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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9y-n9B_XUM


Welcome to No One Gets Left Behind. On the last episode, things got fucky. You went on a scout mission and nearly got killed by Old One Eye and the White Feather, and now you come back, Cope and Harrell try to bully you into running a suicide mission before finally well... Burke killed Harrell in front of you.

The archive is here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=No+One+Gets+Left+Behind

As per usual, the OP is being left up overnight. I shall return to update once I get home from work at around 6PM EST or so. Tune in then.

>>3306385

> “Fine. We’ll go with your plan. Harrell attacked Burke. Burke shot him.”

I'm still down for that suicide run tho chief.

>>3306385
>> “Fine. We’ll go with your plan. Harrell attacked Burke. Burke shot him.”
Glad to see you back Survive. Gotta say, I was a lil nervous, Hope you had a good vacation.

>>3306385
>> “Fine. We’ll go with your plan. Harrell attacked Burke. Burke shot him.”
Welcome back QM.

>>3306385
> “How about we go find Cope then we deal with the fallout of this later?”
Cope is never going to believe that it was "self defense." He'll either think we did it or he'll think Burke did it unprovoked. No matter what we decide to tell everyone else, we need to handle Cope quickly before he has time to do something nasty.

>>3306385
>Other
"We'll clean up here. Then I'll go to Cope to tell him that Harrell wants to talk about calling the assault off. Cope storms in mad as hell, and you two will kill him before he knows what happens. We'll set up the scene just right, plant the guns with the exact shots counted, and say that Harrell and Cope killed each other in a power struggle."

We can't half-ass a coup. We move and we move now.

>>3306483
Supporting.

>>3306385
Holy shit, we're in a ship full of psychopaths.

>>3306483
Gonna have to support, Cope has to go right now.

>>3306483
It's not airtight but damn we don't have a lot of good options

+1

Actually, none of us should be the one to "find" them. We need someone else tertiary who is sympathetic. Graves? Tombs? Plausible deniability

>>3306385
>> “No. We tell the truth.”
If we lie to everyone we are just repeating Cope's mistake. Also against killing more people.

>>3306483
Supporting
>>3306512
>Holy shit, we're in a ship full of psychopaths

I prefer the term moral relativist

>>3306483
Supporting
I like you

>>3306483
Best of a set of bad options.

So sorry for being late. Ended up being out later than I thought I would. Writing update now.

>>3306431
Thanks, anon. My vacation tho was missing one thing. You.

>>3308448
s-stop it

> Other

“No, here’s what we gotta do, okay?” Godwin and Burke listen attentively. “We clean up in here first. Then I go to Cope, tell him that Harrell wants to talk about calling the assault off. Now, he’ll storm in here pissed off and when he does you two will kill him before he figures out what happens. We set things up right. We get the guns in position. Then we say they killed each other in a power struggle.” It aches at you to form a plan such as this. But really, what choice do you feel you have? Go and claim Harrell –of all people- tried to attack –Burke!?-. Harrell was so harmless he couldn’t commit suicide. No, this might work better.

Godwin smirks, then nudges your arm. “I like that. Alright. Clean the blood up. Stop up the bleeding and we plant the guns.” He points to you. “You go and get Cope. We’ll be right here and ready.”

“Alright.” You look to Burke. “That sound good to you? You’re not going to shoot Godwin too?”

“Not unless I had a reason to,” says Burke.

Godwin folds his arms, pouting at you. “Please don’t leave me alone with her. I don’t know what I’ll do.” Burke rolls her eyes. Please. No jokes at this time. “Go on.”

You open the door and shut it behind you. You look around and see nobody. Good, good. You quickly stealth walk over to the armory where you last left your team. Then you press your ear up to the door. “… what do you think they’re talking about?” asks Nielson.

“Maybe they’re just settling things,” says Tierney. “You think Cope would actually approve of it though?”

“No,” Graves says. “Much as I loathe what that good man has become, I know him to be very stubborn. He won’t like the idea of flipflopping around. Especially if the Corporal was the one to talk him out of it. Someone’s probably gonna get shot by the end of it, I’m sure.”

“You don’t seriously think that,” says Morrison.

“I don’t. But I’m not going to count it out,” says Graves.

You sigh, then quickly step past the door. You open the door to the common room and find Cope talking with Whitney and Early. “-… and listen, I know you two are not combat personnel but we need all hands on deck when it comes to fighting and assaulting. Now, can you two fire a rifle?”

“I mean.” Whitney shrugs. “I can. But I’m a pilot! I haven’t shot my weapon since basic.” Early looks away too, not particularly comfortable. Cope sighs, rubbing his nose.

>>3308501
“Hey, Sergeant.” Sergeant Cope looks to you, not looking very happy. “I just had a talk with Lieutenant Harrell. He just told me he’s reconsidering the assault.” His eyes widen, confused. “I’m not sure either. I mean, you guys should probably consider being one mind about –something- around here-“

Sergeant Cope storms past you. “That spineless genderless waste of cum,” he mutters. He starts storming over to the armory. To his certain death. You take a breath. You won’t kill him. Godwin and Burke will do it. You won’t have a hand in this. You hold your hand over your heart, keeping it from exploding out of your chest.

Let it happen. It’s out of your hands. Just… let it happen. Cope’s an asshole anyway. Things will be better without him. Your hand shakes erratically. If he’s gone, no more stress about being sent to do things. No more Dominion watching your back. Nobody likes Cope anyway. Nobody likes Harrell anyway. Nobody will know a damn thing.

> “Wait!”
> Let it happen.
> Other

>>3308505
>> Let it happen.
>>3308505
I mean once Burke offed Harrell we kind of reached the point of no return. No use regretting things now.

>>3308505
Fuck. I can't help but think this is the bad ending, but I can't see any way out of this. Cope was an ass, but I can't help but feel like we're in the wrong.

Oh well

> Let it happen.
>You've lost Karma

>>3308505
> Let it happen
>>3308553
Don't think there's a good ending in this situation sadly.

If we'd had an ideal opportunity I would have kept harrel but killed cope. I fucking hate cope.
Spineless desertee fucker. I'm not too broke up about harrel though.

> Let it happen

>>3308713
I kinda liked Harrell. He could have been a good underling.

>>3308718
Honestly I wouldn't of mined him being the CO, as when he was not under pressure from cope he wasn't stupid.

And the big issue of a lizard FOB was something that we should probably looked at sooner.

>>3308728
Ultimately though the lizards seem to be willing to funnel at disproportionate amount of resources to kill us off anyway. Though honestly it's not like they have much else to do until the Dominion makes its next move.

>>3308728
Now what we're gonna be in charge, we can do it our way. I was thinking of running our troops through scour training, turning our group into proper Guerrillas.

Also, I think there's something about those drone cores that we could use. If they're as explosive as we're lead to believe, popping a couple at the hill could do wonders

>>3308728
>>3308718
Agreed.

He wasn’t s horrible CO and it let us retain some semblance of military discipline and cohesion.

We’re just a warlord now, ruling on our reputation rather than rank.

We will have to quickly assert ourself as leader, and Godwin and Burke basically need to be our top supporters. She’ll be fine, he will likely try and exploit his knowledge and position for personal gain.

We need to decide if that is okay with us, or we’ll need to add another body to the pile...

>>3308771
I think Warlord is harsh. We never wanted to get rid of the military command, and it'll still be in place, but we'll rule based on Meritocracy. It's almost like thats how a military Hierarchy should go

although, if we really wanna send a message, we should kill Burke in front of everyone. We won't, but yaknow

> Let it happen.

You sigh, taking a deep breath.

Cope walks through the door. “Harrell! I gotta speak with you!” The door shuts.

You fold your arms, sighing deeply, shutting your eyes. It’ll be over in a few minutes. Take a deep breath. Calm yourself. Once Cope and Harrell are gone. Things can start going your way again. Things can start going good, well, all that crap. You can consolidate. You can finally rally and try and actually just frakking –relax- for a day. You rub your nose, feeling your head spin. You’re seriously condoning the murder of a man.

Then again. This…

It’s not the first time you’ve had to effectively kill your fellow man.

And at least sending Cope to his death, his blood isn’t on your hands.

You feel someone nudge you. “Hey.” You open your eyes and see Rutledge, smirking at you. “You alright, buddy?”

“I’m fine,” you say.

“You don’t look fine,” he says, his smirk dropping a little. “You look quite pale in fact. You see a ghost or something downstairs?” You roll your eyes, looking away. “Listen. Me and the boys. We got to talking.” He leans in close, quickly looking around. “We’re ready to dispose of Cope and Harrell on your go.” What. What!? You glare at him. “… why are you looking at me like that?”

“N-… Nothing.” Graves opens the door out of the armory, then sees you. Tierney and Nielson come walking out as well.

“Daddy.” Graves walks up to you, rubbing her hands together. “Did you talk with Harrell?” You shrug. “Listen. Nielson just came up with an idea. Can you tell him, Nielson?” You feel like you’re going to vomit. Oh God.

> “Uh. I’m gonna rest in the medbay. I don’t quite feel right.”
> “Go on, Nielson. What is it?”
> Other

>>3308993
>> “Go on, Nielson. What is it?”

>>3308993
>“Go on, Nielson. What is it?”
>>

>>3308553
I only feel bad about Harrell, Cope was a cunt that was trying to get us offed.

Harrell didn't deserve that.

So even though the entire ship wanted Cope and Harrell dead, we still can't admit to this, right?
> “Go on, Nielson. What is it?”

>>3308993
>> “Go on, Nielson. What is it?”
Might as well pass the time while we wait for literal murder to finish up.

>>3309127
No he didn't. He definitely didn't. If we get out of here, PTSD is going to be a biiiitch.

>>3308993
>> “Go on, Nielson. What is it?”

> “Go on, Nielson. What is it?”

“Go on, Nielson. What is it?” You take a canteen from your belt and take a drink.

Nielson clasps his hands together, sighing deeply. “Okay. Imagine this, alright? This is a starship.” You nod. “Now. Starships should have things that allow them to communicate with other starships.” Correct. At least, you assume it to be. “Now, here’s what I’m thinking. Delta seems familiar with the stuff here aboard the ship. He obviously doesn’t want us going near those drone cores. So maybe Delta knows a way to get this ship’s comms working. Or at the very least a way for us to piggyback off of a comms channel that this ship has open. If we can cast every the faintest signal out to the fleet at the edge of the system, they’ll know we’re here. There’s no way the Lizards can do it, it would have to be us.” That is… actually an interesting plan.

“What are you suggesting?” you ask.

“Give me a few days to explore around with Delta. Check this place top to bottom, find something that can let us reverse engineer some kind of way to get the comms going,” he declares.

Graves looks at Nielson, skeptical. “You think Delta would actually cooperate?”

“He’s cooperated so far,” says Nielson. “I mean, what choice does he have?”

“He could just build a locator beacon that’ll give away our position,” you say firmly.

Rutledge nods. “Or, he could kill you while you’re alone and try to make his escape.” Nielson’s face goes a little pale at that thought. “I like the thought though, buddy. But maybe we should focus your efforts elsewhere.”

“Come on.” Nielson looks at you. “How about it?”

You sigh. “Nielson, I think-“ You hunch over, feeling color drain from your face.

“You okay?” Graves quickly holds your arm, putting her hand on your forehead. “Jesus Christ, Daddy. You’re sweating up a storm. Come on. Let me take you to the medbay.”

“N- No, I’m fine,” you say. “Really. Just-“

Graves looks back at Tierney. “Tierney, get him some water.”

Tierney blinks, tilting her head as she looks at Graves while she essentially drags you away. “But I-“

“Tierney, please.” Tierney shuts her mouth when Graves reaffirms it. She steps back and goes to look for some water.

Rutledge nudges Nielson. “Come on, let’s walk and talk, buddy. Tell me more about your plan.” Nielson and Rutledge start walking back to the armory.

Meanwhile, Graves helps you walk to the medbay. You’re really losing yourself here, Jesus Christ. You never thought murder would genuinely make you sick but here you are! Graves snaps her fingers then asks, “Nielson’s idea. Is it good, is it bad? What do you think?”

> “I don’t trust Delta as far as I can throw him.”
> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”
> “I think it’s the best idea I’ve heard in days.”
> Other

This is for tonight unfortunately. Sorry for the slowness, had some things to deal with. But we shall return in the morning for more so go ahead and leave your votes in overnight. Hope you're enjoying yourselves.

