Baron 2019/10/13(Sun)13:32 No. 947062 ID: 482fee
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Radiation spike detected.

"AUGH BITCH! SHE STOLE MY RIDE!"

Baron 2019/10/13(Sun)13:35 No. 947064 ID: 482fee
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"Well on the plus side, after that little display they let us go without searching out ship. Good thing too or they would have found Basmati here stuck in the pantry"

"I didn't know food had taste!"

"You know those are at least three months expired right?"

"And?"

"You and Ty are made for each other..."

"Back on topic Rocket, what's the damage?"

"Well they were able to cite the destruction of the base as a breach of contract so they aren't going to pay us. The only payout we're getting is from Bettings and Claims. It's hefty but it's only a fraction of what the original contract fee would have been."

"Give me a number Rocket, how much?"

"6 million Kushel."

"Alright! Jackpot!"

"Ty, we're going to be spending half a million a week as it is. That's not something to celebrate."

"That still gives us twelve weeks to find a new jackpot right?"

Jet lag is a bitch, updates are kind of slow right now as I'm just blasted

>>947064
More like six weeks, we don't want to not have an operating budget when we're doing work. But yeah, nice. We're liquid again.

Go find some more work I guess.

>>947064
Alright first order of business is finding out what Basmati did to piss off Cynisis. If it's bad enough we may need to abandon any notion of removing the slave collar. After all, it's the only reason we have to trust her at the moment.

As it so happens, we already have another job lined up! In fact, we had to choose between it and the pirate gig regarding what we wanted to do first.

> Janu has captured the flag
> Low suspicion of harboring Basmati
This is one of those bitter, bitter moments when you realize you can't have nice, shiny things because you're busy running a daycare of crown princesses and superhero sidekicks.

> [Basmati] and Ty are made for each other...
You have no idea.

> What do
They have Basmati's face on file, you might want to give her some accessories to hide her more distinguished features while off-duty.

Ask her what Luca made her do.

Sleep is often time well spent

>>947067
As a legal slave, she's classifiable as a company asset, and the lack of scrutiny could keep her safer. It's not like she's being abused more than anyone else we hired.

Ty's impulsiveness is the only thing keeping things in the black right now. Let that be a lesson, and try to find lucrative side gigs while moving to that 2nd mission.

We've still got the ship's controller. If we can tell where Jamu jumped to, we can follow the ship and steal it right back.

Baron 2019/10/15(Tue)21:24 No. 947205 ID: 482fee
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"Well don't you worry, I got another job lined up for us. First things first though. Basmati. Why are you a Cynisis criminal?"

"Oh? I suppose they want me back then."

"Yeah, what did you do to piss them off."

"Oh they owned me. Before Luca, I belonged to Cynisis. Not any individual, I was slaved to the Cynisis corporate entity as a whole. Rezan technokarvers are an advantage the Empire have over all the other factions in the space game so they hoard us like crazy for all the stuff we can do. Cynisis believed that the Empire wasn't exploiting our abilities to the fullest, so they hired mercenaries to abduct and enslave me when I was real young before the Empire even discovered I existed. I don't know how they found me out before the Imperial Service did, but they did. They did all kinds of stuff to my head that boosted my mental capacity so I can process data much faster than most technokarvers employed by the Empire. I also can break into any security system out there in registered space. Granted it's been some time since I've been updated, but they also gave me predictive algorithms so I can figure it out or brute force the new stuff pretty quick. Also unlike most technokarvers in the Empire that balance between learning technomajiks and cyberwarfare, I am exclusively dedicated to cyberwarfare. As such I could effectively control an entire battlefleet by myself if the need arises.

Then there's the doors. Not literal doors, but mental stuff. I don't know a better way to describe it. It feels like there's a part of my mind locked away and I don't know what's behind it. I'm pretty sure Cynisis knows though. They put plenty of stuff in there already, it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to keep some stuff secret even from me.

Anyway, that's why Luca wanted me. It's why she got so rich off me. I was able to hijack any shp in minutes, and overload the weapons of her rivals in a heartbeat. She had no equal and it's what allowed her pirates to become such a problem. It's also why Cynisis branded me a criminal. If word gets out they turned me into a superweapon, it'll be a race to see if the Hegemony or the Empire wipes them out first trying to get to me."

"...well. Shit."

"Got anymore of this 'peppercorn ranch' paste?"

"That's salad dressing..."

