The screams recede from your consciousness at about the same time that your eyes and ears recover from the blast. There is still scattered gunfire as your soldiers finish off the last Zerg that made it out.

Your skin crawls inside your power armor.

Your suit detects the ashen debris thrown up by the explosion, and automatically lowers your visor, allowing you to breathe through the filtration system.

>>12604918

>Master sergeant

Fuck... I'm an enlisted man? Is there any chance I can call in an officer? Somebody with an Academy education would be way better at dealing with this whole, horrors of the forgotten corners of the universe shit. He, or she, would probably have a better sense of fashion too.

Get on the radio, ask if there's any chance of getting someone of the officer class to help. Combat experience isn't a must, but a sky-high IQ would be great.

Lets return to the command center. Leave Fallone and company there to make sure nothing is burrowing through. Once at command keep a close watch on all the sensors.

Did we call Intel yet?

That's the first mission where you encounter Kerrigan, right?

James: "Glad to meet you!"
Sarah: "You pig!"
James: "I didn't say anything wrong!"
Sarah: "You are forgetting I'm telepath."

>>12604918
How are the troops after that explosion?

>>12604970
You are the highest-ranking officer on the planet. If this is the kind of shit that comes with command, you're going to be very happy when you get out of this outfit.

Also, these damn power suits are itchy as hell. Everything below your neck itches.

>>12604996
The she kill a bunch of people. Queen bitch of the universe alright. Also, Intelligence was called, evac is 2 days away.

>>12605006
this is where we burst into a walking mutant bomb with a trunk.

>>12605010
Well fuck

If only zerglings, we should barricade and use our firepower wisely.

If there are hydras and worse, then let's hope we have enough explosive to blow remotely in this.

>>12605030
30,000 zerglings buddy. A bit more than a few dozen marines can handle

>>12604996
(Ahem. "No, but you were -thinking- it." "Aw, right. You're a telepath. Let's just get this over with." Yes. Antiga Prime)

>>12604995
You did. Evac in two days.

>>12605003
The ones that had their visors down were unaffected. Those that didn't, like you, had some disorientation from the flash and the bang. A few of them are holding their heads.

>>12604987
You leave behind orders to guard the hole, and make your way to CentOps. It's only 0315, and you've got a meeting with the civilian governor at 0830, but you doubt you'll be getting much sleep anyway. Your eyes are sore the way they always get when you're sleep-deprived.

Can Kilroy call the thunder, or at least rain?

>>12605053
Completely forgot about meeting the Governor. Remember, we tell him nothing about what's going on. He'll just start a panic and/or get in the way.

>>Lester: Looks like you mashed some poor feller's dog, Sarge.
Humvee Seargent: That ain't no dog. It's a Zergling, Lester. Smaller attack Zerg. They shouldn't be out this far unless... oh shit.

Where there are zerglings, there are hives. Better turtle up!

CentOps is still on an alert footing, but it doesn't look like anything more is happening. Fallone and Kilroy alternate reporting in that the mound of rock that used to be the tunnel opening remains sealed. Motion trackers show nothing. One of the support staff had the bright idea to grab one of the portable seismograph machines from the tech storage. The base is technically a science outpost, after all.

>>12605053
Do we have any sciencey types to look at the zerg corpses and tell us what is wrong with them?

>>12605120
You'd think your cover would be better if there were ever scientists around to liaise with, being a liaison force for Science Division and all, but no. There are no scientists, here.

There might be out in the city. The only really notable thing about Vyctor 5 was always the Fujita Pinnacle, anyway.

All the standing around's kind of getting to you. Your foot just fell asleep.

>>12605115
Since nothing's going on right now, time to head to the mess hall.

>>12605147
i agree

let's go to the mess hall and get our donut on.

>>12605175
Powdered doughnuts, powdered eggs, powdered milk

>>12605140
>>12605190

While we're enjoying confectionery pastries, are there any doctors or something on-site? We might get hauled off by Intel if they see that we have psionic potential, but it beats getting eaten by Zerg.

>>12605147
>>12605175
You leave Fallone in charge as you head to the mess hall. You hadn't realized how starved you were.

You step into the hall, and nobody is there but the rat, Megalisk. It stands stock still, watching you. Creepy, but right now you're more interested in what feels like a sinkhole in your belly. You heat up two servings of rations. The good kind. The stuff the high-ranking officers' staff would eat if there were high-ranking officers, here.

You open your visor and begin shoveling food into your mouth. In what seems like mere seconds, your plate is empty. You are still hungry.

>>12605220
In 2 days time, but even so do we even think we have psionic potential? I say we don't think that.

>>12605231

MORE. WE REQUIRE MORE RATIONS.

>>12605190
(I read that as "powered donuts," and thought you were making a joke about powered armor. Darn)

>>12605220
Medical's probably off-duty right now. We could hit up her quarters. First, though, we want to finish up this second helping of rations.

