STARWARS: A Galaxy in Chains - Episode One - Thread 4

>>909680
But, like Shav said, the profit that stood to be gained by raiding the salvage these unarmed savages had collected over an untold amount of years could result in a hefty paycheck for you both, and it didn’t hurt that yourself and Corius were armed with blasters, and Shav armed to the teeth like the average bounty hunter from that god forsaken planet.

You stare into the distance through the little eye-protection that Shav had given you, protecting you from the abrasive and sandy winds of the wastelands. The sky was obstructed by the sheer amount of dust and dirt in the air, allowing you to see little but the glaring blandness of the desert around you, the scarred Hunters, and the massive silhouettes of the giants behind them.

“Alright then!” You scream over the sounds of the winds, “We’ll go with you as long as no harm will come to us!” Corius in a similar volume repeats the message in the language of the savages, an ancient dialect of Mandalore, the hunters give no response and begin trudging through the sands towards the entrance of their bunker.

Shav comes close, gloved hand forcing your ear close to her mouth, “No hrm will come to us?! You sound like such a fucking pansy CISboy!” she screams.

You shake your head, unsure of whether she was making a joke or legitimately angry. You type in a command to your datapad to Corius -

> Be ready to fire at will at the slightest sign of aggression
> Do not act aggressively without my express permission
> Be wary, but do not fire unless my life is at risk
> Other (write-in)

>>909687
> Do not act aggressively without my express permission

>>909687
>Be wary.

>>909718
Changing to this so we can move on

>>909769
>>909728
My man, post inc

>>909687
> Be wary, but do not fire unless my life is at risk
"Well, duh! Why did you think I got you to come with me?!"

"Anyway, if we can convince their boss to show us their cybernetic work, we could have a way to make cheap cyberware using droid parts."

>>909687
>> Be wary, but do not fire unless my life is at risk

>>909786
>>909784
>>909728
>>909718

>>909718
>>909728

As you type in the commands for Corius to defend you if you command, or if your life is clearly at risk, you lean back towards Shav, “Of course! That’s why you’re here!” You scream back as a retort, Shav turns her head and starts to walk, muttering something too quiet for you to hear.

Corius sends back a signal of confirmation, he will not act aggressively towards the savages without express permission from you or a sign of clear danger, and he presses forward behind the savages with you and Shav behind him. Both you and the bounty hunter struggle with annoyance as your feet continuously sink into the sands beneath you, making each step labored like walking through a deep mud except with the added benefit of filling the air and your boots with rough particles that grated against whatever skin it could find.


You groan in annoyance as your boot slips slightly deeper than normal into a hole filled with finer sand, marveling at how effortlessly both the cybernetic giants and their smaller counterparts seems to glide across the surface of the desert, their feet seemingly unhampered by the shifting wastes, no doubt rests in your mind that they were enhanced in some way to be resistant to the conditions of the hostile desert. Shav trudges past you, grabbing your arm to pull you out as the sand rises past your knee, and the two of you race to catch up to the hunters who have stopped several feet from the location you marked as the entrance to their subterranean bunker.

The hunters shout something incomprehensible in the air, gesturing for you to hurry. As you approach, you notice that a large slab of metal rests slightly above the sands, revealing itself to be a door once a hunter waves his hand over it, causing the large block to rise slightly on now exposed pistons. You and your companions hurriedly step into the cave after the giants, eager to escape the harsh winds.

The room around you was cavernous to say the least, large passageways that allowed even the height of the giants room to breathe stretched in several directions, all tinted by a low level of red light that made it hard for you to see.

Corius, sensing your discomfort with the low visibility, activates lights on his blaster and the sides of his head, illuminating the space. The walls of the cavern seem to be made of mismatched pieces of metal and ceramics – innumerable pieces of salvage from the wastes that was welded into very thick plates as far as you were able to tell.

> Continue onward without saying anything
> Question the savages (write-in question)
> Other (write-in action)

>>909875
>So.. uh, What or who built this?

>>909885
This.

>>909875
>> Question the savages (write-in question)
How long have you lived here? Who designed your cybernetics?

>>909934
>>909885
giving a couple more minutes for another question or two, then the update

>>909875
this>So.. uh, What or who built this?

>>909940
What's your leader (or whatever they called it) like?

The intricacy of the salvage piqued your interests, it must have taken a massive effort to design and build this place. You call out to the hunters while the giants lumber out of view down the tunnel to your left, “So… uh, who or what built this?” you gesture to the walls around you while Corius translates into the guttural mandalorian.

