Big problem with preemptively charging the FTL drive to jump in case the situation turns sour: Most of the fuel supply was used up charging the drive for the jump here. That still might not preclude charging it for a much shorter jump, but unless there's someplace with a known supply of fuel within range, we're kinda hosed if things go sideways here. I'd rather surrender in that case rather than jump away and end up stranded.

>>537764
I would also like to know what the fuel and efficiency numbers are for the FTL drive. Maybe it's more efficient with shorter jumps, and we can conserve fuel by making a string of those rather than one big jump, at the cost of it taking longer to get to our destination.

I just imagined the diplomat would like an inspection...

"What's behind this door?"
"We don't know, we can't open it"
"And this?"
"That leads deeper into the ship... haven't visited yet because of monsters"
"What is this sound?"
"Our tozol feasting on some monster-remains... we haven't spoken to her yet, but she seems timid while having something to eat and is not bothered"
"Have you secured your cargo properly?"
"What we could reach..."
"OK, then all's fine."

>>537824
(Last three lines made my day)

Wait can tye ship do in system jumps? If so if the system has a gas giant you can get fuel there unless this ship uses something else then H3 for fuel? And can we see a pic of the outside of the ship id like to know if there are any icons or words that we can desicfer?

I get the feeling that the Tozol will probably appear out of nowhere, nab one of the diplomat's guards, and steal all his gear and uniform.

Maybe they ought to bring an extra set of gear on a mannequin, so we could start a "xenos goyim we've swindled" hall of fame in one of the store-rooms.

I want these xenos goyim to sacrifice a lab's worth of engineers/scientists and equipment in exchange for a chance at learning from alien technology.
>"I promise we'll bring them back, or at least sell you their data with a funeral discount!"

whaat 2013/09/07(Sat)18:16 No. 539766 ID: 6216b0
File 137860299974.png - (23.19KB , 758x473 , dsq9.png )

The ship maneuvering engines and FTL drive are separate systems which work independently from each other.

I ask Huin about the speed of the FTL drive.

Huin: "It is definitely unusual, Tapog FTL drives would take over a decade to cover this distance. We had a feeling that this ship's FTL drive was much more advanced and powerful, but I never would've guessed that it would cover the distance almost instantly."

"Do you have any guesses on its range?"

Huin: "From what I know there seems to be a fixed cost in energy it requires to activate, which I'm guessing causes some sort of reaction in the drive that moves the ship, I don't really know, I'm not an engineer."

There also seems to be a Tozol glaring at me now.

whaat 2013/09/07(Sat)18:16 No. 539767 ID: 6216b0
File 137860301022.png - (24.00KB , 758x473 , dsq10.png )

The Tozol takes my datapad and then goes to do something in the corner of the room. There are some metal bits sticking out of her that look like debris but otherwise she looks healthier then when I first thawed her.

I also feel odd right now.

It's nothing less than the stirrings... of true love!

Leave the tozol alone. If it were worried about the bits of metal it would pull them out. Don't do anything that could cause it damage. Even trying to make it better.

Quietly watch what the tozol is doing. See if you can figure out anything more about it. One of the first things we should do is assemble a buffet of exotic materials for the tozol to eat. That thing is one of the best fighters in the universe. Anti-boarder protection is pretty much 100%. Get it some personal arms and armor too.

>>539770
Nope she just wonts to plag badpiggys

>>539767
Check all your tentacles to make sure the tozol didn't accidentally injure you while moving around in the room.

Be sure to tell your partner about the Tozol's new location.

Well, at least she's not hostile.

What's she doing? Is she using the datapad? In anything like the way it was intended? That's good- shows intelligence, and possibly that she can read.

I'm concerned if we don't share a language with her.

>I also feel odd right now.
Because you're a tentacle monster in the presence of a naked female?

>>539767
I presume those odd feelings are because the Tozol is standing on your tentacles.

Now, let's get back to maneuvering this stupidly large ship into an orbit that won't get us murdered by the local navy.

