https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg

Welcome to No One Gets Left Behind! Last thread, things got a little hairy given that Joffrey no longer has hands, had a tracker in his stomach that called down mortar strikes on his positions (don't worry you got it out), and more tension arises amongst the survivors of the Dominion Army. And further down in the Starship, you encounter some near-invincible ball drones firing tranq darts (you hope they're tranqs at least).

You can find previous thread here: >>3109511

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

As per usual, this vote is going up overnight and I will update once I get home. Thanks to the furlough, I might be able to get it slightly early than 6PM EST. Hope to see you there.

>>3137304
>> “Let’s not take any chances. Let’s turn some tables over and build us a little fort. See if they don’t come to us.”

>>3137304
> “Let’s not take any chances. Let’s turn some tables over and build us a little fort. See if they don’t come to us.”
Aww shiet, I didn't think there'd be a new thread until sometime tomorrow afternoon.

>>3137304
>> “Let’s not take any chances. Let’s turn some tables over and build us a little fort. See if they don’t come to us.”

>>3137304
> “Let’s not take any chances. Let’s turn some tables over and build us a little fort. See if they don’t come to us.”
We should have brought Whitney with us.

> “Let’s not take any chances. Let’s turn some tables over and build us a little fort. See if they don’t come to us.”

“Let’s not take any chances,” you say. “Turn some tables over and get a defensive position up. If we try to play their game, we’re not going to last.” Wexley and Grimshaw nod, agreeing. The three of you quickly turn over tables and drag them over to form a quick square fort. Unfortunately, since there’s three of you, you can’t cover all sides. So you’ll have to continuously rotate between the sides. Hopefully someone will have heard the plasma fire at least. You are in confined quarters after all, the echo should carry. If not, well, you at least still have the option of retreating.

The three of you sit and wait. You watch the north end, Wexley the south, and Grimshaw the east end. You don’t hear anything except the high buzzing of the mini-Drones going about their business as if nothing is happening. Sweat runs down your cheek from the anticipation. These things so far have shown themselves to be as hard as rocks. Yet they can be bounced around by impacts from plasma shots. As long as you can juggle them around, they won’t have a chance to fire.

So far, silence on their part.

Grimshaw shakes his head. “It was a bad idea coming down here.”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Wexley responds. “Either down here or out there with the Lizards.”

Grimshaw looks back at Wexley, displeased by that response. “I think I’d prefer getting eaten over getting shot by whatever the hell is in those needles they’re shooting at us! For all I know, they could be firing at acid at us!” If it were acid, you’d know. Besides, only the Dominion so far knows how to use acid effectively in combat. Acid in needles does not work according to your Drill Instructor.

“Quiet,” you say.

…

Your ears perk at the sound of something rolling on the floor. What the hell? It sounds like a bowling ball running over the floor.

Then rolling into view from behind a table is a Drone, with dart gun out and ready. “Down!” you shout. Everyone ducks. The shot flies wide over and smacks against the ceiling before bouncing down onto a slab, spilling its wet muddy brown contents all over the place. You look up and see it quickly roll back into cover. Damn! These bastards know how to ambush!

“Another one!” One rolls around the fort behind you all close, getting Grimshaw to stand up and fire at it. But behind Grimshaw, one rolls out from behind another table.

“Grim!” Wexley grabs Grimshaw’s collar and pulls him down, just in time to avoid the needle aimed for his neck. It flies wide and lands on the floor, bouncing harmlessly. Grimshaw lies on the floor, groaning. He got pulled pretty hard. Another needle smacks against one of the tables. “Frakking hell! Enough of this!” He pulls a frag grenade off of his belt, ready to prime it.

> Throw a frag out there too. If plasma can’t harm them, maybe high explosives will.
> “No! No explosives, we don’t know what they’ll do!”
> Other

>>3138454
>> “No! No explosives, we don’t know what they’ll do!”
Probably use it's force powers to throw it back at us

>>3138454
>> “No! No explosives, we don’t know what they’ll do!”
Fucking hell, don't blow up parts of the ship. Who knows what else will come up to investigate.

Also the explosion will blow out all our ears.

>>3138589
Supporting

> “No! No explosives, we don’t know what they’ll do!”

You grab Wexley’s hand. “No! No explosives, there’s no telling what they’re going to do!”

“Our frakking rifles can’t harm ‘em!” Wexley shouts back. The three of you lie down, covered by the overturned tables as the Drones roll around, trying to take shots at you. They’re going to run out eventually anyway. Hopefully at least. Grimshaw rolls over onto his front, grunting as he crawls up to you three. “What the hell are we supposed to do!?”

As if to answer him, one of the tables gets rammed in, almost squeezing you in two in like a door slamming into a wall. The Drone tries quickly wheel around to catch you all, but Grimshaw quickly sprays it with a burst from the rifle. It gets pushed back against the other table, knocking it over and sending it flying back behind another one out of sight. Goddamn it, these fortifications are not holding up very well! Then another rams the table the three of you are hiding behind. And hits it again, knocking you all onto your sides and backs. The Drone flies up and hovers over, quickly locking onto you with its tranq gun. Son of a bitch!

Then Grimshaw pushes himself up and whacks it with buttstock. You see a burst of energy explode out from the impact, like a short-circuit, along with flecks of strange metal too. The Drone goes flying backwards, bouncing off a table before landing out of view. The other Drone tries to lock onto him, but Grimshaw kicks it with his foot, like a soccer ball. “Ah, son of a-“ Grimshaw flinches back, holding his foot as the Drone rolls back, before spinning like a top and correcting itself. “My foot!”

“Grimshaw!” You shout. You stand up, quickly, before the Drone manages to hit him!

> Melee attack the Drone.
> Shoot at it!
> Pull Grimshaw into cover.
> Other

>>3138847
> Melee attack the Drone.
Melee seems effective
Hopefully the darts are actually tranc darts

>>3138847
>> Melee attack the Drone.
Use our Ubermensch body

>>3138847
>> Melee attack the Drone

Alright. Roll me three 3d10s. Here are the rules as usual: https://pastebin.com/nhswziq6

Your DC is 20.

Rolled 1, 4, 1 = 6 (3d10)

>>3138944
O-oh

>>3138944

File: 1497486393760.jpg (32 KB, 486x412)

32 KB JPG

Rolled 10, 8, 9 = 27 (3d10)

>>3138944

Rolled 9, 1, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>3138944
Let's try that again shall we

>>3138967
Good job anon.

>>3138967
Glorious.

> Melee attack the Drone.

You shove Grimshaw out of the way and rush the Drone. It immediately rolls out of the way of your golf swing of a melee attack. You try to kick it, but it again rolls out of the way too, apparently having learned the lesson from the visual handily provided by the last beach ball of a Drone to get knocked away by a melee strike. It rolls back up a meter or two then cocks its tranq gun again, pointed at you. Son of a bitch, these things are fast!

Then Wexley fires at it. It spaz fires the needle straight into the ceiling. Its eye flashes blue for a second, before it quickly retreats and rolls away. You see the other Drone rolling away too, apparently also giving up. “That’s right, run you bastards!” yells Wexley. Son of a bitch, those frakking things!

But they aren’t retreating. They spin around and fire a pair of needles. “Down!” You grab Wexley’s shoulder and pull him down to a kneel. Grimshaw ducks too. He fires from a crouching position, spraying plasma onto the floor as they quickly roll away and retreat.

“These things are really starting to piss me off!” Grimshaw says.

“Oh, so that behavior before was just you being you then, eh?” asks Wexley.

“Shut up or I’ll tear your arm off!” Grimshaw yells. The Drones again have retreated into cover. But you notice that you haven’t spotted the third one that Grimshaw whacked yet. Either it’s still hiding and repairing its injury or it’s damaged to the point where it probably can’t function. Hopefully the latter than the former. Grimshaw stands up, looking around. “Right. We better-“ You hear a clacking noise from behind you three.

The three of you turn around and look. The third Drone has quietly managed to float around in the chaos and got to the door controls to the bulkhead leading in here. The –only- way out of here. It fires a beam at the lever, switching it the other way. The bulkhead starts closing slowly, metal screeching as it again unsettles into motion. The three of you are near the center of the room. Given that running there would mean crossing all these obstacles and other items all over the place and running half the length of a football field…

It’s trying to trap you three in here!

> Run for the door!
> You’re not going to make that. Don’t bother and just prepare yourselves.
> Run for the controls on your side of the door. This is going to be the strangest game of “open closey” you’ve played yet.
> Other

Unfortunately it's far too late for me and it seems to be a quiet night anyway. So we shall pause here while I get some sleep. Go ahead and leave your votes in overnight and I shall return in the morning for more.

Go ahead and discuss your impending doom.

>>3139188
> Run for the controls on your side of the door. This is going to be the strangest game of “open closey” you’ve played yet.
BALLS!

> Run for the door!

>>3139188
>> Run for the controls on your side of the door. This is going to be the strangest game of “open closey” you’ve played yet.
Hold the door open long enough for the other two to get out.

>>3139188
>> Run for the controls on your side of the door. This is going to be the strangest game of “open closey” you’ve played yet.

>>3139264
Seconding this

>>3139406
Support
Someone must be controlling them. This is just too troll.

We're back. But I also need dice rolls. Give me three 3d10s as usual and let's see how screwed you are.

Rolled 6, 3, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>3139685

>>3139685
Praise the omnissiah

Rolled 5, 3, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>3139685

Rolled 2, 9, 6 = 17 (3d10)

>>3139685

I forgot to include the DC in my initial post but let's just say you succeeded.

>>3139703
What was it anyway? Just curious.

>>3139708
15.

>>3139712
Nice;that was close.

> Run for the controls on your side of the door. This is going to be the strangest game of “open closey” you’ve played yet.

“The door!” You sprint and leap over one of the overturned tables then hurry yourself to the controls on your side. The bulkhead continues to close, slowly but if you really wanted to you could probably escape just barely. That’s not what you’re out to do though. The other Drones quickly pop out and fire needles at you. The needles scrape and bounce off your shoulder plates and backplate. Thank God, you don’t listen to your own advice about not taking armor!

Grimshaw and Wexley cover as they follow you, firing at them. The Drones roll back into cover, waiting for a better opportunity. You should consider yourself lucky that they don’t have knockout gas or something because you’re pretty sure in this confusion you’ve lost the NBC protective mask.

Finally you reach the door control. You grab the lever and switch it up. The bulkhead stops, then starts falling down slowly to open. Yes! The Drone floats up, looking at you three. Then it floats back down. The door stops again and starts going up to close. Son of a bitch! This is the most tense game of open closey you’ve played in a while! You switch the lever down then pull it up. The bulkhead stops, then it starts moving downwards again.

Just enough for Grimshaw to hop over. The Drone turns to Grimshaw, readying a needle. Too late. “Eat this!” Grimshaw golf swings the Drone into the wall, splattering metal flecks and electrical sparks all over the place. It bounces around like a beach ball before finally coming to rest. Wexley joins in as well, bashing it over the armor with the grip of his pistol. The two of them start smashing and kicking at the Drone while you hurry over the bulkhead. The two remaining Drones float up over the bulkhead, then quickly flee back.

“Hey, hey!” you call. The two stop their smashing. At least, Grimshaw gives it one final kick then stops. You look down at it. It uselessly spins in place, distorted beeping and whirring coming from inside. There are some visible cracks, not dents, in the armor. It’s almost like an eggshell of some kind.

“What the hell do we do with this thing?” asks Wexley.

“I say we scrap it, no less than this frakking robot deserves!” Grimshaw hisses. He kicks it again. It sparks once more, another crack in the shell.

> Take it upstairs, to examine and disassemble to figure out how it works.
> Destroy it. Better not risk anything.
> Leave it for now. Maybe it’ll tell the others that you’re not to be trifled with.
> Other

>>3139803
>> Take it upstairs, to examine and disassemble to figure out how it works

>>3139803
>Take it upstairs, to examine and disassemble to figure out how it works.

>>3139803
>> Take it upstairs, to examine and disassemble to figure out how it works.
Nice to see this running

>>3139803
>> Take it upstairs, to examine and disassemble to figure out how it works.
Nielson and Dino, we got another job for you

> Take it upstairs, to examine and disassemble to figure out how it works.

“Let’s take it upstairs,” you say. “We’ll examine it, disassemble it, see what makes it tick.” It continues spinning in place uselessly. But Wexley and Grimshaw see what you’re saying and squat down to pick it up. It stops spinning in their arms. Then Wexley and Grimshaw flinch back, a sharp sound of static coming from the ball.

“Ah! Son of a- That frakking thing shocked us!” Grimshaw yells. It kicks the Drone at Wexley. Wexley kicks it back in response.

“Maybe we could just play soccer with it instead,” says Wexley.

“Forget it, let’s just knock it upstairs,” you say. You take your Carbine and gently tap it down the way towards the stairwell. It starts rolling to it. You never thought you’d be playing golf down here but here you are. Wexley and Grimshaw get on either side of it to herd it around to the door. Might be a bit of a stretch, but you’ll see what happens.