The hunter turns to the droid, answering back in a short burst of syllables, Corius translates it back to galactic common – “Our god commanded us to build, so we built.”

“But how is that possible? This had to take hundreds of years for a small band of your… people to build especially in this desert.”

Corius explains the response, “Yes. We started before the desert. Our god commands and we follow.”

“Wait, so how long have you lived here? Who designed all of these cybernetics?”

The response sounds angrier than the usual tone, “Our god, who else outsider? We have lived here as long as our god has held breath. Now follow.”

The Hunter walks straight ahead down the slope of the similarly mismatched floor, you, Shav, and Corius follow suit, but you still have Corius translate a final question. “Then tell me about your leader, what are they like?”

“Our god is almighty, our god sustains us, he is merciful, he is mighty.” The cryptic response annoys you, but you see no point in arguing back at risk of pissing him off further.

The slope continues to get steeper, transforming into steps after a light turn to the left. You shine your blaster on the walls, examining the pieces of metal. Nothing stands out to you, most of it seems too worn down from age and rust to have any defining features, but you are able to note a few pieces that seem to be shinier, some of which with markings similar to the droid starships often used by the former Confederacy.

The dim red lights seemed to grow brighter the further you walked, atleast a mile now beneath the surface of the planet by your estimate. The hunter comes to a halt as you approach a, like most things associated with these savages, massive door inscribed with indecipherable symbols stretching across its 40 foot length.

The savage begins gurgling out the weird language again, Corius translate in real time, “I request that we take your weapons in presence of our lord who lies behind these walls.”

Shav lets out a very clear “Fuck no.” that Corius does not translate.

> Comply, allow the savages to disarm your group
> Comply, but ask that Shav stay behind the door as she will not disarm
> Disagree, demand that you be allowed to keep your weapons as a sign of good faith
> Other (write-in)

>>910088
>> Comply, but ask that Shav stay behind the door as she will not disarm

>>910107
This.

I smack my big black dick on all ya'll niggas foreheads and slap the bullshit out of each and everyone of ya. Trained in the jedi skills by cunt dookie u fool.

>>910115
W-What?

>>910088
>> Comply, but ask that Shav stay behind the door as she will not disarm

File: 1446110465698.jpg (70KB, 860x816px) Image search: [Google]

70KB, 860x816px

>>910088
> Comply, but ask that Shav stay behind the door as she will not disarm

TIME FOR GLORIOUS DIPLOMACY!!!

>>910115
Go home anon you are drunk.

>>910088
> Comply, but ask that Shav stay behind the door as she will not disarm

>>910132
>>910110
>>910107
“Fine. But our companion will not disarm, but will not enter the room to speak with our god as she will not disarm willingly.”

Shav lets out a shocked gasp, “Don’t I get any say in this?”

“Will you disarm?”

“Well… no… ugh.” She grunts back to you, “Fine.”

Corius nods and translates back to the savages after both you and he hand Shav your blasters which she holsters on her back. The savage seems annoyed but agrees, gesturing at the door. You and Shav take a shocked step backwards as the symbols across the the ancient piece of metal that made up the door all glow with a pale red light, growing outwards from his hand to the edges of the door. With a creak, the door slides open, splitting in the center with the sound of grating metal against metal. A blast of hot air hits you, far warmer than anything you experienced on the already uncomfortably warm surface. Corius steps in first, signaling that it seemed safe to enter.

You step inside with the Hunter, the heat growing even worse as you feel every uncomfortable part of your light armor rub against sweaty flesh. The door quickly slides shut, and you turn back to watch Shav sarcastically wave at you as your vision of the hallway is cut off. Corius focuses his lights on the center of the room, and you suppress another gasp at the sight.

Droid brains fill the cavernous room, natural bedrock making up the walls of the vast room. Every inch of the floor, excluding the entryway where you stand is covered in a conglomerate of wires connected to what you can only surmise to be thousands of droid brains, in the center of the room they gather in a mountain of the things. Models of different droids ranging from many eras of technology make up the mass, some being as old as the ancient Empire that came before the current iteration.

You think of the results of connecting so many different pseudo-personalities to one source and immediately regret your decision to come here – schizophrenia often happens when just three or more brains attempt to be connected, but thousands? There was little chance any sanity remained in the outputs of the monstrosity, Corius shares your concern and steps closer to you, standing between you and the mountain of droid parts.

The room begins to shake as the brains come online, the heat is nearing unbearable as so many highly powerful processing units fire at the same time. The cavern is reaching nearly earthquake level tremors, nearl knocking you off your feet if you did not have Corius to hold on to.

