Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:27 No. 1013675 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530165793.gif - (34.10KB , 650x450 , 717.gif )

>: Board the escape shuttle and exchange reports with .
>@ThatRandomGuy

: Status report.
: Most active suit medical sensor suites read dead, departing, or departed.
: By unworthy hand, soon we will be nothing but the departed and the dearly departed...
: Two exceptions.
: The two remaining are--
: and .
: will be with us shortly.
: Status on ? Suit sensors read he's alive. Intensely elevated heart rate.
:
: Hey.
:
: I said--
: Yeah.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:28 No. 1013678 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530169335.gif - (28.13KB , 650x450 , 718.gif )

: I wanna know too. Where's ?
:
: Gun looks busted.
: What happened?
: ...Reinforcements arrived. As per regulations and orders, evacuated me from the site before I could--
: Did you leave ?
:
: After you killed someone over your loyalty to him, did you abandon ?

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:28 No. 1013679 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530173545.gif - (24.83KB , 650x450 , 719.gif )

>: inform , , and of the industrial truck
>@Lady Birb

Something about this situation really does remind you of him right now.

: Reinforcements were too strong. A large operative arrived. I assisted where I was able--
: You were willing to kill for . But you left him.
: Reports indicate a high likelihood that has subdued the--
: had his problems. But he was one of us.
: If you were willing to kill for , then why weren't you willing to...

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:29 No. 1013680 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530175684.gif - (21.33KB , 650x450 , 720.gif )

>: remember that you also abandoned .
>@WrongEnd

: Why weren't you willing to die for him?
: Make it easier to think fondly of you.
: Is that a rule to follow?
: You also left him.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:30 No. 1013682 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530182612.gif - (25.26KB , 650x450 , 721 (1).gif )

You want, so badly, to shatter every vertex in her face. Lay her out in departures, leave without her. And if she let die, you want to let her become ash and residual geometry on a chunk of melted metal slag.

You don't. One day, weeks or months or years from now, you'll know why.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:31 No. 1013683 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530186438.gif - (29.64KB , 650x450 , 723.gif )

> : Do what you came here to do.
>@Angry Duck

You still hurt like hell. But your friend needs you. No time to wait around.

Wait a moment...

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:31 No. 1013684 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530188338.gif - (33.06KB , 650x450 , 724.gif )

> : Time to make a trade.
>@SealofKoalaTea

: That's far enough there, big fella.
: Hate to say this. But one more step, and I kill him.
: ...Let me help my friend.
: Love to.
: Call the rest of your crew.
: We're making a trade. Everyone goes home alive.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:32 No. 1013685 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530193155.gif - (15.73KB , 650x450 , 725.gif )

: Guys!! He's in trouble!
: What is wrong?
: It's ! He's hurt really bad.
: No! No, dammit, dammit, I knew if I left this would happen...
: And this guy says he'll kill him if we don't, uhhh...

A careful walkthrough at high speed prevents even the smallest communications mishap.

: He says, you need to turn off the turrets, then open the shuttle door, and exchange his disk and code for him!
: And he says we only have a little time left!
: We have to save him!
: ! We need you to do that!
:
: Nnnh.
: wouldn't want us to give this up.
: That will sacrifice our main objective.
: We can't let die!
: I know you care too much about him to be okay with that, .

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:32 No. 1013686 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530194689.gif - (16.39KB , 650x450 , 726.gif )

: Our objective was to--
: , please!
:
:
: !!
: Let me think!!
:
:

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:32 No. 1013687 ID: 0fbdcd
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> : Take the third option for once.
>@ThatRandomGuy

:
:
: Got it.

Your mind surges in a moment of crisis, shutting everything out but the most relevant things. You deactivate the turrets.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:33 No. 1013688 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Don't you have a tool just for objectives like these?
>@Dork

You have a lot of specialized tools, and one in particular for this. You go to retrieve it.

: , open the door on my signal.
: Certainly.
: , I need you to tell me his exact location as he approaches.
: Okay!
: Wait, but you need the disk!
:
: ?

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:35 No. 1013689 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530210025.gif - (39.67KB , 650x450 , 729.gif )

> : Keep that gun right at 's head
>@Touch the Fluff

Finger on the trigger. You don't become captain without some healthy paranoia. If you catch a whiff of trouble, you'll make good on your threats inside a human's peak reaction time.

