>Last time on Freelance Ghost Quest: You get Quartus some medical attention for his arm, find out the protoss warriors consider you one of their own now, psionically call Lisa and inform her of the events, and head to the protoss flagship, the Aramanthis, to meet Executor Elthai.


She turns to you, and you see her face twist in horror of recognition. “Guards! Slay that abomination!” She cries out. For a moment, a flash of doubt passes through you, but the guards simply look at Ur’athan, who shakes his head and takes the word.

“I believe introductions are in order. Elthai, meet Artemis, the main reason we managed to rescue you.”

Executor Elthai stares at you with a mixture of shock and horror. You see the thoughts race through her mind, until her eyes narrow and she turns to the High Templar. “This is one of your plots isn’t it, Ur’athan? You come to my aid and then twist it to further your own plans and ambitions. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been longing for my post.”

“I assure you it was no such thing.” Ur’athan rebukes. ”Artemis is a valuable ally in our fight against the zerg. While he is not entirely as powerful as I had hoped, he managed to disrupt the Cerebrate creature controlling these zerg for much longer than we managed on our previous run-in with one such as it. Had he not done so, there wouldn’t have been a way for us to fight off the zerg and retrieve you and your forces.”

“I highly doubt it.” You can see she actually does start doubting, but so far her pride and stubbornness hold it back. She might need a few more pushes in the right direction.

>1. “Executor, what would you have me to do prove I am not your enemy?”
>2. “Are you serious? This is our thanks? The High Templar sacrificed many of his men and those of his comrades, and you think it’s some political ploy?”
>3. Stay quiet, let Ur’athan handle it.
>4. Write in.

>>36392149
>>2. “Are you serious? This is our thanks? The High Templar sacrificed many of his men and those of his comrades, and you think it’s some political ploy?”

>>36392149
>3. Stay quiet, let Ur’athan handle it

Let us not test the Executor just yet...

>>36392149
>3
The second option is a stupid idea, we have no experience in protoss politics

>>36392182
>>36392277
>>36392352
Very well, writing.

There’s a small pause, but you resist the urge to smack some sense into the Executor. You’ll let the High Templar handle it for now, and he does.

“Executor, this isn’t a matter of personal glory. For all I care this victory could bear your name. We struck a great blow against the zerg today, and if we are to organise our forces in concert, we can have much greater victories.”

It takes a while, but in the end she seems to give in. At least a bit. “Very well. But that brings us to the matter of this abomination under your protection.” She gestures to you. “It is no better than the zerg. Touched by the Xel’naga and changed to suit to their purposes. There is no guarantee that it will not turn against us.” She talks about you like you’re not standing right next to her.

“As I have said, he was instrumental in your rescue. Was it not for him, you would have died on that planet. Does that not speak for itself?” Ur’athan says.

“It might only do this to further its own needs. To get in your good graces. For all we know he might be trying to infiltrate our ranks and strike at us where it hurts us most.”

>1. “Executor, what would you have me to do prove I am not your enemy?”
>2. ”I have no interest in Protoss politics or your battles. I simply came to the aid of one I had befriended earlier.”
>3. Stay quiet.
>4. Write in.

>>36392539
>>2. ”I have no interest in Protoss politics or your battles. I simply came to the aid of one I had befriended earlier.”


"and frankly I would rather never need to do it again, hell when I literally stumbled on the broken Xel’naga machinery I was trying my best to never get near any fighting again."

>>36392539
Clearly executor, if your guidance, insights and opinion were so intelligent and correct, you wouldn't need the help of "an abomination" to stop your forces from being outmanoevered by zerg?

>>36392539

>2. I have no interest in politics...

>>36392606
>>36392612
>>36392817
Writing.

>>36392817 (You)

however don't make it sound like we're here because of pressure. We've seen firsthand what zerg can do, and when given opportunity to make a bit of difference, we took it.

You see an opening again, and this time you take it.