Oh, there's only one Medical staffer in the complex. The men decided it was hilarious to call her Medical, as if she were an entire branch of ops by herself. It stuck.

>>12605259
WE NEED MORE POWERED DOUGHNUTS! POWERED DOUGHNUTS WITH GAUSS RIFLES I SAY!

>>12605259

Check what's happening on the frontlines. Get a report from Fallone on the fortifications and whatnot. Also ask if any civvies might've seen the fireworks down there.

But more donuts first. Maybe we can invent the powered donut and use it for a variety of useful, non-donut intended functions. Like the psi-high-five!

Now that you think about Medical, you do feel kind of feverish. Maybe you actually should go see her. You grab a protein snack while taking back your plate after your third ration.

I wonder... Do the spores we use for infestation cause changes in hunger in terrans before they're infested?

>>12605309

>Look self in mirror.
>Contemplate powered donut.

>>12605299
A quick check with Fallone confirms that nothing new has happened. He wants to know if he can relieve some of the troops, so they can get some sleep and start a rotation.

In other news, I have just determined I now have to play Sawrm Quest too. But, are we feverish because we want to bang Medical or because we're coming down with the zerg zombie virus?

>>12605334

If there are somewhere around 30k zerglings or so as a conservative estimate, they'll have to sleep in their armor or something if they want to rest.

Ask about Kilroy. Has he reported anything interesting?

>>12605334
Rotation is fine, as long as that site is watched at all times

>>12605361
>>12605364
You inform Fallone that rotations for sleep are fine, but they will have to be on full alert, which means no removing armor between shifts. Fallone and Kilroy both agree.

>>12605347
Coming down with what?

Well, Medical DOES kind of cause the blood to boil. Maybe that IS it...

(Gaddamnit, we got spore'd by our own creation. My money's on the airborne spore that Labbrate made.)

Shake Medical awake and have her give us a once-over with the lovely scanning future-tech devices we surely have in this hellhole.

Does the facility have any auto-defenses or armoured weaponry?

>>12605396
The zombie zerg plague that I'm worried about. Remember good cerebrate I post paranoid.

>>12605420
None. Well, unless you count the marines. Technically, they're armored.

>>12605407
We reach Medical's quarters pretty quickly. She answers the door in a loose shirt that covers up anything else she may or may not be wearing underneath.

"Sssssarge? It's 0330. What do you need? And why are you in battle gear?"

>>12605407

Also be sure to mention our hunger pangs in the least creepy way we can muster. This cannot go wrong in any way, shape, or form.

>>12605470
Cause I'm here to fire my Gauss rifle in your nydus canal, if you know what I mean.

This is not a suggestion for a course of action.

>>12605470
WOMAN, WE JUST BLEW UP SOME GOD DAMNED ZERG, GOT DUST IN OUR EYES AND MOUTH, AND NOW WE'RE HUNGRY AS FUCK AND ITCH EVERYWHERE.

FUCKING FIX US!

>>12605504
>>12605513
Ok. Are we saying these things? Because I'll be laughing while I type up the response.

>>12605525
I said mine was not a suggestion, so no mine was just a joke and should not be said to medical.
>hardwer fou!
No captch we are not GIVING a tool to medical

>>12605513

ALSO GET US PICTURES!

PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN!

Oh yes, definitely say both of those.

>>12605525
We're the one angry marine in a universe of reasonable marines.

Do it.

>>12605563
>>12605562
Well, one was addressing a legitimate medical concern, and the other was trying to charge up her loading ramp, if you catch my drift.

Which are you doing?

>>12605563
>>12605562
Well, if people want to use mine anyway I wont object.

>>12605525

We're under the effects of probably experimental zerg infestation spore things.

It's perfectly in-character!

>>12605525
She probably hears it all the damn time...?

>>12605579

Inform her of symptoms, cause, and that other marines might also be infected.

>>12605610
We should check to see if anyone else has symptoms before saying it's afflicting other people.

>>12605579


Weeeeeeellll... we should probably put more emphasis on the whole medical concerns thing. That's not necessarily excluding the innuendo, though.

Priorities, people!

>>12605504

We should totally say this before anything.

Or that we ate with a cat

Hey baby, are you infested? Cause I'd totally fire my planet glassing laser at your holes. If you know what I mean.

I can't seem to come up with another line.

"I think I may have a fever, Medical. I thought maybe we could work out a way to keep me warm," you say without thinking.

There is a tense moment of silence, during which you are filled half with confusion as to why you said that, and anxiety over how she'll take it. Sexual harassment's not exactly unheard-of in the military (most of the military is made up of resocs, after all), but harassing somebody under your command while the base is on alert status? That might cause problems if she reported it.

Those worries slide away as she begins laughing out loud, tilting her head back.

"I've been here a full 18 months, and you just charge up one day with THAT line?! Ha! Oh, Sarge, that's so ridiculous, I'm willing to let you keep trying. Come in."

