Your name is Tam-Rek, a 45 year old veteran of the 3rd great space war. You spent the last 10 years of your life fighting in the 1138th fleet of the Uoton Army, but those days are now behind you. You have been recently chosen by the Catalog for your many years of experience to become a Stargazer, a cartographer for the unknown regions of space.
You are in your ship, a C-Grade Trading Cruiser, travelling what the Catalog has calculated to be District YC-555575. Your only mission is to gather information on any nearby planets so that it may be submitted to the Catalog for future mapmakingThis is my first quest thread. Sorry if it's confusing or for any grammatical errors
>>44011929
And?
>>44012622Oh fuck, sorry
You look out of your ship and see nothing but black. A few stars glimmer here and there, but for the most part your eyes see nothing but the infinite spanning emptiness of space. There's not a single planet within your field of vision, but you do manage to spot some satellites if you squint hard enough. You see no purpose actually visiting any planets, your job is to locate /them not visit them after all. But you do remember that you're running low on foodstuffs and one of the satellites could be a grocery vender
>>44012635
What information, if any, do we have on District YC-555575?
>Check out the satellites.
>>44012635
Space stations in the middle of space with no planets nearby?
Well, we're supposed to catalog things; may as well make contact with them.
Does the Catalog have any information on this District? Such as whether it's claimed by any galactic powers?
Rolled 19 (1d20)
>>44012767
>>44012767
>>44012787
>>44012847
There's little to no information on District YC. Your job is to navigate through there and plot out any planets you see on the way
The only thing the Catalog has to mention involving District YC is of a local gang of thugs called the Moskrawer Mob who go about forcing taxes on rundown satellite establishments
Speaking of, You move your ship closer to what you now realize is a Motel Satellite. You almost would have missed it if it weren't for the flickering light of a nearby advertisement sign. You almost turn back before noticing that none of the lights in the actual motel are on. Eh, maybe the place was just abandoned. You've got your own business to attend to anyway, why should you care?
>>44012902
Eh, let's heat up our scanners and ping the motel.
We should also do the same for the local area, see what returns we get on the other satellites.
Rolled 66 (1d100)
>>44012902
>Research the history of the Catalog
<bump
>>44013523
Seconding this.
OP?
You ever coming back?
>>44017233Fuck, sorry. I passed out around 3 and I've got work at 9. I should have posted this earlier, but I'll continue the thread around 2 when I get off work
>>44013579
The Catalog is the oldest sign of intelligence in all of reality. Nobody really knows where its from, nor does anybody know what it actually looks like. The Catalog chooses to interact through the medium of technology such as minor satellites used for collecting data by other Stargazers and a computer as big as a planet that is used as a central hub for all forms of mapmaking. Most religions believe the Catalog to be some form of deity that chooses to travel upon a material plane. You've never been that religious, however. To you, the Catalog is nothing more than another speaker giving you orders
>>44013523
It's a shame you spent all of your war-money on a trading cruiser instead of a scout cruiser. You zoom back to your cruiser and manage to rewire one of the ship's features to a scanner module you picked up in District EU-874202. Its not the best scanner in the world, so you don't expect it'll have any reach outside of your own ship and the motel in front of you. But you activate it anyway, and it sends out a minor ping. When the ping eventually returns back to the ship, you see that you're pretty much on your own on this one. The nearest Catalog Satellite is a day's trip from here. The only known planets are about half a day, and it seems that another Stargazer might be crossing paths with you if you remain still long enough. But, for the most part, there's nothing else but you and the satellite from the scanner's reading. You do notice a minor life sign, possibly 1 or 2 terrestrials could be inside the motel right now. Strange considering how everything inside the place seems to be shut off
>>44017989
Check out the motel.
Be prepared for a fight.