…

…

>>3139993
“Easy, easy, easy!” The three of you managed to get the ball onto a bedsheet from the Command truck. Once you somehow got back upstairs, you’re joined by some of the others. Hood and Connell look at the Drone curiously, while Nielson, Cope, Harrell, Whitney, and Early look around from behind the pack. You take it to the Medbay, where you find Graves, Tombs, and Joffrey. Tombs and Graves turn around from checking on Joffrey. “Connell, clear us a table, will ya?” Connell moves past then clears one of the tables for you all to settle the Drone on. “Keep some rifles on it, it might try something. Don’t get cocky.”

Graves stares at you all, clearly displeased. “I only patch up humans, Daddy. Robots are kind of out of my league.”

“Don’t worry,” you say, panting heavily. That thing is deceptively heavy. Grimshaw and Wexley step up on either side of you, just as exhausted and worn out as you. “Look, I can explain.”

Harrell says, “What is it?”

“It’s a Drone from downstairs, you remember?” you ask. “Now, see-… Nielson! Can-“ You hunch over, your back is killing you. Not to mention your arms too! “Nielson, can you figure out what the hell that thing is?” Nielson nods, stepping into the crowd. Everyone looks at it as if it’s some kind of freakshow at the circus. “Now. It tanks plasma shots. But thanks to Grim over here, we found out it’s quite vulnerable to physical strikes.”

“Physical strikes?” asks Cope.

“I whacked it with my gun,” Grimshaw mutters. Harrell and Cope nod, understanding.

“I brought it up here so we can examine it, figure out how it works,” you explain. “Think we can make something of it if it turns out to be useful. Maybe we can figure out if it runs the ship or how it does anything. You should’ve seen the things down there. They’re getting the systems down there working again.”

Harrell folds his arms. “… Maybe there’s some hope yet.” You can understand the sentiment but… wow, holy shit your back is just not letting you rest. Goddamn!

> “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
> “If it’s getting the lights and other systems working, maybe there’s a chance the ship works too.”
> “I’m sorry, my back is killing me, can we debrief on this later?”
> Other

>>3140000
>“I’m sorry, my back is killing me, can we debrief on this later?”

>>3140000
>> “I’m sorry, my back is killing me, can we debrief on this later?”
My neck, my back....

> “If it’s getting the lights and other systems working, maybe there’s a chance the ship works too.”

>>3140000

>“I’m sorry, my back is killing me, can we debrief on this later?”

>>3140000
>> “I’m sorry, my back is killing me, can we debrief on this later?”
Paranoia kicking in.

>>3140000
> Other
Tiny little alien dwarfs in the flying balls.

> “I’m sorry, my back is killing me, can we debrief on this later?”

“I’m sorry, I just hauled this damn thing up a flight of stairs, would you mind if I rest my back and I can debrief you two later?”

“Very well.” Lieutenant Harrell pats your back, making you flinch in response. He smirks, nodding to Cope. “Cope, take watch outside again. Everyone besides the medics and Nielson, please disperse. Nothing to see here until there’s something to see.” With that, Harrell leads the group of bystanders out of the Medbay.

Grimshaw nods to you. “Good job out there, Boss.” You nod back at him. Wexley tips his helmet to you too, smiling. The two of them take their leave back to wherever they may be going. Right now, you just sit down on a table, groaning a little as you rub your back. Nielson whistles as he carefully examines the now still Drone. You watch as he tests the shell with his knife, before trying to find some way to pry the shell open.

Graves steps up to you. “You know, Daddy. I did tell you that you probably needed to do something about your back, did I not?”

“I forgot, okay?” you say. “Besides, it wasn’t killing me before.”

“But it’s killing you now. Jesus Christ, you know I have an age limit for guys I will willingly rut with,” she remarks. “That back thing you’ve got ages you like fifty years and I’d rather not suck a cock that’s shriveled up and dry.” Oh God, please no mental images. “Now, I can work my magic, give you a bit of a handsy massage, maybe even a handjob while I’m at it. But I’d also recommend the AutoDoc too to put you under for a few hours. We can even fix the hand as well and-“ She looks around. “Oh Goddamn it, Wexley’s gone too. I was going to get him under the AutoDoc as well.”

> “Just give me a massage for now, hold the handjob. I’d rather not use the AutoDoc unless I have to.”
> “Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look.”
> “I’m fine. I just need to relax a little bit.”
> Other

>>3140206
>> “Just give me a massage for now, hold the handjob.
We can use the autodoc later after taking apart the machine and debriefing.

>>3140206
> “Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look.”

>>3140206
>> “Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look.”
Its time we look after ourselves

>>3140206
>> “Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look.”

>>3140206
>> “Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look.”

>>3140206
>“Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look.”

> “Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look.”

You sigh, rubbing your nose. “Fine, put me under. Let’s have the AutoDoc take a look at me, see what he can fix.”

Graves nods. You lie back on the table as she goes to activate the AutoDoc. Graves switches him on. “GREETINGS, FELLOW MEDIC, ARE WE HAVING A FINE D-“ Graves whacks it upside the head. “REQUEST FOR NO CONVERSATION NOTED.” The AutoDoc marches on over to you, scanning you quickly. “PATIENT VERIFIED. PLEASE HOLD STILL AS I ADMINISTER THE DRUGS.” It draws a syringe from its hand, then gently jabs it into your vein. You always hated needles. You blink as it holds a hand over your eyes. “I HAVE NOTED A BACK INJURY AND A HEALING BROKEN HAND. BONE REGENERATIVE PASTE WILL BE APPLIED AND SET. COUNT TO FIVE, PLEASE.”

“One.” You blink, the world slowly going dark. “Two…” Your eyelids become heavier than tanks. And quickly they shut. “Th-…”

You don’t even make it to five.

…

…

You’re walking down the hall of the Starship to the door. Hm. Did you wake up already? The drugs must have knocked you out. All you remember is that they needed help outside on watch. Sergeant Cope should be out there already. You place a hand on the sheathe holding your machete. Ready to go.

You open the door and find Sergeant Cope leaning on a barricade, smoking a cigarette. He turns around at you. “Ah, Corporal. You’re back. How was the surgery?”

“Just fine,” you say. “Back couldn’t be better. My hand is feeling good I think.”

Sergeant Cope nods. “Good. Listen, everyone else is asleep right now. Just you and me out here so do me a favor. Watch left. I’ll watch right.” You nod, taking the other side. Just the two of you out here? You look to him. He tilts his head, confused. “Corporal, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you say. You take a breath, thumping your chest a little.

He nods slowly, squinting a little. “Listen, Corporal. If you’ve got a problem, I’d like to know about it. Is it Tierney? I know she’s got quite the crush on you.”

> “Sergeant, I just don’t believe in your ability to lead anymore.”
> “I said I’m fine.”
> “It’s not Tierney. She’s not that big of a problem.”
> Other

>>3140430
>> “It’s not Tierney. She’s not that big of a problem.”
DREAM SEQUENCE TIME

>>3140430
>“It’s not Tierney. She’s not that big of a problem.”

>>3140430
>“It’s not Tierney. She’s not that big of a problem.”

>>3140430
>> “It’s not Tierney. She’s not that big of a problem.”

> K̶̫̗͆I̵͖͌L̸͈̭̈́̂̽L̸̜̎ ̵̡͇̊̍ͅH̵̹̻͛Í̴̺̖̫̾̚Ḿ̷̻͙ ̸̠̯̀͗K̵̢͐Ỉ̸͚̹L̶̨͔̂L̵͚͝ ̷̭́̿̀Ḧ̶̤́̈́I̷̮͊̀͝M̴̪̫̊͘ ̴̬̊͒K̴̡̛͔̔I̴̚͜L̷̺̀̐̊Ĺ̵̜̥̄͗ ̴̭͗̀̒H̶̻̍Ḭ̵͓̏M̶̤̼̋͗̇

You walk up to Sergeant Cope, then draw your machete. “What the hell, Corporal!?” You swing. His nose and face get slashed in two. “Ah! Aah!” He screams, falling on his back, blood pouring out of the new wound you’ve created on his face. You draw the machete back, his blood dripping down the blade and onto your fingers. “W- wait! Wait!” He holds up his hand, trying to crawl back and away. “Stop! Stop, Corporal! Please!” Your next swing deprives him of his hand. He howls, holding his bleeding, squirting, stump of a hand. You chop down into his shoulder, he screams again. Then into his chest. Then into his legs. And into his neck. And into his head once more.

And not a damn thing you can feel doing this. He’s stopped screaming. He’s nothing but pulp. You should’ve done this days ago. You’ll do it to Harrell. You’ll do it to Godwin. You’ll do it to anyone who gets in your damn way.

Tierney opens the door. “What’s going on out-“ You advance on her. “Hey-… Hey, what are you? Wh- stop, stop right there! Stop!” she screams. You raise your machete up.

Just kill them ALL KILL THEM KILL THEM ALL

…

…

You blink, waking up. You’re drenched in sweat as your body twitches and struggles on the table. Graves leans over you, quickly shining a light into your eyes with a penlight. “Relax, Daddy.” You lie there, blinking. What in the hell was that? She shuts the light off, looking at you. “Are you okay?”

You’re speechless. What in God’s name was that? You nod slowly, sitting up a bit and wiping some sweat off of your cheeks. Back feels fine now. And so does your hand too. You look at your hand and find the splint on it gone, with nary but a little mark on your palm to indicate the surgery. “I’m fine,” you say.

Graves leans on the table, giving you an inquisitive look. She’s quiet for a few seconds, then says, “You know, the AutoDoc says you might have some brain damage. You took some real big blows apparently to the head. Unfortunately, AutoDocs don’t do brain injuries. We’d need to get you back shipside to see what’s really wrong with you.”

“Is that so?” you ask. She nods. You look around. Nielson and the Drone are gone. Joffrey is asleep in his bed. It was just you and Graves it seems. “That’s uh… Where’s Nielson?”

“I shooed him away,” says Graves. “He decided to take the thing to the Steno, see if he could make more sense of it.” She sees your skeptical look. “Don’t worry, I have Connell and Hood guarding him. He should be safe.” Right. She tilts her head. “Daddy, you’re sweating all over the place. Did you have a nightmare or something?”

> “It’s nothing.”
> “On the contrary, I was dreaming about you. What else would I dream about?”
> “I dreamt that I killed Cope. And was probably about to kill others.”
> Other

>>3140615
> “On the contrary, I was dreaming about you. What else would I dream about?”

>>3140615
> “I dreamt that I killed Cope. And was probably about to kill others.”
We NEED to start sharing our burden. It's taxing us much more than we think.

>>3140615
>> Other
Welp, time to go see the Steno, see how it does with the little fucker of a drone.

>>3140615
> “I dreamt that I killed Cope. And was probably about to kill others.”

>>3140627
>Other
"Since I trust you Graves I'll tell you."
> “I dreamt that I killed Cope. And was probably about to kill others.”

>>3140615
>“I dreamt that I killed Cope. And was probably about to kill others.”

You know, I think we deserve some "R&R" after the past few days

> “I dreamt that I killed Cope. And was probably about to kill others.”

You sit on the edge of the table. Graves pushes herself up and sits next to you, crossing her legs. “So, I did have a dream. More of a nightmare. Maybe. I don’t know.” She looks at you, some concern in her eyes. “It was… brutal. I dreamt that I chopped up Cope with my machete.” Graves continues looking at you, her concern getting much more obvious. “And that I was turning on the others. Tierney was there too. And-…” You lean back, sighing a little bite. It’s making you feel horrible talking about this, like someone is stabbing your heart and sucking the air from your lungs. “It was horrible. I don’t know why I dreamt that.”

Graves nods slowly, looking at the floor. Goddamn it. You don’t want this. The last thing you need is people being –scared- of you. After everything you’ve done up to this point, everything that’s happened, you won’t make it all for naught just because of a knock to the head. She looks at you again, raising an eyebrow. “Was I there?”

“What?”

“Was in your dream?” she asks.

“… maybe? I-… I can’t remember,” you say. “You know how dreams are.” Wait. “Why are you even asking?”

“Cutting the tension,” she says. Oh. She snorts, a light little laugh from her. “Look, Daddy.” She scoots closer, her thigh up against yours. “I’m really glad you’re talking to me about this.” What? You lean back a little, surprised.

“I- I thought you’d be scared,” you say.

“Daddy, I’m more terrified of people who don’t open up and refuse to talk to people about their problems,” she says. “Look. I’ve told you this before. I’m a medic. I deal with a lot of tough guys who think that they can just say ‘I’ll walk it off’ or ‘It’s nothing’ or ‘None of your business’.” She then punches your arm, hard.

“Ow!” You hold your arm, backing away from her.

“It’s my damn business,” Graves says, firmly, almost angrily. “We work together. We’re a team. We’re stronger together. And people who refuse to take care of themselves drag the others down.” You sit there, somewhat in shock. You figured Graves to be a responsible medic. But you never thought her to actually be understanding of something like this. “Now.” She scoots back closer to you again. “I know this seems scary, these thoughts you’re having. But they’re just that. They’re thoughts. What matters is the actions you’re taking. Do you feel like killing me now?”