>>947205
Hidden information? Of extremely high potential value? Sounds like we need to figure out how to get those doors open. Do we know anyone with the necessary expertise? Or how to find someone without tripping a bunch of red flags that will get Cynisis on our asses again?

Also, if we get really desperate we could sell her to either of the big superpowers... unless they'd just kill us all to take her without any loose ends. That seems very likely, actually.

...wait, how did the slave collar work to tie her to a corporate entity? Can't get blood from a corporation. There must be some advanced functionality for that I guess?

How likely is it... that whoever sent us to retrieve this scrambler knew those exact details?
How likely is it we're being paid(or even promised) enough to transport a secret of this level?

Not that it particularly matters, since telling the government is obviously not a great, or cost-effective idea.

So while we did lose a lot of money in the lost contract, the bet will keep us afloat for a bit, and Basmati is a near-priceless asset; I’d count this as a win. BTW, let’s keep the helmet on hand, both for operative function (though mittens work to that end too) and anonymity if she ever has a reason to leave the ship or be in the presence of guests (welcome and otherwise).

Someone make an actual meal for her before she gets too lost in the world of basic-ass flavor.

Let’s check up on the guys we didn’t take along for the mission. Obviously, they knew we could only fit three people on that pod, but it’s still good to keep them engaged.

Baron 2019/10/19(Sat)17:23 No. 947435 ID: 482fee
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"...wait, how did the slave collar work to tie you to a corporate entity?"


"I'd like to know that myself. It happened when I was so young, and so many of my old memories have been scrambled I honestly don't know what happened back then. But anyone that was legally employed by Cynisis I was compelled to obey."

I should bring the rest of the crew in to check in on our newest addition. Speaking of...

"That's the karver? Looks scrawny. With a name like 'technokarver' I thought there'd be some more muscle on them. I could probably snap her like a twig."

"Another girl! I'm surrounded by girls! It's like my gods damned erotica, I'm on a ship full of girls!"

"Fuck off Del. What is she? I don't recognize that geneology. Is she a homeworld breed or a xenos-hybrid?"

"What's going on? Why's everyone crowding around the mess room door?"

"Where are your pants?"

> Questions
Stretch a few times and then nuzzle Basmati like a cat. Krogan purring.

Then ask if they want a serious captain or a cat captain, because if you're not going to listen to their whining you may as well do it like a cat.

In some semblance of order

Don't break the Technokarver. She costs more than we'll ever make, and we don't know where to get another.
But unlike your Sims, all of them are grumpy, and none are horny. Except for Toikani, who might be both?
A Xenos hybrid from another system.
Because they have questions, and I have snark.
Missing!

>>947450
Do this.

>>947440
Never like this. Only villains do that.

Baron 2019/10/22(Tue)22:01 No. 947662 ID: 482fee
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"Alright! In some sorta order, don't break the Technokarver. She costs more than we'll ever make, and we don't know where to get another. Unlike your Sims Del, all of the girls are grumpy, and none are horny. Except for Toikani, who probably wants to break you in half."

"True. I do."

"She's a xenos hybrid from another system. And my pants are firmly around my legs, and yours are missing!"

"I know that. Do you always need to keep it so cool in the hall? Talk about hard nipples. So what's all this talk about?"

"Talk to Rocket, I have got shit to do."

"Oh come on!"

"What is 'H-ah-t s-ahw-ss'?"

"Don't drink that!"

Baron 2019/10/22(Tue)22:02 No. 947663 ID: 482fee
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"Cynisis was harboring a technokarver? That's...I wasn't expecting that."

"So you didn't know the IFF Scrambler you sent me to find was going to be a living person?"

"I had my suspicions. Hegemony often makes their own artificial counters to Imperial Technokarvers and pirates often buy the services of unlisted karvers off the black market. I thought it was a 50/50 chance you were going to find a device or a person to coerce. But a slave? This is the first time I've ever heard of a megacorp enslaving one. I'm going to have to look into this later."

"Yeah so about that other job I wanted to ask you something?"

"What?"

"Well..."

"Like, is the job still up? How's the situation there developed since we last talked? I figured investigating this silent colony for this dude would be less urgent than the pirate thing, but just leaving it alone for a few weeks like we ended up doing probably wouldn't cause any good developments to happen, huh?"

Scale of 1 to Godwin, how likely is it we're walking into another diplomatic event of Enslaved Technokarver scale?

