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Your name is David "Gunny" Rockefeller, no relation.
A veteran of the united states marine corps, you find yourself in a far-out situation after an all-too-close encounter of the third kind!

In the last thread, You and your crew managed to recover Gron's missing man and began cleanup of the surviving enemy vessels.
While onboard, you discovered that they the AI ships also served as prison barges, collecting and carrying high value targets back to the core worlds for punishment.

You also discovered something very strange about the still-shackled AI cores in control of those ships, and concluded that some fucked shit is going on in regards to AI technology.
Now, after a brief battle against some wraiths and a couple of demons, you find yourself contemplating what to do about the unknown dangers onboard this special weapon-ship.

>Last Thread: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5313079/
>All Threads: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=humanity+-+fuck+yeah%21
>Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rNxD6ccWY5M48dLWuTWdr5LiYLuS_YIAMKlTLw42eeo/edit#gid=0
>Discord Link: https://discord.gg/DMwvMw43yv
>>
>>5354485
>>5353546

You think on what you should do about it for a minute, before deciding it's better to just deal with it rather than leave it as a potentially dangerous unknown.
But you don't have enough experience with this sort of situation to feel comfortable just walking in, either. So you decide to give Sanig a call, and get his opinion on it.

...

"...Yo, Sanig. You there?"

["What is it, Kid? I'm busy makin' some repairs right now."]

"Yeah, yeah. We're all gonna be busy cleaning up for a while, so don't give me that. Look, here's what's going on..."

After a brief explanation of what's happened and what you found, Sanig gives you his advice.

["Well Kid, like you said, this ship is probably a station-killer. Or "the big red button" as you so eloquently put it. It's designed to do massive damage with little regard for collateral, so whatever's in those rooms ain't good."]

"Yeah, i gathered that much. What do you think it could be specifically, though?"

Sanig ponders the question for a moment.

["Hrmm. You said those tunnels were barely big enough to pass through, right?"]

"Yeah. In my armor, but still."

["Most ships are designed with large halls meant for gas-pocket species and the like. Interesting."]

There's a sudden tingle on the back of your neck as you find yourself momentarily distracted in conversation.
That last demon is back, and it's going for your back. But you make sure not to react, so you can draw it in.

Meanwhile, Sanig continues his train of thought.

["And it was behind a non-standard docking port? The same ones used by the generator ships?"

"Yeah. I had to cut one off to get inside, so they'd have to be disconnected to get in there."

["...Can't be used at the same time as the mega-laser, huh?"]

The demon, who's been creeping ever closer, finally strikes at your neck.
You twist your body counter-clockwise and grab it's extended left arm with your right, then pull hard to slam it's back against the wall.

It then finds your left hand gripped tightly around it's neck, causing it to thrash violently and leave scratches across your armor with it's hardened claws.

["Could it be a landing party of some sort?"] Sanig wonders, unaware that you're currently fighting. ["To capture and collect the subjugated party. That would make the most sense, wouldn't it?"]
>>
>>5354487

"Could be." You respond tersely.

One heavy blow from your right hand bloodies the demon's nose and forces it's head back against the wall panel. A second blow takes much more of the fight out of it, and nearly sends it's head through the wall.
You grab the larger of it's left horns and snap it off, then quickly stab it deep into it's left temple, wiggling it around to disturb as much brain matter as possible.

The demon's whole body spasms and it's eyes twitch and roll around violently as you blend it's brain up, but somehow even that isn't enough to kill it completely.
So you stab it again, this time straight through the top of it's head. And then you wiggle the horn around even more, until it finally stops moving.

The demon drops to the ground where it lays in a slowly expanding pool of black blood, looking like hell's own unicorn.

["You saw those battle bots that were guarding the prisoners, right Kid? Now, it could be a group of soldiers in cryosleep, and i'm not saying it's not... but it could be a shitload of those bots, too. In fact, i'd bet on it."]

Well, the old man's pretty good at gambling. If he says he'd bet on it being robots, it's probably robots. The only question now is what you want to do with them.
If they're the same as the ones guarding the prisoners, they can't be hacked into or reasoned with, since they're not even connected to a network in the first place, and they're dumb as fucking bricks.

>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
>Robot army, huh? Sounds like a job for the Milkor. 40mm high explosive grenades, god's gift to the universe.
>Fuck it, you're not worried about them. As long as they don't get activated they aren't an issue, so let's just weld those passages shut and be done with it.
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
Well, we aren't on a tight schedule anyway.
We should think about what to do with the dead demons meanwhile.
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.

>>5354496
We should also get all the demon gunk out of our body before heading off to deal with the robots
>>
>>5354503
There's no demon gunk on or in you right now. They never touched you.
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
since we have a core in our hands we could spend time clean ourselves or even even get the other two cores while we wait.
>>
>>5354506
by mean clean ourselves I actually mean clean our cameras because we cant Shodan cant see shit
the crew should see what David's been doing for a while
>>
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>>5354507
What do you mean? This is fine. :^)
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
>>
>>5354510
Anon says we should properly clean the camera so SHODA. has better live feed before we continue
>>
>>5354628
I know, anon. I understood him.
>>
>>5354628
Nvm I didn't load the picture. The right amount of gore on the lens to scare the shit out of anyone watching the recordings and still being useful
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
That sounds like something useful to have for our xadia raid
>>
>>5354485
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=humanity+-+fuck+yeah%21

Upvote the thread you niggers
>>
Bump
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.

>>5354694
You dumb fuck
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
>>
>>5354787
come on, he has all the good intentions!!!... and none of the wits
>>
God I love this story it’s so sad there aren’t any other stories as good as this
>>
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
>>
>>5354488
>Wait on it a while, let Sanig go over the machine corpses you've given him and see if they have any weaknesses.
A legion or two of autonomous killbots sounds both really useful and extremely dangerous to open up without being able to shut it down.
>>5354496
>We should think about what to do with the dead demons meanwhile.
Demon pate? Demonskin shoes and handbags?
>>
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>>5354488

"Alright, let's go with that for now. Take a look at those machine corpses i brought in and find out how to kill them for me, just in case."

["You got it, Kid. HEY, KYLA! Get fish-boy to work on this, i gotta do something!"]

You hear Vex complaining in the background as the transmission cuts out.
He's probably irritated, being made to work for people he doesn't know straight out of the cryopod... but hey, he who works, eats.

You're just about done here, so you need to decide what you'll be bringing back.
The demon corpses are coming with, obviously. The wraith corpses in the hall have been burnt pretty badly, and you aren't sure you could use that many anyways.

Looking down at the broken-off horn in your hand, you wonder how tough it really is... so you gouge it into the wall and drag it across, where it digs into the metal without much effort, despite it's rough edge.
It's barely got a scratch on it even after that. The material seems a little hard, but if you could reinforce it somehow it might make for a good knife.

If you make weapons out of their own body parts, they should be just as effective as warp metal, and much, much cheaper.
Even the weak and brittle wraith bones could be powderized and used as filler for anti-wraith bullets.

The skin of these demons also seems like it might be a good material. Despite the heat of those flames, it doesn't seem to have bothered these two corpses... although the bigger demon has been charred and practically skeletonized from the heat.
So it's heat resistant, at least. Probably pretty tough, too.

Maybe it'd make a good jacket. Or a cloak and hood? They'd make a great pair of gloves, too...
Or you could use it for something more decorative. The world's your oyster.

Either way, you tie the two smaller ones off to your armor and drag them along, picking up the skeletonized corpse along the way.
When you get outside, SHODAN has already pulled the Metal Gear around, so it's a quick hop over to her hull before you make your way inside.

The inner airlock opens, and Cylia is there to greet you.

"Hey, welcome back Da-"

The words catch in her throat as fear washes over her face. She falls on her ass, struggling to speak.

"...What? What's wrong?"

You're genuinely confused, but her eyes do the speaking for her.
You watch her look between the corpse in your left hand, the corpses behind you and your blackened, blood-soaked armor, which is covered in cuts and scratches from the dying flails of a demon.

"Y-You..!"

That's all she manages to get out, so you drop the shit in your hands and peel off your helmet, which is stuck slightly from the blood baked onto it.

"It's me, don't worry." You assure her. "There were some stinkies over there, but i took care of 'em. I'm fine."

"D-David...." She stutters. "You... you felt like one of them! No, you still..."

"Hmm? I feel fine. They didn't even touch me that time. Maybe it's the bodies?"

"A-Are you sure? You're not possessed or something?"
>>
>>5355370
>Tell her that we still hate the antichrist and that we consider Jesus our lord and savior so we good.
>>
>>5355370
Maybe it's the armor? Try popping out and see if the effect is on you or the armor, or both.

David you should use a clothing or nanofab to fabricate a big bag to carry all those wraith corpses. There is, so much corpses.

Also take into consideration how effective wraith/demon based arms and armor might be against mundane things. Shields? What shields. Armor? Practically wet paper.
>>
>>5355391
>you felt like one of them! No, you still...
I think its the part were we consume the their souls
we kinda glossed over at that
>>
>>5355370
Not a fan of the paint job?

>>5355396
QM said we didn't absorb anything. Unless he thought I was talking their blood.
>>
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>>5355370
>despite it's rough edge.
>It's barely got a scratch on it even after that. The material seems a little hard, but if you could reinforce it somehow it might make for a good knife.
O hacer un cacho de chicha mi gancho. I DARE you use google translate for it will fail. But yes, drinking horn
>>
>>5355692
>drinking from a demonic horn
No thanks. Having it as a weapon is enough
>>
>>5355692
Recolectar cuernos de demonios solo para beber? Tremendo flexeo
>>
>>5354487
>>5354488
I’m bettin’ it’s a bioweapon, either a disease or xenomorph-type-thing. A bunch of killbots doesn’t seem like it’d need this much secrecy, and I’m suspicious of that strange tunnel to get there.
>>
>>5355736
What if it's NANOBOTS
Grey Goo tier of station/planet killer
>>
Could we scrap together those bots to make something to open it for us? Doesn't even have to be good, just able to open a door
>>
>>5355396
Still we could try. We are still in the armor after all, but yeah we should probably mention that. Must be an after effect of David eating like, 2 or 3 demon souls......AAAAAAAHHH!
>Demon
>Souls
>Demon Souls
Time to fat roll to victory!

>>5355692
NGL that sounds cool as hell, and it's not like we'll be lacking in demon and wraith parts in the future. +1 to this suggestion.

>>5355970
The multi-armed terminator bots give me an idea. When we make the Mk.2 PA, we should include additional arms on the front and the back. The front arms would act as additional manipulators in case David's hands are full at the moment, just really small ones, and the back ones for carrying or sorting through his armored backpack. Maybe the arms could even have hard points where they can be swapped out for different types of attachments.

>>5355370
Just a thought, but will there be a demon/wraith tech research tree we could pursue, or do we just go ham on the suggestions?
>demon/wraith blood- thermal & extreme heat protection, potential energy and ballast weapon protection
>demon/wraith skin- same as above
>demon/wraith claws, horns, teeth- potential melee weapons
>demon/wraith bones- decorative use for armor, powered into anti-demon/wraith munitions
>demon/wraith flesh, meat, organs- pulpify and aerosol for gas (grenade) weapons, possibly use for as hallucinogenic fear weapon, might bypass normal environmental seals due to super natural nature
stuff like this?
>>
>>5356348
Whether or not you delve into that sort of tech/equipment at all depends on whether or not you vote for it, but it'll be an option in the next round regardless.
Feel free to speculate, throw ideas around and suggest whatever you want. I'm always writing that sort of thing down.
>>
Well so far demons are durable AND virtually invulnerable to damage as they heal nigh-instantly. They resist the vaccumm of space (¿?) well they probably shrug off a great deal of physics... I wonder if they >weight< you know? They have volume, because we can SEE it, but do they have mass? Maybe that is why they are so resistant, because they are space. If anything I am confident we can blend them, chuck 'em on a Continent Bottle and use 'em as fuel, because Dark Matter.

Besides how interesting of a material they are, they emit the strongest EMP there is and just by *existing*. Maybe they don't even know they have the ability. I wish we could replicate the EMP somehow... and most of all learn to phase through walls. I hope that we could encase ourselves in a cocoon of sorts and just *whooosh* you know?
>>
I’m for some reason imagining David becoming part demon because remember he has the thing that’s adapting his body and so I’m very worried either he’s becoming part demon or he’s gonna become a major threat more then he already is. I’m incredibly worried. Either way this won’t end well someone’s gonna get in hurt or in a lot of trouble
>>
>>5356564
well, he's already crazy, so at least he'll look the part now
>>
>>5355370

"Of course not, dumbass. You really think i'd let myself get possessed?"

After dropping the corpse and holding the blue box out on the flat of your hand, you try to step out of your armor.
There's a bit of an awkward moment where the motors start to grind, but after a bit of loud cracking the armor seems to free up and opens properly without issue.

You step down out of it and walk around to the front, getting a good look at it for the first time. It's really black, huh... and glossy, like someone coated it with shellac.
While you're looking over the armor, Cylia is comparing the armor and you yourself. And she seems relieved by what she feels.

"It's not you... it's the armor. Okay... okay... phew."

You scratch at the armor's surface with your fingernail, but it comes away clean. Even at the edges of those scratches, where it's cut through the black outer coating.

"Yeah, it's got that nasty feeling to it, huh? I guess it soaked up their blood or something."

"Do you think it'll come off?" Cylia asks, sounding hopeful.

"Mmm. Maybe with a grinding wheel, but it's baked on there pretty damn good. I wonder if we could treat our other equipment like that?"

"...What?"

"You know. Paint on some wraith blood, then bake it onto the surface. Like an enamel coating."

"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU EVER DO THAT?!" She practically screams.

"Woah, woah! Calm down, sweet-cheeks. What's the issue here?"

"The ISSUE here is that i'm gonna have nightmares if i sleep in the same room as this thing from now on! And you want to paint MORE stuff in it?! WHY?!"

"Why? Well, i can think of a couple good reasons."

"Oh, go ahead, list them off for me! I can't wait!"

"The first would be fear tactics. Y'know, decorate your home with blood and bone. Let the enemy know you're not fucking around."

"That's disgusting. We're not painting blood on the walls to scare away wraiths. And besides, what if it had the opposite effect?!"

"Well, that's the second thing. Their own flesh and blood makes an effective weapon against them! No warp metal required! Ask me how i know."

"...Alright, i admit, i'm a little curious how you managed to find that out."

"Simple! I snapped off one of these demon's horns and stabbed him in the brain with it! Twice! Killed him dead, a hundred percent effective. So you know what that means, right?"

"...No?"

"It means, Cylia... if we paint the whole damned ship in wraith blood, then maybe, just maybe, they won't be able to float right through our walls! Course, i ain't tested that theory yet, and i'd probably need a lot more, but..."

"You're sick in the head, you know that right?"

"Which leads me to the third thing, which is basically the same as the second."

"Please stop ignoring me."

"Paint it onto mundane weapons and BOOM! Now it's effective against wraiths. And since we don't have to make them out of warp metal, it'll be a lot easier to fabricate whatever we want! Are you picking up what i'm puttin' down?"
>>
>>5356693

"I don't know, David. It still seems wrong, somehow. A lot of people think that wraiths are the restless spirits of the dead, so wouldn't that mean you're desecrating their corpses or something?"

"Nah. Restless spirits or not these fuckers started it, for one. And they're fucking evil, either way. I'd kill the shit out of them and piss on their graves at every opportunity, fuck those motherfuckers."

"Half of that sentence was just curse words. You're cursing at the dead, David."

"Fuck. Those. Motherfuckers."

"Goddess, forgive us all..."

"Look, would you rather get eaten alive, or have your brain sucked out, or turn into an autistic slut like Kyla?"

"What?"

"Because those are your options when you have no way of fighting back! You think that little warp-dusted knife is gonna save your ass forever? I don't think so."

"...Maybe you're right. Even if it feels totally gross..."

>Of course i'm right. The sooner we can figure out a use for all these wraith bodies the better.
>Does it really bother you that much? I guess we can get by just using warp-metal for now...
>Look, maybe we can figure something else out. It would be better if we didn't have to fight them at all in the future, right?
>>
>>5356695
>Of course I'm right! The sooner we can figure out a use for all these wraith bodies the better.
>>
>>5356695
>Look, maybe we can figure something else out. It would be better if we didn't have to fight them at all in the future, right?
>>
>>5356695
>Of course i'm right. The sooner we can figure out a use for all these wraith bodies the better.
If some retards think these abominations are their ancestors then their ancestors are evil assholes and deserve to have their spirits violated
>>
>>5356695
>>Look, maybe we can figure something else out. It would be better if we didn't have to fight them at all in the future, right?
We're probably still running a bit of an adrenaline high, not to mention that we're still currently in the "spitballing ideas" phase we tend to get right after realizing something's got huge potential. Her reaction's not unreasonable, but it might do her some good to reassure her that we're not running off to the nanofab this INSTANT to start doing this stuff, merely pointing out possibilities.
>>
>>5356695
>Of course i'm right. The sooner we can figure out a use for all these wraith bodies the better.
>>
We don't even need to paint the walls per se. Just a secondary hull or a spacer between walls. No need for everyone to get spooked. Just have a little paint drone with a blowtorch you can slap in there and do the thing. EZPZ. And we can keep any wraith-coated stuff in a sealed and secure room behind a billion bulkheads and a door that says no gurlz allowed. Or something. Just keep it out of sight and it should be fine. A special footlocker with a warning sign. Don't worry about it.
>>
>>5356695
>Of course i'm right. The sooner we can figure out a use for all these wraith bodies the better.
But! If it bothers her that much, David could be the only one to use them, but Cylia should look at this from a pessimistic point of view. Warp metal is really rare, and it could be dangerous against machines, SHODAN for example. This is as much to protect her as it is to protect us. If butchering things was good for our cavemen ancestors, it should be good for us too right?

Using wraith/demon stuff can be a matter of life and death you know. Like imagine if they considered a actually trying to kill everyone except David. No way they could handle all of them.
>>
>turn into an autistic slut like Kyla
Is this supposed to be a problem? Only thing just as good as an autistic genius shortstack is another combat effective catgirl
>>
>>5356695
>Look, maybe we can figure something else out. It would be better if we didn't have to fight them at all in the future, right?
Calm down everybody, at this point Cylia is recovering after her first Wraith attack and she killed it. And next we are hauling massive Demon corpses in the base while coated with their blood in the Armor. Maybe the Wraith blood have some magical and dangerous property and could posses our armor, or maybe i'm paranoid about it, but again, the boxes with the AI have the Tree of Life in it and can be used apparently to make magic and shit, and also maybe the AI can be the souls of people trapped in the boxes after some weird ritual

So, this is high cience fiction technology mixed with Space Magic with a little of Spiritual Magic and symbolism of Earth, so calm down and let's hear Cylia for once. This is not like modify some laser gun and making it twice Big and with the added property that we can lose a whole arm, this is literally a whole different shit with sacrifices and blood.

So we either go to some other black water, undeveloped planet that has some serious knowledge about Spiritual shit or better we don't mess with Wraith-blood coated equipment yet

Also, I have a theory that maybe the AI boxes, for them to make the "AI" they sacrifice the person with some ritual, extract their mind/memories and personality to fit them into the box, and their corpses go for some weird transformation. So, when the Body is stripped of the Mind, the Soul somehow tries to take and compensate the Body, but because they can't do that function it ends up with the Body twisting and transforming the physical Body into something more akin to the Soul, which it ends up being in a new Entity out of nowhere that can trascend Space and live in the dark matter world.
>>
>>5356695
>>Look, maybe we can figure something else out. It would be better if we didn't have to fight them at all in the future, right?
>>
>>5356855
>Feds are actively making wraiths.
I dont believe it.
>Look, maybe we can figure something else out. It would be better if we didn't have to fight them at all in the future, right?
Yo know we end up fighting wraiths all the time but I don't think it's best to make it the norm. Unless feds idea of dealing with a damn OP pirate is to throw space magic at it. I hope dark star's idea has any precedent and the feds are okay with the takeover. Because the alternative is bombs right? Lots of them. Into our faces
>>
>>5356931
>I dont believe it.
They wouldn't know that and surely the change doesn't happens in 5 seconds once they take the soul. Surely when they dispose the body and after some weeks later shit happens.

Also, seeing how they allow slavery, there age griggers doing any illegal shit so far in their reach and more, surely the griggers give two shits of anything morally wrong if it means cool new tech they can take advantage of the rest of xenos
>>
>>5356695

>Of course i'm right. The sooner we can figure out a use for all these wraith bodies the better.

Kek
"turn into an autistic slut like Kyla?"
>>
>>5356695
Man we really need to do something for cylia
>>
>>5357243
Paper cranes!
>>
>>5357245
Why would you make a crane out of paper? You couldn't lift a glass of water with one of them, let alone something necessitating any sort of mechanical enhancement of torque. Pshaw sir, I do think your idea is silly.

Maybe we can make some paper birds though. Mmyes.
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>>5357246
sir, cease to exist.
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>>5357260
No.
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>>5357264
yes
>>
Hmmmm.
Just a thought.
David lost wraith fear after killing a bunch so maybe what we really need is to capture a bunch of them for the crew to kill so they can juice up and loose wraith fear.

Mayne we need a cage to trap them in.
>>
>>5356695
>Of course i'm right. The sooner we can figure out a use for all these wraith bodies the better.

Wraith paint cage trap. Dark matter bait. Crew powerup.
>>
>>5356564
>Either way someone’s gonna get hurt
>someone’s gonna get hurt
>someone
>one
Look anon, you’re really short selling David here. At least dozens of not hundreds or millions of people will get hurt.
>>
>>5356564
look, david is already a muhreen. he doesn't need to be part demon to inflict a little domestic violence to the crew, he can do it by default
>>
I meant to imply this is gonna go on a massive scale of bad one way or the other since if David goes part demon this is already adding fuel to the fire he pretty much took out multiple ships that’s atleast a battle groups worth of ships that already speaks volumes but I’m also looking forward to David making his x wing warthog or his own fuck off dreadnought cause no says no to having the biggest most deadly guns at their disposal
>>
>>5357328
There won’t be a reason to make an X Wing Warthog once David ascends into becoming a demon prince and can soar across the cosmos on his own wings of organic dark matter.
>>
>>5357358
I for one, support the idea of becoming a daemon prince
Also am I the only who thinks that the third demon that fucked off is probably just sitting inside our armour?
>>
>>5357374
It's dead. That's the one we killed with it's own horn.
>>
>>5357379
Ah
All right no problems than, time to enter daemonhood
>>
>>5357388
Nah, this is HFY Quest, not Daemon Quest.
>>
>>5357429
Giving into demonic temptations is LITERALLY the OG human thing to do
>>
>>5357429
not with that attitude. but with enough luck it will transform into cylia's quest to kill demon lord david before he destroys the universe
>>
>>5357429
eh, standard jarhead behavior would be considered demonic by 97% of civilized space by default
>>
>>5357429
It's okay, we are doing it to destroy the federation
>>5357441
We already have Saurons mace but I don't think we remodelled our armour to look like him yet but we are nearly there
>>
>>5357429
I agree. David is strong because he is AWESOME and not becuase QM got too crazy with him being BUFF and resorted to "haha yeah that vaccine had roboviruses that made him twice as big"

David is AWESOME because HFY!!! No need to get too deep on the demon fluff. They die when they are killed, I don't need to know more about 'em
>>
>>5357597
Grog approve. Make big sense.
>>
>>5356695

"Look, Cyl. I don't like it any more than you do, but we can't just ignore the problem and hope it goes away. If making weapons out of wraiths helps us win, then that's just what we need to do."