Well...that went...smoothly?

>>12605700
"You an arbiter baby? Because you just made all my troubles disappear"

"You must be a ghost baby, because you just locked down my heart"

>>12605719

Go in.

Take a cursory glance of Medical's room.

>>12605732
Do you work on a science vessel? Cause you just made me loose all my energy.

>>12605719

She's on to us, she wants to harvest our seed and use it to grow a new colony of super Zerg!

Play along for now, but if she comes at us with any Suspicious Needles of Questionable Liquid, blow her face off.

>>12605779
or alternatively, Cause I can't hide anything from you.

>>12605779
"You're quite the lurker baby, you just pierced my heart"

"You remind me of the re-socialization device implanted in my skull, I could follow your orders all day"

"You must be a Goliath, your love hits me no matter where I come from."

You enter Medical's quarters, and immediately narrow your eyes. They are nearly twice the size of yours. You are the commanding officer. This is a disturbing development.

This is completely driven from your head when you notice that Medical is laying on her bed, watching you. You toss off another line, something really cheesy about arbiters. She chuckles quietly, rolling her eyes.

You begin the process of removing your armor.

"Medical, we get hostile reading everywhere. I need a smart person, so I can go be the baddest man I can be for the survival of all. Now, are you going to enable me to be that hard, bad ass man?"

>>12605844
Does she seem fairly receptive to our chatting up?

I mean like, are we accidentally gonna sleep with her instead of getting cured?

>>12605844

Things going the protagonist's way for once? And not in the age of cockalisks?

This must be a hallucination. We're probably in the Comm. Center while it's in Zergy Silent Hill mode.

>>12605844

no, we are sick and it could be some serious shit so no sex for us

Yes, a uh, a profound sense of fatigue... a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I... I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence. I can assure you it has not recurred. Women uh... women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I, uh... I do not avoid women. But I... I do deny them my essence.

>>12605876 and keep the talk going. We need to at least get one of two/three things out of this

Twenty minutes of hurried labor and ridiculous pick-up lines later (You must be a science vessel? God), you've gotten enough of the armor off to step out. It's not a regulation exit, but this isn't a regulation situation. In fact, there are regs against this. Fuck 'em.

You advance on the bed. Medical looks bespelled, her eyes completely clouded with lust.

>>12605910
Crap.

Tucamp, I think you and I fucked this quest up with our lines.

>>12605910
Great, so it's not ZOMBIE ZERG PLAGUE but VAMPIRE ZERG PLAGUE!

>>12605910

I have a feeling that we're about to see Berniebrate's handiwork here.

Proceed

>>12605928
This is Zerg Quest! We can't fuck it up any more than cockalisks.

>>12605910

this can only end badly for us

>>12605949
There are FAR more terrifying things possible than cockalisks.

That was only what we were capable of in our infancy.

Imagine the greatness of Ultradicks, or Overdicks, or even Dicklurkers.

>>12605910

...and then your armour powers up, extrudes a penis an fucks you in the ass while she giggles, holding the remote.

>>12605951
Worse case scenario, she thought we were suffering from a mental breakdown of some sort and drugs us. Also lets throw up and pass out right before getting to the bed. I don't trust her. She'll STEAL OUT BODILY FLUIDS!

>>12605884
>Zergy Silent Hill
Not until ALL the lights go out during a siren. THEN it's Silent Hill

>>12605978
Dicklurkers... that could actually work. Why am I thinking of this? Still something fish is going on in these quarters.

>>12606001

Steal? Oh, we'll GIVE her our bodily fluids!


Nothing can possibly go wrong here.

>>12606041
Dunno mate, there's only me and you here, and I'm not entirely convinced that you exist yet. For all I know, there's only one person on the other end, typing up every response himself, like some horrible Kimmo Alm impersonator.

>>12606046
He said war was too important to be left to the generals. When he said that, 50 years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

>>12605949
(Probably not in Spooky Zerg Quest, no. But...you guys brought Bernie BACK, then made him a fucking CEREBRATE. Shit's going to get bad.)

>>12605946
You walk as proudly as you can to the bed. Her chest is heaving and the air is thick with the smell of her desire. You crawl slowly across the bed, stopping over her. She looks up at you with nothing but animal passion.

You slide your hands up over her hips, her abdomen, her breasts. She squirms in anticipation. Your hands continue up to her neck, brushing lightly across her smooth skin before they tear her trachea from her throat. You see her eyes widen in terror and pain before your face descends into the wound, feasting on the still-pumping life's blood as her soul slips away.

You don't feel quite so hungry, anymore.

>>12606088

>>12606076
I would, but that's to much work, and I have to hunt down these Dr. Strangelove quotes to post. They're relevant.

>>12606088
Huh. So we kill people to sate our thirst.

Welp, let's go full-on monster then.

