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[_DivideByZero_]

A container huh? Then why don't we just bust it open by force?

The computer scientist laughs, although the distortion on the microphone and speaker is evident.

"Ah, you don't do that, silly! If there's something valuable aside it might blow you open. We don't know what kind of failsafes it has."

[SaberToothTiger]

Is there a window around? If so, snatch my gold and jump out.

[Happy Demon]

F*** yeah, now I just need to find out what other tubes to shoot.

Get to the door with the pirates, go through, get my back to the wall, and fire the heavy rifle at the space pirates (I doubt the rifle would send me through a wall).
Also, try to radio about where the spinal railgun's plasma tubes/freeze banks are.

[_DivideByZero_]

Is there a window around? If so, snatch my gold and jump out.

((A window to the low-atmosphere, frigid planet outside I reckon.))

[Happy Demon]

((Ok, more detail on the fluff... in the form of fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Greater detail on Vax's life, from Xylia Fortress to the Hive.

Vax Murdock was given some teaching and training in her 5 years at Xylia Fortress, there's not a whole lot you can do with a child in 5 years, with them being so fragile.
She was given a ride to the Hive, told to survive on her own, and if she ever wanted to come back to her mother, she'd have to work really hard.
Though, being 5 years old, it took less than an hour for her to be beaten and robbed by other, older Speartails, one even took out a knife and slashed her.
She was then left to die, there were other mutants around, but they had enough troubles already, and just ignored her.
Vax made her way to somewhere she would be alone, her wounds had healed, but she was weak, scared, and confused.

She sat in an alleyway, but then she was brushed by something soft, something fluffy, she looked ahead.
There was a brown furred Fluff Dragon in front of her, it introduced itself as Kain, and had seen what happened to her, he offered to carry her to a safer place.
Vax, with no other choice, accepted. Kain picked her up and carried her with him, to an apartment building, it wasn't pretty, but it was stuffed with people.
Kain carried Vax up 4 floors, he was breathing heavily by then, as physical activity doesn't mix well with a hot building. Also, the entire air conditioning system had failed, so it was hotter than normal today.
There were many rooms, each with many people in it, people were sleeping wherever they could place a mattress, even the hallway had people sleeping in it.

Then Kain got to a room with 6 people in it, 4 Speartails, a Goliath, and a Salamander, oddly enough, the Salamander looked comfortable in there.
The Goliath and 2 of the Speartails reacted to Kain entering the room, and cleared one of the mattresses, before Kain placed Vax on it.
The mattress was moist and squishy, and it reeked of sweat, stagnant water, and rot. This, was Vax's new home.
The other mutants introduced themselves, Vak Sleek, the female Goliath, Sak Blade and Sak Spike, the twin male Speartails, Koge Wrath the female Salamander, Zack Hope the female Speartail, and Jack Daniels, the male Speartail. Kain had introduced himself before, but he did it again, and then Vax, lying on a mattress, introduced herself, finishing the ceremony.

[Ama]

Slvia floats over to the tree....thing.

"Greetings, would you be so kind as to move, so that I might pass by, thank you."

Wait until the tree moves.

[SaberToothTiger]

Sheit. Could I try to get the gold and run past any assailants outside and towards the other Guildmen?

[Happy Demon]

((Hm... I'm a bit unsure how far I can go with the power on these things, but anyway, fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Laser Crocodiles and Plasma Crocodiles

On the planet of Bob, a group of mad scientists arrived, with the goal of making the most powerful creature of all time, they succeeded.
In the time after the 1st war, the Laser Crocodiles were created, 1 meter tall, 20 meters long, it's skeleton made of an advanced mixture of compounds, for lightness and strength.
It's metabolism was very different, it's body is basically a living smelter, burning most of what it eats, which raises their internal temperature to very high levels, which is used to power mah lazor the laser.
It was also quite intelligent, sapient even, and managed to get free... after blasting the scientists to pieces.
It wasn't alone however, and they proceeded to reproduce, becoming quite the predator on Bob.