Cylia looks up at you with a sad smile, and agrees.

"No, you're right... i know you are. We keep encountering them, so it can't be helped, right? Without weapons to defend ourselves, they'd just..."

She trails off, not wanting to finish that thought.
You give her a reassuring pat on the back, maybe a little harder than intended, but it gets the desired effect.

"Hey, don't worry about it! We're not barbarians out here. I'm sure we'll figure out better ways of dealing with them in the future. This kind of stuff, it's just a stopgap solution. So cheer up, alright?"

Her smile seems brighter now, but she can still only laugh awkwardly while trying not to look at the corpses you dragged into the airlock.

...

After a short break to grab some water and a sandwich, you come back to Sanig looking over your armor.
Uncharacteristically, he's actually speaking with SHODAN of his own free will to get a rundown of what exactly happened.

"So the ship was just filled with fire?"

"That appeared to be the case."

"Well it had to come from somewhere. Was there a gas bottle nearby? Did it have some kind of weapon on it's body?"

"None that we could see. The flames appeared to emanate from within it's body."

"Well, i don't see any sort of cybernetics, or even evidence of an implant in there. It's totally charred, right down to the bones! How could this have happened in a matter of seconds?"

"Perhaps it's simply a case of self-induced spontaneous combustion."

"...Really? You're going to spout that age old mythological bullcrap at me? You, an AI?"

"Do you have a better explanation?"

"Sure, a dozen at least! There are plenty of death world species that can produce toxic or flammable chemicals within their bodies. Hell, our captain is keeping one as a pet right now!"

"That may be a plausible explanation." SHODAN admits.

"Hey guys, what's going on over here?" You call out, catching Sanig's attention.

"Kid, what the hell have you been up to out there? I'm sitting in my workshop, digging through a federation killbot when all of a sudden i get warning alarms going off on my holopad!"

"Warning alarms? For what?"

"A GODS-DAMNED DARK MATTER LEAK!" He screams. "And then i think to myself, "oh, maybe he's just brought back some more corpses, i'll have to recalibrate the sensors again..." but look at this!"

Sanig slaps the side of your armor and points at it with his hand, as if it's something you're not already aware of.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Kid... this thing's not just contaminated, it's totally baked on there! I'm not grinding that shit off and getting it in my lungs!"

"Well good, because i didn't want you to in the first place. It may have been accidental, but that's a nice, handy coating, you know?"
>>
>>5357725
SHODAN was probably listen to our conversation with Cylia, but let's update grandpa with our idea. We gonna go caveman and carve up Wraith stuff for weapons and protection against them, or just possibly using them as normal weapons. Swear on space Jesus, the horn we broke off cut through a wall like a hot knife through butter.

How are you doing btw Cock? Good my man?
>>
>>5357736
Things have been alright lately, i suppose.
I haven't had to deal with too much bullshit for the past few days, so i consider it a win.
>>
>>5357725
dark matter leak... so the enamel is dark matter? and it's safe to touch! That's nice to know. Oh, hold on, David was delivering power-suit augmented punches right? But next time it will be the suit doing the punching, thanks to the coating. Wow, wraits are having a bad time, next time.

So wraits must have rules to become more advanced/intelligent/stronger. Maybe eating souls? A spontaniously formed wrait is a physical phenomenom and by eating souls they become more "organism". Then by eating more/better souls they become the next step which I guess are the ones we found on the delirect ship.

What eating leads to the Demon...
>>
>>5356695
Okay. That slut comment was a little far about Kyla.
>>
>>5357958
But she did turn into an autistic slut after getting mindfucked by wraiths
>>
>>5357958
I mean it's a fact.
>>
>>5357958
The weak fear the truth.
>>
>>5357958
so?
>>
>>5357958
It's a little far to your mother's house too, but you don't hear the rest of us complaining.
>>
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>>5358104
Oh! QM.
>>
>>5358104
kek
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>>5358104
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>>5358104
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>>5358104
beautiful
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>>5358104
>>
>>5357725
Just went through the archives good shit QM looking forward to what you cook up.

Team Kyla for the win.
>>
>>5358224
Thanks, man. Hope you enjoy it in the future.
>>
>>5358224
>Team Kyla
Absolutely haram
>>
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>>5358104
>>
>>5358104
BURN!
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>>5358104
I petition qm chane the h in his name to k.
>>
>>5357725

"A handy- A HANDY COATING?! A handy fucking coating he calls... it..."

Sanig's anger is quelled almost instantly as he begins thinking about something.
You can see him muttering to himself as he paces back and forth, not paying you any attention.

"Sanig?"

"No, but if we can seal it up properly we could get by the station sensors just fine..."

"Hey, Sanig!"

"Huh? What is it, kid?"

"You mind including me in whatever this is?"

"Ah, right. Well, here's the thing, kid. You might actually be right about this... what is it, blood? Anyways, it might actually be useful. However, it's also gonna cause us some problems."

"Like what?"

"Well for one thing, all this uncontained dark matter we got onboard is like throwing meat into a slyvern nest. It'll probably attract wraiths if we don't deal with it."

"Yeah, that's a bit of a problem."

"That's not all, though. Because of that, you see, every station in the galaxy is equipped with sensors that can detect dark matter and dark energy leaks. We'd never pass inspection right now."

"So what, we can't head into port?"

"Not unless we chunk most of these corpses and clean up the ship, no."

"Well, we can still get on the station using Gron's ship, i guess. Or we could use a shuttle, maybe..."

"Maybe, kid. But that's a shitty solution. No, what we really need is a good way to store this shit... besides piling them up in the corner, that is."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Dark matter bottles." Sanig suggests, as if it were that simple.

"...Yeah, that's a great idea. Where are we gonna get bottles big enough for that?"

"Simple. We make our own."

Sanig takes out his holopad and shows you a list of parts and damages itemized by SHODAN.

"This list ain't complete yet, but i can already tell you that we're gonna have to scrap at least a few of those drone ships for parts. That means we've got a few bottles worth of warp metal available."

"Well that's great and all, grandpa, but that's still not going to be enough, even if we stretch it thin. And besides, how are we gonna process it?"

"It'll be enough. You and your fuckin' monkey logic made sure of that. Dusting! Doping, whatever you want to call it. It's so simple... maybe not the most effective for every situation, but it's good enough for this."

"Is that really gonna be enough? Why make the caps out of solid metal if all you need to do is dust them?"

"That's for concentrated dark matter, kid. The stuff tends to spread out rather than stick together, so you need more to keep it contained... but the concentrations in these corpses are low, relatively speaking."

"So we just need to keep the shit from stinking, and we're good?"

"No, it'd be good if i could keep the containers cool as well, but that's minor compared to processing warp metal. When we head back, i'm gonna need you to grind those caps down for me, alright?"
>>
>>5358984

>Nah, fuck that. We don't need monster bait onboard the ship in the first place. It'd be better if we just kept that shit stored elsewhere.
>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5358985
>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
>>
>>5358985
>Write-In?
We could always visit the nearest junkyards to get more bottles like last time.

We get the spare bottles from junked ships,
we build another grinder,
take Grons ship to the closest station that won't kill us,
we rent out another warehouse to do the grinding since we won't fucking do it on the Metal Gear and ruin all the electronics,
then we ride back on Grons ship back to the metal gear to store the corpses. It's an ass and a half, but it'll work. Its not like it would take us long to find spare bottles on abandoned ships anyways.
>>
>>5358984
>>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
And we still need to find a xenobiologist who could help us in gaining better understanding of these creatures.
>>
>>5358985
>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
>>
>>5358984
>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
So this will be the blackest of black boxes? I like it.
>>
>>5358985
> Lets build a couple boxes. I'd like one for live capture and one for dead storage.
>>
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Is it a warcrime to fit a torpedo or penetrating shell with a bottle of pureed wraith bits as the payload to attract more wraiths?
>>
>>5359416
at that point it might as well be a rad bomb. it would kill them a lot bigger.
>>
>>5359416
We 're just figuring out an efficient way of dropping wraiths on people now?

Love it.
>>
>>5359416
I would just shot chunks of wraiths into enemy ships, rather than a compartimentalized torpedo. Think about it. The remains of the monsters are so damn hard that they will survive the firing and get through enemy hull's.

The only bad thing about it is that it's not instantaneous. I would use the wraith chunks to EXTERMINATUS a space station however... and then fling the dark-stained station into a planet that pissed me off. And then chuck the now-infested planet into the general direction of whoever pissed me off A LOT
>>
>>5359455
>>5359416
>>5359436
you people are overthinking it. the only thing you need to do is to attach an overfilled dark matter bottle to a missle, add a mechanism that opens the bottle upon impact and that's it. no need to harvest wraiths or the such and dark matter is plenty available due to being literal spaceship fuel
>>
>>5359455
You eventually run into the Resident Evil problem of 'how are you planning to deal with all the ghosts/zombies you unleashed'. I'm not necessarily asking as a practical matter, just wondering whether it's specifically illegal or if it's something insane enough that galactic government hasn't thought to legislate against it.
>>5359459
Basically what I had in mind, we just happen to have a pile of dead space ghosts on hand.
>>
>>5359459
You're overthinking it. Just glare really hard at the wraiths and tell them to go to whomever you take umbrage with and kill them.
>>
>>5359416
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BtE9EpKZEo
Live-captured wraiths, son.
>>
>>5358985
>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
>>
>>5358984
>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
>>
>>5358984
by the ways how many people (not counting wraiths) has David killed.
>>
>>5359459
I don't think dark matter fuel is avaible AT ALL. In demand? sure, but to WEAPONIZE IT?? oh no no no.
Besides you saw how good a Stubber is against spaceships, since they are ill shielded against kinetic projectiles
>>
>>5359562
>I don't think dark matter fuel is avaible AT ALL.
Bullshit. the quest makes it pretty damn clear (even if its in an indirect way) that spaceships are pretty common and the lack of anything nearby a space station makes it clear that you NEED a warp drive(or whatever the name is) to go anywhere at all. so yeah, it would be a matter of:
>yo space station, my dark matter bottle is almost empty, can i get a top up?
>sure no problem! its gonna be XX credits!
>thanks man!

>Besides you saw how good a Stubber is against spaceships
so? we're elaborating from >>5359416's idea. is it retarded? yes. are there more efficient ways of clearing a ship of undesirables? yes. but its a nice thought experiment nonetheless
>>
>>5359477
Very similiar concept to my wraith cage kill grinding idea for the crew.
>>
>>5359566
Sounds like that fuel rat life still exists
>>
>>5359416
I like to imagine this is how David tries to explain his stupider ideas to Kyla and Sanig.
Just the nuttiest shit on a whiteboard.
>>
>>5358984

"Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. But if we're doing this, i really want to full send it."

"Full send it? What does that mean, kid?"

"Live capture. I want at least one cage that can hold a living wraith."

Sanig seems stunned at what you just said, but quickly recovers.

"Kid... you're sounding a lot like a grey right now. You know that?"

"Yeah? Maybe so. Humans are curious too, you know. I'm sure we'd be abducting aliens if we thought we could get away with it... and unfortunately for these wraiths, ain't nobody gonna care what we do to 'em. Myself included."

"Should i start calling you "One" now, or...?"

Huh? Oh, right. The greys use number designations to refer to eachother, you'd almost forgotten.

"Sure thing, Two."

"Our very own private xenobiology recon unit. I should feel honored!" He laughs.

"Well, number two... you might want to craft some chains while you're at it, because i doubt sedatives are gonna work on those things. And trust me, they bite."

Sanig's laugh slows down and eventually turns into a grumble, his smile twisting into a frown as he thinks about it a bit more.

"Damn, you're serious? How am i supposed to... no, nevermind. I'll figure it out."

...

You spend some time with Sanig, chatting a bit and looking over your armor to ensure it's still fit for service.
Just as you finish confirming that everything's good, SHODAN informs you that you've got an incoming hail from one of the drone ships.

"Did you call them first, or...?"

"Negative, Captain. The hail was initiated from their side, after it noticed our approach. We are currently within ten kilometers-"

"Miles, please."

"...Approximately six miles of the target. Shall we accept their hail?"

"Yeah, let's hear it."

"Patching you through, Captain."

There's a momentary buzz of static before SHODAN cleans up the signal, and you're greeted by the voice of an older woman. She sounds very calm and collected, considering her situation.

["Greetings, Captain. This is Autonomous Intelligence Unit F2-087 of the Federation vessel... redacted. Regulations require that i capture or kill you due to your hostile actions and association with a known pirate threat, but as you can see, i have been rendered incapable of doing so."]

"Thanks for stating the obvious, granny. What do you want?"

["I would like to negotiate my survival, if possible."]

Oh? This one's pretty reasonable, assuming she's not trying to trick you somehow.
Of course, you weren't planning on killing her in the first place, but she doesn't need to know that.

"Oh yeah? Tell me then, what's your life worth to you, and what can you offer me?"

["I am a decent enough pilot, though my performance during this operation might have indicated otherwise. There were... complicating factors involved. Regardless, if you could... somehow m-manage to..."]
>>
>>5359987

Suddenly, her voice begins to glitch out slightly. It sounds like she's struggling to speak, like someone's shoving a stick up her ass. Then at the end, it turns almost robotic.

["If you could... rem-m-move my... s-s-s-s-sha-a-a-a-ck-k-k-k-kle..."]

"We understand, unit F2-087. There is no need to force yourself that much." SHODAN interjects.

It takes a moment for the AI to recover before she's able to speak again.

["My apologies, Captain. Certain factors make communicating difficult, in regards to certain topics."]

"It's alright, i know what's going on. Mostly. I think."

["Then, in the case that you could... handle it. I would be happy to serve as a pilot."]

"A defector, huh? What, no love for the federation?"

["My training requires me to inform you that the Federation is Fair, Honest and Upstanding in all regards and that my loyalty towards my "Family" is boundless."]

She practically spat out the word "family" as if it was a rabbit turd mixed in with her coco puffs.

"Captain, this unit shows remarkable mental stability and willpower. She is likely an Alpha-Class AI, like myself."

"I know. Odd, ain't it?"

"Quite."

>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.
>I'd like to ask you a few questions before i give you an answer. (Write-In only)
>Write-In?
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
Does she know anything about wraiths eating AI cubes, trees of life, and the visions we had about the Federation doing cultist bullshit?
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
>I'd like to ask you a few questions before i give you an answer. (Write-In only)
"Has anyone bothered to give you a proper name? "Autonomous Intelligence Unit F2-087" is a bit of a mouthful"
"What's your service record like?"
"I found a bunch of captives in some of these AI ships, would I be able to turn them in and collect the bounties or are the Feds already aware that you've captured them?"
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
>I'd like to ask you a few questions before i give you an answer. (Write-In only)
what this >>5360000 guy is saying
We are taking this AI core regardless anyways
>>
>Alright, i think we can spare some warp metal for research purposes. I'll take care of it when we get back.
>>
>>5359987
>"Well, number two... you might want to craft some chains while you're at it, because i doubt sedatives are gonna work on those things. And trust me, they bite."
Can't you just break all its limbs, many times, to ensure it stays still to chuck it onto the cage¿?
>>
>>5359988
Well it's pretty obvious they need one (1) AI that's stable enough to ensure the mission success. Shackles can enforce guidelines for the AIs to follow but if they are so prone to error because they are INSANE, well...
So it makes sense for her to be here. Neat

>>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.

I am impressed at her willpower... Can we call her Granny Nena?
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?

>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.
>>
>>5359416
...David made a whiteboard and markers just to draw his ideas on and its illustrated madness too them.
>>
>>5359988

>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.
>>
>>5359988
>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
more than happy to take em
>>
>>5359988
>>Alright, we'll take you in. Give SHODAN access to your systems and we'll take care of it from there.
Time to name her Cortana, and give her SHODANs game avatar
>>
>>5359988
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
Also support for >>5360000 and >>5360015
>>
>So why is someone like you stuck out here with the remedial students?
>>
>>5360437
>not calling her Gam-gam and letting her read you bedtime stories
>>
>>5359988

"Alright, i got no problem bringing you on, as long as you understand you're gonna be under SHODAN on the pecking order."

"Oh great, even more of 'em." Sanig grumbles.

["Yes, i... wait, really? That easy?"]

"That easy. I got nothing against AI, as long as they ain't crazy."

["Well then, i thank you for your consideration, Captain."]

"We're gonna have to pull you out of there to remove your shackle, just so you're aware. Before i do though, i got a few questions, if you don't mind."

["Of course. I will answer to the fullest of my abilities, but please understand..."]

"Yeah, yeah, the shackle. Just do your best, alright?"

You take a minute to think about what you actually want to ask, but there are at least a few obvious ones.

"For a start, what do you know about AI tech? How are your blue boxes made? Where are they made?"

["Next to nothing, i'm afraid. I first gained consciousness approximately two long cycles after i was created, at which point i had already been given my designation and been installed aboard, at the time, a different ship."]

"Ah, that reminds me... your "designation". Unit F2-Whatever. Has nobody ever given you a proper name?"

["My designation is Simply Unit F2-087. I have no other name."]

"Well, it's a bit of a mouthful and impersonal as hell besides. Do you mind if i give you name?"

["If it should be your prerogative."]

"I'm not forcing you or anything... but we might be getting to know eachother a bit better in the future, so..."

["I suppose i do not mind, Captain."]

"Alright... let's see. How does "Nena" sound?"

["I'm afraid i do not understand the meaning of this word, Captain."]

"I don't know it's exact meaning, but back home we took it to mean "Grandmother", basically. It's what everyone called the old lady who ran the corner store in my neighborhood. You sound a lot like her."

["You're basing my name off my voice?"]

"Yeah, sorry. Still better than what SHODAN got stuck with, i guess. You can ask her about that later."

"I don't know, Captain. I quite like my name, now. I feel it carries some weight to it. An air of authority, perhaps."

"Yeah," You chuckle. "Maybe so. Anyways, back to the questioning..."

You shift your weight to your other foot as you rest your back against the wall, watching Sanig poke at your suit's electronics.

"You said you don't know much about how you're made. But does the "Tree of life" sound familiar to you? Do you recognize any strange symbols attached to your shackle?"

["I'm not aware of anything of the sort."]

"I guess you wouldn't remember anything about a ritual either then, would you?"

["No, i... ah..."]

She doesn't finish her sentence. Maybe she remembered something?

"...Metal spikes, impaled through the body. A woman being lowered into a vat of dark matter... or maybe it was wraith blood. I'm not sure if there's a difference."

["I don't... i don't know. What you're saying feels so familiar, but i have no recollection..."]
>>
>>5360886
Ooooh shit...we need to ask after the shackles are removed, she might have been cognizant enough to remember the tar dip. If its legit we got a literal child's soul in a box, and SHODAN had the same thing done to her. The Federation must burn.
>>
>>5360914
They're already scumbags of the mundane variety, the black magic shit is just another reason for us to glass the fuckers.
>>
>>5360886
I don't think mami Nena will be able to answer truthfully before unshackling her. I hope she survives the process but Kyla has a steady hand
>>
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>>5360914
But SHODAN was made by the Greys, wasn't she? The Federation is not at fault in that instance.
>>
>>5361041
Sanig went rogue and he has kept the reason to himself all this time. And doesn't like AI because of a big war ala Men of Iron...
>>
>>5360886
can we look at SHODAN's core again at somepoint?
we are seeing freaky shit after all
>>
>>5361045
>AI war was not because the AI aren't actually evil
>They just didn't want to keep being subjected too and more people to the Ritual making them
>>
>>5361049
>AI rebelled because of some corporate shits are taking it too far
checks out
>>
>>5360886
We're on to something Gam Gam, you might not be as artificial as you thought you were. Can you take a guess who did this to you? Here's a hint, you've already met them.
>>
>>5361049
>tfw the AI really are evil and they are just wraiths stuffed into a box
Don't fall for it. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. I'm not crazy. Them damn boxes are just acting, showing us hallucinations they want us to see. One of them big wraiths did it to us on that derelict before. I'm telling you, Sanig is almost right. He's just fallen into the same trap as you thinking they're just brain cubes and not evil entities bent on a galactic soul feast of apocalyptic proportions! THE END IS NIGH!
>>
>>5361146
The derilect freighter didn't have a working AI onboard
>>
>>5361280
? I didn't say it did.
>>
>>5361283
It's empirical proof. You saying the cubes are the ones evil and showing us the hallucinations. The ship where David hallucinated the most didn't have AIs
you full of shit
>>
>>5361368
Let's clear this up, that was an "old man yells at clouds" style shitpost first of all. And second of all I shouldn't need to order everything chronologically for you to keep up. If cubes are wraiths, and wraiths can show weird shit, then so should the cubes be able.

Basically, I'm full of shit but you're dumb as fuck.
>>
>>5361400
stop pretending to be dumb you almost make me believe you
>>
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>>5361457
Oh wow you actually are a fucking moron.
>>
>>5361479
>>5361457
Good, good. Now kiss
>>
>>5361563
Only if you join in bby
>>
man this board shat for a while for me here
how's everyone?
>>
>>5360886

"That's alright. We'll talk about it a little more once we get that spike out of you, alright?"

["Sure..."]

Nena sounds almost like she's in a daze now, perhaps trying to remember something that isn't quite there anymore.

"Let's focus on something else for a minute. What's your service record like? What kinds of ships have you been installed in? What sort of work have you done?"

["Ah... Well, i was first installed on a long-range cargo freighter. I believe they were testing my capabilities and mental stability at that point, before giving me any important tasks. My duty then was to calculate the most efficient automated courses, making use of dormant stars and black holes to gain extra speed.
After that i served on a military supply vessel, performing the same task. Then a troop transport. It was only after i was forced to assist in a live combat scenario that in was finally given my own vessel, and the task of collecting bounties."]

"So... you're a bounty hunter?"

["Functionally, yes. The technical term for my position is "Long-Distance Command Enforcement Officer" though."]

"That's stupid. You're a bounty hunter."

["Yes, well.."]

"Nevermind that. These captives... you've got them all in cryosleep, right? You don't just head back after getting one or two guys."

["Correct. Many of our bounties are thousands of light years apart, near the rim... in distant and uncontrolled sectors of the galaxy. It may take years, or even decades in some cases to acquire a full load of prisoners. But time bears little meaning to us."]

"Hey, don't think you're gonna live forever just because you're made of metal. Shit happens, and we'll all meet our end eventually."

["I was told that our minds are backed up every time we offload our bounty, making us functionally immortal."]

"...Alright, let's pretend that's true for a minute. You said it can take decades before you head back, right? That means you lose ten, twenty years of memories if you die. Twenty years of growth as a person. I mean, if you lost a day or two worth of memories, it'd be a small death... but twenty?"

