excuse for his behavior, he fucked up and needs to be disciplined. But if being overworked in Medical is the problem and we ban him from going there as a solution, would that still be considered a punishment for him?

Is there some kinda guidelines from the old Sakkilian colony ship that tells you what to do with this kind of behavior? Like maybe we can threaten Vex with a court-martial or something? Or would that be a bit overkill?

Kaktus 2022/02/12(Sat)14:06 No. 1023255 ID: 681cb5
File 164470361325.png - (151.07KB , 1125x550 , 25.png )

>Best placement for the Raolme ship in the fleet is either in guarding vital areas (like our ship), or in a setup for an ambush. They also look like they're meant to work in groups.
Considering these Raolme are apparently big on trading, they are probably designed to protect their trading vessels. Several of these defenders flanking a line of cargo ships would keep them safe from most things, after all. Their ideal position would be, as their name implies, defending something vital… like The Shed Scale.
>Maybe your security expert would be the best judge of that.
Dante’s expertise concerns on board security as well as crew versus crew combat, and not ship to ship battles. You’d need an admiral or tactician for that… maybe the pilots got something on it as well.
>It'd be cool if they pool their shields together somehow.
…wasn’t it the Flaûgnir ships which had that ability, or are you misremembering?
>Ask Tozlan for blueprints later.
Tozlan isn’t an engineer, nor would it make sense for him to carry around a complete blueprint either. What you can do, though, is to let the research team take a good long look at the ship and see if they can replicate it.


>Chain the idiot to his assigned job. Literally.
While tempting, it isn’t really practical. For starters, most jobs require him to move around the ship… not to mention the probable negative reaction from the rest of the crew.
>Hold up, before we do anything, Tara's building a Union, right? Do we have to have a conversation with her to discuss punitive measures for Vex?
You’re sure she won’t mind as long as the punishment isn’t overly harsh, like chaining the idiot to his post. But you should inform her later about though, to make sure everyone is on the same page. She might even help you make sure Vex learns his lesson, as one union member acting like he has done reflect badly on all of them.
>Is there some kinda guidelines from the old Sakkilian colony fleet that tells you what to do with this kind of behavior? Like maybe we can threaten Vex with a court-martial or something? Or would that be a bit overkill?
In your current situation, as a lone ship far from any possible Sakkilian authority, it’s up the captain and other officers to dole out punishments as they see fit. Though, even if we had contact with the rest of the fleet, Vex wouldn’t be court-martial unless he actually put someone in harm’s way with his foolishness.


*sigh* Vex, son, while I am glad that you checked the anomaly in the dead alien, as it might have been dangerous, you still can’t disobey orders like that! You need to inform your superiors before you take actions like this.
But it would have been a waste of your time, father.
That’s an weak excuse and you know it. It is my job to be informed of such things and make decisions according to said information. No, you need to get your priorities straight, which means doing what you’re told. This isn’t your home, this is your job, your duty, and I am your superior, ergo, you have to do what you’re told or face the consequences.
Don’t be too harsh on him, Zento…
As I said before, I’m ready to face whatever consequences you may have.
And this drama with Tozlan has to end, it's getting ridiculous.
But he’s the-
I don’t care. Act like adults and get over it.
He’s not so bad when you get to know him, son.
In addition, your current attitude is abysmal, with you barely acknowledging your mistakes and being more concerned with making jabs at Lt. Tozlan.
I am a bit distracted by the autopsy, father.

You leave me no choice but to make sure you rethink think this kind of behavior. Ensign Vex, you are from now on banned from the med-bay, and you’re not to take one step into it unless it’s an emergency.
W-what? B-but… but at least let me move all this information over to the research-
Furthermore, you are also banned from the research lab, as well as all the terminal used for research purposes.
Daddy, p-please! Y-you can’t-
You will only regain these privileges when you’ve demonstrataed that you understand the errors of your ways and improve.
But I need to know more! I’ve worked all night to set this all up and-
Vex, have you been getting enough sleep?
Wha- o-of course I have, mother.
You know, if you’re super tired you’ll just work slower… a maybe miss something important. Not to mention it will make you grumpy too… and someone who’s tired usually doesn’t make the best decisions.
Crunch is never good for long-term productivity.
How are you feeling, Vex?
I’m… I’m fine, mom…
You know, maybe some time off will do you some good. In fact, you should take the rest of the evening off and relax. I command you to get some goddess damned sleep right now, Ensign.
Y-you’re sending me to my room!?
Yes. And furthermore, I’m going to assign you to cleaning duty for a few days… and to make sure you do your job this time, I’m going to assign either Shara or Dante to the same task.
…
And if you disobeys THAT order then you'll be fired, and dropped off at the next station you visit.
WHAT!? Y-you can’t do that!
Yes, yes I can.
MOM!?
Well… we’ll know you’re safe… and… um… we can always pick you up after a month or two, Vex.
But… at least let me properly go through everything I’ve found…
You have your orders. Clean up this mess and go your quarters. I’ll have someone bring you dinner.
Please, at least let me have access to the research terminals! So I can look through what I’ve found!
Maybe you’re going a bit hard on him, Zento…
…
Dad…

>So what you got from this is lore from the datapad, and possible research into emetics (medicine to induce vomiting).
Wait, vomiting? Why would we get better at vomiting by looking at a corpse? You’re not sure what kind of odd breakthroughs the research department might come up with after looking through the information we gathered, but vomiting? Eh, at least the datapad is bound to contain some kind of interesting information.
>I feel like you should poke at him some more after he's done with the current autopsy. He said he "needed to" do something-- I suspect his intellectual curiosity overpowered his common sense.
Hmm… you might need to have a talk with Vex in person after he’s calmed down a bit later toni-

[Beep! New message from Tizli]
Hey, tall boy! I’m heading over to that warm water pool on the beach deck. Care to join me, hunk?

…tomorrow, Vex can wait to tomorrow, right?

>>1023255
Allow him to record whatever data he's collected so far, but to put the cadaver back in stasis for now. He can resume the autopsy at a later date.
Tell him you want to have a conversation about his worrying work ethic tomorrow, after he's gotten some sleep. You both need to cool down, to be honest. (jeez, why did ALL of the suggested punishments get applied?)

Then go on your date.

Have him read up on Sakkilian history while he's grounded. See how he interprets it.

>You’d need an admiral or tactician for that…
Wouldn't that be funny taking orders from your kid. Share it with Vul later.

>tomorrow, Vex can wait to tomorrow, right?
Maybe you should cool it off with Tizli to spend time with your son. You still care about him right? Look at him, you can see who he feels you don't. He may be more uncomfortable with his parents' "personal arrangements" than he's willing to admit or face.

What did Vex do wrong here, exactly? He saw there was an urgent matter and attended to it at the risk of neglecting his current orders. It's not a bad call to make, unless you want your crew so inflexible from straying from orders that it's its' own form of neglect. You can admit that. Let him finish here at least. The issue is a lack of respect for communication protocol. Ironic, given how his feud with Toz started.

Not a psychologist, but I suspect what keeps fresh crew in line is not thinking about things beyond their role. Whatever you think of the ethics of that, his punishment is kind of the opposite of that.

Let him go through what he found. He's already completely missed his original assignment, it's not like he can get any later than he already is. After that, we're sticking by the punishment we laid out. It's important that he reflects after all, and this is a good way to make sure he does.

Enjoy your date with Tizli. Vex can wait until tomorrow, it'll probably be better to let him cool off after the emotional punch of this punishment anyways. If you're really concerned about him though, you could ask Doxy to check up on him. Though I doubt you honestly need to ask.

>>1023255
>Maybe you’re going a bit hard on him, Zento…
As his father, I don’t want to be this hard on him. But as his captain, I need to be this hard on him.

Checking that anomaly was fine, since there was a possibility that it could’ve been dangerous. But what if it had actually been dangerous and Vex tried to handle it without telling anyone? If he was unable to handle it and he waited until the last minute to call for help, it would've been too late and he could’ve got hurt or killed!

So as his father, I worry about his health, which is why banning Vex will help him get a decent amount of sleep and so he won’t overwork himself. But as his captain, banning him will be a punishment by not allowing him to do something he wants to do.

Tomorrow, after all of us have eaten breakfast and we’ve all had a chance to cool off, all 3 of us will have a talk with each other to determine how long Vex’s punishment will last. If he can show us that he’s learned his lesson for a certain amount of days, we’ll lift the ban on him.

Tell your son that you love him and you appreciate his intelligence and how hard he's working, but there is such a thing as working too hard. You worry about his health. So this is both a punishment and it's for his own good.

>Wait, vomiting? Why would we get better at vomiting by looking at a corpse?
Because of the possibility that the inorganic contents in that stomach may not originally belong to the alien in question.

>>1023317
>>1023335
I don't know how well he could enjoy his date after this. I guess if Vex needs comfort, he could talk with his mom instead. Or his mate, which probably be less weird. Or his egg, of which I cannot gauge the level the weirdness of.