You need to handle this situation immediately.
Establish dominance, the only way a giant tentacle monster knows how!

If she can actually use it than she can probably read the language it is in. Since that is a language we also know, we can communicate through that if nothing else. We should at least try talking first though.

>>539782
Get its' genitalia bitten off by enraged supersoldiers?

well you did say you have some psychic abilities and to my knowledge tozols are immune or at least invisible to that kind of thing so maybe it's just that missing you with you.

Also wait a few seconds to see if she does anything and if she doens't do anything note worthy focus again docking the ship and we can work from there.

Also where they hell did she come from, I thought see was still in the cargo bay... how far away was that place from here? Like one, two rooms away?

If your going to take my stuff can I at least get your name?

If the tozol doesn't speak the same language as you give her a spare headset. the ship automatically translates incoming communications so it will hopefully translate locally as well. Last ditch attempt get a spare datapad and send your old one a message. maybe she can read but not speak some languages.

Politely ask her what she is doing. Whatever you do, don't offend the walking death machine.

>>539767
She didn't kill or maim you or Huin.

You guys are like, practically family now.

Realize that an ugly family breakup could be just around the corner if you don't comply with whatever request she is about to make.

>>539795
She was buried under debris. We could have easily lost her on the cameras, since we do not have control over more than 1% of this ship. Excluding the Hyperspace Core, of course.

>>539827
yeah but we still had the closed doors and stuff, I figured we would have at least heard her coming into the room if nothing else.

Focus on the ship's systems is probably the best idea right now. Establishing an orbit or whatever they want you to do. Although do try and keep an eye on the tozol, and if she can read the datapad, maybe use it as communication.

whaat 2013/09/08(Sun)20:34 No. 539936 ID: 6216b0
File 137869765988.png - (15.44KB , 545x398 , dsq11.png )

It could be that she is trying to communicate although I’m not sure why the translator wasn't able to figure out what she was saying earlier when she was unfrozen.

>Tentacle Monster

Well I guess I am some sort of monster which happens to have tentacles for limbs, although I don’t know for sure what I really am. Now that I think about it I don’t even know if I even have a gender like Huin or the Tozol. Being able to change my body’s shape doesn't help me in this regard either.

>Weird feeling

I feel like I want to do something but I’m not sure what. It seems similar to the primal instincts that I had when I wasn't self aware but instead of hunger it is something else, something unfamiliar and it is gnawing at my mind.

Hopefully this feeling will go away if I focus on something else like managing the ship. I tell Huin about the Tozol but I don’t think he cares at the moment. From what I can see from the few working sensors are about a dozen ships approximately 150 meters long with the largest being 350 meters long following us a fairly sizable distance away. The sensors don’t tell me much more past that.

Three hours later.

“Huin there’s a small craft approaching. This is probably the diplomat team they said was coming.”

Huin: “Finally, I almost thought they would not even come. I got everything as neat as I can make it as long as nothing bad happens this should go perfectly. You alright, you sound out of breath.”

“I’m fine, just do whatever it is that you do.”

whaat 2013/09/08(Sun)20:34 No. 539937 ID: 6216b0
File 137869769510.png - (19.85KB , 642x462 , dsq12.png )

Actually trying to focus on something else hasn't helped much in fact it’s getting more and more harder to think. It probably has something to do with her but what. It can’t be psionic related because as far as I know Tozols don’t have any abilities like that and mine does not give any feedback to my mind. Maybe if I examine her or something, I don’t know, what I’m doing now isn't helping.

I wish I knew what to do about this.

I don't know, check what she's doing with that data pad, maybe that might give you some clues... also what is it we do?

you knew how to eat without thinking about it. if you just zone out and let your instincts take at least partial control of your actions it may do whatever it is itself. the problem is, if the tozol thinks your actions are aggressive it would start breaking you.

write out "do you know who/what i am?" on a datapad and hand it over. may know how to work it and translate it. and then answer back.

