>>26922231

Oh how droll, you were using us to acquire your wish book, weren't you.

Don't hand it over.

Maybe see if we can get Sylph here for an extraction by thinking really loud, Yellowman?

>>26922231

So... what happened to the other racers? We didn't see hide nor hair of Zangief or Rufus during the last leg of the race.

>>26922336
Are you saying that or just thinking it?

>>26922653
Are you asking this?

>>26922659
No, neither one of those should be said.
They're just insulting and insultingly stupid.

>>26922231
"So, while Ghosty over here gets the wish, and it's nice to have a week of vacation, there's still the matter of transport back to TG and Grand Crusade-controlled space. Will that be provided as well, or what?"

>>26922659

Definitely tell her to not blindly hand over the artifact of potential doom.

>>26922733

So you don't want to find out the fate of the rest of the competitors? Even the ones who we may not have gotten a chance to meet along the race?

>>26922776
ComTrader put on this race, they put the artifact into a box which only unlocked to the key they provided us in the beginning, and they've demonstrated that if the book was all they wanted they have plenty of resources necessary to simply get the book themselves without using intermediaries.

>>26922810
We know the fates of most of them, and the ones still alive are expected to arrive shortly. That's what he said at the end of last thread.
Why not just ask them when they arrive?

>>26922758
"We might be able to arrange something, provided we can find those organizations," the old one says, taking a seat in a leather-backed chair at the table. "We've done a little bit of digging, and we've only found passing mentions of those groups, though we understand them to be of some import in the region of space you come from."

"Judging from the fact we're only now hearing about them, I'd say you ended up a long, long way from home," the middle-aged one says. "We keep close tabs on... potential competition out here."

"There's probably a way, it's just going to be annoying and difficult," the young one says. He smirks a little. "Actually, I can think of one way, at least. I'll look into it a bit later."

"Are you going to have a seat or be standoffish?" the middle aged one asks. "If you're not hungry, fair enough, but you could at least sit down with us for a while."

>>26923125
Take a seat, Scott.
"What you said does match up with our intel. Any progress on the other runner-ups?"

>>26923487
The middle aged one withdraws a remote from his pocket and thumbs a few buttons. Two wall panels slide open to reveal a large monitor, which flickers to life, showing a ridiculously thin Rufus with folds of skin hanging off him, and Zangief sitting on a prison bench. Both have their heads in their hands.

"We'll be sending someone along to fetch them shortly," the old one says, thumbing a button on his own remote. The view changes to a smoking pile of rubble, a dazed, but intact Radical Edward lying underneath and groaning softly. As you watch, a pair of men in white body armor approach and gently pull her from the rubble. "She might need some infirmary time before joining us."

"The others are being accounted for, one by one," the young man says, smiling. "Most of them will be recovered and brought here. Except for the yautja and Conti. Fuck those guys."

"We're having a devil of a time locating Captain Harrigan's remains as well," the old one says, sighing. "We might have to resort to some strands of hair we found in his hotel suite to bring him back."

>>26923125
"You could always talk with the TSAB if you need coordinates.
"But...uh, you're not signatories of the Tannhauser Conventions? Then you NEED to stay away from the Timeline Wars. The Closers will mess you up if you do."

>>26924009
"Something against the Yautja? I thought that you brought him in just to let him collect trophies."

>>26924098
"I don't particularly care for people who consider my species nothing more than prey to be hunted," the young one says, his eyes narrowing. "I brought him in solely to see him lose, we all knew he didn't have what it took to win from day one. I happened to enjoy seeing you shoot the crap out of him."

"Well... uh, happy to oblige," Scott says, taking a seat. The others follow his example, slowly seating themselves at the table with the exception of the Ghost, who continues to read the book. The servants begin to place plates of food and glasses of strong smelling liquor in front of everyone.

>>26924055
"Those child-soldier using twerps?" the young one says, eyes widening a little. He grimaces. "We try to avoid dealing with them as much as possible. We'll contact them, though. If that's even the right organization."

"There are a few TSABs, we've found," the old one says. "No telling if this will be the right one."

>>26924215
"Ah, that's true. There are different versions of that agency. I don't even know if they talk with each other.
"But that does being up the question of how you got us and Elyse into this Race. Also, that Spectre knew about the Transpace Guard; where's he from?"

>>26924552
The young one shoots a concerned glance to the old and middle aged one, who look away uncomfortably.

"We don't know," the young one says, turning back to you. "We were hoping him and his suit buddy would let something slip during this race about who exactly they're working for. Part of why we invited them."