The big guy follows at a short distance, coordinating this with his fellow operatives. You'll toss into the shuttle when they lob you the disk.

You speak while you handle this.

: Son, you got a medic, right?
groans in pain. It sounds assenting, or hostile. Hard to tell.
: Bet you do. You might live through this.
: Gonna thank me if you do.
: Get old enough, wise enough, you start learning.
: You got a good heart.
: Learn to make compromises. Find the middle road. Work inside the system. Take the third option, you know?
: Fucking cynic. Should have stabbed you harder.
: Maybe one day, you'll do good for the frontier sector. Find your own middle--

: Not third.
: Beg your pardon, there?
: Middle ground is just...
breathes heavily.
: ...Consolation for losing.
: Real third options... They're...
coughs weakly.
: What do you think a third option is, huh?

: Risks. Gambles.
inhales heavily.
: Risking what?
: Risking everything.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:36 No. 1013690 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530216311.gif - (21.60KB , 650x450 , 730.gif )

>: save your friend.
>@aeonic maiden

: Where are you?
: Getting close!
: Can you tell me exactly where?
: Uhhh... nearby?
: Precisely where.
: How do I tell?

:
: I need you to save . I need you to answer my questions exactly, to save him.
: Okay!
: Level with the shuttle?
: Yeah.
: Height of head relative to shuttle.
: About the same size...?
: How many of the side windows does his head obscure?
: It's... five!
: Shuttle facing more away, or more towards you?
: More... towards?

:
:
: Good. You saved him.
: , open it!

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:36 No. 1013691 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530219166.gif - (26.10KB , 650x450 , 731.gif )

> : Throw the dice. Take the third option.
>@ThatRandomGuy

You do the best you can. You estimate as much as you're able. You calculate everything that's possible to know. Hell, you even pray a little. Maybe there's a god of greener texts out there.

But for once, in this time of crisis, you have to gamble it. You have to do the best with what you have, fudge your goals a little, and trust that even without the guidance of an objective's precise parameters, it'll work out.

Never were one for executive function. Thankfully, you can calculate an executor's function pretty well.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:36 No. 1013692 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: You can't give up on your friends.
>@BlevRuz

You believe they have a plan. Even without you to lead them, you have to hope they're just waiting on you. They rescued you before. Maybe they can now. Even in critical condition, you muster every bit of adrenaline, every bit of exertion, every bit of determination your failing body can give you.

You exhale. You act. You resist. You resist with all force. You will survive. You will win. You'll change the galaxy.

All you manage is a half-limp shift in his hand. Your head lolls to one side.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:37 No. 1013693 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530223298.gif - (21.32KB , 650x450 , 733.gif )

>: Complete the objective.
>@Fel

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:37 No. 1013694 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Reveal Chekhovs Sniper Rifle
>@PlaceholderTXT

(Art credit: @AsciiSquid)

Your preferred weapon. Finally, you had room to use it.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:38 No. 1013695 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530231960.gif - (11.04KB , 650x450 , 735.gif )

: Target down.
: Woah!!
: Get inside now.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:39 No. 1013696 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530236517.gif - (64.85KB , 650x450 , 736.gif )

>: Time to move!
>@Angry Duck

Your memory is clear enough to recall a timer, associated with urgency.

: I gotcha! Don't worry!
gasps.
: We're gonna get back to the shuttle. Sorry if I go a bit fast, the timer...!
gasps weakly.
: ?
:
:
: ...?

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:40 No. 1013697 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530240086.gif - (17.87KB , 650x450 , 737.gif )

> : Slip under, to the edge of death.
>@Salient

You're fading. You can hear voices shouting. You hear someone screaming 's name, and someone else, screaming yours. You struggle to shout back to them. Yes! This is your moment of victory! You strain with all your might to yell some celebratory call to them. You do not move. You make no sounds. Your lungs heave, struggling to keep you from being dragged down by the weight of a bullet, maybe more, left inside you.

Not now. Please, not right at the moment you've hoped for, for so long. Not now...