There are two possible options the first is try and get her out of the room so you can clear your head. As for the second, all creatures instinctively know how to fill basic needs like eating and breathing. If its that important your body will know what to do, just let loose and do whatever comes naturally.

>>539937
Try to get her attention and desperately motion for her to leave the room while explaining she's making you feel weird and you don't know what your instincts are trying to make you do. Maybe... wait, maybe it's because she's bleeding! Yank out the debris on her and examine the blood. I'm sure she won't outright kill you because of it.

After she's outside, try to slowly let your body do what it wants, so you can remain in control while finding out what it is your instinctual response is.

maybe its her echo location? if i recall correctly tozols have some sort of sonar thing they do with there tails, maybe that's whats bothering you?

>Weird feeling
>similar to the primal instincts like eating
Well, there are only so many primal instincts.

Are you thirsty? Do you need to excrete waste? Do you need rest or sleep? Have you done any of these things since becoming self aware?

Of course, none of those feelings would depend on the tozol being there. She might theoretically prompt instinctual primal responses such as arousal, fear, or territorialism.

Any of that feel like it fits?

It's obviously love. You must woo the tozol!

>>539951

And by 'motion' you mean wrap those tentacles around her and get busy.

Maybe it has to do with how she appears to be stepping on your tentacles as she wanders around the room?

Go and try talking to her. See if that changes those feelings. Or like.. Gauge your feelings comparative to her responses or something? Could be any number of things since you don't even know what you are!

Ask the Tozol to please stop standing on your tentacles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfjdB7kaoxs[/spoilers]

Mate type this and then send it to the tozs Dpad "can you plaese leave the room your making me go primal and i may try to rape you" and if she dis not send this "i hope yoiu dont kill me then" cos she can and well kill you, tozs are that good

Tell Huin the tozol is making you a bit unnerved and anxious for some reason. He needs to know there's something going on.

Do you think you and Huin could make an attempt to communicate with Ms. Tozol? See what she's reading and see if you can match it. Otherwise try to draw some pictures/comics to explain the situation?

See if you can convince her to guard Huin somehow. Like show images of Huin doing trades and a picture of a wounded Huin with a Tozol ripping the head off those who did it.

If you can't work anything out then gently shoo her aside to a side room with a mattress or something so you can focus on what you're doing.

Maybe you feel some sort of affinity for her tails.

any idea what this feeling would have you do... what do you feel like doing right now?

Are you used to having people stand on you? Maybe it's that.

Since she's a tozol you're in a bad situation to be trying to figure out what the heck your instincts are telling you right now because if she takes offense to anything you try she can easily rip you to shreds. You must act quickly to sort this out before you lose control.

Perhaps physical contact is triggering your instinct. While you can't move yourself out of the room due to your bulk, could you shift your body around to leave an open spot where she's standing and keep from touching her?

In case that doesn't help then type this out on your pad in the largest font you can fit on the screen and show it to her: "Your presence raising strong unknown instinctual urges in me; Getting harder and harder to think. Please leave now, before I do something I may fatally regret." Say what you wrote down when you show it to her in a strained voice.

whaat 2013/10/29(Tue)20:11 No. 545862 ID: 6216b0
File 138310267299.png - (19.36KB , 578x596 , dsq13.png )

I don't know why I feel like this, Maybe if I get closer- Wait no, why is that it feels... right? I can't, why is it harder to stay, I want to just-

what are you doing, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Get ahold of yourself man before you piss her off.

Oh this isn't going to end well, who wants to take bets that the emissaries are going to walk in during all of this?

...okay, I know that in theory, rushing naked-butt there with a mass of tentacles sounds good. But what you're really doing is more throwing a lot of squishy sensitive stuff at a killing machine that's about to be very pissed off.

Stoppit. Bad.

That is not how you romance a lady. Especially one that can tear bits off you rather easily.

A bit of tentacle probing is one thing but falling apart and rushing someone would make anyone nervous. So get your core back together and if you have to "inspect" her do it at a distance.

GIVE IN TO YOUR FEELINGS.