"But they're tighter than a steel trap about that sort of thing," the old one says. "We've managed to learn a little about your Guard and Crusade from monitoring you while you raced, but them? Nothing."

"To answer your other question, pure luck," the middle-aged one says. "You, your crewmates, and the lovely young paladin appeared in our laps so to speak."

"Oh, if only you really did appear in my lap," the young one says, grinning at Elyse. Elyse glares back and he just laughs. "A combination of whimsy and curiosity prompted us to offer you positions in the race. As you probably guessed, the 'random draw' wasn't quite so random."

"Couldn't be," the middle aged one says. "We don't want some poor schmuck accountant entering without bothering to hear the whole story then getting killed."

"This writing..." the Ghost murmurs. "I don't quite understand this part. To use the book I have to step back from myself? What's that mean?"

"Oh, that tripped us up too when we tried it," the young one says, turning to the Ghost. "It's referring to a type of meditation. You have to try and separate your conscious mind from your personality to access the book's higher powers. Temporarily of course."

"Don't attempt to make your wish if your mind isn't clear," the middle aged one says. "We almost... suffered quite a setback thanks to that."

>>26924774
>"This writing..." the Ghost murmurs. "I don't quite understand this part. To use the book I have to step back from myself? What's that mean?""Oh, that tripped us up too when we tried it," the young one says, turning to the Ghost. "It's referring to a type of meditation. You have to try and separate your conscious mind from your personality to access the book's higher powers. Temporarily of course."


It sounds a lot like CHIM.

>>26924774
>"This writing..." the Ghost murmurs. "I don't quite understand this part. To use the book I have to step back from myself? What's that mean?"
...Haha. Only Yellowman can use the book, because he's got all of us in his head.
He's THE CHOSEN ONE!

>>26924774
"Wait, you were monitoring them. What about that emergency recall that the Suit used? Wasn't it a dimensional exfiltration? Weren't you able to track him?"

>>26924989
"To a degree," the old one answers. "We know the vague direction they left in, but that's about it."

"We weren't really expecting something on that scale," the young one says. "If we had been, Conti's Mickey Mouse operation wouldn't have been able to pierce our jamming fields and inject a little unwelcome liveliness into things."

"Needless to say, I don't think we can expect the Spectre or his friend to show up to claim their consolation prizes," the middle aged one says, sighing. "More's the pity. Ah well."

>>26925216
"So, yeah, talking about Conti. Thing about it is that he had a dimensional beacon that the TG also uses. If you don't mind, and you haven't gotten us home by then, when you take apart his little boardwalk empire, we'd like to question some of their procurers as to where they got the beacon from."

>>26925216
You mind if we ask Ed if she wants to come with us? Hell, if Charlie wants to he's more then welcome to come with us too.

>>26925448
We don't know if this Ed is from the same Canon as the one we recruited Spike from; there could be unforeseen consequences of not returning her to where she belongs.

>>26925500
She's already been taken from her canon and shuffled around the Meta. She can't right go back, so might as well pick up an amazing Hacker.

>>26925448
The owners shrug their shoulders in unison.

"They're their own people aren't they? It's none of our business what you do once you leave the hotel now that the race is over," the middle aged one says, leaning back in his chair. The old one leans forward, poking at the steak in front of him.

"Polite of you to ask, I suppose."

>>26925569
ComTrader brought her here, they can put her back.

>>26925500
This ->>>26925569
Also, her canon's long ended if she's in her 20s, and Ed's been known to randomly go up and wander off. Hell, most anyone knows about her in her canon is rumors, so nothing will change.

>>26925608
Yes, let's put her back with her Meta knowledge and contaminants. You're splitting hairs now, she wants Spike back and is a meta traveller now, might as well help her out. It's no worse then any of the heroes we picked up in the Katamari.

>>26925585
"And you're going to be sending everyone back to their Canons of origin? Come to think of it, you're capable of trans-Meta transportation and communication. Can you send out a general broadcast on a given meta-frequency? Fat-Fot-Pot's a comms officer, so he can send a general TG distress beacon."

>>26925901
"Sending everyone back home? Sure, if we got them here. It's their business otherwise," the young one says. "If you have a comms-officer we might be able to rig up a beacon or something, sure. Might be a bit expensive, though."

While Scott converses, the other racers begin to eat, save of course for the Ghost, who continues to read, completely absorbed in the book.

>>26926299
>Might be a bit expensive, though
Are they expecting you to pay, Scott? I suppose we could try to see if they can charge it to the TG and the Grand Crusade once they're contacted.