Also, our operating expenses. We'd never ask for a handout, oh mysterious benefactor, but is there some sort of high priced cover we could undertake while digging into this colony drop?

Salvage rights? A missing shipment? Battlemech derby?

Does this next job come with insurance? Because you lost most of your profit on something that wasn't your fault. And you keep picking up high-value VIPS that you can't cash in and who paint giant targets on your ship. If this keeps up, your company is going to become one giant golden goose, and it will get axed before it can lay by all the stupid that is the galactic outlaw community at large.

Can we get some actual info going in this time? Our last source was apparently not on the level.

Baron 2019/10/24(Thu)21:28 No. 947790 ID: 482fee
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"Like a lot of stuff. Can we get some actual info going in this time? Our last source was apparently not on the level."

"I'm afraid all I can tell you that it will be Primogen. Expect typical what you would in a Primogen scenario: advanced technology, a cold reception, and a lot of words that go on and on but don't mean much. Even my contact, despite being a whistle-blower among his people, barely tolerates the 'necessity to sully the requirement to debase his physical form to cast words to lower lifeforms' like myself. Expect to hear things like that. From the friendlier ones."

"Is the job even still up? How's the situation there developed since we last talked? I figured investigating this silent colony for this dude would be less urgent than the pirate thing, but just leaving it alone for a few weeks like we ended up doing probably wouldn't cause any good developments to happen, huh?"

"My contact has assured me the situation has remained as it is, the Primogen is keeping all news suppressed. Infighting among the Great Houses stops efforts to respond to the situation, so there's three war fleets docked half a jump away unable to do anything until their caste masters can stop bickering with each other over docking rights. According to my contact, this can take years. All that is in system is a token fleet blocking all traffic to or from the colony...all save for what my contact knows about. He can get you in."

"Legit, how likely is it we're walking into another diplomatic event of Enslaved Technokarver scale?"

"I honestly do not know. Little is known on the Primogen, and what is known about this colony makes it difficult to form any hypothesis. Simply put, I doubt anyone would care if you...did a little damage. Well no one who matters."

"Does this next job come with insurance?"

"Of course. Pay. Don't worry. My contact already has a hefty sum of two hundred million prepared for you upon completion. And if for whatever reason he decides not to pay...Primogen technology is in high demand on the black market. If some of colony salvage was to disappear..."

"Ah. I gotcha. You're talking about stealing right?"

Don't put it in such blase terms. Also, make sure what you take doesn't look too important. Also, thanks for telling us about an easy berserk button we can press on these guys if the need arises. (I've got a deliciously concise summation of the failures of their way of speaking geared up to put them on blast... if the need arises, of course.)

Time to break the good news to Rocket! I'm sure she'll feel much better knowing you aleady got another job secured.

>Advanced technology, a cold reception, and a lot of words that go on and on but don't mean much.
We've really got to take Toikani on this one!

Baron 2019/10/28(Mon)21:42 No. 948202 ID: 482fee
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Lost power all weekend. Just got it back now. I should have an update by tomorrow night. Just so you know I'm not dead.

>>948202
You have the power!(again)

Baron 2019/10/29(Tue)23:00 No. 948350 ID: 482fee
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Hey yeah, Rocket could use some cheering up.

...

"Ain't that great? Huh? Huh? Are you tired? You're tired. You're tired, I'll come back later and"

"The Alliance War."

Baron 2019/10/29(Tue)23:02 No. 948352 ID: 482fee
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"What?"

"The Alliance War. The one time the Hegemony and Empire signed a ceasefire, allied with each other and the Federation to fight against who?"

"This a trick question?"

"The Primogen Expansion Fleet. The war lasted fifty years with an estimated casualties of around twelve billion but the total is still being calculated, six systems have been rendered uninhabitable."

"How come you know that if you were isolated for so long?"

"I'm pulling information off the wiki now."

"And you want us to go into a colony of the same people that nearly wiped out the Empire to find out what is bad enough to scare them?"

You're goddamn right.

Sure, I mean...
We don't exactly have to look far to find what's bad enough to scare me:
Doing bit work, never getting out of debt, until we become a loose end that gets cut.
The way out of that isn't paved with nice places or nice people.

You've always been good at the big picture. Is this personal?

"Rocket, the Primogen are self-absorbed, overconfident aristo-nerds. If anything scares them, that's because they can't enslave and torture it as usual. That does not mean it can't be negotiated with. Or made allies with. Or convinced to attack the Primogen even further until we become filthy rich from stealing all their sci-fi supertech.