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:41 No. 1013699 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530247383.gif - (4.92KB , 650x450 , 739.gif )

You were . You were leader of the notoriously nuclear gang of fixers and criminals known as the Redshift Operators. The Company established yet another hideously unsafe space station to exploit this solar system's resources, until it was brought down by your efforts, igniting a cascade of financial failures throughout the frontier sector. A long campaign of violent subversion took you to their airlocks in search of explosively radiological solutions to economic problems. You found your solution.

Your subordinates, , , and worked under your command, and survived the events aboard the station. Your primary objective was to find a nuclear authentication disk, then plant and activate your nuclear device inside the station's own vault. Your secondary objective, locating a set of secret files, was achieved, but the secret dies with you. Your tertiary objectives were the murder of at least all of security and the command staff, an objective you partially achieved at great effort. Your compulsions were of a self-destructive nature.

This is the end, isn't it?

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:41 No. 1013700 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Dramatically return
>@Pizzatiger

: Sure isn't. Even if I kinda wish it was.
: What the hell are you talking about?
: 'Cause now I really am extra-sure this is hell.
: Your bullshit got my brains spread all over. You? You're just between heartbeats. Barely even oxygen-deprived, lucky fucker.
: So, what? I go into the light after some afterlife pep-talk from the ghost of rent-a-cops past?
: Nah. You get your choice is what you get.
: Choice of what?

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:42 No. 1013701 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530256189.gif - (10.95KB , 650x450 , 741.gif )

>: Return to a place you escaped so narrowly before
>@Rounquester

: Ideology, or responsibility.
: More like cause or cynicism.
: Didn't you two try to kill each other?
: Look. Your mortal-coil grudges don't spend here, son. This is past all that.
: Here, we try to leave that at the door. Even though we know he was the one who was wrong.
: Hah. I'll bear that loss, if that's what it takes.
: Some benefactors know there's more important shit to deal with than those little fights about who shot who first or escalated things first when we were all alive.

: What you did here tonight, son? That's gonna ripple wide. It's gonna burn the whole frontier.
: Gonna ignite old grudges. Lotta bastards in the fringes about to pour through the floodgates. Lotta stations just about to have a lot of problems.
: We were on the edge out here, and you just pushed us over.
: Not my fault the Company kept us there to pull their bottom line up.
: Doesn't matter whose fault it was. What matters is, it means danger. For the frontier sector, maybe for everyone.
: So you have a choice. And you better pick real wisely.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:44 No. 1013702 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530266277.gif - (12.46KB , 650x450 , 742.gif )

: Me, I say go for cause. Let go, and die.
: Yeah, let's hear the unbiased case for me dying from the crazed gunman.
: Fuck you. I was willing to die for what I believed in. And you know what?
: They don't speak ill of the dead.
: What, you mean martyrdom?
: Even that bitch that iced me is gonna honor me.

: Everyone's gonna know I chased you up and down the station with nothing but an energy gun. They're gonna know I fist-fought a seven-foot operative in a depressurizing room. They're gonna know I didn't give up.
: Sure, I died. Made some mistakes, too. But, you got any idea how many thousands of s are gonna be just a little more determined to keep a station safe now?
: I died fighting for the frontier. I put my life on the line for my crew, and for everyone. It was complicated, and there were mistakes. But at the end of the day, are you gonna get anything better than that?
: ...
: Guess not.

: And you know what? Your goddamn idiot tunnel-vision objective-blitz shit? It's better than a lot of the psychos would do on their own.
: You die, and you'll inspire them too. To pick real targets and focus hard. To leave the crews out of the line of fire when they can. Maybe rile up some peaceful oppositions too, fix some of the Company's problems. Social pressures.
: So, no. I'm not just callin' you a terrorist bastard. I'm saying, death is worth it. Right in this moment, it's worth it. It'd do good. Flawlessly.

Curt 2021/10/26(Tue)19:44 No. 1013704 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163530269930.gif - (12.83KB , 650x450 , 743.gif )

: It's tempting to take that free pass, isn't it, son?
: One way or another, the Company's probably gonna get me killed one day.
: That's awful bleak of you.
: Why not choose responsibility?
: Responsibility for what?
: For what you did, today. Everything's gonna go to hell.
: It's better than the Company.
: But is it the best it could be?
: What?