Back in the armor, hit the armory, and lets go a-murdering.

I'm casting my vote right now for flamer in the left hand, gauss in the right. Oh, and a cigar in our teeth.

... well at least we aren't the explodey type of infested

>>12606088
>>12605930
I was right VAMPIRE ZERG PLAGUE!!!!

>>12606088

Attempt to commune with Dyles!

Or alternatively, find cleaning supplies.

We should see what happens when we eat a zerg too

>>12606125
Forget cigar. I'm thinking her ulna. Also, lets not go on a killing spree yet. Find out if anyone else has this condition, and kill them.

You hear a tiny scream reverberate through your skull.

As the body stops twitching, you look down at it. Despite the gore and the fact that it is pale with lack of blood, the carcass is still rather attractive. If she looked like this and were still alive, you'd probably go through with it anyway.

As soon as you think that, the body's legs move to wrap around your waist. Her dead eyes lighten, renewing their lust even while smeared with blood.

WAT DO?!

Oh I hope we managed to absorb medical's knowledge. Now we can know why she had larger quarters than the commanding officer!

>>12606165

...Proceed

Thrust. Its all we can do.

>>12606165

>>12606165
"Clean up and suit up, peach. We got IMPORTANT things to do. Places to be, People to eat"

she gets Kilroy

>>12606165
Undead slave! Have her escort us on our murdering spree!

Have her draw in our victims with her 'corpse' and we'll murder them, and make MORE slaves!

Nothing can go wrong. OUR POWER IS LIMITLESS!

>>12606165
How's out neural chip doing? Also it's not necrophilia if they're undead and move under their own power.

Could we attempt to become a cerebrate while we are infected, furthering the power of the Swarm to new heghts!?

>>12606218
Yes, and I can think of a cerebrate that wouldn't mind having a vampire marine. Also we must protect the SCV pilots/drivers!

Wait wait wait, a thought occurs to me.

What if this isn't ACTUALLY a zerg plague/spore/infestation/what have you, and is actually something TOTALLY different and we're totally overlooking something obvious?

The zerg were sickly right? I wonder if they ran out of shit to kill to sate their hunger? Or if they were all killed by something else, and using them as puppets to mask their dark schemes?

>>12606211
You realize the chip has been buzzing...shaking, really, for some time. You should be screaming in the fetal position, right now. After a split-second's contemplation, the chip shifts, then you feel a sharp pain before something very small and gooey starts sliding down the back of your neck.

>>12606189
>>12606188
>>12606183
All of that takes a back seat, though, as you continue what we thought we were getting on this bed to do in the first place. As you move, absorbed in the passion, we start to notice that Medical's gurgles are more distinct. We roll, putting her on top, just as she begins to moan. Looking up, we notice that her throat is mostly intact, again.

A few minutes later, she has collapsed onto our chest. We feel...odd. We imagine her waking and standing, and she does. We begin to notice an afterimage.

>>12606249
Interesting theory. We should experiment with Medical, and I mean that in a scientific way, to see just what we can do with her. Then maybe nom Killroy and send him to the facility to look around. Granted there'd have to be some digging.

>>12606249

The zerglings appeared to purposely kill themselves.

If Dyles is infected or possessed or whatever, it probably has the marines too.

Or whatever it is, it might have already been in the base since before the "incident" started.

>>12606301
Maybe Dyles has always been like this. But speculating will get us no where. IN THE NAME OF LABRATE WE SHALL DO SCIENCE! AND DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF OUR ABILITIES!

>>12606330
>>12606290
That's nice. Anything in particular you want to do?

Can we mutate her? Like make her have an extra arm or turn her skin blue for the time being.

Then let's try to have her recite something she doesn't know, then have her recite something that she would know but we don't. Then something that neither of us would know.

>>12606340

find out if WE have the regenerating ability and how much power we have over her

>>12606340
Does medical just respond to our will? Do we suddenly have new knowledge? Can medical speak? Can we sense our surroundings in any new fashion? Those sorts of things.

>>12606286

After-image as in we see Medical leaving behind a small imprint of what she was doing a millisecond beforehand? Or something else superimposed on her?

>>12606382
>>12606379
We focus on this...afterimage. With a little concentration, we realize it's the same room, but from Medical's perspective.

>>12606355
We envision her saying "The Intelligence line is 225 Epsilon," something she would not know. She says it, exactly as we desired. We try to think of something medical that she should know, but we draw a blank. It seems that we did not take her thoughts, just her body.

>>12606301

That rat that was brought in from the tunnels, maybe it had spread the virus? When all those zerglings killed, the screams we heard was the trigger that activated it.

Oh well, if word gets to the rescue team that infestation is loose, they'll just wipe us out from orbit. In the interest of survival, we should sabotage communications. We might have to off Kilroy as well since he can read our mind. The rest can be infected as needed. We should also keep an eye out for any features we develop that make us appear inhuman or give away our infestation so that we can no longer pass as normal.

