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Total Members Voted: 10

[Itnetlolor]

I didn't catch that the last time I played. I didn't realize it was Cico being crowned. :hits forehead:

Spoiler: Short-term mini-spoiler (click to show/hide)

Considering I was spending most of my time grinding ranks and cash to upgrade my fleet from the Askold I had when I ended that portion of the game and a few pirate ships of my own, into  a more proper fleet of Junkyards. There's an excellent part coming up that gives you a ton of miles for cargo-cash grinding (a fleet of 4 Junkyards filled with top-grade cargo pods is excellent for this), along with XP and Fame; it's sorta where I'm stuck right now (cutting off my progression/grinding until maybe rank 50). After grinding enough, I have set aside another fleet of ships made up of 2 carriers and 2 battleships with fighter capacity. The later game will have their run for the money.

After you cross where I am, I'll be rather split between continuing to follow, and potentially spoil the game for me as I play, and continuing my game, and see how I fare. I suppose, I'll still follow for story reasons, since grinding tends to distract my mind from the story to the point I start forgetting things (like Cico's new title).

[Hanzoku]

Spoiler: Freespace 2 Spoilers (click to show/hide)

Yeah, and consider the technology difference. It takes the Shivans something on the order of hundreds of Sathanas-class super destroyers all firing a reality-aborting main gun attack that forces the ship to shut down temporarily just to power it to cause a star to go nova.

Regeinland does it with one ship.

>>The Galactic Federation
And yes, the ship class names are a large reason why I call the Galactic Federation Space America. I'll give them their own mini-rant (hopefully with attendant humor) when we start seeing them.

>>Kira, Torlo and Ian
Not too big of a spoiler, but we will meet up with our friends eventually. I'm sitting here with a little grin, because I'm looking forward to people's reactions to what they've been up to.

>>Playing along or reading along
It's up to you, Itnetlolor. I was inspired to play and complete the game the first time around because I found it really interesting from this forum's first Let's Play, and the updates just weren't coming fast enough! Maybe once I'm a bit closer to where you are now, it'll motivate you to keep ahead instead of grinding for cash.

[C-SH4M4N]

Spoiler: Freespace 2 Spoilers (click to show/hide)

Yeah, and consider the technology difference. It takes the Shivans something on the order of hundreds of Sathanas-class super destroyers all firing a reality-aborting main gun attack that forces the ship to shut down temporarily just to power it to cause a star to go nova.

Regeinland does it with one ship.

And Star Trek does with a single 'trilithium torpedo', topping off everyone else.

But no arguing there from me. FreeSpace 2 dropped the ball, IMHO, with how they played the story ... I mean, EVERYONE got the whole "it's a game of pawns, yadda yadda" but they made a point to make it crystal clear for us. Oh and "the demons locked inside a CHAPEL and praying for atonement/salvation" thing? I saw what you did there, VOLITION dudes ... *gentleman clap*

>>The Galactic Federation
And yes, the ship class names are a large reason why I call the Galactic Federation Space America. I'll give them their own mini-rant (hopefully with attendant humor) when we start seeing them.

C'mon -- have you EVER met a Space President named Brian? BRIAN?! That guy is sure to be awesome. (I ain't named Brian, mind you, but President Brian sounds way cooler than 'President Derling' or 'President Forevermore'. I'm visualizing METAL WOLF CHAOS as the logical offshoot for a future Space America. [One sec, please ... RICHAAAAAAARD!!!!! *ahem* OK, sorry, now back to our normal conversation.])

I think about the Galactic Federation as more of a Space UN. We might get a clearer picture of it if we ever visit that Merylgild world. There IS a Space America in this game, it's just not the Galactic Federation IMO. There's also Space Germany and thankfully there're no Space Nazis ... at least, not in my playthrough.

>>Playing along or reading along
It's up to you, Itnetlolor. I was inspired to play and complete the game the first time around because I found it really interesting from this forum's first Let's Play, and the updates just weren't coming fast enough! Maybe once I'm a bit closer to where you are now, it'll motivate you to keep ahead instead of grinding for cash.