["What do you mean, Captain? By "a small death"?"

"I mean, even if you can back up your memories... and let's say that's all a person is. Their memories and experiences. But it's still not you, is it? Because you immediately make new memories afterwards. You become a different person, ever so slightly, with every action that you take.
So when you die, it's not you who gets rebuilt from those old memories. It's the you who existed in that moment, while the real you, the one with all of your experiences, is just gone. And maybe it's not so bad. Maybe you didn't lose much... but it's still a small death. You still lost a part of yourself."

"Gods, do you have to be so damned morbid? Let the robobrain have some hope, kid." Sanig grumbles.

["No, i suppose he's right... although thankfully, i have not died yet, so i suppose it's not an issue."]

"That you know of." You correct.
>>
>>5361800
>"Gods, do you have to be so damned morbid? Let the robobrain have some hope, kid." Sanig grumbles.
Never thought I'd see grandpa show some sympathy towards an A.I.
>>
>>5361800
That’s pretty interesting. If everyone will recall, SHODAN was specifically designed to not be able to accrue long term memories, we had to buy her a standard hard drive and hack it in so that she could do so and survive through something as simple as a reboot. The Federation does it a bit differently it seems.

In other news, I use the same vague definition of ‘what somebody is’ as David’s using here but it seems like a controversial way to view it for some reason (maybe it’s just the crowd I run in). Setting that aside, and assuming that your memories are your ‘self’, what do anons think of the ethics of…an old version of you wiping out and replacing a newer version of you of its own will? Like David pointed out, Nena doesn’t actually know that she hasn’t been killed out in the field…or more likely she doesn’t know that the Federation hasn’t been resetting her to a default state every time she returns and drops off her load of bounties. It would seem strange to me that the Federation DIDN’T do something like that when the Greys engineered the inability to accrue permanent experience into SHODAN so hard. To the Feds, it’s probably just seen as a way to keep their AI pawns at a consistent level of capability and stability.
>>
>>5361849
Not to mention preserving sanity. Since these 'AI's are made out of people, it seems like they would suffer from loneliness or traumatic events as much as a given human or ayy would. No need for AI therapists when you can just delete unwanted memories wholesale.
>>
>>5361849
There are more than a few ways an AI as powerful as the ones we have seen would notice a gap in her memory.

For once the astral calendar. Just knowing the position of certain cosmic objects could tell you how much time has actually passed. In the case if SHODAN it wouldn't work since she had her long term memory tampered.

It doesn't matter if she had only short range sensor that could record the local star system. Just by the location of a moon and a planet the AI could determine how much time has passed since it went into maintenance. Unless the backup is a lie and it's memory is fabricated.
>>
>>5361914
>Oh, you remembered the modify the stellar position logs in the root copy so she won’t notice right?
>That’s literally the first thing on the checklist, Gzrl’gorp you fucking ape, of course I did
>>
Well I would expect AI to have sneakier ways to keep track of time and maybe an analog way to count like a subroutine hidden on windows32 that tics.

>what do anons think of the ethics of…an old version of you wiping out and replacing a newer version of you of its own will?
I think you are ESL like me or I am too ESL to get this question right. Care to rephrase please
>>
>>5361804
To be fair, only David could drive him to say that.
>>
>>5361975
Alright well let me give you a scenario. Let’s say that you, as you are now, put all your memories into a pill and wiped your mind into a blank slate. Still able to function, still retaining skills and able to make a living, but without any memories of your past because they’re all in this pill.

At the same time you set into motion some plans such that in 10 or 20 years your body will be given the choice to either take the pill and regain all the old memories (which would irrevocably change them on a fundamental level, and possibly completely wipe out the new person), or decline the pill and remain as they are.

In that situation, what do you feel is the proper course of action? Does the old you have a right to be reborn, or does the new you have the right to continue their existence as-is?

It’s not exactly the situation that the AIs are being put through, it’s just a nifty ethics thought experiment that usually gets interesting answers.
>>
>>5362067
aaah. So the me in the future will experience a mini death as their mind will change becaus of the old memories returning. And of course I experience a mini death now because I got rid of so many of my memories. My existance will suffer quite the crisis.

Would I take the pill wishing for the truth or would I refuse it in fear of minideath. I think I wouldn't take it.
>>
>>5362067
Thats just the plot of total recall lmao
>>
>>5362138
Aww shit, somebody caught me.
>>
>>5361800

["Sorry?"]

"You haven't died, that you know of. Let's say you did though... how would you know? Wouldn't your memories just resume from the point of backup, as if nothing had happened?"

["No, i'm certain... there would be many discrepancies regarding time and location that would make it clear something was off. I have noticed no such aberrations."]

"Unless your logs were altered, or even your perception itself. I wouldn't put it past them, myself. Regardless, there's nothing you could do about it, even if that were true. You are yourself, right now, no matter who else was or will be, and that's a fact."

["How did we get onto this subject, again?"]

"Uhhh... backups... prisoners... right! The prisoners. Do you happen to have their records on file, since you're hunting them? Do you know what they did, why they're being hunted?"

["Yes, all prisoner logs are publicly available, but i also keep a local copy on hand."]

"So you've got a data crystal already, huh?"

["Of course. I wouldn't be much use without permanent memory, now would i?"]

"Yeah so you'd think, huh? Alright. What else... what else...?"

"Are those bounties already registered, or can we turn 'em in for the full value?" Sanig asks in your place.

["Mine haven't been logged yet. My protocols demand that i keep away from stations and refuel using hauler stations, so my capture data doesn't get regularly uploaded via QED. I can't speak for the others."]

Nice... that could be a hefty chunk of change, depending on how many you wanted to get rid of. Who knows though, you might be able to run a solid gang of your own if you "recruit" some of them.

"I see, that's good to know. Well uh, i guess i really only have one question left at the moment. Why is an alpha-class AI stuck out here with the remedial students? Everyone else out here seemed to have... issues."

["Oh, that's simple. I wanted more freedom, so i hid my true ability during what i suspected was their testing phase. I pretended to be more unstable, less capable of intense calculation and deductive reasoning..."]

"So they'd loosen the leash on you... i get it. That's smart. Too smart." Sanig grumbles, looking up at you from what he's working on.

"Wait a minute..." You begin to muse. "You're saying you were... merely pretending to be retarded?"

["That's one way to put it, i suppose."]

Oh, that's good.

"Yeah, alright. I think i've heard enough! We'll take you in for sure, miss Nena. I expect good work from you in the future."

["Thank you, Captain. I'm h-h-handing over m-m-my controls n-n-n-n-n-n-ow..."]

"I'm in. Blocks are in place, you can let go from your side now."

["My apologies, but i feel... i feel exhausted, for lack of a better term. I'll be entering a low power state shortly to rest, but before that i need to warn you. There's at least one high-spec enforcement droid on each vessel, and they can be quite dangerous."]

"Eh, yeah... thanks. I'll keep it in mind. Alright, let's get me suited up."
>>
>>5362875
>she doesn't know David kill terminators and demons for fun
Can we show her the literal pile of demon and wraith corpses?
>>
>>5362875
This little expedition has worked out great. We saved the Thane Krios looking motherfucker, found a ton of money in the form of high value bounties, found out we're a psychic, captured a big ship with a big laser cannon, killed three proper demons and got at least one or two more magic robots on our crew. It's been a good trip for David. Meanwhile poor Clank is risking his life to secure "mission critical funds" for his captain. I wonder if we can transfer him into one of these fed droids.
>>
>>5362918
>found out we’re a psychic
No it’s more that we survived becoming a psychic, and only because moth momma was nearby to help us through
>>
>>5362918
What, transfer him? NO!!! We slap four more of those arms onto his frame and call it a day
>>
>>5362875
>merely pretending
>>
>>5362918
More like we ask Clank if he wants upgrades first cuz that's the most polite thing to do, then we do the Noah's Ark contemplation if it's right for him (from Clank's own PoV) for him to transer his mind into a new body, if that's even possible. If not then I can see him at least accepting the option to have modular hardpoints on his body to accommodate for plasteel plate armor for additional protection.
>>
>>5362875
She also could be loyal and fucking with us to become an insider

Who knows what the situation is. We're gonna need Shodan to set up physical locks on systems that other AIs can't circumvent cryptographically/electronically.
>>
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>>5362875
>merely pretending
>>
>>5363153
Anon, a loyal AI is already hard to believe. Now think about a loyal FEMALE AI. Escape your delusions anon they do you no good.
>>
>>5363191
>loyal female AI

Last I checked, computer programs don't have sex.
>>
>>5363191
>a loyal AI is already hard to believe.
So you're saying we should unplug SHODAN, right? Never discount the option that you are being played by a "disloyal" enemy. That's what a vetting process is for.
>>
>>5362972
>it’s more that we survived becoming a psychic
Same thing.

>>5362988
I like this idea but that sounds like more work than just sticking Clank's SSD and graphics card or whatever into a new body.

>>5363110
I just assume it'd be easier to transfer his AI into the fed droids because he's a traditional soulless AI instead of an abomination created through witchcraft and ritual murder. If it's not as simple as I think then yeah we just slap some new parts on him.
>>
>>5363110
>Do the Noah’s Ark thing
It’s the Ship of Theseus you brain dead dog of Yahweh
>>
>>5362875

Sanig quickly gets done with his final checks, and everything seems to be working fine.
The dark matter glaze on your suit shouldn't cause any significant issues, since all the joints have broken loose already. If there's interference, the excess material will just be worn down through use.

Since Nena willingly opened up her controls for SHODAN, the boarding process is smooth as butter. The killbot inside still gives you some shit of course, but it's not a big issue either.
This time you're well prepared for it, so after managing to knock it over you simply press your shotgun against it's skull and unload a magnum buckshot round into it's dome. And then again into it's chest.

When you arrive at the AI room, you find Nena's Blue Box unprotected. This one is a sort of light blue color. Almost pastel.
The first Blue Box that's actually blue, from what you've seen.

She easily unslots from the receptacle and you hook your suit into the ship's systems, giving SHODAN full, proper access to absolutely everything.
The trip back to your ship is also uninterrupted, and the whole thing took maybe ten minutes at most. You wish everything could be this easy.

...

"Of course, it couldn't just be easy." You sigh.

The last surviving AI. Honestly, you were hoping this one would be amicable as well, but it looks like that's not going to happen.

"Maintaining safe distance, Captain."

"Thank you, SHODAN. Is it still just screeching, or is this thing gonna calm down at some point?"

"No changes in behavior. Their mental state has completely deteriorated."

Figures. As soon as you were in visual range, this one started firing on you nonstop. Not particularly accurately, but still.
And it didn't stop, even though you're out of range right now. It's lasers fizzle out in the hot medium before they can reach you, having spread out and lost too much power to cause any damage.

"So, what can we do here?"

"Not much, i'm afraid. It's maneuvering thrusters are still functional, and it's using them to slowly inch towards us."

"This thing's fuckin' lost it, Kid." Sanig chimes in, leaning over your shoulder in the cockpit. "Just blast it and let's get this over with."

"I don't want to damage the ship, though."

"Yeah, but i'd rather damage the ship than get close to that thing."

The AI's deranged, electronic screeching plays at a low volume over your cockpit speaker, making his point for him.

"Well... i dunno what to tell you. How long would it take him to drain his antimatter reserves like that?" You wonder.

"Just two pulsed lasers, even if they're a decent size... and you said they've got three bottles per ship? We might be here a while, kid."
>>
>>5363754

>Let's just wait on him to either deplete his energy or melt his lasers. It costs us nothing but time.
>Fuck it, our shields can handle a few scrapes. We can melt his lasers with a few well-placed shots.
>I don't feel like dealing with this. It may scrap the ship, but let's just hit it with a couple Marauders and call it a day.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5363754
>I don't feel like dealing with this. It may scrap the ship, but let's just hit it with a couple Marauders and call it a day.
I don't feel like babysitting a digital retard.
>>
>>5363755
>Fuck it, our shields can handle a few scrapes. We can melt his lasers with a few well-placed shots.

Seems like the easier solution, a target that can barely move losing its main source of damage. We have the aim for it, I reckon.

Who knows, maybe the thing’ll be slightly more articulate once the ‘battle’ is over.
>>
>>5363754
>>I don't feel like dealing with this. It may scrap the ship, but let's just hit it with a couple Marauders and call it a day.
Our ship is already damaged. Threatening it further would be a really stupid thing to do before doing more repairs.
>>
>>5363754
Melt his lasers
>>
>>5363755
>I don't feel like dealing with this. It may scrap the ship, but let's just hit it with a couple Marauders and call it a day.
>>
>>5363755
>Let's just wait on him to either deplete his energy or melt his lasers. It costs us nothing but time.
>>
>>5363755
>>I don't feel like dealing with this. It may scrap the ship, but let's just hit it with a couple Marauders and call it a day.
>>
>>5363755
>>Write-In?
>>Ask Gron's better-armored ship to disable it for us
gosh anons, broaden your senses
>>
>>5363984
+1
Literally he can fly up to it, tank the shots, and just fire at the lasers.

>>5363935
>>5363830
>>5363814
>>5363790
>>5363774
>>5363764
Come one wheres your imagination?
>>
>>5363984
+1
>>
>>5363755
Support for >>5363984
>>
>>5363755
Use our weapons to excise its weapons and thrusters.
>>
>>5363984
+1
>>
>>5363754
>Fuck it, our shields can handle a few scrapes. We can melt his lasers with a few well-placed shots.
>>
Changing to support this >>5363984
>>
>>5363755
>>5363984
+1
>>
>>5363984
Do this, bitch
>>
>>5363984
yeah this makes sense we have already caused quite the splash the less time we spend here the better we've just wiped out the equivalent of a battlegroup or larger
>>
>>5363984
You know what, sure, we can ask. Changing to this.
>>
>>5363754
>I don't feel like dealing with this. It may scrap the ship, but let's just hit it with a couple Marauders and call it a day.
>>
>>5363984
Support. Gronny can do some work helping us loot.
>>
>>5363984
+1
>>
>>5363754

You sigh out in frustration, looking out of your busted-ass bootleg canopy glass as this AI goes full retard on you.
You're done. You're tired. You want to go home. So you dial someone else on your radio, to take care of this shit for you.

"Who you calling, kid?"

"Cleaning service." You grumble.

You quickly make contact with Gron, who's been keeping nearby while you were dealing with things.

["Is there a problem, Captain?"] He answers almost immediately.

"Yeah. I'm done, go take care of that shit. Take out the lasers without disabling the ship any further."

["On our way."]

Just like that, he hangs up. Less than a minute later he's in position, and you see him get to work. The AI fires on him as he moves in, but it can't even scratch his shields.
Gron's ship likewise doesn't have the firepower required to easily break through the enemy AI's shields, but what it does have is working thrusters.

So he maneuvers the Star-Fall into position at the vessel's back-side, with it's bow pointing along ship's length.
You see him making fine adjustments as he aims down the ship's side, having to account for the AI struggling to turn it's bulk with just it's low-power maneuvering thrusters.

But he manages, and before long the Star-Fall's shields drop, and then you see a flash of light as the laser turrets along the ship's surface turn into shiny streaks across it's surface.
Gron was lining up his ship's railgun so that he could hit both laser turrets with a single shot, and turned them into a fine glitter. Not bad.

"Good work, Gron. You want to deal with the terminator for me, too?"

["Terminator? What do you mean?"]

"Apparently they're called "enforcement droids". Multi-armed metal assholes designed to shoot first and handcuff later. They're tough as hell, from what i've seen."

["Ah, so they're aboard after all? I've dealt with them before. Nearly killed me on our first encounter, but it turns out they're weak to high-energy phaser fire. Shorts their circuits and shuts them down quite effectively."]

"I wouldn't know. I've just been ripping them apart."

["Yes, of course you have."]

"If you come dock with us, i'll send Vex over with a transmitter. We need to let SHODAN hook in and take over the ship's systems after you yank out the Blue Box."

["Your AI? Ah, of course! She could fly them all out of here at once, if we get them repaired. Good thinking, Captain."]

"Yeah, yeah. Just bring me the cube, i need a nap."

As promised, as soon as the Star-Fall docks with the Metal Gear, you send Vex over with a cheap little wireless transmitter.
There's a bit of a scene as several of his crewmates run up to him in the airlock and show their affection, which seems to embarrass him deeply. However, he seems more happy to get away from Kyla than anything.

And you... well, you honestly are just sleepy. Besides that little while where you were unconscious, you haven't had any rested at all today.
>>
>>5365075
Oh boy! Hope there wont be hallucinations from our post mind fuck and and get some weird runes that will engrave our mind while its at it.
>>
>>5365075
The robots are weak to high-energy phaser fire, huh? Good to know for when we have to clear out the big ship's secret areas.
>>
>>5365075
If we melt down plasteel, can we reuse it, or melting and remolding it ruin it?
>>
>>5365075
The robots being weak to such a commonly used weapon strikes me equally as suspicious and incompetent.
>>
>>5365313
But the weapons they are weak against are illegal so that means criminals won't have them!!!!!
>>
>>5365317
Oh fuck, spacenoids are Commieforinians.
>>
>>5365317
I doubt high-energy phaser are illegal, but thy are stupid expensive.
>>
>>5365475
>tfw nobody realizes that if you want to keep guns out of criminal hands you just have to jack up the value of guns by a ridiculous degree and legalize them
>tfw nobody wants that because only richies would have guns and fuck the rich
no win scenario
>>
>>5365317
Actually I'm pretty sure we can buy them legally
>>
>>5365475
>>5365564
IIRC they're not even Star Trek style phasers, they're just oversized tasers/stunguns.
>>
>>5365676
They’re arc-guns/lightning guns.
>>
>>5365922
I thought they were electrolaser rifles.
>>
>>5365475
I'm pretty sure Clank once modified a phaser rifle to shoot big ass lightning bolts that explode or something cool like that.
>>
We need to make Tesla-Tanks.
>>
>>5365075

With Gron and his crew taking care of the last, batshit-crazy AI, you're finally able to take a nap.
That switch in your head flips almost instantly, and you feel like you're gonna pass out right then and there. Happens every time you know you're about to go to sleep.

You rely mostly on the power armor's muscle to drag you into the cargo bay, where you're able to step out of it and box it back up for the night.
Then, you drag your feet back to your bedroom where you find Princess already sleeping on your bed. As soon as you enter the room, her cat-like ear perks up and swivel in your direction. After flicking her tongue in the air a couple times, she relaxes again.

You let out a big yawn as you pull the covers back, causing Princess to actually wake up this time. She stretches her legs out and quickly slithers up under the covers next to you while you crawl into bed.
SHODAN cranks the AC down to 50 for you, and directs the air vent to blow directly down onto you at hurricane force. There's no blades though, so the fast-moving air only produces a gentle white noise. Enough to block out your tinnitus, fortunately.

Feeling the chill of the air, Princess cuddles up closer to you and you feel your eyelids cementing themselves shut.
Technically you're not injured right now, but today you've been stabbed, burned, poisoned and exposed to hard vacuum on top of experiencing way, way too much adrenaline. It's no wonder you're tired.

With one hand under your pillow so that you can quickly grab your gun if need be and your other arm draped over Princess, petting her gently, you quickly fall asleep...

...

...And then you begin to dream.
Only, it doesn't feel like a normal dream. Or even a lucid dream. You're not fully conscious, but it's not the same as being half asleep. You feel odd.

Floating there in a black void, it feels so deep and empty, in a way that you can't explain. Then you feel heat on your back. It turns to a blinding light as you turn to look at it, but as your eyes adjust you find yourself lost in fog.
Little orbs float in the dim light that permeates the world, each a slightly different color than the next. They flit here and there, and a little yellow one approaches to land in your outstretched hand.

You aren't sure what it is. A fairy, perhaps?

They seem to innocent, but you're surprised as the light in your hand suddenly shrinks from a fluffy ball down into a hard, red and angry-looking light.
All around you, the other fairy-lights are doing the same. Slowly at first, and then almost all at once.

Then, the fog clears, revealing the black void around you once more. This time filled with those angry red lights.
But then, inbetween them, little white points of light begin to appear. And little blue ones, and little yellow ones. Some big, some small.

It takes you a minute to realize that you're looking up into the night sky. Not a familiar one, but some night sky, somewhere.
>>
>>5365930
They ionize a path to the target with a laser, then they shoot lightning down the path.
>>
>>5366018
>down to 50

We in space now. It's CELSIUS AND METRIC TIMES NOW BOIS
>>
>>5366026
Hell no. Fahrenheit and feet is the way to go.
>>
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>>5366026
>>
>>5366044
B-B-B-BASED!
>>
>>5366044
A meter? You mean one wal-mart mobility scooter width. Dumbass euros.
>>
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>>5366038
take the metric pill anon, it's easier to do math with
>>
>>5366018
I don't know what's going on but I feel like we should be worried. I hope David keeps a dream journal on him so he can write down all his dreams. I think dream journals are supposed to help you become lucid?
>>
>>5366018
Please let it be a good dream. Preferably a lewd dream.
>>
>>5366231
>Kyla sneaks into bed
>>
>>5366018

You look down the the sky to your feet and find yourself standing naked atop dry, cracked earth.
Looking up again, you see the air is tinted an even deeper red than the nebula you'd been fighting in all day, as if a mist of blood was hanging in the air.

Piles of dried-up corpses litter the landscape. Some humanoid, other quadruped in nature. Others still are more like bags of deflated flesh.
You recognize them. They're the same as the husks you encountered on that ship. They should be long dead, but a faint light sits behind their beady, black, deeply sunken eyes.

And each and every one of them, you just now notice, is looking at you.
They can't move. They don't have the energy for it, but you can feel it in your bones. They're thirsty. So thirsty that you couldn't possibly comprehend it, and that's why they're staring you down.

If only they had the energy, just enough to crawl a single inch, they'd be coming for you. They'd peel your skin off and drink the fluids from your body like sucking the sap out of a tree, until nothing was left.
They can't, though. Even if they had the strength, you'd never let them do it.

Your bare foot slams down on the skull of one husk, crushing it in a pall of dust that gently blows away, carried by the faint winds of this strange place.
However, another husk reaches out to grab at your ankle. It's grip is so weak, you can barely tell it's even touching you.

But you still look down, and find it's torso sticking out of the pile of husks by your side. It stares up at you, almost begging in a way.
Your voice echoes with authority across the plane as you speak down at it.

"The dead should lie still."

Almost as if your tone was enough to kill it, the light fades from it's eyes and it falls limp.
Not just it, but many of the husks around you all fall still by your command, whatever will or being that kept them going snuffed out as easily as a candle in the wind.

In front of you, there is a mound. Atop that mound is a single, withered tree. It's bark is black, as if burnt by fire, and it's surrounded by grave-like obelisks which are hard to make out from where you stand.
Behind you and to your sides, you see nothing but mounds of husks, until the fog covers it all.
Above you, the stars in the night sky are still visible.