“Of course not,” you say.

“Have you ever felt like you wanted to kill someone?” she asks.

“…” You pause, thinking. She gives you a very angry look. She knows you’re hiding. “Cope and I don’t see eye to eye. He’s been difficult to deal with.”

“Right.” She nods at that. “I’m not going to try and play mediator. But what I am going to do is say that perhaps you need to rest and relax a little. I mean, you’ve been constantly moving for the past week or so. You almost were killed in fact. I’d say almost twice or thrice over since we got here. Now.” She sighs, pausing too for a few seconds. “When I get stressed, and you will find moments like these too I assume, here’s what I do. I think about things that calm me and sooth me.”

You nod. “Calming and soothing.” You think of home. Hopewell. Wild green grass. Beautiful blue skies. Roaming plains. You think of Francine Blake. Much as she did kind of stand you up, she was a fairly nice girl those few times you interacted with her. And you think of Graves too. She’s doing all this for you. She’s intelligent. She’s rather motherly. If somewhat caustic and slutty but…

She snaps her fingers, getting your attention. “Also, this is something I do to calm me really quickly in times of stress. I like to steady my breathing. Time it. Count to five.” She runs her hands up her chest, breathing in. “Breath in.” She runs them down. “Breath out.” She smiles. “Try it with me.” Right. Breath in. You take a slow, but generous inhalation of air. “Breath out,” she says. You exhale, slowly, gently. You take a deep breath in again, then out once more. Slowly, it seems like the stress is just letting off your shoulders. It’s not going away as long as you think about it. But it seems less heavy on your mind. “Sometimes we just need a moment to breathe.” She places a hand on your arm, smiling at you.

“Right. Right.” It’s… amazing. You feel so much better now. You predict that things again will probably stress you out once more but it feels like you’re thinking so much more clearly now. “Thank you, Graves.”

She smiles, a sweet gentle smile. You can feel blood rushing to your cheeks at the sight of it. “Don’t mention it, Daddy.”

> “You know, I noticed Tombs called you Maggie back there.”
> “Guess I’ll take it easy and trust the others to handle themselves for now.”
> “You know, I noticed somewhere in all of that you didn’t make a pass at me.”
> "I better go check on Nielson. Thanks again for your help."
> Other

>>3140820
> “You know, I noticed somewhere in all of that you didn’t make a pass at me.”

>>3140820
>"I better go check on Nielson. Thanks again for your help."

>>3140820
> “You know, I noticed somewhere in all of that you didn’t make a pass at me.”

>>3140832
Sure

>>3140820
>> “You know, I noticed somewhere in all of that you didn’t make a pass at me.”

> “You know, I noticed somewhere in all of that you didn’t make a pass at me.”

“You know, I noticed somewhere in all of that you didn’t make a pass at me,” you remark.

Graves shrugs, uncrossing her legs before crossing them once more. “Probably not the best thing to do when a person is seriously going through the first stages of a mental breakdown.” Well. You suppose that’s true. “But, the way I see it, I’m not particularly in the mood to play sexual chicken with you either.” She snorts. “Besides, I know Tierney’s after you. I think it’d break her heart if she found out I kept making passes at you.”

“We’re not-…” You sigh. “We’re not a couple.” Graves shrugs again, smirking. “I mean, Tierney’s a nice girl. I think she’s attractive too. But…”

“She’s not your type,” she says.

“I mean, any girl who shows me attention is my type in my opinion,” you say quickly. Graves snickers, giving you a very side long look at that statement. “But, the way things are, it’d feel wrong to have relations with people. We’re trying to get off this planet, not settle down. And if… if those Drones are really repairing this ship right under our feet, we might be closer than we think.”

“Right, right.” Graves folds her arms, looking up at the ceiling. “You know, Daddy. Can I ask you a question?” You tilt your head. “You a virgin?” She what. You glance away, then back at her. “You’re a virgin.”

“H-“

“Nah, nah, nah.” She shakes her head, quickly pressing her finger against your lips. “I know a guy who’s pure as the winter snow when I see one.” You gently bat her hand away, giving her a little glare in response. So what if you haven’t had sex before? You’ve kissed girls before on occasion. The way you see it, your first time is special anyway. It’s not something to be used up. “Listen, Daddy. Sexual health is just as important as your physical one. People get frustrated, they get angry, they get lonely too.”

“What. Should I start masturbating regularly then?” you ask sarcastically.

“I mean, I still find time to do it,” Graves says bluntly. … what?

“God. How did we get to this?” you ask. “This little conversation we’re having?”

“You being a virgin.”

“You-…” You stop. No. You’re not going to win. Goddamn it.

Honestly surprised she didn't tell us to go beat one off in the shower

She leans up against you, her head against your shoulder. “Ah. The innocence of youth.”

“You’re only a few years older than me, don’t talk like that,” you say to her. She rolls her eye. “Look, Graves. If you’re that thirsty for me, why don’t you just ask?”

Graves quirks her brow, looking up at you. “I have been asking. You keep thinking I’m joking.” Oh. Ooohhh. She shrugs, smirking. “Of course, I could always ask someone else. Nielson’s pretty cute. And Wexley… I mean Wexley’s a dick but I like a guy who can sing.” She’s trying to make you jealous. She’s trying to get under your skin.

And goddamn it, it’s working. Graves snickers. “Hehe. And while I suck their cocks and ride them like bulls, you can always beat it in the shower because you’re –too- nice to have sex with girls before marriage.”

> “Right. I better check on Nielson.”
> “I have a mind to tear off your clothes and ravage you right now if you keep this up.”
> “Graves, serious. Let’s not do this. At least not until we have some semblance of safety.”
> Other

>>3141122
> Other
Running missions for everyone doesn't really give me time for my mind to linger. I haven't had the energy for any advances either, truth to be told. Who knows, maybe these few days off for me will turn me into a hungry beast

>>3141122
>> “Right. I better check on Nielson.”
Ye, time to visit Nielson.

>>3141122
>“I have a mind to tear off your clothes and ravage you right now if you keep this up.”

>>3141122
>> “I have a mind to tear off your clothes and ravage you right now if you keep this up.”

>>3141122
>> “I have a mind to tear off your clothes and ravage you right now if you keep this up.”

>>3141122
> “I have a mind to tear off your clothes and ravage you right now if you keep this up.”
BUT
>>3141139

>>3141364
This but with Joffrey in the room and without eyes he might have some super human hearing...

>>3141498
Make sure he's sedated then....

> “I have a mind to tear off your clothes and ravage you right now if you keep this up.”

“Graves.” She looks at you, now curious. “I have a mind to tear off your clothes and ravage you right now if you keep this up.”

She gasps, mockingly. “My word, Daddy! How vulgar of you!” You stare at her, not really amused. “Why, I should report you to the Lieutenant. He’ll sort you out for saying such things to me.” She steps off the table, then says, “Of course, if you were actually serious you’d just do it.”

“Don’t tempt me,” you say. “I can be rough when I want to be.”

She quirks her brow. “I love rough.” She sneers, aiming to put her gloves on from her belt. “Anyway, Daddy. I’ll stop. I can tell you’re uncomfortable.” Very. Very uncomfortable. And also contemplating forcing her down and taking her right then and there. “But tell you what. I know you got to see Nielson anyway to see how the Drone is doing. Give him my warm regards.”

You keep staring at her, before finally sighing and standing up. “I will. But you know, maybe if I take a day off from doing all the hard work, I might get hungry for things other than food and water.”

“I know, I haven’t had candy in days,” says Graves. She sighs, almost genuinely frustrated by that. “You know, I actually had a supply of Jubis in my satchel but they got ruined when we went into the water. Shame, I would’ve shared them with you.” You roll your eyes. “Don’t give me that, I really would’ve. Candy’s a good way to treat yourself. So long as it’s done in moderation. Same with chocolates. But thing about me is that most of the fat goes to…” She points to her chest. You’ve been noticing more and more lately that her breasts are quite large. Larger than the rest of the girls here at least. “Yeah.”

“Yeah. Guess I’ll go check on Nielson then.” You start towards the door. But before you do, you turn around. “And by the way. Those advances of yours are unbecoming.”

She gasps again. “Unbecoming! Wow! Did you really say such a thing? Why, I should genuflect and apologize deeply for rising above my station as a woman, Mister Man!” She shakes her hips angrily at that remark. She sticks her tongue out at you. “Now get outta here! If you need me, I’ll be in here.”

You exit the Medbay, then shut the door behind you. You grit your teeth and quickly adjust your pants, specifically your crotch. Goddamn that woman turns you on but goddamn she –annoys- you to no end. One of these days you’ll learn her.

You’re about to go when Burke nudges you. “Boo.” You turn to her. “… the hell’s up with you? Did your bottom bitch refuse to put out?” … well. She isn’t wrong when she says it like that. “Whatever. I need to talk with Nielson. Do you know where he is?” Well. Nielson’s popular around these parts.

“He’s in the lab with the Steno,” you say. “Why? What’s up?”

“I need someone that can do some work for me. I found some of the saplings outside that seem pretty springy. I’m thinking maybe I can craft a bow or something.” A bow? Actually. Might not be the worst idea. Might actually be helpful. “What. You never use a bow before, Boo?”

“I mean, I knew a guy or two who did,” you say.

She nods. “Well, if you see Nielson. Tell him to meet me outside. I could use those strong muscles of his.”

“Why not one of the other guys?” you ask.

Burke says, “You want me to explain to them that in an era where we’re using plasma-firing rifles, I want a bow?” That is actually a good point. “Just do it, Boo.”

> “Hold on. I’ll help you. Nielson’s busy anyway.”
> “You can come ask Nielson yourself. He’ll love it if you do.”
> “Alright, I’ll tell him. See if he’s not too busy.”
> Other

>>3141534
>> “Alright, I’ll tell him. See if he’s not too busy.”

I must sleep for now, but we shall resume in the morning. So go ahead and leave your votes in overnight as usual.

Go ahead and discuss things like crafting weapons, who the best girl is, and other shit.

>>3141534
>> “Alright, I’ll tell him. See if he’s not too busy.”
Fucking Graves, what a tease. Our MC certainly has wills of steel

>>3141534
>> “Alright, I’ll tell him. See if he’s not too busy.”

>>3141541
Thanks for running duder.

>>3141541
I gotta ask, how long does it usually take to write a post? Since you don't post that little update like most other QMs

>>3141549
Question: When can we give Graves the DEEPEST DICKING of her life?
Answer: After we put a lil' scout in Burke.

>>3141590
And we rock Tierney's small frame with our 6'3 man body?

>>3141596
Damn right

>>3141590
>>3141596
Don't be greedy now, there's not enough to go around to be hoarding all the wahmen.

>>3141685
We're top dawg, we get the women

File: Precious Virginity!.jpg (68 KB, 612x600)

68 KB JPG

>>3141122
> Other
>PATROL THAT THOT!
BEGONE THOT! WE SHAN"T HAVE YOU SULLY OUR PURITY!

>>3141708
>>3141708
Pure my ass; MC was the guy who decided to enlist because his crush thought guys in uniform were cool after all.

>>3141742
In body not mind.

>>3141742
>implying that's not pure
That's pure naive purity, my dude.

> “Alright, I’ll tell him. See if he’s not too busy.”

“Alright, I’ll tell him, Burke. I’ll see if he’s not too busy.” She folds her arms, nodding in approval. “You know, he’d appreciate it if you’d ask him yourself.”

“What are you, his Dad?” she asks. Eh, you might as well be at this point. “Makes your bottom bitch calling you Daddy much more weirder you know.” Please stop. “Anyway. I’ll be outside. He better meet me out there if he’s going to help me.” Fair enough. With that, she turns around and leaves, pushing her poncho up over her shoulder as she holds her DMR under her arm. Right then. Time to go chgeck on the Steno finally.

You open the door and look inside. You find Nielson kneeling down beside the Drone while the Steno carefully disassembles parts and pieces inside of it. They’ve managed to get that eggshell of a hull open. Hood and Connell watch closely, rifles at the ready while Tierney stays back, watching too. You step up next to Tierney. “How’s he been?” you ask.

She looks up at you, then says, “When Nielson brought it in, the Steno rushed him. We almost shot him but the Steno took the Drone and started disassembling it.” She snaps her finger. “Just like that. It’s almost as if the Steno knows how it works.” Oh?

“Hey, Boss, come look at this!” Nielson grins, excited. You walk on over, and you see in his hands the flecks of metal that form the outer layer of the Drone’s shell. “Now, this is something really cool. This ain’t anything the Dominion owns. Now. These little pieces of metal are pretty inert by themselves.” He crushes it in his hands, and once he opens it up they come out like powder. “But. Watch this. Look.” You kneel down, and watch closely.