”I have no interest in Protoss politics or your battles. I simply came to the aid of one I had befriended earlier, and frankly I would rather never need to do it again. Hell, when I literally stumbled on the broken Xel’naga machinery I was trying my best to never get near any fighting again."

Executor Elthai seems taken aback by your sudden intrusion of the conversation. She seems torn up about the issue, but she’s doing her best not to show. She manages very well, but something tells you she’s a step closer to giving in, so you continue. “Had you not gotten into trouble, I most likely never would have been involved in your politics anyway. I’d rather spend my time carving out a new and peaceful life than be dragged into more war and violence.”

Her response comes surprisingly fast. “Prove it.”

“How?” You ask.

“Let me dig into your memories. Not you sending me memories, those could be falsified. Simply let me into your mind and conduct my own research.”

>1. Agree. Let her into your mind.
>2. Agree, but shield off certain memories (specify).
>3. Refuse,
>4. Write in.

>>36393014

Agree, but keep close watch over her 'research' so she doesn't turn to attack. Even better if Ur'athan could provide some overwatch in case she managed to knock us out in one go.

>>36393014
Agree, but require her to use methods which wont hurt us. And she needs to ask us telepathically if she wants to look at specific memories.

>>36393065
>>36393207
Writing.

>>36393014

>2. Agree, but shield off certain memories (specify).
>>36393065
like this

“Very well, but on a few conditions.” You say.

“Tell them, and we’ll see if they are acceptable.” She replies.

“I want High Templar Ur’athan observing both of us psionically while you do so, and you must not actively hurt or inflict damage on me.”

“Agreed.” She says after a few seconds. She appears to start straight away, but Ur’athan interrupts her. “Let us not do so here. There are more appropriate rooms for this kind of thing.”

He leads the two of you away from the bridge, leaving dozens of Protoss staring after you, and you soon reach a small meditation chamber, big enough to fit the three of you comfortably. Elthai seems eager to get things over with. That makes two of you then. “Let us begin then. Open your mind.”

You open up your mind, and you immediately feel two presences enter. One mostly observing the other, and the other immediately prying into your memories. It takes her a while to actually find them though. You suppose she’s not familiar with Terran minds. Meanwhile, you make sure that your defences are ready to deploy the moment you find ill intent, and watch her much like Ur’athan is doing.

She noses through your youth. The many deaths of the Omega’s. Your failure to perform. Primus’ cruelty. You being sent to the Ghost Academy and your many missions for them. You try to make sure she gets the growing disgust and powerlessness you felt back then. Eventually, she arrives at the fall of Tarsonis. It’s then that your observation is interrupted by a message.

“Artemis, can you hide the fact that it was me and my associates that put the zerg on her trail? No matter what else she gets from this, I do not believe she could ever forgive me for that.”

In theory, it would be easy. Muffle away a sentence, try and present the memory as if she had dug it up herself. Putting that into practice might be harder.

>>36393484


>1. Refuse. Be honest about it. If anything, it shows your honesty about the issue, and the same memory reveals that it escalated far beyond anything Ur’athan had forseen.
>2. Do it. If she finds that out, it might undo everything else. (you’ll have to roll)
>3. Write in.

>>36393484

>Point out to Ur'Athan that the memory also serves to advocate his involvement and shows his regret, and that honesty might be best policy if they are to be allies
>If he insists that it's necessary, do as he asks

>>36393511
not sure I can by my self distract her when we near it

>>36393589
>>36393600
Writing.

“That memory also serves to advocate your regret of your actions. It shows that things went far beyond how you expected it to go. I believe honesty might be best policy if you are to be allies.”

It seems like a bitter pill to swallow for Ur’athan. “She will go looking for more evidence against me, claiming it had been a plot to get fame for myself to rescue her.”

“She might think that, but you already left the honour of the victory to her. Point that out and she has no case. As long as she doesn’t get irrational, there’s no way to lose this.” You reply.

“I… suppose you are correct. “Very well then. Do as you wish.”