>>26926299
Let's go chat with Ed.
'Hey, Ed. No hard feeling right? You wanted to bring Spike back, didn't you? He's not dead, just abit lost, worked with me on a bounty awhile back. If you want you can come with us while we look for him."

>>26926412
"Assuming it works, I assure you, our organization will pay you handsomely," Scott says.

"Oh, so you want some credit extended? We'll consider it," the young one says. "We'll see what happens."

"All right," the Ghost says, closing the book and withdrawing a copy of her wish from a pouch. "I think I'm ready to make my wish, now."

"You disappoint me. Straight to business? Ah well, that's your right as winner," the young one says, shaking his head. "If it's the same wish you discussed with us earlier, I'd say your goodbyes now."

The Ghost nods, turning to Scott and the others. "Whether the wish works or not, I'm probably not going to still be here at the end of it. Before I go, I want you to know you've saved trillions of lives by giving up your wish to me. I want you to know that whatever else happens, you've made a difference in the multiverse for the better. I want you to know that I owe you a debt I'm not sure I can ever repay. Oh. Before I go..."

The Ghost unclips a pouch from her belt and slides it over to Charlie. "Currency varies widely, so I always carry a few diamonds with me. That should cover your fee of ten thousand caps, I hope?"

Charlie opens the pouch and looks inside, his eyes widening for a moment before closing it and nodding. "Pleasure doin' business, ma'am," he says.

>>26926472
"Can we talk with Ed?" Scott asks. The old one slides him a flip-phone. Scott picks it up and a dazed groan greets his ears.

"Still in the infirmary, huh?" Scott says, shaking his head. "Just wanted to let you know if you wanted to bring Spike back... Well, he's not dead. In fact we worked together for a while. You can come with us if you like, and look for him."

There is a pause.

"Why... didn't you just... tell me that to begin with?" Ed says, her words slurred a little. The line cuts. Scott frowns and hands the phone back.

"She'll be up here in about an hour, I'd say. Our medical teams work fast for anything less than critical injuries," the old one says, pocketing the phone.

>>26926728
>Why... didn't you just... tell me that to begin with?
We did. And she didn't believe us. Because it's the kind of distracting thing that someone trying to win the race would use to distract another racer. AND could only be confirmed with pre-Retcon knowledge, so there was no reasonable way for Ed to believe Scott.

>>26926728
Heh. Best payback for her fucking randomly tazing us. Shit hurts.

>>26926633
"Alright Ghostie, go change the world. But if this fucks up, or you use the wish for something else, I'm going to get the biggest katamari possible and kick the crap out of everyone in your sector.
Good Luck."

>>26926728
>>26926633
"It was...an experience knowing you, Ghostie. But hey, a couple timelines and trillions of lives saved without us being martyred is a nice outcome. So long, and remember to keep your mind clear."

>>26926839
"I'd expect nothing less. Thanks."

>>26926856
"I will."

With that, the 'Ghost' who wasn't really a Ghost after all places one hand on the book and begins reciting the wish. It takes a full fifteen minutes for her to get through the whole thing, and when it ends, the book flares with white light. In an instant, the Ghost is gone, the only trace of her left in the room being the book on the table and the diamonds she left Charlie. The young one stands up and walks over to the book, picking it up in one hand. He looks at the tome with an expression approaching fondness and tucks it under one arm.

"I wasn't lying," he says, smiling. "I really do wish she'd have stayed to chat for a while. A fascinating soul like that doesn't come around all that often, you know? Then I suppose if she'd have been distracted by something like our little soiree, she wouldn't be the person she is."

A servant walks up and whispers something into the old one's ear. He nods and waves off the servant.

"They managed to locate Excel and Hyatt. Somehow they managed to wind up all the way back in the city where they began. I have no idea how, we didn't detect any portals. I believe we'll leave them there, no need to stir up the hornet's nest, you know?" the old one says. "Also, those two pilots from the Earth Federation have been picked up. They managed to make it to San Drad, but then got pinned down in a bunker."

"Lots of teams of two," the middle aged one muses. "I'm surprised no one made a larger group except for you. Teaming up seems to me to be the logical choice, it's how we got ahold of it after all, but I guess greed can make people do crazy things."

"I should point out that the person that won technically never DID team up, except right at the end," the old one says. The middle aged one shrugs.

"Point."

>>26927167
"She didn't team up, but she made sure to stay on agreeable terms with the Racers that had the best chances of success; she kept her options open, in other words.
"As for those two pilots, I actually didn't give them too much thought; Mobile Suit pilots like them tend to not be too useful outside of their machines, compared to actual field operatives like Elyse or Burton, or someone who's specialized in infantry combat, like Charlie over here.
"And not to be rude, but that Ultramarine and his Sister of Battle friend; we're not going to have to hear them go on about xeno's, mutants, and heretics, will we? That'll just make me lose my appetite."