It would be a waste to not save all the data we gather from the alien. Let him finish at least that, then is straight to his room. We can spend some time with him tomorrow, do some bonding, but we have to be firm.
We already promised Tizli to spend time with her and i don't like breaking promises.

Kaktus 2022/02/14(Mon)16:49 No. 1023490 ID: 681cb5
File 164488618503.png - (196.67KB , 1125x550 , 26.png )

>Jeez, why did ALL of the suggested punishments get applied?
Because you’re rather cross with your son right now, that’s why. Besides, he only seems to care about being banned from the med-bay and research anyway.
>Wouldn't that be funny taking orders from your kid.
You’re only going to take orders from someone that’s a higher rank than you… and it’s rather unlikely any of your kids will surpass you in that regard for quite some time. Of course, if any of them have a tactical mind, you’re still going to listen to their suggestions.
>Share it with Vul later.
Share what exactly? The tactics ideas about the Raolme ships or that you need a tactician?

>Not a psychologist, but I suspect what keeps fresh crew in line is not thinking about things beyond their role.
While it helps to keep your mind focused, your crew should have the training necessary to deal with these kinds of situations mentally. Of course, it’s still going to be rough…
>Maybe you should cool it off with Tizli to spend time with your son. You still care about him right?
Of course you care about him. Do you even need to ask?
>Look at him, you can see who he feels you don't. He may be more uncomfortable with his parents' "personal arrangements" than he's willing to admit or face.
Is that what’s bothering him? That we’re not a couple? Surely, there has to be more to this than that.
>What did Vex do wrong here, exactly? He saw there was an urgent matter and attended to it at the risk of neglecting his current orders. It's not a bad call to make, unless you want your crew so inflexible from straying from orders that it's its' own form of neglect.
What he did wrong was neglecting to report this urgent matter to any of his superiors, even though he has ample opportunity to do so. His blatant disregard of his orders should just as likely put all of you at risk as the opposite. While you don’t want an inflexible crew, you also don’t want someone that can’t work with the rest of the crew either.

>Vex can wait until tomorrow, it'll probably be better to let him cool off after the emotional punch of this punishment anyways.
He needs to calm down a bit and reflect on what happened. Give him time to get his emotions in check… just as you need time to get your own under control.
>I guess if Vex needs comfort, he could talk with his mom instead. Or his mate, which probably be less weird.
Right, he’s not alone in this. He has others he can turn to, not just you.
>Have him read up on Sakkilian history while he's grounded. See how he interprets it.
Hmm… having him read up on how the ideals of Sakkilian kind was molded by history might help him understand why every cog is just as important to the big machine… but you’ve already punished him enough for now. Maybe if he doesn’t learn from this.

>We already promised Tizli to spend time with her and i don't like breaking promises.
That’s right. You already gave her your word… and you’re not going to disappoint her just because your son is a bit of a fool.
>I don't know how well he could enjoy his date after this.
While you didn’t like what you just did, it’s not the end of the world. You’ve disciplined unruly crew before… though; him being your son does make it a bit… harder.


>Allow him to record whatever data he's collected so far, but to put the cadaver back in stasis for now. He can resume the autopsy at a later date.
T-thanks you, dad.
After that, you’re to go straight to your quarters and stay there for tonight.
Yes, father.
>Checking that anomaly was fine, since there was a possibility that it could’ve been dangerous. But what if it had actually been dangerous and Vex tried to handle it without telling anyone? If he was unable to handle it and he waited until the last minute to call for help, it would've been too late and he could’ve got hurt or killed!
It wasn’t anything dangerous… and even if it was, I would be able to handle it, father.
Really? And if there was some kind of dangerous alien life form in there, what would you do?
The likelihood of that is nearly zero, so-
Or if it was some kind of dangerous material? Something toxic? Or radioactive? Or if it was a malfunctioning weapon? Or a bomb? What would you do if there still was a live bomb inside that thing!?
Err… well… um… I don’t…
Exactly. This is why you report what you find before you do anything rash. You should have gotten hurt, son… or worse, killed!
…
Son, I love you and you know that. And I appreciate your intelligence and your vigilance… but there is such a thing as working too hard, Vex. I worry about your health, son. So… this is both a punishment and it's for your own good.
Of course it is.
Zento is right, Vex. You need to relax for a bit.
Your job will still be here after you’ve taken a good night sleep, son.
…
>Tell him you want to have a conversation about his worrying work ethic tomorrow, after he's gotten some sleep. You both need to cool down, to be honest.
Of course father. I’ll… I’ll just finish up here and… goodnight? I guess?
Sleep well, son.
Goodnight, Vex.


>As his father, I don’t want to be this hard on him. But as his captain, I need to be this hard on him.
I know… but what we want and what we need to do is different things. A father needs to be hard on unruly children as well, Zento.
…perhaps.
>We're sticking by the punishment we laid out. It's important that he reflects after all, and this is a good way to make sure he does.
I concur… while I’m not super excited about this, he… he needs some discipline.
>Tomorrow, after all of us have eaten breakfast and we’ve all had a chance to cool off, all 3 of us will have a talk with each other to determine how long Vex’s punishment will last. If he can show us that he’s learned his lesson for a certain amount of days, we’ll lift the ban on him.
That sounds good, Zento. I’m sure he will appreciate you taking some time to talk to him properly as well.
>If you're really concerned about him though, you could ask Doxy to check up on him. Though I doubt you honestly need to ask.
Of course not, sir. I’ll give him some space for a bit, and then I’ll go see how he’s feeling, alright?
Thanks Doxy.


>Enjoy your date with Tizli.
Right, time for some R&R. You deserve some time off after everything that’s happened recently… and you have very few people you rather spend time with right now than Tizli. Let’s spend a nice evening with her… and hopefully, and even nicer night. Where did she say she wanted to meet again? The heated pool?

She is indeed waiting for you at “warm water pool” as she called it, having a bit of an argument with Zell and Car Zuk.

Come on, move your fat arses! I reserved this pool days ago!
Huh? Y-you need to reserve it!? I d-d-didn’t know that.
Because yah don’t. There’s nah way to reserve anything ‘ere. She’s just making it up, lad.
Okay, okay, I admit. I made it up. But can you two please leave so I and my… friend may have the hot pool in private? Briny please?
Well… Ah might ’ave considered it, lass… if yah didn’t call mah friend ‘ere a fat arse.
That was very mean.
…I’m sorry that I called you a name, I was just… *sigh*, it’s important, alright?
And it’s just as important that me and mah pal ‘ere get some relaxing done, eh? Besides, this baby can fit at least 6 people… 8 if we sit close together. Plenty of space for yah and ye… brother?
Ugh… what do you two want for leaving?
I want to relax in the warm waters. Been a very stressful day today.
Tell me about it. Ah’ve been worried about mah little grand lass Shal all day.
Oh right, she went down to the planet, didn’t she? She made it back alright, right?
She’s fine… ‘er lander took a real beating but she’s unscathed.
That’s good news.
Darn tooting it’s good news.
*Sigh* this isn’t going anywhere…

"It's not her brother she's meeting here."

Don't chase off these two just yet. It's a public bath, you two can talk quietly off to the side. If they get uncomfortable they can leave. You sure won't get uncomfortable.

>>1023491
>If they get uncomfortable they can leave. You sure won't get uncomfortable.
Damn right, it’s captainly antics time: we have to make them uncomfortable to the point that they leave on their own volition
Inform Tizli about the plan to go in and act sickeningly bubbly romantic until they can’t take it anymore

I'm inclined to let them stay. Everyone's had a hard day, and it's only going to get harder tomorrow.

>>1023491
>>1023501
So how far do we want to take this if they call our "bluff"? We might get an audience for our romantic escapades.

>>1023490
Like Zell said, there’s plenty of room. We can all share the warm water and relax. Even though Tizli wanted some privacy, she’ll just have to share the warm water with others.

>>1023491
>>1023501
>try to make them uncomfortable so they leave
Don’t do that. Everyone has a right to be here, so we shouldn’t try and trick them into leaving.

>>1023490
There's plenty of room for all of you. Don't try to trick the others into leaving. That'd be a dick move trying to do something like that.

Kaktus 2022/02/17(Thu)16:59 No. 1023736 ID: 681cb5
File 164514598275.png - (204.80KB , 1125x550 , 27.png )

It's not her brother she's meeting here.

Tizli outrights jumps into the air as she hear your voice, clearly caught by surprise even though you’re standing right in front of her in full view. Apparently she didn’t hear you arrive?

Zento! H-hi! I didn’t… didn’t hear you there.
Ah, so that ‘ow it is, lass.
Um… s-should we leave?
…If the Captain asks nicely.
Well, Captain?

She walks around the pool over to you, her sharp claws clinking against the tiled floor for each step she takes.