Or maybe they've got an incurable species-specific disease and we'll all be fine."

"Less scared, more coveting. The reason they aren't moving in is because they're arguing over who gets dibs. I'm told that greedy bureaucratic paralysis is common for these guys."

"200 million Rocket. Do the math. Because I can't but I bet that's a lot."

Yes. And to find some neat Primogen toys in the process. Imagine what Primogen cupholders must be like.

Baron 2019/10/31(Thu)22:41 No. 948513 ID: 482fee
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"Well yeah. I mean it can't be that bad. Maybe they've got an incurable species-specific disease and we'll all be fine. Or they got some rebels or something. The reason they aren't moving in is because they're arguing over who gets dibs. I'm told that greedy bureaucratic paralysis is common for these aristo-nerds."

"That still doesn't mean."

"200 million Rocket. Do the math. Because I can't but I bet that's a lot. And we get to keep whatever neat Primogen toys we find. Imagine what Primogen cupholders must be like."

"...fine."

"See? I knew you'd agree, this is a great idea you won't regret-"

"Shut up and plot a course before I have a chance to think about it."

Baron 2019/10/31(Thu)22:43 No. 948514 ID: 482fee
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"It's already done."

"What? How?!"

"You're technokarver. She crunched all the numbers for me. I dunno how, but she did hours of calculations in seconds, it's insane!"

"I told you I can process large amounts of data. Plotting jumps aren't too hard."

"You just removed the most annoying part of my job, I LOVE THIS GIRL! WE'RE KEEPING HER!"

"These are a lot firmer than they look."

"So does that mean I can go then orrrrr"

"Get out and do something before I do something we both regret."

"Right going!"

That went well. You know I think Rocket is upset about something. You think maybe she's still adjusting to Basmati?

It was probably the interrogation and loss of contract payment.

She wants you to want her.
Ya (p=m/V) goof.

Yeah, she's probably still sour about the twists the last job had, and about how reckless your decision making in general is.

As for how to kill time, how about we debrief with the people we took with us to the pirate base and perhaps brace them for the possibility that if this is another pod shuttle job, they'll be sitting it out this time.

I think she wants a hug from our pilot too.
Let's go check up on Mako!

Baron 2019/11/05(Tue)00:10 No. 948741 ID: 482fee
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Hey yeah, I've seen everyone around the ship this whole time but not Mako. She's always underfoot, so it's kinda odd that I don't even see her one ti

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

QUICK SEVER EVERY WIRE THAT DOESN'T LOOK EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE, NOW!!!

Check the readout to see what's happening while you scream for your technocarver and engineer to both get in here and tell you what's happening.

Are we doing murder mystery on a closed spaceship? Is that what we're doing now?

Check the screen first! How long has she been like this?

Looks like someone has been snorting robo-drugs. Whether it's an overdose remains to be seen.

>>948741
bet you that what's-his-name asked her to look up illicit pornography for him and it bluescreened her with malware

Baron 2019/11/07(Thu)20:37 No. 949014 ID: 482fee
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"Rocket! Get down to your workshop! Someone strung up Mako like godsdamn hazard signal!"

I-I have no idea how to read this technobabble. The fuck does a 'Reg_Seq.log' even mean?!

Baron 2019/11/07(Thu)20:38 No. 949015 ID: 482fee
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"T-t-t-t-tty?"

"Mako? Mako! Can you hear me?"

"T-tybalt. What are you doing?"

>>949015
Show her the thing, ask if it's safe to just yank it off.

We're trying to fix you, and this is a non-smoking vessel except on designated poker nights

"Uhh... Vibe check?"

"There was smoke coming out of your crown."

You were BSOD-ing and I was troubleshooting your brain

“I don’t know! What is this thing, and how to I disconnect it safely?!”

Baron 2019/11/10(Sun)13:15 No. 949200 ID: 482fee
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"Your eyes were red, there was smoke coming out of your crown, how am I supposed to take that?"

"O-oh. Sssorry. I was-hold on. I was attempting to interface with my Primogen matrix. Nothing on this ship can directly comminicate with it so I had to improvise..."

"But why? You were BSOD-ing and stuff!"


"It's not a perfect system. I'm working with technology that was never meant to interface with this thing. And then you said we were heading into Primogen space and well...I'm concerned."