Laser Crocodiles are incredibly dangerous, often going in packs and destroying villages, which is part of the reason there's so much no man's land between the mutant cities in the Great Fernswamp.
It's hide is hard to penetrate, and it's laser blasts can destroy Swamp Tanks. Only Sons of Ivaldi equipment and Swamp Tanks can reliably combat them.
They've persisted to this day, despite the best efforts of the mutants to eradicate them, when they find groups of them, they don't hesitate to bombard them from orbit.
The Laser Crocodiles are intelligent, even capable of hijacking spaceships, which the did once, sadly, not all of the spaceships were destroyed.
They've got the ability to walk on their normal rear legs, use their front ones as hands, and they have regeneration. They also have larger legs compared to their bodies than normal crocodiles.

They also have gained an offshoot species, the Plasma Crocodiles, 2 meters tall and 50 meters long, it's capable of shooting plasma projectiles at great range, which melts anything it hits.
Only top quality Sons of Ivaldi weaponry have been observed to actually manage to kill them.
Their internal temperature is higher than the Laser Crocodiles, which makes all deep wounds release a jet of super hot gas, before the wound can close.
There's also been recent reports of Laser and Plasma Crocodiles elsewhere in the Charta system.

The mutants cannot call in aid from outsiders, as they think the Laser Crocodiles are a joke.

Edit: ((More fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Vax and the 'tail' incident

In the apartment complex, the Sak twins thought they couldn't be heard, as the room was empty, except for a sleeping Vax.
Sak Spike had acquired a length of tattered silk ribbon, and discussed with Sak Blade on where to tie it.
S. Blade: "We should make a bow on each of our tails, just like all the other popular Speartails."
S. Spike: "But it'll be stolen then, and flaunting silk ribbons would draw unwanted attention. We should just put it in our hair, then it's hard to get."
S. Blade: "But, then it wouldn't be waving around with our tails."

S. Spike: "They'll just lop off our tail and take it then, no thanks."
Vax Murdock: "You could always tie it to your other 'tail', nobody would see it."
The Sak twins were startled by the awake Vax, who was lying on the mattress while looking at them, grinning.
S. Spike: "What do you mean by other tail?"
Vax Murdock: "Oh, you know..." Vax petted her groin.

S. Spike: "No, no way, we're not doing such a thing, also, it'd be uncomfortable."
Vax Murdock: "Have you tried?"
Sak Spike went silent, and Sak Blade didn't say anything either, they blushed, looked at each other, and then both said: "N-no."
The Sak twins were silent, Vax yawned before pretending to go to sleep, but when she heard shuffling, she looked at them, tying a ribbon bow to each others' 'tails'.
Only Vax and the Sak twins ever knew of it, as they used it for the rest of their lives.

Edit 2: ((Even more fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

More detail on Vax's life, from cramped moist apartment, to Ghost Sector pub.

Kain did most of the work, as he knew they weren't all that useful yet, but he knew it would benefit in the long run... if he kept them alive long enough.
The Sak twins were 6 years old, Vak was 7, Vax was 5, and Kain was 11.
The jobs varied, sometimes it was carrying stuff, delivering stuff, freezing stuff (not many freezers around), and finding stuff.
Vak also had a job, it was centered around strength mostly, though she wasn't very good at negotiation, Kain made sure to speak for her.
After some months of this, Kain decided to buy a home, he bought a run down pub, the area used to be home to frequent gang activity, but as people left, people ended up never going there.

The part of the Hive used to be popular, but with the frequent shootouts in the past, and deaths, people just left, going elsewhere, leaving that part of the Hive almost completely abandoned.
No shops could survive there, as there were too few customers, and few people bothered to live there because there were no shops, requiring quite the walk.
It was like a ghost town, but that didn't bother Kain and his adopted brothers and sisters, they were just glad it was cramped and hot.
Vax and the Sak twins set to work fixing the walls, as they had nothing else to do, while Kain and Vak set out to buy some furniture, and some dry mattresses.
Sleeping was good, no more stinky wet mattresses, just a dry, perfectly soft, and stench-free mattress, it was great.