Same here; you got me reading that first LP up to the "Echo One, we got fightercraft!" final post and I was all like, 'wait, where's all the rest? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NOBODY EVER FINISHED THIS?!?' and that's when I finally decided to actually play the game (it was on my To-Play list for the longest time, ever.).

You're having money troubles? C'mon, pirate hunting solves that easily! I never used those cargo pod modules, I thought they were a waste of space: you basically need to conduct really long trips to get any worthwhile money. Enemies are a much better ROI, I think, since this isn't Elite: Final Frontier or EVE Online. But, hey, whatever rocks your boat starship!

[Neonivek]

I miss Nia already. She was my favorite character in this!

She died as she lived... being the best character in this entire game. Well IMO

[Itnetlolor]

>>Playing along or reading along
It's up to you, Itnetlolor. I was inspired to play and complete the game the first time around because I found it really interesting from this forum's first Let's Play, and the updates just weren't coming fast enough! Maybe once I'm a bit closer to where you are now, it'll motivate you to keep ahead instead of grinding for cash.

Same here; you got me reading that first LP up to the "Echo One, we got fightercraft!" final post and I was all like, 'wait, where's all the rest? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NOBODY EVER FINISHED THIS?!?' and that's when I finally decided to actually play the game (it was on my To-Play list for the longest time, ever.).

You're having money troubles? C'mon, pirate hunting solves that easily! I never used those cargo pod modules, I thought they were a waste of space: you basically need to conduct really long trips to get any worthwhile money. Enemies are a much better ROI, I think, since this isn't Elite: Final Frontier or EVE Online. But, hey, whatever rocks your boat starship!

I do pirate hunting while I cargo. In regards to gameplay, I just didn't want to miss any timed events, along with keeping the game challenging by going through as quickly as I could.

[C-SH4M4N]

You know what's funny? In this game, there are very few shops because they're basically blueprints and modules; when new weapons systems are added in the shipyard, you don't get so much as a text box saying it.

I was also amused by how they call the weapons ... OK, I get "AS Laser" and "AA Laser". But what about "D AS Laser" and later on, "DBASLaser"? I went on with gut instincts on that ...

And I saw almost no difference between laser and missiles. Later on, we got torpedoes and plasma too. And something called a "AA Cluster laser", although I'm puzzled as to how a laser would fragment like an anti-fighter cluster bomb in the middle of combat. An intriguing proposition, really...

[Neonivek]

I assume it is created by firing some sort of focus lense or that the "laser" is actually some sort of odd energy and is only called a laser to describe its general behavior.

Also in space is there REALLY a difference between a torpedo and a missile?

[C-SH4M4N]

I assume it is created by firing some sort of focus lense or that the "laser" is actually some sort of odd energy and is only called a laser to describe its general behavior.

I'm inclined to believe on that second possibility.

Also in space is there REALLY a difference between a torpedo and a missile?

I think they see the torpedoes as directed energy, like a plasma ball sealed in some form of containment field. Missiles are generally "solid ammo" (hard explosives), so they bypass shields (although this game doesn't really implement shields; not as, say, Sins of a Solar Empire where you take shield mitigation into effect, all the time. They don't make it worth the investment of module space, IMO).

But I think there's also the option to mount railguns; just to make matters a bit more confusing. So you have railguns which use true solid ammo, missiles which are explosives mounted on a rocket, and torpedoes which is explosive energy but since it travels as a projectile with mass it counts as solid ammo, it seems.

Meanwhile, plasma and lasers fall into the pew-pew-pew-ZAP! category of directed-energy weapons.

Sci-fi reserves the right to make sense of itself only when necessary for plot reasons.

[Sirus]

This is (very (very (very))) late, but I found the perfect gif to sum up Cico and Kira's date and had to share it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Hanzoku]

That... is very, very accurate.

[Hanzoku]

Setting Sail
New Characters:  Thomas
New Ships:
New Equipment:
New Fighters:

Spoiler: Hard Labor (click to show/hide)

The next day, Yuri and the others are hard at work in the mines. Eventually…

Franny: Hey, guys! I hope you’re hungry.