"Concerned? What do you have to be concerned about?"

"You really don't know? Captain, until Janu spoke to me, I didn't even know I was running off Primogen tech. I don't know what this thing is capable of doing, or what it is doing to me if it is doing anything at all. I don't know how I'll react when in the presence of a live Primogen, or if they'll be able to take control of me. And what's worse? Janu was right in a way. There's more to this matrix than I thought."

"You mean-"

"The interface was partially successful. There's someone else in here. I can't access them, but they're in here. And that scares me as well. Can the Primogen bring them out? What will happen to ME if that happens? There's too many unknowns. I know I shouldn't be. I don't even know if this is really fear I'm feeling because I'm copying someone else's brain or just a really advanced Primogen simulation of fear. It's messing me up inside."

>>949200
Alright. This sounds like a job for our karver. Also tell Rocket the situation's fine.

>>949201
At the very least, there's nothing on fire. Not sure if she's completely "fine," so let's work on helping her fix that. Let's get Basmati down here, and get her mask out while we're at it; this might be a no-face-clawing mask task. Stress that this is going to be a read-only mission at first; she can't screw around with anything until we can be sure that she can put stuff back the way it was if she breaks something.

>>949212
>>949201
Woah woah Mako just said she dosen't know what'll happen if she screws with her matrix. Sending Basmati in sounds exactly like "screwing with it"

In future, try to play with yourself in a way that doesn't cause neural damage.

Baron 2019/11/11(Mon)19:25 No. 949308 ID: 29988a
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"Basmati are you sure this is gonna work? I mean I saw Mako's wiring and that was all messed up and stuff."

"Mako was attempting to jury-rig an interface with herself. A lot of workarounds and looping back. This is just me accessing her matrix directly. Much simpler."

"Okay I understood none of that. How long until you finish tinkering with-"

"Done."

"What? That fast? So is Mako fixed? Is there like a second person or something? Did you get it out?"

"No."

"And now I'm lost again. You just said you were done."

"There is a second personality dormant in there. I made contact. It is keyed to a specific genelock. The design is Primogen itself but the gene-key could technically be any race if someone else had their hands on the matrix."

"er-But you got the algothingies right? You can crack it open?"

"Not gently master. The genelock is on a limited timeloop, I spend too many cycles on one iteration and I get booted out and the cipher resets. I could brute force it-overload each iteration with every possible entry at the same time and overload it; but this is Primogen technology. I might...break it if I do. I don't know what will happen to Mako's existing personality or the dormant one if that happens."

"It's alright. I don't think I'll accompany you on this mission captain. I don't think I should be on this ship when you enter Primogen space actually. There are too many variables and too many risks to myself and the crew."

Right, we'll look for Primogen security AI-Keys while we're down there. But keep Mako on standby in case we need Primogen tech that isn't trying to kill us.

>>949308
Alright Mako. Let's set up somewhere safe for her to stay while we're out there.
I wish there was some clue as to who has the key to this thing. ...wait, can we change the genelock?

I don't like the idea of leaving you alone when Janu knows about you and might try and snag that crown again. Maybe we can ask a Primogen for help with the tech. Our contact seems willing to talk, at least.

Unfortunately we still need a medic on standby. Remain on the ship inconspicuously.

Okay, what safe locations off-ship do we know?

"Is there a way to safely shut her down for a little bit, or at least cut off enough access and transmission that there's nothing for Primogen to connect to while we're there? I'll talk to Rocket about any physical solutions we might have, but anything that doesn't require Mako to sit in the time-out corner of empty space in an escape pod or something would be excellent."

"Also, Imma go ahead and just order you not to refer to me as "master." Call me Ty. Or if you gotta use a title, I'd prefer something less formal, like uh... boss, maybe? "Boss" might be fine."

>>949340
But 'Master' is cute, and lets us know who's speaking in big conversations...

Baron 2019/11/13(Wed)14:50 No. 949422 ID: 29988a
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"Okay first off Basmati, last time I'm saying this. Stop calling me master. I'm sick of this. Call me boss, captain, I don't care, as long as it isn't master. Alright?"

"Daddy?"

"Okay now you're just fucking with me.As for you Mako, no can do. We don't know any safe off-ship locations and we need a medic."