>>545864
Hey! You are a man of science. Approach this in a more controlled fashion.

>>545864
Man, you REALLY need to just stop for five seconds and take a chill pill. Put a few dozen pseudopods over your cartilaginous maw, take a deep breath, and resonate your air-expulsion tubes. Everyone will feel a lot more calm.

That is no way for a captain to behave in front of a lady! You will never get the good ending behaving like that. Now apologize to the lady and be sincere about it.

>>545864
What the fuck are you doing!?
This is no way to treat a lady!
Fucking stop. S-Stop!

You're either an engineered symbiotic, or a weaponised parasite. But this is definitely an 'ask permission first' situation.

Quick! Wrestle your own tentacles to the floor!

1/2 whaat 2013/11/03(Sun)01:07 No. 546459 ID: 6216b0
File 138346965784.png - (20.28KB , 786x541 , dsq15.png )

Control switches to the tozol...


This is Zowl Etaz, she was a scout on a long-term mission to find artifacts of the old masters. The locals call them precursors. She woke up, confused and disoriented with a hole in her memory. Her mind's been slow to reboot to get her bearings. Her body, however, seems to be functioning well.

She was about to give this jerk a bop on the nose to shoo him away, but now he doesn't have a nose.

2/2 whaat 2013/11/03(Sun)01:10 No. 546460 ID: 6216b0
File 138346982749.png - (12.31KB , 740x308 , dsq16.png )

She saw 3 possible exits she can take. The first is the wall vent on the side wall which she can easily rip open. The second is a vent on the ceiling of the room which she can jump up into. The third is the door she came into the room from on the other side of the room.

Please suggest an action.

the roof vent. the center of the ceiling will vex it the most.

Well I doubt that he will stop chasing you even once you're in the vents, and the door he may try to block you, soooooo... prepare your anus?

Seriously though, try for the door. At least you can shut it on the other side and place a barrier between you and the hentai escapee.

If the though of getting stuck in the air vent while escaping fills you with a sense of dread while at the same time a sense of anticipation the lower vent is for you.
All told the upper vent is probably the safer bet.
But seriously, lower vent.

Yeah you don't know where those vents lead. Just go for the door and claw your way through if you have to.

Also do your best battlecry. See if you can intimidate this mass.

Upper vent. The tentacle mass will have an easier time blocking access to either of the other exits, and it will find following you vertically the hardest.

>>546460
I recommend the wall vent. If he is stronger than predicted, he might throw your jump off course and slam you into a wall, dropping you deeper into the biomass, whereas the wall-vent relies on going across the periphery. The door is hopeless.

>>546460
Any idea what the tentacles are trying to do to you?

Go for the closest exit.

ceiling vent, this thing will have the most trouble getting to you there

Ceiling vent. Unless you're gung-ho for being probed, in which case, wall vent.

You're a Tozol.
He's a gelatinous tenticular mass.
What could he possibly do to you?

He was consciously behaving until a second ago, so I doubt he's trying to eat you.

I advise waiting to see what happens.

If he spawns a mouth, just rip those teeth out like a nightmare at the dentist's office.

Yell at him.

Go through the door, thered be more space to away that way

Wall vent.

>>546460
Wall vent looks tiny. Ceiling vent looks a bit better. The door seems like the worst idea since the 'captain' is carpeting every square foot of the room between you and it.

Go for the ceiling vent.

Vents are a bad idea.
Confined spaces don't lend themselves well to avoiding tentacle monsters.

Zowl Etaz 2013/11/13(Wed)19:40 No. 547977 ID: 6216b0
File 138440044266.png - (23.07KB , 762x579 , dsq17.png )

Zowl chooses to take the ceiling vent, hoping to confuse the tentacle creature. She is unsure of the the tentacle creature's intentions and it's reason for trying to grab her. She could probably fight it off indefinitely but she feels that escaping would require less effort.