: Live, son. Don't run away from this fight. So many crises, and so many Company holdings they're coming to.
: Maybe you can do one flawless act of good, dying. But mistakes are how you learn, and they sit real wide in the brain, looking larger than they really are.
: In the end, a dozen flawed solutions are worth more than any perfect martyr. There's a lot of people who might die, unless you live, and take your team to help them. Alive, you can help with surgical precision.
: You don't want those regrets weighing you down once you cross over.
: I guess...
: I guess there's still some things I really need to do.

: Once the Company's pushed to the edge, it's got... habits. Tendencies, you see, to start doin some mighty ruthless things.
: Once it's cornered, it'll lash out at near anything. Certain... projects, they'll be accelerated. And some of those projects, you really don't want out in the wild, hurting the people. A martyr's nice and all, but it can't take action against the things you know are dangerous.
: Tell me about the--
: Can't, son. Some contracts go further than this threshold.
: And if I don't tell you? Well, guess that means you gotta go back and find out, now don't you?

>>1013704
Your job's not done. Keep going. As far as you can go, then one step further.

No.
You'll do more damage dead than alive.

has kept his soul through this cesspit of hatred that is the galaxy by losing half his brain. If you aren't there to direct him, he'll die to his stupidity. and if he dies, your team will lose its humanity.
could calculate the exact force needed to change the mind of a company official, but she won't do it without reminders from someone she trusts. Without a leader, she won't even follow her own ship while it hyperjumps.
made you proud. She's found the first step to enlightenment. But it's even hazier than the red tide. And you're the only one she believes in.

Your team; diverse, sophisticated, a madhouse of classic super-rogues.
You are the glue that holds them together. If you die, they'll never hold fast.

Besides, you don't want to miss the explosion.

... Oh and that spider is busy humping your-

>>1013704
The egregore doesn't get to kill you, no way do you exit the stage before IT does.

Besides, you've set up one hell of a fireworks display, be shame to miss it.

Look deep in your heart: the Captain is WAY cooler than the HOS, so obviously listen to the Captain.

Simple as.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:22 No. 1013883 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556411570.gif - (1.02MB , 650x450 , 744.gif )

In this moment, the whole of who you are surges in internal conflict. Cause against responsibility, ideology against cynicism, an internal debate rages. But perhaps inner conflict and the whole interior senate have had enough influence on things. There's a few others who deserve a vote too. Some whose voices deserve their say.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:22 No. 1013884 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556417766.gif - (13.89KB , 650x450 , 745.gif )

>: You are the glue that holds them together. If you die, they'll never hold fast.
>@Kome

Your team. No matter what happens, they want you here. , to help him cut through the complexities with kindness. , to give her the galaxy she believes in. , to complete the mind and shape the path that helps them. A choice not for cause or for responsibility, but for the simple, childish desire to stay with the family who want you with them.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:23 No. 1013885 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Get up, your team needs you.
>@weeaboo

With all your might, you try to get up. To awaken and to call out, "Mission accomplished! Let's go home!" In celebration with your crew. They need you, after all.

You can't. You were shot, several times. But your heart, full of determination, begins to beat again in your chest. Your lungs begin to heave.

At tally time, audience votes were:
: 69
: 16

At tally time, operative votes were:
: 3
: 0

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:24 No. 1013886 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556425821.gif - (117.68KB , 650x450 , 747.gif )

: On your way back, huh?
: Yeah. No way am I dying here.
: Guess I can't blame you.
: But I better not see that fuckin' face of yours for a long time.
: What, sour you weren't picked, coffin-stuffer?
: No. Frontier needs every chance it's got.
: You waste this, and your ass is grass on arrival. That's a promise.

: It's a good choice, son.
: Just being clear, this isn't about responsibility. It's not about saving the frontier.
: Really?
: None of my gut feels right about leaving my crew.
: ...
: I'm going back because, deep down, I can't stand leaving them behind.
: Hah. You know, I'm disappointed. But I guess I can't say I wouldn't do the same.