>>26927167
"It's because I took all the best teammates. Also you might want to move Excel and Hyatt, we cant have them mucking up GI Joe."

>>26927304
Not GI Joe. They made it home.

>>26927304
"No, not that city, the other one. The one they went on and on about taking over."

>>26927283
The three businessmen burst into laughter at the last sentence.

"Servants of the Imperium? Here? Oh my, no, no, no, no," the old one says, taking a soft cloth from his breast pocket and polishing his glasses. "That we let them dine with us during the opening ceremony was an experiment that will never be repeated."

"We're debating on whether to raise them and send them home or let them rot," the young one says. "We've had a lot of bad experiences with the Imperium, but they're not the worst offenders of the lot in that race."

"So long as you're human," the middle aged one says, his tone ice. "Don't forget that. What that yautja was to you, that Marine was to non-humans."

"A fair point," the young one says, walking back to his seat and placing the book in front of him. "Well, no matter. That's our own business, now. Will you be staying with us for the week, then?"

>>26927445
We might as well. We still got that hotel stay.

>>26927445
Might as well, Scott. We need to find a way to get in touch with either the TG or the Grand Crusade, and it seems like it'll take time.

>>26927445
"Well, no to be fair that Marine was that to anyone who didn't agree with him, and the Bolter Bitch is worse.
Hell, if we had run into them, they'd probably try to kill us all for being Eldar Sympathizers on the shape of Elyse's ears alone, not to mention FFP.
At least the Yautja followed his rules of an honorable hunt."

>>26927445
"Oh, hey, is there any way to find out if Ghostie's wish worked out correctly? It'll help in my report, and it'd be nice to get confirmation that we did some good in the Meta.

>>26928355
"If I understand the wording right, she'd have been disintegrated in front of us if it didn't, so yes, it probably worked," the old one says.

>>26927536
"Good points," the young one says. "Guess we'll let them rot then."

>>26927487
>>26927521
"Well if you're staying, then dig in!" the young one says with a grin. "No need to wait for the others, most of them are going to be a while anyway. Enjoy our hospitality for the time being, take a load off. You really did earn it."

With that, the three company owners begin eating the food placed in front of them in earnest.

>>26928464
May as well dig in, Scott. They could have killed us easily if they wanted to, so there's no point in poisoning the food.
Looks like you've got a week-long vacation coming up.

>>26928464
We can't do much but eat right now. Maybe ask ComTrader about their business practices, who will they supply, what moral qualms they have.
I mean, Earth had multinationals that would instigate wars, prolong wars, commit what would be considered war crimes if they were done by a nation, all in the name of profit.
What about them?
Because as bad as the Ferengi got in the pursuit of profit, they were never as bad as humans.

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>>26928504
Scott shrugs, then begins to eat, along with all the others. Eventually the other racers shuffle in, one by one as they get patched up and cleared by the ComTrader support staff. Zangief and Rufus are first, the two ravenously digging into the mountains of food prepared at the table, not even giving a moment for proper greetings. Next comes Edward, who virtually pounces on a sushi platter, eating with almost as much gusto as the two Street Fighters. Russel and Katina walk in, muttering polite greetings before taking their seats. A newly repaired battle droid and a man in a combat jumpsuit glare daggers at Scott and Elyse before sitting down. A man in a black suit and sunglasses is the final entry as everyone gets down to eating and post race chatter.

A week passes in luxury for all those who partake of the offer. At the end of the week though, comes time for another parting of ways.

"Well doc, it's been swell," Charlie says, shaking Scott's hand. The ex-bouncer looks almost respectable in a new suit freshly bought from the hotel's upper-class stores. He grins. "I'll consider your offer, but with the diamonds Ms. Ghostie paid me, I'm gonna try starting up my own casino. Maybe give the NCR a taste of Vegas, start up in their capital, eh? ComTrader's offered to give me a discount on some of the things I need to get things going, so I should be all right. If I get the bum's rush on that deal, I'll see about weaseling my way back to you, take your offer."

"If you can," Scott says, smiling. "I don't think I'll be back out this way again, if the ComTrader boys are right, this sector of reality's incredibly distant from the place I call home. And considering what I think counts as 'distant', that's saying a lot."

"Guess it wasn't meant to be, mac," Charlie says, lightning punching Scott in the shoulder. "...and if it was meant to be, it'll find a way to happen. So don't worry 'bout it! You take care of yourself, you hear?"