(cont.)

>>910278
“What the hell!” You scream in panic, but almost as soon as the words escape your mouth the tremors cease.

“FADAL LESK MET O CAFANALIS” a disembodied voice screeches with the sound of an unknowable amount of different voice-boxes acting in tandem. Corius quickly translates the ancient mandalorian.

“YOU HAVE ADDED TO THE COLL-“ you smack Corius on the head,

“Lower the volume you don’t have to be as loud as that thing.”

“You have added to the collection of my might. Join the collective as your reward.”

> “What do you mean ‘join the collective’?”
> “What are you?”
> “We’ve come to negotiate a deal, not to join… whatever this is.”
> Panic. Order Corius to kill the hunter and start tearing through the mass of brains.
> other (write-in)

>>910288
>> “What do you mean ‘join the collective’?”

>>910288

> “What do you mean ‘join the collective’?”
> “What are you?”
>WHAT IS THIS?!

>>910298
Seconding

>>910288
>> “What do you mean ‘join the collective’?”
>> “What are you?”

instead of what lets just ask who.

>>910288
> “We’ve come to negotiate a deal, not to join… whatever this is.”
Make deal with it, we get its knowledge for more processors.

>>910288
> “What do you mean ‘join the collective’?”
> “What are you?”
>"Unfortunately, I cannot fully join your collective, due to the fact that my previous group still requires my help before I do so. However, I am prepared to help the collective with it's goals in exchange for your help with ours."

>>910296
>>910298
>>910322
Post inc.

>>910338
>>910330
>>910322
>>910310
>>910298
>>910296
Including the ones I missed, whoops

>>910347
>>910296
>>910298
>>910322
>>910330
>>910338

“First of all,” you stammer out, “What do you mean by collective?”

The booming mass of voices swallows the cavern, “My servants. Serve me, give me your mind. Join the collective.”

Corius interjects at the end of the translation, “Commander, I have run an analysis on the signals coming off of the brains.” He pauses.

“Corius? What did you find?” you shake the droid’s shoulder when he doesn’t respond,

“Commander, the data is impossible to interpret, over 25, 000, 000, 000 exabytes of data emitting from sources, all incomprehensible, the droid mass is insane.” You bite your tongue slightly, the amount of data Corius describes would be impossible for some of the most powerful processors known to you to interpret, the simple fact the thing was capable of forming language seemed impossible.”

“And what are you?” You manage to keep your voice steady despite how terrified you feel. You can hear someone banging their fist against the wall, probably Shav in response to the tremors.

Corius speaks, “ I am God. I am God. I am God. I am God. Worship me.” Corius pauses, and the booming voice fills the caverns with the same set of syllables. The banging on the door sounds more frantic, muffled yells coming from the other side of the thick steel. You hear the echoes of blaster fire on the other side before an explosion tears through the door, blowing you off your feet and fling both Corius and yourself into the mass of wiring.

You lift your head from the pile, thankfully unharmed beyond many of your old burns turning raw again from the blast. Shav is rushing into the room backwards, firing into the hallway. Your ringing ears make it impossible to hear what she’s saying, the droid mass’ voice fills the room and you can feel the ringing quiet down slightly, hearing the voice repeating the same words.

You feel something wrap around your leg before Shav screams through her mask and fires at whatever it is, freeing you. “MCALLISTER! The savages attacked me, take your blaster and start firing! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE”

> Do as she says, grab the blaster from her back and start firing into the hallway.
> Turn back, and fire at the mass of brains in the chaos.
> Attempt to get her to stop shooting and communicate with the ‘god’
> Other (write-in)

>>910439
>Hold God Hostage.

>>910449
This, find the main brain. With that much data. there must be a main unite.

>>910449
Seconding. Also see if we can barricade the door or something.

>>910449
This.

>>910439
This>>910449

>>910464
>>910458
>>910457
>>910454
>>910449
Holding god hostage it is
post inc

“SHAV! Give me a grenade!” You yell at her, she doesn’t question it and tosses back a thermal detonator, quite a bit more powerful than you’d expect, but you chalk it up to her being as batshit insane as most of her people.

“Corius! Tell them I’m destroying their god if they don’t stop advancing!” You stomp on a tendril coming from the mass attempting to wrap around your leg,

“cover your ears commander.”

“What? Wh-“ Corius begins screeching at maximum volume, usually something used to intimidate and incapacitate enemy combatants in open spaces, let alone the amplitude from being in a cavern. The savages seem stunned for a second, but keep advancing until you wave the explosive in the air. The tendrils stop advancing, as do the numerous giants and humanoids advancing toward you.”