>>3309413
> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”

I say if we make a construction, it will have to be away from the camp. A small group can set a perimeter in a secure location while we have a tech-savy member watch Delta construct it at every moment to make sure he isn't making a bomb, gun, tracking beacon etc.

>>3309413
> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”

>>3309413
>> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”
Delta has been a good boy so far, but who knows what he'd do if he was alone with someone with the very real possibility of escape.

Thanks for running, Survive.

>>3309413

>>3309413
>> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.

>>3309413
>“It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”

Don’t tell the hot, friendly medic about our coup - trusting you anons

>>3309740
At least it gives the rest of our guys plausible deniability if we get back home and things get messy. Also we might end up telling the truth later who knows.

>>3309413
> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”

He needs someone to watch the Dino while they work but that can be arranged

>>3309413
>> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”
We'll have atleast someone else go with him

>>3308741

The one thing that bothers me about the FOB is that we've seen no air power from the lizards, so resupply must be a bitch, right?

And whist having big guns is nice, they only work so-long as you got the munitions for them. We need to fix that.

Tl;dr we finna throw a drone core/c4 into their munitions dump.

>>3309413
Almost forgot to vote.

> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”

>>3310273
If we have some people hitting their supply lines, that'll put a squeeze on the FOB, in the meantime we can investigate these cores and try to get more

> “It’s not a bad idea, but Delta’s still an unknown.”

“It’s not a bad idea all things considered. But Delta is still an unknown. If he goes exploring, I want someone to go with him,” you say firmly. “Just to at least make sure Delta doesn’t try to eat the poor boy.” Graves opens the door to the medbay. She leads you over to one of the tables and helps you lie down on it. She quickly pulls her jacket off and folds it up, then puts it underneath your head as a cushion. Great, more opportunities to ogle Graves. But… it just doesn’t feel right, right now. “I’m not as bad as I look, Graves, honest.”

“You’re probably not hydrated enough.” She takes her canteen from her belt. “Drink.” You take it and take a long swig of cool water. You let go and gasp for air, throwing your head back and shutting your eyes. She places a hand on your forehead, checking. “Hm. You’re not running a fever. Strange.”

“Is it that strange?” you ask.

“Eh. People have their episodes I guess,” says Graves. “Maybe your blue balls is finally catching up on you.” She looks at you, quirking her brow. “Want me to pull your pants down and relieve the pressure before you blow?”

“Please,” you say. She reaches for your zipper. “WHOA HOLD ON,” you yell. “I wasn’t serious!” She glares at you, holding the zipper in her fingers. She rolls her eye and lets go, placing her hands on her hips. “Goddamn, Graves. I-… This isn’t the time, okay?”

“Well, sorry,” she says. She pats your chest. “Get some rest, and get some goddamn sleep, okay? If you need me just call. I’ll-“

Tierney opens the door, panting heavily. She points down the hall. “H-… Harrell! Cope! They- they-…” Graves looks at Tierney, confused. Oh. This is it. “Come on!” Tierney runs in and grabs Graves’ wrist, dragging her out of the medbay.

You look up at the ceiling, sighing. Well. Seems it’s finally in motion then. You look over and see Joffrey, sitting and staring blankly. They must have changed his bandage wrap over his eyes recently, they’re quite clean. You don’t envy whoever had to do that. Still near catatonic. Oh Joffrey, goddamn it. What are you going to do? The man who said he’d take care of him is dead now. And… no, it’s not your fault. Burke did it. Goddamn it.

Damn it all. What are you going to tell Graves too? Should you even tell her? She has a right to know, doesn’t she? She’s one of the few sane people here. Plus, imagine how she’ll react if she knows you’re keeping secrets. No, no. She can’t know. If she finds out that not only you let Burke murder someone but you worked to let her get away with it? She’ll never even touch you.

> Just try and get some sleep.
> “Joffrey. You okay, buddy?”
> Get up and try and see what’s going on.
> Other

>>3310375
>> Get up and try and see what’s going on.

>>3310375
Well I think Joffrey is Burke's responsibility now then.

If the bitch gets uppity about it we should feed her to Delta.

>>3310375
>> Other
Tell Joffrey what we did. Maybe it'll help relieve some of the guilt

>>3310375
> “Joffrey. You okay, buddy?”

>>3310375
>> Get up and try and see what’s going on.

>>3310375
>> “Joffrey. You okay, buddy?”

>>3310375
>> “Joffrey. You okay, buddy?”

dont fucking tell anyone goddamn

> “Joffrey. You okay, buddy?”

“Joffrey.” He slowly turns his head to you. “You okay, buddy?” He shrugs, glancing down at the floor. “Hey look, things are bad, I know. But, they’ll get better. Don’t worry. Once you’re back home and everything, we’ll get you some new hands, new eyes, all that stuff. It’ll be great. You’ll love it.”

Joffrey sighs, leaning back a little as he sits there. Then finally he speaks. “At this point, I honestly don’t believe I’m going back home.” You stop, pausing. “You wanna know the worst thing about not having hands or eyes and what not? I’m-… I’m starting to get used to it. I’m getting used to… being this invalid pile of bones.” His voice rattles you a little. “Where’s Lieutenant Harrell?”

“Uh. He’s not here now,” you say. “So just stay calm and everything, alright?”

“I…” Joffrey looks down once more, his face scrunching up in confusion a little. “Corporal. I just want this to end. I’m sorry for being so goddamn downy but goddamn it I can’t live like this for much longer.”

“Look.” You sit up, grimacing a bit. Exchange one guilt for another right now you suppose. You sigh. “We’ll get you out. I said I would. Don’t worry about it.” His slack shoulders and his passive looking body seems to you at least that he’s very close to just outright giving up. Maybe it’ll be a service to just Tombs kill him. But no, it won’t go that way. You’ve already done enough of that, however indirectly. Cope and Harrell will be where this ends. Nobody else’s life should be taken at this point. Sure, nobody liked them. Maybe you’ll even be better off without them.

But goddamn it, Burke. Why did she force your hand like this? She’s always tried to guide you into deserting or leaving the bunch in the past. Maybe she just finally had enough. Or maybe she’s always been a killer.

Graves opens the door again, a look of abject horror in her eye. She quickly steps up to you, then leans close and whispers in your ear. “They’re dead. Cope and Harrell are both dead.” You look at her, trying to look surprised. Graves doesn’t look quite surprised. She looks absolutely terrified. “Listen, you stay here. I’m going to get someone to watch you two. Don’t move.”

“But I-“

Graves places her hand on your chest. “Don’t. Move.” She slowly leans you down so you can rest back. She steps back and hurries out the door.

“What was that about?” asks Joffrey.

> “Cope and Harrell are dead.”
> “Nothing. Don’t worry.”
> Remain Quiet
> Other

>>3310594
>> “Cope and Harrell are dead.”

>>3310594
>> “Cope and Harrell are dead.”
*hand rubbing intensifies*

>>3310594
>“Cope and Harrell are dead.”

>>3310594
> “Cope and Harrell are dead.”

If we let Joffrey die we're the worst kind of scum. Gotta make sure he doesn't try to starve himself to death or something. Biting his tongue. Need to take that up with Graves, make sure he won't be able to

>>3310594
>> “Cope and Harrell are dead.”
I can GUARANTEE we could probably use whatever facilities and systems are in this ship to augment Joffrey. We just gotta figure out how this shit works, maybe find out how to get the drones under control.

>>3310638
Someone should to be placed on duty to figure out how to activate the data slates and translate whatever gibberish they are written in.

>>3310645
Nielson can do it while we figure out whether we can trust Delta. Just make sure that whoever's escorting him is trustworthy.

> “Cope and Harrell are dead.”

“Cope and Harrell are dead,” you say. Joffrey looks at you, emptily. “I just heard.” It stings to say that. Joffrey leans back a little, glancing to the side. “I’m sorry. They… I don’t know what happened.”

Joffrey says, “I actually liked Harrell. He didn’t deserve to die.” Joffrey sits back and lies back on his table, laying near completely dead. He’s not dead. But from his movement, perhaps he might as well be. Guilt was starting to build in your gut. Only slight. After all, this was Burke’s fault. And you’re not sure how she can repay this except maybe to make Joffrey her responsibility. Who knows?

You sigh, shutting your eyes. You need some goddamn rest. It’s aching at you but you need to slow the hell down and just breathe a little bit. Just give yourself some time to dwell. Some people might say that’s the worst decision to make but right now your psyche was starting to crack you feel. Things are crashing around you.

Tierney opens the door, looking in. She holds a canteen in her hands along with a C-Ration under her arm. “Uh. Graves sent me to check on you two.” You nod, looking at her. She steps up quietly, placing the canteen next to you. She looks at Joffrey. “Is he-“

“He’s alive,” you say. Tierney nods, biting her lip as she pulls the C-Ration open. “You going to feed him?”

“No, this is for you,” she says. “Graves told me you should eat and build up some energy.” Ugh, Graves. Come on, you’re not a baby. Tierney nervously brushes at some locks of hair in front of her eyes, then she says, “They’re cleaning up in the barracks now. They’re going to strip them of their gear and bury them outside.” That’s good. Some dignity at least.

“You’re not too shook up are you?” you ask. Tierney clearly does. But she’s definitely not saying so. She opens the canteen for you, then you take a drink aided by her hand tilting the canteen. You lean back and stop drinking, wiping your mouth.

Tierney shakes a little. “I’m scared,” she whispers, her eyes having tears welling up in her eyes. “I-… outside is one thing but I don’t feel safe in here.”

> “It’s okay. I’ll keep you safe.”
> “You need to learn to protect yourself. You’re strong. You can do it.”
> “Don’t worry. I’ll make us safe.”
> Other

>>3310819
>> “Don’t worry. I’ll make us safe.”
Maybe we should go bury them.

>>3310819
> “You need to learn to protect yourself. You’re strong. You can do it.” We're all here for you.
Guys I think she's faking

>>3310819
Unpopular opinion, but I like helpless Tierney. However, it's more useful to make her able.

> “You need to learn to protect yourself. You’re strong. You can do it. I'm here for you.”
I'll say this though, going down this arc makes her more like a daughter than a potential gf. I think we've sworn off graves, because she's graves, and Burke is......

>>3310854
>Unpopular opinion, but I like helpless Tierney. However, it's more useful to make her able.
I agree.

>>3310819
> “You need to learn to protect yourself. You’re strong. You can do it.”

I don't care how badly we supposedly 'need' Burke. She's a fucking psycho who clearly only cares about herself. I guarantee she will fuck us all over in an instant if she thinks it'll get her off world, and that makes her a liability.

>>3310913
I think we might have put the fear of God into Burke when we snapped on her, however. Looked like it possibly scared her so bad her 'tough girl' act gave way and she nearly broke into tears.

>>3310913
unfortunately we need her, and we seemed to scare the shit outta her when we snapped, so she should fall in line

>>3310926
>>3310931
She's a smart weasel. The only reason she pretended to be cowed was because we were - for the first fucking time - putting our foot down hard on her bullshit. So she immediately reverted to being the poor scared waifu and all was forgiven.
I fucking guarantee if Burke was a man and Harrell was a dumb officer girl you all would've blown Burke's brains out on the spot. But as it is we'll probably end up letting her steal the rifle off our back to shoot us with.

Look I'm not saying we should kill her now or anything but I don't trust her at all. We should be highly suspect of anything she suggests. Especially now that we have leverage over her in the form of knowing she murdered Harrell.
Think about it. Who knows about this shitshow? Us, Burke, and Godwin. They're both the murderers, so who does that leave as the potential leak? They could already be discussing how to keep us quiet for good.

Speaking of which is the dominion military a form of population control? Because its personnel are a joke.

>>3311006
I gotta disagree anon, there is no evidence pointing to Burke fooling us. She knows we are incredibly capable, but is usually a "nice" guy. We'll have to see how she reacts around us in the future, but the way Survive described it, that was pure fear.

>>3310819
> “You need to learn to protect yourself. You’re strong. You can do it.”

> “You need to learn to protect yourself. You’re strong. You can do it.”

“You need to learn to protect yourself, Tierney. You’re strong, you can do it.” Tierney steps back a little, looking at you with some unhealthy skepticism in her eyes. “Don’t doubt yourself, okay? Because down here, if you do, you’re dead. Now…” You sigh, leaning back a little. She sits down on the table next to you. “Maybe tomorrow we can get to work on some stuff but right now, I just don’t feel very well.”