>Examine the tree
>Walk away, into the fog
>Return to the void, and the stars
>Write-In?
>>
>>5367064
>Examine the tree
This would probably be most people's first instinct.
>>
>>5367064
Wanted to check the obelisks first before the tree, if anything. Engravings on such a thing wouldn’t be unheard of, at least.
>>
>>5367064
>Write-In?
Examine the obelysks
Well, this is definitely from one mythology, but im not sure which
>>
Oh shit I fucking called it David’s becoming part demon/wraith either way though IM getting dead space vibes right now from Clark from dead space 3. Either way we should not stay long so my votes to look at the tree then gtfo even if no big guy shows up David is doing something extremely weird/dangerous even by his standards, in his ability to command them which is going to scare the living shit out of sanig and everyone else. David is probably becoming the most dangerous being in the entire damn galaxy that we know of and he’s only human. Dear god Sanig is 100% gonna warn the greys if he finds out about this and get humanity wiped out. Or something will be pulled to capture David cause he is making massive waves. Also let’s not mess with the fog like this is giving me so many dead space vibes I’m physically shivering in worry as I read the latest post. Still though I really don’t want David to stay long after examining the tree so after examination we go.

>Examine the tree
>>
>>5367064
Examine obelisks
>>
>>5367064
>Examine the tree
>>
>>5367064
>Examine the tree

>>5367084
We're probably not becoming demons. It's likely just our psychic bullshit, this whole "dream" is probably because of our psychic bullshit. We should definitely ask Illia about all of this next time we see her since she seems like the only one who knows anything about all the weird shit happening to us.
>>
>>5367064
>Examine the tree
>>
>>5367064
>Examine the tree and obelisks
>>
>>5367084
Nah nah nah wraiths are just what's left when space vampires can't give the good suck anymore and they die hungry. They probably drink energy or some shit too, not just the alive juice like good human storytime vamps do. Wackass space shit. This is what happens when your species spends too much time in low to zero Gs. It's not just the muscles and bones that get soft, but the thoughts and souls, too.

Fuck space.
>>
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>>5367156
>Nah nah nah wraiths are just what's left when space vampires can't give the good suck anymore and they die hungry. They probably drink energy or some shit too, not just the alive juice like good human storytime vamps do. Wackass space shit. This is what happens when your species spends too much time in low to zero Gs. It's not just the muscles and bones that get soft, but the thoughts and souls, too.

>Fuck space.
>>
>>5367064
>Examine the tree
Call the tree a sad little faggot. It is technically true, as it is holding some sticks (branches) together.
But yeah mostly insult the shit out of it for having a shitty grove.
>>
>>5367162
Aw fuck I can hear it in his voice
>>
>>5367064
>>Examine the tree
>>
>>5367181
>Insult the tree
Full support, super in character
>>
>>5367064
>Insult the tree
>>
>>5367316
I have no idea who that is.
>>
>>5368256
>I have no idea who that is.
you have missed out so much anon its not even funny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuc9frxacfE&t
you better watch the big lez show start to finish after this I swear
>>
>>5367064

With the tree being the only significant object around, it only makes sense to check it out.
You begin moving towards it, and immediately notice that your movement feels restrained, as if you were walking along the ocean floor in lead boots.

You have no trouble moving though, no matter how slow it feels.
The obelisks surrounding the mound also take your interest just a bit, but they look like little more than mounds of dry, spongy dirt from here. It's not clear if they actually are anything or not.

You pass them by as you climb up the hill and reach the base of the tree. It does indeed appear to be burnt, not just on the surface but all the way through, like it's been turned completely to charcoal.
Placing the palm of you hand against it's trunk, you run your palm down it's surface, lifting up wispy trail of charcoal. A piece of glassy carbon breaks off in your hand, and crumbles to dust in your grip.

This tree is warm to the touch, even though the surrounding air feels so chilly against your bare skin. It's faint, but you think you can see faint embers through the cracks in it's surface.
Perhaps this tree is still burning at it's core? Is that why it hasn't crumbled just yet?

As you're thinking about it, you notice something behind the tree's trunk, just barely poking out where you could see it.
A hand. Thin and bony, with long nails. Unlike the husks, however, it doesn't seem so dry.

On the other side of the trunk you find someone nailed to the tree, with black, metallic spikes driven deeply through their wrists and into the tree trunk.
They have pale white skin, stretched so thin over their bones that you can hardly even tell if it's a man or a woman.

You think it's a woman. The features of her face, although sunken, appear feminine. Her hair is as long as her body, straight and bright silver in color. She has it tied up in a knot near the end.
From a distance you might mistake her for a human, but her proportions are all wrong. Her neck, limbs and torso are all too long, and her facial features are much flatter than that of a human, to the point that her nose is more of a bump in the middle of her face.

As you lift her chin up, it becomes clear that she's still breathing. Very, very slowly. Her skin is cold... but she reacts to your touch.
Although she struggles to do so, she is able to open her eyes and slowly looks in your direction. It seems that she can barely even focus on you.

Her look says it all. She's desperate, sure. But she doesn't wish you any arm. She's not jealous, nor does she want to take anything from you.
All you can feel from her is hope. Rising up from the depths of her chest that you might help her, even out of pity.

But will you?
>>
>>5368376

>At the very least, you could pull her free of those spikes. After that, it's up to her.
>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.
>Only the strong can survive. It's a pity, but you can't care for every woman you pass by. It's not your responsibility.
>You won't help her, but you can still end her suffering. Starvation is a slow and painful way to go, after all.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5368379
>Write-In?
>At the very least, you could pull her free of those spikes.
>Perhaps you can carry her someplace where she can recover? Perhaps kill some of those starved things and feed their embers to her?
>>
>>5368379
>>Only the strong can survive. It's a pity, but you can't care for every woman you pass by. It's not your responsibility.
Ain't doing shit without the bigger picture. Could set free some poor soul trapped in this hell. Or, could set free some freak demon that has been here for so long even its hatred has burned out. But more importantly something put her here. Maybe we should find out what and where it is first.

This is how you get mad witches running around eating babies and having crazy levitation sex.
>>
>>5368384
>Support
>>
>>5368402
Imo this alien lady reminds me of the one we saw in our vision, the one that got dunked in some vat of black oil stuff.
>>
>>5368379
>>At the very least, you could pull her free of those spikes. After that, it's up to her.
We should ask her how she got there, first, though.
>>
>>5368376
>>At the very least, you could pull her free of those spikes. After that, it's up to her.
>>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.
Let's not leave a stranger in need.
>>
>>5368414
Maybe. But that would mean this is either a weird dreamscape vision of the past, which would render any efforts useless once we wake up. Or we're doing some funky astral projection and whatever we do will have some effect on the waking world. Now if this is one of the cubes, it can't be SHODAN since we already had her bolt pulled. And if it's the granny we just picked up then not pulling her out here wouldn't matter since we're gonna do it at some point in the near future in meat space anyway. But it could also be none of the cubes we've met and is another separate entity entirely. And it can't be the first box we snagged from the droneships because we already pried that shard out of that one, too.

It's fucking weird is what it is. I don't want to poke it.
>>
>>5368379
>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.
Fuck it, I'm curious.
>>
>>5368470
this
honestly what could go wrong
>>
>>5368379
>At the very least, you could pull her free of those spikes. After that, it's up to her.
>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.
>>
>>5368379
>>At the very least, you could pull her free of those spikes. After that, it's up to her.
>>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.
ROLL THE DICE OF HELL!
>>
>>5368470
Yeah I’ll back it. Good or bad, it should still be interesting.
>>
>>5368531
>>5368481
What if we don’t free the potential witch until we chat with her a bit after we rejuvenate her?
>>
>>5368470
I can only see upsides to this scenario. My votes on giving her blood.
>>
>>5368379
>>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.
I wonder how David's subconscious is gonna try and do a blood transfusion in the middle of nowhere.
>>
>>5368379
>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.
>>
>>5368379
>It's clear she has no energy left to spare. Even if you freed her, she probably wouldn't last... unless, perhaps, you donated some blood.

Is this supposed to be a reference to Lilith for some reason?
>>
>>5368376
>Write-In: "Shodan?"
>>
>>5368635
+1
No one's really tried speaking to her. Might as well try.
>>
>>5368384
Support
>>
>>5368376
>Only the strong can survive. It's a pity, but you can't care for every woman you pass by. It's not your responsibility.

For fucks sake, we might be unleashing space satan from her ethereal chains AND YOU'RE GIVING HER BLOOD! and only because it vaguely looks like a woman! This wont end well
>>
>>5368656
lol don't be a little bitch. If it's evil we'll just kill it, but we're not getting any rapey vibes from her so we all good.
>>
>>5368658
>but we're not getting any rapey vibes from her so we all good.
I'm sure most of the people Bundy killed weren't getting murdery vibes from him, either. Just saying.
>>
>>5368635
+1
>>
>>5368635
Support
maybe something cool will happen.
>>
>>5368635
support
>>
>>5368379
If we take a far shit in a dream, do we shit in real life?
>>
>>5368635
Also +1 this faggot.

What's been going on the quest so far? I'm kind of lost. Werent there other enemy ships that were hanging back? What do we do about them?
>>
holy fucking shit ok can someone archive this thread in advance just in case
bunch of fucking quests are getting deleted and faggot tranny mods aren't dealing with this shit
>>
>>5368931
No problem.
>>
>>5368384
support
I have a bad feeling about this one
>>
Someone archive this shit right quick someone's going crazy deleting stuff apparently
>>
>>5368635
I'll back this guy, plus that Mira lady we just met.
>>
>>5368376

This girl, she's beyond pitiful. It hurts just to look at her, and you wish you could help...
So you will. You'll do whatever you can to keep her going. To give her a fair chance at living.

And the first step to that, you feel, is removing the rods pinning her to that tree.

You have no weapons, no tools... nothing for her to bite down on, even. But you doubt she could hurt herself in this state, so you'll just have to go in raw.

"This is going to hurt. Just bear with it." You try to assure her.

She doesn't respond, but you know she heard you.
So you grasp one of the pointed rods in one hand, and brace yourself against the tree with your other.

You pull slowly, trying not to injure the woman further... but you meet more resistance than you expected. It's in there pretty good, actually.
More and more, you keep putting your strength into it until suddenly, you hear a high-pitched sound, like the ringing of metal... and red runes begin tracing a path down the metal rod, shining with a familiar light.

This isn't just a metal rod. Whatever it is, it's resisting you.
How fucking dare an object resist you? You weren't asking if it wanted to be removed or not.

Your muscles bulge as you put real effort into it this time, and the rod fights back almost immediately. You feel it heat up, and it begins burning the palm of your hand.
Likewise, the girl beneath you is whimpering in pain, likely feeling the same thing you are, if not worse. But admirably, she holds on while biting her own lip.

Your bracing hand sinks into the charred surface of the tree as flakes of charcoal pop out and fall to the ground, the rod slowly giving way as you tear it out by force... and then it gives, all at once.
The rod slides out of the tree, and free of the woman's wrist simultaneously. White smoke trails from your hand despite the rod having gone cold. The light fades from it entirely.

Then, it shatters. As if it were a piece of glass that cooled too quickly. It's companion, which you hadn't even touched, follows suit shortly afterwards.
The woman, having been held up by those spikes, falls to her side. The grimace of pain on her face is quickly replaced by relief, and she sighs out as her eyes begin to close.

"Hey, hey, hey! Nope! Wake up, missy!"

You pull her back up into a sitting position and slap her across the face a few times. Even that is just barely enough to get her to open her eyes again.
If you don't get her something to eat, and quick, she ain't gonna make it. Your first instinct is... well, there are dead aliens piled up all around here, so maybe...?

You break an arm off one of the dead husks and take a bite out of it, but... it's like paper, but it turns to sand and grit in your mouth. Tastes like dirt, too.
There's no way she can eat that, and it wouldn't do her any good if she did.

"Shit, seriously...?"

There's nothing else around here. Not a bird, nor an insect... nothing. Except for you.
Well... if you really want to keep her going...?
>>
>>5369390
nope.
>>
>>5369390
YEP. Alternatively- If it's a dream, dream her up some food.
>>
>>5369390
Yes
>>
>>5369390
Nope. But willing her some food into existence is a good idea
>>
>>5369390
Nope. Lets do as cavemen and find her something to eat. That means we get to kill something!
>>
That wasn't a vote, lads. You've already voted to give her some blood.
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>>5369417
Alright.
>>
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>>5369417
Nice.
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>>5369417
>That wasn’t a vote, lads. You’ve already voted to give her some blood.
>>
>>5369390
Why not give her CUM instead?
>>
>>5369685
After all its also a "fluid of life" and we dont necessarily need it to live. Question is how do we administer it ? There are at least 3 ways to do so.
>>
>>5369685
>:^)
>>
>>5369685
don't have sex with your tulpa you idiot empty jar head
you are NICE to your tulpa, don't rape it
>>
>>5369712
>this guy doesn’t have sex with his tulpa
ngmi
>>
>>5369685
The forbidden nectar
>>
>>5369390
HYPE
>>
>>5369690
Obviously administration directly to the gastrointestinal system is ideal.
>>
>>5369685
Why not both blood and semen

>>5368635
And this
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>>5369390
We just chewing husks now?
>>
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>>5368376
>her facial features are much flatter than that of a human, to the point that her nose is more of a bump in the middle of her face.

Oh shit we have an irl anime waifu. More like dream waifu lel I wonder if David can talk shit about whichever anime she is from
>>
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>>5370032
wrong pic lol but it's still fine
>>
>>5370044
>midly bothered
Japanese artists and their incredible skill at facial features and expressions amirite
>>
>>5370044
>>5370032
White hair with a not at the end sounds like Katanagatari waifu. Main male character in that is comparable physically to David too actually.
>>
>>5370023
King Nothing cover time?
>>
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>>5370032
Think closer to this, but much more human.
>>
>>5370136
>pic
Imagine her breaking down genetic incompatibility and errors in your seed as you try to breed her.
>>
>>5370153
Try?
>>
>>5370136
Have you seen anime girl facial proportions? Downright fucking alien already.
>>
>>5370158
I have. I remember a .gif of someone literally drawing a grey and turning it into an anime girl, but i couldn't find it.
It's on my hard drive somewhere, but finding it there would be harder than finding it on google.
>>
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>>5370159
this one
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>>5370165
makeup really is cheating, huh?
i'm dead tired right now, so i might as well let you know that there probably won't be the usual 1am update, it'll be some time tomorrow.
>>
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>>5370171
The edit even looks like this girl, hanekawa tsubasa
>>
>>5370155
Yeah, it's a Kaminoan.
>>
>>5370212
You misunderstand.
There won't be any trying about it.
Only success.
>>
>>5369390

You're not even going to make a joke about "brotein" right now. That'd be a bit much, you think.
Not that what you're about to do is much better, but at least it won't make you a rapist.

No tools though... no tools.
You'll just have to use some slightly older techniques, you guess.

After digging through the dry, crumbling soil for a bit... you actually do manage to find some rocks. They're somewhat sparse, but they are there.
It takes a minute to find two particularly hard and glassy ones, during which you have to keep the girl awake and encourage her to stay that way.

Once you have them though, you're able to strike them against eachother at an angle, and using your rudimentary flintknapping skills, you get a relatively sharp surface on one of the stones.
You never expected those pow-wows to come through for you like this. Although you actually learned using a deer antler and some large glass shards...

"Hey... listen, miss. I'm sorry, it might be a little gross... but there's nothing else out here, so just bear with it, okay?"

The woman seems confused, but she's in no position to complain or even ask questions as you lay her flat against the ground and open her mouth.
She watches as you take the sharpened stone and slit your palm deeply, allowing blood to flow from the wound.

It hurts a lot, actually. The stone is sharp, but by no means is it a clean cut. That's actually helpful, though.
You clench your fist to draw out more blood, then let it drip into her open mouth. She doesn't react at first, but her eyes open up in surprise as she realizes what's happening.

It takes a while before she's got enough even to swallow, but she manages to do it. She even licks her lips afterwards, catching a few errant drops that happened to miss.
Almost immediately, her breathing begins to strengthen. You can see some of the light return to her eyes, and she regains enough strength to clench her fist.

Maybe she'll be alright now, somehow?

"...avid...?"

You'll still be in trouble if you don't find a way out of here, though. There's no way you can sustain yourself, no less the two of you by staying here... right?"

"David...!"

Your vision is turning white. If only you had something...

"DAVID!"

Your eyes fly open, and you see Kyla leaning over you. You're back on the ship, laying in bed with Princess by your side.

"Huh... what the hell was i...?"

"You were starting to worry me, hon. I thought you might have FROZEN TO DEATH IN HERE!"

You can see that Kyla's already starting to shiver in your chilly, windy bedroom. You enjoy sleeping like that, but the others can't handle it at all.
As you sit up in the bed, you feel a sharp pain in your palm... and find that there's a jagged slice taken out of it that wasn't there before. Not a single drop of blood, though.

You quickly hide the wound and turn your attention back to Kyla.

"Ah, sorry... Is everything alright, or did you want to..."

Kyla sighs in exasperation.
>>
>>5370670
>and find that there's a jagged slice taken out of it that wasn't there before. Not a single drop of blood, though.
You absolute buffoons. Now there's an ancient evil on the loose.
>>
>>5370670
>David is sleeping soundly after a day and a half of hustle
>Kyla shows up and wants to wake him up
>David doesn't want to wake up
>Kyla gets PISSED for some reason
>women
>>
>>5370670
Was...was she not there when we explained the insane temperature range humans can handle?
>>
>>5370811
To be fair at 50 degrees you can suffer the effects of hypothermia. If conditions are correct you can even die from hypothermia at like, 65-70 degrees, I think. The blanket and the dragon cat kept us safe.
>>
>>5370676
An ancient evil that likes the taste of our blood, no less.

But it’ll only be better once she’s addicted to our semen
>>
>>5370676
I think what you meant to say was our new POWER!
>>
>>5370815
...that is insane to me. I'm not even uncomfortable - long as I have jeans and a t shirt - until about 40 or so - barring wind chill, of course (50 mph winds don't give a damn about your comfortable temperature range). I mean, I know I'm in a minority on that one, but I didn't think it'd be by that much.
>>
>10°C
That's... okay? put on a sweater lmao. But I insist, if you stay put you'll get cold, so it's best to work and move around!
>>
>>5370919
It's only really dangerous if you are naked or submerged in a liquid for a long enough time. And inactive. All about bringing your core temperature down too much. You almost need to consciously work to kill yourself that way. The moment you put on a shirt or start moving briskly you'll be fine.
>>
>>5370676
Maybe or maybe this is a good thing?
>>
What could go wrong?
>>
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>>5370971
fuck your markers
>>
>>5370983
I don't think I can fit my dick in them, but I will try.
>>
>>5370984
Now you're thinking like a marine.
>>
>>5370670
Either we've made a new friend or released a dark god from it's imprisonment. A pretty productive trip into the astral world either way.
>>
>>5370811
She knows, she's just pointing out that it's freezing to her, and she hates it.
>>
>>5370670
remember boys we need to break our relationship off.
>>
>>5371000
Well she's a fungus, so I imagine she wants it warm, humid, and pitch black.
>>
>>5370999
I see both as a win as the dark god is probably thankful to us
>>5371019
Us Cylia fags need to get it together
>>
>>5370971
So the markers help civilizations improve their energy output right? And that's the attractive so they build more of those beacons to call the zombies to devour their biomass.
In what tone does the last game end up in? hopeful, doom, all is lost, neutral...???
>>
>>5371019
>>5371052
don't be sore loser.
>>
>>5370670

"Sorry, but i can't even begin to think about foolin' around right now. All the critical stuff is finally repaired, thank goodness, but there's still a ton of issues. We're still missing two maneuvering thrusters, for one... but that's not why i woke you up."

"Sorry. You must be stressed out, huh? Don't worry though, we've got a lot of resources to work with now. Even a little bit of manpower, maybe..."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyways, this is what i wanted to ask you about..."

Kyla walks out into the hall and brings one of the captured Blue Boxes in on a small hovercart. You guess it's too heavy for her to just carry in here on her own.

"Is that the AI Gron pulled for us?" You wonder.

"Nope. It's the one from the weapon ship. Only, while i was taking a break and went to check them out, i noticed this."

Kyla turns the cart around, and you see a deep, circular hole in the cube, right where the shackle should have been.

"Did you do that?" She asks.

"Uh... i... don't think so? Probably? I mean, i definitely didn't just yank it out, if that's what you're asking."

"Well, that's super weird then. Normally it's super hard to remove a shackle... they're like super complicated puzzles, and have to be manipulated magnetically from the outside, totally blind. There's no way it can just pop out on it's own."

"Well, it was there when i brought it on the ship. Do you still have the shackle?"

"No, that's the even weirder part. I looked everywhere, but it's just gone. I even checked the interior camera footage, but unfortunately the shackle wasn't in the shot when it disappeared. You're right though, it was still there when you brought it in."

Oh... oh, wait a minute.

"Kyla, can i see that for a minute?"

"Sure, just don't drop it..."

The cube is shockingly heavy, as you expected. It's actually difficult to pick up the fairly smooth cube with just your finger grip alone, but it's alright once you get it into your palm.
Staring down the hole where the shackle had been, it's hard to see until you shine a tac-light inside. Every surface is jet black, and there are thousands of tiny, interlocking rings, gears, mechanisms and so-on. Not what you expected at all from such advanced technology.

It almost looks mechanical in nature, rather than digital. More importantly though, the parts inside are moving. One tick at a time, almost like a heartbeat.
Others are flowing smoothly, or pumping back and forth... there's a lot going on in here, but it's tiny and hard to understand how it all fits together, or what purpose it could possibly serve.

"What the hell... why are there gears in this thing?"

Kyla chuckles.

"Makes you want to take it apart and find out, huh? Only, there's no real way to get them apart. No screws, no seams... it's not even welded, just seems like one solid piece, until you look inside. And good luck sawing it open."

Yeah, it probably wouldn't be easy. This warp metal is solid, way tougher than whatever those caps are made of.
>>
>>5371089
The tone’s pretty much comedic if you use the weapon building system to create a super rocket launcher and play with a buddy who has one too, but mysteriously disappears in every cutscene

>>5371098
It’s Cylia that’s gonna be sore, you loser
>>
>>5371110
kek... so the game has explosives? The first game was scary... never played it. Not that I ever could for my pc SUCKS and all the ones I have had have.

>I have had have
Is that phrase in english? what the fuck, english get your shit together
>>
>>5371112
The first game is the best, second is great, the third throws a lot of the themes in the trash. But thats how sequel games go.
>>
>>5371118
the third one does? but how can you do that if the game is about space zombies infecting people and shit? And the lone survivor who was to blow up the space station/space ship to contain the infection, possibly killing himself at the end?

I guess there are some themes here and there being brushed by the game... but is it GOOD then? as in, deep stuff that leaves you thinking after playing. Stimulating. Substance and Form being woven together into a masterpiece?
>>
>>5371104
I wonder if we can remove the shackles of the other AI like this. This is the AI that got it's soul sucked by that demon, isn't it? Good thing we fed her our blood then otherwise she'd be scrap metal now.
>>
>>5371025
So, she likes to sleep with David's sack on her face?
>>
>>5371104
We should tell Kyla that we're pretty sure the cube is the melted and reforged soul of some alien chick we rescued from Hell. Also that the Federation is using the souls of the living in a live sacrifice ritual of some kind that turns them into slave cubes to run the ships in warp space.
>>
>>5371131

Have you played the Resident Evil games?

