Infinite Stars Quest 24

"Just stick with the plan, Bradford. It'll be fine." You give him a reassuring smile as you pat him on the shoulder. "Carly's not going to try anything on me. Sure, she may be a dishonest, lying little shit at times, but she's never meant me any harm."

"All right, Captain." Bradford sighs.

"Don't get shanked." Elsa warns.

"Keep your communicator with you at all times." Liza instructs.

"Hmph, the ship would probably run smoother with you gone, anyways!" Amy harumphs.

"Love all of you, too." You chuckle as you spin to exit the bridge. "See you all in a few."

Your bridge crew salutes as you leave, and you immediately make your way down to the shuttle bay where Tank is waiting for you. All of your necessary gear and luggage were packed for the transfer already, so all you really needed to do was to hop over to the Long Claw and you'd all be on your way.

You see another shuttle pull in, which was supposed to ship back the last of the repair crews you had temporarily transferred over to the Long Claw. You see the various engineers and mechanics disembark, but note that someone was missing.

"Where the hell is Scott?" You frown.

Tank glances at you and points at the direction of the Long Claw, indicating that Scott was staying behind for the moment to keep an eye on the Long Claw's FTL systems, which were still being finicky. He might have to end up coming along on the voyage, too.

>You can't put your Chief Engineer at risk. Order him to return to the Gullinbursti.
>You can't risk having the Long Claw destroy itself. Keep Scott working on repairs.
>Other

>>You can't risk having the Long Claw destroy itself. Keep Scott working on repairs.

We should also bring a sci-fi sword, or a laser sword with us because we're going to be on a Pirate ship!

>>You can't risk having the Long Claw destroy itself. Keep Scott working on repairs.

>You can't put your Chief Engineer at risk. Order him to return to the Gullinbursti.

>>You can't risk having the Long Claw destroy itself. Keep Scott working on repairs.
besides, this gets him out and about, and maybe he'll find a nice cyborg girl on carly's crew.

>>You can't risk having the Long Claw destroy itself. Keep Scott working on repairs.
Our ship is fine, this one is not. This is also the ship WE will be staying on for the next while, so let's make sure we have our tech ensuring our safety than not. If they ever try to turn him or kidnap him though....

>>You can't put your Chief Engineer at risk. Order him to return to the Gullinbursti.

>You can't risk having the Long Claw destroy itself. Keep Scott working on repairs.

Been binging the archives for the past few days. Still have Cyberpunk idols to get through, but I'm glad I managed to catch one of these live.

>You can't put your Chief Engineer at risk. Order him to return to the Gullinbursti.
Someone might touch his waifu while he's gone.

>You can't risk having the Long Claw destroy itself. Keep Scott working on repairs.

Was more like thinking we should bring some extra spares of our clothes for the inevitable event of having Carly to pose as us, and us as Carly.

>other

Ask him what he thinks could go wrong first

But we're not twins, nor do we look like each other that much.

"All right, I suppose it's all we can do to prevent the Long Claw from blowing in the middle of an FTL jump." You sigh.

Tank nods in agreement.

"You think it's true that if your ship explodes right before or in the middle of an FTL jump, you get trapped in a quantum dimension forever?" You ask idly.

Tank shrugs. He doesn't really want to find out.

"Makes sense." You nod as you step into the shuttle.

The ferry over to the Long Claw is a short affair, hardly taking more than a few minutes. As the shuttle lands, Carly and a few of her crew were already waiting for you.

"Heeeeeey, Sis!" Your sister says happily as she storms the loading ramp and hugs you, much to Tank's consternation. "Glad you could make it! I got so much to shooooow ya!"

>How about we go to your quarters?
>Show me the bridge.
>How are the repairs going?
>Other

>Show me the bridge.

>Return the hug
>How are the repairs going?
>Show me the bridge.

>>How are the repairs going?

>>How are the repairs going?

Not sure if she's our size anymore with our 'mods'.

>Return the hug
>How are the repairs going?
>Show me the bridge.

Second.

Well, we could always just stick her in heavy power armor. Nobody would be able to tell the difference!

>How are the repairs going?

>Return the hug
>How are the repairs going?
>Show me the bridge.

"How are the repairs going?" You ask, returning Carly's hug.

"Aw, well, better than I thought they would, honestly." Carly chuckles. "All the critical systems besides the FTL are all working full capacity now, so yeah!"

"I understand the FTL repairs are still being troublesome?" You ask as you finally break off the hug.

"Ahahaha, yeah, well, you know Heg engineering." Carly laughs nervously. "Built to last for fucking ever, but when they break, they're a real bitch to fix."

"But it's not going to be a problem right?" You raise a suspicious eyebrow at Carly's apparent nervousness.

"Well, uh..." Carly looks away from a second, "Your engineer and Artya seem to have er... 'different' ideas on how to fix it..."