She places a hand on your thigh, scooting close. “Well. If you need me, I’m here.” She blinks, quickly taking her hand away and moving to get the C-Ration. She flashheats a portion for you to eat. “Here. Get eating.” You nod, taking it. You’d honestly feel guilty though eating in front of someone who doesn’t have food of their own. But you’re not sure if it’s wise to offer to share. You look at the portion. Some meatballs and pasta. Barely any sauce. You take the spork and start chowing down. “Um. You know. Now that Harrell and Cope are gone. Does this mean you’re in charge?”

“Either me or Rutledge,” you say. “We’re both next in line in terms of rank.”

“Well. It ought to be you then,” says Tierney. “I-… I don’t trust Rutledge.”

“Why’s that?” you ask.

“I don’t know,” she says. “I mean, I can handle a creep but. Something about him seems off to me. Less about him maybe being a deserter. More about whether he wants to leave the planet or not.” You stop eating. That’s a good question. For people like Rutledge, there’s no reason to want to go back to the Dominion. And heck, if the Dominion decided one day to leave this planet be, then this is free real estate. But they’ll come back eventually. They have to after all. “I just don’t really know. I mean, we’re leaving. Or we wait for the Dominion to come back. We can’t stay here, can we?”

“We’ll get out of here,” you say. “We make it back home. Simple as that. That’s what I promised you, right?”

>>3311281
“It is.” Tierney twiddles her fingers, grimacing a bit. “But the longer we stay here… I feel like…” You look at her. “It feels like the longer we’re here, the further we get from home.” You look at her. Tierney stares at the ground, a very unfocused look to her eyes. “I mean, we can talk about it. Morrison has his wife. We all have houses and family to come home to. But…” She looks at you. “Corporal. I barely remember what my Mom looks like now. It’s only been what, a few weeks, and all this stress and everything else.” She bites her lip, sniffling a bit. “I don’t have a picture of my Mom so I can’t- I… I’m starting to forget what she looks like.”

“It’s okay, Tierney.” You put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

“No! No, it’s not okay!” Tierney says. “I should know what my goddamn mami looks like!” She puts her hands on her head, taking a breath. “This is all wrong!”

You sigh. What do you say to her?

> “Look, the only family that matters here is us. We’ll keep you safe.”
> Nothing. You can’t particularly relate. You never had a good relationship with your parents.
> “She’ll still remember you, don’t worry.”
> Other

>>3311290
>> Other
Give the girl a hug and tell her our group is her family, at least for now. As long as we remain on this planet.

>>3311290
She will come back to you when we catch a break and we can calm down for real. This we're going through, it's not healthy for anyone. It's only stress doing this to you, don't let it break you.

Chin up.

>Platonic hug

>>3311290
> “She’ll still remember you, don’t worry.”

>>3311290
>> “She’ll still remember you, don’t worry.”

>>3311311
>>3311518
All for the platonic hug.

Sometimes you don’t need words, just support

>>3311290
>> Other
fuck it, hug her. god damn it, we're becoming more of a parent than anything

>>3311737
We're the father figure to a group of demented, murderous children.
We should just walk outside and sit with the wife for a while, just for some peace and quiet.

>>3311755
It's really gotten to the point that the only thing we can relate to is a dinosaur. This planet really is gonna break us

>>3311762
Honestly at this point it feels like 50-50 any of us will even get out alive. Even if we do, I swear everyone will come out with PTSD or something.

>>3311785
Pessimists get shot, anon. You don't want an "accident", do you?

> Other
> “She’ll still remember you, don’t worry.”

You wrap your arms around her and pull her close for a hug. She presses her face into your chest, quiet. She’s not really crying, more relaxing in your arms and just letting herself be coddled by you. She puts her hand up on your chest, shutting her eyes. You can feel her racing heartbeat braking to a gentle slowness as you hold her. She’s calming down. “She’ll still remember you. And you’ll start remembering her again when we catch a break. This stuff we’re going through, it’s quite a lot. But I don’t want it breaking you.”

“Mhm.” She sniffs, then sighs deeply. You pat her back, glancing away.

“Feel better?” you ask.

“Yeah.” She takes a deep breath, shivering. “Yeah, I feel better. Thank you.” She leans up then quickly kisses your cheek, her soft lips brushing against the growing stubble on your face. She rests herself again on your chest, shutting her eyes.

The door opens again, revealing Graves and Morrison. “Hey. You two alright?” asks Morrison. You nod. “Listen, we’re-…” He looks at Joffrey for a second, then at you. “Cope and Harrell are being buried outside. Uh…” Morrison walks up to you. “Listen I know things are getting wild. But, a Deino came running around.”

“What for?” you ask.

“Delta translated for us,” he says. “They got a target of opportunity coming to the Swamp in a few days. I just thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks,” you say. Morrison nods, pulling his helmet off and holding it at his chest. “Um. Everyone alright?”

“Shaken but nobody’s too torn up,” he says. “We’re holding kind of a funeral service. Maybe… if you were feeling up to do a eulogy or something. If not, I’ll let you and Tierney have your peace. Don’t want to interrupt or… anything.”

> “Sure, let’s go.”
> “I think we’re fine. Thank you.”
> Other

>>3312031
>> “Sure, let’s go.”
Honestly the least we could do.

>>3312031
>> “Sure, let’s go.”
We should say a few words. Closure is good

>>3312049
Supporting.

Good chance to cememt our place as leader as well.

>>3311016
It doesn't matter if Burke is scared or not. Firstly Godwin isn't.
Secondly, when (if) we finally get back to civilisation, who is the only one that can finger either of them for murder hmm?
Burke and Godwin are fucked now so long as we're alive. The moment we get back to Dominion space we can have them arrested and probably executed for murder.
They're smart killers, they're not going to give us that chance. Doesn't matter if they do it now, or seconds before we get on the escape ship. They are going to do us in.

But of course since Burke's a chick we're just gonna let her hang us with the rope we give her. I should've know things would go this way the moment we started running into fucking women soldiers (lmao).

>>3312252
What the fuck is wrong with you? Your whole argument is that Burke is going to act against us (though she hasn't yet) and we let her because she is a chick, which literally isn't true. Calm down man, you're being unreasonable paranoid

>>3312031
>> “Sure, let’s go.”
Yeah, a few words would be good. Then we begin coordinating with our deino allies to harry the hill.

>>3312031
> “Sure, let’s go.”
>Other
Have Tierney carry Joffrey. He needs to be part of the group.

> “Sure, let’s go.”

“Sure. Let’s go.” You decide to finish off your meal really quickly, then have Tierney help you to your feet. You’re certainly feeling a little better now. But, deep down, you really hope this doesn’t come back to bite you anytime soon. Tierney takes your hand helps you to the door. Morrison walks with you, as does Graves.

…

…

Burke stabs the shovel into the ground next to the grave. Two rifles with their firing pins and power packs removed were their markers. And on top were the helmets. Godwin hands you the dogtags, nodding to you silently.

> 2LT. D. HARRELL – 578.273.93DH

> SSGT. M. COPE – 736.269.12MC

You sigh, looking at the tags for a few seconds before putting them into your belt. You walk up to the graves. Rutledge talks with Burke. “You alright?” he asks her.

Burke nods. “Fine.”

Rutledge tilts his head. “Alrighty. Just making sure.” Burke steps back and to the side. Everyone else has gathered around. And Graves has brought Joffrey outside too, allowing him to sit down on a log. You can see looks of confusion, surprise, a little sadness. But nothing soulcrushing. Obviously these two weren’t very well-liked. If anything the only person who seems the most sad aside from Joffrey is Stoakes. Stoakes sniffles a bit, looking down at Harrell’s grave. You can see the Wife and the Deinos along with Delta watching from the sidelines. The graves are underneath a tree in the shade. And truth be told, there’s room to expand. Hopefully it’s just these two.

Godwin nudges Stoakes. Sotakes blinks, looking at him, then at you. If she wants to say something, by all means. You motion for her to step up. Stoakes takes her helmet off and turns to everyone. “Um. Much as we didn’t agree with the way Lieutenant Harrell acted or behaved or led us, I felt that in his heart he was not out to harm us. He was a good man I think. He was just put in a very difficult situation like the rest of us. And as for Cope… well, I’m sure they will find some measure of peace.” She steps back into the ground. Tombs pats her shoulder. Godwin too squeezes Stoakes’ hand, nodding to her firmly. It occurs to you now that aside from Joffrey, those two are the only remaining members of Harrell’s platoon. With Horner and Bakker dead too, seems they’ll be quite lonely.

Rutledge looks at you. “Got anything to say, buddy? Seeing as how you and I are now the acting commanders of this ragtag bunch?”

> “Harrell was a good man. He didn’t deserve this.”
> “They’re dead because of their own fault.”
> “We’re better off without them.”
> Other

I gotta crash and go to sleep so that's it for now. Go ahead and make up a speech or something overnight and we shall return in the morning with what people want. Hope you're enjoying yourselves.

>>3312620
> “Harrell was a good man. He didn’t deserve this.”
Cope... I didn't trust the man, nor did I have much love for him. But in the end I'm still saddened I wasn't able to get him back home alive. Let Harrell and Cope be the last two brothers in arms we have to bury.

>>3312629
Thanks for running, dude.

>>3312620
>“Harrell was a good man. He didn’t deserve this.”
>"Cope...he tried his best"
>"I don't know why they both had to die. We are beset on all sides by things that want to kill us, and it breaks my heart even more knowing that two good men are dead not fighting the enemy, but instead at the hands of their own."
>"But these words of sympathy mean nothing to them. What matters to Cope and Harrell is that we survive, because despite their differences, it is what they would've wanted us to do. That's how we're going to honor them and everyone else who died on this planet."
>"We're not going up that hill. That would be suicide. We're going to make these Dino bastards pay. We'll make them fear sleeping, eating, shitting, every moment they walk through the forest. They want that hill? They can have it. Only price is their lives and we start tomorrow."

>>3312620
>> Other
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." We might not have agreed with these men, and some of you might have even hated them, but I cannot claim that they ever had sinister intentions for this group. They may not be here in body, but when we leave this planet and return to our normal lives, Sergeant cope and Lieutenant Harrell will always be with us, just as Horner and Bakker will be with us, and whoever else we have lost, and may lost. I hope episode will make us realize that we can't have petty squabbling anymore, and we will work to the one unifying goal, survival.

>>3312718
>>3312725
Sure, something like these

>>3312718
>>3312725
Yeah, sure. Along these lines.

>>3312620
>"You and I are commanders of this ragtag bunch?"
This sentence implies that he's ours equal, with the same responsibility and privileges and authority that we do. How should we address this?
>>3312718
>>3312725
Supporting these too

>>3312718
>>3312725
Supporting

>>3313317

I'm not fussed what rutlage want to do, hell I'd even let him run the base, so-long as we get command of operations.

Also supportan
>>3312725

On another note I think its time we get back to killin ayys.

>>3314155
I don't trust Rutlage at all, he should be relegated under us, or under someone we can trust.

> Other

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bred, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Everyone bows their head, quiet prayers and thinking as you continue the eulogy. “I might not have agreed with them. And some of you might have hated them. But it still hurts to know that they’re still dead. And not even by the hands of the Lizards but by their own.” You take a deep breath, sighing. “They were good people, good enough to at least care about getting us out alive. And we’re still going to. It’s what they would want us to do. And it’s how we’ll honor them, and make sure them dying. And Horner and Bakker dying. Make sure it wasn’t for nothing. I hope this makes us realize we can’t be squabbling amongst each other. We gotta work together. No suicide missions like that hill assault. We gotta work for our one big goal: survival. And as for…” You point out to the woods. “The Lizards? We’re going to make them pay in blood for every leaf of this swamp. They’ll wish they had left us alone. We start tomorrow.”

Everyone nods, quiet.

“Moment of silence then,” says Rutledge. Everyone bows their heads respectfully. As much as they hated Harrell, nobody wants to speak ill of the dead. It was bad luck too. Their ghosts might come and haunt you. You think back on how you first met Harrell. Some dumb Lieutenant. Nearly gets everyone killed crossing a bog. But he was still reasonable enough to try and listen to you. And as for Cope.

Well, you won’t say a thing about Cope.

After the moment of silence, Tierney picks up Joffrey and starts helping him back to the medbay. Graves and Tombs follow them. Everyone starts dispersing, quietly. No one wants to make jokes.