"Always do, Charlie. Always do."

>>26929692
>newly repaired battle droid and a man in a combat jumpsuit glare daggers at Scott and Elyse before sitting down
Hey, it was nothing personal! Just business.
Sheesh, as if they wouldn't expect the same from Boba Fett. Though IG-88 probably would make it personal.

>>26929681
ComTrader is privately owned by the three company men. They'll trade with almost anyone, but actually are relatively bloodless. The exception is that they are incredibly brutal with retaliations against groups who strike against them in the form of violence or sabotage. During your weeklong stay, you see in the news headline after headline concering the sudden and vicious demise of the Conti crime cartel.

When asked, the young one comments that with as much wealth as they have, they can afford to not act like total assholes to those who don't 'have it coming.'

This is not to say they are a completely benevolent organization. ComTrader simply operates by its own standards of fair business practice, and can be expected to honor those standards. They do very little in the way of charity that isn't PR driven.

"It's like if the Melnorme were given human form!" Fat Fot Pot comments.

>>26929890
>It's like if the Melnorme were given human form!
"Or the Ferengi Alliance after Rom's reforms. Not so bad, all things considered. Might be a good idea to get ComTrader's version of the Rules of Acquisition. It would make future dealings with them easier."

>>26929692
"You weren't exactly a perfect gentleman..." Elyse says, sighing. "Then again, no one is perfect. And you pulled me out of danger more than once. That means a lot more than proper conduct."

"Yeah, same to you, cutie-pie," Charlie says, still smiling. "Learn to loosen up, you'll live longer and enjoy more of it."

"Hey, I'm plenty loose!" Elyse says, her eyes widening as she realizes what she just said. Scott and Charlie burst out laughing as Elyse sputters a response. "NO! No, not like that! I mean, I can relax just as well as the next numan, just... just not on duty, you know?"

"If you say so," Charlie says, clapping the paladin on the back. "Watch yourself out there, and be careful of finks! Plenty of rats out there wanna take advantage of a sweet young gal like yourself."

"I will..." Elyse says, nodding.

"Then this is it. Goodbye, you two! And say goodbye to the three crazy critters and that sourpuss Burton for me, willya? Adios!"

Charlie grins and gives Yellowman and Elyse a thumbs up before grabbing his two suitcases and heading for the hotel entrance.

"You know? I think I'm gonna miss that crazy son of a bitch," Scott comments. "I can't believe I almost left him to die in a sewer."

"...wait, what?"

>>26930045
All things considered, yeah, Charlie was a good addition to the team.

>>26930110

Probably not the goodest guy out there, but a good partner all the same. He will be missed.

>>26930045
Later...

"Okay, me and the ComTrader techs think we finally managed to figure out how to get all of us home!" Fat says, bobbing up and down on his hoverdisc with excitement. Scott, Elyse, Burton, and the three tiny aliens all stand in a small laboratory about fifteen miles away from the White Mountain Hotel. Normally used for product testing, ComTrader has been using it to figure out a way to get the Transpace Guardsman and their Crusader companion home... for a fee, of course.

"So we managed to salvage what was left of the escape pod, right? Well, with some of the logs from the pod, combined with scrying magic and some technological doo-daddery, we managed to whip up... THIS!" Pot says, flying over to something covered with a large white sheet. The fungal tube bobs up and down over it for a second. "I forgot I don't have arms. A little help?"

Burton heaves a sigh and walks over, tearing off the white sheet to reveal what looks like a hemisphere of metal, almost cup-like, with several chairs inside.

"According to the work ComTrader and myself have put together, this should back-trace our route and fling us right back to where we came from," Fat says. "It's what was left of the pod salvaged with a ComTrader ID drive, and a few odds and ends."

"It looks... expensive," Burton says, eying the device. "A super tiny ship? They accepted credit for this?"

"Ah... I may or may not have sold some of our excess supplies as a down payment," Pot says, twitching. Scott glares at the blue fungus.

"Like what?"

"Just... Burton's ART specs... and the Psi-Armor... and the Yautja weapons," Fat says.

"You gave them my ART specs?!" Burton shouts.

"Hey, calm down, if this thing works, it won't matter,' Scott says, putting a hand on Burton's shoulder. He looks to Fat. "It WILL work, right?"

"It really really really really really really should," Fat says. "Really."

>>26930267
Well, I trust the little guy.

When we use it, we should make sure we are all in one place (and with Ed)

>>26930535

Let's go see if Ed is receptive to Yellowman's offer before we test the thing out. We might also want to check if there's enough chairs to accommodate an extra person.