>>12606418
Curses! Well, what happens if we stop thinking about her? Does she collapse, just stand there, go berserk or what?

>>12606447
We try to stop thinking about Medical. Her eyes gloss over, and her face falls slack. She looks as dead as she did before.

Ask Fallone for a status report.

>>12606418

And we just puppetized the one person who could've told us what was obviously wrong about us. First day of being an inhuman monster, yeah, but still. Sloppy sloppy work.

Look around the room. Are there any noticeable bloodstains or signs of conspicuous violence about?

>>12606462

GAH!

Practice multitasking! Try to practice Medical softly speaking a conversation while we write down something complicated.

>>12606469
As it is 0430, we pick up our comm unit and signal to Fallone for a report.

"Oh, hello sir. When you didn't respond earlier, I figured you'd gone to sleep. Nothing new here. I sent the men who looked most shaken up by the explosion for the first shift sleeping. I figured it'd be best that way."

As we speak with Fallone, we have Medical clean herself up. It's surprisingly easy to navigate two bodies at once.

>>12606515
The bed, and most of the wall, are completely coated in blood.

>>12606531
If anyone asks, Medi has a very heavy flow this month.

>>12606518

tell him to sent the men who were caught by the explosions dust to us, it's time we start to kill off the competition

>>12606531

Has Terran cleaning technology reached new heights? Or are we still pretty much working out the kinks out of the new pushbroom design?

>>12606550

Yes! And then we can cover EVERYTHING in the room in a neat, uniform coat of blood, forgoing the need for getting rid of the evidence!

>>12606560
There are probably great janitorial supplies in Terran space, but not in Medical's quarters.

>>12606550
You want to tell him to send the soldiers to Medical's quarters?

>>12606550
Tell Fallone that you'll have Medical check them out just to be sure everything is fine. And if Fallone asks why, tell him that you didn't like the look of those zerg and you just want to be sure that there aren't any stowaways.

>>12606591
Don't send them to Medical's quarters. Have them stay in their quarters or report to sickbay.

>>12606591

yes, one at a time in fact and unarmed

I still say we should at least work on the plan I laid out here
>>12606433

>>12606617
But we ordered everyone on full alert. So they're all in power armour so that complicates things. Unless they go to sick bay and have to remove their armour to be examined.

>>12606591

Through Medical's body, examine ourselves. See if there's anything outwardly obviously wrong with our appearance.

>>12606648
We better not sparkle.

>>12606638

Get people to report to sickbay as they come off their shift, that way we can have more men infected before anyone notices, because all the infected ones will be in their quarters.

>>12606638

we should also have Medical tell the men that it (better not to mention what) is very contagious so we may have to get a quarantine going

>>12606656
No worries, it's early-o'-clock, we need natural light to sparkle.

>>12606648
We have a thought. We turn Medical toward us. Her neck is barely even red. At worst, she just looks like she's got a hickey. She is still really pale, though.

Looking through her eyes, we glance at ourself. We see the same Crucis Dyles we've always seen in the mirror, just covered in blood.

We tell Fallone to transfer over the names of the soldiers that are on a sleeping rotation. He does. Should we visit them ourselves, use Medical, or leave them alone?

>>12606693
Tell Fallone that we want to have everyone from the first shift checked out by Medical, because weird looking zerg might carry some kind of pathogen. And we need to hold out for 2 days, and on outbreak would not help.

No reason to not give a reason to Fallone. Especially one that screams paranoia, we did go conops at 2am in full armour after all.

>>12606753

We aren't exactly on the same side as him now, don't want to make him paranoid ourself.

>>12606693

We should probably clean ourselves up. See if we can use any of our terrible, newfound powers to expedite the cleaning process.

>>12606774
Why can't we all be friends?

I'm sure the Confederacy would absolutely ADORE workers who don't need safety regs, or food, or morale, or rest.

I could go on and on about the benefits of a zombie workforce in physical labor.

>>12606784

Unless you are saying we should get Medical to clean us, don't really see what you're going for here.

By the way, does Medical have a name or is it just Medical?

>>12606774
We could mention that we had Medical check us, and that nothing turned up, but that you just want to be sure. It's being thorough, not to suspicious from my perspective.

>>12606796
Those reasons are explained in the periodic threads that pose a necromantic industrial revolution. But you're right, the Confederates would like that, but only if they could control it, and we don't know why we're like this. Nor do I think we should share if we did. But, we do not have to assume everyone on base is out to get us right now. Might have to keep an eye on Killroy those. Pesky telepaths.

>>12606816

True, but Kilroy is with him and is intel. He might think something is up. Plus, the good folks at 255 Epsilon might be monitoring our com chatter now. They were able to shut down our suit remotely after all.

On that note, we might want to avoid wearing our armor if word of our infestation gets out.