You sigh, folding your arms. Rutledge nudges you. “So, buddy. What’s our first move?”

> “We let everyone relax and try and destress.”
> “We gotta plan to hit a target tomorrow. Let’s go talk with Delta, he’ll know.”
> “I don’t know.”
> Other

>>3314319
>> Other
This group is gonna need to reorganize. We'll give them today to decompress, but tomorrow, Burke will need to start teaching the less "combat-inclined" people here survival skills, and what we learned about fighting in the jungle. Burke will head up the training, as I can't think of a more frigid bitch than her. They'll learn what they need to, even if they hate her for it. I'm going to go talk to Delta and see what these energy cores really do. If they're explosive, they're a weapon and we're going to use them. If we're going core hunting down below, then I'll need you and a few others to come with. For today though, relax.

>>3314319

>Reorganize into a guerilla unit. We're too few to follow the book. We'll harass, build traps and kill them everywhere, make them afraid to take a shit and keep them awake at night.

>You and I go over everyone's strengths and weaknesses, find who and what they can teach the others. Once we've got that ball rolling I have to find time to train with our Dinos and find a way to integrate or cooperate with them.

Ranging parties with a human squad leader and dino squaddies when?

>>3314431
It would be pretty slick if we can integrate dinos and humans

>>3314319
> Other
As the above people, let them try to de-stress today (kind of impossible to do any training today with morale this low) then start training them up. That target of opportunity the Deinos were talking about may be a good chance to launch our first strike.

> Other

“We gotta reorganize. First we decompress but tomorrow we start to work. Burke teaches people here the ways of the scout. You and I, we organize people and find out who’s good at what and who can teach the others, and I find a way to train these Deinos too.”

Rutledge nods. “Shame we don’t have any beer or anything. That’d be a real help.” Maybe you drank all that whiskey a little too son. “Alright, buddy. I’ll get to asking around. Tomorrow.” He slaps your arms, grinning. “Tomorrow’s a new day.” He points down to the graves. “And these fellas, well.” He starts walking to the door, going inside. “I reckon they must think we’re goners without them! Hehe!” With that, he’s gone. You’ll be frank, you don’t trust Rutledge much either. But you have to. He’s the only other man actually doing something to lead these people too. His people trust him. Well, you’ll have to as well for now.

Stoakes however has stayed. She hands you a satchel full of Lieutenant Harrell’s personal effects. “I figured you’d want them. There’s nothing too important in there, just… his things.”

“Thanks,” you say. “I’ll keep them safe. What about Cope’s items?”

“Eh…” Stoakes tilts her head, hesitating. “Grimshaw, Wexley, Hood, and Connell already looted it. They were gonna take Harrell’s stuff too but I gave it to Tombs to keep safe until we had this little funeral.” That’s fair. “Listen, Corporal. Um.” She looks up at you, brushing hair out of her face, a clear look of distress evident. “I have faith in you, okay?”

“Thank you.” You’re not sure what else to say. Stoakes smiles, then hurries off to join Tombs. You rub your head. The headache’s gone now. As is the clamminess in your skin. Just the bit of closure seems to have helped at least.

But now, what do you do?

> Go through Harrell’s things, see if there’s anything worth taking.
> Go to the medbay. Maybe Graves is worth talking to.
> Have a meal in the common room.
> Talk to the Wife and Delta. They must be confused as to what all this was.
> Other

>>3314720
>> Go through Harrell’s things, see if there’s anything worth taking.
>> Go to the medbay. Maybe Graves is worth talking to.
I'd say go to the medbay and sort everything there. I want to see how the rest of our original gang are holding up as well.

>>3314720
> Talk to the Wife and Delta. They must be confused as to what all this was.

>>3314739
Supporting.

>>3314720
>> Talk to the Wife and Delta. They must be confused as to what all this was.
Gotta fill the deinos in on the plan as well.

>>3314720
>> Talk to the Wife and Delta. They must be confused as to what all this was.

>>3314720
>> Go through Harrell’s things, see if there’s anything worth taking.
> Talk to the Wife and Delta. They must be confused as to what all this was.
> Talk to the Wife and Delta. They must be confused as to what all this was.

>>3314720
>>3314739
>Go through Harrell’s things, see if there’s anything worth taking.
> Go to the medbay. Maybe Graves is worth talking to.
Supporting this.

> Talk to the Wife and Delta. They must be confused as to what all this was.
> Go through Harrell’s things, see if there’s anything worth taking.

You walk on over to the stable. One of them is empty for sure. Probably sent out a messenger the Wife did. As you walk, you look through Lieutenant Harrell’s satchel. There’s his standard issue pistol and the holster for it. Maybe you’ll get it on your belt so you can have two pistols instead of one. There’s a map of the area, could be handy. A compass, a watch, and some pencils for land navigation. Then you spy a personal computer. It’s nothing more than a flat tablet no bigger or thicker than a piece of paper but it’s definitely a curiosity. You turn it on and take a look.

It’s nearly out of power unfortunately. And it seems the charger for it has gone missing. Maybe you can have Nielson juryrig one later. A personal computer for recording thoughts could be useful. Though you wonder what Harrell has in store for you on this thing.

Delta croaks, looking at you. You place the tablet back into the bag. “Uh. Sorry if you’re confused as to what happened there. That was a funeral,” you explain. Delta tilts his head. The Wife looks at you, attentive. “So. When someone we care about dies, or even just anyone important. We bury them and give our respects to their passing. You have anything like that?”

Delta shakes his head. Of course. For them, it’s canis canem edit you suppose. Delta looks to the Wife and starts translating. They chirp back and forth, clicking their teeth as well. The Wife snorts, looking at you with solemn looking eyes. Seems she understands. The Wife chirps at Delta.

And Delta in turn translates to you. Delta draws out a dead Deino on the ground, and other Deinos around it bowing their heads. Oh, they have funerals too. You see. They still praised the Spinosaurus even despite it killing them. A healthy respect for nature you guess. With a loud screech, the Wife turns to two of her Deinos and screeches at them. They nod and quickly take off from the stable. “Whoa, whoa. Where are they going?” you ask.

Delta points to you then clenches his claws together before drawing out a Deino handing a circle to a human. A gift? They don’t need to do that.

Then again she just did it you suppose but…

> Check on the eggs. Are they healthy?
> Tell Delta about Nielson’s plan. See what his opinion is.
> “Well, that’s all. Thanks.”
> Other

>>3315247
>Check on the eggs. Are they healthy?

>>3315247
>> Other
Ask him about the cores and what the payload on them are

>>3315247
>> Check on the eggs. Are they healthy?

>>3315247
>> “Well, that’s all. Thanks.”

>>3315247
>> Check on the eggs. Are they healthy?

>>3315247
> Check on the eggs. Are they healthy?
and
>>3315273

> Check on the eggs. Are they healthy?
> Other

You decide to check on the eggs. But as you walk on over to the Wife’s stall, you look at Delta. “Delta. I got a question for you.” He cocks his head, listening. “Those cores from the drones.” Delta steps back, clearly surprised by the words. “What’s their payload?” Delta tilts his head, looking at you with very skeptical eyes. “Look, Delta. There are more drones inside. They all have those cores assumedly. And you know how they work. Give me something. Can we use them? Are they harmless? Are they radioactive?”

Delta barks at you, shutting you up. He looks around, then points to a grenade on your belt. Oh? You take the grenade off and hold it up. He points to that, then draws a grenade on the ground. He then runs in a circle around it, dragging his claw toe. Oh, you see. Radius of effect. Then he draws a circle on the ground, the core. He takes a rock up from the grenade, then tosses it to his tail and knocks it outwards into the woods. Uh.

Okay, he just lost you. He looks at you, hissing. He takes another rock, then whacks it in the other direction out into the woods. They’re going pretty far. And if they-

Wait.

Oh.

Ooooh. Okay. You get it now. Very big explosion. Delta looks at you. You nod. You understand now. Well. You’ll probably ask him more later. Delta hisses loudly, apparently agitated that you asked him that. He doesn’t seem to like the idea that maybe you might want to use them. Of course, there’s other things you want to ask like what type of explosion, force, does it cause fires, etc. But those will come in due time.

Right now you open the stall to the Wife. She steps to the side, allowing you to see the little eggs. Four eggs in a little nest. You kneel down beside them and gently put your hand on one. The shell is quite hard to the touch. The Wife purrs, nuzzling one of them. You sigh. Surrogate father you guess.

They seem healthy at least though. So that’s… good. You’re not sure about raising them though.

Then you notice something. You blink.

Did that egg just… move? You tilt your head. The Wife leans in too, looking.

You see a soft twitch in the egg. Oh. Another one of the eggs too rocks forward lightly.

Oh.

Oh shit. They’re hatching.

> No, this is between you and the Wife. No one else.
> Get everyone here.
> Nope nope nope these ain’t your kids, you’re outta here.
> Other

>>3315863
>> No, this is between you and the Wife. No one else.

>>3315863
>No, this is between you and the Wife. No one else.

>>3315863
>> No, this is between you and the Wife. No one else.
Can't wait to raise these things as our own personal death squad. Ultimate loyalty

>>3315863
>> No, this is between you and the Wife. No one else.

>>3315863
We gotta chuck one of those fuckers directly into the hill encampment. Set a core to blow, chuck it and run like hell.

> No, this is between you and the Wife. No one else.

You kneel down, feeling your heart race again. You’re not quite ready to be a parent. If what Deinos do resemble anything related to human parenting. The eggs continue to twitch and shudder. You didn’t think they’d hatch so soon. But here they are! You see a crack form on one of them. The rest too start breaking open. The Wife whistles, closing in and gently nudging them with her muzzle. Delta pokes his head up, trying to get a look.

The first egg breaks open. Out comes a near cartoony tiny looking Deino, with big eyes. He pokes his head out of the eggshell, crying quietly, his claws scratching up against the eggshell. Oh. You little thing you. You slowly take the eggshell off of his head, then let him start climbing out on his own. He tries to come out, but he only results in tipping his shell over.

The second egg breaks open. He simply busts out, screeching as loud as he can. Given how small he is, it’s not very loud. This Deino tries to pull himself out, but the Wife quickly nudges him back into the egg. As they each hatch, more pride swells in your chest along with some alarm too. These are going to be your kids. But goddamn, you’re not going to take these little biters back home with you are you? How long does it take before they even get to the Wife’s size?

The third gets himself out too, claw first. Out from the bottom though. He kicks his legs out and immediately tips over, rolling onto his side.

And then the last one. The last one doesn’t come out immediately. By the time the other three come out, still dripping of egg refuse and shivering as they get walking around on their surprisingly developed legs, this last one only manages to crack his egg open. He pokes his head up, giving off a very weak whimper. The Wife nudges it with her teeth, trying to encourage him. The last little runt finally breaks his egg open, a little paler in color than the others. Your four little red rascals look quite healthy aside from the last one. They stumble and whimper before looking up at you. You can see gummy smiles on their faces as they look up at you. They’re like little dogs.

The Wife nuzzles you too, looking at her newborns.

…

Oh Christ. The little ones all walk up to you, looking up at you now.

Oh good Christ, you’re a dad.

Sorry for the delayedness and all, but I gotta end it here unfortunately. We will come back Wednesday night however for more so stay tuned until then. Hope you all enjoyed, go ahead and leave comments, questions, critique, etc. Make your plans, what are you going to do with the new kids? Who are you going to make your wife? All that stuff. Until then, see ya.

>>3316395
Who's the actual biological father though? Toothy?

>>3316405
Yep. Kill it you bought it.

>>3316426
Nice, kill a Deinos and get his wife and kids as prizes. :P

>>3316389
Well alright then. Wasn't quite expecting mc to actually get attached to them, considering we've been murdering deinos left and right and only have a tentative alliance with a tribe of them.

>>3316443
It's just the shock of seeing babies being born. It's going to wear off really quickly once you see how baby Deinos are.

“Ow!”

You flinch back, quickly shaking your finger. Little biters the damn things. You noted that the four of them had some distinct appearances to them. Aside from the pale one, one had an orange sheen to its scales, another the usual red like the other Deinos, and the third had dark spots under its eyes. Good enough to let you tell them apart at least. They were maybe only an hour old and they were already walking around, biting and gumming at things. The pale one however refused to leave the nest, meekly looking around as the other three look up at you and try to bite at you. What is it with Lizards and biting things they’re not familiar with!? You kneel back, trying to ward them away. Judging by how active they are, they must get big pretty quick.