The powder that used to be flecks of metal seem to move on their own. Almost as if there’s an invisible force compelling them to. Slowly, the powder pile starts forming back into flecks of metal. And much more slowly, you see those flecks start to form up into larger pieces no bigger than your finger nail. Nielson laughs a little. “It’s amazing! It’s some kind of living metal! It regenerates on its own!”

“Can we use it?” asks Hood.

“I- I don’t know,” Nielson says quickly. “This isn’t something I know how to use. Maybe the Steno might.” The Steno pulls out a glowing orb from within. The Drone’s eye lights die out on its removal. He carefully places it down on the floor then goes back to disassembly. Hood and Connell stare at the Steno, disapprovingly. “Jesus Christ, look at this thing!” Nielson takes the orb.

>>3142027
The orb itself is no bigger than a tennis ball. And yet it glows blue like a bright diamond. It’s encased in a metal cage. And despite Nielson somewhat foolishly just picking it up with his bare hands, it’s not even hot to the touch like a worn plasma battery might be. “This must be the power source.” He nudges the Steno. The Steno looks up at Nielson. “Power source?” He points to the orb. The Steno clicks its teeth, then goes back to what it was doing.

“… you can talk to it?” you ask.

Tierney steps up, looking at it. “I mean, sometimes I talk to it when I’m watching it. Nothing important, just… it gets lonely guarding it by myself sometimes.” You look up at her. She smiles, nervously. “I think it understands what we’re saying.” That wouldn’t be incredibly surprisingly. The Dominion –did- send a diplomatic envoy first before invasion. It’s just the Lizards were incredibly clear on how displeased they were at them. The Steno clicks its teeth again, taking the orb out from Nielson’s hand before placing it down on the floor, gently and carefully again.

> “Well, once he disassembles it fully, let’s have a look and see what we can decipher.”
> “Nielson. Burke needs you to help her with something.”
> Try and communicate with the Steno. If he actually does understand you, maybe you can get something out of him.
> “I haven’t seen you this excited before, Nielson.”
> Other

>>3141577
Takes me some time to wait for votes first but as for writing the update, can take anywhere between half an hour to an hour. Usually I like to make the posts as big as possible so we can stuff as much plot advancement and character stuff in while moving along at a nice pace.

>>3141590
Technically you can give any of the girls the D whenever you want. It's all about having enough tact to know when tho.

>>3142029
>> “Nielson. Burke needs you to help her with something.”

>>3142031
Bit hard right now with us running from crisis to crisis though. Hopefully things can settle down a bit first.

>>3142029
>> “Nielson. Burke needs you to help her with something.”

>>3142029
>> “Nielson. Burke needs you to help her with something.”

>>3142029
>> “Nielson. Burke needs you to help her with something.”
>Make sure to give the Steno some more meat as thanks for it's cooperation.

> “Nielson. Burke needs you to help her with something.”

“Well, Nielson, I got another job for you,” you say.

He looks at you, his grin dropping a little. “Oh, is this about the shower? I know Harrell wants me to move it out of the command truck and into one of the closets or something but I keep telling him that moving all that plumbing and all that equipment is going to be a while.”

“No, no, it’s about Burke,” you say. He tilts his head, confused. “She wants your help in building a bow.”

“A bow?” Connell leans over, curious. “What is this, 1415?” Great. Probably shouldn’t have said that out loud.

“Yes, a bow,” you say. Nielson looks pretty confused by that too. Tierney and Hood glance at each other as well, silent agreement as to how weird that sounds. “Now, do you know how to whittle wood, how to make bowstring?”

“I mean, kinda?” he says. “I used to do bowhunting as a kid but… that was when I was a kid.”

“You mean you’re not?” asks Hood. Nielson gives him the finger in response.

“Look, can you go help her?” you ask. “If you’re not too busy.”

Nielson sighs, rubbing his nose. “Y-… Yeah, I guess.” He stands up, rubbing his arm a little. “It’s just. She still scares me a little bit.”

“Nielson, she asked for –you- specifically. That must mean she at least trusts you,” you say.

“That or she just finds you useful enough that she won’t consider eating you if we run out of food,” Hood says. You roll your eyes. Only Hood seems to find that funny. “What? It’s a joke. Besides, we all know we’ll eat Connell when we run out of food. Look at him. I call dibs on his beautiful flanks.”

“Har har, you motherless bastard,” Connell says. Hood winks at Connell, grinning. Yes, it is true that Connell is a little on the heavy side but that does not mean you’ll ever resort to cannibalism. Not with the plentiful meat and fruit in this swamp.

Nielson sighs, folding his arms. “Well, fine I’ll go help her. But can you like… go with me? Just, I mean, talking to you is comfortable. But talking with her is kind of um… weird.”

Tierney smiles, leaning over. “I can go with you, Nielson.” Nielson looks at Tierney, then at you. He’s pleading for assistance.

> “We’ll both go. Hood, Connell, you make sure this Lizard doesn’t do anything stupid.”
> “I’ll go. Tierney, you stay.”
> “Go with him, Tierney. He’ll appreciate friendly company.”
> Other

>>3142108
>> “Go with him, Tierney. He’ll appreciate friendly company.”

>>3142113
Supporting

>>3142108
>> “Go with him, Tierney. He’ll appreciate friendly company.”
Lets see if we can get some time with the dino, one on one. give him some meat to open "discussion"

>>3142108
>“We’ll both go. Hood, Connell, you make sure this Lizard doesn’t do anything stupid.”

>>3142108
>> “Go with him, Tierney. He’ll appreciate friendly company.”
I want to have a moment with the steno.

> “Go with him, Tierney. He’ll appreciate friendly company.”

“Go with him, Tierney. He’ll appreciate a friendly face I think.” Tierney grins, standing up. Nielson nods, smiling at you too.

“Alright, come on, Tierney.” Nielson leads Tierney to the door.

“She’ll be outside!” you say quickly. “Try to be careful when you’re out there!” Nielson gives you a quick salute, then heads out. Tierney waves goodbye at all of you, happily following behind him.

Connell snorts, snickering. “You know, I bet Tierney must be a real freak in bed. It’s always the ones that put on them innocent airs.” He what. You glare at him. “Oh, sorry, Boss. Just speculating.” He holds up his hands defensively. “If you forgive me, it’s been sometime since most of us have had the company of a nice woman.”

“Godwin’s brushing off on you, huh?” asks Hood.

“Hey, Godwin’s not so bad,” Connell says. “Besides, I can sympathize with him. He don’t need to respect anybody considering the Dominion shows him little in return. And frankly, given the circumstances, the Dominion isn’t showing any of us that kind of respect anyway.” Connell sits down, resting his fat ass on a crate. “So what are we going to do with the Steno?”

“Nothing,” you say firmly. “He’s a prisoner. He stays.” The Steno glances up from his work, looking between the two of you. “Now, I know the way they treated Joffrey was harsh and everything. But we’re not savages like they are. We’re not going to resort to torture as long as I have a mind about it.”

“The Lizards know we’re softies, Boss,” Hood says. “Given they put a tracker in him, they knew we’d come back for him. And they made damn sure that if Joffrey came back to us, he’d never be a threat to them again.” They have a point. But that doesn’t excuse barbaric acts. You’re not going to do anything to this Steno as long as it does nothing to you in return. You walk on over to the Steno. It’s placing down the parts inside in neat little organized piles.

You notice that the parts inside the Drone don’t really correlate to anything you’ve seen before. There’s no jets for it to hover. There’s no switches or wires or anything inside that even resembles modern robotics. Whoever built this definitely had some weird ideas. And yet this thing seems to have worked. Up until you played football with it. The Steno snorts, sniffing inside the shell as you move to pick the orb up. It glows in your hand, brightly. The Steno quickly snatches it from you again in its mouth. Connell and Hood flinch, almost raising their rifles at it.

But the Steno instead hisses at you before gently placing the orb down once more. Okay, judging by how carefully it’s treating that thing, it’s either radioactive or volatile. You look at the wounds on its leg. They seem to have mostly healed over thanks to the splint Graves made for it. And it seems to have disassembled its old harness as well too.

> See if you can ask the Steno what the Drone is. Maybe it’ll communicate back.
> Try and figure out what the Steno is building. Tierney mentioned it was scrapping parts of the room to make something.
> Take the orb more finally. He’s not using it. You might find a better use than he will.
> Talk with Hood and Connell. (About?)
> Other

>>3142391
>> Try and figure out what the Steno is building. Tierney mentioned it was scrapping parts of the room to make something.

>>3142391
>> Try and figure out what the Steno is building. Tierney mentioned it was scrapping parts of the room to make something.
I wonder what it could be working on.
It's a beacon, watch.

> “Go with him, Tierney. He’ll appreciate friendly company.”

>>3142391
>> Try and figure out what the Steno is building. Tierney mentioned it was scrapping parts of the room to make something.

> Try and figure out what the Steno is building. Tierney mentioned it was scrapping parts of the room to make something.

> Try and figure out what the Steno is building. Tierney mentioned it was scrapping parts of the room to make something.

You try and figure out what the hell the Steno is building for itself. It appears to be placing long pieces of metal down on the table, along with what look to be tubes and cylindrical parts as well. You place your hands on your hips, watching it. Hood and Connell stand on either side of you, ready to do something in case the Steno tries anything.

Hm. “Hey.” The Steno stops and looks at you. You point to the pile. “What’s this?”

The Steno looks at the pile, croaking and clicking its teeth. Yeah, you don’t understand what the hell he’s trying to say. But he seems to understand what you’re saying. The Steno’s nostrils flare, snorting loudly as it tries to talk with you. But your confused look appears to convince it that it’s pointless trying to verbally communicate with you. It licks its teeth with its long tongue, then goes back to gathering parts.

“What’s it trying to build?” asks Hood.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” you say. Judging by the amount of parts here, it’s trying to build something relatively complicated. The Steno’s tail wags a little as it places down one more part. Then it looks to you three again. Eh? It walks up to you, then points to your Carbine. It wants your Carbine? It taps your powerpack. Oh.

Oh, it’s asking for the powerpack. Uh.

> Give it to him.
> Nope. You’re not risking anything.
> Other

>>3142741
>> Give it to him.
But have Hood and Connell in an alert stance, be ready for anything, like it turning the powerpack into an impromptu grenade.

>>3142741
>Give him an empty one. Well swap it for a charged one once we realize what it's building.

>>3142741
>> Other
Before we do, can we use some deductive reasoning at what he's building?Is there anything that looks like it could be a satellite dish? Maybe trying to recreate a crude plasma rifle? A fucking bomb? What does the pile of scrap look like

>>3142763
He's taken parts that are primarily long, that look like they can slot into each other, along with articulating parts that appear to have bent and shaped into wheels and tubes. He's also got what used to be his harness disassembled with the straps and such ready to use.

>>3142741
>Give it to him.

>>3142741
>> Give it to him.
Fuck it. It doesn't sound like a weapon, and doesn't seem advanced enough to be some sort of signaling device, it could be a new harness for him that we can use to control him or something

> Give it to him.

You take the powerpack out and hand it to him. He swipes it out of your hands then quickly goes to build whatever he means to build with it. He has no tools, but he’s surprisingly effective at using his claws instead to carve things out and pull things together. “What the hell is it building?” asks Hood.

“Hell if I know,” you say. “Keep an eye on it. Make sure it isn’t a grenade or something.” Hood nods, readying his rifle. The Steno assembles something using its old harness as a base. Surprisingly, there’s no welds. Instead, it uses a long needle heated up in the plasma power pack to drill holes in, then uses pins to bind them together before sealing them shut. You, Hood, and Connell watch. This process must take something in the area of an hour or two. You admit, you had your suspicions, thinking it might’ve been building some kind of weapon or some kind of communications array.

But no. Once it’s done, it reveals it.

It’s a harness, a new one, with leg servos to assist both legs in movement. Given that it’s physical one was injured pretty badly, it seems it must have always wanted to do this for quite a while. It now moves around more freely, hopping across the tables and yapping with joy and glee. It’s apparently scrapped some parts from the Drone along with some parts from the lab as well. It’s actually quite impressive. You didn’t think such a thing was possible.

“All that excitement for some magic legs?” asks Connell.

“Yeah.” Hood shakes his head. “Frakking Lizard.” He looks down at the Drone, then sees the orb still lying there. Apparently it’s used your powerpack as a power source instead of the orb. “Hmph.” Hood walks on over to it. Then the Steno slides in and stops him. Connell points his rifle at it. “Son of a-“

The Steno hisses, taking the orb and clutching it close to its chest.

“That thing better give that to us or I’ll shoot it,” says Hood.

> “Leave it, Hood. It knows what it is more than we do anyway.”
> Have the Steno give it to you. It probably trusts you more than it does them.
> Other

>>3142748
Seconding this

>>3143034
>> Other
Try to get it to communicate just what the fuck it is, if it even knows. For all we know it just like shiny, expensive looking things and has no idea either.

>>3143034
>“Leave it, Hood. It knows what it is more than we do anyway.”

>>3143041
Supporting. If we can't figure out a reason for it having it, we'll take it

>>3143034
>Have the Steno give it to you. It probably trusts you more than it does them.
This seems very useful...