Then one day, one of the locals showed up, wondering if they sold any booze, they didn't, but still, she had walked quite the distance, and the nearest pub was far away, so she chatted with them a bit.
This did give Kain an idea, and he did some research and set up a still to brew some crude booze, the internet is quite useful, though getting the materials was the hardest part.
They didn't do a really good job, as they were new to this, but something was better than nothing, and they managed to sell some booze to the local, and she had quite a bit of money saved up.
There were few locals, but it gave the Speartails something to do while Kain and Vak went to the other parts of the Hive to do jobs.
The pub was called Ghost's Drink, written crudely, but one of the locals volunteered to make a better sign, and did, which made it look much better.

The section of the Hive was mostly inhabited by people who wanted to be alone, but having contact every now and then was good.
There hadn't been much contact between the locals before then, they only went out to work and shop in other parts of the Hive, but the Ghost's Drink made a place for them to meet.
The section had originally a different name, but now it was just called Ghost Sector.

Edit 3: ((Modified the 1st spoiler.))

[_DivideByZero_]

((Laser crocodiles are excusable, antimatter production would not be since they'd be farmed for an easy supply of the stuff, and it's supposed to be rare.))

Port Anchorage, Northern Ridge, Askarian | 233d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Askarian Shores
Snow (Low visibility. Actions toward distant objects incur a small penalty based on distance)
Freezing Wind (-1 to all actions when exposed)

Sheit. Could I try to get the gold and run past any assailants outside and towards the other Guildmen?

[6] You snatch the gold so quickly and scoop it into  that the drunken assailants don't even know what happened. The problem is that it's all in coins and nuggets, which means it's all bunched up in your hands, at least until you stash it somewhere. You'll have to keep running for now, though. Still inside your suit, you make your way to the exit airlock and slip inside, mashing the buttons with your elbow before anyone can close in on you. Laughter ensues through the door at the spectacle, but fades away along with the atmosphere.

You stash the gold inside one of your suit's built-in compartments, normally reserved for a handgun or grenade. Out on the pier, you locate your Guild spaceplane and see that the officer, pilot, and engineer have been working with the local staff to work out a deal.

Repairman 1: We don't have a replacement for the chute, though we can order one by boat and it would arrive in a few hours. Other than that, we can have her spaceworthy in roughly an hour.
Guild Pilot: We need to get airborne as quickly as possible.
Guild Officer: I'll call up HQ to send another plane, a combat-ready one.
Repairman 2: Excellent. The movers will be here any moment now.

The Officer sees you skipping closer and turns on the comms.

"What's the deal, Hal? You look like you're in a hurry for something."



A boat speeds out of the docks in relatively close proximity. It kicks up a wake several meters over the water, splattering the entire docks with frigid water that starts condensing on the ground, making it slippery. It also splashes on your helmet, but due to internal heating it melts right away and doesn't cloud your vision.

It's worth noting that the stationary boat you just fled from has multiple decks, all reachable by ladder. If you don't want to enter through the first floor, you can get back in through one of the upper decks. There are four in total, the main deck, a classy restaurant (no spacesuits allowed), an observation deck, and a retail deck where they sell stuff (mostly fishing equipment, boxes, and some imported goods like electronics, mobility, and suits. Askarian doesn't have much in the way of local manufacturing).

...

Habitat Ship Gamma, Askarian Orbit | 233d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Urban Station
City Manners (-1 to first impressions)

Slvia floats over to the tree....thing.

"Greetings, would you be so kind as to move, so that I might pass by, thank you."

Wait until the tree moves.

[6] The tree doesn't appear to listen. You pester it some more, until you finally elicit a response.

Lacking a mouth, the tree wouldn't be able to speak normally. However, right before your eyes viewports, a gap appears in the tree's bark, accompanied by a spray of sawdust and golden glittering stuff.
In a deep, croaking voice, the tree answers you.