The Wife screeches at them, silencing them. She reaches into her satchel and pulls out a side of meat which she plops down in front of them. She starts shredding it up with her claws to let them start eating it without trouble. Interesting. The three biters start going at the food while the pale one leaves the nest and tries to get its own meal in too. The Wife snorts, watching them eat.

Delta chirps, looking in. The Wife immediately whacks him with her tail, shrieking loudly at him. The four kids don’t even flinch, continuing to eat hungrily. Delta angrily barks at the Wife before going away.

You sigh, rubbing your eyes. This is definitely something. On the one hand, they’re quite cute. On the other hand, you’re not sure how to take care of these little bastards. You’re not even sure if its your responsibility to take care of them. After all, you’re human and they’re lizards. So…

On the other hand, maybe this is just part of the whole alliance you’re building up with these Deinos. If you just reject these kids, who knows how they’ll react. For the most part, you’re stuck with them.

“Hey, Daddy.” Oh shit, Graves. Graves looks inside the stable from the side, curious. “I know you’re a farm boy and everything but you can’t just go into the stables and treat the Wife like your favorite cow- oh.” She looks in, surprised. “The eggs hatched!” The kids look up at her, curious now. Graves leans in, smiling at them. “Hey, bab-“ The Wife immediately snaps at Graves. “Hey!” Graves steps back, hand on her belt. “I ain’t trying to eat your kids, bitch!” The Wife bares her teeth, hissing loudly as she stares at Graves.

> “Graves, give me some time to bond with the kids, please.”
> Try and tell the Wife that she can trust Graves with the kids.
> Let the Wife take care of the kids for now. You need some time to process this.
> Other

Welcome back to No One Gets Left Behind. As per usual, go ahead and leave your votes in overnight. Hope you'll enjoy and I shall return around 6PM EST after work to begin updates.

>>3324224
>> Let the Wife take care of the kids for now. You need some time to process this.
We'll let her nest them up, but we'll teach them tactics when they get old enough

>>3324436
Supporting

>>3324436
Supporting

>>3324436
Supporting.

Just read through the whole archive and god damn the last thread was a wild ride. I can't help but feel like there was a way we could have saved the LT, he was a good kid in the end.

>>3324516
What's done is done. We'll honor him by getting everyone off the planet. I feel bad about letting Cope get got tho

>>3324529
I don't.Harrell was alright but Cope was a snake who kept trying to poison our reputation because he was jealous that people would listen to us and not him.

>>3324828
He was also directly responsible for the deaths of two soldiers and the maiming of another

>>3324850
Yeah that as well.

>>3324224
Also:
>> Let the Wife take care of the kids for now. You need some time to process this.

>>3324516
There was. We ignored the line about someone opening the door behind us. Had we just acknowledged it we'd catch Burke before she could do anything.

Imagine that, it helps to pay attention

> Let the Wife take care of the kids for now. You need some time to process this.

You stand up and say, “Uh. I’m gonna let the Wife take care of this for now.” You walk over to the stable door quickly and quietly. The Wife stops looking at Graves and stares at you, baring her teeth. “Don’t worry, Wife. I’ll be back. I’ll have something for the kids and everything uh.” You point to the kids. The Wife looks down at them. The kids start following you, with the pale one lagging behind and almost stumbling on its legs. “No, no. Stay, stay.” You order. They look up, chittering quietly. You step back and they take a step forward in response. “Stay.” You hunch over and gently push them back. One of them whines loudly, looking up at you. “No. Staaaay,” you say, firmly. You start stepping back, and finally they stop following you. The Wife snorts, staring at you as you walk out of the stable.

You wipe your forehead. The Wife simply goes back to watching the kids while you start walking with Graves. Graves shoves you, frowning. “Hey!” you shout.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had kids!?” Graves says. What!? “I hate it when people try to come on to me and they don’t tell me they have kids. I wanna be a sex buddy, not a nanny.”

“Oh, ha, ha. Very funny,” you say. “You sure got over Harrell and Cope quickly.”

She frowns more genuinely this time. “You know, I like to hide my grief and my intense paranoia and fear that half the men here are either going to shoot me or rape me behind humor but yeah you go ahead and assume I’m just being obtuse.”

Oh. Damn it, you didn’t mean it like that. Shit. “Sorry,” you say quickly. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“It’s fine,” she says, folding her arms. “How are you feeling?”

“Just trying to process everything that’s happening.” Graves opens the door and lets you step in first. She shuts it behind her, walking along with you. “First we lose Cope and Harrell to… that. And now the eggs hatch and apparently I’m responsible for a bunch of baby Lizards. Wonderful.” You sigh, rubbing your nose.

Graves rolls her eye. “Daddy.” She takes your hands and starts pulling you back. “Come on, I’ll let you sleep it off in the medbay.”

“Why not the barracks?” you ask.

“We’re still cleaning the blood out,” she mutters. Oh. Right. “Come on.” She starts leading you to the medbay, hand with yours. “Best way to handle grief right now is to just sit and do nothing for the day and just hope that nothing else happens.” Yeah, definitely. She looks back at you. “Those little Lizards were pretty cute though.”

> “They have your eyes.”
> “Please don’t. I’d rather not get too attached.”
> “They are.”
> Other

>>3326260
> “They are.”
Dino Daddy here we go

>>3326260
>> “They are.”
Begrudgingly of course. They are Toothy's after all.

>>3326260
>"They are."
But Ineveraskedforthis.gif

File: askedforthis.jpg (60 KB, 640x640)

60 KB JPG

>>3326260
>> “They have your eyes.”
>>3326320

>>3326260
>> “They are.”
> “They have your eyes.”

> “They are.”

“They are,” you say. “I didn’t ask for this you know though. It’s not like I frakked her myself.”

“I’m sure you would’ve tried if she looked more like a Felisian,” says Graves. She-… You squint a bit. If they were actually humanoid… No. No. Push that thought of your head. You’re not –that- desperate. “But hey, you being a farmer and everything, I would’ve figured you were familiar with the way mares worked.”

“I did not frak any horses back home,” you say. “That’s a dirty stereotype.”

“Sure it is,” she says. You roll your eyes. Frakking Graves. She opens the medbay there and looks in. There you see Joffrey still on his bed, with Tombs standing beside him. That sight alarms you to your core. “Tombs.” Tombs looks over, rubbing his hands in a rag. “How’s Joffrey?”

“Doing fine,” Tombs says. Graves leads you to a table then sits you down. “Rutledge came by a little earlier. Asked for your opinion on something.” Graves tilts her head. Tombs looks at you then at Graves and says, “Between the two of you of course.”

“It’s nothing to do with sex, does it?” asks Graves. Tombs shakes his head. “I’ll see him later then.” Graves looks at you then pushes your chest. “You. Daddy. Go to sleep.”

“I’m not even that tired,” you say.

“Oooooh boohoo.” Graves leans in, looking at you like a mother would to a toddler. “Wittle babby won’t go to bed? You want Mommy to sing you a wuwwaby?” She pouts her lips, fluttering her eyes at you. You simply glare at her. This shit is getting on your nerves. She grabs your knees and starts rocking them side to side. “Wock a bye baby on da treetop…”

“Graves.” She stops, looking at you now in the most unamused fashion. “Seriously.”

She flickers your forehead, making you flinch. “I’m serious. Just lie down for longer than an hour. If you want, I’ll even let you rest your head on my lap if it’ll get you to stay in one place. You’re always moving around and shit.”

> “Would you? That’d be great.”
> “I’m fine. Let me just take a walk around to tire myself out.”
> “Fine, I’ll go to sleep. Goddamn.”
> Other

>>3326590
>> “Would you? That’d be great.”

>>3326590
>> “Fine, I’ll go to sleep. Goddamn.”
Little kiss on the head would do wonders though

>>3326590
>> “Would you? That’d be great.”

>>3326614
Supporting

> “Would you? That’d be great.”

“Would you, that’d be great.” You say it semi-sarcastically. But it still surprises you that within a minute, you’re now instead resting on the ground with your head on Graves’ thighs. Your back and body is cushioned as well by your satchel and jacket. And Graves leans against the wall, sighing deeply. It appears she didn’t want it to come to this. But at the same time, she’s not saying no. And you can even see the faintest hint of a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.

At least what faint looks you can get past her chest. One advantage to a lap pillow you suppose. You sigh. “You know, you didn’t have to do this if you didn’t want to.”

“If I didn’t do this, you’d find some frakking excuse to get up and find something else to get in trouble with,” she remarks. True. “Rest.” She places a hand on your chest and another on your head. For now, it really does feel relaxing laying back like this. It almost makes you feel loved. If it weren’t for the fact that this were Graves, you would. You look to the side and see Tombs leaning against a table, staring intently at a Pain-Stop injector in his hands. He places it back in his satchel then looks at you. You look back up at Graves, careful to avoid eye contact.

With that, Tombs decides it’s time to leave the room quietly. He opens up the door and steps out, shutting it behind him. You’re getting more and more uneasy about him day after day. But, it’s not going to ruin this time you’re having with Graves. You sigh.

“Enjoying yourself, Daddy?” she asks.

“Well, a little kiss on the head would do wonders for me,” you say. She responds by flicking your forehead. “Ow!”

“You don’t get a kiss until you be a good boy and nap,” she says. Fine, fine.

You sigh, shutting your eyes. Seems the issues are just melting away right now thanks to her at least. Gotta give her credit for that.

> Dream a little dream.
> You don’t dream.
> Other

Gotta sleep for now. Hope you enjoyed the last update. I'll be back to update tomorrow around the same time once I'm back from work. Go ahead and leave your votes in overnight and ask your questions leave your comments make your plans etc.

>>3327086
>> You don’t dream.
All our dreams have been crap so far so let's have a break for once.

>>3327086
>> Dream a little dream.
It's tradition

>>3327086
>You don’t dream.
Let's get some sleep for once. Maybe the voices will stop

>>3327086
>Dream a little dream.
Dream now so we don't dream big later.

>>3327086
>And you can even see the faintest hint of a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.
FINALLY.
It seems Graves' weakness is wholesome shit, funnily enough.

>>3327086
>> You don’t dream.
Dreamless sleep time, lets not wake up in a cold sweat for once.

>>3327086
> You don’t dream.

>>3327086
> Dream a little dream

I like the added madness.

> You don’t dream.

…

…

You open your eyes and see nothing but Grave’s boobs from underneath. However, she’s leant back against the wall, her hand on your chest. Her chest heaves against your head slightly from her breathing. And you can feel the faintest bit of a heartbeat from beneath her skin too. She’s asleep. You sigh, blinking your eyes a little. Not the worst sight to wake up to. You tilt your head over.

Then see Tierney staring down at the two of you. Her eyes are shaded beneath her helmet but you can still see them quite clearly in the shadow of her hair and the brim of the helmet too. “Enjoy your sleep?” she asks quietly.

“Oh. Tierney.” You gently push yourself up. Graves grumbles, immediately falling to her side when you sit up. She yawns, rubbing at her eyes as she rests her head on her hand. “Heh. How long were you standing there?”

“I just got here,” Tierney says simply. “You two look cute.” Oh. You look up at Tierney. The way she said that is completely devoid of anything even resembling friendliness. She looks at the door then back at you. “Um. Rutledge wanted to see you about something when you had time. Said he had an idea about how we could organize things and get an eye on that target the Deinos apparently spotted?” Right. Right. “He wanted to see Graves too. Sorry if I was interrupting your nap.”

“No, it’s fine,” you say. Tierney still stands there, near motionless. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She perks up a little, but she doesn’t smile. “I’m fine, don’t worry.” She rubs her hands together, then says, “I’m still a little on edge considering what happened to Harrell and Cope but, I guess I’ll get over it. I mean, you said it yourself. I gotta try and make myself stronger. Anyway. I gotta take my post outside, I’m on watch tonight.” Of course. With that, Tierney walks to the door. That was… odd, to say the least.

Graves sighs, rubbing at her eyes. “I’m not interested in morning sex, Daddy, so get outta here please.” Graves curls up, deciding apparently the floor is a nice place to sleep.

> Go find Rutledge, see what he wants.
> Head outside, maybe check on the Wife and Tierney while you’re at it.
> Head to the common room, maybe get another meal in.
> Other

>>3329256
>> Go find Rutledge, see what he wants.