The voice of the droid mass fills the room, in a shouting match with Corius.

“Commander. The mass says it will not stop, ‘you must submit or you will all die’” Corius begins firing again as the hunters advance, and more tendrils begin advancing, they’re calling your bluff.

> Have Corius fling the detonator into the center of the mass, far enough away that the damage to you will be minimal. (DC: 30)
> Fire back with your blaster, attempt to advance out of the room by killing the unarmed seemingly mindless hunters moving toward you without destroying the mass (DC: 50)
> Attempt again to communicate with the mass
> Other(write-in)

>>910559

>Destroy the main mass that's connecting it all so all the brains will break down.

>>910559
Shoot at one of the brains or something to show we will kill it if they don't stop.

>>910562
This. Then have Corius shift through the data.

>>910559
this>>910562

>>910565
This first to show we aren't kidding.
>>910562
Then this if they keep advancing.

>>910562

Might as well keep our word

>>910600
>>910593
>>910592
>>910581
>>910565
>>910562

The blaster comes out of the holster easily when you tear it from Shav's back, you fire at one of the larger brains, reducing it to a heap of molten metal that damages a number of other brains. The voice grows louder in response, as Corius fires into the small mass of humanoids getting closer and closer to the door, clamoring over the bodies of the fallen giants and hunters that came before them,

"ONE MIND OF A GOD IS NOTHING. YOU ARE NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING." Corius stops speaking as the thing continues to scream the same word over and over.

You hand Corius the detonator and point at the center of the mass, "SHAV, GET DOWN!" you scream over the blaster fire and screeches of the ’god’. She drops out of instinct as the beeping of the detonator adds to the bedlam of the room. You watch in near slow-motion out of adrenaline as the bomb arcs through the air, landing firmly on the farther side of the mass. The beeping slows and all you can hear is your heartbeat, thunderous in your ears.


(ROLL 1d100 – DC:30)
Best of three will be counted

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>910632

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>910632

>>910632
Here goes

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>910638

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>910632

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>910648
Fuck, I always mess it up

>>910638
>>910653
>>910654


>>910639
better be thankful for this anon

>>910639
You are our saviour.

>>910639

You duck in the fetal position, covering the vulnerable parts of your body as best you can before the final beep of the detonator. You suppress a scream as the heat in the room increases multiple times, rolling you back towards the door with the force of the explosion, again deafened by the blast.

It feels like hours that you lay there, vision covered in large splotches of purple and black from the exposure to so much light, blinding you to match the deafening ringing in your ears.

Slowly your senses come back to you, the shock in your system wearing off slightly. Your vision becomes a bit clearer, along with your sense of smell and taste with the acrid smoke filling your mouth.

You realize you're standing, held up by Corius on one side and Shav on the other.

"Why aren't you firing at the savages... they're going to kill us...." You stammer out weakly, shock still rocking through your system from the explosion, "we need to run... why aren't you doing anything!"
"Pull yourself together McAllister!" Shav slaps you, surprisingly bringing you a bit closer to sanity again.
"Why did yo-" you start to speak but Corius interjects before Shav loses her temper again,

"Commander, the explosion seems to have incapacitated the savages," he helps turn you to look at the ruined entry way to the chasm.
All of the savages, the couple of dozen in sight anyways, seem to be frozen mid-motion, completely immobile. The scene is eerie with the statue-like stances of them all, but you’re calmer knowing the threat of death is lower. Corius and Shav support you as your group hobbles out of the smoke into a clearer part of the hallway.

> Tell Corius to examine the wreckage for any salvageable pieces
> Have Corius examine the bodies to see what happened to them
> Ask Shav to execute the hunters and giants for safety’s sake
>Other (write-in)

>>910762
>> Tell Corius to examine the wreckage for any salvageable pieces
> Ask Shav to execute the hunters and giants for safety’s sake

>>910762
>> Tell Corius to examine the wreckage for any salvageable pieces

>>910762

> Tell Corius to examine the wreckage for any salvageable pieces

>>910762
> Tell Corius to examine the wreckage for any salvageable pieces.
> Ask Shav to execute the hunters and giants for safety’s sake.
Keep one alive so we can study the augments.

>>910762
>> Tell Corius to examine the wreckage for any salvageable pieces
>> Ask Shav to execute the hunters and giants for safety’s sake

"I was hoping more for "Savage Wastelander Tribe", less "Insane Droid-Brain Cult."