And with that, he leaves you be. Your watch over Elthai had been weakened a bit during your conversation, but you double-check, and it doesn’t seem like anything went wrong. By now she’s at the expedition to the temple, and she witnesses the Xel’naga devices. Then she surprises you. She winces back at the pain they caused. At the memory of the one that actually changed you, you notice she holds back a bit and doesn’t tap into your feelings at that time.

After that, she starts skipping over memories that aren’t important to her, but your first conversation with Ur’athan is scrutinised to the details. She moves on like that, passing by less important memories and taking in anything that has to do with the protoss. Finally, she arrives at the memory Ur’athan dreaded. Again, it is scrutinised to the smallest detail. Perhaps it was good that you didn’t try to modify it. Strangely enough, she seems perfectly calm. Or you’re misreading things and she’s in a tranquil fury, but you’re hoping for the former.

In the end, she read through all of it, and she backs off from your mind. “I see. I believe you now, Artemis. You may go. You however… “ she looks at the High Templar, “Will stay here. I believe we have some things to discuss.”

>1. Interrupt her, explain the situation.
>2. Go outside of the room, wait for them to leave it too.
>3. Go outside, check up on Quartus and Siladus in the ship’s medbay (you’ll find a protoss somewhere willing to guide you there).
>4. Write in.

>>36394017

>I suppose I have nothing to add after you browsed through my memories, but let's not forget that real enemy is down on the planet.
>2. Go outside, wait for them there (ready to break up a fight if one erupted)

>>36394017
>>1. Interrupt her, explain the situation.

>>36394049

seconding >>36394094

>>36394094
>>36394099
>>36394184
Writing.

>>36394094
yea but add them memory of the thing that burned us when we attached the cerbrait they both need to see it

>>36394304

I'm assuming she took a look at that as well

“I suppose I have nothing to add after you browsed through my memories, but let's not forget that real enemy is down on the planet.” You say, and you exit the room. You stick around though, and try to pay attention to what is going on inside. The meditation rooms are well built though, and you can’t perceive anything going on inside.

A few minutes later, the door opens again, and Elthai and Ur’athan step outside. Elthai is wearing a scowl on her face, but there’s also a hint of triumph. Ur’athan mostly just looks relieved. Elthai turns to you. “I suppose you’re welcome here for now, but do please try to finish your business within the day and remove yourself from my fleet.”

She walks past you, and Ur’athan smiles at you. “You were right. The initial rage was tempered when I pointed out the flaws in her conspiracy theory. She may be proud and stubborn, but she is not a fool. Thank you for your help. Without you this would have ended in disaster. Normally I would extend formal gratitude and hospitality, but I’m afraid the Executor has other plans. She wants to go back to Aiur as soon as possible to be debriefed, and I think I have convinced her enough to not mention too much about your or my role to the Conclave.”

He pauses for a moment. “I believe you have a friend in our medical facilities? Perhaps it would be best to go collect him and leave. I am sure we will speak again.” He gives you instructions on how to find their medbay, and then turns to leave.

>1. Ask/tell him something else (specify).
>2. Head to the medbay to find Quartus.
>3. Write in.

>>36394398
well you know what you do when you Assume

you make an ASS out of U and ME

>>36394462

>2. Head to the medbay to find Quartus.
Thank him before we go...

>>36394462
>2. Head to the medbay to find Quartus.

>>36394462

>Head to the medbay and find quartus

>>36394483

Very clever, Anon.

>>36394551
>>36394595
>>36394695
Writing.

“Thank you, High Templar.” you nod to him and you leave for the medbay. Once there, you immediately hear Quartus’ cheerful banter. Seems he’s talking to a few injured zealots, telling stories of the battle. As you move towards the sound of his voice, you suddenly notice a large container with a protoss floating in a blue-green liquid. Lots of tubes are attached to his skin, and a large section of his belly is replaced by mechanical parts. It takes a while, but with a shock you recognise Siladus.

You approach the protoss fiddling with a panel on the container. “That’s Siladus, right? How is he?”