>>12606812

Well, yeah. We clean the blood off ourselves while Medical gets the hard-to-reach areas and does another look-around to see if we missed anything.

But if we could MIND the blood off of ourselves, that would be nifty too.

>>12606812
We don't remember her name. Obviously, we can't just ask her.

>Have Medical clean us

Well, she's lost a lot of blood, and we're coated in the stuff...(JOKING)

We could always just put the suit back on. It's meant to function with a person inside for days. Weeks, even. It's got hygiene systems.

>>12606876
That was while we were talking to them. Unless we call them again I don't think they can blackout our helmet. Also what was the drippy thing on the back of our neck? Have Medi look at the back of our head and neck.

>>12606903
Medical takes the neural implant in between her fingers and gives it to us to look at. This is the little bastard that's been keeping us from breaking Fallone's face in. Well, I suppose this means we're technically perpetrators of a prison break.

Gentlemind, focus. I think that in our haste we've made some slight oversights in our investigations here. Particularly, we should be wondering what that little 'scream' that we heard was, and more about the details of why Medical reacted as she did almost immediately after being infected. Most important though...

Though we obviously have no way of making use of Medical's personal knowledge and personality ourselves, can we make her act as though she is perfectly fine? Have we created an actual thinking slave with all her pre-existing talents intact here, or just a mindless homonculus?

We must ascertain this before we make any sort of bigger plans. It is always the tools that determine the quality and scope of the work...

>>12606930
Well. That's going to cause some interesting problems next time we talk to someone who can check that kind of stuff, (Intelligence).

>>12606951
Well, in retrospect, she only clamped her thighs around us when we thought of having sex with her.

She seems to do whatever we want, as we envision it. If we imagined her acting normally...well, we still wouldn't be able to make her do anything we don't know how to do...

>>12606987
We could have her get dressed and take a nap in sickbay.

>>12606418
>>12606462
Curses! Mindless zombie waifu is no fun...

Try bringing back her intellect? If not, can we multitask the body? What crimes had Dyles done to get the re-soc done?

>>12607034
Assault. We were about 3/4 of the way through upper Officer training when we got into a bar fight. Broke a bottle over a professor's head. Got 5 years.

Now that we think about it, having a fully-trained officer in a significantly lower rank would be a good way to keep an operation under the radar and still ensure that it was handled properly. That's probably why we were given this assignment.

>>12607034
Crucis Dyles
Fmr. T.U.C.A.M.P. member
Crime: Intentional cessation of work during designated work hours, 1 count. Instigating cessation of work during designated work hours, 47 counts. Assault, 12 counts. Manslaughter, 3 counts. Murder 1 count.

Damn union strikers, always slowing down production, and generally making a mess of things.

>>12607061
Beaten to it. Curse my slow typing.

>>12607094
Of course, you were making it up off the top of your head...

I remind you that you're just hanging out in Medical's quarters, naked, while your men are sleeping in their quarters or guarding the collapsed tunnel.

Why did we bite Medical? Do we know?

Well, let's make sure our armour doesn't have blood on it, put it back on, go to CentOps. Have Medi get cleaned, dressed, and check the schedule to see when she is supposed to clock in and where.

>>12607177

You raise a good point.

If someone walks in on us, initiate high-five!

No go on pulling back Medical's consciousness or multitasking?

>>12607190
She just looked so nomable

>>12607177

Suit up. Get Medical to suit up as well.

Did we get the names of the other marines/staff who might've been exposed to the same things as us from Fallone?

>>12607206
We can make her do whatever we want. It seems pretty easy to pilot two bodies at once. She will not have any of her former skills, of course.

>>12607190
Instinct? We can't really remember.

>>12607194
Head back to CentOps?

>>12607206
We can multitask. But I don't think we can pull her consciousness back, as we ate it. And if we did she'd probably just start screaming or sound an alarm. But, if we do it with her gaged and restrained, then I'm sure we can squeeze it in.

>>12607226
We did.

>>12607190
>>12607209
Basically, horror plot railroad. Not even a Will or Moral save.

Clean up with some rags or Med's laundry. Then call in the soldiers one-by-one. Don't call them all in to wait outside, call one personally, bite, eat, convert, bugger, whatever.

>>12607241
>>But, if we do it with her gaged and restrained, then I'm sure we can squeeze it in.

O_O

>>12607262
But we were hungry. Also, last night it was stated that if we had stayed in CentOps things would have been revealed slowly by Killroy, but we went down there so... only kinda. But still, no more than usual, and besides the situation completely changed with one post, I say that's a good thing.

>>12607262

Pretty much this.

Contact them through standard medical procedure... or what little we know of it.

On second thought, try to see if there's a pamphlet or something we can find/remember that would make our calling to the other marines for a suprise "medical" exam seem a bit less suspicious. Maybe we can pull the whole SARGE TELLS YOU, YOU DO IT angle thing again.