"I must reclaim my head from these thieves. Will you enter and retrieve it for me? It is in a cylindrical box, in the hands of a filthy robot."

...

A container huh? Then why don't we just bust it open by force?

The computer scientist laughs, although the distortion on the microphone and speaker is evident.

"Ah, you don't do that, silly! If there's something valuable aside it might blow you open. We don't know what kind of failsafes it has."

The mechanized scientist starts to carry the cylinder into a vault, via a high-security elevator. In fact, this elevator is off-limits to "Non-constructs." Presumably because there are a lot of things that could go wrong down there. Still, you feel that you could just stick it in a shop and . No need for this security nonsense.

[1] Since it's your property, technically, you can stop him from taking the device, although you won't be allowed to bring it into the workshop.

...

The Jolly Roger, Franz| 238d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Zero Gravity
All items have no weight penalty.

[5+2] The plasma cloud does not damage you this turn.

You enter the door that the now-scorched pirates came through, coming across a circular tunnel lined with lockers and cabinets. Looking inside, you find welding equipment and power tools, as well as air tanks and high-energy batteries.

The tunnel is a T-intersection, with the turn leading to some kind of 3d printing chamber where the maintenance crews would manufacture parts from a substrate, and the straight path leading to another plasma conduit.

You start a radio conversation.

You: *asks about the location of the spinal railgun's power lines and cooling banks*
Mission Control: Well, it looks like the conduits form a web. I'm looking into your team's headcam feed, and it looks like you've taken out one of the conduits. Great, but you'll need to get closer before you'll noticeably affect the charging rate. The halls aren't labelled since that would help attackers find their way. The crewmen might have maps with them, maybe as part of their faceplate display.
Steve: I found a lock that leads into the water tanks. We brought breaching charges, correct?
Mission Control: They are inside the invasion pod, yes.
Steve: Perfect, you all can follow the current and it'll lead you to the pumps.
Alice: *grunts*
Charles: Us? What about you?
Steve: Water is a potent solvent and heavily contributes to oxidation. I'm surprised organics need the stuff to survive.
Charles: *still drunk on inertial dampening fluid* So I'll have to swim in space... great. I think I'll get vomit on my faceplate.
Steve: May I suggest the neural blockers that came in the supply kit?
Charles: Yeah... I didn't take those... I'll just stay in the pod for now and try to figure out where they are. You guys okay?

[Gamerlord]

Find a lounge and chill out. Nothing to reallydo until the mission.

[Happy Demon]

((I actually made them antimatter simply because it's the only techno babbly thing I could think of that was more powerful than photons (which appears in sci-fi a lot... photon torpedoes), the only other thing I can think of is nuclear fusion (fission would just kill everyone with radiation poisoning) or plasma shots.))
((How about I just make them fire plasma shots? It should still be nasty to be hit by.))

"I'm fine, a couple holes in some cooling part of my suit, though even if I did get hurt, it wouldn't matter. I can regenerate."
Hm, compressed gas, could make quite the bang.
*Grab the oxygen tank and move away from the plasma cloud*
"Alice looks like she got hurt, but I'm sure she'll manage, she's tough. But that had to have hurt though."
I should check if she's a Sludge soon, just to be sure.

"While I'd like to go wreck people right now (this rifle has some funny results when it hits people), I'll go with the sabotage, blow open the lock."

Grab the oxygen tank, let Charles or Steve blow up the lock, and follow the current.

[_DivideByZero_]

((I actually made them antimatter simply because it's the only techno babbly thing I could think of that was more powerful than photons (which appears in sci-fi a lot... photon torpedoes), the only other thing I can think of is nuclear fusion (fission would just kill everyone with radiation poisoning) or plasma shots.))
((How about I just make them fire plasma shots? It should still be nasty to be hit by.))