Semias: Thank you, Franny. And my stomach thanks you, too!

Yuri: …

Yuri and the other prisoners stop working all at once when they hear the lunch siren in conjunction with Franny Porolo’s voice. They lay down their mining tools, made of super-hard FRP to counter the strong magnetic effects of the jezelmite ore, and proceed to eat their lunches wherever each person can find a suitable spot.
FRP stands for Fiber-Reinforced Plastics or Polymers. The more you know!

Above them, lightning traces spidery webs through the gloomy plasma sky as the sound of thunder rumbles in the distance.

Franny: Yuri, about that data…

Her lunch-serving duty finished, Franny approaches Yuri, speaking in a hushed tone.

Franny: I dug a little deeper and found a record of shuttle and escort landing dates here on Lari. Think you could pass ‘em along to Alik for me?

Yuri: Why Alik?

Franny: Cause I think it might be a clue to breaking through the plasma storms.

Yuri: Sure, you can count on me.

Franny: Okay, I’ll get the data ready. It shouldn’t take long.

??: Get what ready, pretty lady?!

Franny: Yikes!

Yuri: Warden Glaucus.

Glaucus: Heh heh heh… Yuri… You’ve been up to somethin’ lately. I dunno what, but whatever it is, it stinks!

Yuri: …

Glaucus: Don’t you go doin’ anything stupid, now. I mean, we’ve been drillin’ it into your criminal minds plenty, haven’t we? Them plasma storms are whipped up by the solar winds hittin’ Lari’s atmosphere. They’re way too strong for any ship to break through, so don’t even think of it.

Yuri: …

Glaucus: Heh heh heh… Ah ha ha ha ha ha!
He’s like a hyena, he can’t help himself.

Deimos Glaucus saunters off, braying loud laughter as he goes. Franny spits angrily at the ground while glaring at the warden’s back.

Franny: Hmph. That jerk really knows how to push my buttons!

Yuri: Yeah, but we both know he’s right about the plasma storms. We’re trapped on this hunk of rock until we can find a way through those things.

After the day’s done, we’re back in our cell block. We don’t get to visit the tavern or other locations, so let’s see what our friends are up to.

>>Go to Gen Nadiy’s cell.
As usual, Alik Kovalenko is also in Gen Nadiy’s cell, but something is different this time. Alik can be seen hunched over an ancient parchment, pen in hand, engrossed in some sort of calculations.

Alik: (mumbles)

Yuri: Gen, what’s Alik doing?

Gen: He’s busy analyzing the data we received from Franny.

Yuri: You mean the dates for ship landings and departures?

Gen: Precisely. Those are the dates when the plasma storms subsided. And they may very well correlate with the asteroid’s orbit and the distance from its two suns. If we could only get the formula right—

Yuri: We’d know when we could escape?

Gen: Yes, or at least, in theory.

The two gaze intently at Alik Kovalenko as he continues to wrestle with a page full of complex equations. Alik continues to pen formulas, only to quickly cross them out and begin new ones.

We leave automatically, and if we return, Gen meets us as the door.

Gen Nadiy whispers to Yuri in a hushed voice.

Gen: I think Alik’s calculations will take some more time. Would you mind coming back at a later time? I wouldn’t want to break his concentration.

Yuri: All right.

>>Go to Semias Alastar’s cell.
In Semias Alastar’s cell, Yuri finds Semias an unfamiliar man waiting to speak with him. It seems this is the “interesting fellow” that Semias mentioned yesterday.

Semias: Yuri, this is the fellow I mentioned to you yesterday.
The narrator just said that.

Thomas: Howdy. The name’s Thomas Veil. I’m new to this place, but I’ve already heard a lot about you, Yuri.

Yuri: It’s good to meet ya. You’re new here, huh? I wish I could say enjoy your stay.

Thomas: Heh! Fresh off the boat about a month ago. But I’m afraid my stay’s lookin’ to be a long one. Heh heh. I’ve seen you around the mines before, but I never got me a chance to introduce myself.