"But cap-"

"Look I know this whole crown thing is freaking you out, but we'll get help. Heck maybe this Primogen will even help, we don't know what'll happen. Till then, you stay on the ship. Just...inconspicuously. Alright? Don't start preaching doom before we even get there okay? You're my crew, I look after ya, remember?"

"...thank you."

"Uh...yeah."

Baron 2019/11/13(Wed)14:51 No. 949423 ID: 29988a
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"Uh I can explain."

"Yeah I'm sure you can. I just don't care. Get out of my workshop."

Baron 2019/11/13(Wed)14:52 No. 949424 ID: 29988a
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"Ty, are you sure these are the right coordinates?"

"Course it is. It was right the last time."

"Yeah but this is null space, nothing is out here."

Baron 2019/11/13(Wed)14:52 No. 949425 ID: 29988a
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"Gods dammit..."

"Oooh that's big"


This is The Fury of the Martyred Saints Knows no Equal in the Honored Halls of House Sallastra speaking to the speck to the starboard side of my vessel.


"The hells?! They just hijacked our commlink! I didn't even turn it on yet!"

"Um. This. This is Tybalt of"

I know who you are. I am Second Vastus Mastula of Sallastra. Our mutual contact has arranged our meeting. You shall dock in Bay 2 of my vessel and shall we shall meet in two hours and two minutes time as tradition dictates. Additionally, as you are the guest, you are required to bring your second aboard as tradition dictates. I shall await you both.

Uh captain? Del here. I'm at the gun controls and, well I just got locked out. Everything's shutting down. What's going on up there?

"We're getting pulled into the ship's docking bay."

"Ty if this is a trap where they kill us, I'm killing you first!"

If this was a trap where they'd kill us they'd have done so already. They could have opened all the airlocks or something.

>>>949422
Call him 'onii-chan':P

> Second Vastus Mastula, Bay 2, two hours and two minutes, second aboard...
Someone's a control freak...
Or maybe his mother is 2!

> What do
Start covertly hacking into THEIR systems and build an escape route as plan B.

Please don't threaten to kill me while we're meeting with them, okay Rocket? Because they're asking for you. To come aboard their ship. Full of working Primogen technology. Focus on that instead.

>>949425
Haven't even met the guy and it's obvious he has an ego that can swallow planets. Bring Toikani along. Mastula won't be able to tell who our second in command is and I'm sure Toi will love the 'culctural enrichment'

Baron 2019/11/17(Sun)10:38 No. 949740 ID: 482fee
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"If this was a trap where they'd kill us they'd have done so already. They could have opened all the airlocks or something. Please don't threaten to kill me while we're meeting with them, okay, I don't think that would make us look good in-WOAH! That hat is like a penis!"

"I greet you honored outsider, as is tradition for meetings such as this. As it must be done, so it has been done. I am Second Vastus Mastula of Sallastra, owner of this vessel, host to your ingress, and Tolerant to your presence. As is must be done, so it shall be done outsider you shall now declare yourself and your second so as this meeting shall be properly conducted. You have already failed in this regard, though I am not surprised as you are an outsider. For I see more than two, I see mutliple additions to two. This cannot abide. I request that the captain declare the second so that we may continue this meeting."

"What?"

"He wants your name and to tell him which one of us is coming with you aboard."

I'm Tybalt, prince of Catface, scion of the house of Mohrs
This here's my adjutant and machinist, Jamraca.

We expect your utmost hospitality.

You should probably introduce yourself seriously, and bring Rocket.

Yeah, we can make fun of these guys behind their back all we want, but we should avoid fucking around when they're right in front of us, except when we're deliberately trying to piss them off, but especially when the Primogen in question is the one that's supposed to be paying us. Introduce yourself by full name, along with Rocket.

I say bring Basmati along. She can get a sample look at their tech.

Baron 2019/11/19(Tue)16:40 No. 949900 ID: 482fee
File 157421043320.png - (227.64KB , 1400x1050 , 99.png )

"I'm Tybalt, prince of Catface, scion of the house of Mohrs. This here's my adjutant and machinist, Jamraca."

"It's amazing that you have no idea what half those words mean but you still remember how to use them."

"hush!"
"We expect your utmost hospitality."

"Names have been exhanged, our meeting shall commence in full."

"Whoa what's-"

"Hnng!"

"Please brace yourself, and stay close. Everything upon my vessel is controlled by thought-impulse. I know Imperials do not possess this yet, thus nothing here would respond to you. Our meeting would experience great delay if you were to be lost with no means of accessing my ship's communications array."