…I’m inclined to let the two of you stay, if you so wish. Everyone’s had a hard day and it will probably be getting harder tomorrow when we deal with the pirates. Besides, it’s the crews bath, not just the officers.
Tsk… I guess there’s enough room for all four of us…
And the evening is young, Tizli. I’m sure we’ll have some privacy later.
I was just hoping to have a real pearl of an evening with you, Zento, one were we would have some space from the others as well as SNOOPING BROTHERS!

You can hear something submerging in the water behind you, in the deep pool.

*Sigh* But you’re right. We have the whole evening ahead of us.
Well… you know, if you want us to be alone… I’m sure we can come up with some antics to make them so uncomfortable to the point that they leave on their own volition.
Eh? What do you mean?
If we act sickeningly bubbly romantic until they can’t take it anymore.
What!?
Heh, the two of yah can try, but Ah’m ‘nown to be pretty stubborn.
…I don’t mind if you’re being romantic either…
I’m pretty sure I’m the one who’s going to be uncomfortable, you scumsucker!
Hehe, I was just joking, Tizli.
Yeah, no, let’s… let’s just share the warm water bath.

Now, if you’ll excuse me for a second, I just need to change into my bathing trunks.
Um… Captain? The sign over there says that you’re not allowed to have swimwear on you?
That only applies to the sauna, lad, so yah don’t drag a bunch of chloride into the ‘eat.
…then why aren’t we wearing swimming trunks?
…because there’s no rule about not wearing ones out ‘ere and it feel liberating being bare? Ah’m can’t say why yah aren’t wearing a pair.
Oh, I just… thought… because you weren’t wearing any… um…

Tizli’s ear shoots up as she jumps up and grab the side of the bath, almost as if she’s trying to look in, all the while her tails starts wagging.

W-wait, you two are naked in there?
Yes, lass?
I mean… it’s not like you can see through the water anyway…
Nevertheless, I am certain the ships rules about proper wear includes the beach deck, Ensign Zell.
Eh… that lass Shara ‘as been walking around completely bare since the day yah built it and nah one ‘as complained so far. Seems only fair that we would be allowed to do the same.
…I’m honestly not surprised that Shara has been doing that.
Are you sure? I’ve never seen her…
Of course not, lass. Yah and that crab gal usually ‘ang out in the deep part. She’s usually sunbathing on the hot rocks on the opposite side of the beach. Though, I’ve seen yah brother ‘ang around there at times, lass.
Of course that little perv has been listening to her sunbathing.
Um… I’d like to remind you that I misunderstood the sign? Y-you know… in case… um… y-you’re angry, Captain?

Kaktus 2022/02/17(Thu)16:59 No. 1023738 ID: 681cb5
File 164514599602.png - (177.29KB , 1125x550 , 28.png )

Meanwhile, in the Messhall…

-so I took the time to check out this odd hand terminal that my step-bro found while I ate, mom.
Oh? That thing little Vex found in the worms tummy? I’m super excited to hear what’s on it!
I’m super excited too, mom! Or was. Before I read it? I mean, I’m still excited but I’ve already read it so I can’t be excited about reading it again can I, so I have to be super excited about something else, maybe I’m super excited to share what I-
Rose, slow down a bit?
Oh, sorry… where was I? So, daddy helped me get the universal translator going and… um… I kind of just skimmed through the alien’s personal logs while I ate, I guess?
Did you find anything interesting?
Most of it was either personal stuff, conversation between friends and complaining about the food, that kind of things. Then there were some stuff about their duty as a comm-specialist for the “Grand Alliance” or what they are called… which isn’t really relevant to us either.
…but you were excited about something, Rose?
I’m coming to that, mommy! I did found out what they were doing here… and what was on that planet and why they blew it up.
Oh? Anything juicy? Surely it wasn’t just some supply outpost or something.
It was a research colony. And… well, it was kind of depressing to read, but our alien friend and the rest of the fleet we found was doing a kind of last stand to defend it. They knew they didn’t have a chance, but they still wanted to give them more time on the planet.
So I gather this research must have been super important?
Get this, apparently they found some kind of Precursor Super Weapon! They thought it might change the outcome of the war and everything!
…what in the world is a precursor?
I have no idea, but it sounds super neat!
So did they do it? Did they manage to get this super weapon online?
Well… considering the fleet was wiped out, the research colony completely vaporized and that the IOD are ruling the sector with an iron claw… I’m going to go with no?
Bummer… I hate unhappy endings…
Me too, mom… oh, right! There’s one final, even more exciting thing!
Saving the best for last?
They mention finding some kind of frozen coffins with completely alien corpses in them.
…that doesn’t sound super exciting, dear?
But the coffins had this symbol on them!
… … …that’s the Sakkilian Colony Fleet symbol.
Yeah, it is… super weird, right?

[You can still suggest things for Captain Zento]

Zento: Tell them you won't punish them this time but they should follow the rules in the future.
Hmm, maybe we can section off part of the beach for nudism?

Doxy: bump investigating the energy reading to the top of our priority list. Ask for more details. Were the stasis pods inside some sort of structure?
I think we're going to need that crew quarters upgrade soon...

>super weird, right?
This is putting it lightly. If there are indeed sakillian corpses on ice in there, then we, as a species have been here long before your arrival.

Some of our brothers and sisters might have actually travel through space AND time when we warped here.

This opens up a lot of questions and possible theories. Way too many.

>>1023736
"Not at all, Ensign Car. The Commander may have inquiries into this incident though, but they will be far from angry. I fear she will be interested in the personal equipment on display. Should you, any of you, not wish to closely fraternise with her, you may inform me of this now. As captain, I take matters of consent seriously."

>>1023738
"This is a perfect find, really. I don't know if we could delay our engagement for this. Those pirates are leaving tomorrow. Our pods have waited over 30 years, surely they can wait another day, right?"

I don't know how long we can stick around. Could we split our crew out to handle both jobs? We only need an exploration crew to investigate the signal.

>>1023736
>Eh…that lass Shara ‘as been walking around completely bare since the day yah built it and nah one ‘as complained so far. Seems only fair that we would be allowed to do the same.
He’s got a point, it’s only fair. Besides, this is a very minor thing, so I don’t think we need to enforce it, since no one is potentially being put in danger. (Unlike what Vex did.)

>Tizli’s ear shoots up as she jumps up and grab the side of the bath, almost as if she’s trying to look in, all the while her tails starts wagging.
>Of course that little perv has been listening to her sunbathing.
Look who’s talking, little miss “I want to listen to the naked men”. You’re trying to listen to them right now, aren’t you?

>>1023738
>They mention finding some kind of frozen coffins with completely alien corpses in them.
>But the coffins had this symbol on them!
>………that’s the Sakkilian Colony Fleet symbol.
Those might be stasis pods, with living Sakkilians in them. If they’re alive, we’re going to need that crew quarters upgrade to make room for them.

We’ll need to investigate, but not with the pirates still hanging around. They could attack the ship while we’re exploring the facility on the destroyed planet.

Since Vex was the one that discovered this, does this mean we’ve gotta reduce his punishment a little? It was through pure luck that he found this, so I’m not sure if that’d be a good enough reason to reduce his punishment.

>>1023781
>If there are indeed sakillian corpses on ice in there, then we, as a species have been here long before your arrival.
They could be in stasis. Remember, our technology has never been seen before in this part of the universe. So when those Sakkilians were discovered, the aliens might not know what a stasis pod is and just assumed the Sakkilians they found were dead.

>Some of our brothers and sisters might have actually travel through space AND time when we warped here.
That was obvious from the start, since it was stated multiple times that the Sakkilian colony ship that traveled from the Sakkilian home world bent space and time when it was traveling.

Show us some dicks.

>>1023807
>Since Vex was the one that discovered this, does this mean we’ve gotta reduce his punishment a little? It was through pure luck that he found this, so I’m not sure if that’d be a good enough reason to reduce his punishment.
Maybe instead of being grounded for a week, we could make it so he's grounded for 3 days? I don't know.

On one hand, a reduced punishment seems deserved for this discovery. But on the other hand, we don't want to send a message that anyone can get away with doing what they want if they're lucky enough to find or do something that benefits the ship.

(Maybe we'll find the other characters mentioned in the beginning in the stasis pods) We could find some of the rest of the fleet like the honorable general Ivanka "Carriage" Widetrunk who was the winner of the most handsome sakkilian of the year award (she is orange and very butch and when younger made fun of as fat, but she is just very big boned and she and her husband have an open relationship) and her husband Dew (bubblebutt) slimscale (he is blue twinkish and sassy) the special ops soldier from the renowned light claw dagger unit. They came on the fleet to retire at the colony they were going to build.

What type of colony would we establish? One that is a barren world with all the resources to build from the ground up? Or an easily defensible world with good trade? Or maybe even a world no one else would want but is good enough for you? What place would the crew want, maybe a mediocre world with as many biomes as you could want for.