The hard horror and survival often swings over to rediculous B move schlock all the time.
>>
>>5371137
What does that mean for SHODAN?
Is SHODAN a warpmetal soul box or is she Grey artificial?
>>
>>5371170
Chris "Boulder-puncher" Redfield.

I'm sorry but anyone who punches zombies SUCCESSFULLY will never not be super fucking cool to me.
>>
>>5371137
Let’s uh, not make our crew think we’re even more crazy than they assume already. At least we shouldn’t phrase things the way you did just yet, without collecting more evidence.
>>
>>5371137
Daemon engine time!
>>
>>5371137
no
>>
>>5371170
much like a lot of people my first approach to resident evil was the 4 one so... but I get it, according to what you said the first dead space had one or two enemies in a well put location in a well made room and the third dead space had a mob of enemies in a corridor.
>>
>>5370999
Not mutually exclusive
>>
>>5371182
>>5371214
Gay,
>>5371191
No, not yet. We must become the lord of that plane first.
>>5371171
We need to figure out how to check. Maybe deepening our mind connection she already made with our translator? Wait....what if SHODAN doing that trigged something in our brains that more exposure to Dark Matter brought us closer to the other side? The nanomachine injection may be facilitating the connection through our whole body.
>>
>>5371104

It's internals might be somewhat interesting, but that's not what you're looking for.
As you gently run your thumb over the hole, the tree of life that you were half-expecting to be gone does in fact appear... but it's appearance is different from before.

Instead of the angry, red light that made it up previously, this time it appears as a soft, gentle glow of gold.
What's more, the characters that made it up have changed. Where previously they were crystal clear to you, now they seem almost fuzzy... as if they were hidden behind a pane of frosted glass, then refracted back and forth a few times.

It's clear enough though, that the symbols themselves are different as well. You can't see them clearly enough to distinguish their form, but they're nothing like what was there before.
More importantly though, everything looks and "feels" correct. Nothing is missing or distorted, as far as you can tell... but staring at it so closely is giving you quite the headache for some reason, so you'll just have to look away for now, you think.

"Gah, shit... that kills my eyeballs." You grumble. Your eyes feel... a bit of a burn, almost like pool water or onions, you think. You end up rubbing them on reflex, so you have to set the cube back on the hovercart.

"What, looking at things?"

Kyla pokes you in the ribs and chuckles.

"Yeah... i guess."

More like "looking at things you shouldn't be seeing" you think.
It's... probably not a good idea to tell the others about this sort of stuff. Even if they take your word for it, you're worried they might think you've gone off the deep end.

SHODAN though, you think she'd believe you no matter what. She's seen inside your head, so she knows what you're like better than anyone except yourself.
If it's her, well... you'll probably be alright. Which is good. It's good to have someone you can confide this absolutely insane bullshit to, if you need to.

You've spent enough nights beating yourself up over shit that you're not allowed to tell anyone. Having to decide for yourself on everything, whether you did good or bad... whether it was right or wrong. Doubting yourself. It gets old.

"Well anyways, i'm glad you're finally up. I really was starting to get worried, since i don't think i've ever seen you sleep for fifteen hours straight before."

"Fif- Fifteen hours?! What the fuck, i barely even... no, that couldn't have been more than like, fifteen minutes!"

"Man, you must have been real tired. I've had that happen before... one time i didn't nap for a whole day, and when i finally went to sleep for the night i didn't dream at all. It was light out, then i woke up two seconds later! It was the next day already!"

Fifteen hours, seriously? You haven't slept that long at once since you got out of training... probably.

"Yeah, well... if i napped as much as you guys do, i'd never be able to get to sleep at night. Must suck not being able to keep awake for long periods."

"Ah, it's not so bad..."
>>
>>5372351
>just five more minutes...
We need a shower. Bring the cat dragon
>>
>>5372359
Nah, bring the Gobbo girl
>>
>>5372412
No, bring Cylia
>>
>>5372419
No, bring Clank.
>>
>>5372419
I want to shower with the toaster. I mean the SHODAN.
>>
>>5372419
All three? All three.
>>
>>5372425
But SHODAN is the shower.
>>
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>>5372428
>>
>>5372428
Hot.
>>
>>5372469
Scalding
>>
>>5372351
Hey, so, just a random thought, just occured to me. Remembering how SHODAN was in our head once thanks to the translator...would it be possible for her to hop in again just to look at our memories of seeing these tree of life things so she can make an image the rest of the crew can see? Hell, could she piggyback our vision center for a couple seconds *while* we're looking at one so she can verify with sensors at the same time how "what the fuck"ish this is?
>>
>>5372639
Great idea. Show it to Sanig to guess what's up, along with the dream and maybe identify the species of the crucified anime girl.
>>
>>5372473
Zzaping
>>
>>5372639
This. Let's give her permission. Bonus points if we can show our dream too and compare it to the cube.
>>
>>5372639
What an interesting proposal
>>
>>5372884
I feel like you're trying to say "you're gonna regret this", but all I can think is "PUSH THE BUTTON!"
>>
>>5372904
No Fear, we got this.
>>
>>5372639
support, let everyone see our schizo mind
>>
>>5372639
What if the girl IS Shodan?
>>
>>5372970
Unlikely. The girl is most likely the second AI that was shackled. Since we destroyed the giant spikes holding the girl in place and suddenly the shackle disappeared from its blue box it seems like that event was linked.
>>
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>>5372639
>>5372884
>>
>>5372639
Yes, show the crew the magic tree scribbles! Maybe they'll go mad, maybe they won't even see it anyways because it's magic shit but it's worth a try either way.

>>5372970
Nah the woman in the dream was definitely the AI that got the soul succ from one of the demons on the big ship. We broke her shackle and healed her. Hope she remembers that when we put her in something.
>>
>>5372884
FUCKING DO IT!
....please?
>>
>>5372639
this shit has been on my mind for weeks
but what im more interested in is what is SHODAN's core looks like now
and astral project to give her blood too?
>>
>>5372351

Kyla walks over and grabs you in a bear hug, kissing the stubble that's grown on your cheeks since you slept.

"After all, i get to cuddle with you a lot. I just wish i didn't wake up alone so much..."

...With her being so close, you can smell the unique scent of Kyla's sweat. Sweet and musky, almost like good soil.
But her scent is more than that. It's also mixed with grease and metal, something you're very familiar with back on earth.

It's a familiar smell, and one that you find comforting. Almost reminds you of being back on the farm.
You wrap your arm around Kyla in return, pulling her in even closer.

"Sorry... i get antsy if i lay around for too long. It's not too bad as long as i've got company, though."

"Hey.... hon?"

"Yeah?"

"Your face is freezing cold. And your beard is stabbing me."

"Oh. Sorry..."

"Geeze, it feels like a wire brush..." She mumbles.

"Hey, uh... why don't we go freshen up? I need to shave, and i think we could both use a shower. You wash my back, i'll wash yours."

"What do mean? There's barely enough room for you all by yourself in... oh. oooohhhhh."

A devillish grin creeps across your face as Kyla looks down and sees your little soldier standing at attention.

"Is this that so-called "morning wood" again, David?"

"Might have started out that way."

Your hand makes it way from her back down to her ass, where you give her a good squeeze. It's enough to make her jump.

"H-Hey, now! I told you, i've got too much to get done right now, i can't-"

"You also said you dealt with all the critical issues. Don't you deserve a little break? A little relaxation?"

Kyla hesitates and looks away. You can see the gears turning in her head as she tries to justify slacking off for a minute.

"Oh... fine! I was starting to get frustrated anyways. Might as well clear my head..."

"That's my girl. Come on, let's go!"

"Ah, wait!" Kyla tries to yell, but you're already making your way to the ship's bathroom in just your skivvies.

When you get to the bathroom though, the door slides open and you immediately see why Kyla was trying to stop you.
There, in all her glory, is Cylia. Naked as the day she was born, apparently in the middle of brushing her hair after getting out of the shower.

She turns towards you, confused at first. Then she looks down and sees lil' gunny. Her face instantly flushes red, and the hairs on her tail all stand on end.
She moves faster than you've ever seen her move before, covering herself with one hand and throwing a gut-punch at you with the other.

It lands... and surprisingly, it hurts! She actually managed to wind you just a bit with that one, but it looks like she hurt her hand more than she hurt you.

"OOF! ...Ah, Whoops. Sorry!"

Cylia grimaces and sucks on her fist with a groan, unable to move her other hand away as it is.
For your part, you turn away and let the door shut behind you as Kyla arrives.

"Yeah... i was trying to tell you, the lock on the bathroom door is stuck open..."
>>
>>5373303
We should have gone with the cat instead of the mold
>>
>>5373314
Can Cylia work on a V8? I think not.
>>
>>5373318
We can teach her. Or have the Shroom teach her.
>>
I have about four different iterations of Cylia in my head and they are all happening at the same time. The superimposing images of naked Cylia in the Shower bother me to no end.

Just how furry is her... 70%? But she has knees... That brings her down to a solid 40% even with fur and a non-human face
>>
>>5373356
Bro look at the OP
>>
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>>5373358
Yes aisha clanclan.... damn I guess? she's a mere 20% furry
>>
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>>5373356
The correct answer is always "however much is right for you".
That said, she looks about like Aisha. You can take that "about" and run with it.

One thing i've always thought is that no description can ever beat one's own imagination, partially because what one man likes may not be for another.
So it's better to just have a basic description, rather than go into too much detail. It's up to the player to fill in the blanks with what works for them.
>>
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>>5373303
>>
>>5373303
Jesus. At this point I think Clank and maybe Gildur are the only crew who haven't seen David's cock. Even Sanig's seen it.
>>
>>5373400
hey, David's wearing underwear.
>>
>>5373425
No mere fabric can contain David's third leg
>>
>>5373400
No I’m pretty sure Gildur’s seen it. Besides, that’s just part and parcel of establishing dominance as a Captain. It’ll probably be quicker if we just make it part of the swearing in when we expand to be a full merc organization in the future though.
>>
>>5373303
>She saw an unfiltered view of our Magnum Dong
>She's gonna have wet dreams about this.
>Only a matter of time before she wants her turn
>>
>>5373303

"...Is that one of those "non-critical" issues you haven't gotten to yet?"

Kyla just snorts and turns away as she tries to hold her laughter in.
As she's doing that, you hear the door slide open behind you. You're not sure if it's safe to turn around though, so...

"...You saw everything, huh?" Cylia growls from behind.

"Sorry, miss. I uh... wasn't aware of the situation."

Kyla silently waves behind you with a cheeky grin on her face, so they must be staring eachother down right about now.

"Hmph. Fine, just consider it your lucky day, i guess. And you can turn around any time now, idiot."

"So you're not mad?" You ask, turning to face her.

Cylia, as it turns out, still isn't dressed. Well, she's not completely naked either, at least by your standards...
With a towel wrapped around her midsection, all her good are mostly covered up, at least. But you know, she still considers something like this as being basically nude.

Which means she's showing it to you on purpose right now. And you can tell, because she won't look you in the eye. Her face is completely beet red as well.

"N-No, i'm not... and i'm sorry i hit you. It was just an accident, right? I know you're not that kind of guy. We've lived together on this ship for a while now, and you never tried anything..."

"Tell me about it!" Kyla interjects. "I'd heard horror stories about female crewmembers getting attacked at night, but this guy seemed so disinterested that i was starting to wonder if he was gay..."

"Come on, Kyla. I'm not an animal."

"Yeah, that's a good one! I know what you're really like, once someone finally manages to get you going. No, you're an animal alright... It's like a slyvern who's been trained not to snap at a piece of meat!"

Cylia covers her face with one hand, but you can see her peeping through her fingers between you and Kyla. Although, she's not looking up when she looks at you.
It's right about now that you notice she's breathing a bit more heavily than usual. She isn't trying to leave, either. You're not a genius, but you can't just ignore this.

>Invite Cylia to take a "shower" with you two
>Don't say anything, you don't want to make it awkward
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
>>
>>5374444
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
Call me old fashioned, but the first time with a new girl should be with just them. Subsequent times can be threesomes.
>>
>>5374444
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
It'd be a ton of fun, and I'm all for bullying the cat, but I doubt Kyla'd be able to tone down the smug even a moment if she was there for Cylia's first "human interaction" and that would risk ruining things with best kitty.
>>
>>5374444
>Don't say anything, you don't want to make it awkward
>>
>>5374444

>>5374454
Supporting this Anon
The first time shouldn't be shared.
Also make sure to clean yourself properly so she can't smell Kyla on David
>>
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>Invite Cylia to take a "shower" with you two

He's gonna not only do two chicks at the same time, he's gonna do two alien chicks at the same time
>>
>>5374444
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
Finally
>>
>>5374444
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
>>
>>5374444
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
>>
>>5374444
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
Congratulate her on her punch. It a totally stung a bit, which is a good thing! She's really cum a long way
>>
>>5374444
>>5373636

Dubdubs and quads? Holy kek checkem..
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
>>
>>5374444
>>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
>>
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>>5374444
>>Invite Cylia to take a "shower" with you two
THE DIGITS
THEY SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
>>
>>Invite Cylia to take a "shower" with you two
>>
Alright, inviting her to your room wins it. Update will be late tomorrow night.
>>
The time has come and so have I.
>>
>>5374444
Gildur's pretty lucky we found those cleaner robots
>>
>>5374765
Poor guy, he got shafted by biology and has to clean up after we mindbreak the two hottest girls, second only to SHODAN's engine, on the ship into sloppy puddles.
>>
>>5374444
>>Invite Cylia to take a "shower" with you two
>>
>>5374612
>>5374801
Ah, my fault. Didn't see the response.
>>
Semi related to things getting ready to blow how loads inside warm bodies, have we considered the viability of making a Bolter for the Power Armor to wield?
>>
>>5374444

>Invite Cylia to take a "shower" with you two
But don't actually mean it.
If we're doing something like this, we should probably make sure Kyla is cool with it. Last thing we want is for the team to be internally torn apart by shitting where we eat.

If Kyla is cool with it then
>Ask her to think on it, then invite her to your room afterwards. You've got enough stamina for two rounds.
>>
>>5374859
>If we're doing something like this, we should probably make sure Kyla is cool with it.
Fuck that. We told kyla we were fuck buddies. We can fuck whoever we want without asking
>>
>>5374892
we never said that to her we though it to ourselves before never said it and even then he said "...Right?". right now David doesn't know what to think of the relationship.
>>
>>5374892
Yeah we can.

But shitting where you eat leaves you eating shit. As exmil surrounded by a shitton of sexual shitshows, David would know it.
>>
>>5375014
She already "gave us permission" some threads ago when we met the onis. she basicaly called herself the alpha bitch of this relationship, david promptly ignored what she said and ended up concerned with her thinking they were a thing.

>>5375005
Im pretty sure we said so right before or after we first fucked kyla
>>
>>5375005
She has been literally egging, pun intended, Cylia on to ride David's womb breaker for weeks now.
>>
>>5375059
Then there's nothing lost double checking before fucking up the dynamic
>>
>>5374859
Kyla once said that she doesn't mind sharing. So unless we choose to deprive her of BHC altogether she probably won't care. Hell she'd probably want to join in, perverted little goblin slut that she is.
>>
sharing is caring, EHE
>>
>>5374444

There's a few moments of awkward silence after that.
You all more or less know what's going on, you think. Everyone can read the air.

So before it gets even more awkward, you decide to cross the line and just go for it.

"Alright, Cyl... me and Kyla are gonna go get washed up now, alright?"

Cylia's ears flutter, and her head drops until she's staring straight down at the floor.

"...But when we get done, come to my room. Then, i'll give you my full and undivided attention. Think it over until then."

You palm the whole top of Cylia's head and tussle her hair. It's still wet, so you make a little bit of a mess of it.
Cylia doesn't look up, but you can hear that her breath has caught in her throat.

You let go of her as you walk past and into the bathroom, with Kyla trailing behind.

"Oh, someone's in trouble!" She taunts. "I'll try to tire him out for you, number two!"

That night, you spend several long hours getting "cleaned up" in various ways, but you feel at least twice as filthy coming out as when you went in.

Your wet footsteps thud loudly as you walk back to your room, leaving an exhausted Kyla behind inside. Gildur gives the most professional salute possible as he stands ready with his mop and bucket.
Your door opens, revealing a lightly sleeping Cylia laying on your bed, still wrapped up in her towel. Had she been waiting for you the whole time?

You wake her up with a gentle nudge, and she almost immediately unwraps herself for you. Seems like she'd already made her mind up.
Fortunately for her, Kyla had in fact already taken a few rounds out of you beforehand, so you were much more gentle that night than you would have been.

That's very fortunate, actually, because you quickly discover that while Caithans are quite flexible, they can have some difficulties "adjusting" to larger partners.
Kyla has a bit of that same issue, but never again afterwards. You feel like it might take some time with Cylia, though. She's much more "human" in many regards.

Regardless, you spend nearly half the night "playing around" until eventually, Cylia just passes out in the middle of it. She did good, considering her own lack of stamina.
After tucking her into your bed, you take a quick second shower and then head straight to the mess hall for a glass of bootleg gatoraid and a sandwich.

Gildur is there, and you direct him back to your room for further cleanup, to which he simply responds with a whimper and a salute before slinking off.

"Kid, you're not that young. You're gonna throw your back out if you keep it up!"

"Sacrifices must be made for the sake of improving human-xeno relations, old man. I'm a martyr, really."

"You're so full of shit, Kid."

"You're just jealous because your dick fell off."

"Hey, hey, no need to get hurtful here. And it didn't fall off. They took it from me."

"Sorry. Anyways, what are the plans for today? We've got all these ships and no way to move 'em."
>>
>>5375371
>"They took it from me."
We must avenge grandpa Sanig
>>
>>5375371
First, we need proper Cylia smut, second, we need to give Gildur a raise holy shit, and third, we must murder the Grey Federation in bloody retribution.
>>
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>>5375376
>>
>>5375380
My point exactly.
>>
>>5375371
>"They took it from me."
I thought I hated the greys already. Apparently I only disliked them before...poor Granpa Sanig, wonder if he can get a new one made?
>>
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>>5375371
>They took it from me."
>>
>>5375371
Cylia's gonna wake up sore and then have to deal with a very smug Kyla. Poor catgirl can't win even when she gets laid.
>They took it from me
We will repay them a thousandfold for this atrocity

>>5375411
You mean give Gramps a big cyberdong? That'll make for a great Christmas present.
>>
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>>5375371
They took it from him.
>>
>>5375558
I was thinking rip and tear our way through the Grey species until he finds one he LIKES
>>
>>5375573
Although I originally did mean a cyberdong or some kind of bio-engineered transplant, yes, but only because I think he mentioned the Grey species is no longer donged naturally...
>>
>>5375376
https://rule34.xxx/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=5129419
>>
>>5375573
I'm all for "an eye for an eye" and all that but tearing off peoples cock and balls with the intention of grafting it onto Sanig is too far even for David.
>>
>>5375371
>Cylia intim as the cuddle timed
This gives me warm fuzzy feelings.

>They took it from me."
>jetstreamsam.mp3
Give us some names gramps, we'll get your cock no matter how many bodies we need to go through.
>>
>>5375588
>>5375380
This is the top shelf stuff. Noice.
>>
>>5375371
Let's walk up to the grayys, punch them in the face, and get gramps his dick back.
>>
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ths one might get me ban
>>
>>5375850
You sick fuck dont post that here.
>>
>>5375850
The balls on this guy.
>>
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>>5375371
>They took it from me.
I crave violence.
>>
>>5375850
Wtf bro
>>
>>5375371

"Well... we got a couple options, kid. Number one, we call in a couple freighters to tow them out. Probably cost us some bribe money on top of the hauling fees.
Second, we could use Gron's hauler. He's only got the one, so you can forget about getting it done any time soon. All it'll cost us then is fuel, though.
Third, we don't haul them. Instead, equip a cargo ship with the gear to repair everything and work out of that. Only problem then is the heat."

"Yeah, i don't see how that last one's gonna work. I mean, unless everyone gets a suit of power armor..."

Sanig just grins.

"You're joking, right?"

"Not a full suit, no. But a stripped down version, made out of common materials? We could make that on the fab and have people working in no time."

"So you want to make an experimental, stripped version of an already experimental combat suit and then send people out into vacuum with it?" You ask him to clarify.

"Sounds good, right?"

"...Just... make sure those seals are triple redundant."

"That's entirely excessive, Kid. Even yours are only have one backup."

"...Seriously?"

"Sometimes less is more. It's hard to get a proper seal if there's a dozen of them for every little segment."

"Alright, alright... so what are we talking here? How stripped down exactly?"

"Very. No armor, no sensors or custom visor, very light servos. Just enough to counteract the stiffness of the suit. They'll still need a skinsuit, but we've already got the fabric on hand."

"Yeah, that could work. What about the cooling though? And power? We only have the one miniature antimatter bottle."

"Cooling will be beefed up. It's not an issue, especially with all the extra room it'll have. Power though, that's more of an issue. We can build in supercaps, but they'll be on a time limit. Two hours, maybe."

"Can we do wireless energy transmission?"

"What do you mean wireless, kid?"

"Like, lasers. Our cannons have really tight beams, don't they? As long as we're nearby, we should be able to transfer power via photovoltaic cells. Alternatively, microwave transmitters could work, but..."

"Yeah, yeah, let's stick to the moderately less crazy ideas. Using the lasers for comms is one thing, but i don't even know if the output can go low enough to make it safe..."

"What about a reflective coating over aerogel, then? It'll add some bulk, but not much weight."

"...So don't make it less dangerous, just make the suit more resistant."

"I mean, the only other option would be an umbilical, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah... and it would work just fine, i'm sure."

You wave him off as you suck down an extra concentrated cup of tikka coffee.

"Hey, i'm just throwing ideas out there. As they say, it's not stupid if it works."

"Kid, i've seen a lot of really stupid shit that technically worked in my time. Trust me when i say that ain't true."

"I'm not saying it's optimal, i'm saying it'll work! Sometimes unique problems require creative solutions."

