>>403132
I recommend shooting her, but if you don't, say this.

I think we should tell them all the thruth about what happend, see how they react. And if you do decide to shoot Kork make sure you shoot her because it is a sensible thing to do given our situation, and not because we hate Rokoa. Kork might belong to her hive but she has not done anything so far but help us.

>>403142
That's true. I don't think she deserves to die.

Besides, if you kill her you'll have no hostages...

It's getting really pointless. Hostages don't seem to work and everyone getting tangled with this stupid feud in turn are too high. After all you can't protect those close to you all the time. But really can you stand to see the sight of them after what you know.

Point her in the right direction and tell her to take a walk. More important things going on like why is the entire ecosystem and some extras backed up underground while the top is on fire. Certain things might be planning to reboot everything including their precious war hive. Not that it matters anymore.

Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)03:16 No. 403147 ID: c811c4
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"Rokoa."

She may have not done anything personal, but I have no doubt that she would have done anything different than Tirrik. Hostages haven't worked, and I know she'll fight us later if I tell her to leave. I am not above cheap shots now.

Both Rikek and Rakae jump back in alarm as I take the first shot, giving me a clearer second shot. Which I take. And a third. I will get a spare combat knife and finish her without wasting ammo.

I do not know if we must move. If we do, I will have to decide on where to go.

"Well, Rokoa and her buddies destroyed our hive. Good news is their queen is getting tired of war. Time to lie low and return the favor at the first opportunity. Now, let's see where we can get a nuke."

Let's go back and talk to those AIs.

Congratulations, Polo.

You have become Rokoa.

>>403147
Their hive will burn for what they did, for their insanity and bloodlust. Fuck the salikai's, they just want to control shit down here, they're no threat. They just want us out as soon as the threats are eliminated.

Ask Rikek if his hive could take you, Rikae can do whatever she wants. But there's no going back home if what Rokoa said was true.

>>403152
Good end!

No, seriously though, sometimes you have to be Rokoa. She's a damn good fighter and survivor. We could also not be Rokoa and die futilely if you'd rather, though.

"Tirrik is in critical condition with shots to throat and head. Rokoa is alive. She's missing a leg, is blind in both eyes, and has three fresh plasma rifle wounds to her good leg, abdomen, and in the same fucking eye I shot the first time. Kork is dead.

Rokoa says our hive was nuked. She wasn't lying. As far as she knows, it's true.

Rokoa has the bioarmor which has 4 holes in it, as do I. The visor is fixed. She also has a combat knife, grappling hook, frag grenade, and medical supplies that were attached to it. As far as i can tell she is unarmed other than that.

I'm going to hunt down and kill her which is probably the last thing I'll ever do. What about you two?"

>>403153
"If"

She's deceived us before. Remember the mission she wanted us to do?

>>403147
Should probably mention that you now know your hive got nuked.

Honestly I don't care what the hell the salikai are up to down here. Thanks to Rokoa and her hive, though, you don't really have anywhere to go even if you can get out of the facility. Anyone who's not on her side is a lead worth pursuing, and the salikai you talked to earlier certainly want her dead. Let's go see what they're up to.

>>403156
Kork is still alive. Polo is going to finish her off with a combat knife.

Polo has this one, last chance to turn back.

Is there really no other way, Polo? Do it if you have to, but...think about it first...

>>403129
Drop your mental shield.
"Kork, you're a good guy. I'm going to tell you the truth, and I expect you to wait until I finish before doing anything. Same goes for you two; the news is all bad.
Kork, Rokoa admitted to plotting the assassination of that human. She said she found proof he was selling weapons to your hive's enemies as part of a conspiracy to wipe out Nuemono. She said your queen was sick of war, and I'm pretty sure Rokoa had other plans. Then she gloated about our hive being nuked.
Tirrik couldn't wrap his mind around Rokoa being either that crazy or that rouge, and he really has no idea how her mind works.
I shot her, he shot me, I shot him back, Rokoa knocked me down before I could evade. I get the need to defend his hivemate, but I've rarely felt a nuemono so damn happy as Rokoa when I blew her eye out the back of her skull, or as disappointed as when she had to drag him off and patch him up.
Tirrik'll probably be fine, unless Rokoa takes her crazy out on him for spoiling her fun.

Any questions?"

>>403162
Ah, took too long.
Stabilize Kork, then restrain her. Explain things to the others, then to Kork once she wakes up.
You do not kill needlessly. You do not enjoy killing. These are things that make you different from Rokoa.
Kork has not done anything to you that would warrant her death, and you are living lie detectors. She deserves to have the truth laid out for her and a chance to decide her own fate.

>>403164
Fair enough, but do be ready to kill her if you need to.

1/2 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)05:33 No. 403186 ID: c811c4
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>"Polo?" Rakae asks.
"Our hive is dead."
>"What?"
"Nuked. I don't think Rokoa was lying."

It hits Rakae hard, of course, with great reactive denial while knowing that I would not say such a thing unless I were confident it was the truth. Rikek has no small amount of sentiment on his part. Yet both of them looking over me puts things in perspective. They still don't like the sight of me about to kill him like this. Kork is already unconscious, given I was shooting to kill.