>>44019625
Second, worst comes to worst we take prisoners that can be eaten if we can't find a food satellite
Rolled 93 (1d100)
>>44019625
>>44019868
Expect long delays in between some responses
>>44019625
>>44019868
You equip your official Stargazer badge and exit your ship. The badge emits a thin electron-field around your entire body making it possible for you to move freely in the void of space. You make your way through the Satellite's exterior before finding the Motel's gate
As you open the gate, you notice something is very wrong about the Motel. Usually a place like this has an A.L.S. (Artificial Life System) set up to stabilize a sense of gravity, but this place is just as weightless as the outside. You don't want to risk testing if you can breath or not, but you've got the sinking suspicion that there may be others floating around
You float around the Motel's interior. The first thing you notice is a body. A woman's body. A Tactricte's body. Tactrites are known throughout the stars for their skills in pleasure and general sleaziness. Now Tam-Rek is no racist, but even you've got to admit that some stereotypes are based in truths
You know that if you leave her here she's going to die. A Tactricite can only last so long without breathing, and even if she's hooked up to a personal A.L.S. she still stuck in the middle of nowhere
>>44021547
Clearly we need to move her to a safe location such as our ship since I doubt we can get the ALS working again we should continue searching after this though
>>44021547
Let's get her moved back to our ship.
Search the motel again, since our sensor picked potentially another life signature.
>>44021547
So we were a soldier; did we get to keep anything when we mustered out? Any weapons, armor, security clearances, cybernetics, bionics, gene augs, nano-augments?
>>44024966
Your war days are behind you. Everything you had from the 1138th fleet was either taken by the Uoton Army or sold so you could afford your C-Grade Trading Cruiser. And after that, everything you had left was forcibly taken by the Catalog and altered to ensure absolute peacefulness. The only weapon you've got is your own wits
>>44022892
>>44024903
You hover over the Tactrite's body. She's not conscious, but alive. There's a tube sticking from her back. Must be some sort of oxygen tank implant. Probably not the first implant she's had. You feel conflicted. On the one hand, you really don't want to get involved. You REALLY just want to get back in your ship and get on with your job. On the other hand though... Your pretty sure that you'd be "handsomely repayed" if you bring the Tactricite back to your ship
>>44026205
>The only weapon you've got is your own wits
Then it sounds like we need to invest in/requisition from the Catalog, tools and repair equipment.
Like plasma cutters and laser drills. And a communications maser with enough wattage to punch through battleship armor plating. For communicating through dense interference, of course.
But all that aside, how much is the Catalog paying us, and when can we get a better sensor module for our ship?
Having good sensors seems like a required piece of equipment if we're supposed to be cataloging and exploring.
>bring the Tactrite back to our ship
At the very least, we can get a story of what she was doing in an abandoned motel from her, and if she knows any of the local planets.
We should also check the motel's computers for information about locals, and who owned this place.
And finally, make sure that there's no one else here.
>>44026474
The Catalog does not pay you in money. The Catalog only dispenses fuel and foodstuffs. The Catalog expects you to pay for any other potential needs, but it will send out a more qualified Stargazer if you are in any trouble
The cruiser's navigation computer has been recording all of your destinations and will be submitted to the Catalog once you return from your expedition. Everywhere you go and the manner in which you travel will be transmitted back to the Catalog making no need currently for sensors. Your job is to navigate, not to spectate
You bring the Tactrite back to your ship. She's still unconscious, but you gather that she'll gather her senses in a moment
Using your official Stargazers badge, you are able to remotely access the Motel's records. It was built by a Yxydonnian by the name of Tesker Uiou and has been the epicenter for multiple interplanetary related crimes. You brush past most of the recorded crimes as they are for minor offenses such as insanitary conditions, underaged prostitution or public indecency. There is one recorded crime that catches your eye, however. Most of the information, including the offense, has been rewritten and cannot be read. But it is clear that the name "Moskrawer" is mentioned more than once
You reread your scanners and verify that there are no other life forms in the Motel. What you thought was a possible second terrestrial could have just been a malfunction or possibly the heat of an electron engine
>>44026907
>The Catalog only dispenses fuel and foodstuffs
That's kind of irresponsible, when a ship needs more than just fuel and food; what about spare parts or upgrades? Or repairs, if a Stargazer suffers damage from space debris or magnetic storms, let alone from pirates or other outlaws.