Huh, is that so?

>Oh man, this I have to see.
>I've learned not to get involved between two dueling engineers.
>Other

>Oh man, this I have to see.

>>Other
what are the betting odds? I put 10 bucks on gwenthur

>Oh man, this I have to see.

>Oh man, this I have to see.

>>I've learned not to get involved between two dueling engineers.

Too many cooks, and all.

>>Oh man, this I have to see.
SHOW ME

>Oh man, this I have to see.

>Oh man, this I have to see.
>You better have popcorn!

>Oh man, this I have to see.

I can see it now...

>You can't wire that capacitor to the main engines! It'll burn out in the first five minutes if it doesn't melt the command circuitry!

>(furious gesturing)

>WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

The crew can probably figure out that it's not us because Sam's butt is nicer and has a different *wiggle wiggle*

"Oh man, this I have to see." You grin. "Can you show us the way?"

"Can't resist the crew drama, huh?" Carly chuckles. "All right, follow me. My guys can handle moving your shit."

"Are you sure they won't steal anything...?" You look back at your luggage with concern.

"Hey, a pirate crew doesn't steal from their own!" Carly tuts. "Otherwise I'd kick 'em out of the airlock!"

"That's reassuring, I guess." You bite your lip as you and Tank follow Carly deeper into the ship.

The engine room thankfully isn't too far from the shuttle bay, and you barely have to walk a few minutes before reaching the Long Claw's engine spaces. Immediately, you notice how different the Hegemony's design philosophy was from the Accord's. While the Gullinbursti's engine room was rather spacious and had a minimum of clutter due to heavy miniaturization and self maintaining parts, the Long Claw's engine room was hot and cramped. Mechanical and electrical equipment lined the walls and was stacked everywhere, creating a number of narrow aisles and alleys. Carly deftly maneuvers through the artificial labyrinth with ease while you and Tank try your best to follow her without hitting anything.

(cont)

Finally, you catch sight of Scott and Artya near what you assume is the Long Claw's FTL drive. Scott was standing at a work table, a well worn diagram of the Long Claw's innards laid down for reference. Meanwhile, Artya's head and stop half of her body were poking out of the entrance to a crawlspace, suspended in the air just above Scott's head level.

"No no no!" Scott groans. "What you're advocating is crazy! Bypassing the flux capacitors means the engines will overheat mid jump! What we should be doing is finding the breaks in the coolant lines and patching them up!"

Artya silently and furiously shakes her head, pulling out a green wire with one hand and pointing to a red wire hanging from the the ceiling.

"Those wires aren't even on the plans! Did you patch those in or something?!" Scott groans as he looks at the designs again. "What do they even DO!?"

Artya nods, and her arms make a flurry of movements as she tries to explain her modifications the best she can.

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!" Scott sighs loudly.

>You should probably intervene.
>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.
>Other

>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.

>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.
>Hey Carly, Have someone go get some popcorn

>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.

>>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.

>You should probably intervene.

>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.

>Meanwhile, Tank completely understands Artya's instructions and explanations, but decides to remain quiet and watch the situation unfold.

>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.
>>Other

Everything will be fine. We have an interpreter with us now, right? Tank will be able to decipher what she's saying, then relay that back to us, and then Carly will relay that info back to Scotty.

Passing immensely technical knowledge through two laymen translators will no way result in butchering the explanation. No way.

>>You should probably intervene.

>This is too goddamn cute to interrupt.

I hope Tank has a pen and paper with him right now.

That or Sam gets psychic powers and uses telepathy to read Tank's mind.

Man, this was just way too cute to interrupt. You just keep your distance and continue to watch.

At this point, it seemed Artya was furious enough to finally pull herself out of the crawlspace, in order to confront Scott face to face.

It would have been more intimidating if she were anywhere near as tall as Scott. But she was easily roughly half a head shorter than him. However, that doesn't stop her from furiously motioning to a series of broken and disconnected wires, apparently angry that he'd undone months of her own work in mere minutes.

Cuuuuuuute!

"Yeah, I disconnected those because they were inefficient as hell and drawing far more power from the reactor!" Scott groans loudly. "Honestly, I don't know how you could've wrecked a Heg FTL engine so badly!"

Artya stomps her foot on the steel deck and grabs Scott by the collar, pulling him to a crawlspace and pointing at it constantly, as if telling Scott that if he wanted to patch up each and every break in the coolant lines, he was free to crawl in there and do it himself.

"You don't have drones to handle it for you?!" Scott grimaces. "Besides, you're smaller, so it'd make more sense for you to go in instead of me!"

Artya throws her hands up in the air and stomps off in frustration. Even from here, you could hear the heavy breathing under her mask.