>>3329256
>> Go find Rutledge, see what he wants.
Well fuck, how are we going to get on Tierney's good side again? It looks like we're playing favorites

>>3329279
It's not like we're in a relationship with her anyway so I don't see much we can do about her being jealous.

>>3329367
We need to keep everyone stable and happy though. I don't want Tierney going Private Pyle on us

>>3329472
The current situation is literally so fucked we cannot afford to care. we need people alive, not happy.

>>3329548
Yeah thats my point. Unfortunately, keeping people "happy" helps keep them alive

> Go find Rutledge, see what he wants.

You don’t know what you’re going to do with Tierney, honestly. She almost seems possessive of you. But the two of you aren’t even in a relationship! How can she be so possessive of something she doesn’t even own? You need to set the record straight at one point. Or as Godwin might put it, “Pump it and dump it”. But that’s definitely not going to be healthy in a situation where it’s not like you’ll escape Tierney. You’ll put your mind off of it for now and look for Rutledge.

You find him in the armory checking over a map with Bryce leaning over on the table next to him. “Rutledge.”

“Hey, buddy, you’re back,” he says. He looks at you, smirking. “How you feeling? That blowjob you get from Graves do you any good?”

“I did not-“ You stop yourself. No, you’re not going to play this game. “Tierney told me you had something to say.”

“Yeah,” he says. “Listen to me carefully, I got some ideas we need to settle. You said something about maybe getting everyone trained to be a scout or some shit or something or other. And you said something about organization or some shit.” You roll your eyes, putting your hands on your belt as you listen to him talk. Bryce whistles as she pulls some red locks out of her eyes, looking between the two of you. “Now, I’ve talked to Cope’s men. They’re willing to fall in with us. Not like they have anywhere else to go except the wild after all.”

“Grimshaw might be a problem,” you remark. “He and Morrison seem to get on each other’s nerves.”

“Eh, we’ll figure that stuff out as we go,” Rutledge dismisses. “As for the pilots. They can stay here. I don’t really care too much about them, they’re not really combat personnel like we are. Truth be told, they’re really only good for…” He shrugs, apparently trying to dodge the issue.

“Sex, baby,” Bryce says as she checks her nails. “They’re only good for sex.”

“Yeah,” Rutledge remarks. “Don’t need to say it so rudely, Bryce.”

>>3329831
“They’re pilots. If we get this ship working, they’re the ones who know how to fly it,” you say in their defense. “Let’s not denigrate them.” Plus, Early seems into Nielson at least. You don’t want to hear her be demeaned into a sex object for the entire group when she clearly has a preference. Bryce rolls her eyes. Just because Navy and Army doesn’t get along by default doesn’t mean you should bring it here of all places. “Now, what were your ideas, Rutledge?”

“Tomorrow, I’m going to help Burke with training some of the guys to do some scout shit,” Rutledge says. “And tomorrow, I’m thinking too we should probably think about laying some traps around this place.” First thing you’ve heard that’s made sense in a while. “Something the Deinos will know not to cross that the Lizards won’t. Traps will buy us some time, maybe alert in case the Lizards try something funny. But, I’m also thinking we lay them out in an area away from the base.”

“Why so?” you ask.

“Think about it,” says Rutledge. “If the Lizards run into a lot of traps in one area. They might think there’s something worth dying for at the end.” Good point. “Now, since you’re the boss and everything, I think you should be our chief trapper. You done some hunting before, ain’t you?”

“I have,” you say.

“So we good then? Tomorrow you go trapping?”

> “I’d rather spend the effort in something else honestly.” (Like what?)
> “Trapping sounds fine.”
> Other

>>3329842
>> “Trapping sounds fine.”
Coupled with scouting the hill, along with locating where they're logistics come in from. I want to find the main route their supplies move through.

>>3329842
>> “Trapping sounds fine.”

>>3329842
>> “Trapping sounds fine.”

>>3329931
This should be the game plan ye

>>3329831
I utterly despise the way that this pair thinks.
>As for the pilots. They can stay here. I don’t really care too much about them, they’re not really combat personnel like we are.
>Sex, sex, sex, people need to chill the fuck out.

The poor fucks(pilots) have been running one big escape and evade for like 2 weeks, so they are at least worthy of some respect.
>>3329842
> “Trapping sounds fine.”

> “Trapping sounds fine.”

“Trapping sounds fine,” you say. “You got any traps in mind?”

“Snare traps, simple spikes in pits too. Especially those ones where you got the spikes facing downwards on the inside so if you try to pull yourself free, you still stab yourself?” You know those ones. Cruel business those. “Not to mention tripwire grenades. And Bryce here.” Rutledge slaps Bryce’s back, smirking with pride. Bryce too smiles as well. “I want Bryce to go with you once you go out there trapping, she knows how to build.”

“Why not Nielson?” you ask.

“Ah, the two of you are attached at the hip,” Rutledge says. “Besides, Nielson’s got that thing with the communication. Bryce is a practical woman, ain’t ya, Bryce?”

Bryce folds her arms, shrugging. “I won a science fair once.”

“You a combat engineer by trade?” you ask.

“Of sorts. My specialty was more in terms of fortifications,” she explains. “I can do traps pretty well but I’m also trained for defenses and the like and how to knock them over.” Fair enough. “I think we should also take someone else with us tomorrow too. Maybe someone to just carry the stuff while we work? As big as our good buddy is here, he has his limits I’m sure.”

“He’ll find someone tomorrow,” Rutledge says. He takes the map away from the table, folding it back up into his satchel. “Besides, why do you need someone else? I wasn’t aware you were into threesomes.” Bryce rolls her eyes, then points at him while looking at you with a knowing expression. Yes, you’re aware of it too. “Come on, a little private time between the two of you won’t hurt. And it’ll inspire a bit of cross team relations. Just don’t get too close, buddy. I’m sure your girls will be hurt to find out you’re cheating on them.”

“Very funny,” you say. You look at Bryce. “Bryce?”

“I’m not like Graves, buddy,” Bryce says. That’s fair. “Anyway. I should get my things ready.”

“We’ll see you in the morning.” Bryce nods to Rutledge and to you, then steps out of the door. You see Rutledge’s eyes focus intently on Bryce’s rear as she walks out. Truth be told, you’re glad he didn’t catch you doing the same. Rutledge turns to you and says, “She’s spoken for by the way.”

“Way she talks, I wouldn’t know,” you say. “You and her…”

>>3330626
“Well.” Rutledge shrugs. “Yeah.” He plants a hand on the table, looking at you like a dad would his son. A foreign sight to you really. “Look, buddy. It’s a stressful situation and sometimes we gotta take it out by frakking the nearest woman.” That’s fair. Just as long as you don’t walk in on either of them.

“What about the rest of your men?” you ask. “They have anyone?”

“Good question, you ever plan on sharing that harem of yours?” he asks. You’re not sure how many times you’re going to roll your eyes at these hot takes of his. “I joke. Though, that does bring me to a question I gotta ask you.” You tilt your head. Is he seriously going to ask this? Goddamn it. You knew this was coming. Three girls apparently surrounding you day after day, now suddenly they want in. Maybe if they had some game, this wouldn’t be an issue. “What’s up with Burke?”

“Eh?” You look at him, confused.

Rutledge says, “I noticed Burke looked a little squirrely around you. And she uh…” He points to his neck. “Little marks. Surprised Graves or Tombs didn’t notice. I did though. You do that, buddy?” Oh.

> “We got into a little spat.”
> “Let’s just say I can be a little rough.”
> “It was nothing.”
> Other

I have to go to sleep for now, but once I wake up, we shall resume in the morning. SO go ahead and leave your votes in overnight and we shall be back for more later on. Hope you're enjoying.

>>3330635
>> “We got into a little spat.”

>>3330635
Also I like how people's perception of our 'harem' is like totally different from the reality.

>>3330635
>> “We got into a little spat.”
It's settled now.

>>3330635
>“Let’s just say I can be a little rough.”
She likes being choked and being called a whore :^)

>>3330635
>Other
"What she does on her own time is none of my business."

>>3330635
>> “We got into a little spat.”

> “We got into a little spat.”

“We got into a little spat,” you say. “We laid hands on each other.”

“Did she get a good shot in on you?” he asks. You shrug. “Ha. Fair. You don’t want to admit a girl actually nailed you. That’s fine, I have trouble admitting that myself too. Still not over training, had a hell of a drill sergeant for basic. Hot bitch, but damn.” You can imagine it honestly. “Anyway though. I was just curious that’s all.”

“Yeah, I mean, don’t worry about it,” you say. “Fights happen I guess.”

“They do.” Rutledge stands up straight this time. He points directly at you, smirking. “You know, I like you. You’re an honest fella.” For a definition of honest. “Helps when people need the truth sometimes. But anyway, we’ll get right to work tomorrow, we do our thing. Boom. The Lizards will never know what hit ‘em. And when we get home I guess, we get medals, make royalties off the books we write, we’re rich too. Think about that!”

“I just want to think about getting out of here alive.”

“Well, think about getting out of here alive and what you’re going to do too, helps.” He steps around the table to the door and says, “Listen, don’t be so broody all the time. Live a little. We don’t have the Dominion constantly breathing down our necks. The two worst commanders alive are now dead. And we have so much space and so much room!” He grins, hands on his hips. It’s almost too much excitement from him, being stuck down here. “Only thing missing are some more girls but I like the variety we got. Shame they don’t put out but oh well.”

“I thought you said you and Bryce-“

“Ah, yeah, yeah. I did,” Rutledge says dismissively. “But variety is the spice of life. Let’s not get too hung up about these things. Anyway, I’ll let you uh…” He shrugs his shoulders, sizing you up. “Be you. And me, I’ll get some Zs in the barracks. Try not to get into any more trouble today, alright?” With that, he steps out of the room.

You sigh, rubbing your nose. Pains you to lie, even by omission. But you’d rather have everyone’s trust right now.

> Fiddle with the Lieutenant’s tablet. Maybe make a record of what’s going on in case the worst happens.
> Go outside, check how things are handling with the Wife and maybe Tierney.
> Go to the common room, see who’s still up.
> Other

>>3331929
>> Fiddle with the Lieutenant’s tablet. Maybe make a record of what’s going on in case the worst happens.
> Go outside, check how things are handling with the Wife and maybe Tierney.
We'll see what Tierney is up to.

>>3331929
>> Fiddle with the Lieutenant’s tablet. Maybe make a record of what’s going on in case the worst happens.
>> Go outside, check how things are handling with the Wife and maybe Tierney.

>>3331929
>> Fiddle with the Lieutenant’s tablet. Maybe make a record of what’s going on in case the worst happens.

> Fiddle with the Lieutenant’s tablet. Maybe make a record of what’s going on in case the worst happens.
> Go outside, check how things are handling with the Wife and maybe Tierney.

While you’re here, you may as well fiddle with the Lieutenant’s little tablet. Maybe you can make a record of what’s going on. Maybe you can find some of his personal effects on it. You shift through a few folders here and there, just old reports, nothing too special. Then you spot something, it’s a video message. You decide to play it.

On screen comes a woman wearing a navy flight uniform. Certainly looks your age. She wears a smart set of glasses over her blue eyes and her black hair is done up into a ponytail sitting slack on her shoulder. She has her arms folded, a stern expression on her face.

> “Hey, little brother. It’s me.”

Oh. Lieutenant Harrell had an oldster sister, you never knew this.

> “I’m just sending out a message to you because I know you’re not going to take any of my calls or anything. I just want to let you know that I did hear you got a commission with the army and that you’re going to be a Lieutenant. Mom and Dad told me. Dad was pretty excited. But… listen, I’m going to be very candid with you. I’m not happy with your decision.”

She leans against the wall, still looking at the camera in an unamused fashion.

> “I joined the Navy because I wanted to better myself and see the galaxy. What’s a crybaby like you joining the army for? Mom and Dad can get you anything you want, and you choose quite possibly one of the hardest things to do in the world. The Army is not for kids like you. And you certainly didn’t earn that commission either because I know Dad pulled strings with a few friends of his, of course he would. You’re not playing soldier for the next couple of years then finding some land to claim once you go through your campaign. You have people’s lives in your hands. And you have your own. You can’t handle that.”