He got his legs, now it’s our turn

>>3143050
We're gonna use this thing to power a mech suit that Nielson and Dino are gonna build for us, and then charge the hill, throwing trees like spears?

> Other

You sigh. You step in front of Hood, then point to it. “What is it?” you ask. The Steno tilts his head, its eyes squinting at you. “What. Is. It?” you ask again more firmly. The Steno snorts, then points to it. You nod. Yes. That. Come on, bird-brain.

The Steno walks over to the Drone then points to orb and to the Drone. Okay, that’s probably a core of some kind. Alright. It runs in circles quickly before pointing to the powerpack now settled on its back. Right. It’s a power supply. Okay. It’s a power supply of some kind. It then points to the Drone again and makes a croaking noise. Uh. Okay, he’s lost you.

“Is it like an AI core?” asks Connell. That’s a theory. But if it’s a core, why is it not talking? The Steno cocks his head, then growls, hissing a little as it clutches the orb in its arms. It then raises its hand extends all of its claws out sharply, making a loud barking noise to accompany it. Uh. It can explode? It then runs over to a box. It opens it then places the orb very gently inside of it.

Hood looks at you. “Okay, what are you making of this?”

“What I’m getting is that apparently it can generate power like a powerpack. And that it can explode.” The Steno nods, agreeing. “And given how gently the Steno is handling it. It probably can explode if we handle it wrong.”

“Well, we ain’t going to handle it wrong,” says Hood.

“Yeah, I assume we won’t. And obviously neither is the Steno,” you say. The Steno bares its teeth, looking at you. Your stomach growls a little. It wants lunch. Damn. You did miss out on it during that surgery with the AutoDoc. The Steno closes the box, scratches it with an X on the metal surface, then shunts it under a table very carefully. Seems the Steno doesn’t want much to do with it.

> “Look, just watch out for it you two. I’m going to grab a bite.”
> “We’ll take it later. It doesn’t seem to want it to make anything from it now.”
> “Let him have it. He knows it better than we do at least.”
> Other

>>3143523
>> “Look, just watch out for it you two. I’m going to grab a bite.”

>>3143523
>> “We’ll take it later. It doesn’t seem to want it to make anything from it now

>>3143523
> “Let him have it. He knows it better than we do at least.”
He understands it a hell of a lot better than us and if he wants nothing to do with it than neither do we

>>3143523
>“Let him have it. He knows it better than we do at least.”

>>3143523
>> “Look, just watch out for it you two. I’m going to grab a bite.”

> “Let him have it. He knows it better than we do at least.”
> “Look, just watch out for it you two. I’m going to grab a bite.”

“Look, just let him have it. Watch out for him, he knows it better than we do. If he doesn’t want anything to do with it, we probably shouldn’t either. Now I gotta get myself some lunch. Can you two look at him? And try not to be rough on him? Last thing we need is for him to be skittish around us.”

Connell grins, leaning on the table. “Relax, Boss. I got a dog at home, this Steno isn’t too different.” A Steno isn’t too different from a dog, that’s a very wild take to consider. “You go have your munchies.” Hood sighs, sitting on a crate, glaring at the Steno as it gathers up some leftover parts and starts again stripping down the Drone for more items to procure.

You step out of the lab and head on over to the Common Room. You open the door and find Burke, Early, Tierney and Whitney looking over Nielson’s shoulders as he nervously whittles down a long piece of wood with his knife. “Uh.” He looks at all the girls. “Y-… You guys don’t need to be watching me like this you know.”

Whitney says, “We’re just curious is all, young one.” Early nods, agreeing. You’re almost jealous that Nielson is surrounded by young girls who seem to be interested in him. Then again, you’re in kind of the same situation so you won’t comment. You find that there’s already a communal plate of some of that Pachy meat already put down on one of the tables. You take a slice yourself and place it on a plate then walk on over.

“How’s the bow coming along?” you ask.

Nielson appears stiff as a board as he looks at you. “Oh, just fine, Boss. I mean- I got a bit of an audience here to perform for so you know. I gotta make it as best as I can apparently.”

Burke leans on the table next to Nielson, looking at you. “I just want to see how he does. We’ll be making a few of these along with some arrows. We already got some feathers from those Dimorphs for the fletching so we have a good base to start with.” Splendid. Early leans in close, rubbing her arm up against Nielson’s arm. Nielson glances at her, a blush creeping on his face as Whitney too pushes up against his back to look at his work more closely.

Tierney nudges you, giggling. “He’s so cute when he’s flustered.”

“Reminds me of a certain someone.” Tierney pouts a little, giving you a bit of a sidelong glance. With that, you settle down to have a good refreshing lunch.

That's it for this weekend unfortunately. But we'll return a day early Wednesday night and continue on throughout as per usual. So expect that soon. Go ahead and make your plans, discuss what's next, why bow hunting is objectively superior, culturally and morally to spearhunting (it's not), and other some such.

Hope you enjoyed. See you then.

I feel like someone's gonna die and we'll have grief sex with Graves... just saying.

Thanks for the ride QM. We'll see you back soon.

>>3143806
Thanks for running, dude. It was a fun one.
Maybe we can convert that steno to our side, it'd be a pretty handy mechanic to have around.
I still don't trust it to not make a break for it first opportunity it gets and relay our position to its superiors.

>>3143806
Thanks for running.
Also good to see Nielson getting his own little harem.

We need to grab one of the little repair drones while we're down there and bring it back up for disassembly and research.
We need to figure out a way to reliably communicate with the steno, maybe include it in on some of our tinkering with the machinery in the ship. It seems to really know what it's doing.

>>3149076
Before we sit down with a drone, we might be able to communicate through drawings with the Dino. It worked before with the tribe, and our dino seems even smarter.

I say we use a couple of posts, maybe half a night or so, to sit down and create a working relationship. He has his harness, now we get our answers, and this ship.

>>3149076
>>3149209
Tell it we don't want to fight, we want to fucking leave.

>>3149212
Should be easy, X out us shooting at dinos, and circle us flying the ship away, have the dino on the outside, symbolizing we dont wanna kidnap it

>>3149228
We still need to deal with the fact that the navy is stationed on the edge of the solar system waiting to blast anything that tries to leave orbit.

>>3149287
I had thought about this, but couldn't we make a rudimentary radio and blast it into space, wait a few days or so, and then lift off?

Lieutenant Harrell opens the door, helmet under his arm as he brushes at his dirty blonde hair. Seems like everyone is getting more and more disheveled the longer you’re out here, even with that shower in the Command truck. You rub at your chin and feel the small hairs of a little beard coming. Might want to fix that later. Though, you always did think a beard looked good on you. Maybe you’ll decide later. “Corporal.” You look at him, pushing your plate back and away. “You got a minute?”

“Sure, sir.” You stand up and away from the table and look over. Nielson watches as Burke strings the bow using some fresh fibers from bark and plants from outside. Tierney, Whitney, and Early meanwhile group together to have lunch.

“So just how strong are ya, miss?” asks Whitney.

Tierney shrugs, a little nervous. “Um. People have described me as freakish actually.”

“Hm. You don’t look strong as ya look,” Whitney remarks. “Is that just a thing from where you come from?”

“New Madrigal. And no, I was just-… I’ve always been this strong I guess. Not sure how it came to be,” Tierney says. “I mean, I can prove it after I eat.” Whitney nods, skeptically looking at Tierney.

You walk out with Lieutenant Harrell. “Something the matter, sir?” you ask.

Lieutenant Harrell sighs, rubbing his gloved hands together. “Thinking on the mortar strikes and that business with Joffrey. Terrible what happened to my boy.” He sighs, a deep frown on his face as he thinks on it. “If Sergeant Cope had been honest about things, I think maybe Joffrey wouldn’t have gone through that. Horner and Bakker would still be alive too. Losing those two will hurt immensely. They may have been bugsy little people but they were loyal and they were fierce fighters, both of them. They didn’t deserve that.”

“None of us do,” you say. “We just need to get out of here.”

“Hm. That’s not what I’m here to talk to you about though, them at least. I-…” He sighs, rubbing at his arm a little. “Corporal. We’re in deep danger here. Those mortars are going to restrict our movement if they get spotters across the river and get to hunting us. Now, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon we have to consider assaulting that Hill.”

Assaulting the hill? Well, there may be good reason for it considering the mortar battery. But with so few people here and so few supplies, things could get messy. “Are you sure, sir?”

“Positive,” he says. “And hell, there’s a chance too that those mortars will upgrade into something deadlier like those rockets we saw a few nights ago. Not to mention the longer we delay, the more time they have to dig in. Now, I know you’re still recovering from your injuries. And I know I’ve been pushing you pretty hard as of late. But… we need to throw them off that hill. At least to buy some time for ourselves. Give us room to breathe.”

“Sir. I saw that hill myself. They got some thick fortifications up there already,” you say. “Mounted weapons, trenchworks, and by now they’ve probably moved up more elite forces I assume. Stenos aren’t just crewmen for mortars and heavy equipment, they’re adequate snipers. If a little on the trigger-happy side. An attack is going to be risky,” you explain. You try to lay it out for him as best as you can. You hope it gets through to him. And to his credit, he seems to think on it. He turns a bit, hand on his chin. “We can’t afford anymore injuries or wounded. Every man we lose is permanent.”

“I’m aware,” he says. “An attack on the hill is… well, what do you make of it? Honest opinion.”

> “The sooner the better, sir. We should get everyone together.”
> “I’d say wait. They still don’t know where we’re based. And we risk jeopardizing it by rushing into things.”
> “We should just leave it alone. We’re safe here. And if we keep exploring the ship, maybe we won’t even have to leave either.”
> Other

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABbc-O_3_Ac

Here's an update for you, people. As usual, I'll update once I get back from work around 6 PM EST. So go ahead and leave your votes in overnight.

Go ahead and start discussions, ask questions, etc.

>>3150076
>> Other
We shouldn't poke the nest if we don't have to. I suggest we try to fully explore the the ship, in teams of around 4, until we find the engine room, or try to understand the command center we find. If Nielson thinks he can get it working enough, I might be able to get the dino to work with Nielson to get the ship working.

>>3150076
>> Other
I think we should stick to hit and run tactics, hit them from multiple sides occasionally with sniper fire targeting any and all leadership, or support crews, or even intercepting logistics chains to keep everything on that hill supplied and fed.

A direct attack is flat out suicide.

>>3150107
Supporting. Even if we take the hill, the only way we can get off planet is that hopefully the starship is operational.

>>3150107
>>3150116
Supporting

>>3150107
>>3150116
Both of these.

There needs to be a team dedicated to exploring the ship, while a second team is responsible for hit and run tactics in the area surrounding the hill. A third team needs to guard our base here on the top floor.

A direct attack against the hill is suicide, but if we confine them to their fortifications, we maintain breathing space.

We currently have the following functional soldiers:
- Us
- Harrell
- Cope
- Tombs
- Connell
- Hood
- Burke
- Early
- Tierney
- Whitney
- Nielson
- Graves
- Wexley (injured)
- Grimshaw

>>3150809
We should stay above, maybe try to communicate with our Dino, take it easy for a while.

Have the first group consist of Burke, and anyone who wants to volunteer, no more than 3. If there aren't enough volunteers, I say have a group of Burke, Grimshaw, Cope, and Whitney

Writing update now. Sorry for the lateness, I'm slightly tipsy and I just got home.

> Other

“We need to fight it out as a hit and run thing, sir. Hit them from multiple sides. Target leadership, support crews, everything except the Hill itself. That’d be suicide bluntly speaking.” He nods. “And um. We need more time looking at the ship too. There’s much more down there we haven’t yet explored. We just brought up a Drone after all. Works much different from the Robots we’re used to. Not to mention there’s no telling how far down the ship goes and… perhaps the possibility that this ship might still be space capable.”

He folds his arms, skeptical. “Corporal, there’s a frakking tree growing out of one of the labs and most of the ship is buried under the ground.”

“Just a hope, sir,” you say.

“Of course. I suppose we gotta try and get everyone working, split into teams. Now, I can get to exploring the bottom of the ship myself. Burke, she can probably handle going out and seeing what she can do, scout work and all that. You can rotate with her. Sergeant Cope can manage the home guard. We don’t have many people but we gotta make the most of what we have I suppose.” Of course. He’s speaking a little bit of sense at least. He sighs, rubbing his nose a little. “I see what you’re saying, Corporal. I’ll take it under consideration.”

“Please do, Lieutenant. I’d rather not throw myself needlessly against fortifications such as those,” you say candidly. He nods.

“Thank you, Corporal. And by the way.” He places his hand on his belt, slouching a little. “Listen, I didn’t thank you properly for bringing Joffrey back. I know when the tracker was found in him, that must have been a tough decision. But I’m glad you took the risk to get it out of him.” You stand there, a little stunned by his praise. He seems genuine in his words at least. “I know Sergeant Cope might be hard on you but again, I mean… Joffrey was my responsibility and I’m partially at least to blame for his condition.”