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>>26930581
Leaving the others, you knock on the door to Ed's suite, and are quickly greeted by the red haired hacker, with a frown on her face.

"I still can't believe you got out of my trap. Your magic user is cheaty," she says.

"I still can't believe you TAZED me as a hello," Scott says in reply. Ed huffs.

"It was a death race. I thought I was being nice simply by being nonlethal. Anyway, what do you want?" she asks.

"My offer. Given it any thought?" Scott asks. Ed nods.

"Yeah. It sounded pretty good at first, but then I realized something. Your Spike can't be the same one I was looking to resurrect. If the distance between your area of space and here is so great, you must've picked up a parallel Spike," Ed says.

"Your speech pattern is gone," Scott says. Ed smiles.

"Edward long ago figured out that talking and acting in a certain manner made people underestimate her," Ed says. "So even though Edward stopped acting and talking in a certain way a while ago, Edward can still shrug it back on like a coat if Edward has to."

"So, what, you don't dance around anymore either?" Scott asks.

"What? Hell yes I do!" Edward says, a gleam in her eyes. "Life is a dance, Scott. And every minute, I'm going to move with the music."

"I see," Scott says, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. "Well, sorry my offer didn't work out."

"Oh, I'll come," she says. Scott frowns.

"Didn't you just say-"

"I said your Spike isn't my Spike," Edward says. "That's true, but there's nothing moping around here will do to fix that. I've got nothing else on my plate for a while, so I'll tag along and see what happens."

"But what about the distance?" Scott asks. Ed smiles.

"Home is wherever my feet are, Scott," she says. "Home is wherever my feet are."

>It'll be cramped, but you can fit another person on.

>>26930909
"Glad to have you onboard. You know, it would have been nice to have you around when we had to deal with Su, damn girl hacked circled around Mouse and he's made of Nanites."

>>26930909

Well, if that's everything, then let's be off.

By the way, whatever happened to Sam?

>>26931034
"People keep comparing me to Su. I'd have loved to have a showdown."

>>26931054
"You know..." Yellowman frowns. "...I don't know..."

Elsewhere...

"Wow, you weren't kidding, look at him go!"

"Is it true? He's been doing that for days?"

"Yeah, non-stop except for food, sleep, and ah, restroom breaks."

"What a showman!"

No matter how hard he tried, Sam couldn't help but smile. He also couldn't help but dance. He couldn't help but sing terribly off key as he did the other things.

"DOMO ARIGATO, MR. ROBOTO!" Sam hoarsely called out, his limbs jerkily moving around in predetermined patterns, every single inch of cybernetics in his body overpowering the remaining meat. "MATA AU HI MADEEEEE!"

"That girl said it was a dance called 'the Robot."

"I guess I can add another sight to the list of weird things I've seen on my vacation to Central."

"DOMO ARIGATO, MR. ROBOTO!" Sam sang. "HIMITSU WO SHIRITAI!"

Beneath the forced smile and dancing, a single line of thought kept running through Sam's mind.

"I'll get you for this Edward!!!" Sam thought, a single eyebrow wrenching itself free of the hacking program to twitch wildly. "I'll get you if it's the last thing I do!!!"

>>26931255
"All right, guess the time has come!" Scott says, herding Edward into the tiny craft as Burton, Elyse, and himself squeezed in. With no spare seat, Scott hooks his grapple harness to the interior sides of the vehicle and hopes for the best. Fat, Fot, and Pot dock their hoverdiscs to a series of tiny insets at the 'controls'. The trained mimic stomps to the center of the craft and plops itself down.

"OK!" Fat and Pot say at the same time. "Let's get going!"

"Everyone ready?" Scott asks, looking around.

"I'm buckled in," Burton says.

"Waiting to see this brave new world you're talking about," Edward says, bracing herself.

"Praying as hard as I can!" Elyse says, hands tightly on her safety harness.

"You heard 'em, Fat Fot Pot!" Scott says, smiling. "Take us out!"

"He means launch!" Burton says.

"You got it!" Fat says, pressing a button. A bubble of transparent glass-like material encloses the exposed top of the craft. "Pod ready for launch! Pot?"

"Launching!" Pot says, pressing a big red button with his head. Everything goes blurry as reality seems to warp around the small craft.

Roll 1d100.

Rolled 1

>>26931386
There's no place like home! There's no place like home!

>>26931399
Metaquest luck, here to strike one last time!

>>26931399
OH DEAR FUCKING LORD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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>>26931399
As reality begins to bend, Scott sighs in relief.

"It's finally all over! Everything is going to be okay now!" the scout says. "We're going home, I'm going to take all my vacation days, and I'm going to drink my weight in booze, and smoke the same in cigarettes."