Yuri: …

Semias: Yuri, Thomas saw something rather interesting the day he was transferred here.

Yuri: Oh yeah? What’s that?

Semias Alastar gives a slight nod to Thomas Veil, as if signaling that he should explain.

Thomas: Uh, well, it was like this: The prison ship that brought me here got a little lost along the way. We wandered around for a while until we ended up at what looked like some kind of hanger. It was huge, it was. Now, here’s what’s interesting: Can ya guess what I saw there?

Yuri: …
Your story is crap. How would a prisoner in a prison barge know any of this?

Semias: Come now, Thomas, we’ve no time for games.

Thomas: Oh, sorry, heh heh… There were a bunch of battleships stored there.

Yuri: Battleships?
I wonder if this changes based on our flagship?

Thomas: Yeah, but it was like they were really old or something, you know? All dusty and dingy. Looked to me like they’d been mothballed. Oh, and the ships’ names were Nikusui and—

Yuri: What?!

Semias: Yes. It seems our ship was brought in with us, and is still sitting there gathering dust.

Yuri: Hm…

Thomas: Think any of that info’s gonna prove useful?

Yuri: yeah. That was pretty interesting.

Thomas: Heh he. Glad I could help. Anyway, remember, the name’s Thomas Veil. See you ‘round, Yuri.

Semias rewards Thomas with a cigarette and then promptly sends him on his way. Yuri and Semias are left to quietly ponder their thoughts.

Semias: So what do you make of Thomas’ little story, Yuri?

Yuri: It sounds a little too neat and tidy to me.

Semias: My thoughts exactly. Still, I think we should play along and see what happens.

Yuri: Me, too. There’s some sort of a change happening out there in the LMC. And I have a feeling I’ll be diving head-first into whatever it is.
You’re remarkably insightful for an RPG protagonist.

Semias: Well, come what may, you can count on me sticking by your side, Yuri.

We leave his cell automatically. If we talk to Semias one more time he shares some more information.

Semias: It sees as if Gen Nadiy is not exactly in the best of health lately.

Yuri: Yeah. If we could only get him some decent food…

>>Go to Franny Porolo’s cell.
Franny Porolo is in her cell, staring at her mobile terminal’s screen. It appears that her analysis work is well on its way.

Yuri: How’s the data analysis going?

Franny: Well, I’ve pretty much hacked that security system. If we can get our hands on some weapons, we should be able to take the control building, even with our small numbers. I always thought security was kinda lax around here, but this time we’re really gonna catch ‘em with their pants down!

Yuri: I guess that proves how much they’re depending on those plasma storms to keep us here. I mean, there’s no escaping as long as that atmosphere keeps on raging up there.

Franny: True, but—

Yuri: How about weapons? What’s the plan?

Franny: Oh, I hit the jackpot, Yuri! I found out they keep all the confiscated weapons in the control building’s storeroom! Storm there first, and we’ve got ourselves some major firepower! I should have the security system totally hacked tonight, so getting at those weapons should be a cinch.

Yuri: Nice work, Franny. Keep it up!

Franny: Heh heh! Now aren’t you glad I fell into your lap?

We leave automatically, and talking to Franny once more yields this.

Franny: By the way, how’s Alik’s work going?

Yuri: It’s hard to say.

Franny: Well, it’s almost time, so he’d better kick it up a notch.

Yuri: Don’t worry about Alik. He’s got it together a lot more than some people.

Franny: Hey! What are you trying to say?
Nothing Franny, nothing at all.

With everyone talked to, we return to our bleak cell.

Yuri: (sighs)

Returning to his cell, Yuri lets out a deep breath as he sits heavily down on his bed. At that moment, Alik Kovalenko comes racing into Yuri’s cell in a near state of panic or, perhaps, euphoria.

Alik: I-I g-got it! I g-got it!

Yuri: You got what?

Alik: Th-The formula! You know, for the days the p-plasma storms subside!

Yuri: Really?!

Alik: Yeah! According to my c-calculations… well…

Yuri: Well what?!

Alik: The storms subside at completely random times! There is no p-pattern!
This… doesn’t sound helpful. Just saying.