Kaktus 2022/02/22(Tue)14:31 No. 1024270 ID: 681cb5
File 164556906733.png - (191.46KB , 1125x550 , 29.png )

>Since Vex was the one that discovered this, does this mean we’ve gotta reduce his punishment a little?
He’ll get a reduced punishment when he understand what he did wrong and says he’s super sorry. Even if the outcome was positive doesn’t mean what he did was justified.
>We don't want to send a message that anyone can get away with doing what they want if they're lucky enough to find or do something that benefits the ship.
Exactly. Not to mention people might think you’re letting him get off easy just because he’s your little cutie pie. The crew will not tolerate nepotism, that’s for certain. Speaking of the cutie pie, you really should go and see how he’s feeling soon…

>If there are indeed Sakkilian corpses on ice in there, then we, as a species have been here long before The Shed Scales arrival.
We still don’t know how long we were on ice ourselves, mom, do we? It is possible that we arrived at the same time as these Sakkilians, but we just took a super long nappy time.
Hmm… the hyper jump between galaxies didn’t just bend space, but time as well, right?
Time within hyperspace travels slower than outside it, that’s correct. While the jump would only have taken a full year for us in the fleet, a hundred years would pass for those back home.
But what if… they arrived before we even jumped? How freaking neat would that be?
… … …um… mom? While it sounds super neat it seems extremely unlikely. Engaging in hyperspace has never shown even the possibility of actual time travel, let alone letting someone reach the past.
But it would be so cool…
It would be super cool, but sadly, no. It’s far more likely that the jump simply took more time than expected… and we arrived 40 years after these people somehow? Hmm… while the effect of delayed jumps has been observed before, they’ve never exceeded that of micro-seconds. Suddenly having a delay of a whole whopping 40 years sounds nearly as unlikely as actual time travel, though still in the realm of possibilities. Then again, it was the first time a jump of this scale was ever attempted, so it’s possible that the variables we’re working with are vastly different from the usual ones.
…but no time traveling?
No time traveling.
Aw…

>Those might be stasis pods, with living Sakkilians in them.
…the description do sound a lot like cryo-pods… so we might find actually living Sakkilian down there! How exciting!
>Ask for more details. Were the stasis pods inside some sort of structure?
Sorry, but the details are super vague. This data pad belonged to someone stationed on the fleet in orbit, remember, and not someone that was down on the research colony.
So it’s more rumours and hearsay than actual facts?
Exactly.
Still, sounds exciting to investigate.
Super exciting!
>I think we're going to need that crew quarters upgrade soon...
Well… we can always keep them in the cryo-pods until we’ve made room for them?
Still, the sooner we get more rooms, the better.

>Bump investigating the energy reading to the top of our priority list.
Of course it’s top priority! What else would we do?
Deal with those pesky pirates polluting the nearby planet?
They might have more information too! Maybe we should invite them over for some tea and ask them?
…I was more worried about them attacking while we’re exploring the facility.
Oh… yeah, that might happen too.
>I don't know if we could delay our engagement for this. Those pirates are leaving tomorrow. Our pods have waited over 30 years, surely they can wait another day, right?
…or we can deal with both at once? I mean, dealing with the pirates can’t take more than an hour? Two tops, right?
So what, split the crew the handle both jobs?
Or just deal with one after the other. Capture the pirates and then go down to the planet?
Hmm…
>I don't know how long we can stick around.
Hmm… well, the captain has mentioned that he rather not stay around this system any longer than necessary. You’re unsure why, though… he just keep saying it’s this feeling he keeps getting.

Kaktus 2022/02/22(Tue)14:31 No. 1024271 ID: 681cb5
File 164556908052.png - (211.91KB , 1125x550 , 30.png )

>What type of colony would we establish? One that is a barren world with all the resources to build from the ground up? Or an easily defensible world with good trade? Or maybe even a world no one else would want but is good enough for you?
That is a decision for the colony administrators and leaders to make. But considering how much alien life there seems to be in this galaxy you’re probably going to have to settle on the scraps… of course, seeing how your technology seems to be more advance than theirs, you can probably terraform far more planets than they can. Either way, you first need to find and ensure the safety of the colony ships, so let’s focus on that for now.
>We could find some of the rest of the fleet like the honorable general Ivanka.
There weren’t any generals in the fleet and while the name Ivanka is strangely familiar, you know for a fact that she wasn’t one of the five Admirals that was part of this endeavor. Maybe she was another captain? Of course, while you do wish to find some more people of high rank out there, chances are a lot higher that you’re going to stumble upon people of lower ranks first, seeing how they were the most numerous. Then again, it’s possible that you won’t find anyone out here… and that you’re truly the only Sakkilian in the whole galaxy… a terrifying thought, so let’s not linger on it.

>Hmm, maybe we can section off part of the beach for nudism?
While the beach deck is big enough to fulfill most of the crew’s needs, it’s not that big. It is after all just one big room. Well, two big rooms if you count the deep water section… but your point stands. You either need to ban nudity or allow it, you can’t really do both. Hmm… maybe there’s another solution?
>The Commander may have inquiries into this incident though, but they will be far from angry. I fear she will be interested in the personal equipment on display.
If Commander Doxy wants Car Zuk to know she’s interested in his equipment she’ll need to tell him that herself. You’re not going do any flirting on her part… especially without her even asking or knowing about it in the first place.


>Tell them you won't punish them this time but they should follow the rules in the future.
Um… I’d j-just like to iterate, I… um… thought I was following the rules?
I know, Ensign Car Zuk, which is why I’m not punishing you.
Ah’ll keep to the rules, lad, even if Ah would prefer not to. It’s more for the others sake and not mine, after all.
Speaking as one of the others… I wouldn’t mind seeing two hunks walking around with very little on…
…and if one of those h-hunks of rocks where your brother?
…okay, I see your point. Maybe everyone being naked is a bad idea.
While I will need to prioritize the needs of those that wish to remain in clothed company, I’ll see if I can figure out some other solution that will please both parties.
Tsk, either you’re naked or you’re not. But yeah, giving people the chance of not getting eavesdropped on while they enjoy the briny water does sound like a good idea.

>Look who’s talking, little miss “I want to listen to the naked men”. You’re trying to listen to them right now, aren’t you?
What? No, of course not! I can’t listen to something that’s underwater, now can I?
Yah keep putting ye ‘ead under though, lass. Ah’m pretty sure yah can ‘ear fully well if yah do that.
H-hey! Y-you can see under the water!?
Heh, of course not. I’m blind.
She can “hear” you shape under the water, yes.
Hey, don’t sell me out to the scum, Zento, hehe.
It’s very rude to… to… peek like that!
Alright alright, I’m sorry. Can’t blame a gal getting a bit curious when in the presence of such fine gentlemen like yourself. Heh, why, should I be worried that the captain might punish little old me?
…I’m not going to punish you unless you’re really breaking the rules, Tizli.
Then I guess I’ll just have to break the same rules as the rest of you in here.
Huh, what do you mean by that?
*Huff* And ‘ere Ah was just trying to relax with a friend, no need to get so worked up.
Hey, I did warn you it would get foamy. All I wanted was to relax and get to known the Captain a bit better myself. I’m sure such an honourable and handsome hunk like himself has many heroics to harken back too, so I just want to huddle close to him while he humbly humour us with his heavy hardships and hectic hassles against the harassing hordes. I know for a fact he saved a beautiful princess from the ravaging hordes of pirates that plagues these systems.
Wow? You really did that, Captain?
She’s exaggerating, but yes, I did indeed save her from pirates.
Wait, y-you’re a princess!?
Yes, kind of. See, this is why I wanted to be alone… no need for inane questions or… BROTHER’S that are eavesdropping. *Sigh* I was just hoping for some good stories…

Once again you hear someone dive under the water in the deep pool. It’s clear her brother Tozlan wants to keep an eye… or in this case, ear, on her, even if she rather he didn’t. Hmm… can you get him to leave tactfully?

>>1024271
>another solution?
We could schedule some hours as being nudity allowed while other hours are clothes-on. Or allow people to reserve the room? For private gatherings, where those involved get to decide what the nudity rules are? Heck that's what Tizli wanted to do in the first place.
Just no sex allowed in the pool, not unless those involved are willing to clean it after.

Heck, let's kill two birds with one stone and implement reservations right away. With the limitation that they must be requested 24 hours in advance. Except for the next 24 hours because nobody got prior warning, so it's first come first serve, and you're going to pull rank to get the first reservation for you and Tizli. Sorry guys you gotta leave.

>>1024273
The cum pool cleaning rule makes sense

>>1024273
>specific times for nudity
Scheduling specific times for nudity sounds good.

>reserve the room
I don't think we should allow others to reserve the entire room.

That would lead to schedule conflicts or someone tampering with the schedule to make someone else lose their time. All of that leads to more fighting and the crew wouldn't get along with each other. Their personal problems start interfering with jobs, leading to lives being risked. (If Tolzan and Vex can start a fight over a board game, something like this would start a bigger fight!)

It'd be better to just schedule nudity for everyone and not allow room reservations.

>pull rank and kick everyone else out
There really isn't a good reason to do that.

>>1024271
Zell is friends with her brother, right? He can be a wingman and introduce Toz to Shara. It's a step up from just "staring" at her.