I tell her the summation of what happened, from the moment I left to the events that led to me shooting Kork. Rakae and I share our differences, but also our similarities. With her empathy, I don't have the passion anymore to knife a helpless person.

2/2 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)05:34 No. 403187 ID: c811c4
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I drop the knife, tie up Kork, and dress his wounds. We don't have anything elaborate, but she might survive. Most would have gotten killed from those three shots, but I am not sure about this one.

>"You're hurt! Really bad. Please stay here with us." Rakae tells me.

Nothing good can come of leaving Kork alive. Only the pain and suffering of you and your friends. Kill her.

Tell them you are going to kill Rokoa. They can come or stay here. You still have the plasma blade?

give kork back to three stripes. make something useful other then a tied up prisoner.

It's not safe here anymore since Tirrik knows this location so i suggest we either find a new base or go hang out with the salikai and arkot crowd.
I guess we could either drag Kork closer to the medical facility where Rokoa is or just leave her here and hope Rokoa or Tirrik find her before anything else does.
Also now might be a good time to focus on finding out more about this facility and less on our vendetta.

>>403189

Three Stripes has gone soft. he doesn't destroy the minds of his captives. I'm really not comfortable with leaving someone capable of killing Polo behind when we can do otherwise at no cost.

kill him, Polo.

>>403192
four stripes then. he already knows how to hold this hive.

>>403187
Tirrik might have meant something special to Rokoa. She doesn't seem like the type to suddenly give up a combat advantage to help a fellow soldier. Either that, or her bloodlust isn't as complete as it seems. Either way, she prioritized his life over your death, which saved you.

If we're lucky, Rokoa will hesitate to kill you and your group if Kork is a hostage, or given an almost-deadly wound in front of her.

>>403187
You can stay with them for a bit at least, but not here. Tirrik and Rokoa are both more messed up than you are, but if she keeps him from dying he'll know where you were holing up.

No idea what you should do with Kork. Don't feel too good about just killing her, but if she gets back up to health she's likely to come after you if she's not in your custody.

1/2 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)07:12 No. 403209 ID: c811c4
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I.... I don't know whether or not to kill him. I don't think.. I don't think I would regret it now, but if I make it out of this, I would always wonder.

I will double up the bindings on Kork and be sure he will not escape. It has its risks, but I want to be absolutely sure that killing him is the right thing to do.

"I'll... spare Kork. For now."
>"Thank you, Polo.
"I'm going to go kill Rokoa, no matter what. I am thinking we'll move to another Salikai's section. Not that I trust them, but it is better than here, especially when Tirrik knows where we are."

2/2 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)07:12 No. 403210 ID: c811c4
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I get up to leave to get my weapons and leave, but Rakae stops me.

>"I'm sorry, we're not going anywhere."
"What?"
>"I'm not going to let you. It's amazing you're still standing. You didn't say the arkots were any less hostile, and you're in no condition to try and escape to another salikai's territory, and especially not to kill Rokoa where she is who knows where inside that building. That's not including that we would have to carry Kork. We'll move to a different cave and I will help set up traps to give us an advantage if Rokoa and Tirrik come, but you're not thinking right. We aren't going far."

Yeah we need rest and we need to plan with Rakae and Rikek on what to do next. And it is important that we include them since we have been working solo this whole time, but we no longer need to since there are no predators nearby.

>>403210
There's no need to insist on working alone if you're wanting to hunt Rokoa down. You've mentioned more than a few times that you don't feel at all comfortable taking her on one-on-one, so why do it at all?

But right now you're not in a condition where you can go after her. She had you beaten even before you lost the bioarmor and accompanying ability to shake off damage; if you go after right this moment you're almost certainly going to get yourself killed, not Rokoa.

set up traps with what? sticks and stones? come on, someone needs to gather, (read: steal from the arkots) some components. and these two are no ninjas.

Rakae is right. Short term, you need to heal up a bit - you're a wreck. You guys need to get somewhere secure that Rokoa doesn't know about (yet) while she's still distracted by her wounded hive-mate.

If killing Rokoa is the long-term plan, why not try to engineer something with Three Stripes? Rokoa will be a lot easier to kill if she's subdued. Finding him will be a bitch, I suppose, but the benefits he might bring are enormous.

We need to press the advantage right now. She's blind. We need to track her down and kill her from a distance. She has the bio armor, so as soon as she heals, we're outmatched in every way, except for our "invisibility." Grab a gun and track down Rokoa now. Finish her. You may never have the chance again.

You don't have the materials to make traps that would do anything against Rokoa. Best you can do right now is roll up and stack some large rocks to make rudimentary firing positions, but don't spend too much time and energy on that; You're going to be moving out as soon as you heal up.

Rest, eat, take inventory, and plan your next move with Rakae and Rikek, while you heal up enough to move out. Specifically look at that egg-bomb; It's the only thing you have that could possibly take down a bio-armor wearing Rokoa in one hit. But unless you could find someone down here who could rig it with a remote detonator or proximity trigger, it's going to be as a last ditch "lose-lose" weapon in the fight with Rokoa.