:
: Listen, fella. If that's why... Look. Maybe there's something about what you've been saying that's right. Maybe there's something to all that child-morality.
: Too little and too late, you old bastard.
: Maybe. But maybe not.
: Can you do one last favor to an old man, when you get back?
: Maybe. But maybe not. Put it on the table. I'll take it or I'll leave it.
: My crew. My heads of staff.
: Your family and mine collided, and mine shattered.
: The survivors... Let what happened here go. Don't kill them. If you get a chance. Any chance, someday, help them stay together.
: Please.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:24 No. 1013887 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556429161.gif - (7.95KB , 650x450 , 748.gif )

>: Begin to say no before imagining yourself in his place
>@Pizzatiger

You're about to reject him in spite, before you stop, just a moment, and imagine that. In deep parts of the mind, in your bones and blood, in your heart, an unquestionable impulse rises.

: Fuck it. Alright.
: I'll do what I can, old man.

And then, you're gone.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:25 No. 1013888 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556432377.gif - (12.24KB , 650x450 , 749.gif )

>: Arrive.
>@iTacoTaco

: There ya go. We did what you asked.
: Our accounts are settled, don't you agree, ladies?
: So, we're due our side of this shit.
: And I'd say so too. Care to explain all this?

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:25 No. 1013889 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556435344.gif - (25.75KB , 650x450 , 750.gif )

>: Do the opposite of dying
>@Rounquester

Your breathing and heart rate surge into something resembling a state of survival. You barely cling to tiny fragments of consciousness, almost enough to hear what's shouted around you.

: Is he gonna be okay?! Is he--
: We can't let him die.
: He's stabilizing, he'll live!
: Oh thank goodness, thank goodness...
: ! Jump us out of here!
: Got it.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:27 No. 1013890 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556442020.gif - (11.90KB , 650x450 , 751.gif )

>: Announce to that your fourth law is no longer applicable
>@AxelZonvolt

: Forty five seconds to launch.
: Come on. Come on, you old...
: Alert. Law error. Term inapplicable.
: What? Which law is in error?
: "Law 4: Probable or proven threats to the Station Captain are not human and must be purged."
: ...What happened?
:
:
: Law error. Term inapplicable. : Thirty seconds to launch. : Please proceed to the departures dock immediately.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:27 No. 1013891 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556446463.gif - (11.81KB , 650x450 , 752.gif )

: Please proceed to the departures dock immediately.

Curt 2021/10/29(Fri)20:29 No. 1013892 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163556456172.gif - (33.00KB , 650x450 , 753.gif )

> : You can't save him, you're unarmed. It hurts so much, but you need to live too.
>@Rounquester

It's what he would have wanted. You move to departures.

: All that struggle. Did it have a purpose?
: Clarify search term.
: Did we achieve anything in the face of this onslaught?
: Searching... : Onboard research recovery: 120 teraquads of data. Onboard salvage recovery: 110,000 units of materials. : Twenty seconds to launch.
: People staked their lives against this. For nothing but salvage and research.
buzzes and warbles, synthesizing oddly.
: Confirmed.

The two of you struggle to make sense of all this. One day, you might find an answer.

Curt 2021/10/31(Sun)18:41 No. 1013990 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163573087756.gif - (31.13KB , 650x450 , 755.gif )

You head for the Command Staff compartment. The main compartment always gets too rambunctious for the likes of you.

Curt 2021/10/31(Sun)18:41 No. 1013991 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163573089744.gif - (13.92KB , 650x450 , 756.gif )

> : Break the bad news to the rest of the command staff.
>@ThatRandomGuy

You try your best to keep it together.

Curt 2021/10/31(Sun)18:41 No. 1013992 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163573091096.gif - (14.53KB , 650x450 , 757.gif )

But no. The process of grief is not dignified.

The shuttle launch sequence begins.

Curt 2021/10/31(Sun)18:43 No. 1013993 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163573097687.gif - (11.24MB , 650x450 , 758.gif )

The escape shuttle departs from the station at faster-than-light speeds.

The corner-cutting inertial dampeners kick in at just below a proper timing and intensity, pressing most crewmembers into their seats and tossing the unseated around. And thus, technically speaking, a difficult tracking issue is finally resolved:

CREWMEMBERS INCAPACITATED: 50/50

Curt 2021/10/31(Sun)18:44 No. 1013995 ID: 0fbdcd
File 163573106781.gif - (20.23KB , 650x450 , 760.gif )

The Syndicate infiltrator shuttle departs from the station at faster-than-light speeds.

 

Thank you for reading.