>>1024270
We have enough ships and crew to do both in a day, but I wouldn't believe it would take an hour until it's been vetted past her brother. If the pirate captain isn't convinced to go off-ship long enough for a ship-jacking, then plan B is laser to the bridge. Even if time wasn't short, the captain wouldn't want to put more effort and resources into fighting pirates than advancing your primary mission, as exciting you think the former is.

>>1024349
Agreed.

Well, the alternative to reservations is to have certain hours of the day that are nudity-friendly. That way those who are bothered by that sort of thing would be able to avoid it. For those who are bothered by only certain people being naked near them, I suppose there could be a sign-in sheet or something? So people know who's in there before they go in?

Kaktus 2022/02/28(Mon)09:54 No. 1025017 ID: 681cb5
File 164607087248.png - (197.86KB , 1125x550 , 31.png )

>Allow people to reserve the room? For private gatherings, where those involved get to decide what the nudity rules are? Heck that's what Tizli wanted to do in the first place.
Hmm… currently, there are too few crewmates on this ship to really make it worthwhile to take reservations. After all, this facility is built to fill the needs of far more people that there currently are on the ship, so having something like three people get full private access to it seem a bit like overkill. Then there’s the problem of actual needs and possible spiteful reservations. We know for a fact that Eki needs these facilities to live comfortable, or she’ll dry up and get sick… while the Raolme has so far visited it daily as well. Combine this with the fact that they despise each other, and you’ll have recipe of both of them reserving this place just to keep the others out, sparking unnecessary conflict. Of course, then there’s the third party, someone that just felt the fancy one evening to visit this place, but can’t because Eki and the siblings are reserving it as often as they can. But you digress, let’s return to the question at hand… do you allow people to reserve the beach deck?
>I don't think we should allow others to reserve the entire room.
That sounds like a good idea, at least for the time being. Maybe allow it for special occasions in the future, but you’ll handle that when it comes up. For now, the beach deck is open for all, as it should be.
>You're going to pull rank to get the first reservation for you and Tizli. Sorry guys you gotta leave.
Pulling rank for inane reasons like that is a sure way to make your crew dislike you… especially when Zell already said he was willing to leave if you just asked nicely. You’ve always preferred to let the captain be who you are on the clock, while you’re just another person when off it.

>We could schedule some hours as being nudity allowed while other hours are clothes-on. That way those who are bothered by that sort of thing would be able to avoid it.
Hmm… like a casual Friday kind of thing? That might work… in fact, that’s a perfect idea. You’ll talk to Commander Doxy to see if you can implement something like that, because it would make both parties happy.
>For those who are bothered by only certain people being naked near them, I suppose there could be a sign-in sheet or something? So people know who's in there before they go in?
…or they can act like grownups and just leave if they get uncomfortable… or just go to the other side of the beach deck.
>Just no sex allowed in the pool, not unless those involved are willing to clean it after.
Why do you even need to state that you can’t have sex in public spaces, especially if you’re not going to clean up after yourself? If you want to have fun, do so in private. No need to get the rest of us involved.


>Zell is friends with her brother, right? He can be a wingman and introduce Toz to Shara. It's a step up from just "staring" at her.
Ah, so that’s the way yah’re going to play it, lad. Removing all three of us at once, huh? But Ah can’t leave mah brother ‘anging, can Ah? Very well, Ah’ll see if Ah can get the lad doing something else than creeping in the water.
Besides, staring is really rude.
We can’t stare, we’re blind.
Hearing, Staring, same thing for you eels.
Going by ‘ow Shara flaunts ‘erself, it’s clear she either wants the lads to stare or she simply doesn’t care… ‘nowing ‘er, Ah believe it’s probably the former.
Nevertheless, we don’t want to encourage Tozlan further. Zell, do you want to introduce them to each other?
You’d be a real pearl if you did, stout boy.
Ah’m not even sure Shara is even ‘ere right now, but Ah’ll see if Ah can at least get Tozlan to stop worrying and enjoy ‘imself. Come, Zuk, let’s drag Toz over to the sundeck side and see if we can find a nice, flat stone to enjoy the artificial sun on.
Oh, I do like enjoying the sun…

As they leave the bath Car Zuk takes great care to cover himself for Tizli’s sake, before grabbing a nearby towel and wrapping it around his waist. Zell, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care and leaves himself on full display when he gets out, much to Tizli’s delight, though he does at least have the decency to wrap a towel around himself as well before leaving.

Finally, we’re alone. It was so noisy with the others here… but now… why, I can settle down on my favourite briny little sleeping spot and just listen to that beautiful sound you’re making…
Beautiful sound?
Ba-dump… Ba-dump… so rhythmic… so… sensual… heh… It’s like hearing a pearl being bathed by the waves… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…
Ah, you mean my heart. I’m sure yours sounds just as beautiful, Tizli.
None of our hearths sounds like this… they barely make a sounds at all, what with them being so small…
But surely you didn’t ask me out here just so you could listen to my heart and sleep on my back, Tizli. You already do that most nights, don’t you?
Tsk, a part of me really just want to lie here and enjoy you, for as long as the river flows and even as the eternal dark consumes us all… but you’re right, I might have several more sinister reasons why I asked you to come here all on your lonesome, which might include belly rubs and head scratches. But mostly, I want to know more about you Captain. I want to hear stories about your heroics deeds and adventures before you came here and found your princess, hehe.
Well, I might have a story or two to share…
Oh, no no no, you can’t just tell me freely. We need to trade, you know.
Trade stories you mean?
Trade information… or stories, if you’d like. Remember, it’s considered rather rude to give freely in my culture, at least when you have something to give back. So… while I might not have any interesting stories about fighting pirates and the like, surely you’re interested in hearing something about little old me or my people?
I might still have a few things I’m wondering about you, yes…
Then ask away, Zento. Let’s just enjoy these calm, warm waters and get to know each other… like for example, how di-

Kaktus 2022/02/28(Mon)09:54 No. 1025018 ID: 681cb5
File 164607088143.png - (265.99KB , 1125x550 , 32.png )

*SCREECH!!?*

And then the bubbles start spewing in the pool, giving Tizli such a freight that she jumps halfway out of the water and loudly screams. It’s clear she has no idea that this was bubble bath… or what even a bubble bath is for that matter.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?

Kaktus 2022/02/28(Mon)09:54 No. 1025019 ID: 681cb5
File 164607089042.png - (206.51KB , 1125x550 , 33.png )

>We have enough ships and crew to do both in a day, but I wouldn't believe it would take an hour until it's been vetted past her brother.
Her brother? Vex? Why would he know? Or do you mean Zento’s second son, Dante? Rosewater and Dante aren’t actually related, you know… but it might still be an super idea to ask him for advice about the pirates, though.
Commander, I’m a security officer, I deal with on board security and safety, not ship to ship combat.
Even then, you’re probably the best educated on the ship when it comes to these things, with the exception of the Captain.
I do have experience on the larger scale ramifications of combat, which might help. Very well, I’ll take a look at least.
…isn’t Shara a soldier? Wouldn’t she be super good at combat?
Shara would just suggest to shot at them until they die. She’s not a very tactical mind.
…okay, maybe you’re right about that.

So what was the plan? Lure the enemy Captain away before capturing the ship?
We do have “exotic slaves” and “exotic tech” to sell, so it wouldn’t be hard to get them to trade with us. Then it’s simply a matter of convincing them to trade on our ship instead of theirs.
They won’t come to us to trade, they are probably too smart for that. But if we suggest a somewhere else away from both ships, like the planet, they might fall for it. As we probably have more crew then they do, we’ll still be at an advantage, as we can leave enough pilots to crew all three of our cruisers and that Raolme Defender ship, leaving them severely disadvantaged if they would try something.
Still, I rather not start a fight if we don’t have to. If we can capture their captain, we should be able to get them to stand down.
Why just the Captain? As long as we capture enough of them, we’ll probably be able to force them to surrender. Either that, or show enough force to make them think twice about continue fighting.
Well, we got a super duper plan then, don’t we?
It does sound super exciting! This is almost like a holo-vid!
This does indeed start to sound like a plan, though we’ll need to iron out the details and a few kinks before tomorrow.
But… how long will this take? Hours? A full day?
Minutes. We lure them away, take them down and force them to surrender. We need to hit them fast and decisively. We are in no position for prolonged combat encounters. Unless we are having trouble luring them down it would take less than an hour.