"H-hey! Come back! I can't fix this whole thing by myself!" Scott cries as he runs after his piratical counterpart.

"Yeah, so, cute, but makes me a bit worried about the state of the FTL." Carly sighs. "I trust Artya's judgment, but your guy's? I know he's better educated and all, but..."

>I trust Scott.
>I think they'll figure something out.
>I have to admit, Heg systems aren't his forte.
>Other

>>I think they'll figure something out.

That, or they'll end up doing it in the engine room.

> 1. A Song of Ice and Fire
> 2. The Witcher
> 3. Planescape
> 4. Warhammer Fantasy
> 5. I dunno

>I think they'll figure something out.

>I think they'll figure something out.
Strange minds think alike and all

>I think they'll figure something out.

Reminder Sam is beautiful.

Uh wrong thread buddy.

>>I think they'll figure something out.

>>I think they'll figure something out.

>I think they'll figure something out.

>>I trust Scott.

>>I think they'll figure something out.

"I think they'll figure something out." You shrug with a smile. "You know what they say about brilliant minds."

"Hmmm, I guess..." Carly sighs. "At least we're not in any particular hurry to get back."

Tank then steps up, looking around the room. Perhaps there was a better environment to talk in. He did have a point.

>Go see Carly's quarters.
>Go see the bridge.
>Other

>Go see the bridge.

>>Go see the bridge.

>Go see the bridge.

>Go see Carly's quarters.

>>Go see the bridge.

>>Go see the bridge

>>Go see the bridge.

>Go see the bridge.

"How about we see the bridge?" You ask.

"But you already did!" Carly laughs sarcastically. "When ya BLEW IT UP."

"Um, whoops?" You shrug without any apology.

"Ugh, FINE." Carly shakes her head and leads you out of the engine room. It's a bit of a longer walk now that you have to go from one end of the ship to the other, and this time you pass by a number of Carly's crew. All ragtag pirates in various states of dress. They all eye you and Tank rather suspiciously, but none of them try anything, especially in Carly's presence. Maybe Tank's, too, you're pretty sure.

Finally, you reach the hastily refurbished and repaired bridge of the Long Claw. You see that where the shattered bridge windows once were, sheets of armor plating had been hastily welded over the gaps to secure the atmosphere.

"Well, here's my bridge, and my trusty bridge crew!" Carly says happily, motioning to the assorted pirates all around her.

"There here is Anne, my navigator!" Carly points to a tiny, timid looking redhead.

"H-hi!" She whimpers, apparently she felt she wanted to be anywhere but here.

"My Weapons Officer, McSpam!" Carly eagerly pats the back of a young man with short, messy brown hair with a annoying shit eating grin.

"Yo." He waves.

"And my Second Mate and bodyguard, Bolts!" Carly proudly motions to a large combat robot, easily the size of Tank. Its crimson monoptic glares at Tank, and Tank glares back.

"And, well, Arty ya already met!"

>Your bridge crew seems... interesting.
>Your bridge crew seems a bit small.
>Other

>>Your bridge crew seems a bit small.

>...Feels oddly familiar...well, hope there's no hard feelings. They all seem capable!

>>Your bridge crew seems a bit small.

I think we should also apologize to the bridge crew for sorta blowing a hole through their bridge.

>>Your bridge crew seems a bit small.
Anne = Anna from merc kancolle?

>>...Feels oddly familiar...well, hope there's no hard feelings. They all seem capable!

>Your bridge crew seems... interesting.

I'm guessing it's smaller because we spaced some of them.

>>Your bridge crew seems a bit small.

>>Your bridge crew seems... interesting.

>Your bridge crew seems a bit small.

>...Feels oddly familiar...well, hope there's no hard feelings. They all seem capable!

"Your bridge crew seems a bit... small." You note with some curiosity.

"Oh, that? Well, that's pretty normal!" Carly laughs. "Honestly, we don't run a lot of functions directly from the bridge! We got enough general crew that we can usually get away with a minimal bridge presence, which is pretty neat considering how often our bridge gets blown up!"

You oddly get the feeling that last part was directed specifically towards you.

"Huh, I see." You blink.

"Well, they can handle things while I'm gone!" Carly grins and tugs at your hand. "C'mon, you showed me your room, so I'll show you mine!"

Meanwhile Tank and Bolts continued to glare at each other as best their emotionless faces could.

>Go with Carly.
>Ask about Bolts.
>Ask about Anne
>Ask about McSpam
>Other

>Go with Carly.

>>Go with Carly.
>>Ask about Bolts.

>>Go with Carly.

Let's see how cushy it is.

>>Go with Carly.
>>Ask about Bolts.

>>Go with Carly.
>>Ask about Bolts.

>Go with Carly.

>>Ask about Bolts.
Where the hell did you find it?

>Go with Carly.
>Ask about Bolts.