“No one can predict what the Lizards will do at this point, sir,” you say, trying to comfort him.

“Of course.” He pats your arm, nodding. “You’re dismissed, Corporal. I’m going to take my leave and see how Joffrey’s doing. Sergeant Cope is going to be relieved in a half hour so if you want to take watch outside you can.” You nod. With that, Lieutenant Harrell takes his leave.

You sigh. Now what should you do?

> Go back inside the Common Room and relax a little bit.
> Go to the Medbay, see if Graves is talkative right now.
> Check on the Steno, see what it’s up to.
> Take over on watch for now.
> Other

>>3151674
>> Go to the Medbay, see if Graves is talkative right now.
Should check on Joffrey as well; IIRC we haven't spoken to him since we've came back.

>>3151674
>> Check on the Steno, see what it’s up to.
>Bring him some meat.

Time to bond with it, and earn it's loyalty.

>>3151674
>Other
>I’ll come with you see Joffrey sir. We haven’t had a chance to chat since we recovered the auto-doc.

>>3151674
>> Check on the Steno, see what it’s up to.

>>3151674
>> Check on the Steno, see what it’s up to.
Steno time. Time to work out a proper method of communication.

> Check on the Steno, see what it’s up to.

…

…

You open the door and find Hood sitting back with Connell, watching as the Steno bites down on a piece of metal. What is it with the Lizards and biting everything? You step inside, resting your hand on your slung carbine. “Well, well, if it ain’t the wonderboy himself,” says Connell. “Come to relieve us?”

“Not quite. I just wanted to check to see how the Steno was doing. Has he been up to any shenanigans since I left?” you ask.

Hood shakes his head, smirking. “The scaly bastard’s just been pulling more parts out of the Drone since you left.” The Steno reaches into the Drone and pulls out one of the needles it shot at you today. It gently bites down on the glass capsule before gently placing it down, apparently in disgust. “That’s disappointing. I was hoping that’d break on him.”

“Hood.” He rolls his eyes. You walk up to the Steno. The Steno stops what it’s doing, looking up at you. You look into your satchel and see some of the leftover meat from your lunch that you brought. He’ll have some provided he’s a cooperative boy and everything. The Steno hisses, clicking its teeth as it looks up at you, apparently waiting to see if you’ll feed it or give it a treat. No, not right now.

First off you take a look at all of the parts it’s pulled out of the Drone. Lots if it is really unrecognizable for you save for the ammo it’s been storing. How it managed to store all those needles inside of its shell, you’ll never know. But the rest of the little bits and bobs is as foreign as an asteroid in a strange atmosphere. The Steno continues looking at you curiously, before giving up and picking up some flecks of the outer shell. It licks at them with its tongue, before recoiling in disgust.

Connell says, “So, you think it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I assume it’s a boy,” you say. “I don’t imagine the Lizards would be so socially conscious as to send women into battle like we do.”

“Only reason we send women into battle is so we can colonize places faster,” says Hood. “That’s my theory anyway.” It’s got weight to it at least. But you won’t start a debate on the merits of women in combat right now.

What should you do?

> Feed the Steno some of your leftovers.
> Try and communicate with it. Maybe pictures or tapping something out.
> “Well, I’ll leave you guys to it.”
> Other

>>3151860
>> Try and communicate with it. Maybe pictures or tapping something out.
> Feed the Steno some of your leftovers.

>>3151860
>> Try and communicate with it. Maybe pictures or tapping something out.
> Feed the Steno some of your leftovers.

>>3151860
>“Only reason we send women into battle is so we can colonize places faster,” says Hood. “That’s my theory anyway.” It’s got weight to it at least. But you won’t start a debate on the merits of women in combat right now.
You know what, that actually makes SOME sense.

> Try and communicate with it. Maybe pictures or tapping something out.

> Feed the Steno some of your leftovers.
> Try and communicate with it. Maybe pictures or tapping something out.

You reach into your satchel then pull out a slice of meat. The Steno cocks its head up, standing straight as it looks at it. You quickly toss it to him. He jumps lightly and catches it in his mouth, shredding the meat with its teeth before whipping its head side to side to more definitively rip it to pieces. It finally swallows what it has in its mouth before going to pick up the pieces on the floor. “Jesus,” Connell says. “Even eats like an animal.”

“Or you at a buffet,” Hood mutters. Connell punches Hood in the arm, making him flinch.

You sigh, ignoring those two. You kneel down beside the Steno tap the floor to get its attention. It stops feeding and looks at you. Right, how do you want to do this? You look at a piece of metal, then at some rocks at the ground. Hm. You take the rock and a flat rough piece of metal and scrawl into it. It leaves a white, almost chalky line. That’ll do. It watches you, curious.

You start with making an identifying figure for yourself, just a stick figure like the Lizards have. You point to yourself, presenting it. It points to you, in understanding. Good. You then quickly draw it, a simple version of it at least. It points to itself, understanding too. Good, it catches on quick.

It takes another piece of metal and a rock and starts drawing too. What it presents to you after a few minutes of drawing is actually kind of astounding.

It’s drawn the basic shape of your Starships, then draws what looks to be explosions on the ground along with figures of humans fighting Lizards. Right. It understands there’s a war on. It quickly erases all of that, then draws itself , the shape of a Rex, a Raptor, Troodon, Triceratops, Ceratosaurus, and other Lizards you haven’t quite seen yet. It’s introducing its castes you suppose. Then it erases those.

Finally it draws something else, a…

A question mark?

…

You slowly scrawl something down. “ENGLISH?”

It stares at the words, then taps the question mark again. Maybe it does know. Huh. Well, this might go easier than it did with the Deinos.

> Ask about the Deinos and who they are specifically.
> Ask about the Lizards and what their intentions are.
> Ask how much it knows about fixing things, or other engineering works.
> Other

>>3152098
>> Other
Ask how the fuck it knows English.

>>3152098
>> Ask about the Lizards and what their intentions are.

I think it's asking 'what the fuck are you guys doing here?'

>>3152118
This. We'll answer his question, and then we'll draw us, with "words" out of our mouth, and a question mark.

> Ask about the Lizards and what their intentions are.
> Other

It knows English? Well, you suppose they must have somehow reverse engineered the translator software Diplomats carry after the Incident. You’ll have to ask how this specific one knows though. But first you’ll answer his question.

You scrawl the circular image of a planet. Then you draw arrows leading to other planets, and so on and so forth until you draw one particular planet. You point at it, then at the Steno. The Steno nods, cocking its head in understanding. It snorts a bit before clicking its teeth. It definitely understands. You can’t exactly lie, you’re basically here to set up a new colony and a base. At the same time though, they won. You draw yourself then with scribbles with a question mark next to it. It snorts, nodding again.

It starts drawing something on its board, then presents it to you. It’s… the Incident, definitely. It shows Rexes and Stenos tearing apart humans in low but recognizable detail. It then shows square boxes with little sound waves coming off them. And shows Stenos taking them apart and biting them. What is it with Lizards and biting things? So that’s definitely how it figured out what English is. But it doesn’t seem to completely understand it. And given that it’s a Lizard that only seems to croak, click teeth, and howl, it probably can’t speak English.

It then draws another scene of the Stenos and Rexes in talks, while above them the Starships reign. It’s clear they knew the invasion must have been coming then or at least had some inkling that a response to the Incident was coming. It draws what looks to be a round semi-circle around themselves, as if to signify defense. It makes a snapping jaw gesture when it presents this. Right. They’re just defending themselves. As for what happened at the Incident, you’ll probably not know. This Steno likely wasn’t there and is only explaining things after the fact.

Well, just defending themselves doesn’t really excuse the shit they’ve pulled.

> Continuing asking questions (Like what?)
> Feed it some more meat.
> Take your leave. You’ll probably discuss more things with him later.
> Other

That's it for tonight. Go ahead and leave your votes in overnight and I shall return more promptly around 6PM EST when I get home from work. Hope to see you all then.

Go ahead and discuss what you want out of the Lizard, battle plans, cultural differences, sex, cuisine, technology, etc.

>>3152310
>> Continuing asking questions (Like what?)
That explains the 'self defense' but not the absolutely relentless pursuit of a small, insignificant number of cutoff, essentially leaderless troops. What's up with that?

>>3152417
Yeah, is it to prove a point?

>>3152310
>> Continuing asking questions (Like what?)
Just say the only thing we care about at this point is fixing this ship and going home.

> Continuing asking questions

You quickly scrawl yourself a message. The Lizards attacking you and your people. You draw trees and a square to represent the Starship. With a question mark, you make it a question. Why are they continuing to attack you?

The Steno stares at it, then scrawls something else. It draws a human figure, before quickly erasing it with its hand. A bit of a blunt statement. It then draws something else, a Lizard you haven’t seen before. It quickly erases that with its hand as well. It draws another one before erasing that too. You see where it’s going. These things fight wars of annihilation. Only the strongest can survive. Darwinist policies. Any enemy they face –must- be exterminated, no matter how small they may be. You suppose that throws the question of reasoning with them out the window.

You sigh, then point down to the floor, the ship. It nods, its attention yours. You quickly draw the box on top of the planet, with an arrow signifying it’s leaving. It nods again, understanding.

Then it reaches over and erases the box. Uh. It shakes its head, hissing. Is it saying you can’t escape? It places down its metal board before hissing a bit, cocking its head. Come on, he can’t just leave it at that. Can he? The Steno points up to the ceiling, then down to the floor, and shakes its head. Seems it believes it can’t be repaired and be made spaceworthy. Maybe you can prove it wrong. It starts picking up its parts from the Drone, apparently ending the conversation.

Hood snorts. “Well, Lizard Whisperer, seems your little friend ain’t budging. Want us to punch it out of him?”

“Please no. He-“ You sigh. “Look, the Steno is here to stay. Let’s not try and threaten it.” You look down at it as it examines each part carefully, bringing them up to its eye before placing them down. “Besides, it’s shown it has at least a limited understanding of English. Best not to talk about it around it.” Hood nods, understanding.

Connell asks you, “Gonna give it a name? I mean, if it’s here to stay, Steno gets kind of old after a while.”

“It probably has a name,” you say.

“Yeah. Something we can’t pronounce because guess what, we’re intelligent and our vocal chords are better developed than theirs are,” Hood says candidly.

> “He’s Steno for now. Until I come up with something better.”
> (Got a name?)
> Other

>>3153731
>> (Got a name?)

>>3153731
No names. We can't humanize him like that.
He's a Deino and he'll always be a deino. Unless he switches sides for good.

>>3153736
Sorry, I should point out, that options means you have a name and you're going to put it up to the vote.

>>3153731
>> Other
How about just something like Delta since he's a Deinos?

>>3153747
I like Delta

>>3153731
>> (Got a name?)

>>3153747
Works for me. He is now known as 'Delta.' A simple designation.

Okay, so remind me, the Deinos and the Lizards are two different factions, right? and the Lizards fight wars of annihilation, not the Deinos, right? So he's more warning us than threatening us?

>>3153870
The Deinos (Deinonychus) are the tribal raptor types living in the Swamp.

The Lizards are the group of various predatorial space Dinosaurs who use railguns and exoharnesses and stuff. They're the ones who fight the wars of Annihilation. The Steno (or Delta) comes from this faction.

>>3153876
Ah. Well, then.

I'm not a fan of dehumanizing anything with clear sapient intelligence (for more than altruistic reasons), but I also get that can be a dangerous mindset considering the circumstances.

I'm gonna vote for 'Delta' because it's simple, direct, and not too chummy. We also always need to keep in mind that these guys are intelligent as hell.

>>3153885
>We also always need to keep in mind that these guys are intelligent as hell.
Yeah, that's why I'm always worried about what it's working on out of spare parts.

>>3153896
Same. Any way we can cobble together some sort of camera, I wonder...

>>3153901
don't need a camera when we have people watching him. We're just gonna need to find the engine room, and have Delta take a look

>>3153908
Well, I'm saying that so we can study what he's putting together and how. Better to do that from recorded film we can rewatch than eyewitness accounts that only have memory to rely on.

>>3153912
If Nielson can do it easily, sure, but I wouldn't want to put too much energy into it. There's too much to do here

>>3153921
Yeah the fixing the Starship is kind of our Hail Mary plan here; in the long run the Lizards have all the time in the world to hunt us down.

> Delta

“Delta.” You point to its name. “Delta is its name. At least until I can think of something better.” The Steno looks at you, curious. You point at it. “Delta. You. Delta.” You point at it very obviously, trying to signal that you’re going to call it Delta now. It tilts its head, before croaking twice. “No, no. Delta. You. Your name.” It croaks twice, again.

Hood says to it, “Hey, Honk Honk isn’t your frakking name. It’s Delta now.” The Steno hisses, clearly displeased by that before going back to gathering its parts. You sigh, rubbing your nose in frustration.

The door opens, and in walks Morrison with a rifle in hand. “Rise and shine, fellers. Sergeant tells me I’m to relieve you guys.” Hood and Connell stand up, clearly glad to be moving. He walks up to you, smiling. “How’s the Lizard?”