>If the pirate captain isn't convinced to go off-ship long enough for a ship-jacking, then plan B is laser to the bridge.
While introducing the crew that is piloting the ship to super-heated death will ensure that they can neither run or fight back, it will also ensure that all the control modules of the ship will transform into melted slag, thus being rendered useless. The sudden influx of molten metal and hard vacuum will probably damage other parts of the ship as well, possibly destroying whatever storage compartments they have and ruining the materials we need.
So, you’re saying not to shoot the bridge?
Shooting the bridge will put an end to the threat, but might ruin most of the spoils. What you chose to do is up to you and the Captain, Commander. We might also consider simply the threat of blasting their bridge. After all, those on the bridge would probably not be very keen of being melted into sludge, would they?
Stand down, or we’ll shoot? Hmm… might work…
>Even if time wasn't short, the captain wouldn't want to put more effort and resources into fighting pirates than advancing your primary mission, as exciting you think the former is.
There’s nothing stopping us from simply ignoring them until they leave… or just pre-emptively blowing them up with all our superior firepower before they can get their shields up. But we have very little to gain by doing so.
We’d secure the system, right? That doesn’t sound like “little gain”.
In contrast, if we somehow managed to capture the ship intact, we’ll have not only a medium sized pillager ship, but all the resources it has on it as well as the crew that it houses. Heck, blowing up the bridge will still leave us a bunch of resources and crew that we can use.
Hmm… but it will be harder to capture them, won’t it?
Risk and reward, Commander. If we can capture their ship intact, we’ll gain quite a boon for future engagements. But there are risks, especially if we go in without a proper plan.

>>1025018
Relax Tizli it's just bubbles. If they're making an uncomfortable sound we can turn them off. What was she saying?
Give her some of that physical affection she craves.

Hmm, what kind of questions can we ask her... What's her favorite food? How is childrearing done in Raolme society? What do Raolme cities look like?

>>1025018
Reassure her that nothing bad is happening. But if the bubbles are messing with how she “sees” with her hearing, then we’ll turn it off.

>>1025019
We could pretend to have “slaves” to sell, in order to make the pirate captain drop their guard. But we should never make a plan for the pirates to actually take the crew onto their ship to try and sabotage it from the inside. Because if the crew fails to sabotage anything from inside the pirate ship, that’ll lead to their deaths or the pirates will subdue them and fly away, leaving no guarantee we’ll ever find them again.

If we end up fighting on the planet, the pirates would have an advantage because they’d have lethal weapons, while the only weapons we have are a bunch of stun guns for security on our ship. Even though we studied Eki to learn the anatomical weaknesses of the pirates, that doesn’t help us if their most basic armor can stop our weapons from stunning them.

And taking prisoners leaves the problem of having to keep them fed, which is already an issue because we can barely feed our current crew. Sure, we could put the prisoners in cryo so we don’t have to feed them, but even that would be difficult if we don’t have enough space for all of them.

But even if everything goes right and we capture the pirate captain, the main ship might choose to run away to save themselves instead of surrendering to us, which would mean we’d lose out on whatever they had in their ship.

>>1025018
>bubble jets
Those are basically underwater smokescreens. I can't imagine she can hear very well with those on.

>>1025097
>room for prisoners?
Honestly, if we do capture anyone, then we probably shouldn't go down to the broken planet to look for those Sakkilians. There's a chance that the pirates could break out while we're exploring the planet and try to take over our ship.

>pirates might run if we capture pirate captain while off the ship
>lose everything on the pirate ship if that happens
Like Dante said, it's a risk/reward situation.

>>1025034
Don't have too much fun with this. For all you know, this could be a common pirate tactic to disorient Ralome.

>>1025019
Plan B was never a serious option, when we can just leave them alone. The rewards would not be worth it, and even the threat of such would weaken our position if they call our bluff.

Plan A is good enough, but do keep in mind they have a lot of their crew on the organic planet. They'd know the lay of the land well enough to plant an ambush. Either pick a different planet or send a scouting party ahead of time.

>>1025097
I wouldn't say never. Dante isn't trained in espionage either, but sabotage has to be easier to wrap his head around than fleet tactics.

And in fact we do have, or can replicate, a set of power armour against which to test our weapons.

>>1025105
We're not not investigating the cracked planet, that's abandoning our primary mission. Let the pirates get away if it comes to that.

If their scanners knew about this spot about as much as ours did, the pirates would initially come in for the OM. They would be curious about the planet cracking and energy sig, because that's a spot for booty if there ever was one. Maybe their message was less a trap and more a distraction.

Kaktus 2022/03/05(Sat)09:26 No. 1025368 ID: 681cb5
File 164650118915.png - (137.65KB , 1125x550 , 34.png )

>We could pretend to have “slaves” to sell, in order to make the pirate captain drop their guard.
Maybe throw in some super sweet looking “tech” and I’m sure they’ll be drooling all over it, something that look cool but is worthless.
Hmm… I would suggest that I and Shara will be the “slaves”. That way, when they let their guard down, we can strike quickly and decisively. We are after all the best close combat combatants on the ship.
But can’t you infiltrate their ship and take them out from the inside? Like a super spy? That would be neat.
We’re not going to let them take anyone onto their ship. If we fail, they’ll simply leave with what is now actual slaves and we might never find them again.
I have to agree. We don’t know how their ship functions, so sabotaging it will be difficult. There’s also the problem that their ship is supposedly full of water, and while I assume they’ll have some way for the slaves to breathe, we’ll still be at a massive disadvantage what with our horrid affinity with water.
Aw… so what, your plan is just to walk up to them and clobber them?
If we can get them to believe we’re harmless, we should be able to get close enough to neutralize several of them before they can react. Though, making us seem non-threating might be a challenge.
The pirates did mention something about “Motivation collars”, didn’t they? If we can make them believe we have equipped our slaves with similar technology they might just assume that the “slaves” can’t do any harm?
…that might work, yes. I do hope one of our alien friends know what they look like.
I’m sure Eki will know.

>If we end up fighting on the planet, the pirates would have an advantage because they’d have lethal weapons, while the only weapons we have are a bunch of stun guns for security on our ship.
It does not matter if we knock them out or kill them, as long as they are naturalized.
And if they have some kind of armor?
While our stun rods and sleep guns will have trouble, the shock rifles can penetrate weaker armors without problem. I will assume that these pirates aren’t running around with military combat armor worth tens of thousands of credits.
Doesn’t Eki have some armor?
An power suit made for industrial purposes, not combat, which is what we should expect them to wear. Seeing as it isn’t designed for fighting and even has part of their body exposed, I don’t see how it would stop our more powerful weaponry, even if it is non-lethal.

>Do keep in mind they have a lot of their crew on the organic planet.
We have detected 5 small ships, probably containing no more than one pirate each, landing on the planet.
According to what Eki has told us about those Pillager ships, they’ll only have a crew of 8 people at most.
And we know at least two of those are slaves.
Indeed, that leaves 6 people. They will without a doubt leave at least 1 person on their main ship, which mean at most there will be 5 pirates at the trade meeting, as well as the 2 slaves. We do want to “buy” the slaves to replace the one we’re “selling”, after all. We also know for a fact that they have 2 smaller ships they might deploy, shrinking that number to 3, but as these ships are for sale they might not even consider using them.
Why don’t we just buy them? Or tell them we’ll buy them?
That would make them bring the ships to the trading meeting, which might be useful. Those things are clearly not designed for combat against infantry, so they won’t use them against us unless they are planning on boiling themselves as well.
Still… maybe we should do the trade somewhere else… they know the planet way better than we do… and it’s covered with dangerous fauna, remember?
Hey, how about one of the moons?
I’d prefer that we do it on the planet. Not only does it have a breathable atmosphere, it has similar gravity as the ship. As our pirate friends are used to move around in water, it would leave us with an advantage if we interact with them in an environment similar to the one we’re in right now. Which is to say, we can more easily kick their ass on the planet, I’m sure. We also don’t need to use the clunky EVA suits either.
Hmm… still something to consider.

>Taking prisoners leaves the problem of having to keep them fed, which is already an issue because we can barely feed our current crew.
While we won’t be able to keep production up with our consummation, we still have enough food stored to feed us for several days, even if we capture all the pirates alive.
Not to mention they are bound to have some food themselves, right?
Worst comes to worst, they’ll starve for a day or two while we travel back to that mining colony. They’ll survive.
So long as the crew have food I’m sure everything will just be super, mom.
>Sure, we could put the prisoners in cryo so we don’t have to feed them, but even that would be difficult if we don’t have enough space for all of them.
We are currently using only 3 of the 10 cryo-pods we have, leaving ample room for all 6 of those pirates.
>Even if everything goes right and we capture the pirate captain, the main ship might choose to run away to save themselves instead of surrendering to us, which would mean we’d lose out on whatever they had in their ship.
As I said, we can simply threaten them that we’ll shoot them down if they refuse to surrender. If they are suicidal enough to refuse, we’ll simply turn their bridge into molten metal. If we deploy all three of our pilots, which is to say Tes, Eki and the new gal Shal, as well as the Raolme ship, I’m sure we can look intimating enough to scare them into submission. The only problem is to get into firing range in the first place, but I’m sure we accidently get close enough while they are busy with the trading on the planet.
I don’t think they can even run if we get enough of their crew away from the ship. Using a hyperjump isn’t something you do just with one pilot.