> “If I’m coming across as harsh, I’m not apologizing. You need to hear it from –somebody-. You’re not a Lieutenant. You’re never going to be. And life is not going to hand you victories just because you have the bars. For anyone who gets stuck under your command, I feel sorry for them. So yeah. Congrats on your commission. Come home safe. Hell, give it up and just go home. I’m not there to protect you anymore. And I’m certainly not going to bail you out if it gets too tough. So goodbye.”

With that, the message ends. Good Christ.

You shake your head. Best to shake that off. You slip the tablet back into the satchel. Maybe a walk outside will clear your head.

…

…


You open the door and look out into the nightcovered swamp. You look around and see the Wife fast asleep in her stable. Her tail is coiled around the little ones too, who are as well asleep. Probably best not to disturb them. Though, you do have to admit, them curled up like dogs is kind of cute. You sigh, rubbing your chin a bit, then you look up at the post on the top of the ship. Tierney is there.

You come up the ladder and see her sitting in the hide, staring out into the night. Her rifle is leaned up against her shoulder. And in her hands she rubs the blade of her knife with her fingers. “… Tierney?” She perks up then looks at you. “You alright?”

She sheathes the knife back into her scabbard. “Yeah. I’m good,” she says. “You okay?” You nod. “That’s good to hear. I’m just sitting out here by myself. Alone. Everyone’s inside either sleeping or having late dinners and I’m out here just making sure nobody sneaks up on us. It’s uh… lonely I guess.”

“I can imagine. But good on you for taking that responsibility.” She nods, looking away again. You climb up into the hide with her, kneeling down beside her. “You sure you’re alright?”

Tierney folds her arms, looking at you with morose looking eyes. “Um. Yeah. I am. I just…” You tilt your head. “So, I heard talk there was going to be a lot more training tomorrow. We’re going to be scouts like you.” Of course. “That’s fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

“You want to train up with everyone else?” you ask.

“Of course I do,” she says. “I want-… I mean… It’s scary. Yeah. But I want to.” Tierney helping out in the frontline is scary for you. Maybe you should try and gently walk her back. She did do good as a driver back when you were rescuing Joffrey. And she's strong as a bull, she's definitely a logistics type person if she could accept it. But something must be egging her on to want to fight. You don't like that one bit.

“Well, Tierney, it’s just-“

“It’s just –what!?-“ You flinch, looking at her. That was not the response you expected. She looks at you, severe hurt and anger in her eyes.

> “Nevermind. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
> “I figured you’d be better off in the back helping there.”
> “Is this about me and Graves?"
> Other

>>3332469
>> Other
>"What's bothering you? No need to bottle it up."
We probably all know the reason but probably better to bring it up indirectly.

>>3332462
Fucking hell, I feel sorry for Harrell even more now.

>>3332498
Supporting this.

>>3332498
Supporting.
>>3332529
Yeah that pressure to try to prove to everybody that he could hack it probably
affected a lot of his decisions. Once again screw Cope.

>>3332498
Sure
>>3332542
Fucking Cope. We'll be running around space after this closing loose ends, that's for sure

> Other

“What’s bothering you?” you ask. “There’s no need to bottle this up you know.” Tierney’s look deflates into one of just pure hurt and agony. “I know you’re a young girl and all, you didn’t even want to join the army but you were conscripted like most people here. But, we have to lean on each other. You can lean on me for a few minutes. I know with your mother and everything and everything else before that…. If you want to say something, just do it.”

Tierney folds her arms, frowning heavily. “… I’m jealous.”

“What?”

“I’m jealous of Graves, okay?” she says. “There. I-… I said my bit.” Oh. Uh. “I mean, I-… I don’t want to be the kid. I don’t want to be that girl that makes a huge frakking problem out of everything! And I just want to survive and get out of here! But… my heart…” She clutches her chest, hissing a little. “What does she have that I don’t that you enjoy?” You open your mouth. “And don’t say she’s mature! I’m 18! I-… I’ve lived with my family all my life! I don’t have the experiences she does, or you, or most of the people here! And I see you confiding in her and bantering and sleeping together like you’re a couple and I think back to when that one night when you…” Her face starts going red from complete and utter shame.

You’re silent. You’re not sure what to say.

Tierney looks away. “Graves is more your girl. Or maybe Burke too I guess. And me, I’m just some kid. I’m not made like you guys.” She places her head in her hands, shutting her eyes. “I think you guys would’ve been better off if I had blown my brains out in that locker.”

“No, no, don’t say that.” You scoot close to her. “Tierney, you’ve had your uses and I don’t judge people by how useful they are or how good they are in combat. This is about who they are as people. And you’re a good person at heart, Tierney.”

Tierney looks down, then back up at you. She glances away again, apparently trying to avoid eye contact. “I don’t feel like I am.” She looks at you. “And you…” She gently punches your arm. “You aren’t a good person either I don’t think. But that doesn’t stop me from… from…” She stutters on her words.

…

“What’s it going to take?” she asks. You look at her, confused. “For you and me to…” She gently bumps her fist against an open palm, looking away in embarrassment. “You know. That. Do I gotta learn to fight like Burke or do I gotta start teasing you like Graves?”

> “I just don’t think it’s the right time, sorry.”
> “I just want you to be you.”
> “Like I said. You gotta be strong.”
> Other

>>3333212
>> “I just want you to be you.”
It sounds disgustingly corny and sappy, but it's true I suppose. It's not like we've been trying to get in Burke's or Grave's panties, anyways. Besides, Graves is more like the groups messed up, incestuous mother.

>>3333212
> “I just want you to be you. Burke is a frigid bitch, and Graves is a little too "open" for me. If I wanted someone like Burke or Graves, I would go for them. If you're going to act like someone you're not, that doesn't make you you. You need to have self confidence, though."

>>3333212
>> “I just don’t think it’s the right time, sorry.”
Contrary to what everyone else in this bloody group thinks, we've been so busing trying to settle crisis after crisis to have the time available to get laid (which somehow a lot of people can't get their minds off now)
>>3333253
Pretty sure a lot of people just gave up Burke after the end of last thread. As for Graves, all the flirting and almost moments aside the more important thing is that she's one of the few sane people that we can confide in.

>>3333212
>> “I just don’t think it’s the right time, sorry."

>>3333306
Supporting this + “I just don’t think it’s the right time, sorry.”

Especially as we now have the burden of command on us.

Everyone is looking to us to lead, to make hard decisions and essentially save them.

>>3332529
Same here. He did honestly try his best and most times, his decisions were okay.

>>3333212
> “I just want you to be you.”

>>3333421
Supporting.

>>3333308
Burke is still best girl, even if she's psychotic and murderous. That's just women

Sorry for the delay, I got caught up in something. Expect update in a little bit.

> “I just don’t think it’s the right time, sorry.”
> “I just want you to be you.”

“I just don’t think it’s the right time. But at the same time, Tierney. I just want you to be you,” you say. “I mean, Burke’s a bitch, Graves is a little too open. If I wanted them, I’d go for them. Now if you act like someone you’re not, that doesn’t make you you. You need to have some self-confidence.” You thump your chest. “Try and have some goddamn pride in yourself you know?”

“I know, I know…” Tierney hugs her legs, looking away. “It’s hard to have pride when I’m me though.”

“Well, look. Tierney, you’re a nice girl-“

“And if now is not the right time, when –is- it going to be the right time?” she asks you. You’re silent. You don’t know how to answer that on the spot. “God. Just leave me alone.” She scoots away, hugging her legs.

“Tierney. You don’t have to push yourself,” you say. “Really. I like you the way you are.”

“So you like me being a frakking coward hiding behind people and constantly putting people in danger!?” she shouts at you. Okay. That’s just putting words in your mouth. “I want to be braver! I’ll show you I can do it! I’ll run alongside you in combat too!” You’re quiet, looking down. Tierney, goddamn it, please. “If you’d just give me a chance! Don’t forget I ran out to find you and Burke when you nearly got killed!”

“You were nearly killed doing it,” you say. Her face scrunches up in fury. She can’t refute that. “Tierney, you need to calm down. I’m trying to help.”

“I know, but-“ She sighs. “Goddamn it! I don’t know! Just leave me alone!” She scoots further away from you, facing away from you.

“Tierney.” You reach out and touch her shoulder. “I-“ She turns and punches you square in the cheek. For a second your sight goes black before it slowly fades back in and you can taste blood pooling in your mouth. Your teeth have cut the inside of your cheek against her fist. And you can feel your jaw be sore from the impact. Holy shit she’s got a hell of a punch to her. You shake your head and look at her.

She looks absolutely horrified. “… oh my God. I- I-“ She stutters, starting to whimper. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” She takes your arm, whining, tears starting to well her in eyes. “I didn’t mean to do that! I was- I was just-…” She starts sobbing, her arms shaking. “Don’t go! Don’t go! It was an accident! I’m so sorry! Please don’t go!”

> Leave. She needs time to calm down.
> “It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me that bad.” She did, actually.
> “Tierney, you need to calm down right frakking now.”
> Other

>>3334648
>> Leave. She needs time to calm down.
>> “Tierney, you need to calm down right frakking now.”

>>3334648
>It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me that bad.” She did, actually.

Jesus, is she on her period or something. So much emotion

Just explain to her what we’re struggling with - the enormity of our task (in safeguarding and saving everyone), from disunity and from the lizards.

So it’s fair that fucking or a relationship is not from on my for us right now

Let her absorb that, then leave.

>>3334648
>>3334648
>> “Tierney, you need to calm down right frakking now. If it helps to throw some punches, direct them towards my stomach. I kinda need my face.”

But yeah, duty and all that. Tierney is great, but we have to look after the other people in the ship. Maybe if things "stabilize" a little more. We are going to need a good stress reliever, or we're going to just snap. I think Survive has been hinting at it for a while

>>3334680
Supporting this. Try to explain that
a) The CO and XO are dead. We're now in charge of the last surviving vestiges of humanity on this planet
b) We are vastly outnumbered by enemy forces
c) Said enemy forces are dinosaurs and are unleashing mortar strikes upon us all
d) You're suffering from a series of injuries and stress
e) "Tierney, I'm more interested in keeping everyone alive than choosing who out of everyone I want to sleep with."

>>3334699
Maybe we should start frakking our harem then /s

>>3334750
But it we do that it means acknowledging waifu wars, if we pretend it doesn't exist we don't have to lock into a best girl route, we can delay that inevitability

>>3334750
That opens a whole other can of worms

>>3334788
>>3334790
That's why I was being sarcastic. Honestly getting laid here isn't the problem; it's everything else around it that's the issue right now.Unless we can get a threesome or something lmao.

>>3334833
Unless we can get a threesome or something lmao.
Well.......

I mean we shouldn't, but it probably wouldnt be hard. The goal right now should be training everyone, and getting the traps set up. Carnal pleasure can come after

I'm sorry, I can't get this last update out. I gotta get some sleep. We'll resume this in the morning so go ahead and leave your votes in if you want. Hopefully the thread's alive by then. Night night.

Also I just noticed we're on page 9 so just in case it's not, I'll archive it.

>>3335550
>>3335555
Thanks for running senpai.

I enlisted to impress a girl who never wrote me after. Just imagining how good her prospects were at home while I was in basic had me swallowing bile for a while. You, you have to see me every day.

Tierney, the first dino storm aside, I'm going to bet jealousy's the bitterest thing that's ever been mixed in to the sweet girl you are. It's a shock to have to bear it if you're unfamiliar. You don't know what to hate more; everything you thought was decent about yourself, or the dark shit you know will satisfy your anger that your decency won't allow. You don't know how these things can live in the same person without tearing you apart, and neither of them will go away.

So you asked the right question earlier. Everyone else has something you don't. They've lived with all that a little longer before, and you're starting a trial by fire. I said I want you to be you... maybe because it's been a comfort to know that someone around here isn't as far gone as the rest of us. But that's me holding you back, in the end.

I think we both understand (wipe lip), you don't want to be that person anymore. Well, that's good, even if it doesn't feel like it. Figure this shit out so far from home and you'll be fucking invincible.

//Tierney was born in the wrong damn story, much as I wish her well.

>>3334648
>>3335739
What I'm trying to convey here is "You're too good for this damn planet, and that's why jealousy hurts." Tierney's got a whole extra wrong time, wrong place going on than the one we're all sharing, and that will continue to be a problem, but we can at least tell her that she can learn to live with being so galled by love, and it won't make her any less human than the rest of us. Any attachment to being cherished as someone un-"broken" will in fact drive her nuts.