“His name is Delta now,” you say. Morrison nods, understanding.

Hood smirks, glancing at Morrison. “Hey, remember not to stick your dick in it, Morrison.” Morrison’s sweet mood turns sour immediately when Hood says that. Hood snickers, as does Connell as they brush past him and out the door. Those children, absolute children. Morrison glowers a little, taking a seat on a crate.

“They don’t mean that,” you say.

“See, this is why I don’t like talking about my wife, Boss,” says Morrison. “As soon as I say that I’m married to a Felisian, people start talking as if I couldn’t get a human woman of my own. Dicks.” He shakes his head, resting his rifle in his lap. “Now, don’t worry about me, Boss. I’m alright for now.”

> Talk with Morrison a little. Cheer him up maybe?
> Head to the Medbay, see how Joffrey is doing, maybe he’s talkative.
> Take watch outside. Seems Sergeant Cope is shifting people around now.
> Relax in the Common room, maybe wait for the next assignment.
> Other

>>3153960
>> Head to the Medbay, see how Joffrey is doing, maybe he’s talkative.

>>3153960
>> Head to the Medbay, see how Joffrey is doing, maybe he’s talkative.

>>3153960
>Talk with Morrison a little. Cheer him up maybe?

>>3153960
>> Head to the Medbay, see how Joffrey is doing, maybe he’s talkative.

>>3153960
> Head to the Medbay, see how Joffrey is doing, maybe he’s talkative.

>Honestly, man, I'm jealous. Not necessarily that you got a Felisian, but fuck, you're getting SOME play on the regular. Respect for that, y'know? More than Hood can say. Anyway, you have a good one. I'm going to check on Joffery.

Fuck, I'm jealous, though.

>>3154018
this
tfw no cat wife

>>3154018
>>3154028
At least Morrison has a wife unlike these losers.

> Head to the Medbay, see how Joffrey is doing, maybe he’s talkative.

“You know, Morrison, sometimes I’m a little jealous that you even have a wife in the first place. Means you get something out of it.”

“Hey. I don’t love my wife for her body.” Morrison looks at you, pausing for a few seconds to think on it. “Okay, she’s got a smoking body and she’s a freak in bed. But that’s not the only reason I love her, you know?” You nod, understanding. “Besides, I probably got more than Hood or that fatass Connnell have ever gotten in their lives.”

“Understood,” you say. “I gotta check on Joffrey, I’ll see you later.”

“Have fun, Boss.”

…
…

You open the door into the medbay and find Joffrey sitting on the table, still blind, still handless. Lieutenant Harrell has his arms folded, looking at him quietly, contemplating while Graves oversees Wexley as he goes under the knife with the AutoDoc. Graves turns around, looking at Harrell. “You know, sir. You’re not going to make him better by staring at him.”

“Sorry,” says Lieutenant Harrell. “I-… I just feel like I’m responsible.” You step inside. Graves looks at you, then nods in greeting. Lieutenant Harrell looks at you too, then nods as well. “Corporal.”

“Shit happens,” Graves says firmly. “Don’t blame yourself too hard.”

“I will,” Lieutenant Harrell says. “If it-… Goddamn, I know I haven’t been the best Officer for you guys and I-… Looking at Joffrey here and knowing Horner and Bakker were killed because of something I ordered. That stings me so.” He places his hand over his heart, sighing deeply. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to get too poetic or anything. That’s just how I feel.”

Graves looks down for a second, then walks up to Lieutenant Harrell. “Lieutenant. Did I ever tell you I had a sister?” She had a sister? Wait. Had? “I grew up on a really cold planet, snow all year everywhere, normal temperature was freezing point on most planet. We made the most of our childhood there though. But it was a really brutal upbringing. You know, always come back by sundown. Never go out into the snowdrifts. Carry a carabiner and always follow the trail. Stuff like that.” Graves walks over and leans on the table next to Lieutenant Harrell. “One day, this was back when I was school, she was a year younger than me. My sister, her name was Heidi, and I were at home. Our parents were out during a survey of the ground about a hundred kilometers away or whatever. And we weren’t expecting them back because there was a freak blizzard going on. Whiteout conditions, you couldn’t see a meter in front of you. Usually they tell you to stay inside

“But as long as you’re following the trail and you don’t get lost, you’re fine. Well, I wanted to go check on the neighbors. See if their electricity was working.” Lieutenant Harrell listens attentively. So do you. You walk up next to them, listening. Graves looks forward, down at the ground. “But, it was whiteout. Now, it’s dangerous to go outside during those times. My sister wanted to go check on them too. If they had electricity, they had heat too. We didn’t because our power was out. So if we could shelter up with them, we’d be comfortable. Our next door neighbor was only down the block from us, you follow the trail and you’d be good.” Graves pauses for a few seconds, shrugging. “Now, I told my little sister Heidi, ‘you go. You’re the little sister. Come back when you hear from them.’ Heidi said yeah, packed up and left. I expected her back in like twenty minutes. I didn’t hear from her until the next day.” Graves stares ahead, her eyes focusing more on the wall than on anything else. “They found her in a snowdrift, curled up, frozen to death. She was… she was about five meters away from a trail marker. She got lost in the whiteout and couldn’t find her way back. And her radio didn’t work either in the freezing cold so she couldn’t call for help. So. She basically died between my house and our next door neighbor’s. All because I said she was younger and I was older.”

Lieutenant Harrell looks down, distraught. “Oh God. Graves. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Graves says. She shrugs, looking at Harrell with a fairly neutral expression on her face. “Shit happens.”

Lieutenant Harrell blinks, stunned for a second, before thinking on it. He nods slowly. “… Shit happens.” He stands up and away. “Well, thank you, Graves. I’m glad you opened that up to me.”

“It happened years ago,” says Graves. “I’m over it. Not a huge deal.” Lieutenant Harrell nods.

“Well. I’ll be in the common room,” says Lieutenant Harrell. He looks at Joffrey, then walks over. “Joffrey.” Joffrey tilts his head, looking at Lieutenant Harrell. Lieutenant Harrell rests a hand on Joffrey’s shoulder, easily. “Joffrey. We’re going to get you out of here. I promise you that. Your eyes, hands, feet, I’ll pay to get them fixed.”

Joffrey nods, his lips quivering as if he’s going to speak, before he simply looks back down in silence. Lieutenant Harrell steps back, sighing deeply. He nods to you two before taking his leave.

You look at Joffrey, then at Graves. “Has he talked at all?”

Graves shakes her head, frowning deeply. “Not really. But, at least he’s not trying to hang himself or bite his tongue or anything. He’s probably just stunned by it all.”

> “I’m sorry about your sister, Graves. That’s a hell of a story to tell to us.”
> “I hope Lieutenant Harrell can keep that promise.”
> Try and talk to Joffrey. Maybe he’s willing.
> Other

>>3154159
>Try and talk to Joffrey. Maybe he’s willing.

>>3154159
>> Try and talk to Joffrey. Maybe he’s willing.

>>3154159
>“I’m sorry about your sister, Graves. That’s a hell of a story to tell to us.”
>Try and talk to Joffrey. Maybe he’s willing.

>>3154159
>> Try and talk to Joffrey. Maybe he’s willing.
Gotta get him to open up.

> Try and talk to Joffrey. Maybe he’s willing.

You walk up to Joffrey, then gently tap him on the shoulder. He doesn’t even flinch. “Joffrey, you okay?” He nods slowly, his face betraying nothing to you. The way he is now makes you feel sick to your stomach. His stumps for hands, his coal black soles of his feet, the scars from all the beatings, torture, and whatever they’ve done to him too. He looks broken in more ways than one. “Listen, Joffrey. You don’t have to talk if you don’t feel you can. Just know that we’re here to help you. That we’re going to protect you. You ain’t a burden on any of us. We want to help you. Understand?”

His lips quiver again, before he bites down and nods. “You know we can’t leave, right?” you ask. He nods, understanding. “That doesn’t mean we aren’t trying to get out of here. We’re in this rusty old Starship. Probably millions of years old. Older than humanity itself. If we can get this thing working, hell, that might do for us. So don’t give up, okay? We’re working things out.”

He nods, grunting quietly. You look back at Graves. Is she aware?

She sighs. “Way I see it, probably a good case of PTVD. But that doesn’t mean he won’t speak forever. I’m sure if we make sure he’s well-taken care of and that he’s fed, and that he receives mental care, he’ll be alright.” You nod. You’ll be honest, you thought of Joffrey as kind of an asskisser to Harrell. But now loking at him, you can’t think of anything else except that you have to make sure he gets out alive. No one deserves to be in that condition. Hell, if Joffrey requested it of you, you’d have half a mind to simply shoot him in the head and put him out of his misery.

But you have enough restraint not to. Even if he did ask, you’d at least hesitate.

> Talk with Graves (About what?)
> Hang around the Medbay. Maybe Graves needs some chores done.
> Go to the common room and wind down.
> Go outside and get some fresh air.
> Other

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQDH_2IKaE4

Unfortunately sleep is calling me so I must now sleep. Go ahead and leave your votes in overnight and we shall return in the morning for more. Hope you're enjoying yourselves!

If you got comments, critique, or questions, feel free to chime in. I crave it. I feast off of it.

>>3154480
>> Go outside and get some fresh air.
We've been in this ship long enough, go take a break, maybe chat with Tierney and Burke or something. Then back to deep ship diving later.

>>3154484
Thanks for running famalampai.

>>3154490
This. Lets go outside and enjoy nature when its not trying to kill us

>>3154484
I gotta say, I would love to insult or critique you, but you've been surprisingly solid, and your writing skills are some of the best. See you tomorrow

>>3154480
>> Go outside and get some fresh air.

>>3154883
Also tell Graves to take a break when she can, she's probably been here ever since we were unconscious.

> Go outside and get some fresh air.

“Well. I’m gonna go out and get some fresh air,” you say. “You okay, Graves?”

Graves folds her arms, shrugging. “Just fine, Daddy.”

“Don’t work too hard. Take a break when you can,” you say. “You’ve been here for a while now. Maybe you should have some lunch or something.” Graves shrugs again, rolling her eye. “I’ll see you later.”

With that, you leave the Medbay. You shut the door behind you and walk to the door. Stoakes and Tombs talk in the hallway. “Here!” Stoakes hands Tombs something. She smiles brightly at him. “It’s a piece of my scarf. Some of it got torn up back when we were fighting that Spino in the swamp. I was going to try and reattach it back but I think you deserve it. As a good luck charm.” Tombs looks at her, a little confused. Stoakes stands there, also a little awkwardly. “… um. Yeah, here.” Stoakes takes it from him quickly, then she quickly takes the piece of scarf and wraps it around his left arm. “There. Like uh-… Like a maiden giving a Knight her blessing before a joust! You know?”

Tombs looks at it, a little dumbstruck. “Um. Th-… thank you, Stoakes. That’s very kind of you. I’m sorry I don’t have anything to give back to you.”

“Oh, no, no, no, no repayment’s necessary, hehe…” Stoakes blushes intensely, twiddling her fingers as she sways on her feet. “I mean, you’re a nice guy, Tombs.”

“I wouldn’t call myself a nice guy,” Tombs says. “I mean, I don’t know if you know but-“

“I know.” Stoakes places a hand on his arm, looking up at him. “I’m not going to call you a monster or anything for doing what you did. You’re still a person in the end. And the good book has always told us that we have to love each other.” She shakes her head, then takes his hands. “Don’t let it define you. It’s one event in a hundred years of a human lifetime. Okay?”

He nods slowly. And probably for the first time in quite a while, he smiles. “Alright.” Stoakes reaches up to kiss him on the cheek. But fails. He hunches over, then Stoakes stands on her tiptoes to plant one on the cheek. She whispers in his ear something quick. Then the two of them notice you. “O- Oh! Corporal! We were just-“

You whistle loudly and innocently. Nope nope nope did not see anything.

You open the door to the outside and find Nielson leaning on a barricade. “Hey, Nielson.” You look around. “Just you out here?”

He nods. “For now. Cope’s looking for Grimshaw so he can take up watch in the watchtower. What’s up?”

“Stress. Drones. Apparently you building a bow of all things.” He snorts, snickering a little.

> “I noticed Early, Whitney, Tierney, and Burke were swarming you in there a while ago.”
> “I noticed Burke’s trusting you with more stuff lately. I think she’s starting to trust you.”
> “Anything you want to talk about? Been a while since you and me had a chat I think.”
> Other

>>3155152
>> “I noticed Early, Whitney, Tierney, and Burke were swarming you in there a while ago.”

>>3155152
>> “I noticed Early, Whitney, Tierney, and Burke were swarming you in there a while ago.”
Go ask him who's best girl in his opinion.

>>3155152
>> “I noticed Early, Whitney, Tierney, and Burke were swarming you in there a while ago.”

>>3155152
>“Anything you want to talk about? Been a while since you and me had a chat I think.”