>If their scanners knew about this spot about as much as ours did, the pirates would initially come in for the OM. They would be curious about the planet cracking and energy sig, because that's a spot for booty if there ever was one.
While it is clear that they are here to gather something from the green planet, most probable OM, I do wonder why they haven’t shown interest in the cracked planet yet. It might be something we want to ask them about after we capture them.
>If we do capture anyone, then we probably shouldn't go down to the broken planet to look for those Sakkilians. There's a chance that the pirates could break out while we're exploring the planet and try to take over our ship.
…we have a brig, a brig designed to keep dangerous prisoners in check. They won’t break out. That is final.
>We're not not investigating the cracked planet, that's abandoning our primary mission. Let the pirates get away if it comes to that.
If there are living Sakkilian stuck down there, then we need to find them.
Well, chances are high that they didn’t survive the planet cracking but…
We still have to try.

So, is there anything more we need to add to our plan?

Kaktus 2022/03/05(Sat)09:26 No. 1025369 ID: 681cb5
File 164650120866.png - (216.47KB , 1125x550 , 35.png )

>Don't have too much fun with this. For all you know, this could be a common pirate tactic to disorient Ralome.
…you honestly believe the pirates would shoot bubbles at their space ships? The Raolme ships don’t even have water in them! While it might be very disorienting and unnerving for her, it’s not because space pirates.

Relax Tizli it's just bubbles.
THEY ARE LOUD AND SCARY!
Do you want me to shut them off?
WHAT!?
Shed Scale, Captain override, Zento SilverCog, 0451B-SA. Disable the bubble jets in the bubble bath until 15 minutes after I’ve left it. Make it happen.
The bubbles dies down and Tizli visible relax as she lets herself sink into the water again.
Whew… that was sludge…
I gather you don’t like bubbles then?
Ugh… no…
Well, those are basically underwater smokescreens. I can't imagine you can hear very well with those on.
Everything was just… screaming and moving, while my instincts was yelling at me to run or fight.
Ah, so some kind of fear response? Did you have some kind of predator that hunted by making bubbles?
Scum if I know! I rather just enjoy the brine on the shore than think about that kind of stuff.
I’m sure it’s nothing your species actually need to worry about any longer.
Even then… it kind of soured me on this pool…
Don’t you fret, I know just the thing to brighten your mood again.
You do?

>Give her some of that physical affection she craves.
Her whole body shudders as you start scratching her behind the ear, and when you follow that up with a finger under her chin she quickly starts to purr loudly, drowning out the sound the large pool next to you.
Oh, that’s nice...
Then you feel her claws on your shoulders, rubbing them tenderly. It takes you a moment to realize that it’s not her hands, but her hind legs that has somehow curved around your body.
Oh?
A certain someone said you Sakkilian liked to get shoulders rubs… so fairs fair, hmm?
Well, I won’t complain…
>What was she saying?
Eh?
Before the bubbles?
Oh, I… forgot… um… OH! Right! How did you become a captain of this briny ship anyway? You must have made some real heroic pearls to be a Captain like this, right?
To be honest, not really. I finished the StarFlight Academy officer program with a just above average score, was assigned as an officer to the Unity border patrol and slowly worked my way up to Captain from there.
Oh come on, you must have fought pirates or something.
We did mostly deal with smugglers and pirates, yes, but most of them surrendered as soon as we cornered them. They are a cowardly lot, who usually just bully those weaker than them after all.
That does sound like our pirates as well, heh.
But then there’s always some wacko who decided they have nothing to lose… or they are just an Uredo. They generally fight to the death no matter what.
Uredo? Are they some kind of dangerous alien in your galaxy?
Far from it. They are a plant alien who are so peaceful and pacifistic that just the thought of hurting someone causes them mental anguish.
…yet they always fight to the death?
When one of them snaps, they really snap. There’s a reason why they are the most feared species in my galaxy, even with their refusal to fight usually.
Oh… I see... I need to read up on them sometime, they sound interesting… but I digress, back to my original question. How about this briny thing? The ship, I mean? How did you get it?
Well, when we were jumping from our galaxy to yours, we… we got into some trouble and I commandeered this ship and launched myself out from hyperspace as a last resort.
So you stole it?
No, I didn’t steal it. I used it in an emergency.
Heh, sure you did, Captain.

>What's her favorite food?
Why, I do love Scarabée sur un bâton. It’s made from a large insect native to our homeworld, marinated for a whole day in herbs and leeks picked from the riverbeds, served with some really sour tasting tubers, a mushroom sauce and some purples. How about you? What do you like?
…honestly, I prefer just a nice, bloody steak made from a sand strider oxen.
I have no idea what kind of animal that is, but I’m sure you don’t know what I was talking about either.
Well, I’m sure we can try each other’s favorite dishes sometime?
That sounds nice… but not today. I’ve already eaten, you see.
>What do Raolme cities look like?
It depends… the old cities of the homeworlds are amazing, built next to the grand rivers, the houses are like great arcs above them, with gardens and parks hanging beneath them so that you may relax in the aromatic bliss as you listen to the ships below…
And the colony where you grow up?
Think a forest filled with high towers, with small bridges crisscrossing between them, all the while several artificial rivers slowly flows from the tops of the tallest buildings all the way down to purple gardens on the ground, playing harmonic music as it flows through the buildings. Then, from below, railways spreads out like a web, bringing the aroma of the gardens below with them as they ascend into the sky…
Railways?
We usually don’t do hovercars, Zento… you know, what with us being blind. That’s why we like the rivers so much… it’s hard to get lost on a river, you know. But how about you, Captain, what kind of pearls do you have on your homeworld?
Hmm… the old cities where usually carved into the white cliff to shade us from the suns, or hidden far below the large trees of the northern forests. But today, with our terraforming technology, most of the cities on my homeworld are located in the grand sea of sand and dust, in large domed cities with high, ivory towers that reaches towards the sky.
It sounds… dry?
It is. We come from a large, desert planet after all.
…no offence, but I think I prefer the rivers of our own planets, artificial or not.
None taken.
>How is childrearing done in Raolme society?
Why, are you… thinking about getting some Raolme children?
I might considered it once or twice, perhaps…
Tsk, do I hear some ulterior motives for this little meeting of ours?
Tizli, you’re the one who invited me, remember?
Well… I just might have some ulterior motives, then…
Heh, of course you do.
Which might have included these head scratches~

You know… those bubbles really turned me off on this pool… and I don’t think you’d like taking a dip in the deeper one, would you?
I gather you have something else in mind?
Well… I do happen to know this place, somewhere I’ve spent a few nights at, that’s really nice… and private… and close by…
Oh?
And I’ll have you know, I’m breaking the same rules those boys did earlier right now~
Oh.

"Hanger" should be spelled "Hangar".

I think she wants to have funky underwater Raolme sex.
Use silicon-based lubricant and keep your head above the water, because if you drown it will be extremely embarrassing.
On the subject of the attack on the pirates, knowing that their ships are strong at close ranges makes me want to kibosh the fake slave trade plan and only flag them down for trading long enough so that they get close to not easily escape, yet not too close that they can easily close the gap and mess us up with their close-range plasma weapons. If we have them far enough, we can use laser pulses to disable any relevant systems on their main ship and maybe get whoever’s piloting the smaller ships to surrender without having to directly engage, since they, as pirates, probably have shit nerve and esprit de corps, so I don’t think they’ll fight to the death if they don’t have to.

Nice and private huh? Sounds good.

>>1025368
>…we have a brig, a brig designed to keep dangerous prisoners in check. They won’t break out. That is final.
Being overconfident is a good way to get caught off guard if they do manage to escape. At least try to be careful so that any prisoners we have don’t take advantage of that overconfidence.

Kaktus 2022/03/07(Mon)17:49 No. 1025585 ID: 681cb5
File 164670416244.png - (175.71KB , 1125x550 , 36.png )

>"Hanger" should be spelled "Hangar".
Damn auto-speller AI, always get things like that wrong.

>Being overconfident is a good way to get caught off guard if they do manage to escape. At least try to be careful so that any prisoners we have don’t take advantage of that overconfidence.
It is not overconfidence, it’s a simple fact. Our brig is designed to keep more dangerous prisoners than just some measly pirates.
They are equipped with both a force field and augmented synthsteel bars. So unless they somehow managed to get something that can deal with both those things into the cells with them… well, they are super stuck, mom.
But they are aliens. What if they have something like… I don’t know… acid spit?
We already know what they are capable of, Commander, thanks to Eki. While their claws are super strong, they aren’t that strong.
And we’re making damn sure they aren’t smuggling anything into the cells either.