Spoiler: Flying the Coop (click to show/hide)

The next day, outside.

Yuri: (sighs)

The inmates sit in their proper places almost instinctively when they hear the lunch siren. Franny Porolo helps serve lunch again, as usual, but there is something slightly different about her today.

Semias: Yuri, the bread is cut into fours today. Does this mean…?

Yuri: It does.

Semias: …

Late that night… All the east-wing inmates have gathered in anticipation at the front of the prison block.

Gen: Franny, I trust the security cameras have been taken care of?

Franny: Yep. I replaced the video feed with a playback from about a week ago. I figure that should buy us at least an hour or so.

Semias: Perfect. Okay, Yuri, it’s time.

Yuri: Let’s do this.

At Semias Alastar’s cue, Yuri walks forward and stands before the gathered inmates. Facing their expectant stares, Yuri begins to speak, his voice resonating loud and clear.

Yuri: My fellow inmates! This is the day we’ve been waiting for, when we can escape the prison asteroid Lari and sail into the sea of stars at last! Are you ready to follow me, to place your lives in my hands?

Everyone: Yeah!

Yuri turns his back to his fellow inmates as they continue to cheer in suppressed tones, and calmly steps outside. The skies over the prison asteroid Lari are covered in plasma storms and laced with fierce bolts of lightning.

We can do one last round of the place before we leave. We won’t be coming back, one way or another.

>>Cell block – West prison wing
Yuri: (I don’t have time to waste around here.)

>>Cell block – East prison wing
Yuri: (I don’t think I’ll ever come back here again.)

The rest of the dialogue is unchanged, so let’s go get our revolt on.

>>Prison complex
Yuri: All right, Franny. Go for it.

Franny: Okay, here goes...

The sound of a door unlocking is heard at the moment that Franny Porolo connects her home-made terminal to the key code reader.
Who left the code on ‘12345’?

Alik: Wh-Whoa…

Franny: I’ll take that as a compliment. Heh heh heh! Stick with me, guys, and you’ve got a free pass to anywhere you wanna go!

Yuri: Okay, let’s start with the weapons locker.

We’re now in a set of corridor and rooms. It’s all linear, however.

The building is utterly silent as we move forward, taking the elevators up to the second floor. Once there, Franny guides us to the armory.

Franny: Here it is, Yuri.

Inside the room, weapons confiscated from convicts when they were first imprisoned are heaped about in random piles.

Yuri: Okay, maser blasters for everyone. And give blades to whoever wants them.

Semias: Yuri, I believe this is yours.

Yuri: Hm?

Semias Alastar hands Yuri a small sword. It is covered in dust and its sheath is faded, but the moment it’s in his hand, Yuri knows that his trusty plasmic blade is back.

You got your plasmic blade back! Yuri’s Combat skill increased by 2!

While Yuri is savoring his combat skill increase, the alarms start going off.

Yuri: Ah.

Gen: Are they onto us?

Alik: Y-Y-Yuri…

Yuri: Don’t worry. This was bound to happen sooner or later. At least we got to the weapons first.

Alik: Oh, y-yeah, right.

Yuri: Let’s move! The hangar’s further in!

Everyone: Yeah!

We take the corridor right around a bend and travel to the third floor. Walking down the corridor here, we run into the guards.

Yuri: Hm?!

Semias: Yuri, prison guards! We’d better finish them off quickly!

It’s our group of 1000 versus 800 prison guards. Yuri and Semias gives our team 62 combat skill versus their 30.

As soon as the battle starts, I gamble on shoot, only to have them beat us with slash. I go with Commander and hope they stay on slash. They switch to leader, but not before our Commander attack wipes out about 250 of them. I guess they’ll go to Shoot, so I switch us to Slash, only to have them do the same.

We’re at 914 and they’re at 482, so we’re still doing well. I anticipate they’ll go to leader, and go to shoot, only to have them do the same thing. We’re doing far better than they are though, with 893 versus their 260. It takes a few more rounds, but we beat them all in the end.