>>12607262
>Given free reign to deal with stuff as you like
>Derail plot by being possessed by thing you're supposed to fight
>Be possessed
>RAILROADING

Pic so related...:P

So, you want to come over the comm, and personally invite each of these men to a woman's quarters for...?

>>12607241
Considering our morals simply went poof as we took a bite without qualms and the Medic seems amenable to our dubiously crazy-weird advances, even lustily, I'd say mind control seemed to be possible.

Anyway, Dyles is too calm. It's a bit off-putting for a Horror game.

>>12607335
No. Check medical procedures just to make sure we do it right, and have Medi call them to sickbay, one at a time, to be checked, Sarge's orders.

>>12607335

How does the sick bay / medical bay / whatever in this facility look like? Big open hospital style or more like a small room that might pass for a particularly large storage closet in the typical lowest-bidder building fashion?

>>12607335
"Medical check-up, of course, numbnuts. There Zergs shit down there, and I had a rash despite the filters. Now you don't go making noise about this. Medical just gonna sample us both first. It might be nothing." Be angry as fuck on comm.

>>12607346
We were hungry. powdered doughnuts, powdered eggs, powdered milk, and powered doughnuts were not enough.
>fortins observe
Captcha I don't think we should make a pillow fort to spy on people from

>>12607335
Wait, woman's quarters? We aren't on the Med-bay? Well, disregard my previous post then.

>>12607367
>>12607322
Thinking about the situation, we decide to dress and head to Medbay with Medical. We have Medical call the first marine on the list to come to Medbay for an examination. He pisses and moans, but comes anyway.

While we wait for him, we slip to the side and pick up several of the sedative slap-patches used in combat surgery to anesthetize patients. We could use these to subdue the men, but that might make them less than useful until it wears off. Who knows if they'd recover faster, like Medical did. This might even keep them from healing. Bodies would be hard to explain.

How are we going to do this?

>>12607346
Well, he's now the villain, so it's actually kind of fitting.

>>12607420
It's only been like 30 minutes since we nommed Medi in her quarters. Maybe 2.5 hours since we woke up.

>>12607433
Are we still in our armor? If so, when the marines come in, make them de-suit, then knock em out/nom them when they can't effectively fight back.

>>12607433
Have Medi ask a series of questions. Routine stuff: any headaches, nausea, change in appetite, dizziness, shortness of breath, ect. Then, if applicable, have them remove their armour to check for any rashes. If it seems like they don't have what we have, or anything else for that matter, release them. If they have the same thing as us, have them be kept for observation, i.e. quarantine.

>>12607485
Let them...go?

>bardship. thillant
Well, it would be a bardic bit of showmanship to just pass up opportunities left and right and still win...but can we?

>>12607485

You're an idiot, we're the monster now, I think Kilroy was SUPPOSED to be.

>>12607528

Nom each one as they come in, then send em back to their sleeping hole after a little bit. Make sure to clean up each time.

>>12607528
We can always infect them later. I'd rather get control of this whatever it is before noming everyone in the base. It'd be a problem if all of the people who were there start acting different after going to the medbay for a checkup.

Alright, so are you using the patches when you devour them, or not?

>>12607563
Yes, we are the horrible monster, but that's no reason be be dumb about it. We can do something other than nom every person we meat on the spot. If there is someone else how wants to nom people I want to deal with it promptly. There can be only one supreme nomer here, and it's us.

>>12607603
Clearly not a subscriber of "It's the only way to be sure" :)

>>12607602
Clearly my suggestion to use caution and a bit of guile is being ignored. But I suppose marines don't have much in the way of personality anyway. Just don't nom all of them.

>>12607619
You can interview and select, but telling me how you intend to nom them is somewhat central.

>>12607648
Nom the bigger and dumber marines, also anyone who seem to have what we have. I see no reason why there couldn't be another, and I don't want to get into a war with another whatever we are. If noming doesn't work on it try and detain, if that doesn't work kill it. We'll deal with that problem later. Unless it wants to make a deal, negotiation is fine.

>>12607648

Use the patch on the ones that were possibly exposed, use mindfuckery on the normals(ie: Make them want to fuck us for easy nomming.)

Come to think of it we have no way of knowing how easy it would be to control more minions. After a certain point they might just start shuffling. We should be cautious.

Also, we could call them back in for a followup examination later, so there is no real rush in noming them.

We invite the marines to Medbay for an exam one-by-one. After a few dicey encounters, we get the hang of pacifying them beforehand. Only one of them is obviously lusting for us, but that's not really important. Some of them were showing obvious warning signs that they were having a similar, if much milder experience. Their minds offer no more or less sustenance than the rest.

Within 2 hours, we have possessed all 20 of them. The screams that bellow through our minds as they die nourish us. There are 80 more down in the trenches, but they will have to wait. Now, we have another decision.