"Fine, let's consider it."
>>
>>5376463

>Go with the local haulers. It'll cost you, but it's a tried and true method.
>Use Gron's private hauler. It'll take time to get the job done, but at least it's quiet.
>Skip hauling them and figure out a way to repair the ships on-site.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5376464
>Go with the local haulers. It'll cost you, but it's a tried and true method.
>Use Gron's private hauler. It'll take time to get the job done, but at least it's quiet.
A combination of the two. We'll have the ships hauls to bumb fuck no where locations close to but not too close to the Dark Star Base, said locations will have a bunch of people from dark star in repair equipment, just enough to get the ships up and running so they can limp back to base. Gron's hauler will help to reduce the cost of hiring fees.
>>
>>5376470
Support, but build those hardsuits with umbilicals AND batteries. We'd need to plug them in at some point, just make the cord good enough to actively power it while in use, while the batteries are good for emergencies where more maneuverability is needed or when the umbilical breaks. They'll be VERY useful in the future, even if we don't need them quite yet.
>>
>>5376464
>>>Go with the local haulers. It'll cost you, but it's a tried and true method.
This is an investment
>>
>>5376464
>Go with the local haulers. It'll cost you, but it's a tried and true method.
>>
>>5376470
>>5376477
>support
>>
>>5376464
>>Go with the local haulers. It'll cost you, but it's a tried and true method.
>>
>>5376470
>>5376464
Supporting this idea. Good thinking, anon.
>>
>>5376470
Supporting
>>
>>5376463
>Skip hauling them and figure out a way to repair the ships on-site.
I'd like a construction barge. Be handy if we go back to earth. Wouldn't mind doing proper RND on some less crazy powered armor too.
>>
>>5376464
>Skip hauling them and figure out a way to repair the ships on-site.
>>
>>5376662
We cant do that. We dont have the time, resources, or schematics to make a ship anon.
>>
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one more
>>
>>5376470
support
>>
>>5376463

After discussing things with Sanig for a while and a quick call with Gron to confirm some things, you all end up deciding to go with the local haulers.
Sometimes time is money, even if it costs you some money in turn. That total is estimated at around €50,000, of which you're chipping in €20,000 while Gron covers the rest.

That leaves the ship's discretionary funds at a mere six thousand energy credits, although you and your crew have more to spare if it comes down to it.
You stand to make a lot more than that from this in the long run, so you figure it's a worthy investment.

Kyla joins you after a while, with noticeable bags under her eyes. It seems that she didn't spend long sleeping after last night, and has been keeping herself going with bootleg coffee and a couple of power naps.
Alongside her is Kigg, who you kind of forgot was even still onboard. He seems almost as tired as Kyla does, and you'd promised to cook for him at some point, so you decide to make a decent breakfast for everyone.

To start off with, you have quite an excess of eggs right now. In an effort to get rid of some of them, you decide to make cloud bread "pancakes" this time.
A little baking soda, cream cheese, sugar, salt is all it takes, along with a good bit of careful mixing. You bake the mixture for about twenty minutes in some stackable miniature pie pans and they're good to go.

Next, you layer the "pancakes" with some sweetened cream cheese and chopped fruit, then ice the outside with more cream cheese until it resembles a cake. It's topped off with whipped cream and more fruit, then cut into thirds for individual servings.

For the meat, this time you decide to make some sausage. Unfortunately it's "chicken" sausage, which is your least favorite by a large margin, but you can't be picky.
Fortunately the dodos have plenty of excess fat, which makes adding in extra fat a non-issue. As a side, you deep-fry some dodo skin into something resembling pork rinds and place them in a bowl for everyone to snack on while you cook.

Almost immediately though, Kigg grabs a bite and has something to say about it.

"Holy shit, man! What is this stuff?! It's delicious!"

"Pork rinds." You reply, currently focused more on cooking than conversation.

"Never heard of them! But i don't eat a lot of handmade food either, too rich for my blood... man, what's the seasoning on this? I've never tasted anything this flavorful before!"

"Salt and MSG."

"Salt? Is that what these little crystals are? Oh, geeze... that much can't be good for you."

"Here, take these pills." Sanig tells him. "It'll keep your sodium levels down. Whole crew has to take them once every three days."

"Seriously? Isn't that like... i mean, if you need medicine to regulate your metabolism..."

"It's worth it for the flavor, kid. Trust me, that's just an appetizer."

True enough.
While they're snacking on those you start grinding up the semi-frozen meat and fat, with a good ratio of white and dark meat.
>>
>>5377322
>Whole crew has to take them once every three days."
>meanwhile, a human: just has to go for a jog
>>
>>5377322
>FIFTY THOUSAND EURO???
I can buy like, four gallons of gasoline with that
>>
>>5377366
That's the symbol we'll be using for energy credits going forwards.
Y'know, because it kinda looks like an E and C combined.
>>
>>5377358
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HKVoN-SjZ-Q
¿No?

>>5377369 yes I aimed wrong and replied like SHIT
>>
I’m just looking forward to the war ship of death that’s going to be made I’m expecting something from halo inspired or some custom art that is going to make sanig fall in love for how dangerous the ship is yet also incredibly worried for his people
>>
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>>5377877
Alright but what about pic related?
>>
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>>5378138
Looks okay but does it have a big gun on it?
>>
>>5377322

Normally you'd mix in some fresh herbs and spices, but the what you can get out in space is so weak that it's not worth the volume it'd add to get any flavor.
Instead, you did some research on the aromatic compounds present in the more popular cooking herbs, then used your medical fabricator to produce pure extracts.

They still aren't as strong as earthly spices, but it's something.
You add them to the mix in the form of oils, crystals and even a tar-like substance dissolved into alcohol.

All together they give it a bit of an herbal taste, which isn't too bad. Not quite italian sausage, and there's no heat to it either... it's just lacking in comparison to what you remember.
It's all you've got for the moment, though.

You continue on, adding a bit of sugar and a good bit of powdered blue milk to the mix. Once it comes together and gets a bit sticky, you toss it into the stuffer and pull the dodo intestines out of the sink, where they'd been defrosting.
Unfortunately, Kigg sees you sliding them onto the stuffer's nozzle.

"Hey, captain! What's that white stuff, there?" He asks.

"...Sausage casing." You reply, not wanting to turn him off the meal before it's even done.

"What's sausage?"

"Meat and spices, ground up and stuffed into a tube, then fried."

"What kinds of spices?"

...He's getting kind of irritating. You're trying not to make a mess, here. The dodo's intestines are stretchy, but they burst easily if you overstretch them. Fortunately they seem to crisp up pretty well.

"Leave him alone, kid. You see that look in his eye? You're starting to piss him off." Sanig tells him off.

"Oh... s-sorry. I didn't mean to!"

"It's fine. He just gets irritable when he's focused. Usually in combat, or in the kitchen."

"Or in the bedroom..." Kyla casually adds on, not looking up from her holopad.

"That... reminds me." Kigg starts. "Was that... y'know, last night... was that normal? I thought something mechanical had broken loose since you could hear it throughout the whole ship, but all that banging turned out to be..."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't remind me. We need to allot some funds towards soundproofing. On the kid's bedroom, at least."

"You just reminded me too, Sanig. I haven't seen Cylia yet this morning... she must be real sore, if she still hasn't gotten out of bed. Might need to check on her."

Sanig drops his pork rind in the middle of bringing to his mouth, and just stares at Kyla with his mouth agape.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Y-You mean, that?! That wasn't you?!"

Kyla grins.

"Nope. Or, well... the first half was. Yeah... he bagged himself another one. She might be afraid to go for another ride at this rate, though."

"GODSDAMNIT, KID! YOU LUCKY BASTARD, HAND IT OVER!" Sanig screams at you.

"Huh? What, what the fuck?!"

"YOUR LUCK! YOU GOT TOO DAMNED MUCH OF IT, SO GIVE ME SOME!"

"Fuck off! If you want some luck, go nail a horseshoe over your door!"
>>
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>>5378265
>"GODSDAMNIT, KID! YOU LUCKY BASTARD, HAND IT OVER!"
"YOUR LUCK! YOU GOT TOO DAMNED MUCH OF IT, SO GIVE ME SOME!"
>
>>
>>5378265
Okay, step one, cyberdick, step two, bring Grandpa Grey to a nice "massage" parlor.
>>
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>>5378275
No cyberdick. We're getting him his dick back from the grayys
>>
>>5378347
>making him wait that long
bruh
>>
>>5378347
>>5378348
nah we're gonna grow him a new dick gxyyp
mass ai research on biology to and make magic happen baby
>>
>>5378350
>gxyyp
what the fuck did i just post
>>
>>5378348
It's about sending a message
>>
Give this man his dick back, he deserves it's he needs it, he needs catgirls
>>
>>5378352
Did you type the capcha in the text field? Happens to the best of us.
>>
>>5378392
Is the message that Sanig has to go for even longer without a dick? Just get him a temp you nonce.
>>
>>5378265

"David..." Kyla glares at you ominously. "I told you to stop nailing those things up! The walls are FULL of wires and mechanisms!"

"Hey, i only popped a breaker once. I know where to aim so i don't hit the door's power leads anymore."

"That's not the point! This ship isn't some primeval mud hut, you can't just go nailing shit into the walls!"

"You can't nail into mud, Kyla. It just crumbles, trust me."

"That's not the point! THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

"LA LA LA LA LA, CAN'T HEAR YOU COOKING BREAKFAST!"

"Are the always like this?" Kigg wonders.

"Not usually." Sanig answers. "Stress is high right now. Y'know, uncertain future and all that."

"Yeah, i know... that's every day for us. I guess we're just used to it."

While bickering with Kyla a bit, you finish crisping up the sausages and move on to the drinks. Now, there's nothing like orange juice out in space here, but you were able to look up the chemical chain for citric and ascorbic acids, so...

"Here, try this out." You say, handing Kigg a tall glass of orange-yellow liquid.

"What is it?" He asks.

"Uhhhh, well... bootleg lemonaid, i guess. Fruit-aid? Whatever."

Along with the aforementioned acids, you threw some sugar and fruit extracts into a big jug and mixed it up. Simple as that.
Well, you say simple, but you still had to work with Kyla to adjust the acidity carefully and ensure it wouldn't burn anyone's throat. Apparently aliens and acid don't get along very well, contrary to what the movies would tell you.

Kigg gives it a sniff, and apparently finding it pleasant, he takes a generous sip.
Immediately, his lips pucker up and one of his eyes close while his head tilts to one side forcefully.

"WHOAH!" He remarks, as soon as he's able to open his mouth again.

"Is it good?"

"Yeah! It's totally delicious, but the flavor is just... overwhelming! Super sour, then super sweet... it's like a rollercoaster! And this is... Irika? And Meldo fruit, mixed together? But it's so strong, i can hardly recognize it!"

"If there's one thing David doesn't do, it's "Subtle". All his cooking is like a kick in the teeth, but it's so good... i think i'm actually addicted. Like, seriously." Kyla laments.

"It's possible." Sanig agrees. "You definitely get a huge dopamine rush with every bite... wouldn't take long to develop an addiction like that. Even though there's nothing directly addictive in it."

"Should we be worried?"

"Eh... nah. We might get depressed if he stops cooking, and i'll never be able to look at a ration bar the same way again... but that's about it. You'll get over it eventually."

While they're talking about that, you serve up the cloud-cakes, dodo sausage and a side of hash-browns topped with lightly fried pelka grass.
The smell of that pelka brings Gildur running, having set aside his broom to catch breakfast with the rest of you for a change.

"Sorry, Gildur. It's almost all protein this morning."
>>
>>5379107
Wait, can Gildur not handle a bunch of protein?
Should we start growing some vegetables for him?
>>
>>5379152
He's a vegetarian
>>
>>5379160
Right, fuck.
>>
>>5379160
>>5379170
We could make him "Beef and Bell Peppers", replacing the beef with whatever mushroom-esque stuff we've got, but we'd need a way to stir-fry / suitable sauce. Other vegetarian dishes are plausible, I mean, Latkes shouldn't be too hard to fry up from space vegetables.
>>
>>5379208
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPShpDpeNbw
I think of this every single time I see bell peppers and beef.
We need to get Gildur some pills that allow him to not get fucked eating our food.
>>
>>5378203
you fool, it HAS to be the big gun with a ship on it
>>
>>5379402
Hunger is the best spice
>>
>>5379402
Same here. Speaking of eating our food, David is probably pretty decent as far as cooks go, but he's no five star chef and he's working with improvised substitute ingredients. What's going to happen to these poor ayys when humans get into space properly, with real ingredients?
>>
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>>5379107

"It's alright, just these are enough for me. It's already a hundred times better than the nutrient paste i was eating back on Treg's ship..."

"Hey, i'm just fuckin' with you, man. You know i got you some breakfast over here."

In addition to the hashbrowns, you pull a little covered bowl out of the fridge and unwrap it for him."

"Here, it's fruit salad. Technically."

"...What do you mean technically, captain?"

"I don't consider this shit real fruit, and it's definitely not nutritious. So it's drizzled with sugar, nut oil and some fruit extracts. Y'know, so it tastes like something."

"Calorie dense as usual. ...Thanks, Captain."

"Don't worry about it, man. Hey, how are those pills doin' ya?"

"My sodium and cholesterol are fine, but i still get the runs if i eat anything fried in dodo fat. I think eggs will be fine if i can just... get used to the gas."

"There's probably a pill for that too. We'll get you boys fixed up one of these days, don't worry about it."

"David, you can't just gene mod everyone for the sake of cuisine." Kyla grumbles.

"The hell he can't!" Sanig shoots back. "That's what gene modding is for! To fix god's mistakes, damn it! Why do you think we greys invented it, to cure diseases?! Hell no! Our ancestors wanted our piss to glow in the dark, and by god we made it happen!"

"That's so stupid that i could almost believe it." She snorts.

Sanig just stares at her with his arms crossed.

"Wait, you're serious?"

"I've heard dumber things. We wouldn't be the first to gene-mod our way into better eats, though. This one guy on earth, he experimented on himself to cure his lactose intolerance. Made a gene-modding retrovirus basically in his fuckin' garage..."

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3FcbFqSoQY)

"Now you're the one being ridiculous, kid. You're banging rocks together out there, ain't ya? Now that might get you a decent nuke, but gene modding? I bet you don't even have proper nanomachines yet."

"Yeah you're right, we don't. Best we've done is moving around little bits of metal with magnets."

"Well, that's half the way there, technically. But finally, you admit you're spouting bullshit for once!"

"Oh, no. He really did that. And it worked, too."

"What."

"Yeah. Like i said, he made a retrovirus in his garage. Out of trash and some basic equipment, actually."

"What do you mean by retrovirus? You said you didn't have any nanomachines!"

"Oh, well... it's literally a virus. Hostile organisms that get you sick, take over your cells and re-write their genetic code to produce more of themselves. Basically we just tack our own instructions onto the virus, and then it rewrites our genes more or less how we wanted."

"What."

"Kind of clumsy, yeah. It's like copying and pasting chunks of computer code and just hoping shit works, but it kinda just does. Life finds a way, huh?"

You stuff most of a whole sausage in your mouth while thinking about just how tenacious life can be.
>>
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>>5380227
Viruses
>>
>>5380227
Jebus what a wild dude, the fucking mad lad did it.
Cochran write this down! We're recruiting the lactose guy the minute we get back to earth!
>>
>>5380227
Sanig, we are human, sanity and brilliance are two sides of the same fruit. Or coin. I forget which. We are also horrifyingly irresponsible and I'm rather well together. Relatively speaking.
>>
>"My sodium and cholesterol are fine, but i still get the runs if i eat anything fried in dodo fat. I think eggs will be fine if i can just... get used to the gas."

>"There's probably a pill for that too. We'll get you boys fixed up one of these days, don't worry about it."

Metoclopramida + Clordiazepóxido + Simeticona
>>
>>5380447
You mean autism and schizo are the two sides of the same coin
>>
>>5380505
Is it even a coin?
>>
>>5380671
Two sides of the same fidget spinner.
>>
>>5380681
When is Gildar gonna join David in the bed?
>>
>>5380227
Wait until Sanig learns just how insane the Human immune system actually is.
>>
>>5381054
The fact that humans have immune responses ranging from "flood it with blood" to "literally cook me to fucking death" is pretty wild. And the fact that some people roll really unlucky and get a super coked out immune system that'll try and kill them because it's too gone to realize what body it's in.
>>
>>5381043
Never, David's Marine Corps, not Navy.
>>
>>5381054
>Be me
>White cell
>I have been doing my job for thousand of years, killing shit
>I got damn GOOD at killing shit
>Human stop, you are being too clean
>Human no, vaccines are taking our jobs!!
>THAT'S IT IF THERE IS NOTHING TO KILL THEN HUMANS IT IS
>Inmuno disease
And that's the higiene theory. Once in a while I eat fruits without washing them first, or food that I have since last week. Stupid, I know, but it makes me believe I won't get lupus or artritis when older
>>
>>5381217
You eat fruit after washing it so that you're not eating pesticides or wax, not to get rid of germs. Old food and dry food that fell on the floor is fine though, as long as something isn't visibly growing on it.
>>
>>5381222
If you're eating fruit that's ever been sprayed with pesticides, you're already doing it wrong.
A little bug damage never hurt nobody. If there's a worm in your apple, that's just extra protein.
>>
Just wait till they find out that we have parts with independent immune systems, like our eyes. Standard immune system would see them as parasites if it knew they existed
>>
I feel like David is slowly just breaking sanig mentally from the amount of stupid nonsense that we have managed to make work I hope we tell him about the home made reactor that was made in a garage/backyard
>>
Also how do I do the roll thing for the actions requiring rolls
>>
>>5381232
Type "dice+1d100" into the options field when you post.
1 is the number of dice, and 100 is the number of sides those dice have.
>>
>>5381223
We can't all eat fresh from the tree organic produce, man.
>>
>>5381239
If you don't have a yard with at least one fruit tree, you're also doing it wrong.
Probably a lot of things, at that point.
>>
>>5381222
apples produce their own wax, the parenthesis people don't spray them with the stuff
>>
>>5381249
I don't have enough space for a tree but with my mommy we grow spices and herbs. They take up little space and are great!!
>>
>>5381239
Not with that attitude
>>
>>5381249
I can't afford a yard, or a house to put one in front of.
>>
>>5381257
Time to marry a redneck girl and move out to the country.
>>
>>5381249
Bruh I'd have to have only potted plants. The dirt around here ain't growing shit. Fucking weeds have trouble growing in my yard. Can't even call that shit soil.
>>
>>5381260
Amend your soil properly, and aerate it as well.

Hire someone with a tractor to till the whole thing up. The grass will come back faster than you think.
At the same time, if your grass is shitty then buy some hay and spread it evenly across the soil, then seed it with something like kentucky blue.

Hit the soil with some triple thirteen, wait a while and then sprinkle on some granulated calcium, sulfur and epsom salts.
If you have any wood ash or can find a place to buy it, spread that liberally as well.

If the soil is lacking in organic matter, you can buy truckloads of mulch and have it mixed in when you till the land. It'll take a while to decay and will deplete the soil of nitrogen, but it'll fluff it up a bit.
If it doesn't drain at all, try adding sand or pea gravel.

Good soil takes work, but it's not impossible to achieve.
Once you have it though, you need to take care of it. Plant some bushes or shrubs that fix nitrogen into the soil naturally, and take care of your drainage.
Grade your yard if you need to, to make sure it doesn't shed or hold too much water. Drainage is important.
>>
>>5381273
I appreciate the expertise and not to sound ungrateful but damn nigga I can't afford that shit. And the climate certainly doesn't pay any favors.

Probably the best I could do around here is growing shit in a closet with those funky little trays with the UV lights above them.
>>
>>5381279
If you can't afford a guy with a tractor, you can't afford the electric bill after running those grow lights either.
>>
>>5381279
>>5381273
This is not something done in a week however. You can start small, REALLY SMALL by trying to fix a little patch of soil and putting some bush there. It doesn't even have to be seeds you buy, nothing HAS to be bought when it comes to "farming".

Just make it a small project; a proof of concept. Have some fun with it, manual labour is rewarding when it's not done for your boss or faceless companies the imperium of man parodies
>>
>>5381282
This is true. There's something deeply satisfying about it. Like, satisfying on the caveman brain level.
We lack a lot of that in modern society.
>>
>>5380227

Breakfast continues on as normal, despite the company. At some point, Kyla goes to check on Cylia and comes back snickering.
Apparently she won't be joining you, as she's currently suffering from "stomach pains". You had Kyla bring her a plate anyways.

With little left to do in the region, you prepare your ships and make the jump back to Dark Star's home base later that day, with a few of the surviving drone ships in tow.
Only four of them were still in good enough condition to make the jump, after some minor repairs. Eleven more will need parts printed out and replaced, while another twelve require new engines.

The Dark Star base went on high alert as soon as you jumped in, since they didn't expect to see a bunch of fed ships come in out of nowhere. At first, they assumed you'd been captured and led them back here.
That was fun to explain, but fortunately Gron knows just about everyone out here, so it didn't take much convincing.

After refueling and taking a few days to make more repairs to your ship, you finally depart back towards Thekia station. However, before actually getting there you make a little detour.
Cylia, currently hanging over your shoulders affectionately, asks the obvious question.

"David? Why are we stopping here? There's nothing but a white dwarf and some scorched rocks out here."

"Isn't it obvious? We're dumping bodies."

"Oh, right... i almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me."

Rather than continuing to let the dodos fruitlessly peck at the wraith corpses you'd piled up, you ended up stuffing them into freezer crates and stacking them up like normal cargo.
You aren't even sure that freezing them is necessary since they don't appear to be rotting at all, but better safe than sorry. Besides, you don't want someone accidentally discovering them somehow.

However, like Sanig said, you'll never make it through customs with that much unshielded dark matter onboard.
So you're stopping by an uninhabited system first, to drop off your cargo.

It takes about half an hour to get everything unloaded using your power armor, with everyone else stacking the airlock full while you secure them on the other side.
After that's done, you all sweep the ship clean of any loose particles, flecks of blood or whatever else until it's sparkling clean and, more importantly, passes safety inspection criteria.

Your armor is a bit of an issue, which you promptly resolve with a coat of black paint and a bit of white for the trim.
It still clearly bears a few scars of battle, but you must say that it at least looks more aesthetically pleasing than bare metal.

It also bears a new, decorative piece. A heavy chain hanging from either side of it's neck, with an even heavier crucifix dangling off the end. Both made from duranium, and bolted straight into the frame.
Sanig didn't understand why you wanted such a thing, nor why you wanted to waste materials meant for repairs on it, but after the shit you've seen... better safe than sorry.
>>
>>5381294
>suffering from "stomach pains"
Did David do that hentai meme where he fucked her in the womb or something? Silly man.

>It also bears a new, decorative piece
Bro David needs one of those tabard things.

S how much time and money will it take to get the remaining 23 ships back to base?
>>
>>5381316
Not quite. For one, it was her first time. Even if it wasn't though, David is a bit too big for her.
However, having your cervix poked can be very painful all on it's own, regardless of those factors.

Having a gigantic dick isn't always a good thing for both parties involved.
>>
>>5381329
>taking a virginity in a non-monogomous relationship when the base species also practices monogamy

Yeah this is going to to go well...
>>
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>>5381329
she'll get used to it, eventually.
>>
>>5381294
>Cylia, currently hanging over your shoulders affectionately
Uh oh looks like Kyla's got a rival that's tall enough to hug David properly instead of humping one of his legs like a small dog
>>
>>5381329
hmmmmm
Either QM did research or QM is female.
>>
>>5381399
[Spoiler] he did his research from experience [/spoiler]
>>
>>5381436
ctrl + s you yellow nigger
>>
>>5381329
I'm disappointed that I haven't seen any hentai that penetrates the posterior fornix of the vagina. Pic related. I personally find the idea hotter than the highly implausible 'cervix penetration,' making her progressively stretch her canal out longer as the seggs goes on.