Zowl Etaz 2013/11/13(Wed)19:51 No. 547980 ID: 6216b0
File 138440110311.png - (25.48KB , 932x587 , dsq18.png )

Suddenly the passageway in front of her is violently crushed closed. Zowl uses her Blindsight to sense her surroundings. She senses that a large tentacle smashed into the ceiling, also other tentacles are making their way to the vent opening she crawled in from. Zowl is annoyed by this shape shiftier making things hard for her.

She makes an analysis of her current situation. She believes that she could probably force open passageway but is probably structurally compromised and would not be able to hold her weight. The tentacles seem incapable of piercing the vent so she could try fighting off the tentacles using the metal debris as a weapon. She also could rip her way out of the vent and try to escape some other way. Zowl is getting tired of this shit in any case.

>>547977
>>547980
Either punch up through the bulkheads, or return to the room and attempt egress via the wallvent.

>>547980
Considering you can fight it off if you want, why not let it grab you a little bit? Like, head to the door, and then wait at it to see what the tentacles actually do.

Just go strait up to the next floor. If it keeps following you, you'll hurt it.

Trapped in a corridor with slippery yet deceptively strong tentacles weaving their way toward your feminine treasure. Time to lie back and think of England start biting!

Unfortunately I doubt you there's much choice here. The most expedient escape would be to tear out of the vent to the floor above, if that's possible, no telling how thick the deck plating is.

Failing that I'd say tear out the bottom of the duct and head to the vent in the wall. Unless I'm mistaken, the tentacles probably take up the space outside the door, but that vent? It'd only be able to enter it the same way you did, and it couldn't crush it.

... Assuming the creature isn't large enough to loop around from another entrance into the system.

Prepare your anus, because you opted to run from a shapeshifting tentacle monster in an enclosed space. Really though, at this point your only option to escape is tear out the bottom of the vent and drop back into room below aka square one.

Breaking through the ceiling wont work, it'll take too long. Trying to rip through the obstruction seems iffy too.

Ripping out of the vent and trying to escape another way is the best bet, I'd say. Other vent or the door, whichever is closest/least obstructed.

Wait in the vent for a bit until several tentacles come slithering in after you and then burst through the bottom into the room. At that point most of the long ones will be stretched out into the vents and you should be able to make it to the door.

Honestly if you are going to be staying there you had better have a talk with this guy and figure out what his issue is. If the tentacles are just being grabby and you are strong enough to fight them off no problem then I would not worry to much. Maybe this is his species way of saying hello? Or feeling you up with tentacles is how he sees things close up.

Either way having more allies to help you find lost artifacts is a good thing. Even if one of them is a bit grabby.

Rip. And. Tear.

Okay, I think there's a way you can go that doesn't immediately involve cutting your way through a huge mass of shapeshifting tentacles. It may not pan out but it's worth a try before trying to fight your way out.

Grab that pipe to your right and rip a section out. Use it to punch a small hole through the duct wall to your left and right. Stick your tails through the holes and get a blindsight reading on what's out there. There ought to be an area between the ceiling of the room below and the floor of the deck above you that you might be able to slip out into.

Pick whichever side has enough room and hand-holds to grab onto. At the least there ought to be the mounts the duct is supported by you could climb across, but there's very likely girders and various pipe runs and conduits criss-crossing the space you can clamber across.

Quickest and safest route would likely be to wherever this duct would have gone before the shapeshifter crushed it. If you get there you could just kick a hole in and climb through. Secondary choice is whichever of the door or wall vent in the room below is closer. That'll involve fighting the tentacles so grab a large shard of the duct to use.

whaat 2013/11/16(Sat)19:08 No. 548523 ID: 6216b0
File 138465771852.png - (24.60KB , 669x570 , dsq19.png )

Zowl considers ripping her way up but realizes that she does not have the luxury of time or tools to get through in a timely manner. Instead she rips her way out of the vent to escape being cornered.

whaat 2013/11/16(Sat)19:09 No. 548524 ID: 6216b0
File 138465777302.png - (45.99KB , 899x851 , dsq20.png )

Control switches to Huin...