Something that has changed in the last ten years is that unlike the last time we assaulted a prison planet, Yuri’s not taking prisoners.

In the control room, Glaucus rushes in.

Glaucus: Hey, what the Grus is goin’ on here?!

Security Guard: The east-wing prisoners are rioting!

Glaucus: What?! Why didn’t any of you idiots pick up on this sooner?!

Security Guard: Someone disabled our security cameras and the security system. We just managed to bring them back on line.

Glaucus: Grrr… Yuri! That scum is actually trying to escape!
Not laughing now, are you?

Fighting done, we’re back with our heroes, as they take the elevators up to the fourth floor of the tower. It’s quiet again as we travel through the empty floor and up to the fifth level. Here, we’re ambushed again.

Semias: Hm?!

Semias Alastar, who had been running ahead, comes to a sudden halt. In front of him, a big giant of a man accompanied by armed prisoners is barring the way.

Dodungo: …

Yuri: Dodungo.

Dodungo: Heh heh heh… Yuri… I gotta admit, I had ya pegged all wrong. I didn’t think you’d have the guts to try and escape.

Yuri: …

Dodungo: I’m gonna slaughter you and all your little friends right here, right now!

Franny: Huh?!

Semias: Dodungo, you filthy swine!
What, you thought he was only going to murder Yuri? Silly people.

Dodungo: I’m gonna be top dog of the whole prison, even that precious east wing of yours! And I got Warden Glaucus on my side, too!
You say that like we would a) care and b) want to stay.

Franny: Top dog?! Of this cesspit?! You really wanna spend the rest of your life in this dump?!

Dodungo: Who cares where ya live, as long as you’re on top?! I mean, why should I got start all over again out there when I can do whatever the Grus I want in here? Okay, boys, blast ‘em!

We’re up to a 1000, but Dodungo has 1200 prisoners on his side. On the other hand, he’s a terrible leader, and they have only 12 combat skill.

I start off with the Commander skill, and Dodungo starts off with slash, which turns this whole thing into a slaughter. By the end of the first round, we’ve not lost a person, and Dodungo is down to 500. We both switch to shoot at the same time, and I’m content to keep trading fire with him. We eventually both switch to slash, and we wipe out 1200 enemy prisoners for 90 on our side.

Dodungo: You’ve got to be kidding me! How’d you wipe all my men out so easy? Hey, Yuri, no hard feelings, right? No, wait! Please, Yuri! No!
I have a bad feeling about this…

Yuri: You don’t really want to live the rest of your life like some kind of caged animal do you?

Yuri: Let me put you out of your misery. Consider it my one and only favor to you.

Dodungo: Gwaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!
And then Yuri cuts him to pieces. Given the screaming, he didn’t make it too easy on Dodungo.

Franny: We did it!

Semias: Well done, Yuri!

Yuri: Nice to see my trusty plasmic blade hasn’t lost its edge.
And he apparently really did it to see if he needed his sword to be sharpened. Yuri’s definitely hardened up after ten years of prison life.

In the control room…

Security Guard: W-Warden Glaucus! They took out Dodungo and his men!

Glaucus: They what?! Argh! Yuri, that no-good—

Security Guard: Should we send in a guard force?

Glaucus: What, and get ‘em all killed? They’d be like lambs to the slaughter!
While true, usually villains aren’t perceptive enough to notice this.

Security Guard: B-But…

Glaucus: Even if they stole a ship in the hanger, those plasma storms would finish ‘em off! All we gotta do is sit back and watch them die.

Security Guard: Y-Yes sir.

Back with Yuri and company, we head up to the sixth floor, only to stumble into a massive empty space.

Yuri: Hm?!

Semias: Where are we?

Thomas: This is it! That ship hanger I was telling you about! Hold on. I’m gonna try and find the switch.

Semias: Ah! That’s--
Yuri: My ship!

Meanwhile…

Security Guard: We have a security breach in the hangar! The escaped prisoners are initializing their ship’s inflaton inverter!