>On the subject of the attack on the pirates, knowing that their ships are strong at close ranges makes me want to kibosh the fake slave trade plan and only flag them down for trading long enough so that they get close to not easily escape, yet not too close that they can easily close the gap and mess us up with their close-range plasma weapons.
Of course we’re not going to let them get into range with their weapons, no matter what. In fact, they’ll probably try and do the same. They are pirates, so they probably expect that we might try and pull something, thus they’ll probably try and ensure they aren’t easy targets, just in case. Of course, if they get a bit distracted… well… we might just be able to sneak a bit closer. In fact, as they don’t know our weapons specs, and we outrange them by a rather large amount, they might not even realize that they are within weapon range if we’re devious enough.
>If we have them far enough, we can use laser pulses to disable any relevant systems on their main ship and maybe get whoever’s piloting the smaller ships to surrender without having to directly engage, since they, as pirates, probably have shit nerve and esprit de corps, so I don’t think they’ll fight to the death if they don’t have to.
As I said before, just threatening them with hot death will probably make then surrender, though we’ll need to ensure that they are in a position that they can’t run away easily.
By having most of them stuck on a planet in an attempt to trade with us.
And if we want to really show them that we’re serious, we can simply blow away their main weapons. Their ships are designed so that their weapons are located in the “claws” of the hull, mostly because putting a plasma caster to close to the engine is too suicidal even for pirates.
Right, so make a show that we can crush them and let them surrender… hmm… same thing might work on the planet as well. If we can quickly knock out most of them, especially the captain, then the rest might just surrender.
Let’s hope there is no honor among thieves in this galaxy as well.
Hmm… I probably should run this by the Captain as soon as possible. We want to be ready first thing tomorrow to deal with these pirates.

Kaktus 2022/03/07(Mon)17:49 No. 1025586 ID: 681cb5
File 164670417085.png - (177.38KB , 1125x550 , 37.png )

>Nice and private huh? Sounds good.
Nice, private and quiet, yes…
You really like it when it’s quiet then?
While I do enjoy the silence of the eternal dark at times, yes, the most briny thing is to fill that silence with sounds yourself with someone that you… heh… fancy…
Oh, really?
>I think she wants to have funky underwater Raolme sex.
…you really hope not… you rather not clean up after it…
So… is this going to be underwater? Do I need to get some silicon-based lubricant? Maybe an oxygen mask? It would be rather embarrassing if I drowned in the middle of it, after all.
What? No, I wasn’t planning on dragging you out into the depths like that.
Then… what did you have in mind?
Your room, your doofus! I’ve been sleeping there several nights already, haven’t I?
Ooooh… right… well, in that case…
In that case, wh- HEY! W-wait, Zento! Let me get my swimming trunks on first!

You pick her up (after she’s gotten her swim trunks back on) and cradle her in your arms before quickly making your way towards your room. She purrs in your embrace the whole way, her tail wagging as you can hear her compliment your strong arms under her breath. As soon as you get into your room, you lock the door behind you and drop Tizli on top of the bed with a loud pomf.

Tsk, and what are we going to do now when we’re in private, tall boy?

Vaginal sex in the missionary position while kissing and holding hands

>>1025586
Don’t forget what she said earlier: “No sex without protection.”

Did you remember to bring protection this time? If not, then both of you will have to do something else.

Vaginal sex and you have to cum inside.

>>1025606
Yee

>>1025611
This.

You've gotta respect her wishes and get some protection before you get to have any fun with her.

Kaktus 2022/03/11(Fri)16:57 No. 1025971 ID: 681cb5
File 164704664755.png - (34.14KB , 1125x550 , 38.png )

...what we’re going to do? Well, for starters… I was thinking maybe holding hands and kiss for a bit, hmm?
Lewd.
And then make sweet, sweet love to you all night long?
Tsk, now you’re actually lewd.
Or would you rather have a raw bareback fucking hard enough for you to cry out for your brother?
Heh, okay, n-now that’s lewd!
Speaking of... do you still want me to wear protection?
Do you have any?
Well… no… but I think I can get some if you give me-
Eh, you can pull out, can’t you?
That’s not the most reliable method, you know.
I’m sure a briny hunk like yourself will have no trouble with it, Zento… besides, I kind of like the risk. It’s like sitting on a live gun… a gun that at any moment can shoot a child into my tummy, heh.
Tizli, if you don’t want to get knocked up, you can just refrain from taking the hybridization formula. Can’t sire a child with you without that, what with us being different species and all.
Tsk, you’re ruining the fantasy, you doofus.
…you’re not planning on letting me pull out, are you? Not that I’m complaining.
Maybe… either way, I’m on top so lie down.

Wait, what are those? They are like big, black pearls…
H-hey, those are sensitive! That’s where I keep my swimmers before I fire them.
Heh, then I know what I need to grab to get you to do what I want… h-hey, I was joking! No need to glare like that!
…so are we jumping to the main course directly?
You have all night to enjoy the appetiser. But right now I need that big, fat bud of yours deep inside me. Ah! C-careful! It… it has been a long time since I last laid in the foam, alright? Ngg… whatever t-those things that’s on your dick a-are… t-they are… oh… w-wonderful…
T-they are spines… *Huff* w-wait, you’re… sucking m-me in?
Don’t w-worry… that means it likes you~ Now, you can g-go deeper, tall boy… or is there something more about me that’s odd?
Well… *huff* ...it’s shaped a bit differently… and the clit… clits positions did t-throw me off a bit… ah… but I’m as deep as I can go… I can feel myself rubbing against y-your… um…
That’s my womb, silly. You’re supposed to penetrate it as well so that y-you can… ah… so that you… you can blossom up w-when you… ngg… finish…
B-blossom up?
…y-your head doesn’t f-flare up and… k-knot me?
We o-only have spines and balls, T-Tizli… *huff* nothing else…
Ah… g-good… that means I can k-keep riding you even after you’ve filled me with your seed…
You’re definitely not going to let me pull out then?
Hehe…

Kaktus 2022/03/11(Fri)16:57 No. 1025972 ID: 681cb5
File 164704665705.png - (178.38KB , 1125x550 , 39.png )

Tizli did indeed not let you pull out… not that you really tried to anyway.

Kaktus 2022/03/11(Fri)16:57 No. 1025973 ID: 681cb5
File 164704666816.png - (128.59KB , 1125x550 , 40.png )

Dawn of Day 15
Your crew consumes 5 unites of food less than your total food production (+5 food).
Your ship consumes 1 unit of fuel.
Your planetary landers return with a total off: 6 NM and 15 Corrosives.
The planetary lander was completely destroyed, but the pilot Shal managed to return unharmed with all the materials collected with the emergency escape pod.

Research on “Planetary Lander Fauna/Flora repellent” is moving along as expected thanks to having the right crew for the job (Regina, Iris, Tara and Ikekeki). [Done in approx. 1 days]
Lt. Tozlan’s Raolme Defender has successfully been repaired and is ready for launch.
A Sakkilian Cruiser has been built in the hangar and is ready for launch.
Ensign Vex refused to follow orders and is currently being punished.

Lt. Tozlan and Ensign Car Zuk bathed in the sun with their mutual friend Zell and became friends.
Ensign Gherni and Ensign Tescia shared stories over a few drinks and became friends.
Tizli is pregnant.

Commander, report.
*Snore*…
What was that?
I have a guest. Ignore her. Now, report, Doxy.
Right away, sir. Our new pilot Shal has returned from her mining trip, though the intense heat from the volcanic activities on the planet damaged her ship to the point of making it useless, sir. The good news is that she’s unharmed and that she managed to return with both gold and corrosives.
A planetary lander is small price to pay for her safety… anything else?
Both the Raolme Defender and our third Cruiser are ready, sir, which means we have 4 ships in total to be deployed at your command, boss.
Finally we have some fire power to defend ourselves with.
Oh, and we’ve gotten an answer back from Vul. I’ll send it over to you.

-this on? *Cough* Salutations, Captain Zento SilverCog of The Shed Scale, this is High Magistrate Vul Wrok of the “New New Old StoneShire” Everlasting Monarchy mining colony. I am glad to hear you have arrived at your destination as planned and that your duty is going well.

As for the old battle site you asked about, I sadly do not have much information to share about the subject. I know that there was a battle there near the end of IOD war and that they used some kind of colony destroying weapon that heavily damage a planet, but the reports I have state that the planet is still in one piece, though slowly falling apart. I guess time has finally taken its toll. The pirates on the other hand I can help you with. They will not be a threat to you as long as they think you can fight back, though be on your guard. These Flashy Freebooters are also well known for scamming people that try and trade with them, so simply don’t. You won’t get what you pay for.

Finally, there is another important thing. A few days after you left a small fleet of IOD ships arrived just outside our system. They asked if any Kelshin or Raolme ships had passed by. When we answered with a negative, they jumped centerwise towards IOD space. I’d advice that you’d be careful, as it’s possible that there are still scout ships in the Tarkus systems and I know for a fact that the IOD do not take independent ships lightly. Do stay safe. Stamped by High Magistrate Vul Wrok, Everlasting Monarchy.

Remember, our primary goal is to find and secure the rest of the colony fleet. If there are living colonists on the cyan planet we need to save them. Our secondary goal is to scan all the planets for minerals, which only the green planet is still unscanned. Lastly, we need to decide what we should do with the pirates. I’ve drafted a plan, but you’re the one who get the final say on how and when, sir.
Ngg… just… five more… *snore*
Thank you Commander.