As long as you're going to be stuck here for a bit, you three can search for hidden entrances to this cavern complex. There are almost certainly maintenance tunnels under the ground in these biome sectors, and it's an even bet there'd be back ways into the cavern area. That could be another way for Rokoa, or even Rosotki's forces, to get in here.

Kill Kork. The three of you track and kill Rokoa.

1/5 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)10:16 No. 403264 ID: c811c4
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I will attempt to steal tools or anything from the buildings later.

For now, Rakae is right. I am on the verge of passing out, and normally this many severe wounds would have knocked me out immediately. I will rest, at least until I can move freely. She is keeping a close eye on me and is not allowing me to go to Rokoa even if she must use force to stop me. And if she can stop me, I have no chance of hunting Rokoa down in a building full of arkots, even if Rokoa herself turns out to be an easy kill.

2/5 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)10:16 No. 403265 ID: c811c4
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We are in a new cave the next day. Rakae has gotten supplies to maintain light even deep inside the tunnels.

I get an arkot mail from Ohidi. It has pictures. There are no words that are included, but I would like to think that he knows that anything he says would be asinine in the face of the contents. It is the satellite imagery, and unless we insist that Ohidi is in on lies as well, this is our obliterated homeland.

We would also have to insist that Ohidi is a masterful photo editor. We can see the blasted skeleton remains of buildings. Our main palace. All of the houses where we lived, a park where I, and I am sure Rakae, would play as kids. No in sight, unsurprisingly.

Rakae and I spend most of the day feeling sorry for ourselves. Rikek handles getting food.

3/5 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)10:17 No. 403267 ID: c811c4
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The next day, I get another arkot mail from Rokoa. It is terse. There is no enthusiasm or play in this letter. She wishes to extend the time of the duel to three weeks from now, again, if I am alive by then. This time, she says it will take place along the valley of the volcano sector. I do not know where she is talking about, but that doesn't matter. I will find out.

She still says that she will have a sniper's battle, with the valley ditch acting as the no-pass zone. This side of her makes me wonder if she will be true to her word, but there is no doubt to me that she is prideful. That pride will give me a chance, that pride that insists she is better at me in every way, even against my specialty. Despite everything, that pride has remained a constant.

4/5 Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)10:18 No. 403268 ID: c811c4
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I have not become Rokoa, but I have not become any better. As of now, I would shoot her in the back, I would break the duel conditions, I would bring the egg bomb as a last ditch suicide effort, and I would do anything underhanded if it's what has to be done to kill her.

I cannot beat her at close range, but I will spend these weeks making sure that I will be able to prevent a close range fight from ever happening.

Maybe I am being selfish by leaving Rakae and Rikek out of it. Maybe I am just afraid that they will not be as lucky as I have been, and Rokoa will earn another reason for me to hate her. I do not want Rokoa anywhere near them, and I would keep them in place to prevent it. I am not sure why the arkots never come after us in these tunnels as opposed to hunt is when we go into buildings, but I do not complain.

I would not even risk Three or Four Stripes around her. The last time Rokoa was being 'pacified' by a predator, she murdered a salikai with her bare hands.

Asteroid Quest - Intermission 1-2 END Polo 2012/04/22(Sun)10:19 No. 403269 ID: c811c4
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I can't bring myself to care what the Salikai are doing. If there is a task or action to take that does not involve Rokoa's demise, I will not accomplish it.

If I succeed in killing her, then I will be able to help escape with Rikek and Rakae. Rikek has not said anything about his hive, knowing outright saying it may be presumptuous, but there is little need. Rakae and I both know that he is accepting of us, and would gladly bring us back to join his own hive. Joining another hive is said to be a rough experience, but Rikek is alright from a personality standpoint, and it is possible.

But no matter what happens, no matter how many planets I run to, I will never find peace so long as Rokoa is alive in this universe.

you could try throwing her on an asteroid

>>403275
It'd be more effective to throw Rokoa at an asteroid. Better still, follow that up with another asteroid.

>>403275

I was gonna make a post predicting the outcome of this affair, but reading your post made me change my mind by showing me how annoying it is. so thanks.

>>403269

New art style?

Fuck, Polo, you're pretty intense. I dig it.

>>403280
Wouldn't it be a lot easier to send her on a one-way ticket to the sun?

>>403288
It is visual residue from all the GRIMDARK.

I get that you can't reason with Rokoa at the moment but the salikai are suspicious as hell. Whether or not the photos of your home are legit the salikai are using you. Just like the humans threatening Rokoa's hive you are being encouraged to fight in order to prevent you from interfering in whatever is going on in the facility. Can you set aside any time during the next 3 weeks to find out what the endgame of any of the salikai is?

Maybe it's time for a Rikek adventure! Since he is the only one that might actually care what the salikai are up to.
Come on Rikek it's your time to shine!

>>403301

I think it's starting to leak out of the monitor

>>403297
She'd just show up in the cafeteria at the same temperature as the sun.