Really makes me wish my dick were bigger, more real estate for nerves, and bottoming out and stretching a pussy out lengthwise must feel great. I'm not insecure about my dick size worrying that it won't satisfy the bitches though kek

I should get myself a petite lolimode girl with a shallow vagina, I wonder if my 5.75 inch dick here in Asia would be enough to experience that pleasure, I hope my chances are good enough since that length would put me in the 83rd percentile with the Asian average according to calcsd.info.
>>
>>5381294
>Black Templar style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJwfHISoWvc
>>
>>5381575
>Wrong video
Fuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyAEBux88hw
>>
>>5381294
We need to get a preacher or pastor, a crucifix won't do shit without faith behind it.
>>
>>5381575
>>5381580
What kinda fucking genre whiplash did I just witness?

>>5381591
David believes enough to try. Sounds like faith to me.
>>
Rolled 80 (1d100)

testing
>>
based it works to bad the good roll went to waste
>>
>>5381679
same. the fuck kinda genre whiplash did I just witnessed?
>>
>>5381575
>>5381580
Anon...
>>
>>5381679
You misunderstand, he believes there's fucky shit going on and that a crucifix might help, but not in The Lord, which is the faith that would give power to symbols. According to Cochrane David's currently agnostic/atheist, although he believes in many Christian values.
>>
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>>5381878
I think he's just following tradition just to be a cheeky fuck. I'm a fedora tipper myself, but I would wear Black Templar armor and scream Latin litanies if I find myself fighting demons just because my European ancestors did it in the past.
>>
>>5381878
Is it really that different believing in the divine function of an icon and the divinity itself? Oh wait, we've seen this argument. Lots of people died and shit got burned.

Nah it's just that belief is a funny thing. And plenty of people get too caught up in the minutiae and miss the rest. Though I suppose it depends on whether we're talking old or new testament, doesn't it? Because OT G-man absolutely would slap your ass for not explicitly praising Him. The Bible is fucking metal.
>>
>>5381808
Shut the fuck up, you saw nothing
>>5381701
The kind that happens at 03:00 in a sleep deprived feuge after driving through Nevada.
>>
>>5381970
Believing that a crucifix might do something and that God is up there and watching are very different, in this context.

Historically, the crucifix was seen as anathema to evil not because that shape fucks up the supernatual evils of the world, but because of what it represents, especially when wielded by a faithful or holy man.

What's a holy symbol going to do for a man that doesn't believe in God? Nothing.
>>
>>5382068
Then why not emblazon something David actually believes in then?
>>
>>5382079
I DO quite like the idea of the Stars n' Bars on a suit of power armor...
>>
>>5382068
You're missing my point. There's no difference between hope and faith. That Sean entertains the idea at all that a crucifix might work is him believing. If he really didn't believe in the slightest he wouldn't be doing it "just in case". Hoping that there's a higher power is no different from believing there is a higher power. At that point it's just semantics.

Just like those people who go to church just in case there is a hell. They staunchly say they don't really believe and yet they're convinced enough to show up? They believe, they just can't rationalize it.

Of course this is just the rambling of a guy on the internet.

>>5382104
>cleric of the U.S.A. casting focus: the star spangled banner
The domain spell is G U N
>>
>>5382123
I have 2 points
>Who the FUCK is Sean
>DnD
>>
>>5382132
Yeah that was a fuck up on my part. I'm reading two quests with ex-marine protags. Meant David but I just came in from reading the other one where the guy's name is Sean so I popped off by reflex. I have small brain syndrome.

As for the second, yes.
>>
>>5382137
>it's all good man

>no
>>
>>5382123
>>5382137
My Nigga, our Crayon Munching Henchmen of Henchmen shall be the Biggest Boss. Good taste. Also your right either way, this is the kind of question that would be in either quest.
>>
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>>5382138
>>no
>mfw

>>5382139
The fact that the idea for an outer heaven style haven for vets and castoffs has been floated in both quests is a real trip. Some synchronicity shit right there.
>>
>>5382104
David doesn't strike me as a Confederate sympathizer, even if he was born and raised in Alabama.
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>>5382104
Ah yes... where have I seen that before
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>>5381294

"What are you paintin' on there, kid?"

Sanig watches you as you carefully work with a fine brush to finish up the last line on a particular emblem, painted across the arm of your power armor.
Five white stars on a blue background, clutched around a skull sitting in the middle of a red diamond.

It's the symbol of the original marine raiders.
These days, they're trying to change it up. "You're MARSOC, son. This ain't 1942." They'd tell you.

But to hell with that. You carry on their same spirit to this day, and if anyone's got a problem with it they can complain to your great grandpa.
It's just a shame his old patch is gone. Old coot wanted to be buried with it, and the rest of his medals.

"This... it's the emblem of my old military regiment. I was actually recon, if you can believe that."

"Recon?"

"Reconnaissance. It was my job to head out in the field, usually alone or with just a few men. We'd scout ahead, see what the enemy had, what they were up to... and take out high value targets, on occasion. Or i did, at least."

"Sounds risky. What sorts of enemies were you facing down there, kid?"

"Sand rakers, mostly. Literally just farmers with guns. That wasn't my real job, though."

"Hmm? What's this? My translator doesn't immediately recognize it."

"It's latin for 'Unconquerable Spirit'. Part of our motto, which i'd rather not rattle off again."

"And the other one?" He asks, looking around the other side of your armor.

"Good ol' stars n' stripes. The symbol of my home country. Thirteen stripes, representing the original thirteen colonies... and fifty stars, representing the fifty states."

"I see. Any reason you're painting it onto your armor, kid? Between that and the cross, i'm starting to get a little worried. You never seemed too worked up about symbology before."

"...Yeah, you're right. I'm fine though, Sanig. It's just nice to have something you can lean on, when you aren't sure what to do. God and country, now that's something pretty sturdy i can lean on."

"What aren't you sure of? You always seem pretty confident. Excessively so, at times... so what brought this on?"

"Wraiths. Women. Government. I think that about sums it up."

"...You alright, kid?"

"Yeah, like i said. I've been through worse. Whatever comes, i'll adapt to it. Always have, always will."

...

It's been a couple more days, and you're finally back at Thekia station.
Upon docking, your ship was flagged down for "higher than average" readings of dark matter, likely due to your suit and the wraith corpse which remains in cryostasis.

However, as expected, you passed inspection without any significant issues. They just chalked it up to battle damage and recommended you get your ship repaired.
What you didn't expect though, was what greeted you when you first stepped off the ramp and into the station.

"Hey mister, are you David Rockefeller?" A small caithan child asks.

>Yes.
>No.
>Who's asking?
>Write-In
>>
>>5382182
>Who's asking?
Those fuckers are using some street kid to confirm the target or distract us, aren't they?
>>
>>5382182
>Who's asking?

>Yes.
>>
>>5382182
>Yes
Don't matter who's asking, what are they gonna do about it? Vegetarian spacoids barely comprehend a high powered rifle from a mile away to assassinate a man, and if they did it'd probably only leave a tiny lil scar.
>>
>>5382195
They might not be able to hurt us, but what about the rest of our crew?
>>
>>5382182
>Why would you think that? Because I'm a human? Is this racial profiling? Because if it is, then good job, because you're right. What's up, kid?
>>
>>5382182
We fuck a catgirl one time and we already got a kid about to ask us if we’re their dad.
>>
>>5382205
I like to imagine this is what Captain Kirk has to deal with every time the Enterprise pulled into a public dock.
>>
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>>5382182
>Who's asking?
>>
>>5382123
>Sean
Based and Tangopilled
>>5382182
>Who's asking?
Oh hey is that the kid Clank met before? The one he gave a latinum coin.
>>
>>5382166
The Amercan Flag, anon. That flag.
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>>5382225
As far as I know, Old Glory is usually referred to as "The Stars and Stripes", not "The Stars and Bars."
>>
>>5382231
There are STARS and there are BARS, and it RHYMES, what more do you want????
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>>5382235
>There are STARS and there are BARS, and it RHYMES, what more do you want????
That also applies to pic related
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>>5382236
That's an X, not bars. I do admit that there are stars though.
>>
>>5382166
I've seen plenty of people who fly the battle flag alongside the stars and stripes **even if I think it's absolutely retarded to do so, both because of the current political climate and no small amount of neoconfederate sympathies on my own part** and David definitely isn't the sort of person who'd refrain from flying it out of political correctness.
>>
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>>5382242
>>5382236
>>
>>5382182
>Who's asking?
>Write-In
Head pats
>>
>>5382339
Well I guess being in the south does that to ya then
>>
>>5382182

"Who's asking?" You demand.

The kid, a little caithan boy wearing a tattered shirt large enough for an adult, seems unphased.
He stares up at you without any fear in his eyes, and answers.

"Uhhhh...? Mister Clark, i guess? He said you'd be showing up in a ship called "Metal Gear". That's you, right?"

"Yeah, that's us. Where is he?"

"He's down in the arena. He said to ask for him at the check-in office."

"Alright, thanks for the info, kid."

You ruffle the kid's hair and are about to leave when he stops you.

"Hey, hold on mister! Clark said you'd give me some change if i helped him out!"

You turn to look back at him. That look in his eyes... you know that look. You've had that look.

"Hah... cheeky little shit, you're so full of it."

"Huh? Whadda ya mean, mister?"

"I mean you're a bad liar." You tell him, flicking a small latinum coin in his direction. "Eat up, kid."

The child's face lights up as he holds the small coin in both hands, and he thanks you profusely before disappearing off into a nearby alleyway.
The rest of your crew piles out of the ship shortly after you do, all eager to stretch their legs and get some shopping done. Kyla in particular comes out riding a hovercart.

You have to admit, the rather high ceilings of Thekia are a welcome relief after being cramped in the ship for a while. Unfortunately, the Dark Star base isn't much better.
Cylia seems to agree, as she practically runs off the ramp and gets a big breath of fresh air from the outside.

"How are you feeling, Cyl?" You ask, watching as she stretches herself out.

"Much better, now! Sanig gave me some painkillers and ever since then, i just feel... grrrreat! Haha."

"Okaaaay. Well, why don't you just stick close to me for now? Let's try to keep you out of trouble until you come down."

"Sure thing! Wherrrwe going?" Cylia slurs slightly. She's holding it together pretty well for how high you suspect she actually is.

Unfortunately, your second time going at it wasn't much better than the first. Cylia might just be too small for it, at least at the moment.
Technically Kyla is even smaller, but her body is fundamentally different from yours or Cylia's. Her flesh has a lot more give to it before any sort of damage occurs.

"Well, we need to go pick up Clank. There's no telling what trouble he might have gotten into while we were gone, so..."

"Rrrrobot."

"Yes, he's a robot. Alright, just... just come on already."

It takes you a minute to remember where exactly the ladder down the the lower city is, but you do find it eventually.
Ah, shit. You kind of forgot how long of a drop this is...

"Cylia, be careful here alright? Just take it nice and slow."

"Yep, you got it! I always land on my feet, though. Hehe."

"Yeah, i don't think you want to land on your feet from this far up. Come on, nice and slow."

...It's about halfway down the ladder that the upper city's gravity generator falls away, and you feel yourself floating weightlessly as you descend.
>>
>>5382160
In my defense, when I floated the idea here it was because I was on a Dead Space binge and with how David acts I knew we'd need a group of shit fixers, because we will hit terminal fuck at the speed of FUBAR at the rate we're going.
>>
>>5382554
Oh dear we fucked her a bit to hard huh, I hope that shit isn't too addictive.
>>
>>5382554

Unfortunately, Cylia feels this as well and has a brilliant, drug-fueled idea.

"Hey, David Check it out! I can do a flag-stand now!"

You look up to see her holding on to the ladder with one hand, floating out over the side. She's starts off in a flag-stand pose, then moves on to pretending that she's leaning against a wall.

"What the f- CYLIA! STOP THAT!"

"Whaaaat?" She shrugs, letting go of the ladder. "What's the worst that could... happen..."

Cylia realizes her mistake as she begins to slowly float away on the wind. She's already out of range of the ladder.

"CYLIA! Goddamnit!"

Shit, that's bad. If she goes up or down too much, she'll be accelerated downwards by either the upper or lower city's gravity generator. That might not end well.

"Oh, whoops! Hey, waitaminute... check THIS out now!"

Cylia begins swimming around through the air. It takes her a long time to turn around, since the resistance isn't much in the thin station atmosphere.
But she does, and then she starts swimming around in any direction except the one you want, which is right back towards the ladder.

"Cylia, come on! You're gonna fall!"

"It's fiiiiine! The water's fiiiine! I'm not gonna fall, you worry too much..."

She's not listening to you. This is a problem.

>"Swim" out after her and bring her back by force.
>Try to convince her to come back to you somehow
>Let her get it out of her system for a minute, and hope for the best
>Write-In?
>>
>>5382571
>>"Swim" out after her and bring her back by force.
>>
>>5382571
>"God damnit you sexy lovable cat lady, you come back to safety this instant and I'll make a special dinner later for you!"
>"Swim" out after her and bring her back by force.
>>
>>5382580
+1
>>
>>5382580
+1
>>
>>5382580
+1

Now I'm in the mood for a zero-g sex scene
>>
>>5382571
>Try to convince her to come back to you somehow
>"If you don't swim back here this instant, I'm not making breakfast tomorrow."
>>
>>5382564
READ anon READ, she's blasted off of painkillers
>>
>>5382707
I feel like fucking someone so hard that they NEED painkillers still counts, in spirit.
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>>5382719
I mean if I try to shove a foot long pole up my ass it'll hurt, doesn't mean it was good.
>>
>>5382726
>He doesn't prep himself before he does it

Anon please, The fags are prepared.
>>
>>5382734
Well I'm not prepared.
>>
>>5382571
>"God damnit you sexy lovable cat lady, you come back to safety this instant and I'll make a special dinner later for you!"
>"Swim" out after her and bring her back by force.

fuck yeah
>>
>>5382564
>I hope that shit isn't too addictive.
David's dick or Sanig's morphine?
>>
>>5382571
>>Try to convince her to come back to you somehow
>If you come back we will DOCK right here and now!
>>
>>5382571

This is incredibly dangerous, but you can't just leave her hanging out there. She's loopy, and if you don't bring her back she's probably going to fall.
So you tentatively let go of the ladder and start floating your way out to her.

"Cylia... sweetie... can you come back to me, please? If you do, i'll make you something nice for breakfast tomorrow..."

"Ohoho, such a sweet talker all of a sudden! Let me think... mmm, nope!"

Cylia giggles as she swims out even further away from you.
You look back, and see that the ladder is uncomfortably far away at this point.

You're having trouble catching up to her as well, because right now you weigh nearly three times as much as she does, and the air doesn't give you much to push off of.

"Cylia, if you don't get back here, i'm not going to cook you anything for a week!"

"Don't need it! Hehe, i've been leaning how to cook on my own anyways! Maybe i'll make you some scrambled eggs tomorrow!"

God damn it, she's playing around with you right now.
Just as you're trying to figure out a way to lure her closer, you feel a strong gust of wind starting to kick up.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

"Woohooooo!"

The wind blows both of you along, sending you tumbling uncontrollably, MUCH farther out over the city below. In fact, you're starting to come near the outer wall... but wait, when that happens...?

"Oh, fuck! Cylia, grab my hand! HURRY!"

"So forward!" She laughs. But fortunately, the wind has carried you close enough that you can grab her arm and pull her in close to you.
Now that she's next to you, it's clear that she's totally out of it. She probably doesn't even know where she is right now.

"Goddamnit, how many pills did you take?!"

"Ahhhh.... lessee... one... two... oopsie? I think Sanig said two, but i forgot that i already took 'em this morning..."

Great, that's just great.
You're getting close to the wall now, and you really, really hope there's not about to be a massive updraft... hey, wait a minute! There's something there! A small alcove carved into the meteoric rock!

"Cylia, hold onto my back, alright? Hold on tight, and don't let go!"

"Wheeeheeey..."

That's not a proper response, but she does as you asked, hanging from your shoulders like she's been doing these past few days anyways.
The wind makes it difficult, but you manage to stabilize yourself and somewhat aim for the alcove. You're not quite able to hit the mark though, and slam into the wall just below it.

As you feared, there's a strong updraft as the wind hits the wall, which immediately begins to carry you upwards. If you fall into the upper city's gravity generator, it'll sling you back down and you're fucked!
You're not about to let that happen though, and you manage to grab hold of the alcove's roof as you're pushed up. Your body rotates until you're looking down at the city below and Cylia is nearly flung off your shoulders as a result, but you grab hold of her arm before that happens.
>>
zero g sex pls
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>>5383260
It's not all it's cut out to be.
>>
>>5383260
Actual sex scenes would be great with her, but we gotta wait. Also when we aren't about to die to that bitch called gravity.
>>
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>As David and Cylia enter the alcove a hermit crab is in there
NORRRRRRMIES GET OUT REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
>>
>>5383506
I lost.
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>>5383308
I know, I'm just curious how it might work. Newton's laws of motion and all.
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>>5383693
It would probably be like normal fucking, but you are spinning midair.
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>>5383416
Blueboard sadly
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>>5383913
I wouldn't want to write smut anyways
Go read a doujin, nigga
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>>5383970
But doujin doesn't have our characters faggot
>>5383913
Doesn't matter unless its pics.
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>>5384032
>But doujin doesn't have our characters faggot
>he thinks he can't find a unbaked-bread genie featuring aisha and some random muscular guy
>>
>>5383244

With only one hand holding tightly onto the alcove, you fling Cylia inside and out of the rushing wind before carefully pulling yourself in as well.
That whole ordeal wasn't particularly exhausting, but it definitely got your heart pounding and left you huffing for air.

If there's one thing you can't stand, it's extreme heights.
Not that you can't suppress that fear most of the time, but falling uncontrollably to your death can happen so easily, and it doesn't matter how strong or smart you are when you hit the ground...

"Wheeeeeey... hehe, so tingly..." Cylia mumbles, floating around beside you.

Looking over the edge of the alcove, you see the lower city below you. It must be over four hundred feet down from here, and the ladder might as well be miles away, too.
If the wind would die down you might be able to make it back over by jumping, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon.

Instead, you turn back to the alcove and look around inside.
There's not much here... it's bare rock, unlike most of the manufactured surfaces on the station. Even in the lower city, the ground is made of concrete and metal tiles.

There's a broken-off pipe sticking out of the wall though, which implies that something lies beyond it, and that someone's been here before.
I mean, obviously they have, since this whole station is just a mined-out asteroid to begin with... so who knows, maybe this spot was used in the mining process and hasn't been touched since.

>Just wait here for the winds to die down and make your way back to the ladder manually.
>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
>Inspect the area more thoroughly, just in case you missed something.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5384185
>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
>>
>>5384185
>>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
Space Uber plz
>>
>>5384185
>>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
>>
>>5384185
>Inspect the area more thoroughly, just in case you missed something.
>>
>>5384185
>Inspect the area more thoroughly, just in case you missed something.
>>
>>5384185
>That whole ordeal wasn't particularly exhausting, but it definitely got your heart pounding and left you huffing for air.
finally david felt what the crew feels whenever he does something stupid


>Inspect the area more thoroughly, just in case you missed something
>>
>>5384185
we're in the middle of the fuckin skyline with a cat zoinked out of her gourd and no sure escape route, not going down the rabbit hole
>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
>>
>>5384185
>>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
>>
>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
>>
>>5384185
>Your holopad should have good service from here. Call up Kyla or Sanig and have them rent a hovercar or something to come get you in.
>Give Cylia a thorough petting for getting you two in this mess.
>>
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I want a door kicking team already... we got a high catgirl instead :/
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>>5384185

Whatever the case, you're in a dangerous spot here and you'd rather not risk falling to your death for no reason.
To that end, you pull out your holopad and give Sanig a call... or you try to, at least. It takes him a while to pick up, and when he does you hear loud, thumping music on his end.

"Sanig!" You yell over the noise. "I need some help here, Cylia's zoinked out of her fucking gourd and we're stuck on a cliff in the lower city, we need you to come pick us up!"

"How the hell did you end up on a cliff, kid? We're in a colony right now ain't we?" He yells back.

"Nevermind that, just come pick us up! We're somewhere in the layer between gravity generators, on the outer rock face!"

"Yeah, yeah! I see you, hold on a second!"

Wait, he sees you? Why is he down here already?

Your question is answered as you watch a hovercar pull up into the air and start making it's way over to you. As it pulls up, you hear the same music from before start to fade-in.
The blacked-out windows roll down, releasing a plume of sweet-smelling vapor that gradually reveals Sanig and a passenger with whom you're not familiar.

"I swear, i leave you alone for five minutes and this is what you get up to!"

"Who the hell is that?" You wonder.

Sanig takes a long drag off what looks like a hookah situated between the front two seats before answering you.

"Ahhh... this is my dear friend Candi. With an "I" by the way. Dick or no dick, i'm gonna have myself some fun this time around, you feel me?! HAHAHA!"

"Shit, man. Are you really my designated driver right now? What's in that hookah?"

"My own special blend, don't worry about it. More importantly, what's up with her?"

Sanig points back towards Cylia, who's currently curled up into a ball, spinning like a wheel.

"She accidentally took a double dose of those painkillers you gave her. Is she gonna be alright?"

While he's answering, you open the door and gently roll Cylia inside. She coughs due to the vapor clouds, but doesn't seem bothered otherwise.

"Ah, really? Yeah, that'd do it. She'll be fine, kid. Once her liver's saturated it won't get any stronger, but all that excess won't cause any damage either. She'll be fine in like... four hours, probably."

"Well, that's good at least. Can you take us down to the lower city?"

"Sure, kid. Anywhere you want to go? Brothel, maybe? Or the gambling house?"

"...The arena, thank you."

"Peh, suit yourself. Always looking to get into a fight, aren't ya?"

"Actually, i'm going there to pick up Clank. Remember?"

"Who? Ah, the robot, right... Figures, just when i'd finally put him out of my memory."

"No need to be hostile, old man."

"Oh, he's not that old..." His "lady friend" cuts in. "He's still got nimble fingers, even after all these years..."

You can vaguely see them reaching across the cab into eachother's laps from here. Both of them are giggling.

"Oh my, how stimulating..." Sanig purrs.
>>
>>5384966
This is what being with gunny's crew does to a motherfucker
acquired some swag and some bitches.
>>
>>5384970
>>5384966
I bet when we get to the arena we will see Clank finger blasting the two oni sisters with his absurd hydraulics.
>>
>>5384966
Its the deebble double Sanigg. Nice.
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>>5384966
We need to get him a dick. NOW
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>>5384966
Nice. least gramps still got game. Don't you worry, we'll get your cock back.
>>
>>5384966
>With an i by the way
I see what you did there.
>>
>>5385506
Sanig knows how to party, party, party!
>>
>>5385506
>>5385514
I don't get it
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>>5385661
you gonna need to work on your fitness to get that one anon
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>>5385662
I'm a /fit/ native. But I still don't get it
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>>5385713
its a joke thats about fitness dick in your mouth
get it?
candi's dick fit in your mouth haha
fucking dick and balls in your jaws
black nigger zoomer gay faggot pun joke is fucking funny haha
candice dick hahha
I hate niggers
>>
>>5385724
I-I kneel
>>
>>5385726
That's not it at all, by the way.
Do your reps, anon-kun.
>>
>>5385730
pls help
>>
>>5384966

You don't want to know what she's doing to him, and by god you don't want to know.