"Yep!" Pot says, voice aglow with satisfaction. "Nothing can possibly go wrong now!"

Something deep in the craft makes a loud 'pling' sound, and something metal and shiny flies off of the control panel.

"...something's going wrong, isn't it?" Fat asks.

The craft begins to shake violently as Scott turns his gaze to Fat Fot Pot, a violent, almost murderous gaze.

"What did you do?!" Scott hisses.

"My prayers were in vain!" Elyse shouts. "Was I not praying hard enough?"

"Fuckin' figures," Burton sighs, reaching for a cigarette. "That's life."

"What did you do?!" Scott asks, voice rising steadily in volume.

"Starting to re-think this whole deal thing," Ed says, grabbing the sides of the craft.

"I don't know! Everything should've been fine! Everything should've worked!" Fat says. "They told me they fixed it! They told me they fixed it!!!"

"WHAT DID YOU DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!" Scott howls as everything melts away and all goes dark. You begin to feel yourself slipping away from your comfortable home in Scott's head as the craft completes its transit. You feel your connection weaken, then snap, unable to communicate with the scout commander anymore, only able to watch.

>>26931714
Scott wakes up with a start, and with a weary, put upon expression, swiftly douses the fire on his clothes that woke him up. The control console for the craft is spitting sparks, and the craft itself seems to have sustained major damage. As everyone else begins to stir, Yellowman sighs and pushes back the glass bubble of the cup-like conveyance to step outside.

A vast desert greeted his eyes, decorated by fields of debris, strange rock formations, and crashed vehicles. Scott squints at the burning sun overhead, then dons his ART Specs to shield his eyes.

"Perfect. Just... just perfect," Scott sighed. A bone-chilling howl and maniacal laughter echoed through the air as something moved in the shadows of a nearby rock formation. He pulled Waldorf from its holster and moved back to the craft.

"Elyse! Burton! On your feet, we've got work to do."

Your connection dims until you see nothing but darkness.

You were the voices in Scott Yellowman's head. You did not manage to guide him home... but you did manage to redeem a Ghost haunted by her past, and save the lives of many worlds. You managed to contact an old friend and send valuable information back to the Guard. You made a difference at the cost of your own goals.

That counts for something at least.

QUEST END.

Ending Received: "On a Wing and a Prayer; Good End C."

Thank you for playing.

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>>26931863

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Rolled 82

>>26931714
>>26931863

>MetaOP forgot his mistakes.

Burning replacement points

>>26931863
>>26931714
"Wait, wait. That's not how it happened."

>Due to a rules error concerning Dumb Luck Points, a final reroll has been allowed. The first three people to roll 1d100 will have their rolls counted into the ending.

Rolled 56

>>26932158

Rolled 33

>>26932158

And then we strapped an ICBM to the ship.

Rolled 54

>>26932158
Get home Yellowman, we can't argue fate anymore.

>>26932178
>>26932172
>>26932171
"Well I thought that ending was funny and oddly fitting an-"

"Oh, shut up! No one cares what you think!"

>>26931714
Scott wakes with a groan, noting pleasantly that his clothes were not on fire. Blinking hard to shake away the grogginess, he quickly notices several things in quick succession. First, he is in a hospital bed, and not a cobbled together patchwork craft. Second, Elyse, Edward, and Burton are in beds around him, dressed in the same hospital gown he himself had been changed into. Third, a nurse was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Awake already? Wow!" the nurse clucks her tongue. "You've barely been on the bed for an hour."

"I recover fast," Scott says, shifting to a sitting position. "What's going on? Is this..."

Scott sighs with relief as he notices a Transpace Guard insignia on the wall. "...home."

"A patrol found your... ah, ship a few miles out from our sector station here," the nurse says. "You were all unconscious with no clear sign as to why, so we had you hauled in here for observation. According to our records, you've been missing for a while, Commander Yellowman."

"Lady..." Scott wheezes. "It feels like forever."

"Well, the Sector Manager will be anxious to debrief you once you're ready," the nurse says, looking at a clipboard.

"That..." Scott says, snuggling back up against the pillow. "Might not be for a little while yet. A week is good and all, but I think a few more hours of nap will top off the vacation just fine."

"Uh... Oh... kay?" the nurse says, frowning as Yellowman lays back down. She shrugs and goes back to writing in the clipboard after a while. Your vision fades.