The protoss examines you for a moment before he replies. “Stable. He’ll make it through, but we’ve had to replace most of his internal organs. It’ll take a few weeks before he’ll wake up.” You nod to the protoss in thanks, and move to the tank. You place a hand on it, silently saying greetings to your friend before you move on to Quartus.

“And in the end, it turned out the hydralisk had been dead for two days! The movement we heard were just scavengers eating its corpse. We were stuck in that hole for two damn days because of that damn thing!” That sounds like something that happened before today. One of his missions from the Omega project then. The story is received with heartily laughter, but it dies out as they see you coming. Some of the zealots bow their head to you, others just nod. They all seem to be treating you with much respect.

Quartus, with Sextus hovering just behind him, has his arm in a sort of metallic cast, with a suitable amount of crystals of course. Protoss seem to love those. “Ah, here he is, the hero of the day!” He shouts. The zealots suddenly burst out in cheerful shouting, though you don’t really make out any individual words.

“All right, all right!” You try to calm the crowd a bit, and the noise goes quiet. “Quartus, how are you?”

“I’m all right. Our friends gave me this thing here, “ he waves with the metallic cast, “And they say most of it will heal. It’ll take a week or so, but after that I should be able to use my arm again. Mostly.”

>1. Thank the protoss, leave with quartus and sextus. No point in lingering around here.
>2. “Looks like we’ll have to buy them a beer then!” Hang out with the protoss a bit before you go.
>3. Write in.

>>36395068

>"Looks like we'll have to buy them a beer then!" Hang out with the friendly aliens for a while
>Do tell Quartus that we'll be leaving soonish though.

>>36395068
>2. “Looks like we’ll have to buy them a beer then!” Hang out with the protoss a bit before you go.

>>36395068
>2. “Looks like we’ll have to buy them a beer then!” Hang out with the protoss a bit before you go.
Let us leave them on a high note... no reason to put a downer on the mood....

Just had a thought; Since Omega Project was effectively creating Terran-Protoss hybrids, does that make us immune to infestation, or would something crazy happen if one of the Omega's was infested?

>>36395112
>>36395132
>>36395152
writing.

>>36395212
I hadn't even thought of that. To be honest, if you ever got that far you'd have messed up so badly I probably would have killed you off before that.

“Looks like we’ll have to buy them a beer then!” You say. Quartus laughs, but the Zealots look a bit confused. You have to go out of your way to tell them of the cultural significance of imbibing alcohol together, and then the discussion gets to how protoss actually feed. Several of them are joking around, with various claims of rock-eating and their mouthes being at a… different location than your own. Eventually, you manage to distill that they just absorb water through their skin, and photosynthesise with natural light.

“So, what would happen if we substitute the water you absorb with beer then?” Quartus asks. None of them seem to know.

“Well,” you jokingly say, “I guess we’ll have to try and get a protoss drunk then one day.”

After a while, they start cheering on you to tell your own war story, and you choose a particularly funny moment where you were sent on a mission to blow up a Vespene gas refinery, only to find out after the fact that it had been captured by the Alpha squadron hours before your arrival. You managed to tap into the communications between General Duke and your superiors, who were on the receiving end of a scolding of epic proportions.

Eventually, the crowd starts thinning, and you gather Quartus and Sextus and head back to your ship. the ride back to the Omega is quiet, but in good spirits. It doesn’t take long before you arrive at the battlecruiser, and when you reach the bridge, you’re just in time to see the protoss fleet jump out of the system.

>1. Jump back to your previous parking spot, then hop into the wraith and visit Lisa.
>2. Jump back to your previous parking spot, stay and talk to Quartus and Sextus for a moment.
>3. Write in.

>>36395667
>>1. Jump back to your previous parking spot, then hop into the wraith and visit Lisa.
best be getting back to the woman

>>36395667
>1. Jump back to your previous parking spot, then hop into the wraith and visit Lisa.
But before jumping out, contact the protoss fleet and request that they cleanse the planet if they can, no point leaving any zerg alive if it can be helped

>>36395667
>2. Jump back to your previous parking spot, stay and talk to Quartus and Sextus for a moment.