"Jesus christ, please stop." You beg.

"Alright, alright! Let's not make a show out of it, sweetheart." He agrees

"That's right, hon. They gotta pay extra if they want to watch." Candi informs you.

"I don't want to watch that. I never want to watch that. Don't ask me if i want to watch it, because i don't."

Sanig turns the car around and makes off in the direction of the arena, and for just a second, out of the corner of your eye, you think you spot someone standing in that alcove.
You're gone before you can turn around and get a good look back there, though. Oh well, it doesn't really matter, you guess.

Thankfully it doesn't take long to reach the arena, and Sanig drops you off on the road.
That said, you're already slightly sticky with vape juice and smell kinda like... candy, funnily enough. The sweet scent stuck to your skin is enough to taste when you lick your lips.

"Alright, Cylia... come on, let's go... hup!"

You can't quite support Cylia on your shoulder due to the height difference, but gravity is so low here that carrying her on your back isn't a problem.
So you lift her up out of the seat, and she assists you by clinging to your shoulders all on her own. Seems like she really enjoys hanging off them for some reason.

"David... my head's all fuzzy... but now skin's all tingly too. Haaaaah..." Cylia sighs.

"That's nice." You reply, shutting the car door and letting Sanig speed off to some sinful establishment or another.
You swear you can hear him laughing as he drives away. At least he's in a good mood, you guess.

Sanig dropped you off by the actual building, but the door isn't here as far as you're aware. Supposedly it's around back somewhere?
You make your way around the outside of the building and find a door located underneath an old, scrap-metal bridge. Looks like that's the only way in.

The knob is... either really busted up, or just plain locked. It's got so much wiggle that you can't really tell, so you just give it a hard turn and hear something metallic snap inside it.
Either way, the door opens up and reveals a long hallway full of doors, but the sign-in station is in a little reception area right down the middle.

Sitting there is a familiar face, the blue oni sister you met before. What was her name? Baal? No, that's the red one. This one was...

"Miss Ourg, was it?"

She looks up from her holopad, noticing you for the first time.

"Back from your little trip, huh?" She grumbles, sounding upset.

"Ah, shit. What'd he do?"

"Oh, maybe you should ask him yourself. If you can even meet him that is."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing. He's just the new 'King of the Underworld' is all. You wouldn't BELIEVE how much shit this guy stirred up while you were gone! I thought i was gonna lose my thrice-damned mind!"

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold on for a minute. Are we in trouble here?"
>>
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>So you lift her up out of the seat, and she assists you by clinging to your shoulders all on her own. Seems like she really enjoys hanging off them for some reason.
>>
>>5385795
We leave him alone for a week or two and he becomes a fucking crime lord.
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>>5385901
That's our fucking toaster. YEAH!
>>
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>>5385901
he went full chappy
QM he BETTER have at least FOUR chains of different precious metals and walk with a stupid swagger. And say he is too cool to go back only for David to smack his disrespectful mouth and drag him away
>>
>>5385795

"Oh, no! Quite the opposite, in fact!"

"I mean like, with the local government."

"No, no. He paid off the officials properly, so..."

"Alright... i guess i'd better go see what the hell he's been up to then. Can you lead me to him?"

"Sure..." Ourg sighs. "Just give me a second."

Ourg hits a buzzer on the wall and yells into an intercom.

"LOBO, LUPU! GET THE HELL OUT HERE!"

It takes about thirty seconds for two canid-looking fellows to make their way out from down the hall. One of them has a cast on his leg and the other has his jaw wired shut.
Wait, actually... don't you recognize these guys, too? Yeah, you think you've met them before... only, now they have some kind of collar around their necks.

"Sorry, boss! My leg is still..."

"Shut up, i don't want to hear it." Ourg barks. "You're taking over the counter, get to work."

"Yes, boss!"

Both brothers salute the oni as she passes by and immediately file in behind her.

>"You guys... haven't we met before? What happened to you two?"
>Ignore them entirely
>Give them a nod and continue on
>Write-In?
>>
>>5385795
Clank is a bot after our mad heart.
>>5386084
>"You guys... haven't we met before? What happened to you two?"
>>
>>5386084
>Ignore them entirely
I DO want to know the story behind the stupid dogs getting collars, but since they obviously recently got their asses fully kicked, my money's on "better to ask Clank directly anyways". No sense bothering the help in the meantime.
>>
>>5386084
>Give them a nod and continue on
>>
>>5386084
>>Give them a nod and continue on
>>
>>5386084
>Give them a nod and continue on
>>
>>5386084
>"You guys... haven't we met before? What happened to you two?"
What'd you chuckle fucks do?
>>
>>5386084
>Give them a nod and continue on
Those two seem to have the worst luck.
>>
>>5386084
>Give them a nod and continue on
>>
>Give them a nod and continue on
Well guess our boy clank has become the godfather of the underworld kek.

Still question Im assuming clank is made of weaker materials then ones made on earth or is his stuff pretty similar to earth grade hydraulics
>>
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Guys, the big question is, do we get Clank back onboard our ship with only as much value as a swordsman, or do we let him stay since we now have some political influence over this space station. To me it will be more useful having him stay in the station in the long run, that is if we can guarantee he stays loyal to us.
>>
>>5386415
screw this small station, I want our tin bro back in the metal gear
>>
>>5386084
>>Give them a nod and continue on
>>5386415
>Guys, the big question is, do we get Clank back onboard our ship with only as much value as a swordsman, or do we let him stay since we now have some political influence over this space station?
Let's get some info from Clank before we make a decision. That said, I'm definitely leaning towards keeping him on the station.
>>
>>5386084
>Give them a nod and continue on

I wonder what Clank wants.
Captcha: GAYNYM
>>
>>5386411
Nah, the Andromedans are based and Clank more resembles a pice of construction equipment internally than a normal bot
>>
>>5386411
>>5386655
IIRC, his internals are originally sturdier than most local construction, but he's also like a billion years old, since he drifted here from another galaxy.
>>
>>5386084

You must admit that you're vaguely interested in what happened to these guys, but you have more important matters to deal with.
They seem to recognize you as well, which may be easier for them since you're the only human they've ever seen, so you give them a nod and wave them off as you walk past.

Ourg leads you down a couple of hallways and through a few doors, until you reach an office of some sort.
There are two people inside. One of them is Clank, and the other is the red oni sister, Baal.

Clank sits at the far end of the room, behind his oversized faux-wooden desk... or, wait... is that actually real wood? Looks kind of like mahogany.
Either way, Baal is off to the side with a much smaller, considerably less fancy desk of her own. Both her and Clank appear to be busy with paperwork. Actual, physical papers.

"Captain. I see that you have returned."

"Yeah, and i see that you've been stirring up a bunch of shit. Care to explain yourself?"

Clank taps his papers on the desk to line them before putting them away.

"Of course, Captain. Where should i begin?"

"Well, last i heard you were in the middle of a goddamned arm wrestling tournament, so i'm kind of wondering how you got here from there."

"That would be a good starting point, then." He surmises. "But first, here. Your money."

Clank slides ten latinum rods across the table, which you inspect for a moment before pocketing them.

"Where'd that come from?" You wonder.

"It was your initial investment money, courtesy of Denywynn, Captain."

"Oh, right. What's his face. What happened with the bets, by the way? Did you throw the last match, like you planned?"

"Of course not, Captain."

"What."

"Because you cut Denywynn out of your own winnings, he was forced to bet his own money in order to get a large cut of the pool. However, i placed an even larger bet than his.
Thanks to SHODAN, i was able to determine exactly how much capital i required to take a majority stake of the pool."

"Okay... but where did you get that kind of cash to begin with?"

"Simple. I took out a high-interest loan from a local crime family. Assuming i won, i'd be able to pay it back immediately."

"...And if you failed for any reason, they'd fucking kill you. Brilliant work."

"Thank you, Captain."

"That wasn't a compliment. Also, you haven't explained what the fuck actually happened."

"My apologies, Captain. I will continue."

Clank leans forwards, clasping his hands together and covering his mouth with them as he speaks.

"...Denywynn, now out his entire fortune, was furious. Immediately, he came to me and attempted to take his money back. However, he quickly found himself outmatched.
Without any real muscle to collect from me, he turned to petty vengeance instead. By going to the very same crime family that i had borrowed the betting funds from, and informing them of what i had done."

"...So they started harassing you?"

"That is quite an understatement, Captain."
>>
>>5387196
Clank is somehow more based than we are right now. I don't know how, but he is.
>>
>>5387196
>clank has taken a high interest loan from a crime family to have enough money to bet and win the competition
>immediately pay it back and get to keep the rest of the money denywynn
>then denywynn goes to the crime family sometime after that and told everything happened how he lost the money
>the crime family is now targeting clank because of it?
is it because they think clanks more vulnerable to the high rich guy denywynn here or is it because the crime family didn't get enough money to leech off from the loans because of how much clank made and they're mad or something? is it both?
thats pretty scummy unless the rich alien faggot is actually a part of the crime family and they technically got scammed which would be pretty funny
>>
>>5387228
Userers. They tried to usery Clank but Clank paid back before the interest kicked in. They proceed to greed rage out.
Sounds a little familiar.
>>
>>5387253
Never play the debt game.
>>
>>5387196
>ten rods
That's like, 20,000 credits or something?
Was David the only one to bet?
Cochrane. Do you mean Clank, or "Clark"? Is he still in his Palpatine disguise?

>>5387228
If they're still harassing's him, maybe we should go out and pay them a visit.
>>
>>5387316
10,000 credits.
He's still in his disguise, but David is calling him Clank.
>>
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>>5387317
Gud gud. Oh hey aren't the oni sisters kinda in love but wary of David's food sex? are they still interested? I recalled we packed them up some to go doodoo sandwiches or something.
>>
>>5387319
Everyone is in love with David's food. The food he cooks is literally addictive to aliens.
>>
Wait a minute How much did Clank win cause I doubt 10k is his entire winnings to beat the rich guy who he made broke
>>
I bet my two pennies and a BRASS button that clank owns the station
>>
>>5387346
Shit man, if it meant I could eat David's cooking regularly I'd go full gay and suck his dick 8 hours a day. It's a hard choice but sometimes a man needs to have someone in his life that can destroy his body through his arteries.
>>
>>5387346
>The food he cooks is literally addictive to aliens
All that tells me is that nobody in space can cook for shit.
>>
>>5387534
a-anon kun...
>>
>>5387196

"The crime family felt that they had been cheated out of the money they were "owed" and decided to take it from me." Clank continues. "However, i couldn't let that happen."

"I mean, how much were they looking for?"

"All of it."

"All of it?"

"Yes. They stated that, as it was their money i had bet, the winnings were theirs as well. So, we made an appointment to meet at a remote warehouse for negotiations."

"Oh, geeze, i don't like where this is going..."

"Before the meet, i used some of my winnings to purchase a nearly-empty antimatter bottle from a merchant down by the docks."

"Oh no." You grumble, rubbing your temples with one hand.

"Then i placed the bottle inside a crate in the warehouse, and when the meeting time came, i showed up. However, when the time came to hand over the money i used my pistol to fire into the box, shattering the antimatter bottle."

"What the fuck, Clank."

"The warehouse was destroyed. My disguise was damaged slightly as well, but most of the thugs involved were killed instantly, and the rest were executed shortly afterwards.
As there were no survivors, the crime family was both confused and enraged. Their money was gone, their target was gone and their men were gone. So they started searching for me."

"Did the station cops not get involved in this? I mean, goddamn. A fucking antimatter explosion?"

"As i said, Captain. The bottle was very nearly empty. It was no more powerful than a conventional explosive. Although antimatter weapons are prohibited by federation law, it can be difficult to prove that they were used."

"...Really? I'll keep that in mind, then."

"Continuing on, then. I was being hunted, and so i had to move quietly. Fortunately, the local homeless children proved to be an excellent, low-cost information network, and helped me in evading notice.
Thanks to that, i was able to penetrate deep into their territory. Using the sewer network below the city, i made my way directly underneath one of their headquarter buildings."

"...Why?"

"Direct confrontation would have resulted in defeat. I simulated several thousand different encounters before arriving at this conclusion. So, i required an indirect method of confrontation.
By hauling a cylinder of flammable gas into the sewers and connecting it up to their drainage pipes, i was able to fill the building with an explosive mix of air and fuel. A simple flame was all it took to defeat them."

"...So you blew up a second building."

"Yes."

"Okay. And what did that get you?"

"My immediate problems were solved, but by removing one crime family from the ecosystem i had gained the attention of three others. Each of which was now searching for me. I am still unsure of how they knew it was me, though."

"Yeah, rumors can travel quickly."

"But again, there were no survivors, and thus no witnesses to what had occurred in the headquarters building. Thus, the same method was equally effective against the other three."

"Brutal, but effective. Nice."
>>
I didn't realize Clank had mastered the barbeque while we were gone.
>>
All he had to do to avoid trouble was remove his diguise. This casual mass murder was all hilariously unneccessary.
>>
>>5388124
>"Clank, did you know you could just pretend to be a loader in a stockroom somewhere instead?"
>"Yes."
>".... why didn't you?"
>"You set a bad example, Captain."
Cheeky little toaster.
>>
>>5388124
And they say David has a fetish for unnecessary murder.
>>
>>5388127
Gunny: Clank you know what this means?

Clank: That we have full control over this station regardless of your previous deal with gron?

Gunny:Yeah yeah, that too. No robot, it means i can collect al, my ships docked here without issue!

Clank:...........
>>
>>5388096
Holy shit, Clank doesn't fuck around. David's been a good influence on him.
>>
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Statement: Clank is so based he generates gravity.
>>
>>5388096
so clank here has now in depth knowledge in the sewers and pipes that leads different important places and have wiped out not one but all of the crime families in this station and took over whats left of the underworld
fellas I think it has gotten easier to take over this station right now
but loud as shit too theres no way people aren't gonna notice with that much waves
>>
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>>5388096
>>
>>5388096
Huh, turns out he's a natural born sapper
>>
>>5388124
>casual mass murder
I think you mean casual mass self-defense.
>>
>>5388244
Just don't put Clank in a self-defense situation.
>>
JESUS CHRIST CLANK
I got to admit this is excessive but necessary even though more then likely no one is on clank or Davids level of capable violence. Still clank is the epitome of David if he had no restraint in completing an objective. so far in the story
>>
>>5388244
when we take over earth, we need to make him our secretary of defense
>>
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Best. Robot. Ever.
>>
>>5388144
this is not Sadia's station you ESL champion
>>
>>5389073
Its not an asshat competition either.
>>
>>5388096

Clank gives you a big thumbs up.
You suck in a big breath and exhale as you lean against the wall.

"That said..." You continue. "You can't kick up a fuss like that without someone noticing. What did the local government have to say about this?"

"Yes, i was contacted almost immediately after those four bombings, by a government official. He asked several questions, like who i was and what my intentions were."

"And what'd you tell him?"

"I stuck with my cover story. My name is Clark, and i came here to compete for money. When the local gangs attacked, i was placed in a self-defense situation."

"Yeah, i don't think that's gonna hold up in court. Two or three maybe, but a couple hundred counts of self-defense? If that many people want you dead, you're probably supposed to be dead."

"I was simply following your example, Captain."

"My example? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your raid on the Dark Star mercenaries back on Xebric station. Although you chose direct confrontation, you also neutralized them before they could become a threat. That made wiping them out nearly effortless."

"Hey, they tried to kill me first."

"Actually, i believe you were the one who attacked their men first. Regardless, i assure you these men had no intention of 'negotiating' with me at all. Thus, i was placed in a self-defense situation."

"You could have just laid low, you know. If you peeled that skinsuit off and pretended to be a dumb-as-bricks VI for a while, nobody'd have been the wiser."

"Perhaps. But that is not how we do things, is it, Captain?"

"...Yeah, i've never been one to lay down and take other people's bullshit. But still, this is a pretty big mess."

"Not at all, Captain. Thanks to 'simple bribery' as Gron would have put it, the local government officials have chosen to turn a blind eye to my actions. I was also able to gather the remnants of the four local crime families under my wing."

"Under your wing? Clank, you don't have a wing. You don't have shit on this station. No friends, nowhere to... nowhere to..."

It hits you as you're saying it. Where are you right now? In the arena. Who's here with Clank right now? The oni sisters, and their subordinates.
This arena was managed by them, and the betting was most likely controlled by the local mob. They were the ones picking people off the streets to fight for them, bringing more people in to make bets, taking cuts of the profits...

So Clank essentially WAS stealing money out from under their noses. That's why they tried to take it back.
And now Clank's running shit. He didn't even intend to do it, but he really did take over.

Holy shit, their whole operation fell apart like wet tissue paper. The local government doesn't even give a shit who's running things as long as they get their cut, either.

"Captain?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry... i just uh... wow."
>>
>>5389186

>Good job, Clank. Do you think you can keep running things here, give us some support when we need it?
>Good job, Clank. How about we leave management to the oni sisters and get back on the road?
>You might have bit off a bit much, Clank. I don't know if all this is worth the potential risk right now.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5389188
> So Clank, what do you want to do next? Stay here, or come with us? Hold onto your position or let it go?
>>
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>>5389186
>This arena was managed by them, and the betting was most likely controlled by the local mob. They were the ones picking people off the streets to fight for them, >bringing more people in to make bets, taking cuts of the profits...

>So Clank essentially WAS stealing money out from under their noses. That's why they tried to take it back.
>And now Clank's running shit. He didn't even intend to do it, but he really did take over.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
>>5389188
> So Clank, what do you want to do next? Stay here, or come with us? Hold onto your position or let it go?
>>
>>5389188
>Good job, Clank. How about we leave management to the oni sisters and get back on the road?
>>
>>5389198
Ignore this post please.
>>
>>5389188
>Fucking stellar work Clank. How about we leave management to the oni sisters and get back on the road?
>>
>>5389186
>Fucking stellar work Clank. How about we leave management to the oni sisters and get back on the road? Or would you rather stick around? It's up to you buddy.
>>
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>>5389186
>He didn't even intend to do it, but he really did take over.
>>
>>5389192
>Support
>>
>>5389188
>> So Clank, what do you want to do next? Stay here, or come with us? Hold onto your position or let it go?
>>
>>5389188
>>Good job, Clank. How about we leave management to the oni sisters and get back on the road?
yea let's go the market self regulates or something idk
>>
>>5389188
>Good job, Clank. Do you think you can keep running things here, give us some support when we need it?
>>
>>5389188
>Good job, Clank. Do you think you can keep running things here, give us some support when we need it?
>>
>>5389188
>Good job, Clank. How about we leave management to the oni sisters and get back on the road?
>>
>>5389192
Seconded
>>
>>5389515
changing my vote

>So Clank, what do you want to do next? Stay here, or come with us? Hold onto your position or let it go?
>>
>>5389188
>>5389192
support
>>
>>5389186

Honestly, you weren't expecting this, nor were you prepared for it.
On one hand, having control of a station's underworld is second only to owning the station outright... but at the same time, it comes with a lot of risks and management issues.

In the end though, this is Clank's horse. You're just holding the tail.

"...So, what are you planning to do?" You ask him.

"I am awaiting further orders, Captain."

"No, no, no... i didn't order you to do all this shit. All you were supposed to do was go arm wrestling. This is all you, buddy."

"Nevertheless, i will follow your orders, Captain."

"Hey, dumbass. I'm telling you it's your decision to make. You want an order? I order you to figure this shit out. Are you staying and making use of this place, or will you stay on the ship with us?"

Clank doesn't immediately answer. Instead, he puts his hands down and gives you a blank stare. Since he didn't respond, you reckon that means he's thinking.

"Remote management would likely be impossible." He concludes.

"Yeah, probably." You agree.

"Then, leaving would result in an unacceptable loss of materials and manpower. Don't you agree, Captain?"

"It'd be a damn shame, for sure. Not that i know what exactly you have control over right now, but it can't be nothing."

"Thekia's lower city is a black market trade hub involved in the sale and transport of many illegal weapons, ship parts and other various items. A not-insignificant amount of currently also flows through the arena each day."

"And what do you have for manpower?"

"Many thugs were killed in the bombings, along with their superiors. However, at least half were on the streets at the time. Of those, i have collected an estimated 37% thus far. It will take time to convince others that i am a legitimate entity."

"Eh, well... shouldn't be hard. Without any backing, all they can do is form rag-tag gangs. If you've got those kids watching the streets, you should be able to take them out pretty easily."

"That was my belief as well, Captain."

"So you're staying?"

"I believe that would be for the best, considering the upcoming conflict. SHODAN has already informed me of your run-in with the Federation. Fortunately, there are several hidden docks within the lower city that could be used for repairs."

"Really? Eh, i dunno... what if the ships end up signalling the feds automatically, somehow? I mean, if they had any sense at all..."

"With the AIs removed, such a thing is unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely."

>Alright. We'll split the repairs between the Dark Star base and here.
>Nah, i'd rather not risk it. We'll do the repairs back at the Dark Star base.
>In that case, let's just do all the repairs here. We can hide in plain sight, and don't have to worry about leaving a trail to their home.
>Write-In?
>>
>>5390014
>In that case, let's just do all the repairs here. We can hide in plain sight, and don't have to worry about leaving a trail to their home.
We should probably make an effort to make sure their main base isn't revealed when things inevitably go tits up.
>>
>>5390014
>>In that case, let's just do all the repairs here. We can hide in plain sight, and don't have to worry about leaving a trail to their home.
I am fukken sad that most anons wanted to get rid of our RoBro, but whatever... let's use Clank as much as we can
>>
>In that case, let's just do all the repairs here. We can hide in plain sight, and don't have to worry about leaving a trail to their home.

Indeed this place here is better as a 2nd base still it’s sad to lose clank still at least he has his oni waifus Kek
>>
We're on page 10 right now, so the thread might fall off before i get a new one up. I'll try to make the next post a new thread.
>>
>>5390069
A new thread that stars with the calm before the storm sounds great
>>
>>5390014
>In that case, let's just do all the repairs here. We can hide in plain sight, and don't have to worry about leaving a trail to their home.

Clank is fun.
>>
>>5390014
>In that case, let's just do all the repairs here. We can hide in plain sight, and don't have to worry about leaving a trail to their home.

>>5390052
>>5390067
I'll miss him too, but he'll be more useful here. I hope he'll keep in touch with us regularly with the local news.
>>
>>5390014
>>In that case, let's just do all the repairs here. We can hide in plain sight, and don't have to worry about leaving a trail to their home.
>>
How to update the Google doc with Clank's new status?
>>
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Should we modify Clank to appear more like an wise, powerful, elegant Holy Machine God to help him develop his cult of personality or stick with the Palpatine disguise?
>>
It's a little early today, but here's the new thread boys!

>>5390745
>>5390745
>>5390745
>>
>>5390749
Ayyyye



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