>>3155152
>> “I noticed Early, Whitney, Tierney, and Burke were swarming you in there a while ago.”
Enjoy the attention?
Also Stoakes is absolutely adorable.

> “I noticed Early, Whitney, Tierney, and Burke were swarming you in there a while ago.”

“I noticed Early, Whitney, Tierney, and Burke were all swarming you in there a while ago.” He looks at you, as if wondering if you’re seriously saying that. You are. You smirk at him. Cute boy’s growing up. “I’m just ribbing you, Nielson. But hey, come on.”

“I know, I know.” He sighs, smiling a little. “I mean, I guess that’s nice. But it seems more like a desperation thing than anything else considering our circumstances. If the Navy never comes back, well, those girls are the only girls we’re going to get. And we’re the only boys they’re gonna get. Or in Whitney’s case- Er. Well.” He shrugs. “I mean, it’s probably because they think I’m a cute guy I guess. And not like strong and handsome as our Adonis of a man such as you.” He points to you, grinning. You roll your eyes, chuckling a little. He’s got you there. “Me, I’m a bit of scrawny type guy. At most I got some muscles. You know.”

“That’s all well and fine,” you say. “You got a favorite in mind?”

“A-“ He blinks. “I mean. I’ll get a crush on any girl who shows me attention.”

“So all of them then.”

“… maybe,” he says. “I mean.” He stops himself, pausing a bit. “Look. Boss. I’m not as suave as you are. I mean, I’m still as pure and untouched as the day I was born so. I’ve never even had my first kiss! I mean.” He stops. “Uh. I think Early looks nice and Whitney too. Maybe Whitney might make an exception for me. Burke. Burke scares me. Tierney-“ He stops himself. “Tierney is clearly into you, not me. Graves, I mean… Shucks, Graves is a really hot girl. I wish she’d tease me as much as she did you. I mean, I think Graves is the type of girl to take a guy’s virginity to help him along but… I want my first time to be special you know?”

“Special?” you ask.

“Yeah,” he says. “Like.” He blushes a little, rubbing his neck nervously. “You know. You know a girl for a long time. You’ve kissed. Held hands. Stuff like that. And you want to really show her she means the world to you and vice versa. So you get into bed and you… You know, you do it.” He stands there, awkwardly. “And then you cuddle under the sheets, maybe kiss some more. Do it again if you’re feeling frisky. And it’s all romantic and stuff because you’re sharing it with someone you love. You know what I’m talking about?”

…

> “That is the most womanly thing I’ve heard out of a guy.”
> “Nielson. If I were you, I’d just choose a girl and get it over with.”
> “I mean. I guess.”
> Other

>>3155338
>> “I mean. I guess. It's not like I'm a virgin or anything right? Hahahahahahaha........"

>>3155346
LOL supporting this.For all our so-called suaveness we're still basically in the same situation that Nielson is in right now.....

>>3155338
>>> “I mean. I guess. It's not like I'm a virgin or anything right? Hahahahahahaha........"
Seeing how both Tombs and Nielson are doing maybe it's time for us to step up as well

>>3155346
supporting

> Other

“I mean, I guess. It’s not like I’m a virgin, eh? Hehehehe.” Nielson stares at you, a slight smile on his face. “Ahaha.” Oh God, you are, and it kind of hurts a little bit. Especially since you did enlist mostly to get into that one girl’s pants. But damn it. It feels like there’s no real right time to it you suppose. “Eh…”

Nielson says, “Look, Boss. It’s alright if you haven’t. I’m sure few others haven’t either.” You sigh, leaning on the other barricade, trying to relax a bit. “I mean, way I see it, Boss. It’ll happen sooner or later. And with you, probably sooner. With me, later.” He shrugs, his hand resting on his rifle. “Hell, you could probably score a foursome out of Burke, Tierney, and Graves I think if you time it right.”

“Please, those three would kill each other before that’d happen,” you say firmly. Graves and Burke definitely do not like each other. And Burke probably thinks of Tierney like a scared little kid as opposed to a love rival. Hell, Burke probably doesn’t even –think- of you as a sexual partner in the first place. She definitely trusts you. But romance with her? Probably not her schtick to begin with. “Look, Nielson. I mean, I guess too much shit’s happened for me to really consider any kind of settling down.”

“Yeah. I see what you’re saying,” he says. “I mean me I…” He sighs. He turns to the woods, looking out to the trees. “I probably shouldn’t ask you for advice on this.”

“What about?” you ask.

He blinks, then sighs again. “Okay. Listen. I really want to-…” He stops himself. “I don’t want to die a virgin, okay? If I get killed out there, that’s something I’m going to regret forever before Saint Peter opens the pearly gates to me. And I really-…” He hisses a little, placing his hands on hips. “You know? I’m just scared that I’m going to die before I actually get to really feel what sex is like with a girl.” An understandable fear. And definitely one that you feel too. This isn’t a young kid perving over other girls in school in fear he’ll remain a virgin forever. This is a kid who genuinely fears he’ll never get to experience one of the most cherished events of adulthood. “I know it’s probably better to wait until things die down but what do you think?”

> “Find Graves and she’ll help you.”
> “Work for it, Nielson. That’s what I’ll say.”
> “I don’t know. Follow your heart I guess, not your dick.”
> Other

>>3155530
>> “Work for it, Nielson. That’s what I’ll say.”
Good advice for ourselves as well.

>>3155530
>> “Work for it, Nielson. That’s what I’ll say.”
Find one of these girls, and pursue. You're smart, helpful, and slightly charming. You'll be fine, just keep your hands away from Tierney

>>3155530
>> “Work for it, Nielson. That’s what I’ll say.”
>>3155544
He already knows Tierney is into us rather than him. But yeah realistically for him it's either one of the pilots.

>>3155530
>“Work for it, Nielson. That’s what I’ll say.”

> “Work for it, Nielson. That’s what I’ll say.”

“I’d say work for it, Nielson. That’s what I’ll say.” He nods, a look of stern contemplation on his face. “I mean, like you said. You want your first time to be special. May as well do your best to share it with someone who actually wants to share it, and is doing it because they want to and not because they have to. That make sense?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I get it. Why don’t you do that?” he asks.

“I-…” You sigh, rubbing your eyes a bit. “Look, Nielson. You don’t have to listen to me, I’m just providing some advice. That’s just-“ The door starts opening. You think it’s going to be Grimshaw.

Instead, it’s Whitney and Early. Whitney raises her hand, smiling at you. “Hello, boys!” Early steps behind her, hands on her carbine, looking around. You’re about to ask where Grimshaw is when Whitney explains it. “Listen, Cope told us to do watch instead of Grimshaw because he saw us apparently just loafing about. Damn boy thinks he can tell us what to do. Though, I guess he is right in that we don’t usually have things that needs doings so. Here we are.” Nielson looks at Early, then glances at the woods.

“It’s nice to see you on watch,” you say. “Are you two adept with weapons?”

“We’s all go through standard marksmanship,” Whitney says. “Though, I’m only here because Early can’t talk, ya know?” Fair enough.

“Uh, how you two doing?” asks Nielson. Whitney and Early look at Nielson, inquisitive. Nielson smiles, waving at them. “Hi.”

…

“Yeah, hi,” says Whitney. She looks at you again. Nielson glances away, muttering quietly to himself. “Fancy staying out with us?”

> Take watch with them. May as well.
> “Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys.”
> Other

>>3155748
>> “Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys.”
Time for Nielson (and us) on act on our advice.

>>3155748
>> “Nah, I’m headed back inside. I'll be out on some god damned mission soon enough. Good luck you guys.”

>>3155748
> “Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys.”

>>3155748
>> “Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys

>>3155748
>“Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys.”

>>3155748
>> “Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys.”
Good luck Nielson, try to be less awkward.

> “Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys.”

“Nah, I’m headed back inside. Good luck you guys.” You step into the door.

Nielson smiles at them. “Uh, so you girls ever take watch before? Yeah, not that hard of a job. You just post up, watch the horizon, boom, you’re done. Uh, since there’s three of us, one of us might have to take the watchtower.” Whitney and Early stare at Nielson. “… yeah, I guess I’ll go and take the watchtower. Yeah. Um. You two stay here. Maybe we can chat a little later or something or… yeah.”

Oh, Nielson, you poor boy.

You shut the door behind you then look around. Tombs and Stoakes are gone to do whatever they want you suppose. You walk on over to the Common room and find only Tierney napping quietly, her head resting on her arms as she sits at one of the tables. Lieutenant Harrell smokes a cigarette as he watches Burke clean her weapon quietly. You walk on inside. “Any word?” you ask.

Lieutenant Harrell says, “Sergeant Cope’s taken Grimshaw, Godwin, and Hood downstairs to investigate. They’ll be establishing a perimeter up in that maproom you found.” Fair enough. Hm.

> Grab your weapon and go downstairs with them. See if they need any assistance.
> Relax in the Common room. Maybe talk with someone. (Who?)
> Go to the medbay, maybe chat with Graves.
> Go find Tombs and Stoakes. Likely that they’re having sex, but at least try and confirm that they’re still inside and safe.
> Other

>>3155941
>> Relax in the Common room. Maybe talk with someone. (Who?)
Whoever is in there. If no one is there, we sit around with our thumbs up our asses and have some peace and quiet. Maybe we'll have time to think about stuff safely, not when we're sneaking through a jungle

>>3155941
>> Go find Tombs and Stoakes. Likely that they’re having sex, but at least try and confirm that they’re still inside and safe.

>>3155941
>> Go find Tombs and Stoakes. Likely that they’re having sex, but at least try and confirm that they’re still inside and safe.

>>3155941
>> Go find Tombs and Stoakes. Likely that they’re having sex, but at least try and confirm that they’re still inside and safe.
Then we can come back and relax in the Common room.

> Go find Tombs and Stoakes. Likely that they’re having sex, but at least try and confirm that they’re still inside and safe.

You sigh. Maybe you’ll go find Tombs and Stoakes, see what they’re doing. You exit the common room then look inside the Armory. Nobody. Huh. Might want to get a guard in there or something, maybe Wexley once he’s up. You check the barracks. Nobody’s in or awake. You check the Medbay. Nothing except Graves checking Wexley’s shoulder. “I told you I’m fine,” says Wexley.

“Shut up, I’m checking you,” Graves says. “’I told you, I’m fine! Let me just lift my arms up, ooohh nooo, my arm just shattered into a million pieces because of a stress fracture I didn’t know I had! If only I let my Mommy Graves check me over after I left surgery! If only I wasn’t such a dickless idiot, oh woe is me’!” Wexley turns his head, staring at her. “What. That’s literally what you’re saying.”

Right. They’re not in there. “Hey,” you say. Graves looks at you. “You two seen Tombs or Stoakes?” They shake their heads. Alright then. You shut the door. They definitely wouldn’t try to be doing anything inside Delta’s lab either.

Logical places are the closets. You open one.

And find Tombs and Stoakes in there. The two of them are sat down on the ground, with Tombs leaning on Stoakes’ shoulder. They look up at you. Right. They are… definitely not having sex. That’s actually a surprise. “Oh.” Stoakes looks up at you in surprise. Tombs doesn’t even acknowledge your presence. She glances at him then at you.

“… was I interrupting something?” you ask.

Stoakes says, “Um. Sometimes I take Tombs in here so he can curl up with me in private.” Oh. Well. You caught them. She smiles, a light blush on her cheeks. “Hehe, feels like we got caught having sex.” That’s honestly what you thought you were going to find. “D-… Did you need us for something?”

“Uh, no. Sorry, I’m just gonna leave you two alone.” You quietly shut the door. Okay, that was –way- more awkward than if you had just caught them with their pants down. You sigh.

“Hey, B-“ You jump, flinching to see Tierney standing next to you. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Did I scare you!?”

“No, no!” You place your hands on your hips. She did. Damn it. “Uh. I thought you were in the Common room.”

“I was just taking a nap,” she says. “And I woke up, figured I’d walk around and then I saw you here at the closets. You know Stoakes and Tombs have sex in there, right?” Well. Maybe. Tierney places her hands on her hips, smiling at you. “Anyway, Burke said she was going to go bowhunting. She wanted to take you along.”

“Oh, did she?” you ask. “Did she ask for you too?”

“Well.” She shrugs. “Um. No, just you. But I’ll be happy to go!”

> “I think I’ll stay here for now. You should go with her.”
> “Come on. We’ll both go with her.”
> “Yeah, just stay here, Tierney. Let me go with Burke.”
> Other

>>3156244
>> “Yeah, just stay here, Tierney. Let me go with Burke.”
Nothing against Tierney in this case but not sure Burke will want her along for this.

>>3156244
>“Yeah, just stay here, Tierney. Let me go with Burke.”

>>3156244
>> “Yeah, just stay here, Tierney. Let me go with Burke.”

>>3156244
> “Yeah, just stay here, Tierney. Let me go with Burke.”
We're probably going to end up getting into some shit with Burke and have a firefight or something. We always do with her.

Also Stoakes is Tombs' comfort pillow.