We have a meeting scheduled with the civilian governor in about 5 minutes. We can remove the blood from our armor and be there in time, but he will be definitely put on edge if we show up in full combat armor. If we take the time to remove it, we will be late.

Or, we could just not go. Of course, this meeting would be the best time to inform the civilians that they will be evacuating the settlement in a day and a half. Or, to devour the governor. There ARE 2,000 people outside, after all...

>>12607754
>>12607722
Sorry, I didn't see these. Thankfully, I don't intend for them to become shambling zombies after just 20 additions. We seem to be controlling 22 bodies as well as we controlled 2.

>12607764

Show up in blood spattered power Armour and tell the Governor just how much shit we had to kick in to save his ass.

>>12607764

Can we inform the governor we'll be late due to Fallone being a goddamn fucking retard with his alerting us at 2 in the goddamn morning for a GODDAMN FUCKING SENSOR MALFUNCTION?(Since Governor DeliciousMeal doesn't need to know what happened.)

>>12607764
Well, that noming went off without a hitch, I must say I'm surprised, but then again this isn't regular zerg quest. I think we can hold off on noming the civilians for now. I don't think they could do much about being nomed by someone in power armour. How late would we be to the meeting? We should go to it and tell the Governor that Tarsonis has decided to relocate the local populous and the garrison. When he ask why just shrug.

>>12607826

This.

>>12607837
So sense in scaring the bajeezus out of Governor McTasteyface

>>12607826
>>12607864
We contact the governor and tell him we'll be a little late due to technical difficulties at the base. He asks if it's serious. We tell him it's just a minor issue that's really irritating. He chuckles. Asshole.

We take the time to remove our armor, and head to the meeting.

(From all the nicknames, can I assume you are all wanting to eat this morsel?)

We should find out what happens when one of our minions noms on someone.

>>12607887

Not quite yet, as we don't want to tip anyone off.

We should wait on eating Governor Food until we've gone full-on horror from the deep and are acting openly. No sense in making anyone nervous/suspicious.

>>12607887
Eventually, but not right now. For now he can organize the cattle into groups to help expedite the noming... I mean evacuation. There's probably committees and agencies and groups etc that he'll have to talk to to get the evacuation in motion, and we can't get memories with the noms, so he's spared for now. Nome base, then civilians.

>>12607902
>>12607918
We carefully consider matters, and decide that it's simply too early to devour the governor.

We go to the meeting in dress uniform. He's chipper and jovial, as always. We reconsider eating him at all. He might make us vomit. Still, we're almost bursting with the blood and souls of our underlings, and that makes it so much easier to listen to him babble on.

After what time seems appropriate, we bring the meeting to business: We received word just before the meeting that the Confederacy is abandoning Lockston. A battlecruiser will arrive in a day and a half to take us off-planet.

His cheerful attitude drops away. He is apoplectic. We're forcing him to leave his HOME? We inform him that we have no choice in the matter, and neither does he. With Chancellor Kingston's strategic reformation laws, he could assign us to serve on the surface of a sun, and we'd have no recourse to object or appeal.

The man rants and raves for nearly an hour before he lets us leave, promising to contact our superiors and take this all the way to the Chancellor, if he has to.

We leave. Staying in the room with him now is even more grating than when he was happy. We hadn't thought that possible. Still, we look over our shoulder as we leave, grin deeply, and tell him, "Before we're shipped off in different directions, you and I really ought to get together for a bite."

(Damn, guys. We spent hours longer on Medical than I expected. We'll have to continue this later. Monday, same time?)

>>12607992
Works for me. For a one shot this is taking a long time. If this keeps up it might become a full blown quest. But, Wednesday night should be regular Zerg Quest. I want to see what Berniebrate does.

>>12608026
Wednesday will definitely be regular Zerg Quest. A bit short, since I am again working the next morning, though (two weeks in a row. That's really odd).

Also, this SideQuest ends when you A) Die and/or B) get evacuated. Feel free to begin speculating on how it will affect the larger Quest canon. >:)

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12604918/

The archivists have begun their work.

>>12608058
If we survive then there might be a vampire marine creating an undead army inside the Confederacy. This may or may not bode well for KINGSTON!!!!! Wait, if we survive, maybe kingston thought that Dyles was the one with zerg forces... oh the possibilities

Mayor McTasteyface is one of the tags. Go me!

Oh, yeah. That's why Zerg Quest II never shows up with the rest of them! That was the one somebody else archived, so none of the tags match up!

That's been bugging me since ZQ IV.

>>12608145
WAHAHAHA I've been here since ZQ7 and I'd never read ZQ2...I thought you guys had simply forgotten to do so while it was running and got 404'd. I've done that on a couple of my threads by accident. "Hey, this has been a really good discussion. I'll archive it. 404? fuck! I hope someone else did!"
20 minutes later, I realise my hopes are dashed, and I haven't updated the html for an hour. Failure, failure all around!