Huin has always dreamed to become higher then his caste would allow. He saw an opportunity with this ship to become much more then what his society deemed was fit for him, and to become wealthy in the process. While he is quick witted he is starting to have second thoughts about going on this venture.

While Huin expected that he may see alien beings, his expectations did little to help his anxiety upon seeing the alien being. Much of its body is covered in scales with large sections of hair and sections fur going down along the back of the forearms and along the tail ending in a fluffy point. When it speaks, Huin sees it's sharp pointed teeth but does his best to pretend not to notice.

The Fluffy lizard introduces itself as Jouko, a representative for the leader of one of the major nations on its home world. Huin nervously checks his translator and returns the greeting, his anxiety starting to dissipate. The representative asks Huin if it is alright to bring his group onto the ship mentioning that one is a military quartermaster and the other is a scientist eager to come aboard.

Huin thinks for a moment and....

Deny the boarding request. Make up a story about interstellar quarantine procedures or something if you have to. Or claim it was a ferocious pirate attack.

Point is, you can't guarantee their safety with a tozol on board and you can't afford a potential armed takeover. It's just a handful on the entire spaceship, after all. You're here for trade anyway, not guided tours. You can tell them that.

well, no large boarding group. explain that most of the bulkheads are still closed because of the various monsters on board. and the tozol is killing and eating them, but you have no idea how many are left. simply put, everyone that comes on board can't complain if a monster eats them because they went down a unexplored passage.

Yeah tell them that your crew is still dealing with some issues from a pirate attack and you do not want to risk there safety.

We do need more crew eventually and who knows maybe we can find some here but be careful about first impressions. Don't let them know its just you and two crazy aliens on the ship right now.

If its just him and two other guys we might be able to have them on board. But really want to get the situation with the captain and his "girlfriend" under control first. If you go to introduce them to your captain and its a room full of tentacles "fighting" a naked Tozol it probably wont go over well.

Go Tozol Go.

As for Huin. Grant them permission to board in a small number, but warn them you're still recovering from being attacked, so their safety can't be ensured.

Well first ask what both parties are like. I mean if the scientist are eager we really don't want them tearing the ship apart trying to figure out all its bells and whistles. Also I should probably ask the capton since he is in charge of the ship

Well, if we want to trade stuff, we should probably impress their scientist with stuff we have for trade. That'll put pressure on the fluffy lizard's negotiators.

Explain the ship was a derelict and has not been thoroughly explored and is likely deadly in many areas. We have what is one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe aboard the ship. And we've yet to make any meaningful communication with it. 3 people max, only sidearms.

Suggest that you'd prefer to have only one of those two on board. Perhaps that'll give you a hint at what they value the most?

Let's not say the ship is a derelict we just found and that it's full of monsters. Or that we have basically no crew. This alien seems basically friendly, but that could change very quickly if they think they can just take what they want from the ship.

Mentioning cleanup from a pirate attack works, because it implies we're strong enough to fend off pirates. It's vital we appear competent and in control.

It'd be for the best if you don't say anything about what's happened on this ship, whether true or made up. That'll just give you a chance to bungle things. Just don't give them anything and let them come to their own conclusions.

Tell the representative that he may bring only the quartermaster and scientist on board. Then say any and all weapons his group has must be left behind on their ship. They will also have to declare any non-obvious innate offensive capabilities of their species.

Explain that you will be his sole liaison and communication channel to this ship; No other member of the crew will have direct contact with them. All questions and responses will go through and be screened by you.

Say that they must remain escorted by you at all times and remain within designated areas, pointing out that they will be monitored at all times by the ship's internal surveillance and sensor systems for compliance. Failure to comply will result in a response by the internal security system, followed by expulsion from the ship.

>>551526
>>followed by expulsion from the ship.

Into space, of course.

Sure just let them on what could possibly go wrong.

maybe if i bump this quest it will update again :C

>>559757
Don't talk crazy, and stop getting my hopes up!

>>559850
I'll never stop hoping damn it

Welcome to the Graveyard