Get their opinions on the mission with the protoss now that there are none present...

Then we can surprise Lisa

>>36395752
>>36395814
>>36395829
writing.

You give the order to jump back to your parking spot in empty space, and you head towards the hangar the wraith is parked in. You’re pleased to see that it’s in one piece, and even better, the hangar is filled with crates of extra materials. You suppose the protoss left them there to help in the repair of the battle cruiser.

You quickly arrive at the spaceport and head out to Frontier. The guards recognise you in your new armour by now and they let you pass without a word. When you reach Lisa’s practice, it starts getting dark. You quickly check if anyone’s there, but it seems you just missed her, so you head to her home. When you get there, you knock on the door.

“Who’s there?” she calls out.

You smile. “Guess.” You say. Inside, you hear a few loud bangs, a curse word, and the next thing you know the door is open and you have a Lisa hanging around you. “Thank god you’re safe!”

“Hey, I called ahead didn’t I?” You quietly say. You get a weak punch in the stomach in return.

“It’s not the same as in person, and you know it.”

You enter the house. It seems she was just making dinner for herself, and the two of you work together to finish it and add an extra portion for you.

>Any specific dialogue you want to add in for the meal?

>>36396131

>You know, Protoss were fairly gracious hosts, but I still prefer your hospitality. I think I could get used to this.
>How have things been here?

By the way, did we have many casaulties during the battle? I wonder what the good doctor will have to say upon inspecting her patients after the fight.

>>36396395
There were some casualties, but only a few. There were a lot more wounded but none of them too serious. I thought I mentioned this when meeting with Arana last time, but I seem to have forgotten then.

>>36396395
Also, since no one else said anything, I'll just use those.
Writing.

You strike up conversation when you sit down to eat. “You know, Protoss were fairly gracious hosts, but I still prefer your hospitality. I think I could get used to this.”

She smiles and winks at you. “I’m hoping you do.”

“So how have things been here?” You ask.

“Nothing special,” she replies, “There was an accident where someone tried dragging a cow to the second level of the biodome and it fell on him on the stairs. Drunk of course. Apparently he wanted to claim the ground floor for ‘his precious plants’.” You let out a burst of laughter, as you seem to recall overhearing the guy’s conversation when you were snooping around the biodome.

“For the rest, just some minor injuries, kids falling ill,” Lisa continues. “Oh wait, there is one thing. Haverdam left on a new expedition earlier today. He’s going for the larger ruins like you told him. I had another talk about it with Mittens and she assured me they’d have safe passage.”

The evening goes on, the food is good, and Lisa even opens a bottle of wine. After some time, the conversation dies down, and you’re just sitting opposite of each other. You stand up, and so does she. You suppose this is where you go to your own apartment again, and you say goodbye.

You’re about to head to the door when she grabs your hand. “Don’t go. Stay with me.” For a moment, you hesitate, but she draws you in for a kiss and all resistance melts away.

When you wake up, you’re confused. You’re not on the omega, you’re not in your own apartment, where are you? Then you feel a movement in the bed that’s not your own. You tense up for a moment, but then you realise Lisa is lying in your arms, dressed in her night gown. She’s still sleeping. You smile and plant a kiss on her forehead. Looks like you finally managed it. No more great threats on the horizon, no more lunatics hunting you. No more killing. Just you and her for now.

You hope it lasts.

>>36396790
>I had a bit of trouble writing an ending to be honest, so I hope it was somewhat decent.
>That was it for Freelance Ghost Quest. Thanks to everyone for joining me. I had a great time with it and I hope you guys did as well.
>I may or may not do another quest someday, but I doubt I'll continue FLGQ, and if I do actually start a new quest, it'll be quite some time before I do. If I do, I'll let people know through twitter in advance.

>I'll stick around for a while longer now to answer questions and stuff.

>>36396881
I hope to see your new quest with more players.