>>44026907
Alright, let's set course for the next nearest satellite.
Does the Catalog differentiate between planets and space stations? Or does it only want the basic information that we get when we arrive at a planet?
We kind of need sensors if we're going to pick up planets at star systems, unless the Catalog already gave us a list of star systems and planets to check out.
>Everywhere you go and the manner in which you travel will be transmitted back to the Catalog making no need currently for sensors. Your job is to navigate, not to spectate
So the Catalog just wants to know if we can get to a place, and not any information about the place when we get there?
>>44027203
To make any form of transaction to the Catalog unrelated to foodstuffs or fuel, a Stargazer has to submit multiple forms, pass an inspection of his peers, and wait for the Catalog's end judgement until they can actually get what they want. But Tam-Rek is a man of action and doesn't have time for that type of nonsense. You would much rather pick up what you need on your own than go through the Catalog's entire ordeal
>>44027313
The closest Catalog Satellite Station would take about half a day to get to. The nearest civilized planet would be over 4 days away from your current position
The Catalog dispenses a basic amount of information for whatever planet you choose to land on if only to prevent any potential diplomatic miscommunication. Since you are a Stargazer however, your word is law and anything you may say or do on that planet must be taken with great responsibility
Nobody dares questioning the Catalog's motives. Fellow Stargazers often debate the reason for these trips, but the best theory so far onto why the Catalog categorizes space in such a manner is because it can then easily sell off specific destinations and routes to other trade federations knowing full well that every route has already been used and that the federations won't need to spend any time determining whether or not the route is safe to travel by
>>44029994
>The closest Catalog Satellite Station would take about half a day to get to. The nearest civilized planet would be over 4 days away from your current position
Since we're low on food and the Catalog is supposed to give us free food, let's go to the Catalog satellite.
Though if there's no planets nearby and only a handful of satellites, then after topping off our supplies we should just finish up checking out these satellites then set course for whatever star system we're supposed to check out next.
>>44030181
You input the location to the nearest Catalog Satellite and start moving in a new direction
About halfway through the trip, the Tacricite you kept in the ship's only sleeping quarters wakes up and promptly states "What the fuck? Who the fuck are you? Where the fuck am I" as you steer the Trading Cruiser
You take a second to process everything that's going on and make the startling realization that Tam-Rek isn't the most charismatic Stargazer in the universe and that asking for food payment for a mission you haven't even completed while a space floozy screams about being kidnapped in the background probably isn't the best idea and won't go down well with the Catalog
>>44030413
Well, not if you put it that way.
We tell the Catalog that we found this Taricite nearly dying in an abandoned space motel at the coordinates it sent us to, and if it doesn't believe us it can check the telemetry from our ship's computer.
As for the hysterical woman, tell her to shut up, we're a Stargazer who happened to pass by a defunct space motel, and that's where we found her slowly dying from the fact that the motel's life support was out of power.
Ask her who she pissed off so bad that they'd try to get rid of her by dumping her at an abandoned space station in the ass-end of nowhere.
>asking for food payment for a mission you haven't even completed
If we're being paid in food and fuel for a mapping mission, we should have had enough food to complete the mission. Since we're apparently running low on food, the question does come up on what happened to most of it.
Or did we not get a full resupply when we started on this mission? If our food's low, what about fuel?
>>44030413
Come to think of it, the question was to set a course for the nearest satellite, but then you only gave information for the nearest Catalog satellite, even though it was described that there were several satellites within eyesight (that's pretty damn close in space, you know).
Does that mean that there really were no other satellites nearby except for the motel, and therefore the nearest satellite is a Catalog one?
Also, the nearest civilized planet would be one in mapped space; why not provide the coordinates for a planet in this District we're supposed to be going to? Or is the planet that's 4 days away one of the planets we're supposed to be navigating towards?
This isn't making much sense.