Glaucus: Hmph. Those stinkin’ vermin really are gonna make a run for it, aren’t they? Well, you just keep ‘em in your sights! I don’t wanna miss the moment that plasma storm tears ‘em to shreds!

Onboard the Nikusui

Franny: Inflaton initiator stable and gaining power!

Semias: All drive gates open. All systems go!

The Nikusui lifts off smoothly, for all that it’s been unmaintained for the last ten years.

Gen: I suppose we’ll have to thank Warden Glaucus someday. Perhaps we’ll send him a present.
I’m fond of something that goes tick… tick… boom! myself.

Gen: After all, it was so kind of him to leave a ship here for us.

Thomas: Oh, I’ll have something for him all right. Heh heh! Okay, we’re good to go, Yuri! Or should I say, Captain!

Yuri: All right, let’s get of this hunk of rock! Franny, open the hangar’s upper hatch!

Semias: All thrusters to gravitational escape mode. Attitude control to an elevation angle of fifty-five degrees.

Yuri: Engines, full throttle! Escape velocity in twenty seconds and counting!

The prison complex recedes behind us as we fly towards the plasma storms raging overhead.

Glaucus: Well I’ll be. They really are gonna try and bust through them plasma storms! Damn fools, the bunch of ‘em! They might as well kiss their pretty asses good-bye.
You like your men well muscled and tattooed, Glaucus? Then I’m sorry for what we did to your boyfriend.

Franny: Yuri, thirty seconds to the plasma storms! You sure you know what you’re doing?!

Yuri: Trust me, Franny. Alik showed me the light, so to speak.

Franny: Alik did what?

Alik: (grins)

Yuri: I want all energy diverted to the guns, except for engine power! All guns, ready to fire!

Franny: Really?! I mean, roger that! Okay, all guns, ready! Full power, check!

Yuri: I want all guns in synchronized fire mode dead ahead! Ready… fire!

Our lasers open fire, flashing towards the plasma storm.

They seem to hit something in the storm.

And then it explodes.

Franny: A direct hit! Wait a second… What was there to hit?

Yuri: Like Alik said, the storms subside at completely random times. If they were natural phenomena, he would’ve found some sort of law governing their intensity. Which leaves only one conclusion.

Massive slabs tumble out of the smoke of the explosion.

And open space is visible through the new hole in the now-revealed shell surrounding Lari.

Semias: You mean--
Yuri: Yep, the plasma storms are completely manmade! Isn’t that right, Alik?

Alik: C-Correct!

Back in the prison…

Security Guard: Warden! The outer plasma panel! It’s been destroyed!

Glaucus: Damn him! How’d he know?!
You should care more about the debris tumbling down towards you, and the fact that Lari is no longer air tight.

Since we’re not in a Lugovalian ship, one of those hitting us would have really wrecked our day.

And so it is that Yuri, no longer just the boy who had fled his home planet, returns to the sea of stars, there to soar through the Large Magellanic Cloud and the universe beyond.

[Neonivek]

I feel like I jumped into another game altogether.

I am wondering if the game considers Yuri's change positive or not. Though judging by the fact that he just made five star chili out of someone's entrails and everyone around him cheered on... I am guessing he is new and improved as far as the narrative is concerned.

[C-SH4M4N]

I feel like I jumped into another game altogether.

I am wondering if the game considers Yuri's change positive or not. Though judging by the fact that he just made five star chili out of someone's entrails and everyone around him cheered on... I am guessing he is new and improved as far as the narrative is concerned.

You ain't seen nothing yet. Trust me.
You know, for a second there, I thought the fact that Dodungo had a character portrait meant that he might turn into an ally or crew NPC for us ... guess not!

[C-SH4M4N]

Say, how exactly did Yuri meet with Gen and Alik in the LMC and at that prison planet, of all places? I don't recall the conversations going over that ...

[Hanzoku]

From the conversations, my take on it is that Gen and Alik had traveled to the LMC ahead of Yuri to warn the leadership there of the Lugovalian Empire, only yo be imprisoned on Lari. When Yuri and crew showed up, those who knew the most of the threat were sent to Lari, while the crew who didn't know as much was sent elsewhere.