((So many things wrong here. No offense, but I have to nitpick
-First off, photons are light. A photon torpedo is actually an antimatter torpedo. Light is a really terrible energy storage medium.
-Second off, antimatter is really hard to produce. Remember e = mc˛? All the energy you put into antimatter MUST come from somewhere, and it's painfully inefficient to produce (0.01% iirc). Antimatter is just an an energy storage medium, although small amounts occur naturally especially around ringed planets. It's not enough to generate much power, but it's enough to catalyze nuclear reactions below a critical mass. Which is especially important for fusion since you need several million degrees to attain it.
-Fusion can produce plenty of radiation. See the hydrogen bomb. Not to mention that you need fission to start fusion a lot of the time, at least without antimatter.
Also, fusion reactions generally involve elements which are really freaking rare on a lot of planets. Maybe if Bob is a big enough world to sustain a helium atmosphere, but it's unlikely that a crocodile could create localized temperatures of millions of kelvins and thousands of atmospheres of pressure.
-Fission requires high concentrations of pure fuels. The crododiles would need to be eating tons of rock and enriching uranium to use fission, pretty much.
-Plasma projectiles in this universe involve high-temperature gasses with really powerful magnetic fields. If you can come up with a technobabble way for a living, reproducing creature to do that with no tech base, then go for it.))

[Ama]

"Sure I`ll help, but how in the world is a metal cylinder your head and why did they steal it?"

After hearing its answer, float inside and look for an employee.

[Happy Demon]

((Yeah, gonna have to do a lot of techno babble then. F***ing Sci-fi and it's scientific inaccuracy.))

((Ok, so the basics of Plasma weaponry, a hyper heated compound inside a hard quickly constructed insulating shell, made to last the travel as a projectile (though like a bubble, it would inevitably burst).
Also, there is some tech inside the crocodiles, it's just... different, mechanical parts made organically, it's a mess of mad science, beyond sane human comprehension.
In order to reach this temperature there would have to be some way of channeling or generating heat, heightened metabolism can only go so far, so another means have to be made.
The inside would simply be like a roaring furnace to make energy and heat generation possible, the entire 12 meter main body primarily dedicated to heat generation.

Lasers would be simple though, as you only need a way to convert heat to light.
Plasma would require a lot more heat, 30 meters of main body primarily dedicated to heat and chemical reactions, so as to generate plasma, organs capable of making shells for said plasma, and a mouthful of muscles dedicated to propelling it.
Thick skin to insulate the body from the outside, could lead to every wound erupting jets of searing hot gas.))

((Though I'm probably missing a lot.))

Edit: ((Also, fusion has immediate radiation generation, fission creates compounds with half-lives, which constantly emits radiation.))
Edit 2: ((Oops, forgot the tail.))
Edit 3: ((Actually, this seems logical enough for me, so I'll roll with it, and edit my post, at least they're not shooting antimatter.))

[Happy Demon]

((Anyway, more fluff.))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Vax Murdock, and the 'knife'.

Another day in the Ghost's drink, Kain and Vak were off to work, so only Vax and the Sak twins were attending the pub, they made booze, but only tasted their produce, as getting drunk would be detrimental.
A particularly cocky and drunk Speartail was at the bar, bragging about the size of his bowie knife, which was 4 feet long.
Vax Murdock: "Hey, may I try to hold that knife of yours?"
Speartail: "No way, it's mine. You jealous?"
The Speartail was waving it around, but it was obvious to everyone around that he did not know how to handle it properly.

Vax Murdock: "Woah, you're crap at handling that thing, you should stop, or you'll poke your eye out."
Speartail: "Shut up, I know perfectly how to handle it, just watch."
The Speartail proceeded to smack himself in the face with it, though it was the back end.
Vax Murdock: "I wonder if you somehow manage to smack yourself with your other 'knife' as well."
Speartail: "No, I'd never do that."

Vax Murdock: "Is it too small?"
Speartail: "What!?" Vax was grinning, the others in the pub laughed, and the Speartail was angry. "No! It's big and massive."
Vax Murdock: "Prove it."
The Speartail couldn't respond, the laughter continued, and then he ran out of the pub, crying.