"Yeah. Sure. So uh, our mutual friend said something about a colony going dark?"

"Correct, my house has great investment in funding and people in the colony designated Pearl-of-the-Saints. Acquisitions and Reclamations has long been attempting to seize power and control away from the houses and move authority to the Central Protectorate and the House of Inquisition. I will not allow the meddlesome bureaucrats to place my House upon the altar of progress. I desire information. Information as to what has occurrence upon the colony, and if possible, damning evidence of the crimes of the Central Protectorate. For my desires, I require the aid of outsiders, those who are not part of the established system created by the House of Reason, thus to guarantee no evidence of outside tampering be traced back to my or my venerable House. This is the purpose of your continued existence upon my vessel and why you and your crew are tolerated in my presence."

"Uh...okay."

"I sense queries. I fear you are not as informed as I had hoped, though that is a fault that lies with myself for expecting something of lesser beings. If there is anything of this operation you do not understand, do so now, as I desire the time you spend upon my vessel to be kept to a minimum."

>Pearl-of-the-Saints
Any significance to the name? What was the purpose of this colony?
>if possible, damning evidence of the crimes of the Central Protectorate.
It sounds like they have motive, but is this their usual tactic?
>I fear you are not as informed as I had hoped
We aren't. Is this the only event of its type, or have other houses reported somthing similar?

Translation: This guy's fam has sunk a lot of money and manpower into the colony. These other guys have been trying to seize the colony in some manner for a while and is generally douchey to all the families in the name of centralization. This guy wants you to head in there and figure out A) What happened, and B) Whether it was the centralizing douches' fault (get evidence if "yes"), and all without tracing it back to him.

I've got two main questions.
"Since all this tech is alien to us, we wouldn't know where to begin searching, so could you maybe point us in the right direction for that?"

"Will getting around the colony also be difficult for the same reason we can't get around your ship ourselves, and if so, do you have any solutions we can use?"

Baron 2019/11/24(Sun)00:20 No. 950260 ID: 482fee
File 157458360168.png - (208.83KB , 1400x1050 , 100.png )

Midterm finally behind me. Back into it!

"Any significance to the name? What was the purpose of this colony?"

"All worlds have significance to their name. None that an alien would understand. You simply do not comprehend the complexities of Primogen culture to understand the effort that goes into the naming of a world and how it aligns with the names of each orbital station, city, and building upon the surface. As for the purpose, the Central Protectorate claimed it to be simply another colony, a slow expansion into our birthright as it should be, as it will. However, the choice for a moon was odd. The planet was more suitable but it was declared off limits by the Protectorate for the safety of the Primogen. Additionally my agents working on the colonization project noted irregularities within the colonization protocols. Necessary supplies would be delayed while far too many weapons for a colony were coming in on priority shipments. Ships listed with full cargo would have manifests that didn't match their capacity, far too many caste-less were being immigrated than was necessary. And then. They went silent. Soon after, all communication with the colony ceased."

"This hush hush stuff. Usual tactic for the Central Protectorate?"

"No, it's a usual tactice for the House of Inquisition. It's hard to tell who controls who these days. The House of Inquisition is supposed to answer to the Central Protectorate, but often it's the Command-Select of the Inquisition who holds the Protectorate by a leash."

"Alright Masturba, On to the actual mission:How are we getting down there since it sounds like it's locked up all tight. Also, since all this tech is alien to us, we wouldn't know where to begin searching, so could you maybe point us in the right direction for that?"

"To answer your first point, I will help you in. There is one means the patrol fleet does not monitor and that shall be your means of entering the colony. When you are ready to leave, you may leave in much the same manner. It will make sense when you see it. I doubt you'd understand if I explained it now. Your objective will be the Hall of Administration, the first structure, and core of every colony, as it is as it should be. All records shall be located within the Central Tower or Recollection. You shall locate all you require there."

"Okay, but will getting around the colony also be difficult for the same reason we can't get around your ship ourselves?"

"That I find doubtful. Pearl-of-the-Saints was still a budding colony, and the technology that is so commonplace on other worlds rightfully claimed by the Primogen was not yet imported. It is a lengthy process, requiring cooperation from multiple houses-"

"Yeah, uh, so are we going to have issues-ow!"

"Don't interrupt!"