>>36396881
thanks it was great fun

>>36396881
Why did feel like closing the quest, as it seemed like you had a bunch of interesting directions to go in?

Has it been hard to finish? I seems like writing quality changed after we defeated Primus.

>>36396790

Daww.

I really liked it, OP. All of it. Thanks!

I wonder if Omega crew gets their minds back and if they do, how will they react though

>>36396881

Definitely an interesting place to leave it... after this, we'd probably end up actively involving ourselves in Canon things, and that can, and does, get messy...

Thanks for running, and I look forward to any future works you undertake...

>>36396924
Not sure about the quality. Was it better or worse?

As for closing the quest, I was honestly running out of ideas that weren't escalating too much, so it became a bit strenuous to keep writing. I enjoyed writing it, but in a way I'm also glad it's over. It helped my writing improve a lot I think, so it also had a bit of the “early work” syndrome where you can’t help but feel like you messed up badly in the beginning and it should have been differently. That also contributed to me wanting to end the quest.

For the actual finish, My original plans had been to use Primus as the over-arching plot, but in the end it came a lot sooner because I didn't have enough things to fill the time with. My inexperience as DM/QM really showed there I'm afraid. But when Primus was over with, it was too soon to actually stop, I felt, so I came with the protoss arch where we had a few more B-plots with weissdammer and the ghost conditioning, and I think it was much better spaced out. With my time limitations however (and living in Europe doen't help), the threads are fairly short so I needed a lot more threads than if I'd have been able to run full days like some QM's do. That again made it drag on a bit longer than I feel was good, especially when I had to split B-plots into too many separate threads.

In the end, I knew from the start how I wanted the deal with the Cerebrate and the executor to end, but writing the whole “and they lived happily ever after” was something I had some trouble with. I actually think that last post isn’t as good as it could or should have been, and I already scrapped half of it a few times before eventually posting.

>>36397225
>Writing Quality
The fact that you weren't sure where to go was obvious, but it was still enjoyable, your balancing and choices available were still enjoyable, which was nice.

Weissdamer being more...willing to deal with Artemis would have opened up a lot, I think. We played it out so that he was basically going to fail in an antagonistic way.

Ultimately...you'd pre-written things. And while you wanted an ending, you've gotta remember that questing is fairly open-ended. Look at XS's quests (Ryukuza is a good example), she opens the thread with fairly general sense of one person meeting another or doing someone, and lets the players dictate how things happen or play out. Not necessarily something you can copy, but maybe something you can learn from.

>Was sure about how to write the ending
Consider the ending of Starcraft 1 if you ever want to tweak it. Cooperation gets you somewhere, being separated or alone fucks you over. It also shows that the world is a dangerous place, but for now...things are alright.

It was fun, Supervisor. Throw something on twitter if you're going to start another quest.

>>36397597
Yes, Weissdammer wasn't done very well in the end. I could have done a lot more interesting things with him when I look back at it now..

As for pre-writing, I actually pre-wrote very little, and always only in anticipation of the coming thread, with longer scenes I knew were coming. In fact, I'm not even sure what the last thing that I pre-wrote is. I know one of the space jumps was, but I think it might just have been the one at the very start.

I didn't pre-write the last post, I pretty much just started writing it the moment I posted the one before that, knowing pretty much where it was going and adding in the last bit of user input.

>>36397225
I liked the quest throughout, so even your early work wasn't bad, thanks for sticking with it to the end and good luck with whatever you are doing next.

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217 KB JPG

>>36397225

Whatever you may end up doing, OP, good luck with it!

I'll be waiting for final story expansion for starcraft 2 now.

>>36397799
>I'll be waiting for final story expansion for starcraft 2 now.

Oh, I'm waiting too. It's just a shame that the sc2 story turned so cheesy.. The campaign missions are done incredibly well, but the story behind it all is fairly generic.
Oh well, there's always multiplayer and E-sports.

>>36396881
timezoneanon here, just woke up and caught up.

Thanks for running Supervisor, was great fun.