>>910769
>>910775
>>910781
>>910782
>>910784


Post inc.


>>910784
I'd blame Shav for this one, crazy droid cults don't take kindly to angry mandalorians

>>910762
>>910769
>>910775
>>910781
>>910782
>>910784


"Corius, go examine the wreckage, the smoke is too thick for either of us to see or breath in there. Whatever is salvageable, take note of."

"Roger roger!" Corius heads off into the smoke filled room.

"And what about these miserable bastards?" Shav says, poking one with the butt of her blaster, unsurprisingly the thing's skin caves in like putty in the shape of the gun, and doesn't take its shape back when the blaster is moved, "Well that's disgusting."

"It's probably safer to execute them, I have no idea if they'll reawaken or not..." Shav aims her gun at your request but you stop her, "But leave one of them alive so I can examine the cybernetics, they may be useful." She nods, probably too eager for the easy targets, and sets to work systematically blowing the heads off of each giant and hunter in the hallway, leaving the one with the deformed cheek next to you.

You take your dataslate and set the range of signals to only detect those around the body, finding a number of empty connections that seem to be awaiting some sort of data. You input a simple mathematic function, and the hunter opens its mouth, "62."

"Shav. Leave the rest alive, I think I might be able to control them."
> ==========

And that's it for tonight folks, have finals tomorrow, thanks for playing! Hope to see you all in the discord (link in the OP) for discussions on what will happen next in the quest!

>>910890
>tfw zambie soldiers

>>910890
The coding of the cybernetics gives you a headache as you try to sift through the mounds redundant streams of foreign languages and varying eras. The blocks of green, red, and yellow text competing for room on the limited screen of your datapad as you scroll further and further through their core heuristics. The picture becomes pretty clear after several minutes, the organic nervous systems of the 24 humanoid men and the 10 giants were completely replaced by chaotically designed, but highly complex cybernetics – functionally making them a sort of primitive droid.

As an engineer, it wasn’t quite clear to you how the machinery was sustaining the organics of the body, but you were gaining understanding of their control mechanisms. All-in-all the droid architecture you were used to designing and repairing was parallel in structure to these men, adding small snippets of code you were able to draw out simple actions such as a hand wave and nod.

Up close the men were revolting to your senses, underneath the many layers of gauze and cloth that protected them from the deserts was a deep, sickly white skin that seemed ready to slide off of their bodies, held in place by the cybernetics hiding under thick swathes of scar tissue you originally assumed were ritualistic markings.

You jump in surprise as Shav taps you on the shoulder, “McAllister, as much as I like the idea of rotting corpse-machines serving me whiskey, when are we getting those brains to the surface? We’ve hit a gold mine here and you bet I’m taking my share. 60-40 I get the bigger split”

> Activate the giants and hunters to go into the god’s cavern and carry the pieces Corius deems working
> Thank Shav for saving your life, give her the 60%
> Ask for a 50-50 split, it was your quick thinking that saved you after all
> Reverse the offer, 60 for yourself, 40 for her, she can’t get the brains out without your help anyways
>Other(write-in)

>>916618
Say that we want 50-50 and we will make the droids carry all the stuff out. She can do 60/40 if she wants but she has to carry all of her shit.

>>916618
>50/50 and I have these droids help carry out your half.

>>916674
+1

>>916720
>>916674
>>916656
“50-50 Shav, and I have the droids carry your half out too.” Your lips sit in a straight line while you stare into the visor of her combat mask.

She turns, kicking a spare limb on the ground like a kid would kick a toy in a tantrum, she looks up again “Fine. If you hadn’t killed that fucking monstrosity in there I wouldn’t be so lenient.” The Mandalorian crosses her arms and you go back to reprograming the…

You blink a few times, you aren’t exactly sure what to call these things, and “rotting flesh machines” seems a bit of a mouthful.

> Roll 1d100 to decide what the savages will be called, top roll out of the next 10 minutes wins.
I reserve the right to reject stupidity.

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>916729
"Hunters"
I suck ass at naming things

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>916729
>Servants.

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>916729
Scabs

>>916729
Bioroids.

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>916959
Damn it.

>>916747
Apologies guys, have to hop out for sudden normie obligations that popped up! Will be running again soon

So. Velo got invited to go bar hopping. Damn normie.

If you like this quest please join the Discord. It is very active and we plan shit.

>>917100
Why discord and not here?

>>917134
Eh. Its faster by a little bit. we also shitpost.
Its a fun time.