>>3334680
>>3334716
Presenting my alternative because I don't think Tierney's living any less with the reality of the situation than the rest of us. Her efforts in the line of duty have been attempts to prove her acknowledgement of the situation, and by extension get MC's approval. In the case that we consider this a shallow understanding of the situation (though I don't, personally), the outcome of simply reviewing our problems is that we update whatever checklist Tierney goes down on what actions will impress MC. This is an ongoing problem, but not a new one. We can continue to address it as we have before; some encouragement, but realistic assignments.

Jealousy in someone inclined to suppress it is the root of this recent outburst, and that's what we should attempt to address, realistically as always.

>>3334648
>> Other
By the law of narratives this is when the dinosaurs attack. Get up and take a look before we all die. We can talk and say those things at the same time.

She needs to realize how important keeping watch is and distraction gets you killed

>>3336121
Now you jinxed it

>>3335911
>>3335814
>>3335739
I agree for the most part, but I don't think she needs to hear it. In her mind she can't be this virgin (inside and out). She needs to be like burke or graves, because she wants to impress us.

Maybe if we show her that we're impartial, or show some "affection" to Tierney, she'll see that she doesn't need to be some badass

> “Tierney, you need to calm down right frakking now.”
> Other

“Tierney, just frakking calm down.” You grab her arms, trying to stop her from crying. “Now you didn’t hurt me that badly, it’s nothing. But you gotta calm down.” She looks down, tears draining from her eyes like a waterfall. “If it helps to throw punches at me, try the stomach, not my face, please. Do you feel like that?” She shakes her head. “Alright, good. I know it was just an accident. We all have our days. But listen, I have a responsibility now. Cope and Harrell are dead, I’m in charge now. We’re in a very tough situation. And the enemy has all the cards in their deck. We’re all stressed out and suffering. I got a responsibility to everyone now, not just you.”

She sniffles, sucking in air hard as she slowly begins calming herself down. “Okay.”

“Alright?” She nods. “Now Tierney, just… stay calm. Okay?” She nods again, more lightly. “Alright, good. Good. I hate to make this about myself but understand my situation, okay?” She nods again, more hesitantly. “You’re a good girl at heart, I know it. That’s what I want from you. I know you’re jealous of Graves and Burke but you’re not like them. You don’t have to be like them. You might feel like shit now but trust me, once you figure yourself out, you’ll be great.” She nods again, refusing to look at you. You take her chin and look her in her eyes. She tries to glance away, but can’t help looking at you. “You feel bitter now. But trust me too, it’s comfortable knowing you’re not like the rest of us. Mostly my fault but… you know. I don’t want to lecture you.”

…

She glances down again, then sighs. “Alright,” she says.

“Feel better?”

“A little,” she says. An intense blush rises on her wet cheeks as she looks at you with a deep frown. “I-…” She stops herself, then says, “I need to go back to watch. So just go, okay?”

“Alright. If you need to talk I’m always around, alright?” She nods. You go to the ladder and start stepping down. She scoots away, turning away from you and facing the night.

You sigh, holding your heart. Goddamn it. Last thing you need to worry about right now. But you can’t keep ignoring it either.

Maybe you’ll deal with it tomorrow.

> Move ahead to tomorrow.
> See who’s still awake in the medbay.
> Go to the common room.
> Other

>>3336897
>> See who’s still awake in the medbay.
We just took a nap earlier. We sleep too much and we're going to get used to 8 hours

>>3336897
>> See who’s still awake in the medbay.

>>3336940
I'll switch to this. Also make sure Tombs hasn't euthanized Joffrey and see what Rutledge wanted to talk to Graves about.

>>3336897
> Go to the common room.

> See who’s still awake in the medbay.

…

…

You open the door into the medbay and find Graves napping quietly in a chair in the corner. A jacket had been put over her to warm her up. Tombs’ most likely. You see him jacketless, only his undershirt covering his muscular form as he catalogs the medical equipment. “Hey, Tombs,” you say. He turns to you, stopping what he’s doing. “I see you’re still awake. How you feeling?”

“Fine,” he says. You look over at Joffrey. He doesn’t seem to be in any state of distress. Seems Tombs hasn’t euthanized him against your will. You walk on over to Tombs, hand on your belt as you watch him. He folds his arms, staring at you. “You need something?”

“Ah, no,” you say. “I was just wondering if anyone was still awake. I know Rutledge is going to take Burke and most everyone out to do scout training. Not to mention tomorrow I’m going trapping with Bryce as well.”

“Hm. Take my advice, don’t get into too much trouble,” he says. Fair enough.

“How’s Stoakes?” you ask.

He shrugs. “She’s… torn up about Harrell. I think she was one of the few people here who genuinely didn’t hate him. Nice girl she is. I’m doing my best to comfort her, she’s asleep in the barracks right now.” Right, right. “Can I ask you a question?”

“What’s up?”

“See. I had to examine Harrell and Cope’s bodies after they were killed,” he says. Oh? “Harrell apparently took a single shot to the head but Cope took one to the chest at the heart. I noticed there was something odd about it but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.” Oh really. You tilt your head, curious. “Because see Graves, Godwin, and Burke think it was some kind of power struggle that got them both killed in some weird standoff. And I actually have a different theory.”

“What’s that?” you ask.

>>3337622
“Harrell was murdered, as was Cope,” he says. Your blood goes ice cold at those words. Shit. “I haven’t told anyone else this because I don’t want to cause any panic. But the circumstances are strange. Now Cope told Harrell that the assault should work, you lead it, suddenly Harrell changes his mind, Cope walks into the room Harrell’s in and they both shoot each other. Now, they didn’t like each other yes. But it still strikes me as weird.”

“… why’s that?” You’re not sure you want to be part of this conversation.

Tombs says, “You remember when we first found Harrell? He shot up a poor baby sauropod. Lots of chest shots. Very inaccurate.”

“Yeah. It was in a bush, obscured though,” you say.

He nods. “That’s the point, a lot of shots. Panicked shots. Cope only took one to the chest.” Right. Tombs says, “And that’s a bigger thing. It was a heart shot yes, but that means Harrell would’ve had to have fired first. There’s no way he’d have any mental capacity to shoot after getting shot in the head. You really think Harrell would actually have the gall to shoot someone for being insubordinate?”

You shrug. “I mean… Harrell was shot in the head, that’s improbable too.”

“It is,” he says. “These things happen I guess but… maybe I’m just letting my mind think too hard.”

> “Just relax. They’re dead. Move on.”
> “I dunno. Keep it in the back of your head maybe.”
> “It helps to keep the mind speculating. But maybe Cope and Harrell’s deaths, you’re overanalyzing.”
> Other

>>3337625
>> “Just relax. They’re dead. Move on.”

>>3337625
> “Things were getting tense, and Harrell was getting tired of people second guessing him. Maybe he snapped? Anyway, It helps to keep the mind speculating. But maybe Cope and Harrell’s deaths, you’re overanalyzing.”

>>3337675
Supporting this + mention the video of his sister we found on his PDF.

Seems like he was under intense pressure to succeed and everything just kept going wrong for him.

> “Just relax. They’re dead. Move on.”
> “It helps to keep the mind speculating. But maybe Cope and Harrell’s deaths, you’re overanalyzing.”

“Just relax, Tombs.” He looks at you, confused. “Now. Things were tense for Harrell. And… I saw a video from his sister on his tablet. It wasn’t great for him. He was under a lot of pressure to succeed and things just kept going wrong. Imagine trying to prove yourself competent and suddenly you get left behind on a planet full of people who don’t respect you and aliens who want to eat you. Maybe he just snapped.”

“Perhaps he did,” says Tombs. He looks down, inquisitive expression on his face.

“Anyway, it helps to think on these things, makes the mind limber I guess. But as for their deaths. I’d say you’re overanalyzing,” you say.

“Yeah.” He sniffs a bit, then looks at you. “Maybe.”

There’s the crux of it. Maybe. He doesn’t quite believe it. But he doesn’t have any evidence either. So a theory it’s always going to remain. And hopefully he won’t figure it out. But damn. Tombs is pretty sharp for a basketcase. You weren’t expecting that. And maybe you should go and scold Godwin later for sloppy handiwork. Sure he was a criminal that knows what he’s doing. But a good criminal wouldn’t get caught.

“Anyway, Tombs…”

“I’m a little busy now,” he says. “So, I’d cut the conversation short I’m afraid,” he says. “Thanks for talking though. I appreciate any kind of socialization I can get.” Of course, of course. “As for Joffrey, he’s still alive. But he’s not eating. Graves and I practically had to forcefeed him dinner. We’re doing what we can.”

“Still think you-…” You look at Tombs. His expression of absolute grit and unamusement tells you he thinks he really should just put Joffrey down. “Nevermind.”

“Do me a favor though.” Tombs nods to Graves, who still slumbers soundly on the chair. “Take Graves to the barracks for me. I don’t want her having an uncomfortable sleep in that chair.”

“Why can’t you do it?” you ask.

“She’s scared of me,” he bluntly replies. “She likes you.”

> “You carry her. I’ll watch the medbay, don’t worry.”
> “Fine. Just this once.”
> Other

>>3338162
> “Fine. Just this once.”
"I'm sure she likes you, Tombs, she sure as hell respects you. We all do."

>>3338162
> “Fine. Just this once.”

>>3338162
>“Fine. Just this once.”

>>3338191
Supporting. BUT, as we leave if we run into anybody, we tell them to hightail it to the medbay and discreetly check if Tombs is going to do something.

> “Fine. Just this once.”

“Fine.” You come over to Graves and pick her up in a princess carry. She’s not that heavy. Then again, you’re used to carrying things, physically and metaphorically these days. “Just this once. And listen, Tombs.” You walk up to him. “Please don’t do anything rash while I’m gone, okay?”

Tombs sighs. “You’re my Corporal, you’re in charge. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything you wouldn’t want me to do.”

“Seriously, don’t,” you say. He nods. With that, you step out of the medbay and carry Graves to the barracks down the hallway. You yawn a little yourself. But honestly, you took a nap only a little while ago. You’re not that sleepy.

You look down at Graves and watch her slumber. She’s actually adorable being curled up in your arms like this. She mutters to herself a little, twitching a little bit in your arms as you push open the barracks door. Seems they’ve cleaned it out finally. You find a good bedroll to rest her down on. She sighs, content as you wrap her up in the blanket. Well, that’s one thing done. Hopefully Tombs hasn’t done anything rash.

Still though, Graves is strangely adorable like this. You gently brush some hair out of her eyes. Her nose twitches as she sleeps, the gentle rising of her chest up and down beneath the blanket. You smile a little, pressing your hand against her cheek.

“Stop that, Daddy.” You freeze, staring at her. She opens one eye, looking at you. “You’re being creepy.”

“Y-…” You stop. God DAMN IT what!? “You were awake?”

“Of course I am,” she says. “You frakking picked me up and carried me down the hall, dumbass.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You picked me up and I didn’t want to walk all the way down here, duh,” she says matter-of-factly. “Plus, I like being picked up. Suspended congress is a lot of fun.” She twiddles her fingers, smirking at you. Well, she can kiss that privilege goodbye then. You stand up and walk to the door. “What, no good night kiss? I’ll even upgrade you to a titjob if you want for carrying me.” No way, hag.

You quickly get back to the medbay and find Tombs there, right where you left him. You look over at Joffrey. Still sleeping, still alive. Hmph. “If you want,” says Tombs. “Chair’s there.” You sigh, walking over and sitting down on the chair.

You rub your nose. “Tombs. How do you do it?” you ask.

“Do what?” he asks.

“Deal with women?” you ask.

Tombs stares at you, then shrugs. “Well first I treat them like people.”

Haha, goddamn you, smartass.

File: marine.jpg (311 KB, 900x623)

311 KB JPG

That is going to be it for this session. We'll return another time this week, maybe Wednesday or Thursday depending on how I feel. Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you at the usual times I guess. Go ahead and leave questions, comments, critique, I thrive on it.

>>3338702
>No way, hag.
Hhhhheh

>>3338709
Thanks for running senpai

>>3338702
Fucking Graves. Anyway, thanks for another good thread. It'll be nice to get back into the jungle, maybe we can find that sniper while we're at it.

On a related note, hopefully this thing with Tierney works out. As much as I want to just bite the bullet and start having relations with her, we need to keep our mind in the game.