"I cannot anticipate what you will find. If you find scions of the Houses still alive, they will no doubt find your presence hostile. Therefore, as much as it pains me to allow an alien to touch it, I shall allow you to bear a token of House Sallastra. It shall identify you as a tolerated guest of Sallastra to Primogen outside my house, and my agent to members of House Sallastra. Additionally it should negate Dispersion fields equipped by Primogen armed forces so whatever weapons you have will not be completely useless."

"Di-dispersion field?"

"Yes, without my token, your weapons would cease to function, or if they were primitive combustion, fail to ignite."

"I'll just take that then and-"

"Once I have your guarantee you will find what I desire. I must say this 'enlightening' conversation has shaken my faith in your abilities."

"Oh you can't be serious."

"With aliens I always am."

"Look, I know I'm not the most polite guy around, but you wouldn't be asking for someone like me in the first place if you had any other options. Surely, you were prepared for outsiders to not have the same level of perfectness as the Primogen? Or did I actually catch you off-guard with how I'm acting?"

We'll investigate it. That's what you brought us in for. You have our word on that. We'll forward any evidence we find.

Whether it's what you desire isn't part of the job. If you don't, that's a job for Primogen tech, not freelancers. Creative writing isn't our bag, anyway.

Baron 2019/11/26(Tue)14:07 No. 950432 ID: 482fee
File 157480603203.png - (418.18KB , 1400x1050 , 101.png )

"Look, I know I'm not the most polite guy around, but you wouldn't be asking for someone like me in the first place if you had any other options. Surely, you were prepared for outsiders to not have the same level of perfectness as the Primogen? Or did I actually catch you off-guard with how I'm acting?"

"...smooth."

"Unfortunately you are correct. As much as it disgraces me to consider it, you are my only chance at exposing the corruption within the Central Protectorate."

"Great! So how do I switch this thing on and off? Does it have a button or do I rub the glowy thing in the middle?"

"You probably don't want to do that."

"This meeting is concluded. As it is, as it must be."

"What do you mean by"

Baron 2019/11/26(Tue)14:08 No. 950433 ID: 482fee
File 157480608255.png - (339.14KB , 1400x1050 , 102.png )

"Oh. That's what he meant. So now we know Primogen got some crazy teleporter tech too. Hey Rocket, you think I can work his teleporty thingy with this?"

"Why the fuck are we moving?! Jamarca to bridge! What the hells is going on out there?!"

Oh Rocket you're back? Did something happen? Cause we just got booted out of the ship.

Baron 2019/11/26(Tue)14:08 No. 950434 ID: 482fee
File 157480609485.png - (317.48KB , 1400x1050 , 103.png )

Aaaand we can't really do anything since he's hitting us with some kinda beam. None of the systems are responding.

"Oh. Was this because of what I said?"

"You did call him Masturba."

You're not smited. That's a good sign.

Your client wants you to begin this quest immediately. And by immediately, I mean 'take a five minute tea break, an hour to pray, a 45-minute shower, and a ten minute speech'. So prep up for exactly two hours and then hit the launch button on the dot.

>>950439
Honestly this is reasonable.

No reason we can't Shower and hang out with Rocket Pray at the same time, though.
Otherwise we can do something analog, like check and gather our gear.

Baron 2019/11/29(Fri)23:13 No. 950566 ID: 482fee
File 157509800649.gif - (278.71KB , 1400x1050 , 104.gif )

"Aaaaalright then. Uhhh. Take five everyone, looks like we're gonna-"

To those aboard the speck Guts and Glory. Prepare for Warp-shot.

"Wait what? I mean" Wait what?

The only means of entrance the patrol fleet does not monitor is the meteor collection net. If your ship travels at high enough speed, the fleet will assume you to be another piece of space debris, that you are, and ignore your presence. If my trajectory is correct, you will be trapped within the collection net.

What do you mean 'if'?!

Firing.

Baron 2019/11/29(Fri)23:14 No. 950567 ID: 482fee
File 157509809072.png - (29.24KB , 1280x1024 , end.png )

"FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"

"I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!"


Sorry for the long update just to end it. I'm still working on preparing the civ game, and it's eating up more time than I thought. Balancing between that and work has been a chore by itself, but hopefully I'll have something ready by the weekend.

Looks like Teaym Rocket is blasting off again.
Everyone who called you detritus was secretly a prophet.

Thanks for time spent on this, and see you on the next rodeo !

Alright Civ Game's up and running, for better or worse!

https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/950696.html