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>>26932349
You were the voices in Scott Yellowman's head. You managed to guide him home. You managed to redeem a Ghost haunted by her past, and save the lives of many worlds. You managed to contact an old friend and send valuable information back to the Guard. You made a difference almost at the cost of your own goals. You never solved the mystery of the book or your own existence, but perhaps you never really needed to.

Perhaps now, like the beleaguered scout commander you labored so hard to guide, you can rest.


QUEST END.

Ending Received: "On a Wing and a Prayer; Good End B."

Thank you for playing.

>>26932387

See ya 'round, MetaOP.

Was there an opportunity to find out the mystery stuff at the end of Meta Quest here? Or was it to find out why Yellowman had voices in his head giving him orders despite the command crew being shuffled around TG HQ?

>>26932439
There was a path you could take to find out more about the voice's nature and origin, but you missed enough 'triggers' for it that I ended up scrapping it. Originally I was going to work some of the original TG Quest questions into this one, but I was forced to drop that due to time and energy constraints.

>>26932490

Just out of curiosity, what was ending A going to be? What were the other possible endings?

>>26932635
Ending A was basically the same as B, but the craft touched down successfully right in the middle of a Sector Station command deck. There would've been a bit more interaction than most of the cast lying unconscious in hospital beds.

The Good++ Ending was if you managed to learn enough about the book by speaking with the company men during the dinner to deduce it could be used multiple times, and then simply passing it around. Everyone would've gotten a wish. The company men would've laughed and applauded your ingenuity, allowing you the bonus wishes before taking back their artifact.

The Good+ would've been if you'd kept the Narrator's Tome all the way to the end of the race. Comparing it to the artifact prize of the race, you would've realized the two items appear to be artifacts made with the same powers, though different functions. The Tome could've been used with some help, to generate an additional wish.

One of the Bad Ends was if you did not give the Ghost the wish, but did inform the Guard of the rampaging god back at base. This would've sparked a bloody war that ended with the slave-god disappearing into the depths of unknown space, and terrible casualties on the part of the Guard.

Not giving the Ghost the wish AND not telling the Guard would've resulted in the Ghost continuing her quest and you never knowing if she succeeded or not... the threat of her slave-god looming over the region forevermore.

There are a ton of variations of course, based on things you did or didn't do, but these are the most major my sleep-addled brain can remember right now.

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Chaos.

The entire crossover war was chaos. The maps were redrawn, entire sectors where cut off, and unaware people where drawn in. Force to fight for causes that they didn’t believe in and were send far away from their homes with no hope of return.

However our story doesn’t take place in those broken and shattered sectors, our story takes place on an old relic.

Two factions that governed and protected the Meta, the TSAB and the Transpace Guard, the gulf between them was long and deep. At one point the Transpace guard built a ‘wall’ between them and the TSAB, that wall was called the Maho Shojo wall. One link in the wall was the fortress world of Cursed Star.

>>26932918

Sector manager Jakob Roland wasn't having a good day. After a month of communications blackout, they had just re-established contact with HQ a few days ago, and now HQ demanded reports. Normally this wouldn't be a bad thing, however this had just come after one of the biggest raids in Cursed Star’s history.

Cursed Star held a stockpile of weapons and armaments that where suitable for the magical nature of this sector. Weapons were siphoned off due to the usual corruption and back alley dealings. It wasn’t like the guard were paid very much.

However someone had threw subtlety to the wind and went on a full-on raid. Destabilising magical computers with a magical computer virus and send armed people to chat away the weapons.

This failure could not be reported to HQ, if any word of this got to the bigwigs. Well, Jakob could say goodbye to peaceful retirement.
Another message blipped on Jakobs computer, informing him of a message from HQ.

“What is it now?” Jakob muttered to himself. A myriad of possible scenarios crossed his mind. Ranging from being ordered to lie down and die when the brand spanking new editors arrive to being forced to hand over the entire sector to the girl scouts as a token of good will.

“Transfer orders?” He muttered. Now he had to baby sit either some old war veterans or wide eyed idiots in this dead end sector.

Perfect, just perfect.

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>>26932940

MetaQuest: Quest for Justice.

Comming soon.

>>26932918
I wonder how long after Yellowman Quest does this happen.

>>26932918
It's called the Iron Mahou Curtain, in keeping with the Cold War aesthetic.

>>Editors
>>girl scouts

That's funny, but I wonder what else lies beneath.

>>26936429
What, like other Meta Factions? Or signatories of the Tannhauser Conventions?
The Timeline Wars?
Keeping the Culture ignorant of the Meta?
Dealing with the KroMagg Dynasty?
Smugglers working for the United Parallel Worlds in order to acquire weapons with plausible deniability?

Or tracking down the Firemen and executing all of them?